#how yall keeping cool under all that fur

[fisheito]

Resting body temperature headcanons based on pure speculation

[artemismoorea03]

Building Trust (Chirp AU)

MY TURN TO TALK HI GUUUUYYSSS aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HOLY SHIT MY INBOX HAS BEEN EXPLODING LATELTY W H A T . HOW DID WHATAMSDREP IJTRYTHMKL,JHGFDS ONE IM SUPER HONORED TO BE WORKING WITH ARTEMIS ON THIS FIC MAN I JUST. . .. . Y E AH THIER SO COOL EVERYONE.

TWO THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL THE COMMENTS AND KUDOS AND STUFF. IF YOU LIKE THISS STUFF YOU SHOULD CHECK OUT OUR SOLO FIC SERIES TANGLED STAR AND THE MONKIES DESERVE BETTER .

Anyways thank you guys so much for all the love we both really appreciate it and love reading ur comments. Im sitting here at 2am writing this and i already know by the time i wake up yall are gonna be crowding up my inbox.

Again thank you all so much for the appreciation. Cant wait to share all artemis and i have planned :D Grabs Macaque and fucking squishes him WHO WANTS BLORBO CONTENT?!?!??!

Anyways lmao enjoy the chapter !!!

MK wasn’t sure what had happened that day with Macaque and Wukong but what he did know was that it was only the beginning of a lot of changes. Both personally and in his day-to-day life. For starters, he began to chirp at everything almost instinctively.

Stub his toe? Chirp.

Drop something on his foot? Chirp.

Get frustrated or overwhelmed? Chirp.

It got so frequent and often that the other people in his life even began to take notice and question it. Pigsy asked about it and was quick to understand that it was another ‘monkey thing’. Tang thought it was a new type of stim that he was adjusting too and said, ‘it probably feels nice and calming to let out all those frustrations and anxieties so you might be chirping more and more as a buildup of stress’ which made MK feel a bit better about chirping as much, but he still worried about the effect it could have on Macaque and Wukong if they were around.

Speaking of which, both of them were beginning to make appearances around the restaurant more and more since that day. Macaque was quick to check in on him first thing in the morning before MK even properly left his apartment, his shadow figure was standing in the hall of the restaurant. He never stepped out of his shadow, only asking if he was alright, how he was feeling, and checking to make sure his head wasn’t giving him any issues. Macaque would then vanish just as quickly as he showed up just for Wukong to show up a short time later asking the same questions.

Though Wukong had the added question of “ Any sign of that rat Macaque? ”

Something MK quickly decided to lie to his mentor about. He didn’t know what happened that day but did know that he hadn’t really seen his mentor looking that vicious before. He didn’t know if Wukong could tell he was lying but if he did notice he never pointed it out.  

This continued for about a week, getting visits from Macaque and Wukong every other day, though there was once where Macaque visited twice in a row just so he and Wukong started visiting on different days to avoid seeing one another. But each time something similar began to happen until a new pattern formed.

Macaque would stay in the shadows (more so under MK’s bed once he invited the demon into his apartment) and talked to him from under there while avoiding too much light as he talked to MK or just listened to MK ramble. He also occasionally slipped pieces of paper out of the bed that were recipes, notes and even a cut out ad from a magazine.

“What’s this for?” MK asked, looking at the ad. “ Hair-and-fur shampoo? That’s a thing?”

“Yep. It’s how Wukong keeps his hair all ‘ fabulous ’ or whatever.” He said sarcastically. “If the chirping has any implications of anything, bud, you might be changing. I’m not sure how or why, but if you are starting to change I’d look into getting some of that. Normal fur shampoo will destroy your hair and hair shampoo will make your fur sticky.”

“Oh, okay thanks… but what do you mean ‘changing’?”

“Well, think about it. Chirps are the first sounds a cub knows how to make when they’re born. Could be signs that you’re turning into a monkey. Though we probably can’t be sure until you start to chatter… or sprout a tail.” Macaque said, his glowing eyes looking towards the door. “Your dragon friend is here. Cya, bud.”

Then, like that, Macaque slipped out of sight as Mei walked into the room.

“Hey, monkey man~! Are you ready to dance until your feet fall off?!” She said, then looked at MK. “Why are you sitting on the floor?”

“Huh? Oh! I dropped this.” He said, holding up the paper, “Then I sat down and started reading it.”

“What is it?” Mei walked over, looking down at it with a smirk. “ Hair-and-fur Shampoo ? Maybe you should buy some of that for Macaque. Who knows the last time he bathed.” She teased.

“Mei.” MK sighed, “You sound like Wukong.” He got up, putting the paper onto his bedside table.

“Hey, let’s keep the insults to a minimum now.” She said with a huff, “But seriously, what’s with that?”

“Uh… just started thinking, I guess. Since I started chirping I might be changing, so might as well be prepared.”

“Changing? Like what? Monkey puberty?”

MK shrugged, “Something like that. Now, let’s go before the arcade gets too crowded. I don’t want to stand in line forever.”

“Oh! Right! Leggo~” She said, taking his hand and pulling him out of the apartment.

The next day Wukong showed up in the restaurant itself.

“It always smells so good in here~” He said, sniffing the air as he sat at the stool.

“You sure have been showing up here a lot lately.” Pigsy commented, “Not that I don’t mind the business, I mean at least you pay.” He said, shooting a glare at Tang who seemed offended while MK chuckled. “Something going on?”

“Nah, just making sure Macaque keeps his grubby little hands off of you guys. I don’t know what he’s up to lately but if I show up here enough he’ll eventually get tired or face me himself. Either way, MK will be safer if I show myself sometimes.”

MK frowned, tightening his grip on the broom as he began to sweep again.

“I thought Macaque changed? Plus, he didn’t do any serious damage to MK, so… why are you out for blood, Monkey King?” Tang pointed out and Wukong frowned, then sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.

“Macaque has ‘changed’ before.” Wukong said, quietly thanking Pigsy for the noodles and fruit dumplings in front of him. “I don’t want to think that this was like any of the other ‘changes’ but I can’t risk it, plus Macaque being near people - for any reason - is dangerous. For everybody involved.”

“You keep saying that, but what does that even mean?” MK asked, throwing his broom to the ground before he could even process that he was getting mad enough for this. “You say he’s ‘dangerous’ you say ‘he can’t be trusted’ but he saved me from you ! That’s enough for me! He saved me, helped me save you, and yes he did some bad things but he’s not a bad guy!”

Wukong tensed, looking back at him before he sighed. “Listen, bud. There’s a lot about Macaque that you don’t know-”

“THEN TELL ME!” MK said, stomping his foot with rage as the ground trembled slightly. “I don’t know anything about Macaque but I also don’t know anything about you! All I know about you, I read but I… I don’t know you Wukong.” He said, trembling as his eyes burned with frustrated tears. “I don’t know anything other than you picked an everyday, average, boring noodle delivery boy to be your successor…”

“Kid…” Pigsy began, walking around the counter. “Take a breath, you’re going to make yourself sick if you keep working yourself up.” He gently put his hand on MK’s shoulder.

“MK has a point.” Tang hummed, scratching his chin like an older gentleman would rub a beard. “All we know about the Six-Eared Macaque is some of his abilities, the Shadow Play stunt he pulled, and the way he helped us. But on a research standpoint, the Journey to The West only tells us that Macaque is one of four Celestial Primates and that he tried to use your appearance to seek out immortality. We also know that you killed him with your staff before reuniting your group and continuing your journey. Other than that one instance we have no idea what Macaque has done, and weighing the ‘good’ and ‘bads’ of the situation he’s helped more than harmed.”

Wukong popped a dumpling into his mouth, his tail swishing in a way that almost implied frustration like a cat read to pounce. “Well, there’s more to it than that. A lot more. But, no matter what that filthy monkey’s done… I have a promise to keep to him.”

“A promise?” Pigsy said as MK rubbed tears out of his eyes.

Wukong nodded, “Yeah, a promise. It’s not that I don’t want to tell you about why he’s dangerous but I promised Macaque that I wouldn’t mention it to anybody… though that was a long time ago. Before I killed him…” He rubbed the back of his neck with one hand, “But for respect to the Macaque of the past I’m going to keep my mouth shut. Sorry, bud…”

MK shook his head, “Whatever… I’m going on my break.” He said, his voice wavering as he walked out of the building.

MK stomped down the street, trying to calm his heart which was pounding so hard in his chest he felt dizzy. The world was so loud when he was this upset, it was like everybody in Megapolis had microphones and big speakers attached to their backs and were all screaming at the same time. It was loud, crowded, and overwhelming.

His hands found their way to his hair, pulling at the strands as he tried to distract himself from how busy his mind was becoming with each step.

‘ He promised Macaque not to say, that means he’s doing it for Macaque, but it’s also hurting Macaque! Shouldn’t a promise not count if the person you made that promise to is suffering?! ’ He thought, tugging his hair again. ‘ Macaque needs people too, and you keep chasing everybody away from him all for a promise? Unless that promise was to make sure he was alone forever I don’t think he should keep it, and even if it was… shouldn’t the ‘respect for the past Macaque’ carry on now? If the past Macaque is hurting like the Macaque in the present then we should help him. ’

Mk took a sharp breath in, the afternoon air filling his lungs and attempting to calm him. Yet that incessant pounding in his chest wouldn't cease.The pounding was beginning to hurt, his breathing was unsteady and his eyes blurred with tears threatening to fall. It was all so frustrating. Every time Wukong did this it was like…no matter how much they go through, how close they get Wukong just won't talk to him. First the Lady Bone Demon, then the Samadhi fire, and now this! Mk let their breath out and ungripped his hands. Letting go of his hair and letting his arms fall to his sides.

He tried to steady his breathing but it wouldn't work with him, the frustration and anger grew within him with every new thought crossing his mind. He wishes he was strong enough to face Monkey King and get him to tell him everything, with no lies or excuses. The complete and utter truth, yet that seems too hard for Monkey king to do.

Mk’s walk is blinded by his thoughts and the tears that drip onto the concrete. He doesn't really know where he’s going and he doesn't care much. He just keeps walking while his frustrated mind and pounding heart guide him through the city. When he finally stops it's because he can't walk anymore. His legs have become sore and his frustrations have become too much for him. He needs to sit down.

Mk raises his head to look for a seat and something calms in his when he notices Macaques dojo not too far from him. He doesn't know how he made it all the way here yet he doesn't seem to care. His legs move on their own, walking towards the dojo with every step becoming quicker by the second till he’s full-on sprinting towards the dojo. When he gets there he throws open the door and finds Macaque in the main training room.

He’s panting while standing in a fighting stance, he’s not wearing a shirt so he must have been solo training. Mk knows he doesn't look good or okay, he wishes the thoughts weren't so deafening so maybe he could have thought to wipe away the tears and snot. Breathe the red out of his cheeks and nose. Then walk into the dojo with his usual big bright smile so Macaque didn't have to deal with this. With him.

Mk doesn't realize he chokes on his breathing, little sobs that escape him as he tries to breathe normally again. So he definitely doesn't notice the sad chirp he makes and what it does to Macaque the moment he hears it.

He doesn't have to know anything wrong, he shouldn't have to burden himself with his issues, it's not his problem, Mk’s just too sensitive for his own good and gets too upset over every little thing. It's really pathetic and stupid an-.

Arms wrap around Mk and pull him into a warm embrace, Mk is quick to throw his arms around Macaque and sob into dark fur. Between sobs, sad chirps continue to escape his lips. He lets Macaque pick him up and carry him somewhere. He doesn't know exactly where since dark fur covers his eyes as he continues to cry out his overwhelming frustrations. He’s suddenly set down in the middle of something familiar and soft. Mk opens his eyes and recognizes the familiar blankets and pillows beneath him.

It's the nest he and Macaque made the first time Mk had started chirping. He had kept it here? Mk’s hiccups and sobs crawled up his throat again as he was suddenly left alone without him ever noticing. He looks around the dim room for Macaque but doesn't see him anywhere, not in the room, not in the shadows. He’s nowhere to be found. What, did he just dump him in here to cry so he didn't bother Macaque with his annoying crying. He should have known, he should have known not to come and just cried it out on his own like he normally does. Instead of burdening other people with his issues. He should have known that he wouldn't get the comfort he sought for most.

He chirped again, this one louder than any he’s ever done before, then he sobbed and after another chirp. This repeating pattern of sobs and chirps as he curled up and hid his face into his knees is what causes something to drop outside. He grips onto his hair again, hands desperate to do anything while he sobs.

Suddenly something breaks closer to him and then hits the wall, before Mk can register what exactly that sound was he’s being pulled into those same warm warms and soft frantic apologies.

“I'm sorry, I'm so so so sorry.” Something else warm and fluffy wrapped over Mk’s back and then around Macaque.

“Im wasn't gonna be gone for long. I'm sorry, see I grabbed a blanket for you. I'm sorry.”  Macaque wrapped an arm around Mk’s back rubbing gentle circles and his other hand combed Mk’s hair.

“Shhh, it's okay, let it out, let it all out.”

Mk grabbed onto Macaque as if his life depended on it, letting out frustrations even he didn't think he was still holding.

First Wukong not talking to him, avoiding the subject like he always did, leading to the Lady Bone Demon disaster, his best friend almost burning alive within the samadhi fire, Wukong getting possessed. Anything and everything going wrong till their on their last legs, barely coming up with a plan to save the world from being completely destroyed.

It all weighed so heavy on him, sure everything is okay now…but it isn't. It's not okay, nothing is okay and it hasn't been for a long time.

So he cries, he cries and he cries till his throat is sore, till his arms become too stiff to hold on anymore and he leans limp against Macaque.  Face red and stained with tears. Macaque grabs something off to the side and brings it close to Mk’s face, he wipes away the snot and tears then throws the tissue in a random corner to deal with later. Mk isn't crying anymore, tears still build and fall down his face but he can't bring himself to care. He’s too tired to care at all over something as small as a tear.

Mk blinks and looks around, Macaque's house is the same as ever, he doesn’t know if that's a good or bad thing. The nest is mostly the same, a few pillows in different places but that's the only difference. Mk wonders for a moment if Macaque’s been sleeping in the nest since they made it, if it's still here then it must be being used. Right? Mk hums to himself with that thought and looks at Macaque. He can't really see his face since he’s leaning against his chest, but because of the angle, he notices scar’s on Macaque's chest. Weirdly placed scars that seem familiar but Mk cant-

Oh.

“Macaque?” Mk croaks, his voice sore and quiet due to all his crying.

“Hmm, yes? Do you need some water, another blanket?”

“Your trans?” Mk asks, looking up at macaque now, still leaning against him.

Macaque stared down at Mk, taking a breath in before answering. “...yeah,” he says, tightening his hold on Mk just slightly. Mk hums, putting his head back down.

“Me too.” he yawns, fighting the urge to let his eyes close.

“Really?” Macaque asks gently, combing through Mk’s now untangled hair. It wasn't much of a real question as it was to keep Mk distracted. Macaque had his suspicions but didn't comment on it. Felt it best not too.

“Mhm,” Mk hums, relaxing into the touch on his scalp. Something about the gentle caresses through his hair is just so…relaxing. So comforting. More so than any other form of comfort he’s experienced. It's soothing enough to just, fall asleep.

“Mei…Mei helped me get binders…and” Mk yawns “cut my hair….”

“I think you make a fine young man Mk.” Macaque hums, resting his head onto Mk’s head.

Mk sighs and finally closes his eyes “hmm, thanks…Momma.”

Macaque’s breath hitches, his fingers in Mk’s hair pauses and his tail lightly thumps against the floor.

“M…Mk?”

Mk deosnt reply.

“Kid?”

Mk breathes slowly and gently against his chest.

Macaque resumes his combing, letting his cub sleep. He needs the rest after crying that much. He can't bring himself to wake him up just to….

Momma

Macaque breathes, shaken and unsteady. His head still atop Mk’s. he doesn't know what to do when his heart leaps and something unfamiliar and scary builds in his chest. Yet it doesn't hurt, it doesn't make him cry. It's warm and protective. So he lets the feeling stay as he holds Mk against him. And with a sigh, he closes his eyes and lets himself rest.

Macaque stays there for a moment, not wanting to move MK from where he was clearly comfortable but after what happened last time MK was here he wasn't so sure. So after a moment of hesitation, he grabbed MK’s phone, but this time he didn’t bother just texting Pigsy or even calling him. Instead, he sent Pigsy’s contact to his own phone, then used his phone to call the restaurant.

“ Pigsy’s Noodles, home to the world's longest noodle. We’re not currently doing take-out orders but pick-ups are available. ” Pigsy’s voice said and Macaque hesitated.

“Pigsy, it’s Macaque. Don’t say anything, please, I know Wukong is there.”

A bit of silence, “ I see, how can I help you? ” Pigsy asked and Macaque let out a relieved sigh.

“MK just showed up at my place crying his eyes out. I don’t know what happened but I can guess… I just didn’t want you guys to worry. He’s with me, he’s safe, he’s just sleeping.”

“ Got it. Alright then. ”

“Do you want me to bring him back? I can take him to his apartment after Wukong leaves.”

More silence before Pigsy let out a sound that almost sounded like a sigh of acceptance. “ You know what, I don’t think we’re interested tonight. How about you keep the delivery at your warehouse tonight and drop it off tomorrow? I’m not sure we have the room in storage for it. ”

Macaque felt his eyes start to burn with tears as his tail flicked slightly. “Really?”

“ Yeah, why not. Other than a few bruised veggies I’ve never had any issues with your company. Just know that I’ll be keeping my eye on you and I’ll be sure to check the goods for bruises and damages upon drop off. Understood? ”

“I understand. Thank you, Pigsy… thank you.”

“ Don’t thank me. Enjoy your day off. ” Pigsy said then hung up.

Macaque looked at his phone before he put it down and relaxed.

Pigsy trusted him? After everything he’d done, Pigsy still trusted him? It was amazing and made his chest feel tight. Pigsy trusted him with MK, and he trusted him enough with him that he was letting MK stay the night. Though this did come with a bit of preparation.

Moving slowly he formed a clone to take his spot as MK’s pillow, continuing the pattern of hair petting that Macaque had been doing before Macaque left the room. He went to a more lofted area where his hammock was spread out and his clothes were discarded all around the room. He scrunched his nose, going towards the wardrobe as his tail swished. He didn’t have a lot of clean clothes left but he had a long-sleeved red shirt and black sweatpants with a blue and black “RavenClaw” patch on the left thigh.

‘ They’re all I’ve got to work with so he can use these. I just hope they’re not too big. ’ He thought, grabbing them both and taking it to the nest. He then put the clothes down on the corner of the nest, checking on the clone who gave a smile and a thumbs up telling Macaque that he can keep doing what he was doing.

Macaque smiled softly walking back into the main part as his tail swished.

‘ Now… dinner. What do kids eat? Noodles? It's too risky with Wukong there. Uh… maybe I have something ?” He thought, walking over to his cupboards.

Moldy bread, soggy old crackers, rice that had been gotten into by mice (gross), the milk could have been categorized as its own ecosystem just by looking at it through the carton, and there was something growing in a tupperware at the back of the fridge. Macaque’s ears drooped slightly, as he began to dump all of the food into the trash. One trash bag turned into two, then three. Finally, all that was left was canned soups that expired nearly a year prior. Hell, there was even a can that expired 5 years ago.

‘ What is this my emotional support can of soup? Why did I bring this everywhere with me? ’ He thought, flicking his tail with annoyance as he held it over the trash bag. ‘ It’s probably still good though. ’ He decided, putting it back in the cupboard.

Once the cupboards and fridge were clear of old and rotten food he took the bags out towards the alleyway dumpster. He then got to work on clearing the counter of old, broken, moldy, or plastic/paper dishes were either thrown away or put in the sink to be washed.

‘ When was the last time I cleaned? Why am I cleaning now? I guess it’s a good idea, MK could get sick if I don’t. I need to make sure the dojo is at least safe for him to walk through and stuff. ’ He thought, tying off another bag once it was full.

He continued cleaning the dojo, little by little making mental notes about broken glass, broken pieces of floor, and anything that was growing in corners. The longer he worked the more comfortable got until finally, he reached a point of comfort in the situation that he even began to sing and hum to himself.

Songs from musicals, old songs he’d caught others singing or new songs he’d heard over the radio. It didn’t matter, he sang whatever came to mind as he cleaned.

The dojo - for the first time since he trained MK - felt light and warm. A new kind of safety, comfort, and joy seemed to flow through the broken windows and empty halls. But why couldn’t he have done this when MK wasn’t here? Why could he only do it now that MK was sleeping in the other room? It didn’t make sense but honestly, Macaque didn’t need it to make sense.

Because it felt right.

It felt safe .

‘ Mama… ’ He thought again, ‘ I think I could get used to that… ’

When MK woke up it was to the sound of singing from another room. He blinked open his eyes, whimpering at the tightness in his chest where his binder sat as he sat up and rubbed his ribs. He then went to speak to Macaque who was now sitting behind him just to pale slightly when he realized by the slightly off appearance that it was a clone.

“Macaque?” He asked hesitantly as the clone picked up some clothes from the edge of the nest and held it out to him. The clone then tapped his shoulder where the binder straps sat. “You want me to change?”

The clone nodded.

‘ Macaque’s clones are strange… they’re not like mine but they’re not like Wukongs. It’s weird. ’

MK grabbed the clothes then got up as the clone dropped into the shadows and slipped out of the room without saying a word. MK then shook his head, pulling off his shirt before putting it on the nest. He then rolled up the binder slightly, slipping his thumbs under the shoulder straps as he pulled it up then over his head. The shirt that had been given to him was a bit dusty but not unbearably so and thick enough to hide himself. He shook the dust out of it, before pulling it on, the large shirt going down to his upper thighs making him feel like a little kid in his dad’s shirt. It was fun! He then pulled off his jeans, replacing it with RavenClaw pajama bottoms.

‘ RavenClaw, huh? ’ He thought, tying the strings so that they were snug around his waist. The only problem was that the pants had a small hole in the back for Macaque’s tail, but at least the shirt covered the hole. ‘ This is nice… but why? ’ He thought, picking up his phone as he looked at the messages he’d received since falling asleep.

Wukong had sent; Sorry, bud. We’ll talk about it someday, I promise. I hope you’re not too mad. Please be safe.

The message had hurt a bit, but knowing that it was as close to an answer as he was going to get for a while he just let out a sigh and went to the other message he’d gotten.

Pigsy had said; Told the monkey to watch after you tonight, that being said your window is unlocked if you want to come home. Take care of yourself, kiddo. We’ll see you tomorrow.

MK smiled, that explained some things at least. If Macaque was told to let him stay then of course Macaque would try to find him something to sleep in. Though, that didn’t tell him what the singing was about.

Walking towards the door he slowly peeked out and into the main area of the dojo. To his surprise it was clean. Something that MK hadn’t seen since he had been training with Macaque. Though there was something even more surprising and that was the fact that Macaque was the one singing as he swept the floors. He looked and sounded so happy.

‘ Did he want a sleepover that badly? ’ MK thought, stepping the rest of the way out. “M-Macaque?”

Macaque quickly turned, then cleared his throat. “O-oh! Hey, bud. How’d you sleep?” He asked, looking a bit sheepish.

“Good, how long was I out?”

“Uh, about an hour or two? How do the clothes fit?”

“They’re a bit big, but they’re cozy.” MK said, gently flapping the sleeves of the shirt as they fell over his hands.

To both the surprise of MK and Macaque the dark-furred monkey let out a soft almost purring-like noise before he coughed into his fist.

“Great! Uh, so I don’t have a lot of things to eat so I hope you can at least tolerate some of this canned stuff?”

MK looked at the options, eventually picking up one of the cans. “I’ll try this one. Pigsy spoils me quite a bit so I don’t eat a lot of canned things.” He laughed.

“That’s good. Canned shit isn’t good for people to eat all the time.” Macaque said, grabbing a can and opening it with the can opener before gently taking MK’s can and popping it open too. He then poured the contents of MK’s can into a pot and put it on the stove while he just grabbed a fork and began to eat straight out of the can.

“You’ve done a lot of cleaning, it looks really good.” MK said, watching as Macaque’s tail flicked at the praise.

“Yeah? Don’t know what got into me if I’m being honest. Just kinda started and didn’t stop, y’know?”

MK nodded, “Yeah, I get it. You should have woken me up though, I could have helped.”

“No way, cub. You’re a guest, you don’t get to clean.” He said, stirring the pot for a moment. “So… wanna talk about what made you so sad?”

MK looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. “I… was arguing with Wukong. It was dumb and I lost my temper so I stormed off like a child.”

Macaque shook his head, “Cub, you are a child, that doesn’t mean that you’re acting childish. You were hurt, mad, and sad. Your fight-or-flight kicked in and you chose flight until you could calm down. Knowing when to walk away, especially when you’re pissed , is important.” He said, booping MK’s nose with his tail, making MK giggle.

“Really?”

“Of course, bud. If you never knew when to walk away from an argument then every little squabble would turn into a fight to the death. It’s just as important to know when to walk away as it is to know when to keep on fighting.” Macaque said, pulling the food off of the heat, pouring it into a bowl with a spoon that he sat at an island for MK to eat.

“But… I thought heroes were never supposed to back down from a fight?”

Macaque shook his head, “Nah, the real heroes are the ones who know which fights need to be fought to the end.” He said, taking another bite of his cold still-canned food.

MK nodded slowly, sitting at the island as he began to eat his food. “Macaque… why does Wukong keep saying you’re dangerous?”

He regretted asking the question as soon as it came out, watching the way the monkey bristled slightly then looked down as though avoiding the scolding of a parent.

“Because I am dangerous, MK. Sun Wukong… he’s right about that. I’ve hurt people, a lot of people including him… especially him. Wukong isn’t wrong for trying to keep me away from you and honestly if I could stand breaking your heart even just a little I would be staying away from you because I know that Wukong is keeping his eyes on me. He doesn’t trust me, and he has no reason to.”

“But you’re different, you’ve changed! You’re-”

Macaque put his can in the trash before he walked over, gently taking MK’s face between his hands. “I’m dangerous. Even if I’m not a danger to you at this moment… I’m still dangerous.”

“But how ? What aren’t you guys telling me? Why do you guys insist on keeping secrets from me to protect me but don’t explain when they hurt me?” He asked, not as angry as before but still just as hurt.

Macaque’s golden eyes scanned MK’s face sadly, “Okay… I’ll tell you a little, but I can’t tell you the full thing. Okay?”

MK relaxed, he would finally get answers? Really? Or was this just another trick? Gods, he was sick of tricks.

“Remember that story I told you; the one about the Hero and the Warrior?”

MK shuddered and Macaque shrunk down on himself slightly.

“I’m going to take that as ‘I wish I could forget’.” He said sadly, fixing MK’s hair before he jumped up onto the counter and sat down. Macaque rubbed his hands on his face, “Well, do you remember the part where I mentioned ‘the sun and the moon’?”

“I think so?”

“‘ The Hero and the Warrior were like the Sun and the Moon. Their light a protective glow shining upon the world. Together, there was nothing that could stop the two of them. Either in the Celestial Realms or on Earth’ .” He said and MK frowned, wondering where this was going. “It wasn’t all… metaphorical. I mean, most of it was but… not all of it. See… the moon itself has no light of its own. It doesn’t glow or shine at all without the help of the sun. But if the sun left the moon could - hypothetically - get other light from nearby stars. Does that make sense?”

“Not at all.” MK said as Macaque let out a soft laugh.

“Alright, more direct then. My powers are weak, bud. I have very little power compared to Monkey King - to you - but I am able to absorb access powers that more powerful Demons and Celestials put out in their day-to-day lives. It’s how I was able to do all that stuff with your powers the first time we met. But that was ‘the moon’ forcefully stealing light from the ‘sun’ and the ‘stars’.”

‘OH, I’M A STAR! Okay, things might make a bit more sense now.’ He thought but kept listening.

“With more casual and comfortable friendships and relationships and whatever I can gain power even faster. But… at a cost.”

“What kind of cost?” MK asked.

Macaque hesitated, ruffling his hair. “Story for another day, bud. Eat your food, that stuff tastes terrible cold.”

“Oh, okay… Wait, then why did you eat yours cold?!”

Macaque laughed, “Lack of self-preservation, don’t worry about it.”

“I’m immediately worried about it.” MK said with a soft scowl.

Macaque placed his hand on Mk’s face and gently pushed, chuckling at the way Mk’s face scrunches up and he stumbles in place. “Don't.” Macaque removes his hand and jumps off of the table. Then sets his empty bowl into the sink.

“I will.” Mk retorts immediately, staring down Macaque.

Macaque takes the empty dish from Mk’s hands and boops his nose, again chuckling as his face scrunches up cutely.

“ Ack, stop doing that!” Mk demands, watching Macaque put the dish in the sink.

“Hmmm.” Macaque approaches Mk.

“No,” he says, booping Mk’s nose again and earning the same reaction. Mk shakes his head and glares up at Macaque with no real venom while Macaque just smirks. Macaque reaches up to do it again but is stopped when Mk grabs his arm and then slaps his hand onto Macaque's face. Macaque lets out a surprised noise and brings up his other hand to grab at Mk but he lets go of Macaque and runs off laughing.

Macaque huffs and chases him, back into the room where the nest is. He vaguely recognizes how broken his doorknob is. Look he’s not accountable for the things his instincts do, he heard a crying baby. He's gonna break anything and anyone to get to the crying baby.

Suddenly Macaque is attacked by a heavy pillow hitting him in the face

“Hah payback!” Mk yells pointing at Macaque with another pillow in hand. Macaque pulls his pillow down and raises an eyebrow at Mk’s giggling shenanigans.

“Ooooh you do not want to go down that route kiddo,,”  Macaque says playfully. Mk’s glare on Macaque hardens.

“Bring it. Old man. ”

Macaque gasps with half fake offense “you little-” Macaque leaps towards Mk and Mk yelps, jumping away from Macaque with his pillow.

Macaque is quick to drop the pillow and chase Mk on all fours, jumping on different tables and chairs as Mk continues to scream and run through the room. Dodging Macaques every ‘attack’. Till finnaly Mk trips on a blanket and Macaque leaps to grab Mk, they both yell and tumble into the nest laughing. They end up in the middle of the nest, Mk laying on Macaques side and both of them laughing till their lungs hurt.  

“Haha…who’s old now… squirt, ” Macaque said between laughs and breathes.

“Still you.” Mk laughed out.

Macaque grabbed Mk by the middle with a fake roar and pulled him close. Again Mk yelped and faked an attempt at escaping.

“Nooooooooo!” Mk laughed while Macaque dug his head into Mk’s head.

“Yeeeeeeessss!” Macaque grumbled.

Macaque smiled, loosening his grip on MK slightly, before running his finger through the kid's hair once again. “As fun as all of this is, if you keep picking a fight I will have no choice but to bring out the big guns and break my promise to your father~”

“Big guns?” MK tilted his head, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, if you keep calling me old, I’ll have to do this. ” He grabbed MK’s headband, using it to turn his head to the side before he blew a raspberry on MK’s cheek.

MK let out a shriek, kicking his feet as he laughed, grabbing at his headband. “Stop! Mercy! You win!”

“Oh? Are you sure? Because there’s a lot more where that came from, I’ve been saving them.” Macaque said as MK chuckled.

“I’m sure.” MK said, “You’re not old.”

“Good.” Macaque let him go and relaxed.

“You’re ancient. ”

“OI!” He said, grabbing MK again. But this time he rolled Mk over forcefully and pulled him into his chest. The little cub squirmed a bit but Macaque didn't let go, even as his tail grabbed the nearby blanket and pulled it over them. Mk finally freed his head from Macaque's hold and took a deep dramatic breath in.    

“You stink.”

“What?”

“Your old and your stinky,” Mk said digging his face back into Macaques fur.

“Am I really?” Macaque chuckles lightly.

“Yeah and I bet you snore like an old man, an old stinky man.”

“Your so kind.” Macaque sighs.

“Mhm, I know.” Mk smiles, wrapping his arms around Macaque. Macaque does the same, then commands a shadow to reach up and flip the light switch. Turning off all the lights of the room.

The moonlight is now the only thing illuminating the room. Macaque traces its light with his eyes and how it leaks through his windows and over the various pieces of furniture and blankets till it reaches Mk. His cub really is adorable, especially with the light illuminating his features. If Mk didn't look like he was trying to fall asleep Macaque would pinch his cheek right here and now bit decided against it to let him sleep peacefully.

Macaque wrapped his tail around Mk and sighed, again noting how the moonlight covers his cub. His cub, normally illuminated by the sun’s blinding light. Now here resting within the moon's dim lights, happily content and comfortable.

Macaque only wishes he could experience this more often.

Mk slurps loud and obnoxiously on his cheese tea, then munches down on a fresh and hot croissant.

Macaque had nothing good or fresh to eat for breakfast, he should probably get some for the next time Mk comes around. As long as other food things. He’d sure like to try some new snacks along with making sure Mk was fed well whenever he was around. But since he didn't have any good things to eat this morning he decided to buy himself and Mk some breakfast. Mk had insisted on cheese tea while the croissant was Macaque's idea.

“Thanks, Macaque!” Mk said, muffled by the croissant stuffed into his mouth.

“Sure.” Macaque tapped Mk’s back with his hand, gently pushing him “but maybe you should try taking smaller bites”

Mk leans over due to the push and his face scrunches up, he then straightens up and with his eyes closed tightly he swallows the entirety of the croissant. Macaque silently prepares himself to care for a choking cub, he’s sure that after this Pigsy is going to beat him away with a wooden spoon the next time he comes around. Although it seems Mk’s just fine as he throws a thumbs up with his free hand

“Hah, did it!”

“Why?” Macaque asks. Mk hums

“Because I can!’ He decides and Macaque chuckles to himself while shaking his head.

When they get to the noodle shop Macaque tenses, searching for any sign of Wukong yet he finds none, and most-not all he’d be a fool if he let down his guard tension falls.

“Hi, Pigsy!” Mk yells out, waving to the pig demon at the front of his shop messing with the open sign.

“Hey kid” Pigsy waves. Mk runs over to Pigsy leaving Macaques's side empty. As he approaches the two talking he takes notice of how empty it feels without Mk beside him, his tail gently grazing the ground where Mk once stood beside him. He dug his hands into his pockets and looked around the street. Trying not to feel awkward as Mk and Pigsy talked.

That is until the pig approached him with a white bag in his hand.

“Good job with the kid,” He said, holding the bag on his side. Macaque nodded.

“Y-yeah, anytime…for him,” Macaque said, watching as Pigsy stared him down. He almost felt like he was on the chopping block as Pigsy searched for something within him. Whatever he was searching for he seemed to find because the next thing he knows Pigsy is shoving the white bag into his arms.

“The kid likes you, I don't know why…I don't know what he sees in you but it's something…”

Macaque notes how the bag is warm with a container inside.

“Whatever it is for his sake I hope he’s right…about you”

Macaque sniffs the air and realizes its noodles, fresh and warm noodles.

“Don't disappoint him, okay,” Pigsy says. Letting Macaque grab the bag and removing his own arm from his chest to step back.

Macaque looks up from the bag and to Pigsy. Something clicks in him. Seeing Pigsy confront him while Mk stands a bit of a ways behind him. Just enough so that their conversation is private but Mk is still present. Pigsy cares for Mk just as much as Macaque does. Protective and warm. He wants to hold onto this feeling. He never wants to let it go. Not again. He can't ever let his light fade from his life again.

“Okay…”

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

Hehehe i wrote the breakdown scene btw hehehhee If ur from my fics YOU KNOW THE DRILL LINE UP Kicks bucket TEARS GO IN HERE THANK YOU VERY MUCH. FOR COMPENSATION YOU GET A WEIGHTED BLANKET AND A HOT DRINK. Thank you so much for reading. See you guys next time!!! -Stella

(Stella is so awesome, if you haven't checked out their stuff you should. Their writing and art is just absolutely amazing! I also hope that these chapters help make up for the lack of chapters of Monkies Aren't Alright lately. I'm trying to give the Season 4 Specials/Season 4 to come out in English. But I'm still working on it, I promise :D) - Ari

[pesterloglog]

Meenah Peixes, Meulin Leijon

Act 6, page 5308

MEENAH: sup meu

MEULIN: (=｀ω´=) < 33333333333!!!!!!!!!

MEULIN: (^・ω・^ ) < GOMGOMGOGOMGOGMMGOMGOMGOGMOGMOGMOG. MOG!!!

#EM #OH #G33

MEENAH: whoa leijon

MEENAH: your rumble spheres

MEENAH: clam those suckas this instant

MEULIN: (^・x・^) < NO.

MEULIN: (=^･^=) < I WILL NOT CLAM THEM.

MEULIN: ヽ(=^･ω･^=)丿 < THEY WILL STAY WILDLY AND GL33FURRY UNCLAMMED, BECAUSE, AND I REPEAT:

MEULIN: (^･o･^)ﾉ < MOG.

MEENAH: mog

MEULIN: (=^･^=) < MOG, M33NAH.

MEULIN: ~(=^‥^)ノ < _MOG_!!!!!!!!!

#:33

MEENAH: idgi

MEULIN: (^._.^)ﾉ < M33NAH. MOG COULD NOT BE ANY SIMPLER.

#UNLESS SPELLED CORRECTLY

MEENAH: dude fuck mog

MEENAH: oh wait you mean omg

MEULIN: (=^･ω･^=) < (=^-ω-^=)

MEENAH: well fuck that too

MEENAH: i know you cant physically monitor the volume of your piercing fangirly shrieks but try to keep it down

MEENAH: like just be normal excited for once

MEULIN: (^._.^)

MEENAH: or

MEENAH: should i say

MEENAH: "fur pounce"

#3;)

MEULIN: (=^ω^=) < 333333333333333333333333333333333!!!!!!!!!

#SO MANY 33'S

MEULIN: (^･o･^) < M33NAH I MISSED YOU SOOOOOOO MUUUUUUUUCH! WHY DIDN'T WE EVER HANG OUT WHEN WE WERE ALIVE???

MEULIN: (=^‥^=) < I HAD SO MUCH TIME TO PAWNDER THAT AND IT'S ONE OF MY D33PEST REGRETS.

MEENAH: it was probably cause you didnt like me very much

MEENAH: but s'chool no one really did

MEULIN: (=^･ｪ･^=) < WHAAAT. THAT'S NOT TRUE! I'M SURE I LIKED YOU! DIDN'T I?

#YOU WERE INVOLVED IN SOME OF MY FINEST SHIPS!

MEENAH: i mean i did try to kill you a couple times

MEULIN: (^・x・^) < YOU DID? I DON'T REMEMBER THAT...

MEENAH: water under the crossing trestle

MEULIN: (^･o･^) < YES!!!

MEULIN: (^._.^)ﾉ < BUT, UM, IF YOU TRIED TO KILL ME, SHOULDN'T I BE THE ONE TO SAY THAT TO YOU?

MEENAH: ...

MEENAH: lejayjay how about you shut up and go back to being excited to see me

#feel free to unclam those tatas

MEULIN: (=ＴェＴ=) < 3333333333333333333333333333333333333333333!!!!!!!!!

MEULIN:

MEULIN:

MEULIN:

MEENAH: can we plz cool it on the shitty mimes tho

MEENAH: seriously cant understand what your tryin to say half the time

#the literal worst form of communication ever

MEULIN: (=^･ω･^=) < WE HAVE TO CATCH UP RIGHT AWAY. YOU MISSED OUT ON SO MUCH WHILE YOU WERE GONE!

#"CATCH" #!!! #LIKE A FISH! #S33 I'M YOUR FRIEND!!!

MEENAH: did i really

MEENAH: to be conchnest that sounds mad unlikely

MEENAH: you would not even believe the boring conversations i just slogged through with some a you glubbin windbaggers

#even ones where i technically wasnt even "being me"

MEULIN: (=^･^=) < YOU SOOO DID THOUGH. WE'VE ALL B33N THROUGH A LOT TOGETHER SINCE WE DIED. I BELIEVE WE'VE MADE A LOT OF PROGRESS IN DEALING WITH OUR PURRSONAL ISSUES AND PUTTING OUR OLD DIFURRENCES BEHIND US.

#ETERNITY HAS ONLY STRENGTHENED MY COMMITMENT TO CAT PUNS!!! #:33

MEENAH: dont sound like you put much time into your fightin skills though

MEENAH: yall do realize you might be on the verge of dying AGAIN right?

MEULIN: (=^･ｪ･^=) < AND THE SHIPPING!!!!!!!!!

MEULIN: ＼(=^‥^)/ < OMG M33NAH, THE SHIIIIIIIIIPPING! (=；ェ；=) ヾ(=ﾟ･ﾟ=)ﾉ (^・ω・^ )

MEULIN: (^・ω・^ ) < YOU WON'T EVEN _BELIEVE_ WHO GOT TOGETHER OVER THE SW33PS. AND THE QUADRANTS! THE QUADRANTS THEY PAIRED UP IN... IT WILL _BLOW_. _YOUR_. _MIND_.

MEULIN: (=^･^=) < I DON'T THINK I CAN EVEN CONVEY HOW MUCH... I JUST...

#DON'T #I...

MEULIN: (^・x・^) < I CAN'T.

#NO #THAT'S IT

MEULIN: └(=^‥^=)┐ < I AM COMPLETELY UNABLE TO CAN RIGHT NOW.

#HAVE EXACTLY ZERO CANS

MEENAH: 38|

MEULIN: (=；ェ；=) < YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND, M33NAH. THE F33LS.

MEULIN: (=ＴωＴ=) < THE F333333333LS!!!!!!!!!

#MIMES INCOMING!!!

MEULIN:

MEULIN:

MEULIN:

MEENAH: had a suspicion this chat would devolve into gossip about who banged who

MEENAH: let me know if you wanna catch up on actual relevant shit some time

#heres ma math #yall got shell phones here right

MEENAH: holla at ya girl meumix

[lycanthrop-ee]

Ghosting - Empty House

A/N: !!!!! It’s here! I’m so, so pumped for this- welcome to the Empty House AU! This is the first piece of content I’m publishing and it’s a one-shot from a bigger universe, but it’s also absolutely a stand-alone fic. It’s a self-indulgent, analogical-centric human AU that’s has been floating around my hollow skull for months now, so there’s a lot of doodles backed up if any of yall would like to see that ;) There will be an AU taglist, but I also have an individual writing taglist!

Synopsis: Logan has finally moved out of his childhood home into a family-sized house where he plans to finish college online. His simple plans are complicated when a strange, sad-looking boy starts showing up outside...

Word count: 4,306

Ships: Endgame romantic Analogical

CW: (spoilers) Pre-plot major character death, swearing, anxiety attack, very mildly implied previous parental abuse, be safe kiddos and ask to tag!

The first time Logan saw the boy was the day he moved in. 

The empty house had stood hollowly beside its driveway, Logan feeling small without his siblings or parents or any of his rarely acquired friends by his side. He wasn’t a sociable person, but he’d always been surrounded by noise at home, and lots of it… he’d never been in a house as still as the one he stepped into that day. The dark wooden floors were cleanly swept, except for the corners and trimmings which had little fields of grey dust dotting the deep brown. The refrigerator made a hungry humming noise, protesting its suddenly empty shelves- Logan knew a family of four had lived there before, and that they’d given him a pretty hefty discount on the house. That’s all he knew.

The floor in the entrance hall creaked underfoot, and the walls seemed to turn away as they saw him- not who they’d been expecting, not worth their attention. That was fair. 

The house had three bedrooms and two floors- altogether a strange layout. Two of the bedrooms were downstairs, situated in a small hallway off the kitchen, and one was tucked into a little corner upstairs, where the only other rooms consisted of a bathroom and a large, carpeted playroom that was mostly empty now. Logan figured it would have been a favorite of the kids when they were smaller, but now the only furniture was a faux leather couch and a television, as well as a couple of out-of-place armchairs that had never gotten much human use from the look of their fur-covered seats.

With just him taking up the whole house, he hardly saw the point in using the upstairs bedroom. The house felt big already- rationally, it would be better to localize downstairs. All he really needed was his room, the kitchen, and the little living room next to the entrance. That was enough for him- in fact, even that was too silent. He missed the screams of his brothers as affectionately as anyone could- which honestly varied day to day. 

Today, he was disproportionately affectionate. 

It paired well with the fear.

Logan was just about ready to start tearing himself apart over the family members he’d left behind- the only ones that mattered- when the boy caught his eye.

The day had been gray and dreary, the trees heavy with the prospect of rain and the air cool enough to promise it, but it had only started drizzling in the few minutes since Logan had been inside. The sky had seemed to darken remarkably quickly, especially strange without the presence of thunder or even heavy rain, and in the middle of it all was a lanky figure who looked for all the world like a member of the fae.

He stood at the side of the road, looking in the house’s general direction- in Logan’s general direction, although he was sure the other wouldn’t be able to see through his windows. His face would’ve been hidden by the dark hair poking out from under his hood were he not so painfully pale, and his brown irises were visible to Logan only because of the piercing contrast of his skin. 

His jacket was oversized, but his beanpole frame managed to show through regardless. The rainwater gradually weighed it down until the boy looked almost a skeleton, Logan frozen watching him for what could have been minutes- and then the frame heaved in a breath and ambled stiffly away. 

Obviously Logan’s first worries had to do with an unhinged white male teenager breaking into his new house- the one he had full responsibility for and few precious savings to repair. It was irrational, he knew, but his second thought was that the boy hadn’t looked capable of any harm- or really of much at all. He looked weighed down, depressed, and Logan was sure that it wasn’t just the water soaking his sweatshirt. The boy had looked sad. 

And he continued to. Frighteningly often, the teenager appeared outside Logan’s house. Each time he looked quite the same: above average height but considerably shorter than Logan himself, skinny, and almost other-worldly in his strange mish-mash of dark eyes and pearly flesh. While Logan knew that his first sight of the boy had been strange in the sudden change of weather, he could- and completely intended to- count it as a coincidence of Florida’s strange climate.  

He settled into a sort of pattern, although the boy didn’t seem to follow one. Each time he saw the figure outside his house, he would take a break from his endless work. He’d make himself some tea, sit in the window, and wait for the boy to leave. This way, he told himself, if he tried anything, Logan would be there to intercept him. He chose not to think about the possibility of it happening at night or while he was away, and he kept far away from the crime shows he’d occasionally enjoyed in the past. This way, too, he could get a good look at his visitor each time. It was almost as though he was keeping tabs on him, and at the tail end of his fear came a strange protectiveness. 

It was after about a month of this- Logan looking for job applications and living off of his savings, edgewise- that Logan pulled into his driveway at one of the key moments of his life. The boy stood unsteadily at the side of the road, sweatshirt ever-present even in the heat. Logan got out of his car carefully, his heart in his throat- though, really, did any part of him think the boy capable of much at this point? 

He’d have expected the kid to run as soon as he’d pulled in, but when Logan looked him over he saw the boy studying him, bouncing on the balls of his feet. It struck Logan anew in their close proximity how thin he was.

Almost thoughtlessly, he started across the lawn towards the boy. He had to remind himself to uphold formalities- no matter how many times they’d stared at each other across the way, they’d never once spoken. He didn’t know this kid, not really- and now it occurred to him that the boy was more than a kid. He couldn’t be much younger than himself. Logan halted a few respectful steps from the boy, who eyed him strangely.

Close up… he looked, somehow, the same as he did from across the lawn. His features were simple, small mouth and nose easy to overlook for his huge, shadowed eyes. He really did remind one of a fairytale, or even- perhaps more accurately- a Tim Burton. 

Logan opened his mouth to speak, but paused for a moment. They watched each other.

“Would you like to come in for tea?” He finally inquired, the words escaping him overly familiar. The boy raised his eyebrows almost undetectably, seeming confused, and Logan caught himself almost leaning forward in anticipation of the other’s first words to him.

“You’re not Patton,” the boy said, voice just above a murmur and hoarse. Logan hesitated, confused, and studied the expression that would’ve been bored were it not for the slight tremble in his lips and a hint of surprise- Logan supposed neither of them had planned what had escaped their mouths. He reached up with a thin arm and brushed the back of his hand gently across his eyes. A spark of something strange flickered in Logan’s chest- this man was possibly not all there. He wracked his brain for labels- depression? Mild psychosis? Dissociation?

Either way, this was not someone he should invite into his house without more information- but as that regretfully occurred to him, the first drops of afternoon rain hit the tip of his noise. He wondered if the boy would stand out here after Logan went outside, and if so, for how long. 

“No, I’m not,” he found himself saying. “My name is Logan. It is raining- would you like to come in?”

He was exceedingly aware of the boy’s breathing as they stepped out of the rain, something that would normally drive him insane- somehow he didn’t mind this time. His presence was almost calming after weeks of bringing a break from Logan’s ceaseless work. It assured him that the ghostly pale man was real, which was never a problem he thought he’d be debating... but here was this skeleton-thin, strange-mannered man entering his house as though he’d been there a million times before.

He carefully slid his shoes off, paying close attention to the floor- and no attention to Logan. 

“I’ll make tea,” the latter found himself mumbling. “Do you want to come into the kitchen?”

“I’m gonna go upstairs,” the boy said. Logan blinked.

“I- you… this is my house?” He stuttered, trying to be assertive- surely that crossed a line? He’d never seen this kid before a month ago- but there he went, lugging himself up the stairs like he belonged there. O-kay. 

Logan backed into the drafty kitchen to put the kettle on.

Time to listen to his voice of reason, he decided. Clearly this boy had been in the house before- hopefully before Logan had moved in- and knew his way around. And clearly his mental state had some connection to the house- whether positive or negative, Logan couldn’t yet tell. So, he concluded, it’s possible that he had lived here before. The married couple that had sold him the house had mentioned a son, but they’d been moving out of town- how would the boy have made his way back almost daily? There was a bus line in the area... but who was Patton, and why had his absence been unexpected?

There was clearly missing information here, and thus the situation was theoretically dangerous. The logical thing to do would be to contact the authorities for more information- maybe the boy was a local that they were familiar with. If that were the case, they would know how to handle him. 

On the other hand… it was, put simply, a puzzle. Wasn’t it? Logan was smart; he was in online college and he was passing quite well. He had an A in psych so far. He just needed a few more minutes with the boy and he’d figure it out. He could help him... why else would he show up outside his house? 

He needed Logan.

There goes rational thought, Logan sighed as the kettle started to whistle, turning off the stovetop and moving the pot to the side. Something made him turn around- the boy was watching him from the doorway, looking almost more upset than usual. His wide eyes were watery, and as Logan hesitated he wiped an arm across his face again, expression turning to frustration. He avoided Logan’s gaze. “You said you were making tea?” He said, carefully controlled voice just above a whisper. Logan was startled out of his stupor by the boy’s coherence.

“I, um- yes! Yes, would you- what kind?”

“Earl grey? No sugar, just a bit of milk...” he carefully pulled a chair from the small table, slumping into it and reaching to fidget with the salt shaker. “Please.”

The boy’s words stirred Logan into movement and he grabbed two mugs out of the mostly barren cabinet before pulling a pre-packaged tea bag from the tea box on the counter. He unwrapped the tea and dropped one bag in each mug, pouring steaming water from the kettle into them with a satisfying noise. The warm humidity and pleasant smell caressed Logan’s face, and he took a moment to bask in it before returning to the present moment- if begrudgingly. As he set the empty kettle aside, the room quieted, the only sound the rain drizzling over the side of the roof. Logan crossed the space self-consciously to close the window. The boy’s eyes were pointedly focused on the table in front of him- Logan thought he felt more awkward this way than if the boy had been staring at him flat-out. Either way, he could feel his awareness of Logan like a thick fog. He snuck another look at the boy as he hovered beside a chair, unsure whether to sit opposite him. 

“My name is Logan,” he prompted, thoughts stumbling over each other to curse him for the repetition. 

“Thank you for the tea, Logan.”

...Well, at least that was something. His name sounded strange in the other boy’s hoarse, delicate voice- less mundane, somehow. He stood at the head of a table for one more moment that seemed to stretch out an eternity- the boy carefully spun the salt shaker around in his nimble fingers, swearing softly as some of the seasoning fell onto the table. Logan’s startled eyes studied the other’s flushed face.

And then his head caught up to him, and he shuttered into motion, rushing to the mostly empty fridge for milk and fetching the small bag of sugar he’d mercifully bought a few days before. 

“I... I’ve seen you around,” Logan’s mouth betrayed him again. That was creepy- although, looking at it objectively, it was much less creepy than being ‘around’ the way the boy had. The table behind was quiet for too long as he poured the milk. 

“...When’d you move in?” The voice was quiet and held a fragility that Logan hadn’t yet heard from the other. He was relieved to finally have an easy answer to one of the many questions he faced. And, indeed, his mouth finally obeyed him, even and direct.

“About a month ago.” He turned to face the table, the boy’s tea held stiffly between his hands. 

“Sorry,” he whispered as Logan set down the tea. “I knew someone’d moved in, but I guess… it was you.” The boy let out a hollow laugh, and Logan was swept with protectiveness once more.

“Don’t worry, I won’t alert the authorities.” Because that was the most comforting thing he could think of- he’d never been very tactful with delicate emotional situations. Predictably, the boy tensed. Logan decided it’d be advisable for him to move on. “What is your name, pray tell?”

Pray tell. Pray fucking tell? What was wrong with him? The boy cut him off before he could overthink the foot he’d just shoved in his mouth with the eloquence of an 1800s era schoolboy. 

“Patton.” A moment passed before a look of horror came over his face. “Or- no, I- it’s- Virgil! Virgil.”

Now- once again, logically- forgetting one's name was not a good sign. Of general coherence nor moral innocence. Logan knew this. 

Still, the boy looked uniquely upset by the mistake. 

Logan fetched his tea and sat down opposite him.

The other boy fidgeted incessantly, and Logan felt it fell on him to make Virgil more comfortable. He threw tact to the wind- it was tiresome anyway- in favor of distracting the other and himself from the strange fumble.

“Are you a local?”

He got a nod in response, Virgil holding the tea tightly between his hands. Logan couldn’t help but feel he’d made yet another mistake- obviously the boy wasn’t comfortable talking about himself, but was it worth Logan filling the silence with unprompted facts about himself? Would that bore Virgil? Was that rude? He let the gap in conversation rest for a moment before deciding he didn’t much care what was rude.

“This is my second year enrolled in online college- I skipped my senior year.”

The stupid non-sequitor sat in the middle of the table, sinking like a rock. Virgil managed to give him an incredulous look, even in the depths of... whatever it was that was affecting him. Logan panicked. 

Here are a few things about Logan Croft that were usually a given:

                  1. He often said things without regard to the effect they would have on others. 

                  2. He did not say things he didn’t believe to be true.

                  3. He did not readily employ personal information.

All of these rules had apparently been thrown out the window the second Virgil walked in his door. As soon as he realized this, he worked to reclaim them. “Virgil.”

The wind immediately blew out of his sails, and he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Speaking abrasively had never been difficult for him, and this was not the time to adopt a new weakness. “I need to know who you are. You have shown up outside of my house for the past month, and while the reasoning behind this is presumably personal and not necessarily critical for me to know, I will at least need you to tell me your full name. Against my better judgement, I will not contact the authorities about your incessant invasion of my privacy, because I don’t altogether mind it- but if you are to have regular access to my house, we can’t continue this one-sided conversation.” Regular access to his house? When had Logan considered that option? As soon as he asked himself the question, he knew the answer- the feeling of someone appearing in the doorway, seeking Logan’s company… it was something that he’d missed sorely. It was something he needed.

The boy looked startled and altogether terrified by the long stream of words. Logan, still working hard to recover his sense and new to the inclination of softening his words on the behalf of strangers, disregarded this as best he could as he waited for an answer. 

It didn’t look like he was going to get one.

Virgil opened and closed his mouth like a fish out of water, putting the salt shaker down on it’s side like he’d been caught doing something he wasn’t supposed to. Logan felt a tug in his stomach to right it, afraid he’d get more salt on his table, but now didn’t seem like the time. 

As the moment stretched forward, his attention was grabbed away anyways, trying to decipher Virgil’s expression. It didn’t look good. 

In fact, it made his heart drop.

The boy looked withdrawn, fearful- like a bird with an injured wing or a snared fox. Damn it, damn it, damn it- Logan’s split-second adopted mantra was less than helpful, but it showed no signs of tapering off to make room for useful thoughts. Virgil’s eyes squeezed shut, and the instincts left over from Logan’s career as an older brother took over. 

He rushed to Virgil’s side on blind autopilot, laying a warm hand over his bony back. The boy jumped at the unexpected touch- and then leaned into it, a choked sob tearing itself from his throat. Oh no. Oh god. Damn it. 

Logan didn’t consider himself good with emotions. He did his best to comfort his younger brothers- god knows they needed it- but strangers were a whole new situation and honestly he didn’t feel much better about this than he expected the boy did.

Nevertheless. 

“Hey, I-” he took a knee to lower himself to Virgil’s level, steadying himself against the table awkwardly. “Um-”

He choked on what to say, but his mind latched to the one thing he knew. Virgil had responded positively to touch- and with little further thought, Logan bundled the shivering boy into his arms.

Logan would’ve immediately taken back the show of affection by any means necessary if Virgil hadn’t melted into the touch so readily- Logan was reminded of an oversized cat. 

That being said, Logan was holding a sobbing stranger in his arms in his new house, alone. Damn it, damn it, damn it.

Logan had always been the kid at family gatherings who did everything in his power to ward off physical contact from his overbearing relatives. Although this situation was completely different and altogether impossible to plan for and avoid, he found himself reacting in somewhat of the same way- each place that Virgil’s thin, trembling body touched his screamed at him to recoil.

He did not.

He brought to mind his brothers- not that they’d ever been particularly physically affectionate with him. They’d always turned to each other, and he’d been left to himself. Understandably. But he imagined if they had seeked his reassurance, if they’d ever been as upset as this stranger was now. If they’d let him in. 

But now someone was leaning on him for comfort, and he was determined to provide for them. Imagine if Remus had come to him for help, he kept thinking. Imagine if it were Roman. 

And all of a sudden he had to hold back tears himself. He tensed, carefully leaning Virgill back onto his chair- Logan’s chair. Sensing the other’s discomfort, the boy came back to himself like a fire blazing across dry wood. 

“Fuck- fuck, I-I’m-” the boy was off at a rushed stutter, scrambling to right himself and wiping his eyes angrily. Logan shook his head, patting Virgil’s shoulder awkwardly. 

“Drink your tea,” Logan said stiffly. “It’s okay. I don’t- do you need something?” Good job, he thought sarcastically. Just pretend it never happened. Show him that, apologies, you seem to have made him think you’re an emotional resource. He was wrong, you’re actually a sociopath. Once again, sorry for any inconvenience. 

Logan’s thoughts stuttered and shouted as he tried to fix whatever he’d done. Virgil was quite obviously shaking, almost unable to hold his tea to his lips although he did make an effort, and Logan resorted back to psych class- maybe not a panic attack, but certainly an emotional breakdown and possibly an anxiety attack. “Do you have a history of generalized anxiety disorder?” Logan asked automatically, the place where he should have held a capacity for compassion currently void for whatever stupid reason. “Or even a suspected case?” The thunderstorm in his mind froze entirely as Virgil’s watery brown eyes focused on him. 

“...I guess,” he rasped quietly, eyes flickering back to his hands as they picked at each other violently. “I dunno.”

Logan let out a long breath, sliding furtively into the chair opposite Virgil. 

“If you’re having an anxiety attack, it could be caused by a persistent disorder or a recent traumatic event- although recent is a problematically inspecific measurement-” 

“Uh, then I- I dunno. Still. I guess…” He shrugged, looking away. “How recent is recently?”

Logan tried to hold back a sigh of relief at the comparatively simple question.

“Generally, anxiety attacks are caused by a buildup of unfinished tasks or other irritants, although there’s often an overarching problem or incident. A traumatic event can cause emotional turmoil for years after it occurs- or for the remainder of one’s life, depending on it’s nature- but in most to all cases, the effects lessen as time goes on.” Virgil nodded slowly. 

“And- and what are the symptoms? Of an anxiety attack?” He pulled his legs up to his chest, presumably placating the urge to make himself smaller. Logan rattled off the characteristics quickly.

“Shaking, a feeling of unease, impulsive thoughts, nausea, panic, the sensation of being trapped or cornered, restlessness, hyperventilation, trouble concentrating, dyspnea- shortness of breath, that is- am I making sense?” He wrapped his hands around the cooling cup of tea in front of him, feeling the need to steady himself. Virgil nodded again- it was apparent he was a man of few words. That worked out wonderfully, Logan thought, as he himself seemed so bent on talking as much as humanly possible. 

“Yeah,” Virgil muttered- then stood up abruptly. “Um- I should probably go. Sorry for… yeah.” Logan, decidedly more alarmed at the idea than he should’ve been, got to his feet as well.

“No- I mean, you don’t… have to. If you’d rather- but if you feel the need to go- I mean, I don’t want you to…” Logan paused, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to get his damn mouth under the control of his brain. Had he said something wrong? Well, obviously he’d said many things wrong in the past minutes, but… he thought over the conversation. He’d only been saying the facts- just what he knew. Was there something he should have kept to himself? Was any of it too personal? It was just facts, statistics, symptoms- he cursed himself mentally, although he couldn’t tell precisely what for.

While he’d been deliberating- not panicking, never panicking- Virgil had frozen in place. Right. The whole blazing trainwreck of words he’d let out for no apparent reason. Where the hell had that even come from? He’d known this kid for a month- five minutes face-to-face- and he was already being weird and nonsensical. It took considerable effort to bring the circumstances of their meeting to mind and even the playing field in his subconscious. If they were both creepy, did it even out? “I-I meant... you’re welcome here.” 

Logan could see the gears turning in Virgil’s head as he fell back into his chair. A weight slid off of his shoulders as the air between them settled- they were even. Or something. 

As much as he expected to regret his words, he was surprised at the lack of protest from his thoughts. It was, for once, blessedly quiet both inside his head and out. Logan sat back down warily. “You obviously have some- some connection to this house.” Like some sort of undead apparition, he thought- but he had the sense to keep that, at least, inside. “I can’t tell if it has a positive or negative effect on your mental state as I seem to be an uncalled for variable in your visit. I’m no psychological authority... I know you’ll come back either way, and I don’t like imagining you back out in the rain.” A shiver went through the boy like a roll of thunder, and he nodded. 

“When can I come here again?”

[nad-zeta]

Blind Date with Theo

Fandom: Ikemen Vampire

Pairings: Theo van Gogh x reader 

Genre: Slice o life

Warnings: Mentions of Alcohol and also mild swearing☺

Words: 1500

Comments: So this is my first ikevamp prompt thingy lol its probs ganna be shit cause you best know i didn’t proofread before posting lol(˶◕‿◕˶✿) Also sorry to all the dutch people for butchering the language! Hehe lol so after trying my luck multiple time with @readerinsertfanfiction blind dates,🦋 I still didn’t get my man (Damn those dice!) so I decided to write my own self indulging thingy lol! 😳😳😳

Hehe so I am hella excited for Theo’s route, and I just had to participate in this Theo route countdown! Thanks, @delicateikemenmemes for setting up this fun lil party hehe so it goes without saying I am posting this as part of the #Theo Route Countdown Party! Whoop whoop so without further ado....... my interpretation of the prompt Theo and King ❤😳☺

｡.*:・’ﾟ:｡.*:ﾟ･’ﾟﾟ:。’ .*:・’ﾟ:｡.*:ﾟ･’ﾟﾟ:。’･ﾟ｡.*:・’ﾟ: ｡.*:・’ﾟ:｡.*:ﾟ･’ﾟﾟ:。’ .*:・’ﾟ:｡.*:ﾟ

Sunbeams came streaming into the younger van Gogh’s room. The man groaned as he rolled over to shield his eyes from the morning sunlight illuminating the room. He let out a tired groan as his eyes cracked open to see a scrap of paper containing a neatly written note laying wait on his bedside table. 

Sitting up slightly, he reached over and squinted his eyes, trying his best to quickly scan over the contents of the page through blurred vision. He let out a tired scoff as he crumpled up the paper and let it fall to the floor. 

He laid back down, and he rubbed his temples letting go of yet another irritated scoff, as memories of his previous night out, had come flooding back to him.

He and Arthur were out together, to their usual pub, drinking and venting about the events that had unfolded throughout the day. All was going well when suddenly Arthur decided to be a little shit and propose a bet. He wore a mischievous grin as he declared for all to hear, “whomever passes out first, loses and has to do whatever the winner says for an entire day.” 

Theo eyed Arthur with caution as he contemplated his odds at beating the mystery author. The last thing the man needed was to lose a bet to the flirt. Not even to mention the fact that he has been so busy with work recently, that he hasn’t even spent any time with his dearest pet. 

Shooting Arthur a devilish smirk, he confidently spoke up, “you have yourself a deal, you four-eyed pervert.” 

The night progressed, and the drinks flowed between the two friends, however, little did Theo know that Arthur had a rather naughty trick up his sleeve to ensure success. Arthur had never lost a bet in his life, and he most definitely wasn’t planning on giving up his winning streak now. 

Theodorus sat up in his bed and groaned as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He looked over to see his dearest companion peacefully sleeping at the foot of his bed. His expression softened upon seeing the cute way the retriever’s legs twitched as he slept. Reaching over, he gave the pup a clumsy pat, all while wearing a tender smile. “Looks like you will have to help me make good on a deal, King.” 

Upon hearing his name roll off the tongue of his beloved owner, King shot up and tacked Theo back down onto the bed, showing his face with loving kisses. It was in these rare moments that Theo truly allowed his tough exterior to melt away and reveal his true self. He laughed as he pushed the retriever’s face away from his own, trying to catch his breath. King nuzzled his nose into the palm of Theo’s hand, trying to push past and shower his face with even more kissing licks. 

Suddenly the retriever’s attention was stolen by the slither of crumpled paper laying on the bedroom floor. With lightning speed, he hopped off of the bed and started playfully attacking the piece of paper, tearing it up, to make a scattered mess. Theo couldn’t help but affectionately smile down at King as he pulled his finger through his hair, contemplating just how the lightweight shit bag friend of his, might have been able to out drink him. 

He clenched his jaw and rolled his eyes as he finally got up to prepare for his fate, as loser of the wager. “Curse that rotten good for nothing thot for scamming me.”

After a long drawn out sigh, Theo slithered onto the floor and reached over to the trunk situated beside his desk, to pull out a soft-bristled brush. The second the playful pup spotted his favourite red brush he was sprawled across Theo’s lap, belly exposed, ready for some attention, “You really are an attention whore, aren’t you.” 

King's tail happily swished back and forth as Theo bushed his soft golden fur and showered the lovable creature with attention. Despite not having spent much time with his dear companion, he made a point of it, to at least brush the retrievers silky fur once a day in the mornings. Knowing from experience that the pup would seek attention otherwise from the man, in far more destructive ways. Something his chewed-up leather shoes could attest to.

Theo walked along the Boulevard with King excitingly strutting beside him. King’s long, fluffy tail swished in the air as he excitedly looked around the new environment. Soon the pup’s tail started wagging profusely as they neared the local dog park. Despite having walked around half of Paris with King, it was the first time the pair had visited this particular dog park. 

Catching the whiff and sight, of all the new interesting sights and smells in the unknown environment, the retriever’s excitement only grew tenfold. At this point, the pup was so ecstatic to play with the other animals, that he was practically walking Theo instead of the other way around. 

King pulled at his owner to quicken his pace, “oi King, slow down, you are going to pull my arm from it’s socket.” The pup never relented once, continuing to push forward with Theo in tow. 

Once inside the park, Theo leaned down to release the leash and allow King to run free and expend all his energy. “Try not to cause too much mischief today, buddy.” He ruffled the pup’s fur as he unclasped the leash. The second King was freed, he leapt into the air running off to some unknown direction

Theo could only scoff at his pet’s impatience, although, after watching his beloved companion for a few moments, he couldn’t help but let go of a hearty chuckle. The sight of the retriever bouncing around the park exploring its every corner was simply too cute. 

Soon the slight smile that was resting on Theo’s face morphed into his set point scowl, as he spotted the woman he was supposed to meet, on this blind date. 

Cursing Arthur once more under his breath, he approached the woman. Out of all the things to be asked of the man for losing the bet, this was by far the worst. 

As he neared the woman to introduce himself, King came sprinting back to Theodorus, to show him a cool new stick he had found. 

The retriever ran at full speed bounding into the air to slam straight into Theo’s back, causing the man to fall forward. There was no way to stop gravity once in motion, and Theo found himself tumbling straight into the woman’s arms, sending the pair of them falling back onto the soft grass. 

Theo stared down at the woman mortified, while his beloved companion decided to ease his master’s anger by showering both his owner’s- and the face of the new stranger with small kisses. Theo narrowed his eyes at the dog, who playfully nipped and licked at the poor woman’s face, while letting go of a little whine in apology. 

Before Theo could scold the impertinent pooch, both his and King’s attention was suddenly stolen by the woman trapped beneath the young art dealer. 

She seemed to be in a fit of laughter at the whole experience, trying her best to free herself from King’s loving face kisses. 

Thankful for the distraction King bounded off into a new direction while Theo was left blushing from the embarrassment. He clumsily got up and muttered a slight apology as he offered the woman a hand. 

She smiled a bright sunny smile and shrugged as she continued to chuckle nervously. She gestured for the two of them to sit down on a nearby park bench to which Theo simply nodded, as he tried his best to regain composure. 

He was surprised at the spunk of the woman who sat beside him, chatting away without a care in the world. He had tried his best to deter her with his sharp tongue and scowling attitude. Yet she continued to smile and engage with him, meeting his savage words and comments with a charming wit of her own. 

By the time the sun had started set, Theo was almost sad to leave the company of this mysterious woman. He leisurely walked beside the her as they decided to do one more slow lap around the park together, before saying their goodbyes. 

Suddenly the woman breathed an “oh no” and used Theo as a human shield, upon spotting two excited pups sprinting their way towards the two owners at full speed. Without warning, the Retriever and Labrador duo shook out their sopping wet fur right beside the owners to shower them in an inevitable rain of muddy pond water. 

The pair burst into laughter, as both of them were now soaked to the bone, and left to smell like wet dog and dirty river water. 

After parting ways with the woman and her pet, Theo couldn’t keep that shit-eating grin off his face. Even King was wearing a broad smile of his own, having finally met a pup who could keep up with his high energy curiosity. 

“What do you say bud, should we meet up with those two again sometime?” Seemingly as if understanding his master’s words, King’s tail whipped through the air as he let out an excited bark in response. “Oké dan staat het vast.” 

Since then, whenever Theo and King would visit the dog park, they would each in their own way, excitingly approach the gates in anticipation of the fun day that lays ahead. 

｡.*:・’ﾟ:｡.*:ﾟ･’ﾟﾟ:。’ .*:・’ﾟ:｡.*:ﾟ･’ﾟﾟ:。’･ﾟ｡.*:・’ﾟ: ｡.*:・’ﾟ:｡.*:ﾟ･’ﾟﾟ:。’ .*:・’ﾟ:｡.*:ﾟ

Hope yall enjoyed this ☺❤🌻also this is low key part 2 hehe ☺

Part one will be out on day 3 of the countdown! So the day after tomorrow!🌈

[9r7g5h]

Wronged

AN: Sooooo, it’s been forever since I wrong any kind of fanfic, but the discussion I saw between @dadrielle, @tunemyart, and @ravenclaw-burning inspired me to write this in like, 2 hours, where Gabrielle gets to be angry after bringing Xena back to life. I hope it’s ok that I post this and tagged yall. If not, let me know and I’ll pull it down.

Disclaimer: I do not own Xena.

She knew something was wrong with Gabrielle.

Sure, she was newly risen, but the foggy haze of death hadn’t seemed to have dulled her senses now that she had returned. In fact, lying there in the furs – their furs once more – it felt like the world was even clearer to Xena then it had been before.

She could hear the fireflies on the other side of the clearing, the buzz of their wings growing slightly louder right before their luminescence peaked. She could smell the rushing water almost half a mile, the swirling waves sending up the illusion of crisp rain even through the acrid sting of the smoke from their lowering fire. She could almost taste the scent of the beasts that had walked through the clearing before she and Gabrielle had stumbled into it, tired and dazed from their individual experiences, supporting each other with shaking hands as they tried to find somewhere safe to rest.

So she knew something was wrong. Not just from whatever had happened to Gabrielle, back there in that temple; that was a different kind of pain, one that had had Gabrielle hunched over, her arm crossed tight over her stomach as she fought back the bile and the rising pain beckoning her towards involuntary sleep. Xena wasn’t sure what sacrifice Gabrielle had had to make to bring her back, wasn’t sure just how much of her was now missing.

All she knew was that a token of flesh demanded a payment of flesh, something Gabrielle had willingly paid to bring her back. A payment that, even hours later, still brought her pain, evident in the way she shifted to try and get comfortable, the way she had declined all but the smallest bites of the cheese and bread Xena had dug out from the traveling pack, still showing in the way she flinched when Xena tried to touch her stomach, pulling away from the pain.

However, even with this wrongness and pain radiating from Gabrielle as she tried to heal from whatever had been asked of her to bring Xena back, Xena still knew something was wrong.

It had grown slowly over the last few hours. When she had appeared on the temple floor, naked and covered in what she could only assume were the remains of her own ashes, the reunion had been… not what she had expected, for there was no expecting anything in the land of the dead, just ash and dirt and nothing she had been promised growing up. But it had been something, something she knew Gabrielle would write about in her stories, the way the long lost lovers always reunited.

There had been disbelief – from Gabrielle that her sacrifice had worked, from Xena that she was alive once again. There had been careful hands tracing long since familiar lines of almost forgotten faces, locked eyes almost willing the image to disappear from before them, to be a false hope cursed to them by the few remaining gods. There had been the questions of if Gabrielle was dead, the denial, the reassurance that she was alive, that she was back on earth and the closest she had been to home in almost half a decade.

And then there had been the tears, the broken sobbing as Gabrielle had collapsed into her arms, both from the overwhelming feelings that flooded through her and as whatever she had promised this ancient deity was taken from her, the different pains mixing together to make the almost shattered person Gabrielle temporarily became. Tears from Xena as she pulled Gabrielle against her chest, trying to hold her as close as possible, the memories of her agonizing longing for her love twisting in her chest as she realized they were together once more.

A kiss as Gabrielle pulled her down to her level, finishing whatever pact she had made by breathing literal life back into Xena, a kiss that fulfilled its goal and more as they held each other close and remembered that they were, in fact, alive.

But the moment they had pulled apart, even through the joy that shone in Gabrielle’s eyes, through the pained smile she managed to eek out, through the croaking words of welcome that Gabrielle gave her, there was that wrongness.

Even as they supported each other out of that damned temple, Gabrielle leaning on Xena to walk through the pain, Xena leaning on Gabrielle as she worked to get strength back into her long since dead legs, there was a distance between them. A shying away from her touch as Gabrielle moved, almost a flinch when Xena reached out to steady her. When they had reached the clearing, Gabrielle had almost torn herself from Xena’s grasp, letting herself fall into the pile of furs instead of slowly sinking down, like Xena let herself do.

Even now, lying in the bed, pretending to be asleep, Gabrielle kept a distance between them. She didn’t curl into Xena’s side like she had before, hadn’t moved to rest her head on Xena’s shoulder like she had so many times before.

Instead she laid there, her breathing too calm, too even, for her to be asleep.

She was trying to hide from Xena, and something was wrong.

“Are you alright?”

Gabrielle didn’t jump as Xena spoke, almost as if she had been expecting the words to come. But she didn’t react either, not for a long moment. Even from behind, unable to see Gabrielle’s face, she knew her well enough to know she was thinking, and so she let her think.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were going to die?”

For a moment, she was taken aback. Out of all the questions Xena had been waiting for, that honestly hadn’t crossed her mind as a possibility. She had been expecting questions about the afterlife, questions about the future, questions about how life was going to change and what it would take to adjust back into the life they had had.

She hadn’t expected the simmering anger in Gabrielle’s voice, the dangerous rage simmering right under the surface of her words as she questioned the past.

After a moment, Xena gave a half shrug, a movement she knew Gabrielle couldn’t see, but one she was sure Gabrielle would feel from how the blankets shifted against her back.

“I thought it would be easier. That you wouldn’t struggle so much against what needed to be done if it just happened.”

Once again she was taken by surprise as Gabrielle let out a barking laugh, though no joy was found within the sound. In jerky movements, trying her best to avoid aggravating the pain within her, Gabrielle pushed away the furs and stood, the slip of cloth she had put on after stripping from her bloody and dirty clothes fluttering slightly in the cool wind dancing through the forest.

It was almost angelic, if not for the twisted rage on Gabrielle’s face as she turned to look at Xena, her teeth bared in a grimace Xena had only seen reserved for Gabrielle’s most hated enemies.

It chilled her to be on the other side of that rage.

“So after a lifetime together, I still didn’t have your trust.”

The words were spat with such fury, it almost felt like a slap as Xena scrambled to her knees, her legs still too weak to fully hold herself upright. Instead she tried to meet Gabrielle as best as she could, to talk to her, to try to find the root of Gabrielle’s words the best she could.

“Gabrielle, that’s not-“

Her words fell silent as Gabrielle slapped her hand away, barely blinking as the back of her hand swatted Xena’s, refusing the reassuring hold that Xena had wanted to offer, had wanted to have for her own selfish reasons.

“That’s exactly what happened, Xena,” Gabrielle said, her voice a deadly tone as she spoke. “You decided not to trust me, decided we could never be equals, and left me to die.”

She turned away from the bed, from Xena, and took only a few faltering steps before the pain forced her to stop, half doubling over as she clutched at her stomach.

It wasn’t her words that finally caused Xena to snap, but the pain clearly radiating through her partner, the woman she loved, pain she had never wanted for her, pain she had tried so hard to protect her from, that did her in.

“What was I supposed to do,” Xena snapped, shifting her weight so she was sitting down instead of kneeling, the pressure too much for her newly returned joints. “Leave those souls cursed? Feed them to a demon myself? Or perhaps let them wander in painful agony, unable to move on and find the rest they deserved. Tell me, Gabrielle, what in hell was I supposed to do?”

“Talk to me!”

Neither said anything as they sat there, stilled by their individual and shared pain, waiting for the rustling of frightened birds and previously sleeping creatures to calm after the disturbance of Gabrielle’s cry. Even after it quieted, neither spoke, not for a long moment, until Gabrielle took in a deep breath and moved a bit further away, until she was on the opposite side of the clearing from Xena. She carefully lowered herself down, leaning back against the trunk of the tree, her arm pressed tight across her abdomen as she fought to keep herself from shattering.

“You could have talked to me, Xena.” Her voice was almost hollow, as if she had released all of her anger and rage in that one screamed sentence, though more words still needed to come. “You could have told me your plan. Told me you had to die in order to fight the demon, told me how you planned it. I could have changed things.”

“How?” The word was quick, an almost interruption as she snapped at Gabrielle. She hadn’t made the decision to die lightly, had spent many hours considering all the information she had been able to get, trying to decide the best course of action that would accomplish their goal. She had sent Gabrielle away so she wouldn’t get caught in the explosion, so she wouldn’t die with her. “How would having you there have changed anything, Gabrielle?”

Gabrielle looked at her for a long moment before giving a small, half hearted shrug.

“I could have hidden, let you die, and then used the chakram to drive away the remains of the army. I could have retrieved your body from the battlefield, instead of seeing the woman I loved strung up like a trophy.”

Her voice cracked on that final word, and Xena blanched. She had expected to die, had expected her corpse to be put on some kind of display, but even the eventual fate had been harsh by her standards. It had taken much of her strength to not mourn; not for herself, but for the obvious pain that had radiated through Gabrielle at the sight of her headless body hanging there.

“Gabrielle, I…”

“I could have burned you right then and there,” Gabrielle said, continuing as if she didn’t hear Xena’s words. “I would have had two full days to get to the mountain, two days to find someone who might have known something that we didn’t, Xena. Might have found a way to change things before that sundown, instead of after.”

“After?” The word caught Xena by surprise, her head tilting slightly as she examined Gabrielle. Really, truly looked at her in the fading flames of their fire. The flickering light made it hard, but her senses were strong, and so she could make out the sight before her.

Gabrielle looked tired. There were lines where before her skin had been smooth, her hair was raggedly cut, and she was thin. The thin of hard work, of stress and pain and the inability to rest, not the slightness of strength and travel.

“Akemi told me the only way to save the souls was to stay dead, Gabrielle, so what do you mean by after?”

Another laugh, another hollow sound that didn’t seem like it could come from someone previously so joyous, so happy and loving and full of life. Nothing like the way Xena had seen her last time.

“Akemi lied to you before, Xena. Why did you think you could believe her now? You had to keep the souls safe from the demon so they could move on. Once they had moved on, once you had repaid the debt you owed, you were free. And that debt could have been paid while alive.”

A sense of vertigo, a feeling that she couldn’t breathe, a pounding in her head as she heard the exhausted truth behind Gabrielle’s words, a truth she almost didn’t want to believe.

She had existed under so much guilt, had moved through life with so much pain on her shoulders, she had leapt at the first chance to fix it. Without considering the words Gabrielle let drip from her tongue.

“I talked to people on the way to Egypt, and found so many ways to calm distressed spirits, to send them on their way, to keep them safe from the harm demons could cause. I had to come back. I’ve spent the last five years making amends for your wrongs, Xena, because even if they were at peace they couldn’t move on. They were still stuck. So I set them free. And then found a god that would trade flesh for flesh.”

A fire came back in her voice as she spoke, as Gabrielle pointed out the oh so very obvious piece of information that Xena had missed, that had been hidden from her through Akemi’s cleaver lies. She shifted as she spoke, raising her slip up, showing Xena the newly massive scar that Gabrielle had hidden from her before, the pink and puckered skin almost letting Xena imagine the damage underneath. She knew the placement of organs well, knew where there should be smooth skin and where there should be emptiness, and bile burned in her throat as she examined the scar from across the way.

“Because I love you Xena, even if part of me wishes I had never met you. I can’t hate you forever.”

She still wasn’t strong enough to stand, so instead Xena crawled, crawled on her hands and knees like she hadn’t since her army had put her through the gauntlet, trying to beat her to death with painful blows designed to break everything within her. But even that didn’t compare to the pain of Gabrielle’s words, so Xena crawled until she was before her, looking up to beg at Gabrielle’s feet for forgiveness.

Because this close, she could tell exactly what was wrong, and that wrongness was the fact that Gabrielle hated her.

“I’m sorry.”

There were so many words that Xena wanted to say, so many thoughts and feelings jumbled up inside of her – she should have discussed her plan with Gabrielle, shouldn’t have accepted Akemi’s words so easily when she had proven herself capable of deceit before, should have let Gabrielle pour her ashes into the pool so she could find another way to close over her guilt. Should have, should have, should have –

But she didn’t, and so she stayed on her knees before Gabrielle, looking up at her even though they were almost the same height, the new guilt eating away inside of her almost a pain that she was desperate to fix.

The hardness around Gabrielle’s eyes softened slightly as she looked down at Xena. Bending down, her hand cupping her cheek, Gabrielle pulled her up into a simple, innocent kiss. And even though there was hatred, yes, rage and fury and pain that had come from so much betrayal, there was still love. There was still the love that Xena had defied death for so many times, and the love that had led Gabrielle to giving so much of herself so she could have Xena back.

“Teach me to trust you again,” Gabrielle said as she pulled back, her lips brushing against Xena’s as she spoke, “and maybe I can forgive you.”

A pain in her heart, just as there was pain in Gabrielle’s words, but Xena only nodded, almost desperately, accepting Gabrielle’s terms.

Because there was so much wrongness now, so much broken between them, and if it took the rest of her life, she would try to fix it. Starting with the broken trust that pained them, from the way she had wronged her. 

[xhaotixaesthetica]

Guardian Witch!Hyunjin

Starlink Intergalactic Navigator

You are in: a genetic mutation of The Fantasia Star System 

TRIGGER WARNING: one mention of groping, one mention of a creepy man luring kids in a van, some sexual themes

man this is gonna fuck me up so hard but lezzgettit i need to stop reading jae’s tweets

idk how it works in y’all’s universe, y’all got some weird shit going on that one dude, trump? WILDT

but here in CS2001, witches are a subcategory of demons, so basically you got a guardian demon trailing after you 24/7

guardian witch! hyunjin looks like the above picture, his eyes are like that constantly, but whenever he works any kind of magic, his irises glow

hyunjin is not a subtle bitch and he works magic pretty much 24/7 so either they’re normally constantly glowing or flashing like a fucking neon sign

once when y’all were cuddling and he was staring up at the ceiling, his eyes were just constantly glowing and when you asked about it he said, “I’m protecting you.” all casual like he does this shit all the time which he does sis do you know how many shields and protection spells are around your fucking house

crying rn, where can i get me a guardian witch! hyunjin

hyunjin is v young, esp for a demon, he’s the same age as you, but all the other demons are fucking terrified of him and they never tease him about it except his eight other crackhead demon friends

boy knows some powerful magic, some neutral, some light, and some very very dark

no one outwardly knows if he’s ever offed someone but he never gives a straight answer to the question, only this smug little smirk, and he knows a little too much about some very disturbing curses and torture devices

this is not to say that he’s a bad person, he’s not, he’s like the chaotic good type

because the only people that end up on his shit list are the people who deserve it

that dude who groped you without your consent when you were 13? yeah no one knows what happened to him, hyunjin don’t fuck with that sexual assault shit

the creepy dude in the white van trying to lure kids in that hyunjin happened to spot when he was walking you home from school one day? yeah, he’s missing and a bunch of previously missing kids were recovered the next day

he’s not like a vigilante or an antihero, boy spends most of his time with you anyways, but this shit is everywhere and if he sees it, he’s gonna put a stop to it

there was no big event where you came home and saw him chilling on your bed and threw him out the window in fear if i saw hyunjin’s fine ass on my bed after i came home from school, i’d probs cry and need a bowl of cereal to cope

he was just kinda always with you

demons are notoriously bad parents so when his mom had him, bitch just kind of dipped and he was assigned to you

witches don’t eat, not like humans anyways, they feed off energy, what kind of energy depends on what kind of witch it is

guardian witches feed off the life energy of their person, so as long as you’re alive he is too

growing up, your parents were no stranger to the name hyunjin cause you talked about him constantly but they thought he was just an imaginary friend till you were like seven and hyunjin started his drum faze and he was “drumming along” to linkin park on your father’s office desk at 3am

now they just don’t comment when shit starts floating around the house or you scream at them when they try to sit in a spot where hyunjin’s already sitting

he can actually appear to people if he chooses to, he just likes fucking with your parents, this dumbass thinks their reactions are funny

two of hyunjin’s dumbass demon friends, these little assholes named minho and jisung like to hang around your house and eat all your fucking food, EVEN THOUGH THEY’RE FUCKING WITCHES AS WELL AND DON’T NEED FOOD

they hang around your house constantly, it’s like they live there

it’s lowkey a battle for who can get hyunjin’s attention

now onto YOU and hyunjin

boy is WHIPPDT

he low-key follows you everywhere, not like a stalker, he’ll just find an excuse to go anywhere you go

claims it’s cause you need protection, when really he does, cause this bitch is ready to throw hands at any single loud noise

you and hyunjin are a couple but were best friends long before that and it fucking shows

knows all your orders from every single restaurant, but he doesn’t order it, he just pops it into existence cause he’s lazy and he doesn’t like the way the cashier checks you out when you guys go

jinnie takes his job as your guardian WAYY too seriously

you ain’t going outside in late fall without a jacket, you better be wearing short sleeves in summer, no standing around in the rain you might get sick, ANYONE messes with you at school, you gotta tell him so he can kick their asses

some things hyunjin doesn’t have a solution for but he’ll just be by your side for it and it’s so calming. you got a test? he’s sitting beside you both while you study and while you take it lowkey trying to help you cheat, you might have to hit him a bit or accept his help and cheat, do what you gotta do sis, you won’t need that info later on anyways

you gotta come out to your parents? boy’s right there rubbing circles on your hand with his thumb

you gotta give a speech? he’s in the audience with a foam finger and a fucking banner with your name on it, trying to be stupid and make you laugh

supportive in the most tsundere way

“ooh, that looks cool” he says nonchalantly, looking your talent show dance and pretending like he didn’t just finish putting  up flyers for the show, highlighting your name and crossing out the other contestant’s names and drawing mustaches on them and acting like it was just your fucking solo performance basically

the. CLINGIEST. BABY.

“y/n can we cuddle i had a nightmare :(”

“jinnie....it’s noon and you don’t sleep”

“ >:( HOLD ME YOU DUMB BITCH”

despite how he acts and how clingy he is, this boy is so fucking tsundere and actually quite shy

his eyes glow when you hold his hand cause he still has to perform a silent spell to keep himself from blushing

he pretends to be all aloof when his friends are over

“y/n don’t hold my hand, you have two for a reason, hold your own”

this is said WHILE he’s crawling into your lap and literally drinking from the same cup as you

he’s not reserved about PDA around other demons who aren’t his friends, boy wants them to know you’re taken

“jinnie, what are you doing why are your eyes glowing?”

“i don’t like the way that asshole was looking at you”

“but your eyes only glow when you— HWANG HYUNJIN DID YOU JUST MAKE ME INVISIBLE?!”

“don’t worry we both are”

whenever hyunjin feels really REALLY strongly (anger, lust, happiness, doesn’t matter as long as the emotion’s really really strong), his eyes will glow completely green iris, pupil, sclera the white part for you uneducated bitches, and all

you’ve only seen this happen three times (minus when you have sex, boy’s eyes go green quicker than you can get him on the bed)

the first time was when y’all were fifteen and he realized he loved you

it was stupid, you were literally just about to fall asleep and he was playing with your hair and looked down and was like wow, i would really die for this moron

and his eyes glowed green and he just poofed out of your room and you didn’t see him for two days it was like that video of that cat that ran in and said i love you and then zoomed off real confused cause they couldn’t handle their emotions

the second time was when y’all were 17 and you were the first to say i love you

he. literally. started. crying.

I MEAN BLUBBERING, YOU HAD TO CALM HIM DOWN

cause he still has doubts that anyone could ever really love a demon and he thinks that you’re amazing and you could get any guy you want but you fell for him? that shit just got to him man, he wouldn’t stop saying i love for for like three hours

fight me you dumb bitch, you’re literally a fucking god and you deserve all the love in the world

can y’all tell i love hyunjin, i love hyunjin so fucking much :(

and the third time was when an angel tried to get you to ditch him

they do this shit a lot actually, they don’t agree with the idea of any sort of demon being a guardian so they try to get the human to break the bond and get a guardian angel

and this angel was bold, he walked up to you when hyunjin was right there, the nerve of him >:(

hyunjin’s eyes glowed green as soon as he realized what was happening

“you have three seconds to get the hell away from my human before we have a fucking problem”

he fucking growled the words out

ngl, it was hot, you’d never really seen hyunjin this mad before 

the angel was scared af

yall went home and fucked after, for a loooong time

if you ever want to get hyunjin riled up, call him hyunjin instead of jinnie

his eyes glow green and he does that thing that people do where they like close their eyes and roll their neck around, trying to release the tension from their shoulders and keep themselves under control idk if you know what i’m talking about but it’s so dom, jimin from bts did it once and i think i had a spasm

“yes baby?”

and he’s looking down at you really intensely, like you’re something to eat

you can always tell when he’s in the mood either cause his eyes are glowing or suddenly your name has switched from y/n, love, sweetheart, and loser to baby or prince/ess

MOVING ON

jinnie has an animal form

it is, you guessed it, A SAMOYED DOG

except his fur is as black as his hair and he’s kinda VERY big for a samoyed, and his eyes are green

people who know what samoyeds are and are supposed to look like are kind of freaked out when they see him but everyone else just coos over how cute he is cause he is

he’s a very happy pup, actually likes for you to walk him and take him to the dog park and shit

doesn’t like leashes, but he’ll never admit that he actually likes wearing the collar with your name on it

“i just don’t see why i have to wear it y/n”

“jinnie, you don’t, you made me buy it”

“it’s not like if i can’t find my way home or teleport if the pound picks me up”

“that’s what i said before you made me buy it”

*dramatic sigh* “if you insist, just put the damn thing on so i can go play”

“jinnie, you don’t have to wear it, i really don’t care—”

“ >:( YOU’D BETTER CARE, JUST PUT THE STUPID COLLAR ON Y/N, DON’T MAKE ME CHEW UP YOUR SHOES AGAIN”

even sometimes changes into his samoyed form while you're at school and walks around the street so strangers give him food and pets and tell him how pretty he is

he’s really carefree and happy in this form and usually only changes into it when he’s really stressed or just wants to chill or play

he likes to lay on you in this form big ass mf thinks he’s a fucking lap dog or some shit so you rub his ears and give him pets and belly scratches and will not move until he gets them

lays in sunspots and sways his tail like a cat

not afraid to use the puppy dog eyes and they work everytime

call him a good boy or a good dog and he’ll probably bite you

do NOT play tug-of-war with this damn dog, he does not care that you’re his s/o, he will fucking DRAG you with NO. MERCY

one time y’all were at the mall and he was trotting along beside you in samoyed form, happy as a clam, until some rando person came up trying to spit game

long story short, jinnie peed on their leg

he got an earful that day but he still hasn’t apologized and probably never will

“i had to go y/n”

“YOU COULD’VE CHANGED INTO A PERSON AND GONE TO THE BATHROOM”

“c’mon prince/ss, it’s not like they didn’t get what they deserved, who wants to be flirted with while they’re walking their dog”

his logic makes ZERO sense and he knows it, bub just doesn’t wanna admit he was jealous

and as he’s saying this he’s back hugging you, whispering in your ear, swaying gently, even nibbling on your neck and earlobe a bit

he’s got you wrapped around his finger and he uses that to his full advantage

he thinks you deserve it for stealing his heart >:(, how dare you reader

ANYWAYS THIS IS LONG ENOUGH CAUSE I’M A SUCKER FOR ALL THINGS HYUNJIN

so basically guardian witch! hyunjin is a really chill but really devoted boyfriend, protective af with a heart of gold and would give you the moon and stars but pretends like he would sell you to satan for one corn chip

The Fantasia Star System 

Starlink Intergalactic Navigator

[dndfuckhouse]

Session 19 - your majesty, i present to you the vengaboys

> 🎵  Pianissimo Epilogue / Silent Hill 2 OST

Returning to our tale, the group have all found respite in Vorde’s temporary abode in Shorewater, resting up and recovering from the night's events. Soon morning comes, though with the curtains shut as they are, it's a bit hard to tell that it's now daylight outside as they all slowly come too.

Peering about the group dont spot Vorde about, supposing he’s still in his room. Feeling a hankering for breakfast, Keva and Psalm wander over to the small dining table in the room and the fruit still piled upon it, chowing down. Psalm continues looking at the tome they stole yesterday as he does, continuing to copy runes and scan for any more information as he does.

Keva: keva is cuttin up an apple into slices with a small knife, giving some to amos and setting some aside and occasionally eating a slice Psalm: i'm just cooling at this breakfast table

Rokka begins his morning stretches, Finn sees this and decides to join him as well, Han watches and secretly does her own stretches, trying to not seem as if she wants to join in.

Plum: WHY Han: issues ! Plum: LMFAO Rokka: did our near death experience not bring us closer

In the meantime Plum and Cimmorro prepare their spells for the day, either via quick study or short prayer. Seemingly done with her stretches, Han comes over and joins the two at the dining table to eat (she hoards some of the food after everyone's had some). As the group go about their activities Orin eventually ambles out of him and Finn’s room somewhat drowsy, he takes a seat at the table next to psalm and takes a bite of an apple.

Psalm: good morning orin Rokka: i am crushing an apple in my mouth whole Orin: "mornin'" he looks like hes about to continue but rokka eating an apple whole makes him go : 0 though he quickly sneaks one of Keva’s slices after. Keva: an apple a day keeps the Chip: cult away Psalm: CLEARLY IT DONT

Han heads over to the window to the balcony briefly and opens the curtain ever so slightly to peer outside, looking down she sees the fenced garden of the building, a few birds flitting about in the branches of trees. Craning her head to try and look at the street she doesn't see anybody around. Out of the corner of his eye Finn sees Han move the curtain slightly and quickly becomes on edge before realising all is fine.

Finn: 

Han: LKSAD;LKHFLKHAWEFDS Finn: grimaces @ han opening the curtain and moves slightly. Chip: like a cat Finn: yes! Chip: fur raised Finn: KHJSHEJEHLJ

After a time the group hear some shuffling from the door Vorde disappeared behind last night, it slowly creaks open revealing his form. He walks out and looks about the group of them idling about and rubs his eyes turning and walking to the dining table to also grab an AppleTM, he doesn't sit down though

Han: i am 100% imagining this strained awkward silence Psalm: is he gonna crush it in his bare hands, BAROK VON VORDE... Finn:😳 Han: chip what did we watch dgs FOR Chip: NO

Finn: "morning uncle" finn stares kinda wondering why hes not sitting down but thats not gonna ruin his day Vorde: "morning finnian, i hope waking during daylight hours isnt too much for you" his eyes look sleepy as he speaks Orin: orin swallows his apple and speaks up "take a seat boss!" Vorde: he shakes his head in response "need to stand for a while for the blood to return to my legs" Finn: finn cant help but smile at that and responds "mm not exactly pleasant but i can manage. did you stay up?"

As the two chat Keva takes the moment to go take a quick morning bath, bringing Amos into the bathroom with her to give him a clean as well. Orin watches her take the rat into the bathroom with a face of confusion.

Vorde: "good to know" he pauses "hmm yes, I’ve been working through the night on how to present our case to the royalty, im going to be needing you all to speak as well once were before the court, merely on the things that prove you weren't responsible for the assassinations. We've the evidence to back up our claims so im not too worried. Of course if the royalty calls upon you you're each to respond in kind as well.” Finn: source: trust me Han: han hmms

Vorde seems to stretch slightly after finishing his apple and finally takes a seat at the dining table with the others, crossing his legs as he sits. 

Vorde: “My plan is thus; gain entry to the palace and an audience with the royalty, once there reveal the truth that the Red Letterhead’s machinations are the true cause for all this strife and go from there, i intend to warn them that Theyord’s apparent plans are about to be put into motion soon as well” he glances back over at his room “i will be presenting and handing over the items we have procured this far, including the tome" he glances at you psalm "hopefully it will be proof positive enough, should the archmage be around she won't find ive anything to hide on the matter”

He takes a quick sigh and rubs one of his eyes “I'm not sure what the royals will decide after that, I imagine they will put further efforts in place regarding the protection of the city and its walls, they should in anycase. If we are free to walk after we can investigate madam Shelly Carter’s lead after, perhaps we may request aid for the task as well, though I'm sure they will be hard pressed to spare much after such a threat to the city has been revealed. They’ll want all hands on deck”

Finn: finn nods and just thinks "man my uncle is so smart and cool. what a solid plan." Cimmorro: 🤨 Plum:

Han: a lot seems to be hinging on the royals kind nature Vorde: true, they arent benevolent but i dont think they're idiots either. It would be hard to ignore the items we've gathered. As well as the presence of a time limit Han: .... not that we have a better plan, but were i in that position, i just throw us in jail, less loose ends Psalm: Here's to hoping they don't just jump to conclusions hm? ^_^ Han: "what might we think to do then" said at the group kinda Plum: dunno, never busted outta jail before

The group decide that if worse comes to worse they’d prefer to try and figure out a plan to jailbreak themselves rather than resist the guardsmen and die trying. They also bring up the fact that they still currently think the mayor and Vinny are still compromised or under Theyord’s influence, and to keep it in mind. Keva leaves the bath around soon after and rejoins the group discussion.

Vorde: he continues, blinking slowly “hmm yes i forgot to specify, we are going ahead with the prisoners plan. However it won't be good for me to parade you all through the street even if you are ‘restrained’, it would be best if we could appear right before the guardsmen at the palace so the closest place for them to lock you up if they decide too is within the palace itself. I should state if they do haul you away, I advise you not to resist, with the city on guard as it is it will be nigh impossible for you to escape anywhere. If I do my job right you will be out within half an hour I suspect and brought to the court if you are carted off, that is what I plan anyway.” he pauses "ill do my best to stick with you however" Han: HAN BREATHES A LONG BREATHE X2 Psalm: “Appreciated. Always good to have friends in higher places for this kind of thing, rather than muscle your way out of it “ @ han Han: neither of those things seem to go well for me Psalm: he just shrugs

Vorde: he unclasps his hands and continues speaking "speaking of, are any of carrying any rope on your person" Han: shibari time huh Cimmorro: bondage ti Keva: keva asks "what for" Vorde: aforementioned restraints

Cimmorro: "yall don't have rope in this house??" 🤨 Vorde: 🤨 vorde like no bro Cimmorro: damn ok sorry Chip: [cimm leaves the room] Cimmorro: KGJFLSDKJGKLSFG

Rokka hands Vorde a few lengths of rope from his pack to tie the group up with in their fake prisoners ploy, satisfied Vorde then tucks it away for later. He then brings up another concern he seems to have on his mind.

Vorde: he turns to you Finn with his brows furrowed “I am not sure...if I ought to bring you along Finnian. It is best we act swiftly which does mean leaving during daylight. You could stay here, though perhaps i ought to leave Orin with you. Best if you weren't alone after what happened a week back.” Finn: finn also furrows his brows and ponders his uncles words for a moment. "is it only because of the daylight uncle?" Vorde: he thinks for a moment "i suppose so"

Finn asks Orin to then go check and see how harsh the sunlight out today seems, he obliges, getting up to carefully sneak his way past the curtain as the group continue discussing the matter.

Han: han glances btwn vorde n finn quizzically "what happened a week ago" Finn: i exchange looks with vorde as to telepathically ask whos gonna answer her. Vorde: he looks at you finn and sighs before turning back to you han, tapping the table with one finger "when we first arrived in Shorewater and began poking around we were sent an uninvited visitor" Han: who Vorde: an assassin Han: han rolls her eyes "yes i got that but. any identifying features" Vorde: i found a letterheads token on him, though he was dressed as a guardsman. No ring so i assume he killed someone and stole their clothes to find passage to our room. Nothing else stood out about him. Han: han hmms thoughtfully Chip: geralt hmmm Han: yea, the energy im channelling today

Han: he didnt return and they didnt send anyone else to finish the job. cocky Vorde: [a nod] Psalm: or maybe with their ceremony on the horizon they decided they needed everyone focused on the same goal? Han: which is, in a word, cocky Psalm: sure if you want to put it that way

Han: "wait what did you do with the body" @ vorde Vorde: dumped in the sewers Han: han goes HHHRMMNH fwustwated

Orin returns and informs Finn and the gang that it appears to be cloudy out today, they should be good if Finn covers up with heavy cloaks. Finn thanks him and tells his uncle it should be alright for him to come with them, though he wouldn't mind staying back if that is what he preferred.

Vorde: vorde like hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm 

Psalm: “wouldn't it be safer to stick with a group in that case?” with his nephew there maybe he'll try harder to make things not go badly for us! 🙂 Plum: i also think it'd be kinda bad to be here alone, not like they didn't see us all runnin around Vorde: "i suppose it is better to stick together in this case" he looks at you finn "try not to horse around too much in the daylight" vorde worried parent mode engaged Finn: finn gives a big smile "got it!". >finn feels cared for friendship meter goes up Vorde: hmm, it would be more convincing in any case if i wasnt the only one bringing a group of fugitives to the palace. Finnian and Orin could make also have hold of the restraints.

Finn now assured that he is coming along, heads off into his room to quickly bulk up for the outside journey. Donning three three cloaks, the heaviest on top, thick black gloves and boots, a big sunhat and a scarf to protect his neck, he waddles back out into the main room where the party is situated.

Keva: keva's mouth seems to wiggle as she tries not to laugh Vorde: as you wander out and present yourself, vorde walks up to you and inspects your ensemble, after a moment he adjusts your scarf so it covers you mouth more and hmm's satisfied Orin: orin shouts a "looking good!" from across the room and snorts at keva Keva: keva shoots orin a look back like "what" and her smile breaks thru a little more before she fixes her face Plum: plum gives you a thumbs up Finn: "thanks uncle!!" finn beams @ vorde and looks at plum and orin and also shoots them a grateful smile

Vorde stretches again slightly, seemingly finally more awake then before, he informs the party to ready themselves to set off. They’ll get as close as they can to the palace before putting on the restrained charade, informing them they need to only disguise themselves well enough for a 5 minute walk through some alleys. Heading back into his room he begins preparing the evidence within his satchel and making himself presentable, the party following suit in trying to look conspicuous.

Keva: keva ties up her wet hair and pulls her hood and face mask up Han: han braids her hair and throws up cape too Psalm: (uses disguise kit) for good measure i just pull my hood up too Cimmorro: i'll just take off all the flashy jewellery and keep the hood up if that suffices Rokka: DISGUISE RING...

Rokka uses the disguise ring stolen from the letterheads to once again turn himself into a different human form, Chris Rokksworth, pop sensation. Plum asks the group if they oughta down the red potion they found earlier to change their hair colour.

Plum: can i just drink that weird potion and call it a day Han: angery ronand mcdoland Keva: 

Psalm: i don't see why not, i'm hard pressed to think of a better time to use it Han: han shrugs in a ye sure way Plum: [looking very excited] "ok yeah sure" i chug that shit

you pop open the red bulbous vial and drink the airy liquid. slowly youre hair turns red, additionally your tongue does as well. 

Rokka: cool hair plum Finn: i give a thumbs up back at plum for earlier.

Vorde walks out of the room once more, he almost seems surprised seeing Rokka as a person but doesn't comment, he also doesn't say anything about plums hair. Satisfied with the disguises he heads for the balcony window, informing them its better if theyre not all seen exiting the front. He slides open the curtains and clicks open the doors, peering out for witnesses before he motions for the group to all follow him as he hops down. Orin adjusts his cloak and follows quickly after.

Rokka: vorde am i hot, am i hot to u vorde

> 🎵  Aequilibrium. Medieval Tune. Hurdy-Gurdy With Organ / Andrey Vinogradov

The group quickly follow after the two sliding down the side of the building, though psalm seems to hitch his hooves on some stonework, nearly chipping them oww....his pedicure. The rest make it down quick enough and follow as Vorde begins leading the way through the shadowed alleys, as stealthily as they can to avoid detection from the increased patrols. Vorde keeping the lead and lookout helps the group manage to get by without sticking out too much.

Finally they all slowly come to a stop at an alley corner, as they come close they steal a glance at the palace, it looks as regal in the daylight as it did on the night the group all first stood before it, its peaks reaching high into the sky. The large light blue and white extravagant building dwarfs their forms, though it no longer has the inviting warm glow and festive aura as it did before. Guards stand alert and in a large number around the streets and on top of the walls, the main gates firmly shut with two royal guardsmen stationed in front of it at the top of the stairs leading up to it. Vorde quickly calls the group to attention.

Vorde: “follow my lead and don't put up too much of a fight, be sure to make sour enough faces to be convincing however, at least until you’re called before the court” he pulls the rope out of his satchel Keva: keva's face sours upon seeing the ropes come out no problem Han: hans been sour this whole time no worries bruv, i also keep a look out, like hans basically constantly alert and trying take in every little thing Psalm: psalm just stoic face as per usual, elevator music Rokka: im a celebrity im good at this, jk rokka is nervous af Plum: i always look kinda sour anyways Cimmorro: 😳 cimm like this Chip: cimm a freak like dat Psalm: LOOOL Cimmorro: oh no you caught mee, what ever shall i do, arrest this Plum: shut up shut up Han: cimm 😳 damn u pulling out ropes on the first date?

Vorde moves to hand some of the rope to Orin and they get to tying the six of the groups hands up, not too tightly but convincingly enough. He hands the rope holding Keva and Psalm off to Orin, and Han and Rokka to Finn, holding Plum and Cimmorro’s in his own. 

Vorde: "right then, plays about to begin, stay calm and follow my lead" he gives orin and finn both a nod Han: han nudges rokka to get his attention Rokka: tilts head at han ? Han: han points to vorde and makes a stupid face while pretending to talk seriously Rokka: rokka tries to stifle his laughs Finn: finn peeks out from under his scarf and squints Han: han stops immediately if she sees finn looking Rokka: rokka making snorting sounds from failing to not laugh Finn: I WAS GONNA WRITE THAT FINN HAS A SOMEWHAT APOLOGETIC LOOK BUT THEN YOU SENT THAT POKI Han: han is the picture of innocence Finn: finns rolls his eyes and turns his attention elsewhere

Psalm: well this works out pretty nicely doesn't it, since i've been kind of curious about you. Orin: he just raises a brow Keva: keva looks at psalm Psalm: he just smiles Ghester: [plays laughtrack.mp3 in ur head] Psalm: well i'm not the most learned person out there, but i was a bit curious how you came to start working for vorde is all Keva: you ask a lot of questions for someone who doesn't answer them Psalm: i think you're misunderstanding, i'm not asking anything. if i had an answer there'd be nothing to be curious about. Keva: keva makes a face like you're just saying words at her psalm Psalm: psalm just sighs Orin: “i dont mind telling you, its nothing special. Maybe after we get through court though" he looks back at you keva "no need to be so cagey about it really" Psalm: i highly doubt that it's nothing special. and i don't think there's been a time where she hasn't been cagey around me i think. Keva: oh don't go thinking you're special Psalm: oh i'm not? now i'm even more hurt  

Cimmorro: "so how are we feelin today" cimm attempts to nudge plum gently but ends up hitting their head with his elbow accidentally,  oh shit sorry your wig Plum: [GROANS REALLY LOUDLY] Cimmorro: well at least we're able to play the sour part of this play eh, all according to keikaku [editors note: keikaku means plan] Plum: always, not hard with this group Cimmorro: agreed. hey at least we're having the thrill of our lives eh? who knew we'd have a one way trip to life sentence. free! Plum: i honestly.... Cannot tell if you're joking Cimmorro: 

Plum: [plum laughs] Vorde: while looking for a chance to head out of the alley he listens to the two of you like : | Cimmorro: vorde not being paid enough by the hour to baby sit cimm

Rokka: dont make me laugh im trying to be nervous Han: "whats there to be nervous about, really" han has a weak smile lmao Rokka: life sentence Han: "just gotta break out then" nudges rokka again Rokka: "ur right. ur so smart han" rokka visibly relaxes as he talks to han more aha Han: han laughs quietly "wish i had someone nice like you for a sibling instead of shitheads" Rokka: no stopping that now Han: after han finally Gets it, shes trying not to look like [crying emoji] then looks away kinda shy? "...they arent. complete shitheads......... i think you would get along nicely with'em" Finn: finn eavesdropping @ han, inch resting Rokka: I'd love to meet them one day if we make it out of this Han: "we will. i have to knock the life out of one of them" han smiles Rokka: how many siblings do you have Han: han loses her smile a touch and hesitates a sec b4 answering "...two now." Rokka: now..? Vorde: out of the corner of your eye you all see vorde come to attention and speak "its as empty as it'll be, nows the time to get as far as we can. were on" he shoots you all a glance. Rokka: rokka shoots a quick concerned glance at han before facing forward again

Vorde pulls the two behind him ahead on the ropes and marches proudly into the street, walking at a speedy pace followed by Orin and Finn, the group gets as far up the stairway to the main gates as possible before the entourage is spotted by the various nearby royal guardsman.

Immediately they hear a few shouts ahead of them as the two royal guards by the door call out to Vorde to halt, looking the group also notice the guards on the walls train arrows on their forms. Behind, nearby guards quickly run up to flank the group, surrounding them.

Keva: keva tenses up as the guards approach Han: han too, also making note of fucking everything, how many people, exits, all that shit Rokka: rokka also does the tense Plum: plum stands a little closer to cimm and vorde Psalm: psalm is also just scoping the place out for good measure

Vorde: he clears his throat before speaking loudly and plainly “I, Vorde Barvotte of Antessa, have found and bring to you now, the assassins and wanted fugitives responsible for the carnage during the Elfonsent Ball but not a few nights ago” he continues a little less loudly with his brow furrowed “I bring grave news regarding their actions and future plans of attack on the city, i demand to be brought before the nobility and kings at once to relay this pertinent information immediately” the two royal guardsman in front of him pause for a moment and eyeball the group behind him bound in ropes.

Han appears to get the stink eye specifically from one of the guardsmen before the guard on the right, presumably the guard captain speaks up.

Guard Captain: “there are only 5 assassins left alive to my knowledge 'good' sire, and wasn't one of em' a lupin?” she turns her head to the other guard as if to ask for confirmation, he nods his head. Vorde: he clasps his hands together before responding “it appears you were not thorough enough in your investigation of the body then guard captain, it is of dire importance this error is rectified wouldn't you agree? as for the second question" he looks over at finn and gestures for him to bring chris rokksworth pop sensation forward Han: pop sensation chris rokksworth cant be bad! hes a star! Rokka: silly! hes just getting into his new movie role!

Finn brings Rokka forward as prompted by Vorde, reaching for Rokka’s bound hands Vorde pulls off the ring shifting his form immediately back to his lupin one.

Vorde: "These assassins are crafty wouldn't you say, hiding their faces to avoid detection." he gives you a quick look rokka that to you seems like hes saying gj bro Rokka: rokka just makes a surprised face :OOOOOOO

Satisfied, Vorde turns curtly and pushes Rokka back to where he was standing before, turning back to the guard captain. She squints at him and then quickly turns and raises her arm, ordering the nearby guardsman to examine the tied up members of the party for any weapons.

Han: han probably has all her weapons on her.... she grits her teeth over this lol, han glaring dagger into whoever has her stuff lmao Rokka: [nooo dont confiscate my swords] Keva: keva scowls as a guard approaches her and pats her down Han: eat shit copper

Orin tries to give Keva and Psalm placating looks throughout the process while not being obvious. The six members of the party have all their physical weapons removed from their persons. The guardsman on the right clears her throat seemingly satisfied with her appraisal and shouts at the guards on the walls to lift the gates, as she does Vorde gives the group a barely noticeable nod and continues speaking.

Vorde: “I must be bring them all before the nobility themselves as soon as possible, their testimony will be important for what i am to tell the royalty, i cannot explain their actions without them and the imminent threat to the city without them”  Guard Captain: she responds with a curt “you want to bring assassins before the kings for a second time?” Vorde: they are bound and weaponless, they couldn't hurt more than a fly as they stand now, beaten and docile. I'm sure you’ve a great manner of ways to check before they are brought anywhere near the nobility but i stress, i must speak to them with all of the fugitives present. It is of the greatest importance

The group watch the main gates slowly rise as Vorde speaks, hearing the grunting of guards nearby as they work it open. They’re all ushered ahead by the guardsmen behind them to walk through the gates. Stepping over the threshold they feel a wash of something pass over them as they enter the perimeter of the palace before moving along. 

Ghester: In the back of your head Psalm you hear Ghester make almost what sounds like a grunt of pain before hearing him whisper “....nasty enchantments in place now i see” Psalm: psalm's just looks at orin like eh could be worse, oh wait

Psalm: psalm just tries to mask cough asking ghester "are you alright?" in infernal Ghester: you hear a strained hmm as he speaks "nothing that will kill me but it shall be a persistent pain for a while i suppose, im being forcefully restrained is how i would put it. dont worry, i'll do my best to keep a watchful eye" Psalm: quietly "hmm, i wasn't that concerned about them taking my stuff but knowing that i guess i should be. although i can't really say i'm surprised they'd have you covered too." Ghester: he gives a dreary sigh Psalm: what do you want me to kiss it better? tough it out man! you're like a million years old aren't you? Ghester: he doesn't respond Psalm: * slightly concerned *

Keva: keva's gone from staring warily at the guards to staring at psalm talking to himself Han: 🤨 Psalm: psalm like why y'all staring at me Han: cant a man talk to himself every once in a while Psalm: thats what im saying

As the group walk through they all hear the guard captain Vorde is speaking to respond with a “we’ll see” before she pulls another guard over and motions for them to run ahead of the group with a message.

They quickly take off, the guard captain then turns and motions for Vorde and the entourage to follow close behind. The group are all ushered through a grand main garden, blooming flowers of yellow and blue and large plants bracket the main pathway. They feel plenty of eyes on then as they’re lead through the grounds.

> 🎵  Dark Medieval Blues. Hurdy-Gurdy, Organ & Drum / Andrey Vinogradov

The group is pushed towards the main palace entrance doors and a grand entrance foyer, flanked by royal guardsmen as they enter. There are a number more than there were during the Ball they notice as they’re are ushered down a tall corridor to the right, the royal guardsman marching along with them the whole way.

Eventually in one of the corridors they are brought to a stop. Soon after the messenger that was sent ahead earlier rushes back, as he heaves out of breath the guard captain mutters an impatient “and…?” he stands puffing before sidling up to whisper in her ear, she makes a sour face afterwards.

Guard Captain: “You’re to be examined before i bring you before the court” she points at a nearby door “inside” 

The group are once again hauled through by the guards. They find themselves led through a door to what appears to be an old and ornate looking library, though somewhat messy looking, before being ordered to sit upon a set of chairs lined up near a long wooden table.

The ceiling here is high and there are various potted plants strewn about the tall cases of old tomes, ladders with wheels on the bottom are affixed to the large wooden bookshelves. Orin seems to be looking about the large room with curiosity as if he cant help himself.

Psalm: psalm is same he's basically like "oh shit! books!!" Han: han keeps glaring at the guard who took all her shit n gritting her teeth Finn: finn also letting his eyes wander a little around the room Keva: keva also looks around and takes it all in warily

After a few minutes of waiting you all see the door open again as a woman wearing a large hat with aqua toned skin steps through, fins sprouting from her face.

Han: han briefly looks at her, then does a double take.  Rokka: anxiety sky rockets

Han: han wolf whistles smh she’s a chad dont be stupid Psalm: PLEASE NO Han: NO NO AS;LKHFDLKHWADS;LKF IM KIDDING IM KIDDING Cimmorro: KVLDJSKGJSDKLG\ Han: u can keep me in these cuffs baby girl (winks) Psalm: psalm throws up Plum: [retches] Han: this is why han only gets laid when she pays Psalm: OH MY LORD WHAT A THING TO SAY LMFAO Chip: she fucks but at what cost (25 gold) Han: 25 GOLD, DAMN

The woman appears as if she's a triton, the race typically live underwater they suppose shorewater is located on the sea, not strange for the people to make their way into the politics of the country on the oceans doorstep.

Carrying papers with her they note that she appears to be formally dressed, though they aren't quite sure of her station. She moves towards the table with a nod and places the notes and items she seems to be carrying down with a quick huff and turning to the guardsman

Mardella: “I’m here to examine the accused, i shall cast a general spell then probe further if i need too” as she speaks she brushes an errant hair behind one of her fins. Han: raise ur hand if u dont wanna get zone of truth-ed Plum: I DO I DO I WANNA GET ZONE OF TRUTHED MAKE THIS NIGHTMARE END I'M INNOCENT Han: AKLDSF;LKHRAWLKHHESGDLKAW;LKJ4F all my charm spell nightmares coming to life

Mardella: turning to the three not seated she continues “I am guessing you are Vorde Barotte then?” Vorde: he gives a small bow in response “yes that is correct” Mardella: she hmms and continues “I am curious as to how you apprehended them all when the guardsman had such difficulty, but you seem to express a great desire to speak before the kings themselves so i will leave the needling for the moment” she turns back to the rest of you seated in the chairs “right then this shall take me some time”

She moves to sit at the long table and picks up the papers she was holding. Just then the group also notice she also has a quill and a pot of ink near her. She quickly gets to work drawing notes of some sort before standing.

She walks back to the 6 of them and speaks casting a spell, she seems to grip something at her neck glowing a white light for a moment before relenting. She casts the Zone of Truth of spell, affecting all of them except for Psalm and Cimmorro. Should they speak now they can only respond truthfully.

Psalm: i almost wished cimm failed that just to force him to speak properly Plum: cimm says peenus weenus fr and this woman is like, i am in the presence of a complicated mind... a puzzle box Cimmorro: JKGSDGJSG now everyone's in MY world Chip: lets start with your childhood cimmorro Cimmorro: AM I AT THERAPY? Han: YES

Mardella: she clasps her hands in front of herself and speaks "i shall ask you a series of questions, i expect you to cooperate with this process" she pauses and continues "are any you of currently under the effects of a spell, intended to deceive?" Keva: no Plum: nah Psalm: as far as i am aware, no Han: no Rokka: nope Cimmorro: nope

Han: laughs over the differences n similarities in our responses Psalm: that’s rp babey! Plum: tag urself

Mardella: she hmms and continues "are any of you still carrying weapons or contraband on your person" Han: han grits her teeth "i fucking wish" Keva: no Psalm: no Cimmorro: nope Rokka: nope :( Plum: no Cimmorro: plum sitting there thinking "is this illegal? fuck if i know" (re their pink medical potion) for 30 seconds before answering

Mardella: she continues "do you harbour ill intent towards the royalty of this country" Plum: no Keva: no Han: no Rokka: never Psalm: no Cimmorro: not yet i dont :d Plum: LFAMOGOGOO Han:;KHAS;LKDF;AWEFD Cimmorro: DONT TEST ME Chip: cimmorro cringe compilation Psalm: @ cim

Cimmorro: LKBF;DBCVB,SB.,S Han: we are all testing her patience,  cimm and han 🤝 at their wits fucking end Cimmorro: they find truce. Once

Mardella: she gives you a look cimm and continues "how long ago did you arrive and shorewater, and for what purpose" Keva: 2 weeks. i’m looking for someone Plum: a few weeks ago, came here to talk to vorde Rokka: nearly a month, im just exploring Psalm: a little under two weeks. and i'm just here for a change of scenery Cimmorro: came around 2 weeks back or so. just passing by really, pilgrimaging Han: almost 5 seasons. my friend left me here to find myself

Mardella: she humms "and a final one, were you all here on the night of the Elfonsent Ball?" Han: yes Keva: yes Cimmorro: yup Psalm: yes Plum: ya Rokka: yup

Mardella: satisfied she nods and unclasps her hands "thank you for complying" 

The woman walks back to the end of the table where she placed her papers and begins to draw with the ink and quill, what look like runes of a sort, whispering under her breath, they figure shes slowly casting another spell.

They sit in silence under the watch of the guardsman, about ten minutes pass before she seems to finish, a quick glow bursts from her hands and she stands once again, coming to scrutinise them all. She then slowly examines them all one by one from a distance, making her way down the line before stopping after a time, seemingly satisfied.

Mardella: “I’ve not detected anything suspicious in the way of magic for now” she stands and dusts her dress slightly “i shall go and inform the kings, lead them to the court hall once you are ready” she turns and gives Vorde a slight bow before standing and leaving the room. 

Han: oh that was a detect magic not identify, i was like how is psalm not pinging -  warlock pact Cimmorro: psalm big dong pinging under the radar of mommy Psalm: yeah everything about that is horrible jez Chip: psalm back on pornhub Psalm: everything about what you just said is terrible, GOD, THIS IS LIKE THE THIRD TIME Plum: jez, jez i will beat you one day Cimmorro: Nicj9jjoflkeneje

The guard captain satisfied, motions for the guards to haul the group out of the room and back through the palace, the other three following close behind. Once more they are led through the tall corridors of the palace into a more minimalistically decorated area, though it seems everywhere in this place is covered in plush long carpets. Eventually they are all brought before a large set of double doors, taller than themselves, and brought to a stop. 

The guard captain stands at attention before them all, bringing Vorde, Finn and Orin in front of the group, before turning and lightly knocking on the door. A moment passes and soon after what they assume to be a secretary of sorts sticks his head out and whispers in her ear before leaning back inside and closing the door.

Plum: [fidgeting] Rokka: [fidgeting] Han: han is stoic tense n grimacing the usual Keva: keva's like, lightly scuffing the plush carpet with a shoe as she looks around Psalm: psalm sneezes Chip: ghester doesn't say bless you

Guard Captain: she turns back to you all and speaks “You have been granted an audience with the kings, the princess, the archmage and the high arcane adviser. You will speak when spoken too and keep your hands to yourself, if i notice but a hair out of place, you're out the door. As for the rest of you-” she cranes her head “try anything again and we’ll gut you where you stand, am i clear?” Plum: i heard one of the kings is really hot, IM JK Han: KKHDA;SLKHFALKHEFDS Cimmorro: JDJFKROEDLDM so ure saying hes not? 🤔

> 🎵  The Great Cross-Examination ~ Allegro 2015 / The Great Ace Attorney OST

The guard captain turns and pushes open the doors walking ahead. Vorde, Orin and Finn follow after her as the rest of the group are pushed along behind by the royal guardsman. They all enter what looks like a large chamber, a small set of stairs leading down into a large circle with an ornate design in its centre, tall pillars along either end. At the centre hanging over the centre of the large circle is a lit chandelier, clean in its design.

Across and up another set of stairs appears to be 5 seats, two more ornately decorated than the others, each sat upon by a person flanked by stone statues. The two kings Jermiah and Peruvus Argotts, sit in the two at the centre, flanked by princess Forrin Argott. Next to them sits a gnome in ornate garb, and the woman from earlier, Mardella. 

The chamber has a set of royal guardsmen lined up on either end of the wall at attention, the group is slowly led down to the centre of the room as the guard captain in front of them speaks, head bowed low.

Psalm: A GNOME? :pogchamp: WE'VE BEEN KONGED Plum: GNOME COOL Cimmorro: DAMN TGIF THANK GNOME ITS FRIDAY Han: 

Rokka: SDFCGVHBJKL Cimmorro: THANKS POKI

Guard Captain: your majesty's, i bring Vorde Barvotte of Antessa and his associates, as well as the 6 fugitives wanted for the events that occurred during the Efonsent Ball” she then steps back and aside, allowing Vorde, Finn and Orin to stand facing the court instead. “He claims to have pertinent information regarding their plans and a future plan of attack upon the city, he desired to relay this directly to the court.” The eyes of the five soon land on Vorde as he folds his arms behind his back.

Jeremiah: the king consort speaks up first “Well no need to keep us in suspense sire, speak freely. Mind we are a bit on edge at the moment so if possible it would be well for us to keep this audience brief” Turen: you hear the gnome woman speak up soon after him with a sigh “better for us to be taking no audiences at this time with the work to be done right now” Forrin: The princess responds soon after “we can't turn down any information at this time Turen, even if it ends up being a farce. Though I doubt the good sir would jeopardise himself so readily in such a precarious time, correct?” she tilts her head slightly with a glance at Vorde. Vorde: He responds with a small bow and a brief “of course your highness” Jermiah: he once again waves his hand as if prompting Vorde to begin speaking once more. Cimmorro: speak now thot Plum: plum is just listening to them say words and not absorbing any of it,  just thinking i am looking at the faces of the rulers of this country right now, i wonder what my parents would think Finn: finn looking at these people like man theyre richer than us Cimmorro: we start dancing behind him, interactive presentation Han: we start doing fortnite dances Psalm: psalm is also like hmm wonder what my parents would think, how did i end up here

Vorde: standing straight again he begins “I bring important news of dire events but more notably i must stress an important detail first. The 6 fugitives behind me stand accused of heinous crimes towards the court and the sanctity of this city and country, but I've proof they were merely innocent bystanders who were used. Their faces stolen to be equipped as masks in crimes against this country” He straightens his back slightly before continuing “On my person i have a pieces of evidence that point towards the true culprits behind the attack on your persons your majesty’s, a cult known by the moniker ‘The Red Letterheads’ who deal in disgusting acts for a purpose i do not fully understand myself yet” 

 As Vorde speaks the group see the 5 sitting in front of him watch with rapt attention, he details the evidence they’ve all found and presents his satchel, leaving it upon the ground for examination as he speaks. The guard captain takes the satchel and walks it to the gnome Turen and Mardella who begin to examine its contents. 

> 🎵  Joint Reasoning (Type A) / The Great Ace Attorney OST

Throughout his monologue he turns to each member of the party to provide testimony or speak upon the things they have seen and encountered over the past few days to prove their innocence, and the letterheads being the true culprits before leaving the closing argument to Finn.

Han: uses her outlander feat to provide testimony explaining the groups movements precisely retracing their steps and describing the letterheads place

Psalm: persuades them that the night started with the group being either hired as vinny's bodyguards or brought along as his +1's and the reason why they chose them for doppelgangers was because they were apparently easy targets

Plum: talks about the fact that they only came to shorewater to talk to vorde and then was going to fuck off back to talornia or wherever - they say "fuck off back to" and then are like ah oops

Keva: say she was talking with silversoul and was in his vicinity during the attack, so she saw him stabbed and wasn't around vinny who her doppelganger was seen stabbing bc she was across the ballroom -  [ psalm jumps in on keva's point to say that he had seen the letterhead member that stabbed vinny before she disguised herself as keva and that they later apprehended her and got information out of her ]

Rokka: mentions that he was speaking to vorde with han and plum at the ball,  BRO IM JUST A JOCK

Cimmorro: speaks precisely about the methods of necromancy the group saw, including the undead zombies and the blood clones.

Finn: for the closing statement he emphasises keva’s testimony re:gintama and cimmorro’s regarding the blood clones. Tying that in with the evidence the group  have and making it clear that the real perpetrators have pressing motives that need to be investigated with utmost urgency

> 🎵  The Old Bailey ~ Closing Argument / The Great Ace Attorney OST

Finn eventually closes out the argument, nervously taking a breath as he finishes speaking. In front of them the group watch as the court thinks of the things the party has relayed, most of them with their brows furrowed. 

Psalm: i hope this turns into a "glad we brought him!" situation Cimmorro: PLZ 🥺

Peruvus: finally he speaks up “So this is true then? I had suspicions this was part of a greater plot but it appears to have become all the truer with every word you’ve spoken.”  Jeremiah: “The inconsistencies within your testimony make sense if the culprits were in fact doppelgangers, a cult hmm” looking at you Finn he continues "you said his name was Theyord?” Han: han zones out for a sec and then goes "i believe he also went by ansam?" Finn: finn pulls down his scarf slightly. "Indeed. But my uncle has a better account of this, if you do not mind him relaying it in my place." and just. eyeballs vorde. motioning for him to take over. Cimmorro: this is finn the whole time but crying

Vorde: Yes, your majesty, i think in a previous life he may have gone by the name Ansam, i'm unsure of its relevance at the moment Jeremiah: at that he seems to think for a moment before frowning and putting a hand to his face to think, not speaking after. Turen: next to him the archmage speaks up “This tome is certifiably filled with black magic, the kind you often dont see used on the material plane by living creatures because of how complicated the runes are. If this cult's patron is Mephisto then that is most certainly where they got these litany of spells, he just gives them out to anyone who asks now? This devil gives me a headache…” she turns towards the three standing members of royalty before continuing “i can confirm the contents of this tome are indeed teemed toward necromancy and mind control, it may explain a few things. The enchantments on these items feel like the scratchings of the desperate” she looks over at you cimmorro "seems he knows what hes talking about" Cimmorro: cimm just looks back at them like <:3c

Keva and Han attempt to study the king consort’s reaction to the name Ansam but dont get much aside from the fact that he recognises it, theyre unsure how affected he is right now by its mention. Han does note that the 5 seem to be seriously considering the groups argument, seems Finn’s closing argument was quite strong. 

Psalm also thinks now and considers if he’s heard the name Ansam before, he thinks that perhaps faintly he may have heard it somewhere back home, thinking that it sounds like it could be the name of tiefling. Though he doesnt get much else. Soon after Cimmorro is praised Mardella once again speaks up 

Mardella: “i do not think they're lying about the stolen faces, we had the suspicion already. Once we removed the ring upon the corpse in the palace it changed its face completely, it's of the same make as the one I hold now” she twirls the disguise ring around in the light. “Your majesty’s, your highness, i too can confirm the authenticity of these items as Turen just did” Forrin: at this she responds, lifting her arm slightly, beckoning towards the guard captain “as a gesture of trust, i’d like you to remove their bindings as they stand before us captain” 

Quickly bowing, the guard captain walks over to the group of six, Orin, Finn and Vorde drop the ropes as she quickly cuts each member free one by one, their hands allowed to roam as they please. Other royal guards step forward to take the ropes and remove them from the hall as the king begins to speak once more.

Peruvus: “I'm going to choose to believe the events you’ve just relayed to us to be truth, in which case I apologise for the rough treatment you’ve no doubt undergone in place of our true culprits. It must not have been easy gathering all of this information.” He turns to you Finnian, and continues “earlier your group said there was an immediate dire threat facing us, can you explain? Or was this also part of the farce to gain an audience with us” he clasps his hands over his knees as he speaks, leaning forward slightly “we’ve upped the city’s defences somewhat since the assassination attempts and the return of our archmage, but there have been unusual happenings i've noticed over the past day. I’d like to know what you can tell me and if you’ve any further leads”  Psalm: If I may, what are these 'unusual happenings' you're referring to? Peruvus: he shits his attention over towards you psalm and responds "The mayor caused a great hullabaloo at the government ward gates, it appears as if he started a fist fight with all the nearby guardsmen out of the blue. None were eager to bring him down as he was already still injured from the Ball’s events" he rubs the bridge of his nose as if beleaguered "Similarly a cleric from the church of Heiron was seen pounding on the gates in the church district soon after his recovery within his own church's walls, he resisted any attempts from the guardsman to calm him and had to be restrained..." Keva: keva frowns @ news abt panaver Han: han tsks kind of to herself

Psalm: I see. Well going off what we know so far the cult has the ability to both disguise themselves, but their leader can temporarily possess the followers as well. The cleric is one of the wounded from the night of the ball, so that at least explains his breakdown. Keva: "silversoul" keva says, quieter than she usually speaks Psalm: sorry what was that Keva: keva huffs and says louder "his name was panaver silversoul. he was the one i was talking to." Han: we think who was stabbed, is who can be controlled by theyord Finn: "It was not a farce. Our investigation has proven that the Letterheads have been preparing to perform a ritual. Perhaps some sort of summoning. The language they used suggested serious danger. Tightened defenses or not, Shorewater is vulnerable." Finn sighs and closes his eyes for a second. "it might be of interest for you to know that they possess portals that lead to various different places in Shorewater, possibly outside of it." Psalm: With that being said, we don't really have the specifics of the 'dire' event the letterheads have planned. But for the most part they seem intent on 'punishing' Shorewater. Oh, and they plan to carry out this punishment within the next few days. Plum: i'd give us less than two days. Psalm: If even so much. We did however, infiltrate their base, so assuming they haven't left we know the whereabouts and have an idea of what it's like inside

Cimmorro:  is finn still wearing all of his layers during the entirety of this Finn: yes Cimmorro: perfect,  he's just waddling around while explaining things

Forrin: ...a large scale attack… we’ll need Turen to scour that tome for any sort of spell that might indicate to what exactly they’re attempting, perhaps that Accord wizard might assist us. We must further up the guard presence along the walls and call a lockdown perhaps.. Jeremiah: perhaps we ought evacuate the city entirely, though I wonder if we’d have enough time, if we were caught while people are outside their homes en masse it could worsen the situation entirely… Mardella: i think a lockdown would be a better course of action, if we set about activating the city wide enchantments quickly the people would be safer inside their homes than out Jeremiah: he nods in response “hmm this is true, we’ll need to expend all our effort into organising the guard as quickly as possible more than we already have, we ought to bulk up the church and government ward gates specifically as well. Its good to know we've a location to crack down on then as well. We ought to arrange a group of guardsman and mages to flush them out post hate as well..

> 🎵  Joint Reasoning: The Great Deduction (Type B) / The Great Ace Attorney OST

Forrin calls over the guard captain and the secretary seated at the desk close by and begins relaying orders for them to begin sending out along with Peruvus. Jeremiah however continues to address the group as they do.

Jeremiah: Travellers and esteemed Barvottes. I King Consort Jeremiah, am now asking formally for your aid in this time of crisis, we are stretched thin and with not knowing what to expect the city needs as much help and eyes as we can give her. You will be compensated greatly for helping the city of Shorewater, and the country of Dorrin itself in its coming time of crisis. As well as for the hardships you have already endured, is there a name I might refer to you all as going forward?” Vorde: he turns his head at you all expectantly afterwards as well.

Cimmorro: wow even on dnd we quarantine Chip: social distancing to save from cults Psalm: damn jeremiah if you're asking like that... 👉👈 Cimmorro: jeremiah stan club Plum: sir can i get your autograph

The group then scramble to decide on a name, quickly forming a group huddle amongst themselves.

Cimmorro: cimm does a poor attempt to huddle us all up and goes "lets just go with peenus weenus" Plum: whispering heatedly "shut up cimm shut up" Psalm: sure why not, i'm sure whatever dignity we have left doesn't matter anymore right? Han: tries not to choke

Finn: finn coughs uncomfortably at cimm's suggestion. "we could simply refer to ourselves as a strike force." Han: do we even have anything that makes us one Psalm: vinny's strike force... to honour him since he's dead. /s Cimmorro: the brokebacks Plum: SHUTGUUPPGPF

Cimmorro: while everyone is debating i just walk up to the king and goes like we're the vengaboys -  "your majesty i present to you the vengaboys" Jeremiah: he looks towards you cimmorro and tilts his head "vengaboys? i see, well then Vengaboys-" and he turns to the rest of you all "i would like to ask again for finality's sake, do you have any more possible leads at the moment?" Cimmorro: i turn back to everyone and gives a thumbs up Psalm: psalm gives a thumbs up back Vorde: [internally] tf does venga mean Psalm: TF DOES VENGA MEAN Chip: vengeance boys... Cimmorro: ^ Keva: boys for vengeance Finn: 

Psalm responds afterwards, informing the king consort that the only one they have would be the hideout as they’ve never met Theyord in person, Han emphasising only when hes possessed someone. He also brings up the notes in the back of the book, noting Shelly’s name and that she may be in possible danger.

Keva: i step a little closer to psalm and say "tell them about those people we ran into down there" Psalm: psalm just folds his arms and does what keva asks Keva: YYYEEAAAAHHH

Han: when theres a pause han also asks "what about the assassin that you caught? who are they?" Jeremiah: he looks over at you "they weren't caught per say, the guards struck them right in the ballroom before they could strike at us, dead in seconds." he thinks "we examined the body of course but as far as we could tell they weren't a Shorewater native, i dont think they were from Dorrin originally either. The most we could glean was they had a brand upon their back in the shape of a symbol once we removed the disguise”

Forrin then returns her attention to the conversation at hand, seemingly her and her brother Peruvus have finished issuing orders for the moment, having been paying attention to the ongoing conversation.

Peruvus: “We shall work on the assignment of the guardsmen across the city and deciphering all we can from the tome you’ve given us, as well as bolster the city's magic defences, and declare a lockdown. Once you return from investigating Shelly Carter’s abode I would ask you to assist us directly in these tasks. At the most i can spare some guardsmen to assist you in this endeavour, it would be best i think to send one of the captains in charge of the arcana district to help your investigation. I will send word for you to meet them at the district gates, it would be best for us to move as quickly as possible”  Turen: in response to this archmage stands “if i am no longer needed your majesty i shall consort with Mardella and the witch from the accord, my workload has suddenly increased tenfold” she rolls her shoulders as if gearing up for a fist fight.

Jeremiah nods and waves her and Mardella off, the two stand and leave the room via one of the large doors, finally him and the other two royals stand 

Jeremiah: “The royal guardsman shall escort you off the palace grounds and send word across the city that you aren't to be approached in your travel, should you require any food or rest before you head off you may use one of the rooms in the palace. The guardsmen will direct you.” Peruvus: “return as soon as you are able, we’ve not a moment to waste” Psalm: I don't speak for everyone here, but as it's still early in the day I don't think we'll be here for long before heading onto our next task Peruvus: looks towards you psalm and nods "of course, whatever suits you for the moment" He looks back towards Vorde addressing him directly "thank you again for your aid in this time from your family, sire Barvotte, it shall not be forgotten. As well as for you, Vengaboys, may we meet to discuss what comes next soon with higher hopes" 

The royal guard captain stands and rises as the royals give the group a small courteous bow which Vorde returns doubly so. The party and co. are ushered back out of the doors of the grand courthall their names now clear, their next task pressing on their minds....

--

Notes

🦇Finn succeeded the debate skill challenge very epic

🍺 Plum drank the「  Red Potion ✨ 」who knows how long they’ll have red hair for...

-「  4 Poison Daggers ✨ 」-「 a Branding Rod ✨ 」-「 a Red Tome ✨ and -「 2 Letterhead Tokens ✨ 」 were handed over to the Court as evidence

- ITS NOON - 33 HOURS UNTIL - 📜🩸 The Reckoning 🩸📜 - (supposedly)

[firjii]

@bleedtealblood-fuckeduplol replied to your post

“lads I have an unpopular take on Mistle from the Witcher books and one...”

Well im curious, dish :3

First of all, I’m not super involved in Witcher fandom so I don’t know the general consensus or historical/current fandom takes on this. I really don’t have the time or energy to do so. I’ve read every Witcher novel with an English translation through “The Lady of the Lake” but don’t really talk to other people about the Witcher universe (except maybe the W3 game). I therefore also doubt I’m the first to say this, so consider it a reminder rather than a revelation.

Putting this under a cut because it’s triggery, but TL;DR.....

Mistle x Ciri is one of my very few NOTP’s.

Why, you ask? Not because of how they treat each other once they’ve been in a relationship for awhile – because to Mistle’s credit, she consistently and genuinely sticks up for Ciri.

But.

Here’s literally their first intimate encounter together. It happens fairly soon after Ciri joins the Rats (from The Time of Contempt, chapter 7, page 322-324 in the U.S. Orbit paperback edition):

 [Ciri] heard some quiet steps.

“Don’t be afraid.”

 It was Kayleigh.

“I won’t tell them Nilfgaard’s looking for you,” whispered the fair-haired Rat, kneeling down and leaning over her. “I won’t tell them about the bounty the prefect of Amarillo has promised for you. You saved my life in the inn. I’ll repay you for it. With something nice. Right now.”

He lay down beside her, slowly and cautiously. Ciri tried to get up, but Kayleigh pressed her down onto her bed with a strong and firm, though not rough, movement. He placed his fingers gently on her mouth. Although he needn’t have. Ciri was paralyzed with fear, and she couldn’t have uttered a cry from her tight, painfully dry throat even if she had wanted to. But she didn’t want to. The silence and darkness were better. Safer. More familiar. She was covered in terror and shame. She groaned.

“Be quiet, little one,” whispered Kayleigh, slowly unlacing her shirt. Slowly, with gentle movements, he slid the material from her shoulders, and pulled the edge of the shirt above her hips. “And don’t be afraid. You’ll see how nice it is.”

Ciri shuddered beneath the touch of the dry, hard, rough hand. She lay motionless, stiff and tense, full of an overpowering fear which took her will away, and an overwhelming sense of revulsion, which assailed her temples and cheeks with waves of heat. Kayleigh slipped his left arm beneath her head, pulled her closer to him, trying to dislodge the hand which was tightly gripping the lap of her shirt and vainly trying to pull it downwards. Ciri began to shake.

She sensed a sudden commotion in the surrounding darkness, felt a shaking, and heard the sound of a kick.

“Mistle, are you insane?” snarled Kayleigh, lifting himself up a little.

“Leave her alone, you swine.”

“Get lost. Go to bed.”

“Leave her alone, I said.”

“Am I bothering her, or something? Is she screaming or struggling? I just want to cuddle her to sleep. Don’t interfere.”

“Get out of here or I’ll cut you.”

Ciri heard the grinding of a knife in a metal sheath.

“I’m serious,” repeated Mistle, looming indistinctly in the dark above them. “Get lost and join the boys. Right now.”

Kayleigh sat up and swore under his breath. He stood up without a word and walked quickly away.

Ciri felt the tears running down her cheeks, quickly, quicker and quicker, creeping like wriggling worms among the hair by her ears. Mistle lay down beside her, and covered her tenderly with the fur.

But she didn’t pull the disheveled shirt down. She left it as it had been. Ciri began to shake again.

“Be still, Falka. It’s all right now.”

Mistle was warm, and smelled of resin and smoke. Her hand was smaller than Kayleigh’s; more delicate, softer. More pleasant. But its touch stiffened Ciri once more, once more gripped her entire body with fear and revulsion, clenched her jaw and constricted her throat. Mistle lay close to her, cradling her protectively and whispering soothingly, but at the same time, her small hand relentlessly crept like a warm, little snail, calmly, confidently, decisively. Certain of its way and its destination. Ciri felt the iron pincers of revulsion and fear relaxing, releasing their hold; she felt herself slipping from their grip and sinking downwards, downwards, deep, deeper and deeper, into a warm and wet well of resignation and helpless submissiveness. A disgusting and humiliatingly pleasant submissiveness.

Guess what? Even though standing up to Kayleigh was absolutely the right thing to do, what happens next is called duress, and I can’t totally get past it. Even Ciri’s reaction the next morning (a hint that she’s reconsidering her orientation) is questionable.

Ciri didn’t ask to be in that situation. I don’t care what your orientation is. Anyone with a shred of decency doesn’t do that kind of shit when someone’s in survival mode and borderline shock (ffs how horny on main is Mistle that she won’t or can’t consider that?).

If Mistle had left Ciri alone after that or stood guard that night to make sure no one messed with her again, it would be very different and I’d wish them all the best. But that’s not how it went down.

Ciri is a little younger than Mistle and is under pressure to keep herself alive and incognito. That makes Mistle an opportunist at best and a predator at worst, even if Ciri didn’t actively shout “no” or scramble away that night.

Fight and flight aren’t the only two possible reactions in that situation. Not saying “no” isn’t the same as saying “yes” and literally any abuse or rape survivor will confirm that.

Yeah, fine, Mistle makes a point of turning Ciri on, but y’all…it’s not that simple. There’s an oh-so-vague but unmistakable tinge of “what happens if I say no?” and that’s not cool.

I was shocked when the tone between them in later chapters pointed so clearly to a relationship (I kept waiting for a passage where Ciri snapped and took action because she was tired of being someone’s pet, but conversely it makes sense that she doesn’t because she’s desperate not only for safety but also belonging and she finds an approximation of both with the Rats).

I’ve seen plenty of people in fandom totally ignore the above and just gush about the youngest wlw couple in the series.

Um. No. Initial consent – if not outright desire – matters, even if Mistle is still a teenager. Without that element, I have trouble seeing this ship as anything other than grooming, regardless of how they’re portrayed later in the series. I don’t classify that encounter as experimentation. Experimentation tends to imply that a) all parties involved planned it, and b) are willing and able throughout the proceedings.  

Mistle x Ciri didn’t start out on equal footing and that should matter to anyone who cares about healthy ships.

[dunkalfredo]

Im in love with your vision of Infinite and Rookie and i want to hear some of your sweet headcanons about their time together. If anyone asked something similar, refer me to this post, please. Thanks!

alskdjnsjklnljkls tysm!!!! yeah sure ill share some headcanons. i did a post on a similar topic about a month ago but that’s more their individual personalities/aesthetics than actual relationship material so ill go ahead and add on some stuff here.

i should note that portions of this are based heavily off of the idea that they grew up together so prepare for some au territory at this point. my backstory for them is becoming so intricate jfc;;;;;; i really hope ur not disappointed with this answer i have like an entire pre-forces narrative planned out in my head at this point OTL if u were hoping for more general stuff just lemme know i can give you some more hcs for that (there’s already some but there’s also Backstory stuff that i can’t really explore through oneshot format)

this is entirely self indulgent tbhhhh anyways click that mf Keep reading button

there’s a lot of like. casual touch. lotsa hugs and leaning on each other and resting their chin on the other’s shoulder (or top of head depending on who’s who bc height difference) while looking over them at what they’re doing and its really rooted in their learning early on how much Gadget loves that sweet sweet Physical Contact (if u scratch behind his ears he will melt, guaranteed, you’ll have yourself a Boneless Gadget with a two-liter coke)

if it’s raining out gadget will insist on doing something that’s not just sitting inside all day but snugglin w/ infinite ends up tempting him into doing Exactly That lol

there’s a lot of companionable silence between them when it’s just Them Alone in a Room. sure they talk and chat and joke but there are so many times where it’s just,,, being Together,,, and enjoying being in the other’s presence as they each do their own thing

sorta going into childhood/backstory stuff but uhhhh:

starting freshman year of highschool they started just bein each other’s dates to school dances even though they were “just friends” for like half of that timespan . i love cheesy stuff like that im sorry bro i had to include that tidbit i know it’s super specific and particular to my own backstory for them but just, they’re best buds and they gonna have a good time at homecoming lol

please imagine: those cute pre-dance pictures that parents take at the stairwell or front porch or somethin right before their kids leave, but with gadget and infinite. gadget’s got braces and they dont really fit in his mouth and his lenses reflect the light in the photo and oops infinite blinked and his shirt is too big and tbh their suits in gen just don’t really fit them right, gadget’s shirt is untucked and infinite’s tie is crooked but it’s okay, they’re both smilin reeeeaaaal big (and besides they figure out how to look Aesthetically Pleasing by junior year)

summers were hot in their hometown (note: i grew up in the north so i know nothing of True Heat, bear with me on this one.) most evenings were spent out on gadget’s fam’s back porch, cold towels resting on the backs of their necks, sweat in and under their fur, and they’re melting into the wood of the deck, fan plugged into that one weird outlet on the outside of the house that’s really more a fire hazard than anything else but the cool air is nice. they’re just lounging around reading comic books and listening to music on infinite’s old zune (lots of mid-2000s punk rock bands bc what else were u expecting) and in later years when they’re in that teen puppy love stage they’re trying to cuddle but it’s TOO DAMN HOT OUTSIDE so they resort to like, gentle hand holding, infinite reading some pretentious literary work or whatever and gadget spacing tf out next to him

when they graduate and are assigned a partner to walk down the aisle with they still end up w/ each other even though technically the partners are chosen according to alphabetical order and they’re on opposite ends of that list whOOPS how’d they do that? (hint: last minute shuffling in line)

when they move outta their small lil home town and into The Big City (im gonna say that would be Sunset Heights to tie in some canon plot relevance) they move in together and share a flat. a) its more financially manageable to just split housing costs like that and b) it’s been a dream their entire lives to live together when they’re older so oh!!! they’re older now!!!!! time to live together

(okay that’s all for backstory stuff back to reg hcs)

neither can cook but its ok

it may seem like they bicker a lot but it’s usually either the like, joke argue of “what do you mean craft mac n cheese is gross take that back” or reprimands like “it’s one a.m. time to sleep u Fool” (self-care is important, lads). they actually communicate really well so high-stakes arguments aren’t super common (and when they do happen they dont tend to explode. i wanted to have them be the type that argue for understanding and not to prove they’re right, so that greatly affects the outcomes of their disputes.)

infinite loves to hum while he’s doing things, or just in gen, and his voice is very low and smooth and gadget looooooves it, so much. they’ll be, i dunno, doing some mundane thing, like maybe they’re out getting groceries or doin dishes or something (i love me that domestic content) and he’ll start humming quietly and it just, it really grounds gadget in a way that sometimes he doesn’t even know he needs till infinite does it.

anyone here ever played bayonetta? any a yall remember those bits where there’s a woman in bayo’s memories singing and/or humming ‘fly me to the moon’ all quiet and low? think that but just,,,, pitched down,,,, yeah,,,

the tunes are usually very slow and while not so much melancholy theyre just? i dunno melodic in the same lax, smooth-tempo’d way a lot of melancholy songs are? i dunno i like quiet, introspective infinite and aesthetics that reflect that

here’s a long one: about a month before infinite “goes missing” and forces happens, infinite lands a job at a local news outlet as one of the column writers and even tho he’s more into prose than journalism he’s so fuckin pumped. it’s mostly just excitement over not doing cashier work and having a money-makin outlet he’s at least somewhat interested in lol …aaaaaand the way ship headcanon works into this bullet is that when he finds out that he landed the job he so excited that when gadget walks into the room (it’s morning and gadget literally was just gonna get some coffee, he’s still in his pajamas, he’s got bedhead) infinite sees him and whoops he tackle-hugs him and then whoops he knocked them both onto the floor but its cool gadget kinda let it happen and when infinite tells him what happened and apologizes he’s now also super excited and happy for him so now there’s two (2) people screaming inside (and out) about this awesome development

here’s a short one: they wear each other’s clothes a lot

gadget’s v cuddly in his sleep so he gets really clingy w/ infinite when a) it’s early morning and they’re just waking up b) it’s Late o’ clock at night and they’re chillin at home or c) he’s Actually asleep and within like three feet of infinite

i dont really know how to end this lol i dont really wanna just start repeating myself and i might think of other stuff later but for now pls consider the following: when they sleep whoever’s big spoon ends up resting one hand over the other’s heart and it’s super sweet

oh and they smooch a lot (i told you this response was self indulgent)

[kirukirice]

Among the Crows: Chapter 51 -  First Blood

I’m thinking that if chapters are going to be longer it would be better not to post the whole thing here since ‘keep reading’ doesn’t work on mobile. What do yall think?

Anyways, enjoy the chapter uvu

–> Full text here on Ao3!

Dinner at Ukai’s was always scrumptious and plentiful.

Blending together the nuances of Kara and human cuisine, his dishes often resulted in pleasing combinations of flavours that suited everyone’s palate. Today, the table was spread with a heaping serving of twelve-herb grilled pork, a huge bowl of fresh greens from the market, a pot of savoury potato and vegetable soup, and a tall bottle of aged apple cider.  

Ukai liked to start off his meals with soup. He loudly slurped down the creamy broth and the softened tubers altogether, draining his bowl cleanly to the last drop. Afterwards, he carved out a thick cut of meat from the bone and sliced it effortlessly into large chunks to chew on. Finally, he washed it all down with a mouthful of cider.

Hinata and Kageyama scarfed down their food with gusto like ravenous hyenas – it didn’t matter what it was they put in their mouths, for it was all delicious – and burned their tongues on the piping hot soup. They never did learn to slow down and cool off their food.

Daichi ate modestly and alternated eating meat with vegetables, sometimes taking a swig of soup in between when he needed more flavour. He often reminded the kids to eat their greens and helped them cut up their steaks when it got too tough to chew.

Oikawa behaved like a proper gentleman as he ate. He made no uncouth clinks or clangs with his cutlery, carefully portioned his food into bite-sized mouthfuls, and chewed with his mouth closed. He dabbed his mouth with a napkin to banish any stray droplets from his flawless appearance, and finished his plate of whatever food he had taken.  

Iwa-chan sat on the floor beside Oikawa in beast form, decimating a whole pork leg with his crushing jaws and making a whole lot of cracking noises in the process. He gobbled the leg up in a matter of minutes, and cleanly licked his paws and fur clean of grease when he was done.

“Oh, right. Is Suga not eating?” asked Oikawa when he noticed the Kara’s absence.

“No, he’s on a strictly fluid diet.” Ukai replied while chewing.

“Ah, that’s a shame,” he sighed regretfully, ignoring Daichi’s dagger-like glares. “I wanted to chat a little more with him.”

“Is the food to your liking? Nothing fancy, I’m afraid.” The Kara asked.

“Certainly. Your cooking is exquisite - nothing like the food you get in this town.”

“Ah, I’m an alright cook. We get the ingredients fresh, that’s why.”

Hinata forked a piece of meat and quietly hovered it below the table. Iwa-chan noticed, and snatched it up in one well-aimed bite.

“You humble yourself. Most restaurateurs here can’t hold a candle to you.”

Tickled, the boy lowered down another piece.

“I’ll set up my own diner when I get sick of birds, then,” Ukai laughed, “It’ll be much more profitable, for sure.”

And another.

“So, how did you become a doctor?” Oikawa asked.

And another.

“Long story. My folks were doctors, so I carried on the family trade.”

And another, until Kageyama ratted them out.

“Daichi, Hinata’s feeding the dog his food,” he complained.

Daichi looked over at Iwa-chan, whose canine expression was remorseless.

“Hinata, finish your share before you give it away, okay?” he said, then cut another chunk of meat and placed it on the boy’s plate.

“Okay. He likes it, though.” Hinata grinned happily and swung his legs. Oikawa ruffled the pup’s head and chided, “Let the growing kid have his food, Iwa-chan. You’ll get fat at this rate.”

“Oikawa, what is Iwa-chan, anyway?” Ukai asked the man.

“He’s a kind of werewolf.” Oikawa said, and then winked at Hinata.

Skeptical, the man took a few extra bites on his food. “Werewolf? Huh. I’ve never seen one, but the books don’t draw them like that.”

The mage shrugged and continued scratching Iwa-chan’s chin lazily. The hound obliged to his master’s whim, giving in to his sweet spot. “He’s a rare kind. Not every member of a race is the same, after all. Just like a grey Kara, yes?”

“Of course.” Ukai shrugged back. Except that he didn’t recall werewolves having black, leathery wings. “Do all mages have familiars like you do?”

“No, only beast tamers do. There are many kinds of mages, you see, not only those who command familiars.”

Hinata then asked, “Like what? Can they shoot lightning out of their hands?”

Oikawa laughed gaily and smoothed back his fringe. “No, silly! In theory we could, but that level of magic is too powerful for mortals to control.”

“So they’d fry themselves if they tried?” The child giggled at the thought, and the man grinned and booped his nose.

“Even the Grand Invoker himself couldn’t, you know. And he could do almost anything! You’d have to be a god, for sure.”

“Hey, we know someone who can.” Kageyama said, and Oikawa looked at him with interest. He hadn’t had a chance to talk to this crow yet.

“Oh? And who is that?” he asked.

“He’s called Nishinoya.”

“Yeah, he’s a really short deity.” Hinata added.

Suddenly, a booming roll of thunder roared off in the distance, and everyone stared out the window at once.

“Is that him?” asked the mage, amused.

“Must be. I’m only telling the truth, so don’t get mad!” Hinata yelled upwards, and Daichi covered the boy’s mouth with a sigh. “Don’t say that, or we’re gonna have to pay him a visit again.” He wondered if he had to re-explain the word ‘blasphemy’ to him.

And of course, Ukai hadn’t been briefed about their encounter with the short Tengu, so they had to tell the both of them the whole tale. Hinata and Kageyama were rather enthusiastic to do most of the talking, so Daichi let them and occasionally stepped in to clarify. They started right from when Daichi fell down the cliff, and acted out their utter surprise when they first met the deity. But right when they were getting to the interesting bits, a faint chime of a bell came from the bedroom, and Daichi excused himself from the table to answer it.

“He’s better trained than you.” Oikawa remarked snarkily to Iwa-chan, who rolled his eyes.

Entering through the curtains, Daichi looked at Suga with a smile and said, “You called?”

The Kara seemed more tired than usual, but it couldn't be helped. Having to drink honeyed tea alone for the past few days didn't give him a lot of energy to work with.

"Sorry," Suga spoke quietly, "You haven't finished your dinner, right?"

"It's alright." Daichi replied. He noticed the empty glass, and took it. "I'll get you some more water. Anything else?"

He shook his head.

Returning with a full glass, Daichi set it back down and asked for Suga's wrist. His skin felt cold, but his pulse was normal. His forehead felt fine, too, but it looked like he was shivering a little every now and then.

“Do feel uncomfortable? Are you cold?” he asked.

“A little,” replied Suga.

“I’ll see if there are more blankets.” Daichi said and closed the windows, shutting out the draft. The sky was almost pitch black by now as the rumbling clouds clustered together in a island of grey. They weren’t a by-product of Nishinoya’s wrath, to be sure - just nature’s.

Alas, though towels were in abundant supply, there weren’t any more blankets to be found. Fortunately, Ukai had a much better solution. From the crowded shed he picked up a small round ball of black feathers from a pile of similar-looking ones. The creature retained its fuzzy, globular shape as he held it, and it fit snugly in his palm like a lump of coal.

“This little buddy here’s a coalbird. It’s obvious why they’re called that – c’mon, just look at it – and also because they’re naturally very warm.” he explained to Daichi and Suga.

Nudging the top of its head with his finger, Ukai woke the bird. It gave the tiniest of sneezes upon being disturbed, and then chirped angrily at him and tried to fly off—but the man held it fast between his cupped hands.

“Hey, hey, sorry to wake you, bud. I just need a quick favour.” said Ukai to the bird.

It tweeted once in a questioning tone and calmed down.

“Could you sleep here with this man for a while?”

The coalbird looked at Suga, blinking rapidly and cocking its head this way and that. It then chirruped something lengthy back at Ukai which sounded like a very unthreatening interrogation. Every single time Daichi observed Ukai conversing with a bird, it was like watching him talk to himself like a madman.  

“Yes, yes, you don’t have to worry. All you have to do is sit under that nice, comfy blanket, and be yourself. Just get your friend to replace you when you’re done.”

As if in agreement it wiggled its short tail, then hopped out of his hands and walked slowly up to Suga’s chest.

Suga watched it intently and a small rush of delight came over him. “It’s so tiny,” he whispered, and the bird tried saying something to Suga. When he didn’t respond, the bird repeated its chirp twice, then looked confusedly up at Ukai. The doctor shrugged at the coalbird and translated its words for him.

“She’s asking you if you’ve cleaned your feathers already. She’s very particular about hygiene.”

Suga nodded and replied to the coalbird, “Yes, Daichi helped me earlier.”

Satisfied with his answer, it nestled on top of his chest and poked its walnut-sized head out from under the blanket. It closed its beady yellow eyes and rested its head on him, a movement so insignificant that he barely felt it. Its little body radiated warmth like a portable heater, and soon it felt all cozy and warm underneath the sheets. Suga dared not touch it - though he very much yearned to as he found it immeasurably adorable. It was so small, soft, and light that it seemed like the slightest nudge would bruise it, much like a strawberry.

“You can’t understand what it’s saying? I thought all Karas could.” Daichi asked and Suga shook his head, his gaze transfixed on the bird.

“It’s just like any other language. You have to learn it.” Ukai said. “I think they’ll get along fine anyway, even if they don’t understand each other.”

Smiling, Suga closed his eyes alongside the bird and sighed peacefully, “She’s so warm.”

“See?” the blonde grinned and gestured at the heart-warming scene, “No problem.”

And having one less thing to worry about was important, for tonight it seemed like trouble would stir at a moment’s notice. The brewing storm hit the house shortly after dinner, and the rain began pouring down heavily in droves. Thunder crackled across the sky, and lightning split the heavens into brilliant white fissures. Soon, Oikawa foretold, the Carcamas would take advantage of the confusion and darkness of this wretched night and strike. Iwa-chan had already sensed a large gathering of beings within Kabeki Forest, but that was the only point of certainty.   

Lying in wait in the cold and wet, Daichi, Oikawa, and Iwa-chan hid themselves behind the barricaded fence that was erected a few metres away from the house. The rest took shelter inside and turned out all the lights except for the oil lamps hanging from the front porch, making the entrance look like a shining lighthouse in the middle of a sea of black.

Just what the mage wanted.

“You really don’t have to do anything, Daichi. We’ll take care of it.” Oikawa yelled over while taking cover from the rain underneath Iwa-chan. The hound was wholly focused on detecting the enemy, his ears swivelling about as he sat unperturbed by the rain pelting his coat.

“I’m not going to sit around and do nothing when I can defend this place.” Daichi replied and docked his arrow. The hood pulled over his brows kept the water out and his sight clear.

“With that thing? In this weather?” Oikawa scoffed.

Level-headed, Daichi cricked his neck and loosened his shoulders. “Don’t worry about me.”

The mage snorted, unconvinced, and took out his whip. “Suit yourself. Just don’t get in my way.”

“Silence.” Iwa-chan commanded with his deep voice and got off his hind legs. “They’re making a move.”

The two humans tensed up at once and peered out from cover. They could barely see or hear anything through the blasted torrent.

“How many of them are there?” Oikawa asked and squinted his eyes.

“I’m not sure. Twenty, maybe thirty,” he replied. Daichi gulped and clutched his bow tightly. That number was far above their estimates.

Then, Iwa-chan’s ears pointed at attention and his eyes glowed red. “Something’s coming.”

Far off in the fields, he heard the swift thumping of a heart that drew closer and closer.

“One.” he murmured, and took a step forward.

“Only one?” The hunter said, and stood up to draw his bow.

Oikawa frowned and stood as well. “Stand down. Iwa-chan’s got this.”

“Why don’t we save the best for last?” Daichi replied calmly and took aim. The mage couldn’t argue with that. He clicked his tongue and sulked on top of the fence, and Iwa-chan took that as confirmation to yield. A job was still a job, however, and he would assist where Daichi was lacking.

“It’s halfway through the field and straight ahead. When will you shoot?” the hound asked.

“A hundred metres.” Daichi said, accepting his help. He could almost make out a moving object in the blurring rain, and he adjusted his arm.

“Understood. At this speed, about fifteen seconds until it arrives.”

Daichi breathed out and closed his eyes briefly.

He couldn’t kill the lynx back then in the forest, but this time would be different.

“Ten seconds.”

A wide open field was child’s play to someone like him. All the times he skipped school really paid off.

“Five.”

What was a little rain and wind but distractions in the hunt?

“Four.”

He even had someone telling him where the target was.

“Three.”

All he had to do was pull back the string—

“Two.”

Take a good, hard look at the cat’s eyes—

“One.”

And let his arrow fly.

The spear sliced through the air with a short whistle, and after a few seconds of suspense, the strangled cry of a Carcama sounded off in the distance.

“It’s dead.” Iwa-chan reported after a moment, no longer hearing the beating of its heart. Yet another soul bound for the underworld, he thought.

“Are there more?” asked Daichi, already ready for the next one. But Iwa-chan shook his head and jogged off beyond the fence. Dragging the heavy carcass into the compound between his jaws, he dropped it off between the two men with a muddy splash and spat out the foul-tasting blood. There, they saw the Carcama’s ghastly face which was locked in eternal surprise, undoubtedly at the arrow that drove itself right between its eyes. The arrowhead emerged from the base of its skull, and whatever brain matter that had burst from the hole had long been washed away.

“Well, well, that was a clean kill.” Oikawa remarked, seemingly unimpressed.

“They’re retreating,” Iwa-chan said with a flick of his tail, “I can’t detect them anymore.”

Pulling out the arrow with a hard tug, Daichi frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. Carcamas don’t attack one by one, and they won’t just leave their friend here.”

“But that was the case last night, and so were the attacks from before. This strange behaviour must have an explanation.” Oikawa said and rubbed his chin thoughtfully, toying with an idea in his mind. “Let’s discuss that indoors, shall we? My socks are getting all soggy.”

No one argued with that.

Once inside, Ukai had many towels but no clues to give.

“I don’t know what to say. They should have destroyed this place a long time ago, but they haven’t. They’ve just come and gone in different places, picking people at random to maul.”

“But is it really, as you say, random?” Oikawa suggested while drying off his wet hair. With just his undershirt and long pants on, the mage’s appearance was a departure from his usually prim and proper self; but still no fault could be found in his enduring charisma.

Hinata took joy in chasing Iwa-chan around with a dry towel, and Kageyama had turned in for the day. The fireplace smouldered with a fresh log that was just beginning to catch the continuing flame.

“What do you mean?” the Kara asked and lit up a cigarette. He looked like he needed three of those.

“Well, what if all they’re doing is in preparation for something bigger?”

Daichi raised an eyebrow. “You mean, they’re planning for a huge attack?”

“They’re not that smart,” Ukai frowned, brushing off the idea.

Oikawa pointed a tentative finger upwards and leaned onto the dining table. “Let’s not jump to conclusions, gentlemen. They have, despite their odd behaviour, been moving in a definite direction. If we were to plot out their attacks and apply logic to the situation—“ he took out a rolled-up map of the town from inside his coat, “—we can see what they’re trying to do.”

Ukai spread the parchment out onto the table and took a closer look at the crosses marked onto it. Then, he realized what Oikawa was trying to say. Every single attack had happened on the outskirts of town, and the crosses were forming what resembled a ring around the entire settlement. The only spot where a glaring space was left was the clinic, right on the other side of town where the first kill occurred.

“Are you saying… they’re testing us?” Ukai concluded.

“Either that, or they’re just playing with you. Cats, am I right?” Oikawa replied jokingly, then waltzed around the table as he spoke. “Every assault so far has been simple. One or two Carcamas sneak into a house in the middle of the night – they did it once during the day, actually – then kill a few people, and leave without the villagers putting up much of a fight.”

Ukai looked up grimly, his palms flat on the map. “Yes. We haven’t managed to take down a single Carcama, and they always run away after making a kill. They don’t eat the bodies.”

Oikawa continued, “It makes sense to say that they’ve been poking around to see where town’s defences are at. They could have come all at once, but they decided to cover their bases and gauge the strength of their enemies. But, even if we don’t know what their real strategy is, we can be sure that they’re not here for food or for fun. So, it can only be—“

“For territory.” Daichi finished his sentence.

“Bingo.” He snapped his fingers. “You’re smarter than you look.”

The doctor combed through his hair and puffed out a long breath of smoke. He left his unruly fringe hanging over his face, and then stubbed out his cigarette on the table. “Fine. Let’s say they are here to take over. Then, what’s causing them to do so? A human settlement isn’t a home for Carcamas.” he murmured.

“You’re asking the right questions, doctor.” Oikawa smiled and tapped his fingers on the table. “That brings us back to their unnaturally organized behaviour.”

Oikawa then caught Hinata in his tracks and pinched his cheeks, stopping the assault on his poor puppy.

“Someone - or something - is leading them,” declared the mage.  

“And now that they know there’s someone capable of stopping them, they won’t sit idly by.”

But who could lead a battalion of bloodthirsty cats?

[gulescamisade]

Alaska: Day 6

DAVE: -at this point, he's probably right up against karkat and mituna. karkat for the purposes of comforting him, and mituna because he's the warmest motherfucker here. and daves likely warmer than mituna, so win-win. he's wide awake, shivering, in an undershirt and boxers. His head is pounding although he feels tired, the dizziness still very much a thing, so much that it's making him sick. he's doing everything he can to stay grounded, which means highly relying on emotional defenses he used a long time ago. GOTTA KEEP GOING. GOTTA STAY ALIVE. even if he feels like he's going to puke-

MITUNA: -His left arm is essentially just for show by now. After it essentially breaking against the wing of a buzzard his arm being separated at the joint entirely, it was useless. Well except for consistently reminding him that he's in excruciating pain. Dave moving causes lava to fire through his nerves, making him scream awake and vomit from pain. These megaman boxers do nothing.-

DAVE: -widens his eyes at the scream and vomiting and turns to look at mituna incredibly apologetically- s sorry

DAVE: k kind of a d dick way to s say s s sorry but i r really am

MITUNA: -He sniffs, wretching a little before regaining what little composure he has. At least this pain distracted from the screams in his head. He doesn't think he could bear hearing Terezi rn-

MITUNA: a7 lea57 i know i75 57ill a77ached hehe FUCK

MINDFANG: -With their talking shes starting to stir from what could supposedly be called sleep, not that she had been able to get more then a few minutes now and then. Shes not far from the pile of boys and she opens her one eye to look at them.-

DAVE: hahaha yeah -he's not quite sure he can make it out of this without frostbite. damn his vulnerable human anatomy and his fucking back which is making it hard to move at all- so

DAVE: anyone got a p plan

MINDFANG: I have.... 8een considering...options. -Takes a short breath in between every few words.-

MITUNA: 5park5 are 57ill ou7 of commi55ion

MITUNA: really 5hor7 lived -Leans more on Dave even though holy shit this hurts. Get this warmth-

MINDFANG: My powers are.... also... still unavaila8le. MINDFANG: I attempted....using them while.... you were sleeping. -Directed at Mituna. Yes she tried to pry into your mind, but sadly to no avail.-

MITUNA: dick move

DAVE: ch challenge one of those asswipes to a r rap battle -chattering teeth- h hey whos that one g guy who l likes troll p pokemon

MINDFANG: Smart actually.... If it.... worked on you... then i could consider...trying it.... on... our guards.

DAVE: ho dont do it

MITUNA: youre 7hinking abou7 7av and ruf

MINDFANG: I just said I cant-- -She hisses and then cringes immediately after. Instant regret her ribcage is onfire.-

DAVE: hey maybe if we just g glue ourselves to each o other we can have o one functioning b body

MITUNA: wi7h wha7 dildo hole

DAVE: good question

MINDFANG: Do you...have...an answer?

DAVE: fuck no

MINDFANG: Then your idea...is useless.

DAVE: d did they also j jack up your s sense of humor

MINDFANG: No, 8ut you seem... to have never had any to 8egin with.

MINDFANG: Also...Fuck jokes right now.

DAVE: burned

DAVE: iced

NYALAH: -with as much blood loss, the trauma of injury that her body has endured, and the lack of treatment, Nyalah is quite literally struggling to be alive right now. The only indication that she ISN'T dead is the shallow tick of her pulse. Otherwise, her blood matted body remains bound and crumbled. Too still against the frozen, terrible conditions of their imprisonment.-

MINDFANG: Refrain from mentioning...ice. -Shes shivering already. Underwear and tanktops do not make for good snow gear.-

DAVE: fire

DAVE: -poor nyalah... he wishes he could help her-

MINDFANG: -Please dont die Nyalah, thats a lot of bodies.-

MINDFANG: 8etter.

DAVE: you know what would be cool

DAVE: having a robot limb

DAVE: hows that workin out for you serko

MITUNA: i could u5e one righ7 abou7 now

MINDFANG: -Shes staring so hard at dave right now.-

MINDFANG: -Maybe if she thinks hard enough he will choke on his own spit.-

MINDFANG: If we survive this...

MINDFANG: Ill 8e certain you get one.

DAVE: thanks

DAVE: youre the real mvp

MINDFANG: You are welcome.

NYALAH: -at some point, her breathing is becoming rapid pants. Limbs twitching with tiny convulsions.-

MITUNA: 5hi7

MINDFANG: -Nyahla gains her attention. Oh dear, looks like the cat isnt going to survive after all.-

MINDFANG: -She frowns. Its really a terrible way to go.-

MITUNA: no no no no no no no -Flops and starts trying to inch to her-

DAVE: anybody know anything medical DAVE: that might help DAVE: -also attempts crawling toward her. Shit his back is SCREAMING-

MINDFANG: Not...without the supplies to...8ack it up.

MINDFANG: -She looks away from Nyalah now, out of respect.- 8e 8etter off ending her suffering.

DAVE: wheres her main injury coming from

DAVE: where is she bleeding out the most -he is working his way out of his under shirt, ripping it with his teeth so he can get it off. he may just have to use it to warm her-

NYALAH: -that would be the stapled gash from the vulture beak on her side. It's been agrivated as they were tossed around and not exactly been allowed to heal. She even lies on her belly as an unconscious attempt to guard it. And with the blood that had seeped from the crushing of her horn, things were not looking up for her.-

DAVE: -he decides YES he will use his shirt to warm her, and just kind of identifies her injuries so he doesn't hurt her, laying the torn shirt over her curled body and positioning himself so he's against her where it's least harmful-

MITUNA: -Gently flops over her to keep her warm-

NYALAH: -after a half hour of difficulty, her breathing begins to stablize and she passes out once again. Still breathing.-

DAVE: -we're doing good. mostly-

NYALAH: -it's another half hour before she starts to stir. Sniffing at the bitter air. What might be Dave's hair.- (hff)

NYALAH: (daven)

DAVE: no the better d dave -ITS SO COLD BUT SHES AWAKE AND TALKING THATS GOOD-

NYALAH: ....none better d than daven only ask him -It's strange. She's not so raspy or slurring at her words like she usually is. Could be she hasnt had nip in a while or. Who knows. She curls closer to him.- huddle

DAVE: ok thats t tmi but yeah huddle -WARMTH-

NYALAH: -shift shift. There's someone draped on her.-

MITUNA: -hisses- ow fuck

NYALAH: wait

NYALAH: -slowly starts to pry herself to sit, regretting her own actions but. She's gotta.- psion

NYALAH: -sniffs him.-

NYALAH: dislocation? -asking for a friend. She's sitting up more now, face scrunched up in pain. There's still a considerable welp on her cheek from being slapped around.-

MITUNA: -Groans- yeah and i 7hink i75 broken below the elbow his arm is having a bad time-

NYALAH: kay -hffs, starting to shrug off Dave's shirt. Using only her toes, she stuffs the rag into Mituna's mouth.-

NYALAH: stay -Now bringing her feet over to set by his shoulder. The contortionist cat. Keeps him in place.- sorry in advances

NYALAH: -and then applies a swift force to snap the joint back into place.-

MITUNA: -His scream dies in his gag. She's forced in back in place but disturbed the stab wound that caused the dislocation in the first place, blood gushing from his shoulder.-

NYALAH: shhhh -picks the shirt from his mouth and presses it against the wound. Brow furrowed in concentration. Even using that much force was agrivating her own wound.- n33ds catalyst

MITUNA: oh my fucking FUCK

NYALAH: lay still -doing her best to staunch the ooze of blood. Eyes bright with pain.-

DAELOS: - swings back into consciousness. he wasn't even aware he has slipped in the first place, he's so cold. he can't believe what he's seeing at first, Nyalah moving around after sustaining such heavy injuries. His snorty breath coming out in puffs as he drags himself over.-

[[ The Expunger isn't around currently, and the legislacerators that are there don't seem to be doing anything to stop their talking or mending one another. One of them simply watches. ]]

NYALAH: -puts her whole blood stained paw foot on Daelos's face.- alive

MITUNA: -Choking back sobs, the air stinging his cheeks- 57op moving dunka55

DAELOS: - Shocked for a second, and then kisses that bloody foot- I can see that

DAELOS: - He has nothing to offer but his weight. He leans it in to help her with Mituna-

DAELOS: - It should make things go faster-

NYALAH: -gross. Totally helping Mituna spoon with Daelos.-

MITUNA: -Jesus Christ his world is on fire. It's hard to tell if the screaming in his head is his or the voices-

DAELOS: - Gently crushes you-

NYALAH: -looking that one Legislacerator in the eyes as she attempts the wiggle her biocuffed arms under her butt. Gonna sit on these arms and manuever them up to her front.-

SEAKRAIT: -watches her do this... and the other legislacerators are too preoccupied looking out around them. She doesn't do anything to stop Nyalah.-

NYALAH: -okay cool. Uses her still bound front paws to keep pressing the shirt to Mituna.- NYALAH: sp33k to me

MITUNA: 7hi5 big blue 7ain7fuck i5 colder 7han fi5h nook

DAELOS: Rude... e%ceedingly rude -he will keep lovingly crushing u tho-

NYALAH: best things in life are cold as fish nook NYALAH: fur example NYALAH: fish nook -chirring as best she can. Comforting.-

MITUNA: -Maybe one day...he will know-

NYALAH: -Pls.-

MINDFANG: -Yall are being gross.-

DAELOS: - Scandalized snort. - Really Nyalah

NYALAH: its survival

MITUNA: -Wonders how Feferi is, suddenly-

FEFERI: -Pretty glubbing dead! Like always!-

MITUNA: -Lol get rekt-

NYALAH: -keeping her arms close to her middle, she is giving these biotech cuffs a careful look ver.-

NYALAH: -discreetly shows them to Daelos for him to have a peep at. He's the one who might know how they work and all.-

DAELOS: - Has an intent peep.-

DAELOS: - Of course he knows how they work, but he kind of averts his gaze. He doesn't want to cause a scene and get someone else battered or killed-

NYALAH: -That's good enough for her. She starts to scoot off and inspect Mindfang.- mrrp

REDGLARE: -She's been pretty quiet-- it's hard to tell the difference between her being awake and her being asleep, aside from the speed of her breathing. Her eye opens, and she casts a glance towards the group-- failing to linger for more than a second on each face-- before closing it again.-

MINDFANG: -Her eyes are shut, she was trying to at least pretend she was asleep in hopes that maybe it would give her a brief reprieve from the pain she was in with fractures and a break or two all over her ribcage. At least she hasnt lost a lung yet.-

MINDFANG: -When Nyalah approaches though her eye squints open.- .........What are you doing. -Keeps her arms wrapped around herself.-

NYALAH: -sniffs her.- s33ing

NYALAH: -scoots painfully past her to inspect Redglare.-

REDGLARE: -her leg is gross. bad and getting worse a little too rapidly. She doesn't acknowledge her outwardly.-

MINDFANG: You yourself should 8e resting....

MINDFANG: Its impressive you are still 8reathing now...Do not push it.

NYALAH: -hffs and sacrifices her own shirt to attempt to bind Redglares leg with. All she's left with is a sports bra and how visible and equally gross the gash on her side is.- im pushing it

NYALAH: til i cant push no more

MITUNA: -Groans-

 REDGLARE: -opens an eye again to look at her. She's not sure she understands this... why she's doing this.-

NYALAH: -because it's the harder thing to do. Also she almost died about an hour ago and is probably only moving out of adrenaline shots.-

DAELOS: - Silently gets emotional about this cat. -

KARKAT: =She's doing it because she's a good person and someone has to. He's not really responding to all of this just watching it. Heartwarming as it is. He's just been stupidly crying on and off in the cold but at least someone's got their shit together=

[[ Seakrait straightens up and looks elsewhere pretty quick, almost like she's hearing something no else is. ]]

SEAKRAIT: Yes, sir.

SEAKRAIT: Everyone on your feet!

NYALAH: butt face

NYALAH: -stays huddled with Redglare.-

DAELOS: Nyalah, obey them

DAELOS: Please

DAELOS: - Panicked-

NYALAH: -okay well she's going to stay to help Redglare stand then.-

REDGLARE: -She blinks her eye, looking up at Seakrait. Her voice is kind of quiet as she murmurs.- l3g's w34k. N33d to-- ngh. -holding onto her support.-

REDGLARE: ...Th4nk you.

SEAKRAIT: Orders are to relocate, -she snaps to the rest of the legislacerators.- \|/e're taking them to the pitfall.

KARKAT: =Great. a hole to put them all in=

MITUNA: 7ha7 game 5uck5

NYALAH: -quickly skirts her arms up behind her back and bows with the pain of having to stand.- i have two whole leg

NYALAH: and you two good horn

NYALAH: its even exchange

REDGLARE: h4h.

SEAKRAIT: -She reaches out and grabs onto Karkat's arm, deciding to drag him along in front of the group.- Move.

DAELOS: - Does his best to stand. It's not easy. One leg is useless and his good one is split at the foot. He wobbles. -

NYALAH: -limps along with RG.-

[[ Legislacerators still flank the group on all sides, encouraging their trek. ]]

KARKAT: =clenches his jaw and fights to not jerk his arm back. But he's just so goddamn tired of this and their game=

REDGLARE: - it's one dang slow trudge, that's for sure.-

DAELOS: - He tries to take a step. He falls. -

MITUNA: -He's trudging along-

MITUNA: -Stops for Daelos-

SEAKRAIT: -oh gdi. She snaps back at Mituna and Mindfang- You two get him moving.

REDGLARE: -glances over at Daelos... Eye drifting towards Seakrait again as she barks an order.-

REDGLARE: th1s wh4t you s1gn3d up for?

DAELOS: - Maybe he could shuffle if he has a wall to lean on or if the ground was not snow but at this stage he cannot walk. It's humiliating of course but not compared to the rest of their situation. -

MITUNA: how do you propo5e we do 7ha7 nookbrea7h

SEAKRAIT: I propose you do it. -ignores Redglare-

MINDFANG: -Glares right at Seakrait the entire time shes bending down to help Daelos up.-

MINDFANG: (8est to keep moving, they seem to h8 dead w8.) -Internal screaming as helping to take any of his weight feels like torture.-

MITUNA: -Tries to lean down to try and help him up-

DAELOS: - He's too mortified to say anything. He tried to avoid leaning on Mindfang as much as he can. - I apologize

MINDFANG: (Dont 8other. You are not the one who had the 8rilliant idea to maim a prisoners foot when you want them to-- -hff- move.)

[[ The group continues to be led by Seakrait through the forest, snow drifting gently around them in a too-beautiful discordance to the stains in the snow they leave behind them. Eventually, they see a familiar daunting figure in the distance, waiting nearby what is becoming ever more apparent as a giant hole in the earth. ]]

REDGLARE: -She laughs. Weakly and dryly.-

NYALAH: -presses her good horn at Redglare. One eye shut tight.-

SEAKRAIT: -She pauses just by the cavernous hole, releasing Karkat none too gently and looking over the crowd.- I'll do the honors, High Legislacerator.

KARKAT: The honors. Right. Like there's any honor to be had here. =He's just ready for the hole= Have fun.

SEAKRAIT: -She quickly sets up an automatic pulley system in the ground for climbing, tying the harness around herself, and then she moves toward Redglare. Looks like she's first.-

SEAKRAIT: You're lucky your survival will be left up to fate. But I'm not betting on it. -grabs onto Redglare's arm-

REDGLARE: -She pulls away from Nyalah.- p4ss3s for 4 tr14l, th3s3 d4ys, do3s 1t?

THE EXPUNGER: -gazes at the little crowd, chin high.- Don’t you worry. We’ll come back to retrieve your bodieS aS well, but only after Sufficient time haS paSSed to enSure you are dead. Luckily rot doeS not Set in So quickly in cold environmentS. You will Still be identifiable.

KARKAT: =He just tiredly looks up into the sky and sighs wearily= Fuck yourself on my horn when you come back. It'll be frigid enough for you.

SEAKRAIT: -She heads close to the hole, then grips Redglare tighter in her hold before shimmying them both over the edge and slowly... beginning to lower them down. Redglare can see the drop down is incredibly steep; it's unlikely most anything would survive a straight fall.-

REDGLARE: -it certainly is. She's mostly dead weight, anyhow.-

NYALAH: -shivers in the whole cold. Unable to protest or do much more than watch.-

SEAKRAIT: -They descend at a reasonable pace, but once they're a good twenty feet or so down, she holds Redglare tighter -- closer -- and begins to whisper.-

SEAKRAIT: (Don't speak. Be as quiet as possible down here. No one will hear you, but something else might. If you hear anything down here with you, don't let it find you.)

SEAKRAIT: (Focus on keeping yourselves alive as long as you can. Your leg is poisoned, but it won't kill you yet. I'm going to give you the antidote, bite down on it.)

SEAKRAIT: -She glances down to see how far they are from the floor of the cavern; it's about eight or ten feet now.- (If you understand, struggle.) -And then she moves to press her mouth to Redglare's for just a moment, slipping something pill-shaped inside with her tongue.-

 REDGLARE: -uhm. UHM?? She might have struggled ANYHOW regardless of her understanding-- and she's not sure she does. Poison... antidote... no noise. She's helping them, maybe?? She squirms and struggles, letting out an MPH as she swallowd the pill down a raw throat.-

SEAKRAIT: -And she drops Redglare about six feet from the floor, laughing loud enough that she's sure the High Legislacerator will hear before ascending once again, leaving Redglare alone.-

REDGLARE: -The spark of clarity left, at least, keeps her quiet as she finally hits the ground, with a start.-

SEAKRAIT: -SHE'S COMING BACK UP FOR THE REST OF THE GROUP. One by one she's lowering them down-- Karkat, Dave, Mindfang, Nyalah, Mituna, Latula, Aranea... and then finally, Daelos. Needless to say, he's more of a struggle. She says nothing to any of the others, but once Daelos is down, she spits on the ground of the cavern before ascending for the final time, and it hits the rock with a little plink.-

KARKAT: =A plink=

[[ A PLINK. ]]

MITUNA: -Two in the plink one in the stink-

[[ Shortly after they're left in the cavern, they will feel their powers begin to return. Also, it sounds like there's wind howling above; the storm on the horizon has finally reached their location, and the blizzard is kicking up. ]]

REDGLARE: -She does some very quick sign language as each is lowered. Silence. Danger. Time.-

NYALAH: -she had no powers to begin with but does take swift breaths of the icy air. The storm brewing. She shivers terribly.-

MITUNA: -Groans, but his eyes flicker, ever so gently-

KARKAT: =Silence, danger, time. He glances up hearing the storm=

KARKAT: =He's also going to go look at the plink=

DAELOS: - He's soon leaning into her, just like he had been with Mituna, except now he's trying to keep her warm, although since he's a blue blood it doesn't count for much. At least his hair is warm. -

[[ Funny enough, there's a pill in that plink. ]]

KARKAT: =A pill. He stares at it. It stares at him and he stares at it and it stares at him=

[[ It's sort of slobbery, but it looks like it has some kind of fluid inside. ]]

[[ You know. One of those fish oil looking pills. ]]

KARKAT: =Absolutely disgusting.=

KARKAT: =He can't believe that twat cheeked her vitamins from this morning=

[[ KARKAT PLS ]]

KARKAT: =COME GET YOUR PILL DAROLD=

MITUNA: -Soft crackling-

KARKAT: She spat this out.

MITUNA: (guy5 guy5)

DAELOS: - He doesn't realize he's been poisoned or realize that pill is for him-

MITUNA: (im ge77ing my 5park5 back)

REDGLARE: -She points at herself, her leg. Signs 'cure.'-

[[ Also on the plus side, the cave is a lot warmer than the surface, but chillier under the hole. ]]

NYALAH: -maneuvering her arms back in front of her. Looks to Redglare signing and Daelos's leg. Hhhhh. Alright fine.-

NYALAH: -picking the pill from the goo and stuffs it in Daelos's mouth. Keeps her hands clamped there and makes sure he eats it.-

DAELOS: -???? -

NYALAH: -rip in fucking pieces.-

DAELOS: - HORSE GROANY NOISE OF SURPRISE. but yes he supposes he would swallow this. -

REDGLARE: -signs JUST DO IT. like the shy le beef-

NYALAH: -also stuffs some snow in his mouth to help it go down easier.-

NYALAH: -eating some snow herself. Om.-

DAELOS: - NOW GET YOU FILTHY PAWS OUT OF HIS MOUTH-

KARKAT: =Don't it keeps him quiet=

KARKAT: =He just looks to the cave and starts to walk there=

NYALAH: -when the deed is done, she slinks off after Karkat. Clutching at her side.-

KARKAT: =How far back does this cave go? Is there any wood here? Is there a deeper part where he can just fuck right off?=

[[ The area of the cavern they're in is pretty vast, so it'll take some time to navigate the perimeter, but from first glance, there don't appear to be any exits. ]]

DAELOS: - Following this, he continues to eat the snow that looks the freshest-

REDGLARE: -Seems like the first and only time they'd be able to treat their wounds without being under duress. Her flask would've actually been useful if they didn't take her. Damn.-

[[ There are some fallen leaves and logs around beneath where the hole is above, rotting slowly. ]]

REDGLARE: -instead she starts to mill around the ground. Looking for some good, sharp rocks.-

KARKAT: =Relatable. But he looks around=

[[ Rocks are, at least, in abundance here. Such as sharp, pointy stalagmites and stalactites, for example, but there are probably some other chips and things around. ]]

NYALAH: -doing her best to wipe the grime from her wound with snow. The less she moves, the more the pain catches up to her. She actually has to stop and lean up against a boulder, just to focus on breathing and not vomiting.-

[[ The snow probably won't help Daelos and Nyalah with hydration too much, with the cold lowering their body temperatures and making it more difficult for their bodies to retain the moisture, but it at least wets their mouths. ]]

REDGLARE: -She wouldn't know Flint from any other kind of rock, so she's just looking for something that's sharp enough to scratch marks into the walls of the cave. Maybe having some concievable goal is enough to stop thinking about what she saw just last night.-

MITUNA: p5557 7ula

LATULA: -HEY BRUH DONT MIND HER SHE IS TOTALLY STILL TRAUMATIZED- LATULA: tun3z???

 DAELOS: - With the help of the cave wall he's able to slowly drag himself to his feet. As long as he leans against it, he can follow it in a circle, keeping his eye out for anything that might be missed. -

NYALAH: -finds some crevice to curl into, holding herself as she comes close to passing out again. So cold.-

MITUNA: 5how me your hand5

DAVE: -he definitely needed some help bring the only pathetic human in the group. his fingers and toes are lookin pretty blue, it's a little concerning. his back aches every time he moves, he stopped shivering a long time ago, when they were still outside. now when he speaks he's mumbling into his numb arm just lying there- theresno mmm snow

KARKAT: =Dave doesn't look good at all. Karkat looks at him then walks over to try and cover as much of him as he can= Sh. =cups his hands between his own= We need a fire going.

MITUNA: -Ahead of you, Kark. He's floating logs over, stacking them in a pile. His eyes glow, and his head swims from the concentration. Suddenly, optic blast, but it's weak, drying the logs more than anything rn-

LATULA: -She holds em out... fingertips are a little black.- dud3 your 4rm

LATULA: 4r3 you gonn4 b3 good???

MITUNA: Mnnnngh

LATULA: oh SH1T!

LATULA: dud3 FUCK!!!! TH4T WORK3D?

DAVE: -his hands are numb between karkats- gotta keep goin to the tunnel underground

[[ The logs give them the SMOLDER. ]]

KARKAT: =Blows warm air on Dave's hands= We need fire. If we find a hot spring down there you can punch me.

[[😘 ☁️]]

MITUNA: -Oh thank fuck. He stops, and starts blowing on the logs trying to get that fire going-

DAVE: how much time we allocate for naps DAVE: we cant waste time

REDGLARE: -LOOMS WITH A PAINFUL LURCHING STEP and holding up a rock.- (m4rk th3 w4lls wh3r3v3r you go. 1f th3r3 4r3 tunn3ls 4nd you g3t lost. c4n follow th3 l1n3s b4ck.)

KARKAT: Dave. Shut up. I'm getting you warm. Shut. Up.

REDGLARE: (surv1v4l f1rst. work out sh1fts. st4y qu13t.)

MITUNA: -Guess who has a fire going?-

NYALAH: -a little too quiet in her corner. Everything is being too much for her body.-

LATULA: -holds her hands over it...-

[[ The logs slowly catch into little flame at Mituna's encouragement. The wind howls overhead, sending heavier snow down through the hole. ]]

LATULA: th4nk fuck1n god...

KARKAT: =Thanks Mituna. He's putting Dave closest to the fire and sitting behind him. Snug up against his back=

DAELOS: - He carefully nestles Nyalah in his arms and slowly brings her closer to the little fire. Maybe being warm will do her good. His brow is cinched with worry. -

MITUNA: -Makes a psionic barrier at the top of the hole. Fuck you snow. This is a terrible long term plan btw. He's quiet, concentrating-

LATULA: -hand on his shoulder- uh

LATULA: 1t 41nt push1n too hard 1s 1t? 1n th3 br41nm34tz?

MITUNA: 5h we go77a re57

NYALAH: -definitely 100% unconscious again, even as Daelos keeps her close.-

DAVE: remember when youwere hella wrm

MITUNA: (ju57 le7 me be u5eful)

KARKAT: =mumbles against Dave's shoulder= Remember when I gave you that manicure? =It was like, not even a few days before all this. Holds up Dave's hands to the fire and just tries to focus on him=

LATULA: ...1m proud of you b4b3z.

DAVE: -pauses- ohyeah

DAVE: sall fucked up now

DAVE: youre so quiet (arewe whispering)

LATULA: but 1 sw34r to sh1z 1m gonn4 b34t your butt 1f you push yours3lf to f4r.

LATULA: >8P

MITUNA: ehehehe be7 on i7

KARKAT: I guess.

DAVE: -his breathing is a little shallow- im gonna go to bed while everyone elsisleeping now

KARKAT: =Makes a face against him and scrunches his nose= Run out of jokes already...?

DAVE: yeah

DAVE: ran out of em

MITUNA: -Keeps this roof going, it's just collecting snow. Good news is it helps keep the heat trapped too.-

KARKAT: Okay.... just. (Get up later.) =mumbles and holds him but lets him rest=

MINDFANG: -Shes returning from having done a quick survey of the immediate area of the cave. And also she had felt the need to move just to keep her brain working again. The sense of getting her mental powers back had come with a huge relief and now she is joining the rest of the group by the fire. Arissa carefully sits down and starts to dig her fingers into the joints and spaces of her metal arm to clear out snow and ice that she had felt trapped in there for hours.-

DAELOS: - While Nyalah sleeps he carefully melts snow in his hands and tries to wipe away the debris around her ruined horn without making the wound bleed again. -

DAELOS: - It would hurt if she were awake so now is the time-

ARANEA: -she's been conscious probably?? she's in alright shape, comparatively, though her chest hurts like a motherfucker and it's been keeping her quiet. she can't stop watching dave.-

NYALAH: -too exhausted to even protest or react to the streak of pain. She's out like a light.-

DAVE: -if he just...closes his eyes... a little...-

KARKAT: =Rest... but just let it be rest.=

KARKAT: =On second thought he's a finicky motherfucker and just all of this is settling wrong to him= ...Mn. No. Okay. Just. No jokes then. =Dave is so squishy and vulnerable, no sleep for you asswipe=

DAVE: are we spooning

KARKAT: Yes. You're welcome little spoon.

DAELOS: - He notices the way Aranea is staring intently at the poor little human and gives her a questioning glance, looking up from Nyalah for a moment. -

ARANEA: -catches his glance, meeting it with an unyielding concern. she scoots closer to daelos and fixes her attention on nyalah instead for the moment. she wonders if she can help her now...-

DAVE: -he is starting to fall asleep again- k

KARKAT: No kays.

KARKAT: Hum one of your dumb raps.

DAELOS: - Scoots to make room for her, she feels to cold nudge of his nose as he talks in her ear. - (Are you alright)

ARANEA: -turns her head to brush cheeks with him- (I'm... Just concerned.)

DAELOS: - Sighing- (Well... there is certainly cause for it)

DAELOS: - He always imagined he would die in a hole but he wants something better for his loved ones and crew members. -

MITUNA: -He keeps asking for death. And yet....-

DAVE: -hums something unintelligible that kind of sounds like my humps-

ARANEA: -she shares some of the light eminating from her fingertips with nyalah. she will likely stay unconscious, but hopefully it will be a more restful kind of sleep. the pain inside her head should begin to subside. concentrating is difficult for her, but her own strong sense of self preservation is motivation enough to keep trying to exercise her abilities. they have better chances together. and after what she saw yesterday, she isn't exactly willing to let anyone else fall at the hands of those bastards.-

DAELOS: - Seeing this warm his heart. Perhaps... just perhaps there is a chance they will make it out of this. He nuzzles Aranea gratefully. -

DAELOS: Thank you

ARANEA: -leans into him, only nodding in response. but maybe some of that light will transfer to him too...-

MITUNA: -He's sweating next to the fire, quiet with the strain of all this snow accumulating on his barrier. His brain is a muscle that hasn't been exercised in forever. A time ago he'd be able to do this no problem. He grunts softly, trapping the collected snow in a psionic bubble and moving it past the entrance of the hole to plop that huge pile somewhere else. Sorry guys, no ceiling for a while. He breathes a little heavy-

DAVE: -he's been practically forced to stay awake because concussions are great and karkat won't let him go to sleep anyway. he's still pretty out of it, but the warmth seems to be doing at least something. he ain't dead yet right?-

MITUNA: -He's really tired you guys-

DAVE: -tired club-

MITUNA: -snow starts drifting into the hole-

TEREZI: =Would have been proud of them.=

DAVE: -rude ass dead rude ass-

MITUNA: -Gdi Excalibur-

TEREZI: =shup=

MITUNA: donde...e57a...la biblio7eca

MITUNA: me llamo 7 bone la arana di5co7eca

DAVE: -watches mituna even if he looks blurry-

MITUNA: -Come on Dave you know this one-

MITUNA: di5co7eca

MITUNA: muneca

MITUNA: e5 en bigo7e grande pero man7eca

DAVE: manteca bigote gigante

DAVE: pequeño

MITUNA: la cabe5a e5 nieve

MITUNA: cerve5a e5 bueno

DAVE: -takes a good minute before saying the next part- buenos dias me gusta papas frías

MITUNA: lo5 bigo7e5 de la cabra e5 cameron diaz

DAVE: -another minute- yeaboi

MITUNA: -Soft bomb noise-

DAVE: -breathes- when are we

DAVE: gettin out

MITUNA: no7 ye7 bu7 youre bein pa7ien7 a5 fuck -A snowflake lands on his nose. He's exhausted, but he's still floating a couple logs to the fire. The wet logs snap and crackle with moisture-

DAVE: were gonna

DAVE: get out of here

MITUNA: yeah i know -He glances up. He's only gonna rest a little while longer before continuing to keep the cold out for everyone. Just thirty minutes alright? He doesn't even know how long thirty minutes will be...but still.-

MITUNA: fuck america though dude

[[ Mituna could try counting 1-Mississippi, 2-Mississippi all the way up to 1800-Mississippi. ]]

[[ It's even the spirit of USA! Amurrica, frick yeah! ]]

MITUNA: -Fuck you America-

DAVE: dude dont

DAVE: youre doin some stuff

DAVE: you gotta calm down

DAVE: with your teleport

DAVE: teleconnecticut

MITUNA: i go77a...do 5ome7hin....even if i75 ju57 givin your 5orry a55e5 a chance 7o re57....ehehe

DAVE: we have a fire were good to go

MITUNA: i75 no7 57rong enough ye7

ARANEA: -she's been drifting in and out of consciousness. being cool blooded as she is, the cold is taking it's toll on her. but being slightly delirious, she doesn't think much as she starts wiggling in dave's direction, her hand out towards him.-

DAVE: -watching aranea and this hand thing she's doing and it reminds him of movies and dead people and angels and all he can do is look at her- im dead now

MITUNA: lmao lucky cock5ucker

DAVE: oh nope im alive

MITUNA: poor bi7ch

ARANEA: -ha... is he likening her to an angel? dont' be silly, boy. she touches his shoulder, or hand, or whatever she can get ahold of first and lets the little bit of warmth she has to offer extend to him-

DAVE: -just like that, he feels it...a warm sensation putting feeling back into his fingers and his toes. he watches her carefully as this happens, without a doubt a little confused and delirious with hypothermia but...it appears that his fingers and toes begin to lose their blue color-

MITUNA: -Grins a little, but he's so tired. His head lulls back, eyes fluttering closed. Just for a moment. Just for thirty minutes.-

ARANEA: (We're going to get out of here.) -affirms what he was already saying... if he had any doubts, he couldn't possibly now.-

DAELOS: -LOUD SNORING ON NYALAH DURING THESE TOUCHING MOMENTS.-

DAVE: -his gaze meets hers and he slowly nods- were gonna

NYALAH: -no worries. She's affectionately chewing his neck fat in her sleep.-

MITUNA: -Probably about 44 minutes later he puts the psionic ceiling back up-

[[ Sleep MORE. It means you need it! ]]

DAELOS: -Except at some point he wakes up. His sleep is rather restless. And other than Nyalah chewing on him, he notices that Aranea has left his side and wiggled more towards Dave. And they're holding hands.-

DAELOS: 👀!

DAELOS: -Well. It's cold and humans are fragile. Perhaps it's merely kindness. He tries to go back to sleep.-

DAELOS: -He finds it a bit difficult to stop low key watching them, though.-

ARANEA: -for once doesn't notice when she's being given extra attention... she's zoning in and out a little too much while still looking at dave.-

DAELOS: -MMmm.....-

DAVE: -his fingers are moving a little now that they actually feel like they exist. he's not sure what's happening now but he also doesn't have the sense or strength to get up and do something else-

DAELOS: -On second thought, he doesn't want to look at this anymore. He's gonna slowly just turn so he's facing the other direction. And eventually he'll be able to sleep.-

[furrynewsfnn]

Urgent Bulletin - Special Fox Furry in Need

There is a furry located within Florida who is in need of some fur love. Currently, he’s living within a tent in the woods and claims that medical conditions are about to take his life, but refuses to seek medical treatment or help.

Currently his family is searching for him to help him out, but they do not know of his location and he apparently is moving his campsite nightly to avoid the park rangers in addition to anyone attempting to provide support.

While possible to be a hoax, it’s the duty of an organization like FenNN to do the right thing and bring this to the attention of the furry fandom at large in order for those in FL to be aware and if you’re in a position to help, do the right thing and extend that help.

Update 7/5

A local FL furry by the name of Ripner has confirmed that he is currently supporting “Duxfox” or “Dux” which is his actual real furry name. It appears that he is really living alone in the woods and that the local furry community is making regular weekly trips to supply food.

So there is a 36 year old male in the woods right now, complaining of various medical emergencies and lamenting the fact that any night they could die from them, refusing to seek any medical assistance.

Ripner claims that Dux doesn’t have a job as scientologists took over his place of employment but in the below logs you can see that Dux has claimed that it was his parents calling his place of employment. Additionally, he’s changed his name on Telegram, deleted his account and was telling even different stories to other chats.

So the question is is there a real emergency and is he in danger like he claims to which we have Ripner confirming that his situation is dire, but that he is in more danger exposing himself to his abusive parents.

We also know foxs has a near constant access to electricity and that he’s now within the Orlando area, like within Ocala National Park.

Even more deep, can we trust Ripner isn’t causing Fox’s problem? Is Ripner being exploited? This is deep and we’re going to continue finding out the truth of this very scary situation for the fandom.

Update 7/4

Happy 4th of July!

It looks like his furry name is “Duxfox” and is part of the bathroom scene.

Here are some logs of him. Those who interacted with Duxfox allege that he did the same thing he’s doing now on Special Foxy.

Logs:

Additional Logs:

Deleted Account, [10.12.16 16:27] [In reply to Longbottle] there are stable furries and some volatile ones. To me, it's a mixed bag having met many furs. Deleted Account, [10.12.16 16:30] passive-aggression is a highly travelled mode in this sub culture in my experiences! Deleted Account, [10.12.16 16:32] Most furries don't have the whole bag of support I guess is what I'm trying to say... Deleted Account, [11.12.16 02:36] [In reply to unci 🐾 narynin] heya! I'm 34! :D Deleted Account, [11.12.16 02:36] er, sorry, just turned 35! Deleted Account, [12.12.16 13:25] there ya go! :3 Deleted Account, [12.12.16 13:25] i have a place to live and my health and a great roomie and i'm looking for work so life is nominal for now Deleted Account, [12.12.16 13:25] better when i get back to work again! Deleted Account, [13.12.16 11:17] i didn't get active until about 1997 Malcolm the Bear, [13.12.16 13:11] [In reply to Deleted Account] That's around the time I discovered the fandom.  Didn't get active until 2003. Deleted Account, [13.12.16 13:12] [In reply to Malcolm the Bear] i was really afraid to meet furries for the first couple of years. Deleted Account, [13.12.16 13:12] the first furry i met was sibe in 2000. Deleted Account, [13.12.16 13:13] i avoided the furry fandom for a couple of years after that. he was a psycho. Deleted Account, [13.12.16 13:13] then i found cool furries in like 2005+! Deleted Account, [13.12.16 16:53] bark, bark, bark of the ruffles!~ woof as he can be! Deleted Account, [13.12.16 17:03] [In reply to Lion ⚣🇺🇸] not me. and i have played dux fox since 2008. Deleted Account, [13.12.16 17:05] i use the internet lightly Deleted Account, [13.12.16 17:07] i know how 1s and 0s work though... i'm just saying... imma hacker fox! Deleted Account, [13.12.16 17:09] *types in code and mashes his paws all over the keyboard* yess... yes! i have hacked lion and can now see him naked. Deleted Account, [13.12.16 22:34] hi dolphin! Deleted Account, [13.12.16 22:34] one of you saved my life once Deleted Account, [13.12.16 22:34] i was caught in a riptide and pulled out to sea. the beach was very distant Deleted Account, [13.12.16 22:34] i was probalby going to drown and something was pushing at my feet Deleted Account, [13.12.16 22:35] i'm crying hysterically Deleted Account, [13.12.16 22:35] the dolphin is under me trying to keep me afloat Deleted Account, [13.12.16 22:35] and then i held onto his top fin and he pulled me back to shore. Deleted Account, [13.12.16 22:35] no joke. Deleted Account, [13.12.16 22:35] a dolphin literally saved my life. Deleted Account, [13.12.16 23:05] did you know that every grain of sand on miami's beaches was placed there by a person? all the beaches are eroding. Longbottle, [13.12.16 23:06] Clearwater is like that too Deleted Account, [13.12.16 23:06] i have heard, and i just lived there for 3 months Longbottle, [13.12.16 23:08] Why did you leave? Clearwater is awesome. Deleted Account, [13.12.16 23:09] company didn't want me. come to find out it was run by scientologists Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:11] *busts a huge fart* sorry :v Wolfric the Pipe Wolf 🌑, [17.12.16 12:12] Really?  <_< Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:12] i really farted :V Wolfric the Pipe Wolf 🌑, [17.12.16 12:12] Congratulations.  Was it really necessary to announce it? Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:16] grossfox :D Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:18] i'm not looking to impress anyone~ Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:18] well sorry that i fart. i guess you'll have to cross me off your list of potential mates, malcolm :P Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:19] no farting foxes! Malcolm the Bear, [17.12.16 12:19] I'm already engaged to Wolfric. Malcolm the Bear, [17.12.16 12:19] We've been mated for over 8 years. Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:19] cool well all the more reason to be on a hookup chat. Malcolm the Bear, [17.12.16 12:20] [In reply to Deleted Account] This isn't a hook-up chatroom.  This is just a place for older Furries to hang out. Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:21] well whatever, you're judgemental on something i have no control over :P Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:22] i guess i could save up all my farts and wait until i'm around you :v Malcolm the Bear, [17.12.16 12:22] You control whether or not you announce it in here. Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:23] why does it bother you so much? Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:27] okay so... Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:27] i just farted... Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:27] its not a fetish Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:27] you both turned it into something when it was nothing :3 Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:27] furries suck :( Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:27] [In reply to Bormac Dragon] you turned it into a fetish when it was just a fart. i don't think you need to type anymore. Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:28] furries are trashy, but they don't fart. ever. Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:28] because if you farted, that would be their fetish. Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:28] *makes notes* Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:28] how dare you fart around furries Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:28] what are you trying to turn them on??? Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:28] looking at gratuitous porn is just how furries say hello Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:29] if you really want to get sexual and turn up their blush, start farting. Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:29] porn doesn't phase furries Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:29] but farting... look out! :O Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:29] *gigglefits!!!*❤️ Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:29] its too easy. way too easy ❤️ Bormac Dragon, [17.12.16 12:29] Talk about turning something from nothing. Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:30] hey don't worry about it Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:30] i pretty much don't need this from trashy anyone Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:30] its yalls fetish, not mine Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:31] 40 people above the age of 30 Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:31] and 150 people in the farting fetish furs room Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:31] i guess it really is a fetish. hrmf Malcolm the Bear, [17.12.16 12:31] I wish blocking a user prevented you from seeing their posts in chatrooms as well... Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:31] agreed Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:31] totally agreed! Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:31] which is why i can't stand furries anymore :\ Deleted Account, [17.12.16 12:31] the annoying shitbreath troll is everywhere in this group now.

~ FenNN News Desk