#how in gods name does somebody even come up with something that horrible and frightening

[cowboy-robooty]

i want to hold aono kun so badly i could die should get some sort of prize for creating the absolute most terrifying gutcurdling theory for the afterlife ever

[grailfinders]

Fate and Phantasms #140: Vlad III (Extra)

Today on Fate and Phantasms we’re making the cooking daddy himself, Vlad III! This build will combine the Brute Fighter and Undead Warlock to create an unstoppable juggernaut who strikes fear into the hearts of his enemies. (Also spears. He strikes spears into the heart of his enemies.)

Check out his build breakdown below the cut, or his character sheet over here!

Next up: Christmas... 2!

Race and Background

Unlike your other self, you’re still a Human of the variant variety, giving you +1 Charisma and +1 Wisdom. Sometimes will is a wisdom save, sometimes its a charisma save, so you’ll be good with both. You also get proficiency with Intimidation because duh, and you get the Piercer feat. This lets you re-roll a die of piercing damage once per turn, and critical hits get an extra die of damage. It also gives you +1 Strength. 

Like a lot of other servants, you’re a Noble. (If you’re sick of this background, yell at history for only focusing on rich people.) This gives you proficiency with History and Persuasion skills.

Ability Scores

“Vlad the Impaler is somewhat terrifying” is a true statement in the sense of “The ocean’s kinda damp.” So make Charisma your highest stat for the highest intimidation bonus. It also takes a surprising amount of force to turn people into shish kebabs, so make sure your Strength is also pretty high. Third on the list of Just Vlad Things is Wisdom for an unbreakable will. It’s sad these couldn’t all be 20s, but we can fix that a little while in. You can’t wage horrific amounts of bloodshed on the populace if you get tired easily, so Constitution comes a bit later. Your Intelligence isn’t great- you’re a noble so it’s not like you’d have a bad education, we just needed other stuff more. Finally, dump Dexterity. Those spikes are cool, but they make it super easy to get caught on stuff.

Class Levels

1. Fighter 1: Unsurprisingly, someone with the name “the Impaler” is pretty good with stabbing people. As a fighter, you get proficiency with Strength and Constitution saves, as well as the Athletics and Survival skills.

Your Defense fighting style gives you +1 AC, and your Second Wind lets you heal yourself as a bonus action once per short rest. The secret to vigilance is knowing when to take a break. 

2. Fighter 2: Thanks to Action Surge, you can now add an extra action to your turn once per short rest. The second secret of vigilance is knowing when to bug out and stab people.

3. Fighter 3: Not gonna lie, despite your upbringing you’re still kind of a brute. The good news is this lets you use Brute Force to shove your spear even further in, dealing 1d4 extra damage with all weapon attacks. This die will grow as you level up.

4. Fighter 4: Use your first Ability Score Improvement to grab the Heavy Armor Master feat, rounding up your strength and reducing all nonmagical physical damage you take by 3. The third secret of vigilance is not getting hurt. Just don’t do it! It’s that easy.

5. Fighter 5: Fifth level fighters get an Extra Attack each attack action, letting you cut through enemies faster than we’re cutting through these levels!

6. Warlock 1: Despite the update to your looks, you’re still getting some of your power from the legend of Dracula, making you an undead warlock. This gives you a Form of Dread that you can transform into for one minute. While transformed you gain temporary HP, once per turn you can force a wisdom save on a creature, frightening it if it fails, and you are immune to being frightened. You can use this a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus per long rest. Look, you are a pretty scary guy.

Speaking of things that recharge on long rests, there’s nothing else. 

But there are your Spells, which you cast with Charisma and have spell slots that recharge on short rests. Eldritch Blast and Sword Burst are decent enough substitutes for weapons, as long as you don’t mind them doing force damage. You can also Cause Fear to freak out people even more, and Protection from Evil and Good will help you if you get in too deep with the bigger fish. Or if your bosses try giving you a hard time.

7. Fighter 6: Use this ASI to bump up your Strength for more hitting things. Hitting things is good.

8. Fighter 7: Seventh level brutes get Brutish Durability, letting you add 1d6 to all your saves. In addition, if adding this to a death save increases it past 20, it counts as a natural 20. It’s not quite vampirism but hey, at least you’re not from Ixalan. 

9. Fighter 8: Another ASI, another feat! Grab the Resilient feat to get proficiency with Wisdom saves, and also add 1 to your wisdom score. Mind control’s no joke. Except to you, because you’re really good at ignoring it.

10. Fighter 9: Making things even more unfair for your saves, this level makes you Indomitable, letting you re-roll a failed save once per long rest.

11. Warlock 2: Bouncing back to warlock for a bit more goodies. Eldritch Invocations customize your vampire experience, with Devil’s Sight giving you darkvision for your dumb human eyes and Agonizing Blast making your eldritch spears a bit more of a match for the real ones.

You can also cast Comprehend Languages, because despite being a medieval warlord you can still go to modern Japan and not be horribly confused.

12. Fighter 10: Tenth level brutes get a larger damage increase to their brute force, which now deals 1d6 damage. Your new Superior Technique also lets you make a Menacing Strike once per short rest, using a d6 as your superiority die. Hit somebody, and then they have to make a wisdom save (dc 8+proficiency+strength modifier) or they’re frightened of you for a round.

Have I mentioned you’re scary yet? You’re scary yet.

13. Fighter 11: Eleventh level fighters get another Extra Attack each action. Now you can kill enemies almost as quickly as describing what extra attack does got old.

14. Fighter 12: Last feat, I promise. Use this ASI to grab the Chef feat, rounding out your wisdom and making you a true cooking daddy. This gives you proficiency with cook’s utensils, and as part of a short rest you can cook for the party. This gives 4 plus your proficiency bonus creatures an additional 1d8 hit points when they use their hit dice to heal. Also over the course of an hour or after a long rest, you can cook your proficiency bonus in treats. Creatures can eat a treat as a bonus action to gain some temporary hp.

15. Fighter 13: Another use of Indomitable per long rest? Why, that’s almost as unique as this level description!

16. Fighter 14: Bump up your Constitution for some more HP. Not dying- it’s what’s for dinner.

17. Fighter 15: Fifteenth level brutes learn how to land Devastating Criticals, dealing your fighter level in extra damage when you score a critical hit on a creature.

You may remember that this is the same thing that mercy monk had, and it’s still just as terrifying here.

18. Fighter 16: Use your last ASI to bump your Charisma up a bit, making you even scarier and also more magical.

19. Fighter 17: Another Action Surge per short rest, and another Indomitable per long rest. I don’t think fighter is a simple class, but I absolutely see why people would think that, seeing as they don’t get any new abilities past 9th level.

20. Fighter 18: Your capstone level makes you a Survivor. You’re not gon’ give up, and you’re not gon’ stop. This also means you gain HP each turn as long as you’re bloodied and not at 0 HP. You gain 5 plus your constitution modifier each turn.

Pros:

You’ve got two of the big three saves (wisdom and charisma) down pat, with each save at least 1d20+1d6+9, and indomitable backing you up. God help your enemies if you’ve got a paladin in the same party, because by that point you’re probably just immune to charms.

On top of that, you deal solid damage, dealing an almost critical hit each turn and even more when you do land a nat 20. Adding your level to your damage was scary on Martha, and it’s still scary here.

You have over 150 hp, an AC of 20, and constant healing. Basically, you can deal tons of damage, and are very hard to kill in the interim.

Cons:

Despite excelling at the other two saves of the big three, we dumped dexterity, and even all your save nonsense can’t fix a -1 modifier. Also, good luck going anywhere unnoticed.

Eldritch Blast is nice and all, but most of your damage is non-magical, meaning actually fighting those demons you’ve got your eye on will be an issue if you’ve got a stingy DM.

Not going to lie, the second the undead get involved, your options for joining parties gets a bit slimmer. Of course there’s nothing stopping you from putting Vlad in your game as an NPC, but it’s something to keep in mind as a player. (Of course this only made the list because picking weaknesses was pretty hard, but it still counts dammit.)

[imherongraystairstrash]

Last one! I swear! Prompt #97 with Lucie and Matthew

Yessssss!! I love Matthew and Luciee!!

Prompt #97:  “I need help.”

Characters: Matthew Fairchild & Lucie Herondale (platonic)

Lucie’s fingers hovered over her typewriter as she racked her brain for a word. It was on the very tip of her tongue, she could practically taste the word, and yet it still wasn’t there. She squinted her eyes in hopes that the word would come but she had no such luck. Lucie turned in her seat, placing her forehead on the back of her chair.

“Matthew?” She asked the blond boy reading on the couch behind her. “Do you remember the name of that period before a flood? The one from the bible?”

Matthew looked pensive for a moment, and then wrinkled his nose. 

“Ante—” Lucie said, remembering only the beginning of the word.

“Ah,” Matthew said after a while, snapping his fingers. “Antediluvian.”

“Yes! That’s the word! You’re the greatest reverse dictionary, Matthew!” Lucie said, quickly typing out the word.

“How ironic that I remember a term from the bible, while I myself am drowning in my own sins.” Matthew remarked. 

Lucie stopped and turned.

Matthew was turned away from her, looking out the window, so that all she saw was his side profile. Though his stoic expression made him seen unreachable; uninviting even, Lucie was strangely reminded of Uncle Henry. The way there was an emotion hidden behind those dark, emerald eyes, a secret hidden in them so very deep, you would drown before you could reach it. Different from Henry, however, Matthew’s eyes danced for show and never for the sake of joy. She could make out his near invisible freckles in the sunlight, how they made constellations across his concave, button nose. Individual strands of his hair caught in the light and took on a white color. Lucie couldn’t help but think of the times she had used the color in her novels: white that signifies purity and innocence. Yet, all she could think was how Matthew’s shoulders were always ever so slightly hunched, how his smile rarely reached his eyes. The sheer perfection of his face that left girls flustered and adults charmed. Many didn’t look deeper into the bottomless eyes that cried for help. How could you when the sunshine from his smile made it nearly impossible to see his pain?

Lucie, however, was a writer. She always looked much deeper than the surface. 

“You should really consider joining the Townsend’s musicale, Matthew. You are a wonderful actor, after all.”

Matthew turned his face, looking at Lucie with a bemused smile. “How would you know, Luce? I’ve never acted in front of you, nor have I tried it except for once when I was perhaps fourteen years of age and even then, it was a horror.”

“Nonsense, Math. You act in front of me all of the time.”

“What are you talking about?”

“The way you always act like you’re alright, when everybody who cares can clearly see you’re not.” Lucie said, her sudden seriousness cracking like a whip.

Matthew stopped dead. When he spoke, he did so quietly. “What makes you think I’m not alright?” 

Lucie got to her feet, annoyed. “Oh, please. You cannot simply sit there and lie to me. I know there’s something the matter, and I’ve asked you about a million times about it, only to have you turn me down each time.”

“If I keep turning you down, perhaps you’re just being delusional.” Matthew said through his teeth.

“Or maybe, it’s yourself who is delusional, pretending you don’t need help, meanwhile trying in every way possible to get somebody’s attention so that they might help.”

“Trying to get somebody’s attention?” Matthew said incredulously. 

“Yes. More specifically, your mother’s. Don’t look at me like that, Matthew, you know it’s the truth. You drink partly because it makes you forget but also because you so desperately want Aunt Charlotte to come and tell you to stop.” 

“And does she?”

“No.”

“Then answer me this, if you know everything, why would I keep drinking if I knew my mother wouldn’t do anything about it?”

“Because that doesn’t change the fact that you need help. Did you honestly believe I wouldn’t realize you drink more when she’s around? When Jamie’s around?”

Matthew put his hands on his head. “Stop, Lucie. I don’t want to hear your absurd theories anymore.”

“Say it, Matthew. I’m tired of trying to ‘save’ you when you don’t want to save yourself. I’m not going to chase around, praying you’ll listen this time.”

Matthew looked like he had just been slapped in the face. He tensed, building a wall against himself. His hair became golden in the soft sunlight seeping through the window, making him resemble what Lucie could only describe as a greek god; perhaps Achilles, the demigod that saved thousands, but couldn’t save himself. 

Then, Matthew sunk down on the chair as though in defeat. Just as Paris had done, she’d found his weak spot. The one place where his invincibility was non existent. His walls came crashing down and Lucie was reminded of a puppy on the street; hurt, alone and frightened. 

Matthew took a shaky breath before speaking. “Fine, Lucie. You want to hear me say it? I’ll say it: I need help. I need help, Lucie.” His voice cracked. “There are days when I lay in bed and wish I had never woken up and they have been coming more frequently. 

“I’m tired of pretending everything is alright, I'm tired of burying my sorrows in alcohol. I’m tired of lying to my family and my parabatai and my friends and you too. I’m so tired and yet when I try to fall asleep at night, rest never comes because my sins are weighing me down so much that I can’t slip into unconsciousness without feeling them on my chest, not letting me breathe. Most nights, I suffocate and I feel like I’m going to die. I don’t want this, Lucie. Please, I beg of you, help me.” 

Tears slid down her eyes matching Matthew’s. She crossed the room and sat down beside him, holding his hand in both of her’s. “What’s wrong, Math? Tell me and I can help you.”

Matthew reached over and wiped one of her tears despite the heavy stream falling down his own face. “No, Luce. You can’t help me with this. There’s nothing you can do. This is something I have to fix on my own.”

“Then let me be here for you.” Lucie said, breaking eye contact for the sole purpose of leaning over and wrapping his arms around him. He seemed to freeze before his arms came down and embraced her tightly.

“I’ll be here for you, Math. I’ll make sure you walk through this cave and into the light, and if I can’t be the one to lead to, at least I’ll be there, standing next to you until you make it out.”

Matthew mumbled something, perhaps a thank you, and they embraced for what could have been an hour or two minutes. Matthew’s hair tickled her cheek and she was yet again reminded of a puppy or a small child, at such loss of the vast world, and in desperate need of an embrace or a kiss on the cheek, to know that everything will be alright.

“Everything will be alright, Math.” Lucie said, kissing his cheek and embracing him until the sky turned a gradient of pastel blues, pinks and oranges. The day was ending, but sometimes you need to end a horrible chapter before you can start a new one and work to make everything better again.

Tagging: @celias @hitheresomeoneusingthus @rinadragomir @tsccreatorsnet @atla-lok143 @youngreckless @autumnangel20

If you want to be tagged, please let me know!

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #427

“don’t pray for me when you’re the one enslaved”

Your ex taps you on the shoulder and says, “I still love you.” You say? I wouldn't say anything, I'm pretty sure I'd just break down. Do you play video games? Not really anymore. :/ I probably would, though, if I had the appropriate consoles for games I want. You can only replay PS2 games but so many times before you're tired of them. Do you spend a lot of time with family? No, honestly. Is your house more than two stories tall? It only has one floor. Have you ever hit your significant other? Has he/she ever hit you? I'm not in a relationship, but I have most certainly never hit an s/o, and they've never hit me. I wouldn't tolerate that shit. What makes you an attractive person? (Talk about your personality too!) I'm not. What color is your hairbrush/comb? White. What snacks do you have available in your household atm? Hm. Just some fruity grain and oats bars, as well as cashew ones. We try to keep sweets out of the house. Has anyone recently told you that they like you, or find you attractive? No. Are you attracted to the last person you Facebook messaged? Holy fuck yes, she's drop-dead gorgeous. Do you care about anyone that doesn’t care about you? Ha, I'm sure. Was your last Facebook friend requests from a male or female? Some random middle-aged man, like who are you sir. Which one of your relatives is most likely to embarrass you? My dad. He can be so rude to people sometimes. When was the last time you ate a bar of chocolate? Not sure. It's been quite a while. Do you play any games on Facebook? No. What would you like to get a degree in? It'd be nice to get a degree in Arts, but yeah... I'm never going back to school. Do you wake up a lot in the middle of the night? Pretty much every night. Would you prefer to read a book, watch a movie or TV show, or play a video game? Play a video game. Do you usually get popcorn or soda at the movie theater? Almost without fail. You've got to, it's part of the experience. What genre of films do you like the best? Horror. How many bank accounts do you have? None, actually. Have you ever had the flu? No, thankfully. What is your goal for the next few months? To start getting in shape/losing weight. I seriously hope this gym routine works out. Have you ever had some kind of sleep-disorder? How did it affect your life? I have seveeeere sleep apnea. It's shocking, I never would've guessed it, though, so the diagnosis (I had a sleep study, so yes, it's legit) was an extreme surprise. I don't snore at all, nor do I like pass out in the middle of something, but I stop breathing A LOT. For a year or two (no, that is not an exaggeration), it caused consistent, horrible, and violent nightmares/terrors. It made sleep frightening to me, and I was never getting a truly restful sleep. Now, I have an APAP mask (like a less extreme version of a CPAP mask) that helps me greatly. I only very rarely am surprised by a more subtle nightmare now. Have you ever had food poisoning before? Describe the experience. No, thankfully. What are two things that you have no problem paying full price for? Quality tattoos, for one. And maybe uhhh... idk. We're the kind of family that buys off-brand foods and drinks all the time because it's cheaper, so I can't say that. Maybe health care? Like I wouldn't want service from a sketchy dentist or something. Funny, charming, cute, romantic, smart - choose only 2 for the opposite sex. Charming and romantic. Have you ever let somebody use you? Why did you do it? No. You can go back in time & change something in your mom’s past - what is it? That's hard for me to say. She doesn't seem to like talking about her past very much, because I know it's turbulent with her mother. I would say her being disowned, but I don't know how that *actually* affected her. Maybe it was for the better she wasn't under her mom's authority anymore. Do you know anybody who is around the exact same size as you? Who? I guess my mom, but she's actually smaller than me now. She's lost a lot of weight and is still going at it. Ever been to a haunted house? How scared were you? Not a house, but rather hay rides and those places you just walk through and experience different stuff. They don't scare me at all; I love 'em. Been on any websites today you wouldn’t want your parents to see? No. Which is worse: dusting or mopping? Ugh, mopping. I don't mind dusting. Would you marry somebody who was intensely religious? No. Did you pull a senior prank? No. That shit is so dumb. Did you graduate? High school, yes. Have you ever been unfaithful in a serious relationship? No, and I never would. What was the last song you listened to? I'm listening to Lauren Babic and Halocene's cover of "Bleed It Out" by Linkin Park right now. It's great. Are you one of those lucky people with 20/20 vision? Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeell no. Is fashion one of your interests? No. Do you think you’ll eventually find that special someone? Hell if I know. Do you care what people think? Way, way more than I should. Is acting something you enjoy? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. I feel so stupid. What was the last thing you broke/sprained? I tore a ligament badly in my foot maybe a year and a half ago. I was SO sure it was broken. My mom had to help me walk everywhere, and even when she did, I'd be whimpering and seething. Have you ever fought with a friend because of their boyfriend/girlfriend? Because of yours? No. Has a stranger ever yelled at you for your language? No. Whose house, other than yours and your families', are you most comfortable at? If we're excluding all family, I suppose Sara's? Has any of your friends’ family ever yelled at you? Probably at some point as a kid. Did you ever play a sport as a little kid? Did you enjoy it? I played a lot. The only two I really didn't like were soccer and cheerleading. Did you ever watch the show Full House? Hell yeah, I loved it as a kid. Is there a celebrity you are just DETERMINED to marry? Ha ha y'all know I joke about it, but no, not legitimately. It's not like I know him personally at all, and I'm not chasing him to California either. Just let me dream still lmao. Have you ever burned someone’s picture? No, but I've actually heard it's truly therapeutic and not just for dramatic effect, so I wouldn't be opposed to doing so if you handed me a picture of him and a lighter. What’s the longest hike you’ve ever been on? I've never hiked before. Would you ever get a lip tattoo? Uh, no. Who is the first person of the opposite sex that pops into your head? Jason. Do your parents smoke cigarettes? My dad smokes like a chimney and is 100% going to end up with cancer because of it. You should hear his cough. Mom smoked for a very, very brief period before I was born. What does one of your T-shirts have written on it? "Equal in our bones" is on my favorite shirt. Name a pet you definitely wouldn’t want. Certain inverts people are wild enough to get, like giant African centipedes in particular. Would you prefer your partner smaller or taller? Can't say I care. do you enjoy going through old pictures? Sometimes. Other times, it's too painful. It also depends on the era of the pictures. Do you believe people when they say they don’t judge people? Ha, no. We all have natural first impressions and things like that that just... happen. What did you love the most about the town you grew up in? Nothing, really... besides just childhood memories that inevitably came. My hometown was dangerous. What’s a movie that you laughed the hardest during? I'm not sure. What’s a movie you cried the hardest during? I want to say Old Yeller, but I'm not sure. What’s your favorite restaurant? Olive Garden and The Cheesecake Factory. Is there a dessert you don’t like? Yeah; I don't like pie, strawberry shortcake, and I know there're others. Favorite album? Ozzy's Black Rain. It was my introduction to metal, so there's nostalgic value there, but I also just LOVE every single song. What’s a book that you read because everyone else was reading it? None. I don't read books for that reason. Underwater or outer space? Both kinda frighten me to a degree, but I find outer space to be way cooler. So many colorrrrrrs. Dogs or cats? Cats. Kittens or puppies? Ugh, both are so cute, but I gotta hand it to kittens. Bird watching or whale watching? Whale watching would blow me away. Whales are such magnificent, awe-inspiring animals. What is your spirit animal? Probably a deer. Skittish, shy, and quiet. What was your best subject in school? English. What was your worst subject in school? Math. What is one thing you wish you knew in high school? You and Jason aren't going to last, hunty. Who is your fashion icon? I don't have one. I wear what I want/what's comfortable. Diamonds or pearls? I think diamonds are a lot prettier. What color dress did you wear to prom? First one was maroon, last one was black. What’s your favorite plot-twist? Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. My jaw actually dropped. Honestly, are you jealous of someone right now? Yes. Honestly, what’s the worst thing you’ve done when you were mad? Said things I shouldn't. Honestly, ever made anyone cry when you were mad? Yes. Honestly, when was the last time you REALLY cried your heart out? Two weeks ago or something like that. Ever pop someone else’s pimple? OH MY GOD NO alskdfa;wekrwer; Do you need to return anyone’s phone call? No. Who are you closest to? My mom. Have you ever had a bad concert experience? No. Are you currently sad about anything? A number of things. Have you had any form of exercise today? No, but tomorrow is day #2 at the gym! Can you handle blood? Yeah, np. Has any place hired you underage for a job? No. Have you ever carried a concealed weapon? No sir=ee. Are you currently searching for a job? Not anymore, at least not actively. I was going to after TMS, but I'm just... still not ready. Right now, I'm focusing on the gym and getting healthy again, but if the seemingly perfect job comes along, I'm not opposed to taking it up. Does eating breakfast make you sick? No, I've got to have breakfast or else THEN I feel awful.

[exmateriadead]

Burning All Your Angels.

                                                    { for | @fatedefy }

It gets hard to remember the weight of a dead body.

The memory comes after a strangled yawn, Naruto puts his hand to his chest where Neji used to be.

    All night he wishes the phantom breath in his ear would quiet down only to realize and to remember a beating heart running fast and how his could never catch up,until it disappeared. He realizes his heart is the only thing to beat alone.The thud of it quiet and the weight on his chest gone. The mercy of stillness is maddening.

Loving a boy is easy. Loving a dead ones hard work.

How could anyone say he can live like this?

He can’t so he won’t.

The Hyugas are infuriated, finding the terrain in their burial sight turned into hills of blackened soil, mountains unfurled unmarked graves a playground for who they think maybe outsiders looters and shamans.

No one needs this after a war- no more lost bodies, it’s what Konoha promised but yet again failing.

Naruto goes to the Uzumaki shrine with grave yard dirt underneath his fingers. The shrine sits as a pitiful ruined shack clustered in the corner of a forest miles and miles away from the village. It was where the great Uzumaki Mito would go to pray and meditate among her gods and demons.

Her presence is something he has difficulty connecting to- elusive as if he’s always too late to ask her spirit questions that no one alive can really answer. Yet, he’s guided by her difficulty and unresolved ancestral pains. Maybe in the long run it’ll count for something.

But at the grounds tonight, he finds a white serpent waiting, a scaly heap of a reptilian  body poised to attack.

Orochimaru laughs as he always does, showing the glint in his teeth. He looks younger- hungrier even.

“My, you are full of surprises Naruto-kun.”

It’s said with intrigue and that is the last thing Naruto ever wants when it comes to Orochimaru.

"These grounds aren’t yours to pick through. Leave now- or I cut you into pieces.“

Orochimaru cooes playfully he and his white snake leaving the steps of the shrine slow, sick like molasses. Narutos fingers twitch.

“I heard about the Hyuga boy dying valiantly in the war. Your ancestors would be proud, Naruto acclaiming their beliefs once again.”

Naruto ignored him moving his feet to walk past. It was true though what his ancestors believed, saying more to himself then anyone, “the strong don’t die.”

He was never a boy that believed in anything spiritually. Because if the same God made he and Kurama, they’d be a cruel God. Yet if it were the same God who made he and Neji, perhaps a God is only as proud as the things he creates. Perhaps a god can also be a devil.

The shinigami takes most of the room as Naruto unwraps the off white linen muzzled around Nejis corpse. Kuramas tails whipping back and forth in the ether waiting diligently to be summoned.

He presses the remainder of the seal with his own blood. A sigil to open a heavens gate and another to guide the spirit home- Naruto draws that one on Nejis sunken chest.

The shinigami doesn’t speak not in words anyway but it licks the air smiling with its sharp teeth tasting desperation. Naruto hopes it tastes love as well.

A soul for a soul. It speaks, yet yours is tied to anothers. Beloved, nine-tails.

Naruto looks down at Nejis body, only days from turning into dust and rot. His dark hair grey matted in webs he can’t unravel. The Hyugas ritual of carving out his eyes was already done. But he looked beautiful to Naruto. He always did.

Naruto couldn’t help but cry his tears small wet marbles sliding down Nejis ashened cheeks. He tried staying still but he couldn’t, he tried suppressing it all, swallowing his cries but they were loud and clear. His heart burned.

“I’ll give you whatever you want.” Naruto said, “whatever you want.”

Good. The Shinigami smiled. I desire what your lover wanted. I desire freedom, U-zu-ma-ki.

Naruto looked at the spirit contemplating it’s request. “Yes.” He said without much thought.

What is the cost of freedom anyway?

Then the shinigamis tanto was already buried deep in his chest before he could say anything else.

Everything.

He sees light fighting its way through the darkness behind his eyelids. Something remarkably warm is touching his skin. Then the warmth turns hot and angry and sharp digging into the skin of his shoulders.

Then the screaming doesn’t stop.

Neji won’t stop screaming- and for a moment Naruto believes this thing isn’t Neji at all.

He scrambles to muffle his screams, amend all his wrongs with casting himself as something familiar, swaddling him into his chest, pray and pray to a God he doesn’t believe in that Neji would stop, that he would come back to him.

It takes a moment when the screams settle into a dizzy mutter that Naruto figures out what Nejis been saying all along.

His name.

When Neji comes back, he comes back a free man, voltuous and ethereal. It glows and shimmers around his skull- this something- this halo of sorts added to his regal beauty to the very essence that is Hyuga Neji.

Maybe death is a new beginning.

When his mind is mostly right again, Naruto expects even prepares for Neji to go back to the Hyuga compound. The explanation set on his tongue, and if they wanted to punish him for it, Naruto would take the lashings and he would keep Neji free.

Instead, Neji crawls into bed with him. He soothes the curls a top Narutos head as if he knows how nervous Naruto is. The strands twist against his fingers too grown out for a haircut. His eyes crystalline lilac, frightening and somehow forever. But, Naruto can’t look away.

Neji does this for a while until his fingers bring attention to the scar on Narutos chest.

“I wouldn’t take it back.” Naruto says defensively. He touches Nejis fingers sitting on the long ugly scar.

He expects a reprimand but instead Nejis eyes look sharper, his hair falling past over his shoulders.

“Good.” He says, “i wouldn’t either.”

Neji is new, different, free.

They fuck and make love whenever they can. Intense is just the half of it. Their bodies unable to properly function without at least being inside one another. They fuck like they’re only moments away from leaving their bodies for good. Nejis legs around Naruto, Narutos hand wrapped around his throat in his hair- at it again and again whether happy or angry they’re always feeling something.

Neji is complicated. Naruto becomes recluse.

“This is fucking horrible.” Neji looks at the drag between his fingers. The smell of cannabis and late night barbecue waifs in the air.

“Give it back then.”

“No.”

Neji takes another hit, He doesn’t really see the poetry here but he does it anyway. He does everything, anyway.

And maybe Naruto loves that too much maybe that’s the fucking issue.

Another night Neji comes home bleeding from his forehead. His arms shaking a small smile across his face. He’s broken three fingers and somebodies nose, Naruto can tell with the fresh clear cut dripping from his knuckles.

“Whats up with you?” Naruto tries to not sound annoyed. Neji shrugs he pulls out a lighter from his pocket, carved gold and places it on the brim of the sink where Naruto is attending to his wounds.

“You like it?”

Naruto barely gives a glance but he nods anyway.

“Where’d you get it?”

“Stole it.”

Naruto sighs, “shinobi don’t steal.”

Nejis eyes pander a look of judgement somehow before he aims for a kiss Naruto is all too desperate for all too willing to give. Even if Neji does taste slightly of ash..

“Is that what I still am to you?”

Naruto wipes dried blood from Nejis jaw and licks his lips.

“You’re whatever you want to be.” He sighs again whispering , “and its scary.”

[believerindaydreams]

further scenes from a GBU/Rawhide AU

yeah this is gonna be one of those things where a good working knowledge of the movie as written helps, or I’d be here until Christmas getting the details finely lined up. 

…Angel Eyes is up to something.

Tuco’s sure of it, suspects he would be even if he hadn’t kept an ear out for the rumours and muttered legends- that’s the trouble with his ex-partner’s sense of style, it always had the damnedest way of landing them both in the soup. It sounds good, fine, to be the kind of man who can stop a room dead just by walking through the door. In practice it drew targets on their backs and made it impossible to find boltholes from the law, frightened away the kind of people who trusted him when he was just a solitary bandit with a long foolish charge sheet.

And breaking Angel Eyes of that habit, chances are the man would have broken him first. Angel isn’t the kind of man who takes correction easily. What he is, is a man with a good nose for opportunity- and if he thinks that the nonsense about Carson’s gold is worth pursuing, well, that’s a rainbow to try chasing.

“May I ask,” the gunshop owner asks, managing to stutter on just three syllables. Some people would have killed for that out of hand.

But hey, he’s in a good mood; alive and with a whole skin and armed with a gun that sings a good tune, that’s a fine thing. “You want to know why I needed a weapon at all? I didn’t have one before, that’s why.”

The man moans. Tuco takes a final swig of gooey red liquor and kindly shoves it across the counter.

“See, you get a few men together for a gang, you know? Trustworthy, the kind who won’t shoot you in the back for your gold teeth, so everyone can sleep at night without worrying. All working fine, until they get a sniff of two hundred thousand in gold and then suddenly it’s every man for himself and somebody steals my horse when I’m having a siesta. Bastards.”

“You have two hundred thousand dollars in gold?” For a frightened man, he’s looking very greedy.

“Not yet,” Tuco admits. “But I will- hey, when I get it I’ll come back here and buy a set of your best silver plated revolvers, how’s that?”

No harm in promises, with that kind of money floating around.

Hell, he might even do it.

**********

God must really hate him, to let him find the one stagecoach in this whole stretch of desert but have there be no water inside it.

“Water,” the lone survivor croaks, longingly, and Rowdy can’t even answer him at first; his own throat’s too choked and dusty. “Water, I’ll give you anything- I’ll give you gold.”

Gold, what does he care about that when he’s dying of thirst too? “Where?”

Carson misunderstands him. Babbles a lot of nonsense about a cemetery while Rowdy searches frantically, turning over bodies and upending dry canteens with scant respect. It’d be all too likely an end, if he were to just keel over right now and add one more to the pile of corpses.

“Out there,” Carson gasps, pointing.

He runs out, and finds it- hot, alkaline, but blessedly liquid. Drinks too much but so satisfying, whooping in delight. Dampens his hat and lets the water run down his face, soothing his sunburns.

When Rowdy comes back, hat brimful of water, Carson’s stopped breathing.

And there’s another man here now. A loudly-dressed bandito of all people, with tears in his eyes and a prayer on his lips.

“Hey. Hey, Carson, don’t die…don’t die! Two hundred thousand in gold, how can you give up with so much to live for? Santa maria-” and the rest is all a blur, Spanish and maybe something else.

There’s something greatly horrible, about walking towards this scene of private agony- but innocence left him when Favor did. Gently, Rowdy reaches over to close the staring eyes.

“I’m sorry….was he a friend of yours?”

“Him? No, no- I never saw him before, and I curse my luck for it- who are you?”

The memory of Favor’s hard horse sense stops him telling the truth; Rowdy runs a hand through his sun-bleached hair, self-consciously. “These days I go by- Blondie. Uh, what’s your name?”

The bandito looks rather pleased. “Tuco Benedicto Pacifico Juan Maria Ramirez.”

“Uh.“

“My friends, I let them call me Tuco. You’re a friend, if you don’t shoot me and you were with Carson before he died- did he say anything to you, about the gold? But- say, you don’t look so good. All that mess on your face. Been out in the sun too long?”

“My-“ boss, captain, friend all run through his head, and none of them are right. “My partner, he got scared. Took all the water and left me to die in the desert.”

Tuco clucks his tongue like a schoolmarm or a mother hen; but there’s a shifting wariness in his eyes that speaks of quick, haunted understanding. “Can’t trust anyone these days, eh? Same thing happened to me, isn’t that funny….”

At the end of a quarter hour, they’ve gotten three things straight.

One, he’s got half the secret to a fortune in gold.

Two, none other than the famous Tuco Ramirez has the other half.

Three, it’s only a little way from here to a monastery where they’ll take good care of him, quiet grey stones and cooling darkness, and as Tuco says, they can hash out the rest of it when he’s better.

“But you have to live and get well first, eh? Don’t worry. Tuco will be a very fine friend to you…”

Might just be the gold; but he has a funny feeling he can trust Tuco.

Then again, he’d thought that about Favor…

*************

some time later

“He’s not a good man, my brother,” Pablo says to him.

Rowdy can guess why. A good man wouldn’t have taught him how to smoke cigarillos (“not my favourite, but you smoke what you can get”). A good man wouldn’t have played that nasty trick telling him he was about to die, or got into a shouting match with a priest.

A good man wouldn’t have saved him, probably. “But he’s your brother. That counts for something, doesn’t it?”

“Christ’s love exceeds all other,” Pablo intones. “I am trying to warn you away from him. Though it seems clear that you have few other choices of company, should you leave.”

“I guess so...”

“But perhaps you won’t have a reason to leave. In this war, there are always more wounded men, more casualties who come crying to our doors for help- we could use a man with your charity and compassion.”

Rowdy can’t help a little bitterness. “What compassion?”

“For one, you put up with Tuco.” The smile passes quickly, but in that moment it lays the family resemblance bare. “That’s a task to tax the most stalwart patience.”

“He was saving me, though. A stranger he didn’t know at all, he was just playing Good Samaritan.”

If there’s pleasure in Pablo’s expression, it’s hemmed in by caution. “That’s…not wholly characteristic of my brother. Is there something he wants from you? Something you’re not prepared to give, perhaps?”

“No. No, nothing.”

He knows what Pablo’s asking, knows well enough why the man suspects an ulterior motive- but he can’t bring himself to say it. Not after seeing Tuco’s tired stupor after that fight with his brother, sitting up until dawn and drinking himself bleary-eyed. To cut off that solitary bind, that’s a cruelty he’d shoot a man sooner than commit.

It’s too much like him and Favor, and he’d gladly have given up any share in this impossible fortune if somebody had lied like this, soothed their path smooth again.

“That’s a greater kindness than I think you might recognise,” Pablo says, staring straight into his eyes. “But I- I thank you for telling me this.”

“You will go and make it up with him, won’t you?”

The holy man mutters something that sounds uncommonly like a groan. “He’ll want to toast our famiy in six kinds of liquor- which wouldn’t be such a problem, if he didn’t expect me to keep up. The other brothers will not approve.”

“If I had a brother, I’d risk a hangover for him,” Rowdy says.

Pablo looks dubious. Says he’ll think about it; but the sound that wakes Rowdy from his siesta later is, he’s sure, the sound of two glasses ringing against each other.

[anthropwashere]

Revive: maybe one day I’ll be home again

AO3 || FFN

(So glad I got something posted during Phanniemay! Here’s 3.6k of Danny having a bad time, which is like slipping on a nice pair of well-worn slippers at this point. Fic title comes from Skip the Use’s “Nameless World.”)

=

It’s a robbery. Just a plain old robbery at the 7-11 on the corner of Jacob and Marley, no ghosts involved at all. Just some guy with shaky hands and a gun. It’s like the opening out of one those crime shows there’s fifteen ripoffs of on TV; idiot teen steps in front of loaded gun in idiot attempt at playing hero. The pounding in his ears could almost be mistaken for the opening theme music.

“Oh, shit,” the guy says.

Danny’s mouth stutters, but he can’t push any words out. He can’t seem to breathe around the dull heat punched through his chest. His sneaker’s wet. The glass Coke bottle he’d been holding must have broken.

“What did you…?” The cashier shakes his head, eyes so wide Danny can see white all around his dark irises. “You shot him.”

“I didn’t mean to,” the guy blurts out. Like saying that will magically make it all better.

“You shot him.”

He can’t breathe. He’d just stopped in here for a soda and a couple protein bars on his way home from patrol. The guy had burst in waving the gun when Danny had been mentally calculating if he had enough for a bag of gummy worms too, stammering out hoarse demands without even looking to see if anyone else was in the store. It’s after midnight on a Tuesday though; who would be?

“Shit,” the guy says again. He looks terrified. He looks like somebody who’d be desperate enough to rob a corner store; gaunt and unshaven, stains and holes in clothes a little too big for him. He doesn’t look like a murderer.

Danny swallows. He finds the strength to lift his arm, to touch fingertips to the wet hole in his chest. They come away red. Way too red. He’d just touched it for a second, but his fingers are slick to the crease of his palm. He sways. One of the men shouts as his knees hit the floor, protein bars scattering from his other hand. Cold soda soaks his jeans; warm blood soaks his shirt.

He’s been hurt before. He’s been hurt bad before. But never when he was human. Never by another human, never with a weapon that wasn’t at least a little bit jury-rigged with ghost-fighting tech. This. He doesn’t. He doesn’t know what to do.

The guy’s hands had been shaking, but Danny had walked right up to him, overconfident and stupid. He’s been fighting ghosts long enough that he forgot humans can be just as dangerous. Shaky hands. Fear? Drugs? Doesn’t matter. The gun couldn’t have been more than a few inches away when it had gone off.

He can’t breathe.

“You shot a kid,” the cashier’s yelling. “Are you crazy? I was gonna give you the money!”

“He—he got in the way! He was trying to stop me!”

“So you killed him? Shit, man, put the gun down, okay? You’ve done enough.”

They keep yelling at each other, both high and frightened. The gun’s still in the guy’s hand, not like he means to shoot the cashier but. Still. It could still be loaded. The guy’s freaked out. What if this plays out like bad TV? No witnesses, trash the security tapes. The gun’s probably stolen already. The cops’d just have two bodies on their hands. Danny’s school ID is in his wallet. He wonders what the cashier’s name is, who this guy with the gun is too.

He slumps against a rack of candy bars, feels it bow under his weight. “Nnn,” he slurs. He can’t breathe. The pounding in his ears is hiccuping, hard and off-kilter, like he’s about to pass out. That’s. That’s not good. His shirt’s soaked. He’s shaking. All bad signs.

“Put the fucking phone down,” the guy with the gun yells, brandishing it at the cashier. Danny can’t see what the cashier’s doing from where he’s spilling across the floor. This is bad. If he doesn’t. He’s gotta do something. The guy’s gonna kill—

“St—” He chokes. Blood in his throat, filling his mouth. He drops his chin and lets it leak out, too weak to spit. “Stop.”

Incredibly, the guy stops. Stares down at him like he’d forgotten Danny was even there. Danny’s chest hitches pointlessly. Is it his imagination or can he feel the bullet, an alien lump of metal caught at a weird angle between his muscles, his organs? Don’t. Don’t think about it. Can’t breathe. Who cares. He doesn’t bother breathing half the time he’s Phantom anyway. What’s it matter now that he’s human?

“Luh. Leave ‘im ‘lone.” Ugh. Not his most eloquent. So sue him. “Drop it.”

“Kid,” the cashier says from somewhere out of sight. “Kid, hey, don’t talk. Just stay still. I’m gonna call an ambulance—”

“Like hell you are,” the guy yelps, not looking away from Danny.

“He’s gonna die if I don’t. I don’t care about the money, man, just let me help this kid before—”

“Stop.”

They stop.

Danny stops too. He forces himself slack, makes himself limp. Don’t struggle. Stop. Stop. He’s been hurt before. He’s been hurt bad before. This isn’t. This is bad, but he isn’t dying. He isn’t. He won’t die here. His lungs empty. His head lolls. The pounding in his ears beats once, twice, then stammers to a standstill.

“Oh god,” both men whisper feebly.

Oh. Hey. Hey. Now that his body’s not having a conniption, he feels—okay, good is maybe stretching it, but he feels better than he did a minute ago. He’s pretty sure he can stand up. It takes him a couple tries; he’s still feeling cold and weak, there’s not much leverage off the rickety shelves, and he’s a sticky mess of blood and soda. He manages it okay though, one elbow resting heavy on the counter, a slippery grin on his face, his knees shaking but keeping his weight.

Both men are screaming at this point, and the guys pointed the gun at him again. He huffs. It feels weird. He decides not to think about why it might feel weird. “Seriously?” It comes out phlegmy, or maybe it’s better to say bloody. Ugh. He swallows, grimacing. “I, nngh. I think you did enough already. Don’t you?”

“Wh-what the hell are you?!”

That’s a dumb question. This is Amity Park. He doesn’t bother dignifying that with a response. Instead he narrows his eyes, bares his teeth in a feral grin as neon green stains the flickering white lights overhead. “I think you should go,” he rasps. “Before I change my mind. Leave the gun.”

The guy drops the gun and bolts. The automated chime on the door sounds so absurd after everything that’s happened Danny wants to curl up and giggle. Maybe later. He swallows—guh—and looks over at the cashier. The poor man’s pressed up against the wall of cigarettes, gray-faced with eyes wide as saucers, his mouth a perfect O.

Nothing he says is going to make the man any less afraid. He doesn’t have a clue what he’d say anyway. He doesn’t have a clue what’s happened. He looks down at the spill of blood—his blood—across the tile, the candy bars, the counter. The broken glass, the spilled soda. What a mess.

Wait. Blood. Bad crime shows always do DNA tests, right? He doesn’t know anything about how that stuff works, but he does know he’s spilled… well. More than enough to stop his heart. A lot.

He looks back at the cashier, who hasn’t moved. The cashier swallows, stammers out, “Wh-what?”

He doesn’t say anything before he sets fire to the counter. More specifically he sets the blood he’s left smeared all over on fire, but the sudden green flare sure looks intimidating. The cashier whimpers. Danny, one hand clinging tightly to the counter, methodically melts down the entire rack of candy to a noxiously sweet-smelling slag, then burns the tiled floor black and bubbling. As an afterthought he runs a hand across himself, drying the blood on him in a wave of sour heat so he doesn’t drip anymore.

He bends down—whoa, easy there gravity—and picks up the gun. It’s heavier than it looks. He keeps the barrel pointed at the ground, finger off the trigger ‘til he taps the safety on. That’s about all he knows how to do with guns that aren’t meant for ghosts. It’s enough for now.

He should probably care about the security footage too. He takes an experimental breath; he’s almost positive he can feel the bullet shift. Yeah. Screw the footage. He’s got bigger problems.

“Sorry about the mess,” he says, and, since his cover story begins and ends with horrible 7-11 apparition, he vanishes. He stands there a minute longer to make sure the fire goes out; he’s not trying to burn the place down, he’s just trying to destroy any evidence he was there. The cashier watches the fire too, gaping like a fish. When it gutters out he sinks to the floor and buries his head in his knees, breathing wetly.

Danny phases through the door. Some terrible part of him wants to turn visible long enough to set off the automated chime to scare the cashier one last time. He doesn’t. He keeps walking, unseen, down the street for the nearest alley three buildings down. He can duck in there, have a minor panic attack because seriously, what, then he can call—

Call who?

Tucker can’t handle anything worse than a bad scrape without going gray and shaky. He’s got the steadiest hands out of all of them, sure—that A in Sewing isn’t a fluke—but this isn’t something he can bribe Tucker to patch up with puppy eyes and movie tickets. This isn’t something that can just be patched up, period.

Sam’s got the strongest stomach of the three of them and she’s a better liar than Tucker, but this is way beyond anything they’ve had to deal with before. They’ve smuggled a lot of medical supplies out of his parents’ basement, but they aren’t equipped to handle gunshot wounds. The bullet’s still in there. He can’t ask her to go digging around in his chest for it. Did it shatter? He could just phase it out. Maybe it’s better to leave it in for now. Less evidence to leave lying around—

His chest throbs. A low cry is squeezed out of him, more surprise than pain. He staggers, trips over his feet, almost faceplants on the sidewalk. His bloody hand jumps to his chest, fingertips pressed to the hole over his heart. He wavers in the middle of the sidewalk, in the relative darkness between two pools of yellow street light. What was that?

Another throb, as sharp as a knife, as hard as a kick to the ribs. He feels it under his fingers, feels something pulse under his skin. He doesn’t breathe. He doesn’t need to breathe right now. His jaw is clenched tight enough to make his teeth ache; his lungs feel like wet plastic bags. Throb. He curls in on himself, forcing one foot in front of the other. Throb. Stay invisible. There are cars passing by, people lingering at a street sign, looking around for whatever made that funny noise. Throb. Almost at the alley now. Almost there. Almost there.

He turns in and it’s mercifully empty. He staggers to the end of it, where dented trash cans and bulging black bags make a decent hiding spot. There’s a faint smell of old beer, old piss, something greasy gone to rot, all of it settling heavy on his tongue. He’s distantly glad he doesn’t have to breathe right now, more focused on the pulse beneath his crabbed fingers.

He turns visible again as he sags against the brick wall, grunts as another throb beats through him. There’s another one right on the heels of that one, and another after that. Something cool and wet dribbles out of the wound and he yelps, pulling his hand away.

Neon green paints his palm, filling the alleyway with dim luminescence. He’s gobsmacked, straight up speechless, even through the next hard throb of what can only be his heart trying to kickstart itself again. His heart, trying to pump ectoplasm, somehow funneled through that cold little spark in his chest that never leaves, that connection between his two halves, the reason he was able to walk away from being shot at all.

Okay. Okay. This. Uh. This is new. This is good? It hurts, but that makes sense. Maybe phasing the bullet out now is a good idea after all. He passes his hand through his chest, hears metal ping on the asphalt by his knee. Another pass to be safe. It’s probably enough. He’s more worried about the hole he can’t do anything about and the ectoplasm splurting sluggishly out of it with every beat of his inexplicably beating heart.

His vision blurs, dips, hazes over with unearthly shades of green. He swallows, blinking rapidly until he can see clearly again. Okay. Bad. This is bad. This is arguably worse, maybe. He doesn’t know. But he can’t stay here. He’s gotta get—where? Who’s closest?

...Valerie is, actually, but he doesn’t think this would go over well. He hisses laughter between his teeth. Home, then. Home, and Jazz. Jazz is gonna lose her mind when she sees him, and honestly? He’s not gonna blame her one bit.

Another particularly sharp throb makes him cough, hoarse and wet, and he spits out a glowing gob of he-doesn’t-wanna-know. His chest goes tight. Spots dance in his eyes the longer he sits there, rubbing at the slick mess all down his front. He spits again, wheezes on pure human instinct, and feels better.

Oh. Breathing. That’s a thing his lungs would like him to do again, apparently. He takes shallow, careful breaths. Guh. It smells nasty here. But he’s breathing, and it’s sore sure, but he’s breathing, and his heart’s beating, and while he’s not so sure he’d be able to stand at the moment at least he’s feeling pretty clear headed. All in all, he’s arguably doing better than he was ten minutes ago.

His hand’s wet again, cold and syrupy, like he stuck it in a can of paint. He wipes it on his jeans, leaving a huge neon smear. He peels his shirt off his skin, shivers when it sticks reluctantly, slips his hand under to palm the wound directly. Ectoplasm, at least, has a higher viscosity than blood.

He shivers again. Shock, maybe? He snorts, wincing when his chest protests sharply. Of course it’s shock, idiot. Each sluggish throb of his heart still feels like a kick to the sternum, green hazing his periphery. He breathes, putting as much pressure on the wound as he can. He breathes. He’s got to do more than this, but he doesn’t know what. Stop the bleeding—how? It’s his heart. If he plugs his chest, then he’ll have to deal with internal bleeding. Right?

...He’s definitely got to sign up for Anatomy next year. If he makes it that long. At this rate, he’s not sure if he’s gonna make it to school tomorrow—no, shhh, shut up, he’s gonna be fine. This is fine. He’s alive, sort of, right? He’s fine. He’s gonna be just fine. Somehow.

He knocks his head against the brick, looking skyward. From here he can make out a few twinkling stars, the dark gray smear of a cloud, the blinking red light of an airplane passing by. There’s always so much going on above the city. It’s not so out of reach as it used to be for him, but it’s all so still so impossibly far. Funny, that he finds some kind of comfort in that. Here he is, bleeding out for the second time in one night in an alleyway, and if he did die right here the universe would wheel on without him. It wouldn’t even notice.

He likes that. He likes that just fine. Sam’d call him morbid, and she’d be proud (and maybe a little worried), but hey. A guy’s gotta cope somehow, right?

...Huh. His heartbeat doesn’t hurt as bad now. Is that good? That’s probably not good. He takes a deeper breath, expecting splintered pain… and is surprised when there’s only soreness. He eases up the pressure on the wound, expects a fresh spill of cool ectoplasm, and yeah, there’s a little, but not nearly as much as before. What the heck?

The gun’s still in his left hand, nearly forgotten. He’s not willing to put it down, still uneasy about the bullet he’s left on the asphalt by his knee, glinting in the green light of his ectoplasm. He can’t forget that, just in case. This neighborhood’s poor, not dangerous. A trashed corner store and an alley coated in ghost gore not a hundred yards away is going to raise questions, even in Amity Park. His parents are going to be all over this place tomorrow with a fine tooth comb. His dad might miss the bullet, but his mom? No way.

Right. Gunshot wound. Not bleeding as much as it was just a minute ago. That should be concerning. That should be really concerning. But, funny thing, he doesn’t feel worse. He feels… better?

He prods at it experimentally, and his middle finger doesn’t slip through like it did before. There’s—muscle? Something that feels like the slippery firmness of exposed muscle, anyway.

“No way,” he whispers, wide-eyed. There’s healing quick and then there’s straight up video game logic. This shouldn’t be possible. But even as he’s thinking that he feels something shift under his fingertip, feels something grow. He twitches his hand away. When he dares to touch again, there’s skin. Raw, tender, like the skin under a torn off scab. He swallows, reeling, belatedly remembers to keep breathing. “Oh. Oh, wow. Okay. Okay. Right.”

So. Not going to die. He wasn’t planning on dying here, no way, but. Still. Nice to have that confirmed. Uh. He’s maybe just going to sit here a bit longer. Give his body—his ghost half?—time to do… whatever it’s doing. No sense jumping up to head home just to bust his heart open again.

He grins weakly. “Oh man, this is nuts.”

But hey, if it works, right?

Mmm. Home. Right. He pulls his hand out from under his shirt, wrinkles his nose at the mess of blood and ectoplasm smeared up to his wrist. Gross. His left hand, the one holding the gun, is still clean. He eases himself cross-legged, places the gun on one knee, fishes out his phone and dials Jazz’s cell. She doesn’t pick up the first time so he calls again. She picks up the fourth ring.

“...’lo?”

“Hey, it’s an emergency.”

“Danny...? It’s the middle of the night. Where are you?”

“Yeah. Patrol ran long, then I, uh. Had some trouble. I’m gonna need your help when I get home.”

“Mm. What happened? Are Sam and Tucker—”

“They’re fine, probably home by now. I—” He swallows through a low throb of pain, tries not to think about what might be happening inside himself. “—I got hurt.”

“Hurt? What happened? How serious?”

“...Uh. Bad.”

“...Danny?”

He clears his throat, shakes off the cobwebs. “I’m gonna be fine. I just need to get cleaned up. Where are Mom and Dad?”

“Um, I don’t know.”

“Well find out.”

“Okay, okay. Just a sec.” Shuffling sounds. “Do you need me to come get you?”

“No. Just. I could use your help hiding some stuff once I get there.”

“Stuff?”

“My clothes are, um. Trashed. There’s a gun too.”

“A what?!”

“Yeah.”

“Where did you get a—a gun from?”

“Tell you later.” Ooh, he’s tired all of a sudden. He feels wrung out, sore, and starving. “Nnngh. Any sign of ‘em?”

Her voice drops to a whisper. “Looks like they’re asleep.”

“Mm. Perfect. Meet me in the lab with some clean clothes for me, okay? I’ll be home soon as I can.”

“Danny, talk to me. Tell me what happened. How badly hurt are you?”

“Told you, Jazz. M’fine. Just need to get cleaned up.”

She hums like she’s not convinced. “You sure you don’t want me to meet you?”

“I can fly faster than a car. M’not far, okay? Just. Fifteen minutes, tops.”

“That’s a long time if you’re flying.”

“I’m taking a breather right now, nosy.”

“Danny—”

“Jazz.” He sighs, almost rubs his eyes but remembers how gross his free hand is. “I’m… I’m okay. I just need a few minutes. Picked up a new ghost power, I think. I’ll explain at home.”

“...If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.”

“Okay. See you soon.”

“M’kay.”

“I mean it. If you’re not here in fifteen minutes I’m calling you back. You don’t pick up, I’m calling Sam and Tucker.”

He chuckles softly, too tired to laugh. It hurts, but not half as much as it did a few minutes ago. “Okay, okay. Fifteen minutes, tops.”

He hangs up after they exchange quiet goodbyes and he sets his phone on his right knee, opposite the gun. He takes a deep breath, wincing a little. Not too bad. Two more minutes. He’s going to sit here two more minutes, then he’ll get up and head home.

He rests his head against the brick again, watches stars twinkle impossibly far away. A thought comes to mind unbidden that has him biting his lip to keep from laughing outright. It’s so dumb, but it’s the middle of the night and he may or may not have just discovered he’s a little bit functionally unkillable. So sue him, he’ll laugh a little.

He can never go back to that 7-11 again now that he’s gone and haunted it.

[fearofaherobrine]

Roleplay Server Log #372

“Licht in the Sanctuary, SUGAR”

[Lie] She and CP are talking while having breakfast on their bed about the previous nights events-

[CP] - So yeah, that's what I know so far...

[Lie] - CP, I swear if I'd been more aware of what you had been doing, I would have catified you

[CP] - But I was legitimately helping this time? [Lie] Gives him a suspicious look-

[Notch] knocks on their door-

[Lie] - Come in

[Notch] Swings the door wide and centers on Cp before tapping his foot a bit- Well?

[CP] - Well what?

[Notch] Why is Licht here? I'm almost positive you had something to do with it.

[CP] - She was with Dofta and her Alex wasn't responding? [Lie] - I really should just catify you now...

[Notch] So out of the goodness of your hearts you decided to help?

[CP] - ... Yeeeeees?

[Notch] eyebrow-

[CP] - What!?

[Notch] okay... Good job then...

[Lie] - Well, somebody should probably go take care... Of... The animals...- Her tone turns to sadness

[Notch] Notes her tone and sighs a bit sadly himself- I'll get started.

[Lie] Please count the wolves, CP counted about eight of them missing last night

[Notch] I... I don't know how many there are supposed to be...

[CP] - Don't worry, I'll count them again

[Notch] I'll just... I'll go feed them.

[Lie] - Thank you

[EAlex] Wakes up first and paces around the room a little before washing herself and her clothes in the tub-

[Licht] Wake up after a bit and rolls over, trying to go back to sleep-

-A bit of text scrolls across her vision 'you can only sleep at night' -

[Licht] Groans- What fresh hell is this?

[EAlex] is done washing and wringing her hair out a little bit- what is it?

[Licht] - This message about sleep!

[EAlex] oh, it's because sleeping lets you avoid the monsters. It's a time skip, so it doesn't work during the day. I can get around it, but that's because of these- she points at her eyes. - technically I'm broken.

[Licht] - That.... Sucks, I really could have done with a bit more sleep

[EAlex] Are any of your counters low? I've never respawned myself, but it should reset everything to full.

[Licht] - It doesn't look like it...

[EAlex] Sits on the edge of the bed - can I get you anything?

[Licht] She thinks for a moment- Shit, Markus's son probably still has my phone

[EAlex] I... don't know where he is? Maybe we should try and find someone?

[Licht] - Yeah, probably for the best

[EAlex] Are you still feeling poorly? I can carry you easily enough.

[Licht] - I'll be fine, still just a bit in shock about being in a game

[EAlex] Ah well, that I understand. But hey, you basically cheated death, so things could be worse right?

[Licht] - Yeah, this is true. And don't think I missed those tears that you had

[EAlex] Are you going to try and shame me for caring? I think you might have been in deep lava if I'd have told the doctor you'd mistreated me.

[Licht] - I'm not shaming you at all, and they already don't like me much

[EAlex] Well... to be fair it looks like there might be a lot to protect here. And you are rather tenacious. - she opens the door and the little noises of the caged mobs get louder. The slime blocks are opposite the door and scrunch smootch squick up to the bars to look at them blankly-

[Licht] - Such weird monsters...

[EAlex] These guys aren't so bad actually they just... they get in the way.  They can push you into things, or off of things. They get really big and when you hit them they split into lots of little ones. - she looks to the side - Hot stuff... - they glance around the corner at the two big tubs, one with steaming water and the other brimmng with lava. - Don't think I need to warn you away from the lava.

[Licht] - Yeah, my one visit to a volcano was close enough- She starts gathering her gear

[Steve] Opens the door at the end of the hall and holds it graciously-

[TLOT] Kisses him as he passes through. HIs golden armor is gleaming in the firelight and he gives a bit of a languid yawn before spotting them.

[Steve] His head follows his mates- Oh, hello? I didn't know we got anyone new in. A glitched Alex, and a....?

[TLOT] Looks like a player with a basic skin to me. - he strides over. Addressing the Alex first -Greetings sister brine. Do you and your fellow have names?

[EAlex] EAlex and this is Licht.

[TLOT] Ah. I am Herobrine the Lord of Tears. TLOT for short, and this is my husband and high priest; Father Steve.

[Steve] Polite nod-

[Licht] - You're, religious here?

[TLOT] It's my Testificates. The natives of my seed hold me in high regard. I'm their god-king and they named my husband high priest.

[Steve] Sticks out a hand- Just Steve is fine.

[EAlex] How old are you sir, if you don't mind me asking?

[TLOT] I've got a few holes in my memory, but, at least 1000 years.

[Licht] - That's... Old

[TLOT] I like to think of it as being experienced. My Steve is much younger.

[Steve] blushes- I'm only a bit over 500. We're pretty sure Doc is way older then either of us.

[Licht] - How much older?

[TLOT] Well... as old as the first games?

[EAlex] Gives a tiny intake of breath.

[Steve] They told us both when we first met, they attained conciousness as a tiny cluster of scrambled pixels. They built themselves up into a human shape from random pixels.

[Licht] - This is just so much to take in, especially after last night

[TLOT] I take it we missed something? - he gives Lichts mind a gentle prod and gets the shape of what happened.

[Steve] Gets it second hand and pales- That's so scary...

[Licht] Now on guard- What did you do?

[TLOT] I read your mind. It's right at the top since it just happened.

[Licht] - I'm sorry, you can what?

[TLOT] I'm psychic. And I'm the native here, so it's even easier.

[EAlex] thumbs at TLOT- I guess this is why he's king.

[TLOT] Well... I'm also a shapeshifter.

[Licht] Just groans in frustration-

[TLOT] Cocks his head a little- Why does that annoy you?

[Licht] - This is just so much to take in and barely anything makes sense

[EAlex] I tried to tell you it was real...

[Licht] - I know, I know

[Steve] At least you have a brine to guide you. That can make all the difference sometimes.

[TLOT] Aww.

[Steve] We should look for Deerheart, and see what kind of day we're dealing with outside. I need a little sun at least.

[EAlex] Deer-heart?

[TLOT] You'll see.

[Licht] - We also need to get my phone...

[Steve] Did you lose it somewhere?

[Licht] - I think Markus's son still has it

[TLOT] Oh, Cp? Well, unless he hates you, he's not going to crush it or anything.

[Licht] - Yes well I need to call my work and let them know I'll be late

[TLOT] I'll let him know then. If his wife hasn't catified him for some reason I can probably get him to bring it over. He lives 2-3 chunks away. - typing in chat- Cp? Can you bring the new players phone over?

[Licht] - Catified?

[Steve] Chuckles- She can turn him into a little red cat when he's being horrible. It generally curbs his behavior.

[Licht] - Okay?

[CP] - Can't, Lie is in clingy mode

[Lie] In chat as well- Sorry TLOT, just having a cold spell right now

[TLOT] Well that looks like a nonstarter. Cp's very pregnant wife is using him for a space heater again.

[Steve] It's okay, I'll go over and get it. Let's go up so I can grab a horse.

[TLOT] If you want. Follow me please. - heads back past the cages-

[EAlex] trots along after him curiously.

[TLOT] Avoids the plate in the floor at the bottom of the steps. [EAlex] Walks on it accidently and gives a small cry of alarm as an armor stand with a chestplate and a zombie head is bounced up out of a hole that briefly opens in the floor and then slams shut again as the stand rattles to a dead stop on top of it.

[Licht] Instinctively reaches for her gun-

[Steve] Curses and points at the gun- what's that doing here!?!?

[Licht] - What? It's part of my gear! As a cop I'm required to carry it around when on duty

[TLOT] Oh dear... And there's no need to be upset. Doc likes to put little traps up, none of them actually hurt you. Just startle. But either way, please put it away. We don't allow guns here as a general rule. Doc finds them a bit triggering and Deerheart hates them.

[EAlex] Just stick it in your inventory, then no one can see it.

[Licht] Goes to holster it instead- Inventory?

[EAlex] it's the little frames under the hearts and food bars. Just put the whole thing on the floor for a moment.

[TLOT] It's how you carry things.

[Licht] Hesitates- If rather not...

[TLOT] I promise we won't take it from you, and it will still be easy to hand.

[EAlex] isn't the piece of food you took last night in one of the frames? Focus on that and it should go into your hand

[Licht] - Err, that's actually next to the bed...

[EAlex] Oh... Well it's probably gone now. Things go away if you leave them sit without placing them deliberately. Here, take this- they take out the mushrollem - just hold your hand out-

[Licht] Holds her hand out-

[EAlex] Gives it a tiny toss and it vanishes just over Lichts hand- now look, is it in one of the frames?

[Licht] - Um, yes?

[Steve] Just focus on the frames and you can scroll through whatever is in them, like this- he holds up a hand and items appear and vanish in succession: a porkchop, a pick axe, a woodblock, his sword, and a ball of yellow yarn.

[Licht] Focuses and does manage to get the mushrolleum into her hand-

[Silver] Approaches while caring Missingno and Sylveon trails behind them-

[Steve] There you go. Now take the gun off and suck it up the same way. It'll be close to hand if you really must have it. Just please don't point it at Doc.

[EAlex] Now I know you're not from around here.

[Licht] Pulls it out of its holster, it takes a few tries, but she does get it into her inventory-

[Silver] - Oh, hello

[TLOT] Hello Silver, how's little No?

[Missingno] Hides it's face away, whimpering a little-

[TLOT] Aww. Poor little thing.

[Steve] You don't have to be scared little one.

[EAlex] Why is it so frightened? Is it just a baby?

[Silver] - It was really badly glitched... But it's getting better

[TLOT] Gives a warm smile and exhudes some peaceful vibrations- They'll come around eventually with such a good trainer.

[Licht] - That pink one... I think I saw something like it in Dofta's office...

[EAlex] I know the feeling.

[Steve] Does she collect Pokemon? That's what it is. That's Sylveon.

[Licht] Shrugs-

[Silver] - We were just heading up to feed Lapras

[Sylveon] Rubs against Steve's legs-

[TLOT] Lead the way then, we're going up to grab a horse.

[Silver] Heads up the stairs towards the horse pen-

-As they pass up into a windowed area, they can hear the rain pattering on the windows. -

[Steve] Awww, darn, it's storming again.

[Deer] Is in the pen feeding animals-

[Missingno] Makes scared noises-

[TLOT] Ah, here is your other gracious hostess. Licth, EAlex. This is Deerheart. She's, everything. Literally.

[EAlex] ???

[Deer] - I'm the server itself, one of three here

[Licht] - The server?

[TLOT] She's the physical manifestation of the world itself. The earth, water, stone, air, buried gems and flowing lava, the burning Nether and the cold void of the End.

[Steve] Slow smile. - Deerheart, can we have some sunny weather please?

[Deer] - No, I'm mad

[Steve] Please? I was going to go get Licht's phone from Cp.

[TLOT] Why are you mad?

[Deer] - Because you'd think between Flux, Salvatge, and myself that we could find the intruder, but we can't! We can't even find Lies wolves!- The end of her sentenced is punctuated by a crack of thunder

[Steve] I'll just... I'll go fast.... - He scoots into the pen and grabs one of the skeleton horses to ride-

[TLOT] Are you sure it's still here? From the memories that I saw, it looked like Dolly got most of it.

[EAlex] Well I'm officially scared.

[Deer] - Salvatge saw it run off

[Missingno] Is very much scared by the storm outside and makes a startled noise as Sylveon tries to comfort it by touching it with one of its ribbons-

[Steve] Opens the big door and rides the skeletal horse out into the rain. The other horses shy away as the droplets blow in before the big door closes again-

[Gir] Wanders over to Deerheart and lips her hands a little.

[TLOT] I see...

[Licht] - Why is that horse dead?

[TLOT] They spawn like that. It's a zombie horse. That one is Doc's fav, that's Gir. -Gestures- The skeletal ones are much more common.

[EAlex] They spawn in storms... and when you get close, they multiply, and skeletal riders appear and fire arrows at you.

[Licht] - Then why would you get closer?

[TLOT] Ah, but if you defeat your foes, the horses are yours to ride. They're already tame, and they never tire or need feeding.

[EAlex] It's easy to mistake them for a normal white horse if it's dark, or partly concealed too.

[Licht] - I see...

[Silver] Is struggling to hold Missingno- I think I'll feed Lapras inside today...

[TLOT] Do what you need too. It's not like they can't get down into your room through the moon pool.

[EAlex] Looks a bit downcast.

[Silver] Heads back downstairs-

[TLOT] Something on your mind, sister?

[EAlex] Just feeling like a bit of a troublemaker....

[Licht] - You're not the trouble maker

[Deer] - Why do you feel like a trouble maker?

[EAlex] Well it sounds like the monster got in because you were trying to help me. I'm a weak excuse for a brine. I literally collapsed because I was away from my game for too long.

[Licht] - I would have found a way to help you anyways, and you were scared, it's not like you couldn't get to your game

[EAlex] Is just quiet.

[TLOT] Were you hiding from it?

[EAlex] ...Yes.

[Licht] - I don't blame her. He apparently made me choke myself

[TLOT] I understand. A lot of us here were abused by our NOTCHs. That kind of thing stays with you.

[Licht] - Well, at least you can go on my computer again instead of being in my phone

[EAlex] That's a relief...

[TLOT] You can always stay here if you don't feel safe.

[EAlex] I should be okay if that... thing is really gone.

[Licht] - Are you sure? You could probably learn a lot here...

[EAlex] I'll think about it. Is it okay if I visit? -this is directed at Deerheart-

[Deer] - Of course, I'll get Doc to white list you so you can come and go freely

[EAlex] Thank you. I feel like I have a lot of thinking to do. I might build a house on my seed too.

-the big gate opens and blows in some rain and a rather wet Steve on a skeleton horse.

[Steve] Whoa, Medic! Hey Licht, I got the phone!

[Steve] Hops down and leads the horse over.

[Medic] Shakes itself with a bit of a rattling sound to get the last droplets of water off its bones-

[Licht] - Thank you

[Steve] Takes the phone out and looks at before passing it to her- it's kinda plain, isn't it? Just looks like a little chunk of obsidian.

[Licht] Presses the small button on the top and it lights up- Excuse me a moment- She walks off a short distance to make her phone call

[EAlex] Watches her back-

[TLOT] Mentally listening to Licht-

[Steve] Rubs Medic down with a sponge-

[Licht] Lets the person on the other end know that she going to be late that day-

[Deer] Is lost in thought-

[TLOT] Nods in approval.

[Steve] Gives a little wet sneeze and finishes with the horse before coming back over.

[TLOT] Gathers his mate under his cloak and turns up his heat to warm him-

[Licht] Returns- Alright, they know I'm going to be at least a little late for work now

[Deer] Starts pacing add she makes frustrated noises, she's searching the seed still-

[EAlex] Good, considering how doggedly you searched for Notch it would be bad for you to be reported missing too

[Licht] - Yeah yeah, I do still have work to do though

[Deer] Sighs- I'm going to go find Doc...

[Mix] -Enters the castle through the shrine and wanders down into the kitchen-

[Yaunfen] Is fussing around in the kitchen

[Waffles] Notices Mix and pads over to her- mow?

[Yaunfen] Oh! Hi Mix.

[Mix] Mow to you too kitty! -Pats Waffles's head before turning to Yaunfen- Hey Yaunfen!

[Yaunfen] What are you up too? I was picking around and we're out of a bunch of things. It's annoying.

[Waffles] Bumps Mix happily and nearly throws her off-balance.

[Mix] I was just wandering around, really. If you're out, why don't you go get more?

[Yaunfen] I was considering it. Most of the stuff I'm growing isn't ready yet. And mom and mada are kinda busy. Do you want to come?

[Mix] Uhh.. Sure! I've got nothing to do for the afternoon!

[Yaunfen] Okay! It's more fun with company anyway. Empty out your inventory so we can get lots of stuff. But take a pick!

[Waffles] Circling feet, sensing fun about to happen.

[Mix] I.. don't think I even own a pick, Yaunfen...

[Mix] But my inventory's already mostly empty...

[Yaunfen] Oh... well I can get some. There's tools in the vine room, let's go!

[Waffles] is already going upstairs.

[Yaunfen] Hustles Mix a little and then starts opening chests- Here! This one's iron. It'll work.

[Mix] Sounds good! -Gives it a little wave before popping it into her inventory-

[Yaunfen] Follow me! - They go up the steps and out the front door. Holding it open for Mix and the big cat- Darn, it's raining. Oh, you haven't seen me in a while. Guess what?

[Waffles] Chuffs at the rain and darts under the overhang-

[Mix] I haven't, what's up? -holds one hand over her head to keep the rain away-

[Yaunfen] I got bigger! - They shift into their dragon form and pick up Mix by her clothes before plopping them in front of hir back spines. - Let's go! - They pick up Waffles like a kitten in their mouth and go racing off towards the cage-

-The dragon runs out of the rain and slows as they get closer to Lie's yard-

[Yaunfen] muffled- Sneaky sneak!

[Waffles] dangling, and looking slightly annoyed.

[CN] Is trying to get Blake to play fetch, but the wolf refuses to enter the rain-

[Blake] Notices the dragon and whines. Backing under the overhang some more-

[CN] Looks over- Huh?  Oh, hi!

[Yaunfen] Puts down Waffles and the cat pads over to look down at Cn- Mrrp?

[CN] - What are you guys doing?

[Yanfen] We're gonna go to my seed and get candy.

[CN] - Candy?

[Mix] Sweet stuff! -Leans over to wave at CN-

[Yaunfen] You want to come with us? Make sure you have lots of space to carry stuff. And a pick at least, or a shovel.

[CN] - Sure!- He rushes inside to empty his inventory and then rushes back out

[Yaunfen] Goes tromping over to the cave entrance and puts Mix down before transforming again and leading them down into the hole-

[CN] Follows cautiously-

-They emerge into the cage with a squeak of the iron door-

[Yaunfen] Waves to Lie's plant-

[Waffles] Sniffing around-

[Mix] -Follows Yaunfen down and looks up at the plant as Yaunfen waves- Woahhh

[Offensive plant] Watches all of them carefully-

[Yaunfen] That's one of Lie's meanies. This is a very special place. - they point to the consoles- That one has TLOT's world in it. And that one is all old NOTCHs and dragons. This one's mine. - They take out a piece of paper and twiddle their fingers as they read-

[CN] - So how do we get on it?

[Yaunfen] I'm doing it! - There's a bit of a wobble in the air and a small portal opens up. - We go in here! - They put the bit of paper away and gesture the others to follow.

[Waffles] Scurries in and bounds out into the sunshine.

-The hole has opened in the next chunk over from the one Stevie mostly froze and it's a lovely day. The pink iced cake-block ground is covered with popscicle and lollipop 'grass' and the chocolate trunked ice cream trees rustle slightly in a warm breeze.

[Yaunfen] Switches back to their larger form and starts digging with their claws- There's stuff to eat underground too!

[CN] Steps through and looks around- Woah...

[Mix] That's cool... and oh! -Looks around after she follows Yaunfen in- Wow... that is sweet!!

[Yaunfen] Just watch out for any lava flows. They're strawberry but way too hot.

[Waffles] Is chasing a chocolate chicken-

[CN] Picks some of the lollipop grass-

[Mix] -Picks a few lollipops and sticks one in her mouth, as one does when face to face with so. much. candy.-

[Yaunfen] Grinning. - Take whatever you want. It's an empty seed and there's lots. - they dig up some licorice coal and pop it into their inventory-

[Waffles] Got the bird and is licking chocolate off their whiskers-

[CN] Spots some tall trees and shifts to his bird form to go and investigate-

-The trees are festooned with redvine whips like moss hanging from them. And they're growing around a small lake of bubbly light blue soda water.

[CN] Lands on the tree and shifts back, beginning to gather the vines- Hey!  Look at this stuff!

[Mix] -Trots over to look, sampling everything on the way-

[Yanfen] Comes over- I like those! And the water is good too. - They lean down to slurp some up and let out a big belch from the bubbles, laughing-

[Waffles] Found a gingerbread zombie in a small natural hole and is beating the crumbs out of it-

[CN] Tries the vine- This is good!

[Yaunfen] Thumps on a small tree with their tail until the blocks are knocked out. - Check this out! - the saplings are ice cream cones and the trunk of the light colored tree is pure crunchy waffle cone-

[CN] Switches back to bird form to get down-

[Mix] -Cronch a cone- This is so goood! I wish everything was this edible back home...

[Yaunfen] Is harvesting plants around the little pond - The sugar canes are piroettes and full of sweet cream, and the bigger grass is towers of colorful marshmallow fluff.

-Distant sound of Waffles mudering a cow-

[CN] Just starts stuffing his face-

[Yaunfen] Rolls around in the sun a little, so happy to share with friends- It's the best!

[Waffles] Dragging a marzipan pig-

[CN] Is starting to get hyper-

[Yaunfen] Gets up and helps Waffles hunt a bit-

[Mix] -Cronching more lollipops as she collects things, she's using the pick for now, but it doesn't really appeal to her-

[CN] - Why don't we come here more often?  It's fun

[Yaunfen] I couldn't get in without help before. Mada gave me a special paper.

[CN] - Cool!

[Yaunfen] Ooh! Try fishing! The fish are fruit gummies!

[CN] - I don't have a pole though!

[Mix] Make one!

[Yaunfen] I'll find a spider, hang on- They go to the hole Waffles was in and starts digging furiously-

[CN] Starts knocking down tree's to get sticks-

[Yaunfen] Is halfway down into the hole and wagging their candy corn tipped tail in excitement-

[Mix] Ughhh... Now I know why I don't own a pick... -Has just tossed the pick in her inventory and pulled on a pair of wicked mitts! They're equipped with glistening crystal claws that are pretty huge. Possibly the alternative to pickaxes from her seed? And is digging around pretty excitedly, collecting cake dirt blocks for later.-

[CN] - Woooooah, that's cool!

[Waffles] Starts playing with the dirt blocks as they're tossed aside-

[Mix] Huh? -Looks up at CN-

[CN] - Your gloves!  They look so cool!

[Mix] Oh! Yeah, I bet they do! These are what we used for mining! -She pauses in digging to show CN the gloves. The claws are probably diamond, but could be anything-

[CN] Is fascinated-

[Yaunfen] Throws out a skeleton made of candy canes and it despawns with a clatter as it hits the dirt.

[Waffles] Decides to pounce at the light reflections from Mixs gloves on the ground.

[Mix] -Starts tilting her gloves to make Waffles dart around, giggling a bit- These are pretty easy to make, too. Do you want a pair, CN?

[CN] - mmmm, maybe?

[Yaunfen] Squeak of triumph. They drag out a spider with an abdomen that looks like a wrapped strawberry hard candy and give it a kick that makes it pop into two wads of white candy floss- here's your string Cn!

[CN] Grabs the string and starts crafting-

[Yaunfen] wades out into the water a bit and grabs some fruit sheet Lilly pads, they're also scaring the fish towards where Cn is-

[CN] Casts his line-

[Mix] -Scoots real close to watch-

- he immediately catches a large lemon gummy fish-

[Yaunfen] is hunting for squids-

[CN] Lets the fish bounce into his inventory and casts again-

-This time he gets a bottle of slightly glowy green fluid-

[CN] - A potion?

[Mix] Ooh! What's that? -Dips her claws into the water as she looks at it-

[CN] Opens the bottle and sniffs it-

[Yaunfen] You found a bottle?

[Mix] -Cronches some more lollipops-

-The potion smalls of a grassy field-

[CN] - Blech, that doesn't smell very good

[Waffles] Got a squid. It looks like a gumball machine with long table legs underneath, they give it a fierce shake and hard candy goes everywhere-

[Yaunfen] it looks mystical, just save it for later if it doesn't smell good.

[CN] - Yeah- He corks it and stows it away

[Waffles] Flops happy in the sun and starts purring

[Yaunfen] Just swimming and blowing bubbles underwater-

[CN] Throws his line again-

[Mix] -Eating sweets slowly beside CN, pupils getting big-

-This time its a stripy orange and white fish that smells like an orange dreamsicle-  

[CN] Shrugs as he stores it away again- Should we explore some more?

[Yaunfen] Sure! There's gonna be monsters if we stay out too late but they won't mess with me! - they strut a little with a big gummy smile.  

[Waffles] mrrrrrrrrr

[Mix] -Hops to her feet-

[CN] Is fully ready to follow-

[Yaunfen] leads them along a little river and around a hill, there's a bit of sugary desert on one side and an outcrop of rock candy on the other-

[CN] Switches to bird form and flies high to get a better look at their surroundings-

[Mix] Is that a desert? What's it made of? Sugar??

- the cliff is part of a ravine that's jutting a bit above the ground and shading down into a narrow valley that's dark at the bottom-

[CN] Swoops around a little just for fun-

[Yaunfen] Yep, it's sugar, tastes more carmelly then the cane drops

[Mix] That's neat! Stars, your seed is so cool Yaunfen!

[Waffles] Goes down into the ravine a little and licks at a sticky gold  block-

[Yaunfen] Prancing because they're just bursting with happiness- thank you Mix!

[CN] Lands and switches back again, reaching down and scooping up a handful of sand to try-

[Yaunfen] Follows the cat and mines out the gold block, it's full of gooey carmel chunks

[CN] Is bouncing a bit-

[Mix] -Collects some sugar sand in a bucket she can try later before trailing after the rest-

[Yaunfen] Grabs a creeper from a shadow and tosses it down hard, the drop is several colorful blobs that look like jimmie sprinkles-

[Splender] Teleports into the animal pen- Hello!

[Licht] Is scrambling for her gun and levels it at the tall being in surprise- The fuck!

[Steve] Easy! Easy!

[TLOT] Don't shoot! He's a friend of ours!

[EAlex] little scream-

[Licht] - A friend!?

[Splender] Tilts head curiously at the gun- Why is that here?

[TLOT] Because I was trying to be diplomatic and not take it away from her. It's apparently a thing she needs for work.

[EAlex] Just put it down please, I don't think it would do much of anything anyway...

[Licht] Slowly lowers the weapon-

[Splender] - What was I coming over here for again?

[TLOT] You don't seem unhappy or panicked, need to borrow a cup of sugar perhaps?

[Steve] I'm going to guess your mom needs something!

[Licht] - His mom!?

[Splender] - Oh right! I need to borrow a door!

[EAlex] Please tell me his mom isn't even bigger.

[Steve] A door?

[Splender] - Yes! A door!

[TLOT] That's easy enough. - he turns to a crafting table under the next floors stairs and makes a plain oak one.

[EAlex] But that door isn't nearly tall enough????

[Splender] - Thank you!

[Steve] What are you going to do with it?

[Splender] - Grab some things from Trenders workshop!

[TLOT] Oh! The door to anywhere like he did in the bar before the coronation. Working on a craft project I presume?

[Splender] - No, getting some stuff for mother!

[TLOT] You're a good son Splender.

[Splender] - Thank you! Now I just have to find a wall to put it in!- He teleports off

[Licht] - ... What the hell was all that!?

[Mix] -Jerks back, since Yaunfen decimates the Creeper near her, only to gasp at the sparkly colors- That's cool! What.. did it drop?

[CN] - It's usually gun powder...

[Mix] Yeah... -Collects it-

[CN] Chews on some of the red vines he gathered-

[Yaunfen] Yeah, I don't need that stuff. Mom would get mad if I blew things up.

[Waffles] Generally romping around.

[CN] - Lie would get mad too, especially if I accidentally hurt one of the animals

[Mix] All I did as a kid when no one was watching was blow things up! I'll happily take the stuff! -Mix no...-

[CN] - You were allowed to do stuff like that?

[Mix] When no one was watching me? Of course! The tribe loved watching me get up to shenanigans, even if they weren't quite the same as everyone elses!

[Yaunfen] Naughty! - They're chewing on the golden carmel- It's gonna be dark soon though. We should get going...

[CN] - Yeah, Lie would probably get mad if any of us got hurt...

[Yaunfen] And I kinda didn't tell mama and mada I was going out...

[Mix] Then we better get back!! -She's bouncing on her heels a bit-

[Yaunfen] Did you both fill up your inventories? I've got lots of stuff.

[CN] - Yeah

[Mix] Yep! I'm going to be eating so much sugar after this...

[Yaunfen] OH! I want to show you something cool though, then we can go! Follow me! -They hop up the stones and come fully out of the ravine, heading back the way they came-

[CN] Follows curiously-

[Mix] -Follows-

[Yaunfen] Leads them through the woods and back past where they came in towards an area that's mostly frozen over- Stevie did that!

[CN] - Wow, that's cold

[Yaunfen] Watch this.

[Waffles] Sits next to Cn-

-The dragon romps down the hill and makes a hard pounce against the edge of the icy water, there's a tiny shockwave and the ice shatters several blocks out from where they hit. The water is full of item drops now. Mostly colorful snow cones and gummy fish-

[CN] - How'd you do that!?

[Yaunfen] Big smile- I'm heavy! Mama taught me.

[CN] - Heavy?

[Mix] That's amazing Yaunfen!

[Yaunfen] Yeah, I can make a big stomp! And be near impossible to move. - They put a paw in the water and sweep the items onto the shore before shaking their foot like a cat - COLD.

[CN] - Well it was ice...

[Yaunfen] whisker twitch-  As Lie would say to you; shush.

[Mix] -Snickers a bit before going over to collect some of the items- You want any CN?

[CN] - Nah, I'm good

[Yaunfen] Sweeps up the rest without looking at it- I'm ready!

[Mix] Your loss, CN!

[CN] - Let's go then!

[Yaunfen] Shrinks down and pulls out the bit of paper again before making a portal back to the cage.

[Waffles] Pads out sleepily.

[CN] Follows and waves at the offensive plant-

[Mix] -Bounces out and looks up at the plant once before stretching her arms-

[Yaunfen] Leads them to the cave opening and peeks out- Man, it's raining so hard!

-The wind has picked up as well and thunder rumbles across the sky-

[CN] - Maybe we should get somebody to pick us up...

[Mix] Ughhhhh... More rain? I was hoping it would have ended by now...

[Mix] -Pulls her gloves off, since they're not much use in rain-

[Yaunfen] If we run we can get into Lie house?

[CN] - We can try...

[Yaunfen] Gives Waffles a poke and the cat makes a sour noise-

[Mix] I'm game for that. I don't like rain.

[Yaunfen] We'll race! 1, 2, 3, go!

[CN] Starts running-

[Waffles] bolts for the overhang, easily outpacing the others-

[Mix] -Is off like a speedy speedster. She REALLY doesn't like rain. She does laugh when Waffles bursts past her though-

[Yaunfen] Goes right for the door and scoots inside-

[CN] Stumbles in, already soaked-

[Lie] Hears them from the other room and starts approaching-

[Blake] was sleeping on the floor and leaps away from the huge cat - whine!

[Yaunfen] Trying to dry off near the lava. They wring out the long sidepieces of their hair.

[Mix] Hblblblbbbbb.... -It sounds like a disdainful whine as she moves over to dry by Yaunfen-

[Lie] Enters the room-  Where have you been!

[Waffles] Shake dry- shake shake shake!

[Blake] Runs back up the hallway-

[Yaunfen] Uuuuh....

[Lie] Typing in chat- I've found the kids- She then turns towards the kids- Why didn't you tell anybody where you were or what you were doing?

[Mix] We were hanging out, Lie.

[Yaunfen] We took an adult- Points at Mix-

[Lie] - But you didn't think it necessary to tell any of us you were leaving?

[CN] - We were just going to Yaunfen's seed...

[Lie] - YOU WENT TO A DIFFERENT SEED!?

[Yaunfen] It's an empty seed! Mada gave me a pass to go if I wanted too.

[Lie] - Yaunfen] - That's not the point.  Even if you have permission, you should let your parents know where your going.  We've been looking for you!  We didn't know where any of you were!

[Yaunfen] Wilts a bit- Everyone was busy.... and I got hungry...

[Lie] - We will never be too busy to listen to you telling us that you are going somewhere

[Yaunfen] Chagrin- Yes Lie...

[Doc] In chat- Where did you find them Lie? Are they okay?

[Lie] - They're at my house, and yes, they look okay

[Doc] chat- Good because Deerheart is not happy.

[Lie] - I can tell

[Yaunfen] Should I just go back out and stand in the rain for a while?

[Lie] - No!  That could make you sick Yaunfen!

[Yaunfen] Well it's raining because mom is mad....

[Lie] - Yes but I know she wouldn't want you to get sick!

[Yaunfen] Yes Lie.

[Lie] In chat- Do you want to come and get Yaunfen Doc?

[Doc] Chat- who else is there?

[Lie] - Mix is here too

[Doc] chat- Does she need a lift home?

[Mix] -In chat- If you're offering, yes.

[Doc] I'll just TP everyone-

[Yaunfen] chat- Don't forget Waffles!

[Doc] I won't forget your cat.

[Lie] - Thank you Doc

- /Tp Player MixMiner, Yaunfen, Animaltype:/Waffles to DoctorF/ -

[Yaunfen] Pops in next to their parent's bed with Mix and the cat- Hi?

[Deer] - Yaunfen...

[Yaunfen] I just went to get food and I took an adult! - points at Mix

[Mix] -Wobbles a bit before steadying- Hey!

[Doc] -sighs-

[Deer] - But you didn't let us know you were leaving, you scared us, we couldn't find you

[Yaunfen] But mada said I could use the note to go get food if I needed it...

[Doc] That is true.

[Deer] - And that is fine, but you should still let us know

[Yaunfen] Scuffs their foot claws on the carpet a little- oookay...

[Mix] -shifts from foot to foot-

[Yaunfen] Sorry mom, sorry mada.

[Deer] - Just, please, don't scare us like that again

[Doc] At least they didn't go alone.

[Yaunfen] We took Cn too.

[Waffles] Curls up on the floor and starts to purr

[Deer] - Which made Lie worry too because she didn't know where he had gone either

[Yaunfen] Quiet- Sorry...

[Deer] Sighs- It's almost dinner time, go wash up and I'll start making the food

[Yaunfen] I'm full.

[Deer] - Please, still wash up at least

[Yaunfen] Skitters away- yes mom!

[Doc] They inherited my absentmindedness apparently.

[Deer] - Doc...  That scared me, so badly, with that...  Thing out there

[Doc] it scared me too, I'd been dreading this, but they will have to learn to fight. For their own safety. They can already handle the mobs decently well.

[Deer] - But I doubt they could handle that thing, their first instinct is to make friends, and that thing seems just intelligent enough to try and use that to it's advantage!

[Mix] What thing?

[Deer] - There's...  Something that made it's way onto the server, and it's intentions most certainly aren't good.  Dolly really seems to be the one truly prepared to fight it...

[Doc] I'll have a discussion with them about stranger danger, certainly.

[Deer] - I just, I can't deal with anymore stress right now love

[Mix] That sounds worrying...

[Doc] I will do my best to not upset you further my treasure.

[Licht] Is in the library, watching the floating book on the enchanting table-

[EAlex] Browsing the titles - There is LOT of porn in this collection...

[Licht] - I noticed, how long do you think they'll keep us here?

[EAlex] I don't think it's a matter of keeping. I got the feeling the armored brine was waiting for the rain to let up so he could show us around, but I don't think that's happening soon with the server herself so distraught.

[Licht] - And I still have work to do out there...

[EAlex] Then I propose we go find someone, and ask.

[Licht] - Yeah, we should...

[EAlex] It is nice though. I like this server.

[Licht] - It is relatively quiet here

[EAlex] There's usually a little bit of ambient music, but they probably have it turned off.

[Licht] - Being inside a game though...  It's so surreal, and most games I've ever played were very...  Driven

[EAlex] starting to walk- I'm betting it's games like that that went into their decision to not have any guns on the server. The Doctor in particular looks like someone who would be getting shot at by a protagonist.

[Licht] Starts following her- Yeah, I guess your right about that

[EAlex] And these- She points at her eyes- They can get you attacked too. Herobrines can be bad news for players. Some of them are pretty cruel, and in a game where the objective involves building, having your stuff stolen and your house destroyed can be heartbreaking. Especially since a lot of players are little kids.

[Licht] - I wonder why...  CP?  Was it?  Is allowed to be here then...  He seems far more violent than the others

[EAlex] He has a wife and a little brother... and they said Markus claimed him as a son. Perhaps the family was the one that needed shelter.

[Licht] - We can ask later

[TLOT] Is coming up the stairs from the other direction- There you are. Sorry to jet off like that.

[Licht] - Was everything alright?

[TLOT] Yeah, it's fine. Doc's kid went off and didn't say where there were going. They gave their parent's a bit of a scare. They left the main server and got on one of the subseeds where I couldn't find them mentally.

[EAlex] Sub.. seeds?

[TLOT] We have several other worlds running on consoles inside this one, it's complicated.

[Licht] - Let's save that information dump for another day, and how young is the kid?

[TLOT] Mentally? Around early teens, but for a dragon? They're close to full grown.

[Licht] - I'm sorry, dragon?

[TLOT] Yeah, they're adopted. But both parents have an artifical  secondary dragon form, and I made a humanoid form for the kiddo, so it works out.

[Licht] Rubs her temple a little- Okay then, look, I need to be getting home.  I have my job to get to and other things to do

[TLOT] Okay. I'll take you to Doc. They're the closest person who can make a portal. I can't go irl myself.

[EAlex] How... how common is it to be able to go out?

[TLOT] Very very rare. But Cp can toss someone out and they'll sort of adjust after about two painful weeks of being horribly sick. - is walking and talking

[Licht] - There's also the problem of getting you back onto my computer...

[EAlex] ....

[TLOT] That's not so hard. They can take you out via your own seed and just leave EAlex inside. I mean, if that's what you want?

[EAlex] For now, yes, please.

[Licht] - Okay but my car is still at the Mojang office

[TLOT] I'm sure a ride can be arranged. All the seeds are connected to the mainframe through their Internet connection. And those of us that can make portals can come out through anything electrical, even if it's unplugged.

[Licht] - That doesn't make any sense, how can you access something if it's not charged or plugged in?

[TLOT] -shrugs- I don't get it either, but then I'm  also not good with redstone circuits. I just know that Cp and Doc both use a very old tv on an otherwise deserted beach to visit one of our friends.

[EAlex] that's oddly poetic.

[Licht] - All of this is starting to give me a headache...

[TLOT] Oh I can fix that, easy, here- he hands her a small bottle of warm, tan liquid as they pass into the vine room - it's one of my specialties and it's also a low level health potion with a speed boost.

[Licht] Takes the bottle with some suspicion-

[TLOT] Takes out two more and offers one to EAlex-

[EAlex] isn't used to drinking any kind of warm liquid and sips at it curiously-

[Licht] Finally takes a sip- Oh, it's coffee

[TLOT] Yeah, I found out if you scramble the cocoa bean coding you get coffee beans. Been growing them for ages. - heads down into the kitchen.

[Licht] Quickly finishes hers she's a bit of a coffee addict-

[EAlex] looks up at the bay above them- nice trick. This is such a chaotic build... Gives me ideas.

[Doc] Thank you. I worked really hard on it.

[EAlex] Oh! Hi again.

[Deer] Is sullenly eating-

[Licht] - Hello

[TLOT] chuckles at Licht and just gives her the other one - I can always make more.

[Licht] - Thanks

[Doc] gives Deerheart a little kiss on the cheek-

[TLOT] I believe our visitors are in need of a ride home.

[Doc] Ah, okay. Are you going to be okay for a little while Deerheart? Or do I need to make Cp do this?

[Deer] - You can do it, if you're quick

[Doc] understood. Can you follow me please? - they're heading up the stairs into the shrine- where do you want to go specifically?

[Licht] - I'd prefer near my car, but home will do as well

[EAlex] my seed if possible? There's a summoner there if that helps.

[Doc] it does, the node should have some of Lichts info attachted to it if the primary spot it's running from is her physical address. - they walk up the stairs with the map on one side-

[EAlex] looking way up the giant map and then even farther down as it follows the wall in a sheer drop- Whoah...

[Licht] - That's a big map...

[Doc] Oh that's most of the places we've explored, and it shows all the builds from overhead. And it's also only a fraction of the size of this world. - They go to the edge of the platform and point out a tiny rectangle with red dots, and a white square. - Here's the castle proper and we're right here. It's just too bad you can't see the glass window from above. - Gestures at the massive stained glass image of a Herobrine with outstreched arms and flames around their feet that towers over the mostly quartz room.

[Licht] - Bit narcissistic don't you think?

[Doc] Well TLOT's Testificates put the window together. I like to think of it as an open arm welcome for all Herobrines who need sanctuary. They don't do anything liturgical here. It keeps the map safe, and there's a comfy breakroom with chairs and such down one floor. It's a museum on the second floor and theres a pretty fountain and a nice view on the third floor. It's open for anyone to wander in and out, same as the rest of my house.

[Licht] - I see...

[EAlex] Is just looking around-

[Doc] Anyway, I said I'd get you home. This is a good place to start from- They rear back and transform. The dragon slams forward in the air and shatters a hole into the void, before kneeling a little. - Climb on, it's cold out there, and easy to get lost. -

[EAlex] Nervously climbs up and offers Licht a hand-

[Licht] Sighs but does take EAlex's hand, allowing herself to be pulled onto the dragon's back-

[Doc] Races out into the cold space and erases the portal with a sweep of fluff. They're following the pull of the summoner and comparing it with EAlex's numerical signatures to find the right one. -

[Licht] Watches everything around them warily- This kinda reminds me of that old matrix movie...

[Doc] I'm not comfortable watching people get shot at...  I mostly just watch funny stuff on Youtube. - Pauses and veers to the side- I think I got it! - They make a quick opening and burst out into the little area where Licht built the little dirt hut.

[EAlex] Regards it with her hands on her hips. - I think I have some work to do. But first- She grabs Licht and gives her a huge hug. - Thank you.

[Licht] - Er, um...  Yeah, your welcome?

[EAlex] Gives her a pat and hops down.

[Doc] Do you want anything? As a headstart?

[EAlex] A pick would be nice. Save me a little time.

[Doc] Easily done.- Xe pulls a diamond pick out of the creative and the glassy blue blade sparkles in the sunshine.

[EAlex] Gives them a small salute she saw Licht do at work.

[Licht] Grumbles a little as she see's EAlex do the salute- I don't think that's a necessary action

[EAlex] It's respectful? Right?

[Licht] - Towards someone who higher ranking than you, yes

[EAlex] Then I stand by it as they are older then me.

[Doc] Blushes and gives a little staticky cough- Come one then... I'm going to give Licht my number. Let me know if you need anything.

[Licht] Is ready to leave-

[Doc] Okay, I can feel you fidgeting. - They head back out into the darkness. -

[Licht] - So how do I get out?

[Doc] I'll just find a screen in the Mojang office and make a portal. I'm pretty sure there's a copier near the front door and you only need a code to get in, not out. - They're sniffing around a bunch of tiny distortions - It's one of these...

[Licht] - And if there's somebody there?

[Doc] I'll look first! Sheesh. You act like I've never done this before. - They find a small distortion and press one eye against it- Perfect....

[Licht] - I'm ready

[Doc] Makes a hole and gives a gentle buck to flip Licht through it.   - She falls out a few inches from the floor and a piece of paper with a phone number flutters down to land on her head. None of this stops Jeb from shrieking incoherently a second time and dropping a huge bundle of papers on the carpet.-

[Licht] - ...  This can be explained

[Jeb] I know. I'm just not in the mood to talk about it right now.

[Licht] - I'm...  Just gonna go back to my car now...

[Jeb] You do that. Good day officer.

[Licht] Slips out the door and hurries towards her car-

[enjolraswould]

Chapter 3 of DIAMB: Poor Old Fellow

Read on AO3 or under the cut!

Last week’s chapters of DIAMB introduced us to Cosette, an enterprising young woman on the search for her missing father. A frightening encounter on the metro left Cosette with the sneaking suspicion that something was wrong- a suspicion that was confirmed that same night when she stumbled upon a body in the Seine. Worst yet, Cosette fears she knows exactly who the dead man is...

Chapter 3

-

The police were there quickly, almost quicker than the civilians that came jogging from nearby apartments with their robes half-tied and blankets still wrapped around their shoulders. In moments I was no longer alone with my terror, instead surrounded by a dozen questioning bodies and a few dozen more curious faces, hung in windows above like cherub-faced Christmas ornaments. It was one of these sudden companions that had called the police, and the police had come with cars and a small rowboat to go and fetch what I had found.

One of the officers tried to take my shoulder, tried to lead me to a safe back seat where they could wrap a blanket around my shaking and ask me a few questions, but I refused. I wanted to stay at the wall and see them pull the man from the police boat, had to stay and make sure that drowned face really was who I believed it was.

“C’mon, go back inside, nothing to see,” the officer was calling into the crowd, but I didn’t hear any windows close or footsteps shuffle any further back than the street.

How could I explain to the police about the man on the metro, who told me without telling me about the man in the boat? A sob climbed up my throat as I realized, oh God, someone had to have put him in that boat.

But how could I know for sure? What would I give the police for evidence? The tears on my shirt? The chill in my spine? Just those words, about death and its misery?

The police down below on the bank of the Seine had drawn straws for who would row out to the wreck, and two men complained as they heaved into the little craft they had brought along. They scattered the lights on the surface of the water as they rowed, reaching the police boat in a few efficient strokes, pulling up alongside the porthole where a mournful, long-forgotten prisoner tapped pleadingly against the glass. When one officer lifted a hammer to break that glass, it was suddenly more than I could bear. I pulled away from the wall and fell to the curb, allowing the grief at last to come choking up out of my chest.

Somewhere behind me was the sound of breaking glass, followed by the sound of the shards splashing into the water as the police emptied the porthole of remnants. Then the groans of men moving something heavy, immensely heavy. Then the sound of oars against water.

The officer beside me took my shoulder again, this time in a silent request to please, stand up, come tell us if the man is who you think he is. I allowed him to gather me off the sidewalk, to tuck me safely under an arm, and lead me steadily towards the stairs that would bring us down to the riverbank.

From the stairs, I watched the officers lift the cold shape out of their rowboat and lay him, tenderly, on a tarp on the riverbank. They bent over him, flashlights brushing over their faces as they discussed.

“Adult male, gone about 24 hours I’d say.”

“Any wallet or ID in his pockets?”

“We’ll get someone to check. The witness thinks she can ID him.”

“That’s the girl lost her father a few months back, yeah?”

“Jesus, you think it’s him?!”

By now I had reached their sides. All of them stood up to shine their flashlight my way save for an older officer, a detective with a fierce, ugly sort of sneer, who was methodically searching every pocket on the body, even feeling alongside the lining of its coat.

A flashlight hit my eyes, causing me to look up with a painful blink. Another, younger officer was searching my face.

“Mademoiselle, I’m sorry to ask you this, but the neighbors above say they heard you screaming that you knew this man. Is that true? Do you recognize him?”

I glanced away from him, back towards the body. The sneering detective had pulled a wallet from a pocket and was rifling through it distractedly. I pulled away from the circle of questioning lights and approached the body slowly, slowly, and dropped to my knees beside him.

And it wasn’t him. It wasn’t Papa.

Still, I began to cry again. The face was so similar; they could have been brothers, twin brothers. I cried because this stranger wasn’t Papa, thank goodness, and I cried because he was so much like Papa, and still dead no matter who he was.

My weeping shocked the detective out of his reverie, and he snapped upright to look at me. If I hadn’t already been so wretchedly sad, I might have been frightened by his shadowed eyes, by the old-fashioned way he wore his sideburns, by his frightening smile. But it was a smile I recognized on his face, and in a horrible mixture of relief and pain I reached out and grabbed hold of his sleeve.

He nearly leapt out of his skin at my touch, but quickly came forward again and took my hand, all dark eyes and bared teeth.

“Do you know this man?” he growled softly.

“I thought I did,” I gasped, “But no.”

“Then why do you cry?” he asked, eyes narrowed.

“Because I thought-,” I replied, and the distant screech of the metro rang through my mind. I almost finished, “He was murdered,” but couldn’t.

“-thought I knew him,” I finished lamely.

He stared at me a moment longer, his expression unreadable. Then the flashlights waved over his face, and abruptly the beast I had been speaking to was turned back into just a particularly strange old detective, just an old man who helped me stand carefully and led me back to the circle of officers.

“What does the wallet say?” one of them asked, plastic bag opened outwards for the detective. He took one last look at something inside the fold, then dropped it into the evidence bag.

“ID says Ultime Fauchelevent, the, ah, gentleman who went missing a few months ago,” he coughed, “You’ll recognize the young lady here as his daughter.”

The detective’s use of Papa’s full name stunned me. What was his ID doing in this stranger’s pocket?

“So it is him, then? She recognized him?” someone asked.

“No,” I blurted out, glancing from face to face around me, “No, it’s not Papa. That can’t be his wallet. There has to be something wrong.”

Another officer came trotting over from the body to join us, “It definitely looks like the fellow from the newspapers. I was afraid something like this had happened.”

“Poor old fellow,” the first officer agreed, then bent to look me in the eye, “Look, mademoiselle, sometimes the water can make a face look different, after a day or so. Are you sure that isn’t your father?”

His tone was exceedingly gentle. Suddenly, I was insulted. I turned pleadingly to the detective, but he was not looking toward me. He was looking back, towards the body, beyond that, to the Pont Au Change, and did not see me look to him.

“The papers give a positive ID,” the condescending officer was muttering to an underling, taking notes, “But alright, give her a day to calm down. Let’s case the scene. We have her contact information? We’ll call on her tomorrow…”

I didn’t wait for them to dismiss me. I simply started walking, quickly, up to the street, my head spinning. So the man wasn’t Papa. But he was dead, and somehow, I knew who had done it to him. And in that moment I was sickened by the thought of trying to speak even one more word to the police, because they believed the dead man was Papa.

I didn’t even realize I had begun running until, a block from my apartment, a police car pulled up alongside me and caught my attention. I slowed as the passenger side window rolled down, revealing the strange detective from before.

“Take it easy,” he called out, the careful words sounding ill at ease in his gruff tone. But I slowed down all the same, catching my breath against a street sign.

“Everyone has been telling me that tonight.”

“Get in. I want to speak to you.”

“My apartment’s only-“

“I said, get in!!”

I didn’t much like to be barked at but I was tired, and out of breath, and in the brief pause the trembling that had shaken me by the river had come back full force. I climbed in and allowed him to drive me the last block to the apartment I used to share with Papa. Exiting, I could barely keep my feet under me.

“My name is Javert,” the detective said through the window to me as I turned to thank him, “Inspector Javert. And I know that man isn’t your father.”

A shudder passed over me, and for a long and quiet moment, the detective and I did nothing but stare at one another. I guess I was waiting for an explanation of how he knew the drowned man wasn’t Papa, but I didn’t get one just then, because when Javert spoke it was only to say, “Now get along home and don’t pay it any mind. That man in the river isn’t anybody, just-“

“He was somebody,” I interrupted, and Javert seemed startled by the outburst. He narrowed his eyes at me, the same searching look he’d given me down by the river. Eerily, I felt as though it was because he recognized me.

“He was somebody,” I insisted again, then gathered my courage to finally finish it, “And he was murdered. And I think I know who did it. And… and I’ll come and find you when I figure it out.”

The full terror of what I had said seemed just then to unfold. A man had been murdered. I knew the murderer. What other horrors would the night unleash on me from here on out?

Javert said nothing, just let out a bitter sounding noise that I suppose might have been a laugh, then gunned the engine into a roar. I leapt out of the way as the car sped away from the curb, retreating down the street until the taillights were just another set of flashes in the city full of lights.

When I reached the landing before my apartment door, I paused a moment by the payphone in the hallway. My hand crept to the change in my pocket, thinking, Marius. I’ll call him in Venice, wake him up, tell him about the dead man that looks like Papa, and…

And scare him to death, and do nothing to help anyone. I knew what I really had to do was listen to the detective.

“Get along home,” and with a grotesque not-laugh.

[ipaniceverywherenotjustthedisco]

Even Though You Promised

Word count: 1,767

Paring: Romantic Logince Romantic Analogical Platonic Moxiety

Warnings: Death, guns, cheating

A/N: hey guys, let me know if you want to be on the tag-list-of-two-people. Lol. Also give me some prompts for future fics! Let me know if you see any typos! I made myself cry writing this so, prepare your tissues. Also this is a human AU

Logan glances down at the cacoon af blankets that was cuddling him tightly. Virgil smiled at him and Logan’s cheeks blushed a dark pink. Looking back at the movie, Logan could sense that Virgil was still watching him.

“Yes, Virge?” Logan asked.

“Nothing.” He replied calmly. Logan shook his head, smiling.

“Okay.”

Virgil sat up next to Logan and draped his arm around his shoulders. Logan leaned into him and sighed heavily. Virgil ran his fingers through Logan’s soft hair absentmindedly.

“Logan,” Virgil said nervously. Logan sat up and locked eyes with him. “Can I ask you something?”

Virgil already knew the answer but he felt the need to ask anyways.

“Of course!”

Virgil hesitated.

“Logan,” he was nearing tears. “One day, you’ll leave me. You can deny it, but I know it’s true. Everyone I ever loved left. They promised they wouldn’t, but they still did. Can you promise me, that this time will be different. That no matter what I say and believe, you’ll be here?”

“Of course Virgil,” he said softly. “I would never hurt you, intentionally or otherwise. I will be different. I won’t leave you. I love you, Virgil. And I promise I will always be here.”

Virgil’s face turned a deep shade of red and he smiled, wiping tears from his eyes.

“I love you too, Logan.”

Logan took the remove and shut off the TV. He got up off the couch and took Virgil’s hand in his. Smiling, Virgil got up off the couch. They walked upstairs to their bedroom and got under the covers. Virgil curled up in a ball and rested his head in the crook of Logan’s neck. Logan wrapped his arms around Virgil and they fell asleep peacefully.

They were woken up in the morning by Logan’s alarm clock. Pressing the off button, he began to get out of bed.

“No...” Virgil whined, not removing himself from the warm hug of the comforter. “Can’t you like, skip work today and just stay in bed forever?”

“Unfortunately,” Logan replied, “I cannot. Sorry, Virge.”

Kissing the top of Virgil’s head, he went over to the closet and got dressed into his usual attire. He said goodbye to Virgil and walked out the door.

Virgil gave a heavy sigh as he heard the garage door opening.

Virgil walked downstairs, dragging his many blankets behind him.

He poured himself a bowl of Fruit Loops and sat on the couch. Pulling out his phone, Virgil scrolled through his Tumblr. He laughed Roman’s latest post.

“What do you get when you cross an elephant with a pool? Swimming trunks.”

After reblogging this, he went to his best friends Patton’s page and scrolled through the endless pictures of puppies.

After playing on his phone for an hour or two, Virgil turned on TV to watch the news. There was another shooting.

Great.

Wait a second. The shooting took place at....Patton’s Puppy Palace.

No. No no no no no.

Virgil jumped up from the couch and grabbed his phone, quickly dialing Patton’s number. The phone rang. And rang. And rang. No answer. He tried again. Nothing. Virgil’s eyes stung with tears. He ran to get his keys and jumped into his car, not caring that his was in pajamas. He sped down the road to Patton’s Puppy Palace and his car skidded to a halt. There were police cars and ambulances everywhere. He saw somebody being put into the back of a police car, and knew that must be the shooter.

“You!” He shouted, pointing at the criminal, “ If you hurt my best friend, I will find you!”

He sprinted towards the woman in black but was grabbed from behind. He turned around and saw two policemen holding his arms.

“No!” He shouted. “Patton! Where’s Patton? Did she hurt him?”

He was growing increasingly worried.

“Where is Patton?” He screamed. Everyone fell silent.

He saw people pulling a stretcher out of the building and ripped his arm from the police’s grasp.

Running to the stretcher, he saw what he feared. Patton was lying down, his light blue shirt almost entirely turned to a hideous, deep scarlet color. His eyes were closed.

“No.” Virgil said, almost in a whisper. “No. No no no no no. Not Patton. No. This isn’t right. Why Patton?”

Virgil collapsed to the ground, his hands shaking. His eyes were watering and he let out a heavy sob. He hated crying. It made him look weak. But he cried, and didn’t care who saw. That women hurt his best friend. He might go into that hospital and not come out. And it was her fault.

Virgil screamed, beating the ground with his fists. He was being lifted off the ground by strong arms but he didn’t care. He didn’t fight them. They put up caution tape around the shop and Virgil was placed on the other side of it, next to his car. He felt the gravel beneath his rumble and another car pulled in. He heard the door slam and the person who stepped out slid to the ground next to him. He felt a strong hand grasp his shoulder. Logan.

Virgil looked up and saw that Logan had definitely been crying too.

“I was worried sick about you, Virgil!” He said, “Promise me you’ll never go running off to a crime scene alone ever again, okay?”

Logan pulled him into a tight hug and he sobbed into the teacher’s shoulder. Logan didn’t seem to care. When Virgil was all out of tears, he got up and went to his car. He drove behind the ambulance to the hospital, Logan right behind him. When he got to the lobby, they told him he wouldn’t be able to see Patton until 6. It was only 2. He didn’t care. He wasn’t moving.

“Virge, I have to get back to work.” The last thing Virgil wanted was for Logan to leave, but he nodded. Logan kisses his head and walked out the door slowly. Virgil picked up a magazine and started reading. This was going to be a long four hours.

“Mr. Picani?” Virgil perked up.

“Yes?”

“Patton can see you now. Room 314.”

Virgil hurriedly stood up and practically ran to Patton’s room.

When he came in, Patton was still asleep. He grabbed his hand.

“Patton, Patton oh my god. Patton. Jeez. You scared me there. I don’t know if you can hear me, but it’ll be okay. I promise. I promise I promise I promise.” Virgil wiped his eyes, determined not to start crying again. He didn’t know what to say. He heard the sounds of the hospital. The whispers. The shuffling feet. Patton’s heart rate monitor. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beep. Beeeep. Beeeep. Beepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeepbeep.

People rushed into the room, yelling. A nurse with a kind face ushered his out. Virgil hadn’t even registered what was happening. But there was nothing he could do. He sat outside room 314 for what seemed like, and what may have actually been, hours. Until he heard one frightening sound.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep. Silence. Nothing. No whispers. No shuffling feet. No beeping. Nothing except Virgil’s scream that filled the halls.

Virgil banged on Patton’s door.

“Let me in! He’s okay! He has to be okay! Let me see him! Let me in! He’s not gone! He can’t be gone! I need to see him!” Virgil yelled, but to no avail. He sank to the ground. His legs could no longer hold his weight. The door opened and he doctors and nurses all walked out slowly. Some had faces like stone. Others wiped their now-wet eyes.

Virgil was in denial. There was no way. No way he was gone. And yet, he was.

Virgil walked down the halls of the hospital and out the front door. The cool breeze blew his bangs and the sky was dark. He walked to his car and drove home.

When he got inside, Logan was on the couch. As soon as he saw Virgil, he jumped up.

“Hey Virge,” he said, “How’s Patton?”

He clearly didn’t know. Hearing his name sent Virgil over the edge. He burst into tears. It seemed like all the emotion, all the feelings he’d ever bottled up in his life, were being poured out. Released. A huge weight came off his shoulders as he leaned into Logan. But he couldn’t bring himself to tell Logan what had happened. Saying Patton was.....gone. It would make it real. Saying it would mean it actually happened. It wasn’t a dream. A nightmare, actually. It happened.

“He’s,” Virgil started, his voice shaking. “There was a beep. And there were people. And then they made me go. Then I was on the floor then the beep then they came out then they looked at me then no morethwn the people and the beeping and then the silence and the doctors-”

He knew it was gibberish. But he couldn’t put it into words.

“He’s gone, Logan.”

Logan’s face dropped and he sighed, holding Virgil tighter. He lead Virgil up the stair into the bed. Virgil was still in his pajamas so he climbed right in. Logan changed and joined him.

Virgil didn’t sleep well. He lost count of how many times he had woken up.

When he did wake up in the morning, he pulled out the laptop they shared to play some games. When he opened it, he put his hand to his mouth and resisted the urge to scream. Logan hadn’t closed his email yesterday. And the latest one was from Roman.

Roman: Hey, are you coming over tonight?😘

Logan: Yeah, I just have to tell him I’m working again. 😘

Roman: Okay. Can’t wait to see you 😘😍

A kissy face.....

Virgil slammed the laptop shut and ran downstairs to where Logan was sitting on the couch.

“You said you loved me!” He screamed. He was furious at Logan. “You said you’d never leave! You said it’d be different! You promised! You promised me Logan! Does that mean nothing to you?”

“What are you talking about, Virgil?” He asked

“Oh, don’t play dumb with me, you horrible, lying, betraying, two faced, cheating jerk! Roman. Yesterday? I just have to tell him I’m working again? Kissy faces? You don’t even send those to me!”

Logan’s jaw dropped, but then his face became hard as stone. He didn’t say anything. But Virgil did.

“Get out.” He said calmly. “Pack your things, and leave. Don’t come back. Go live with your new boyfriend. You won’t have to lie to me in order to see him.

Logan packed a box and walked calmly out the door without so much as a goodbye.

@thatsthat24 @butterydolphin22

[the-desolated-quill]

Nightmare In Silver - Doctor Who blog

(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. If you haven’t seen this episode yet, you may want to before reading this review)

Neil Gaiman writing a Cyberman story? What could possibly go wrong?

...

Fucking EVERYTHING!

I... You... Wha... What the hell happened?! This came from the same guy that wrote The Doctor’s Wife, Coraline, The Sandman and American Gods? This piece of shit came from him?... THIS?!?!

Look, the Cybermen are very precious to me. They’re my all time favourite Who baddies due to their timeless themes and limitless potential. Which is why it breaks my heart whenever I see them mistreated like this. I mean... Jesus Christ!

Nightmare In Silver picks up where The Crimson Horror left off with those two kids blackmailing Clara into getting a free ride in the TARDIS (yeah, that didn’t make sense in and of itself. The girl Angie says she’ll tell her dad that Clara is a time traveller, but what are the chances of her dad actually believing her? Come off it!). Normally I despise children (both in real life and in fiction) and this episode very handily reminds me of all the reasons why. God I hate these brats! The little boy (Arty I think his name was) is this big wooden dork and Angie is quite possibly the most spoilt, arrogant, ungrateful little shit I think I’ve ever seen. She’s travelled to another planet in a spaceship that’s bigger on the inside, and what’s her reaction? ‘Oh this is so boooooooring! Oh Clara you’re so stupid! You always spoil everything! I want to go home!’ Oh go fuck yourself, you moaning little bastard! What’s worse is that these kids don’t actually play any sort of role other than needing to be rescued. You know characterisation has gone seriously wrong when their personalities are actually improved by Cyberfication.

Speaking of which, let’s talk about the new Cybermen. While I do prefer the RTD Cybermen in terms of design, these new ones are quite cool. More robotic looking this time around and I’m fascinated by the suggestion that at this point in their history they’re less cyborgs and more biomechanical, converting flesh directly into metal. It’s been a running thing that each new Cyber design in the series represents another advancement in their evolution, and this feels like a very logical leap to me. I also really like the Cybermites. Much prefer them to the Cybermats, which I’ve never liked. What I really don’t like however are the superpowers. My jaw hit the floor when that Cyberman started running at super speed like the Bionic Man, not just because the effect looks like shit and there’s no way Angie would have survived being hit with such speed and velocity, but because it’s a leap too far. Same goes for Cyber body parts detaching and operating by themselves, as well as Cybermen being immune to lasers and upgrading themselves so that they can’t be electrocuted. They’ve effectively become an army of Cyber-Supermans. They can just do anything now. They’re way too overpowered to the point where it all starts to become laughably absurd, and because we no longer know what their limitations are, they become more vague as a threat, and therefore more dull. (Also how come the Cybermen never use their super speed ever again? That ability could have come in useful multiple times).

Actually I tell a lie. They do bring back one limitation from the classic series. It’s... hmph... their weakness against gold.

For those of you who don’t know, in the classic series they introduced the idiotic and nonsensical idea that the Cybermen were vulnerable to gold because it’s a non-corrosive substance that can clog up their breathing apparatus and suffocate them. First of all, since when did Cybermen need to breathe? Second, what does being non-corrosive got to do with clogging up anything? And third, why specifically gold? Couldn’t you clog up their breathing apparatus with something else? Like water for instance? And it just got worse and worse when it developed from gold suffocating them to gold just affecting them in general. Despite being bulletproof, apparently you can kill a Cyberman with golden arrows. Rubbing Adric’s gold badge on the Cyberleader’s chest plate in Earthshock was enough to hinder it, and there was one really low moment in Silver Nemesis where the Cybermen were destroyed by Ace using some gold coins and a slingshot. It’s quite possibly the most embarrassing aspect of Cyber lore and it makes me cringe whenever I think about it, so you can probably imagine my relief when the Cybermen first arrived in New Who back in 2006 and there wasn’t a single mention of gold anywhere.

Now imagine my horror and disappointment when the Doctor is able to briefly incapacitate the Cyber-Planner inside his head by slapping a golden ticket on his face. And somehow Gaiman managed to make it even worse by implying that cleaning fluid can have the same effect. Yes. Cleaning fluid. So the Cybermen are an unstoppable force that will not rest until they’ve hunted you down and converted you, and you should be very afraid of them... unless you’ve got a bottle of Toilet Duck to hand, in which case you’re basically fine.

Yes the Cyber-Planner makes its first appearance since The Invasion way back in the 1960s. It’s no longer a brain inside a giant metal apparatus however. It’s now a Cyber hive mind/network that assimilates other beings into its consciousness, mostly children in order to use their imaginations for military strategies. Until it catches sight of the Doctor that is and tries to assimilate him. Which leads to quite possibly the worst thing about this episode. Mr. Clever. 

The Doctor being cyber-converted could be legitimately frightening, seeing this manic, warm hearted adventurer become a cold, calculating menace. Unfortunately that’s not what we end up getting. Instead we end up getting more of Matt Smith’s goofy bollocks. Mr. Clever (ugh) is just too emotional. He’s not his own character. He’s just the Doctor but evil. What’s even weirder is that the Cyber-Planner talks about how emotions are useless and that everyone is better off without them whilst it’s displaying emotion. It’s really inconsistent. I was astounded by the number of critics at the time praising Matt Smith for his performance because I honestly thought it was one of the worst things I’ve ever seen. Watching him yelling and gurning his lines like an insecure pantomime villain was just embarrassing, and it shows a complete lack of understanding of who the Cybermen are (and I don’t just mean the whole emotions thing). As I’ve said numerous times in the past, the Cybermen aren’t evil like the Daleks. They’re altruistic foes. They honestly believe what they’re doing is helping us. That’s what makes them so frightening. By making the Cyber-Planner the default cackling baddie who’s evil just because, it makes the Cybermen less interesting and, as a result, less scary.

Speaking of actors giving bad performances, Jenna Coleman, I know you’ve been lumbered with a really shit character, but can you at least try to deliver your lines in a manner that isn’t smug or smarmy. Every single line has this air of snugness about it, which is irritating in and of itself, but there are occasions where it becomes really inappropriate. There are Cybermen about to breach the comical castle and the kids are in danger, and yet Clara is wandering around without a care in the world. Um Clara, shouldn’t you be panicking? Just a little? And there’s one really shocking moment where one of the soldiers informs her that someone has died, and Clara doesn’t even so much as react. In fact she’s surprisingly glib about the whole thing. I don’t know if it’s bad acting or bad directing. All I know is somebody fucked up. (Also I could have done without the bit at the end where the Doctor describes Clara as a mystery inside an enigma wrapped in a skirt that’s a bit too tight. Just... ew).

Beyond that, there isn’t really a whole lot to discuss. The theme park setting is nice, but we don’t really get to explore much of it. Jason Watkins is always good in everything he’s in, but he’s barely in this before he gets converted and is left to stand silently in the background with the kids. In fact the whole thing feels really rushed and under-developed. The punishment squad could have been interesting to explore, particularly in the context of the setting. It’s 1000 years after the Cyber Wars. The Cybermen have become the equivalent of mythological bogeymen, and now this rag tag group of failures and rejects are about to come face to face with their worst fear. The return of the long thought extinct Cybermen, now more powerful than ever. Think of the drama you could wring out of that. Instead they barely get a look in. They’re just a bunch of nameless redshirts that we don’t give a shit about. Same goes for Porridge. Warrick Davis gives a decent performance, but his character just isn’t very well developed. You could have expanded his character greatly. Given him a whole arc with him coming to terms with the horrible decisions he made in order to end the Cyber Wars (wait. He’s over a 1000 years old? Well I suppose if Liz 10 can survive well past 300 years in The Beast Below, I guess it’s possible) and finally reaccepting his position as Emperor. Instead it just feels like he’s going through the motions. He never actually changes or evolves. He just returns to being Emperor because... the script said so.

Nightmare In Silver is bad. Like Revenge Of The Cybermen/Silver Nemesis bad. The plot is weak, the characters are under-developed, the kids are annoying, the Doctor and Clara are still just as obnoxious as ever, and they completely botch the Cybermen. I pity anyone who tries to write a Cyberman story in the future after this disaster.

[mysecretchapbook]

Imagine you, a Slytherin Seer, unknowingly predicting Draco’s task to him...

The serpent wound up your bedpost and over your legs. It’s muscled body cranked on yours until you could barely breathe. “Y/N,” it hissed, “have you no loyalty?” its voice was icy as it slithered up towards your throat. “To whom?” you demanded, roughly struggling for air. “Your family…You could be great, you know. Powerful. The others would look on you with admiration, they’d long to be you…Everybody would know your name, you could have anything you wanted…” It hissed in your ear, you leaned away. Though you started to feel some part of you warm up to it’s charms. The part of you that you knew best was resisting still. 

“No!” you struggled and it reared back in a great fit of anger and lurched for your throat. A shriek erupted from you and you thrashed away. It’s knifelike fang grazed your neck and you sucked in a painful breath through your teeth. 

“Y/N,” it called, lunging for you again, though it’s voice sounded softer this time. What was it doing? “Y/N,” you heard it again, and then felt your body shake slightly. 

“Y/N!” the voice was coming from outside, but outside what? Where were you? 

“Wake up,”

And you jolted forward. The earth tilted underneath you. The chair and table supporting your body appeared beneath you. You realized you had fallen asleep studying in the common room. You looked around wildly as you pieced together what was going on. “You fell asleep,” somebody said and you looked at the body attached to the hand that was on your shoulder.

 It was Draco Malfoy, the prefect. “Better get up to bed,” he said in a dry tone. You couldn’t tell if he was annoyed with you or not. “Sorry,” you whispered in contrast to his intense tone. “It’s fine,” he responded. Was it really? You were embarrassed. You had something of a crush on Draco, which you didn’t care to admit. In fact, at that time you were entirely in denial. 

“You were saying something in your sleep,” 

“I was? Oh God… What was it?” You struggled to remember exactly what it was that you were dreaming about. All you knew was that you had been scared, there was a serpent, and you felt as if you’d done something horrible.

“I couldn’t really hear, but I am fairly certain I heard you say “No,”” You paused and begun to remember. “Oh. Odd,” You pressed your lips together like you were concealing a lie. You stood up and wobbled, one of your legs was asleep. You heard him chuckle “Got it?” he teased.

“Barely,” you played along. “Can I ask you something?” he said as you begun to walk away. Your heart gave a solid thud and you turned around, “What?” you prodded. “I know who your father is...Does he ever talk to you about my parents?” he had a cocky expression, but behind his eyes he looked desperate. 

“He has before, yes,” you weren’t sure exactly where he was going with this.

“You know they used to...work together...” He struggled to put together the right words.

“Yes, I know,”

“So you know that he’s back?”

You knew the answer already, but something made you ask “Who’s back?”

“The Dark Lord”

You took in a startled breath and frantically looked at the common room around you.

“It’s safe, nobody is here,” he assured. Wait, was he assuming that because your father was a blood purist and former Death Eater, that you were too? 

“Yes, I know he’s back. But, Draco, I’m not--”

“You don’t have to hide it,” he spoke over you. “Trust me,” he desperately grabbed your hand. His eyes were wild, he looked at you like he’d found somebody he could really speak to. He needed somebody, you could tell. He was giving you attention that wasn’t outright bullying for the first time and your heart was weakening you. 

Then you remembered, there was so much more at stake than losing Draco Malfoy as a friend. 

“Draco, I’m not a blood-purist,” you spoke clearly, but didn’t let go of his hand. You could see the light go out of his eyes, his hope in you was draining. 

“But...Your family...” He said in disbelief.

“So?”

“Have you no Loyalty?” he asked. Suddenly, the serpent from your dream flashed in your mind like a terrifying omen. Something flickered behind your eyes and then you, quite suddenly, detached from reality. You had no idea you’d blacked out when you came to. 

_

Suddenly Draco was several feet away from you, clutching the arm of a chair. 

“How did you know?” he demanded, lunging for you as you tried to pull away. 

“Draco what are you talking about?” 

“Me?! What in the bloody fuck was what?!” he grabbed the front of your robes and you could feel your knees go weak with terror. 

“What are you talking about?” 

“What you just said! And your voice!” he demanded through gritted teeth. “I swear to Merlin if you’re fucking with me Y/L/N I’ll--”

“I-I made a prediction?” you stammered. It had been ages since your inner eye had revealed anything to you. In fact, you hadn’t really told any of your classmates you thought you possessed it, because you were afraid you’d never be able to prove it. 

“Don’t play games with me, Y/L/N,” he shook you, you could see the terror in your eyes and it frightened you. “WITH HIS TASK CARRIED OUT BY ANOTHER, THE BOY WILL FAIL HIS FAMILY, BLOOD WILL BE SPILLED AND INNOCENCE LOST FOREVER MORE?” He was cornering you and as you stepped backward you reached the wall behind the table you’d been working on. “Who told you?!”

“Nobody, I swear!” you stammered.

“So you’re just going to tell me that divination is real?” he snorted, gripping your robes tighter. “I don’t know how you know, but if you don’t keep your mouth shut I will make you sorry you found it out,”

“Draco, listen!” You yelled, pulling his hands off you, hoping nobody from their dorms came down to investigate all this noise. “I’ve never told anybody this, but I’m a seer, okay? Not a very reliable one, yet, but I am. In all honesty if you hadn’t just repeated what I predicted I was in such a trance that I wouldn’t even know what I’d said!”

“Bullshit!” He cried, slamming your shoulders into the wall. “You know what, I don’t care if you know. But if you get in the way, Y/N, I will kill you,” he said, his eyes watering. He had produced his wand. He was holding it to your jaw.

“Draco I promise I don’t know any---”

“I WILL KILL YOU!” 

You went silent, watching the tears well in his eyes. You watched the boy, faced with two terrible choices and you were just starting to understand. Suddenly, as if they’d known, Crabbe and Goyle appeared in the staircase leading to the boy’s dormitories. They were mostly expressionless, if not a little scared looking. Draco seemed to notice them, he let go of your robes. He kept his wand fixed on you and he backed away. Then it was just you, too paralyzed with fear to move.

Your knees were quaking beneath you. In the stillness of this new moment, stained black by the last, you slid down the wall. You were deep in thought there while you rationalized all that just happened. However, after a certain point your mind just wouldn’t work. All you could see in your mind’s eye was the image of the boy who had no choice. The boy whose grey eyes glittered with tears as he threatened your life, the boy whose trust you’d betrayed the moment you gained it. 

[beldin327]

Touching the Void Act I Scene II

ACT I SCENE II

(Lights come up on Jenny and Hiram in Jenny’s room.  They are studying.)

Jenny: Do you think he’s mad at me?

H: Who?

Jenny: Ziggy.

H: Why would he be mad at you?

Jenny: When I called him Z he snapped at me.

H: Jenny, that was two days ago.

Jenny: He barely talks to me.

H: He’s not mad at you, trust me.

Jenny: Then why did he react like that?

H: Probably some asshole at his high school called him Z.

Jenny: I guess.

H: C’mon, Jenny.  Just leave it.  It’s not important.

Jenny: I guess.

H: Jenny, stop it.

Jenny: Stop what?

H: Obsessing.  If it bothered him he’d tell you.

Jenny: Sorry.

H: It’s okay.  (pause) How’s the reading?

Jenny: Terrible.  It’s kids’ stuff.

H: Oh?

Jenny: Most of this I learned in seventh grade.

H: Like what?

Jenny: Alliteration, meter, rhyme schemes.  All the tools you need to be a great poet or a pretentious fuck.

H: How’s the prof?

Jenny: She’s clueless.  I’m surprised she’s ever been published.

H: Have you read her poetry?

Jenny: Yeah, there’s a copy in the library.  It was like getting skull-fucked from a thousand different directions while listening to bad pretentious indy music.

H: Pretentious and Indy.  Isn’t that redundant? (Pause) You all right?

Jenny: No.

H: What’s up?

Jenny: Just pissed off.  My father keeps calling to make sure I’m getting work done.  “I paid $20,000 for this school.  So don’t screw up or it’s back to the mental hospital.”

H: Why were you in a mental hospital?

Jenny: Bipolar.  For a month I was so depressed all I did was lie in bed. Then I went manic six months after and wrote poetry and covered the walls of my room with them.  I also slept with almost anything that moved.  My father didn’t care when I stayed in bed alone, it was when I had company that he started to take notice.  Sent me to the hospital for a month.

H: What was it like?

Jenny: Boring.  You’d think with all those crazy people in one place there’d be no lack of entertainment.

H: That’s not the way mental disorders work, honey.

Jenny: Just trying to be funny.  Speaking of, how’s psych?

H: Really good.  The teacher’s amazing and the people are great too.

Jenny: (sarcastically) Your life is perfect.

H: (sarcastically) Yeah.  Somebody up there likes me.  Fuck this, I need a break.

Jenny: Me too.  What shall we do?

H: Tell me something happy.

Jenny: Johnny Depp naked on a beach.

H: Sand gets everywhere.  And I do mean everywhere.

Jenny: Thanks for that image.

H: I live to serve.

Jenny: My turn.  Tell me something happy.

H: We’re not in South Carolina.

Jenny: What’s so bad about South Carolina?

H: Angry mobs of hicks with torches and pitchforks.

Jenny: You lost me.

H: If I go back home there’s an 80% chance of me getting killed by a mob of homophobes.

Jenny: Oh.

H: My turn.

Jenny: Disney World.

H: Walt Disney was a racist and built Epcot as a haven for white people.

Jenny: You’re a horribly depressing person.

H: But at least I’m pretty.

Jenny: Tell me something happy.

H: Ziggy.

Jenny: (smiles) You know me too well.  He doesn’t have a girlfriend does he?

H: No.  Although…

Jenny: What?

H: Well it’s not really any of my business…

Jenny: What is it?

H: He’s had bad luck with women.

Jenny: So?

H: He may not want to risk one more bad decision.

Jenny: Oh.  I see.

H: I just thought you should be warned.

Jenny: You think I’m “a bad decision?”

H: That’s not what I meant.  I meant that you’re going to have to be gentle with him and take it slow otherwise he might pull away.

Jenny: Like chasing a dog.

H: You haven’t even gone on a date with him and you’re already comparing him to a dog?

Jenny: When a dog runs off you don’t run after it.  You slowly walk towards it.  Or you stand still and call its name.  (Pause) You really think I have a chance?

H: He thinks you’re gorgeous.

Jenny: Really?  He said that?

H: Yeah.

Jenny: When?  What was the context?

H: After you left that night he said you were smart and gorgeous.

Jenny: Really?

H: Yeah.  I’ve gotta go to bed.  (He gets up and walks to the exit) Goodnight.

Jenny: Later, H.  (Robin enters.)

H: Hello, goodbye.

Robin: Ditto.  (H exits.) What’s up?

Jenny: Not much.  Do you think I should tell him?

Robin: Him who?  And what?

Jenny: Should I tell Ziggy about…you know?

Robin: You should wait until you’re actually dating before you reveal something like that.

Jenny: I meant if something develops.

Robin: Thinking pretty far ahead, aren’t you?  But yes, you should.

Jenny: What if it scares him off?

Robin: Then he wasn’t worth the time in the first place.

Jenny: (sarcastically) No pressure then.

Robin: Do you really want a guy who will judge you just because you’re not a virgin?

Jenny: I’m not afraid of telling him I’ve had sex, it’s the number I’m worried about.

Robin: If he really cares about you it won’t matter to him if you had sex with 10,000 guys.

Jenny: But what if it does?

Robin: What if it doesn’t?  Either way you’ll never know until you try. (Walks to her desk and takes a drawing pad then sits and starts to draw) He said I was boring.

Jenny: Ziggy?

Robin: No, Bryan.

Jenny: What does Bryan have to do with me having sex?

Robin: I have to draw a portrait of someone and I already started this one of Bryan.

Jenny: How are you boring?

Robin: Sex.  He thinks we spent too much time talking.

Jenny: But you guy’s never talked.

Robin: That’s what I thought.  (Sigh.)

Jenny: You seem a little upset.

Robin: Not really.  I’m just annoyed.  We didn’t really have anything to be upset over.  It was just a hormonal connection between two people. What annoys me is that he’s an asshole.

Jenny: How are things with Bill?

Robin: Great but confused.

Jenny: Confused?

Robin: We’re in the amorphous blob state.

Jenny: Amorphous blob?

Robin: More than just friends less than boyfriend and girlfriend.

Jenny: Oh, that amorphous blob state.

Robin: Are you making fun of me?

Jenny: Now why would I do that?

Robin: Anyway, he’s confused by it.  Sometimes he’s so sure of himself and then the next minute he’s completely clueless.  It’s really cute.

Jenny: Sadist.

Robin: If there is no definition nothing we do is that big a deal.

Jenny: I don’t follow.

Robin: We’re not together so there are no expectations of the way we should act which means we can’t go against them.

Jenny: So you can have sex with other guys?

Robin: That’s not what I mean.  If we were seeing each other then we have all sorts of expectations to live up to.  I mean how many people on campus who are dating sleep in the same bed, including the ones who are actually sleeping?

Jenny: All of them.

Robin: Exactly.  Bill and I don’t have to.

Jenny: But you do anyway.

Robin: Again, exactly.

Jenny: Oh, I see.  And this confuses him?

Robin: I’m not his girlfriend so he can’t treat me like his girlfriend, but I’m not his friend either.

Jenny: Doesn’t that mean that you can’t treat him as those, either?

Robin: Yeah.

Jenny: But how do you know how to act towards him?

Robin: I don’t.

Jenny: And you’re not confused?

Robin: Never said I wasn’t.

Jenny: You enjoy being confused?

Robin: You shouldn’t be afraid of the unknown, Jenny.  In fact, it’s much less frightening than what you do know.  (Pause, she holds up the drawing) What do you think?  Good likeness?

(Blackout. Hiram enters and takes centerstage.  He kneels in prayer.  Hiram is about ten in this scene but still played by the same actor.  The lights are blue for both his and Jenny’s monologue.)

H: Hello, God.  Mama’s sick.  Real bad.  The doctors don’t know if she’s gonna get better.  Could you please help her?  I know I haven’t always been good.  But if you make Mama better I will.  I swear.  I won’t ever touch myself again.  Or… think about other guys in that way.  Please, God, help Mama.  God?  Are you listening? (Lights go down on H and up on Jenny stage left.  She reads from a notebook.)

Jenny: I can feel it/It grows a little everyday/The darkness in my soul/Swallowing the light/Pretty soon all that will be left is one spark/One candle in the night/A single star where there used to be multitudes/I can almost remember what it was like to be whole. (Blackout.)

[oxfordeliterp]

CONGRATULATIONS, ZOE!

You have been accepted to play the role of LAUREN HASTINGS with the faceclaim of ANA DE ARMAS. Please create your account and send it to the main in the next 24 hours. The amount of meticulousness and grace you have put into this application has painted a very clear image of Lauren in my mind that I have only briefly touched in the biography. As if you have read my mind, you’ve written her beautifully and I found myself meeting Lauren as if for the first time reading your lines. I am excited about everything that concerns her and strongly believe that you won’t disappoint one bit, after such an elegant application. You have truly captured Lauren’s voice and I heard her clearly, which is why I am counting the seconds until I get to bump into her again, on the dashboard. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for the opportunity you are handing us right now of roleplaying with you. I’m truly excited to not only interact with your character, but also see her interact with all of the other characters. 

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

Name and pronouns: Zoe, she/her

Age: 19

Time-zone: I attend school in EST and live in CST.

Activity level: Finals are coming up for me but most of my classes this semester have been project-heavy and as a result, I don��t have any monstrous exams to devote time to, thank god. The semester for me ends in roughly three weeks and after that I don’t have anything that will be a huge drain on my time. I can usually find a little bit of time a day to get on and make some replies and everything. Honestly, when involved in a roleplay I hate going without replying to things for too long; I can be expected on the dash about every other day at least, if not for extended periods of time then at least to devote some writing to replies and plotting if applicable. I’m super excited about everything involved in this roleplay and while it’s within my abilities I look forward to spending as much time with y’all as I can.

Triggers: I don’t personally have any, but I will be sure to be mindful of any that other members may ask to be tagged.

IN CHARACTER INFORMATION

Desired character: Lauren Hastings! Something about the reasoning behind her personality drew me in from the minute I read her biography. I’ve often played characters that seem to follow the opposite path; characters who were good and perfect and reformed themselves into reckless things with little care for public opinion, characters who try to seem good to hide the fact that they never want to actually be good, characters that regret all the second chances they saw too late. I love the idea that Lauren is a girl who wasn’t ashamed of her past, per se, but was aware that it didn’t lead to the future she wanted. And I love the idea that though she gave it up willingly, parts of that past still sing to parts of her.

But at the root of it, it’s been far too long since I’ve played a soft character, and that’s exactly what I love the most about Lauren – I love how soft a girl she is. I adore the subtle softness to her, though I think at times she might chafe to hear it called that. Even in her wild teenage days, she was still soft; she didn’t do wild things for the scandal, she did it for the fun. And now she’s simply found that she wants to grow up, and wants to find fun in less expected places. She wants to hold dignity and perfection in the rivets of her spine, wants grace and renown to paint her face more permanently than her calculated makeup ever could. And so in public, it does. There is a duality to her, though – in addition to all those wants, she’s still able to do the things her best friend asks of her under the cover of darkness. Though she’s more careful now than ever to avoid being caught, she’ll still take a makeup wipe to her face, she’ll still toss perfectly curled hair into a ponytail, she’ll still dig around for old running shoes and a worn hoodie, and she’ll still disappear for a night of reckless freedom.

How free can it be when she holds it on such a tight leash? Sometimes, I’m sure, she wonders. But the wondering rarely keeps her up at night. If she were unhappy with all the changes in her public persona, she would never have made them. Lauren is a girl who likes who she is. She doesn’t mind if people find her dull or boring for it, now, because she knows that though her outsides couldn’t look more different, on the inside she possess the same soul she always has. And if anyone takes a look at her outsides and decides to see her as less than she is, well, she’s not opposed to surprising them – so long as the surprise is small and calculated and behind scenes.

Gender and pronouns of the character: Lauren is a cis-female and prefers to use she/her pronouns.

Changes: If it’s alright with you, I would prefer to change Lauren’s faceclaim to Ana de Armas. Though I love Emma, the way she holds herself is so sure and refined, and Ana’s edges are just a little blurrier in a way I feel works for Lauren. She still has to work just a touch too much for the way she presents herself now, and I feel Ana gets that youthful uncertainty across a little bit better. Additionally, I think it adds an interesting new dimension to explore if Lauren is a WOC. As a latina myself I know that there’s a stereotypical push to always be the biggest, loudest version of yourself, and that’s really the exact opposite of who Lauren is now, and honestly, who she’s always been.

At the same time, if in the end you feel that Emma is truly the best fit for Lauren, then I’m more than okay with that, too.

Traits: Though it seems a trait more fitting to her current persona, the truth of the matter is that Lauren has always wanted to be unruffled by most things. It’s hard to upset her now – or at least hard to see any visible proof of the feeling. She spends a lot of time quiet, thinking through every statement with a calm appraisal before it passes through her lips. But the time in her head allows her to think not just of what she’s saying, but what the people around her are saying; she’s not prone to dramatics, and her emotions are subdued. Her amusement is small, her joy is small, her sorrow is small, her fury is small. They’re there, make no doubt; she is a person underneath her newly doll-like exterior.

Before things uses to explode out of her, and while they still can, she doesn’t like letting them anymore. It’s at times painful, physically painful, for her to recall how easy it would be for those around her to read her when she was younger. It’s hard to think of how much of herself is still known, because so much of herself hasn’t changed all that much. But that pain would be very hard to detect. Because Lauren is now a girl who is unfazed by all, calm in the face of the things that frighten her halfway to death. For now.

                                        ——————————–

As much as she tries not to show it, Lauren has moments still where she feels terribly unmoored by everything around her. Things are changing so suddenly, and she feels like a hypocrite for even being upset by it, but she can’t help the creeping feeling of it all. She’s sure to some the changes she made in herself seemed to have come out of nowhere, but she’s always known that at some point she would give up her childish things and try to become somebody other people would want to become. But now that she has, the landscape around just can’t seem to stay still, and it’s hard to maintain as tight a grasp as she would like. She wants to stay as far away from the crumbling ground as possible, but how can she, when she doesn’t know where the next fallout is going to be?

Entering into the elite world of Oxford and its Quarrel Club felt like receiving an invitation to the immaculate world she wanted to grow to fit. But now that world doesn’t seem to be at all what she was expecting; and what’s more, she knows she can’t give up on it. There’s a silent desperation in the back of her mind, always questioning her waking parts, always wanting to know just what she plans to do, just who she plans to hurt – and the honest thing is that she has no idea.

                                       ——————————–

Lauren would be the first to admit that she’s never thought of herself as the sort of girl who could inspire wars and poetry and a thousand horrible, wonderful things. She’s not, ironically, riotous enough. She’s always been content to follow and quietly dissent; but all the same, she hates to be underestimated. She would like to point out to all those who have only met the new Lauren that bonfires are not the only thing capable of starting wildfires; a civilized little spark can be just as capable. And she would like to point out to all those who wish that she’d never changed that the ocean is always changing its tides, but it never stops being the ocean. She would like to scream at the top of her lungs that just because she is now the sort of person everyone thinks is just an ideal, she is still, in fact, a person. She has sides, she has depths, she has hurts and hopes and everything in between.

But she won’t scream anything of the sort. While she hates to think that people don’t think of her how she knows she is, because of how she is, she’s not sure how they’ll ever know better. She doesn’t want to fight about it. She’s tired just thinking of fighting about it. Some people are happier with Lauren now, and some were happier with Lauren before – and while she wants to be perfect, and while it kills her to admit it, she knows there’s no version of her everyone will love that will still feel like Lauren.

Extras: Lauren is studying Archaeology and Anthropology. Also, she’s got a playlist over here, whose cover image doubles as a little baby moodboard.

PARA SAMPLE

Lauren knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that heels were artful, expensive little torture devices invented to keep women quite literally on their toes. She sat down heavily on her bed, welcomed the soft give of the piles and piles of blankets, and amended the thought to herself. They were not originally for women; but as soon as men saw how splendid the backside of the female form looked in them, well, that was that – the heels got thinner and higher and as a whole, the shoes got far too pretty and far too easy to justify large collections of.

Quick fingers slipped to the thin leather strap around her ankle to undo the buckle. And then Lauren flung the luxurious, painful thing towards her closet. She did the same for the other foot, and only then did she allow herself to fully relax. Just as she’d flung the shoes outward, she flung herself backward, allowing her bed to sink and wrap her up in the smell of her perfume, her lotion. How good it felt to return to herself in the most primal way.

Her eyes slipped shut, though she wasn’t tired enough to fall asleep – and she would never let herself fall asleep with a full face of makeup on. The false eyelashes alone would make the task utterly unbearable. No – Lauren allowed her eyes to slip shut so she could fish around in her mind to bring the final parts of herself back, close. The zipper of her dress mirrored her spine, dug into her skin where it wasn’t clinging to a satin slip. That, too, would go. That was her routine. The heels, then the dress. She’d let the slip stay until she was ready to put on her softest bra and some real pajamas, and she wouldn’t put those on until she’d washed her face and softly combed the product out of her hair. That was her routine, and she adored it far more than what it followed.

Still lying spread eagle, ankles dangling off the side of her bed, Lauren sighed. Sometimes she felt unfaithful, to enjoy the end of her nights so much. She knew it was silly; it wasn’t as if she was leaving Lucas and returning to someone else. It wasn’t as if it were true infidelity.

All the same, the evenings and nights out with him, on his arm or at his table, wherever they were, were a drain on her spirits. Not that it showed. That would have felt crueler than the relief she felt to leave him. No, she was the picture of the adoring girlfriend when they were out together – when they were in together, too, she made sure of it. Lauren doesn’t adore him, doesn’t love him, but, goodness, spend enough time around someone you’re using and you’ll find yourself caring for them, if not in the way you know you’re meant to.

It would be easier if he were cruel to her. Then, perhaps, she wouldn’t feel guilty treating him like the second half of her charade in a love he thinks is true. But as it is, this lying in misery on her bed at the end of it is part of her date night routine, too. As crucial as removing shoes and moisturizing.

Lauren heaved another sigh before opening her eyes to stare blankly at her ceiling. The night had been no worse than usual. It still felt as good as a sugar rush to laugh together over a meal and feel all eyes watching, knowing that those eyes believe they’re looking at a golden couple. None of those eyes were the intended audience for the show Lauren put on, but she’d come to find with her relationship with Lucas that any audience is a good audience. How can you be perfect if no one else gifts you that title? And how can it be worth it if you’re anything less than perfect?

She stood, wincing as she felt the zipper unstick from her back. She walked barefoot towards her bathroom, reaching a hand to yank it down so she could step out of it on her way – leaving in her wake as carelessly as her shoes lay, tossed somewhere on the plush carpet. It all felt tired, and unfair, but it was necessary. And it was a part of her now – she would not allow herself to quit on it.