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jean-does-not-have-a-horseface · 4 years ago

Note

Hello, Hello, would you mind to write a scenario for Levi Ackerman with a female s/o were they have a argument and Levi accidently hurts her physical in some way?

Thank you very much and please be careful 💚

Okay, hello, I have been working on this for a HOT minute and this is the only way I thought this could go (because Levs would never ever ever ever hurt his s/o, poor man has seen his mother being violated so much too pls-) tell me if you like it, I'd be glad to know if you're satisfied with how it went.

Pairing: Levi/ Reader

Tags: Action, Somewhat!Fluff,

Warnings: Mentions of blood, gunshots, wounds you know, typical snk stuff

Bullet

Crimson liquid run in gushes from the wound in your shoulder splattering your whole body and your surroundings. The pain was immense and torturous and reeked of the adrenaline that your body was trying to produce, all on vain to soothe the uneasiness, as with every passing second the hot rushes of blood that flew to the spot put your mind in a burgundy haze. Your left hand was trembling, your body was still in shock by the hit and your necessary intakes of oxygen had long surpassed the normal rate by now but you weren't in a position to slow down.

The odds had been against you ever since you decided to follow Levi and not lead the infamous cadets of the 104th squadron.

It was the silent clicking of a gun that had caught your attention as you discussed how much of an ambush this whole situation seemed with Nifa and Levi. You almost perked at the spot, a fragment of a second faster than Levi, buying yourself enough time to jump into the most unthinkable situation; getting Levi out of this commotion safe and unwounded, you'd take the incoming shot for the stoic captain to stay alive.

The bullet had blown just through your shoulder with enough force to send you flying to the ground, meters away from the hotspot of action. As you heard Levi's voice screaming an earth shattering call of Kenny Ackerman's name you pushed through the pain that has shaken your body to the core and shot your drills to the nearest building. Your heart was beating fast, eyes rapidly checking in all directions to examine your surroundings while the pulsating of your shoulder begged with you to take action on it's recovery.

Only ever when you made sure your surroundings were clear of armed soldiers did your feet drag you outside the dark alleyway. Pushing through the intense pain you managed to shoot the drills of your gear onto a empty rooftop, trying your best to evenly distribute your weight on the equipment. One mistake and you could easily be wiped out.

Therefore you settled for sneaking carefully in between dark alleys as gunshot sounds ravaged your eardrums; It was definitely Levi who was taking all that fire on his own, sending your heart to an uncatchable pace as the blood that pulsated in every inch of your body would manage to find an exit through the wound on your shoulder.

As the blasts kept getting unbearably closer by each passing second you glued yourself to the stone wall and ducked down, to protect any part of you in order to see for yourself if Levi was indeed the target of this manhunt.

Your speculations were correct.

Upon him passing by -incredibly fast- your eyes met his for a brief moment, forcing a shocked hitch to leave his lips as his eyes widened. His expression, dark, anxious, as if he had just seen a ghost and refused to believe it.

The state of your well being was still unbeknownst to you; you hadn't even taken a chance to see how drenched in blood your clothes were.

With another fast shoot of your quills and a press to your gas' handle you landed on another rooftop, far behind from the horde of men that had all their attention on Levi.

Everything went quiet for a moment. Sheer tranquility masked the air. The fire of action seemed to have been out off momentarily, yet you don't have an eye sight of the situation. You couldn't seem to slow down your breathing not even for one second, your alert eyes repeatedly scanned the areas around you to detect any suspicious move.

Despite the unfair odds and your position you had managed to successfully locate the cart with Eren and Historia, only to come face to face with the commotion that had occured. Hange's men were taken one by one, this time in your comrade's place sat a wide eyed brunette who screamed at the horses to go faster.

The sound of shooting thundered in waves around the town, startling you, urging you to jump into action. The wagon couldn't by any means, slip away from you or your team.

You tapped against your right gas canulle, begging for the sound to signal that it was halfway full at least. The left one was busted from your previous impact against the cold stone buildings, still you were sure you could push through with as much as you had, even if it seemed deadly enough to get you killed.

The cadets were startled as the saw you as they proceeded to bombard you with questions about your condition to which you could barely reply with full sentences. Slowly your body was giving in to your injury, to a point where you couldn't ignore it. Still, you bothered with how much more you could take.

"The hell is that!" Jean inquired, eyes pacing between the gory scene unraveling before him, and you, still troubling himself with taking in what he was witnessing.

Levi flew hurriedly flew by, pumping his gas one before launching his drill to an armed man's abdomen. His face hardened as the men was dragged to him, hands already gripping his blades steadily.

He went straight for the kill. Blood cluttered everywhere around him, staining any nearby surface.

Everyone's faces went numb as frozen droplets of sweat run down their foreheads. Naturally, in your shocked state you failed to provide any comfort to them, even if their despairate eyes were begging you to.

"Follow the wagon!" Levi commanded, his breath hitching in his throat as he sat still, despairate to take a momentarily rest.

"Right!" Mikasa complied sternly.

"Listen up, these soldiers were trained to fight other people, they've already take up three of ours," restlessly, Levi flew to lead the team, launching himself alongside of you, but still not sparing you a glance. "If you hesitate for so much as a second you'll be dead. The moment you see an opening go for the kill!"

"Yes sir!" Once again the ravenette in a stone cold tone confirmed her Captain's orders were well understood, forcing a gulp to flow down everyone's throat.

"And you, (y/n)!" This time his eyes were intensely burning dark holes in yours. "You stay back and lay low, this is an order!" You watched as he gulped, taking a moment to breathe through his nose in an attempt to calm himself down. "And don't ever think about taking a bullet for me, ever again."

Despite the gallons of blood lost and the tremendous pain you managed to find the spitfire in you to reply, eyes wide with rage at his last comment.

"Sir, with all due respect, I'm fine with laying low, but-"

"No time for you to form your own rebellion over my words, lay low or you're getting killed. You've made yourself the easiest target!" His words dripped of poison, unnerving anger that did nothing to convey his worry, making your head blur with similar rage.

You refused to believe that the first thing he would try to converse with you on the subject would actually turn out to be a scolding session. As if you were an imbecile child. As if you hadn't tried to push through to keep offering your abilities to your cause.

"Kenny would have shot you right then and there! What did you expect me to do?" You screamed. Your lungs burned with every command to withstand the pressure. Hot blood found its way through the hole in your arm again.

"No he wouldn't. We don't have time for this, Lay low!"

Levi's tone was sharp as a knife slicing your flesh like soft butter, somewhat hurting you more that the small piece of metal in your body. "You can't handle yourself like I can at the moment." It was rare they the two of you would bicker like this, and there was so much you could handle with an oozing wound, barking at him seemed to be the way to get your point at him.

"You're unbelievable," you squealed "I just saved your life and you're downgrading me?"

"Don't put words in my mouth, you know what I mean."

"Oh, do I now?" You mocked.

"No one else dies on my watch and you can't fight, so out of our way!"

Levi launched himself into a tent, backflipping his way through another kill. You hated to admit that he was right; you couldn't even make it to a few kills with the remaining of your gas yet the adrenaline in your body was raging against every plead of you to stay behind.

"You can't keep me out of action!" You barked, eyes glimmering with stubbornness as you followed the team's lead to the wagon. Jean was the first to land with Armin, throwing the brunette soldier way from her spot. You didn't seem to pay enough attention to your surroundings, the clicking of a gun behind you fell deaf to your ears.

"I told you (y/n) we don't have tim- watch out!" Levi's eyes widened in terror at the sight of the armed man towering behind you. Shaking hands that still held his blades reached out fast, boldly enough to launch onto the collar of your shirt, bringing your form onto him, only for your nose to harshly collide with the steel handle of his blade in the process. In turn you were thrown harshly onto a nearby tent.

A moment later his blades had slashed through the man while a rage filled scream muffled your ears.

"Armin Secure the wagon with Jean! We'll keep you covered!"

At trying to catch up in the commotion on the wagon, he witnessed in agony as Jean gulped, a gun nearly pressed to his head. Mikasa called out his name, launching her blades and spinning in the air. If it wasn't for Armin to ruthlessly pull the trigger to send the brunette to her instant death, she would have been too late to save her comrade. Levi clicked his tongue in misery. This was getting worse by each passing second.

"Armin! Jean!"

You laid on the tent, left hand scrunched against your bloody nose as you tried not to move. There were still armed men everywhere, if they detected you were alive you were done for. With half lid eyes you watched the scene unfold in front of you.

Three more men had towered behind Levi and the cadets, pointing their guns on them. Levi and Sasha jumped to the scene, shoving their comrades out of the wagon. The had successfully missed the fire of the shots for short seconds. As a sigh of relief left you your right eye lost focus. Your head felt dizzy, heavy at the numbing pain that shoot from your whole body. As the effects of adrenaline slowly wore off your body started to give in, eyes battling an already lost fight to stay open.

The last thing you heard was Levi calling out your name.

Your eyes painfully shot open.

The top of your mouth felt dry. You couldn't swallow. A strong metallic taste adorned the tips of your tongue. In a panicked state your eyes were blinking rapidly at the darkness around you, alternating gazes between the group of people a few meters away from you and the flickering light of the fire.

In contrary to your body, your head felt feathery light as numbness toyed on your brain, taking forms of a thousand little ants stomping each cavity they could find.

"Ah, Captain she's awake!"

Your body couldn't move and your mind couldn't think, yet Connie's words rang a few bells that alerted you. After what seemed like an eon later, a flick switched in your brain, widening your eyes upon hitting you with the most profane realisation.

"It's probably the morphine shot that has you numb like this. I took care of that bullet in your arm and I fixed your nose."

Your eyes bored into Levi's steel ones, unintentional apathy splattered all your face. You couldn't help but stop your bruised lips from forming to a small pout; as your coincidence flowed withing your body with every passing of the time you were reminded of the heated exchange of words you and your lover had shared before your body gave in.

Levi's eyes softened as he watched your face fall into an angered expression. A sigh of relief escaped him as his hand extended to your direction, calloused fingers lingering on the thin locks on your forehead.

"Shit" he groaned through gritted teeth "Fuck, I'm so sorry (y/n), you know I didn't mean to break your nose right? Given the situation I knew you'd land safely on the tent, I just had to get you out of there"

His eyes were sincere, flickering with agony as his hand rested behind your ear. The look on his face was enough to make you melt, to give in to whatever he ever said, you couldn't deny that much.

"I know how devoted you are, you could have taken that bullet for anyone not just for me, that's who you are." Another sigh escaped him, this time sneaking profoundly out his trembling chest.

"Y-you don't have to s-struggle with your-r words. You were right-t. I shouldn't have pushed my self with such little gas while losing so much blood." You coughed. Essential sentences were spilling out of your mouth. You knew when to step back into your place, especially in arguments that you were on the wrong. Levi had been right from the beginning, but you had pushed forward, worked yourself to the limit.

"Tch, I would never intentionally hurt you, you know that much right? I didn't mean to cause you more pain-"

"Levi, my love," As you laid on your back you watched the fire in his eyes cool down at sound of the endearing pet name. His chest stopped taking sharp stressed breaths and his hand started rubbing soothing circles at the nape of your neck. "You don't have to apologise, please. I was on the wrong. If anything, you saved me from being fatally shot. You shoved Jean away as well."

Levi's antics were nothing strange to you. You had spent years by his side, training as a part of his team, fighting alongside him. The way he cared for his comrades was unmatched, unable to be mimicked. You knew of his tragic past, so him acting compulsively like that wasn't something you wouldn't have expected. You weren't mad that you had gotten hurt in the process of him ripping you away from deaths grip.

The only thing that had ever made you mad was that, momentarily he wasn't willing to approve of your sacrifice to him.

"I threw you like shack of shit, I don't deserve you going soft on me. I should have not downgraded you."

Your eyes shut, lips curling upwards onto a tiny smirk, one that lifted Levi's spirits just a bit. "I'll stop being so hotheaded." You managed to admit, letting a chuckle escape your lips. Rarely you could stop yourself from giggling when you'd make up with the man.

"Brat! Don't laugh when we're having a serious conversation!" His eyes hardened, voice full of affectionate authority. You were so eager to brush off the subject of him guilt tripping himself, to lift the weight off his shoulders.

The weak bubbling laughter that escaped you after was contagious and never ending. It felt as little, continuous jolts of static electricity shocking your body as each exhale, but it was unstoppable, not even for you to answer properly back to him. The effect of the tranquilizing shot was perfect on it's part as well.

"I-it's just that i- love you. That's all. You've always got a spot on poo comment about everything."

Levi's head lowered in defeat, his nose leaving out an amused whip of air in the process. As you watched him, you felt a familiar warmth numb its way through your body from your stomach and outwards. Perhaps, this time he didn't want you to assume what he would say. Perhaps he was still guilt tripping himself or perhaps your laughter was getting through him at a moment he had to be stern. Nevertheless you never missed the words that felt his lips, before he went to quickly brush then against yours.

"I won't be as hotheaded as well, I promise. I'd take a thousand bullets for you I hope you know that."

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heliads · 4 years ago

Text

Radio Silence Chapter Four: I Verify

Poe Dameron has been assigned to work as an intel receiver to Acer, a Resistance recon agent. They’ve only ever talked through the comms, so when she’s captured by First Order troops he assumes she’s lost forever. When Poe accidentally rescues the absolutely infuriating Resistance spy Y/N L/N from a First Order Star Destroyer, he knows she’s got nothing do with with Acer. Right?

previous / series masterlist / next

Poe waits. Y/N does not show up. To be honest, he’s not sure why he cares. He’s only met her a few hours ago, and they’ve been clashing ever since. Yet there was still something strange about seeing that brief flash of unease in her eyes, the waver in her voice when she was questioning Leia. Stormtroopers and the threat of torture back in her First Order cell were never enough to shake her, yet something at the base had washed all of that away. Isn’t that something to be concerned about?

Poe watches the corridors, the rooms, the training centers, but Y/N is conspicuously absent from all of them. It’s not like he’s actively trying to search her out, he just keeps noticing that she isn’t there. If he went to all of the trouble of breaking her out of a First Order Star Destroyer, he should at least know that she’s alright, right? He sounds like a lunatic.

After a couple of days, Poe finally sees her. She’s walking purposefully through the corridors of the base, listening to some coworker yammer on next to her. When Y/N’s eyes catch on him, she seems to hesitate for a second, then she raises a hand in greeting. Poe smiles in return, and just like that, the moment is over. Poe isn’t sure what he was expecting- he and Y/N had been fighting almost all of the time they spent on the Needle. So what if they had been civil on the base- did he really expect that they would trade insults in front of Leia? Nothing’s changed except the location, and Poe shouldn’t find himself disappointed that it hasn’t.

Life on the base goes on as normal. Poe sees rebels sent out on missions, they return with more scars and tales of high-stakes chases through the stars. Eventually, Poe gets tired of sitting around and politicking with Leia’s advisors, so he puts in a request for an off-base mission. He doesn’t know how long he’ll have to wait, but at least the prospect of leaving this system is somewhere in reach.

The mission ends up coming around sooner than he’d expected- barely a week goes by before Poe finds himself packing for another expedition. He’ll be taking his trusty X-Wing this time, no more sublight cruises or Mandalorian Needles. To be honest, Poe is okay with this- if there’s only room for him, there’s no chance that he’s bringing back snarky mechanic spy officers who can rival his knowledge of ship parts or be able to bother him with a single smirk and step.

As Poe is tossing his gear into his X-Wing, he notices someone walking up behind him. He turns to see Y/N, arms swinging casually at her sides as she takes in the ship. “Have you been downgraded from the Needle?” She asks, grinning. Poe ignores the sarcastic grin. “The Needle was temporary, the X-Wing is my favorite. If you say anything bad about her I’ll kick your ass myself.” Y/N raises her eyebrows. “Defensive, I see. Does that mean a lot of people have said bad things about your X-Wing or are you just very prepared?”

Poe turns to look at her, folding his arms across his chest. “Are you always this exasperating or is it just for me?” Y/N grins like a lynx. “What, are you asking if you’re special to me? Not a chance. I just wanted to see if Finn was going with you or not.” Poe leans up against the metal fuselage of his ship. “That’s a good excuse, but I’m pretty sure that you came all the way out to the hanger just to see me off.”

Y/N rolls her eyes. “I was so excited to see you leave that I couldn’t help myself. Don’t take it too seriously.” Poe flashes her a grin. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I know you’ll miss me.” With that, he jumps up into the X-Wing, holding back a laugh at the sound of Y/N’s outraged retorts. Yet when he checks one last time over his shoulder as he flies out of the hanger, he notices that Y/N is still watching him go, a soft smile on her lips. Maybe she wasn’t so unfeeling after all.

The mission itself is nothing major. He’s not going into the Kinoss system or anywhere near Starkiller Base, just treading lightly on the outskirts of the Unknown Regions. There’s a backup copy of Resistance data files that needs to be collected and brought back to base. It contains lists of recon officers and spies, their assigned locations, and everything they’ve been able to find out over the last month. To put it simply, it is imperative that Poe finds this data file and brings it back before the First Order catches wind of its presence.

BB-8 whistles at him from over his shoulder, and Poe grins. “No, I’m not worried. This isn’t like Kinoss, we shouldn’t have to get anywhere near a Star Destroyer. Nothing’s going to happen.” There’s a whirring and clicking, and Poe shoots the droid a look over his shoulder. “Will you stop talking about her? She was just there to get in one final jibe in case I died, and I’m not going to die, so it’s no big deal.” He pauses for a second, listening to the series of beeps, then speaks again. “If you don’t drop this I’m going to send you over to Finn and get a new droid that doesn’t bother me all the time. Yes, I’m joking, stop your chatter.”

Poe touches down just outside of some backwater town. It’s not so different from the planet D’Qar, where the Resistance base is currently hidden, or even Yavin 4. Manageable gravity, only one sun, except there are significantly fewer forests and more of these massive stone outcroppings that block off the sun to create areas of shadow on the ground that are miles long. Farms have to be built on moving bases so that they can constantly stay in the sun as the sun passes overhead, forever shifting back and forth to avoid the shade of the stone cliffs.

Poe received intel that the data files were stored in a cave on the northeastern part of the planet, in a hollow in a rock face. He’s been sent the exact coordinates, and he makes his way deliberately along the surface of the planet, dodging behind large crags of rock whenever stormtroopers or civilians pass his way. He doesn’t want to be spotted, because he won’t be able to talk his way out of this one. A Resistance officer getting caught on a city planet is understandable, but here? He would obviously be hiding something.

After about half a standard hour of walking, Poe finds the cave entrance. He flicks on a lightstick from his multitool, shining it around. His eyes quickly catch on a plasteel crate tucked away under a rock ledge, and he hurries over to it, picking it up and carrying it out of the cave. Once he gets out into the light once more, Poe can recognize the faded Resistance insignia, and he knows he has the right box. Just to be careful, though, he opens up the box once he’s back inside his X-Wing, telling BB-8 to pilot him back so that Poe can direct his full attention to the crate.

The box is empty except for one datapad. Curious, Poe lifts it from the box, flicking it on and allowing a wash of bluish white light to cascade over his face in the dark of space. BB-8 whistles something from behind him, and Poe waves a hand dismissively at the small droid. “I’m sure it’s fine that I look at this. I have to make sure it isn’t a First Order decoy, right?” Besides, Poe makes knowing things a habit in the Resistance, and he’d like to make sure he stays on top of things. Even without his pride, however, there’s still a fairly good reason to check the files: they might contain something on Acer.

This is wrong, yes. He shouldn’t be checking it, shouldn’t know anything about her at all. But he isn't interested in finding out the name, only the status. If she’s dead or still considered missing, the file will state it. After a few minutes of paging through the data sets, Poe finds the entry he’s looking for: Sender code name: Acer. Receiver code name: Bravo. This is her. At first, Poe’s eyes flick over to the status bar, and he feels his chest fill with silent, overwhelming gratitude when he reads the few words labeled there: Alive. Returned to base. But then he keeps reading, and Poe feels a sudden piercing shock drive through him like a vibroblade.

His real name is there as the receiver: Poe Dameron. Next to that, though, is her name. Acer’s real name. Sender: Y/N L/N. Poe leans his head back, letting it thunk against the seat. For a second, he can’t think about anything at all. His eyes watch as the stars flick past behind him, but he isn’t taking in a thing. Then all of the emotions hit him at once. Acer is Y/N. Y/N is Acer. This must be what she was talking about that day, wasn’t it? Poe had told her that he was Bravo, that he was Acer’s receiver. Of course she had seemed stunned, she was going through the same revelation that Poe is undertaking right now.

But it’s different for Poe. Y/N had only had to realize that the man in front of her was Bravo, and she had chosen to not say anything. She had kept it entirely to herself, except for a frenzy of questions delivered to Leia. Why hadn’t she said anything? Yes, they’d been arguing for a while back on the Needle, but that wasn’t enough for her to damn him to never knowing if she was dead or alive. Why would she have lied to him?

By the time Poe is docking at the Resistance hanger once more, his anger and betrayal have faded into an overwhelming numbness. He walks over to Leia at the command center, handing her the box with the data files still securely inside. He doesn’t say anything more than he has to, and then he leaves the room once more. Poe has scarcely gone ten paces from the room when Y/N rounds the corner, and a cocky smile lights up her face at the sight of him. Poe can’t bring himself to return it, even when she hurries over to him.

“Look who it is, the returning hero! I thought I’d have a little longer until you came back. I think I might be disappointed.” On any other day, Poe would have scoffed, and said something about how every minute in that ship away from her was a blessing, but he stays silent today. Instead, he looks over at her, starting to veer away from the hallway and towards a door leading to an empty room. “I need to talk to you.” Y/N’s grin falters at the look on his face, at the stiffness of his words.

“Sure, Dameron. I’m a little worried now.” She follows him into the room and Poe closes the door behind him once he makes sure that they’re alone. When he turns back from the door, Y/N is facing him, the soft light of the room hanging over her eyes in a gentle wash of brightness. “What’s wrong?” She asks. Poe just looks at her coolly. “Why didn’t you tell me?” He doesn’t have to say anything more- Y/N knows what he’s talking about. Her gaze falls away, and when she speaks again, her voice is quiet. “You know.”

Poe feels a surge of anger starting to twist up in him once more. “Of course I know. How long were you planning on keeping this from me? A month, a year? What, you thought you could never tell me and it would be okay? I would have spent the rest of my life thinking that my Acer, my best friend, was dead or tortured, and you were fine with that.” He breaks off, shaking his head. “I would never have done that to you.”

Guilt is spun around Y/N’s every feature, but it hurts too much to look at her. “I wanted to tell you, but I know you wouldn’t want to hear it. Not from me.” She laughs, the sound twisted and broken in the quiet room. “You would never have wanted to find out like that. What, that ‘your Acer’ was the girl you’d spent the last few hours hating and arguing with on that ship? If I had told you, you would have wished I kept it to myself. When you told me you were Bravo I realized that Leia had never told you, and I figured it would be best if I went along with it. You would never have wanted it to be me, not in a million years.”

Poe just stares at her. “What, you thought that this was you doing the right thing? Maybe I would have been surprised, but you don’t get to decide how I would have felt. You don’t know what I would have said, so you made the choice for me.” Poe rakes a hand through his already disheveled hair. “Stars, I don’t know anything about you.” Y/N’s gaze turns cold. “No, you really don’t.” With that, she turns and walks from the room. Were it not for the hunch in her shoulders, Poe would have thought she was fine. Yet he can still see it in her stance, in the rhythm of her steps as she walks away. He’s really done it now.

Poe waits until he can no more, slipping away from his quarters to go find Y/N. He’s not sure what he would say to her- apologize? Promise he’s not going to leave? But it doesn’t look like he’ll get the chance- no matter where he goes, Poe cannot find her. Eventually, some comms officer notices him walking back and forth down the halls and offers to help him out. When Poe explains that he’s looking for Y/N, the officer visibly winces.

“I’m sorry, Dameron, but Recon Agent L/N left on a mission two standard hours ago. It was really hush-hush, almost nobody knew except Leia and a few others. All I can tell you is that she was in a team with two other soldiers, and they were going somewhere in the Core Worlds.” Poe starts. “But that’s in the middle of First Order territory. That’s practically suicide.” The officer nods sympathetically. “It’s dangerous, that’s for sure. It’s a shame you didn’t get to see her off, I thought I saw her looking for you. Well, keep your hopes up. I’m sure she’ll be back here before we know it.”

The officer continues on down the corridor, leaving Poe reeling in his head. That was why Y/N wanted to see him- to tell him about the mission. And how had he left her, minutes before she left on what would probably be the most dangerous mission of her life? With angry words and accusations of betrayal. He wishes he could take it back, redo that moment. Even his anger from before seems dull and pale now.

What if Poe never sees her again? What if that was his last moment with Y/N, with Acer, and he just left a broken memory with the most important girl in his life?

radio silence tag list: @kesskirata, @ubri812, @itsnottilly, @20th-centu-fairy-girl, @imabeautifulbutterfly, @cp11, @chocolitelady

#poe dameron #poe dameron imagines #poe dameron x reader #poe dameron series #star wars #star wars imagines #star wars x reader #star wars series #star wars poe #star wars poe imagines #star wars poe x reader #star wars poe series #swtfa #tfa

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ga-yuu · 3 years ago

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~Kurama~Main Story Chapter 15~Part 2

I made a small mistake in my previous posts. I know that Kurama calls Yoshino his toy in his main story but it was not until this chapter, Before this, he kept calling her prisoner. So I have to go back and edit my posts.

Warning!! Sexual content below!! (Because Kurama just finds any reasons to make out with Yoshino.)

Part 1

---------Part 4---------

Kurama: "I don't understand. But I approve of the way you think."

(Eh?)

He looked straight at me and my cheeks heated up when he touched it.

Kurama: "Include that as a 'Thank you' too."

Yoshino(blushing): "......Thank you."

(The way I think is completely different from Kurama.)

(There were times when I thought there was no way to bridge that gap....)

The depth of the ditch remains the same, but the bridge was built there today by Kurama.

(So now, I wanna cross the other side.)

Yoshino: "I still want to know more about Kurama. Because I want to know you for who you are, not just as a demon or an enemy."

As the cherry blossoms quietly fall, I remember as if it were yesterday what I said to him that night.

-------FLASHBACK---------

Yoshino: “Instead of having wings that can fly you to your destination like Kurama, or the power to kill an enemy with a single blow. Humans value their beliefs and the bonds they have with those around them. Isn’t that why you didn’t take Yoshitsune’s life right away, because you knew that? Because if he really wanted his soul, Kurama could have taken it without question.”

Kurama: “I don’t get it. I don’t understand you.”

Yoshino: “I want to understand Kurama.”

Kurama: “…………….Shut up now.”

Kurama: “I must have been mistaken in thinking you were in any way interesting. Understanding is an emotion that does not contribute strength. Will you still be able to think like that when you’re overtaken?”

------FLASHBACK ENDS-----

(I know I offended Kurama at the time with those words, but I want to tell him straight again.)

Kurama: "You want to understand me, huh?"

Yoshino: "Yes. Can I?"

Kurama reaches for me with a speed so gentle as the petals fall.

The gesture seems like he was giving me a chance to run away, but----

(If I want to run away, it's probably now or never.)

(But that means, Kurama and I can still have a close yet distant relationship. But....)

(I won't run away.)

Kurama's fingers finally touch my cheeks.

I put my hand on his, with an impulse that came from the bottom of my heart.

Kurama: "....... All right. But you have to pay me."

Yoshino: "Pay you? What do you want?"

Kurama: "It's not something you should do. I'm going to do something to you."

(Ah)

He pulls me close and sets his teeth on my neck.

Yoshino(blushing): "Ohh...."

Just before I felt a strong pain, his tongue slithered over the spot.

Yoshino(blushing): "Ku...rama..."

Kurama: "Don't move."

Yoshino(blushing): "But....Mmm.....Ahh...."

His lips gently slide down to my exposed breasts.

Kurama: "The face you're making right now is not bad, I'll give you that."

(Is this what I have to pay....?)

Yoshino(blushing): "Mmm....that..should be ahhh....enough...!!"

Kurama: "No. Don't look away."

As if to cut off my feeble words of resistance, a strong look was screwed into the depths of my eyes.

(I feel...hot...)

His long fingertips pull my kimono further down from my shoulders.

My body shivered in the open air.

Yoshino(blushing): "...But, in...place like this...."

Kurama: "Does the location matter?"

Yoshino(blushing): "I mean...It's just...!!!"

When I realized that I had implicitly affirmed the act itself, my body burned with shame.

Kurama: "From the very beginning, I put up a barrier to prevent anyone from interrupting our time together. No one will ever see it."

Yoshino(blushing): "Even if you say that...."

(Embarrassing things are EMBARRASSING!)

Kurama: "What does it matter if someone sees us? All you have to do is think about me and writhe in agony at the stimulation I give you."

-------Part 5------

Kurama: "All you have to do is think about me and writhe in agony at the stimulation I give you.

Yoshino: "....Hmmm.....Ahhh......"

His lips start to peck the soft skin that I usually cover.

(Why can't I resist....?)

The tip of his red tongue slowly goes down, as his fingers kept opening my kimono.

As I realized on the verge of revealing myself to the point of no return-----

Yoshino(tomato red): "No! No more....."

I grabbed his hand desperately and Kurama stopped moving.

Kurama: "Still not surrendering? Well, for now, I'm satisfied. This is a better way of satisfying my hunger for battle. Keep up the good work and relieve me of my boredom."

Yoshino: "Again, you're just being selfish...."

Kurama: "I know."

Kurama continues as if he has just thought of something.

Kurama: "Oh, by the way, after last night's party, I said I had reservations about your treatment....I've decided now."

Yoshino: "And that is?"

Kurama: "From now on you're my toy.....Entertain me to the fullest instead of Tamamo."

Suddenly, his words were accompanied by another memory....

------FLASHBACK-----

Kurama: "I don’t know about you, but know one thing. Yoshino, from this day on, you are my prisoner."

-----FLASHBACK ENDS-----

(I feel like I've come a long way even though not much time has passed since then.)

Yoshino: "From a prisoner to a toy....I don't know if that's an upgrade or a downgrade."

Kurama: "Rejoice, because I've become more pleased with you than ever."

(I really can't help it, but Kurama is so arrogant....)

Kurama respects the person as much as the value he acknowledges.

Knowing this, I could no longer see Kurama, who smiled arrogantly, as just another tyrant.

..................

Ten days after that incident, we were at Heikichiro-san's house......

Heikichiro: "Welcome, Yoshino-san."

Yoshino: "Thank you for having me. You suddenly said we were going out, so it was to Heikichiro-san's. house, huh."

Kurama: "You're right. Sit down quickly."

Kurama points to the floor of the hut, where the sun has set.

Heikichiro-san, who seemed to be used to his attitude, offered me a cushion.

Yoshino: "Why did you bring me here, Kurama? Heikichiro-san's check-up was over three days ago."

(Kurama must have been by his side to keep an eye on him, right?)

Kurama: "I know. Because today is----"

Heikichiro: "His order has been completed."

(Oh)

Kurama(glaring cutely): "Don't interrupt me."

Kurama glares at Heikichiro-san.

Kurama: "But I'll give you credit for completing it by not killing you."

Heikichiro: "I'm honored. Also, thanks to you, I'm very confident in my work."

(Kurama......I knew your attitude towards Heikichiro-san was different from that of the other humans.)

Even if Yoshitsune-sama and the others are exceptional, they are clearly not treated in the same way as the servants and retainers of the mansion.

Yoshino: "Congratulations!

(Umm, but.)

Yoshino: "But, why am I here?"

Kurama: "You said you wanted to know about me, remember? "

Yoshino: "Ohh..."

Kurama: "What? You forgot.....?"

Kurama looks at him as if he is looking at me in shock, and I shake my head in panic.

(Of course, I remember that, silly.)

Yoshino: "And you remembered it too!" (They're literally flirting in front of that old man.)

Kurama: "I've told you before, I'm not the type who goes back on my words after I made a promise."

(He did. Once Kurama said it, he never said it differently.)

My heart starts to feel warm.

Yoshino: "Thank you, Kurama."

Kurama: "You don't have to thank me."

Kurama scooped up my chin with his fingertips and intertwined our eyes.

Kurama: "In the first place, this work would have been unfinished if you had not helped Heikichiro. So I'll give you the opportunity to see the brilliance of what you have protected."

~~~~ "I Won't Ever Be Kind to You." (Normal Story)~~~~

Kurama: "In the first place, this work would have been unfinished if you had not helped Heikichiro. So I'll give you the opportunity to see the brilliance of what you have protected."

(I know it sounds pompous, but it's frustrating,.....and I'm very happy.)

Kurama looks at me with a smile on his face and calls out to Heikichiro-san with a sour look on his face.

Kurama: "Come on, get it out. You know I don't like to wait."

Heikichiro: ".......Yes."

Heikichiro-san, looking very nervous indeed, placed the paulownia box gently in front of us.

Heikichiro: "Here."

(Woah!)

The moment the lid is opened, I gasp at the silvery glow.

Kurama: "Wow...."

Inside the box was an ornament in the shape of a bird's wing.

Yoshino: "It's beautiful, but what is it?"

Heikichiro: "It's called a crown. It's almost like the ones worn by royalty in foreign countries but I've never seen a real one before."

Yoshino: "Is that what you ordered Kurama?"

Kurama: "I only ordered him to make what I would like."

Heikichiro: "I looked at him and after a lot of thought....I came up with this."

(Yeah, when you say "Royal Crown" it sounds like a perfect fit for Kurama.)

Heikichiro: "I knew at once what I wanted to make, but for a long time I was struggling with deciding on the designs. The designs of the pair of wings on either side of the crown were changed and are placed in the middle....after I had fallen and been rescued."

(That means...)

Yoshino: "----You mean, they're Kurama's wings?"

Heikichiro(blushing): "Yeah."

Kurama: "My wings are the color of darkness. There is no resemblance."

Heikichiro-san gave a wry smile to Kurama who looked confused.

Heikichiro: "Well, what you see is not always what you get. At least this is how dazzling your wings were to me that day."

Kurama: "......"

His eyebrows twitching, Kurama takes the crown from him and looks at it suspiciously.

The silver decorations on the wings glittered brightly in the light of the candle.

Kurama: "I don't understand. Yoshino, explain to me." (My baby Kurama is trying his best!)

(Huh, me?)

I suddenly panicked and then thought for a moment, before replying.

Yoshino: "I don't know if my explanation will work, but....The emotions you're feeling at the moment can change the whole landscape around you. It's like when you feel sad, you'll feel the sky looks gloomy. Or when you're happy, you can hear the birds and the trees buzzing."

Kurama: "Hmmm..."

Looks like I have to come up with another analogy-----

Yoshino: "It's the same as....when you fall in love with someone, the other person might seem beautiful to you."

Kurama: "I don't understand that either."

(You have said that before.)

Kurama: ".....Have you never been in love?"

(You've lived for centuries and never once?)

Kurama: "What good is love to me? If you just want to spit out your lust, there are many ways to do it."

Heikichiro: "Certainly, it is of no use. But love is a precious thing. It can change people in amazing ways."

He had a warm look in his eyes as if he was reminiscing about the past.

Kurama: "No matter how precious it is, it's no use if we'll rot in solitude, as you are now."

Yoshino: "Wait, you're a bit----"

He raised one hand to block my protest and Kurama turns to Heikichiro-san.

Kurama: "But the crown you've made is....magnificent."

Heikichiro-san and I both caught our breath at the sound of his voice, which quietly melted in the night.

Kurama: "Do humans make something as brilliant as this because it contains incomprehensible emotions?"

Yoshino: "Kurama...."

(Is Kurama trying to come to terms with human emotions....?)

Kurama asks himself a question but didn't let us answer it.

Kurama: "I like this. This crown is mine and I will pay you as much as you want. I will also reward you by allowing you to continue to create shiny items like these in your few remaining years."

Heikichiro(smiling): "Haha...thank you very much."

Hekichiro-san smiled with relief, tears quietly welling up in the back of his eyes.

....................

It's midnight, and we rushed back to the Rebel Mansion----

It was already dark and there were barely any people, so we flew back home.

I looked up at Kurama who was walking by my side, in the quiet garden.

Yoshino: "Are you not going to hide your wings, Kurama?"

Kurama(smiling): "Why should I? No one is awake at this time."

The sliver crown in his hand shined brightly in the moonlight.

(He looks very happy. He seems to love it very much.)

Yoshino: "Don't you want another box to keep it safely?"

Kurama: "I won't be able to see it shine under the moonlight if it's inside the box."

The simple paulownia box that Heikichiro-san had prepared for us had long since been thrown away. (#RIPpaulowina)

(It's very beautiful, indeed.)

Suddenly a simple question comes to my mind and I ask.

Yoshino: "But crowns are for wearing, aren't they? Are you going to put it on?"

Kurama: "What are you talking about? If I wear it, how can I see it myself? (Don't you have mirrors?)

(Oh...)

Yoshino: "What a shame. I was curious as to how Kurama will look like wearing that crown."

Kurama: "Really?"

Kurama stares at me for a moment.

Kurama: "Yoshino."

Yoshino: "Hm?"

Kurama: "Come here."

Suddenly, Kurama sits down under a tree and invites me in.

As I approached him, he handed me the crown.

Kurama: "Put it on."

Yoshino: "!"

Kurama: "Don't make me repeat the same thing over and over again."

I kneeled in front of Kurama in a hurry.

I boldly reached out and touched his jet-black hair, which was the same color as his wings.

Yoshino: "Okay...."

Running my fingertips through his soft hair, I gently adjust the crown.

Kurama: "...................."

Kurama's slight tilt of his head made me nervous for no reason.

(I'm way more....nervous than I thought.)

The silver of the moonbeams, the elegance of his black hair.

It doesn't detract in the slightest from the intensity of the blood-red eyes.

Yoshino(blushing): "....It's done."

Kurama: "Now, come closer."

(Ohh!!)

While I was admiring him, he pulled me by the waist and I found myself riding on his lap.

Yoshino(blushing): "What do you want!!?"

Kurama: "Don't squeak."

He puts his finger on my lips and my cheeks heat up.

(Why are you acting like it's my fault....)

But any small complaint is swallowed up by the glint in Kurama's eyes as he moves closer.

Kurama: "----In this distance, I can see my reflection in your eyes." (Get a mirror! For god sake....also there's a huge pond in the garden. Look at that. Don't stare into my eyes....you make me nervous!!)

Yoshino(blushing): "Ah..."

(You want me to act as your mirror?)

Kurama: "Don't move."

Kurama stroked the nape of my neck as if I was a kitten.

Kurama: "Good. If you keep staying like that, I won't do anything."

(Eehh...)

Yoshino: "I'm glad you won't do anything, but.....can I at least get off your lap?"

Kurama: "Not possible. Now be quiet or I won't keep my promise."

Yoshino: "Fine."

(This position is embarrassing, but it's better than playing his games, right?)

I relaxed and entrusted my body to Kurama.

(.....I'm still feeling restless.)

Yoshino(blushing): "How long should I stay still like this?"

Kurama: "Till I'm satisfied."

Yoshino(blushing): ".....Will Kurama be satisfied if we stick together like this?"

Kurama: "I just do it on a whim. But, it feels good it's with you."

Yoshino: "Liar! How can 'the Kurama' be committed to someone?"

Kurama: "You insolent little puss."

I giggled lightly, as Kurama glares at me.

Kurama: "But, it's true....I never thought I would feel good talking to a little human girl, before."

(......It's not fair when he suddenly says something so sweet.)

Kurama: "But, you're always treating me like a toy."

Kurama: "Toys will always be toys. But there are also special toys."

His mischievous long fingers followed my cheek and went down to tickle my throat.

Kurama: "No matter how much I play with you and make you cry, you always look straight at me in the eyes. .....I'm strangely intrigued by that."

He whispers to me in a seductive low voice and it made my body heat up.

(If I think about the meaning of what he just said.....it's dangerous.)

Yoshino(blushing): "Ah....."

I felt Kurama's face slowly approaching under the moonlight.

The approaching red eyes made me forget how to move and I unintentionally closed my eyes in time.

Then I felt a soft touch on my eyelids.....

(That was....)

By the time I realized that the kiss on my eyelids was over, I opened my eyes in confusion.

Kurama(Pikachu meme face): "..................."

(Why are you surprised? This is what you always do, right?)

Before the heat of the kiss could sink in, I noticed that Kurama's eyes widened in surprise.

Yoshino(blushing): "Kurama....?"

Kurama: "Shut up."

In the depths of his red eyes, which were unusually downcast, some great impulse flickered like a flame. (This scene is so great. I wouldn't mind if they go to the room and make out.)

Kurama: "-----Why didn't you resist? It's boring if you don't resist."

Yoshino(blushing): "Whaaa----"

Kurama stands up and turns his back to me.

Kurama: "Your room is just around the corner. I won't have to babysit you for today anymore."

Kurama left without saying anymore or even looking back.

(What the hell....was that right now?)

(It was like that night. The way he touched me and kissed me today was genuinely caring.)

A step later, the shock catches up with me and I slump to the ground.

And I could also hear my heart beating faster.

Chapter 16

#ikemen series #ikemen genjiden #ikemen genjiden kurama #ikemen mc #cybird #cybird games #cybird ikemen #cybird otome #ikemen revolution

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i-m-b-a-s-i-c · 5 years ago

Text

late night ★ ricky bowen

summary: you can’t sleep, so you decide to go on a walk and meet a cute stranger.

warnings: bad writing, fluff?? Idk

a/n: this is my first time writing anything like this, so feedback is much appreciated. (and sorry if this is bad) thanks!!!

Part 2

You stared up at your blank white ceiling, before turning onto your side and watching the seconds tick by on your gray wall clock. Just another sleepless night. You were feeling extra restless tonight. Maybe if you just did something you’d get tired. Well, it was worth a try.

Standing up, you faced a wall and started pacing back and forth, speeding up to a jog. Eventually you felt yourself starting to feel tired and fell back onto the bed. Your eyes fluttered closed and you felt your heartbeat slowing. Just as you began falling asleep, your eyes opened again. Nope, it was even worse now. You laid there for several minutes, staring at the door before finally sitting up in bed. You had to do something, anything.

Your eyes flickered across the room until they landed on the tree beside your window. Perfect. You looked down at your polka dot pajama pants and stain-covered t-shirt. First, you needed to change.

Minutes later, you were standing on your roof in a giant hoodie, jeans, and battered sneakers, examining the tree. Finally, you grabbed a branch and swung yourself towards the trunk. You sighed with relief when your legs wrapped around it and shuffled your way down the tree. As soon as your feet hit the ground, you pulled up your hood and started running down the sidewalk.

When you reached the local mall, you collapsed on a bench. You held your head in your hands as you breathed in the fresh air. You heard a voice from beside you, “You seem tired.”

Your head swiveled to your left and there sat a boy you hadn't noticed. He sat two feet away with his hands in his hoodie pockets. His brown curls were ruffled like he’d just gotten out of bed and his brown eyes twinkled with amusement. His mouth was relaxed in a playful smirk, “So what brings you to the mall at 1 am on a school night?”

“I could ask you the same question,”you murmured, keeping your hood on.

“Touché, well, can I have the honor of knowing your name?” he asked, his puppy brown eyes gleaming.

“Y/N, what’s yours?”

“Ricky. Now that we know each other’s names, can I ask why you’re here?”

“I couldn't sleep, what about you?”

“Just had to get my mind off a few things.”

You both sat in silence. It made you uncomfortable, but you tried to ignore it by fiddling with your hoodie strings. You could feel Ricky’s eyes on you, so you were glad your hoodie was still obstructing your face.

He coughed, startling you, “The city looks really nice at night, feels quieter.”

You looked up and nodded slowly. After a moment, he shifted his gaze to the sky and you took the opportunity to observe him.

His pretty brown eyes were framed with long, thick lashes. His skin wasn’t quite pale, with a pinkish hue. His pink lips were slightly chapped, but wet with his incessant licking. He was cute. And... familiar.

“Are you in my physics class?”

He turned back to you, surprised, and his eyes studied your face. “That’s where I know you from! I didn’t recognize you with the hood. Second row, third seat to the left.”

Your eyes widened and his face turned bright red, “Not that I watch you or anything because I definitely don’t. I just like observing people in my classes, so you’re not special.”

You watched him as he continued to ramble, “Not that you’re not special because you are! I just mean-”

You giggled, and he stopped talking, watching you laugh. “It’s okay, I get what you mean.”

He sighed in relief, “Great.”

You both looked away from the other, and you decided to focus on the stars. You never really noticed them, but tonight they seemed different, brighter somehow. You felt a cool breeze and took off your hood. It felt nice on your skin. You felt someone watching you and turned to Ricky. He was staring at you and turned bright red when you caught him. He turned away quickly. Suddenly, he blurted out, “Wanna do something fun?”

In hindsight, you probably should’ve said no. Going to a location you’d never been to with a guy you barely knew? Not the smartest idea. Despite this, you found yourself saying yes.

You walked along the sidewalk, side by side, retaining a comfortable distance. That is, until he announced you were going too slow and took your hand. He pulled you along underneath lampposts that made his eyes shine. Eventually, he stopped in front of an old apartment building, squeezing your hand before letting go. He lead you to the back of it, pulling down a fire-escape ladder. You stared at the ladder and asked, “Is this legal?”

“If you don’t get caught.”

“That’s not a good answer”

“What answer would make you feel better about doing it?”

You furrowed your brows, “Never mind. The less I know, the better.”

He checked the ladder to make sure it wouldn’t fall and stepped aside, “Ladies first.”

You rolled your eyes, “Thank you kind gentleman.”

He chuckled and you began your climb. Halfway up, you looked down to see him staring up at you. Well, a part of you. His cheeks reddened when you caught him and he looked down immediately. You laughed and continued your ascent.

When you came up, you saw a blanket spread out on the roof and looked behind you to Ricky clambering over the ledge. He stood up and chuckled, “I may come here sometimes.”

You looked at him weirdly, “What if it rains? Doesn’t your blanket get wet?”

“I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

You continued to look at him, thinking of many more questions when he said, “Whatever, just come on.”

You followed him to the blanket and he sat down, patting the spot next to him. Both of you laid down, side by side, and you stared up at the sky full of stars.

You both talked about everything and nothing. It felt nice talking to someone that didn’t really know you. Or, at least, that you didn’t really know. He propped himself up on his elbow, “I don’t know if this is weird or anything, but I thought you were cute when you walked into physics on the first day.”

You deadpanned, “I was late and tripped on my way to a desk.”

He laughed, “I know... it was cute.”

You felt your face heat up, “And now?”

“Ehhhh, you’ve downgraded.”

You smacked him in the arm and he held up his hands in surrender, “I’m just kidding, you’re still cute.”

You couldn’t stop grinning, “You’re cute too.”

He blushed, looking away and you found his hand, interlacing your fingers.

You both laid like that for a while, holding hands and smiling. That is, until you checked your phone. It was 3 am. “Ricky, I would love to stay here with you, but I’ve got to get home.”

“Shoot, you’re right. Can I walk you home?”

Before you realized, you were approaching your house with Ricky’s fingers loosely intertwined with yours. “This is me.”

He looked slightly disappointed, “So this is goodbye.”

You leaned over and gave his cheek a peck, his face burning as you pulled away, “I’ll see you tomorrow at Physic’s, you dork.”

You then turned around and ran to the tall tree near your window, trying to climb it without embarrassing yourself. Luckily, you made it to the window with relative ease and clambered inside. When you looked back out, Ricky was still standing there with his hand on his cheek, looking up at you. You gave him a small wave and he waved back excitedly. You watched him through the window as he walked away with a little skip.

#hsmtmts #hsm #hsm the series #highschoolmusicalthemusicaltheseries #high school musical: the musical: the series #ricky bowen #richard bowen #ricky bowen x reader #ricky bowen imagine #ricky bowen blurb #joshua bassett #joshua bassett x reader #richard bowen x reader

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burningbridgesblacknblue · 4 years ago

Text

Chase

Summary: Evangelina had to run away from Andy to protect her son from the man his father was becoming.

Pairing: OC X Biersack

Genre: Angst, romance, smut later, fantasy. FallenAngel!AU

December 5th, Two Years later, 5:30 PM “We found her sir,” a werewolf named James informed his superior, “She’s changed their names she also dyed her hair black.” Andy sat on his throne his hand beneath his chin as if he were trying to stay awake from such a boring conversation. However it was just the opposite he was actually thrilled that someone had located his missing family. Although he was disappointed to learn that his wife had actually abandoned him while stealing their child as well. “Just out of curiosity what names do they go by?” “Evangelina goes by Amy,” James told his superior who only smirked at this information. “And my son?” Andy asked this time amused and a little curious to know what name she had changed their kid’s name to. “Andrew Junior goes by the name Elijah now.” Andrew frowned he hated that name and he wondered now if Evan had changed AJ’s name to spite him even though he was still unsure why. He loved his wife and son so he was still confused as to why his wife and child had left. He hid his devastation well from his friends and minions but every day that passed by he thought of Evangelina and Andrew Junior. He was very unhappy knowing that when he found his wife he was going to have to have to punish her harshly for her leaving. No one made a fool of the Prophet. No one. That was the whole reason why he fell, he couldn’t be bossed around any longer but someone who was way too forgiving to those who did something that went against the supreme being. “And where are they now James?” Andrew asked finally sitting up fully. “New York City in the borough of Manhattan sir.” “I want my men in the city.” “Yes sir we should be able to surround her building easily—” “No I just want them to watch her for a week or two,” he replied, “I want to make her nervous enough to realize that we actually have found her.” “Yes your highness,” James replied, “We’ll take care of it right away.” “Notify me three days after your arrival,” Andrew ordered, “I will join you in the city after my meeting with the guardians.” “Of course.” The werewolf then bowed his head and exited the room; a norc opening the door for him. Once the creature had left the throne room Andrew turned to his man Jeremy, a fallen angel like himself but with the ability to heal any creature. “Elijah?” he snorted, “Can you believe that?” His friend chuckled, “She had wanted to name AJ that since her first trimester.” “I’m aware.” He mumbled lowly, “Not only did she leave by choice but she had to spite me while doing it.” “Don’t be so sensitive,” Jeremy chided, “She has been located and a few days you will have your family back.” “You’re right,” Andrew sighed before standing to his full 6’4 height, “We better begin with the preparations, we only have a week and my wife is very…particular.” Jeremy laughed and nodded his head, “Always has been.” “Always will be….” Andrew mumbled as he followed his friend from the throne room. *** December 9th 2:30 PM Four days later “Hayden…” I mumbled in to the phone while I played with my cup of tea, “I think he’s found us.” “How do you know?” “I’ve seen two werewolves, a warlock, and I’m entirely sure that I have seen Ashley down on my sidewalk.” “Well that’s a sheer sign if there ever was one,” he told me with a humorless chuckle, “What do you want to do?” “I don’t know if I pick up and leave now he’ll be sure to follow us,” I sighed running a hand through my hair, “I have to face him.” “Do you really think that’s going to work?” “What choice do I have?” I asked in return , “Eli keeps asking me about him and why he isn’t like the other kids anyway it’s time to grow up and do what I know I have to.” “Well put Evan I was about to play the inspirational music for you,” he teased me and I rolled my eyes. “Shut up,” I looked over my shoulder when my heightened senses picked up on the tiny pitter patter of my son’s footsteps. “I’ve gotta got Eli’s awake.” “Alright call me before you do anything.” I told him I would before I hung up the phone to turn around before my son came barreling down the hallway seeking me out in our tiny two bedroom apartment. I spread my arms for the fast paced child and swooped him up once he landed. “Oh my darling little cherub,” I chuckled as he snuggled in to my embrace letting a small yawn past his lips, “Are you still tired?” “Nuh uh,” he told me, “I awake now Mommy.” “Are you sure?” “Uh huh!” “Alright then,” I kissed his head, “It’s snack time for my little dude.” “Can I have a cookie?” he asked me sweetly playing with the ends of my hair. “Not right now,” I told him softly, “After dinner.” “Alwight,” he mumbled disappointedly. I smiled as I sat him down in his booster seat once again kissing his blonde head of hair. Why couldn’t my boy look more like me and less like his father? He had his eyes, his hair, his beautiful smile. Absolutely every physical trait that my husband has is reiterated in my son. I loved my son to death, but I despised that every time I looked in to Eli’s eyes I saw Andy. We had so many unresolved issues that I had such terrible resentment towards him. Even now as I contemplated the move I had to make after he actually closed in on us. I wondered if I should cooperate or make it hard on Andrew so it didn’t look like I was up to something? I didn’t know, I was more concerned with how Elijah would react to Andrew and vice versa. It was clear to me that he didn’t remember his father one bit since he always asked me about him and I knew that was bound to piss off his father. I’d cross that bridge when I got there, so I shook the troublesome thoughts away and served my son some sliced apples with a little peanut butter. As soon as I sat down there was a knock on my front door, I hated that our landlord hadn’t got around to fixing the main lock on the building’s door. Those Jehovah’s witnesses are a real pain in the asshole. I pushed my chair away from the table. “Remember the drill my cherub?” I asked my son as I ruffled his blonde curls. He nodded his head as I pulled him out of his booster seat and tucked him under the table to keep him safe, “I hide until you say da magic word.” “That’s right,” I squeezed his small hand, “Mommy will be right back.” He gave me a thumbs up as I continued on to our foyer, I got on my toes to peek out the peephole. I couldn’t see anyone so I poked my head just enough outside the door to see if there was anyone out there. But it came up clean so I closed the door until there was a booted foot caught between my sanctuary and the danger I knew my kid and I were in. I didn’t fight as hard as I should have but I didn’t want to frighten my kid, so slowly I backed away from the door as the booted foot pushed it open wide enough to reveal to me the seraphim I had left behind. He wore a leather jacket with a muscle shirt beneath it, tight black jeans and a devious smile that made all the old feelings come rushing back right where it hurt. I backed up slightly and nervously as I tried to gain as much distance as I could. I would do anything to keep him from touching me. I knew the moment he did it would be all over even with all the repressed anger I had for the seraphim standing in my doorway. “My darling…” his deep voice drawled, “Still as beautiful as ever even with pitch black hair.” “Thanks,” I held down the blush and covered my true feelings with sarcasm, “How’s Juliet?” He chuckled at me, “She’s well the black eye that you gave her healed rather badly.” “That’s nice to hear,” I replied getting a little kick out of the damage I inflicted, “Would you like a matching one?” “Is that anyway to talk to your husband?” “Is that what you are?” I asked sarcastically, “I thought you were a bad decision my parents made.” I saw his jaw twitch in anger and a long time ago I would have swallowed in fear but since I had Elijah my demeanor had changed I had become a protective mamma bear. I would brave fires and hell for my son’s safety. His father was close enough to being hell on earth. I had to learn how to swallow my fears in order to protect my child from his own father. “I like to think I enhanced your life for the better,” he replied after a moment stepping further in to my hallway, closing the door behind him. He looked around my apartment his eyes shifting around to the toddler toys I had placed around my small home. I snorted, “We’ve always been complete opposites even when we were kids.” “That’s obvious considering the downgrade you’ve made,” he openly mocked my two bedroom apartment with a laugh and a look of disgust, “You went from our palace to this little hole in the wall?” “That palace was never my home Andrew and you know it,” I growled at him feeling my wings shift angrily from where they hid in my back. “And I’ve never understood why since I did everything in my power to change everything so that it was to your liking…” “Aesthetically maybe Andy but you never made me feel welcome after you—” “After I what Evangelina?” he questioned him, his eyes turning in to blue fire. “…After you fell.” “Whose fault was that huh?” Andy barked at me losing his temper slightly, “It wasn’t mine that’s for certain.” “Are you serious?” I snapped at him, “I never asked you to follow me down here you did that on your own, the hierarchy sent me with a special request I would have returned to you. You knew that, don’t even try to make me feel like an idiot. You fell because of your lust for power, not because of your love for me, if you even have any.” “If I have any for you?” he snapped at me, “Would I have searched every end of this pathetic realm for you if I had no love for you?” I nodded my head, “I’m a possession that you don’t want to share with anyone.” “No you’ve seen my possessions,” he replied surprisingly calm, “I do not have children with my possessions.” “You have other children?” I asked bitterly, getting ready to throw a marble statue at his head at his admission. “Of course not Evan,” he shook his head, “That’s what I was trying to tell you.” I gave him a dirty look but he continued to back me up in to my own home. “However now that we’re on the subject where is my son?” he asked as he picked up one of Eli’s favorite stuffed animals; his elephant Toby, “If I remember correctly I gave him this toy right after he was born…Toby right?” I nodded my head stiffly. “Hey!” my son cried as he came barreling around my side of the double entry kitchen, I pulled him in to me immediately. He struggled with me but I refused to let him go for his own good. “I told you to hide,” I mumbled in disapproval. “I heard dat man say Toby,” he told me, “I thought you telled him da special word.” “Dat’s my toy Mr.!” Eli told him unhappily, something was brewing inside of Andrew as he looked at our boy. I guess it would be a bit of a shock, he hasn’t seen him two years he has gotten much bigger. “You haven’t taught him to share I see,” Andrew chuckled before approaching my son and I, I tried to put my baby behind me but the strong seraphim wouldn’t allow me to. “Andy—” He shot me a menacing look as he knelt down to my son’s level, “What would you say if I told you I gave you that elephant when you were a tiny baby?” “You gived me Toby?” Andrew smiled a genuine smile, “I did.” “How come?” “Because I’m your Daddy,” the seraphim admitted to our kid who looked unbelievably confused, he looked back to me for confirmation all while I glared at Andrew. “He’s my Daddy?” I nodded, “Yes Eli he’s your Daddy.” “How odd,” Andy said, “I could’ve sworn his name was Andrew Dennis Biersack Junior.” “Be quiet Andrew,” I snapped, “Don’t confuse him anymore you already dropped a bomb on him.” “I’m confusing him?” he snapped, “I didn’t take him away from you…he doesn’t even remember me!” “How can he?” I bit back in return, “You were too busy entertaining Juliet to even care about him!” “How dare you!” he roared and I honestly thought he was going to raise his hand at me, but my son’s frightful cry made him still in his place. “I apologize…Eli,” Andy told Elijah softly, “Your mother just frustrates me sometimes.” Eli only snuggled in to my side further refusing to acknowledge the older angel’s apology, once Andy realized that he adjusted his jacket and then pulled out an iPhone to check the time I assumed. “Come along Evangelina we have to get back to the palace in a few days,” He gestured for me to move forward, “We don’t want to be late for your homecoming party.”

#andy biersack #andy biersack au #andy biersack imagine #black veil brides #black veil brides imagine #fallen angel au #andy biersack smut #andy biersack fiction

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labyrinth-runner · 4 years ago

Text

Planting Roots

Part of the A Garden in Gotham Series

Roman Sionis x Reader

Read the rest here

The days dragged on and you taught him more and more about your business when you could. You were also nearly done with your garden for the city. You’d left Roman with the shop to learn from your employees while you were finishing up this week. Part of you worried that he wouldn’t be as kind to your employees correcting him as he was with you, but you’d noticed that Roman was kinder lately, more patient. Perhaps it was because he was no longer spending so much time with Zsasz, or perhaps it was just because he was being good for you. Either way, you weren’t complaining. To be clear, you would have loved Roman no matter what, but to say you weren’t satisfied with the gradual changes you were noticing would be a lie. He seemed happier, and that made you happy.

After finishing the last section of your garden, you took a step back to admire your work. It was a symphony of color, a rainbow rising out of a city of gray. An oasis in a concrete desert. You didn’t worry about whether or not people would like it, because it was beautiful. It was one of those things where you knew its beauty could never be disputed. That was the thing with flowers that you loved the most. There was an innate perfection and beauty in all of them, from their petals to how the leaves grew on the stems. You took in a deep breath, breathing in the smell of the Earth mixed with the fragrance of your creation. No perfume was sweeter.

“You’ve done well,” a voice said from behind you.

“Thank you, Mr. Wayne. I could never have done it without your resources, though,” you replied as he came to stand next to you.

“There’s a difference between having money and having a vision. Some people have one, some people have both. I feel like its the duty of those with money to help those with vision,” he replied.

You tilted your head up to him. “Don’t sell yourself short. Somehow... I feel like you have both. After all, you came up with this idea. You have a vision of a better Gotham, too.”

“More than you know,” he said with a cryptic smile.

“Well, it’s all set for the ceremony next weekend,” you replied, turning back to the garden.

“Are you ready for the ceremony?” he teased.

“What do you mean?”

“Your shop is already popular. However, when people see this, they’ll want more of your work. Perhaps it would be best if you hired some more employees to account for the sudden uptick in work you’ll be getting,” he replied.

Your mind drifted back to Roman’s proposal to open more shops in Gotham. Perhaps that may be your reality sooner than you had planned.

“Well, I have to get back to the office,” Wayne replied. “It was a pleasure working with you.”

“If you ever need any flowers, you know where to find me,” you smiled.

“Of course,” he smiled back before leaving.

You gave your garden a slow turn, double-checking your work before putting your tools away. A small smile grew on your face. You’d done well. You just hoped that Roman was having as good of a day as you were.

Roman sighed. “So, yellow roses mean friendship, but red roses mean love. Who the hell comes up with this stuff?”

One of your workers, Clarice, chuckled, “I don’t know. The meaning of flowers have been around for centuries.”

“Yes, well, as beautiful as it is, part of me wonders if we should have let it die, like we did with Latin,” Roman huffed.

“Now, Mr. Sionis, you can’t really mean that? After all, would you have won over the boss without the language of flowers?” Clarice asked, arranging a bouquet.

“Probably not,” he admitted, stroking a petal. “I’m not always the best with words. These flowers seemed to say the things I couldn’t.”

“That’s the beauty of them,” Clarice smiled.

“That’s not the only beauty,” Roman replied, eyes lighting up as he spotted you walking across the street.

Clarice blushed and then made herself scarce as you walked through the door.

“Well, darling, how is the garden?” Roman asked, coming over to wrap you in his arms.

“It’s... finished,” you replied, resting your hands on his chest, “It’s still hard to believe. For the past few weeks I’ve just been making little changes here and there, but now I’m officially satisfied with how it turned out.”

“That’s wonderful, though,” he smiled down at you.

“It is. I just... I feel like I need another project now,” you laughed, “I feel like I have too much free time now.”

“I’m sure business will be booming after the garden is opened,” Roman replied, kissing your forehead.

“I... I wanted to talk to you about that actually,” you said, looking up at him.

“What about it?” he asked, stroking your cheek.

“I think we should open another location,” you replied.

“I think that’s a great idea. Where would you want to open up shop?” he asked.

“I don’t know. I’d like to open one in a low income neighborhood and have lower prices, but I also wouldn’t mind opening up in a high end neighborhood, either,” you replied.

“Why not open up in both?”

“Because I can’t afford that,” you replied like it was obvious.

“You may not be able to, but I can,” he said, gently tapping your nose.

“Roman, I couldn’t ask you to do that,” you sighed.

“You’re not asking me to, I’m volunteering to. There’s a difference,” he grinned.

“I don’t want to be your charity case,” you said gently.

“You’re not my charity case. You’re the love of my life and I’ll do anything to make you happy,” he said adamantly. “Now, let me do some research and we’ll tour some locations next week.”

“Roman-”

“No. We’re doing this,” Roman insisted.

You sighed, knowing better than to argue with him when he had his sights set on something.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have about two more bouquets to finish,” Roman replied.

“Are we still on for a picnic later?” you asked.

“Of course. I’ll meet you at the garden at sunset. I can’t wait to see what you’ve done with it since last time,” he said before giving you a quick kiss. “Now, shoo. You’ve had a long day. Go home, take a hot bath and relax.”

You shook your head at him as you left. “Alright, alright, I’m going.”

There was a lot on your mind as you walked back to your apartment. Life these days was pleasant and easy with Roman. It made you want to go all in with him. As dangerous of a man as you knew he was, something about him made you feel safe. You knew that he would never hurt you. It was reinforced when you saw how devoted he was to making you happy. That was why tonight was going to be the night you asked him to move in with you. It would be easier for him to slip out of his old lifestyle if he wasn’t living on top of his club. You just worried that he wouldn’t say yes. After all, your apartment was a hole in the wall compared to his loft. He was used to the finer things. Would he resent you if he moved in with you? You had so many questions swirling in your head as you sunk down into the hot bath that you’d run. Regardless of your fears, you knew you wanted this with Roman. You wanted to plant roots to help your relationship grow even sturdier, and deep down you knew he wanted the same thing. After all, you don’t get into business with someone that you don’t plan on staying with.

Your bath did a lot to calm your nerves, but so did the glass of wine you had while you were in there. After you got out, you changed into some comfortable jeans and a nice shirt before setting up your picnic basket. It was a little nicer than your last picnic fare, but that was because you’d learned more about what he liked to eat. When you finished packing your basket, you looked outside and noticed the sun was starting to set. Pulling on your jacket, you picked up your spare apartment key and dropped it in the basket for later. Then, you made your way out and towards the garden for your date.

When Roman arrived, you’d already set everything up and turned on the fairy lights. His heart skipped a beat at how the light cast your body in a warm glow. He didn’t know how he’d gotten so lucky, but he promised to himself that he would do everything to make sure he never fucked this up. Not like he fucked up everything else he’d touched.

“Darling, this is remarkable,” he stated, taking in the garden as he wrapped his arms around you from behind.

“You think?” you asked, leaning back into him.

“Of course. You’ve worked so hard. It’s really paid off,” he smiled.

“Shall we?” you asked, gesturing down to the picnic blanket.

He let you go and the two of you settled down to eat. He told you all about his day and how sometimes it was frustrating to learn, but he really thought he was getting the hang of things.

“I will never be as good as you, though,” he added, laying back on the blanket after he finished eating.

You laid down, settling into him and resting your head on his shoulder as you looked up at the sky. You loved the city, but you hated that you could never see the stars. “I think you’ll be a garden god in no time.”

“Your confidence in me is flattering,” he smirked, turning to kiss your forehead.

“Roman...” you gently ventured.

“Darling...” he said in the same tone.

You fiddled with the key in your hand, feeling the rose keychain in your fingers. Hesitantly, you placed it on his chest.

“What’s this?” he asked with a funny look, picking it up. “A key? Is it to your heart?”

“To my apartment,” you murmured.

Roman perked up, propping himself on his side to look into your face. “Are you...?”

“Am I...?” you asked innocently.

“Are you asking me to move in with you?”

“Yes, but, only if you want to. I know that your loft is so much larger, so moving into my apartment would be a downgrade and I don’t want you to-”

He cut you off with a kiss. His lips were soft as they pressed into yours, effectively shutting you up. Your eyes fluttered closed as you kissed him back, reaching up to cup his face.

“Yes,” he murmured, pulling away far enough to look at you.

“Yes?” you asked giddily.

“Yes. I want to move in with you. I just... I don’t know how all my things will fit,” he replied.

“Well, if you have nicer furniture than I do, we can replace mine. My closet is huge for Gotham apartment living, and if you still want an office, I’m sure we can convert the storage room at the shop to one,” you offered.

“And the bouquets?” he asked.

“The dried ones?”

“Mhm. What about those?”

“Roman, you can’t keep them all. You can keep one or two,” you replied.

“But-”

“Roman, I work in a flower shop. As sweet as it is that you’ve saved all the bouquets that I’ve ever given you, we can’t feasibly keep them all. Besides, we work with them all day. We don’t need them,” you replied.

He actually started to pout, tugging at your heartstrings. You sighed.

“Fine. You can keep three. One for each bedroom, and one for the dining room,” you replied.

“Alright,” he grinned. Three was more than one. He’d take it. Besides, he didn’t need all of those flowers when he was going to be living with the most beautiful bloom of all, you.

“We can move you in this weekend. Next weekend I’ll be out of town,” you replied.

“For what?”

“A flower show,” you said.

“They have those?” he asked curiously.

“Of course! They have shows for anything these days,” you paused, noticing the look of wonder on his face. “Would you... would you like to come?”

“Oh, darling, can I?”

“Of course. In fact, that might be a great way for you to learn more about everything,” you replied.

He grinned, “Oh, I can’t wait.”

#roman x reader #Roman Sionis #roman sionis x reader #A Garden in Gotham

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vegetacide · 4 years ago

Text

TaG: Bloodlines (Part 9 Bit 1 )

Veg • notables: Due to the length of this part I am splitting it up into two bits.

Any errors in this are strictly my own

Ty to @gumnut-logic and @scribbles97 for the brainstorming help and the encouragement.

Also a special thanks for Nutty for letting me borrow Gordon's talking bird from her fic "The Dentist" (Part 11)

Rating and General warning: Mature content head. If you are not a fan of medical issues of a female nature in relation to pregnancy please proceed with caution.

Characters: Virgil, Kayo, (V/K), Jeff, Scott

Location: TaG-verse AU | Tracy Island

E N J O Y

8-8-8

Part 9 - Dipisahkan (Bit 1)

Week later...

“...and now for international news. A suspected homicide and fire in an internet café in Istanbul has been downgraded to Death by Misadventure as autopsy reports conclude the presence of a high concentration of narcotics found in the remains of the establishments proprietor, Berk Demir The café has long since been suspected as being associated with several black-market smugglers groups and dark web anarchist but to date authorities have been unable to obtain the necessary proof to back the claims...”

Kayo groaned and rolled her eyes as she flicked off the holo-fed. She was not in the mood to listen to criminal reports and activities when there was nothing she could do to help.

There were criminal elements the world over like that cafe, some of which she’d had an active hand in shouting down over the course of the last few years. From human trafficking, to the sales of banned chemicals or other components that could cause a loose of life and had on some occasions.

She’d helped where she could, always hopeful despite the odds that it would help bring to justice the man that had caused so much pain to so many people.

Whatever it took to protect those she called her family and humanity as a whole, she would do it. The GDF had simply to ask and she was there.

Being bound to the villa and watching what was going on in the world though was like dangling a carrot and the best course of action as she sat here and incubated another life was to avoid it at all costs.

On top of that, the recommendation that she relocated to the mainland and even be further removed from everything was hard for her to swallow.

After talking to Jeff and Scott that following morning after that little revelation by her OB-Gyn her life had been completely taken from her control. Grandma had joined the conversation as well and had agreed wholeheartedly that thought the island was a good place for her to recuperate and rest for the time being, the long term relocation was the best course of action.

Grandma had been a respected and well known doctor before her retirement but obstetrics and neonatal care had not been her chosen discipline. If there was a need for something more than just childbirth she didn’t feel adequately suited for the task.

That with the addition to the island not being equipped with the necessary supplies and it didn’t take much to convince Virgil of their one and only recourse.

So it looked like she was getting evicted and kicked even further afield from the action that made up her regular daily life. Relegated to a gestational oven, far away from home.

Tossing the remote on the coffee table she flopped back and stared up at the ceiling. Bored out of her gourd and feeling completely helpless for the first time in a long time.

From across the room she heard a chuckle and tipped her head further back to look at her father in law.

“Lucy had a hard time doing nothing too. Especially when she was pregnant with Alan.” He said, exchanging his data pad for his cane and coming over to join her.

“Please tell me, you found a way to stop her going insane with boredom.” Kayo griped, righting herself with a grunt of effort.

“She tried to take up knitting but with Gordon in the house…. It didn’t go over well.” Jeff assumed a casual stance though he was favouring his right leg a bit. After all his time in space, his recovery was slow and his joints were not enjoying gravity in the slightest.

Kayo made a face as she pictured the mess that must have been. “Well, there is no way I am taking up knitting now, Gordon is worse now than when he was a kid.”

Jeff laughed with ease at that, nodding his head in agreement with her statement.

“Yes, it’s best to keep him away from pointy sticks and yarn. He too easily falls into temptation. “

They fell into a companionable silence. Just enjoying each other's company like they used to do when she was little and she was too annoyed or upset to hang out with the rambunctious brothers.

It was weird how easily they fell back into the old routine, Jeff taking care of Tracy Industries and her doing any number of other quiet activities.

Oftentimes when she came to sit with him, it was just so she could feel closer to her own father. Wherever he was. She knew Jeff was aware of it but he always made time for her when she needed the comfort and he never made mention of it either. Knowing she was trying to put on a brave front in front of the rest of the family.

“It’s a beautiful day out.” He remarked, he’s face turned towards the large open balcony doors, the light breeze tousling his grey hair. “Would you care to go for a stroll, I could use the company.”

Kayo grinned and gave a nod. Getting to her feet on her own steam for a change was a nice boost to her confidence. Jeff stood close by to help but he didn’t ask or pester her like his sons were want to do and she was grateful for it.

She loved all her extended family very much but they tended to treat her like she was glass and would break at any minute even her husband. God, she loved him but his over protectiveness was starting to drive her batty.

Being the well brought up man that he was, Jeff offered her his elbow as they made their way out the balcony doors and towards the veranda stairs.

She tucked her hand in the crock of his arm, enjoying the warmth he offered her. Circling the pool they came to the top of the trail head that led in a gentle descent down the cliff side to the tide pools that sat below the mammoth villa.

It really was a beautiful day out and Kayo let her thoughts drift as the smells and sounds of their island home surrounded her.

Tropical birds danced and chirped amongst the tall palms and ferny underbrush and she caught a flash of iridescent black and a streak of white as something dove across their path. Stopping to see where it went off to, her and Jeff blinked as whatever it was squawked and chirped and burped at them before something that sounded vaguely like ‘Virgil’ hailed down from further up the path.*

“Did that bird…?” Kayo asked, slightly confused.

Jeff just sighed and shook his head. “I thought Gordon was joking when he said he taught a honeyeater to talk.”

“A what now?” She was more baffled than ever.

Jeff just patted her hand and they continued on their way.

They meandered on at a sedate pace for a few minutes, taking their time to traverse the well used path in no rush to reach any particular destination.

Coming around a bend they reached a small lookout where a large outcropping of rock had been worn smooth by the elements making for a perfect place to park one’s backside.

Jeff grunted as he settled onto the warm, volcanic rock and patted the space beside him in invitation.

“I’ve always wondered..” Kayo started, kicking off her sandals and sighing contentedly as the sun-kissed warmth of the basalt soothed her feet.

“Wondered what?” Jeff encouraged, tipping his cane back and forth between his hands.

“How did you manage it?” The look he sent her and the cant of his head pushed her to elaborate further. “Being away from home so often?”

“Ah,” He remarked as he caught on to her meaning. “While Lucille was pregnant and the boys were little.”

His brows dipped down as he thought of how best to respond, his jaw working back and forth as if he was chewing on the answer. ��Funny you should ask actually.”

Her brow arched up as she regarded him, watching the quirk of his lip as he glanced her way. “How so?”

“Virgil asked something similar.” He didn’t elaborate more on that. Just went back to chewing on an answer for her previous inquiry. “Well, I can tell you one thing. It wasn’t easy. There were a lot of late night comms calls that made me glad that NASA didn’t charge long distance fees. And prior to the lunar communications relay being built, a lot of long, mopey emails that Lucy loved to tease me about to no end.”

“Virgil’s been barely gone a day and he’s already checked in with me three times…” Her voice trailed off and she pointed to the heavens. “You kept going back out there. I just….how?

She really wanted to know the answer cause she had been asking the same thing to herself all week and she hadn’t been able to come up with an answer.

“A job needed to be done and I had the skill set for it. The world didn’t get put on hold just cause we decided to have a kid...and another... and another..” He chuckled to himself. “ And so forth.”

“I just told myself whenever I left, get it done. Get it done right, precisely and correctly and get home. Keep on tasks and I’ll be home before I know it. For the most part that worked, kept me focused. When it didn’t there was plenty a night where Lucy was there..”

He sighed and rubbed at his chest. An old ache that would never go away and she felt a pang of guilt for bringing it up.

“You two will figure it out though.” He added taking a cleansing breath, the sadness that hung in his gaze dulling as he shifted his train of thought away from his dearly departed.

“It won't be easy, they will be a few bumps but you’ll manage. Besides on the days when things don’t work, the little nuget will have four uncles and great grandmother and an ecstatic Grandpa waiting the wings to lend a hand.”

Kayo looked down at her slowly distending tummy, her doubt churning with all the things they could mess up and would mess up.. But Jeff was right. They weren’t alone. They had a large support system that was just as excited as they were for their little stowaway and they would figure it out.

A bleep from Jeff’s wrist comms sounded and he glanced down to read the holographic message that had been sent to him. His brows dipped and he took a moment to send back a brief reply before giving her knee a pat.

“Boys are on their way back. Should be here soon.”

“Everything okay?”

He nodded as he held out the crook of his arm to her again. “Few bumps and bruises. Alan sprained his ankle but Virgil saved him from a nastier spill.”

Before she could ask about her husband, Jeff raised a hand. “Virgil is alright too but I am sure Grandma will have them both scanned within a inch of their lives the moment they get home.”

Placated for the time being, she took the offered limb and they made their way back up the cliff side path.

When Two finally landed some thirty minutes later, Kayo was chomping at the bit. True to Jeff’s word though Grandma had both Virgil and Alan in her clutches within moments of them disembarking the massive cargo hauler.

Alan limping along, Virgil and Gordon each under an arm. The stretcher had been an option but the youngest Tracy had kicked up a fuss that it wasn’t really that bad.

Grandma had taken one look at the dirty lot of them and all thoughts of complaint had fled in the face of all that Doctor Grandma-feel my wraith energy.

It was another twenty minutes before Kayo even had a chance to check in with her husband and when she finally managed to get a moment along with him he gathered her up in a hug and it didn’t appear as if he wanted to let go.

He was freshly showered and changed. Hair and skin still a slightly damp and smelling of soap.

Running her hands up and down his back, her head tucked into the crook of his neck she gave him a gentle squeeze which he reciprocated.

“Hey, tough day at the office?” She said into his ear.

“Something like that.”

Taking his hand Kayo tugged him toward the elevator. “Come on, let’s get you fed and watered before you get called away again.

“That’s supposed to be my job.” The grin that up turned his lips chased some of the shadows away from his eyes

“Well then, hurry up and I may let you mother-hen me. Though I will warn you, I can’t be held responsible if I start throwing things at you.”

“Oh, there’s a challenge if ever I heard one.” He chuckled, tucking her in under his arm as they passed through the heavy doors into the cab.

“So,” She started, hitting the button for the upper level. “How’d it go?”

Virgil shrugged with one shoulder. “Couple amateur rafters got into trouble on a class five that they had no business being anywhere near. Alan lost his footing as we were pulling them to shore. He’ll be alright in a few weeks, the rafters on the other hand are going to be getting some hefty fines for trespassing on a private reserve.”

The elevator dinged and the doors opened to the kitchen. “Sucks to be them.”

The awesome scent of roast chicken had Virgil distractedly grunting in agreement and Kayo grinned. The thought of food had obviously caused his brain to short out and speech had taken a back seat to hunger.

Coming up to the counter, she peaked around Virgil’s shoulder to admire the spread of food. Cecilia had been busy.

The Haitian woman was a genius in the kitchen and the boys had been spoiled rotten lately with her cooking.

Carb loading had turned into the number one pastime for the brothers and they endeavoured to consume as much as possible before her departure for the mainland with Kayo. There had been talk around the table about hiring her on full-time once the baby was born but it usually took second place to food shoveling and breathing.

‘Cecilia, that smells fantastic.”

“Virgil Tracy, you keep your fingers out of that roast. It’s not done yet.” The tall woman swatted at his hands with her baster and stole the carrot back that he had managed to pilfer. “Don’t blame me if you get salmonella poisoning. There is no way I am going to be held at fault for tossed cookies on the next call out. You hear me?”

“Yes, ma’am.” Chastised he took a seat and watched with longing in his eyes as the food guru went back to work

Kay just rolled her eyes and plunked down onto the stool beside him, tossing a leg over his thigh as she got comfortable.

He glanced down at it and grinned, putting hand on her knee and giving it a little squeeze.

“Comfortable?”

“Yup.”

Getting a little distracted Kayo jumped a bit when a cup of tea was placed in front of her. The scent of ginger tickled her sinuses and she looked up to see Cecilia standing across from her with her arms on her hips and a tea towel tossed over her shoulder.

“Drink up. You need to keep hydrated.” She instructed, pointing at the cup. “And no hanky panky in my kitchen.”

Virgil’s hand dropped from where it had slid up her thigh and he did his best to look innocent.

“Don’t you play coy with me.” The tall woman scolded, placing a cup of coffee in front of him. “It’s what got the two of you into all this baby hubbub in the first place and I don’t want it in my kitchen.”

Reprimanded they checked themselves and they both directed their attention at their respective drinks.

Foot falls down the stairs had Kayo turning to see Scott. He flashed a smile as he approached, data pad in hand.

“Hey, thought I would find you here.” He said, walking behind the counter to snag a fresh cup of coffee.

“Food was a necessity.” Virgil smirked, taking a sip from his own cup.

“John’s finished making those upgrades to the security system at the house in Parnell and the rota’ has been adjusted for the next few days until you get everything settled.” Scott held the data pad out to Kayo so she could see.

She blinked surprised she was being included in this even though she was the security specialist in the family. Taking the pad she flicked through the information that it provided. Updated security measures, upgrade gear and protocols. All things she had improved upon recently when Jeff had come home with little tweaks here and there by John for surveillance and anti-surveillance measures.

She was impressed and it must have shown on her face.

“You trained Hubbert well.” Scott remarked, a telling comment on his approval of their T.I security crew. “He has assigned Baxster and Jenkins to watch over things at the house and escort you to and from your appointments and such.”

“They’ll do. They both had advanced hand to hand tactics training and a working knowledge of counter intelligence measure that could come in handy if…” She paused and corrected herself. “When the media gets wind.”

“GDF has agreed to lend us a couple of bodies as well so we aren’t stretched too thin. They’ll be made available when needed.”

Looking into his coffee cup Virgil questioned, “You sure this is going to be okay?” Kayo knew he hated to be a burden on his brothers, preferring to be the one to provide support and not the one that needed it.

Scott gave his shoulder a pat. “Don’t worry, we got it. Even with Alan down we can cover things for a few days until you get back. Aunt Val is aware we are limited for a few days and is making preparations on her side if the need arises.”

Virgil didn’t look all that convinced but there wasn’t much he could do. His hands were tied as much as hers were.

“I still don’t like this.”

“I know, Bro.” Scott gave him a nudge and his large frame rocked slightly with it. “Pulling you from rotation completely is still an option if you want to take it.”

He shook his head. “No, that won’t work. Our effectiveness will go up in smoke and I don’t want that on my conscience anymore than you do.”

“But it’s my burden to take on as field commander, V. Not yours.”

This was just going around in circles and it wasn’t really getting them anywhere. Kayo nudged her husband from the other side.

“Come on, take me for a walk up to the lookout. I want to watch the sunset before dinner and it looks like we have the time.”

Cecilia who had been busily chopping greens for a salad nodded her head in confirmation when Kayo looked to her to verify.

“Besides, I could use a light exercise. I feel like I am starting to resemble a blimp.

Virgil choked on his coffee and turned to her. “A blimp? Hardly.”

Giving Scott a wink, she took a sip of her tea content for the time being that the heavy talk had been effectively brushed aside. This was one that she knew they would come to rehash again later though she knew there really was no use in it.

They had to do what they had to do. Moving to the mainland though a pain was their only option and Virgil needed to keep doing what he was doing. As Jeff has said, the world didn’t stop just because they were with child.

8-8-8

End of Part One

#thunderbirds are go #thunderbirds fanfic #fanficton #fanfic #TaG Bloodlines #vegetacide #Virgil Tracy #Kayo Kyrano #virgil/kayo #Virgil X Kayo #Jeff Tracy #Scott Tracy

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fandom-meanderer · 5 years ago

Text

Not Your Classic Vigilante [Pt. 11]

Pairing: Batfamily x Batsis!Reader

Part: (11/?) [First] [Previous] [Next]

Genre: General Fiction

Fandom: DC Universe

P.o.V.: 3rd

Word Count: 3,793 Words

Warnings: Language

Further Notes: From now on, I’ve decided that chapters will be longer! I hope you enjoy :D

Eve had proved to be beneficial, the thought resided in Damien’s mind. Thanks to her, he was able to clear a few things up.

First of all, her, his sister, and the others in combat were all a part of a unit known simply as the Brigade. Their roles in battle are determined by the main color of their uniform, black being front-liners and white meaning support. The embroidery further specialized, red being combat specialists, silver being magic, and copper being artillery. Amongst the Brigade, his sister was the Captain, and her right hand was Alexander.

The nation they were in right now was known wholly as Caelum, while their zeroed in location is a small village known only as Hymnal. They were currently at war with the neighboring nation Imperium. From his understanding, the people of Caelum all came from different Earths, while the one they stood on at the current moment was artificial, man-made. But despite that there stood an established government, a monarchy to be specific, and an absolute one at that. The Brigade was at their mercy and, according to Eve, they couldn’t have had a worst ruling family, for reasons unspecified.

Regardless, Damien’s eyes shift over to the blackened window, they’ve been sitting in the house for who knows how long now. He was certain that the land beyond them was scorched even further down that the earth it once resided on. He scratched his head, he came here out of impulse and, no doubt, the others were probably looking for him. He couldn’t stop the wave of guilt that overcame him, but at the same time he couldn’t care less. They were the ones who didn’t understand, it wasn’t his fault, he was doing this for his very-much alive sister, after all. They, for some reason, wouldn’t understand.

—

(Name)’s vision was starting to blur. How long had they been fighting again? How many of the monsters have come? God only knows. (Name) looks over at the forest. There aren’t anymore approaching, but that doesn’t cancel out the ones still fighting. She takes a step back to steady herself, but with the growing casualties, the overlapping dissonances, and the lowering visibility, it was clear that if she stayed on field she would just become a hinderance.

“Captain?” The voice was indiscernible, be it because of sheer exhaustion or the loud howls, it didn’t matter. (Name) felt two steady hands on her arms, holding her upright.

“Don’t worry about me, I’d be fine even if I didn’t want to be,” (Name) musters out. “Who… who are you?” (Name) turns her head, but her vision just continued to blur.

“Damn, you’re in no condition to continue,” the voice continued. He slung her arm around his shoulder and led her to the safe house.

“Captain!” Another distorted voice.

“Sister?”

‘Eve and Damien,’ the Captain relaxed as whoever it was laid her on the floor. Eve kneeled over her and began performing a healing charm.

“I’m heading back out there,” the voice continues.

“Right, I’ll take care of her here, Carter,” Eve says. (Name) groans, and finally blacks out.

“What… what’s wrong with her?” Damien asks. Eve just scrunches her face.

“She’s pushed herself too long,” Eve shakes her head sadly. Damien’s eyes glossed over his sister, or whoever the hell that was. His sister didn’t look like this. His sister wasn’t supposed to be covered head to toe in blood, she isn’t supposed to have a dislocated arm, or a giant gash across her abdomen. His sister would have never worn a military uniform, let alone be the Captain of one. (Name) Wayne would have never step foot near danger, no, she would have run away and called one of them.

And, if rumors are true, she tried to call all of them that night.

“Damien, how long do you think we’ve been here?”

“A few hours?”

“For you, yes, but the Captain has been here since the fight broke out,” Eve frowns. “Which was two days ago.”

“What? That’s impossible,” Damien grunts.

“For you and me, yes, but the Captain is a special case,” Eve explains. She moves her hands to the unconscious woman’s head and rests it gently, a calming light emerging from underneath her palm. “We all arrived at different times, the latest one was Nixon, he arrived just a few hours ago.”

Damien’s mind flashes back to the man who told (Name) to abandon him somewhere and he quickly grimaced. He definitely wasn’t going to get along with him any time soon, and hopefully if things work out, he wouldn’t have to. If things worked out, in just the next day they’ll be back in the manor, as things should be.

“Either way, your sister will be back up in no time,” Eve reassures. “From what the transmissions have been saying, she’s going to make a beeline back to the Capital as soon as she wakes up… She’s been away from her post for too long, and the Royal family is starting to become impatient.”

“Post?”

“Oh, well she is the Captain of the Guard, plus, with what Alex has been saying over the transmission, one of us is going to have to head over to the Kingdom Capital and explain what’s going on,” Eve says. “Carter was going to go before, but the Captain volunteered herself. Knowing her, she’s probably going to take you with her.”

“I see.”

“She would prefer to stay, but with the hoards dying down and with Alex’s mentor coming along soon, the Captain is assured everything will be fine.” Eve quickly retracts her hand as (Name) groaned softly. Slowly, she opened her eyes and pushed herself up.

“Thank you… Eve…” she mumbles. She rolls her dislocated shoulder a bit. “Can you… Can you pop that back?” Eve nods and does as she is told and (Name) let out a satisfied sigh and thanks her.

“Anything for you, Captain,” she smiles. (Name) turns over to look at Damien.

“You and I have a lot to talk about, Damien,” she rubs the back of her head. “And as much as I’d rather rest for a bit more, I’m going to have to cut to the chase. We’re going to the Capital, and you’re coming with me. No arguments.”

“Alright,” Damien bit his tongue back.

“Eve, do you mind?”

“Not at all!” Eve stood up and waved her hand in a circle, a large portal materializing. “I’ll send you updates, Captain.”

“Please do, and be safe.”

“When am I not?” With that, (Name) nudged her head towards the portal and watched Damien enter first, then she followed close behind, the portal closing itself right as she entered.

Damien and (Name) stepped out of the swirling vortex and found themselves in the middle of a technology wonderland. If you can think of it, it’s there. Flying cars, androids, hover boards, holograms, etc. (Name) raised her eyebrow and laughed.

“Welcome to the Kingdom’s Capital,” she says. She digs through her pockets and holds out a small cube.

“Jason… Jason has taken you on his motorcycle before, right?” The name seemed uneasy on her lips.

“Yeah, why?”

“Well, this will be the exact same but three times faster,” she smirks. “Try not to get whiplash, Boy Wonder.”

“Do not—” he stops talking once she tosses the cube to the floor and it expands into a large motorbike.

“Climb on,” she says, gesturing to sit in front of her. “Oh, come on. Some knights ride horses, I ride bikes, it’s much more effective.” Damien shakes his head out of his shock and obeys. In a quick rev of her engine, the two sped down the streets of Capital City.

Damien thought he wouldn’t have been so awestricken by the sight, but for some reason he was. He knew they were speeding down the highways, that much was evident by the blurring lines of light that surrounded him, but time seemed to be at a simultaneous standstill, it felt peaceful, as strange as that sounds. He decided to chalk it up to their departure from the previous war zone.

The two come to a slow at a rather run down area, and (Name) helps him off while she recondenses the motorcycle back into it’s capsule. Unlike the marvel of mainstream Capital, this area seemed more familiar, the roads were a bit less kept, there were overgrown plants in some areas, the shops had certainly seen better days, but it felt familiar.

“More like Gotham?” (Name) seemed to have read his thoughts. He only nods. “Yeah, I thought so too, follow me,” she nudges to a bar, and the two walk in swiftly. It was empty, even the barkeeper was absent, Damien looked at the clock on the wall and saw it was only 8:32 am.

“Is it that early?”

“Being in battle really fucks with your sense of time,” (Name) explains. She opens a back door and gestures for Damien to ascend the stairs first. She closes the door behind them and leads him to the eighth floor. After a series of torn wallpaper and stained carpet, they stop in front of a plain looking unit. “Home sweet home,” she kicks open the door and pushes him inside.

“I thought you were the Captain of… whatever it was,” Damien eyes her suspiciously.

“Yeah, I am, but those idiots in the Brigade break so much shit it comes out of my paycheck,” (Name) deadpans. “I’m going to go take a shower, the Queen would have a heart attack if I got blood anywhere in the mansion. There’s some juice in the fridge if you’re up to it. We’ll grab lunch later,” (Name) instructs. She disappears into the hallway and Damien is left alone once again.

He sits on the couch in the small living room and bounces on it slightly, feeling the stiff springs under him, and he looks around the unit. It was nothing like where they used to live in Gotham, even her dorm was better than this, from what he remembered. A true downgrade, and he was certain (Name) would want to come back to the Manor just from comparing it to this alone. He looked out the window, the skyline of Capital in perfect display.

At least there was that one thing worth it in this place. He continues to stoop around and his eyes land on the mantle, the only thing sitting on it was one of his father’s tools, he remembers that Dick had jokingly called it a “batarang.” He picks it up and feels the weight in his hands. Now why would his sister have kept it if she never wanted to go home.

“I made it myself.” (Name) read his mind once again. “It’s not made out of the same metal though, but I figured if I could replicate it I could apply it to other weapons for the Brigade to use.” She walks up to him and takes it from his hand, placing it back to it’s rightful place. Damien looks her over, one wouldn’t have been able to tell that she was just massacring monsters only an hour earlier. Instead, she was in a pristine uniform with a specific emblem etched onto a badge on her shoulder.

“Ready to go, kiddo?” She asks.

“Yeah.”

—

“What do you mean, you can’t find him?” Dick shouts. Tim rubs his head angrily and gestures toward the screen.

“Do you see him on the radar? No? Well, neither can I!” He argues. Jason rolls his eyes.

“Stop arguing,” Bruce sighs.

“Why am I even here?” Jason grumbles. He takes his helmet. “I’m out, this is stupid. He’ll come back when he wants to, and when he’s not thinking like some crazy lunatic.”

“Jason has a point, this isn’t Damien’s first tantrum,” Bruce concedes.

“Jason, Bruce, wait, come on, we should make sure he’s alright,” Dick reasons. Tim turns back to the bat computer and a notification pings. “It’s from an unknown source…”

“What is it?”

“If you want to find your brother, here’s a hint,” Tim recites. He looks back at his two brothers, who just shrug and look back up at the screen. Tim obliges and opens the file. It was a grainy CCTV footage, but the figure centered in it was unmistakable. They watched as Damien ran around the area, asking random people who happened to be passing by, and what not, then a stranger walked up to him and inaudibly told him something. Whatever he said, Damien followed him into the cafe. Then they walked out and into a back alley. Although they were out of sight, the bright light that came from that alley was enough to hint to them what happened.

And so, operation Save Damien is a go.

—

Soon enough, (Name) stopped in front of a building and climbed off.

“We’re here, stay close.”

Damien, at first, trailed behind (Name). They entered into the huge manor, and he quickly found that it existed in a state that was in a stark difference from the technological marvel that was Capital City. Though, a strange thought, it resembled Wayne Manor in some ways. Damien noted that the manor lacked the advancement as the city, but who was he to judge? He just fell into the world a few hours ago.

“Hey, catch up,” (Name)’s voice was softer, more familiar. She stopped to let him walk next to her. “I know what you’re thinking, why does this place look so different from the outside?”

“Yeah.”

“The Queen is paranoid that technology will be the death of them,” (Name) explains. “Which is ridiculous, I mean I get it, but we have the best cyber-security team in all of the Earths, she should just learn how to accept it by now. I can’t wait until the Prince gets coronated, I swear,” (Name) sounded more like she was complaining now.

“I’ve heard the Royal family isn’t the best,” Damien comments. (Name) nods.

“You’re right. The King and Queen are too stuck up for their own good, if they talk to you keep it brief. The Prince is more lenient, you should be fine with him. But do not speak unless spoken to. The Queen is a bitch and the King is a pushover.”

“So why are you talking about them like that?”

“They couldn’t kill me if they tried. And it would be a dumb move on them to get rid of their best playing card.” (Name) stops in front of two large doors. “Ready?”

“Sure.”

(Name) pushed the doors open and they walked into the grand throne room. Before them sat three of the most powerful people in that world and, to say the least, Damien felt the pressure in the atmosphere. It was similar to those few times when he knew his enemies out-skilled him. He found himself subconsciously moving towards his sister.

“Captain,” the King spoke.

“Your majesty.” (Name) stopped a few feet away from the thrones, bowed her head, and put her hand to her heart. Damien followed suit.

“What is that behind you,” the Queen spat. Damien didn’t miss the annoyed look in (Name)’s eyes as she looked up at the other woman.

“My younger brother.”

“I see,” she relaxes into her seat. “Quite the predicament you’ve found yourself in. If he will affect your duties, dispose of him.”

Damien’s fists clenched behind his back, but he said nothing.

“That won’t be a problem. I’ve decided to take him in as my apprentice.”

“Tch,” the Queen turned her nose. Damien suddenly realizes why Jason would be so pissed when he did that to him. “So he’s virtually untouchable.”

“Yes.”

“Give me news on that village,” the King cut into the conversation.

“It’s unsalvageable, your majesty,” (Name) replied curtly. He shifted slightly.

“How many survivors?”

“Five.”

“Hundred?”

“No, your majesty. Five,” (Name) touched her heart again. “Correction, three.”

“My god,” the Queen shook her head. “How could your team, your special operations unit, have failed?!”

“I believe I’ve told you before, your majesty, there have been frequent sightings of a new and much stronger daemon in our midst. Before, we were able to handle up to five at a time on our own, but, for reasons unknown, an entire herd descended upon the village,” (Name) stood her ground and continued to explain the situation, all of which Damien already knew as Eve filled him in.

Damien’s eyes wandered to the Prince, who was silent this entire time. He was watching (Name) with a strange mix of curiosity, confusion, and concern. His head rested on the palm of his hand as he tried to feign superiority, but he held a similar annoyed expression that (Name) had, with his eyes constantly shifting to the Queen, who seemed ready to boil over with rage.

“I see,” the King tapped his foot, the sound bouncing off of the room’s walls. “I take it the situation is being dealt with at this time.”

“Yes, your majesty.”

“You are to remain in the Capital until your unit returns, the Royal Family needs top security. These attacks you have been detailing have occurred far too frequently.”

“I understand, your majesty.”

“Dismissed.” (Name) bowed her head again, turned on her heel, and left.

—

“When you called her a bitch I thought you were just exaggerating,” Damien huffs. (Name) pushed his salad towards him.

“Eat.”

“I am, I am,” Damien pouts.

“Okay, now that I’ve figured out an excuse not to get you killed, you’re still on thin ice, Dami. You have to stick with me from now on, no wandering off. And don’t try lying to the Queen, her ability is TruthSeek. It’s impossible to lie to her.”

“Ability?”

“Oh, right. Well, everyone in this world, or at least when we entered, gained something we call “Special Abilities,” basically they’re all unique things we can do. The Queen can tell if you’re lying, the King can cause all of your bones to crush in the snap of his fingers, and so on.”

“What’s your ability?”

“Confidential.”

“Why?”

“We’re in a public space,” (Name) shrugs.

“What about the Prince?”

“We call it SharpShot, but after a few demonstrations, Alex and I are thinking it’s something else. Basically, he is able to always hit his target. He could throw it the other way and it would still find its way to its destination. Alex theorizes that it has something to do about manipulation of space now, but we’re working on it,” (Name) rambles. “Now it’s your turn. How’d you get here?” It sounded more like a demand than a question.

“The morning after you came home, you left again, and for some reason no one remembered that you were ever really there. So I went out to look for you on my own. After that this man in a lab coat came up to me, told me where you were, and took me there.”

“He landed here with you.”

“No, just me.”

“Describe him some more.”

“Gray hair, tan vest, silver pocket watch—“

“Do you remember the watch’s engraving?”

“I do, but I can’t describe it.”

“Can you draw it?”

“Yeah.” Without wasting another second, (Name) grabbed a pen from her pocket and a napkin and handed it to him.

“Take your time.” (Name) drank her coffee as Damien scribbled away in front of her, but truth be told, as soon as he began to draw the head of a dragon she already knew. “The man who took you, his name is Kristoff Hargreeve. He’s the head scientist for Imperium, and also who Alex and I believe is orchestrating the daemon attacks. But I’m curious as to why he would bring you here to me, and not with him.”

“It would make more sense to use me as a hostage,” Damien adds in, (Name) nods curtly.

“Exactly. And it can’t be a distraction, even if I was away the rest of the Brigade are more than capable of handling the war,” (Name) leaned back on the back of the booth and stretched her legs out. “I’ll talk about it more with Alex when he gets back.”

“That name is familiar,” Damien mutters.

“Well you have heard it tossed around left and right,” (Name) chuckles, the annoyed look from Damien makes her laugh even louder. “Geez, kiddo, I’m just kidding. Yeah, he’s the same Alex who I used to penpal.”

“How do you know for sure?”

“He has the picture of me that I sent him, even with the note on the back. And it’s not weird, I have his too,” (Name) shrugs. “So we stuck together, it was easier to have a familiar face in a world of the unfamiliar.”

“Why didn’t you ever come home?” Damien asks. It was clear that they had the ability to traverse the different Earths, (Name) had a feeling the question was going to come up, but she had secretly prayed it didn’t.

“I didn’t want to.” Damien opens his mouth to argue, but is quickly cut off by yet another new face.

“(Name)! Thank god you’re okay!” The waitress bounded up to them and wrapped her arms around (Name). “I was afraid that I’d have to pay Tyler.”

“What?”

“We were betting on whether or not you’d make it back.”

“Oh fuck you two get out of here!”

“Pay up, bitch boy!” She looks over her shoulder at another waiter, Tyler, who rolled his eyes and pulled out a bill. The waitress slides in next to Damien. “This your secret kid, (Name)?”

“No, he’s my brother.”

“Oh my god, he is so adorable—“ the Waitress reaches out to pat his head but Damien catches her wrist before she could move another inch. “And now I see why he’s your brother. Hey, I’m Rebecca.”

“Damien.”

“(Name) and Damien Wayne, huh? Has a nice ring to it,” Rebecca smiles. Her eyes fall on the drawing in front of Damien and she straightens herself, she leans in and whispers only loud enough so that he and (Name) could hear.

“They’re pulling back their forces at Gronder.”

“What? Why would they do that? They have the upper hand,” (Name) mumbles.

“Me and Ty were wondering too, but according to Crys, a huge shipment of whatever was just delivered to their position. It was blue flagged too.”

“Living cargo,” (Name) mutters. “The entire East army is about to get wiped out.”

“If the King deploys you there I will not hesitate to rip his head off, (Name).”

“Please don’t do that.” (Name)’s lips draw a straight line. Then everything started to make sense, the pieces fell together, and Damien was able to pinpoint the exact moment (Name) realized that she had made a mistake.

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#batman #batfamily #batfamily x reader #batfam x reader #batsis!reader #batsis #batfamily x batsis!reader #batfam x batsis!reader #batfam x batsis #DC #dceu #dc universe

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kindofcashton · 5 years ago

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𝕕𝕚𝕤𝕔𝕠𝕟𝕟𝕖𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕕 • chapter 16 (Calum Hood AU)

MY LIFE WAS a never-ending paradise. For the first time in months, I woke up with a smile on my face that lasted until I fell asleep again that night. Never had I experienced such tranquility, such persistent joy as I felt now. It was nearly impossible to worry about anything, feel sad about anything. Not when he was next to me, near me, with me. Calum and I spent nearly every night together, our hands perpetually entangled, our bodies constantly connected. We woke up together, went to bed together, spent the day dreaming about one another. Being away from him, even for something I enjoyed like work or shopping with Hannah, became a nuisance. I spent all my time thinking about him and the next time we could be together.

But the thing is, we weren’t together. There was no label slapped onto whatever relationship we’d formed. I didn’t consider him my boyfriend, and I certainly wasn’t his girlfriend. We spent the nights together, and then when daylight came we were elusive lovers, dancing around each other so as not to alert the others. Hannah I had told, of course. She knew every detail of my affair with Calum, and squealed over how “romantic” it was. I firmly told her there was nothing romantic or emotional about it; we were merely two adults sleeping together and having fun.

As for the guys, I’m sure they’d caught on to something. Seeing me emerge from Calum’s room or him from mine was definitely a dead giveaway. But when we were downstairs, Calum and I rarely interacted beyond hastened smiles and loaded glances. Occasionally his hand would grace mine in the kitchen, reminding me of where his fingers had been the night before. Just a single look from him sparked butterflies like I’d never known before, and I had to bite my lip to keep from grinning.

When we were really at our best was when we slept together. The chemistry our bodies shared was unparalleled, and I’d never experienced such passion with anyone before. Calum knew my body like he’d spent his whole life mapping it out, knowing all my favorite places and secret spots. I knew every curve of his back, every stretch of skin and cluster of moles. We explored each other until nothing was foreign territory, every part of ourselves bared for the other to glimpse. But we didn’t grow tired of each other; every night was a new discovery, the excitement never waning. If I could, I’d spend the rest of my life in bed next to him, our bodies naked and pressing together.

Neither of us let emotions complicate things. Despite my bold display of breaking up with Nick for him, I knew that was no indication of a deeper relationship with Calum. We were barely even friends, as we didn’t hang out together outside of the bedroom. And as for exclusivity, there wasn’t really any. If a guy flirted with me at work, I flirted back. I’m sure Calum did the same when he disappeared during the day. For me, I knew I’d never consider sleeping with anyone else, but just the idea of having the option was comforting; exclusivity was suffocating, and the last thing I wanted was to ruin the carefree fun Calum and I were having.

His normally brooding, mean personality actually turned out to be different than I thought. Calum’s sense of humor was dark, not mean. He wasn’t brooding, just thinking hard. Now I enjoyed his snarky remarks, the way he’d tease me with a smirk. Things that used to infuriate me now fired me up, and I giggled at his scowls. I hoped he felt the same about me, that I wasn’t annoying or stubborn but dedicated and organized. Seeing a new perspective of him was refreshing, and I looked at him with hungry new eyes. I couldn’t keep a smile off my face when I was with him, and I saw his usual smirk twist into a crooked grin.

One morning, I stood up out of bed a little earlier than normal. After a long night in my room leaving us both blissfully exhausted, I wanted nothing more than to sleep all day, but I had something important to do. I’d been in touch with an advisor at the local community college, and today we’d be meeting to discuss my possible enrollment. I felt secure enough at the cafe to start planning to go back to school, and I was both nervous and thrilled about the upcoming discussion. I hoped it would be seamless, an easy process that wouldn’t strain my nerves or my wallet. Things were going so good lately, I would hate for something to ruin it.

Calum groaned from the bed, and naturally my lips spread into a smile. I was fishing through my closet, wearing only panties and his tee shirt that I’d hastily put on to cover up. It smelled like him, and I almost wished I could wear it to the meeting for good luck and comfort.

“What’re you doing?” he asked, voice gruff from sleep. I glanced back and saw his ruffled hair and tired eyes. He looked about ready to fall back to sleep, but when he looked over at me his eyebrows raised approvingly. Clearly me in his shirt had pleasantly surprised him.

“I have an interview,” I explained, turning back to find the right clothes. I wanted to look professional and mature, but not too stuffy. After all, this was a community college, and my transcript spoke for itself. I opted for a white skirt and matching blazer, then pulled a black turtleneck to wear underneath. This was probably my nicest outfit, and I chewed my lip contemplating which heels to wear.

“Where at?” Calum yawned and stretched his long arms, chest bare as the blankets fell around his waist. I began to undress, pulling his shirt over my head so I could put on a bra.

“The community college,” I answered, but he seemed too distracted by my body to care. I rolled my eyes as I hooked the bra clasp, shimmying into the skirt and fighting with the zipper. Calum whistled as I stood only in the skirt and my bra, leaning on his forearm with a smirk.

“You expect me to let you leave looking like that?” His suggestive tone made me flush, and I pulled the turtleneck over my head with a shy smile.

“I’m actually really nervous,” I admitted, fiddling with my hair and wondering how much makeup I’d need to cover the dark circles under my eyes. Calum leaned back onto the disarrayed pillows that we’d strewn about during last night’s antics.

“You have no reason to worry, you’re like the smartest, most collegey person I’ve ever met.” Although his eyes were closed and his tone was breezy, I took his words to heart. It touched me that he saw me so highly, and for a second I wondered if this is what it felt like to have him as my boyfriend. Someone supportive who helped me achieve my dreams, someone to come home to after a long day to unwind and just be with.

Shaking my head, I forced these thoughts out of my head. Calum was not my boyfriend, and I didn’t want him to be. He was just saying what I wanted to hear, and his voice was breezy because he didn’t really care. Swiping on some mascara and enough concealer to brighten my complexion, I exhaled deeply. You’ve got this.

Not wanting to seem clingy or overly invested, I simply stepped into my black heels and grabbed my bag, giving Calum a distracted goodbye before leaving him behind. As I descended the stairs I missed him already, yearning for his touch and his gaze.

Hannah caught me before I left, piece of toast in her hand as she hugged me, careful not to get crumbs on my crisp blazer.

“You’re gonna kill it, Scar,” she declared. “Seriously, this college is gonna be begging just to have you enroll.”

I nodded, letting her words give me some encouragement. “I hope so. I hope I’m not a desperate, fumbling mess.”

She straightened my blazer and flattened my hair with a smile. “You don’t look like a mess from the outside.” I gave her a grateful hug before hurrying out the door, making sure to get to the bus stop on time. I’d contemplated asking Calum to drive me, since it was easier, but that approached boyfriend territory. So instead, I took a seat on the crowded public bus and braced myself for the upcoming meeting.

The campus was smaller than my other school, but that was to be expected. The groundskeepers clearly did their best trying to spruce up the boring landscape with sculpted bushes and brick paths. The buildings were plain but architectural, with lots of windows and glass roofs. For such a small, cramped college it could have been a lot worse. I felt slightly embarrassed to be downgrading so much from the fancy university I’d previously attended, but then I reminded myself that a degree was a degree.

I found the building I was meant to be in and located the advisor’s office rather quickly. A plump, kind-faced secretary told me Ms. Price would be with me in a few minutes, and I took a seat by a big window. Some students were milling about below, and I imagined myself here. Just the prospect of getting back to school was exciting, no matter where I went.

Five minutes passed by in a flash, and then I was seated in front of Ms. Price herself, crossing my legs to fight off my nerves. She was a middle-aged woman with short, wispy red hair and leathery skin. I watched as her eyes scanned my records, glancing over the notes about my parents’ death and my subsequent bankruptcy, but all this information did was make her brows lift slightly.

Her unreadable expression deterred me, and for a second I panicked that she was going to reject me. But then she snapped the file closed and laced her fingers together, thin lipstick-rimmed lips tilting into a polite smile.

“Well Miss Mercer, your transcript speaks for itself.” I smiled slightly as she confirmed my earlier estimate. “Your grades are immaculate, and I’m surprised you’re such a put-together young woman after everything you’ve been through.”

I smiled graciously. “School was my motivation through it all, really. I just want to get my life back on track, and that means finishing my degree.”

Ms. Price nodded. “A wise decision. An education will do you well later in life. I assume you have a career path laid out for yourself?”

“Yes, I’d like to become a social worker. My degree is in psychology, but I have a focus in counseling.” Bringing up my future goals reminded me how desperately I wanted to achieve them. Even though my fling with Calum was fun, I also wanted my professional life to start as soon as possible so I could settle down.

Sifting through a few papers and peering over her glasses, Ms. Price was quiet for a moment. I took her long pauses to just be results of her no-nonsense, blatant disposition. She wasn’t going to shower me in praise, which was fine. All I needed was confirmation of my enrollment.

Finally, she said, “You have your finances in order? Community college is less expensive, but still an expense all the same.”

I nodded. “Yes, I have a steady job that should help me pay for it.” I could even afford to move out with Hannah, if I wanted to, but that was still a huge proposition that I was not all that inclined to take.

Ms. Price gave a final nod of her head, and set down the papers in her hand. “Well then, Miss Mercer, I don’t see why we can’t admit you for the next semester.”

Pure jubilation flooded through me, and I tried to keep my wild grin contained and professional. Reaching out to shake her hand, I thanked Ms. Price profusely. “This means the world to me, ma’am, truly. I won’t let you or the college down.”

My exuberance must have cracked her resolve a little, because she gave me an amused expression. “I’m quite sure of it, dear.”

It was all I could do not to skip out of the office. I felt on top of the world, and I whipped my phone out to spread the good news. For a second my finger hovered over Calum’s number, and I wished I could call him up to gush about my success. But then I kept scrolling and called Hannah instead. She picked up instantly and I practically screamed the news at her, causing her to scream herself. I wandered through campus with a stupid smile on my face, rushing my words as I tried to articulate my excitement.

“We have to celebrate tonight,” I insisted. “After my shift, we should do something.”

“Totally,” Hannah confirmed. “I’ll rally the troops.”

I hung up and sighed, thinking about how I would celebrate with Calum specifically. I let the stupid grin shine on my face as I stared up at the bright sky. Things were better than good right now; they were damn near perfect.

- - - - -

Roger gave me the biggest hug I’d ever received when I told him about getting into community college, and even Mack emerged from the back room to congratulate me. He jokingly warned me not to prioritize school work over my work here, and I vowed nothing would ever be more important than making coffee. I also filled Roger in on my recent activities with Calum, and he swooned with each story. Roger insisted we were made for each other and needed to just get married already, and I always waved him off. That comment was too close to Hannah’s soulmate explanation, and I refused to get my hopes up.

The shift ended quickly, thankfully. I was so excited about the night out that time seemed to fly by unusually fast. I sprinted home and burst through the door, finding Hannah in the kitchen and giving her a tight hug.

She pulled back and pretended to get choked up. “I’m just so proud,” she said emotionally, wiping an invisible tear from her eye. “My little girl off to college--again.” We laughed, and I tentatively smiled at Luke over her shoulder. He shot me a thumbs up, and my anxiety lessened. I think I was finally back to normal with Luke and Michael after a rocky few weeks, and I was grateful. I loved them as friends, and wanted to celebrate as a group.

I was surprised to see Ashton in the living room, and even he managed to offer up a sincere congratulations. I sent Hannah a glance, full of wordless questions that she pursed her lips at. One tilt of her head towards the basement told me she’d fill me in later.

“So, are you joining us tonight?” I asked Ashton after the excitement over my news died down. “You’re more than welcome to come, I want everyone to have a good time.”

Ashton nodded, not looking at Hannah. “Yeah, should be fun.”

I followed Hannah downstairs to start getting ready, throwing off my blazer before crossing my arms with an expectant look. “Well? When the hell were you gonna tell me about Ashton?”

Hannah fell onto the pullout bed from the couch, shrugging with a small smile. “There’s nothing to tell, really. We...talked, recently. Decided to be civil.” She shrugged again. “I don’t know if it’ll ever be the same, but at least now we can be in the same room again.”

I knew she was secretly overjoyed at being on speaking terms with Ashton again, but it was smart not to get her hopes up. We had both worked on this, now careful and cautious instead of overly optimistic. We got ready to go out together, curling each other’s hair and critiquing outfits. The dress I wanted to wear was up in my room, so I padded upstairs with my hair and makeup done.

Emerging into my room, I saw the bed had been sloppily made and the pillows rearranged. I smiled; it was a thoughtful gesture from Calum. I slid the white skirt down my legs, tossing off the turtleneck and breathing in relief as the restricting fabric was finally off. I found the dress I’d been searching for, pulling it out triumphantly. It was made of a royal blue crushed velvet material that hugged my body perfectly. I’d bought it recently with Hannah, and was excited to show it off tonight. I hoped one person in particular noticed it, or more importantly how good I looked in it.

As I fumbled with the zipper, there was a knock at my door. Calum peered in, and I smiled. “Perfect, get over here. I need your help.”

He shut the door behind him, taking in my appearance as he approached. I turned around so he could reach the zipper, inhaling sharply as I felt his fingers at the base of my back. He stood very close to me, breath washing over my neck as he gently pulled the zipper up. His knuckles grazed my exposed skin as the dress began to cover it, and when he finished he ghosted his fingers across my shoulder and down my arm.

“I heard the news,” he murmured into my ear. “Congratulations.” I turned to face him, resting a hand on his chest. His brown eyes sparked slightly, and his full lips were upturned in a small smirk. I leaned forward to press a kiss to his lips, and I felt him smile into my mouth. Just like always, heat spread out from our point of contact, and I felt my fingers tangle into his curls. His large hands cupped around my waist, pulling me close until I broke the kiss off.

“This is new,” I commented, running my fingers over the army green fabric of his bomber jacket. The color complimented him well and I admired the way it fit his broad shoulders.

He rolled his eyes at my obvious ogling. “I do go shopping, you know.”

I laughed. “Really? Most of your tee shirts have holes in them.”

Calum’s smirk transformed into a smile, making the butterflies flutter in my stomach. “You don’t seem to mind the holes when you’re wearing them,” he said darkly, and I felt a familiar heat building in my stomach. I gave him another kiss, dragging this one out slightly longer.

“Maybe I could wear one later tonight,” I suggested, hinting at another round of late-night antics. Calum snorted, squeezing my bum lightly.

“You can’t tease me like this when we’re at the club, you know,” he informed me, and I sighed.

“Fine. I guess I’ll save all the teasing for after, then.” At my seductive wink, he groaned, and I ducked away from his attempt at a kiss, giggling at his frown. We joined the others downstairs, and I saw Hannah and Ashton awkwardly standing next to each other. Hannah’s shoulders were stiff due to their proximity, but even with her tight posture she still looked good in her blush pink dress. Ashton was clearly trying not to look at his ex in such a short dress, and cleared his throat when Calum and I entered.

“Can we go, already? I’ll drive Luke and Scarlett, you take Michael and Hannah.” Ashton signaled to Calum, who nodded curtly. Already our bodies naturally drifted away from one another like they always did in public. I didn’t mind riding separately since we weren’t supposed to be dating and the guys thought we didn’t care. I watched Calum head for his mustang and already missed his warmth, but pushed away this feeling as I climbed into Ashton’s car.

I chatted with Luke about our shifts at work, me relaying a story about a crabby customer and him complaining about his boss. Ashton chimed in every now and then, which I appreciated. I really did like Ashton, despite being on Hannah’s side in their civil war. I just hoped he would forgive her soon, because I knew how much she was still hurting.

We tried out a new club tonight, this one bigger and grander than the ones we’d previously been to. It was mobbed, and I had to hold Hannah’s hand to keep from losing track of her. I wanted Calum to grab my hand too, but didn’t let the disappointment get to me that much when he didn’t.

Michael ordered a round of shots and dedicated a toast in my honor. We all knocked back a shot and I felt the fiery liquid blaze down my throat. I managed not to cough, and instead grabbed another. Calum was to my left, and he watched me take a second shot with sparkling eyes.

“Easy, killer. I don’t want to have to carry you home.” He was joking, but his hooded eyes gave me a different impression. I could tell he was savoring my appearance under the roving lights, watching me down shots and smile carelessly. I licked my lips, tasting a hint of alcohol, and gave him a coy wink.

“Maybe that’s exactly what I want,” I purred, causing his jaw to clench. “But for now, I’m gonna go dance.” I knew Calum wasn’t a fan of dancing, but I knew watching me from a distance would kill him. I grabbed Hannah’s hand and wove through the crowd until we found a good spot on the dance floor. Hannah threw her arms around my neck with a grin, and we danced to the loud remix playing over the thundering speakers. Our hips swayed and our feet jumped, throwing our hair back as we let ourselves succumb to the night.

I felt multiple pairs of eyes on us, and glanced around to check who was looking. To my surprise, Ashton had his eyes glued on Hannah, and I whispered this in her ear. Immediately, a stupid grin spread onto her face as she let out a laugh.

Calum was also watching me, but his eyes were much darker than Ashton’s. His fingers were tight around a scotch glass, and his tense posture told me everything I needed to know. He wanted me, and the distance between us was driving him crazy.

With an evil grin, I told Hannah I’d be right back and began to move toward the bathroom. Without even looking I knew Calum was following me, and my grin only widened when we both entered the small bathroom alone. The click of the door locking made the hair on my neck stand up, and I sat back against the sink. Calum stayed by the door, brows low over his eyes as he smirked at me under the dim lighting.

I shook my head, making a tsk tsk sound. “For someone who’s trying to keep our fling under wraps, you sure can’t keep your eyes off of me.” I knew mocking him was dangerous, but I loved making him squirm.

Calum pushed off the door and came closer to me, hands sliding up my sides as he sighed. “What can I say? Seeing you like this does things to me.”

He leaned in to kiss my neck, and I let my eyes close as I exhaled in bliss. He sucked at a point below my ear, causing my hands to grip at his biceps. I angled my lips toward his ear, whispering, “And what things would that be, exactly?”

I heard a small groan rumble in his throat, and he pulled back to meet my devilish eyes. His fingers closed around my wrist, pulling my hand down his front all the way to his pants. I felt the mound growing there, grinning as he sucked in a breath when I pressed against it gently.

“Ah,” I responded. “That thing.” I lifted off of the sink and used one hand to push Calum back until he was against the far wall. His breathing was hard, brow furrowed in slight confusion as he anticipated what I would do. Grinning, I took his ear lobe gently between my teeth and tugged, eliciting another groan.

My hands, now experts at working his belts, toyed with the buckle until it released. I then undid the button of his jeans, leaving a trail of wet kisses along his jaw as I did this. I placed a chaste kiss on his lips before looking through my lashes into his eyes, dropping to my knees and causing his eyes to spark with lust.

Delicately, I pushed his jeans aside and revealed his straining boxers, smiling slightly as I kissed down his stomach and gradually bringing my lips lower. I pulled the elastic band down, revealing a soft trail of hair before running my hand along the smooth skin, springing his erection free. I admired his long, stiff length, touching my fingers ever so slightly to the warm skin. Gently grabbing hold of it and bringing it towards my lips, I let a warm breath wash over the throbbing tip.

Calum groaned at the sensation, and when I glanced up I saw his eyes were shut with pleasure. I wrapped my hand around the base of his cock, feeling it twitch with excitement. Leaning down, I slid my tongue up the side of his shaft, earning a muted growl of satisfaction. Reaching the tip, I closed my lips around the head of his cock, beginning to swirl my tongue around the warm skin.

“Shit,” Calum breathed when he felt my mouth on him. His hands wrapped into my hair as I sank my mouth lower onto him, taking as much of him as I could. He hit the back of my throat, and his hiss echoed in my ears as I used my hands to work the part I couldn’t reach.

I dragged his cock in and out of my mouth, tongue massaging as I went. My lips formed a tight O around him as I moved my lips, bobbing my head rhythmically. Carefully I used my tongue to lick at his slit, and his hips bucked forcefully. Grinning, I pulled him out of my mouth and used my hand for a second, licking around his tip teasingly.

“Holy--” Calum started, gripping my hair tighter. His cock was rigid and trembling now, telling me he was close to finishing. I licked the flat of my tongue back up his length, then took all of him in my mouth once again. I moved faster this time, focusing on getting as much of him as I could. Swear words echoed in my ears as he unwound above me, fist banging against the wall to keep from moaning too loudly.

I pushed him against my throat particularly hard, and when I heard his strangled cry I knew he had been pushed over the edge. His cock twitched in my mouth, shooting out a sticky liquid that I promptly swallowed. I slowly took him out of my mouth, kissing his swollen tip before rising off of my knees.

Without hesitating, Calum smashed his lips to mine, not caring where I’d just been. He kissed me with a fervor, and I felt waves of gratitude rolling off of him. I grinned into the kiss, happy to have pleased him so much. When he pulled away to redo his belt, I sucked at his neck and kept my hand on the side of his face.

He caught my eye and smirked at my triumphant expression. “You’re evil,” he growled, squeezing my hips and earning a chuckle from me. I pushed at a bit of hair that covered his forehead, marveling in his spectacular brown eyes.

“Only for you, baby,” I drawled. The smirk on my face faded as I saw something flash across his face. It was there for only a brief instant, but I saw the change nonetheless. His lust-filled eyes had warmed for a second, his expression more than just pleased that I’d gone down on him. The way he held me in his arms communicated more than he would ever say, and when his lips parted my heart stopped.

“We should go.”

Those were not the three words I was expecting. Anger at myself and humiliation at getting so excited over nothing pricked at my mind, and I couldn’t help but frown. What was I thinking? What about this situation was romantic? It was dirty, and hot, and definitely more than a little bit fun. But that’s all it was; I shouldn’t have been so stupid to look deeper into it.

He kissed me one last time before taking my hand and leading me out of the bathroom, and when he faced away I dropped my fake smile and took a shaky breath.

Calum and I separated for the rest of the night, like we normally did. We both tried to appear nonchalant, coming up with different excuses for where had just been. I danced with Hannah more, giggling when Luke and Ashton joined us. I danced with Luke while I spied on Ashton and Hannah, who were closer to each other than they’d been in weeks. Ashton’s hands were awkward on her hips, careful not to roam, and she looked stiff beside him. But I also detected a bit of optimism in her eyes when she gazed up at him, and I prayed he didn’t break her heart again.

When it was time to leave, I rode home with Calum this time. Hannah had asked me to switch in a hushed voice, and reading her wide eyes I knew she’d had a decent night. I was glad to switch, since it meant more time with Calum. I refused to let my slip up in the bathroom shake me, and instead met Calum’s eyes in his rear view mirror as Michael drunkenly explained something I couldn’t quite make out. Calum’s eyes were light and joking, and he pretended to nod along with Michael’s story. I leaned against the window and stared out at the dark night sky, pleasantly buzzed and positively exhausted.

It was no surprise when Calum and I went into the same room. Tonight it was his, since we’d stayed in mine the night before. We didn’t have a set routine, but we were so in sync we did the same thing anyway. He helped me unzip my dress, once again igniting sparks where his fingers touched. Neither of us had enough energy to do anything but sleep, and my eyes were already heavy.

As Calum pulled on sweatpants, his top half bare like usual, he tossed me one of his shirts. I caught it with deft hands and smiled, gladly diving into the dark fabric and inhaling the scent of him. His open arms invited me into bed as I crawled across the mattress, sighing into his skin and resting my head on his chest.

“Thanks for tonight,” he said after a few minutes of quiet. It was dark, and I could barely make out the tattoos on his skin. I smiled drowsily.

“Anytime.”

I could sense he wasn’t ready to go to bed yet, and shifted so I was looking at him. Even in the dim lighting I knew exactly what his face looked like, the angle of his jaw and the curve of his mouth. I reached a finger out to trace his lips, enjoying his soft breath on my hand.

“What are you going to do in the future? You know, after college?” I was surprised at his question, and my finger stalled in its movement. I felt his lips purse into the pad of my index finger, the gesture causing an odd squeeze of my heart.

I rolled over to lay next to him, hand spread out across his abdomen. “I would have said find a job, buy a house, settle down.” I fidgeted with the ends of my hair, staring up at the black ceiling.

“‘Would have’?” Calum repeated, and I could hear the frown in his voice. “You don’t want to do that now?”

I shrugged, my shoulder brushing his. “I don’t know. I used to have all these plans, I swear I knew exactly what I was gonna do down to the week.” I paused, remembering the old me who used to love writing in her planner. “And then my parents died and I left school. It seemed like life was telling me to stop making plans and just...live, you know?”

I wished I could see his face, gauge his reaction. All I heard was a small sigh. “I hate planning,” he replied. “It just opens up more opportunities to be disappointed.”

Surprisingly, this made a lot of sense to me. The dejection I felt whenever a plan fell through was tiring, and lately it seemed that was all that was happening. Without any expectations, I couldn’t be hurt when they didn’t work out. I realized Calum’s carefree attitude inspired this change in me; he opened my eyes to a different lifestyle, one I found myself enjoying. It was nice not knowing what we were, not having to conform to any boundaries or boxes. We could just be, whatever and whenever we wanted.

Laying beside him, our hearts beating in tune and our bodies in perfect harmony, I curled into his side and he draped an arm around me. I buried myself as deep into him as I could, closing my eyes as another realization hit me: maybe Calum wasn’t the one in love. Maybe it was me.

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transpoettryinghisbest · 4 years ago

Text

Mission Complete 2

(Set three years after the first one. AUTHOR'S NOTE: "Tag" is my name for the main character. It's short for protagonist.)

The air vent fell to the ground with a loud clatter, and Monty gave a frustrated sigh.

“Do you mind?” he declared, not looking up from his comic book.

Carla emerged from behind where the vent had been, hopping down onto the ground after it. “Monty? What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing.”

“Come on, you know me. I've almost finished the map of this place.” It wasn't a physical map, more of a series of memorised routes for getting around the school. She'd had one for every school she'd been to before and this one was no exception. “So…?”

“Well I was trying to read my comic book.”

She peered over his shoulder out of curiosity. “Oh yeah? It any good?”

Monty sighed again and pulled another comic book out of the pocket on the back of his wheelchair and tossed it to Carla, all without looking up. “That's the first in the series. You can borrow it if it'll shut you up.”

But before Carla could offer a word of appreciation, there was a thump as the door slammed open and Carla quickly threw the comic away from her - she'd sooner be found dead than seen reading that nerdy crap.

“Monty!” It was Tag.

“What now? Can everyone just leave me in peac-”

“It's your sister.”

This finally drew his attention. “Penny?”

Tag was accompanied by Buggs, who had Penny slung over his shoulder in a fireman's lift.

“What happened?” Monty demanded.

“I don't know, we were talking and she just collapsed in a bunch of pain. She wouldn't tell me anything, just kept saying 'get Monty, get Monty'.”

Buggs gently laid her down on the table. Her eyes were screwed shut, her teeth gritted and every muscle in her body was tensed as she writhed around slightly making pained noises.

“Penny, if you can hear me, tell me what's wrong.”

“...Monty?”

“I'm right here. Talk to me.”

“Help. It hurts…”

“Where does it hurt?”

“Everywhere.”

Monty looked from Tag to Buggs in the hopes of finding any new information that may help him, but Buggs just just threw up his hands.

“Hey, don't look at me, I'm just the delivery boy,” he said. “The kid couldn't exactly carry her himself.” Tag thanked him and he waved his hands dismissively “Nah, no worries.”

“So can you fix her, Monty?” Carla asked.

“I don't even know what's wrong with her! How am I supposed to…”

He cut himself off. He wouldn't let Penny get scared thinking he couldn't help her. Monty would just have to figure it out. Penny was in the foetal position with one arm across her stomach and the other clutching the back of her neck. She wasn't capable of speaking very much, though she could communicate on a very simple level.

“Did it happen gradually or instantly?” Monty asked.

“Instantly,” Tag replied. “Almost. After a few seconds she was just…” He mimed her lying on the ground.

Monty had a suspicion of what it might be, but there was a drawback.

He pulled the others aside so that they were out of Penny's earshot. “I can't operate on her like this, she needs anaesthetic.”

“She needs what?”

“Sleeping gas. She can't be conscious during the operation or else…a number of things could happen.”

“What, you don't have that?” Buggs said. “I thought you were the guy who had everything. Always prepared.”

“I'm not a doctor, I'm a mechanic. I'm not used to working on things that…can move and talk and stuff.”

“Well you can't do nothing!” Carla declared.

“What's going on?” Penny called from across the room. “Monty?”

As he wheeled himself back over to the table, he could hide his worries from her but couldn't disguise the concerned expression on his face.

“We'll have to get a teacher to-”

“No.” Tag was cut off by Monty, who wouldn't even entertain that idea.

Because the teacher would have to send Penny to a hospital where dozens of doctors and surgeons would try to fix the little cyborg girl. Word could be out about her secret to the masses and before they knew it, she'd be known worldwide. 'The freaky robot girl'. She'd never be able to live like that.

And what if the doctors couldn't understand how her body worked? What if their lack of expertise in mechanics just damaged her more as they tried to fix her?

“She's my sister. I can fix her,” Monty said, simply.

None dared to disagree with him.

“Buggs, keep watch at the door,” Monty instructed. “If anyone shows up, get rid of them.”

“Sure, Boss.”

“I guess we'll have to hold her down while you operate?” Tag suggested.

“That won't work, it'll only freak her out more,” Monty replied. “She needs to be properly sedated or the whole process could get messed up.”

Carla sighed. “Look, there's an obvious easy solution to this.”

“Obviously there isn't or I would've realised it by now.”

“Well maybe you're not as smart as you think you are.”

Monty suppressed an angry outburst and instead glared at her. “Fine!” he almost yelled. “If you have a quick fix then use it.”

Penny opened her eyes slightly to see what was going on and saw Carla coming towards her.

“Carla? Why is everyone arguing?”

“It's fine, don't worry. Your brother's just being a pain.”

“But he can fix you. And he will,” Tag clarified.

“Of course I will.”

“So just stay still for a second,” Carla said, taking Penny's head in both hands. “And before you know it, you'll be all fixed up.”

With one swift motion Carla slammed Penny's head into the desk. She didn't make a sound, her eyes simply flickering as she fell unconscious, but Monty and Tag both cried out in surprise.

“Carla what the hell did you do?”

“You needed her unconscious. She's unconscious. You're welcome.”

“You could've given her brain damage!”

“Oh please. She'll be fine.”

“I'll kill you for that!”

“Uh, Monty?” Tag said, cautiously.

“What?”

“We might be against the clock, here. If you need to operate before Penny wakes up, I mean.”

Realisation set in and melted Monty's rage to a mellow annoyance.

“I won't let anyone out so you can still beat her up when you're done with Penny,” Buggs called from the other side of the room, blocking the doorway.

“Charming,” Carla commented. “I'm sticking around anyway. You never know when you're actually going to need me.”

Monty exhaled angrily and without another word, moved back to Penny and inspected her. Once he was assured that her head was fine, he lifted her shirt up to the bottom of her ribs and found the source of the problem, just as he'd suspected. He sucked in air through his teeth in a gesture of uncomfortable sympathy.

“What is it?” Tag asked.

He tried to look, but Monty gestured for him to stay where he was. “You might not want to look.”

“Do you know what's wrong with her?”

“She's had a growth spurt.”

Carla made a confused face. “That's it? She sounded like she was dying!”

“Yeah,” Tag put in. “Growing pains can hurt but not that much.”

“Well your bodies aren't made of metal,” Monty pointed out. “When the biological parts of her grow, the metal parts don't. So they dig into the skin.”

“And that's what caused all of that pain?”

“Yes.”

“Can you fix her?”

“You know I can. I just need…” He reached into the pocket on the back of his wheelchair and brought out a file. “Here we go.”

The next hour or so, Monty spent peeling back parts of Penny's skin and filing the metal plates until they fitted neatly once again. It wasn't the most enjoyable job, but Monty never complained. He'd do anything for his sister.

It was weird to think that it'd been only three years since the last time he'd done something like this. Penny had needed tweaks and updates in the past, but the only real big operation Monty had done on her was when Tag and the twins had begged him to bring her back to life. Her mother had blown her head off to get her out of the way, insisting that she'd fix her later. But 'later' never came as Penny's mother died the same day, and Monty was left in charge of bringing Penny back. Shortly after that, Penny was adopted into Monty's family, and while having an android for a sister was…interesting in more ways than one, Monty had grown to really care about her - more than anyone had seen him care about anyone else. And Penny adored her brother. The one who'd saved her. He knew he could do so again.

A little while later, Penny began to stir as she awakened. She made a mumbling sound, then her eyes flickered open.

“Penny, don't move,” Monty insisted. “I'm not finished and I need you to be very still.”

“Okay,” she mumbled.

Monty called Tag over.

“What, he's your new assistant now?” Carla said. “Have I been downgraded?”

“Yes.”

She rolled her eyes. “I'm heartbroken.”

Monty ignored her. “Kid, can you hold her down? Gently. Just make sure she doesn't move.”

Penny had been rolled over onto one side, so Tag held her in place by her shoulder while Monty continued to work on the panel located on the back of her neck. Penny put up no resistance to any of this - she trusted them and was still dazed from being knocked out.

“Did Carla hit my head into the desk?” she mumbled, eyes shut and trying to stay as still as possible.

“Don't worry about it,” Monty replied, simply. “I'm almost done and then everything will be fine. It'll be over.”

He flipped the panel shut and she gave an inhuman jolt as if struck by a (very small) lightning bolt. Then Monty backed off and let Penny sit up by herself.

“How do you feel?”

“Kind of sore.” She instinctively rubbed the parts of her body that'd been operated on. “But better. Am I all fixed now?”

“For the time being. I may have to do this again in future whenever your next growth spurt is. We'll see.”

“Until then, you'll have to find something that'll knock her out if needed,” Tag said.

“I'll see if Felix has anything semi-legal I can use.”

“Thank you, Monty,” Penny said. “You've saved me again.”

“Don't get all sentimental on me now, it's all in a day's work.”

“Nice,” Carla declared, sarcastically. “Maybe one day he'll admit that he cares about you, Penny. I'm not going to hold my breath.”

She got up and headed towards the door.

“I'm glad things worked out okay,” Buggs clarified. Ever since Penny had left behind her life of being the principle's rat and became one of them, Buggs left his hard feelings for her behind as well. “Let me know if you ever need my help with anything again.”

“And let me know if you need my help,” Carla put in. “So that I can reject you.”

“I'll bear that in mind,” Monty declared.

The bell rang and life resumed back to normal.

#kindergarten 2 #kindergarten game #kindergarten #kindergarten buggs #kindergarten protagonist #kindergarten penny #kindergarten monty #kindergarten carla #kindergarten fanfic #mission complete

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crocifixio · 4 years ago

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Quasimodo

You know that cliché shot – badass, multimillion-dollar contract action film star slowly making an appearance by walking out of that rise on the road, blurred by the hot fumes of the pavement. His leather pistol dangling by his side, wide-brimmed hat tipping down low. It is a cliché as old as cinema, a cousin of The Explosion Walk, and it works all the time. Only for that day, it was a stocky young man in a waway hat who had figured in my vision.

Three months had passed since our Tirad Peak hike and the misadventures surrounding it were almost wiped out now from our memory. In the next 48 hours we would be overwriting whatever clean slate we had with something much worse. I had my reservations about dwelling on the subject again but this is an honest journal and thankfully we would have none of the same misfortune involving local guides on our subsequent hikes.

I was again with my two regular hiking buddies Dirty Harry and Liquidator in this dilapidated sorry excuse of a bus out from Dangwa on a hot Good Friday morning. Whatever calories I might have stocked up on hours ago from Good Taste had been consumed by intermittent bursts of adrenaline as I imagine hurtling myself out of the windshield while I rode shotgun with the daredevil Kankana-ey driver. Dirty Harry and Liquidator were far in the back buried in boxes of live poultry. I was lightheaded when we got off the bus at the Kibungan municipal gate.

And then this kid in the waway hat. We had to figure out for ourselves that he was the assigned guide for us as he approached in his filmic entrance. We had asked him, but he just gave a grin and we took that for a yes. For the entirety of the hike he would be giving that menacing grin with his tobacco spit-stained crooked teeth, not making eye contact as half of his face would be shadowed by the brim of his hat (I later saw his eyes were misaligned). He would just launch on a low, continuous muttering every time we would ask him things. At times, I would ask him random questions just to get him into that state and annoy my two companions. Liquidator thought he acted like Gollum and was convinced he would kill us in our sleep. Dirty Harry on the other hand thought Quasimodo was more apt as he was wearing green, had little of a neck and had pants cut off just after the knee. But he also thought we would be killed in our sleep. I am all for benefit of the doubt, even if a number of villagers we would pass by had to shout ‘Ingat kayo dyan sa isang yan!’. After all, it was a joke common among Filipinos who would see friends in the company of unfamiliar guests.

But Kibungan Circuit was such a beautiful hike that there was no effort freeing ourselves from all of our doubts about him. Never mind that he insisted we settle for Version 1 – we told him we were physically ready for Version 2 and that we were willing and able to add hours or days just to tab more miles and notch Mt Oten and Mt Tagpew, but his incessant mumbling told us he was not fit for it. So on we proceeded to what we would downgrade as just a relaxed hike, or ‘chill climb’ in local hiking parlance.

We set off in a steady pace, and my two companions were all awe every step of the way. We passed by the cemetery, and the local who was tending the graves had to give out another ominous remark – apparently another warning to watch out for our guide. I was glad that my companions were too absorbed at the scenery to mull over the same worries again. The cemetery, which was sitting on a plateau, pans in a cinematographic way as you walk along the road while the nearby peaks at the background hung like painted cloth in this huge theater stage. I swear I could hear the The Ecstasy of Gold! Rest in peace, Ennio..

Packs down for early lunch in the first village we stopped by. You would think that we would get a lovely scenic spot for lunch but the guide pointed at a small corner of a cemented wall with about six inches of shade from the overhang of the roof, and then just left. Dirty Harry was furious after fully grasping the idea that the guide had meant for us to take our lunch on that spot. We moved to a more comfortable location, which was a charming Cordillera hut and shared our meal and coffee with the owner who was in his twilight years but still spoke fluent English from the Commonwealth era. The guide came back two hours later, still dazed from his siesta. He had that troubled look that meant we were becoming too much of a burden already and he would show it once more come morning when he came back for us, two hours late again, at the Buga Campsite. I was glad we did not have to share tent space with him for the evening as he crashed in a nearby hut that was also the last water source. I had my whole A-type tent for myself, with a belly full of chicharon and Hainanese rice. Liquidator was up all night in the other tent, beside himself and his iPad all the time from the abundance of cellular signal all throughout the trail.

Speaking of strong cellular data signal in the vicinity, I remember running into the Bakun-Kibungan Traverse Team on our way down from Mt Tagpaya on the second day. I had initially considered joining them but could not yet find it in me to return to Bakun and wanted this hike to be all Kibungan. They were in high spirits, and were on their way to finishing their route opposite of us. About an hour after we had parted ways, we then ran into the tail of their group who did not appear to be as ecstatic and were in no rush to catch up. They told us they were sticking to the original itinerary after being voted off by the majority to cut their hike short by one day, suspecting everybody had spent all their power banks due to the abundant cell signal all throughout and were in a hurry to recharge batteries at the municipal hall. Five years ago, I would not have thought how the dynamics of a hiking team could be altered by this aspect of technology.

Meanwhile, Quasimodo would always advance ahead of us so he could stop by and smoke a cigarette while waiting for us to catch up. I would chase him and ask if he had another stick (to test him, because his cigarette pack was showing by the back of his pants, as was his buttcrack- insert coin here), not doubting he would say he had none left. We would repeat this process for a total of four times before we reached Tanap, where Quasimodo’s friend of a van driver was already waiting for us ‘for a reasonable fee’. I had my ViewRanger app open and could point to where we could cut the hike back to the municipal hall from the terraces, but Quamisodo insists he had contacted a van already. Reluctantly, I agreed because half of me would also like to see the exit from Lungsad Falls. I forgot how much we paid for it, but I asked the van driver in private when I had the chance if he was on his way back to Baguio as well and struck a deal. I knew Quasimado was up to something again, knowing that we had already missed the last trip to the city.

Back at the población, the washrooms were all occupied by the Bakun-Kibungan Team so I decided to gather everyone instead for a little snack by the adjacent grocery store after paying the guide fee. As we walked to the store, Quasimodo made the offer for us to get the same van back to the city for two thousand pesos. I did not reply. Moments later while having our snack and sodas, he would make the offer again, so I spoke directly to the van driver to clear it up as we already made a deal for six hundred pesos only. Quasimodo went back to the van driver in a mix of Kankana-ey and Iloko, and then back to us practically begging to just pay 1,500 because it was already late. I told him and the driver that if the terms were to change, we were better off spending the night at the municipal hall. The van driver told Quasimodo (from the little Iloko that I could decipher) to just shut the hell up as ‘kwarta na magiging bato pa’. Feeling defeated, Quasimodo let out a wail and threw his arms in the air like some vessel dispossessed of demons. I honestly thought he had given up right there, when, upon seeing Liquidator paying for the snacks, he asked the storekeeper for a fresh pack of Marlboro and sniggered at us, motioning to put it in our tab. Liquidator snatched the pack from Quasimodo and said something along the lines of an expletive and kanina ka pa ha!

All pics in this post by Dirty Harry, Canon EOS 60D

Quasimodo, in the green shirt, fortunately with his buttcrack covered at this moment

Mt Tagpaya

My Canon G12′s sd card conked out early into the hike and was dead weight since

A lot of segments were like snippets of Bakun, this one reminded me of Mt Kabunian

This was to be the last time I would be wearing this brand, in the following months I would be signing up as Ambassador for two other local hiking apparel companies.

#philippine mountains #pinoymountaineer #hiking #backpacking #philippines #cordillera #kibungan #kibungancircuit

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sablelab · 5 years ago

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Covert Operations - Chapter 82

DISCLAIMER: This is a modern AU crossover story with Outlander and La Femme Nikita. LFN and its characters do not belong to me nor do those from Outlander.

SYNOPSIS: Jamie seeks Fergus’ help to find a location on Claire but he is not prepared for what he finds. Meanwhile Claire is in dire straits with her two kidnappers.

I really appreciate all of you who have read the previous chapter. THANK YOU so much for liking what you read, for reblogging to your blogs and for your comments about what happened in the chapter. Everyone is valued and you have my highest regard.

Previous chapters can be found at … https://sablelab.tumblr.com/covertoperations

CHAPTER 82

Nearing Comm., Jamie saw Fergus Claudel's head bent over his computer obviously immersed in his work and stealthily walked over to his work station. Even though he heard footsteps approach, the young techie took no notice as he carried out tasks associated with an upcoming mission that needed his attention. "Fergus?" Although he heard his name, Fergus ignored it engrossed on what he was doing and continued his programming. "Just a sec. I've got to finish downloading this." Suddenly a gloved hand reached over and stopped his hand on the keyboard. "Ye're finished!" James Fraser proclaimed with his succinct foreboding words. Immediately he reacted. His body became ramrod stiff as the person startled him. His head shot up from the computer screen. Looking over his shoulder he turned and saw that it was Jamie who had approached his computer terminal and was standing next to him with a grim expression on his face.

"You scared the hell out of me!" he gulped as he was caught completely off-guard.

Ignoring his statement Jamie stood menacingly behind him. Feeling the hairs rise on his neck, the young techie watched his face. The Level 5 operative never did things by halves so he knew that he wanted his undivided attention. He wanted something from him and James Fraser wanted it now. Once the initial shock of seeing him standing at his work station left his face, Fergus' eyes registered surprise remembering that Jamie was supposed to be elsewhere and he gave him another inquisitive look.

"What are you doing here Jamie? Aren't you ...?"

However, he didn't let him finish. Leaning forward Jamie spoke softly. "I need yer help." Judging by the look on his face, Fergus knew at that precise moment that it was something that obviously involved his partner Claire Beauchamp. His fears were confirmed when Jamie continued, "Claire's been kidnapped." Fergus Claudel could feel the churning in the pit of his stomach when he'd uttered those words. The soft intonation of the Level 5 operative’s voice had a slight quaver to it that he’d not heard before. He could tell that Jamie was concerned, very concerned about Claire’s safety. Peering back at him, disbelief laced his voice. "By whom?" Jamie locked eyes with his. "I dinna ken but I suspect someone connected to the Rising Dragons." "She's alive?" Fergus queried unaware of the fact that he was holding his breath as he waited for an answer. He looked up at James Fraser. "I dinna ken," was the reply almost too softly spoken for Fergus to hear. The young techie could see it in his eyes and he knew immediately that Jamie realised that Claire could already be dead while they were here talking and wasting valuable time. His eyes flashed with determination and purpose.

"What do you want me to do?" "Lock onto Claire's signal." Ever so quickly, Fergus looked from Jamie's face to the computer screen. His need for urgency geared him into action. The Level 5 operative’s expression had him mentally scrambling for a way to retrieve any data that would pinpoint Claire's location. "I'll have to recall the back trace." "Do it! ... Now!" Jamie replied anxiously. "I need a location on her ASAP." Thinking out loud amid the trepidation of some impending doom Fergus racked his brain for what he could do. "I guess I could try rerouting a bit stream ... piggyback onto some databases ..." he muttered out loud. Section's cold operative never minced words and his order of, "Just do it …” made Fergus' brain go into overdrive to find a way of retrieving the data Jamie wanted. "Okay." He knew that Jamie was deadly serious. James Fraser was a little off kilter and he was never like this. He knew he was worried and alarmed that Claire was missing but he would do his best to try and track her whereabouts for him. Alarmed, he immediately began a search. His fingers were furiously doing his brain's bidding on the keyboard and flew over the keys. He tried everything he could think of that could provide a location on Claire's whereabouts. Moving to stand on Fergus' other side; Jamie looked over the young Tech's shoulder at his computer as if willing it to spurt out the data for him by some form of osmosis or telepathy. James Fraser didn’t take his eyes off the computer as Fergus Claudel tried everything that was humanly possible to find a way of locating Claire. Every minute was precious and Jamie willed the young man to work faster than ever before. Time was of the essence, for the longer it took to pinpoint a location, the more that his Sassenach was in jeopardy.

"Are ye getting anything?"

Some results ... any result was paramount and impatiently he counted every second that Fergus worked on his computer. "What have ye got?" "Nothing yet." "Did ye back trace her signal?" "I'm still trying, but there seems to be a problem." "What?" Jamie softly replied with his patented bank stare. "Are ye saying she can't be found?"

"I don't know yet."

Just the very sound of those words that he’d uttered cut like a knife to his heart and when Fergus only reiterated that he had no results as yet cut deeper than he could acknowledge. James Fraser was bleeding with the worry of what may have happened to his Sassenach and more importantly where she could be.

He needed to know a location so that he could rescue her. If nothing was forthcoming then he didn’t know what he could do. He always had a backup plan, but this time a plan might have eluded him.

Jamie closed his eyes and recited a prayer for his Claire that he would find her and soon.

God shield my beloved, my white dove.

And the child that she may one day bear.

Preserve her from violence and from harm.

In this place and every place.

On this night and every night.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Meanwhile, Fergus keyed in Claire's data by pulling up another program on his monitor. As he watched the data materialise, he suddenly thought he had made an inroad.

"Wait ... Jamie; I think I might have something."

At last he had managed to find something, Jamie sighed in relief, "Good." But what Fergus saw was cause for alarm not celebration. "Claire's implant went off a while ago." Elation soon turned to deflation. "Last known location?" His monitor showed a map of the world and a small box outline moved across the map every which way before settling on Vietnam. A small red dot appeared confirming the location of Claire's body clock. "Okay, here you go." "Are ye sure?" Jamie’s voice was reticent. He hoped above anything that they had finally located her but he needed clarification just to be sure. "Yep ... Looks like a couple kilometres outside the city." Fergus keyed other data into the computer and read the result. "Hugh Munro has a team in Saigon. They're the closest ... but that's miles from Hong Kong Jamie. That can't be right. What's going on?" "Patch me in," Jamie replied ignoring Fergus' question. All he cared about was that they may have found a way to locate Claire. If she was in Vietnam then Hugh Munro was the best and closest operative to her. That was all that mattered. Fergus swivelled his chair over to another computer and called up the Saigon teams and waited for the Team Leader to respond and within minutes the operative replied. "Hugh?" "Yeah, Fergus. I'm here." "Stand by." Jamie took over the communications with the team leader. "Hugh, yer priority's been downgraded." "You want me to come in Jamie?" "No. Fergus is attaching an address. He will give ye instructions on the way." However, before Jamie could relay further Intel, the young techie noticed something wrong with Claire's locator and brought it to his attention. "Jamie, something's happening. Something's not quite right. Now it's telling me she's not in Vietnam." "What do ye mean?" Was he concerned reply. "Her clock's now reading ... Korea ... Wait a minute ... there's another change.” The map on the computer screen was full of flashing, glowing dots; all stating Claire was at that location. "Forget it. Signal's all over the place. She must have tampered with her clock." Fergus stated with disappointment. "How? She doesn't even know she has one." Jamie replied despairingly closing his eyes as he deciphered this latest Intel. All seemed lost and when the young techie next spoke Jamie thought his world had shattered. "Oh no ...!" Fergus stated alarmingly out loud as his eyes watched his computer screen. His voice faltered somewhat as he turned to Jamie. "Claire's gone off the board! We've lost all tracking on her!" "Check again!" He demanded not accepting the data. Jamie could not, would not accept that his Claire had disappeared off the grid and was unable to be traced. The young techie’s fingers went to work trying to log in to anything that could help them. "I have ... but she appears to have vanished." Images of previous times that Claire had been captured suddenly flashed through Jamie's mind.

He remembered how terrified she had been of the rats Red Cell had used to torture her but she hadn't caved in. She'd been steadfast in her refusal to divulge what she'd known even when confronted with her deepest fear. He couldn't bear the thought of her suffering such a fate again at the hands of a triad that had primitive oriental torture methods at their disposal to call upon. Her incarceration could be more sinister than any other time. He knew he had to do everything humanly possible and then more to reach her before her life was hanging in the balance. Claire knew too much about the triad ... and if they were able to extract information from her, she would be doomed. She was too vulnerable.

He didn't immediately reply, and Fergus looked at the Level 5 operative a little anxiously. "I'm sorry, Jamie..." Fergus' voice cut through him to the quick as Jamie fought to bring his emotions back under control, but he pulled himself back to the present, his unemotional mask back in place. He glared at him. "We'll find Claire ... You'll find her. She knows how to rely on instinct rather than fear ... Claire's a survivor."

The mere mention of her name sent fresh rivulets of agony cutting through Jamie like a knife to the heart. “What are you going to do?" Fergus dared to ask. His blue eyes were as cold as steel and Jamie focused his thoughts on the belief that his Claire was alive and waiting for rescue. However, behind them he was as worried as hell.

"I dinna ken yet ... but I will find her."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Operations had become aware that James Fraser had returned to Section One alone. He'd seen his Level 5 operative talking to Fergus Claudel and had noticed that the two were deep in conversation over something. He wanted to know what it was and why he was back in Section when he should have been monitoring Claire’s mission with Jonathon Randall.

Pressing his intercom, Dougal Mackenzie’s voice echoed his stern order loudly through the comm. area. "Fraser! ... My office! ... Now!" Knowing that his presence at Section would not have gone unnoticed for long by his leader, Jamie had half expected Operations to summon him sooner or later. Pirouetting around and without a further glance at Fergus, he headed to the perch as ordered. Although the computer nerd had failed to find any location on Claire, Jamie's mind was already working out possible scenarios to locate her, but first things first he would face his superior and debrief on her kidnapping. Meanwhile ...

William Ransom kept guard on the woman as she sat in her room while Steven Bonnet went to check in with Wang Yu. He felt terrible that he had wounded her with his gun. It was a knee jerk reaction to protect his friend Steven but he had meant the woman no harm. Unfortunately, it hadn't turned out like that and he felt remorseful. His friend Steven Bonnet was a bit of a hot head. He was an okay guy usually, although he was a little rough around the edges and prone to bursts of temper and aggression from time to time. However, William didn't like the way he had treated the woman ... especially smacking her around like that.

He'd certainly seen another side of his friend since this kidnapping caper. Something must have snapped in his brain or did he actually like hitting women? He thought.

This was the first time they had done anything like this but the thrill of joining the Rising Dragons plus other inducements were too good to refuse. As he watched her though, he couldn't help thinking that they were just the gofers ... insignificant university students who had been given a contract by Wang Yu to kidnap the western woman. He'd offered them several attractive enticements plus a monetary figure that was very tempting. Like all young people that had debts and university fees to pay, the money offered was more than they had ever imagined or could earn in a regular job so the gig had been very enticing. Their orders had been explicit and once they had singled out who this woman was ... it was easy ... dead easy to find her.

Who was she anyway? The woman seemed to be nice ... she was certainly gorgeous looking ... What had she done? And why was it necessary to kidnap her? Perhaps she was a wealthy Australian and they would be asking for a huge ransom for her return?

For just a moment, he smiled at the idea that perhaps he and Steven would be able to get a cut of the money seeing that it was them who had kidnapped her in the first place ... but he didn't like his chances of that happening. Double crossing the triad was a certain death warrant and besides Steven and he didn't want to jeopardise their prospects of joining the Rising Dragons, so that thought was quickly dismissed.

They'd been touted for a while now by several of their fellow university students connected with the triad, who lived near them to join the Rising Dragons. Being brash and full of bravado, they had finally agreed and this kidnapping of the woman was obviously some sort of initiation test for them. If they passed, they would become part of the brotherhood, but failure was not an option ... for if they did, they would not have seen another tomorrow. They had fulfilled their part of the bargain and when they got their promised payment, they'd be out of here quick smart to lie low and wait for Sun Yee Lok's decision as to their membership prospects. He was happy that both he and Steven had been successful and he wondered if there were more initiation tasks they might have to perform before they became a fully-fledged member of the Rising Dragons' triad. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* ~ Dismissing his thoughts, William Ransom looked up, but the woman had her eyes closed. Waiting until she made some response, he was just about to apologise when he heard his friend return and call out. "Open the door Will." "Sure thing," he replied as he made his way to the locked door. When he opened it Steven Bonnet entered with a syringe in his hand. "Was she any trouble?" "No, she was the model prisoner." "Good ... I have something to give her and then we're out of here. Wang wants to see us too when we're finished here." "Great ... perhaps he has another job for us to do to see if we have the potential to be triad members?" "I don't know, but that sounds possible," Steven replied as he approached where Claire sat. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Hearing the voice of the other man return Claire's eyes opened when she heard Steven Bonnet enter the room. "Why am I here?" she asked again realising that he was the more dominant of the two. But Bonnet did not answer. This man had a ruthlessness about him that was missing in the young man who had approached her in the street asking for directions.

That young man who was so polite when he asked for directions seemed out of place working for the triad. Perhaps he'd been roped into it by his friend? Either way she may be able to appeal to him rather than the other. Turning her head Claire spoke to him.

"Do you know why I'm here?"

William looked at her bruised face now beginning to blacken where she had been hit. He saw a sallow, broken woman defenceless and trapped. He was about to open his mouth to respond to her question when he noticed Steven glaring at him not to answer. He turned away rather than respond to her question. Her eyes darted back to his accomplice's steely face and Claire knew that she would not get any answers from her kidnappers. She was trapped. Approaching the bed Steven Bonnet reached out to touch her. Claire tried to fight him off but he was too strong. The loss of blood to her shoulder had weakened her; nevertheless she still put up a fight and rolled away from his grasp. Grabbing her arm, though, he dug his fingers into her flesh and she felt something tightening around her arm. Opening her weary eyes Claire realised that a tourniquet had been set in place. Bonnet then drew out a syringe, taped its side and expelled any air within the cylinder. Quickly finding her vein he injected the needle into her arm and slowly eased the syringe's contents into her blood stream. "What are you ... ggg...iv...ing mmeee?" Claire asked realising that her voice had begun to slur. "This will make you feel better then when you wake up you'll feel as good as new." Almost immediately, Claire began to feel the effects of the drug. A light headedness overcame her and she began to feel drowsy. Her eyelashes fluttered and her eyes rolled back into her head. Suddenly, she fell back on the bed in unconsciousness. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Steven Bonnet placed his fingers to the pulse in her neck and checked that Claire was really in an unconscious sleep. He turned to William, "Let's go ... Wang Yu is waiting for us." "Okay ... Will she be all right Steven?" "That's not our worry ... but I would say it will be a while before she comes out of her induced coma." A worried look crossed over William Ransom’s face but he quickly hid his reaction from Steven knowing that he would not be happy at his reticence.

Even though he had shot her ... it had been a knee jerk reaction to protect his friend. Steven seemed to be revelling in the cruelty he'd shown towards the woman and it worried him. He didn't know if he could go through with their initiation to join the Rising Dragons. He didn't feel he had it in him to do what may be required of him. Kidnapping the woman had been the easy part. Hurting her was another matter entirely. When he'd been approached to join the triad, he thought it would be a lot of fun ... but how wrong he'd been. This was not some university prank ... this was the real world ... and he wasn't sure he wanted any part of it. Steven on the other hand had embraced it with both hands. He seemed to be revelling in the cruelty and the power trip he had over the woman. There was something about Steven Bonnet that worried him when he behaved like he had just done.

Was there more to his personality than he was now beginning to see? They had been friends ever since teaming up at university and they'd been through a lot together. Being initiated into the triad was one other thing they'd done together ... but where would it lead them? Their future was uncertain and totally unpredictable now that they had become involved with the Rising Dragons.

William Ransom was a worried young man.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ to be continued next Wednesday

#Jamieandclairefanfic #outlander fanfic #jamieandclairecrossover #jamieandclaireau #covertoperations #Section One #James Fraser #claire beauchamp

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raendown · 5 years ago

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Pairing: MadaraTobirama Word count: 4597 Chapter: 13/? Summary: Not all wars are fought on the battlefield. Some are fought at the conference table, with whispers in the shadows, or even in the bedroom.

In a world where the Senju and Uchiha traditional lands were too far apart to have ever made them enemies, Butsuma and Tajima are the ones who come together and sign a treaty of peace. Madara isn’t happy to have his life signed away for him in a political marriage to strengthen the bond between their clans. He is even less happy to have Tobirama make assumptions of him from their very first night together. What follows from there is a journey of healing, of learning, and finding the places to belong in the places least expected.

Follow the link or read it under the cut!

KO-FI and commission info in the header!

Chapter 13

As annoying as it was to be denied access to one of his favorite places, Tobirama was touched enough by Madara's worry to acquiesce the man’s request that he not return to his lab until Mito had finished laying new protective seals to replace the ones that had been activated in the recent explosion. He wasn’t sure what the big deal really was but he could admit that his perspective may have been a little skewed by the dozens of lab accidents he had survived over the years. This one hadn’t even ruined any of the paperwork or equipment, all of which had been saved by the same seals that automatically snapped in to place around him to downgrade the damage from fatal to merely hospitalizing; really he considered the incident a big win in comparison to others.

It was endearing, however, watching the way Madara's entire face pinched at the mere mention of his return to the lab and so Tobirama put it off until Mito declared the area safely layered with Uzumaki secret techniques. Still Madara was not satisfied until he could stump around the room like a suspicious dog shoving his nose in to every corner with narrowed eyes. Tobirama wasn’t sure what the man thought he was looking for since he himself had admitted to not understanding even the basics of fūinjutsu but it was cute so he held his silence and let it happen.

For the couple of days it took Mito to do her work Tobirama split his off hours between training with Kagami and doing his research from the comfort of home. The corner of their living room couch right underneath the window was fast becoming his new favorite reading spot; it certainly beat sitting hunched over the work stations in his lab or propped up in the uncomfortable wooden chair in his office at the tower. And spending time in the living room often came with the new perk of Madara's tentative presence lurking nearby, slowly drifting closer over the course of whatever time they spent together, and small patches of conversation in which the man tried very hard to keep his attempts to deepen their bond very casual and breezy.

He didn’t succeed very well but the effort was there so Tobirama mentally gave him a pass.

It helped that the more time they spent getting to know each other the more Tobirama found Madara to be quite interesting. Of the few Uchiha he had quietly prompted for stories on their heir most of them agreed that he was a brave and powerful man but it seemed that most of them weren’t privy to the sides of Madara that Tobirama and those closer to him were. None of their stories included his caring nature, evidenced by the way he pointedly observed how Tobirama took his tea so that the next time he could deliver a perfectly made cup all ready to go, or several other of the good qualities he never seemed to demonstrate in public.

Amusingly, Tobirama realized after a while that Madara was the Hashirama of his own clan in more ways than just their equal rank. Where Hashirama was the only Senju to be quite so open with his emotions, Madara was the only Uchiha to bluster and hide his away from the public eye. It was no wonder the two of them made such good friends. Together they made perfect compliments to each other.

There was, however, only so long Tobirama could stand having someone fluster around trying to force all kinds of restrictive and frankly over-zealous safety precautions on him. It was wonderful that they had finally managed to build some sort of bond between them but Tobirama was quite used to being allowed to go where he wanted when he wanted. When he saw an opportunity for some much needed alone time while Madara was distracted he took it without hesitation, slipping away to the clan library to peruse for new study material.

When he returned home he was feeling incredibly relaxed and much less caged in, as he’d begun to feel whenever Madara wanted to accompany him absolutely everywhere to be sure he wasn’t straining himself. It was sweet but it was also a little stifling and Tobirama had gotten more than his fair share of that from Hashirama over the years. When he opened their front door he did not expect to step right in to the middle of what appeared to be an argument.

“I don’t know, okay!” That was Madara's voice, he would know that angry yowl anywhere.

“Since when do you even care?” The second voice was a little harder to place, although it sounded tantalizingly familiar.

“He’s my husband! I’m supposed to care!”

“But why? It’s not like the two of you are in loooove or anything. A couple of months ago you couldn’t stand the guy and now you’re worried about where he’s disappeared to for an hour?”

Tobirama lifted one eyebrow and considered turning around to leave again. If Madara was getting this upset that he’d left the house for a bit of personal time then they definitely needed to have a little talk about boundaries but clearly this was not a good time. He almost did just that until he heard the thump of a fist hitting something wooden, probably the table since their voices were coming from the kitchen.

“Fine, yes! I judged him a little quickly! I hated him! But I was wrong and now I don’t hate him but I blew him up only a few days ago so yes! I’m a little high strung and worried for his safety! Sue me! But later because right now I just want to know where he went so I can’t stop seeing this fucking image every time I close my eyes!”

“What image?” Whoever that was in their kitchen Tobirama was already not very fond of them. Their voice held absolutely no sympathy after such a revealing outburst from Madara.

“I–” Madara's voice cracked, a terrible broken sound from a man like him. “Just before the blast knocked me out, just as that stupid seal blew and he tossed me in a corner. I keep seeing that moment every time I close my eyes. And I just keep thinking…I don’t know…that’s my husband. I didn’t get to choose him but he’s still my husband and I almost killed him without ever really giving him a proper chance. That would have been my last memory of him, trying to protect me when he really should have been protecting himself.” The guilt in Madara's voice was so thick it was a wonder he had managed not to let it color every conversation they’d had since that day.

Out of sight in the genkan, Tobirama pinched his lips together and closed his eyes. He’d been so concentrated on his own adolescent annoyance at having someone try to keep tabs on him that he hadn’t ever stopped to question why Madara was so insistent.

“Ugh. Is this why you’ve been up my ass every time I make a comment about him?”

“Your comments are rude,” Madara sniffed.

“A few weeks ago you agreed with those comments.” The strange voice sighed. “Whatever. What do you want me to do?”

“Help me find him. I know he’s getting annoyed that I always want to know where he is so I won’t disturb him, I just want to know that he’s not blowing up again or the earth hasn’t cracked open to swallow him or something.” The poor man sounded in such a state he seemed to have forgotten his own skills as a sensor could easily be used to locate anyone at least within the village boundaries.

Taking a deep breath and steeling himself, Tobirama slipped out of his sandals and padded towards their voices with what he hoped was his usual blank expression. Letting them know that he had heard most of that obviously private conversation would only embarrass everyone and make things doubly awkward than they were already going to be when he sat his husband down to talk about this later. With that in mind he made sure to set down the books he’d brought home with a subtle thump only just loud enough to cut off the stranger’s voice when he began talking again.

Both of them stared at him with wide eyes when he casually entered the kitchen, expression calm and eyes fixated on the fridge like a man on a mission. Tobirama murmured a short greeting as he poured himself a quick drink and used that to hide the twitching of his lips as he tried not to smile. It looked like Madara's eyes were about to fall right out of his head.

He also used the few moments of silence in which he drank his juice to check out their visitor from the corner of one eye. As soon as he got one good look he felt ridiculous for not guessing that it would be Izuna. Despite being married to the man’s older brother he hadn’t had many interactions with Izuna yet, certainly not enough to build a proper opinion of him, but what he had seen so far had not left a very positive impression. Izuna struck him as a bratty, selfish person with a tendency to ignore any evidence that did not support the conclusion he wanted others to come to.

Setting his cup down on the countertop with a muted thump, Tobirama cleared his throat.

“If I interrupted something private I could just go back to the library.” The least he could do after letting Madara worry without bothering to address the man’s feelings was to let him know where he had been.

“No it wasn’t- ah, you’re fine. The library? That’s nice. Very…safe.” Madara shifted awkwardly, glaring quickly at his brother when Izuna dropped his face in to both hands. Tobirama pretended not to notice the weird phrasing and simply nodded his head.

“Good. Will he be staying for lunch?”

A precarious offer if he’d ever made one. Playing nice with his spouse’s family was an expected part of marriage but in the back of his mind he did wonder if he would be able to get away with being nice to Susumu and Kagami instead of Izuna; he wasn’t sure the two of them were going to mesh very well.

The evil glint in Izuna’s eyes when he announced that he would indeed be staying for lunch certainly did nothing to change that opinion.

Since allowing himself to get visibly upset with someone he wasn’t close to right there would be the height of uncouth – something Izuna never learned, judging by the sour look on his face – Tobirama managed to control his reaction and limit himself to nothing more than raising his eyebrows and keeping his mouth shut. His reward was in the way Izuna’s expression pinched even further. Clearly he’d been hoping for some sort of push back so they could start a fight but Tobirama simply wasn’t looking to have his mood ruined.

Lunch wasn’t anything fancy. He’d been thinking of actually cooking but that was a bit more effort than he was willing to put in with such undesirable company so that got thrown out the window rather quickly. He made simple sandwiches instead and gave thanks to the samurai from the western clans who introduced him to the concept. Sandwiches were quick and easy and, best of all, clearly Izuna had never had one. Evidently the concept of meat and cheese between bread was not something that had ever occurred to him before and such a simple thing did well to confuse his obviously simple mind.

Eventually Madara got tired of the quiet animosity hanging quietly over their heads, setting the remains of his own sandwich down to rub soothingly at his temples.

“I would very much appreciate it if the two of you would at least pretend you’re making an effort, here.”

“An effort to what?” Izuna scoffed. “I already know everything I need to know about this guy. He’s a dick, he’s not good to you, he’s not good for you, and we’ve already seen his true colors so I don’t know who he thinks he’s fooling with this sudden nice guy act lately.”

“I would be very interested to hear your reasons for why I might be, as you say, not good for him. Is that opinion based on compatibility or was that merely a personal preference?” Tobirama leaned forward to support his chin on one hand as though this turn in the conversation fascinated him. He took a petty sort of shameless joy from the frustration in Izuna’s eyes.

“Neither of you really gets to decide what’s good for me,” Madara pointed out.

Undeterred, Izuna leaned over the table as well to mirror Tobirama’s position. “After living with you all my life I think I would know better than someone who just drops in out of nowhere and treats you like unwanted dirt on the bottom of his shoe for several months. You don’t fool me, Senju.

“Technically I’m an Uchiha now.”

“Oh? My mistake. I probably forgot because I’ve never seen you come within ten feet of anything that bears the uchiwa.” Izuna lifted one eyebrow challengingly. “Senju.”

Something hot in Tobirama’s belly burned with shame, straightening him in his chair again. He hadn’t expected the little rat to hit home with such unforgiving accuracy. The soft blue of his shirt and the blank collar with no clan symbol almost felt heavier suddenly with the weight of what wasn’t there and it was all too obvious that Izuna knew he’d scored a point in whatever inane game he was playing.

“Whatever the sins my husband and I have committed against each other in the past,” Tobirama spit out between his teeth, “that is for us to resolve between ourselves in private and does not require your input. Mistakes were made and I am willing to admit that. I am also capable of moving on and growing up. You should try it some time.” It wasn’t quite the same as getting him back with a blow as devastating as the one Izuna had hit him with but it did the job. As he suspected, Izuna was not the sort of person who enjoyed being told to grow up.

“I wish I could get rid of you,” the brat snarled.

“How unfortunate for you that I have every intention of sticking around.”

“Yeah because you have to!” Izuna rolled his eyes while Tobirama narrowed his own.

Resisting the urge to cross his arms like a petulant child, he said, “No. Not just because I have to. I’m aware that our traditions differ on this but where I come from we work hard to build and maintain our relationships, we don’t give up just because of a rough beginning.”

“Oh don’t act all high and mighty like your way is somehow better than marrying for love!”

“I don’t see you on the cusp of any nuptials,” Tobirama pointed out. “At least I have a marriage to try and fix.”

Tossing his chair back as he leapt to his feet, Izuna blurted without thinking, “At least when I get married it won’t be empty like yours!”

“Out!” Madara’s voice startled them both. When they both looked over he was glaring at his brother with his hands clenched around the edge of the table in a white-knuckled grip. “Get out. Go home. Or anywhere. I don’t care where you go as long as it’s away from me.”

“You’re taking his side!?”

“I am taking my side. How dare you disparage the same situation you’ve comforted me over numerous times? How dare you throw the nature of our marriage back in our faces when you know very well that we had no say in this? Get out of my house, Izuna, before I say something to you that I will regret.”

“But–! I didn’t mean anything against you!”

Slamming a hand down on the tabletop, Madara stood up to match his sibling, sending his own chair clattering backwards. “You don’t get to insult him for the way we were married and think the same won’t apply to me! Or have you forgotten that marriage takes two people? It’s a partnership! It’s a bond! Whether we wanted it or not we are bonded and if you can think so lowly of him for having this situation arranged then clearly you must think as lowly of me. Leave. We’ll talk about this when I don’t have the urge to throw you out through the closest wall.”

Izuna did leave but not without throwing Tobirama a venomous look as if to say that he was to blame for everything that just transpired. A childish man to be sure. Tobirama waited until the stomping footsteps of their guest had reached the front door and thundered their way down the front porch before speaking.

Or at least he tried to speak; Madara cut him off even as he opened his mouth.

“No, I’m angry at you too.”

“I did not start that fight,” he pointed out.

“Well you didn’t need to make it worse! You’re supposed to be the one that has self-control – so control yourself! I know he’s a brat and I know he pushes buttons but you didn’t need to push back!” Closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, Madara sighed. “I’m not truly angry at you. He’s the one that went too far so I’m mad at him. But I am still pretty annoyed with you too and I just need…air.”

He left the room without even bothering to right his chair and stormed out the front door of their house. Tobirama was left sitting at their kitchen table alone wondering what the hell else he was supposed to have done in that situation. Was he supposed to just sit there and allow himself to be insulted? From his perspective that made no sense, although if he had learned anything from getting to know his husband it was that their perspectives often differed wildly in unexpected ways.

Clearly the man needed space so the thought of chasing after him was discarded immediately. What Tobirama needed was someone who might help him see things from a point of view he couldn’t imagine for himself. If there was anyone who understood Madara – that Tobirama felt comfortable going to for advice, at least – it would be Hashirama. Were he a little more comfortable with the man’s old teacher he might have gone to speak with Susumu instead, he had a feeling she would have given him better and much more applicable advice, but the idea of asking for something as intimate as a solemn heart to heart with a woman who was still little better than a mere acquaintance made him cringe. Hashirama would have to do. It had a better chance of success than sitting alone and trying to figure out for himself what he should do.

Were it not for the personal connection between the other two men he would have actually preferred to ask Touka’s help rather than Hashirama’s, being closer to her and all, and he was already preparing to roll his eyes at whatever over-emotional bull crap his brother tried to feed him even as he stepped out of the house.

Halfway there he ran in to one of the men he shared an office with, pausing in his journey to let them ask him a few questions now so he wouldn’t have to answer them later when he was busy with paperwork. It took longer than he would have liked and he was forced to excuse himself rather abruptly in order to shake them off but eventually he managed to continue on through the Senju district. Several of the children he used to train accosted him on his way as well, although their company was much more appreciated than his coworker’s. By the time he was letting himself in to Hashirama’s house he was still in a rather subdued mood but with much less frantic energy.

The edge of panic he had only just gotten rid of returned immediately when he walked in to the living room to find Madara hunched down in a massive armchair with an expression as startled as his own.

“Ah. I apologize. Perhaps I should have checked to make sure where you were before I came.” Tobirama furrowed his brows, unsure if he felt a little guilty or a little irritated. He should have guessed the man might come here as well, even if for nothing more than a place to calm down, but Hashirama was his brother. When he turned to leave Hashirama shot up out of his own seat and waved for his to stop.

“No, stay. Madara told me what happened and I was just about to make tea, would you like some?” He half-turned towards the kitchen with a questioning look.

“I believe my husband wished for a little space,” Tobirama said stiffly. “I should go.”

“Just sit down for five minutes. I only wanted to say something I think both of you need to hear.” Hashirama waved him towards the other chair and after a moment of hesitation he very carefully lowered himself in to it, legs coiled to bolt, feeling rather like a naughty child about to be lectured for his bad behavior.

Not actually that far off the mark, he thought wryly.

A peek from the corner of his eye told him Madara's temper hadn’t improved too much since he left the house. He wasn’t throwing any heated looks in anyone’s direction, though, so that could be counted as a win. Hashirama cleared his throat to catch their attention and waited until they were both looking at him before speaking in a hesitant voice, clearly trying to be diplomatic and not set either of them off again.

“Getting used to having someone in your life is difficult, especially so when you know nothing about the person before you’re thrown together. When Mito and I were married it took quite a while for us to work out a compromise between certain habits we both have. Even the people that you think you know so well can be startlingly different when you see what they’re like to live with.” His fingers twisted the band of gold on his left hand as he spoke, lips slowly turning up in a soft smile. “Arguments are going to happen but if you talk about what made you angry then I promise it helps to prevent the same fights from happening over and over.”

“I feel like you have this speech a little too prepared,” Tobirama grumbled. Hashirama sniffed at him.

“You know I love both of you but you’re not the most agreeable men I’ve ever met. My point is that just because you get along better now that doesn’t mean there aren’t still going to be a few rough edges to smooth over. Learning about each other isn’t the same as learning how you fit together.”

“Flower child,” Madara piped up accusingly.

Turning his head but lowering his eyes, Tobirama sighed very gently. “No, he’s right. Things have been going well and in the back of my mind I think I was expecting that to fix everything.”

“Precisely. Don’t expect too much of yourselves!” Clasping his hands together with a brilliant smile, Hashirama beamed side to side, trying to include both of them in the joy that at least one of them had recognized he had a point for once. An unusual occurrence and definitely something he had a right to celebrate.

He withered almost immediately afterward when both of the married couple sent him dark looks, fidgeting on the spot until his energy spilled over and he leapt up with disjointed mumblings about making that tea like he’d meant to.

In his wake Tobirama kept his gaze stubbornly forward only because he could see Madara doing the same and, although he wasn’t truly upset anymore, there was still no reason to show weakness. His eyes slid closed and he sighed again very quietly. Showing weakness to one’s spouse wasn’t supposed to be a bad thing. They were meant to be one of the few people you felt most comfortable around, the person you could be the most yourself with. If he wanted that sort of relationship in any way with Madara then he needed to learn how to bring his own walls down as well.

Definitely not the easiest thing he had ever asked of himself.

“Can we at least agree that Hashirama being right about something never happened?” Madara finally spoke up, his words bringing a smile to Tobirama’s face.

“Now that’s a cause we can definitely unite behind.”

“Good. I don’t know what the world would come to if he actually turned out to be the more intelligent one in something.” Both of them scoffed in unison.

“Truly a disturbing thing to imagine.”

Daring to finally look over properly, Tobirama felt the pressure in his chest easing. Until it did he hadn’t even realized he could hardly breathe for worry that with one argument he might have set back all the progress they’d made so far.

Madara looked over and met his eyes, hesitant and careful, still pinched around the mouth but not nearly as taut between his shoulders. For a minute the two of them sat still and did nothing but study each other. Tobirama wondered for the first time what Madara saw when the man looked at him, something he’d never bothered to wonder when it came to anyone else simply because he didn’t care. Either a person liked him or they didn’t and it mattered little to him.

But Madara was his husband and that made it his duty to help the man see his good points, of which many people had joked that there were few. It appeared that he had his work cut out for him but he’d never been the sort to shrink from a challenge.

“When I’m angry I need time to cool off,” Madara offered eventually. “It would be best if you don’t ever try forcing me to talk things through if I’m still at screaming levels.”

“I tend to simmer and get worse as the days go by if the problem isn’t addressed,” Tobirama admitted.

“Some things to keep in mind, I guess. Hashirama is not correct but maybe we do need to…try talking a little more. And not expect everything to just fall in to place nicely.”

Tobirama nodded and murmured in a thoughtful voice, “At least you don’t snore.”

The triumph of making his husband laugh only barely outweighed the embarrassment of Hashirama barreling back in to the room to congratulate them on getting past their first real fight as a married couple, just enough that he was able to leave the two of them alone with his mood successfully repaired to allow Madara the space he needed. When they were both ready to talk about their issues they would and he would do his best to open up as much as he could.

Izuna, on the other hand, was a problem that would need to be addressed sooner rather than later. Something told him that leaving the second Uchiha heir to simmer would only make things worse when the pot finally blew its lid.

#rae writes #madatobi #madara #tobirama #izuna #hashirama #fanfiction

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rpbetter · 5 years ago

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Canon Characters - Writing Without OOC

{originally published March 5th, 2018}

RPing a canon character is often thought of as easy because you already have an audience for your muse and your muse is already constructed and fleshed out. Both of those things are and are not true. Especially in large fandoms, it can difficult to make even a popular muse stand out, and no character is so fleshed out as to not have room for your interpretation. Adding your unique perspective on your canon muse can make your muse really stand out, even be sought after in the RPC.

Or it can turn your canon muse into an OOC monstrosity.

We’ve all seen it: a well-known canon muse being written more like a self insert or an OC than the character we know from the fandom. It isn’t always easy to play your interpretation while keeping yourself out of your muse, particularly because we’re attracted to the muses we play because we see something of ourselves in them. You wouldn’t be interested if there wasn’t interest, would you? You’ve probably already developed headcanons, agreed and disagreed with fanon, and even had your issues with canon itself. That’s honestly a great start because you want to build your perspective while understanding your muse and their world.

All of those things need to keep a foundation within the canon. You don’t need to follow it religiously or agree with it all, picking and choosing is fine, but you need to decide on at least a period of time in the canon that you do like to build this foundation. Fandom types can vary greatly, from the very new to the decades-old and from video games to book series. No matter what kind of fandom or its age, the best way to build your foundation and get to know your muse, their life and the things that influence them, and the world they live in is to delve into canon. Learn as much as you can about your muse!

By learning about your muse and the things that shape and influence their life you’re both building a foundation of your canon and giving yourself necessary events, locations, and information to flesh out your interpretation. All good stories, no matter what form they take, leave enough room for the audience to imagine and infer things. There is always more beneath the surface and no story follows a character’s every living moment or is within their mind for every waking moment. For example, we might know that a character is being snappy with another but we might not know exactly why. Perhaps we can infer from their background that the situation they’re in and/or this other character is reminding them of a negative experience; they’re stressed, they may even be having a PTSD born moment of anger.

The very important thing to remember when you’ve reached this point is to have a reason why you’ve developed this headcanon or inferred that matter from (real or perceived) subtext. It’s one thing to HC that your muse has a scar on their palm from climbing that rocky hill in Chapter Two, that makes sense and is a small thing. It’s a whole other matter to start giving your canon muse mental illnesses and events not seen/written about that make no sense with the rest of their storyline. This is one of the primary ways that canon muse becomes very OOC.

Always ask yourself does this make sense with what I know of canon or is it just want I want to see? Everything needs to have a canonically derived reason. You are playing a canon character, not an OC. *

The second major issue that occurs when we see muses being a mess of OOC behaviors is too much reflection of the mun. While it isn’t always as extreme as the canon muse ending up as a self insert, it can become very obvious that the mun is putting too much of themselves into their muse. This can be tricky because we often have to ask yourselves as muns, when lacking information about our muses, what would I do in this situation? When asking yourself necessary things like that, step back a little and think differently about the situation for a moment. Think about what may be influencing your muse and when your muse has been under similar influences in canon. Use what you know about your muse’s behavior in general instead of yours.

Sometimes we have what I call “Yelling at the Screen Syndrome” that makes a character OOC. You know when you’re watching or reading something in canon and you just want to reach into fiction and slap your muse for being so dumb? Yes, that. It can make us muns feel stupid too and no one likes to feel stupid. So, we often try to imbue our muses with traits to make up for the giant embarrassing thing they did in canon. We model them after some perfect version of ourselves instead of allowing them to be who they are.

This is the opposite of laying on a thick coat of problems and tragedies that have no basis in canon. It can also easily lead to overpowering your muse with traits, abilities, and powers they don’t possess in canon, or that cannot even be vaguely inferred from canon. A verbally bumbling muse becomes suave, a muse who is talented at some things becomes The Best Ever at everything, and a powerless muse becomes a god-like powerhouse. Your muse has faults and limitations in canon because that’s what makes a character realistic, keep it that way. That goes for not altering your muse to fit with a shipping partner or plot too!

As a good example, there is a muse I see a lot that I am very familiar with. She is often outrageously OOC no matter the mun. She is a very nuanced character but has a lot of material available to really delve into those nuances, but people tend to write her as being meek and hypersexual. In canon she is one of the strongest, even if quietly so, personalities who notably doesn’t take crap off anyone and, despite being surrounded by hot men and women, has very few canonical romances and no random flings. Doubtless, the Manly Man muses out there might be put off by her in canon, so she is often downgraded to a muse who only retrains the attractiveness while being given more easily smut and shipping applicable behaviors. She becomes all sex appeal with the personality of a blow up doll.

You can keep your canon muse canon by learning about them, using what you know of canon to build your headcanons and fill in the gaps, giving them reasonable traits, memories, and behaviors. Before giving your muse anything outside of canon, ask yourself what in canon made you think this. If you can point to a reasonable source, or sources, for a behavior, memory, illness, etc. then you’re good to go. If absolutely nothing supports what you’re wanting to give your muse, don’t do it.

Your interpretation is what makes your take on this muse unique, but don’t make your canon muse OOC to achieve that!

*There are some canon characters that have very little information. Maybe they’re not a main character or they died early on in the story, maybe they’re a video game NPC. In these cases, you do have to make up a lot of your own story and there’s nothing wrong with that! A lot of times we don’t like some things done in in canon, especially when you have very large, well-established fandoms with a wide range of content that has been retconned repeatedly or that may even contradict itself. Being canon divergent (and you should be making it clear that you are and what canon you are following or not) is a very different thing from being wildly OOC. Being canon divergent means you are diverging from canon at a certain point in your muse’s story, not that you have cherry-picked details and run with it! Canon divergent muses still largely resemble their full canon counterparts when it comes to critical things like their behavior.

#rp advice #rp help #tumblr rp #rpbetter #canon muses #Canon Characters - Writing Without OOC #reposted upon blog reboot #test post

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dcwastelands · 5 years ago

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Throwback Theurgist Event - Jan 1, 2018

Eevelion: It was roughly noon as the crowd finished gathering in the meeting hall a tall sharply dressed scientist stepped up to the podium, adjusting his tie and glasses before straightening a stack of papers in his hands, clearing his throat, and adjusting his glasses again before addressing the crowd “Alright, is this all the attendants? Mediocre turnout, but sufficable. Anyway, onto business, at eleven-hundred hours this morning a ghost was found to have escaped lab containment, on checking the surveillance cameras, the closest time we can point to it having escaped was around ten-hundred hours. Now on-” As they were about to continue another scientist, this one smaller and significantly more energetic than their stick-in-the-mud colleague, ran up to their side and started pushing him away from the podium “Shoo, you weren't supposed to be handling this briefing, the effects still haven't worn off.” The male scientist was somewhat resistant at first but relented shortly after, yelling back at the admin as he head off into a back room “I'll be telling HR about this!”As the admin took her place at the podium she pat some dust off her coat and gave a sigh before continuing “Okay, sorry about that, okay let's see, he gave the times, well, military time, It was found to have escaped at 11-o-clock and the cameras said it got out at 10-o-clock, just so we're clear.” She gave an inquisitive look at the papers the other scientist left on the podium before wadding them up and tossing them at a nearby trash basket “Anyway, so what you saw with that guy was kind of one of the effects of the ghost we're looking for, got him while it was on its way out, I'll explain that in more detail later. So, this ghost, Throwback Theurgist is what someone in the labs named it, firstly, it can disguise itself as any sort of appliance, phones, laundry machines, radios, only problem with that disguise is that it always looks like a really outdated version of that thing, like, it could be a landline, a washing board, or a walkman respectively, that's kind of how it escaped, someone didn't notice one of those 1980's brick phones at the checkpoint. Okay, second power, it's got this tongue, usually hidden under a grille or something on whatever it's disguised as, any appliance it licks with that tongue turns into an outdated version of itself, so pretty much the same thing as its disguise ability but applied to other things.” She stopped to take a breath before continuing the briefing“Finally, last power, it's what you saw with that guy and is kind of the hardest part to explain, when people get licked by the ghost, it turns them into sort of like, a flatter version of themselves, like, they're not uhhh, fully developed as people, using our example, as you saw, he was a very boring straightlace scientist, well, last week he was balancing a hoagie on his nose among other things. Anyway, using what we know of the ghost, it's likely still in the city, probably hiding in some appliance store, we want you all to make your best effort to recapture it, it's probably one of the least destructive ghosts we have down there, so we're not authorizing you to destroy it, but feel free to rough it up a bit if it'll make capture easier. Just remember if you notice any super obsolete equipment in a store or something, that's probably where it's hiding and to keep any grilles or the like pointed away from you, if its tongue touches you this mission will be harder on everyone. There is both digital and analog ghost capture gear available for you all in the lockers, use whatever you feel will work best for you.” With her briefing concluded she head the same direction her afflicted colleague went, mumbling to herself “Stupid papers didn't even have anything written on them.”

EverSoNitro: Mous crossed her arms as she listened to the briefing, quirking an eyebrow as the first scientist was shooed off the stage. From the sound of things, this didn't seem like an especially destructive ghost, so at least PR didn't have to worry about having a lot to cover up when this was all done with. So long as her colleagues weren't running around like a bunch of lunatics, at least. But hey, this promised to be a good excuse to get out from behind her desk. She'd have to keep her phone on her though, in case her favorite radio station got wind of things while they were trying to take care of it.

Dezzy: Pendant eyed around the room with hidden caution. She would try to get to the ghost first before anyone took advantage of freedom to rough up the ghost. Poor little thing is genuinely harmless… And if Pendant could capture it first they could have it lick and transform her appliances into vintage aesthetic. A colorless TV, VCR, tapes, phone and the such would sure do nicely to gothen up her cove. She simply gave a nod at the end of meeting, striding over to Mous since she seemed one of the more reliable attendees. “Might be a good idea to search in pairs, or something, to catch Throwback,whatever.” Her tone was tonless and nonchalant, ready to get down to buisness but also with an air of dismisal.

Gigi: Ascot leaned back in her chair, arms behind her head. She let out a tiny smirk, what kind of silly prank was this? It'd be a break from the normal shenanigans in her department at least so, whatever. Being roped into stuff pertaining to research was always weird, but....apparently they needed crowd control, or something.Why couldn't they get their own succubus for this, anyway? "Hey, question," she raised her voice a bit, otherwise unmoving. "What if we're dumber than a box of rocks and don't know exactly what model of ipod from 2069 we're looking for, anyway? People are all about going retro these days, maybe it's a new Nebula s420 or something I didn't hear anything about."

Proph: Peasant Top picked his teeth with a small knife, scoffing to himself as the ghost's list of "powers" was rattled off. "I thought we'd have literal walking cannons or somethin' by now." Regardless, he was trained as a frontliner, so odd jobs like this are par from the course. Listening to Ascot's question, he was glad all he carried on him was the aforementioned wittling blade. What can that downgrade to, raw steel?

Eevelion: Admin stopped short of leaving the room to turn to Ascot “Well, Throwback seems to only be able to disguise as and turn things into versions pre-year 2000, so it definitely won't be disguised as a smartphone at all, please use your best judgment and try not to break someone's nose to get their Blackberry or whatever.” she'd also turn to Peasant Top “The walking cannons are in a different section of research, please don't underestimate the diversity of our projects.”

Proph: "'s'fair." was his reply. Let's be fair, we all know who would issue walking cannons, or at least watch them get made, and the last thing PT wants to do is cross that amazon in ANY way. Self preservation at its finest.

EverSoNitro: Mous glanced to Pendant and nodded. "Indeed. Having a few smaller groups would help us keep a low profile out in public, I imagine a large swarm of us roving around would raise suspicion." Of course, as Ascot spoke up, she couldn't help but give out a little scoff. "Well, fortunately for those less observant among us, the... let's say more experienced and worldly among us should have an eye for such minor details, like myself, for instance. If you're not sure about something, I'd be happy to help you identify a "genuine article" from a vintage reproduction."

Gigi: She gave Mous a look that seemed just as boredly acerbic as her voice. "I'm pretty sure I can tell a gramophone from a record player, grandma."

HappyPaca: She-la was just comming out of a repair shop after getting her bike a good old fashion tune up from one of the only repair shops in city tht would take her old clunker. But it was her old clunker and she love it. doesn't matter how old her bike gets it's still running like a dream to her. She didn't have much planned for that day so for a moment she pulled over and parked to take a drink of water and take out her phone to see if there was anything going on today.

Dezzy: Pendant knew she had picked the perfect partner for today, vintage mood board post on tumblr here she come. She was going to get sooooo many followers after this. “The mall might be a good hotspot to check out. Plenty of tech like phones, tvs, kiddy video games a plenty for it mess with and junk.” Pendant could already imagine the tears on some 10 year olds face as their precious game console turned into gameboy classic.

EverSoNitro: Mous huffed a bit at Ascot's reply, particularly the "grandma" comment. "Well, if you discover you can't, I'll be here to assist." She nodded to Pendant. "Good thinking. And, if it does happen to be there, it shouldn't be too hard to keep it contained until we capture it."

Proph: "You always bicker like this?" Peasant Top snipes as he stood into a groaning stretch. "I know you're a bit eccentric like any celebrity, but do you even HAVE a limit?" He starts to lumber off in search of anything pre-pre Fall looking. Hopefully he remembers that capture gear? No? Yes? Maybe?

Gigi: Ascot rolled her eyes at Peasant Top's departure, good luck setting out on your own, dude. She propelled herself into an elbows-on-knees position, looking at the others. "You two have a point though with the malls. Does anyone think more than one location is likely? Do we know anything about behavior patterns that would suggest other locations?"

Dezzy: “Car and motor dealerships might be worth checking out as well. Electronic warehouse stores too.” Ew capture work how troublesome Falda thought to herself, rounding out the edges of her nails with a file. But it couldn't be helped she guessed having rejoined HQ a few months ago. Even it seemed like grunt work given her rank with them it was fitting. She gave a small huff, slipping the file away into a pocket.

EverSoNitro: Mous squinted a bit at Peasant Top, opening her mouth to defend her bit of cattynes, but decided to drop the subject, for the sake of keeping things running smoothly. Collecting up her own capture gear, she shrugged a bit. "That would be a question for Research personel. Though that does raise the question, will someone be on-hand to assist?"

Eevelion: Throwback was enjoying its current freedom, walking down the park disguised as a heating iron as its synthetic brain replayed the objects it had devolved so far, a block back it turned a really nice stove into its cast iron counterpart and a fridge into an old icebox, while crossing the street it turned a food truck into a hot dog cart, luckily the guy was out for a smoke break and didn't get crushed when the truck compacted, that would have been grotesque. As more memories of things it recently changed played through whatever would be analogous to its head it noticed a Harley motorcycle, and its presumed owner distracted, scurrying up next to the metal beast it extended its tongue out of one of the holes in the grille of the heating iron, making a faint “Rerorerorero” sound as it licked the Harley, quickly turning it into a Penny-farthing bicycle. Not wanting to be on the receiving end of its owners wrath, Throwback waddled off, there seemed to be a neat looking mall just a block down it was interested in.

HappyPaca: Pin fixed his shirt collar some what aloof to all that was going on, he was suppose to be over seeing preparations at his restaurant that day but had to put this meeting first. "sigh, i suppose i should go check on my business to make sure the kitchen hasn't been converted to the point my sues chefs have no idea how to use the equipment" he stood up. An looked to Falada "care to look with me mon cheri?" he offered hoping to make the day more barible with a search partner.

Eevelion: When Mous asked about on-hand assistance she suddenly received a call on her phone, when she would answer it a voice on the other side would ask “Waddup, pimp?” Robe chuckled from a chair behind where Mous' group was standing, one leg crossed over the other.

Gigi: "Oh great, a baby is babysitting instead of me. Perfect," Ascot went over to grab some gear herself. Frankly she didn't care who was supervising, as long as she didnt have to do it. Fuck if she knew what she was doing with research business. She knew how to do cop stuff, and that was about it.

HappyPaca: She-la felt her self being raised up as Cyclone was converted into something she has only seen once in a cartoon she autibly gasped and yelled "WHAT THE FUCK?!" as the bike tipped over and she fell harshly onto the side walk not knowing how to keep her balance on the damn thing. if she wasn't wearing her Riding suit it would have been a much nastier fall. "What happen to my bike!?" after recovering quickly as she could from the fall, she stood up and looked at it up and down trying to fathom what happen to cyclone.

Dezzy: With impeccable timing Lessy pulled up to the repair shop and spotted She-la, giving her a honk with her car’s horn, “ Hey, Ghost Rider!” Once she noticed the… just what the hell was that? Lessy scoffed in uncontrollable laughter, covering their painful smile with a gloved hand. “ HAHA, What the fuck? I didnt think your ride couldnt get any shittier than before but DAMN did you prove me wrong!”

EverSoNitro: Mous quirked an eyebrow as her phone began to ring, though as she answered it and heard the voice, she sighed a bit, hanging up as she turned to Robe in person. "Alright, well, if that's everything then, I can drive us all to the mall." Mous's own Aston Martin was in the shop, and so her current vehicle of choice was a bit more cartoonish, and oddly appropriate given the circumstances. She'd taken her reproduction Mystery Machine out of storage.

Eevelion: Robe looked at her phone with an annoyed expression as she was hung up on “Wow, she hung up on me, that's crazy rude.” She'd announce loud enough the group could hear her before actually addressing the group “So yeah, I'm not going, but if you need to know something you can call me, I helped with Throwback once or twice. They're alright.” After that she'd wave them off.

Dezzy: Pin’s familiar face brightened Falda up if only just a little bit, “Oui, but i’m not sure if the restaurant is the best place to start for this mission, don’t you agree? What with the heavy preference for electronics for its meals,” she gave his shoulder a soft pat with rub. “Not that your menu isnt delicious enough, I assure you. Maybe the car dealership would be fruitful with electric cars and the such.” plus, she just really wanted to check out some sweet lambos. "Shotgun," Pendant announed after the phone call.

Gigi: Ascot let out an exasperated scoff, letting her head tilt lamely onto her spine. "Seriously? I hope you all aren't expecting me to actually know what the fuck I'm doing." She absently grabbed for a capture set, regrouping to the others. "I already don't have hope for whipped-cream-for-brains here."

Eevelion: Robe sent out a tweet about the rudeness of some people then checked the rest of her timeline before thinking to herself, she was bored, “I'm going to the mall.” She'd announce to no one in particular.

HappyPaca: Pin smiled glad to see he could brighten up her day abit with a simple gesture. "As usual your right, i supose my staff isn't entirely hopeless if a problem arose." and besides it thing should be alot easier to spot in an open are if they cn find it that is. Pine grabbed some equiptment being sure to be ready to go when ever. "would you like to ride with them or take my car and we follow?" he gestured to Mou's forming group.

Proph: While everyone else was smart and paired up, Peasant Top just walked the sidewalks of the city alone. Destroying a kebab, his lone wolf tactics (accidentally?)bore some fruit, finding some poor joe bawling over a vintage hotdog cart. With over half the kebab left, he kept following the trail of nostalgia while looking for a ride.

Dezzy: With the inclusion of Ascot, Pendant’s team could split up an search various stores in the mall. “Right, so, with Ass here we can search the Phone, Game, and electronic stores at the malle no problem. I call dibs on checking out the cells.”

HappyPaca: She-la was on the phone calling the repair guy she just went too "And your SURE this isn't some god damn joke your pulling on me? then how does a Harly davison turn into a damn 1900 bicycle?!" she was confussed and alittle embarissed rubbing her temple.

EverSoNitro: Mous huffed again, grimacing at Ascot. "I hope you're not just using ignorance as an excuse to not help." Mous replied, before motioning for her own squad to follow her to the psychedelic van. "We'll head for the mall first, perhaps pick up Peasant along the way if we see him." Rounding to the driver's side, she climbed in, waiting for the others to join her.

Gigi: She followed along, putting her hands up a bit. "Nah, I'm just letting you guys know I'm not research, I catch things but this is a little different than what I usually do." She opened up the back sliding door, and made herself comfortable with the extra room. "Place me where you see fit, I can't make any guarantees I won't beat up the first mlg softboy that throws shit my way, though."

Dezzy: Pendant slide into the passenger side next to Mous but not before giving the rather cartoonish car a double take, “Zoinks,” she mumbled before taking the passenger set net to Mous. "Take the game store then I guess," she waved to the back at Ascot. "Pry a Nitendo 64 outta some dude's hand if you gotta." From the looks of it Mous’s car would be a tight squeeze, so she shook her head, wrapping an arm around Pin’s and locking elbows, “I’ll ride with you, of course.”

HappyPaca: He was alittle bit ahead of Falada already pulling out his car keys to his convertable "To be honest i wouldn't mind if the ghost licked my car. It would be fun to see an old french convertable again" He laughed as he open the door for Falada bfore getting in himself. "my grandmother had one." he added.

Proph: "Oh hey, a carpool." said the meat-loving giant. He glanced around, glared at the van, shrugged, then worked on trying to wedge his large frame inside it. "Don't complain if your gas mileage takes a hit." he calls from the far back as the shocks moaned from his settling in. RIP Ascot's ears, though; his burly tone in such a confined space had to be a bit loud.

Dezzy: Falda hummed approvingly at the thought as she got in,”Ooo, vintage isn’t so bad in some aspects.” She couldn't help but think back to straight out of a Scooby-doo van Mous and the others were riding in and gave a small giggle. “ Some, that is.”

EverSoNitro: Once their riding situation was figured out, and her passengers were loaded in, Mous nodded and backed out, quietly dying a little inside as she realized Falda would be seeing her driving a hippie bus. Trying to to let her embarrassment totally rot her soul, Mous pulled out, following the breadcrumb trail of out-of-place vintage vehicles. Pulling up as she spotted PT, the van was thankfully accomodating to his frame, if only just. Still, it'd get a bit more cramped for Ascot in the back, PT being a bit larger than a great dane. "We were headed for the mall," Mous explained. "That seemed like the best place to start looking, and from the look of things, that's where it was headed." Mous glanced to the Penny-farthing bicycle as they passed by, grimacing a bit. "Someone might want to be making a note of where incidents are, clean-up might be a bit of a hassle..."

Proph: He gave a thumbs up while stuffing the remainder of the kebab into his maw. Some of these things stood out like actual sore thumbs, kinda hard to miss

HappyPaca: Pin started the car and started driving toward the dealer ship closetest to trail of vintage memorablia following Mous's car for some time, he never visited the dealership often but he remebered something they coud use as an excuse to look. "if the dealer ship gives a hard time for looking so throughly, let's just tell them since your new in town i'm getting you a new car as a small welcome back gift." He gave a charmming smile and winked "and if you find something mon cheri don't hesitate to ask, it would make things more believeable." he suggested.

Eevelion: One by one, everyone (sans She-la) would hear a ping on their phone as Robe added them to a group text channel, with the first post reading [I just realized you all probably need a way of telling each other if you find Throwback without having to yell across a crowd.] with the second post reading [FYI, maybe try not to cause a bigger panic]And a third reading [BTW, nice van Mous]

Gigi: Ascot gave an affirmative grunt and not much else, being shoved into a corner. She checked her phone, looking at the messages. [Thats gonna depend on how many sweaty guys are out today.]

EverSoNitro: As Mous pulled into the mall parking garage, she'd hear the ping on her phone, reading the message and pausing for a moment. "Panic... Oh, damn it all..." Mous seethed, quickly checking social media. Sure enough, there were those leeches sticking their noses into their business. "You all go on ahead, I've got to deal with this... everyone pick a store and fan out." Mous's nose was buried in her phone, hanging back for a moment and working on a cover story to quell suspicion.

Proph: Peasant looked at the phone hanging from a lanyard around his neck, looking fun-size in comparison in his meaty hoof of a hand. With the nail on his index finger, he carefully typed out a [ok boss] before letting the device drop under his namesake, dangling like the dongle it is as he poured out of the back of the van.

Eevelion: As Mous' group started to make their way through the mall they would come across a handful of people walking towards the exit with bulky CRT TV screens, NES cartridges, a couple brick phones, and one person even leaving with a ColecoVision, indicating a sort of trail left by Throwback, even more indicative, hastily taped signs to a few storefronts saying “Retro Sale!”

Dezzy: With a click of her pen Pendant was already on taking notes of the incidents as they drove by them, “ On it.” Pendant shuddered in her seat as Peasant munched the remainder of his kebab. Food crunching wasn’t her preference in asmr. Once they pulled up Pendant hopped her short legs out with equipment safely tucked into her bag. “Find me at phone shops when you catch up,” Pendant said Mous and trotted over to the cellular stores. At the sight of all the people leaving with archaic devices Pendant could tell Throwback had been there. “Perfect cover,” agreeing with a soft giggle she heard the noise go off from her phone. Falda then began to type and verbally read out loud her response for Pin[ Pin and I will let you all know if we see anything at the dealership. Good luck everyone]

Gigi: "Hah, try not to get chewed out by the vampire too much!" She got out, closing the door behind her and walking in. Unfortunately she was in enough time to see that yes, she'd have to smack a few gamers today, if the boxy consoles that looked nowhere near as sleek as the usual models she's used to dealing with on smuggling cases was any indicator. "Oh , for the love of......FUCK."

HappyPaca: " ah merci, I can't reply while driving" Pin pulled into the dealer ship actively looking around for ny retro car the may have seemed to pop up out of no where, it seemed that day though their was a wide varity. he parked and got out putting on some shades that were acutally perscription so he could look a bit more throughly. "Let's get started shall we?"

Proph: PT wasn't too far behind, watching a couple frat boys carry out a big screen box-set tv straight out of an 1980's sitcom. Not being the biggest tech guy, he thought it the Best Idea to check out every home entertainment section in the major chain stores, keep the search simple. He liked simple.

EverSoNitro: Mous huffed a bit as she put her phone away. "Damn it, I don't have time for this..." Mous intoned. She'd have to help with the official statement later, right now there were more pressing matters to attend to. Stowing the device in her pocket, Mous headed up to the mall proper, deciding that she should investigate the food court. Surely there'd be a number of unattended phones for Throwback to slobber all over.

Eevelion: As Mous checked the food court, sure enough there were a couple of retro-fied phones, but not enough to establish a sort of pattern. Back over by the electronics section there lay on a bench a TI83 Graphing Calculator, sitting there in all its monopolizing glory despite being an outdated piece of junk.

EverSoNitro: As Mous spotted the phones, she squinted, approaching cautiously, arming herself with the capture gear. She stepped closer to the first, an old Mickey Mouse rotary phone (and mentally recalling the one she had in her own collection) before carefully nudging it with an activated glove.

HappyPaca: She-la was just sitting on the curb by this point kinda stranded and still lil confused on what the hell to do with this bike. but then basically said 'fuck it zipped down her ridding suit tied it around her waist and tied her helmit to the back and after a few minutes of trail and error started riding the stupid looking bike back to her appartment.

Gigi: Ascot stormed in, stretching out, the chaos in the air tasted nice but there was just too much joy in it. Terrible. No time for asking people questions, she followed upstream of the surges of people running about, pushing aggressive customers out of her way with minimal effort.

Dezzy: Pendant browsed around the cell store she was at, so far there was no noticeable signs of Throwback had been there. A couple brick phones sure but it seemed like it had already done its damage by the time she arrived. [Nothing at the cell shop. Less you count last year’s Ipad as archaic.] With a nod and link of their elbows once more Falda agreed and began the search. Falda eyed the cars like it was she was a little girl in a candy shop. “Call me what you want, but I just think lamborgini’s to be so stylish.” she mused happily at the sight of gold lambo, walking around and fawning over it like it was an adorable puppy.

Proph: Muscling through one department store only to turn right back around and leave, Peasant took the time to peck out an update. [dept store on E end looked clear didnt come this far] Slipping the phone under his shirt PT went into another shop. Oh. An ACTUAL home entertainment store, good call.

HappyPaca: he smiled as she hung on his arm browsing the more suspious cars as they walked. looking particuarly at models that were more then 40+ years old. looking up and down the lambo as Falada fawned over it. "i Personally i'm more found of Charcoal grey cars but a lambo of any color is always nice. This seems like a newer italian model too." he chuckled and made sure to keep looking around but stood by as falada was fawning over the nice car. checking throughly of the cars around them for any suspious activity enjoying his time more with Falada there to lighten things up.

Eevelion: As Mous nudged the phone suddenly a voice came from one of the other food court tables “You really gonna try to touch it?” Robe asked from her seat, but that distraction was just enough that the phone, in truth Throwback, was able to climb past her glove and jump at her face, tapping her forehead with her tongue before skittering off towards the entertainment section of the mall. Robe laughed at Mous as she changed, typing out on her phone [Critic down :P]

EverSoNitro: Mous glanced up as she heard the voice, squinting a bit as she saw Robe lounging nearby. "You know, you really ought to be properly helping, considering this came from your-" Of course, while Mous was preoccupied with criticizing Robe's work ethic, she failed to notice the beloved cartoon icon grab for her upper arm, yelping and stumbling back as it scrambled up and slapping her forehead with her tongue. Falling on her rear, Mous's head began to spin, until she gave her head a shake, seemingly recovering. "Ugh... you detestable little insect..." Mous began, carefully getting to her feet. Once standing again, she seemed to look down her nose at the imp a bit more, than normal, taking a rather haughty and self-important stance. If one were to look closer, it also appeared that her makeup was a bit heavier, as if concealing injuries. "I would have had it, too, if you hadn't divided my attention..."

Proph: Of all the people to first reply, it was the 9 foot literal meatslab. [is ms ego ok? is ghost there?] Clearly not in the right neighborhood, Peasant left the store he was haunting, awaiting a reply. Or a return volley, depending on who answered.

Eevelion: "Maybe you would have had it if you used your capture gear instead of just trying to grab it." Robe snarkily replied, waving her off "Now go get back to work, it already hit you so you're immune to any further effects." meanwhile she tapped out on her phone [She's fine, just bratty, ghost head towards electronics section.]

Dezzy: “ I like my cars to stand out amongst the crowd,” the are was so clean that Falda could ee her reflection on it. She flashed a cute smile at herself till her phone went off, to which she huffed and unlocked her phone. “Ah, it seems the experiment is at the mall. Poor Mousquetaire.” she feigned sadness at that last part if only out of respect. “We should head to the mall now, I guess.” She gave the yellow lambo a pet on its hood. Someday, but not today. Pendant meanwhile left the store and headed to the food court with Robe and Mous. Helping Mous onto her feet and into the food court's chair she asked flatly, “ Where did it go?”

Proph: PT replied with a thumbs-up emoji because it was faster before stomping off to where he was pointed. He fingered the capture gear as he thundered down the thoroughfare; Hitting things is is forte, but since Mous was ALSO a member of the Hit Things club, he decided to be cautious this time.

Gigi: Ascot heard a buzz, and checked the message. She typed a hasty [ok, on it] before taking off her neckpeice and readying the kit. Guess everyone in the games department would be spared for now. Though...if they spotted the ghost, things weren't going well already....Thankfully not too many people were in her way this time, as people tend to avoid a large, blackened sword that's vaguely skeletal-looking. Someone screamed, and she whipped out a badge. "Sheesh, woman, don't you see the crowds! It's not black friday!"

EverSoNitro: Mous rolled her eyes. "I was using my capture equipment, imbecile." She flashed her activated buster gloves, which presently seemed just a bit bulkier than normal. "Besides, in the very probable case that you hadn't noticed, there's tons of potential candidates for that ghost's disguise in this mall." She jerked her arm away from Pendant as she was helped up, before looking incredulously at Robe. "You're telling me what to do?" She let out a rather haughty laugh, before planting herself in her seat. "I don't think so."

HappyPaca: Pin sighed "Poor dear, we should invite to take her out for dinner later." he said as he once again pulled out his car keys and took off his shades. "Let's hurry so we can possibly try to minimize the damage knowing the group thats currently there at the moment" now that he thought about he wounders how Mous is now while under the affcts of throw back.

Dezzy: Raising her hands up defeatedly Pendant shimmied around the angry Thrownback!Mous and headed for the electronics store, retrieving a mask and metallic pointer that one would use for presentations from her bag and began proding around the area. “Agreed,” she kissed into her hand and placed it one the lambo before Pin and her were off again on the road to the mall.

Gigi: Something particularly old and boxy caught the periphery of Ascot's eye, and she tried to rush and swipe for it. It lunged at her, and she began backing up quickly, thrusting her arm out quickly to let her sword extend properly. No connection, but that did seem to scare the moving appliance for now....she kept following, more slowly this time. Her eyes were still peeled onto it, and she wove her way through the crowd a few hundred feet back.

Proph: Blade resting on his shoulder, Peasant storms in right as Ascot swatted the critter away. He followed Throwback through the food court as best as his bulk could go. Clearly, it won out in raw speed, so, Without a thought, he hefted the sword up and held it inverted, hefting the massive sword he flipped it around so he held it inverted, and matching his stride, chucked the heavy blade at the ghost like a javelin. PT managed to clip the ghost along the side, but this made it run /faster/.

Eevelion: As Throwback ran down the corridors it ran into MORE people that seemed to want at it, narrowly dodging a sword from one and taking a slight clip from the other, as it circled back it gave them a wide berth, not wanting to take another hit, back towards the food court it went.

HappyPaca: Looking at the way falada liked the lambo hmm... maybe pin could get her a welcome gift after all it's a strong maybe. As soon as the two found a parking space convently next to Mous's van, He grabbed the equiptment from his trunk while Falada was stepping out of his car and got them both ready as they headed for the Mall's entrance making sure both of them were prepared for whatever may come their way. As if he was prepering a excellent meal for an importent guest.

Dezzy: At the sound of Throwback making its way back to the food courts Pendant sharply rose up from inspecting, grabbing onto her namesake to allow it to transform into its true rapier form and made long strides for the ghost. “C’mon goth momma needs a new…” she took a swipe “Aesthetic!” her sword missed, stumbling on her feet a little before she could fall. She cursed under her breathe bitterly.

Eevelion: As Throwback barreled back towards the food court it passed by Pendant who seemed very intent on capturing it as well, as it ducked past her rapier and head towards the food court Robe popped the lid off her drink, controlling the liquid inside to try to make a cage of ice around the escaping ghost, unfortunately her placement was off, and instead of encapsulating it, the ghost launched off the side sending its trajectory... straight towards her, “Oh crap” she muttered, as it collided with her its tongue lolled out and tapped her on the scalp. As she held her head where it had bumped her she seemed to shrink into her clothes a little, but that was more overshadowed by those clothes getting bigger, and when she stood up she was almost completely covered in her robe, except for the top of her head, which she quickly put a huge wizard cap on, the gremlin was here. Meanwhile, Throwback continued its escape path, running into the same direction Pin and Falda were entering through.

HappyPaca: Pin thrusted forward the secound he saw the lil bastardheading towards him and flada causing a ruckus umong his associates. "It's time to falay the main ingdent!" cheesy phrases aside pin nly manages to graise throwback as he passes him, quickly turning back to Falada "Quickly grab it mon cheri!" hoping she could use the moment to her advantage being so close to him.

Gigi: Ascot was still chasing after it, though it was getting increasingly difficult to follow it within all the ruckus. She grabbed her phone in frustration, tapping out a [DO WE HAVE ENOUGH TIME TO ATTEMPT A QUARANTINE, BECAUSE I THINK WE REALLY OUGHTA]. The way it was going it looked like she was getting closer to the entrance, about back where she came from...no good, no good at all.

Eevelion: Gremlin Robe gave a quick peace sign with a playful “See ya, suckers!” before running off to the electronics section with surprising quickness for someone covered so wholly, as she passed by Pendant she leaped, snatching her hat off her head and placing it on top of her own hat, continuing down the electronics section she slowed down and held her primary hat over her face as she saw the absolutely gargantuan Peasant Top, taking a wide arc around him and never taking her off him till she was far away enough to start running again, straight out of the mall.

Proph: Still catching his breath, PT just watched the jittery imp circle around him with a look in her eyes like he was going to eat her. He shrugged it off, though, truth be told, he got looks like that a lot. Looking at the latest page, he gave an exasperated sigh before retrieving his blade from the floor it was impaled in and following the others.

Dezzy: “Hopefully the team inside has it managed,” she said, shoving her phone back into her jacket as she entered the mall, only to be greeted by the said ghost the group were aiming to capture. “God damn it.” grabbing the hem of her long skirt and with one swift movement it turned into its pistol form around Falda’s hands and for Falda to stand in her pantsless glory. She pulled the trigger and missed by the skin of her teeth. [Quarantine sounds good. Box it off before it can escape. Through the parking lot.] Pendant went to go grab Robe but it seemed that the small imp had, somehow, gotten visibly smaller than thought possible. She ran a hand through herbangs and sighed but it was short lived as her big hat was taken from here. “What the-” Pendant shook her head. Nevermind that they had to contain this thing before it got out.

Eevelion: Throwback had almost made it to the door, sweet sweet freedom was at hand, then suddenly it found itself in front of a couple pulling out weapons, it managed to dodge their attacks, but couldn't risk trying to pass the two, so it turned and head back into the food court, jumping up onto a table to try to figure which way it could run to next.

Gigi: [on it, I'll notify the blarts.] She held ground, calling up a security line. "SUP, its Enforcer Pheles, I'm gonna need you guys to keep guard on entrances for any rogue objects that look like they're moving on their own..................Don't shut down the place but have people recommend they either don't go in or go into another shopping center...........Dude just do what I say okay and make sure nobody panics!" She hung up. Might as well stay in the food court to do what she does best, crowd control. Also, eating.

HappyPaca: Pin's cheeks turned pink seeing falada in her under garments and quickly un button his shirt having an undershirt on underneath do to recent cold weather. so he did not mind lending his shirt to Falda to tie around her waist "Here, i'm so sorry this is all i have at the moment. but if you do not mind contenueing we should try and follow it" he gestured towards the food court.

Dezzy: Pin was much taller and larger than Falda that the ends of his shirt went down to just above her knees. “Thank you mon cheri,” she gave him a small peck on his cheek with a wink and jogged to the food court. [Food court] Pendant typed in the group chat and approached the ghost once more. She gave another strike at Throwback but blade only seemed to collide with the floor tile and fell back into a chair. Taking a knee Falda tried to line up a good shot at the thing but also missed. This is why she just left the action to CGI.

HappyPaca: Mean while She-la fell off the penny bike again and just decided to sit on the side walk and contiplate life.

Gigi: Ascot was in a fair amount of concentration, trying to sap energy out of everyone. Panic wasn't quite her favorite flavor but it'd work--and crowds around her seemed to clear out. Good. Pendant and Falda's noises gave her a general idea where to watch where the ghost was going--and took a guess at the location it'd land in, and slap. SATIN extended outward, slamming into the floor and holding the ghost firm by one of its legs. "FUCK, DID I GET IT?"

Proph: With the wind back in his sails, Peasant reconvened with the others, blade held firm, tip resting on the ground. e watched Ascot work, waiting to strike when the proverbial iron was hot. Much as he would love being a gloryhog for once, it didn't feel right to steal the kill. Then she acted. Well then. Nothing against getting an assist! With the critter pinned, he lunged forward with a throaty roar, swinging the chunky sword up then down in a solid arc,like an oar, slapping the ghost into the ground one last time.

Eevelion: As Throwback was well and truly pinned an energetic clapping could be heard from behind the group, the first scientist from the briefing stood there “Good work everyone! Very impressive work, anyway, the effects wore off on me about fifteen minutes ago, so I figured I should come by to bring Throwback's containment cage over so you don't have to bring it back to HQ at arm's length.” Mentioning Throwback's cage he'd pull out a small bird cage before leaning down to where the ghost was, picking it up gingerly from behind and placing it inside the cage “All done!” he exclaimed “Don't worry about getting it returned, I'll handle that, the rest of you just enjoy your day, and again, thank you for your work.” Bowing out he head back to HQ with a small enforcement team just to make sure the ghost didn't escape again.

HappyPaca: She-la resorted to walking the penny bike home wanting nothing more then a cup of hot coco when she got back.

Dezzy: Pendant gave a half hearted fist pump as the scientist from earlier took her vintage dreams away in its cage. She tilted her head back exasperatedly and let it hit the table behind her, running a hand through her hangs. Well… the effects hadn’t totally worn off the other effected appliances yet, there was still hope to be salvaged. She sharply rose up from her seat and pulled out her camera she had tucked away in her bag. “I’m going to just… take some photos record today’s events for research,” she announced before scuttling away. Falda gave a sigh of relief and wrapped her namesake back to hug at her hips,. “Problem solved, now to deal with clean up and those tontos at Panic.” How did they even know her panties were edible?

Gigi: Ascot wiped her brow and dismantled her kit. "NOTHIN' TO SEE HERE FOLKS, EVERYTHING'S UNDER CONTROL." She shooed off shoppers that looked like they were lingering too much. Don't think about it too hard. She looked over to the rest of the team, with a slight grin. "Good job, guys, we...got the job done and I got lunch free of charge."

HappyPaca: Pin nodded to falada after thanking the scientists for their work and strentch alittle, "it sounds good to me. we can end the day with a good drink." He could here his wine cellar calling his name just thinking about panic and their shenanigans. He looked around abit and thought "maybe we should call chaleco to pick up robe as well where ever she went."

Proph: "That's all one can wish for, right?" Peasant once again donned his namesake, just in time his bare barrel chest was gettin' nipply. "Jus' thowin' it out there, but how about we DON'T go hunting next time we go out, okay? A run, some lunch, little weightlifting, make a day of it!"

Gigi: Whatever joy was on her face got replaced with narrowed eyes and a slanted, tight lipped look. "Don't push it, dude."

Proph: He raises his hands is mock surrender. "Jus' bein' nice, calm down. We're all friends, here." The ONE time he wasn't trying to put the moves on someone...

Dezzy: Falda hummed as she texted her brother to come pick up Robe, "The only exercise I want today is...." She stopped herself right there and smiled innocently, "I could go for a drink though."

HappyPaca: Pin gave a chaismatic smile and said "if anyone else cares for free drinks just tell inferno i sent you in. there all on me" he'd ask falada on the ride back if she wanted to have drinks at his place or inferno, options are always nice.

#dcwastelands #dcwlogs #dcw demon event

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