#i just wanted the bit with henrik at the start but i got so fucking carried away

[nerhusconnection]

Solveig: “… And as the third element I took pictures with your old camera and used those for that collage, too. I could feel how it added to the meaning, and changed the meaning of the cloth and the painted bits. It’s definitely something I’ll explore further. I have to say, this mixed media project was rather intriguing for a change. I didn’t expect Mr. Cramer to come up with a project like this. Not that my work made it into the exhibition. He decided to pick three rather boring works but they had big titles. One was called ‘Peace’, all blue and doves and feathers, one ‘Exploring me’, she used nudes of herself for it, can you imagine that? I wouldn’t be surprised if he had jacked off on it. And I forgot the title of the third one. Mine was just called ‘A Study in Black and Red’ because that’s what it was. But it was so much better than the ones he picked.”

Malte: "I’m sad I missed the exhibition. Sounds like we could have had a lot of fun there. Will you show me the picture when we’re back home?”

Solveig: “Sure, no problem. I can also show you some other stuff I made since you were here last time.”

Malte: “Yes, please do, I’d love that. But there is one other thing I want to hear about. Mom said the school called again?"

Solveig scoffed: "Oh, I knew it. Are you going full big brother on me again?"

Malte didn't reply, so they walked in silence, with the only noises being the sound of crunching snow and an occasional bird’s call.

After a while Solveig started to talk again. "They said I might fail this year and not get the recommendation for Art College."

Malte: "What happened?"

Solveig groaned. "I just hate it. I just hate everything. And now you are gone, and I hate that, too. Everything bores me and I'm just so angry all the time. The others in my year are mostly busy with calling each other gay or gossiping about who is doing it with whom. Or dissing each other for the most stupid shit. The other day Henrik told Line she was just as gross as her sister. You know, the one with cerebral palsy? I know I should have used other means to convey my averseness to this display of dumbassery. But I couldn't help it. And the biggest fuck? The dean told me afterwards that he feels Henrik had deserved to get his face smashed but of course blablabla."

Malte: “What a jerk. Are you still seeing Dr. Poulsen?”

Solveig: “Of course. And she is amazing, and it does help, and it got much better. I'm good, usually. And yes, we talked about it already. It’s just… it was ok when you were traveling, I knew you’d come back. But now… you’ll probably not. So I’m stuck here. And… it doesn’t make it any easier.”

Malte just nodded. She had been struggling with impulse control all her life and he had to pick her up from the dean’s office more than once in the past. She was her father’s daughter after all.

Malte: “So what’s the status now?”

Solveig shrugged. “I don’t know. Mom talked to the dean, he wants to have written confirmation I see a therapist regularly and I had to apologize to Henrik. And if anything else happens until the end of term they’ll expel me. “

Malte nodded. “That will be a long term for you then. Just one more term, Solveig… Do you think you will manage?”

She took her time with an answer. “I have to, don’t I? If I fuck this up, I have nothing. Mom is looking at me as if I had already failed. And her constant questions and offers... I know she cares, and I wouldn't want to miss it. But it’s not helping.” She grimaced.

“I’ll talk to Mom. And maybe we can arrange more sessions with Dr. Poulsen, like, two times a week?”, Malte asked. “I’ll help with the bills. Also, mom told me there was a new art school in town with an interesting program, maybe one of the classes would be something for you?”

Solveig nodded. “Yes, we already talked about that. Everything away from home and school is good." She grimaced again. "Man, this sounds so bad. I love them, you know I do, right? I just… I feel so trapped and I don’t want to hurt them.” She hesitated. “You know, I'm all happy for you, and I can't wait to meet Rachel, but can't you live here? Or, maybe I can come and live with you?"

Malte smiled. "You know the answer to that", he replied softly. "Also, Mom needs you, even if she is much better these days, and Anne-Lis does, too. And you need them just the same if you’re honest. At least for another while. But things will change, inevitably. And you'll do all the things you dream of, I know that. You can start right now, at least with some of it. You don't have to wait until some distant future happens."

Solveig: "I know, I know... Your footsteps are just so big, I can't walk in them."

Malte: "Solveig, you don't have to. You'll make your own, and they will be beautiful." He hugged her long and tightly. "And remember, I'll always be your pesky big brother, just a phone call away."

Solveig snuffled a bit. "When did you grow up, Fishhead?"

[huffle-dork]

Long Live the King

Chapter 3 : When Lightning Strikes

Read Fantasy Masks | Read Swapboys | Read the first FM adventure | Other Multiverse Adventures | Read on AO3

A couple hours after the Swaps' arrival in this new world, the boat is packed up again and everyone is underway. It's a bit crowded, but tolerable. The boat is being steered along by a woman wearing a fox mask who appears, to the Earth-born swaps, East Asian. Vsevna is talking to her at the helm, letting the others have the opportunity to talk with their other selves from another world.

The swaps are all dressed in a combination of their own clothes from home and borrowed pieces from the Phantoms. Henny is dressed in a long light blue striped tunic, with no sleeves and a slight collar. His own gray suit pant are underneath since he’s too tall to use any of the others pants. He’s wearing a white poofy poet style shirt under his tunic with light leather guards serving as long cuffs. He’s using his green tie as a sash. Dr. J has on his own dark brown khakis with a borrowed shirt from Jameson. It’s dark blue with slight puffs at the shoulder seams with dark brown straps down the front, cinched with a dark brown belt at his waist. Jackieboy got lucky that he fit into any of his other selves clothes- so he’s wearing a dark red tunic with a black cowl like hood attached. He has slightly bunched pants tucked into red and black boots and black fingerless gloves on his hands. He was a dark sight compared to the blues of his counterparts- but damn if he didn’t look cool!

"Are you sure you're alright, Juwel?" Henny asks in worry.

Dr. J smiles, "Yes, Henrik I'm just fine. This is a lot smoother than I thought it would be."

"If you're worried about seasickness, this river doesn't move as much," Marvin says. "I, um... get it too. But the river's usually fine for me, so... it... probably would be for you, too." Marvin is not good at small talk.

Dr. J smiles at Marvin and nods, "Thank you Marvin, that's very good to know."

"Can't imagine getting motion sick- that must suck." Jackieboy comments, shrugging. "I couldn't parkour if i got sick that easily!" He then eyes the parts of the ship and looks up at all the parts. "... do you think I could-"

"No, Jackie- now isn't the time to be jumping around you know." Dr. J sighs, adjusting his glasses.

Jackieboy pouts.

"Your friends mentioned this 'parkour' while they were here," Henrik says. "It is like--climbing things and running for fun, yes?" He chuckles. "In that case, you could have been a topman if you were born here, Jackieboy. They are the sailors who climb on the riggings."

"It might be different if it was for a job, though," Jackie says thoughtfully.

Jackieboy's eyes sparkle with excitement, "Dudeee that would be so fucking dope!! I wanna do that!!" He then laughs and shrugs to Jackie, "I dunno- I do parkour for a job right now and... I love it still, honestly. Even if I get hurt alll the time!"

"You say that way too happily, Jackie," Dr. J chuckles, shaking his head.

Now that JJ seems alright, Henny perks up and spins around in his new outfit, giggling quietly. "These clothes are so funny though! I want to get a role in a fantasy movie now so I wear these things more! Look how flowy!!" He then spins around, not unlike a dog chasing its tail.

Jackieboy breaks into giggles at the sight and Dr. J can't hide his smile. "Ah Henrik- please be careful!"

"Careful not to fall off the side," Chase adds when Henny starts spinning around. "It would be terrible to get your new clothes wet or lose your, uh... By the way, I've been meaning to ask this. You two. What are you wearing on your faces? Over your eyes?" He gestures at his own face.

Henny rights himself, getting dizzy for a second. He then blinks and adjusts his glasses with a grin. "Oh! They are glasses! They help you to see! And- our world has much better glasses than I did before!! Everything was so clear when Juwel got me a new pair!"

"I was wondering about that," Dr. J muses, looking at the group. "If you are all like us... some of you must need glasses. Do you have blurry vision?"

Instantly, the group all turns to look at Henrik. "...what?" he asks.

Marvin rolls his eyes. "Your man is holding parchment up to his face like this." He mimes holding something inches from his face.

"I do not!" Henrik protests. "Only when it is dark. And the writing is tiny. Or the ink is faded into the vellum a bit."

They all just stare at him.

"Alright, if we are being like that, what about Jackie?"

"Me?" Jackie says, surprised.

"Yes, you. You being like--" Henrik squints his eyes until they're nearly closed "--when trying to see something down a hill's length."

"I don't look like that!"

"Haha, not so fun to be the accused, is it?"

I have heard tales of cut glass being used in Saelas, Jameson says, quietly turning the subject. Like the magnifiers in libraries, but much smaller. That must be what your glass does, too.

Chase blinks. "The what in libraries?"

"Some fancier libraries have circles of glass about this big." Marvin makes a circle with his hands. "They help you read when the writing on the parchment or vellum is too small."

"So... we need to attach magnifiers to Henrik's face, then," Chase sums up.

"Hey!"

Dr. J laughs, "That is kind of what it is! Or what they were when they were first made!" He gestures at Jackieboy, "Jackie needs them too but he's stubborn and doesn't wear them nearly as much as he should."

"Hey!" Jackieboy glares at JJ, "Like I was gonna bring them here to get broken! They're expensive!"

"That'd be less likely if you'd actually wear them."

Henny looks between everyone and then takes off his glasses and offers them to Henrik, "Other me! Would you like to try? It is wonderful to see clear!!" He smiles kindly.

Henrik blinks. "Oh. Ah, really? Alright, if you are sure." He carefully takes the glasses, like he's afraid they'll break the moment he takes hold of them. They don't, of course. So he carefully slides them onto his face, glancing at JJ for reference on how they should fit. Then he looks around the boat. He blinks a couple times. His eyes go wide behind the glass. "W-wait. Wait."

Are they working? Jameson asks.

"I... think they are." Henrik stares at Jameson. "There is a pattern on your neck bow?"

"Wha--you couldn't see that this whole time?!" Marvin gasps. "I mean, I guess it's a smaller pattern, with similar colors, but-- but we can all see that from this distance, right?" He looks around at the others. Chase nods in agreement. Even Jackie nods in agreement.

Jameson grins. Yes, this is my fancy one.

"Oh!" Henrik blinks some more. He looks around some more. "That is... oh. Wow."

Henny beams and backs up carefully. He claps as he sees Henrik look around. “yay! They’re working!!”

“Oh! You must be far-sighted then if closer objects are harder to see.” Dr. J smiles. “That’s not as common. We all are near-sighted.”

“I’m not as bad as you both.” Jackieboy grumbles.

"Near sighted? No, I do not think that is what this is?" Henrik says slowly. "It is just... all..."

"Henrik, was everything blurry to you?" Chase asks, genuinely concerned.

"That would explain him holding the parchment like this." Marvin repeats his mime from earlier.

"Shut up. All of you." Henrik carefully takes the glasses off and hands them back to Henny. "Thank you. That was... that was an experience." He laughs a bit.

Henny giggles, "It's okay- most things are blurry for me too! But, I can see things near me a bit better. But things farther away are very blurry. Probably like.... ah- here?" He sticks his hand out and squints and then stops his hand about an a half of an arm's length from his face. "That's when things get blurry for me!" He takes the glasses and puts them back on. "I wish i could give you your own pair! I think Alt might know a spell for that though!!"

"Ah, yes, that is about how it is for me," Henrik agrees, nodding at Henny's demonstration.

Dr. J shakes his head with a chuckle then goes to take off his glasses to offer to Jackie. “It seems only fair to have you try too. Though- I hope mine don’t hurt your eyes. I have a pretty strong… set of glass.” He says carefully- trying not to use the word ‘prescription’.

"Uh, sure, I'll try." Jackie takes JJ's glasses just as carefully as Henrik did. He puts them on and blinks. "Hmm... yes, this does feel a bit strange in my eyes. But... I can see those trees' leaves." He points at a tree in the distance.

"Jackie, are you joking?" Chase says, still concerned.

"No, I'm not! I didn't realize they weren't supposed to lose detail. Elders." Jackie takes the glasses off. "Thank you. I think they were a little strong, but they worked."

Dr, J chuckles, "I remember a similar experience when I first got my glasses as a lad. It was so strange to see everything so clear! Especially the trees." He takes them back and adjusts them on his face, "I bet it would have felt better if we had something you know... closer to what your eyes needed."

Jackieboy throws up his arms, "Jesus Jays! Fine, next time we go to a fantastical world, I'll make extra sure to bring my fragile glasses! You're such a nag sometimes!!"

"Do not be hard on him Juwel- he got his glasses later than us! It is a hard adjustment!" Henny tries to say gently.

Jackie grins. "It's alright, Jackieboy. I can still see enough. Seeing things from far away doesn't really matter as much in a sword fight. Though it does explain my difficulty with range weapons."

"Oh, wait, if JJ needs these glasses, does our Jameson?" Marvin asks. He turns to him as he says this. "Jair, is your vision ever blurry?"

Jameson doesn't answer. He doesn't even turn to look at Marvin. He's tensed up, facing towards the wooden wall of the boat but staring at nothing.

"Jameson?" Chase gasps. "Oh, no, that's not a good place for that!" He pulls Jameson back away from the edge of the boat. Or tries to, at least. His feet are rooted in place and Chase stops, afraid that he'll pull Jameson over.

Jameson's mouth is moving, like he's trying to say something but no words come out. His hands move jerkily. The translation spell that gives it subtitles is struggling, showing random letters for the Swaps.

“Woah woah! What’s happening?!” Jackieboy asks in concern.

Dr. J rushes over, worried creased on his brow. He hovers his hands close by. “is this… a seizure…?” He wonders quietly.

"I-it does look like a seizure, doesn't it?" Jackie says shakily. "B-but it's not!"

"Believe it or not this is actually... very normal," Marvin says.

"A bit of an over exaggeration," Henrik mutters. "Given how rare it is."

“W-What should we do?!” Henny cries.

"Don't worry, we just need to wait it out!" Chase says. "And, uh, be ready to catch him." He's hovering nearby for that exact thing.

"Jameson is an oracle," Marvin explains. "And this is a vision. They don't normally last long, i-it's fine."

Dr. J’s eyes widen, “An oracle?”

Henny frowns, sounding out oracle himself, after seeing JJ say it, “…what does this word mean?”

“It means he can see the future…!” Jackieboy says in awe.

"I-I know, it's worrying to see," Jackie says. "But he's really okay."

Dr. J frowns, still looking worried but nods. “If you’re sure…”

Henny and Jackie watch with worry while Dr. J tries to stay close by, just in case he needs to try to catch him too. This looks… painful though. But if it’s… common then, there’s not much he can do.

After not too long, Jameson suddenly slumps. Chase and JJ catch him before he falls to the ground--or worse, off the side of the boat.

Marvin rushes over as well. "Jair? Jair!" He shakes Jameson a little.

Jameson shakes his head, looking around a bit disoriented. He realizes that Chase and JJ are holding him and quickly stands up straight. Then he notices the concerned looks on the Swaps' faces. His eyes widen in alarm and he hurries to say, I'm alright! Really, I am.

“T-That was… kinda terrifying to see-“ Jackieboy admits quietly. “that happens every time you a vision…?”

“Are you dizzy? Or feeling sick?” Henny asks.

Jameson smiles at the other's concern. I know, it's scary. Sometimes I frightened my siblings when we were younger. But I feel fine. No dizzy, no nausea. Just a bit weak.

"Which does make sense, your muscles all tense up at once," Henrik says.

"We've all been where you guys are, we understand," Chase adds.

"...well. Now it's time for the question," Jackie says.

"Right now?" Marvin raises an eyebrow. "Give the new people some time to process what just happened before you ask what it was."

Jackieboy raises his hand a bit, looking timid. “…I was asking gonna ask but I was worried that was insensitive…”

I'm used to it, don't worry. Jameson's smile falls. Shadows briefly cover his eyes before he hides it with a neutral expression. You want to know what I saw, right?

Jackieboy nods.

"Is it... relevant?" Henrik asks carefully.

Again, those shadows flicker. Jameson shakes his head.

Marvin frowns. "Really?" he says doubtfully.

Henny looks hopeful for a second but then his face falls, “Oh… then it is not about Alt or Bro…?”

Dr. J nods, crossing his arms. “I guess that’s to be expected… that doesn’t seem like something you can just control. You don’t have to share if you don’t want to, Jameson.”

Jameson's shoulders slump slightly with relief. You're right, it's not something that can be controlled, he says. Not for lack of trying, on my part or... others'. But I really don't think this one in particular would be helpful. He gives them all a small smile. Sorry. But thank you.

Dr. J gives Jameson a small smile too. “Of course, we wouldn’t want you being uncomfortable.”

"Do you need to sit down, Jair?" Marvin asks. He looks around. "I know there are benches in here--damn, they're all taken."

I'm fine, Marvin, really.

Jackieboy tries to shake off his disappointment and leans on the wall of the ship to look out at the scenery. He really hopes Chase and Alt are okay…

Henny still looks a bit worried. “We still have a while to go, ja? Maybe sitting down would be good- we could always sit on the floor! Or… is that not good on a boat?” He thinks out loud, screwing up his face in a comical thinking pose.

"Let's find out," Marvin says, and sits down on the deck. Draco immediate jumps into his lap. "Oh. Well, I suppose I'm staying here."

Henrik laughs. "I-I think it will be fine. There is nothing up here that will roll around. The most we have to worry about is other people falling if we hit a--" Suddenly, he flinches. His head turns to the side, staring at nothing. Then he faces the others again. "What was I saying? Ah, yes, if we hit a rock. But this is a deep river, it will be fine."

Henny goes to sit next to Marvin, offering his hand to Draco to see if he wants pets. “He is quite the affectionate kitty! He must love you a lot.”

"He's not usually this affectionate, to be honest. He must be trying to make up for [imíonoshtil] me to the Wildwood." Marvin gives Draco a half-serious glare. For some reason, the translation spell doesn't work on that word, but the boys vaguely hear 'teleporting' underneath the sounds.

Henny blinks in surprise, “Your cat can send you places?? He is magic too?? Oh- if my dog had magics- that would not be good. She’d only use it for treats!” He laughs.

"Well, Draco isn't exactly a normal cat," Marvin says, scratching Draco's chin. "He's a wizard familiar. An animal made of magic. And there's magic all over the world that he can use to move quickly. He only took me twice, and that's a whole story."

"He did make me think you'd been captured for about a week," Chase says, sitting down on the deck as well. Jameson also sits, but Jackie does not, preferring to lean onto the wall and watch the land passing by.

“Oh!!! What a special kitty!!” Henrik gasps in delight. “Well- except for- you know, worrying your friends.” He laughs lightly.

Meanwhile, while the others talk, Dr. J looks concerned again at Henrik’s behavior. “Henrik… are you feeling alright?”

"I-I am perfectly alright!" Henrik says hurriedly and in a way that definitely doesn't convince anyone. "I am simply--simply--"

"You know you don't have to tell them," Jackie says gently.

Henrik rubs his eyes. "Perhaps once we get closer to the city. I-it is a bit personal, but I am... curious about what it would be like in your world."

Dr. J knits his eyebrows together, the wheels turning in his head. He’s noticed some things but… “I don’t mean to pry. I just… I’m a… mental doctor. Back home. Or… I… I was. And I’m… trained to recognize these types of things. But, if you don’t want to share, that’s perfectly fine. And… I wouldn't know without asking you a lot of questions. I’m not your doctor, so it’s really not my business… as long as you’re not getting yourself hurt… or others.” He does look genuinely concerned but- he also doesn’t want to make assumptions.

Henrik blinks in surprise. Then he lets out a breath of relief. "Thank the Sisters. I-I was afraid--well, not afraid, but... worried about your reactions. My home nation was not as kind about, ah, 'mind sickness,' as they called it there. In Glasúil they are called curses, but it is not magical, just... natural. M-my medicine was lost when we had to leave our main base. I have been making do with a different one, but it cannot handle all the symptoms the way my usual tonic can. So... m-my behavior has been off for a while."

Dr. J gives Henrik a sympathetic look, “That sounds very hard, Henrik, being without the right medicine… I’m sorry. But, you don’t need to worry about any judgement from us, believe me. We…all have our issues.” He tries to laugh, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

Henrik doesn't laugh when JJ does. He nods slowly. "I think the same can be said for us, too," he says slowly. "Is not my place to air other's issues, but... if you ever need to talk, I think you will find a lack of judgement from us as well."

Dr. J freezes slightly but then quickly puts on a brighter smile. “…that’s very generous, Henrik. I’ll make sure to keep that in mind.”

Henrik nods. "Just... remember that." He smiles back, then turns and looks out at the landscape. "Nice out here."

Dr. J smiles, looking out with Henrik, feeling the nice breeze. “Yeah… it is.”

Jackieboy yawns, looking around and now slips down to rest against the wall of the boat, rubbing at his eyes. The rocking motion is actually kinda soothing… mmm did he sleep enough last night? …probably not knowing him. But this doesn’t seem like a good place for a nap. But soon enough, he curls up his legs to his chest and rests his head on top of his knees, blearily watching the landscape go by as he struggles to stay awake.

Jackie notices his other self nodding off. He crouches down next to him. "Tired? You know, people sleep on boats all the time. There are some spaces below deck. Assuming they haven't been claimed already."

Jackieboy blinks and looks to his other self and then tries to shake his head. “Me? Nah- ….well I mean I am but I’m always tired so… s’why I like to move around so much.” He stifles a yawn and presses the heel of his hand against his eye, quickly grinning back at Jackie. “‘Sides- what if I doze off and miss something by being below deck? Who knows! ..maybe bro and Alt already took down that cat bastard and are halfway to finding us!”

"Heh." Jackie smiles. "Yea, maybe." He sits down next to him. "If you doze off, I'll wake you up when something happens. Promise."

Though it will be a while before something does.

◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈

They'd been riding for hours--though not nearly as long as expected--and were just taking a break for food when the King finally picks something up. "Wait a moment." He narrows his eyes. "There are people up ahead. A lot of them. And they're... getting closer." He grins. "Surely they're not foolish enough to go back."

Magnificent gets up from where he’s lounging almost cat-like and perks up, slowly grinning. “Oh? Do you sense the rebels?”

At this Alt and Bro’s eyes flash green and they stagger up and put their hands on their weapons, Alt a seax, Bro a sword.

“Indeed I do.” The King peers down the river. “They must be just out of sight. If we wait here we can ambush them.” He looks around. This area has trees. They’re not close enough to be considered a proper forest, but they’ll do. “You.” He points at a cluster of warriors. “Get the horses out of sight. Magnificent, do you know any magic to help hide people?”

Magnificent teleports to his feet and then cracks his knuckles with a grin. “I do indeed! I can cast an illusion to keep us out of sight.”

“Are they on land, mu Ríth?” Alt asks, electricity building up around him.

“No, last I saw the rebels they were on a boat, and I doubt they would leave that behind now.” The King gestures at Alt and Bro. “You will lead the charge. Let Magnificent hide you. Then, once the boat is close enough, attack.” He looks at the other helmeted warriors. “The rest of you hide among the trees until these two make their move.”

“Yes, mu Ríth,” Bro and Alt say near at the same time, standing at attention.

Magnificent grins and laughs, magic dancing excitedly around his hands. In a wave of magic he casts a glamor over Alt and Bro. The two knights' bodies blend seamlessly into the background around them as if they’re truly invisible. “Alright! This will be quite the show~!���

Aneirin grins. "It will, won't it? Now we must hide as well. They'll be coming at any moment." He backs into the trees, letting the brothers and his warriors take the lead. He'll step in if things get truly desperate... or if he feels like he's missing out. Magnificent nods and teleports to hide in the trees.

The Phantoms' boat continues down the river without any trouble. They're coming up into a slightly wooded section now. Something about this is making Jackie uneasy. He paces across the deck, then looks up at the sky and frowns. It was a nice sunny day earlier. Those clouds appeared rather quickly.

Dr. J is also frowning up at the sky, his brows furrowed. “…those clouds sure came out of nowhere.”

Jackieboy is lightly dozing, Henny resting his head on top of his and trying to stay awake. He notices Jackie’s pacing and perks up. “Is everything okay, Jackie?”

"It's as JJ said, these clouds came out of nowhere," Jackie says.

Chase, leaning against the railing nearby, suddenly looks towards them. "They did, didn't they? I've often spent long times staring at the sky or the ground, and I don't think clouds usually form this fast..." He shakes his head. "But it's hard to be sure. And even if it's strange, what could it mean?"

“Maybe… magics?” Henny suggests quietly.

Jackieboy blinks awake and shakes his head, “Was’happenin’?”

Dr. J frowns, “Should we… maybe see about stopping for a rest? Is sailing during a storm on a river dangerous?”

Chase blinks. He turns to the side. “Hey Marvin!”

Marvin, some ways away, calls back, “Yes?”

“Is there magic that can influence the weather?”

Marvin is quiet for a moment. “I think… maybe if you get a circle of sorcerers together you might be able to?”

Chase turns back to the group. “Well there’s that.”

“I still don’t like it,” Jackie mutters. “It can’t be too dangerous to sail on a river during a storm. Not nearly as dangerous as sailing on the ocean during storms. But I’ll ask some of the sailors.” He walks away, heading towards the helm.

Chase frowns. He stares out at the passing landscape. “Let’s keep an eye out, okay?”

Dr. J still looks worried, but he nods, watching the landscape too.

Jackieboy groans and leans back against Henny. “Mannn if it rains then we have to moveeee!”

“You said you did want to fall asleep, mein friend.” Henny giggles.

“You’re so comfy and warm thoughhhh,” Jackieboy mumbles into his shoulder.

Henny laughs and pats his shoulder.“Well- I will not be for long if it rains!”

Unknown to them, the boat is quickly approaching the spot where Alt and Bro wait, hidden by an illusion.

As the boat appears, the Brody brothers get into ready stances. Without a word, Alt grabs Bro’s arm and together they glitch onto the boat. As lightning and thunder begins to roar in the sky, the swap boys notice a familiar sensation. The air suddenly feels electric and sharp and smells of metal.

Henny smiles and gets to his feet, already crying out for his friend. “Alt!! It is Alt!” But, then, the boys freeze as the illusion breaks, revealing Alt and Bro, staring at their friends with no recognition in their green glowing eyes. To this world’s boys, they instantly recognize the symbol on the tunics they wear, the Royal crest.

For a split second, everyone is frozen, shocked that people just appeared out of nowhere. And then weapons are drawn. A couple arrows are fired at Bro and Alt.

“Wait! Hold!” Henrik gasps.

“It’s too late!” Jackie draws his swords. “Defend yourselves!”

“No!!” Jackieboy yells, springing to his feet.

Henny is almost ready to try to use his watch when Alt’s eyes flash and he holds out a hand to make an electric shield around him and Bro.

Bro draws his sword and as soon as the arrows stop and the shield is dropped he yells and then charges at Jackie.

Dr. J stares in disbelief, “No no- what are you two doing?!”

Alt glances at Dr. J then bares his teeth, drawing his seax. “We’ve been ordered by the king to eliminate the rebels… and anyone who aligns with them.” He prowls closer, “So… if you wish to spare yourselves of their fate, step aside.”

Henny trembles, “A-Alt… w-why are you speaking as if you do not know us?!”

Alt’s eyebrows knit together. “…because I don’t. All I know is loyalty to aan Ríth.” He builds up magic and then tries to send out a wave of electricity to throw people off their feet.

Jackie parries Bro's attack easily. "You sure you're with the King? I know the royal family trains their warriors better." Bro’s eyes flash green as he bares his teeth in anger. Jackie grins, and goes for a disarming strike against Bro--but then Alt's wave of electricity hits and he gets knocked off his feet.

He's not the only one. Almost all of the Phantoms on deck get knocked over, including Jameson and Chase.

Marvin, managing to stay upright by grabbing the mast, looks at Alt. "Think you're a wizard? Alright. Let's duel." And he shoots a beam of light at Alt.

Back on the riverbank, several warriors step out of the trees. One throws a rope with a hook on the end, latching onto the side of the boat.

Henrik, also on his feet, notices the grapple rope on the side. "Vsevna! They're boarding!" he shouts.

Vsevna climbs to his feet. "Not on my fucking boat!" He pulls something off his back--an axe with a long spike on the back of its head--and rushes over, slicing through the rope.

Meanwhile, Henrik bends over and pushes aside a grate on the floor. He reaches in and grabs something, then quickly straightens and throws it. It's a small, circular bottle. It shatters against the riverbank ground and a wave of orange light crashes outward, pushing things over. The warriors, as well as the King and Magnificent, are in its range.

Bro’s about to strike at Jackie again when Alt’s wave of magic hits. He staggers a bit but stays upright and raises his sword, ready to bring it down on Jackie.

The electric wave sends Jackieboy crashing hard into the boat’s wall and he cries out.

Henny just manages to stay on his feet- and manages to see as the force of magic sends Dr. J flying off the edge of the ship.

JJ screams and desperately tries to reach out to grab something but misses- splashing into the water below.

Henny rushes to the edge and screams out after him. “JAMESON!!”

Alt and Bro turn towards the sound of distress before Alt gets hit by Marvin’s beam and is thrown off his feet, skidding across the ground.

The glow in Bro’s eyes flickers wildly with blue before he pushes forward then in a zip of power is flying off the boat and diving into the water.

Mag sees this and growls, building up magic- and doesn’t see the orange light of Henrik’s attack until he’s thrown off his feet and hits one of the trees. Bright light blooms in his vision as he hits the back of his head and slumps down, momentarily distracted.

"Cover!" The King shouts when he sees Henrik throw the bottle. Most of the warriors are able to flee quickly enough, and he is as well. He sees Magnificent get thrown back.

Under the water, JJ is struggling to find the surface, his clothes weighing him down as he tries to swim upwards. Then, strong arms are wrapping around him and pulling him up. Bro flies back up into the air before landing back on the ship with Dr. J.

JJ coughs and sputters before looking at Bro with wide eyes. “C-Chase…!”

Bro is looking down at JJ with equally wide eyes, confused.

Jackie, Chase, and Jameson climb to their feet. "Stay behind me," Jackie says, helping Jackieboy to his feet.

Jackieboy trembles a bit but tries to hide it as he stays behind Jackie. This is… so much more intense than he was expecting.

Meanwhile, Chase nocks an arrow and aims towards the riverbank. Jameson crouches down and starts rummaging through the same grate that Henrik got that bottle from, looking for weapons.

The warriors on the riverbank run back to the shore. A few more throw grapple ropes onto the boat and start pulling. Vsevna growls and tries to cut through them but there are too many. "Someone get the helm! Hard to starboard!"

Henny sees the other warriors trying to get on the ship and wishes he had something to help. As if in response, a teal knife of magic pops into existence in his hand. He startles slightly and then grins, going to help slash through the ropes too.

The King sees Bro jump off the side of the ship and rescue the fallen JJ. He narrows his eyes and shouts Commands at Bro. "Stop that! Remember your purpose!"

Bro suddenly stiffens as his eyes glow green again. He cries out and grips at his head, magic flickering wildly. “M-My… purpose…!” He whispers, the green quickly winning.

Dr. J quickly tries to grab Bro’s shoulder, “Chase…! Chase please! You need to wake up!”

Magnificent recovers quickly and growls, gripping his hand and sending out a pulse of magic, along with another message for Bro. {Remember Chase- disobey and you hurt your brother }

At this, the green ring around Alt’s wrist scars lights up and he screams as painful energy sends him back to his knees after he started to recover.

Bro hears this and he screams before the magic fills his eyes completely again. then all his fight is gone. He shoves Dr. J off him and growls at him coldly. “Consider yourself lucky I saved you, rebel scum. Stay out of the way.”

Jackie looks towards JJ and Bro--and notices the flickering green in his eyes. "They're enchanted!" He gasps. Quickly he steps forward, drawing Bro's attention. He thinks he can take him, and right now, they need to keep these two busy. "What are the ways to break the spell?"

Bro’s eyes lock onto Jackie again and he bares his teeth, taking out his sword again and rushing at him.

Marvin runs to Alt, conjuring a bubble of white light around him, hoping to trap him.

Alt looks up from the sudden assault of magic to see he’s trapped in white light. He growls and coats his seax in lightning and tries to see if he can slash himself free.

Taking a chance to breathe, Marvin looks towards Jackie and starts to say something, but then Alt tries breaking through the bubble and he snaps his attention back to him, quickly sealing up the slash that he made. "We can do that later! For now get them out of the picture!"

Dr. J’s eyes widen as he hears Jackie and Marvin. Of course… this must be Magnificent’s doing! But… why? And why are they so deep that they don’t recognize them? If only he could get one of them alone…!

As Henny starts cutting through the ropes, Vsevna looks at him in surprise, then grins. "Ah, resourceful in every world, I see!" Henny grins at Vsevna.

"Um?" Henrik looks at him, narrowing eyes slightly.

"Oh come now, sova, don't be so insecure--"

"Look out!" Chase shouts.

The warriors have bows, and now they loose the arrows.

Henrik, Chase, and Vsevna all quickly duck, avoiding the attack.

Henny startles as he sees the arrows coming. He fumbles for his watch and then holds out a hand, his eyes glowing teal. “Stop!” The arrows all stop in their momentum as they’re caught in teal magic. Then with a quick flick of his wrist, the magics gone and the arrows drop. Then Henny rushes to get back to slashing the ropes.

Henrik gets back to his feet again. "Ha! Impressive, other-me." He looks at Vsevna. "You are right, I understand now." Vsevna just grins.

Jameson stands up again, now holding a bow and a quiver of arrows. He awkwardly nocks one and fires at the warriors, flinching as the bow string hits his arm. Chase, following his lead, starts firing as well. So do some of the other Phantoms who are recovering.

Jackie parries Bro's wild attack. He grits his teeth as his mind whirls. They have to disarm these two! He swings his other sword while blocking Bro's with the other, aiming to smack the blade out of Bro's hand.

Bro’s grip is strong. As Jackie tries to disarm him, Bro holds firm and uses his strength to push Jackie’s blades down back towards him.

Jackie narrows his eyes and pushes back against Bro. Their blades are locked together for a moment, and then Jackie quickly snaps his two swords towards each other like a pair of scissors, trapping Bro's blade between them. He tries to wrench it to the side.

Bro manages to keep his grip and slides his sword back. He then tries to swipe out at one of Jackie’s legs.

Bro's leg hits Jackie's but doesn't do anything. Jackie glances down at the impact. Thank the Elders that Bro seems to have forgotten his super strength. But he'll remember eventually. Wtih a sudden yell, Jackie puts all his force into a forward push, planning to knock him down.

Bro isn't expecting the yell- but he manages to grab Jackie by the wrist and pulls him down with him. Hitting the deck by the back of the head majorly disorients him though, magic flickering wildly in his eyes.

Alt yells in anger as he’s sealed in and cracks his seax into the magic again. But he feels the familiar buzz on his arms and remembers he can get out of this easier. How did he forget? He glitches out of the magic and appears behind Marvin before trying to tackle him to the ground.

Marvin's eyes widen as Alt disappears. Shit! He forgot he could do that! He whirls around to look for him and cries out as Alt attacks him.

Jameson and Henrik turn around at the sound. Instinctively, Jameson fires the arrow he's just nocked.

Alt is raising his seax to try to stab Marvin in the throat. Then, the arrow Jameson fires hits him in the shoulder. He cries out and drops his seax, gripping at his wound and glitching a bit in place. The others can see his eyes flickering a tiny bit.

Marvin pushes Alt away, breathing heavily. He grabs Alt's head and holds it in place. Marvin's eyes start lighting up various colors, hoping that the extra stimulation will help loosen this enchantment.

Alt, for a second, catches the colors in Marvin’s eyes and seems to relax ever so slightly. But that sickly green light pulses brighter and he shakes it off, growling and then pushing to blast magic right in Marvin’s face.

Jackieboy looks around, wanting to help. He goes to look for a weapon like he saw Jameson do. Soon, he finds a decently sized knife and some throwing knives like he saw Jackie using. His eyes flicker up to the rigging above them, and he grins as he gets an idea. He quickly starts to climb the ropes, sticking the knifes into his belt. Henny ducks and weaves and tries to keep any other ropes from getting on the boat.

Chase sees Jackieboy climbing up the rigging. "What are you doing?!" he gasps. "Be careful!"

Jackieboy staggers a bit while climbing, but manages to get onto a more solid place rather quickly. He eyes the battle below- then looks out and freezes as he sees Magnificent and the King on the shore. “uhhh guys! Bastards spotted on the shore!”

Henny gasps at seeing Mag and the King on the shore, “I-Is that the king?!” Dr. J peeks over to see, narrowing his eyes.

Meanwhile, Marvin also yells in surprise. He barely manages to throw up a shield to Alt’s assault on his face. Even so, the force of the magical blast pushes both of them backwards across the floor. And then he hears Jackieboy's yell. His head snaps to the edge of the boat and he runs over. "Trade you!" he shouts to Henrik, and aims a burst of fiery magic at Magnificent.

Henrik nods and spins around. He thinks he's found a good potion to use. And he throws it towards Alt.

The King watches all this from the riverbank. He glances over towards Magnificent, then hurries over and shakes him. "They're getting away," he whispers urgently. Indeed, with Henny and Vsevna constantly cutting off the grapple ropes, the boat is continuing down the river, sailing away slowly but steadily. "I can do something, but it will be drastic. Do you have anything less drastic?"

Magnificent growls and tries to think, “Other than setting the boat on fire… how drastic is your plan?!”

"It's just as drastic as that." The King bares his teeth in a smile. "Surely you remember my skill with lightning. Take out their sail and they're at the mercy of the current." Then he notices Marvin's attack. "Move!"

Magnificent’s eyes light up and he grins, “We’ll take down the sail then-“ He cuts himself off and dives into the sand, gasping as he just barely manages to dodge the fire. He growls and pushes himself up, eyes glowing brightly. He whips out green fire to blast at Marvin too.

Marvin ducks as Magnificent throws fire of his own. "Yes, that's the bastard," he mutters. He aims another blast of fire at the King instead--

"No!" Chase pushes Marvin and the blast goes wide, setting the trees on fire instead. "Remember what we know now!"

The King tenses up, preparing to dodge the fire, but then Chase knocks it wide. He chuckles. "Fools," he whispers. "Alright. Take it down, then."

Henny gasps as the magic goes wide and stares out at the king and Mag. They must be the reason his friends are being crazy right now… but how do they stop this??

Alt skids back against the deck and tries to shake off his disorientation. He then notices Henrik throwing something and gets to his feet in a crouched position before glitching and shoving him up against the side of the ship. “Fucking rebel bastards!” He hisses.

The potion Henrik threw shatters against the deck, conjuring up wildly writhing vines. With Alt glitching out of the way no one is around to get caught in their grasp. Henrik isn't expecting that. Nor is he expecting to be suddenly pushed against the side of the ship. He gasps and fumbles at his belt until he finds a small dagger. He holds it up to Alt's neck. "I-I do not want to hurt you," he says in a shaky voice. "Just back away."

Alt’s eyes flicker wildly as his murderous expression falls, tensing back slightly from the knife. It’s so close to his scar- he can’t remember how he got it but he knows that’s too close. A hazy memory flickers in his head- of a kind doctor sharing coffee beans with him, smiling warmly. “…h-hen…” He breathes out.

Henrik nods. "Yes, exactly. Y-you know that--"

Jackieboy sees Bro struggling and slips out one of the throwing knives and tries to see if he can pin Bro to the deck by catching his tunic.

The knife sinks easily into the deck and pins Bro- though he’s still trying to get his bearings.

Jackie quickly pins Bro to the floor, pressing the flat of his blade across his chest. The sword isn't harming him now, but it would be easy to slip up and get cut. "Don't move," Jackie says, and tries to hit Bro on the back of the head to knock him out.

Bro starts to fight slightly as he’s pinned, growling at Jackie with anger. But then, Jackie manages to hit him hard enough that he slumps completely to the deck, out cold.

Alt stiffens as Bro falls and then he forgets about Henrik entirely and glitches over to dive at Jackie, yelling in rage.

"Jackie, watch out!" Henrik shouts.

Jackie's eyes widen and he rolls to the side, dodging Alt's attack but leaving Bro's unconscious body undefended. He gets to his feet but hesitates, unsure how to proceed. He doesn't know how to prepare for Alt's 'glishing.'

Alt slides across the deck and lands like a cat, baring his teeth. His eyes flicker to Bro’s body. Then he stares at Jackie, magic building up around him as he makes a seax out of his sparking magic.

Magnificent feels his connection to Bro go cold and he growls. “That useless fucking hero!” He aims for the sail and sends out a bolt of Lightning.

As Mag sends out his lightning the King feels its electricity. It's going to go a bit wide so he reaches out and pulls it into place. The blast hits the top of the mast, spreading down to the canvas sail... and the rigging where Jackieboy is hanging.

Jackieboy jumps and screams, scrambling towards the main pole and trying to dodge the parts of the mast that are falling. “Shit shit shit!!!”

At the railing, Vsevna, Chase, and Jameson all spin around. "The mast!" Vsevna gasps.

"Other Jackie!" Chase rushes over to the base of the rigging. "H-hang on!"

“Jackie!!” Henny cries.

Alt uses this confusion to run at Jackie, trying to slash at his chest.

Jackie glances up at the confusion, distracted momentarily. Then he sees Alt running at him and just barely backs up in time. If it wasn't for his chain mail shirt he would've been cut. "Hey!" He shouts, and goes for an attack, trying to hit with the flat of his blade.

Alt dodges out of the way and then tries to slash at Jackie’s hand.

Jackie tries to move his hand but he's not fast enough. He cries out as the blade slices through his glove. One of his swords clatters to the ground. But he grits his teeth and lunges forward, hoping to smack Alt and knock him out like he did with Bro. "Elders!"

Alt grins, giggling slightly, his eyes glowing a bit brighter. But then, he doesn’t dodge fast enough and gets knocked out by Jackie, hitting the ground with a dull thud.

Meanwhile, Vsevna is shouting at the other Phantoms to get the water from the hold. The King looks at the starting fire and grins. "Well... look at that." Without the sail, without anyone at the help. The boat is drifting. He gestures at the warriors and they throw the last of their grapples and start to pull. The boat slowly floats towards the bank.

Dr. J can’t do much so he tries to drag Bro away from the fighting and the possible fire. He lurches a bit as the boat starts to get pulled to the shore. He looks out with panic. Then he grabs Bro’s hand and starts to tap a rhythm on it- sos in Morse code as he whispers down to Bro, “P-Please Chase…! Wake up! We need your help! I know you’re in there!”

"I-it's going to be okay, Jackie!" Chase shouts up at Jackieboy. Then he looks back at the Henriks. "Can either of you do anything to help?!"

"M-maybe?" Henrik says, looking through the potions he has. "Just buy some time for me!"

Henny’s eyes flash teal and he nods. “I got this!” He shouts and then pauses time. He hurries to climb up, slipping slightly but determined to get to Jackieboy. He gets to him alright and grabs Jackie but then he hesitates on how to get down. Then he starts to lose his balance for a second- and they both fall.

At the last second, Henny flips so he lands hard on the deck and curls up to protect Jackie. As he hits the deck, time restarts in a painful burst. At least for Henny. He gasps as he arches his back, his vision going white for a second.

To the others- it looks like he just- fell out of nowhere holding Jackieboy.

Jackieboy blinks in confusion and then freaks out at seeing Henny hurt, “H-Henny!!”

Chase gasps in surprise as Henny and Jackieboy fall. "Y-you--how?!"

"You did not need to--" Henrik shoves a bottle at Chase. "Throw that on the fire!" he shouts, and hurries over to check out Jackieboy and especially Henny. "What happened?! Are either of you hurt?!"

Chase looks down at the bottle in his hand and throws it at the fire. It doesn't quite land where he's aiming but breaks anyway. Frost spreads across the mast and sail. The flames shrink down, but they've still done a lot of damage. Canvas is quite flammable.

Then the boat reaches the shallows of the river. Its hull grinds against the ground. A shudder passes through the entire boat, causing people to stumble but not enough to knock anyone down. The more pressing concern is that, now that the boat has been pulled close to the bank, the warriors are trying to board. Most of the Phantoms rush over to the side to keep them off. Chase and Jameson join them.

Henny grits his teeth through the pain then shakes his head, trying to clear his vision as he looks up at Henrik. “I used my magic!”

“Why did you do that?!” Jackieboy shouts, “I-I could have gotten down better than you hen! You could have gotten super hurt!”

“I am okay! Just- bruising!” Henny says, pushing himself up shakily.

"We will have to make sure of that later," Henrik says, glancing around. It's chaos as the warriors continue to try to board. Though the Phantoms have the upper hand with the high ground, the warriors are persistent, and don't share the Phantoms' reluctance to cause permanent harm. "Can you two fight? Or should I tell you to go somewhere safe?"

Henny shakes his head and gets to his feet. “I-I can still fight-!”

Marvin, meanwhile, tries to throw more magic. He aims for the King at first but then remembers what Chase said and goes for Mag instead. This bolt of magic is tinged slightly blue as he takes inspiration from Henrik's frost potion.

Magnificent sees the magic coming and swipes a fire covered hand to stop Marvin’s spell before it reaches him. Then he yells in frustration as he feels his connection to Alt go fuzzy. “Shit! We might need to think of a backup plan… those idiotic brothers are down!”

But, now that they’re closer, Mag’s eyes glow purple and he holds out a hand towards Alt. Even though the glitch hasn’t been out for long, he suddenly gasps as his back arches and his eyes fill completely with purple. Purple strings wrap around his limbs and pull him back up to his feet. He staggers and falls over himself some- like he isn’t quite awake. He looks back at Jackie, but doesn’t really seem to see him fully. But then, magic flares up on his skin and in a flash of purple and green glitches he turns into a wolf and launches himself at Jackie.

Jackie gapes as Alt gets pulled upright. "H-holy flame," he says, backing up, taking in everything that's happening. His skin crawls just looking at it. The purple magic--this is the work of that Magnificent, isn't it? He's so taken aback by this disturbing sight that he's almost tackled by this new wolf form. Luckily he manages to get a hold of himself in time to dodge. He scoops his other sword off the floor, wincing slightly since his hand is still injured, and spins around to face him again. "Marvin?! Backup?!"

Marvin is ready to throw more magic at Magnificent when Jackie calls. He turns around--"What the shit?!" Wolf?! Wolf?! Okay, time for some drastic measures. "Give me one moment, Jackie, I need to find Draco!" he shouts as he runs towards the nearest entrance to the hold.

"What?! Fine!" Jackie braces himself, swords held defensively in front of him. Alt snarls, but he prowls around Jackie clumsily.

Meanwhile, Dr. J’s tapping seems to have worked… but not completely in his favor. Bro’s eyes fly open, once again bright green. He zips up and then throws JJ against the wall of the boat by his throat, choking him. He growls at him. “Why would I help someone like you?”

Dr. J scrambles to get his hand off, his mind going into panic mode. “B-Because… you’re our f-friend…! You’re a hero!”

Bro’s eyebrows knit ever so slightly, a brief flick in his eyes.

Jackieboy sees Bro awake again and attacking Dr. J and yells out, “Hey! Let him go!!” He then rushes to see if he can tackle Bro off JJ.

On land, The King frowns, glancing at Mag. "If need be I can pull them out for a retreat. We'll burn the ship as we run." The air around him hums as he says that.

Magnificent’s hand shakes as he grits his fangs. “I-I think that might be wise… I can’t keep this spell up for long- and I feel the hero slipping-!” Blood is starting to drip from one of his eyes.

Jackieboy manages to throw Bro off Dr. J and the two of them skid across the deck.

Dr. J falls to his knees and coughs, holding his throat.

Bro pushes himself up and looks up at Jackieboy with widening flickering eyes. “j..Jackie?”

Jackieboy feels tears in his eyes as he pulls his hands into fists at his side. “Chase please! You gotta break out of this! You’re not some evil knight! You’re my fucking best friend! You’re Bro Fantastic! And he wouldn’t side with some tyrannical king!”

At hearing his hero name, Bro’s eyes glow silver blue and he whispers, “Bro… Fantastic…?” He then cries out and curls up against the deck as he grips at his head, purple trying to fight in his eyes.

Henny sees this and calls out, “Y-You must keep fighting Chase! We all need you! A-Alt needs you! You cannot save anyone being stuck like this!”

Bro yells out, curling up more as his shattered mind burns- his head pounding.

Alt then slightly glitches and he lashes out, trying to bite Jackie’s leg.

Jackie yelps, not expecting the wolf to go for the leg. He barely moves out of way in time, Alt's teeth snapping closed only an inch from his skin. "Marvin?!"

"Found him!" Marvin returns from the hold with Draco held awkwardly in his arms. "I haven't actually done this yet, only practiced on my own, but here we go!"

Draco's eyes glow blue. Marvin's eyes glow white. And then the two colors shift until they are the same pale blue-tined color. Strands of light wrap around Draco's body as Marvin runs over to Jackie and the wolf. Then, with a yell, Marvin throws Draco. The light covers him completely, growing bigger—and then he lands in front of Alt, suddenly just as big as the wolf is. Draco hasn't changed into a different type of cat, he still has his coloring and housecat proportions, but now he is big, with eyes that glow bright blue. He hisses at Alt, fur bristling and claws out, and lunges.

Alt isn't expecting any of this- and soon enough he’s getting pounced on hard enough to make his wolf form burst into pixels as he snaps back into his human form. Veins of purple magic are leaking out of his eyes as the magic flickers and he weakly tries to fight from being trapped by Draco’s claws.

"Elders and Sisters!" Jackie jumps back in surprise. "Since when can Draco do that?!"

"Since now," Marvin states. Draco keeps Alt's human form pinned but doesn't continue to attack.

Chase sees what Jackieboy and Henny are doing. He stops shooting and joins them. "They're right!" he gasps out to Bro. "I know you—not for very long, but if there's one thing I know, it's that you want to do the right thing. Try to remember! The King is not on the side of justice!"

Tears are falling down Bro’s cheeks as he gasps and shakes, trying to fight off the magic. He knew this was wrong- he didn’t want to do this! He glances at Chase, voice warbling. “O-Other me…!” Memories of their last adventures causes the magic to flicker more but- Bro is starting to win. The claws of Magnificent’s magic are being pushed back- his mental wall aiding him in fighting it off. But then his eyes flicker to Alt and he stills, purple trying to creep in. “Alt… I… I need to help Alt-!”

Jackieboy kneels down by Chase and holds onto his shoulder. “We’ll help him next Bro! But, you’re his best shot! Mag and the King are hurting him- hurting both of you! They’re using you! None of what they’re making you do is right!”

Bro shuts his eyes and yells one more time, but this time with more determination. The purple and green trying to leak into his eyes burst like glass and then Bro slumps completely to the floor, eyes half rolled up into his head.

Magnificent screams in rage.

The King's head snaps towards Magnificent as he screams. That's not a good sign. Time to act. He holds out his hand, tracing a circle in midair—

—and Alt and Draco fall through a green glowing hole that suddenly opened up in the deck below them. A similar hole opens up in midair next to the King and Magnificent.

"What in the damned world?!" The King gasps, staring at Draco. He recovers quickly, drawing his seax and slashing through the air. Crackling lightning shoots from the blade and hits Draco, sending him flying backwards.

Alt hardly reacts as the portal is opened and he falls but once Draco is off him he glitches to be back by the King and Magnificent. Then he falls to his hands and knees, shaking wildly.

From the ship deck, Marvin screams and falls to his knees, clutching his chest.

"Marvin?!" Jackie drops his swords and runs to him. Henrik's head shoots up at the sound and he sprints over.

"I-I'm fine," Marvin gasps. "It was just—just for a moment. H-he hurt Draco, and I gave him some of my magic, so—"

"That's some side effect!" Jackie gasps.

"Time to go," the King says. "What about the other one?"

Magnificent grabs Alt by his arm and holds him up as the glitch dangles dazedly. He shakes his head, “They managed to snap him out! But… we still have this one. He’s still useful enough to keep around… and to keep the others from interfering.”

Henny sees this and hurries to see if he can get through the portal still. “Magnificent!!”

Mag sees this and throws out green fire to stop anyone else from crossing through. He flashes glowing hate filled eyes at the rebels and snarls. “Congratulations kittens… you get to live a bit longer! But… not for too long. This isn’t over.”

Jackie turns towards the doorway as the flames shoot through and quickly pulls Henny back. He stumbles back as he’s pulled away.

As soon as Magnificent throws fire through the doorway and gives his little speech, Aneirin closes it. He does not need to say anything.

But, right before it closes- Alt’s eyes clear some and he just manages to catch the eyes of some of the others. …and he looks scared.

Henny yells out, tears falling down his face. “Alt!!”

Jackieboy is trying to shake Bro back awake, but the hero is limp and unresponsive.

The King looks back to the boat and catches sight of Chase, who stands and turns towards the railing. The two of them hold eye contact for a brief moment. And then Aneirin grins—and a bolt of lightning strikes the mast.

The wood of the mast splits, fire immediately catching. Luckily, most of the mast is still covered in frost, so the fire doesn't spread too far. Still, it's an effective distraction. The Phantoms turn back, yelling in surprise and confusion, and Aneirin commands the warriors to retreat.

"To the horses," he says, already running in that direction. "Put that one on yours, we can't have him holding us back."

Magnificent nods and quickly grabs Alt’s wrist, slicing off the tracking bracelet. They can always have him cast another one to find the others later… but he can’t have them following them. He teleports onto one of the horses, throwing Alt onto the back and making him pass back out with a wave of static.

Dr. J and Jackieboy hurry to the edge to yell out for their friend.

Aneirin mounts his horse startlingly easy, up in seconds. He grabs the lead of Magnificent's horse, attaching it to the bridle of his, and shouts, "YAH!" Both horses immediately start off in a gallop. The warriors are left behind to catch up, something that not all of them will be able to do without horses of their own.

Chase quickly nocks an arrow and shoots, prompting Jameson to do the same.

But they both miss.

"No!" Chase screams. "No!" He grips the edge of the railing, looking like he's about to throw himself over it and run after the retreating horses. He barely restrains himself from doing just that.

“Alt! ALT!!” Jackieboy screams after them, blinking back angry tears.

Dr. J feels his shoulders sink in despair as he looks away and closes his eyes. “…we can’t catch them…”

Jackie helps Marvin to his feet. He stares after the horses... but they don't have any on board. They'll never catch up without them. "H-hey." He turns to the rest of the Phantoms. "The mast is still on fire." And he starts giving orders on how to fix it.

Henny watches the fire burning on the deck and on the mast and then chokes on a sob, falling to his knees. They got Bro but… Alt is still lost! And now… they know his fate is much worse than they thought.

The sky rolls with thunder, everything is gloomy and gray. Despair hangs heavy in the air.

And then the rain starts to fall.

Jackie pauses in his orders to look up at it. He sighs. "Alright!" He does his best to look unruffled as he continues to address the Phantoms. "We can't go anywhere with the mast like this, so get the tents out. Doctors, check for injuries. We'll wait out the storm, then decide what to do next."

The Phantoms immediately start to move, but Jackie stays where he is. He looks at his other self.

“That fucking furry bitch! Next time I see him I’m gonna fucking kill him!!” Jackieboy growls weakly.

"Yea," Jackie whispers.

"We'll kill him alright," Marvin mutters. He shivers a bit, remembering that the—the magician is supposed to be him. "I-I need to get Draco," he says, hurrying over to the railing and pushing the gate part open. He disappears from sight before anyone can say anything else.

Dr. J looks up at the sky as it starts to rain. He was already soaked from his dip in the river so it actually feels almost nice. He stands there for a second before going over to Henny and sitting beside him. It doesn’t take long for Henny to fall against him and sob into his shoulder as the good doctor holds him tight.

Meanwhile, Chase slumps to the deck, sitting down. Jameson hovers around awkwardly, looking unsure, before deciding to go help people with the tents.

Henrik crouches down by Bro, giving him a quick check-over.

Jackieboy tries to scrub at his face but- kinda dumb when it’s raining now. At least it’s putting the fire out. He goes to check on Bro too, sitting down on his other side as Henrik checks him over. “…is he okay, Doc?”

The cost of fighting off all the magic seems to have manifested into a slight fever as Bro pants slightly, eyes twitching underneath his fluttering eyelids. He whines a bit in his passed out state, hands trembling.

"He's passed out," Henrik reports. "And has a slight fever. It is not too different from side effects I have seen from overusing magic. But, ah, his magic does not work like that, I know. Even so, if this is similar, he will be fine. We should get him into the rain as soon as possible. I-I mean out of the rain." He leans back and lets out a sigh. "I'm... sorry. I cannot..." He trails off, eyes glazing over.

Jackie walks over, hearing what he said. "We can get the tents up really fast. Don't worry. A-and it's not coming down too hard, either. It will be... fine." He looks at Henrik. "Right, Schneep?"

Henrik doesn't answer.

Jackieboy nods and pushes some of Bro’s hair away from his face, looking at him with worry. He then blinks up and tries to shake his head at Henrik, “I-It’s okay man- a lot just happened…” But then Jackieboy blinks and gets to his feet, very worried about the glazed look in Henrik’s eyes. He tries to wave a hand in front of his face. “Ummm Henrik? Are you okay?”

Jackie shakes Henrik's shoulder gently. Still no reaction. He sighs. "He's [katehránhe]. Don't worry... too much. It's a symptom of that curse he mentioned earlier. Did you hear when he talked with JJ about that? A 'mind sickness.'"

Like earlier when Marvin talked about Draco teleporting him, the translation spell struggles with 'katehránhe.' The Swaps hear the word 'dissociating' underneath the word that Jackie actually says, clearly the closest approximation.

Chase blinks, coming back to reality. "I-I've never actually seen him do that. Is it... really okay?"

Jackie shakes Henrik again, now a bit rough. "Henrik? Schneep? Henrik?"

Still nothing.

"If he's not coming out of it now he'll come out of it on his own later. We can keep trying but it could be just a matter of time while his mind goes through what just happened."

Jackieboy winces, “Ah yeah… I vaguely heard. That… really sucks.” He shakes his head, “Um until the tents are set up should we see if we can get them below deck…? Bro and Henrik… I doubt this is fun to experience when you’re also getting soaked…”

Jackie nods. "Good idea. It won't take that long, but we can't let them get cold. You guys get Bro." He grabs Henrik by the arms and pulls.

Henrik follows the motion, standing up.

Jackieboy nods as well, leaning down and grabbing Bro’s arm and throwing it over his shoulder and hoisting him up. He isn’t as strong as the hero but he’s done this enough times now to be semi-decent at lugging him around.

"Alright, let's go." Jackie nods, and guides Henrik over towards the hold. As the two of them--and Jackieboy and Bro--go towards the hold, Jameson leaves it. He steps aside for them to go past and looks around, taking in the state of the rest of the ship.

Marvin is just climbing back on board with Draco, now a normal-sized cat again. Chase is standing up and also looking around, trying to find something to do. And JJ and Henny... where are they?

Dr. J and Henny are still on the deck, JJ trying his best to calm down Henny while the latter cries. Eventually though he mumbles, almost too quiet to hear. “Henrik… we can’t stay out here in the cold…”

Henny sniffles and shakily nods against him. Finally he pushes himself up and looks at the others with red puffy eyes. He takes in the state of the ship and feels that sadness try to swallow him whole again. “…Vsevna’s ship… t-they… they ruined his…” His lip warbles.

Dr. J sighs and gets up, slowly helping Henny up to his feet.

Jameson sees the two of them, overhearing Henny's last comment. He approaches them. If it makes you feel better, it's not actually his ship, Jameson says. We borrowed it. I'm sure we can return it once it's repaired.

"Jameson, is this really the time?" Chase says, sounding tired.

...I suppose that's a small part of everything terrible that happened, Jameson admits.

Henny does seem to perk up a bit, knowing it can be repaired. He tries his best to smile at Jameson and nods his thanks.

But I do really have something that may help. Jameson continues, Once we've got all set up, come find me, alright?

Marvin catches the tail end of that handspeak. "Jair, do you mean...?"

Later, Jameson says firmly. Once we're safe and dry.

Henny and Dr. J both blink and share a glance. “Of course, Jameson. A-Anything you have to help is.. appreciated.” Dr. j says quietly, rubbing at his neck.

Jameson gives them a small smile. If you guys want to help, you can. Or you can wait down in the hold where it's dry.

“I can help,” Dr. J says quickly. He turns to Henny and smiles, “Henrik why don’t you go wait in the hold? You had quite the fall.”

“But-“ Henny tries to say before JJ nudges him slightly, “Doctor’s orders. Please go rest.”

Henny looks conflicted before he nods and heads down to the hold.

Dr. J turns back and smiles, “So… what can I help with?”

Jameson smiles. Do you know how to set up a tent? If not, you can help us move things from the hold.

“I don’t so yeah I’ll help move stuff.” Dr. J replies with a light smile.

“I’ll help too,” Chase says. “The more people, the faster we’ll be dry.”

That’s true. Jameson nods. Alright. Let’s move, then.

The rain is not stopping.

◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈━◈

But the rain doesn’t cover everything. The horses ride hard until they’re out of its range. Then Aneirin abruptly pulls them to a halt. He turns back and glares at the direction they came from. “They were more skilled than we thought,” he mutters angrily.

Magnificent grips at his face as blood drips heavily down through his fingers. The air around him buzzes angrily as he snarls. “The fuck… I thought we had them! Annoying fucking…!” He curses, looking back at the still passed out Alt.

Aneirin grits his teeth in anger and nods. He glances at Magnificent. “Is that blood normal?” Then he looks at Alt as well. “And is he still under control?”

“That last spell used more power than I thought… I’ve reached a limit.” Magnificent growls as he wipes at the blood. “I should gain it back quickly… just an annoyance.” He narrows his eyes at Alt then goes to grip at his head.

Alt’s eyelids flutter and he moans quietly in pain. But under his eyelids flickers with purple and green static.

Magnificent hums, “…yes. Our claws are still in deep.”

Aneirin nods. “Good. We have that, at least.” He rubs his eyes. “I’ve also used a lot, though I’m not yet drained. Lightning always takes a lot. And that damn familiar—I thought those spells were lost.” He shakes his head. “We may need reinforcements if we want to continue to attack. Or we could regroup and try again some other time. I would prefer to eliminate that particular group as soon as possible, though.”

“Agreed…” Magnificent spits.

His mind wanders to think of a solution. If only he had his vestiges… he might be able to make some panthers here but that would require hunting down stray cats… not exactly something he’s looking forward to. And.. gods he doesn’t know if the TRVLR can even work after what it did to Alt. If only there was another way…

Then, his eyes widen slightly. Oh… that could be useful. From what he remembers… that gateway looks like something straight from this world.

Mag looks to the King, “…Aneirin… do you have any idea if such a thing as this gateway exists here?” He opens up his mind to the Royal, picturing the arch he’s used before, with the obsidian covered stones and runes along the sides.

Aneirin narrows his eyes—and then opens them wide. “That doorway. There’s one in your world as well?” He gasps. Then he nods. “Yes. Yes, of course, that would explain why most of the symbols are so strange. I’ve seen exactly what you’re looking for, Magnificent. But… you won’t be happy as to where.” He pauses. “I don’t think you have the Wyldlands in your world. Since the amount of magic here was unfamiliar to you the first time. But that’s what they are. Places of pure magic. And they are very, very dangerous. That doorway exists in the Wyldwoods on the west half of this island. Where, I do not exactly remember. It has been a long, long, long time.”

Magnificent eyes gleam with something akin to excitement and hunger. “ohh… is that so?” He giggles. “If we can get to the doorway… we might be able to open it long enough for me to grab my vestiges and panthers… they could help us greatly and give us an advantage… and give us a sure-fire way to reach beyond the borders of this world!” He laughs. “…surely a magical forest won’t be too much trouble for us, right?”

The King doesn’t smile. “This isn’t just a magical forest, it is the primeval magic of the world welling up. Many of the more fantastical creatures of this world retreated to the Wyldlands when humans began to spread. And beyond that, the magic is so powerful that the place itself—the trees, the flowers, the dirt itself—has a mind.” He tilts his head. “But you and your ‘cub’ have different magic, perhaps that will be an advantage. And the place does not like me very much. It may avoid us. In any case, a smaller group is better.” He looks back at the warriors and mentally dismisses them. They turn their horses around and head straight back to Suilthair. “We don’t want to attract too much attention.”

Magnificent frowns and makes a face. He looks back down at Alt and then snorts, sitting up confidently. “What can a bit of ancient magic do against us, anyways? I’ve learned to make magic my bitch. I’m not scared of some spooky alive forest.”

Aneirin lets out a burst of laughter. “I admire your confidence.” It was the same confidence that he himself had so long ago, and it had scared the Wyldwood. “We’ll head west, then.” He glances down at the still unconscious Alt. “Is he injured? It will slow us down if he is.”

Magnificent grins and then glances at Alt. He looks him over. …there’s an arrow in his shoulder. And he could have a concussion from getting knocked out. Minor signs of corruption are under his eyes but… other than that he seems fine. “The arrow might be an issue… but he’s mostly unharmed.”

Alt starts to stir and groggily turns his head, looking out at the king and Mag. He struggles to sit up- how do you push yourself up from lying on a horse anyways? He dazedly looks around.

“…c…chase? Where’s-“ He croaks out before Magnificent growls and grabs his cheeks, forcing him to look into his eyes as they spiral.

“Your brother betrayed us, Alt. It’s best you forget all about him. All about him and your friends… they don’t matter. None of it matters. All you know is serving us. So forget.”

Alt’s eyes bloom with purple and green as the magic combs through his mind again. “…forget… forget…”

Magnificent lets him drop, watching the new suggestions take hold as he slumps down against the horse. “There… now hopefully there won’t be any rebellion from him…”

“Hopefully.” Aneirin nods. “If the arrow will be an issue, then I’ll take care of it.” He dismounts his horse and walks closer to Mag’s. He presses one hand against Alt right next to the arrow, then grabs the arrow shaft with the other—and swiftly pulls it out.

Alt yelps on instinct, snapping out of his trance. But, it seems to have taken hold. He feels pain for a split second before it’s replaced with a warm tingling feeling. A few electric sparks flicker around Aneirin’s fingers as the wound closes over. “There. Can’t remember the last time I did that. But I’d rather not waste time waiting for it to heal naturally.”

Alt blinks out and looks at his shoulder as it heals. He slumps and nods his thanks, “T-Thank you mu Ríth…”

Mag nods, “Good. Less likely to slow us down now. We should get going.”

"We should."

The King doesn't acknowledge Alt's thanks. He just walks back to his horse and gets into the saddle again. "I need some time for my power to recharge, but once it does, I can make a doorway to cut down on travel. Until then, we ride." He snaps the reins and the horses move again.

Alt tries to stay quiet and get as comfortable as he can on the horse, carefilly pulling himself up. He doesn’t like them but… he feels too weak to try to keep up with Mag and the king on foot.

There's a bird overhead in the sky. The King glances up at it. Another swift. Unusual. He wasn't aware of any in this area.

Alt’s too tired to notice the swift, trying to focus on staying awake. Mag glances up at it and frowns. Strange bird…

The swift flaps its wings once and then turns away. It's going so fast that it almost looks like there are lines coming from the tips of its wings.

Aneirin shakes his head. No time to worry about little things like birds-- And then suddenly the bird turns back and swoops down in front of the horses, startling them. Aneirin pulls on the reins, trying to calm them, swearing under his breath. "Shoot the bird! Hit it! Something!"

Alt’s eyes flash brighter green at the command and he finds his bow and makes an arrow of lightning. He aims and shoots but misses pretty quickly. Mag clings to the horse for dear life, not wanting to be thrown off.

After Alt tries to shoot the bird it circles back around and flies past again, right past him. And-- It all happens in an instant. Images flash through his mind, accompanied by feelings and sensations that seem real and yet not real at the same time.

Alt’s eyes flash blue as the images appear before his eyes. They… don’t make a lot of sense…but he… he feels a connection to it, like… it’s trying to tell him something. Something important. He grips at his injured arm, digging fingers in as if he’s trying to gauge the pain. Why… did he feel like he was the bird for a second…?

And then the swift is gone, flying to the west and quickly disappearing.

"What in the damn world was that?!" the King shouts, confused but instinctively knowing this is not good.

Magnificent snorts and shakes his head, “A fucking crazy ass bird is what it was! The fuck!”

The King shakes his head. "I've never seen something like that happen before. And I've been around for a long time." The horses are still skittish, so he reaches out and soothes their emotions. They calm quickly. Good.

"It's possible the bird was diseased and acting strange because of that. In any case, it is simply one bird, and a small one at that." He makes a gesture like he's holding something in one hand, demonstrating how small the bird is. "And it's gone now. Flew away. Something that we cannot do, which is unfortunate since we have a lot of ground to cover. We have to return to the task at hand."

Alt nods shakily but doesn’t seem fully there- trying to decipher what those visions meant. Some part of him deep deep down hopes the bird will come back. …but he can’t think such traitorous thoughts… the King is right. They have to focus.

Mag nods with a groan, “Yeah… wish we kept a tighter hold on that stupid do-gooder… but alas. We must keep moving.”

"There's always a chance we'll see him again," Aneirin mutters as he spurs the horses on. "In fact, we definitely will, since he's with the rebels. Perhaps when we do we can... show him the error of his ways." His eyes flick to Alt. "Isn't that right, á klaíoh?"

He doesn't really listen to whatever Alt says next. He's too busy thinking about what will happen when they find the rebels again. Planning on how to get rid of them once and for all.

Alt’s eyes burn green anyways, drifting thoughts stilling. “Of course, mu Ríth.”

And slowly the thoughts of his traitorous brother slip away.

[iamvegorott]

Magicians Don't Need Superheros Pt35

First: Link Prev: Link Next: Link

----------

Jackie was facedown on Chase’s bed, an arm dangling off the side and face buried in the pillow. Chase sat beside his legs and could somehow understand the muffled ramblings from the other. 

“So you’re crushing on Marvin?” Chase echoed. “Did you just realize this, or is it just now starting to, like, make you panic?” 

“It hit me like a truck last night,” Jackie explained. 

“I know that feeling of emotions hitting like a truck.” Chase chuckled. 

“You made out with Henrik during an argument. That doesn’t count.” 

“I mean, you and Marvin could-”

“I don’t want to get into a fight with him!” Jackie pushed himself up a bit, voice and face filled with panic. “I don’t want to be angry or have him be angry!” 

“Is…Is everything okay in here?” Henrik asked after lightly knocking on the door and opening it.

“We’re just talking, Hen,” Chase said with a smile as Jackie flopped himself back down on the bed, talking through the pillow. 

“What did he say?” 

“He said he’s okay, wanted some advice.” Chase translated. 

“Is there anything I can do to help?” Henrik went over to the bed. “Is it advice needed for something physical? You have not spoken to me a lot about certain things that our bodies do, and if you are confused about how parts work, I can explain.”

“You sound like you’re offering the ‘birds and the bees’ talk,” Chase said.

“I mean, if he has any questions, we can-”

“Nope, nope, nope!” Jackie quickly scrambled to sit up. “I don’t need any of that. That’s not what I’m confused about.” 

“Then what is the problem?” Henrik asked, blinking as Jackie answered with a groan, covering his face with his hands and falling back on the bed. Chase sighed as he stood, holding Henrik’s shoulder and guiding him back to the door.

“I got him, Hen. He’s having an…‘emotional discovery’.” Chase whispered the last part.

“Oh! Is it about M-” Henrik was stopped with a hand on his mouth. 

“Yes.” Chase glanced over and saw that Jackie hadn’t moved from his spot, showing he hadn’t heard or at least understood them. “I’ll call ya if we need you, I promise.” 

“Alright. Are we good for dinner?” 

“Of course.” 

“Wear something nice. No jeans.” Henrik reminded with a poke to Chase’s chest. 

“I’m still going to wear my hat,” Chase said with a grin. 

“Fine, fine, but that means you have to have a tie.” 

“Deal.” 

“I will see you then.” Henrik chuckled and stepped out of the room. Chase gave a little wave before closing the door. 

“Still alive over there?” Chase asked as he sat back on the edge of the bed. 

“Sadly,” Jackie grunted. 

“It’s not that bad.” 

“It’s the end of the world.” 

“Having a crush is not the end of the world.” Chase patted Jackie’s knee. 

“It feels like it.” Jackie sighed and sat up. “Maybe it’ll go away if I just ignore it-ow.” He flinched after Chase thumped him upside the head. “Dude?” “Ignoring it will only make it worse. Trust me.” 

“But what if I like ruin everything? I really like being friends with Marvin.” 

“It’s not going to ruin everything.” 

“How do you-” 

“Chase Brody!” A voice shouted from beyond the closed door. 

“Is that Dark?” Jackie’s question completely changed. 

“What in the world?” Chase grunted and got off the bed, leaving the room with Jackie following him. They came into the living room and saw the other Septiceyes already there, along with their sudden visitors of Dark and Mad. 

“Let go of me!” Mad snapped as he yanked himself out of Dark’s hold. He started reaching behind him and paused when JJ caught his arm, shaking his head. Mad gritted his teeth, huffed through his nose, and let his arm drop. Anti, on the other hand, didn’t have someone stopping him.

“The fuck you think you’re doing?” Anti snapped, shoving Dark back. Marvin saw that Dark only had to take a step back, and that showed Anti had held back, either because he wasn’t fully in the mood to fight or seeing Chase come into the room had him trying to somewhat behave. But he did have his lips pulled back in a snarl, showing off slowly growing canines and softly hissing in a warning.

“He was eavesdropping on mine and Host’s talk,” Mad said. 

“It is not eavesdropping if I am walking through my own home and you two are speaking loudly in the kitchen,” Dark spoke directly to Mad and then turned his attention to Chase. “And I thought we agreed that you Septiceyes were not supposed to interfere with the new Iplier.”

“Night,” Marvin stated. 

“Pardon?” Dark’s voice was thick with annoyance. 

“God of Night. That’s ‘the new Iplier’s name.” Marvin stood with his arms casually crossed. “While you are preventing the other Ipliers from working, we’ve actually made progress.” 

“Putting yourself into more potential danger is not ‘making progress’. Congratulations on getting a name. And you have been beyond lucky at this point that you’ve yet to get seriously harmed. 

“Aw, do you care about us, Darky?” Anti teased, snarl turning into a toothy grin when Dark glared at him. 

“It’s not about caring about you Septiceyes: it’s about not fully exposing us to the rest of the world. Henrik and Edward may be talented doctors, but I can’t see any of you willing to let another die because you can’t get to Henrik on time and end up going to a hospital instead. A hospital where they run specific tests that will give away that we are not normal.” Dark’s words got Jackie to start curling up on himself. “While we are powerful, we cannot go against the world if we are found out. Who knows what they will try to do? They will cage us, extract everything that they can, experiment on what we can and cannot handle, use us for whatever they want because since we are not human in their eyes, we are not worthy of ethical means.” 

“Dark, stop,” Marvin said, seeing how Jackie’s eyes went wider and wider, almost looking ill by this point. “You’ve made your point.” 

“Have I? I don’t think you-” Dark stopped when he saw Jackie’s face. “I know that look.” He said to himself and then addressed Jackie directly. “Something happened to you. Did you get caught?” 

“N-No.” Jackie crossed his arms, looking at anything that wasn't Dark. 

“You have been caught.” Dark saw right through that. “When did this happen?”

“I-I haven’t. No, no, I just-I don’t-I don’t like the thought.” Jackie shook his head. 

“Drop it, everything’s fine.” Chase stepped between Jackie and Dark. 

“There is no need or use in upsetting him.” Henrik stepped in as well. He didn’t know everything but caught on enough to know this was a bad idea. JJ moved in front of Mad and looked at Anti. The movements of their faces showed that he was telling him something but didn’t allow anyone else to hear. Anti breathed harshly through his nose and took a step back, not appearing to be the happiest with that choice. 

“No need? If Jackie has been studied to any degree, we need to know. If there is any record of who we are out there, it’s only a matter of time before they start hunting us down!” Dark’s words got Jackie to hug himself tighter as he took a step back. 

“I told you everything is fine.” Chase repeated, trying to use his tone to tell Dark to politely ‘fuck off’. 

“Clearly, it’s not if that is his reaction.” Dark pointed at Jackie and then used that same hand to push Chase aside. “You need to tell me what you did, right now.” He said as he went up to Jackie.

“I didn’t do anything.” Jackie’s voice was soft, body lightly trembling. “Leave me alone.” 

“If we are in danger, I need to know everything that is going on.” Dark moved in closer. 

“Dude, let’s step out and talk about this.” Chase tried again to keep Dark and Jackie separated, but Dark stayed in place. 

“We are talking about it right now. What the fuck did you do, Jackie?” Dark’s voice gave away that he was worried, but he was certainly going about it the wrong way. 

“I didn’t-leave me alone.” Jackie’s breathing was starting to get faster as voices started overlapping with everyone's arguments-

Tell me! Calm down! This is so stupid! You’re being a dick! Stop it! Stop!

Jackie felt like he was trapped, and Dark was directing all of his anger toward him about something that was fixed, something that wasn’t his fault. He didn’t want that stuff to happen. There was too much happening. It was too much. 

“Don’t ignore me!” Dark grabbed Jackie’s arm, and that was the final straw. 

“Go away!” Jackie pulled back his other arm and punched Dark in the center of the chest, sending him flying across the room. There was a hard and solid thud of Dark’s body hitting the wall, the house shaking from the impact. The spot on Dark’s chest where Jackie’s fist had connected was now covered with a ball of swirling black smoke.

There was a pause of silence, and Marvin glanced around the room, seeing Chase holding an arm out in front of Henrik and JJ pulling what looked like a baton out of Mad’s hand. Mad’s eyes were wide and dark blue with patches of red. Anti was tense, looking like he was ready to pounce, but it was hard to tell who he was ready to grab since he kept looking back and forth between Dark and Jackie.

Jackie.

“Jackie?” Marvin noticed how Jackie’s eyes were glowing green, no iris, no pupils, just a bright green, and his jaw was tight from clenching his teeth. “Jackie.” He noticed how Jackie was just glaring at Dark. There was strange, powerful energy radiating off him. It was something that couldn't be seen, it was something that could be felt. “Jackie, look at me.” Marvin saw Jackie twitch a little, likely fighting himself. “Jackieboyman, I will watch the newest Marvel movie without you and spoil it if you don’t look at me.” Yes, it was an odd threat, but it worked as Jackie blinked, and his eyes slowly started changing, the green fading, his pupils returning, and his irises back to blue. 

“What?” Jackie blinked a few more times, and then it registered what he’d done. “Oh shit, oh shit! I’m so sorry! Oh my, God!” He tried to go over to Dark, and Marvin stopped him, Chase scrambling over to help. “I didn’t-I didn’t mean-I’m-I’m so sorry.” 

“Breathe, Jackie, breathe. You know he’s okay. It was just a punch.” Chase said, managing to get his arms around the panicking Jackie and pull him into a hug.

Marvin looked over his shoulder and saw Dark was beginning to get up, grunting and exposing the man-shaped dent in the wall. If he didn’t already know about the supernatural aspects of the House, Marvin would have had more questions when he watched the wall shifting and repairing itself. Dark looked beyond pissed, the ball of smoke gone, and his chest was perfectly intact and clean like nothing had happened. Marvin was prepared to fight, but Anti swept in instead. His body became that black shadow Marvin saw him being the first time they met, and he pulled Dark through the front door. Not opening the door, he had literally pulled him through the wooden surface and to the outdoors. 

Knowing that Chase had Jackie, Marvin went over to the window and peeked through it. He watched as Anti and Dark talked, well yelled, considering how aggressive they both looked. Anti seemed to be doing most of the yell-talking, continuing even when Dark tried to speak. Eventually, he saw the shift in Dark’s face. How it went from anger to confusion, to sorrow and empathy. Marvin wasn’t even aware those were emotions Dark even had. His brows went up when he witnessed Dark place a hand on Anti’s shoulder, and Anti brushed it off, both of them making some interesting faces. Marvin couldn’t fully understand them, but there was definitely something. He was going to need some more tea and gossip with JJ.

“Marv?” Jackie’s voice pulled Marvin’s attention back to the room. 

“Yeah?” Marvin quickly read the space, seeing that JJ was now talking with Mad in a corner of the room, and Chase and Henrik were doing the same in a different corner. Jackie awkwardly held his arm and had a weak smile. 

“Would you really watch a Marvel movie without me?” Jackie asked.

“Hell no. There is no way I could understand half of what was going on without your encyclopedia of comic book knowledge.” Marvin chuckled. 

“Dark’s going back to the Manor,” Anti stated as he walked back into the House. He glanced over to Jackie and then rubbed the back of his neck, sighing, “I filled Dark in, Jackie…I’m sorry. I know you never wanted me to share those details, but he wouldn’t fucking let it go. Dark also believes that Chase knows everything about it as well, but that’s up to you how much of that you’re willing to share.”

“I thought Chase did know everything?” Marvin asked. 

“He knew where I was and has an idea, but I never went into the details,” Jackie said. “Anti only knows those things because he saw them when he…when he did the stuff.”

“Details about what? What stuff did Anti do? Myself and JJ have never been told anything about what is being referenced.” Henrik said. 

“Should…Should I leave?” Mad asked, his eyes shifting between several shades of blue. “I can call Mare to take me home, and-” He paused and looked at JJ. “Why shouldn’t I tell Mare what happened here?” JJ sighed and projected his voice to everyone in the room.

“We’ve handled the problem, and it’s something we can discuss with Dark more at a later point. But we don’t need Mare trying to fight him as well because he technically brought you here against your will. The last thing we need is more arguments while we’re still trying to figure out this whole ‘God of Night’ mess.” 

“Mare wouldn’t-”

“He would.” 

“Do we just keep doing what we’re doing, then?” Mad looked at all the other Septiceyes. 

“We do.” Marvin was the first to speak. “Host said me and Jackie are supposed to deal with Night, so we will. Dark’s just being paranoid because it’s not going to your guys’ usual routine. He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to like those things. We'll continue leaving him out of the loop for the most part, and we’ll drag Night’s ass to the Manor, and he can take over from there.” 

“We can discuss that tomorrow. There’s other stuff we need to talk about today. If Jackie is willing, that is.” Henrik said.

“Can we eat first or, like, have some food with it?” Jackie requested, trying to keep a chipper tone, but his anxiety was obvious. 

“Waffles?” Chase suggested. 

“Please.”

[iamfruitie]

Kinktober 2024 Day 3

Wall Sex - Schneeplebro

Henrik softly hummed to himself as he did some last-second organizing before his office opened for the day. He was beyond thankful that he got talked into creating office hours so he could have peace outside those hours. Aside from emergencies, of course. 

Henrik was able to be more productive during the less stressful times. He could only be so relaxed as the sole medical caretaker of the Septiceyes. He’s taken time to teach them basic first-aid, yet they always had endless questions. Henrik loved helping, but even he needed a break. So, setting this up meant no one was allowed in the office outside of the hours-

“Hey, Hen.”

Except for Chase.

“Good morning.” Henrik greeted without looking away from the papers he was setting into piles. It felt like it never mattered how much organizing he did at the moment; something always got mixed up and needed to be fixed by the next morning. 

“Any like meeting stuff today?” Chase asked, a clicking sound telling Henrik the door got locked. He didn’t think much of it and assumed Chase just wanted to ensure he had his morning peace. 

“Not that is currently scheduled,” Henrik answered. “But who knows where the day will take us.” 

“Days can get really interesting, really fast,” Chase stated.

“That they can.” Henrik agreed, hearing that something was ruffling, and still didn’t take his eyes off the papers. Chase knew not to get into anything dangerous, so he wasn’t worried. 

“You’ve been working out more, right?” Chase’s next question got Henrik to pause.

“I have. Why-” Henrik’s own question got caught in his throat when he finally looked at Chase and felt a rush of warmth taking over from seeing the other man fully naked before him. He stood very casually with one hand behind himself. 

“I know you don’t want to mess up your desk, so…” Chase held out the last word as he took a few steps back, pressing his back against the wall. “Wanna show off?” 

“Show off?” Henrik echoed as any blood in his brain went right down to a different head of his. 

“Show off how well you can hold me up,” Chase explained, grinning at seeing Henrik basically blue screen. It was fun making it hard for the doctor to think straight. “Already finger-fucked myself earlier. Made it a lot easier for us to get to it.” The grin managed to get wider, and he held up the bottle of lube he had been hiding with his body. 

Chase might have woken up in a bit of a…mood.

Henrik thickly swallowed before saying a few curses in German under his breath. He then decided he would do some 'table-turning' or whatever that phrase was after the reality of the moment finally settled. Chase ended up biting his lower lip as Henrik smirked at him and strolled across the room. 

“Are you suggesting we start the day with a certain kind of workout?” Henrik chuckled.

“I have no clue where that idea would come from.” Chase’s voice was thick with sarcasm as he started undoing Henrik’s belt. “I thought I was being subtle.” 

“Very subtle indeed. It was extremely difficult to tell what you wanted.” Henrik hummed. 

“I am a talented man.” Chase pushed down Henrik’s pants and boxers just enough to be able to squeeze his ass. 

“A horny man, but close enough.” Henrik teased before catching Chase in a kiss. Chase melted right away, satisfied that his blunt plan worked. “Stay,” Henrik ordered as he leaned back far enough to remove his lab coat. 

“The coat is the hottest part of your outfit,” Chase complained. 

“And it is my only clean one. We can save that for after laundry day.” Henrik explained and promised, kissing Chase to prevent him from protesting more. It seemed to do the job since Chase was now focused on the kiss and stepping on Henrik’s pants to get them down to his ankles. “Jump,” Henrik instructed and grinned when Chase obeyed without a second thought, legs wrapping around his waist and causing his shirt to slide up. 

“Damn, Hen. Didn’t think you’d get hard this fast.” Chase took his turn to tease.

“Hush.” Henrik rolled his eyes but had a smile on his lips. “Let me have the lube.”

“You have such a way with words.” Chase continued having fun while placing the bottle into Henrik’s hand and wrapping his arms around his neck. 

“Actions are much better,” Henrik stated, shifting his hips and leaning in with his chest. Dropping Chase would ruin the mood, so he made sure he was good and steady before his hands went down to use the lube on himself.

“Prove it.” 

“That is a very dangerous thing to request, my love.”

“Good. Make me regret it.” Chase really was in a mood, and the almost evil glint in Henrik’s eyes gave away that he was happy to match it. 

“I can do that.” Henrik chuckled, gripping Chase’s thigh while his other hand went around him. He used his fingertips to help guide the head of his cock. “It seems that you were not lying about your earlier activities.” He commented with a playful hum. 

“Give me some credit~” Chase’s last word turned into a breathy sound as Henrik chose that moment to push in. “Cheater.” 

“Now, how am I a cheater when you quite literally asked for this?” Henrik chuckled, his one arm hugging Chase’s waist as he slowly worked him down more and more, stopping once their hips were flushed against each other. 

“'Cause I said so,” Chase pulled Henrik into a kiss. 

“You certainly are something, Mr. Brody,” Henrik spoke against Chase’s lips, voice filled with affection. He then started testing the angle they were at by rocking his hips. The tightening of Chase’s legs told him that it was perfectly fine. 

“I’m going to need more than that.” 

“The faster I go, the shorter this lasts.” 

“Don’t care.” Chase tried to move himself, but one could only do so much when held up against a wall. “I already said to make me regret it.” 

“On it.” Henrik kissed Chase this time and, after moving his hands to grip his ass, decided to give him exactly what he asked for.

“Holy shit~!” Chase gasped when Henrik suddenly started bucking up hard into him. 

“Happy?” Henrik said between puffs of breath, focusing on keeping Chase in the air and pulling him down to meet his thrusts at the same time. 

“Y-Yes~” Chase moaned, letting his head drop to rest his forehead on Henrik’s shoulder. “Very, very happy.” 

“I have a question.” Henrik softly laughed when Chase whined at him.

“Don’t…Don’t make me think.” Chase lifted his head and rested it against the wall, feeling his hair and back rub against the surface. 

“When you took care of yourself earlier…did you finish?” Henrik was impressed with himself at being able to talk somewhat smoothly while doing this. 

“No,” Chase answered quickly. 

“That explains…the impatience.” Henrik started nipping at Chase’s neck, shifting his hips more so it was a new angle, pressing them closer together and making it so his cock rubbed against their stomachs. 

“Fuck.” Chase cursed his moan from that extra friction. “Are you-Are you trying to make me cum right now?” 

“Maybe.” Henrik chuckled. 

“You’ll get it…at this rate.” Chase closed his eyes and groaned low in his throat. 

“We have a full hour before I open.” Henrik felt Chase’s fingers against his back as he clung desperately to his shirt. 

“H-Hen. Shit.” 

“How much do you think I could get done…in a whole hour? How much…could I ruin you?” Henrik asked, swearing Chase would tear his shirt at this rate. 

“Henrik, Henrik, please,” Chase begged. 

“I am not stopping you, my love,” Henrik whispered into Chase’s ear, and that sent Chase over the edge. With a curse that was more moan than a word, Chase was cumming, and Henrik was definitely either going to need a new shirt or to wear his lab coat for the rest of the day. 

“So worth it.” Chase breathed out. “Give me...Give me a few. Like hell...I’m leaving you hanging.” 

“Don’t worry. I won’t be.” Henrik chuckled with a wink. 

[mothgodofchaos]

Hoodie

I needed to write a man being an absolute simp, and this idea came to mind.

Jackieboy Man x GN!Reader, TW: none Words: 1042

Today was particularly chilly, and with your clothes in the wash, you decided to borrow one of Jackie’s hoodies. Surely he won’t mind, it’s just for a few hours until yours comes out of the dryer. Plus, he’s out and about getting groceries for the house. Depending on how long he takes, he may not even notice. What you weren’t expecting was for him to come home early and catch you wearing it while making yourself lunch.

“Is… t’at my hoodie?”

“...maybe. Maybe not. You’re not getting it back.”

Jackie just looks at you with bewilderment as his cheeks grow more and more red, dismissing the quirk of your eyebrow with a wave and duck out of the room. You shrug, going back to cooking. Since you’re not too deep into the cooking process, you decide to make some for him too, perhaps as payment for borrowing his hoodie. Not like he doesn’t have others, he’s wearing one right now. You’re a bit confused at his reaction, but decide not to think about it too hard since food is on your mind. 

He comes back out into the kitchen after stocking up the pantry, folding up the grocery bags and stashing them away in the cupboard. A child safety lock clicks as you finish plating up your food, confusing you again.

“Is there a particular reason why we have one child safety lock on an upper cupboard in a house full of adults?”

“Oh, when Marv takes catnip, he tends t’ wander a bit. Last time he got int’ t’e cupboard an’ got lost inside a paper sack. Anti found ‘im, but was laughing too hard t’ actually help him out of t’e bag. Took like t’ree attempts t’ text Chase coherently enough t’ come help ‘im, as he recorded a very grumpy Marvin being ferreted out o’ a bag.”

“Oh my gods.”

“I don’t know if Anti still has t’e video or if Marv hexed it off his phone, but if ye want t’ see it, I know he’d show ye.”

“I’ll ask him later. Oh, by the way, made you something.”

You slide the plate across the counter, and he looks repeatedly between you and the plate of food in front of him.

“Did I do somet’in’? Did one o’ t’e boys put ye up t’ t’is? Anti, it was Anti, wasn’t it.”

“I- what are you talking about? Am I suddenly conspiring against you because I made you a sandwich!? No, Anti didn’t “put me up to this”, whatever the fuck that means.”

Jackie squints at you, taking the sandwich but peering between the slices of bread before picking it up and eating it.

“I come home and yer in my hoodie, refusing t’ give it back despite t’e fact I didn’t ask for it, an’ now yer making me food?”

“Uh, yeah?”

You stare at him dumbly, and his face turns red again, hiding behind his sandwich.

“So why my hoodie, why not one o’ Chase’s or one o’ Marv’s cloaks?”

“I like hoodies, and yours are a bit bigger. Plus, I know you keep warmer ones around, and mine are in the dryer.”

“And t’e sandwich?”

“I thought I’d make you something while I was making my own food as repayment for borrowing your hoodie.”

“Ye didn’t need t’ do t’at. I wasn’t like, mad or anyt’in’. Just not expectin’ it.”

His voice quiets, and you realize he’s getting rather shy, rubbing the back of his neck. He’s rather cute like this, his blush hiding his freckles that normally cover his nose and cheeks. His icy blue eyes almost sparkle in the sun coming in through the kitchen window, and it takes him a moment to realize he’s staring. 

“Well, uh, ye can keep t’e hoodie, fer now. As long as ye need, really.”

“I mean, I was really only planning on wearing it until my laundry was done. I can give it back in like a couple hours.”

“Well- how do I say t’is- fuck- just stay here for a fuckin’ second.”

Jackie rushes out of the kitchen and you’re left just puzzled, starting up the coffee maker to make another pot after Henrik failed to make a refill. Jackie returns with a basket, filled with spooky decorations and Halloween themed items.

“T’ey’re called “boo baskets”, and ye usually make t’em for like, people yer dating. I was gonna wait closer t’ Halloween but ye look adorable in my hoodie an’- fuck I’m bein’ awkward- would ye, go out wit’ me…?”

He pulls a single black rose out of the bag, holding it out to you. Your eyes scan the bag, snacks you like, blanket, candles, spooky slippers, all things for a cozy spooky night in. Jackie looks nervous, almost bracing himself for the chance of getting rejected.

“I’d love to, Jackie. Why don’t I make dinner tonight, we put on a spooky movie in my room, and break into the basket you made for me? The boys won’t bother us in there.”

His face lights up as you accept the rose, almost animated with how big his smile is. He picks you up around your waist, spinning you around in the kitchen as the two of you laugh.

“T’e boys have known o’ my crush fer a few months, t’at’s why I t’ought one o’ t’em put ye up t’ t’is…”

“Jackie… months!?”

“It’s not like I didn’t try! Yer, a little dumb. But I like t’at about ye.”

You flick his nose, and he playfully tries to bite your fingers.

“I am not that dumb!”

“...how about I tell ye about my previous attempts over a bowl o’ popcorn an’ some o’ t’ose weirdass sugar cookies?”

“Deal.”

He laughs as he puts you down, fixing the hood over your head. It’s hard not to admire how big it is on you, especially with how smitten he is right now.

“I could kiss ye right now, ye look fuckin’ adorable.”

“You could, but…”

You sprint around the corner, catching him off guard.

“Gotta catch me first, hero boy!”

Jackie stands there, looking to where you ran off to with a loving sigh, before chasing after you with a light jog.

“Ye better watch out t’en!”

[longbobmckenzie]

GIVE ME THE FUCKING HOCKEY AU IM ONSESSED WITH SPORTS ROMANCE FICS

SORRY IT'S TAKING SO BLOODY LONG TO GET TO IT

I already got asked about this one (here) so for you I'll give you a list of the prospective cast. These are subject to change if/when I rework the idea, but for now here's what I've got! Also I'm probably gonna have to cut it down a bit because the cast is enormous 😆

Bailey - Main Character. Daughter of the team's owner, she's starting a new job with the team doing PR/social media

Henrik - Love interest. Plays forward, is planning to quit hockey after the season is done because he wants to do more climbing (he got a knee injury the previous season which meant rehabbing all summer and that was frustrating for him)

Magnus - because obviously Henrik's brothers have to be included. Magnus is a star player on the team and also a fuckboy. I have to rework a bit with him, but expect him to sleep with a lot of people

Rasmus - Henrik's other brother, who plays for an opposing team

Lucas - the team physio (no I'm not changing it to Jack but he can be there as a background character I guess), also Henrik's best friend. Has a crush on Bobby

Bobby - an import from the UK, he's a total pest on the ice - scrappy, runs his mouth, but nobody understands his accent. He's also really, really good, which makes him even more infuriating to play against. Oh, and he's sleeping with Magnus 😏

Graham - team captain. His surname is Crumb for the lolz

Hope & Priya - Bailey's friends/roommates, and puck bunnies. Both trying to sleep with the team's goalie

Noah - the team's goalie

Blake - PR

Elisa - social media, is engaged to the coach

Jake - the coach

Rohan - assistant coach. might also have a little thing going with Jake and Elisa

Jo - zamboni driver. she's constantly souping it up

Gary - rink maintenance. keeps having to fix the zamboni. ETL with Jo

Rocco - runs the bar where the team hangs out

Felix - wide-eyed rookie

Carl - analytics guy

Iain Stirling - play-by-play announcer

Jakub - strength and conditioning coach

Marisol - sports psychologist

Jasper - Henrik's agent

Hannah - local sports reporter

Tim - waterboy

Levi - Bailey's ex from college (also plays hockey)

I have a whole list of other characters who'll likely be players on the team or on opposing teams. This list is obviously just S1-2 but there will definitely be some S3 characters sprinkled in, and once I rework it I'll probably try to add in some others, especially S6.

If I end up changing it so that Roberto is the LI, I'd probably have Marshall in the Magnus role, but I'm not sure what I'd do with the Lucas/Bobby/Magnus thing because it wouldn't hit the same with Marshall. Plus Roberto wouldn't have the same relationship with Lucas that Henrik does, so I'd have to rethink that.

Thanks for the ask!!

ask about my wips

[nessiefromspace]

Last Line Tag

Tagged by @moonshine-nightlight ! Thanks for the tag! Tumblr didn't notify me, but I saw it and her we go!

This is from a snippet of a novel length "Short fic" I'm working on. Working title is just Monster High. Main character is getting help pulling out a car engine and please be nice, I do know a fair bit about cars, but not enough off the top of my head and I'm not researching the terminology.

Rules: Post the last line(s) you wrote/edited.

“Would you like help taking it out?”

“Sure.” She smirked at him. “It’ll let me see your muscles.”

He laughed. “I’ll make sure to flex, then.” It was hard and laborious, but they finally got it out with some rigging. True to his word, she saw Jacob flexing, she flashed him a wide grin. When they got it out of the car, Jacob held it.

She eyed him. “You gonna carry that thing all the way to the car?”

“That’s the plan.”

Her brows rose and her eyes appraised him appreciatively. He flexed again and she squeezed it. “Damn, that’s nice.”

He smirked and it lit up his normally stoic features. “You’re pretty damn nice yourself.”

His words washed over her like a fire on a cold night. She grinned in approval and led the way. He set it down gently in the trailer. “Thanks.”

He nodded. “Not a problem. I’m here every weekend if you need any help.”

She nodded. “Oh, I’ll definitely need it.” She eyed his body. He laughed.

As they reached the others, Alice came running over. “I almost forgot!”

Adelaide smirked and whispered. “Here it comes.”

“The day before the party, we’re having a dry run, to make sure there’s no mishaps and so everyone can meet each other. We’ll see you there!”

Frederick put a hand on her shoulder. “Can you try asking him if he’d like to come?”

She frowned at Frederick and then stared at Jacob. “You’re welcome to come!”

Frederick smiled. “Thank you, Alice.”

Jacob laughed. “I’d love to come. It’ll be my first tea party.”

Alice grinned wide. “Perfect! It’ll start at noon!”

They went to the front desk where Jacob’s uncle, Henrik, asked for a large sum. Adelaide produced it in cash. 

His uncle scrutinized it. “That ain’t stolen money, is it?”

She smirked. “Nope.”

“Uh huh.” Henrik took out a pen to check each bill.

She grunted and waited, brushing off some debris off Jacob.

When his uncle had marked every bill and they came away clean, he eyed her. “This better not come back on me.”

“It won’t. ‘S not illegal money.”

He looked her over. “But you did do illegal things to earn it.”

“Uncle,” Jacob sighed.

Adelaide shrugged. “Take it or don’t. I don’t care. I’ll just return everything.”

Henrik clicked his tongue. “I’ll take it, I just don’t wanna see any cops in here about it.”

She grunted.

Receipt in her hand, Jacob walked her out. “Sorry about that, he can be paranoid.”

She smirked. “Nah, he’s got good reason. It did come from some shady ass people.”

That made him laugh. “Well, see ya around.”

“See ya.”

She climbed into the car and they drove off.

“I like him!” Alice said.

“He’s always been a polite kid and returns books a day early,” Frederick mused.

“Ada liked him, too,” Auri cooed loudly.

She ignored him to text Fride and Simon in the group chat the two had made, warning them about the dry run Alice wanted.

   Chapter Nine

The day before the party came. Everyone was up at six whether they wanted it or not. They needed a couple last minute ingredients, so the three siblings walked to the convenient store.

On their way back, Alice stopped. “Whoa, what are those?”

They looked to see three figures, all of whom had teeth for a face. “Fuck, hide.” Adelaide led them down an alley to the backyard of a house. “Don’t let them see you. They can smell Monster Hunters and they’ll go after you.”

Ambros looked at her. “They know you, then?”

She nodded. “Go home and I’ll lead them away.”

“Addie!” Alice whined. “You can’t!”

She kissed Alice on the forehead. “Stay safe and stay with Ambros. I don’t need both of you on their radar.”

After a moment, Alice nodded and she and Ambros went the opposite way.

I don't know who's been tagged and who hasn't been tagged and it's midnight and tomorrow is my (3) kids' birthday party, so I'm just gonna say, if you see this, you're tagged. <3

[inkribbon796]

Egotober 2023 Day 7: The Little Things

Summary: Ethan wants to be a hero, he wants it more than anything else in the world. And Silver is terrified when he won’t take no for an answer.

Prompt: Leaf/Leaves

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31

Ever since Ethan was little he could remember the heroes. They had a team in his own home city. When he was five his mom moved him and his brother into Egoton.

He saw Silver flying around and even doing aerial tricks. And as a young gymnast, Ethan thought it was the coolest thing in the world.

It was all he wanted, and now literally the only thing standing in his way was Silver himself. Someone who seemed to believe that Ethan should do anything but be a hero. And literally everyone in the Coalition seemed to be making Syndrome jokes, and that was only making Ethan want it even more.

Dark even seemed to be under the impression that not only was Ethan working with Silver, but was his kid or at least a younger brother. And anyone who saw Ethan, at least in costume, was to chase him out of the area. Or if Dark was in the area to bring the “child hero” to him.

On one particular slow Saturday, Ethan was wandering around town, trying to find things to do. He was crunching any leaves he could see on the ground, some gave what he was looking for, others were disappointed. He was minding his own business, trying to keep an eye out for Dark’s enforcers, when Silver flew in.

“Fuck off,” Ethan said, trying to sound bigger and tougher than he felt.

“Let’s talk,” Silver said. He was holding out a baggie. “Your mom mentioned you were allergic to peanuts, before you ask. It’s safe.”

That disarmed Ethan a bit, so he took the bag as Silver touched down on the ground.

“Talk about what?” Ethan asked, looking at the sandwich inside. It looked like a normal burger.

Silver canted his head to the side. “Somewhere a bit more private, we’re too close to Barnum Park.”

“Park’s a great place to talk,” Ethan said, pointing his thumb in that direction.

“Yeah, just not that park. C’mon, I’ll explain once we get to 5th Street Plaza.” Silver began leading the way, actually walking.

“Can’t you fly?” Ethan asked.

“Yeah, but you can’t, and I could use the exercise,” Silver said and started walking.

Debating for a second, Ethan watched him go before following Silver down five blocks until they got to the plaza. The changing leaves following the whole walk.

Silver asked how school was going and when they got to the plaza Ethan had eaten half of his sandwich and it had yet to cause an allergic reaction.

Besides a free sandwich was a free sandwich.

Instead of sitting down on some random bench, Silver directed Ethan up three flights of stairs to a roof. On the top of the roof was a couple air conditioning units and two benches that were side by side and overlooking the plaza.

“Sometimes we come up here to talk and get a break during patrols.” Silver brushed off some leaves and sat down on one of the benches.

“Okay,” Ethan said and took a seat, sitting around some of the leaves as he eat the rest of his sandwich. “Nice view.”

“It is,” Silver agreed. “Barnum Park is owned by Dark, he’s got spies all over the place in there.”

“Oh,” Ethan said.

Silver nodded. “Yeah, anyways, Bing, Jackie, and I have been talking and you’re in if you want to be.”

“Yeah,” Silver said, a slight sigh in his voice. “Bing and Henrik got apprentices behind my back and it’s not fair that they got in and you don’t. Even if all three of you should get kicked.”

“When did that happen?” Ethan asked, excitement bubbling up inside of him.

“One of them happened a couple of days ago, and the Septics have been sitting on theirs for a couple weeks. They're both seventeen."

“This is awesome!” Ethan shouted.

Silver held up a finger. “Wait a minute, we’ve gotta set some ground rules, first.”

“Sure, whatever.” Ethan could help but grin.

“No, not whatever, you break the rules, you’re either off the team or suspended.”

Ethan sat back down, unable to stop his legs from bouncing.

“First, you don’t tell a soul. Your parents will know, but that’s it. I don’t care if you think you can trust your best friend with your life, they can’t know. Your grandparents, siblings, cousins, they can’t know. For any reason. You keep pretending like the only thing you want to do is be a superhero and I keep saying no. But don’t overdo it.”

“Okay.”

Silver stood up and pointed to his spot on the bench. “Sit here, it’s got a better view. Jackie always takes it first.”

Ethan quickly took the spot and Silver moved to the spot on the bench where Ethan had been.

“First thing’s first,” Silver said. “You picked a hero name yet?”

“Blank or Crank,” Ethan smiled at him.

“You picked one yet?” Silver asked.

“Blank,” Ethan said, “cause invisible.”

“How does it work?” Silver asked. “You use it often?”

“Sometimes,” Ethan said, which sounded like a lie and Mark wished that Ethan could see his face. “Anyways, I just concentrate and I turn completely invisible. It used to just be me, and my clothes wouldn’t go, but now I can do it with anything I’m wearing or holding.”

Silver leaned forward. “Really, anything you’re holding?”

“Well, the more things I hold the more I have to concentrate,” Ethan said. “Heavy stuff takes a while. And if someone taps me I tend to come out of it real easy.”

“Neat power, how long have you had it?” Silver asked.

“Maybe a year,” Ethan said. “I don’t know when it first started, and it took a while to figure out how to control it.”

“You’ll learn more, after we talk to your folks, you’ll be working directly under me, and we’ll make sure you know how to use those powers better. Just make sure you’re not stealing anything or peeking in the girl’s restroom okay?”

“Hey, I only have stolen one candy bar, I’ll have you know,” Ethan said.

“At least you’re honest,” Silver said, laughing a little. “We’ll get you a better outfit too. Can’t have you running around in sweatpants. And you’ll get to meet the other two apprentices: Logic and Stripes.”

“Awesome,” Ethan looked out over the plaza with a huge smile.

He was finally getting everything he wanted and he was so excited he could hardly stand it.

[lonelier-version-of-you]

I’m now just-over-halfway through my series 15 rewatch/watch, so here are some thoughts so far at this halfway point. I suppose technically I should have done this after “Promises, Promises” if I wanted it to be a proper halfway-point post, but I thought it would make sense to write this up after “Great Expectations”, as obviously Tara’s exit is a bit of a turning point in the series.

- The Ric and Lilah sexual harassment accusation storyline was... not as bad as it could’ve been. I mean, false harassment accusation stories are not the sort of thing I particularly enjoy watching, but there was some interesting stuff in this one, as it wasn’t a flat-out unfounded allegation but in more of a grey area - Ric kissing Lilah wasn’t harassment but it was majorly unprofessional and somewhat unethical, given his position of power over her. And him trying to improve her assessment scores just because he fancied her was really fucked up. Definitely worth a slap on the wrist, but nothing he should’ve lost his job over like Imelda kept saying.

I found it interesting how Lilah’s accusation against Ric was such a big deal that he faced so many consequences for, compared to Henrik’s harassment of Sahira in the previous 2 series, which was essentially public knowledge and yet he faced no consequences for it. I expect that was deliberate, as this was the era when Holby was clever enough to do those sorts of things.

For ages I assumed Ric and Lilah had slept together and that’s what they meant when they were talking about “last night” at the start of “How Lo Can You Go”, but in later episodes they only ever referred to a kiss so I guess that’s all it was after all and “How Lo Can You Go” just took place a day after “After the Party”.

- Tara deserved better. I know I’ve said this before, although I don’t think I say it enough, but she did. Her storyline was brilliantly done, I thought, and her final episodes were even more heartbreaking watching them with full context. But it still frustrates me that she died for Oliver’s manpain, especially as the Holbyverse still does that sort of thing (poor, poor Fenisha!). Plus, it meant that they only got to have the brilliant Jing Lusi for a year.

- I adore Gemma. I can’t believe I didn’t realise how great she is until now. I’ve been over the reasons why in plenty of other posts, so I’ll spare you all from having to read through it again, but... yeah, I love Gemma.

- I didn’t realise how much of a prick early Arthur was, either. He’s nowhere near as bad as early Henrik, but he really wasn’t the saint he’s often made out to be.

- Two under-appreciated gems of episodes that later Holby could have done with taking cues from are episode 7 “After the Party”, and episode 20 “Unravelled”. “After the Party” has a really carefully written and handled storyline about a teenage girl who was raped, that was better done in one episode than later storylines like Chloe’s rape, That Noncanon Henrik One We Don’t Talk About, or the Evie and Mia CSA story. “Unravelled” handles Gemma’s trauma after being held hostage and her getting psychiatric help for it really well, and doesn’t treat her as a ~poor little broken victim~ like later trauma storylines tended to do, but as a person who’s struggling to move on from something traumatic.

- I really, really like the Malick and Jake storyline. I do feel a bit like Anna was fridged (nowhere near as much as Tara was though), but the storyline is still good. It feels so realistic, and I like how simple and human it all is, and I’m enjoying seeing Malick try his best to connect with Jake. I love Malick in general though, so I might be biased towards this storyline.

- I’m starting to realise that Henrik, Malick, and Oliver all feel like either the same character in different fonts, or different characters in the same font (I’m leaning towards “different characters in the same font”), which is probably why I love them all. No, I will not elaborate. Well, I would elaborate, but I don’t know how to put it into words.

- Jonny is terrible to Jac. I know we’re seemingly supposed to see them as an exciting will-they-won’t-they couple with lots of bickering and tension, but... I don’t see it, I just see Jonny being emotionally abusive to her.

I keep wanting to make a comment about how Henrik and Jonny are both emotional abusers and misogynists that are somehow romanticised by both the show and fandom, and how the women they abused (Sahira and Jac respectively) get treated like they deserved it for being “bitches” and “frigid”, but that wouldn’t really be fair because, unlike Jonny, Henrik was clearly depicted as abusive in this stint. The episodes while Sahira is actually there were clearer about it (S13E33 flat-out parallels Henrik with a 42-year-old woman who groomed her teenage student!), but it’s not like they tried to paint him as great or heroic after Sahira either. He’s more of an anti-hero in this series. I’d like to say “of course, nowadays they wouldn’t have kept him on as a main character at all, and rightly so really”, but then I remember Faith Cadogan is a literal attempted rapist and Casualty still have her.

- Chantelle is my autistic queen and I love her. I don’t have anything in particular to say about Chantelle, I just wanted to acknowledge how great she is.

- Serena is a lot more tolerable pre-Jason. I still hate her and am not a fan of her by any means, but she’s not so bad when she can’t go “look what a saint I am for tolerating my autistic nephew!” all the time, lol. Also, seeing her try to overthrow both Imelda and Henrik has made me wonder what it would have been like if Serena had ever actually been CEO long-term. She couldn’t have been worse than Henrik to be fair.

[lilakennedy]

Marvin calling Jackie to tell him to not chase him again implies that that is a thing that has happened - that is a story I’d love to hear! If it is already existing, could I have a link please? :D

ah!!! it doesn’t exist yet, but i mentioned some stuff about Jackie & Marv’s relationship here!

and because you asked so nicely - (update from future me: i got carried away)

﹀

The sun had just fallen against the horizon, the last few rays of light leaving the sky in various hues of orange and red. People made their way home from work and school, the streets slowly getting more and more empty as night time rolled around. 

Laughter and chatter could be heard through the open windows on the street, people enjoying the mild weather, while through some open doors one could smell food that would make your mouth water. 

Most people were starting to settle in for the evening, as the world started to calm down.

Sitting in the cold light of an LED lamp, was Jackie. His eyes watching each small movement the gloved fingers against his biceps made. 

The room was drowned in the golden light of the sunset. The sharp, cold hue of the LED standing next to him and shining onto his arm being a nearly beautiful contrast against the warm sunlight. 

A small piece of debri carefully got pulled out of the wound, making Jackie wince which earned him a raised brow from Henrik. 

“You go against all kinds of criminals, but you wince at that?” He questioned, tone unimpressed as he placed down the tweezers and moved a rag across the edges of the wound to clean off any blood that was still sticking to Jackie’s skin. 

“To be fair, I do also wince when I get thrown through a window.” 

Giving a small chuckle at Jackies reply, Henrik turned his attention back to the nasty cut that Jackie had somehow gotten in the span of two hours since the doctor had last seen him.

Henrik was curious, the question about how he had ended up with such a deep gash was at the tip of his tongue, but he knew Jackie would share if he wanted to. 

They had these moments a lot, their relationship not quite a friendship but slowly getting more comfortable and casual rather than professional. 

It also wasn’t the first time that Jackie stood infront of the door to Henriks home instead of his clinic, making Henrik glad he always kept some tools and first aid supplies around the house. 

So here they were, Jackie sitting in the kitchen with his bloody hoodie and shirt thrown over the back of the wooden chair. His spear had gotten abandoned in the umbrella holder in the hallway, thanks to Henriks strict rule to avoid having Jackie break any of his belognings.

On the table next to the two of them, Henrik had placed bandages along with a small tray with suturing tools. A few paper towels stained with blood were laying in the bin next to Henrik, and the sharp smell of desinfectant Henrik had used to clean the table as Jackie arrived hung in the air and was impossible to ignore.

The radio Henrik had standing in his kitchen was quietly humming its melodies, the station playing various types of music with the occasional news report thrown in. It was audible, but not loud enough to distract or drown out any other noise. 

Jackie had been humming along to a song he recognized, bouncing his leg to the beat. Throwing the used rag into the sink, Henrik used his free hand to push against the heroes bouncing leg, giving him a small glare through his glasses. 

Without any words, Jackie understood and gave an apologetic grin as Henrik reached for the tray that was holding thread and needle. 

Henrik motioned for Jackie to turn his arm toward him a bit, which he did with ease and a few moments later Henrik got to work. 

The needle piercing skin still was far from pleasant, but it was something Jackie had gotten used to. And because of that, Jackie was able to get lost in thought despite Henriks careful work against his wound.

A few moments passed before Jackie spoke up again:

“Thanks man, I don’t know what I’d do without your help.”

“Probably use ductape.” Henrik replied, sounding condescending but the small smile on his face was even visible from where Jackie sat. “Or try to burn it shut.”

Jackie gave a small hum in reply, not wanting to laugh and move as Henrik was patching him up. 

“I should try that one day.” 

The rhythmic movement and repatitive sound of the needle driver didn’t get interrupted as Henrik glanced up to Jackie for a moment. “No you shouldn’t.”

Giggling at Henriks tone, Jackie shook his head and moved to watch the world outside the window as he focused on the radio again. 

They were talking about the weather, and Jackie swore he could hear Henrik sight at the report of heavy downpour on the next day. Thinking back, Jackie did notice that Henrik never had any umbrellas around. Maybe he should get his doc one the next time he stops by. 

But it wasn’t until the short recap of the daily news started that Jackie perked up. 

“- Merely an hour ago a panic broke out in a jewrely store in a southern part of town. An unknown amount of people seemingly managed to steal a multiple hundred thousands worth amount of jewelry.” 

The second newsreporter voiced his disbelief at what was said, urging the lady to continue, which she did with a small laugh. 

“I know it sounds insane, it was nearly the perfect crime if the robbers had not made a mistake on their way out, which set off the alarm and alerted security. But it’s still unknown how many people exactly where involved - Given that all their CCTV seemed to black out right before the time that is estimated to be the start of this robbery.”

Both reporters laughed in disbelief, comparing it to a movie as they mentioned more details, getting Jackies attention more and more. 

“Most of the witness reports don’t align either, it is as if multiple things happened at once, which makes this entire thing seem even more bizzare. But it is said that one of the culprits has been seen on their way to the city center, although it can’t be proved either.” 

“Don’t you dare.” 

Henriks voice brought Jackie back down to earth, looking over to where Henrik was cutting the last thread and finishing the sutures. He felt the way Jackies muscles tensed, his posture changed as he turned more and more towards the radio with each word that was said. 

“But you heard what -”

Henriks was pulling the gauze over the wound, trying his best to make sure it wasn’t too loose or too tight. His reply followed after a small groan.

“I just put you back together twice today, and I am frankly too busy to deal with it a third time.” 

“I’m not gonna get hurt!” Jackie protested, ready to jump up as soon as Henrik would be done with the bandage. “It’s nothing dangerous!”

“You say that each time and at this point I think you gravely misuse that sentence.”

Giving the bandage a pat that was a bit harsher than necessary, Henrik leaned away from the finished dressing around the wound, watching Jackie grimace at the sublte sting. 

“If I see you infront of my doorstep again in the next 3 days I might just change my mind about letting you try to cauterize your own wounds.”

Standing up with a smirk, Jackie gave Henrik a small salute as he reached for his short and hoodie again, immediately throwing it over his head as if the stitches on his arm were no hindrance to his movement at all.

“Got it, boss!” 

Henrik rolled his eyes as he watched Jackie walk out the room and disappear around the corner with steps so fast and light, they were nearly totally inaudible. 

The last thing Henrik heard was the unmistakable sound of Jackie pulling the staff out of the metallic umbrella holder and then slamming the door behind himself.

Henrik sighed as he moved to clean up.

A few minutes later Jackie had made his way towards the city centre. The sun set fully at that point, leaving everything dark and only illuminated by the streetlights.

 It was still buzzing with people as he watched from his spot ontop of a parking garage, fastening his wrist brace with his teeth. 

It was gonna be hard to figure out if any of these people were who he was trying to find, but sometimes criminals are dumb and make giant mistakes that give them away to anyone that knows what they’re looking for. 

Jackie had seen it various times, criminals getting cocky and reckless as soon as they think they’re safe.

And sure enough, sooner rather than later a person caught his attention. 

He didn’t know why, but something about them seemed off. The hood hanging over their features. The way they carried their bag, they held it as if it was filled with heavy items but it swayed in the wind. All the times they glanced over their shoulder. 

And as they rounded the corner into a smaller street, Jackie set off to follow.

Doing his usually parkour with only his right arm slowed him down, made him take small detours, but he still caught back up to the person of interest. 

He made sure to follow from a distance, making his way over fire escapes and roofs. This part of town was extremely familiar to him, he knew every small bump in the street. Jackie was confident, he was at a giant advantage. 

 As his target walked down into a small path connecting various backyards, Jackie decided to face them. 

Jumping from the fire escape, Jackie landed a few metres behind the other, who immediately stopped dead in their tracks at the sound of Jackies boots hitting gravel. 

Feeling a sense of triumph, Jackie stepped forward and shoved them against the wall, using his healthy arm to press against their throat. 

Once he finally saw the mysterious criminal face to face, he deflated like a sad balloon.

“Marvin?!”

Immediately breaking into a laugh, Marvin felt tears come to his eyes as Jackie stepped back and gave his friend room. 

Jackie looked all kinds of betrayed and embarrassed as Marvin finally stood up straight again and smiled. 

“Is a hood and some baggy clothes really all it take for you to think I’m someone else?”  Marvin asked in an extremely humoured tone. “I really thought you knew me better by now.”

Jackie blinked a few times, mouth gaping as he let his shoulders hang. Marvins grin didn’t falter and a few seconds later, it seemed to click as Jackie gasped. 

“You knew I was on your tail!!” Burying his head in his hands, Jackie groaned as he realized Marvin had been playing a game with him. 

“I knew you were there as soon as you popped up on that garage.” Marvin shrugged as his attire changed in the blink of an eye, which didn’t even seem to phase Jackie. “Decided to have some fun.” 

“So - So all that weird behaviour-!” Jackie began, voice raised as he removed his hands from his face and gestured, the blade of the spear barely missing Marvin by a hairs width as he didn’t bat an eye at it. Instead, Marvin cut into Jackies exasperated rant: 

“Was on purpose.”

“Oh my god!!” Jackies frustrated yell made Marvin chuckle and nudge him with his elbow, making the hero look over to him like a kicked puppy. 

“Let’s go home.” 

“Huh?” Jackie raised a brow, wondering if Marvin really wanted to just go home and relax for the evening. At this point he was used to Marvins little stunts taking a few days.

Marvin stopped in his tracks and turned to look back at Jackie. “Don’t tell me you were so focused you didn’t even notice that we’re nearly at home.” 

“Hey! I know that!” Jackie threw back at Marvin, visually offended as they both started to walk the last few meters to their back door. “You’re gonna pay for dinner, just for being a dick.”

Grinning wide enough to rival the cheshire cat, Marvin twirled a golden ring between his fingers. 

“Gladly.”

[slavghoul]

There’s an interview with Martin in the new issue of Sweden Rock Magazine and he talks a bit about Ghost. I know some of you still miss the good ole Omega days and wonder what the hell happened in 2016 or whether he and TF are on speaking terms at all, so I translated the few parts where he talks about his time in the band..

--

There have been countless rumours about the reasons for your departure from Ghost, everything from mental illness to alcohol. I want to give you a chance to sort out what happened when you left.

MP: I don't know if I need the chance. Well, I have severe fucking ADHD, I was diagnosed the other year. And I've been taking anti-depressants for 16 years, I quit three months ago. So yeah, mental ups and downs have been plenty. No more alcohol problems than the average construction worker. It's invasive and so fucking unnecessary to delve too much into it, but in short: after six-seven years of intense fucking work, you get tired of each other in a way that might be unimaginable to someone who hasn't experienced that kind of relationship. It wasn’t just Tobias, it was everyone towards each other. You sit on a tour bus and you don't feel like it's a holiday or a fun thing, but such is life. I see it as a marriage. Ask anybody, let a mate move into your living room and live together in the same room for two years. A lot happens to your personalities and even though we were anonymous, you got a boost of some feigned self-esteem that some of us never had. It was turbulent, but also really fun and beautiful to do those things with that gang. There was nothing dramatic happening, no one doing more drugs than anyone else. Me and Tobbe both thought and think good things about each other. I can say the same about Simon or keyboardist Mauro Rubino or drummer Aksel Holmgren or bassist Rikard Ottoson or guitarist Henrik Palm or whoever. But people don’t need to know everything. It's as bizarre as me talking about my ex to the newspaper. Maybe if I lived in Hollywood, but now I live in Linköping, haha.

Do you have contact with Tobias today? Will you ever reconcile?

MP: Strictly business. I definitely think so. Sometimes you just have to have some time apart. I see no reason why we shouldn't, I see it that way with all the guys involved. It's a bit like having broken up with a girlfriend. It can be hard to see her with a new guy and you have to look after yourself. I've never felt the need to pour this out to people, I think it just does more damage. I understand that people want to know, but it's funny. People buy that it's anonymous for however long and then they want to know the most intimate stuff.

You have an Omega tattoo, your symbol in Ghost. Is it a painful reminder or do you mostly look back on that time as something positive?

MP: I have it on my shoulder, it sits where it sits. The Omega thing has nothing to do with Ghost for me. We had five symbols to distinguish the costumes and I had one stuck to one of my guitars. As we didn't have names, people started calling me that. When I think back on my time with the band, it's many years of great stuff. Being on tour isn't a great thing if you're unwell or homesick, but overall it was fantastic. We had so much fun, it was great and new for everyone and we learned stuff every day. We took it seriously, were smart and strategic and didn't party the whole thing up. If we had been 20 years old, it wouldn't have worked. For me, it's a great, important period.

How different would Ghost's first three albums have been without you?

MP: I'm not going to trample on myself, but I'm not going to put myself on some fantasy pedestal either. The band, the idea and the concept was started by Tobias and bassist Gustaf Lindström. That's it. Five guys don't wake up the same day and have the same idea. He's the main visionary, no question about it. He started Ghost and has written Opus Eponymous more or less alone. But for the next album, we had formed a band around it. It was still his band, everybody understood that he's the boss, but the musicians became more or less contributors. I came up with song ideas, ideas of what we should look like, album covers, concepts. And Tobbe was damn clever. He understood that if something was good, it didn't matter who did the shit. But there was no one with the mandate to take his place. lnfestissumam would have been a little different, but not that different. Some people say that when the old members left, the band died. That's not true. I think the musicians have played a big role live, but in the song-writing I don't think so. It's really hard to say what impact someone has had, but if you've been there, you've been there. On Impera, Hux Nettermalm plays drums and I hear it's not Ludvig Kennberg who plays on Opus Eponymus, Meliora and Prequelle. Aksel has his style and Martin Hjertstedt who played drums live also has a great style. Other than that, there are not so big differences.

The first time I heard that Magna Carta Cartel and Ghost shared members, I thought that the bands had the same singer.

MP: I've heard that plenty of times. In MCC it has been me or Simon singing. Neither Tobbe nor I, especially I, are trained singers. I won't compare us too much, because he's probably done over a thousand live shows by now. But we're from the same town, have the same accent... I can't sing any other way, I can't really sing at all. My voice here is just another instrument. If I'd done it again from the beginning, we'd probably have a different singer. I know people want to imagine it’s Tobias singing in MCC. They can stand in the room when we play and think it's him. People have been talking about the lyrics of "Sway" being about Ghost, but it was written in 2004 and is about a girl I had a crush on. But it doesn't matter how many times you present the facts, people still think things - and it's both amazing and terrifying.

[allykatsart]

I missed monster AU. I am so excited. Are there any fun facts or tidbits you want to share :D

Many actually! And I am absolutely gonna take this ask and run with it as far as I fucking can. I've been w a i t i n g and you may regret asking. Thank you! ❤️

Henrik and Marvin

Something I haven't touched on a lot in my art is how Marvin and Henrik met. Marvin was thrown out of his coven for his practice of summoning demons, and was wandering for awhile, before he found and befriended Henrik.

They met at a supernatural friendly bar. And um. Well. They both had a bit of a 'Mad Scientist' complex when it came to magic. Not so much in that they want to do anything harmful with it, but they'll do stuff just to see if they can.

Henrik has been to school and likes the non magical sciences, knows a lot about them. Marvin is self taught and has experimented in areas he probably shouldn't have. They wanted to know what would happen if you mixed the two.

Henrik has a project in mind, and they began working on it at Henrik's mansion, growing into good friends as they did so. Eventually, Marvin just ended up living at the house.

And that's how Robbie came into being and got his two dads! (Make of that what you will lol)

(side tangent, Covens in this world are just a group of witches within a certain area or each other that generally band together or have similar goals. Kinda like a friend group. Each is different and has different rules, and there are witches who belong to multiple Covens)

Marvin did not have multiple covens, he had one that he was really into. But his friends grew distant over time and eventually tried to talk him out of summing demons, which was morally objectionable to them. Marvin didn't listen to them and didn't respect their boundaries, so got kicked out.

(more under the cut)

Henrik needs human blood, but he doesn't like taking directly from the source. It reminds him that he's not immune to impulse, that he could lose control of himself if he's not careful.

Marvin also isn't comfortable with being a bloodbag for his vampiric friend, so they both agree that Henrik never feeds off of Marvin.

(on top of that the magic in Marvin's blood makes it taste spicy so Henrik doesn't like it)

Marvin and Henrik share something else in common, a flaw. They both crave control. For Henrik, it's control of himself. For Marvin, it's control of his life. Marvin wants freedom, Henrik wants self discipline. Both can delve into unhealthy behaviors to achieve these things. But they understand what the other wants.

Kinda alluded to before but they may have a relationship? When asked, both reply vaguely and refuse to elaborate. They both find it incredibly funny.

Marvin has lived in the mansion long enough he knows all the secret passageways and hidden nooks. He can disappear into the house and not be found for weeks if he wants to be.

Jack and IRIS

Since I only recently started incorporating it into my AU, I wanna get my thoughts out about it.

IRIS here is kinda a bad thing. It's a group of humans who have decided that the supernatural is bad/has bad effects on people, so have dedicated themselves to hunting down any overtly supernatural creatures and either killing them or containing them. They alone have caused most of the monsters to go into hiding.

They have 'Hunters' who go around trying to find supernatural entities to either capture or kill. Hunters are usually human, tho occasionally they might have some supernatural enhancement, if IRIS approves of it.

Jack used to be a part of these hunters until he became a monster himself. From there he had to do a lot of self discovery... And it eventually lead him down the path to meet Anti, the demon of fear and nightmares.

During this time, IRIS lost contact with Jack and didn't know what happened to him. They were/are also unaware of Jack being a werewolf.

Jack was able to escape Anti, and kept on the down low, hiding from IRIS for some time. It was only when he saved Chase from Anti that IRIS found him again.

IRIS won't force him back into their ranks, but they are very suspicious of him reappearing after years of no contact. They suspect he's hiding something, or has had a change of heart.... Which Jack has had.

(Also, to clarify, Jack is not Sean, it's the character of Jack.)

Jack is unaware that IRIS had found him until Chase was taken in for questioning. Once Chase came back, Jack suspected it was IRIS, and began worrying about them. This pushed him into a spiral and he began having nightmares again... Which pushed him into Anti's domain again and caused the demon to try and find him again

Basically bad things happen to Jack and it's all IRIS's fault!

[beerecordings]

Werewolf AU - Part 13

Something about the slightly mildewed but overwhelmingly warm smell of Sean's office is becoming so familiar to him. Today, walking into his office, he realizes he doesn't mind being here. Or not too much, anyway. Definitely better than going to jail.

"Marvin!" Sean greets him. "And Jackie, hi!"

Jackie grins and then flops down face-first on the couch. Marvin cracks up, shaking his head. "Don't mind this idiot. He just worked for like eight hours without breaking on his latest project."

"And now there's no brain left in my head," Jackie mutters into the cushions.

Marvin sits down at the table with Henrik and Chase, pleased to see them both looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Not literally, unfortunately. He would like to see both of them in wolf form together one of these days, but they remain tragically human in appearance today.

"Marvin, the guys told me that some people yelled at you for being werewolves the other day and you didn't even get angry." Sean sounds so relieved by this news that Marvin feels a little bit bad he didn't tell him right away, but honestly, he didn't even think about it.

"Yeah, I guess. They grabbed Schneep by the collar and all. But it didn't even really occur to me to get angry that time. My brain didn't even start to go there."

"Oh? Why not?"

Marvin blinks. "I... don't know. I guess Jackie was handling it, and Chase and Schneep were there, so I didn't want them to... yeah."

He didn't want them to get scared, so he just stayed calm and watched their backs. Then his Alpha got them out, and fed them, and everything was okay.

How can it be that simple when he's gotten in so many stupid fights for less?

Sean grins at him like he knows something Marvin doesn't, which would definitely piss him off if it was anyone other than Sean McLoughlin. As it is, he just bares his teeth playfully, and Sean leans down and pretends like he's going to bite his ear for a second before straightening back up and messing up his hair.

"Well, Schneep has some exciting news too."

Henrik looks completely abashed to be made the center of attention. He shrugs and plays with his hands, but grins a little too. "Just shifted once, that's all."

"Oh, good!" cries Marvin, clapping his hands together. "You crazy little bastard, you came this close to the full moon!"

"Whatever," says Henrik, and that makes Marvin laugh too, because from the way he says it, he's pretty sure Schneep picked it up from Chase. Whatever, bro. Fuck, they're a funny pair. This is the thing about wolves, he's found, that the most unlikely people can come together as if on instinct. He turns to look at Jackie, and his cousin's dumb face pressed against the cushions of the couch makes him smile despite himself. Jackie's summer scent clings to his neck like a hug.

"Maybe Jackie wants to share his good news too," he suggests.

Jackie grins weakly on the couch. "You do it. No brain."

"I can't say that for you!"

"Fine," grumbles Jackie. He sits up just a little. "I got my house back. Asked my dad to leave, and now he's gone."

"You should have seen him on the phone," Marvin purrs. "Guilt-tripping, threats, screaming. But Jackie didn't budge."

Jackie accepts a hug from Sean, who practically leaps at him, but then Jackie won't let Sean up again, and it turns into a whole wrestling session, with Chase and Henrik laughing at them from the table, and -

Yeah. Marvin really doesn't mind that he's here.

As class starts, Sean gives the guys some info about werewolf culture and different folklore in comparison to the science of this stuff, which is actually pretty interesting. Marvin moves to share the couch with his cousin, and Jackie doesn't talk for the rest of the session, but he sits with his head on Marvin's shoulder and listens to Sean talk. He moves into their plans for the full moon as class draws to a close.

"I know Friday is not our usual day for class, but I want you all here with me by the time the moon comes out. Chase and Henrik shouldn't be having their first shift alone, and Marvin and Jackie can help and demonstrate to me that they have control so I can put that in my court report."

"So... does that make us close to the end of all this?" asks Chase, sitting up.

"My actual non-official course runs several weeks longer, and I expect you all to keep coming! But in terms of actual certified rehabilitation, I want you all to get that as soon as possible, with the minimum requirements, and we'll build from there without the legal constrictions. So once you can shift on command, can retain control through a full moon, and have gone through my basic info courses, I can recommend you all for certification."

"And then they can't stop me from having unsupervised visits with the kids!" Chase cries, almost leaping to his feet. "Yes! Thank you, Sean!"

Marvin thinks the number of hugs going around lately is pretty damn cute, watching Chase and Sean rub their heads together fondly, but it isn't lost on him that not everyone is equally as excited. Henrik looks slightly lost on the other side of the table, mouth pressed thinly together, nails drumming against the wood. Marvin pities the position he's in, truly. Turned in a foreign country... will he be able to force himself to go home, now that he's found wolf friends here? Or maybe it's the other way around: maybe he'll force himself to go home whether or not it's the best choice for him. Maybe he'll try to go back to his old life, and then... will he ever find a pack like that?

Marvin's chest hurts, for a second. It's just not fair. You're not supposed to turn a human unless you have a pack ready and waiting for them. Pack compulsions are strong - that's supposed to be a good thing, not a burden.

Jackie nudges him with his head, ready to go. Marvin gets up and drags his eyes away from Henrik as everyone starts to disperse. Schneep follows them outside, but Chase doesn't. Marvin watches as he goes to pull Sean aside, leaning in to speak closely with him. But Henrik doesn't say anything about it, so Marvin doesn't pry.

Jackie goes frigid for a second as they step outside. Marvin puts a hand on his shoulder. "What's wrong? Need to go back inside and sit in the quiet for a while?"

Jackie blinks. Shakes his head, eyes narrowing. Marvin puts his nose up.

Is that what's bothering him? A far-off storm in the air?

"What is that?" asks Henrik uncertainly, stepping in circles with his nose lifted. "That's not right."

Marvin glances at him. "Thunderstorm coming."

"You're sure it's a storm? A real one?"

"Yeah, dude, rain in the air."

Jackie rumbles a noise Marvin doesn't like so much, but he'll just have to ask him about it later. His cousin's done for the day. Needs a nap.

"We'll walk you home," Marvin adds warmly. "Don't want you getting rained on. Chase coming out soon?"

"Yes. I think he just needs a minute."

"Everything okay with you two?"

Henrik puffs out a sigh.

"I guess."

Marvin doesn't press him further.

.

Chase presses the scrap of fabric into Sean's hand.

"I wanted you to take this, if you can," he says, hands shaking a little as he lets it go. "I think it needs to go to the police. It's pretty faded by now, but..."

"I know this smell," mumbles Sean. "What is that?"

"You probably remember it from when you met Henrik and I at the hospital," says Chase wearily. "After our attacks. I know I must have smelled like him."

Sean's eyes widen and his scent twists in a way Chase doesn't understand, the flame smell rising like a fire with gasoline thrown on it, inciting a roar of forest-consuming heat, blazing with light. He stares down at the piece of fabric, holding it close to his nose for a moment, and his jaw tightens; his eyes flash.

"I didn't mean to hold on to it," says Chase, worried, for a moment, that he's angry with him. "The doc convinced me to let it go. To give it to you."

Sean places the scrap tentatively in his hoodie pocket.

"Thank you, Chase," he says, reaching out to squeeze his shoulder. "I'm proud of you."

His heart rises in his chest, and he knows his smell blooms, because Sean smiles at him. "Oh. Yeah. Sure thing."

"I'll make sure this gets to someone who can do something about it."

"I knew you would," Chase replies.

"Are you okay?"

Chase swallows, nodding valiantly, or he hopes it's valiant, anyway. "It was time to get rid of it. I need him to stop haunting me."

Sean looks up at him. His eyes are very clear.

"Of course," he says.

And then he adds, under his breath: "He will."

"You good, Sean? Don't really look any less tired."

Sean blinks at him for a second, then pouts. "But I have been sleeping. A little more."

Chase chuckles and pretends to bite his ear the same way Jackie and Marvin and Sean do. "I'll see you Thursday. Take care of yourself."

"See you Thursday. Just be careful... full moon's coming. Instincts can get a little wild. Keep on your toes, fresh-turn."

And he winks with one tired blue eye.

[iamvegorott]

Meeting A Magical Man Pt. 33

Part 1: Link Prev: Link Next: Link

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Henrik rubbed at his eyes as if trying to scrub the sight he had seen earlier from them and his memories. Marvin sat a mug of coffee on the table in front of Henrik, mask off and wearing a pair of briefs and Chase’s shirt, while Chase sat across from Henrik in just his pants. 

“I am going to need bleach.” Henrik groaned. 

“You didn’t even see that much.” Marvin scoffed, sitting in the chair between Chase and Henrik. 

“I saw more than I should.” Henrik kept his hands over his face, sliding them down just enough to see the other two. 

“If it makes you feel better, I’ve heard you and Edward have sex before.” Marvin shrugged. 

“You have what!?” Henrik yelped, hands slapping down on the table and showing his cheeks had gone pink. 

“Where was I?” Chase asked with a laugh. 

“Why were-when did-? Marvin!” Henrik struggled to form a proper sentence. 

“It’s fine. It just means we’re all even.” Marvin shrugged.

“Technically, Edward and I are out of the loop,” Chase said. 

“Could kill two birds with one stone and have a foursome,” 

“Absolutely not!” Henrik yelped, the pink now turning to a dark red. 

“Well, it’d technically be an orgy or something like that if you fuck your boyfriend while I fuck mine in the same room.” Marvin decided to let the phrase drop mid-‘argument’ to get it done and over with.  

“We are not-wait…did you just say boyfriend?” Henrik’s embarrassment faded in an instant. 

“Maybe,” Marvin said with a soft smile. 

“Are you two?” Henrik looked to Chase. 

“Yep.” Chase smiled as well. 

“Fucking finally!” Henrik exclaimed, throwing his arms up into the air. 

“I think he approves.” Chase chuckled.

“Just a bit.” Marvin sighed, keeping his soft smile

“Oh hush, you two were more terrible when it was myself and Edward. Let me have this.” Henrik scrunched his nose up at the others before chuckling at himself. 

“Figured I’d share some good news real quick…since I’m assuming what you want to talk to us about isn’t the happiest stuff in the world?” Marvin clicked his tongue. 

“That is fair and correct.” Henrik chewed his cheek for a bit. “I want to discuss Robbie and also what plans you two have for finishing the task Dark gave you. I was also going to ask if you two were okay with each other, but that has already gotten answered in several ways.” 

“Don’t act like you didn’t enjoy the view~” Marvin played up a fake purr. 

“Can we start with Robbie? That while hand thing isn’t normal, right?” Chase realized his wording after it was too late, remembering how Robbie had pleaded to be normal. “Everything I’ve read about it never mentioned that stuff.”

“It is not usual. I need to do more research, but I believe it’s related to how he got brought back.” Henrik said. 

“There’s not a lot of research on mixing science and magic. People just don’t do it.” Marvin added. “Well, at least your average person doesn’t do it.” 

“None of us would be what anyone would consider average.” Henrik weakly chuckled. 

“I mean, I’m just a dude.” Chase tried to help with the joking as well.

“So, what do you know about Robbie’s thing?” Marvin asked, deciding to skip over a different kind of joke he was going to make about Chase being ‘above average’ in a way that would get Henrik to blush and yell at him again. 

“From what he has told me, it seems like his body can go on the defensive, getting those hands and eyes he showed us, but I also assume it may come with additional strength. Thinking back on some more details, his veins appeared to have thickened with that change in his hands. And this may be a leap in logic with no evidence yet to back it up, but him being stronger would not shock me.” Henrik was now resting his elbow on the table, leaning forward with his hands on either side of his head as if trying to hold his thoughts together. “He’s just a kid. For now.” He dropped his hands and sighed. “Who knows how long that will last, or…how long he will.” Henrik sniffed and used the back of his hand to scratch the tip of his nose, trying to hide his sorrow. Marvin reached across the table and placed his hand on top of Henrik’s other one, giving it some comforting pats. 

“I think he’ll stop at twenty-one.” Chase suddenly said. 

“What?” Marvin and Henrik said together.

“I mean, like, we’ve all just been saying Robbie’s fifteen 'cause it seems right. What’s to say he’s not actually seventeen? The same age Marvin’s magic stuff kicked in? Robbie probably doesn’t know how old he is because he doesn’t even know when he was born since he’s jumped so much in such little time. He is like, totally a mix of you two; nerdy, sarcastic, and stubborn as hell. The magic in this house started when Marvin was twenty-one. I think that’s when Robbie will stop his jumping and continue as usual.” There was a long pause as Henrik and Marvin just stared at Chase. Both were in shock at the logical connections and conclusions he made on his own. “What?”

“That was probably the smartest thing I have ever heard you say,” Henrik said. 

“Even himbos can have their moments.” Chase had the biggest grin. 

“Hen, you might want to head out because I really want to fuck this man again.” Marvin almost seemed to have hearts in his eyes. 

“Do not tell me that while holding my hand.” Henrik slipped his hand free. “But Chase does have a point. With how weird magic is and how I made it weirder by adding science, that does not seem too long of a shot.” 

“Guess we’ll just have to watch Robbie a bit more,” Marvin said. “And probably ask him how he feels on all levels of that.” 

“True. But for now, he needs to rest. I hope there is never a day when he’d have to use that other…um…form of his.” Henrik said, and there was another pause before he changed subjects. “What are your plans now that you know who and where the apprentice is?” 

“Step one is to talk with Mad,” Marvin stated. 

“Talk to him about what?” Chase asked. 

“From what I saw, I think he hates Actor and is only agreeing to stay with him out of fear of literally exploding. The guy in charge of watching over him, Mare, also seems to like Mad a lot more than Actor.” 

“Like or Like like?” Henrik traced out a heart with his hands. 

“Honestly, I have no clue. They’re at least very close. I’d need more time watching them to figure that out or at least a few minutes of watching them that doesn’t involve hiding from someone who would likely benefit from my death.” Marvin hummed in thought. “We should call Phantom while we head back to that house tonight and confirm if Mare is his brother. If they’re related, we can use that to our advantage.” 

“Do you have Phantom’s number?” Chase was already standing to go get ready. 

“No. But I have Jackie’s.”  

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Tags: @brokentimewatch @bookwormscififan @d-structive @rainymae523 @ashtonisvibing

[iamfruitie]

Kinktober 2023 Day 25

Overstimulation

Henrik moaned for what felt like the thousandth time, hips rolling down against Edward’s fingers, feeling them thrust and rub against every perfect spot inside of him. He leaned his back against Edward’s chest, hands gripping his thighs and brain becoming foggier and foggier. He was a mess of sweat, drool, and his own cum.

“E-Edward~” Henrik whimpered, squirming and moaning again since each movement of his had him grinding back on Edward’s cock, teasing him accidentally and getting his fingers to fuck him faster. “Fuck, Edward~” 

“There you go, relax and enjoy.” Edward chuckled. He’d been naked with Henrik almost the entire time they’d been at this, but he saved all of his attention for the other man. Edward was now determined to get Henrik to cum for the fifth time before finally fucking him. He wasn’t sure what stirred this desire to turn Henrik into a brainless puddle, but after telling Henrik what he wanted to do, he was more than excited about it, having even told Edward to ‘ruin him’ before pulling him into a kiss. 

Apparently, Henrik’s had a stressful week.

“Please, I am-I am so close,” Henrik whined, looking down at his thighs and shivering at seeing the teeth marks there, reminding him of the second and third rounds they’d had. The first happened from just kissing and grinding, showing just how pent-up Henrik was. 

“Go on, cum for me again, and then I’ll bend you over and fuck you.” Edward nearly growled into Henrik’s ear, taking his other hand and stroking Henrik’s cock. He was also fairly pent-up and was about to reach his breaking point. 

“Shit, shit, scheiße~!” Henrik’s last curse became a loud moan, cumming again and adding more of a mess to himself. “Edward.” He tilted his head as Edward kissed his neck, pulling his hands away to give Henrik time to recover. “Edward, please…please…” Henrik could feel his brain cells leaving, but they were still there. 

He wanted them gone.

“Got it.” Edward chuckled deeply before moving, putting Henrik on his hands and knees. He wasn’t shocked when Henrik didn’t have strength in his arms and went down to his elbows, trying to tease and hold his ass up, but his legs started sliding out from under him. Edward caught his hips and kept him up. 

“Hurry,” Henrik whined, feeling Edward rutting against him. 

“I thought I was going to be the impatient one.” Edward chuckled and then slowly pushed in. “Oh, fuck~” He groaned at how good Henrik felt around his cock. “God, Henrik, you always feel so perfect.” Edward leaned over, pressing his chest to Henrik’s back. He moved an arm around his hips as the other rested his hand on one of Henrik’s. 

“You…You always make me…make me feel so full.” Henrik panted. “Please…please fuck me.” 

“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Edward kissed Henrik’s shoulder and started rocking his hips. Henrik leaned his chest more against the bed, eyes rolling a little as he softly moaned. 

“More~” Henrik let himself fully relax, showing Edward he could go for it. 

“Yes, sir.” Edward bit into the crook of Henrik’s neck, turning the little whine into another moan as he thrusted harder and faster, finding a pace that drove both of them crazy. 

“Ed-Edward-ah~!” Henrik tried to find words but soon was only able to moan, hands grasping desperately at the bed covers. 

It was too much in the best way possible. He blinked away the tears forming, and his throat became dry since he couldn’t stop his sounds. His legs were shaking without his control, and each thrust felt like Edward was fucking away any thought Henrik could have. 

“I’m close,” Edward grunted. “Want me to cum inside you?” Henrik could only moan and nod eagerly. 

He wanted it. He needed it. His body was burning with that strong, painful pleasure, and he was moments away from it all finishing up. 

Edward bit Henrik again, sinking his teeth into the base of his neck, muffling his own moan and cumming. He kept his hips going, fucking through his high and managing to adjust his arms so he could start stroking Henrik’s cock once more. 

It wasn’t much longer before Henrik was crying out, voice cracking and knuckles going white as that final rush made him feel like he was going to pass out. His vision blurred as his eyes rolled and crossed as he tensed up, cumming hard. 

“Holy hell,” Edward said after swallowing and trying to catch his breath, feeling Henrik going completely limp under him. “Hen?” He gently pulled out and kissed Henrik’s cheek. “How are we feeling?” Henrik only looked at Edward with glossed-over eyes and giggled. “Oh, you’re gone gone.” Edward chuckled, brushing Henrik’s hair out of his face. “Don’t worry, love. I’ll get you and the bed cleaned up, and then we’ll cuddle for the rest of the night.” 

“Eddy~” Was the only word Edward would get from Henrik for a while. 

[litgwritersroom]

What if Marisol had two dates when Lurik came in, and was most popular then? Would she be less likely to get tempted by Rocco if she has both Lucas and Henrik on her tail? Also, who would she end up with? This concept has always interested me, so it’ll be great to see someone else’s take.

Hey babe! @mrsbsmooth here!

Firstly, I'm so sorry it's taken us so long to get to this one. It's been sitting in the back of my mind for weeks. Thanks to @i-boop-you for her help on this ask, too!

I've always found Marisol an interesting character, because for someone who seems so driven by logic and reason, she sure seems to follow her vagina a lot.

It's my opinion that:

Even if Henrik & Lucas had actively pursued Marisol, she would still have ended up with Rocco.

I know, I know. But wait.

Here's my rationale:

First, let's look at what Marisol's other (male) Love Interests have in common:

Em pointed out that it's a common trope when writing bisexual female characters, to assume that they like men who are a little bit trash and girls who are a little bit too perfect, and Marisol's definitely been slapped with this.

Think about it - Gary, Graham, and Rocco. She's got an instant attraction with all three of them. She likes the tattoos, a bit of scruff, a bit of ye olde' toxic masculinity - and this is coming from someone who proudly picked Gary on their first playthrough. He's trash, but he's our trash. So we know that she likes them a little rough around the edges.

So she'd like Henrik, right? He's as rugged as they come.

In a word? No. Because I don't think it's just about the rough & scruffy for her. I think that the main thing that attracts her to Graham and Rocco, is that they are actively pursuing her, and they are quite assertive about that fact. Plus, Gary flirts with anything that moves, so that's where he fits in to that.

But Henrik? No way. I just don't see him as being assertive enough for her. Excluding r!Henrik, Henny is a harmless labrador puppy, and Marisol wants a pitbull.

So while she thinks he's hot (because she's got eyes), sorry, Henny, you're not for her.

Okay, so the assertiveness makes sense with Lucas. But he's not exactly rough around the edges?

You're right. Lucas is many things, but rough around the edges is not one of them. The man is so polished that it squeaks when you give him a handjob.

However. Lucas is one of the (read: the #1 IMO) most hyper-masculine guys in the villa. Not in a one of the lads kind of way, though. He's just got all that Daddy/Dom thing going on. Which we know that Graham's also into (rope, sex dungeon in the fort, etc.), so I HC that Marisol's at least a little bit into it.

Lucas & Marisol are also both brilliant, and I think that, intellectually at least, he's one of the only boys who's going to be able to keep up with her. He's also assertive enough to go after her, which, if he did it, she would have absolutely gone for. Plus, don't even get me started on how much the motorbike would get her revved, IYKWIM.

But the key point is that in this universe, Lucas is actively pursuing her. If that was the case, then yes, I think Marisol is definitely going to show significant interest in Lucas.

But would she have gone for Lucas over Rocco?

Ahhh, see this is where it gets tricky. My first thought was yes. Because she's not a fucking idiot. Marisol analyses the shit out of every relationship, so I think it's pretty safe to assume she's doing the same to her own. She's going to be weighing up the pros and cons of each. And if she's looking for love, is she picking the handsome physiotherapist who lives an hour and a half drive away, or is she picking the flighty food-truck guy who lives an hour and a half flight away?

But Marisol's not that shallow!

No, you're right, and she's not thinking about this because of money. She's thinking about it because of values. It's ultimately canon that neither her or Lucas want kids. Which definitely helps.

So what would turn her off Rocco, then?

If anything, the thing that would have turned her off Rocco is that he's actually far more pretentious than Lucas. And yes, I know Lucas is pretty pretentious as far as the real-world use of the term goes.

But in terms of actual pretense? Lucas plays down the impressive things he's done. Rocco straight up lies about things he hasn't. I don't think she'd like that.

Okay, but you seem to be talking her out of going for Rocco. Why would she pick Rocco over Lucas?

Simple. It's almost entirely about trust.

Marisol's not fussed about her guy being flirtatious with other women. We know this, because when Graham flirts with Elisa and Jo (🤢) she's like 'If he's trying to make me jealous, it's not going to work'. Plus the fact that she still wants to be with Rocco after Roccogate... yeah. So it's not that that's going to turn her off him. Trust.

If a guy opens up to her, she loves it. I think, for all her psychoanalysing and pretending to not care about. When you interrupt Graham & Marisol in CA, he's opening up to her about a time when he felt really scared for his crew. And she's eating that shit up like it's his grandmother's dressed crab. Rocco opened up to Marisol about why he dropped out of Uni before he opened up to anyone else in the villa. And it's almost immediately after this that we start seeing her actively going for Rocco.

Lucas... is... sigh. I'll just say it. He's cold. It takes a long time for him to open up to MC, so we should expect it would be the same with Marisol. I actually think that Marisol's psychoanalysing would have prompted a similar reaction in him that it did from Rahim - with frustration, annoyance, and closing the fuck off. And I think, ultimately, this is going to be the thing that turns Marisol off Lucas. Because despite their obvious attraction to each other, I think she would have just gotten frustrated with the fact that he won't let her in.

So that's my take!

I hope this met your expectations, and I'm so sorry again about how long it took me to do! I hope it's not too rambling :)

xxx MrsBSmooth