#i heart doin human designs :3

[wukpng]

//tw: bright colors???

smth

[tunastime]

A Gear of the Heart, Starting

just a little something I wrote for somebody's (@shepscapades) birthday back in November :3 after I asked what etho and bdubs would've been like shortly after etho's deviation. this is the few times before last life where bdubs realizes etho might be a good friend, and how their relationship changes. comes right before A Gear of the Heart, Turning! (4653 words)

Etho remembers quite a bit.

He remembers the ricochet of the explosion through his left side. He remembers a dozen errors across his vision, showing every unit damaged by the blast, the fractals of fracturing snaking up his arm, the shattered remains of his central programming lingering like a livewire. 

Over and over he can remember the pitch of Bdubs’ voice and had to wonder his own diagnosis at that moment. Bdubs watching his android die in his name—he remembers that, too. Bdubs didn’t even ask for that. It was something Etho gave to him. He’s not sure he could even say why, either. 

It remained a bitter flavor he couldn't identify, even as Xisuma assured him he was okay. Something had happened then, sitting on that floor, thirium in hand. Some movement in his chest he couldn’t place. It wasn’t anything physical, but it felt like some gear of his nonexistent heart had started, turned—rotated. And all he could do was ask himself why. What’s he supposed to do with that?

He doesn’t know. Fine. 

Etho goes back to work at someone’s request. Not even his own request, either, so he has to wonder if maybe Doc put him up to it. Him being Bdubs. Him being Bdubs who shifted back and forth on his feet at Etho’s door—a facade of a base in the process of being designed. If one could even call it a base, yet.

And even though he was increasingly certain that Bdubs had been told to ask—and Etho asked him if he’d been asked to help, and he was adamant about asking by himself, that’s what he said. He said: “You think I gotta be told to ask people for help? I can’t just be doin’ things on my own?” and it had felt so much like doublespeak that Etho didn’t even fight to differentiate his tone. 

But Bdubs had asked if he wanted to help with the horse course. Terraforming—it should be right up his alley, if he’s still into that kind of stuff. Figured he was the expert—or so it goes. Etho had nodded. He wasn’t sure what else he was supposed to do. He supposes he could have easily said no. 

But every part of him yearned to say yes.

So he did.

The dust sifts through his fingers.

Etho perches in the grass, partially hunched as he leans over his line of redstone, shrouded by the hill half-built around him. He’d spent most of the week prior carving out the lines of the track, setting posts for buildings, laying out blueprints for Bdubs to finalize. Today, he lays his line meticulously, dust shifting in his hands. They still shake a bit—nothing a human would notice, nothing that disrupted the flow of his lines, but the overworked gears still shifted in protest as he worked. He could see the faded overlay of the project in his vision if he focused. It crackled, slightly blue-yellow, orange glowing indicators where action was needed, where there were mistakes to be corrected.

It isn’t his redstone to fix. The lines under his hands were—freshly laid by his near-expert technique—but the deeper lines, noteblock announcements, droppers, doorgates, the flourish of the house course, weren’t. Etho smooths out the line he was standing near with his thumb. 

There was nothing wrong with the laid redstone, really. It’s just. Well. It’s not even. It takes up so much space. It lacks the efficiency and tidiness he practiced to a precision. It radiated Bdubs in an overpowering way, one that might turn a gear of the heart—one he didn’t have, of course. Etho’s lines are neat, rigid, conforming to his perfect mental map. 

He lets down his section of dust, drifting over to the dispenser system. He pushes a line further into place, brushing dust back from the side. Further on, where the line crosses, he readjusts it, he smooths them from start to end of line. His hands work where his mind recalculates, looking for errors along the redstone already laid out by Bdubs. Programs bubble up to assist; he dismisses a message, and another as he works. The line straightens from source to sink. 

As he passes, searching for another correction, he hears someone above him. In the corner of his vision, another message notification pings: from Bdubs.

They’re all from Bdubs, actually, now that he notices in full. He blinks, mouth twisting into a frown. Whoops.

He hears someone—Bdubs, he realizes, as he notes the fall of his feet, and the sigh he hops down from his horse, the shuffle of said horse, hooves on grass—clear their throat. Bdubs shuffles around as Etho moves back over to his finished redstone, dusting his hands on the sides of his pants. He lifts the small bag of dust, twisting the tie shut around his fingers as he travels back up the line to recheck the connections. 

��Etho?” Bdubs calls. Etho straightens, just on instinct alone, glancing up at the stretch of sky he can see. It’s bright blue, barely dotted with clouds, and the grass looks warm with sun. He fixes where the dust starts as he sections off the end, tossing the rest of the redstone over to his sling bag.

“Under the hill!”

Bdubs leans over the edge, tilting his head at Etho as he peers into the dark. It takes him a moment to find Etho’s face, partially obscured by black fabric and the fluff of wool around his collar. Etho tilts his head, raising his eyebrows.

“Did you need something?” he asks, arm hanging loosely by his side. Bdubs frowns, too, watching Etho’s expression. As his eyes seem to adjust to the dark, his gaze falls on the lines of redstone. He pauses there for a long moment. In that moment, Etho feels something in his chest grind, almost to a noticeable ache. If he could pull in a breath to settle it, he might have, but the sensation and minute sound passes as soon as he moves his hand to press flat against his regulator. Bdubs is gone when he looks up, reappearing only as he drops into the cavern, catching himself on the wall. He readjusts his cloak around his shoulders, shuffling into the low-light.

“Etho,” he says, still frowning. Etho looks him over. He watches Bdubs set his hands on his hips, but his heart rate stays even and his temperature level. The only thing that changes is the tone of his voice, fluctuating with a pattern Etho recognizes as forcing something. Bdubs takes a long breath in and lets it out. Etho’s eyes find the twitch of his fingers as he folds his arms, rather than the sharp curve of his mouth.

“Yes?” Etho asks. He feels his pump work a little harder. It kind of hurts still, whatever’s stopped working in his chest. He flicks his eyes, recalling a diagnostic, setting it to run in the background as he closes out of the overlays and the world returns to yellowish-grey. Bdubs is still frowning.

“You mind tellin’ me what’s wrong with this redstone?”

Etho blinks. The diagnostic comes up clear.

“What do you mean?” he says, his expression shifting into something copying amusement. He’s trying. He’s at least trying to mimic the emotions he sees. Soon enough it’ll feel natural, he’s certain. “What’s wrong with it?”

Bdubs snorts, which turns into a laugh, which turns into Etho smiling a bit wider, a bit more confusion lingering in his expression as he leans around Bdubs to check his meticulously placed line. Bdubs turns away from him, facing the system, the clock that linked the start gates to the timer below.

“What’s—” Bdubs scoffs, shaking his head. “What’s wrong with it? Etho—” he holds out his hand, waving Etho over. Etho lingers at his shoulder as he steps forward, peering over the curve of it and the moss and small leaves and flowers draped over his neck. “It’s too perfect.”

Etho makes a sound like a scoff now, a caught sound in his vocal unit, a stuttering start to his sentence that doesn’t form right away. He’s trying for surprise, the pitch of his voice rising unexpectedly.

“It’s too perfect?” he asks. 

Bdubs nods. After a moment, Etho thinks he sees his expression shift, the high of his cheek rising. When Bdubs turns his head to look at him, just for a second, Bdubs is smiling.

“Bdubs,” Etho says, sighing, turning away from him, to his bag on the far side of the room. He shakes his head. That something-nothing in his chest flutters and fades and disappears all at once, instead replaced with the urge to smile back. Bdubs laughs, and Etho can imagine him tipping his head back, mouth curved up as he giggles to himself. Etho shakes his head. As he starts to pull away from Bdubs, he feels him catch his sleeve, holding fast to his elbow.

“Etho, wait—” Bdubs giggles. “It looks really good.”

Etho raises his eyebrows. Caught in Bdubs grasp, all he can do is look at him, head tilted, trying not to let the amusement show on his face. Bdubs giggles, face breaking again as he does.

“Etho…” he tries again, fighting back a smile. Etho tilts his head the other way, as if to prompt him further, looking for anything. He stays silent. Bdubs hand lowers slowly, that smile faltering just a fraction. Maybe he thinks Etho’s upset with him. There’s a flicker of recognition in his eyes. “You gonna say anythin’? Or you just gonna stand there?”

Etho smiles, finally. He shrugs a little, glancing over at the fixed lines of redstone.

“I fixed your redstone,” he says cooly, sticking his free hand in his pocket. Bdubs blinks. He jerks away as Etho’s smile grows, shoving him hard in his shoulder. Etho wobbles for a moment, smiling to himself, scrunching up his face as Bdubs’ expression morphs. He does laugh, after a beat, poking Etho in the shoulder as he does. Etho hopes he can see the smile in his eyes. He saves, logs, keeps this moment. He’s sure in the low light that his LED spins yellow for a moment. It feels right. If there’s any feeling to catalog.

Bdubs huffs. Etho thinks he hears him say something under his breath. It sounds a lot like thank you.

It’s out of habit, rather than obligation, that Etho finds himself back at the horse course. Of course he ends up here, his feet moving him about as if his brain-not-brain had no thoughts of its own. Man. Some days, it really felt human.

He wanders across the plain, eyes lingering on fully-built buildings, knowing the schematics and plans, watching as those plans-now-buildings stretched higher above his head, where they nearly threatened to pop the sky wide open. 

Bdubs had sat down with him earlier that week, papers spread out between them. He’d stopped by, actually—worked his way up the mountain to the base Etho had finally finished, papers in hand, looking like he was on the verge of collapse. He’d dropped the blueprints on the largest table Etho had managed to clear, spreading out the designs for huge, complex buildings. Etho watched him explain, listened for the inflection of when to offer suggestions, heard the way Bdubs’ voice grew quieter, almost conspiratorial, as he explained his palette. There was something methodical in the way Bdubs spoke, not only in the approach to his colors, but to his style. As much as it seemed eclectic and strange, he watched the pieces fall together as Bdubs spoke of his gradients. There was something deeper there, a precision that Etho, all of a sudden, in that room, craved to emulate. To write to disk. To save. To do more than just copy. 

He’d built the horse stable first—all to his own specifications. It was Bdubs later who came in to detail, tilling up the dirt around to plant grass and flowers, sectioning off parts of the empty stable. It was almost difficult to compartmentalize that Bdubs was finished with it now. That they’d worked each line of the redstone and Etho had supervised the first steps of building, and now he could look up and see the very top, or almost, if he were to strain, of the spikes above the buildings. 

And in just a few weeks, Bdubs was onto another project. Etho smiles to himself. He can’t help it. There was something rather comforting about that. Something about Bdubs dragging him along to help, pointing him toward the thing he was good at, and asking for help. Bdubs showing up at his door with plans. Bdubs cracking jokes with him, and looking for a laugh Etho couldn’t replicate yet. It’s like something clicked. Or was just on the breach of it. And Etho liked it.

Etho clears his field of view, taking in, instead, the stretch of sky where it met the ocean, along the line of hills and grass and flowers, and further still, to the smudge that looked like Bdubs. He blends in too well—the green of his coat barely noticeable against the field of grass that splayed out from the side of his build. There were still materials strewn about—chests half opened, shulkers stacked waist high. 

Bdubs stands to the side of a dark grey and white horse, one hand placed on its nose, the other digging through his bag. Etho watches for a moment. Bdubs fishes around for that entire second that he lingers, searching for something, until he pulls out an apple. Another falls to the ground, rolling away from him. He holds out the fruit for the horse as Etho clears his throat. 

“Hiya, Bdubs—” he says as Bdubs startles, twisting around to see him. He huffs, an immediate frown coming to his face. Bdubs turns to fetch the dropped apple, holding it high above his head as the grey horse nudges its nose into his empty hand. He pats it instead.

“Etho,” he says, tone thin. He sighs, shaking his head. “Scared the life outta me, you know that? You gotta make some noise when you’re walkin’ around.”

Etho smiles, a nice and easy reaction to the annoyance in Bdubs’ voice. It’s getting easier. At least a bit. The smiling part, that is. The inflection that comes with being happy.

“I’ll try next time,” he says, shrugging his shoulders. His hands find his pockets as he looks around, eyes following the path around the buildings. He’s sure the pollen and moss will be stuck to his clothes for days before he gets them out.

“Mm,” Bdubs hums, unconvinced. “I’m sure you will. Now, what’re you doin’ here? You don’t have anything better to do?”

“That’s a good question,” Etho says.

Bdubs turns back to him for a second, just a glance over his shoulder as he cocks his head to the side. He raises his eyebrows before he turns back to the horse, who’s started to nose at his bag. He drags his hand down its nose.

“You’re tellin’ me you don’t have an objective right now?”

“I never have an objective, Bdubs.”

Bdubs snorts again . Etho steps over, slow, minding the horse. It sniffs as Etho holds out his hand, nosing his gloved palm. He pats the horse's nose, somewhat stilted, smoothing over the soft bridge of his nose.

“Right,” Bdubs hums. When Etho glances over to him, Bdubs glances away, as if he’d lingered as Etho stepped over. He’s not moved from Etho’s side, which. Makes something fit into Etho’s chest in a way he isn’t expecting. He rests his hand on the horse's head, looking over at Bdubs in full.

“I can’t come see how the horse course is looking, now that you’re done?” he asks. Bdubs makes an embarrassed sounding noise, watching the rise of the buildings to their left. The horse sniffs, and Etho lifts his hand away, letting it fall to his side.

“I—I got excited about it,” Bdubs mutters. If Etho leans enough, he can see the beginnings of a flush creep over his cheeks, up the shell of his ear. Something about that, too. Etho looks beyond him, though, studying the rise of the buildings as Bdubs does. He nods to himself.

“I can tell,” he says, amusement slipping into his voice, almost naturally. Immediately, Bdubs whips around again, face twisted in offense.

“Hey!” he snaps. “You makin’ fun of me?”

Etho shakes his head, spreading his hands out in front of him as he does.

“No, no. Not at all,” he says, hoping the smile he’s giving is reaching his eyes. “I’m saying we make a pretty good team.”

Bdubs makes a little huff of a sound, but his posture and expression softens. Etho studies it from the moment it appears, trying to place the emotion behind it. He seems upset—but not from anything Etho said. He almost looks guilty.

“We’ve always made a good team,” Bdubs mumbles. Etho blinks.

“Since when have we been a team?”

“Since—s…” Bdubs blurts, then backtracks, folding his arms over his chest. “Well we’re a team now!”

Etho raises his eyebrows, stepping away from the horse and more around Bdubs’ side. He leans in a bit as he stands by his side, bumping their shoulders together. Bdubs doesn’t recoil. Instead, he pushes back, just for a moment, and they jostle. Bdubs hums, sighing through his nose.

“Are we?” Etho asks. Bdubs nods, short and firm.

“Mhm! ‘Cause I said so.”

Etho nods with him. There’s that thing again, a turning, jostling, in some part of his chest that really shouldn’t turn or jostle. He can feel his temperature tick up just a few degrees, a fan kicking on to settle the temperature, thirium sludging warm to cold through his limbs. A team, huh? He couldn’t beat Bdubs’ conviction, that’s for sure. Maybe it was a bit of guilt, then. Maybe something in Bdubs had realized Etho was much more of a help than a hindrance. Maybe Bdubs wanted a friend. Maybe he just felt bad and the feeling bad got to a point where he had to just do something about it. Etho didn’t know. He didn’t live inside Bdubs’ brain. And picking at Bdubs’ every emotion was a task enough to drive his processor into the ground. He could already feel another spike in temperature, LED glowing yellow-blue. Maybe it wasn’t all bad. Etho sticks his hands in his pockets.

“I’d like that,” he says, finally pushing out the words as his programming jumps into gear, “What’s our next project then?”

Bdubs goes back to jostling him before he turns away, moving from Etho’s side to collect his horse. Gathering the horse's reins in his hands, Bdubs pauses.

“Ooh…” he says, frowning a little. Etho watches the little furrow of his eyebrows—thinking. Bdubs is turning the idea over in his head. Bdubs steps back over with the horse in tow, already walking in the direction of the horse stable. Etho jolts forward, taking several big steps to match Bdubs’ pace. “Well why don’t you come back to the clock and we can talk about it, huh?”

“That sounds nice.”

Bdubs makes an affirmative sound, leading the horse around and into the stable. Etho watches him unlatch the gate, ushering the horse into the pen.

“I can put the kettle on and everything,” Bdubs says. He lifts the bridle out of the horse’s mouth, running his hand along the length of the horse’s nose. Etho doesn’t mean to watch him as he does, but the action is so purposeful. There’s a moment where Bdubs’ expression is unreadable—unreadable as in Etho simply can’t place anything on it. Unreadable in the amount it changes—something softer than he’s seen, something far away. Bdubs’ whole demeanor seems to shift as he stands still for a moment. Etho isn’t sure what to do with himself. He’s just standing in straw and dirt and stones, all of which he can feel under his shoes. He shuffles a bit, back and forth, to make his presence known, before he says:

“You know I can’t drink anything, Bdubs.”

And Bdubs rolls his eyes, squinting over at him, stepping away from the horse to hop the gate.

“Well you can at least fake it,” he grumbles. He folds his arms again, wrinkling his nose at Bdubs as Bdubs leads him out of the pen and into the open field around the horse course. The shadow of the buildings above them hasn’t changed, yet. The sun is still high and warm in the sky.

Etho laughs. At least, he makes a sound that he thinks passes as a laugh. Bdubs laughs too, though, so it must sound pretty convincing. He nods, the smile on his face feeling much more natural than he ever could have expected. 

“I could fake it,” he laughs. “Sure.”

Bdubs grins at him. It’s nice. It makes the walk back to his base a little more bearable.

By the time Etho gets his invitation to the life game, he’s grown accustomed to being at Bdubs’ side again. He wanders around Bdubs’ base like he knows it, makes it a spot he chooses to map, to memorize. Bdubs checks in on him when he isn’t around as much—asks him how his builds are going, wonders if he needs help. Bdubs lingers in his spaces too, like a plant trying to root, gives himself reasons to stand in doorways just a bit longer, just enough to extend their goodbyes. It feels right—in a way that almost gives reason to Etho’s deviation. Maybe, deep down, from their first introduction, Etho had decided to glue himself to Bdubs’ side and not become unstuck. Maybe he’d simply put that decision, his first ever decision, into motion that day. It didn’t matter much as to why anymore.

When Etho gets his letter, he doesn’t open it. He holds it between two fingers, turning it over and over. He doesn’t need to read it to know what it says. There’s a dark red seal on the back, shaped like a heart. He makes a little sound, some sort of click in the back of his mouth, before he stuffs the letter in his pocket, half-folded.

He finds Bdubs exactly where he expects. Bdubs is sitting cross-legged in his garden, hands in the dirt, when Etho arrives at the crescent moon base. If he looks closely enough, Etho can still tell that Bdubs’ own letter sits on his window sill in the kitchen, unopened. But he’s really squinting to notice, so he writes it off for now as a flaw in his own sight. 

Bdubs turns to him as he walks up. His hair is pushed back away from his face with his bandana, and his hands are covered in dirt, and he’s got a streak of black soil across his forehead that Etho tries not to look at for too long. Bdubs shoots him a toothy grin, going back to his bright orange tulips. If Etho looks long enough, he could probably guess the soil mixture, and tell him if it's good enough to be planting orange tulips in, but he doesn’t. Instead, he comes to stand behind him and Bdubs hums in greeting.

“Etho,” he says, looking up again, wiping the dirt from his forehead. “What can I do for you?”

“Oh, nothin’,” Etho says, stuffing his hands in his pockets. He forgets who he picked the gesture up from, but it’s become part of his natural body language patterns now, so he won’t be stopping it anytime soon. “I just came to see how you were doing.”

“How I was doin’, huh?” Bdubs asks, amusement trickling into his voice. Etho smiles, feeling his face pull.

“Mhm,” he says. “That’s right. I can’t come and check up on a friend?”

Bdubs laughs, sticking his spade in the dirt.

“Oh, we’re friends now?” he says, still giggling as he turns around. “I thought we were just a team.”

Etho watches him lean back on his hands, legs coming out from under him. He tries to read Bdubs’ expression and voice for any note of insincerity, or play, or teasing, but doesn’t find anything he normally associates with Bdubs. This just feels true.

“I mean, I figured with how much we’ve been working together…” Etho starts, to which Bdubs startles, waving his hands.

“No, no!” Bdubs yelps. “Etho, I thought the same thing! I just wasn’t expectin’ it from you.”

Etho blinks. It feels owlish, small, almost a wrong reaction to hearing Bdubs say something like that. But it’s what immediately happens, before he tries to open his mouth, and no sound comes out. He waits for a moment. He assumes his LED spins, maybe even red, as Bdubs watches him, face paling.

“Oh,” Etho says quietly.

“We’re friends,” Bdubs says, voice much smaller than Etho’s ever heard it. “‘S that alright with you?”

Etho feels like the proper response would be to laugh, if he could really feel anything at all besides every gear in his chest halting and restarting themselves. He makes a noise that sounds almost like a cough.

“Mhm,” he says. He watches Bdubs’ shoulders relax and finds that his own posture sinks with it. 

“Good,” Bdubs says, nodding along. “Was there anything else you wanted to scare me with?”

Etho knows this tone—playful. Teasing. He works up a smile and fishes the letter from his pocket, slightly bent. Bdubs’ eyes flick right to it, right to the red seal pressed into the paper. Immediately, he scrambles up, reaching for the note in Etho’s hands. Etho lets him grab it in his dirt-covered fingers, even as Bdubs tries frantically to dust off his hands as he notices. Bdubs turns it over itself, glancing up at Etho.

“It’s for you?”

Etho nods.

“It was on my doorstep this morning,” he says. “I can see you’ve got one in your window?”

Bdubs snorts, shaking his head.

“Yeah, I haven’t opened the damn thing. I’m excited up until the point I’m not, ‘cause I know I’m gonna lose again.”

Etho hums. As Bdubs hands him back the letter, Etho rests his hand on his shoulder, giving it a hesitant, light squeeze. Bdubs looks quickly down at it, before he’s back to staring at Etho’s face.

“Don’t worry, Bdubs,” he says, hoping his voice is full of amusement and affection like he feels like it is. “You’ll have me there this time!”

And Bdubs laughs, full and warm in his chest, and Etho jostles him around as he does, until Bdubs is smacking his shoulder and wiggling free. He picks up his fallen hat and his tools, and Etho follows him around the side of the house as he puts things away. As he shuts one of the chest, Bdubs says:

“You mean that, though? You wanna be on a team?”

Etho smiles, feeling his eyes squint, forces every ounce of new feeling into his words when he says:

“I don’t think I wanna team with anyone else, Bdubs.”

And Bdubs’ grin in excitement is more than enough to convince him he’s made the right choice.

It’ll be a long two weeks until the death game starts. When he returns home later that night, Bdubs’ plans for success turning over in his brain, recording for later, Etho reads over the letter enough to commit the page to memory. He keeps it safe internally as the letter finds its way to his bookshelf, half-sealed. Through him, like it’s just under the skin, runs an emotion he’s not yet familiar with. He hopes it's a good one, at the very least. He hopes so, as much as an android, a machine, someone just now familiar with the idea of free will, can hope. 

It feels good, though. And something makes him think that everything will turn out just fine.

[ginminowas]

grumpus designs addendummm

ANYWAYS. felt like doin a post talking abt how i draw the grumpuses or whatever for funsies bc im bored + since i did the design meme. lets go

in General : i draw them like furries, vaguely. which is fun because im not much of a furry artist so i have no idea what im doing and it shows. in general i give them sorta snouts in varying... snoutyness depending on their over/underbite. eg floofty, snorpy gramble and shelda have flatter faces while liz, lillow and wambus look like weird dogs, i guess. i draw them with human-shaped hands but put pawpads on them. sometimes. you could say i give them ears but to be honest they dont look functioning i just slap some squiggles on their heads and move on. i also give some of them tails. because i walk around irl like why dont i have a tail and well its their problem now.

I also give them more/detailed-er hair and clothes. character specific stuff below

Filbo is still just a guy. I mostly just slapped some freckles on him because I thought theyd be cute. in a spongebob kinda way. i put a hawaiian shirt on him. not pictured, i think he would have a little tuft of a tail. average goober

I draw Beffica with more... idk if id say realistic hair, but it’s less of a hat. as far as I can tell, her in-game model has orangeish-red eyes (color makes me think of ketchup), but I made them browner. not a lot of brown eyed characters in media but this is partially habit on my part coming from drawing genshin fanart (nobody has brown eyes). i made her nose heart shaped and put her in a off the shoulder shirt. she has a sort of... cheetah? pattern bc i think its cute.

Eggabell is round soft and pink. not as egg shaped in my style i suppose, but she prob looks more egg fullbody than just her bust lol. i like the ........ floofy thing ive seen ppl put on her so theres that, i also think she’d look cute w/ short hair. changed her med belt into a sort of... satchel lookin thing?

Liz. in the meme I forgot about her hat, LOL. I give her a ponytail haircut - she kinda looks like a wolf and less like a walrus I suppose... she’s muscular and scared from The Adventuring, and I put a vest thing on her. she still has the belt.

Wambus I made look a bit dilfy... kind of wolf shaped in my brain. him and Triffany feel like the types to be that thick beefy kind of muscled. gave him bushy eyebrows and sort of hair, w some grey hairs. he and Triffany are around 40-50s to me, they both have some wrinkles, but im. bad at drawing older ppl

Triffany..... her hat was a menace to draw. she’s just as beefed up as Wambus, but she’s very fluffy and soft looking. her vest is more Open in canon but I didn’t wanna redraw it but im sure she has amazing chest fur. she has curly-ish hair in a ponytail.

for Cromdo I tried to make him like.. idk... uncleish. danny devitocore. I’m not used to drawing characters like him so ??? its a little funny looking but I tried to make him look like he had body hair as if he wasnt covered in fur lmfao. gave him some wrinkles, he’s probably in his 40s. put a shirt on that freak. also, had trouble w his nose.

I’ve had trouble drawing shorter characters in relation to taller ones (chandlo) but I liked how I drew Gramble. I put freckles on him (cute factor), turned his vest into a full sweater (w shirt collar), gave him some curly strawberry red hair under the hat. he’s cute. I know he weighs like 3 apples

WIGGLE my beloved! I felt I made her a bit Much but honestly? fits her. I gave her short curly hair - I do like how other designs give her the spiky mohawk look from the cheepoof tho! in her model her eyes are blue, but I darkened them similarly to how I changed Beffica’s eyes, but its less noticeable with the glasses. I gave her a sorta... half tube top w a see thru part (forgot the word.) probably wears beach party clothes

Oddly, I have trouble with Chandlo. He’s kind of dog-ish like Liz an Lillow, also made his nose heart shaped cuz its cute. gave him hair under the hat but idk how I feel on it. he’s beefy obviously, but I think he’s a bit more defined than Wambus. I couldn’t quite show it but I imagine he has rather calloused paws, but is otherwise careful when carpenter-ing and such (unlike Snorpy and Floofty, OSHA enemies.)

SNORBYYYYY I love this little yellow thing. I draw him (and his sibling) with casual glasses usually, because I imagine the magnifying glass isnt Always necessary. I also put him in a sweater. I gave him some freckles and changed the direction of his hair + the style to be in a ponytail idk. his arms and hands are particularly scarred, from equipment and engineering accidents and such, probably has some burns too.

Floofty my beloved rude asshole. I have a little trouble w their hair on the left side of their head 😭 I also give them simpler glasses to wear when they don’t need the goggles because wearing that shit all day hurts. I put them in a hoodie/jacket + lab coat combo. I imagine the lab coat is blood stained. stuff’s hard to clean. They’re equally if not more scarred than their brother, and have a particularly bad burn/scar double whammy on their right hand which I hc they get after getting fired when having a meltdown. ANYWAYS

Shelda my gramma. I love her but MY GOD coloring the flowers was hard lol. I imagine her fur is on the shorter side. I don’t have too much to say I guess? I want to give her a hug.

Clumby I just drew a kind of Aunt-y ish garfield. the glasses and hat were hard. definitely the type of woman I saw in the middle school’s reception office.

is that all? I guess that’s all. there’s Lillow, but I dont have much to say I guess? besides that the scar on her nose is from snaktooth. what was it clumby said? “dont fall off a cliff onto your face?”

[floralkittygambler]

Spoiler to upcoming H*skerD*st post (why I dislike it)

Spoilers:

“ [SECT 1 - Body Language (Nif > AD) - Avian/Feline/Human] [SECT 2 - BOUNDARIES: rejection, pushy, reflects val, pref unavailable men like Henroin/Bro (Trav, H), power dynamics in fic/rl, candid pic] [SECT 3 - Age, chemistry (pro, con)/common grounds (addictions), convo, maturity, AD type, Opposites DONT attract (proven by science)] [SECT 4 - IG, fans, viv - streams, viv sis, staff, mick ear comment, issues w staff shipping, requests, new and outdated art, mentality, tsundere, male sex abuse victims in media, poor character and world mapping, neg gay stereotype, oversized pet, H being OOC for fanservice and self indulgence is creepy] [SECT 4.5 - Impact on audience: The message this conveys to audience, esp impressionable young people. lack of staff maturity and understanding on this. concerning fetish.] [SECT 5 - Personal Experiences + why it triggers, where my pov comes from and why its valid] [SECT 6 - CONCLUSION: Why it wont work, brief sum of impact on reality, no respect or boundaries, dangerous message, clear and unrealistic bias (that can lead to sloppy storytelling), How to Fix (best course of action from here, maybe a lesson in boundaries and accepting rejection/cant have everything to AD? Start of a purely platonic bond between the pair, Paternal/grandfather and grandson love (not always covered in media), healthy relationships that arent just sex/romance, how different bonds can help give support to healing, realistic relationships and bonds, moving away from creepy stereotypes and stigma, expanding from the cliche of love healing all and why thats dangerous, love is not to fix someone or yourself, how fanservice dampens storytelling and weakens development - ex pyramid head, viv ‘symbolism’ is heart trademark + lack of research, lesson of respect and boundaries, positive messages, how to improve of the storytelling of HH to avoid cliche and self indulgent/fanservicey pitfalls)] “

Finished the introduction and warning sections. Thisll take some time, esp as its touchy stuff for me. But working on something more refined and professional sounding/looking whilst linking the original for reader ref. Some personal info will be redacted as I feel uncomfortable sharing it as well as it’s in my right to have my privacy. Im aware people will question it however some things will trigger me and I will mention that, however I would rather keep somethings personal. Respect that from a real person please.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Im also going to cover other (Viv Related) topics such as:

The Dangers of Stolitz

Valentino - The Bastardisation of the Pimp ‘Game’ (It’s NOT romantic)

The Flaws of Angel Dust (From Design, Stereotype, Drugs and Sex Work)

Viv and Critique - Why Criticism is CRUCIAL to Growth + the Difference Between Hate and Help

Points to Improve (in HH/HB)

Professionalism Lacking in Spindle + Concerns

Research! Some Facts About Each Era + Demonology (from a Real Witch!)

[Now I know many may have issues with this one but] Viv Inserts - Verosika, AD, Charlie...? (Incl. Viv Impsona, Staff OCs, How to correctly Self Insert)

Vox is a Victim (Whilst dark humour is great, this just crosses a line - and other facts on male abuse victims treatment)

Viv Has Taken on too much - Why this destroys industry before it begins (and how to avoid the temptation!) - A handy guide on realistic workload to reduce your own stresses and work your way towards your final goal!

Alastor - The Poor Portrayal of Race, Spiritual Practice and Design (And how to improve!)

Biggest Pet Peeve - LEARN YOUR DRINKS, DEMONOLOGY AND GAMBLING! 

What Drink is Husk Drinking? (Ft my decent into booze aka I can make a drink and drink a drink but my arms tire from the shaking aka blended booze b4 aka Repetition of the AoM ‘What Drugs is David Taking? ft The Addiction Boss Monster’)

Redesigns

What Variation Can Spice It Up?

How To Make An Adult Cartoon For ADULTS (And not just horny teens)

Sigils, Incorrect Usage and WTF ARE YER DOIN?! (Even for non-believers, dont misuse!)

Some Theories To Some Gin (or Whiskey or Voddie)

Review on Each Released Product (From Pilots, Comics to Merch)

Symbolism whilst combining Tragedy with Comedy

Bias, Misogyny and Treatment of Same Sex Ships 

Repetition

Why Stan Culture is Dangerous, So is Hate

How to plan, produce and market your own show!

Husk’s Peach Princess Cocktail (as seen on Tipsy Bartender) and Proof the Fans are Too Young To Booze Cruise

Building Rep and Trust whilst keeping boundaries as a creator

The Point and Purpose of the Hotel 

Sexual Fixations in both shows - why is everything sex

[schrodingersauthorii]

Since I'm stuck at home doin' nothing until classes start, here is the 'best of' from my reading list.

'A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent'- Marie Brennan

Recommendation level: my mom liked it (she HATES sci-fi/ fantasy.)

Absolutely fantastic read. The title gives you the content and the vibe: it's DRAGONS from the perspective of a 1800s(?) lady scientist writing her memoir.

Deeeefffinately not for little eyes. No on-screen sex (but definitely allusions to it), but TW for: discussion of miscarriage, hunting/butchering of large animals, period typical fantasy racism/sexism/classism, major character death.

(disclaimer: not meant to be a complete list of all potentially triggering content)

'Howl's Moving Castle'- Diana Wynne Jones

Recommendation level: I have both a physical copy and a digital copy

Traditional(ish) high fantasy, but wonderfully whimsical without being saccharine. Sophie is my role model.

CLASSIC. Should be taught in middle/high school literature classes. Do not be scared of the release date: it's not at all dated.

The movie's fantastic and holds a special place in my heart, but. um. It's not really like the book.

Young lady gets cursed into an old lady, chases down a 'wicked' wizard's walking house only to discover he is, in fact, worse than wicked: a slovenly layabout. Oh, and it turns out she might have been sort of magical all along.

Nothing to warn about HMC that I can recall, but I'm in the middle of 'House of Many Ways'. And. The lubbock. I don't know exactly how to tag for that, but it DEFO NEEDS A WARNING. Stay tuned for updates. DO NOT read if you've got a thing about parasitic insects.

Updates: I’m 98% sure Diana Wynne Jones could have written an essay on carpet weaves and it would have toped the charts, her writting is just Good Like That, but I take MAJOR OFFENSE at the lobbocks. House of Many Ways actually feels far more dated than Howl’s Moving Castle because of them.

Lobbocks are an Always Evil species of purple, magical, parasitic insects. They reproduce by laying their eggs in people. Male victims just get eaten from the inside out, but females give birth to half-human lobbockins and THEN die. (MAJOR YIKES.) Lobbockins are also Always Evil. All the problems in House of Many Ways are cause by lobbocks and lobbockins and are instantly resolved by killing them all.

Cells At Work

Recomendation level: LOVE MY NICHE INTEREST WITH ME!!!

Anthroporphic cells working in the body to keep you alive. That is all.

I...really don’t think anyone can keep up without a solid anatomy/ physiology background. I couldn’t keep up with the anime and I have a goddamn Master’s in Biomedical Science. If you wanna learn, this is probably a decent memory tool. (Warning: does not go into sufficient depth to replace actual studying.)

Currently read: Vol. 1-2

Cells At Work: Code Black

Reccomendation level: I am so horrified, yet so intrigued

Cells At Work, but rated R. For everything.

If you have any anatomy/ physiology background, you no doubt went: “Cool concept, but won’t it be super disturbing if you extend the metaphor too far?” Yes. Yes it is. If the cancer episode in CAW freaked you out, just set the book down now. It gets much, much worse.

The 18+ rating is for everything. There’s typical “female character breasts boobily,” but also full on, uncensored, and unnecissary tiddy. For the cells. Why? Just why? Then drugs and alcohol- but mostly on physiology side, so? Not for kiddos? But it doesn’t hit like normal drug and alcohol content? Same with sex. The sperm cell design is just freakish, though.

Then violence and gore (worse than normal CAW.) Special shout out for canabalism on that front. Character (cell) death. Most of your cells don’t make it long even when your body works correctly, and CAW:CB pulls no punches there. Disturbing imagrey, and not in a cute Tim Burtony way. I am wholly and viscerally repelled by this series, but can’t stop reading.

Currently read: Vol. 1-3

[spirit-shroud]

i replayed kz again tonight and managed to beat it in 4 hrs instead of 11 !!! which is rly cool imo, i think i got a max of like 50 deaths or less for the full run ??? i was just playing regularly but usin the prism blade for the cool blood effects, not in speedrun mode for the counter, and i managed 2 drag my friend into hyperfixation hell with me :} but also i have some thoughts and opinions im not rly sure how to compile in a meaningful way, so here’s the like. pure brain-down-on-blog post version under the cut. if this gets auto-tagged into the real actual tag for this game im very sorry for my hubris im just. thinking emoji

so id like to start this with the final boss makes me SO sad :( like yeah she doesnt have much dialogue but idk she just makes me so sad. she’s so desperate and she Knows shes going to lose and im just like. no!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you’re so cool!!!!!!! Please Be My Friend We Can Work Together. I Know A Guy :c like usually final bosses are like weirdly emotional for me but she was just SO COOL and realizing like WAIT THIS BOSS OPERATES UNDER THE SAME RULES I DO was just like WOW even if as i kept dying (and i think i spent like... 3 hrs on the final boss alone lmao the first time, i killed her on my third attempt this run which was very cool of me) i finally realized that she IS pretty repetitive and got all her patterns n variables down super easy, but like, fighting another null who Should for all intents and purposes be just as absurd and powerful as i am, and eventually being able to down her effortlessly, and then the withdrawal affects of the chronos kicking in as well, and its just like. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

dont even get me STARTED on that ‘to be continued’ like yeah there’s a dlc comin but the game mentions repeatedly that its just the first act which has me like OKAY. SPECULATION TIME (what am i speculating on? literally no idea im not even rly at the speculation phase im still in the WOW COOL VIDEO GAME phase) 

and i rly like the dragon/fifteen but the first time i saw him i was just like. who’s this f*llmetal alchemist looking bitch ??? what’s he doin here?? go HOME and controlling him is AWFUL i hate the dragon tape so MUCH >:C but also he’s like. cool. i want to know more about him n his plot 2 take down Juncture n the government n whatever. 

but also i was listen 2 Full Confession bc it’s just. what the heart wants rn. i need to be sad and caffeinated in order to get into the Writing Zone rn and then i was THINKIN like my friend mentioned while we were playing the dragon tape that the song that plays is very similar to Full Confession (which i had sent him earlier while i was losing my mind over the final boss) and then i was like. Hm. these are very similar but have such wildly different moods -- Breath of the Serpent is much more like. ‘you’re going to be afraid of me’ while Full Confession is like ‘i’m afraid of you’ and i think that the different Vibes from these two soundtrack bits about important Null characters is just like. WOW and i wonder how a version of it that was purely Zero’s might be. would it be more triumphant? more flat? what desperation or emptiness is in there that could be drawn out by this melody??? i dont KNOW and i can’t write music unfortunately but im just like AAAAAAAAAA

i also rly wanna know what snow has going on ??? like. shes clearly important. she is a vital npc. but Why. she didnt even rly do anything except Show Up???

fuck V. all my homies hate V. the motorcycle fight was a lot of fun tho i rly liked that section even if my therapist was mad at me afterwards

also i think elizabeth/the little girl is rly cute and the fact zero was just like. ‘hm. well guess i have a daughter now’ so fast w/ her (at least, with the dialogue trees me n my pal kept going down) and im just. So Hoping we can rescue her in the dlc :( i miss her so much and im so like. worried abt that like pls give me back my daughter you dumbasses i cant even read ur dialogue without my brain being like ‘yeah these r just squiggly lines, boss. gl’ 

i also want to believe that the masked men arent real (bc idk, it’s just easier for me to process that they’re the result of chronos withdrawal) but the problem w/ that is like. they definitely kidnapped elizabeth, and i want so desperately to believe that elizabeth IS real n that zero genuinely wants to protect her (and by extension, the part of himself that is still human) 

ALSO THE PSYCHIATRIST i was just like. Okay. I Must Get A Good Grade In Therapy. n kept being nice n cooperative and helpful to this clown ass and then THAT ENDING ??? like i didnt even get the Bad Therapist Ending i was just like. fucka you! attacka you with a rock! (i do however want to try the therapist boss it sounds like a lot of fun) but i just. i hate him! he sucks! find a better therapist zero u rly need one im sorry for ur problems disorder :( like hes clearly a guy who just works for the government n wants 2 keep a leash on our man 

n the contradictions, hes like. yeah ur killing everyone related to chronos so it can no longer be produced ♥ but dw ur special we totally wont just withhold chronos from you as soon as u finish ur tasks dw about it ♥ and its like. Hm. I Dont Think Thats Right !!!! 

also i wanna learn more about what Juncture has going on??? what are they like. Doing besides poisoning water n making lighters ?????? it’s clearly a lot 

also the art for this game is just so GOOD,,, like. i didnt rly notice a lot of the backgrounds my first playthrough bc i was just losing my mind the whole time trying to solve each puzzle but the second playthrough im just like. AAAAA. and the soundtrack? effervescent. groundbreaking. perfect. So Good 

and the GAMEPLAY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! oh my GOD i was SO vibing with it, the difficulty curve was kinda extreme imo but as soon as i started like. Getting It? and started looking at each room less like combat/fighting and more like a puzzle that needed to be solved it made it so much easier 2 get into the headphase of ‘okay how do i clear this’ and it was just like. YOOOOOOOO

and zero is just a lot of fun 2 play as. legitimately everything about him is just so ridiculous. his dialogue options? ridiculous. his design? absurd. the implications that hes like. 22 and just having the worst 10 days of his life? mood, buddy. this guy likes samurai movies and card games and mushroom pizza and has worn the same outfit every single day for who knows how long and hes also a war veteran, an emotionless serial killer and a drug addict. and hes 22 and 5′10. literally NOTHING about those traits make sense together but here he is, just Vibing. 

i love him so much. im going to make a self insert oc that’s just giving him a friend who knows how to cook n is just like ‘oh wow, that’s rough buddy’ when hes like ‘i only feel alive when i kill people’ and conveniently knows how 2 get bloodstains out of things bc i think he needs that kind of person in his life since his like. therapist is conspiring against him n he keeps having 2 kill his friends 

also, unfortunately, i want to get every achievement, which i feel like is going to become hld....2!! where i get all but 1 of them and am stuck at 96% for 2+ years >:T

[valnune]

Obey Me! OC - Wine Mom Chapter 8-8

This is Wine Mom’s chapter for the dance. Oh. Both Wine Mom and Marshmallow have an added dance with Diavolo ;)  Enjoy.  Word Count: 6707 Within the golden illustrious palace of the Demon King, the residents of Purgatory Hall, exchange students Simeon, Luke, and Solomon, were joined with the denizens of the House of Lamentation, the demon brothers, accompanied by the final exchange student, Althea. It was a retreat designed to celebrate the exchange program and how smoothly it was running. Smoothly was not the word she’d use for it however. While the situation itself was one of jovial merriment, a banquet before them prepared by the Demon Lord’s Butler Barbatos and the unseen staff that lurk in the shadows, Althea had been having the antithesis of amusement.  “...Well then, I suppose it’s about that time.”  Diavolo, a man who seemed surprisingly pleasant given the fact he was supposed to be, according to all she knew about Hell prior to arriving in the Devildom, had risen from the table that everyone had been seated at for the meal. As he rose, so did everyone else, more or less, rise with him in time as you would expectantly do for someone of such high royal status. Yet he also looked off to the side and waved a hand to the staff who were only visible from the reflections on the golden floor. The table glittered before them and disappeared before her very eyes through means of magic, much to Beelzebub’s displeasure, mumbling and groaning about how he wasn’t finished eating.  “Ignore him, Diavolo. Go ahead.”  Lucifer had distanced himself, and so did the other brothers. She had known that there were more festivities to be had, and while she enjoyed the tour and perhaps the scavenger hunt itself for its intellectual and cultural insights, this was a surprise for her whatever it was. Fun fact: Althea did not like surprises. You can’t prepare for surprises. That, and most surprises were disappointing. This one time however, was the exception to the rule. This was something the heiress was a bit more used to.  “All right then, here we go…” 

As the lights went dark over the entire area, her vision became obscured so that not even a shine from the floor or chandelier was able to gleam through. This was a spell, it had to be. Though she was unfamiliar with sorcery, she had been around it enough to feel the charged particles linger in the air. If she had arm hair, surely the hairs would be standing up as she felt static prickle along her skin. Althea felt a weight against her neck, and the texture of other fabrics. As the lights went on, all was revealed as the room they were in was transformed to a grand dance hall. Each demon was within their natural form, and the students, herself included, were adorned with fanciful formal attire. 

This is the sort of thing that could tempt mortals to fall. All those stories about grandiose, larger than life scenarios. Oh, how the Devil could tempt you with whatever it is your heart desired. Indeed. Decadence and Sin was mired throughout this place. She had been raised Catholic, went to an all girls, Private Catholic School, and although she had enough skeletons in her closet to fill a graveyard, was still faithful to God. 

“Magic really does come in hand sometimes, huh?” Solomon passed by her, his cloak bearing a mantle now for his formal robes his smirk remained the same no matter what he wore. 

“We were the only ones here just a bit ago, but now look at all these people…” Luke’s formal attire suited his diminutive appearance, rather looking like a flower boy at a wedding. Though that wasn’t much better than a chihuahua.

“They’re all guests from across the Devildom, and there certainly are a lot of them.” Simeon was the other angel, dark skinned, dark haired, with eyes like the Caribbean Sea. Yet, she was expecting to see that the angels had wings, apparently neither manifested them or were able to. 

Yet all of the individuals here, those she knew, those she didn’t, were in their demon forms. Wings, tails, and horns of all shapes and sizes were visible. Yet it seemed, from what she could see, that only Lucifer retained feathery wings. The rest had wings like that of a bat if they had them. Satan and Leviathan only had tails and horns- and despite Satan’s questionable fashion sense, it was Diavolo who truly caught the eye. The man had already been enough to catch the eye before; broad of shoulder and frame, tall of statue, clearly the largest demon she had seen but in his true form it was something else. 

His bare chest was adorned with golden accents and a few tattoos that accentuated his muscled form. Triangles bore upon his forearm and his attire on his lower half of black and white was still draped with gold chains and just the same as his torso. His neck held a black and gold collar that went all the way up, yet it didn’t look like it was difficult to turn his head in. All the while, a mantle of black fur curled over his arms behind his shoulder blades like a runway model. His hair turned a blood red and his skin deepend in colour. The future King of the Devildom truly looked like royalty in this moment for even his horns and four bat wings were tipped with gold. Yet he wasn’t the only one who was striking. 

“...Yo, Al… ah… ah…” Mammon seemed stunned for a bit at her appearance, and as Althea took a glance over what she wore, it seemed that it was the gala gown. It seems that it was replicated perfectly- and she didn’t have to pay the hefty price again for it either. 

With a thigh high slit, the gown was practically entirely gold, the leaves, vines, and flowers upon the skirt gold, the bodice and interior, all shades of gold in various ways that had a satin reflection as much as the room around her. Yet that wasn’t all, it also appeared her jewelry was replicated as well, bejeweled bracelets and the cascading necklace upon her bare neck and collarbones. Glancing to the side, she saw Barbatos give a nod. It seemed that he had done his research to make the gown as faithful to her own as possible. 

“I- Ah- Al- Althea! Um, like… you know… uh, I mean, like… uh… L-Like, you’ve gotta have weird tastes to ask a human like you to dance. I’m guessin’ no on here’s gonna do that, huh? Ahahahah!”  Mammon then mumbled something under his breath, looking away from her gaze, the blush upon his cheeks was expected by now. 

His demon form, as this was the first she had a chance to see it, was what she assumed he thought looked cool. A leather half cropped jacket that came nowhere close to being able to close was studded and had gold dangling decorations on the popped collar with belts that crossed his chest with two strips of leather that clutched the X. His bat wings were angled downwards and held white markings on them, just as his chest bore markings almost reminiscent of tribal war paint. 

“My oh my, Mammon… this look is more suited for the bedroom than the ballroom, don’t you think?” Althea closed the distance and brought her hand towards his chest, ever so slowly dragging a finger across one of the white markings. Mammon seemed to freeze a second and take a half step back as his blush intensified. 

“Mm? Y- yeah? W- wait- I mean! Y- what are ya doin’?! Y- ya can’t go sayin’ that here-” He even smacked at her hand, however light the trailing of her nail had been across his chest. Though, Althea’s reaction as a smug, mused grin at how flustered her had become. 

“Oh, I know- I know. I just like to see you blush. It’s terribly entertaining, darling.” Placing a hand on her hip, she canted them to the side as Althea couldn’t help but laugh in the most amused of ways. Teasing Mammon was probably her favorite thing to do in all the Devildom, which honestly was saying something because she lied. There were a few things that she did find enjoyable since being here. 

“Stop it-! Would ya? Geeze. Now I don’t even know if I wanna pair up with ya for a li’l bit!”

“Mammon, why not just admit that you want to dance with Althea?” 

“You’re such a loser! And a total tsundere! Looooool People are sick of characters like that!... Didn’t you get the memo? Lololol Those characters are so yesterday! LMAO.”

Satan and Leviathan mocked the already wounded Mammon, pouring a bit of lemon and salt into the cut Althea made. The both of them had been a curiosity to her. While certainly she did get along with Satan as he tended to with others, she was used to people faking their smiles and demeanor and found it tiresome to guess their motives. Levi was easy to read, just like Mammon, in that he wore his emotions on his sleeve and he had quite a bit of emotions as well.  A bit of a smile formed upon her lips again and as she was about to offer a head-pat to comfort the second oldest brother, he burst out in frustration to number 3 and 4. 

“GRRRRR! Get outta here, both of you! Shoo! Shoo!” Mammon smacked the hand away again to avoid being head-pat but also waved his hands frantically at Satan and Levi.

“Althea, come dance with me. Now.” A voice came from the side, deep and commanding. 

“Lucifer, surely you can ask a lady more politely than that.” A bemused chuckle slipped from her lips as her eyes leveled upon the mighty first born in his prideful glory. Accepting the hand that was extended towards her, she could tell just from the shadows nestled in his gaze that this was not a frivolous encounter. 

“Wh…!”

“See, you should’ve just come out and asked Althea to dance.” Satan let out an audible sigh. 

“The loser was rejected! Haha, awesome! Loool!” 

“SHUT UP YOU TWO!” 

A hand remained delicately rested within Lucifer’s, another hand pinching the corner of her dress as the pair made their way further onto the dance floor.  Her eyes glanced over, lingered upon his facade as he seemed to be watching her from the corner of his eyes as well. As soon as they were appropriately distanced enough from others, her hands went in position and remained there without a shred of doubt in herself. 

“It would surprise me if you didn’t know how to dance.” 

“You would be correct to assume that I know. However, the question is, can you keep up with me?” 

“Is that a challenge?” These words could have been spoken by either of them, as both held a certain tension that charged between the both like electricity about to go off. Yet it was Lucifer who stared down with a foreboding gaze as if to question the human who dare challenge his pride. 

“No. Not yet anyway.” Althea was taking full advantage of them being in a public location and while she would contest him while not surrounded by others as well, she was all the more confident in just how many people were around them. 

Lucifer was savvy on the pickup, and as the music started, took careful stride. Long, graceful movements were made upon the dance floor, something that she could easily pair her steps with. Needless to say, she was not one to fall behind with every pivot, twist, and for the longest of whiles, the two would not speak, merely stare intensely at each other as if to try and make the other person become unnerved and miss a step. Of course, she didn’t expect to be able to stare down Lucifer, however, she made certain not to lose any of her own ground. Finally, the dancing slowed enough for the discussion to begin. 

 “You might be able to charm Mammon, but I will not be so easy. I will cut directly to the point as you already know this is not a dance out of politeness or interest.” 

 Althea certainly expected him to be dramatic, yet as he pulled her body in close, pressing snugly so that it made it difficult to breath, she knew that it was best to dispense with the games, lest she make any following interaction with him sour. It was quite clear that with how tightly he was squeezing her hand, that he was demonstrating his force, able to easily break every one in her hand should he feel like it. With his lips whispering next to her ear, the heat of his breath chilled at the back of her neck. 

“I know you’re plotting something with Asmo...”

His words remained cold, and for a moment, she wasn’t certain if she could even breath, let alone feel her hand with just how tightly she was squeezed and yet that moment passed. He eased up and a slow, more basic dance resumed. Step, step, step, glide. Step, step, turn, step glide…. Just a bit to be able to get a bit of air in her lungs as he continued. 

“Let me make one thing clear: I respect my brothers’ freedom to do as they wish. However, if I ever sense that you’ve become a threat to either Diavolo or us… then I will show you absolutely no mercy. Understood?” 

There were any number of approaches she could take here. Should she simply take his warning and be done with it, should she try to reach out with attempted understanding, perhaps threaten back and put pressure on him to show she wasn’t going to be pushed around or controlled?  Certainly any number of them could backfire and while accepting it seemed the safest option and be done with it, she was in Hell and if she was going to be stuck down here for the year, she was determined to make them suffer just as much as they were making her suffer. 

“Oh, I understand. However you need to understand something yourself, Lucifer. You’ve taken someone away from their home, away from everything they’ve known to be real and then forced them to adapt- and I don’t like surprises. I don’t like change- and like you, I like to be in control of everything around me. Perhaps all of this is just a fleeting moment in your ancient life, but it’s not to me. If I were you, I’d be more concerned about Solomon. He actually has the power to change things here in the Devildom and he might just have the mind to. A warning you gave me on the first day.” 

There was no point in mincing words and while she really could take the most advantage of her time here, and while Althea could manipulate and con others, she’d much rather not put in the effort to deal with demons. The only reason after all as for why she was making these pacts to help Belphegor was because that damned voice in her head wouldn’t let her sleep. Making pacts with the demon brothers, while amusing in hindsight for the look on Mother Superior’s face at the next alumni reunion will be precious, was never something she particularly cared for. It was a means to an end. He should be thankful she wasn’t more malicious. 

“Oh, I have my eye on Solomon as well. However, he is a figure we’ve had our eye on for quite some time and understand his motivations. You are an unknown. And while you are forced to be here, you would be wise to keep your nose out of where it doesn’t belong.” There was an abrupt turn with those words as his hands remained tightly gripped within her own, a jerking pull to one direction as the dance was nearing its end. 

“Where it doesn’t belong? Or where I don’t belong? It seems to me that you don’t entirely trust Lord Diavolo. My my, how scandalous, Lucifer. Do you doubt his wis-”

“Watch it, Human.” Once more Lucifer abruptly pulled upon her hands but at this point, it was because the dance was at an end, and so was his patience. 

“...Pardon me. Well, looks like a new song has started. I’d love the chance to dance with Althea. Might I cut in?” Speak of the Devil. It was almost too  perfect his timing as Solomon approached. There was an unassuming smile upon his features as if he knew this was exactly the perfect moment to approach. 

“...Fine. I get the feeling that you’ve gotten the message and you understand what I’m telling you, Althea. I’m glad we got to have this little talk.” Inclining his head ever so briefly as she placed her hands within Solomon’s for the dance, Lucifer shot a glare that threatened to freeze the entire Devildom. 

“... What was that all about?” Solomon gave a side glance to Lucifer who was now on the hunt for Mammon, seeing as he was no longer visible on the dance floor, it likely meant that he was attempting to steal something. 

“It was exactly what it looked like.” Her words were evasive as was her dancing, for it seemed that Solomon as well was a graceful dancer. With her heels, she was even able to remain at eye level with him instead of having to look up. 

“Oh? I see. So you were flirting then.”  A fake laugh erupted from him, one that was obvious enough to her just how fake it was. Though he continued to speak as a delicate little dance proceeded. 

“You certainly aren’t meek, are you? When I heard that the other human they selected wasn’t a witch or sorcerer, I half expected them to be eaten alive and had their soul taken within a week. However, while you may have made pacts with demons, you still lack the power to command them.”  

Of all the humans that they could select, it was Solomon. Of course she knew who Solomon was, she was Catholic. Yet, that he looked so very different from the portrayals still was a bit of a surprise. Then again, there were many things that were coming to a surprise as her. Once more. She did not like surprises, even if this one did come in the form of an attractive young man. 

“Lack the power to control them? Perhaps I don’t have magic like you, but I certainly can still command them. I daresay my method is more fun.” With an aloof shrug of her shoulder, Althea turned her head off to the side with a bit of a hmph. Though, she knew that Solomon still had something up his sleeve. He wouldn’t bring that up for no reason.

“Well, everyone has some amount of magical power by nature. However, there are some people in which it actually manifests itself, and some people in which it doesn’t. And even among those in which it does, some have more of it than others. It varies based on the individual. Seeing how it doesn’t even manifest itself in you to begin with, even though you’ve made pacts with demons, you can’t take command of their powers.” 

“This has been made clear enough to me as is, Solomon. What is your point?”

 Althea kept her gaze turned to the side, dancing around him and dancing around the subject just as he was. Solomon was obviously building to some point, bringing up and reminding her that she couldn’t use magic. In truth, she had been researching to see if there was a way to get around that. While it was still unknown all of what magic could do, the amount of benefits you could apply it to in the human world would be quite advantageous. But just what was he getting at? 

“How would you like me to lend you my power?”  Solomon gave a side eye, clearly trying to tempt Althea with the thought and to get her to read into it more and more. He was having quite a bit of amusement with this, wasn’t he? 

“Depends on what your price is… But. I am more concerned about your motivations in this. What do you get out of this?”  Althea’s eyes narrowed all the same, sliding her body closer towards his own, fingers on his shoulders sliding a bit down his arm. 

“A price? What sort of person do you think I am? I am but an innocent la-” 

“An innocent lamb. Yes yes, if you’re an innocent lamb, then I’m a fairy princess.” 

“Well, glad to meet you, your Highness… Hmm. Well. Let’s just say I’m curious to know what would happen if I did. You’re a destabilizing element here in this world. I can’t say what might happen if I do this, which is exactly what makes it interesting. We are on a retreat after all. Why waste this opportunity?” 

From what she had known of Solomon, he didn’t lie. However, he wasn’t one to tell the whole truth either, or he would avoid answering the questions all together if he didn’t wish to say the full truth either. While she was confident enough that he wished just to see what would happen, Althea was not one to enjoy being used for entertainment of others and there was no guarantee what would happen or what effects would linger, if any. She needed assurances before accepting and just how he would do this. 

“You have me intrigued, however. I do have conditions. First, how do you intend to share this power and for how long?” 

“For six hours, I can allow you access to my abilities. This should allow you to command the demons you’ve made a pact with. As for conditions, you don’t need to be so wary of me. After all, us humans need to look out for the other.”  Solomon kept his words aloof and lofty, offering words of grandeur as a gesture to try and make her more accepting of his proposition. However, she was not one to just simply accept something without knowing the full details. 

“You may know demons and you may know magic, but it is precisely because you are human that I am wary of you. I make no assumptions about the world around me, for the rules I know do not apply, yet the one thing I have the utmost confidence in, is a fellow human, for I know the evils we are capable of. I also know enough to not believe in all of the legends about you.”  

Althea picked up the pace of the dance, sliding her leg up and inward against his own as she then kicked her heel around his own. Dropping her weight, she forced Solomon into a dip for dramatic effect so that the weight of her words would add pressure and assurance to what she was about to say. Yet it was the piercing, stern nature of her eyes that would contest the shrewd gaze of his own. Perhaps she couldn’t stare someone like Lucifer down, but with Solomon, she had the utmost confidence in this. 

“I will accept your offer, but know that if I find any lingering effects or if you attempt to do anything else of a similar nature without informing me…” Althea then leaned in to whisper against his ear, much like what was done to her earlier. 

“...You will find out why Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned… and I would oh so hate to get your blood on my hands, as pretty as the colour would be…” 

Pulling him upwards now, Althea then proceeded to dance with him again, holding his hand firmly within her own , the other upon his back again. Yet for all what was said and done, Solomon just smiled. Althea hadn’t been able to threaten him enough or perhaps it was effective but not in the way she wanted exactly. Though the way he remained smug annoyed her, she couldn’t let her expression show any of it. 

“Hahaha. And they say I act like a demon. Hmm. Very well. You have nothing to fear from me. Just a moment… and… There.” 

Solomon had stopped the dancing between them, just as the song ended as well so it didn’t look so suspicious. He made a subtle hand gesture, but did not even speak words and around them, it almost seemed as if there was a bit of glitter floating in the air. A chill ran down her spine as the tips of her fingers felt almost faster… and then the feeling faded, going numb and returned to feeling the way it had before. 

“For the next six hours, you’ll have access to my abilities. You are quite a curiosity, Althea. I’m excited to see what will happen…” 

A smug side glance was sent her way, and in return, she shot a narrowed one of scrutiny. It was hard to tell exactly who had won that battle, but unfortunately, she felt like she was in the red two for two tonight. This was not what she wanted. To be put under pressure from Lucifer because he was afraid of losing control, and accepting the temporary use of magic from humanity’s (theorized) most powerful sorcerer. She needed a drink. 

Walking past a waiter, Althea plucked a glass of demonus off of the tray. This truly was Hell. She hadn’t had a glass of wine in ages and demonus didn’t seem to affect humans. Still, it had a similar taste which was at least a slight benefit. Making her way to Asmodeus, who, for one time in this night wasn’t surrounded by the group of scantily clad incubi and succubi, was speaking with Satan over something. It was a good opportunity to see where she could get something that could numb her a bit. 

“Ooh ooh! Look! Althea made it back in one piece.” Asmodeus actually noticed her and skipped over a bit. His demon form had four smaller bat wings upon his back, a sleeveless blouse with roses imprinted upon it, and what appeared to be a centipede in gold that wrapped around his torso. 

“Dancing with Lucifer and Solomon. Aren’t you the popular one tonight. Whatever they wanted, it couldn’t be good.” Satan was obviously watching, he seemed to know as much stuff as Lucifer when it came to people watching. Of course he would have seen that they were speaking. It made her question if any demons could read minds. 

“Lucifer threatened me and Solomon is looking for entertainment. So. Just a regular night in the Devildom. Listen- do you know where I can get human world wine?” Althea casually waved a hand as she glossed over what was said, downing the glass she had in her hands. 

“Threatened? What did he say this time?” Satan shook his head, whether he was concerned or just feigned it was hard to tell at this moment, however, whatever Lucifer was for, Satan was always against. 

“Weeeeeeeeell…..? Why not kill two birds with one stone?” Asmo plucked the glass from her hand and turned her gaze to the idea that just popped into his head. 

“Just as a little favour to me, why don’t you try and dance with Lord Diavolo. It’ll be super fun.” Like a giddy school girl, Asmo pointed out the Lord of the Devildom not too far away from them. He was in the process of crossing the hall and she could easily intercept him. What was better, is that Lucifer was distracted shaking down Mammon for all the things he had stolen. 

“Not only would it annoy Lucifer, but imagine the status you would gain by being seen dancing with him.” 

Satan brought up a good point. It would annoy him, which was the opposite of what she wanted right now, however, it was going to be something to add clout to her. Networking was one of the things she excelled at. So, with a wink to the both of them, Althea sauntered her way to Diavolo, hips swaying as she did so. This was the time to turn on all of her charm. There was nothing to hold back with. As she neared him, she could feel the heat of Lucifer’s gaze upon her once more. Yet he was too late, she was already there. 

“Lord Diavolo, I must thank you for this lovely turn of events. It is something I couldn’t hope to dream of attending. Would you do me the honour of a dance? I would be grateful and gracious if you would accept such a request of mine.” Placing a hand over her heart, Althea dipped her head in a bow, bent knees ever so slightly for a curtsy before straightening up. 

She was thankful to be a woman of stature, for it would be easy to be lost or overwhelmed with a man of this size. Perhaps, she might be able to actually enjoy the dance for what it is however. After all, it is something that she did have formal practice in. Growing up in a family of wealth, no… growing up as the middle child in a family where it pushes your children to succeed, Althea had picked up many artistic hobbies or skills in her youth to try and impress her family. She didn’t expect to use any of them all that often, let alone for such an important thing like this. 

“Ah, Althea! I’d be delighted to share a dance with you. I saw your dance with Lucifer and I must say I was a little jealous. I haven’t danced with Lucifer in centuries!” His cheeks went a bit flush, as if he was actually jealous. Diavolo was a strange sort of person, always laughing and smiling, as if he didn’t have a care in the world. Then again, she knew just how entitled people could behave. She was one after all. 

“Jealous, My Lord? Why, I find it more jealous that he gets to share your company with such great frequency. I daresay I put Lucifer in a bit of a panic earlier. My most sincere apologies if he confides in great lengths about it later. I take entire ownership of his unrest.” 

As her hands came into place within his own, the moonlight from the windows illuminated her near sickly pallor and the gold between them. A glance to the left, she noticed that the other dancers had given them space. After all, it was as Satan said, dancing with the Lord of the Devildom was quite a thing of status. Yet this was not status she could use. It was simply, for the moment, for the enjoyment of it. Resting her other hand upon his shoulder just over the mantle, her eyes glance to the right. Lucifer watched from a distance, not daring to separate the two for the moment. This was her moment. 

“Please, please. No need to speak so formally. Though you say you put Lucifer in a panic? Haha! That sounds just like him. I don’t think he’s had anyone challenge him outside of his brothers for quite some time.”  Diavolo seemed to laugh at this, all the more amused over the turn of events. He was surprisingly light on his feet, able to stride through the dance hall with great sweeping motions. No. Perhaps it wasn’t surprising. She should come to expect that he’d excel at something like ballroom dancing. 

“My apologies- ah.. Hm. Admittedly, I am not good at relaxing. It is not as if I challenge him to cause him grief. That is a byproduct I cannot control, but I will not allow others to control me, regardless of who they are. It is simply my nature to challenge those who think themselves superior.” As if in reaction, her grip tightened a bit in place, even if Diavolo remained the same, not adding fuel to her tension. This was strange for her. It was not like Althea to be so candid with her responses and while she didn’t like to lie about things, she wasn’t the most forthcoming with her feelings either. 

“Hmm. I think I know what’s going on here. You’re reminding Lucifer of how he first behaved when he came to the Devildom. I must say, this certainly brings back memories!” Diavolo’s signature laugh was quite loud from a distance but up close it caused her to wince a little bit. Still, regardless of her sigh and frown, Diavolo only seemed to smile and laugh all the more. 

“Yes! Exactly! He made that exact same face!” He didn’t relent with his humor, finding too much enjoyment in the similarities. 

“Lord Diavolo, please-” Althea shook her head as the pair spun around in the dance, not once miss-stepping or having a single tap of her shoe off beat with the music. Even though she was being teased, she had to keep herself poised through the dance at all times, after all, there were eyes upon them. 

“Now I’m curious to see you in his outfit. Hmm. Yes. I’ll have to get Barbatos to tailor you a suit.” It was as if he was already imagining this in his mind and at this moment, Althea was sympathizing with how Lucifer had to deal with this spoiled prince. There was no getting out of this whim of his, was there? 

“Oh come now, don’t sigh. I do mean it, however. You and Lucifer share striking similarities at times and yet there are things you are the exact opposite with. I believe he is concerned because he knows what he is capable of but is uncertain where your loyalties lie.” It seemed that Diavolo had returned to being serious, though perhaps he was always serious, even when joking. 

“I can understand that, and perhaps he is not used to having to sympathize with humans, and I will certainly not take anyone’s pity, but he should not expect that I will simply sit back and let myself get pushed around by anyone, human, angel, or demon.” Her gaze had been to the side, scrutinizing the situation as she had been on edge this entire time. It was as if the dance that was supposed to be for fun was turning more into something to be paranoid over. 

“You must have had a difficult life to assume you must constantly defend yourself. Let me ask you this, Althea. What do you believe in? What is the dream that you are fighting for?”  Diavolo directed the conversation back on track and brought his hand up to her face, drawing her gaze back towards his own as the pace of the dance started to slow down. 

This is something that she had to think about carefully. It was something that she hadn’t particularly shared with anyone, and it was still too soon for her to determine if Diavolo was indeed someone that she could trust. After all, he was a demon, and while he might seem pleasant and charming, that is how they reel you in. You can attract more flies with honey than with vinegar after all. Still. She could not deny the fact that she was in hell, so she applied prudence and caution. However, it was something of inner reflection that she had to consider why she was always behaving in such a way, so much so that it caused her to isolate from others in the pursuit of glory. 

“There are societal expectations that one should strive to be the best they can possibly be, a society that demands perfection. The idea that if you are not the best, you are not good enough to leave an impact on the world. To leave a legacy. Your mark, your name. To be remembered. I dream to have a legacy where I will not be forgotten after I am dead and gone. I fight, so that others will not ignore me.”  

That is the closest reason Althea could think of right now. Of course she also believed that since she started down this path, she really couldn’t stop. After all, she had already committed to years into an economics degree, currently with a Masters and while math was not the most interesting thing, she knew that money made the world move. It was one of the reasons she surprisingly got along with Mammon, despite his idiocy, she could take full advantage of his abilities in a way that aided them both. 

“And what of happiness?” The dance had now stopped, and Diavolo had his hands resting on either side of her shoulders, staring towards her with a look of genuine concern now. 

“Happiness is not something I assign value to.” Her voice was flat in response, now taking a step backwards out of his attempted comfort. Perhaps Diavolo only had the best intentions, but that she said as much was enough as is. The pursuit of happiness was not within her schedule. If it happened, it happened, but she would not directly go out of her way to do something fun for fun’s sake, there was always another motivation attached to it. The amount of priority happiness had on her list was leagues below most other needs. 

Yet, while Diavolo might have wanted to continue the conversation, Lucifer had made his way over, quite displeased with how long their conversation went on. Not like she cared. Althea waved over a waiter, needing another drink and swearing she would give someone a lobotomy with her nails if she didn’t get alcohol this time. Again. Just demonus. 

“And just what were you discussing with Diavolo?” Lucifer’s arms were crossed over himself, stern voice, strict posture, all the while Althea kept her gaze turned away, pretending not to see him. 

“Oh relax, Lucifer. This is a retreat after all. I was just noticing how many similarities you and Althea share! I have a wonderful idea I must tell you and Barbatos about!” Diavolo placed a hand upon Lucifer’s shoulder and went back to beaming brightly, now patting him in an encouraging way. 

“Lord Diavolo, I swear if you-” Althea widened her eyes, this was not something she wanted to go through with and while perhaps he had a striking coat, Althea was not going to play dress up for someone’s amusement.

“I want to see the both of you wearing the same outfit and pose for the RAD Newsletter! Think how well an advertisement it will be!” On cue with Diavolo’s laughter and Lucifer’s sigh, Althea downed the glass in her hand and just started to walk away. No. At this very moment, she was most certainly glad to not be similar to Lucifer in the way that at least she could walk away from this situation. He would have to endure the conversation and hopefully he would speak sense into the Lord of the Devildom. 

Staring down into the empty glass, it was at that moment that Althea did need to consider what she wanted in life. Her world was turned upside down with the realization that some things in her life were now meaningless in comparison to the eternity of either the Devildom or Celestial Realm that awaited her after death. She made no illusions that she was virtuous, but she was not quite tipsy enough to have a philosophical debate with herself about this. No, instead her eyes drifted upon a roughed up little demon sulking against the wall. 

“Mammon…” Muttering his name below her lips, Althea could at least relax around one demon that didn’t care about pretenses. Then again, he might also know where an actual bottle of wine was. Maybe Solomon’s power could be used for more than just causing mischief later on. With a saunter and sway of her hips, Althea flipped a hand through her hair and approached the Avatar of Greed. He did look like he could use a bit of cheering up. 

[zephyra-in-the-house]

A Wolf and a Leopard Walk Into a Store... Sounds like the Start to a Bad Joke: Chapter 3

Notes:

Above you is my design for Moo (left) and Terroriser (right).

Like I said when I started, there are certain dynamics and conditions that I will have to introduce because some of these are of my own design.

For this chapter, the most relevant information you need is that not everyone has a subgender. In fact, sub genders are extremely rare and are therefore seen as an imperfect anomaly. More often than not, people with sub genders are discriminated against and kicked out of packs because having a sub gender is considered a disorder. Since it was born by human experiments, people with a sub gender are also correlated with signs of torture and manipulation.

In terms of style, this will be the first time that I switch perspectives. Sometimes, the story will be told from one person’s point of view for a while, but sometimes it switches, so just be aware.

Enjoy!

Previous Chapter: Chapter 2

Back to the Beginning: Chapter 1

Moo’s Perspective:

The next day

   Mornings weren’t exactly my favorite things in the world, but they were when I woke up like this.

  The moment I opened my eyes, I came face to face with a mop of fuzzy brown hair. Something firm and warm lay wrapped up in my arms and I couldn't help relishing in the presence as I buried my nose into the crook of the neck in front of me.

  Brian’s mellow honeydew scent doused my scent glands and I let out a content sigh. His scent was one of my most favorite things in the universe. The mornings like this where we woke up in each other’s arms were mornings that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.

   My heart swelled as I felt the body in my arms shift and sink further into my embrace. In response, I threw a leg over Brian's hips and squeezed him lightly. He gave me an incredulous groan and slowly turned his head back towards me. I watched as he took in a deep breath and let it out, the first sign of him waking up.

   “Good morning sleepy head.” I murmured into his neck. Brian squirmed a little in my grasp and groaned again.

   “I don’t wanna wake up.” The werecat grumbled sleepily. I sighed.

   “Does that mean you’re not going to help me make breakfast?”

   One brilliant blue eye cracked open to look at me before he turned away and muttered a muffled, “Hell no.”

   I couldn’t help but smile. “You’re a dick.”

   Brian smirked and snuggled up against me even further. “I know. That’s why you love me.”

  For a moment, the werecat in my arms said nothing else. I took the chance to admire the stubble across his jaw. The wheels in his head seemed to turn as he squeezed his eyes shut and pursed his lips. I smiled when his cerulean blue eyes opened again and he rolled over in my arms to face me with a smile.

  “You know, I could make it up to you if you stayed with me for the morning.” He whispered conspiratorially, a familiar glint in his eyes. I smirked down at him and chuckled.

  “That sounds tempting… But-”, I quickly released him and rolled over to sit up. “I’m not sure I can spend the entire morning in bed with you.”

  There was a pause and then a quiet, “Two hours.”

  I turned to see Brian lying in a burrito of blankets. A pair of blazing blue eyes glared up at me from over the brown comforter.

  “One hour.” I countered. Brian's glare intensified and he seemed to think for a moment.

  “One and a half.” He paused. “That’s enough time, right?”

  I smiled lightly. “Alright. Half hour. Take it or leave it.”

  The sheets shifted as Brian sat up and scowled at me. “One hour. Take it or leave it.”

   I smirked and turned my body to face him completely. “Ten minutes. Final offer.”

   He paused before letting out a defeated sigh. “Fine…”

   I chuckled before lying down next to him again and tucking myself under the blankets. The werecat stayed sitting, his blue eyes glaring down at me.

  “Did you know t’at you’re also a dick?” Brian grumbled.

   “Yep. That’s why we get along.” I replied smoothly. He rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his messy mop of hair.

  “Ten minutes huh? T’at’s definitely not enough time though.” He muttered under his breath.

   The idea of what he was referring to hit me as soon as he said that.

   Suddenly, I became an awkward, embarrassed mess as I tried to avoid eye contact as much as possible. Sure, Brian and I had done that plenty of times before, but it was still a fairly new concept to me that Brian was my boyfriend. Technically, we could have "us" time whenever we wanted.

  Even now though, I felt the small haunting twinge of insecurity in my chest that kept me from acknowledging what he was suggesting.

   “Brockward”, Brian sing-songed from his spot above me.

   I blushed at the nickname and looked up to see the werecat watching me with a sympathetic smile. He understood what was going through my head and, somehow, that warmed my heart enough for me to ignore my insecurities.

   “Shut up.” I huffed, burying my face in the blankets.

   It didn’t take long for Brian to lie down again and pull the blankets away from my face. I glared at him as soon as our eyes met. He simply smiled and threw an arm around me. His warmth seeped into my chest and tinged my fingertips as we drifted in and out of consciousness for a while.

   Admittedly, we stayed in bed longer than 10 minutes, but the hallway was quiet, which meant that no one was awake anyway. I’m not sure how long I spent trying to convince myself to get up and go cook breakfast for the pack, but it was ten in the morning when I twisted around to look at the clock on the bedside table.

  With a sigh, I rubbed my hands over my face and slowly peeled myself away from the comfort of Brian’s arms. He let out a low growl of displeasure and tried to pull me back as soon as I made the slightest move.

  “Brian. You know I gotta get up.” I muttered. The werecat opened one bleary eye to glare at me.

  “It hasn’t been ten minutes yet.”

  “It’s definitely been longer than ten minutes babe.” I muttered fondly.

  Brian's expression dropped for a moment before he broke out into a lopsided grin. “You called me babe.”

  I rolled my eyes and tried to pull away again as heat crept up to fill my cheeks.

  “Are you sure it’s been ten minutes?” Brian whined. I let out an exasperated yet amused groan.

  “Yes. It’s been ten minutes.”

  Brian lifted himself up and leaned over me far enough to see the clock and then some. He paused for a second to glare at something. Then, before I could suspect anything, he dropped down on top of me and sprawled out across my side in an effort to hold me down.

  Before he could fully pin me, I wiggled out from underneath him, threw the blankets off, and jumped up from the bed. I turned just in time to side step my clumsy attacker as he reached out to grab me. Brian barely saved himself from face planting onto the ground with his arms out stretched.

   I chuckled lightly as he retreated back into the blankets and scowled at me from his burrow.

   “Outsmarted yet again. I think that’s 4-0 this week in my favor. I’m doin’ pretty good.” I patted myself on the back as I walked over to one of the dressers in my room to pick out some clothes.

   “Oh whatever. It was 5-2 in my favor last week, so I figured I’d give you some pity points.” The burrito across the room grumbled. I turned to raise an eyebrow at him as I threw on a new shirt and some pants.

  “What’s that? Someone doesn’t want pancakes for breakfast? That’s alright. More for the rest of us.”

   “Hey! T’at’s not fair! At least make me one.” Brian whined adorably from his place on the bed.

   I crossed my arms and glared at him. “What’s the magic word?”

   Brian sighed and scooted down further into his blankets. “Please.”

   “There’s a good boy.” I cooed as I walked over to him. He gave me a disgusted look just before I kissed him lightly on the forehead. “I’ll make one pancake just for you.”

   “What if I wanted two?” The blue eyed demon asked with a quirked eyebrow.

   “Then, you should’ve asked for two.” I responded easily.

   “And yet no one believes me when I say you’re a bigger dick than I am.” Brian grumbled as I moved towards the door.

   “I’m only nice to them ‘cause they say please.” I winked at him and walked out the door, a baffled cry following me out.

   With a self satisfied smile, I made my way to the bathroom before heading downstairs to make breakfast.

  At first, I was tempted to make the pack oatmeal or cereal and leave that out for them. That was normally my go-to on days that I took Brian up on his offer or when I simply felt too lazy to do anything besides watch TV.

   However, I figured that I couldn’t go back up to hang out with Brian after fighting so hard to leave and make breakfast. Plus, I had promised him a pancake.

  So, I decided on making a full course meal.  I liked making big meals from time to time because they gave me time to focus on nothing but cooking for a while. I could space out as long as I wanted. No one else was up to interrupt me either.

   Looking through the fridge for my ingredients, I felt grateful that there was supposed to be a grocery run later that day. We were running low on some things.

  Luckily, with a quick glance through everything, I deducted that there would be enough food for breakfast and lunch that day before we were in trouble.

   Perhaps that was one of the downsides to living with so many people. Cooking for ten grown men never failed to be difficult, especially because their diets were so diverse. Not to mention they were all picky mother truckers. I still enjoyed my time spent making food in the kitchen though.

   I grabbed an apron from the pantry and, after some preparation and dish-washing, began cooking. The smell of eggs, bacon, and pancakes slowly permeated the air. Everything finished cooking about twenty minutes later. I snacked on the bacon as it finished and put everything else on a plate to put in the oven which kept everything warm while I waited for the others to wake up.

  “That smells amazing.” A familiar scent wafted into the kitchen under the thick aroma of bacon.

  I turned to see Vanoss standing in the archway that led to the stairs. His raven locks looked ruffled, as if he had just woken up, but his all gray outfit seemed fresh and a small smile lifted the corners of his lips. His dark brown eyes were fixated on the stove in front of me. I let out a pleased hum and turned back to continue my work.

  “Why thank you. I try.”

  There was a huff of laughter before I heard the wood floor beneath us creak and the air next to me shifted. I glanced sideways to see a pair of tan, muscular arms stretching out towards me.

  A smile danced across my lips as I set down the spatula I'd been using, wiped off my hands on my apron, and turned to hug the alpha.

  Despite Evan being slightly shorter than me, I got the distinct impression that he was the one in charge here. Originally, when I first met him and we decided to become a pack, I was intimidated by the idea of being a subordinate to anyone. After all, that was why I hated my original tribe.

  Evan was different though. It was his tradition to keep the pack healthy by seeing to each individual’s needs. This was a perfect example of that.

  No matter what, Evan always hugged the first person he saw in the morning. Whoever that person was depended on when he woke up but, generally, I was the first one he saw. On the other hand, members like Nogla or Panda, who slept at random hours of the day, rarely got these sorts of hugs.

   I enjoyed the tradition though and Evan was a good friend. In general, he was a tad overbearing to the unfamiliar eye with his muscular arms and resting bitch face. Evan acted tough whenever there were pack matters to attend to or whenever we were out in public, but he was actually really sweet. No one would ever realize that he was the most mischievous and childish one out of all of us or that he gave the best hugs.

   In reality, he was just a buff teddy bear.

   After a moment, Evan let go and leaned back to look at me curiously. “What were you just thinking about?”

   I smirked. “I was thinking that you act scary but you’re really not as intimidating as you pretend.”

   The alpha glared at me and spun on his heel so that he was facing the fridge.

  “I take back my statement about the food smelling delicious. It smells like pooooooop.” He shot back, popping the “p” at the end of his sentence as he opened the fridge and pulled out the milk.

  “Sometimes, I swear you’re a child in a grown man’s body.” I snarked.

  “And what if I am?” Evan gave me a mischievous wink before dancing around the island counter and sitting on the other side with his half full gallon of milk in hand.

  “Hey!” I pointed the spatula at him just as he took the cap off and put the jug to his lips. He stopped and looked at me out of the corner of his eye.

  "You better not be drinking that straight out of the carton.” I growled. Evan looked down at the jug before slowly turning his chair so that I couldn't see what he was doing.

  “Noooooo… Who would do such a thing?” He responded innocently. I watched as he raised the gallon of milk to his mouth and took a huge swig.

  “That is disgusting!” I yelled.

  “That is mahogany!” A horribly high pitched voice shouted from the stairs.

  Evan jumped a little and looked sideways towards the sound. I rolled my eyes and smiled as Scotty came around the corner of the fridge to stand in the kitchen. His tawny hair had been swept neatly to the side of his forehead and his blue eyes were brimming with curiosity as he glanced between me and Evan.

  “Who’s disgusting?” He asked in his normal voice while grabbing a muffin from yesterday’s breakfast off the counter.

  “Our fearless leader over here is chugging the milk straight from the carton.” I informed him with a flick of the spatula in my hand.

  Scotty rose an eyebrow at Evan who had restarted his mission and was gulping down the last half-gallon of milk. I watched in astonishment as the milk quickly disappeared.

  As soon as it was empty, Evan slammed the empty jug on the counter and made a loud, sarcastic “ah” sound. Scotty laughed and reached across the counter to give the alpha a high five. I smacked Scot lightly on the shoulder. He gave me a guilty smile, but not before receiving his high-five.

   “I swear you guys will be the death of me.” I muttered.

  Evan belched loudly in response and received yet another high five from Scotty. I was so focused on the two in front of me that I didn’t notice that Panda had come wandering in from the living room on the other side of the kitchen. He stared at the alpha in surprise before also giving him a high five.

  “Don’t encourage him!” I reprimanded them.

  Panda and Scotty both gave me an apologetic look. Evan, on the other hand, looked so smug that I had to resist the urge to reach across the counter and smack him.

  “You’re going out to get another jug tonight.” I ordered, pointing the spatula at him again.

  “We already had plans to go shopping today so-” He shrugged nonchalantly.

   I rolled my eyes and turned back to my task of making breakfast with a smile while the other three began talking and joking with one another.

   When I was sure that almost everything was done, I pulled out the food that had already been cooked from the oven. Slowly, I began maneuvering all the food over to the counter in a buffet line arrangement.

  At some point, Marcel appeared next to me and began gathering plates and silverware for everyone. I smiled and shoulder checked him. The alpha gave me a smile in return.

   “Where are Mini and Wildcat?” I asked him as we worked.

   “I think they’re both still sleeping." Marcel responded in a soft tone under Panda's laughter. "Mini still smelt sick when Evan and I got home last night. I wouldn’t be surprised if he stays in bed for a while longer."

   I nodded. “I was wondering how he was doing. He’s in Tyler’s room though, isn’t he?”

   Marcel chuckled. “Is that even a question? They may have their fights but you know as well as I do that they come back together eventually. We both know how protective Tyler gets whenever Mini is sick or injured.”

   I sighed. That didn't really answer my question, but the alpha had a point.

  “Yes, I know. They just worry me sometimes.”

   Marcel let out a sympathetic hum as he turned to place some plates on the island counter.

  I couldn't help but notice that we were both worried for different reasons. Mini's three day disappearance last week had shaken the pack in more ways than one. However, most of the pack was more worried about the beta's physical health because of his cold. After Craig told them that he and Tyler had been fighting beforehand though, everyone sort of accepted his vanishing act. I knew better than that.

  “So, I assume you won today’s round of tug-of-war with Brian.” Marcel spoke up. I rolled my eyes and smiled, trying my best to push my worries to the back of my mind.

  “Is that even a question Marcel?” I responded in a mock version of his voice. He chuckled and shook his head.

  “What’s the score this week?” The alpha asked with a sideways glance at me. I smirked.

  “4-0.”

  “My man!” Marcel raised a hand to give me a high-five. I indulged him with a smile, my heart warming at the familiarity.

   Once we set out the plates, Marcel and I filled them with food for everyone that seemed to be awake at the moment. We made sure to set aside food for Tyler and Mini, who still had yet to make an appearance, and Brian.

   After everyone got a plate, we all sat down at the table to eat and join in on our usual banter. It was slightly less noisy without Nogla or Terroriser yelling at everyone, but we still maintained a bit of noise between all of us.

   “Speaking of which,” I piped up from my spot at the table, “when are Lui and Nogla supposed to be back?”

   “I think they said they hoped to be back by today.” Scotty responded around a mouthful of food.

   “Yeah, that’s if they don’t get into trouble again.” Panda commented, eliciting chuckles from everyone at the table.

   “Well, hopefully Lui will be reasonable this time.” Marcel replied before letting out an overly exasperated sigh. “Probably not though.”

   Everyone shook their heads and smiled at the memory of the last time Lui and Nogla went out on their own.

  Apparently, the pair had stopped by a store to get some stuff for the house and the shopkeeper there had been extremely rude to them. So, as a prank, they put glue all over the man’s chair so that he got stuck to it the moment that he sat down. It had been Lui's idea, or at least the other half of him, but Nogla didn't stop the shapeshifter.

  Both demons came running home with humans on their tails. Evan had been furious until he realized that the humans weren’t hunters. In fact, after he listened to Lui and Nogla’s side of the story, he started laughing and, just like that, all was forgiven.

  However, I knew that the event still bothered him. Evan held himself responsible for the actions of the pack as well as their safety. Being discovered by the humans of Panlyog was one of his biggest fears. Letting his pack members interact with humans without his aid came next in line as another one of his biggest fears.

   Even now, I could see Evan's shoulders tensing at the mention of Lui and Nogla. It probably didn’t help that, not only did he have two members out in the field, he also had a member sick with a self-inflicted cold. Yet, somehow, today, he managed to look more anxious than usual. I made a mental note to check on him later.

   When everyone finished their breakfast, we all played rock-paper-scissors to see who would have to clean it all up. To my relief, Scotty and Panda lost out to cleaning the kitchen. Sometimes, I ended up losing so I would have to cook and clean, which was a task that I wasn’t up for most days.

   Leaving Scotty and Panda to complain about doing chores while Marcel and Evan watched movies, I headed upstairs to find out what the others were doing. My first priority was to check on Mini and Wildcat.

  I knocked on Tyler’s door first. When no one responded, I knocked again. Still, no one answered.

  Ignoring the feeling of anxiety in my chest, I moved onto Mini’s room and continued knocking there. It didn't take long for a response to come this time.

  From the other side of the door, I heard a noisy thump, accompanied by a frustrated growl. After several heartbeats, the sound of claws scraping across the door frame grated on my ears. The sound persisted and I glanced down only to see the door knob slowly turn: once… twice… three times. I tried to open the door from my side, but it was locked.

   Bewildered, I waited until the door finally swung open to reveal a very tall, very pissed off tiger. The smell of angry alpha stung at my nostrils as the giant white and black feline stalked forward.

  Instantly, my beta instincts kicked in and my body began producing a calming pheromone to ease the intimidating alpha who’s shoulders stood as tall as my chest, his neck fur bristling.

   There was a moment where the tiger stood in the doorway and didn’t make a move. Then, the scent of anger mellowed and I was finally able to catch Mini’s sweet honey scent drifting out from the room behind the tiger. It smelled stale.

   “Sorry Brock.” Tyler muttered in a voice that sounded nothing short of animalistic. In fact, his voice didn’t even sound like it belonged to him at all.

   Concerned, I cleared my throat and asked in an uncertain voice, “What happened?”

   The tiger scowled, his blue eyes blazing. It took everything in my power not to shrink away from him.

   “I came to see Mini last night. We both fell asleep in there but, this morning, he was gone.”

   Lifting one of his massive paws, the white tiger revealed a half shredded piece of paper stuck in between his claws. I reached down to pull it off in a single motion, careful to avoid the sharp talons staring at me with an intimidating glint.

   In Mini’s handwriting, the note read: “I’m going to see Kryoz and Smii7y. Hopefully they  can tell us what’s wrong with us. I’ll be home soon.”

   “‘Hopefully they can tell us what’s wrong with us.’” I read the line aloud. The tiger in front of me turned his head away.

  “Tyler. Does this mean what I think it does?” I inquired uneasily. The alpha snarled nervously and glared at me out of the corner of his eye. “You’re stuck, aren't you?”

  The flicker of doubt and fear in Tyler's eyes should have been expected, especially since I'd seen it just last week. Normally though, Tyler was strong and he never allowed anyone to see his fear.

  Perhaps their counterparts are changing more than we thought. I thought to myself forlornly.

  Recently, both Mini and Wildcat had started getting stuck in their animal forms. It doesn't sound that bad from an outsider's point of view, but every demon knows how bad it is to be stuck in animal form. Not being able to change back into a human is dangerous for everybody involved. Getting stuck means that a person is reduced to their most basic instincts, which are to hunt and to kill.

  I'd heard many stories about demons getting stuck and, eventually, going feral. For a Feral demon, all self control goes out the window. There had been entire cities wiped out and thousands of people massacred over the years because a demon got "stuck" and decided to kill everyone.The worst part of it was that it normally didn't matter if the demon was facing a friend or a family member. A stuck/feral demon would kill anyone in their way if given the chance.

  Personally, I'd never seen anyone go feral nor had I met someone in danger of going feral or getting stuck. That was until I met Mini and Tyler. Neither of them were at the dangerous stage yet, but it was bound to get there at some point, especially if they continued getting stuck as often as they were.

  Being subgenders only made their current situation more dire than anything else I could think of. Their subgender counterparts, the alpha and beta DNA in them, were keeping them from transforming back into human form.

  Mini and Tyler were very secretive about their recent issues and they had agreed not to tell anyone in the pack. I was good friends with Craig though.

 Months ago, when Mini and Tyler's problem with getting stuck first came up, Mini hadn't been able to hide the truth from me. He told me everything that had been happening and it was only last week that he told Tyler that I knew. I had enough sense to realize that Tyler was still uncertain how to feel about my involvement.

   After several long moments of tense silence, Tyler shook his massive head.

  “Sometimes, I think you’re too good at your job.” He growled.

   “How long?” I asked curtly. A low rumble vibrated the air around me.

   “Since this morning. When I woke up, I was all cat, no claws.”

   “So you were stuck before you even woke up?” I asked, slightly taken aback. Tyler cringed and sat back on his haunches, his black-striped tail lashing back and forth.

  “I know. It’s bad. Plus, I got stuck in that stupid room all day. I couldn’t calm down enough to open the door and I couldn’t yell for help in case anyone started asking questions.”

   “So, Mini must have woken up to this,” I made a gesture at the tiger, “and decided to leave for help.”

  Tyler flicked his ears at me irritably but nodded nonetheless. I heaved a sigh and tilted my head back to look at the ceiling above me.

  It made sense that the beta was visiting the two rogues who lived on the outskirts of our territory. Smii7y had spent years studying subgenders. If there was ever a demon who knew about the subgender gene and it's complications, it would definitely be the young panther. Even if he didn’t know what was happening, Kryoz, Smii7y's mate, would probably be able to figure out how to reverse the transformation temporarily. Still...

  “There was a reason we weren’t going to go to them.” I muttered, glancing down at the white tiger still seated in front of me.

   “You’re telling me.” Tyler growled, his voice sounding better, more human, the more time he spent outside of Mini’s room. Silently, I prayed that no one else would smell him or come upstairs to see him as he was.

  Part of me felt terrible for leaving the pack in the dark. We didn’t tell them for fear that they would panic. However, these incidents were getting more frequent by the days.

  In fact, last week, when Mini disappeared for three days, it was because he had gotten stuck and refused to come to the pack for fear of hurting them. He turned up sometime during the night of the third day, hungry and down with a cold. Neither of us told Vanoss or the rest of the pack the truth behind why he disappeared. We simply made up a lie that Mini and Wildcat had gotten into a fight, which was only half of what actually happened.

   I shook my head and ran my hands over my face. Mini and I had agreed not to tell anyone in the pack that him and his boyfriend had been having issues with their subgender counterparts. This time though, they hadn’t seen Tyler's obstruction coming, which made it worse.

   “Evan can’t find out.”

   Tyler's blue eyes looked up at me gravely. “I know.”

   I folded my arms and shook my head. “It would be easy to just walk out without a word if you didn’t wreak of angry alpha.”

  A warning growl rumbled from the tiger’s throat, to which I rolled my eyes.

   “So, you can’t turn back at all?”

    Tyler shook his head. “I tried once I realized what happened this morning. I still haven’t been able to reverse the shift though.”

   “Try it now.” I suggested.

   The white tiger closed his eyes and shifted on his feet. He stayed like that for several heartbeats, but nothing happened.

  Letting out a low growl, he shook his head. “It’s no use. He won’t let me.”

   I nodded. “I kind of figured. Do you know what he wants?”

   The tiger sighed. “He wants what he always wants.” His blue eyes pulsed anxiously as he glanced around. “I have to find Mini.”

   I watched the tiger carefully as he stood and shook himself roughly. “Ya know, I’m not sure that that’s a good idea. You could end up getting him stuck as well.”

   Tyler blinked and hummed considerably before shaking his head. “As long as he doesn’t fall asleep or transform, he should be safe. Being around each other is how we survived before. Plus, maybe the tiger will  release me or maybe Kryoz will have a solution to shift me back.”

   I let out an uneasy growl as I considered the truth in Tyler's words. The only thing that made me hold my tongue was the chance that the situation could turn from bad to worse. Mini and Tyler had yet to get stuck at the same time, but it was only a matter of time. It was only a matter of time until they...

   “It’s about the only choice we have.” Tyler grumbled. I swallowed a ball of nerves building in my throat and nodded slowly.

   “Unfortunately, I think you might be right." I conceded.

  Tyler noticed my look of concern and turned his head away. He was hiding just as many fears as I was. I could see them swirling through his eyes as he stared at the window down the hall.

  "The problem is, how are we going to sneak you out past the others?” I asked in an effort to distract him. The tiger blinked before turning an inquiring gaze towards me.

   “Are they even awake?”

   I couldn’t help but smile a little at Tyler’s obliviousness. “Yes. I made breakfast so they all came down to eat besides Brian. Everyone's awake… even Panda.”

   The tiger’s eyes widened a little. “Wow. So I’m missing the party."

   I nodded. “Yeah, pretty much… I made some food for everyone. Your meal and Mini’s are in the oven still.”

   Tyler watched me with subdued gratitude, the tip of his tail flicking lightly. I cleared my throat and glanced away, shifting my weight on my feet awkwardly.

   “Anyway, you need to get out of here and find Mini without Vanoss finding out.” I mused. The tiger rumbled considerably.

   “I could always jump to the trees.” He suggested after a moment.

   “From what? The roof?” I asked in disbelief. Tyler nodded his striped head.

  “Why not?”

   I gaped at him for a moment. “Are you serious?”

   “Well, yeah. I saw Scotty do it one time. I could probably do it.”

   I rolled my eyes. “That’s just stupid.”

   “Do you have a better idea?” Tyler countered with an impatient look.

   “You could climb out the window?” I replied, uncertain. He glared up at me, disbelief swirling in his blue eyes.

   “You mean scale a 90 degree wall from two stories up? In this form? I doubt I could make it without breaking something let alone crawl my way out of the window.”

   I shifted on my feet. “Well… at least a two story drop with a little bit of support could be better than a three story drop straight out of a tree.”

   The tiger sighed. “You do have a point … I guess.”

   “It’s about the only choice we got.” I muttered as I walked down the hallway to the window Tyler had been staring at moments ago.

  With a few deft movements, I unlocked it and pulled it open. The sound of heavy paws on hard wood floors followed behind me.

   “Are you sure this is safe?” Tyler asked as he poked his giant head out of the window.

   I shrugged. “Probably not. Oh well though, right?”

   The tiger fixed me with his dubious blue eyes. “Welp. Here goes nothing.”

   I shifted out of the way to allow the tiger past.

   Tyler was already tall in human form and his tiger form was no exception. His shoulders clipped the top of the window as he pulled himself up onto the windowsill.

  I watched the tiger take a deep breath before he slowly started shimmying himself out the window. The sounds of his claws scraping across the side of the house grated on my ears. He only got to his hind legs before they bumped against the top most window and stopped him from getting out the rest of the way.

   “Tyler?” I asked worriedly, stepping forward only to realize that the only thing I could really offer at this point was emotional support.

  The tiger’s tail lashed violently, narrowly missing my face. Then, with some sort of twist and a dedicated snarl, Tyler’s striped hindquarters disappeared out the window.

   I rushed forward to look over the edge and caught the moment that the tiger landed in the grass, on his feet. A sigh of relief escaped my lips before I could really think about it.

  There was a low, distant growl from the tiger as he lifted and rotated each paw experimentally. Once he made sure everything was in its rightful place, he turned his head to look up at the window where I sat.

  He waved his tail a little and flicked his ears at me saying, “I’m fine Brock. Thank you. I’ll be back.”

  With that, he shook himself one more time and trotted off into the forest. I waited until his black and white tail disappeared before reluctantly turning back towards my room.

  I wanted to follow him to see what happened next, but I knew I couldn't. I had to stay behind and cover for them.

  Briefly, I checked the stairway to see if anybody had noticed Tyler's scent and felt my knees go a little weak when I saw no one there. With a small pat on the back for getting Tyler out without anybody noticing, I wandered towards my door, my body already searching for some sort of stress reliever.

   As soon as I opened the door, I was rewarded by the smell of happy werecat. Brian stood dancing in his underwear in the middle of the room, mumbling the words to some song that he was listening to on the TV.

  The sight was so familiar and comforting that I couldn’t help but double over with a breathless chuckle. The stress from Wildcat's incident, combined with Brian’s sweet honeydew scent, made me dizzy and, after a moment, I realized I was about to fall. I sat down roughly on the floor before my body could fail me and leaned back on my hands.

   Brian rushed over, a worried expression imprinted on his face as he crouched down in front of me.

  “Are you okay?” He asked, his hands already reaching for my face. I nodded distractedly as my wave of vertigo subsided.

  “I’m fine. Just a little dizzy."

   “You're stressed." Brian growled, his fingers gently brushing my cheeks despite the stern look in his eyes. "It’s Vanoss again isn’t it? What'd that asshole do this time?”

   I shook my head, smiling internally at the ongoing feud between Evan and Terroriser. “Actually, it’s not really his fault. I’m worried about Mini is all.”

   “I’m sure he’s wit' Wildcat in one of their rooms. He’ll be fine.” Brian responded confidently as he retracted his hand.

   For a moment, I considered letting him continue to believe that. However, I knew it would only create anxiety if anyone went into Mini’s room or Wildcat’s and found that no one was there.

   “Actually, Mini went to Smii7y and Kryoz’s place. Wildcat followed him out.” I informed the werecat, trying to hide my unease as I realized that Wildcat’s scent still faintly clung to my clothing.

  Luckily, Brian didn’t seem to notice the smell of angry alpha clinging to me or drifting in from the hallway. He even shrugged off his faint look of surprise at discovering that Mini and Tyler weren't home.

   “He probably went to see if they had cold medicine, right? Plus, even if I wasn’t right about ‘em being here, I was right to say that they're together. Doesn’t that account for somet’in’?”

   I pursed my lips a little before nodding. “Yeah, you’re right.”

   Brian smiled gently before leaning forward to kiss me on the forehead.

  “Good. Now, stop worrying so much. Come dance wit’ me.” He suggested with a contagious grin.

   I rolled my eyes and chuckled despite myself. “If anything, I’d much rather watch you be a dork than be one myself.”

   “I t’ink you’re a little late on stopping that one BUT, suit yourself.” He quipped as he bounced out of my reach. With an amused huff, I got up and walked over to the bed to sit down.

  As it turned out, Brian had been getting ready to go downstairs to find me before I came up to see him instead. He explained this to me amidst getting dressed and dancing.

  At some point, he grabbed a hair brush and began singing into it. He didn't know all the words to the song that was playing and he was definitely off key, but the sight alone warmed my heart and allowed me to push my worries away. For the moment being, it was just me and him. There were no mysterious alphas or trouble ridden subgenders to worry about. It was just me and the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.

  After his song finished, Brian turned off the TV and left the room, still in his underwear. He came back after a while, still dancing to a song that only he could hear.

   “Between you and Mini, Marcel is going to end up getting gray hairs.” I commented as he walked in.

   He paused mid-stride and pointed to himself, as if to say, “Me?”.

   “No the ghost behind you.” I grumbled sarcastically.

  To my reluctant amusement, Brian turned to look behind him. He even went so far as to look under his arms and feet for the imaginary ghost. I chuckled and rolled my eyes.

  “Yes you! Who else would I be talking to?” I questioned in mock exasperation.

   Brian shrugged. “I dunno. Why are we giving Marcel gray hairs though? I t'ought that was Evan and Nogla’s job?”

   I chuckled. “Yes, but if you two keep wandering around the house in your underwear, Marcel’s bound to catch you and lock you outside.”

   "He'd have to catch me first." Brian responded smugly.

   I rolled my eyes. "I'd be willing to bet that he'd catch you within five minutes if you went down there right now."

   Brian’s blue eyes narrowed mischievously. “Challenge accepted.”

  Just before he could turn to run out the door, I reached forward and caught him by the wrist.

   “I wouldn’t do it today." I warned the werecat. "He’s already gonna be angry if he finds out that Evan chugged the last of the milk.”

   Brian turned to look at me with a baffled expression. “Evan did what now?”

  I smiled and shrugged tiredly at the thought of Marcel finding out.

  “T’ere was a half gallon in there…" Brian mused before abruptly crouching down to look directly into my eyes with intrigue. "How long’d it take?”

   “I think it was around 15 seconds.”

   “Good lords that guy’s a beast.” Brian commented, clearly impressed. I smiled while he crawled into bed behind me.

   “That’s one way of putting it.” I muttered.

   A small sigh of laughter resounded through the air. I turned to look at Brian only to realize that he was curling up on the bed, ready to fall asleep again.

   “Are you seriously taking another nap? You probably just woke up from last night’s ‘nap’! And you just got ready to go downstairs.” I uttered in amusement and disbelief.

   “I know, but now I just wanna curl up with my Brocky-boo and fall asleep again.” Brian protested, reaching his arms out for me.

   I rolled my eyes and leaned back to lay on his exposed stomach without letting myself get too comfortable. “Fine. I’m not gonna fall asleep though cause then I won’t be able to go to sleep tonight.”

  Brian let out a content sigh and I knew from experience that he didn't mind.

   One of the many enjoyable things about Brian was the rumble produced through his body when he purred. This phenomenon usually occurred when he slept, but that seemed to be an effect of me sleeping next to him. Brian only ever purred when he was happy and content.

  Once again, my room was coated in the smell of happy werecat which chased away the acrid scent of my stress and Wildcat’s anger.

   I could feel Brian just starting to drift off when, suddenly, there came celebratory shouting from downstairs. I lifted myself drearily from the stomach pillow I’d been laying on and looked around in confusion.

   “What was that?” Brian muttered, his voice thick with sleep.

   I shrugged and rubbed at my eyes. “I have no idea. Either someone just got roasted or Nogla and Lui-”

   As if by design, I was interrupted by a heavily accented voice yelling about something concerning his wings. Brian chuckled.

   “I'd go wit' t'e last one. Nogla and Lui must be home.” He commented. I chuckled and got up from the bed.

  “Most likely. Which means we should go welcome him back before he runs up here and finds you in your tiddywiddies.”

   Brian laughed and kicked at me playfully. “Well t'en go distract him so I can get dressed.”

   I giggled as I headed for the door. “Who knows? Maybe I’ll tell him you aren't dressed just so he can get his camera out and take some pictures.”

   “Ye better not!”

   “We’ll see.” I responded mischievously. A plaintive whine of “babe” followed me to the door. “Just get dressed ya big goof.”

   With a smile, I wandered downstairs and to see what the commotion was about. As soon as I turned the corner into the living room, something white and feathery whacked me in the face. I let out a yelp of surprise and stumbled backwards.

   There was a collection of exasperated groans who muttered "Nogla" as I regained my balance and reached up to rub my face. Within seconds, those voices cut themselves off with yells of astonishment.

   “Nogla! Your wings!” Vanoss barked from behind a giant white appendage.

  I couldn’t see the raven haired shapeshifter over the white feathers and the blinding smile given to me by the 6 foot something angel-like creature standing in my path, but I knew he was there.

   Nogla’s wings shrunk closer to him as he stuffed his hands into the pockets of his green hoodie.

  “Hi Moo! I’m back!” He greeted me enthusiastically.

   “I see that.” I chuckled with a last futile rub at my burning nose.

   “Sorry ‘bout t'e nose. I forget how cramped it gets in here.” He admitted with a nervous smile.

   “You would think that after three years of living here, he would figure out how to keep those things in check.” Marcel commented loudly to Evan, who I assumed was standing next to him.

   I chuckled as Nogla let out an indignant "Hey!" and turned to face the two of them. Luckily, they jumped out of the way just before Nogla’s wings could clip them again.

   “Ye two fookers are just jealous t’at ye don’t have t’ese majestic wings.” Nogla retorted, his wings flaring a little.

   “Uh-huh. T’at’s definitely it.” A familiar voice popped up behind me. I turned a little to see Brian standing behind me, fully clothed and with a smile.

  Nogla turned with a grin just as Brian gently pushed past me to give him a hug. I smiled fondly at the two while they traded murmured greetings.

   Sometimes, I had to remind myself that Terroriser and Nogla had basically grown up together. They lived together for most of their teenage years before they met any of us. That’s why Nogla’s unique accent tended to cling to Brian whenever he spoke.

   Giving Nogla and Brian some privacy, I glanced around the other half of the living room to see that Panda and Scotty were already sitting down. It took me by surprise when I glanced over and saw Mini casually sitting on one of the couches, eating a sandwich. He watched our scene unfold intently. Therefore, it didn’t take long for our eyes to meet.

   Somehow, from that one look, I knew that he hadn’t made progress that morning. He looked tense and a little disturbed for a moment before the emotions were washed off his face and he turned back to participate happily in a conversation between Scotty and Panda.

   “Where’s Lui at?” Brian was asking as I turned back to the group still standing at the edge of the hall way.

   “He wanted to say hi to some people not too far from the border, so I decided to go on ahead.” Nogla responded.

   Brian nodded. “Let me guess, he wanted to say hi to his girlfriend.”

  The two friends chuckled as they migrated to the couches where Marcel had joined the other three in watching a movie.

   Immediately, my attention went to Evan who was still standing where he had been when I first walked in. Coincidentally, he was already looking at me, his brown eyes tinged with worry. I walked over and put a hand on his shoulder.

   “Ya good?” I murmured softly under the renewed noise of the household.

   His eyes didn’t leave me for a good while. The shapeshifter didn’t say a word but, being within such close proximity to him, I could feel his anxiety. I knew why he was anxious even if he didn’t tell me.

   It was our one indisputable rule that none of the members of the pack should go anywhere without another person, especially if they were in the human city.

  Lui was strong and smart in lots of ways, but I knew that Evan worried about him a lot. He was concerned for every member but, to the humans, Lui and Nogla were extremely valuable. Nogla was so unique that any human would want to kidnap him just to study him and there was still a strong desire for shapeshifters on the Market. Evan kept a close eye on the whereabouts of the two just in case he had to save them when they got into trouble. Lui being on his own violated a lot of our rules.

   “He’ll be fine. He can take care of himself.” I reassured Evan, squeezing his shoulder gently.

  The tense alpha simply gave me one of his sad, concerned puppy dog looks before he looked away. I sighed and followed him to the couches to sit down with the others.

   Despite the overall tensions in the pack that Nogla was undoubtedly aware of, he maintained his hyper demeanor. In fact, he tended to be more hyper after missions, if that was even possible. Today seemed to be no exception.

   Nogla told us all about his adventures quite animatedly. Half of us paid attention, but the other half, including Marcel, were too invested in the movie to really pay him any mind. Unfortunately for them, Nogla only increased in excitement and noise as he continued to talk with Vanoss and Brian.

  Eventually, Marcel let out an overly exasperated sigh and sunk down dramatically against the couch.

   “Hey, uh, Nogla? I think you deflated Marcel.” Evan commented with a grin.

   “Legit he has not stopped talking since he got back.” Marcel grumbled.

   Nogla glanced up with a confused look. “Who? Me?”

   The rest of us gawked at him while Marcel yelled, “Yeah! You!”

   A dorky smile swept across Nogla’s face and he glanced down shyly at the bag of candy he was now munching on.

  “That’s just ‘cause I just like ya guys. Ya know…” He trailed off incoherently. I resisted the urge to swoon over him while Brian piped up beside me.

   “I think it’s got somet’in’ to do wit’ t’e eight bags of M&Ms I just ate, but I dunno. I like being wit’ ya guys.” He said in a hyper voice, his accent more exaggerated to imitate Nogla.

   Everyone laughed for a moment and then faded out at as they focused on the movie. Nogla continued chuckling and then, in a quiet voice, he murmured, “I actually like M&Ms.”

   There was a collection of “Oh my Gods” and laughter. Nogla looked at us innocently and continued chewing on his food.

   Mini chuckled, following it up with a weary, “I don't think that was the point Nogla but alright."

   “I love that man.” Brian said in between huffs of laughter.

   For the most part, we spent the rest of the day laughing, poking fun at each other, and watching movies. It wasn’t until later that night that we remembered that we were supposed to have gone grocery shopping.

   Marcel was the first to notice after he went to get a bowl of cereal and found that there was no milk.

   “Who the fuck finished off the milk!?” Came the cry from the kitchen.

   My eyes flickered over to Evan who had suddenly found a profound interest in whatever movie we had put in earlier that evening. I chuckled as Marcel came stomping in with a bowl of cereal without the milk.

   “We had a half gallon last night! How the fuck do you assholes finish all that in one day!?”

   “They chug it.” I muttered quietly with a significant look at Vanoss. Scotty and Panda giggled from across the room.

   “Alright! Who wants to go shopping?” Evan suddenly shouted, standing abruptly.

   “I’ll go.” Scotty responded eagerly. Evan nodded in appreciation before asking again.

  Perhaps it was a trick of the light or my imagination, but I saw a flash of apprehension appear in Scotty’s face for a split second before it disappeared. The incident was so fast that I wasn’t even sure if it actually happened.

  Brushing it off, I glanced over to see Marcel raising his hand as well.

   “I’ll go. Without me, you’d probably forget something… again.” He muttered with an accusatory glare at Vanoss who, to his credit, looked slightly guilty.

  Last time we went shopping, Marcel asked for a candy bar to be brought back with the other groceries. Of course Evan forgot.

   Clearing his throat importantly, Evan continued on. “Anyone else?”

   “I’ll go.” Brian responded from his spot beside me. “I could use some exercise. Plus, I have yet to kick Scotty’s ass in a race.” He added, pointing at the panther across the room.

   “Bring it on, borther.” Scotty replied with an excited grin.

   “I’ll go with too, I guess.” I conceded when Evan glanced at me with a questioning look.

   “That should be enough then. We leave in five minutes.”

   Everyone nodded and the patrol that was to leave dispersed in different directions, some to the bathroom, some to find shoes.

   It only took me a moment to notice that Mini had also disappeared with the others. The smell of that mornings breakfast seeped out from the kitchen. I followed it to find Mini humming to himself while he checked his phone and waited for his food to finish heating up.

 As I walked around the counter and took a seat on a bar stool, I noticed that his gaze was resolutely focused on his phone. His glasses clung to the end of his nose and his silver topped hair looked ruffled, as if he hadn't taken a shower in a few days. The beta didn't look up at me even when I cleared my throat to get his attention. I shook my head.

   “You and Tyler are so much alike, it’s not even funny.” I muttered.

   Mini shrugged. “Probably an effect of living together for so long.”

   “True… You coming with us?” I asked over the sound of the beeping microwave. Mini finally glanced up at me with a frown. Even the blindest person on Earth could see the anxiety and despair in his blue gray eyes as he sighed.

  “No. I have to wait for Tyler. He should be home tonight… Hopefully...” He trailed off, his fingers twitching idly before he turned to open the microwave and retrieve his food.

   I eyed him carefully out of the corner of my eye. Tyler staying out longer had to mean something. If anything, it most likely meant that Kryoz was trying to reverse the transformation or that the panther and his mate were still studying the alpha.  

  “Did Kryoz say how long it would take?” I asked softly.

   Mini looked up at me with vaguely baffled and uncertain eyes, his irises pulsing with fear. I saw a brief look of anger and regret pass his face as he turned away again.

  “He said he wasn’t sure." Mini admitted, albeit somewhat reluctantly. "I’m worried… For many reasons. And, it would be nice to go into town but, even without my issues with Tyler, it would be hard to go without being noticed. You know what happened last time.”

   I recoiled slightly from the memory. Honestly, I had forgotten about the incident with the humans but it only made sense that Mini hadn’t. He was very aware of what other people thought of him.

  "We would protect you.” I reassured him with an apologetic look as I walked closer to sling my arm around his shoulders. “It’s not like many of the humans are up this late anyway. I don’t think it’ll take very long to get what we need either.”

   Mini reached an arm around my waist and squeezed me gently. He still looked exhausted, but I could tell the contact was already helping him. A small smile touched his lips before it disappeared once more.

  “I know. I just don’t feel up to it at the moment. Plus, I need to wait to talk to Tyler… alone.” Mini pointed out with an ambivalent expression. I rubbed his shoulder comfortingly and sighed.

  “I can respect that…” In an undertone, I murmured, “Just don’t get too lost in your head Craig. We want you to be healthy… Physically,” I let go of him long enough to point at his chest, “And mentally.” I finished with a gentle tap on his cheek.

   He nodded and smiled sweetly. “I know.”

   “Good.” I ruffled his hair slightly and patted him on the back. “As long as you know. Take your time while we’re gone. I know you and Wildcat could use it. I'll see you two nerds later.”

  I chuckled as Mini gave me a scandalized look. A gentle huff of laughter and a quiet “Thank you” followed me out of the kitchen as I headed outside to meet the others.

  Vanoss stood the furthest from the front door, looking down at his phone in his human form. Marcel's white pelt shone silver under the dim moon light a few feet away, its color accentuated by the fluorescent green and purple stripes pulsing through his fur. Scotty was nothing but a shadow as he circled the stocky tiger on silent paws. Brian sat observing the two demons as they staged a mock fight, his brown and black hair rippling with excitement.

   I shifted into my werecat form as well, only mildly unsettled by the snapping of bones that echoed through my ears. Even though I preferred slow shifting, I sometimes wondered what it would be like to shift within seconds like a shapeshifter. Slow shifting was less painful though and I relished in the sensations that my new skin brought as my transformation finished. I spent a moment admiring the dirt between my claws before turning my attention to Vanoss.

   As expected, the alpha was watching me with a patient expression on his face. Once I made eye contact with him, there was a loud click and suddenly everyone was at attention. Evan scanned our faces individually before nodding in approval.

   “Alright! Is everyone ready?” He asked. There was one unified click of affirmation before Evan began his own transformation.

   When I shifted, I never thought of myself as graceful or poised when I finally landed on all fours, but Evan made his shift look almost majestic. The way the golden fur of his leopard form slipped out and his eyes burned brighter as they shifted to accommodate his shift was something straight out of a movie. Of course, I would never say it out loud but I knew the others were thinking something along the same lines as they let out small huffs of appreciation or amusement.

  Once his paws touched the ground, Evan shook himself and set off at the head of the group with the rest of us following close behind. I fell into step next to Brian as the group trailed out into the forest.

   “Well hello there gorgeous.” The werecat rumbled seductively, his spotted tail gently flicking my shoulder.

   I rolled my eyes and followed Marcel’s fluorescent purple-green tail through the bushes.

Notes:

So, I hope you guys enjoyed. Some notes for this chapter: On the topic of subgenders: As stated in the notes at the beginning of the chapter, subgenders were made in a laboratory by humans who wish to undermine the influence of the demons in their world. This means that, not only are they studying demons and figuring out how to kill them, they are also trying to take away every demon's rationale and logic by making them dependent on specific things, like sex. By definition, sub genders are demons who are hard wired for reproduction and, therefore, must find a mate in order to avoid going insane (Insanity being defined by losing all sense of humanity and thought which turns demons into slaughterers of entire civilizations in most cases). In a way, by creating subgenders, the humans have turned those demons into a mutilated form of livestock, animals unable to think critically and retaliate against their captors. Of course, the process isn't complete so sub genders can still think for themselves and they only have rare moments where they can't control their instincts (i.e. during ruts and heats). This is the history of how subs were created.

On a less serious note, I want to address the phrase "all cat and no claws". When Tyler says this, he is referring to his mind. The term "no claws", as used in this phrase, has no relation to his physical claws. Essentially, this phrase means that, by giving up his body to the demon inside, he's lost all intelligence and rationality and therefore has "no claws" to defend himself. It's a common saying among felines. Little fun fact for you guys~

Thank you for reading ♥

[knitspecibus]

Chelsea’s Bizarre Watching...Adventure

I actually...want to see more of this. Let’s go!

Episode 3

s2g dio already looks like a vampire

o hay oddjob. uh. did you sneak in because it doesn't seem like jojo even knew you were here

reo speedwagon. alright

i mean, ill agree, dio does seem bad to the bone. which sounds like a good stand name.

OH SHIT DRAMATIC EVERYONE WAS BEHIND THE CURTAIN LISTENING THE WHOLE TIME

well, this is a trap. whatcha plannin dio

yeah with that humanity talk, that seems like what he was going for

look at this poison sellin’ dick, smiling over there. also for some reason im not terribly worried about jojo’s stab wound. also how did he let himself get stabbed, smh

OH. SHIT. IT WAS HIS DAAAAAAD. DIOOOOOOO

sir joestar why are you so forgiving and good

:’(

dio why would you leave the mask

O_O wwwwwell then!

i mean i don’t know if ‘alive’ is the right word

XP dont like the squirt on that bullet wound

how nice of him to explain

gross

well, Jo, I have to say, thats an interesting interpretation

okay zombie man, you dont have to be horny about it, and reo will you fucking move and not just let him grab your face

gross

Jo, how do you have such a heart of gold that you’re worried about kicking dios ass because you were ‘brothers’. c’mon. you were never really brothers. not in blood, and definitely, especially not in spirit.

I mean dios always been a monster. he’s just being a little more open about it now

im really not surprised he caught it.

is it really jo or has jo created a clever ruse??

well that fire came out of fuckin no where, but okay

man, not even fire, huh

man this whole place is gonna burn down, huh. this is the 1800s, fire brigades then? not very efficient.

jojo. ur so brave. and stupid.

jo how did you jump that high and also take that thing out of your shoulder!...or not, sometimes youre supposed to leave it in so it dosnt bleed as much i think

i kinda like how he’s just strolling up at a 90 degree angle

he couldnt what?? what is jo doin

ahhhhhh

man, speedwagon’s got a lot of concern for a dude he just met the other day. i mean its one thing to have compassion but he’s acting like jo’s his best friend

jo, you are truely noble

o_o well. that. that was very english. “Good bye, JoJo!”

yeah, sure bud, you’ll rule the world. just stay out of the sunlight forever i guess

well. that was a fortunate sequence of events. belt him up, jo!

i love how jo has to be like, “look, its the knife you killed my father with” before he stabs dio

jo yelling for his dad to help is some real Cinderella shit. and its gonna work,

or. jo can just kick the wall and impale dio, that also works

ah ha! right, the more you beat him, the tougher he gets.....is that jojos stand or. listen. i dont know. it seems like a super natural ability if its true. and not just jo’s pure willpower to forge on

and Jo makes it out alive! buuut. im under the impression that dio sticks around for a good while AND sires a son, so im curious to see where this goes

Episode 4

I think it’s a rare thing for jojo NOT to have spirit. like damn.

ERINA’S BACK :D

i got goosebumps, her face is gonna be the first thing he sees when he wakes up :3

aaaaaaa ❤❤❤

i mean she aint wrong, jojo’s a fuckin tank

:’D

nice catch jo ;) poor E must have been up for a long time

holy shit jo did that with a broken arm?

THE SMOOTHNESS

o hai dio. so you arent jack the ripper, you’re just gonna control him. also i feel like the artist could have done a little more with designing Jack The Ripper. he just looks like. a dude. which is fair im just. bah, nevermind

anyway, back to dio. i thought you burned to a crisp, buddy! how’d you get back out?

u’ll give him unprecedented pleasure, huh dio

i feel like just smashing it wouldnt break the mask forever. you should probs try to find it

oh boy. whos dr. strange over here

ಠ_ಠ that was a very deep pinkie stab to the gut, wtf guy

ಠoಠ!!!!! his arm is fixed!!!

that man broke a rock in half, through a frog, without hurting it...

a good goal to have

Erina: JoJo what the fuck is going on??? JoJo: ah damnit how do i have her back in my life without involving her in my Bizarre Adventure

:O he’s making the tree blossom!

please dont pop the corpse open dio oh god is sHE STILL ALIVE, DONT LIKE WHATS HAPPENING HERE TO HER EYE

D:

how does sitting underwater help

mm. i appreciate that you’re determined to see your girl again, but maybe you should have found a way to leave her a note

also jojo who dressed you

ಠ_ಠ well thats not right

oh okay his head didnt get replaced with the horses, the horses head was just...thats like, a tiny margin better? still, not nice to do that to the horses

ಠ_ಠ THATS ALSO NOT RIGHT. das nasty

he. stabbed himself

im glad you called his next move and then dd nothing to stop him

he. sprouted knives out of his body

that was a very inspiring speech. i think.

thats a pretty high bar dude. but jo will probably clear it

*polite cat face* well. that was certainly an animation. anyway, good job, jo

[sleeplessnovember]

31 REASONS

31 REASONS WHY..

I debated this title for 3 days because I love clever catchy titles and captions, But to give 31 reasons for any topic is a lot so I won't do that. But I'll give you a few reasons why I am who I am and how 2018 has taught me so much about myself. Every year I write a letter to self about my thoughts, goals, and matters of my heart. So with that being said, I'll give a piece of my world.

"IT'S BEEN A SHAKY ASS YEAR!" Kanye West said in "No Mistakes" and even though Kanye is prolific at the moment that line, I felt every piece of it. Let's recap last year I traveled and met people I fucking love and still do to this day. But what a flip in dynamics. 2018 showed me to really prepare yourself for everything. I told someone once I felt like God was testing me all year like he was saying. "You strong?!, Right?" So let me test you on your will on your heart and your mind. When I promise you in every aspect I have been tested. I don't know what is in store for me, but I'm sure I'll be ready. 

As humans we have this problem of making plans, that's crazy because your plans aren't "God's Plans". I learned that this year you might think you have it all planned and worked but no the hell you don't. Drake said, "Nothing was the same." Yea, no matter how much you try to say what if and if I could change this or make this situation better. Sometimes things happen and it's exactly how it should be. I stepped back from myself this year, sorry to the people who might have felt it the most. Sometimes you have to step back and observe the world around you. I'm learning that you don't know everything, but always follow your intuition because that never lies.

November Roses- My children are my roses, they keep me checking the garden (keep me balanced) they unknowingly are the reason why I stayed on SL for so long. They make me laugh, they make me think, they are the people who truly know me and I felt loved me unconditionally. They are all petals from me but they are all their own person with talent as well. I want to take this time to thank you because I know I can be so random and so wild when it comes to my thoughts and how I handle situations.

Even though I'm not your mother in RL, of course, you guys are still my babies and that's for life. No matter where I go I'll take a piece of you guys with me. FOREVER. When you water a seed watch your flowers bloom (DESIGN,GLORY,CHILD'S PLAY,TEEN SPIRIT, LANDARS LANDSCAPING) You guys can do whatever you want if you set your mind to it and I love watching you guys grow. Damn thinking about how Bubbeh and JD took off with their stores their own lane providing people with their talents is amazing to me. And when I think about Yama and her Husband working together as a unit creating new worlds for others is amazing to me. Ayanna the QUEEN OF TEENS, gas-lighting a whole new scene for teenagers on SL and being edgy with blogs and even how she captivates people makes me so proud.

 Chanti finally is stepping out doing what she always wanted to do her creative mind and how she knows what she wants her store to be. And the endless ideas and plans that they will bring to SL in the following year make me proud as a mother. To know these brilliant individuals (November Roses) you have to understand I couldn't ask for a better representation of myself. I've said it before thank you for choosing me to play a significant part of your life.

November- The hard worked paid off in the long run, all my emotions and endless nights I put into you and Pinterest. When people once said don't make things you like to think about what others might like. Well, I didn't take that advice I gave you guys what I liked and damn, coming to find out you guys LOVED the shit I LOVED. I honestly am so thankful for all my supporters and customers because without you guys November wouldn't be where it is. And I'm so humbled to be apart of events because it gave me exposure that is astonishing.

People  say, show people how you want to be treated, well I've been putting  some good ass energy out there and I want my good energy sent back to me. I made an oath to myself in 2019 I'm going to be limitless I'm going to be a better me. I have to live for me I can't stay stagnant I refuse to live in the shadows. Take me for who I am or not at all. Traveling being with the ones I love. MIAMI IS A FUCKING GO! can't wait to go back Toronto. My new chapter starts now, I wish everyone could go with me but they can't and that’s sad. Some people will see me less, and the lack of my presence will be felt. Just tired of saying what I want to do, I'm ready to do them. No one can live my life but me, I wish things were different in some aspect, but maybe this was God plans the whole time. For me to be free for me to move forward. IN ANOTHER LIFE IN A DIFFERENT WORLD. I'm already where I need to be. 2018 showed me you get knocked down nine times get up 10.

Father, hope you're listening Mum, she's doin alright cause God's listening Something right, that's what you wanted And we wanted to, try to fit it Your love, it was falling Maybe all I care about is you, maybe all I care about But, there you are, when you walked out that door Oh I care, all I want is more Don't take control, run to sorrow Been buildings in, pouring out pouring out. See you

[advocatewrites-blog]

Simple/Clean Chapter 3

Simple/Clean: An Original Character’s Story

Fandom: Kingdom Hearts (1, with mentions of other installments)

Synopsis: There are many worlds, but they share the same sky. One Sky, one Destiny. And when that destiny is threatened, the universe calls on one hero to save the day. Or, more like, five. When the Earth is consumed into Darkness, Danielle Scott and her friends are given the Keys between light and darkness. If they are going to save the worlds and find her brother, they are going to have to go on a multiverse-wide road trip to find the Door to Light. If only they had a better weapon than keys.

Rated: +K for violence and occasional language

Disclaimer: The Kingdom Hearts series was created by Tetsuya Nomura and owned by Square Enix. The Final Fantasy series was created by Hironobu Sakaguchi and owned by Square Enix. The films depicted were created by the Walt Disney Animation Studios and owned by the Walt Disney Company. Any other work mentioned or homaged are property of their respective owners. This is a non-profit fan-based work that only seeks to entertain. Please support the official releases.

Chapter 3 of 12

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Chapter 3: Just Ask Alice

“Wow...if only Riku and Kairi could see this...”

For as long as humans could remember, we have reached out towards the stars. We have gravitated from imagining them as the homes of gods and lost ones to a new frontier to explore. We have studied everything from the twinkling stars in our backyard to the universes beyond ours. Yet we still know very little about the cosmos in which we float like a mote of dust in the morning sky.  Few had seen such as sight as the stars around them, yet this was what Dani was looking at now.

“Hey! Watch yourselves!” A high pitched voice squeaked at her.

Sora and Dani looked around, trying to find the source of the complaint.

“Down here!” Another voice, no less high pitched, spoke up.

Somebody threw a rag at Dani's face. She was too stunned to take it off herself, and it fell to the floor with the grace of a ballerina in zero-gravity.

They looked down. At their feet were two chipmunks dressed in cute aprons and scrubbing furiously at the floor with tiny brooms. It would have been a perfect viral video if it weren't real.

“We're doin' our best to keep this place clean!” One squeaked.

“Yeah! At least take off your shoes when you enter the cockpit!” The other added.

“Don't mind them.” Donald said, turning the pilot's chair around to face them. “They're Chip and Dale. They're our mechanics.”

Another towel was flung at his face. It bounced off his beak as it tumbled.

“The ship is run by squirrels.” Nadine said.

“Honestly Naddy, they're chipmunks.” Katie said, completely seriously.

Nadine sighed and shook her head. “Yeah, why not.”

“Our destination's coming up ahead!” Donald said, barely containing a grumble as he turned back to the wheel.

Dani turned her attention back to the window. A new planet! How many people got to see a new planet up close and personal! And it had sentient life! NASA would love her for this!

A pale pink dot came into view. As they hovered in closer, Dani could make more details out. A checkerboard like design along the surface, castles resembling chess pieces and buildings resembling those of Traverse Town poking out from the ground, and lush forests of plants Dani barely recognized.

It was also really tiny.

“That's the planet?” Nadine asked, skeptically.

“Yuh-huh! It's Wonderland!” Goofy said.

Hanna looked at him. Then back to the planet. Then back at him.

“It's a planet for ants.” She concluded.

“Yeah, our minor satellites are bigger than that thing.” Nadine said.

“I think its buildings are bigger than that thing.” Katie said.

“Are you sure we can all fit on there?” Hanna asked.

“Don't be ridiculous. Of course we—”

That was all the encouragement they needed. Sora rushed out towards the door, and Dani would have joined him if she hadn't seen Donald grab him by the collar up and knew where that was going.

“Don't be too hasty!” The duck said. “This is dangerous work, and all of you need to be on your best behavior.”

Dani could have sworn that he paused to give her a look specifically.

“That's right!” Goofy added. “We have to be careful.”

He walked out and opened the Gummi Ship doors.

“Look both ways before you leave the ship.” Goofy said.

“That's right!” Donald added.

The two knights looked towards the left. They looked towards the right. They took a few steps out of the ship--

“Do you think you should look down first?” Sora asked.

--and plummeted to their untimely doom.

It took a while for Goofy's screams to die out. That's when Dani got worried.

“Do you think they're dead?” She asked.

“Don't know. Do you think we can take the ship down?” Nadine asked.

Slowly, Hanna made her way to the pilot's seat. She sat down with so much care it looked like she was sitting on a puppy. After a few seconds of studying the control panel, she reached out towards the panel with a shaky hand and hit a button.

The windshield wipers turned on.

“Why does the space ship even have wipers?” Nadine asked.

“Space rain?” Katie offered.

“Well, aren’t you going to go after then?”

Though the voice was small, it was clear. And it was clear that no one had heard that voice before. Finally, Dani found the source on the dashboard of the ship. A small cricket, dressed impeccably.

“Hi there! I don’t think I’ve introduced myself yet!” The cricket chirped and tipped his hat. “The name’s Jiminy, Jiminy Cricket! I was sent by the Queen to record your journey!”

“Is this a petting zoo with wings?” Nadine mumbled.

Jiminy made a face, but didn’t say anything else on that.

“Now, aren’t you going to go after them?” He asked instead.

“How? We can’t just jump down there!” Hanna said.

Jiminy pulled his umbrella up.

“You’re joking.”

“A little bit. But I do know that they would do the same for you.” Jiminy said.

They paused to think.

“You’re very compelling, Mr. the Cricket.” Katie said.

“I work as a professional Conscious, you know.” Jiminy said. He looked very proud of himself.

“Alright, how do you expect us to get down there, then?” Nadine asked.

“Isn’t that obvious?” Sora asked.

He jumped.

“I was afraid that was the answer.” Hanna said.

Dani followed closely after.

“How long do you think we’ve been falling?” Nadine asked.

“Dunno. An hour?” Hanna answered. She had long ago turned to one of the books in her bag and leafed through it idly, never quite absorbing the information due to how much the wind blew pages around.

“Feels longer. Kinda stopped being scary.”

“FLOOR HO!” Sora called.

They collided with tiled flooring. It took them a minute to get up, more out of the fact that they had forgotten how legs worked than they had seriously injured themselves.

The room they were now in was a kitchen. A bit oddly designed, sure, but otherwise just a regular kitchen. It was easy to find Donald and Goofy, who were staring at a wall with grumpy expressions.

“Took your time.” Donald grumbled.

“That was a very long fall.” Katie said. “Trying to find a way through that door?”

Nadine looked down closer. That door. But that door was tiny. A mouse probably couldn’t fit through it.

“He says he won’t let us in.” Goofy said.

“You’ve gendered the door?” Nadine asked.

“Are you certain?” Katie asked.

“You’re all too big!” A new voice spoke.

The door was talking. The door. Was talking.

“Alright, I’m not sure what I expected from this trip, but it wasn’t this.” Nadine sighed.

“Why don’t you try the potion on the table?” The door said and yawned. “That girl already has.”

All eyes turned to the table, though Donald was the first to reach for it. He unscrewed the cap, and smells filled the air.

“Cherry tart…custard…pinapple…roast turkey…toffee…burned toast…” He muttered. “This is a Shrinking Potion!”

“But is it safe?” Katie asked.

“As safe as any of my magic!”

“You burn things.” Hanna pointed out.

“So will you try it or not?” Donald asked.

“Alright.” Sora said.

He took the bottle and took a sip.

“That wasn’t too ba—”

Sora was gone.

Nadine checked under the table. Sora, now barely over a foot, sat comfortably on the armrest.

It took a long time for the bottle to be passed around, especially since most of them had their suspicions. Nadine was last, trying to make sure that it wasn’t just poison. Once they did, they filed through the door.

“ORDER IN THE COURT!”

The booming voice was probably audible through the entire planet. The seven wandered through the garden towards its general direction. The hedges opened up to reveal a rather elaborate court room.

“COURT IS NOW IN SESSION!” The judge called.

“Ooh, a courtroom drama!” Katie whispered.

“This girl definitely did it.” The judge said and leaned back into her chair. “And do you know why? BECAUSE I SAID SO!”

“That's completely unfair!” The girl that stood before the court protested. She looked young, not even ten, but dressed and held herself in a way that made her look more formal than she had any business being. “You may be the queen, but that doesn't give you the right to be so...so mean!”

A hush fell over the court. The girl seemed to realize that wasn't the thing she should have said and shrunk back into herself. The Queen was fuming.

“GUILTY! GUILTY AS CHARGED!” The Queen shrieked.

“We have to help her!” Sora said.

“It's none of our business.” Donald replied.

“OFF WITH HER HEAD!”

“They'll kill her if we don't!” Dani said.

“And that's not our problem!” Donald said. “Listen, if you're going to be the Key, you need to learn something about world order. Whatever happens on this planet happens. Our concern is to stop the Heartless!”

“FOR THE CRIME OF TRYING TO STEAL MY HEART!”

Donald's eyes widened.

“You were saying?” Hanna asked.

“Wait a minute!” Sora cried as he rushed out from their hiding spot.

“OBJECTION!” Dani shouted as she followed.

“WHO ARE YOU!?” The Queen shouted. “HOW DARE YOU TRY TO INTERFERE WITH MY COURTROOM!”

“But we know who the real culprit is!” Dani said.

“Oh? AND DO YOU HAVE ANY PROOF?”

Dani and Sora looked at each other.

Nadine fought the urge to bury her head in a hand. Instead, she busied herself with trying to memorize all of the court-cases she had seen her mother both present and prepare for. It was clear the Queen wasn't going to listen to the right answer without a good reason to, so Nadine would just have to stall for time.

“Excuse me Your Honor and/or Majesty.” Nadine spoke up. “This court case cannot continue any further until the defendant has proper legal consultation, especially if two witnesses to the event want to testify.”

“Sure!” Dani said.

The Queen pouted and leaned back in her chair. “Very well.”

From above, a human-sized gold birdcage dropped around the defendant, shutting her in.

“COURT IS ADJOURNED FOR A BRIEF RECESS!  And if you can't prove that she's innocent, THEN IT'S OFF WITH ALL OF YOUR HEADS!”

The gavel smacked down on the podium, and Nadine felt her shoulder relax.

“Well now you've done it.” Donald said as he approached them. “How do you expect to prove her innocent?”

“It shouldn't be too hard.” Katie said. “We already know who did it.”

“You're right.” Goofy said. “All we have to do is find the Heartless.”

“Um, excuse me.” The girl spoke up. “The Cheshire Cat in the forest may know something if you're looking for evidence. But do be careful. Things really do make no sense around here.”

“And we have a lead!” Katie said. “Come on Goofy, let's go be detectives!”

The forest didn't appear to be very big to the untrained eye. The problem was that Sora was the size of a hand when he entered, so everything looked big. Blades of grass rose above him. Mushrooms rose like trees, touching the sky. Sora was pretty sure if he had been his usual height, he could have traverse the entire forest in one step.

“Can't we just tell the Queen the Heartless are responsible?” Sora asked. He swung his arms behind his head.

“We have to consider the world border.” Goofy said.

“Order.” Donald corrected. “We're already interfering enough as is. Other worlds should be kept as they are.”

“Well, that may or may not be true.”

The voice came from everywhere and nowhere. Sora spun his head around, trying to find a source, and stopped when he saw a smile floating over a mushroom. The space around the mushroom grew pink and purple, and soon, a creature that greatly resembled a cat had filled the area.

“After all, this is a world of wonder and nonsense. What’s the point of keeping a secret?” It asked.

Sora got his wits about him first. “You wouldn't happen to be the Cheshire Cat, would you?”

“Well, the only me is me,” The cat said and lazily inspected his claws. “Are you sure the only you is you?”

Sora didn't quite know what it was asking, so he decided to continue anyway. “Alice is in trouble. We're looking for the evidence to clear her, and she said you would be of some help.”

“Ah yes.” The cat tossed his paw outward. A pink box landed at Sora's feet. “I wouldn't open that just yet if I were you. It would make a great party favor.”

Donald grumbled. “What's the big idea!?”

“Why Donald, I'm hurt.” The cat said. “After all the time we've spent together, do you really not trust me?”

Sora's eyebrows furrowed together as he tried to figure out what the Cheshire Cat was implying. They had only been talking for a minute!

“Well, I suppose that is your role. But do try to keep in mind if you're not...forgetting anything.”

The Cheshire Cat began to fade again. Only his smile remained, and only for a second.

“I wonder what that was about.” Goofy said.

“Never mind him.” Donald said. “Let's see what's inside.”

Sora opened the lid.

“SALE! END OF WONDERLAND SALE! EVERYTHING MUST GO!”

“What's this about?” Hanna asked.

“End of Wonderland sale!” The shopkeeping sheep answered. “Feel free to look to either side of you, Feather.”

Hanna couldn't figure out if that was supposed to be an joke or not.

“Why do you think the world's ending?” Dani asked.

“Haven't you heard? The Red King is going to wake up soon!” The sheep said. “When he does, Wonderland is going to go out-bang!-like a candle!”

“What makes you think that?” Hanna said. There was more trepidation in her voice, and she knew that, but this was an important question to have answered.

“You really don't know much, do you Feather? We're all a part of his dream! You, me, the boats, everything!”

Dani and Hanna looked at each other.

“Probably not Heartless.” Dani said.

“No, but still worrying.” Hanna finished. “Let's see if we can't pass this on to the others once we finished up this court business.”

“Well, at least they've accepted their inevitable demise. I'll take a boat, please!”

“Good luck getting that in the Gummi Ship.”

Dani bought an egg instead.

“OBJECTION!” Nadine shouted.

“OBJECTION!” The Queen of Hearts shouted back.

“OBJECTION!”

“OBJECTION!”

“OBJECTION!”

This had been going on for the last 5 minutes.

“ORDER IN THE COURT!” The Queen of Hearts bellowed. “If you can't produce the evidence you need in the next three seconds, then IT'S OFF WITH ALL OF YOUR HEADS!”

In the next two seconds, a Heartless ran up. Instinctively, Nadine summoned her Keyblade to knock it away from them. A crystalline, semi-translucent heart floated up into the sky and out of sight.

“There's your evidence, Your Majesty and/or Honor!” Sora exclaimed as he, Goofy and Donald rushed into the court garden. “Don't you see Alice is innocent!”

With a blast of his magic, Donald knocked the cage holding Alice down. It clattered and rattled as it fell, and Nadine bit back her breath. That certainly wasn't safe for a 9 year old girl. The curtain fell off.

Nobody was inside.

“Alice? WHERE IS ALICE?” The Queen asked.

Nadine exchanged a look with Katie. Nobody could have been up there without any of them noticing, not even a Heartless. Alice had made no sound since the trial started, and there was no way she could escape even if she hadn't been holstered up in the air. Where could she have gone?

“YOU!” The Queen pointed towards a set of card soldiers. “Go find Alice! I DON'T CARE HOW JUST DO IT!”

They scurried off, nearly bumping into Dani and Hanna as they did.

“As for the rest of you...” The Queen started “OFF--”

The ground rumbled, and then Nadine realized that something was following the two twins.

It was a Heartless, no doubt. It was very thin and appeared to be made from red and blue blocks, some with faces. Its arms and legs were made of a material that looked almost ribbon-like, albeit crushed, and in its hands it tossed about two juggler's clubs. But its height—even if Nadine had never taken that stupid potion, it would still probably eclipse her. In her current state, if everyone present stood on each other's shoulders, they might not reach the top.

In a few quick movements, Donald and Goofy knocked the Card Soldiers pursuing them out of the way. They fell and flopped to the ground like the paper they were. In that time, however, the Heartless set their sights on them. It tossed one of its juggling clubs into the air, and exhaled jets of fire through the garden before it could fall completely.

Donald's tailfeathers had ignited in the blast, in a sight that would have been hilarious if it also wasn't extremely dangerous. “HOT, HOT HOT!”

“Oh dear.” A voice near Nadine's ear gasped. “This really has gotten out of hand hasn't it? I should have brought some snacks.”

Nadine snapped her head around until she saw the source. A purple and pink cat was perched near her shoulder. She could feel no weight on her shoulder nor feel any fur or whiskers, and she certainly did not remember inviting him along.

“You!” Sora exclaimed as he tried his best to dodge the incoming attacks. “You tricked us!”

“Why Sora, I'm hurt.” The cat said in a way that certainly didn't sound like he was. “Do you really have that little faith in me?”

Sora couldn't respond do to the fact that he was on fire.

“Well, allow me to make up for it.” The cat said.

Nadine's Keyblade ran cold. Instinctively, she held it away from herself, and saw a blast of ice collide with Donald's butt, extinguishing the fire.

“A Keyblade Master should be able to use a little bit of magic, right?” The cat asked. “Even if you're not.”

Nadine was just about to ask just what he meant by that when the Heartless set its sights on her. She jumped out of the way, bashing away the juggling clubs that followed her. She landed and held her Keyblade out again. Nothing happened.

Donald sent a Cure spell towards Sora and turned his attention towards Nadine. “In order to use magic, you need to concentrate! Accumulate power with you Keyblade! Imagine the enemy freezing!”

I don’t want to use magic at all! She thought. The fireballs cascading in her direction made her change her mind. Nadine shifted and held her Keyblade out in front of her. Still, nothing was happening.

“That sounds easy!” Dani said. She jumped in Nadine's way as the Heartless sent its clubs back towards her, and knocked them both back with two icy blasts. Two of the blocks that formed its head popped off.

Sora followed suit, and two more heads of the Heartless knocked off. Katie jumped from her place as Defense to Judge, climbed to the very top of the chair, and jumped again to bash the Heartless's head in with her Keyblade.   The last head popped off, and the rest of the body crumbled under it.

Nadine helped Katie back onto her feet after she collided with the ground. Once she was sure she was safe, she set her sights on the cat. “Just what are you?”

“Oh, you can't be too sure here.” The cat said casually. “Perhaps I am just a cat, or perhaps I am just a memory. But if it's a name you want, I'm the Cheshire Cat.”

“Well, thank you Mr. Cat, for giving us magic.” Katie said.

“But of course! The Cheshire Cat always helps those in need!”

“And the benefit of sending a giant Heartless on us?” Dani asked.

“Leveling up.” The Cheshire Cat said it so quickly and with so much conviction that Nadine honestly believed it to be true for just a moment.

Nadine quickly realized they were getting nowhere. “Come on guys, let's go look for Alice.”

“I'm afraid you're not going to find her here.” The Cheshire Cat said. He left Nadine's shoulder to appear on the scorched hedges and stretched. “She's gone.”

“Gone?” Sora asked. “What do you mean, gone?”

“Why don't you tell me, if you're so keen on preserving world order?” The cat asked. “Have you found the answer to my question yet, by the way?”

“Huh?”

“The only me is me. Are you sure the only you is you?”

They were back in the kitchen. How were they back in the kitchen? Nadine barely had time to blink…

“Oh. You’re back.” The door said.  He yawned.

Dani noticed something glowing in the knob it used as a mouth. “What is—“

A light shot through Dani’s vision. It landed in the keyhole. A satisfying click noise echoed through the kitchen.

“What…was that?” Sora asked, inspecting the tip of his Keyblade.

Author’s Note: Anyone who knows me knows that Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is one of my favorite books of all time. It’s a cliché answer, I know, but it has less to do with the book itself and more how the story has shaped who I am. The story is never the same; there’s always a different interpretation or different things I focus on and it makes me feel like I’ve grown with this story. But anyway what a weird choice for the first level of Kingdom Hearts. We need to establish the norm for most of the game, so let’s throw in the most un-normal things possible. It works for me, because I know of what’s going to chance in this adaptation and I can use how crazy Wonderland is to my advantage. The Cheshire Cat knows too, but I’m not sure who told him.

[anflowcrat]

[Novel Excerpt] Chapter 1 of Part 2

Chapter 1 - The Desert Wind is Often Too Harsh

1

After a big gulp of water Richard Riddle liked to lie down on the ground, stare at the clear blue skies, smoke his beloved old pipe, and let the harsh days turn into cool nights. Or at least he believed he liked that last part, in truth this was around the time he gets caught.

“Riddle,” yelled a patrolling guard, “ya can’t be trespassin’ on this goddamn oasis.” The worst part of Riddle’s days were all the yellings, he hated the damn yellings.

“Give me a couple more seconds, ya?” Riddle responded coolly as he took another puff his pipe, “the grass feels nice on my back.” He made himself even more comfortable and turned his side away from the guard.

“Bah,” exclaimed the guard, “if ya still here after a minute passes my men and I will hafta chase ya down.”

“Please don’t,” Riddle said quietly, “chases are tiring.”

And of course a minute passed and Riddle was woken up by a kick to the back of his head. He groaned in pain and immediately sprinted away, the guards yelled something indistinct until the distance drowned out their voice.

Finally, he made it out of the premises and he took a deep breath, treasured the sights, and braced himself for the long walk. Nothing like a trudge through a sea of sand in the blistering heat to contrast a relaxing nap in the oasis.

Riddle clutched his cloak around him and strapped his straw hat under his chin, each step he took drained his stamina as his feet sunk a little bit in the sand. He had lived in these deserts his whole life, and to this day, his face couldn’t get used to the harsh desert winds.

2

Riddle loved finding Titania, for one it meant that he was nearly home, and for another he greatly admired the design. Titania was a giant golem, around the size of the skyscrapers they had in Central, designed as a weapon back in the Unification War. It looked almost indistinguishable from an actual human being, except for the flat red eyes. Her armor was clad and barely covered her vitals, it purely for aesthetic purposes of course—a giant hunk of metal hardly needed more hunk of metals to guard her.  She had no hair but to Riddle that only made her far more appealing.

Half buried in the sand, Riddle brushed off some of the sand on her face and set out on his way back home. Usually he spent much more time cleaning her but it had been a troublesome day and the sun was setting.

By the time Riddle made his way to Omicron Borough the stars were out and the city was dark. The short cubic blocks of  houses were obscured and the sand beneath his feet were hardly visible. Few light orbs ever littered the air in Omicron but that suited Riddle just fine, it was easier to sneak about in the dark and he knew this city so well that he could maneuver around it just as easily if he were blind. Why, just a couple of weeks ago he pulled off a heist practically blindfolded.

Speaking of which they really needed to get masks that didn’t obscure the vision.

“The fuck have ya been Riddle?” A voice from above shouted.

“Keep it down Deacon,” Riddle ordered lazily. John Deacon was one of his closest friends but he could never get used to his loudness.

Deacon jumped down from the roof of the cubic house and punched Riddle’s shoulder in a friendly manner. Riddle disliked it when he did that. He was wearing his signature stark red bandana which hid his brown hair, he was slightly taller than Riddle though they were both twenty-two, and though Riddle would never say it out loud, Deacon was more handsome; blue eyes, broad shoulders, and a defined jaw. The only physical flaw being that he was just as deathly thin as Riddle was.

“Lost ye damn lizard again eh?” Deacon teased.

In fact Riddle did, “ran across some pirates,” he explained nonchalantly. It was a shame, Euros was a good Dragon Lizard, one of the fastest he’s ever had the pleasure of riding.

Deacon laughed, “dis why you need to quit leaving the goddamn borough eh?” he wrapped his arm around Riddle’s neck.

“Why are you still up?” Riddle asked.

“Aight, listen,” Deacon pushed Riddle in front of him and held him down while he stared at his eyes, “Bender is feelin’ sick ya? I been lookin’ for you to fill in his spot ta’night, ya in?”

Riddle sighed, “I dunno Dee, I’m kinda tired.”

“C’mon Richie,” Deacon smiled, “how long’s it been since we last went on a heist ta’gether? We used to be unstoppable, ‘member?”

Riddle rolled his eyes before finally smiling in agreement, he just couldn’t turn him down.

“Das the guy I know,” he said proudly before grabbing Riddle’s head under his arm and messing up his hair.

Riddle usually hated that but from Deacon he knew it was just how he showed affection. He fixed his black curly locks, as well as they could be fixed anyway, and they discussed their plan in hushed whispers as they made their way further into the city.

3

“You got new masks?” Riddle let out a tiny bit of excitement in his voice.

“Aye, Nero made new ones,” Deacon tossed one to Riddle and wore the other one.

The masks had long slits for eyes—enough room for eyesight this time—and a nose that resembled a beak. Coupled with the black feathers on the sides it made them look like they had crow faces. Riddle thought they were okay, bit too extravagant for his tastes.

The two of them left their coats behind Deacon’s house, as well as their respective hat and bandana. Riddle was always bothered by not having his hat and coat, it made him feel naked, but they had to abandon any sort of accoutrement that would be associated with their identity otherwise the masks would be pointless. They picked up their other outfit, which consisted of a black shirt, a black pair of pants, a black pair of gloves, and a black pair of shoes. Riddle wasn’t the biggest fan of black but he was a big fan of blending in the dark when performing crimes.

“Aight, let’s go eh?” Deacon asked excitedly.

“Hold on a minute,” Riddle stopped him, hoping his calm demeanor would rub off on his antsy friend, “we have a ritual, remember?”

Deacon smiled before making himself comfortable on the ground, quietly waiting for his turn.

Riddle lit his pipe and took a big hit before blowing it slowly into the air. Every nerve in his body was calmed, his heart slowed, his mind at peace, and the rising smoke drew his eyes to the ever majestic stars above. He passed the pipe to Deacon who did the same, his anxious demeanor turned relaxed; he lied down and put his hands behind his head.

“How long ya think we hafta keep doin’ this Rich?” Deacon asked.

“One gram usually only lasts us a few minutes.”

“Nah, nah,” he laughed, “I meant stealing.”

Riddle shrugged, “a lot of people are counting on us.”

“I know,” he said grimly, “let’s steal, let’s keep stealing until we have enough to feed every single one of them for the rest of their life.”

“You think we can do that?”

Deacon pondered in silence for a moment. “No,” he looked away, “maybe that’s why we need to start thinking a little bigger.”

4

They finally made their way to the Southern Fortress and they stared up the titanic stone wall. It had been a while since they performed a heist here, around three years since the last one, Lea said that Councilman Jebediah had grown suspicious so they’ve been avoiding the place but three years seemed like a good enough waiting period.

“Will the great Richard Riddle give us a show ta’night?” Deacon said extravagantly to tease.

“Why did I choose such a loud guy as my partner in crime?” he responded in jest.

“Ya like a challenge?”

Riddle smirked before he pushed to Deacon to the side and took off one of his gloves. He touched the wall gently with his palms and the stone slowly eradicated until a perfectly clean hole emerged. Just large enough to crawl through.

“Ya hafta teach me that one day eh?” he patted Riddle on the back.

“We have the books ya know.”

“ Eh, I don’t like to read.”

They entered through the hole and landed on thick grass, this was the only trace of foliage for miles. The air was warm, but not unpleasantly so, which was in stark contrast to the freezing nightly air in the desert. Large weather rods that pillared on the four corners of the fortress were responsible for this, it was technology that the councilman brought from Central that was able to control the weather within the four pillars. It was high level magick tech that could only be found in the richest parts of Orbis.

“One of these days we hafta steal those things,” Deacon muttered, clearly annoyed.

“We could never make them work even if we did,” Riddle responded defeatedly.

“I know,” he walked ahead, “I just don’t want them to have it.”

The two of them sneaked about, avoiding the stationed guards, until they made their way beside the tallest tower inside the whole fortress. It’s base was surrounded by blue roses, Lea’s favorite—it was her tower after all.

Deacon sneaked up towards the guy guarding the front door and hit the back of his head, knocking him unconscious. They carried him away and hid him underneath the bushes.

“Time to climb this damn thing eh?” Deacon spit on his hands and rubbed it together. A faint glow of yellow mana surrounded his palms and with one touch the tower became sticky enough to climb.

Riddle patted him on the back and they began to climb. It was practically effortless, the tower was just sticky enough to ensure they wouldn’t fall but not too sticky to ensure they could pull their hands away without hurting themselves. The magick was from one of the books they stole on their third heist, back in their teenage years, it allowed Deacon to manipulate the adhesion properties of any surface he touched—though of course, Kenneth had to read the book for him.

Once they reached the window, Riddle used his powers to disintegrate the glass window, didn’t leave a single trace. This was the key to Riddle and Deacon’s success, no gate or wall could ever keep them from entering, and no building was too tall. They can get in anywhere they like, without making a single sound.

Riddle jumped inside first and h—

“Don’t you dare make another move!” a sword was held directly up against Riddle’s neck. Lea was awake and standing to his side. Her usually straight blonde hair was all over the place, her blue eyes looked frightened, and she looked even paler than usual. She was nervous, her hands were shaking so much that the sword was dangerously wobbling close to Riddle’s face.

“Please,” Riddle made sure to alter his voice, “put it down and forget this ever happened.”

“Now why would the princess not call for help?” Deacon teased from the window.

“I don’t need it,” she snapped.

“Ah, pride,” Deacon snickered, “ya best learn to abandon that missy, won’t help you outside of these walls.”

Riddle touched the blade with the tip of his finger while they were talking and the sword disappeared into thin air. Lea panicked and tried to scream but Riddle covered her mouth and knocked her unconscious.

“I really didn’t want to do that,” Riddle sighed.

“How’d she know to expect us?” Deacon asked as he made his way inside.

“Over the past few weeks she’s been learning to detect mana.”

“She tell ya that?”

“Ya.”

“Why didn’t ya mention anything?”

“I forgot,” Riddle shrugged.

“What’s the point of having you make friends with the enemy if ya not gon’ use the information,” he lectured.

“Shut up will ya, I said I forgot.”

Deacon shuffled around the room looking for something valuable. “Still,” he added, “to be able to detect the faint amount of mana we release… no one’s been able to that.”

Riddle stared at Lea, “ya, she might be trouble.”

“Aha!” Deacon exclaimed as he held up a necklace in front of Riddle, “ya think this goes for a lot of money?”

“Sure looks like it,” Riddle nodded. It had gold chains and pendant made out of emeralds that formed a heart. Deacon fiddled around with it and the pendent opened unexpectedly.

“Oh shit,” Deacon hushed, “S’alocket.”

It had an old painting of a young lady, the spitting image of Lea, but not quite.

“Put it back,” Riddle calmly ordered.

“Ya nuts?” Deacon laughed.

“I’m serious,” he grabbed the necklace from him, “she’s a nice girl and you know it.”

“That may be so,” Deacon raised his eyebrows at him, “but we have people to feed, people not as well off as her.”

“That doesn’t give us the right to take away a memory of her mother.”

They stared at each other in silence for a few seconds.

“Fine,” Deacon threw his hands up, “but I’m taking that gold bracelet she’s wearing.”

“Go ahead,” Riddle walked towards the drawers to put away the pendant.

“Ya better not have rebelled against stealin’ that just because you love her,” Deacon pestered him.

“I don’t love her Dee,” Riddle made his way to the window, “it’s about principles.” He went out and began climbing down, Deacon followed.

“It better be,” he heard Deacon mutter.

5

Riddle made his way home safely after grabbing his stuff from Deacon’s place. He stopped outside the door of his house for a smoke and just stared at the place. It looked like a mess, it always was but it especially looked like a mess after visits from the fortress. The corners were crumbled, the whole cube looked slumped over, and the stench of smoke and alcohol always radiated from the house.

He finished smoking and quietly made his way inside, to his surprise his old man was still awake. Usually he passed out while the sun was still up.

“Where have ya been?” his old man slurred. His clothes reeked and was so tattered that they barely even counted as clothes, he was balding and yet whatever’s left of his hair managed to be greasy still, and traces of dried saliva stuck around his mouth.

“Out,” Riddle answered.

“Ya get any money?’

“Tomorrow.”

“Didja hang out with that councilman’s daughter again?”

“No.”

“You’re a fuckin’ liar you know that?”

“Ya.”

“Bah,” he gave up, “go to your room and be quiet.”

And so he did.

He settled down on his bed and relaxed in silence. He took off his coat and reached inside his pocket. Unbeknownst to him, a wide smile formed on his face as his heart warmed, and without even meaning to, minutes have passed of him staring at the painting in the pendant.