#i immediately had to fix my own sad fic haha | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bluevelvetea · 7 months ago

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It's time to scream about this fic let's get it going 👀✨

Longer comment under the cut lmao

First of all thank you so much for this fic like I can't even tell you how happy reading this made me 🥹

Second of all I did not expect 'background Kafhoshi' to jump into my face like this and absolutely sell me on this ship haha I'm living for their interactions here

Iharu being so down in the beginning breaks me a little 💔 but luckily Dadka is there to save the day (or make it even more chaotic that is), no one even asked him to join Iharu, he's just like 'the boy looks sad and it's my personal mission to fix it' and I love him for it

Also Kafka immediately knowing why Iharu is acting off like a good dad would 🥹 warms my heart and if that isn't canon Kafka I don't know 😭✨ 'he seemed excited about it... in his own little way' PRECIOUS 💞

At this point I just need to know if the movie is a reference to something I don't know of or if you came up with his gem yourself lmao that's definitely the kind of movie I'd watch too

THE MP.3 PLAYER SCENE I'M DYING

'yeah, but you're like cool and forty' Iharu really knows how to compliment people but again that's so in-character for him 😂

'I gotta talk to Hoshina about taking some hours away from the base first' yeah okay when I tell you I did not expect this scene to end the way it did haha

Can't argue with Kafka's philosophy on theater snacks either btw he's right

The sturdy desk comment in the scene with Hoshina caught me off guard lmao took me a second

'Kafka, no' 'Kafka, yes' bwahhh this is their entire relationship summed up 😭😂

'we both know I get what I want if I work hard enough for it' HOT 🔥✨

'how long does it take to call off a few hours?' Iharu you don't want to know lmao

The cowboy hats part 😂😭 love how you portray both of them interacting it's so wholesome in its own way 🥹

'beer and cocktails are half off' that's the beginning of the end, questionable choices were made here 😂

'there he went again. The dad of Division Three' he really is 😭 'unless someone from base comes down here and carries my plastered ass off the sidewalk' had me laughing so hard I scared my cats 😭

Of course the wholesome Dad and son(-in-law) bonding had to be disturbed by a Kaiju arghhhhh

Awesome teamwork on their side though 🥹 I wish we'd get more interactions of them on the manga but maybe the anime will make up for it?

Also I'm literally reading this fic for the third time as I write this it's just that addictive and I keep finding more and more bits and pieces I missed the first times 😭

'a snow blonde man with frosted violet eyes (...) that's all it took for him' Go gay thoughts keep the boy running! 🏳️‍🌈

'damn shame they aren't edible, huh?' everybody attention the man has been possessed by Laois' spirit 😭😂 I only watched like three episodes of dungeon meshi as of now but that sure is a reference, isn't it? ✨ '

Kafka-appropriate levels of absurdity' the boy is so over it haha

'maybe it was worth almost getting smashed into a pancake' Iharu no 😭 but at the same time: food motivated Iharu yeah!

I love the banter between Aoi and Haruichi about fishing haha these boys are so underrated 🫶

I hope someone filmed the Kafka and Reno karaoke rendition Reno would probably pay to see it

Drunk Iharu is my spirit animal now btw fuck them hours you're so right but also he's getting so emotional 😭 love this boy with my whole heart he deserves a pretty date with Reno

AND KAFKA GIVING HIM A PIGGY BACK RIDE!? you're making me tear up over here 😭

The wallet scene then proceeded to take me out how did you manage to sneak so many other ships in here so skillfully ✨

'Kafka... Shoot me if I ever start acting like that around Reno' nooooo lmao

Oh nooo Reno being all sad about not being able to go on the date once he's back was not what I was expecting there 😭 'come along Reno. We're apparently going to save our respective dumbasses' ahahahddhxjie Hoshina please 😭

Living for drunk Iharu being so happy about seeing Reno again omg he's so soft these two deserve the world 💕 Reno better treasure that used beer mug 🫶

And Hoshina being so enraged he's casually spilling the beans about him and Kafka? 😂 Kikoru might not recover from this

The entirety of the bonus scene though 😭💕🥹 love this part so much I'll cry, they are perfect together and I'm so happy you created that fic for them 💗

You have my eternal gratitude for this ✨ I'd love to read more from you but no pressure at all 🫶 you made me very happy with a ship I already enjoyed a lot and even a new one I hadn't paid that much attention to yet!

Iharu's Day Out {co-staring Dadka} (A Kn8 short story)

Preamble] So I've got this idea for a series of {what was supposed to be short?! Don't know where all this came from} one-shots about Kaiju n.8 that are all about Kafka interacting with one member from the third Division because we only really see him talking to Reno or Hoshina most of the time and not a lot of the rest of the team gets much more screen time. I don't know how often I will be posting these and they will NOT be in chronological order. The time frame they will be taking place in is after everything is over (Number 9 is dead, Tachikawa base is rebuilt, the public knows about Kaiju n. 8, and the original members of Division Three are back together.)

Notes] Alcohol, implied off screen sex act, minor law breaking, pining IharuxReno, background HoshinaxKafka, implied HaruichixAoi, confession, basic tomfoolery, uncensored swearing.

Summary] Iharu's plans with Reno get derailed when Reno has to leave on a mission just before they have to leave. Depressed and dejected, Iharu heads back to the barracks to drown his sorrows in food... only to have that plan as well get derailed by Kafka.

#########################################

This was the third time in thirty minutes that Furuhashi had changed his outfit. Finally landing on white high tops, black camo jeans, a black leather jacket and a white graphic anime tee. He kept going back and forth on the tee, debating on whether or not it made him look like he was too childish. Iharu spent an extra minute mentally kicking himself for not bringing more casual clothes from home when the base got reopened. Then again, asking Reno out to a movie date was pretty spur of the moment at the time. He caught himself mid thought and placed his hands on either side of the closet that was designated to every member of the Division. "Not a date. Movie night-. It's... a movie night. This is to see if this could lead to a potential date. Yeah, just... focus on that right now."

Knocking him out of his thoughts was a very distinct ringtone. Iharu had spent a lot of time messing around in the settings on his phone and was very proud of himself when it came to the songs he picked for each member of the Third Division. Aoi was the theme song from Cops, Kikoru's was the Nightcore version of Pretty Little Psycho. The one that was playing now was Cold as Ice by Foreigner. A little on the nose, considering who it was attached to, but nonetheless fitting for person who he thought was the coolest guy on the force.

Reno☃] Hey. Can we talk?

Reno☃] Somethings come up.

############################################

"Sure. Sounds fun."

Iharu played Reno's response to this movie night plan over a week ago in his head over and over, taking his chilled and plain response and visualizing it as a bat to beat himself and this unfortunate event the two over them have gotten themselves into.

"Last minute dispatch to the mountains. Sorry Iharu." Reno had said, wanting to give him the bad news in person as he sat on a bench in a locker room and laced up his boots over his tech suit.

"Guess that means you'll be back late then, huh." Iharu leaned against a locker, arms folded and looking into the distance through the doorway. He didn't want Reno to see the disappointment. Not that seeing it would change the situation, just didn't want make Reno feel bad over the fact that, not only is he leaving Iharu behind, but he has to take a rain check on their date movie night- it was supposed to be a movie night, Iharu had to remind himself. He didn't feel like it was fair to take his crush/rival out on the town and call it something so loaded without seeing if the feeling would be returned.

"Yeah. Sorry." Reno picked up his bag and started to walk pass Iharu. "Movie will still be there tomorrow. Right?"

Iharu tried to school his expression into something more optimistic to mask his depression. " Yeah, but I'm in Weapons Training all day tomorrow. Maybe another movie?" He crunched the unnoticed prepaid ticket stubs in his fist and shoved it in the pocket of his jeans. "Mind kicking their monster ass a little harder then normal. For me?" He didn't mean to come across as pleading as he said that, but it helped channel the last bit of resentment at the situation out of his head so now he can spend the rest of the allotted time off to sulk in his bunk.

Reno smiled and clasped a hand on Iharu's shoulder. "Sure thing."

Reno walked out of the locker room and headed toward the door that lead to the chopper pad that would whisk him away, as well as Iharu's plan for the three hours that he could squeeze out of Vice-Cap. All Iharu could do was watch as Reno lightly jogged away and feel as if he was doing that to get away from him faster. He knew that Reno liked him as a friend at least, but he felt that Reno could act a little less chill about being forcefully blown off a dinner and a movie. Iharu turned and started walking toward the canteen with the intention to take as much food and drink he could smuggle out to his bunk, make a Blanket Fort of Solitude*tm and attempt to stuff his dashed feeling under a quarter pound of katsudon, cheese puffs and soda popsicles-made in prison style.

Iharu was dragged from his thoughts by a loud, friendly, and familier voice. "OYE! Iharu! Wait a sec!"

Kafka Hibino came barreling down the hallway having turned a corner and apparently looking lost. The man was almost out of breath by the time he managed to catch up to Iharu. "Have you seen Reno around? I -huff- wanted to tell him safe travels before he -huff- left."

"He's heading down to the heli-pad now. Book it and you might catch him." Iharu said apathetically, scratching his neck. Which was really out of character for him, but he couldn't help hoping that was the end of the conversation, seeing that he just wanted to spend his three hours of time off drowning in food.

"Great! Thanks! Hey, you headed to the canteen?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Give me a minute and I'll meet you there. Want to talk to you about something." Kafka took off running in the direction that Iharu pointed in before Iharu could refuse. He sighed deeply and started his way back to a journey to food-comaville; population one.

Iharu made it during a lull in orders and took his time deciding what to pig out on. He walked over to a seat at a table that was as far as he could make it from the others in the large and sparsely populated room. He managed to plow through 4 chicken kievs and a large bowl of rice with a coke before Kafka managed to walk into the lunchroom. He searched for a bit, found Iharu and started to walk to him... before deciding better and grabbed a Hamburg steak meal and then headed over.

"Well, I didn't get to tell him goodbye, but he did get to see me waving from the platform, so there's that. I feel better." Kafka sat down next to Iharu and assembled his steak to his preference.

"I'm glad." Iharu said sarcastically, "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Your attitude, actually." Kafka said, then took a big bite of smothered chopped steak. Iharu partially choked mid-sip, Quickly recovering to stare down the senior with barely concealed audacity. Kafka saw and chuckled a bit around the food in his mouth.

"Nothing serious! Saw you were looking a little down in the dumps when I talked to ya. Just wanted to check in, make sure its nothing pressing, though I'll understand if you're not open for conversation at the moment."

"What are you, a counselor?" Iharu said defiantly. Kafka put his hands up in surrender before diving back into his meal.

"Say the word and I'll leave. If its not anything Reno said, I'll leave you to your moping."

Hearing Reno's name and the implication that he might of said something caused Iharu to curl up slightly, not bothering to hide the change in expression that very much told Kafka that Reno definitely said something. The pinkette paused for a minute before responding "What makes you think he did?"

Kafka smiled a warm, knowing smile, put down his fork, and swallowed. "Because I know Reno. He is extremely chill most of the time, but sometimes he can't tell that his coolness... can unintentionally burn others. Especially when you don't tell him outright." He turned to a slumped Iharu before continuing, " He told me that you two were going to watch a movie together tonight, right? He seemed excited about it.... in his own little way."

Iharu pushed his food away from him and dug his face in his crossed arms. 'Of course Reno would tell the division's Father Figure.' In admitting defeat, Iharu sighed and turned his head to face the half kaiju man.

"It wasn't just going to be a movie. There was going to be food too. There's a food stall festival a block from the movie theater that was selling some really good smelling food and it was the last day for it to be around and I had thought maybe we could take a shortcut through that really pretty shrine afterword- the one that lights up all those paper lanterns when sunset hits- and I had planned to pay for all the food and there was going to be gifts a-a-and-" He sat up to dig up the crumpled ticket stubs from his pockets and rudely threw them on the table, "And I had even PREPAID THE TICKETS AND.....haa. I just...... I wanted a nice evening with him. I knew three hours were rushing things but it was all Hoshina could let us take today."

Kafka picked up the stubs and straighten them out with the edge of the table. "And it absolutely would of been had it not been for a sudden arrival of 5.6 mole kaijus, huh." Iharu tucked his head back into his arms.

"Yeah, fucking mole kaiju. The least they could do was let me come with, but noooo! Everyone seems to think that I'm only relevant to Reno if he's wearing his stupid super suit."

'"If it makes you feel better. Reno likes having you around inside and outside the suit. Definitely enjoys the push-n-pull thing you two have going on." Iharu haphazardly wiped his nose on his leave as he looked to Kafka again.

"Doesn't matter anymore though, does it. He's not here and there's no sense going to the theater with two tickets and only showing up by yourself." Kafka scratched his ever present 5'o-clock shadow as he contemplated for a moment.

"Could ask around. I'm pretty sure Aoi hasn't taken any hours off in a while. Or maybe Shinomiya? She might be into cowboys verses bio-mech-monsters." Iharu tilted his head up hearing Kafka describe the movie.

"You've seen Ranger Rika against the Metal Mess of South Bend?"

"Just the trailers for it. Tokusatsu style, right? Watched a bunch of those as a kid. Somehow managed to pirate a few movies onto a mp.3 player when I was younger. Got me through a lot of bunker-hunkering in my middle school years."

Iharu laughed, "An mp.3 player? God you are old. And when was sitting in a kaiju shelter called 'Bunker-hunkering'?" Kafka reached over and playfully shook the younger compatriot by his shoulders.

"MP.3S ARE NOT THAT OLD! MINE STILL WORKS AND I STILL USE IT, YOU ASSHAT!" Hearing this only caused both of them to split themselves into fits of laughter. A moment later Kafka was lightly hugging Iharu and trying (and failing) to slow his heart and breathing while Iharu was wiping away tears and giggling. The shark-toothed teen looked up at the division's adopted father figure contemplatively.

"Ya know.... why don't you come with me." Kafka looked a little taken aback at that offer.

"Really? With me? I mean, I'm not going to turn down a free movie. Just thought that you young folk would rather run around with... well, people of similar age." Iharu started laughing again.

"What, so you finally decided you're old now?"

"Well, there's no hiding the fact that I'm damn near forty." Kafka said as he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, but you're cool and forty. Which is like, guaranteed cool. And you're probably the only person here that would enjoy a movie of this explosive caliber." Iharu got up from his seat and picked up the tickets, offering one to Kafka. He smiled massively and pushed the offering had back toward Iharu.

"Hold on to them for now. I gotta talk to Hoshina about taking some hours away from base first. Tell you what, grab a bag of snacks to take in and I'll meet you by the garage."

"Bag of snacks? Ya know the theater sells them there, right?" Furuhashi said walking side by side with Hibino as they wandered back into the hallway.

"Excuse you, but I have been raised on the philosophy that you never buy theater snacks when you can sneak in your own. The theft of it all makes them taste better." Kafka winked as the two of them parted ways. "Should only take a minute or two. Text when you hit the garage!"

############################################

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN NO?" Kafka said calmly as he adopted a wide defensive stance against is superior.

"I get you can be simple some days, but even you should know what that word means." replied Soshiro Hoshina, the vice captain of the Third Division. The man carefully put down the log book that contained the recorded hours of all enlisted that each individual was allotted to spend.

"What I mean is, do you mean no as in 'You still have chores or training left', or no as in 'I can't afford to have you leave base today'." Kafka breathed slowly through his nose in irritation as he emphasized each scenario.

"No as in 'You have no hours left to spend.' You used them all." Hoshina turned the catalog to face Kafka as the burly man planted his hands on the desk. All he could do was sigh at his unforeseen short comings.

"Honestly, I wanna talk to whoever came up with the policy that cut half of our vacation days and replaced them with this 'Payable Recreational Hours' bullshit. You seriously can't fudge the rules even a little bit?"

"Trust me Kafka, I wasn't the one who opted for that either. And as Vice Captain and currently the highest ranking on base, 'Fudging the rules' as you put it, would be a terrible move and give me a soft reputation. So, no."

Kafka shrunk his appearance and pulled out his big doe eyes to aid in his pleading. "But this is important! Hoshina, please. Its not even about me, this is for Iharu's sake."

Hoshina's interest piqued exasperatedly upon hearing that. "Oh? And pray tell, what could be so pressing that you have to emergency call off three hours for?" Kafka started to sense that this was the first slip into a bad situation and immediately back peddled.

"If it helps, I guess I could get away with an hour and a half?" he shrugged.

"So what was the other two and a half hours going to be spent on?" Hoshina said, leaning back in his office chair and crossing his arms.

Kafka knew he couldn't lie to someone so close to him, especially when that person was adept at seeing through his lies specifically. "Just, uh... food and... travel?"

This isn't helped by the fact the man can't even get away with half truths in the first place. Hoshina leaned his elbows on the desk as he stared down menacingly at the resident Kaiju Man.

"Kafka. The whole truth now, and I'll let you off with janitorial duty for a week." All Kafka could do was unclench his body and accept defeat.

"Ok. Iharu had prepaid some movie tickets to a Ranger Rika film and we both felt it would be a waste not to use them and the plan had involved a food stall festival and Reno was supposed to be there-!" Upon remembering what Iharu's initial plan was, Kafka was struck with an idea. "Hey that could work."

'What" Hoshina said in a clearly vexed manner.

"Why not give me Reno's hours? They both called off right? And since he had to leave, doesn't that technically mean that there's hours left on the table?" Kafka's brilliant smile was quickly diminishing as his superior kept staring a hole through his skull.

"First off, that's rude." Hoshina said holding up a hand to count on, "Second, that's got to be a violation somewhere. And Three, even if it wasn't, I still wouldn't allow it."

"What, you want me to see if Iharu will hand both the tickets over and we both go?" Hoshina just pinched his nose bridge at that and sighed.

"No, Kafka. I'm irritated that you're trying to weasel your way into blowing off duty for street food and movie tickets."

"But they're prepaid movie tickets!" Kafka sighed. He could only hang his head in despair as he could see his impromptu plans slipping away from him. "Is there nothing that could change your mind?"

"No. Not when I'm this irritated." Hoshina said as he went back to crossing his arms.

'Irritated, huh?' Kafka rolled his partner's choice of words in his head, before coming up with a horrible idea and using it to fuel a devilish course of action.

"Well, then. I guess I'll just have to break out the big gun." Kafka whispered as he smirked. He rounded Hoshina's sturdy desk, a fact the two of them had certainly proved time and time again, and now Kafka was going to have to certify that statement one more time, it seems.

"Kafka?" Hoshina questioned as his work buddy visible stopped acting like his associate and donned his more... submissive side. Starting with turning the chair to face him, Kafka got down on his knees in front of his commanding officer and slowly slid a hand under the left pant leg to lightly tease his superior's ankle.

"Guess i'll have to help with that irritation before I leave, won't I?" Hibino said, still wearing a cocky, lopsided grin as he brought the other hand just under Hoshina's knee.

'Kafka, no." Hoshina gritted out, bringing his hands to the arm rests and firmly gripped them.

"Kafka, yes." replied the kneeling man as he kissed his secret lover's knee.

"Kafka, if you think I'm going to give you your requested hour and a half-"

"Three hours."

"You're not going to get any hours if you keep this up."

"Come on. We both know that's not true, Soshiro." Kafka said, looking up from his kiss to the knee and molding his throat into his other voice. The one where he isolates a partial transformation around his vocal cords, adding a low growl to his already bass tone. Taking extra care with using Hoshina's first name, Kafka leaned forward and caressed his cheek against the side of Soshiro's inner thigh, letting in a wicked light in behind his glossy eyes.

"We both know I get what I want if I work hard enough for it."

Kafka began to tease the inside of Soshiro's thighs, littering them with light and slow kisses. Switching back and forth between the two, inching close, but not close enough. Hoshina felt rooted to the seat, pinned down by this tormenting display. All he could do was reach over and place a hand in Kafka's surprisingly soft tufts of hair. He carded it through a little before gripping it. Not enough to hurt, but definitely attention getting. Kafka let out a hot puff of air against his commander's hip, reveling in the feeling of Soshiro's short nails digging into his tough scalp.

"Give me a good performance, and we'll discuss what I'll let you get away with." Hoshina said, mentally kicking himself for not training his pet to be on a shorter leash.

############################################

"Come onnn. Where is he?" Iharu whined, shifting one strap of the back pack off one shoulder to the other as he was on his way to Hoshina's office. "How long does it take to call off a few hours?"

Furuhashi had made it to the door of the office just in time to see Hibino walk out in an entirely different outfit than the work jumpsuit he was in earlier.

"You know, with that much work, I should get a thank you as a courtesy!" Kafka said with the biggest shit eating grin one could have on their face. This statement was quickly followed with him slamming the door closed before he could be hit with whatever Hoshina tried to throw at him. All Kafka could do in response was giggle uncontrollably before stopping in his tracks at Iharu's sudden appearance.

"When did you get here?"

"I sent you a text that I was at the garage and you didn't respond. I waited, like, 9 minutes before I wondered where you were and now I just have more questions. Like, did you change in Hoshina's office? Why was he throwing shit at you? Thank you for what?" Kafka's face got visible red as he tried to find a way to change the subject and instead, opted to grab Iharu's upper arm and drag him harshly back toward the direction the garage was in.

"Ask no questions, and I'll tell no lies. Better news, I just got us a lot more than three hours."

"Can I ask HOW?"

"Maybe later. Got the snacks?" Iharu wrenched his arm out of Kafka's grasp to slip the simple, black, mini back pack off his shoulders to show the contents to his impromptu partner for the night.

"Yeah, got some drinks too. Had to break into Kikoru locker to get a less conspicuous bag to put them in, though."

"Good idea. You know where the theater is?" Kafka said, picking up the pace a little more the closer they got to the getaway vehicles. Iharu had no problem matching his pace, but was getting increasingly worried as to why they were acting like they were in a hurry. The movie didn't start for another forty five minutes.

"Yes, its close by so I don't know whY weRE RUNNING?"

"Cause not only do I want to catch the pre-showing, we really, really should leave before Hoshina saw what I put down in the time log sheet."

"WHAT DID YOU DO?" HIbino got to the heavy security door and opened the entry to the covered garage where most members of the defense force kept their personal vehicles.

"Nothing I'm going to regret later. Here, take this." He said as Iharu walked through the door and tossed him a suspicious set of keys. Iharu caught them and examined them quickly.

"Are these... Hoshina's keys? The one to his supercharged bike? You know I have my own bike, right?"

"Yeah, but when you think about it, his bike's bigger and I can't drive one, so I'm going to have to ride pillion. And trust me, you're going to want that extra bit of room."

As the two of them jogged to the Vice Captain's super bike, all Iharu could think that this wasn't going to be a simple movie night anymore.

###########################################

The two of them had made it into the theater with plenty of time to spare and minimal suspicion. They turned in their stubs and walked inside the air conditioned room that was showing the Ranger Rika film. There, Kafka was met with a surprise.

"Holy shit! You prepaid seats to a show that had in-house recliners?" Kafka walked by in awe and they made their way to one of the seats closer to the front. "Surprised you didn't pick seats closer to the back. Kinda bougie place to bring 'just a friend' don't ya think?" Kafka winked at Iharu as they settled down into their reserved seats.

"I don't ever want to hear the word bougie out of your mouth ever again. And I felt like paying extra for the reclining seats, that ok with you?" Iharu said defensively.

"Fine, fine. Just wondering why you felt the need to score brownie points with Reno, is all. He'd be happy just getting off base with you, being an easy guy like that." Kafka started to root around in Iharu's stolen bag for the drinks he mentioned earlier.

"This isn't point scoring! I just... I wanted to- what I'm trying to say is... give me that." The furious looking teen grabbed the glass coke bottle out of the older man's offering hand. Kafka looked on warmly at Iharu, piecing together some dots in his head. Not enough to make a solid conclusion, but his previous levels of mopiness started to make sense. Hibino brought the sealed bottle to his mouth and cracked the metal pop top off with his teeth.

"You know that they make these twist off now, right? That has to fuck up your teeth something awful." Iharu stated as he began to twist off his own bottle before the movie really started. At least he was trying to, and apparently failing miserably due to the sharp edges on the bottle cap digging into his hands uncomfortably. Kafka took the bottle from his hands and proceeded to open the bottle like he did before and handed it back.

"Again, I am not that old. Don't ruin my one piece of happiness in my life."

"Opening bottles... with your teeth?" Iharu replied, pushing the button that reclined the seat back and brought the foot rest up.

"Old habit from childhood that I've managed to keep because Monster Sweepers has a surprisingly great dental plan. Now hush, previews are starting." Kafka said as the lights began to dim in the room.

############################################

"Holy shit! That movie was amazing!" Iharu said as they left the theater doors and landed on the sidewalk.

"Yeah, that was a great movie. Was a lot more emotional then I was expecting." Kafka mentioned as he squatted low and stretched a leg out to the side.

"You weren't kidding! That plot twist that Missy Whisky was a plant based robo-zoid horse and the scene where she was dying and her body fueled a new oasis got me actually crying! I never cry!" Kafka could only look up at Iharu incredulously, knowing that the younger soldier cried at anything involving animals; sometimes even about Kaijus.

"I think my favorite shot of the whole thing was at the end when Ranger Rika was in a lawn chair with a beer, sitting in that new oasis and we get to see that Missy Whisky was ok, she was just a metal skeleton now." Kafka said as he stood back up and stretched his back.

"Yeah, he deserved that beer, honestly. My favorite scene was when Rika had to jerry rig a new leg and ended up making that burst shot rocket leg. When I heard Golem explain the concept, I thought it sounded so stupid! Whats the point in putting a rocket in your leg if it can only fire off in short burst? Then it trails into the scene in the canyon where he has to fight the Centa-Snake and he was keeping up on foot! Certified Ultimate Badass moment this year!" Iharu started to walk away, following the flow of the crowd so as to not interrupt it too much. Spurring Kafka to hurry up and follow him as well. The two of them walked far enough down the street to where they could walk side by side more comfortably.

As they walked farther away from the theater, it became clear that Iharu was still basking in the warm afterglow of a good memory made. He was still chattering about all the details of the movie, even going into the depths of character analysis and how it showed through in the clothing the characters were wearing. It was very clear he was dying to watch this someone as his mouth seemed to be going a mile a minute with no signs of stopping. Kafka kept up as best he could with the conversation, adding what he could to the conversation. If he was being honest though, he didn't really see as much in the movie as Iharu apparently did. It seemed Iharu noticed as well as he started to slow down his talking speed, becoming more quiet as they went along.

"You good?" Kafka said, noticing the small, slight drop in demeanor.

"Yeah, Im...I'll be fine. I think. I got to see the movie today, which is what I wanted." Iharu stated, visible not looking as fine as he tried to say he was. It was clear to Kafka that it wasn't the possibility that Iharu might of not watched the movie that got him feeling down. I seemed that he still couldn't get Reno not being here off his mind. Kafka felt it was a bit early to press the matter, seeing they got out of a good movie and didn't feel like spoiling the once good mood with questions, so he decided to try and redirect Iharu's train of thought to something more pressing.

"We are walking in the right direction for the festival, right?" Iharu looked up at the older man, redirection of thoughts successful.

"Oh yeah, Food! That was a thing wasn't it? Uhhh...." Iharu said, stopping to process their current location. "Yeah, one more block and a right and we should be there."

"I remember that you said you found it because you... smelled it?" Kafka said quizzically.

"Oh, yeah. There was an attack early last week two streets down and I wanted to stop by when I smelled it. Couldn't though, had to check for yoju then head back to base for a report. Couldn't leave for a week and started feeling desperate. It smells really good-!" Iharu stopped dead in his tracks, looking straight across the street.

"What? Is everything Ok?" Kafka said, looking around before landing his eyes at whatever Iharu was looking at. Across the street, in a store window, sat a rack holding a cluster of very unusual looking hats.

"Cowboy hats. Can you believe it?" Iharu said, looking absolutely puzzled as to why they were there. Taking a longer look, the window belonged to what appeared to be a restaurant dedicated to American cuisine. Specifically western style - steaks and big burgers. it looked like the restaurant had conjoined with a kitschy souvenir store. Kafka thought hard for a minute before turning back to Iharu.

"You wanna?" Kafka asked, jabbing a thumb to the store front. Furuhashi looked back with a clearly confused look. "Come on, we just got out of a Cowboy movie. Isn't it customary to get a least one in honor of a good movie?" Kafka playfully punched Iharu in the shoulder as Iharu just shook his head before he responded.

"I have never heard that ever, and I'm a fan of all the Ranger Rika films."

"All I'm hearing is you've got some hat buying to catch up on." Kafka said, committing an act of jaywalking to drag his new friend over to the store.

"We don't need to buy a cowboy hat!" Iharu protested as they hit the sidewalk.

"Fine. Then I'm getting one without you." Kafka retaliated, hand on the store handle.

"OH, no. If I leave you alone in here, you're going to buy me one in a stupid color. Like blue or green." Iharu said, walking into the store before Kafka.

"But I thought you said you didn't want one?" the Half-Kaiju said, throwing a pointed smirk at Iharu.

"I just said I don't trust you, therefore I have to buy one to make sure you don't buy one for me." the pinkette said defiently, studying the hats on the rack. Kafka just chuckled quietly behind him and soon joined him at the rack too, but not before ordering a side of steak fries to go.

Minutes later, the two of them left the store with hats and fries in hand. Kafka bought a black one with a braided rawhide band threaded with turquoise beads and Iharu's was a simple white stetson.

"Kinda surprised you didn't get the pink one." Kafka said, placing his hat on his head.

"I thought about it, but I mean... pink on pink? It might be a bit much." Iharu said, gesturing to his hair. "That and I thought that white hats just looked cooler anyway."

"This decision totally isn't related to Ranger Rika and his outfit design at all, right?" Kafka said, dripping with sarcasm and Iharu fiddled with the chin strap on the stetson.

"Pfft, Of course not! Why would you say such a thing?" Iharu said through a choked chuckle as his ears got a noticeable shade pinker.

###########################################

Short walk later, they had made it to the start of the street where the festival was held. Both sides of a seemingly endless boulevard was lined with lanterns, ramshackle food stalls, and carnival games. The lights gave the whole street the warmest inviting glow that paired with the slowly setting sun and the scent from the cooking food made the entrance all the more enticing. Adding on the visual ebb and flow of the crowd flittering between the brightly advertised stalls truly made the scene before them come alive. All that was needed to become one with the crowd was as simple as stepping inside and it would feel like a whole different reality. Before the duo could, Kafka decided to take a look at the parked sign at the beginning of the boulevard.

"Hey, did you know about this?" Kafka pointed at the sign.

"No. What's it say?"

"It says that the food festival is in collaboration with the local bars on this street. Beer and cocktails are half off." Iharu whistled approvingly at the news.

"God, a beer sound wonderful right now. Haven't had any since Hoshina trashed my stash in the vent." Kafka said, groaning at the distant textural memory of the cool, aggressive liquid sliding down his throat.

"I don't know man. We still gotta head back to work in a couple of hours. Getting drunk tonight that worth it?" Iharu questioned. Kafka choked on his own spit in a suspicious manner for a minute at hearing how long they had left on the outside.

"Speaking of which..." Furuhashi began to eye the old man intensely now, "How many hours did you get out of Vice-Cap?" Kafka made an attempt to clear his throat before answering.

"Yeah, about that...I, uhhh...didn't have any hours left."

"HIBINO."

"Honestly, the whole payable hours thing sounds stupid anyway so when Hoshina wasn't looking I... wrote in our own hours?" Kafka shrugged at a very red Iharu.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'OUR'? HOW MANY?"

"Three... hundred and thirty six." Kafka said quietly. When Iharu didn't respond back, Kafka felt the need to explain himself.

"I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE FUNNY! 336 hours equal out to two weeks so I thought it be like an 'I'm quitting' joke. Ya'know, in retaliation of the stupid new hours rule? Vice Captain wasn't giving me any wiggle room here and you said you were coming to a food festival with Reno and two hours for a food festival is not a lot of time, especially if you want to do it right, and now there's possible booze involved which is another two on top of that and I just think that only getting three hours to spend away from base isn't a lot of time and you really looked disappointed at not being able to go- albeit the original plan involved Reno- but I mean we're here now and..."

Kafka could only sigh at his now clearly flawed line of thought as Iharu put his face in his hands. One one hand, Iharu agreed with him. Three hours wasn't a lot of time and he also hated the new hours ruling. But that short amount of time would of been worth it because he would of been with Reno. But now... Reno wasn't here. He was with Kakfa, a close member of the team that was trying his best to look out for him and cheer him up in light of the disastrous change in his plans. Iharu was here now, without Reno, and was still enjoying himself despite himself. The whole reason for coming was because of Reno, but here he was anyway; feeling guilty because he was having fun without Reno, knowing this was to be for him. Iharu wasn't really angry about the hours that Kafka had managed to cheat out of Vice-Cap. He knew he was going to pay for them as soon as Kafka got involved on this little outing. It just didn't feel right, him about to be having fun with someone who wasn't supposed to be here.

Kafka clasped a gentile hand of Iharu's shoulder.

"Hey. If you're not comfortable with this, we can just grab one or two things and head back early. You can tell him about the prepaid tickets and bring him back a snack. I'm sure he'd appreciate it after fighting in the mountains all afternoon." The older man smiled comfortably down at the distressed teen.

There he went again. The Dad of Division Three. He really knew just how others felt sometimes. Just when it didn't conflict with the mans's own feelings, that is. Kafka could tell that he was stressed about staying here too long and having fun without the one he wanted to be here with, so now he's trying to accommodate by telling him they could leave and bring back a gift that Reno couldn't help but like. Iharu wanted to come here with Reno... but he was here with Kafka. The happiest, most understanding, and most uplifting person to be around. Especially when you're upset, just like he is right now. And you know what, Kafka is here. With him. Right now. He got Iharu to the movies and spared him a day of sulking around the barracks getting fat and feeling sorry for himself. And that should be rewarded.

"You know what? Fuck it. I'm game." Furuhashi said, dropping his hands from his face.

"About what?"

"Getting drunk. I was going to stuff my face with cafeteria food earlier, and now I get to stuff my face with fried street food and alcohol. Honestly? Upgrade."

"Wait a minute? Are you sure about this? I mean, its not like those hours actually count or anything." Kafka said, reeling slightly from Iharu's change in demeanor.

"Hey man, you're the one who wrote in two weeks of hours, and I'm going to use them. Unless someone from base comes down here and carries my plastered ass off the sidewalk, I don't plan on leaving. Besides, didn't you say there's a right way to food festival? Maybe I'd like to know the secret too. Ya' know, for next time." Iharu stared into the sunset over the festival, feeling empowered about his newfound dereliction of duty.

He was upset. About the time constraints, about a lack of Reno in his presence, about not being able to tell him how he felt in a way he had been planning for about a week now, and about a dozen other minor things that had gotten under his skin recently.

None of that matters now. He was here. In good company. And with access to cheap booze. And may the Gods themselves strike him down now, because he wasn't going to let this opportunity go to waste.

Kafka approved this new feeling welling up inside new drinking buddy and sealed the deal by lifting Iharu's hat off his back where it was hanging and placed it on his head. Making his voice gravely and southern, Kafka quoted a line from the movie.

"So... You finally decided to take charge of your own fortune, aye Rika?" Feeling the new weight on his head, Iharu turned to look up at Kafka and saw the brightest, toothiest, most genuine grin he thought that man could fit on his face. Iharu's eyes started to gather tears in accepted pride, but he blinked them away harshly and looked back at Kafka, matching his Kaiju smile with an aggressively mischievous one of his own.

"First things first. Nearest 7/11 location." Kafka said, turning toward the closest convenience store he could see.

"O-Ok? Why?" Iharu questioned, but followed Kafka's lead anyway.

"They carry this wonderful little drink that prevents hangovers. Fantastic shit, truly. Take it from a guy who use to party with a group of people who went on pub crawls every time someone had a birthday, hangovers do not need to be experienced more than necessary." Iharu's eyes lit up at hearing this.

"oh man! You have to have some crazy stories from your college days."

"College? You seriously think I had the attention span to make it in that kind of setting? This was from working in Monster Sweepers. Let me tell you, Tokuda; guy I used to work with, couldn't let go of a scotch bottle to save his life. Which is funny because having one on him is what saved another guy I worked with..."

#########################################

"And that's how my second boss ended up eating his own ring finger, wedding band and all." Kafka said as Iharu finished up the last of a batch of heavily sauced, fried chili shrimp.

"Damn, I didn't know you guys caught so many strays on the job site. Ya'll really need a security detail while you're working or something."

"Yeah, it can get to be a bit much some days. I actually proposed a deal to Haruichi that asked if his dad's company could come up with some Kaiju-fiber t-shirts or arm sleeves. Just *burp* something cheap they could throw together from scraps to help out my old buddies on the job site. Just a little protection or a way to finish the job faster so we're not working so long."

Kafka finished up a can of beer as Iharu checked a notification on his phone. They were leaning against the base of one of the few stone building that were on the street. The two of them had already hit up several food stalls and three bars in between. Currently they were standing off to the right of an ally that led to the last one they were in, having left to get some fresh air.

"Don't see a reason why they couldn't? It's more money for them, isn't it? Hey! it finally downloaded." Iharu said, propping up his phone on a jutted window ledge.

"What did?"

"I downloaded that song that played during the saloon walkabout scene. I thought we could maybe make a TokTic with it." Kafka tossed his empty into a trash can before turning to Iharu.

"TokTic? Oh! Those short video things. Shinomiya is always sending me those. Her attempt to 'Keep me from falling back to the Stone Age'. Prissy brat. Love her! Just... so damn rude some days."

"Well, now here's your chance to show her that you can be relevant." Iharu chuckled, "Alright, here's what I was thinking."

Iharu began to lead Kafka through some easy dance steps and dictated which pattern this was supposed to happen. They ran through the process a few times so Kafka was sure he could do it, even though Iharu reassured him that it doesn't have to be perfect. Iharu pressed record and they started doing a intensely cowboy inspired, feet shuffling based choreography to 'No Diggity' by Blackstreet with their new hats on full display.

They wrapped it up with them moonwalking off screen. Furuhashi then quickly ran back to grab the phone. They ducked back into the ally to get out of the way of the rippling crowd as the phone's owner began messing with the video's settings and cropped the beginning and end to make it feel cleaner. Hibino whistled as he looked over Iharu's shoulder as his fingers flew over the screen with what seemed to be practiced efficiency.

"You've made a few of these?" Kafka asked.

"Yeah.", Iharu said sheepishly, "I had this account back when I was in Subjugation School. It kinda started as something I messed with in my down time between classes, making edits of shows and movies I was really into at the time, and then it just sorta turned into a daily routine showcase-turned-ask blog. Soon after it started to pick up followers, especially after I got to join Division Three." He began to show one of his latest edits that he made to Kafka.

"Wow! I have to admit, but the editing seems really smooth. I can see a lot of thought went into this." Kafka said as he took a brief overview of the collection that Iharu had made over the years. Furuhashi looked away bashfully as his face turned as pink as his hair.

"It really is just a hobby at this point. Most of my followers seem to just enjoy the daily blog stuff more. But, to be honest, I always told myself that if, for some reason, I didn't make it in the Defense Force I... might have pursued a career as a film director." Kafka slung his arm over Iharu's shoulder and drew him in close.

"Now that, I would have definitely paid... to... see." He stepped back to look at his surroundings, taking in the view of the ebbing crowd and sensing a disturbing lack of panic and chaos. But... why would there be? There was nothing to be afraid.... oh.

Oh Shit. There it was.

Kafka got a familiar sinking feeling deep in his gut. Like a cold wave of heavy mist and dry ice was dropped into his stomach. He started whipping his head around, trying to see if he could place the direction in which the dangerous disturbance could be coming from.

"Iharu! Eyes up! Trouble incoming." The teen flashed a worried look toward Kafka as he hurriedly put his phone away.

"Kaiju attack? Here?"

"Yeah, a honju. Small one though, it feels like. To close for comfort, though. Get the alert out!" Kafka ran to one of the food stalls next to them and grabbed a megaphone out of a hawker's hands

"EVERYONE! IMMINENT KAIJU ATTACK! START HEADING TO THE SHELTERS!"

Some people started to gather up their stuff while others only looked on in disbelief, thinking he was some drunk prankster, until a small earthquake rattled the street and stalls. Everyone began to feel the threat approaching with the sound of distant buildings crashing over the sudden wailing of the alert system through speakers and phones alike. The people started sprinting toward the nearest shelter, with Kafka and Iharu helping the stragglers and the fallen catch up to the rest. Once it seemed like a majority had made it off this particular street and others, too scared shitless to move, had been relegated to closer, save enough zones like basements and reinforced closets, did Kafka start running toward the source of the disaster. Iharu, not far behind, ran after him.

"Sir! Do you think we should be heading toward this? Its not like we could be of much help without gear."

"Kinda figured we'd look at it and go from there? Least I could do is break it down visually and have you relay the information." Kafka started to summon some of his Kaiju bio-works through his system, calling forth faster speed and inhuman claws, and used them to get to higher elevation. As the cryptid soldier began to race across rooftops, Iharu mentally broke down the things that he could help with, starting with field reconnaissance and path prediction.

##########################################

Even without the suit, Iharu was keeping up with with a supped-up Kafka. It helped that he was trying to gain more height than speed to better survey the land and find the cause of danger. Once he found a sign of the monstrous disturbance, Kafka began giving directionals down to Iharu. As the man on the ground, he took it upon himself to keep track how they were moving between the three of them, figured a possible heading, and started to send directions back to Kafka in an attempt to head whatever this was off at a pass. So far, they hadn't hit any major damaged areas yet, so Iharu wasn't too focused on checking for possible trapped survivors.

Thanks to Kafka's sight and Iharu's planning, the two of them had made it to the location of the honju. Bursting through a broken and slanted ally way, Iharu had caught sight of the beast first. It was cephalopod based, resembling a mix between a squid or an octopus, crossed with an armored spider. Its' head was blue and bulbous, with a thin, wide, white ribbon running the diameter of its rounded top. It had four darker blue tentacles, each ending in a triangular nub covered in wicked spiked suckers, and another eight acting as its legs. All of them covered in what looked like black, striped,and jointed keratin plating and all of them ending in squishy tarantula paws. It was big, about a family-of-four house sized, tall as well as wide, and it was pissed.

"You don't think it smelled all the fried seafood and wanted revenge, do you think?" Kafka leaped down from a shattered rooftop and landed close to Iharu. The younger one grabbed the senior's wrist and dragged them both behind some cover before the honju saw them.

"Well, you said you wanted to break it down. Now's your chance." Iharu hissed quietly.

The aquatic beast lumbered forward, bellowing a watery warble as it bashed its tentacles against the building to its left. Kafka braced his back against the large piece of broken wall and shimmied upwards slowly in an attempt to gain a better look without breaking cover. He began to mentally run through a back catalog of information about Honju and Yoju, both from personal experience and from research on his down time, and came up with very little. But what he did come up with could still be very useful.

"Ok, here's the deal. Both Honju and Yoju can have aquatic forms and when they do, they stick unusually close to the original anatomy of their more normal counterparts."

"And how is that helpful?" Iharu whispered harshly as he stayed close to the ground in a crouched position.

"I'm getting there, hold on. From what it looks like, this bastard is sticking pretty close to something from the squid family. Which means it would be a safe bet that its core is somewhere close to the surface of the body, situated around the junction between the trunk and its head, and under a thick backbone made of cartilage."

"Alright, i'll tell everyone to aim for the.... neck I guess?" Iharu began to pull out his phone, but Kafka shooed it down to dismiss the idea.

"Here's the thing. You can actually kill a normal squid really easily by hitting it right at that junction. And I mean like one hard smack kinda deal." Kafka slid down the cover to better demonstrate with his hands to his partner.

"Yes, this has been established." Iharu sounded exasperated, almost desperate too as the beast trudged on by.

"I have a really bad idea." Kafka looked Iharu dead in the eyes with as much seriousness as he could. All Iharu could do was send a look of disbelief right back.

"Whatever it is, no."

"Ok, but if I'm right, the Defense force doesn't even need to show up because we'll be done already."

"HOW, may I ask? We don't even have any weapons." Iharu was becoming flabbergasted now, slowly debating to stop bothering with discrepancy.

"Ah, but you forget, I'm a living weapon. I don't even need a full transformation. Just make sure it doesn't turn around for a second while I grab a lamp post and get to higher ground." Iharu just groaned into his hands while Kafka turned and ran to find a suitable post, preferably one already uprooted.

Minutes later, Kafka had managed to fine a suitable improvised weapon to attack with and was trying his best to lug it over quietly. Iharu was still hiding behind the original piece of cover, watching his battle buddy struggle while keeping an eye on the yoju, making sure it hadn't been alerted to Kafka's presence. Kafka was on the other side of the street, opposite to Iharu's position and had much more cover to work with since that was the side the monster seemed to be taking its aggression out on. However, this came with its own set of problems as Kafka kept knocking the lamp post on what seemed to be every obstacle imaginable. Causing Iharu to flinch and indirectly slowing the beasts progression as it kept picking up on Kafka's poor attempt at stealth. After Kafka had managed to bang the bottom of the post against an unseen rock and cause the honju to turn around and face his general direction, it became clear to him that if he was to scale a building and get closer, some preventative measures were going to have to take place.

After waiting for the monster to turn back around, Kafka started to wave his arms around to get a hold of Iharu's attention.

'Go distract' Kafka tried to pantomime using military hand gestures.

'Me distract?' Iharu responded back, to which Kafka affirmed

'Are you nuts?' Iharu sent back, ducking as a chunk of debris flew over his head.

'Just throw a brick or something.' Kafka sent before picking up the post and tried to quietly lean it on the nearest building. Iharu hung his head at the absurd situation and looked around for a suitable rock.

Speedily crouch walking past several broken walls and roof pieces, he had managed to get back in front of the honju's path. Looking back, Kafka had transformed his hands back into claws and was now trying to climb the side of a building while alternating bringing the pole up with him. He seemed to be doing fine so far, trying his best not to make more noise than he could get away with. Kafka had made it to a metal fire escape landing that was miraculously still attached to a partially demolished building. He leaned over to pull up the light post behind him... and smacked the top of it into the landing above.

Before the monster had time to react to Kafka's blunder, Iharu had thrown the rock as hard as he could, aiming for it to land in front of its face and keeping its attention forward. This would of worked had Iharu had picked a smaller or lighter rock, as it had flown straight into one of the beast's wiggling tentacles. Iharu didn't have time to duck behind cover as it had turned to face the source of bodily harm. The honju roared as it raised its front arms and tentacles in defiance and began to lumber quickly toward the only thing it could really see, a mop of alarmingly pink hair.

"Shit, shIT, SHHHHIIIIIIIIIITTTTTT!" Iharu bolted down the street, leaping and bounding over ruble in his path as the squishy, blue beast rapidly shuffled behind him giving chase. Kafka vocally mirrored the pink human rocket's sentiment as he rushed to carry the light pole up to the remains of the roof.

The buildings around Furuhashi turned into a blended blur as he blasted down the street, the journey made easier now that he hit a section that the honju hadn't demolished yet and left no obstacles to jump around. However, that didn't mean that he didn't have an easy time running away. With every footstep the multi-limbed monster made, sent the road trembling, forcing Iharu to find some sea legs fast. While it seemed to be a constant fact that spider based kaiju were slow enough to be outrun by anyone able-bodied, The shaking this one was creating gave Iharu a feeling that one misstep, one slight falter in his adrenaline fueled gait, could spell a messy end for him.

As he came onto a three-way, he juked the literal fish-out-of-water and whipped right, feet sliding out from under him. Iharu had to recover quickly as the squid-spider had regained it's footing as well and picked up its pace. Tentacles slammed and swiped all around him, causing the younger soldier to duck and weave intensely and dug deep inside of himself to find the strength to go faster.

A simple image. A snow blonde man with frosted violet eyes. Once facing a complimentary sunset, turned back to face Iharu in his mind's eye.

That's all it took for him. Not thinking too much about it (surely if he did, he would call himself out on his patheticness) Iharu managed to speed up just in time. He found himself passing under a familiar Torii gate just as the honju began to bring down a weighty tentacle. Before it could though, a squelchy crunch sound echoed down the food stalls lined boulevard him and Kafka were on earlier. Iharu kept going until he noticed the lack of quaking that was accompanying his previous flight for his life. Slowing down cautiously, he turned around to gawk at the scene that had unfolded behind him

Just passing under the Torii gate was the unnatural squid like beast, now limp and an opaque, milky color. Stood on top of the bulbous trunk in a victorious killing pose was Kafka, having hammered the concreted base of the lamppost square over its one-shot kill spot. Kafka let go of the post once it seemed sure that the monstrous cephalopod wasn't going to move anymore and stood up and relaxed. He flashed Iharu a thumbs up in reassurance.

Iharu was far from reassured and was shaking from the head to toe in adrenaline withdrawal. He took a second to catch his breath and immediately regretted it, running over to an uncovered trash can and vomited his stomach contents from the nerves.

#########################################

Several back rubs, gurgled curses, and vehement apologies later, Iharu felt okay enough to walk again. Kafka took a second to extend his kaiju sensory powers to check the immediate area for more threats while Iharu double checked him with research from his phone. Certain they had eliminated the only threat that had decided to make its presence known, the two discussed their next course of action. Seeing that the damage had been localized to a different part of town and how none of it had really reached the festival, they decided to see if they could encourage those that were still around to start the food stalls back up. To be honest, the decision was made from a mutual understanding that if it didn't, the two of them would have no choice but to head back to headquarters. Which felt like admitting defeat too early, seeing as they had wanted to stay out as long as they wished tonight, damn the consequences.

The two split up and went around to the surrounding buildings and encouraged the caged civilians inside that it was safe now. Once told that it was some off duty members of the Defence Force, those inside started to walk out and braced themselves for the possible damage that wasn't there. Some of the bartenders of the local bars that hadn't left in the evacuation started a one time only deal of giving everyone that had stayed a round on the house. Once it seemed that the neighborhood's basements and closets were emptied, Kafka and Iharu met in the center of the street.

"I got everyone on the left." Kafka started.

"And I got everyone on the right. Going to head to the shelter where everyone headed to and see about bypassing the lock on it to get everyone out. You coming?" Iharu said, already turning to leave.

"Nah, I'm gonna stay here and see what I can do about the squid at the gate. Get it out of here before it gets rank." Iharu managed two thumbs up as he briskly jogged away to the rescue.

A large crowd had begun to form around the fishy corpse under the gate. Kafka could make out some of the hushed phrases as he politely muscled his way through.

"Can't believe it had gotten so close."

"There doesn't seem to be any casualties so far?"

"We were lucky that some members of the third division were here tonight."

"Its almost seems like the gods were looking out for the festival, don't ya think?"

"The spirits must have considered the food too good to waste- excuse me, coming through! Make way, if you don't mind." Kafka began to move more easily through the crowd after making his presence known.

Getting to the front, he stood proud and took a long look at the situation before him. His past experience in the Sweepers began to flow easily into his mind as he walked around and over the dead beast. It was soft and squishy, with a tough skin. Not so tough that it probably couldn't be pierced by a good knife, he thought. The keratin plates were only held on with a thin sheet of tendon and looked like it could be filleted or pried off with little difficulty. The legs seemed closer to a crab than a spider at a closer glance, it just had an extra set. Breaking the crab legs would be challenging, however. Sure they could be cracked, but only after heated drastically and directly at the joints. Kafka leaned back and sighed. He knew he wasn't going to be the one cleaning this up, but he'd hate to have the whole squad out here for what could be a three person job.

Well, three if they had five hours. The more people, the less time of course. This one just so happened to be simple to break down, however. Give him ten minutes and he could teach everything that was important to the crowd in front of him. They could probably have this all dismantled before the Sweepers even got out of bed.

"Hey! You're with the Defense force, right? How long do you think it would take to get this out of here?" A portly man in a tan canvas apron shouted up at Kafka. The half kaiju man slid down the deceased squid beast so he could talk to the man in an appropriate manner.

"Well the thing's dead, so that parts' already done. Getting the body out of here is down to the Sweepers. I used to work with them, so I can just call a few of them up and we can get this dismantled and out of here soon. It's all a shame though."

"What make you say that?" A taller man behind the chunky one piped up.

"Well, for one, if the JAKDF finds out I'm here, I'm gonna have to get back on duty sooner than I'd like." This caused a slight chuckle from the neighboring crowd that heard him, causing some to relax slightly.

"And this is me saying from previous experience, the dismantling for this thing would be easy; it's just labor intensive. Wouldn't need fancy tools or anything. Just some willing hands, and I'd hate to bring out a whole ten piece crew for something this small. I don't even think Izumo really messes with squid types anyway. Not unless they exhibit some unnatural power so this would end up getting tossed in a trash heap in the end." The short man from earlier turned to look at the milky squid spider and shook his head in sympathy.

"Damn shame they aren't edible, huh?" A light bulb went off in Kafka's head as he turned to look at the man. Looking down, he saw that, in the pockets of the man's apron, was a handful of toothpicks and a couple sets of sharp metal chopsticks with bells attached to the ends of the wooded handles. Instruments designed to get people attention when someone made takoyaki.

"Actually.... most aquatic type kaiju are."

Half an hour later, Iharu lead the throng of people that had made it to the shelter back to the street and saw the most ridiculous sight. People had swarmed the dead honju, a third of it now seemed to be missing. Some had rigged a makeshift pulley system over the Torri gate and was lifting large chunks of milky, spotted flesh up and away from the rest of the body. Kafka was at the base, directing others on how to properly separate the armored plates from the legs while somebody on the other side was using a cutting torch and passed off the legs to another group that was putting them in a steaming metal barrel. Some had set their respective stalls back up and had hurriedly changed or added on new parts to their signs, all now advertising a kaiju variant of wherever fried food they were selling before.

"KAFKA! Mind telling me what's going on?" Iharu shouted over the sound of intense manual labor. Kafka looked at everyone and asked if they understood. When everyone nodded yes, Kafka broke away and joined Iharu.

"Funny thing, actually. I was talking to this guy in the crowd about the labor and how it would be a waste if we got the Sweepers involved. He said something about 'Shame it ain't edible' and it made me remember that some sea-bearing ones are and the guy I was talking too ran the giant takoyaki stand, the one where they're as big as your head, and the guy behind him was selling calamari rings and-"

"So you thought it would be a good idea to teach everyone here how to dismantle a kaiju? You don't seriously expect people to eat that, right? It's kaiju meat, how are you so sure it doesn't have parasites or something?"

"Oh! Already solved that problem." Kafka said, "Quick vinegar bath. Kills the sturdier ones and the heat kills the rest." Iharu looked past Kafka suspiciously and stared at the group of volunteers working away at the dead and, apparently edible, body.

"And where's the organs and shit going, might I ask?"

"Called an old work buddy that has a truck. He's going to be here in an hour to pick up the double bagged trash bags and throw them over the fence at work. He's getting paid in fried food when he gets here." Kafka mentioned, sounding proud of himself. Iharu just shrugged it off, thinking that it sounded like Kafka-appropriate levels of absurdity and that he shouldn't complain too much about it. After all, this removes any and all reason for the third Division to come down here. No chaos, no bodies, no trouble. Which meant that they didn't have to explain to co-workers why they weren't back yet and be forcefully dragged back against their will, so wins all-around honestly.

The squat man from earlier walked over to where the two were talking, carrying two white and unmarked carryout boxes the size of a soccer ball.

"Here, you killed the damn thing. You get first dibs on the spoils." he handed them over and jogged back to his station, now flooded with a line of people wanting to try kaiju squid takoyaki.

The off duty officers looked at each other briefly before rapidly tearing open the top of the box, revealing the most wondrous sight and smell. Inside was a massive takoyaki ball, fried with a variety of fillings, more than just onions and corn and slathered in eel sauce and kewpie mayo, topped with bonito flakes.

'Maybe it was worth almost getting smashed into a pancake.' Iharu thought before diving into the free meal.

########################################

'Cleared the surrounding area of potential causalities in quadrant Charlie, found none. Path of destruction heads east. Permission to follow?" Aoi Kaguragi, a member of the Third Division, relayed the pertinent information through his ear piece, awaiting further instruction.

"Message received, free to follow Kaguragi. Take care." Okonogi relayed back.

Aoi nodded over to his partner for tonight, Haruichi, and the two of them headed in the direction of the chaotic path of broken rubble. The two of them, as well as a small crew had been sent out to examine the emergence site of the recently exposed kaiju. The team was originally sent out to fight the disturbance, but halfway through suiting up, was almost called off due to the honju signature suddenly disappearing. Vice Captain Hoshina had the last say however, and made the crew go out anyway. Saying at the very least they should check for injured and make a damage report. He didn't say this specifically, but the impression was given that, since they were all the way out there, someone might as well find out why the signature disappeared in the first place. Aoi and Haruichi got done first, so they went to find the answers.

Following the cracked pavement lead them to a three-way intersection that had clearly sustained some bludgeoning damage as indicated by the mid-sized honju-like dent in the buildings in front of them. They turned to the right and continued to follow the rows of spider cracks that had imprinted onto the houses and streets, only to have their concentration broken by a passing truck clearly overladen with bulging, lumpy, stained trash bags.

"Was that a giant squid backbone?" Haruichi questioned.

"I'm surprised you know what one looks like." Aoi stated, not letting small things distract him from following the path of structural chaos that led down the street.

"You do know that I go fishing with my cousins on occasion. 'Cook what you catch' kind of vacations."

"What, on your overpriced yacht?" Aoi smirked as he couldn't resist adding a touch of teasing in his voice. Haruichi could come across as so mild mannered some days, it made it hard to picture him as a son of a business tech tycoon. Everyone on the base that knew him would occasionally tease him about it and it seemed that, as polite and agreeable as Aoi was in person, even he wasn't above the periodic ribbing-of-the-rich.

"It's a moderately sized deck boat, thank you very much. If I kick out the family, it should be big enough for the two of us to have some fun. If you're interested, that is?" Haruichi said, words dusted with seduction as he winked at Aoi. Kaguragi's lips thinned in an attempt to not break his resting bitch face at the salacious suggestion.

"Then again, that implies either of us get enough time off to go anywhere these days." Haruichi huffed. Aoi quietly grumbled in agreement before he straightened his attention to the sight down the street.

As the two crested the small hill, the sounds of the festival became more apparent and the smells of the food crashed down on them like a tidal wave of spices and fried oil. They noticed that the damage they had been following seemed to have stopped here suddenly, directly under the Torri gate still covered in ropes. A couple of people on ladders were carefully taking them down and a pair of women, one young and one old, were on their knees scrubbing away at what looked like a large blue ink stain.

"Hello! Sorry to bother you, but have either of you seen a medium sized honju pass through here? We're with the Defense Force and we would like to make sure that the threat isn't still around."

"The big squid spider lookin' thing?" the younger lady of the two said as she looked up.

"I would assume so, we didn't know what it looked like since it seemed to disappear so quickly. My partner and I followed its tracks here, but they don't appear to be anywhere else." Haruicho adjusted the kevlar strap attached to his gun so it would sit squarely on his back and kneeled down to talk to the women face to face.

"A couple of off duty members of yours already took care of it. It was sitting here, spilling its blood on the sidewalk until the big, polite looking oaf got the bright idea to tell Aki that it was edible. Once that got passed around, some of the other seafood fryers wanted to get in on its dismantling and get their own pound of flesh to fry. If ya want to try it, better hurry. It's selling out fast." The old woman pointed to the stalls behind her just as some of them had walked out to write on their respective signs detailing about how they were almost sold out of fried or battered kaiju meat.

Izumo looked back to his partner and could almost see the drool cascading from Kaguragi's open mouth. Aoi looked down at him, hoping that he wasn't going to have to defy a direct order that didn't allow him to get in line. Haruichi dismissed him wordlessly with a hand wave, not that it mattered as Aoi had already left and now it seemed he was trying to use his Defense Force title to skip ahead in line. Sighing at his partner's antics, Haruichi returned to his conversation.

"You mentioned a 'polite looking oaf', and from that description, I have a feeling I might know who you're talking about. Would you mind telling me where the festival savior headed off to?"

"Last I saw, him and his pink haired friend went to celebrate in one of the bars around here. There's several, mind you, but I don't think they've crossed over to the left side yet. Best guess? Stick to the right and see which one sound the loudest." Haruichi thanked the old women for the advice and walked down the street. He stopped by Aoi and told him the same thing before starting his investigation in earnest. The words of the old women came back to mind, however, once he pieced together who the off duty members could be.

'Kafka's with Iharu? Here? That's odd. I thought Iharu was leaving with Reno? And weren't they just heading to a movie? Shouldn't they have been back by now?' Haruichi thought. As he passed down the street, carefully listening to the volume of any of the bars he passed, all he could do was hope that neither of them were too plastered to answer some questions.

#########################################

Haruichi walked up and down the street to get a good idea as to which of the bars seemed to be the loudest and popped his head into a few of of them to see if he could find his fellow co-workers. Third bar he picked seemed to be a karaoke bar. It was fairly narrow, with the bar on the right and the left wall lined with as many booths as one could fit comfortably. There were a couple of standing tables placed offset to each other in the middle of the room it seemed, but it was hard to tell how many there were through the mass of people crammed in the room. From the top of the short set of stairs he was standing on, he could see to the other side of the bar at least and look at the loud drunken pair singing their lungs out on the shallow stage placed at the end of the sitting area.

And who would of guessed it would be the 'polite looking oaf and his pink haired friend'. Kafka was the one holding the mic and had his arm slung over Iharu's shoulder, almost looking like he was putting his full weight on it with how far the two of them were bending toward the ground. Iharu was holding a large beer mug that was a quarter full and was still threatening to spill out onto the floor. The two were heavily engrossed in their rendition of... God, Haruichi couldn't even tell. Thankfully he wasn't subjected to the aural torture much longer as the song finished. While Iharu thanked the very drunk, very enthusiastic crowd for being such good listeners, Haruichi waved his arms over his head and got Kafka's attention.

"Heyyyyy! I'll be DAmned! It's fucken' Haruichi! Holy SHIT!" Kafka exclaimed. He dragged Iharu clumsily off the stage and waved Izumo over to some bar stools that some patrons happily got off of once Kafka explained himself and that his friend from the Defense Force showed up. Haruichi managed to muscle his way through the crowd and make it to the seats next to the others just as Kafka wrapped him up in a massive drunken bear hug.

"God, man! Where you've been? We've been here keeping this party going since we took down that ugly mutherfucker. Hey, you didn't hear about us from Hoshina did you?" Kafka's breath smelled heavily of cheap whisky but wasn't slurring his words half as much as Haruichi thought he would.

"I'll answer your questions if you answer mine. What the hell are you doing here? And with Iharu? I thought him and Reno had a date or something?" Kafka made a silencing gesture with his hand as he got closer to Haruichi.

"I wouldn't try and say that too loud. Reno had to blow the date for a mission and I don't think Iharu's been taking it too well. He had prepaid the movie tickets and I mentioned that I like Ranger Rika films, so now we're here."

"Okay, and what about the kaiju that showed up around here? I heard from the locals that you killed it?" Iharu, who had picked a spot on the other side of the two, had leaned in to hear them better and had perked up at the mention of the kaiju fight.

"OOHHH MAN! HaRU! YOU should of SEEN US, MAN! I wasss running for ma LIFE from that THING! I got chasssed ALL the WAY to the- the.... big red thing and Kafka ;OH man, KAFKA! HE came on it from ABOVE and smacked it with a fucken' LIGHT POLE! A light pole, MAN!" Iharu accentuated his retelling with wild hand gestures and made it clear to Haruichi that either he had more than Kafka did or couldn't hold his liqueur very well.

"Don't mind him, he's on his fourth mug right now. Is the rest of the division here with you?" Kafka asked.

"No, It's just me and Aoi here at the festival. The rest of the group is back at the emergence site making sure there's no casualties and taking a damage toll. Aoi's outside at the festival buying out all the fried food he can get his hands on right now." Haruichi replied, politely refusing the bartender's inquiry of whether or not he would be having a drink.

"Oh, that's nice. here's hoping that he manages to grab some of the kaiju meat before it's gone." Kafka downed another shot of whiskey that the bartender had poured out for him.

"Okay, sure. Last question. Aren't you guys supposed to be back by now?" Haruichi tried to look very pointedly at the two of them when he asked.

'What do you mean by that?" Kafka pounded on his chest as he said, fighting the burning sensation firing its way back up his throat. Izumo looked around appearing very puzzled before he looked back at Kafka.

"I don't know what time you guys left, but you can't tell me the two of you have enough hours to be out here for much longer." Hibino choked on his own spit for a second before trying to respond to Haruichi pointed suggestion, however it seemed to be a second too long as Iharu had already heard him and took the chance to... vocally express his opinion on the matter.

"FUCK THEM HOURS!"

'Iharu, maybe not right now-" Kafka tried to interject.

"NAH! I'M TIRED ABOUT HEARING ABOUT HOW MANY HOURS I GOTTA HAVE OR HOW MANY I GOT LEFT!" Iharu had gotten off of his stool and now began directing his speech to the drunk crowd behind him.

"WHEN I SAY I WANT A DAY OFF, I SHOULD GET THE WHOLE DAY OFF! NOT GET BACK A 'SORRY, CAN'T LET YOU DO THAT' OR 'WE NEED YOU TO COME BACK IN' TWO HOURS INTO A BREAK I SCHEDULED OFF THREE FUCKIN' DAYS AGO!" Now the crowd was cheering for Iharu, getting riled up on his behalf and probably relating as well due to how he worded his rant.

"SAY IT WITH ME! FUCK THEM HOURS!" Iharu started the chant with his mug held high in the air.

"Fuck them hours!" the crowd chanted back.

"FUCK THEM HOURS!" Iharu tried again

"FUCK THEM HOURS!!!" All the people in the room joined in this time.

"You think we should do something?" Haruichi asked.

"I think they're already handling it." Kafka pointed to two tall, well built men dressed in black polos walking over to the center of the crowd where Iharu had made himself at home, driving the people around him into a frenzy. The two at the bar watched as their friend was lifted up, crowd surfing style and was carried to the front door of the bar. They rushed off of their seats and joined in at the back of the mock revolution that was following their leader, still chanting 'Fuck them hours."

The two of them watched as their coworker was unceremoniously tossed onto his ass on the street outside of the bar. Watching their appointed leader get treated with such carelessness seemed to shake the throng of people out of their rebellious state of mind and dispersed quietly. Kafka and Haruichi looked down at a stunned Iharu laying spread eagle, not really sure what he should do next. Kafka decided to lay down next to Iharu while Haruichi sat down on the lip of the sidewalk behind their heads.

"So, you just got your first experience getting kicked out from a bar. How do you feel?" Kafka asked, not looking at Iharu but instead looking up at the stars being framed in the corners of his vision by the lanterns lining the street.

"Ssstars look purtty tonight." Iharu replied, pointing up at the sky with the glass mug he was holding onto inside the bar.

Kafka chuckled, "Yeah, they sure do buddy."

"You think they're going to notice the mug you're still holding?" Haruichi asked, face in his hands and his elbows on his knees. It looked like Iharu finally realized what he was holding as he brought it closer to his face. Looking closer at the mug, he could see that the glass had a pattern molded around the base. An interlocking pattern made up of a six pointed star with tiny branches spouting off the ends of each point. Almost like a snowflake.

Iharu violently convulsed into tears at the thought and curled up into a ball, clutching the beer mug close to his chest.

"Geez, what did I say?" Haruichi asked.

"I have a feeling this is about something else." Kafka said, rolling onto his side to comfort his partner.

"I jussst wanted to take him on a date, isss dat so wrong?" Iharu sobbed, fighting to talk around the mucus building in his throat.

"Reno?" Haruichi asked

"Reno." Kafka replied, hugging Iharu close to his chest as best he can.

"I was going to show him how much we have in common and take him to pretty placesss and buy him nice things! I jussst wanted to tell him how much it meant to me to be his fwend and how much I loved hiiimmm..." Kafka just rubbed his back as his body became racked with shakes from his struggle to breathe. "I jussst wanted to tell him that I thinks he's so cooool and that I think he's pretty when he's asleep and I didn't want to sssound creepy when I did! Why couldn't he be here?" Iharu screamed into Kafka's wind breaker, now stained with tears and mucus.

"It'll be okay. You'll have other chances to tell him." Kafka tried to say reassuringly in the awkward position.

"Buts I wanted to tell him today! I don't think I can wait any longer before I say sssomething ssstupid and ruin everything! And I don't even know if he'll like me baaaack!" Iharu only to calm down slightly, but at least the shaking stopped. Kafka looked back at Haruichi expectantly, silently asking him to help out here. Izumo slid himself off the sidewalk and scooched over to the men making a scene in the middle of the street and placed a hand on the younger one of the three.

"There, there. I'm sure you two will be able to talk it out. I have no doubt that Reno harbors anything less than love for you in his heart."

"Okay, that'sss nice and all, but do we know it's love 'as a fwend' or love 'as a partner'? 'Cuz I really want it to be 'as a partner' but I don't want to tell him if he'sss going to find that uncomfortable." Iharu said as tried his best to wipe his face clean with the sleeve of his jacket. Haruichi pondered for a minute before suggesting a plan.

"Maybe... I could ask?", Iharu looked tearfully behind him as best as possible to look Haruichi in the eyes. "I wouldn't say anything incriminating, just... see if he's open to the possibility?"

This seemed to pacify Iharu a little bit as he brought himself to a sitting position.

"Yeah, but that doesssn't solve what I could do for a date, though. This wasss da best I could come up with and I was racking my brain for a week." Iharu slurred, wiping his face. Kafka up-righted himself as well and scratched his side as he positioned himself perpendicular to Iharu.

"Well, either way, you're going to have to wait and save up time again before you're allowed to head back out." Kafka thought for a moment as he paused in his scratching, "Its the middle of June now, right? Late July, early August is a pretty good time for a beach date. Romantic enough and lots of places do a sorta 'last week of summer hoorah' kinda deal."

"And we're pretty close to the beach. Wouldn't need to save up many hours if you're that desperate for time." Haruichi chimed in. Iharu took all of the information in and, for the first time tonight, seemed genuinely happy. The kind of happiness that can be seen all the way through someone's core.

"Did I miss something?" A familiar, but muffled baritone rang out from the left of the group. It was Aoi, back from a successful shopping spree in the festival. His arms were laden with bags upon bags of different types of food. It was almost comical how many bags there were seeing as one couldn't even find his large torso. Ranging from white plastic bags, to brown paper ones, to clear ones showcasing the goods inside. All seemingly stuffed to the brim.

"Is that... a hamster butt hanging out of your mouth?" Haruichi asked. Aoi quickly chewed and swallowed it so he could speak more clearly.

"Its hamster shaped kikufuku mochi. I almost feel guilty eating them because they're so cute. Unfortunately for them, they're just as good as they look. Don't worry, I bought enough for everyone. Three of these boxes are for me though." Aoi paused and stared at the bags really hard for a second. "Actually, it's two now, but my point still stands."

######################################

Haruichi made the suggestion that, maybe, they should be making their way back to base but Iharu became very irate at that suggestion. So to pacify him, the pair-turned-quartet walked around the festival a little longer, buying some more food to help Iharu feel more like his happier self. Well, everyone else walked. Kafka started giving Iharu a piggy back ride when it seemed like he was swaying on his feet and complained about foot pain. They had made it halfway down the other side of the street when Kafka looked over and saw something that jogged his memory. Aoi noticed the feeling of disconnect in the group and turned around, causing Haruichi to look as well.

It was another Torri gate, nestled between two brick buildings, looking like it was erected as a protective marker. Blocking against the bustle of the festival, locked behind its towering height was a well worn stone path trailing up and to the left, hiding its destination behind a thick grove of trees. What refreshed Kafka's memory, however, was that the trail was lined with a multitude of overly colorful paper lanterns in a variety of shapes and sizes. The stillness of the trees and the ethereal light pouring out from the lanterns contrasted against the feeling that came from being out on the street. It really felt like there was a chance one could get swept away by playful spirits if one made the decision to turn off from the sidewalk and explore this detour.

"Hey, Iharu? Kafka asked, shifting his friend's weight on his back and rousing him from the light slumber he was about to slip into.

"Yeah," Iharu said sleepily, "What's up?"

"Didn't you say there was a shrine that you wanted to take Reno to that had paper lanterns and was close to the festival?" Iharu looked over at what Kafka was looking at and lit up a little at the memory.

"Oh yeah! Thisss might be it actually." Kafka looked over at the other two members of the party.

"I think we're going to take a detour. He had plans to stop by the place earlier. The path ahead might be long, so you can go ahead on back, If you want."

"Oh, no. We're sticking with you to make sure you both actually make it back to base." Haruichi walked over to stand under the gate and made an 'after you' kind of gesture. Kafka shrugged his shoulders and walked ahead of Izumo and Kaguragi.

The path had no steps, but sloped upwards gently. Turning sharply left then right then back again, it took the group on a slow and peaceful journey up a hidden hill behind the buildings back on the main boulevard. Kafka was in the lead, setting a slow pace with a sleepy Iharu on his back while Aoi and Haruichi had a quiet discussion further back. Still keeping pace, but leaving enough room between the two of them as to not make things feel rushed.

The path lived up to its initial impression back at its entrance. The trees seemed to block any sound from the festival down at ground level. Not to make things eerily quiet, was a methodical thrumming of cicadas and crickets weaving through the quiet rush of leaves dancing in the light wind. The lanterns were attached to arms connected to rough-hew logs and cast their warm, glassy light over the leaves, bushes, and stones. The shards of colored light danced over Iharu's partially lidded eyes, preforming a hypnotic dance that succeeded in keeping him half awake, half asleep.

His thoughts walked themselves backwards through the events of the day. Starting with the foods and the drinking, quickly sweeping past the terrifying chase against the giant squid monster, slowly reliving the events after, though, and before the movie theater. All the way back to the start, with Reno. Was he sad that he didn't get to do any of this with Reno? Absolutely. But considering the alternative was spending three hours in the barracks, wrapped up in a bare minimum of three stolen blankets, and blowing all that time feeling shitty about the situation he was in; getting to experience all of this anyway, in spite of how he wanted things to go, and having fun with someone he always worked with and was now getting this chance to be closer to as friends... well... this night did a fine job of making him happy anyway. And that was okay.

"Hey... this was nice." Iharu mumbled as he nuzzled Kafka's shoulder. Kafka just gave a big, warm smile back and let Iharu enjoy the scenery as they continued to find the end of the path.

The group finally hit a set of stairs that led to the main part of the shrine. Cresting the top of them, they were greeted with a lovely sight. A moderately sized shrine and a couple outbuildings were surrounded in the thick grove of trees on this hill. The lightly cloudy night sky was visible only in the center of the grove, with a half moon peaking out from the edge of the canopy's opening. It initially seemed that the main source of light was coming from candles and more of the lanterns that lined the path up here. Looking around longer proved that a building off to the right had electric lighting and was the one providing the most light. The light bulbs inside seemed to have attracted all the bugs in the forest and made the projecting light flicker chaotically onto the ground.

Both the shrine and the buildings around it appeared to be old, but very well maintained. Shimenawa ropes of all sizes lined the roofs of the Shrine and select other buildings. The candles, some exposed; others in glass containers, were on the floor of the main shrine and illuminated the collection box at the end of the stone path.

The four of them walked down to the end to pay their respects and make donations. Since Aoi's hands were full and he didn't have much money left after his buying spree, Haruichi paid for them both. Kafka's wallet was in the back pack on Iharu's back. So, without jumping off, Iharu took off the bag and pulled out both of their wallets. Kafka had plenty left but Iharu only had a couple 1000 yen bills and a lot of spare change. He dug out some 5 yen coins and tossed them in with Kafka's donation, still riding on his back. Haruichi made his and the whole group held their hands together in silent prayer.

The group turned around after a moment and walked back toward the entrance they came through. This time staying closer to the right as another group of people walked into the holy grounds as well. Sticking closer to the right afforded the group a good look at the wares the only properly illuminated building was selling. It was mainly some snacks and wooden key chains. There was the omikuji box of course, right next to a display of handmade protective charms and talismans. There was a man on the inside working away, oblivious to the world as a women sang a gentle song on a small black radio. Iharu glanced over the selection of charms and saw one that immediately caught his eye.

"Hey! Heyheyheyheyhey." Iharu's hand shook as he pointed at the charms display.

"What? What is it?" Kafka asked, trying to look at where Iharu's hand was pointing at.

"Looklooklooklook. The blue one." Iharu said vaguely. Kafka walked closer and leaned in to scan the display stand better. He found the light blue one that Iharu was pointing at. It didn't stand out much more differently than the rest, with all of them having the same complicated looking decorative knot pattern and they all were made with different colors of fabric. What he finally put together was that the pattern on the fabric... had snowflakes on it.

Kafka sighed heavily. "I take it you want the blue one for Reno?"

"Yeah, yeahyeahyeah." Iharu nodded quickly.

"You do realize you're broke now, right? You don't have enough money on you to pay for one." Kafka stated. Iharu hung his head and started to whimper loudly and pathetically into Kafka's shoulder.

All Hibino did was sigh heavily again. "Hand me my wallet." Furuhashi gave a small, delighted squeal as he dug out Kafka's wallet again. He paid the man for the charm and turned to meet back up with the other two. Looking around, they found them at a different part of the grounds, standing by a makeshift stall. Getting closer, they could see that it was selling bottles of plum wine and offering free samples to interested buyers. Aoi was sampling his, while Haruichi was having a conversation with the old lady running the stall. Aoi nudged Haruichi to let him not be shocked by their arrival. As Haruichi let Kafka in on the discussion he was having, Iharu immediately spaced out of it and let his eyes wander over the stall. The eyes eventually landed on the label that was on the bottles.

"Oooohhh!" Iharu cooed, "There's snowflakes on it."

"Don't tell me you want to gift Reno that too?" Kafka said exasperatedly. Iharu started to whine again as Haruichi passed a small wad of money over to the shocked lady behind the table.

"That's okay. I shouldn't be needing a whole case of wine anyway." Haruichi walked over to the side and grabbed a large plastic crate of wine bottles.

"And yet... You're buying a whole case of it anyway?" Aoi said with a raised eyebrow. As they walked back to the entrance, Izumo pulled out a bottle and tried to slide it into the open portion of the bag on Iharu's back.

"It's called 'Supporting local businesses'. And it wouldn't hurt to have something to surprise him with on that beach da- Hey!" Haruichi refuted as Iharu pulled out another bottle from the crate as he backed away.

"And, yoink!" the mischievous mohawked man giggled as he held his ill-gotten prize over his supplier's hands.

"Haven't the two of you had enough alcohol tonight?" Aoi said, witnessing the altercation.

"Hey, we made plans to get plastered tonight and I'm still feeling way too sober for that goal." Kafka said as he helped Iharu keep the bottle out of Haruichi's reach.

"You are a horrible role model, you know that?" Izumo said, giving up on the task in favor of protecting the rest in the crate.

"Eh, open." Iharu said, rudely tapping the lip of the bottle to Kafka's mouth.

"Ya could say please, ya know." Kafka returned as he took the bottle from Iharu. He did a partial transformation on his mouth and stuck the largest fang into the cork at the top. Wiggling slightly, the stopper popped satisfyingly and as he spit the cork into his hand, Iharu took the opportunity to steal the wine back.

"HEY! Leave me a sip of that, will YA?"

###########################################

The group made it back to street level and started back on the path to headquarters. They began the trip with the intention of taking a bus back, assuming the truck that Haruichi and Aoi came in on already left without them. The two of them weren't surprised, they were the ones that offered to look for the missing kaiju signature and haven't reported back on it yet, as it was hard to do so since the earpieces only have so much range. And seeing as how long the two of them had been gone and how late it was, they thought that it would be less of a hassle if they hiked it back to base and went inside quietly, just to give their reports in the morning.

The closest bus station was still a ways away, so the group started to walk in the general direction. The walk was quickly derailed as they passed the restaurant that sold Kafka and Iharu their new hats. With some major protesting from Aoi, who was against the idea, Haruichi purchased a dark navy blue one for Aoi and a vibrant red one with silver stars for himself anyway, seeing as Aoi still had his hands full with bags and physically could not intervene. The grumbled protests from Aoi were eventually silenced when he got to keep a large chocolate peanut butter milkshake all to himself.

Thankfully, the bus ride home was uneventful, save for Iharu drunkenly talking Haruichi's ears off when he asked what the Ranger Rika film was all about. However, problems began to arise again as they reached the main gate of the base.

"Ssso, how are we gonna get inside?" Iharu slurred from the top of Kafka's back. He started to carry him again after they got off the bus and saw that he was still swaying on his feet. They were all the way through the empty parking lot and reached the imposing security wall that surrounded the institution. Just under half a kilometer, was the double gated entry point. One of three that were imbedded in the thick concrete barrier.

"What do you mean?" Izumo asked as he turned around to look at the two behind him.

"We probably should've been back, like, hours ago. So if we show our i.d's to the guard, we're probably going to get flagged and that's not something that we want to deal with right now." Kafka said slowly, the gratuitous amounts of alcohol finally catching up with him.

"Did you guys have any sort of plan to get back inside quietly after this little exhibition of yours?" Aoi asked as Haruichi just looked annoyed. Kafka looked back at Iharu as Iharu could only shrug back an answer. He looked back and thought hard for a minute.

"Well... I think Shiggys' working the east gate tonight." Kafka said.

"And... Who's Shiggy?" Haruchi inquired.

"Oh, he's super chill. Dude works the late shift and isn't really a 'by the books' kinda guy. If either one of you has an i.d. on ya, he'll probably just let the whole group on in, no question." Aoi and Haruichi looked at each other, silently debating if they should go through with this. Aoi tried to give a very pointed look to Haruichi, indicating that he should be the one to whip out the i.d., but Haruichi had to defend himself.

"Sorry, but I only carry some cash out on missions. I leave the wallet and cards in my locker."

"Why do you even bring cash with you in the first place?" Iharu mumbled out.

"Last second grocery buys. Snacks, body wash, other things I forget sometimes." Haruichi turned back to Aoi. "So what about you? You can't tell me an ex-military officer doesn't carry at least six forms of identification for emergencies." he mocked. Aoi looked at Izumo, down to the ground in deep thought, gave a hard glance at the plethora of bags he was still holding, and finally hung his head in defeat. Kaguragi sighed heavily as he turned his back to his partner.

"Haruichi... I give you permission to touch my ass." Haruichi gasped in delight as he carelessly dropped the plastic box of wine and wiggled his fingers in excitement.

"Ooohhoohoo! This is a rare treat! What's the occasion, might I ask?"

"If I'm right, my wallet should be in my left back pocket. JUST the left one." Aoi said, looking back with a very pointed expression.

"Yeah you say that, but maybe I should check the right side too. Just to be sure." Haruichi giggled darkly, clearly taking too much joy out of this.

"Do that and I break your ha-nds!" Aoi's voice cracked when Haruichi slyly pinched both of his ass cheeks.

"Ah, would you look at that! Found it." He said as he pulled out the wallet.

"Kafka... shoot me if I ever start acting like that around Reno." Iharu said.

"I don't know. It's kind of endearing... in a weird way." Kafka quirked an eyebrow at the odd scene.

"Ah, trouble. I'm not seeing your base i.d., babe." Haruichi said after a few seconds of rummaging around in the wallet.

"You're sure? Fuck." Aoi cursed quietly. "Do I even trust you enough to look in my front pockets?"

"Nope. I'm going to look anyway." Haruichi giggled again as Aoi visibly winced at the feeling of the other's hands slowly sliding into his thin front pockets from behind. Izumo's hands didn't stick around long, which Kaguragi was thankful for, but it only brought them back to the original problem.

"I'm not feeling your i.d. in here either." Haruichi said as he gently patted Aoi's hips.

"Shiiiiiiiit. That means I never took it off the lanyard in my locker." Aoi threw his head back in disappointment. While this exchange was going on, Kafka and Iharu were looking off in the distance, specifically at the impossibly tall wall. Kafka scanned the parking lot to make sure that there wasn't that many cars to worry about and asked Iharu a question.

"You think If I run fast enough, I can scale that?" He said, nodding to the concrete barrier.

"What, in kaiju form?" Iharu contemplated for a moment, "Yeah. I think you could."

"I know I could, but what about if I carry three other people?" Kafka nodded back to the other two who were deep in what seemed to be a battle plan discussion. "Plus baggage."

Iharu took a long look at the pair next to them while he processed what Kafka was suggesting. He began to chuckle darkly as it all fell into place for him.

"I don't know man, but it be hilarious to try." The two of them began to chuckle in agreement before Kafka decided to put his plan into action.

"Haruichi! Grab the box. I wanna try something." Kafka said as he walked into position.

"Oh, that's great! Honestly, me and Aoi here were getting nowhere with a pla-HEY!" Haruichi cried out as Kafka grabbed him by the waist forcefully after he picked up the crate. Aoi was also none too pleased with where this plan was going, shall we say.

"Passengers, this is your captain speaking. Flight Kafka 690 will be taking off shortly, so please make sure that all baggage is secure and accounted for before it's wheels up and time for take-off." Iharu said smugly as Kafka walked back a few feet, holding a struggling Haruichi and Aoi.

"This is BY FAR the stupidest plan I have ever been forced to be a part oooOOFFFF!" Haruichi screamed as Kafka began to run full sprint toward the insanely high wall. As he got closer, his legs turned into his kaiju ones and the flaps on his calves flared open to reveal the after burners the transformation offered. Jumping onto the wall itself, Kafka's afterburners set fire to the bottom of his pant legs as he rocketed himself and everyone he was carrying into the sky. He could feel his back and elbows transform too to help him keep his back straight as the burners on his elbows helped stabilize him as he somehow managed to stay rooted to his path.

"Kafka you BASTARD!" Aoi screamed.

"If I drop this, I'll KILL YOU!" Haruichi mirrored, changing his grip on the crate of wine, somehow having not dropped any bottles yet.

"FUCK YEAAAAAHHHH!" Iharu cries of joy overshadowed the screams of the others.

"ALLLLMOOOOST THERRRREEE!" Kafka shouted, deep in concentration. The top of the wall got closer and closer, the end of this terrifying ride nearly in sight. The screams of the whole group rose to a deafening peak as Kafka just barely passed the edge of the wall. Relief was felt only for a brief moment when a noticeable shock wave passed through Kafka's body and transferred into the bodies of the others.

"Oh shit." a collective conclusion that was voiced by the whole group.

#########################################

It was just passed one in the morning when Reno and the team he was with made it back to base. He was so very tired. No one ended up being injured, thank God, but the anxiety of the situation took a severe toll on everyone involved. The mole kaiju were easy to take out, but the process to do so ended up becoming the world's most stressful game of literal Wack-a-mole.

Reno thought things would get better when everything was over, feeling hopeful on the chopper ride back, but when Reno pulled up his Chatter app and saw he's feed was just a timeline of Iharu and Kafka having the time of their lives at the food festival, it really put a damper on the ride back.

'I guess he really wanted to leave base today' Reno thought somberly. Iharu was his own person. If he wanted to leave, that's on him. If he wanted to take someone with him, that's on him too.

'It's just... I really wanted to go with him. And thought... he wanted me too..." Reno packed away his gun and excess supplies into his locker, feeling sluggish as he did. Suddenly, a loud metallic slamming noise decided to ring out through the locker room that he was in and dislodged him from his thoughts. Suit half unzipped, Reno tied the sleeves around his waist as he looked down the aisles to see where the door slamming was coming from.

Looking down the row behind him, he saw what seemed to be a very pissed off Kikoru Shinomiya, telling by the feral growling and tearing at her spare bio suit.

"Ummm... Is everything okay? Shinomiya?" Reno asked tentatively.

"I"M GOING TO MURDER THAT PRAWN HEADED RAT BASTARD!" Kikoru growled out as she finally managed to get her lower half into the power suit. Reno only became increasingly concerned now knowing this unbridled rage had something to do with Iharu. He couldn't ask anymore questions, however, since Vice Captain Soshiro Hoshina decided now would be the time to make his presence known.

"Reno. Good to see that you and the rest are back safely."

"Ah! V-vice Captain." Reno stuttered out, startled. "I was just getting my stuff packed before I joined the others for the after mission briefing."

"Good to know, but I think the rest of the team can make the report without you for now." Hoshina said curtly.

"S-sir?" Reno questioned vaguely.

"Don't worry, it's nothing life shattering. I just want to ask you about what the original plans you had with Iharu Furuhashi were about." Hoshina said, his voice giving off the sense that there was some concealed irritation.

"Um, plans? You mean the trip to the movies?" Reno asked.

"Yes, and where you were... haa, hold that thought. Go for Hoshina" he said as his hand made it up to his earpiece.

"Hoshina, this is Okonogi. We've got a massive disturbance at the front gate."

"Define 'disturbance'." Hoshina requested. If one looked closely, you could almost see his temple throbbing in a matched rhythm with his heart.

"I'm pulling security footage now. It's... Kafka Hibino, Sir? It appears that he is trying to... run up? The outer wall and is carrying three other Division members."

"I'm sorry? Other Division members?" Hoshina clarified.

"Yes Sir, that is correct. Just a moment... It looks to be Iharu Furuhashi, Aoi Kaguragi, and Haruichi Izumo. The absent members from this afternoon."

"What the hell is going on?" Reno asked, adjusting his own earpiece to the main channel, wanting to be included in the conversation.

"Sir, update! Kafka had made it up the wall, but has tripped and all four of them are in free fall on the other side" Okonogi reported. Hoshina's sigh turned into an exasperated growl toward the end.

"Come along Reno. We're apparently going to have to save our respective dumbasses." Hoshina turned to leave the room with a puzzled Reno trailing behind.

"Respective dumbasses?" Kikoru muttered. Immediately, a light came on upstairs. "Not until I get a hold of that ASSHOLE FIRST!" Kikoru turned and blasted past the vice captain and ran in the opposite direction of the front gate.

"Who put a bug in her suit?" Hoshina asked as they both leaned on the doorframe and watched her go.

"WRONG DIRECTION, KIKORU!" Reno added helpfully.

######################################

"SSSHHHHIIIIIIIIT" Everyone screamed as they realized what was happening. Kafka relaxed his arms as Haruichi and Aoi planted their feet on his hips and pushed themselves away as far as they could. Iharu, though, hung on for dear life. Haruichi and Aoi still had the their bio suits on, so the landing from such a height didn't give them much trouble. Izumo landed on the balls of his feet and managed to roll with the momentum onto his thighs, through his knees and back onto his butt. All while managing to keep all the wine bottles in the crate. Well, most of them. Two had slipped out during descent and were still up in the air. He rushed forward, leaped into the air, and grabbed them before they touched the ground. Aoi just tanked the landing and kept on his feet.

"You good?" Haruichi asked.

"Just fine." Aoi said through gritted teeth.

Kafka and Iharu were not so lucky.

Kafka also tried to roll into the fall, but messed up and landed on his foot weirdly. Iharu still hadn't let go at this point, so when Kafka fell to the ground, Iharu's knee made contact next.

"Fuck! That was a knee!" Iharu exclaimed. Once momentum seemed to stop, the two of them untangled and rolled away from each other.

"Well, that didn't look pleasant." A sly voice from away came into clarity.

"Vice Captain!" said Haruichi.

"Vice Captain, Sir." said Aoi when he felt recovered enough to speak.

"Well, shit." came from Kafka, knowing he'd been caught.

"YOU THIEVING PIECE OF CRAP!" Kikoru had made a beeline to the crumpled Iharu and began to physically berate him with her foot. "WHERE THE HELL IS MY BRADA BACK PACK?"

"Here, here! It's right here! WAIT, MY SHIT'S STILL INSIDE!" Iharu said as he handed over the stolen bag, only to realize too late that he left his gifts inside.

"I can see that! What is this? Wine? Plum wine? and a beer glass?" Kikoru took a whiff inside the mug, "A used BEER GLASS? What the hell is this doing in here?" Kikoru pulled out a ring of keys next.

"And who the hell's keys are these?' She asked. Hoshina immediately took them from her hand and looked at them in his.

"Kafka... why the hell does Iharu have my keys in a stolen back pack?" Hoshina said, gritting the words through his teeth. Kafka and Iharu looked at each other for a moment before shouting in unison

"OH SHIT! WE FORGOT THE BIKE!"

"YOU WHAT?" Soshiro screamed, hauling Hibino up by his collar.

"And is this... are there FRY CRUMBS IN MY BRADA? IS THAT A CHILE SAUCE STAIN? IN MY BRADA?" Kikoru began to weaponize the empty bag and used it to beat the already downed Iharu.

"Oh, damn. I didn't know that was Brada." Haruichi said, trying to pass by the commotion.

"Thanks Captain Obvious, I think we figured that out." Kafka retorted as he was dragged off the ground by Hoshina.

"NONE of you go too far. You all have some explaining to do." Hoshina said, gripping tightly to Kafka' forearm.

"Kikoru, I think he's had enough!" Reno said as he finally stepped into view and intervened in the one sided fight between the two of them. As he helped Iharu off the ground he asked, "Hey, are you alright?"

It didn't take Iharu very long to realize who was helping him up and immediately threw his arms around Reno's neck.

"AEDZGJNSTR, RENO! You're back! I'm so happy now!" he said as he gurgled drunkenly around his words. "I'm so happy that you're back! I was missing you all day. I'm sorry that left without youuu. I prepaid the tickets and Kafka said I should use them, so I did, but I was wishing that you were there 'cuz it was a great movie and I went to the festival without you too and it was making me sad, but I had food and I thought I would be okay and then I saw this mug and it reminded me of you-" Iharu broke away to grab the somehow intact mug from Kikoru's hands.

"It was this mug, 'cuz see! It has snowflakes on it and it made me think of you and how much I missed you and how I wanted to take you with me on the date but I couldn't and I thought about how I thought I blew my chance to tell you that I love you-" he took a big deep breath, "But Kafka and Haruichi said that I could take you to the beach and I felt happy again so the mug made me happy again because it still reminds me of you so I want you to have it." Iharu had finally stopped talking for a moment and looked deep into Reno's widened eyes with his watery, eager ones. Reno could feel his face start to burn once he slowed down all the words that Iharu had said and realized what it meant. Before Reno could even begin to tell him anything, Iharu looked like he remembered something else and turned back to a stunned Kikoru, who had been listening to the entire conversation. He grabbed the protective charm and the bottle of wine and clumsily shoved them into Reno's hands.

"Oh! Also, Me and Kafka and Haruichi and Aoi all went to this shrine that I wanted to show you because I thought it was pretty and you remind me of pretty things and when I was there I saw this charm and it has snowflakes on it, so of course I had to buy it- well, Kafka bought it, but I still want you to have it 'cuz its pretty and do you think they'll let me put this on your gun? 'cuz I think that would be cool-ohohoh! OR I could put it on the suit! That would be really cool if they let me do that. Oh and speaking of cool- looklooklook-" Iharu picked up the bottle of plum wine and showed him the label.

"This has snowflakes on it too! It's going to be a surprise when I take you on our beach date in a few weeks!" Iharu had wrapped his hands back around Reno's neck and begun to swing themselves around, causing Reno to put his already full hands on Iharu's waist to keep themselves upright.

"I'm going to save up my hours again and when we go to the beach, we're gonna go on a picnic and I'm gonna break out the bottle and I'm gonna tell you how much I looove youuu and how much I like being around youuu and how much I like being yourrr rivaaal..." Iharu had finally stopped spinning them around and leaned all the way onto Reno, wrapping his hands tightly around his crush's shoulders.

"Doesn't that sound really nice?" He whispered, gently nosing the shell of Reno's ear.

Reno felt like he was shaking. Whether from shock or excitement, he wasn't sure. He took the bottle that was still in Iharu's hand and tightened his around the sleepy drunk's waist. He felt his face flush even harder, blood flooding his brain and making his ears and shoulders feel like a million degrees in the cool night air. Burying his face into Iharu's shoulder, Reno confessed his only thought on his mind.

"That... sounds amazing, Iharu." But Iharu wasn't listening. Having fallen asleep, nuzzled into Reno's neck and breathing softly, almost snoring.

"Well, wasn't that a touching display." Hoshina said sarcastically, not one to let the quiet stand infinitely. "He's still getting a hefty reprimand, as well as you." He said, directing the last bit of statement to Kafka, which he was now holding by the ear.

"What the fuck possessed you to write in three hundred AND THIRTY SIX HOURS? DID YOU THINK YOU COULD HONESTLY GET AWAY WITH THAT? AND YOU LEFT MY BIKE BEHIND?" Hoshina said as he began to drag Kafka away, causing the rest of the group to cringe in response to the abuse.

"Forget a week of janitorial duty! It's a month- no, three months! And you can forget the office sex too!" Aoi and Haruichi were nodding along solemnly to what Hoshina was saying, mentally grieving for Kafka and any spare time he would've had, only to snap back to reality at the last bit of punishment.

"Oh, come on! It was a joke- wait, lets thINK ABOUT THIS!" Kafka cried, 'Three months for a joke is a bit much, don't ya think! I'll get the bike back, I swear!"

"YOU CAN'T EVEN DRIVE IT! If you keep arguing, I'll cut out the blowjobs too!" Hoshina said sternly, still dragging Kafka away. His cries of disappointment were heard all the way to the guard house.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ Bonus/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"You sure you don't want help with that?" Kikoru asked, carrying her (apparently) expensive black back pack and a couple plastic bags of food that Aoi got her at the food festival.

"No thank you, I'm good." Reno said as he struggled to carry an asleep Iharu, the items he got for him, and the bags of food that Aoi also got for him.

"Are you at least aware that you have to make a left turn in about twenty feet?" Kikoru retorted, smiling smugly at all the trouble that Reno was going through to not disturb Iharu's sleep.

"Yes, Kikoru, I know where I'm going. A fair bit better than you, since you still can't remember where the front door is." Kikoru snobbishly stuck her nose in the air at the insult.

"The front door was always down and to the right of the of the mission personnel lockers. It still seems stupid that they would change the layout in such a drastic manner."

"Whatever Kikoru. Have a good night." Reno turned to go into the male barracks as Kikoru parted to go to her side of the building.

He walked into the area holding the bunks and put Iharu down on Reno's bed since Furuhashi slept on the top bunk. Reno knew better than to try and get him up there by himself. He set him down as gently as he could, making sure not to catch any of the gifts under Iharu. Reno set his stuff down and leaned over to put the deeply asleep soldier's feet on the bed, and since he was down there, took off Iharu's shoes too. Carefully wrenching the sheets out from under the body, Reno tucked him in as gently as possible. Getting shocked for a moment when Iharu shifted and grabbed the blanket from Reno's hands, but when all Iharu did was tuck the sheet under his chin, Reno let out the breath he didn't know he held.

Not wanting to leave him alone so soon, however, Reno took a pillow from another bunk and placed it on the floor about where Iharu's head was. Getting to the floor as carefully as possible, he sat down on the pillow and opened the bags of food, courtesy of Aoi. He rummaged around quietly and started to pull out some of the goods based on what seemed more delicious at the moment, eventually pulling out a large, marked takeout box that just said 'kaiju squid' on the top.

Before he opened it, he felt a hand lightly smack him on the back of the head. Reno turned around, thinking that he somehow ended up waking Iharu, only to see that he was just shifting in his sleep. A hand was now exposed from its place from under the covers and was hanging limply from the bed's edge. Thinking for a moment, Reno gathered some courage and bravely placed Iharu's hand on the top of his head. In doing so, he could feel Iharu's fingers lightly twitching in his hair, almost like it was trying to brush through it in his sleep. Reno just smiled and went back to his midnight meal.

(holy fucking shit, I did it! I got this made! World, prepare to meet my first public fanfic.)

#the last tag you added was the final blow btw i might not recover from pls someone make this into a meme #kn8 #fic reccomendations

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princessamericachavez · 6 years ago

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*****

They don't get a chance to explain much. After the first couple sentences exhaustion seems to catch up with Molly's (Lucien's) body and he nearly collapses on them. Between Fjord and Beau they lay him back on the bed, then the remaining five head downstairs and talk and drink, trying to process what this means. For weeks, getting Molly back has been their sole focus, redoubled when they got a chance to free Yasha, Jester and Fjord fron the bastar that'd bought them. Now, finally, they've succeeded... And yet they failed. Even the prospect of revenge against Lorenzo anf his crew seems like a bitter price compared to what they lost.

They are still debating when a lavander figure emerges from the stairs, clad only in his leather pants and boots and a white dress shirt.

"Don't get me wrong, this is much better than clawing my way out of the dirt, and it's not like I was expecting a party, but I don't really fancy waking up alone after that," Molly says.

And it's him. His voice, his movements, the playful smirk on his face.

"Also, has anyone seen my thi-"

Before he can even finish the sentence, he finds himself with an armful of Jester and Nott, squeezing him into a tight hug.

"Oh, god, Molly. You're back!" Jester cries.

"Seems like it," Molly chuckles softly, running his fingers through her hair. He pulls back a little to look at her pale face, readorned with scars and dark circles under her eyes. "Are you alright, darling?"

"I am! I am, now!" Jester laughs, burrowing her head against his chest again.

"I stole your things!" Nott blurts out, her chin pressed against his stomach. "I mean- I took them, for safe keeping... You know, for when you came back."

"Clever girl," Molly snorts.

He looks up to see Beau standing by his side and his face twists into a snarky smirk. Beau looks pissed, just like the last time he saw her. She opens her mouth, ready to yell, then instead throws herself at him and wraps her arms around his neck. He feels her sob against his shoulder.

"Oh, woah, hey," he mumbles in shock, patting her back awkwardly. "It's okay. I'm sorry."

"You asshole!" Beu sobs, pulls back and punches him hard on the shoulder. "You dick! Never fucking do that again!"

"I'm... Sorry?"

Fjord's heavy hand falls on his shoulder and Molly, still a little dazed by the affective displays, blinks up at him.

"It's so good to see you again, partner," he says with a sincere smile.

"Like wise," Molly sighs. "Last I knew, you guys- wait," his face falls and twists into child-like worry, "where's Yasha."

"She's alright," Fjord assures him. "She just... left, when it seemed like we'd lost you for good."

Molly pouts.

"We don't know where she went," Nott sighs, stepping out of the hug. "She didn't left a note or anything. It didn't seem like she planned on coming back, without you around."

"Then we need to find her!" Molly jumps, and his energy seems to return the color to the broken group, give them back some of the strength and drive they'd lost.

"Yes, yes!" Jester jumps, arms still wrapped around Molly. "I have a spell. I can track her and then we can show her that everything is good now!"

"It's so good to have you back, Jess," Molly grins and presses his forehead against hers.

"Here!" Notr announces, running forward with a small package in her hands.

Jester steps back to let Molly unwrap it. Inside there's his coat, carefully folded, his scimitars and his jewelry. With practiced movements, Molly swiftly puts everything back into place, finishing by the colorful coat of which someone either washed or charmed away the blood stains. Once everything is back in place, Molly sighs and smiles, feeling more like himself.

Suddenly, a pair of warm and steady hands hold his face by either side and force him to look forward at Caleb's tired and stern face.

"Mollymauk Tealeaf," he says, as his blue eyes pierce him, every syllable of his name spoken deliverately as it held a secret magical meaning.

All Molly can do is stare back, holding his breath. Who would've thought his own chosen name could sound so foreign and wonderful in someone else's lips? Caleb smiles, then, gentle and bright like never before.

"You are a sight for sore eyes, mein freund," he sighs, then pulls Molly in and presses a kiss to either of his cheeks.

The tieflings face turns a deeper shade of purple as the wizard retreats back, leaving behind the ghost of his callous hands and his lips against Mollymauk's skin.

The others start talking around him, telling hin to eat and drink andnrecover strength for their next adventure. Molly thinks this is, by far, the best way to wake up from death. It even makes the whole ordeal worth it.

A voice, familiar and strange, whispers in the back of his brain, trying to demand this lofe back. Molly ignores it. This is his life, his friends, his family. The Nonagon can fuck off for all he cares.

Molly wins.

Existentialist angst prompt: The nein try to bring Molly back but end up only getting Nonagon

Once the ritual is done and he’s breathing again, the Nein pay what they owe the cleric and take their fallen friend to the nearest Inn. After weeks of carrying his body around, suspended in time at the moment of his death, to have him actually breathe and stir every so often is odd in the most wonderful of ways. Then, they wait.

As soon as his eyes open, a sigh of relief crosses the room. They wait in silence as he groans and sits up, then all restrain is gone.

“Molly!” Jester and Beau shout with unreserved glee. They throw themselves at him with arms wide open and tearful eyes.

He reacts in a blink, grabbing the scimitars laid by his side and swinging at them fast as lightning. Beau, swift and dexterous, dodges instinctively. Jester gets caught by the blade, that cuts a thin line across her arm. It’s bareky a nick (nothing compared to what she’s been through the past weeks) but she’s still weak and recovering and the strength of the hit sends her to the ground.

“Easy, man,” Beau huffs.

“It’s alright, Molly, it’s over. You’re with friends now,” Fjord replies in that calming matter of his, though even as he speaks he’s placing his body between the blade and Jester. He’s not doing much better than the girl sitting behind him, but after being through so much shielding her from harm is more second nature than a conscious choice.

“Mollymauk,” Caleb says softly, letting out a wuiet laugh that’s half happiness and half sob. “It’s so good to see you standing again, mein freund.”

Molly drops his blades and looks at them, the frown still deep on his face.

“Who the bloody hell are you, people?” He let’s out, and everything about his voice feels wrong. Too hoarse, too deep, too heavy. There is no trace of the accent and flourish that so often accompanied his sugar coated words.

“Oh, no. He’s forgotten everything again!” Nott blurts out, looking at the others.

The Nein share a solemn look. They knew this was a possibility, a risk to take, but they also knew deep down, somewhere within this man, they could find the Molly they all know and love. It was a risk worth taking to save his life.

“Your name is Mollymauk,” Yasha says gently, stepping forward. “Everything is going to be alright, I promise.”

Molly’s face twists, he looks up at her with something resembling a feral smile.

��My name is not Mollymauk,” he spits out the word like it’s an insult. “I was Lucien, once. Now, I am the Nonagon. And I demand to know who you are and what is going on? Where is Cree? Where are the others? And who put me in this ridiculous clothes?!”

Jester lets out a heavy sob, hiding her face against Fjord’s chest. Nott hides behind Caleb’s leg as the wizard summons Frumpkin around his neck.

“Oh, Molly, no,” Beau’s voice is quiet and filled with sorrow.

Yasha doesn’t say a word. She turns around and leaves the room, slamming the door behind her.

“It’s alright,” Fjord says, rubbing circles on Jester’s back as she cries against his ribs. “We’ll explain everything.”

#character: mollymauk tealeaf #fandom: critical role #cr spoilers #i immediately had to fix my own sad fic haha

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joyful-soul-collector · 4 years ago

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❄️Week 1: December 9-15❄️

stars in the city ch. 10 by @parkrstark (Pt. 3 of constant as the stars above)

Summary: Peter and Steve are finally settling into their new life with Tony. Recovery isn't always a straight line, especially with a four-year-old, but they're trying their best. Their newfound fame has Steve juggling between his private life and the one plastered on the front page of every tabloid. He shouldn't have been surprised that the public didn't believe in his rags to riches love story. Tony usually makes it easier for him to handle it all. Until he starts to distance himself from Steve, as if now he's the one hiding something. And Steve is left wondering if he's about to lose Tony for good this time.

Relationships/Tropes: Stony, Irondad, Papa Steve, Homeless Peter Parker, Homeless Steve Rogers, No Powers AU, (Coffee Shop AU??? Sorta)

Review: This fic just always makes my heart ache in the best way. So much fluff, so much angst, it's a perfect balance that I'm just absolutely in love with!

❄️

Devils Roll The Dice ch. 9 by @ephemeralstark

Summary: “I miss you Mr. Stark,” Peter admitted as he stared up through the leaves overhead at the stars that twinkled promisingly at him, “I wish you were back here. I would give anything to fix things, I would give anything for you to be alive today.” What Peter didn't know, as he made that wish and closed his eyes, letting the tears fall shamefully, was that the Universe was always listening, and it was dangerous to make a wish and offer up anything. - Tony Stark wakes up in his bed one morning, not realising that months have passed since his death - that's going to be awkward to explain to the world. Peter Parker has been living on the streets, trying to hide his identity as the entire world wants Spider-Man dead, and dealing with the trauma that Beck left him. To make things worse - it's now his fault that yet another bad guy thinks they're entitled to owning Earth.

Relationships/Tropes: Irondad, Spideychelle, Pepperony, Happy Hogan/May Parker, Homeless Peter Parker, Post-FFH, Post-Identity Reveal, Tony Stark Comes Back To Life

Review: Oh man this fic is so sad and so sweet, I love it so much! I love how it combines Peter's trauma after Mysterio with his reaction to finding out that Tony is alive again, it's just so creative!

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His Heart Bloomed Sunflowers (and he wore them on his skin) by @littlemissagrafina (Pt. 24 of Comfortember 2020)

Summary: Peter honestly didn't know how no one had discovered his tattoos yet. He wasn't broadcasting them but he wasn't exactly being the most subtle either. Although he was partly grateful for it since he was dreading what would happen when May on Tony saw them. But he was pleasantly surprised at the reactions that he got when he was found out. Peter had expected anger, disappointment, maybe annoyance at the very least. What he got was far from that. (A sequel to Comfortember Day 4. Anxiety) Comfortember Day 29. Make/Build/Create Something Beautiful

Relationships/Tropes: Minor Spideychelle, Tattoos, Comfortember

Review: I love this fic so much! I loved the description of how the flowers wilted when the ones he'd drawn had faded, and how the ones he got tattooed never wilted again :']

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I’ll drive all night (to keep them warm) by @littlemissagrafina (Pt. 23 of Comfortember 2020)

Summary: For the next hour they tried to calm Morgan again but, just like the rest of the day with Tony and Pepper, nothing was working. No teething rings, gel, nothing. The little girl was just well and truly grumpy, tired, and sore.

Suddenly an idea came to Peter and he turned to Tony and Pepper.

"Can I try something?"

They both nodded at him, prompting him to continue with his idea.

"Can I take her for a drive?" He asked. "I'm not sure if it'll work but Ben used to do it for me when I was younger and it always calmed me down."

Comfortember day 28. Car Ride

Relationships/Tropes: Irondad, Peter & Morgan, Pepperony, Baby Morgan, Car Rides, Comfortember

Review: This one was so cute! I love Peter being a good big brother to baby Morgan, and I relate to finding trips in the car relaxing and nice :D

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It’s What Brothers Do by @littlemissagrafina (Pt. 22 of Comfortember 2020)

Summary: Morgan was somehow full of even more energy than usual that day and wanted to see if she could do the monkey bars that were attached to the jungle gym herself. Before Peter could stop her, she had already grabbed hold of the first one and let herself swing towards the next one.

But the little girl had misjudged just how heavy swinging your own body weight was and almost immediately started falling. Peter shot forward from his place on the ground, jumping and diving, just managing to catch her before they both hit the grass of the park grounds. Comfortember Day 27. Park

Relationships/Tropes: Minor Pepperony, Peter & Morgan, Irondad, Peter Protects Morgan, Comfortember

Review: Another cute Big Brother Peter fic! I love that Peter was really protecting Morgan in this one, he loves her enough to put himself in harm's way to protect her

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The Burger Debate by @littlemissagrafina (Pt. 21 of Comfortember 2020)

Summary: Tony and Peter shared a lot of similarities, there was no doubt about it. A lot of their mannerisms were the same, personality quirks (especially in the lab), occasional recklessness, selfless hero personas, etc etc. However, one thing they didn't share was their taste in burgers. Whenever the topic came up there was a friendly, yet heated, 'disagreement' as Tony called it. No matter what anyone ever told him, Tony thought that a cheeseburger was the holy grail of burgers. And Peter, well… he happened to think the same only for chicken burgers.

Comfortember Day 26. Junk Food

Relationships/Tropes: Irondad, Peter & Morgan, Pepperony, Infinity War Compliant, Not Endgame Compliant

Review: This was so sweet and so sad, especially the part where Tony couldn't eat burgers while Peter was snapped because it hurt him too much. It showed his grief really well

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Career Day Drabble by @jen27ny

Summary: uncle happy and uncle rhodey come to peter’s career day

Relationships/Tropes: Happy & Peter, Rhodey & Peter, Happy & Rhodey, Minor Irondad, Career Day

Review: I loved this story so much! I really appreciate seeing some nice Uncle Rhodey and Uncle Happy content!!

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Gifts by @wayward-fairchild (Pt. 5 of Holiday Collection 2020)

Summary: Rhodey and Tony have been together to the point Rhodey sees the kids as his own. Maybe that is why the kids agree to help with Rhodey's biggest gift to Tony yet.

Relationships/Tropes: Rhodey & Tony, Irondad, Rhodey & Peter, Christmas, Kid Peter

Review: This was just absolutely adorable! I love some Irondads content and this was very sweet

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evermore by @lyssismagical

Summary: Just a Solid Vent Fic. I wanna do 30 days of Taylor Swift-inspired fics (folklore and evermore) lmao but idk yet we’ll see lemme know tho

Relationships/Tropes: Spideychelle, Irondad, Peter Overworks Himself

Review: I loved this one a lot! I definitely relate to Peter with tending to overwork myself during school and letting other things fall away, and then feeling quite exhausted after it's all over haha. I'm glad MJ and Tony were able to help him <3

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Two Hours Spent Cuddling by @skeeter-110 (Pt. 2 of Twelve Days of Christmas)

Summary: A giant snowstorm takes out the power in the tower. While waiting for the backup generator to come up, the Stark-Rhodes family finds a way to stay warm.

Relationships/Tropes: Ironhusbands, Irondad, Papa Rhodey, Kid Peter, Christmas

Review: I. Love this story. So much. I haven't seen very many stories that center around Rhodey being a father-figure to Peter, and this one definitely filled all my desires for such a story! It's so fluffy and sweet, and I loved every word :D

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Three Stark-Rhodes’ Decorating by @skeeter-110 (Pt. 3 of Twelve Days of Christmas)

Summary: Tony, Rhodey, and Peter Stark-Rhodes begin decorating for the holiday season.

Relationships/Tropes: Ironhusbands, Irondad, Papa Rhodey, Kid Peter, Christmas

Review: This story was absolutely adorable! It was another featuring Papa Rhodey and Dad Tony with Little Peter, and it was so well done! I love that Tony's robots and JARVIS each get a stocking hung over the fire too, and the way Peter pronounce ornaments as "orminents" was so cute!!!

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Four Poorly Wrapped Presents by @skeeter-110 (Pt. 3 of Twelve Days of Christmas)

Summary: Peter has two presents each for his Daddy and his Papa. The only problem was, he had no idea how to wrap them. He figures the Avengers could help.

Relationships/Tropes: Ironhusbands, Irondad, Papa Rhodey, Avengers Family, Kid Peter, Christmas

Review: This was so sweet! Clint, Nat, and Steve treat Peter with such sweetness, and it made my heart all fuzzy and warm <3

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If you look at any these stories, be sure to show the author your appreciation with a comment/kudos/reblog where applicable!

Click here for more fanfic rec lists!

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dana-chan-the-control-brain · 4 years ago

Text

Thoughts on, Invader Zim Quarterly: Holiday Special

WEEEE WISH YOU A MERRY JINGLY WE WISH YOU A MERRY JINGLY!

Ahhhhh It’s out! I’m so excited!

But I always get excited when it has my man Membrane and my man Eric Trueheart involved with the comics.

Also santa.. Tbh, I was excited and nervous about this quarterly.

Excited because it has Membrane santa backstory...

But I was nervous because that it means they might bring back the santa-blob monster from the Holiday special on the TV... and The Christmas special is one of my least favorite IZ episodes... I mean... I rewatch it occasionally, and it’s fun, but I’m just kinda used to IZ having more BITE in it’s satire if you know what I mean? The Christmas Special in the IZ universe doesn’t really say anything about the capitalism of Christmas... it’s not like IZ hasn’t made fun of capitalism before. (that’s the whole show) The Christmas Special in the show just kinda fell flat of my expectations of what an Invader Zim episode should be....

The only thing I respect the Holiday Special for, is that it goes down the “Santa isn’t real” route in a kid’s show and sticks to it. (there’s no “real santa” that shows up and “solves everything”) All of the “Santa’s Helpers” confused the Santa mythos with the Christianity Jesus mythos. (”waiting one day for his return”) Which makes sense, since IZ is like dystopian future Suburbia Hell. I just kinda like that there’s no “real santa” that interfered to “fix everything” and that Zim himself ended up CREATING Santa when he didn’t exist previously. Like I find that kinda cool...

Other then that, I just kinda wanted something else from the Hoilday special then what I got. (It taking priority over scrapped episodes like “the trail” and “Ten minutes to doom” and “mopiness of doom” does not help it’s case in being one of my C-tier episodes...)

So maybe this quarterly will fill the void of what I wanted out of a Holiday special? Well, let’s see.

SPOILERS FOR THE QUARTERLY BELOW THE CUT

Ways to get Dana off-board immediately: Monster Santa is canon.

I always never liked to view the special as canon for ways that it fell flat before.

And I had the excuse of saying that the snowman was an unreliable narrator and I could adapt it down the line in my fic as a different story.

I just didn’t like the idea of Monster-horror-blob santa... Like... Cool design... but he just kinda represents everything I disliked about the special... (including the major inconsistency of when Tak’s ship got fixed...)

But then again.. I need to remember IZ’s lore isn’t as consistent as I think it is sometimes...

Okay, fine. Monster blob santa real... what else you got for me, Holiday special?

FACE HUGGER SANTA! FACE HUGGER SANTA! I AM NOT INTO IT!

WHAT?! WHAT?! WHAT?! NO. DANA HATES THIS!

Okay, kinda into it because this means that ZIM CREATED SANTA in this mythos... I am dying.... wait.. this takes place in the future then...soo...?

haoFhaGHAOhfgg

It was all a dream?!

GOOD.

my heart couldn’t take it if horror-santa was real...

Also... that nightcap and bed... Does this mean we’re going to have an Invader Zim Christmas Carol?!?!?! I know that’s been adapted a schmillion times but I would be so into that....

Also... Flying... hamm...

Good ol’ Zim... Repressing those memories...

Also this being the THIRD ETF reference in a quarterly, It can be very safe to say the Quarterly issues take place after the events of ETF.

Clembrane exists in the Quarterly, Membrane has robot arms, Zim remembers this (kinda) Yeah this is definately ETF verse and it’s here to stay.

Christmas Carol?! I’m down for this... and I can’t help but notice their claws look familiar

OH HOLY HELL I WAS RIGHT! THESE GUYS! I LOVE THESE GUYS?!

Why are you here tho?

I’m a bit lost on why these guys wanta take over the earth, but they’re hilarious so I’m just glad they’re here.

Also... The Christmas Special is Schrodinger's Christmas... did it happen, or was it a dream, or the tales of a lunatic snowman... I guess I’ll never know.

The issue goes on for an IZ Christmas Carol parody (heck yea) and the visions are all hilarious and I’m not gonna spoil them here... but...

Eric.... this is terrifying..........thanks I hate it.

TINY DIB THOUGH! GHAOGHAHGAHAHA

THIS IS GREAT

THE MORE DIB SUFFERS THE MORE I LOVE IT!

“Though I am Dib and sickly father”

I’m dying XDDDDD

Also... What the fuck is Zim’s reaction here...

I find it funny that Zim has put Dib into simulated realities before... (in the show and comics) and in the show, Dib is all powerful and in the comics, Dib is just himself and Zim is his brother..

But seeing a simulated Dib all weak and pathetic and chronically ill BOTHERS ZIM?!?!

That’s... well that’s interesting.

Thought he’d laugh at this honestly, but he seems greatly annoyed...

I CHANGED MY MIND! THIS IS THE BEST THING!

(those who know me know why I’m dying over this)

YES!!!

ZIM DOESN’T LIKE WHEN PEOPLE FEEL BAD FOR HIM OR PITY HIM!

(which confirms like a lot of my hcs and adds spicy kindling to my au much mad respect)

This I find interesting... Zim complepative over his lonely/abandoned grave. It’s like he really doesn’t know how to feel. It’s more of a numbness then a sadness. Or he noticed how empty his life is...

He feels lonely and empty about it... which tracks considering how Zim’s greatest fear in the Trial was to be deleted and never be remembered by anyone.

I don’t know... This panel makes me feel things...

Johnen: Haha. Zim’s not that deep a character.

Eric: Hey for the Christmas special, let’s have Zim parody a Christmas carol and feel lonely staring at his own empty grave when he realizes no one cares about him or misses him.

Johnen: Cool. Do it.

What are you two assholes doing to me, man?! I have feelings!

AND ONCE AGAIN!

Zim hates pity and people feeling bad and sorry for him.

Man this makes me so sad... And it really feels like this issue looked into my brain again, cause I have some plans relating to Zim not wanting sympathy or pity from anyone later down the line (okay I’ll shut up about my au. We’re talking Zim here)

And of course, Zim breaks everything like he usually does. (this time on purpose)

Also nice callback that Zim remembered that Dib said he liked his boots one time in the Poop-wizard issue.

Also, it ends? I guess this quarterly has a few shorter stories this time... which I’m fine with.

Also, Zim should consider Green and Blue like D-list friends at this point and just invite them in for some fundip or something (come on, Zim, it’s Christmas.....)

GASP!?!?!

LITTLE MEMBRANE!!!

AND GRANDPARENTS CONFIRMED!!!

Wait... so his Parents are scientists too? Is that why he always wanted to be a scientist?

But then wait.... If Membrane inherited Membrane Labs from his parents... Why is HIS FACE the brand of the Company?..... There’s so much Membrane-face brand merch in the show. (it decorates his home..)

Like even if they were dead, if his parents founded Membrane labs, I feel they’d still be the face. of the company... (that’s how a lot of corporate faces are these days... they show some old dead guy who made the company as opposed to the son who inherited the Company.... Like everyone knows who Walt Disney/Mickey Mouse is, but unless you pay close attention to that kinda thing, not everyone knows who the current chairman or CEO is in the modern age....)

I just find that a bit odd.

Anyways... I feel people can still do what they want with Membrane’s parents and get away with it. I’m not changing my “his parents were farmers” headcanon. Sorry comic..

BUT I LOVE THEIR DESIGNS.

I love how Membrane looks a lot like his mother, and his father is just BUFF GAZ with a pipe.... Truely legends.

GASP!!!

COLLEGEBRANE COLLEGEBRANE COLLEGEBRANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOOKOUT DIB, THIS IS YOUR FUTURE!

I FUCKING LOVE HOW OILY HE LOOKS.. AND IT ADDS UP CAUSE...

The Membrane Men when they don’t shower or bathe in months.....

Someone help these two.

(thank god Membrane got better at personal hygiene.)

Also Teenbrane STILL has his human arms and not his robo-arms.

This means he loses his arms later in life... YUSH HORRAY FOR HEADCANNONS BEING VALIDATED!

He didn’t lose his arms in a shark accident when he was a KID! It happened WAY LATER!

NICE!

OH MY GOD HE IS BABY!

HE IS SO SHY AND ACKWARD! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

I LOVE HIM!

He is just... all sweat and hiding his work but also very passionate and spiteful.

Like you can see who he grew up to become, and you can also see how a kid like Dib came out of a man like him...

But I love social anxiety awkward early twenties/late teens Membrane... He is a baby!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

MEMBRANE ;w;

Basically, Membrane knows that Santa isn’t real, but he doesn’t want to be mad at his parents so he harbors a grudge on Santa instead... THAT’S SO SWEET I’M CRYING TTmTT

LIKE THAT IS SO SWEET AND I’M CRYING!

(also I love how me and Ceph understand Membrane’s character too well that the gesture he does in the 2nd panel here are reminisant of our fic so many times... Like we have his mannerisms down and I love when the mask slips from Membrane and we get to see a real person... augh soo good)

WHO GAVE THEM THE RIGHT TO MAKE MY MAN THIS SAD?! ONLY I CAN MAKE HIM SAD!

MEMBRANE TTMTT

AUUUGHH

Also probably guessing the parents are dead... I’m just laughing at their designs...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Yes you are, Professor Membrane... Don’t let anyone tell you different. (actually, please do) Well, I mean, At least you’re trying and get progressively better.

(also... this probably means everytime Dib has asked his Dad for a dangerous weapon to fight Zim with, Membrane just gives it to him no questions asked and I’m doing a MAJOR concern about this man’s parenting skills... get help please good sir!)

Also, Dib really saved the day again here (like he did in Dib’s big day)

Dib called about destroying santa when Membrane was in one of his lowest points... He hides it really well... Especially from his children..

Ah.. I loved that one.

But I’m a huge Membrane Simp though.

I did find the stuff about Membrane’s parents a little weird... like I said regarding how Membrane’s face is the brand of Membrane labs...

Could be true that they were other scientists and that Membrane founded Membrane labs later... but that seems highly unlikely...

Also... Why does the house look that hug when in the christmas special, it looked kinda like...well... just not that, and kinda more humble from the interior and not some big rocket lab...

So yeah... AMAZING character building for Membrane (which I eat up)

Hilarious Grandparent Designs. But I still prefer @esthyradler ‘s Grandparents. The superior Grandparents.

Anyways... The Quarterly was GREAT!

I kinda find it funny the Zim story is the weaker one of the two again... But I honestly blame the Christmas Horror blob connection and the Christmas Carol parody.

Or maybe my Membrane Bias is clouding my mind here. I do have Zim bias but sometimes Zim can frustrate me. There’s just so many times Zim can do and say the same things you know? Zim is my baby, but sometimes his denial and annoyance with everyone can be very predictable at points. Zim was just way more fun in the last quarterly than this one.

With Membrane it’s more of a blank slate what to do with him cause he ony started really mattering as a character since ETF. Yes, I do love show Membrane, but I admit he wasn’t exactly a character then. More of a presence and excuse for why Dib had access to lab equipment. With Dib’s Dilemma and this Hoilday special, the Quarterly folks seem determined to turn him into a fully realized character with the rest of the cast and I’m extremely excited to hear that!

(Computer issue/backstory WHEN?!)

I don’t really have ratings or systems for these but hope you liked my thoughts.

Merry Christmas everyone.

#Invader Zim #invader zim quarterly #IZ comics #IZ comics Spoilers #danachan's rants #Professor Membrane

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idontmeantosoundrudebut · 4 years ago

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This is Home (stupid Eretlout oneshot)

Oh hello it is currently 4 am and I've just finished this impulse one-shot about Modern Eretlout haha lol bruh! It's set in Britain by the way, because I'm British and I love my British culture lol! This hasn't been edited by the way so... yeah, it's really bad in my opinion but I need to post some writing because yeah! I'm actually currently working on a long Eretlout fic but I have no idea when/if it'll be finished so haha lol bruh awkward! Oh yeah, warning of abuse and past child abuse and only slightly steamy content, really its just making out and all that!!! haha lol bruh enjoy

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Blood fills his mouth. It drips from his chin, pours from his head, spills from his nostrils.

He opens his red-speckled fist and a tooth lies in the scarlet pool gathered in his palm, it almost looks like gold beneath the glow of the streetlamp that slants into his car. His upper jaw throbs from where he'd yanked out the already loose tooth and he can make out the rivulets of gum-flesh still clinging onto the roots. He stares at it with an unbothered and tired expression.

"Couldn't even punch my tooth outright," He mumbles to himself, opening the glove box and chucking the tooth inside, "Had to yank it out myself,"

It makes a high-pitched clanging sound as it bounces off a half-finished bottle of Captain Morgan and then, silently, it disappears behind the several cigarette cartons that lay piled unceremoniously within (Marlboro Reds, Marlboro Golds, Caramel Blues, Regal Kingsizes, even the odd Mayfair for when he gets desperately low). He reaches a hand inside and rummages through the collection, most of them are empty at this point, he needs to restock and clean out his car, it's been a solid few months since he did that. He shakes a Caramel carton, empty. Another Caramel? Empty. Marlboro Red? Empty. Regal? Ah, lucky day, only half-empty.

A great sigh forces its way through his clogged nostrils and, with the abruptness of a cut artery, blood spatters all over his shirt and along his forearms. His hand freezes mid-air, fingers tight around the bending carton as he blinks slowly, anger simmering beneath his skin because really? Really?! He looks down at his shirt, it was ruined anyway. He'll never get the red out that white, looks like someone's just slit his throat from all the blood that's been pouring down his neck. That table-corner got him good in the head and cut a deep gash just above his eyebrow, the entire right side of his face is crimson with blood and it shimmers in the flickering lamplight.

He bites into the end of the cigarette and lights it with a silver zippo, the flame casting writhing shadows across his blood-spattered hand. The first drag is the best, the first hit to the back of his throat, the first exhale of smoke. Each heartbeat hurts a little less with a little more smoke, a little more tar, a little more death in his lungs.

Snotlout starts the car and drives away. He watches his childhood home disappear around the corner and it feels like goodbye. He can't kind it in himself to be sad about it.

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He parks outside of Eret's house on the edge of the path, walking up to the red door with a tidy black seven nailed on it.

"Oh Snotlout, love, you alright?" Comes a familiar voice and he looks over to see Chantel from next door, wrapped in her dressing gown with a black bin bag clutched in her hands.

Eret's house is tucked in the centre of a row of brick houses, it's the kind of street where everyone knows everyone and everyone knows everything, whether you like it or not. In the last year, Snotlout has gotten to know a lot of people (and a lot of rumours) who live along this here street.

"I'm alright, Chan," He says honestly (because he is alright, it's just a bit of blood and few bruises) and stamps the butt-end of his fifth cigarette in thirty minutes into the cracked path.

"You 'aven't been fighten' again, 'ave you? With those Trapper boys?" Chantel asks severely, a mother of four, she's very intuned to her maternal instincts and even the slightest sign of distress has them flaring up, "It better not be with those Grimborn brothers! I'm telllen' you Snotlout, those two are shady bastards and its best to stay clear of 'em-"

Snotlout lights another smoke, this one from a full carton of Marlboro Red, and spits blood and phlegm onto the grass, tongue prodding the empty socket in his jaw.

"I haven't been fighting, Chan, promise," He reassures her, and that's also true because he didn't fight back at all, it was more of a beat down, "Just a disagreement with my old man, you know how it is,"

Chantel's back straightens like she's been in the army her whole life and she crosses her arms over her chest, red hair wet and shining like blood in the moonlight. Only four of the streetlamps work and they're further down the road, so the road and paths are alight only from the horseshoe moon that hovers amongst the star-filled sky, the black-asphalt gleaming silver. They've been complaints to the council to get them all fixed, but they won't do anything, they never do, they just leave the poor to rot.

She looks like she's about to say something about it, but he shakes his head at her. Instead of telling him to call the police, she says;

"You're bleedin' like a stuck pig all over the place, Lout, people'll gonna be thinkin' that Jack the Ripper is back from the fuckin' dead," He laughs at that and he offers a straight to her, as a thanks for not making a big fuss over finding him bloodied like a murdered boy in the middle of the night, but she shakes her head.

"You're grand, love, I got a pouch this mornin', save 'em for desperate times," Chantel looks him up and down, black eyes near white in the moonlight, "You look like you're in one now,"

Snotlout agrees with her. He waves a hand to bid her goodnight and goes inside. He closes and he turns on the hallway light. The marrow-deep tension in his bones slips away, causing a breath that comes from the very bottom of his tar-clogged lungs to fall from his lips, and his hurting heart finally stops beating against his ribs like a jackhammer as he leans against the front door.

He's safe, he's home. Because this small, shoddy house with its water-stained ceilings and peeling wallpaper and creaking floorboards is home. It's simple and a little broken, but it's home.

"Snotlout?" Eret calls from upstairs, he can see the bedroom light glow up the hallway at the top of the stairs, "That you?"

"Yeah," He takes a generous drag, then exhales slowly, "It's me, sorry I'm late... Went to see my dad, after work,"

Footsteps ring across the house and Eret appears at the top of the stairs, dressed in nothing but a ratty pair of grey jogging bottoms, his terribly handsome torso bare for Snotlout and Snotlout alone to see. He grins proudly around his cigarette at the sight of those hard abbs, those firm pecs, those faint scars, those old gang tattoos. Oh, what a handsome devil he is and Snotlout caught him all on his own.

"Fuckin' Hell, Snotlout!" Eret comes charging down the stairs like a mad horse and Snotlout barely blinks when he comes over to him, large hands gracing over his oozing temple and along his bruising jaw. The touch is very much welcomed.

"What happened? Were you jumped?"

"No, I wasn't fucking jumped-"

"You've lost a tooth!"

"It's in the car, in the glove box, I'll get Gobber to stick it back on,"

"I don't think that's how it works, darlin',"

Eret drags him into the living and posts him on the black vinyl couch. Hookfang, his German Shepherd, immediately bounds over to him and rests his snout on top of Snotlout's knees, wet nose twitching and throat moving with unfurling whines and whimpers. He pets him affectionally between his ears, humming lowly to Hookfang to help ease the old war-vet. Eret goes to snatch the half-smoked cigarette from his fingers, but Snotlout's reflexes are too fast.

"Hey! I'm not done, asshole,"

"Not smokin' in the house is your rule, not mine, I'm just helpin' you out,"

"Fuck that rule, just for tonight, fuck it,"

With a rich laugh, Eret saunters into the kitchen to get the med-kit. But Snotlout saw the concern and anxiety in those dark, earthy eyes and he heard it too in that laugh, it was a little shaky at the end. Hookfang barks at him.

"Easy Hookfang, I'm okay," He barks again, louder, black eyes glistening with fear, "I know pal, there's a lot of blood, but it's okay, I'm okay, soldier," He ruffles the War-dog's neck lovingly, trying to ease Hookfang's unnerved mood and distract him from the blood. It probably brings back bad memories for him.

Eret comes back with the med-kit tucked beneath his armpit and a large bowl of water cradled in his hands. He set it on the coffee table and politely nudges Hookfang out of the way, the Shepherd in turn leaps onto the couch and curls dutifully at Snotlout's side. Such a loyal friend, Snotlout doesn't deserve something as honourable as Hookfang's fidelity.

"Look like a stuck pig," Eret whisper, running a wet dishtowel along the drying river of blood that pours down his face and throat.

"Ha, Chantel said the exact same thing," He chuckles lowly, watching rivulets of watery blood travel down Eret's powerful forearms as he sponges at the blood along his cheek.

"Chantel?" He queries, eyes briefly flickering to meet his.

"Yeah, caught outside just as I was coming in," Snotlout closes his eyes as he lifts his chin so Eret can easily swipe the already stained towel down his throat. It leaves a funny tightness in his gut and a nice shiver ghosts up his spine at the vulnerable display.

"Well, expect the whole street to know by lunchtime tomorrow," Eret replies, then adds, "I mean, I love Chantel to pieces, but by God, she gossips like there is no tomorrow,"

Snotlout nods in agreement, smoking his cigarette and tapping the ash into an ashtray that's always kept on the coffee table, despite his own rule of no smoking in the house. But he's never been good at keeping to the rules, even his own ones. Eret wipes away the twin-tracks of maroon streaking from his nose and begins to wrap the gash above his eyebrow up.

"We'll go to the doctor tomorrow mornin', yeah? Think you might need stitches,"

"Cool," Is his reply, tired and uninterested.

All the blood is finally cleared from his skin. The towel is scarlet. The bowl on the table is no longer a bowl of water, but a bowl of blood. A swathe of bandages is wrapped around his head like a bandana, but there hasn't been any bleed through for a few minutes so Eret looks satisfied (and rather proud) at his nursing work.

After a moment, Snotlout flicks his finished fag into the ashtray and stares into Eret's dark eyes; he's very tired.

"Thanks for patching me up, babe," Snotlout says quietly, not because he doesn't mean it but because he is full of such a sudden exhaustion that it feels well overdue. His head, his brain, needs a good rest or else he's going to start screaming.

"No problem," Eret soothes his large hands up and down Snotlout's thighs, "Now, are you going to tell me what happened?"

Snotlout sighs, big and heavy, hand settling on the nape of Hookfang's neck and running through the dense fur. His heart shudders, his lung quiver, his blood boils, his body doesn't like any of this. Just get it over with, as he did with his dad.

"I told my dad about us. About me... you know, liking guys and all-"

"And he did this to you?" Eret's voice goes low, like a growl of an animal with its teeth bared. Snotlout would be lying if he said it didn't turn him on a bit. Thick fingers curl protectively around his thighs.

"Eret, don't get yourself all riled up about it, okay? It's done. I knew he'd react like this, it's not the first time he's punched me around and called me a faggot, just this time, he actually had a reason to call me one,"

"Yeah, well, it may not have been his first time but it sure as fuck is his last, do you understand?" Eret snarls vehemently, hands moving from his thighs to his hips and sides, Snotlout doesn't even flinch when he accidentally brushes against a forming bruise, "You are never going near him again, Lout, I won't let you be hurt by scum like that,"

Eret's eyes burn. Dark soil and spitting embers in furrowed sockets. The firm frown on his face and the clenching muscles in his jaw, grinding teeth that thirst for a hating man's blood. It's making Snotlout's throat go dry.

"You're hot when you're angry, have I told you that before?" He says lowly and Eret looks at him, vengefulness fading as he takes note of the wanton look in those pale eyes.

"You may have mentioned it once or twice,"

They breathe on each other's lips, tempting, waiting for the first one to move. Hookfang books it upstairs, sensing the heady change in the air.

Eret pushes Snotlout back onto the couch and crawls carefully over him, their lips immediately locking in a wet and obscene kiss that stretches on and on forever. Snotlout moans as Eret forces his tongue down his throat, golden hands skimming beneath his shirt and touching the tender flesh beneath in a skilled and teasing way that drives him mad. They make out for a while, dominating each other's mouths with vigour and gusto till their breathless and sweating.

The bloodied shirt is pulled over his head and Eret stills above him when he sees the black and blue bruises that bloom along his ribs and chest and stomach, even Snotlout gazes at them with morbid curiously. Fuck, his dad got him more than he realised. Not that it matters.

"I'll kill him, Snotlout, I'll kill him," Eret promises in a snarling growl and Snotlout wraps his arms around his shoulders, drawing him down so he can mumble against his lips;

"I know, but fuck me first,"

Of course, Eret complies.

Later, tangled in a mass of sweaty limbs and exhausted desires, Snotlout knows that he'll be okay. With his head on Eret's chest, he closes his eyes and sleeps because he's home, home has always been in those dark eyes, in those large hands, in those warm arms. Home has always been here.

Eret, a wanderer for most of his life, a lost man at sea who was bound for dirty work, has finally found a place to set loose his anchor. Snotlout is home, is the harbour he'll always be homebound to. He'll protect his Snotlout because who is he but a wanderer without his home.

#snotlout whump #Snotlout #eret son of eret #eretlout #fanfic #httyd fanfiction #this is crack

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septiembrre · 4 years ago

Note

A (for Satisfied through the weekend), S and K for the fanfic A S K :)

Thank you for indulging me and sending me this ask. ❤️❤️

A: How did you come up with the title to Satisfied through the weekend?

It's a lyric from the Sza song, The Weekend. I love her so much and that song is so sexy. I listen to her a lot while I'm writing Brio -- one of her songs had to make it into my fics.

S: Any fandom tropes you can’t resist?

Haha, fake dating and romantic kisses! I'm a dweeb and I love writing over the top, vulnerable romantic kisses or daydreaming about over the top romantic kisses.

I'll include a reference here bc I'm being self indulgent and why not?

She murmurs, “You’re being too much.”

“Oh?”

“Mmhm.” She looks down at the hands at her waist. “Too handsy.”

“Me?” He whispers, low. “And you, what?”

It’s too warm.

“You want me to stop?”

He begins to remove his hands, but she catches them and holds them fixed to her hips.

“It’s fine. It’s all pretend, right?”

Beth feels him nod slowly.

She makes a sincere effort to look at him—all showy nonchalance—but her eyes get stuck at his lips.

She wets her own as he watches her tongue.

She raises a hand up and behind her to rub at the base of his neck, his closely cropped hairs prickling against her fingertips.

Distantly, Beth, hears her name called.

There is the sound of a chair sliding, dishes being gathered.

And Rio is close. Really close.

And in her play-acting, she drifts closer, with the haphazard thought that if it really is all pretend a kiss between the Elizabeth and Christopher of this evening wouldn’t matter too much. It would only be in character if they had snuck away for a quiet moment.

And she wants to win.

She wants the store.

And they make a good team.

But, if she’s honest, it’s only the thinnest excuse.

She has enough presence of mind to meet his eyes quickly and implore his consent. This wasn’t part of their initial agreements.

His head cants back, his eyes opaque and it’s immediately sobering the distance between them. His whole body is tense behind hers.

She can’t tell if he’s pissed with her, or indifferent, or… or if he wants it.

An apology begins to form on her lips before he tugs her flush against him. His hands are heavy and warm, and it’s pretend— pretend, right? But, it’s so present, how she misses that afternoon his fingers were inside of her.

Theirr lips touch. Their open mouths slide against each other.

Like a normal couple.

Oh god. It’s perfect—

K: What’s the angstiest idea you’ve ever come up with?

Hmmmmm.

I don't think I could seriously consider actually writing anything truly angsty at this point. Sometimes I daydream in ideas of a future!fic where Brio haven't gotten together and do not get together and reminisce more bitterly on their experiences with each other.

But, I won't write it! It makes me too sad.

#ask memes

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reifromrfa · 4 years ago

Text

FluffWeek: Day 2 | Nightmare

I didn’t mean to write for day 2 but inspiration hit and BAM, this fic was born! I hope you guys like this short fluffy story about one of the most complex yet beloved characters in the MM fandom!

»»————-　♡　————-««

Endless Sky | Saeran x MC

He lets out a loud cry and kicks the blankets, startling you awake. Immediately, you're by his side, stroking his face and shaking his shoulders.

"Saeran...Saeran, love, it's not real. You're dreaming."

His face is contorted in pain and there's a sheen of sweat on his forehead, his neck. You lean forward and brush your lips against his cheeks, kissing him as you mutter, "My love, come back to me. I'm here, I'm right here. Listen to my voice and open your eyes...those eyes I love so much. Please wake up, Saeran."

As though bidden, his eyes fly open with a gasp. Before you could fully lean back and look at him, you feel his hands grabbing your arms, gripping you tightly. You let out a gasp of your own as he pushes you down on the mattress, fingers sinking into your skin. But you don't flinch, not wanting to worry him. Instead, you look into his eyes as calmly as you can, even though your heart is hurting --hurting, because the one you love is in pain.

Saeran's eyes are wide, a wild look in them. There's fear and panic and confusion in those mint orbs, a chaotic swirl of emotions. He's panting, searching your face frantically, as though he's trying to remember who you are and where he is. Despite his hold, you move your hand and let your fingers stroke his arm soothingly. Your lips part and Saeran's eyes lock onto them.

"Love, you're safe now. You're safe here...with me."

Slowly, Saeran's breathing evens out. His shoulders relax and his eyes focus on yours, his gaze softening.

"MC."

His hold on you loosens and his hands move to your face, cupping your cheeks. There's a broken look on his face as he leans down and takes your lips in his, a sadness to his kiss that you wish desperately to take from him...

Saeran sighs as he feels your arms around him, deepening the kiss. In his dreams, you were both back there...in that place. And the Sav--that woman...she had you. He thought he knew pain before, but at the mere thought of seeing you in danger, being put in a position where he can't do anything to help you...

But we are not weak.

No...no, we're not. She's here, she's with me.

She's our princess...we won't let anything happen to her.

Saeran hears you moan softly, your fingers clutching his shirt as he continues kissing you. Yes, you're here....his love, his MC. He pulls away from the kiss and presses his forehead against yours, taking deep breaths. He can feel your breath tickling his cheek as you pants softly, your cheeks tinted pink, red lips slightly parted. He gently strokes your cheek with the back of his fingers and Saeran lets out a shuddering breath.

"You're here."

"Yes. Yes, Saeran. I'm here, I'll always be here." You places your hands on his cheeks and give him a small smile. "You came back to me."

Saeran nods, tears filling his eyes.

"I'll always come back to you. You are my home now."

But his words are lodged in his throat. Your smile widens and you wipe away the tears that spill from his eyes. Saeran pulls you to him and holds you close, burying his face in your hair. Hands stroking his back, you envelop him in your arms and kiss the side of his head.

You stay like that for a while, immobile, nestled in the warmth of the other. But as Saeran's tears stop and his body relaxes, you smile at him and sit up.

"Where are you going?" Saeran's hand tightens around yours.

"Follow me, Saeran." You reach for your sweater and pull it around you, then hand him his sweater. Giving you a curious look, Saeran slips his arms into the sweater and follows you wordlessly. He doesn't let go of your hand but you have no complaints; you love the feel of his warm, slender fingers intertwined with yours.

Together, the two of you walk to the front door of the cabin. You pass Saeyoung, asleep on the couch with the glow of his laptop screen illuminating his features. Vanderwood is sitting on the couch, arms crossed, head lolling to the side. You had all decided to come here for the weekend to get some fresh air, but of course those two had stayed up late --Saeyoung, working on his latest toy design and Vanderwood, enjoying a weekend off work as Jumin's bodyguard. You press your finger to your lips and glance at Saeran and see the side of his lips twitch as his gaze lands on his older twin. Silently, you open the front door and step outside.

The cool air washes away any trace of sleep you have and you shudder. Saeran tenses when he feels the cold breeze but you tug his hand forward. He closes the door behind him and silently grabs your shoulders and faces you to him. His fingers make quick work of buttoning your sweater and you feel your heart pounding hard against your chest.

"Saeran, I'm okay," you whisper to him.

"You can't catch a cold." He mutters, before taking your hand again and pulling you forward.

From the sound of your shoes against the wooden floorboards of the porch to the soft footfalls against the grassy field in front of the cabin, you close your eyes and fill your lungs with air. You tilt your head up and when you open your eyes, the starry night sky greets you.

Saeran can't take his eyes off you. Even with tousled hair, you look beautiful. Now, bathed in the moonlight...you truly look like an angel, sent down from heaven to find him. Save him.

"You once told me that you yearned to see the sky when you were younger...Saeyoung took you to see them before, right? Well..." Your cheeks grow warm again. "I want to be that for you too, Saeran."

You squeeze his hand gently.

"I want to remind you that you're free. The sky will always be here for you now, love...just like I will."

Saeran looks up at the sky, at the twinkling stars. She's right...of course she is. His nightmares will never become a reality...because he's free now. Mint Eye is no more. He doesn't need to be Unknown or Ray or a Believer anymore...he can simply be Saeran. He no longer hates his brother. He doesn't need anyone's permission to go outside...to see the stars.

Saeran breathes in and allows himself to be lost in the moment, to be amazed at how vast the world truly is. When he was young, his world was so small, consisting of the 4 corners of their room. It was Saeyoung who broke those walls and gave him a taste of freedom --introduced him to the taste of delicious ice cream. When he was with Rika, his world grew a little...yet, he was still confined to Magenta's walls, trapped in the horrors that the elixir drowned him in.

Yes...he's been a prisoner for so long.

But now...

Now he's able to stand there and appreciate the stars scattered across the night sky.

Saeran squeezes your hand too, eyes still fixed on the heavens.

"Look, my love," he says in a soft voice. "Look how dark the sky is. It's so big, it feels scary."

Saeran trails off and you turn to look at him, not saying a word. After a while, Saeran speaks once more.

"I...I've never been in a world that wide...a world so big I'd get lost in it. Before this, I was all alone in the darkness. Or I thought I was. I...It was scary in that darkness. That is, until you came. When you came to me, it was as though a star appeared before me, an angel. You brought light with you, my love, a light that I didn't--I don't want to turn away from, ever.

You freed me, MC. You freed me from that darkness and now, now that I'm looking at this dark sky, I can't help but think...this darkness is different. Because the darkness is surrounded by plenty of stars.

The dark isn't so scary when I have my star with me." He turns to you and a small smiles comes to his lips. "My nightmares are chased away by your radiance, my love. So please, stay by my side forever."

You feel your throat closing up at his words and you don't realize that you're nodding your head, a grin split across your face. "Saeran, of course. There's nowhere else I want to be but here by your side." Closing the small distance, you step to the one you love and throw your arms around his waist, placing your head on his chest. "I love you, I love everything about you. All of us...we each have a dark sky within us. But you're right --if we have our stars with us, then that darkness will become beautiful like the night sky. Because only when the light has gone can stars truly shine."

Saeran's smile broadens and he turns your face to him. "Never stop casting your glow over me, MC."

"Saeran...keep shining for me too, okay?" You touch his cheek and feel his arms wrapping around your waist. He lets out a light laugh.

"It's because of you that I am able to shine again...It's because of you...that now, my sky is endless." Saeran leans in close, lips merely inches away from yours.

"I love you."

-----

From the window, Saeyoung watches you both. He chuckles softly to himself before letting the curtain fall back over the window. He takes out his phone and swipes through the screens, finding what he was looking for. He finally cracked the code for the reset --he finally did it. With one push of a button, he can restart the game...or delete the reset button. Once and for all.

The choice is easy, isn't it?

He grins and presses his finger against the screen.

»»————-　♡　————-««

I’ve always loved Saeran but was nervous to write fics for him because maybe he’s a little relatable. No, I wasn’t drugged by a madwoman and I didn’t start texting a random girl and lure her into the apartment of said madwoman haha. But I think all of us are a little broken inside --maybe all of us have a little bit of Saeran within us. So I hope you guys find the one who’ll shine a light for you in times of darkness :)

Check out the other prompts for fluffweek on @mmfluffweek!

» My Masterlist

Consider giving me a Ko-fi?

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im-gettingby · 4 years ago

Text

30 Days of Carry On

posted (and written by?) @captain-aralias

(I’m doing most of these at once because I said so. it’s long so under the cut)

1. Favourite major character

I literally thought — Simon no Baz no Penny no, Agatha!

I guess I will pick Simon, since I relate to him the most — or at least, my connection to him led me into the fandom.

2. Favourite minor character

I think we all know this one 🐑🐑🐑

I have written many a treatise on Lamb Rights. I’ll spare everyone now

3. Character you relate to the most

Oops— I already answered this, kinda. I relate to them in different ways: I relate a lot to WS Simon because he has abandonment issues and “kid who was told he was extraordinary and then grew up to be ordinary” issues. We also both have a “fix all the things for everyone” complex, too.

Baz — It took me a while to get into Baz’s head, but I would say, I relate to him because of his intense emotional world and tendency to see the world through an intensely romantic/tragic lens. But also he’s a Pisces. and I’d never do that like a Pisces does. (Sorry, not sorry.)

4. Which character would you like to go to lunch with?

SHEPARD obviously. I don’t feel the need to elaborate.

5. Favourite non-Snowbaz ship

Ooh! Probably Lamb/Baz or Simon/Shep or just...literally anything. Like, I will read anything as long as it’s well written. The weirder the better. (Within...legal and moral limits.) in my other fandoms I’ve been a big multishipper and there’s not a lot of options for that in CO - which is fine - but wholeheartedly support rarepairs :D

6. Favourite non-romantic OTP

So, obviously Simon/Penny and Baz/Penny are great ones, but I think the nearest & dearest to my heart is Simon/Agatha. The kind of siblings/unwillingly dating/weird exes dynamic and the way they both shaped each other’s lives is just so interesting. And while Simon & Penny are closer, Agatha and Simon represent their aspirational selves to one another. And the way that they were both tied to one another along with their gender roles/places in society and both broke away at the same time is just...mwah

7. Favourite Baz outfit

I honestly dress kinda like Baz. Anything involving a printed silk shirt or a floral brocade suit, so like, all of them? I love WS Baz, his fashion sense is so thoughtful yet fun. He’s so expressive with it — in the sense of both being guarded, being sexy, and playing with masculinity/femininity.

8. How do you feel about Wayward Son?

In case it wasn’t obvious, I absolutely love it. I mean, from a writing/narrative standpoint, I don’t think it’s the most elegant or engaging book ever written, but it’s just so raw and fresh. I don’t see many examples of an author trying to do what Rainbow did, which is build a complex emotional AND plot-driven story with so many characters and so much lore. I’m very excited for AWTWB.

9. Favourite scene from Carry On, besides Chapter 61

I like what the book does/sets up overall. Honestly probably the first scene, where Simon walks to the bus stop & takes the train and just thinks about his life and makes lists -- I love Simon. I know Rainbow said she thinks that bit is boring, but it honestly says so much about his character in a short time. (and he’s an extremely complex character!) Also, Baz’s dramatic entrance. Also, the chapter where Baz says “and I’m hopelessly in love with him” because it’s just so dramatic, and it comes out of nowhere

10. Favourite scene from Wayward Son, besides Chapter 41

Baz and Lamb’s journey across the Strip - vampire lore, jealous Simon, Baz getting to be his own character— it’s beautiful.

11. Remind us about something in canon readers might have forgotten about

Ahahaha um. Simon says he thinks Baz’s cousin Marcus is fit. That’s pretty funny.

12. What are your hopes and fears for Any Way the Wind Blows?

I don’t have any hopes because I don’t want to be disappointed - and that’s not a cynical thing, I just want to go into it with an open mind. (I’ll take a break from fandom and reread the books beforehand so I’m (more of) a blank slate) I guess just...interesting emotional journeys, whatever that ends up being. There’s a lot that Rainbow has to do in the book and I don’t think any one person could get through all of it -- that’s why we have fanfiction.

Fears? I don’t know. I think just...the series ending. Even though I’ve been in fandom for less than a year I just really love this fandom & the thought of that kind of eroding away is sad. But also I don’t think that will happen immediately, and change is a part of life. I’ve never related as much to Cath as I do now :’)

13. An unpopular/cracky opinion you hold

unpopular: Lamb is the best character; I don’t want Simon to get his magic back; both Simon and Baz should have other romantic options.

14. Something from your head fanon

Hmmmmmmm well. Just mean things about Baz really. Like that he’s weird looking, not that great at football, and actually has kind of garish fashion sense. (which is a self-roast as well - see above.) I just feel like Simon/fandom put him on a pedestal, and Simon’s an unreliable narrator re: Baz anyway. So I like the idea that Baz is this average looking kinda strange nerdy guy who is everything Simon has ever wanted in life.

And before you tell me that Baz was hot at Watford and Agatha was into him, have you ever been to a tiny boarding school? Standards get weird 😂😂😂 and Terry being into him — come on. The guy’s a violent pervert.

also - back to Watford being a tiny school. Baz doesn’t have much competition to be the star of the football team. (also, does anyone except Simon even think that he is?)

16. Favourite location other than Watford

Vegas!

17, Favourite location in Watford

I’m pretty bad at Watford lore/geography bc again, I’m way more into WS. Probably the floor in the Cloisters where everything happens the same way, just a day later. There’s a fic there, but I can’t wrap my head around all the time travel implications enough to write it.

18. What would be your favourite subject at Watford?

Any potions-esque subject because I loved chemistry lab. Latin because I loved Latin in school. Uhhhh I don’t like history class, so not that — maybe a literature course focused on the derivation of spells.

19. What would your magical implement be?

Ooh! This is a good one. I’d like to think it would be a weird body piercing. Or a belt a la Gareth. Maybe some kind of traditional south Asian jewelry, like a nose chain or mang-tikka or something. maybe a hat. like, imagine your magical instrument being a fedora and you just have to...wear a fedora all the time.

21. Favourite canon spell

Hm. Kiss it better? Candle in the wind?I should try to think of a non-horny one. honestly they’re all so cool and clever - I love the magic system in CO/WS.

22. What would your eighth year spell at Watford be or do?

Maybe something from a poem I love. That would probably be pretty but not very functional. Or a healing spell.

23. Who would you want as your roommate?

Agatha is uptight, Penny is passive aggressive, Simon is a slob, Baz is both uptight and passive aggressive.

Definitely Shepard.

24. Favourite item of merchandise, official or unofficial

My @subparselkie sticker

25. Favourite book cover design

WS. Oh, another unpopular opinion - I don’t like the kevin wada cover of carry on. their faces look so weird and the colors don’t work for me. I own the version with the blue and yellow cover art instead

26. Do you want a movie? If yes - any fan casts for the movie?

Probably wouldn’t want a movie! Because I am way too possessive of these books/this version of the story. And I am historically extremely disappointed by adaptations — I get upset with the smallest of changes 😂

27. If they made a movie, what scenes do you think they’d cut that you’d be furious were missing?

See above. A LOT haha

28. If you could ask Rainbow Rowell one question, what would it be? (If you have already, you can share if you like)

What is Lamb’s full name????? Is it actually Lamb Lambert Lamborghini the third???

What is Rainbow’s relationship with sheep and goats. Why are there so many references to them

29. Have you read any of Rainbow’s other books?

Only Fangirl

30. How did you get into Carry On and/or Carry On fandom?

I read fangirl & the pages at the end mentioned carry on, so I read that, and enjoyed it but I wasn’t obsessed. Then I read WS spring 2020, reread it a bunch of times, reread CO, freaked out about the cliffhanger/cool vampire stuff/unresolved sexual tension, had pandemic cabin fever, got on AO3, and the rest is history.

As @annabellelux knows, I wrote my first (published) fanfic after reading her amazing fic Drop The Game. and the first fanfic I read was @captain-aralias’ Greener Grass. I was so obsessed that about a month later, I searched through the AO3 tags for it, because I couldn’t remember the title or author but kept thinking about it.

#tag game #30 days of carry on

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thdorkmagnet · 4 years ago

Text

Comfort for a False Princess

Hey guys! Meant to post this a while back on here but I had some issues with my email. It’s all fixed now but I had to hold off on posting this. Basically it’s a canon compliant fic taking place right after “Butterfly Trap” and is focused on Marco’s perspective! Thanks to my good friend @kikithefox231 for suggesting I try something canon instead of my typical AU craze haha. Enjoy!

Marco had promised Star he’d wait up for her. She had been pretty nervous and stressed out lately and he knew after today she would need some time with her bestie to make her feel better. He had been informed of the plan to expose the truth from the MHC, Star going into great detail about the plan her, her mom, and Eclipsa had come up with and even though Marco hadn’t felt like he was qualified to be given such knowledge, he had listened eagerly to her. He could tell she had just needed someone to vent at. And since he was her loyal squire (and chief best friend as Star liked to say) he swore he would be that person for her. Her shoulder to cry on, her hero, her boyfrie-

Well okay maybe not that last one since Marco was painfully aware of Star and Tom's relationship. But thanks to stupid Tad he was now aware of his own feelings for the girl and was forced to pretend he didn't love her and wanted nothing more than for her to love him back. He had no choice but to swallow back these feelings because that’s what Star wanted. Even if sometimes he wished she didn’t.

Unfortunately Marco’s vow to stay up was thwarted after Glossaryck climbed up into his lap and he soon fell asleep under the comforting warmth of the blue man’s small form. He was snoring loudly, a line of drool dripping from his chin as his head leaned on the back of the uncomfortable wood chair he was sitting in. He had yet to stir, despite the throbbing pain in his back, too stuck in his dreams to wake. Especially since it was his favorite dream, the one where he and Star were together, where Tom had never dated her and he had never gone out with Jackie. It was just him and Star against the world, exactly how he wanted things to be.

He was pretty rudely awoken from his slumber though as the door to Star’s room slammed open. He let out a startled shout, his voice strained from sleep as he jumped up yelling, “Wha- I’m up, I’m up!”

However, he got up a little too quickly and ended up falling out of the chair and onto the hard floor below him. Glossaryk dove off his lap and raced out of the room screaming the one word he seemed to know anymore, “Globgore!” Marco’s head spun as he sat up and took a look at his surroundings trying to get his fuzzy brain to focus. He blinked a few times as he remembered his plan for staying awake, swiping a hand over his eyes to help clear them and letting out a deep yawn. He looked behind him, giving Star a doopey but sheepish grin and muttered in the most alert tone he had at the moment, “Whoa, sorry Star. Guess I sorta dozed off there for a-”

The word caught in his throat as he finally focused in on Star. Her face was streaked with tears, her eyes red and swollen from crying. Her face was twisted into one of the most depressing looks Marco thought he had ever seen, her cheekmarks now dull shattered hearts. Just seeing her in that state made his insides squeeze together, her sadness causing him physical pain, and he nearly choked on the lump that implanted itself tightly in his throat. She gave him a desperate and almost pleading look and Marco was on his feet in an instant, his exhaustion long forgotten.

“Star, what’s wrong?” he asked, trying to keep the worry from his tone but that was hard to do when staring into the crying face of someone as sweet and carefree as Star. He would rather someone have punched him then to see Star going through any kind of negative emotion.

His words seemed to have opened up the floodgates as tears streamed down Star’s face anew and she ran towards him. Marco opened his arms without a word, anticipating the hug before it even happened and he was not surprised as Star’s slim form crashed into him, causing him to stumble back a step. Still, he recovered immediately encircling around Star’s shaking waist and resting his head on top of her soft, golden hair. Star had buried her face in his chest, and he could feel the front of his hoodie growing damp with her tears, her muffled sobs felt like knives being jabbed into Marco’s soul. He ran a hand up and down her back, cooing and shushing her softly, hoping to provide some kind of comfort to her troubled mind. “It’s alright, Star. Everything’s alright,” he whispered.

Even though he was beyond curious how the trial had gone and what could have caused Star to react this way he didn’t press her. Star’s peace of mind came first, his pestering questions could wait.

Marco was slightly upset though when he found himself enjoying the hug.

He missed having Star this close to him, most of the time their hugs were very brief and this was the longest one he had had in a while. He missed her hugs, since she had gotten with Tom they were less frequent and Marco ached for more. Not that he would ever ask, it wasn’t his place to. He had to be her loyal squire, that was all he could ever be. He should just be grateful he could be near Star everyday. The alternative he had almost had to live with was too painful to comprehend.

Or at least that's what he told himself. That he was okay where he was at, that he was fine with being Star’s friend and nothing more. But there was a deep part of him that wanted more than anything to have Star love him as much as he loved her. And that part ached. It hurt to be near her sometimes. Because he wanted her to love him. Almost needed her to.

No, get your thoughts together, Diaz, he scolded himself, ashamed of himself for making this about him when Star was in need. Besides he already accepted his fate. Star wasn’t his and she never would be. It was his own fault that he had ended up in this situation, after all. He had his chance with Star and he had blown it, all because he had been too blinded by Jackie to see what he was doing to his best friend. He hadn’t even noticed how much he was hurting her, his best friend, the girl he was supposed to know better than himself. And now she had moved on and he had to live with the consequences. This was his punishment for not seeing what he was doing to Star, to suffer the same way she had.

So he forced down all his thoughts and feelings and just focused on comforting his best friend. Star’s sobs slowly started to die down and he knew she was coherent enough to talk. “Star, talk to me. What happened?”

Star let out a shaky breath and pulled out of the hug. Her eyes were still blurry with tears and she sniffled a few times but otherwise seemed to have gotten crying out of her system. Her eyes were on the floor instead of Marco and the boy knew she had to be in a bad place if she couldn’t even look him in the eye. “I…” she started, before sniffing loudly again, her arm scrubbing at her face for a second. “I’m not a real princess,” she managed to whisper and her face filled with anguish.

Marco was surprised by this response and wanted to pull her into another hug, to hold her and never let her go. But he resisted the urge, not wanting to accidentally give away his true feelings for his bestie, so instead he settled for a hand on her shoulder. “Star, don’t be ridiculous. Of course you’re a real princess. I mean sure things haven’t been going great so far but that doesn’t make you any less of a-”

“No, Marco! You don’t understand!” Star shouted, knocking Marco’s hand off her shoulder, before leaning in closer to him, their eyes finally meeting and now Marco could see the full extent of sadness and pain buried in her expression and he felt his chest squeeze tightly at the horrible sight. Star without a smile was like a sky without the sun.

Star let out a choked sigh, struggling to pull herself together enough to tell Marco what was going on and the boy waited patiently for her to continue. Well at least on the outside he was patient, on the inside he wanted to scream and beg Star to tell him what was going on. The wait was killing him and not knowing whatever it was that was affecting her so negatively made him ache. He wanted to know so he could help.

And finally Marco got that relief as Star managed to get out, “The Magic High Commission lied. They switched Meteora with a different baby. I’m not a Butterfly, I-I never w-was.” With that Star broke down into new tears, bawling openly as she leaned against Marco for support.

Marco was stunned by this, his head spinning with this news and even as Star sought his comfort he could only stand there numbly as she pressed herself harder and harder against him, silently begging for his affection. But his limbs hung limply at his sides and he struggled to muster the courage to even raise them. He opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out, whatever pathetic attempt to calm the girl he thought up died on his tongue.

What was he supposed to say to that? Star wasn’t a Butterfly? She wasn’t royalty? How was that even possible? He knew the MHC disliked Eclipsa but to replace her own daughter like that was… unthinkably cruel. He couldn’t imagine what the dark queen was going through, the pain she was enduring. Just seeing how Star was suffering made Marco want to hunt down every single one of the magical beings and make them hurt the same way his bestie was currently hurting. Marco would be immensely surprised if Eclipsa didn’t decide to do the same.

But Marco quickly pushed down the anger, he couldn't focus on that at the moment, right now Star needed comforting and that was the most important thing. So he forced his brain to focus on the then and there and finally wrapped his arms around Star’s slender waist, bringing her as close to him as he could. He allowed her to sob into his hoodie, while he ran a tender hand through her soft, blonde hair, whispering sweet nothings into her ear, hoping it would somehow soothe her troubled mind.

It didn’t help Star much but it made Marco feel some better to be doing something at least. To be attempting to help instead of just sitting there like a sack of potatoes, his mouth gaped open like an idiot. So he only increased his affection, muttering pointless words at her until they lost all meaning to both of them. Eventually Star’s sobs died down and Marco was able to stop the comforting motion. The blonde was left sniffling, her eyes puffy and red, and Marco’s hoodie was damp with tears but he didn’t mind. His focus was only on Star.

“Feeling any better?” he asked, rubbing a hand up and down her arm, afraid to break physical contact with her. She seemed so small and vulnerable right now he was afraid she might break in half or float away if he didn’t keep hold of her in some way. Plus, some sinful part of his brain just wanted to be as close to her as he could, the warmth it gave him to do so indescribable.

Stop it! He scolded himself harshly. Don’t think stuff like that, especially not right now.

Star nodded slowly but the pain in her eyes was still there and Marco knew he had to say something. Preferably something to cheer her up. He decided the best approach was to find out more of the facts, even if he knew it would be painful for Star to get through. He couldn’t really help her until he knew exactly what had happened. “Star, I know this is hard but… do you want to tell me what happened? Getting it out might make you feel better,” he tried, hating the way his voice sounded, he sounded like he was on the brink of tears himself. Pull it together, Diaz, Star needs you!

Star took a few deep breaths before finally starting her story, explaining exactly how the trial had gone. To her credit, she managed to stay calm, only breaking off a few times to fight back a sob or pausing on a particularly hard word to say. Still, she conveyed the story with much more strength than Marco could have, but then that was why Star was so amazing to him. She was so much stronger than anyone gave her credit for. Of course, Marco saw it even when nobody else did. It seemed it was one of the few things he ever saw.

Before that train of thought could go any deeper, Star finished her story, her wide, crystal blue orbs staring at him in anticipation, waiting for him to say something. Marco swallowed, trying to dig up some form of comforting words but none of it sounded right in his head. It was all too poetic, it didn’t feel real, just more meaningless words to throw at her in hopes of it sticking. Star didn’t deserve that. She deserved to know his real thoughts.

And so that’s exactly what he gave her.

“Wow, Star, that’s so… terrible,” he whispered, his voice strained and foreign to his ear.

Star let out a loud groan, before laying her head on his shoulder and Marco tensed. Despite the situation it felt… nice. The girl began massaging her eyes with the palms of her hands as she moaned out in despair, “How could they do this?! I mean it was bad enough they froze Eclipsa in a crystal just for loving someone but seriously?!”

And just like that Star’s despair turned to anger and Marco waited for this new wave of emotion to die out in silence. “It’s insane! Everything I’ve ever known is a lie! And it’s all their fault! Didn’t they even think about how everyone would feel about this?! Oh no wait, they didn’t, because they are a bunch of heartless monsters!!”

Star huffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “I mean imagine if they reacted that way about me and Tom.”

Marco cringed as the demon was mentioned, suddenly whatever good feelings he had been building up to help Star instantly evaporated. He shouldn’t be the one doing this. Tom should. He was her boyfriend, after all. Was it wrong for Marco to be taking up the role of comforting her? I mean, she came to him first so maybe she didn’t mind.

The confusing tangle of emotions was back, stabbing into his heart viciously like it had never even left. His feelings for Star, his guilt for those feelings, the way his heart was both filled and crushed whenever he was around her, all of it. And suddenly, he wondered why he was even here. He didn’t deserve to be Star’s confidant, not when he was hiding his true feelings for her deep down. But he had no choice. Star had come to him and it was his job to comfort her, even if he didn’t deserve to. The least he could do was give back a little.

“I know, Star,” he said, once her rant was finally finished and her anger had somewhat diffused. “You don’t deserve to go through all this, Eclipsa doesn’t, no one does. It stinks, a lot.”

“Yeah it does,” Star said with a tired sigh.

“But you don’t have to let the past ruin everything you’ve done, you know that right?” Marco continued, hoping his words got through to her. “Sure the way you got here was messed up but it’s allowed you to do so much good for Mewni.”

“Oh you mean ruining everything for everyone!” Star shouted in exasperation. “I feel like all I’ve done is make things worse!”

“No, you haven’t,” Marco said and instinctively wrapped his arms around her again but he made sure not to hold her too close this time. He needed to remember to keep her at a distance, she wasn’t his to have. “Things are just a little rough right now but we’ll pull through it. I’m sure we will.”

“But Marco… I don’t even know who I am anymore,” Star whispered and her voice was so broken and fragile that the hooded teen felt tears blur his vision.

Marco took a moment to collect his thoughts, trying to think of the perfect thing to say to her. To remind her how amazing she was to him. Gosh, he wasn’t even sure if he could sum it up into words. She was his whole world, everything she did only made him love her more and to hear her doubt herself like that was unspeakable. So despite himself, he knew he had to at least try and make her see that too.

“I know who you are, Star,” Marco said, his voice confident and clear, despite his racing pulse. Could she hear how loud his heart was? She had to, right? It sounded like a jackhammer. But he had to continue, so he just swallowed back the lump in this throat and pressed on. “You are the most amazing and beautiful person I have ever met. You are kind and helpful and always try and do the right thing even when everyone else thinks you’re crazy. You are wild and rambunctious and you only ever do what you want no matter how crazy or destructive that might be. You are fun and goofy and full of so much life that when I’m with you I feel… alive. More alive than I’ve ever been actually. You're so much more than a princess or a Butterfly, you are Star! And that’s more than enough for me. I don’t follow you because you’re a princess or because you’re from some family legacy, I do it because I lo-”

Marco stopped himself just in time, biting his lip to keep the word from releasing itself. He had gotten too wrapped up in his praising to realize he was starting to gush over her. He was letting his emotions get the better of him. He needed to calm down before he gave too much away. He couldn’t let Star know how he really felt. “B-Because you’re my best friend,” he corrected himself, begging his cheeks to keep from blushing. Don’t let it show. Don’t let it show. Don’t let it show.

“A-A-And you mean the world to me, Star,” he stuttered out, struggling to hold himself together through the current of emotions threatening to tear him apart. Star looked at him for a long time, just staring deep into his eyes and he almost fainted by the rich, deep blue piercing his soul, it was like looking into the sky. Marco couldn’t breathe. Was he breathing? He was too afraid to breathe, worried that the words written on his heart would spill out of him along with the air he was keeping trapped in his lungs.

Finally, Star broke the long stretch of silence, saying in a soft, fragile tone, “You really mean all that?”

Marco knew he had to reply but was still too afraid to risk speaking and so he simply nodded his head and smiled at her, pouring all the love he felt for her into the action, hoping it might reassure his friend just how much she meant to him.

Star’s eyes flooded with new tears but he knew these were not the same as the last ones, these were full of joy and relief at his acceptance. The blonde seemed almost too overcome with emotions as she just scrubbed at her eyes for a few seconds. Marco noticed that his friend’s cheekmarks were glowing faintly and his chest swelled with pride at restoring her broken heart. He only wished he could do more for her.

Marco felt his heart nearly stop as Star pulled him into the third hug of the day, holding him close to her as she breathed into his shoulder. He missed her hugs. Gosh would it ever stop hurting?! Was there any way to make this pain end? There was only one way and he knew that. But he couldn’t take that chance. Could he?

He pulled out of the hug, knowing better than to let it go on for too long. He had already let the last two last for longer than they should. He shifted slightly on the bed, putting just an inch of space between him and Star so she wouldn’t feel uncomfortable. Or maybe it was for his own sake, either way, it was too late to go back now.

Star didn’t seem to notice this, she just smiled at him with that sweet, innocent (if now tear-stained) look that only Star could pull off. “Thank you,” she whispered, her voice tight from the tears but there was life in her words. She sounded like Star again. “Thank you so much, Marco.”

“Your welcome, Star,” Marco muttered on instinct. But he found himself looking inward again. This was his chance. He had just made Star happy, she was smiling again. He just had to tell her. He just had to open his mouth and speak the words that had been etched deep into his heart. Tell her how he felt and it could all be over.

The words were stuck on his tongue. He could feel them, feel their want and need to get out. To confess.

“Star, I-”

“I just wanted to say how unbelievably important you are to me, Marco,” Star said, unintentionally stopping Marco before he could get the words out. He bit his tongue, allowing her to speak her mind first. No matter how burning the desire was. “I feel like my whole world is just crumbling around me and well, I just- I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you're here.”

Star heaved a deep sigh, the kind of sigh that was tethered by untold weight. It wasn’t just exhaustion, it was so much more personal than that. It was the sigh of someone who had lost meaning, who was close to losing everything. Someone struggling to hold the pieces of their sanity together but fearful one little gust of wind would shatter all their hard work forever. Not quite defeat but fear of it.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you, honestly,” Star continued. “You're the one thing in my life that makes any sort of sense anymore.”

Marco swallowed hard, burying his confession back into the deepest corners of his heart. Guilt flooded his system. What was wrong with him? How could he have even thought about doing something like that? He had been so close to hurting her again. To ruin everything they had built because of his own compulsive heart. Star needed him and right now he was being selfish.

“Well… what are friends for,” Marco managed to get out with a lot of force. He put on a fake smile. He was so used to those now they came naturally to him.

But thankfully, Star seemed to perk up a bit from that, her eyes flooding with light again, her smile real and genuine. She was happy. And suddenly, Marco remembered why he was there.

“Could we just like, I don’t know, watch a cheesy movie? like the old days,” Star asked. She rolled her eyes as she seemed to realize what she had said. “I know, I know, super random. But I just need something mindless, y’know. Something to distract from…” She bit her lip, taking a moment to think up the right word to sum up her hectic existence, before finally settling on, “Everything else.”

Marco smiled softly at her, despite the pain in his heart, being able to make Star happy eased that pain a little. At least that’s what he told himself. He put a hand on her shoulder, hoping this would provide her with some much needed comfort. “Of course, Star. Anything for you.”

While he set up the movie Star requested, his mind was lost deep in thought. He couldn’t believe how selfish he was being. Here Star was suffering, giving her all for her homeworld and yet all he seemed capable of doing was being jealous and petty. Star didn’t deserve that. She deserved better. Better than him. He told himself he would stop this nonsense thinking. There was no point to it. It wouldn’t change anything. Star needed support and she was gonna get it even if it killed him!

He would just have to be more careful. Keep his distance. He would be her loyal squire, just like she had made him in the first place. If he was gonna make this work he would have to be her squire first and her friend second. He would just need to take care of her needs and push everything else out. His feelings weren’t a factor at this point.

Marco finished his task without realizing it. The movie had started, a cheery intro sequence that felt very out of place in his serious thoughts beginning to play. He stared at the screen absentmindedly for a second before going over to join Star on the couch.

For a long while, he and Star just watched the movie in silence, well watched was a bit of a stretch, it was more like Marco stared at the screen and forgot everything else. All his troubles melted away as the cheerful, colorful world he and his friend were viewing consumed his mind. At least for a bit. That was until he felt Star’s warm presence inching closer to him, before resting her head on his shoulder. Marco tensed, the old feelings he harborded for her resurfacing but he quickly stuffed those back down.

Slowly he allowed his eyes to drift down to her face and the look he saw made his heart melt. Her smile was so soft and light and she looked happy, comfortable, much more than she had been so in weeks. And it was all thanks to him. A few hours ago he would have told himself it was because Star liked him just as much as he liked her and this was a sign that her feelings weren’t all gone. But now he knew it was just because Star needed a friend to support her.

New resolve filled his being. He knew his purpose again, he couldn’t believe he had ever forgotten. He wasn’t here for himself, not anymore anyways. He was here for Star. And he would be there for so long as she wanted him. And that would be enough. Making Star smile was more than enough for him.

At least that’s what he would continue to tell himself.

At the end of the day life on Mewni wasn’t perfect for him. But he would do anything for Star. Even if that meant being miserable for the rest of his life. Anything for Star’s happiness.

He would just have to believe that would be enough… for the both of them.

#star vs #My Writing #Canon Compliant #Starco #Thanks Kiki!

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you-did-well-moon · 4 years ago

Text

The Warmth Provided (3)

Type: Fluff, Angst, Crack, College Au, Friends to lovers Au

A/N: Aaand the third and final part is here yayyyy. Did you guys enjoy this mini series?? I really hope you did. Small disclaimer, not all requests I receive will be as big as this! It’s not a real fic if Jackson isn’t in it (i’m kidding) but dang Sungjin really went for it. As my friend Bun said, someone bring a mop bc we need to clean up the mess Sungjin made. Don’t be afraid to talk to me!!

TW: Awkward situations, cussing, toxicity and unrealistic depiction of Sungjin

Part 1| Part 2| Part 3

You got to sleep in since it was a Saturday, and you had no classes on Saturdays. You woke up a little past noon feeling as energized as you had in a while. For the first time in a long time, you didn’t feel tired even upon just having woken up. There was no soreness or exhaustion plaguing you. Just placidity in the wake of starting the day and anticipation for what the day bought you.

With the weekend, you finally had time to actually make yourself breakfast instead of eating cereal or nothing at all. You cooked yourself something simple with eggs, bacon, and a pancake since you very well deserved it. You hummed happily to yourself having turned on the Tv for some background noise which paired with the sizzling of the pan on the stove and the sun’s light filtered through the curtains in front of the window.

You ate your breakfast calmly scrolling through the social media apps on your phone not at all in a hurry since the party didn’t start until 8. Even if you didn’t feel as tired as you did other days, it still felt good to stay at home comfortable and wrapped up in your favorite blankets catching up on your favorite show. You weren’t running all around campus and town trying to balance your school and personal life.

You eventually got in the shower staying under the warm water for longer than you had to enjoying it as the tension left your body relaxing when the drops of water traveled down the slopes of your body.

You couldn’t stop yourself from thinking about what you would say to Sungjin once you got there. Demand for him to tell you why he was acting so weird? Ease into it? Guilt him into it? You groaned squeezing the shampoo out of your hair and reaching for a towel. Having Jae there would probably distract you. No matter what, you had to avoid Jae as much as you could.

Even if he was the one that invited you, you needed to fix whatever was burdening your friendship with Sungjin. You could deal with your lovesick self later. When your brother wasn’t acting like such a stranger. An annoying stranger at that.

You stayed in your towel drying yourself off and rubbing lotion on your body. You cleaned your face letting your cleanser dry off before beginning to apply your makeup on. You went for a very light look. You were never one for heavy makeup. You did get a little creative with the eyeshadow, but you didn’t want to mess with the rest of your face afraid of smudging something.

You didn’t really do anything special to your hair. Letting the soft strands down and making it look nice enough for a party. You started getting ready a bit early since you knew you’d get stuck when it came to picking an outfit. Standing there with your closet door open in a towel with your hair and makeup done, you bit your lip cursing yourself for not going shopping earlier in the month.

Eventually you picked some leather high waisted leather shorts, a very short crop top you would never go near your father or mother with, and fishnets with black combat boots to finish the look. Looking outside your window at the trees slightly swaying you knew you’d get cold. Looking around your room you saw Jae’s jean jacket hanging off your chair.

You stared at it for what felt like an eternity hesitation pooling in your stomach, but you eventually aggressively shrugged it on, figuring you could give it back to Jae and stick it out if you got too cold. Checking the time, and you realized you had half an hour before the party started.

Shrugging your shoulders you dug through your jewelry for what might go with your look not really caring if you got there on time. You couldn’t shake off the fantasy that maybe, just maybe Jae was waiting for you. You smacked your forehead. Today you had to focus on Sungjin before things were damaged to an extent that you could not fix.

You treasured your best friend too much to let things go that far. The JYP frat wasn’t that far from your apartment. It was around a twelve minute walk. Making sure you had pepper spray in your purse you set right off feeling your phone buzz in your pocket just as you locked your door.

Bawk Bawk: You didn’t get kidnapped did you?

You: we’re gonna need at least 50k to give her back

Bawk Bawk: Haha very funny

Bawk Bawk: the real y/n would say shes worth 100 chicken nuggets

You : lol you got me there

You: im already on my way. I need to pay attention to where im walking or else im gonna end up on the opposite side of campus in the sm frat

Bawk Bawk: oh no what a tragedy. Ill miss you asking me where the food is every five seconds. Really how sad.

You: wow Baekhyun wouldn’t treat me like this.

You didn’t get to see his answer instead opening up another contact.

You: Hey Sung, im on my way to the party

Bob: ok

You stared at the little text bubble a little hurt at the indifference, but you had to remind yourself that it was just a text message. Maybe he was busy helping out with the party, even if he really didn’t like the parties, he still helped out. He was just that kind of person.

A small part of you knew that wasn’t the reason.The party had started around 30 minutes ago which meant they were past the point of setting up for the event. You were about to turn off the device when the sound of a notification broke through the silence surrounding you.

You felt the weight on your heart slight ease up, a relieved but bittersweet smile breaking on the slope of your mouth.

Bob: Be careful

Even if he was irked with you for whatever reason, he still worried for you. The short text message gave you hope. It was silly, but the two words were enough to bring a little bounce in your step, deciding that as soon as you got to that party you would seek him out, and you would do whatever you could to get to the bottom of what had put distance between you and your best friend.

You halted your stride finally standing in front of the JYP frat building. You took a deep breath shaking off the nerves and tugging the jacket tighter around you. You went up the steps knees slightly shaking. Sungjin’s message did bring some ease, but the guy could be stubborn when he wanted to. You just hoped he wasn’t stubborn when it came to your friendship. Pursing your lips you shakily pressed the button to the doorbell.

It didn’t take much for the door to swing open startling you and almost making you fall back. A hand reached out to steady you, and you looked up meeting Wonpil’s warm eyes. You smiled easily consoled by his sweet smile missing the mischievous twinkle in his eyes.

“Wonpil hi, how are you?” He softly laughed, shaking his head.

“I’m pretty sure i’m not supposed to hear colors, but i’ll get through it”

You opened your mouth cackling in disbelief as his hands probed you inside.

“Have fun, break something and you’ll pay for it and- Jackson! What did I tell you about hanging from the ceiling lights what kind of budget do you think we have man,'' you watched the small man’s frame ambling away and squinted your eyes in amusement, smiling softly. You turned to the rest of the room craning your head to look past all the swaying bodies and flashing lights for the awkward introverted man that was one of your closest friends.

Instead you caught sight of the tall fluffy haired man with glasses sliding down the bend of his narrow nose. You squeaked quickly ducking behind the frame of a stranger as Jae’s head whipped in your direction. You clenched your jaw at the almost slip up. You frowned. You wanted nothing more than to bound up to Jae and see his eyes light up at the sight of you, but you were on a mission.

You made sure you were out of Jae’s sight as you wracked your brain for where Sungjin might be. He wouldn’t be in where the crowd was bigger and packed. That immediately eliminated the living room, gaming room, and kitchen. That left outside in the patio, the restroom, or his own room. You bit your lip figuring you might as well check outside then head upstairs where both the restroom and his room were. You knew because of the many movie nights you had with Dowoon and Sungjin.

The many nights of fighting with Sungjin and him scolding you for getting crumbs on his bed only to whine when you moved to Dowoon’s bed. At the end, you always ended up on the floor in a tangled mess probably getting woken up by Dowoon snoring. You set your shoulders making your way to the kitchen since that’s where the doors to get outside were located mumbling apologies to people you bumped into.

You kept your head low mumbling under your breath about how stupid this was that you even had to do this, because for some reason, Sungjin was acting odd and detached. You entered the kitchen eyes raking over everyone's faces just in case Sungjin was there. You didn’t see him, but you saw the other part from your trio. Dowoon was talking to Bang Chan with a relaxed smile on his face and a drink in his hands.

Maybe he knew where Sungjin was saving you the trouble of looking for him. You started walking in his direction, “Hey Woon, I wish I could stay and talk, but do you know where Sungjin is?” Dowoon narrowed his eyes at you, as you smiled in greeting at Chan.

“Not even a hi wow, i thought you were better than this. I thought we had a special bond” he clicked his tongue acting annoyed but still reaching out to you pulling you into him for a side hug. You huffed poking harshly at his side, snickering when he whined and recoiled.

“Fine you brat, he just went upstairs to get something from his room. Here, I'll come with you. I need to go to the restroom anyways. Sorry to cut this short, but i have to make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid” he put his drink on the kitchen island, and you and Chan looked at each other shaking your heads both knowing who was making sure who didn’t do something stupid. You shrugged your shoulders wincing as Chan’s shoulders shook slightly with laughter.

You swiveled around to follow Dowoon who had already begun walking towards the stairs near the entrance of the kitchen when you abruptly came to a stop. Heading down the steps was the exact person you were looking for. Even in the shifting lighting you recognized him.

You called your best friend’s name already striding towards him and reaching out towards his frozen frame. He looked shocked to see you, his eyes troubled and eyebrows pulled together looking distressed. His body shifted back as if he was contemplating running back up the stairs.

Your hand managed to grasp the end of his shirt. “Sungjin-” you were interrupted by a wobbly yell from the living room. “Seven minutes in heaven time ladies and gents. Don’t be shy, half of you won’t even remember this ever happened,” the awfully cheerful voice that sounded suspiciously like Younghyun somehow managed to be louder than the talking and blaring music.

You turned back to Sungjin but both of you were suddenly being pulled to the living room by Dowoon who simply said “This should be funny. Let’s go watch” you tried resisting and talking to Sungjin but he was also too busy trying to fight Dowoon’s hold on him.

You were sat down on one side of the circle in between Dowoon and Sungjin. It all happened so fast you looked at Sungjin and tried getting his attention but was stopped by someone looking at you from the corner of your eye.

You swallowed feeling your heart sink slightly being able to distinguish Jae’s form even from your limited sight. You slowly turned your head in his direction offering him a quivering smile wondering just how everything had managed to get messed up in such a short amount of time. He titled his head obviously confused at why you hadn’t told him you had arrived but still managed to grin back at you causing you to feel slightly bad.

Even after the small greeting, his gaze didn’t leave you, but you were the one to break eye contact first turning to the man on your right. You gently grabbed his arm pulling at his sleeve to get his attention. He gradually turned his head to look at you, sad dull eyes looking into yours.

“I need to talk-” you were once again interrupted by Younghyun’s voice calling the turn of the first player.

Jae.

You felt yourself halt all movement, air leaving your lungs. You whipped your head around in his direction watching him roll his eyes at Wonpil’s light teasing. You could only focus on Jae as he slightly leaned to get closer to the bottle reaching out for it with a focused expression.

His eyes briefly flickered to your wide ones before going back to the bottle hesitating slightly before spinning it. You had completely forgotten about Sungjin who was also watching the bottle spin with baited breath gaze landing on your form to take in your reactions.

Your heart skipped a beat everytime the bottle pointed it’s devilish finger at you while on the move. Of course, you wanted it to be you, but there was so many people in the circle the chance of the stupid bottle landing on you was close to none. Suddenly Younghyun pushed Wonpil into the circle making the smaller man stumble and put his foot in the bottle’s path while trying to regain his balance.

Wonpil’s interference made the bottle come to an abrupt stop pointing solely at one person.

You.

You felt your entire body go cold taking in a shaky breath and meeting Jae’s own wide eyes behind the rims of his glasses. You felt your face grow hot seeing Wonpil and Younghyun high fiving each other in the background. You wanted to laugh at the clicheness of it. It seemed everybody had known you and Jae were in love before you and Jae.

You looked at Dowoon and Sungjin unsure of your next actions. Dowoon simply smirked at you wiggling his eyebrows and giggling under his breath while Sungjin’s face became hard to read eyes flashing with unknown emotions. So much for the help of your best friends.

You heard a clearing of a throat gaining your attention and making you jump at seeing Jae had already stood up brushing himself off. He playfully smiled at you shaking the messy blonde hair out of his shining eyes and holding a unsteady hand out to you.

You slowly stood up on trembling knees not being able to concentrate on the shouting from the people in the circle. Your vision felt hazy not really being able to believe what was happening. You put a hesitant hand on his, feeling his hand wrap around yours warmth instantly seeping in from his touch traveling up your arm through your whole body.

You couldn’t lie to yourself. You were terrified of what would happen in that closet. What if he just told you he didn’t want anything of that sort to do with you and you had to sit in awkward silence for several more minutes holding in your tears and rejected by the very person you had fallen in love with at a dumb party game.

He took in the fear and worry swimming in your eyes gripping your hand tighter. His head tilted, smiling softly at you and opening his mouth to say something, but his words were robbed from his throat when his eyes took in something behind you. You felt your hand get taken in an uncomfortably tight grip, the hand tugging you backwards making your hand slip from Jae’s loose warm one.

You swiveled around getting met with the sight of your best friend. His eyes were narrowed and his jaw was set.

“You can’t play this stupid game with her. You won’t be taking her into that closet, not while i’m here” his tone was bitter and harsh. You tried shaking your hand out of his grip, but his clutch on you grew tighter making you cry out and start slapping your hands on Sungjin’s chest.

Jae instantly reached out for your thrashing figure only for Sungjin to pull you out of his reach. Jae scoffed anger staining his once bright brown eyes a darker shade. “Sungjin, what do you think you’re doing man. Let her go before and we can solve whatever is going on without throwing her around like this. Who are you to-”

Sungjin cut him off with a growl.

“Her boyfriend”

You felt an icy feeling expand from your core to your fingertips having stopped moving in Sungjin’s hold. “What the hell Sungjin what are you talking about you asshole-” you turned around and seeing the look on Jae’s face you trashed around harder having to slap at Sungjin’s hands to break free of his clasp.

His eyes went from Sungjin’s guilty face to your own angry confused one. The crease between his eyebrows deepened, mouth letting out a disbelieving exhale and shoulders slumping in disappointment. He started backing away shaking his head and looking at you in a way he had never looked at you.

In anger.

You tried reaching out towards him voice shaky when you called out to him. “Jae no, you have to listen to me I have no idea-” the rest of your words didn’t get to reach him, Wonpil and Younghyun both blocking you from getting any closer to his retreating figure. Both looked at you with cold expressions and you remembered other people had also just witnessed you going into an intimate space with a man when you already had a supposed boyfriend.

You felt embarrassment and shame flood your chest twisting uglily around your lungs and squeezing. Now you were only aware of the whispers and glares circling around your lone figure. You swiftly turned around to face Sunjin, head bent not being able to meet your heated gaze.

You briefly looked at Dowoon who was as equally shocked as you were.

You hissed Sungjin’s name huffing when he still didn’t look up tightly wrapping your arm around his wrist and dragging him up the stairs to his room blinking away the tears from the sheer humiliation coursing through your system.

Sungjin tried sputtering out your name, but you paid no attention not stopping in your stride until you reached his room on the second floor and pushed his body out into the balcony connected to his room.

You instantly exploded, voices coming out in rapid angry waves.

“What the fuck was that Sungjin what did you just- Do you know what you just did” your voice was desperate frustrated tears making your eyes watery.

“I’m so sorry-”

“No! No Sungjin, you don’t get to apologize until i know what you’re apologizing for” you set your teary eyes on Sungjin who finally looked up, for once, face open and flooded with guilt and regret.

“I panicked, and I know there is no excuse for what i just did, i just- I don’t know these past few days…”

You let out a thwarted groan. “That’s exactly the problem idiot, I have no idea what’s been going on with you these past few days. You never told me anything”

He closed his eyes as if physically pained turning around to lean on the railing of the balcony and burying his head in his hands. You also felt all energy seep out of your body, slumping dejectedly next to him. You looked at him resting your arms on your arms which were resting on the railing.

“Please tell me, what made my best friend and brother suddenly claim he’s my boyfriend right in front of my crush of years”

You saw his facial expressions twist in a wince, finally taking in the consequences of his panicked words.

He looked at you, mouth pulling into a guilty smile.

“Your brother fucked up pretty bad didn’t he peaches?” You nodded at him.

“Why Sungjin, why did you do that?”

He looked up at the sky taking in the ugly clouds blocking the stars. You simply looked at your hands, sadness making your limbs feel heavy.

“I felt like I was losing you, that’s why” You pouted in confusion. “Why would you ever think that? You know I depend on you a lot Sungjin, this doesn’t-” you stopped at his defeated sigh.

“It has always been you, Dowoon, and I, but out of nowhere you started hanging out with Jae. I don’t know why, but i felt threatened by that. I mean, you even lied to me about where you really were when you hung out with him at that noodle place”

Your jaw dropped. “How did you-”

“I saw you guys on my way to buy Dowoon a new game controller” he chuckled and shrugged. “I didn’t say anything. It’s not my place to, but then I found out he liked you too, and to me, the chances of you completely forgetting about me for him skyrocketed” Your knees buckled and you had to grip the railing to remain standing as you gasped and sputtered. “He what-”

Sungjin paid you no attention simply nodding like the fact the person you had feelings for returning said feelings was no big deal. You whined and stomped your feet because what did it matter now. Any chance with him was blown. Sungjin continued.

“You wouldn’t need me anymore if you had him. You wouldn’t need your big brother anymore if you had him. You would forget all about me. I mean, why wouldn’t you? You’ve liked him for so long, and i’m just...me”

You inhaled a large breath, hand resting on your fast beating heart at all the newfound information. “Can I talk now?” He waved his hand in a way that said “go on”.

“First of all Sungjin, you’re the one who’s always told me to come out of my shell and to talk to more people. Ever since high school, you’ve been telling me to spread out and get more friends. Why are you being like this when I actually did what you said and started talking to others. Will you behave this way every time I grow close to someone else? It was wrong of you to tell me something and act this way when I listened to your advice. It was especially wrong of you to just stand there and declare you’re my boyfriend, you had no right to do that” He hung his head seeing the truth in my words. “Well?”

He set his mouth in a straight line nodding. “I- You’re right, you’re completely right. How could I be such a hypocrite” He scoffed at himself chuckling lowly at his own stupidity. “I guess I just got scared.”

You narrowed your eyes at him still not being able to believe he would actually think you would up and leave him. “There comes my second point. Sungjin, how could you ever believe I would just forget you. Do you doubt me that much? Doubt our friendship that much? Our friendship of literal years”

He stayed silent. “Do you hear how stupid it is now?” He nodded his head once hands fiddling nervously.

“You are someone I value very much, but that doesn't mean you’ll be the only person to hold so much importance to me. It doesn’t put you in any position to be able to act like you own all my attention and friendship.” He once again nodded silently guilt swimming in his irises.

“I was in the wrong and for that I’m sorry peaches. I realize now that you will continue to grow and gain new people who you will bond with. You will get hurt, but that’s not something I can control nor that I can stop and unfortunately, neither can you. I can only be there to bring a smile back on your face, and i’m perfectly fine with that” he acknowledged, the corners of his lips slightly pulling up in a melancholy smile.

You felt all tension leave your body finally feeling like you had your brother back. The same one you had always confided on. You no longer felt like the air around you was pressing in on you, slowly stealing the remaining oxygen from your lungs.

He turned towards you and looked up before looking at you and opening his arms. “I’m sorry.” You didn’t really hesitate stepping into his embrace. “I’m still mad at you” you grumbled into his chest. “I know peaches, I understand. It’s okay” He laughed softly against your hair. “I’ll make it up to you. I promise. I’ll be better” You believed, of course you did. He was your brother, your closest friend. An irreplaceable part of your life who had made a little slip up, well maybe a big slip up, but you still forgave him.

“We should have done this a long time ago” you muttered against his jacket.

“What?” he questioned. “Talked. So much could have been avoided if we had just talked” Sungjin hummed in reply both of you knowing you each had some fault in that.

You remembered Jae’s disappointed stare, his lips pressed together in a tight line as he got farther and farther away from you. You played with one of the threads from the jean jacket you were wearing feeling helpless in the answer of what to do to gain Jae’s forgiveness. At this point, you didn’t think there was a chance of being anything more than friends with him. You didn’t feel like you deserved him just wanting to explain to him that what happened wasn’t his fault.

You just wanted him to smile again. You wanted him to be happy. You would feel lucky just being his friend again. You expected nothing more if you were honest with yourself.

You lightly hit Sungjin’s shoulder exaggeratedly groaning. “How am I gonna explain this to Jae” your voice was muffled by his jacket but he simply laughed again, “I don’t think you have to”

“What are you talking about you-” Shock hit you like a truck when you remembered him looking up while he was apologizing. Something told you he wasn’t just apologizing to you. You looked up at the balcony above the one you were standing on seeing a head of fluffy blonde hair blown all over the place from the wind and a grin aimed at you.

“Jae! Did you- Did you hear everything?” You couldn’t help but to smile at the loud laugh that rang throughout the night air. “I don’t know, why don’t you come up and find out?” You breathlessly looked at Sungjin who smiled softly at you pushing you back into his room.

You didn’t look back as you exited his room walking back up the stairs with a trembling but hopeful heart. You came across what you knew was Jae’s room after having to drag him to it from when he got a really bad stomach ache. You knocked on the door mentally preparing yourself for whatever you were about to hear.

A soft stifled “come in” was heard from inside the room. You opened the door, eyes immediately landing on the figure that was on the balcony leaning on the railing and looking up at the sky. You walked towards the balcony, your breath rattling in your throat. You opened the door that led out to the balcony shakily calling his name.

He stayed silent as you came up next to him, also tilting your head up and getting taken aback by the twinkling stars appearing at the parting of the clouds. The quiet preserved, and your mind was only really able to focus on his arm brushing against yours and your heart pounding in your ears. You fiddled with your hands picking at your nails jumping at the sound of Jae suddenly laughing.

“A few minutes ago I thought I was the stupidest man on earth” You didn’t really know what to say in reply to that just turning your head to look at him as a sign you were listening.

“I mean imagine the feeling of finding out you had been writing cheesy love songs about a person only to find out they were with someone else the whole time” you opened your mouth to retaliate, but he turned his head to look at you with a soft knowing smile. “I know, I know now, you’re just friends” He turned to look back at the night sky, the smile still not leaving his face.

You were still shocked at the fact that some of the songs you had seen him diligently working on next to you in class could have been about you. Words of love and admiration from him written right next to you, and you were none the wiser.

You felt like all the words you could say in that moment, just weren’t enough. Instead, you reached out to fix his glasses which had gone askew only to gasp silently when he grabbed your wrist looking at you once more. “You know, there were times where I felt lesser than him. He had known you since you were around the height of my knee, and had grown up with you. Who was I to him” He admitted wearily smiling at you.

You leaned in slightly letting your hand move to firmly grip his maintaining eye contact as you got ready to speak. “You? You are Jae Park. The stupid, goofy, lovely, hard-working song writer who has never failed to make me happy and take care of me. Who always bought me food thinking of me, and who never hesitated to be self-less at the expense of myself.” You faltered, licking your lips anxiously for what you were about to say feeling your whole body grow hot.

“You are Jae Park, the person I'm hopelessly in love with,” you confessed breathily watching him lean closer to you, lips pressing to your forehead while he laughed happily against your skin, hands traveling up your arms to gently cradle your face.

“What were we doing all this time? I guess the starbursts really did a number of us if we’re both so in love with each other and didn’t notice” he murmured lips traveling down the space between your eyebrows to the slope of your nose forehead now resting against yours. His glasses were pressing uncomfortably against the bridge of your nose, but you didn’t really mind too caught up in the feeling of his body pressed against your as your hands moved to clutch at his shirt.

We’re together now” you whispered lips slightly brushing against his. He smiled adoringly at you before leaning in to close the gap lips softly slanting his lips against yours as if testing the waters before growing more eager and tilting his head to grow impossibly closer to you still softly parting your mouth with his. The kiss remained soft and innocent, unspoken words after months of pining, and delicate confessions of love expressed. The warmth from one simple kiss traveled all the way to your heels spreading in a tender but passionate manner.

You separated, catching your breath, his hands still cradling your face before he leaned in stealing a peck and chuckling when he pulled back.

The wind grew stronger whipping at your hair and clothes making a small shiver travel down the spine and forcing you to snuggle his jacket tighter around you clearing your throat and smiling like an idiot. One of his hands left your face to tickle you, smile getting bigger at your loud laugh.

“Nice Jacket”

“Thanks, I wanted to give it back to it’s handsome owner” He bought you closer wrapping his arms around your form, hair tickling your temple and his nose pressing into the crook of your neck.

“The handsome owner thinks you look 100 times better in it than he ever did, Kim Kardashian could never”

You laughed into his shoulder thinking you would be fine without the jacket believing the warmth provided from his simple touch was enough to keep you warm in the coldest of nights.

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