#i miss when we all just stole music instead of streaming it

[alluralater]

that anti-piracy commercial from the 2000s but every time they say piracy they’re instead talking about eating pussy

"you WOULDN'T eat pussy like a rabid animal" "you WOULDN'T suck on their clit while on your knees" "you WOULDN'T slurp up every drop of their cum" "EATING. PUSSY. LIKE THAT. IS ILLEGAL."

[lulubelle814]

Just Dizziness - Chapter 20

Grabbing Chinese take out on the way home, we settled on the couch.  I started flipping through the movies, but Sarah stole the remote and put on Crimson Peak.  As it started up, Sarah emailed her boss letting him know she would be working from home tomorrow.  Surprisingly, he was either on his computer or had been checking his emails via phone because she received a response just a few minutes later stating that was fine.

It turned out we were too knackered to finish the movie and turned it off about half way through.  Even though she was working from home the next day, Sarah said she would do a movie marathon with me while working because she had that talent to be able to work while watching movies.

“And before you say anything, I’m declaring a Hiddles marathon!  All the hits: Only Lovers Left Alive, Thor Ragnarok, maybe War Horse and The Deep Blue Sea.  Maybe after my appointment the following day, we can binge watch The Night Manager.”

I was not one to argue with a Hiddles marathon.  It had been a while since we two had one.

That night I had dreams that I was dancing with him.  Well, not so much dancing as stepping on his toes.

“It took Mia and myself forever to learn these moves.  I’m pretty sure I remember most of them.”

He kept trying to lead, and I kept trying to follow along but continued to mis-step, trip, or just plain run into him.  It was frustrating because I wanted to learn it, but we were both laughing so hard that it eventually just became too hard to focus, especially when I fell and took him down to the floor with me.

What Tom tried to hide was that he was missing steps himself.  It had been quite some time since the movie had been filmed, but he finally fessed up when we landed on the floor.

“I’m so sorry!  I don’t think I’ll ever get this,” I said.

“It’s my fault, really.  It’s been so long.  I thought I could fake my way through the parts I couldn't remember but evidently not.”  It took a few minutes for us both to calm down before I was able to get off the floor.  “How about a nice slow dance instead?”

I heartily agreed.  He changed the music, and I suddenly heard Elvis Presley singing “I can’t help falling in love with you” followed by some more slow songs we loved until the music stopped as his phone died, but neither of us cared, continuing to sway to the silent music.

When I woke up, it was very early morning.  The sun was barely starting to peak out, and I didn’t want to get up.  After tossing and turning for the next half hour or so, I finally just gave up, sat next to the window, and watched the sun rise.

O Mistress mine, where are you roaming?  

O stay and hear! your true-love’s coming  

My ears perked up at the sound of his voice, and I swore that for a moment I could see his reflection in the window.  When I flipped around, no one was there.  Looking back at the window, his reflection was gone, and tears started to stream down my face.  Rather than face the day, I went back to bed, curling up and hugging one of my pillows.  For a moment or two, it smelled like citrus and musk, and I never wanted to let that pillow go.

When Sarah finally woke up about 2 or 3 hours later, I was still in the same position, the occasional tear still falling but now hitting the pillow.  I was willing the scent to return and didn’t care how crazy I looked constantly sniffing a pillow.

“Um, breakfast?”

Shaking my head a bit, she decided movie day would be relocated to my room.  She left to get extra blankets and pillows when she got a call from Dr. Fell’s office.  So they set up an appointment for tomorrow morning.  Now that she had an appointment set, she reached out to her boss to take another day off, citing she had to go into the doctor’s office for tests to which he obliged and wished her good luck and saying he hoped everything would be ok.

Once taken care of, she brought the pillows and blankets to my room only to leave again for the kitchen, grabbing all the good junk food that didn’t require a fridge/freezer and set it up within reaching distance along with water, juice, and other beverages.  Once set up, she settled in on the other side of my bed and started the big movie marathon, starting off with Kong: Skull Island.  Not even 10 minutes into the movie, I was finding the citrus/musk smell returning to the pillow again, closing my eyes for a few moments to enjoy it while I could.

When I opened my eyes, I was no longer holding on to the pillow, but him and his shirt.  Figuring this was another lucid dream, I tugged on the shirt to bring him closer to me which startled him, waking him up.

“Oh my dear, I have missed you.”  He held me as closely as I wanted.  Anyone looking on would have thought we were trying to mold into one.  He placed his chin on top of my head and held me close but delicately, afraid that he might be the one dreaming.

“I like this dream,” I said, your eyes still closed.

“If this is a dream, I hope we can stay here forever,” he responded.

“Me, too.”  Smiling into his chest, I adjusted a bit but held onto him like a lifeline, him doing the same in return.

It was a few minutes before he spoke again.  At a loss for his own words, instead he sang.

Come what may

I will love you

Until my dying day

“Come what may” I repeated, not enough energy to sing.  He wrapped his hands around my face and kissed me lightly.

“Indeed, my love.  Come what may.  I will always be here, and I will never, ever give up.”

“Can I stay here?  Like this?  So comfy.”

I could hear his sniffles mixed with a slight laugh.  “Of course my darling girl.  We can stay like this for however long you like.”

Lifting my head back up, I looked up at him and his face moved towards mine.  Moving slowly, I kissed him because if this was a dream, I was going to kiss this man as much as I could.  He returned the kiss, deepening it.  After a few minutes, we were forced to stop to catch our breath, and I nestled my head into the crook of his neck.

I wasn't sure why I was so exhausted in a dream, but I failed to notice that Tom had pushed the button to call for a nurse.  The nurse had peaked in seeing me awake, but by the time the doctor arrived, I had fallen back asleep.

Feeling someone shake me, I was irritated.  “Leave me alone……”

Sarah knew I had fallen asleep but didn't want me to end up awake all night.

“The movie is almost over.”

“smells good………….…mmmmm kisses………………”

“I’m not sure who you were snogging, but you seem to be in a better mood now.”

Opening my eyes, I was in my room turnt blanket/pillow fort, the last few minutes of Kong: Skull Island showing on the TV.

I smiled into the pillow and refused to let it go for the rest of the day, deeming it my good luck charm for dreaming.

Chapter 21

[2-kamikou-1]

boredom.

So I'm infodumping about all my prsk autistic hcs!

Ichika: (i stole this hc from my friend so I'm gonna paraphrase them some + some things I've observed myself) she's kind of awkward around people who aren't her friends and even then it takes her a while to really be herself around them because she fears that autistic traits drive people away. i smell masking. also miku special interest and she seems to sometimes have trouble communicating her emotions

saki and honami: pure vibes honestly idk it just feels that way. saki sometimes struggles with volume control just like her brother but that's also just one thing ive noticed. idk i dont really pay attention to l/n

shiho: her eyes almost always seem to be averted in her live2d models, in cards where they're talking to people they also appear that way, and even in her 2* they don't appear to be looking into the camera (?), all of which give me the impression of poor eye contact. She seems to struggle with tone, almost always sounding mean/upset without meaning to or even realizing, and has trouble communicating things in ways that aren't blunt. This can sometimes also cause them to say things that are inappropriate for the situation

Minori: haruka/idolship special interest, and we also see her struggle with spatial awareness from time to time, like in the Angel's clover 3dmv she stumbles, and other kinds of general physical awkwardness like that one clip from gunjo sanka. She also has that type of black and white thinking where the first thing she thinks is what she goes with and hard to stray from even if it's incorrect, as shown in the opening to the time to hang out event, where she claims she's "missed the only chance to learn about the Haruka she never knew" despite the fact she had the opportunity to meet up with An again, and when Kohane suggests that she tries to dodge it at first. She also seems to have a hard time making her voice flow naturally, in some mmj covers you can kind of hear her trying really hard to sound good instead of just letting her voice flow

Kohane: general social awkwardness, she seems to have an ability to pick up on music and rhythm just by listening to it. She doesn't seem to pick up on Akito's derogatory tone when reffering to Tsukasa (not by name) in that one area conversation ("My school has this wacko who likes to walk around drawing attention to himself by making random poses"), because she proceeds to say she might ask him for tips on how to be confident. In that same area conversation she worries about drawing attention to herself and refuses to look up. She doesn't understand that An's joking when she says she got 100% on her test on April fool's day, yet another example of her not catching onto tone. In one of her dialogs she hears a cricket chirping in the busy city which is not something neurotypical people can pick out typically!

Toya: he doesn't seem to make a lot of jokes, which is likely because he doesn't catch on to them very well. His speaking voice is sort of flat/monotone, and his facial expressions don't vary much either. His issues with eating squid due to its texture can be chalked up to sensory issues. I think he may also have spatial awareness issues but that one's a little far fetched, seeing as he apparently hits his head off train handles.

might i add, kohane and toya get on in a way only 2 autistic people get along. it's hard to explain they just have that dynamic

long post on the entirety of wxs being autistic

Kanade: she doesn't like the sunlight probably due to sensory issues, and in one area conversation she says she'll wait for a movie to hit streaming because it's too noisy outside to go to the theatre. also sensory stuff! She avoids breaks and resists change, wearing and eating the same stuff every day for the sake of consistency. (These can also be signs of ADHD too but I'm choosing to interpret them as autism because comfort)

Mafuyu: mafuyu is a very good example of the loss of identity that is associated with masking and RSD, both things that can happen in autism. this post explains it in more detail, but in the most simple terms, this happens when an autistic (or any neurodivergence that involves RSD) person creates what are called identity masks to deal with people who are unresponsive to their needs. As they treat personalities like clothes and mirror other people, they start to lose sight of their own identity. That's why we see mafuyu so deadpan when she takes off her good-girl persona, she's disconnected from her core self.

Ena: we see her have something very akin to a meltdown in insatiable pale color, when she makes a mess of all her art supplies. She can be offensive without meaning to at times, as shown in the exciting picnic event. In that same event, it's revealed that Ena defended Airi when she was getting made fun of without even knowing who she was, displaying the innate sense of justice that some autistic people have.

[esperosisdoeswriting]

Raffle Winner Story- Ok again

(Thank you all again so much for particpating in the raffle! Now, this is the completeed 3k+ story requested by an anonomous user! The request was as follows: A cold hearted Superhero x A Anxious Supervillain who have opposite powers (Fire vs Ice, Dark vs Light etc.) . One day tho The Hero finds out the villain is in a abusive relationship and goes to save them, however the hero is having a hard time comforting the villain because their powers are reacting negatively towards eachother when they’re too close to one anouther.)

(THIS IS NOT A PROMPT, Content Warnings: Depictions of abuse, some violence)

Hero sighed as they looked down from the rooftop. Villain was below them, trying to figure out how to stealthily break into Boutique, utterly unaware of Hero's presence. Hero did have to wonder what Villain was even doing. Breaking into stores wasn't exactly a usual crime of theirs. Hero didn't suppose it mattered though, Villain was committing a crime, and for that, they needed to be punished.

Hero waited for Villain to finally give up trying to lockpick the back door and instead lit a small, concentrated flame in their palm and began to melt the lock. Hero stood from their perch, taking this as their cue to stop Villain. As they jumped off the rooftop, they sent a bolt of ice at the lock, quickly freezing it to the point it stopped melting. Hero heard Villain gasp, alarmed by the ice, and spun around just in time to see Hero land behind them

"Attempted breaking and entering using powers," Hero tsked at Villain, who was frantically looking from side to side for an escape. They were trapped, the back alley's confined quarters ensuring that Hero would catch them no matter what direction they ran.

"Hero... You're surprisingly fast tonight." Villain replied, the hopelessness of their situation beginning to dawn on them.

"Actually, you just managed to pick a shop that I patrol past, So it's less I'm quick, and your unlucky."

Villain let out a defeated laugh, "Well, you stopped me, I'm just gonna... go home." Villain took a tentative step to the right, Hero mimicking their movement.

"No, I don't think you are."

"What?!" Villain shouted, panic and desperation evident in their voice, "But I didn't even break in! You stopped me. How can you still arrest me!?"

"As I said before, you attempted to break and enter using powers. That's a crime. Besides, you have several outstanding warrants, so I can really just arrest you on sight." Hero let out a huff of annoyance. These criminals never made it easy for them.

"Wait... Please, I have to get home tomorrow; please, you can't arrest me!" Villain pleaded to Hero, who just fixed them with a hard stare,

"Then you should have thought about that before suiting up."

Villain took a step back, their body shaking as their back hit the wall. They glanced behind them at the wall before their eyes returned to Hero, tears welling up.

"How about this?" Villain tried, some hope returning to their eyes, "I'm cut you a deal, if you let me go tonight, I won't cause any trouble for a month!" their voice lifted a bit, tears streaming down their face as they pleaded to Hero.

"Think about that, yeah? A whole month where you don't have to worry about me doing anything!" Villain desperately tried to convince Hero, who seemed to consider the idea for a moment before speaking.

"A whole month without your antics would be very nice..." Villain looked almost sick with relief, "But I'd get much more than a month if you were in prison." Villain's face immediately dropped into utter despair.

"Now, Hands behind your back, let's make this easy for both of us, ok?" Hero began to fiddle with their utility belt for their power dampening handcuffs as they heard Villain mumble something from across the alley.

"What was that? You'll have to speak up," Hero replied, not even looking at them as they finally got the cuffs unhooked.

"I said I'm not letting you arrest me!" Villain all but screamed at them as the alley suddenly burst into light.

Hero looked up only to see Villain nearly engulfed in flames. Hero only had enough time to encase themselves in a shield of ice before Villain's powers exploded out of them in an inferno, launching them into the air. Hero released the ice and looked up to see if they could catch them, but Villain was already sailing through the air, using the combustion from their flames to propel themselves.

"Damn," Hero muttered to themself, knowing full well they wouldn't be able to catch up. They cursed themself for not paying more attention as they quickly extinguished the flames around them with their ice. They let out a sigh, knowing they had just screwed up big time, when a strange note caught their attention off the ground. It was singed but much cleaner than the other garbage that was littering the alley's floor.

Hero bent down and picked it up, reading the note.

"Just so you don't forget, I wanted the black jacket, you know the one. It was in the cute little Boutique we went to. Make sure you get it darling, I really really want it! I Love you Villan's real name!"

So Villain was stealing for their significant other it seemed. Hero let out a sigh and shook their head. Hero guessed they really wanted to make them happy if when they couldn't afford the gift, they resorted to stealing. Hero looked up at the sky, a smile crossing their face. Now that they had a name for Villain, finding them should be easy.

It took several hours of scouring the power database for the city. But finally, at the crack of dawn, they were confident that the person they were looking at on the screen was Villain. Another Hero came over and place a coffee on their desk with a sympathetic smile. They'd been there, they all had. Hero just nodded a thank you to them and took a long drink, staring at the screen.

Now all they had to do was track Villain down and gather evidence that Villain was Villain. A tiresome but necessary process, way too many trigger happy heroes in the past had caught a whiff that a civilian was a villain and beat them mercilessly before turning them in. These civilians rarely ever turned out to be the villains the heroes thought they were, so now everyone else had to jump through hoops to get these criminals off the streets. 

Hero packed up their things and checked out a camera and video camera from storage, the nice woman wishing them a good day. Hero tiredly nodded back. This was going to be a long day.

Hero had found Villain at home. Hero had managed to locate an empty apartment in the complex across from Villain's and peered at them with binoculars. The two cameras in their bag untouched, getting pictures of Villain acting all cute and domestic, wouldn't help their case. Hero immediately reeled back, stopping their train of thought abruptly. Had they just thought Villain was... cute? No, no, they thought they had been acting cute, totally different. Besides, Villain was in a relationship. Wait, why did that matter?

Hero smacked their head against the wall a few times to try and rid their mind of these strange thoughts. Thinking such things about a criminal was highly unprofessional. They breathed in, then out, before finally picking the binoculars back up to resume their surveillance. Villain was smiling softly as they scrubbed down the counters with some kind of cleaning product. From the way, their lips were pressed together. How they were moving their body rhythmically, Hero assumed they were humming along with some music they were playing.

Hero tried not to think about it, but they had to finally address the elephant in the room. Okay, so Villain was definitely a filthy criminal who hurt people and stole things, but they were a person too. Sometimes it was hard to remember that in Hero's line of work. No, that's not true. It was simply easier to forget. Hero had long ago locked their heart away so softer emotions like empathy and mercy wouldn't interfere. However, the more they watched Villain dance along with their music and clean, lost in their own little world. They felt their icy disposition begin to soften involuntarily.

They let out a sigh. It didn't matter anymore. As soon as they caught Villain putting their costume on, it was over. Villain would go to prison, and many people would be safer for it. They stole themselves and continued to bury themselves in thoughts of protecting people.

Eventually, after several hours another person entered the apartment. Hero assumed this to be the significant other who had written the note, as both seemed to greet each other warmly. Hero watched them smile and interact with each other, but something didn't seem quite right. Hero narrowed their eyes, trying to figure out what was leaving them so uneasy. It took a minute or so, but they think that Villain might be tenser than they were before. Hero shook their head and chalked it up to them being daydreaming earlier and now being more attentive.

Hero continued to watch the two interact as Villain's partner sat down at the table and Villain served them both the meal Villain had been making before. Hero assumed this was some kind of working spouse, house spouse arrangement. The partner was dressed nicely, so they were likely at least somewhat well off.

The two talked as they ate; what about Hero wasn't sure. However, they were unprepared when things seemed to take a turn. Villain's partner said something which made Villain tense and looked away. Hero narrowed their eyes, not for the first time since the partner had returned home wishing they had been able to plant a bug. The partner's disposition seemed to flip on a dime, as they went from happy a jovial to angry almost instantly. They said something, and Villain looked down, mumbling something in response. Suddenly partner's dinner plate was thrown at Villain's head, narrowly missing them.

Hero instantly jumped to their feet, every cell in their body screaming at them to protect, to save. They stood still in shock as a million thoughts raced through their mind. If they rushed over now, they would lose any chance of catching Villain. Hero hesitantly raised the binoculars to their eyes once more. Villain's partner had rounded the table, obviously screaming something at Villain, who was now sobbing in their chair. It was when the partner lifted their fist to punch Villain when Hero knew they couldn't remain idly.

Hero summoned their ice in a flash and smashed it into the wall in front of them before thrusting their powers behind them. Cracking the opposite wall, they flung themself at Villain's apartment window. They swung their body around so that when they hit the window, they did so feet first, breaking the window to pieces and kicking the partner in the back.

Villain's partner flew forward past Villain and slammed into the kitchen wall, crumpling to the floor, leaving a small trail of blood behind on the wall. Hero was in the apartment, and Villain was safe... they... weren't exactly sure what to do now. They might have just killed the partner, or at the very least hospitalized them, and Villain was staring up at them, terrified. Their mind raced, usually, they would just call the police, or the police would already be there to deal with the aftermath. But now they were on their own to deal with this mess.

They decided the best first thing to do would be to comfort Villain. They knelt down to Villain, who was now on the floor trying to back away from both Hero and their partner's crumpled form.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Hero tried,

"You just launched through my apartment window and kicked my spouse in the back!" Villain hyperventilated.

"They were going to hurt you!" Hero argued back,

"It's... They..." Villain sobbed, "They love me ok, they just. They have a temper sometimes!"

"People don't hurt the people they love," Hero replied softly, "You don't understand!"

"I understand enough to know what they're doing is wrong."

Villain broke down sobbing hysterically, and Hero's heart wrenched for them. They moved closer to give Villain a hug but as soon as their skin touched each other, Villan's fire burst from them, Hero's ice responding to defend themself. They both looked at each other with wide eyes.

"That-" Hero felt awful, "That wasn't intentional, I just."

"You just wanted to arrest me, I get it." Villain let out a bitter laugh, which then turned into a sob that wracked their entire frame.

"I wanted to give you a hug," Hero mumbled. Villain looked up at them at that, tears still streaming down their face, their face which was a mix of heartbreak and despair, contorted into a bitter expression.

"Yeah, right. Hero in the many months I've known you... Well, let's just say you aren't the softest of individuals. It's fine. You don't have to lie about it. I can see the cuffs on your belt." Villain looked down at the floor.

"You mean these cuffs?" Hero asked as they unhooked them from their belt. Villain looked up at Hero, and before they could say another word, Hero tossed them out the window, leaveng them to fall the ten stories to the ground.

"You..." Villain stared at them in complete disbelief.

"Just threw away my handcuffs? Yes, because I'm not here to arrest you. All I want to do right now is help you." Hero stared deeply into Villain's eyes, praying that their intentions showed through to Villain. After a long moment of the two staring into each other's eyes, Villain began to cry again. Hero immediately started to panic, thinking they had done something wrong as they frantically tried to reassure Villain, but Villain just sat there. Their entire frame violently shaking with sobs, they eventually managed to get some words out.

"I. want... to go... home." Villain desperatly cried as they hiccupped and shook.

"I don't know where your home is other than here, but I can take you somewhere safe until you calm down." Hero slowly reached out to pull Villain into their arms, but their powers violently reacted once more. Villain's whole body flinched as if struck, and their crying intensified.

Hero's mind raced as they tried to think up some kind of solution to the current problem. Finally, after a long minute of thinking, they had an idea.

"Just... hang on, I'll be right back, ok?"

Villain didn't respond, and Hero took that as their cue. They carefully stepped over the partner's crumpled form before thinking that they should probably check to see if he was still alive. Hero bent down and checked the partner's pulse, still alive. Hero gave a nod and continued further into the apartment. They searched for a minute or so before finally emerging with what they were searching for. As they returned to the kitchen with arm fulls of towels, they accidentally kicked partner in the ribs while passing. So hard to see with these towels hero thought to themself.

"I'm going to put these on you, ok?" Hero asked Villain. 

Villain was only crying softly now, but they were curled up and didn't respond. Hero then gently draped the towel over Villain and cautiously placed their hand on the material. They breathed a sigh of relief when no kickback occurred.

Villain finally looked up, their expression having changed from soul-wrenching despair to misery mixed with cautious hope.

"What are you doing?" Villain whispered as hero tucked towels all around Villian.

"Covering you in towels, since your so upset, our powers are reacting badly to each other. But if we put these towels in between us, I can do this!" Hero announced as, in one smooth motion, they scooped Villain into their arms and lifted them into the air bridal style. Villain looked up at them, their eyes wide and teary.

"Where are you taking me?" Villain asked

"You said you wanted to go home, right? Well, I don't know where that is, so mine will have to do." Hero looked down at Villain, "Now hold on tight, this is gonna be a bit scary."

"You're taking me to your home?!" Villain nearly shouted as Hero made their way to the broken window, "Aren't you afraid I'm going to leak your address or identity or something?"

"That's something I can deal with later. Right now, my main concern is making sure you're safe." Hero gave Villain a soft smile. Villain teared up once more and buried their face in Hero's chest. Hero tightened their grip on Villain as they gave one last look at the ruined apartment. Food and blood drying on the wall, shattered glass everywhere, and the broken chair lying in pieces on the tile floor. They thought back to how much fun Villain had looked to be having cleaning it earlier and turned away.

Then, they jumped. They felt Villain's body stiffen in their arms as their latched onto Hero with a death grip. Hero summoned their ice into a ramp, and they began to skate through the cities' skyline. Villain, after the feeling of free-falling, had subsided peaked around them and gasped, taking in the view of the city and the frost all around them.

"Is this how you see the city?" Villain asked them.

"Yes."

"It's beautiful,"

Hero resisted the urge to say 'not as beautiful as you', now certainly wasn't the time for that. But they didn't dismiss the thought either. It was clear now, Villain wasn't some scum-sucking criminal but a deeply hurt individual that had fallen down the wrong path.

"You're going to be ok from now on, ok?" Hero said, looking down at Villain. Villain looked back up at them,

"I believe you."

They still had a lot of work to do, trauma didn't disappear overnight. Hero knew this. But Hero was confident that someday, Villain was going to be ok again.

And as Villain watched over the city, even though their mind nagged at them to go back to their apartment. To go back and take care of their partner and apologize for not getting them the jacket like they asked, for not cooking and cleaning well enough, for being a lousy partner. They closed their eyes. Deep down, they knew that this was for the best, and one day, they would be ok again.

[bestillmyslashyheart]

4am

the whole thing is here but its over 18k so if you would prefer to read it on ao3 i understand

It’s widely understood that when Michael Guerin has a problem he drowns it in bourbon and anonymous sex. Occasionally he might complain to Isobel Evans about it or maybe even Max Evans but mostly, his problems end up on the floor of the Wild Pony, one way or another.

Alex Manes, on the other hand, doesn’t have problems. Or if he does, he doesn’t talk about it. Everyone knows that nobody bottles up their issues quite like Alex.

What nobody understands is that no one can ignore their problems forever. Everyone needs a release. Sometimes, that release comes in alcohol, sometimes in hitting something or someone and letting them hit you in return, sometimes even in the bliss of a stranger’s company. And sometimes it comes in the form of a late night phone call and quiet secrets and shared traumas. 

No one understands and that’s exactly the way they like it.

---

He’d turned the ringer up loud earlier in the day to make sure he didn’t miss a phone call or a text and Alex was sorely regretting that now.

The sharp ring woke him from a light sleep and Alex snatched the phone off the bedside table and answered the call before it could wake anyone else up. He didn’t even have time to look at the Caller ID.

“Hello?”

Heavy breathing on the other end was his only answer. Alex twisted his wrist to check the time. 3:12am

“I can’t hold a guitar.” Alex collapsed in on himself at the husky voice. It sounded like the other man had been crying. Or maybe screaming.

“Guerin?” He let out a breath. “Are you okay?” He hadn’t seen Michael since his father had dragged him out of the shed the previous afternoon. By the time Alex could sneak back out there, the place was empty and all of Michael’s things were gone. “That’s a stupid question. Did you go to the hospital?”

“No insurance.”

“You’re a minor, the state should cover you,” Alex told him with absolutely no knowledge whatsoever if what he was saying was actually true. If Michael believed it at least he might go see a doctor and worry about the bills later. 

Michael laughed. It was a harsh, broken thing and he stopped suddenly after a few seconds. “And when they ask me what happened? Am I supposed to tell them the resident war hero smashed it with his hammer because he caught me with his son?”

Alex closed his eyes. He hadn’t thought of that. He’d just wanted Michael to be okay. “Guerin-”

“I tried to pick up my guitar,” Michael cut him off. “I can’t even fucking hold it. My hand won’t- it won’t grip.” Alex felt tears sting the back of his eyelids. “I can’t play Alex.”

“I’m sorry,” Alex choked out.

“Don’t,” Michael replied forcefully. “It’s not your fault. It’s not.”

“He’s my dad.”

“He’s a monster. Doesn’t make it your fault.”

Alex pulled his knees up to his chin and pressed his forehead to his leg. His phone creaked from how tightly he was squeezing it. He didn’t know what to say.

Michael was silent on the other end of the line. If it hadn’t been for his harsh breaths, Alex might have thought he’d hung up.

“Rosa’s dead,” Alex said suddenly. He hadn’t meant to say it but the words were on the tip of his tongue. Michael was quiet. “She- she’s dead. How- god, Michael, Liz called this morning and I couldn’t even process it. I hadn’t heard from you since my dad- and I just wanted to know you were okay and I couldn’t process that my friend is- she’s gone, Guerin.” Alex lost the battle against the tears, one he hadn’t realized he’d been fighting for hours now, and they streamed hot and heavy down his face. They burned on his cheeks but he made no moves to brush them away. There was no one here to see them anyway.

“I’m sorry.” Michael sounded so earnest, like he truly meant it and wasn’t just saying that to be polite, it soothed something in him. Just a little.

“She was going to California,” Alex confessed. “We talked about me coming with her after graduation. Maybe go to LA. I could play music and we’d get a crappy little apartment and bug Liz and Maria to come visit us.” Alex sniffed. “We were supposed to leave. Leave and be happy. Away from here.”

“I’m sorry,” Michael said again. It was quiet for a while. “You can still leave, Alex. You can go to California and make music. You don’t have to stay here, not with him.”

“What about you?” Alex asked quietly.

Michael’s breath hitched. “What about me?”

“Would you want to make music?” He couldn’t quite bring himself to ask him to come with him if he left, not yet. It was too soon.

Michael huffed. “Yeah. Yeah, I do. Did.” He let out a pained groan and hissed curse. Alex got the idea that he might have tried to move his hand. “You know, I always kind of thought of starting a dad band? Find someone to make music with, have a couple of kids, jam out in the garage instead of doing homework kind of thing.” And now he can’t even hold a guitar. Because of Alex and his dad. 

Alex swallowed around the lump in his throat. “That sounds pretty great,” he admitted quietly.

“Yeah?”

Neither of them pointed out that it was a lot less likely to happen now. “Yeah. You could pick up the triangle. Or maybe a cowbell.” 

“Hey now no need to be mean.” But Michael laughed. 

Alex smiled even though the tears hadn’t quite stopped. “You’d be great at it.”

“I’d be awesome. Don’t sell me short.”

“I could never,” Alex promised. The air sobered between them. “Michael. You’ll play again someday. I promise.”

Michael didn’t reply right away. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

The line went dead.

---

The phone hitting him in the face woke him long before the ringing would have. Michael jerked away from the impact, his eyes blinking open blearily.

“It’s for you,” the girl next to him muttered. “Shut it up.” Michael didn’t remember her name.

He grabbed the phone fully intending to turn it off when he saw the name flashing. He answered it just as it was going to voicemail. “Hold on,” he mumbled. Without waiting to hear a response, he rolled over the girl on his tiny bunk and fell to the floor with a crash. Cursing and rubbing his elbow, he grabbed his boxers from the floor and fled his new Airstream. “Alex?” Alex’s reply was lost when he dropped the phone trying to pull his boxers on.

“Shit,” he cursed, scrambling to grab it. “Alex?” 

“Guerin?” Alex almost sounded amused which was good. “You doing okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Fine. You?” He pulled the phone away from his ear to check the time. 3:52am. “Shit, it’s late.”

“Yeah,” Alex agreed. He didn’t say anything else.

Michael dropped heavily into one of his new lawn chairs. Well, it was new to him. What was that old saying? One man’s trash is another man’s treasure? “How’s Basic?”

The line was silent before Michael heard a whoosh of air as Alex exhaled loudly. “It’s shit.”

Michael rolled his eyes. “I could’ve told you that.”

“Don’t,” Alex said, not pleading or scolding, just simply. “Not right now.”

“Okay,” Michael agreed. He didn’t want Alex to hang up. It was the first time they’d spoken since Alex left and he didn’t know when or if Alex would call again. 

“They- fuck,” Michael heard a thud. “They have expectations.”

“Who?”

“Everyone!” Alex shifted. “They all know my dad. And the guy in charge here was an old buddy of my grandfather’s.” Michael didn’t know what to say. “They all expect me to be them. And I don’t- I don’t know if I know how not to be.”

“You’re not them, Alex,” Michael reminded him.

“I wasn’t,” Alex agreed. “Out there when I could dress how I wanted and act like I wanted and do what I wanted. But here? Here there’s no me, it’s just- it’s just the military and the way you have to act to be military and I see my dad and my grandfather and my brothers everywhere I look and I don’t want to be them, Guerin!”

“You’re not,” Michael assured him. “You’re not them and unless they do some serious brainwashing and maybe a personality transplant over there, you’re not going to be, okay? You’re Alex. Not Jesse, not Clay, or Flint, or Greg. You’re Alex.” 

Alex was quiet. “I don’t know what that means.”

“Where are you?”

“Basic training,” Alex replied immediately.

“Alex,” Michael groaned. It was like pulling teeth sometimes.

“Uh,” Alex hesitated. “In a supply closet in the communications building.”

Michael raised an eyebrow even if Alex couldn’t see it. “Why?”

“Because they lock up our phones except for pre-approved usage times.”

Michael double checked his phone but it definitely said Alex’s name. “You’re on your phone now.”

“Well yeah, I couldn’t remember your number so I broke in and stole it.” He said it like it was nothing.

“Alex,” Michael laughed.

“What?” Alex said defensively.

“Would anyone else in your family break into a military facility to steal their phone to make a middle of the night phone call to their-” Michael stopped short of labeling himself anything in relation to Alex. “No way,” he continued. “They wouldn’t dare.”

Alex hummed consideringly. Michael heard a loud noise on the other end. “Shit,” Alex hissed quietly. “There’s a patrol. I gotta go.”

The line went dead. Michael stared at his phone as the call ended and the screen went black. After a while he realized Alex wasn’t going to call back so he trudged back inside the trailer only to freeze at the sight of the naked girl in his bed. He’d completely forgotten about her and after talking to Alex the thought of getting back in bed next to her only made his skin crawl. He fished some sweats out of the closet and went back outside to sleep in his truck.

---

Michael’s hands were shaking as he listened to the phone ring. It had been a while since they’d spoken, longer since they’d seen each other in person, but there was only one person Michael could even think of calling.

The call connected to a loud burst of music and a shouted, “hold on!” Already, Michael’s hands were steadier.

He waited as the noises faded and the world quieted. “Guerin?” Alex asked, a little breathless.

“Hi,” he greeted, his voice smaller than he’d like.

Alex didn’t ask what was wrong or why he was calling. He just waited.

“I needed you to answer,” Michael confessed into the silence. “I needed- I don’t know. I just-”

There was a shout of, “Manes! You coming back?”, and Michael’s heart started to race until Alex replied. “I’m heading out! I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Oh come on, Manes, that guy was hot!” Michael closed his eyes.

Alex laughed. “Not hot enough.” There was a long pause as the world got quiet on Alex’s end. First the voices disappeared and then the music cut off with the loud slam of a heavy door. “Guerin?”

“Sorry for ruining your night.” It was after 3am and Michael had been fully prepared to wake Alex up. He wasn’t prepared to catch Alex out on a date.

“You didn’t,” Alex assured him. A car door opened and then closed. 

Michael didn’t know what to say. The more he thought about why he’d called, why he’d needed Alex to answer, the stupider he felt. But he also couldn’t hang up so he just sat there, phone pressed tight against his ear hoping Alex didn’t hang up.

Alex didn’t hang up. After a while he started humming under his breath. It was too faint for Michael to make out the song but it was a pleasant reminder that Alex was still there.

“I need to drive home,” Alex said after a while. “Do you mind if I put you on speaker?”

Michael should probably just end the call and let him drive but, “that’s fine.” A second later, Alex’s car turned on and his music started playing briefly before Alex turned it off and continued humming. Michael listened to the sounds of Alex driving and let it lull him half to sleep. He heard the engine shut off and the car door open and close followed by the house door open and close and still neither of them said a word.

Michael listened as Alex got changed for bed and he heard the quiet sigh as Alex slipped under the covers. “Late night.”

“Long week,” Alex countered. He started humming again.

“What is that?”

Alex hesitated. “It’s nothing. Just something I was playing around with the other day.”

“You’re writing?” Michael smiled. Alex had always wanted to write his own music. 

“Trying to. Sometimes.”

“I like it.”

“Thanks.”

The humming started again and this time Michael recognized it, realizing that Alex was humming the same part over and over again. He tried to join in. 

Alex let him for a few notes before he started laughing. “Hey!” Michael scolded half heartedly. “I’m not that bad.”

“Yeah you are,” Alex laughed.

“Hmph,” Michael grumbled. “Well compared to you everyone’s terrible.”

“You’re biased,” Alex accused lightly, his voice barely above a mumble.

“Yeah I am,” Michael agreed. “Night, Alex. Thanks for answering.”

“Always.”

---

Alex paced the parking lot, his phone in his hands. He kept turning it over and over, not pausing long enough to actual call anyone. 

He knew who he was going to call, that was never a question. This was how it went. He called, the other answered, they talked or didn’t talk depending on the night, and then they never spoke about it again. Middle of the night phone calls were sacred. No matter how long it had been or what had been last said in the daylight, if the phone rang in the middle of the night, it got answered. 

Which meant Alex had to wait. It was just past two in the morning now. By any rational person’s clock that was late. Hell, Alex was normally asleep by 10 o’clock so this was extremely late. He just wasn’t sure if it was late enough to count as a middle of the night call. He needed it to not be a regular call.

Alex didn’t stop moving for the next 30 minutes. He covered the parking lot four times over and nearly dropped his phone twice because he couldn’t stop playing with it. When it was almost three (2:41am but he’s rounding up) he pressed Call.

“One second,” Michael answered gruffly after six rings. There was another voice muffled in the background. Whoever it was did not sound happy that Michael had answered the phone. 

Alex bounced on his toes lightly and waited as Michael made his excuses to his hookup of the night.

“Okay,” Michael said after a moment.

“I kissed my squadmate,” Alex blurted out. “Well, I kissed him and then he sucked me off. In my commanding officer’s office. And we got caught.”

Silence. “Are you getting discharged?” Trust Michael to skip past the awkwardness for once and cut straight to the point.

“I don’t know.” Which was part of the problem.

“Isn’t it against the military’s rules to be gay?” Alex heard the creak of Michael’s truck door opening and then the slam of it closing.

“Yes. Kinda. Not really? It’s complicated.” Alex started pacing.

“Yeah, I’m a little drunk so you’re going to have to explain that one to me.”

“DADT got repealed. Today. Or yesterday, I suppose.”

“So you’re not getting kicked out?”

“I don’t know.” Michael waited. “It happened two days ago. They hadn’t actually filed any charges against us to start the discharge process. And now with DADT being repealed it’s all up in the air. Because the ‘offense’ happened before the repeal and also because they don’t know if the repeal goes into effect immediately or if there’s a delay or what that means for us.” Alex stopped and squatted on a curb.

Michael didn’t say anything right away and so Alex waited. “Alex, did you get caught on purpose?”

Alex closed his eyes. “Maybe.”

“Alex…”

“Can you imagine my dad’s face if his son was dishonorably discharged for engaging in homosexual activity?” Alex could. He’d pictured it many a time. “It would be on record. He’d have to acknowledge it.”

“So you’re going to throw your life away? To piss off your dad?”

Alex rolled his eyes. “It’s the Air Force, not my life.”

“It’s a dishonorable discharge,” Michael corrected. He sounded remarkably sober for a guy who claimed to be drunk. “That kind of thing sticks with you.”

“I know.” Because he did know. He just wasn’t sure he cared all that much.

Michael huffed. “So now what?”

“I don’t know. They could go either way. Hell, they could wait to decide what to do and just leave us in limbo for now.”

“Why now?”

Alex dropped his head to his knees. This was the part he hadn’t wanted to admit to. “I’m being deployed next week.”

“Shit, Alex.” 

“Yeah.” He sighed. “I’m a coward.”

“You’re not a coward. Not wanting to go to war does not make you a coward. It means you have a brain and some semblance of self preservation.”

“I joined the military, Guerin,” Alex reminded him. “I knew what that meant. But now that it’s here…”

“You’re going to be fine, Alex.”

“You don’t know that.” 

“Yes I do. Because you’re not allowed to not be fine.”

Alex’s shoulders sagged. “Not allowed huh?”

“No. I checked the rule book. You have to come home, safe and sound.”

“Yeah okay,” Alex sighed.

Michael let the silence linger before, “was he good at least? Like, worth getting kicked out of the military good?”

Alex smirked. “I’ve had better.”

He heard the slow lazy smile that spread across Michael’s lips, the smugness just oozing through the phone. “Yeah you have.”

---

Alex’s voice was a sleepy mumble when he finally answered. “Guerin?” 

“Hey,” Michael greeted softly. It was late, even for this kind of call. Hell, Alex would probably be needing to get up for the day soon at this point.

Bed sheets rustled as Alex shifted in bed. He waited for Michael to speak first. When he didn’t, he started humming, as had become his habit.

Michael let him for a little while, his eyes closed as he listened to Alex try out different notes. He’d been working on the same tune for years at this point but Michael never tired of hearing it. “Alex?”

Alex stopped humming with an inquisitive noise.

“Am I really that bad of a person?”

“You’re not a bad person at all,” Alex told him. His voice was still slightly rough with sleep and for the first time Michael felt bad for calling him. Alex had clearly needed the rest. “You’re an idiot sometimes and you make terrible life decisions but you’re not a bad person.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“If you want me to lie, call me when I’m awake,” Alex grumbled. They both knew Michael wouldn’t though. They didn’t talk like this when the sun was shining. If they talked at all it was inconsequential.

“Max is joining the sheriff’s department,” Michael told him. “Because of me. Because he thinks he needs to to get me out of trouble. Because I’m such a screw up that he needs to literally make a career out of cleaning up after me.”

Alex sighed. “You’re not responsible for what Max does. He’s a big boy, just like you, and he makes his own choices, okay?”

Michael waited for him to tell him he wasn’t a screw up. He didn’t.

“Guerin?”

“Yeah, okay.” Michael swallowed thickly and hoped Alex couldn’t hear it through the phone.

“What is it?” No such luck.

“You were supposed to tell me I’m not a screw up.” Alex didn’t reply right away and Michael scoffed. “Guess I should have called when you were awake.”

“You’re not a screw up,” Alex finally said. But had lost some of its meaning. “You just make bad choices sometimes.”

Michael had a sudden flashback to his truck that last summer. “Right.” He nodded even though Alex couldn’t see him. “I forgot. I’m throwing my life away.”

Alex sighed heavily. He sounded a good deal more awake now than he had. “Guerin-”

“Sorry for waking you up.”

“Gue-”

Michael hung up.

---

“Hey man, are you okay?” Richards grabbed his shoulder but Alex threw him off without a thought. He must have been rougher than he’d thought because Richards took a full step back and put his hands in the air. “Manes? Alex?”

“I’m fine,” Alex barked.

“You are not fine,” Henderson told him. Alex whirled around. He hadn’t even heard him come up behind him. Henderson also took a step back.

“Okay, fine. I’m not fine.” 

“What do you need, man?” Collins asked from behind Richards.

Alex wasn’t even entirely sure what had happened. One second he was fine and the next he was having what might be a panic attack. “I need to leave.” The guys immediately started clearing a path to the door. Alex was nearly outside before he realized what he really needed was something else. “I need my phone.”

Henderson turned on the spot. “I’ll get it.”

Collins and Richards waved Alex outside, neither one of them touching him and making sure no one else even came close. It was impressive considering how crowded the bar was tonight. 

Alex braced himself against the brick wall, closed his eyes, and sucked in slow, deep breaths. There were people walking on the street behind him but Alex blocked them out. “Here,” he heard Henderson say. Alex opened his eyes to see his cell phone in front of his face. He snatched it from Henderson with a gruff ‘thanks’ and started scrolling through his contacts. It had been a while since either of them called and their last call hadn’t ended well but Alex didn’t care. 

He ignored the fact that it was barely past midnight and hit Call. As it rang he pressed his forehead to the back of his hand, his fingers digging into the brick. The guys stood around him, not quite hovering but not leaving him alone just yet.

Alex ignored all of it and listened to the phone ring.

The dial tone cut off with a, “-uck off Max!” 

Alex sagged lightly against the wall. There was a slamming door and some more cursing before, “Alex?”

“Hi,” he whispered.

“What’s wrong?” They didn’t usually ask. But then again, Alex didn’t usually call this early in the night. He was suddenly acutely aware of his friends pretending not to listen in.

“Can you-” Alex cleared his throat. “Can you just-”

Thankfully, Michael didn’t need him to finish the sentence because Alex wasn’t sure that he could. He waited half a beat to make sure Alex didn’t say anything else before he was off on a tangent about something. Alex could honestly say he had no idea what Michael was talking about, at some points the terminology he was using went straight over his head and at others he was referencing people Alex had never met. But it honestly didn’t matter as Alex felt his panic subside and the tension leave him the longer Michael talked. 

After more than a few minutes, though it honestly could have been an hour and Alex wasn’t sure he’d have noticed, Collins came over to him. “Do you need a ride home?”

Michael stopped talking, clearly listening in.

Alex nodded. “Sorry.” They’d all come together.

“Dude,” Richards scoffed. “Don’t apologize. Place was lame anyway.” He turned and led the way to the car, Henderson on his heels. Collins lagged behind to make sure Alex was following.

“Alex?” Michael asked.

“Yeah. Can you-”

Michael hummed. “So yesterday Izzy-” Alex let the words roll right over him. He barely paid attention to where he was walking and trusted Collins to get him back to the car in one piece. 

Alex didn’t say a word the whole ride home and the others left after making sure he got into his apartment in one piece, none of them asking the questions obviously on the tips of their tongues. Alex loved them for it, just a little bit.

He listened to Michael ramble as he got ready for bed and collapsed on top of his sheets.

“I saw my dad today.”

Michael cut off mid word. 

“He- he’s visiting an old friend of his apparently.”

“I didn’t realize the devil had friends.”

“Plenty of demons in hell,” Alex said lightly. “I didn’t think he saw me but then he was out at the bar I went to tonight and he,” Alex stopped. He hadn’t even really processed it earlier, what exactly had set him off. Now, he wasn’t sure he wanted to admit it. Hell, he wasn’t sure he could admit it. 

He let out a shuddering breath and said nothing.

After a while, Michael started talking again and Alex fell asleep to the sound of his voice.

---

Maria grabbed the keys out of his hand even as she shoved him out the door. “Your truck will be here tomorrow,” she told him. She closed the doors behind her and watched him as he stumbled across the parking lot. “Is there someone you can call?”

Michael laughed. “At this time?” He paused. “What time is it?”

“3am,” she sighed. “Look, you can’t stay here. I can’t afford that right now.” She’d just bought the place and he knew any small problem could snowball for her right now. “I need to clean up and lock up. If you’re still here when I leave, I’m calling the Sheriff.”

She hesitated a moment, a wary eye locked on him, but eventually she went back inside. Michael didn’t miss the definitive thud of the deadbolt turning in the lock a second later.

Michael tripped twice on his way to his truck, his feet catching on the gravel. He had half a thought of using his powers to start the engine but he dismissed it, recognizing that he really was way too drunk to try and drive. Honestly, he was drunk enough that he might somehow blow the car up trying to start it with his powers. Instead, he pawed clumsily at the seats until his cell phone appeared.

Holding onto it tightly, he slammed the door and started down the road. The Wild Pony was on the opposite side of town from Sanders’ but at least he wasn’t parked out at Foster’s right now. That would have been too far.

Michael wasn’t sure at what point he’d dialed the phone but before he knew it it was ringing in his hands.

“Hey,” Alex’s tiny voice answered. Michael stopped and stared down at his name on the screen. He didn’t have a contact photo set for him; Alex wouldn’t let him take one. “Guerin?”

“Alexxx,” Michael drew out his name far longer than necessary.

Alex sighed. “You’re drunk.”

“Yes,” Michael nodded firmly. “Very. Maria took my keys.”

“Where are you?”

Michael looked around. “Roswell.”

He thought Alex might have snorted. “I know that. Are you at the Pony?”

“Nope.” Michael shook his head. “She kicked me out.”

“Oookay. So where are you now?”

“Walking.”

Alex paused. “You’re walking home from the Pony? Drunk?”

Michael shrugged. “She said I couldn’t stay or she’d call the Sheriff. I don’t want to see Max’s disappointed face again. It’s a stupid face.”

“Michael,” Alex sighed. “Can you call Isobel? Have her pick you up.”

“She’s got a new boyfriend. She’d be mad if I woke her up. Says she needs her beauty sleep for him.”

“Mich-”

“You left.” Alex choked on his name when Michael cut him off. 

“I couldn’t stay.”

“No. You could,” Michael focused more on putting one foot in front of the other than on the words spilling out of his mouth. Probably a good thing because otherwise he’d never say it and he’d just have more nights like this one. “You just won’t. You never will. But I know that. I’m good for a fuck but not to stay over. Whatever.”

“Guerin-”

“You left.” He’d gotten to the edge of the street and he tripped over the lip of the sidewalk. The phone fell to the ground next to him and he missed Alex’s response. When he got back up, the phone was cracked but the call was still connected. “You left Roswell. Two days before you said you would. You didn’t say goodbye.” Half the reason Michael had gotten so drunk tonight was because he’d made plans for a night with Alex only to realize Alex had skipped town.

“I had to go,” Alex told him. “My friend needed me.”

“I needed you,” Michael might have whined. “You just skipped town in the middle of the night.”

Alex exhaled heavily. “I didn’t think you’d care. I mean, you always find some excuse to not be around when I leave.”

“I care,” Michael insisted. “You’re just an asshole.”

“And you’re drunk.”

“Doesn’t make you less of an asshole.”

“Where are you now?”

Michael looked up. “Crashdown.”

“Okay.” He paused. “Michael?” Michael hummed. “Keep walking.”

Michael looked down at his feet, surprised to find them stuck in place. “I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. Just take a step.” Michael did. “And again.” Michael did. Slowly, leaning more heavily on the buildings he passed, he got to the end of the strip.

At some point he started narrating his journey. After a while Alex started giving him directions like he didn’t know how to get home, like Alex knew the way better than he did. Michael didn’t argue with him, though, just kept talking as he walked until eventually he crashed into the locked gate at Sanders’. Michael picked the lock without thinking about it. He’d lost the key Sanders gave him a long time ago and using his powers on the lock was an old habit. 

“You home?” Alex asked. Michael was sure he’d been talking this whole time but he must have missed some of it.

“Mhmm,” Michael agreed as he trudged up the steps of his trailer. He almost dropped the phone as he fell onto his bunk.

“Good night, Guerin.”

---

Alex couldn’t sleep. His body was thrumming with something like excitement. Or maybe anxiety. He didn’t know.

The news broke that morning and it was all Alex could think about all day. Every time he thought he’d finally got it out of his head, someone or something would remind him and he’d be lost to it again.

He had to be up in three hours, had to be at work in less than four, and yet he had hardly even closed his eyes.

Alex fought with himself for a few more minutes before giving it up and getting out of bed to get his phone. It was across the room so he unplugged it from the charger and carried it outside with him. Sometimes, he’d scroll through his contacts and fool himself that there was someone else he might call but tonight he didn’t bother with the pretense; he went straight to Michael’s name and hit call.

Michael answered immediately, almost like he’d been waiting for Alex.

“They did it,” he greeted.

Alex felt himself smile. “Yeah.” It was nearly reverent. “They actually did it.” Michael laughed and a second later Alex joined in. He leaned back and stared up at the stars. “They really did it.” 

They sat quietly for a while, just listening to each other breathe. 

“Run that dad band idea by me again?” Alex had no idea what had possessed him to say it. They never mentioned these phone calls, never, and it had been years since Michael brought it up.

Michael made a strange noise. “Couple of kids, crappy family garage band instead of doing homework?”

“Yeah that.”

“First step is finding someone you can make music with.”

“And marrying them,” Alex smiled. “I can do that now.” As of this morning, he could marry any guy he wanted, anywhere he wanted. 

“Yeah, Alex. You can do that now.”

Alex closed his eyes. “Might need to find me a mean triangle player.”

Michael paused and Alex wondered if he’d gone too far. “No cowbell?”

“Eh,” he sighed in relief. “You can always use more cowbell. Could need a guy who can do both.”

“Steep requirement.”

“Well, I could never marry just anyone.” He laughed. “Gotta have standards, you know.”

“Only the very best for Alex Manes,” Michael agreed.

“And for Michael Guerin.”

“Sure.” 

Alex opened his mouth to reply when another voice beat him to it. “Are you coming back? Or should I go?”

Michael audibly wavered so Alex made the choice for him. “It’s late. I need to sleep.”

“Alex-”

“He sounds hot.” He hung up.

---

Isobel was going to be fine. A few bumps and bruises, possibly a concussion if she actually got checked out at the hospital, but otherwise she was fine. As far as car accidents go, it was nothing, especially considering the state of her car.

Michael had just had time to push the oncoming car just slightly to the side before it hit Isobel head on and the adrenaline rush from using his powers publicly and being scared to death that Isobel almost died was starting to wear off.

“Michael, I’m fine,” she insisted. Noah hovered in the open front door behind her but Isobel ignored him. “Really. It’s you I’m worried about.”

Michael looked at her, surprised. “Why would you be worried about me? You’re the one who almost died not an hour ago.”

“Yeah but you’re the one who,” she stepped closer and lowered her voice, “decided to use his powers in public.”

Michael rolled his eyes. “It was Main St at midnight, hardly town square in the middle of the day.”

“Still,” she insisted. “You’ve been antsy ever since and you keep asking me if I’m okay and-”

“That’s because you almost died!” He reminded her.

“But I didn’t!” She put her hands on his shoulders. “You saved me. You did good, okay? So take a deep breath and relax. You’re starting to stress me out with how stressed you are.”

“I’m not stressed.”

“Well you’re something.”

Michael rolled his eyes. Behind Isobel’s head he saw Noah start to pace, his eyes locked on Isobel. “Your boy toy’s getting antsy. You should do something about that.”

Isobel looked over her shoulder and smiled before focusing back on Michael. “You should stay. Crash in the guest room.”

Michael shook his head. “I’m going home.”

Isobel eyed him. “Is home code for the Wild Pony?”

“No, home’s code for my shitty little Airstream,” Michael rolled his eyes.

“I don’t think you should be drinking tonight. You’ve already used your powers once-”

“Good night, Isobel.” Michael hugged her, cutting her off. “I’m glad you’re not dead.” He pushed her gently towards Noah, exchanging a nod with the man, and drove off.

He didn’t go home. He also didn’t go to the Pony. 

Michael parked his truck by the Crashdown and scurried across the street to the shuttered UFO Emporium and broke the lock. He slipped inside, careful to shut the door behind him, and navigated blindly through the rooms until he got to the room with the tacky glow in the dark stars painted on the wall.

He sat on the floor, sucked down half a bottle of acetone, and called Alex.

“Hmm?” Alex answered sleepily.

“Who would pay money for a dump like this?” 

“Hmm?” Alex asked, slightly less sleepily.

Michael leaned back slowly until he was lying on the floor staring up at the ceiling. There were more ‘stars’ up there but some of them were stuck on and were falling down. “They couldn’t even be bothered with halfway decent stars.”

“Guerin,” Alex grumbled. “Are you at the museum?”

“It’s terrible.”

He heard Alex roll his eyes. “It’s always been terrible.”

Michael looked around. “I don’t know. It’s not all bad. I’d even say this room’s had some amazing things happen in it.”

“Amazing, huh?”

Michael hummed in agreement. He listened to Alex shuffle around in bed and didn’t say anything for a while.

“Bad day?” Alex finally asked.

“Isobel was in an accident,” he confessed. “Other guy was drunk, just missed hitting her head on.”

“Is she okay?”

“Bumps and bruises,” Michael told him. “She was coming to pick me up. I was right there. She could’ve-”

“Hey, no, she’s fine,” Alex assured him. “I mean, come on, she’s Isobel Evans, a little thing like a car accident isn’t going to take her out.” Michael laughed.

“Nah, she’d wait for the apocalypse or something.”

“Please,” Alex scoffed. “She’d rule the apocalypse. Dare the world to try harder.”

Michael laughed until he started crying. “The guy just missed her.” He wiped at his face. “Almost took the front of her car off.”

 “But he did miss her,” Alex reminded him. “She’s okay. Say it.”

“She’s okay.”

“She’s okay.” Michael drew in a shuddering breath. He let it out just as shakily.

“She’s okay,” Alex said again, his voice calm and even.

Michael took a few deep breaths, trying to calm down. It wasn’t working. “Can you-?”

Alex started humming without any more prompting. It had become a habit over the years. When Alex called but couldn’t or wouldn’t talk about why, Michael just rambled about whatever he could think of until Alex either fell asleep or hung up. When Michael called, Alex would hum for him. Sometimes he’d recognize it as a popular song but most often, Alex would just hum. Bits of it he recognized, some lines that Alex repeated over and over, something he once said he was working on. Michael had never heard more than bits and pieces, wasn’t sure if Alex had gotten any further than that, but he’d always liked hearing it.

That was what Alex hummed for him tonight and it settled him like nothing else could.

---

“Alex,” Henderson stepped in front of him, his hands in the air in front of his chest to show he meant no harm. “You need to sleep, man.”

Alex shook his head. “I need you to move.”

Elcott touched Alex’s elbow and he jerked away from her. “Don’t.” Her eyes were sad but kind. No pity.

“Manes, it’s late. You need to be awake and alert tomorrow for your shift. You need to sleep.” 

Alex shook his head again. “Right now, what I really need, is for you to get out of my way.”

“Look, Manes, we’ve been there,” Henderson started.

Henderson was his friend. They’d been posted together for years before this deployment and they knew each other pretty well. Alex knew that Henderson understood, knew that he could talk to the man if he wanted, the problem was that he didn’t want to. He couldn’t.

Alex stared him in the eyes. He had a few inches and about 20 pounds on Alex but Alex had no doubt he could take him. After all, he had plenty of experience fighting men bigger and taller than him. “Move.”

Henderson shared a look with Elcott before sighing heavily and stepping to the side. “Try not to get caught doing something stupid, will you?”

Alex didn’t spare him a sideways glance let alone a response as he burst out into the cold night air and made a beeline for the communications building. 

Two uniformed men stood guard out front. Alex ignored them until one physically stepped in front of him. “Manes. You can’t be in here.” Lt. Walker’s eyes were kind, he knew what had happened earlier, but his tone left no room for argument. “You need to go back to the barracks.”

Alex shook his head. “I need to-”

“Personal communications are not authorized at this time, Manes, you know that.” Walker stepped in front of him, hand outstretched, but stopped shy of actually touching Alex. It was a wise choice on his part; Alex was crawling out of his skin and he had no idea how he’d react to someone’s touch right now.

“I need-” Alex’s voice cracked slightly and he squeezed his eyes shut to avoid seeing their reactions. 

“Manes,” the other guard said, the one Alex didn’t know.

“Five minutes,” Alex pleaded. “I need five minutes.” He swallowed thickly.

Walker exchanged a look with the other man, the man shrugged and pointedly looked away, and Walker opened the door behind him. “Five minutes.”

“Thank you,” Alex told them sincerely as he slipped inside. The place was mostly dark, all operations communications being run out of a different building and personal communications prohibited at this time of night, but Alex knew the way to the phone bank just fine. He hadn’t had occasion to use it much but every soldier stationed here knew where to find their connection to back home.

Alex didn’t bother with a chair. He grabbed the phone off the desk and curled up on the floor, his fingers dialing a familiar number without hesitation.

It rang twice before being sent to voicemail.

Alex called again. It rang once.

Alex let out a mild curse and called a third time. This time it was picked up just before it went to voicemail. “Who the hell is this?”

“Michael,” Alex exhaled. 

“Alex?” There was a loud clang like Michael had dropped something. “What time is it over there?”

There was a clock on the wall opposite him. “3:52 am,” he answered.

“What’s wrong?”

And just like that, Alex broke. He’d been holding it together all day, since 1:36 pm. Since Alex pulled the trigger and another man fell to the ground and didn’t move. 

Michael made soothing noises on the phone, a low murmur of words that Alex had no hope of understanding but that was okay for now. He just needed Michael’s voice in his ear.

“I killed someone,” he finally croaked out. “He was going to shoot us but I shot him first but it doesn’t even matter because he’s dead because of me.” Tears were falling freely but Alex didn’t notice. “I killed someone, Michael,” he whispered.

“Alex.” Michael’s voice was soft, gentle. Alex wasn’t sure he deserved it right now. “I’m sorry you had to do that.”

“I shouldn’t have,” Alex closed his eyes only to be blinded with the memory of the man falling to the ground, chest covered in blood. His eyes snapped open. “I-”

“You shouldn’t have had to,” Michael agreed. “But you’re alive. And your squad’s alive, right?”

“Yeah.” Every one of them had gotten back safe and sound, no injuries. “He should have gotten to go home alive too.”

“It was you or him. And I’m not sorry it was him.”

“Don’t say that. You don’t know that.”

“I know you,” Michael’s voice was strong and sure. “And you wouldn’t have pulled that trigger unless you absolutely had to. You could never hurt anyone unprovoked. It was you or him.”

Alex let out a shuddering breath. He wasn’t sure he believed Michael but he couldn’t deny the words helped. Alex didn’t say anything else and after a moment, Michael started up a running commentary on what he was doing.

“Manes.” Alex looked up to see Walker stood in the doorway. His eyes were on the hallway, respectfully not looking at Alex, but his five minutes were clearly up. Alex looked at the clock to find it read 4:12. 

He cursed lowly. “Sorry,” he said to Walker. To Michael, he said, “I’ve gotta go.”

“Try to get some sleep,” Michael asked. “You sound tired.”

Alex felt his eyes slip closed. “Thank you.”

“Thank you,” Michael replied. “For staying alive.”

Alex didn’t know what to say to that so he hung up without another word. Walker gave him another minute to pull himself together before he stuck a hand out to help him up. Alex took it gratefully. “Thank you.” He wasn’t talking about the help.

“Don’t mention it,” Walker replied. He didn’t say another word as he escorted Alex outside where Henderson was waiting. The two men exchanged a look that Alex couldn’t decipher before Henderson was ushering him back to the barracks. 

“Better?” He asked as they reached their bunks. 

Alex nodded, surprised. “Yeah. I think I am.”

“Good. Now get some sleep. We might get an hour at this rate.” 

“Thank you,” Alex whispered, Henderson was skipping his own precious sleep to stay up with Alex. The man just rolled his eyes and pointedly got comfy on his bunk. Alex’s lips twitched upwards as he followed suit.

---

“Sometimes I hate Isobel,” Michael opened with as soon as the call connected. It had been stewing in his head for days just begging to be let out.

Alex hesitated. “Why?”

Michael dropped his head back against the headrest and stared through his windshield at the stupid banner strung up in the middle of the main square. Congrats Graduates! 

“I could’ve had my Master’s by now,” he said. He’d done his research. Four years of undergrad followed by the two year graduate program for agricultural engineering at UNM and he’d have two degrees under his belt as of yesterday. “I should’ve had my Master’s by now.”

“And how is that Isobel’s fault, exactly?”

Michael closed his eyes, the images of Isobel’s face that night in the cave flashing in his mind. “She couldn’t handle me leaving after high school. Had a freak out or whatever.”

“...that’s why you stayed?” Alex sounded disbelieving.

“She- she did something. Something stupid,” Michael ran a hand over his face. “I’m not saying it was the only reason I stayed but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a big part of it. I didn’t want her to do anything like that again. I couldn’t-” He cleared his throat. “I looked it up. UNM’s grad programs, I mean. They had the program I wanted and if I’d gone after high school I’d be done by now.”

“Apply again,” Alex urged. 

Michael shook his head. “I can’t.”

“Yes, you can. You got a full ride the first time, you can do it again.”

Alex didn’t get it. Isobel hadn’t had any more blackouts since Rosa died but neither Michael nor Max had talked about leaving since then. Michael had no way of knowing if his leaving would just set her off again. He couldn’t take that chance. Not if he wasn’t there to shoulder the blame again. “I can’t.”

Alex exhaled loudly. “Why not?”

“I just can’t.”

“You can,” Alex told him earnestly. “You’re more than smart enough, Guerin. Any school would be lucky to have you, you just have to apply.” Michael scoffed. Alex groaned. “You’re wasting your mind on that ranch, Guerin. You could do so much more.”

Michael had heard all of this before. Didn’t make it easier to hear this time. “And what if I don’t want to? What if I’m happy on the ranch?”

“If you were happy on the ranch, you wouldn’t be hating Isobel right now,” Alex pointed out.

Michael hung up on him. He ignored Alex’s call a moment later, too. 

---

Alex watched the guy leave, his clothes still haphazard from how quickly he’d pulled them on after Alex’s not so subtle hints to leave had finally registered. 

“Are you allergic to sleeping next to someone?” Henderson laughed. “They never seem to stay very long.”

Alex shot him a glare and ignored the friendly ribbing from the other two guys sitting on his couch. He was well aware of his dating habits, or lack thereof, but that didn’t mean he wanted to hear about them from his friends.

He lasted about five minutes before he retreated back to his bedroom. The room reeked of sweat and sex and a strange man’s cologne and Alex threw open the windows and grabbed the can of Febreze, spraying liberally all over. 

His phone sat untouched on his bedside table as he stripped the bed and tossed the soiled sheets into a corner to wash another day. It stared accusingly at him as he pulled out his clean bedding and diligently made the bed.

When the bed was made, Alex snatched his phone up, pulled the screen out of the window, and ducked outside to sit on the small roof over his front porch. He sucked in deep lungfuls of fresh air as he scrolled through his phone. After about ten minutes he gave up pretending that he wasn’t going to do what he knew he was going to do and pulled up his contacts.

Michael was number four on his most frequently contacted list. Alex thought that was actually a little low, especially recently, but he pressed Call and shimmied onto his back as the call connected.

The stars were bright tonight, the sky empty of clouds, and Alex found himself searching out the few constellations he knew as he listened to the phone ring. 

“Not actually a good time,” Michael was out of breath when he answered. Alex’s stomach clenched. They always answered each other’s calls, no matter what they were doing. If Michael was really about to hang up on him for some-

“Michael!” It had been years but Alex still recognized Max Evans’ voice, though he’d never heard it sound quite like that. “Get back here!” 

“One second! Don’t get your-”

“Michael!” And there was Isobel Evans. She sounded nearly as fed up as Max had.

Michael grumbled something at them, the phone clearly held away from his mouth. “Can I call you back in like five minutes?”

“Michael!” That was both Evans’ that time.

“Ten minutes?” Michael corrected.

Alex smothered the laugh that was bubbling in his throat. Nothing about this exchange was particularly funny. “That’s fine,” he assured Michael. It wasn’t like Alex was going anywhere.

“Thanks,” Michael sounded sincere as he hung up.

Alex stared at the dark screen for a long moment before he laid the phone on his chest and returned to stargazing. 

“Yo Manes!” The call came from inside the house. “You still up?”

Alex didn’t answer. He wasn’t in the mood to socialize tonight. 

It was almost twenty minutes before his phone rang and Alex answered it almost as soon as it started ringing. “So,” he greeted, dragging the word out in an obvious question.

“Don’t ask,” Michael pleaded. “I would like to forget the last half an hour ever happened.”

This time Alex did laugh. “Okay,” he agreed easily. It was easy not to push when he was a thousand miles away and the answer didn’t really matter.

“Thank you,” Michael sighed in relief. “Now. What’s up with you?”

“Not much,” Alex hedged.

Michael hummed mockingly. “Yep, of course, you’re right, you always call me at two in the morning because nothing’s up.”

“You used to let me lie to you,” Alex remarked mildly.

“I did,” Michael agreed. “I do.”

“Rough night?” 

“We’re not talking about that, remember?”

“Of course not,” Alex agreed lightly. 

They let the silence linger for a while before Michael sighed and launched into a riveting tale of Johnny-the-idiot-ranch-hand. Alex let him talk for the better part of the hour, part of him engrossed in the stories of Johnny’s sheer incompetence, before he felt ready to talk about why he’d actually called.

“Do you think I’m broken?”

Michael cut off mid word. “What? No. Why would you think that?”

“I can’t date,” Alex confessed. “Hell, I can’t really go on a date. I just- I can do sex just fine, I have no problem meeting guys and hooking up but anything more than that and I get the urge to run in the other direction.”

The line was silent for long enough that Alex had to check it was still connected. “Guerin?”

“Yeah,” Michael cleared his throat. “Yeah. I’m here. I, uh, I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Sorry?” Alex wasn’t sure if it was something he should apologize for. For all that they’d made a habit of this, the late night phone call, the ready listening ear, they’d never discussed matters of the heart. Not that he thought this was a matter of the heart, but it was similar enough he supposed.

“No, no, you don’t need to apologize,” Michael hurried to say. “I just wasn’t expecting it. But I’m good now.”

“Are you?” Alex arched an eyebrow even though Michael couldn’t see him.

“Yes,” Michael said. “And you are not broken, Alex Manes. Not in any way. So what if you’re not a serial dater? That’s fine.”

“I’m not a dater at all,” Alex reminded him.

“So? There’s nothing wrong with that. Just means you’ve got high standards.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “Are you planning on extrapolating on that?”

Michael laughed lightly. “You’ve got standards, Manes. You don’t want to date because none of those guys are worth your time. You’re good at reading people, yeah? I’m sure if someone held your attention for longer than a fuck, you’d consider a date but none of them are worthy of it so you don’t.”

Alex hadn’t really thought of it that way, that maybe he just hadn’t liked any of the guys he’d met enough to want to date them. Or he had, but he’d dismissed it because how could no guy be worth dating? Well, no guy except… “You think quite highly of yourself, don’t you?”

“This isn’t about me,” Michael hedged.

“That’s not a no,” Alex observed.

“No, it’s not. But this really isn’t about me. There’s nothing wrong with you, Alex. I promise.”

Alex swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. “And I’m just supposed to take your word for it, huh?”

“Don’t you trust me?”

He did. “Should I?”

“...you either do or you don’t, Alex.” Michael’s voice was quiet.

“I do,” Alex confessed. Promised. “I do.”

---

“Michael,” Isobel scolded for the fourth time in ten minutes. And for the fourth time, Michael ignored her completely. When he reached for the bottle again she stretched across the table and snatched it from his fingertips. “Stop drinking.”

Michael turned his head slowly to stare at her. Uncaring if anyone was watching them he yanked the bottle from her grasp with a surge of his powers. It spilled all over both their laps but he paid it no mind as he poured himself another healthy portion. Isobel leapt from her seat with a horrified gasp. “Michael!” 

Michael sipped his drink. A heavy hand on his shoulder splashed a little out of the glass and onto his already ruined jeans. “Michael,” came Max’s disappointed voice a moment later. “It’s not even dark outside yet.”

“Which would probably explain why I have half the bar to myself.” Michael toasted Max with the little that remained in his glass before tossing it back in one swallow. He reached for the bottle again to top it off.

“Why are you like this?” Max asked. He dropped into the seat next to Isobel with a heavy sigh. Michael glanced at him, saw the uniform firmly in place, and looked away. He wasn’t in the mood for Deputy Evans today.

“Max!” Isobel hissed. “If you’re gonna be an ass just leave. I’ve got this.”

Max raised an eyebrow. “Clearly.”

“I’ve-”

“How about you both leave?” Michael cut her off. He waved a hand at the door. “Don’t let me stop you.”

“Michael.” It was Isobel’s turn to sound disappointed and just like that Michael was over it. He stood up so fast his chair fell over and nearly took him with it. Michael reached for the edge of the table to steady himself and knocked the bottle to the floor in the process. 

“Dammit.”

Max rolled his eyes as he stood. “I’ll pay for it.”

“I didn’t ask you to.” Michael glared up at him. Max ignored him and walked over to the bar to pay Maria. Isobel wasn’t looking at him so Michael took his chance and lurched towards the door. The ground moved slightly under him but he was used to it and adapted quickly.

“Michael!” Isobel’s yell got cut off by the slam of the door closing behind him.

Michael squinted when the sun hit his face. It honestly was a lot earlier than he usually drank but it wasn’t like he had a job to fill his time anymore so what did it matter. He pulled his phone out of his pocket as he staggered over to his truck. By the time he got the engine running he’d already listened to Alex’s voicemail twice. 

“Michael!” Max came barrelling out the Pony’s front doors. “Do not drive!” Michael dropped the truck into drive and pulled out with a spray of dirt that may or may not have hit Max in the face. 

He made it back to Foster Ranch without killing anyone or himself. He counted it as his achievement for the day. Once he got to his Airstream and saw the notice to vacate his parking spot on his door, he knew it would be his only one.

Michael crumpled it into a ball and tossed it over his shoulder. Sanders didn’t have any work for him right now but he might be willing to let Michael park the Airstream in the lot anyway. If he didn’t, Michael didn’t really have a backup plan but that was tomorrow’s problem. Truthfully, it was yesterday’s but Michael was nothing if not someone who could procrastinate.

He flopped onto his bed and called Alex for the third time. As it rang he dropped it onto his chest and waited for the voicemail message. It was the only time he got to hear Alex’s voice these days.

“You know when someone doesn’t answer it’s not usually an invitation to keep calling.” Alex’s voice was raspy and gruff but it was the most beautiful sound Michael had heard in days, if not longer.

“Alex!” He shot up in the bed and nearly dropped the phone. After fumbling with it for a few precious seconds he pressed it to his ear. “You’re okay!”

There was a pause. “Yeah.”

Michael’s heart sped up. “That’s not exactly your reassuring voice, Alex.”

“I’m alive,” Alex told him needlessly. He was talking to him, he could tell he was alive. “Henderson’s not. Elcott’s not. Markle’s not.” Michael listened to Alex take a deep breath. He pressed a fist into his eyes. Henderson and Elcott he had heard of from Alex a bunch, Markle he didn’t know. “My leg’s gone.”

Michael’s eyes shot open. “What?”

“My right leg. It was- they couldn’t save it.” Michael had no idea what to say. “Can we- I don’t want to talk about it. I’ve been talking about it for days, it’s all anyone wants to talk about and I just-”

Michael desperately wanted to talk about it. “Wyatt Long got arrested again yesterday; public indecency.”

Alex’s exhale sounded relieved. “What’d he do?”

“Decided it would be a good idea to take a shower in the high school locker room. During school hours.”

“Why the fu-”

“He was drunk. Thought he was late for football practice. Or at least that’s the story I got from Max. The official story is it was all just a big misunderstanding and the Sheriff’s Department is ‘very sorry’ for the trouble they caused him.”

“Man,” Alex snorted. “Must be nice to own the town.”

“Right?” Michael slowly lowered back onto the bed and closed his eyes. Alex’s voice washed over him. “Some guys just have all the luck.”

Alex hummed. When he didn’t say anything more, Michael launched into another story. And then another one. And another. 

It was easily half an hour later, in a lull between Roswell updates, that Alex finally spoke. “I bought a house.”

Michael’s breath caught in his throat. He swallowed around it. “Oh yeah? I thought you said you were renting only, that there was no point in trying to settle down when you were just going to have to move again soon.” 

“Yeah,” Alex agreed. “But my service is almost up. And with my leg...”

“Right. So, uh, which one’s the lucky city?” How far away was Alex going to be?

“You remember Lily Pierce?” Alex asked suddenly.

Michael furrowed his brow. “Cheerleader? Parents were never home so she always threw the parties?”

“That’s the one.”

“What about her?”

“I bought the house two doors down from her place.”

Michael’s heart stuttered. “That’s in Roswell.”

Alex let out a huff. It sounded vaguely amused. “So my realtor said.”

“You bought a house in Roswell?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I did.”

Michael wasn’t sure how Alex expected him to react to that. “When’s your service up?”

“Not for another year.”

“Captain Manes!” A distant voice scolded. “You’re not supposed to be up!”

“Alex?”

“Shit, Guerin. I’ve gotta go.”

“Alex!” But Alex had already hung up.

---

Michael paced outside the Airstream, phone clenched in his fist as it rang. He counted the rings and answered on the last one.

“Thanks for the heads up,” he greeted.

Alex sighed. “You knew I was back in town.” 

“From Isobel!” Michael yelled. He’d found out from a flyer on Isobel’s dining room table denoting a welcome home parade for resident town hero Alex Manes. Not because Alex had bothered to tell him himself. 

“I was going to tell you.”

“Clearly.”

Alex was quiet. “You’re angry.”

“Damn right, I’m angry! You blow back into town without a word only to show up at my door with your dad? Alex!”

“Not about that,” Alex dismissed. “You’re upset about that but not this angry.”

He was right, Michael was more angry about everything going on with Max and Liz fucking Ortecho, but that didn’t mean Michael could admit it. “Right,” he scoffed. “Because you know me so well.”

“Okay, I’m not talking to you while you’re like this.”

“Fuck you.”

Alex hung up. Michael’s curses split the air but there was no one around to hear them. He’s not too proud to admit that he threw a minor tantrum, dust kicking up around him as he used his powers on the lawn chairs he hadn’t packed up yet. They went tumbling across the distance until they crashed into the side of his truck. 

The loud clang they made when they collided startled him out of his anger. With a disgruntled sigh, he trudged over and grabbed the chairs, folding them up and tossing them in the bed of the truck. He had to pack everything up anyway now that the land had been sold. No point putting them back out. 

Once that was taken care of he felt calmer. And slightly ashamed. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Alex back.

He answered on the second ring. “You still pissy?”

“Fuck you,” Michael replied. It was decidedly more teasing and less angry than the last time he’d said it. Alex clearly heard the difference.

“Good. What’s up?”

“Just some bullshit with Max thinking he rules the world.”

“The usual, then?”

Michael snorted. “Nah. Little more than the usual. He, uh, he decided to go around sharing secrets that weren’t his.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault.”

“It’s a shitty thing to happen.”

“Yeah,” Michael exhaled loudly. “So. You’re back.”

Alex paused. “I’m back.”

“How long?”

“Don’t know yet. I’m finishing up my service and then, well, I’ve got the house, so…”

“How is it?” He’d driven by it once, right after Alex told him he bought it, but he’d never been inside.

“Looks like crap,” Alex laughed. “I should have gotten someone to come clean it. Or, you know, furnish it. I’ve got a bed and one folding chair.”

“You’ve been back for two weeks.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“Clearly.”

They both fell silent. Michael could tell Alex had something on the tip of his tongue but whatever it was, he didn’t say it.

“You going to the reunion?” Michael finally asked, when the silence had dragged out too long.

“Reunion?”

“Yeah, Izzy put together our ten year reunion. Saturday night? Pretty sure Maria’s going.”

“Uh,” Alex stuttered. “I guess? I haven’t actually been to see Maria yet so it would be a time to catch up, I guess.” Michael definitely didn’t read anything into the fact that Alex hadn’t seen his best friend since coming home either. At least he wasn’t avoiding Michael specifically. 

“I’ll text you the details.”

“That’s fine, I can get them from Maria.”

Michael tensed. “Right. Sure.”

“Look, Guerin-” Alex sighed and stopped. “It’s late.” It was always late, with them.

“Yeah, sure. Good night.”

He hung up before Alex could reply, some of that earlier anger still simmering under the surface. 

---

Alex stared out at the desert behind his house and fingered his phone in his pocket. He wanted to call Michael but he wasn’t sure he could. Not after how he’d left things earlier.

This was the problem with coming home, he thought idly. They’d made a relationship that worked for them and it worked in part because they didn’t see each other very often. Barely a month in and he’d fucked it up.

After staring into the darkness for too long, Alex gave it up and went to bed. He spent over an hour tossing and turning before accepting that sleep wasn’t coming. At least not easily. 

His phone was on the bedside table, easy to reach from the bed. Alex stared at it for a long moment before giving up and unplugging it from the charger. He told himself he was just going to play a game but he wasn’t surprised to find himself pulling up Michael’s contact. He stared at his name until the screen blurred and then he pressed Call.

He didn’t even know what time it was. It might not be late enough for this kind of thing.

Michael answered but didn’t say anything. Alex listened to his breathing for a few minutes, equally unwilling to talk. For once, Michael didn’t take the silence as an invitation to ramble and instead stayed quiet.

“My dad’s a dick,” Alex offered eventually.

“He is,” Michael agreed readily. He didn’t say anything more.

Alex wanted to apologize, wanted to take back what he’d said earlier at the drive-in but the words got caught in his throat. “I’m not scared of him,” he said instead. “I’m not,” he added firmly.

“No one ever said you were,” Michael replied. “No one could.” He made it sound simple, like it was a fact. Alex wasn’t sure if it made him feel better or worse.

The line was quiet again, the silence only broken by the sound of Michael yawning.

Alex closed his eyes. “I don’t care about the copper wire,” he confessed. It came out so quietly he wasn’t sure Michael heard him.

On the other end of the line, Michael let out a breath, long and slow. “I know, Alex.” And then he hung up.

---

Michael sped away from the hospital, trying to leave the image of his broken siblings behind him. Isobel seemed confident that she needed to be there, that it was the only place safe for her, and Michael was trying not to argue with her but he didn’t understand. He didn’t understand needing a door with an exterior lock to feel safe. And Max was half dead on his feet these days and Michael couldn’t deal with them both. He was never supposed to be the strong one.

The sun was shining overhead but Michael pulled out his phone anyway. It rang and rang until eventually he got Alex’s voicemail. He pulled the phone away from his ear, stared at it, then called again.

“Guerin,” Alex greeted, his voice hushed. “I have a meeting with a general in less than a minute, can it wait?” Michael let out a shaky breath.

“Captain Manes,” he heard a voice call. It sounded authoritative. “Yes, sir,” Alex replied, his voice faint. 

Michael prepared to be hung up on but Alex’s voice was suddenly loud in his ear again. “Guerin?” 

“Yeah,” Michael replied. “Yeah, it can wait.” Still, Alex hesitated. “Go to your meeting, Alex,” he urged. “I can wait.”

“Okay,” Alex said slowly. “I’ll call you back when I’m done,” he promised just before the line went dead.

Michael made it home and through two oil changes before his phone rang. He ignored Sanders’ look, wiped his hands, and walked away pressing his phone to his ear. “Hey,” he greeted, knowing who it was without even checking the caller ID. “How was your meeting?”

“Long,” Alex huffed. “Generals are entitled assholes.”

Michael raised his eyebrows. Alex wasn’t overly fond of the Air Force but he was usually respectful of it and the men and women he served with. “Tough day, huh?”

“Could be better,” Alex agreed. “You?”

“Isobel committed herself to the psych ward,” Michael admitted. “She’s been having blackouts for the past couple of weeks and she doesn’t know where she goes or what she does and it’s freaking her out.”

“Can they help her?” Alex asked. He didn’t ask if she was okay or if Michael was and for that Michaelw as grateful. He wasn’t okay and he suspected Alex knew it but they didn’t need to talk about it.

“I don’t know,” Michael exhaled heavily. “But she figured it’s better than waking up in the middle of the desert again.”

“Hmm,” Alex mused. “Waking up the desert with no memory or sleeping in an uncomfortable bed in a locked room you can’t get out of…” Michael pictured him weighing his hands like a scale.

“It makes her feel better,” Michael shrugged. He didn’t get it either but it was Isobel’s call. 

“That’s all that matters,” Alex agreed. He paused. “Want to hear about this guy Jones? He stole a developmental vehicle they’re testing out and wrecked it last night and now he’s trying to stop the brass from figuring it out.” It wasn’t how they usually did this, Alex talking his ear off, but it sounded really good right about now.

“Yeah,” Michael agreed. “Tell me about Jones.”

The sun went down while Alex talked and Michael felt the words ease some of the ache in his shoulders. It was nice, he realized, to hear Alex’s voice. It didn’t matter what he said, Michael was tuning most of it out, but it didn’t matter.

---

Alex had just started getting ready for bed when the phone rang. At first, seeing Michael’s name flash on the screen, Alex was tempted to ignore it. He’d spent the entire day waiting for Michael to come home so they could talk only for him not to show up. But it was after midnight and a phone call after midnight was always answered. It was their unspoken rule.

“Guerin,” he answered in a clipped voice.

“He’s dead,” Michael gasped.

Alex froze. “Who’s dead?”

“Max.”

Alex stood up from the bed and started grabbing his things. “Where are you?”

“I don’t- I don’t know. I dropped Izzy off and I was going home but-”

“Stay there,” Alex told him. He snatched his keys off of the table and yanked the front door open. “I’m coming.” 

“Don’t-”

“I’m coming,” Alex repeated firmly as he started the car. 

“Don’t hang up,” Michael requested weakly.

Alex closed his eyes briefly as he took off towards Isobel’s house. “I won’t. Michael, I won’t.” And he didn’t. He started humming as he drove, the old chords forever on the tip of his tongue. He’d never managed to put words to them, not in the decade he’d been writing the music, but he knew the melody like the back of his hand. 

He made it to Isobel’s house and immediately turned in the direction of Sanders’. It was only five minutes or so before his headlights picked up the familiar form of Michael’s old truck parked on the shoulder. Alex parked behind him and hung up the phone before getting out and hurrying over to Michael’s door. 

Michael was staring at his dark phone when Alex reached his window. There was a look of utter confusion on it, like he didn’t know what had happened. He turned that look on Alex when he opened the door. “Alex?”

“Hey,” he greeted softly. 

Michael stared at him for a moment longer before he started leaning towards him. Alex wrapped an arm around his shoulders and hugged him awkwardly as Michael planted his face in Alex’s neck. “Max is dead.” Alex was about to ask what happened when Michael continued. “Rosa’s back. He brought her back.”

Alex froze. He genuinely did not know what to say to that. 

Michael pawed at the back of his head, his fingers scrabbling at the fine hairs at the nape of his neck. “You stopped singing.” His hand felt different than normal but Alex ignored it.

Alex immediately started humming again. Bit by bit, he felt Michael relax against him. The positioning was uncomfortable for both of them but Michael didn’t seem inclined to move and Alex couldn’t bring himself to suggest it. They stood there for the better part of an hour before Michael unfolded himself.

“It’s late,” he remarked. His face was already starting to shutter, his grief from a moment ago hidden away. “You should get home, get some sleep. You’ve got work tomorrow.”

“Guerin-”

Michael pushed his shoulder gently until Alex took a step back and he could close the door. Alex didn’t stop him as Michael gave him a tiny, crooked smile and a nod in thanks and drove away.

The next time they saw each other, neither said a word about that night, silently agreeing to pretend the last time they’d seen each other was in the Airstream before Max and Noah died and Rosa was resurrected.

---

Michael got lost in the music. His fingers were cramped and his arms were tired and he barely noticed. Every now and then he’d shake out his hand, maybe run the fingers of his right hand across just to convince himself that his eyes weren’t lying, but then he’d go right back to the guitar. He’d stolen it from the Pony a few nights ago and he’d been playing it ever since. 

Turns out not everything is like riding a bike. Michael was having to relearn everything, recondition his fingers to work like they’re supposed to, and he was enjoying every second of it. Part of him wanted to keep it to himself, to hoard this kernel of joy and not let the world ruin it like it had ruined everything else, but part of him also ached to share it. To not be alone in this too.

Michael missed a chord and stopped to rub the cramps out of his fingers. A quick glance at his phone showed the time was 1:57am so he unlocked it and called Alex without a second’s thought.

“Guerin?” Alex’s voice was rough with sleep but the worry was evident. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” Michael promised. It was somewhat of a lie, plenty of things were wrong, but nothing at this moment. “Listen.” He put the phone on speaker, set it down next to him, and started to play. It was rough, a far cry from what he used to be able to do, but it was also worlds better than anything he’d done in a decade. 

He ran through a few songs, old favorites that he’d first learned in high school, before his fingers took over and started playing something new. Well. Not new. 

Over the phone, Alex inhaled sharply in recognition but Michael didn’t stop playing. He’d been listening to this melody for ten years and his fingers knew the notes faster than he could think of them.

Finally, the song came to an end. In its wake there was only silence. 

“That’s my song,” Alex said softly. “You played my song.” Michael didn’t know what to say so he didn’t say anything. “You played-” Alex cut himself off. He cleared his throat before continuing, “it sounded amazing, Michael.”

Michael closed his eyes and ducked his head. “It wasn’t,” he objected. He didn’t comment on the rare use of his first name.

“It was,” Alex repeated. “I’ve never played it before.” He quieted. ”I’m glad I could hear you do it.” 

Michael squeezed his left hand into his fist, relaxed it, then did it again. “I’m glad I could play it for you,” he replied softly. 

They sat in silence for a moment longer. “Okay,” Alex eventually said, at a more normal volume. “Now play Free Bird.”

“Fuck you,” Michael laughed. “Let me work my way up.”

“Fine,” Alex scoffed. “Play Thnks fr th Mmrs.” 

Michael rolled his eyes but complied. The only reason he knew it was because Alex had been obsessed with it in high school so he supposed it was only fitting.

They stayed on the phone for a while, Alex making requests and Michael doing his best to fulfill them, before his hand cramped up too much for him to continue.

“Hey,” Alex said softly, just before Michael could hang up. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For letting me listen.” He hung up before Michael could think of a reply.

---

Alex eased the car door closed, not wanting to interrupt the quiet night. It wasn’t that late, was actually pretty early if you counted before midnight as early, but Alex kept to his routine anyway. Up ahead, a body lounged against the wall, a dark cowboy hat pulled low. Alex ran his eyes over the familiar form, taking in every detail he could as he came to a stop next to him.

Michael slowly looked up at him. “You came,” he greeted, like he couldn’t quite believe it.

“You asked me to,” Alex reminded him. It didn’t matter that it wasn’t the middle of the night. Michael had called and Alex had answered. It’s what they did.

---

Michael wasn’t sure why (that’s a lie) but he found himself pulling into Alex’s driveway three hours after he’d said goodnight to Maria. She’d asked him to stay over but he’d made some excuse he couldn’t even remember to go back to the Airstream but instead he’d driven around for hours until finding himself here.

At Alex’s house.

They didn’t do this. If they needed each other in the middle of the night, they called. They didn’t show up. Not in the last 18 months since Alex moved back had they done this. But here Michael was.

He got out of his truck and let the door fall closed. It was loud in the quiet night but Michael didn’t care. Alex’s neighbors were far enough away that they shouldn’t be too bothered by it and waking Alex was sort of the whole point of being here. Wasn’t it?

Michael made his way to Alex’s patio, his steps heavy, and dropped into one of his chairs. The metal squeaked across the bricks at the motion but Michael hardly noticed it. He planted his elbows on his knees and buried his face in his hands. It wasn’t long, or maybe it was, before the front door opened and Alex stepped outside. Michael heard him close the door before making his way over to him, his crutches sounding different on the brick.

The chair next to him pulled back and a moment later Alex dropped into it. He set his crutches to the side and placed a bottle of bourbon on the table. Michael glanced at it. It was his favorite brand. Alex hated it.

“Maria has her powers because her family was experimented on at Caulfield,” Michael greeted. “And the more she uses them the more they hurt her. It’s what happened to Mimi. It’s why Mimi gave her a necklace to block her powers.”

He looked up when Alex didn’t say anything and found himself staring at Alex’s stunned face while he processed his words. “She didn’t tell you,” he realized. Alex shook his head. “Shit,” Michael cursed lowly. He’d come here to vent not to drop a bomb on Alex. “Sorry. I figured she would.” Alex shook his head again. His fingers turned white with how hard he was squeezing the arm of his chair.

Michael reached out and gently unhooked his fingers. The second Alex’s hand was free, he twisted in his own and held on tight. He knew how Alex felt about Caulfield, knew he felt guilty for his family’s actions there. He really hadn’t meant to just unload on him like that.

After a short while Alex’s grip on Michael’s hand eased and he started to breathe easier. “Okay,” he said. “What else?”

Michael stilled. “Who said there’s something else?” Alex just looked at him. Michael tried to meet his gaze but he couldn’t, finally relenting, “I don’t want her to use her powers but she wants to. She doesn’t seem to care that it could hurt her or kill her.”

Alex didn’t say anything at first, his grip tightening on Michael’s again though this time it was in comfort. “It’s her life, Guerin,” he finally said. His voice was harder than Michael was used to at this time of night. Michael opened his mouth to reply but Alex talked over him. “It is. Just because you’re dating her does not mean you get to make those choices for her. I’m not saying you have to like it or ignore the issue, but the decision’s hers. Like it or not, it’s not your call.”

Michael yanked his hand away and stood up. “So I’m just supposed to sit here and watch her self-destruct?”

Alex looked at him evenly. “If that’s what she decides to do? Yes.”

Michael shook his head. “No. That’s not gonna happen.”

“It’s not easy to watch someone self-destruct,” Alex said quietly. His voice still wasn’t any softer. Michael stifled a flinch when he realized what Alex was talking about. “But it’s not your call. Sometimes all you can do is sit back and watch.”

Michael froze, thought about what he’d said, and dismissed it. “No,” he shook his head again. With that, he spun on his heel and went back to his truck.

Alex didn’t call after him.

---

Alex knew where Michael was, knew who was with him right now, and still he called him.

“Hmm,” Michael greeted quietly. In the background, there was a rustle of sheets and Maria’s questioning murmur. Alex forced himself to listen to it as Michael made his way out of his girlfriend’s bedroom.

As Michael wordlessly made his way outside, the quiet click of doors opening and shutting revealing his path, Alex raised the bottle to his lips and took another long sip. He should stop, he knew he should. He’d passed too much at least an hour ago, but he didn’t care.

“Alex?” Michael finally asked. It was otherwise silent on his end.

“Do you have any idea how much it hurts?” Alex asked. He was pretty sure he wasn’t slurring but Michael’s next words quickly corrected him.

“You’re drunk.” He didn’t say it like a question because it wasn’t.

“I spent the day with you and your girlfriend,” Alex reminded him. “Yes, I’m drunk.”

“Alex…”

“Just talk,” Alex ordered. He didn’t want to talk about it, especially not with Michael, but he needed Michael’s voice in his ear. Over a decade and he’d still never found something that helped even half as much as letting Michael ramble in his ear until his thoughts settled and he could breathe again.

Michael didn’t say anything right away. There was a pause long enough that Alex was almost about to plead with him before Michael got with the program.

“There’s a group of women who like to come by and get their cars fixed any time it’s really hot outside,” he started. “Isobel calls them the Real Housewives of Roswell…”

Alex closed his eyes and let the words wash over him. Michael never raised his voice above a murmur, his tone light and gentle, and at some point Alex capped the bottle and set it aside. He let Michael talk for almost two hours (at one point he’s fairly certain Michael started reciting the plot of his latest tv show but Alex wasn’t going to call him on it) until he was cut off by another voice. 

“Everything ok?” Maria asked. “Are you coming back to bed?”

Alex hung up before he heard Michael’s answer.

---

Michael wasn’t sure he’d ever get over the sound of the ocean. It was late, very late, and the beach was deserted except for them, and the only sound in the world was that of the waves crashing gently against the sand. 

“Heartbreak sucks,” Liz huffed. She was carving smooth circles in the sand around herself with her feet. It was the first thing she’d said since she’d joined Michael an hour before.

Michael hummed questioningly.

She gave him a sad smile and turned to look out at the water. This far out, the only light came from the moon and it made the waves shimmer. “When I first got here, I used to come out here all the time. Used to stare at the water like it held all the answers.” Her laugh was brittle and self-deprecating. “Like the ocean could fix my relationship for me.”

Michael pulled his knees up to his chest and rested his arms on them. “I’m not sure it’s that powerful.”

She smiled. “No. But sometimes it feels that way. Like if I spent enough time here it would wash away all of the bad stuff and leave all the good. All the parts that love Max enough to fix are problems.”

“Yeah,” Michael sighed. “I get that.”

Liz bumped his shoulder with hers. “You’ll be okay, Mikey. If you and Maria are meant to be, you will be. It’s just a few rough patches.”

Michael couldn’t help himself, he laughed. Liz stared at him in surprise. “Yeah, no, Maria and I are done. It’s not a rough patch.”

She furrowed her brow. “You don’t know that.”

“Yeah, I do. And so does she. We’re not meant for each other, no matter that we love each other.”

Liz frowned and shifted over to rest her head on his shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

Michael hummed. He couldn’t quite bring himself to agree with her, even though he knew that’s what she was probably expecting. Maria had done the right thing ending things between them. He’d tried to deny it at first but he’d quickly come to accept it. They really weren’t meant for each other. Maria was meant for better men than him and he was meant for one specific person. The rest of the world paled in comparison and Michael had finally stopped denying it. To himself at least. 

“You’ll find someone,” Liz assured him. “You deserve to be happy, Michael.”

Michael smiled. “So do you. Even if it is with my idiot brother.”

Liz’s lips quirked upwards but she didn’t say anything. They sat in silence watching the waves for a while before Liz sat up with a groan. “I need sleep.” Michael sat where he was as she stumbled to her feet and held out her hand. “You coming?”

Michael shook his head. “I’m good here. Not like I have to work in the morning,” he teased. 

Liz gave him a searching look before shrugging. “You know the way back, right?” Michael nodded and she left. He heard her trudging through the sand behind him until she hit the road. 

When the sound of her car had faded into the night, Michael dug his phone out of his pocket and called Alex.

“How’s California?” 

“I like the ocean,” Michael replied. “It’s peaceful.”

“It is,” Alex agreed. “I always felt small, though. Standing on a beach. The entire world out there in front of you and you can’t see any of it because there’s just water.”

“Yeah,” Michael breathed. “Yeah.”

“How’s Liz?”

“She’s good. Obsessed with her work. Misses Max for some reason.”

Alex laughed. “Can’t imagine why she’d do that.”

“I can,” Michael confesses, the night giving him courage. “I miss you.”

Alex inhaled sharply. “Guerin-”

“Hey, it’s after midnight, doesn’t count, right?” Michael cut him off. He wasn’t ready for the big conversation just yet. 

“No lies after midnight,” Alex reminded him.

“Who said I was lying?” The next wave brushed dangerously close to his toes. Michael didn’t move. There was a voice on the other end of the phone, faint but recognizable. “Is that Forrest?”

“...yeah,” Alex muttered. “Hold on.” There was a shift and then the sound was muffled like Alex had covered the receiver. “‘Night,” Michael heard him say, followed by what sounded like a kiss.

“You sure you don’t want me to stay?” Forrest asked.

“No, I’ve got an early morning,” Alex hedged. “No point.”

“Okay.” Another kiss. “Good night.”

Michael waited until he heard the door close and the sound cleared up before speaking. “Not up to sleepovers, yet?”

“No,” Alex replied. Michael wasn’t sure if it was an answer or an order but either way Alex’s tone left no room for discussion so Michael dropped it. Problem was, he didn’t know what else to say. The mood from earlier was gone. Alex cleared his throat. “I miss you too.”

Michael felt his lips turn up in a helpless smile. “Yeah?”

Alex hummed. “I’ve kinda been wanting to show you the ocean for years now. I’m a little annoyed I didn’t get to.”

“Well,” Michael swallowed. “I hear there’s an entirely different ocean on the other side of the country.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Just something to consider.”

“Good to know.”

Silence fell over them again. Normally this is when Alex would start humming but Michael wasn’t sure he could take it right now. Not now that he knew the words to go with the song. 

“Night, Alex,” he finally said. “I’ll be back next week.”

“Good night, Michael.”

They hung up. Michael stared at his phone, trying hard not to think about how much softer Alex had sounded telling him good night than when he’d said it to Forrest. It wouldn’t do him any good to compare himself to Alex’s boyfriend. Their time was now. His and Alex’s would come. He believed that.

He had to.

---

Forrest snuffled and reached for him as he got out of bed. Alex paused and waited to make sure he hadn’t woken up before he grabbed his crutches and hauled himself upright. 

Navigating out of his bedroom in the dark with his phone tucked under his chin and both crutches in his hands while trying not to wake up the man sleeping in his bed was harder than he’d anticipated but Alex managed it. In the hallway, he paused just long enough to ease the door closed behind him before making his way outside. 

It was late, late enough that Alex almost expected to see the beginnings of the dawn on the horizon, but he hadn’t been able to sleep yet. Tonight was the first time Forrest had stayed over, the first time Alex had had to share his bed with someone other than Michael for longer than a few hours, and he wasn’t dealing with it as well as he’d hoped he would.

He didn’t even hesitate before he called Michael.

“Alex?” Michael sounded groggy.

“Fuck you,” Alex replied. He dug the palm of his free hand into his eye. 

“What did I do now?” He sounded simultaneously wide awake and more tired than he had a moment before.

“He’s not you.”

“Alex-”

“You got to move on, why can’t I? Why can’t I make this work? Why can’t I be with someone who’s not you?”

“Alex-”

Alex hung up.

---

It was late when Alex showed up at the Airstream. The fire was mostly embers and Michael was on his second and last beer of the night. When Alex got out of his car, Michael put his beer down and stood to greet him. He meant to meet him halfway but Alex was quicker on his feet and met Michael before he’d gotten more than a handful of steps. The last gasps of the fire provided little light but what light there was danced across Alex’s face.

“It’s late,” Michael greeted. He’d been back from California for almost two weeks and this was the first time Michael had seen him since then. 

“Yeah,” Alex agreed. He looked at Michael with a strange look in his eyes. If Michael didn’t know any better he’d say Alex came here for a reason. A very specific reason that didn’t involve a lot talking. “It’s almost four.” He stared at Michael until Michael got it. What happened in the early hours before dawn, when the night was at its peak, didn’t count. They’d scraped together a decade long relationship on that premise alone. The secrets, the fears, the hopes, the dreams, anything confessed across a phone line when the moon was high in the sky, didn’t count. Not really. Sure, lately they’d expanded that to in person conversations but Alex wasn’t here for a conversation and he wanted the same rules to apply. What happened between them at this time of night only existed in the here and now. It didn’t carry over into the daylight. 

Michael knew it was probably a bad idea. As they’d both said many a time, their relationship involved too much sex and too little talking when they were actually together and that had been their downfall. They were doing better lately but they weren’t there yet and Michael had no idea how introducing sex would impact them now. And that didn’t even take into account the fact that Alex still had a boyfriend who wasn’t Michael. But if Alex wasn’t going to mention that part, neither was Michael. He took one careful step towards Alex. “So it is,” he agreed. 

Alex waited a second, searching his face for confirmation, before he lunged forward and kissed him. His hands went straight to Michael’s hair, tangling in the curls at the nape of his neck while Michael clutched at his waist and pressed them as close together as they could possibly be.

They lost themselves in each other for long enough that when Michael finally pulled back to catch a breath, even the embers had died off. Alex trailed his lips down his neck and found that one spot that drove Michael crazy. The spot that no one else had ever found. “Alex,” he moaned. Alex’s only reaction was to start leading Michael backwards until his back hit the side of the Airstream with a gentle thud. Michael braced himself against it, cupped Alex’s face and pulled his lips back up to his.

Michael lost his shirt and his boots right there and Alex’s shirt found its way to the ground as they maneuvered the two steps it took to get to the door. They had to separate to get inside and Michael felt like he could hardly breathe during those few seconds. When Alex was finally inside, Michael pulled him close. It made walking back to the bed difficult but neither attempted to pull away again. 

When they finally did, Alex didn’t go far. He sat on the edge of the bed and stared at his prosthetic for long enough that Michael decided to press his luck. “Stay,” he asked softly. Alex’s shoulders tensed and his eyes closed. “It’s still dark out,” Michael pointed out. “Sun’s not gonna come up for hours.”

That made Alex look back at him and Michael couldn’t help but kiss him again, his fingers sliding through Alex’s sweaty hair to hold him close. “Stay.”

Alex pulled away again to fish his phone out of his pants and set an alarm but then he was back in Michael’s arms. He still hadn’t said more than five words since he showed up but Michael didn’t care. Not yet anyway.

Whether or not either of them got any sleep was a question neither was inclined to ask nor answer but when Alex’s alarm went off just as the sky was starting to lighten outside his window, neither moved. They stayed where they were, Alex half on top of Michael, his fingers reaching up to tangle in his curls. Michael was busy trailing a finger up and down Alex’s arm. 

Eventually, though, the sky got light enough to force Alex into action. “Sun’s up,” he murmured. He paused and considered the view out the window. “Well. Almost.” He kissed Michael, slow and thorough, before pulling away completely. 

Michael watched silently as Alex got dressed. When Alex was ready, sans his shirt which was still outside, he stopped and considered Michael still laying in the bed. With another glance out the window, he leaned down and kissed Michael one last time before turning and leaving without another word. 

---

Michael didn’t hear from Alex for days after the night they spent together. It wasn’t too surprising nor was it unusual; their calls had never been an overly frequent occurrence and their paths didn’t cross in town much. But still, it made Michael antsy. He knew the point of it was that they wouldn’t talk about it, wouldn’t even mention it, but dammit, Michael had questions. He needed to know what it meant, both in the present and for the future, and whether or not he should be prepared for it to happen again. 

He was still trying to figure out to bring it up with Alex when the opportunity dropped into his lap. Liz’s welcome back party at the Crashdown started five minutes ago and he was running late. After spending too long searching for a parking space, he hurried around the corner to the diner only to find Alex and Forrest just ahead of him. Alex’s shoulders were tense and there was a careful distance between the two men but they were still clearly together.

“Alex,” Michael called before he could stop himself. Alex froze in his tracks as Forrest turned to greet Michael. Michael nodded at Forrest in hello and waited for Alex to turn around. He eventually did, at first not quite looking at him before clearly forcing himself to meet his eyes. 

“Guerin,” he greeted. “We’re all late,” he reminded them as he started to take careful steps towards the diner entrance. Forrest offered Michael a strained smile before following him and suddenly Michael was done.

He took his phone out of his pocket and called Alex.

The ringtone sounded loud and sharp and Forrest looked at Alex in surprise. “Since when do you have the volume on?”

Alex put a hand on his pocket over his phone and didn’t answer. They all stood there as Alex waited for the phone to stop ringing. Taking mercy on him, Michael ended the call, watched Alex’s shoulders relax, and called again.

This time, Alex had a hand on the door when his phone went off and his knuckles went white around it. “Are you going to answer that?” Forrest asked.

Alex sighed heavily and nodded. “Yeah, okay.” He pulled his phone out and put it to his ear. “Not now,” was all he said, his voice echoing through Michael’s phone, before hanging up and trying to tuck it away again.

Michael called him back.

Alex let out an actual groan of frustration before turning around. “Forrest, we’ll meet you inside.” Forrest looked between them before nodding slowly and stepping around Alex and into the diner. When the door shut behind him Alex led Michael around the corner and across the street for a modicum of privacy.

“It’s daytime,” Alex pointed out.

Michael looked up at the sun shining above them and nodded. “I thought that’s what the sun meant.”

“Michael,” Alex huffed. “What do you need, right now?”

“Answers,” Michael replied simply.

“It was 4am,” Alex reminded him. “What happens at 4am stays there. We don’t talk about it, we don’t ask questions, we don’t fucking bring it up in the middle of the day.”

“Maybe we should.”

“No.” Alex shook his head. “You don’t get to change the rules now.”

“I’m not trying to change the rules! I’m trying to understand.”

“Understand what?!” Alex shot back. “It was a 4am thing. It doesn’t mean anything.” Michael was stunned silent and Alex took advantage of it to walk past him. “We’re late for Liz’s lunch.”

Michael shook his head and spun. “It meant something!” Michael yelled after him. Alex stopped in his tracks. Just ahead, their friends turned the corner, clearly looking for them but Michael ignored them. “Of course it meant something, Alex, it always means something! And I am sick and tired of us pretending that it doesn’t.” Alex turned slowly to face him as Michael closed the distance between them. “Every single phone call,” he said quietly but earnestly. “They meant something. They mean something.” He shook his head. “They’re not nothing,” he pleaded gently.

“They’ve never been nothing,” Alex agreed softly.

A weight lifted off his chest and Michael breathed a little easier. “Maybe I am trying to change the rules but I think the rules need to change,” Michael said. “We can’t not talk about those things. About-”

“Michael-” Alex cut him off.

“Alex.”

Alex turned his head slightly to look over his shoulder and Michael was suddenly reminded of their audience. Forrest, Kyle, Maria, and Liz were standing on the corner staring at them. “Now’s not the time,” Alex finished. 

Suddenly, the last thing Michael wanted to do was sit through a lunch with all their friends and Alex’s boyfriend. “Yeah. Yeah, okay.” He stepped around Alex, careful not to touch him, and walked over to their friends. He greeted Liz with a quick hug. “Welcome home, Liz. I’m afraid I’m gonna have to miss your lunch.”

“We’ll do something another time,” Liz agreed easily. He nodded at her and crossed the street to his truck, pulling away before anyone could even think of calling after him.

---

Alex heard Michael pull away and didn’t move. He waited until three sets of footsteps walked away and he knew there was only one person left behind him. Still, he hesitated before turning around.

“So,” Forrest started. “I think it’s safe to say this thing between us has run its course.”

“Forrest,” Alex started but Forrest held up a hand to stop him.

“It’s okay, Alex. I knew we weren’t going to last forever. But we had some good times and I don’t regret it.”

“I didn’t want it to end like this,” Alex told him sincerely. 

Forrest cocked his head slightly. “Where did you go three nights ago?” Alex looked away. “It was the first night you agreed to stay over at my place but you disappeared for hours, snuck back in after sunrise. Where’d you go, Alex?” His voice was soft with understanding but Alex heard the hurt in it.

He couldn’t lie. “I went to Michael.”

Forrest nodded like it was exactly what he expected to hear. “Wasn’t just a chat was it?” Alex shook his head. “He’s who you’re meant to be with.”

“Forrest, this was real.” Alex needed him to know.

“I know it was. But I’m not Michael Guerin so it was never going to work.” Alex didn’t know what to say to that except-

“I’m sorry.”

Forrest swallowed thickly and nodded. “Yeah. Okay.” He stepped forward and pressed a kiss to Alex’s cheek. “See you around Alex.”

And then he was gone.

Alex tried really hard to convince himself the next breath he took wasn’t one of relief and he couldn’t quite succeed.

He took a moment to pull himself together and followed after him. Only, when he turned the corner it was Liz leaning up against the wall with Forrest nowhere in sight. 

“Let me guess. You’re skipping out on my lunch, too?” She didn’t look too upset about it so Alex didn’t feel too bad when he nodded. She huffed a small laugh and shook her head. “You two are a mess.”

“Don’t worry, we’re well aware,” Alex assured her.

She smirked. “I’m sure you are.” She jerked her thumb behind her. “Mikey took off that way so I don’t think he’s headed back to the scrapyard.” Alex looked down the street in the direction she indicated and knew immediately where Michael had gone. “Hey,” Liz put her hand on his arm to get his attention. “Don’t fuck it up this time, yeah? Either of you.”

“We’ll do our best.” He gave her a quick hug and a promise to meet up later and hurried away to his own car. 

It was a relatively short drive out to their spot and Alex made it shorter.

Michael’s truck was in the same spot it had always been and Alex parked next to it. He didn’t see Michael but he wasn’t too worried. Alex rounded the car and pulled the liftgate down to reveal Michael sprawled on his back in the truck bed.

“Should I have called?” Alex asked.

Michael opened his eyes and looked at him. “No,” he replied. “I think we need to get used to doing this the old fashioned way.” He held out a hand and helped Alex get up next to him, moving only slightly to give Alex room.

“Forrest broke up with me,” Alex announced.

“Oh?” 

Alex hummed. “Asked me where I went three nights ago and then told me we were never going to work because he’s not Michael Guerin.” Michael didn’t say anything. “He wasn’t wrong.”

Michael shifted so they were looking at each other. “Are we ready now? I know I am.”

“I just got out of a relationship twenty minutes ago,” Alex reminded him.

“So is that a no?”

Alex sighed and looked up at the clouds. “No. It’s an ‘I wish I was a better person’.”

Michael gripped the front of Alex’s shirt and tugged lightly until Alex looked at him. “So are we doing this?”

“What is this?” Alex asked, needing clarification or rather needing there to be no confusion.

“This. Us. For real. No more walking away. No more hiding behind middle of the night phone calls. No more seeing other people. Just us.”

Alex rolled over onto his shoulder so he could look down at Michael. “For good?”

“That is the idea.” Michael’s eyes were more serious than Alex could ever remember seeing them.

“Good. But no fuck ups, okay?” Alex put his hand to Michael’s chest. “We go all in, I’m not sure either of us will recover from it going bad.”

Michael wrapped an arm around Alex’s back, his other hand going to Alex’s cheek. “We won’t. It may not be perfect all the time but we’re not going to fuck it up.”  Alex took the words for the solemn vow they were and kissed him. 

---

Epilogue

Michael had no idea what the fight was about. He wasn’t even sure it was actually about anything. They’d both been stressed for days about different things and they hadn’t had much time together and suddenly they were shouting at each other over the dishes. 

He watched Alex storm away and part of him felt relieved. It had been going too well for months now and he had to admit he’d been waiting for something like this to happen. 

When Alex didn’t come back after a few minutes, Michael finished up the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. That done, he crossed the empty house to the living room and picked up Alex’s guitar. Part of him didn’t want to disturb the silence in case it led to another fight somehow but he couldn’t sit around doing nothing so he started picking his way carefully through one of the new songs he was learning, taking it slow and playing quietly. 

When the song under his fingers turned into Alex’s song a few minutes later, he wasn’t surprised. Ever since he figured out how to play it, it was one of his favorites, his body long used to relaxing to the melody.

As the last chords echoed in the room (he may have been playing louder than he meant to), his phone started ringing. Somehow he wasn’t surprised to see Alex’s face on the screen. Setting the guitar down, he answered.

“Too loud?”

“No,” Alex replied. “Can you-” he cut himself off with a groan. “Can you just-”

The last of the tension slipped from him as he settled back against the couch and started rambling about his week. Halfway through, Alex stepped inside from the back patio and hung up. Michael let his phone drop as Alex curled up next to him on the couch but he never stopped talking. When he ran out of things to say, Alex took up the slack and filled him in on his own week. 

The sun went down around them and Michael didn’t notice.

“Hey,” Alex sat up once he’d finished and they’d enjoyed a few moments of quiet. “No fair using my own song against me.”

Michael smirked. “Whatever works. But truthfully, I was playing it for myself. For some reason I’m practically conditioned to relax when I hear it.”

“Oh really?” Alex hummed, a smirk tugging at his own lips. “Wonder why.”

Michael shrugged. “It’s a mystery.”

[nimmy22]

A Mistake: Chapter 12

~ The following day, Saturday ~

"Do something, Wesker! These fucking imbeciles at the papers are starting to question my competence as chief all because of a pathetic group of boys you can't seem to dispose of." Irons seethed, slamming his cup of whisky on the desk, knocking his nameplate to the ground.  

Wesker gave nothing away of his emotions, save for a tick in his brow. His hands craved to wrap around Irons’ neck, giving it a swift snap. It's how he felt most of his days at the station. Irons was replaceable. The man didn't realize just how worthless he was to Umbrella. His replacement could arrive this very afternoon.

"We are working on finding the gang's nest. The big players keep using young boys for the jobs but tell them nothing about insider information. There are too many eyes watching us right now. We cannot use any special means to dispose of the group in order avoid questions."

"Just Do your fucking job right. I can't stand the news conferences anymore. the journalist's questions make me look laughable." Irons clutched his glass, throwing it hard against the wall. Tapping a finger on the armrest, Wesker didn't bat an eye at the behavior of the chief of police. One couldn't expect much from such a lowly creature.

"You seem to forget why Umbrella put me as captain of STARS. It isn't to keep up your public appearance but to protect theirs. I'm not the one who isn't doing his job. Deal with the journalists while I handle the little boy scouts." pushing back his chair, Wesker made sure to leave deep grooves on the freshly varnished floors. The scraping sound was like music to his soul. He didn't miss the deathly glare on his way to the door like hot iron rods.

Returning to the STARS office, Wesker ignored the gossiping of Chris and Jill about the newest trouble between their captain and Irons. Shutting the door to his office, he took a seat behind his desk. Through the office blinds, he eyed each present member of STARS. of course, no one was getting any work done, lazing around the office, making meaningless bets.

This simply will not do.

It was time they did some undercover work, gathering information about Raccoon city's newest crime family. These boy scouts wouldn't last long around here, especially since they fell on the radar of the real monsters in the shadows of Raccoon.

---------------

She sat alone on the staircase, elbows resting on her knees, wondering how the hell she got here.  The house was familiar to her. How many times has she looked after Sherry here? Still, it felt strange. It was his space, and she was invading it.

This was now supposed to be her home. The place gave no hints as to who lived here, lacking any personal touch. It was likely the work of an anterior designer following the most fashionable trends. The home of a bachelor.

Speaking of Wesker, he left after dumping her here last night and vaguely pointing her towards the guest room with a 'help yourself' to any food. As always, he gave her the bare minimum of info, not that she asked what he was up to. She didn't care whether he spent the night hiding bodies or doing legitimate police work. She was too terrified to sleep under the same roof, only a few walls apart. Does the man ever sleep? Shower? Eat?

She won't lie. She was glad Wesker left. But even with him gone, she couldn't stop thinking about what happened. More so the kiss than almost becoming a guinea pig. It was a lot to process, and she couldn't even begin.

For the nth time, she forcibly pulled her fingers away from her lips, scolding herself for replaying the memory again. This man was absolute bad news. She needed to get out of the house, and an incoming call from Claire had her scrambling to answer as quickly as possible. Her friend presented an idea, and Cara was all too grateful to join in.  

Pulling up Wesker's name in the contacts, Cara's fingers hovered over the letters, unsure of what and how much to tell him.  Where did they stand? Did he really mean everything, or was it a trick?  Was she free to leave? Did he give up completely on the idea of killing her?

"Going out with Claire. I will be back late." she texted, fully knowing a lot of info was missing. But it's not like he ever gave her a ton.

"Stay out of trouble.' came a replay moments later.

The words were unsaid, but Cara definitely heard them.  'I don't have time to drop everything and run over to the rescue each and every time you get in trouble,'

'I asked for help only once. The other time's nobody asked you to come.' Cara grumbled but deleted what she wrote. she could've gotten herself out of those situations...with a little bit of thinking. Actually, a lot of thinking.

----------------------------

Cara had to walk several blocks away from Wesker's house to prevent suspicion. If by any chance, Claire knew the address of her brother's captain, it would be a hole she did not want to leap into.

Standing in front of an old bookstore, she waited for her friend. The building was slightly rundown, its walls covered in graffiti, but the owners were a kind elderly couple. They pushed discounts her way, and she was guilted to buy something. She ended up buying a useless cat plushie toy after seeing that most books were non-fiction or raunchy romance novels. She would rather die than have Wesker coming across an erotic novel lying around his house.

She stared at the plushie as she leaned against the wall outside the shop. Cara considered giving it to Sherry the next time they met. This would be the first present she ever gave the young girl, and she could almost imagine the excitement on Sherry's face. It made her smile.

A helicopter passed overhead, sleek black and adorned with the Umbrella white and red symbol. Cara watched the chopper get smaller and smaller until it disappeared, heading in the direction of the Arkley mountains. she wondered about their business up there was. Looking around, no one else seemed to notice nor care. Maybe it was best to keep all knowledge to herself.

Seeing a familiar redhead and a motorcycle, Cara waved as Claire pulled up, handing her a helmet.

---------------

The barn smelled of sweat, dust, and old wood. The unmistakable smell of alcohol was thick in the air as it was passed around freely in cheap red plastic cups. She recognized kids from school, but many more were older, likely from Raccoon university. A light disco machine was nailed to the wall, casting the barn in a series of flashing lights. Tall Straw piles of hay distributed across the barn ensured there was no shortage of dark corners for people to disappear to.  For a moment, Cara considered hiding in the straw and then going home when the party was over. But seeing the sparkle in Claire's eyes about hanging out with her best friend threw the idea out the window. With a sigh, she followed her friend.

Over the course of the night, the girls danced and drank, carefree. A blond-haired boy was staring at her, Cara noticed. He attempted to walk up to her but turned around before getting within ten feet. He tried multiple times but always chickened out despite his friends constantly cheering him on. Claire thought it was cute and refused to stop openly staring at him and giving a thumbs up.  Cara swatted Claire's hands before holding them behind her back in a pretend arrest, pushing her against the straw pile.

"Sorry Officer! I was just trying to help you get laid," Claire giggled. "I hope you're into blonde's though,"

"This is so embarrassing. Stop, or I'm leaving," Cara snapped, feeling a blush heat her face as Wesker crossed her mind. Fuck, why now?

"Oh? so you are into blondes," Claire's smile was cunning. "Let me help you,"

"No. Bad Claire, bad, bad girl. No treats for you tonight." Cara scolded, Stealing the can of beer her friend stole from a guy before cracking it open and downing its contents. She wouldn't yet consider herself drunk, just pleasantly buzzed.

The boy ran off again. Cara felt bad for him and was actually tempted to go up to him instead. His friends kept a steady stream of alcohol into his hand.

"H-hey, " And then he did it, with the help of liquid courage, of course.

For the effort, Cara decided not to openly embarrass him with rejection but not lead him on either. Walking away backward, Claire gave her a thumbs up along with a suggestive motion of the eyebrows, making horrid shapes with her hands. Cara covered her face, hoping to purge the image out of memory. She'll get her back in no time.

Ben was a bit shy at first, but soon they got talking and enjoyed themselves. His hair was a few shades darker and shorter than Wesker's. She didn't have to look up at him as they stood at a similar, comfortable height. Slender and skinny, he would shrink to nothing beside the captain. Cara grimaced, realizing she had been comparing the poor guy to a demon. It wasn't his fault that her mind was occupied with someone way out of her league... the legal kind.

The barn was becoming more and more crowded, and the dancing crowd swallowed them. Sticking out like two sore thumbs, they did their best to dance. Cara felt awkward but seeing the dimples in his smile made her feel better even as it became a tighter fit among the crowd. They had to dance closer lest they got separated.

She wondered what it would feel like to dance with Wesker. He seemed like the sophisticated type. The awkward moves of a teenager would never be adequate for him. Did he ever do anything that was remotely recreational? What do villains even do in their spare time? Manipulating the feelings of underage girls looks like. What stupid, stupid thoughts.

She prayed all these ideas would go away soon, as the thrill of the kiss wore off, and everything went back to normal. Did she want to go back? Why in the world would he like her? she knew who he really was, and he still let her live. Why take the risk with her? she was just a seventeen-year-old. Useless to everyone, with no connections and no money.  

Fuck it. Cara refused to think about Wesker anymore tonight. There was a perfectly alright guy in front of her, someone her own age, someone in her league, someone she wouldn't have to hide. Someone who was looking at her with a soft expression, blinking slowly.

Cara placed her hands on either side of Ben's face and pulled him towards her, connecting their lips. He reacted instantly, kissing her back. His hands awkwardly hovered over her arms before stroking them softly.

He was a nice guy, not a terrible kisser, but she hated it. Hated every touch because it wasn't as good as with Wesker. She couldn't stop comparing, and it was frustrating, spurring her to kiss Ben harder.

She continued, out of spite, to kiss the boy who looked at her with affection. in the background, she heard a few boys cheering, likely his friends. This was wrong, very wrong.

A firm hand gave her waist a painful squeeze before it was gone, and she thought it was Ben. Her eyes flew open as she felt a warm breath by her ear. It wasn't Ben.

"If I was not undercover right now, this lesser specimen of a boy would've made some unforgettable acquaintances a lot sooner. You could've done so much better, yet you have chosen to this..." Wesker seethed by her ear, sending shivers down her spine. Her body froze, but Ben didn't pick up the cue.  Wesker's muscles were tense as he pressed against her back. She could almost hear the exhale through clenched, grinding teeth.

Then he was gone, slipping through the crowd just as he came. No one notices anything. Cara broke the kiss and shoved Ben away. "I'm sorry, it isn't going to work out." She hurried after Wesker, but he was already lost in the crowd.  

She shoved her way through the throngs of people but only managed to find other members of STARS in civilian clothes. None seemed to notice or recognize her. They must've been here on undercover work, but why? she put that question aside as there were more pressing things to worry about.

She felt sick and wanted to throw up, but nothing was coming up. she burst through the doors of the suffocatingly hot bran, raking her hands through her hair. The cool night air hit her heated skin, but she couldn't find relief. She wanted to be swallowed by the ground.

She needed to find Wesker. But then what? Apologize? Apologize for making her own choices? They weren't a couple.

She continued to look for him nevertheless. She walked further from the barn towards an old car junkyard. She thought perhaps a fuming man would need some privacy. A strong feeling in her gut told her this was the right way.

Cara walked far enough from the party that the music was nothing but a distant noise. It was dark and quiet, the perfect place for an assault. If Wesker decided to murder her, no one would find her for at least a week, stuffed in the trunk of a car. If ever.  

Grabbed from behind, she was thrown against a car. Sliding to the ground, she cradled her aching arm, squinting in the dark to see her assailant. Wesker kneeled beside her, his civilian clothes dark and expensive.

"Why cut it short? You should've kissed him more while you still can because he will be the last boy you will ever kiss." squeezing her cheeks harshly, he dragged his thumb with heavy pressure over the flesh of her lips, still swollen from kissing Ben.

As Wesker let go of her face, she felt the cold muzzle of a gun pressing against her temple. Her heart skipped a beat, but she glared at him straight in the eye. Daring.

"I don't know what you want from me! You told me to keep out of trouble, and I did. Yet here we are," Cara lied. She knew what he wanted but didn't know why he wanted it.

"Were my intentions not clear enough? Do I have to spell it out for you? But I suppose intelligence was never your strength,"

Wesker pressed the gun harder against her temple, her glare unwavering. "Go ahead. Shoot me. why do you even bother?"

Neither moved, naked eyes locked with no shades between. Cara reached up and pulled the gun out of his hands with ease. He didn't resist, glaring at her with a tense jaw. Looking down, she almost laughed, seeing the safety was still on. This man couldn't bring himself to kill her. It was all a show of intimidation, and she wasn't falling for it. Not anymore.

As she made to stand, his hand pushed her down. Thinking he wanted the gun back, she returned it to his hand and tried to stand. again, he pushed her down. "Can I get up now?" she scowled, staring up at him.

Things happen too quickly for her to process. The hands on Cara's shoulder grabbed her legs, lifting her off the ground as Wesker wrapped her legs around him before slamming her against the car. She was winded, gasping for breath as he watched her with a smirk. She grabbed his arms, digging her nails into his defined muscles.

"You're up now," he whispered before his lips kissed her neck, sucking and nibbling the skin. A moan escaped her lips, and she covered her mouth immediately.

Grabbing both her hands, he pinned them against the car. "I need to clean your mouth of all traces of that boy,"

"Are you going to rinse my mouth with soap or something? This is childish and-" Cara's words settled in a moan as Wesker began grinding a very defined length against her growing sickness. She tightened her legs around his waist, drawing him closer.

Trailing his nose across her skin, he followed the curve of her neck to the ear, taking the lobe between his teeth. She melted against him when his hot tongue entered her ear. His tongue plunged in and out repeatedly like a preview of what he could do to her. Her heart went on an overdrive.

"Just kiss me," Cara breathed, a tension building in her belly. She wanted to taste him. in addition to sparing any additional marks on her neck to hide.

"No,” nuzzling into her neck, he grinded harder against her, earning a series of moans.  

"You know who else wouldn't mind kissing me-" Wesker slammed his lips to hers, kissing her roughly, their teeth clashing. Cara melted further, a smile on her lips as her tongue danced with his. She savored everything, The taste of him, softness of his lips, his warmth, and the building friction between their bodies. There was nothing more she wanted.

Bang. Bang. Bang. Three gunshots were fired.

Cara was barely steady on her feet when Wesker dropped her to the ground, his eyes scanning their surroundings. What little they heard of the music was drowned out by distant screams of the partygoers.

"What's happening?" she questioned, grabbing his arm, but his attention was fixed on the barn.

"Stay here," Wesker warned, already talking to someone by an earpiece she hadn't noticed before.

With his gun ready, he took off, running towards the barn. Cara made to follow him but was pulled back towards the car by her hand.

The fucker handcuffed and left her in the middle of a junkyard in the dark.

[iamdunn]

 Miraculous Flash Forward part 9: A New Dynamic

A Miraculous Fan-Fic

Written by

AJ Dunn

Adrien couldn’t wait to get back home and start making preparations. The trip to Paris hadn’t gone as badly as he was afraid it would. In fact, maybe he and Marinette could put their past behind them finally and start a life together. He had agreed to stay for the wedding since Marinette had gone through the trouble of making his Tux for him, and Nino wouldn’t have let him leave, he would have released Alya on him and that was frightening enough considering she had Trixx to back her up. Plus, Luka had Sass and he really didn’t need that kind of drama in his life. Honestly, he was happy he went. Even Nino saved a place for him after 5 years, in this case, the place of best man. 

“I will.” She had said. The memory of her words played in his mind as they swayed around the dance floor. She had agreed to be his roommate in Shanghai. She swore she didn’t want him to leave her and that she truly did love him. Plus, losing her roommate meant she was looking for a new one. He was certain though that his studio condo wasn’t going to be sufficient for them. She would need her own room and considering how flustered he made her, he would need a private room so she didn’t lose herself whenever he walked around without a shirt on. 

“Yeah, no more hanging out in the seating area in nothing but a towel,” Plagg said to him as they prepared to leave for the airport. 

“Who knows, I might occasionally forget and well…”

“You’ll be quickly reminded when she walks through the walls to get away from you.” Plagg laughed. Adrien laughed too imagining her overdramatic reactions. Adrien’s phone rang. 

“Are you sure about this Adrien?” Felix said. He had told his cousin he would need to upgrade his suite and asked for him to get him in touch with the management company. 

“Absolutely,” Adrien smiled. “I wouldn’t want her getting a cheap apartment, that neighborhood is bad news, besides, she still doesn’t speak Mandarin and I can’t have her getting lost here again can I? OH, and I am going to tell her about us.” His words came out so quickly he hoped his cousin would agree and not snap at him. 

“Do you trust her that much?” Felix sounded shocked. “Having her move in with you is one thing, but this affects us both.” 

“Yes, I do. Besides, if this is going to work, her and I can’t have secrets between us.” 

“It’s a shame she didn’t have a twin sister.” Felix scoffed. 

“What?” Adrien teased. 

“Nothing, never mind… shut up.” Felix snorted. “I’ll send them a message to call you.” He hung up. 

The flight back was a sleepless one as Adrien reeled over the idea that Marinette was coming to live with him. This will change everything. He tried to sleep but, listening to music, even tried doing some reading. Sleep didn’t come until he was back home in his own bed. He wasn’t sure how long he had been asleep when his phone rang.

“Mr. Graham De Vanily?” the voice came over. “Ah, Mr. Graham De Vanily called and said you wanted to renegotiate your lease.” Adrien refrained from laughing. 

“Adrien please.” he laughed, “And my cousin, he’s just Felix.” It is still funny when people see them together, and they have the same last name, but then call each other cousins. A thing that had always been fun. “Yes, I want a larger unit.” 

“I’m afraid the only unit we have available larger than the one you are in, is our 3 bedroom two bath unit at the opposite end of your floor.” 

“That’s perfect.” He refrained from using his cattish terminology with such a business call. Although the excitement in him wanted to so badly. 

“Fine, I shall send the paperwork over immediately, I assume you want to make the transition before the end of the month? As that is when your lease is due to renew.” 

“Yes of course.” 

“Please get the paperwork back to us promptly.” A ding came through his phone the second he hung up. It was an email from the property management containing the digital documents that he needed to Esign and return. He made haste to finish the paperwork before heading out to see Cheng Sifu and check on the temple. The sky was clear as Adrien made his way home from Cheng Sifu’s restaurant with a sack of leftovers and a few grocery items he had bought on the way. By grocery items that meant cheese for Plagg. While Camembert wasn’t available here, Manchego had become his replacement. 

They leaped from rooftop to rooftop not worried about remaining unseen as he had before the reunion. It felt freeing to just be himself and not hide anymore. His students already called him Laoshi Mao, though they didn’t know why it wasn’t Laushi Adrien. Well, Mao sounded a lot better. He slipped through the balcony door and wondered what their new apartment would look like. He was sure all of the units on this floor had a balcony. His phone ran just as he entered the apartment and before he transformed. It was a video call. 

“Hello M’Lady,” he answered in his most cattish tone. She giggled then began swatting away at some unseen thing, most likely the Kwami’s. 

“They’re all excited to be moving and they have been trying to pack for me.” She giggled again. 

“Well, I am Pawsitively feeling clawssome about it too, M'Lady.” 

“You dork.” She laughed. “Detransform and feed Plagg.” She said playfully. 

“As you wish.” he let his transformation go as Plagg darted into the bag and began tearing at the plastic wrapper. “Hold on, this guy… “ he set the phone down and tried to wrestle the package from the nearly rabid creature. “Hold on, let me open the package at least, you’re going to kill yourself.” Marinette laughed at the ordeal. It was certainly going to be interesting having so many Kwami’s around. 

Adrien reached over, picking up the phone again as Plagg stole away the now open package. “You’d think I starve him.”

“So, how was your day?” she said in a melodic tune. 

“It would have been better if you were already here.” He said holding up a clear plastic container containing remnants of the Crab stew which had become one of his favorite dishes. The container had Cheng’s restaurant label on it.

“Did you tell him?” Her face went into a look of concern. 

“I’ll have you know I am a cat of my word,” he said nonchalantly. 

“Adrien?”

“Of course not.” A look of relief as she wanted to surprise him. She even insisted that her mother and father keep their tongue too. Threatening not to write or call for a week if they did. They were so happy for her to be moving to Shanghai, not to mention in with Adrien. Their faces lit up as they began discussing nicknames for grandkids. Adrien found the whole conversation unnerving at first but when he saw the looks on their faces, the pure joy, he felt grateful they were such wonderful people. 

He still hadn’t talked to Emelie despite her condition improving. Amalie maintained the radio silence as well after Felix had threatened to cut her out of his life completely if she didn’t give Adrien space. Though, Adrien hadn’t told Marinette about all of that mess yet. He was afraid it would scare her off and he wanted her to enjoy her time here before bombing her with it. 

Weeks had gone by as Adrien packed up his studio and shuffled all of his stuff into the new apartment. The Apartment opened up into the foyers, with a partial wall separating it from the living room. The kitchen to the right just like his old apartment had a counter divider with two bar stools on the living room side. The marble decor was the same as his old unit, taking into mind the carpeting in the living room stopped before the bar stools. The coat closet next to the front door was slightly deeper like a mini walk-in.  There was a small dining table situated by the windowed wall in the kitchen. It was twice the size of his last kitchen. 

He found the stairs to the loft in the same place however instead of an open bedroom area there were four doors. One was a bathroom and the other three bedrooms. The master bedroom, being nearly the size of his last unit, had its own bathroom with a walk-in shower and jet stream tub. The second and third bathrooms were on either side of the bathroom. Adrien decided to move his stuff into the smaller of the two rooms closest to the stairs so that Marinette could have the main room with her own bathroom. 

It only took him a week to clean out the old unit and clean it even though professional cleaners would be in to clean it properly. The unit was unfurnished but the furniture from the old unit was bought by Amelie so he had a few bell boys help him move it into the new unit. He had only to buy a bed for Marinette before she got there. He had Sabine pick out some furniture online and he ordered it. 

The two weeks flew by faster as he spent more time at the temple tutoring the youth. As well as his daily chores there.

A video call with Marinette came in very early in the morning, though it wasn’t that early where she was at. She had just arrived at the airport with her parents who were seeing her off. Her bags were checked and she was standing in front of the windows overlooking the runway. 

“I can’t wait to see you, Princess.” He said enthusiastically as he lay in his bed. He tried to not let her see he was in bed or that he didn’t have a shirt on, she’d be a mess and end up missing her flight. 

“Did I wake you?” She looked guilty 

“I wouldn’t have missed this call for anything Princess, you better get on that plane you let me down now.” he winked at her. 

“Don’t worry, that was her boarding call. We are putting her on the plane right now,” Tom said. Adrien chuckled as they hung up the phone. 

“I’m just surprised you love birds are going to be in separate rooms.” Plagg teased. “How long is that going to last?”

“Hey, you have your own room now, what are you harassing me for?” Adrien teased him.

“Actually that is going to be Marinette’s sewing room, right?” Plagg had a point. 

“I mean, when she gets here, you can start staying in the miracle box with the others.” 

“Too cramped. I need to stretch my legs and be free.” Plagg folded his arms behind his head as he hovered over the bed. Adrien copied him as he lay in his bed. His phone ran again, this time it was Felix.

“I’ll be coming to Shanghai today, I am at the airport now.” He sounded rushed.

“To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” Adrien asked. It meant he would be on the same plane with Marinette. His stomach balled up. 

“A last minute showing of some new designs and they can’t seem to be able to agree on one.” Felix said something to the boarding clerk. “I need you to attend with me.” 

“I have classes, I can’t cancel them, plus I am now tutoring some of my students.” Adrien complained. It made things worse that he wouldn’t be able to spend time with Marinette. 

“I’m sure we can arrange the viewing for after your classes or before. What time is your fist class and last class….” He paused. “You know what, we can discuss that when I get there.” his voice had changed from rushed to pleasant and happy. Damn, did he see Marinette, is he sitting with her? Adrien’s anxiety tightened on his chest as he laid back against his pillow. 

After a long and nerve wracking day, Adrien stood at the airport waiting for both his cousin and his...friend? He hadn’t bothered to change his clothes after he finished at the temple, so he was still dressed in his yi-fu. He decided to wait near the baggage claim so he could help grab her luggage. Felix would likely have one bag and it was probably a carry on. Adrien saw her bags first and grabbed up. She had a lot as he had expected, they were pink with darker pink polka dots, no surprise there. As he finished loading them on a luggage cart he heard Felix’s voice. 

“Are you serious Marinette, that would be great.” Felix sounded excited, a tone he didn’t use very often. Adrien could feel the heat in his face as he tried to compose himself before turning around to greet them. 

“Adrien.” Marinette exclaimed as he turned around to catch her as she leaped into his arms. He spun her around holding her tightly and making a big show of it. “Look who found me on the plane, he wants me to come with you two to the fashion showing this afternoon.” Adrien feigned a smile. While Marinette was the fashion expert between the three of them, he wasn’t sure if his cousin’s intentions were pure, or if he was competition. 

“So, I hope you got that sare bedroom made up for me…” Felix leaned in to whisper. “Brother.” Adrien’s face burned even more now, said spare bedroom was right next to her room and well, was empty. 

“Sure, if you don’t mind sleeping on the floor.” Adrien laughed as they loaded up in the car. Felix pulled out his phone and made a call. 

“I need a spare bed set up in the Graham De Vanily room, you’ll know which room.” Adrien was amazed at how resourceful his cousin was. This is why he is the primary controlling party for the company.  The ride back to the apartment in the Taxi was cramped with Marinette wedged between Adrien and Felix. Adrien, being clearly larger than his twin, though not too much. Marinette let out a loud yawn so Adrien threw his arm over her shoulder and pulled her head into his chest casting a possessive glance to Felix, who simply smirked back to him. 

The Bus boys carried her bags to the suite. 

“I don’t know about you two, but I am famished.’ Felix said, “Shall we step out for dinner?”

“That sounds great, we should go to Thousand Delights?” Adrien smiled at her excitement. 

“Are you okay to go, Marinette,” Adrien asked “You were nearly falling asleep in the plane, you might need a nap.”

“Nonsense. She’s fine.” Felix swooped a hand over her shoulder and led her back to the curb. “Shall I call a driver to come get us, less cramped than a taxi.” Competition is then. Adrien scowled. 

“If my accommodations aren’t sufficient for you, COUSIN,” Adrien slid his arm around her waist tugging her to his side and out of Felix’s hands. “You are welcome to make your own. Felix’s smile was one of mischief as he let his arm fall from her shoulders. Her face froze in a ‘what just happened’ expression. A few minutes later a mini black limo arrived and the driver moved quickly to open the door.

“Lady’s first.” Felix insisted then slid in after her. Adrien ran to the other side to let himself in next to her. Once again, Marinette was trapped between the two, though Adrien focuses on the fact, she would be staying with him when Felix returned to Paris. 

“Where’s your ring?” Adrien finally asked, having noticed his hand free of it when his arm was around Marinette.

“I uh, Amalie,” he choked. “They want yours as well to get them refinished or something.” Adrien slipped the ring off his finger and handed it to Felix.

“I don’t know what Amalie and Emelie want with them, but they have no meaning to me.” Adrien turned to the window.

“Ooookay.” Marinette’s voice broke through the awkwardness. “Amalie? Emelie? Not mother?” 

“It’s a long story.” Felix said, patting her knee. 

“Well, tell me tonight, when we get back?” Marinette’s voice was so sweet. Adrien was glad didn’t didn’t stumble over her words like she did when they were younger, now he could have a real conversation with her and actually know the true intentions of her words. 

“We will have plenty of time to talk about that Marinette,’ Adrien smiled at her as he put his arm around her shoulders again, “But let’s just have some fun first,” He kissed her forehead, casting a glance to Felix. The thought of telling her made his stomach clench and he could tell it was difficult for Felix too. Not exactly something that comes up in casual conversation.

Cheng Sifu was excited to see him, but his confusion over the “Cousin” kept him constantly glancing back and forth between them. Felix and Adrien smiled at him, then they both laughed.

“Cheng Sifu, we get that all of the time, our mothers are identical twins as well.” Adrien didn’t mean to add that, but it was too late. 

“What he means is, we share the Graham De Vanily twin genes.” Felix to the rescue, casting a scowl at Adrien. “Which means.” smiling at Marinette, “When we have children, our wives will bear us twins.” Adrien caught the wink in his eye. 

“Well, I don’t think we need to worry about you having any children any time soon Felix,” Adrien leaned back in his seat as his empty bowl sat in front of him. He wrapped an arm around Marinette, “You have to have a girlfriend first.” He gave Marinette a gentle squeeze and a smile.

“Oh.” Felix said, putting his napkin down on the table. “And you do? I thought she was just a friend?”

“Yeah, she is.” Adrien smiled at her. “A girlfriend.” He placed a quick kiss on her startled lips. Making a show of it before Felix could question if he even had a chance. Adrien knew Marinette had loved him since day one, even though she only knew the facade his father created, but he loved her for her. 

“I see.” Felix’s tone seemed to have a playful melody to it. “I’m happy to hear that.” Cheng Sifu began to play his happiest of songs on his accordion. 

“I always knew the two of you would be together someday.” A joyful tear fell down his cheek. 

[drabblily]

pairing: akaashi keiji x female reader

genre: angst, fluff for like...5 seconds, TLFY! au

warnings: mentions of cheating, reader is in denial, akaashi is an asshole

word count: 1148

synopsis: you hoped to repair your and akaashi’s marriage when he came to visit you, but things have seemed to go the exact opposite

author’s note: chapter three of ellie and i’s “the last five years” au collab ! i kinda like this chapter so,,, enjoy <3

i guess i can't believe you really came 

you sat at the edge of a familiar pier next to your husband, akaashi keiji, smiling lightly at him, admiring all of his pretty features. he hadn’t been able to make time for you in a while lately, saying he’d been much too busy to come and visit you. you knew your marriage had hit a rough patch lately but you still wished he would try harder to see your shows and yourself like you had always made time for him. but at least he was here now, and for your birthday too, and that’s all what mattered.

you inhaled quietly before speaking up, “hey doesn’t this sweater make me look like daisy mae?” you nudged him slightly with your shoulder, showing off the piece of clothing you stole from some costume shop. akaashi’s quiet chuckle filled your ears, his eyes crinkling in amusement as he stared at you. the sound of him caused a small laugh of your own come out; hope fluttering in your chest.

see we’re laughing...i think we’re gonna be okay

you grabbed onto his slightly calloused hands, laughter slowly dying down and the mood becoming more serious, “i know...that we haven’t had the best of days lately. but i know we can fix that keiji, if we just try a little harder i know we can make our relationship as beautiful as it was five years ago,” you told him before a smile came back onto your face, “and hey! i mean, this is already a start. you came to visit me all the way over here so if we can do that, we can do anything, right?”

i think you’re really gonna like this show

you started talking to him about your upcoming musical that you’ve been preparing at the arts program, “we’ve been practicing a whole lot, you know? i think it’s going to be good, er--at least it won’t suck?” the blue-eyed male snorted, his laughter sounding like a beautiful melody to your ears, a grin to making its way onto your face. you gazed at your interlocked hands, looking at the golden rings on both of your fingers.

and you’re mine...we’re doing fine

akaashi signaled with his head to start getting up off the pier, standing up--with you following shortly after. side-by-side, you walked next to each other, the wood under your feet creaking with each step you took down it. “i know i’ve made a lot of mistakes in this, but you have too,” you started, clearing your throat before continuing, “but that just shows that despite all of what we’ve had to go through, i know we can end up stronger than before, together. i guess that’s why i’m so happy you’re here for this weekend, because we can start repairing us now.”

suddenly, akaashi stepped in front of you this time, turning around to face you and grabbing your other hand, “i’m so sorry, my love, but i won’t be able to stay this weekend...it’s this random house thing that i was invited to tomorrow and i can’t miss it, i wish i could but i’m afraid i can’t.” he brought your knuckles up to his lips, pressing a chaste kiss to them.

i didn’t know you had to go so soon

“o-oh...well! hey that’s alright! we didn’t need a weekend anyways...after all we still have all of tonight, right?” you asked with a gulp and furrowed eyebrows, feeling sick to your stomach, going in to hug him before he stopped you by your shoulders with an apologetic look.

“love...i’m afraid we won't have tonight either. see, i tried getting a plane ticket for tomorrow but the only available ones left was for tonight. of course, i can always come back on another day if you--”

you know what makes me crazy? im sorry, can i say this?

you pulled away from akaashi as if he had just scorched your skin, a sour expression sewed into your face, “are you serious right now, keiji? really? we could be spending our time together, but you’re going to leave the chance we had to fix everything because you want to go spend time with someone else?!”

“love, you know that’s not true--”

“no! it is! that’s exactly what you’re doing...of course it is!” you cried out, hands coming up in exasperation.

you could be here with me or be there with them...as usual guess which you pick

akaashi flared his nose in annoyance, trying to explain himself, suddenly raising his voice, “y/n i have to!”

you scoffed bitterly, spiraling into an argument with your husband, “no akaashi! you don’t have to, that’s the thing! because instead of staying with me, your wife, on my fucking birthday; you’re deciding to go to another stupid party with the same stuck-up jerks you already know! you don’t even come to see any of my shows, the shows i work so hard on to do!”

and i know in your soul it must drive you crazy that you won't get to play with your little girlfriends

“poor little akaashi keiji can’t go back to his girlfriends, is that it? is that why you’re leaving so early?? is there even a party to begin with, huh?!”

akaashi stepped towards you, arms reaching out to grab you and stop you, “y/n, youre being irrational! stop acting crazy!!”

pulling out of his grasp, you thrashed away from him--desperate to want to get away from him, “no--no i’m not! don’t you dare call me crazy after all you’ve put me through.”

he gaped at you, blue eyes opened wide, “what i’ve put you through?”

a sharp pained laugh escaped you, “everything is all about keiji this, keiji that! you make EVERYTHING about you and nothing but you because you think you’re some high classed snobby writer--oh im sorry, do you prefer the term marvelous writer? just like everyone else says?”

isn't he wonderful, just twenty-eight! the savior of writing…

“all i deal with is you!” you yelled, fat hot tears streaming down your cheeks, “i’m always here for you, always trying to push you to do your best, all those nights i stayed up because of you since i was here for you and now look at you, a hotshot writer! but you obviously can’t do the same for me, can you?”

i swear to god i'll never understand

he watched you break down, not saying anything but standing there and anxiously fiddling with his fingers. breaths coming out uneven and shaky, you spoke through your sobs, “h-how is it...that whenever i’m here crying...you just stand there, in all your glory and don’t say anything...not one word of comfort...not one word at all…why…?”

and see i’m crying...and not do anything at all

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[revalise]

After the Sun [M] | 03

Pairing: Chrollo Lucilfer x Fem. OC

Genre: Romance and eventual smut

Rating: M

Words: 3500+

Notes: I'm having a little hard time with the characters because this fic is forcing me to created too many OCs to fit a character because of they do not fit any canon characters from the anime.

This is probably my least favorite chapter and I did have a hard time writing this because of my writer's block. I started writing this around the end of August and finished it only last week.

But anyway, we move to my favorite parts starting from the next chapter! I have to say that this is my favorite work though, so I may or may not be paying attention more to this.

Thanks to Risa for beta reading this chapter again!

Check the updated Spotify playlist and give it a follow if you want to get a better idea of the fic and just listen to good music! /hj

Masterlist | 02 | 04

Chrollo Lucilfer gets everything he wants, when he wants—even if it means undergoing extreme measures. Nothing bothered him, until an aphrodite, Astra Gerber, appeared one night and stole from the infamous thief. In return that Chrollo doesn't report her, he strikes a deal. But it could be more than what Astra bargained for.

FOOL’S GOLD

Astra’s phone rang continuously from the nightstand as she laid in her bed, asleep on her stomach, arms wrapped around the side of her head. Soft, comfortable, and clean white sheets kept her from waking from her slumber.

No, she hadn’t woken up from all the chaos that awaited as the sound of her ringtone filled the entire room. Rather, she had woken up to a loud banging on the door of the hotel room.

She kicked away the comforter that covered the sheer nightgown that wrapped her body. Hissing under her breath with closed eyes, willing herself to fall asleep once more. But the banging only continued, loud and louder until she had no other choice to get on her feet, open the door, and let out a stream of vicious curses at the source. So she wore her irritation on her face, stretched in all the edges, lined with her features that screamed beauty all throughout.

Astra grasped the metal handle, the coldness biting back on the smoothness of her skin. Then a familiar, vexed face met with hers.

“What have you done?” His strained voice erupted against the room. He hadn't waited for her to invite him in. No, he walked past her the moment she opened the door.

He was clad in purple-worked wonder, though a bit too fancy and too flashy for the morning.

“What have you done?” Satotz repeated once more as he sagged on the red ottoman.

Astra crossed her arms, arching a brow and turning to face him. “What do you mean what have I done?”

“Miss…” a timid voice said from beside her. Too timid, too small, and all too shy.

She shot a side glance at the source, revealing Khara. Astra’s brow rose upward, “What?” she snarled.

***

Khara blinked at the anger and irritation that seeped from Astra’s tone. It took all she had to stop herself from staggering backwards and to appear unintimidated, but it was all too hard for her—all too hard since she’d started working with her.

In truth, Khara looked forward to working with celebrities and being their assistant. And she's been excited to work with Astra. But at Astra’s first wave of a hand, she commanded her to do things she wasn’t sure were included in her job description. Or if it were, it consisted of driving half-across town for the food Astra wanted, subject to her cravings, and coming back to the packing and darkening lights of the set as the staff shut them close.

Astra would snap her fingers once, and Khara would be inclined to come rushing forward in hopes of avoiding the unnecessary lashing out of the lady. She was only a few years younger than Astra, but sometimes, she wondered if she were the older one.

Khara handed a newspaper to Astra, fighting the shudder that shook her hands violently. Her head aligned with the level of her chest as she bowed low and extended her hands. Despite all her efforts, it still showed, making Astra snicker and roll her eyes in response.

Astra strode towards the couch beside Satotz, sitting casually and gracefully, and ignoring the poor girl that was left just outside the door. Khara didn’t say a word, but her face contorted in embarrassment. Her short, black hair and bangs—that she got on a whim because she felt old—kept in the way of her sight. She blinked twice before inviting herself in, but as she did, the familiar perfume she’d memorized all too well invaded her nostrils.

“Good morning, Khara.”

Khara whipped her head around as her heart hammered in her chest.

“G-Good morning, sir,” Khara stuttered, earning a subtle chuckle from Wing, who just so happens to be Astra’s brother.

As rude and as bold as Astra was, Wing was the complete opposite of his sister. He talked with grace and utmost respect, bred like that of those who grew up in their father’s mansion. The way he talked, as Khara would have described it, was smooth and quiet. Polite.

He was very handsome. Tall and lean with raven-black hair just like his sister. Dark brows that accentuated his eyes. Those eyes. Khara swallowed.

One slow, deliberate examination was all it took for Khara to determine the hard muscle that lay underneath his clothed arms. But somehow, he’d always leave his shirt untucked.

“You don’t have to call me, ‘sir,’ Khara. Just Wing will do,” he flashed his white teeth in a smile.

“Okay…” She blushed at the mention of her name and hesitated, “...Wing.” She smiled, and she hoped it didn’t come off forced and awkward.

If Wing found it indifferent, he didn’t say anything. Instead, he only reached a hand over, “Let me help you with that.”

That was when Khara realized the paperbag of coffee dangling from her fingers. Quickly, she shook her head, “It’s okay! I can do it.”

He gave her a friendly smile, “No fair maiden should be carrying anything at all.”

Khara swore, she could have died right then and there. Could have. Only if the sharp memory of Astra making her carry her entire luggage didn’t obliterate her.

At the sole thought of Astra, she yelled from inside the room with utmost impatience, “Khara, did you get my coffee?”

Khara paid a quick glance at Astra, who was eyeing a magazine in her hand as she sat alone on the big, red velvet couch with gold wooden outlines, her feet resting on the coffee table that stacked the same fashion magazines she’d been reading. Completely ignoring Satotz who was massaging his temples from the seat beside her.

She gave Wing a tight smile before rushing over to Astra and opened the small lid for her. Astra paid her no attention as she sipped her coffee.

***

Wing invited himself into Astra's room. The first to notice him was Satotz, who widened his eyes at his appearance. Immediately standing up to greet the young lad and shaking his hand, the other clapping on his shoulder.

“Good morning,” Wing greeted.

“Yes, yes. Good morning,” Satotz smiled in return before beckoning Wing to take his seat, even dusting off the cushion with his bare hands.

Astra paid her brother no attention as she scanned the magazine that rested on her thighs. Wing braced his forearms on his knees, giving Astra a polite smile, “Good morning to you too, Astra.”

She didn’t even bother to look up at her brother when she replied curtly, “What’s good about the morning?”

Satotz could only bite his lip in nervousness as he shooed off Khara, making her scoot over.

Oh how interactions with Astra bothered her so much.

Fortunately, Wing was unlike his sisters. Perhaps it was because he was a man and had no interest in the drama surrounding their family, but whatever issues Astra had with her family, he stayed out of it. Women and their dramas.

If Satotz could properly put it into words, Wing was probably the only one in the family who could stand Astra. Even when she had her series of attitudes.

He only smiled, proceeding with another question, “How are you?”

Astra raised her head this time, brows creasing as she gave Wing a look that basically said ‘Why are you asking the obvious?’

“Woke up a bad bitch,” Astra said as she shrugged. “What’s new?”

Satotz issued a rather nervous laugh, hoping to snap Astra out of her misbehavior, “Astra just woke up. That’s why.”

Wing turned his attention to Satotz, seemingly unbothered by Astra, “May I ask your business with my sister, Satotz?” he asked politely.

Satotz felt a faint warmth in his chest, touched that the younger Gerber remembered his name. As he recalled, Astra’s family scorned the thought of show business. Therefore, he wasn’t well received in the family though he promised to answer their questions whatever it was.

But the calls stopped two years ago, when Astra found herself in too many dating scandals. Astra never asked, but Satotz knew she was curious if her father ever called to ask about her.

“Well,” he cleared his throat, switching to a rather serious tone as he pulled his phone from his pocket and displayed a picture of Chrollo and Astra looking a little too friendly—way too friendly. “This has been all over social media, tabloids, and insiders.”

***

Astra took a good look at the headline, reading loudly for them to hear, “Astra Gerber with another guy?” she almost yelled when she said the penultimate word.

She creased her brows as she took the device, reading the entire article, “And what is wrong with that?”

“You just had a dating scandal last month!” Satotz exclaimed.

She pinched her nose with her fingers, “It’s not my fault they love to start rumors and men love to jump on it.”

“And how come I don’t know any of this? It doesn’t benefit anything. Not even promotions,” Satotz added, ignoring her remark.

“Not all,” Wing grinned with an underlying meaning that piqued Satotz’s interest, tilting his head to the side, beckoning him to keep talking.

“Actually,” heturned his body towards Astra, “Dad sent me here to invite you to dinner tomorrow.”

“Dinner?” Satotz asked.

Wing nodded, “He didn’t say anything else, but it seems he’s interested.”

***

Astra’s heart pounded mercilessly. Her Dad wanted to see her? It felt unreal, but she didn’t say anything. She pretended to be interested in the comments instead, snorting and sneering at some of them.

[+128, -19] what’s new lol

[+154, -98] I feel bad for these people. Just a dating scandal and everyone’s at it like they killed someone

[+92, -23] right? lol if normal people can do it too why not them

[+19, -2] ew

She arched her brow on the last one before typing a comment in reply.

“Hey, don’t say anything! That’s my account!” Satotz tried to reach for his phone but Astra brought it up higher.

I’m sorry your screen is so reflective, she typed. As soon as she hit ‘reply,’ she took notice of the comment posted right underneath the one she replied to.

[+429, -19] i feel bad for all the lipstick that guy had to consume… he doesn’t deserve that ><

[18, -1] LMAOOOOOO

Astra would never admit it, but she almost laughed. Satotz thought she might reply to another comment and swiped the phone out of her grasp, reading the comment for himself.

He couldn’t help but cackle, almost choking on his coffee. Khara peered from his side, taking a peek at the device.

“Now that is funny,” Satotz laughed.

Khara grinned shyly, “Is it? I guess it is.” She tucked her hair behind her ear.

“Yeah,” Astra crossed her arms and gave a sly smile, “but if I find that person, they’re dead.”

Khara remained silent throughout the whole conversation.

***

It was still too early for Chrollo to inhale his second stick of cigarette as he looked over the city from the tall building where his empire stood.

He wore his three-piece suit as he held the cigarette with his right hand, the other tucked inside the pocket of his slacks.

From this distance, Chrollo could feel how far he'd come from the slums of Meteor City. He was no longer that boy who scraped off whatever could be salvaged from garbage.

Chrollo Lucilfer was now a bachelor. Rich and young. Just one snap of his ivory fingers and whatever he wants is his. Everything he did was calculated. Careful and clever. He couldn’t care less about arriving at his own judgment day, but he would never want to endanger his friends.

But last night was a mistake.

It took all of Chrollo’s self-control to pull away. The moment he felt something inexplicable was the moment he realized there was something wrong with him.

Usually, he gave the ladies gifts to keep them from complaining once he lost interest. But that night, he realized how genuinely he wanted to give Astra something.

He puffed out smoke when he recalled her words. He had pulled away and she wore that sultry smile. That sultry smile and that mouth that needed reminding of where it belongs.

“You be very careful,” she said slowly as she ran her hands down his blazer, straightening it. “I like you. And you see,” her eyes met his, challenging and batting those long lashes, “I have a habit of always getting what I want.”

Chrollo reached for the silver necklace he usually had around his neck, only to feel its absence. And he remembered that he still has yet to obtain that necklace back from Astra.

The door groaned as it opened and Paku’s voice echoed through the big office, “You should see this.”

***

Astra was already an hour late for dinner when she stood right outside the manor. Her family’s chauffeur took her red Bugatti to the parking lot when she stopped in front of the big, carved double doors embellished with golden markings that extended from one side to the other.

Fortes Fortuna Adiuvat was engraved in stone against the header, clean and written in cursive.

She licked her red lips as she smiled, remembering the meaning of what her family believed in for so long, “Fortune favors the brave.”

Even in the darkness, the manor shone brightly with the unnecessary lights as if it dared to rival the stars. She circled her fingers around the metal handle, flexing, until finally pushing it open.

Astra roamed her eyes around the interior. The first thing she noticed was how much none of it seemed to change. The house was designed with white and mahogany. A little too old for her liking, but everything about it screamed ‘old money.’

“Welcome home, miss,” Zeno, lowered his head at Astra as she entered.

Home, Astra snorted, laughing at the idea. Nah, not that.

She masked her face with merriment, the corners of her red lips twitching upwards, “Old age suits you perfectly, Zeno.”

Zeno's face was lined with wrinkles—a lot more than how she used to remember. His hair had turned silver, hunched shoulders, eyes a little watery, and the bags that rounded them looked saggy.

Even in his old age, she could still point out how he was her father’s favorite. She didn’t know exactly why, but Zeno had always been around her father. Always.

A compliment teased along Astra’s tongue regarding Zeno's loyalty to his father, but she bit back on that action. It wasn’t about Zeno's loyalty to her father, but his loyalty to her grandfather.

“Heh,” Zeno huffed, his face concealed with neutrality. Despite his old age and the difference in appearance, eloquence impacted his voice, not an ounce of fragility coming from the old man. “I see you’re still the same as ever.”

He turned to the side, extending a hand sidelong, “This way, please.”

“If you’d please,” Astra curtsied, mimicking Zeno’s formality only to tease.

Astra walked her way with the majordomo. Occasionally, she stole glances from the interior, comparing and checking how each used to be from the last time she remembered. She stalked past the elegant, absurdly expensive pianoforte in the hall. Shining jetblack in color with outlines of gold in its edges. A memory crossed her mind of playing with its keys and how her piano teacher used to yell at her for not understanding the lesson sooner.

A child from a rich family should be able to play at least one instrument.

Then she paced through bigger chandeliers as Zeno stopped along the opened double doors to the dinner hall, keeping his gnarled fingers clasped together as he stood upright.

“Thank you,” Astra mouthed as she entered, earning a terse nod from Zeno himself.

Martin sat at the head of the long, rectangular table—accented with a velvety red linen—to his right was his wife and Astra’s stepmother, Emilia, followed by Anais then Margaux, while Wing sat on the opposite side. Astra took notice of the empty seat beside her father on his left and right beside Wing.

“Oh, there she is,” Anais, her stepsister, jeered, rolling her eyes as soon as she spotted Astra.

Anais was the eldest in the family. And she had always been mean to Astra. A few pranks here and there that servants in the manor often felt bad for Astra. But one summer night after spending a whole year with Zazan, Astra pulled her big sister’s hair and Anais learned to keep her distance.

Astra simpered, her red Loubotins clattering against the marble floors.

Emilia scoffed at the scene and Astra’s swagger, crossing her hands. As if Martin could sense an insulting remark from his wife, Martin spoke, “Astra, you sit beside me.”

Astra almost stopped on her feet, surprised at the offer, but she knew all too well not to let go of the chance. Besides, she had a lot of covering up to do after being so obvious of how she shuddered in Martin’s presence. She had to scratch that truth out.

“Why thanks, Daddy,” her tone was honeyed, teasing even, as she kissed her father’s cheek before slipping into the chair.

She eyed the clean plates in front of her before her brown eyes flickered over Anais, meeting her dark gaze before she broke it with another roll of the eyes to which she only smirked at.

“So what’s the big occasion?” She whipped her head at Martin, flashing him a big smile that boasted her perfect, white teeth.

“Can’t I invite my daughter over for dinner?” Martin’s voice was dry but the usual tone he often used when trying to intimidate someone was present in it. He kept his gaze on the empty plate laid in front of him, taking the silver utensils from a housemaid

“Aww,” she teased, bracing her forearms on the table. She gazed up at her father with a snakelike smile that painted her face, stretching her sensuous red lips. “Is it that time of the year where you complete your bucket list?”

Martin glared at her while Wing stifled a laugh from his seat. Margaux only reached for her glass of wine, sipping quietly.

“You’re still as rude, as ever. I see,” Emilia said, narrowing her eyes at Astra as they sat across each other. “There are some things that never could be changed from the slums.”

Astra eyed Emilia, taking in her perfectly tied blonde locks and intimidation in those green orbs. But she merely smiled and said, “You say that like I didn’t live in a villa named after your husband before this family took me under their wing.”

Emilia set her utensils down, so harshly that the plates rattled, “You are a child born of wedlock,” she drawled.

“Actually,” Astra clasped her fingers together to rest her chin, giving her stepmother a teasing grin and flashing her perfectly white teeth, “I’d rather you call me a love child.”

“That is enough!” Martin yelled, his voice deep and threatening before he shifted his gaze over to his angered wife. “Emilia,” he said, a little softer but reprimanding.

It was a little odd that Martin came to Astra’s defense. Though it perplexed Astra, she didn’t ask.

Martin’s usual punishing brown eyes were soft when it met with Astra’s. Those same brown eyes were the definite proof that she was his daughter. But despite the softness he tried to show, there was still that seriousness exuding from out of it. Business. Formality. Transaction.

“Astra,” Martin dabbed a cloth over his lips before setting it down. “How are you?”

Astra’s hands found its way to the utensils, “Fine.What else?” She said as a matter of fact.

“Attention seeker,” Anais muttered, giving Astra a conspirator’s grin before she took a bite.

She only chuckled, unaffected and amused, “If I weren’t, I wouldn’t be a celebrity.”

“I heard from Satotz that you’ve been quite free lately,” Martin interrupted.

“Yes,” Astra pricked the steak with her fork. “I’m sort of on a vacation.”

“I see,” Martin replied. It took half a minute before he followed, “With Lucilfer?”

Astra remembered that she got two things from her father: those brown eyes and his iron will.

The iron will they both have to get whatever they want.

“Oh, is that what this is about?” The amusement and arrogance vanished in her eyes as her tone dropped.

“We’ve been trying to get Lucilfer on our side for about a year now. This is an important matter.”

“But he’s still so young,” she reasoned. If she remembered it correctly, young men don’t hold much importance until they’ve proven themselves—and that only happens when they’re as old as her father.

“But he holds some sort of importance,” Martin waved his hand. “And we need him.”

A warmth that swelled from her heart began to burn in her chest—a jealousy for a man she didn’t even know. She didn’t know exactly why her father needed him, and why he was so eager to. And she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

But if having Chrollo Lucilfer meant having her father, then she’d do everything in her power to make him hers.

Astra said nothing as she set her eyes down on her plate. As she realized that this wasn’t about her.

[plush-anon]

SCOOB! Stream of Consciousness Review

Here we are folks - I finally review the originally cinematic, fully CGI animated Scooby Doo Movie (one year later... I did not queue this as I thought I had last June - damn you, Tumblr. I’m not changing much here, so enjoy as it was intended).

Created by a team who have professed their affection for this mystery team and their meddling dog too, will this be a lush experience fit to satisfy any Hanna-Barbera fan? Or will it be a hot garbage cash-grab, littered with Easter eggs and references that do nothing to hide a meatless mess of outdated memes and shallow character development?

LET’S

FIND

OUT

Below this cut is my entire stream-of-consciousness review on the SCOOB! Movie, as experienced. SPOILER warning here - I’m digging into everything, no plot points spared. 

Here we go~

And we start off with a decent shot of the California coastline (looks like the kids backstory is front and center), some 90s hip-hop synthwave song about California, and OH SWEET JESUS THESE MODELS LOOK TERRIBLE

Ahem

Yeah, this is a problem right off the bat - some of these people in the opening shots look remarkably unfinished - think three shades above “Rapsittie Kids: Believe in Santa” level - and the animation on them is less than stellar. 

On the plus side, we do see a fantastic variety of ages, sizes, and races - there’s a brief blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Sikh man on roller skates playing a sitar - but when the designs look rushed in the opening shots, it’s not a fantastic sign. At least they’re brief, but it’s hard to see if this is a lower level of the film’s style due to rushed animation, or if they didn’t care to polish it up as much, given that it’s maybe a 30 second scene. 

Still, kudos to actually going for variety in the crowd shots. Minus kudos to making most of the clothes look like Play-doh draped over a Barbie doll. I’m not even kidding on that one, the clothes are super basic and barely have any sign of texture or creasing or even fabric/cut variety. Almost reminds me of the first Toy Story movie’s design for human clothes, yeesh. 

----

Ahh, our first introduction to Scooby Doo at a Greek gyro food stand. That’s foreshadowing right there folks! 😉

Sadly, he is really weirdly animated in his run sequence - he looks out of proportion as he’s running on his hind legs, and the human animation has really bad consistency - some background characters are really janky, while others actually move really nicely. The characters we immediately focus on seem to be pretty smooth at least, but that’s still very strange.

On a side note: Ruby and Spears Sub Sandwich shop. Nice 😁

----

They are reaaaally pushing the super over-the-top dramatic music for a bike cop chasing a dog that stole gyro meat

Why

It’s not even interesting chase music, just generic super-hyped-up chase music

----

And now we finally get to see a young Shaggy, standing next to a tie-dye food stand called Casey’s Confections that… sells meat. Hm. Guess WB hasn’t learned after all these years 🙄

Unfortunately, I’m not a huge fan of the kid they got to play him, Iain Armitage. He’s not a bad voice actor by any means, but he just doesn’t sound right for Shaggy. I know that as a kid he’d be much less likely to have a cracking/squeaky voice, but he sounds… it’s hard to pin down a word, but - precocious? Darling? Either way it doesn’t quite match, especially given how Shaggy sounds when he grows up via Will Forte. Just… no connection there. 

I tie it down to the particular vocal twangs and nuances the gang usually has. I’ll touch base on that note later I think, once we hit the teenage versions of the gang, but for now I’m just not feeling it. 

----

On the one hand, I empathize deeply with Shaggy and his Spotify’s unsettling ability to pinpoint his insecurities with song choices, and also deeply enjoy that one small gesture where his fingers kind of shake & tighten around his phone while he takes a deep breath to calm himself- it’s a very nice, subtle sign of frustration

On the other hand we just passed two guys with no nipples and an unerring likeness to a Ken doll in those Barbie movies, so I’m distracted by that now

(between this and Fred’s no-nipples in Happy Halloween SD!, is WB just terrified of giving men nipples in animated movies now? what gives?)

Also distracted by the thrifty lesbians who bought those two shirts that come together to make a heart in the middle, on the store’s 2 for 1 day

happy pride y’all!

---

Finally got context for the two sand piles!

Very, very sad context, but still! Progress!

Basically Shaggy’s practicing talking to people in order to learn how to make friends, since he either has no idea how, or has never had a friend before. So he’s trying to learn the right way to do it since his own attempts have failed

And him talking to these sand piles not only counts as practice, but he’s using them so that his mom thinks he’s spending time with friends like he told her

Ow :)

---

So ketchup leather is apparently a thing that exists

I’m learning so much today!

---

Given that Shaggy has no friends at this stage, but he’s still called Shaggy, I’m kind of wondering if that was a mean nickname that everyone called him, but he was just grateful for the interaction/pretended it was from friends, so he kept it 🤔

Actually, take it back, his mother is calling him that. Family nickname, maybe…?

----

Shaggy has Blue Falcon (classic) and Dynomutt funko pops

noice

---

Oof, you can reaaaaally hear the age in Frank Welker’s Scooby voice. Can we get Scott Innes back? He sounds almost identical to his performance 20+ years ago :/

Also talking waaaay too much - even SDMI Scooby wasn’t this wordy, and he NEVER shut the hell up 

----

Okay wait

So Shaggy met Scooby on Halloween day - then met the rest of the gang hours later?

Huh. And here I was thinking it would have been a few weeks minimum 

Although I have to say there is a lot here to work with, if it paces out how I think it does

Shaggy meets Scooby. Bare hours later, he buys him a collar (instead of his mom? weird) and asks him to stay with him, despite not really knowing him. Then, only a couple hours after that, he finally makes some friends… but only when Scooby is with him. 

Given that it looks like the gang are all around the same age in the same neighborhood, there’s a solid chance that they’ve taken classes together at the same school. If none of them met/knew/made friends with Shaggy then, but only did so AFTER Scooby came into the picture, that might lead to the argument we know about later when they split up; afterwards, S&SD go to the bowling alley, then get abducted by the Blue Falcon, plot continues. This could make it seem like they were only friends with him at the start because he had a dog. 

And the brief scene earlier with the music device shows that he tries to tamp down on his anger/doesn’t really address it - could lead to something more later 

hmmmm 🤔

---

Wait what

These two kid bullies just came out of nowhere, stole Shaggy’s candy… and then started on about how Halloween is only a marketing ploy to get companies to rot your teeth and go to the dentist more, before throwing the bag through a window and telling the two that ‘your blood sugar will thank us for it!’

Are - are these the brainwashed children of a Karen? Is that what I’m seeing?

I mean we could have had a Red Herring cameo, but apparently informing children about candy conspiracy theories is more important :/

----

Daphne: It’s Halloween - no one should go home without their candy

FD&V: *none of them have candy/candy bags*

???????

(Wouldn’t it make more sense if the bullies had stolen their candy too? What the hey man)

----

I do find it neat that we actually get to SEE the wires the ‘ghost’ uses to fly in full effect - that’s actually pretty cool, and not really something we get to see up close in older Scooby shows. Most of those just have the bad guy randomly flying about, and the wires revealed after the fact 

---

Actually, given how FD&V react to this ghost almost immediately… have they already been solving mysteries? It seems like it, given how smoothly they move together to capture him

That’s kind of odd in kids. Like, even in PNSD they weren’t perfectly in-sync on stuff

This then leads to the gang solving mysteries together… in spite of the fact that all Shag and Scoob did was hide in the wardrobe that had the stolen goods, while FD&V captured the dude 

Granted, they do ask Shag and Scoob if they wanna join in and say yes, but that seems like an strange jump after what could have been a one-time deal

I just find that a touch odd - esp when they could have had a five minute scene or so of them wandering around the house, touching on some old SDWAY traits. Heck, show that they’re SCARED in some way, and don’t immediately move to tackle what looks like a murderous spirit at age 8-9 or so. Even just showing the kids learning about each other would be enough, but what do I know. I’ve only watched Scooby Doo everything since I was 4 🙄

---

Ahhhh, and now for the updated rendition of the theme song

Where they’re all still kids doing everything the teenage gang did in the theme song

It doesn’t look as good as the OG, though - kind of like a computer game simulating the SDWAY intro using the PNSD kids in CGI. It’s honestly strange to see, and a little jarring - especially when we then transition to the older teenage gang right in the middle

Like, we don’t get to see you guys age through the song as you’re chased by/catch different monsters? That could have been pretty neat honestly - shows how long they’ve been doing this

Tho I gotta admit, seeing the Spooky Space Kook with his OG sound effects is pretty awesome, brief as it waoH MY GOD FRED WHY ARE YOU HAVING A ROMANTIC BEACHSIDE DATE WITH THE MYSTERY MACHINE 

THAT WASN’T IN THE ORIGINAL AND NO ONE ELSE GETS A CHARACTER INSIGHT SHOT LIKE THIS

WHY

----

Huh, looks like Ruby & Spears gave up their subway sandwich shop for a coffee shop

That apparently the gang goes to in order to eat malt shop food

okay?

----

Ah, and here’s where we finally look at the voice acting of the older teenage gang. Buckle up folks, cause I gotta lot to say

We’ll start with Fred, bc honestly? I think Efron actually fits him pretty dang well. He’s got a different cadence from Welker, true, but as far as an update goes? I think he’s a solid fit. Very much in line with the all-American kid that Fred’s kind of been slated as for the past 50 years or so, but updated more for the modern perspective. I call it solid (and possibly a replacement for whenever Welker decides to retire). 

Next? Oof. Velma is, IMHO, the weakest casting. Velma, no matter her voice actress, has ALWAYS had some form of nasal twang to her voice - that’s part of what makes her Velma to begin with, and helps her stand out. Nicole Jaffe, Pat Stevens, BJ Ward, Christina Lange (PNSD), Mindy Cohn, Kate Micucci, Linda Cardellini -heck, even Haley Kiyoko from ‘The Mystery Begins’ and Sarah Gilman from the ‘Daphne and Velma’ movie understood this! They all had that nasal twang to their voice - differing between actresses, of course, but still recognizable as Velma. Gina Rodriguez though? Honestly, it just sounds like she’s acting it straight. Not bad acting at all, by any means - she just doesn’t sound like Velma, and doesn’t seem to be trying to. (Honestly wondering if she was only hired bc she voices Carmen Sandiego in the reboot cartoon for the lolz fun reference! type connection) 

Daphne is sort of similar in voices, but hers is more of a pitch her voice hits - Heather North, Mary Kay Bergman, and Grey Delisle Griffin all have that pitch they hit naturally when speaking. Amanda Seyfried? Does not - in fact, her voice is actually deeper than I was expecting - but it’s not quite as big a difference as it is for Velma. It fits her character type okay, and she does well with it overall.  

And finally, the most controversial one: Will Forte’s Shaggy. 

I’ll go ahead and say this: he’s not Scott Menville levels of bad Shaggy voice acting. If I were to place him on a list, I’d probably put him around Billy West level - kind of sounds similar via vocal tics (voice cracking, likes and zoinks, etc), but his own voice just overtakes the impression he’s seeking to hit. When I hear him speak, I don’t really hear Shaggy; I just hear Will Forte trying to do an impression of Shaggy. 

In comparison: when Scott Innes took over for Shaggy, it was like Casey Kasem’s, just a touch more of a twang to his voice and just a dash over-the-top - but it was still Shaggy, and you didn’t doubt that for a minute.

Same thing for Lillard, but maybe moreso - he was pretty much the most perfect casting for a live-action Shaggy there could be at the time Scooby Doo (2002) was made. Him taking over for Kasem from there made perfect sense: he was honestly the best cast Mystery Inc member of the live-actions, and a lot more recognizable to the general public as Shaggy than Scott Innes was. He could also do different emotions with Shaggy that not a lot of the other voice actors had the chance to do (mainly bc script), so for future stuff they have that flexibility, if they wanted to play around a little more. 

With any luck Forte will get better over the course of the movie, but honestly the casting could have been so much better with Matt Lillard and Kate Micucci. 

----

Shaggy Rogers, evading taxes since 2020

----

siMON COWELL??!? 

WHAT THE

WHY?!?!?

ALSO HIS CHARACTER DESIGN STYLE IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM THE REST OF THE GANG WHAT IS EVEN GOING ON?!!?

IS HE SUPPOSED TO BE THE SD CELEBRITY CAMEO

LIKE

IF YOU WERE GOING TO DO A CAMEO FROM AMERICAN IDOL WHY NOT RYAN SEACREST 

HE TOOK OVER FOR CASEY KASEM ON THE AMERICAN TOP 40 WOULDN’T THAT MAKE MORE SENSE

aaauuuggghhh

---

Also he’s there as a potential investor in Mystery Inc as a detective agency

A music industry professional… is interested in funding a detective agency.

Like… did he miss out on Josie & the Pussycats? Is that why he’s here?

----

Wait a minute

Oh noooooo

I know why he’s here

I remember this spoiler

Shit

-----

And once again, here is your reminder to tell Simon Cowell a great big fcuk you

Only this time it’s for making Shaggy and Scooby feel worthless and saying that friendship is worthless and cannot be counted on for anything worthwhile

Simon Cowell: Professional Dickhead

---

Welp, at least this gives a solid reason why they leave: Simon Cowell was being a professional dickhead, and the gang didn’t really say anything against him or interrupt him on his whole ‘Shag and Scoob are worthless spiel’

Or, well... Daphne stepped up some, but more to say ‘they’re our friends!’ rather than ‘that’s entirely wrong, our friends aren’t worthless!’ Better than nothing, but yeesh

----

Ahhh, Takamoto Bowling - the emptiest bowling alley in the evenings this side of Coolsville 

(no seriously, the past few times my dad has taken my sister and me bowling pre-pandemic, no matter the day or time? it’s ALWAYS got more than 6 lanes of people there, what the heck)

Also Scooby wears three bowling shoes, which honestly makes more sense than I thought it would - that pup goes spinning and sliding every which way on a normal floor, bowling alley floors would be like ten times worse

----

here’s a nice little detail - when Scooby sees one of the bowling pins peek out with red eyes and he yells that to Shaggy, Shaggy actually squints and walks closer to see if it actually does have eyes

aww

----

Huh, okay 

Panicked Will Forte Shaggy actually sounds more like a good Shaggy voice than normal talking Will Forte Shaggy

I can dig it

---

Still kind of underwhelmed by the Shag and Scoob disguise scene - wouldn’t it make more sense to have them like, dish up hot sauce or something on a plate that nonsensically makes the robots overheat before they discover their ruse?

Idk, maybe they’re off their game after Simon ‘Dickhead’ Cowell

---

Carlton Way - must be named after Fred’s only other voice actor, Carlton Stevens of PNSD

Also Hanna’s Barber Shop is next to Barbera’s Pizza! Cute.

And… Pitstop’s Pink Perfume ad. Wait, who is that? *assorted googling noises*

...ahhh, Penelope Pitstop from Wacky Races! Who, according to Wikipedia, was revealed to have Greek ancestry in the 2016 Wacky Raceland comic book, having been born on the island of Aegina

Now I’m wondering if we’ll see her in this too, given Cerberus...

----

Honestly kind of fascinating to see the gang with a police radio in their van

Also fascinating to see that only main characters are allowed clothing variety and texture/creases/folds

---

it’s actually really sweet to see Fred, upon hearing that Shag and Scoob are likely in danger, immediately makes a 90 degree turn in traffic

---

It looks like they changes Dee Dee’s name a hair - now it’s Dee Dee Skyes, instead of Sykes

It works well for the Falcon aesthetic, so that’s cool

----

Shaggy, after Dee Dee tells them that Dastardly’s trying to kill them: Scoob, someone thinks we’re important enough to *mimes slitting throat*!

Scooby: It’s nice to be wanted.

Excellent! This movie has captured Shag and Scoob’s blasé attitude towards death! Now we’re onto a solid Scooby film :D

Dee Dee: Hmm, I hear that!

And they even have a friend to share in their attitude! Splendid!

----

Christ, I can work photoshop better than Blue Falcon can, and I don’t even know how to use photoshop

I will give major kudos on his costume tho - it maintains the important elements of the OG Falcon, while still updating it with more bird-related aesthetic, like the feathered appearance of parts of his costume, the split cape resembling the tail feathers, and the talon gauntlets & boots. neat!

---

Yooo, Dynomutt, I thought secret identities were still a thing with Superheroes, what the hey are you doing giving it out to a duo you literally just picked up behind a bowling alley

Ngl, I’m kinda hoping we get some scenes where Dynomutt messes up a little like in the OG cartoon - this one feels really serious, which is kind of strange

---

Okay now I want to see older!Blue Falcon come in for a cameo

Mainly bc I’m getting the feeling that this one is a major dumbass, and not in the fun and friendly himbo kind of way 😑

---

Wait, THAT’S our first look at Dastardly? That’s a bit abrupt, isn’t it?

Also his ship must be pumping thousands of gallons of toxins into the air, that smoke cloud looks hideous. Forget logging into his mom’s Netflix account like the trailer said, EPA should probably be hunting him for sport with a laser cannon, jesus fcuking christ

---

Honestly kinda want a plane you can pilot like a motorbike now

---

Welp, it looks like we have a fun, mustache-twirly, puns-aplenty, loves-to-be-bad kind of villain on our hands folks! This is gonna be FUN AS HECK

---

Eurgh, this scene - the super-stiff-but-stretched-out ‘yeeurgh’ faces really squick me for some reason, but I can’t really pinpoint why

---

I have decided I highly dislike the Brian Blue Falcon, or Brian Falcon for short, and would like to see Dastardly tie him to some railroad tracks

---

North St for Heather North, and… wait… Funland Carnival? Like where Charlie the Robot hung out?

Apparently that’s in Romania.

A very yellow-greenfilter Romania at that.

 Like, I’ve seen blue washes on movies trying to portray evening in the middle of the day so they don’t actually have to shoot at night, but yellow? That’s normally used for deserts and hot days and uhhh 

NOT for evenings in a country with landscape like THIS

odd

(I mean I guess they got the mountains and trees right, but still. Yellow filters make a place look arid, which Romania is Not, to my knowledge)

----

Dude, Brian Falcon is such an idiot even Shaggy and Scooby, commonly portrayed as the idiots of Mystery Inc, look at him like he’s a moron.

(They are Not Amused.)

Also Brian Falcon is an absolute coward. That’s new. Even Shaggy and Scooby face off against the robots directly in a Whack-a-Mole game and destroy some. Dude, get your head in the fcuking game already, yikes

--

Woah, Laff-a-Lympics, Wacky Races, Hex Girls, The Banana Splits, Penelope Pitstop, Space Stars, Posse Impossible, and Hong Kong Phooey easter eggs in one shot

Geezus

--- 

Another nice moment: when cornered by Dastardly, Shaggy moves to stand in front of Scooby to protect him

---

Dastardly (to Shaggy): I don’t care about YOU. You’re not REMOTELY important!

*proceeds to shoot Shaggy THROUGH the ceiling and up into the highest car on a Ferris Wheel where Brian Falcon is hiding like a man baby*

Welp, so much for a fun and zany villain. Time for this Plush Anon to kill a bitch *cocks shotgun*

I will, too - kudos to the animators for hurting me so badly with the face Shaggy made right before being shot because

OW

---

Ehehehhehe, yess, the infamous ‘Dick’ scene

Dastardly: No, I’m a DICK. With a D!

You sure are, you sack of dildos with a D!

This scene had to be put in on purpose - if this had been released in theaters, I just know the adults would be dying in laughter 🤣🤣🤣

----

Shaggy: Brian, do something! 

Brian Falcon: Like what?

Shaggy: Like, drop some F-Bombs!

love it 😂

---

Is it like movie law now, that if there’s an action scene with a Ferris Wheel in the background, it has to fall off and roll down a mild incline like a wheel? Because it kinda feels like it

---

Aha! Dastardly said his drats! Perfection.

Now to shoot him through a ceiling to make them matter even more :D

---

OOF. 

Well that hurt. 

Poor Shaggy - basically internalizing now that he’s the worthless one and weak link of the group now that Scooby is considered more important

---

Holy fcuk I’m crying

Shaggy just broke Brian Falcon down to his deepest insecurities without even trying while talking to him

He even used the words ‘imposter syndrome’ 

Shaggy hon, you’re the best

----

Oh hey, Fred, Daphne, and Velma! It’s been a while since we saw you guys again, what are you doing?

Arguing about the metric system and realizing that Shaggy and Scooby reminding them to eat periodically helped them keep a clearer head...

And using the word ‘hangry’.

But then looking through a ridiculously cute photo album of the two and a video the gang took together (the video is honestly really heckin’ cute, 10000/10 would recommend)...

And then getting pulled over so Fred can have a brief ‘oo-la-la’ montage about the pretty blonde cop who honest-to-gods looks like a Barbie doll.

Where Daphne then describes how ugly Dastardly is...

Right before the petite blonde cop who’s maybe like 5’7” at best rips off her outfit to reveal it was Dick Dastardly this entire time, all 7ish feet of him.

And then kidnaps them all along with the Mystery Machine while he makes terribly fun dorky puns

…

...SO BACK TO SCOOBY AND SHAGGY...

---

...where Scooby is making kissy faces in the mirror while wearing his Blue Falcon uniform

Hrm, that’s not really better is it

We actually see Shaggy reading (OG) Blue Falcon’s autobiography, and making hurt but snide comments about Scooby’s ego

Which are actually pretty clever tbh

-----

Cooooooongratulations, Fred Jones! You are now officially a full-on himbo!

----

Alas, poor Daphne. While your knowledge of the tropes of your show might have served you well in other places, this was to be a theatrical release once upon a time, and so such knowledge falls to ruin.

----

You know, I just realized - we’re never really told HOW the Cerberus skulls work, both in how each skull can be used to find the others,  and, presumably, in releasing Cerberus itself. We’re given a brief glance-over of Scooby’s ancestry (and I mean REALLY damn brief), and a quick mention that these are supposed to be Cerberus’ skulls being stolen, but… that’s it. Nothing else is given. 

Now, I read the first few chapters of my SCOOB! Junior Novelization, and it actually went into further detail about the skulls themselves and what Dastardly’s initial plan was early in the book - open the gates of Hades and obtain the seas of treasure therein. It acted as an introduction both to the climatic endgame we’ll face at the end of the movie, and to Dastardly, who uses the same disguise trick he used as the Barbie cop when he stole the first one in South America. 

(They actually DID plan to use this as Dastardly’s intro, but cut this… 3 minute scene for time. Yeah. See below video for the details - honestly think they should have kept it in. Saves time later and definitely more show than tell, compared to what we got)

I feel like that would be a better introduction to him than the one we got - hell, it would have fit in quite neatly after the revamped theme song montage. They could have the scene with Dastardly finding/stealing the first skull as an introduction (as above), then have him answer a call or something. Exposit openly “You found the key! Excellent! Now where are we going next?” 

THEN cut to the diner/coffee shop scene we had earlier. We still wouldn’t know exactly what the key was/entailed off the bat, and they could still have FD&V find out on their own - maybe by hacking the little robot instead? IDK.

---

The final skull is on Messick Mountain.

Cute.

On a side note, I do love how Dastardly’s ship interior looks - very dieselpunk

---

Velma just hacked into Dynomutt… somehow, and I finally get my wacky Dynomutt shenanigans!  Hazoo!

...sadly that was really dang brief. Realistic, yes, but still too brief. 

---

Eyyyy, we finally get the whys of why Scooby is needed! … really dang fast. 

Also Fred says Jinkies. 

----

Hey, Muttley popped up! In a shrine… to his demise… that we find out he reached when Dastardly pushed him forward into the Underworld to steal the treasure of Alexander the Great in a portal he rigged up… only for both of them to find out it was a one-way deal unless they used the key to be able to come back. The key, of course, being Scooby Doo, descendent of Peritas, Alexander’s dog. 

Eh, workable enough-ish. It’s interesting to see that Dastardly, despite how much he disliked Muttley in the older cartoons, still cares about him to a certain extent. 

---

Pfff, Fred’s a poor man’s Hemsworth XD

---

Sweet, we’re in ‘Journey to the Center of the Earth’ now!

---

Um

O W W W

You guys really had to do the ‘me or them’ thing with Shaggy and Scooby… and tHeN hAvE sCoObY cHoOsE tHe FaLcONs?!? Just because they said he was important as “the key” and gave him a spandex costume.

Over at least 7 years of friendship. 

Booooooooooooo

---

actually no I’m Not Done Yet

This whole scene is a mess.

Like

Shaggy’s turn was really dang fast… but I can still see how he gets to it. It’s at least a day between Scooby being chosen as a pseudo-sidekick and the island arrival, during which Shaggy’s talk with the main adult (who has taken up the mantle of his favorite superhero) essentially confirms his feelings of worthlessness and leaves him to stew for HOURS on end (on top of another adult, Dastardly, who also calls him “not even REMOTELY important” at the carnival before freaKING SHOOTING HIM THROUGH THE CEILING NO I AM NOT OVER THIS). Tie that to a teenager who also believes his only friends have come to think he’s meaningless baggage, and suddenly his entire support system is vanishing underneath him to one of his former idols without ANY sign of hesitation from Scooby’s part (with the exception of the collar scene, but I don’t think that that means the same to Scooby, given how quickly he bounces back)

Scooby tho… hrm. It could be that he’s clinging to the good feelings Brian Falcon inspires in him (by choosing him as the next possible Dynomutt), as a way to overpower how FD&V hurt him, while also building on how he came to love the duo because SHAGGY loved them so much. But the movie doesn’t frame that up… at all?? At least compared to Shaggy. 

Idk, maybe I’m missing something, but this scene is a mess through and through

Boooooo

----

Scooby: *tries to leap into Brian Falcon’s arms like he did with Shaggy but falls*

Brian: Uh, what are you doing?

Scooby: Rhaggy never missed. 

Damn straight he didn’t

---

oh hey, it’s Captain Caveman

I was wondering when we’d see him.

---

AAAUUGGHH

It’s that blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene from the trailers I sobbed over - the one with Shaggy holding Scooby’s collar

Fun fact it actuALLY FADES INTO THE FLASHBACK

THAT WAS NOT A TRAILER THING THAT’S ACTUALLY HERE IN THE MOVIE

OW

---

Oh No

Fred is here, alone, after that whole scene with Dastardly saying he had a use for Fred

...while that’s likely Dastardly in a Fred suit (that sounds creepy just typing it), I’m still going to enjoy this brief but absolutely lovely hug Shaggy and Fred share...

(seriously tho, look at this, it’s a genuinely close, squish-your-lungs-out kind of hug, I love it)

...as well as Shaggy, who's still hurt from his fight with Scooby, immediately gearing up to go help him after hearing Dastardly’s trying to kidnap him.

----

Brian Falcon and Scooby Doo now have to take on Captain Caveman in gladiatorial combat in order to claim the final skull of Cerberus

I love cartoons sometimes

----

Captain Caveman just put the smackdown on Brian Falcon and punched him into the ground up to his CHEST

Then smacked him so far into a wall he cracked the stone around him!

GodDAMN is this satisfying 😆 altho minor question here: how did he gain the rank of Captain? Do cavepeople have a naval force?

---

He just whirled Scooby around his head, then spun him so fast his costume broke off

I may have to look into some Captain Caveman stuff now, that’s fantastic

---

Shaggy and Fred - sorry, “Fred” -  just smashed through to the colosseum in the Mystery Machine

And Dynomutt just fired missiles at Captain Caveman to smash him into an Amigara-shaped hole of himself

I REALLY love cartoons sometimes

---

Oh No

Just as Shaggy starts trying to apologize, “Fred” kicks him in the back, rips off his disguise to normal Dastardly self, and kidnaps Scooby atop the skull, before revealing he destroyed the Falcon Fury jet

New tagline for this movie? Shaggy Rogers and the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day

...at least the rest of the gang is back together?

---

Brian Falcon: *Immediately tries to blame Shaggy for inadvertently leading Dastardly to them, while storming up to get in his face*

Fred: *upon realizing BrianF is blaming Shaggy for everything, without a SINGLE moment’s hesitation, immediately leaps in to defend Shaggy and physically push back Brian Falcon several feet*

We stan one Himbo, theydies and gentlethem

Also?

Velma (sneering): What kind of hero blames other people for his problems? *Walks over to comfort Shaggy with Daphne, while Shaggy looks dumbfounded they’re defending him bc he also blames himself for Scooby’s kidnapping*

This. This right here, is the kind of Mystery gang content I wanna see.

I don’t care how the rest of this movie goes now, this scene right here is ambrosia to the Scooby fan’s soul, and therefore makes this entire movie worth it, outdated memes, lingo, and all

---

Cackling rn - Fred and Brian Falcon are in a point-off a la the Spiderman meme 😂

or, more specifically, the post-credits sequence of Spiderverse where they’re arguing about who started pointing first

It gets better when Velma and Daphne try to pull each other off of their pushing fight, and Velma grumbles “Toxic Masculinity” I’m crying

---

WOAH

More super Shaggy stuff here (apart from being flung through a building roof without a scratch) - he pushes apart both groups effortless, and even knocks them back several feet

If we estimate Dynomutt as… we’ll say 450 since he’s made of metal, Falcon at 220, Dee Dee at 160, that’s about 830 lbs on one side

Then Fred, Daphne and Velma on the other (hmm, 180, 150, 130?) would be around 460 lbs

Dang boi

---

Oh honey no, it’s not your fault

But dang if he didn’t get a good message from it, one I’ve done my best to transcribe here:

“I was afraid that... things were gonna change. And they did change. But like, that’s okay! People can grow. But it doesn’t mean that we’re growing apart. Because the one thing that will never change is that Scooby Doo is my best friend! Ten years ago, a little boy made a promise to a stray puppy that he’d never leave him no matter what. And I’m gonna keep that promise! Now it’s time we stopped that mustachioed menace from opening the gates to the {underworld} and letting loose that fearsome {Cerberus}. So what do you say we get out {of here}, and go get my always-snacking, never-lacking, often-napping dog back? Who’s with me?”

Honestly not a bad message for kids. Things will change, people will change, but that doesn’t mean you have to stop being friends. (Obvs real life exceptions apply, but that’s not a bad note honestly)

...shame that that conclusion comes right the FUCK outta nowhere

Like

How, exactly, did he come to this conclusion? WHEN? What inspired him to realize this, what was the impetus for this specific line of thought, that it’s okay for friends to change?

It kinda feels like this should have been either the happy ending speech given after they’ve saved the world, or one at the start of the third act, like if Shaggy arrives when Scooby thinks he’s chased him away and ruined everything, and Shaggy & the gang still save him. And Scooby asks him why he did that - when Scooby tried to change himself to fit what Brian Falcon wanted, instead of treasuring the friend he still had, or maybe why Shaggy reacted the way he did. THEN Shaggy gives the speech we hear, a la:

“I yelled at you because… like, because I was scared. I was scared that... things were gonna change. And they did change. But like, that’s okay! People can grow. But it doesn’t mean that we’re growing apart. Because the one thing that will never change is that YOU’RE my best friend! Ten years ago, a little boy made a promise to a stray puppy that he’d never leave him no matter what. And I mean to keep it!” 

At least that would make a little more sense to me. Again, not a bad speech, but a little rearranging would help to really hit home. 

---

Okay, now we’re back with Dastardly in Greece, and suddenly the background people all look MILES better than the ones at the start of the movie. Did they just forget to polish the first two minutes of film, what the heck?

Also, Dastardly’s ship is literally the entire length of the Greek ruins presented o_O

---

HOLY SHIT THE SKULLS TURNED BACK TIME AND MADE THE RUINS INTO AN ENTIRELY RESTORED PALACE WITH THE GATES OF THE UNDERWORLD BEFORE THEM

They’re also colored a very atmospheric neon arrangement that’s surprisingly quite tasteful ^.^

----

The Mystery Machine can fly now!!! eeheeheeeheeheeheeheeee

----

And so we finally see Cerberus, a massive, towering figure with sharp teeth and pffffffhahahhahaa why are all three heads wearing Spartan helmets

To its credit, they’re also wearing basic body armor, wrist guards, tail spikes, etc, but the helmets are killing me 🤣 who thought to stick that onto the dog? Did Hades forget to remove the armor after winning the Gods’ Pet Costume Contest, or was it like that horse in the ATV costume - it felt safer so it didn’t let anyone take it off?

Or was this a precaution against Herakles coming back? These are questions - hilarious, hilarious questions 😁

---

Awww. Scooby immediately runs to the battered Mystery Machine to rip the doors open for the gang!

And… wait. THIS is where that wonderful hug was in the trailers? I thought that was at the end of the movie when everyone was safe!

This now does not bode well. But we’ll worry about that later. Time to enjoy this gorgeous wonderful hug of the entire gang, and Shag and Scoob apologizing to each other for fighting 🥰

Yet another scene to make the rest of this movie worth the rest

(halfway wanna frame this shit and put it on the wall, it’s that lovely)

----

Fantastic! Dastardly is now in Hell, where I’ve been wishing him this entire movie! :D

And dang… he actually apologizes to what he believes is a dead Muttley. Who is, naturally, snickering at all of this. The two bicker predictably, but eventually hug and make up, too happy to see each other to resort to old habits. Honestly a nice little scene, all-in-all. 

---

Back to the gang and they’re doing the glowy eyes in the dark bit! I actually haven’t seen that in a Scooby movie forever, it’s neat.

Also Fred is now going full Liam Neeson over his van, war paint and all, using the tire cover as a shield and… holy shit. 

HOLY SHIT

THE ASCOT IS BAAAnnnnnd it’s gone. Boy, that was… short. 

Fred just ran full-tilt at Cerberus, screaming like a mad man, before getting flicked away by its big toe, and losing the ascot and makeshift shield. It punched so hard his facepaint came off

It was fun while it lasted y’all

---

Heyyy, Shag and Scoob just came up with the plan, and it’s actually solid! I’m so proud, and so is the rest of the gang! Also willingly going to distract Cerberus while the rest figure out how to close the gate and stuff Cerberus back in

I love my boys 😊

---

Annnnd there goes Brian Falcon like the coward he is

To… call his dad? And admit he isn’t a hero.

Only for Dynomutt to point out Shaggy and Scooby are taking him on and are terrified. 

This then cuts to Shaggy and Scooby running around in a chariot and gladiator wear, running back and forth a la the door gag from Cerberus to the OG SDWAY theme

I think I love this movie

(although they’re hinting at Dynomutt being resentful of OG Blue Falcon essentially abandoning him to his incompetent son, and I really wish it had been touched upon more

that’s actually rather heartbreaking, when you stop to think about it, and there’s a lot that could be done with an additional two minutes of screentime) 

---

Huh, another good message for kids: it’s okay to fail and be scared, so long as you keep going and try to do what’s right.

Two good messages for kids in one movie. Not too shabby, on the whole. 

---

Brian Falcon just flew in and punched the three-headed dog, then jumped into its mouth as it tried to eat Scooby, resisted the MASSIVE JAW STRENGTH, and got them out of there safe and sound

Finally, something heroic!

-- 

I was wondering where Dastardly and Muttley got off to - apparently they’re off to take a money bath.

Aight

---

Shag and Scoob have now convinced the Rotten Robots to turn into bowling balls to knock Cerberus off their feet a la the classic marbles pratfall back into the underworld

That is a sentence I just wrote

----

OH FCUK NO

NO

ABSOLUTELY NOT NO

YOU ARE TELLING US THAT AFTER ALL OF THIS - ALL OF THIS - ONE OF THEM HAS TO STAY IN THE UNDERWORLD TO LOCK THE GATE

THAT OCTOBER LEAKER WAS RIGHT WHAT THE HELL

LITERALLY SO

I mean i know its a kids film specifically Scooby Doo so happy ending but what the literal FUCK

---

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGHHH

SHAGGY NOOOO

“Buddy, back when we were kids, you saved me. Now, it’s my turn.”

and he dOES THIS WHILE HOLDING SCOOBY’S HEAD TENDERLY IN HIS HANDS

AND WHEN EVERYTHING REVERTS IT’S JUST RUBBLE AND RUIN AND SCOOBY’S LEFT SOBBING OPENLY AT NOTHING

AND THE GANG ALL COME TO CLING AT HIM AND CRY OVER THEIR FRIEND WHO THOUGHT HE WAS WORTHLESS MOST OF THE MOVIE AND THOUGH THAT THE GANG THOUGHT THE SAME ABOUT HIM

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH

---

WELP, TIME TO COPE WITH INAPPROPRIATE HUMOR

Shaggy: I yelled at my dog, got him kidnapped, and ended up helping the bad guy to open the gates to Hell. Guess I’ll die. 

Dee Dee: Well actually, this is more Dastardly’s fault because -

Shaggy, yelling as he slams his hand against the lock: GUESS I’LL DIE!!!

----

Ah, so the writers wrote themselves into a corner, and the only way out was a Deus Ex Machina (at least, I think I’m using that term correctly…) 

Because to get Shaggy back, a giant statue of Alexander the Great and Peritas appears out of nowhere - literally, since it definitely wasn’t there before - with an inscription Scooby has to read to get Shaggy back.

This would have been a lot more effective if we’d seen it when Dastardly arrived in Greece - maybe even as the marker for where the gate to the Underworld was. Have Alexander facing one way, and Peritas facing the other. You open the gate on Alexander’s side, and come home on Peritas’ side. Having this unfold into the gate gives it more purpose than “magically appears right the fcuk outta nowehere” and you could have a pun with the “backdoor” escape. Everybody wins!

And if that’s too good for ya, how about a brief lingering shot by it at some point as Dastardly flies into Greece, behind where the gate materializes, or directly across from it on the plaza? Maybe have one of the gang kick it after Shaggy leaves, and say ‘This is all your fault! Why would you make something like this?’

It’d still be a magical contrivance, but at least it would make some fcuking SENSE.

(Granted it DID lead to this hilariously ominous shot, so maybe I shouldn’t complain:)

---

Velma: I finally figured out what you guys are! You’re the heart of Mystery Inc.

Me: YEAH BABY! *flips over table* I’VE BEEN SAYING THAT SHIT FOR YEARS AND NOW, I’M FCUKING VALIDATED AT LAAAAAAAAST!

----

Shaggy: *rips off Dastardly’s face to reveal…*

ALL: SIMON COWELL??!?

Me, choking on food: I’m sorry WHAT?!?!?

Velma: *takes off mask again to reveal*

ALL: DICK DASTARDLY?!?

Dastardly: Drat! No one ever goes for the double unmasking. 

So I was right all along - Simon Cowell truly was a Dick this entire time.

-----

And so we close on the gang unveiling a Mystery Machine paint job on their official detective agency building, Brian Falcon living the good life as the DJ at their party, the Falcon team gifting a sleek new Mystery Machine to the gang (which honestly looks pretty unique - it’s not the classic, but it is something new that isn’t awful, so kudos there), and the gang on their way to another mystery.

So, at the end of the day is this a good Scooby movie? 

Meh? *waves hand in meh motion* But it definitely had its moments. 

This Scooby film is flawed as heck, no doubt about it - the plot has a MAJOR problem with telling instead of showing, some parts feeling out of order or WAY too short, and of course the deus ex machina ending. I honestly would have loved some more time for their first mystery as kids, where we actually got more character moments/bonding from Fred, Daphne, and Velma as they solved it the more traditional route, as well as not framing FD&V as super duper mystery solvers right off the bat??? 

The stuff with Blue Falcon isn’t AWFUL, per se, but it is ridiculously satisfying to see him get smacked around. Captain Caveman was honestly one of the funniest bits in the movie, same with Dynomutt. 

As far as the character stuff? It all felt fairly natural, progression-wise. Shag and Scoob don’t have this big break-up with the gang - they’re hurt by the literal Dickhead’s comments the gang don’t speak up against, and go to blow off some steam together. Shag and Scoob don’t have this giant blow-up argument - it builds over the film into a hurt spat they both recognize they overreacted to almost immediately. The gang (FDV) go looking for them almost as soon as they leave, and, upon hearing they’re in danger, turn and head towards them to save them, realizing how important the two are to Mystery Inc along the way. They defend each other, help each other, have some of the Best Dang Animated Mystery Inc hugs I ever did see - THIS feels more like the Gang I’ve been waiting for forever to come back to DTV (and in a rough sense, did). While I do wish we’d gotten more screen time of FD&V, what we got wasn’t too bad. 

Weirdly enough, at the end of the day, I’ve actually grown more accustomed to Forte’s Shaggy - it feels like it fits this different style a touch more than I originally thought, and holy hell if I didn’t come close to tears at that ending gate scene, he knocked that one out of the park.  Velma still doesn’t feel much like Velma, but I did get used to it by the end. I kept cracking up at Efron’s Fred, and no complaints on Seyfried’s Daphne.

Jason Isaacs as Dick Dastardly absolutely killed it. Blue Falcon Crew was okay (excepting Mark “The Racist” Wahlburg - it was just him talking, no real effort. You could recognize Wahlburg right off the bat, acting as a goofy douche) and freaking Captain Caveman was awesome. Apparently they combined both Billy West and Don Messick’s recordings for Muttley (awesome!!!), so this may very well be Don Messick’s final role in a Scooby Doo film. 

It got off to a rough start, but ended well enough. The animation was solid, the writing has some unexpectedly clever and funny moments sprinkled throughout, with some pretty fun action sequences on the side. Watching this, I really do believe that the people working on it love Scooby Doo and all things Hanna-Barbera… at least in their own way. 

I ended up buying this instead of just renting it ($5 more, why not) and I am honestly glad I did so. Despite its flaws, it has some great moments with the gang as friends, and I have been Craving That Shit for DECADES

And if these writers/directors ever did another Scooby film? I think I’d be up for giving them a chance - at least so long as we got some more absolutely BEAUTIFUL hugs with the gang

I hope you enjoyed this stream-of-consciousness reaction to SCOOB! (2020)... a whole ass year LATER, admittedly (I didn’t switch my Save Post to Queue, curse my hubris), but hopefully y’all’ve been entertained. Good night everybody!

[hockeyheadache]

Mistakes (know it all P.2): r.b.

A/N: Sorry for taking so long! It’s been a rough couple of weeks, but I’m finally getting some time to write, especially with spring break coming up. I’m definitely going to make a part three to this, but don’t hesitate to ask me anything. My ask box is open for suggestions and requests! Thanks for reading! -Daphne

Word count: 1049

Mistakes. Everyone makes them, right? ‘Pobody's Nerfect’ and all that shit. It’s easy to make them, not so easy to fix. Some are minimal, some just don’t have consequences. Some do, but never long-lasting. And some, like spilling your heart out to your best friend, hoping they reciprocate at least a bit of your love, is forever. 

Now you know, deep down, that what you did was not a mistake, because after you said those three words, your shoulders relaxed. You could take a breath of fresh air. Everything was lighter. 

Life could be easier.

Could be.

…

“Hey, Ricky!” you exclaim, “Can I talk to you for a sec?” You’d been working up the courage to tell him about your feelings for a while, and after seeing him sing during rehearsal for the new musical, you knew now was the time.

“Yeah for sure Y/N, what’s up? Need a ride home?” he replied.

“Nah I’m good for today, my mom is picking me up. I actually wanted to talk about something. It’s been on my mind for a while now.”

“Oh no, you’re not breaking up with me are you?” Ricky feigned pain, “I’m wounded Y/N.”

“Nothing like that Rick. Quite the opposite actually.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. I mean, I know that we’ve been best friends for a long time, and this might sound crazy but I need to tell you this. I know that if I don’t then I might explode sometime soon, and honestly, that wouldn’t be pretty, but I- god I just. Goddamn, this is hard. But I need to tell you this. You need to know and I-”

“Y/N?”

“I’m in love with you.” you breathe out, and Ricky tensed, “Wow! That felt good. I love you, Ricky Bowen. Like I love you, love you. Like, you make my heart flutter when you laugh, and my life gets brighter when you walk into a room, love you. Like, you make me feel good, you make me feel right love you. I love you.”

“Y/N,” Ricky begins with a frown on his face, but you don’t notice, your incessant babbling getting in the way of his voice.

“And I feel like you love me too, right? It’s just, I look at you, and you look at me, and it feels like we’re on the same page, and that we both just know, you know? And we’re both too scared to admit anything and then someone finds out and we kiss, and- you know what, it’s just basically any best friends to lovers type thing. Reciprocation and all that. God that fucking felt good.” 

It wasn’t until now that you really took a look at Ricky, and you immediately notice how he’s farther away from you. He looks uncomfortable. Like he doesn’t feel- oh.

“Listen, Y/N, it’s not that I don’t love you, it’s just that Nini and I-”

“No, it’s okay, I mean why would I expect anything different, right? It’s always going to be Nini. I’m always second best to her,” you feel tears well up, and the urge to cry is so strong, but you push it down, afraid to be weak at the moment.

“That’s not- w-what? You’re not second best, w-why would you think that? It’s always been you and me, Ricky and Y/N.”

 “But it hasn't, don't you see?! You've always been in l-love with Nini, and I've always stood by watching you two be so in l-love it hurts. And I know you try with her, b-but she doesn't deserve you. She pushes you away every chance she gets,  and when things get too hard she runs, but I'm not like that Ricky, y-you know that. I've always been there for you but you never notice. You're too busy looking at her, and waiting for her and, l-loving her when I'm right here.”

By now, tears are streaming down your face, and honestly, you didn’t give a fuck. You were upset and just so frustrated that Ricky couldn’t see you. He would constantly defend Nini, which, in the moment seemed cute, but you end up realizing that she would never defend him. It was always one-sided, and of course, he never saw it. But you did. ‘Little Miss Know It All’ sees everything.

So you don’t let Ricky respond with some more bullshit about how Nini loves him, and how it just ‘takes time.’ Instead, you storm out of the room, leaving Ricky behind to contemplate what he had just done.

…

Ricky was stressed. He was confused, shocked, angry, and just overall stressed. He didn’t understand how he never saw the little glances you stole, how when you look at him, you look at him with love.

He guesses it’s because he always thought that the love came from friendship. A friendship that had been years in the making. A friendship, that he thought, was just a friendship.

And I mean, sure, you guys would hold hands sometimes, and sure, you would end up cuddling when movie night came round, and yes, you were the one he would go to when he needed a shoulder to cry on when his parents were fighting, but he doesn’t see how you could-.

Oh.

He sees it now. 

He sees how those moments, the ones where it’s just the two of you, could be interpreted as more than platonic. He sees how those looks could be seen as love. And they are. Ricky has always loved you, but not in the way you wanted. And he sees that. 

And he also sees what he’s done to you. How, after he and Nini started dating, he basically pushed you aside. He would come to your house, and spend the whole time texting Nini. That conversations would always end up in him talking about, you guessed it, Nini. 

He neglected you. You would come to school tired, or with unshed tears, and he knows it’s the cause of home problems, but he never asks. He figured that you didn’t want to talk about it because he never did.  Stupid, he thinks to himself, I’m the biggest fucking idiotic, dumbass bitch there is. 

Mistakes. Everyone makes them, right? Ricky Bowen thinks just made the biggest one of his life.

[tsarinastorm]

Stare Blankly-Adam Sackler/Reader-Chapter 3

*This is the first part of a two part series, So We Beat On 

Chapter 1           Chapter 2

          You finished setting out the wine and snacks, and were pulling up your streaming services on your television. You were having your first real girls’ night since moving to the city, and it was your first time hosting your new friend, Marnie. You met Marnie and Elijah at the same, boring networking event for young women, and bonded over the wine bar. The three of you started chatting about how lame the event was, but at least there was free wine. You became fast friends and grabbed lunch. You were missing your friends from back home so when Marnie mentioned a girls’ night, you thought it was a great idea. Marnie was bringing the nail polish, and face masks, and you supplied the apartment and snacks.

               You had a small one-bedroom apartment in Tudor, and you couldn’t wait to move somewhere else. Your library hardly fit in this apartment and you weren’t ready to give up any part of the collection.  The books, broad in topics, helped you win a few episodes of Jeopardy, enough to pay off your law school debt, and it gave you a chance to focus on writing instead of practicing law. You had written a modern Shakespeare series, some historical fiction and another novel which was released last year, and became a best seller. You freelanced on the side to keep things interesting and to be able to afford living in New York City.

               You were sitting cross-legged on your couch with a glass of wine in your hand and some kind of specialty mask on your face. Marnie was sitting next to you, posed in a similar fashion but with a cucumber mask on. You had some cheesy romantic comedy on but were too busy talking to pay attention. She recounted the breakdown of her marriage and music partnership with Desi, and talked about helping Hannah raise her baby upstate. She said she moved back to the city because upstate just felt suffocating to her. You tell her you understood, you had moved to the city because you wanted more.

“Y/N, you’re a writer, right?”

“Yes I am, are you in need of writing services? Isn’t one of your friend, Hannah, a writer too?”

“Hannah is a writer but she couldn’t help me. I need to work on song lyrics, and I’d like some help. You’re such a great writer maybe you could help me tweak some stuff.”

“Sure, no problem. I know nothing about music so that’s my disclaimer if it’s terrible.”

“I can appreciate any help I could get. It’s so hard to work on music while I have to look for a normal 9 to 5 job too. Working at the coffee shop just isn’t cutting it and it sucks to see Ray every day.” You had heard her talk about her past with Ray, and you couldn’t blame her for not wanting to see him all the time. You remembered that she had an art degree and you had some connections to galleries in the city.

“Wait, don’t you have a degree in art or curatorship? I have a friend who manages artists and is getting ready to open a new gallery featuring his artist’s work. He’s also a professor at Columbia so he always needs some help.”

“That would be great, that’s originally what I wanted to do. Do you think you could get me an interview, or send him my resume?”

“I’ll see what I can do.” You really don’t want to speak to Marc again, but if Marnie needed a job, you could suffer through a conversation. You and Marc had a unique relationship, with ups and downs, and it was currently over. You weren’t prepared for what talking to him again may entail.

               The café was cute, artsy, and seemed to have a variety of drinks and foods catered to hipsters. It almost makes you laugh, but you see your crew motioning for you. You go to the table where you see Marnie, Elijah, a girl with short mousey hair, a cute baby, and another girl with dark hair. You sit down and you can feel the two girls you don’t know watching you curiously. Marnie starts the introductions.

“Y/N, these are my friends, Hannah and Shoshanna. And Hannah’s baby, Grover.”

“It’s nice to meet you guys, I’ve heard so much about you both. And this must be Grover, I’ve heard all about him too. He is adorable.” You say as you watch the baby who’s struggling with his sippy cup. You quickly find out that Hannah has recently moved back to the city, lives on Long Island, and works as an editor now. Hannah also adds that she is single and open to relationships, even potentially getting back with an ex because she thinks she needs closure. Yikes you think, getting back with an ex almost never works well. Elijah is busy entertaining baby Grover and chimes into the conversation every now and then. But you and Hannah are able to have a good discussion about writing and the struggles of being a female writer. Shosh talks about her fiancé, how perfect he is, how she wants to go back to Japan, and about how stressful planning a wedding is. You decently like Hannah and Shosh, but you didn’t know how close you’d be with them, you just had different lives. Everyone at your table then turns to look at some blonde with a British accent coming towards the table.

“Who invited her?” Elijah says icily. Shoshanna answers saying, “I mentioned this to her but she was not invited.” The blonde takes a seat at the table and she introduces herself to you.

“I’m Jessa, their other friend, the bad friend, the one who steals boyfriends.” She says and you watch to see if she’s joking but you’re alarmed when you realize that she is not. You introduce yourself to her, and you can feel that the resentment at the table is practically sizzling.

“Jessa, are you and Adam still fucking or whatever your thing was?” Hannah asks with an edgy tone. You immediately pick up that there’s some drama there, specifically between Hannah and Jessa. Your instinct appears correct because everyone else looks tense as they watch the exchange. Jessa just smiles as she answers, “No, we’re just friends now, but I still talk to him. I hope we can all be friends again now that I’m not with him anymore. Are the rest of you satisfied now?”

“That doesn’t make it any better that you stole her boyfriend.” Elijah snaps at her and rolls his eyes. Marnie and Shosh just watch her, and choose not to respond to her. Jessa turns to Hannah, and says, “Can we talk somewhere?”

“There’s not much to talk about but alright.” Hannah quickly packs up Grover’s things and rushes to leave, she’s obviously frazzled and wants to get that conversation over with. Hannah tells you that it was nice meeting you, gives you a quick hug then is gone. Jessa tells you the same thing, but doesn’t hug you, and it feels like brunch is ruined. That Jessa came in like a hurricane, then left. You must look shocked, because Marnie starts laughing nervously before she explains, “Welcome to the disaster that is our friendship. Adam is Hannah’s ex, then Jessa dated him for a while, it’s a testy subject as you can see. No one wanted Jessa here, and apparently even Adam is sick of her.”

Shosh and Elijah both shake their heads in agreement with Marnie. The remaining four of you continue chatting for an hour or so. You decide that you don’t particularly like Jessa simply because of her history, but to you she seemed decent. You’d keep her at a distance though.  Shoshanna was super sweet, a bit chatty, but well-intentioned, you thought you could be friends with her. You thought Hannah was a bit self-absorbed but good company, and you had a lot in common. Marnie promised to fill you in on the friendship drama later.

“I have a job interview with Marc this week, thank you so much for sending him my info.” Marnie says as she hugs you.

“I hope it all works out, it was really no problem.”

“I have a gig this weekend, you should definitely come, I’ll be performing a new song!”

“Alright, send me the details,” you say as you’re trying to decide if you’re excited or not. You’re excited to support your friend, but will her other friends be there? You weren’t sure if you were interested in their group drama, you had enough of your own issues going on.

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

               Adam walks into the bar, and looks around. It’s definitely not a place he’d normally venture into on his own. He was here for Marnie’s singing gig, he never particularly liked Marnie but Ray encouraged him to show up. Ray was Adam’s only friend, if he could even call him a friend. Jessa claims she’s his friend now, but she’s not. He’s the one who broke up with her, and she was desperate to stay in his life so she convinced him to be friends, but he knows she’s hoping to make it more than friends again. He looks up at the upper level of the bar, and he sees one of the most beautiful girls he’s ever seen.

               She’s standing up there perched against a high table, but she’s clearly enjoying her view over the whole bar. She’s wearing a beige crop top and black skinny jeans, Adam thinks she somehow looks both confident and vulnerable. He makes up his mind that he’s going to talk to her. When he makes to the edge of her table, he asks, “May I join you?”

               “Sure.” She nods and looks at him, and continues, “This is the perfect spot for people watching.”

               “Definitely, do you see that guy down there in the blue shirt, he looks the typical hipster, he probably complains about being ‘friend-zoned.’”

               “That girl there is probably coming off a bad break up and is looking for a rebound. She’s trying to figure out how to look fun but not too desperate.” She laughs, and then her phone buzzes and she says, “I’ve got to go meet my friends but it was nice talking to you, I’m Y/N.”

               She reaches out her hand and he takes it introducing himself, “I’m Adam, I hope I see you around.”

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

You go meet up with Shoshanna, and Hannah. Marnie’s getting ready to go on stage, so the three of you stand off to the side of the platform and wait for her to come out. Shosh and Hannah are talking about how Marnie must be nervous before going on stage, and then you hear Shosh say that she doesn’t even know why Jessa showed up. You think that’s great, let’s bring the drama train back.  Speaking of drama involving someone named Adam makes you think of the Adam you just met. You figure that you’ll see him at some point tonight, this place is only so big. You’re thinking about his perfect imperfect smile when you see him walking your way. He comes up and stands besides Hannah and they talk as you realize that he must the Adam that she and Jessa have the rift over. Hannah then turns to you, and goes to introduce you to Adam, but you stop her saying, “Oh this is the Adam? I just ran into him a couple of minutes ago.”

“Yeah, we talked for a few minutes. How do you two know each other?” Adam asks as he motions his hands towards you and Hannah, you can see the moment it clicks in his head that you must be friends or acquaintances with Hannah. Hannah answers for you telling him “She’s our new friend. We just met her the other day. Did you know that she’s a writer like me?”

“No, we didn’t have time to talk about that,” he says sheepishly. You try to diffuse the situation by asking Adam what he does, he tells you that he’s an actor.  He asks you where you’re from and he responds to your answer by joking that your home might be the only place worse than Indiana. You surprisingly don’t disagree.

“What have you been working on? Every actor I’ve met is like every writer I’ve met: they have projects.” You say coolly, leaning in so he can hear your question over the music. He laughs as he answers your question, “I did a production of Hamlet, and just finished a Death of A Salesman at Minetta Lane. I have some other auditions and projects coming up.”

You recognize him from the production of Hamlet you went to a few months ago, that’s why he looked familiar. Hannah and Shosh has backed away slightly from you, as if to give you privacy to talk. Adam as steps closer to you as you inadvertently take a step towards him too.  You definitely found Adam hot, and you were impressed by his work. You’d seen Hamlet and read the rave reviews for his part in Death of a Salesman. It was the first time in a long time that you felt nervous around someone. It was a good nervous, but still it was making you more self-conscious than you’d like.  You tried to ignore his past with new friends because you could tell that could be a stressful nightmare, but you really wanted to get to know him better. Adam seemed to be smart, non-traditional and interesting. You thought that a compliment was a safe way to start a conversation, or it is with ninety-nine percent of the population.

You take a long sip of your drink and lean in closer to him so he can hear you, “I saw the production of Hamlet, and you were really great. One of the best performances of Hamlet I’ve ever seen.”

“Thanks, I appreciate the compliment. It means a lot, you said you’re a writer so you know about the arts. I’m a fan of your work too, your book was one of the best books I’ve read this decade. ”

“I appreciate art, but my perspective is different from yours because I’m not an actor. Isn’t that the great thing about art though: it means different things to different people, but it’s also universal?”

“I agree, it’s supposed to make people feel something, that’s why I don’t do mainstream stuff. It tends to be shallow.”

“I like modern interpretations of Shakespeare like your Hamlet. It’s timeless and universal.”

“I’ve never understood the allure of Shakespeare, he’s overrated and pretentious.” He states like it’s a known fact. You have to watch his reaction to see if he’s joking with you, but you see he’s being dead serious. And things were going so well until he dropped that bombshell opinion.

“He’s the greatest writer of all time. And what writer isn’t pretentious? Most of them are pretentious by default because through most of history a majority of the population couldn’t read or write so writers always represented the upper classes.”

“Okay I’ll admit that Shakespeare is good, he’s made a lasting impact or whatever. But he took works from others, and anytime you have to have a modern interpretation to understand the point, the writing probably isn’t as good as you thought.”

“He wasn’t pretentious in his time. When he wrote it, the people understood it. English has drastically changed in 500 years. He appeals because he used universal themes and timeless human emotions.” You can feel your anger rising, but you can’t help it. He’s was so stubborn, and resolute in his convictions.

“I still disagree. There are thousands of writers who do the same thing and don’t get the credit. But Shakespeare is untouchable because a lot of elitist academics think he is.”

“And the whole world should listen to you. Am I supposed to believe that all of the scholars who study Shakespeare and literature are wrong and you alone are the only one who is right? Who sounds pretentious now?”

“You’re sounding like an elitist. I’m curious, who’s your favorite author?”

“Okay I’ll play along, Dostoevsky or Fitzgerald.”

“That’s my point exactly.”

“Do you think Dostoevsky is pretentious too? He did not go through exile in Siberia to be insulted by some yuppie actor in modern day New York.”

“Did you seriously call me a yuppie?”

“I did.” You say as you raise your eyebrows and take an exaggerated drink from your cup. It added a dramatic flair to your comment, and you felt like you needed a drink with the way this conversation was going. Apparently your yuppie comment struck a nerve because Adam’s voice deepened when he responded, and his new tone was accusatory.

“I know what your problem is. You’re so used to being the smartest person in the room that you can’t fucking handle it when someone is just as smart as you. Because you feel that way, you assume you’re always right and you refuse to let anything go.” You can’t tell what makes you madder: his tone, or the fact he presumes to know everything about you, when he doesn’t. The nerve of him! You’re going to get him back from that comment, so you try to give him a low blow too.

“And I know what your problem is. You’re so used to playing the ‘starving’ artist, waxing poetically. Oh you poor tormented soul! You use it to excuse yourself from real responsibility and you think it makes you different, but really you’re just like everybody else.” You point your finger to emphasize your last point. You can’t tell if that was the worst conversation you’ve ever had, or one of the best conversations you’ve had in a long time.  You were somehow both infuriated by him and intrigued. You were a lawyer after all, maybe that’s why you weren’t totally put off by the argument, and a part of you actually liked it.

You become suddenly aware of how close you’re standing to him, you can count all of his freckles and can practically feel his breath. Assuming that he would move back, you stood your ground, but he remained still as his honey irises bored into yours. This was too much, you thought to yourself and willed yourself away. You grab your drink off the table and turn to leave. Adam looks like he’s going to say something, but instead he keeps a smug look on his face as you watches you walk away.

You then walk off to go congratulate Marnie on her great performance, even though you have be too distracted to listen to most of it. You presumed Adam would still be around after you’ve congratulated Marnie, and you’d have a chance to finish your chat. But when you got back to where you last saw Adam, he wasn’t there. You scanned the bar for him, and he was nowhere to be seen. You guessed you wouldn’t get to finish that talk.

[k-llama-llama]

Heartbeat P.1

BTS AU: 7th member

Sumi x BTS

A BTS AU based around their 'Heartbeat' MV

A/N: It’s just short so i apologize…but i hope you enjoy!

Requests are CLOSED! But your feedback is still very important.

Masterlist and other Follow Me links in bio!

Sumi hated her job.

Sadly that didn't mean that she had the option to quit. But sometimes, when faced with customers like this one, she seriously considered what would happen if she just tipped the milkshake over his head and walked out the door.

"I wanted chocolate. Are you an idiot? Why can't you remember that, huh?" The man was gesturing angrily. Sumi stood silently behind the counter, deciding to let him get it out of his system before she said anything. When it seemed like he was done. She decided to speak.

"That's my mistake, sir. If you just wait a moment, I'll make you another one. And it's on the house."

"It better be." He returned to his booth with a glare.

Sumi made the milkshake as fast as possible, taking extra care with the placement of the cherry, and then stepped out from behind the counter to bring him his milkshake.

"Here you are, sir. I'm so sorry for the mixup."

He took it, taking a long sip and seeming satisfied with the strawberry flavouring.

Sensing that there was no thank you coming her way, Sumi just gave a polite bow and returned to her spot behind the counter.

Her job at the diner was supposed to be temporary. Just a way to make ends meet when she finished high school and started university, and then she could get a real job. Only, she'd flunked out of university in her first year, and now, three years later, she was still stuck at the diner.

The next three hours were uneventful. Just spent waiting tables, forcing a smile onto her face and wishing that she was anywhere else. At one point the cook screwed up a burger order, so Sumi was able to sneak in some lunch. If she was lucky, it would happen again at the end of the day, and she could take some home for dinner. It was a miracle that she was still slim, considering the amount of diner food she ate.

She prepared herself for the worst when she spotted the next group coming in.

The taekwondo academy was just down the street. Every day, a group of them would come in after class and get some milkshakes or food. On Thursdays, today, it was the group of older teens who would come in. They were the loudest, rudest, and frankly the messiest of Sumi's customers.

The took a seat at a corner booth, and Sumi steeled herself before walking up the table.

"What can I get for you boys?" She said with a smile on her face.

They all rattled off their usuals, with her jotting it down quickly and efficiently.

"What's good here?" A quiet voice asked.

She looked up, realizing for the first time that a new boy had come in with them. He looked a little on the timid side, especially when she focused her attention on him.

"The milkshakes are popular." She offered. "And I really like the onion rings."

He didn't meet her eyes. "Then I'll get onion rings. And a chocolate milkshake."

Sumi thanked them and left the table. She stopped briefly at the serving station only a few feet away to sort out some napkins.

"I thought you said the pretty waitress was working today." One of the regular boys was saying.

"She's not the pretty waitress?" The new boy questioned.

"God, no." One of them laughed. "Did you see her? She looks like some sort of goblin."

Sumi bit her lip and walked back to the kitchen to hand in their order. While it was waiting, she assembled cutlery sets, trying to keep her mind off the comments and ignoring the rowdy boys in the corner.

"Excuse me, miss?"

She looked up, surprised at the figure in front of her. He was tall, with a leather jacket and a serious look on his face. Her first thought was that this must be some sort of hold up, but he slid something across the counter and cleared things up.

"Detective?" She exclaimed. "Please, sit! Can I get you anything?"

"No, thank you." He took a seat at one of the counter stools. "I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions. Regarding a case."

"Me? Really?" She went back to her cutlery. "I don't see why not."

"Have you worked here long?" He pulled out a notepad.

"Three years." She answered.

"And your name, sorry?"

"Oh, sorry!" She mentally berated herself for her rudeness. "My name is Lee Sumi."

"Are you a student?"

She flushed. "No. I just work here."

He hummed, and thought there was no malice in it, Sumi couldn't help but feel judged. It seemed like that was the emotion of the day.

"Have you ever seen this man before?" He held up a picture of a man.

Sumi studied it for a second. "Yeah. He was in here this morning, complaining that I made the wrong milkshake. Is he a criminal or something?"

"Just a person of interest." He reassured.

"Alright then." Sumi noticed the cook trying to get her attention. "Give me one second."

She hurried to pick up the trays, delivering them to the boys. She carefully set the orders out, setting the right food and drink in front of each boy and not getting a single thank you in return.

Until she placed the final chocolate milkshake in front of the new boy.

"Thank you." He murmured.

She beamed. "You're welcome."

He blushed and looked away.

Sumi hurried back to the detective. "Sorry, sir! Ah, I didn't get your name."

"Kim Namjoon." He answered simply.

"Well, Detective Kim, are you sure you don't want a milkshake? I'm told I make the best."

"Sure, I-"

"FIGHT!" All of the boys went streaming out the door, dashing for something on the street.

"Fight?" Detective Kim took off after them.

Sumi could see a crowd forming outside, but she couldn't leave the restaurant. She glanced towards the vacated table, finding it piled with mess.

She sighed, picking up a bin and grabbing a cloth. She started piling plates and glasses into the bin. There was no money in sight, and she doubted those boys would be back.

"How did your mothers raise you?" She mumbled.

"Sorry!" Someone exclaimed loudly.

She jumped, dropping the bin with a scream.

"I'm sorry!"

She turned and found herself face to face with the new boy.

"It's fine." She tried to calm herself. "You just startled me."

"What happened?" He asked, looking at the messy table to avoid meeting her eyes.

"Your friends are just outside." She exclaimed.  "I think I saw that there was a fight."

He nodded, thinking for a moment before he started collecting plates.

Sumi gently took one out of his hand. "You don't need to. Go meet up with your friends."

"You shouldn't have to clean up our mess." He said shyly.

Sumi shrugged. "It's kinda my job."

"Did they pay you?" He suddenly exclaimed, reaching into the pocket of his school jacket. "I can-"

"Don't worry about it." She said honestly. "What's your name?"

"Ah," He awkwardly held out a hand. "Jeon Jungkook."

Sumi gestured to the bin she was holding, showing she couldn't shake hands. "I'm Sumi. And I'm serious kid, don't worry about it. Just go hang out with your friends."

He nodded. "I'm really sorry about the mess."

"It's okay." She nodded towards the door, and he left.  She turned back to her mess.

And then she heard him say, in the tiniest voice she'd ever heard. "Noona?"

She couldn't help but smile. "Yes?"

Jungkook twisted his jacket sleeve in his hand. "I think you're really pretty."

She flushed, but collected herself. She was the elder in this situation after all. "Thank you, Jungkook. Come back any time."

"Okay." He squeaked hurrying out of the restaurant.

She cleaned up the mess, ignoring the crowd as it dissipated outside. The diner was dead by now, so she started counting tips.

"Miss Lee? Is it alright if we come in?"

She looked up, spotting Detective Kim opening the door. She wasn't sure who we was, but she waved him forward.

He opened the door all the way, revealing two more men. One seemed to be supporting the other, and once they stepped inside Sumi could see that one of them was bleeding.

"Oh my gosh!" She exclaimed, hurrying out from behind the counter. "Take a seat! Can I get you a cloth or something."

"It's fine." The injured one snapped.

"I think he might need first aid." Detective Kim answered instead. "Do you have a first aid kid?"

"Yeah, just behind the cash."

He hurried over to find it, and Sumi helped get the injured man settled at a booth.

"Who did this to you?" She asked, looking at his split lip and bruised cheek.

"That jerk who stole my song." He glared at the ground.

"Stole your song?"

"It was mine. I wrote it. But he was using it in his stupid dance off without giving me credit." At this he glared at the other man who had helped him in.

The man in question help both hands up in surrender. "Look, I said I was sorry. But he wasn't even on my team. How was I supposed to know what music he would pick?"

Sumi sighed, resolving to stick out her hand. "I'm Sumi. And you are?"

"Hoseok." He shook her hand, a charming smile instantly falling over his face. "Jung Hoseok."

They both looked at the injured man.

He grunted. "Min Yoongi."

"It's nice to meet you both." Sumi stood and brushed off her apron, seeing Detective Kim hurrying over with the first aid kid. "Can I get you that milkshake now, Detective?"

He nodded, setting the kit on the table. "I'd love one. And you can call me Namjoon. I can't be that much older than you."

"I'm born in 1995." She answered simply, not bothering to ask their age. She was certain they were older. "And you boys?" She looked at the two newcomers. "What kind of milkshakes can I get you?"

"You're just going to give us food?" Yoongi asked in surprise.

She smirked. "I might hate this job with all my heart, but even I know that nothing makes a day better than a milkshake."

"Vanilla, please." Hoseok asked politely.

She smiled hopefully at Yoongi, who was swatting away the gauze held out by Namjoon.

Her smile seemed to break him, and he gave her the tiniest of smiles. "Strawberry, please."

She grinned. "Coming right up!"

[herocentral]

Possible Hero 6

Afternoon folks sorry for the late update but I’ve been a little busy with uni work but thankfully I’ve had time to update my story. I’ve recently seen the season 2 finale of BH6 the series and I must say its exceeded and all but touching finale just what it needs. Plus it works in conjunction with my future story idea inspired by Spider Man far from Home. Anyhoo heres chapter 3 of Possible Hero 6. 

Big hero 6 & Kim Possible (c) Disney,2020

Chapter 3:  Ninjas vs Flames.

“I take it your Drakken.?” Asked Yama. “Yes and you must be Mr.Yama.” Drakken replied whilst trying not to look intimidated. 

“Oh great I’m working with an overweight man in a track suit can my evil career get any lower.” Shego said to herself moaning. 

“Now straight to business.” Drakken said. “I have already acquired some of the components needed for our joint project.” 

“Good and your sure you can do what I require.” Yama said standing up. “Because the last person I trusted with an important item double crossed me and paralysed me with sushi!” He then said getting in Drakken’s face. 

“Well I assure you we won’t do such a thing, however we have had a little trouble from the local heroes.” Drakken then said.

“Oh please I thought I reached out to big time super villains maybe I should’ve looked up this Dementor guy instead.” Yama said doubting his new partner. 

“WHAT YOU DARE COMPARE ME TO THAT LOUDMOUTH!” Drakken said insulted. “I am Dr. Drakken the worlds greatest evils dooer !” 

“Yeah who gets beaten by a teen who’s the greatest evil un-dooer.” Yama then pointed out. “I watch the news.”

Drakken just gritted his teeth in frustration, and before he could say anything. 

“Okay Dr.D let me handle this.” Shego said stepping forward. 

“Listen pal, you reached out to us and we can do what we agreed to, so long as you keep your end of the deal.” Shego said getting in his face. 

“Unless you have any problems with our terms.” She then ignited her right hand with energy as she smiled sadistically suggesting to Yama the pain she would inflict.

For once the sweat of fear all but consumed Yama, he had to admit she was more intimidating than a certain other client he once answered to. 

“Uh no, just make sure you fulfil your end of the deal.” Yama then said trying to sound less intimidated. 

“Oh we will.” Shego said withdrawing. 

Soon the villain duo exited Good Luck Alley, dressed back in their trench coats.

“I still can’t believe we’re helping this guy, he never heard of diet and exercise.” Shego groaned. 

“Never mind that now Shego, according to Yama the next component we need is on a hard drive at a Krei archive.” Drakken said discussing the information that he handed to them. 

“Yeah well you do know that means inviting trouble from those Big Loser what ever they call themselves.” Shego pointed out but little did they know they were being watched by a a small drone device hovering above Good Luck Alley. 

Elsewhere

On a monitor someone was watching what was taking place and the discussion between the two partners in crime. 

“I doubt they even know where we’re going next and it’s better than getting the attention of a certain teen we know and hate.” Drakken said. 

Obake used his console to get a close up of Drakken’s face and looked up his profile. 

“Dr. Drakken, Pft amateur.” He scoffed but his attention then turned to his green assistant. “His companion on the other hand, does have a lot of potential. 

“Perhaps it's time to test that potential.” He then smirked as the left side of his face glowed neon purple. 

The following morning

San Fransokyo awakes to a bright summer morning and the people of this fair city are all at work and wandering the streets. Far side of the city, a cab pulls up to a large mansion inside the cab was Ron Stoppable wearing his normal red and black sports jersey with brown pants and white shoes. Rufus was accompanying him. 

Since meeting Fred at SFIT the two really seemed to hit it off and so the comic fanatic decided they should go for a tour of the city and some of Freds favourite sites, and Ron not being one to turn down such an offer agreed.

Ron exits the cab and makes his way to the front door. “Whoa.” Rufus squeaked. “Yeah Gogo wasn’t kidding he is rich.” Ron agreed. 

He then proceeded to ring the doorbell, and soon a butler answered the door he had black hair and a moustache, was rather skinny but wore a suit. 

“Uh hey, I’m looking for Fred, I’m a friend of his.” Ron said and Rufus nodded in agreement. 

“Of course master Fredrick is expecting you.” Heathcliff said politely and stepped aside and let Ron past then escorted him through the mansion. Ron couldn’t believe what he was seeing the mansion was huge and portraits lined the hallways one was a family portrait of Fred, his father and mother. 

The door at the end of the hall opens to reveal Freds room it was large and was full to the brim with science fiction items arcade machines a large screen television and above his bed a portrait of him riding a fearsome white tiger creature. 

“Whoa!” Ron and Rufus breathed. Fred was playing his arcade machine and didn’t notice the two. 

“Master Fredrick.” Heathcliff called “Master Stoppable is here to see you.” 

Fred turns round to see his visitors at the door.

 “Ron my man you made it!” Fred said as he paused his game and went over to them. 

“Dude this is your home!” Ron said amazed. “Yep, technically it belongs to my parents, my dads away in the family jungle seeing to the petting zoo.” Fred explained. 

Ron then noticed one of the ornaments at the rear of the room. “Wait, is that an armoured suit from Heroes Duty!” He exclaimed. 

“Yep, it is you play it.” Fred asked “Yeah from time to time but I’m more into Zombie Mayhem.” Ron explained. “Zombie Mayhem! Dude that’s like my third favourite game!” Fred said. 

Rufus then noticed something on the sofa, he hopped out of Rons pocket and climbed onto the sofa, and he saw what looked like a smaller version of Baymax. 

“Greetings!” The small Baymax said and Rufus squeaked in shock. Ron looked to see what it was the Rufus was scared of. 

“Wait whats that?” Ron asked “it looks like Baymax.” 

“Your not too far off dude.” Fred explained.

“Greetings I am Mini-Max.” Mini Max introduced standing dramatically. “I am programmed to assist and protect my fellow heroes.” Mini max then pulls a combat stance and back flips onto the floor. “To thwart villainy and to be a champion for justice.” 

Rufus just blinks and Mini-Max blinked his blue eyes and tilted his head. 

“Its something Hiro built to keep me company when him and the others were in class.” Fred explained. “Wow, he’s kinda cool.” Ron said about to touch him until Mini Max grabs his hand and flips him over onto his back. 

“Ow!” Ron said and Rufus was shocked and tried to hit Mini-Max but he just catches his small fist. “Whoa whoa! easy buddy they were just admiring you.” Fred said to the small robot. 

“Oh, my apologies.” Mini Max said and let go of Rufus’s fist. 

Fred then helps Ron up from the ground who rubs his hand. “Man for a little guy he really is strong.” Ron observed. 

“I know I found that out the hard way too.” Fred said recalling his first experience when Hiro gave him his small friend. 

Meanwhile at Krei Tech:

In Alister Krei’s office Hiro, Gogo and Baymax in their casual appearance were talking with the CEO about the recent break in. Since Yokai’s attack on the main campus Krei was fully aware that Hiro and his compatriots were Big Hero 6 for their sake he keeps their identities a secret. 

They were currently watching the security footage from the facility that a certain green thief had tried to rob before their intervention, via the use of Baymax’s chest monitor. They saw that said thief was stealing the cyber circuit. 

“Yep, it was a diversion.” Gogo said glaring at the screen. “I don’t suppose you know what that Cyber circuit is would you?” Hiro then asked turning to Alister. 

“Well, it was a prototype chip we made for an old robotics project.” Krei explained “But we never put it into production, given how it posed some problems and didn’t have any practical use in military or product applications.” 

“Well this green chick stole it for a reason.” Gogo said looking at the footage. 

“Best guess she’s building something but what?” Hiro wondered. 

“Well why don’t you ask Miss Possible?” Krei suggested. 

“What?” Gogo said with a raised eyebrow. “Well she was here yesterday about the robberies at my many facilities seems she and this woman have quite the history.” Krei explained. 

Hiro and Gogo looked at each other in surprise they knew how Kim was a sort of super hero like them, but to know she was working the same case. There maybe more going on than meets the eye. 

Later in the city as the citizens were going about their business and traveling on cable cars to their next destination. One of the passengers was Kim now wearing a green crop top exposing her midriff blue pants and white shoes. Her family was elsewhere exploring the sites with Hiro’s aunt. As the cable car moved she could see how advanced the city looks and bearing some landscape references to San Fransisco. 

(Background music: Watch me rise feat Shari Short)

Just then, she heard a sound it sounded like a jet engine she leaned out the car slightly and noticed a jet stream in the air and as she squinted her eyes she saw it was the red armoured robot she saw yesterday with large wings on his back flying through the city, on his back were two others dressed in yellow, black and purple armour. 

It was three members of Big Hero 6 as they flew across the city. 

Kim quickly pulled out her iPhone and using the zoom function quickly took a photo of them flying away. She thought this could be of use to Wade as she had a hunch. 

(End music)

SFIT

On the robotics campus Hiro was sitting at a desk in his lab, which previously belonged to his brother the very place where he built/rebuilt Baymax. Hiro was looking at the footage from Krei tech and tried to figure out a way to find their new villain. 

“Hiro.” A voice said which startled Hiro and he turned to see Baymax standing behind him. “Baymax you nearly gave me a heart attack!” Hiro said Baymax blinked and was about to say something. 

“Before you ask it’s an expression.” Hiro explained. 

“You are too close to the screen looking too close can result in eye strain and in some cases eczema on the eye lids and face, even potential eye damage.” Baymax then explained showing a diagram on his monitor. 

“He’s not wrong you know.” Another voice sounded and Hiro turned to see Kim in the lab entrance way. 

“Oh hey what brings you by?” Hiro asked turning off his monitor.

“Well, my family’s busy touring the city with your aunt and I thought I’d come back to look around a bit more.” Kim answered. 

“Thinking of enrolling here?” Hiro asked. “I don’t know.” Kim said coming in and looked around his lab. 

“So this is your lab.” Kim asked. “Yeah, well technically it’s my brothers old lab.” Hiro explained.

 Which got Kims attention and noticed the picture frame on his desk it was of Hiro and another boy who was much older than him about eighteen years of age he wears a black baseball cap with ninja lettering on it, black hair, brown eyes, wears a green jacket with a white shirt underneath. 

“So that’s your brother?” She asked pointing to the picture frame. “Yeah, that’s my older brother Tadashi.” Hiro said looking at it with a rather saddened look. 

“So what was he like?” Kim then asked. “Well where to start, he practically raised me after our parents died and when we moved in with Aunt Cass.” Hiro explained. “He actually saw the talent I had with robotics as I got older and cultivated my potential.” 

“Wow, sounds like he was a good man.” Kim said. “Tadashi is a good man, he had a commitment to help others.” Baymax then said. 

“Yeah, when I first started here I looked around and well Professor Granville told me I needed to earn this lab just as he did, but I just couldn’t stay away.” Hiro continued. 

Kim could admire Hiro’s persistence and understood why he would be in Tadashi’s lab despite his tutors wishes. 

“Eventually after some consideration she decided that working in my brothers lab would be good for me to make my own path just as he found his.” 

“You mean when he built Baymax?” Kim asked pointing to said robot. “Yeah.” Hiro then said. “Baymax was going to be his gift to the world, and I was going to be there with him after I showed of my microbots to the student showcase, but it just wasn’t meant to be.” Hiro then said as a lone tear went down his cheek. 

“I’m sorry.” Kim said sympathetically, realising how this would have an effect on Hiro’s psyche. 

“Tadashi is here.” Baymax then said and Kim wasn’t sure what he meant. However she then notices something out of the corner of her eye. It was a robot gauntlet coloured in red with rockets attached at the back of it. 

“Hey what’s that.” She said looking at the gauntlet and Hiro instantly panicked as he knew what it was. 

“Oh that thing well its…” Hiro said slightly sweating. “It kinda looks like one of those rocket fists that big red robot fired at the lecture yesterday?” Kim said then looked to Hiro. 

“Why is it here?” She then said with some suspicion. 

“Oh well its uh a souvenir from the attack at Krei tech.” Hiro said trying to come up with a cover story. 

“Souvenir?” Kim asked. “Uh yeah you see, uh Mr. Krei found it in the wreckage and since Professor Callaghan used my Micro bots to attack his campus he felt I needed some compensation.” Hiro explained. 

“You mean Alister Krei of Krei tech?” Kim asked “Yeah I met him at the student showcase.” He then said with a wide smile hoping she’d buy it. 

After a minutes worth of silence. “Seems reasonable.” Kim then said with a smile. Just then her Kimmunicator sounded off and decided to take her leave. 

“Sorry Hiro I’ve got to go.” Kim said “Its a save the world thing.” 

Soon she left the campus but still couldn’t help but wonder about the robot gauntlet she saw, and how Hiro had it, she knew he was a robotics major and could potentially produce something of that calibre, could he have some connection somehow. 

Noodle Burger Boy:

Meanwhile Ron was having a sitch of his own Fred had taken him to his favourite restaurant but Ron was a little skeptical to begin with. They were sat at Freds reserved spot and the waiter gave them their order of two Noodle Burgers with a side of fries. 

“Uh I’m not sure about this man.” Ron said being skeptical. “Dude how can you have doubts of the Noodle Burger.” Fred questioned.

“Well its just I never imagined a combo of noodles with burgers.” Ron said. “A wise man once said don’t knock it until you try it.” Fred said as he pushed the burger towards Ron. 

Ron was a little skeptical but decided to just take a leap of faith, so he picked up the burger and in that moment the world was in slow-motion, then Ron took a bite out of the burger as it crunched and cracked under his teeth. He chewed it then swallowed soon after. 

After a minute of silence Ron soon developed a wide smile on his face. 

“Dude. this. tastes… AMAZING!” He exclaimed. “See what I tell you.” Fred said as Rufus took  a bite from the burger and realised how delicious it was. 

“Mmm yummy!” Rufus said with a smile. 

“The man who made this was a true visionary.” Fred said as he enjoyed his lunch. 

“Yeah and I thought Nacos were awesome but this is new.” Ron agreed. 

“Nacos?” Fred said with a raised eyebrow and his mouth full. 

“Oh it’s a combo between Nachos and Tacos, my own invention.” Ron said 

“Tacos and Nachos, dude that’s a genius combo!” Fred agreed. 

“You know you should totally come by Middleton some time, but I can’t see why this city doesn’t have a Bueno Nacho.” Ron said.  “I mean where do I sign a petition?” 

The two shared a laugh together over a common bond.Then as they ate someone passed by them, an eleven year old chubby boy, wearing a black jacket with a Japanese writing with San Fransokyo writing, with a yellow long sleeved shirt underneath, brown hair, green pants and a mole under his left eye, with grey eyes.

“Frederickson.” Richardson said glaring. “Mole.” Fred said glaring. Richardson the walked away. 

“Dude who was that kid?” Ron asked. “Richardson Mole, my long time adversary and most hated enemy!” Fred said dramatically. 

“His family the moles are the reining rulers of the city’s Snob society.” Fred explained. “Not to mention he owns his own comic book store in the city.” 

“Well that sounds cool.” Ron said but saw Freds rather ticked off expression. “Okay arch rival I get it.” Ron said in defence. “And I thought Shego was good at the look.” 

“Wait she who?” Fred asked “Shego, she’s basically Kims arch enemy you know us being heroes and all.” Ron explained. 

Fred then froze in thought and all kinds of thoughts were running through his head and the word Shego kept coming up almost like he’d heard it before, then it suddenly hit him like a car smashing through a window. 

“Dude I gotta go it’s urgent!” Fred said getting up from his seat and ran out of there like a mad man possessed. 

“Well that was weird?” Ron said looking at his mole rat companion rather confused. 

Back at the Frederickson mansion Fred had just hurried into his room and began looking through his comic book collection for something specific. Soon his face beamed with joy as he found what he was looking for. 

Lucky Cat, Hiro’s Garage. 

Meanwhile Hiro, Wasabi, Baymax, Gogo, and Honey Lemon were in Hiro’s garage where he had set up a workshop and often served as a headquarters/meeting place for Big Hero 6. They were looking at a holo computer monitor looking over the security footage at Krei tech of Shego stealing the cyber circuit. 

“She’s clearly stealing these components for something.” Hiro observed. “So far most of the components are both cyber and mechatronics.” 

“Yeah but what is she using them for.” Honey Lemon said.

“Could she be building a bomb?” Wasabi asked “Why would she need a bomb?” Gogo wondered. 

“Well we know there’s only two facilities that she hasn’t hit yet, the main campus and the warehouse on the edge of town.” Hiro said looking at a board which had a map of the city pinned to it and several push pins with red yawn attached to them linking them together. It also showed the remaining two sites. 

“Well if we knew more of our mystery green lady thief we might have an advantage, there’s no way we can be caught unprepared again.” Gogo then suggested. 

Then suddenly. “GUYS GUYS GUYS GUYS!” Fred came running into the garage excited and bouncing around like a five year old on too much sugar. He was carrying something in his hand. 

 “GUYS! GUYS! GUYS! GUY! GUYS!” Fred said faster and Wasabi put a hand on his shoulder to calm him down. 

“Calm down boy what are you trying to tell us?” He said like he was talking to an excited puppy. 

Fred could no longer contain his excitement. “I KNOW WHO OUR MYSTERY THIEF IS!” He shouted showing them what he was carrying. 

He placed on the table a comic book displaying five super heroes each wearing similar costumes to the one that a certain green thief wore but in different colours the bulky one wore blue, skinny in purple, and the twins in red and each wore masks. 

“Team Go?” Gogo said looking at the cover of the comic book. 

“Yeah, a group of super heroes who are also a family!” Fred said. “Their origin story is awesome and super hero poetic.” He then said opening the comic book on the first few pages. 

“They gained their powers when a rainbow coloured meteorite crashed down from the heavens!” Fred pointed at the illustration. 

“So they got powers from a meteorite from, space?” Wasabi said in surprise. “Thats just impossible.” 

“Unless the meteorite contained a mutative element.” Honey Lemon surmised. 

“Yeah but they gained awesome powers, strength, size, duplication and fire balls!” Fred said pointing to each of the heroes. “Hego, Mego, Twigo and Shego they formed Team Go!” Fred said dramatically. 

“So how come she’s stealing things now?” Gogo asked. “Dunno they stopped making the comics for some reason.” Fred shrugged. 

“I think I know why.” Hiro said as he directed their attention to his computer monitor where he brought up a newspaper article about Team Go. The article title read. “Shego gone rouge.”

“Seems she went rouge and turned evil.” Hiro said looking at the article but Fred just looked in absolute amazement. 

“WHAT! TEAM GO IS REAL!” Fred shouted. “Fred calm down!” Gogo said. 

“At this point nothing could surprise me.” Wasabi said. “Well what about the part where she’s Kim Possibles arch rival.” 

Fred then said which caused everyone to look at him in surprise. “What?” Fred shrugged. 

Later that night.

Soon night had fallen on the city of San Fransokyo, and across the street from from the main campus of Krei tech, on a building rooftop people stood watch. It was Gogo, Baymax and Hiro armoured up and ready for anything. The rest of the team wasn’t with them as they decided since they didn’t know which site Shego would strike next they agreed to split up and watch both sites for any sign of trouble. 

Gogo and Baymax stood watch whilst Hiro on the other hand was on the phone to his aunt covering up why he was out late. 

“Yes Aunt Cass I know but” Hiro said on his phone as Baymax just watched. “I get that it's late but Gogo’s having trouble with her mag lev suspension project for class, the connections between the magnets and the wheels isn’t working right.” He then explained “If I don’t help her resolve this she’ll miss her deadline”

Hiro then listened to what his aunt said to him before responding. 

“Yes, I won’t be out too late, I’ll see you soon, love you bye.” He then hung up the phone. He looked to see Baymax and Gogo looking at him. 

“I swear coming up with excuses is, as hard as, fighting crime.” Hiro groaned. 

He then went to join Gogo and Baymax watching over the site. “Baymax anything?” He then asked.

Baymax scanned the area for any life signs but her sensor didn’t reveal anything as the facility was empty. 

“I do not detect any signs of life in the building.” Baymax relayed. 

“Team check in.” Hiro said through his helmets com line as he contacted the rest of the team. 

Meanwhile on the far edge of the city, Honey Lemon, Wasabi and Fred armoured up stood watch over the Krei warehouse that was stationed there. 

“All quiet so far.” Honey Lemon relayed as Fred with the top half of his suit removed was drinking a soda as they stood watch. 

“Yeah but like they say in the comics a little too quiet.” Fred said dramatically. 

“I’m still not comfortable with this I mean what if she catches us of guard, I’m not in the mood to get sliced by burning hands.” Wasabi said a little unsure. 

“Thats why we’ve split into groups so we’ll still have the numbers.” Hiro explained. 

“Still don’t you think we should’ve told that Kim Possible about this I mean she is this Shego’s arch foe?” Honey Lemon then asked. 

Across town:

“No, if we told he she’d know we’re Big Hero 6.” Gogo then objected. “Yeah she has her own website and something tells me she won’t be afraid to use it.” Hiro agreed. 

Gogo just looked bemused as to how Hiro could’ve known about that while Baymax just blinked. 

“What I did research.” Hiro said. 

However as they watched, little did they know there was something happening below the building. Below the main campus lied the main servers for Krei tech containing hard drives of data on various secret or government projects.  

Soon the rear door opened and it reveals a security guard however he fell to the ground and behind him was Shego with her right hand energised with green energy. 

“Thanks for the help.” She smirked and from the guards belt she took the security ID. She then went through to a door on the far right hand side of the room she used the ID to open the door and it revealed Drakken tapping his foot impatiently. 

“You took your time Shego.” Drakken said. 

“Hey you try sneaking into a secret archive, and by the way you didn’t need to come with I could handle it.” Shego then said rather annoyed. 

“Right and you’d be able to find what we’re after.” Drakken said as he walked into the archive and Shego followed him still a little annoyed. 

They went through the different server corridors looking for something in particular. Soon they came to the middle section and Drakken soon found what he was looking for in the third server in the row. 

“Ah here we go, it should be right…” However when Drakken looked he saw the hard drive he was looking for was missing. 

“Here?” Drakken said. “Where is it where’s the hard drive!” He panicked. 

“Oh my.” Called a voice from the shadows and walking out came a woman dressed in a black and blue ninja style jump suit with black spiked up hair with blue highlights and a blue eye mask across her face. 

“Looking for this?” Momakase held up her left hand holding what looked like a hard drive with the Krei tech logo on it. 

“What?!” Drakken said in surprise. “Thats mine to steal!” 

“Too late I was here first.” Momakaske smirked dangling the hard drive  from her finger. 

“Do you know who I am!” Drakken address. Momokase examined Drakken from her vantage point. 

“Hmm, don’t tell me your the mad scientist who wants to conquer the world.” Momakase said with a teasing smirk. “But fails every time, oh and your a complete mothers boy.” 

Drakken was all but shocked she was good, but he could only scowl in anger. 

“No one talks to me like that! especially about my mother!” Drakken exclaimed “SHEGO! GET THAT DRIVE!” 

“My pleasure!” Shego said as she pushed Drakken aside to face the ninja. “Okay sweet heart we can do this the easy way…” Shego ignited her plasma balls. “or the hard way!” She then challenged 

Momokase drew her Graphene katana in her right hand, she pointed her sword at the green thief. 

“Oh I chose the hard way.” She then smirked then made a gesture with her left hand whilst holding the hard drive to ‘bring it on.’ 

Shego lunged forwards and tried hitting the ninja with her energy blasts but Momaksae was able to avoid the blasts even slice through them. Shego was quick to avoid the slice from Momokases katana and knife, she back flips and hits the ninja in the face as she backed away but quickly recovered. 

“Your good, but you lack discipline!” Momakase then performed a round house kick and knocked Shego to the ground. 

“I’d be happy to give it to you.” She then smirked as her blade met the thief’s neck. 

Suddenly the lights flicked on and everyone turned to see a certain teen in her mission gear standing in the door way. 

“They can discipline you both in jail.” Kim said. 

“Kim Possible!” Drakken exclaimed. “And don’t forget Ron Stoppable!” Ron stood with Kim in mission ware. 

“Oh yes the sidekick!” Drakken said and Ron was a little irked that even after all the years they’ve fought he still couldn’t remember his name. 

“How did you know I was here Possible!” Drakken said “Oh that’s easy your predictable.” Kim said 

“Well I can see you all know each other and have business to take care of so I’ll take my leave.” Momokaske said jumping onto Shegos shoulders and then exit through the other door. 

“OH NO YOU DON’T!” Shego growled as she ran after her, however Kim backflipped across the room to stop her. “Denied!” Kim smirked. 

Drakken then pressed the green button on his belt and suddenly the ceiling exploded and his signature hover car arrived as their get away vehicle. 

“Shego After her!” The duo hopped into the hover car and exit the building. 

“Come on Ron!” Kim said as her backpack produces wings in a grey turquoise colour then placed a helmet on her head and she rockets off after them and Ron quickly follows. 

Momokase runs from rooftop to rooftop as she runs from the scene of the crime, suddenly a plasma blast flies by her and she turns her back to see Shego chasing after her. Momokase could only smirk as the chase began. 

They ran from rooftop to rooftop performing multiple Parkour moves until Shego decided she had enough and fired a huge plasma ball knocking the ninja off the building and into the street surprising the surrounding citizens. 

Momokase was quick to recover before Shego landed. 

“You have something that belongs to me!” Shego pointed. 

“It doesn’t belong to either of you!” Called a voice. 

Their attention was drawn to see the source of the voices was Baymax landing on the ground and jumping from his back were Gogo and Hiro who took up a battle stance. 

“You again!” Shego growled. “Yeah see you remember us greenie!” Gogo smirked. 

“Momakase!” Hiro exclaimed. “Oh if it isn’t three of Big Hero 6.” Momakase smirked. “Hand over that stolen hard drive.” Hiro demanded. 

“I think not.” Momakase said but then noticed the hard drive wasn’t in her hand. She turned round to see Shego now has it. 

“Lose something.” She said holding the hard drive. Gogo draws her mag lev discs and trows one at Shego knocking the hard drive out of Shegos hand. 

“Gah you just wrecked my manicure!” Shego growled as she readied her plasma blasts and blasted at the three Heroes who were quick to avoid them. Gogo speeded towards Shego avoiding her blasts by jumping then skating across she then threw her discs at Shego which she avoided. 

(Music: Side by side by Sofia Wilde) 

Meanwhile Momakase moved to get the hard drive however it suddenly moved by itself into Hiro’s hand who used his magnet gloves to grab it. 

“No you don’t!” Hiro said Momokase drew her knife and threw it at Hiro who quickly avoided it whilst carrying the hard drive. The two engaged in combat and Hiro was quick to dodge her movements thankfully he had learned a few self defense tricks from Tadashi. 

Shego meanwhile kept trying to blast Gogo who skated to avoid her blasts however the green thief saw and opening and fired at Gogo hitting her right in the head tripping her up and sending her flying to the ground knocking her off her mag lev skates. 

“GOGO!” Hiro exclaimed only to have Momakase kick him to the ground knocking the hard drive out of his hands. 

Shego headed over to Gogo lying on the ground unconscious. 

“Your good kid but not as good as me.” Shego said readying a plasma blast however. Suddenly Kim flies in with her jet pack knocking Shego away from Gogo. 

“Oh great Kimmie cub has come to play.” Shego smirked at her opponent and engaged in combat with each other. Soon Honey Lemon and the rest of the team arrived and saw Gogo lying on the ground. 

“Gogo!” Honey Lemon said kneeling down to her checking her over to see if she was okay. Baymax flew over to his team mates and began scanning Gogo. 

“Gogo has sustained no injuries, thanks to her suit, however she has suffered a blow to her head causing a minor concussion.” Baymax diagnosed. “I recommend taking caution and not move her until we can fully stabilise her head.” 

“Right you guys help Hiro, I’ll look after her.” Honey lemon said so Wasabi, Fredzilla and Baymax hurry to help Hiro. 

Momakase closes in on Hiro with her sword at the ready but suddenly she’s met by a blast of fire which was from Fredzilla. 

“Hiro you okay?” Asks Wasabi as he helps him up. 

“Yeah I’m good great timing!” Hiro thanked. 

Meanwhile Shego is still fighting Kim who is avoiding her onslaught of her plasma blasts. Kim backflips away then performs a round house kick knocking Shego back. She responds by blasting more green energy blasts at Kim who quickly avoids them. 

“Whats Drakken up to Shego?!” Kim asked “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Shego smirked “Yeah that’s why I’m asking” Kim replied. 

Shego was ready to fire another energy blast, but suddenly screaming and crashing into her was Ron who couldn’t control his jet pack. He rolled on the ground a little dizzy. 

“Uhh rough landing.” Ron groaned. Shego then got up glaring at Ron and was ready to attack until Kim tackles her to the ground. 

“Ron get the hard drive!” Kim said to her sidekick. Ron could see the Krei tech hard drive lying on the ground and runs over to it whilst Fred and Hiro fight Momakase. Ron grabs it. 

“Got it!” Ron said but suddenly Drakken drops in from behind him. 

“I’ll take that hard drive side kick!” Drakken said as Ron backed away. Rufus pops out of Rons pocket and could see his friend was in trouble and jumps out. 

Ron sees Rufus is waving for him to toss him the hard drive so Ron throws it to his friend who scurries off with it.

“QUICK THE WEASELS GOT IT!” Drakken called to his partner. 

However Shego was preoccupied with fighting her teen adversary. Momakae noticed the hairless rodent and jumps from her fight with Fredzilla and Hiro and throws her Graphene knives at Rufus who does his best to avoid them squeaking in terror while avoiding them. One knife hit a lamp post and was close to landing on a passing citizen however a huge pink ball emerged and prevented the post from hitting him, and the person who made it was Honey Lemon whilst she watched over Gogo. 

Another knife was close to hitting Rufus when suddenly a speeding force moved Rufus out of the way before it hit. Rufus looked up and saw he was in the hand of a certain red armoured robot who just flew in to save him .

“I have got you.” Baymax said blinking. 

Momokase then throws one of her knives at Baymax which hits him in one of his jet boots. They short circuit and send him flying out of control. 

“Oh no!” Baymax said and Rufus was screaming and accidentally let go of the hard drive. This landed on the ground near Wasabi who was quick to grab it. 

“Got it.” He said.

Shego had then broken off from her fight with Kim as did Momokase with Fred and Hiro. They circled Wasabi who stood in place armed with one plasma blade. 

“Okay blades hand over the drive!” Shego demanded. “Not a chance” Wasabi said however Momakaske was ready to strike with a Graphene katana. Suddenly Kim jumps in and stands by Wasabi, who does smile in relief. 

The two stand back to back as the two villains engage in combat Kim avoids Shegos punches whilst Wasabi defends with his plasma blade against the ninja. Hiro could see they were in trouble and decided to even the odds. 

“Baymax!” Hiro called to Baymax who had just gotten up from the ground near Rufus who was unharmed. 

“Overdrive mode!” Hiro then exclaimed and on command Baymax’s eyes glowed a neon purple. 

“Overdrive mode engaged” He said and his body began changing his lower stomach panels elevated to reveal a circler core inside, his hands opened to reveal energy turbines in his hands which hummed to life and his shoulder pads and chest panels open to reveal circular turbines generating neon purple energy opening his leg compartments too. Baymax’s head then raised from his shoulders to then drop down and be covered by a red circular face mask and its eyes glowed neon purple. The wings on Baymax’s back then flew off and combined to form a sword which energised with power. 

As Shego and Momakase close in they are soon swatted away by Overdrive Baymax’s sword sending them crashing into the ground. 

“Whoa.” Kim said rather impressed. “Oh man I love this robot!” Ron said excitedly. 

“Oh now things are getting interesting.” Shego said readying herself “Thats my cue to leave.” Momakase said and she flees the scene only to be stopped by Ron. 

“Not so fast ninja lady!” Ron said holding a combat stance. 

“Cute” Momokase draws her sword and performs several sword slashes but none of them seemed to hit Ron. 

“Fancy moves but you missed.” Ron said smugly. “Did I?” Momokase smirked. Then on cue Rons pants were shredded to pieces. 

“Oh come on even in San Fransokyo!” Ron groaned. Momokaske jumps over Ron and onto the the rooftops above. 

(End music)

Shego rushed forward and fires an energy blast at Baymax who manages to deflect it with his sword, and uses it to attack Shego who avoids the sword slash and slides under Baymax  and unleashes a huge energy blast knocking BH6 and Team possible off their feet and she gets the hard drive. 

“Shego!” Drakken calls from his hover craft. “Time to fly!” Shego then back flips into the hover craft. 

Baymax gets up and flies up to the hover craft ready to attack until Shego blasts him back to the ground. 

“This was a memorable first meeting Big Hero 6, I’m sure we’ll meet again!” Drakken said gloating. “Your not getting away with this!” Fredzilla exclaimed. “But dude I gotta know what’s with the blue skin?”

“Oh funny story, well not ha ha funny but it was a Tuesday…” Drakken began 

“JUST HIT IT ALREADY!” Shego shouted and Drakken flew his hover craft away leaving Hiro completely annoyed. 

“This is so annoying!” Kim frowned. “They got away….y.” Said Baymax who was back in normal mode but had a low battery charge due to his overdrive form.

“What could Drakken want with that hard drive?” Ron asked. “I don’t know whatever was on it must’ve been important especially if a rival thief wanted to steal it.” Kim guessed.

“Now as for you…” She turned to face Big Hero 6 only to find them gone from the scene.  

Hiro’s Garage:

After failing to stop Shego let alone Momakase, Hiro and the rest of the team returned to his Garage with Wasabi carrying a power drained Baymax on his back whilst Honey Lemon helped Gogo who was still recovering from her concussion. 

“Well that went poorly.” Wasabi said. “Yeah not only did Momokase escape but that green lady got the best of us TWICE!” Gogo said in frustration. 

“So what do we do now?” Honey Lemon asked. “I don’t know, we need to find out what was on the drive and work out a way to stop Shego.” Hiro decided 

“How, even with Baymax supercharged we couldn’t stop her!” Fred said 

“We jumped out a window.” Baymax said in a rather drunk voice. “Sure whatever you say Baymax.” Wasabi said. 

Hiro then reached for the garage door and opened it but when he did everyone behind looked in shock and horror. 

“What?” Hiro said looking at his team mates Honey Lemon points her finger telling him to turn around. 

Hiro turns around and his face turns into shock as standing behind him in his garage were Kim and Ron who some how had beaten them there. Kim had one hand on her hip with a knowing frown.

“Hello Hiro.” She said simply and Hiro’s face was in shock with a million questions going through his head there was no doubt now they were busted!

“WEEEEEEE.” Baymax said as he got off Wasabi and fell to the ground with a thud. 

End of Chapter 3

Oh boy BUSTED! So Kims found out BH6′s secret identities, Hiro you got some explaining to do. Some scenes of this chapter were inspired by the Marvel Rising shorts including some of the music which I thought would be good battle music. I know I’m on chapter 3 of this story but I may have an idea for a sequel or mini sequel that I’ve been debating for a while such as including Athena from the KP live action film. I do welcome some advice on that but for the time being its on hold until I finish this story. 

Chapter 4 coming soon I’ll try to update next weekend if I have time until then. 

To the Power of 6 Booyah!

[loquaciousquark]

Talks Machina Highlights - Critical Role C2E63 (May 21, 2019)

Sorry it’s late, guys. @eponymous-rose has narrowly avoided being blown away by tornadoes and I’ve narrowly avoided drowning in equally dangerous paperwork, so here we are at the end of all things. Preroll is post-its of donors for Red Nose Day.

Tonight’s guests: Sam Riegel & Liam O’Brien.

Tonight’s announcements: We’re opened by Mark Hulmes instead of BWF. He dabs. No one blinks an eye. After the music open, we find out BWF’s neighbor’s kid stole his keys and then he lost his wallet. It hasn’t mattered, because he’s about to be Mr. Ashley Johnson & people just keep giving him what he needs. They’re still raising money for RedNoseDay. Thursday morning, the Colbert one-shot airs on the Critical Role Youtube. You can donate at critrole.com/rednoseday. Mark Hulmes joined Taliesin & BWF today for an episode available on the CR Twitch.

Episode 63: Intervention

CR Stats: Caleb cast his 700th spell, Gift of Alacrity, on Caduceus. Nott rolled her 40th natural 1 this episode to understand the local sewer system. This was Caduceus’s first HDYWTDT. Everyone mourns that someone stole the Golden Snitch from Matt’s bag.

It’s more stressful not knowing everyone’s motivations, both within the party and the game world. Sam talks about Yasha’s mysterious past and Beau’s dangerous ties to the Empire, especially given how much they understood in the first campaign about (at least) who the bad guys were. Sam feels like once they have a shred of information, he wants to jump on it ASAP and make big, bold decisions on them. He’s dealing with the discovery that this might be not as great an idea. He’s not experienced this kind of “trepidation, failure, uncertainty...I don’t like this game. I don’t like it at all!”

Caleb likes using the little bit of dunamantic magic as a taste of a drug--each little hit makes him want more and more and more.

Danimancy? Make a Carrcana check. Sigh, Sam.

Sam made two big mistakes in the last fight: he missed the gender of the dragonborn, so he thought that one of the other voices Matt was doing was actually the dragonborn giving orders (and therefore the one in charge, while the drow was the one taking orders). He also saw the dragonborn leaving and was worried that he was waiting on the party to give him (Nott) the go-ahead to kick things off. He recognizes he put Caleb in a terrible position both in a meta yes-and sense and in the Nott-Caleb team sense.

The world devolves into campaign slander and propaganda. Everyone’s in it, including BWF and Dani. #samforpresident

Caleb told the Brightqueen about his past because he feels like they’re on a very tight timeline, looking for very slight drips of information like gold. He thought it was worth the shot.

Sam desperately wants to know what the missing years in Yasha’s memory hold. BWF tells him to get what he can out of her while she’s here; her show’s been renewed for another season. He sounds genuinely bitter as he says it, but he notes at least it’s the last one. :(

They ask Mark Hulmes about what Charm does for people. He helpfully tells us it doesn’t say if they remember or not. Sam also points out Nott has blown up Caduceus before, so doing a few more points to Yasha is *wigglehands*.

Caleb did not mean to kill the horse on purpose. Sam tries to get him to confess that on camera, but instead Liam needles him about not cuddling Henry.

Cosplay of the Week: @andy_srivastava’s cosplay of Beau. Gorgeous!

Both Sam and Nott feel the fight’s outcome was his/her fault. He expects her to feel very guilty next week. Sam genuinely felt and still feels bad about it. He also prefers hashing out reactions the night things happen instead of having to wait a week for the next Thursday. He feels it’s more genuine.

Caleb is very worried about Jester’s mom and Astrid’s crew finding ways to use her mom as leverage. He’s also worried about the kid, but is glad Shakaste is going to get him. Liam also always imagined running into his old crew against the backdrop of the Empire, and is now very worried that if he runs into them soon he’ll have the added perception of being a traitor since they’re in the Dynasty.

Liam and Caleb both were surprised he was given hints of dunamancy so freely. He looks forward to learning more.

Liam totally understands how easy it is to miss things now. He’s constantly looking things up and reading in an attempt to understand his spells, and therefore missing parts of the battle. He greatly sympathizes with Marisha. Sam, on the other hand, is finding it hard to adapt to rogue life; he doesn’t like the necessary “out there, bold choice” nature of rogues in D&D and having the pressure of making big decisions very fast. He prefers Scanlan’s nature of sitting in the back, casting spells, and being more reactionary than instigatory. Liam always is afraid of picking the wrong spells, and finds it much harder than Vax. BWF: “Dagger dagger dagger...dagger dagger dagger dagger?” Liam: “I kept track of that fine, it’s everyone else that was wrong.”

Sam is shocked the D&D Beyond campaign bit has dragged on. BWF calls his rebuttal “bogusly weak,” and Sam looks genuinely aghast. It’s hilarious. “I don’t know how he got to you, Brian, but this feels like coming on Fox News! You’re a partisan hack! I won’t take it anymore, but I love attention, so I will stay.”

Nott is super interested in the dodeca’s ability to give people different bodies, but Caleb is still the clearest path to getting her body back. It’s complicated because the Dynasty souls are “chosen” and Nott’s not likely to be so.

Liam is very excited to see this magic system Matt has created in dunamancy. Did he create it in response to Liam or had he already thought about it? Sam tells us he’s always been thoughtful about fate and the subverting of it. Liam is so pumped because in campaign one, fate strings existed and were uncontrollable, but in campaign two we’ve “developed physicists, tinkering.”

In re: Essik, Nott’s just happy Caleb has found a friend. She wishes he’d bring him home more often.

Sam finally busses Henry’s cheek and affirms to us that he actually loves dogs. Everyone in his family is voting for a new dog except for his daughter, who wants a cat.

Liam doesn’t want everything to be cat-themed, but likes retouching a few spells here and there for flavor. He also wanted to differentiate it from Scanlan’s Bigby’s Hand. Sam thinks he should reskin more spells.

SPOILERS FOR C1 IN THIS QUESTION. Sam talks about rogue high-stakes moments as genuinely, surprisingly stressful. Liam says Vax was stressful but exhilarating, especially when it came to moments that conflated poor meta decisions vs roleplay decisions. He specifically mentions Raishan’s chase as a terrible in-game decision but one that was right for the character. He and Sam will always do what’s right for the character, even if it’s bad narratively in the moment. Sam says he got a lot of support from the group thread this past week, though. END SPOILERS FOR C1.

Fanart of the Week: a gorgeous Caduceus portrait by @larndraws.

Nott trusts Shakaste to get Luke traveling safely. Sam also drops a bombshell on the world by telling us Luc is spelled Luc. It’s just that no one’s ever asked. Heavens!

Caleb’s made an effort to tell people he cares for them, but he fears it at the same time. He’s afraid he’s going to be put in a position where he needs it too much. Brian asks if he believes he’s truly irredeemable: Liam says there’s a certain road where he could feel he atoned, and there’s a road that might lead to balance, but there’s never a brass ring that he could reach that could let him relax entirely. I don’t entirely understand the metaphor, but I get what he means.

Sam likes that the theme of this campaign seems to be “atonement and reconciliation” compared to the first campaign’s “finding family.” There’s a bit of that in this campaign too, but he likes how everyone has something in their past that they’re clinging to, and he’s interested to see who will be able to resolve it, who will be able to handle it, and who won’t be able to let it go.

Mark Hulmes come on to talk about the Stream of Descent, which happened last weekend. He’s the DM for High Rollers, which airs at 9am Pacific on Sundays.

BWF talks about how C1 had a lot of the Hero’s Journey in various forms, and C2 feels a lot like “what it means to be good.” He doesn’t feel they fit the “antihero” archetype very well.

Liam thinks that if Caleb were going to leave the campaign, he’d have done it already.

Part of Caleb’s generation was to create a character the world would shun, and seeing if he could find a way to find compassion for them. He mentions the poem written for the Boston marathon bomber a while ago. BWF talks about how it’s a really interesting character choice because it depends on the rest of the table being willing to stick around and seek out that redeemable quality in your character, even when you’re making decisions that are true to the character but bad for the table/the rest of the group. You can’t always expect that to work with every group you play with.

Mark talks about Calliana being the other end of the spectrum from Caleb, because she also has a history of having done very terrible things, but she was taken in by a family who helped her understand she’d been manipulated and it was not her fault. He’s desperate for his recently mentioned package to be picked up because she has some messages for Caleb in it. Now she tries to see the best in everyone she meets as a result of her history. He has a whole folder of fanart of Calliana on his wall. Awwww.

It’s still never gotten old for Liam or Sam either.

Mark endorses Sam for President. Good job, foreign fellow. Is it Thursday yet?

[ahufflepuffhobbit]

@alienfuckeronmain tagged me in a super long list of questions to get to know me, which I’m THRILLED about! Since I don’t think many people will want to read through 49 things about me, I’m going to tag @jessiohhh, @armiteggio, and @watsonmoony up here, to do if you want! (Yes I’m tagging you all again, but still, no pressure!)

1. Do you prefer writing with a black pen or blue pen? black pen all the way

2. Would you prefer to live in the country or city? I had to actually think about this because I have always loved cities so much. BUT. I think I like the idea of living in them more than I would actually like it. I definitely prefer the peacefulness of living in the country though, especially if it’s near a body of water. Could even just be a stream or pond.

3. If you could learn a new skill what would it be? Hmmmm. Most of the skills I want to learn wouldn’t be useful?!? Like, learning Elvish. I suppose it would be nice to actually learn to draw. OR GROW PLANTS.

4. Do you drink your tea/coffee with sugar? Coffee, yes, with creamer too. Tea is had black though.

5. What was your favourite book as a child? How are we defining child? Because like. Under 10 age, it was the book called The Witches and the Singing Mice by Jenny Nimmo about these two tom cats that save the children in a village from witches who put them in a coma like thing. I fucking loved it and yes, I still have it on my shelf. 

6. Do you prefer baths or showers? showers! I’ve never been a bath person. I don’t understand it. Showers are the ultimate for chilling out and winding down, and mine tend to last like thirty minutes or as long as we have hot water. 

7. If you could be a mythical creature, which one would it be? I... have no fucking clue. Fairy?? (unless we’re including hobbit in mythical, which I think we should because that’s my choice)

8. Paper or electronic books? Paper. I’ve found that if I read published books electronically, I tend to not take it as seriously or judge it more harshly. Or maybe the books I’ve read electronically just sucked. IDK.

9. What is your favourite item of clothing? I stole a hoodie from my dad when I moved out. I’m pretty sure he’s had since the nineties. It’s just light blue and soooooo soft.

10. Do you like your name or would you like to change it? I used to not like my name (Robyn), but I’ve learned to love it and I wouldn’t want it to be something else. 

11. Who is a mentor to you? One of my professors, probably. I still check in him with once a year, despite not having him as a teacher in about seven years. He helped me understand the psychology field a lot better, and I felt more prepared becoming a therapist because of him. 

12. Would you like to be famous and if so, what for? fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck no. If I get famous for anything, it will be for having a trademarked expression showing my displeasure.

13. Are you a restless sleeper? Yes, indeed. I’ve had insomnia for about fourteen years. It’s worse when I’m going through the PTSD season (roughly September-December), and the rest of the year I tend to move around a lot or talk in my sleep.

14. Do you consider yourself a romantic person? yesssss but I think other people would disagree

15. Which element best represents you? water!

16. Who do you want to be closer to? I have gotten better at pursuing friendships, and those things take time, so I’m not sure if there’s anyone in particular that I’m like, scared to approach.

17. Do you miss someone at the moment? my parents, always. Living twelve hours away sucks balls.

18. Tell us about an early childhood memory. Okay. I was once brought home by a police officer when I was nine for loitering at a pet store down the street. The employee (who had to be like seventeen or something) called the fucking cops instead of just talking to me. And then I panicked and tried to run, IMMEDIATELY got caught, and then tried to lie about where I lived. Needless to say, by the time the cop got me home, he was thoroughly unimpressed and was very rude to my dad as a result and apparently made some comment about him not being a fit father because he was covered with tattoos (???). (Also, I recognize that me getting away with this is peak privilege)

19. What is the strangest thing you have eaten? All of freshman year, a friend and I would combine our breakfasts/snacks in our English class. This typically was strawberry poptarts, cheetos, and pink lemonade. It’s actually really fucking good. Super bad for you.

20. What are you most thankful for? the support of my partner, even though I’m currently annoyed at him.

21. Do you like spicy food? Nooooo, I cannot handle it at all

22. Have you ever met someone famous? Yes! Mostly from Cons and stuff, the highlight of which was meeting Nicholas Brendan. 

23. Do you do you keep a diary or journal? not usually, but I will write things down to help with processing them. After my grandma died and the subsequent family drama, there was a lot of ‘journaling’

24. Do you prefer to use a pen or a pencil? Pen! Can’t stand pencils.

25. What is your star sign? Sagittarius

26. Do you like your cereal soggy or crunchy? What kind of question is this? Who likes soggy cereal?

27. What would you want your legacy to be? That I tried my best, honestly. I don’t think about it much beyond that. 

28. Do you like reading, what was the last book you read? i LOVE reading. I’ve fallen out of the habit since I went through college and haven’t been able to get back up to where I was. The last book I read all the way through would have been Hunchback of Notre Dame, which I actually thoroughly enjoyed! Currently I’m reading my way through the History of Middle Earth, which means jumping between seven different books to do chronologically.

29. How do you show someone you love them? my love language is quality time or physical touch, so spending time and lots of hugs! 

30. Do you like ice in your drinks? In lemonade or juice drinks, yes. Everything else no - especially not water

31. What are you afraid of? Oh, so many things. Top of the list is the loss of my family or cats. 

32. What is your favourite scent? Lavender, sandalwood, or the ocean

33. Do you address older people by their name or surname? I don’t tend to address anyone by their name...

34. If money was not a factor, how would you live your life? I would honestly be home a lot more and not have a TBR pile consisting of over a hundred books. 

35. Do you prefer swimming in pools or the ocean? I don’t really have a preference! I love water and swimming, so any body of water works for me. I won’t, however, swim in a pool when I’m near an ocean. That just seems weird to me. 

36. What would you do if you found £50 on the ground? Probably spend it, honestly. Buy a meal for myself or something a bit fun.

37. Have you ever seen a shooting star? I think so?  

38. What is the one thing you would want to teach your children? I am except from this question because that will not be happening! I do try to make sure my niece accepts herself for how she is and that she doesn’t have to BE anything to be loved

39. If you had to have a tattoo, what would it be and where would you get it? Well, I have tattoos already. And I have one planned for next month! I’m getting a Sweet Pea on my forearm for my grandma, because she always called me a sweet pea. Other than that, I have plans to the ring poem by tolkien around my ankle in the black speech.

40. What can you hear now? I can’t do anything without listening to music, which is currently Pirateship by Rumahoy, because @alienfuckeronmain has gotten me into metal like I’ve never been before

41. Where do you feel the safest? In my partner’s hugs

42. What is the one thing you want to overcome/conquer? hating my body

43. Of you could travel back to any era, what would it be? I don’t want to chooooooose. All of them. All of them.

44. What is your most used emoji? the crying laughing face

45. Describe yourself using one word. Random!

46. What do you regret the most? Regrets.... I guess I regret not being closer to the side of the family that has always liked/supported me until I was an adult. I could have had so many more memories with them and been closer to those cousins! Instead of the ones that straight up abandoned me. Good times. 

47. Last movie you saw? King of Staten Island, actually. It was pretty good, but I felt like it ended too early

48. Last tv show you watched? It’s always New Girl, technically, because I fall asleep watching it. Other than that, probably John Oliver last week.

49. Invent a word and it’s meaning. I don’t invent words. I do, however, invent a sign language of my own that involves gesticulating wildly while trying to convey my meaning. I have no way to describe these signs in text, unfortunately.