#i missed Flashy flash content glad hes back

[monaco-the-monster]

Friendship (relationship) I didn't know I needed but I cannot live without now

[firewolf-pyro]

12. GROUNDED

Up in the public section of the facility, Blueton stares out into the snow from the ship Bay Area of the facility. The sound of people walking and talking around them but doesn’t break their focus as he stares out into an absolute blizzard howling out just outside of the open doors of the ship bay. Someone walks past Blueton’s front pulling along a string of flashy Christmas lights but does not stop to talk to the Dalek. Soon Olesia walks up behind Blueton to rest her hand on his shoulder, she begins to tie a blue and white scarf around the Dalek’s neck sections. Still, its focus is not broken.

“The scans show that this storm isn’t going to let up for a while. At least a few more days. We’re stuck here until then.” Olesia humms as she secures the scarf into place. After making it look nice and tidy around him she returns to leaning against the casing. The warmth from the other helped her focus- though she wasn’t sure what her Dalek was focusing on so intently off in the snowy wilderness ahead of them.

“We will be stuck here with Storm…” Blue grumbles as they continue to watch the snow storm outside. The lights are soon pulled up from the floor to be hung along the entryways’s top. The flashing colorful lights finally break the Dalek’s stare from the blizzard, their eyestalk instead lifting to examine the lights that were now hanging just overhead.

“Stuck with Storm because of a storm. Ahah.” She chuckles idly to herself as she pats the dome of the Dalek. She seems idly content to watch the snow fall with the Dalek beside her. Any moment of peace she could get Olesia felt the need to cling to.

“It would not be so bad if I were not the only Dalek here.” Blue admits suddenly after a few moments of silence. His eyestalk droops a bit towards the ground as they think over what they had just said. The idea of missing something he had spent so long to destroy made him feel a bit disturbed.

“You are, sure- but that doesn’t mean you are alone.”

Olesia encourages him, running a hand over her own hair to smooth some of the pieces down. She wasn’t sure just why the Dalek constantly felt so alone- she wasn’t sure just how to show them that they weren’t.

“Here, or in the universe? I know you must know- I do not know what you are but I know you must know- am I alone?” He turns his eyestalk to stare up at her. She uses her arm to block it from smacking her in the face as he looks up so quickly.

“Blue, I really don’t know. And besides- I saw what you were trying to make in your ship. So, even if you are the only one- which I seriously doubt, you are neither alone, nor would remain the last for very long.” She encourages, stepping a bit to the side to ensure Blueton was looking at her. Maybe a bit of encouragement would help him along this path.

“I am so used to being around thousands, billions of others. Being here with nothing going on in the pathweb- it feels empty. If there are others- they are far too far away to be heard.” They explain, getting a soft pat from Olesia again. The silence was maddening. Blue was impatiently waiting for the younger Daleks to be conscious enough to fill that void the pathweb had become.

“Come on- I think you should be glad you can’t hear the others if there are others. They would certainly see to it you’d be … Killed.” She gives him a grim look before waving for him to follow her. They could not dwell on that topic lest it break her moment of peace. The dread already seeping into her from the Dalek was enough of an encouragement to step away from that topic already.

“Come on, let’s go back inside. They’re setting up cute holiday decorations that you might find interesting.” She grins trying to distract the Dalek from their thoughts. Distractions- that’s what everyone needed. Especially since she knew she couldn’t put her plans fully into play until they got off of this planet and away from the Doctor.

Blueton looks away from Olesia back towards their ship. The front panel has been replaced fully making the ship look nearly brand new. They hadn’t wanted to leave the ship bay for awhile now- their youngsters being this close to other species didn’t sit right with him. He didn’t feel they were safe with them.

“The sooner we can leave to the planet I intended to leave to, the better. It would allow for more stable growth. There would be less interruption from outside sources.” Blueton grumbles, outside influence would affect the young Daleks quite a bit at such a vulnerable age. Blue was nurturing sure but the wrong person would sway the little developing minds in ways that would be unpredictable.

“Shush now, you shouldn’t be mourning your losses when your species have caused so many others to lose their entire species titles.” She knocks on his dome a bit to get his attention back on her.

“Your species is widely regarded as space Nazzis. Do you even believe in those old mentalities? Where Daleks are so supreme and mighty over any and all other life forms?” Olesia asks, crossing her arms over her chest. She honestly wasn’t expecting the Dalek to respond. With how beaten down they had been acting - especially with the Doctor around- she was at minimum expecting them to respond with a soft ‘no.’

“THE DALEKS REIGN SUPREME!” BT122 shouts lifting his eyestalk and waggling his manipulator arm around in a show of determination and confidence. Their shout was loud yet something behind it wasn’t believable. It was as if they were shouting it to force themself to believe what they were shouting.

“Yeah- you say that but- do you actually believe it yourself? After everything you’ve seen and experienced?” She cocks a brow at him letting a hand rest on her hip as she stares at him in a disbelieving way. She watches as they lower their eyestalk to look back at her. Both their manipulator arm and gunstick shift to a lower than neutral gesture. They looked absolutely downtrodden

“You’ve seen your species go damn near extinct on several occasions, not just from the Time war but from your own species, from the Mevolans and Mechanoids.” She points her finger at him as she makes this retort. All of the war, all of the bloodshed- because the Daleks believed themselves to be the superior species. And how would they prove it? By dying.

“No… No I do not…” Blue slowly looks up at Olesia with a cautious glance before looking back down to the ground. They were disgusted by their shout- having thought they had been well over that sort of mentality.

“Distrusting other species is one thing- to keep your own safe but- with how often we have started wars only to be nearly wiped out… The main directive is not at fault here, to keep your species alive- but the way in which we are attempting to achieve the prime directive is- at fault.” He admits and Olesia snorts out a laugh, leaning back against his casing. So he was self aware of this situation. That was a relief to her.

“Oh, so you do see what your species has done wrong.” She sighs as she steps away from him, still motioning for him to follow her. The casing turns towards her.

“I just want to see my species thrive.” He admits as he tails Olesia through the tunnel back into the main facility. The pair make their way shoulder to shoulder down the hall back into the main facility. The main above ground area is mostly empty with only a few people walking around with boxes of decorations. People are on ladders around the walls hanging up lights. They continue past them towards a lift entrance.

“What would you do differently? To prevent any of your own from dying?” Olesia questions Blueton as they walk. She pauses every few steps to mess with the scarf around the casing before continuing again- her mind beginning to feel fussy as she poked and prodded at the Daleks. This topic was something she needed to know more about as she still debated staying by their side.

“Firstly, destroying the current ruling party is a must. Corrupting their underlings and merging into their numbers- a quo of sorts.” He states plainly as he half leads half follows Olesia as she makes a b-line for the lift. His idea of reform needed a total invasion and demolishment of the current political structure the Daleks held onto. It would be difficult as the Daleks treated their politics more like a religion.

“And afterwards?” She asks him to think on more of what his people could do whilst not in a war with themselves or others. She holds her arm out to stop the lift’s doors from closing on them. Blue lets their eyestalk sink a bit and pauses just in front of the door for a long moment. They were considering the question. What would the Daleks do if not in a war? Make hats?

“Come on Blue, I didn’t mean to break you like that. That is a bit too far into the future for you isn't it.” She sniggers and waves him into the lift. The Dalek eventually lifts its eyestalk and moves into the space.

“I am no Time Strategist. There are no other strategists to reflect these plots and plans against. No commander to work out logistics of said plans.” He states as he turns around in the lift to be facing the door again. His gunstick spins in its socket as he considers all of this. The doors close in front of them both. They ignored the people who had their head turned towards them- the civilians here were very curious about those two- or the Dalek in particular. Olesia takes a moment once the doors are closed to once again lean on the casing. They were headed down.

“Since when have you taken any advice from a commander? I thought you were anarchical?” She gives a soft snort. watching the lights tick down she rests her hand flat on the Dalek’s dome.

“What-“ They lift their eyestalk up and turn it to look at Olesia. She doesn’t pull away from the casing as he looks at her. Olesia found herself a bit confused by the reaction- wasn’t this Dalek an anarchist? Wasn’t that what it had labeled itself as?

“Oh- maybe your idea of anarchy and mine are completely different.” She stands up a bit straighter as the doors to the lift open. In front of them the Doctor stands with his long brown coat pulled tight around him. Rose is just there at his side. The Doctor stands with his hands on his hips glaring idly at the door as it opens. He catches Olesia leaning on the casing as Blueton looks up into her eyes. Rose too, watches the last bit of quietness between the two end as the door squeaks open.

“HAH!- so there IS something up between the two of you. Are you sure the human factor hadn’t been introduced to your genetics, Blue tin can?” The Doctor lets out a short loud laugh as he goes in on the Dalek. The eyestalk instantly turns to stare at him- shocked at the implications the Doctor had just made.

“Oh don’t you start! Can’t you see he’s already in a poor mood.” Olesia steps out into the hall leading Blueton out of the lift. The Dalek follows close behind her, keeping an eyestalk on the Doctor. Implying that they were seeing each other?! He was disgusted by the idea.

“I just cannot believe that a pure Dalek would not be killing everyone on sight here. Or working towards doing just that! Someone or something has to have altered you.” He insists, stepping closer to invade the Dalek’s personal space. It quickly moves behind Olesia using her as a meat shield. They were expecting the man to try to pull open his casing to try and remove his mutant self from the core.

“Enough! Why are you always trying to push and shove them into a roll they are clearly trying to avoid? They are trying to make a change, why aren’t you?” Olesia spits back, stepping forwards to meet the Doctor at his own game. She ignores Rose and Blueton both who were skirting around the sides of each of the two confrontational ones - leaving them both to meet in the hall as they move to a more clear part of the hallway. Both Rose and Blue wanted to avoid the argument that was likely to occur here.

“Do not become violent-“ Blue shouts trying to break the pair up as he continues to back away. Rose stands just in front of him content with her distance away from the argueing pair. Blue believed the further away he was from the Doctor- the safer he would be.

“Shh Blue she has a point.” Rose holds her hand behind her to gesture for Blueton to stop moving. They stay just behind Rose as they watch the others argue.

“You’ve already scanned him on multiple occasions- you already know he’s pure. And what if he wasn’t? Why would that matter?” Olesia spits, poking her fingers into the Doctor's chest. She had an idea of why it would matter to Blue- but had no clue why it mattered so much to the Doctor.

“Because they never would! A true Dalek would rather kill itself than live a life as a hybrid. A SANE Dalek would-“ He retorts, holding both hands up and taking a step backwards away from the still approaching Olesia. She was intent on laying hands on him at that point- absolutely fed up with how he was acting. It may have been the hatred feeding into her from the Dalek acting up but she was really feeling a deep seated need to absolutely throw hands.

“I am not insane nor am I a disgusting hybrid.” Blue states plainly from behind Rose who glances over her shoulder to shush him. Blue shifts away from her harsh shushing for a moment realizing they may have just added to the horrid situation.

“Speciest as always, xenophobic! That is how they are that is how they all are! There is no changing that.” He turns away from Olesia to point past Rose towards the blue Dalek in an accusatory way.

“Blueton if you were left with no other choice would you hybridize with something to save yourself? Human Dalek? Or better, Time Lord Dalek?” Olesia laughs, stepping to the Doctor’s side. She was still trying to break line of sight between the Doctor and the Dalek.

“Negative?! Why would that ever be a scenario to come to your mind?!” Blueton sounds disgusted at the suggestion Olesia has made. They would rather die in any sort of situation like that- as if such a situation would ever occur. He had his technology to rely on, the nanotechnology running through his blood was far more than enough to keep him from dying. There would never be the need to hybridize.

“See?” The Doctor gestures past Rose again towards the Dalek as if it had just proven his point.

“You’ve made your point- stop harassing him!” Rose insists as she moves beside Olesia to perfectly block the other’s view of the Dalek. She could tell that this argument would get very out of hand if she didn’t step in. The last thing she wanted was for it to become violent.

“We cannot trust this thing! If it won’t kill us now it will certainly later!” He insists, trying to side step around the pair of them. The Dalek continues to move left to right to stay out of his view.

“I have no interest in harming any species beside my own, the ones who deserve it.” Blue shouts back swinging around the far side of Olesia to glare at the Doctor. Olesia dances around to stay right between the Doctor and the blue Dalek.

“Okay, we can’t keep going around in circles like this. Blueton, come with me please. Doctor- go with your Rose Tyler.” Olesia demands pointing her fingers from one person to the next. She backs away from the Doctor keeping herself in the line of fire of the Dalek’s gunstick as they continue to back away out of the hall. The door closes separating the hall away from the area the pair just left, finally ending the debate for the night.

“So… Do you admit you are not sane?” Olesia smiles slyly and carefully runs her palm down the side of the Dalek’s eyestalk. The being lifts it up and away from the touch. He had allowed himself again to get caught up in an argument that could have been ended quickly had he just exterminated the perpetrator. Yet- he had not.

“Enough of this! Enough of making me feel as if I am the other. I have had to deal with this enough from my own species. I do not need this from you.” BT122 shouts as they lift their manipulator arm and gunstick. Olesia pulls back her arm and eyes the weapons before taking a step closer to him. She was wary, sure - but she was hoping she could offer them some comfort and an apology for pushing this topic too far for too long.

“Why do you want to go back to them? Why do you need their approval so badly after… After what they’ve done to you?” She steps smoothly to his side then past him to lead him further away from the door. The Dalek is silent as it turns and continues to follow her back down the maze of halls. They had to think about just what to say to explain it to her, to explain it to himself.

“I… Crave the thrum from the hive. The sense of belonging.” They pause at the entrance of the hospital wing. The noise of other minds talking, conversing and sharing ideas, theories and plots- the lack of emptiness in every moment because there was always another mind to reflect an idea off of. They look over the door as Olesia pushes it open. Here, he was alone.

“And we don’t satisfy that craving?” She holds the sliding door open as Blueton passes her through the archway into the wide open space. Blueton’s eyestalk twitched and turns in a wide arch as he starts to hear a soft bit of music drone on through the room. It only added to his tension. He needed to locate the source and terminate it.

“It never could.” He admits and moves along beside Olesia as she begins walking towards the bed Henry was likely staying in. He could feel the music growing louder the closer they got which made him twitch and writhe further in his casing. The noise was agitating.

“That’s… Depressing .” She whispers as she walks over to the bed and pulls back the curtains. Henry was resting on his side looking up at an Ood who was sitting down on a folding chair beside the bed. It seems that the two of them were talking very quietly to each other.

“IDENTIFY YOURSELF!” The Dalek moves in closer with their gunstick raised as they stare into the closed off curtained off room. Olesia quickly presses her hand over the top of the gunstick causing Blueton to stop in his tracks. The sheer amount of noise they were hearing in their mind was driving them crazy.

“EXPLAIN?” He shouts over the sound of the music continuing to echo through the room around them. Henry rolls onto his back to look over the decorated blue Dalek. Neither Henry nor Olesia could hear the noise Blue was being driven mad by.

“Please be quiet, Blue.” Henry wines, running a hand over his forehead. The Ood held up their translation device to intervene.

“I am at mister Henry’s service.” The Ood explains as they replace the translation device back to its spot on their chest. This did not help the fact that their was still an alarmingly loud noise going off in the Dalek’s mind.

Blue “I DO NOT UNDERSTAND! THE MALE DOES NOT REQUIRE ANY SERVICES!” He snaps back though the Ood lifts their translator up again. They gesture it to Henry as they speak.

“He required my service. Emotional and physical support. Mister Henry was lonely.” They nod once more to Henry before placing their translator back. Henry gave a small smile up to the blue and silver eyestalk staring down at him. The song is slow and lonely. Needy- and Blueton could not help but hear it.

“BE SILENT!” Blueton pushes past Olesia who is fighting to prevent him from doing so. His goal? To permanently silence the Ood.

“HE DOES NOT REQUIRE ANY SUCH-“

“Blueton PLEASE!” Henry shouts and sits up straight to block the Dalek’s view of the Ood. He then slowly slumps back to staring up at the ceiling. Now Henry’s headache had only been added to via the one growing in the Dalek’s own mind.

“I just lost a close friend… I… Don’t think you understand how badly that can affect someone.” He grumbles and turns away from both Olesia and Blueton to look back at the Ood.

The blue Dalek and Olesia stand side by side, Olesia holding on tight to the gunstick of the Dalek’s as they look down at Henry who is relaxed on the bed staring up at the ceiling. The Ood still remains looking straight into the Dalek’s eyestalk across from the bed. Physically? There was finally silence. But over the mental web between them all? Still an unending strain of music that would not let the Dalek’s mind rest. Even through it all, though Henry’s statement broke them.

“I… Do…” Blue admits though the admission was quiet. Especially when compared to the song now mournful in nature echoing in their head. He knew what loss felt like. He understood.

[k7l4d4]

Midnight Striga: Fairy Tail/Owl House Cross Fic Episode 5 Part 3

Hello all, here I am, once again, presenting you with more of Midnight Striga. Thank you for your consideration.

Eda grumbled, awkwardly shifting in her seat. The fact that she was stuck here, in this den of propaganda and conformity grated on every fiber of her being. Still, the chance to loot this place after the fact was incredibly enticing, feeling herself grin at the thought. Glancing to the kids next to her, Eda took stock of what Luz had shared about them; the Plant Girl had serious power to her, enough to wipe the floor with full adults if she felt like it, and the Illusion Boy was a genuine prodigy, something rare, much like herself. ‘It made sense they would end up in Luz’s odd gravity,’ she mused. As the lights started to dim, signalling the start, Eda grumbled again, longing for it to end.

Bump strode forth to his place on the terrace, raising a mic to his face. “Ladies and Gentlemen! Witches and demons of all ages!” His voice boomed, echoing across the excited crowd. “It is my pleasure,” ‘Suck it up and think of the funding Bump, think of the funding!’ “To present to you… The Emperor’s Coven!!” With an explosion of fog and light, three Guards sauntered forth, with one even launching themselves into the air for the spectacle. Bump groaned internally at the theatrics, reminding himself once again of the funding this would net him and the school. The crowd roared.

“Now, I must ask you, do you all wish to know what the pinnacle of magic is?” He called out, hamming it up.

“Is it this!?” One of Bump’s students, one of the transfers from Glandus if he recalled correctly, excitedly shouted, before magically enlarging their head, collapsing on another student and prompting chuckles from his group.

“Wow, I have failed you as a principal.” Bump bluntly stated at the off-putting sight, not entirely sure how to process it. Brushing the uncomfortable moment aside, Bump regained his momentum. “No, it stands before you! The Emperor’s Coven possesses the ability to use not one, not two, but ALL Forms of magic!!” He boldly proclaimed, as the guards below unleashed dazzling displays of power. Privately, after his conversation that day of Boscha’s brief rampage, Bump wasn’t too sure about the Emperor’s personal followers being the pinnacle they were described as.

“Whoo! Luz, did you see that!” Gus excitedly yelled, bouncing up and down in his seat.

“Eh.” Luz shrugged her shoulders, before critiquing the group below. “Powerful, but overly flashy, and not particularly quick. Wasteful of energy, and not much technique that I can see. I give it a 6 out of 10.” She clinically listed off, marking each point with a raised finger, raising an extra finger to give the score, resulting in Gus and Willow deflating over her disinterest.

Oblivious to the musings of those who had started the change that was slowly encroaching Bonesburough, and the Isles at large, Bump continued his presentation. “And now, it is my honor to present to you,” and this time he wasn’t just speaking out of his rear, “an individual who stands at the top. You know her,” light and mist pooled around his feet, “you love her,” a massive, translucent raven cawed and swooped down next to him, tucking into itself, “give it up for Emperor’s Coven Head, Lilith Clawthorne!!” The raven burst away, revealing Lilith standing next to him as he quickly stepped back, wearing the traditional cloak of the EC and a stylized mask, black-painted lips quirked up in a smile.

Eda choked on her drink (that she’d stolen), desperately sucking for air. She eeked out a hushed, “Lily?”

“You know her?” Luz asked, Willow and Gus sparing Eda a glance of light concern.

Eda gave a resigned nod. “She’s my sister.” This elicited widened eyes from the three, and Eda just knew they’d be asking questions afterward. Ugh.

Lilith walked up to the front of the terrace, mildly glad for her former principal’s presence and his glowing introduction, she would NEVER admit it aloud but she always gained the worst jitters when it came to public speaking, even if she was skilled in it. She smoothly pulled away her mask, allowing her features to be seen and admired by the crowd. She felt a smug glow of satisfaction over her looks, before focusing on the present situation. “Citizens of the Boiling Isles!!” Her voice boomed, a neat little trick she had learned for just these sorts of situations. “I am proud to stand before you today, humbled by the exaltation you have displayed.” She gave an elaborate bow, prompting a roar of enthusiasm from the crowd. 

“It wasn’t easy to rise as far as I have. I too started from humble beginnings.” This prompted some muttering from the assembled crowd, particularly from those students who were themselves from rather humble backgrounds. “But now, I possess the highest honor of enforcing the Emperor’s will!” An honor that would all be worth it when he saved her sister, her stubborn, arrogant, bleeding-heart sister. “And today, I am pleased to present my protege!” She announced, raising her hand. In a burst of light, there she stood. “Amity Blight!” As the crowd went wild, she allowed her student to bask in it, a smirk playing across her face at the barely hidden giddiness. “She has taken the steps to excel, to ascend to the highest level! Work hard, and the Emperor’s Coven awaits you!” She shouted, slamming her staff down, and with a flash, she and Amity vanished into the depths of the Center, the crowd crowing in delight behind them.

Smirking, she and Amity waltzed into the main area of the center, watching in satisfaction as the excited crowd poured from the stadium area. Turning to her with gleaming eyes, Amity said. “That was amazing Miss Lilith! You were incredible out there.” She said with a grin, before turning serious. “I must ask, when will our next lesson take place?”

Lilith hid a smirk. The girl was eager, ambitious, skilled, and dedicated; even just one of those traits would serve her well in life, but all? She would truly be a monster to contend with as she grew older. She just needed to look into subtlety a bit more. “I believe I can schedule a lesson to take place in a weeks time, sometime around the weekend. If that’s acceptable of course.” She raised an eyebrow. She knew it would be, but politeness and social expectations existed for a reason.

Amity gave a solemn nod. “Of course. I will take my leave.” She said, walking off into the crowd, entering from the area containing those who had not exited the stadium, a smart way to avoid being mobbed by the crowd.

“Take care, Amity Blight.” Lilith murmured. “It would not do for your potential to be cut short.” With her musings over, she wandered into the main body of the Covention, prepared to meet and greet her public. Ah, the sacrifices made for a life such as hers.

Amity wandered through the center, idly taking note of the various Covens that had set up today. None truly interested her, but seeing the dedication on display, the willingness to restrict oneself so deeply in pursuit of one’s personal passions was admirable in its own way. She wondered what path she would’ve taken, had she not been born a Blight; would she still have this intense drive to excel, or would she be content with simpler things? She would never truly know, but it was an interesting thought. Lost in her musings, she was rightfully started when she crashed into someone.

As she fell, Amity caught a glimpse of the person who had also taken a plunge in their collision, and her eyes widened. Chocolaty brown skin. Smooth, swirled brunette hair. A light blue shirt with a stylized picture of a cat, tucked beneath a hybrid vest and jacket of gleaming white with a climbing vine decal. Well worn beige pants, and sporty looking shoes. Wide expressive eyes. And, most telling, rounded ears. In a flash, Amity had essentially memorized her appearance. Now if only she could puzzle out why she had done so…

With a small gasp of slight pain, Amity crashed to the ground, the human girl doing so not a second later. Growling at the discomfort, Amity quickly moved to her feet, wrestling control from her temper before it reacted over an accident. “Oh man, I am so sorry for that.” The human groaned, clambering to her feet. Stretching herself out briefly, the girl gave Amity a discerning look, before familiarity dawned on her. “Oh yeah, you were at the school that day! Amity, right?” She asked, holding out a hand for a shake.

Amity glanced at the hand, and briefly contemplated not shaking, before stifling the impulse, giving the girl a firm grip. “Indeed. I don’t believe we’ve been formally introduced, however.” She said, cocking an eyebrow. She gave a shallow bow. “I am Amity Blight, youngest of the Blight family and heir-apparent of our name and company, Blight Industries. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance.” She recited, keeping the kind of bland, formal tone you’d expect from a meeting between politicians, prompting a mild look of surprise from Luz.

The human grinned, almost amused, much to Amity’s confusion. “Well, Miss Blight, it is a pleasure to officially meet you when you aren’t acting like a bitch.” She said bluntly, but without a hint of malice or mocking that Amity could detect.

Amity awkwardly clutched her shirt, feeling small at the reminder of her conduct from that day, however lacking in harshness that reminder was. “Indeed. Speaking of which, may I know your name?” She requested.

The human arched an eyebrow, but shrugged, agreeing. “Eh, why not. The name’s Luz Noceda. Why did you ask?”

Amity internally sighed in relief that she’d be able to finish part of her mission so quickly. “For this.” Stepping back, Amity once again bowed, this time a full bow at the waist, head parallel to the ground. “Luz Noceda, I, Amity Blight, offer my sincerest apologies for my conduct towards you prior to today. I allowed anger, suspicion, and bias to cloud my judgement, but that is no excuse for what I said to you. I was dismissive, rude, and judgmental. If my apology is insufficient, I will do anything within reason to make amends.” Amity shut her eyes tight, desperately begging to the Titan that she wouldn’t be ridiculed, that her words would be accepted. The fact that this was so public… it burned her, how many people might try and hurt her with this.

“Aw man, could you get up? There’s no need for that.” Amity cracked an eye open, spying Luz’s sardonic expression.

“I beg your pardon?” Amity started.

“Look,” Luz began, giving a loose shrug, “I’ve been called way worse before by much more horrible people than you. Was I mad when you said those things? Oh absolutely. But, I got over it, because it wasn’t worth holding a grudge against someone who probably ended up regretting it, if they hadn’t already regretted it after saying it, and had been punished enough. You okay with just forgetting about it all?”

Amity huffed, amused at Luz’s candidness. “Very well.” Her face grew serious. “However, I would like to make a request, if it isn’t too presumptuous of me.”

“Oh?” Luz mused, cocking her head. “That depends on what your request is.”

“What are you?” Amity asked, Luz pulling up short, dumbfounded. Amity continued on. “I know you’re human. But strange things have surrounded you. You helped Willow gain an immense increase in skill after just a short conversation, and was able to oversee her application of her new skill level. You were able to survive a confrontation against Boscha while she was wielding those flames. And there have been rumors about someone matching your expression appearing around town.” She slowly walked around Luz, allowing herself to gain a better look all around. “I want answers for the mysteries surrounding you. Please.” She finished, fixing a strong, unwavering stare on Luz.

Luz sighed, scratching her head. “Ugh, fine, but it’ll cost you.” She said, opening a single eye to look at Amity.

Amity nodded firmly. “How much.” She had told herself she wouldn’t be leaving the girl without answers, and even if her mother was annoyed at the expense, it would be well worth it to give Amity peace of mind.

“An apology.”

Amity paused, perplexed. “But I already gave you one?”

Luz shook her head, elaborating. “Not for me. For Willow. If you want answers, you have to apologize to Willow.”

Amity gave a smirk. “Well lucky for me I was already planning on doing just that.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Provided she grants me an apology as well.”

“Huh, looks like things’ll work out pretty easily! She wanted to give you one too.”

“In that case, I see no reason we shouldn’t look for her. Care to join me?” Amity finished, gesturing for Luz to follow her. Shrugging, the human girl followed the witch through the crowd, unaware of the elongated figure looming in the shadows.

Eda stormed through the Covention, nimble fingers snatching up odds and ends as she shifted through the crowd, looking for her quarry. As she finished stashing the last of her loot in her hair, her eyes sharpened, spotting her target. Gliding forth, she stopped dead center in front of her prey.

“Hey Lily.” Eda grinned, all teeth.

“Ah, Edalyn!” Lilith drawled, pulling herself up from where she had been signing a little Witchling’s poster. “You came after all!” She placed a hand under her chin, looking smug. “Still rooting around in the trash in that shack of yours?” She chuckled at her little ‘joke.’

Eda rolled her eyes. “Yeah yeah, real funny.” Getting an idea, she leaned over to the kids, she whispered. “Hey, did you kids know Lily used to wet her bed until she was-”

“Edalyn!” Lilith yelped in embarrassment as the children giggled.

Eda smirked, before pulling out her wallet (one of them anyway), and gave each child a small snail bill. “Hey, why don’t you kids all get yourselves a treat and go back to your parents, okay?” As the children eagerly nodded, rushing off, she turned to Lilith, her smile dropping into cool seriousness.

“Ugh, what do you want, Edalyn?” Lilith scoffed, folding her arms. Suddenly, she blinked, eyes brightening. “Unless… you’re finally here to join the Coven!” She cheered, a childish delight gleaming in her eyes.

“No.” Eda flatly stated.

“Oh.” Lilith said just as flatly, her excitement dead already. “Well, in that case-”

“I learned something pretty interesting, Lily.” Eda began, grabbing her sister’s attention. “About how the Emperor’s Coven presented what happened to me to the public.”

Lilith felt her blood chill; she had never really agreed with that decision, but it had been out of her hands. If Edalyn was bringing this up now… “And this holds bearing, how?” She asked, trying to play it off.

“I want you to set the record straight, Lily.” Eda said, a note of barely contained fury in her voice. “Now. If not sooner.”

Lilith reeled back. “I couldn’t possibly do such a thing! It is the Emperor’s Will!”

“Nuts to the Emperor, Lily!!” Eda shouted, slamming her fist against the wall nearest to them. “He used my pain, my trauma, my public humiliation as a way to get people to fall in line. I hate the Coven System, but I’m willing to accept that for most people, they choose to be a part of it. But using what happened to me as a way of scaring kids into falling in step!? I won’t stand for it!!”

“It’s not my decision to make, Edalyn.” Lilith coldly replied. “And really, you have no one but yourself to blame; if you just joined a Coven all that silliness would just drift away.” She firmly replied, internally begging that Edalyn would finally see reason, to agree with her, to admit she was right!!!

Eda paused. Then she chuckled. “Okay. I really didn’t want to do this. But! It looks like you aren’t giving me a real choice.” With a sigh, Eda stepped back, just enough to where she could point at Lilith at full extension. “Lilith Clawthorne, I challenge you to a Witch’s Duel.”

Nearby Witches and Demons gasped, reeling back, even as Lilith herself blinked in shock.

“Edalyn, you can’t possibly be serious!” She said, shock still coursing through her body.

“The terms are as follows,” Eda said, steadfastly ignoring the increasing mutters of the crowd. “If I win, you have to publicly admit the truth behind my curse, not that crap the Emperor peddles. If you win, I’ll join Bonehead’s little club.” She finishes, crossing her arms in defiance.

“Edalyn, you can’t be-” Lilith starts, only to cut herself off with a choke, as Eda formed the glowing white circle of an unbreakable vow, already sticking her hand through. “You really are serious.” Lilith breathes out.

“I am.” Eda says grimly. Staring at her sister’s hand trepidatiously, Lilith’s eyes flash with fear, shock, longing, pride, and finally, determination. Reaching out, she joins hands with her sister, for the first time in years… and completes the vow. The duel is officially on.

“A Witch’s Duel, eh?” A cold voice mutters in the dark, shadowed figures lurking behind them. “Well, won’t that be a fun way to start this operation.” They chuckled, their entourage cackling behind them, the cooling corpse of a Coven Guard behind them.

[calpalirwin]

Alternate Love

Summary: Anon request- I wish you would write a fic where: talk about alternate affection, platonically/romantically. Or Someone who's gotten shit for being manipulative/cut throat to survive life. Teach people it's not bad. You can manipulate people to believe in themselves/out of anxieties. And. Maybe they arent verbal but they know x's fave color is green so they wear green arnd them to show they care. Some1 gave them a ring so they always wear it around them to show they appreciate gesture, tho its not the fave.🐍

A/N: Mini rant- I can’t even begin to put into words how close to home this request hit. Like I am not an overt touchy-feely love person. And for the longest time I always felt something was wrong with me because I wasn’t that way. But there are so many ways to love people, and as long as it’s consensual, love the way you love, whether it’s loud and in your face, or blink and you’ll miss it. And find someone who loves you that way, because fuck watering yourself down for anybody.

Content: Quieter forms of affection

Word Count: 1.2k

And away, and away we go!

__

“Fuck, dude. I dunno. I just feel nervous,” the man with striking blue eyes muttered into a phone, a soft chuckle escaping him as he passed a hand through blonde curls. 

“Well, that’s stupid,” the woman next to him scoffed into her drink. 

“Excuse me?” the man asked, quirking an eyebrow in her direction. “No, not you, man. I’ll call you back,” he spoke quickly into the phone. “It’s rude to eavesdrop you know.”

“Eavesdropping would imply I was listening to both sides of the conversation. I was just making an observation. For all you know, my observation could have been about… well, anything, really.”

“Well, the timing is a tad coincidental.”

“Well, if the shoe fits…”

“Why is it stupid for me to feel nervous?”

“Because if we allowed our nerves to control us, then we would never get anything done. Ergo, feeling nervous is stupid. Feel confident instead. Trust in yourself.”

“Okay, but why can’t you just say that instead of calling me stupid?”

“I didn’t call you stupid.”

“Calling my feelings stupid isn’t much better.”

“Got your attention though, didn’t it? And as I said before, I was just making an observation.”

“An observation we agreed was about me.”

“Did we?”

“Are you always this charming?” The man’s words dripped heavy with rhetoric and sarcasm.

The woman shrugged. “Your opinion of me doesn’t affect me. And if my opinion of you matters to you… well… that’s your problem.”

He leaned in with a dangerous smirk. “And what is your opinion of me?”

She met his look, her brown eyes full of dark trouble that made his heart race in his chest. “I don’t have an opinion of you.”

He titled his head back, hand clutching at his chest like he’d been wounded. “Ouch,” he chuckled.

She shrugged again. “World’s not always gonna be nice to you just because you look like you, pretty boy. Toughen up.”

“Name’s Luke, actually.”

“I don’t care.”

“Of course you don’t. Why would you?”

“I’m not holding you hostage, Luke. If you’re offended, you’re free to leave.”

“Maybe I don’t wanna leave. Maybe I like being offended by you.”

“Wow, you really do depend on your looks to seal the deal for you, don’t ya?”

Luke’s hands went up in surrender. “Alright, hint taken. Your need to comment on everything isn’t you flirting with me. Got it. Message received.”

“Good. Now you’re learning.”

“Must get lonely pushing people away like that.”

“Rather be alone than surrounded by fake people.”

“Ooo, now who thinks the observation’s about her?” Luke teased.

“Tad coincidental, no?”

“If the shoe fits…”

~~~

“Oh, that’s a cute shirt!” Crystal told her friend as they got ready.

“Thanks!” Victoria flashed a smile. “It’s Luke’s favorite.”

“Oh?” Crystal raised a skeptical eyebrow. “I thought you guys were just friends.”

“We are!” Victoria defended.

“Is that your favorite shirt, too?”

“I mean, I like it. But I wouldn’t say it’s my favorite.”

“Mhm…”

“Oh, whatever,” Victoria laughed as she slid a silver bracelet on her wrist.

“You don’t wear jewelry…” Crystal pointed out.

“Well I feel like wearing it tonight.”

“Didn’t Luke get you that for your birthday?”

“So? What of it?”

Crystal sighed deeply. “How long have I been your friend?”

“Like forever, which is why it was funny I never ran into Luke before I did.”

“Mhm… And in the what? Six months you’ve known him, you’re going out of your way to wear his favorite shirt and a bracelet he bought you? Even though you don’t like either because you never wear that shirt and you hate jewelry because you think it’s too flashy? But, you’re just friends with Luke?”

“You’re reading way too much into this.”

“Or you’re not reading enough into it.”

“Okay,” Victoria clicked her tongue. “Say I do like him. That doesn’t mean he likes me back. I damn near made him cry when I met him because he thought I called him stupid.”

“Okay, but you didn’t actually call him stupid. And he admitted he was flirting with you. Or trying to anyway.”

“Yeah. He tried, and I blew it, so he stopped.”

“Did he? I mean did any of your other friends get you a bracelet for your birthday?”

“No…”

“Well?”

“Okay, but why, Crys? Luke could easily have any woman on the face of the planet. Why would he want a bitch like me?”

“Hey, that’s my best friend you’re trash talking. You’re not a bitch, Tor. You just don’t play games because too many people have played games with you.”

“That may be true, but you have to admit it’s a little off-putting.”

“So what? You’re just gonna water yourself down for other people’s sake?”

“No. I shouldn’t have to.”

“Exactly. You shouldn’t have to.”

“Okay, and what does this have to do with Luke?”

“He clearly likes you if he got you a birthday gift even though you’re just friends. And you clearly like him back if you’re actually wearing it rather than letting it sit with all your other jewelry.”

“Okay, and what am I supposed to do? Go up and kiss him?”

“That’s certainly a good starting point.”

~~~

“Hey, ya made it!” Luke’s grin was wide, and his hug was warm as his arms wrapped around Victoria.

“I said I was coming, didn’t I?” she asked as she stepped out of his embrace.

“I meant that I’m glad you’re here. Shirt looks good on you. Is that the bracelet I got you?”

“Yeah.”

“Aw, you didn’t have to wear it. Crystal told me after the fact that jewelry’s not your thing. Wish she had told me before, so I could’ve bought you something you actually like, though...”

“I do like it.”

“You do?!” His blue eyes lit up with childlike excitement.

“Of course I do. You bought it for me when you didn’t have to.”

“It was your birthday. You deserved something nice.”

“That’s really sweet of you, Luke.”

“What are friends for, right?”

“Yeah. Friends. About that actually. Do you like me?”

Luke laughed. “What kind of question is that? Of course I like you, Tor.”

“Yeah I know. I mean- ugh. This is so stupid. Nevermind. Forget I said anything.”

“Whoa, hold on,” he said, his hand reaching to grab her arm as she started to move away. “If you brought it up, then it’s not stupid. So, c’mon. Talk to me, Tor.”

She stared up at him, her mind racing with trying to find the right words to say, or questions to ask. But when his tongue poked out to wet at his lips, her mind went blank as all she heard was Crystal telling her that a kiss would be a good place to start. And she hoped the other woman was right as she leaned up on her toes and closed the distance.

Luke chuckled, breaking the kiss, his thumb rubbing over where her lips had just been. “Yeah,” he nodded, his eyes sparkling pools of the softest blue. “Yeah, I like you that way. Didn’t think you felt the same.”

“I’m wearing this damn bracelet and shirt, aren’t I?”

“Ha! I knew you didn’t like the bracelet!”

“Yeah, well I’m pretty crazy about the boy who bought it, so it’s a small price to pay.”

“Pretty crazy, huh? That’s uh… a little different than just plain old like, isn’t it?”

“Oh, just shut up and kiss me.”

__

Tag List

@frontmanash​ @goeatsomelife​ @flameraine​ @here-for-the-uproars​ @cxddlyash​ @1-irwin-94​ @sparkling-calm​ @tea4sykes​ @youngblood199456​ @5-seconds-of-obsession​ @gosh-im-short​ @aquarius-hood1996​ @talkfastromance4​ @itjustkindahappenedreally​ @philthepegacorn​ @boomerash​

[tuff-and-fluff-archives]

Party Preparations (Yuletide F/O Event)

Word Count: 1750

Content Warnings: Alcohol Mention

Summary: Not even getting ready for a party is an easy task with Junkrat around. Will Ruby be able to get her boyfriend to comply in time, or will these ADHD- riddled fools get too distracted by each other’s cute outfits? Well, the answer’s obvious, but at least Roadhog is there to help them out.

AAAAH I’M A SLOWPOKE BUT HERE IT’S DONE! I’m so glad I got this done in time for @nougatships​ ‘s event! I’m really looking forward to this event so I’m happy that I was able to finish this hhhhh. It’s far from perfect but I’m just happy it’s done! Also, here’s what Jamie and I will be wearing! (I didn’t include anything for Mako cuz I like that being left up to the imagination.)

“Jamie! Will you just unlock the door already?”

“No! I'm not goin', darl, not if I have ta wear that shit!”

Ruby let out an annoyed huff as she leaned back against the bedroom door, clutching a green flannel shirt in one hand. She, along with Junkrat and Roadhog, had been preparing to leave for a holiday party, but as the night went on, Junkrat had only grown more and more irked that he would need to wear somewhat formal attire for the event, which had culminated in him stubbornly locking himself in his and Ruby’s shared bedroom.

“Jamison,” Ruby called out again, “are you only complaining because you have put on a shirt with long sleeves?”

“... Maybe!”

“C'mon, honey, you know you can’t go shirtless. Even Mako was alright with putting on his sweater!”

“Well he always gets way too into this whole holiday thing anyway!”

Ruby looked back down the hall at Roadhog, who was in the kitchen adding a few finishing touches to the sugar cookies that he had baked earlier that day. The giant of a man was wearing a headband with antlers on it over the top of his mask, along with a flashy sweater with a cartoon pig wearing a Santa hat and the phrase “MERRY PIGMAS” below it.

“... Okay, maybe so,” Ruby answered, turning back to the locked door. “But you picked this shirt out yourself, Jamie! I thought we were gonna do a matching colors kind of thing.”

Junkrat let out a frustrated whine, a clear signal to Ruby that he was giving in. Time to go for the kill.

“You haven't even seen how I look in my outfit yet, honey. I think this dress is really cute, I was looking forward to finding out what you thought…”

There was silence. Then, Ruby noticed the door begin to creep open, and Junkrat's wide amber eyes peered through the cracked door to get a peek at the outfit in question. Ruby took the opportunity to shove the door open, taking Junkrat by surprise and making him stumble backward, and she quickly rushed into the room and tackled him, sending him to the ground.

“Aah!! You tricked me Roobs, no fair!” Junkrat squealed, although he couldn’t help but grin up at his girlfriend as she pinned him to the floor and gave him an up-close view of her new dress.

Ruby leaned in close and teasingly kissed his nose. “All is fair in love and war, my dear. Now put your shirt on!" She shoved the button-up into his face, and he let out a giggle before yanking it out of her grip. 

“Alright, alright, love, stop talkin’ nonsense, I'm puttin' the damn shirt on!”

Ruby scooted down a bit and moved her legs to the side so that she could sit in Junkrat’s lap as he sat up straight. “I was gonna do it all the while anyway,” he chirped with a smug grin as he briskly tore the button-up shirt open. “I just wanted ta make ya work.” He stuck his tongue out, and she playfully smacked his shoulder.

As he slipped the shirt up his arms and over his broad shoulders, Ruby helped him roll the right sleeve up out of the way of his prosthetic arm before she started to fasten the buttons, starting at the lowest one first. As she focused on the task at hand, Junkrat sat back and admired how his girl looked in that low-cut red dress that was short enough to show off her chubby thighs, and he couldn’t stop himself from reaching up and sliding her cardigan off her shoulder to reveal even more of her soft skin.

Ruby kept her eyes on his shirt, but she immediately took notice of his intentions. “Jamie, remember we’re going to leave in five minutes,” she affirmed as she made it to the last few buttons and attempted to fight back a blush. “We’re supposed to be getting dressed.”

Junkrat giggled at the red hue coming over her cheeks as he trailed his hand down to her hip to pull her even closer, and he squeezed her thigh while he leaned in to purr in her ear, “Ya know, babe, you really do look like a right spunk in that pretty little outfit a’ yers.”

As she finished buttoning his shirt, leaving the top one open to provide a glimpse at his chest, she felt a smile spread across her face and a rush of heat go through her body. She moved her hands up to fix his collar and at last made eye contact with him as he grinned down at her, and the blush on her face only strengthened as she felt Junkrat’s hand slide up to cup her bottom.

“J-Jamison, come on. We’re already gonna be late.”

“They can consider it fashionably late,” Junkrat chuckled mischievously as he raked his eyes over her outfit before he looked down at his own and noticed that she had left the top button of his shirt undone. “Oi, Roobs, I think ya missed one.”

“I know,” Ruby whispered as she slowly pulled his face close by his collar. “I like when you leave some cleavage exposed,” she joked.

A deep laugh rumbled in Junkrat’s chest, and he felt his lips brush against Ruby’s as he mumbled, “Well then, that makes two of us.” And with that, they let their mouths crash together, and Ruby moved a hand up to grip Junkrat’s blonde hair as his arms wrapped around her small body to push her tight to his chest. The two were so caught up in their makeout session that they hardly noticed Roadhog stomping down the hall and finding them on the floor of their bedroom.

Roadhog slammed his fist on the door to get the lovers’ attention. “We’re going to be late,” he grumbled, making his annoyance more than clear.

Junkrat looked over to his friend and flashed a wide smile, lipstick smeared around his mouth and not an ounce of shame in his body as he excitedly gestured to his girlfriend. “Look, Hoggie! Doesn’t my Ruby look fuckin’ great in her little outfit?!”

Roadhog merely let out a tired huff before turning around and walking back down the hall.

“Eh, what does he know about fashion,” Junkrat scoffed as he turned back to Ruby. She decided not to burst his bubble and kept it to herself that Roadhog had probably seen plenty of her outfit for the twenty minutes that she had been standing in front of the locked bedroom door. He held Ruby close and stood up so that he was carrying her bridal style and placed a short and sweet kiss to her cheek. “Ya look better than all the gold in the world, darling.”

As Junkrat carried his girlfriend out to the living room, the two saw that Roadhog was already headed out the door, a platter of his homemade sugar cookies in one hand and the car keys in the other hand.

“We better hurry and join him before he leaves us,” Ruby said as she looked up at Junkrat.

“Alright, then let’s- oh shit, wait a tick!” he blurted as he hastily set Ruby down, nearly dropping her before he dashed into the kitchen.

Ruby rolled her eyes, but it was a good opportunity to grab a scarf for her boyfriend so that he kept warm, so she moved to the closet and grabbed his favorite flame-patterned scarf as she heard him rummaging through the fridge before he ran back to her with a boxed pack of beer tucked under his arm. She raised an eyebrow as she turned to wrap the scarf around his neck. “Jamie, are you serious?”

“Aw c’mon Roobs, it ain’t a proper party without heaps of grog!” He flashed a wide smile in the hopes that she would let him bring the alcohol along.

As much as she wanted to say no, Ruby didn’t feel like wasting even more time and testing Roadhog’s patience even further, so she rolled her eyes before tiredly saying, “Alright, fine, but if you get shitfaced you’re going home in the trunk.”

“Deal!” Junkrat beamed and bent down to give Ruby another kiss as she wrapped his scarf around his neck, and he confidently stood up straight and turned towards the door. "Alrighty, let's move out!!"

As Junkrat ran for the open door, he let out a gag as Ruby firmly held onto his scarf to stop him in his tracks. 

"Ey,” he sputtered, “the hell was that for?! I almost dropped me grog!"

"C'mon Jamie, you know the drill. I can't have you banned from another one of my friend's houses," Ruby chided as she moved so that she was standing right in front of him.

"Hmph, s'not my fault they didn't know how ta have a party."

"Well not everyone has the same definition of fun as you, honey. Also, you blew a hole in their roof. Now come on, arms up before I lock you in the bedroom."

Junkrat didn't hesitate to comply, setting down the box and lifting his arms to allow Ruby to give him a pat-down and ensure that he didn't sneak any of his explosives out with him.

"You promise you're gonna behave tonight?" Ruby asked as she checked all his pockets.

"Yes, sweetie."

"No trying to challenge people to any types of fights or 'challenges'?"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

She was almost finished as she stooped down to run her hands down the legs of his pants. "And you'll be watching your mouth, right?"

"Of fucking course I will, babe!"

She looked up at him with pursed lips and one eyebrow raised. He let out a little giggle before kneeling down on one knee and cupping her face to kiss her forehead.

"I'll be on me best behavior, my Ruby," he promised.

She briefly turned her head to kiss the palm of his hand and muttered out a “thank you, sunshine” before refocusing herself. “Well, you’re clean, so you’re free to go. Now let’s get in the car before Mako drives off without us.”

“Yes, ma’am!” Junkrat grinned as he grabbed the twelve-pack and stood back up. He extended his hand to help Ruby up as well before gripping her hand tight and running out the door with her, giving her barely enough time to shut the door behind her as they dashed to the car, ready for a night of socializing- and hopefully, not too much mayhem.

[nomettesbizzareadventure]

CaeJose Week 2018 // “Future”

    The night after Joseph retrieves his adorable pissy nerd grandson and his purple friend from prison, he gets a phone call from Suzie. It must be early in the morning in New York- he can hear the sound of water kettle heating up and dishes clinking as Roses prepares breakfast, and he feels a sudden stab of jealousy that he’s not there with her.

    “Caesar’s on his way to you,” Suzie says, her voice uncharacteristically serious.

    “Caesar?” Joseph says. He and Caesar have always orbited each other like planets, but in the years since Holly moved to Japan their contact has been more and more infrequent, their lives stretched out between New York and England and Los Angeles and Rome. The last time Joseph saw Caesar, they were at Lisa Lisa’s funeral, shoulder to shoulder with her coffin between them. Lisa Lisa was more of a mother to Caesar than she was to him, and while Joseph didn’t resent either of them for it, it meant that he didn’t have anything to say- not to Caesar, and not to the gravestone. Afterwards, they went out and got incredibly smashed, and for about six hours Joseph felt like he was 18 again. But that was months ago, and they haven't spoken since.

    “He’s worried about this whole business with the stands,” Suzie reports.

    “He’s always worried,” Joseph complains, but he’s not really annoyed. It’s starting to look like they’ll need all the backup they can get.

    “Did he tell you about his stand?” Suzie asks, and giggles at Joseph’s obvious surprise.

    “OH MY GOD?! A stand- how- where did he- when- Suzie, what does it do?!”

    “Well, if he didn’t tell you, I don’t think I should…” Suzie says coyly.

    “Suzie, baby, angel, sweetheart, you can’t just-”

    Joseph’s conversation with Suzie is interrupted by Jotaro appearing ominously in his doorway, dressed in a Queen tank top and pajama pants and exuding ominous vibes in every direction.

    “I’m trying to sleep. Keep it down, gramps.” Joseph tries, he really does, but he fails to get any more information out of Suzie and after fifteen minutes Jotaro reappears, silently crushes the phone into dust, and then goes back to sleep. It’s hard being a genius, Joseph reflects sadly as he ticks himself into bed. No one appreciates him.

    The next day Jotaro comes home with an unconscious boy slung over his shoulder and then rescues his new friend from vampire tentacle. Joseph will give this to Jotaro- he might be a bad-tempered little brat, but at least he has the composure and skills to back up his scowls.  Of course, he immediately leaves after his rescue, probably embarrassed to have done something nice for another human being, and Joseph is left to explain to Kakyoin that he’s been under control by a sexy vampire for several weeks.

    Kakyoin takes it about as well as anyone can considering the circumstances, which is to say that he excuses himself to the bathroom and doesn’t come out for a long period of time. Joseph suspects he’s crying, or trying not to cry. Teenagers.

    Between this and that, Joseph entirely forgets about Caesar until about 7 the next morning, when someone comes careening into their driveway, motor loud enough to wake the dead, brakes squealing like a subway train, opera music playing at full blast. One last scream from the lead singer, and the car switches off. There’s the sound of a door slamming shut, and then the beep-beep of a car being locked.

    Caesar’s here, Joseph thinks, and then he’s clambering out of bed and putting his clothes on. A minute later and he’s at the door. He can see Caesar’s pink rental car through the window; it sits among the tasteful gardens of the Kujo estate like a stripper at church.

Caesar himself is waiting impatiently at the door, beautiful as ever. He’s the only bastard Joseph knows who could hop on a flight from Italy to Japan and come out looking the kind of disheveled that models spend hours in the makeup studio trying to achieve. His hair is a fine light blond, just beginning to shade to white, and he looks closer to thirty than to sixty, the wide muscle of his shoulder framed by his crop-top and elbow length gloves. At the sight of Joseph, a pink and blue humanoid flashes into existence behind him and poses, one finger pointed in Joseph’s direction.

Caesar grins real wide at Joseph’s shocked expression and throws his head back, his stand combing its fingers through his hair.

“I call it Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy,” Caesar says. His stand blows Joseph a kiss, and a pink bubble emerges from its lips and floats through the air. Curious, Joseph reaches for the bubble with his mechanical arm. It pops. A curious tingle passes through his body, and he finds that the entire left side of his body has gone numb.

“Hey,” he starts to protest, and Caesar grins and grabs Joseph in a headlock. They scuffle for a bit before Hermit Purple can finally get a grip on Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy and make it reverse the effect, which it does with a delicate kiss.

“Not dead yet, I see,” Caesar jeers. It’s a long-standing contention between them that Joseph doesn’t practice his hamon training as much as Caesar thinks he should. When Joseph’s hair first started to go white, Caesar took it as a personal insult.

    “You’re two years older than me!” Joseph responds, like he always does. Holly comes out of the house, and all the levity drains out of Caesar’s face. It’s only a moment and then his smile is plastered back on, but Joseph knows Caesar well enough to know when he’s bluffing.

    “Holly!” Caesar says, pulling her into a hug. They exchange enthusiastic greetings, but Joseph can tell something’s wrong. Caesar’s stand is hovering behind Holly, hand outstretched over her back like it wants to touch but can’t.

    “It’s been such a long time since we’ve had this much company,” Holly says, laughing. “Are you here to help Papa?”

    “I am,” Caesar says, and kisses her forehead. Holly’s eyelashes flutter, and goes limp. There’s something growing all along her back, thorns and vines, and Joseph doesn’t need to catch Caesar’s eyes to know what it is. A stand. A parasitic stand.

    “Holly,” he says, and his voice trembles in his throat.

    “This is your fault,” Caesar says quietly. The one big argument, the one that nearly brought down their house, the one that kept Ceasar from talking to Joseph for nearly a year- was about teaching Holly the ripple. Caesar wanted her to learn. He said that there were more monsters in the world than either of them knew about, and that it was an important tradition, and that Lisa Lisa would have wanted her to know, and then as the argument progressed he called Joseph negligent and lazy and selfish and, well...

    They both said a lot of things that they would regret later, but Holly never learned the ripple. Joseph wanted her to have a better life than Caesar had, a better life than Lisa Lisa had, and here she is, her life leaking out of her drip by drip by drip.

    “What’s wrong with her?” Jotaro demands. Joseph didn’t even see him appear.

    “Her stand is killing her,” Caesar says, and Jotaro’s face goes pale and furious, his stand looming behind him. After that, a lot of things happen in quick succession. The Speedwagon Foundation is called. Jotaro’s stand discovers a new talent for zoological artwork. Plane tickets are booked. Suitcases are packed.

    Caesar comes to Joseph when he’s in his room packing and shuts the door, and Joseph thinks for a moment that it’s going to be bad.

    “If you’ve come here to gloat at me over my daughter’s unconscious body I will beat the shit out of you,” he says, and means it. Caesar pauses, and then he keeps walking. He comes to a stop in front of Joseph, and then grabs him in a hug.

    “Dumbass,” he says. A lump rises in Joseph’s throat. He’s not a crybaby, whatever Caesar might accuse him of. He can hold it together for as long as he needs to, and right now it’s looking like that will be forty days and forty nights, god- the timer on his little girl’s life. Still, he lets Caesar hug him. He misses the days when they used to cuddle in the tower while insisting that they weren’t cuddling and Caesar would let Joseph fall asleep in his lap. It’s terrible, what time does to people, how far it takes you from the things you care about.

“I wish I’d been wrong,” Caesar says, and that gets a muffled laugh out of  Joseph. Caesar gives great hugs. He’s huge, solid, the feel of his body familiar even after all these years.

“You? Wrong?” Joseph says. “I’m sure that never happens, Caesar-chan.”

“I’m glad you can admit it at last,” Caesar says, pulling back from him. “We’ll do this, Joseph. Just like last time.”

“If I recall correctly, I did most of the work last time,” Joseph says, earning him a scowl from Caesar.

“That’s a failure on both our parts, then, since you hate work,” Caesar retaliates.

“You’re mean,” Joseph says, but he’s smiling. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, Old Man,” Caesar says, and Joseph winces.

“Don’t say that, it makes you sound like Jotaro.”

“Oh, you don’t want me to call you Jiji? You’re right, I don’t want to imply that I respect you.” Caesar may be the last remaining ripple master and have a shiny new stand and this and that, but at the end of the day Joseph can put him in a headlock until his hair looks awful and his face is pink, and that’s what really matters.

                        Kakyoin takes the initiative to order in some food, and they all troop outside to eat by the river while the doctors set up inside the house. None of them really want to watch as Holly is hooked up to their machines. As they’re trooping over the bridge and back towards the house, Jotaro’s new tentacle friend declares his intention to come with on their trip.

    “What use are you going to be?” Caesar asks. Behind Kakyoin’s back, Jotaro’s eyebrows go up slightly. He and Caesar have always gotten along well. Before Jotaro was a punk, he was the kind of nerd that admired Caesar’s flashy clothes and sweet words, and Joseph’s always suspected that he took up smoking in imitation of his ‘cool uncle.’

    “I beg your pardon,” Kakyoin says politely, and then Caesar goes careening over the edge of the bridge and comes to a stop just shy of the water, a piece of Hierophant Green wrapped around his ankle. Joseph didn’t see Kakyoin summon it, so he can only assume it was lurking under the bridge. He reluctantly awards Kakyoin points for preparation and audacity.

“Is that all,” Caesar says, laughing. Lover Boy pries Hierophant Green’s tentacle loose from his ankle, and Caesar flips over backwards onto the pond. He lands on the surface of the water like a gymnast sticking a landing. “I asked what use you were going to be, not your stand.”

Kakyoin looks flabbergasted. Behind him, Jotaro also looks surprised, or what passes for surprised with Jotaro. He really shouldn’t be. It’s not as if Joseph hasn’t told him about the ripple.

“Kids these days are so spoiled,” Joseph says. A snap of his fingers and the water rises, in an unnatural wave, depositing Caesar back on the bridge. Caesar strikes a pose like a model on a runway, his hand braced on Joseph’s shoulder. They’re standing in pairs now, Caesar and Joseph on the right, Kakyoin and Jotaro facing them on the left. Joseph knows the next step to this dance, even if the kids don’t.

Sure enough, Caesar’s stand strikes a pose behind them, and then the air is filled with bubbles. Kakyoin tries to move, but Hermit Purple’s got him pinned to the spot- and Jotaro too. It won’t hurt Joseph’s grandson to be reminded of the advantages of experience and trickery over power and youth.  The bubbles pop, and Kakyoin and Jotaro are locked into place, unable to move. Joseph winks. It feels good to stand like this, shoulder to shoulder with Caesar, united in their quest against an unknown foe. It feels like fate, like every step he took in the last decade was bringing him here to Caesar’s side.

    “Caesar,” Joseph says. “Let’s show them how it’s done!”

Written for CaeJose week 2018, for the prompt of “Future”. I’ve always wanted to see an SDC au with Caesar in it. I think he and Jotaro would bond over their love of cigarettes and being mean to Joseph.

The name of Caesar’s stand stolen from the incredibly funny Havisham and her wonderful CaeJose fics.

A big thank-you to the organizers for putting this together! : 3

[tybalt-tisk]

.A Gangster’s Wife

//

Shallura | Gangster Au

Rated T. | Dark elements.

[ao3]

This is for my friend @atlasallura . She’s my headcanon buddy on the discord server and we can go for hours talking about different scenarios. This is one of our favorites, so I decided to make a story and include some elements we tend to swoon over. Enjoy, bby. I’m also trying to get the Shallura tag active again. You guys need to come on. Don’t let our ship die because I sure as hell won’t. (I hope the “Read More” bar works.)

“Looking to have a good time, gorgeous?”

Allura doesn’t bother to look up from her drink to acknowledge the man that was bold enough to approach her, but she could tell by his tone that he reeked of unbridled arrogance. She picked up her martini glass and swirled its pink-tinted contents before she took a long sip, careful not to smudge her red lipstick on its rim. When she felt the man lean more into her space to talk over the live band, she finally allowed her blue eyes to shift to his so that she can size up her newfound company. The man had expensive taste. She could tell by the flashy jewelry and the designer clothes he wore that he was the type of man who liked to flaunt his wealth in a desperate attempt to get women to fall for the bait that is gilded gold.

Her eyes pierce his and her enchanting gaze only encourages his ego. She resists the urge to make a sour face as her senses are almost overwhelmed by the scent of his cheap cologne when he leaned in close to whisper into her ear. “Do you come here often?” His large hand grabs a hold of the back of her barstool and his body cages hers against the bar. It's a cheap tactic to make her feel small and vulnerable. She doesn’t so much as bat an eye before she takes another sip of her cosmo.

She can’t help the smirk that stretches across her lips at the man’s pathetic dedication to woo her. He must not know exactly who she is...or who she belongs to. Part of her pities his ignorance...and the other part of her wants to have some fun.

It’s been a while since she’s met such an ignorant fool.

She downs the rest of her drink before she fully turns towards him to answer his question. “You can say that,” she replies playfully as she toys with the stem of her empty glass and lets her perfectly manicured nails clink against the crystal. “However, I can’t say that I come here as often as I should.” She finishes her sentence with a bite of her lip and her eyes rake over the features she knows he’s most proud of. She knows her strategy is working when he pulls up a chair to sit next to her and orders her another cosmo. He may think he’s a good con artist, but she’s a fucking master.

She gives her thanks to the bartender when he gives her another cosmo just the way she likes it - with just a tad of elderflower liqueur and a lime twist that serves as a garnish. The man raises an eyebrow at the scene. “You must come here a lot if he knows exactly how you like your drinks.”

She laughs in a tone that she knows men swoon over. “Oh yes. Coran and I go way back.” The man behind the bar sends her a wink and continues to shake a martini for another customer. She closes her eyes in bliss as the bittersweet cocktail coats her tongue then slides down her throat, leaving a trail of liquid fire in its wake. She wants to savor the taste of her favorite poison, but the man is already asking her more questions.

“So you got a name, beautiful?” he asked her in a tone full of stolen confidence and it only makes Allura want to knock him down a few pegs.

She crossed her legs at the knee and rested her chin on the palm of her hand as she fiddled with the lime twist on the edge of her glass. “Of course,” she humored him with a twirl of her silver hair. “Everyone has a name. Let’s start with yours.” She sent him a flirty smile and a small giggle. Allura always did like to play with her food.

The man must have thought he struck gold because his hand started to wander to places it didn’t belong. Allura kept her face neutral and said nothing when his hand found purchase on her thigh. A sudden movement from her peripheral vision caused her to subtlely shake her head to ward off her guard dogs. She’s sure they’ve been on edge since the man first approached her and by now, they were looking for any reason to pounce on the unsuspecting man. She didn’t need them to fight her battles. She had everything under control.

“Derik Weber,” he introduced himself proudly with a boyish grin. Arrogantly, he waited for her to fawn over him.

Allura nodded her head, half-amused. “Ah, Derik Weber,” she said when she recognized the name. “The sole heir to Weber Incorporations.” She swirled her drink lightly in her hand and moved her foot to the beat of the music. This was one of her favorite songs and she couldn’t help that her body reacted to its pull. “It's nice to see that your father’s insider trading scandal didn’t affect your desire to pick up random women you meet at clubs.”

Derik let out a snooty laugh that barely hid his embarrassment. “We Webers are very resilient. At least I’m glad you heard of me, Miss…? He moved his hand further up her thigh as if to elicit a name from her lips.

“Allura,” she answered his unspoken question after a moment. Allura watched the man think her name over. She can see the exact thoughts course through his head because she knows that he knows that he’s heard her name before but can’t seem to pinpoint it.

Just when Allura thought the man had figured things out, his voice cuts over the music. “What a beautiful name for a beautiful woman.” His thumb is treading dangerous waters and the entire club feels it. The live band skips a few beats and regular patrons keep their distance from them afraid to get in the inevitable crossfire that was soon to come. “So Allura, riddle me this: What’s a beautiful woman like yourself doing all alone in a place like this?”

Allura scoffs. She was never alone. “I just needed some time to myself,” she says.

Derik fakes concern and she can see through the bullshit easily. “Oh, I hope I’m not intruding,” he says.

“Of course not.” The lie slips through her lips like fine silk and she sends him a well-rehearsed smile. “I love company. However, I very much doubt that my husband would appreciate all of the…” she pauses to look at the offending hand that’s still on her thigh, “attention you are showing me this evening.”

If Derik was surprised by her sudden revelation, he didn’t show it. “Husband, huh?” He gave her thigh a firm squeeze and if she had forgotten that she started this little game, then the glass in her hand would have suddenly become a deadly weapon. She only smiled and flashed him the ring on her slender finger. He eyed the ring and laughed before he continued, “He must not be the brightest man to let you out of the house looking the way you do.”

She knew exactly what she looked like tonight. Her short, black dress fit her like a second skin and her red heels only accentuated her long, toned legs. She’s dressed like a black widow but he was too stupid to see the warning signs. But he wouldn’t be the first to miss a crucial detail.

And he certainly wouldn’t be the last.

She didn’t like the way his eyes raked over her body and she certainly didn’t like the way his other hand joined the first one. “Careful, now,” she warned him cooly but didn't move away. “You don’t want to anger the wrong person in these parts.”

“Is that so?” came the casual reply as he leaned further into her space. “If you’re so worried about making your idiot of a husband upset, then where is he now, huh?”

“Right behind you.” Derik froze when a deep, cold voice spoke behind him, the tone alone sent a shiver up his spine and alerted every fight or flight instinct within him. Derik’s head whipped around and came face to face with a tall, well-built man with steel grey eyes and a scar over the bridge of his nose.

There was a dangerous stillness about the man that told Derik everything he needed to know. “You’re Takashi Shirogane!” His eyes darted between the charming woman before him and the notorious gangster. It was then that he finally made the connection. He turned to Allura, eyes full of fear. “Then that means you-you’re-”

“Allura Shirogane,” she finished his broken epiphany innocently with a wink and a flash her ring at him again. If he had taken the time to take a closer look, he would have noticed the mafia leader’s insignia on the band of it - a clear indication of exactly who he was talking to.

Exactly who he was still touching.

Immediately, he snatched his hands away from Allura. “I’m so s-sorry, Shiro!” he blurted out the frantic apology. “I didn’t know, I-I didn’t realize she was yours.”

Shiro eyed the man through narrowed eyes, then looked at his wife who only sipped at her cosmo casually. She looked away from him but he could see the corners of her lips upturned into a giddy smile. When his eyes snapped back to the terrified man. All too sudden, a smile was etched into his face. One that didn’t reach his eyes and was too stiff and was too forced. “It was an honest mistake.” His deep voice was devoid of emotion and it didn’t at all go with the smile forced on his lips. The image made Derik’s hands tremble. “Let’s just...be more careful next time, Derik.”

Derik let out a sigh of relief but that relief was short-lived when Shiro causally slipped an arm over his shoulder. He suddenly finds himself having a first-hand experience of just how unwelcomed it is to have someone invade his personal space. He doesn’t like it. He doesn’t like the closeness, he doesn’t like the contact and his blood runs cold at Shiro’s words. “And by ‘be careful’,” Shiro dropped his voice to barely above a whisper, “I mean that if I ever see you touch or even look at my wife again, I’ll make sure no one will be able to identify your body when I’m through with you.”

Shiro pulls back and gives him the same smile he gave to him before. “Is that understood?”

Derik doesn’t trust his voice, so he can only nod frantically.

“Good. Now leave.” He doesn’t even finish his sentence before Derik is out of the door.

“You always ruin my fun, Takashi,” Allura says with a fake pout. Coran laughs at her from behind the bar and he makes Shiro his usual; double shot of whiskey, neat.

Shiro gives his thanks to his faithful bartender before turns to his wife. “Your fun is going to get somebody killed one day, Princess,” he warns lightly and there is not a trace of hostility in his voice.

She shrugs in return. “It’s not like you have any time for me nowadays anyway. At least someone was giving me attention. You’re always working.” She has a distant look in her eyes and maybe it’s the liquor in her but Shiro knows that she feels neglected. If there was one thing he loved more than his job, it was his wife.

He puts his hand her chin to gently turn her gaze to him. “I’m not working now,” he says.

Her eyes dart away and she folds her arms over her chest. “You’re late to our date night.”

“I know and I’m sorry. I lost track of the time, but I’m here now.” He drinks his hard liquor easily before he takes her small hand in his and firmly pulls her off of the bar stool and into him. When she’s on her feet, he doesn’t let go of her hand and silently leads her to towards the dance floor. He makes eye contact with the lead musician on stage and suddenly the jazz club is filled with a familiar tune.

He brings her closer to him, placing his metal hand on her back just under her shoulder and raises their conjoined hands in the air at the same height as their faces. She knows this position all too well and matches his stance and places her hand on his broad shoulder. He shoots her a smile. A real smile. One that only she and a few carefully selected close friends have the fortune of seeing. His smile is her favorite sight and immediately her irritation of his lateness is washed away.

Allura closes her eyes at the rhythmic tune. She lets it fill her and when the beat is just right, she begins. Her eyes are filled with forgiveness and delight when opens them. She takes a step back with her right foot and Shiro follows her lead with his left forward. Allura was the fire in his furnace and although she was slightly inebriated, she was still an excellent dancer. With a sway of her hips, she takes a step forward, pushing him back into their original positions. Quickly, Shiro takes a step back and she follows suit and a dance is born.

She had been the one to teach him the mambo. Even though he had always been a quick learner - with a gun, a knife, with his bare hands; flesh or metal, the mambo was probably the most challenging skill he had to learn. But she was ever so patient with him. Now he’s a pro. He’s able to lead her and she’ll follow and keep up with every step he takes, perfectly mirroring him at every turn.

He lets go of her back and she swings out with a flare of her hand and smoothly returns to his grip. Without his feet missing a beat, he speaks, “I really am sorry, you know.” He squeezes her hand to signal her to give him a twirl and twirl she does. She returns to him with her back to his chest and their feet don’t stumble once as they adapt effortlessly into their new position.

“I know, Takashi.” She uses her free hand to caress his freshly shaven face. “I don’t know why, but I thought you wouldn’t make it. I thought you had forgotten about our date night.” She sounds sadden that the thought even occurred to her. Her husband was a man of his word no matter what.

Shiro laughs as he grabs ahold of her hips and uses his leverage to turn her in his arms. They are back in their original positions and Shiro takes a step forward and she matches it perfectly. “Forget our date night?” he repeats playfully. “How could I forget date night with the love of my life? The apple of my eye. The fire to my ice. My beautiful wife. I would never forget about you.” He speaks the truth and it hits Allura right in the soul.

The beat changes suddenly and he takes the opportunity to drop his metal hand to the small of her back and her eyes light up with joy at what’s to come. She’s ready when he dips her low and she lets out a giggle when his lips kiss her neck. “Besides,” he says with a smirk as he pulls her back up to face him, “you know Papa loves mambo.”

Is a Mafia Au something you guys want more of? If so, let me know. 

[rexscelestus]

I’ll Keep Coming

Kingpin 02/16/2019

Your name, for today, is Malik Kingsley, and you have a very important appointment this day. One that will have major influence over the business of this city and your plans. A meeting with, and you admit that with only the greatest disdain, the mayor of this city. You have followed the elections with the greatest scepticism.

At least it is a Dersite sitting in this office. How much power he really has, especially with the queen of eggs being right around the corner, is yet to be seen. But you would be a fool to miss out on the chance to get your foot in now while you can.

You have arranged an appointment with the mayor a good while in advance. A good hour to talk, just the two of you, if you even need that much. You arrive more than timely. Dressed in a flashy white, with a black shirt and Derse-purple tie, reasonably large and commanding all the respect you need, you wait for the secretary to notify him of your arrival and be let in.

WV 02/16/2019

It’s been a slow day. Most days have been relatively quiet so far, settling into your new office, your new building, your new secretary, your new duties and responsibilities and the paperwork that needs doing, permits to sign, orders to give, public works to plan. Today, though, you have an Appointment.

You are admittedly apprehensive about this. Your appointments thus far have primarily been with your subordinates in City Hall, the secretaries and council undersecretaries that are learning how to most effectively communicate with you. This is the first outside force to actively seek an appointment with you, rather than the other way around; this is new territory.

You adjust your tie. You adjust your hat. You mutter under your breath, “keeping customers content creates kingly profits, feel free to follow that fellow, Susie’s sister sewed socks for soldiers” until you are certain you won’t stumble over or halt your words while speaking. You straighten your spine, you motion to Serenity to sit quietly under the desk, you press the button alerting your secretary to send in your appointment, you are fine.

Kingpin 02/18/2019

You're finally let in. You eye the mayor thoroughly as you enter. You think you might remember him, but there's been a lot of faces during the war and not enough time to memorize all of them. You realize how rare it is to see a Dersite without glamour these days - on their own planet. Truly a shame. You already admire him for this choice, while a part of you can't help but be jealous as you can't afford that. Maybe never again.

"Greetings. Thank you for making time for me." You offer your hand for a firm handshake, then take a seat.

WV 02/18/2019

You're already a little intimidated. The man in your office is easily the size of a brute by Dersite standards. Still, you take the offered handshake, even as his hand dwarfs yours, and somehow manage minimal stiltedness in your speech. "It was no trouble. I'm afraid our office doesn't see a lot of visitors." You smile a bit as you take a seat in your chair, the side of your shoe brushing against Serenity, and straighten up a bit. "You did not mention to my secretary when making this appointment why you wished to meet...?" You hope the question is obvious enough.

Kingpin 02/19/2019

"What a shame, it's a wonderful office." Well, it's alright. Not quite something you'd be satisfied with, but apparently the mayor of Midnight City has to make due with this.

"Hah, straight to the point. Well.." you begin, "I'd like discuss the possibilities of future collaborations. I believe we both only want the best for the city, and I think we can reach our goals if we help each other."

WV 02/19/2019

You do like your office. It's not huge, but then, it doesn't have to be; you have a nice big window with a view of the city, and you even put a picture of yourself and Serenity the day you got her on the desk.

Somehow you thought a businessman might not have been so impressed with it. But if he's not, at least he's being polite.

"Future collaborations?" This is nice. This is going well. Your voice is steady. "Perhaps it is on me for not doing my research, but--you are a businessman, yes? What exactly is it that you, well, do?" There's a faint thought in the back of your mind that this is a little embarrassing, that perhaps you should have found out a bit more about the man, been more prepared--but you shut that down, you can go over every detail of the conversation later. At home.

Kingpin 02/20/2019

You're torn between being offended because he didn't find you important enough to put more preparation into this meeting and glad because it's giving you so much more control and leverage in this conversation. A mix of emotions flashes over your face before you settle on a polite smile.

"A business man I am, yes. I deal with real estate, for the most part. Usually buying and selling existing houses, at times building new or improving on old property." You did your researching, of course, and it wasn't too hard to finding out that the new mayor may have a strong interest in these things as well.

"This city needs development, desperately. But it is dying under crime and poverty." You click your tongue and grumble with lower voice. "And the Prospitian restrictions have the economy in a choke hold."

WV 02/20/2019

Huh. How convenient, that a real estate mogul has walked into your office just as you're drafting proposals for the various old properties in town. You smile, a little easier. "Of course. I will not speak as to Prospitian restrictions--" partially because you're not sure what to think about them, but also "Partially because it is so early into my term, and that is the sort of long-term change that will require more time, but I have been drafting proposals for development--public services, that sort of thing." You're relaxing, a little. This conversation is easier than you thought it would be.

Kingpin 02/21/2019

You feign pleasant surprise. "That is great to hear. Can you share any of your plans?"

Of course he got plans. He'd be incredibly ill-suited for the position if he didn't. But plans alone don't bring change. This planet needs idealistic people, but it more so needs people that can accomplish them.

"It is just important to think about the big picture. It's true, these things take time, but they need to be addressed now so that proposals and reforms can worked out with the necessary care, else you'll find yours scrambling for time."

WV 02/23/2019

You're beginning to get the impression that you're out of your depth here.

You try not to let it show, instead handing over the folder of one-page proposal summaries--a new library, soup kitchens, community gardens. "Of course. But going too fast could upset the monarchy and lose what little democratic process we have here. It's a--a balance." You stumble only briefly, collect yourself, smile.

Kingpin 02/28/2019

You take the folder and look through it. Interesting proposals. None that can replace and fix all that has been lost, but it's a start.

You continue speaking without looking up from the files. "Ah, that blasted monarchy." Prospitian monarchy, mind you. "Right, can't hurt their sensitive feelings after they just waltzed all over this planet like it's theirs. I don't envy you for your position. Any ambitious idea stifled between invaders and gangs. A hard place to be. You'll be needing strong allies if you want to get anywhere."

WV 03/02/2019

It's not what you'd call a subtle question. "You consider yourself a good candidate for a strong ally?" The answer's going to be yes. Of course it will. Real estate moguls don't just come to the mayor's office for a friendly chat, no matter how much you'd like a friendly chat these days.

What he says is true, though. You hadn't thought this would be easy--far from it--but it's proving so much more than you had expected. Endless red tape. You've been in office for two months and have managed half a step of one of the public works proposals.

Kingpin 03/03/2019

"I dare say so." Your next words have to be carefully chosen. "I have influence - contacts, finances -and I have plentiful security staff at hand. You know.. You never know when someone may get tired of an overly ambitious politician. Which would be a pity.. I quite like the gardens."

You put the file down on the desk and lean back, eyes on the mayor, watching his every reaction. "But there's plenty of things still out of my reach. I'm sure there's some room for collaboration here. You scratch mine and I scratch yours, you know."

WV 03/03/2019

You work to keep your face blank and pleasant as ever, but you’re not certain that the trepidation doesn’t show.

On the one hand; this is a mistake. Kingsley is choosing his words so carefully that you have no guarantee he’s not—and wouldn’t be surprised if he was—involved with the less savory aspects of the city. He’s given no indication of how much he expects from you. The humans call it a Faustian deal; and if that was all there was to it you’d be very foolish indeed to try.

But he’s also right. You’re polite and quiet, but you have plans. Plans that will take multiple terms, plans that might carry on past you—plans that could easily be shut down in their early stages if the Prospit monarchy decides they don’t like what you’re doing. He has what you need.

You wish you’d asked the dear Inspector to dig up anything possible on him before this meeting. Lesson learned. Too late for this round.

After a moment, you nod. “I....certainly could use the assistance of the private sector. At least while starting out. I’d prefer to start small, and learn how we work together, but collaboration is....certainly agreeable, and not out of reach.”

Kingpin 03/04/2019

The mayor may seem like a dunce, but he's much sharper and cleverer than he looks.

"Definitely. There'll be enough time to get to know each other. I don't intend to disappoint you." You give him the most friendly smile an old sour man like you can manage.

Certainly, you're aware that winning an ally like that means playing nice. It's a worthy investment all things considered. "Do you have any ideas how I can be of service yet?"

WV 03/04/2019

You think that was the right answer. Certainly, he seems to have taken it well.

"Ah...." You take the folder back, shuffling through, and remove a two page briefing. "A trial run, perhaps. The City Council's been very eager to renovate the old factory." You point to the photo. "It's been unused for years, but whenever someone gets the time to try and track down the current owner, they get tied up in red tape; it swapped hands several times, frequently less legally. Do you have any, er, contacts, who might have ways to find out who owns the building at the moment?"

Kingpin 03/05/2019

You pick the folder up to take a closer look at the photo and address. The spot seems familiar, but you honestly can't claim to know every spot of the city inside out. "Not off the top of my head, but I'm sure I can figure it out pretty easily."

You hum. "The building is in a shambles, but unless the property is rotting away in someone's forgotten heritage, it might be that the plot of land is still pretty valuable. A good investment for whoever is holding onto it. You got the funds for it?"

WV 03/08/2019

"We have a portion of the budget set aside for projects like this. That portion was apparently pocketed by the last few mayors, but it's not insignificant. Unless the property is unusually valuable, we should be able to purchase it."

You fold your hands over the desk, watching Kingsley. There's probably a not-insignificant chance that somewhere along the line, illegal methods will be used; it's just the nature of Midnight City at this point. You wonder if your Inspector could assign someone to finding out exactly how far along the transaction will get before passing into mob hands.

Kingpin 03/08/2019

Bold of the mayor to assume that the transaction isn't already long in mob hands.

"That is good to hear. The budget, I mean. The pocketing not so much. Glad to see an fine upstanding man in this position now. I will see what I can find out and, if possible, help you strike a good deal." You'll definitely need to make sure that whatever you do here is absolutely clean and waterproof. Can't have the mayor's people or anyone else notice something off and start snooping around.

WV 03/12/2019

"Then I look forward to doing business with you." You set the folder back in the drawer of your desk and hold out your hand for Kingsley to shake. A second later, you realize that his hand is much larger than your own, but, well, too late to take it back now.

Kingpin 03/13/2019

You give him a satisfied smile before slowly leaning forward to return the handshake with firm grasp. "It is settled then," you nod. Never expected any other outcome anyway. You didn't intend to leave this office without some kind of deal. It may be that the city won't ever accept you as their ruler again, but you're going to make sure that you're still pulling the strings.

WV 03/16/2019

You hold for a socially appropriate amount of time before releasing and falling back. "Is there anything else I might assist you with today, Mr. Kingsley?"

Kingpin 03/17/2019

"Not in particular. I'm quite satisfied with the progress we made. I'm sure we can handle the next on our next meeting, unless you're dying to tell me more about some of the plans you made. Ah, speaking of plans. Any events worth noting in the foreseeable future? I love mingling with the people and meeting old and new faces. I'd hate to miss out due to scheduling conflicts."

WV 03/24/2019

"We have a newsletter; if you give your address to my secretary, she'll have it sent to you. Though I'm afraid that we're still settling in; you'll have plenty of advance notice for any events." You smile slightly. "Thank you for meeting with me, Mr. Kingsley. I hope this is the beginning of a wonderful partnership."

Kingpin 03/25/2019

A newsletter. Who does this worm think he is that he considers you insignificant to put you on a list for a newsletter. Anything less than a personal invite is an insult. But fine, you're not about to make a scene (yet).

"Likewise" you smile as you raise from your seat. "It was a pleasure. Hope we can repeat this sometime soon."

WV Last Friday at 6:58 PM

“I hope so as well.” You kind of don’t, but hey, this is what you signed up for. You knew what you were getting into. Probably. Hopefully.

“Do have a safe journey out there,” you call as he exits.

Kingpin Today at 9:30 AM

"Will do" you nod as you grab your hat on your way out the door. "My assisstant will be in contact." So much more work to be done, but it this is a start.

[gilded-lady]

Save Yourself 16/?

Who: Ketchbriel What: Ketch makes good on the promise to wear the chaffeur's hat . Word count: 1319 Warnings: None.

Notes: I’ll be hitting up TVD Chicago this weekend, so this will probably be the last piece before I return next Monday. :)

After a few mildly torturous hours – Gabriel was fascinated by the advancement in the technology included in the cars, surprising for someone who rarely even rode in cars – Ketch found himself the proud borrower of a Piedmont Green E 300. Gabriel had campaigned hard for the Maybach but backed off when Ketch pointed off that part of this was getting a vehicle that wouldn’t stand out.

And indeed, he even wore the hat as he drove the pair to the barbecue the next night, much to Gabriel’s delight.

“Can I take a picture? Let me take a picture!” Gabriel insisted. “I want to put it on my Facebook!”

“Wait,” Ketch said. “You have Facebook?!”

Gabriel took Ketch’s answer as approval and pulled his camera out of his pocket “Damn it, you’d think they’d make bigger pockets to accommodate these new phones!” They’d gotten Gabriel a new phone that day, and if he couldn’t get the flashy car, he’d insisted on the flashy phone.

“Of course I have Facebook! Doesn’t everyone have Facebook?”

“I don’t,” Ketch said.

“We have to fix that,” Gabriel insisted as Ketch threw the hat into the car, grabbed the small bag containing the hostess gift of wine and bottle of whiskey before locking the doors.

“Nice home,” Ketch commented, effectively ending the conversation.

“Very nice!” Gabriel said. “Good for her! Last time I saw her, she was in a small-ish apartment.”

Ketch wondered how a hair dresser could make the leap to such a nice place. Marriage? Roommate? Death in the family? Career change? He wondered how many stories Gabriel had missed in his absence and felt for his friend. He tried not to think about the former friends he’d left behind when he’d been forced into his current exile.

There was a small piece of paper taped to the door, inviting them to come around the back with a helpful arrow drawn to point the way. The two men dutifully followed their way around, aided by the music that progressively grew louder as they neared their target.

“A few friends” turned out to be almost a few dozen friends. Ketch wondered how much the guest list had grown when word of Gabriel’s return had spread.

“You made it!!” Rachel said excitedly as the short archangel found himself smothered in a bear hug. “I’m so glad!”

“Air!” Gabriel pantomimed, even though both men knew he didn’t actually need it, causing her to let go.

“Oops. Sorry. I just didn’t think you’d actually make it,” Rachel said with a grin. She turned to Ketch. “Do I have you to thank for it? I have you to thank for it, don’t I?” she asked as she graciously accepted the gift and the booze. “Don’t think that you won’t get a hug later,” she said as she motioned them to stay right there while she put the drinks out.

“She’s an excitable one, isn’t she?” Ketch asked.

“Isn’t it great?” Gabriel answered. “She is a Good Person,” he added, carefully adding the emphasis on each word. “Need a laugh? Need a cry? Just need someone to pig out with? The world could use more people without agendas.”

“Then where would that leave us?” Ketch asked.

Before Gabriel could answer, Rachel was back at their side. She put her fingers in her mouth and gave a loud whistle, causing all eyes to turn on them. Ketch could see many pairs of eyes lighting up in delight when they saw Gabriel by her side.

“As you all know, we were originally gathering to just enjoy the good weather, but we have fortunate enough to turn this into a genuine celebration! The prodigal son has returned!”

There were cheers and applause as Gabriel tried to not roll his eyes at the allusion that totally didn’t fit him.

Rachel smacked his arm.

“Ow!” Gabriel protested, making a show of rubbing it.

“That’s for scaring us all!”

Light laughter rippled through the crowd.

“And from what I believe, we have Gabe’s friend Ketch to thank for his appearance tonight. Please make him feel like one of the gang!”

With that, she let every return to their previous conversations. “I’ve got to go mingle, but please! Eat! Drink! Talk! We’ll catch up later, okay?” With a grin that brokered no arguments she disappeared into the crowd, leaving the pair

“Are the sharks circling?” Gabriel asked feeling a bit deer in the headlights.

“I believe they are,” Ketch muttered back. “How about we grab a place to sit and let people come to us. You can gain a vantage point you’re comfortable with and control how many can talk to us at one go of it.”

Gabriel nodded, liking the suggestion immensely. “How about that table right there?” he asked, pointing to one in the corner of the yard that would let them keep an eye on everything else.

“Perfect,” Ketch said as the pair went to claim the spaces. “Would you care for something to drink?”

“Grab me a bottle of whatever,” Gabriel said. Holding the bottle was his clutch, not the contents within it.

Ketch nodded, and out of the corner of his eye he could see Gabriel prepare himself for the onslaught. They’d made a cover story for him, and Ketch knew that Gabriel was actually excited to see these people again. He had faith the archangel could handle himself, but panic was a funny, illogical thing.

“So how’d you meet Gabe?” A guy pursing the bottles asked Ketch.

“Friends of friends,” Ketch replied easily. It was more like friends of frenemies, but that would be getting pendantic.

“He’s a good guy,” the man continued on. “But he doesn’t let anyone in easily. I’m just warning you now that if you do anything to hurt him….”

Ketch blinked. So maybe he hadn’t imagined that wink from Rachel the other day after all.

“I promise you, that is the least of my intentions.”

Ketch may have been enjoying the archangel’s company, but he was keenly aware that Gabriel could still smite him without a second thought.

“Good,” he flashed Ketch a grin. “It’s about time Gabe got himself someone that wasn’t a one-night stand.”

And before Ketch could protest, the man wandered back off, drink in hand. He shrugged it off, grabbed the beer for Gabriel, and returned to the table where it seemed like the archangel was holding court. These were humans he clearly had some affection for because Gabriel seemed as much at ease as Ketch had ever seen him.

“Babe!” Gabriel said as he happily grabbed the beer from Ketch. “Oooh, nice bitch face. I’m telling Sam that you’ve stolen his schtick.”

“Well, darling,” Ketch said, going along with it only because he’d seen some of that mask that Gabriel had let slip over the last few days firmly back in place. “When you’re around, it’s a rule that someone must wear it.”

The other chuckled.

“John.”

“Karena.”

“David.”

Handshakes were exchanged.

“Seems like you’ve figured out Gabe pretty well,” David said.

“I’d never be so presumptuous,” Ketch said. “I’m learning something new every day and not just about him. It has been an eye-opening journey.” A bit presumptuous perhaps given that it’d been all of a week, but it felt right.

Ketch noticed the surprise in Gabriel’s face, and one of those rare little smiles of honest happiness.

In the end, Gabriel had promised to give the party an hour.

They stayed for three.

*

The next morning, as they finished breakfast, Gabriel was playing with the last bit of sausage on his plate.

“So. Um. The other day you know you said you were good at dealing with complications?” Gabriel asked looking nervous.

Ketch set down the paper. “Of course.”

Gabriel slid a piece of paper in Ketch’s direction. “My complications. It’s time I dealt with them. And I was hoping that you’d be willing to help me.”

 tagging: @embrrssed-love @nobodys-baby-now @rabbit-recommends

[lazulia-fics]

Pride (Starlight Express fic, SFW)

No one knew that Electra’s chest display wasn’t just for show. And no one knew that the reason he had his own repair truck was because, as someone once joked, he was ‘unreliable’. 

(Safe for work. Hints of Electra/Wrench, Electra/Components, and past Electra/Greaseball. Content warning for medical emergency.)

Tagging @karack1871 who didn’t want to miss any angst, and @stexpress and @all-alone-in-the-moonlight, whose reactions to this little headcanon of mine only made me want to write it even more. :P 

Wrench’s eyes were on Electra.

All eyes were on Electra. The electric engine always drew a crowd even when he wasn’t racing. And when he did participate in a race—even if it was only the qualifier—the crowd grew especially vocal and admiring. It didn’t even matter to his adoring crowd if he won or lost (though it certainly mattered to Electra). They just loved watching him. The beautiful, stylish, dazzling engine of the future.

Wrench understood that. He was a beautiful engine, he worked hard to keep his plating clean and dazzling, his inner parts in good working order, though the latter responsibility fell to Wrench, and she took her job quite seriously.

Which was why she carefully followed Electra as he zoomed down the track, with Volta coupled behind him.

They made a good-looking racing pair. They would most likely win, once Electra secured a spot in the qualifier. Wrench wasn’t worried about that. If anything, she wished Electra would lose a little more often. It would make her job easier.  

The race was nothing major, a small affair north of the border that had caught Electra’s attention. He needed to get his head back into the racing game after that spectacular loss to that despicable little steam engine. The Components dutifully followed, some more eager than others (Joule at least was thrilled to speak the local language). Volta was excited to race with their master again. Wrench had hoped that Electra would take a break from racing after that last defeat, and maybe focus on working hard, pulling trains, avoiding the stress of racing. 

Of course if Electra did that, and listened to Wrench when she said he needed to stop for a bit and rest, he wouldn’t exactly be Electra.

And so Wrench resigned herself to following the race, Purse at her side, while Krupp and Joule followed the action on the other side of the racetrack. She tried her best to keep an eye on Electra, wishing not for the first time that she’d installed a larger chest display. It was difficult to get a good look at it with so much motion.

“C’est Electra qui mène, et on commence maintenant le dernier tour de circuit!”

Electra and Volta were in the lead. Unsurprisingly, no other engine was even near them. They were doing well. A green and chrome engine managed to briefly catch up, only to pull back as a flurry of sparks erupted from Electra’s pantograph.

“What’s he doing?” Purse asked. Electra was no stranger to intimidating his competitors, but he didn’t seem to be zapping with any intent.

Wrench growled, wishing again she could get a better look. “Trying to do my job for me.”

She rolled to the end of the track as the final lap came to a close. For once she was thankful for Electra’s speed, as it wasn’t long before he and Volta appeared again, leading the pack and crossing the finish line with a flourish. 

“C’est Electra, la locomotive électrique en première place, et Axle en deuxième place! Electra et Axle participeront à la course finale! Soyez des nôtres pour la grande Course de Montréal!”

Wrench tuned out the announcer. The results didn’t interest her. Electra rolled around the crowd assembled by the finish line, grinning and basking in the post-race admiration, and Volta locked eyes with Wrench as Electra brought them around, disconnecting her before rolling away to find a few doting fans.

“He’s breathing hard,” Volta said as she came to a stop.

Wrench tightened her mouth. “I knew it.”

She was on him in a moment, before he could work on his escape into the throng of engines and coaches. 

“Electra, stop.”

He did, which surprised her. He also swayed on his wheels a bit as he came to a full stop, which did not surprise her either, but did worry her. As she approached him, she could hear the rapid beeps from his chest display coupled with the loud whirr of his cooling fans as he panted. 

“Wrench, if you think I have time for--”

“Shut it.”

“I’m fine.”

“Why you insist on acting like a trainlet about this, I’ll never know,” Wrench sighed. He was out of breath in a way that had nothing to do with the race he’d just run and it was clear he wasn’t well. An untrained eye wouldn’t have known, since even a sickly Electra still looked gorgeous and perfect. But to Wrench’s eye he did not look good.

She shushed his next protest and listened to the blips on the monitor embedded in his chest. The erratic blips were nothing new. Not serious, but still not something she liked to see. Sighing, she began to uncover the contacts on either side of his chest before he nervously stopped her. “Electra, I need to fix this.” 

Electra’s eyes darted from her to the crowd and back again. He was still heaving for breath. “Not here.”

His damn pride was going to be the death of him. Literally. Wrench sighed. She wasn’t about to waste hours finding a cozy little room to administer treatment, so she quickly activated the biphasic defibrillators in her palms, plastered on her sultriest look, and pushed him into the wall of the nearest shed.

Now any onlookers would only see the dazzling Electra, winner of his qualifying heat, locked in an amorous embrace with one of his Components. It wouldn’t arouse suspicion; it was obvious from the moment Electra and the Components walked into the yard that the beautiful electric and his beautiful entourage were not platonic. 

She brought her face in close, faking a kiss as she said, “I saw what you were doing with the catenary. You can’t shock yourself back into normal rhythm, Electra. I’ve explained this to you before.”

He flashed her a winning smile, wrapping his hands around her waist. Normally she would enjoy this, taking a little one-on-one time with Electra, enjoying the attention and the feel of his body against hers, but desire always vanished when she needed to focus on his health. She was his repair truck first, and his groupie second. She pressed her hands to his chest, lining up the contacts and adjusting the voltage.

“It’ll be fine. It’s always fine.”

“It’s ‘always fine’ because I’m always here to make sure you don’t drop dead. Now listen, your arrhythmia’s been acting up lately and until I can make sure I can get it under control, you need to stop and rest.”

“I just qualified for the final!” 

“You always do. There’ll be other races.”

“I want to win this one.”

“Get ready,” she quickly said, and delivered a jolt from her palms to his chest. A spasm shook his body from head to wheels and he hid his moan by burying his face in her neck.

Wrench slid her fingers into his tall glittering hair, soothing him, letting him catch his breath against her neck. She focused on the sound of the blips and, satisfied that they were regular once more, relaxed against his body.

“You don’t even speak the language here,” Wrench said, as though that were somehow an argument that would sway him. 

“Joule does,” Electra said. His voice was reedy but he was recovering quickly. “All I need to hear is my name and listen to the cheers. That’s universal.”

She pulled Electra’s head from her neck and gave him a dry look. “You know what else is universal?” She tapped his chest box, which now displayed a normal, regular rhythm. “I didn’t install this thing to make you look pretty.” 

“And yet it does,” Electra grinned. “The coaches find it downright fabulous. Can’t keep their hands off it. Engines usually take it as a challenge. Greaseball liked to see the lines go fast.”

“I’m glad he found your arrhythmia so alluring.”

“He didn’t know--”

“I know he didn’t. I’m surprised he didn’t trigger an episode, the way you two were going at it. Listen, Electra, we wouldn’t need to keep doing this if you’d just let me install a device that--”

“No. No surgery.”

He’d only tolerated the monitor because she’d made it look cool and flashy, like the rest of him. No one clued in that it had an actual function instead of just being another pretty part of Electra’s armour. Anything more invasive, anything that might leave a not-so-flashy mark on his plating, was off-limits. Anything that might reveal to the world that Electra, the engine of the future, had a fatal design flaw.

A design flaw he was too proud to admit. A glitch in his otherwise-perfect internal structure and electrical system. A flaw that made Wrench’s eyes drift down to the display in Electra’s chest whenever he was in sight, that made her unconsciously count the beats and look for any variation in the rhythm.

He lived with the fear that he could drop dead at any moment. It was almost as bad as the fear that no one, no coach or engine or train yard, would want an engine with a design flaw. An unreliable engine was no engine at all. 

Electra took Wrench’s hands, peeling her off his body. He looked better now, much steadier and no longer panting. “I am fine. And I am going to win this race. Is that clear, Wrench?” 

“Let me make something clear,” Wrench said. She pulled her hands from his, closing the contacts on his chest. He scowled, but allowed her to finish her work. “I’m here with you because I’m the best, because you hired me to take care of you. So please remember one thing: I’m the only reason you’re alive. And if you’re not careful, I might decide I don’t want to stay around and watch you kill yourself.” 

She’d overstepped. Electra’s eyes were impassive, unreadable, which almost concerned her as much as him losing his temper. After a few moments of quiet staring, of making Wrench wonder what was on his mind, he nudged her back on her wheels and out of his way, rolling off to find the crowd, and leaving Wrench to sullenly roll back towards the other Components.

“Is he all right?” Purse asked, wringing his hands. He looked so concerned. What was it about Electra that inspired so much devotion from them?

Wrench sighed, flexing her hands, staring down at the contacts of the defibrillators in her palms. “He’s fine for now,” she said sharply. Not that it mattered. She had a race to prepare for. 

“…. Cinq… quatre… trois… deux… un… ils sont partis!” 

Volta had proposed refusing to race with Electra, but Wrench told her to go ahead and do it. Electra would still manage to find a coach or truck to race with him, so it was better to have a partner who could raise the alarm if something went wrong. Electra was Electra, and if he wanted to race, then by Starlight he was going to race and it was against doctor’s orders, so be it.

Wrench rolled into position near the end of the track and followed Electra and Volta along the first lap. They were already in second place. Electra’s plating was dazzling today, he looked strong, and he was a contender.

First lap.

Wrench’s eyes were glued to the chest display, in as much as she could keep track of it between laps. It was difficult to see the lines from there, much less hear the blips of the monitor. She really needed to build a device that would remotely transmit the information directly to her. Scratch that: she needed to convince Electra to let her build and install such a device. 

Second lap.

Pride was a failing. A failing that was as much hers as Electra’s. Electra could go months without a single incident and on the flip side, there were times when things just kept misfiring and it was only Wrench’s quick actions and treatments that saved him. Wrench could treat him well enough, but his pride refused to let her do anything more invasive. And her pride refused to let anything happen to him, even with the limited resources he allowed her.

Third lap.

Sometimes, it seemed as though he was surprised he’d lived this long. He still acted as though every day could be his last. No wonder he insisted on running every race and living in excess. How could she stand there, having made a vow as a repair truck, and do the bare minimum to allow him to get up and go back to damaging his health?  

Final lap.

Maybe it was less pride and more foolishness. Or habit. Where would he be without her? Likely dead by now. Certainly not running races. Maybe that was the answer then. If she kept saving him, then of course he could keep endangering himself. Maybe he needed to make a go without her.

Maybe she needed to—

Wrench’s head snapped up. Electra was in the lead, about to cross the finish line, but it wasn’t Electra who caught her eye: it was Volta, who gesticulated wildly. She was still coupled to Electra and the two were coming in quickly. Whatever was happening, Wrench didn’t need to be told twice. She tapped Joule’s arm and cocked her head so she, Purse and Krupp would follow, and rapidly rolled over to wait by the finish line.

“Electra a gagné! Electra est le champion! Electra--”

She had to muscle her way through the crowd, shoving engines and trucks with complete disregard to reach the finishing area. Electra and Volta had come in at full speed and Volta was performing some frantic maneuvers to slow them down until she finally managed to tip them both over the track, landing them hard in the gravel ballast.

Volta scrambled to sit as Wrench approached, already activating her biphasic defibrillators. Electra was not moving.

“Wrench!” Volta cried as the repair truck threw herself to the ground, her hands on Electra’s body. “Something went wrong, he started shaking, I don’t know--”

Wrench rolled him onto his back. Purse knelt by Electra’s head, removing the racing helmet and holding his head steady, but Wrench only had eyes for the chest display, and for the rapid, frantic little spikes. “Damn it!”

She had seconds to act, if it wasn’t already too late. Electra’s body was limp, his plating dim and dull. He was out of it, his internal systems and cooling fans inactive, completely unresponsive as Purse cradled and stroked his head.

Wrench uncovered the contacts on his chest, dimly aware that the crowd was gathering around them. “Joule, Krupp, keep everyone away. Break their axles if you have to. Purse, get away from him.”

“But--”

“Move.”

He did, lowering Electra’s lifeless head to the ground and scrambling closer to Volta, a look of pure terror on his face.  

Wrench wasted no time in lining up her palms with the exposed contacts, internally adjusting the voltage, and delivering a shock to Electra’s systems. His body twitched and his head lolled, and for a moment the rhythm in the chest display was normal before returning to the rapid spikes.

“I warned you,” Wrench said, clenching her jaw and adjusting the voltage again. “I warned you, you idiot.”

Another jolt. The rhythm briefly gave her hope before bleeping frantically again. She adjusted the voltage again. Electra’s pride was his undoing, but Wrench’s pride was her master’s only salvation. She was the best at this sort of thing, and she’d be damned if an engine was going to die when she was in charge of repairing it.

“You will not do this to me,” she hissed at him, digging her fingers into his plating as she prepared for the next shock. There was only so much voltage she could pour into him before there was nothing left to try. “You will not embarrass me in front of this giant crowd by dying on my watch, do you hear? Don’t make me fail you. Do you hear me, Electra?”

She shocked him. A spasm ran through his body, followed by an incoherent moan, and Wrench hardly dared to look away from the chest display as the frantic spikes disappeared and the regular rhythm returned.

She waited for the frantic spikes to return. Seconds passed, and it was the sound of Purse crying in relief against Volta’s shoulder that snapped her out of it, coupled with the sight of Electra shifting on the ground, gulping in air. His cooling fans weakly kicked on.  

“… Electra?” Wrench patted his cheek, gently pried open one of his eyes, relieved to see the glow slowly returning to it. His hair had sagged in all the excitement. She pushed it from his face, brushing some of the gravel dust away from his plating as she did.

“What…?” Electra rasped, opening his eyes. He raised a shaky hand, pressing it to his chest. He was probably going to be sore from the jolts. His eyes were weak and unfocused, but damn it, he was alive.

“I told you,” Wrench whispered, still stroking his face. “I warned you. You didn’t listen to me.”

“I’m…”

“You won the race,” she added, as though it mattered at this point. It probably did matter to Electra. “And you’re alive. For now, anyway.”

He didn’t react to the news. His hand left his chest, trembling as he reached for her. “Wrench… please don’t leave me.”

Wrench sat heavily in the gravel, exhausted now that the crisis was over, closing the contacts in her palms so she could take his hand. It felt cool against her fingers and she squeezed it, proud of her handiwork, proud to be here.

“… I’m not going anywhere.”

End

[nyrator]

current KH pro-whoa everything is bright and dark blue at the same time

but yeah current KH3 progress: four worlds done, level 24 and just hit the 15 hour mark on Proud

more opinion stuffs so far under the cut~ but overall enjoying it more than I thought I would

goddddd

it feels so weird to have a game I’ve been waiting for for over a decade, actually come out, and actually be enjoyable. Especially since the handheld games left an ehh taste in my mouth (CoM>re:coded>BbS/3D>Days by the way), and 0.2 didn’t ease any fears.

but mannn, I was going to replay KH2 and finally play the FM+ portions of it before this game came out but never did, and I’m glad because I feel that if I tried to compare the two I’d not focus on enjoying the game probably (however I remember replaying KH1 last year and loving it so hmm, KH1>KH2 back for kid me and I’m still curious to see how it’s different, plus I really really want to fight Zexion someday since my copy of RE:CoM with the memory card were both borrowed or stolen and never seen again after getting partway through Riku’s story)

but anyway yeah will probably replay KH2 after KH3 eventually

also for starters, I went with the Magic option (King Mickey pose), because heck yeah Magic, but then they shown me the promise with Namine for the second option and I instinctively just chose that because I don’t care, THANK NAMINE SORA. But yeah, looks to be “get defense stuff quicker”, which for Proud mode is nice, probably would’ve done that anyway honestly

goddd this game though, it’s huge. I was amazed at how long it took me just to beat the Hercules world, and mannn. They were heavy on tutorials, but just because there’s just so much freaking content. An overwhelming amount, a lot of it I end up not using or forgetting about, but there’s something for everyone and none of it is really necessary which is nice (other than whacking things with Keyblade I guess)

Once you get past all those early tutorials (I’m still getting some though), it becomes a lot more comfortable I think. Definitely eases you in more than 0.2 did I feel, or at least it works more comfortably. It kind of feels like Saints Row 3 mechanics in 4, in a way. I mean, yeah, you can use the basic Keyblade combos and ignore the flashy stuff, but why would you drive a car when you can fly.

though I still mostly use Keyblade and ignore a lot of the commands since I like leaving the animations on in case anything new shows up, but thankfully there is the option to speed up the animations in the menu which I should probably turn on

it’s a lot of flash but it’s basically a long wind up for a big AOE attack, some of which might miss the target if they walk out of the way during the animation

but mann, still fun to play. Usually I’m a Kingdom Key exclusive kind of person (mainly because I like seeing it in cutscenes), then they’re like “oh man three Keyblades”, so I started using that one Magic Keyblade from Twilight Town and I love it too much, it’s like Wisdom form on KH3 crack and it’s fun. The other Keyblades haven’t clicked with me much yet, though want to learn the Rapunzel Keyblade a bit because Magic

some minor issues I have with this game:

Lock-on is pretty bad for me. Enemy basically has to already be in my sights to lock on, even if its the only enemy left, and even then it’s finicky. The Focus lock on thing is so finnicky to use to teleport, and heck anything flowmotion besides the super jump after bouncing feels very uncooperative. I still feel like I’m doing something with the dash-off-walls thing wrong, it seems almost pointless.

A lot of prompts in general are a bit finicky, especially the Moogle. I love you Moogle please let me Triangle you and not accidentally start some fancy boat attraction attack

The maps are freaking huge, like it’s nice and looks pretty, but mannn, is it easy to get lost and make secret-finding a complete pain. I used to be able to find most of the treasure chests and stuff on my own in one playthrough, usually one or two missing a world, but mannnn. It’s mostly the whole “the more realistic it looks the less iconic things pop out against it” or something. I did however use a guide like a scrub after I beat the fourth world to be like “okay let’s find these missing chests and lucky marks because I have spent an hour wandering around Hercules’ world and have found three gold statues and am missing a bunch of chests and marks”

“Hope we find some ingredients around here”

random but my PS4 shut down after the intro cutscene and I think it’s because I sat there watching the intro cutscenes for like 20 minutes and then my PS4′s like “yeah no one’s playing this, turn it off” as soon as I got into the dive-into-the-heart part

but those are all minor gripes and overall it’s been good

really nice touches, a lot of things from FFXV I feel carried over in a good way:

The way Sora can bump into his partners and do an animation to slide past them

Switching between weapons on the fly for different combos

The casual dialogue as you go through the game (all of it is good except for those ingredient lines man, you could have at least recorded multiple takes instead of playing the same SDG lines over and over and over again)

The cooking minigame, camera, and even fishing if you count jumping into the ocean and pressing triangle on animated water

freaking Verum Rex

there’s probably more but yeah

also

freaking Verum Rex

the Toy Story intro was so unexpected and I found it hilarious, thank you Nomura. The Toy Story world in general is so good, I loved it so much as someone who isn’t too big a fan of Toy Story. Woody sounded off but what can you do when making due with voice actors (Herc and Mickey also sounded off and I could also hear James Woods’ age in Hades) Also man, Phil being so noticeably quiet was so weird like mannn, I’m guessing his Japanese voice passed away, but it’s still weird especially since Vexen has a speaking role (he and Marluxia also sound kind of different but maybe it’s just been so long since RE:CoM)

but mannn the actors from the movie definitely knocked it out of the park, shout outs to Hamm and Rex

which brings me to the point that I love the writing in this game, it really feels more like a Disney product than any of the other KH games and I love it, and I love how they’re integrating the story so well with the Disney (FREAKING WOODY TELLING XEHANORT OFF MANNNN HECK YEAH WOODY)

freaking Xigbar I love Xigbar and godddd that cut off with that scene of him watching Maleficient, Xigbar’s got plans and I’m so excited I’ve been waiting to see what he’d do and godddd that hard cut man (there has to be some connection with him and the Master of Masters I mean come on, similar personalities, Master has an eye, Xigbar needs an eye, mannn)

Marluxia doesn’t seem like he’ll have much effect on things which makes me all the more curious as to what he’s up to in KHUX

and the Xehanorts just love being vague for the sake of being vague, but mannnnn, I love the whole replica thing being brought back, heck yeah

I don’t know man so many things be making younger me happy with how they’re doing them and I’m excited to beat this game so I can have some kind of closure even if they continue it

all I need now is my boy Demyx, give me his reason for being here, give me that Demyx/Ienzo scene

[hos18greenhouse]

Exit Interview - Ci’ere

Brett - The last time you played Big Brother, you also placed 5th on a unanimous vote. Where do you think you went wrong? What factors led you to this placement again?

Ci'ere - I think that I might have been a little too flashy or I made a move that ended up with people losing trust in me. In this case, that person would be Linus because I took out his #1. He said he would have evicted me either way because I was likable or some ish.

Brett - Scott didn't vote to keep you. Were you shocked by his decision?

Ci'ere - I’m a little disappointed, but even if Scott did tie the votes Linus still would have evicted me so I understand why he didn’t and maybe he could use that to build trust with Q and Trixie! So no hard feelings there lmao

Brett - Speaking of Q & Trixie, looking at the Final 4 players remaining, a power duo still stands strong. How did we get here? How will having a power duo still in the greenhouse affect the upcoming round?

Ci'ere - How did we get here? Well, Linus really wants those 5 measly bucks and second place. He didn’t make a power move to break up the duo. I believe Q and Trixie are taking each other to the end no matter what, but I would have taken Linus to end so I don’t know what he’s doing. Scott and Linus are going to want to split TrixLynn up, so I think that they’re in trouble, specifically Trixie because the boys have both said that Q would lose in a jury vote. Also Trixie is more of a threat.

Brett - Earlier in the season, you were sent to The Outhouse TWICE, taking you out of the action for roughly a week out of the season. What impact did that have on your game?

Ci'ere - Oh my goodness, that kind of took a toll on my game earlier in the season because the first few weeks everyone’s getting to know each other and relationships were being formed. I didn’t get to have that when I was thrown back in around week 4 and I felt kind of lonely. I had to adapt myself to the situation and do some damage control which I think worked out pretty well! I ALSO KNOW THAT THE STRAIGHT WHITE MALES SENT ME TO THE OUTHOUSE. I’m looking at you Aaron and Dalton ;) The game is dynamic and always changing so I was like ahh

Brett - By surprise, you found yourself as Head of Household in a double eviction lightning round. Your target list dedicated JD & Trevor as your nominees, with Zakriah as a replacement nominee after Trevor was saved by Ruthie's Power of Veto. Do you think if you had the typical HOH week and 24 hours to make your decisions that your first HOH would have gone any different?

Ci'ere - No, that actually worked out pretty well for me even though I think would have wanted Trevor out over JD at the time. I do think that things would have been different though if I had gotten time to strategize.

Brett - Trevor's reaction to being nominated by you put you in hot water with him for the rest of his game. What was your relationship with Trevor like?

Ci'ere - Oh, Trevor (makeup) Well at first I thought he was kind of a daddy until I learned he had a boyfriend. He could not hold a conversation at all. Trixie told me that Trevor said I was “weary” when I was in the Outhouse for two weeks and I trusted her, so I wanted him out for a long time lmao (chuckle) THEN HE TRIED TO CALL ME OUT IN TOUCHY SUBJECTS for taking a long time to reply, so I snatched him right back gurl because he was boring. Then we ended up working together after and it’s just all a mess. I got to know him better and I like him a lot more now!

Brett - After being nominated last week, what was your intention had you won this Head of Household? You lost to Linus by a tiebreaker in which your numbers were 7 apart.

Ci'ere - Okay, well first of all, I was so upset that I lost the last HoH because it was so close and I wanted to make a big move this week. I honestly was going to take out one of TrixLynn for strategic purposes because it was the perfect opportunity to make sure that one of them went home. They would always prioritize each other over me and I think that’s really powerful to have that bond when you’re so close to the end like that.

Brett - What's your favorite memory of this season?

Ci'ere - My favorite memory this season was when I was talking to Trixie about how we never get snow in California, so she remembered this and sent me snaps of it snowing in Canada! I luv her, bless up. (penguin)

Brett - In the event that you were the one evicted, your HouseGuests left you some goodbye messages. Let's take a look.

QuilLynn - Ci’ere, I’m really sad that one of us has to go this week :( after coming back into the game We got to know each other better and I’m so glad we were able to become friends <3 I’m going to miss you so much and the greenhouse just isn’t going to be the same without you in it :( you are such a kind person and I wish we could both stay this week, but no matter what happens, thank you for being my friend and helping make this game such an enjoyable experience, we’ll talk again soon <3

Linus - it was great playing with you again man, having to target you was very painful to me but it was the only move I could make. You weren't wrong in the chat, I'm trying to get to the end with Quil since I think my best chance is against someone who's both already been voted out once and who has also been vocally angry with numerous people.

Scott - I'm voting for you because I don't believe in pity votes and I'm certain you're going out regardless of what I do, so maybe I can buy myself something in this game by not voting for Quill I'm not sure. Honestly working with you this game was great. I know you aren't always the most honest player and I know there's times where you wanted me out, and that's all okay. But it was weird getting to know Ci'ere the person and then finally get to play with Ci'ere the player, and both impress me in different ways. You're so good at getting and keeping people on your side and you were always extremely dangerous. You sometimes went through random flashes of overly sweet to overly confrontational - which could be frustrating but I think it fits with who you are. I'll probably see you on jury in the next couple of weeks, but either way we'll have a lot to chat about

Trixie - I feel like everything I’m about to say I’ve already said to you as an explanation, but I want to make it very clear that this was in no way an easy decision to make. :( I typically am able to separate personal feelings and gameplay very easily, but I felt like I was in a very bad position this time around. Because like I said, I feel like either way I vote, I upset a friend. I might have had a chance to beat either you or Quil in the end, but I know that 100% Quil will go after Scott or Linus. I want to believe you when you said you have never lied to me throughout this entire game but in the end, isn’t lying a necessity, especially in the house of shade lol. I know that we have kept things from each other, and so I can’t say for certain if you had something with Scott. I know that wasn’t the decision you wanted to hear and I hope you won’t hate me after this. This is just what makes sense for me to get the best chance of reaching the end and winning, so if this is the wrong decision and I follow you into the jury house next, please roast me because I deserve it. And I’m REALLY sorry in advance that I let these 3 scumbags make it to the end. This was the first game I’ve played where I felt truly alone and you were the only one I could bank not getting a vote against, so I’m really sorry that it’s my vote that is probably sending you out tonight.  From day 1 in this house to day 60, I had a great time getting to know you and sharing stories, and I hope that after this game has ended you won’t have any hard feelings. love, miss furby

Brett - Any final thoughts?

Ci'ere - I’m just happy I took a chance on this game and that I got to meet so many amazing people! Tate call me after this over, xo. And yeah, that’s pretty much it! I did everything I could and fought every step of the way to get fifth (again lmao) so I’m content~ (penguinkiss)

Brett - Thank you so much for playing! <3