#i promise i will stop spamming the tag now

[purpleenjoyer]

If you saw the previous post no you didn't I had to correct some things

The second part of my previous Inquisition post.

[firefly-suite]

hi and welcome to tdp callbacks that would actually send me

"if i am the king then you have to let me go"

"i'm corvus, i was specifically requested"

"i don't believe in locks"

"haha nice one callum, he deserves it"

"lady justice came to me in a dream"

"don't get yourself killed."

"strength isn't always about weapons"

"shhh, nobody likes a noisy mage"

"tell me she wasn't your world"

"you're just like your grandmother"

"she’s not my friend, she is my prisoner"

"rickety snickers"

"wasn’t the horse~"

"i am a storm dragon. i certainly hope it's working."

"in the name of love, you may perform acts so unforgivable… you will never forgive yourself."

"we could travel the countryside and try the seven cakes of xadia!"

"i am prepared to do anything to protect the king. anything. i hope you will understand"

"i guess it wouldn't be the first time i accidentally on purpose ruined a super rare magical artifact."

"don't do this. i will kill you" "probably"

"anyone know any adventuring songs?"

"we can find more practical uses for this one"

"well, i think about it like this, why see myself as chained down, when i can be chained up?" "i admire your tenacity"

"just the three of us"

"watch, he'll come back reciting an epic poem about his adventuring. he's probably late because he's stuck thinking of a rhyme for 'legendary heroics.'"

"the world just isn't ready for what we have. "

"i have been doing research!" "yes, i can see that"

"i do not understand girls"

"i thought you disapproved" "i disagree. but i stand by you anyway"

"you know what? in a few years, when you’re older, buddy, we’ll sit down and have a heart-to-heart talk about sandwiches."

"i would rather die a king, than live as a coward."

"edge-frazzled"

"soren is a doof but he's my doof!"

"it doesn't matter what happens to me. live or die, this dragon goes home."

"the kingdom of duren has been suffering from a terrible famine for nearly seven years. "

"you big dumb human."

"even if you were wearing the rarest legendary armor, forged by sunfire elves... super dead."

"fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice, shame on me. fool me three times, back to you again." "that's not how it goes." "shame on you."

[ecoustsaintmein]

I LIED.

i do have more eoin mcgonigal thoughts.

i was watching s2 e6 and realized that this scene feels sooooo different from any other paddy/eoin scenes. it's not just that eoin looks older. it's not just that eoin isn't actually there. it's not just the colder colour palette of the scene.

and then it hits me:

this eoin doesn't have the easy smile of the eoin who was once alive. because in every single scene that eoin was in, when he was alive in season 1, he. always. smiles. even when he was chiding paddy with a serious tone.

and i think in almost every single scene you will find eoin either laughing or chuckling, to something that probably paddy has said, or laughing/grinning in the background, while paddy is next to him.

(except when they were about to jump in s1 e3, during the 'lately i am changed by him' voiceover scene -- but even then, he still has a ghost of a smile on his face.)

but there was nothing like this during the boat/ghost scene.

there's a heaviness there which we've never seen before in eoin. and it hurts to watch.

[blackfeatherdragon]

Arc-V might be suffering from severe quality issues at this point, but live posting at a friend who watched it live will always deliver-

[perfecttenth]

Shōwa-era styled bookmarks that were included in some printings of Gakken's Kinnikuman Technique Encyclopedia, designed by Yoshiyuki Yoshimura.

[merevide]

finished the lost legacy. women’s stories matter. they just matter. also love wins

[ibelieveinahappilyeverafter]

Pokemon Submas Inspired Newsboy Hat/Cap (Black or White)

Want the hat but know you can crochet it yourself? Check out the pattern that's also for sale!

Whether you're getting ready for a shift at Gear Station or taking a walk around town, these hats are here to compliment any style you have. Inspired by Subway Boss Ingo and Subway Boss Emmet of the Pokemon franchise, these hats are styled to have a flat top, red band around the center, and a "badge" to represent the place where they work.

The hats are made out of medium (4) yarn and crafted using 5.5 and 4.5mm crochet hooks. They are sized to fit most heads. Washing the hat in cool water, letting it dry, and then stretching it out gently will sometimes allow for an extra inch or two around the brim.

You can buy the hat here on Etsy!

[missperfectlyfinewrites]

open to: any muse 21+ possible connections: relative (step/full), someone who goes to the library, a friend/partner of a relative, relative of a friend/colleague, etc. muse: ellie matthews / late twenties / librarian / submissive / a shy sweetheart with a hidden kinky side. plot: your muse has found out that ellie has started to be a regular at a local kink club. whether they’ve known before now and have kept it a secret, or have just seen her for the first time, is up to you!

It had taken Ellie a while to be confident with the idea of exploring her..desires. She’d come a long way from being cooped up with her bedrooms with spicy books, and she was really proud of herself for that. It was a little nerve-wracking still, of course, to put herself out there and flaunt herself, but there seemed to be a few people at the club who seemed to like her, so that was something, right? Ellie was certainly one of the more shy girls but goodness she knew how to use her mouth like nobody’s business, and was eager to lay herself over the lap of anybody who would call her a good girl. She was having her fun and she didn’t know anybody her. Sure, she’d gotten used to a few familiar faces but she could be a new person here, she could be a little braver, hide behind her little lacy dress and lipstick a bit.

“Hi, can I have a diet coke please?” Ellie leaned over the bar a little, giving one of the bartenders a friendly smile. Her little light blue dress rose up her long legs, exposing the back of creamy thighs - accentuated by her ribbon heels, before she settled back onto her feet, diet coke now clutched firmly in her hands. The plan was to get a drink, find somewhere to get settled and either see if somebody would approach, or if she’d approach. Sometimes it took a little while for her to grow her confidence, but people did often approach her - a blonde with sweet blue eyes, long legs and even a little ribbon perched on the top of her head, she was hard to resist sometimes - others words, not hers.

Ellie thanked the bartender before moving deeper into the club, finding a corner booth to slide into carefully. She took a sip of her drink before her fingers came to smooth out the bottom of her dress for a moment, eyes raking across the club, unaware of somebody staring at her.

[k-hotchoisan]

In honour of you getting 500 followers(congratulations🥳🥳🥳🥳),

Can you no.20 from your masterlist, pretty please?

20. Send dirty videos to Yeosang or Receive audio porn from Mingi?

You KNOW I have a voice thing, let alone for mf SONG mINGI. Just thinking about what kind of sounds he makes…. hMMMM OKAY. 😔✊🏻

Where you’re wondering why your bestie is replying you at erratic intervals, until a voice message pops up that pretty much changes the trajectory of the night.

Genre/Content warnings: smut, audio porn mingi, masturbation, orgasms, dirty talk, mingi that’s enough moans mingi please

Tag list: @bro-atz, @diamond-3

You don’t know why Mingi has this whack ass habit of spamming you messages and replying at once and then, suddenly he just stops.

And then his replies just becomes erratic, sometimes it’s just full of typos, as if he’s in a rush. You could never figure it out. But you never bothered to dig deeper into it, deciding to leave it as it is.

That is, until that one audio message he sends you that one night when you and your friend group were on vacation. The worst part is that he never even addressed it after that.

That night when he was back with his strange texting habits again even though your rooms weren’t even far apart in the vacay house, you were about to just ignore his message and head to sleep, until the status under his contact name changes to “…is recording a voice message”. You furrow your eyebrows, maybe he was tired of filling his texts with funny typos.

The only problem was that the audio message took a little over seven minutes to record and you’re wondering what the hell does he have to say that’s seven minutes long.

Then it sends.

You absentmindedly tap play.

The audio starts off silent, then a few seconds later, you hear what it sounds like is squelching. You lower the volume slightly, and fit the speaker at your ear to try to get what’s even going on.

“Fuck. Oh god. Oh my fucking god”.

It doesn’t take more than a second for you to realise what it was.

And then he fucking moans. One that sounds so desperate and then jumps up in octave, accompanied by more wet sounds.

“God, fuck”, he whines. “Ugnf- god I wanna fuck your fucking pussy so bad, y/n.”

You blink. Wait, what?

“A-ah…” and it sounds like he fucked his hand to a sensitive sensation. Then another whine. “Ughh… so good. Fuck me.”

You feel your face flush. It’s as if he’s right at your fucking ear, in a moaning mess just fucking his hand as his cock leaks more precum to lube up his dick.

It goes on for another couple of minutes, a ton of pussy leaking sounding moans, as he tries to reach his orgasm, and a lot of your name being moaned in between.

“Y/n, fuck. Let me beg for your pussy. Ngh, please. I’ll be good, I promise.”

“I wanna fit my whole cock into her pussy so fucking bad. Wanna make sure she feels just as good as I do, oh fuck.”

He gasps when he feels the knot tightening in his stomach, and you hear it loud and clear.

“Feels amazing. Shit, I think I’m gonna cum. Gonna cum so much…”

“Fuck! I’m cumming. fuckkkkkkkk!”

And his cries as his orgasm drags on, and you never would have thought he sounded so fucking sexy when he cries. His cock only sounds even wetter and wetter. You’re imagining it now being just full of his cum—thick and all lubed up.

“Oh my god, fuck it’s so much. So much cum. Fuck, imagine it’s all in you”, he whimpers.

You rise from your bed, doing your best to ignore how fucking soaked your cunt and underwear was. You storm over to his room, rapping on the door. It takes him a couple of seconds to answer, and when he does, he’s shirtless, and only in his underwear.

You don’t even greet him, pulling up your phone and point to the audio message he sends you. Mingi raises his eyebrows like he doesn’t know what you’re talking about.

Until you play the audio recording and his eyes blow wide open, and he snatches your phone from your hands. You still have your arms crossed.

“Shit, it got recorded?!” Mingi exclaims even though he’s staring right at the recording he sent. Damn, looks like his little crush on you has been exposed in the wildest way he could ever imagine.

“Fucking take responsibility”, you mumble, pushing him further into his room before shutting the door behind you.

And now, Mingi’s eyes are staring at you in awe when you push him onto his bed and straddle his lap. That night, Mingi’s voice isn’t the only thing that bounces off the walls.

Well at least now you know why he can’t seem to type for shit.

[raz-writes-the-thing]

ERMMM sorry for spamming I'LL STOP NOW PINKY PROMISE but,,

Tenth doctor relationship hcs? Could be sfw/nsfw, or both!! I've been rewatching doctor who and OMGG I NEED HIM SO BA- (GUNSHOTS)

-⭐

I feel that- honestly devo I haven't been able to find some more active writers that write for Ten (aside from Denali, who does the best sfw stuff but i am also after that,, that nsfw good shit,,)

here you go!

Tenth Doctor x GN!Reader Relationship HCS / requests are open and encouraged

SFW/NSFW below the cut

Doctor Who tag list: @nyxiethesimp @quickslvxrr @midnight--raine @blueberry-sunshines (send an ask to be added to a tag list!)

___ ___ ___ ___ ___

SFW HCS:

The Doctor has no spatial awareness. Particularly when it comes to you. He wants to be in your space all the time. Especially when you're out and about on adventures.

Literally- he's always rubbing a hand on your back when you're looking at a market stall or standing close to you when you're telling off a cyborg for planning to bomb a village or something.

He's not big on huge PDA though. A peck here and there before you're both running off to do something is fine but he doesn't like to have huge big make-out sessions in public or anything.

He loves to hold your hand at all times possible.

He also? Does these super cute romantic gestures that he thinks are kinda meh and then you completely gush over them and he's like "oh, right! I was just- oh, good! I'm glad you like it."

I'm talking shit like going out while you're sleeping and picking up supplies for you. Things you can only get on Earth at specific times. Or taking you for surprise trips in the TARDIS and them being, like, to meet people you idolise or see events that have fascinated you since you were young.

He's also gone to get things that you've missed out on before, too. That deluxe figure that was a limited run of 500 in 1993 that go for, like, $8000 now? He just picked one up for you from release year. Just because he could. And wanted to see you smile.

NSFW HCS:

The Doctor loves having his hair pulled. He's super into it. Nothing makes his cock twitch harder than having his hair yanked on.

He's a switch, though his domming style is very soft. Lots of praise and pretend disappointment if you're being bratty.

He loves to have you ride him. He loves being able to be under you and watch you like the deity he believes you to be. He loves to hold your hips and watch you grind yourself on top of him.

The man lives for head. Giving or receiving- he LOVES it. Particularly if he's giving head and you pull on his hair? A dying man. He could cum untouched from that.

He's also a big fan of grinding up on you. Particularly when he's feeling needy, subby and desperate. He just- he wants to rut himself on you at any given opportunity. He's so cute.

He's so in control all the time so he loves being able to let go in a safe environment. If he's subbing for you, he adores being edged. Having to beg you to be allowed to cum makes him so horny for you it's ridiculous.

Domming you though? He's all praise, all loving and teasing caresses. He's made games of how many times he can make you cum before, and also how many times he can bring you to that edge and take it away before he's finally giving in to your begging.

Big slut for aftercare, that Doctor. He's all hydrolites, cuddles and snacks.

[sherewrytes]

Lost cause

Sukuna x reader

Sukuna and Y/n has been distant for some time. Talks and time spent together become less and less.

genre. fluff to angst (idk), established but toxic relationship, 18+

tags/warnings. boyfriend! sukuna, profanity, smoking, alcohol/intoxication, talks of depression. minors dni.

notes: This is just straight off the dome, unedited. I just had a plot and rain with it. Hope it doesn't make you cry.

You were tired

It was 8:51pm, you hadn't heard from Sukuna in two weeks really. The last messages you got was him saying

Bro stop spamming my messages. We will talk soon I thank you for checking in but I'm not in the right headspace rn, I'll talk to you soon

Thank God you can see notifications on your screen so you won't have to open his messages. You left it unopened. This is how things were between you two right now. You'd barely speak then hang out once a month, talk a bit then he's MIA again. You knew Sukuna had shit hard. Family passed, taking on a lot of responsibilities that aint his own. You knew that somewhere deep down he cared, or maybe you wanted to believe he still cared.

The I love yous over the months were less and less, you went from babe and baby to just a simple bro. You felt iced out of his life. You kept your promise to be there for him but it's like he was failing on his.

You laid in bed contemplating calling him but knew he most likely won't pick up. You contemplate smoking a blunt or just drinking altogether to ease the pain you felt but you thought "what's the point." You wondered if to pray for some sign he still wanted this and much as you did.

Your mind played on a conversation you guys had last month where he told you he still wants this relationship and still wants you. He said, "I stay away when things are hard with me mentally cause I don't wanna bring that shit to you." You laid in bed replaying old voice notes to hear his voice. You closed your laptop and turned off your wifi on your phone just so you won't be tempted to call him.

You remember the moments you'd talk for hours on end. He would always show up when you needed him most but these days it felt like you were showing up for yourself more than he was. Some days you felt tempted to end things other days you felt the love come back.

You remember another conversation you had with him after an argument you had over something, and he said he's worried that you're losing feelings for him. You didn't confirm or deny it.

It's now 11pm

You already texted Sukuna for the night, and there was no answer. Your messages were unread. You saw a text message came in. It was Sukuna it was just a voice note saying

"Hey there, good night. Still not in a good space mentally but as you know when things get tough you gotta keep going"

You listened to it, missing the sound of voice so much, it almost moved you to tears. You felt like confused on whether you should keep trying with him and being patient or just end it. You simply responded

"Thanks for the motivational pep talk and you're happy to see he's a bit better."

After that, it was back to radio silence with Sukuna again. You felt like your world was falling apart. He was the one who chose you. He pursued you, so why was he acting like this. He kept saying he cared, but he's never around. The stuff you know about his personal life is tough and you get why things are a certain way.

You were tired of always feeling like you were putting in more than you were getting, wondering if you were just being played or used. Tired of conversations so you decided to just live your life and whatever happened between you and Sukuna happened.

He was tired

Sukuna was tired of always making you feel like you meant nothing. There was no one else for him but you. His feelings for you overwhelmed him. All he could think about was you. He needed a moment to clear his head and all it made want was you. He won't deny the time away from you helped him. He was scared to come back around. He knew you weren't one to tolerate shit. He wants to be better not only for himself but for you. He hoped this time away helped you as much as it helped him.

He saw your texts, your missed calls. He was avoiding it, fuck, he was avoiding you. Maybe he was avoiding the emotions you made him feel. He still remembers how your lips felt when you first kissed him. How soft your hands were in his. How the shade of baby blue on your nails when you first met warmed his heart.

He was scared to lose you. He felt like you were done with him. He wasn't done with you. He wants to be better. He hates pushing you away. He knows it's his trauma and his pain from his fucked up life.

He hates that it's ruining everything he wants. He wants you, only you. You're the only one he gets emotional with. You're the only one he talks to on a deep level. He knew from the moment he heard you in the background some months ago when he called Toji. Your voice alone, let him know you were his.

He wants to fix things but he feels like you're done. He sees the signs. He knows he should be doing more but right now, his life and his mind is overwhelmed. He still loves you but he isn't sure if you still love him.

Sukuna finds himself outside your apartment, dreading this moment. He decided to try to fix things. He runs his hand through his hair then knocks on your door.

Your door opens and it's Sukuna. You were shocked to see him there. It's 10pm. You sigh and said "Oh you suddenly remember me?"

Sukuna face paled just a little then he sighed. " y/n, can we talk...please."

You study his face expression, you want to hear him out but decided against it. You told him frankly "Sukuna it's late. I think you should just head home." Sukuna felt tears sting the back of his eyes. There was no love or anything he remembered in your eyes. He panicked " y/n please, I just wanna explain what's been going on with me."

You sigh and close the door in his face. Sukuna was shocked he never got that reaction from you ever.

Were you done with him for real Did he not matter to you anymore Did he spend to much time away Did someone get into your head

All these thoughts were racing through his mind. He fished out his pack of cigarette from his pocket and lit one up. He stood at your door for as long as it took him to smoke three cigarettes back-to-back before he realised he should just leave.

He headed down your complex's car park and hoped on his bike and headed home. He walked into the usual. Mom and Step dad on the their phones. His little sister on his laptop. His twin brother studying trying to use education as a way out of this hell hole they all lived in.

He sat alone in his room, thinking about how he fucked up, the one thing that was good for him. He found himself outside sitting on the wall in his family back yard scrolling through old messages between you two. He saw how his I love yous became less, how you'd express how him being hot and cold upset you. He saw everything. He saw you lashing out on him cause of your own issues as well. It made him feel sick.

He approached you first and he couldn't be consistent. He started hating his life. he mumbled to himself " If shit wasn't so fucked him in my life I'd have her. I'd give her everything she wants."

he remembered an issue you both had where a former friend/ fling of yours was trying to get with you. He remembered you showing him the messages and the emotion seething through him. He remembered the fear that he might lose you to someone else. How can a guy say he knows you better than him, knows what you like what you love. That's his role. He begged you for the guys handle to have a word him with him. The guy paid Sukuna no mind.

Sukuna realized he has no pictures of you and him together. NONE. all he can do is look at the pics you sent him randomly and feel sick. Why the hell was he doing this.

He found himself back in your messages sending a long voice note.

You were pissed off at Sukuna having the audacity to show up at your door. It's been almost a month of almost little to no contact. You decided to send him home and get back to your own devices. You were scrolling on Tik Tok when you saw a message from Sukuna. You clicked on it, planning to leave him on read and saw it was a voice note. 7 minutes.

You were curious so you pressed play. The first thing you noticed was the lick of his lighter and the usual inhale. His voice sounded a bit shaky y/n. You...You, there's shit I've done that I didn't mean to do. I wasn't aware I was doing this shit. I've just been treating you based off my past experiences and that's how I usually am with people. I tried to handle you different, well they way you would want me to..... for the most part. I dont have the type fo conversations we have....had with anyone. I dont sit down one on one and talk to people the way I do with you. You heard him flick his lighter again and inhale then exhale. then he continued People around see me different than how you see me. They see me as positive and serious. The way Im with you. I don't be like that with anyone. If you get what I mean. I won't lie y/n you're difficult to deal with, fuck even Im difficult to deal with. I know you're way more sensitive and I can't deal with you, the way I deal with others in my life. Dealing with you sometimes, it's complicated for me, highly so but it's also new and different. Im still trying to learn you in that way. I've never had anyone like you before y/n. I can only do so much from what I know and try to understand your old world and how things are from your perspective. Im being honest it is difficult for me. Sometimes I need to take a step back to try to understand and if I can't, you make me understand. You heard Sukuna sigh then he continued on again.

Me working on myself and bettering myself for you and like my future with you would be an amazing thing. I understand that you gotta work hard and grind to get that shit as well but everything I do is for a reason. I don't do shit to spite anyone or hurt anyone especially not intentionally. I may be rough at times but I got my reasons. Im only human. Im always....Im used to thinking people are attacking me and I always push people away. Idk why I do. I don't know if it's ptsd, I don't know if it's self harm. I don't know if there is something I don't like about myself that causes me to act this way and push people away. I don't know if it's just that I can't accept certain things about people and certain things about myself. I try to understand a lot more every day and that's one of the reasons why I wanted some time to myself.

I wanted time for you for yourself as well to think. I wanted time for me to think. You told me when we met, I met you at an awkward time and from there everything was like a rush. I just wanted to take a breather. I wanted to live in the moment of life. hopefully this mini break which was partially intentional. I wont say it was fully intentional only partially. I felt like I didn't have a choice. I mean in a way I did and I didn't because I know couldve gotten help but at the same time y/n I didn't wanna use the time I had to just drop everything and come online and be around when I wanted to just grind and try to get shit together. I just needed that space for myself to think and comprehend things and I hoped it worked for you as well. I didn't do any of this to like really..... I won't say it's all your fault. I wanted some time to recuperate my mind. you know, there is multiple reasons why. That's why I came overI wanted to have a talk with you. I'll you sometime...if you want that and we could discuss a lot of things. Im only human.. I dont know if anything I said made sense to you y/n....

The voice note ended. You didn't know how to respond to him

He then sent you a gif with the caption this be us fr

You just stared at your screen not knowing what to say. Sukuna's words confused you. You decided to at least sleep on it and think.

[queenjunothegreat]

Chapter One: JASON Has a Bad Day

Okie dokie everyone! I've decided to stop being lazy and finally post The Heroes of Juno to Tumblr! I'm not gonna be spamming the tag, though, promise! I'll post one chapter on Sunday and one chapter on Wednesday until you guys are all caught up! I hope you enjoy!

According to Leo, their destination was a museum on the Grand Canyon, not that that really meant anything to Jason. Coach was herding them towards a squat, red stucco building when he shouted, “Do not — I repeat do not get separated from your partners, do you hear me?” Leo turned to Jason, likely to inform him that they were working together, but Piper grabbed his arm before he got the chance. “You're my partner, Leo,” she said firmly. “Uh, sorry, but as the only one claiming to be a non-amnesiac, I'm here to tell you that I'm supposed to be with Jason.” “We're always partners on field trips, though.”  “Yeah, which is part of the reason Coach Hedge banned us from working together,” Leo pointed out. Then, in a remarkably good impression added, “McLean, Valdez, if you so much as look at one another on this trip, you'll be getting a one-way ticket to the bottom, fast lane!” “Which means you'll be working with me,” another voice drawled. Jason stiffened, which was the correct response, based on the disgust that crossed Leo and Piper's faces. Another boy, not quite as big as Jason, but definitely taller and broader than Leo and Piper both, had slung his arm around Piper's shoulders. “Lucky you.”

Master List

Jason knew he was going to have a lousy day when he woke up on a school bus holding hands with a girl. He was pretty sure that normally he wouldn’t mind holding hands with her, as she was very pretty, but he had no idea who she was or why he was holding hands with her. 

Apparently, the girl also didn’t know why he was holding her hand because she snatched it away and punched him in the arm with a surprising amount of force. Jason yelped in pain, but she just glared at him in obvious distrust, clutching her hand to her chest like she thought he would try to take it again. She was leaning so far away from Jason that he thought she was going to fall out of their shared seat, and when he went to balance her, she twisted her face into something that reminded Jason of a very agitated she-wolf

“Don't touch me,” the girl snapped. “Who the hell are you?”

“Uh, I’m Jason,” he stammered, putting his hands up in surrender. “And I don't—”

“What's wrong with you two?” a new voice asked. A boy was sitting on the seat in front of them by himself. He had his arms folded on the back of his seat and he rested his chin on them as he watched Jason and the girl like they were a tennis match. He raised an eyebrow when Jason gave him a blank look.

The girl, on the other hand, was visibly relieved. “Leo!” she all but hissed as she quickly vacated her spot at Jason's side and took up the one by her friend.

The other boy — Leo — turned and looked at her with his brow furrowed. “Seriously, Piper, what's up with you tw—”

“Who are you?” Piper interrupted glaring at Jason even more ferociously now that she was in a more defensible position. 

“What do you mean ‘who are you?’” Leo asked. “That's Jason. You know, big guy, blonde. Our best friend, your recent boyfriend? That Jason?”

“You're my best friend, and I would never date someone like him,” Piper corrected, giving Jason a somehow dirtier look than before.

Leo just looked confused for a moment before he laughed. “Alright, Pipes, whatever you say.” He gave Jason an easy smile. “Come on, Jason. Tell your amnesiac girlfriend who you are.”

“I'm sorry, but I don't know who either of you are,” Jason admitted. “I—I'm not even really sure who I am.”

Leo stared at him, gobsmacked. Then he turned to Piper with an almost betrayed look. “Okay, I get why Jason would be messing with me over the whole shaving cream on the Jell-o thing, but you, too? I didn't even do anything to you. You date the guy for two weeks and you're already picking him over me?”

Piper looked pained at his words, which Jason thought was odd because shaving cream and Jell-o sounded like something he wanted no part of. “No, you did the shaving cream and Jell-o thing to me. Because this guy,” she scowled at Jason just in case her message wasn't clear and Jason resisted the urge to scowl back, “wasn't even here when we got on the bus this morning.”

Leo wrinkled his nose at her and they made direct eye contact for several seconds in silence. They must have communicated something that Jason couldn't hear, though, because Leo laughed. “This is your idea of a prank? You telling me you don’t remember your boyfriend? Not your best work, Pipes.”

“Leo, I swear, I have never met that guy before in my life.”

Leo turned his amusement back on Jason. “You're serious, too? Committing to the bit?”

“I've never met either of you before in my life,” Jason said genuinely. 

Leo looked startled and a bit hurt for a moment – which Jason felt really bad about – but he quickly slapped on a smile and he shrugged. “Yeah, alright. I'm willing to play in this space with you guys. So, first things first: we go to this place called Wilderness School, AKA where all the problem kids get dumped. I ran away six times, Piper stole a BMW—”

“No, I didn't!”

“Right, right, he let you borrow it.” Leo rolled his eyes and gave Jason a look he somehow knew he was supposed to laugh at, but didn't and Leo winced. “And you—” he cut himself off and looked at Jason curiously. “I actually don't know what you did. I don't think you’ve ever told us.”

“That's because neither of us have ever spoken to him before,” Piper insisted. “Leo, do you really think I'd somehow just completely forget a person but remember everything else? There's no way that's how amnesia works.”

“Actually, it can be. Kind of,” Leo shrugged. “Though I'm not sure how you would have gotten it. Both of you, actually. Pretty sure head injuries are usually involved.”

“Look, I don't think I'm supposed to be here at all,” Jason confessed. “I think Piper,” she looked annoyed that he dared to use her name, “is right. I don't think I was on this bus this morning.”

Leo seemed to consider that for a moment before he leaned around Piper to look at the seat beside them. “Hey! Mary! Lisa! You see the blonde dude behind me? I can't for the life of me remember his name. Help a guy out?”

The girls snickered at him, but the one with red hair replied, “Pretty sure that's Jason. He's the bodyguard you and Piper hired to follow you around and clean up your messes.”

Leo snapped his fingers and shot them a wink. “That's it! It was on the tip of my tongue. Thanks, ladies!” The girls giggled again and Leo turned back to Jason with a look that clearly said See? I told you.

“They didn't say anything about us being friends with him,” Piper pointed out. “And they definitely didn't say anything about me dating him.”

“It hasn't been that long and you two are trying to keep things quiet,” Leo explained. “And everyone calls Jason our bodyguard after he kicked Tyler's ass for us the first week he got here.”

“Why would you need me to kick someone's ass for you?”

“Well,” Leo said, drawing out the word with a mischievous grin. “It may or may not have involved replacing his laundry detergent with bleach and RIT dye, and because Tyler has more biceps than brain cells, Pipes and I kinda needed someone to swoop in and save our skins. Which is where you come in, Superman.” He turned and gave Piper a frown. “Surely you remember that.”

“I remember pranking Tyler,” Piper admitted. “But I also remember us having to hide on the roof until curfew and missing dinner to avoid becoming a news head line.”

Leo frowned at her and opened his mouth to say something but he was interrupted by a short man in pristine white athletic wear yelling at them from the front of the bus. “McLean! What are you doing? You were strictly told not to sit with Valdez!”

“Sorry, Coach. What was that? We couldn't hear you all the way back here!” Leo shouted back, completely ignoring the conversation they'd been having moments before. “Maybe your megaphone will help?”

“Coach” whoever that was, seemed pleased with the idea and picked up his bullhorn, but instead of his voice, the only thing that came out was a tinny recording bellowing “THE COW GOES MOO,” which caused the bus to erupt in uproarious laughter. Coach turned purple. “Valdez!”

Leo and Piper ducked their heads together and snickered, elbowing each other in the sides while Jason blinked at Leo in baffled wonder. “You did that?” he asked. “How?”

Leo smirked at him and wiggled his eyebrows, twirling a tiny screwdriver between his fingers. “You may not remember, but I can assure you that I am a very special boy.”

“You're a menace is what you are,” Piper teased, Jason seemingly forgotten. 

“Oh, I'm the menace?” Leo snorted. “Care to remind the class who stole the megaphone?”

“That's it!” Coach shouted. He had abandoned the use of his favorite toy, but it still belted out the lyrics to “Old McDonald” because he had his fist in such a death grip that he wasn't able to let go of the button. “You three back there are going to be the official clean-up crew after lunch, capisce?”

Piper grumbled her discontent, and Leo rolled his eyes, but neither of them seemed all that upset. Something told Jason that the two of them were well-acquainted with lunch clean-up as a punishment. The mildly anxious churning in his stomach told Jason that he was not. He slouched down in his seat, trying to draw as little attention to himself as possible while Leo and Piper did whatever they could to seek it out. Leo turned back around and he actually looked concerned when he looked at Jason. “You're really doubling down on the not knowing us bit, huh?” He glanced at Piper. “The both of you.”

“I'm beyond serious,” Piper swore. “You know I wouldn't lie to you about this.”

Leo didn't say anything in response, he just frowned at Jason like he was trying to solve a Rubik’s Cube with seven colors. Jason turned and looked out the window, unwilling to meet his gaze.

*-*-*

The rest of the trip was blessedly short and quiet. Coach had yelled at them about how Piper and Leo still weren't allowed to sit together, which had led to the two of them bickering over who was to give up their spot. Leo eventually gave in to Piper’s insistence that she was not sitting with Jason, and he climbed over the back of the seat and flopped down at Jason's side. Coach yelled even more about that, and Leo accidentally kicked Jason in the jaw, but he politely kept that to himself. At first, Leo thought it would be fun to fill Jason in on all the stuff he'd forgotten, and started up his “Crash Course for the Amnesiac”. Jason wasn't sure how truthful it was, seeing as he'd claimed to be a gift from the gods and that Jason thought he was so cool that he did all of Leo’s chores and surrendered all of his desserts, but it was somewhat entertaining. Leo quickly grew bored, though, and started fiddling with a ball of pipe cleaners and popsicle sticks he'd pulled from his pocket. Based on the way his fingers twitched and his eyes darted around the bus, Jason was pretty sure Leo got bored often. Piper, on the other hand, was more than content with watching Jason with narrowed eyes over the back of the seat the whole time. It made her look like she was nothing but a nose and a pair of angry eyebrows, but Jason knew better than to point that out. 

According to Leo, their destination was a museum on the Grand Canyon, not that that really meant anything to Jason. Coach was herding them towards a squat, red stucco building when he shouted, “Do not — I repeat do not get separated from your partners, do you hear me?”

Leo turned to Jason, likely to inform him that they were working together, but Piper grabbed his arm before he got the chance. “You're my partner, Leo,” she said firmly.

“Uh, sorry, but as the only one claiming to be a non-amnesiac, I'm here to tell you that I'm supposed to be with Jason.”

“We're always partners on field trips, though.” 

“Yeah, which is part of the reason Coach Hedge banned us from working together,” Leo pointed out. Then, in a remarkably good impression added, “McLean, Valdez, if you so much as look at one another on this trip, you'll be getting a one-way ticket to the bottom, fast lane!”

“Which means you'll be working with me,” another voice drawled. Jason stiffened, which was the correct response, based on the disgust that crossed Leo and Piper's faces. Another boy, not quite as big as Jason, but definitely taller and broader than Leo and Piper both, had slung his arm around Piper's shoulders. “Lucky you.”

“Don't touch me, Dylan,” Piper snapped, and Jason felt a bit guilty over holding her hand earlier because she sounded very familiar with that particular phrase. 

“Aw, don't be like that,” Dylan crooned. “Most girls would do anything to work with me.”

“What a coincidence. I'd do anything to avoid it.”

Dylan tilted his head back and laughed, running his fingers through his hair like he thought he was on some kind of commercial for hair care products designed to make you look like your hottest delinquent self. He looped his arms through Piper's and started dragging her along, ignoring the way she yanked to try getting away from him. Jason clenched his fists and grit his teeth.

“I hate that guy,” Leo said quietly. Jason turned to see Leo glaring after Dylan and Piper, and he looked so angry it made Piper's scowls from earlier seem almost cordial.

Jason reached out and brushed his knuckles along the back of Leo’s wrist. “Hey, you alright?”

“Yeah, I just hate that I—” Leo cut himself off with a sharp head shake and he gave Jason a wide smirk. “He's just so annoying, you know?” He rolled his eyes and put on a dumb little voice to say, “Wow, I am so cool and handsome and awesome. You guys are so lucky that you get to know me. I wish I could hang out with myself, but I can't figure out how, so you all will have to make do. Aren't I so generous? I'll take your thanks in the form of praises sung to my pure handsome awesomeness.”

Jason blinked down at Leo, but he couldn't really hide the way his voice trembled slightly on a suppressed laugh. “Leo, you are so weird.”

“Yeah, you tell me that a lot,” Leo grinned at him. “Now, come on. Let's get inside before Coach decides to make good on his Fast Pass promise.” He offered Jason his arm and batted his eyelashes like some kind of cartoon princess. “Shall we?”

Surprising both himself and Leo, Jason took the offered arm and let Leo drag him inside like Dylan had with Piper moments before. He figured that if his life was messed up enough that someone like Leo was his best friend that he might as well own it. 

*-*-*

Jason thought that the museum was probably really cool and interesting, and he was pretty sure that he might like to revisit it one day, but a lot of different things made it very hard to pay attention that particular afternoon. Coach Hedge had apparently decided that using his megaphone was worth occasionally sounding like a Sith Lord or helpfully informing everyone around him about the sounds various barnyard animals made because he was constantly shouting instructions in it, every now and then one of the other kids would shove Jason or Leo from behind and snicker, and he was still suffering from amnesia. Jason suggested that maybe Leo should take him and Piper to an adult to get medical attention, but Leo had snorted and informed him that Coach Hedge was the only adult around and that his idea of “medical attention” would likely be hitting them both over the head with his baseball bat in order to knock their brains back in place. Jason told Leo he watched too many movies. 

Leo was probably the most distracting thing, though. Ignoring the fact that he kept fishing a seemingly never-ending supply of nuts and bolts and string and wires out of his pocket to twist together, he was constantly bristling up at Jason's side and shooting murderous looks at some of the other girls in class. Jason understood why he was upset — after the third comment, he'd figured out that they were actively being mean to Piper, and even with her attitude towards him, he still clenched his fists with every sickly sweet barb thrown at her — but he couldn't understand why Leo wouldn't say anything. He'd just stand there and seethe in obvious resentment, but as soon as he noticed Jason looking at him, he plastered on a wide smile and made yet another dumb joke and pretended like he had no idea what Jason was talking about when he mentioned the girls. 

“Look, do you want me to do something about them or not?” Jason asked flatly. One of the girls had said something incredibly stupid about a rain dance and he felt his temple throb with frustration. “Because I will make them stop. But only if you and Piper won't get mad at me.”

Leo stared at him in shock for a moment and Jason thought he might play dumb again, but instead he just gave Jason a rueful smile. “Do I want you to? Sure, I love to watch you stomp around and bash heads, especially if it's someone who deserves it. But you probably shouldn't. Piper would get mad at both of us if we tried to turn her into some sort of damsel. Besides, you—” he poked Jason in the chest, “definitely can't do anything. You're already on thin ice; if you start a fight while we're on a trip, you'll definitely wind up in ‘self-focused learning and meditation’ again, and you hated it last time.”

“What's self-focused learning and meditation?”

“Well, this place isn't actually a prison, so they can't call it solitary confinement, but that's basically what it is,” Leo explained. “You're taken out of the dorm and you have to sleep in a room by yourself and you do one-on-one classes with the disciplinary teacher and you go to meals at a different time from everyone. It's  just you and your teacher slash prison guard for however many days they give you.”

“And I…” Jason gulped to quash down his queasiness. “I had to do that?”

“Once,” Leo shrugged. “You were stuck in it for three days and when you came out you didn't really want to talk about it. You made me and Piper promise to never let you get in enough trouble to do it again, though, which said plenty to me.”

Jason felt sick at the idea that he was ever getting in enough trouble to deserve that kind of punishment. He shuddered. “What about you and Piper? Have either of you had it?”

Leo shook his head. “Nah. Pipes and I make sure that they can't prove it was us. Everyone knows that we did it, but even Wilderness School follows the justice system. ‘If it doesn't fit, you must acquit’ and all that.”

Jason blinked. “What?”

Leo looked disappointed in him. “Dude.”

There was a sudden commotion and the two of them turned around to see Piper with her teeth almost bared at another girl, who was clutching her hand to her cheek in shock. “Coach, Piper just hit me!”

“No, I didn't!” Piper snapped back. She was subtly shaking out the fingers of her right hand, and having been on the receiving end of one of Piper's punches earlier, Jason almost felt bad for the other girl. Or, he would have if she weren't awful. 

“Yes, you did!”

“No, I didn't!” Piper turned to one of the other girls. “Amy, tell Coach that she's lying!”

Amy suddenly looked like she'd been hit by an invisible truck. She stared at Piper like she'd never seen her before and then turned to Coach Hedge and stammered out, “Uh, yeah. I— I dunno why Macy is saying Piper hit her, Coach. She definitely didn't.”

Jason gaped at her. Anyone with eyes could see that Piper had obviously hit the other girl, but everyone was muttering to themselves about how they were pretty sure Piper was telling the truth. Then again, it's not like Jason saw Piper hit Macy, and if everyone seemed to be in agreement, then maybe—

Leo snorted at his side and gave Jason a wide grin. “That's the other reason we've never landed in solitary. Piper is scary convincing when she wants to be.”

Coach actually seemed to be the one person Piper hadn't managed to convince, but it didn't really matter because he didn't really care. “No fighting! Now, come on, cupcakes,” he called. “You are about to see the Grand Canyon. Try not to break it. The skywalk can hold the weight of seventy jumbo jets, so you featherweights should be safe out there. If possible, try to avoid pushing each other over the edge, as that would cause me extra paperwork.”

Jason let Leo lead him outside, and when he did, the air rushed out of his lungs. He wasn't sure what he was expecting the Grand Canyon to look like, but this was beyond anything he could imagine. Jason had known that they would be pretty high up based on the drive, but he hadn't appreciated just how deep it would be. The cliffs were made of layers upon layers of rock, each one of them a distinct color from the one next to it like a rainbow of browns and oranges and grays. Bushes and trees were dotted around, but they were so far off that they just looked like little smudges of green to Jason. They were so high up that even birds were flying in lazy circles beneath their feet, and down at the bottom the winding river cut through the rock like a sacrificial knife through the gut of a teddy bear. 

Jason winced at the sharp pain that burst behind his eyes and rubbed his brow. He had no idea where the comparison had come from. What kind of person thought to compare one of the wonders of the natural world to teddy bear slaughter? But it felt important. It felt like an omen. Like something big was coming and he had to prepare.

A hand tugged at his shirt sleeve and he turned to see Leo staring at him with his eyebrows puckered in concern. “Hey, man, are you alright? You don't look too good.”

“I'm fine,” Jason dismissed, shaking his head. “I've just got a headache. You're the one who said I had some kind of brain injury, remember?” Leo didn't look convinced, so Jason offered him a weak smile. “Come on. Let's get a better look over the edge.”

Leo followed him, but the closer they got to the edge, the antsier Leo got. When a cold wind blew across the skywalk hard enough that it would have knocked him down if Jason hadn't been there to steady him he scowled up at the sky. “Dude, there is no way this is safe. Look at this storm. It's literally right above us and nowhere else. There's gotta be some freaky weather shit going on.”

Jason looked up and saw what Leo was talking about. There was an inky black storm cloud above them — a perfect anvil-shaped cumulonimbus, and Jason didn't stop to wonder why he knew that of all things — but everywhere else was the same crystal clear skies they had driven through on the way here. Coach shouted something about making their time out there quick, and Jason's headache got worse. He stuffed his hands in the pocket of his jeans and frowned when his fingers brushed up against something cold.

He pulled it out and examined it. It was a coin. It appeared to be solid gold, about the size of an extra thick half dollar, but it was lumpy like the person who made it wasn't exactly skilled at making coins. A battle ax was stamped on one side, and some guy surrounded by laurels was on the other. Carved around the edge were the letters IVLIVS.

“Dude, what is that?” Jason turned to see Leo eyeing the coin appreciatively. “Is that real gold? Can we sell it?” A thought occurred to him, and he gave Jason a betrayed look. “Wait, don't tell me you were rich this whole time, too. It's bad enough that Piper is richer than the Pope, but I thought you were middle class at best.”

Jason’s frown deepened. His grip on the coin tightened like it was a safety blanket. It felt important. like he was going to need it soon. He stuffed it back in his pocket. 

“I dunno. Pretty sure it's just a coin, though.”

Leo raised an eyebrow at him, but he shrugged, happy to let it go to move onto bigger and better things. By this point, Jason was pretty sure Leo was always moving in every sense of the word. “Come on. Dare you to spit over the edge.”

*-*-*

Jason wanted to say that he and Leo put effort into their worksheet, but that would be a lie. In his defense, he didn’t know what most of the words meant. How was he supposed to “name three sedimentary strata” or “describe two examples of erosion” when he was asking Leo to define every other word? Besides that, he was still more than a little distracted by the freaky storm and his own mixed-up feelings and making sure to avoid Piper’s gaze every time she saw him talking to Leo.

Leo wasn’t exactly helpful, either. He was too busy messing with his pipe cleaners and popsicle sticks from earlier. He didn’t even have his worksheet because he’d apparently folded it up into a flock of birds when he was bored in class the day before.

“Were they able to fly?” Jason asked, tilting his head to the side.

Leo snorted. “Would you believe me if I said yes?”

“Probably.”

“Then yes. The origami cranes I made in pre-cal were absolutely capable of self-sustained flight,” Leo said with a fond eye roll. “Now, watch this.”

As Jason watched, Leo furtively glanced both ways before gently tossing his pipe cleaner contraption over the side of the fence. Jason could tell it was a little helicopter now that it wasn’t hidden by Leo’s hands. He expected it to immediately spiral down and crash, but instead the little propellers actually spun and got halfway across the canyon before giving out. Jason gawked at where it fell before turning back to Leo. He was definitely sure that if Leo told him he’d somehow managed to fold life into his origami, Jason would believe him. “How did you do that? That was amazing.”

Leo’s grin from before came back, wide enough to make his nose wrinkle. “You should have seen the prototype. It would have worked loads better if Mrs. James hadn’t confiscated my rubber bands.”

Jason couldn’t help but notice that Leo didn’t actually answer his question of how it was done, but he figured he probably wouldn’t understand even if Leo had whipped out a blackboard and gone over every step. “Are you sure we’re friends?”

“Last I checked, yeah.”

“How?” Jason asked earnestly. “Like, how did we meet? Why did we start hanging out? What was our first conversation like?”

Leo frowned. “Hey, man, I’ve got ADHD. You know I’m not great with remembering details like that. I just remember that you came to school around the time they decided Piper and I couldn’t share a dorm, so you and I wound up together. You didn’t really talk to anyone at first, and then, like I told you, you saved us from Tyler that one time and the three of us have been inseparable since. I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal out of this.”

“Because I don’t remember any of it,” Jason insisted. “I don’t remember you or Piper or Wilderness School. I don’t remember anything but it feels like I’m not supposed to be here. I don’t know why you and everyone but Piper remembers me but I feel like…”

“Like we’re all wrong and you’re the only one who’s right?” Leo suggested. “What, like we all have fake memories? Piper’s the only one remembering stuff properly?”

Jason winced. It sounded crazy when Leo put it to words, but a little voice in his head screamed Yes! That’s exactly what I think! “Yeah, pretty much.”

Leo pursed his lips. “Look. Jason. I don’t think I like this game you and Piper are playing anymore. Like, I never thought it was all that funny to begin with, but at this point keeping at it is kind of just a dick move. Can you just drop it? You got me, okay? Haha, Leo caved first or whatever. But this sucks, alright?”

“I’m sorry,” Jason said softly. He felt a bit like a horse had kicked him in the chest, but that didn’t change the facts. “I’m sorry, but I really don’t remember you.”

Leo looked like he wanted to be angry, but any fire in his eyes was doused by the little well of hurt that it was sitting on. He turned his head sharply. “Give me the worksheet. I’m going to go describe shale or whatever.”

Jason dutifully handed over the paper and watched Leo turn on his heel and wander over towards one of the podiums with fun facts that they’d mocked together not too long ago. Jason couldn’t help but feel a bit like a dog who had been left on the side of the street. No matter what Leo said or thought, Jason didn’t know these people, and so far Leo had been the only person willing to give him the time of day. 

He looked around feeling a bit lost when a gruff voice shouted, “Hey, blondie!”

Jason’s head whipped around. Coach Hedge was staring him down, but he still looked around him before pointing at himself. “Yes! You! Come here!”

Jason did as he was ordered and trotted over to Coach Hedge’s side. “Uh, yes, Coach? Sir?”

Coach Hedge visibly recoiled at the title. “Don’t call me that. It’s unnatural.”

“Uh, sorry. Coach.”

He snorted, then gave Jason a critical look over and gestured at the sky. “Is this you?”

“Is what me?”

*-*-*

“Don’t toy with me, kid,” Coach Hedge snapped glaring up at him from under the white brim of his baseball cap. “You and I both know this storm isn’t natural. Now, tell me who you are, where you came from, and why you’re trying to screw up my job.”

Jason’s heart leapt. “So, you don’t know who I am? I’m not one of your students?”

“Never seen you before today.”

Jason wasn’t sure if he was going to cry, collapse, or kiss the short gym teacher. Well, he was pretty sure he wasn’t going to kiss Coach Hedge, but the other two options were still on the table. “Look, I don’t know who I am or how I got here. I woke up on the bus with no memory and Leo just started telling me that we’re best friends. I just know I’m definitely not supposed to be here.”

“You can say that again!” Coach Hedge barked. Then his voice got dangerously low and quiet and Jason felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand straight up. “Listen here, kid. You may know your way around manipulating the Mist with the way you have everyone fooled, but you couldn’t get one past me. I’ve been smelling a monster for a while now, but I can tell it’s not you. You smell like a half-blood and a powerful one at that. Now. Tell me who you are and how you got here.”

Jason felt a bit closer to crying than before, but he grit his teeth. “I told you, I don’t know. I don’t remember anything before waking up on the bus earlier. You’ve gotta believe me. I need help.”

Coach Hedge studied him, and then, for some reason, he took in a deep breath through his nose like he was trying to sniff something out. Whatever he smelled was obviously unpleasant because he grimaced. “Great. You’re telling the truth.”

“Of course I am! I’ve been telling the truth all day, you’re just the first person to believe me. And what do you mean about Mist and monsters and half-bloods? Are you part of some secret organization? Are those codewords or something?”

Coach narrowed his eyes at him. “I can’t tell you who you are, I can just tell you what you are, and right now what you are is a major problem. I already had my hands full protecting two before, I wasn’t exactly planning on someone coming in and making it three. Wait, are you the ‘special package’?”

“I don’t think so? What package?”

Coach glowered up at the storm which was getting worse by the minute. Some of the other students had started to notice, and were muttering to one another and gesturing at the dark clouds. Jason quickly looked around for Leo, who was standing a safe distance from the edge and shifting from foot to foot like he was going to take off running at a moment’s notice, and Piper, who was glaring at Dylan like this was somehow his fault.

“I got a message from Camp this morning,” Coach said. “There’s an extraction team on the way. Said there was some special package that they needed to get as soon as possible, but they wouldn’t tell me what it was. I figured it was the two I was watching. They’re obviously powerful and older than most and I know for a fact that there’s something after them. Thought maybe Camp had just decided they needed these two ASAP, but then you show up and throw a wrench in every plan. So, tell me. Are you the package or not?”

Jason’s headache was getting even worse. Everything Coach Hedge was saying sounded crazy, but at the same time it made sense. Well, it almost made sense. It felt like an encrypted message and Jason just needed to remember the cipher key. “I told you. I don’t know.”

Coach wasn’t pleased with his answer, but he seemed to understand it was the only one Jason could give him. “Fine. I’ll just keep an eye on you until reinforcements arrive. Then we’ll take you to Camp, and the director can figure out what to do with you.” 

Jason did not like that phrasing. “What director? What do you mean ‘do with me’?”

“Just sit tight. Like I said, they should be here soon. We just have to hope nothing happens before–”

Lightning crashed directly overhead and thunder rolled loud enough to shake the earth and Jason froze. Kids started screaming and stumbling around, clinging to each other. Jason whipped his head around to see Piper and Leo scramble towards each other, but Dylan grabbed Piper’s arm and yanked her back, and the wind blew Leo so hard he fell over. 

Coach swore under his breath. “I just had to say something, didn’t I? Couldn’t keep my big mouth shut.” He pulled out his bullhorn, and Jason was relieved that it worked as intended this one time. “Alright, everyone! Back in the museum! Off the skywalk! Now! Move it or lose it! Lawrence, get your tail in gear or you’ll be doing suicides until you die!”

“I thought you said this thing was stable!” Jason yelped as the bridge shuddered and swayed beneath his feet. 

“Under normal circumstances, it is.” Coach said seriously. “These circumstances are anything but normal. Come on!”

*-*-*

The freaky storm from before had churned itself up into a hurricane. Funnel clouds formed and dipped, reaching towards the bridge, but never quite making it all the way down. Jason could almost hear a taunting voice snickering I’m not touching you! I’m not touching you!

Hats and notebooks and backpacks whipped back and forth through the air, their owners having abandoned them to the winds in their panic to get inside. Jason slipped and skidded across the slick glass to where Leo had been knocked over and hoisted him to his feet by the back of his jacket.

“Thanks!” Leo yelled. “But can you maybe go for a less ‘momma cat and kitten’ approach next time?”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Jason said distractedly. “Come on, we need to get inside!”

Coach Hedge was blue in the face blowing on his whistle, waving kids into the museum where Piper and Dylan were struggling to keep the doors open. Well, Piper was struggling. Her snowboarding jacket was flapping all around her and her expression was screwed up in effort to keep her door from slamming shut, but she still seemed confident as she urged the other students inside. Dylan just stood there, holding his door with one hand, not a hair out of place while he watched the chaos with something like amusement on his face. 

Soon, Jason, Leo, and Coach Hedge were the only ones left outside. Jason pushed forward, keeping his grip on the back of Leo’s jacket to make sure he wouldn’t blow away, but every step felt like he was towing a pick-up truck behind him. Jason wasn’t sure how, but he knew with every fiber of his being that the winds were fighting him specifically.

Then, as soon as the last kid was inside, Dylan grinned malevolently and slammed the door shut with a blast of wind that managed to knock Piper’s grip loose, too. Piper uselessly yanked at the door handles, before rounding on Dylan with fury in her eyes. “Help me,” she snarled.

Surprisingly, Dylan reached out a hand for the door, but shook his head and dropped it just as fast. He smirked at Piper. “Sorry, but it’s time for the next act in our show. And I don’t need you interrupting it with your little tricks.” He flicked his wrist and Piper went soaring through the air to land in a heap against a nearby wall.

“Piper!” Leo cried. He tried to charge forward, but Jason held him back. “Lemme go!”

“Stay behind me, kids!” Coach Hedge barked. He had his baseball bat in his hands, but as Jason watched it started to look less like a baseball bat and more like a crude club with leaves and vines growing off it. “I knew there was a monster skulking around. I should have known it was you!”

“What are you talking about?” Leo demanded. A worksheet hit him in the face, but he smacked it away. “What monsters?”

As if to answer his question, a gust of wind snatched Coach’s hat right off his head. There, below his curly hair were two little horns. He hefted his club. “Come at me!”

“Why bother?” Dylan cackled cruelly. “It’s not like you’re a threat. I mean, they retired you, didn’t they? That’s why you’re at this school in the first place. And it’s not like you’re doing all that well here, either. I was on your track team for two months, right under your nose, and you never noticed. Do you really think you can keep three half-bloods safe? Admit it, you old goat; you’ve lost your touch.”

Coach bleated angrily at him. “I’ll show you who’s lost their touch, cupcake! You’re going down!”

Dylan’s smile was maniacal. “Not before that one does.” He pointed at Leo and a dark funnel cloud erupted from his fingertip, snatching Leo out of Jason’s hold and sending him toppling over the side of the bridge.

“Leo!” Jason shouted, eyes wide with horror.

As Jason watched, Leo scrambled at the rocky cliff face, and finally managed to get a foothold on a thin outcropping of stone. His eyes were screwed shut and his voice pitched a bit when he shouted, “Hey! Can someone please come get me? This really fucking sucks!”

Jason looked around desperately for some sort of rope, but Coach was faster. He shoved his club at Jason’s chest and said, “You take care of that windbag! I’ll get Valdez.”

“How? Can you fly?”

“Not fly, kid.”

Then Coach did something Jason would never forget: He dropped his pants.

That would have been traumatizing enough on its own, but Jason now had to grapple with the fact that his PE coach had goat legs. “You’re a faun!”

Coach gave him a disgusted look. “I’m a satyr. Now, get in there!” Then without another word, he hopped over the fence and started picking his way down with the confidence and efficiency of a mountain goat. Which, he kind of was. Jason’s formerly-forgotten headache throbbed a bit, and he decided to think about anything but the half-goat man. He turned back to Dylan and gripped the club.

Dylan snorted at him. “Cute. But yeah, I’ll take you out first. I’m flexible.”

He lifted his hand, but before he could blink Jason threw the club at him with all his might. Had Jason even thought about what he was doing for half a second, he likely would have dismissed the idea because there was no way he would have managed to hit Dylan through all the wind. Fortunately, Jason was running on pure instinct because the club curved through the air like Jason was guiding it with his mind and hit Dylan directly in the gut, knocking him flat on his butt.

Dylan got back to his feet before Jason could celebrate his victory. He spat blood – gold blood – onto the ground. His eyes flashed like lightning and the winds picked up around him, shaking the skywalk so hard that hairline fractures spread over the glass like spider webs. He rose into the sky and then his body dissolved into smoke. Jason could still see where he was, his face was still the same – oddly handsome, contorted in rage – but he was see-through and almost angelic in a strange, evil kind of way. 

“You’re a ventus!” Jason gasped, though he couldn’t say how he knew that. “A storm spirit!”

“You have no idea what you’ve done,” Dylan snarled. “I was considering letting you live before this. The other two would have made a fine prize, but my mistress told me to wait. Said another was coming. I’m sure she will be pleased to know that I killed you here.”

Jason clenched his fists. He was unarmed, but when he glanced over to where Coach’s club had rolled off to, he saw that Piper was on her feet, club held aloft like she was getting ready to hit a homerun. She had the element of surprise; maybe if Jason kept Dylan busy, she could sneak up on him and make good on the murder in her eyes. 

Dylan was too quick for him. Before he could open his mouth, two inky black tornados carrying their own storm spirits touched down in front of Piper and Dylan lifted his hand and blasted two bolts of lightning directly into Jason’s chest.

Surprisingly, Jason wasn’t dead. He’d lost one of his shoes, so his sock was soaking wet, and his mouth tasted like he’d gotten his chewing gum confused with a jar of fifty year old pennies, but he was alive. He blinked the stars out of his eyes and saw Piper furiously swinging at the storm spirits around her, but every swing passed through them. That didn’t stop the storm spirits from being scared of her, though, evident by the way neither of them would get close to her. Beyond that, Jason saw Coach Hedge bouncing up the cliff with a Leo-shaped koala clinging to his back. 

Dylan swaggered towards him, back in his normal teenager body, with a smirk on his face, and Jason’s chest filled with rage. With a grunt of effort, he pushed himself to his feet and glared at Dylan. “Cute,” he spat, venom dripping from his tone.

Dylan pulled up short and he looked terrified for a moment. “How are you alive? That was enough electricity to short out New York City! Just who are you?”

Jason ignored him. Once again acting on impulse, he reached into his pocket and pulled out the old gold coin. He tossed it in the air, but when he grabbed it, it wasn’t a coin any more. It was a sword, gold all the way through, perfectly balanced, with a handle that felt like it was designed to fill Jason’s palm. Jason felt something click into place in the back of his mind and he gave Dylan a wicked grin. “My turn.”

“Kill him!” Dylan screeched, backing away with wild eyes. “Kill him!”

The other two storm spirits didn’t exactly look thrilled at the order, but apparently Dylan was the windbag in charge, so they abandoned their assault on Piper and started slowly approaching Jason. 

Jason didn’t wait for them. With a battle cry from the depths of his chest, he charged. It wasn’t a long fight. Jason sliced through them both, shattering them into gold dust, and turned his attention back on Dylan.

At that moment, Coach hefted himself over the edge of the bridge and dropped Leo, then whirled around with his fists up like he was ready to start boxing. When he realized that Dylan was the only one left, he scowled at Jason. “Really? You couldn’t have left some for me? I was looking for a challenge!”

“Leo almost died!” Piper snapped. “You do not need to be asking for challenges!” She and Leo had immediately run together as soon as he was back on the bridge and they were clinging to each other. Jason was relieved to see that Leo looked no worse for wear, though he was smearing blood from his hands all over Piper’s jacket, but Jason doubted if either of them cared all that much. 

Dylan didn’t pay attention to them, he was too busy glaring at Jason. “You have no idea what kinds of enemies you’ve made today, demigod. My mistress will awaken, and she will bring with her foes you couldn’t dream of. She will destroy all demigods. You cannot win this war.”

Jason tightened his grip on his sword. “Yeah? Well, I’ll be sure to tell your mistress hi for you, because you’re not going to get the chance to do it.”

The sky opened up above them, clear blue in the sea of black, and Dylan smirked at Jason triumphantly. “My mistress calls me back, and I’m taking you with me.”

Dylan dove towards Jason, who braced himself for the attack that never came. In a burst of heroic goat-itude, Coach Hedge headbutted Dylan so hard it knocked him completely off-course and sent him rolling away. Unfortunately, it also caused a blast of wind that knocked Jason and Coach on their butts and separated Piper and Leo. 

Jason tried to attack, but Dylan was faster. He grabbed the closest person to him, Piper and took off into the skies. “Fine! I’ll settle for this one!”

“Help!” Piper screamed. “Somebody help!”

Jason froze, considering if he could throw his sword with enough accuracy to hit Dylan without getting Piper, but in that split second Coach Hedge had already made and executed his plan. He ran at the ledge, then with all the strength he had in his little goat legs, he launched himself at Dylan and Piper. He barreled into them mid-air, and they scuffled for a moment. 

Then Piper fell.

“Piper!” Leo screamed, flinging himself at the side, half hanging over and reaching out towards her, grasping at nothing but air. “Piper!”

Without a thought, Jason jumped after her.

Next Chapter

[fioras-resolve]

"Is the Berlin Interpretation still relevant?" Part 10 - Results

So, I guess I should finally explain what I'm talking about. I promise I'll stop spamming these tags now.

The Berlin Interpretation of Roguelikes is a genre definition that was made at a roguelike dev conference in 2008. It was a handful of people who were inspired by Rogue to make their own procedural death labyrinths. This was just before Spelunky. It was before The Binding of Isaac, it was before FTL, and it was before Risk of Rain. In other words, this interpretation was made right before the definition of a roguelike radically changed. Before these genre fusions, roguelikes were mostly games like NetHack and Angband, games that were directly inspired by this RPG from 1980. They were roguelikes, because they were "like Rogue."

But let's talk about what this interpretation is actually doing. It is not, in fact, a set of rigid guidelines of what features a game needs to be part of the genre. It is a set of high and low value factors, that a game may not have all of, but the more it has, the more it is, well, Rogue-like. There isn't a game that purely embodies each of these factors, because there's doesn't have to be. Even Rogue isn't fully faithful to this interpretation. It's just that if your game has enough of these factors, then it's clearly working in the same design space, and part of the broader conversation. That's all it was doing.

So is it still relevant? Well, kind of, but not really. Sure, permadeath and procedural generation are still important to people, but for it to be turn-based and grid-based aren't necessary anymore. And I guess for the later polls, either people got tired of me posting these in their tags every day, or they just don't have an opinion one way or the other, because their vote counts didn't even hit the triple digits. It seems like complexity, resource management, and exploration/discovery are still important, while non-modal gameplay and hack-and-slash aren't as much. But I hesitate to give these results the same kind of credence because of how many people from the earlier polls didn't vote on these ones.

It seems like, these days, the roguelike isn't really about its base mechanics. It's a structural genre. You can graft any base mechanics onto it, as long as you start a new run after you die, and each run is made unique by randomness. It seems pretty straightforward.

Okay, what about Mystery Dungeon?

The Mystery Dungeon games these days are mostly known for being Pokemon spinoffs, but the series goes back to the 90s with games like Shiren the Wanderer. These games are directly inspired by the original Rogue, complete with grid-based movement, item discovery, and heavy resource management. It's more "like Rogue" than a lot of modern roguelikes. But because it's structured more like a Japanese RPG, with checkpoints, persistent progression, and a full-blown story, it would probably nowadays be called a "roguelite." Even though it precedes that term by decades!

I'm honestly really surprised that Mystery Dungeon doesn't come up more in discussions about roguelikes. Like, it's a really obvious point of contention, and one that's worth talking about. But only one person in my replies actually mentioned Mystery Dungeon in their thoughts about permadeath. I suspect it's because most of the roguelikes people are invested in these days are indie PC games from the West, while Mystery Dungeon is a Japanese series on console and handheld. But I can't prove it.

Speaking of roguelites though, we have to talk about that term. I don't think that "roguelite" is an inherently elitist term, or that it's useless as a label. it clearly serves some purpose in conversation, even if I wouldn't use it myself. I don't want to prescribe my definitions of terms from on high. I want to understand how people are using these terms in daily practice.

And it seems like it comes down to two definitions. One is the Berliner standpoint. It's less common, but it sees some use. Basically, if you're not making a grid-based dungeon crawler, you're not really making a game "like Rogue," are you? Genre fusions like Risk of Rain and Slay the Spire play completely differently from the roguelikes of old, so it feels weird to just call them roguelikes. This is treating it as a mechanical genre, defining roguelikes by dungeon-crawling in the same way we define a shooter by shooting.

The other definition is a broader one, defined by two key features: procgen and permadeath. This is the most common one in modern conversations about roguelikes, because it takes it as a given that these genre fusions are what roguelikes Are. By this framing, a roguelite is any procgen game that features persistent upgrades. Something like Rogue Legacy, where your progression isn't just you as a player, but your character growing more powerful. Permadeath and procgen serve a very specific purpose in conjunction with each other, and there is a sense where either of these factors being diluted misses the entire point. But plenty of people don't put stock into the like/lite distinction, because they don't see it as mattering. No definition here is wrong, they're just all operating under different beliefs.

(sigh) Look, genre is a lot like gender. In fact, in some languages, they're the same word. It's vague, it's arbitrary, and it doesn't make sense if you squint too hard. But it's important to people, either to describe what they're doing or to understand what others are doing. There's never going to be a strict, clear definition of roguelike that perfectly covers all cases, because that's just not how genre works. Roguelikes are what we mean when we talk about roguelikes. It's very easy to poke fun at a genre label like this, but it's a lot harder to understand what it's doing, and what it means to people. That's the conversation that really matters here.

Is the Berlin Interpretation still relevant? Not as much as it used to be. But your interpretation is what's really important.

[defensivelee]

what if six lives! mary had tumblr

yeah what if. that would be crazy lol

0 notes

🗝️ cross-marked-angel

daddy finally fucked off 🥳 pls wish him a good trip. i'm going live in ten

🗝️ cross-marked-angel

does @raccoongirlbush want to join.. the stream always makes more when we pretend to kiss 💛 i PROMISE i'll take you out later with the extra dono money, wear something nice!!!!

🦝 raccoongirlbush Follow

o7

🗝️ cross-marked-angel

anne i swear to lo!!! ok whatever click here to join the stream, i look forward to seeing all of you there~

#streams #i'm just kidding ily anne... #please accept dinner as my humble apology #i'll peg you later <3 #wait how many followers do i have on here again?

2,392 notes

🧡 menhera-prince-unlimited Follow

We're all seeing this, right? The fucking election results? I feel so bad for Rersetia, getting stuck with an Ally governor who does nothing but fear-monger and whine about the Overlifers-- all bark and no bite, that one. Unfortunately, woke little brats who don't know any better will flock to this one and decide it's a great victory instead.

I think I know what the next podcast episode will be about. It's about time we get the Allies to step down-- power doesn't mean competence. There are better people, with horns and tails, nothing but pure devil blood running through their veins, waiting for their chance out there, but when will Altos Diablos realize that?

🦌 allybentincksmain Follow

william please

🧡 menhera-prince-unlimited Follow

hans omg i forgot you followed me here haiiii ฅ^•ﻌ•^ฅ

#hanni tag

372 notes

🤍 vitamarkedheart Follow

just seen the UGLIEST girl omg

🤍 vitamarkedheart Follow

bitches still go out like this.

🤍 vitamarkedheart Follow

wear green stockings or don't show your legs at all, fucking cow lol

🗝️ cross-marked-angel

on it bossman 🤍💚

🤍 vitamarkedheart Follow

wasn't talking to you. but can you dox that girl for me

#and then stop stalking my blog thank you #i love you princess <3 but get out #you are such a creep

22 notes

🦝 raccoongirlbush Follow

when is @/menhera-prince-unlimited going to come out with the Ally Bentinck sex tapes like we all know what he's hiding

#ally bentinck #religious posts #horny posts

18 notes

🐾 madwoofwoofspiritboy Follow

my girl got me a new collar :3 gonna post a pic later on the alt, horny timezone bitches are gonna have to wait

#m woof woofs

14 notes

🌠 lord-marlborough-official Follow

Please be normal about seeing James Stewart and I together tonight. For the last time, honestly...!

🌠 lord-marlborough-official Follow

Even just allegations of abuse can ruin a person's life, literally fuck off with that. You all think you know everything.

🗝️ cross-marked-angel

you fucking wish it was just allegations lol

🌠 lord-marlborough-official Follow

I thought I blocked you, did you make another account?

🗝️ cross-marked-angel

hehehe <3 you're amazing at changing the subject... it's why he loves you 💚

🌠 lord-marlborough-official Follow

High again? @vitamarkedheart can you come deal with her now?

#sorry about this lol #don't believe them for a second #or her for that matter #marly reblogs

4,946 notes

💌 idolofthedevils Follow

HELLO Everyone I must Tell You NOW!!!!11 That none other than Next Month, Devils Willing,,, I will have a NEW FEATURE (๑>◡<๑) for the Pup Hoods that you all so Adore very very Very very much~ for the first time Everrrr <3 now you shall ALLLL have the option to pay for ☆Custom☆ Pup Hoods up on the site, at the LOW low Low price of an extra Twenty Guilders ♡ ～('▽^人) and nouuu Additional Wait :3 doesn't that sound great n amazing n Everything you ever wanted???? Stop moping around, Get it up, let me see you all Happy now ( ◡‿◡ ) you weird Furries with Fursonas may join in the Celebrations naowwwww~

I love you all Forever and ever ♡＼(￣▽￣)／♡ please make me very Happy and very much Richer!!!!! TOO!!!

#business spam #small business #JUST KIDDING FUCKETTES!!!! #you wish you were me #go make monopolies elsewhere ily <3

11,387 notes

🫁 nassauphilia Follow

sometimes I miss the feeling of knowing that at least death is a certainty

🗝️ cross-marked-angel

it can still be one 😘

🫁 nassauphilia Follow

is that supposed to be comforting or a threat??

#and how did u find my vent blog

6 notes

🦌 allybentincksmain Follow

The word of the Western Kingdom today is to have UNPROTECTED SEX 🙏🔥!!! Please enjoy yourselves, suck a lot of dick for good luck 🧡!!

#i love you all <3

6,409 notes

🩸 tail-tangled-of-este Follow

hot take, maybe, but I think they should bring back teaching Messianic in schools. you can't take children to a museum and expect them to be moved at the valiance of the devils when they don't know what the angels wanted.

#i don't remember who taught it to me but i am eternally grateful #maria.txt

65 notes

[traineecryptid]

NPSS Weibo Q&A (20240831) Part 7

This is a Q&A session held on Weibo. People will tag their questions with the hashtag #南派三叔藏海花在线答疑# (#NPSS Zang Hai Hua Online Q&A#) and NPSS will look through the tag to pick some to answer. The event started at 1500 hours on 2024 August 31st.

Folder with screenshots and big compilation google doc is here. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here. Part 4 is here. Part 5 is here. Part 6 is here.

0237

#NPSS Zang Hai Hua Online Q&A# There is always a special smoke-fire fragrance on Hei Yanjing's body. The components of the fragrance are very complicated. When the components change, it would transmit a lot of information to those familiar with him.

0243

#NPSS Zang Hai Hua Online Q&A#  You all should go to sleep and continue tomorrow. I’ll continue scooping questions from the front tomorrow. (T/N: i think this means that he’ll take the older questions instead of the fresh questions, so people won't keep spamming to keep their questions on top of the “sort by newest” section?) Don’t sleep too late.

1832

Q: Sanshu, if Wu Xie had gone to Mount Changbai but didn’t manage to fetch Xiaoge, what would he do?

A: Which scenario of “didn’t manage to fetch Xiaoge”? Did he go to the wrong place or had Xiaoge come out earlier?

1837

Q: Shu, if [one] were to get a gift for Xiaoge, what would Xiaoge like to receive the most?

A: Noise canceling headphones

1839

Q: Shu, what would the Iron Triangle think if they saw ZHH while watching TV?

A: Eh? Why have all the names of the places changed?

1841

Q: I’m curious, what is the present that Xiaohua would like to receive the most?

A: A peaceful sleep.

1842

Q: Wu Xie has so many dogs. Is he usually the one who walks them? Has he ever had the experience of losing his slippers while chasing after his dogs? Then he would really become shoe-less (T/N: No Shoes is a homophone for Wu Xie.) If the dog stepped on moss and slipped into the pond, and he has to go scoop it up, is he then Wu Scooping Dog? (T/N: Wu Scooping Dog is a homophone for Wu Laogou.) A: Wah, you’ve finished writing it all.

1845

Q: If he could do it all over again, would Xiaoge still choose to be the patriarch and receive the Tianshou? A: Of course he will.

1850

Q: What was in Sha Hai Wu Xie's mind when he fell off the cliff?

A: He thought of a song.

1856

Q: Has Hei Xiazi met Xie Yuchen when he was little? If the current day Hei Xiazi could meet little Xie Yuchen, what would he say to Xie Yuchen? 

A: Remember, you have never seen me before.

1859

Q: Shu, I'm still doubting if it was really Xiaoge who gave the mission of defeating the Night King to Wu Xie. I feel like in the books, Xiaoge wants to get Wu Xie out and wouldn’t voluntarily let Wu Xie be in danger. So was it really Xiaoge’s mission or is Zhang Haike lying to Wu Xie?

A: Please watch the drama closely.

1902

Q: Shu! If Xilaimian got set up with negative reviews, how would the Iron Triangle react?

A: Squeeze their phone till it explodes.

1931

Q: What is Xiaoge’s display name in Wu Xie’s Wechat? (T/N: You can set a different display name for the contacts in Wechat, just like normal phone contacts.)

A: Cashier.

1935

Q: Shu, can there be a series that uses all the same actors some day? Like in Harry Potter.

A: In the future, maybe it can happen in some movies.

2012

I’ve had a mental breakdown. No replies for now, I’m going to go watch the drama.

a very funny point to stop at really. but as promised, double updates today!

[where-dreamers-go]

Well, dang, now I want their reaction to chubby!reader's advances! Your writing is just too good! (I hope you don't mind the Eragon spam on my part tho. If you feel like it's too much lmk)

(A/N: Hi there. It’s all good. If I’m overwhelmed I’ll make sure to say something. Promise. :) Here, we have the same two silly Riders! I had to think on this one a bit more. My writing for this is so silly and ridiculous. Warnings: suggestive comments and obliviousness. Word Count: 465 words)

Murtagh lounged on his side reading a book at the end of the bed. Relaxation time after a busy week. A treat to see. Some times watching your love in the middle of a calm activity was more attractive than him practicing with a sword. It gave you ample time to appreciate him being himself. No need for preparing for something out of his control, out of the home you two made. A safe place.

Safe, homey places meant domestic and intimate activities were possible.

You were keen on having some with your doting Murtagh. If he was willing.

“A good read?” You smoothed your hands up his back and settled them at his shoulders.

“The beginning was fast paced, but…it slowed.” Murtagh answered and flipped to the next page. “More information for later.”

“Do you like it?” You leaned down to kiss the back of his neck. Your thumbs worked into his muscles.

“The book or your attention, love? Both have a similar answer, but one I like much more.”

“Both, then.” You decided. “Can I ask which you prefer?”

Chuckling, Murtagh tapped a finger onto the book as your hands ran down his lean figure. “We’re headed towards dangerous territory…”

“Oh?” Your hands stopped at his hips. “Not up for adventure?”

“I thought you wanted me to have a quiet night in?” Murtagh smirked over his shoulder.

“Cheeky.”

Eragon balanced on one foot, keeping hold of his position a little longer than expected. Sweat dripped from his hairline. Even a Dragon Rider enhanced by dragon’s magic had difficulty preforming the Rimgar.

“Looking good, love.” You called from the shade of a tree.

He wobbled slightly.

“Especially at this angle.” You snickered into your wrist and continued watching as Eragon concentrated to his best abilities.

There was much enjoyment to be had. Starting to tease Eragon was definitely included for yourself. But there could always be more.

Thankfully, no one else was around.

“Eragon?”

He grunted.

“You have a cute butt, did you know?”

“Yes,” he huffed as he teetered from side to side, “you’ve told me…before.”

“Small, but cute.”

“Why’s—WHOA!”

Covering your mouth, you witnessed the Dragon Rider fall to the ground.

Eragon rolled over onto his side to face you. “I must ask… Why were you staring at my rear?”

You gave him a flirtatious wink.

His face reddened even more than it had from the Rimgar.

“The rest of you is handsome too,” you added. “Shame you’re wearing clot—.”

Eragon quickly said your name in a warning tone.

“What?”

“Someone could hear you.”

“Not if we go back to your room,” you suggested. “No one can hear us there.”

“I do need your company for a proper bath.” Eragon reasoned with mischief in his eyes.

“Don’t you always?”

~~~

(If you love my writings and want to support me, I have a Ko-Fi where you can buy me a coffee. I would be eternally grateful.

Best wishes and happy reading.)

~~~~~

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Inheritance Cycle Tags: @shewhobreathesfire @emburbaguette

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