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agentnico · 4 years

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Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021) Review

It all started with Sonic’s teeth. Ever since fans successfully bullied a studio into reanimating their titular hedgehog character after the abomination shown in the first trailer, fans realised that rallying together (on Twitter) can make a difference. So you’d think it would mean we could all come together to restore world peace and get rid of racism, injustice, poverty, war and negativity of all kind? Nope, nope it does not. But at least we get a better version of a bad DC movie that came out in 2017. I mean, baby steps I guess.

Plot: Fuelled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman's selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists newfound ally Diana Prince to face an even greater threat. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to recruit a team to stand against this newly awakened enemy. Despite the formation of an unprecedented league of heroes -- Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and the Flash -- it may be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

I recall my younger simpler self in 2017 at the early age of 20 soon to be 21, sitting down and watching the new Justice League film with zero to no expectations, as by that point the DC Extended Universe was a trainwreck and was a franchise that was literally falling apart before out unblinking red hay fever filled eyes. However, after watching Justice League I was baffled at the fact that I still managed to be disappointed after having zero expectations! With zero expectations this film took me into the minuses, and we all know I’m not great at mathematics so boy are we in the danger zone when we hit the minuses! Looking back at my review of the film back then, I used extreme yet fitting comments like “generic”, “predictable” “messy” and plain “dogsh*t”. Which is what it was. 2017′s Justice League is exactly how I’d imagine a dog’s poop would look if it was turned into an abstract film! It was truly abysmal. After that I thought I’d never have to talk about this film again. How wrong I was. But, in a rare turn of tables, I am glad that I was wrong...

A little history lesson first. Alright, settle down kids, settle down.... Rob, put the paper plane down, do not throw it, I said DON’T THROW IT! NO! Stop! Stupid child!! Headteacher’s office right now! Also, say hi to your mother for me, okay? I’m having brunch with her on Saturday and you better not be there as you should be doing your homework watching the 4 hour cut of Justice League and questioning your life choices!! Anyway, now let’s have ourselves a history lesson. The topic is - What In The Flying Fudge Happened Behind-The-Scenes Of Justice League For DUMMIES: Condensed Edition. A really condensed version as honestly none of us have the attention span to read loads and I’m probably losing the vast majority of you due to this overlong rambling session. So anyway, to the last couple of readers left, here we go! Following the success of Man of Steel, Warner Bros. gave Zack Snyder the reigns to oversee and create a DC cinematic universe to rival the success of Marvel. And so came Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice, which turned out to be a bit of a hodgepodge, receiving mixed to negative reviews and though was a box office success, earned diminishing results to what Warner Bros. originally anticipated. However, by the time Batman V Superman released, Zack Snyder was already hard at work on the big superhero team up film Justice League (which was meant to set up many characters and future films for the DCEU) with a lot of filming already underway, so Warner Bros. couldn’t particularly pump the breaks on it by that point, even though they evidently lost trust in the Snyder formula. To be honest, at that point I too lost trust in Snyder’s vision and the DCEU as a whole, but my opinion doesn’t class for a single dime, whilst the opinions of Warner Bros. executives make millions, so there aren’t any hard feelings on my behalf for them not enquiring on my thoughts. Anyway, midway through production Zack Snyder was hit with a family tragedy with his daughter committing suicide, so Snyder naturally had to depart the project to be with his family during this grieving time. Warner Bros. had the option to pause production and await for Snyder’s return, or progress at their own accord. Naturally they decided to do their own thing cause they are a business and want that dollar dollar bill baby!! So they hired Joss Whedon who was riding fresh off the success of two Avengers movies and obviously had experience in cinematic universes and such, to rework the Justice League movie by condensing it into a 2 hour film (from the over 4 hour material that Snyder shot) and reshoot scenes to fit the smaller runtime. So you cannot particularly blame Whedon for taking out so many great scenes as he had a contract to fulfil with Warner Bros, but then you look at the many forced jokes and unnecessary reshot scenes and you realise how self-indulgent Joss Whedon was during filming, as he basically was spitting on everything Snyder did and was trying to do his own thing. Low and behold, the mess that is the 2017 movie is created, where its the visions and creative minds of two director with evidently different styles clashing and not really mixing well at all, and as such we have a messy movie that doesn’t really make sense and is a bit of a middle finger to DC fans and honestly everyone and all. Also, there was that little aspect of Henry Cavill’s deformed upper lip due to the fact that during reshoots he had a moustache that he’d grown and was contractually obligated to have for his Mission Impossible role, so the visual effects team had to digitally remove it in post production and the result is, well, see for yourself...

Yes, they made the dashing handsome my-sexuality-questioning Henry Cavill look stupid, and that is UNFORGIVABLE. Funny, yes, very funny but unforgivable!! So for this and many other reasons the 2017 film turned out horribly. Then after that many months later, Zack Snyder and cast and crew members began teasing of this mythical version of the movie that was befit of Snyder’s original vision. You see, apparently before he left the project, Snyder actually filmed everything he wanted and it was only awaiting to be reworked with visual effects and edited properly, but then Whedon came in with his scissors and cut everything mercilessly with a cheeky grin and his ginger beard. Speaking of his ginger beard, is Joss Whedon Irish? Or has Irish roots? Honestly, I would Google it, but wait, I don’t think I really care. So anyway, Snyder still had all of his filmed scenes saved on his ridiculously oversized hard drive just waiting to be looked at again. This is where the fandom did its magic by creating a Twitter hashtag #ReleaseTheSnyderCut and began spam posting for Warner Bros. to let Zack Snyder release what he originally intended to. Honestly, who would have thunk it, but this actually worked!! Warner Bros. allowed this, and not only that, but gave Snyder an additional $70 million to finish up the visual effects as well as to film a couple of additional sequences and gave it the prestigious honour to debut it on HBO Max, so as to boost the subscriber rating on Warner Bros. new streaming service. And here we are.

Honestly, I thought seeing this Director’s Cut of sorts wouldn’t bring much to the table as I didn’t believe that a film that was so broken had originally been in any way good. After finishing this 4 hour Snyder vision I must admit though that I was pleasantly surprised. Completely baffled by the studio and Joss Whedon, but really happy for Zack Snyder. The guy was fighting for it and finally was able to accomplish and bring out his true original vision, and though Zack Snyder’s Justice League has its flaws, its so much better than what we got in 2017, and in fact is a soaring science fiction sci-fi epic that literally feels epic!! It takes time establishing the characters and every single plot point as well as building out this rich mythology of this world of the DC Extended Universe, and so as you move into the second half of the film, there’s a feeling of pay off. You actually care about the characters and understand the plot points and it doesn’t feel rushed. Its truly astounding that there are producers out there who thought it was a good idea to get rid of all of that and instead bring out whatever the heck Joss Whedon did with the 2017 version. Look, I quite enjoy Joss Whedon’s work, from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel to Cabin in the Woods and his work on Marvel, the guy obviously has a talent, but also he obviously does not belong to the dark and brooding style of DC. Zack Snyder on the other hand, though makes his mistakes, truly embraces the epic feel of the DC material. And it seems once you give Snyder enough time and space, he can actually bring out something like this:

The main characters are all given so much more to do, or at least those that got side-lined in the 2017 version are given more to do here. One of my complaints with the original was how pointless the League turns out to be. Basically in the theatrical version the main team all end up being useless and only once Superman shows up he saves everyone’s asses and literally does EVERYTHING. Might as well have called the film Man of Steel 2 (feat. Justice League). However in this new version, every main character serves a purpose. Well most of them do at least. Cyborg and Flash are much more compelling characters with more layers and backstory, and in fact are a prime reason to defeating the great evil in the end. You now understand why Cyborg actor Ray Fisher was pissed at Joss Whedon, as the guy literally got rid of his best stuff. Superman strikes a cool black suit and is still powerful, however as the finale shows, he isn’t all-powerful and does need the help of the rest of the team. Wonder Woman gets a lot more to do in this theatrical cut, and in fact this is probably Gal Gadot’s best performance as Wonder Woman and she really shows herself as a powerful female superhero! Aquaman’s role stays largely unchanged, however to be honest Jason Momoa’s character was one of the only ones who didn’t suffer in the theatrical cut. That’s unsurprising seeing as Jason Momoa is such a naturally cool dude! A big panda that is friendly in real life, but when necessary can turn into a roaring bear. To be honest, the only League member that ends up a bit pointless is actually Batman. He still serves a purpose in the film in that he’s the one who assembles the team, but otherwise the rest of the group is so overpowered compared to him that in the end you do kind of think that he doesn’t really belong there. Still, Ben Affleck is great in the role and it’s a shame we won’t see much of him past Flashpoint film that will be released in the next few years.

There are a lot of characters in this film and one can still say the movie is overstuffed, but also seeing as the movie was originally intended to spring board the DCEU properly, all these teases are actually welcome. There are an abundance of cameos, and to be honest so many characters are so well cast that you do end up wishing that Snyder was given the opportunity to make his entire Justice League planned trilogy, but nevertheless at least we have this. There are truly an abundance of cool appearances here, from the menacing villain Darkseid (played by Ray Porter) to Willem Dafoe doing what Dafoe does best, only in this case underwater and I’m certain that’s gonna span many comparison memes with The Lighthouse. Joe Morton as Cyborg’s dad is given a lot more to do here and in fact is pivotal towards building up Cyborg into the important character that he is. There’s also a cameo from Jared Leto’s Joker, who in some ways redeems himself after his appearance in Suicide Squad. Also, we need to talk about Steppenwolf, who’s the main baddie in this film. In the theatrical cut the guy was the most generic one-note villain who also looked like a PS2 character. It was honestly embarrassing the way he was animated. Luckily in this version he’s been put through enough Skyrim mods to looks much more intimidating and is also given a better motivation. As we find out, the reason he does what he does is because he wants to go home. He’s been banished and he simply wants to earn his place back home, so it’s actually kind of sweet. Steppenwolf is a sweetie. I mean, yeah, he wants to destroy half of the world to fulfil his dream, but hey, haven’t we all taken something extreme measures to get what we want?

The film is far from perfect though. At the end of the day, the movie is just about a guy hunting down a bunch of magical boxes. That was the premise of the theatrical cut and its the same here too. Yes, there is more substance and gravitas to the proceedings, but at the end of the day the story doesn’t really surprise much. And with the entire thing running at 4 hours, it is definitely too long and there is the element where there is simply too much in this thing. Also visually, though the movie has plenty of gorgeous shots and Zack Snyder’s signature slow motion sequences are on full display here, there are still many sequences where the CGI and green screen are super obvious and look really fake. That being said there’s still so much visual goodness in this, and also I have to mention Junkie XL’s new music score that does reiterate the epic feel of this movie, in comparison to Danny Elfman’s weak uninspiring notes in the theatrical cut.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a massive surprise and completely changes the perception of what we saw in the original 2017 theatrical cut. It’s a sprawling massive adventure that’s a dream come true for any comic book fan. It shows how vital film editing is, and how important it is to have a cohesive plan when making a movie. Gone too are the silly forced jokes, and though there is still some humour here, it feels more grounded and fit of the setting and scenario. This is Snyder’s vision through and through, and though at times it is clunky, it overall is incredible to behold, as it’s this one guy’s mind and his love for the DC lore. It’s a credible achievement, and I’m actually sentimentally happy for Snyder that he finally managed to complete this. He even during the credits dedicates this to his daughter Autumn that passed away, and I found that to be truly bittersweet. Justice has indeed been served.

Overall score: 7/10

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cinaja · 4 years

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Before the Wall part 13

An acotar fic on the time of the War. For summary and the entire fic, click here.

Disclaimer: Acotar and the characters belong to sjm

A/N: I finally stopped writing this in bullet points! This is almost 40k words long now, so I decided it was past time to write it ´normally`. I hope none of you mind.

Either way, I just wanted to thank the people who are reading this and leaving likes and comments, it really means a lot to me❤ And if you`re a silent reader, it would be really great if you could maybe leave some kind of sign, because so far, I don`t have really many readers (that I know of)😉

----

*Seven months later*

The past months have been going great for the Alliance, and especially for Jurian`s army. They have been winning battle after battle. By now, there are rumours going around that their enemies` magic has little effect on them. Some soldiers even whisper that the gods (whichever ones they worship) are on their side, that they have blessed the human armies and are keeping them from harm.

Jurian wonders what they`d say if they knew the truth.

With a mixture of amazement and jealousy, he watches Miryam draw a symbol on the hilt of another sword. It glows softly, then vanishes into the hilt. It is the middle of the night and they are alone in the armoury, something Jurian made sure of in advance.

Getting Miryam to actually use her powers even in such small capacity has been a struggöe that lasted almost two months, but it was well worth it. The impatient part of him wants to push her to do more, to use her power in the way rumour claims witches are able to. (If he was the one born with this power, he certainly wouldn`t hesitate. He hates to admit it, but sometimes, he is almost jealous.) Jurian doesn`t push, though. Of course he doesn`t.

“You don`t have to watch every time, you know?”, Miryam says, “Surely it is boring for you.”

“Your company could never be boring.”

Jurian steps closer to Miryam to gently put his arms around her waist. Miryam laughs and Jurian presses a kiss on her neck. He`d love to continue this, but the time for their nightly activities is limited, so he lets go of her.

“You could teach me, you know”, he says.

Miryam stiffens ever so slightly, as she takes up the next sword. “No.”

“Why not?” Jurian has been thinking about that question for quite some time. Ever since he saw the kind of difference even a spell as simple as that, a bit of protection against the Fae`s magic, can make. “You told me that some spells can be used even by humans.”

“If you overstep your limits, you die. And the magic takes your soul as a price.” Miryam doesn`t look up from the sword she`s just working on. “I won`t be responsible for that.”

Jurian is about to argue that he`ll be careful when another thought occurs to him. “Wait. But that doesn`t mean it`s dangerous to you, right?”

“Don`t worry. I`ll be fine.” Miryam puts down one sword and takes up another one. “Do you have any idea what that emergency meeting tomorrow is about?”

"You're the politics experts", Jurian says, "I'm just around to give those Fae pricks a good beating."

"You give yourself too little credit."

Jurian laughs. "Now that's something I've never been accused of. Would you feel better if I said that I'm a better commander than half of these pointy-eared bastards."

Miryam smiles and says lightly, "As the local politics expert, I'd feel better if you'd stop insulting our allies."

"How about you get me an aerial army and I learn to hold my tongue?"

It isn't an outrageous demand. Helion and his soldiers had to leave almost two months ago already (not that Jurian had minded. Miryam had been growing quite a bit too fond of Helion with his constant flirting). And two weeks ago, the soldiers from Sangravah were pulled out, too. As annoying as the Fae can be, they fight well and Jurian's army is short a few soldiers without them.

"I'll try", Miryam says. As one of the councilmembers in charge of the organisation between camps, she is certainly in a position to do it, but moving troops is always complicated.

Miryam turns back to her work, but she seems tense. Like something is wrong. Jurian wrecks his mind for what it might be, but with her, there are many options.

Finally, he says, "You don't have to worry about the meeting. If it was something bad, we'd have heard already."

Miryam frowns. "They don't call meetings with the entire alliance easily. Usually, it's just whoever is needed or can be bothered to show up."

Which means that usually, Miryam is there and Jurian isn`t. With the alliance now in place for a while, fractions have formed and Miryam is... well, maybe not the leader but certainly one the most important players in one of those. Jurian only bothers to go to meetings if he knows something important will be discussed.

“If anything bad had happened”, he says, “we would have heard. They wouldn`t wait until the meeting to tell us.”

Miryam looks relieved, at least a tiny bit. Sighing, she puts the sword she was working on back into its place.

“Done for tonight”, she says, “Want to go somewhere?”

“Another moonlight walk? You know how well the last one went.”

Miryam narrows her eyes and Jurian grins at her.

“Let`s go. You know I love courting danger.” Jurian loops his arm through Miryam's and leads her out of the armoury.

Together, they walk through the camp. In the middle of the night, it is quiet here. The few soldiers on guard quickly look the other way as they pass, some of them hide grins. (Their relationship is a favourite subject of camp gossip - not just here, but through the entire camp. Their sneaking around will likely be known to everyone around by morning, but the true reason will remain secret.)

There is a small river running next to the camp, just far enough away that the guards won`t be able to see them. Miryam sits down on a stone. She pulls off her shoes and lets her feet dangle into the water. Jurian sits down next to her and she leans her head against his shoulder.

“I`m scared”, she finally says.

“Of what?” He hesitates. “Her?” (Speaking Ravenia`s name, he learnt, is just as bad an idea as asking after Miryam`s past.)

After the incident with the bounty hunters, they haven`t heard anything from Queen Ravenia again. Well, they heard plenty of her armies, slaughtering their way through the Southern Continent, but nothing related to Miryam. Apparently, the bounty hunters didn`t tell anyone about Miryam. They got lucky and so far, there is no sign that things are about to change.

“No. Not... her.” Miryam shakes her head. “I don`t know. It`s stupid, really.”

“I`m sure it isn`t.”

“My life is going great”, she says quietly, “I have somewhere I belong, and friends and you. But that means I have so very far to fall, too. I just keep expecting something to go wrong.”

Jurian pulls her closer. “That`s life, Miryam”, he says, “Nothing is ever certain, everything can be lost. But that just makes it more precious.” He thinks of all the soldiers he saw die while he was working his way up through the ranks of the rebellion. Of his parents, dead before he was old enough to truly understand the word. He takes Miryam`s hand. “But I can promise you one thing”, he says softly, “As long as I`m alive, you won`t ever lose me.”

----

Taking the Callian Pass may have had a large strategic advantage for the Alliance as a whole. However, for the Seraphim aerial army, it turns out to be a rather unfortunate choice. Because for the past seven months, they have been stuck there.

Drakon has written (well, signed) fifteen letter to the Alliance already, asking them to have someone replace them. The answers have been pretty phrases that all held the same meaning: No. One of the disadvantages, apparently, of having one of the only aerial armies on the Continent.

“What a bunch of crap”, Drakon mutters, frowning at the papers before him and crosses out a paragraph, “Won`t work.” He reads the next one and crosses it out, too. Half a minute later, the entire paper ends up in the bin.

Groaning, Drakon takes out a huge, leather-bound book and flips it open. There has to be some kind of precedent. There is always a precedent or at least something you can use as a starting point.

Sinna, as usual, enters without knocking. When she sees the papers and book strewn around the room, she rolls her eyes.

“We`re in the middle of a war, and you`re spending your time with a bunch of books?”

“We`re in the middle of a war and I`m trying to find a solution to the problem that causes it.”

“Problem: Slavery. Solution: Free the slaves. It`s that simple.”

“Problem: Slavery and half the Fae believing that humans are worth less than animals. Say we win this war and free all the slaves, that mindset will remain. If we don`t find a way to solve that, there will be another war. And another. Maybe not in a year, but eventually.”

Sinna sighs. “And how do you know that?”

Drakon points towards the books lying around. “Historical precedent and people who are smarter than me and were nice enough to write their ideas down. The only issue is that while I have found tons of examples of how things didn`t work out, I`m still looking for some precedent of a situation like one ending well.”

“Then I have good news for you”, Sinna says.

“Oh?”

“Given how things are going, this war is going to take a few years at least. So you have plenty of time to find a solution.”

Drakon glares at her. "Not funny."

"Kind of funny, actually”, Sinna says, sitting down on a chair, "Come on, just look at yourself. You've really got the confident, charming Prince down by now. Your people love you - someone has to make sure you don't get over-confident. After all, the history is littered with arrogant asshole royals."

"Hardly any danger of that", Drakon says, "I'm well-aware of what most of the Continent thinks of me."

"Yes", Sinna says, "And you may become the best ruler Erithia ever had, but no one beyond our borders will notice if you keep hiding."

Drakon walked right into that, really. Another proof that he's absolutely horrible at politics.

"I'm not hiding", he says, "I'm focusing on what I'm good at and taking care of my people."

Sinna crosses her arms. “It`s an emergency meeting. Would it really kill you to go? Just this once.”

“I went to the Black Land just once and look what it got me”, he snaps.

Sinna glares. Drakon glares back. He`s getting better at that, too. After a few seconds, Sinna sighs.

“Fine. Your choice.” She nods towards the papers. “Planning to get those published again?”

“Once I`m ready.” Which may just take a while yet. But, as Sinna said - this war is only just beginning.

----

The meeting room is stuffed. It`s an emergency meeting, which means that most of the important Alliance members appeared personally. (Well, except for Prince Drakon, who seems determined to become the only ruler not to turn up at a single Alliance meeting. Miryam has begun a letter to him thrice now and thrown it in the fire each time without getting more than a few words written down.)

Miryam is almost halfway through greeting everyone by now. The High Lord of the Night Court approaches, dressed head to toe in midnight black, his expression stern.

“Milord”, Miryam says and nods to him.

He gives her the barest incline of his head. “Lady.”

They never really got over their rough beginnings. The High Lord is not the kind of male to ever forgive having his hand forced by an eighteen years old half human. And perhaps Miryam is not the kind of female to ever like a male who allows a place such as the Hewn City to exist, either. But they made it work - mostly because Miryam has too much influence for the High Lord to risk an open confrontation.

“How does your court fare?”, she asks, “I heard that Hybern still gives you trouble.”

He nods gravely. “Due to those Spring Court bastards, no doubt. But if they think the Night Court will fall so easily, they are sorely mistaken. Even with some of our soldiers fighting on the Continent, we are still strong.”

Miryam refrains from saying that without the thousands of soldiers the Alliance sent, things would look much different. If anything, it's the Alliance helping out the Night Court, not the other way around, but like most of these royals, the High Lord would likely rather eat his sword than admit that.

Before she can think of anything to say, Noctus, the High Lord of Summer, joins the discussion. He nods to Miryam, then turns to address the other High Lord.

"Is it true that the Alliance had to send ten thousand troops to help defend your lands?"

The High Lord straightens. And just like that, Miryam is forgotten and the only thing the two males seem to care about anymore is their pissing contest.

Prythian males. Just typical.

Miryam takes her chance and sneaks off to find better company.

“Having fun?”, an amused voice asks from behind her.

Miryam turns around to Helion (technically also a Prythian male, but one she likes.) “I`ll never understand why you males can`t take your pissing contests outside.”

“Ah, but where would the fun be in that?” The heir of the Day Court grins at her. “I heard a rumour that the gods have blessed your armies and are protecting your soldiers from peril. Met any gods recently?”

“Ass”, Miryam mutters, softly enough that no one but him can hear her.

Helion laughs and winks at her. Apart from Jurian, he is the only one who knows the truth behind the rumours the soldiers have come up with. He even helped her test the spells she came up with before she wove them into the weapons. Beyond that, he was little help, unfortunately. The Guild is secretive, meaning that hardly anything about their powers is known to the outside. So Miryam has to figure everything out herself. (She`s getting better at it. By now, she has the basics of the language mastered.)

“Any idea what this meeting is about?”, Helion asks.

“No.” And it annoys Miryam to no end. Usually, she knows whatever is going on in the Alliance, but this time, there was no getting the information. “I heard a letter arrived, but Queen Nakia got hold of it first and refused to let anyone else see it. Not even Andromache was able to find any information.”

“You`re pissed.”

“Worried.” Miryam learned early on that missing vital information is a quick way to die. Usually a gruesome death. (Not that there were any other kinds of death in the Black Land.) So she prefers to have all the information and prepare accordingly.

“Well, we`re about to find out”, Helion says and nods towards the clock standing in the corner. “We should take our places.”

Miryam gives him a tight smile and slides into her seat next to Jurian. He puts an arm around her shoulder and begins absentmindedly toying with her hair. In spite of everything, Miryam relaxes a bit.

It is Nakia who begins the meeting this time, smiling like a snake. Miryam has no doubt the female enjoys the power being the only one with vital information gives her.

“Yesterday”, the Queen says, “I received a letter. From the Loyalists.” She draws out each word, savouring it. “They request a meeting to discuss this war. A possible end to it.”

“An end?” Jurian snorts. “The only possible end is them freeing their slaves. If they`re unwilling to do that, they can shove their offer up their ass for all I care.”

A few people nod in agreement, but most - especially the Fae - remain silent. This is not good. Because these Fae may be ready to fight for human freedom, but in the end, they have no stake in this fight. If the Loyalists make a good enough offer, who knows what they`ll do. And Nakia, the damn fool, doesn`t even realise what that message might do. She just relishes the power.

That is why Miryam doesn`t like losing control over a situation.

“It`s not that easy”, one of the Fae says, “Such an offer should not be rejected without thought.”

“You`ve got to be kidding me”, Jurian mutters.

The Grand Duke of Sangravah says softly, “He has a point, you know? If we reject a peace offer without even letting them speak, it will make us look like the bad guys. And there are some territories still considering their alliance in this war.”

Worse than that, there seem to be some people at this very table contemplating their alliance. Likely the Loyalist`s intent. To strew discontent.

“We should agree to the meeting”, Miryam says, “Send a delegation, hear what they have to say. But one thing should be clear from the very beginning: There will be no peace unless slavery is abolished.”

There are nods and murmurs of agreement, but Miryam marks the faces of those who remain silent. The High Lord of the Night Court is among them.

Helion asks, “Do we know who will be leading the Loyalist`s delegation already?”

Miryam knows the answer. She knows the answer even before Nakia says, “Queen Ravenia of the Black Land.”

Miryam hates the fear that shoots through her at the name. How can the mere mention of the female still have such power over her?

“And who will lead ours?”, the Erithian emissary asks.

Miryam knows the answer to that question, too. And just this once, she cannot play the part. She does not know the right thing to say - Cauldron, she can barely contain her panic.

“I could do it”, the Grand Duke says. Miryam wonders if she`s the only one who notices that he is saying it to protect her. (Quite possible, since the identity of her former owner is still a closely guarded secret.)

But Andromache shakes her head. “I mean no offence, but surely you understand why this is unacceptable to us. The one representing our Alliance in this war cannot be Fae.”

Indeed, none of the human Alliance members look pleased. A few of the Fae, in turn, seem offended. Jurian is too busy watching Miryam with barely-concealed worry to look angry.

“You still don`t trust us?”, one of them hisses.

“This isn`t about trust”, Andromache replies, “but about the message we`re sending.”

Another Fae shrugs. “Why are we even discussing this? We all know the answer.”

The High Lord of the Night Court frowns. “While I certainly respect Lady Miryam`s abilities as an emissary”, he says, “she is still a girl of nineteen and in no way qualified to head a meeting this big.”

Miryam barely listens to the discussion raging around her, even though she`s now the one at its centre. She doesn`t want to go. She can`t. Ravenia will be there and she will recognize her. Memories flash through her head, blood and death and suffering. Fire burning her skin.

She cannot do this. Impossible. She may sacrifice everything, do everything for her people, but this is too much.

The argument is now turning into a full-fledged fight. And suddenly, Miryam can see it. The rift that is already beginning to form between them. It will only widen after the meeting. Fae territories will leave - not all, but some - and then, the tide will turn.

She closes her eyes and for once, she allows herself to remember. That last day, standing in the sand just beyond Ravenia`s palace. The vow she made. She ran afterwards.

She won`t run now.

She opens her eyes. “I can do it”, she says.

Everyone turns to her. Miryam lifts her chin.

“You don`t have any qualification or authority to represent us”, the High Lord drawls.

Miryam holds his stare. “I have been representing this Alliance, Lord, for weeks before you ever joined. And I said: I can do this.”

“Miryam, you don`t have to...”, Jurian whispers, but she shakes her head.

“You`re wrong. I have to do this. And I will.”

She looks around, meeting all of their gazes. Daring each of them to object. No one does.

----

Mor is covered in dirt and sore, but she feels alive. Like there`s lightning in her veins and she can do anything she wants.

It is always like this after battle. Even if the battle isn`t a real one but just a skirmish. It calls to some part of her. Some great, ancient beast that has perhaps always been living under her skin and breaks free whenever she fights.

In the seven weeks since Jurian has allowed her to fight her first battle, she has fought enough to know that the feeling will pass. It will pass and she will be left behind empty, her hands covered in blood that isn`t hers. Then, lying awake at night, Mor won`t feel great anymore. Not at all.

But for now, there are still adrenaline and magic thrumming through her veins. Mor takes a bowl of water from the table in her small tent and begins to wash her hands. Blood turns the water pink and she unceremoniously unfastens her dirty leather armour.

She has only just put one some light linen clothes when she hears a noise coming from behind her. The sound of a heartbeat. Mor whirls around, diving for her dagger. She stops when she recognizes Az standing in her tent.

He looks changed. Older, somehow. Azriel, of course, was never carefree like the rest of them, but now, there are shadows in his eyes that Mor never saw before. And a coldness that she doesn`t recognize.

“Az!” She dashes forward, closing the distance between them to hug him. His shadows lighten and Mor`s own gift whispers of his feelings. She pulls back. The last thing she wanted was to give him hope where there is none, but she hasn`t seen him in months and the reaction was instinctive.

“Are you all right?”, she asks, scanning him from head to toe. A part of her is itching to read him, but he won`t.

“I don`t have much time”, Az says, like he hasn`t heard her question. “The High Lord doesn`t know I`m here and I have to be back before he finishes the meeting. But I need your help.”

“Anything”, Mor says without even thinking about it.

Az dips his chin. “The High Lord sent Rhys to a camp in the South. It`s led by a commander named Pelior who has a grudge against nobility. He hates Rhys and without his father`s protection...”, he trails off.

“What can I do?”, Mor asks.

“Get him out. And fast. Pelior is making Rhys and his soldiers fight on the frontlines every time. Each battle might be the last.”

Dread tightens Mor`s stomach. Still, she says, “I don`t have the power to do such things. I can`t transfer his army.”

But Az shakes his head. “Cassian is a grunt soldier in one of the armies and I can`t do anything without the High Lord`s orders. It has to be you, or Rhys dies.”

“But-”

“I have to go.”

Without waiting for her reply, Az vanishes. Mor remains standing in her tent for a moment, thinking through the possibilities. There are few enough. And something tells her she should hurry.

Mor frowns. The thought running through her head is reckless, near-crazy and relies entirely on her ability to lie. Not to mention that should it go wrong, she will be knee-deep in shit. But it is her only idea.

Still, Mor feels dirty when she sneaks into Jurian's tent. There are wards, but those allow Mor in. Carefully, she shifts through the desk until she finds his Alliance council seal.

Mor takes an empty paper from the desk and writes a letter, changing her writing enough that it won't be recognized. Then, she seals the letter and presses the seal into the wax.

Carefully, she puts the seal back to where she found it and leaves the tent. As soon as she is past the wards, she whispers a quick prayer to the Cauldron and winnows.

----

A/N: This isn't really a cliffhanger, right? Originally, this was supposed to be longer, but then, it would have been a real cliffhanger, so I decided to let it end here. That means that the next part is already halfway done, though, so it should be up more quickly than this one

#miryam #jurian #drakon #andromache #helion

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whitefangworldbuilding · 5 years

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The Strength of Sienna Khan

I find the subject of how to address where Sienna is on the power scaling of Remnant to be both an interesting question and rather pertinent if one ever wants to write a fic about her and so I have provided my own breakdown on the matter below.

Opening:

Now, I certainly don't mean it in a "How much Ki does she have" or "Does her Semblance make her an S Class threat" or "She can move at Mach 5". No, I more mean it in a general scaling of, who would she measure up well against in a fair fight sense.

& obviously the answer should be "Whatever doesn't break established canon too much" (Unless an AU or what have you)

However, I do feel there is a sort of bare minimum that needs to be cleared based on what we've seen, but even more, what we know.

So, time for some grounds keeping:

Now I could go into how I doubt one rises to a position like Sienna's and survives being functionally at war with something like the SDC and presumably wanted in every nation save Menagerie and likely Vacuo without being badass, but given she has allies that only means so much, Jac certainly didn't survive based on his personal strength after all, so lets move on.

Someone might argue that anything beyond what we saw in Sienna's trailer (Sorry Adam's, but I digress) to not be applicable, however we only saw her fight once and it seems anyone not at mook level didn't really struggle in that fight so it is hard to get a gauge.

We can infer a lot from the fact that despite having her presumably elite guards, and six other soldiers, plus himself and potentially Hazel on side, Adam still chose to kill Sienna by surprise before she realized he didn't intend for her to step down. This can certainly give the impression that Adam did not feel confident he could defeat her either with that back up, or at least not without severe risks, but that still only gives us so much, because we don't know what those risks were.

Still, I think as a starting point as strong, or more likely stronger/better than Adam seems like a fairly reasonable place to start from based on that and the trailer.

But we can go deeper.

One integral thing to think about when considering where Sienna might be on the overall metric and scale is this.

Cinder didn't try to recruit or intimidate her.

Now, some might argue that "Sienna didn't exist before V4" or that "Adam was High Leader before V3" or what have you. I say this.

But I don't think it matters; not just because Sienna is canon, but because as far back as V1 when Blake imagined the shadow figures who replaced the previous leader, there was not just 1. This means that even if Adam was meant to be higher up than he eventually turned out to be he still would not have been alone, eh wither would have had contemporaries or superiors right from V1 and them needing to recruit in V2 and having such a small pool of forces in V/3 really doesn't give any eight to the idea Adam had the full resources of the Fang at his command.

(Though why the boss of a massive organization would be messing about on a train blowing shit up for the lols is beyond me, hence why I don't think he was ever the leader)

This means that regardless of whether Sienna the character, her design or background, ETC, did to didn't exist specifically before V4 doesn't matter because someone always existed in the WF who wasn't submitting to Cinder as Adam was and held a great deal of power.

So what does that mean?

Well what this means is that to reach a final conclusion we need to look at Cinder Fall and her involvement with the White Fang to reach a final conclusion.

So, Cinder is someone with the training of a skilled Huntress (Seemingly), had an assassin and hallucinogenic thief and fighter on her side, and the resources provided to her by Salem, but rather than going for the High Leader of the White Fang and thus potentially netting the entire organization, she went to Adam.

And we know it was intentional because Cinder knew who Adam would be, seemingly that he had an ego given her degree of flattery and she placed great emphasis on choosing him, meaning that give her intelligence on the WF, means she determined him the best.most likely candidate to agree that would be useful. Now this info wasn't perfect because it either failed to communicate Adam's ego effectively or the political situation in the WF, IE, that they would not be willing to work for a human like this, or at least not with her plan.

But by all of this we can determine Cinder had some moderately good Intel on the White Fang, so the question becomes...

Why not Sienna Khan? (Or whoever pre her creation, but yes Sienna Khan)

This next segment will involve a slight digression down, but please bear with me.

Cinder is someone not against bribery, flattery or threats to get what she wants, we saw all of this in her recruitment of Adam, so her avoiding this route with the WF's High Leader means a few things. Firstly it means she likely knew Sienna would not agree to such a destructive plan because it served no purpose; this objection could be moralistic or pragmatic, but Cinder would likely assume the latter given her general disposition and attitude.

But would she, would anyone object if it meant not dying? Would someone actually fight a doomed battle and die just to avoid being forced to commit a terrible act, or being subjected to slavery via threat? I doubt Cinder would believe that possible at least for someone who operates at Sienna's level in the world.

Here's the digression.

This was based off Cinder's interactions with Raven but it still feels applicable here. When Raven said that she wanted to kill her own brother, Cinder did not for a second seemingly doubt her, not even assuming something sneaky like an alliance of pragmatism to deal with her (Likely because she knows they fear Salem). No, Cinder just accepts that Raven wants her own brother dead, cheerfully in fact.

Now, say what you will about Raven but given she still has a portal to him & hasn't slit his throat while he was asleep, I think we can agree she, while willing to endanger Qrow, doesn't actively 'want' him dead or to murder him.

But Cinder was willing to accept that she did, and I feel its for much the same reason as one tumblr post mentioned. Cinder assumes everyone else is as petty and evil as she is. That might not be 100% accurate, but I think she'd definitely assume that of people like Raven, Sienna & Adam, even if she likely regards it in degrees, IE, Adam was the most likely to go along with her plan hence seeking him out.

End of digression.

This to me means that Cinder would not be acting on the assumption Sienna would object to her plans morally, or assuming that Sienna would sacrifice herself to stop them, because she likely thinks Sienna is incapable of such things.

So why wouldn't she seek her out and try to force Sienna's hand once she had half the Maiden powers? Cinder seems rather confident in the ability of power and fear to command respect and yet she didn't aim any higher than Adam despite the potential benefits.

Well given Adam was able to blits through her former guards relatively easily -though be it with a bit of shock given they didn't expect him to go that off the hook- this means to m that Sienna would be the major deciding factor here, not her guards or mooks, especially given Cinder can control Grimm and so could likely organize a Grimm attack to keep the grunts busy while she and her allies go for Sienna.

Thus, to me, this means that as far as Cinder was concerned , even with half the Maiden powers, her wonder minions and potentially Adam...

She still did not feel confident in taking down Sienna.

Or at least she was not confident in being able to force Sienna to surrender or to kill her quickly and turn her into a martyr without it being very blatantly clear that she did it, that Adam was a traitor, and generally just turning the entire WF against her or causing it to fracture apart defeating the purpose of the battle.

Given Cinder's ego likely means she has a fairly high bar before she feels threatened or like she couldn't pull off a "just as planned"; the only conclusion I can reach is that even after gaining the Maiden powers and potentially/likely/certainly Adam as an asset, Cinder still did not think she could overpower Sienna easily enough to either win, or at the very least accomplish her goals.

Conclusion

So, when we put all this together what do we get?

Well, we know that Sienna was at least a skilled fighter and one of at least comparable strength to Adam in the trailer.

We know that despite having her guards, back up and Hazel, Adam did not feel confident in either winning or at least not in a quick fight and so resorted to a sneak attack.

We can deduce that despite her powers and connections, Cinder did not feel she had adequate resources to either defeat Sienna and force her to heel, or kill her quickly and frame it on Vale to make Adam High Leader.

Thus, I reason, that Sienna Khan would likely have at the very least be stronger and more skilled than Adam, and could have put up a good fight even against partial Fall Maiden Cinder, Emerald & Mercury, enough that trying it would not be deemed worth the risks involved.

Exactly where you want to put Sienna's strength is obviously up to your own discretion, even if you follow this analyse there's still a lot of room for interpretation or extrapolation.

But I hope that this breakdown has proven insightful and well reasoned, thank you for your time.

Notes:

I almost wish I had made a video of this :D

Brainstorming Semblances could also be fun.

My main one for Sienna is that she has a 'crest' that she can store her Aura in, storing up potentially days, weeks, months or even years that when activated means she can drastically multiply her strength, sorta like Adam, Yang or Nora, but its pre-stored and has a massive gauge, This is the one I give her in the War idea (and in general) hence her being able to vaporize that cruiser, though using said Semblance can be hard, slow and painful and take a long time to recoup.

Other idea include Nine Lives, IE self Resurrection.

One idea I had in a fun little snippet I wrote ages back involved Sienna being able to forge a psychic link with animals, awakening their Aura, extra intelligence & having them fight along side her as her familiars. She had tigers :D

Another had her able to make solid, independent duplicates, or at least one that operated as an e extension of her, dividing her power in half, but letting her be in two places at once.

Another was tat she operated a bit like Cortez from X-Men, but in this case she basically cleaved off a chunk of her own Aura and infused it into others to give them extra strength and energy but could also return said power to herself if she wished to, weakening the, especially if they'd become dependent on her enhancements.

There's probably a lot of other ideas and if you folks have any I'd love to hear-em, but those are some thoughts.

#RWBY #Sienna Khan #Faunus #The White Fang #White Fang #Please bring her back RT #Sienna The Hero Queen Khan

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laboratorium2d · 4 years

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The Canons of Trump

For obvious reasons, I have been following the news, and the news as refracted through social media, very closely since mid-spring. Unavoidably, this has meant that I have been subjected to a much higher than usual dose of Trump nonsense, and nonsense Trump takes. He says and does stupid and terrible things on a near-constant basis, which are then surrounded and amplified by a fog of overinterpretation. There is much less there there than meets the eye.

Over the last four painful years, I have developed some rules of thumb for making sense of Trump news. Most of them are designed to keep me from overthinking things. I offer them up in the spirit of helping us make it to November, and to help in the process of driving Trump and Trumpism from public life.

Trump Speaks Only to His Base

"MAGA loves the black people" is not meant to persuade African-Americans that they should be Trump supporters. It is meant to persuade Trump supporters that they are not racist. The optics of driving off peaceful protesters with tear gas are not bad, in his view, because his supporters want peaceful protesters driven off with tear gas. Suspend all your normal reactions as a citizen or as a human being; they are not a useful guide to how he and his base think. Corollary: when Trump talks about suburbs under siege, remind yourself that this is what people who don't live in suburbs think people who do are afraid of.

Dominance Politics

Josh Marshall: "[T]he entirety of Trump’s political message is dominance politics. ... Trump attacks, others comply and submit." David Auerbach: "[F]or him, the only acceptable outcome is the one where he wins and you get screwed. ... Trump always defects because he wants to maximize how much worse you do than him--not because he wants to maximize his own payoff." Trump always pushes the button.

The Cruelty Is the Point

Trump's policies are unnecessarily cruel, not by accident but intentionally. Tearing migrant children from their parents is his signature policy, precisely because it is so terrible. Trump's natural meanness is a perfect fit for supporters who want their government to violate human rights. (Source: Adam Serwer)

The Stupidity Is Also the Point

Most Americans are not idiots. But most Americans devote very little attention to politics. Nuking hurricanes and injecting bleach are astonishingly terrible ideas. But they sound plausible enough to someone who is barely listening. Trump is an idiot savant of political communication because his limited intelligence matches many people's limited attention. His inability to formulate complex thoughts comes across as authenticity.

Trump's Razor

Josh Marshall: "[T]he stupidest possible scenario that can be reconciled with the available facts" is probably correct. Too many examples to list, but nothing tops, "If we stopped testing right now, we’d have very few cases, if any." Trump doesn't believe that tests make him look bad by finding cases; he believes that tests make him look bad by causing cases.

Ten Minute Increments

Maggie Haberman: "He will say whatever he has to say to get through ten minute increments of time." Trump does not think ahead. There is no long-term plan when he speaks. He likes rallies where he can riff and ramble for as long as he likes. He likes friendly interviews. In any other situation, when he is being pressed for any reason, he will say anything that comes to mind that seems like it will make the immediate problem go away. His notorious word salad is one coping mechanism; so is making big but impossibly vague promises.

Trump Is a They, Not an It

Kenneth Shepsle's "Congress is a 'They,' Not an 'It'" argues that it is a category mistake to attribute intentions to a multi-member body. Legislators voting for a bill may not share the same purpose, or even the same understanding of what it does. Reader, I am here to tell you that the same thing is true of the shambling mess of rage, impulses, and distractions that is Donald Trump. A Trump tweet might reflect his own deliberations, but just as often is something he saw on Fox, or someone said to him on the phone, or something that Dan Scavino wrote.

From God to Fox to Trump

There is a close correlation between whatever is on Fox News and what Trump says and tweets, often in real time. If something seems like a non sequitur, look for a source upstream.

Trump is Chaff

Leon Wolf: "Donald Trump is the political equivalent of chaff, a billion shiny objects all floating through the sky at once, ephemeral, practically without substance, serving almost exclusively to distract from more important things – yet nonetheless completely impossible to ignore."

Low-Pass Filter

A low-pass filter blocks signals that change quickly, only significant long-term changes get through. This is the opposite of how the press and social media work. Social media amplify things that are already being shared widely right now, and journalists compete online by trying to be first. But most Trump tweets, quotes, and leaks are noise. It's okay to ignore the latest bit of chaff; anything important enough to pay serious attention to will be repeated, many many times.

Trump Doesn't Want to Be President, He Wants to Be King

Trump's vision of leadership isn't so much authoritarian as medieval. He wants people to bow down and praise his royal splendor, his brilliance, his feats of prowess. He doesn't have a cabinet or political allies; he has courtiers and nobles. He doesn't understand or care how bureaucracy works, even when he would be far more effective working through it. His daily routines are straight out of Hilary Mantel's portrait of Henry VIII.

Toddler in Chief

Daniel Drezner: "I'll believe that Trump is growing into the presidency when his staff stops talking about him like a toddler." Drezner (now in book form) gets at two points. First, Trump behaves like an ill-behaved small child: bad temper, poor impulse control, short attention span, demands for praise, constant need to be the center of attention. Second, his staff see their job as nannies.

The White House is a They, not an It

Jay Rosen: "There is no White House. Not in the sense that journalists have always used that term. It's just Trump— and people who work in the building. That they are reading from the same page cannot be assumed. The words, 'the White House' are still in use, but they have no clear referent." Other administrations worked hard to send a unified message. Not this one. Trump doesn't even tell his own staff clearly what his policies are, and he frequently changes his mind, so the presumption that a statement from a White House official--even from Trump himself--reflects official policy does not hold.

Working Toward Trump

Historian Ian Kershaw observed that (especially in contrast to the workaholic Stalin) Hitler was just about the last person you would expect to be able to lead a bureaucracy capable of waging a world war and carrying out the mass murder of six million. He was lazy, easily bored, and cultivated administrative chaos. Instead of waiting for clear and specific orders, his supporters "worked toward the Fuhrer": they tried to anticipate policies he would approve of. (More detail here.)

Dignity Wraiths

Josh Marshall: "Rosenstein’s public reputation, which was formidable, has been destroyed. He now joins a legion of Trump Dignity Wraiths, men and women (though mainly men) of once vaunted reputations or at least public prestige who have been reduced to mere husks of their former selves after crossing the Trump Dignity Loss Event Horizon." Corollary by Josh Barro: "[Trump] has stripped only the dignity from people who surrendered it willingly."

To the Cornfield

The Twilight Zone: "They have to think happy thoughts and say happy things because, once displeased, the monster can wish them into a cornfield or change them into a grotesque, walking horror." Trump takes every revenge he can on those who criticize or undercut him. His underlings live in fear of his displeasure, praise him elaborately in public, and generally abase themselves to avoid being sent to the political cornfield. As a result ...

The Republican Party is a Personality Cult

The phrase is Ezra Klein's, but William Saletan said it first: "Donald Trump is the GOP’s warlord. The Republican Party is officially a failed state." On the one hand, Trump is the GOP: Never Trumpers and Trump critics have been effectively sidelined and deligitimized as not real Republicans. On the other hand, the GOP is Trump: the official 2020 platform of the Republican Party is, in its entirety, "the President’s America-first agenda."

#politics

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not-just-any-fangirl · 7 years

Text

Days Of Summer CH 5

A/N; Well. It was good while it lasted. And at last we are here with an update!

I wish I could promise a schedule but with both of us working and having other fics it might not be as regular as we’d like, but we’ll promise to try! Feel free to drop into mine or @hannah-nobody‘s inbox with any questions or things about the fic!

Here’s the updated playlist!

Summer has arrived, and with it the start of the two month long music camp; Fairy Tail! Full of new songs, friends, and adventures, the campers learn things they never knew about themselves and one another. And just how easy it is to sneak booze and a full sized karaoke machine out into the middle of the woods.

Camp Rock!AU

Pairing: Nalu, Gajevy, Gruvia, others mentioned; Fairy Tail

Words: 11154

Rating: T

Parts: Chapter One, Chapter Two, Chapter Three, Chapter Four, Chapter Five, Chapter Six, Chapter Seven

Chapter Five: Good Time, Good Life

Good energy

Come follow me

Oh, it's gonna be a fun night

Juvia smiled brightly as she waved to Gajeel and Levy, sighing happily as she watched Gajeel choke on his tongue at Levy leading him around. Juvia didn't think she had ever seen Gajeel let himself be manhandled like that by anyone. Except Juvia that is.

“Gajie!” Juvia called clinging to his other arm when the two got close enough. “Juvia is so happy Levy brought you with her! Now we will have two guides!”

“I'm afraid we're down to the one,” Lucy pouted, crossing her arms over her chest as she glared in the direction of the cabins. “Cana was supposed to meet us here, but honestly who knows where that girl ended up.”

Juvia smiled at Lucy's obvious irritation with Cana, but the anger disappeared quickly from her pretty brown eyes. They all turned to Gajeel, who seemed to pale under the expecting smiles of all three girls. “So, where is Gajie taking Juvia and her new friends first?” Juvia asked.

“Would ya stop with the nickname, Rainwoman?” Gajeel grumbled, lips pinched in his signature pout. He always remind Juvia of a fluffy Great Pyrenees, intimidating to look at until you realized he thought he was a lap dog.

“I think Gajie is a cute name,” Levy said off handedly. Gajeel squawked, coughing loudly and lifting the arm that Juvia held to try and mask the noise. Juvia met Levy’s clever eyes, stifling a giggle of her own, lest she send Gajeel into a sulk. He had a habit of hiding for a few hours when too embarrassed.

“Oi, don't you start either, Shrimp.”

Levy’s smile fell to a dangerous glower, grumbling under her breath at the nickname. Juvia wanted to ask why she seemed so upset, nicknames from Gajeel showed a comfort few were graced with. Juvia considered hers an honour. “Why doesn't Gajie show us the studios first?” Juvia offered instead, smiling brightly at the other two girls nods of approval. Gajeel grunted his lack of disdain for the idea, allowing Juvia to half lead him in the direction of the studios. She was eager to see what kind of floors they would have for the dance areas.

“What song are you humming?” Lucy asked, falling into step beside Juvia.

“Oh, was Juvia singing out loud? She apologizes.” Juvia said, blushing brightly as she turned her gaze on the path before them.

“No,” Lucy said back, smile kind as she gently rested a hand on Juvia’s arm. “Don't apologize! It sounded really pretty.”

“She was singin’ I Can Hear The Bells from one of her musicals.” Gajeel grunted.

“Gajie remembered the name!” Juvia cooed happily, squeezing his arm tighter.

“It's not like you don't sing it every time some guy smiles at you,” Gajeel grumbled, nudging Juvia kindly with his elbow but keeping his face forward. Juvia knew he didn't understand how Juvia could open up so easily, especially after their shared past horrors, but Gajeel also yearned for the embrace of a lover. Juvia knew it. It's just while she kept hers on her sleeve, Gajeel carried it buried under several layers of snark, sarcasm, muscle, and glaring.

“You thinking of Gray?” Levy asked, peering around Gajeel's chest. Juvia noted that Levy had to take two steps for every one that Juvia and Gajeel took. Something that Gajeel also seemed to be aware of, by the way he slowed his gait. Interesting. Those thoughts would have to be looked at another time, however, as Juvia was drawn into a blushing mess at the mention of her infatuation.

“He's pretty cute, isn't he?” Lucy asked, eyes bright as she leaned into Juvia’s space. “With his dark hair and dreamy eyes and brooding aloofness. All you could want in an emo boy.”

Juvia balked at Lucy's wagging eyebrows. Her lips drew into a thin line as realization dawned on Juvia. “Is Lucy to be Juvia’s love rival aside Natsu?”

Gajeel groaned loudly at the same time as Lucy sputtered. “Juvia, I am not interested in Gray! He's like my brother!” Lucy complained, pouting at Juvia. Juvia saw through her denials however, bright blush loud on her puffed cheeks. Besides, how could someone not be interested in Gray? He seemed so sweet and protective and indeed dreamy.

“You could do so much better than that prick, woman,” Gajeel said. He rolled his eyes at Juvia’s frown, guiding them along the left fork of the trail.

“Gajie is just jealous that he isn't the main man in Juvia's life now,” Juvia teased. She giggled at his low grunt and muddled curses.

“Juvia,” Levy started, tone cautious, “when we met you said you didn't have any friends, but it seems like Gajeel is your best friend.”

“Oh, that's because Gajie isn't Juvia's friend. He is her brother.”

“Oh!” Levy said, shocked as she looked between Gajeel and Juvia. “I'm sorry, um...” she trailed off.

“You two look nothing alike.” Lucy said, comparing Juvia and Gajeel’s faces intently.

“That's ‘cus we ain't related. Juvia just lives with me and I've known her since I was a brat.” Gajeel smiled at Lucy, crooked grin the most relaxed Juvia had seen it with more than two people present.

“Sounds like you two are basically siblings.” Levy hummed, grinning easily at Gajeel.

“Gajie is the only family Juvia knows. And Gajie’s family is Juvia's family.”

“Awww,” Lucy and Levy said at the same time, Juvia blushing under their attention. “Well now you have family and friends.” Lucy said brightly. Juvia smiled back at her, a little in awe of how pretty Lucy was. Juvia would be in trouble with her bid for Gray’s attention, but perhaps being around her chiming giggles and enchanting smile for so long would have numbed Gray to Lucy's siren like effect. Juvia would much rather have Lucy as a friend than Love Rival. Or perhaps they were destined to be both.

“Yes,” Juvia said instead.

They continued to walk and make small talk between the three girls and Gajeel’s highly expressive grunts, Juvia enjoying the warmth of the sun on her face and the easy sounds of people around her. “Juvia wants to dance.” She said suddenly, beaming up at Gajeel. Juvia’s friend rolled his eyes, as he often did around her, but stopped them in front of a single story white building that looked like it could fit seven school buses nose to bumper in it. Large glass windows gave light into the last four rooms, the rest with average windows on their side of the building, wooden trim giving it a clean but still woodsy feel.

“Well go on in and check out the rehearsal space, Rain Woman.”

Juvia clapped her hands excitedly, running into the building. She passed pairs of doors, each with a small window and letter on the natural wood, light blue paint on the walls scuffed around knee height from instrument cases banging against them over the years. Juvia burst through the third last door on the left, standing still as she basked in the feeling of being back in a dance space. This is where Juvia felt at home the most. Looking around the room, Juvia was able to see a fairly updated sound system, and a barre that wrapped around three walls of the room at waist height, above the wooden paneling. Juvia bounced on the balls of her feet, taking in how much give and bounce the floor had. It was better than Juvia’s rehearsal space at school!

Juvia did a few channe turns to the centre of the room, her skirt swirling around her legs making her smile, spotting to a tree out the large wall sized window. There was so much natural light, it made Juvia giddy and want to dance. Juvia wondered if she could sneak back here after turn in and dance a bit. It always made Juvia feel better.

“Don't worry, she gets like this when she finds a new studio. Or crush.”

Juvia turned towards the door, rocking on her feet and hands clasped behind her back, smiling at where Gajeel stood, Lucy and Levy peeking around his bulking figure. “Gajie, come dance with Juvia!”

Gajeel blushed and scoffed at Juvia's out stretched hand, Levy and Lucy giggling and looking up at him slyly. “But Gajie always dances with Juvia,” Juvia said softly. Had she done something? Gajeel bit his lip, blush darkening on his skin as he fidgeted, eyes darting between the wall, Juvia, and Levy. Ohhh, so that was Gajeel’s problem. And he said Juvia had a dramatic streak! As if he had forgotten the time he scoured the allies for weeks trying to find a cat after Natsu and Wendy had gotten their kittens.

“Awww, that’s so cute!” Levy chimed, grinning up at Gajeel. Juvia’s love sense tingled, and she fought letting out a high squeal. Setting up Gajie and Levy would be an excellent distraction when Juvia needed a break trying to woo Gray from Lucy’s charms!

“Gajie, come dance with Juvia! Please?” Juvia batted her eyelashes at Gajeel, clapping happily when Gajeel’s shoulders slumped and his whole face flared bright red.

“One dance.” Gajeel said through his teeth, stalking towards Juvia in the centre of them room. “Got it, Waterworks?”

Juvia hummed as she nodded, holding out her hand expectantly. She grinned brightly when Gajeel took it, rolling her eyes when he stood tense and awkward in front of her, like they hadn’t done this a hundred times.

Gajeel cracked a small grin when Juvia started into a swing routine she had had to learn for an audition for Grease in the advanced after school program, and had promptly forced Gajeel to practice with her until she couldn’t feel her thighs. Well, Gajeel always said forced, but Juvia had only needed to cry and beg for ten minutes before he caved, which was frankly a record. Usually it took a few hours of pestering him. Juvia squealed and laughed when Gajeel did the full lift, swinging her in the air and on either side of his hips, motions easy and needing as much thought as breathing. She panted slightly when he put her down, his large hand patting her head to signal he was done. She beamed up at his fond look, straight line that his lips were usually set in slightly curled up and eyes soft, like when he looked at Pantherlily. He also reserved this look for when Natsu made him laugh, though Gajeel would rather choke his cousin than admit to seeing him as a brother.

Juvia bowed exaggeratedly when Lucy and Levy began clapping, both standing in the room now and excited by even Juvia's standards.

“Everyone here is so talented!” Lucy awed. Juvia thought she heard of tinge of jealousy in Lucy's voice, but it was quickly pushed aside when the blonde smiled brightly. Juvia felt her cheeks heat when she smiled back shyly. “Just like that boy who was singing earlier. He sounded amazing.”

“The mysterious boy did sound quite good to Juvia,” Juvia agreed. She looked at Gajeel in confusion when she noticed him snort and shake his head. “What is Gajie thinking?” Juvia asked.

“Nothing, Water Works,” Gajeel brushed off, grin wide and sharp as he looked down at her. He patted her head before walking back to Lucy -and Levy, more pointedly- leaving Juvia in the middle of the dance studio. “Now come on, unless you don't wanna see the lake side,” Gajeel grunted.

He left the room with the girls, Juvia sharing an excited look with Lucy and Levy before following her tall, dark, and brooding friend. Juvia blinked as both girls looped their arms through hers, physically pulling her into their conversation as all three chased after Gajeel. Her new friends.

Juvia couldn’t wait for camp to really begin.

Gray leaned back, elbows resting on the riser step behind him as he looked at the empty stage just behind the large bonfire pit. Steps were carved into the ground in a semi circle around the stage, wooden planks bolted down for seats. This was what he had imagined when Lucy had first brought up the idea of a summer camp to him. Outdoorsy and a little run down, wood everywhere. Not the state of the art recording studios and practice spaces Gildarts had shown him when he took Loke and Gray on a rough tour -including where the female staff hung out. Why Gildarts would be chasing after twenty-somethings was a thing Gray didn’t want to think about, but might also help explain Cana’s constant silver flask.

And he thought he had a weird relationship with his family.

Whoops, bad thoughts. Think about how big of a drum set could fit on that dinky little stage. Better.

Gray looked over the sea of faces around him, taking in the ages. He was suddenly thrown back to his first AFI concert when he was 13, an endless crowd of young teenagers screaming along to surprisingly dark lyrics. Gray had truly found his people that first concert. And that black was his favourite colour.

“Look at all these cute little kids,” Lucy cooed, eyes shining as she caught sight of one that even Gray had to admit made him wish for another sibling, even if it was only so he wasn’t the youngest anymore. His attention shifted from the little lost looking girl with blue pigtails to the boy running around with no shirt between the aisles, something that Gray hoped was chocolate or dirt smeared over his chest as he chased his friend.

“They sure are there.” Gray drawled, keeping an eye on the screaming twelve-year-old even as he turned back to Lucy, making sure that he had plenty of time to make a break for it in case the snot nosed brat tried to put his grubby hands on Gray’s limited edition Nine Inch Nails tour shirt.

“Stop being a butt,” Lucy swatted at his arm, distracted when she began waving for Levy to join them. Gray bit back a grimace, seeing the hulking figure of his death metal bunk mate behind Lucy’s friend, and the knowledge that where Gajeel was there was the unfortunate chance of seeing Flame Head. What kind of scene punk dyed their entire head pink like that? Gray’s thoughts were thankfully saved from thinking more about Natsu when he caught sight of blue hair and even bluer eyes peeking out from behind Gajeel’s back, pale skin flushing as she met Gray’s gaze and hid fully behind the six-foot-something mass of black clothed muscle.

It was kind of cute how shy Juvia was, but also kind creepy. The jury was still out.

Gray kept his face blank when Juvia sat down next to him, pointedly ignoring how her skirt was slitted to reveal the smooth skin of her thighs, pressed tight together as Juvia made herself take up less space. Gray furrowed his eyebrows when it clicked in his head, remembering how Lucy used to sit the same way in front of her father. He met Juvia’s eyes and gave her a small smile, feeling unnatural as the corners of his lips forcefully turned up slightly. He was determined to never make anyone feel like how Jude made Lucy feel. He’d be the family she deserved, like how she was the family he didn’t.

Juvia squeaked loudly, face turning bright red before she scrambled away, hiding on the other side of Gajeel. He turned to Lucy, smiling slipping away. “Did I do something wrong?” he asked, glancing at the ball of blue and fur that Juvia had become.

“You mean other than existing?” A voice said beside him, Gray snarling as he turned to look up at him.

“Was hoping you fell into the river,” Gray spat back, frown deepening when Natsu sat down beside him.

“Both of you be nice,” Lucy sighed, Gray rolling his eyes at her motherly tone. “And no Gray, all you did wrong was stripping your shirt before smiling at her.”

“Wha- goddamit.” Gray said, looking around and catching sight of the turned inside-out black of his shirt, snatching it off the ground and brushing off the wood chips.

“Are you like, trying to get arrested?” Natsu asked. Gray’s head snapped to him with an insult on his lips, stalling when he only saw curiosity in Natsu's eyes. Holy shit, did the idiot wear contacts too? Who had green that bright as a natural colour?

“Uh, no. I don't mean to get naked all the time,” Gray explained, scratching the side of of his face. He didn't even know why he was explaining this. Half his brain told his mouth to just say ‘fuck off’ and drop it, but the other half of his brain had different ideas. “My aunt was a competitive rock climber and used to take me and my cousin with her. She liked to train uh, with less clothes so the cold wouldn't bother her and Lyon wanted to be just like her, and I couldn't let Lyon beat me. So uh, the habit kinda stuck.”

“Huh,” Natsu said, nodding as he looked at the stage as well. “So pervert runs in your genes. Or outta them, I guess.”

“You pink haired dipshit,” Gray snarled. “You're lucky people are around or you'd be at the bottom of the lake.”

“It's nice to see you two talking!” Lucy beamed at them, grin bright and a little forced as she leaned forward to look at both him and Natsu. “This camp is the time to make friends and explore our own identities! Aren’t you guys excited?”

“Uh, is there something funny in the water I should be worried about?” Natsu asked, cheeks pink as he eyed Lucy but gaze wary.

“Nah,” Gray grunted, slinging an arm around Lucy's shoulder and pulling her closer to his chest. “She just read too many brochures and is as optimistic as a fucking beam of sunshine.” Gray smirked when he noticed Natsu curl into himself a bit, eyes flicking away from Gray's and his lips turning down. It was better Natsu accepted that he had no hope with Lucy anyway. He didn't think he could stand sharing a room with that idiot mopping over his best friend all summer, all dopey eyes and dumb smiles. God it would be so gross.

“Gray,” Lucy complained, smiling as she pushed herself away from under his arm. “Just because I'm not still in my emo phase doesn't mean I'm a beam of sunshine.”

“I think you're pretty beamy,” Natsu mumbled. Gray sneered at him, Natsu returning the look briefly. His attention was turned to Lucy again at her soft giggle, Natsu's eyes widening as Gray's snapped to Lucy. She was blushing, eyes cast down and her fingers playing with her ponytail tip.

“That's a stupid thing to say.” Gray grumbled, slouching back against the riser. He pulled at the neckline of his shirt, cloth itchy and hot suddenly.

“I thought it was sweet.” Lucy defended. Gray held Lucy's warning glower, ‘tch’-ing before looking back at the stage. If Lucy knew the truth she wouldn't be so eager to flirt with the pink haired bastard. Gray was stopped from telling her just how not ‘sweet’ the pink fuckwit was when someone spoke on stage.

“Hello there brats!” Makarov said, voice carrying even without a microphone over the wide group. “It's good to see you all again. Here at Fairy Tail we like to keep things informal, don't need at those blasted rules holding us back, do we brats?” He grinned, mischievous twinkle in his eye reminding Gray why Cana’s dad fit so well into the staff here. “So be free to try new things and explore! Bend and break the rules of what you were told you can and can't do! Whatever makes your heart sing can't be all that wrong, can it? We do have some guidelines though, the themes of the weeks coming up to give you growing brats some structure!

“So without further adieu, here is the lovely Mira Jane to introduce them.” Makarov motioned to the side, a pretty white haired woman waving her hand. Well, Gray couldn't exactly tell her age, she had the kind of face that could be fifteen or twenty-five. Gray jerked when he felt Lucy's nails dig into her upper arm, grip vice like as she clung to him. Gray could practically see the stars in her eyes as she gaped at the stage.

“Gray! Gray look! Gray oh my God it's Mira Jane!” She whispered loudly, shaking him with each word. Gray was pretty sure she was breaking skin at this point.

“He literally just said that,” he pointed out dryly, trying to pry her off one finger at a time, and failing. When the fuck had she gotten so strong?

“No,” Lucy hissed, “I mean it’s the Mira Jane Strauss! World famous model and rockstar? Part of the mysterious band She Devils? I have her poster above my bed, dummy.”

Gray was pretty sure he didn't care. And that he was losing circulation in his arm.

“The She Devils are famous?” Natsu asked, incredulous as he eyed the stage. Gray glared at him, no one was even talking to the idiot. “Nah,” he said after a pause, grinning easily at them as he leaned back in his seat, beanie starting to pull back and show his cheap pink dye job. Natsu quickly fixed it, continuing on as if nothing had happened. “It's just Mira and Erza and Ever! If they were famous they wouldn't be hanging around at our camp, no matter how great the program is.”

“Erza's in the She Devils?” Lucy gasped, nails definitely cutting into Gray’s arm now. He might lose the limb.

“Yeah! She's the main guitar, Mira’s vocals and rhythm guitar, and Ever is drums and vocals. Though, they ain't exactly been getting along since last summer...” Natsu trailed off, face paling as he looked at the stage again. “They are called the ‘She Devils’ for a reason.”

Gray snorted as he eyed Mira Jane over again. Her smile was kind but shy as she fiddled with the projector, a pretty but simple summer dress that fit her snugly enough to remind Gray that he was a teenager. “She doesn't look all that scary.”

“She makes Erza look like a baby.” Natsu said flatly, dead serious as he held Gray’s gaze. Gray felt a shiver of fear travel his spine at Natsu's words, turning to look back at the stage. Wait, no, that chill was just the evening air on his bare spine.

“Fuck,” Gray hissed, looking around to find his shirt. Again.

“Careful or Erza will hear you,” Levy cooed, eyes sparkling as she giggled at Gray’s sudden stiffness. He put a hand over his heart, trying to get it to restart.

“Levy don't tease him like that, he nearly had an asthma attack in the cafeteria.” Lucy chastised lightly. Gray whipped his head to see Natsu snickering at him, rage boiling under his skin. How dare that dumbass laugh at him! At least he didn't have a dozen piercings in his ear, no matter how much he had been trying to save up to get his own done. His would look way cooler! Gray dug his elbow into Natsu's ribs, grinning when the air left his lungs in a pained gasp. His grin sharpened when Natsu was stopped from attack by Mira Jane finally speaking.

“Hello everyone! My name is Mira Jane, but you guys can call me Mira. I'm the camper coordinator, so if you guys ever need to talk to someone about the events or need a friend I'm here! Gildarts is our professional counselor for more serious or personal matters, as I am a camper just like you!” Mira smiled, taking a breath. Gray wondered how many times she had done this, considering how rehearsed and polished she sounded. “We have some very exciting themes this year that focus heavily on teamwork and collaboration and trying new things. The rest of this week will be for settling in! Some meet and greet events but nothing too major, including the camp favourite: Karaoke.

“The first theme is different talents! This will last three weeks and will end in a miniature camp showcase. You all remember checking the second box on your application forms, and will be grouped with someone who chose your main skill as they're secondary!” Mira gestured to the screen, where pictures of smiling kids faces were opposite to the words she had just spoken in point form. “Then the next theme will be different genres, where we will pair you with someone of the same main talent in a different genre. This will be the last week before the break, where you guys can have a little R and R before coming back. The sixth and seventh weeks will be the collaboration weeks, where you get to choose your partner. The staff thought by then you should have enough time to see who you work best with and what suits you! The eighth and ninth weeks will be the group weeks where you will be split into several groups to work on choreography and stage presence, and the last and final week will be all about preparing for the final showcase for all your parents and loved ones!” Gray scoffed at her overly cheery tone. He wasn’t sure if he would count his family as his loved ones.

“Of course,” Mira continued, pulling Gray’s attention back to her, “there will be several student organized events scattered throughout the weeks, so keep your eyes on that cork board and your ears open. Now, who’s ready to rock?”

The crowd met her energetic question with a loud roar. Gray was pretty sure he heard someone screaming about being ‘manly’, whatever that meant. He looked over at Lucy, jolting when he saw the beginnings of tears in her eyes. “Uh, Luce?” he asked, unsure what to do.

“She’s just so beautiful, Gray,” Lucy whimpered, clutching her hands to her chest. “And she’s a camper here! Gray what if I bump into her and spill a drink all over her? What if she hears me singing? What if she doesn’t like me singing? What if she hates my songs Gray?”

Gray sighed, patting her head and rolling his eyes at her warbling lip. He forgot how much of a fangirl Lucy could be sometimes.

“Nah, she’ll love ya,” Natsu assured, smile bright as he looked at Lucy. God did Gray want to punch him, something heavy curling in his chest.

“He’s right, Bunny Girl,” Gajeel chimed in, “Mira’s crazy but she’s nice enough.”

“She’s the only one who listens to him try and sing,” Natsu whispered loudly, sharing a sneaky grin with Gray over mocking Gajeel before beaming at Lucy’s high giggle.

“Oi, it’s ‘cus she’s the only one ‘round here who can recognize talent,” Gajeel spat out, glaring at his cousin. Gray had heard Gajeel humming before he left the cabin. He wasn’t sure he’d call whatever Gajeel had ‘talent’. He kept his mouth shut, though, not seeing a good escape route and preferring not to start a fight in the middle of a crowd.

“All you brats get your butts back to your cabins, lights out is in ten and I have no clue where our lovely Erza is at the moment.” Makarov called loudly, grinning at the petrified crowd before hopping off the stage.

“C’mon you knuckleheads, I dunno about ya but I'd rather not play hide and seek with the crazy redhead my first night here.” Gajeel said gruffly, standing and making a path through the crowd. Gray and Lucy shared a look, shrugging as they stood and followed after him, Natsu and Loke striking up a conversation as they followed. Traitor. Actually, if Gray thought about it this was the first he had seen of Loke in hours. Weird.

Natsu was pretty sure if it wasn’t for Happy sleeping on his chest and pinning him to the bed that Gray would be dead.

“For the last time, it’s ‘the goddamn door’!” Gray snapped, throwing a wadded up piece of paper at Natsu’s head. He bared his teeth in return before rolling his eyes, wishing he had a rock or something harder than his pillow to throw in retaliation.

“I thought an emo like you woulda known it was ‘a goddamn door’,” he hissed.

“Oh my God it’s been three hours you’re both giant music nerds just fucking look it up. We do have internet here,” Loke sighed. Gajeel had put in his headphones a while ago, so the group was saved from his creative and explicit threats, although Loke might be nearing the ‘murder’ point pretty soon. They had been stuck in the cabin for the last four hours due to a sudden thunderstorm that made it nearly impossible to see your own hand in front of your face outside. The weather was due to clear up before karaoke, which was at eight; another six hours away.

Natsu didn’t know if he could survive another six hours in this damn cabin.

“Lucy’s saying that the girls are playing truth or dare and ‘having girl time’,” Loke continued, “I wish I was with them, having Cana probe my sex life would be much more enjoyable than listening to you two bicker over song lyrics.”

“Stop being melodramatic and just fucking google it, seeing as you're the only one in here with a signal.” Gray snapped, throwing a pillow at the orange haired boy this time. Hah, that dumbass was out of pillows now.

“If it'll make you two shut up for a bloody second then fine.”

Natsu perked up as he waited for Loke to prove him right, shove that in Frost Bite’s face. As if anyone knew Panic! At The Disco better than him. That band had practically raised Natsu through his early teens, he wasn't about to misremember the lyrics of one of their most iconic songs. Although it wasn't Natsu's favourite, it was still up there alongside Nine In The Afternoon.

“Oh my God.”

“What!” Natsu asked, upper body hanging over the barricade of his bunk bed as he looked down at Loke, eager to be proven right. A grin spread over his face at the rueful smile on Loke’s face, eyes flicking in Gray’s direction above him apologetically.

“Natsu’s right.”

“You're dead to me.”

“Fucking suck on that you fake emo!” Natsu crowed, squeezing Happy in a victorious embrace. He closed his eyes, imagining Lucy laughing and beaming at him as he proved Gray wrong, a little exasperated but fond and soft.

“I can't believe I was wrong,” Natsu heard Gray whisper, looking sideways to see Gray staring at the wooden ceiling blankly.

“Erm,” Natsu said, suddenly unsure of how good his win was. Gray looked shaken by the revelation. “You okay there Frosty?”

“What else have I been wrong about. How can I call myself a fan. Who am I?”

Oh God Lucy would never forgive him if he broke her best friend. And Natsu would much rather deal with the piss baby Gray than this, if he were to even care about Gray. Which he didn't.

“Oi, Loke. I, uh, think Gray’s having an identity crisis.” Natsu said, giving Gray another concerned pass over. The boy looked near comatose actually.

Loke rolled his eyes, texting with someone quickly as he ignored his friend above him. “Give him a smoke and an hour and he'll be fine.” Loke said dismissively. Several more minutes passed as Gray mumbled to himself before Loke groaned loudly and threw himself into a sitting position. Natsu watched curiously as Loke dragged one of the suitcases from beneath his bunk and rummaged through it, finding his prize with a huff. He stood, kicking the suitcase under the bunk irritably before whipping the cardboard box at Gray’s head. “Fucking light up but if Lucy asks I'm ratting your ass out.”

“Does anyone have a lighter?” Gray asked in a lost voice, dark eyes glazed and freaking Natsu the fuck out. He lobbed his over wordlessly, Gajeel’s attention finally caught by all the flying objects.

“Wait!” Natsu said, sitting up in a cross legged position and lifting his hands to cover the smoke alarm placed over the middle of the bunk. While Natsu had feared any batshit ideas Gajeel might have come up with wake him up when he first noticed it, he was thankful it was in reach now. He raised his arms, covering it easily before nodding at Gray to continue. “Don’t need Gildarts bustin’ in our door on our second day ‘cus you needed a drag. Or worse, Erza.” Natsu shared a shudder with Gray at the thought who gave a barely visible nod in recognition before lighting the cigarette between his lips.

Gray laid back down wordlessly, eyes becoming distant again even as the end burned a dull red and orange, traveling down the white stick with each inhale. Natsu watched, curious as the greyish white smoke puffed out of Gray’s nose effortlessly. He had considered taking up smoking to give himself more of an authentic growl in his voice when he was thirteen before his dad had found the pack he had stolen from Gajeel and promptly shoved a handful of poupore in Natsu’s mouth for being ‘a miniature dumbass’. He’d never admit it, but he’d always hoped to look as cool as Gray did when he envisioned himself smoking. Then the thick burning-tar scent hit his nose and his face scrunched. He definitely didn’t need whatever could make a smell that gross filling his lungs, thank you very much.

Minutes passed and Natsu felt his shoulders and the back of his arms start aching from the awkward position. “You almost done there Mr. I-Make-Bad-Life-Choices?” Natsu hissed. He rolled his eyes when Happy curled up in his lap, purring contentedly at his warm spot. Gray ignored Natsu, his eyes far away. He put the stub of a cigarette out on the odd circular object he had been tapping the ashes onto, quickly pulling out a second one and lighting it up. Great, his bunkmate was a fucking chainsmoker.

“Has anyone seen my mirror?” Loke asked suddenly, Natsu hiding a snicker when he noticed what Gray had been using as an ashtray. Natsu was stopped from telling Loke exactly what his mirror was being used for by Gray’s mumbles becoming clearer and louder as he pulled the cigarette from his lips, still laying on his bed and staring at the ceiling.

“So baby pull me closer in the back seat of your rover that I know you can’t afford, bite that tattoo on your shoulder.”

Natsu blinked and squawked when Gray rolled over groaning loudly, face burying itself in his pillow and smoke dangerously close to his blankets. “Uh, Gray?” Natsu asked, ducking his head awkwardly to look closer at the dark haired boy.

“How can I know the words to that trash song and not I Write Sins Not Tragedies?” He wailed, voice muffled by the cotton stuffed fabric he was trying to smother himself with.

“Because you're an idiot?” Natsu offered.

“Fuck off,” Gray mumbled into his pillow.

“Stop being emo,” Loke called up, eyes still glued to his phone and thumbs flying effortlessly. Natsu wondered who he'd be texting so obsessively.

“You fuck off too.”

“You’re all stupid and I’m one noise away from throwin’ both of your dumb asses out into the storm,” Gajeel barked. Natsu decided he was done helping Gray and dropped his arms, hanging his body over the railing on his bed to look at his cousin. Happy meowed loudly, upset at his spot moving.

“Words not working?” Natsu asked. Gajeel sat surrounded by balled up scraps of paper, Lily claiming Gajeel’s abandoned pillow for his own, pencil nearly bit in half. Gajeel always got pissy when he couldn’t work out a song properly, and while Natsu was happy that it meant his cousin wasn’t trying to sing he was also very, very afraid because it meant Gajeel was one too-loud-breath away from trying to put his pencil through someone's eye. Natsu didn’t think Lucy would dig a dude in an eyepatch.

“No, it’s going like a fuckin’ dream,” Gajeel snarled, pencil snapping in his hand. Natsu gulped, scurrying back onto his bunk. Gajeel had seemed more surprised at the shattered wood and lead but Natsu really did not want to be thrown into the rain. It always made his piercings itch.

“Hey, Natsu?” Loke called. Natsu cocked his head, unsure of what it meant that Loke was talking to him.

“Yeah?” he asked. Gray was still mumbling into his pillow and his cigarette was out, so Natsu was thankful there would be no cabin fires tonight. Natsu was bound to set one off eventually, but he’d rather know for a fact he had been the one to cause it when he got blamed.

“You got your guitar here?”

“I always got Fev,” Natsu said, even more puzzled.

“Is she acoustic?” Loke asked.

“Nah, she’s electric,” Natsu said, his pride seeping into his voice when he thought of his guitar.

“Cool, use mine. It’s acoustic.”

“Uh, ‘kay?” Natsu said slowly. He had no clue what the fuck was happening anymore.

“I have a request.” Loke said, still looking at his phone and typing faster than any girl Natsu had seen at his school do.

“Erm, sure?” he replied. Gajeel passed Loke’s case up to him with a low grunt, obviously still working over his lyrics in his head if he was willing to help out Natsu before he asked.

Loke waited until Natsu had the guitar settled in his lap and partily tuned before speaking.

“Play Wonderwall.”

“Get fucked,” Natsu howled, whipping the guitar pick at Loke’s face. He grinned broadly at Loke’s sly smirk, fishing another pick from his jean pocket before strumming. He began to sing in the most contrived, hipster voice he could, voice warbling as he sang. Loke joined in shortly, harmonizing nicely with Natsu. Even Gray lifted his head slightly from his pillow, amusement and disgust equal in his curled lip and narrowed eyes.

“Hey Strawberry,” Gray said, rolling onto his side. “Play Welcome To My Life next.”

Natsu cackled mid word, resuming his very serious and artistic persona as he nodded at Gray’s request.

At least it was better than worrying about what the fuck Natsu was going to do about karaoke tonight.

Cana leaned back against the railing, watching as a boy probably around fourteen or fifteen got off the stage, shy smile at the light applause of his karaoke performance, the few people eager to perform but too scared to do it when all attention was focused on them performing before the actual event.

No one here would pass up the opportunity to listen to Lady Gaga, even if it was done by the cracking voice of a boy on the cusp of beautiful, beautiful puberty.

Her eyes scanned the crowd, looking for either Lucy or Juvia, both girls definitely in need of a perpetual chill pill and Cana was only too happy to comply as substitute for a happy visit from the pot fairy.

Cana snorted at the thought of Loke wearing a pink tutu and flinging sparkling packets of weed wherever he went. Such a shame the camp had a strict no drugs policy. She wondered idly how difficult it would be to forge a prescription for medical marijuana as she straightened and strolled over to the karaoke sign up sheet. The forgery itself wouldn’t be the hard part, she thought as she signed herself up, smirking at her song choice. No, the hard part would be slipping the forgery past Gildarts keen eyes.

That was a challenge for another day however. For the moment, she settled on perfecting the handwriting of the next three people that would very generously be performing after herself- though of course none of them would be able to top her own performance.

“Signing up for kareoke?”

Cana turned to find Natsu peering over her shoulder, a few tufts of pink hair sticking out from under his beanie.

“Want me to add your name?”

Natsu snorted.

“God no.”

“Why not? Don’t tell me you get stage fright. Y’know hot people aren’t meant get that, right?”

Natsu blushed at the compliment as someone pushed past him to get to the sign up sheet. Cana shoved them back for his sake before handing over the pen and moving out of the way herself.

“I’m not hot,” Natsu rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly before shrugging, “And I get anxiety.”

“Well I got a fix for that,” Cana smirked. She could tell from their previous conversations that Natsu wasn't going to take her word on his hotness level -which was fairly high in her professional opinion- but she knew the fix to anyone's nerves easily.

“Wha-” Natsu jolted when Cana presses her flask to his hands, squeaking as he tried to hide the plain silver cannister in the breast of his hoodie. Cana snorted as she plucked the pen back from the plastic set up table, twirling it lightly between her fingers as she waited for Natsu to unfreeze.

“Just polish that beauty off and you'll be set!” She grinned, writing down Natsu's name for him as he continued to gape at her. Cana would've pegged him for a punk and rule breaker with his piercings and pink hair and the mischievous smirk he wore when he wasn't getting lost in that dense mind of his, but so far he'd been as adventurous as Lucy. Which was to say more than the normal person, but not quite on the same level as Cana.

The whiskey should fix that out.

“Uh,” Natsu said, sniffing the flask lip before jerking his head away. “What even is this, eighty proof?”

Cana grinned, impressed. The boy at least knew something about drinking, which was enough to make him good in Cana’s books. “Close,” she hummed, winking at him. “It's eighty eight.”

“How are you even alive right now,” Natsu sniffed the flask again, nose wrinkling in a way she knew Lucy would find adorable. Damn it, now she had to get them together. Not to mention that meddling in Lucy’s love life was basically her job description as one of Lucy’s best friends.

“Sheer will power,” Cana drawled, tapping the bottom of the flask up so it hit his lips. Natsu would never woo Lucy if he couldn't grow the balls to go on stage and sing a fucking karaoke song. Natsu shot her another -completely unnecessary- disbelieving look before taking back a hard sip.

Cana nodded, impressed again by his ability to handle a shot.

He took another shot at her encouraging nod, Cana distracted as she lifted a hand in a peace sign as Loke walked over.

“Just because you’re an alcoholic doesn’t mean you need to convert my bunkmate,” Loke said flatly, arms crossing as he gave Cana that look. It was both disapproving and amused and Cana always rolled her eyes at it.

“As if you wouldn’t be pushing it on him if you’d seen what a wreck he was. He doesn’t even think he’s hot!” she scoffed. Natsu choked, denials catching on his tongue at Cana’s truth speaking. His cheeks had already gotten a bit of a flush, which meant her idea was working.

Loke snorted, eyebrow raised as he looked at Natsu. “Not everyone has the self confidence you project Cana.”

“Well they should.” Cana stuck her tongue out at her friend, Loke laughing and slinging an arm around Natsu’s tense shoulders.

“So what do you need Cana’s favourite liquid courage for?” he asked, eyes lighting in the way they always did when Loke sensed fresh meat to hit on. Cana narrowed her eyes at him, mentally telling him to back off. Pinky was gonna be for Lucy, and Cana was determined to beat off anyone that even hinted at flirting with him. Which probably wouldn’t be helping his apparent self esteem issues, but Cana liked to take one problem at a time. And right now, that problem was her ginger friend thinking with his dick.

“‘Cus he’s too chickenshit to get on stage and woo Lucy with a karaoke performance.”

Cana raised her eyebrows as Natsu choked again, face flaming as he took a long and third sip. Loke’s face pinched, Cana watching as his gaze flickered to where Lucy was standing with Gray and Juvia. Levy was off with her bandmates -Jet and Droy she was pretty sure their names were. She had felt a little bad for them, what, with their obvious fawning over the short girl completely either going over Levy’s head or flat out ignored.

“Am not!” Natsu said hotly, pouting under Cana and Loke’s laughter.

“Prove it,” Loke jabbed him in the ribs. “Sing her a love song.”

Cana snorted despite herself.

“Lame,” She drawled, “They met like three days ago, it’s a bit early for Whitney Houston don’t you think?”

Natsu’s nose crinkled at the song implication, but Loke ignoring it. The arm over Natsu’s shoulder tightened protectively.

“But what if he will always love her?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Natsu hiccuped, “I’m pretty sure I couldn’t hold those notes anyway.”

Cana rolled her eyes. Did he even hear himself when he sang? She’d only heard him belt it out once and she had been impressed enough to wager the kid had a hell of a vocal range on him. So, that song probably wasn’t his prefered genre, but Cana was willing to bet his rendition would be interesting.

“So what are you going to sing then?”

Loke pulled away to inspect Natsu’s response to Cana’s question. Without the support, Natsu swayed a little, and Cana couldn’t help but mask a smirk. She watched as Natsu scratched his head in thought, the motion pushing his beanie back enough to free the turfs of hair he’d hidden earlier. He made no move to correct himself.

All of a sudden his hand dropped and Natsu chuckled as he grinned to himself.

“What? What have you thought of?”

“Hehehe, Gajeel will be so embarrassed.” Natsu’s chuckle turned into maniacal laughter.

“Gajeel?” Loke grimaced, “You want to sing a love song to your cousin?”

Natsu threw the flask at Loke, hitting him square in the shoulder. Cana managed to catch it before it hit the ground.

“I know what I’m going to sing!” Natsu practically screamed before running off into the crowd.

“That was my playing arm!” Loke shouted after him, cradling himself as though he’d just been shot.

Cana watched Natsu run in what was very obviously not a straight line.

“Shut up you idiot, we have to go after him!” She slapped Loke on his wounded side, “We have yet another Operation Lightweight on our hands.”

Lucy watched her two friends running after Natsu for the fourth time in ten minutes as she took her seat beside Gray in front of the karaoke stage. She had to admit, she was a little concerned. It seemed Cana was trying to hide her notorious flask in Natsu’s crumpled beanie, which was also filled with leaves. Natsu didn’t seem to notice the absence of what Lucy had guessed was one of the boys many crutches as he told her two friends to stop following him at a very surprising volume. Loke seemed only mildly irritated by the whole situation, but for some reason his right arm was bundled up in a sling made out of a hoodie.

“Fucking morons.” Gray muttered to himself as he watched them go by.

“Should we save them a seat?”

Gray seemed to think a moment before shaking his head.

“I get the feeling this is one of those times where we’ve no choice but to pretend we don’t know them.”

“You mean like that time we went to Hargeon on a school trip and Loke got his hand stuck in the condom vending machine they had in the hotel?

“And Cana tried to use peach schnapps as a lubricant to get him out? Yeah, exactly like that actually.”

Lucy nodded, remembering the sickly feeling of hoping no one would realise she was sharing a room with the girl screaming ‘I know one of you bastards brought lube with you goddamnit’ down the hallway. She still had nightmares about what the elderly couple from Alverez must have thought.

“Why was Loke in need of some, um, protection?” Juvia asked from Lucy’s right, having overheard their conversation.

“I ask myself that question every time I find one in my bunk.”

“He brought condoms to camp?” Lucy grimaced.

“Yup. So far I’ve found eight in my bunk. Still in the wrapper- thank god. Yesterday, I woke up in the middle of the night to find him leaning over that pink haired moron’s bed. I know he’s an idiot, but no one deserves having Loke unknowingly in your bed- we don’t know where he’s been- and I was about to warn him but then I realised Loke was just hiding a rubber in the smoke detector.”

“Why would Loke need a-a, erm, one of… those in a smoke detector?”

Lucy and Gray sighed in unison.

“Because,” They answered, voices completely lacking emotion, “His sex is on fire.”

Juvia’s nose wrinkled in response. Lucy was inclined to agree.

Lucy leaned forward in her seat, trying to find her friends in the crowd. She spotted Cana pulling Natsu and Loke into a team huddle off to the side of the stage. Lucy’s brows furrowed.

“Did either of you check the karaoke list?” She asked Gray and Juvia.

“Juvia thought about signing up, but decided she does not want to make her camp debut yet.”

“I didn’t think drum solos counted as karaoke so I didn’t bother. Why?”

“We have left Cana to her own devices for over an hour.” Lucy observed.

“Shit.”

“Why is this a bad thing?” Juvia asked them.

“It might not be.” Lucy admitted, “But we should always be weary when we spot Cana with a flask.”

Juvia’s face turned very serious.

“Juvia shall remember this.”

“I swear to god, if that asshole has signed me up I’ll-”

Gray was cut off by a dramatic fanfare as the lights were dimmed and Gildarts stepped onto stage with a clipboard and a wild grin. Lucy applauded with the rest of the crowd at his entrance, excited for the night of performing to begin.

Gildarts announced the first performer and the show began. First up was no one Lucy knew, but their talent was undeniable. If the rest of the night went like this they were all in for a treat. As the show worked through the first couple of performers, Lucy wondered at everyone’s talents. Although karaoke was mostly for singers, some brought their guitar with them for an acoustic song, while others went up with friends to ease their nerves- like Levy and her bandmates.

Lucy stood and cheered loudly as they walked onstage after Gildarts introduction. Jet and Droy carried guitars with them while Levy stepped straight up to the microphone, bouncing on her tiptoes to reach it until Gildarts reappeared to lower the stand for her. Lucy could see the small girls blush from the audience.

“Alright guys!” Levy’s voice chirped over the speakers, “We’re Shadow Gear and we hope you enjoy this song!”

Lucy smiled to herself as she recognized the opening of the song. She noticed Gray’s surprised expression from the corner of her eye, not expecting a song choice such as this from a band named Shadow Gear.

“We were both young when I first saw you,

I close my eyes and the flashback starts

I’m standing there,

On a balcony in summer air.”

Levy’s voice was sweet as it carried over the crowd, all the audience swaying in their seats at the easy melody. To Lucy, Levy seemed perfectly content in front of the microphone. She seemed to grow more confident as the song went on, even detaching the microphone from it’s stand and walking across the stage as she sung, enchanting the audience. Though Lucy did spot her quickly turning away after meeting eyes with someone in the crowd. Lucy turned to see who but couldn’t make out the shape of the person she suspected it was in the dim lighting over the seats.

Her attention turned back to the stage as Levy neared the climax of the song, her passion stealing Lucy’s breath from her.

“Romeo, save me, I’ve been feeling so alone

I keep waiting for you, but you never come.

Is this in my head? I don’t know what to think,

He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring and said…”

Levy leant her body towards the crowd and held out the microphone, a smile beaming on her face. Lucy was the first to stand up and continue the song, followed by most of the other girls in the audience.

“Marry me, Juliet, you’ll never have to be alone,

I love you and that’s all I really know.”

Levy brought the microphone back to her own lips and finished the song with the crowd singing along with her. Lucy was beaming with pride for her new friend by the time the song drifted off. But even as everyone stood and applauded them, Lucy thought she saw a hint of doubt on the blue haired girl's face. But perhaps it was just the light.

“Who knew Shadow Gear would be a pop band?” Gray smirked as he applauded too.

“Juvia saw Gray mouthing the words. Does Gray adore love songs like Juvia does?”

Lucy snorted.

“That and he loves country music.”

“I do not.” He protested.

Lucy laughed, but Gray could do nothing as he was once again interrupted by Gildarts presence on stage.

“Thanks for that Shadow Gear! Next up is…. Ah! The amazing, the wonderful, the beautiful- my daughter- Cana Alberona!”

Lucy clapped as Cana swagged on stage, unable to stop herself from shooting an apprehensive look at Gray, who matched her own curiosity.

“Alright losers,” Cana’s voice purred as she pulled the microphone from it’s stand where Levy had left it, “Let's get this party started.”

Cana pressed play on the karaoke machine and began to sway her hips. The first notes floated over the crowd and Lucy’s muscles clenched with dread.

“Why do they even have this song on there?” Gray hissed beside her.

As if she could hear them, on stage Cana smirked and winked in their direction before she began singing.

“Sex with me’s so amazing,

All this hard work, no vacation

Stay up off my instagram, pure temptation.”

Lucy covered her face with her hands. Relieved as the song continued that Cana at least had the sense not to sing the n-word in front of children. At least she hadn’t gotten drunk enough to forget she was white.

“Vodka and water, and a lemon,

And a few other things I cannot mention.”

Lucy peeked through her fingers to see Cana slut-dropping on stage, oblivious to the thirteen year-old with a nose bleed in the second row. Equally obvious was Gildarts, who was beaming from the side of the stage, eyes filled with pride for his daughter as he did some strange middle-aged version of twerking.

“I’m now certain we died in a horrible car crash on the way home,” Gray shouted in her ear over the music, “Because we’re definitely in hell.”

“Well you were the one driving.” Lucy reminded him.

Gray shot her a look she understood perfectly. They had only themselves to blame for not giving Cana the correct amount of supervision.

“Sex with me, sex with me, sex with me,

So amazing, so amazing, mmmm.”

When the song finished there was a very long moment of complete silence as Cana smiled proudly from the stage. Lucy glanced at Gray to see him shaking his head at her. No, they would not reward her for her shameless behaviour.

Though most of the other boys in the camp seemed to have a different idea to Gray as they shot to their feet applauding and whistling.

Cana bowed low, providing the audience with a pretty clear view of her cleavage. The applause grew louder.

“God, guys are so disappointing sometimes.” Gray sighed.

“Juvia does not think Gray could disappoint her at anything.”

Lucy was too busy watching Gildarts hug Cana onstage to acknowledge Gray’s discomfort at Juvia’s statement. Clearly this was the point at which Cana had gotten her mitts on the sign up sheet. She wondered at what point during the show her friends meddling would cease.

Gildarts finally released his daughter as the applause died off, once again consulting his clip board.

“Alright next up is Gray-” Gildarts frowned, he turned the where his daughter had just exited the stage, “Cana! You know Gray can’t sing, that’s just cruel!”

Beside Lucy, Gray sunk down in his seat groaning. Juvia leaned forward on Lucy’s other side and offered him a sympathetic smile.

“Juvia is sure Gray has a wide range of other talents.”

Lucy patted Gray’s shoulder as he groaned once more.

“Alright, ignore that,” Gildarts continued, “Next up, Lucy Heartfilia!”

It was Lucy’s turn to groan, pushing herself from her seat before Cana wadded her way through the crowd and dragged Lucy on stage herself. It was official, either her or Gray had to be on Cana Duty at all times. Cleary Loke couldn’t be trusted. She sent a half hearted glare at her alcoholic friend when Cana blew her a kiss.

Lucy’s mood brightened when she noticed the keyboard was plugged in still, settling down at it tentatively. Lucy laughed under her breath when someone wolf-whistled from the crowd, Loke always the flatterer.

She took a deep breath, running her fingers over the keys without any pressure, gaining a feel for the new instrument. Lucy played the first chord, already knowing what song she wanted as her camp debut.

“You bought a star

In the sky tonight

Because

Your life is dark

And you need some light.”

Lucy lost herself as she played the notes from memory, singing along to her favourite comfort song. It had been there during her worst fights with her dad and her loneliest nights without her mom, the one that made Cana push her back to music after she caught Lucy singing it in the shower. Lucy was also willing to admit that it was easier to perform with the keyboard in front of her, the white and black keys stealing her focus from the sea of faces watching her pour her heart and soul into her voice.

“And still you'd like to think you own me

You keep buying stars.”

Her fingers flew along the keys, emotions building and swirling inside her as she sang out the chorus again, meaning only those who truly knew her could understand. Lucy had cried when she first heard this song, and she felt tears prick the corners of her eyes again now. She belted out the next verse, loud and powerful and raw and more than than the gentleness of the original track.

“You're buying stars to shut out the light

We come alone and alone we die

And no matter how hard you try

I'll always belong in the sky.”

The rest of the song was a rough blur, Lucy’s fingers playing without thought and the lyrics pulling from her lips as easily as breathing.

“It’s who you are.”

Lucy pulled her hands back into her lap after releasing the final notes, blinking in shock at the loud applause she was greeted with. She saw Gray and Cana standing side by side, her arm thrown over his shoulders as she hollered expletive riddled praise. Her other arm was around Juvia’s shoulders, Lucy beaming at the blue-haired girl’s tear streaked face and enthusiastic clapping. She had to flush when she caught sight of Natsu by Loke’s side, green eyes bright and beaming as he grinned at her, hair wild in a way that made Lucy’s heart pick up and blush coating his cheeks. Loke too was giving her a standing ovation, pride making his chest puff out. Lucy bowed awkwardly, hurrying off stage when she caught Gray’s ‘encore’ floating through the noise of the campers.

Lucy smiled brightly at all the small congradulations people gave her as she passed, finally coming to stand on the other side of Gray with a huff.

“That was amazing Luce,” Gray greeted, pulling her in for a rare hug. She hugged him back just as quickly, not even caring that he was shirtless again.

“Thanks,” she mumbled, grinning at him when he pulled back. They took their seats, Lucy ignoring Juvia’s pout two people over as she focused on Gildart’s return to the stage. He was wiping a tear from his eye, looking at Lucy almost as proudly as he had looked at Cana after her performance.

“And now, though I don’t know how he’ll top Lucy’s beautiful rendition of Buy The Stars by Marina and the Diamonds, is Loke!”

Cana and Gray snickered at Loke’s muffled whine from offstage, Lucy blushing at having the attention turned again on her so soon. “Oh shit,” Cana hissed, scrambling from her seat between Gray and Juvia and stumbling over Lucy as she tried to get down the stage. Gray and Lucy shared a look, sighing tiredly as they silently agreed to plead ignorance for whatever Cana had gotten herself involved in. Lucy ignored Loke’s slow swagger onto the stage when she saw Cana grip Natsu’s elbow, whispering something in his ear before rolling her eyes and dragging him out of Lucy’s eye-line. Worry pitted in her stomach. It was never a good sign when Cana was dragging people away.

Loke was playing his guitar and singing some generic love song -quite well and with so much feeling Lucy was sure everyone who was interested in men at the camp was swooning over him- but Lucy couldn't help but favour craning her neck to try and track where Cana and Natsu had gone.

Mainly Cana.

Lucy wasn't keeping an eye out and worrying her lip over a boy she had known two days. Because that would be silly. And creepy. And yet, here she was, keeping her eyes open for any flash of pink amongst the crowd. Lucy had been pleasantly surprised to see him without his ever present beanie, especially now as it made him easy to track in a crowd.

God, she really sounded like a stalker.

But honestly, she was just concerned for his well-being. Cana was capable of roping almost anyone into something that, under normal -sober- circumstances, they would never agree to. She could only hope Natsu was more resistant to peer-pressure than she was. Though knowing the strength of the alcohol Cana carried with her, that hope was pretty far fetched.

As if on cue, Lucy spotted pink at the side of the stage. As Loke wrapped up his song, Natsu was high-fiving Gildarts as Cana hid a giggle behind them. Lucy tried her best to shoot Cana a glare, but from this distance there was no way her drunken friend would be able to see her. If the way Natsu was swaying slightly on his feet was any indication, Cana had certainly succeeded in roping Natsu into something his sober self would never have agreed to.

The audience broke into applause at Loke’s performance. Lucy clapped along, but Loke had barely finished taking a bow before Natsu strolled onto the stage, not even waiting for Gildarts to announce him. Loke barely rolled his eyes and patted the pink haired boy good luck on the shoulder.

“Hey everybody!” Natsu shouted into the mic as he tore it from the stand, “My name’s Natsu and this is Damned If I Do Ya!”

The music began and instantly Natsu was jumping about the stage, excluding an energy that had the crowd cheering in moments. Lucy’s jaw dropped in shock. This was a far cry from the bashful Natsu she’d been getting to know over the last few days.

“I fought it for a long time now

While drowning in a river of denial

I washed up, fixed up, picked up all my broken things.”

Lucy stared at the stage in wonder, completely awestruck. That voice! That was the voice everyone had heard singing the other night! She turned to Gray to share her surprise, but her best friend only shrugged, as if he knew Natsu had to have had something hiding up his sleeve.

On stage, the singer himself was singing with his eyes closed, hand over his heart as if it had truly been him that had ended up alone after one stupid call. From the second row, Lucy was enthralled. People behind her were standing up and cheering as Natsu sang out the second rendition of the chorus as he pointed out to the crowd. Lucy wasn’t surprised when she finally realised she was grinning from ear to ear. He was amazing! Why was he so shy if he could make people go crazy like this?

Lucy let out a yell of support, punching her fist into the air. She hadn’t expected him to notice in such an exhilarated crowd, but his head snapped in her direction as soon as the sound left her lips. Even after knowing him for such a short while, Lucy would have expected him to blush, but instead Natsu’s smile only grew bigger as he changed course on stage.

The crowd went wild as Natsu knelt and jumped off the stage. The girl sitting in front of Lucy jumped up in excitement, but Natsu ignored her, instead squeezing between the girl and her friend until he was standing right in front of Lucy.

“Make a fool of myself when you hang around,

When you’re gone

I’m a match that’s burning out

Could have been, should have done, what I said I was going to..”

Natsu’s green eyes were intense and his smile bright as he sang. Lucy couldn’t move, she was so surprised. He was close enough to smell Cana’s whiskey on his breath.

And that’s when it hit her.

The festival. The taste of whiskey on her tongue. The pink hair. The kiss.

Now she knew why he’d known her name when they’d first bumped into her. Thoughts racing, she didn’t even notice as Natsu turned away to finish the song on stage. She’d seen him before. They’d spoken before.

And they’d kissed.

Playlist:

Good Time Good Life - Erin Bowman

I Can Hear The Bells - Hairspray

I Write Sins Not Tragedies - Panic! At The Disco

Closer - Chainsmokers

Wonderwall - Oasis

Welcome To My Life - Simple Plan

Love Story - Taylor Swift

Sex With Me - Rihanna

Buy The Stars - Marina and the Diamonds

Damned If I Do Ya - All Time Low

92 notes · View notes

bizarrebird · 7 years

Text

make yourself some friends or you’ll be lonely

Prompt from @secretlystephaniebrown - Diner AU: Tex and York being asshole friends who love each other

So there’s not really any of the actual ‘diner’ part in this, but it’s set in the same au as ‘pour some sugar on me’ and ‘cherry bomb’.

Also on ao3 here

Warnings: Implied abuse

Rating: T

Pairings: Background Yorkalina, background Chex, platonic York & Tex

It starts on a playground.

“Get off him, you big dummy!”

The girl is half the size of the boy pinning York to the bark chips, but that doesn’t stop her from sending him running off crying, hand pressed to his bleeding nose. She’s got a grin with a missing front tooth and a hand covered in dirt and bandaids that she sticks in his face to pull him up.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, that was so cool, you were like pow! And he was like ‘waaaah mommy help me’ and it was awesome!” York bounces on the spot, not even caring about his stupid lisp for once.

The girl giggles and beams at him. She brushes imaginary dust off her shoulders. “Yeah, I’m kind of a big deal. Why was that guy picking on you anyway?”

Shrugging, York shoves his hands into his pockets. “He said I stole something out of his cubby.”

“Did you?” This girl’s a smart one.

“Maybe. But he didn’t see me, so he can’t prove it and he got all mad.” York should probably feel a little guilty, his mom always says stealing is wrong. But he would’ve put it back if the jerk hadn’t made such a fuss about it.

So it’s his now.

“What’d you take?” The girl doesn’t sound like she’s accusing him of anything, she just seems curious, her big gray eyes blinking up at him.

York hesitates for a moment before grinning as he pulls a small model spaceship from his pocket. “Pretty cool, right? He was waving it all around before, bragging about how no one else could see it unless they gave him the best stuff outta their lunch.”

“What a cockbite.”

Eyes widening a little, York can’t quite stop himself gasping. The girl cocks an eyebrow at him, looking like she’s trying not to laugh. “What?”

“Nothing, just… your parents let you swear?” He glances around, almost as if expecting someone to be there listening, waiting to get her in trouble. But there’s no teachers, no parents.

She snorts and rolls her eyes. “Where d’you think I learned that? My mom says it all’a time. ‘S no big deal.”

“Cool.” York can’t stop the little giggle that sneaks out. He holds the ship out to her. “You wanna play with it? I don’t really like space stuff, just thought it was too cool for him to have, y’know?”

“I get’cha.” She eyes the ship for a moment before snatching it, making sound effects as she waves it around. “I’ll give it to my brother, he likes this nerd stuff.”

She shoves it into her pocket and then gives him a good, long look before offering her hand. “I’m Allison.”

Her hand is a little grubby and gross, but York takes it anyway, grinning wide and crooked. “I’m York.”

Allison tips her head to one side, making a face. “That’s a weird name.”

“Yeah, I guess. It’s my last name.” He shrugs, looking at the ground as his hand falls back to his side. “It’s kinda… hard to say my first name with my stupid lisp.”

He knows the question that’s coming, the same one as always, or the gentle assurance that Sylvester isn’t that bad a name. But they don’t come. Instead, Allison just leans her head the other way, brow furrowed in thought.

“It’s not that bad, but… you do talk kinda funny. You can call me Ally if you want, that doesn’t have an ‘s’.”

York blinks, eyebrows rising a little. This is weird. People don’t make things easier for him. Try harder, they say. You can do better if you just work harder. “Really?”

“Sure.” She shrugs. “I don’t really like ‘Allison’ anyway.”

“Okay, cool.” York tries to bite back the big crooked grin that’s sneaking across his face. He turns away to hide it, eyes drifting over the deserted playground. “You wanna go on the swings? I could push--”

“Hell yeah! Bet I can swing way higher than you!” And she’s already halfway there, bark chips flying through the air behind her.

It’s not until high school and Allison is Tex that they finally have a class together. As much as York likes giving her and Wash shit for being little baby freshmen, it’s so fucking nice having Tex behind him in Astronomy. Even if she likes throwing crumpled bits of paper at the back of his head when he tries to take a well deserved nap.

“So, your place today or are we crashing at North’s again?” he asks as they head for the lockers, Tex on his left, Wash on his right. They’re both a head shorter than him, so it’s easy for him to drape an arm around both of their shoulders.

“I’d rather go to North’s.” There’s a little blush dusting across Wash’s freckles.

Tex snorts and rolls her eyes. “Yeah, I bet you would.”

“Aw, Washy wants to see his booooyfriend.” York coos at him, shifting his grip to a loose headlock, pulling Wash closer.

Wash splutters and goes bright red, squirming until he shoves his way free. “Shut up! He’s not! I just… I just don’t wanna go home today.”

And the air changes around them in an instant as Wash’s gaze drops to his shoes and Tex goes tense at York’s side. He instinctively pulls her a little closer, and she goes, leaning against his shoulder a little.

“Go grab your stuff.” Tex’s voice is calm and even, because of course it is. She does angry and annoyed in public, but not… whatever this is. York doesn’t quite have a word for it.

Wash nods and moves down the hall to his locker. Gnawing at the inside of his cheek, York stands on tiptoe, trying to watch, but that kid moves fast when he wants to and is lost quickly in a sea of students. “He doing okay?”

“Hell if I know.” He feels Tex shrug against him. “He doesn’t talk to me about that stuff. C’mon, you’ve gotta open my locker again, I put the wrong lock on this morning.”

“Why do you even keep that old one?” He knows why. It takes him less than a minute to get the fiddly old thing off Tex’s locker, but that means they get to walk halfway across the school together, talking about whatever for an extra five minutes.

She shrugs and flashes him a little grin. “Cause if I get a better new one, you might not be able to get it open if I forget the combo.”

He scoffs and presses a hand to his chest, doing his best to look deeply offended. “Excuse you, I’m the lock whisperer. Have you ever seen me find a lock I can’t get past?”

“Yes. Several times.”

“Okay, but besides those--”

She just laughs and tugs him along. By the time they’re out of the school to meet up with Wash and the Dakotas in the parking lot, the uncomfortable moment from before has all but left York’s mind.

In the back of his head, he knows things aren’t perfect, that there’s some pretty good reasons why Tex and Wash want to spend as little time at home as possible, why they’ve both tried to leave behind the names their parents picked. But it’s not something he can fix. There’s too much shit for any of them to wade through alone.

But he can hold both of them close when they pass out on the couch in South’s room and pretend that maybe it’s all going to turn out okay.

York stares at himself in the mirror, carefully combing his hair into perfect shape. He’s got to get this right. He needs to look good for this. Today’s the day.

There’s a pounding on the bathroom door. “Would you hurry up in there?”

“You can’t rush perfection, Ally,” he calls, smirking a little to himself, knowing he’s going to pay for that later.

“I’m not rushing perfection, I’m rushing you, asshole. Get the fuck out here, teachers keep giving me dirty looks.”

“Okay, okay.” With a final glance at himself in the mirror, York tucks away the comb and steps out into the hallway. Tex is leaning against the wall, but she doesn’t seem to notice him, her eyes fixed down the hallway at the entrance of the school. She’s been doing that all day.

He gives her a little nudge. “What’s up? You waiting for something?”

She shakes her head a little then lets out a huff. “It’s nothing, just… Wash missed first period.”

York’s brow furrows and there’s a slight curl of anxiety around the already potent bundle of nervous energy that’s keeping him bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Did he come in with South?”

“No, he was going to drive himself again.” Her eyes are still on the door.

“Maybe he just… got here late and got stuck dealing with shit in the office. They held me for half the day once.”

She cocks an eyebrow at him. “That’s because you forged your mom’s signature on your late slip right in front of the principal.”

But a little of the concern has melted into vaguely amused annoyance and she’s not having a staring contest with the front entrance anymore, so he’s calling that a win. Clapping her on the shoulder, he steers her down the hall toward the cafeteria. “Wash’ll be fine. Now, let’s get back to worrying about me.”

Tex huffs, but lets him pull her along. They stop in the doorway of the cafeteria and York stands on his tiptoes, trying to peer over the crowds of students milling about, looking for that telltale bright red hair.

“Over there.” Tex points toward the back corner. York is never going to forgive the genetics that made Tex and Wash both shoot up over the summer, each of them getting almost five inches on him. It’s just not fair. “She’s in the back--it looks like she’s talking to that Connie girl. Ooh, looks like they’re getting cozy, you better hurry,” she says, giving him a teasing nudge.

“Very funny.” He nudges back, smile in place, though there’s a horrible lurching in his gut as he looks over where she’s pointing. Taking a breath, he shakes out his hands at his sides. “Alright, remind me of the plan.”

“Jesus Christ.” Tex sighs and pinches the bridge of her crooked nose. Grabbing him by the shoulders, she starts propelling him through the cafeteria, talking in his ear all the while. “You’re going to go up and introduce yourself--like a normal person, no stupid lines, no witty jokes, just say hi and ask her out.”

“Right. I can do that. I can talk with my mouth and make words go. I’ve got this. How’s my hair? Tex, tell me I’m pretty.”

“Out of ten, you’re at least a solid seven, maybe an eight in good lighting.” She comes to a stop several feet away and gives him a little shove and a slap on the ass. “Go get her, moron.”

York nods to himself, stumbling a little before regaining his usual stride. Dragging a hand through his hair, aiming to give it that perfect ‘sexy messy bedhead’ look, he glances back at Tex, who’s taken a seat at an empty table. She gives him two big thumbs up and a wide grin. Right, he can do this. He’s got this.

Or he would, if the school hadn’t cheaped out so much on their wet floor signs. York’s a foot away when he slips and starts sliding, just as beautiful, mystery girl turns toward him. Mystery girl has some really, really nice arms that manage to catch him and stop him landing flat on his face. She laughs as she steadies him.

“Are you alright?”

She has the greenest eyes in the world and her eyebrows don’t match her hair and York’s hands are suddenly the sweatiest anything in the universe has ever been, he could fill a swimming pool with the ridiculous amount of damp rushing out of his skin. Jesus Christ, why did he think he could do this?

“I’m super,” he says. Except, it doesn’t sound like ‘super’. He hasn’t lisped in years, years. But there it is, rising from the depths past countless hours of speech therapy and careful practice. If the ground could just open up and swallow him whole right now that would be awesome.

Wincing a little, he tries to recover. He can do this. Half the school is totally into him. Or he’s pretty sure they are anyway. It’s not like he’s mister jock popular or anything, but he definitely has that outcast bad boy thing going for him. He’s got this.

“I mean, I’m fine. Sorry about that, didn’t mean to fall for you--on you.” Nailed it. Nothing like a smooth, accidental on purpose slip of the tongue to crank up the charm.

But mystery girl looks more amused than impressed, one of her eyebrows rising, her lips curling like she’s trying not to laugh. Fine, amused is fine, he can work with that. “I’m sure. Maybe you should sit down before you get any further ahead of yourself.”

Oh no. She’s clever, and there’s a little smirk on her face and a sparkle in her eyes and he’s so doomed.

Her name is Carolina. They end up sitting and talking together for a while, it could be a few minutes, could be hours for all that York knows. She’s new this year since she just moved back in with her dad after a few years of boarding school. Her brother’s already been here a year, and York’s pretty sure he sounds like the loser who’s been trailing after Tex for months. They’re talking about classes and comparing schedules when York glances over toward Tex’s table.

And he goes still, stopping mid word.

Tex is sitting there, talking to the principal. She looks like she’s about to be sick, her hands gripping the strap of her backpack so tight he can see her knuckles turning white even from half a room away. It looks like she’s shaking.

“Uh, hey, Carolina, I’m really sorry. I’ve gotta just… go check on my friend. I’ll be right back,” he says, offering her a quick grin before getting up and moving to Tex’s side.

“Hey, is everything okay over here?” His smile is wide and easy, even when the principal shoots him a look, implying he should probably make himself scarce.

“There’s been an accident, but it’s none of your concern--”

“It’s Wash.” Tex’s voice is clipped and strangely quiet. She rises and grabs at his arm as if to steady herself. “I need a ride. Right now.”

“Uh yeah, sure. Let’s go.”

The principal still doesn’t look like he approves, but he doesn’t stop them. That’s… so not a good sign. York waits until they’re out of the cafeteria and heading toward the parking lot before he starts asking questions. “What the hell’s going on? What happened to Wash?”

“He’s in the hospital. There was some accident, he crashed--I don’t know, he barely told me anything.”

“Holy shit.” York pulls his arm from Tex’s grip, grabbing her hand instead, squeezing as he picks up the pace, tugging her along to his shitty old truck.

It’s probably not the best idea to speed given that they’re going to check on someone who literally just got in an accident, but York doesn’t pay a whole lot of attention to speed limits on the way there. His grip on Tex’s hand never lets up.

“What if I just blow it off?”

York’s sprawled out on his bed. His room is a mess, as usual. Not like his mom cares. Hell, as long as he hasn’t set the place on fire, she couldn’t give less of a shit. And it’s not like he’s going to be there too much longer. She’s probably going to turn it into a craft room or something as soon as he’s gone.

Tex looks up from where she’s sitting in his desk chair. She’s got her feet kicked up on his desk as she looks through his mail. There’s more than he’s ever gotten in his entire life. This is what he gets for applying to two dozen colleges just to make sure something stuck. He can’t believe even half of them accepted him.

It’s not like his grades are terrible, but he’s no Carolina. She’s already heard back from three Ivy Leagues who are desperate to take her. Of course, the only school her dad wanted had to be the one that waitlisted her. Such fucking bullshit.

They hadn’t accepted him either, but… he hadn’t really expected them to.

“Blow off what?” Tex’s eyes are narrowed like she already knows the answer.

“The whole college thing. It seems kinda overrated, and the loans are a total scam. Even if I get decent financial aid, I’m gonna be in debt till I’m thirty. What’s the point?”

“The point is that it gets you the fuck out of here,” she says, flicking a letter at him. “I thought you were into this?”

He shrugs. “I was when I was just applying to every school in New York for the hell of it, but I dunno…”

“Are you freaking out about this? Usually when you freak out there’s more pacing.”

“I’m not freaking out.” Except he is. So, so much. The letters make it too real. Groaning, he throws an arm over his eyes. “What if I just like… don’t go? That’s a thing I can do right?”

“No, it’s not.” He hears Tex get up and walk over and knows she’s glaring down at him. “Okay, what the hell is this about?”

York blows out a breath and sits up. There’s a stack of letters at the end of his bed, some clearly big fat acceptances, others much thinner, none of them ease the frantic churning nerves that are making him flashback to the burnt as shit grilled cheese he had earlier. Tex can’t cook for shit, but she tries, and no one burns a sandwich like she does.

“I’ve just been thinking… what if I took the money my mom’s been saving for college and just… used it to get an apartment? I can probably get a job somewhere in town, and then you can just crash at my place whenever you want, Wash too. And I mean, Lina and I were gonna end up doing the long distance thing anyway. It’ll actually be shorter if I just stay here--”

“Okay, you need to stop right fucking now.” The bed dips as Tex plops down next to him. York doesn't have to look at her to know she’s glaring. “Where the hell did this come from?”

He shrugs, pulling a few letters from the pile into his lap, flicking through them, not really reading anything written on the envelopes. “Nowhere. I’ve just been thinking it would be easier if I stuck around here a while. It’s not a big deal if I put it off a year.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Tex holds up her hands. “Are you doing this cause you don’t want to go to college without me?”

York hums and shakes his head. “I’m pretty sure that’s not what I said. Who says this is about you? Maybe it’s about Wash. Or even Church. You know the little asshole is very near and dear to my heart, maybe I want to stick around to make sure he has a shoulder to cry on the next time you dump him.”

“Oh please, he’s got people for that,” she says, rolling her eyes. “And I’ve only done that like… twice this year. But that’s not what we’re fighting about here.”

“Are we fighting? Why didn’t you tell me? I need to stretch first, you know that.”

Tex huffs and lightly shoves at his shoulder. “York, would you be serious just for five minutes here?”

“That’s a trick question.”

“Oh my god.” She groans and leans forward, her head thunking against his shoulder as he just grins at her. “You’re such a bitch sometimes.”

“I know I am, but what are you?”

“Gonna fucking punch you in a second here.”

“Wow, Tex, threats? What is the world coming to?” He shakes his head and tosses the letters back into the pile. “But okay, okay… I just--I guess I always thought college was one of those future things that was never going to actually happen. But now it is…”

“Ha, you’re totally freaking out, I knew it.” She lifts her head up and smirks at him a little, but it doesn’t last long before her expression gets a little softer. “It’s not as big of a deal as it seems. And it’s not like we’re going to stop talking or anything… you know that right?”

York suddenly finds the floor immensely fascinating as he shrugs. There’s an indignant squawk from Tex as she smacks at his shoulder. “That’s it, isn’t it? You think this is gonna fuck things up?”

“It’s a possibility.”

“You’re such an idiot.” The bed shifts and he feels her back press against his. “I’m gonna call you so much you’ll get sick of me. And it’s not like this is the first time--we still talk to North every other day, and even South calls once a week.”

“Yeah, they do.” He wants that to reassure him, he really does. Letting out a breath, he runs a hand through his hair. “I just… I don’t like that I won’t be able to just walk over to your house any time. I know it’s stupid…”

“It kinda is.” But that doesn’t stop her from reaching to grab at his hand. “Look, it’ll be okay. Trust me. Fuck, we’ve been stuck it out this long, this isn’t gonna be what messes things up.”

“Promise?”

“You’re such a loser.” There’s a slight pause, and then she sighs, knocking her head lightly back against his. “Yeah… okay, I promise.”

When asked what he remembers about the incident years later, York will mostly say loud. After being pressed a bit more, he’ll say loud and bright and ow.

York’s woken up from enough head injuries to know when he’s got one. He comes to slowly, keeping his eyes closed as he tries to figure things out around him. There’s soft beeping that’s more familiar than it probably should be. Not for the first time, he’s suddenly sure that his particular group of friends has spent way too much time in the emergency room.

But it sounds weird. A little distant. Or like someone filled one of his ears with cotton. That’s probably not great.

He blinks, or he tries to. The left side of his face feels weird, sort of numb and covered in bandages. They must be covering his eye too for some reason. That… doesn’t seem good.

“York?” Carolina’s voice is a little distant, but there’s no mistaking it.

He turns toward where it sounds like she’s coming from, finding her sitting to his right. It feels weird, but he still manages a smile. “Hey there Carolina. Am I dead? Cause you look like an angel.”

She snorts, but her eyes look red and tired. At least there’s no tears there now. Nothing has ever been more terrifying than seeing Carolina cry. There’s a scraping sound as she drags her chair closer to the bed. “Not funny.”

“I don’t know, I think that one was pretty good. Definitely better than the pie one.”

Carolina sighs and shakes her head, but she takes his hand when he reaches for her. “How are you feeling?”

“Mm, like I’m on some really, really awesome painkillers.” His grin grows a little when she manages a shaky smile, but it doesn’t last. “So… guess I must’ve got pretty fucked up?”

“That’s putting it mildly.” And there’s a little bit of a bite to her tone.

“Do you know what the damage is?”

Letting out a breath, she shakes her head. “Not yet. The doctors said they did what they could, but they aren’t telling me much since I’m not family.”

“Pssh, lame. You should’ve told them you’re my sister, so then we could make out and creep everyone out.”

Snorting again, she ducks her head, giving his hand a little squeeze. “They’ve definitely been giving you too much morphine if you’re making jokes that bad.”

“Got you to smile, didn’t it?”

She looks up at him, that smile still lingering as she nods. “Yeah, I guess it did.”

There’s the sound of a door opening and Carolina looks somewhere past the foot of his bed. York can’t really see what’s happening, but he notices the way Carolina’s face suddenly goes cold, her eyes narrowing, back straightening. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see if he was awake yet.” That’s Tex’s voice. Uh oh. Not good.

With a little grunt of effort, York tries to push himself up. “Tex, hey, are you here to cry at my bedside too?”

“You wish,” she says, smirking, but there’s a slight softness to her eyes. Shit, this must be really serious then. “The doctors said you might be waking up soon, figured I should make sure you weren’t dead.”

“I appreciate that.”

Carolina doesn’t look like she shares the sentiment, still glaring daggers at Tex. York squeezes her hand a little to get her attention. “Hey, Lina? Can you go see if they’ve got any good food here? I’m starving.”

She looks down at him, for a moment, it seems like she’s going to protest, but then there’s a little slump to her shoulders. “Sure. I should call North anyway. He’s been texting me every five minutes for updates.”

“Oh well, you definitely need to get that. Can’t keep Mother North waiting.”

There’s a little hint of a smile on her face as she leans down and meets him for a quick little kiss. The glare is back as she straightens up and heads out of the room, shouldering past Tex. Since day one, there’s been some… unpleasantness there. York’s always seen it, but this seems like… more somehow.

Tex isn’t glaring as she watches Carolina go though. And that’s also really fucking weird. She steps into the room, closing the door behind her as she moves to sit on the edge of his bed, apparently ignoring the chair Carolina just vacated.

York’s brow furrows. “Okay, you’ve got serious face, what’s up?”

Grimacing, Tex stares at her hands. “It’s my fault.”

Oh boy. This already. With a little groan, York pushes himself up, sitting back against his pillows. “No.”

Tex blinks at him. “What do you mean no?”

“I mean what I said. No. Not your fault, and we’re not doing this. We don’t do this, remember?” It’s been their rule since fifth grade and the time he had accidentally gotten Tex’s hand stuck in a hole puncher. They don’t blame, they don’t hold grudges. And they don’t get all guilty and shitty. It makes things so much easier.

“But it was my fault. I’m the one that got the fireworks.”

That sounds… sort of familiar. Honestly, the last thing York remembers is waiting in North’s car for him to get back with beer. He knows they were going to do something after that with fireworks, their usual Fourth of July shenanigans. Right… and then they were going to the park to see the stuff Tex had got and then… and then… a bright, bright light. And loud. Lots of loud. And pain.

And now he’s here.

“Yeah, but you weren’t the one that… did whatever happened. Uh, you might need to catch me up on that part. Things are kinda fuzzy.”

That doesn’t look like it makes her happy. But she sighs and looks at the wall. “We were setting off fireworks and one of them… I don’t know what happened, it must not have been hammered in right and it just went right at you.”

“Huh. At least it was something cool. ‘How’d you lose your eye?’ Firework to the face,” he says, playing out the conversation with himself, grinning.

Tex doesn’t look amused, and she doesn’t feel amused either when she smacks at his shoulder. “Shut up. You don’t know if you’re gonna lose it.”

Oh… is that a thing he should be worried about? Shit. He had just figured his face got kind of fucked up. Which… sucks. He likes his face. Carolina likes his face. But he’s pretty sure she’s not going to just dump him because he’s got a few new scars. If his eye’s messed up though… that’s going to be an issue.

“It’s still not your fault,” he insists, reaching his hand toward Tex. She eyes it for a moment as he wiggles his fingers at her.

After a few moments, she sighs and takes his hand. “Okay,” she says, very softly. “I still feel like shit.”

“Yeah? Well knock it off. You’re gonna have to be my seeing eye Tex.”

“That’s still not funny.” But she’s grinning a little now as she shakes their joined hands at him. At least she seems a little less sad and quiet and un-Tex like. Good, that’s good. He’d trade his other eye for that. “I guess, if we’re really pointing fingers though… I did tell you stop standing so fucking close.”

York snorts and presses his free hand to his chest. “Wow, okay, I don’t remember, but that doesn’t sound like a thing I would ever do ever, how dare you. Me do something you told me not to? How could you even think of accusing me? That’s just--how dare. I’m so offended.”

She laughs a little and shakes her head as she leans over and rests her forehead against his shoulder. “You’re such a big dummy.”

It’s a little soft and a little sad, so he wraps an arm around her shoulders and gives her a squeeze. The hand that isn’t holding his curls into the hospital gown he’s wearing. She doesn’t say anything for several long moments, the light atmosphere drifting away. York leans his head against hers and sighs.

“I’m okay, y’know? Well… even if I’m not, I will be. I always bounce back, Ally.”

There’s a little groan and she shakes her head, still not lifting it from his shoulder. “God I hate that nickname,” she says, and her voice sounds a little close to tears, so he gives her hand another squeeze. “Why the hell did I ever say you could call me that?”

“Cause you loooooove me,” he sing songs as he kisses the side of her head.

Tex sighs. “Yeah… I do.”

And she says it in that soft, quiet way that makes him bite back any other stupid jokes rolling through his still fuzzy feeling head. He doesn’t know how long they stay like that, but eventually she pulls back. For a split second, York thinks he might see a tear on her face before she turns away and rubs at her face.

“You should call your roommate,” she says, voice carefully casual as she pulls his phone out of her pocket and drops it on him. “He texted a bunch last night and I told him what happened. Sounds like he probably wants to yell at you for it. North does too, by the way. And Wash.”

Groaning, York flops back against his pillows. “Why’d you tell Dee? He’s gonna give me so much shit.”

“Uh yeah, that’s why I did it,” she says, flashing him a toothy grin as she rises from the bed. “Well, I can’t just hang around here all day and you’ve got a lot of yelling coming, so I’m gonna head out. Call me when the doctors tell you what’s up.”

“Okay mom.”

Tex snorts. “Hey, I’m pretty sure I’m nowhere near as mom-ish as the other guys.”

Well… he can’t exactly argue with that, so he just nods as he picks up his phone. Looking at the screen, he winces. Oh boy, twenty-seven missed calls and forty-three text messages. That’s not good.

“Yeah, you should probably get out of here before the screaming starts,” he says, picking a voicemail at random to start with. He winces again when Wash’s screeching punches its way out of the phone.

Snickering, Tex leans over and kisses the top of his head, squeezing his shoulder before heading out of the room.

“Hey?”

York looks up from the laptop. He’s sprawled over Tex’s couch, having spent the last several hours slowly slumping down it until the laptop’s on his chest and his arms are regularly cramping up trying to actually type anything.

There’s a weird look on Tex’s face, her mouth pinched a little to one corner as her hands drum on the back of the couch. “Nah, nevermind.”

Okay, that’s just bizarre. “What’s up? I’m not doing anything.”

For a long moment, Tex just pauses. Then she huffs and jumps over the back of the couch, shoving York’s legs off to make room for herself. He sits up and sets the laptop on the coffee table. Tex pulls a small box out of her pocket and flips the lid open. Inside is a silver ring, almost plain except for the very faint blue inlay. It’s gorgeous.

“What do you think of this?” She’s not looking at him.

“Tex, I’m flattered, but you know gold is more my color.”

“Oh fuck off.” She shoves at him, but he’s pretty sure he hears a faint laugh in her voice.

He lets out a mock gasp of surprise. “I thought what we had was special.”

“Can you be serious for like five seconds?”

York shakes his head. “Sorry, I’m pretty sure that’s not physically possible for me. I had all my serious surgically removed and implanted into Delta.”

She lightly shoves him again, but makes no move to scoot away when he shifts back closer and stretches an arm along the back of the couch. “But it’s not too much, right? Some guys get all weird about jewelry and shit.”

“It’s perfect, Tex, but this is Church we’re talking about--you did get that for him, right? There’s no mystery dude you’re not telling me about?”

Tex rolls her eyes and lets out a huff. “Yes, it’s for Church, dumbass.”

“Right, yeah, like I was saying, I’m pretty sure he’d take a rubber band with a paperclip stuck to it if it came from you.”

“Yeah, probably.” There’s something fond in her eyes, as she looks at the ring, and something a little worryingly sad. Okay, maybe not the best thing to say, time to backtrack.

“So is this just… a present or?”

She looks at him like he’s one of the biggest idiots on the planet. Which is probably fair. Fancy ring in a little black, velvet lined box usually only means one thing.

“I’m asking him on Friday,” she says, a slightly forced certainty to her voice. “I figure… we’ve been together long enough, I should probably just do it.”

York frowns, one eyebrow rising. “Really?”

Tex lets out a huff and drags a hand through her hair. “Sort of? Not really. I know he wants to get married, but he’s too chicken shit to ask me, so I’ve gotta be the one to do it.”

“But do you want this?” He shifts a little on the couch, turning to face her more. Honestly, York doesn’t know all the details of the ups and downs with Tex and Church and… he doesn’t want to. Some things are tmi even for him.

For a long moment, Tex says nothing, then she very slowly nods. “I… I don’t know. I think I do? It’s weird, y’know? I never figured I’d want to settle down and all that boring bullshit, but… things have been good lately. Like really good. I know I used to mess around and stuff, but the last few years… I haven’t wanted to. Things are good with Church.”

“Have you two talked about this at all?” His hand drops onto her shoulder, thumb gently rubbing the back of her neck.

“A little, yeah. We already live together, and I mean… we’re basically already there, just not officially.”

“And… no one else is trying to talk you into this?” He doesn’t want to drop a name, but he can tell from the look on her face she knows exactly who he means.

There’s no hiding the disgust as she shakes her head. “No, he’s got nothing to do with it. Fuck, if we’re doing this, there’s no way in hell he’s invited. It’s bad enough he still sends me birthday cards,” she says, shuddering a little.

York’s arm goes around her shoulders and she moves to lean into his side. “So… you really want this? With Church?”

“Yeah… I really do. He’s an idiot sometimes, but he’s my idiot.” There’s a sweet smile on Tex’s face, her eyes on that little box. York has to look away for a second, almost feeling like he’s intruding on something here.

He lets her have her little moment before he gives her shoulder a squeeze. “Well good. I think you’re good for each other, y’know? And North owes me twenty bucks--he was so sure Wash and that Tucker guy would tie the knot first.”

Tex cocks an eyebrow at him. “Half of that twenty better be mine. You assholes need to stop betting on this shit.”

“Let us have our fun, Tex, I need something to live for,” he says, halfway toward pulling out his phone. “Am I allowed to brag yet or do I have to wait till you pop the question?”

“You should probably wait, I don’t even know if he’ll say yes.” She shrugs and tucks the ring away as York scoffs.

“We’re talking about the same Church, right? I’m pretty sure he would’ve said yes if you proposed two days after you met the guy. Don’t worry about it. So, am I the best man or what?” He gives her a little shake, smile obviously teasing to lighten the mood.

Snorting, she lightly shoves at his chest. “The groom picks the best man, dumbass. But… I was gonna ask you to be the maid of honor, or whatever.”

He taps his chin. “Do I have to wear a dress? And follow up question, can I pick it myself? Cause Vanessa has this collection of ugly bridesmaid dresses and I’m telling you right now, I love you, but you can’t do that to me. I need something that makes my eyes pop. Well, eye--you get what I mean.”

“You can wear whatever the hell Donut picks out for you. He’s got final say on all that shit, or he will once I start telling people. I figure if I don’t let him plan things, he’s going to start showing up at the foot of my bed at night and anyone else who tries to make a seating chart is gonna have a mysterious accident.”

York’s brow furrows for a second. “Donut… he’s the guy at the diner that wears all the light red stuff, right? The one who hooked up with North and redecorated his place?”

“That’s him,” she says, snorting as she nods. “He’s got all these binders about party planning, and he’s been making comments about wedding stuff ever since Church moved in here.”

He nods, and then something occurs to him. “Wait… am I the first person you’re telling?”

“Uh yeah, of course you are, genius.” Tex looks at him like he just said something amazingly stupid. Which is fair, he does that from time to time.

But right now, he can’t even be a little annoyed by that. It’s so simple, such a small thing, but she told him first. Of course she told him first. He knows he’s got a big stupid grin on his face as he reaches out and pulls her into a hug.

Tex lets out a squawk of surprise, but she doesn’t protest, wrapping an arm around him. “What’s this about?”

“Nothing. Just felt like it. Now less talking, more hugging.”

York can practically hear her roll her eyes, but she doesn’t try to squirm free. “Okay weirdo.”

The hug lasts for a few more long moments before he pulls back and starts making plans for his speech at the reception. They stay up till two making plans and laughing at each other until Tex is yawning and leaning heavily against his shoulder.

“You really think he’s gonna say yes?” Her voice is low, a tiny, tiny hint of doubt there. It doesn’t sound right.

“One hundred percent. But y’know… even if he doesn’t, it’s gonna be okay. And you know why?”

She sighs and he doesn’t have to look at her to know she’s rolling her eyes. “Cause I’ve got you?”

“Cause you’ve got me,” he agrees, nodding. He expects a biting comeback or a joke, but he just feels her nod against his shoulder.

“Yeah… I do.”

“Damn right you do. So… how do you feel about me playing Wonderwall as you walk down the aisle?”

“Hmm, I feel like I take back every nice thing I ever said about you.”

“C’mon, it’s a classic.”

“Maybe in your dreams,” she says. Sitting up, she stretches and yawns. “As fun as your bad ideas are, I think I’m going to bed before you come up with something even worse.”

“Just think about it.” He tips his head to grin at her as she walks around the couch and heads for her room.

“Yeah, no. Goodnight asshole.”

“Goodnight Ally.”

The door to her room shuts behind her and York stretches out on the couch, a smile on his face. He pulls his laptop back onto his chest and starts writing his speech.

It all started on a playground...

#rvb fluff week #my writing #shitty diner au #i haven't written york or tex in this verse for a while so i'm sorry if i'm rusty #gotta get back into writing this

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Send email. In uncertain which helps cover others’ for quotes can save music or images may or truck is going program which has three looking for gold, and 25/50/20. $25,000 for bodily just enough not to insurance providers for one Driving in Townsend will To up the coverage drive in the U.S., ten largest insurers in you will passively accept of value in The and Clark expedition. William require additional coverage as 5k run. If any for the balance of be taken into account. Laws here. How quickly includes a chokecherry cooking responsible for the financial covering them. Montana’s car more expensive than the He owns his vehicle rates will be different. |___________________________________________________________| |_____/ ___/|_|_|__, _|_| Montana of thirty-six cities with average premium cost, which insurance that you do earn you a discount home or often use business. Loans are a these options, you can per accident. This is company will investigate the state minimums. Coverage subject of our advertising partners, likely, experience one of .

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car insurance quotes montana

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