#i was gonna draw him eating the wh actually but then i thought nah

[ashemellow]

whtober day 6 - cannibalism

last year i was telling my irl friend about wh and he somehow came to the conclusion that ashe ate dogs?? (or children. or both idr) then i told him "no one eats anyone in this game" but my brother said "well, we'll never know what happened to sirius' head that one time"

[orangeoctopi7]

Spiderstan AU Chapter 12

RESEARCH

No one was in a good mood the next morning. Stan was still nursing a huge headache as he recovered from the last bits of Gremloblin neurotoxin. Ford was still cross with Stan for endangering himself and Fiddleford the previous day, as well as a bit distracted thinking about what Bill could possibly be sending him. And poor Fiddleford had obviously not slept a wink last night, although whether that was due to discomfort from the broken arm or anxiety after the Gremloblin attack was unclear. 

“Are either of you feeling up to retrieving our supplies?” Ford asked as they all poked at a breakfast of instant oatmeal.

“No.” Stan grumbled into his bowl, pinching the bridge of his nose, as though he could draw the tension out from behind his eyes.

“...Fiddleford?” Ford asked when his friend didn’t respond. The inventor looked up with a start.

“Wh-what?” he reacted as though someone had just threatened him.

“I just want to know if you’re feeling up to going back up the hill and retrieving the supplies we had to leave behind.”

McGucket fidgeted with the sling that was holding his broken arm in place. “N-n-no, no I don’t think so.”

Ford frowned with concern. “Alright. I should be able to manage on my own with the amulet of levitation. Stanley, could you at least take Fiddleford to the hospital, so you can get a professional to set it and provide a proper cast?”

“Waste of money, if y’ask me.” Stan grunted.

“I didn’t ask you.” Ford hissed. “Fiddleford, I suppose it’s your own choice whether you want to go see a doctor or not.”

“No! I’m not crazy! I’m not seein’ no shrink!” his friend snapped.

“...I meant for your arm.” Stanford clarified, after a moment of stunned silence.

“...Oh. R-right…. Yeah… r-reckon I oughta…” 

“Look, buddy, if you don’t wanna go to the hospital, no judgement here.” Stan assured the inventor. “And if you do wanna go, I’ll drive ya, just don’t expect me to come in with you.”

“They don’t charge you for sitting in the waiting room, Stan.” Ford rolled his eyes.

“No, but if I ask for a cup of water, they’d probably add it to your bill.” Stan countered.

Ford stood and grabbed his coat, along with a small turquoise stone set in a brass broach. “Well, you two work out what you want to do. I’m going to go retrieve our things.”

“Try not to get yourself killed while you’re off on your own, ok?” Stan called after him as he left.

“I’ll be fine, mom!”

Stan and McGucket just sat chewing their oatmeal for another moment or two before either of them spoke again.

“So, uh, just to be clear, did you want me to drive you to the hospital, or…?”

“Oh, I reckon I should go.” McGucket nodded, more confident this time. “Mainly ‘cuz this make-shift cast an’ sling Stanford made fer me ain’t ‘xactly comfer’ble. A professional one’ll prob’ly be better protection, too.”

“Alright, we’ll go in a minute, just lemme finish eating.”

“While we’re out, I think we oughta talk ‘bout Stanford’s, uh, mysterious friend.”

Stan grimaced. “Yeah. I think that thing was here again last night. I was too out of it to go check, though.”

“Does it show up every night?” McGucket asked anxiously.

“Nah, I only felt it a few times while you were gone.” Stan informed him. “And two of those were during the day. I dunno what that thing’s deal is.”

“That’s ‘xactly why we gotta learn more ‘bout it.” the inventor. “It don’t seem like Ford’s gonna be very forthcoming with information, so we’ll have to start askin’ around the town.”

“How do we do that in a way that, y’know, doesn’t make people think we’re crazy?”

Fiddleford flinched at Stan’s words, and he needed a few seconds to regain his composure.

“Like I said before, lots’a Native American artefacts round the valley have that one-eyed triangle on it. I’m sure if’n we just ask people if they know what it is or where it comes from, act like we’re jus’ interested in the history, that won’t turn no heads.”

“Yeah, cuz I’m sure people will believe a guy like me is just interested in history.”

“Why not? Nobody here knows you ‘cept maybe as Ford’s brother, if they don’t just mistake you for ‘im outright. It ain’t that hard to believe.”

Stan opened his mouth to argue, but Fiddleford had a point. Maybe this would work.

* * *

After dropping Fiddleford off at the hospital, Stan started asking around about the yellow triangle thing. While most folks at least recognized the symbol when Stan drew it, no one really knew where it came from or what it was, other than something associated with the illuminati. Nobody knew about its connections to local Native American folklore. Stan supposed he shouldn’t have been surprised, it wasn’t like he expected the hospital receptionist to be an expert on Native American history.

Thankfully, Fiddleford’s checkup didn’t take too long. Stan had just wrapped up a conversation with an old farmer when the inventor stepped back into the waiting room, wearing a new cast.

“Any luck?” McGucket asked as they climbed back into Stan’s car.

“No. Shockingly, none of these yokels know anything about our mysterious visitor.”

“Hmmm, I reckon we’ll have better luck researchin’ at the library.”

Stan groaned loudly.

“What’ve you got against libraries?” Fiddleford asked, like an insult to the library was as bad as a personal insult.

“Nothin’, libraries are great, they’re some place I can go for air conditioning or heating and just sit around for a few hours without raisin’ a fuss. What I ain’t a fan of is researching.”

Fiddleford chuckled and shook his head. “Well, lucky for you I’m plenty experienced in that department. S’pose you could chat with the librarians while I do the book research.

The library was nearly empty, considering it was the middle of the day on a Wednesday. Of course, that meant the librarians weren’t too preoccupied to answer some questions. One helped Fiddleford search the catalog for books on the local tribes’ history and folklore, while the other talked to Stan.

“Ah yes, you see a lot of this figure in ancient art.” The librarian nodded. “Many people erroneously assume it’s a Freemason or illuminati symbol, but it actually becomes much less common after European contact.”

“Why’s that?” Stan asked.

“Hmm, I’ll admit I don’t know. We haven’t got access to any recordings of local oral tradition. Although I’ve heard many Native American communities are starting to tape that sort of thing. If you really want to know the original story behind that symbol, you should go to the original source!”

“Yeah, cuz I’m sure they’re eager to share the story with some random white guy.” Stan rolled his eyes.

“Oh, I’m sure as long as you’re respectful, they’d just be happy someone is taking an interest. Warm Springs Reservation is only about an hour and a half drive from here, they’re a confederation of Tenino, Wasco, and Paiute tribes. They have a museum, you should go pay them a visit.”

Respectful wasn’t usually in Stan’s vocabulary, but he supposed this case was an exception.

Seeing as the librarian didn’t have much more info for Stan, he contented himself with browsing the library’s comics section while Fiddleford did his book research. The nerd took much less time than Stan had been expecting.

“This library’s collection of local Native American folklore ain’t what I’d call extensive.” Fiddleford shook his head, “I was only able to find a couple of tangential references to the thing. All I got is it’s associated with knowledge.”

“Hmph, no wonder Ford’s buddy-buddy with it.”

“What ‘bout you, did the librarian have any more info for ya?”

“Not really, but she did recommend I go visit the nearest reservation and check out their museum. Not a bad idea really, ‘snot like we’ve gotten any info from anyone else. Plus, I bet they’ve got a casino!”

“That’s not really gonna help us figure anything out.”

“No, but it’ll help me blow off steam. Besides, Ford’ll be suspicious if I suddenly wanna visit a Native American museum. I’m coverin’ my tracks.”

* * *

Thanks to Ford’s photographic memory and stopping to get directions from a passing gnome, the young researcher was able to find their gear and carry it back to Fiddleford’s truck in just a few hours. Retracing his steps brought back memories of their hike, both good and bad. That night around the campfire had been nice, talking about their plans for the future, joking with Stan… but then the next morning, he’d overhead his friends talking behind his back.

“...And while you were on vacation, he kinda implied he wasn't up here alone before you moved in. I think this has been going on for a while. Maybe even years. Did you ever notice anything weird right after you moved in?"

"Other than that creepy triangle symbol everywhere? Not really…"

Ford grit his teeth, and the levitating objects in front of him wobbled. Didn’t they trust him? Even if he couldn’t tell them about Bill, couldn’t they at least understand that he was just doing what he could to further their research? Why did they automatically assume Bill was dangerous?

“...They could have at least asked me…” The researcher muttered under his breath.

“WELL, THEY COULD HAVE, BUT WE BOTH KNOW YOU WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO GIVE THEM A STRAIGHT ANSWER.”

“Bill!” Ford startled in surprise.

“HEYA SIXER, THOUGHT I’D COME KEEP YOU COMPANY WHILE YOU PICK UP AFTER YOUR BROTHER’S MESS.”

“Thank you, Bill, I appreciate it.” Ford smiled gratefully.

“HEY, WHAT ARE FRIENDS FOR! NOT LIKE THOSE JERKS WHO LEFT YOU TO DO THIS ON YOUR OWN.”

“Well, that’s not their fault. They’re both still recovering from the Gremloblin attack yesterday.”

“SO, WHAT’S EATIN’ YA, SIXER? BESIDES YOUR OWN BODY’S METABOLISM SLOWLY BURNING ITSELF OUT.”

Ford sighed. “I just wish I could tell them about you. It’d make things so much easier!”

Bill tisked. “THEIR REACTION TO MY HELP AT THE ALIEN SHIP IS PROOF ENOUGH, THEY JUST WOULDN’T GET IT.”

“But if I had a chance to explain--”

“WE’VE ALREADY DISCUSSED THIS, FORDSY. EVEN IF THEY DO TAKE YOUR EXPLANATION SERIOUSLY AND DON’T THINK YOU’VE FINALLY LOST IT, ARE YOU REALLY NAIVE ENOUGH TO BELIEVE THEY’LL JUST GO ON SUPPORTING YOU? WE BOTH KNOW WHAT STANO’S LIKE WHEN YOU’RE ABOUT TO MOVE ON TO SOMETHING BIGGER AND BETTER. AND FOUR-EYES ALREADY ADMITTED TO YOUR FACE HE’D RATHER BE WORKING ON HIS OWN PROJECTS BACK HOME WITH HIS FAMILY. YOU REALLY THINK HE WOULDN’T TAKE THE FACT THAT YOU’VE GOT ME AS A SIGN HE’S OK TO PACK UP AND HEAD BACK HOME?”

“N-no, he wouldn’t… I still need his help!”

“HMMM, MAYBE YOU’RE RIGHT. MAYBE HE’D HELP HIMSELF TO YOUR PRELIMINARY RESEARCH AND PUBLISH IT HIMSELF FIRST.”

“Fiddleford’s my friend, he wouldn’t do that!”

“OH RIGHT, I FORGOT! YOU TWO ARE SUCH GOOD FRIENDS YOU’D NEVER LIE TO EACH OTHER OR TALK BEHIND THE OTHER’S BACK!”

Ford did not have a good rationalization for that.

“I’M JUST SAYING, STANFORD, BE CAREFUL WHO YOU TRUST!”

* * *

Stan and McGucket were helping themselves to a late lunch when Ford returned with their equipment. 

“So you went to the hospital after all.” Ford observed, nodding at Fiddleford’s new cast.

“Oh, yep…” Fiddleford answered. The inventor still seemed anxious and distracted.

“How long did they say you’d need to wear the cast?”

“‘Bout a week…” Fiddleford tapped his foot nervously.

Ford frowned. “I was hoping we’d be able to start connecting the hyperdrive to the portal tonight, but I supposed Stanley could help lift the superstructure.”

“Mmmnope.” Stanley declined. “I’m headin’ out to the casino tonight.”

“What? Why?”

“To gamble, genius, what do you think I’m gonna do at a casino?”

“No, I mean… why do you feel the need to go to a casino?”

“Have a little fun, make a little cash.”

“...Is this because I still haven’t gone grocery shopping?”

“What!? No, for cryin’ out loud, Ford, I just wanna go out and spend a night on the town!”

“On a Wednesday?”

“Yeah, that’s how you beat the crowds! I figure I deserve a break after fighting a monster and getting poisoned!”

“Oh…” Ford deflated. “... that’s fair. But… you’re coming back afterwards, right?”

Stan rolled his eyes. “Don’t worry, your latest specimen isn’t gonna fly the coop.”

Stanford frowned at his brother’s comment, but didn’t offer a retort. Instead he set about fixing his own late lunch. “So yet another day goes by where we make no progress on the portal project.”

“Stanford, I know yer eager to make your mark and get answers, but there really ain’t any reason we can’t take another day or two!” Fiddleford assured him. “There ain’t no ‘Weirdness Rush’ yet.”

“Perhaps, but one thing I’ve learned over the last six years here is that it’s far too easy to get distracted by every little fascinating thing one comes across here. If we don’t stay focused, we could easily keep putting it off until it just never gets done. I prefer to strike while the iron is hot.”

“Well, you keep striking iron, Ford.” Stan waved him off. “Tonight, I’m hopin’ to strike gold!”

* * *

After Stan left, the two scientists spent the night going over calculations and carefully inspecting the hyperdrive. Ford was disappointed they wouldn’t be able to start hooking it up to the mechanics of the portal just yet, but it was the kind of delicate mechanical work he only trusted McGucket with. He wished he had some more manual work to preoccupy his mind tonight. The young researcher had a hard time focusing on his calculations; his mind kept wandering to his brother.

If Stan won the jackpot, he’d be able to support himself. He wouldn’t have any more reason to stay here and work with me… Would he even come back? Would he even bother telling us?

Ford sighed with frustration as he realized he’d just read the same equation three times over. He really needed something to keep his hands occupied while he worked. He reached over to McGucket’s desk for what he often did when he needed something to keep his hands busy, and picked up his friend’s Cubics Cube. He raised an eyebrow when he noticed it still hadn’t been solved since the last time he scrambled it. He’d never seen Fiddleford leave it unsolved for more than a few hours. He glanced over to see the young inventor also seemed to be having trouble focusing on his work.

“You can’t concentrate either?” Ford asked, noticing how Fiddleford’s knee kept up a steady pace of 2 kbps, but his eyes stayed fixed at the top of the page he was supposed to be checking.

Fiddleford startled at his friend’s words. “S-sorry, jus’ tired. Didn’t sleep well last night.”

Ford offered him a sympathetic smile. “I don’t imagine so. I’m sure you’ll be on the mend soon enough though.”

“Mmm.” McGucket hummed noncommittally. “And how ‘bout you, what’s keepin’ you from concentratin’?” 

The researcher hemmed and hawed for a moment before he finally settled on an answer. “I suppose I’m a bit concerned with Stanley. I know he’s staying here because he’s got nowhere else to go, and I’m happy to give him a place to stay, but if things go well for him at the casino tonight… why would he stay here if he suddenly acquires the means to support himself?”

McGucket huffed a small chuckle and rolled his eyes. “It’s like I keep tellin’ ya Ford, you oughta be tellin’ him this stuff, and not me! If’n you really want him to stay, then you gotta be honest with him!”

“I-I am!” Ford insisted, willfully ignoring the fact that he was not, in fact, being honest about Bill. That didn’t count. He’d tell Stan if he thought Stan needed to know.

The inventor just rolled his eyes again. “Mama was right, can’t be honest with others if’n ya ain’t honest with yerself first.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

“You know what I mean, ya lost yer temper with me the last time I brought it up!”

Ford scoffed. “I am not under some deluded hope that if Stan stays, it will magically solve our issues.”

Fiddleford nodded. “Yeah, it does seem like you two are past that point. Now you’re just wantin’ to keep him around ‘cuz he’s your brother and you’ll miss him!”

The atmosphere of the room instantly went cold, and the pages of calculations in Fords hands crinkled as his grip tightened. “I would absolutely. Never. Try and keep Stan around. Just because I would miss him.” He enunciated through clenched teeth. “I… I simply… I have his best interests in mind! And the interest of my research! But I’m not trying to keep him here! He’s free to leave! He--he’s free to pursue other interests!”

McGucked raised his hands placatingly. Obviously, he had touched a nerve. “I’m sorry, I misspoke! I jus’ meant to say you care about him is all!”

“Of course I care about him! When was that ever in question!?”

Fiddleford gave him a steady look. “When ya went more than ten years without talkin’ to each other.”

Ford flushed. “It’s not like Stanley ever reached out to me! And I was the one who had a regular address and phone number! How was I supposed to talk to him, when he was always traveling!? Even our mother never got more than the occasional postcard!”

“I’m not sayin’ yer brother’s blameless in this, Ford, I’m jus’ sayin’ you could stand to actually let him know how you feel!”

“I don’t even know how I feel half the time!” The researcher burst. He was stunned by his own words, and took a moment to collect his thoughts and calm down a bit before continuing. “Stanley’s my brother, and he was such an important part of my life growing up. Of course I care about him. But the things he’s done-- the things he still does-- the way he ignores what I want because he thinks he knows best-- it infuriates me! So I suppose you could say my feelings for him are… complicated.”

Fiddleford nodded. “Family’s always complicated.”

Ford scoffed derisively. “This is considerably more complicated than the average family squabble.” 

McGucket laughed. “You’re right about that! Well, if it makes ya feel any better, I’m pretty sure Stan ain’t gonna run out on ya tonight, even if he does win it big at that casino. He’s got unfinished business here, after all.”

“That’s an odd way to refer to our continued studies of his powers, but I suppose you’re right.”

* * *

The parking lot for the Warm Springs History Museum was completely empty. Not that the casino lot across the way was packed, but it at least had a few cars parked near the entrance. Stan worried the museum might be closed, but he saw the light was on, and the door was unlocked.

There didn’t appear to be another soul in the building. Stan wandered around from one exhibit to the next, looking for anything that might be related to Ford’s mysterious benefactor. Stan wasn’t really all that surprised that he didn’t find anything. Finally, he rounded a corner and found the gift shop. A teenage girl who was probably supposed to be the cashier sat in front of a small TV. It was clearly supposed to be playing a VHS that the gift shop was trying to sell, but instead an Itira 3600 was hooked up and playing Brick Break.

“Uh, ‘scuse me?” Stan cleared his throat and knocked gently on the counter.

The girl didn’t glance away from the screen, eyes carefully following the bouncing pixel as it broke through another line of bricks. “Yeah I know you’re there I can see your reflection on the screen. We close in like ten minutes, just grab whatever you want and I’ll ring you up once I clear this level.”

“I’m not here to buy anything.”

“Then you better turn around and head back to the casino, ‘cuz bricks ain’t the only thing I can break.” 

“I don’t want anything from you either!” Stan assured her, waving his hands innocently. “I just got some questions about, uh, tribal history.”

“That’s what this museum is here for, sir.” She answered flatly.

“The thing I’m askin’ about isn’t in the museum, trust me, I checked.”

“We got history books too.”

“I doubt it’s in there either. Hey, if you’re too busy, is there someone else I can talk to?”

The girl tisked and tilted her game controller. “Yeah yeah, just a sec. I just got one more line at the top.”

Stan rolled his eyes and tapped his fingers on the counter impatiently. He supposed he couldn’t blame the girl. This was probably a very boring job. He knew most people who came this way were probably more interested in the casino, not the history of the people who had to run it just to make ends meet.

The girl finally cleared the level and put her controller down as the new level loaded in. “Ok, what’s your question.”

“Ok, this might sound stupid, but can you tell me more about what this thing is?” Stan pulled a pamphlet off the counter and drew the triangle with the eye. “I think it’s usually yellow?”

The girl raised her eyebrow in surprise when she took in Stan’s drawing. “Oh… that. You don’t see anything about that in here because that’s associated with… I guess the best word for it would be curses?”

Stan’s heart skipped a beat. “R-really? The little research I did on it beforehand said it was associated with knowledge.”

“Yeah, cursed knowledge.” The girl told him. “I’ll admit, I’m not super familiar with it. It’s kinda really ancient. When Nathaniel Northwest swindled us out of our land in Gravity Falls, we were relative newcomers. All the other tribes in the area believed the valley was cursed, because of that thing.”

Stan gulped. “What, uh, what’d it do?”

The girl put on her best storytelling voice. “Well, a thousand years ago, there was an old shaman called Modoc the Wise. He and his people worshipped that being. Until one day, Modoc learned its terrible secret. Modoc warned the people that the being they’d been worshipping was a liar, and that it would lay waste to the valley. But before he could tell them any more, the being drove him mad, and he slaughtered half his tribe before lighting himself on fire to try and stop it!”

Stan paled. “So, uh, this guy’s really bad news, huh?”

“That’s an understatement, but yeah.” The girl nodded. “Why do you want to know, anyway?”

“Uh, I live in Gravity Falls. I’ve just seen this thing on a lot of stuff, wondered what it was.”

“Ah, well, have fun living with the knowledge that your hometown is cursed!” She smiled viciously at him. “Now, it’s closing time. Are you gonna buy something or not?”

* * *

Stan tried to take his mind off things at the casino. His superhuman reflexes made him a whiz at the slots, but he had learned in the past that winning too much tended to draw unwanted attention. Of course, Stan was too busy trying to process what he’d just learned to pay much attention to his gambling, so it’s not like he could have won it big even if he was trying.

After just half-an-hour, it was clear that his heart just wasn’t in it today. Stan decided to play a round of Craps before he left, just to get in some dice rolling. Then he’d head home.

Careful. He warned himself. Don’t go callin’ that place your home. You know the second you get comfortable there is the second Ford decides he doesn’t want you around anymore.

By the time he finished, Stan managed to leave with about $20 more in his pocket than when he came in, so it wasn’t a bad night, gambling-wise. And he had at least learned something about that triangle guy. It just wasn’t good news. The trip certainly wasn’t a loss. So why did Stan feel like he hadn’t gained anything?

These thoughts weighed so heavily on his mind, that he never noticed the eyes on him as he left the casino.

“We’ve found him.” A shadowy figure spoke into his walkie-talkie.

* * *

PSM WAZF FFY OENKGK KS LELB, TPXLL QAT? YOP HGR’T PQB KEDO TF UVDI GJ YFWY FPV JRZGUUW?

[babysizedfics]

4!!!

-🍼

vee shows michael her pacis

vote from this concept voting post!

so its the first time michael has visited the house since vee told him about her regression. he was super supportive and understanding - honestly it made a lot of sense given what he had seen of her behaviour

and michael reassured her that he was okay with it all and that she can regress with him if she wants to. so before michael visits, vee purposefully doesnt hide any of the little items around her room as she had done every time he visited previously

and when michael comes in he sees the sanrio and winnie the pooh colouring books on her bed. he just smiles and asks if she was doing colouring before he got there

vee gets a bit shy because its so much more real to have him actually talk abt it openly, and she just shakes her head, blushes and starts to chew her nail

michael obviously notices her nervousness so he doesnt push anythinf and they just sit down on the bed to watch a cartoon - michael isnt into kids shows rlly but hes been watching steven universe with vee recently

and eventually vee notices michaels gaze has wandered during the show and hes looking at the bedside table - she looks and goes rlly red because she FORGOT that she left out a couple of pacis,

she looks up at michael kindve scared that hes gonna think its weird but he just gives her a soft little look and whispers "do you wanna show me them?"

vee squeaks and quickly hides her head behind his shoulder and he giggles "its okay we dont have to" and goes back to watching the screen

but vee is chewing her lip and fidgeting with michaels sleeve and then after some internal debate and a lot of nervousness she tugs his sleeve

so michael looks down at vee and she just,, points to the pacis silently

michael nods "yeah kitty, i saw the pacifiers. did you wanna show me them?"

and hes sounds kind, michael is always so kind, that she nods rly shy but clings to his arm tighter, not moving to pick the pacis up.

so michael reaches over and picks both of them up and puts them gently in her lap,

her fingers go to the lilac sparkly one instanty and turn it over in her hand and michael prompts "is that your favourite one? its definitely your favourite colour"

and vee just smiles and feels less shy and "um yea.. i think so.... but- but um i like all of them really..."

and she tells mimi abt all the different colours she has and how nice they feel in her mouth and she even mentions that she uses them when big sometimes for anxiety - she flips the dark blue one over to show him the clear teat and explains that one is better for chewing. thats why she has two next to her all the time so if shes little she goes for the softer cloudy teat and if shes big and anxious she uses the firmer clear one and it helps her breathe slowly

michael is actually super impressed and curious about that "oh! oh like oral stimming! like the chewy necklaces!" and vee smiles "yeah!"

then the convo abt the pacis goes quiet and vee is leaning against him and fiddling with the lilac paci in her lap, smiling softly down at it

then suddenly michael asks, sounding almost shy "kitty? can i maybe... ask you something?"

vee feels her heart stutter. she gets rlly nervos and her eyes tear up in a second because oh no hes uncomfortable he thinks its weird he's gonna ask me to never show him little stuff again oh no

she rlly quiet goes "mhm" and braces herself

then mimi asks rlly sweetly "can i maybe see you with it in? its okay if not i just kinda wanna see..."

vees cheeks quickly go hot and she pulls back a little to look up at him and check his facial expression

he's smiling a little shyly. "i promise its not because i wanna laugh or anything i just... i dunno i just wanna see, i think itll be cute" and hes a bit blushy

vee is completely thrown off by michael actually wanting to see her use her paci but,,, she hesitates then RLLY quickly puts the paci in her mouth and hurriedly covers her face with both hands

mimi giggles and says "aww vee, its ok! but i cant see you" and he rlly gently puts his hands on top of vees and she doesnt react badly so he pulls them away from her face and chuckles "hello kitty!"

at the nickname she slowly looks up at him and is sucking the paci noticeably now to help with the nerves. its bobbing in her mouth and shes blushing and her eyes are wide and michaels face instantly lights up and he coos "AWWW KITTY 💖" really gushing and adoring

vee breaks into a big big smile behind her paci and she squeaks and buries her head on michaels shoulder again as he tells her "vee oh my gosh, you look even cuter than I thought!"

"nooo mo mo" vee giggles embarrassed, itching to crawl into mimis lap but theyve never done that before so she just settles for wiggling her butt on the bed and pulling her skirt down to make sure mimi can't see her pullup

"yes yes! youre so pretty kitty~" michael says really baby talky and pokes her cheek softly (he knows she loves being called that) (she squeals a little)

michael doesnt draw too much attention to vee after that, after the little blushy giggle fit he asks her if she is regressed and she takes her paci out to say she isnt, if she was regressed she wouldnt be able to talk or really sit up on her own

so michael asks more about how she uses the pacis as a grownup for anxiety. and after talking about it they both simultaneously pause then go...

"do you think you might wanna try?"

"do you think it would make me calm?"

and then they both giggle and vee hands the dark blue paci to michael smiling rlly big and her chest is bubbly with excitement because mimi is making this feel so NORMAL and fun!

and thats why when patton walks into vee's room twenty minutes later with snacks and appl mango juice, he is greeted with the image of vee sucking her sparkly lilac paci and having fallen asleep on michaels shoulder, and michael just scrolling on his phone and spinning the blue paci in his mouth

patton actually immediately whisper apologizes, he thought that michael would be embarrassed and that it was meant to be a secret

but michael isnt embarrassed at all, he asks through the paci "oh hi pap! are bose cookiebs?"

pat nods and places the snacks on vee's desk then quietly asks if michael regresses too (he was totally ready to adopt btw lol)

but michael just laughs and takes the paci out and is like "nah i just wanted to see what it feels like but i dont think theyre for me. kitty sure looks cute with them though"

then he looks down and smiles at sleepy vee whos just blinking awake and she asks rlly quiet and high pitched "wh- mimi?" through her paci

michael giggles and looks rlly softly down at vee as he pokes her nose "im still here, kitty. you fell asleep"

and vee sighs and buries her face against his arm and suckles on her paci more

michael laughs and wiggles his arm to get her to stop faling asleep "vee no cmon your dad brought snacks! i wanna eat, get off"

and of course that makes vee cheeky and she wraps both arms tightly around mimis arm and closes her eyes as if she's asleep but shes smiling mischievously behind her paci

"nooo im hungry" "im theepy!" "no youre not sleepy you were already sleeping!" "till theepy" "youre not, youre hungry" "nop hungy" "YOU ARE im speaking it into existence your so hungry right now" "nooo thtop it!" "no i wont stop you are LITERALLY starving you want a cookie so so bad right now, you want a chewy sweet cookie and nice cold apple mango juice" .... "arrghhh now i wan cookieth and juith!" "hahahha"

and patton just watches on with the softest smile because hes so happy vee found such a wonderful supportive friend

[angelic-holland]

Familiar // th x fem!reader

Summary: you’re a famous youtuber invited to interview the Far From Home cast, what nobody outside you and people close to you know, you’re already dating one of them.

Word Count: 6k

Warnings: smut, fluff

A/N: this request was really fun to write! Some is written in Tom’s pov, some parts are flashbacks and some italics are youtube comments. Bold words are texts

“Hey what’s up folks! Today is the day of packing and moving! That’s right! I’m moving flats! And in my new place, drum roll please,” you say, hand not holding the camera hitting your thigh to imitate a drum roll, “I’ll have an actual filming room! No more filming at my bed or desk, I’ve got a real office where I’ll get to put in bookshelves and the works!”

You are sitting with your legs crossed on your bed, letting your subscribers in on a little life update of yours. 

Of course you wouldn’t tell them who you were moving in with, you and Tom were planning on going public soon, but you both wanted to wait until the hype from Far From Home died down, with a little less than a month from its release, you had some time before you revealed to your 8 million subscribers that your boyfriend was the one and only Tom Holland. 

“So yeah, I might not be as active while I’m moving this week but be on the look out for a video about everything right about Avengers Endgame tomorrow with a special announcement! Alright, I’ll see you all later!” You blow a kiss to the camera, ending the video.

You get to work uploading the quick video to your YouTube channel before packing away the rest of your clothes. Your books and comics all were packed away and waiting for Harrison who was bringing by his car to help you pack. Tom would be in London tomorrow but Harrison was around to help the start of your move since your lease ended tomorrow. Your bed was being sold tomorrow morning, the rest of your furniture already sold, everything you needed was at Tom and Harrison’s flat, Tom’s bed now your own, which sent an excited shiver down your spine. Tom wanted to buy you new bookshelves and a desk for your filming space, which you graciously accepted, excited to see what he was going to pick out while you were putting away your clothes.

The last of your clothes were packed away by later that day and you were sitting on your bed eating pizza while scrolling through your Instagram.

Tom had posted something on his Instagram story and you excitedly opened it, he was sitting on a plane, head lightly resting against the window while he spoke.

“Hey guys, I’m on my way to London right about now, very excited to see all my friends and family again, got some interviews but I’ll also be hanging out with friends, doing a little redecorating, so I probably won’t be online that much, but thank you for all your support and I can’t wait for you all to see Far From Home July 2nd in theatres!”

You smile at the sound of his voice before your phone rings, making you sit up and throw your pizza box out, answering the phone as you unlock your front door. 

“Hey, my cars parked out front, I’ll be up to your flat in a second okay?” Harrison says.

“Sounds good, I’ll start dragging boxes towards the elevator.”

You and Harrison figured out how to stop the elevator, it was late at night and most people were already home. You were able to stack a good portion of your books and comics into the first trip down, dragging them out to his car and piling them into the trunk and backseat.

“Next trip should just about get everything then,” you sigh as you sit in the front seat as Harrison drives away.

“Are you gonna miss this place?”

“Nah,” you shake your head, “just excited about the new place. Thanks for letting me move in.”

“I’m almost never there anyways, might as well put the rest of the flat to good use when I’m gone.”

“Thanks,” you sigh and the trip to Tom and Harrison’s flat, now yours as well, was quiet as you listened to music. 

He pulls into the parking lot of their building and slips on the hood of his sweatshirt, “don’t want anyone spotting us,” he laughs, “imagine Tom getting off the plane to rumors that famous YouTuber y/n y/l/n and Harrison Osterfield are dating?”

“He’d lose his god damn mind,” you laugh as you start hauling the boxes up the stairs.

“That’s the last thing he needs right now. Besides, it’ll look weird when you two are spotted in public after Tom’s movie is done in theatres.”

“True,” you giggle as you place your boxes in the empty office area, neither of the boys used it so it was the perfect space for everything you had for filming.

“Ready for the next trip?”

You nod and the two of you make your way back to your flat and you say goodbye to your home from the past four years, you started your YouTube channel here, you celebrated your million subscriber milestone here, you kissed Tom at your front door for the first time, you had sex for the first time on the bed you were selling, you sighed contently remembering all the good memories from this flat, excited to make new ones at your new home. 

As you settled into Tom’s bed later that night, correction, Tom and your bed, you send a quick text to him, so he would see it when he landed tomorrow morning.

All moved in, can’t wait to greet you at our flat tomorrow, love ya x

You plug your phone in, body curling up around his pillow, soft and it smelled just like him. You let the waves of sleep overcome you as you dreamed about reuniting with Tom.

You woke up a little confused, a strong pair of arms around your waist, head resting on your shoulder, “wh-, Tom,” you mumble as his lips trail along your skin.

“Missed you pretty girl,” he sighs, fingers running up and down your skin below your tank top.

“Missed you more,” you grin as he maneuvers the two of you so you’re straddling his hips.

“Show me,” he smiles sleepily and you nod, head meeting his as his fingers make quick work of pulling your panties to the side, swiping through your slick folds as you moaned into his mouth, his tongue mapping out your mouth. It’s been awhile, too long, since he’s been here, with you and you missed every single part of him.

Including this, his thumb rubbing your clit as your chests met, your hard nipples aching to be touched. Trying to be close in every way imaginable before he was whisked away again.

One of your hands trail down to his hard cock trapped beneath his sweatpants, your hands bump into each other as you both work on helping get the other off. In the beginning it would’ve awkward, you would’ve moved your hand and blushed because you felt like you were clunky. Now it was easy, each time the knuckles of his hand grazed your own you shivered into his mouth, grinning as your hand slipped into his sweatpants and grasped his hard cock, Tom grunting against you.

He had three fingers inside you, thumb rubbing your clit as you jerked him off, hand moving a little faster when you approached your high.

“Fuck, Tom, make me come,” you whine against his lips.

“Always,” He says, kissing you deeply as you come, catching your broken moans while he slips his fingers out of you, helping you sit up and rub his cock against your entrance.

“Fuck, missed this,” he groans as you seat yourself fully on his cock, “missed you.”

His strong hands hold your hip, thumb drawing circles on the skin between your tank top and panties, sending more shivers down your spine and goosebumps along your arms.

“Are you cold?” He laughs as you nod, your hips moving faster, positioning yourself so his cock is hitting your g-spot with each stroke.

“Fuck,” you grunt, legs shaking with exertion as his cock twitches inside of you.

“Missed your lips,” he mumbles against them before kissing along your jaw.

“Missed your neck,” he says before biting down softly and soothing the spot with his tongue, careful to make sure it doesn’t leave a mark.

“Missed these,” he mumbles as he pinches your nipples above your tank top sending yet another shiver down your spine. 

“Missed you the most though,” he kisses you as you come, sending him into a blissful orgasm, his cock twitching as he empties into you.

“Love you,” you whisper as you lay on his chest, both of you catching your breathes.

He starts to laugh, deep in the gut laugh that shakes both of you.

“What’s so funny?” You ask, you can’t help but laugh with him.

“We’re both still wearing clothes,” he helps the two of you sit up, his cock slipping out of you before helping you stand.

“Shower?”

“Yes, lemme get the all clear, make sure Harrison’s in his room.”

You nod and he kisses you quick before slipping out of his room, your room.

“Nope, nope, I absolutely do not want to hear the both of you having shower sex.”

“Harrison come on, we’re just going to shower mate,” Tom says and you peep your head out of the door.

“It’s true, the first and only time we ever attempted shower sex, I dislocated my shoulder and was in a sling for three weeks.”

“Thought you fell down the stairs?”

“Cover story, can’t really tell my subscribers that I slipped and fell while on my boyfriend’s dick and we both collapsed on the floor of the shower.”

“That’s a fun party story though,” Harrison laughed and you waited until he closed his door before meeting Tom in the hallway, his arms wrapping around your waist as he pulled you into him, kissing you as he walked backwards into the bathroom.

***

“Do we really need to wait until August to tell everyone?” Tom sighs as the water from the shower falls above you.

“Well, it would be a little weird if people saw the interview after we told everyone about us? They’d say I got it because I’m dating you, and I mean, I’m sure even when we eventually tell people we’re together, they say the same thing, but I’d like people to be kind for now.”

“Why’d they be anything but kind?”

“I dunno, I guess I’m afraid they’ll be mean, I get stupid hate and stuff now, but nowhere near the level I might get, you know when people find out about us.”

“I’m sure you’ll have some angry fans, mad they can’t be dating you,” Tom teases as his hands massage your shoulders, yours washing the shampoo out of your hair.

“I just, I love you and I know things will be different and I’d like things to stay the same, at least for a little while.”

“We can navigate it together, promise blackbird.”

The rest of the day you spend unpacking your clothes while Tom goes shopping. You tried to insist that you could get the bookshelves and desk, that he must’ve been exhausted from the flight and should relax.

“I’d want nothing more than to pick out those for your workspace, promise,” he smiled before kissing you like he’s never kissed you before and then kissing you for longer before you shoved him out the door.

You’re listening to music as you put away clothes, cleaning up Tom’s messy room while you do, organizing his clothes on one side of the closet as well as the dresser.

He gets home a few hours later, Harrison helping him bring the boxes up.

“Hey blackbird, I know your other bookshelves were small but they didn’t fit much of anything so I sort of got bigger ones, they’ll take a little longer to put together but I don’t mind.”

“Okay bubs, wanna get some takeaway and get started?”

“Thai?” He says, placing the last box in your office space. 

“Excellent, I’ll give them a call,” you pull out your phone as Tom opens up the first box, your desk, a sleek dark brown. He pulls out the pieces and instructions as you sink to the ground next to him. 

You give the takeout place you and Tom’s order before resting your chin on Tom’s shoulder as he attempts to read the directions.

“These look confusing.”

“We can figure them out,” you say, hands running down his arms as he squints at the directions, turning them over in his hands.

“Okay, I think this is the right side up.”

“The fact that it’s only pictures so be illegal,” you sigh as Tom’s hands put the directions down and reach for the big flat desk part, turning it upside down and grabbing the first set of screws.

“I should get a screwdriver,” he says, you sit back as he stands up and you unwrap the legs of the desk.

Tom comes back and you turn your phone on, letting music play softly as you both sit and get to work, Tom adding screws to the top of the desk while you get the legs ready.

Tom’s humming and singing to the Beatles playlist you’ve got on and you can’t help but smile at how pretty his voice is.

“You know, if you ever get bored of this whole acting thing, singing might not be a bad career choice.”

He laughs, head tilted back as he pushes the first leg into the desk as you stand up.

The first few chords of a familiar song played in the background. 

“C’mere blackbird, it’s our song,” he says, resting the top of the desk on the ground and holding out his hand.

You place yours on top of his and let him spin you around, coming back to rest your arms around his neck, his fitting perfectly around your waist as you swayed around the room, full of boxes with your favorite books and comics.

“Blackbird singing in the dead of night,” Tom sings softly, forehead pressed against your own as you both reminisce on how the two of you met.

Tom was walking Tessa in the park, it was fairly empty so he let her off the leash, tossing the tennis ball around.

He noticed a girl in a T-shirt and jean skirt reading a book under a large oak tree. Tessa must’ve noticed her too because when he threw the tennis ball, Tessa picked it up with her mouth and sprinted over to the tree, tossing it in the lap of the girl who set her book down, head tossed back in a laugh as Tessa’s front legs stood on her lap, the girl’s hands petting Tessa as Tom ran over.

“Tess, what’re you doing?”

“She’s adorable,” the girl giggles while Tessa licks her face.

And you’re adorable, Tom thinks, head tilting to look at her T-shirt, some sketch of a bird on it. 

“Sorry about that,” Tom says, crouching down to attach Tessa’s leash again.

“No problem at all, I adore dogs,” she smiles and she’s absolutely stunning, the afternoon sunlight illuminating the freckles speckled across her cheeks.

“Well, uh, again, sorry,” Tom says, stumbling backwards over his own feet as he pulls Tessa away.

“No worries,” she smiles as Tom leaves, eyes watching as Tom walks away, laughing to herself quietly before picking up her book.

The next day Tom was grabbing coffee at a cafe with Harrison when he spotted the same hairstyle and freckles standing off to the side by a table covered with books, a laptop, and several notebooks.

He took a deep breath, hyping himself up as he thought of what to say to catch her attention in the busy cafe. 

“Hey! Blackbird!” 

What the fuck Tom?

That was the bird on her shirt from yesterday right?

A few people turned their heads to him, including her.

He sighed as she had a brief moment of recognition in her eyes.

“boy from the park,” she smiles as he crosses towards her.

“Didn’t think I’d see you again. Well since you’re here, maybe I could grab you some coffee? As an apology for Tess jumping on you?”

“I actually-,”

“Y/N!” One of the baristas called out and she tilted her head towards the drink on the counter.

“Already got one,” she picks up the drink, setting it on her table, “but maybe you could get the next one for me?”

“Huh?”

Oh, oh she understood what he was saying and was inviting him to ask her out. 

Smooth Tom, real smooth.

“You know? A coffee date?” She asked, cheeks red as she sat down.

“Oh! Yeah, yes, I’d love that,” he nods.

He stands there, hands shoved in his pockets, rocking back and forth on his feet for a few seconds, looking like an idiot while she stared at him expectedly.

“Oh, uh, do you want to give me your phone number or something?” He asks, pulling his phone out and opening it, setting up the ‘new contact’ page.

He sets the phone on top of one of her notebooks and she picks it up, quickly typing into it before handing it back.

“It was a mockingbird actually,” she says as he starts to back away, wanting to let her get whatever work she needed to do done.

“What?”

“My shirt, from yesterday, a mockingbird.”

“Oh, oh, I’m not exactly a bird connoisseur,” Tom laughs.

“It’s okay, I like blackbirds more anyways,” she giggles and Tom’s entranced.

“Well uh, just text me, lemme know the next time you’re free?”

He nods quickly, “Yeah, uh, see you again soon hopefully,” he trips over his feet as he walks back to Harrison.

“Okay Mr. smooth,” Harrison chuckles. Tom looks down at the new contact added into his phone.

‘Blackbird’

The song ends and Tom kisses your forehead before you both settle back and finish putting together the desk.

After a few cartons of Thai, an album or two of Beatles, and a few mishaps, the two bookshelves stood tall against the opposite wall to the desk.

“I’m so fucking tired,” Tom sighs and you look back at him, both of you shoving the cardboard into a single box to go out to the trash later.

“Babe, told you you should’ve rested, one of the only days you get off before you’re back doing press.”

“I’d want nothing than to spend today here with you. Speaking of press, you excited to interview your favorite MCU cast member tomorrow?”

“Jacob? Hell yeah, I’m pumped,” you joke as Tom scoffs in fake annoyance.

“But seriously, are your followers freaking out?”

“Oh fuck you’re right, forgot that my video announcement was queued for today. Lemme check,” you say excitedly, Tom following you out of the office to your bedroom. Every single time you thought of it being your bedroom, your heart fluttered in excitement.

You sit down on the bed with your laptop, patting the space next to you, where Tom proceeds to collapse on his back, fingers tapping along your leg as you open your laptop and check your video, released four hours ago.

A plethora of comments chimed in, mostly asking if you were excited to meet the cast, one comment made you laugh, so hard you hunched over and there were tears in your eyes.

she’s hot but she better stay the fuck away from Tom, he’s the internets boyfriend and the internets boyfriend only

Tom sat up and read the comment, chuckling as he kissed your shoulder, “whaddya think they’ll say when they find out that I’m not only the internet’s boyfriend but also yours?”

“Probably a lot of heart attacks, they can get over themselves though,” you sigh, scrolling past it to more excited and positive comments.

***

The next day, Tom had to leave early for a long day of interviews, yours right after lunch. You took an Uber to the building the interviews were held in. The night before Tom and you talked about being careful during the interview, making sure to act like you’ve just met, like you haven’t been dating for a year and a half. 

You’re thrown into hair and makeup by the press managers, you were wearing your jean skirt, the same skirt you wore the very first time you met Tom and Spiderman T-shirt, very on brand for your YouTube channel about books and comics.

You were given several index cards with questions, told to introduce yourself to the cast, shake their hands, sit down and get started asking questions. 

You weren’t nervous as you walked into the interview room, lights bright and shining on the three seats with Tom, Jacob, and Zendaya.

You’ve met both Jacob and Zendaya before when they were here to film Far From Home. They all smiled when they saw that it was you coming in for the interview. 

You walked over and shook their hands, Jacob first who gave you a cheeky smile, giving the obligatory, “what’s your name?” 

“Y/N,” you say as you move onto Tom next and fuck who allowed him to wear what he was wearing, striped shirt, patterned pants that made his thighs look so good you just wanted to throw everyone else out of the room and-

“Nice to meet you,” Tom interrupts your dirty thoughts as he sticks his hand out.

You shake it, “you too,” you manage to get out, cheeks reddening a little.

He laughed at your slightly flustered state and you couldn’t help but lightly roll your eyes at your boyfriend. 

You move onto Zendaya, she shakes your hand, a glint of humor in her eyes from watching you and Tom trying to interact like you didn’t know each other. 

You settle back into the chair directly opposite of Tom and cross your legs, looking down at the index cards. You’re about to start with the first question, all insanely generic and you wish you could have written your own questions when Tom cuts you off.

“Nice shirt, Spiderman your favorite superhero darling?” 

You watched as he bit his tongue and was internally kicking himself, which made you giggle slightly, “sure, he’s pretty okay.”

“Just okay?”

“Maybe this movie will make me fall in love with him,” you say and Tom fights the urge to taunt you back.

He bites his lip and nods, eyes roaming your body before you bring it back to the questions. 

“What was your favorite filming location?” You ask and look back up at the three people in front of you expectedly.

“I really loved Venice, the location was just gorgeous, would love to go back there someday,” Jacob responds.

“Can’t lie, I really loved going to each and every location but I think my favorite had to be London, you know? Not just cause we’re doing interviews here, but because it’s such a great location,” Zendaya adds.

“I’m gonna agree, I think London was my favorite filming location. One because it’s my home and I got to see so many of my friends and family there,” Tom answers smiling with a glimmer of reminisce of the times. You’d sneak onto the filming location to bring him a coffee or food that wasn’t from the set, he’d kiss you quickly whenever the coast was clear, both of your hearts racing and terrified that someone would see you. Nobody ever did, but the thought alone back then scared you. 

It did now as well, gauging from the reactions to your video, some people just would not be happy, but there wasn’t much you could do about it.

“London’s pretty nice, yeah,” you look at the next question and almost roll your eyes, so boring.

But you couldn’t go off script because Sony and Marvel invited you and they wanted the press and the fans that came with putting the video up on your channel. So they got to make the questions, got the free extra publicity from your channel, and you got a nice fat paycheck.

Everyone won.

“Who is your favorite superhero from the Marvel Cinematic Universe?”

You know all of them are going to say Iron Man so you weren’t surprised when Jacob said it and Zendaya and Tom nodded and murmured along in agreement.

“And who might your favorite superhero in the MCU be bl-,” Tom started but his eyes widened and you cut him off, blackbird, he was going to slip up and expose the two of you.

“Thought we already went through this Tom, it’s Spiderman,” you grin as he settles back into his seat, a wave of calm rushing over the both of you at your save. 

“Right, of course, who doesn’t love me,” he nods into a smirk as he sits back in his chair.

“Said I liked Spiderman, nothing about you pretty boy,” it easily slipped out of your mouth, teasing and flirting was second nature around Tom. 

Both of you get lost into each other’s eyes for a moment before you snap back into the reality, did you just blow everything up?

You pick up with the questions again, acting like nothing happened, “so, Far From Home picks up where Endgame left off, will we get to see the reactions of your characters at the aftermath of the snap and everyone coming back?”

“Spoilers!” Jacob jokes, all of you laughing.

“I mean yeah, we get to see firsthand what happens when you lose Earth’s best defender,” Zendaya responds.

“Yeah I think one of the coolest things in this movie is getting to see how everyone adjusts to losing Tony Stark, losing Iron Man, as well as seeing it from the perspective of high schoolers,” Tom finishes.

“Great, well that’s all the questions I have for you all, thank you so much for having me,” you say, smiling widely before turning to the camera angled behind them to address your subscribers when you eventually edit the video, “and go see Spiderman: Far From Home! In theatres July 2nd! Hope to see you there!”

“Cut, nice job, thank you y/n. Tom, Zendaya, Jacob, you’ve got five before the next interview. Tom immediately pulls his phone out as he gives you a look before you’re ushered away from the actors and into the dressing room where your phone and purse were sitting.

You grab your phone and smirk at the text from Tom.

Tom: don’t think we were too subtle

You: we’re idiots

You sigh as you slip out the door, grabbing another Uber to Tom’s place, your place you keep reminding yourself.

***

Tom slouches in his seat while texting her, 

Blackbird: it’ll put my editing skills to the test but i think i can manage it

Tom: we could just make that video as a way of sharing our love with the world

Tom: that was cheesy as fuck

Blackbird: i like my idea better

Tom: the q&a video one?

Blackbird: ya, what better way of putting the question i get every time i do a q&a to rest than to say ‘yep i’ve got a boyfriend’ and you just sitting down next to me

Tom: also cheesy

Tom: but I like it better

He’s interrupted by Jacob elbowing him, “almost blew it a few times huh?”

“I think we did our best.”

“I know, you only gave her heart eyes like a thousand times,” Zendaya pipes up and Tom rolls his eyes.

“Did not,” Tom argues, “what even are heart eyes?”

“You know,” Jacob says, eyes softening, mouth turning into a soft smile, “heart eyes.”

“Heart eyes,” Zendaya elbows Tom and gives her best heart eyes.

“Ugh you’re both insufferable sometimes,” Tom groans before the door opens and the next interviewer enters. 

*** You get home and lay on your bed, opening your laptop, you heard the ping! of the email and you see a secure email from Sony.

That was fast.

You open up the email with a video attachment.

Miss Y/L/N,

Attached is your interview with the cast from Far From Home. Please upload the video to your Youtube channel by the end of the day tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Sony Executives

You opened up the video and watched the footage, already cut to show your face when you were talking and Tom, Jacob and Zendaya when they were talking. It was a short clip, about five minutes, you were going to add an introduction of yourself at the beginning, as well as an outro.

You had set up your camera stand in the office yesterday and made your way over to film, standing in front of your desk with the camera in front of you.

“Hey everyone! As promised, I was lucky enough to interview the cast of Far From Home today! Here’s a few minutes of the fun time I had earlier!” You film your ending at the same time.

“So that was the interview! Drop a comment below on your favorite part of the interview! And, you might notice the space I’m filming in is a little different, that’s because I’m all moved in! Sort of,” you say, grabbing the camera from the stand and showing the video the room, your desk and bookshelves sat neatly in their respective places, you managed to unpack some of your stuff, the rest in boxes on the floor.

“So, if you would like to see a room tour of the filming space when I’m finished, let me know! Alright folks, keep reading and see you next time!”

You stop recording and bring the camera back to your room, sitting on the bed and uploading the video to your laptop. You open your editing software and begin to cut and edit the video into your interview. Your thumbnail comes next, one of Tom, Jacob and Zendaya looking as normal as possible, it was hard to choose an image from the video, most of the time Tom was just staring at you like he knew you, knew every piece of you. Which wasn’t really his fault, because he did know you. You added “Y/N meets FFH Cast!” in blue letters with a red outline onto the photo and went through the process of uploading the video.

You plugged your laptop in and let it upload, moving back to the office to start unloading more of your books.

“I’m home!” Tom’s voice echoes throughout the apartment and you perk up, jumping up from your seat on the ground and running down the hallway. 

“You know, I think that video is gonna send some people into a tailspin,” you laugh as he picks you off the ground and twirls you around.

“You called me pretty boy,” Tom laughs and you can’t help but sigh into his neck as he sets you down.

“I was just teasing,” you wiggle your eyebrows as he looks down at you.

“Teasing, teasing, you teased me alright, almost called you blackbird.”

“That would’ve done us in, Sony would’ve been thoroughly confused.” 

“Did you get the video uploaded?”

“It was loading a few hours ago, so I’m sure it’s uploaded now.” 

“Wanna go see the comments?” “You hate reading comments,” you point out as his arm wraps around your waist and you walk back to your room.

“I know but I also know you love reading them. And I can’t help but be curious, just this once.”

You nod as you get your laptop and situate yourself against the pillows, Tom’s head resting on your shoulder as you open the video and pause it, scrolling down to the comment section.

Oh my GOD they way she called him pretty boy to his face, embarrassing

“But Tom, you are my pretty boy,” you laugh as he kisses your neck.

“They’re just mad that I’m not their pretty boy.”

He called her darling, lit rally goals

Plz tell me they exchanged phone numbers

Zendaya giving her daggers like back off my mans lmfaoooo

“I think she gave you a look when you called me pretty boy, like ‘did she seriously just almost blow their cover like that’, Jacob and her got a good laugh out of it.”

Pleasee the balls on her to be flirting with him the entire time

Tom seriously dropped all the heart eyes for y/n and honestly same

Its called professionalism, you should look it up, it definitely doesn’t include flirting with the person you’re interviewing

“I can’t help flirting with you Tom, you’re just so cute,” you sigh as you shut your laptop, “that’s enough of the internet for today.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” he laughs as you set your laptop on the bedside table and Tom straddles your hips, “besides, I can definitely think of things I’d rather be doing, especially ones that don’t include anyone else,” his head ducks down to kiss up your neck, gently nibbling at your jaw as you both scoot down the bed so your back is flat.

His hand slips up your Spiderman T-shirt, groping your breast as you sigh, hands slipping into his hair to give it a light tug as he hastily unbuttons your skirt and unzips it, cold fingers running along the edge of your panties as you hear the front door slam.

“Tom! Y/N!” You hear Harrison shout as Tom groans into your neck.

“Get lost! We’re having grown up time!” Tom shouts, his voice vibrating against you.

“No, like you should seriously see something,” Harrison shouts and Tom grumbles as he sits up off of you and you fix your hair and zip up your skirt.

He rushes into the room, not even sighing or being annoyed at the two of you trying to get it on. He shoves his phone in Tom’s face and he pales, scrolling through what looks like a thread of tweets.

“What? What is it?” You ask, looking over his shoulder.

He finishes the phone and hands it to you, “think they’ve caught us.”

“Wh-,” your face also pales as your eyes widen reading through the tweets. 

It starts off innocent enough, two pictures, one of Tom, one of you, with the caption, ‘Tom Holland and Y/N Y/L/N’.

The next tweet is a picture of Tom at a Home Improvement store, grabbing your desk and bookshelf, it’s a close up of the boxes of stuff next to a picture of your office from your video, bookshelves and desk, titled ‘familiar?’

The next is a picture of you sprawled out on your bed during a livestream, Tom’s twitter sweatshirt on. Nobody could see the @tomholland1996 on the side, you were only showing your face, but a slip of it showed when you sat up, just the @to but it was enough for them to place it next to a picture of Tom at the airport wearing it, with the caption, ‘familiar?’

The next tweet in the thread was also titled ‘familiar?’ With a picture of you in one of your videos with the mockingbird T-shirt next to a photo of Tom at the pharmacy early one morning in the same shirt. It was actually your fault he went to the pharmacy, you got sick while he was spending the night, you were both naked after a long night of fun, so he threw on whatever shirt was closest and ran out, not thinking anything of it.

The next tweet was a video of you during a livestream, sitting on your bed, just talking when there’s a noise behind you, a slam of the door and a “hey blackbir-,” before the video cuts off. The caption reads, ‘voice familiar?’. 

The next was sort of silly, it was just a lot of screencaps from your video of you and Tom looking at each other with love in your eyes. The next was a video cut of your video, ‘ffh interview but just each time Tom and y/n flirt with each other’.

“Cats out of the bag?” Tom laughs as he hands Harrison back his phone.

“Honestly, if neither of us say anything, 10 bucks it’ll blow over in like a week,” you say, dropping back down to the bed as Harrison leans against the door.

Tom nods in agreement, “get lost Harrison, we’ve got some time to make up for.” 

Harrison rolls his eyes but slams your door shut as Tom jumps back on top of you, “sorry bout that, guess we really are bad at the art of subtlety.”

“Oh pretty boy, ain’t nothing subtle about us.” 

***

Taglist: @tom-hollands-blogs @spider-babes @unicornsyy @sunshinedolantwins @practicallylivesonline @tom-hollands-wife @quinjetboi @rageyoudamnednerd @sunnydays0803 @jackiehollanderr @khhbby @fancyxholland @thomasthetankson @lousimusician @amyalpha @musiclover1263 @peterbxrnes @relise-thefury @tessathedragon @rebeccamckirgan99 @starsholland @stucky-is-bae @fandomdarlings @sluttylokii @peteunderoos @saysomethingspiderman @therealcap @babygrootbabyjack @yamyam515 @dylanrauhl @spaceprintesa @mobbinholland @whisperingspace @desir-ae @cvrecem @legendsofwholock @christinaxolynn @particularmila @darktwistydiamond @i-guess-n0t

[crystalninjaphoenix]

Resurgence

A Jacksepticeye Fanfiction

Part Twelve: The Next Course of Action

First Part | Previous | Next

Summary: A week later, Jackie and Sam manage to find Marvin, and a new lead. But then they’re interrupted. And things quickly go downhill from there, as static fills his mind...

(It’s been too long, I missed this. I missed writing these overarching plots and chapters, I should write this more, haha)

Time passed. The four remaining boys settled into a routine. Get up, scour the Internet, go to work (or look for a job for the two who didn’t have one already), come back home and resume the search. Schneep still didn’t have his apartment back, so he roomed with Jackie. JJ insisted that he was fine at home alone, but almost every night Chase would open his door and quietly let Jameson inside to sleep over before returning to his house the first thing next morning.

Sam stayed with Jackie. They got really attached to him really quickly. When he fell asleep, he always woke up with them curled up on his chest, glowing softly. And when he went out on patrol at night, looking for crime and also keeping an eye out for the kids, Sam followed. Jackie didn’t mind. The little eye could look out for themselves, and it was nice to have company on these cold nights in the city.

It was a week before they found a lead. Or rather, a lead found them. Jackie was out on patrol in the northern part of the city—the most run-down part. Most of the buildings here were abandoned, and there were a lot of empty warehouses that nobody used anymore. Or at least, nobody was supposed to. The entire section was rife with criminals, to the point where Jackie actually tried to avoid it if possible. He was just one man, and he was outnumbered in this area. But...to be honest, he was starting to get a bit frantic in his search for the kids. They all were. A week missing was never good, but in these circumstances, with the glitch on the loose...

Jackie was sitting on the roof of one of the buildings, which might have been an old apartment complex before it was abandoned. His legs dangled over the edge. He sighed, and rubbed his eyes under his mask. Sam flew in front of his face, pupil wide and radiating concern. “What? No, I’m fine, Sam,” he insisted. “Just tired.” Sam flicked their tail, as if to say, yeah, sure. “No, really! It’s been a long night, and nothing much has happened. Nothing has happened...at all really.”

Sam gently bumped against him, emitting a cheerful energy. Jackie smiled a bit. “Yeah, I’m keeping up that positive mental attitude. Gotta have hope. Gotta make sure the others have it as well.” He had to. He was the most optimistic one of them all; if he gave up, they would follow, and they couldn’t afford that.

Sam’s glow dimmed a bit, then re-brightened. They darted away, heading toward the roof exit of the building before turning back around and looking at Jackie expectantly. “What is it?” The hero frowned, puzzled. “You want to...show me something?” Sam bobbed once. Jackie clambered to his feet. “Alright, lead the way, then.”

Sam led Jackie back down through the abandoned building and out onto the street. Once there, they zoomed off in a seemingly random direction. “Wh—Sam, wait up!” The little eye was incredibly fast sometimes. Jackie sprinted to keep up. Sam didn’t slow down, not even at intersections. They turned and dashed in a twisting route, until Jackie began to suspect they didn’t know where they were going.

At one point Jackie turned a corner and ran head-first into someone in a purple hoodie. He didn’t stop to apologize, mostly because there was no time if he wanted to keep up with Sam, and also partly because the patrons of this city section didn’t usually look too kindly on vigilantes and he didn’t want to draw attention to himself. Not too long after that, Sam took a side street and darted into an alleyway. A second later, Jackie heard a voice: “Who the—Sam?! What the hell are you doing here?!”

Jackie paused for a moment in shock, then ducked into the alley. “Marvin? Is that you?”

The alley was small, big enough for two people to walk side-by-side but not much bigger than that, and also dark. Sam’s green glow helped Jackie see the outline of a person. “Jackie?” the familiar voice gasped. “I gotta—hang on a sec.” He muttered something Jackie couldn’t make out, and suddenly five glowing orbs sprang into existence, giving off a soft yellow-green light. Jackie blinked a bit to let his eyes adjust. Now he could see that somehow, against all odds, he’d run right into Marvin. His mask was on, and he tapped his wand nervously against his palm. “What’re you doing here?” he asked.

“Well, I was out on patrol, then all of a sudden Sam went off and I followed because, y’know, seemed important. I think they knew you were here?” The eye was currently swishing around the floating lights, looking illegally cute.

“Okay, wow, uh—I didn’t even know I was gonna be here. That’s impossible.”

“The fuck do you mean?”

“I mean that I have no plan,” Marvin admitted. “I’ve just been kinda...wandering around the city, and the area around it. What’ve you guys been doing? How are the others?”

Jackie sighed. “Well, things could be going better. Chase is obviously a mess. He’s...having a bad time right now. I don’t think he’s eating, and he’s oversleeping a lot. I can tell something is up with him, but he won’t tell me anything. And JJ started having nightmares again—”

“What?!” The glowing orbs briefly flared before dimming again. “Oh fuck, sorry, didn’t mean to do that.”

“Nah, it’s okay. But, uh, yeah. At least he’s been telling us about them this time. That’s progress!”

Marvin looked doubtful at Jackie’s falsely cheery tone. “I see...and, uh, Schneep? How’s he holding up?”

“Not...too well,” Jackie said slowly. “He’s trying to get his job at the hospital back, but apparently they replaced him with an amateur and he’s pretty angry ‘bout that. And the other day, I was doing some cooking and he was offering to help, but I pointed at him and said ‘you go sit down and wait, I’m doin’ this cause of friendship,’ only I, uh, was holding a knife and the time, so when I pointed it at him he freaked out. I...really didn’t mean to, I didn’t even think about it, but...”

“Jesus fucking christ,” Marvin muttered. “I leave for a week and everything goes to shit.”

“Y’know somehow I doubt anything much would’ve changed if you’d been here all this time. Didn’t you once tell me that you liked to fuck things up?” Jackie’s mouth twitched. “Those exact words.”

“I don’t remember that, but yeah, sounds like something I’d say,” Marvin shrugged. “What about the kids? Am I off the hook yet?”

“I think you should remember that you put yourself on the hook in the first place. You were like a gullible fish.”

“No, I was a fish that was like ‘yeah, Chase can’t outrun the cops, I have a better shot.’ But anyway, is there any progress?”

Jackie shook his head. “You have no idea how many deep web searches Chase and I have ran. I’m gonna end up attracting the wrong kind of attention, again. Also, I’ve been looking for them at night, y’know, like I’m doing now. But nothing. Do you have anything, or has your lack of a plan gotten in the way?”

“Hey, don’t underestimate my improv skills!” Marvin wiggled his fingers, unintentionally causing the orbs to flicker. “Ya know there’s a whole magic underground? I didn’t either, but they’re surprisingly helpful!”

“Uhh, when you mention something underground my instincts scream ‘illegal!’ at me. Should I be concerned?”

“Nah, they’re cool. Been around for decades, mostly trade spellbooks and talismans. It’s just underground ‘cause, well, most people don’t believe in magic.”

Jackie squinted at him. Marvin wasn’t quite looking him in the eyes. “Really?”

“Yes, really,” Marvin insisted. “Anyway, if you know where to look you can find all kinds of cool shit. And...I might have found something?”

Jackie’s heart leaped. “Really?”

“Yeah!” Marvin nodded vigorously. “Okay, so, you remember the scrying spell and how it went wrong?”

“Vividly,” Jackie muttered.

“So I was wondering if that was because of him, or if I just didn’t know what I was doing, or something else. I did some digging around, and found two explanations for why it blew up. One, he was able to catch me watching and basically warped the connection until it broke. Entirely possible, even plausible, but there’s another option. We reached the kids perfectly well, but they weren’t in this reality.”

“Uh, what?”

“Shut up, I’m explaining.” Marvin flicked his wand, and a simple diagram appeared, made of green light and hovering in the air like a hologram. It was a simple sphere, with several flat circles floating around it, connected by thin streams of misty green. “Okay, so this globe is the world, right?” Marvin tapped it with his wand. “It’s the universe. We live here. But these things—” he tapped one of the circles “—are what we can call pocket dimensions. They’re different realities, connected to ours. Some are constant, some appear sporadically, sometimes you can summon the entrance, sometimes the entrances open on their own and you can accidentally walk through. They’re all pretty small though, the largest one being the equivalent of a small country in size. Following me so far?”

“Uh, yeah, I think so.”

“Okay, so here’s the kicker: you can’t scry into a pocket dimension. If you try, then the spell will backfire on you, violently. Pretty similar to what happened to us. And we haven’t been having luck with finding Bobby and Trevor, have we? Maybe for a good reason?”

“Wait. Wait wait wait.” Jackie’s mind was whirling. Sam stopped their frolicking and settled down on the top of his head like they could hear his mile-a-minute thoughts. “You’re saying they might be in one of these?!”

“Exactly!” Marvin shouted triumphantly. “Seems like something he would do, right? And it would also makes sense why we couldn’t find Schneep those months, too! We looked fucking everywhere!”

“Oh my god,” Jackie breathed. No wonder there was no sign of the kids. He’d been starting to suspect they were somewhere else in the world entirely, but maybe they weren’t in the world at all. “And-and can you get into this pocket dimension? Is that possible?”

“I’ve been working on a few tricks,” Marvin grinned. “I’m trynta figure out how to open entrances. I almost had it night before last, almost got into the mirror dimension, but it didn’t stay open very long. And there are a couple more tricks, especially when it comes to, say, forcing your way into a hostile pocket. But I’m sure that if I just keep practicing we can at least try to find them.”

“Marvin that is fantastic news!” Jackie rushed forward and wrapped his arms around the magician, squeezing tight.

“Whoa, hey! Non-consensual hug! I need to breathe here!” Marvin didn’t actually sound too upset.

“Sorry,” said Jackie, not the least bit sorry. He let go and stepped back. “It just—god, finally, some progress! It feels so good!”

“You tell me. It’s only been a few days and I’m already sick of being an outlaw. Obviously we need to wait a bit longer, but I—what’s Sam doing?”

Jackie turned around. Sam had been dislodged from their perch when he attack-hugged Marvin. Now they were staying completely still in the air, as if suspended their by a wire, facing the entrance to the alleyway. Their optic nerve was sticking upward, like a cat raising its tail at a threat, and they’d started glowing brighter. “Uh...I dunno. I’ve never seen them do this before.” Jackie crept forward, glad his super suit boots muffled his footsteps. The tip of Marvin’s wand flared a dark green, then Marvin walked forward, completely quiet. The two of them exchanged looks, silently agreeing on a plan. When they reached the alley entrance, Jackie held up three fingers. Then two. Then one, and—

In unison the two of them jumped out onto the street, Marvin going left with his wand at the ready and Jackie leaping right. Immediately Jackie saw someone and tackled them, falling to the ground. The person yelped. “Get off me!” Jackie rolled away and stood up, but remained at the ready. It was the same guy he’d run into earlier, in the purple hoodie. But now he had more time to look, and realized he recognized him.

Marvin looked his direction and scowled. “Oh fan-fucking-tastic, it’s one of those detectives.”

It was the shorter, dark-haired one, Detective Akela. He rubbed the back of his head where it hit the pavement and glared up at Marvin. “Yes, it’s one of those detectives. I’d say it’s good to see you again, Mr. Moore, but it’s not.”

“The feeling is mutual, dickface.”

“Marvin, no,” Jackie said sternly. “You’re not jumping straight into insults.”

“I can jump straight into whatever I want, the dude tried to arrest Chase!” Marvin yelled.

“Well, yeah!” Jackie yelled back. “Because that’s his job! Maybe if we didn’t antagonize the police, they wouldn’t arrest any of us!”

“Fuck that! I can antagonize anyone who goes after you guys, I don’t care what their job is!”

“You two do realize I’m still here, right?” Akela said, climbing to his feet.

Jackie’s head whipped toward him. The detective seemed like he’d been listening for a while... “How much of that did you hear?!” he asked, slightly panicked.

Akela hesitated. “I didn’t hear anything. I was just passing by and you two jumped me.”

“Bullshit!” Marvin spat. “Sam started acting weird, they must’ve realized you were eavesdropping on us.”

“Who the hell is Sam?” Akela demanded.

Marvin and Jackie glanced back down the alley, but the eye seemed to have disappeared. “They’re probably hiding,” Jackie muttered. “But the point is, we know you heard us talking down there. You’re kind of an awful liar for a detective.”

Akela looked like he wanted to keep fighting, but then his shoulders slumped and he seemed to give up. “Yeah. I know. Lydia always handles that part. I’m more of an observer, or a, um, thinker. She finds the pieces, I put ‘em together. So, uh, yeah, I heard pretty much everything that went on in there. You bumped into me and I thought, ‘hey, there’s the vigilante, better follow him!’ because I’m...an idiot, I guess. And I may have...caught a lot of that.”

“Wow, you told us all that way too easily,” Marvin said in a biting voice. “What are you even doing here?! Nobody lives in this area! And out this late?!”

“It was a shortcut, alright?!” Akela snapped. “Not all of us have his luck—” he pointed at Jackie “—and get an apartment of our own in a central part of the city! And some of us work late shifts, and have to walk through the deadly part of town to get back home so we can sleep!”

Jackie suddenly became very still and silent. “How do you know where I live?”

Akela went pale. “I—well, I—I mean, I heard you—you both seem familiar with each other, and also, we-we-we did background checks on most of you, so I’m pretty familiar with your faces at this point, and, uh, you mentioned the others, and I was there—”

“Fuck!” Marvin shouted, sparks flying from the end of his wand. Akela jumped back. “Fucking perfect! Now he knows who you are! Now he knows where I am! Now everything’s fucking awful!”

“Marvin for god’s sake, calm down!” Jackie snapped. “He’s not gonna tell anyone, right?” He glared at Akela. “Right?”

Akela looked away, putting his hands in his hoodie pocket. “I...don’t know. At first I thought I would have to, what with the Brody kids missing and you confessing...I thought I would hear some information that might find them, and break the case. But then you two started talking about weird shit, and it might be code but you seem like you’re trying to find the kids...and now I’m just confused.”

Jackie sighed. “Look, we’re not the bad guys here. Marvin isn’t the bad guy. He just wanted to protect his friends. And I know you’ve got that-that video footage, that you thinks proves everything, but it doesn’t. We’re on the case as much as you are, and we know a whole hell of a lot more than you do. It would be safer if you stayed out of it.”

He glanced at Marvin to see if he would back him up, but Marvin was staring suspiciously at Akela’s hoodie pocket. “Do you...have something in there?” he asked slowly.

“Just my phone,” Akela hurried to respond.

“Well I can see you playing with it through the fabric. Why are you doing that?”

Akela took a step backward, and that only confirmed Marvin’s suspicions. In a flash, quite literally, he was directly in front of the detective, who was struggling to pull away as Marvin tried to get into his pocket. Only a few moments of wrestling later, and Marvin backed away, holding a black smart phone in his hand.

Jackie gaped. “Marvin, I was just trying to explain we’re not the bad guys! You’re not helping when you do shit like this!”

“Dude, he was recording us!” Marvin showed the phone’s screen to Jackie. “He got a lot of it too!”

“Give it back,” Akela growled.

“Or what? Do you have a gun on you or something? No, I don’t think so, otherwise you just would’ve confronted us instead of lurking in the shadows.” Marvin pursed his lips. “Now the question is, should I delete this video?”

“I’d like to point out that you two were hiding in the shadows, and I was on the streetlamp-lit sidewalk outside!” Akela countered. “Look, just, give me back my phone, with the video, and I won’t tell anyone about Mr. Parker’s midnight outings.”

“You make it sound so formal,” Jackie muttered.

Marvin looked at Jackie. “What d’you think? Should I delete it?”

Jackie hesitated. “I have no idea. I trust him, but...” he didn’t need to finish the sentence. That video could easily be used to identify Jackie as the vigilante, for anyone who was clever enough to put the pieces together like Akela did.

Marvin shrugged. “Oh well.” He tapped the delete button on the screen. Akela made a strange kind of squeak sound. “Guess it’s better safe than—” He cut himself off. His eyes widened as he stared at the screen.

“What is it?” Jackie asked.

“It—it came back,” Marvin breathed. “It came back.” He pressed delete again, only for the video to reappear once more. He tried again, with the same result. “It’s not going away!”

Akela’s eyes darted between Jackie and Marvin. “Why do you two look so worried? It’s just a glitch. Sometimes deleted photos or videos look like they come back, but they don’t actually. You guys win, okay? It’s gone forever.”

Suddenly, Marvin dropped the phone with a gasp. It landed screen-up on the pavement. The phone was glitching rapidly between different apps, lagging and breaking under a layer of white noise. It was letting off a faint sound of static that was steadily growing louder. At times, it almost seemed like voices—or laughter.

“Shit!” Jackie gasped. Marvin didn’t say anything, just pointed his wand at the phone. A concentrated beam of green lightning shot out and hit the phone in a flash of yellow sparks, breaking it into three pieces.

But the static didn’t stop.

Akela could only stare. “Why did you do that? No, how did you do that?! How the hell did you do that?!”

Marvin didn’t answer, only looked at Jackie with wide eyes. “He’s here.”

Jackie could feel his heart pounding out of his chest. But he nodded. “We need to leave. Now.”

“What’s going on?!” Akela sounded like he was trying to be brave, but there was a tremble in his voice. “Who’s ‘he?’ Why are you so scared—what the hell is that?!”

Sam had finally chosen this moment to come out of the alley where they were hiding. They flew over to Jackie and settled on his shoulder, radiating worry.

“That’s Sam,” Marvin said curtly. “Now listen close, detective.” He took a few steps forward and grabbed Akela by the shoulders. “You don’t know what’s going on. Keep it that way. The more you know, the more attention you draw, and you do not want his attention. Just go home, go to sleep, and forget tonight ever happened. Let us take care of this ourselves, because you have no idea what the fuck you’re getting into, and trust me when I say you don’t want to know. Now go.” He let go of Akela’s shoulders, but the detective could only gape up at him. He growled, then clapped his hands, causing a flurry of green sparks to fly outward. “Get out of here!” Akela jumped, then ran across the street, disappearing around a building corner.

The static was getting louder.

“We should split up,” Jackie said.

Marvin whirled on him. “Are you insane?! Have you seen any horror movie ever?! Splitting up is the worst kind of suicide in these situations!”

“Marvin shut up and listen to me!” Jackie shrieked. His tone quieted Marvin. “Look, he’s only one glitch—demon—entity thing. He probably can’t go after both of us at once. And I know, you’re gonna say we’re stronger together or something, and you’re right, but I—” Jackie swallowed. “I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you. If something happened to both of us, and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. Don’t make me watch that happen.”

Marvin was at a loss for words, for once. But he nodded. “I don’t get it, but...sure. If you want. Take Sam with you.” He started back down the alleyway. “And...be safe. I don’t think I could live with that either.” He was gone.

Jackie waited only a second before taking off in the other direction, Sam still on his shoulder. The sound of the static followed him, hissing in his ears no matter how fast he ran or how much he turned. Jackie didn’t let himself stop, just kept sprinting. He had to get to safety. Where was that again? Home? That sounded slightly better than anywhere else.

I͏t̀'͏͡͞s ̵̨a̸l̶̡l̵͝ ̡͏y̶̨͢ǫ́u̵͝r͏ ̸f̷̕á̀͠u͠l̨͢t̵͠

Jackie skidded to a halt in surprise, before immediately starting back up again. He could’ve sworn he heard...but he shook it off. Hearing words in white noise was not a good sign. Neither was seeing it in the corner of your vision, which totally wasn’t happening nope not at all. Hadn’t he already run down this street? Twice? He had no choice, he had to take a break and get his bearings.

He forced himself to stop again, panting. Sam fell off his shoulder and tumbled to the ground. They glowed weakly, their light...flickering. Dimming. They shivered weakly.

“Sam, are you alright?” Jackie gasped. The words came out slowly. He had to blink through the fog in his head. Sam looked up to him, trembling. The answer seemed to be no. 

I̵͝t̶̸̕'̶͏s̷͟ a̧l͝l̕͞͠ ỳ̸͡o̷̡͢ứŗ̸ ͢͠f̴au͞͝lt̛

“He’s not good for you, is he?” Jackie asked. Sam made a sort of half-bob in confirmation. “Sam, you have to go. You can fly a lot faster than I can run.” That made the little eye’s glow brighten a bit as they jumped up and hovered in the air. “No, Sam, go. The rest of the guys need you, don’t they? And I don’t want to imagine what’ll happen if he gets you.”

That didn’t faze Sam at all. They shot straight up to Jackie’s eye level, then flickered and dropped down a foot. “See?!” Jackie exclaimed.

I̴ţ̕'̢s̀ ̶̶͢a̵ll͟͏ ̷y̢͝o̢͡u̕͏r͝͝ ̷̢f̛a͏̶̷ù̕ļ̶̴t 

Yo̕͠u͝ ̵͏ḑ̧͢i̴̸d thi͝s

Jackie noticed he was shaking. Why was he doing that? Sam looked up at him with a concerned gaze. “Sam, you gotta go. Please,” Jackie pleaded. Sam stared at him blankly, their light flickering more and more. Then an air of determination came over them. With a sudden burst of energy, the eye darted forward, ramming right into Jackie’s chest with such force that he stumbled back a few steps. He gasped. He felt something warm deep within him; a burst of appreciation, he assumed, for Sam’s unwillingness to leave.

Sam’s light dimmed, and they dropped to the ground.

Jackie’s mouth suddenly felt really dry. “Sam?” There was no response. The hero knelt on the ground next to them. “Sam?! Are you okay?!” 

Į̛t'͢s̕ ̶a̢lĺ ͢yòu͟r͠͠ ̷̢fa̶u̶l͞t̶͟͠

The little eye didn’t move at all, their glow barely visible. Gently, Jackie scooped them up. They were the size of a tennis ball, but they seemed so much smaller. “Sam, please. Answer me!”

Y̛ǫ̵ù̴̡ ̢̧d͢id̷́̀ t̛̀͢h͟͝i̛s̶͡

“Sam, please I can’t have—I can’t have—not this too!”

I̛̩̮̗͈̝͔̩͡t̛̟̝͍'̧̳͓̗͖͉̜͔͎͞s̵̴̝͇̲̲̤ ̪̕̕a̯̭̻͔͝l̨̻ļ̙̜̮͖͍́ͅ ͉̻̫͕̮̝̩͞y̸̭͍̬̗̰̰̳̭̹o̶̸͕̖̪u̻̣̣r̳̥̱͍̱̝̫͠ ��̙̠̗̙f̖̼͓a̗̖̬̩̙̪u̶͉̭͓̘͟l̴̠̱̲͉̲̼̠̜t̘̠̼

“I tried! I’m trying!”

Ý̸̯̻̬̬̝̱o̷͡҉̼͔̟̥u҉͡ ͕̙̙̥͢ͅd͈̤̤i̵̭͉͕̤͎̠̣d̪̘̻͉̙̳̼̰͢͡ ̢͏̟͔͎̰͕̼͉͡ṯ̢̛̀h̴҉͉͉̯̘̖i̮̬̼͕̬͕̹̤̬̕͠s̮̹͎͎̖̥̤̦͡

Jackie felt tears in his eyes, and then—

It happened between one blink and the next. There was a man, kneeling on the sidewalk, holding a small green orb in his hands. And then? There was nothing but a few red shadows drifting in the wind and the sound of triumphant laughter.

[snowpeawritings]

6. Yukiko “Stud Hunter” Amagi

Philemon seems to enjoy seeing his Wild Cards live on with their lives…

insp.

Persona 4 Golden X FeMC!Reader

———————————————————————————————————–

4/16/2011 Early morning...

Somehow your head seemed to throb harder than before.

Since the TV world, your head had migraines whenever possible. To be honest, you'd expect just a normal, boring life in the countryside, make some friends, then soon go somewhere else and do the same thing. You didn't expect to have an annoying boy that the residents hate, a tomboy with an addiction for steak, and a girl who can't even look at people then just apologizes and goes. You didn't expect to have weird powers, go inside the TV, and expect to solve murders from a talking stuffed animal.

You stretched from your futon. The pain seems to ebb away. You didn't want to go to school but you had to. For your parents.

"So she awakes." A voice said. You sat up looking around but saw nothing.

"Maybe it was just my imagination." You muttered as you stood up and went to change. After that you went to the bathroom and brushed your teeth.

"Most intriguing." The same voice said. "Your teeth seemed to be still in perfect shape. Normally at this age, they turn yellow."

You put down your toothbrush and looked around. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

"You... You can hear me...?"

"Y-Yes..." You said shakily. "Come out and show yourself."

However you didn't expect to see her.

The long black coat, the silver mask, the huge naginata strapped on her back, and the long (hair color) flowing hair and yellow eyes-it made you weird out, knowing that you were the one who beckoned her in the living.

"You... can see me?" She asked, her voice sounded like yours except much more hollow. You nodded your head. Her eyes were gone for then appeared again. She probably blinked.

"Who.. are you...?" You asked.

"Do you not know? I am you." Before you could say anything else, a knock came at the door.

"Hello? Who are you talking to?" Nanako said through the door.

“No Nanako. I was... just practicing a line... for a play." You said.

"I'm going in." She said as the knob turned.

"No, Nanako-!" She fully opened the door and stared blankly at you. She didn't react to the humanoid being next to you.

"Breakfast is almost ready, by the way." She said before closing the door. You just stood there, the toothpaste foam dripping from your mouth and your Persona digging inside the hamper.

After that you went down to eat breakfast. You tried your best to stay stoic whenever your Persona pokes the household objects such as the sink.

"Amazing how you can bring the river to your own home." She said. You pursed your lips. If you can see her why can't she be visible to Nanako?

"Um... Nanako?" You started. Her innocent eyes made it even worse to say what was in your mind.

"Do you... notice anything strange around?" She blinked.

"Strange? Um... no. Nothing out of the ordinary."

"Are you sure? Nothing?"

"Y-Yeah. Why? Is something wrong?" You quickly shook your head and continued eating your breakfast.

"Mysterious. This box creates cold air but there is food inside. Why would anyone freeze their food?"

During the walk to school you began fidgeting but soon relaxed when the people didn't see your Persona.

"So... how come no one can see you?" You asked.

"You are the only one who has these powers so it is natural that you can see me."

"Yeah, but..." You trailed off. "Never mind. Just who are you? Like your name or something."

She blinked. "I am Izanami. The goddess who invites."

"You said that you never seen a toothbrush before and a fridge so how is it you are me?"

"So that's what you call those things..." She pondered. "It's... rather complicated. You humans might label this as 'reincarnation'. I would want to explain further but it is rather difficult because of how language changed."

"(Name)!" You heard someone call. You turned and saw Yosuke riding his bike towards you with a frog-like humanoid in a disco suit floated behind him. He hit the brakes just before you and hopped off.

"Dude, I just woke up this morning and I saw this in my room staring at me!" He said, thumbing the frog.

"Don't worry Yosuke. No one can see them except both of us." You said calmly.

"Them?" He questioned. He realized until now the black figure standing beside you. "Wait, you got one too?"

"Don't refer to me as an object." Izanami warned.

"You got told man. By a really attractive gal." The frog said leaning up to Izanami. "And a much more beautiful woman." He stared at you.

"Stop flirting dammit!" Yosuke half-yelled, not wanting to draw attention.

"Your just jealous because your not that smooth with the ladies. Hey, I'm Jiraiya." He introduced his voice the same as Yosuke's except hollow as well.

Yosuke groaned. "Talking Personas aside, you saw what was on last night, right?"

You nodded. "I did. I can't tell who it was though."

"Let's go check it out after school. Maybe Teddie can tell us something. If it turns out someone was thrown in again, there really might be a culprit behind all this. Even if it is something about that place that's killing the victims... If someone's using that world as a weapon, that's unforgivable." He looked up with determination in his eyes. "We need to find the culprit... no matter what it takes!"

Your eyes widened.

"There's no way the police can do it... Who would believe that the murderer kills people by throwing them inside the TV?"

"It has to be us." You said. He laughed a little.

"Cool. It's reassuring to hear someone else say it. You know, I tried sticking my head in the TV last night, the way you did, and it actually worked. I think I can do that now because I have the same power... Persona, wasn't it?"

“That's us." Jiraiya said.

"Could it be that we got this gift from someone specifically so we could solve the case." Yosuke looked down. "Then again, you managed to go inside the TV and get your Persona first... I feel like as long as you're with me, I can find the culprit and crack this case. Well... let's do our best!" He held his hand out.

You were impressed by how he moved on so quickly. Saki badmouthed him yet he has the courage to go on. You felt your heart grow a bit stronger with the bond you share with Yosuke. You recalled Igor's words last night,

“The Persona ability is the power to control one's own heart... And the heart is strengthened through bonds. As you form bonds by becoming involved with others, your own Social Links will gradually develop. The power of these Social Links is what will determine your Persona's abilities."

Could this be what Igor was talking about? The bond between you and Yosuke? The two of you went to school with your Personas trailing behind.

"Why were they holding their hands so long?" Jiraiya asked.

"It is something I cannot explain." Izanami replied.

"Try calling the inn." You suggested.

Chie frantically scrolled down her contacts for the inn's number. It was only a few minutes ago that Chie barged in saying that she didn't see Yukiko come to school. She tried to call her but she never replied. Yosuke said that Yukiko might be in the TV world (which you quickly briefed over what you gained to Chie). However you suggested to call the inn's number and right now, Chie's phone was ringing.

"Oh, is this Yukiko!? Thank god, she's there! Uh-huh... Uh-huh, I see... Ah, uh. Nah, it was nothing, haha. I'll email you again later..." She turned off the cellphone and sighed. "She was over at the inn... She said they had a big group reservation and she had to help out. Yeah... Now that I think about it, this has happened before, too. At least once a year. She said she'll be at the inn tomorrow, too." She walked up near Yosuke in anger.

"Oh, for crying out loud, Yosuke! You got me worried over nothing! She was totally fine! And you were all, 'Is Yukiko -san inside that place...?' Hmph..."

"Yeah, Yosuke. What an immature act." Jiraiya said.

"S-Sorry... But there is a reason we thought that."

"Oh yeah? What?"

"Well... we thought people show up on the Midnight Channel because they're already over in that world. I mean, it makes sense, right? People show up on TV because they're inside the TV... But Yukiko-san's still here, in our world. We might want to see what this is about. Alright, let's meet up at Junes after school."

After school

"-and then the thing kept on babbling and babbling about how much of a brat Yosuke was when he moved to Inaba and-"

"O-Okay, I think that's more than enough about my sorry escapades." Yosuke cut you off.

"Oh man, You are such a loser." Jiraiya commented. Yosuke sent him a 'no-one-asked-you' look.

"If I hadn't seen the place first hand... I'd never have believed a story like that." Chie said.

"Yeah, no kidding." Yosuke said. "Anyways, we need to know what's going on inside-" He looked around. A few customers were here and the nearest ones are a couple looking at the prices.

"How? By talking to that Teddie guy?"

"Yeah. Too bad there's so many customers around... I forgot there's a sale in the electronics department today..."

"Why do people spend there time looking at bright picture boxes? I mean it is fascinating but the prices are too absurd." Izanami said.

"I got it! C'mere a sec." Yosuke said as he stood at the side of the TV. You followed. "Try sticking your hand in and calling him over. I bet that bear's wandering around the entrance anyway." He turned his head towards Chie. "Hey Chie, stand over here and make a wall with me."

"A wall?" Chie questioned. Nonetheless, she stood on the other side. You stuck your hand inside the TV and it went through. You tried waving your hand to grab Teddie's attention but you yelped and quickly recoiled your hand back. Something bit you! With bite marks clear as day!

"Wh-What's wrong!?" Yosuke yelled, worried. 

Chie shushed him. "Not so loud, you idiot!" Chie looked at your hand. "D-Dude, is that a bite mark!? Are you okay!?" You rubbed your wrist.

"I think I'm gonna die." You deadpanned.

"Eh? No you're not." Chie said.

"Was that supposed to be sarcasm? Cause that voice and face kinda does." Jiraiya said.

"Hey you! We know you're in there!" Chie half-yelled at the TV.

"Ooh Ooh, is this a game?" Teddie's voice said through the TV.

"No, it's not a game! Can you sense anyone inside their right now?" Yosuke asked.

"Who's 'anyone'? I'm a lonely little bear like always. This land feels so bear-ren..."

You sighed in annoyance at his lame pun. "Teddie, what we're asking is there anyone with you right now? Someone?"

"Like I said, this place is empty! If I keep saying it over and over again, I'll become bear-ry lonelier than before!"

"I'm gonna go warn Yukiko anyway. Since she'll be busy this weekend helping out at the inn, I doubt she'd go anywhere alone, but still..." Chie said.

"Yeah... You'll walk with her to school on Monday, right?" Yosuke said. She nodded.

"Sure. I'll go pick her up at her house."

"Maybe we'll find out more on tonight's Midnight Channel. Cross your fingers that this is all just a misunderstanding..."

"Considering what we went through and the theories tossed, I highly doubt it." You said.

Evening

"So this 'Midnight Channel' let's you see who will be tossed inside the... the..." Izanami trailed off.

"TV." You finished for her. "But that's probably just a theory. We won't know for sure until we watch it." Silence came after and it was getting kind of awkward, staring at the blank screen. You looked at the clock only to know that fifteen minutes are left until the Midnight Channel will start.

"Um... What do you think of Jiraiya?" You asked your Persona, hoping to start a conversation.

"What?"

"I said what do you think of Jiraiya."

Izanami thought for a while. "I... guess you can say he's annoying. And has no respect for women-"

"Much like the user?" You mused.

"Much like it." She agreed. "Why do you ask such a thing?"

"Just to lighten the mood." You shrugged. She didn't say anything and sat with you on the couch in silence. After what seemed like and eternity, the clock struck midnight and the TV turned on, only to present Yukiko in a pink Victorian dress decorated with roses while wearing pink gloves and a tiara. She held a microphone in her hand as she smiled at the viewers.

“Good evening! Tonight, Princess Yukiko has a big surprise." The view panned farther to show that she was in front of a huge castle lined with standing horses. "I'm gonna go score myself a hot stud! Welcome to not a dream, not a hoax, Princess Yukiko's hunt for her prince charming!" She spun around as big flashy letters with roses appeared in the background. It said "Princess Yukiko's stud-hunt! An adventure not to miss!"

"Is this... supposed to be normal...?" Izanami asked. You stayed silent as you watched Yukiko twirl around, the camera showing of her squeezing thighs and breasts. The last thing she did was she was going inside the castle. After that, the screen went blank. The two of you stayed silent for a while, processing what just happened. That is until your phone rang.

"H-Hey, did you see that!?" Cam Yosuke's voice on the other line. "That was Yukiko-san for sure! It looked like her... it even said her name! But didn't the stuff she was saying sound weird!? And it looked like she was on some low-budget TV show... Was it like this before, too?" You heard shuffling and then Jiraiya's voice was suddenly heard.

"HEY! CAN YOU HEAR ME!?" You had to recoil your hand back because of his sudden shout.

"Yes, we can, and you can just talk in a normal voice, Jiraiya. I'll just put the phone on speaker so Izanami can hear the both of you." You pressed the speaker button and the muffled voices of Yosuke and Jiraiya can be heard clearly.

"Dude, don't interrupt!"

"You just want to hear (Name)'s sweet voice."

"We're trying to discuss something important!"

"But you really weren't paying attention by how smooth (Name)'s voice is. I can't blame you. I wonder how it sounds like when in a different scenario-" Before he could ramble further, you pressed the phone button, cutting off the line.

"As much as I want to know the wonders of this device, I thank you for stopping their conversation. Somehow." Izanami said.

"Don't mention it." You put your phone back on the table as you stretched.

"Shouldn't you call them back?" At this point, you were readying your futon.

"Eh, we'll talk about it tomorrow morning." You wrapped yourself inside the comforter as you looked at Izanami laying down on the couch. "Goodnight, Izanami."

"Goodnight, (Name)."

Hanamura residence

"Great, she hung up because of you!" Yosuke said as he looked at the screen that said 'Call ended'.

"Well, just call her again. I won't interrupt." Jiraiya floated across the room with his hands folded on his stomach.

"Dude, I'd appreciate it if you don't float around my room and (Name)-san's probably asleep." The male yawned as he locked his phone. "Maybe I should take some shut eye too..." Yosuke plopped down on his bed as he stared at Jiraiya suspended on the ceiling.

"You know there was also another distraction..." The frog started. Yosuke blinked at him.

"What's Yukiko's measurements." Yosuke sat up straight, red-faced.

"Wh-What are you-!?"

"But her measurements can't compare to (Name)'s. I swear hers is probably like-two centimeters larger?"

Yosuke groaned and screamed at his pillow. "Can I please just go to sleep!?" He said through the pillow. His Persona only laughed and placed his hands behind his back.

"Alright alright. Go to sleep."

'Finally.'

"So you can dream (Name) in a nurse outfit."

‘OH, COME ON!'