#i will miss harrow. unless she shows up idk

[ceramicbird]

finished reading harrow the ninth

[bebx]

Hey there! I hope you are doing well. I don't mean to bother you again as you are gonna figure out I am the same person who asked about your unexpectedly but hopefully temporary drifting away from ST sub fandom hehe. So I decided to do my homework and see if you probably left some clues or hints regarding your hiatus from it before but unfortunately I couldn't find any unless my dumb@$$ missed it despite thorough research as if I was looking for easter eggs in a deeply layered show like ST. My search report :- It had been going well on your side even when there was a drought in HC contents but slowly it lost the 'momentum' which I feel you played a key role in wonderfully building up yourself, ironically right at the moment of D-day which honestly feels like if reality had tv drama like loopholes lol.

So all I have now is what you last said to me that you are busy with stuffs and other things like hyperfixation on a character from Harrow series { although I haven't watched it yet but based on your enthusiasm which mostly resonates with my own interest, I have added it in my watchlist :) Cuz Bingo I can't tell you how happy I was when I found you with the same sentiments as mine after watching Damsel! } plus point is you did mention how he is certainly still in your heart and you are planning to make more posts and fanfic about him in future. So I decided to wait, months passed with more tempting Henry Creel info pouring while I still kept up with *patiently waiting for my favorite Tumblr user's ST fandom era to resurface as well as coexist with her new obsession of Harrow series*, so that one hyperfixation won't have to be sacrificed for another still worthy subject of hyperfixation :) Hence it has been quite an introspective and empathetic time but now I am like "okay at least lemme just ask her how she has been and what exactly is the status", to stifle my other apprehensive thoughts forming with the passing time as well as disappearing silver lining( as there is no sign of either Henry or JCB these days at all lol apart from Jamie Bower World Domination post) out of overthinking.

I always felt your contribution to this fandom has been immensely valuable and even though others may or may not have been enough reminding you that as I can see I am probably the only anonymous seeker regarding digging this matter up, I miss you and your blogs about it. I have mostly been a lurker kind so I never interactively participated in any discussion or thread but I have always inwardly appreciated people with a good taste of art. So even if anonymously, this is a great deal to me, sharing my wish embedded in vulnerability. *nervously chuckles* Idk if this is a stretch but given how what Jamie manually allows to be displayed on his tagged section had most of your posts, tells me that he must have subconsciously felt your absence lately too. The fact that this is true tho, makes it a reasonable theory.

So now after hopefully doing a great job at explaining the deep context behind my "ask away" here are the main deal of questions xD;-

How are you, once again? (I don't want to pressurize you into rejoining it earlier than you planned according to your life and schedules uk. Besides I don't wanna interrupt your balancing of multifandom fascination.)

Is there any particular reason behind this seemingly complete "switch off mode" which you can share? ( because my Spidey senses keep feeling it's more than what it is, could be false alarm tho) Could it be potentially because Stranger Things is so addictive, it is not possible to keep a track of its updates while continuing with hyper fixating on other fandoms?

If the aforementioned fear is unfounded, then here are my other theories and questions, have you stumbled upon the TFS spoilers of any kind?

If no, are you planning to watch it LIVE soon or later? (as the canon play is gonna stick around for a long time) is this why have you been avoiding discussions as they would involve major spoiling of the experience?

Or are you planning of watching it whenever it streams on Netflix as technically it just has to one day?

Have you been weakly following any ST S5 leaks? ( as we finally got a very *greatest leak of all time* kind of leak not even exactly 24 hours ago lol) [to tell you the truth- this is exactly what triggered me to get some clarifications from you, as despite knowing that I would open your page only to be greeted by Harrow, deep down I felt maybe you would say something about it because it directly involves JCB and it's quite making waves already.]

Did you check out the VR Game released this February?

Or are you taking a complete long break for a while because once S5 release date inches closer, there is no going back from its fever for another 2-3 years anyways? haha ( ngl this is my most optimistic theory I am clinging onto)

(optional question xD) Am I seriously the only one approaching you by bringing this old buried fascination or others have felt the same way too and they express their perplexity in your inbox instead?

(anyways I will be very grateful if you respond to my plethora of mystified emotions even though I think it would secretly answer to many other lurkers like me who found a sense of kindred spirit through you but are too busy abiding by their lurking policy)

hi, I’ve been looking at this for…. a while, because… oh my 😅 I understand that it’s been so long since my Stranger Things era, and I know some of my followers follow me for my Henry / ST content. I just didn’t know my silly ST posts actually have this much impact that they stay in people’s memories even after it’s been a long time. so this ask actually brings back so many memories. and I really appreciate that you’re still sticking around. really. I had to take a moment to just sit here and stare at this ask in my inbox and go “whoa” — but it’s a good kind of whoa. I am touched that you still remember, because gosh how long has it been since my ST days!

to answer your questions, I am fine and I am doing well. thank you. I didn’t mean to “abandon” my interest. and I AM still interested in the show. I still love Henry, even though I don’t really talk about him on here anymore. it’s funny because a part of me is kind of sad that I don’t talk about him on here anymore? to tell you the truth, anon, I don’t exactly know why? I mean… sure, my blog currently focuses on something else, but I never really stop loving Henry as a character. this sounds extremely cliche, but it’s the truth. I still love him and I still think about him and those time I spent writing fics about him.

I don’t know if there’s any particular reason behind this, according to you, seemingly complete "switch off mode" on my blog. but there’s no conspiracy theory or anything, if that’s what you’re worried about? I just kind of focus my attention on something else, for the moment, but again, I still do love Henry. just because I don’t talk about him here like I used to does not mean I love him any less. rest assured. he’s still in my heart.

I haven’t stumbled upon any real TFS spoilers, but that’s probably because I don’t follow many blogs that talk about it so it rarely reaches my dashboard anyway.

and I don’t live near the place where the play takes place, so unfortunately I don’t see myself traveling there to watch it live, as life has been a little busy for me here to take that kind of vacations. but I would have loved to. if the time were right. I do look forward to streaming it when or if it becomes available on Netflix though.

I haven’t been following ST leaks much, I can’t see “weekly” because I kind of just look at them if they reach my dashboard here or my twitter’s/X’s timeline. but I don’t actively go search for it nor do I avoid it for fear of any potential spoilers either. but I did just see the leaks you talked about, and I’m actually very excited. it actually reminded me of my fic “Salvation” — I’m not sure if you’ve read it, but yeah. gosh I am genuinely very excited.

though I haven’t checked out the VR Game. I mean… I don’t really play video games so that might explain why.

and no. I’m not “taking a long break” because I think there is no going back from its fever for another 2-3 years after season 5 is released. I don’t even know why I’m “taking a break” except that my mind has just been focusing on something else, currently.

also, yes, some people have asked, and I haven’t had the chance to answer them (I’ve been meaning to, though), so this might be the answer they were looking for as well? there’s no “real reason” behind my lack of activity when it comes to ST fandom, except that I’ve been focusing my attention on something else lately, but that doesn’t mean I love the show — or especially Henry — any less. I still am a fan of the show and of Henry. and I still love Jamie with all my heart, obviously. I still keep up with him and his music and I am so incredibly proud of him as an artist and a person.

I am super excited to see Henry again when season 5 drops. I don’t know when or if my hyperfixation will come back, so I wouldn’t wish to make any promises. but what I can say for sure is that, even though it’s not exactly a hyperfixation, I still love Henry just the same. I hope I will start making lots of posts and writing fics about him again one day.

last but not least, I will always love and support Jamie in everything he does. and he will forever be my source of happiness that keeps me going when things are difficult.

I also want to thank you for reaching out. it means so very much to me. if there is any further matter you wish to talk or discuss with me about, you are very welcome to drop by my inbox anytime.

(and yes, I still love talking about Stranger Things and Henry here. anybody is more than welcome to drop by my inbox to talk to me about Henry — who knows, it might re-spark that hyperfixation within me…)

[once-upon-a-side-character]

If you're still doing this, top 5 ouat arcs and top 5 villains?

I am still doing these! I’ve just been busy over the last week (and also I take ages writing very long winded answers). These were such good asks, thank you so much anon! <3

Top 5 arcs:

1. Season 1

Maybe this will surprise people but I won’t deny that I actually really had to force myself to get through the first season of ouat. On my first watch my fave characters were Regina and Rumple (because at least they were funny and therefore entertaining) and I just wasn’t gripped by any of the rest of them. Then I finished up to season 5 (since s6 hadn’t aired) and...rewatched it. And it is was so much better on rewatch. Yes, there are still bits I don’t like about season 1 (the love triangle with snow/david/kathryn still annoys me and I will never not be furious about the graham situation and just how poorly that storyline played out.) but the rest of it? Incredible. Everything just felt so balanced and well thought through. Yes, it was still a show about fairy tale characters (specifically...disney characters) but in season 1 all their stories felt mature and considered (instead of gimmicky). The wardrobe plot? Genius. And I just love the way they set up Storybrooke as a place and how we slowly get to know who each of it’s denizens are.

2. Season 3A

Season 3A was my fave season for a long time. Why? Because it’s gooooood! Pan is fun. I like the ‘Pan is actually Rumple’s horrible dad’ plot twist. I like Rumple’s character growth in his arc. I like Neal and Henry and their interactions. I like Emma’s character growth and how she comes to a lot of realisations about herself in this arc. I like that turmoil that Snow and David are separately experiencing (David’s thing with the dreamshade and Snow feeling guilty that she feels angry about missing out on Emma’s childhood). And I like some of the new characters introduced like Tinker Bell. I just feel like there’s a lot of good and interesting character development going on in 3A and overall I really like it for that.

3. Season 2

Season 2 is just Season 1 but with a bit more emphasis on the fairy tale part...and that’s why it’s good. I love the vast range of characters that we get to see and how much fun Once has in introducing every fairy tale character they possibly can. Mulan gets her debut! I love Tiny and that he finds a family with the dwarves, Cora is a pretty fun villain and I’m glad we get to see more of Victor’s backstory as well. There are a whole host of really great episodes in this season and I really like it <3  

4. Season 4A

4A would be potentially higher on this list if it wasn’t for its pitfalls. The good parts about 4A were the Snow Queen’s arc (which did not get enough screen time) and all the bits to do with Emma’s past and childhood. Loved all of it. The issues I have with 4A stem from the frozen plot line. Now let me just say that frozen is easily one of my fave disney movies, so of COURSE I was pleased to see frozen characters. But I just wish that it had been a cameo instead of taking up the whole arc. And I also wish that they’d changed the damn costuming for the frozen characters as well. Poor Elsa being stuck in that dress for the entire arc was just heartbreaking. The whole thing felt like a cash grab and I just wanted it to be executed so much better than it was. THAT SAID I did still like it and yes I like this arc a lot overall.

5. Season 4B

This is just a FUN arc. I love the Queens of Darkness so I’ll admit that’s a big factor for me but also I love the emphasis on family in this arc. Obviously, you do have the turmoil between Emma and her parents and honestly I’m less keen on that whole plot line but on the flipside you have characters like Maleficent and her broken relationship with her daughter. Or maybe I AM just swayed by the Queens of Darkness

TOP 5 VILLAINS:

1. Jafar (OUATIW)

And yet another reason as to why OUATIW is so good... I won’t spoil too much in case there are those of you that would like to watch Wonderland and haven’t just yet, but..he’s just fabulous, I swear. Genuinely threatening and evil, but also suave and sexy, he makes for a pretty decent villain. But it’s what’s underneath it all that really pushes him to be a great villain. He has one of the most harrowing tragic childhood backstories out of any ouat character but he isn’t given a redemption arc because of it. We have a better understanding of his anger and why he did what he did. We have genuine sympathy towards his character. But it doesn’t change his status as a villain and I just think he has one of the most mature character arcs of any villain in ouat and that some of ouat’s other villains could have benefited from a similar narrative themselves.

2. Cruella de Vil

I mentioned her on my top 5 character list so I won’t ramble but she’s just FUN. I’m sure most of you have already seen that post floating around in response to the new Cruella movie, and how ouat’s Cruella backstory worked so well, and that post sums it up pretty perfectly. The show tries to make you think that a tragic backstory is going to play out...but it doesn’t. And she was just...an evil murderer that likes manipulating people and having her own way. She’s over the top and ridiculous and I never thought I would see Cruella de Vil playing angry birds on screen.  

3. Zelena Mills

Zelena! is! a! fun! villain! Idk guys, I just feel like Zelena gets a lot of hate from fandom in a way that almost none of the other villains do. Is she a terrible person? obviously, yes. But she’s so uncompromisingly evil and she has FUN while she does it and I can’t not love and respect that. I think that her villain origin story is a little weak at times (the jealousy angle is obviously a necessity but also a little overplayed at times) but overall I just love her dry humour and snarky little comments and I think she’s lots of fun.

4. Rumplestlistkin

I care a lot less about Rumple post season 3 but I will say that overall I think he’s a really enjoyable character and a fun villain. Imp!Rumple in particular is super fun (although I really like his Mr. Gold alter ego almost as much). He’s chaotic on the surface but meticulous and calculating on the inside and that makes for a thoroughly enjoyable villain. Killing him off at the end of season 3A would have been a better narrative arc for his character...but I won’t deny that I would have been sad to see him go so early on and the show wouldn’t have been the same without him.

5. Maleficent

Mal is a little different to the others on this list because actually I really like (I’m not quite sure that you can call it a redemption arc, per se, but) the sympathy her character is given. She was always a pretty neutral villain. She mostly seemed to just mind her own business unless she was provoked. And then she had her child stolen from her and I really did feel for her. She’s badass, cool and sexy and I hope she and Lily are having some nice mother-daughter bonding moments in Storybrooke or wherever they are. (Plus that suit is one of the best villain looks in the entire show).

[tartareus]

who is della? she's so hot. is she canon?

          hello, hello ! how do you do ? okay so, first lemme say YAAASSS, she's a piece of work isn't she ? i love my dramatic baby witch so much sidse babett knudsen - she's not only gorgeous but also ??? very talented ??? off to the main question, then !           i am so sorry for not having all her info up yet - truly, life has been crazy these days! either way, i will throw here some stuff that makes it plotting/rping with della rather easily.           yes, she is canon - but not from caos netflix series ! if you note, in my muses directory i have placed her under the comic books character ( alongside with edward as well, but that's another story ) due to the fact that she was originally from sabrina the teenage witch comics && later got a small role in the chilling adventures of sabrina comics.           here's the short intro about her character from the sttw comics wiki: "Della, the Spellmans' head witch. A strict, short-tempered authority figure, Della does not approve of Sabrina using magic to help others.", she's usually showing up in the early comics and plays a similar role to a high priest to be honest, however it is much more of a desk job - really.          in tcaos comics she is not present in most volumes, but she is the one responsible for sabrina's dark baptism ( which, my friend, is  A LOT different and DARKER than the show ), in fact, she is the one who conjures satan himself ( with the blood of the goat that was sacrificed by sabrina ), there are also some allusions to her and other witches being taken by the dark lord - but imma head out and def not touch in this subject at all rn lmao           now she is never known in depth by the canon source material, which is a shame considering she is, at least in the sttw comics, responsible for sabrina's witchy conduct and training too. also, she won miss hex appeal in 1962 ( which we are led to believe that is some sort of beauty/hex contest ? ), which is cool once you ignore how painfully sexualised she was in the comics.          in the original comics, she was very mean to mortals, and did not accept sabrina mingling with them unless it was to hex them - which, btw, was one of the weekly tasks she gave brina. she was also very good at teleporting, and did so often times inside the spellman household, she apparently did not mind showing up at random ass times outta the blue and scaring the living shit of sabrina lmao, she was sharp but actually cared for sabrina.      in the caos comics, however, she was very religious ( in fact, she is pretty much dressed as a satanic nun, horns and everything, and although she wears a lot more of clothes, she is still portrayed as some sort of sexy vamp but again, i am not going there ) and truly mean to sabrina - i mean, once the whole dark baptism went to shit thanks to harvey and madam satan's interference - calling her a mutt ( i hated this ) for being half mortal, and pretty much commanding the coven to hun and eat sabrina's mortal boyfriend before he had the chance to tell anyone what he had witnessed in the woods.         i gathered as much info on her as i could, and worked my way into the tv series canon - ofc there are some major differences but other than that she is pretty loyal to the source material. here are some things to be noted:

apparently she is very strong conjurer ( in the tcaos comics at least ) and a quite talented at hexing people

sabrina said she accidentaly created the twist, you know, the dance, after hexing a mortal that was dancing twist and shout

her familiar appears to be a puma ?? its actually a wild feline, idk what it is to be frank but i know it is not a normal, house pet like, familiar - its feral.

she wears a lot of capes and overdresses a lot in contrast to the other characters, in fact the only time in the comics when she wore normal clothes was when she was retiring and was wearing her nightie

she is very easily annoyed, it seems, and quite strict with everyone ( including sabrina’s aunts )

she’s also always on time “a witch in time, saves nine”

in my portrayal, though, i have given her some other things to be aware of:

she was classmates with hilda, almost flunked at bubbling had it not been for her

since they have the high priest over what originally was her work, i have kept her title but amplified it - since in the tcaos and in the sttw comics she was shown to be close ( if not an actual member of ) the witches council, i have given her a job under them, she oversees some covens around the globe and reports to the council. i hc that there are plenty of head witches for all over the world, but they all report to rome

btw i hc that the council is set mainly in rome, in a sort of vatican organization where the elders and most powerful warlocks and witches are members. they decide the stuff.

she has  a werewolf fur coat, made from a rabid werewolf that tried to kill her.

her hair was originally pitch black, but she keeps it crimson red because she likes the colour best

her relationship with zelda is rocky due to their academy years - hilda was harrowed quite badly by her own sister and this marked della

della is an orphan, and as such has no last name - well, she had one but her family was so old and into the conjuring business ( where, according to the tcaos comics one should never reveal their full name to a demon ) so that they ended up changing it a lot. she likes to make up stories about the possible heritage she has tho - so dont believe her if she claims to be descendant from merlin or from the bathory countess

she is tasked to investigate the murders and the issues in greendale, which is where i usually start my interactions

[killiansbutt]

all about teamwork (natan, 1/1)

pairing: natan words: 2500 rating: T maybe? idk. 

summary: Natalie is the queen of winding up in weird situations and joining a brawl shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. (au) 

To my dear @papalogia on the date of her birthday. Or a few days after, as the case is! ♥ 

“Hey boys what are you playing?” She asked with breathless excitement, excited to see a group of people playing an actual game. She could interrupt this more so than any of the dates happening around her. The group turn to look at her as one, in a manner eerie similar to the way a doll does in one of those horror movies that her brother used to love watching, and Natalie McAllister grinned in response. The group of men, cigarettes hanging like limp noodles from their mouths, stare at her with increasing incredulity and frustration when she leaned a hip against the bar, tilting her head at them.

“This isn’t a game, sweet cheeks, run along before our guest of honor gets here,” said one with dark brown hair and muddy eyes.

She ignored his words. It was clearly a game, she could see the cards in their hands and the wads of cash on the table. Natalie wasn’t dense enough to ignore that, it was her first trip to a bar, but that didn’t make her stupid. “How long did it take you guys to practice that? The synchronicity was impressive for everyone – well, except you,” she inclined her head to a blonde-haired man who stiffened at her words. “But that’s okay! I mean, it takes practice to do it. Do you want to try again? Let’s just do another take, okay? You can get it right that time.”

Without a word from them, Natalie turned around, marching back over to her stool. The glass sitting there was empty still, but she picked it up anyway, pretending to take a sip of the melting ice left behind. It was just coke, but the watery mess left behind made her cringe. She lowered her glass onto the bar abruptly, the loud noise drawing the gaze of the man next to her, also ignored, and made her way back to the men playing a game.

“Hey boys what are you playing?” She repeated, hands on her hips, a proud smile on her lips. As one, they turn to her perfectly with a bizarre sort of grimace on their face. Embarrassment, definitely, and she held back the urge to clap her hands. Might as well not embarrass them further. “Right, that’s so much better, definitely gave me the heebie-jeebies! Awesome job, I really think you’re getting the hang of it, especially you because the way you moved your hand like you were grabbing a weapon was an extra touch. Nicely done.”

One of them gave a disbelieving snort. “Are you an idiot, miss?”

“No?”

“You look like it.”

Natalie bit her inner cheek. “That’s rude, you know. I know that you might have some inner doubts, we all do, but it’s not polite to take it out on strangers. It won’t help you and all it does is ruin someone else’s day.”

Someone laughed – and the temperature in the bar changed at once, darkening like the men’s countenance. Their eyes were on someone behind her and Natalie felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as the weight of someone’s eyes land on her back. She shifted, spinning to face the person that caused such a visceral reaction. But there’s nothing particularly unusual about the man facing her. His dark hair was pushed back from his forehead artfully, showing off the slight point of his ears and his long, sharp looking face. In fact, the weirdest thing about him might have been his slanted, golden eyes.

Which are strange, certainly, especially when paired with such a mayhem promising smirk as the one he wore, but nothing that would make the men, rough and strong as they looked, to stiffen with something like fear. Natalie tilted her head, swiping hair behind her ear when it tried to swing into her face. “Are you the guest of honor then?” She asked curiously.

“That I would be,” he stated dryly, studying her. “Scram, kid, I have business to handle.”

Natalie grimaced. It had been awful trying to get inside; she had been stopped close to three times by someone wanting her ID. “I’m not a kid. We’re probably the same age, give or take.”

“Give or take,” he agreed.

“We’ll play later, sweet cheeks,” said one of the men, recovering. He took a hearty drink of his beer, his cheeks a little red from the booze.

Natalie made a face. “If you keep drinking like that, I won’t need to know how to play to beat you.” Before he could respond, she walked back over to her stool, slumping into the seat and waving the bartender down for another coke, regretting that she had chosen to drive herself over, but it was all for the best, really. Sooner or later, her date would show up and she had no wish to be drunk when he arrived – even if she hadn’t seen a single hair of him in close to an hour.

Traffic must be really bad or he stood her up; both of which were unpleasant to think about so she went with the very adult decision to not think about it at all.

But, of course, her distraction in deducing what the other men were doing was ruined by their guest. Maybe it was a party? Birthday, maybe? What a drab place to have it, though she felt guilty for thinking that. The bartender was an amusing man with blonde hair and blue eyes who would surely cry if she admitted to disliking the state of the place. “How come all the lights aren’t on? Do you see better in the dark?” She asked him when he set her coke in front of her, but received a frazzled look in return as his eyes darted from her to the lights and then back again before he disappeared into a room labeled Employees Only.

And there ended the only other potential person for conversation unless she chose to interrupt a date.

“WHAT DID YOU SAY?”

She jolted, drinking sloshing over her hand and down the front of her shirt, leaving a darkening stain over her left breast. A commotion began from the men at the table, she ignored it, prying her shirt away from her chest. The wet fabric stuck to her skin already, making her feel sticky and uncomfortable, and she looked along the bar top for napkins before it could stain through her shirt to the nice bra she wore underneath.

It was a lovely bra: comfortable and pretty. The best of both worlds. She didn’t want to buy a new one.

“Napkins, napkins,” she muttered, glancing around, throwing herself out of her chair enthusiastically when she spotted some on the opposite end of the bar. The chair screeched across the wooden floor and then clattered to the ground from her movement, but she didn’t notice it as she grabbed napkins and began blotting the stain with a sigh.

A man stumbled over her fallen stool, a bruise around his muddy colored eyes and she dropped the napkins to look him over. She kneeled down, careful not to touch the dirty floor with anything other than the bottom of her feet, and studied him. “Are you alright? No, don’t get up, you might have hurt something! I think Michael – that’s the bartender, he’s weird, but don’t tell him that – is in the back room, he probably has experience with bumps and bruises. He looks the type, you know? But still, you can’t move because that would aggravate any injuries.” Take that, school, she remembered some of her first aid classes. He tried to stand up, but she forced him down and held up two fingers. “Can you see how many fingers I’m holding up?”

“Sweet cheeks, let me up.”

Natalie scoffed, bumping him back down, fighting the urge to wipe her hands on her pants after touching him. That would be rude. “Hello? Did you not just hear me say you could be hurt? Look at that bruise. Man, you don’t have a concussion, do you? Memory loss is part of that, I think. Geez, I’m never going on a date again.”

“Will you just – “

“Oh, do you need a drink? Here, I have some coke left, I spilled some of it when you guys started shouting, but it might be enough.” She held out her drink, the glass quarter of the way full with some remaining ice at the bottom; not enough to really sate any thirst, but enough to hold someone over till the bartender returned from his self-imposed exile. Speaking of which, she wondered where he was and she looked around for something that would make him hide, but other than the guest of honor fighting three other people with a frown on his face, there wasn’t anything unusual.

Wait a minute.

“No, I don’t want a drink!”

Natalie lowered the drink, nodding knowingly. “Right, germs. That totally makes sense. Okay, umm, maybe they have water here. They have to, how else would they wash the dishes? Not that you’ll want to drink dish water, that would be kind of gross and that would have way more germs than my drink,” she admitted, finishing off her drink instead and putting it on the bar. No use letting it waste and she stood up, brushing her hands on her pants now that she had the excuse for it.

The man shot to his feet though, darting into the fray between the other men. It was four against one and though the guest of honor was holding his own rather well, she could see the muddy eyed man aiming for a shot at his unprotected back. More than that though, the muddy eyed man was limping. “Hey, wait, you can’t move!” She called, flinging herself into the mayhem with them.

It was a harrowing few minutes that could have lasted hours in which Natalie jerked the muddy eyed man away from the battle, got elbowed in the face by one of his friends, tripped one of his other friends, and managed to throw-off another man’s balance by stepping hard on his toes in her effort to escape. Muddy-eyed man had turned into an enemy the instant he came back, nearly choking her when he tried to fling her away from them by the collar of her shirt as though Natalie had been purposely making a nuisance of herself.

The only one who stayed unscathed from her specifically was the guest of honor himself, who had adjusted to her involvement easily enough and weaved around her, using her distractions rather well to fight back. At last, it was just her and the guest of honor standing, the rest winded or unconscious on the ground.

“Lucifer, can you not drag my only nice customers into this?” asked Michael the bartender with a rather suspiciously timed arrival. Natalie narrowed her eyes at him, but stopped because squinting made her head hurt.

The guest of honor shrugged. “She joined of her own volition.”

“What type of name is Lucifer?” She interrupted before Michael could reply.

“My father had a funny sense of humor,” Lucifer replied, facing her while Michael grumbled and went about to reassuring his other customers that the fun was over. “Out of curiosity, did you join the fight out of boredom or civil obligation?”

“Civil what now? No, I just saw him trip over a stool and thought he shouldn’t be walking on it.” Natalie tried not to look at the stool in question if only so they wouldn’t realize it was hers. Somehow, the way his eyes flickered to it and the ever-present smirk on his lips spread told her that he knew. She picked up a discarded napkin, one of the clean ones, and passed it over to him. “Your lip is bleeding. I guess one of them got a shot in, huh? Three on one is rather cheat worthy, don’t you think?”

He studied it disinterestedly for a second, but she waved it till he conceded to accepting it, rolling his eyes. “Only way it would have been a fair fight. It was also four on two, I might add. Though your… fighting style left a lot to be desired,” he replied, leaning against the bar, the napkin scrunched in his hand. She stared pointedly at it till he brought it to his lip with a frown.

His speaking had only made the cut on his upper lip worse, frankly. Maybe he would need stitches. What an awkward place, would he be able to eat normally? It would be a shame to live off smoothies and shakes – scratch that, it sounded awesome, but not necessarily something that would be sustainable for a long while.  

“It wasn’t a style. I was trying to stop him – and then I was trying to escape, but he didn’t like being stopped, I guess, because he kept pulling me back into it.” She reached up to scratch her face, but he caught her fingers, pulling them away and pressed her glass with its half-melted ice against her cheek. Though the coolness made her sigh and eased some of the throbbing on her cheek, she blinked owlishly at him. “Umm.”

“Tch, if you’re going to hop into battles, you should at least learn to block a hit. A two-year-old could do a better job,” he complained, his words muffled a little by the napkin. She heard it clearly enough, if only because he stood rather close to her, holding the glass against her face gently.

“A two-year-old wouldn’t be in this fight to begin with so that’s a moot point.”  

“I’ve seen some impressive two-year-olds who would.”

“Are you part of some illegal child fighting ring then?” She asked suspiciously, gaze darting between him and the men. “Did you bring one of their children into this? Did I just become an accomplice? I’m really too young to be in prison.”

“They decided to stick their noses in where it didn’t belong and I wanted to take care of it personally.”

Natalie licked her lips, not sure how to respond to his words, before settling on her first instinct. “That’s really ominous and not at all reassuring.”

Her words pleased him. “Good, I aim to please. But, no, it wasn’t illegal aside from the obvious fighting, but that’s hardly going to be an issue.”

“I’m not going to ask. Plausible deniability and all.” Her brother had taught her about saying that in strange situations – if only because she seemed to end up in them a lot. Natalie’s fingers brushed his when she took the glass and she smiled softly. Even if he was – possibly – a jerk who beat up random strangers in bars, he did seem sweet. Ish. Somewhere inside. Maybe.

“Probably for the best.”

“I’m Natalie,” she added, realizing it was time for them to part ways. Her date was a bust in that department, but after studying him a moment, she couldn’t say it was a complete waste. “I’d say I hope to see you again, but I think I’d be lying. I don’t like getting into fights.”

“Fights often follow me,” he admitted slowly, thoughtfully. “I owe you thanks then, Natalie, I’ll be sure not to drag you into a fight if we cross paths again.”

She grinned despite the ache in her face as he walked away.

Yeah, he was kind of funny and maybe a little sweet.

Suspicious as hell, though, she thought as he approached Michael.

Yeah, no, she wasn’t going to involve herself in that particular mystery.