#it takes her a moment before shaking off an encounter with rio

[isagrimorie]

Agatha All Along 1x01 - "Agent" Vidal and Detective "Agnes'" First scene together - Pt 1, 2, 3, 4

"I don't want you here." "Te Veo."

[we-are-all-stories-in-the-end]

The Day Death Met Her Equal

(Agatha/Rio fic)

When Rio entered the small wooden cabin, she instantly knew that this job would be an easy one. Looking around the sparse room she squinted in the semi-darkness taking in the tiny hearth with the ambers barely glowing, the drying herbs hanging from the ceiling, the little basket with needle work in the corner, and the old woman sleeping peacefully in the bed in the corner. A simple life, but well lived. She liked encounters like this, the ones who went so willingly. She had chosen a young woman's appearance, a nice face, a kind face. It made the journey so much easier. She had learned a long time ago that her true self caused more fear than necessary, and she adjusted.

Not that she didn't bring it out from time to time, usually for the men, the ones who she would have loved to take sooner if she was allowed to. The ones who were horrible until the very end, who didn't deserve the life they had been given. Or just the ones who thought themselves so clever that they could somehow talk their way out of death. They annoyed her, so they got the full experience, a face that demanded respect.

Taking slow steps towards the bed in the corner, Rio suddenly stopped. Next to the old woman, a girl had drawn up a chair and fallen asleep, her face resting on the edge of the bed, her body hunched over, her features barely visible under her wild hair. Hesitating for a moment, Rio thought about returning later. But the time had come and the girl was fast asleep.

Stepping around the sleeping girl, Rio lightly touched the old woman's hand.

"It's time to go." Rio whispered.

The old woman opened her eyes and smiled.

"I've been waiting for you."

Taking her hand she led the woman to the other side of the cabin where she had opened up the portal for her to go through. Just like she had hoped, an easy, calm one. No bargaining, no holding on. Just peaceful acceptance. If only they all were like that.

Looking back at the sleeping girl, she lingered in the room. Tilting her head to the side, she couldn't quite tell why, but something about her was keeping her, drawing her in. Maybe her time was up soon, too. Rio couldn’t always predict the exact moment, and humans died at all ages, especially these days. Looking at her sleeping body, she watched her soft face, counting her breaths. No, this girl was nowhere near her end. If anything, she radiated too much life, too much energy. Something bigger than her seemingly fragile frame. I won't be seeing you for a long, long time, Rio thought to herself with a smile.

With one last look at the girl, she turned to leave when a sudden scraping sound made her jump.

"Who are you?"

Turning back slowly, Rio faced the now very much awake girl standing in front of her but didn't answer.

"You're a witch." the girl said.

Rio nodded.

"I haven't seen you around here before."

"I'm not from around here."

The girl crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared at Rio. Her whole body seemed to be ready to fight, like a reflex. Like a caged animal making herself bigger. Her piercing eyes studied Rio and then landed on the pathway still open behind her.

"Oh." the girl said softly.

Rio nodded again slowly.

"You came for..." The girl trailed off.

Suddenly her attention was back on the old woman. Leaning down she touched her now cold hand, and Rio watched a thousand thoughts wash over her face as she sat back down in the chair. A few silent tears ran down the girls face as she stared blankly ahead.

"You're not what I imagined you'd look like." she said finally.

"I have many faces," Rio replied matter of fact.

"I like this one," the girl said looking at her and Rio couldn't help but smile.

"Where did you take her?" The girl asked after a moment of silence.

"That, I can't tell you." Rio replied, shaking her head.

"She wasn't one of us, she had no power. But I liked her. We're not supposed to leave the coven, definitely not supposed to mingle with non-magick people. But she was always nice to me." The girl shrugged and wiped her face. "Not a lot of people are nice to me. She was nice."

"I'm sorry," Rio said although she had no idea how the girl felt.

Life and death to her were a cycle, the natural order of things. To Rio both were the same, two sides of one coin, she didn't know what grief felt like.

"I'm Agatha by the way," the girl said standing up and taking a step forwards.

"You are not scared." Rio said tilting her head again.

"Why would I be? You came for Mrs Miller, not me. And you... don't seem scary."

Rio laughed. This girl was unlike anyone she had met, and she had met a lot of people. Rio was deeply fascinated. She had been the moment she had laid eyes on her, but the longer she spent in her presence, the stronger her hold on Rio seemed to be. Staring into her inquisitive eyes, time seemed to stop, and the earth seemed to slow down around them.

"I must go." Rio said, remembering herself.

Turning towards the portal, she hesitated a moment.

"Will I see you again?" Agatha asked behind her.

Looking over her shoulder, Rio smiled at the girl.

"Of course you will. Everyone does."

"Oh, no, I meant... before then."

But Rio didn't reply. Still smiling, she turned and stepped through the portal, disappearing in the mist.

[inriospocket]

last request for now i promise! i love the idea of y/n as rio’s girlfriend meeting his family for the first time officially as his girl after he feels like she’s the one. she encounters nick and he ends up asking rio if she could be his plus at a charity benefit and rio’s just like “nah.” and then nick says “always taking what i want” which is what i think he says in the scene while they’re eating in the bar? SO NOW as the family trying

*ask continued* to eat, make small talk, and find out how in the hell rio could have landed home girl, he’s hella protectively jealous now especially since his girl and brother/cousin whatever tf is having a charming conversation and rio’s just seething 🙃. also the idea of this moment seeping into a few days of rio only being cordial with her and keeping her at bay /being assertive to her @ work intrigues me especially if either nick stops by their shared home since he knows it’ll get on rio nerves/or he catches y/n trying out dresses with the notion of attending this event with nick bc she doesn’t underdtand the big deal (+she likes when rio’s possessive but obvi not like this?) and rio’s mad mad but not at her😅. feel free to do whatever you’d like with this. it mostly sounds like angst and possessiveness so can you mush everything together if it’s easier for you.

-

❀❤ enjoy!!

word count ♡ 1,237

summary ♡ Rio finally takes reader to meet his family but tensions rise as Nick invites reader to a charity benefit.

warnings: possessiveness, aggressive behavior, fighting

situation ♡ angsty

-

You could already see how tight-knit his family was when you and Rio both walked into his grandma’s house. So much laughter and shared conversations. It eased your nervousness until they started staring once you walked in.

You started to feel a bit insecure but Rio knew they were just staring at how beautiful you were. As cocky as he was, even a little part of him wondered how he got you.

“Close your mouths before flies get in!” You heard an older woman coming from the kitchen. You saw the resemblance between her and Rio and figured this was his grandma.

You smiled when she first came up to Rio and kissed his cheek before hugging you next. “You must be Y/N. It’s so nice to meet you, carino.”She smiled.

“Likewise.” You hugged her back.

Before sitting down for dinner, Rio introduced you to everyone individually, letting you get comfortable.

You started to connect all the characteristics that Rio had to his family. There was a lot of subtle influences but you finally figured out why Rio was the way he was.

Nick.

“You’re not going to introduce me?” Nick asked Rio, smiling towards you. You could feel the tension coming from Rio.

“Y/N, Nick. My cousin.” He said, reaching for the bowl with the rice.

“Brother.” He corrected, giving him a cold stare.

“Cousin.” Rio corrected again, dumping a ladle full of rice on your plate.

“Nice to meet you.” You said, trying to ignore the quiet battle between the two.

You continued answering questions that everyone had for you. What you did, where you met, etcetera.

“Oh, you’re a councilman.” You said to Nick after he was discussing a city issue that no one could seem to solve.

“I am.” He said, noticing your intrigue. You started to engage yourself in the conversation, giving pointers on the issue that no one had thought of yet.

Rio was proud that you had so much knowledge and insight about every topic but he knew Nick and this conversation made him seethe. He hated that everything he had, whoever he had, Nick always wanted it.

“I like this one, Rio,” Nick laughed.

Rio narrowed his eyes at him. “Yeah, I do too.” He said and you could feel the tension rising again.

“Say, Y/N. There’s a charity benefit next weekend. Why don’t you come?” Nick asked. He was charming, you noticed. Too charming and you realized that there was an underlying evil lurking.

“Oh, um...” You didn’t know what to say. You were so taken aback that he would make a subtle pass at you in front of Rio.

“Always want what I have, huh?” Rio pursed his lips. You saw Rio’s grandma shake her head subtly.

“Always get it too.” Nick smiled.

The next couple of days following and you noticed Rio distancing himself from you but also being unusually possessive.

“Rio, it’s just a benefit. Your grandma even asked if we were going to be there.” You said, placing the call on speaker while you tried on another dress.

“I’m not going to that shit and you aren’t either.” He said, his tone letting you know how serious he was.

You rolled your eyes. “What’s up with you? Your grandma’s expecting us so we’re going Rio.” You said showing him that you can be serious.

“I’m not going to say it again.” He said, getting more upset.

“You’re not my dad, Rio.” You shook your head as he laughed in response.

“That’s not what you were saying the other night.” You could hear his smirk through the phone and kissed your teeth.

“I’ll see you when you get home.” You said before ending the call.

You examined the dress in the mirror and decided to just take it off but before you could, you heard a knock at the door.

You hurried to open it and was taken aback to see Nick standing there. He made a quick glance at the way the dress hugged you before you said something.

“What are you doing here?” You asked.

You noticed how Rio’s smirk was not just a him thing. It ran in the family and also meant that Nick was up to no good.

“Just picking up a package.” He said as he invited himself in, scanning the room around you.

“Oh, well Rio isn’t home right now.” You said, closing the door behind him.

He didn’t seem to mind waiting and you started to wonder what his ulterior motive was. “Oh, the issue we were discussing the other night. What you said surprisingly worked.” He told you.

You smiled proudly and you were just about to say something before you heard the door open indicating Rio was home.

You felt the tension in the room similar to the other day. Rio hid it as much as he could but he wanted so badly to put his hands on Nick. His house, his girlfriend. Everything sacred to him belonged here and Nick still found a way to weasel in.

You told Rio he was here to pick up a package.

“I told you I would give it to you myself." Rio said, dropping his keys. “Well, I was in the neighborhood.” He smiled.

"Your business is on the other side of town.” He said, not buying his story. “Like I said, I’ll give you the package.” He said, emphasizing that it was time for him to go.

Nick laughed to himself and walked to the door to leave. He turned towards you.

“You should go with the red.” He said, hinting towards one of the dresses you tried on. You already saw it coming but you were too far away to stop it.

You flinched once you saw the punch landing on Nick’s jaw.

“Rio!” You called before Nick threw a punch back near his eye. You contemplated how you were going to try to stop their fighting.

You knew it was a possibility of you getting hurt but you tried your best to put your body between them to stop their fists.

“Stop now! Stop!” You yelled, trying to push Rio away. Luckily, they had enough self-control to make sure they wouldn’t hit you and stopped.

“Nick, leave.” You told him. He shook his head while holding his jaw.

“You’re gonna regret that.” He said once more before he left for good.

You pushed Rio, visibly upset with him. “What’s wrong with you?!” You yelled again.

“Y/N, Nick is not trying to hear your opinions on gun control. Dude’s showing up to my crib knowing I’m not home, trying to get you to some charity benefit because he wants you.” He explained, wincing at the soreness in his face.

“I don’t see the big deal.” You said and walked to the freezer to get an ice pack.

“I know you ain’t slow, Y/N.” He said feeling like you weren’t even listening.

You walked back over to him and held the ice to his face, holding it there. “I don’t see how it’s a big deal when you and I both know he can’t have me. You’re so wrapped up in your head that you don’t even realize he’s already succeeding in pissing you off.” You said.

You could see Rio’s defeat. “Yeah, exactly. Look at you.” You rolled your eyes at his blackening eye.

“Sounds like you might be the slow one, dumbass.” You laughed.

[hypmic-info]

ARB Prologue Part 2: Introductions

The second part of the ARB Prologue introduces the main cast. This generally deals with the groups bickering among themselves, as well as introducing their styles at the end. Please click the read more to venture on!

VIEW PART 1 HERE 

[ FOOTSTEPS APPROACH ]

SAMATOKI What? Is there something wrong with my eyes? I'm seeing that bastard Ichiro over there.

ICHIRO Samatoki...!!

SAMATOKI That’s Samatoki-san, to you. Bastard.

JYUTO Wait, Samatoki We’re deep in Chuo. Try not to make a fuss. You’ll be eliminated before the match even starts.

SAMATOKI Shut up, damn bunny cop. When’d you turn from a vicious police officer into a fortune teller? Ya change jobs?

JYUTO You don’t need divine powers or clarivoyance to know that. Listen to my advice, Samatoki. If you cause a problem here and are disqualified, your hatred for Ichiro will have to wait another year. Anyways, if you act up here, you’ll only cause trouble for yourself.

SABURO Tch. If it was my way, these lot wouldn’t have to bother Ichi-nii That glasses guy... Making extra work for us.

RIO Oi, wait. Samatoki, Jyuto. You two seem to be in high spirits before the game. In such a case, I have this snake drink...

SAMATOKI Ah-.... R-Rio. I’m good, thanks. Oi, Jyuto. You should have some since Rio recommends it for ya. Drink up.

JYUTO

Ngh...!

RIO Is that so. Then, Jyuto, have Samatoki’s too

JYUTO No, it’s u-uh alright. Actually, I’m allergic to snakes...

ICHIRO What's this? Samatoki’s having trouble with his team?

SABURO Let’s leave them be, Ichi-nii They’re simply the same as Jiro - they’re bird brains that forget whatever’s happened even a second ago. They forgot that they were even talking to you, Ichi-nii

JIRO Saburo...! You don’t have to start bad mouthing me! You should only be dissing those guys!

SABURO I just called it how it is. Though, you really are just the best at getting angry, huh?

ICHIRO God, you guys...

JAKURAI ...Oh. It seems that today’s participants are all gathering here.

[ FOOTSTEPS: MATENROU ENTERS]

ICHIRO Jakurai-san!

JAKURAI It’s been a while, Ichiro-kun. You seem well.

HIFUMI Are you a friend of sensei’s?

DOPPO Look closely, Hifumi. Everyone’s gathered here is a contestant.

HIFUMI Hm? Ah. So it’s like that. It was rude of me not to greet them.

DOPPO Greeting them... Is it okay to be so flippant when they were just fighting now?

HIFUMI Doppo-kun. Greeting your opponent properly is important when we’ll be fighting soon. If you don’t even say hello, how are you supposed to give it your all in the future battle!

DOPPO Ugh... What a stressful situation... I’m such an awful man that I can’t even say hello... Nevertheless, this is my duty... It wouldn’t be surprising if you thought that I should quite because I’m not suited for this. So why does my balding manager always put up with me? I should just quit... I could quit already... I want to say so already... Ah, that’s why. It must be cause of that.... I’m full indebted to my company... Hahaha...I work so hard for the livelihood of the company...

[ DOPPO STARTS SHAKING ]

DOPPO It's because I'm insane... because I’m gloomy... because I’m miserable... I am I am I am I am .....

HIFUMI Doppo! You’re not the kind of person you think are! Even if you couldn’t greet them, my friendship with you will never change!

JYUTO With all that noise, it must be Kannonzaka... and Izanami.

SAMATOKI Well, with Sensei  around, things are always interesting. Well, those two are at least. Though, how the hell did an office worker, a host, and a doctor wind up together?

JYUTO The fact that they’ve come this far shows the skill of their rap... but it’s certainly an interesting combination.

RIO Hifumi Izanami and Doppo Kannonzaka are Jakurai Jinguji’s swords after all. Judging them by only their appearance and occupations is dangerous.

JAKURAI I look forward to a good match. I want you to see the strength of Shinjuku Division... ‘Matenrou’.

ICHIRO I’ll prove to you sensei that my ‘Buster Bros!!!’ are the strongest.

JAKURAI I’m looking forward to it. Seeing Ichiro’s determination, I’m sure this will be more interesting.

ICHIRO Look’s like sensei’s all fired up. With this battle, things are about to get crazy. There’s no backing down now.

??? Ah! Over here, here! Ichiro~~!

[ RUNNING: RAMUDA APPEARS AND HUGS ICHIRO ]

ICHIRO Uwah... You- Ramuda!

RAMUDA It’s been a long time Ichiro! I’m so glad to see you ★ ...ha... Jakurai’s here too.

JAKURAI ...Ramuda-kun. Did you say something?

RAMUDA It’s nothing ~~ ! It’s just that I don’t think I feel well after seeing your face~ ★

JAKURAI It’s useless trying to anger me.

RAMUDA

...Hmph.

GENTARO Oya oya. What’s this? It seems that we’ve already started on each other before the battle. But was this not inevitable?... All of us gathered together by fate, such is it’s unavoidable flow

DICE I have no idea what you’re saying Gentaro.

GENTARO It is but an observation of humans. It’s clear to me that some deep, dark secret lies between the two of them. Don’t you think so too, Dice?

DICE Right. I wouldn’t know. Whatever’s going on in their relationship is between them. We’ll be opponents in the upcoming match. It’s fine for them to have at it now.

GENTARO Well, you do have a point.

ICHIRO Oi, Ramuda. Give it a rest already.

RAMUDA Eh ~ That’s mean, Ichiro! Backing up Jakurai, but also scolding me! Boo hoo...

ICHIRO I'm not scolding you. But it doesn’t make sense to be wasting time here.

RAMUDA Well, it can't be helped. I just really despise Jakurai★

JAKURAI Ichiro, he doesn’t bother me.

RAMUDA Well well! Jakurai, you’re just really annoying★

MC CHOICE

A: All the teams are here...!

They have won their battles up until now with overwhelming lyrics and sophisticated rhymes. These four amazing divisions...　Everyone is here.　

The three brothers that are distinctly characterised by their co-ordination, producing clever words and expressing the eldest brother’s ideas with superior rhymes - Buster Bros!!!. The crazy yakuza group that controls the Yokohama area as both champions of justice and malice, destroying other teams with their fighting spirit the moment they’re faced with their lyrics - MAD TRIGGER CREW. Their many fans adore them due to their distinct characteristics of performances, overflowing with a pop-style charm and provoking their opponents - Fling Posse. Their mysterious atmosphere and unique rhythm attracts others with an outstanding flow. Representing Shinjuku, the city that never sleeps - Matenrou. These four teams will participate in the semi-finals for the Alternative Rap Battle.

ANNOUNCER The rap battles will commence in 30 minutes. Please may those who have completed admission procedures sit down as soon as possible.

ICHIRO ...It’s time.

MC NARRATION And eventually, everyone assembled here would come to know... that this day's encounter was the beginning of it all.

— — — — — — — — — — 

And that’s the prologue! The plots all start to branch off in their respective division stories, so we’ll get to translating those soon. Mod Thia will be taking her time though, since all her deadlines are approaching!

I had some help in the last sections from @/slugtranslation-hypmic - go follow them for manga translations!

[corpse--diem]

Cat Call | Kaden & Erin

TIMING: Current? PARTIES: @chasseurdeloup & @corpse–diem SUMMARY: Erin goes to pick up Betty at the shelter and has a brief but interesting run-in with one animal control office. 

Erin was out the door before she even hung up with the woman on the other end of the phone call. For all of the godforsaken things that had happened in the past few weeks, one good thing had finally fucking happened. They’d found Betty. Alive, unharmed, and ready to come home. Never in her life would Erin have pictured herself speeding through town for a cat. Here she was regardless, a drumming in her chest and the biggest, hopeful smile on her face as she burst into the animal shelter. “Hi!” she started, unintentionally cutting off the receptionist she’d just spoken with before she could greet Erin in turn. “I’m here for Betty? Nichols? Erin Nichols. We were just on the phone?” The woman laughed as Erin fumbled for identification. Once she was satisfied, she grinned, Erin’s excitement more than contagious. No doubt that this was probably one of the better parts of this job. Most were lost, but some actually found their way back home.

“Betty’s just in the back. Give me just one second,” the older woman assured her. The barking grew louder as she disappeared into the back and Erin tapped her fingers anxiously against the counter. The door reopened just a few moments later and she stood straight, a smile that practically showed all of her teeth until--

“...Kaden?”

It wasn’t unusual for Kaden to be in and out of the shelter multiple times a day. Picking up strays, dropping them off, for one. And sometimes he just liked stopping by, checking in. And very occasionally, he would get a hopeful call that a lost pet was found. It almost never turned out well. Not in this town. There were usually a few he was keeping an eye out for, certain cases he was following. Usually it was for the children he had to encounter. In this case, it was for a brown and white cat. Betty. He’d asked to be called second if a cat matching her description showed up. He had driven over to confirm, maybe tell Erin if she didn’t already know.

So he wasn’t entirely shocked to see her there, eager and excited. But she sure seemed shocked to see him. “Erin,” he greeted her. Not sure why she was surprised. He kind of worked there. “You know I’m here all the time. I know you do. Considering…” Considering they’d shared brain space a few weeks ago. He didn’t miss that. At all. Odd, guess they hadn’t run into each other in person since that happened. And since she went to jail. Or since she nearly got Blanche and Rio killed. And did get Sarge killed.

Why was he helping her get her cat back again? He sighed. There was no reason to think she was a bad pet owner. He had been in her head after all. There was a lot that he’d found there that he disliked. But there was no trace of animal cruelty or even negligence. And animals did bond to people. Keeping them in their homes was usually for the best. “Heard Betty was found. Congrats.” Putain, it was so awkward. He had no idea what to say or do in this situation. “Is someone getting her or do you need help?”

“Right, of course. I did know that,” Erin said quickly. She didn’t know why she’d been surprised either. Then again, it wasn’t as if the Frenchman she was uncomfortably well-acquainted with had been at the top of her mind. It’d been a mad dash out the door, relief and excitement and Betty trumping most other rational thoughts. The longer she stood here, the quicker they trickled back in. She shifted uncomfortably in place, a thick tension buzzing in the air that nearly rivaled the hum of bad overhead lighting. “I’m good. Someone’s getting her.” She paused, uncertainty and a dash of reluctance stifling her. “Thank you again for helping, or looking out anyway. You didn’t have to but you did, and I appreciate it. Really. So, just--uh, yeah. Thank you.” It was a clumsy apology, nerves she didn’t know what to do with fumbling her words, but it was a sincere one nonetheless.

Silence filled the room again. What was taking so long? Not that she had any desire to pop back into his brain ever again but she would have wagered this was just as weird for him. The guy probably hated her, and even if she tended to disagree with him on most things, she couldn’t blame him for his contempt. Not after the fire. “We don’t have to make this a whole thing, right?” She hushed her voice, glancing at the door. “I’ll just get Betty, go, and we can keep our ways thoroughly parted. Forever, if we can help it.”

Kaden wasn’t sure if he should stay or leave. Some strange social conventions seemed to be keeping him in place, though he was sure there was no written rule for this sort of moment. He could just as easily leave and go about his job. But he didn’t. Because he was stupid. “Don’t mention it. I mean it’s sort of my job,” he said with a small shrug. “Plus, it’s better for the animal if they remain with the same owner. Some sense of stability.” There was enough of Erin that was moderately likeable that he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt that she could provide something stable enough to keep her cat. At the same time, looking at her, all he could picture was flames, Blanche’s burns, what he’d guessed the remains of Roland Hills looked like in his nightmares. It was hard to reconcile how to feel about her.

He drummed his fist against the counter, looking away from her and was about to leave, go back to work, when he caught the pointed glance that Allison, the shelter worker at the desk, gave him. His brow creased. “What is it?” he asked her. “Nothing,” she started, going back to shuffling papers for a full half second before turning back to them. “But maybe save your argument with your ex for someplace private. That’s all,” she added with a coy smile.

His ex? What ex? No one was here other than Er-- Oh. Oh. She thought… “I don’t-- We’re not-- I never dated her. Ever. At all. If that’s what you’re--” Allison held her hands up and made a face that looked like something Blanche would do that indicated how fucking little she believed him. “It’s not what you think it--” Kaden’s mouth pulled into a thin line, finally realizing this was a hole he wasn’t digging himself out of anytime soon. He pinched the bridge of his nose. Great. This wasn’t already awkward as shit. “Where the hell is Linda with your cat?”

To say Erin was anxious to get her arms around her much too long missing furball and hightail it out there was the understatement of the century. Some sense of stability. She was sure that wasn’t a well-disguised jab, given the sincerity in Kaden’s tone, but it dug at her all the same. Stability. Her teeth clenched down, forcing yet another tight-lipped smile. Just be nice. You only have to be nice for a few more minutes. “Don’t worry - I spoil her rotten. I’m sure she’s eager to get back to her ultra cozy lifestyle,” Erin assured him, a gentler smile replacing it. For a moment, anyway.

“Oh, God. No, no. No--” she insisted, joining in Kaden’s chorus of stern declines, despite the awkward laugh that fell from her. “That’s--no,” she adamantly emphasized the ‘no’ heavily again, shaking her head. Still, she narrowed her eyes in Kaden’s direction with unearned indignation, tilting her head, then turned pointedly to the receptionist. “I’m just… not really his type, you know? I think it was because I talk just too damn much. Guy likes his silence. Kind of a black and white issue with him, but,” she shrugged. “Can’t fault a guy for knowing what he likes. Right?” The woman tried to stifle her laughter, eyes growing a little wide as Erin smirked smugly at Kaden’s direction again. Petty? Yes. Did she regret it? Not yet. One last little dig for the road didn’t hurt.

“Here she is!” The voice pulled her attention back to the door. Erin saw the disheveled, dirty fur poking out from Linda’s arms, and just like that, everyone else in the room vanished. Her eyes burned with the threat of tears, the relief and joy melting every ounce of composure. Yep. The second she was in her arms, she was babbling like every embarrassing pet owner she’d ever seen as the tears streaked her cheeks. Oh God, this was embarrassing. God, she know it. Did she care? Not one bit. “Oh, my sweet girl,” she cooed, brushing back some of the matted hair on top of her head before burying her face into the soft fur, unable to lift her eyes to the three employees watching their reunion. “Thank you, thank you, thank you,” she mumbled, trying not to squeeze her too tightly.

Kaden was relieved that for once, him and Erin were on the same page about something as she explained to Allison that no, they weren’t dating and never had been. But his brow furrowed as she continued. Yeah, okay she wasn’t really his type since she was a criminal but he wasn’t sure where she was going with thi-- She had to be fucking kidding. The confusions on his face shifted to annoyance. “Pretty sure that’s not it. I’m into screamers, really.” It would almost be funny if his hearing wasn’t still a little muffled from that boat ride with Regan and Savannah. “And come on, if I was into black and white stripes, you would have been a perfect candidate, Erin.” Allison didn’t exactly seem convinced by their snipping that they’d never dated. Kaden didn’t care just then. He wanted to get the last dig in. “Ah, nevermind, that’s right. They wear orange now, right?” The receptionist's face was scrunched up as she tried to put together the pieces of the conversation and it was clear she was still coming up short.

“Kaden are you into that big orange mascot thing? You know from Philadelphia I think. Is that what you’re saying?” Allison asked him, clearly concerned and a little distrubed.

“Huh? No! A mascot? What the fuck are you-- I was saying she’s a crimin--” He stopped just short of finishing his sentence. Shit, if Allison thought Erin was a convicted criminal, she might not give Erin back the cat. Putain. “I mean, not really. Never mind. Just a joke. We still never dated so stop looking at me like that.” Allison backed off and went back to shuffling her papers just as Betty was brought out. He’d never been happier to see a fucking cat and it wasn’t even his. As much as he wasn’t Erin’s biggest fan, seeing the reunion between her and her pet was worth it. The corner of his mouth pulled into a smile as he watched her hug her cat. He caught a glance from Allison and saw her waggle her brows. The look he shot back was no longer smiling. “Glad you two are reunited. I mean it,” he said offering Erin a small smile and a nod before going back to work.

Erin couldn’t help the chuckle that followed when his coworker hopped on board, or even the shocked one that followed the ‘screamer’ bit. Really? Her eyebrows rose unbelievably but decided that she could let that one slide. Seemed like Allison was getting as much enjoyment out of this as she was. Prodding the grumbly bear must have been more than a few of his coworkers favorite pastimes. No wonder he was grumpy. “You’re right,” she gestured towards Kaden, seemingly giving in. “You just need a lot more than I can provide. I’m big enough to admit that,” she smirked over in Kaden’s direction.

It was all fun and games until the word criminal nearly left Kaden’s lips. Her eyes shot wide open while he backtracked, and thank God she’d been preoccupied with Betty’s return otherwise the jabs would have come less jokingly than before. But once Betty was in her arms, there was nothing that Kaden could say to inspire any real rebuttal, joking or not. One good thing--she’d just wanted one good thing and she finally had it. She needed a bath and a thorough brushing but she figured that was a fair tradeoff. Glanced up long enough to see the soft smile on Kaden’s face before he gruffly brushed it away. Nodded in return before Kaden walked off, a sincere smile of her own finding her lips, before it was finally time to take Betty home.

[inspirationdivine]

Weight of the Word || Lydia and Rio

Timing: Current Parties: @3starsquinn and @inspirationdivine Summary: Lydia and Rio encounter an Aufhocker. Athena’s “Orion no!” senses are definitely tingling.  Warnings: very brief abuse mention (Quinn parents)

Lydia hadn’t returned to the park since she’d come across the body with Morgan. In fact, as she stood as the entrance, she shivered as if ice was trickling down her spine. Maybe not the park, no matter how beautiful the sun was. What about a deeper thicket of trees? Where there was a smaller chance of finding a dead corpse because there was a smaller chance of finding anyone, while still getting that fresh summer air. She shoved her hand into her purse, to feel the cool reassuring ivory of her gun’s handle safely tucked in there. Not much help against a warden, but spellcasters died much the same way anyone else did. All the same, even as she walked through the forest, she could feel herself failing to relax, even in the light of nature’s beauty.  When she heard some leaves rustle, she almost jumped right out of her glamour, pistol drawn in a moment. “Who’s there?”

Against his better judgement, Orion found himself floating throughout the trees still. He had tried staying away. The incident with the trolls had really done a number on him. One that he still wasn’t sure how to process. People like Winston and Ricky helped. Self defense was a good argument, and life or death made it sound even more reasonable. But he still couldn’t shake that feeling. That what if? If only he could have done something else. But it didn’t matter. The Scribe headquarters meant that a walk through the woods was unavoidable. Plus, he had spent so much of his life walking through the town that he had learned the quickest way around it was through the forest. That didn’t stop his heart from plummeting when he heard the rustling in the woods. He froze on the spot, refusing to even breathe on the off chance that he had run into any danger. He didn’t relax until he heard a woman’s voice and sighed in relief, slowly walking out from behind a tree and speaking loud enough for the woman to hear without trying to sound like he was being intimidating. Not that Rio even knew how to be intimidating. “It’s me. I mean just me. Rio. Rio is me.” Rio introduced himself, realizing that saying that it was him didn’t give much information to the lady, “Don’t worry I’m not here t-” His sentence was cut off when he finally caught side of the woman, gun drawn and pointed directly at him. The panic returned in an instant, and Rio jumped a mile into the sky, both hands raised in surrender and moments away from falling to his knees. “Don’t shoot me please! I’m just a college student. And part time pizza prep guy. And morgue assistant” All of that definitely wasn’t necessary, but he was frazzled. “Please don’t shoot!”

Lydia stared at him, and slowly lowered the pistol between them, gasping deeply like she’d forgotten to breathe when she saw him. She had, her heart had leapt into her throat. “You work with Regan?” She asked, staring at him, and while she held it pointed away from him, she didn’t put it away yet. They weren’t that far- Lydia blinked hard, pushing that thought far away from them. If she needed to, she could get into the trees, she could shoot him dead, and almost no one would hear her run away from the crime scene. Terror like that, though, it was hard to fake. Not that Regan was known for being a people person, or a good read on anything. “My apologies, I do not like to be snuck up on.”

Orion gave the woman a puzzled look. “The doctor?” He questioned here. He suddenly wondered if she was familiar with the doctor in normal, human size or pixie sized. Not that Rio doubted the doctor when she told him that she was not normally inches tall, but he did wonder how long she had been the height she currently was. Even more so, he had no idea what she had to do with the conversation. At least until he realized what he had said as he had failed to stumble through even the simplest of introductions to the stranger. “Oh! Oh. No. I mean, I know her but I don’t work with her. I uh- dead people.” He paused. Jesus Christ. Way to go, Rio. Really comforting way to correct yourself to the woman with a gun. “I mean- uh I misspoke. Sorry. I work at a funeral home. With dead people. I mean I don’t deal with dead people. But I work for Erin, who does.” He sighed, surprised that the woman hadn’t just shot him to put both of them out of their misery. “I’m sorry I just- I don’t like guns. At all. Especially when they’re pointed at me.” She must have realized through the incessant babbling that Rio clearly wasn’t threatening and lowered the gun, much to his own relief. He finally lowered his hands, placing one against his heart and using the other to prop himself a tree instead, taking deep breaths to make up for the oxygen he had lost rambling. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. I heard rustling and wanted to make sure  no one was hurt or something.” He tried explaining further, making sure not to take any extra steps in her direction to freak her out any further, “You’re uh- not hurt or something right?”

“Dead people?” Lydia repeated, squinting. “Right, I see. You work with Erin.” Not that Lydia knew who Erin was, but he loved to ramble, so she let him, still squeezing her palm around her pistol’s handle. “I don’t think many people like pistols pointed at them,” she agreed.  “No, not currently,” Lydia replied, looking over herself to confirm indeed she wasn’t hurt, standing straight and dropping her shoulders. “I was merely frightened by you. Sorry. I think this town is getting to me.” All at once, it was as if she had jinxed it, she heard more rustling of leaves on the forest floor to her right, deeper in the forest. Lydia tensed up, until a little black dog burst out of the leaves and ran up to them with a bright wagging tail, playfully sniffling around them. “Hello little one. Is your owner nearby?” She asked softly, smiling as she crouched to pet the pup.

Orion couldn’t help but keep his eyes trained on the gun. Even though he was pretty sure that the woman had no plans to shoot him. Just the thing being on display made his heart beat slam against his chest. It wasn’t that surprising in all honesty, Rio could trace back to the root of his fear of guns. It was the same thing that caused most of his fears. The Quinn parents had really done a number, huh? He shook the thought away, trying to focus on the woman’s words even if he was still eyeing the gun. “Yeah uh- this town has that effect on people. You must be semi new then?” Maybe Rio would never get over his fears, but he had at least come to expect them in a town like this. Growing up in White Crest was trauma enough, especially growing up with supernatural knowledge. “I uh- I didn’t get your name, by the way.” He had introduced himself in a panic, waving around frantically in an attempt to not get shot. But the woman had never shared her own. He was quickly distracted, when another noise could be heard within the trees and Rio leapt inches into the other, hopping away from the rustling but turning towards it. He let out a nervous chuckle when he realized it was just a dog. One that the woman had seemed to take a quicker liking to than she had to Rio. He rubbed at the back of his neck and smiled at the puppy, expecting an owner to be following behind shortly, but Rio couldn’t hear anyone coming from the woods. And he didn’t see a collar either. Was it a stray? Suddenly, the dog leapt into the air, gaining an impressive height before landing on the woman. Rio stumbled forward as quickly as he could to help steady her if needed and make sure she wasn’t knocked down from the dog’s sudden pouncing. “Hey! Oh god are you okay?”

“Lydia,” she replied with a polite yet curt smile. One moment, the puppy had been sweet as syrup, tilting and stretching its little head with its eyes slowly drifting closed as she scratched under its jaw. Lydia shuffled slightly to make sense of it. She didn’t even notice the tiny snap of a twig under her heels. The dog leapt with a deep snarl - deeper than it had any right to be - and sank its claws into Lydia’s coat, ripping right through three thousand dollars worth of material. “Ow!” Lydia yelled, staggering against a tree. She tried to shake it off, all too aware of her wings glamoured away just beneath his claws. “Get it off me! Get it off!”

Either this dog really had some sort of vendetta against Lydia, or this was no dog at all. Orion’s brain began racing, a hundred possibilities running through his head. If this wasn’t a dog, what could it be? And why was it suddenly attacking Lydia? Moments ago, the animal had been happily accepting attention from the woman. Rio grabbed onto the dog, attempting to pull it free from Lydia, but even with Rio’s enhanced strength, he couldn’t get the grip free. More than that, this thing seemed to be getting heavier. Definitely not a dog. Which begged the question: What the heck was this thing? From the looks of it, Rio didn’t have much time to figure out. “Oh my god oh my god oh my god” Rio repeated again and again, letting go of the dog and hopping up and down and frantically thinking about what he could do. “Are you okay? What’s happening?” He needed information. That was the only thing he could do to help. He needed to help her before it was too late.

Lydia squealed in disgust as she fet something warm and wet drip down her back, black dog slobber messing up her clothes. He grabbed on and Lydia tried to yanked herself free from the dog, but it just grew even heavier as she flailed. “NO, don’t stop! Rio!” She cried, clutching the tree for support. “It’s heavy and it’s slobbering down my neck!” Lydia yelled frantically. It had been a day or two since she had eaten, she was strong, but not at her strongest. “Call animal control, or something!” She snapped, holding out her pistol for him. “Or shoot it! Just get it off me!” She could pull him close, press her lips to his and get all the strength she needed. Lydia stumbled, and snap, snap, snap went the twigs nearby. The beast on her back grew. 

Understandably, Lydia was freaking out. Orion was too, and he wasn’t even the one being bogged down by some sort of evil dog with an unbreakable grip. The woman screaming his name pierced his skin and sent a shiver down his back. He had never heard his name screamed quite like that before. He had heard it in anger, but never in desperation like this was. He was needed. He had to do something. Otherwise, this woman could die. And Rio would have proven to be just as worthless as he was afraid he was. Lydia handed the gun off to him and Rio just stared at it for a long moment before giving it and gingery grabbing it from her, holding it by his index finger and thumb and keeping his arms extended as far away from himself as he could. But he knew this was useless. A gun wasn’t going to stop this thing. What would help was Rio’s brain focusing. He knew what this thing was. He knew he did. It was some kind of wolf. He had spent his entire life learning about supernatural beasts. There were clues here. He was growing. He couldn’t be torn off and… it was heavy. The puppy couldn’t have weighed more than ten pounds at the beginning. And Rio had realized while pulling that he was getting stronger. The puzzle pieces started to fit together, and Rio was starting to form an idea. “I can’t- this gun won’t do anything against it.” Rio admitted to Lydia, using his finger to click the safety on before finally stuffing it into his pocket. This gun wouldn’t hurt it, but Rio had an idea. He just hoped that he was right. “I- I have an idea. But we have to leave. Right now. I don’t-” Did this woman know about the supernatural? Would she think he was insane? “I just need you to trust me okay? I’m going to help you. I promise I’ll get this thing off of you.” He slid over to grab onto Lydia. Just as he thought, the weight of the dog was getting heavier and heavier. If they were going to make it anywhere, it needed to be now. “Follow me.” He spoke through rapid breaths, holding her up as he began walking.

Lydia almost asked, biting back a whimper as the beast snarled by her ear. It wasn’t a good idea to ask, because it would only frighten her more, so she grit her teeth together. What happens when it gets too heavy for me to carry? He didn’t even do anything useful when he took the pistol, looking at her like she’d handed him a bomb instead of a usable weapon. “Do something!” Instead, he clicked the safety and Lydia stamped her foot. “What do you mean it wouldn’t work?” In the non-panicked inch of her mind, Lydia knew. There were creatures bullets couldn’t kill. That didn’t mean she had to like it, but maybe this person knew what would kill it. She just had to… be strong, which was easier said than done when her stomach muscles were beginning to burn. She didn’t even smile as she felt his promise settle into place, and let his other words bind him too. If he failed and the wolf monster killed her, well, it’d probably kill him too, but if she could motivate him to stay, then Lydia would use everything she had. He grabbed her, and Lydia nodded, marvelling at how strong he was for such a compact body. “Lead the way, it’s not like- Ah, it’s not like I can go anywhere else!”

How much could Orion explain that Lydia would understand? Did she know about the supernatural? Or did she think he was absolutely insane? She certainly didn’t seem pleased that Rio wasn’t going to shoot the dog. He didn’t think a gun would work anyways, and chances were he would just end up shooting Lydia. That wouldn’t help the situation at all. But eventually, she decided to trust him. Or rather, she probably decided that she didn’t have any other choice. Trust may not have been a factor at all. As the two began walking, Rio pushing the two forward as quickly as he could, he finally answered her, “This isn’t… a normal dog” he began, biting his lip and trying to carefully pick his words before saying them aloud, “It can’t be killed by normal means. Which sounds crazy, I know. But it’s true. Seriously.” From the angle he was pushing, he couldn’t actually see Lydia’s face to determine whether or not she believed him. He supposed by this point it didn’t really matter if she believed him or not. Before long, the two would find out for sure whether Rio was right or not. Or the two would slip up. Crumble to the pressure, literally, and fall over. If Rio was right, he definitely didn’t want to see that. The two continued on, the weight of the dog getting heavier and heavier. He wasn’t sure one person would have been enough at this point. At least not one person with regular strength. But Rio’s strength would only take her so far. 

If she hadn’t had a dog weighing on her back so heavily that Lydia was hunched over, if she wasn’t so frightened she could barely breath, Lydia might have sighed in relief. Obviously, it was no normal dog. So of course it couldn’t be just killed. All the same, Lydia clung to him as if her life depended on it, wondering if it did. If maybe the wolf would just climb off her when it got bored, instead of ripping out her throat. “I’ll have to trust you.” Each step out of the woods, it grew heavier and heavier, until she caught sight of one of its fangs from the corner of her eyes, and Lydia whimpered, It was as long as her fingers and glistened with drool If they weren’t both so strong. Lydia swallowed as they emerged from the woods, her legs trembling. “Where’re we going?”

This was getting harder. Not just because the weight of the dog was becoming more and more crushing, but because Lydia’s nails dug into Orion’s arm and he was at a really awkward angle right now. It would be his luck that he would end up dying from a cramp they caused the two to tumble over and get mauled by a supernatural dog. Plus side, Lydia was trusting Rio. Not that she had much of a choice at the moment, but hey, small victories! Now he couldn’t get her killed. She had put her faith in him. And speaking of faith, Lydia wanted to know where they were going. Rio didn’t like the answer, mostly because he hadn’t been back there since he ran away from the Quinn house. But despite his apprehension, he supposed the place may actually come in handy today. Plus, it was because of the forced attendance that he even knew there was one close by. Just over this hill and it would be at the bottom. “We’re uh- going to church.” Rio sighed. This was the worst.

“Right, great.” Lydia replied with a strain in her voice. She just needed to be a little stronger. It didn’t seem to be growing heavier or larger now that they were struggling up the pavement, but her legs were turning to jelly. Her side cramped up. She needed more strength in her than her most recent meal had left her. As Rio helped pull her over the hill, she eyed the side of his head. He didn’t feel all that artistic, but she only needed a tiny amount to take some of his life. Not a full meal, but a taste. Lydia leant into his grip, and sipped at his life force. It reinvigorated her, more powerful than she’d expected. He had a lot of life in him. With this new found strength of hers, they reached the top of the hill. “That one there?” Lydia asked, tilting her head to the church below.

Orion was exhausted. He had broken out into a sweat, supporting the weight of Lydia and the demon dog hellbent on murdering the two of them. Or at least Lydia, Rio wasn’t really sure on the specifics of whether the dog would pick him as his next meal or not. Hard to tell, honestly. The weight of the creature had been getting gradually heavier as the two had walked out of the forest and towards the road. The weight seemed to be getting heavier at a faster rate, or Rio’s body was beginning to give out on him. Rio couldn’t be sure, but he did know that the hunter strength and endurance seemed to be failing him at the moment. If he was supposed to be so advanced, while couldn’t he help carry a lady and one measly supernatural dog to a church? As if he needed anymore examples as to why this power was overrated and disappointed. He rolled his eyes at his own thoughts and kept forward, legs beginning to tremble under the pressure. But he continued. They were so. Freaking. Close. “That’s the one. We’re almost there.” Rio breathed heavily, wiping at the sweat that had pooled on his face. So gross. “Be careful going down. The last thing we want is to get eaten after coming all this way because we trip or something.” He was talking to himself more than Lydia, trying to verbally convince himself that if there was anytime to not be clumsy. This was the one. But even that thought was hard to remember when all he could think about was how tired he was. 

“Saying things like that doesn’t help,” Lydia said, hot breath of the beast hissing down her neck, that was already wet with slobber and sweat. If they made it out tonight, it was her turn to drink a large vaseful of wine. If. That was a terrible thought indeed. If she needed it, she could pull more life from him to sustain her own strength, but his was still more than hers for the moment. They wouldn’t fall, they wouldn’t fall, they wo- Lydia groaned as she dropped her elbows onto the stone wall by the church, her knees ready to buckle. “Now what. Now what!” She yelled. He’d promised he’d help her, so why wasn’t he helping? Why wasn’t he doing anything?? Lydia yelled in pain as the church bells rang the hour. One, two, three… The beast on her yelped, and Lydia almost collapsed as it jumped from her back, shrinking down to the black furred pup it had been before, and ran back up the hill. Lydia’s knees buckled and she groaned as she fell to the ground, pressing her forehead against the cool wall. “How- how did you know?”

They made it to the church. Somehow, they had made it to the church. And yet… the dog hadn’t left. Orion fought back tears from escaping, not that it would have been that noticeable through the sweat. But the sniffling definitely would have been embarrassing. He needed to get inside of the church. Or he needed to throw something. He couldn’t even muster up the strength to pull his phone from his pocket and check the time. He was too tired. Too drained. The stone wall was a welcome reprieve, but it only gave them a short break. He couldn’t keep it up much longer. He couldn- His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the church bells. Holy crap. The sound was loud and echoed, every chime like a nail being jammed into Rio’s eardrum, stupid hunter hearing. But even as he winced and tried to shove his elbow against an ear to block some of it out, he was so happy to hear that noise. Rio held his breath, hoping that he hadn’t been wrong this whole time. He was beginning to doubt himself, when nothing immediately happened. But finally the animal hopped off of Lydia’s back, a tremendous weight being lifted from both of their shoulders and the dog ran back up the hill, returning to the small size it had been. Rio collapsed onto the ground, rolling over onto his back and letting the grass, cold and moist from dew, cool the back of his neck. He was almost tempted to roll up his sleeves and let the grass cool his arms. Almost. Instead, he remained motionless on the grass, his eyes closing as he finally regained some normal breathing. “I- I read about it.” Rio explained, peaking an eye open to glance at Lydia, who looked just as tired as he did. “It’s called an Aufhocker. It doesn’t like loud noises or the sun. It really doesn’t like church bells.” As if speaking the name brought back the memories, an epiphany finally hit Rio. The twigs! It had been growing in size because of the twigs. That’s how that happened. Would have been real helpful information an hour ago. “I’m uh- glad that it worked honestly. I’ve never actually been around one of those things in real life.” 

Lydia panted hard, unsure if she’d ever be able to stand up again. The rock wasn’t enough to cool her, but as she lay there, effectively kneeling in front of the church, Lydia laughed. She prayed briefly, for kindness and forgiveness, and safety from whatever had just attacked her. An Aufhocker. “I’m incredibly fortunate you had read about it then.” She promised herself that she would ask Jared about them later, although perhaps without mentioning how close she’d come to her own demise. She looked sideways at the boy collapsed in the grass. “You could have left me. I am grateful that you didn’t.” Lydia spoke in short bursts, her chest aching from the exertion on her back. “You’re strong, your hearing is sensitive, you have so much… you’re warm.” She’d almost told him he had so much life in his, but that was a strange thing to say. “You aren’t… What are you?” A werewolf, perhaps? Lydia slowly twisted so she could sit leaning against the wall instead of just pressing her forehead against it. All she could think was… thank god she wasn’t wearing heels today. 

Lydia didn’t seem completely opposed to the idea of the aufhocker. Whether that was because she had just witnessed the beast for herself or because she was already familiar with the supernatural, Orion couldn’t be sure. In a town like this, it seemed like it would be hard not to know about it. But that never seemed to stop the majority of its residents from living their lives in ignorant bliss. Or uh- dying in it as well. As morbid as that was to consider. “I wouldn’t have left you.” Rio sat straight up at her comment, a wave of dizziness rushing to his head that almost forced him to lie back down. But he stayed upright, his legs still displayed against the greenery of the church yard. “You were in trouble. If I left you back there-” He didn’t know how to finish the sentence. He’d be as much of a monster as that thing? Was the Aufhocker even a monster? It was certainly dangerous. His parents had been sure to drill that point home. But Rio was more interested in why it did what it did. “I couldn’t do that.” He settled on. And then practically filling in the blanks for Rio, Lydia questioned his strength. So she definitely knew something about the supernatural. “Uh-” Rio didn’t know what to say. Would she know what a hunter was? Would she be glad to hear it or displeased? “I’m a human. Mostly. I just have… some special abilities. Heightened senses and what not.” He didn’t want to come clean. To admit to something that he wasn’t. As if to drive the point home, just in case she did know what a hunter was, he clarified “I’m glad he lived through that. The dog… thing. I don’t think I could have killed it. I mean… I’m not sure they are killable. But like, also I don’t really kill things.” Rio sighed, was that obvious enough? “You uh- don’t seem all that shocked about a growing dog and a kid with super strength.” He winced at himself for labelling himself as a kid. How did he expect others to stop doing it when he was doing it himself?

Everything he said about how he couldn’t have possibly left Lydia went right out the window when he told her what he was. Or rather, when he didn’t tell her what he was. Lydia, who had barely had time to recover from the bone crushing weight of the Aufhocker, began to panic once more. Blood rushed in her ears as she tried to stand up. It was a trap All this had been a trap. To what? Get her to a more convenient hunting ground? An easier place to hide her body?? “Oh god,” Lydia whimpered as she reached for her pistol, only to remember it was in his pocket. He’d disarmed her and exhausted her with a terrifying brilliance. “No, no, please,” She whimpered, scrabbling to her feet. She wobbled as she stepped back, and stumbled into the wall. Her chin trembled, eyes springing full of tears. “I didn’t do anything. Please. I won’t - get away from me! Get away from me! HELP!” 

Orion honestly had no idea what had just happened. One moment, the two were catching their breaths after escaping near certain death together. They were casually talking in what may have been the least awkward conversation Rio had ever had with a stranger. Something about the exhaustion had sapped the anxiety from him. Well, at least until Lydia had started freaking out, screaming at him and trying desperately to get away from him, leaving him lying there in the grass, completely dumbfounded. “Hey! Hey! What’s wrong?” Rio crawled up to his feet, his energy already beginning to return to him. Okay, maybe the hunter endurance hadn’t completely failed him after all. Though clearly, standing up and towering over the woman hadn’t been the right choice. Seeing the error immediately, Rio dropped back down, this time onto his knees. As he did, he felt a stabbing pain in his side, and with a sudden, fear inducing realization he realized that he had come this entire way carrying a freaking gun. He felt hot all around. He hated guns. Hated them. “I don’t know what’s going on- but I’m not going to hurt you!” He held his hands up in surrender, his palms facing towards Lydia and slinking away from her. Clearly, it was best not to move any closer to her. “I don’t- Please don’t leave me with your gun. I hate guns.” He pulled the gun from his waist, making sure to angle it away from Lydia and setting it on the grass between them, as far from himself as his arms would reach. “I also hate getting shot so uh- please don’t shoot me?” He tried for a smile, but he could feel his lips trembling. This was a gesture of good faith, yeah? Lydia wasn’t actually going to shoot him. Right?

Lydia tried to scrabble further back as he towered over, her scream turning into a squeak, her legs too weak to get up and run the way she needed. Chances were, even if she tried he’d gun her down. Whimpering at that thought, she clung to the wall, urging herself to get back up, run, do anything other than lie there and die. He dropped back down to his knees as a trick, to get her to calm down. Why?? He’d won. All he had to do was to lunge forward and snap her neck, or shoot her, or use any of the dozen knives he must have on his person to tear into her. Maybe he was one of the cruelest ones, that liked to play mind games before slowly tearing them apart.  “Please, I haven’t - I don’t hurt people, please,” She flinched as he raised his hands, even if it was in surrender, and he spoke. Lydia grabbed his words and twisted them into a promise too. He wouldn’t hurt her, he said, and now he couldn’t. Maybe he didn’t know what she was. Lydia panted, sitting a little more upright. Flinching as he pulled out her pistol, Lydia watched him set it on the grass and then lean back. Her gaze darted from him to the pistol, and back to him, before Lydia lunged for the pistol, and aimed it right at him. “Don’t move. You’re a hunter!”

Maybe giving the gun back to her had been a bad idea. As far as decisions went, it hadn’t been one of Orion’s smartest choices. But when had Rio ever been applauded for making particularly intelligent choices? He swore he was the dumbest smart kid alive. “I don’t hurt people either.” Rio tried to reassure Lydia. That was why he was giving up the gun. A peace offering of sorts. Only, Lydia grabbed the gun and trained it on him. Rio felt his heartbeat jump and he kept his hands held up in surrender. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. Don’t cry. He kept repeating the mantra to himself. Over and over hoping that he would follow his own advice. “I’m not!” Rio frantically claimed, his voice was erratic and came out scratchier than he had intended. Of course this was about being a hunter. This was the response that he expected every time someone found out. This was the response he deserved. He took a deep breath to try to gather himself before trying again, “I’m not.” Okay, that sounded a bit better, “I mean genetically yes. I guess. But I’m not like them. I don’t hunt. Anything.” He supposed he couldn’t honestly say that he hadn’t killed anything. The troll was a near constant reminder of that. “I don’t want to hurt you. Just like I didn’t want to hurt the Aufhocker.” How did people stay calm with a gun pointed at them? Rio was seconds away from hyperventilating, a minute from a full on panic attack. At that point, Lydia probably would shoot him, “Please don’t shoot me. I- I don’t want to die.” Now. Finally. He truly didn’t want to die. 

Lydia’s arms trembled just from the weight of holding up her tiny pistol. All of her was exhausted. The trembling could just as much be terror. She swallowed, slowly getting to her feet. She’d need a cab to get her home, but she couldn’t call one when he was still there. Her legs wobbled. “I am not like that animal!” Lydia wanted to glance around, in case it was coming back, but wardens moved fast as lightning and carried iron in their veins. He didn’t need a weapon when he was the weapon. “I don’t want to die either! And the last thing I need is a dead hunter that other hunters want to avenge. I don’t- I don’t understand. So what, you don’t hunt, but instead you’ll tell every hunter you know about me? How is that better?” Her voice cracked, not even aware that exhaustion had her lowering the barrel. He couldn’t hurt her. He couldn’t hurt her. It wasn’t a reassuring mantra in the slightest. “Why should I believe you?”

This wasn’t going well. Orion couldn’t keep his composure for much longer. If the shaking and heavy breathing could even be considered composed. He would have a full on meltdown soon. And he didn’t think that Lydia was exactly the type to fetch his inhaler for him. Okay, well Rio had not meant to compare her to the creature before, but noted. If Lydia wasn’t human… what was she? Clearly not a werewolf, Rio would have sensed it. Unless she had some sort of magic to stop it. He wondered if Winston knew anything about that. “We don’t have to! Neither of us should die. We got away from the thing trying to kill us!” They had worked together. Gotten through the forest, and over a hill and to a church of all places. Wasn’t that like bonding? Couldn’t they be friends or something now? “I don’t think there are many hunters that would be dead set on avenging me” Rio found himself saying, then immediately cursed himself for practically giving her an excuse to shoot him. Nic probably wouldn’t be happy. Maybe Kaden and Alain. Athena would definitely lose her mind, but Athena would have no regrets about killing this woman regardless. “I don’t even talk to hunters. Not really!” That wasn’t the entire truth, but it was true enough. “I don’t like hunters. Or hunting. I want to protect the supernatural. Not hurt them. I-” He broke off into a sob. There it went. He knew he couldn’t hold the tears back forever. “I don’t know how to prove it to you. Or how to get you to believe me. But I’m telling the truth!”

He sounded so much like Lydia had moments ago, pleading for his life.The difference was that he kept putting himself down, telling her how little he was worth to others, which would only make it easier to kill him. He sobbed as she stared at him. It wasn’t pity. It certainly wasn’t empathy. It was the cold, calculating cogs of Lydia’s mind that had her slowly lowering the gun, until it wasn’t pointed at him any more. Once again, she was ready to change that at a moment’s notice. Which was a second’s length away from being ready to shoot at a moment’s notice. She had to trust the promises, and look beyond the terror of the last hour. Beat the fear, and see the opportunity here. He wasn’t valued by other hunters. He didn’t hunt. He wanted to protect. There was a treasure trove to use here, if only she could get her own heart to stop screaming. Humans like him had killed her sister, but if she could see past that…. Lydia swallowed. “You know, this really wasn’t what I was planning to do with my afternoon,” she said softly, her voice breaking around her chuckle. 

Orion didn’t want to look anymore. If he was going to die, he didn’t want to see it happen. So he shut his eyes. Tried picturing better things. Like that day at the carnival, surrounded by his closest friends, hours away from holding hands with Winston. He thought about dying his hair with Blanche. Pleasant memories, even if both times had been coupled with different traumatizing events. He thought about Layla and how it had felt when the two had escaped from the vampire. Or how close he felt to Nic, despite how different the two were. How he wished he had more time to watch anime with Skye and Winston, or to help Skye figure out that being a Selkie wasn’t as bad as she thought it was. But the longer he sat there thinking about all of these things, he realized that he was still here, doing just that. He hadn’t been shot yet. He risked opening an eye, blinking through the tears and looking at Lydia. She had lowered the gun. Rio opened both eyes now, staring a bit wide-eyed at her. He hadn’t expected this. With Lydia, it seemed like he didn’t really know what to expect next. When Lydia spoke again, Rio laughed through one last sob, using his sleeves to wipe away at the tears that had been streaming down his face. “Me neither.” Rio agreed. Now he was emotionally drained along with physically drained. He fell back from the spot he had been anchored to, falling back on his beat and cradling his knees against his chest in a fetal position. His knees stung from how long he had been resting in that position, “I don’t- Neither of us wants to hurt the other. I don’t think.” At least, considering she had pulled the gun away, he hoped that she didn’t want to hurt him. “Maybe we can just call a cab. And go home?”

Lydia pulled a handkerchief from her purse, and held it out for him to wipe his face properly, if he so wanted it. Her eyes were red, her mouth full of fearful saliva, her hair messed beyond recognition and her clothes destroyed too. She sat outside a church with a gun in her hands and a hunter in front of her. It might as well have been a nightmare. A hunter that didn’t hunt, no less, that was cowardly and weak emotionally. Her lips quirked slightly, as if she was feeling self-deprecating, or self conscious. “No, I don’t want to hurt you,” Lydia agreed softly. Not for now, anyway. She sat on the wall, looking over the graveyard of the church. A dozen tombstones as old as her dotted the grounds. Lydia itched for a bath, for a hot drink, and the comfort of Remmy’s pleasant presence. Maybe she’d even make those plans to meet with Deirdre in the mirror district, and work out how to make their fairy ring debacle right again. That was one friend she couldn’t afford to lose. “I think that’s- I think that’s probably a good idea. Rio, right? Can I pay for your cab?”

There was a wave of relief as Orion realized that he wasn’t dying. Especially at a church, which was objectively the worst place that he could possibly have been killed. He took the handkerchief timidly from Lydia and patted at his cheeks softly. He didn’t know how these things worked. Was he supposed to give it back to her now? Would she ever want it back? “Thank you” He nodded. Finally, Rio risked standing again. He slowly pushed himself off the ground, climbing to his feet and testing the waters. His leg had fallen asleep, and his body ached all over from the walk, but other than that he was functional. He wobbled away from Lydia, only a few feet away, just enough to lean against a tree and shake his leg in an attempt to wake it up. “You really don’t have to do that.” Rio smiled. He almost offered that they just share one into town. But he decided that going their separate ways would probably be for the best today. “But uh- I can order a lyft or something. One for each of us.” Rio pulled his phone from his pocket. The only reason he even had the app had been because of Blanche. He used to just drive or walk anywhere he needed to go. “Do I uh- Do you want the handkerchief back?” He asked Lydia, holding it up for show.

Lydia’s eyes flickered as he thanked her. If she hadn’t known already, Lydia was certain of it now - he had never had a long conversation with a warden about hunting. She smiled, as graciously as she could manage considering both their states, accepting it completely. All the same, when he stood up, Lydia tensed, hand tightening around the handle of her gun. Trying not to look like her heart was planning its evacuation from her chest. “I’ll order my own, don’t worry about it.” She said softly, tapping away at her phone when he addressed her again. Lydia looked up, and shook her head. He really was practically a child. “Keep it,” Lydia said. Just like she would keep the three promises binding him to her close to her chest, to be saved for another time.

[divineluce]

Love Struck || Orion & Luce

Timing: August 5th, 2020

Location: Downtown White Crest

Tagging: @3starsquinn​ & @divineluce​

Description: Unaware that Rio’s actions were the result of this incident, a chance encounter presents Luce with an opportunity she can’t pass up.

Luce emerged from the art supply store located downtown, a small bag with a few tubes of oil paint in her hand. She’d been painting more lately, her art turning more abstract, less restrained than it had been in the past. She told herself it was just her way of developing new techniques and experimenting with other mediums and color pallets. But, the crisp clean lines, the black and white art she’d done before… it didn’t feel quite right anymore. Even her charcoal art that she’d attempted, they’d started to blur at the edges. Shaking her head, Luce glanced up from her feet and froze as she saw a familiar person walking down the opposite side of the street. Her blood boiled as she took in the boyish face, tucked underneath a snapback and sunglasses. She could see strands of blue hair peeking out from under his hat and she knew exactly who he was. With a growl, she hurried across the street, making a beeline for the little shithead. 

Outside of work, Orion had basically been avoiding any outings. He wanted to avoid running into anybody he knew as much as possible for the next couple of weeks. Until something else took the towns attention. Or until Rio was done being embarrassed. He had a pretty good guess which would come first. He had taken a liking to stealing Ricky’s snap backs and sunglasses and wearing them around town. Even if people weren’t actually staring at him, the sad excuse for a disguise at least helped him convince himself that he was more anonymous. He was leaving the bookstore, carrying a small bag of books and making his way towards the car when he spotted Luce leaving an art store. From the way she paused, it looked like Luce spotted him too. Okay, so clearly the disguise shouldn’t have brought him much comfort. Rio sounds away from Luce, trying to not be too noticeable but most likely failing. He made his way down the sidewalk the opposite direction, hoping it hadn’t been too obvious that he was trying to avoid her. He could hear her footsteps from behind him though. They got closer and closer, the distance between them shortening. At this point, Rio wouldn’t be able to get away unless he broke into a sprint. And that wasn’t a good look. He took a deep breath, accepting his fate before turning around and pulling his sunglasses off his face. “Hey Luce!” He waved and smiled, the nervousness making him shake, “Listen, I-“

As Luce raced across the street, not bothering to wait for the traffic to stop, Rio met her eyes for a moment. And then, he turned on his heels and began to walk in the opposite direction. “Siki tuttun--” She swore under her breath before hurrying after Rio. The bruises on her body from the attack on the Ring twinged as she jostled past a few people on the sidewalk, but she didn’t care. That fucking little punk. Whatever stupid joke he had been playing on Winston, she wasn’t a fan of it. And now he was trying to run away? Fuck no. She wasn’t going to let that happen. When Rio turned around, Luce glared daggers at him. “Let’s have a chat, Rio. Some place private” She growled, hand grabbing the young man by the front of his shirt. She dragged him into one of the nearby alleys, out of the way. With a glance over her shoulder, she reeled back and punched Rio in the face, her knuckles slamming into his cheek. “You fucking dick. Play games all you want, but don’t fuck with Winston’s head like this. They don’t deserve it.” She snarled, shaking her hand out before backing out of the alley, middle fingers pointed upwards as she left. 

If Orion saw the punch coming, he didn’t do much to dodge it. Either his hunter reflexes had completely failed him or Rio had subconsciously resigned himself to taking the blow. Maybe he thought he deserved it. As easy as it was to believe that this had not been his fault, that hadn’t helped to ease the guilt any. Luce didn’t hold back either, her hips seeming to turn in with the punch and giving even more power to the blow. It connected with his face, his cheek baring the bulk of the hit and carrying the majority of the pain as well. Rio stumbled back a couple of steps, grabbing at his face and allowing himself a few uninterrupted seconds to let himself feel all of the pain. The whole side of his face ached in pain. He pressed against the wound on his cheek and flinched back at the sting. That was definitely going to bruise. He glanced at Luce. He couldn’t tell if she was pissed enough to go for another punch or if that was had satisfied her enough. His face was in pain, but could he be mad? If Rio hadn’t known the full situation wouldn’t he have hoped that Winston had the kind of friends that would throw punches for them? Winston certainly deserved that. Without knowing what to say to Luce, he took a few more seconds cradle his cheek in his hand and try to shake the headache that was forming. Even then, all he could think to saw once he had mostly gained his composure was, “Ow!”

[laylacooke]

Hunters & Vampires & Wolves, Oh My! || Orion, Fran, & Layla

TIMING: The week before the full moon. PARTIES: @3starsquinn, @caraitaliadolcemeta, @laylacooke SUMMARY: A young hunter saves a dumb-dumb wolf from a crazed vampire. WARNINGS: mentions of blood and injuries 

It’s not like Layla had wanted to be the next meal for a vampire much stronger than she was, it just sort of happened. But while she was hauling ass through the forest, she couldn’t let go of the fact that, somehow, she didn’t change. At least not yet. Maybe it was because she was finally finding some sense of peace and a home. Maybe it was because her mind was currently focused on the woman with fangs bared chasing her at a ridiculous speed. Whatever it was, she was just glad to not be a huge smelly, dog. And as she glanced back to the vampire to see how far she was, it only took a split second for the red head to hit a tree followed by a hard thud to the ground. Dazed and groaning, Layla couldn’t seem to focus on anything at the moment except her heartbeat in her ears and the pain running through her body from the impact with the huge pine that had stopped her from getting any farther.

How did she reach that point was a good question. But there was no return now. With just the sweet thought of that blood washing down her throat, dripping from the corners of her mind - Francesca was going completely mental, about to enter that often state of frenzy she just couldn’t get off whenever she tasted blood. It’s not that she was inexperienced still, it’s just that she enjoyed it too bloody much. She allowed the little wolf to take her chance. Hell, she even stayed behind for a while, counting the each second in her mind before she actually began to chase her down. Just keeping up with her, not really making any extreme effort, the Italian vampire couldn’t help but roar at that scene. Laughing out loud at the girl’s clumsiness, she even had to lean against the same tree that hit her (not the other way around). She couldn’t help it, it’s like when you see someone trip on her own feet and want to help, but you just can’t stop laughing. Except she didn’t really want to help her. “Cazzo, bambina, sei veramente una maldestra.” Unnecessarily catching her breath, she sighed with a little chuckle and suddenly jumped her, pinning her to the ground. “My doc said I’ve been missing werewolf from my diet. So… Thanks?” And her fangs violently pierced two, deep holes in her curvy neck.

Orion had been surprisingly lucky. In his months since he began coming to the Scribe headquarters hidden in the middle of the woods, he hadn’t been attacked or hurt once. In the woods. In White Crest. It was a miracle. The woods had been one of the main reasons he had talked himself out of coming back to the headquarters for so many years after his Uncle had originally shown him. Apparently, his luck had run out today though. His hearing picked up on the altercation, but he couldn’t tell how far away it was yet. He needed to focus. He took a deep breath and tried to home in on the sounds, finally pinpointing it after he heard something or maybe someone colliding with what he assumed was a tree. Against his better judgement, he took off in the direction of the sound, leaping over tree branches and weaving between trees. He tripped more times than he was willing to admit and had bounced off a couple of trees, but by some miracle he had stayed upright the entire time and continued to readjust his direction to follow the sounds of struggling. He finally broke into a small clearing to find two women, a girl on the ground and pinned by another, the woman’s mouth digging into the victim’s throat. It had to be a vampire, right? Oh boy. He had never come in contact with a human vampire. Which could only mean the tingling sensation that he was feeling meant the second girl must be a werewolf. “Hey!” Rio yelled, trying to force some confidence in his voice instead of the trembling that he sure was present. “Let her go!” He called out, jumping into the clearing and grabbing onto the woman, attempting to pull her off of the girl. But Jesus, that woman was strong, way stronger than Rio was. Uh oh.

By the time Layla had started to come around, it was too late. The woman that had been chasing her, aside from stopping to laugh at her misfortune, was already on top of her, and as soon as fangs sank into Layla’s neck, she let out a bloodcurdling scream. The last time she had been bitten by anything, it had almost killed her. Her mind had flashed back to that night in the woods when her father left her to die at the hands of a werewolf. Her heart pounded fiercely in her chest. She felt faint. And no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t shove the woman off of her. Vampire. It was her first encounter that she had known of, but her training as a hunter did offer her some knowledge, in that moment, of things she could potentially do. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t have any of the right weapons with her, and the one part of herself that normally gave her protection wasn’t working out for some reason, “Get…off….me!!!!” It wasn’t until she heard a voice in the distance, that Layla’s mind left her situation for the briefest of moments, and when she watched as he came forward to try and help get the leech off, she knew Francesca was still too overpowering, even for what smelled like...a hunter?

The branches shaking like the girl in her arms, dry leaves crushing with sudden impact and occasional bumping sounds - there was someone coming their way. It was never prudent to allow a living thing to witness a vampire feeding off a victim, it’d rat out her identity, yet she couldn’t care less. She was old enough, she was strong, well-connected, and she was hungry. What smelled humanly was getting closer, but he posed no threat. That living heart beat so fast, that ragged breathing, the sweat - they were as hesitant and even frightened as the redheaded puppy. The all-mighty hero jumped and dared to touch her. Fran let go of the werewolf for a second, pushing him and shoving him against a tree with a simple, easy motion of her hand. “Fuck off, kid,” she mumbled with her face still buried in the girl’s neck, lips smearing the blood all around. Whoever said you can’t play with your food was absolutely wrong, it’s just bloody fantastic. Francesca pulled up the shifter, sitting her up in one go, holding tightly to her upper arm and grabbing her hair so it wouldn’t get in her way. A crack, like a broken bench, echoed in the quietude of the forest, fingernails digging into her flesh. Ops, might have broken something. It wasn’t her intention to leave her completely debilitated. But then again, with that one in the picture, she might need to kill them both. She pressed her palm against the girl’s mouth to keep her quiet, actually enjoying the struggle. “Shhh, be a good girl and I might let you live after I kill that brat…” The vampire licked her blood-squirting neck. “I don’t think you’d like your meal blabbing while you’re trying to eat it.” And gave her another deep bite on top of the other.

Whether or not she was just a normal, everyday vampire wasn’t exactly clear as of yet, but Orion could definitely attest that she was incredibly strong. Way stronger than he was. His strength was built to match werewolves though, not vampires. Plus, he was pretty sure he had read that vampires get stronger the older they get. Did that imply that this woman had been around for a long time? Too many unknown variables. All Rio could process right now was the pain he felt as the woman shoved him backwards into a tree. It hadn’t looked like much effort at all for the woman, but Rio felt like he had just been body slammed against the trunk. His back stung and he crumpled to the ground, glancing up and forcing his vision to regain focus just to catch her digging her fangs back into the girl. “Crap.” Rio pushed himself back up, wondering what he could do to stop the girl from being murdered right in front of him. He glanced around the area, noticing fallen branches and twigs lying all over the place. With the woman distracted, it may not be that difficult to simply… stab her. It wasn’t exactly a wooden stake, but it would be deadly all the same. But… he couldn’t kill her. Even if she was attacking someone, what right did he have to end a life? A little maiming wouldn’t be that bad though right? He bent down, picking up a branch and breaking it in half, ripping pieces off so that the edge was sharp enough to pierce. Then he took a deep breath, closed his eyes and ran forward, stabbing the branch down into the woman’s leg using that distraction to try to shove her off of the redhead. “You need to run!” Rio yelled at her, hoping that she could wiggle free from the vampire’s grasp now.

Layla felt like a rag doll as the vampire continued to drain her blood. She had never experienced anything quite like this feeling before. She had given blood once, to the Red Cross when they had come to visit her school for a blood drive, but this was different. And with each passing moment, Layla felt just a little more lightheaded than the moment before. One thing she did see, though, was the man that was trying to help her, go flying back into a tree, and it angered her. Trying as much as she could, she began squirming to get free, but when Francesca picked her up, Layla could feel the crack of several ribs with nails digging into flesh, and she let out an agonizing howl. Some werewolf she was. With her mouth covered and tears now sliding down her cheeks, the redhead hoped some reprieve would come soon. And before all hope was lost, it did! With some slack in her captor’s grip, Layla, despite the pain she was feeling, bit down hard on the vampire’s hand before spitting it out and crawling her way towards safety. Well, as safe as you could be while struggling to get to your feet.

As one heartbeat throbbed madly, another slowed down. The werewolf’s blood didn’t pump as fast as it first did. Here was a special moment, when a vampire could actually feel a life slip away. It’d haunt her at some point later that week, maybe at the end of the month, when she found herself alone in her big house, but it didn’t bother her now. She had just decided to kill the other woman. Fangs dug deeper, tongue sucked stronger. She could hear the second beat but guessed the boy still struggled to get up after being knocked against a tree. And then the burning, maddening-stinging blow. It was followed by the worse bite that wet dog could give her, which bored her as much as a bee sting would, and she shooed her the same way she’d have done with an insect, pushing her away on both shoulders. It wasn’t a sign of surrender, she just had changed her mind about killing the redhead - she’d be killing the boy instead. Stupid boy. Growling as she pulled off the branch, Francesca stood up and turned to him. “You’ll fucking regret this.” In a flash, the brunette was standing right in front of him, blood all over her mouth, chest, arms, hands, leg. It was a horror show. The bloody hand grabbed his neck and lifted him from the ground, pushing him against that same tree, a branch scratching the side of his body, making a gash and tearing his top. “Scream. I like it.”

The woman was right, Orion did regret it. Almost immediately actually, as the attack had made him sick to his stomach and hadn’t even seemed to hinder the vampire’s strength or anger. It had only succeeded in shifting the woman’s anger from her original victim over to Rio. He supposed he was happy about the girl being free, but hadn’t exactly thought about what he was going to do once she was free. The vampire stood up, her body stained with blood, a mix of her own and her victim’s. It looked like a scene straight out of a horror movie, which Rio felt like he was currently stuck in. He should have run. Instead, he stood paralyzed by fear. He had always been afraid of hunters and the monstrosities they committed. In his mind, he logically knew that supernatural creatures were capable of just as much evil, he just thought that if they could talk things through, maybe they could figure something out. “I’m sorry- I didn’t want to hurt you I just needed you to-” Uninterested in his attempts to mitigate, the woman cut Rio off by grabbing at his throat, lifting him easily into the air and shoving him against the same tree he had already rammed into once before. He felt a sharp pain as something cut into his side, tearing into the hoodie and long sleeve shirt he had beneath it. Despite the much more pressing issue of the vampire currently trying to murder him, he couldn’t help but immediately feel the discomfort of having the scars that ran along his body exposed. But he was soon distracted as the woman pushed deeper and deeper against Rio’s throat, cutting off any chances he had at breathing. He kicked his legs furiously, connecting with nothing, and he clawed at the woman’s hands, but to no avail. And she was enjoying this? Holy crap. He choked and coughed, trying to form words, to beg the vampire to stop, but nothing was working. He could feel himself getting lightheaded, the life being quite literally choked out of him. He needed to do something now or he’d be dead. That’s when the idea struck him. He gave up on pushing away at her hands, instead flinging his arms back to his bag, the only thing separating him from the tree. He fumbled inside one of the pockets, feeling around for the container that he kept stuffed away for a rainy day. It stored little things, an iron ring, a silver necklace, a cross and salt. His vision was blurring now, and muscle movement felt mechanical and slow. But he pulled out the container of salt, holding it between the two of them and crushing it between his hands, watching all of the grains escape and pour onto the forest ground.

Layla was finally able to climb to her feet with the assistance of another tree. She hadn’t felt this kind of pain in quite some time, but her mind shifted when she noticed the vampire had gone after the man who had saved her. Clutching at her side, Layla looked around frantically for some way she could help him, but her mind was drawing a blank as the world was still spinning around her from lack of blood. And then she felt it, a low rumble coming from her belly. If she could at least growl or roar or something, then maybe it would distract the woman long enough that the hunter could find some kind of distraction. Standing there closing her eyes and panting, she felt it coming, and before she could stop it, Layla let out the best deep growl she had ever released, at least as a human. Face scrunching up in anger, she was preparing herself for battle when she saw the salt go down. Thank God! Her face quickly relaxed. Salt was perfect. It would keep the vampire occupied so the two could hopefully make a run for it.

“What you got there, little hunter?” Somber green eyes turned into ruby gems as they watched life slowly leave his desperate gaze, whilst he struggled and reached for his backpack. “That’s right, I know what you are. A little hunter protecting a werewolf?” She tutted. “That isn’t gonna go well amongst your community, yeah? The boy who died protecting a dog.” A dark grin spread across her lips, bearing out long fangs. He should’ve stayed out of it. She wasn’t a serial killer, she wouldn’t have hurt the girl (that much). But with all the drama he caused, now she obviously couldn’t let them just walk away like nothing happened. He bloody “branched” her leg! In the back, the redhead growled loudly, which only made Francesca roll back her eyes. “Will you shut up?! I’m trying to have a conversation here and inform this little guy about what’s going to happen after he dies!” She knew the wolf was in a bad shape and wouldn’t be able to do anything against her. It was pointless giving her any time of her night. Yet as soon as she was about to keep explaining the truths she was going to spread about tonight, there was salt e-ve-ry-whe-re. Francesca tightened her grip, growling loudly in anger, wanting to choke him at once. But her persistence lasted no longer than a couple of seconds and she pushed him aside with anger, dropping to her knees. “FUCK!” She cursed out loud, starting to pick and count every grain found under the dry leaves, stuck to wet dirt and damp grass. She used all her speed, appearing as nothing but a blur passing by their eyes. They were going to die a fucking painful death when she was done.

This vampire knew nothing about Orion, but still seemed to hit the mark way too closely. His only hope left had been the salt, which he had been increasingly afraid was not going to work, especially when the vampire didn’t immediately stop choking him out to focus on the salt. But after a long moment before he was being shoved aside, dropping into the ground and grabbing at his throat as he gasped for breath. He wished he had more time to celebrate that the stupid salt trick had actually worked. But right now, his only goal was to get far, far away from the woman. He crawled back up to his feet, still feeling dizzy and grasping at his side, catching the scent of blood as it began to leak from the wound. He moved slowly at first, but as soon as he got to the redhead and the two began moving through the woods he picked up speed. “We need to get far, far away from here.” He gasped as the two ran through the woods, trying to listen for anything that might signal safety. Through the fog, he could hear something over to their left. It was too hard to tell the specifics, but it was better than nothing. The two made their way toward the noise, Rio tripping multiple times along the way but managing to stay on his feet. Finally, the two broke through the trees and out into what looked like a neighborhood. “Houses. Let’s get into the house!”

Layla found relief when Orion had hit the ground. There was their opportunity, and she had just hoped he could get to his feet in time. With the blur streaking around counting salt, she knew their time was limited, but when he started moving, she followed. Layla hadn’t been to this part of White Crest, so her sense of direction was skewed, and it wasn’t helping that she was dizzy and her ribs were throbbing. However, she trusted Rio and followed him closely. When they broke through the fog and safety sat just ahead, she picked up the pace. The closest house just so happened to be for sale and as Layla used what strength remained, she busted open the door allowing them access. Once inside, she frantically began looking for something they could use to bar the door. She wasn’t sure how much time they had remaining, but she didn’t want to waste any of it. Panting, she continued to look, “The door...what are we gonna block it with?” She looked to the hunter who she noticed wasn’t exactly in the best shape either.

The blur of a shadow still flashed back and forth. Of all places, that needed to happen in the woods. In the bloody woods, with the mud, the dirt, the leaves, the branches, the insects and every other possible thing that could get in the way of finding millimetric grains of salt. “Fucking five hundred and thirty five,” Francesca counted it in a whisper, zipping in circles around the tree where the shaker was broken, like a maniac. The sooner she finished counting all that fucking salt, the sooner she got to kills those two. The pile was considerably smaller and there was just a tiny portion piled up here and there. It was almost time for the blood bath.

The last thing either of them needed was a breaking and entering charge to make their days even worse, but Orion was fairly confident that nobody else was in the house that they had just broken into. Of course, the pain in his sides was enough to throw his senses off their game a little bit, but they didn’t have much of a choice regardless. Once inside, he felt like he was finally able to catch his breath for the first time, and the pain in his side finally had a chance to remind him that it was still there. “We don’t have to block the door,” He gasped through heavy breaths, “She can’t get in here.” Not much for an explanation, but he needed a minute to collect himself before he could focus again. He pulled his hand away from the wound and caught blood on it. Great. Oh well, it would heal fairly soon. “My name’s Rio, by the way. You doing okay?”

The training Layla had regarding vampires had gone out the door as soon as they had taken off in a mad dash to safety, but when he had said something, it reminded her about the invitation rule. At least she thought that was legit. Between watching Buffy religiously growing up and having her parents spew facts at her, she couldn’t quite keep it clear. But to be fair, before she had become a werewolf, she had never encountered a vampire in her life. Looking to the man, she noticed the blood on his side, “Layla, and I would so rather be meeting you under different circumstances. But I’m fine. I’ll be fine. Are you?” She nodded towards his shirt, “You need help.” She had forgotten about the blood that was probably seeping down from the two puncture marks in her neck. Her ribs sure didn’t let up though, “Maybe there’s towels or something we can use. Follow me.” Going towards the back of the house, she made her way into a bathroom and began looking around. She wanted to help Rio out, especially considering he was the reason she was still here and not laying in the woods sucked dry from that leech of a woman.

“SIX HUNDRED AND TWENTY NINE GRAINS, YOU FUCKERS!” Francesca shouted from deep down her lungs, the anger making her boil from the inside out to the point her hands were shaking and her fangs were at permanent display. There was no need to look around, she knew they were gone from the sombre woods where one could commit murder without feeling exposed. It took her no more than ten minutes to count all that salt, but it seemed enough for the dodgy couple to just run away from the big, bad monster. They didn’t slip through her fingers though, as the vampire could still easily smell the trail of blood they both left behind. Like Hansel and Gretel’s breadcrumb trail, yet serving the opposite purpose - leading danger towards them, not salvation. In less than three minutes, Fran reached the quiet neighbourhood. All lights were out, except for light posts on the main street before all the suburb houses. Her heels were the only thing that could be heard in the next mile around them. And as they clicked, one by one the light bulbs burst. Not exactly burst, but at the speed of lightning she’d simply climb up each post close to a specific house that hung a “for sale” sign, and break them herself. She could hear them inside.

Now silently, the brunette surrounded the house, studying the best angle to get inside. Someone went to the bathroom. What a terrible time to need to pee, honestly. She wondered what she’d do in such a situation - you’re being hunted down, but hey, you got to pee. Urgently. She felt so lucky for having a system that simply had no physiological needs except for nourishment. Fran found the tall window to the bathroom, loudly and slowly clicking her nails against the wooden structure around it as, slowly, her hand “fingered” its way towards the glass. She stopped, then knocked against the wall, as if asking for permission to intrude. Then nothing. Until, slowly, the brown-haired top of a head appeared, making way to pale skin, then familiar ruby-sparkling eyes. “Let me in, little wolf…” She whispered, hoping she’d caught her attention and left her distraught enough to look her in the eyes and allow her compulsion sink in. “I’ll be good… Make this easy and everything will be over soon.”

“Me? No I’m fine don’t worry about me.” Orion assured, though Layla didn’t seem to pay much attention to that, opting instead to mission herself to find some towels for him.” She made her way through the house, and Rio trailed slowly behind her, trying to take in the rest of the place. It seemed barely furnished, which made sense considering the for sale sign. Must be people in the process of moving out. He hoped some dirt and blood stains didn’t devalue the home too much, considering the two had broken in dirty and injured from the attack in the woods. As Layla ventured into the bathroom to look for supplies, Rio strolled past it and made his way further down the hallway, peeking into the closed doors to check the rest of the area at. He felt weird, invading this person’s privacy like this. But regardless, the two had already broken into the home and it was smart to hang out here until they could be sure that things were safe. He made his way into what looked like the master bedroom, completely cleared out of furniture. He was careful not to touch any walls on his exploration, not wanting to accidentally trail blood along the house. He jumped out of his skin when he heard the banging on the window from somewhere around the house. Crap. She’s back.

Layla was now desperately checking every drawer in the bathroom. Under the counter. In the medicine cabinet hanging over the sink. Anything that would help Orion and stop the bleeding, before things got much worse. But in the ways of first aid supplies or even a leftover towel, she found nothing but a single Band-Aid shoved and forgotten at the very back of a drawer connected to the bathroom sink. As she raised back up to go show him her find, Layla’s ears quickly perked at the sounds outside, and then she smelled it...her. What she hadn’t anticipated was the banging on the wall which caused her to jump. Looking back and not immediately seeing anything, Layla narrowed her eyes. Curiosity had easily gotten the better of her, and by the time she had moved towards the window, it was too late. Her eyes had found Francesca’s. Staring deep into them, Layla felt numb to everything around her. Everything seemed to be okay, and all that mattered was the woman’s voice. Slowly, opening the window without any control over what she was doing, she stepped back, “Sure, you ca…”

The excitement was nearly impossible to handle. If Francesca had a heartbeat, it’d be pounding in her ears now. Whoever said there was no thrill in hunting was just wrong. When you got to have an actual conversation with your target, things got even more interesting. No one wants a hunt that ends in fifteen minutes, there’s no fun in that. Unable to restrain the grin in her lips, her mesmerizing red eyes remained the only thing that could be seen through the window, the rest of her body and features were hidden by the wooden structure of the house. Both of her hands were on the windowsill now and the vampire was more than ready to enter de residence and paint those walls red. It was dull, it needed some urgent proper decor, being completely honest. Some vampire style would do the trick.

Orion rushed out of the bedroom and back towards the bathroom. His side throbbed in protest and his heart was throbbing against his sternum. The pain dulled his senses, and his heightened hearing kept cutting out. He could catch the vampire’s words but his own heartbeat cut her off. He finally burst into the bathroom just as Layla started speaking, Rio’s mind could picture the horror scenario where Layla accidentally let the vampire in. From behind, Rio threw his hands over Layla’s mouth, covering them and stopping her from speaking. “Please don’t say anything else.” He whispered, pulling here away from the window and making sure to try to redirect Layla from the woman’s eyes. Rio kept his eyes trained on the bathroom tiling. “Please just leave us alone. We don’t want anything to do with you.” He said, trying to hide the trembling in his voice. “She was trying to compel you.” Rio explained to Layla, unsure of just how much she knew about the woman who was hunting them. “We need to stay clear of the doors and windows. If we can hang out until the sun comes up then we will be okay.”

Layla was so close to letting Fran in. It almost felt normal to finish the words, but before she could, she felt herself being pulled away. Her eyes were still set on the red orbs hovering just outside the window. They were so beautiful, but the further back they got, the more aware Layla was starting to become. When she realized what was going on, she blinked a few times and tried to speak, “You ca leh me go. I won say nuhhing.” Her voice was muffled, but she was coherent and understood what Rio was asking of her. For the second time that night, he had saved her life. She owed him big time. BIG TIME.

With a quick pant, Francesca rolled back her eyes. That night truly wasn’t going according to her last-minute plans. She, herself, gave up on compelling the wolf. That fake hunter knew too much for his own good, and, stupidly, he’d keep trying to save the day. Good luck when he ends up crossing paths with a crazy werewolf out there in the full moon. The vampire suddenly disappeared from the bathroom window, banging on the opposite wall, closer to the corridor they were standing in. “Little pig, little pig - let me come in,” she quoted the children’s story, a vicious smile gracing her lips. Again, she was having a little bit too much fun for someone who’d probably have reality sinking in in a month or so. “Well, then,” she continued after hearing no affirmative answer. “Then I’ll huff and I’ll puff, and I’ll blow your house in!” Her voice sounded angry, but it was all an act - she just wanted to scare them. They did cause her a lot of trouble, she could have some fun out of it. After a minute of silence, she banged her hand on the front door, incessantly, loud and strong, actually breaking bits and pieces of the wood. Then it stopped. Francesca got bored. “No worries, we’ll catch up some other time.” And disappeared.

Orion didn’t know how long the vampire stuck around. But he could hear her for what felt like hours. Stalking the area, threatening them. He couldn’t stop himself from shaking. He was terrified that at any moment someone could show up at the house and let her in. That she would find a way to kill them, plus some other innocent life too. But eventually, he heard her leave. “It sounds like she’s gone.” He mumbled. It wasn’t the most comfortable, but he had found the laundry room to be the safest place for them. It had no windows, which meant no fear of being compelled. It also meant they only had to listen to her taunts instead of seeing her make them in person. He was currently lying on the ground, and was too afraid to risk anything else. “We should stay here. Just in case. Until morning. I don’t want to risk her hiding some place out in the woods waiting for us to leave.”

Layla had almost gotten them killed and that raced through her mind as they were both shoved into the laundry room together. She hadn’t expected any of this to turn out the way it had, but she was grateful for Rio, and she owed him for saving her, “I am completely and 100% on board with that idea.” Pressed up against the wall, she could see Rio clearly with her wolfy vision. She could tell he was just as scared as she was. It was going to be a long night, but at least they’d be safe, and that’s all that mattered. Plus, it gave her plenty of time to profusely apologize for the mess she had gotten them into.

[egg2k16]

40 Fanfic Q’s Answered

the server wants answers, and they want them now!!! from this post

1. Describe your comfort zone—a typical you-fic.

Smut and pining all the way. Also, falling in love via laughing

2. Is there a trope you’ve yet to try your hand at, but really want to?

Eh...I don’t think so, I’m always 100% self-indulgent, so what u see is what I want

3. Is there a trope you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole?

Anything that has to do w mega sadness, I just Don’t. I can’t write anything sad, and if I do, there’s certainly gonna be A Lot of comfort afterwards

4. How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Care to share one of them?

I have 91 wips, motherfuckers!!! My latest wip is a daddy month fic!

5. Share one of your strengths.

I think, since I’ve been trying to be sparser in my words, I’ve been able to better emphasize what isn’t being said

6. Share one of your weaknesses.

No action scenes from me are ever good, lmao

7. Share a snippet from one of your favorite pieces of prose you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

It was late at night, when he started to cry.

He didn't want to cry, but he did.

It's been years since he's last let himself feel, or was it since he was last allowed to feel?

He choked on his sobs, uncomfortable with his tears. He's forgotten how to properly cry. His entire body is shaking, and the connections between flesh and wire hurts.

He stops crying. He starts crying again.

This continues for another few minutes, until he feels as if he can't possibly have any more tears.

He wipes his face, pulls the covers up to his chin, and falls asleep.

(from Twilight on the Sea) I really like this bcus I don’t think I’ve ever really typed out crying in this way, n I tried to make it feel like it was a lot

8. Share a snippet from one of your favorite dialogue scenes you’ve written and explain why you’re proud of it.

Cass was quiet for a moment. “... you know what? Maybe I’ll just go up there and surprise you.”

“If you do, then you already ruined the surprise, haven’t you?”

“Eh, I dunno about that. Seeing my beautiful face is a shock for many people.”

“Oh, I’m sure of it.”

“Hey, Koda? I don’t know about you, but it’s really late here.”

“Really?” Koda asks, then remembers that time zones exist. “Oh crap, what time is it over there?”

“It’s midnight. What about you?”

“It’s eight o’clock. Only four hours difference?”

“Oh hey, that’s not so bad.”

“It reduces our time,” Koda said, a bit whining.

“Not if I have anything to say about it.”

“What are you going to do? Move here? Send for me?”

“You’ll see.”

(from Together) This was a gift for one my best friends on here, @suncatchr​ , and it’s about his ocs!!! I love this a lot bcus while it’s a soulmate au, it’s not ur average soulmate au, and I tried making it as original as possible! And this blurb, I just wanted them to effuse so much love w/o having to say love...cries

9. Which fic has been the hardest to write?

If this is by posted fics, then I remember writing Look What You’ve Done to Me was very very difficult, bcus, since it’s also a gift, for @daniel-bryan​ , I wanted to write it Good, n since my buddy usually wrote from the love interest’s pov, I felt a weird pressure to write Daniel Bryan’s pov as good as I could

10. Which fic has been the easiest to write?

2 of my fics in Spanish!!! My oc centric one, Rayos y Centellas, and my shyan one, oye cariño, solo pienso en ti ! Turns out writing in ur native tongue makes everything easier

11. Is writing your passion or just a fun hobby?

It’s a very passionate hobby!!! I just!!! try to pour all of my love into everything I write!!!

12. Is there an episode above all others that inspires you just a little bit more?

I’m not sure!!! I just watch movies n quietly scream to my gay lonesome bcus No One Ever Watches Movies ;-;

13. What’s the best writing advice you’ve ever come across?

To just keep writing n not stop for details or forgotten lore, bcus it’s important to write down what’s firing u up Right Now. Of course, it’s very difficult following that ;;-;;

14. What’s the worst writing advice you’ve ever come across?

“No adverbs!” “No ‘said’!” “It has to make grammatical sense!” sometimes things Need those

15. If you could choose one of your fics to be filmed, which would you choose?

Was gonna say my rewrite of the end of The Rover, but actually, my SPN fic Ube . Shit was peak inspired

16. If you only could write one pairing for the rest of your life, which pairing would it be?

Eridirk (Eridan Ampora/Dirk Strider from Homestuck) all the way. The one otp that’s stayed thru thick n thin <3

17. Do you write your story from start to finish, or do you write the scenes out of order?

A little mix of both, and tbh it depends on the fic, but I tend to write chronologically

18. Do you use any tools, like worksheets or outlines?

I’ve started bullet pointing my ideas out before writing my fics, and so far, it’s been helping me be more streamlined n get my things written out faster n clearer!

19. Stephen King once said that his muse is a man who lives in the basement. Do you have a muse?

Is the need for representation in all the niche movies I keep watching a muse?

20. Describe your perfect writing conditions.

In my dark room, w music blasting from my laptop, the TV w a soft hum, I have the perfect playlist to get the mood right, curled up in my blankies, n my plushie Sweet Pea by my side

21. How many times do you usually revise your fic/chapter before posting?

Zero, we rely on autocorrect & editing while typing and die like men

22. Choose a passage from one of your earlier fics and edit it into your current writing style. (Person sending the ask is free to make suggestions).

YOU DON’T SEEM SCARED.

Del Rio shrugs. “Working as a cop, it makes you numb to some things. It’s good, it lets you react to things as you should, and not how you’d want to.”

YOU SOUND SAD ABOUT THAT.

He makes a noncommittal noise. “It is what it is.” He eats another spoonful of his ice cream, then gets a thought.

“Can you show up?”

HOW SO?

“Can you,” he tries, waving his spoon around, “Manifest?”

I DON’T KNOW. I’LL TRY.

“I’m sure you’ll do just fine,” Del Rio assures, and he can feel the air around him smile. The...world, he thinks, around him shifts just slightly, and there seems to be a chink in the armor for a moment before it goes away, as if someone had wiped the glass clear. He realizes that this is her, trying to show up in a physical form, step out of the phone.

He doesn’t know where to look, but then his confusion wanes when a butterfly shows up, fluttering towards him. It lands near his phone, skitters a bit, flaps its wings.

“Lucy?” he asks, transfixed on the butterfly. Its orange wings are bright under the sunlight.

I THOUGHT I’D TRY SMALL, FOR MY FIRST TRIAL.

“Well, you certainly nailed it.” He smiled warmly at the butterfly, and he had the crazy notion that it smiled back at him.

(adapted from The Policeman , the first fic I posted!)

23. If you were to revise one of your older fics from start to finish, which would it be and why?

Yeah, probably The Policeman lmao, I remember it today n I cringe a little at the very obvious refs to other fandoms I made. Despite that, it continues being one of my best hits!

24. Have you ever deleted one of your published fics?

Never

25. What do you look for in a beta?

I’m just thankful to have gotten a beta in general in life at all

26. Do you beta yourself? If so, what kind of beta are you?

I beta’ed once, and since English is my 2nd language, I pointed out syntax confusion, typos, n continuity errors

27. How do you feel about collaborations?

Can be done, it’s just that I am frightened. Tried doing that, it fell thru, n the new thing that came up, I still have to hold up my end of the bargain ;;-;;

28. Share three of your favorite fic writers and why you like them so much.

cries omg ok so!!! Chancy_Lurking ( @lurkerviolin​ ) is one of my faves, n we’ve become friends, n their Felix+ Sense8 series is the reason for it all, and u know it’s good if it managed to make a friendship that’s last its good while, and also they’re so nice, and we vibe so well!!! thegoatz ( @daniel-bryan​ ) is also now one of my bestest friends ever, and I wuv him so much, he is such a good kid, n he’s so enthusiastic about writing, and I hope that spark never goes out!!! And adamwhatareyouevendoing ( @skatingthinandice​ ) bcus she’s doing a rewrite of The Last Kingdom where it’s all gay where it should be and vnjkdfsnvkd God, what a wonderful friend!!!

29. If you could write the sequel (or prequel) to any fic out there not written by yourself, which would you choose?

I actually technically am working on a sequel to @rettaroo​ ‘s A New Kind of Touch ! Another promise I have to hold up eventually ;;;-;;;

30. Do you accept prompts?

Sure!

31. Do you take liberties with canon or are you very strict about your fic being canon compliant?

I try to follow canon as much as I possibly can!

32. How do you feel about smut?

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

33. How do you feel about crack?

Eh, it’s alright. I don’t normally look for it, so I don’t really have a solid opinion on it

34. What are your thoughts on non-con and dub-con?

I don’t want to read it, but I have so far encountered it twice very amicably: once here in a ficlet, and another in a longer fic on AO3, and they were both very good

35. Would you ever kill off a canon character?

Probably not, I don’t like sad things!

36. Which is your favorite site to post fic?

AO3! I’m RedLlamas on it!

37. Talk about your current wips.

Lmao which one. The one I’m currently working on is an impregnation kink turned “oh no I actually do wanna have a family” feelings fic!

38. Talk about a review that made your day.

Gonna be real w u, the best comments I’ve gotten have mainly been from my friends, who either write a paragraph or two going into detail of the fic, or just send a one sentence comment that’s just “screams!” I’ve gotten very few paragraphs from other people, n they’re always so!!!

My friends are the realest :’)

39. Do you ever get rude reviews and how do you deal with them?

The perks of being a rarepair writer is that the only people who read my fics are the ones actively looking for content!!! And they can’t complain about my work because No One Else Is Writing For It!!!!!!

40. Write an alternative ending to [insert fic title] (or just the summary of one).

All my fics are masterpieces, so I’ll do a summary change! For don’t you just know (exactly what they’re thinking?)

Dakota finds himself in unexpected heartbreak, and the universe decides to bring him in the direction of a night club with a dancer with stars on his skin.

[tuff-and-fluff-archives]

I’ll Always Be There (Gift Fic)

Word Count: 1165

Content Warnings: Some close encounters and a lot of angst.

Well here it is, my side of an art-fic trade with @kittyselfships !! They’re so adorable with Lucio that I almost felt bad writing angst, like nooo your froggy husband was so worried for you!! But don’t worry, everything turned out okay ;w; I really hope you enjoy it!!

Lúcio felt his entire body tensed with anxiety as he sat outside the Overwatch base infirmary and nervously rubbed his hands together. It seemed as if he’d been sitting there waiting for an eternity, but in reality, it had barely been more than a few minutes since Mercy had told him to wait outside while she ran some quick diagnostics. It was exactly who she was running those diagnostics on that had him so worried. Just on the other side of the door, the love of his life, Kai, was recovering from a near-death experience.

The last mission had started off so well; almost too well, now that Lúcio thought about it. It was nothing more than a simple mission to pacify an anti-omnic riot in Rio de Janeiro. Lúcio had even promised to take Kai on a personal tour of the city after the mission, but just as it seemed that they were out of the clear, a violent explosion rocked the building they had been in, crumbling the foundation of the building right on top of them. Everything was just bits and pieces to Lúcio; one moment he was running out of the building with Kai holding his hand tightly to follow behind, and in the blink of an eye, his hand was empty and his husband was buried under the rubble of the crumbling building. A shudder went through Lúcio’s body; he could still see the disturbingly peaceful look on Kai’s unconscious face and feel his limp body in his arms…

Lúcio jolted as he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned his head to see Mercy looking down at him with a reassuring smile. He nearly jumped up out of his seat as he took Mercy’s hand in both of his in an attempt to calm himself. “Talk to me, Doc. Is he going to be okay? What can I do to help him? How bad were-”

Mercy pulled her hand away and held it up in front of him to pause his panicked rambling. “Calm down, Lúcio. Kai’s going to be just fine. All he suffered was some bruising and light head trauma.”

“H-head trauma?! That doesn’t sound ‘just fine’ to me!”

“Don’t worry, Lúcio!” Mercy’s comforting grin didn’t falter as she placed a hand on his shoulder. “That equates to nothing more than a nasty bump on the head. He’ll be up and moving in just a few hours.”

Lúcio felt as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders as he looked to the ceiling and breathed out a heavy sigh of relief. “Oh, thank you, Angela. Thank you so much.” He turned his attention back to Mercy and nervously bit his lip. “So… can I see him?”

Mercy chuckled lightly and nodded her head as she stood to the side. “You can go in, Lúcio. But he’s still resting, so please, be gentle with him-” Before she could even finish her sentence, Lúcio rushed towards the doorway, being sure to give Mercy another quick “thank you” before he headed into the infirmary. 

Kai was awake, much to Lúcio’s relief, and was lying back in one of the infirmary beds as he looked out the window thoughtfully. As Lúcio walked into the room, he gently turned to look at him and gave him a weak smile.

“Hi, sunshine,” Kai said softly.

Lúcio felt his heart skip a beat as he rushed to Kai’s side, swiftly sitting in a chair beside the bed and taking Kai’s hand in his own so he could place a gentle kiss on the back of his hand. “Oh, thank goodness you’re alright, Kai. Y-you are alright, yeah?” Lúcio began to look over the various bandages on Kai’s arms. “Did Angela patch you up good enough? Is there anywhere else where it hurts?”

Kai let out a gentle chuckle and squeezed Lúcio’s hand to get him to look back into his eyes. “I feel fine, I promise.”

“Okay… Okay,” Lúcio attempted to steady his heartbeat as he pressed Kai’s hand to his forehead and held his hand as if he could slip at any moment. “I was just… I was so worried about you. If I’d just been a bit faster, I could have gotten you out in time.” Lúcio felt his vision blurring as his voice began to shake. “I’m supposed to keep you safe, Kai. What if you hadn’t gotten so lucky? W-what if you got hurt so bad that Angela couldn’t heal you?” The emotions became too much to bear, and Lúcio couldn’t stop hold back anymore and began to quietly sob, his shoulders shaking as he kept his head down and clung to Kai’s hand like a lifeline.

Kai reached forward to put his other hand on Lúcio’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s alright. I’m here, nothing happened,” he assured. In reality, Kai felt like he was on the verge of tears as well, but he wanted to stay strong to show his husband that everything was okay. As Lúcio looked back up, Kai felt his heart catch in his throat as he saw tears streaming down Lúcio’s face. Before he could even say another word, Lúcio leaned forward and tightly wrapped his arms around Kai as he hid his face in the crook of his neck.

“I’m s-supposed to be able to protect you, Kai. I’m supposed to k-keep you safe,” Lúcio sobbed, his voice muffled as he pressed his head against Kai’s neck and clutched him like his life depended on it. “If I can’t protect you, K-Kai… If I can’t even do that…”

A few seconds passed that felt like an eternity as Kai brought his arms up to embrace Lúcio in return, letting him take the time to get out the pent-up emotions of the last few hours as he tried to think of how to respond. “Hey… It’s okay, darling. It wasn’t your fault,” Kai mumbled as he found himself unable to hold back a few tears of his own. “It means so much to me that you care about me like that… But I’m okay. I’m not going anywhere. I promise.”

Lúcio didn’t loosen his grip in the slightest, savoring every second of having his love in his arms as he tried to reign in his sobbing. After a few seconds, he calmed down enough to answer, “Thank you, darling. You’re one tough cookie, that’s for sure.” He placed a gentle kiss against Kai’s neck and nuzzled against his skin. “I love you, Kai. And I’ll always be there for you.”

“I love you too.” Kai pulled his head away to look Lúcio in the eyes, and they each leaned forward to let their mouths link together to share a warm and gentle kiss. As they pulled away, Kai rested his forehead against Lúcio’s and fought back another sob as a joyful smile took over his face. “Thank you so much. For everything.”

Lúcio grinned right back and planted another kiss on Kai’s cheek before whispering, “Don’t even mention it, meu querido. I’d do anything for you. That’s a promise.”

[quesselfships]

Fic parts

So like I said I wanted to do that fic with Elnor who I’m not even bonded to yet.

Its really just three scenes, without any transitions between them, so without further ado:

“Guys, she knows me,” Chris sauntered up a farm lane, passing a large sign reading Azteca Calla. “It’s fine, we’re fine.”

The lane was lined with succulents, large blue agave with smaller species filling in the gaps. In the distance, Picard could see corn, along with smaller plants he couldn’t identify at this distance. But the imposing structure behind the house is what caught their eye.

“It’s Mesoamerican,” he said to no one in particular.

“Yeah it’s a temple to Quetzalcoatl.”

“Didn’t Captain Kirk encounter an alien claiming to be Quetzalcoatl?”

“Yeah, don’t mention that to her…”

“The fuck did you bring me this time Rios?” A voice called from the lane, with a rather angry looking woman standing with her arms crossed. Her tattoos shined from the sunscreen she had put on, and Chris just awkwardly waved his hand over the rag-tag group. “We need some supplies…a place to lay low for a little bit.”

She sighed, looking over the group. “I expect help, on the farm. In exchange for room and board, and not asking questions. Dinner is in a couple of hours, you can get settled in the side house, by the temple.”

“You’re the best Lea,” Chris grinned. “My ship…?”

“You can stash it between the corn fields.”

“The best!”

 “I made the Tamal very mild,” she said, serving a platter of wrapped vegetables and turkey. She brushed the fringe from her scarf away from her face. “Mild,” she indicated one bowl of salsa, “hot,” the one beside it “and jalapeno,” the final green one. “I grew everything myself.”

Picard produced a bottle of his estate wine from somewhere and poured glasses. “How do you know Captain Rios?”

“He helped me bring supplies for this. It was him who sourced artisans who could create my sculptures.” She cut into a Tamal and drizzled a mix of jalapeno and mild salsas onto it. Elnor mimicked her.

“Aztec reproductions?” Seven cocked her head.

“Not quite. My own original ideas, inspired by sacred art and the Gods. I am a proud Anahuac,” She smiled. “That’s why I studied agriculture in school. Though I can barely keep houseplants alive.”

“You grew all of this?”

She nodded. “Yes, everything I eat here I grow, from the corn and chilies, to the chocolate and tequila. There’s only a few things I import or replicate, and most of it is meat. I don’t know how to butcher.”

“Are the cats bothering you?”

Sybill screamed again and Elnor smiled. “No. Are they all this chatty?”

“No, she’s a special one.” Sybill crawled up into Elnor’s lap and purred. “She likes you.”

“I had never seen a cat before now.”

“We have more living in the temple. They keep the rodents away from the crops.”

“Will you take me?”

“Sure, let’s go,” she extended her hand. Elnor carefully deposited Sybill onto a footrest (much to her anger), and grabbed Lea’s hand.

The temple was more impressive close up, with intricate star patterns and carvings. She pointed to one. “My birth chart, my sacred names and dates, all carved here.”

“It’s beautiful,” he looked around. The lights shone when they walked in the temple, stone echoing underfoot. “The lights look like fire.”

“I made sure they would be programmed like that. It felt more authentic to me. More fitting.”

Some cats, disturbed by the light, got up from their comfy corners and perches to say hello, purring as they rubbed themselves along Lea’s legs. Elnor bent down to pick up a white one with smooth fur. He smiled and pressed his face into her fur. She mruped, and purred, headbutting under his chin.

“Come, I’ll show you the kittens.”

The warm, secluded annex had two mothers with babies. One group seemed to be older, bounding around, and the other with younger ones who were just opening their eyes. The older kittens wobbled forward. “Sit down,” She said, handing him a few treats. “I make these too. They’ll come to you.”

Within moments, Elnor had kittens crawling on him, and the white cat he had picked up earlier was settling into a warm corner, far enough away that the Mamas weren’t upset. They were curious, cuddly and sweet. Elnor loved their soft fur and gentle nuzzles with their wet nose.

After a while, the mother cat called and her kittens came over to drink at the milk bar. They settled in in a row, dozing as they filled up on warm milk. The white cat followed them out, and perched by Elnor’s feet. He looked around at the stone, offerings and candled lined the walls. He could swear there was a scent of copal in the air.

He looked at Lea in the dim light, sparkles glinting from her headscarf, and he couldn’t help but ask, “can I kiss you?”

“Kiss me?”

He nodded, stepping closer. His hand was warm on her cheek and she felt her leg shake. She had noticed him, young and tall and handsome. Slender, lithe…things that she liked. “I’d like to kiss you.”

His lips were soft on hers, and his hair tickled her cheeks where it fell forward. She reached for his hand and entwined her fingers. She felt the stars carved in her temple glitter with delight. She couldn’t remember the last time she was kissed like this, with tenderness and sweetness and a hint of innocence.

He pulled away; cheeks tinged green with blush. “Thank you,” he said in a whisper.

Next part will be under a jump for smut. I really hope I did ok. I’ve never written a trans character before so like. I tried.

“Ah, fuck,” she said. It was early morning, but she couldn’t sleep. There was a festival coming up and that always made her wonky. But she noticed her hydroponics were running dry. She made her way to the en suite to get some water, fixing her ponytail with a yawn. She kicked aside a few clothes, probably clean but maybe dirty, and got the water.

Exiting the bathroom, she held the bottle of water but then dropped it with a gasp.

“It’s okay, it’s just me,” Elnor said. “I heard something, I thought you were in trouble.”

Forgetting the water, she scrambled to her bathroom door and snatched the first scarf she could, wrapping it around her head like a loose hood. “It’s okay, you just startled me.”

Elnor had stooped down and was mopping up the bit of water that spilled from the cap that wasn’t screwed on too tight. “I’m sorry if I offended you.” He nodded towards the scarf.

“No, it’s okay. It was an accident.” She crossed her arms, tugging her oversized shirt down a little. She was conscious of how bizarre it was to make sure her hair was covered, but she was pretty sure that if she turned her back, he would be able to see the bottoms of her ass cheeks hanging out from her boy shorts.

“I feel bad,” he said. “Can I make it up to you?”

“You don’t need to Elnor, really.” She pulled her scarf off. “It’s just hair. And while I haven’t done much to it in six months…” She smoothed the wispies. “I’ve been grey for half my life. I just don’t like showing it to strangers. It’s more of a comfort thing than anything.”

He nodded, “I have something like that too. Can I show you?”

“Sure.”

He stared untying the sash at this waist.

“Elnor, no, what are you doing?”

 He sloughed off his robe to his waist, and traced thin scars under his pectoral muscles. “Double mastectomy,” he said, then turned to his side. “And unfortunately, I had to have my hysterectomy this way. I had a cyst so it couldn’t be done vaginally.”

“I had no idea,” she said.

“I haven’t had all the surgery, it’s hard to get on Vashti. I feel good about this body now, so I don’t know what I’ll do in the future.”

“Thank you for telling me. It makes my hair thing seem way less important.” She chuckled.

“It’s not, not at all.” He pulled his robe back up, but kept it loose. “Why are you up so early anyway? The sun isn’t up yet.”

“I don’t know. Couldn’t sleep I guess.” She sat down on the edge of the bed, and patted for him to join. Sybill jumped up from the basket of clothes and took it as an invitation for her. Elnor grinned and picked her up, placing her on his lap to pet her while he listened. “There’s a holiday coming up and I never sleep well before them. This is one I don’t really care for anyway.”

“Why?”

“It puts a lot of emphasis on sex, but I celebrate it alone. I try to make it about growth and purification, but everyone in the community talks about some muscular guy who was channeling a god and how they fucked in front of a bonfire.”

“So why don’t you do that?”

“It’s not my style. I want to know someone before I jumped into bed with them.” She laughed and sat crossed legged, facing him, “current company withstanding.”

“I don’t know if we’ll be here when your festival happens, but do you want to try it before?”

“What, you’re going to channel a god for me? Should we get the bonfire in my laundry or my paddle plant?”

“Maybe without that part,” he said softly. “But the other part…”

She smiled, “you want to be some muscular guy for me?”

“I think I’d like that.” He deposited the cat back into the laundry basket, and scooted closer, shucking his robe off all the way now. He wore loose fitting shorts, and was flushed from his navel to his chest. His kisses were softer than they were at the temple, more hesitant but with more hunger and passion.

 She put her hand on his hip and raked her nails softly against his firm flesh. She felt his heart pound under her hand, while he slipped one of his hands under her shirt, hiking it up to expose her breasts. He rubbed his thumb over one nipple until it peaked and he trailed kisses along her soft jaw and neck. She whimpered when he broke contact to tear her shirt off, tossing it aside and kissing along her chest again.

She dragged her hand down his shorts to the mound between his legs. It was jarring at first, to not feel a solid mass, but her fingers still managed to tease through the fabric. She could feel the warmth, the wetness growing.

“I want to suck you off,” she moaned. “I want to have your cock in my mouth.”

 He shuddered, quickly getting off the bed and out of the shorts. She crawled to the end of the bed to allow him to drape himself on her pillows. She settled down between his legs, against his thigh. She kissed and licked at his skin, using her fingers to gather his own wetness and spread it around his cock, which was now filling out. She followed her fingers with her tongue, swirling it around and taking it all the way into her mouth.

He moaned, leaning back into the pillows and shifting his hips. His eyes squeezed shut as he panted, feeling the pressure build. He wanted to buck into her mouth, but stilled himself. “Finger me too,” he whispered. “Please.”

She paused her sucking to lick her fingers, pressing them into him and hooking them up. His anatomy was different from humans, it took a moment for her to find the spot inside of him to make him gasp and let out a low moan. She grinned and resumed her sucking. She could feel him squeeze around her, and his hand found its way to her hair.

“Fuck,” he panted out. “Fuck, I’m close.”

 She stroked her fingers faster, harder, stimulating his cock from the outside as well as the inside. He was panting and gasping as he kicked out his one leg gushing around her fingers. He whimpered with overstimulation as she pulled her fingers out to lick them clean.

She resettled herself on his chest, and kissed the mastectomy scars. He was still panting, leaning his cheek on the top of her head.

“What about you?” He asked.

“Later,” she pulled the blanket up over them. “Sleep time now. Round two later.”

[lunafeather]

Brio + 11, 39, 76

11.

“I know you, and this isn’t you.”

“Oh, you know me now, huh?”

“Yeah.” She freezes, realizes what she’s said and stares at him, the gears in her head grinding. And then something clicks. “Yeah, I do know you.”

He snorts, shakes his head and turns away. Beth grabs his sleeve and spins him back, her fingers clenching forcefully against his arm, and then she’s in his space, chest to chest, her mouth a thin sharp line when she leans up into his face. She watches as fury is smothered into blankness, and her frustration only mounts. He looks down his nose at her through thick lashes, and she does know him, she does, because when his nostrils flare she knows he’s fighting not to rise to her bait. She knows that he is carefully keeping himself in check by the way his arm tenses beneath her grip, held taut like a bow, the way he looms very slightly over her despite her heels giving her some leverage.

She doesn’t back down, doesn’t flinch, holds his gaze while he glares down at her.

And she thinks that maybe she sees his eyes dart down to her mouth, and it’s too fast, she must have imagined it – but then he’s kissing her, hard, a brutal crash of his mouth against hers and she’s so startled that her mouth opens on a gasp and then his tongue is in her mouth, deepening it. She is knocked off balance by it, stumbling back, but his hands are there to catch her, rough on her hips and then her ass, yanking her against him as he walks her backwards until she’s pressed against the nearest wall. She manages to get the nails of one hand scraping against his scalp, is rewarded with a groan – her other hand scrabbles against his shoulder in a futile attempt at regaining some control.

He shoves a thigh between hers at the same moment that she bites down on his lower lip. They break apart, panting, and Rio presses his forehead against hers while they catch their breath. Her eyes flutter closed even as her hand strokes gently through the hair at the nape of his neck, urging him closer, closer still, and a bizarre image unfurls in her mind of crawling into him and just letting go – of this tension, of this fight, of this exhaustion. His hand at her lower back presses her more firmly to him, and maybe he’s having the same thought because the rigidity in his body seems to melt away.

“We can’t keep doing this.” Her voice is hoarse and small, just for him in this small space they share.

Rio shrugs, so slightly, and then leans back to look at her. He waits until she opens her eyes to say, “Then let’s stop.”

Panic surges through her and her mouth falls open to argue – and then his fingers are at her temple, stroking down her face in that familiar gesture that haunts her dreams. But he doesn’t let his hand fall away, like usual. Instead he gently cups her jaw, fingers spread against her throat, thumb tracing her kiss bruised lower lip. He watches the movement, watches as she licks at the skin there, then his gaze flicks up to hers and she understands.

39.

His phone pings, that familiar tone he set to her number only startling him awake from a light doze. He doesn’t move for a moment, breathing sharply through his nose, and then he rakes his palm roughly over his face and scratches at his beard. When he rolls on to his side and lifts his phone, his eyebrow arches at the message staring back at him.

Can you meet me?

1:47AM hovers in the top corner of his phone’s screen. It’s not like her to be up this late let alone messaging him, and he pauses before he responds, flicking over the possible reasons she could have for wanting to meet. Their partnership is tentatively back on, though decidedly secret, which adds that much more mystery to her request.

He briefly mulls over the idea that it might be a booty call, then quickly discards the thought.

He’s not quite back in that good of graces.

Yet.

His curiosity gets the better of him, and – if he’s being honest – his concern. Though she remains tight lipped and infuriatingly vague about her home life, he gets the feeling that it’s not all sunshine and roses (and how could it be, if car man was up and swiping their kids out of her reach?). This thought spurs him up and onto his feet, tugging on a pair of jeans and shooting her a clipped response.

15.

She doesn’t reply, but he knows she’ll be there. When he rolls up to the park in his black Cadillac, her mama van is already parked at the curb. He tugs up on the zipper of his hoodie while his eyes canvas the playground, tracing over familiar twisted metal shapes, searching – there, nestled into a swing, swaying softly in the darkness. He watches her a moment, drinking her in; her copper curls are smothered by a thick black beanie much like his own, her shoulders curled inwards against the Autumn chill. She kicks idly with one boot, but otherwise seems still.

Her head doesn’t lift until he’s ten feet away, and when it does it strikes him somewhere deep, somewhere he struggles every day to smother. Tear tracks glide down her cheeks, the skin rosy with cold and shimmering in the street light that barely reaches them. She sniffles, but otherwise just watches him warily. When the silence stretches on, he shoves his hands into his pockets and leans against the swing set support bar, eyes fluttering closed, sleep hanging like a hazy weight on the edge of his vision.

They sit like that, in silence, and somehow it’s comfortable and calm. Even standing this far from her he feels that undeniable tug, that thread that binds them together, dragging him towards her, always. It’s becoming harder and harder to stay away from her, to not gravitate into her space and let their energies collide and meld into one. He had thought it was difficult not to touch her constantly after their encounter in that bar bathroom, but now? After tasting her in every sense of the word, after drinking directly from the source, swallowing her moans and her whimpers, and knowing what every delicious curve felt like, heavy in his palms…

The urge to have his hands on her, always, buzzes like lightning beneath his skin, making him jittery and tense and agitated. She often takes it the wrong way, believes its something she did – and it is, it is, but not in the way she thinks.

Even now, he wants to crowd into her space and nudge her chin up with his thumb, meet those blue, blue eyes and draw out every thought and every desire, wants to catch each one and bottle it up and hide it in that place he keeps shoving way down.

She sniffles again, and he opens his eyes to find her staring. The openness of her expression, the vulnerability, knocks him in the chest like a horse kick. He’s frozen, afraid to move and scare her off, his face a calm mask of neutrality.

“He found some of my notes.”

The corners of his mouth curl downwards, and his brows furrow just so, but he doesn’t speak. He knows her well enough to know that her words will come in time.

“He got suspicious, and we fought – it woke the kids, they were crying. They didn’t… they didn’t want me to…” She huffs, finally breaking their eye contact. She lifts a hand to rub at her nose and tilts her head back until her face welcomes the stars. When she meets his gaze again, her expression is carefully blank, though even from his position he can see the tears sparkling at the corners of her eyes.

“I need a place to stay.”

He doesn’t ask why she doesn’t call her friend or her sister, doesn’t really want to. It’s a rare gift for her to let him see this far inside her, and despite the fact that it sometimes feels like there’s a gulf they’ll never be able to cross between them, he can’t deny how warm it makes him feel.

He can do this for her.

He jerks his head in the direction of his car and starts off. He doesn’t have to look over his shoulder to know she’s following – he feels that thread taught and thrumming between them and keeps walking.

76.

Everything happened so fast. They had been on the couch, talking then touching then kissing, because when have they ever been able to keep their hands off one another? And then Dean was there, yelling, red faced and spitting, waving a gun. Rio hadn’t jumped up or shown any emotion, rising calmly and standing between Dean and Beth. And then she had been on her feet, too, and everything was tense and loaded and she didn’t think he would do it, didn’t think he had it in him – she had seen the hard line of Rio’s shoulders, ready to strike, voice laced with the threat of danger and she isn’t sure who said what that made Dean raise the gun and pull the trigger, but she is sure that her instincts took over and she shoved Rio sideways, slotting her body into the bullet’s path.

Everything thereafter was a blur – screaming, crying, hands everywhere on her body then nowhere and she was alone and then not, eyes snapping open to meet Rio’s as he gingerly shifted her and then pain, unbearable and agonizing, and it felt like her side had split open and her guts had spilled out, and maybe they had, maybe they had.

Her last snapshot of consciousness is the look on Rio’s face – guarded, cool, murmuring softly to her, but the pain at the corners of his eyes stands out the most, the tiny pull of a frown at the edge of his mouth.

She wakes to sunlight streaming through the gauzy curtains of her bedroom, bathing her bed in warmth. She’s on her back, laid carefully out and straight as board. When she tries to sit up, pain ricochets from her right side across her belly and her chest and her hip, and she yells, the sound hollow and tinny.

“Beth!” Annie surges out of the bathroom, her hands insistent on Beth’s shoulders, pushing her back down. “Jesus, I turn away for like 10 seconds and you’re trying to escape.” Her little sister tries to inject some levity in her tone, but they both know it’s a thin facade.

Beth trembles with the pain throbbing in her side, nausea washing through her. Annie keeps a hand pressed to Beth’s shoulder, the other gently brushing Beth’s sweat soaked hair from her face. She sits on the edge of the bed, and when Beth can finally manage to open her eyes, she is struck by the worry and panic hanging heavy on Annie’s face.

“Don’t move, okay? It could rip open the sutures.”

Beth nods, and they sit quietly. Then, “What happened?”

Annie’s brows pucker together. “You don’t remember?” At Beth’s small head shake, Annie sighs, glancing distractedly down to Beth’s lap. “Dean shot you.”

Beth doesn’t mean to, but the words startle her into another attempt to sit up and another shove back down to the bed and an annoyed growl from Annie. “He what?” she pants, swallowing thickly against another wave of pain and nausea.

“Well, I think he meant to shoot Rio, but…”

Beth’s eyes pop open and she moves again, panicked. “Rio! Where is he? Is he okay?”

Annie is prepared this time, holding her down with a palm on her shoulder, and watches her curiously, almost surprised. Her mouth falls open to answer–

“I’m fine.”

Both women turn to see Rio leaning against the door frame, hands buried in his pockets. His expression is closed, guarded, but rough. He and Beth lock eyes and she feels her breath leave her in a whoosh at the intensity in those black depths.

Annie looks between them, put out at being so obviously forgotten. “Yeah, he’s just fine,” she retorts. She watches them for a long moment, and when no one says anything else, she helpfully provides, “he actually refused to leave your side. Dug the bullet out himself and sewed you up. Held your hand all night. It was, like, kind of sickeningly sweet.”

Two pairs of eyes flick to her, and she knows a dismissal when it’s staring right at her. She throws her hands up and scoffs. “I’m going.” If she notices that they immediately go back to gazing at one another, she doesn’t mention it.

With Annie gone, Beth takes her time in absorbing the man before her. His face is cracked and red, dried blood crusting over a wound or two – eerily reminiscent of the last time the two of them and her husband had found themselves in a room with a gun. Blood stains his dark blue t shirt – his blood? Her blood? Dean’s? Maybe all three? There’s marks on his tanned arms, marring the smoothness there. Dark circles cushion his eyes, his skin is pallid – but god, she still finds him so devastatingly beautiful.

“You look awful,” she says, and smiles when he smirks.

“Yeah, I was about to say the same thing about you.”

He’s lying, and not even hiding it. His smirk briefly swells into a grin – a warm, affectionate, dare-she-say loving grin – and then it deflates and ebbs away, dragging her own smile with it. Suddenly he is oh so very serious, and her heart drops. They stay like that, the tension so thick that she’s afraid it may smother her and something painful and thick is rising like a tidal wave up from her toes through her belly through her chest and then there are tears in her eyes and she’s not entirely sure why.

That’s what breaks the moment, her tears. He swallows audibly, and she would swear that his breathing hitched, and then he’s ambling over and sitting next to her, hands still shoved in his pockets like he’s afraid if he has them free he’ll shake her.

He sighs, looking up at the ceiling. “You know, you done some real dumb shit during the time I’ve known you, but this is a new record.”

She shrugs. “I think that depends on who you ask.”

The memories are jagged and blurred, swirling together in a colorful mess in her mind, but she knows, without a doubt, that she saved Rio’s life. And even though barely moving any part of her body feels like someone is stabbing her in the gut with a dull knife, she doesn’t regret it. She’ll never regret it.

And she says as much.

Rio just shakes his head, but when his eyes meet hers, his expression is open and vulnerable. It takes her breath away all over again.

“Elizabeth.”

How can he fit so much into just her name? It comes out as a sigh, a plea, a prayer. She can hear the annoyance, the pride, the fear in it, the judgement and the forgiveness. He speaks her name like a caress, and she feels it as a ghost of his fingers trailing down her face, pushing her hair back.

She wants to ask about what happened after she jumped in front of him, about Dean, about where they go from here, but she knows it’s not the time. This gentleness, this softness, is too fragile and for once she allows herself the selfishness of indulging in it without guilt. She just wants to be close to him, to soak up his realness, his vitality. She wants to revel in this thing between them, and the fact that they somehow managed to cheat their way out of another bad situation.

“Rio.” It’s a murmur, and it’s laced with just as much emotion as her name on his lips.

He gets it, though, he always gets it, get her, reads her like an open book, and she’s glad for it now. He stands and sheds his sneakers, then climbs onto the bed next to her, stretching languidly along her side on his back, careful not to jostle her too much. Her eyes flutter closed, suddenly exhausted. When his fingers intertwine with hers, she smiles, warm and content. She is halfway submerged in sleep when she feels the brush of his lips against her forehead, and she knows better than to hope it’s real and not her imagination – but she lets herself believe it anyway.

(thank you to @cpt-falcon​ for the inspiration and idea for this one – she has this amazing theory about how the final episode is gonna go down and I love it. This may become an entire fic cause I was feeling inspired.)

Please send me prompts from this list!

[rpchive]

Ninety Sixth Encounter-- Knowledge and Power

this is the 0 to 60 rhianna warned you about

The door to Daedalus' room swings open and the man himself casually steps out into the hall, shutting the door behind him. He rolls his neck and shoulders around a couple of times to stretch them out and lets out a small groan. Sliding his sunglasses back over his eyes, Daedalus makes his way down the hall while stretching his arms out in front of himself. He passes through the console room and steps inside the kitchen, glancing around for something as he scratches the back of his head. Though it's not even noon, Maya is already drinking what is presumably her second bottle of some type of alcohol. There's no visible proof that she's even eaten anything for breakfast. She glances over to Daedalus when he enters, but doesn't greet him. Daedalus briefly glances at Maya as he heads toward a cabinet before doing a sudden double take. A moment passes before he speaks. "Uh... You seem new." Maya: Oh really now? Didn't think you could even see me since you're wearing fuckin' sunglasses indoors... Daedalus: Hey, I've made 'em work. Besides, I think your taste in breakfast is more questionable than my outfit. Maya: Didn't I see you yesterday? How'd you forget my name already? You guys kinda saved my life, after all. Guess you're used to fishing girls out of boxes in space, huh? Daedalus: Wh- Oh. No, wrong skinny tall guy. I'm his... twin. Maya: Oh, cool; I thought I was just seeing double 'cause of the vodka. Right; well; my name's Maya; I almost died in a box in space, but your robot decided to loot a spacecraft that was torn in half, so now I'm on your ship. Daedalus: Well, I've heard weirder reasons for being on this thing, so welcome to the club I guess.

He turns back to one of the cabinets and pulls out a thing of coffee grounds. He starts the brew and then turns back to Maya again while it runs, leaning against the counter. "Seriously though, what's up with the drinking? It's like... well, I don't have a watch, but it's pretty damn early to be hitting the hard stuff." Maya: The corporation that basically kidnapped me about...10 years ago? Shot me and all my friends into space in an attempt to kill us all along with one of the monsters we were charged with overseeing. If it hadn't killed us, they were planning on shooting the survivors with a laser they had trained on the ship from the moment we left. And that's just yesterday's mistake. Daedalus: ... Shit, alright, I'll give you a pass for now. This wasn't another alternate universe version of Aperture, was it? Maya: It's a place called Lobotomy Corporation. Believe it or not, they export energy; but that's about all they provide uptop. The coffee machine finishes brewing finally, prompting Daedalus to grab a mug and pour some of the pot for himself. "Energy? So what, kidnapping and babysitting monsters are just hobbies or something to them?" Maya: Oh no, that's where they /got it/ from. Interactions with these monsters somehow release energy that can be harnessed and refined into tons of other stuff. Us employees were allowed to use excess to create armor and weapons to defend ourselves with like some kind of sick joke; doesn't make a damn bit of a difference when you're in the wrong corner. Daedalus: Shit... I'll be honest, the whole "monster energy" thing sounds neat, but I know all too well what being trapped in a facility is like. Not sure what'd be worse though, that or solitary confinement. Hell, maybe it's just two sides of a shitty, shitty coin. Maya: ...So you guys came from something like Lobotomy? Daedalus: Ehh, vaguely, and not all of us.

He takes a sip of the coffee, flinches slightly, and sets it back down with an angry scowl. "Tch, too damn hot... Anyway, only me, Collin, and Fawkes came from that place, although I guess I technically wasn't physically present. Point is, Collin and I spent a good couple years or so in this place called Aperture Science, which was a facility designed to test different inventions and whatnot. The problem is that it was taken over by the world's most complex and sadistic AI who wanted nothing more than to test shit, regardless of the cost." Maya: Oh, believe me, I've met AIs like that. Angela was the same way. Then again, she had some weird thing for the Corporation I never really understood; moreso than all the others... Daedalus: Damn, you just had everything back there, huh? Still, at least you had other people around. Getting so desperate for interaction that you befriend a box isn't a good place to be, I promise. Maya: Hey, at least a box won't die on you. Daedalus: No, you'll just be forced to incinerate it in order to move on to the next test. Maya: Anyone who says they're looking to better the world through any sort of business is full of bullshit. Science for the greater good isn't a fuckin' thing; people only care about themselves... Daedalus: I'd be inclined to agree, but the other people on this ship seem pretty damned and determined to prove otherwise. And hey, not all science is bad. Cavemen didn't have coffee machines, after all.

He takes another sip, looking more pleased with the result this time. "Thank God, finally left the lava threshold..." Maya: Maybe not; but I've still yet to see anyone swearing they're gonna fix somethin' big with science do a damn thing good with that promise. It's only ever ended in blood and tears. Daedalus: Well, can't argue otherwise there. But hey, to hell with those people. They've got no hold here on this little soda machine of ours. Maya: ...I don't know shit about any of you; but I get the feeling you guys can make a real change...but you're rough around the edges; disorganized as hell...you people would fall apart in a heartbeat if you ran into something you couldn't handle; I can see it in all of you. You're close friends, that's for sure, but in a pinch, you'd all die in an instant. I've seen it dozens of times in my employees...but the right guns; the right clothes; your close friendships; they won't save you from something all-powerful, or something smarter... Daedalus levels a steady glare at her for a few seconds while he takes a longer swig from his mug. He smacks his lips a couple of times and then lifts the mug slightly in her direction. "Thanks for the encouragement, coach." Maya shakes her head slowly, letting out a sigh as she sets her bottle down.

"You can be sour; but I'm right; you people need help. I asked some of your friends to tell me about the stuff you guys do; what you get into and the like. That Jay kid and your twin are magnets for disaster; everybody in this box is a damn kid; most of you don't even know what you're capable of, let alone what you can do in cooperation with each other...everything you do unfolds in front of you; you've never been prepared for a single incident, and it will cost you in the long run." Daedalus: I didn't say you were wrong, y'know. Your delivery could use some work though. Plus, you don't seem that much older than any of the rest of the people here, and I'm damn sure they're not gonna take kindly to being called "kid". Maya: ...Maybe so. I just don't want to watch this fall apart. You guys could really fix things if you just...knew how to work better. All I'm saying is that it really shows that you guys just kinda...picked up some weapons and started kicking shit around if only to stay alive. Coincidentally, this led to you fighting for greater causes...but it also puts you in more danger. Looks like you're putting the cart before the horse, really. Daedalus: Well, it's not like all of this started deliberately; it was a pretty frantic scramble for survival at the start of it all. Hell, I've only been alive again for a few weeks now, so it's not like I had any input in all of this. Maya: ...Okay, I'm a little tipsy, but you said you were a twin, right? Daedalus: It's a very loose term for a much weirder situation. Maya: I'll chalk it up to clone shenanigans and move on; okay. At the very least, you guys have a medic, and specialists in the recurring fields of...shenanigans that surround your lives. That's a start; probably how you've made it so far. Right, well, once I'm sober again I can probably try to figure out how to help you punks pull your shit together. In the meantime, your medic has the right idea; reliable communication in any situation is invaluable in your situation. Daedalus: I can give you a detailed story if you ever want it, but sure, clone shit. Guess I'll get out of your hair while you try and make your lesson plan or whatever it is you're planning on doing. Maya: Again, when I'm sober, for sure. But alright; you do you, pal. Daedalus starts to walk back out but stops after a few steps. He turns back to the counter and pours a new mug of coffee before setting it down on the table next to Maya's glass. "Should help you sober up. I think."

Not waiting for a response, he heads out of the kitchen.

I think those two could be friends if he can get past Maya’s...extra

[Meanwhile]

Collin casually knocks on XL's door and takes a step back. Silky answers the door instead. "Oh, Collin! Need something?"

Collin: Oh, hey Silky. I was just wondering if XL had finished working on those communicator things after that incident on the island. Never know when we're gonna need those things again, after all. Silky: Thanks to Rio, yeah, we've got a more functional build going this time. They're still kinda big, but they look a lot less like toys. She's still trying to make one for everybody though; but there's several that are ready now. Collin: Ah, nice. What've we got now, then? Silky goes back into the room and retrieves another one of the hockey puck sized commuincators; the colors now a darker shade of blue, nearly black, with lighted ring around a small touch screen in the center. The ring at the moment is glowing white.

"The light has multiple functions; it can change colors; you can turn it off; it can shift to a blacklight;  but mostly it's just to tell the commuincators apart. They're waterproof to absurd depths, mostly for my sake; heat resistant to extreme temperatures, mostly for XL's sake; in all likelihood they're cold resistant, but we weren't able to test that past the freezer since Firefly was so busy...there's trackers, but they can be disabled; a recording function; obviously a camera and mic, but both can be disabled individually..." XL: We mostly made this with the idea of one of you getting kidnapped or running off in mind; if anything weird happens; we'll be able to find you; hear you; or see what's going on. All these functions can be voluntarily disabled, but only by the owner themself.

that’s gonna be useful considering their history, lol. half of holding off on this was making the design, the other half was that it would make doing dumb shit harder. but it could also make things more interesting!

Collin: Wow, that is... one hell of an overhaul you've done here, XL. No wonder you've only got a few ready. XL: ...Oh, you bet. With you guys, we need to be prepared for anything and everything; our equipment should be no exception. Collin: So uh... how do you fly this thing, exactly? XL: It's a touch screen, but there's also a pair of buttons on the bottom; both on the front and the back; either of these will turn it on. Perfectly silent; the backlight can be dimmed to illuminations essentially entirely invisible in darkness. From there, it's just a menu and some icons; easy and fast to navigate. Collin: Faaair enough? I can probably figure it out. I can work a portal gun, so this can't be much harder, right? XL: Oh, this'll be a piece of...it'll be easy as pie, ahaha... Collin's expression changes to his "must've missed a joke" face for a moment. "Well, should I come back when they're all done, or...?" XL: Unless you'd rather pass out the finished products.

Collin: Hmm, well, maybe we should hang on until they're all done actually. It'd be kinda weird trying to pick out who should get one now that I'm thinking about it. XL: Suit yourself; you know where to look if you need them sooner, though. Collin: Alrighty, I'll leave you to it then. Got a guess on how long it'll be? XL: Maybe a few more days; week and a half tops. Collin: Kinda figured. I'm gonna head to the kitchen if you need me for some reason. Silky: We'll keep it in mind! Collin gives a small wave and leaves down the hall, passing through the console room on his way to the kitchen. Maya is at the console, arguing with Nydins about something.

Nydins: We can't just 'drop everything and hold a meeting;' people are working on important things!

Maya: Oh yeah, you look really busy, sweetheart. Look, I really need to talk to everybody I can; but if you feel like you don't need to hear it, that's perfectly fine, you can drop me off wherever you land that isn't Earth; I'm perfectly fine with not helping you people if you're unwilling. Collin: Is uh, something wrong? Rio: Maya's saying that we need to have some kind of big, serious group meeting about how we do things around here, but, well, Nydins doesn't think that's worth interrupting XL and Firefly over... Collin: I mean, I know XL's busy working on those communicator things, but what's Firefly up to? Nydins: I'm...not sure, but she said it was important, so I believe her!

Maya: Aaaand that's exactly why I want to have this talk. Collin: Alright, alright, if it's really that important, we can at least go ask them if they can put it on hold for a bit, right? Maya: Trust me, it won't take too long.

Nydins: ...Fine; where do you want everyone to meet? Here?

Maya: The practice room.

Nydins: B-but there's nothing in there!

Maya: Exactly; it's huge and empty, perfect for all of you to have an unobstructed view. Collin: View of what? Maya: What I'm gonna talk about. I'll meet you there; get your buddies.

With that, she walks off.

Nydins: I just can't read her...she feels like a tight spring just waiting for something, but she doesn't feel bad... Collin: I know exactly what you mean. Still, she seems pretty serious about whatever this is, so I guess I'll go bug Firefly first and see if I can get her out. Rio: Alright...I guess we'll see you in the room? Collin: Sounds good. Try and round up whoever you can too while you're on your way. With that being said, Collin leaves the console room and heads over to Firefly's door, which he knocks on a few times. After a few moments, Firefly comes to the door and opens it slightly, though she seems distracted.

"Is something happening?" Collin: Kinda, yeah. That person that Fawkes saved, Maya, seems really set on getting us all together about something. Can you walk away from whatever you're doing for a few minutes? Firefly: ...Yeah, sure. Just uhh...give me a little bit, I'll meet up with you once I sort this out. Collin: ... Do you need help in there? Is everything alright? Firefly: I'm fine; I'm just looking over some stuff while we're coasting. Collin: You seem a little too distracted to just be reading a book, honestly... Firefly: I didn't say it was a book. Collin: Well, what is it then? Firefly: The flower petals that were in the compartment of the casket Maya was in. They're not right... Collin: Somehow I'm not surprised by that. Well, don't wait too long, alright? She seemed pretty serious about talking to everyone. Firefly: Yeah, I know... Collin leaves Firefly and heads back to his room to get Jay and whoever else might be inside.

I’m sure that Maya mentioned the ship got ate in half, but that won’t stop Firefly from trying to figure out what ate it

As the group assembles in the training room, Maya stands patiently by herself, nodding in approval once she sees everybody in one place.

"About time; thought you guys were gonna keep me waiting forever."

Collin: Sorry, it takes a little bit to get everyone together. Walking around the front of the group, Maya continues to look everyone over carefully.

"Yeah, I understand that. Used to run an entire sector of the Corporation; organization kinda had to be my jam. Do you know why I called you all here?" Daedalus raises his hand. "Oh, oh, pick me!" Maya: Yes, you; the smug, sarcastic stunt double in the shades; what's your answer? Daedalus: You're gonna tell us to get our shit together so we don't die horrible, horrible deaths, right? Maya: In a nutshell, yes. Kind of had a broader explanation, but you know.

Nydins: W-we don't need you to tell us how to do our jobs!

Maya turns, locks eyes with Nydins, draws a gun, and fires six rounds directly at Jay's chest. Every round, however, was a blank of some sort, doing no physical damage to him whatsoever. This, however, does not change the fact that he looks like he wants to vomit on the spot, shakily backing away from Maya before she speaks again.

Maya: You didn't fact check me at all, you know. I told you this morning that I'd talked with your friends to learn about you; that was a lie, I asked your ship to show me everything you'd ever done the instant I got here since you left me alone and unguarded; I stayed up all night learning everything there is to know about every single one of you, then I used your ship to make all kinds of weapons that could've had you all dead in 5 minutes tops; which you also didn't notice. The only things left in my room now are Hal and my suits, but my point still stands: you trust too quickly. Collin: What the fuck?

Collin's hands erupt with energy, crackling with barely contained power. "What kind of fucking stunt are you trying to pull here?" Maya: Look, these guns aren't loaded; check them yourself. Check my whole suit if you want; hell, I'll let you search me too if you want to. My point is that you found me, a sole survivor, on a stranded ship in the middle of space- a ship that was destroyed; torn in half; everybody else bled to death or killed themselves; and you didn't wonder why I was like that? You never thought that maybe I dragged that body over to my casket; that maybe I lied about making friends; you didn't once think that maybe I killed that entire ship and you let me onto yours? Unguarded?! If I were a villain, you'd all be dead. Fawkes' visor blinks for a few seconds "No live ammunition detected. She's telling the truth about that, at least." Rio: There's better ways to tell us these things...!!

Maya: But would you do anything about it? I watched those two kids get kidnapped; tortured; dismembered; and stolen from several times; and they didn't do anything about it! Jay's heart is still exposed; Collin still let me stay alone without question; not a damn one of you even questioned why I had guns in my casket if I was supposed to die in it; you idiots are asking to be taken advantage of, and the universe has obliged over, and over, and over again. I'm cutting you off; you're too soft, and you need an intervention; you wanna be fucking superman; you need to address your kryptonite first. Collin: Call me an idiot ONE MORE FUCKING TIME. Maya: What, you wanna hit me over this? You're mad and scared, right? You should be. You should've been yesterday. I didn't change; you just started seeing me as a threat because I spelled it out for you; because I needed to spell it out for you; and I just gotta ask you, do you really feel safe? You're only two years into this gig and you're still making day one mistakes; I'm just trying to help here. Collin: Oh yeah, because pretending to shoot my fucking boyfriend really sets the fucking mood, doesn't it? Maya: I feel like we're getting off on the wrong foot here; mind giving me a hand in this whole heart to heart thing you have going on?

Nydins: THAT'S ENOUGH!!

Maya: Oh no, I was just getting started.

Demo: The only thing you're starting is a fight! Just shut up; you're making this worse!

Maya gives a shrug as she puts her gun away. "Mad as we are; I'm right."

Maya’s...good at her job. she won’t quit doing it just because she’s not at Lob Corp anymore

Collin struggles to bring his breathing back down to a normal speed and gradually dissipates the energy around his hands. "....Fine. So what do you even want, then?" Maya: I'm not asking you to get paranoid about every stranger you run into that happens to have combat experience; I'm not even asking you to question each other; but clearly the way you've been doing things isn't good enough. Like I said, you need to figure out your weaknesses and learn how to make up for them, or it's gonna bite you big time. Daedalus: Well that's all well and good, but do you have any ideas for that, or is that just the next part of our grand personal adventure that we have to figure out? Maya: Oh, that's gonna be my personal mission with you guys; I figure since you trusted me enough to unload 6 rounds without clocking me into the Nth dimension, the least I can do is figure out what your weak points are and try to help you fix them. Just don't come into my room unless you just really wanna see all the stuff you went through condensed into a few movies; feel like that'd be a bit much. Fawkes: Actually, that brings me to a question I have about all this. How exactly did you figure out how to use the IT for all of those things so quickly? Maya: It makes rooms and food; it can make anything, right? So I asked for clothes; then my suits; my old weapons; ammo; then I realized there weren't any limits. Everything functioned like it did in Lobotomy, but all of it was fabricated from the ship. So I asked for dangerous things; I asked if you had weaknesses, and it literally handed them to me with no problems at all. I figured if it could do something so dangerous, it could tell me about you; so I asked again. I expected a book or something; this damn thing showed me everything from the moment that Jay built it; then from his perspective, all the way up until you found me. Daedalus: Amazing. This stupid soda machine would sell us all out at the drop of a hat. What a comforting thought, huh guys? Demo: It accommodates anyone we let on board. It helped her because we told it she was okay.

Maya: You handed me your history the moment you left me alone.

she does raise good points, even if I’ve never actually thought about making somebody ruin the IT from the inside out

Collin: ... Fucking Christ... Maya: If you want my face value observations; you're making a right step with getting some communication going; separation usually cripples you guys pretty badly. Taking whatever Jay is out to hunt more of what he is has had an 80% backfire rate, though; so if I were you, I'd find a way to block your chest off, or do what Demo does and find a way to distance yourself from your...whatever it is now. Can't say much about the rest of you; you're all working on your individual issues yourselves. Daedalus: Damn, the kleivenn always get the easy bits. Maya: You in particular; you're the one I wanna find out about the most. For somebody that literally came from nothing, you're also nothing to shake a stick at; but it's pretty apparent that you've got about as much of a clue as to what you're capable of as everybody else, and that's pretty...well, it's something to think about. Daedalus: Oh believe me, I've been working on it. Not saying I've made much progress, but I'm fully aware I've got some weird shit going on now. Maya: For what it's worth, Big Red over there might be able to help you out as much as your..."twin." Between the two of them, you'll at least have some idea of what it is you're dealing with, even if you don't figure out what you're capable of. Daedalus: We'll see about that, I guess. The nice thing is that I can work as my own welder now, at least. Maya: I'll probably try to regroup you guys once I have more to say, but for now, I think you get the point.

alienrabitt: ...Just...promise you won't bring guns next time...?

Maya: Guns; swords; flamethrowers; no weapons; promise. Sensing that the meeting is over, Collin turns around and practically storms out of the training room and down the hall. The crowd disperses; Jay going off on his own somewhere, while Zenith and Rio hang back and quietly discuss if they should try to comfort their friends. Rolling her eyes, Maya elevates one of the training room obstacles to use as a seat while she pulls out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter.

Maya: Class is dismissed; you guys can run too, y'know... Daedalus: Oh I know, I'll be out of here in a sec. I'm still just sorta marveling at just how fast you managed to make Collin jump from zero to a thousand. Maya: Guess that's the fear of god people are always talking about, huh? Daedalus: Probably could've been worse. Pretty sure he was more scared than angry still, so at least that went in your favor.

yeah, that’s what she meant by “fear of god;” she made him scared, didn’t she? :P

well, demigod but Y’Know

Blowing out smoke, Maya glances off towards a wall.

"If he's expecting an apology, it's not happening. I'm not expecting a thanks either." Daedalus: Oh hell no, neither of those things are happening- Well, that may be a lie, but we'll have to see. Personally I don't think you're wrong in the slightest, but that's beside the point. Anyway, you enjoy your smoke break, I need to get back to work. With another sigh, Maya looks back to Daedalus.

"...I didn't used to be this harsh, y'know. I spent half the night that I was watching those videos debating on if I should actually address you guys like this or not. In the end, I saw my team in your friends, and I couldn't let it happen twice, y'know? So you're right about that, I'm not sorry." Daedalus: Hey, justify it however you want. I'm in no position to judge. Just be careful about Collin for a little while, you've miraculously landed on his bad side through a combination of timing and pressing two of his very few buttons. Maya: You've got it, blues brother. Daedalus: .... Oh, the sunglasses. Har har, good one. Anyway, I'm out.

Daedalus waves once over his shoulder and leaves the training room. After a while of slinking around in the shadows, Azreldeh finally finds the room Collin is in, slipping under the door and appearing on the other side.

"Slow down, tiger; that much thunder's gonna have lightning too close to home." As Azreldeh reforms inside, she notices that the fountains and the water wall have completely frozen over. The hot tub jets have stopped, leaving the room eerily quiet aside from the quiet crackling of the ice. Collin stops pacing in a circle around the tub and turns to face her, struggling to pull his expression away from a burning anger. "What are you doing here?" Azreldeh: I was worried about you? I've never seen you get that mad at somebody before. Collin: I'm not mad at her. Not anymore, at least. Azreldeh: Then what are you mad about? Collin: Oh I don't know, maybe the fact that I could've gotten every single person I care about killed in a matter of hours? Azreldeh: I mean, feel free to feel mad, but anger won't fix the problem. Guilt; fear; those things you can learn from or something; but anger? What's there to gain from being mad when there's nobody to punish? The only one who gets hurt by that is you, and the guy who took six hypothetical rounds to the chest and hasn't left the bathroom since. Collin: You think I'm not feeling all of that at the same fucking time? Jay could've died right then and there, and there wouldn't have been /anything/ I could've done to stop it. How the fuck can I say that I care about Jay and everyone else when I almost let that happen? Azreldeh rolls her eyes. "First of all, normal bullets wouldn't kill Jay. It'd shatter his heart, but he'd survive. Secondly, even if you had no idea who the hell this chick was, you also couldn't have prepared for a damn thing she was capable of. If you let it happen, that means that, on some level, you knew something was wrong, but you didn't say or do anything. But that's not what happened, right?" Collin: Well no, but that doesn't change the fact that she could've theoretically wiped us out anyway. Azreldeh: Lots of people could've done that. Hell, half the people in the IT could do that at any given moment at time, but you don't see them doing it. She definitely had a point; you guys are a little too quick to be welcoming; but you can't just be paranoid and heartless either. She just doesn't want you getting your kindness taken advantage of. Collin takes a breath and then rubs his eyes with the palms of his hands.     "God... I just don't know what to do now. I feel so stupid looking back on how easily we just let people in here." Azreldeh: ...I mean, what else is there to do? You can't do much to actively take her advice in the moment; clearly everyone else here is trustworthy considering you've been living with them since you got free...unless you mean long term. Collin: I /do/ mean long term. It's kind of inevitable we'll pick up someone at some point in the near future, or at least the opportunity to. Azreldeh: On the honest, straight fly? Not much. I mean, you don't really have a reputation to keep up, so theoretically you could just...leave people that are blatantly desperate or whatever, but then you'd wind up abandoning actually helpless people with people that want to hurt you...ultimately, there's not much you can do besides let people in anyway and just...keep an eye on 'em? Maybe don't straight up guard their room and stuff, but y'know, look for weird things. Collin: Yeah, like the IT manufacturing them weapons specifically tailored to kill each of us... Azreldeh: Maybe your first order of business is making your ship less accommodating. She couldn't hurt anybody if she couldn't do that. Collin: I guess. I just didn't think the IT could do something like that. I mean furniture and clothes are one thing, but being able to figure out how to make something to kill a specific person? Azreldeh: I don't think you understand the limits of what you're dealing with. Do you even know anything about what's powering this place? Collin: Well yeah, it's a chunk of the green sun from SBURB. I knew the IT was intelligent to some degree, but not like that. Azreldeh: Who says it's because the ship is smart? You don't know much about how that chunk of sun works besides being a power source, right? Maybe that's why Maya could make all that stuff. Collin: I... guess. I really don't know. Azreldeh: But Demo and Jay would know, right? Getting to know how your ship works is the first step to knowing how to stop it from doing things you don't want. Just telling it not to might not be enough if someone manages to do something weird with that sun chunk by itself. Collin: Maybe so. God, alright, I should probably go see if I can get Jay out of the bathroom then. Azreldeh: You sure you're gonna be alright? Collin: I have to be. Especially if Jay's locking himself in a bathroom like that. He did get shot at, after all. Azreldeh: Don't talk like that. How you feel; how you're handling this; that's important too. You shouldn't be your own last priority. Collin: It's a hard habit to shake. I've lived through worse though. I did lose a leg once, y'know. Azreldeh: Maybe so; but just because it's smaller doesn't mean it's not important. Little things pile up. Collin: I know that, but... I really don't have the time to uncork all of that right now. Azreldeh: Just don't let it wait; I know how Demo got here, after all. Collin: Daedalus is already here, so at least I got resurrecting my doppleganger out of the way already. Azreldeh: Heheh, yeah. Just...be careful, okay? Collin: I'll try my best, for whatever it's worth.

He glances around at the room. "God, I'm going to have to fix this at some point." Azreldeh: Oh, don't you worry; I've got no problem heating things up. Collin: You don't have to do that. It's my mess after all. I didn't even mean for it to happen, it just sorta... did. Azreldeh: It's whatever. You just worry about your boyfriend; you can worry about me later~.

you’ve hit on somebody in every single log you’ve been in, haven’t you?

Collin: Wh- Good grief, alright, I'm out then.

He makes his way out of the room and heads toward the bathroom. As promised, the door is locked, though the only proof that the room is even occupied is Demo sitting with her back against the door. Collin: Uh... Jay, you okay in there? Demo: He's...fine. He just keeps freaking out; I tried to get him to talk to me, but once he heard me, he quit talking altogether. He hasn't come out or said anything since. Collin: Well hell. Jay, can you please say something to me? "...-on't want to..." Collin: Is there anything I can do to help? Demo: Look, the door's gonna open eventually; there's only one bathroom on the IT unless there's an emergency, so you can't stay locked in there forever, asshole. Besides, it's not like you haven't been shot at before; suck it up. Collin: Demo, that's really not helping. Besides, your girlfriend hid in here for like two days or something once. Demo: She came out when she had to... Collin: Just let me handle this for now. Jay, would you mind letting me in, or would you rather I stay out here for now? Demo slides away from the door as she feels Jay begin to open it, though he seems to be hiding behind the door. Collin steps inside and closes the door back behind him. Jay has stuffed a bunch of towels in the bathtub and has been sitting in it, facing the door the entire time Demo was there. He has blatantly been crying, and will not meet Collin's eyes. Collin puts the lid down on the toilet and sits on it like a chair. "... Want to talk about it yet, or do you still need a few minutes?" alienrabitt: ...Do you think we made the right call letting people on the IT? Collin: ... I do. That much I still don't doubt. Do you not think so now? alienrabitt: ...I don't know. After Oz got taken care of, I stopped having dreams or nightmares about stuff that could happen, but ever since that weird...thing took Demo, I can't stop seeing things. Even the things around me don't feel right; and when Maya pulled out that gun... Collin: ... Did it play into whatever weird thing you were feeling? alienrabitt: It felt like reality had fragmented; in that moment, I saw every possibility in that situation; I couldn't handle it; I watched her shoot me; I watched her kill everybody; I watched her fire blanks; I watched her fire them at Rio too; but only one of those actually happened here; but I don't care which one happened! Collin: That's... Jesus, okay, that's new. I was wondering why this was hitting you so hard, honestly... alienrabitt: I wasn't scared of her, I just...something is wrong. Somebody shouldn't be here; or we ran into somebody weird, but something is very, very wrong... Collin: Okay, it's okay, just calm down for now. I believe you, I'm just not sure what's going on. alienrabitt: ...I don't know either....I'm not sure I want to... Collin: Well, it probably has to do with whatever that thing was with Demo, right? alienrabitt: ...Maybe so. I've just never had this serious of a reaction; not even to... Collin: Not even to...? alienrabitt: ...No. This is something worse than unpreventable; this thing could ruin everything we have. This doesn't just have the capacity to hurt us, whatever's messing with us could bring an end to absolutely everything we care about; I can feel it.

I can’t remember what he was talking about; wanna say it might’ve been uhh...not being able to predict the whole Dez thing

Collin: ... Alright, well I'm definitely scared now. What is it, though? alienrabitt: That's the thing, I don't know! I'm supposed to be able to see what's capable of separating us, but this time I can see everything except for what's causing this! Collin: Maybe it has something to do with that thing that took Demo? I mean, this all started after you ran into it, right? alienrabitt: M-maybe, but I don't know where it is now... Collin: Well, it'd have to be back in Silky and XL's universe, right? alienrabitt: Yeah, but where? Are we sure it's a good idea to track this thing down? Collin: I'm... not sure, about either of those things. I'd say we could go ask someone else about this first, but who would we even go to? alienrabitt: It was working with Lana, right? Maybe it still is...? Collin: And Nuru is probably looking for her too, so at least we wouldn't be alone? alienrabitt: We just need to stop it. Whatever it is, it can't go free. Collin: Especially if just being near it is messing with you this badly. Everyone's okay though, I promise. alienrabitt: ...S-so...what did you decide to do about what happened? Collin: What do you mean? alienrabitt: Are you gonna do something to Maya? Or the IT? You looked really upset, but I...I couldn't go after you...not like that... Collin: Not to Maya, no. Her way of communicating might be fucking horrible, but she had a point. The IT though, we're definitely gonna have to figure out soon. alienrabitt: ...What do you need to do? Or know...? Collin: I'm... not sure. I mean, I guess we need to know what it's really capable of, and if we can stop people from doing all that stuff Maya did. alienrabitt: It's capable of just about anything we ask it. The power that I had as Demonstrator was all due to my connection with the green sun; being able to access that power allows the IT to provide anything, reasonable or not. It's how it can be so much bigger on the inside. Collin: Well, can we put some sort of limit on that? I mean, she was able to have it make weapons to kill each one of us specifically. That seems a little terrifying, don't you think? alienrabitt: Weapons don't mean a damn thing if the person using them doesn't know how...I have to wonder how much of what she said is bullshit. Collin: I'm... not really sure. I guess we'll have to talk that out some more, but let's worry about that later. Are you gonna be okay? alienrabitt: ...Yeah. I'll be fine as long as nobody pulls any stunts like that again. We just need to find that damn thing... Collin: I'm sure we can manage that. It's pretty easy to get into trouble with us, after all. alienrabitt: Let's find Nuru first. If she finds Lana, that thing won't be far... Collin: That's what I was thinking. Wanna get out of this bathroom, then? alienrabitt: Y-yeah... Collin: Alrighty. Hug first? Letting out a relieved, yet tired sigh, Jay hugs Collin. "...Thanks..." Collin returns the hug, gently kissing him on the top of his head. "Anytime, my love."

get a room

uhh, the next log is Intense if it’s the one I think it is, but we’ll be confronting Lana!

[punkscowardschampions]

Rio & Buster

Rio: *Even if he wouldn't laugh her out of here for it, (which he would), the commiseration of 'shit timing' wouldn't pass her lips. 'Cos both old enough to know better, even if she was a few months shy of his new number. Old enough to know that it was always going to be like this. Yeah, the first was usually the worst, and it would become normal as the years passed, but she was always not going to be here from now. Could get rid of a person but not their absence, standard. That was life. Not kidding anyone with that nonchalant approach though, couldn't even lean against the brick 'cos of the fucking wings. What a joke. And it wasn't JUST 'life'. It was her lack of. And all the reasons why. And how much they didn't fucking matter now. Nothing did. If Rio could make herself believe that, proper, then maybe she could feel alright about the fucked up shit she was feeling and the fucked up things she'd been doing, namely for and with Buster McKenna. Christ. As it stood though, she didn't. But feeling not alright, feeling wrong, fit the tone of tonight so fuck it, yeah? Yeah. Never mind how good he looked, and how she shouldn't even notice that but it was all she could, an unbelievably welcome distraction from the shit in her head, torturous as it was to only be looking and not touching. Whatever. They both knew they would. 'Til one of 'em came to their senses and realized what the fuck they were doing. That would be fun. But that weren't tonight. Certainly not there herself and highly doubting he was, if this getaway was anything to go by. And that was just the tip of the friggin' shitshow. So yeah, she'd put money on it. Throw money at it, if he wanted, she knew some places with low enough lighting and standards that'd fit the bill. Even get in in their costumes, fit right in, frankly...* Took your time, boy. Buster: *He'd been going through the motions, recycling behavior from nights past where he could. Taking a shot for this or getting dragged onto the dance floor they'd made for that, feeling no burn on the swallow how he should've (not even a year closer to properly walking in his dad's shoes yet like, never mind the old alkie's down his grandad's boozer) nor any awareness of his body paint being slightly sweat streaked now, as if to call out the obvious flaws deep in his chest, when really that was just more of the same bullshit and nobody here needed a sign anyfuckingway. Then again, none of them could see Buster watching Rio, waiting for the slightest indication that she was about to give into him and maintain eye contact that lasted longer than a second. What a fucking joke. He saw red in every moment she got close to somebody else, or just stayed away from where he and his friends were, playing the tease again, like he was that cunt of a kid and she could in any way go back to who she was before either. Christ's sake. But of course there wasn't a single guest at this party about to address what was missing or they couldn't have. Only the first elephant in the room, that. So there. All he could do was what was expected of him and loudly take everything that was offered, declaring it birthday's boy prerogative or some shit. Fuck it. Bonus points if in cracking open another bottle of Champagne it let him return to being numb in a gulp. After all, he'd been trained not to show any of his rage when it came to fighting for access to Jay, what was some more, yeah? No need to be a pussy. Nance was in NYC as good as alone and by all accounts she weren't crying into her cocktail. Handle it. Come on, how long had it taken him to break into a run, to show all his cards in one text? To get weak. And, honestly, how long had he been waiting for that too, not even mad it was coming, 'cause there was no blaming him for how Rio looked. Or how good it felt when they touched. The power was hers, to bring him to the point furthest from anesthetized, let her own it all. Why should he care if it was wrong, what the fuck did another mistake added to the list, matter? It was Halloween not New Years. Tonight he wasn't looking to try his best at anything new unless it made her as needy as he was, and twice as bad at least.* Could've taken longer. *Such a lie, but might as well start as they mean to go on, like. There was too much painful truth in his head as it was and this was meant to be the escape he practically needed to beg for, so whatever.* Rio: *She shrugs. The 'but you didn't' barely needing to pass through her head, nevermind be said out loud. They both knew. But they both knew the less they spoke about it the better. 'Cos let's face it, if they addressed this, then there was a whole parade of the pink fuckers, (making every day a circus!), that they'd have to and all- and fuck that. Yeah, it was messed up but at least this one felt good in the moment. All that other shit was just pain, all day, all night, pure and simple, black and white. And there was no denying the fun they were having playing in the grey. Front as he was now, and she did too. But not now. Make of it what you will, boy. SO thirsty for you or just sick and tired of not getting what she wants, anything that she needs, ever. It didn't matter what he thought, really. Just that he was here. And he was. In all his glory. Literally. Catching a bead of sweat as it dripped just below his navel, tracing the runnel it had made in his golden sheen, touch light over every muscle she encountered, bringing said finger up to her mouth to taste.* Sweet. *It was the opposite, of course, salty, but still, good. Too fucking good. As much as it was meant for him, to get him on the level, a taster of what was to come; It had made her want more too. To taste every part of him, and let him taste her until they smashed into one...being, devouring each other with mutual ferocity and want and reckless abandon. Reckless was the right word. This was literally his family home and some of hers were still inside. Not to mention plenty of others who knew they were cousins. How they didn't ALSO know how badly they wanted to fuck each other senseless all the time was another matter entirely. It felt ridiculously obvious. On her part, but also his, (not sorry about it, McKenna). As if the constant eye-fucking wasn't a dead giveaway, get a clue, people. Apparently, they were so far gone, (all the way to Hell?), that they were beyond detection. Suited her in this moment. And many more, if they were being real. Still, some space needed to be made between them and the shit party. For their sake, if no one else's. Taking his hand, beginning to walk, nowhere in mind yet just the goal of being alone.* Come on. Buster: *There was no response needed to his piss poor retort, everything that needed to be said was as soon as their eyes met properly. Both lingered over it, brazen, 'cause they didn't have to steal timed glances out here in the pooled half-light, the most alone they'd been allowed to be so far tonight. Still, every thump of his heart in his ears was another tease, mocking the distance that didn't let him hear hers and he was about to do something - frankly ANYTHING - to stop the anger from taking over what senses he'd managed to keep a hold on somehow when Rio reacted first. FUCK. Whatever move he'd reckoned on her making, this wasn't it. Jesus. Buster knew that if any other girl had tried going in for this they'd have only made a twat of themselves and he'd be bent double laughing, but the sound that escaped him then wasn't. And worse, he didn't care. Let her have it. He was gonna have her first proper chance he got. 'Course the temptation (nothing like the right word for how deep the desire went to go with this specific urge immediately, but whatever) was there to pull her into what shadows he could find against the brick and fuck her right there, in an almost parallel to the first time they'd managed to go through with it, the same desperation fueling him as that fucked up day they were all refusing to think about. He was ready to pull her into him even as the muted bass put itself in competition with the girl's rapid heart, reminding Buster that he basically still had his back to the party he'd tried to turn it away from. Fuck's sake. He forced out a shaky breath, letting her take the lead the way she'd typed out she would, all the while saying a little prayer that his legs hadn't given way before carrying him to whatever destination they were gonna end up at. Had he ever wanted anyone this bad? Christ, the answer couldn't be a louder no if he shouted it out, like. Did that mean he had to lose his shit over a fingertip, though? Apparently fucking so. There was no shaking his head to clear it of these thoughts, there were too many to do anything but welcome. This here was the party for exactly that.* Where do you want me? Rio: *Rio grinned, and it actually managed to reach her eyes, headlights of cars passing doing a disservice in comparison, only twinkle found there in the green being the metaphorical kind. She almost laughed, too. Christ. That ached almost as much as it did between her legs for him. Had only been 18 days since. Wasn't that long to go without feeling, let alone expressing, any kind of joy; Calm down, like. The nasty voice in her head that had (so helpfully) morphed into Edie's, mocked that it had been a lot longer than that, hadn't it? Fuck off. Focus, don't lose this feeling. They didn't have to go far. Can't even last that long? Whore. Shut up, shut up! God, she was, would be, (happily), if it meant she could have him now. Right now. Get lost in him and how he felt and how he could make her feel, get so far out of her head it was better than any high she'd ever had- fuck. She needed that. No need to psychoanalyze it now or the morning after, like. Who cares if it was just because or because X, Y and Z? It still would be. Still was. She couldn't deny it anymore, didn't want to, especially not tonight, not now. Barely conscious of their surroundings but knowing they were about out of his nice little neighbourhood. Only seeing the world in potential places he could take her. Cutting across the dead road, so quiet and still, no traffic at this hour, opening the park gate, holding it open for him in a 'here will do' way. Her breathing was as erratic as she was behaving, frenzied, but she didn't care and he better fucking not, either, like.* Please? Buster: *Any stupid cunt looking to pull a last trick tonight would still be able to see them, but Buster couldn't have stopped himself, eager to go further in the only way that mattered, if the Garda had been dragged along into the bushes along with the two of them. Not now that he was finally able to do more than look and he knew she was craving it same as he was. 'Course with each step he'd taken from home that lead up to this one he'd convinced himself he was gonna do her exactly as she had him at first, aiming to make her beg harder, voice cracking on the rest of her words, forced out with pure need. He had form with all the other girls after all. And Rio'd be no different, like he always said, she wasn't special.* Say it again. *He'd never sounded that desperate himself though, had he? Fucking hell. Focus, come on. He stayed committed the idea of this game until his fingers had actually gone lower than hers, roughly pulling the lower half of the costume aside. Hours before he'd wanted nothing more than to touch, taste and tease, however hurried he'd have had to be, but once he was inside her, the thought of quickly pulling his hand out to put to his mouth with a smirk lost any previous appeal. No games, yeah? He'd agreed to it then, and her every reaction reinforced what a fucking great promise that'd been to make.* Jesus. *He fingerfucked her not so she'd cum hard at least once before he did (a bonus to remember in the morning that he'd been powerless at the party, yeah, but wasn't any more, not the real goal if it had ever been.) 'cause she'd never looked as fucking good as she did right now. And after how the night had been going he'd not reckoned on feeling so fucking good himself by the end. It could be that simple if he wanted, and Christ, he wanted nothing else. Nothing more either.* Rio: *As tempting as it proved to deny him in the everyday scenarios, always impossible to resist the urge to disagree with McKenna, just for the sake of half the time; now was so far beyond the time. Pleas, begging him to touch her, to fuck her here and now, hoping people heard and saw, telling him how bad she wanted it, him. All tumbling out as if it was natural; What else would she be saying, asking, when they both knew this was ALL she ever wanted? She had no problem relinquishing that naysayer role, that game they played where they didn't want each other or this, when it came down to it. Rio found it easy, too easy if she were to think about it (which she didn't, often), easier with him than anyone else, somehow. Whatever, he could call her a whore before, during and after if it made him feel better about it. Not like she had any more satisfying answer for him as to why him, and why it kept happening. She knew it wasn't that, herself, but it'd be better if it was, so he could believe it all he liked (if only she could). Have that one for free, boy, on the house, on me. The answer seemed so obvious when he was finally inside her, dragging her out of her head, all thoughts turning into a haze of pure pleasure, only concern keeping this feeling going for as long as possible. Nothing but the feeling of it, of him, and the only thing she needed to do, her only concern, was making sure he felt as good in return.* Fuck, Buster! I need you. *About as much to tug down as she had, a nice change to unbuttoning in the dark. Keeping it simple, that's what they were doing, primal, nothing more but nothing less than fucking incredible. Sliding into position, into each other, hip bone crashing into hip bone, in one move, one moment. The hiss of sharp intakes of breath at the same time, moans matching moans and groans and grunts and praises and curses being exclaimed on the same thrust.* Don't stop. Don't. Stop. God- you're good, you're SO fucking good- *Holding onto him like her life depended on it, arms wrapped tight around his neck, pulling his head down so it was level with hers, so he could see, look straight into her eyes and see what he was doing to her. Fuck, she wanted to kiss him. Had they? Her head was swimming. Did they? Surely not, that was too much, too personal. Would make it too real. But how hadn't they, when they'd done all this, how was that the step too far? Christ, she wanted it so bad now she was watching his lips, even more than she had wanted his dick deep inside her. Wet like he'd just licked them on purpose, pink tongue poking out so fucking cute with concentration, they were full but she wanted to kiss them 'til they were swollen with her desire, bite them and pull them into her own mouth- Jesus fucking Christ...* Fuck it... *She murmured, tilting her head up to his, pulling him somehow closer still, 'til there was contact where she needed it most, moaning into his mouth, finding rhythm here to match the one below.* Buster: *It should have shocked some sense into him when their mouths collided too, that he was kissing her back as forcefully for one thing, like it was a normal thing to do never mind want from Rio Cavante. In reality, (wherein nights were spent with girls that weren't, but were instead fake from bottle blonde roots to bottle bought tan, of course) if they tried to initiate more than a playful lip bite he'd break it off with the promise of his mouth somewhere better. And when he followed through, Buster told himself he loved it, same as they did. Such bullshit. Never proved harder than now, living in a hardcore fantasy, like. But he should've learned his lesson from Chlo and yet here he was, fucking again without a condom or any intention of pulling out. Without a single thought of stopping, at any point, only the opposite. And he didn't care. God, he'd keep this going all night if he could, moan after muffled moan shamelessly letting her know it. Reminding him every second of this was actually happening, unreal as it seemed. And felt. 'Course, there was no way he could stay in their rhythm forever, but they finished together, he wouldn't let himself forget once he'd sobered up. Whatever he was, she was just as bad. Had to take what he could get the morning after, didn't he? Fuck. Don't start thinking about that already. Soft cunt. To pull the focus he concentrated on attempting to find, or at least think, of a way to clean himself off when he didn't even have a pair of socks on him. Fuck's sake. There was no time to get properly moody though, in looking around their immediate surroundings (for the first time, obviously) he had to fucking laugh. Did. Every bit of her skin that had pressed against his was streaked in gold to match his, glittering in the moonlight.* Rio: *About to ask what he was laughing at, with a bemused chuckle, when she looked down and saw the damage (or the joke) herself. All over her, like. At least she COULD see the funny side too, distance between the party and them achieved, glad she hadn't dragged him away for a mid-party quickie like she had wanted to many times over the course of the tense evening. That would NOT have been good, or a fucking laugh.* Fucking hell, McKenna! *Rubbing at the paint, to no avail, quickly giving up on that idea with a shrug.* No more paint, alright? Or, at least warn a bitch next time and I'll coordinate, yeah? Such an amateur. *She winks, fluffing her hair back up and straightening her (lack of) clothes as she walks away.* Buster: *He was tempted to fall back into familiar territory now that she didn't have her legs wrapped around him, blaming her, all bravado and 'well if you could only stay away, like' blah blah blah etc but the bullshit couldn't get past the laughter and he didn't want it to really. Not tonight. It was reaffirmed to him how much he didn't or want any of this to end yet, though it technically already had. Should've. He'd got what he wanted, hadn't he? The expectations for his birthday party had been more than exceeded, no denying it, so what? Why the fuck couldn't he play along and let her walk away? Christ, Rio was right about how amateur he was playing this now and in itself he should've fucking hated that, like. Been angry enough to turn away himself. Go home, 'cause he wasn't the one wearing the sin openly, it was her who had it pinned to her like a gold medal awarded for being some kind of sick fuck. Or whatever. But none of that happened. Buster did the opposite (becoming a habit of its own, this) keeping in step with her as she moved away from the scene of the crime as if distance made any difference to what would have to be owned. Buster shook his head, trying not to laugh again, ('cause yeah, everything was less funny when he was his own target, so try and sue him.)* Where do you think you're going? Rio: *Rio turned back to face Buster, carrying on walking, despite the darkness and despite the heels (just to show how much of a pro SHE was; it was any small victory you could grab when you were fucking up your life on such a monumental scale, yeah?), smirking, feigned innocence in the 'who me?' hand to chest mime. Standard. Had to go back to acting immediately, didn't they? Or face the consequences, and neither of them was ready to deal with salvaging from that level of fucked up wreckage, she more than reckoned.* I said I was taking you somewhere good, baby. You think that was it? *Shaking her head.* I'm just getting started, boy. *Finally turning back so she could direct them with purpose but throwing him back a coy look for good measure, making sure he was still up for it, hoping the spell didn't have to be broken yet.* It is your Birthday, after-all. Let me treat you. Keep up, though, yeah?

[peachesannndgravy]

To add on @gangfriendrio , Rio has been laying it thick on Beth, from a very sexual perspective. Returning the dubby stands as a manifestation of an emotional bond forming between them. Firstly, he could've had one of his lackeys drop it off (as they would drop off payments at a parking lot). He could've mailed it && let the postal service take care of the exchange. Yet, he drove to the bust house && having no idea what he was looking for means that he had to mention Beth && her earlier altercation with them. It's a vulnerable move that compromises him in the crime world because he's exposed his Achilles' heel.

Secondly, he exposes a vulnerable side to Beth that clarifies last week. After watching Rio's encounter with Dylan, Beth was confused about the terms of their relationship. She claims she doesn't care but then proceeds to metaphorically manhandle him at his own game. Rio lays it thick because he knows his effect on Beth but I also think it's due to the strong attraction he feels toward her. Thusly, Beth may have felt at that moment that he saw her as a booty call && she might've been one of many.

Thusly, Rio risking himself for Beth is a monumental moment for BRIO. I've seen a large portion of this fandom complain about the pace of BRIO && it's ridiculous. Life doesn't work the way Freeform shows work. We've been bitching about the lack of representation on entertainment. We've been begging platforms to abstain from racially biased archetypes && illustrate the complexity of human behavior — sexual, emotional && psychological.

BRIO is a very convoluted pairing && we need to see them shift into equal footing. Initially, Rio had all the power but his reaction to Beth invites her to engage with him && meet him head to head. He's been open to her stepping up, as a matter of fact, he's been encouraging it. I don't think he ever expected Beth to step up && confront him. That's evinced in last week's episode in the backyard scene when he realized that she's got him hooked just as much as he has her.

The pairing has now acknowledged that their partners && we even saw on yesterday's episode that they're still learning the ropes on how to work with each other as seen at the dance recital with the bickering back && forth. We also see Rio still teaching her && reminding Beth of her reality with his frustrated && angry response when he learns that Jane's missing . By the same token, he is letting his guard down just as Beth let hers down yesterday as she cried in desperation && fear about her missing daughter. Rio retrieving Dubby is a very kind gesture that he wasn't obliged to do. && the fact that he did it, then put it inside an envelope which he personally addressed to "Elizabeth" (because he's the only one who calls her by her given name) && then drops it off at her mailbox, like..... I can't even describe how romantic && telling it is about how Rio feels about Beth.

Can you picture it? He pulls up to her house....he's glancing at the façade && he's picturing Beth inside. && he steps out of his vehicle as he makes his way to the mailbox && drops off Dubby. Did he pause for a second to assess his action? Did he shake his head to erase any confusion or puzzling thoughts before quickly taking off in hurried steps to his car? Did he look one last time at her house before he changed gears && sped off? && that's why this scene changed BRIO && there's no going back.

Beth: “I needed something in the car"

Rio: “WHO CARES ?“

Also Rio: Personally gets the blanket back from those gang people, hand delivers it to Beth’s house in an envelope with “Elizabeth” lovingly written on it and leaves it for her to find.

[shapshapproject]

Transcending borders and connecting global imaginaries

by Lindi Mngxitama

Playing at the Antigel Festival for SHAP SHAP has always been a dream of mine, especially after watching videos of FAKA’s performances there over the years. It was probably due to the nature of COVID-19 making electronic music more accessible globally, and me choosing to focus on promoting myself globally — because there wasn't an option of shows and stuff like that during lockdown — that made the opportunity to be able to play a festival like this possible. Overall, it was an awesome experience, and although it was virtual it still felt like I was on a global stage amongst some really great artists.

Says producer and Roses are Red record label founder Rose Bonica speaking about SHAP SHAP’s annual programme at Antigel Festival, but more specifically, speaking about the 6th edition of WHAT’S UP?. Creatively connecting people and using physical and digital stages to take action against global inequalities and discrimination, this year’s Antigel Festival found itself evolving in form and having to adapt in its possibilities of engagement due to the pandemic all of the world has been — and is still currently living through — in all of our varying and intersecting realities across the globe. “Over the last years ANTiGEL Festival has grown to become one of the largest cultural events in Geneva. By bringing artistic experience to parts of the city that are detached from this kind of engagement, the festival aims to be a reminder of the importance of making spaces for arts and culture”, remaining committed to this mission even within the setting of our current pandemic dystopian reality. This year’s ANTIGEL X SHAP SHAP WHAT’S UP? programme was curated in collaboration with Johannesburg's own Cuss Group, DJ, artist and self-named proud eurolatina Anita Kirppis (Geneva-San Salvador), Maïté Chénière AKA DJ Mighty (Geneva) and BATEKOO (Rio de Janeiro).

A non-profit organisation founded in 2015, SHAP SHAP is invested in taking action against global inequalities, racial and gender discriminations through artistic cultural projects. The festival’s curatorial and creative methodology is one rooted in collaboration — with both artists and scholars, to contribute to: “1) strengthening the artistic, social, political and economic status of emerging and off-the-grid artists from the Global South and from minorities who need support to emerge locally and internationally 2) facilitating international mobility 3) raising awareness on inequalities and discriminations 4) fostering dialogues”. The program at Grand Central STREAM Antigel 2021 unfolded over a course of 23 days from February 5th - 27. Self-named as eurolatina in a move towards the search for a better understanding of her identity because as Anita expresses:

I left my country very young (El Salvador) to come to Europe. A that time I was still searching to understand my identity as I was defined as a Salvadorian immigrant in Europe but when I was coming back to see my family every year I felt [like a] ‘foreigner’ in my own country. In a constant back and forth in every part of my life, even in my art studies I was lost. Nowadays, half of my life it has been built in Europe with codes, cultural and political references that I’ve mixed up with my Salvadorian background. I think that I’m finally embracing this richness and the complexity of this multiple identity and I’m more aware to reflect this on my dj sets. Kirppis’ Central America What’s Up, kicked off the festivities and in our conversation reflecting on the experience she shares that: Being part of this project, it was like I found allies who do things with careness and understanding about the issues that me or any other artist coming from the Global South could encounter during their career. Having this structure [that] backups and defends your positions, your ideas and your projects, is like a deep breath of clean and fresh air coming from the pacific ocean.

The artists who made up Kirppis’ segment included the collective Ghetto Witchez and musician El irreal Veintiuno. Speaking to first time participant El irreal Veintiuno — whose musical practice is rooted in capturing the sounds of his country — about his experience, especially within the festival’s 2021 virtual form, he shares:

It has definitely been a new experience and what we are living [through] with this pandemic, was not an impediment [on] the experience of connecting with people from all over the world. Through a screen [it became] possible, you know it is curious how between countries there are giant walls, and with the help of technology you can put an end to those walls. It is simply magical, although to be honest, I like to think about the fact of being there physically with people dancing, enjoying and feeling each song you are playing. I hope at some point in life it is possible.

For Ghetto Witchez’ REBURRA, the festival helped her reconnect with her creative side which had been suffering from a pandemic induced lull as she expresses:

Personally it was a positively challenging experience, it helped me wake up my creative side and shake off lots of heavy feelings I had bottled up during most of 2020. In El Salvador the quarantine restrictions were specially hard during the first months of the pandemic. So, most of us where just locked in our houses scared for our lives and listening to the president’s long misinformed press conferences. It was hard, my heart and mind where not that well recovered from the quarantine experience and there where moments I just wanted to go back in time. So I decided to make our participation in SHAP SHAP’s programme at Antigel festival an excuse to revisit this Salvadoran fantasy land I’ve created in mind and heart — [to] revisit all those feel good and pretty things that connect me with my country. All the footage we added to the set visuals and the intros are part of a well know Salvadoran cultural phenomenon or landmark from my generation’s childhood, that have a special place in my mind and heart. This way, we made of our participation a way of healing my reality at the time and I really appreciated that. It was a bright spot during dark days.

Week two which was curated by Mzansi’s own Cuss Group, under the programme segment South Africa, What’s Up started off on February 12th. Not their first #me at the rodeo — 2021 marks Cuss Group’s 5th year participating in the festival, however, this #me bringing along new home grown talent and first #me festival participants to fill their segment. Rose Bonica — “your favourite producers’ favourite producer” and X14. As mentioned before part of SHAP SHAP’s intention and focus is “strengthening the artistic, social, political and economic status of emerging and off-the-grid artists from the Global South and from minorities who need support to emerge locally and internationally and facilitating international mobility”. This in-turn creates space and opportunity for dialogue and cultural/artistic exchange that is able to imagine beyond the limitations of the nation state and its borders. Speaking about the value of this work and intention Rose shares:

I mean, it's extremely valuable. I live in a country where the arts, especially underground electronic music, is barely funded so these kinds of opportunities are truly valuable. And being able to perform on a global and diverse stage is such a great opportunity for any artists with the added financial stability that the festival offers, I honestly couldn't think of anything better. The experience also pushed her where her own creative methodology and confidence are concerned, revealed as she expresses that she found it really difficult: to translate my live performances into a virtual space and the whole process of filming and editing the performances together often feels draining. My self-confidence generally takes quite a big dip and before the stream starts I feel like it's just all going to be a big flop. My experience with SHAP SHAP was really reassuring. And for the first time since I started doing any type of virtual streams I went into it feeling a little more confident, and feeling like I was a part of something.

X14 — also a first time participant — expresses having no expectations as he went into the festival, however, feeling robbed of his first international trip due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, sharing some more he states “my journey as X14 has allowed me to get proximate to artists whose work I really admire, one of [them] being Naledi Chai. I told her about it and she immediately hit me with the vision for what you saw... she helped me communicate something raw and beautiful”.

Friday February 19 ushered in week three curated in collaboration with Afro Futurist DJ, founding member of the House of Butch Xtra and artist Maïté Chénière. The first time I engaged with Chénière’s work was through their first solo exhibition, Octavial Scape, which mapped different modes of refusal and resistance in the forms of music, popular culture, academia and storytelling against the backdrop of the Atlantic — a central site of subjugation in the Transatlantic slave trade and node among a global community. Like Cuss Group, this was not Maïté’s first time participating in the festival either, having have been part of it before as both collaborating curator and participant (DJ). Roles which require one to show up in/from a particular way. I ask them about how the experience of those two roles matched up, and which may have been more challenging to which they respond:

There is always this duality in my practice, artist/DJ and curator. It’s been a journey to find balance between those two and it's a constant work in progress. In the context of An-gel, I guess the most challenging for me was to curate. I proposed a line up within SHAP SHAP's program, within Grand Central's program, within An-gel's program. It's a lot of circles to navigate and sometimes you risk losing touch with the core intent. I find it hard to imagine that working within such a collaborative and far reaching way — especially within the framework of challenges presented by COVID-19 — wouldn’t affect/effect ones own relationship with their artistic practice. Asking Maïté about this they express that: When I arrived in Geneva I noticed a gaping hole in the night scene. What brought me to Dj-ing is that I was tired of looking for myself in those white spaces. Then I began hosting the Archipelagogo Club events dedicated to celebrating club culture and its originators; queer people of colour. These are trans-disciplinary events fostering artistic creation and community at a local level but also with international artists. Through the SHAP SHAP residency I got to meet artists from South Africa: Moonchild Sanelly, GYRE, Angel Ho, Griffit Vigo, Desire, DJ Candi, CUSS group. And we produced music in Johannesburg together with Bone Black and Dokta Spizee (The Good Dokta). This opened all kinds of places in me and brought the realisation in my flesh of the necessity to shift from the western gaze as an active practice.

The final week — week four curated in collaboration with BATEKOO. Speaking to Mauricio Bahia Sacramento aka FreshPrincedabahia — ceo/founder and creative director at BATEKOO — I learn that their own approach to their sonic craft is rooted in taking “cultural trips in the musicalities produced in the peripheries of Brazil and the world”, a mode of research which as he expresses “has always been present in my life as a dj and as a creator, I needed to do this analysis when creating BATEKOO, for example”. For BATEKOO, the festival’s 2021 virtual form also spoke to “the moment of transition” he thinks we are currently in as he shares, “I think we are going through a moment of transformation, and we will always take positive balances out of it. I believe that in the future we will use more internet tools to spread information, entertainment and learning”. Cultural happenings like this are imperative as “it is very important that today the cultural class and large companies look for ways to reframe the present and help each other in a 360 way”. If anything SHAP SHAP program at Grand Central Antigel was a creative manifestation of the fact — to quote Anita Kirppis — that “the boundaries are [being] pushed, [and] the forces are changing”.