#it was just an ombre black red dark lip with red eye shadow too like........

[ishikawayukis]

just read the phrase bimbo vampire makeup and i think i've had enough internet for the day

[bonnie-barstow-of-flag]

What Keeps You Up at Night part 2: Michael Knights Pov

Bonnie’s POV X

Dedicated to @aspacerat1 and two other people who begged me to write this.

For most silence is craveable, worth more than its own weight in gold. However, for Michael Knight, the quiet is intrusive. An invading force that extends its wicked tendrils into corners of his life he'd prefer to leave undisturbed. He had enough personal demons plaguing him without reawakening those wicked wraiths left to slumber in the wakes of the past.

Stirring, walking, and working forced those unsettling spirits to remain cast out to bay where they belonged. Observant azure orbs behold Wilton’s garage, taking note of the thermal pools of light exuding from within. Michael pauses outside the industrial doors, his fingers clasped around the solid steel handle. Dare he interlope on the work being done within? Would Bonnie be receptive to the encroachment on her territory at this hour? Or should he travel onwards like the wayfaring soldier he was? Warring deliberation is evident upon his striking face though it rests in the realms of darkness. The unyielding urge to investigate eventually wins over.

Barstow hears him though his practiced steps are hushed. A fact, he deduces, comes from having been snuck up on one too many times. He is pleasantly surprised when she does not berate his nosiness but rather, welcomes it. A whimsical Cheshire-cat-like grin snakes across his lips at her prodding. “Ya know, Bons, I could say the same thing.” He casually leans his weight against Kitt’s door.

For posterity's sake, he casts a glance down at his watch. His azure orbs briefly denote the time. It’s the bewitching hour of three when thick blankets of fog cuddle close to the ground and envelope everything including the skyscrapers of the far-off city. Darkness has not yet tasted the welcoming vibrancy of sunlight. Even still, the sky is gradually perfecting a reverse ombre. Thoughts of any realm outside the present garage fizzle into nothingness.

Michael is genuinely touched by her obvious concern. His lips part ways with a gentler, more tame smile. “I’m fine.” Suddenly, he is overly conscious about the focus of her eyes flashing over him. His large hand smooths through the luxuriously thick tangles of his dark curls, hoping to bring some measure of order to the otherwise half disheveled and unruly appearance. After a pause, he finally embellishes his answer to her question. “Figured I might as well make myself useful since I can’t sleep.” Devon surely had mountainous stacks of manila folders laying around with new cases. Some of them might even become the Foundation’s priority before too long. Yet, he’s not really interested in swimming through the black inked collections of information. By preference, he invests fully in his favorite prepossessing coworker.

His azure eyes practically glow, wired by mild disquietude as if they were neon lights when she lets out a huff. Had he ventured to ask something he shouldn’t have? He is about to apologize for any offense he may have dealt her when she finally begins to speak. Any semblance of a smile completely evaporates. Her first answer to his inquiry felt deliberately vague but in a way, he fully understood it. There had been so many instantaneous reactions and so many moments over the years that he would amend if he was ever given such an opportunity. Lingering at the top of that very list was the way he spoke to the poor dying Wilton Knight the day he stormed into the garage. Devon said Michael had just struck a dying man. That phraseology though simple haunted him still. He’d spend the rest of his life wishing he could take those venom-laced words back.

Sympathetically, Michael nods. In existence, there were probably a trillion comforting words he could offer. Begrudgingly, not a singular term would willfully lend itself to snuffing out her quieted sufferings. Even still, he refused to be dismissive of her pain. “I get it. Trust me, I do.” And the hideous truth was, he painfully did comprehend. He waits till she stands to draw nearer. “Look I know you don’t need me to tell you this,” Michael starts, “but there’s no use in torturing yourself over the past. It just takes your mind away from your present.” A pause. “Besides, every mistake is a lesson propelling you on your way to success.”

“You stole that off some cheesy poster, didn’t you?” Bonnie playfully accuses.

Bonnie wasn’t wrong. He had pilfered some of it but adapted it to fit in his own lax lexicon. Notes of cheerfulness begin to creep back into his countenance and it is denoted in the softening of his eyes. “Well, it’s more like borrowed,” he cheekily returned. Stealing was such a dirty term.

Bon’s next confession cuts him to the quick. He felt as though he had been sucker-punched. The strangled breath that he emits attests to the awful palpable sensation of having been viciously belted by her words. “Bons...” Her nickname is expelled reverently, in the form of a near prayerful whisper. His hands which had been mindful of respecting her personal space now lurch forward, gingerly collapsing around the slopes of her shoulders. He swallows sharply with the realization of just how much responsibility she allowed to weigh down upon her shoulders. They’ve had their share of close calls but not a single one of them had occurred as a result of anything Bonnie had done. Michael couldn’t fathom how she’d ever shift that blame to herself.

Making sure he is holding her gaze, he speaks again. “You’ve never let either of us down. No matter how hopeless our situations have been. I know you constantly say that you’re a scientist, not a miracle worker, but I tend to think of you as both. Without your skills and expertise, neither of us would be here.” His chord is full of unwavering conviction. “I know you, Bon. You will never let Kitt and I peel out of this garage if you genuinely thought we would not return in, at the very least, a salvageable condition.” He knows that this will probably do little to assuage her fears. Yet, he is trying. Michael allows one hand to depart her shoulder to cup her face. His thumb purposefully swipes slow strokes across the smooth globe of her cheekbone half-committing her beauty to memory.

He can discern wisps of terror coiling through those turquoise pools of hers and immediately, his poor heart gives off a series of terrible thrashing pangs. He desired to remove that fear from her, to let her know that he and Kitt are always going to return to her. Perhaps, he thinks to himself; he should take some measures towards being less feckless. “We’re safe. We’re going to stay that way. I promise.” Sure, he knows he ought not to make vows that he is uncertain he can keep but it feels exceedingly important in this very moment to do just that.

He can feel unintentional crater-like chinks forming in his armor both physical and emotional. Shielding her from bearing witness to anything that may translate into the depths of his eyes, Michael opts to press a doting kiss to the expanse of her forehead. It’s a sin. He knows. But he allows the cracked leather of his lips to remain against the warm silk of her skin for a touch longer than he ought. While there, he reveled in the familiar scents of her shampoo and body wash. Man, oh man, he jealously coveted her the way pirates did their treasures.

Barstow’s question causes Knight to unintentionally recoil. It’s something he hadn’t allowed his mind to ruminate on. Hell, he can’t remember the last time he thought about the causes behind his insomnia. Withdrawing his lips and taking a step back, he elects to gaze upon her countenance. She deserved nothing but an honest answer.

The unspoken reply hits Michael the way a barreling freight train might. With every click along the tracks shot fleeting shadows, hollow phantoms of faces and places, resurrecting images imprinted on his mind. Whether they were imagined or real or an unholy collision of the two, he could not distinguish. There was nothing concrete left in the whirlwind the question created and still, the sparks felt indelible. Among these things, Michael dared not give a voice were: oppressively thick jungles with flickering silhouettes of soldiers traversing cautiously through them, glints off of silver and gold shields with the towering engraving of city hall etched in them and the casts of red and blue flashing lights, hot Nevada nights, his father and mother or a man and woman with near enough resemblance to Long, American flags draped over caskets, super-nova like bursts of light from guns being fired, and something- something way back in the blur of memory. He thinks though it is with no absolute clarity, that it might have been home. No. It is not his current place of residence but rather that of his, correction Michael Long’s, childhood. Having taken two bullets to the skull had done little to preserve the things most other people could never forget. Tanya Walker’s bullet managed to wipe out the most solid impressions of the past. While he was grateful not to relive a majority of the horrors and atrocities of Nam, he mourned the loss of recollection towards the rest of Michael Long’s life.

Somewhere along the way, the unspoken reminiscing to the lost voices of the past derails. It takes a wrong turn, spinning on an axis until it conjures up feelings of dread, anxiety, and intense anger. His fingers curl up, clenching tight at his side before going lax again. Just as quickly as the negative emotions arrived, they vanish.

Embarrassment flushes across his cheeks when he realizes that she is patiently staring and he had not given her a response. He had been floundering, drowning without hope of rescue, in things he couldn’t entirely understand himself. He’s never been raw and open about any of his wounds. Discussing them wasn’t going to be an easy feat.

Despite Michael Knight’s outward confidence, insecurities dogged his every step. “Sometimes,” he starts, his voice unusually gravely and husky. “Sometimes I lay awake, wondering why Wilton Knight chose me to carry on his legacy instead of someone else. Instead of Devon or .... or any number of readily available people.” His tongue trails briefly over the jagged edges of his lips. “If anyone deserved a second chance at life, Muntzy did.” It is a fact Michael whole-heartedly believed. He would have traded his life a hundred times over to ensure that poor Rebecca (Muntzy’s wife) and his three little girls wouldn’t have to face a life without their father.

Bonnie listened intently. Her eyes never daring to depart from him. She is so astonished by the revelation, that she finds herself at a rare loss for words. Her brows furrow in disbelief. In her mind, she never questioned Michael’s appointment to FLAG’s most trusted operative. Devon might have earned the position were he younger, more nimble, and less inclined towards a life of predictability. Sure, he had been wild in his youth but those days were long tossed to the wind. Regardless, Wilton had always been startlingly confident in his choice! There had been no doubt in his mind to Michael’s worthiness.

In a softer agonized tone, he rhetorically prods, “why me of all people?” He didn’t fancy himself as being overly special but more than that, he didn’t feel deserving of Wilton Knight’s incredible mantle. The extraordinary burden of which had been thrust upon his shoulders without his ever being asked with the demand that he walks away from everything and everyone he cherished. There hadn’t been one single moment where Michael had been gifted the opportunity to turn back. Michael Long was dead.  “What if I cease to make him proud? What if one man isn’t enough to make a difference?” He shifts uncomfortably. His hands briefly delving into the denim pockets of his jeans. His eyes dart around the garage before returning to her. Where he expected to find judgement, he found only empathy. Before she can open her mouth to further comment, he changes the subject.

Taking one of the cleaner rags he could find nearby, he starts running it along Kitt’s outer shell. It was easier to focus when he could be doing some menial task or other. Or so, he tells himself. “There are some nights where fragments of intelligence missions in Nam and my early days of police work come back to me. Can’t make odds or ends outta them but I know they’re there. They’re hopelessly jumbled like a tangled ball of yarn.” It was hard to put to words unless one had experienced it for themselves. It was like trying to recreate a phenomenal recipe with no real idea of what ingredients went into it. Even if you did, by some miracle, manage to secure all of the ingredients, there was still a mystery pertaining to measurements. When they’re all mixed together, it never really turns out like the original. Now, does it? Heck, sometimes it didn’t make for even a shallow reproduction.

When he tried to connect the dots of things that happened in Nam and on the big bad streets of Nevada and Los Angeles, they came out pixilated a kaleidoscope of images woven tightly together.  Everything would shift and warp with the slightest touch, altering in their entirety. Reality or fiction? It was impossible to discern which category each memory should be assigned to. There is no one he could ask to assist him with the task of making distinctions. A majority of his work gathering intel reports and sending them along in a timely manner had been highly classified. Worse still, there were no war or cop buddies who were made privy to the knowledge of Michael Long’s rebirth into Michael Knight. He had to circumnavigate lapses in memory on his own.

Relinquishing a frustrated breath, he continues in a low voice, “ there are nights when I close my eyes and see her. I see Tanya and that sharp burst of yellow light from the gun...” The words feel thick and he chokes a little. A frigid chill creeps down every vertebra in his spine. Even talking about it makes him recoil. He knows Bonnie wouldn’t ask him to further elaborate. She knows about the accident and a good bit of the aftermath.

Turning back to her with a plaintive expression, he decides to confess a terror that made every drop of his blood turn to ice. “Hear me out,” he starts, abandoning the cloth rag on Kitt’s T-top so that his hands might return to Bonnie’s frame. He hesitates, pulling his hands away from her shoulders at the last second and opting to cradle her face. “Those things are all intense but thoughts of losing you are by far the worst.” He spoke in a manner that left no debate towards his sincerity. Azure orbs vigorously drink her in. He’s lost one love and he made a vow before heaven and earth that he would stop at nothing to protect her.

[fightevilandthengetblownup]

FIC: Tis The Damn Season IV

—

The crowds that moved steadily through the glamourous and well-known department store parted like the sea before her, the sound of her sparkling heels clicking on the tile floor bouncing around the somehow perfectly filled space, the determined and confident sound of a seasoned shopper and her entourage behind her as the path cleared before her. The Madison Avenue department store was the perfect little treat after such a perfect start to the day, or at least it was in Shada's mind.

"Brother knows nothing," she chirped over her shoulder as she led the pair of gawking blondes behind her past the decorative fountain filled with crystal balls hung from the tall ceilings in a mimic of water and up the marble tiles stairs before her. Shada glanced behind her as she had to tug each of the other women's hands to get them moving rather than looking at the glistening splendour around them. "He would freak at the idea we've just popped over here for a spot of shopping, he's so worried all the time that he doesn't have enough fun with what he can do."

Jo made a noise that Shada didn't like the sound of, somewhere between disapproval and agreement in equal measure, that got a perfectly groomed brow risen in response to it as the brunette looked over her shoulder at the pair behind her.

“You disagree, cupcake?” “...Yes.” “So he doesn’t think that we shouldn’t use powers for fun?” “I… Didn’t say that.” “That’s what I thought.”

Shada smirked to herself as she turned back to the path she was leading through past the counters of perfume and make-up that they could go through on their way out, and instead to the elegant double rows of circling stairs that lead up through the centre of the building to each floor. She loved looking up at the sparkling chandelier that dripped down through the centre and sent rainbows of refracted light dancing about the space. It was so beautiful, and she loved being at the centre of such a beautiful thing.

“Where are we going first, big sister?” Ombre asked quietly, her voice softer than if they were somewhere the blonde was familiar with. It was almost as quiet as their natural voices would be, and Shada paused at the base of the stairs to reach out and squeeze her little sister’s hand. The younger shadow was still clearly uncomfortable in such busy and clearly human spaces, but they’d work on that until she was as into the whole experience as Shada was herself. Ombre’s eyes were big, wide and blue looking up into the sparkling light and taking in just how many floors the stairs spiraled up through. “Oh it’s so big!”

“It has to be big, Ombre, cause there are so many designers!” Shada couldn’t help the high pitch of excitement that ran through her words, and blushed slightly at the bemused look she could see coming from the other blonde at her clear enjoyment. “We’re going up a few floors now, and maybe we’ll have lunch on the sixth floor for big si- for Jo, and we can go to the salon on the top floor too?”

“I am so going to have to use one of my other cards for this, aren’t I?” The resigned but amused grin on Jo’s lips made Shada feel better about her slip and the casual informality of her plans for the day, before she laughed along with both other blondes as they all started up the stairs.

Shada gestured them off as they reached the third floor and let out a giggle as she spotted so many beautiful things all around. There was anything and everything gorgeous all around them - the women’s designer department was just like a candy store for her. And seemingly for her younger sister, as the youngest let out an extremely high pitched noise and ran straight towards a display of soft pastel pinks in lace, tulle and silk that displayed three very beautiful dresses; ranging from a sun dress with ruffles but nothing too extravagant, to a full on ball gown all tiered together. Shada smiled before grinning wider when she found her hand being grabbed by the other blonde and tugging her towards their little sister who was staring in wonder. This was exactly how the day should go.

As a store clerk came towards the trio, Shada smirked widely and declared to the snooty looking woman who was looking at the group in confusion. She could hear the woman’s thoughts easily - wondering at the odd assortment the three of them made. Shada herself was clearly dressed and suited to the occasion in her elegant Prada dress from that very season and the very obviously Burberry fitted black coat she had on all the way down to her pop of colorful sparkly red-bottomed shoes. The store clerk could see in her exactly the kind of shopped the woman would love to follow around as personal-shopper and the commission it would come with. Though the clerk was clearly thinking that she could making a killing off of Shada, the uncertain glances that took in the two blondes - one in a frilly, lacey and ruffled skirt and white lacey top paired and exaggerated by the layers of petticoats beneath, the bows tied around both her pigtail-plaits and the white tights and Mary Janes; the other in a pair of sturdy black cowboy boots that had clearly been worn in with her dark wash jeans tucked in, with a black t-shirt that looked quite a few sizes too large and swimming in a navy hoodie that definitely wasn’t from the women’s department and was clearly dressed for function and warmth over fashion. The three of them made a confusing contradiction for the lady, and Shada smirked even wider as she shifted her bag higher on her shoulder. Berkin bag, bingo! The woman’s thoughts were so easy to see run across her face as an indulgent look crossed her face.

“Ladies, welcome! How can I help you today?” The clerk’s voice was equal measures friendly and condescending - exactly the type of tone rich old ladies liked to hear so that they could put the ‘little upstart’ into her place before dropping thousands of dollars and enjoying making the assistant feel small, when really all they were doing was paying for her own shopping spree later. “Were we looking for anything in particular?”

“Oh no, we’re here for anything and everything.” Shada took over the interaction, her own voice sliding carefully into a snooty tone as she looked about the space. Glancing towards her sister, she smiled slightly to see how still enamoured the younger was staring at the sundress. “First off, we want that dress in a dressing room out back in my sister’s size. We’ll want three rooms together, I’m sure that will be easy to accommodate?”

“Of course! I’ll get that set up right for you while you ladies peruse. I’ll be right back.” The clerk quickly nodded, taking a quick glance at the still staring blonde before dashing away to get started - like candy from a baby! The thought was the last thing Shada bothered to pick up from her as she ran off through the racks of clothes.

Turning back to the two of them, Shada smiled shyly at Jo’s raised brow at her antics and tone, before moving to Ombre’s side. “Hey, they’re getting that dress out back for you to try on. Want to go see what else they have?”

The blonde pigtails bounced rapidly as Ombre smiled widely and nodded repeatedly, before she started wandering down the nearest aisle that had a very predominant pastel color theme to it.

“So… We’ll get her sorted with some first, then look for you?” Jo asked quietly coming up and threading her arm through Shada’s and tugging her to follow behind the bounding and excitable movements of the other.

Shada nodded, smiling widely as another clerk popped out of no where and started following the perky blonde around the few rows. “Yep! And then we look for you!”

“Me? Oh no, nothing here is my style.” “That’s a downright lie, cupcake-” “No no, I really don’t need anything.” “Where do you think I managed to find that dress last year? I’m sure we’ll find something for you too.”

The blush on the other’s face brought a bigger grin to her own face; before both their attention was pulled to where Ombre was holding up a sugarysweet looking strapless dress for their review. The pair equally exclaimed over the prettiness, and continued moving through the racks showing off a whole array of interesting designs and pieces for the other.

After a good half an hour and the two clerks running back and forth from them to the dressing room about ten times laddened with clothes, Shada couldn’t help but direct them towards the rows of black, grey, purple and shiny choices that suited her style more. And afterwards they slowly circled the full floor with a more eclectic array of clothes being pulled out and chosen by the final member of their group to try on. It was well into the late morning by the time the trio, full of giggles and exclamations and more than a few cups of coffee brought to them from the cafe a few stores up, were ushered back to the dressing room area to try on their various choices.

It was easier for them each to try on an outfit and emerge to gush over each other’s choices than for one girl to go through her selection at a time - and far more exciting, Shada found, to come out and hear gasps of happiness and praise of how lovely she looked while getting to do the same for her sister’s.

The first to exhaust her pile of clothes to try was Jo, but that was unsurprising. Shada had noted just how particular the other was as they’d moved through the racks that she was discerning and only let items she truly thought strongly about to be sent back to the dressing room. Shada had known less than half of what she’d picked out for herself would be something she genuinely wanted, where as Jo’d practically glowed with happiness and excitement over each outfit she’d tried on that radiated that happiness out to the other two in giddy waves. It was intoxicating to be near someone so honestly and innocently happy - over a pair of jeans that looked like they were poured on, or a black leather jacket with embroidery on the back, or a black lacey dress that revealed almost the entire back of the blonde when she’d spun about - and it definitely rubbed off.

Emerging from her change room in a sleek purple blouse and tight black pencil skirt with a grey supple leather jacket over the top that cut off right at her waist, Shada grinned widely at the look she got from the other woman sitting on the sette sipping her coffee. “Oh Shada, that looks so fabulous with those shoes!”

“Oh?” The brunette blinked in surprise, turning to look in the mirror and smiling to herself all over again as she noticed twisting here and there that her whole ensemble looked so well put together. “Oh! I am so wearing this out.”

“You aren’t goin’ to look at the tags?” “Why would I?”

There was a pause before the blonde let out a hearty laugh, shaking her head. “You’re right, your brother doesn’t have fun with his powers if this is what you mean.”

Shada flushed slightly pink before giggling at the wicked grin on the other’s face.

“Big sis, big sis’es!” Ombre chirped from behind her curtain before rushing out in a flurry of fluffy pink skirts to cuddle up against her older sister. “This is so pretty, isn’t it?”

“Yes, Ombre, very pretty!” “Absolutely gorgeous, Ombre.”

The perky blonde bounced a few times, before moving to talk about and energetically about how suitable and lovely Shada’s outfit looked together as well. Both shadows smiled widely at their other sister as Jo started gushing as well. And the gushing continued on from there - as each of the two shadows kept trying on their clothes over again until they’d finally exhausted all the luxurious outfits they’d put together. Shada emerged finally back in that pretty ensemble she’d put together, and Ombre wearing a new pastel blue top with her original skirt, while Jo got together their bags and looked concernedly at the pile of clothes both other’s had chosen as well as her small selection of items.

“Are we-”

“Ladies, can we please bag these up? We’re going for lunch and to get our nails done and want these packaged when we get back.” Shada cut over the other’s comments as the two sales clerks reappeared around the corner, her tone back into the same snooty, superior tone she had first off as the two women looked back and forth between one another. “My sister and I are wearing these choices - and our big sister will be taking that jacket with us now. That is all alright, correct?”

There was a moment before one of them ran over with a pair of scissors and snipped off gently the tags from Shada’s ensemble, Ombre’s top and also the black swing jacket Jo had fallen in love with and had had thrown over her lap as she waited. The other assistant quickly moved to pick up all the other chosen clothes and hang them up upon a cleared clothes rack to be properly packed and prepared for when they returned. There wasn’t even a moment’s hesitation or query for any kind of payment from either woman as the trio headed from the change room towards the spiral staircase and the blonde pair followed Shada up the next three flights to the cafe overlooking the busy spring streets outside.

Shada smiled widely as all three found themselves settling in and as they slowly made their choices for lunch and laughed together talking over the experience and promised to do more later. There was their nails in the salon one floor up to be done; and shoes and handbags; and all kinds of accessories; and an entire section of lacey intimates that Jo had sneakily pointed out on their way up to lunch. It was exactly the kind of day that she’d been craving for, and splitting a thin crust pizza covered in healthy vegetables with very little cheesy grease like any lesser pizza would and a bright spring salad, she couldn’t help but hope they’d get to enjoy many more like it in future.

Looking over the bright smiles on both her sisters’ faces as Jo teased Ombre over her confusion that asparagus wasn’t some kind of utensil poking out of the salad - she knew this would definitely happen again, and more regularly if she had her way. And Shada always got her way, after all.

—

[griffinsandpeacocks]

When You Dress To Impress (Dress, Taylor Swift)

Hades had been looking for the proper outfit for ages. He and Adam had become a thing a while ago. After the man had helped him settle into the hidden magical pocket of Auradon. It’s much less lively than what he’s used to but he’d deal with it so long as he could keep Mal and the other kids safe away from those cretins that dared call themselves parents. well except Jafar who had agreed to cut all ties so long as he had a solid way to keep Jay both out of the crime world as well as cared for. Hades had helped the man find a job in his firm as an administrator. So long as Jafar managed the flow of work and didn’t do anything that would harm the firm on purpose, Jafar could live in Auradon and not have to worry so much for Jay nor their safety. 

(I am using these two images as references and found them by looking through google for black and blue dresses. Basically imagine a slightly fancier version of the above dress with the drape that is shown in the below image, the drape extends to match the length of the dress, just a heads up.)

Now he’s staring at the dress he’d hidden away in a random room of the mansion he’d gotten thanks to Adam’s meddling. It was a gorgeous house and thankfully had plenty of room. After all, he’d taken custody, even if temporary of Uma, Carlos, Evie, Harry, Gil, and several others. He was happy enough Mal and them had friends or at least others who had similar backgrounds so that they could help each other. The dress was black and faded down to blue in an ombre effect around his knees, it went over one shoulder that then had a drape that ran down the back of that side, the back a cross of strips of black that buckled. The buckles were grey steel clasps done to look like his skull in his mark. The shoulder that drapes down had a similar fastening done up like his full mark flames and skull and was what buckled that shoulder together. Of course there’s blue gems glittering around the skulls to give the impression of fire and they glitter through the full length of it giving a fiery effect. 

He’s grinning as he turns and sees Harry peeking in the door. He cock a hip and tilts his head as the young boys eyes go wide at getting caught and he goes bright pink and coughs. He looks away and then up at Hades and steps in glancing behind him nervously. This is actually rather unusual for Harry and Hades frowns in worry.

“Is everything alright, Harry?” He asks and Harry nods rubbing the back of his neck with the magically restored hand Fairy Godmother had helped make. After Hades explained the reason he was asking for such a thing, given James Hook had almost ripped the dame thing apart with a meat hook, Harry had had to have it amputated and Hades wanted to give the kid as close to a working one as he could get, naturally Fairy Godmother had been appalled and agreed to help having enchanted some gems Hades had summoned and made them into a synthetic hand as close as they’d get to the real thing without using any darker magic. She even came by and would check on all the kids as Hades had told her he’d taken custody of quite the herd after taking full custody of his own daughter he’d just been unable to leave the other kids she’d known in that kind of life. Harry was still getting used to it though the number of jokes on how much it’d fetch in a black market deal had thankfully gone down. 

“I... Um... I’ve seen you go out a few times dressed up and well... Could... Could you show me how to do it?” Harry asks staring down at the floor blushing and Hades paused blinking at the young man and he smiles. He’d rarely seen any other men in the magical society express interest in cross dressing, mostly they were all prim and proper and few cared to deviate out of normal expectation. He walks up to the young man and pats his shoulders.

“I can, come on, we’ll go to my dress up room, this is just storage for that so Adam won’t catch a glimpse until out date.” Hades waves and Harry bounces on his feet grinning and looking up at Hades excited he follows the man and Hades is chuckling. 

“To be honest you’ve got a lot of the make up down already given the way you do the eyeliner for your pirate set up that you Uma and Gil share. So I’ll run through basics and if you want a few more pointers we can go from there.” Hades says as he opens the door to a room with some hair accessories so he can pull back his hair having let it grow out again as he spent less time in the non magical human areas and he no longer needed to be fully ‘professional’.

“Alright... Hmm... There’s a gypsy styled dress I have... I wonder if Evie can help either change out the blue for a dark red or if she knows how to just use her magic to change the color...? Oh well at the least let’s see if we can get it to fit on you...” Hades says smirking as he gets to play dress up. Harry get’s a brief run through of some etiquette of tucking and what not and Hades is absolutely ecstatic at the thought of a shopping trip he could go out on and drag Harry along with him, maybe even Evie too come to think of it. She enjoyed shopping, especially when it was to dress someone up. 

“So just go try this on and come back out?” Harry asks and Hades nods gesturing him to the small room that was more a walk in closet and Harry goes coming back out a while later asking for some help with the corset lacing. Hades helps lace them back up and steps back grinning as he bounced on his heels. It looks a bit much for Harry but with some adjustments from Evie it would look astounding on the young man. 

“Yep, change the color scheme up and make some adjustments and this’ll look astonishing!” Hades says vibrating and Harry does a bit of a turn looking a bit uncertain of himself.

“You think?” He asks and Hades nods.

“I mean we can change it to red, which would suit you much better as your skins a bit darker than mine... And we can have a few things changed up and even altered like a gap along that side to show some leg and give you a bit more movement... Make this part a bit less and possibly grey or keep it black... Less a wrap and more a sash... Hmm...” Hades leans back cataloging what he should ask Evie for then decides to call Mal.

“Hey honey, Evie with you?” He asks and Harry goes bright red looking at him with dread and he winks. 

“Yeah...” Mal says and Hades beams.

“Could you spare her a moment, I want to make some alterations to my gypsy dress... I’m thinking of swapping the blue for red and cutting up that sash and the skirt a bit give some leg room.” He says and Mal snorts and asks Evie if she can go help her Dad with his dress and Evie squeals with joy and runs out of the room.

“She is inbound...” Mal says sounding unimpressed and Hades grins.

“Thank you honey!” He says and the call ends. He looks at Harry and smiles.

“Evie does a lot of my alterations, this isn’t going to startle her too much. She’s seen me in a majority of my dresses.” He says happily and Harry relaxes somewhat. Evie pops in roughly three minutes and paused blinking at Harry a moment and narrowing her eyes as if it was an affront to all things fashion. 

“I’m fixing this. Now.” She says snapping her fingers and grabbing Harry and dragging him back into the dressing room. Hades waits doing the make up to soften out his features and placing the smoky eye shadow on and adding hints of glitter that flickers blue and white over it before allying a soft lipstick and smirking as he pulls up his hair into a top knot letting the tail hang down and highlight the change from off white pale blue to a fiery blue towards the end. He turns and watches Evie pull Harry out, the sash has been trimmed up the colors somehow changed, Hades swears the girl uses magic, so that the sash is now a deep brown, as well as only being a single short layer rather than the ruffled shift it had been before. The base skirt has become a deep crimson red, and the blouse like part has been changed to black, while the strings of twine at the elbow and wrist are now white. There’s a cut showing some leg as well in the skirt with some ruffle lining it in black, while the corset has been changed to be red and tie with silvery white laces. 

(The above is the original example before it’s altered by Evie to reflect more for Harry rather than Hades. Take away some of the wrap into a single layer of dark brown more like a wrap and a slightly shorter skirt piece with a cut lined in ruffle for some leg. Making it look less like a gypsy costume and more pirate-y. I found this on Pintrest, though you can also see it in Google images.)

“That actually looks grand... Much better than what I though it would and of course it must be to your own alterations, Evie, but this is beautiful... Well done.” He praises and both kids blush happily Evie smirking in self assured victory and Harry looking as happy as a clam. Hades checks the time and winced he stands and quickly rushes to the room grabbing the dress he comes back and dresses up checking it all fits proper and showing Harry a more full run down and then asks Evie if she could help Harry with make up ideas and tutorials as his date with Adam was in a couple minutes and he needed to get ready and out the door. 

“Unless you’re feeling done for the day, Harry, you can always run away if you feel overwhelmed.” Hades assures pulling on some knee high stockings that have garters to clip to and then sliding on the simple black heels that clip at the ankle. Harry shakes his head smiling and Hades smiles back wishes the two the best and walks down as he’d placing in a sapphire stud into each ear as Adam opens the door to the foyer about to call out frowning as he looks for Hades. 

“Oh... You look stunning...” Adam says blushing as he takes in the effort Hades has put into passing as a lovely gothic lady rather than his typical professional gothic masculine self. Hades comes up to the man and pecks him on the lips. 

“So you like it? I worried I’d done a bit much.” Hades admits not having wanted to over accentuate and look gaudy. Adam gives him a deeper kiss and pulls back smiling.

“Never, come on or we’ll be late. He chuckles and Hades hooks his arm around Adams and they go out to the party. Hades loves the fact so few recognize him at first glance. Most don’t recognize him at all and he has fun dancing with Adam everyone not aware of who exactly he was and his standing with Adam as he has the man all to himself. He’s practically glowing in the golden happy light Adam has brought into his life. He’s certainly left a mark at least and a golden tattoo has formed around his heart in the shape of a rose. He’d gotten the dress solely for the idea of Adam taking it off, and he can’t wait for them to get home already though they’ve barely arrived. Royal parties were always so boring. 

Then again no mater how much wine he drinks the only thing getting him drunk are the kisses they snag in secret from everyone else. The party goes by Hades slowly loosing himself to the need to fly out of the crowd and back home. The chatter and social games are wearing on him. He’d much rather have Adam taking this dress off rather than how well he pulled it off. Eventually they do trip back. Hades feels the world stop as Adam keeps their eyes locked that bright shine in his eyes and Hades smirks and teases.

“Hades.” Adam growls and the god skips off grinning behind him and gesturing him to follow. Adam takes a deep breath as his hands shake but he checks his excitement and restrains his pinning just a bit longer.

“I bought this so you could take it off, hurry up already.” Hades says over his shoulder as he heads up the stairs. Slipping down the hall as Adam quickly follows behind. 

Meanwhile Harry slipped into the room Carlos currently has at the house.

“Hey, pretty boy, I was hopping you’d be interested in a date.” Harry says and Carlos is frozen blinking at Harry in silent shock. He looks good and thesmaller boy swallows mouth feeling dry as his cheeks flare into a blush. Harry actually looks really good...

“Ah, yeah... Um... You look... Good.” He says still mildly shocked and Harry saunters up and Harry watches those eyes trace the sway of his hips and smirks as he leans in and traps the other against his bed.

“Well then, I’ll see you then. Unless you’d like to help me get this off?” Harry asks and Carlos doesn’t take a moment to think about it.

“Please?” And Harry chuckles and gives him a kiss. Carlos was the one that kept him steady even when he was nose diving and Uma wasn’t there to tell him to keep his lid. He’d adored how much the scardy cat cared. Now he’s finally getting him exactly how he wants and his hands shake from not touching him. The fact Carlos wasn’t flinching back was a sweet relief. Carlos can’t believe it but let’s the kisses he’s getting distract him and he quickly get’s drunk of the feeling.

[thadelightfulone]

Keep Me In Mind

Part Two of my submission for the Quarantine Writing Challenge hosted by @shaekingshitup​ and @chaneajoyyy​. [PART ONE]

Took this as an opportunity to write for someone new...ENJOY!

Pairing: Thick Black!OC - Lexi Washington and Rome Flynn

“One night, Rome! That is all I asked for. Was that too much? I just don’t understand how he could do this to me again.” She cries into the phone.

“Hey, hey, hey.” She quiets down, “Just breathe,” and he can hear her inhaling deeply on the line, “Where are you now?”

Lexi called Rome crying about Drew again. Last night, he once again ruined her plans for the evening. Drew knew she wanted a night to herself, and she even told him to go out with his boys. All she wanted was a few hours to relax and unwind from the bullshit week she had. And he couldn’t even do that. Drew was there when she got home, yelling, screaming, and acting a fool with the guys online instead. Rome knew this already because he was online with them.

Rome waits a few moments, then repeats his question. Lexi takes her time answering him as usual, knowing that she is going to tell him so he can pick her up. This has become a routine for them. She calls him complaining about her boyfriend, he listens and then offers to take her out to get her mind off things. It shouldn’t even be a part of their relationship, but it is; this is what they have become.

“At the house.” She steps out of the kitchen into the doorway to grab her coat and purse, “I’ll be on the steps.” Opening the door to go out, she slows once he speaks.  

“Nah, stay inside. I’ll let you know when I’m there.” Lexi closes the door, turning on her heel and heading past the kitchen.

Lexi walks to the office and sits down at the desk, “Ok, text me, so you don’t have to come inside.”

“Lex, relax.” He jumps in his car, starting it up. “I got you. You just choose where you want to go, ok. That’s all I want you to worry about.”

“Yeah, ok. I’ll see you when you get here.” They end the call, and Lexi looks at the picture frame on her left. It is a photo of Drew and her in better times, enjoying the natural beauty at her favorite park. Before things became so strained that they could barely talk to one another without it turning into an argument - he makes a demand of her, and she wants him to ask respectfully. She makes a simple request, and he fights her tooth and nail just to avoid doing it.

Lexi closes her eyes, she is so sick of the fighting and his treatment of her and their relationship, but she doesn’t want to leave. She loves him, and she believes somewhere deep down, he loves her, too. She has no idea how they got to this point, but she has hope it’ll get better.  

Folding her arms on top of the desk, Lexi puts her head down and nods off. Only waking when she hears voices coming down the hall towards the office. She sits up and tries to wipe her face of any sleep real quick. A short knock precedes the door opening, and she sees Rome walk in with Drew behind him. He stays at the door.

“Yo man, the next tournament is in a week. You playing with us, right?” Drew asks, clapping him on the back.

Shrugging him off, “Of course, you know you need me.” Rome looks over at Lexi, who is fluffing her hair and rubbing her eyes before standing up, “Ready to go?”

“Yup,” she walks over to Drew and kisses him on the cheek. “I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah, sure.” He steps back into the main hall, then turns around, walking backward as he faces them both, “Oh, and can you bring me back some chips and ice cream? I finished both earlier.”

“Really, Drew? You were just out, why didn’t you get some?”

“It’s not my job to make sure the pantry stays full.” Rome shakes his head while Drew smiles at her, “Besides, I didn’t say anything about you finishing off the rest of the Crown last night.” Turning back around, he makes a left down the hall. Lexi groans.

“Come on, let’s go,” Rome interjects before Lexi can follow after him just to say something back. He has been here when one of their arguments started, and he does not feel like playing referee today. Grabbing her shoulders, he leads her away in the opposite direction towards the front of the house.

Walking to his car, Rome opens the door and lets her get settled as he makes his way around to the driver’s side. He watches as Lexi leans back in the seat, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples. They both sit there quietly. Rome’s eyes on Lexi taking in the view from the bottom up. Lexi is wearing classic white slip-on Vans with some dark denim jeans and a pink and purple ombre peasant top. Her burgundy and dark brown natural curls twisted out, framing her face. Rome smiles while staring at her when she removes her hands from her face.

“Can I get my face back?” Big black eyes behind rose gold-rimmed glasses along with the deepest dimples he has ever seen laugh at him. Her laughter causes her cute chubby cheeks to rise and her eyes to flutter. "I hate when you do that, you know?" She pushes at his arm.

Shrugging the push-off, Rome looks over at Lexi, "Do what?" Starting the ignition to warm the car up, he sits back in his seat, waiting for her answer.

"That!" Lexi points at his face, "That right there." She grabs her phone and tries to snap a picture of him. Rome turns away before the flash, and she catches a perfect profile shot of him. He is looking out the front of the car, his 5 o'clock shadow appearing between his mustache and attempt at a beard. Spotting a new short cut, she can see the waves coming in. And she knows he is smiling at her even while he faces forward. The beautiful bastard. She saves the picture and puts her phone away.

"So, you don't want me looking at you?" Quickly turning her way, he sees her slowly nod at him before nervously biting her lip. Putting the car in gear, he begins to laugh, "Not gonna happen." They pull off, and Rome grabs her left hand with his right, squeezing it before settling it on his thigh.

Lexi looks down at their hands intertwined; it's not a new sight because they do it all the time. But for some reason, today, it just feels different and not necessarily in a bad way. "Where are we going?"

Focusing on the road, "Have you eaten today?" Rome inquires. Lexi rolls her eyes, focus outside of the window while mumbling the answer. "Lex?"

"No," she huffs out.

"When was the last time you ate?" He stops at a red light to look at her fidgeting in the passenger seat.

Groaning, she finally looks back at him. "Not since lunch yesterday." He squeezes her hand on his lap. "I did- I did have food to eat last night, Rome, but I was so pissed off about Drew being home and fucking up my evening-" she sighs, "I couldn't bring myself to eat it. So, I let him have it."

"And drowned your sadness in that bottle of Crown I left at the house?" She nods her head in response, "You don't even drink whiskey." He proclaims.

"I know.” She whines, “Why do you think you didn't hear from me until this afternoon?" Lexi rolls her eyes, "On the plus side, I did get to soak in my bathtub and woke up there, too." She starts laughing, and Rome can't help but join her.

"What am I going to do with you, Lex?" What am I going to do about you? He thinks to himself.

The light turns green, and Rome takes off. The car is quiet again except for the radio in the background. Everything I Miss At Home by Cherrelle is playing softly. Rome peeks over at Lexi, who is quietly singing the song. Loud enough that she didn't think he would hear her.

Rome pulls up in front of a restaurant. He parks the car and gets out to catch the passenger door before Lexi does. He didn't need to rush because she is dumbfounded, looking up at the familiar place.

Hearing her door open, Lexi looks up at Rome. "How did you know?"

"Know what?" he replies, helping her out of the car and closing the door behind her.

"Italian, Rome?" He is still confused by her comment as they enter the restaurant. They are greeted by the owner, who remembers Lexi from the previous evening and shakes her hand, welcoming her back. Rome looks at her as she nervously says hello to the man. "This is my favorite Italian restaurant.

"Ahhhh, so your dinner last night was from here?" She mouths yup as the owner leads them to a table. Rome follows behind Lexi, eyes roaming her body and especially those thick hips swaying in her jeans. He inwardly groans as she slides into the booth.

"Well, I knew you loved Italian. I just didn't know you knew about this place." He finally replies while sitting down.

"Yeah, I love this place. It's actually where Drew and I first met." Lexi ends that statement, gently realizing how awkward this must be. "I'm sorry."

Rome taps the table before looking up at her, "No need to apologize for that."

"But I mean, he's -" Lexi stops speaking as Rome shakes his head.

 "I know who he is." He cuts her off, "And I know who you are. There's no need to say any more than that." Rome picks up the menu, sighing behind it.

He didn't mean to act like that towards her, but he didn't want to talk about Drew. He didn't want to talk about anything that reminded him that Lexi does not belong to him even if that is part of a long-overdue conversation between the two.

Putting the menu back down, "I should be the one apologizing to you." Lexi looks up from her menu, confused. "Why don't we get something in your stomach first, and then we'll talk?" Like it was planned, Lexi's stomach answers for her, and they both laugh, erasing the quickly rising tension at the table.

Lexi orders her favorite dish from the night before, Stuffed Chicken Marsala, and decides to get it over mashed potatoes tonight. Rome orders Chicken Florentine over Angel Hair pasta. They both order different flavored Italian sodas and Minestrone to start.

Their food arrives, and they eat in comfortable silence. Lexi sneaking peeks at Rome since she can’t figure out what he wants to talk about with her. They have always been able to talk with one another about everything, so this doesn’t make any sense. He looked so serious when he brought it up, too. He cut her off when speaking, and he has never done that before. If she is honest with herself, Rome has always been there for her in ways that Drew never has. Finished with her food, she drops her fork on the plate and openly scrutinizes Rome, hoping he will look up from his plate so they can start this conversation.

Rome senses Lexi’s eyes on him and pays so much attention to his food that he scrapes the plate while cutting his chicken. He completes the task at hand and puts the knife down. It feels like he is under a microscope, and Rome doesn’t understand where this nervous energy around Lexi is coming from. He has always been her sounding board and a voice of reason for when she wants to just talk in a judgment-free zone. And she has been that for him on occasion as well, so what changed?

His phone vibrates against the table, and he looks down at it. Drew. The unspoken matter between them. Why is he calling him now? “It’s your man.” He tells Lexi.

“He’s your best friend,” she declares. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom while you two talk or whatever.” She sets her napkin beside her plate and gets up from the booth.

Rome watches her before picking up the phone. “Yeah, what’s up?”

“When are you guys coming back? I want my ice cream.” Drew complains into the phone.

“Are you serious? As long as we have been gone, you could have went and got some.” Rome states matter-of-factly.

“I know, I know. But I asked her to get it for me. So, I expect her to do that.” Rome pulls the cell away from his ear to look down at it. This cannot be the same dude he grew up with acting like this. “Can you make sure you stop before bringing her home?”

“Yeah. Bye.” Rome ends the call, not wanting to entertain him anymore. The waitress appears as Lexi makes her way back to the table.

“Would you like anything else?” She asks them. Rome nods at Lexi, who shakes her head.

“No, that’ll be all. Thanks.” The waitress drops off the check and collects their plates before leaving them alone.

“What did your bestie want?” Lexi smirks at him.

“Stop that mess.” Rome waves her off as he takes cash out of his wallet to pay for their meal. “He wanted to know when his ice cream would be making it home.”

“The ice cream? But not me?” Lexi questions.

“I was kindly asked to make sure we stop before bringing you home.” Rome stands and takes Lexi’s hand, helping her up.

“Wow, ok.” They wave goodbye to the owner and waitress on their way out. “You are just taking me straight home, right?” She asks as they get into the car.

“Is that what you want?” Lexi shrugs as Rome goes on, “Is it worth the argument?” He starts the car, heading back towards their house.

“No, but I am over whatever game he is playing.” She crosses her arms over her chest. “I just want to be respected and treated as an equal. Something he stopped seeing me as a long time ago.” She grabs his left hand, linking their fingers before settling them in her lap, “Why can’t he be more like you?” Under her breath, why can’t he be you?

Rome is quiet until George Duke’s No Rhyme, No Reason plays on the radio. He starts singing along, knowing exactly how the man feels except he isn’t married, but he definitely finds himself wanting the woman next to him. Lexi smiles in the dark while listening to him sing.

The car stops in front of the house, and Lexi mentally prepares herself to deal with whatever mess Drew is about to start. Rome comes around to her side as she gets out. He grabs her hand in his as they walk up to the front door. Turning her around before she goes inside, he sees the tears start to run down her face. Rome leans over and kisses Lexi’s cheek, “Just keep me in mind.”

[unlockthelore]

Falling

There are moments where Naminé descends into her thoughts and someone has to pull her out. This time, the person was unexpected.

Part of the Lost and Found series on Ao3. For more updates in this series, follow the lost and found tag on this blog. 

Namine plucked wax pieces from the cream-colored pages and wiped her fingers clean on a white handkerchief set on the tray beside her. Beneath a blue-green tinged sky, only faintly beginning to deepen its hue, she propped her sketchbook against her thighs and buried her toes in the soft, cool soil. The world was fairly quiet save for the occasional wind current combing through the clearing and whistling through the corridors. Naminé glanced up at the tree’s rustling leaves, a few snapping free of their boughs and falling in a flurry of reds and oranges.

She nudged the tray aside then reached out to catch three of the leaves. One was a bright, almost blazing shade of red. The other, an orangish-brown, almost reminding her of the sky at twilight. While the last was a dusky brown, almost deep enough to be black. She smiled slightly, setting the leaves down beside a take-out box with the elegant golden symbol of the Twilight Town Bistro, and a half-eaten bowl of steaming ratatouille soup, Little Chef’s recommendation. 

She made a mental note to thank Aeleus for delivering it to her, if the silent guardsman would remain in her presence for longer than a greeting or farewell. 

It seems that's all they have time for as of late, she thought. Forgiveness is terribly lonely.

Naminé sighed and spun the crayon between her fingertips, its tip blunted and smooth against the paper. A pigeon’s warbling croon shook from the tree’s rustling leaves and Namine tipped her head back to listen to its melody, grateful for something other than the clicking of keys and whirring machinery that seemed to travel within the walls of the Castle. 

Fresh air filled every breath and she was both surprised, and not, to feel the frantic thumping in her chest when she forgot to breathe. Her crayon rolled down her current page - the faceless voyeur etched on its surface being the only one to see her grip the front of her dress. Palm pressed to her chest to feel her heart’s steady cadence. 

It was odd. This small beating was what she sought after for so long. Yet now that it was hers, she neglected it so often that it could put her at risk. 

Soft fabric hooked beneath her nails and strained when she tugged at it. As if her fingers could pierce through cloth and skin to grasp what was rightfully hers, what had been given to her, unjustly. Streams of warm air rolled over her lip in defeat as she leant back against the tree trunk and picked up her crayon once again.

The gardens were her solace but her own mind was a prison in itself.

“Thinking hard?” A voice called out to her, amusement hummed in its teasing lilt. 

Namine straightened up almost immediately and craned her neck to look around the tree’s girth. She squeaked when a dark shadow emerged before her, dropped low in a crouch. 

“Woah,” the shadow waved its hands frantically as she brandished one of her crayons. Yellow eyes widened in perfect circles gleaning from the featureless face too smooth, too round, too familiar to be frightening and less off-putting. “Sorry, sorry… didn’t mean to scare you. Just getting used to this.”

Naminé adjusted her grip on the crayon. It would be difficult to throw it if she didn’t have the proper hold after all. The perfect circles of the shadow’s eyes begin to shift and droop downwards into an almost saddened expression. “Come on, Naminé,” it said and took a step closer, hands held out and reaching toward the light. Shadows curled around sharpened fingertips softened with a violet glow and began to peel away like a second skin, revealing blunted nails and tanned skin.

Naminé doesn’t answer, clutching her sketchbook to her chest, her heart pounding against the pages. She refused to tear her eyes away from the stranger as they approached and the sunlight steadily engulfed them. Out from the tree’s shade, fragments of shadow peeled off his skin and drifted lazily, disappearing on a breeze rustling through the gardens turning the rolling green grassland into ocean waves. Her eyes widened. “… You…”

There before her, a young man stood with a face that was both familiar and not. Shaggy silver-grey hair tied up in the back in a loose ponytail with several locks sticking out of the holder, spilled around his ears and framed a rounded face. A bandana, deep ocean and sky blue forming an ombre its folds, kept his uneven fringe out of his eyes though a long braid woven with yellow and pink thalassa shells swung as he shook his head.

“I guess my heart decided to take another form,” he said, the end of the braid brushing shy of his jaw. A wry smile curved pinked lips and showed a silver of white teeth. “So, what do you think?”

Naminé was frozen in place. His blue-green eyes shone with a brightness that kept her paralyzed. Steadily sparkling with a subtle mischief, but harboring depths Naminé wasn’t sure she knew the path to anymore. His eyes narrowed as the silence dragged on and the green began to outweigh the blue.

Slowly, Naminé shook her head to clear her thoughts and lowered the crayon, “Did you just wake up…?” she asked, glancing down at his white t-shirt emblazoned with the symbol she’d seen on several of the books in the castle. He seemed to notice where her eyes wandered and looked as well, his nose wrinkled and lip curled.

He didn’t seem thrilled at the connection and shook his head, the thalassa shell swinging about like a needle of an uncalibrated compass. Naminé wasn’t sure where to lead her attention and decided his face was best. “Yeah,” he mumbled, tossing a glance over his shoulder toward the emptied archway leading from the verdant green of the garden to the castle’s wide and dim corridors. “Guess they’ll be sounding the alarm soon.”

He didn’t seem too worried, seemingly relaxing as he strolled past her with his arms swinging lightly at his sides. Naminé never let him out of her sight for long. She pressed her back against the tree and watched him.

“I took a little while to do some snooping around then I decided that I wanted to come and see you,” he announced and Naminé’s heart skipped a beat as he murmured, “On my own terms, this time.”

Mottles of light fell through the cracks in the tree’s leaves, floating around him like stars. With his back turned to her, and the sun’s approach, his shadow cast westward and she half-expected to see someone else in its shape. Someone taller and broader - not the lean muscled boy before her.

Perhaps that was her mistake. Looking for someone else in him when he was standing there in front of him.

“Riku, I’m…”

“The name isn’t Riku,” he interjected sharply. Naminé winced reflexively, closing her eyes for a second. When nothing came, she opened them and saw his head turned slightly showing the downward curve of his lips. “Sorry to disappoint, but he’s him and I’m… me…”

Naminé gasped and leant forward, her sketchbook pressing against her chest. “I’m not disappointed,” she blurted out, and he turned to look at her, brows raised. Her face felt hot and she sank back against the tree, rubbing her fingers against the book’s binding.

“Are you?” She asked, her voice soft and quiet, the question dissolving into the sketchbook’s pages and the slightly smeared drawing. “I’m not exactly who you saw in your memories…”

A part of her wanted to say what they both knew. That those memories weren’t true. Everything about him from before wasn’t true, and the person in front of her right now was a stranger. Perhaps made up of some of the same parts but even then she didn’t know. Her fingers flexed around the rings, cold metal digging into her skin. If she drew him as he was now, would he even have the same connections as he did before or were there none to be found?

“No, you’re not…” He sighed, hesitating at the refusal and Naminé’s heart plummeted. Lips quivered and hidden behind the top of the sketchbook, twisting into a rueful smile that tugged tears to the corners of her eyes.

She thought, Of course he would say tha—

“Because that Naminé is long gone.”

Naminé’s breath hitched and she looked up, eyes wide. Instead of the slight frown, he wore a small smile. Head tipped back and eyes focused on the sky, more blue than green.

“She’s free now,” he said, his smile widened, hands curling around nothing as they tightened into fists. “And so am I. So, whatdy’a say?” He lowered his chin, closing his eyes for a moment then opening them, his hand extended to her.

A breeze swept through the clearing and rustled the pages of her sketchbook, whipping his hair back from his forehead, as the sun bathed them in light while casting their shadows.

“Wanna start over…” His eyes crinkled at the corners and she could hear the name on his lips before it was even spoken, but her heart soared all the same. “Naminé.”

[firelightmystic]

Tag game!

I was tagged by @whenas-in-silks

Rules: Tag 9 people you'd like to get to know better

Top 3 ships:

Steve Rogers/Tony Stark - Marvel (Dude, I was shipping this way back when the MCU was a speck in Marvel's eye and 616-Avengers were the B-stringers. These two drama-llamas, I swear…)

Phèdre nó Delaunay/Joscelin Verreuil - Kushiel's Legacy (My most favorite book series, with a well-done, complicated main pairing that works)

Spike/Drusilla - Buffy the Vampire Slayer (It's an old/defunct fandom now and was a hot mess by the final season, but this was actually one of my very first ships and first fandoms, and I miss their antics??) 

Lipstick or chapstick: Chapstick is way too greasy, and i think there's crack in it. I used it four days straight during a bad winter, and honestly fiended for it the next day when I forgot to apply it. Not my jam. But lipstick??? Holy fuck. Oh shit, I love lipstick so much. I wear it at work, when I go out, when I stay in. I've even deliberately worn it to sleep--and I mean actual sleep, not just Smutty Fun Times with an SO. I have over 30 shades that I wear, mostly very dark mattes in wine reds or purples, or greens and blues that I can mix with black for ombre effects. This is my top beauty splurge (excepting eye shadow), and I only really wear two brands: Urban Decay or Too Faced because they have such great pigmentation and last the longest without caking up on my lips. If I dont have on lipstick (and earrings), I feel naked. I want to put some on now and play with designs…

Last song: "Innovation" by David Garrett

Last movie: Titus Andronicus (The Anthony Hopkins version, which omfg, what a spectacle)

Reading: How To by Randall Munroe (technically it's listening because I'm traveling and Audible packs lighter. If it doesn't count, then Kushiel's Mercy by Jacqueline Carey 😁)

Tagging: @festiveferret @sineala @viudanegraaa @blossomsinthemist @isozyme @ironlawyer @nigmuff @wilmakins @capnstars

[the-nazario-chug]

The Shallow

Author's Note: Hope you guys enjoy this! I've been wanting to make a Raleigh fic forever lol I'm actually really proud how this turned out, which does not happen often.

Summary: Leraine Young, AKA Raine, has returned to the Madison Square Garden. This time not as the opening act, but the act. However, her notorious fake-ex crashes the party (in the best way).

Pairing: Raleigh Carrera (M) x MC (Leraine Young)

Word Count: +2,100

Disclaimer: Pixelberry owns Platinum and Raleigh Carrera. A Star Is Born and all the rights belong to Warner Bros. Pictures.

The energy of the concert hall is on fire. When a crowd of twenty thousand people is stomping their feet and chanting her name like she just won the world series, it's hard not to get nervous. And excited. Also nauseous.

With that in mind, she should try not to puke on stage in front of thousands of her fans, a jumbo-tron, and just about the entirety of the American press.

So no pressure, as usual.

Raine! Raine! Raine! Raine!

Needless to say Zadie and her team had gone all out for this show. Raine is all dolled up in a gorgeous purple and blue gradient leotard, covered in sparkling rhinestones and flashy tassels, complemented with rhinestone fringe ankle-boots. Her black wavy hair dyed with a dark red ombre and her makeup neutral with a dark lip (though with a sprinkling of blue eye-shadow glitter). She's clutching Raleigh's guitar which he had given to her the day they met, something she now considers her good-luck charm when the man himself isn't present. (it also goes well with her outfit, which is a plus.)

Speaking of her handsome as sin, totally not fake ex-boyfriend, he did say he'd be here to send her off tonight. Raine's seen hide nor hair of him, but she didn't want to take it personally. If he’s busy she knew they could meet up later and celebrate. Unfortunately, it is a sacrifice commonly made in their line of work, so they both tried their damnedest to not let it get between them.

As Raine tries to sneak a peek through the curtains, she feels a tap on her shoulder and turns (definitely hoping for it to be Raleigh) to see Fiona grinning at her. Looking suspiciously like the cat that just caught the canary.

"There's been a change of plans. Open with your rendition of 'Shallow' from A Star Is Born. It'll be our little announcement for your cameo in the movie."

This is a little odd, it wasn't often Fiona changed plans last minute. It didn't really make sense how eager her manager looked either as she was hardly easy to please.

It also happened that song was supposed to be a duet.

Though as the cheers rose to a roar, the thought was swept from Raine's mind. It wasn't so unusual to go solo for a duet, and she has a long performance to ready herself for. So, she takes deep breaths as Fiona gives her a thumbs up and hurries off to the wings.

Despite the cacophony out on the stage, Raine can still hear the echo of her heels beat in sync with her thumping heart. And when she grins wide and gives a cheery wave, they become even louder than she thought possible. Raine laughs in delight.

The lights blare down and she can hardly see a face in the stadium.

"What's up MSG! How are we feeling tonight?" Raine yelled into her microphone as she yanked it from the stand, and turned it to the screams from the audience.

"I'm thrilled to be here for all of you. I know you're as hyped as I am for the new movie 'A Star Is Born' coming out this fall. So tonight I'm happy to start off with the premiere hit 'Shallow' as the cherry on the cake! I hope you all enjoy!"

In the excitement, Raine adjusts her guitar and readies herself to strum the melody. A lilting acoustic intro filters through the speakers.

Only thing is, Raine hadn't started playing yet.

Her chest constricts as the cheers rise again in intensity. In the din, Raine can hear footsteps against the floor of the stage, and when she turns she can't hide the way her jaw drops.

"Tell me somethin' girl,"

Raleigh is sauntering towards her, all bow-legged swagger and strumming his own guitar. He doesn't even bother to keep that cocky smirk off his face 'cause he knows he got her good.

"Are you happy in this modern world? 

Or do you need more?"

Looking up at her through his lashes, eyes bright and his hair tousled to perfection. He's wearing a tank top with a suspiciously familiar rhinestone design and how dare you level tight denim jeans. Suddenly her heart is racing for an entirely different reason than just the thrill of performing. This had been planned since the start and she was none the wiser. Last minute change of plans, her ass.

Raine decides not to bother getting lost in all the details though. Any surprise that includes her man serenading her while looking fine as hell, she isn't going to complain about.

"Is there somethin' else you're searchin' for? 

I'm fallin'"

He was close now, real close. The soft timbre of his voice rolling over her in waves, tempting Raine to close her eyes and appreciate the soothing tones. The only thing stopping her is Raleigh's eyes, piercing hers with an intense honesty and longing she had only recently gotten to see in earnest. A gaze she was starting to adore. Her own stare, meanwhile, wanders down to his arms that are looking too good in that top, the muscles tensing with a light sheen of sweat reflected from the packed stadium and lights. She'd be embarrassed from her ogling, if his survey of her in return wasn't as shameless.

And as sure as Raine is that they are not supposed to be seen together like this in public, she should have guessed that Raleigh would be this ostentatious while breaking that rule.

"In all the good times I find myself longin',

For change,

And in the bad times I fear myself."

While Raleigh continued plucking the instrumental, Raine finally registered some fans talking in her periphery.

"Oh my god, didn't they break up?"

"He's trying to win her over! That's so romantic!"

"They still look so good together, are they gonna start dating again?"

Taking another breath in, Raine knows her part was coming up. So she gives into her temptation and takes a step closer to him. Close enough that she can feel the heat of his breath against her cheek. She raises the mic between them.

"Tell me somethin' boy,

Are you tired of tryin' to fill that void?

Or do you need more?

Ain't it hard keepin' it so hardcore?"

Filling the space between them with her voice, she thought about how fitting this is for them. Though she didn't doubt it was intentional. Now she understood why Fiona would have this change of heart, allowing them to be seen like this. It was as dramatic as their faux break-up for sure. Generating hype for her upcoming cameo and therefore, her royalties.

But Raine didn't care about that. All she cares about is the man in front of her. The spotlight is shining a halo around his perfect-messy hair, and she finds herself wanting to run her fingers through it. For a brief moment, she wonders if her urge would give their game away somehow. (Not that she already had with that lean in.)

Screw it. Raleigh can surprise Raine at her own concert, she's allowed to have some surprises up her rhinestone encrusted sleeves too.

"I'm fallin'," As Raine continues the chorus, she reaches up strokes her free hand through his dark locks. She holds in her own giddiness while Raine swears she can hear squeals erupt from the crowd, but Raleigh is all she wants to keep her attention on. A surge of satisfaction and affection grows in her chest when she sees the shivers that course through him, and how his eyelids flutter in pleasure. The almost inaudible rumble from Raleigh's chest that she can feel from their short distance apart. Pride that she's the one who can do this to him.

"In all the good times I find myself lo-ongin'

For change," Her hand drifts from his hair to his ear, and cheek. Restraining a shiver of her own as her thumb rubs the stubble along his jawline, then glides to his mouth and grazes his bottom lip. Raleigh's eyes are dark and the electricity of the connection between them sparks with vigor. God, she wants to kiss this man already.

All good things to those who wait, she decides, especially when Raleigh Carrera is concerned.

"And in the bad times, I fear myself-"

Her voice echoes throughout the Garden, and as Raine reaches up again to brush a stray lock of hair from his brow, it feels like they're the only two in the world. In the silence of thousands holding their breath, and the air crackling with unspoken tension, she's never felt so connected to a single person.

In that moment they both grin, their hearts zinging with that knowledge. Raine tilts her head back slightly and serenades the hell out of her beau. When her belting voice reverberates, the tension cracks and their fans cheer unabashed again.

"I'm off the deep end, watch as I dive in

I'll never meet the ground!

Crash the surface, where they can't hurt us, we're far from the shallow now."

High off the thrill of the stage, and each other, Raine and Raleigh lean closer and sing together. Practically nose to nose, Raine can hear the cheeky intrusive thought in the back of her mind that he is so it for her, now.

"We're far from the shallow now…"

As the crowd's cheers reach their peak again, they both stay in each others space. For a second it feels like they're in their own little bubble again, like no one could hear them.

Until Raleigh mutters something that is very much heard by everyone.

"Be my girl, Leraine."

Raine's eyes dart to his, to find him already looking up at her with a soft smile.

"Raleigh… ?" Right now that's all she can squeak out, she knows he's aware how close the mic is to their faces. And their audience is almost unnervingly silent. Raine supposed some part of her knew they'd get back together in public after the concert but she wasn't expecting it to be so quick.

He smiles patiently, and steps back before going down on one knee. Thousands of voices gasp and mutter amongst themselves. But Raleigh's only looking at her.

"I know I messed up big time, and I didn't realize it until it was too late. I never meant to hurt you. And I never expected how much that would hurt me. 'Cause you make me want something real, Leraine. You make me want to be real. What's between us is like nothing I've ever known before, and I was an idiot for not seeing that sooner. Do you wanna give this another chance?" Raleigh's voice is soft but sure, like he's been waiting to let all of that out forever.

Some of it is for show, Raine isn't naive enough to think otherwise. So no one suspects their first go around was fake. But what Raine does know is his feelings are real and just for her. What the public knew didn't matter as long as she had Raleigh Carrera in her life.

Pulse hammering, Raine smiles and whispers into the world.

"Yeah, I'd honestly love that."

Raleigh grins and surges up to meet her, and all of the sudden he's holding and kissing her finally without anymore waiting necessary. And all she can think is woah. Their guitars and the microphone who knows where now. Hopefully not smashed on the ground.

Still, she doesn't regret what just happened in the slightest.

In the elated screaming around them, Raleigh mutters against her lips, "I'm totally gonna spin you."

"What? You are not-!"

He's got that shit eating grin on that she knows means, I've got a great idea everyone else knows is bad but none of you can stop me.

"Yup, I'm doing it. This is happening."

"Raleigh, no it's-!! Auh!"

Even with her protests, she's still laughing when Raleigh lifts her by her thighs and spins her on the stage. Much to the delight of everyone in attendance.

When they're both out of breath and Raleigh's put her back in his arms, the words he whispers in her ear Raine knows are meant for her alone.

"I'm glad I've got you keeping me honest, love."

Lights flash around them as he keeps holding her close, no doubt the paparazzi and fans alike capturing every moment. And just like the song from their impromptu duet Raine can see with clarity how crazy her life has now become. How deep they both are in this sea of stardom.

Well, so long as Raleigh’s there with her, she can’t bring herself to mind.

[lilshoroscope]

Hogwarts AU Part 4

Hi my darlings! I’m back with another chapter of my Hogwarts AU!

A big thank you to everyone who has supported this story so far- your likes, reblogs and feedback mean the actual world to me.

Scarlett is based off my bestie: Jenna. I know you ain’t on Tumblr, babe, but I love you xx

Anyway, long story short, this is basically pure fluff.

Sorry not sorry for the cliffhanger!

Warnings: Swearing, fluff overload… That’s about it.

Word count: 1247 words. I’M PROUD!

Please like, reblog, and leave feedback!

Ask to be added to my taglist!

 ---------------------

Brian walked down the hall, the lights around his flickering ominously as he stalked down to Professor McGonagall’s office. He cursed his luck for the umpteenth time that day, muttering under his breath as he glared at the floor. Why detention? It wasn’t his fault that he fell asleep in class! Well…. At least, the class was incredibly boring that day- almost as boring as History of Magic.

He skidded to a stop outside the teacher’s office, composing himself and schooling a look of nonchalance onto his face. He stepped inside, head down in shame as he walked up to the velvet green sofa and sat down.

‘Ah, Mr May. Your detention buddy should be here soon.’ McGonagall quipped, not lifting her head from where she sat, marking a stack of papers.

Brian nodded, internally screaming.

‘I’M HERE, PROFESSOR!’ someone yelled, running into the room like a boggart was on their heels.

McGonagall looked up, sliding her glasses down her nose as she scanned the newcomer up and down.

‘Yes, Miss BlackBlood. How kind of you to show up.’ She deadpanned. Brian lifted his head, taking in the girl. She had long ombre hair, a single scarlet streak standing out. Her blue eyes were like tiny oceans, concealed behind long, thick eyelashes that she batted at the professor. Her Slytherin robes were bunched up and hung loose on her petite body, as if she had thrown them on in a hurry. She oozed chaotic energy, like gasoline thrown on a fire.

‘No Melody today, Scarlett?’ the professor asked, gesturing for the girl- Scarlett- to take a seat. Scarlett dramatically flopped down onto the couch, her head crashing down onto Brian’s lap.

‘Nah, she decided to be a good girl and ditch me for a boy.’ She sighed, completely dismissing that fact that her head rested in a complete strangers lap.

‘Melody? As in Melody Crestthorn?’ Brian interrupted.

‘Yes, Melody Crestthorn. AKA my best friend, partner in crime, and usually my fellow detention buddy. Alas! Today she decided to leave me all on my lonesome, so hands off, mister.’ She giggled.

Brian rolled his eyes, ignoring her last comment. ‘Did Melody say who the boy was?’

‘Apparently he was called Deaky? I dunno.’

‘John Deacon?’ he questioned, his curiosity sparking.

‘The one and only. To be fair, anything’s better than detention.’

A loud cough sounded from the desk. ‘Ahem? Miss BlackBlood, may I remind you that you are in Detention? Trophy Room needs cleaning. Go ask Filch for cleaning stuff. Come back to me when it’s in ship-shape, you two.’ McGonagall snapped, dismissing them with a wave of her hand.

‘Yes SIR!’ Scarlett declared, raising a hand to her brow in mock salute as Brian stalked down the length of her office, pausing to wait for her.

Scarlett ran out after him, jabbering at a million miles per hour as she walked alongside him.

‘So, basically, that’s how Minerva got me a detention for the second time this week- a new record that I, myself, am PROUD of!’ she babbled, absentmindedly fiddling with the hair tie on her delicate wrist.

‘Why do you call Professor McGonagall Minerva?’ Brian asked, slowing his pace so she could keep up.

‘She’s my auntie. Well, Auntie-twice-removed, I think.’

‘Minerva McGonagall is your AUNT? But…. You’re a Slytherin!’ he blurted.

She spun around to face him, her brown and blonde hair flying behind as she flipped him off, sticking her French-manicured nail up in his face.

‘Don’t stereotype, asshole. The hat sorts based on who you are, not your bloodline. Besides, all my family are Slytherins. Aunt-twice-removed, remember? And I bet you’re just the typical Ravenclaw- dull, boring, studious.’ She snapped.

‘Whoa, whoa! I didn’t mean to attack you!’ he defended, stopping in the middle of the deserted hall way and holding his hands out in mock surrender.

‘Good. By the way, I never got your name.’ she said, fiddling with the ends of her hair. He stuck out a hand, smiling.

‘Brian May. You?’

She grinned, taking his hand and shaking it, her pink lips smiling from ear to ear.

‘Scarlett BlackBlood. Awful to meet you, Brian May.’

He laughed. ‘Awful to meet you too, Scarlett BlackBlood.’

She giggled and whipped her hand out of his, running down the empty halls, spreading her arms around. Brian jogged after her, marvelling at how carefree she was.

‘Wait up!’ he called after her, stopping to catch his breath.

‘Nope, not a chance!’ she yelled over her shoulder, skidding to a halt outside the small supply closet. She grabbed some polish and cleaning supplies, babbling away merrily.

‘Do you ever shut up?’ Brian asked as they walked down to the Trophy Room, the only sound being their footsteps and Scarlett’s melodic voice.

‘Nope. Sorry! Look, usually Melody is with me, and she talks even more than me, so get used to it.’ Scarlett laughed, tucking her red streak of hair behind her ear.

Brian nodded, absentmindedly playing with his long dark curls- a nervous habit of his. ‘Hmmm. Do you wanna play 20 Questions?’ he blurted as they halted outside a huge oak door.

She raised an eyebrow, a stray lock of hair framing her heart-shaped face. ’20 Questions?’ she asked in disbelief.

’20 Questions. I mean…. We have to find something to pass the time….’ He stammered, his cheeks flushing tomato red.

‘Sounds good, Curly.’ She laughed, sauntering through the door, whispering a hurried ‘Lumos!’ to make her wand flare up. Brian did the same, thankful for the soft glow of light in the pitch black darkness.

‘Okay, first question, Curly. Where’s the fucking lantern?’

‘Try the shelves, Red. And don’t bump into anything.’ He answered, carefully manoeuvring his long legs around the bottomless black floor.

‘Red? That’s the best you could come up with?’

‘Curly isn’t that original either.’

‘Touche, Touche.’ She muttered, groping around for a lantern. She found it, igniting the wick with a flick of her wand. The light cast a shadow on their faces, the shapes flickering back and forth.

Brian grabbed one of the polishers and set to work, scrubbing furiously and the bronze metal.

‘Okay, Curly, let’s see….. Passion?’

‘Astronomy. Physics. Guitar.’ He blurted, feeling like a complete fool the moment the words left his mouth. ‘Um…. Favourite food?’

‘Anything. I will eat absolutely anything.’

‘Wow.’

They continued asking each other questions, toiling away under the bright lantern and the dim glow of their wands.

‘Okay, um….. Biggest fear?’ Brian asked Scarlett, his gaze dropping to the floor.

‘If I said spiders, would you believe me?’ she whispered, the lamplight seeming to make her look haunted, plagued by things she couldn’t escape.

‘No, not really.’ He answered, setting down the polish.

‘My family.’ She murmured.

‘What? W-’ he asked.

‘Don’t push it, Curly.’ She snapped, turning back to the medallion she was scrubbing, leaving Brian to his own, curious thoughts.

Who was Scarlett BlackBlood? Was there more to her than what met the eye? What was she hiding?

@onceuponadetectivedemigod @shesadramaqueen @ceruleanrainblues @yllwtaxi @avilliansdream @oblivion-queen1 @sophieeelol

[ohshitmyship]

Like Real People Do 22

 Chapter 22 is now up and live!!!! Happy reading! :)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/17416928/chapters/44962147

Red had no idea what to wear.

        He was supposed to leave to meet Katsuki’s master in less than an hour, and he had no idea what to wear. Should he dress nice, or casual? Where would they be going? What would they be doing, exactly? Should he wear a tie?

        “Red,” Katsuki sighed when he entered and saw him staring at the wardrobe, ‘Just pick something.”

        “But what?” Red cried, “I’m meeting your master! I don’t wanna look like an idiot!”

        “Wear jeans and a nice shirt to go with the leather jacket,” Katsuki suggested, “We’re going by the ocean, so wear something warm.”

        “Why’re we going there?” Red asked, “Not that I’m complaining, but I’m curious.”

        “At this point, we’re being closely watched,” Katsuki explained, “The enemy will be expecting us to go to the shrine, or for my master to come here. If we go with a small group with another powerful spirit, you won’t be noticed.”

        “Which is amazing, considering my hair is bright red,” Red said with a laugh, looking at himself in the mirror, “Is my hair naturally red? Because it doesn’t look like I have roots. I’ve been here a couple of months and I don’t think my hair has grown at all.”

        “Bigger fish to fry here, Red.”

        “Right, sorry,” Red mumbled, going back to rifling through the wardrobe, “So…tell me about your master.”

        “Her name is Akiko,” Katsuki began, sitting down on the bed and watching Red, “and she’s a yosei.”

        “You’ve never explained what a yosei is,” Red noted.

        “If I do, then you’ll get your memory back,” Katsuki said, “All you need to know is that they’re yokai closely associated with the dead. Akiko can be strict and rough, but she’s kind at hard.”

        “Like master like student,” Red said with a laugh.

        Katsuki tossed a pillow at Red, hitting him square in the face.

        “Shaddup,” Katsuki laughed, “Anyways, her name is Akiko, and you should refer to her as Master Akiko.”

        “Got it,” Red said, “Okay I’ve picked out an outfit, get out so I can get dressed.”

        Katsuki got off the bed and left the room, shutting the door behind him. As Red started to get dressed, he started to worry a little more. Things must have been coming to a close if he was meeting Katsuki’s master.

        He decided not to stress about that at the moment – he needed to get dressed.

        He chose a plain, soft yellow and blue ombre shirt, as well as a necklace with a sharktooth on it. He wondered if it was real.

        He also managed to find a lighter pair of jeans, and found himself pleased with his outfit. The only problem was the hair.

        Red usually just kept his hair loose, half-up, or in a lazy ponytail. This was no problem, as he rarely left the house. But now that he was actually supposed to dress nice, he had no idea what to do.

        “Maybe I should braid it…” he wondered, pulling it to the side. He managed to braid it, but strands on the opposite side fell out. He tried again, to no avail.

        Finally, Katsuki came back into the room, “What the hell is taking you so long?”

        Red turned and smiled sheepishly, “I don’t know what to do with my hair.”

        Katsuki huffed and walked over to him, “Sit on the bed, I’ll do it for you.”

        Red nodded and did as he was told, sitting on the edge of the bed. Katsuki went into the bathroom and returned with a small baggie of tiny plastic hairbands. He settled himself in behind Red and started to brush his hair back. Red felt him start braiding at the crown of his head.

        “What’re you going to do?”

        “Dutch fishtail.”

        “Because those words definitely mean something to me.”

        “You’ll see in a minute, be patient.”

        Red hummed, leaning into Katsuki’s touch. He really liked having his hair played with, and Katsuki’s hands were very gentle.

        “Your hair is so damn thick,” Katsuki mumbled, “I wish I could grow it out like this, but it’s way too thin.”

        “I’m sure you’d look great either way,” Red assured. Katsuki just scoffed in response. “Hey, when did you learn to braid, anyways?”

        “I’ve been working with my parents on set since I was a kid,” Katsuki explained, “They’re designers, but they also do their own shoots, so they gotta oversee everything. So I learned everything – photography, makeup, hair, basic set design, basic graphic design.”

“Oh. Cool.”

Katsuki chuckled, “Glad you think so. We used to do this all the time, you know.”

“We did?”

Red felt the hands on his hair freeze for a moment before continuing, “I shouldn’t’ve said that. You’re done.”

“Thanks.” Red felt Katsuki get up and slide off the bed, “Do you mind taking a picture so I can see it, please?”

“Sure.” A moment later, Katsuki handed Red his phone. He looked at it, and had to admit that he was really impressed.

The braid was thick, but made up of thin strands. It also seemed to rise off of his head, which looked really cool. It suited him.

“Thanks,” Red said again, handing Katsuki’s phone back to him, “it looks great.”

Katsuki scoffed, “As if that’s any surprise. Now c’mon, we should get going.”

Red was not happy to find that they were the last to arrive.

They had taken the bike to the ocean cliff, and Katsuki showed him a secret path behind a mound of boulders, completely hidden from view. They had slowly made their way down the cliff path and onto the rocky beach at the bottom of the cliffs. Red was glad he had worn warm clothes, as the wind whipped around him and the salt of the sea mist stung.

When they got to the bottom, he saw a group of five people; Izuku, Shouto, Camie, a tall and sickly-looking man with wild blond hair and robes the colour of the sea, and a beautiful woman with fiery red hair and a black funeral kimono. Red noticed that her kimono was crossed right over left – the way the dead wore their kimonos. He wasn’t sure what to do with that information.

When the two approached the group, Katsuki bowed. Quickly, Red followed.

“Hello and thank you for meeting us here, All Might and Master Akiko.”

“Happy to help,” the man, apparently All Might, said with a smile. He had large teeth.

“Rise,” the woman said firmly. The two men did as they were told.

Now that they were closer, Red was able to get a closer look at the two newcomers. All Might’s robes were not just the colour the sea, but seemed to be made of it. They moved and flowed around him like the waves, the edges becoming white seafoam. Red noticed that they hung off of him, and it gave the appearance that he was drowning. All Might also hard a harsh, angular face with deep sunken eyes. The only thing that confirmed that he had eyes was a pair of bright blue irises poking out in the shadows.

The woman whom Red could only assume as Akiko was beautiful with pale skin, straight red hair, large eyes, and red lips. She was unsettling, though, because she looked like a statue. Despite the wind on the beach, neither her hair nor her robes every moved, and she stood perfectly still, not even blinking. There was something about her eyes too… they were dark and bothered him, but he couldn’t figure out why….

“Red,” she then spoke, her eyes boring into him, “do you know why you’re here?”

“Um…” Red glanced at Katsuki and saw him nod, “Because you wanted to meet me, and this was the safest place?”

Akiko nodded, “Correct. All Might was kind enough to join us today to keep the enemies off of our scent.”

“It’s hard to ignore the presence of a dragon,” All Might said with a small chuckle, “So I doubt they’ll notice a few extra souls.”

“Wiat, hold up,” Red said, staring at the twig of a man before him, drowning in his own clothes, “You’re a dragon?”

All Might laughed, “Yes. This form is much easier to take, my boy.”

“All Might is actually the guardian of these cliffs,” Izuku said then, beaming proudly, “So this is one of the safest places on the island!”

“Especially with an elemental mage, three spirit apprentices, and a yosei,” Akiko agreed. Then she stepped towards Red, “Tell me, how are you feeling?”

“I’m alright,” Red said, “A little cold.”

Akiko smiled and put a hand on Red’s cheek. He figured out why her eyes bothered him so much – they didn’t have a reflection of light, or a reflection of anything, really. They were dead eyes.

“Tell me, does my hand feel cold?”

Red frowned, “No, it doesn’t. It doesn’t feel like anything, really.”

Akiko pulled her hand back and began to circle around Red, sizing him up.

“How intriguing. Close enough to not feel the cold, but too far to feel the touch.”

“Is that good or bad?” Katsuki asked, sounding kind of nervous.

“It is very good,” Akiko declared, standing in front of Red again, “Tell me Red, do you have any memories before you woke up in the forest?”

“No,” Red answered honestly, “The closest I’ve got is dreams.”

“Tell me about them.”

“Well,” he began nervously, “I don’t remember them well. I do remember a knife, a pain in my lower stomach and chest, the name Stain,and Katsuki. I see his face a lot.”

“What colour is the knife?”

Red frowned, “I...I don’t know.”

“Is it black?”

Red shrugged, “I don’t remember. I’m sorry.”

“Good,” Akiko said, “Now tell me what you know about Kirishima.”

Red felt himself getting quite nervous, but he didn’t know why.

“He was close to Katsuki,” he began, “and he was well-liked on the island. He and I are similar, but I don’t know how. I think we were both attacked by Stain. He…” Red took a breath, “he killed Kirishima, and he tried to kill me. From my understanding, we were both thrown in a bog in the woods. Katsuki found me and managed to save me, but couldn’t save Kirishima. But he can maybe save Kirishima through me.”

“Do you think that Kirishima and yourself are somehow connected?”

Red nodded, “Yes, but I don’t know how. Maybe we were brothers?”

Akiko smiled dryly, “You know I can’t give an answer to that, Red. Now, have you been in contact with anyone besides the people standing with us today?”

Red shook his head, “No.”

“I’ve been told that a kitsune has been frequenting your cottage,” Akiko said, circling around Red again, “Have you spoken with him?”

“No,” Red lied.

Akiko came and stood in front of him again, “Try again.”

He stared into her dead eyes and took a shaky breath, “Alright, yes. He’s come by a couple of times, spoke to me. But I never let him in!” He added quickly.

“Did he ever give away any crucial information?” Akiko prompted.

“No, at least, I don’t think so,” Red admitted. It felt a little easier. He was kind of relieved to finally get the weight of Naozumi off his chest, “He, um, he mentioned something about equivalent exchange.”

A wave crashed upon the sand, a little louder than the rest.

“What exactly did he say?” Akiko demanded slowly.

“Not much,” Red said, “he never really says much, just kinda plays games with me. All he mentioned was the word itself, and something about neck...necro…”

“Necromancy?” Akiko prompted.

“Yeah!” Red cried, “That’s it! He said the word, but I don’t know what it means.”

“Good,” Akiko said, “Did he say anything else?”

“He um….” Red glanced at Katsuki and saw him frowning, but he nodded, “He said that I was a sacrifice. That I would be killed in exchange for Kirishima.”

Another wave, this one even louder.

Red looked over Akiko’s shoulder and saw Katsuki turn away, walking back up the path.

“Kacchan!” Izuku cried, stepping forward. All Might put his hand out, and he stopped.

“Just makin’ sure no one’s coming,” Katsuki grumbled, disappearing behind a corner.

“Is there anything else, anything at all?” Akiko asked again.

Red shook his head, “No, that’s everything, I think. He mostly just teased me, tried to make me doubt Katsuki. He’d talk about how Katsuki is hiding something.” Red saw the Camie, Shouto, and Izuku share a look, “I’m not a sacrifice, am I?”

“What is this kitsune’s name?” Akiko asked, her face remaining neutral.

“It’s...Naozumi. But I’m not going to be sacrificed, right?”

Akiko placed a hand on Red’s shoulder, “You must not listen to a word that falls out of that kitsune’s mouth. Every bit of it is a lie, and any gifts he may bring are cursed. I know Naozumi well, and he is no friend to humans. It would be best if Camie gave you a handful of sutras and banishings that you could use. But above all else, there is one thing you must know about a kitsune.” Akiko stared Red right in the eyes and spoke very seriously, “Kitsune can be banished and magicked away, but it is their words that are the most dangerous. Do you understand?”

Nervously, Red nodded.

“Good.” Akiko stepped back and took her hand off of Red’s shoulder, “We will begin preparations for the ceremony. As soon as Stain is caught, we begin. We’re relying on you and your men, Detective Midoriya.”

Izuku nodded seriously, “We’re doing everything in our power. The town meeting is just over a week from now, and the vote the day after. By the end of the month, we’ll know whether we can use our powers or not.”

“Good. You’re free to go, Red,” Akiko told him. Then she reached into her kimono and pulled out a folded piece of paper, “Give this to Katsuki when you get up there.”

“I will,” he said, taking the note. He bowed to her and then to All Might, “Thank you.” Then, he hurried up the path.

When he finally got to the top, he was out of breath.

“Man, that climb is harder than I thought,” he mumbled to himself. He walked out past the boulders and sat Katsuki standing a little ways away, looking out to sea.

“Katsuki!” He cried, but he gave no hint that he had heard Red. He sighed and walked over to him.

“Your master asked me to give this to you.”

“How could you not tell me?”

Red sighed,rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, “I’m sorry Katsuki, I just thought that, I dunno, I thought maybe he had a point?”

“You thought he had a point?” Katsuki asked coldly, still not looking at him.

“He gave me answers when you didn’t!” Red defended, “Or, sorta. He mostly just talked in circles, he’s kinda annoying, really.”

“He’s dangerous, Red!” Katsuki snapped, finally turning to face him, “He’s not on our side.”

“It never seemed like he wanted to hurt me...he said that he cared about me.”

“He was lying,” Katsuki cried, “that’s what kitsunes do!”

“What about Camie?” Red asked.

“She lies all the goddamned time!” He yelled, “Lied to Deku and Halfa about dinner, lied about not being a kitsune, hell, she lies to her own master! For better or worse, all kitsunes lie, it’s who they are. This one is for worse.”

“I’m sorry,” Red apologized again, “I just didn’t know what to do. I was so confused and scared and I didn’t know who I should trust.”

“Me! You should trust me!” Red was surprised to see that tears were welling up in his eyes.

“I know that now,” Red said, “and I do trust you.”

“When was the last time you saw him?” Katsuki demanded.

“He came by after you set up that circle thingy,” Red answered calmly, “He tried talking to me, but I just ignored him. He got mad and then left. I haven’t seen him since, and I haven’t talked to him since before we kissed.” Katsuki narrowed his eyes, “You swear?”

Red held up his right hand and placed his left over his heart, “Cross my heart and hope to die.”

Katsuki laughed then, and wiped his eyes, “Holy shit….”

“Another joke I’ll understand once I get my memories back?

Katsuki grinned, “Exactly.” His grin fell, “Sorry for getting so upset.”

“It’s okay,” Red assured, putting a hand on his cheek, “I understand. I should’ve told you in the first place.”

“But I get why you didn’t,” Katsuki replied, leaning into Red’s hand, placing his hand on top. He turned so his lips were touching Red’s palm and spoke quietly, “What did Akiko say?”

“That I was all good,” Red said, “and that we would begin preparations for some ceremony that would be performed as soon as they caught Stain. Oh yeah, she told me to give this to you.”

Red handed the note to Katsuki, who pulled back to read it. Red came to stand beside him, looking over his shoulder. But he found that the note was in a language he didn’t understand.

“What is it?” He asked.

“A list.” Katsuki folded the paper back up and put it in the pocket of his jacket, “Stuff I gotta get, things we gotta do.”

“Is it a lot?”

“Kinda. What we plan to do is very complicated, and pretty dangerous. We need to do as much preparation as possible. If we do this right, then all we gotta do for the actual ceremony is the final step.”

“And that’s what’ll get Kirishima and my memories back?”

Katsuki nodded, back to staring out at the sea, “Yeah. In a few weeks this will all be over.”

Red hummed in agreement, but he found that he couldn’t get excited. After all, Akiko had never denied him being a sacrifice.

[etherealblasphemy]

Lonely Planet Blue

Virgil is a soft pillow baby™ and I will fight anyone who disagrees

TW: self-deprecating thoughts, mentioned/referenced/implied death, panic attacks, mentioned/implied war

   Vae hadn’t returned for two months. Every night, he snuck up to the bell tower and would peer out from the little window where, at one point in time, townspeople from below could catch a glimpse of the now absent bell. It had likely been melted down for ammunitions.

   It was a night like any other. Virgil sat, back pressed against one of the corners of the little tower, his eyelids beginning to flutter close. He shook himself awake, his hazy brown eyes refocusing on the barren wasteland dotted with ruins holding all too painful memories. Silently, he cursed his best and only friend as he rubbed sleep out of his eyes, feeling the bags underneath them that were becoming more prominent as the days went by.

   He liked the midnight sky. It calmed his anxiety that Vae was likely a dead man or a deserter. Tonight, the heavens dripped neon purple and raven black as the stars blinked at him, almost mocking him. His heart was in his throat as he stood unofficial sentry, wishing his friend would come home already so he could ask her where she’d gone and what adventures- because it wasn’t Vae if it wasn’t an adventure- she’d had.

   He hugged his knees close to him, zipping his hoodie up to try and keep himself warm in the chilly night. A breeze ripped through the little tower, sending Virgil’s hair flying every which way. He grumbled as he patted it down, desperate to tame it so if on the off chance Halo came upstairs after fitful sleep, she wouldn’t tease him for looking like a girl with his shoulder-length hair, the tips dyed lavender.

  As he finally got his hair under control, he glanced outside and nearly choked on his breath. Someone was standing in the distance, holding a glowing lantern. They were still as a statue, but Virgil didn’t care. He leapt off the ground, practically throwing himself down the rickety stairs as he raced to the bottom of the bell tower. He threw open the rotting wooden door as he reached ground level, stumbling over his feet as he ran down the cobblestone streets littered with pebbles and black snow.

   At ground level, it was much harder to see the figure in the distance, but through the narrow alley between to buildings that Virgil had seen collapse in on themselves with his own eyes as the families inside screamed for help, he could spy the willowy figure that stood nearly invisible against the dark horizon of the night.

   His heart pounded with exhilaration as he felt his lungs beginning to sting, his throat growing scratchy and dry. Vae was back, Vae was back, Vae was back... He felt a grin spread across his face. His best friend was home. Finally, he wouldn’t be alone.

   Slowing down, he bent over, panting heavily. He’d never done much exercise, despite running from himself his entire life. His eyes were brimming with tears of joy and exhaustion, blurring his vision as he looked to see his vision was so poor from the salty liquid in his eyes that he saw three figures instead of one.

   He began walking, too tired to run again, wiping the tears as he called Vae’s name. Upon looking up again at the horizon, Virgil made out the outlines of three people. Not one. Three.

   What? Did Vae come back with someone? he wondered as he approached the people, apprehension taking root in his gut. Millions of possibilities flew through his mind. They’re refugees. They killed Vae. It’s Marco, Kay, and Farhana back from their mission. Vae met merchants or soldiers or something or- his heart stopped. He could clearly see the people now.

   None of them were Vae.

   Thousands of emotions flooded through him, grief being the first after the searing feeling of hope being crushed and falling to the desolate, cold ground. Virgil sank to his knees, tears of despair spilling over his eyes this time around. His heart beat rapidly, ready to tear its way through his body and escape the cage of ribs inside him. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, this couldn’t be happening? Why couldn’t he get a happy ending for once in his miserable life? His breath came in shallow gasps and he mentally cursed. He was having a panic attack.

  His limbs trembled as another gust of wind blew, dust and other particles hitting his face harshly. He could feel his heart racing at the same pace of his thoughts, which was firmly convinced that Vae had met some terrible fate at the hands of terrible people. He let out a sob that resembled his best friend’s name, his head hitting the hard ground as he collapsed over his knees, pounding on the cruel earth that likely covered his friend in eternal sleep.

   He felt a hand on his shoulder and screamed, throwing his head back to see who it was and falling back painfully on his behind. He saw a stoic man staring him down, tiny lights flickering behind his grey eyes. He wore a double-breasted suit ensemble with a dark blue and black color scheme, tiny navy pinstripes running up and down his tight trousers which were crammed into brown dress boots. A bolo tie wrapped around his neck, transparent beads decorating the aiguillettes. He held a lantern burning brightly in the middle of the night, blinding Virgil as he tried to calm himself down. In the firelight, he made out the shadowy faces of the two strangers behind him.

   The first thing he noticed about the pretty-boy blonde was the flower crown he wore. Lilacs the color of a sunset, roses the color of a china doll’s dainty painted blush, and teal chrysanthemums decorated his head, slightly glowing with their respective pastel colors. His bright blue eyes observed Virgil curiously, his head slightly tilted and his lips pursed with worry. Besides the flower crown, the boy was dressed elegantly, as though he was trying to convince everyone he really was a prince of some sort. He wore a copper-colored ascot tie tucked neatly into a white mandarin collar shirt. He wore red breeches and a pair of dramatic, buckled, knee-length wedge boots the color of lavender flowers accented with gold chains, giving a bit more rounded appearance to the prince wanna-be. Over his clothing, he wore some sort of jacket trailing to his knees, splatters of gold giving the otherwise white fabric the look of an ombre. A red sash attached to a little bag was slung across his body. Virgil also spotted a dark blue necklace hiding underneath his shirt, the chain just barely visible in the night. Lighting up the air around him were soft butterfly wings glowing cotton candy pink, their tips white as icing.

   The one beside him also watched with concern. His baby blue eyes, similar in color to the boy with the flower crown, narrowed as he watched Virgil gasp for breath, scared out of his mind. This one was decked with a pair of antlers that looked like crystal dripping soft pastel colors that reminded Virgil so much of his lost friend. His wispy cinnamon and dark toffee hair fell into his eyes as he pushed it back away from his face, pulling out a silver hair clip from somewhere and forcing his hair to comply. For a moment, Virgil compared him to the likes of Rin Okumura from Blue Exorcist before he remembered he was not supposed to be interested in little kids’ stuff like that. Instead of beginning another inner war, he focused of the eccentric clothing of the antlered man. He wore a bright blue waistcoat patterned with lace shaped like interlocking roses, tiny silver chains keeping it wrapped around him. Underneath, he wore a plain white shirt with small brown sleeve garters. He also wore beige breeches and black knee-length boots with bright yellow buckles. Virgil noticed a pair of black-rimmed circle glasses tucked into the breast pocket of his waistcoat.

   Virgil choked out another sob, tears running down his cheeks, ruining the black eye-shadow he always wore. It had been a spur-of-the-moment decision the first time he put it on. Vae had been gone for three days back then, and he was trying to repel his loneliness by finally completing the dare Vae had given him when they were just teens, laughing beside a campfire, the thought of war and destruction far in the back of their minds. Vae had returned later that week, amused at Virgil’s new look, but now that she had truly disappeared, Virgil couldn’t keep from wearing the eye-shadow beneath his eyes, as if it were the only thing that he had left to remember her by.

   The antlered one moved suddenly, throwing his arms around him and squeezing tightly. Virgil shrieked, trying to push the man away from him with his gangly arms. Instead, the man hugged him tighter. He patted him on the back with gentle hands. Virgil froze, unsure what to do. Virgil felt himself begin to relax in the man’s grasp, though his pulse was still skyrocketing.

   “W-what are you doing?” he managed to force out of his mouth. “Who are you all?” Much quieter, he added, “Where’s Vae?” The others seemed to notice the first two inquiries. At long last, the hugger pulled away.

   He spoke in an unfamiliar language, melodic words bouncing off his tongue as he rambled phrases foreign to the scared boy. The man with steely gray eyes stepped forward, muttering to the antlered man, who glanced at Virgil and flushed.

   “I apologize,” the man with cold eyes said. “My companion forgot you do not speak our tongue. You speak a language known as English, correct?” Virgil nodded, dumbfounded. “My name is L.O.G.I.C., and these are my companions, Patton-” he gestured to the antlered man, “-and Roman,” he gestured to the prince, who waved briskly. “I know this is sudden, but you must come with us.”

   Virgil gaped at the three strangers. He pushed himself off the ground, unable to bare the feeling of being watched like a pathetic wimp. He mumbled incoherent words, still trying to process everything. “You’re… you guys are aliens?” he breathed, focusing on their more… supernatural body parts. L.O.G.I.C. blinked, apparently confused.

   “Well, not exactly. By alien, do you mean the undocumented immigrant kind or the beings from another planet kind?”

   “Of course the beings from another planet kind! I’d never use such a mean word to describe people who could easily be my friends!” Virgil cried defiantly. His eyes widened as his brain reminded him not to blurt anything, and his shrunk back, clutching the patch-covered sleeves of his hoodie.

   L.O.G.I.C reached out a hand, but drew back. “To be more specific, Patton is a shapeshifter known as a Drisine. Roman is a being who appears with one physical aspect of another creature, and can turn into that creature. He also happens to be an exiled prince, though from experience I suggest you don’t bring that up when speaking to him.”

   “W-what about you?” Virgil asked. He would be lying if he said his interest wasn’t piqued by now.

   L.O.G.I.C. smiled coldly, what Virgil assumed was the only mode his smile was set to. “I am an artificial intelligence unit set inside a capsule built to resemble that of my creator.” Virgil couldn’t process it. Mere moments ago, he had believed his best friend was coming home. And now these strangers who claimed to be beings from faraway planets had asked him to come with them. It was something straight out of a movie.

   “Why?” he asked suddenly, his eyes burning into the robot’s. “Why me?” His lifted his chin, mimicking the rebel teens in the propaganda movies he’d come to know by heart. “What makes me so important?” He bit his harshly, shoving his hands deep into the thralls of the hoodie’s pockets. He couldn’t seem weak. They wouldn’t want him then, no matter why they wanted him now.

   L.O.G.I.C.’s eyes narrowed and Virgil steeled himself, putting up the mask he always wore. After a long, worry-filled pause, L.O.G.I.C. finally responded. “According to my fellow companions, they heard a rather cryptic prophecy that they, along with two others who fit our descriptions, will defeat an age-old evil.” The robot added on in a lower tone, “We seem to be in the same boat. These two dragged me into their ship after breaking into a lab, and I’ve been travelling with them ever since.” Virgil almost chuckled at the sight of the two smaller men dragging this no-nonsense robot onto a stereotypical UFO ship.

   He shook his head, running his hand through his head. “What the hell…” he whispered, his eyes glancing across the landscape slowly brightening as time approached dawn. “Why… why me, though? Why not literally any other one of my friends holed up back in town?” he asked, jutting his thumb behind him to the ruins. “They’re the ones leading a rebellion. Me? All I can do is hide in the bell tower and wait for my friend to come home…” His voice cracked, small tears in his eyes. He blinked, looking down at the dirt as rubbed the tears away. Someone tackled him in a tight hug, making him gasp. “W-what?!” he stuttered, disliking the contact. He looked to see it was the one L.O.G.I.C. had called “Patton.”

   Patton said something, pulling away. “Patton says he hopes you feel happier soon,” the robot told him. Patton continued to talk in the strange tongue, his eyes shimmering in the fire of the robot’s lantern. Meanwhile, the robot continued to translate for the bewildered teen. “To sum up what he’s saying, most of which being what you humans call ‘fluff’, he’s asking you to come with us because it does not look like you enjoy the life you are currently living. You mentioned a person named Vae when you were approaching us, might I ask who this is?”

   Virgil snarled. “She’s my friend, dummy…” He ripped his body out of Patton’s grip, almost shoving the man away. “I’m waiting for her…” L.O.G.I.C. frowned. He mumbled something under his breath, though Virgil only caught the words “pesky emotions.” “So I can’t go with you,” he said, shaking his head and taking a step back. “I mean, I don’t even know you guys, and I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, and… and…” He couldn’t talk, he couldn’t see, he couldn’t feel. The world around his was spinning as he fell to his knees, gasping for breath.

   He could vaguely sense someone running to him, shaking his shoulders slightly and saying something. He couldn’t focus. He couldn’t breath. He couldn’t. He just couldn’t. Someone else was holding his hands, running their thumbs over his knuckles. He focused on that feeling, just that feeling, the feeling of warm skin meeting his, the feeling that maybe, just maybe, somebody found him worthy. He hadn’t felt it since Vae disappeared.

   Someone was singing. He expanded his hazy focus from just the thumbs running across his knuckles to the voice that was so familiar yet so foreign at the same time. “Masae ioána tu an luüa, lavēhsea, agus tea tu rinda saänud ta. Waesa eayona rinda tä oppai-uoye-sinderūe, agus tu agus e taeyunge faero laehkona…” His breath slowed down, the words permeating his frantic mind like a sun ray bursting through a sky full of thunderclouds. His eyes wandered up to meet blue ones. He got lost in those sky blue eyes that glittered like crystals in the night. They were warm, seeming to smile, and reminded him of a clear summer day, nostalgic of a time when he and Vae were children and they hadn’t learned to be scared. He recalled running through a field of tall reeds, Vae on his tail, playing tag as they run through the small town they grew up in.

   The memory turned sour. Time jumped years, to when he was a young boy. He could clearly picture the face of his mother, smiling sweetly as she waved goodbye to her school-bound son. He came home that day to find his entire neighborhood gone, leaving just crumbled, charred ruins and trauma that wove falsehoods into his mind to make him forget the sight of his mother’s charred body, clinging to a small photograph of her son who no longer smiled.

   He choked out another sob, the tears burning his face with shame and despair and everything gone to shit. The voice grew stronger, the thumbs becoming hands that grasped his own, holding them in a gentle yet firm grip. Hands became arms that pulled him into a strong embrace, not as familiar one Patton had given him, yet still warm and calming. He looked into those eyes, searching for worth, for love, for anything to anchor him to reality.

   The person pulled him into his grasp, and he fell forward into their chest, his hands grasping silken fabric that had gone threadbare in some places. He buried his face into their warm body, staining their clothes with his tears. They smelled like smoke from campfires, like saltwater and seashells, like velvet in a thrift store.

   “Sasha tu haao meh,” they whispered, combing their soft fingers through his mousy hair. He listened to the sound of their heartbeat, his vision finally clearing as the tears began to dry. Virgil couldn’t bring himself to look at whoever it was who held him in their arms like he was their whole world. Instead, he snuggled closer to them, his ratty hoodie hardly protecting him from the bitter night.

   The person gently grasped his chin between their forefinger and thumb and coaxed him to look up. Virgil tired his best to keep his gaze averted, feeling the shame beginning to crawl up his spine, but the person moved into his eyesight.

   It was Roman.

   That alone was enough to send Virgil back into hysterical whimpering, but seeming to sense Virgil’s apprehension, Roman pulled him even closer, hugging him. “Sasha tu haao meh, lavehsea,” he repeated. Virgil’s gaze wavered, but Roman held it, staring into his eyes- and perhaps, his soul.

   Something turned on within Virgil, deep down in his heart where he stowed all precious things. He didn’t seem to be disgusted by Virgil’s weakness. He didn’t seem to think Virgil was only worth keeping around for standing guard. No. He seemed to… like Virgil. As though he meant something to the pretty boy with butterfly wings the color of cotton-candy.

   He sniffed, wiping the tears in his eyes away. He tried smiling. Roman smiled brightly at him, and Virgil realized what exactly his heart was screaming at him: Go with him. Go with them. Vae’s not coming back. They’re you’re new family, whether you like it or not. Go with him. Go.

   His eyes met the robot’s. “Forgive me for not offering any condolences. I have no desire to involve myself with complex emotions such as yours and Roman and Patton’s,” he stated, offering a hand to Virgil. He stared at it for a moment before taking it and standing up, wiping away more tears. Roman got up, too, as Patton slung a arm around his shoulder.

   “Rende hamun tu!” Patton said, causing Roman to snort and L.O.G.I.C. to crack a smile.

   “He said you’re his son now,” the robot translated. Virgil blanched, his face flushing shamefully. “You don’t have to come with us if you don’t want to…” L.O.G.I.C. said softly, tilting his head to the side.

    To say he was conflicted would be an understatement. Heartstrings were being tugged at, old feelings of yearning to go on adventures being dug up and thrown about like confetti. Yet, he couldn’t leave. ...Could he? Could he leave Vae for dead, leave behind his home for the past two decades of his life, leave behind all he had left to remember of when the world was at one another’s throats, desperate to survive in a war-torn insanity? He felt his hands start shaking. He couldn’t leave. Vae was still out there. Until they found her body, she couldn’t be dead. But the little voice in his head told him different, told him to come to his senses and stop clinging like a child to all he held dear. He had nothing left here. Nobody left who loved him, no place that he could call home, no reason why he should stay.

   He made his decision.

   “Promise you won’t leave me behind,” he demanded, his fists clenching and shoulders tensing. L.O.G.I.C. seemed taken aback, but composed himself quickly.

    “Of course,” he told Virgil softly, slightly confused at the request. “We would never leave you behind…” He trailed off, probably realizing that Virgil hadn’t given up his name yet. He wasn’t ready, though.

   “Just... call me Anxiety. It’s an old nickname of mine,” he offered. L.O.G.I.C. blinked.

   “Very well, Anxiety. I am to assume you have chosen to come with us?” Virgil nodded, biting his lip. He was really doing this… “Come along, then, the Sanders Yersinia is just a little ways away.” The travelers turned away from him, beginning to head back the way they came.

   Virgil looked behind him. Looked at the town made of ruins and black snow and hate and fear and despair. Looked at the past that refused to leave him alone. He saw a glimpse of the base and the bell tower, where a tiny flicker of light continued to glow. He swallowed, turning around and joining his new companions. He was leaving this lonely planet, this heartbroken world, this desolate land, this disconsolate war. He wasn’t going to come back.

   God, he hoped he was making the right decision.

I searched up way too many fashion terms to write this. Oh well.

Thank you for you kind words (*i feel so much validation* :DDDDD)! I really appreciate each and every one of them.

So I think all that’s left to get this story actually started is Cal joining the crew. Then we get the gOoD sHiT :)

Here’s the translation for what Roman was saying:

“Masae ioána tu an luüa, lavēhsea, agus tea tu rinda saänud ta. Waesa eayona rinda tä oppai-uoye-sinderūe, agus tu agus e taeyunge faero laehkona...”:  I’ll sing you a sunset, darling, and gather you into my arms. Just let me look into your silver-lining-eyes, and you and I will dance across the sky.

“Sasha tu haao meh,” and “Sasha tu haao meh, lavehsea,”: You’re gonna be okay. You’re gonna be okay, darling.

TAG LIST WOOT WOOT: (if you wanna be added/removed, hit me up :3)

@asofterfan

@alix-the-skeleton

@v-blue-writer

@hufflepuffsscrewdriver

@sanderssidesstuff

[fightevilandthengetblownup]

FIC:  In This Town...

---

“Party City Red Hood, huh?” Jo quipped with a grin, reacting out and tapping the front of the red bike helmet the other hunter was wearing. “Or, I’ll pay that it’s a step up from that.”

There was a chuckle from somewhere behind the full helmet before he reached up and pulled it off, exposing a black domino mask across his eyes. “You’re one to talk. What are you supposed to be - Sandra Dee?” Dean’s lips quirked up into a smirk as he ran an eye over her for a moment before grinning roguishly. “Surprised you’re not running about being Batgirl.”

The blonde smiled in return, doing a little twist and bob that swung her circle skirt and petticoats about herself, before sticking out her tongue. “Sorry Deano, wasn’t lookin’ to run about in spandex tonight. I’ve gotta be able to move after all-”

“You can in that wide a skirt?” “It helps push customers out of the way at least.” “That seems true enough.”

“Speakin’ of - two beers and some fries for you and Sammy?” Jo asked cheerfully as she spotted the taller man moving to claim one of the booth seats near the doorway to the upstairs. “Tell him I’m sorry we don’t have any salads on the menu these days.”

“Oh no, you have to be the one to break that to him.” Dean smirked in response, fumbling around before throwing a few twenties on the bar top. “Guessing that’ll-”

Jo turned about back to him as she poured two beers for the both and placed them down beside the money before raising a brow. “Yeah, I’ll start a tab for you boys, but you know-”

“Nuh uh, Jo,” The surprise of hearing the other brother’s voice managed to startle both hero and bartender as Sam popped up beside his brother. His usually freed hair was tucked down under the deer stalker on his head, and he seemed to have appeared out of the crowd with the same sense of theatric timing and clairvoyance as his chosen costume would as well - though without the jacket that was thrown over the table saving it for them, it was hard for most to work out he was the famed detective instead of simply a hipster for that year. “I know we’re family, but this is still a business. And business?”

“Is business.” Dean finished in unison with his brother, jostling the other’s shoulder for a second as they both stared down the blonde’s chagrined expression until she finally reached a hand out to take the notes. “That’a girl! Start us up a tab, would you?”

“Sure thin’. I’ll swing round with those fries, and maybe I can ask Grey to bring  something healthier from home if you guys need.” “Don’t worry about it, Jo. It’s Halloween - time for candy and alcohol.” “Surprised to hear that from you, Sam!”

The taller of the brother’s shrugged a shoulder before delivering a foppish grin back. “Hey, it’s better than some of the Halloweens we’ve had. I figure I deserve a treat.”

“Right on.” Jo giggled back, smiling and giving a short wave as they turned towards their table before slipping the notes into the cash register beside the other barmaid with a grin and a quick debrief on the brothers’ tab before turning to more customers.

---

“Well, well, well, I’d say look what the cat dragged in - but I had nothing to do with it.” The sultry tone did wonders for the joke as the two girls slid into the free edges of the booth.

The Winchesters had been there for the last half an hour, going through a few plates of fries, exchanging a few pleasantries with Harry when he’d come rushing down from upstairs to help behind the bar as the dock crowd slowly gave way to the assorted collection of dressed up college students. The influx seemingly marking the change of clientele that made the space more and more friendly to the sisters’ arrival.

“Say what now?” Dean asked with a grin as he lifted his arm naturally to rest across the back of the booth seat, though he was glad he’d left his helmet beside himself. It gave enough space that he didn’t feel too cramped by the new arrivals. Running an eye over the skin tight black dress, that appeared to him to be more sheer-than-not fabric and left a lot of skin and the lace bodice underneath visible above the skirts ruffles, he couldn’t quite work out what she was supposed to be. He let out a laugh as he caught the shadow’s eye, raising a brow. “What are you supposed to be anyway? Didn’t know Victoria’s Secret Model was a costume option or I’d have cracked out the panties.”

Shada let out her own laugh before pointing a purple manicured finger towards the two little eats attached to the top of her head. “I’m a cat. Dah.”

“I’m pretty sure the joke is that you’re supposed to be a mouse.” Sam quipped from his side of the table, a warm smile directed across at the other for a moment. “I mean, you were going for a Mean Girls reference weren’t you?”

“A what now?” “It’s... It’s a movie. Ask Jo sometime.”

“You and your chick flicks.” Dean laughed, turning to rib as his brother. “Surprised you picked Sherlock when you had so many other options to choose, Fabio.”

Before Sam could respond, the blonde beside him chirped up with a confused look upon her face. “What’s a... Fabio?”

The taller hunter let out a bit of a laugh, and slid the fries plate a little closer to the younger girl as he caught her eye dipping down to look at them curiously, before replying. “Dean here’s just mad he doesn’t have the flowing locks or the six pack to be him. He’s basically the poster art on any romance novel from the eighties.”

“Oh! Like the novels big sister reads?” “Yes, just like those, Ombre.” “Ah, tre bien! You do have the hair for that!”

Shada let out a laugh as the younger shadow had been chewing on a fry before exclaiming happily at working out the reference. It was bemusing to watch the enraptured way her little sister reached out a hand to tug on the loose locks popping out under the ear flaps of the hunter’s hat and the confused and them equally amused look that crossed the man’s face at the innocent gesture.

“Who are you both supposed to be then?” She asked conversationally as she turned to run a disproportionately assessing eye over each hunter. “I am unfamiliar with both your choices.”

Sam smiled back as he picked up a fry, chewing quickly before replying quietly. “I’m being Sherlock Holmes. And please don’t tell me if you don’t know who that is. Your brother already pranked me with that-”

“Oh that sounds just like him.” The brunette shadow laughed, shaking her head quickly when she noticed her sister’s mouth open to voice her confusion. “He’s being a fictional detective, Ombre. A very famous one.” As the other snapped her mouth shut before picking up another fry decisively instead, she figured she’d have to talk to her brother about what other tricks and taunts he’d played on the hunters and to leave some for her. Quirking a curious brow at the man beside her, Shada waved her hand for him to answer her instead.

“Red Hood, at your service.” Dean said with a smile, dropping his hand to pick the helmet off the seat between them for a moment before resettling it. At her blank look the cocky smile drooped slightly and he coughed uncertainly. “He, uh... It’s a comic character. Batman series? Jason Todd? He was a Robin?” At the continued blank look, Dean finally gave a shake of his head and ran a hand through his hair mussing it before smirking widely. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to educate you sometime.”

“Perhaps you will.” Shada didn’t stop the flirtatious tone as she batted her eyes enough to turn the hunter a bright pink before laughing as the dark haired barmaid came hurrying over with a new plate of fries as well as what looked like two fruity drinks. “Um-”

“Jo sent these over, says Grey’s running late. Harry said something about stopping by when it calms down.” The barmaid spoke rapidly, the words a rapid fire as she seemed to be glancing about the space rather than making direct contact. As she turned back from looking towards the bar to look at the motley crew accumulated in the booth, there was a second before a wide, friendly smile grew across her face. “Oh hey! Nice Alice costume! I was thinking of that but Ha- I wanted to go for something a little more musical-theatre that Classic Lit. Okay, sorry, give us a shout if you need anything else!”

As quickly as Sophie had appeared, decked out with bright green skin all over as she had been and the comfortable black dress, she disappeared away again - only noticable by the black witches hat weaving between the crowds of drunken patrons.

“Oh, she liked my costume. She’s so nice!” Ombre’s smile was wider than it had been since she had met up with Shada to get ready, all bright white teeth and crinkled eyes, as she looked about the booth. “I like her!”

“Sophie’s lovely.” Sam replied with an amused smile before nodding his head. “And she’s right, that’s a lovely Alice In Wonderland, Ombre. It’s very accurate too.”

“Merci beaucoup, I adore Alice! I love my socks so much.” “Socks?” “The little frills! Along with all the à fanfreluches - frilly - skirts.” “Ah, I see. Well, it’s a very pretty costume.”

“Merci, merci, merci!” The blonde’s grin was so wide and bright it was almost blinding before she clapped her hands happily.

The group lapsed into a moments quiet as each either had some of their drinks or ate a few of the french fries or onion rings that had just been delivered to the table before the conversation turned towards other things as usual - games, or their mutual friends, or Dean’s attempts to explain just who the Red Hood was as the black cat would look more and more confused hiding her smiles.

---

“Yoo-hoo! Guess who made it to the East- wait...” There was a pause as the red haired woman did a spin as she bounded towards the bar. “ Jo - this isn’t on the East coast is it. What is this area even called?”

“We’re in the Midwest, Charlie.” “Uh uh uh - tonight I only answer to my witch name-” “Oh! You’re dressed as Willow!” “Of course. What did you think I was?”

“Some 90′s grunge femme lesbian?” Jo grinned as she ran an eye over the extremely dated clothes the other was wearing, with her bright yellow bucket hat, oversized jean overalls and the colorful yet somehow dull rainbow sweater underneath. “So, I guess, accurate costume.”

“Har har, very funny.” Charlie jibed back with an eye roll, drumming the black painted nails on the bar top. “Who are you supposed to be? Scarlet Witch has red hair, though I suppose it’s sorta blonde in that latest trailer. And her dress is red.”

“Ugh, no and don’t get me started on corporate America, not tonight when I have to keep the masses libationed up.” “Very true, though at least you seem more comfortable than Hermione over there.”

Jo and Charlie both turned to look to see where Sophie was struggling to do the most comfortable bend and pour technique on the bar taps from her height while also not have her Elphaba hat fall off. There was a split second before the black hat went tumbling to the floor and the barmaid had to pick between grabbing it before it’d get beer soaking into it or sticky patches from the floor or drop the patrons glass. The glass won out, and it was another few seconds before the witch got her hat back - now with a few extra dark patches that would likely pick up any dust or crumbs that comes in its path.

“Pity.” Charlie said with a sigh as she turned back to the blonde. “Where’s the rest-”

“Over in the back corner, I’ll take you - gotta drop off another round of drinks anyways.” The bar owner smiled as she raised a brow. “Tequila sunrise, right?”

There was a beat before the redhead found herself fluttering her lashes with a grin. “Oh, Jo, you know the way straight to a woman’s heart don’t you. Such a pity you’ve got such a pretty boyfriend already.”

“Sorry, Charlie, been there, done that, not signin’ up for the newsletter. Gimme a second, will ya?” “Sure thing!”

As soon as the cocktail was ready, Jo plated up the round of drinks for the small hodge-podge group of hunters, shadows and hunter-adjacent arrivals in the back corner, and ducked out from the end of the bar, bringing the researcher over with her.

“Squish up you lot - the party just arrived!” Charlie exclaimed happily as she bounced down into the seat beside the blonde shadowgirl who was gesticulating wildly about some story or other. “What’re we all talking about? When are the rest of the boys due?”

“Ed texted Harry about thirty minutes ago to say Spruce lost one of his bolts, so they’re going to be about ten more.” Sam replied with a grin, somehow shimmying his frame further down the bench and around to make more room for the newest arrival. “And what’s taking Grey so long, Jo?”

As Jo slowly set down her tray and started handing out the array of drinks, her brows creased into a tiny frown and everyone bit back a laugh at the borderline pout on her lips. “All the trick or treatin’ kids in the neighborhood are freakin’ Nana out. So Grey’s stayin’ put for another hour until it dies down and she calms down.”

“That’s a shame,” Dean remarked, though the flash of a grin on his face didn’t match at all to the words before he shrugged and added more genuinely with a serious look. “No, actually, that’s a bummer. It’ll be... nice to catch up more.” There was a pause as he drank a sip of his beer before he finished quietly. “Truly. Hope he gets here soon.”

“Thanks. Okay, you guys are set, I’ll be back ‘round with another lot soon.” The blonde gave a bounce which flounced the skirts of her outfit a little before she span on her heel and clicked away in the pink heels to deal with the still onslaughting group of customers.

“Really Dean?” “What Sammy?” “Don’t be a dick.”

“Yeah, that’s not cool, Deano.” Charlie remarked with a smirk as she took a sip of her drink - the tequila and orange juice one of her favorites - raising a brow back at him. “Besides, it’s much more fun annoying Jo when she’s in a good mood than bad. So wait until Grey shows up and then we can tease the both of them.”

That got a round of laughs from the table as a whole, and the redhead felt a surge of pride noticing the way Dean turned to genuinely apologise to the scowling dark haired woman before asking Ombre to start her story again from the beginning.

---

“Who ya gonna call?!” “Ghostbusters!” “Fuck yeah!”

The shouts coming from the trio as they emerged from the stairway brought about a round of laughs from the group as all three men moved towards the group.

“Well, better than calling on the last group - what’d you used to call yourselves?” Sam asked jovially as he shifted another time and held a hand out to shake each of the three men’s hands as they sat down, before resting it over the top of the bench seating spanning behind both blonde and redhead.

“Facers, Losechester, the Ghostfacers. You know that.” Ed snapped back with a smirk as he slid into the space beside the dark haired woman at the table and ran a quick eye over her before grinning wider. “Hey, surprised you’re not dressed up in a bright purple Sombra this evening, Shada.”

“Well, I do enjoy simplicity.” Shada replied with a smirk of her own, picking up her drink and shuffling a little further down the bench as Spruce tried to fit in. Glancing at the small sliver of space left, she turned back towards the hunter that had yet to have to bunch down. Batting her lashes and tapping a manicured finger against the top of his red helmet between them, the girl’s lips twitched into a knowing smirk. “Oh, Dean, you’ll have to make some more room. Or else I might just think you’re scared of little old me.”

“Don’t worry Shada, if he won’t move you can always use my lap instead.” Ed’s quip was met with an immediate scurrying from the hunter to shove the red motorcycle off the bench seat and between his feet with a slightly unfocused scowl towards him. “Oh too bad.”

“Awww, sorry Ed, looks like I’ve got some more room.”

“Can you three stop flirting and move the fuck over so I can sit down?” The last of the Ghostbusting trio growled out as he raised an eyebrow at all three and got laughed at by Harry, Charlie, Sam and Ombre on the other side of the booth. It took a moment for Shada and Ed to shuffle enough, packed like sardines and the brunette girl sitting almost partway into the hunter’s lap at the other end before there was enough room for Spruce to slip in. “Oh thank god, the sweaty drunks were getting boring.”

“Hey guys, another round?” Sophie’s voice suddenly appeared, and the green girl was smiling brightly at all of them as she set down her tray and started handing out drinks. Though there was a second as Harry reached for one of the glasses at the same time that their fingers caught, and if she hadn’t been covered in green paint everyone at the table was sure that she’d have turned bright red. “No, no, Harry, you’re off for the night! Please, let me.”

“Oh come on. You’re being run off your feet-” “Yeah, but I’m being paid-” “-And you don’t need to dote so much-” “Of course I do!”

“Oh my god, you two are such doux amours!” Ombre’s voice finally cut through the bickering pair, catching Harry and Sophie’s attention to confused looks. There was a second before the blonde waved her hand happily across Charlie towards them. “Harry, Harry, don’t forget to kiss your girlfriend goodbye if she is having to work!”

The round of laughter that followed that statement in the face of the bright red that colored the researcher’s face and the stammering from the green-faced barmaid. There was another round of laughter when Sophie actually dropped the glass in question, and Harry floundered quickly with napkins to try to clean up the spilled drink.

“What’d I say?” Ombre asked quietly, her eyes darting about the laughing group and blushing herself until Spruce lent across to give her hand a pat. “What did I-”

“It’s fine, Ombre.” Spruce grinned wickedly back as he plucked his own beer from the tray while Harry and Sophie were awkwardly attempting to mop up the drink but not touch one another. “Harry’s not gotten around to asking Soph yet. You’re just a little early.”

“Oh. Okay!”

“Dude!” Harry hissed the words out across the table, glaring at the taller man before blushing under scrutiny further. “Don’t-”

“It’s okay, Spangler. You’ll get there eventually.” “Dude, not the point.”

“I... I’ve got to get back to help Jo.” Sophie stammered for a moment, glancing around at the group as she pressed the tray up against her chest and rushed away while Harry thunked his head onto the table top.

There was a pause before a hand fell on his shoulder, Sam leaning past the two girls between the both of them, to pat his shoulder a few times. “That’s rough, buddy.” The words sounded genuine, but the laughter that started up at the table from Harry’s groan and the wicked grin on the hunter’s face as everyone turned into ribbing the researcher about his unfulfilled crush.

---

The crowd in the bar was winding down - the cheap drinks advertisement Jo, Sophie and Harry had devised doing exactly what they had planned in encouraging an influx crowd of youngsters earlier in the evening that would chase out the dock crews and hunters for the evening, and then as the hour got nearer to midnight the crowds would slowly filter out to the hipper, more aesthetic or club-like spaces around town as the three hours of cheap base spirits faded off. It was strategic - not only to make sure the bar would be shadow-friendly for most of the evening, but also to capitalize on a large influx and then giving both Harry and Jo the opportunity to enjoy the later hour with friends.

It took until almost 11 for the door to finally open and the last of the remaining large group of friends to arrive.

“I hate this holiday.” Grey seethed harshly as he made his way towards the booth and looked around in surprise at how squished and yet uncaring the group was. “Hey, what’d I miss?”

“Grey!” “Brother, finally!” “Hey man, how’d it go with the dog?” “Did you bring the puppy, brother?”

“No, I didn’t. Bloody Trick or Treaters kept freaking Nana out with the screaming and laughing.” He sighed quietly as he glanced to the side and pulled a seat over towards the end of the table, tugging with a sigh on his tie. “They all finished about two hours ago but she was so worked up I couldn’t leave.”

“Did you have many people stop?” Charlie asked, raising a brow at him. “I put up a big sign back at home that I only believe in giving out edibles so I suspect a lot of angry stoners that I wasn’t home.”

The shadow gave the other a disbelieving look for a moment before raising an eyebrow right back at her. “There’s a lot of children along the road, and being near the school means a lot of visitors. Went through about fifteen bags of candy before I decided enough was enough.”

“That’s far too much sugar to be giving out, brother.” “Oh really?” “Yes, really.”

“Well, I suspect Jo will be sad there isn’t any leftovers when we get home.” Grey smiled gently across at his sister, not even blinking at her choice of costume or lack there of, before doing a double take at noticing her sitting almost fully in the hunter’s lap and the way Dean was simply talking across her back towards his brother and the blonde shadow. “I see I missed more than a little trick or treating here too.”

“So many treats, you know.” Shada rebutted with a loud laugh. “I’m just embracing my choice of costume.”

“Oh?” “Cats must sit on laps, right?” “Ah.”

“Don’t worry man,” Ed spoke up then, giving a huffed laugh. “Dean lost a bet an hour back, he’s only got another five minutes before she’s got to get off.”

“Only if he remembers to ask though, or wants me to.” “Oh I’ll want you to, you foxy minx. You keep stealing my drinks before they get to me.” “Shush, Dean, chairs can’t talk.”

Blinking a few times at the array of banter, Grey simply shook his head before pushing back to his feet. “I’m going to go get a dri-”

“Doctor!” The squeal came high and clear over the subdued murmur of voices and lowered but atmospheric volume of the jukebox in the corner, and Grey found himself letting out a laugh as he turned to see a flurry of baby pink skirts and blonde hair spinning about behind the bar before scurrying from around the end of the bar itself. “Oh about bloody time!”

“Sorry, time got a little away from me.” Grey chuckled as he replied, pushing his chair a little back as Jo finally came bounding up to his side and threw an arm around his waist with that dazzling smile he loved so much. “You know how it is-”

“Oh of course, the man with all the time in the universe can’t keep a single track of it.” “That’s exactly how it is.” “Very wibbly-”

“-Wobbly.” He finished with an equally wide smile, tucking a strand of hair back behind Jo’s ear before leaning in to press his lips to hers in a click of teeth at just how wide their smiles were before they were kissing properly for the barest moment and he pulled back. “Sorry it took so long though, pretty one.” Grey said quieter, leaning down to whisper against Jo’s ear. “Nana was scared on a scarey night and wanted her mommy.”

“No problem, hunny, we’ll be home sometime tonight and I’m sure she’ll be okay until then.” Jo replied sweetly, pecking his lips a last time before turning towards the table as a whole. Her whole face shifted from the wide grin into a sneer. “Well now, can you guys tell who I am yet?”

There was a moment before Harry and Spruce had looks change from confusion at Jo’s dragging the table out of their conversations before they started smiling and nodded, with awkward laughter between them. It took another moment before Ed and Sam followed suit, with Ed crying out sharply “Oh! That makes so much more sense than Betty Draper!”

“That guess was so fuckin’ bullshit, Ed.” “Well it’s not our fault your couples-stume only makes sense together!” “It’s not my fault you clearly aren’t a fan enough to recognise this on sight.”

“Jo, stop being mad,” Harry shook his head smiling up towards the couple and playing mediator like he had been all night between Jo and others when the question on who or what exactly she was dressed as had come up. “Besides, it’s cute that it needs Grey here to make it work for both of you.”

Grey raised an eyebrow in confusion and looked down at his gym shoes and then further up towards his brown, pinstriped suit and the skinny tie in confusion that it might not be clear who he was, but then he felt the same looking at Jo in her quasi-beehive hairstyle and the flouncy baby pink dress and blue jacket that pulled her waist into a tiny point before the poofy nature of her skirts. He thought it was obvious who they both were, and that the blue tipped screwdriver poking out of his jacket pocket was really unnecessary for anyone to know the star-crossed lovers they were dressed as that night.

“Anyway, I’m off duty for the night now - but if Sophie needs a hand you and I might need to pitch in, Harry.” “And with closing down once us lot are done and she’s gone home for the night, I know.” “Oh actually, I had mentioned once we call last drinks to the rest of the kiddies here at one that Soph’s welcome to stay and hang out a little while. You don’t got a problem with that do you Harry?”

If Jo’s question sounded been innocent, the wicked twitch of her lips gave away any chance of innocence and any thought there wasn’t any intent behind it, which got a large laugh from Spruce and Charlie at Harry’s spluttering before Grey found himself getting pulled into the good natured teasing.

---

The night was a bit of a blur but in the way in which a night of good conversation, good companionship and good feelings was lost.

Shada eventually returned to sitting on the bench but a lot later than she was expected to, and at one point had her cat ears joined by the black domino mask that covered her smokey eyes but made her smiles seem a little more wicked and flirtatious as she batted her eyes out of the darkness.

Sam and Spruce found themselves eventually sitting beside one another and discussing in depth the problems with higher educations toll upon students and the pressures of achieving grades. They were both surprised to learn that’d both been pre-law, and that neither had felt the push to continue through the loss of either girlfriend in Sam’s case or friend in Spruce’s. And then that they both found bananas disgusting.

Charlie and Ombre spent an inordinate time standing up after it was found out that the tall blonde knew nothing of dancing - and the string of dance favorites that were set up on the jukebox for the two, and then three when Sophie had scared the last of the customers out of the bar and joined them both, made for an amusing range of background music.

Dean slowly got drunk on his beers but kept to himself for the most part, simply content after a while to rub at the small of the back of the girl on his lap with a thumb and listen to her and Jo’s talk about some shopping spree or birthday or something coming up. And once he was a free man again, turned his attention back towards his beer and the odd conversation he was pulled into.

Grey was pleased to find himself moved onto the booth seating after a bit beside Jo, hands held together in her lap or an arm around her waist, as he spent until the wee hours talking with Ed and Harry or even Dean about anything and everything so long as he had the warm presence of his sunshine pressed up against his side.

Nothing could go wrong so long as he could just look out the corner of his eye and see that smile in an instant. And when they got home, he was sure they’d have their fluffy baby curled up on the end of the bed to make that feel just as warm as sitting in the warm atmosphere of friendship there.

---

[theantibridezilla]

Swatches & First Impressions!

It’s that time again for Swatch Wednesday where I swatch and provide first impressions for beauty goodies that recently arrived (or that I bought). In today’s round up, I’m highlighting new launch items from three brands (all gifted): Elf Cosmetics, Rimmel London and Kevyn Aucoin. So let’s get right to it!

Elf Cosmetics x Christian Siriano

Earlier this week I did a quick IG post of the Christian Siriano collection from Elf which was part of my March Beauty Squad box. If you’re not familiar with Christian Siriano, he’s a Project Runway alum who’s an amazing evening wear designer. He’s best known for his couture designs, use of color and more importantly, focus on inclusiveness - often making headlines for dressing curvy stars on the red carpet when other “staple” designers refuse to do so. So, in typical Christian style, his collaboration with Elf focuses on bright color with an eye shadow palette, two lip colors and a cute zip tote that screams colorful Spring. Up first, a liquid matte fuchsia and a sheer soft pink lip gloss.

As far as I can remember, Elf is not as well known for their liquid matte lip offerings like other brands. So, this was an interesting departure from their usual glosses or satin finish lipsticks. Although the fuchsia is a tad bright for my personal taste, I love the pigmentation and the fact that it’s true to color from tube to skin. It’s not a fast drying matte like a ColourPop or NYX, so if I was to test run this lippie, I’d easily be able to mix it with another color. Also, this pigment is intense, you really need to prime before applying or else your lips will be stained for quite some time. It took a bit of scrubbing with my makeup eraser cloth to remove the fuchsia.

Now for the eye shadows...I was pleasantly surprised by the color payoff on these pans. No shade to Elf because I love their skincare, concealers & beauty tools, but I tend not to use their shadows because the pigmentation is always a let down from what you see in the pan. For starters you usually have to use a lot of product to see a color payoff on darker skin tones and it still tends to look sheer compared to other makeup brands I use - even in similar price points (i.e. NYX/ColourPop). Also, if you don’t prime before applying, the shadows fade quickly with wear. In this case, I can’t speak to fading as I only did a swatch, but the colors are true to the pans. I don’t know if this is Elf working on their formulations or the fact that Christian Siriano put his foot down and demanded true colors that reflect his bold designs. But either way, it was a welcome surprise. As a side note though, I give Elf points for including a brush in the palette, but I would skip it and just pick up their full sized blending, shadow and crease brushes.

Rimmel London Wonder Wing Eyeliner Stamp & Wonder Ombre Holographic 3D Liners

Rimmel London recently launched two innovative eye liner products that can help with creativity and as a time saver. Let’s start with the Wonder Wing Eyeliner Stamp, which is a “liquid” felt tip pen that offers a precision tip and a stamp like flat side to create the perfect wing.

Now, if you’ve spent time on TAB, you know that I’m not a huge fan of felt tip liners because they tend to not be as boldly pigmented for darker skin tones. I’m old school and my go to is Wet ‘n Wild’s MegaLiner liquid liner which is a true black. While Rimmel’s stamp liner isn’t as matte black as I’d prefer, I do like the stamp because of ease of use. Although I’m no makeup novice, I’ve had my fair share of cat eyes or wings gone wrong because I was in a rush. So, to be fair, I only swatched on my arm and I ended up with a bit of feathering. I definitely need to go back and use this liner pen in a real makeup look to test color opacity and ease of use.

But the real winners for me were the Wonder Ombre Holographic 3D Pencil Liners which are nicely saturated pigments and super easy to use. The premise is fairly straight forward, by using these dual ended pencils you can create gradient liner effects. Available in 4 colors, I received Golden Gaze (bottom swatch gold into black/gold) and Super Nova (top swatch iridescent white into navy blue). First, the pencil is pretty creamy which makes it easy to apply. It feels almost like a gel pencil, although officially it’s not billed as a gel liner. Although the instructions tell you to use your finger or a brush to blend the colors, I found this to be ineffective as it ended up looking smudged and messy because the pencil is so creamy. It was easier for me to start by drawing on the darker shade and then layering the lighter shade. As it’s a pencil versus a felt tip, you can easily clean off any transfer from the dark shade onto the lighter pencil end by wiping the tip on a tissue.

**At time of publication, the Wonder Wing Eyeliner Stamp is not currently available on Rimmel’s website so no link is available for more details**

Kevyn Aucoin The Neo-Elixir Weightless Beauty Oil

So, this is the first non color cosmetic that Kevyn Aucoin has sent me and I was very interested to test it out. This beauty oil promises to be a multi-functional product that can work as a moisturizer/primer, can be mixed with foundations to create a dewy finish or can be used as a final makeup step for an editorial highlight effect. The multi layer elixir is straightforward to use. Shake the bottle to mix the layers, and then use the dropper applicator to apply.

I didn’t realize that this oil was a true oil as it’s first ingredient is castor oil (the elixir also contains sunflower oil, mica and squalene oil) . If you’re not familiar, castor oil is one of the heaviest oils that you can use when it comes to skin/hair hydration and doesn’t need to be mixed with a carrier oil as it is safe for topical use by itself. It’s normally such a heavy oil that even I don’t use it as an all over face oil. And it has a very distinctive earthy scent. I say all this to say, I decided to use this elixir as a moisturizer and used an entire pump’s worth (amount shown in picture above) on my face.

To counter castor oil’s scent, this elixir does have a small bit of fragrance in it but it’s not cloying or overwhelming. Thankfully, my dry skin drank up the oil so I wasn’t left looking greasy. But now I know in the future to only use a few drops rather than a full pump. For someone like me with chronically dry skin, this is a good product to hydrate and prime before applying makeup or as a stand alone moisturizer. It truly keeps flakes away and the fragrance helps to downplay the earthy scent from the castor oil. But if you have normal or oily skin, you may find that the oil is a bit too heavy for you.