#it's actually now 12:47 am

[cyan-exists]

I was supposed to go edit my fic... instead I scrolled the Percy Jackson tag for the last two hours... whoops

[teambyler]

My video "A LAWYER'S EVIDENCE that Mike and Will become a romantic pair in Stranger Things" is out!

Many of you have followed me ( @teambyler ) or read my essays analyzing Byler (I've linked some of the most-shared ones below). I am actually also a LAWYER who has a YouTube channel called RONALD OFF THE RECORD, and I just released my big video on Byler! (I also have another YouTube channel with 45K subscribers that I mention in the video)

I'm prepared to put my professional reputation as a lawyer on the line to comment on a piece of science fiction, because goddammit this is important to me! It is not "delusional" to think Will and Mike will become a couple, and there is nothing wrong with you if want it to happen! This is a video essay I've been planning for at least SIX MONTHS, and I put a lot of work into it. Please share, and please leave comments. Enjoy! =D

0:00 Why this video 1:38 Hate for Byler on the internet 10:16 Case for Mileven 15:21 Case for Byler: Starting premises 17:56 If Will were a girl… 25:30 The evidence! 29:05 EXHIBIT A: The Snow Ball 31:34 B: Mike's reactions to El and Will being upset 34:21 C: Season 3 ending montage 39:16 D: Airport reunion 47:51 E: Rink-O-Mania argument 51:28 F: Heteronormativity, audience expectations 58:25 G: Throwing away the letter 59:55 H: 2nd heart-to-heart scene 1:05:43 I: Mike can't say he loves El 1:13:27 J: Platonic reunion 1:15:12 K: Will's role convincing Mike to say "I love you" 1:20:08 L: Effect of the "love confession" on El 1:39:54 M: The Painting Lie 1:43:22 Honorable mentions 1:45:27 Non-diegetic evidence 2:01:23 Actor statements 2:10:34 NOT how you write an unrequited love story 2:16:07 Why Byler SHOULD happen (queerbaiting, etc.) 2:28:21 A more powerful story 2:35:45 A personal note

I'm now making this my new pinned post, so I'll list a few of my posts here for people to check out.

ADDITIONS: -28:00 On "We should normalize same-sex friends being affectionate, they don't have to be gay," I should have been clearer. HOMOPHOBIA is the reason for that stigma. Straight friends feeling like they can be affectionate in our society HAS to include normalizing LGBT+ people. -1:16:55 I should've said this more clearly: Will reminded Mike that who HE is, HIS unique qualities, make him worthy of love and make El love him, not dumb luck. And Will of course could convey that because Will loves the actual nerd MIke and everything he is. -1:17:06 Mike making El "not feel like a mistake" doesn't fit El, because she says that Mike looks at her "like I'm a monster, too". Nor did she "push you away because she was afraid of losing you". That's Will, not El. Mike felt love because Will was describing himself. -1:52:36 I forgot to mention that, in the original Nina opera, Nina's lover is ALIVE and DOES return. The Duffers changed the story so that Nina's lover does NOT return, to further suggest Mike won't return! -2:35:22 I'm kicking myself for not being more specific about Mike and Will being heroes in more than one way: I think the theme of bullying from s1 will return, with Will (and also Mike) having to face bullying for being boyfriends in Hawkins.

EDIT: I hit 1000 subs, only to discover THIS VIDEO CANNOT BE MONETIZED. ='( I think I put over 100 hours of work in this video, and this isn't sustainable for me unless I get support. This also means I can't make public videos with the same quality -- using show clips and music makes a stronger impact. I've considered deleting and reposting an edit, but that would losing all the wonderful comments and CUTTING OUT THE LAST SCENE. ='( ='( ='( NO. FUCKING. WAY.

So this is what'll happen: future videos NOT use clips and music to the same extent, except versions I post on my Patreon. And I need Patrons because I don't make money as a social-justice lawyer, and rely on that plus YouTube ads. Here's the Patreon link! (Any future video will be clipped, with the full version on Patreon) https://www.patreon.com/c/theruleslawyer

Some other @teambyler posts:

Mike was saying "I love you" to Will

Questions to ask if ever you have Byler doubt

How the Duffers have set Will up to have a happy ending in Season 5

The most heartbreaking way Byler can culminate (and how I predict it will) (I know this is less likely than an "escape from Camazotz" possession scenario, but I still want this to happen =D )

How the Duffers likely will make the general audience AWARE of Byler and CHEER for Byler

-teambyler

[iamgonnagetyouback]

Hi ivy! For the holiday enemies to lovers prompts can you do 1,3,4 with Theo nott? Ofc you don’t have to use all of them if you don’t want to! Those 3 really stood out to me and I couldn’t pick just one 😅 thank you lovely!

ㅤㅤㅤㅤ⠀────۶ৎ secret santa

synopsis: ever since you picked theodore nott for secret santa, you've been in absolute denial about caring. you’re definitely not going out of your way to find the perfect gift, and you’re absolutely not asking his friends totally casual questions about his interests. but when you find out he’s staying at hogwarts for the holidays, you can’t help but pry—and somehow, along the way, you might just end up learning more about him than you ever planned to content warnings: a very dramatic and nosy hufflepuff, flustered moments, and a slight identity crisis when you realize you might actually like him author's note: assuming this is your request @astonishment, thank you so much requesting! hope you like it <33 find more of these two here ￫ ୨ৎ (coming soon....)

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ⠀ ᡣ𐭩 words.ᐟ 1,673

the spiralling .ᐟ

There were exactly 47 hours and 12 minutes until the Hogwarts Secret Santa reveal, and you were on the verge of losing your entire mind.

Why? Because you had drawn Theodore freaking Nott as your Secret Santa recipient. Of all the people at Hogwarts, it had to be him: the cold, brooding, insufferable Slytherin who looked at you like you were the human embodiment of an unwashed sock.

“I’m cursed,” you moaned dramatically, sprawled across the couch in the Hufflepuff common room. “There’s no other explanation.”

From her chair by the fireplace, your friend Sarah barely looked up from her book. “What are you on about now?”

“My life is over,” you said, tossing an arm across your eyes for good measure. “I’ve been assigned him. The human icicle. The walking void of emotion.”

Sarah blinked. “You got Theodore Nott?”

You bolted upright, grabbing her arm like she’d just offered to save you from a sinking ship. “What do I do, Sarah?! What do you get someone who hates everything? A rock? A lump of coal?”

“Well…” Sarah started, but you were already off the couch and pacing.

“He’s going to hate anything I give him,” you wailed, hands flailing. “But I can’t not give him something because then I’ll look like a terrible person, and I’m not a terrible person, Sarah! I’m a Hufflepuff! We are legally obligated to be nice!”

“Legally?” Sarah said dryly, but you ignored her.

“And I can’t ask him what he likes because then he’ll know it’s me, and then he’ll think I’m stalking him, and—oh my gosh, what if he reports me to Snape?!”

“You’re spiralling,” Sarah said, but you were already halfway out the door.

step one: interoggating the enemy's friends .ᐟ

Step one in your (brilliant, totally foolproof) plan was to interrogate Theodore’s friends. Casually. Subtly. Like a normal person.

Spoiler: You were not a normal person.

“Enzo!” you said brightly, sliding into the seat next to Lorenzo Berkshire at breakfast. “How’s it going? How’s life? How are your socks? Warm? Good. So, what does Theodore Nott like?”

Lorenzo froze mid-bite, his fork hovering in the air. “What?”

“You know, hobbies, interests, favorite snacks, deepest fears,” you said, waving a hand. “The usual.”

He narrowed his eyes at you. “Why do you want to know?”

“Oh, no reason!” You laughed—a little too loudly. “Just curious.”

“Is this for Secret Santa?” he asked, smirking. “Wait. Did you get Theo? Merlin’s beard, you got Theo!”

“NO!” you practically yelled, nearly knocking over your pumpkin juice. “Of course not! That would be absurd. Ha! Ha ha ha!”

Lorenzo leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. “You’re a terrible liar.”

“Am not!” you huffed. “I’m just… conducting a holiday-themed survey. For… science.”

“For science?” he repeated, amused. “Right. Well, Sunshine, if you’re so curious about Theo, why don’t you just ask him?”

“BECAUSE!” You threw your hands in the air. “He’s scary, Enzo! He’ll probably hex me or—I don’t know—stare at me with those stupid intense eyes of his.”

“His stupid intense eyes?” Enzo grinned, waggling his eyebrows. “Are you sure you don’t like him?”

“WHAT?!” You nearly fell out of your chair. “I don’t like him! I despise him! He’s rude and annoying and—ugh—he breathes too smugly!”

“Sure,” Enzo said, clearly not convinced. “Whatever you say, Sunshine.”

step two: questioning the enemy .ᐟ

You were nothing if not persistent. So, against your better judgment, you cornered Theodore himself in the library.

“What are you doing for the holidays?” you asked, plopping into the chair across from him.

Theodore didn’t even look up from his book. “Why do you ask and/or care?”

“I don’t care,” you said quickly. “I was just… wondering.”

He finally glanced at you, one dark eyebrow raised. “Why?”

“Because I’m nice,” you said, gesturing vaguely. “And curious. And it’s the holidays! Aren’t we supposed to, like, bond or something?”

“I’d rather not,” he said, turning a page.

You scowled. “Wow. You really know how to spread holiday cheer, don’t you?”

“Was there a point to this?” he asked, looking at you like you were a particularly annoying fly buzzing around his head.

“Yes,” you said, folding your arms. “The point is… I was just wondering if you’re going home for Christmas.”

“No,” he said shortly. “Now, are we done here?”

Your scowl deepened. “Why aren’t you going home?”

“Why do you care?” he shot back.

“I don’t!” you said, your voice a little too high-pitched. “I just… thought you might be lonely or something.”

Theodore’s lips twitched into the faintest smirk. “Worried about me, Sunshine?”

“No!” you said, cheeks burning. “Don’t flatter yourself, Nott. I was just—ugh, forget it!”

You stood up so quickly you almost knocked over your chair, muttering under your breath as you stomped away. Behind you, Theodore chuckled softly.

step three: giving the gift (and hopefully not getting hexed) .ᐟ

By some miracle (or maybe sheer stubbornness), you managed to find the perfect gift: a leather-bound journal, simple yet elegant, with Theodore’s initials embossed on the cover.

When the time came for the Secret Santa exchange, you watched nervously as he unwrapped it, your palms clammy and your heart pounding.

He stared at the journal for a long moment, his expression unreadable. Then, he looked up, his piercing green eyes locking onto yours.

“Did you…?” he started, but you cut him off.

“It’s not a big deal!” you said quickly, waving your hands. “I just—I mean, you don’t have to like it or anything. It’s fine if you hate it. I just thought—”

“Mio sole,” he interrupted, his voice softer than you’d ever heard it. “It’s perfect.”

You froze, your brain short-circuiting. “It… it is?”

He nodded, a small smile tugging at his lips. “Thank you.”

For a moment, you just stared at him, completely dumbfounded. Then, because you didn’t know what else to do, you blurted, “You’re welcome! Merry Christmas! Okay, bye!”

You practically sprinted out of the room, your face burning, but you couldn’t stop the smile spreading across your face.

Maybe Theodore Nott wasn’t so bad after all.

bonus .ᐟ

Later, when you were sitting by the fire, Lorenzo plopped down beside you with a smug grin.

“So,” he said, nudging you. “You gave Theo his gift. How’d it go?”

“Fine,” you said, playing with the hem of your sweater. “He liked it.”

“‘Liked it,’” Lorenzo repeated. “That’s all you’re gonna say?”

“Yes,” you said firmly. “That’s all.”

Lorenzo smirked. “You’re blushing, Sunshine.”

“I am not!”

Across the room, Theodore caught your eye, and for the briefest moment, he smiled—a real, genuine smile. Your heart did a little flip, and you quickly looked away.

Lorenzo laughed. “Yeah. Totally not blushing.”

“Shut up, Enzo!”

Lorenzo's laughter trailed off as you smacked his arm, though he didn’t stop smirking like the absolute menace he was. You crossed your arms and sank deeper into your seat, huffing.

“Say, Enzo,” you began, your voice carefully nonchalant, “you know Italian, right?”

He raised a curious eyebrow but shrugged. “Yeah, of course.”

You turned to face him, fiddling nervously with the hem of your sleeve. “What does… uh… mio sole mean?”

The smirk that spread across his face was so smug, you immediately regretted asking. “Ohhh,” he drawled, leaning closer with a mischievous glint in his eye. “Who called you that?”

“No one!” you said, your voice jumping an octave. “I just heard it somewhere, that’s all. Totally random. Not a big deal!”

Enzo’s eyebrows wiggled like he was performing some sort of comedy act. “Not a big deal, huh? Sure. Well, it means ‘my sun.’ You know, like…” He trailed off dramatically before pointing straight at you. “Sunshine. My sunshine.”

Your face burned so hot, you were pretty sure you were moments away from combusting. “Oh,” you squeaked, your voice barely audible.

Enzo leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, looking entirely too pleased with himself. “So, Sunshine, care to explain who’s been whispering sweet nothings in Italian to you?”

“No one!” you said again, practically shouting this time. “I told you, I just heard it somewhere! That’s all! Ugh, you’re so annoying, Enzo!”

“I’m annoying?” he said with mock offense. “You’re the one coming to me with your mysterious Italian phrases. Next thing I know, you’ll be asking me how to confess your undying love to Theo in flawless Tuscan dialect.”

Your gasp was so loud, half the common room turned to look at you. “Excuse me?!”

Enzo’s smirk widened. “You’re excused.”

You sputtered incoherently, your brain a tangled mess of embarrassment and indignation. “I—he—there is nothing—you are impossible, Lorenzo Berkshire!”

Enzo laughed so hard, he nearly fell out of his chair. Meanwhile, you crossed your arms and buried your face in your hands, silently vowing to never speak to him again.

Across the room, Theodore caught your eye once more, his lips quirking up in a small, knowing smile. Your stomach flipped again, and you quickly turned away, cheeks blazing.

Enzo, noticing the exchange, gasped dramatically. “It is Theo, isn’t it?! Sunshine, you sly little—”

“ENOUGH!” You groaned, grabbing a cushion and whacking him with it. Enzo, of course, only laughed harder.

© iamgonnagetyouback ⋆.˚ please do not copy, translate, or repost any of my work.

[deadrobinthoughts]

†  the final call : various.

♦ request: yes; the batfam's final voicemail. ♦ beta’d: nope ♦ tw(s): character death. ♦ a/n: i know therapy is expensive and scary, guys - coming from someone with bpd - but, i don't think requesting these things are going to help </3

you wake up to a missed call.

several, actually.

the light from your phone flickers across the dark room, illuminating the time; 4:42 am. you rub the exhaustion from your face, still half-asleep, still adjusting, still unaware of what you’re about to hear.

your phone vibrates again.

and you see it.

voicemails.

your stomach tightens. the weight in your chest presses, heavy, suffocating. something deep in your gut tells you not to press play.

but you do.

and then, their voices fill the silence.

-----

𝐁𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐲𝐧𝐞 — [Missed Call: 3:58 AM]

"it’s me."

bruce’s voice is calm. too calm.

"i don’t have much time, so listen carefully. things didn’t go as planned tonight. i took a hit i can’t recover from. i tried, but.."

a pause. a slow, steady breath.

"i won’t make it. i know you. you’re going to blame yourself for not being here. you’re going to replay this over and over, thinking there was something you could’ve done."

his voice wavers, just slightly.

"but there wasn’t. this isn’t your fault. it was never your fault."

a slow inhale.

"i need you to keep going. keep protecting gotham. keep being you. keep… keep living."

his breath catches, but he pushes through it.

"i love you. i always have. and i am so proud of you. you were the best thing to ever happen to me."

the voicemail ends.

𝐃𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐬𝐨𝐧 — [Missed Call: 2:47 AM]

there’s a sharp breath, a wet, choking cough. the static crackles from a bad connection, but you can still hear the pain laced in every syllable.

"hey, baby. it’s me. should’ve known you’d be asleep. i almost didn’t call. i don’t wanna wake you, y’know? you work too hard. but, uh… i think i messed up this time."

his breath hitches, shaky. the faint rustle of fabric, maybe him trying to sit up. failing.

"i took a bad hit. couldn’t get back to the cave in time. it’s… it’s getting kinda cold out here. listen, sweetheart. i need you to know something.

i love you. god, i love you so much. you always made everything feel… lighter. you were my safe place. my heart.

i just- i wish i had more time.

it’s funny, y’know? all those years flying through gotham, all the close calls, and i still thought- i still thought we’d have more time."

he exhales, slow and shaky.

"…i’ll try to make it back to you. but if i don’t… just know that you were the best thing to ever happen to me."

the voicemail ends.

𝐉𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐨𝐝𝐝 — [Missed Call: 3:12 AM]

static at first. then, a sharp intake of breath. a hiss.

"shit. why didn’t you pick up?"

there’s movement. a wet, dragging noise. a weak, bitter chuckle follows.

"doesn’t matter. you’re sleeping, aren’t you? god. you always tell me i don’t rest enough, and now look at you, huh? you're missin’ out on all the action."

he groans - low, ragged. pained.

"ah, hell, sweetheart. this isn't good. i’m not- i don’t think i’m gettin’ out of this one.

i’m trying, okay? i really am.

but it’s gettin’ harder to move. gettin’ harder to breathe. look, i know you’re gonna be pissed. you’re gonna hate me for this. but you can’t-" he coughs, wet and sharp. "you can’t just sit there and grieve forever, alright? you gotta keep going.

i mean it. no dumb, dramatic, ‘what would jason do’ bullshit, because jason was a dumbass who got himself killed. twice.

but i love you. and if i don’t make it out… just know i fought like hell to get back to you.

i always do."

the voicemail ends.

𝐓𝐢𝐦 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐤𝐞 — [Missed Call: 2:30 AM]

tim’s voice is quiet. weak.

"hey. it’s me."

his breathing is uneven, shaky. there’s a sharp exhale, like he’s pressing on something. a wound, maybe.

"i didn’t mean for this to happen."

a pause. a slow, strained breath.

"i don’t know if i’m gonna make it back. it’s bad. it’s… really bad. i wish i had more time. there’s so much i wanted to tell you. so much i should’ve said. but mostly, i just- i love you. more than i ever knew how to say. more than i probably deserved.

and i’m sorry. for all of it.

if i don’t… if i don’t see you again-"

his voice breaks.

"please don’t forget me."

the voicemail ends.

𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐖𝐚𝐲𝐧𝐞 — [Missed Call: 4:18 AM]

"beloved."

his voice is strained, but still firm. still damian.

"i need you to answer me."

a pause. a sharp, unsteady inhale.

"you are sleeping, aren’t you?"

there’s a rustle of fabric, like he’s shifting. a hiss of pain, sharp and quick.

"this is… not ideal. the wound is deeper than anticipated. i am not saying goodbye."

his breath is shaky, but there is iron in his tone.

"i refuse to say goodbye."

another breath. slower, more forced.

"but i need you to listen to me. i need you to know something. you were the best part of my life. i spent so many years searching for a purpose. for something that made it all worth it.

and it was you. it was always you."

silence. his breath catches.

"i will fight to come back to you."

a pause. a whisper.

"but if i fail… know that i have never loved anything the way i loved you."

the voicemail ends.

𝐒𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 — [Missed Call: 3:29 AM]

"shit, shit, shit-"

stephanie’s voice is panicked. there’s a rustling of fabric, a sharp gasp of pain.

"okay, bad news. super bad news. you were right, i should’ve waited for backup, and now-"

a sharp hiss.

"ah, screw it, you were always right."

her breath stutters. the strain, the fear.

"it’s bad. i know it’s bad. and you’re probably gonna be so mad when you hear this, but i- i don’t think i’m making it back home."

"listen, okay? i need you to listen.

you were the best thing that ever happened to me. and you are not allowed to let this wreck you, you hear me? you’re gonna get up, eat breakfast, kick crime’s ass, and live your life. got it?"

her voice is trembling now.

"i love you. and i’m sorry. i’m so, so sorry."

the voicemail ends.

��𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐚 𝐂𝐚𝐢𝐧 — [Missed Call: 4:01 AM]

cass’s voice is weak. barely there.

"hey. i- i tried calling."

a sharp breath. a choked noise.

"you didn’t answer."

silence. just her breathing. just struggling.

"i should have.. should have said more, before. but you knew, right? you had to know."

there’s a rustling sound. her trying to move.

"i love you. you were my family. my home."

a pause. a ragged, slow breath.

"wish i had more time. more words."

the voicemail ends.

𝐃𝐮𝐤𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐬 — [Missed Call: 3:46 AM]

"hey."

duke sounds breathless. but he’s still trying to keep his voice light.

"so, uh. bad news. things went sideways. really sideways."

a soft chuckle. weak.

"i know you, so let me just say this now - you are not allowed to be all broody and guilt-ridden over this. i mean it. no self-blame, no ‘if only i had been there,’ no nothing. got it?"

"damn. wish you were here. just to talk to me for a sec."

his voice drops.

"it’s getting kinda hard to stay awake."

"hey, stay with me a sec, alright?"

silence.

"…ah. never mind."

the voicemail ends.

-----

the room is silent.

your hands are shaking.

your breath comes too fast, too shallow. you press your fingers against your temple, against your lips, like you can stop the devastation physically. like you can keep it all in.

you missed the call.

you missed all of them.

and now...

[b3ach-bunn7]

WE SUFFOCATED OUR LOVE

a random number starts texting you and you decide to text back

Or, the bassist of your favourite band accidentally messages you and u fall in love

inspired by this fic 😆 and my fav band the driver era

band!au, no quirks, text form, eventual romance

————————————————————————-

September 18th

10:37 pm

Unknown: Ask Shiggy to grab me a monster on his way back

You: a monster?? are u 12…

Unknown: Shut up and ask

You: sorry I think you have the wrong number

Unknown: No I don’t

You: lowkey u do..

You: r u trying to hack me

Unknown: You’re still texting me so u would probably fall for it

You: okay ur still textjng me genius

Unknown: Texting*

You: Shut up.

You: okay don’t actually shut up

Unknown: Thought I was a hacker

You: maybe I wanna be hacked

Unknown: Is this flirting

You: maybe

You: r u really sexy

Unknown: Extremely

You: 😍 feeling bashful rn

You: why r u drinking monsters anyways

You: Wait am i actually messaging a 12 yr old

September 19th

4:03 am

Unknown: I’m not 12 years old

Unknown: I’m 24

Unknown: And i drink monsters for energy

Unknown: And because they r yummy

Unknown: And cheap

You: omfg you don’t need a separate text for every word

Unknown: Oh

Unknown: Didn’t think you’d be awake so late

You: well I wasn’t but SOMEONE is messaging me at 4am

You: also I’m 24 2

Unknown: Didn’t ask

You: kys

Unknown: Ok bye

You: pussy

You: why are u even awake so late

Unknown: I’m writing

You: omg 😳 are u an author

Unknown: Lol no

Unknown: I write music

You: OMG

You: even better

You: what do u play

Unknown: Bass

Unknown: And I sing kinda

You: kinda?

Unknown: I sing backup mainly

Unknown: Or lead if I’m feeling extra generous

You: generous?

Unknown: To please all my loving woman fans ofc 😫

You: EWW TF

You: DONT EVER USE EMOJIS AGAIN BRUH 😭

Unknown: 😭💔.

You: literally throwing up alllllxover my room

Unknown: Weirdo

Unknown: Go to sleep

You: don’t tell me what to do 🙄

Unknown: Okay don’t sleep

You: lowkey have to I have uni tomorrow

Unknown: Loser

You: shush

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

September 19th

8:47 am

You: FUCK YOU

September 19th

2:30 pm

Unknown: Meanie 😢

You: i overslept because of you

Unknown: Were you up all night thinking about me

You: i dont eben know ur name

Unknown: Dabi

You: oh ur sooooo emo and edgy

Dabi: Shut up

You: nobody... understands you😕⛓️🥀

Dabi: You gonna tell me ur name or what

You: Y/N

Dabi: Pretty name

You: dont stalk me plz

Dabi: No promises

————————————————————————

September 28th

10:02 pm

You: so if u dont go uni what do you do

Dabi: I told you i write music

Dabi: Am also in a band

You: wait are u like

You: successful

You: like do u make money from it

Dabi: Well yes

Dabi: Its my job

You: wait thats kinda cool

Dabi:  😎 

You: take it back so fast

You: do u stream ur music on like spotify

You: let me listen

You: whats ur band called

Dabi: No

You: mid name but i will look it up

Dabi: I dont wanna tell you

Dabi: Not right now at least

You: r u like super famous

You: am i messaging harry styles rn

Dabi: Im sorry i kept this from u for so long

You: is 1D cming back

You: plz

Dabi: Never

Dabi: Narry ruined us😔

You: HAHAH

You: HWO DO U KNOW WHAT TAHT IS

Dabi: I have a sister

Dabi: But seriously I'll tell you one day

You: how do ik ur not lying about ur music 🤔

Dabi: [image attachment]

September 28th

10:13pm

You: MINABHABHAE

You: LOOK

You: OMFG

You: [image attachment]

You: HIS HAND IS ALL TATTED UP AND SEXY

You: AND THAT BASS

You: just creamed my pants

Mina: GIRL

Mina: you dont even know what he looks like

Mina: he does have sexy hands tho

You: sexy hands = sexy face

You: its litch science

Mina: ur so whipped and its been a week

You: uhm

You: ten days actually

Mina: ur not right in the head

September 28th

10:22 pm

Dabi: Did my incredible bass shock u to silence

You: i literally collapsed when i saw it

You: i like the blue

You: also ur tattoos are cool

Dabi: Thanks babe

You: mhm

You: yh

You: did they hurt

You: when u got them done

Dabi: Nah they werent too bad

Dabi: Worst was probs the ones on my chest

You: r u like alll tatted up

Dabi: I am

Dabi: That okay?

You: mhm

You: very cool

You: i want a tatto but im lowkey scared like

You: what if it hurts

Dabi: Ill get one with you

Dabi: Ill talk you through it

Dabi: Distract you from the pain

You: mhm

You: yes

You: very good

You: my roomates calling me ttylxox

September 28th

10:30pm

You: [screenshot]

You: hes SOO FLIRTING RIGHT

Mina: oh babe this reads like a porno

You: DFHBAJHF

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

October 11th

8:37 pm

You: [link attachment]

You: listen to this song

You: LOV is the best band eva

Dabi: LOL

You: WHAT

You: its so good its my fav band

You: im seeing them next month

Dabi: Really

You: r u jelly

Dabi: Very

Dabi: If only i could be there

You: i think theres still tickets for sale if u acc wanna come

Dabi: You tryna see me in person?

You: mayhaps

You: ur just so mysterious

You: what if ur actually like a pedo

Dabi: The fuck

Dabi: I’m no pedo

You: okay cool

You: you can come to the concert then

Dabi: Seriously?

October 11th

8:47pm

You: MINA

You: PLEASE

You: [screenshot attachment]

You: SHALL I SAY YEA

Mina: UHM

Mina: YES

Mina: concerts are public so if he’s actually a creep you’ll be safe

You: OKAY

October 11th

8:50pm

You: okay omg

You: shall we actually do this

Dabi: Yeah

Dabi: You got another month to figure out if I’m a pedo

You: now I deffo think you’re one

—————————————————————————

October 17th

6:45 pm

Dabi: Does this sound good

Dabi: [audio message]

You: WOAH

You: that sounds really good

You: is that u talking at the end

Dabi: Yeah my roommate walked in

You: ur voice is so deep

Dabi: Sexy right

You: gosh so modest too

Dabi: I’m working on a new song but I can’t tell if I like that riff

You: u should like it

You: it’s very good

Dabi: Thanks babe

You: soooooo

You: can u show me ur band now 😁

Dabi: No 😁

You: 🤬

—————————————————————————

October 21st

8:33pm

You: what would u do if we meet irl and IM actually famous

You: like u pull up to the concert and I’m there but I’m actually like Jojo siwa or something

Dabi: I’d be a bit disappointed

You: u don’t fw jojo??

Dabi: No but she’s gay and I’d hope all my flirting was being put to good use here

You: hardee har

————————————————————————

October 25th

6:45pm

You: I’m supposed to be studying but

You: I can’t stop thinking if halloweeen😝

Dabi: You going trick or treating?

You: i wish

You: unfortunately too old for that now

Dabi: Loser

Dabi: My little brothers 11 so I get to do it with him

Dabi: But I gotta act cool like I don’t wanna do it

You: IM SO JELLY

You: can I borrow ur little brother on the 31st of October plz

Dabi: No weirdo

You: sigh

You: I’m going to a party at least

Dabi: Oh yeah

Dabi: What are u dressing up as

You: me and my friend are going as monster high girls 😁😁😁

You: shes draculaura and I’m clawdeen 😜

Dabi: Sick

Dabi: U have to show me when you do it

You: gosh ur so obsessed with me

You: but okay

—————————————————————————

October 28th

7:00pm

You: [image attachment]

You: the fit is ready

Dabi: Why aren’t u wearing it

You: im gonnna do the full reveal ON halloween

Dabi: Sigh fine

You: what are you wearing punk

Dabi: Punk 😭

You: LOL

Dabi: U can’t laugh

You: okay…

Dabi: You know that show curious George

You: HAHAHA

You: R U FONNA BE THE YELLOW HAT MAN

Dabi: You said u wouldn’t laugh 😔

You: NO ITS SO CUTE

Dabi: I got him a little monkey onesie

You: AWWW

You: THATS SO CUTE

October 28th

7:10 pm

You: [screenshot attachment]

You: when he’s a good older brother 😍😍❤️😝

Mina: okay bare minimum 😍😍😍

You: SHUT UP

—————————————————————————-

October 31st

6:00 pm

Dabi: [image attachment]

Dabi: Ur favourite childhood father figure

You: OMG

You: U GUYS LOOK SO GOOD

You: crazy how ur face is covered🙄

Dabi: You love the thrill of the mystery

Dabi: Let’s see ur costume

You: my party starts at like nine bruh 😭

You: im in bed watching movies

Dabi: Loser

Dabi: Imagine not trick or treating

You: u suck so much

Dabi: Ofc I do 😋

You: VOMIT 🤢

October 31st

6:07pm

You: [image attachment]

You: Mina.

You: look at his ARMS IN THAT SUIT

Mina: it’s bright yellow

You: HES CURIOUS GEORGE MAN

You: his little brothers the monkey

Mina: WAIT WHY IS THAT KINDA CUTE

You: IK

Mina: and he does look sexy in that button up

You: the tattoos🤤

Mina: love a man with a dark past 😍

You: god im so scared to see him

You: the concerts on the 10th

Mina: you’ll be okay babe Dw

October 31st

8:30pm

You: [image attachment]

You: it’s…. A full moon.. I feel myself… changing 🐺

Dabi: Woah

Dabi: You look hot

You: omg

You: thank u

Dabi: You’re pretty too

Dabi: R u wearing that to the concert

You: LOL NO

You: I haven’t decided yet

Dabi: U have to show me

Dabi: So I can find you

You: and how am I gonna find you

Dabi: You’ll find me

November 3rd

7:02pm

Dabi: [audio attachment]

Dabi: Listen please 😄

Dabi: What do you think

You: why r u acc good at this

You: I LOVE

You: yk it kinda sounds like LOV

You: I think you’ll like their music

Dabi: Girl I listen to them

You: GIRL???

You: sassy man apocalypse is alive and well

Dabi: Whos ur favourite band member

You: hmmmm

You: I like the drummer

You: himiko she’s so cute

You: but the bassist 🤤🤤🤤

You: Touya

You: need him in ways I can’t articulate over message 😳

You: uhm where did u go

You: did my thirsting freak u out

Dabi: No ur good

Dabi: I thought you’d like the guitarist

Dabi: Shiggy

Dabi: Every girl is obsessed with him

You: yeah but Touya is all emo kinda

You: I love it

November 8th

9:00pm

You: [image attachment]

You: fit check for the concert😜

Dabi: I love it

Dabi: Very Blue

Dabi: That’s my fav colour

You: that’s why I’m wearing it??

Dabi: Blushing rn 🤭

You: HAHA

November 10th

6:30 pm

You: On my way! now

You: tf

Dabi: Can’t wait to see you!

You: LOL SHUSH

You: im nervous

Dabi: Don’t be

Dabi: Im excited to see you

You: me too 😆

November 10th

6:50pm

Mina: be careful plz

Mina: there’s loads of people around but still

Mina: he could be a freak in disguise

You: I know babe Dw dw

You: I’ll keep u updated

Mina: good

Mina: r u gonna give him a biggggg fat smooch 🤤

You: SHUT UP

November 7th

7:00pm

You: are you here?

Dabi: Yeah

You: omg

You: im scared

Dabi: Lowkey same

Dabi: But im so manly and strong so im actually not scared

You: LOL

Dabi: Okay wait

Dabi: I need to tell you smth

You: is this u telling me the pedo allegations r true….

Dabi: Before we meet u need to know

You: yeah what’s up?

Dabi: Idk how to say this without u thinking I’m lying but

Dabi: I’m Touya

You: uh

You: what 😅

Dabi: I just didn’t wanna tell you because I thought you might like

Dabi: Idk people r so weird about it when they find out

Dabi: And I didn’t want you to just talk to me because of that

Dabi: Especially when I found out u listen to our music

Dabi: I’m sorry I never told u

Dabi: Y/N? You there?

You: yeah I just

You: slightly confused

You: idk how to tell if ur lying or not

Dabi: [image attachment]

Dabi: Theres the face reveal you’ve been after

You: what the sigma

You: okay

You: woah

You: so I’ve actually been dming a celebrity

Dabi: You prefer me or Harry styles

You: you deffo

You: but I think you knew that from my messages from before

Dabi: Yeah i remember

Dabi: Dw you can articulate all the ways you need me after the show

You: haahahahhahaha

You: 😁😁😁 okay

Dabi: I have smth for you though

You: you do?

Dabi: Yeah

Dabi: Go to the back door where that scary security guy is

Dabi: His name is Spinner

Dabi: Tell him Dabi sent you

You: OKAY

You: :((( THIS IS SO CUTE

Dabi: You like them?

You: I can’t believe u got me flowers 😢

You: thank you!!!

Dabi: That’s alright

Dabi: Okay I need to go warm up

Dabi: I’ll be looking for you in the crowd

You: I’ll be staring at you too

Dabi: I said looking

You: same diff

You: wait hold on

Touya: What?

You: nm nm

You: good luck for ur show 😆

Touya: Thanks babe

BONUS

November 7th

5:05pm

Touya: Toga

Touya: Toga

Touya: Toga

Touya: TOGAAAAA

Toga: WTF DO U WANT

Touya: If I was gonna get a girl flowers what should I get her

Toga: GASP GASP

Toga: WHO R U RIZZING UP

Touya: Literally fuck off never say that

Toga: is this that girl you’re always messaging

Toga: and smiling at ur phone 🥺🥺

Touya: Fuck off

Toga: IT ISSSSSS

Toga: IS SHE COMING TONIGHT

Touya: Yes

Toga: AHHSSHAHWHW

Toga: THIS IS SO EXCITING

Touya: I’m so happy ur having so so much fun

Toga: I so ammmmmm

Toga: but why don’t u ask her what she wants

Touya: It’s a surprise idiot

Toga: AWWWWWWWW

Toga: okay well if u wanna be so really romantic u could get her roses

Toga: or maybeee tulips or lillies

Toga: she’ll like whatevs u get her

Touya: Okay

Touya: Thanks

Toga: that’s okay lover boy 😍🥰

Touya: Kys

—————————————————————————-

THIS WAS SO FUN TO WRITE OH EM GEE but it lowkey took longer than I thought it would… but i hope u all enjoyed 😁😁

also y/ns messaging is literally just how I message.. I fear this is the most self indulgent fic I’ve ever written

[mooooonnnzz]

don’t text and swing! // miles morales x reader

miles loves texting and he loves you, what could go wrong?

cute lil miles texting headcanons

sum short n simple

readers gender not rlly specified

ooc miles?? idfk how he would text so i tried my best 😭

requests r open!!

miles says mentirosa that jus means liar

�� ────── {⋅. ✯ .⋅} ────── ⊰

🕷️ You’re never guaranteed a full on conversation with Miles because most the time he leaves you on open. He doesn’t do it on purpose, really. He just so happens to be a very busy man so trying to talk to him when he isn’t saving New York is pretty difficult.

9:55 pm [ miles <3 ]: Hey did u still one of my jackets

9:55 pm [ miles <3 ]: *steal idk how i got still

9:55 pm [ miles <3 ]: Anyways I cant find it anywhere and ik u have something to with it

10:00 pm [ miles <3 ]: I know ur not ignoring me rn…

10:01 pm [ you ]: oh wow of course im the first person you blame

10:01 pm [ you ]: also i dont have it ☝️

10:02 pm [ miles <3 ]: Who else would take my jackets??

10:02 pm [ miles <3 ]: This also isn’t the first time my jackets OR hoodies have gone missing

10:02 pm [ miles <3 ]: And somehow they always end up in your room

10:03 pm [ miles <3 ]: Suspicious right…🤨

10:06 pm [ you ]: oh shit by some magical force

10:06 pm [ you ]: your jacket managed to teleport to my bed!!

10:07 pm [ you ]: and somehow…IT FLEW ON ME?? AND NOW IM WEARING IT?

10:07 pm [ you ]: this is actually crazy…

10:15 pm [ you ]: wait miles where did you go

10:25 pm [ you ]: are you mad?

10:30 pm [ you ]: no way ur mad

10:40 pm [ you ]: MILES

10:42 pm [ you ]: HELLO

10:43 pm [ you ]: MILESSSS

10:56 pm [ you ]: oh wait mb you’re probably busy saving somebody

10:56 pm [ you ]: got a lil crazy there

10:57 pm [ you ]: ignore all that

1:00 am [ miles <3 ]: I KNEW IT

1:00 am [ miles <3 ]: It’s okay i like you a little deranged 😩

1:03 am [ you ]: why are you texting me at one in the morning

1:04 am [ miles <3 ]: Why are you replying?

1:05 am [ you ]: have you been fighting since 10?

1:12 am [ miles <3 ]: I’ve been studying! 🤓

1:12 am [ you ]: LIAR i know what you are…

🕷️ You text him while he’s in the middle of fighting? You bet he’s going to respond. While giving himself a reasonable distance away from the villian, he holds out his pointer finger and says; “Hold on, let me respond to them real quick…” While they’re throwing punches at Miles, he’s dodging all of them while texting you back. Though, he’s text aren’t legible. At least he thinks they are! All Miles wants to do is talk to you, even if you don’t understand half the things he’s typing. Texting him while he’s swinging has the same effect. He has dropped his phone multiple times and he’s always caught it before it could land on the street, though when his webs come in contact with his screen it registers as someone typing so without even knowing he’s spamming you a whole bunch of jumbled letters.

3:45 pm [ you ]: hey miles can i come over for dinner

3:45 pm [ you ]: im craving ur moms food 😍

3:46 pm [ miles <3 ]: oys of cours

3:48 pm [ you ]: did u just have a stroke

3:53 pm [ miles <3 ]: noi busy

3:53 pm [ you ]: if you’re busy why r u texting me 😭

3:53 pm [ you ]: go back to fighting or wtv ur doing

3:56 pm [ miles <3 ]: i wMt to talk toyj

3:58 pm [ you ]: u can talk to me later miles

3:58 pm [ you ]: im not going away

4:00 pm [ miles <3 ]: hatr

5:46 pm [ miles <3 ]: HEYYY

5:46 pm [ you ]: HII are you not busy anymore

5:47 pm [ miles <3 ]: Yeah

5:48 pm [ miles <3 ]: How’s your day been?

5:49 pm [ you ]: it’s been ehhhhh

5:49 pm [ you ]: i’ve been missing you 😔

5:51 pm [ miles <3 ]: ooajbdko092828900

5:51 pm [ miles <3 ]: 08:$jjaoppapp

5:52 pm [ miles <3 ]: !!!!!

5:54 pm [ you ]: what

6:00 pm [ miles <3 ]: I DROPPED MY PHONE

6:01 pm [ miles <3 ]: ANYWAYS back to what you were saying

6:02 pm [ miles <3]: I’ve been missing you too

6:04 pm [ you ]: youre no better than those people who text and drive 😐

6:05 pm [ you ]: don’t text and swing miles

🕷️ He loves sending you videos of him showing off in his suit. He did a cool trick midair? He’s going to prop up his phone somewhere and start recording, once he perfects the move and edits out any unneeded footage and he sends them to you. He’s all giddy when he does, in his head he’s like, “Will that impress them?” “Do they think that’s cool?” “They’re going to love this!”

11:00 am [ miles <3 ]: (1 attachment video)

11:00 am [ miles <3 ]: What do you think??

11:00 am [ miles <3 ]: Pretty cool right

11:03 am [ you ]: (1 attachment photo)

11:04 am [ you ]: LOOK AT THE FACE YOU MADE WHWN YOU JUMPEDD AHHHHH 💀

11:04 am [ you ]: this is going to be my new lock screen

11:05 am [ miles <3 ]: 😐

11:06 am [ miles <3 ]: Are you going to ignore the cool spin i did?

11:07 am [ you ]: oh sorey

11:08 am [ you ]: THAT WAS A REALLY SICK SPIN

11:09 am [ miles <3 ]: Mentirosa 😒

🕷️ Miles also sends you photos. It ranges from him swinging in midair or him relaxing on top of a building with his lunch in hand. He loves to keep you updated on his life. You’re the only one in this universe that knows his secret, so he texts or shows you everything he comes across as SpiderMan.

3:00 pm [ miles <3 ]: (1 attachment photo)

3:00 pm [ miles <3 ]: Look how pretty the view is from up here

3:00 pm [ you ]: oooh that’s actually so pretty

3:01 pm [ you ]: who knew new york could actually look nice for once?

3:02 pm [ miles <3 ]: I’m going to take you here one day for lunch

6:54 pm [ miles <3 ]: (1 attachment photo)

6:54 pm [ miles <3 ]: You should put this as your lock screen

6:55 pm [ you ]: it’s just you doing the peace sign while swinging

6:55 pm [ miles <3 ]: You said that like it’s a bad thing

6:55 pm [ miles <3 ]: It’s a nice photo :(

6:58 pm [ you ]: look i set it as my lock screen

6:58 pm [ you ]: (1 screenshot)

6:59 pm [ you ]: everyones gonna see that i know spiderman

6:59 pm [ miles <3 ]: YES GOOD

🕷️ He texts you nonsense sometimes. You could be chilling, watching something to pass the time and he will text you something so utterly stupid you would have to take a moment to process it.

10:00 am [ miles <3]: (1 attachment photo)

10:00 am [ you ]: u just sent an empty plate of food?

10:00 am [ miles <3 ]: Yeah cuz I ate 😜

10:01 am [ miles <3 ]: Like literally

10:03 am [ you ]: enough.

fanks to everyone who sent in requests IM WIRITN G THEM RN ✍️

[jymwahuwu]

-cw: yandere, non-con, forced overstimulation, harassment, breaking into your home

The actual record of dating General Jing Yuan:

(everything below is automatically recorded by the system set up by the general)

4:00 am Jing Yuan pointed out that you will have a date today.

4:00 am You are woken up by the sound of a message.

4:01 am You frowned, checked the message, and replied "wtf it's bedtime".

4:05 am You fell asleep again.

9:45 am Had breakfast.

10:00 am The electronic door lock automatically opened. Jing Yuan stepped in with a "^_^" expression.

10:01 am You: “Can you stop breaking into my house all the time?”

10:02 am Showed you that message. You are speechless.

11:00 am The romantic date begins!!

11:15 am Visited the Space Animal Sanctuary and watched the adorable and special animals together.

11:20 am the baby bird trembled and walked towards Jing Yuan and pecked the back of his hand with its beak. You think nothing can be cuter than this.

11:45 am you curiously fed the sheep that could predict the future destiny of life. This animal looks like a sheep.

11:46 am A 💭 floated out of the sheep’s head:

Love Trend: Dating the one who likes you will guarantee your eternal relationship.

11:47 am You are shocked. Jing Yuan chuckled and stroked the sheep's head.

12:15 pm Jing Yuan purchased two commemorative keychains. He said the two keychains commemorated the romantic date.

12:16 pm Jing Yuan attached one of the keychains to your backpack/bag, etc.

13:00 pm Had a romantic date in a restaurant with a view of the Milky Way.

14:02 pm Jing Yuan offered to go home and fuck you, using an affectionate tone. Your fingers holding the door were pried open one by one, and you were pulled onto the spaceship.

15:12 pm Back to your apartment!! Jing Yuan kissed you and put you on his arm with one hand, burning off the calories from the meal just now.

15:20 pm You were forced to spread your legs on the sofa, and Jing Yuan buried his head between your legs, or twitched with his fingers, and occasionally said something embarrassing to you. You pushed his hair.

16:05 pm You can’t remember how many times you’ve had an orgasm. Consciousness began to drift away.

17:00 pm Lubricate the cock head with the petals, teasing you on the outside for five minutes before hitting bottom. "Ah…!! ❤"

18:15 pm You start to think about why Jing Yuan’s staying power is so terrible. Is this the secret of long-life species?

19:00 pm You're lying on the bed, panting, tongue sticking out. The fertile semen inside flowed out like a quiet stream.

19:01 pm Jing Yuan resisted the urge to lift your legs and thrust into you again. Look at your lovely face.

19:04 pm Conclusion: Your cuteness transcends the laws of the world.

19:10 pm Kissed you on the cheek, put one of his hands on your breasts, and hugged you to sleep naked.

[the-thing-inside-your-closet]

Prompts I’ve seen/found online that I have used an inspiration for many things, but mainly DP X DC stuff.

There’s 200 prompts/quotes in there

1. They match each other’s freak to a degree that is dangerous to the public.

2. People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.

3. “I have a solution.”

“Thank goodness.”

“It involves fire.”

“Absolutely not.”

4. Why are you hiding behind me? What did you do?

5. We can’t have a crisis - my schedule is already full!

6. “What’s our exit strategy?”

“Our what?”

“We’re all going to die.”

7. That is a terrible, horrible, incredibly foolish idea. Let’s do it and see what happens.

8. “This coffee tastes weird.”

“That’s probably because it’s not coffee.”

9. “Can I bother you for a second?”

“You always bother me, but go ahead.”

10. “Are you mad?”

“No.”

“So sharpening knives at 2am is just a hobby?”

11. I’m going to give my inner child a gun.

12. Your inability to learn complicated handshakes is tearing this gang apart.

13. I get so affectionate when I’m sleepy it’s disgusting.

14. Leaving a watermelon on someone’s doorstep in the middle of the night is a pretty inexpensive way to occupy a portion of their mind forever.

15. No offence to myself or anything but what the fuck am I doing.

16. I would love to be mysterious but I never shut the fuck up.

17. The divorce rate amongst my socks is astonishing.

18. Adulthood is a scam I want to be a crow.

19. Good morning! God has let me live another day and I’m about to make it everybody’s problem.

20. My house is haunted because I live there.

21. That’s my emotional support entity of questionable moral standing.

22. God released me into the wild and now he’s hunting me for sport.

23. No, no you don’t want to get to know me, I’m better as a concept.

24. I can’t wait until I’m old enough to pretend I can’t hear.

25. Do birds every just fly for fun or are they always on some kind of mission?

26. The older I get the more I understand why roosters scream to start their day.

27. ‘You’ll understand when you’re older.’ I am older and I understand absolutely nothing.

28. Source? It was revealed to me in a delusion.

29. Why do drugs after 30 when you can just stand up too fast?

30. I won’t ever be the bigger person in an argument. God made me 5’ for a reason.

31. This meeting could have been a fist fight.

32. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m never going to have a midlife crisis because my entire fucking life is a crisis.

33. Anyone fancy going off the fucking rails with me I’ve had enough.

34. Go ahead and get in the pond since you wanna act like a silly goose.

35. My life is like a romantic comedy except there’s no romance and it’s just me laughing at my own jokes.

36. Who the fuck decided to call it ‘emotional baggage’ and not ‘griefcase?’

37. I don’t have a nervous system. I am a nervous system.

38. “What makes us human?”

“Selecting all of the images with traffic lights.”

39. Don’t let anyone else ruin your day. It’s your day. Ruin it yourself.

40. The sixth love language is combat.

41. “I just told you 2 minutes ago.”

“I do not control the remember.”

42. Due to not wanting to. I will not be.

43. My flabbers be gasted daily.

44. “Are you seeing anyone?”

“Like a hallucination, a therapist, or a person?”

45. “You’re the most ridiculous person I’ve ever met.”

“Thank you I try my best.”

46. I tried to embrace my inner child today and the little asshole bit me.

47. I think my dark under eye circles are adding to the aesthetic actually.

48. Being smart has never stopped me from being a complete fucking idiot.

49. Next time I’m opening up to someone will be at my autopsy.

50. Too many songs about love. Not enough song about sword fights.

51. “You’re cute.”

“I’m feral and chaotic, don’t touch me.”

52. I’m not as unhinged as I could be and I want everyone to be great full for that.

53. How dare you know stuff about things.

54. “I have a plan.”

“Is it a good one?”

“I have a plan.”

55. “Are you decent?”

“Not morally, but I’m wearing pants if that’s what you’re asking.”

56. I may have the right to remain silent but I do not have the ability.

57. I don’t want to look ‘pretty.’ I want to look otherworldly and vaguely threatening.

58. If you ever feel safe please remember that I’m out there.

59. “I’m too good for revenge.”

“Well I’m not. Give me the gun.”

60. “You know I really feel like we aren’t seeing eye to eye.

“It’s because you’re taller than me asshole.”

61. “They rely on you.”

“I can’t be blamed for their lack of judgment..”

62. Well, aren’t you a little Ray of pitch black.

63. I can get behind murder but I draw the line at misogyny.

64. In my defence your honour, I simply do not vibe with the law.

65. Life is a tornado and I’m just the cow being spun around for cinematic value.

66. You can burn all the sage you want, I’ll be back.

67. I believe in holding grudges. I’ll heal in hell.

68. You know…they make medication for the way you act.

69. I like men with massive, throbbing vocabularies.

70. My swear jar could finance the fucking space program.

71. “Well if you want my opinion-”

“I don’t. I have my own.”

72. I’m awake but not operational.

73. Due to personal reasons I’ll be going back to sleep.

74. The bags under my eyes are Prada.

75. I identify as a threat. My pronouns are try/me.

76. Audacity must be on sale this year…

77. “Have you ever been handcuffed?”

“Sexually or by law enforcement?”

78. I don’t like salad or eye contact.

79. “Come here.”

“Why?”

“Just come here.”

“No you’re gonna hit me!”

80. “I didn’t catch your name.”

“I didn’t throw it.”

81. I have to keep reminding myself that I am an adult and will be charged as one.

82. Apparently ‘spite’ is not an appropriate answer to ‘what motives you?’

83. There is a fine line between my crazy and my intelligence. I use that line like a jump rope.

84. I don’t know where you got your opinion but I hope you kept the receipt.

85. Sometimes when I close my eyes…I can’t see.

86. Is being stupid a profession or are you just gifted?

87. Some days the supply of available curse words is insufficient to meet my demands.

88. I’m running out of reasons to not stab you.

89. When I said ‘how stupid can you be?’ It wasn’t a challenge.

90. Love at first sight? Tired, boring. Love at first assassination attempt? Spicy.

91. I’m sorry I don’t take orders. I barley take suggestions.

92. And that’s a wrap on another day where I acted like I knew what I was doing.

93. Now if you’ll excuse me…tonight’s bad decision isn’t going to make itself.

94. I take super hot showers to practice burning in hell.

95. I wanna be 14 again and ruin my life differently. I have new ideas.

96. Don’t be ashamed of who you are. That’s your parent’s job.

97. Being an adult is the dumbest thing I’ve ever done.

98. If I’m ever murdered, feel comfort in knowing I ran my mouth until the bitter end.

99. My spirit animal would fucking eat yours.

100. Some people will only like you if you fit inside their box. Don’t be afraid to shove that box up their ass.

101. I wonder if people look both ways before getting on my fucking nerves.

102. If I was a bird, I know who I’d shit on.

103. Giving a fuck doesn’t really go with my outfit.

104. I’m not insulting you, I’m describing you.

105. Life is full of disappointments and I just added you to the list.

106. And then I decided to take a detour to deliver an ass beating.

107. I wanna contribute to the chaos.

108. I’m gay and also stronger than all of you. So don’t try any shit.

109. With all due respect, which is none

110. What, pray tell, the fuck?

111. My arson charges don’t define me.

112. Those are bold words for someone in stabbing range.

113. I don’t understand your specific kind of crazy but I do admire your total commitment to it.

114. I am not above slashing my own tires to avoid going to this family brunch.

115. I don’t want to heal my inner child I want them to get revenge.

116. In order to insult me I must first value your opinion. Nice try though.

117. There’s someone for everyone and the person for you is a psychiatrist.

118. Keep rolling your eyes, maybe you’ll find a brain back there.

119. I think my guardian angel drinks.

120. In my defence, I was left unsupervised.

121. I believe in you. I also believe in Bigfoot so don’t get too excited.

122. If you figure me out I want an explanation.

123. I don’t think I meet the height requirements to ride your emotional roller coaster.

124. When killing them with kindness doesn’t work, try voodoo.

125. Another fine day ruined by responsibility.

126. You call them swear words. I call them sentence enhancers.

127. Stop petting my peeves.

128. What a year this week has been.

129. Don’t follow me I don’t know where I’m going.

130. Due to unfortunate circumstances, I am awake.

131. I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you.

132. Please don’t interrupt me while I’m ignoring you.

133. Everyone has the right to be stupid but you’re abusing the privilege.

134. I just know I will die trying to pet something I shouldn’t.

135. At this point, if a clown invited me into the woods, I’d just go.

136. I told him to take care of his eyes because they’re the only balls he has.

137. The trash gets picked up tomorrow. Be ready.

138. My last words will probably be sarcastic.

139. We don’t have time to unpack all that.

140. I may have committed light treason.

141. How is ‘pretty boy’ supposed to be an insult? I’m the prettiest goddamn boy in this town.

142. I’m not interested in being polite or heterosexual.

143. “Based on statistical evidence, I’m immortal.”

“How so?”

“Haven’t died yet.”

144. I’m just here to establish an alibi.

145. Take the day off from being the bigger person and choose violence, you deserve it.

146. Forgive and forget? I’m neither Jesus nor do I have alzheimers.

147. People are so ungrateful. No one ever thanks me for having the patience to not kill them.

148. “I can see your bra.”

“Fucking good it was expensive.”

149. Sir, that’s my emotional support knife collection.

150. My idea of ‘help from above’ is a sniper on the roof.

151. “We’re surrounded!”

“Excellent, we can attack in any direction!

152. Lord give me patience or an untractable handgun.

153. Step back! I’m a professional idiot!

154. “Trust your gut.”

“I have anxiety. My gut is always telling me to abort mission.”

155. Keep your morals away from me.

156. Your existence gives me a headache go stand over there.

157. What, from the bottom of my heart, the fuck?

158. My heart is not a home for cowards.

159. Underestimate me so I can embarrass you.

160. “It’ll be easy. You just have to seduce them.”

“You’re kidding, right? I’m about as seductive as a cabbage.”

161. You’ve got heart, kid. Several hearts. Honestly, I’m a little scared of you.

162. It takes a very special kind of idiot to pull off what you just did.

163. I’m no doctor - but I think he’s dead.

164. I love you. You enormously stubborn pain in the ass.

165. “What brings you here?”

“A continuum of terrible choices.”

“You’d be surprised to know how often people say that.”

166. “I thought we agreed to tell each other when we were bleeding internally.”

“That’s a very specific promise I don’t remember making.”

167. “Did you really google how to flirt with a girl?”

“What? How’d you know that?”

“You do realise there’s a search history?”

168. “I’m gonna…”

“If you kick down the door, I swear…”

“I’M GONNA PUNCH IT WITH MY FOOT!”

169. “Is it still murder if I give them a heads up?”

“That’s a threat.”

“Damn.”

170. Surprise! I’m back from the dead! Isn’t that exciting?

171. Don’t mind me, I’ll just be in the corner, having another existential crisis.

172. I’d agree with you, but then we’d both be wrong.

173. You’re important to me you piece of shit.

174. “Why are your hands purple?”

“That’s a very good question.”

175. Can someone turn off the sun please?

176. “I had a thought.”

“Oh no.”

“I swear it’s a good one this time!”

177. I’ve met bread smarter than you.

178. “Please stop getting shot, it stresses me out.”

“Oh, well if YOU don’t like it.”

179. Dude, we are not asking the dragon for directions.

180. You’ve got as much charm as a dead slug.

181. For you, I could steal the stars - but I can also get them through legitimate means, if that impresses you more.

182. I am under no obligation to make sense to you.

183. You smile like an idiot when you’re talking to them.

184. Don’t you sign to me in that tone.

185. Excuse me. I have to go make a scene.

186. “Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Don’t care. Shut up.”

187. Now that I made it weird, I’m going to make my exit.

188. So uh, I noticed you’re kinda naked. Is that intentional or…?

189. “Do you trust me?”

“No.”

“Smart man.”

190. Well, if you’d woken up properly the first time I kicked you, I wouldn’t have had to do it four more times.

191. “I have NEVER been so insulted.”

“You don’t listen much, do you?”

192. “Don’t you know who I am?”

“Yup. I just don’t care.”

193. I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into. I just thought it would be amusing.

194. I would tell you to be yourself but that almost got us killed last time.

195. “Why aren’t you worshipping me, mortal?”

“Not interested. Thanks.”

196. “I’d rather be dead.”

“Then I have some good news for you.”

197. “Did you hear that scream?”

“Yes, I’m the one who screamed.”

198. “What happened to your-”

“I lost a bet.”

“Why-”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

199. Reading way above my grade level didn’t get me as far in life as I had hoped.

200. Due to foreseen circumstances well within my control I will be late.

[apomaro-mellow]

Wrong Number 3

(2:21 am) I just realized something (2:21 am) Ur a cooking teacher (2:22 am) Who can't fry a egg (2:23 am) You're a fraud 🫵

[7:29 am] I can fry an egg just fine I just can't make the yolks runny. It's too hard to time it right. And why are you up thinking about eggs at 2 am?

(7:47 am) I was up thinking about you at 2 am

Steve felt his stomach flip as he sipped his coffee and set his belongings down in his classroom. Eddie didn't play games. He always said exactly what he was thinking. And it drew Steve wild.

(7:48 am) And about how your students might clown on you for not being able to scramble an egg

[7:49] Aww you're worried about me?

(7:49 am) Kids can be little monsters (7:50 am) Actually how old are the little monsters you teach?

[7:51] Youngest is 6 and oldest is 14. Speaking of, they'll be arriving soon so...

(7:52 am) Godspeed you academic warrior

Eddie didn't typically text so late on weeknights. Not since learning Steve was a teacher. It was just that he truly HAD been up and thinking of him. Steve drove him crazy and he thought he was doing a good job keeping a lid on it. 2 am texts were what happened when the lid got loose but Steve didn't seem put off by it.

At about half past three, Steve called him. Eddie was glad he made that leap with his first call. The sound of Steve's voice never failed to warm him through. Eddie was in the middle of collecting axes for sharpening at the end of his shift.

"What's cookin' good lookin'?", Eddie greeted as he picked up.

"Today was good. Had a really riveting conversation about meatloaf versus pate with the kids", Steve said.

"Meatloaf rocks and pate is just cold meatloaf for rich people. End of discussion."

"Well, we talked about it for like fifteen minutes. Had a real interesting tangent on forcemeats in general."

Eddie paused. "Excuse me?"

"You'd be surprised at what kids are into. This one I taught last year was really into rice-"

"I need you to backtrack just a bit. 'Forcemeat'?"

"Yeah it's-oh grow up", Steve chided while shaking his head. He had just gotten home and was taking off his work clothes for something more comfortable. He thought about what Eddie might think he'd look nice in. "Not even my 12 year olds are this childish."

There was something about the way Steve talked about his students. Like they were his actual children. The conversation continued for a few minutes more before Steve suddenly had to hang up. Eddie tried not to think much of it, but it wasn't the first time that it had happened.

Steve ended the call just as Robin came into the apartment. She narrowed her eyes at him, then looked to the phone in his hand. Steve hid it behind his back and winced at practically telling on himself.

"You're hiding something."

"No I'm not."

"And now you're lying to me."

"No I'm not!"

Robin pounced and wrestled him for the phone. It wasn't a real fight of course. Steve could've pinned her in seconds but a part of him was tired of keeping the secret. And obviously, she knew how to unlock his phone.

"Who's Eddie?", she asked, sitting on his back triumphantly.

"A guy."

"Thank you, I had no idea it could be a man's name. You've been texting him aaaaaaa llllllllllllot."

"Are you reading them!? Robin!"

"Where did you meet him?", Robin said as she got up, continuing to read through their conversations.

"I um, technically, haven't. Yet."

Robin gave him an odd look and Steve spilled everything to her. To her credit, Robin listened to the full story before throwing one of the couch pillows at him.

"Stephen Elliott Harrington! Did no one teach you stranger danger? You just kept texting him? And calling? And I saw the pictures you sent. You know he can find out where we live? What if I came home to your skinless corpse??!"

It went on for a while like that and when Robin was finished, she collapsed onto the couch. Steve sat across from her on the coffee table. He waited for her to silently process it all.

"You think he's cute?"

"What I've seen of him, yeah."

Robin sighed. "I can't believe you're turning into the guy who has a internet girlfriend."

Steve rolled his eyes but then balked when she started to read through his messages again.

"And I can't believe you haven't even started flirting yet."

"I've been flirting with him the whole time!" Maybe not the whole time but-

"You're giving him Diet Steve. Why are you holding back?"

Steve shrugged, looking sheepish now. Now Robin was rolling her eyes.

"Steve, we're getting you a date."

"But he's-"

"A virtual one. Jesus is he an axe murderer?", Robin said as she looked to one of the texts.

"No, he just works with them. Axes! Not murderers."

--------------------------------

Eddie was about to sit down to a movie when his phone buzzed.

[5:17 pm] Thinking about you.

Oh. Now that was some text to get.

(5:18 pm) Oh yeah? (5:18 pm) What about me?

Steve looked to Robin. They were sitting cross-legged next to each other on his bed.

"What do I say?"

"Be honest, duh."

"If I'm honest I'm gonna talk about his hands."

Robin shook her hands at him like she wanted to wring his neck. Steve got the idea and decided to put himself out there.

[5:21 pm] Your hands. I think about them a lot actually

Eddie had not given his own hands much thought. But knowing that Steve admired them, he gave them a second look. He thought about them gripping Steve's thighs.

(5:23) You're gonna make me blush (5:24) What would you do with my hands Stevie?

Steve panicked and looked to Robin. "Are we sexting? Is he getting me to sext?"

"That's the idea, dingus. I said I was getting you a date. Now tell him what you want him to do."

"I don't know I'd....I'd want to..." Steve trailed off, looking at his phone while the fingers of his other hand brushed against his lips.

Robin stole the phone from him again and started typing. "'First...I'd suck..on them'."

"Robin!"

"Is that not what you want?"

Steve shrugged and Robin continued. "You've got me on the clock for five more minutes before I go out. You dictate, I'll type."

Steve hated how much he liked the idea. Especially when he heard the ping of Eddie's reply. "What did he say?"

Robin cleared her throat. "'Yeah? You wanna suck on them? I bet you got a beautiful mouth.' Oh he's good."

"Yeah", Steve breathed out. "Really good." He thought about Eddie sticking his fingers in and pressing down on his tongue, his rings tasting metallic and so nice.

"'I wanna choke on them'", Robin said out loud as she typed. "Is it too soon to call him Daddy?"

"What?!" That snapped Steve out of it.

"Oh come on. Tattoos, the hair, his job. He wants to be called Daddy."

"Robin don't call him Daddy."

"Pops?"

Steve took his phone from her and looked to Eddie's reply.

(5:30 pm) I'd only choke you if you were being bad (5:30 pm) Are you gonna be bad baby?

[5:31 pm] Maybe. I can be good too. So good.

(5:32 pm) Lemme call you baby wanna hear you

Steve dialed without hesitation just as Robin was leaving. Her work was done.

"Don't get murdered while I'm out!", she shouted just as Eddie picked up.

"Hey pretty baby", Eddie said.

"Hey. You said you wanted to hear me?"

"Yeah. I wanna hear you say those things with your own voice."

"Like how I wanna choke on your fingers? Among other things?"

Steve could hear Eddie let out a breath on the other end. The power he felt right now was intoxicating.

"Bet you'd look so good on your knees."

Steve hummed while pressing his fingertips to his lips. If Eddie asked, he'd suck on them. Let the wet noises fill his ears, let Eddie know how good he could be.

"Darlin' you went quiet."

"I'm thinking", Steve said, laying down on his bed. "I wanna show you, Eddie."

Eddie swallowed. This man would be the death of him. He'd nearly jerked off to just a picture of his fully clothed lower half. If he saw more...if he saw everything-

"Eddie! We've got a Code Red!"

"Jesus! Knock!"

Steve sat up quick at the shouting coming from Eddie's end. It sounded like someone had barged in.

"Eddie?"

"Sorry. Sorry Steve. I gotta handle something. Um, call you back? Please?"

"Eddie, I want to video call you."

"V..video...?"

"Yes. I wanna see you. Please."

"Yes. Yes, a thousand times-hold your horses! Uh, tomorrow? It's Saturday, so you're free, right? Can we make it a date?"

"A date", Steve nodded. "I'll see you then. I'll be thinking of you."

"And I'll be counting the seconds. 1-one thousand, 2-one thousand, 3-one th-ouch! Okay! Damn!"

Eddie hung up and Steve still had the phone to his ear, smiling. He had a video call date. He had a date with Eddie!

Shit what should he wear?

Part 5

Tag Team (CLOSED)

@anne-bennett-cosplayer @estrellami-1 @newtstabber @omletlove @ifyoudonlysurrender @rehfan @morganski-19 @corvidcantina @dragonmama76 @just-ladyme @tinyplanet95 @goodolefashionedloverboi @idoquitelikebread @kittydeadbones @manda-panda-monium @rhapsodyinalto @paintsplatteredandimperfect @keylime-green @ihavekidneys @samsoble @honorarybrit81 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @aizawa-emma @deleataecount @thesuninyaface @fromapayphone @justmeinadaze @hbyrde36 @queenie-ofthe-void @resident-gay-bitch @bestwifehaver @dangdirtydemons @ellietheasexylibrarian @perseus-notjackson @pyrohonk @holysteddie @cinnamon-mushroomabomination @mrsjellymunson @geekymagicalpotato @notaqueenakhaleesi

[the-blind-assassin-12]

Dagger

A/N: This was supposed to be finished on February 1st. No, you're not mistaken, and no, your calendar is not wrong. Today is in fact February 28th, making this 27 whole days late for @jolapeno's Dearuary writing challenge for which I am so sorry!! This was a lot of fun to write - thank you for putting it together!! - so I hope you don't mind it coming in so far beyond the intended date. Find the rest of the entries for this epistolary event here!

Word Count: 12.8k + graphics

Warnings: violence, language, angst, illegal activities

Prompt: Character A keeps finding X and traces them back to Character B, who might be leaving them intentionally—or not.

Summary: Ezra had told Cee quite a lot about you - that the two of you had been partners, lovers, that you'd been separated by the currents of fate - enough for her to know that he was still, even 12 years later, deeply in love with you. After everything he'd done for her following their return from the Green - taking her in as his own kin, helping her pursue an education, giving her the stability that she'd never had before - she knew that if there was something she could do to help reunite him with you, she would. Consequences be damned.

It’s her.

Cee stared at the computer screen, eyes wide as she read the name at the top of the Central Mining Investigations employee file she’d accessed for the third time. Her heart pounded from a rush of adrenaline and dopamine as she let out a burst of air through her gaping mouth. It’s gotta be. Licking her lips, she gave a quick shake of her head, the small, loose bun atop it wobbling side to side. Let me just check one more time before I... 

Her fingers flew over the keys to bring up another page - a certified name change form, filed with the Puggart Bench Registration Department. Holding her breath, she compared the two documents. Everything was identical, apart from the woman’s last name. Current residence, birthdate, homeworld. Cee brought her fingertip up to the screen, using it to underscore each digit in the woman’s I.D. number as she cross referenced the CMI employee sheet. 

“-seven, five, nine, three,” She breathed out the last four numbers as another wave of excitement hit her bloodstream. “I found her.” 

Immediately, she opened up another tab, keys clacking as she signed in. She bit her lip and eyed the clock at the bottom of the screen as she waited for the private channel to open. Ugh. It’s late. Her thumb tapped impatiently against the edge of her laptop. I hope he’s still up. 

Her computer trilled a pleasant three-note tune as the connection was made, and she wasted no time in sending a message. 

_02/02/3096  _LST 12:47:45 AM  _PBST 10:47:45 AM {PRIVATE CHANNEL SECURED} 

[CeeGull78]: Hey you there?? 

[CeeGull78]: Ezra? You awake? 

[CeeGull78]: EZRA??? Wake up! 

[SilverScoundrel]: I am awake, Birdie. I am just not as quick with the keyboard as you are. Is everything alright? It’s late there, isn’t it? 

[CeeGull78]: You definitely aren’t. And yeah everything’s okay. Better than okay actually. 

[CeeGull78]: Ezra I found her. 

[SilverScoundrel]: Now I know you did not send me a message in the middle of the night to mock my typing speed. 

[SilverScoundrel]: Birdie? What do you mean? 

[CeeGull78]: Dagger. I found her. You were right about her working for CMI. 

[CeeGull78]: I missed it the first time I accessed their personnel files because she changed her name. 

[SilverScoundrel]: I don’t understand. We went through those files together with a fine tooth comb last time you were home. 

[SilverScoundrel]: Which, by the way, I should remind you, is not what you are meant to be spending your time at school doing. 

[SilverScoundrel]: She changed her name? 

[CeeGull78]: Relax, I’m getting all my schoolwork done on time and I’m using secure access points for this stuff. I won’t get caught. 

[CeeGull78]: But yeah. She changed her last name. First name’s still the same. I double checked the registration number. It’s her.

[CeeGull78]: And before you ask, she didn’t get married. I accessed the Puggart Central hall of records database. No registered marriage licenses, just a standard name change. 

[SilverScoundrel]: A marriage would explain her taking a new surname, are you certain that she did not wed? 

[SilverScoundrel]: Oh. I see. Well what is her new name? 

[CeeGull78]: Fagan. And according to these records, she was recently promoted to Lead Field Investigator for the Lau sector. 

[CeeGull78]: You know what that means, right? 

[CeeGull78]: I can contact her anonymously and set up a meet for you right here on Lau! Or Yonto since it looks like that’s where she’s headed next. 

[SilverScoundrel]: Birdie, do not attempt to contact her. 

[CeeGull78]: What?! Ezra why skuffing not? 

[CeeGull78]: You said you’ve been looking for her for years and now that I found her you don’t want to see her? 

[SilverScoundrel]: Of course I want to see her. 

[CeeGull78]: Then let me help you do that! 

[SilverScoundrel]: But I do not want to cause her any trouble and I fear that is all I ever do for others. 

[CeeGull78]: Untrue. We both know I would have never made it off the Green without you. We both know Damon would have left me with the Sater. 

[CeeGull78]: I wouldn’t be enrolled at Cobalt. I wouldn’t have a future. 

[CeeGull78]: I hate to break it to you, but you’re not actually the scoundrel you think you are. 

[SilverScoundrel]: Perhaps not anymore, due in large part to you, little bird. 

[SilverScoundrel]: But Dagger knew a very different version of me. And I do not want to cause her any trouble in her new life. 

[CeeGull78]: Ezra with all due respect I think you’re being skuffing stupid. 

[CeeGull78]: What if she’s been looking for you too? Don’t you want to at least know that? 

[SilverScoundrel]: Cee, please. Let this go. Do not try to contact her directly. 

[SilverScoundrel]: I appreciate that you are trying to help me. Truly I do. Thank you for letting me know what you found. 

[SilverScoundrel]: It’s late. You should be sleeping. Do you not have a class at 8:30 your time? 

[CeeGull78]: Yeah. Intro to Computer Science. Which I could probably teach. 

[CeeGull78]: But I can take the hint. I’ll let it go. 

[SilverScoundrel]: Thank you. Now go and get some sleep. Or at least allow me to get some. Goodnight Birdie. 

[CeeGull78]: Night Ezra. 

_02/02/3096  _LST 01:05:23 AM  _PBST 11:05:23 AM {PRIVATE CHANNEL CLOSED} 

Cee closed her laptop and set it down on the bed beside her. Her dorm room was dark, save for the reflection of blueish moonlight Yonto threw down at Cobalt Bay that managed to slip through the blinds. Nash, her roommate, was out for the night, so she didn’t have to make sure the other girl was sleeping before she climbed down from her lofted bed and opened the chest beneath it. 

Removing the top compartment, she revealed the lower part of the chest, which currently held the bulky sweaters she’d need in a few weeks when the weather changed. She shoved her hand between two folded piles and pulled one stack out, letting them drop to the floor as she grabbed the little purple pouch that had been under them. The contents rattled and she felt them move inside as she took it out and opened it. 

Peeking inside, she counted thirteen crust-nugget quality Aurelac gems. They weren’t worth much, and if she was being honest with herself, she didn’t really know why she kept them. Especially because raw mined materials from off-world were prohibited on Lau. Tossing the bag in her palm, she rolled her eyes. If I was worried about getting caught doing things I shouldn’t, I wouldn’t be hacking the CMI and PCRD databases from my dorm.

She glanced over at the small desk that she hardly ever sat at, which was also tucked under her raised bed frame, eyes landing on the photo there. It was taken the day that Ezra helped her move in for her first year at Cobalt, his arm slung around her as she leaned into his side. Both of them were grinning like skuffing fools. It was her favorite that they’d ever taken together. 

Giving the pouch another gentle toss, she swallowed. He said not to contact Dagger… directly. Looking down at the gems inside, she reached in and plucked one out. It was cloudy and slightly off-color, harvested too soon. Suitable only for button making or costume jewelry, if that. But what if I left her a message another way? 

After all, she did have a field assignment at the Central Mining outpost at Cobalt Bay the following afternoon, working on the computers that monitored the pumps. She could plant a few Aurelac gems by one of the Glossoil rigs. She could even fudge the security footage. She could be invisible. And then when one of the miners finds it, they’ll have to call CMI. 

Chewing her bottom lip, she dropped the gem back into the pouch and pulled the drawstring to close it. “I shouldn’t,” she said aloud, hoping that the sound of her own voice could dissuade her from making a mistake that could cost her. 

She placed the pouch back at the bottom of the chest, covered it with the displaced sweaters, covered those with the top compartment, and shut the chest. That done, she climbed back up to her bunk, and took her computer down to charge it on her dust-catcher of a desk. She looked at the photo one more time, her heart sinking at the thought of Ezra choosing not to reunite with the woman he’d told her once had been the love of his life. 

“I shouldn’t…” She said it under her breath and clicked the desk light off. 

But by the time she’d climbed back up into her bed and had situated herself under the lumpy comforter, she knew that even though she shouldn’t… she was going to. 

He’ll thank me for it later. She imagined some nebulous woman, the sketch of a person she’d never met or seen, based only on the handful of things Ezra had told her about the woman he’d called Dagger. Maybe they both will. 

——————————————————————————————————

The express shuttle from Lau Prime to Yonto, its closest and only habitable moon, took just over three hours. Pulling your laptop from its case, you decided to use that time - or at least some of it - productively. 

The sooner I file this report the better. 

It was standard CMI practice for inspectors to file their reports within a twenty four hour period of making their field visit. But your standard practice had always been to file as soon as possible, so that not even the smallest detail was at risk of being forgotten. You’d made waves at the bureau as a junior agent, when your diligence on a case resulted in finding a connection that your senior partner missed. 

Since those days, you’d climbed through the ranks to senior agent, and now chief field investigator of an entire sector, and through it all you had always filed your reports as close to immediately as possible. It had become expected of you. If you were to go longer than an hour without at least filing an initial report, you’d likely start to see messages from your team piling up on your wrist comm, asking if you were alright or if something had happened. It would raise questions, which was the last thing that you wanted. 

Especially because of… You glanced down at the clear, plastic evidence bag resting on your thigh, and at the cloudy yellow stones inside. Your heart thumped heavily against your ribs as you let out a slow, somewhat shaky breath. Because of my history. 

It was true that you had become a jewel in CMI’s crown in regards to closing piracy cases and making sure that mining protocols for safety, productivity and loss prevention were being carried out. But there were still those, like Vayne, your Inspector in Command, who remembered  how you came to work at the bureau in the first place. There were still those who called you a poacher, a pirate, a backstabber. There were some who cherished any chance they got to remind you - or anyone who would listen - that you only had your job because you had been caught violating mining law on Bahkroma Green, and that you were hired as part of a now defunct program that sought to get inside the minds of the criminals they were tracking down. Of the twenty agents hired through that program, you were the only one who hadn’t returned to illegal activities, the only one who hadn’t somehow used your position to feed information to anyone on the outside. And some at the bureau said it was only a matter of time before you did the same. 

Which was why this report specifically could not wait for your arrival on Yonto. You didn’t want anyone catching wind that it involved Aurelac, the very gems you had once been found guilty of stealing, and then hear that you had waited to file the report. That would look fishy. 

You cast another downwards glance at the bag of gems balanced on your leg as you set the laptop on the shuttle tray table. How did these… You licked your lips as blueish light streaked across the windows of the craft. How did these get there? 

Like any prospector, you’d know your first pull anywhere. You were looking at the fuck-nugget gems that you had scored over a decade ago, back when you were running with a pirate crew out in the Fringe. But I left these with Ezra. So how… 

Your computer finished booting up and you shook your head to clear your thoughts. Doesn’t matter right now. First, you needed to keep up appearances, which meant filing the report. But you needed to do it in a way that framed the incident as harmless so that it didn’t attract more attention from other agents. 

And to buy myself time to get to the bottom of this. 

Cracking your fingers, you opened a fresh report document, and then began typing. 

Field Report #0473 Sector: Lau  Planet/Moon: Lau Prime  CMI Respondent: Insp. Fagan  PB Registration #xxxx-7593 Date: 02/04/3096 Priority Level: Low 

Reason: Unauthorized raw materials (Aurelac pearls, grade C and lower) found at Central Mining owned site in Cobalt Bay. 

Observations: Glossoil miners contacted CMI when they came across four mid-sized, low quality Aurelac pearls which they claim appeared to have been “left there on purpose”. I was escorted by the site manager to the pump station where they were found. (It should be noted that the site manager and shift workers complied fully with the investigation.)

There were indeed four pearls on the ground near the pump controls, however their placement did not seem intentional but random. The pearls were all extremely clouded, though smooth. Initial scans showed no prints on the gems or on any surface nearby. 

No damage was done to Central Mining property or assets, and nothing has been reported as missing or stolen. 

Security footage of the area showed no trespassers. Black and white footage was clear, though did appear to glitch for <1 second, but no change in light, shadow or clarity was detected. 

Analysis: Based on my own observations, accounts given by crew that found the pearls, security footage and quality of the gems (black market/unregistered provenance) it is likely that the pearls were dropped by a crew member unknowingly. Given their low value, it is not, in this inspector’s opinion, a case that warrants further investigation. 

Suggested Action: Gems seized as evidence. Continue to monitor security footage. Weekly check-in video calls with Cobalt Bay Refinery manager for three months. If three months pass without incident, discontinue check-in protocol. 

Additional Comments: None at this time. 

You read your write-up once more. It seemed innocuous and bland enough, but not too sparse. It would be sufficient for your boss, anyway, and that was really all that mattered. 

It would also be the first time that you had ever intentionally lied on a report. 

You knew without a doubt that the gems had been left at the Cobalt Bay facility on purpose, and you knew that purpose was to get your attention, not CMI’s. You knew the glitch in the security footage was cause for concern, or at the very least, further investigation. And you knew that these specific gems - worthless as they were - resurfacing meant that the only scenario in which you would abuse your station like your rivals at the bureau said you would was playing out. 

Ezra’s alive. 

Your heart slammed at your ribs. 

And I have to find him before they do. 

——————————————————————————————————

The day after planting the gems at the Glossoil pump, Cee logged back into the CMI database with the false credentials that she’d used to find you. They still worked, like she knew that they would, and within a few minutes of finishing her assignment on the importance of using secure passwords and protecting sensitive data online, she was deep into the recently filed reports tab in Central Mining Investigations’ internal system. 

Scrolling through the linked documents, she stopped when she got to the one with your name on it - Field Report #0473. She clicked it to open the report and sat back against the pillows on her bed as she scanned through what you had written. 

Let’s see… Unauthorized raw materials… Random placement, not intentional. She swallowed. Oh, crud. 

She sat up and used both hands to sweep her blonde hair out of her face and behind her ears as she read over the next portion. 

Glitch in security footage. Skuff it, she noticed that? 

Her heartbeat picked up as she brought one thumb to her mouth and chewed at the nail. Ezra had told her that you were extremely detail oriented, that nothing got past your sharp eye. “She told me her surname meant Dagger,” he’d said, “And I’m certain that it does. But that is not the only reason that I used that moniker for her. She is the sharpest person I have ever met. Her eyes can cut through anything, Birdie.” 

He wasn’t kidding. 

If she noticed that, then… Cee blinked. Then they might make her look closer at it and then she might see that the cameras were accessed on site and then-  She squeezed her eyes shut and clutched her head. She’ll figure out that it was one of the student interns. 

As though she needed another kick of adrenaline, her door swung open and the lights clicked on, Cee letting out a gasp and nearly falling from her lofted bed. 

“Shit, sorry, it’s just me, Cee!” Nash called out as she tossed her bag on her bed. “I didn’t know you were back from class yet. The lights were off and-” 

Peeking over the side of the bed, she forced a smile that she hoped didn’t look as tight as it felt. “No worries. Just, uh-” She minimized the tab she was reading, even though there was no way Nash could see it from where she stood. “Just working on my cyber-sec project.” Good thing I finished it last week. 

Nash groaned. “I still haven’t started mine. But it’s not due until next week, right?” Cee nodded. “Okay, good. I’ve got time.” Her roommate smiled then, taking a few books out of her bag and replacing them with the folded blanket from the end of her bed. “And so do you. I’m meeting up with Shayla and Pax down by the cliffs for lunch. It’s so nice out, Cee! You should come!” 

Truth be told, there was nothing that Cee wanted more than to jump down from her perch and join her friends. It was the first time in her life that she had any, and she’d been thoroughly enjoying learning what it was like to find a group of people who had her back, who helped her figure out how to become herself. Prior to her enrollment at Cobalt, the only experience she had with friendship had been what she’d read in The Streamer Girl. Now that she’d met Shayla, Pax and especially Nash, she finally understood the bond between Clo and Reevie. 

Her eyes shifted to the computer, a slight frown pulling her mouth downwards. But I have to fix this. Like right now. She sighed, gesturing at her screen. “I’m kinda on a tear right now with this, but I’m almost done. Maybe I can meet you guys down there in like, I don’t know, an hour?” 

Nash put on an exaggerated pout. “Fiiiiiine. But you better come. If you don’t, we’re all gonna come drag you out. You’ve been all work and no play lately.” She dropped the pout and tilted her head, a flash of genuine concern in her eyes. “Everything okay with you?” 

No. I skuffed up and hacked the CMI database, planted illegal gems at the refinery, manipulated the security footage, and now I have to cover my tracks before I get caught and expelled, maybe arrested… Oh, Kevva, could Ezra be arrested for this? Technically I’m his responsibility, and- 

She plastered on a smile. “Yeah. Everything’s creamy.” She shrugged at her computer. “I’m just locked in with this project. And hey, if I get it done now I can help you with yours tomorrow. That way we’re both done before the Myllock festival this weekend.” 

That seemed like a good enough response, because Nash gasped and broke into a grin. “I almost forgot about the festival! Okay, finish your project,” she said, flicking her hands up at Cee. “But hurry!” 

Cee promised that she would, and with that, Nash headed back out. Opening the report she had been reading just moments before, Cee let out a heavy sigh. Okay. Damage control time. 

With a few keystrokes, her heart racing, the sound of it loud in her ears, she was able to open up the editing function on the report. Luckily, the report was still flagged as “needs review”, meaning that it hadn’t been processed yet. That gave her some relief, though there was still a nervous shake in her fingers as she dragged the cursor to the section in question and began deleting the words you’d written. 

Security footage of the area showed no trespassers. Black and white footage was clear  though did appear to glitch for <1 second, but no change in light, shadow or clarity was detected. 

She read the report one last time, making sure that there was nothing else that she needed to clean up. Satisfied that there wasn’t, she re-submitted the file and logged out of the CMI database. At that exact moment, another window popped open on her screen and for a brief but terrifying moment she was convinced it was some kind of alert or message from the bureau or even her school, telling her that they were aware of her tampering and that she was in big, catastrophic trouble. 

But then she blinked and the terror passed and she saw that it was only her chat screen, a new message from Ezra coming through. 

_02/05/3096  _LST 12:09:25 PM  _PBST 10:09:25 AM {PRIVATE CHANNEL SECURED} 

[SilverScoundrel]: Cee? Are you there? 

[CeeGull78]: Nope. Sorry, you just missed her. She’s definitely not here. 

[SilverScoundrel]: You are hilarious, Little Bird. 

[CeeGull78]: Thank you, I know. 

[Silver Scoundrel]: Well, if Cee returns, oh benevolent message keeper, please let her know that I have successfully booked my ticket to Lau for family weekend, and that I look forward to seeing her. 

[SilverScoundrel]: Oh I see we’ve dropped the game. 

[CeeGull78]: No way! You did? You’re coming?? 

[SilverScoundrel]: I am indeed, Birdie. 

[CeeGull78]: Ezra, that’s great! You can meet my friends! And I can show you the computer lab since that’s where I spend most of my time. 

[SilverScoundrel]: I did not realize that you would be so excited to have my company, but I can’t say that it’s not a welcome surprise. 

[CeeGull78]: Oh stuff it, you know I miss you. Can you see my eyes rolling from the Bench? Because they are. Hard. 

[SilverScoundrel]: I cannot. However, having witnessed it so many times, I can clearly picture the expression. And I miss you too, for the record. I never imagined a wild Fringer like myself would be fortunate enough to find kin like you, but I am more than happy to have been wrong. 

[CeeGull78]: Sap. 

[CeeGull78]: For the record, I’m happy you were wrong, too. Who knows, maybe you’ll really shock yourself and be wrong about Dagger being in your past, too. 

[SilverScoundrel]: Are you still on that? 

[CeeGull78]: Am I still on trying to get you to reunite with the one person who has ever made you happy? Who you said was the only woman you ever loved? Um, gee, let me think. 

[CeeGull78]: Yeah, I am. 

[SilverScoundrel]: It isn’t going to happen, Birdie. It can’t. We live different lives now. It wouldn’t be safe. 

[CeeGull78]: What do you mean it won’t be safe? She’s not gonna like stab you or anything, is she?

[SilverScoundrel]: No, nothing like that. I don’t think, anyway, though I would likely deserve it. But the danger I am referring to doesn’t come from her. She would be the target of that danger in this case. As would you, should the wrong folks catch wind of our reunion. 

[SilverScoundrel]: And I have already promised you that I will never knowingly put you in harm’s way, Cee. 

[CeeGull78]: Me?? Why would I be in any danger? 

[CeeGull78]: Ezra, what actually happened between you two? And who are the “wrong folks”? CMI?

[SilverScoundrel]: You would suffer simply for your connection to me, and that is not something that I will sit idly by and allow. 

[SilverScoundrel]: Kevva bless it, Birdie, not on here. Don’t mention things on here that might catch the wrong attention. 

[CeeGull78]: Would you relax? I told you a million times, it’s a secure channel. It’s invitation only. No one but you and me can see this conversation, and it gets deleted after we sign off. 

[CeeGull78]: And yes, I’m sure. Like I told you, I could teach the Intro to Computer Science class. 

[SilverScoundrel]: Still, I would feel better if you did not broach such topics here. 

[CeeGull78]: And I would feel better if I knew more about all of this. 

[SilverScoundrel]: Then I will make you a deal, Birdie. When I come to visit next weekend, I will answer any and all of your inquiries. All I ask is that you save them for when we can talk about it in person. 

[CeeGull78]: Fine, but there’s going to be a lot of them by then. 

[SilverScoundrel]: I would expect nothing less from an inquisitive spirit such as yourself. Do try to spend some time on your school work or even with your friends, though, and not all of it compiling your list of questions. 

[CeeGull78]: Oh, crud! Actually, I have to go. I’m late to meet with Nash and them. 

[CeeGull78]: But I really am glad you’re coming. Thanks for letting me know. And for, you know, actually wanting to come. 

[SilverScoundrel]: Of course I want to. I am proud as a puffed up dune-piper that I get that honor. Now go on and have fun with your friends. 

[CeeGull78]: I will! Talk to you soon!

_02/05/3096  _LST 12:24:25 PM  _PBST 10:24:25 AM {PRIVATE CHANNEL CLOSED} 

Ezra watched the screen until the conversation vanished as Cee said it would, letting out a small sigh of relief as soon as it did. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust her expertise. The list of people he’d trusted more or even as much as Cee was a short one. The same could be said for the list of people who he gave a channel rat’s behind about, though, and he’d never forgive himself if she ended up being punished for his past discretions. 

For the things he did when he was with you. 

Closing his eyes, he leaned back in the olive plaid armchair, pinching the bridge of his nose and then flattening his palm against his brow. Your face filled his mind then, as vividly as if he’d just seen you that morning. As if it hadn’t been over a decade without him knowing your fate. 

Since Cee had sent him the message that she had found you, Ezra’s thoughts and emotions had been all over the place. Hearing that you were alive and well had been a gift that he feared he would never receive, and in the moment, he was thrilled. But it was only mere seconds before that euphoria was overridden by guilt and regret for allowing Cee to put herself in the midst of his mess. He’d entertained her offer to look for you while she had been home from school on break, and that had piqued her curiosity to the point of no return. He never meant for her to continue the search, to push the limits and keep digging. 

But I should have known better. She is a small thing, but deceptively hard to move. 

Ezra wondered, briefly, if perhaps he did know better. If he had let the devil on his shoulder whisper in his ear to let her look, what could it hurt, surely even if she was caught CMI would go easy on her, she’s a student after all. Maybe he was still the scoundrel that he thought he was. 

No. It was done subconsciously. I would never knowingly encourage Cee to put herself in harm’s way. Certainly not on my behalf. 

Shaking that from his thoughts - not that he absolved himself completely - they turned back to you. You were alive. Not imprisoned. Not stranded on some Kevva forgotten moon, left to the moss and fern. Alive. His heart thumped happily at that news as years of fear and worry and shame fell away. You were alive. 

He had spent the last twelve years thinking that he’d gotten you killed. Thinking that when things had gone sideways on the Divin job with those mercs, when he’d woken up in a pool of his own blood and you were gone, that he had failed to protect you at the cost of your life. 

And of course he had searched for you. Stumbled across Divin’s entire eastern plain with a concussion and at least three cracked ribs, bordering on hysterics as he cried out your name to no avail. Tracked the mercs back to an abandoned camp and dropped to his knees in the circle of charred dirt from where the thrusters had shot fire into the ground upon takeoff, letting out a hideous, shattered howl. Tore through the remnants of their camp for any clue as to where you’d been taken and found nothing. Dragged himself, still bloodied and battered, back to his ship which had blessedly been left undamaged, and somehow flew back to Central. Tried like hell to convince himself that there was a chance you might be able to get away from your captors, mostly so he wouldn’t crash the jumper straight into the Divin asteroid field. 

The two of you always knew that the jobs you took attracted trouble. You always knew that there might come a time that you’d have to split up for safety, lay low for a spell. You had a contingency plan for that, a place to regroup or to safely leave messages for each other - Coney’s billiards hall on the third level of Central Prime. Ezra had gone to Coney’s every damn day for a month only for the retired pirate turned business owner to shake his shaggy head with an increasingly grim look on his face. Only for Ezra to end up leaving a letter that would still be there in three months when he returned from searching for you on Kren. 

He’d left it again and gone off to Helpha next, then the Ephrate and then every place the two of you had been together, every place you ever mentioned in that dreamy voice you’d use when you talked about the days after all of this. He spent the better part of a year searching for you, all the while hoping that when he got back to Coney’s, you might be there waiting. Or that a message from you would be. Or at the very least that his letter would be gone. 

“‘M sorry, sonny,” the man had said upon Ezra’s return, his gray-blue eyes brimming with genuine sadness - Coney always liked you, everyone did - “Think maybe you should have this back.” He’d handed Ezra back his letter with the promise that if he did see you, he’d not hesitate to reach out. “‘M hopin’ I do see ‘er, Ez, really I am.” 

But that call never came. And Ezra still had the letter. 

He stood and crossed the small sitting room to the desk in the corner. Pulling open the top drawer, he reached in and retrieved the folded and refolded piece of paper, then slumped back in the armchair and opened it. His formerly jaunty but legible handwriting glared up at him, another reminder of how much time had passed, how many things had changed. But he ignored that and read the words he’d written to you all those years ago despite the fact that by now they had been fully committed to memory. 

Dagger, 

I failed you, and I lack the words to express how sorry I am for not being able to keep you from harm. (Imagine that. Me, speechless.) I hope that if you are reading this letter now that you are safe, that you’re whole and well and far from the villains who took you from me. I hope these things even if you choose to tell Coney that you don’t want to see me again. I long to hold you again like a drowning man’s lungs long for air. But simply knowing you are alive would be enough. I’d learn to breathe water. 

But I must admit that I am riddled with fear that I am too late. And so in case you never read this letter, this next part is a vow that I make to myself as much as it is to you: There’ll be peace and harmony in the wildest reaches of the Fringe before I give up hope of finding you again. I’ll search for you everywhere I go, until Kevva claims my wretched soul and even then I’ll look for you. 

No one else will ever carve their name in my heart. I love you, endlessly. 

Ezra 

He stared at the page, silently berating himself for believing it when the rumor went around at Coney’s - it had been sold to someone named Jak a few years ago but it would always be called Coney’s - that you had turned up dead on Helpha. It hadn’t stopped him from keeping his eyes and ears open for any mention or trace of you as he moved through the Fringe. But it had killed the hope of ever holding you again, and it had fed the guilt he felt because he knew that you were only dead because he’d failed you. 

But she’s not. She’s alive. 

He glanced back at the computer, at the blank screen where his conversation with Cee had been displayed. He still wouldn’t ask her to contact you. You working for CMI had likely been part of a deal sparing you from spending the rest of your life in one of the Fringe’s less desirable prisons. And it likely meant that they closely monitored all of your reports and communications, scanning them for any connection to his name or to your old life. It likely meant that you were just a different kind of prisoner, and he wouldn’t involve Cee in a jailbreak. 

But he would, when he answered all of her questions regarding you, ask her for all the information he needed to contact you on his own. 

Because I lied, Dagger, my girl. Unintentionally, of course. 

Knowing you were alive was everything. But until he knew whether or not you’d allow it, having you to hold again was all he could think about. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The screen on your wrist comm blinked red, and you felt the blood drain from your face as you gaped down at it. 

Report to Insp. Vayne: IMMEDIATELY Reason: IRREGULARITY ON REPORT #0473

Irregularity? What irregularity? How? You shook your head. Vayne wasn’t there, how could he know that I downplayed it? 

Mouth going dry, you tried to calm yourself as you made your way to Vayne’s office. Maybe you’d forgotten to add your registration number, something simple and easy to rectify, the urgency only due to the fact that the report couldn’t properly be filed without it. But there was a little voice in the back of your head that told you not to be so foolish. This was about Ezra, somehow. You were sure of it. 

Fuck, why did I believe it when they told me he was dead? Why didn’t I take the risk and fucking make sure for myself? 

But you knew why. CMI, though they treated you well enough most of the time, held more than just your freedom from imprisonment over your head. They threatened to go after your family and Ezra’s - he had a brother and two nephews - if you ever stepped out of line and turned traitor. So you knew you hadn’t done the wrong thing in protecting them. 

That didn’t stop the ache that cleaved through your heart, because you knew that if you had found Ezra again, the two of you would’ve found a way to break free from CMI, to keep everyone you loved safe. It didn’t stop the shiver from trickling down your spine at the thought that if they’d gone as far as to lie about his death, it must mean they’d do anything to keep you from knowing the truth. 

Pulling yourself together as best as you could, you knocked on Vayne’s door, dropping your hand as it slid open. “Come in, Fagan.” 

You had gotten good at not doing it outwardly, but inwardly you cringed every time someone called you by that name. It wasn’t yours, and the only name you ever wanted to take other than yours was Ezra’s. But Fagan had been given to you along with your shiny new life as CMI’s most well-broken wild horse. 

“Sir,” you managed with a nod as you entered. 

“Take a seat.” He gestured to the lone chair that sat opposite his own and you did as you were asked. “Do you know why I called you in?” He raised one brow but kept the rest of his facial muscles eerily still as he measured your response. 

You cleared your throat and turned your wrist so that he could see the display on your comm. “Says here that you found an irregularity in my report from the Cobalt Bay facility.” Tilting your head to the side, you let your arm rest in your lap. “Did I not add my registration number or something?” 

Vayne blinked once, then the corner of his mouth twitched. “No, all of your t’s and i’s are crossed and dotted procedurally speaking.” He clicked his tongue. “As always.” 

“Oh.” You hoped he couldn’t hear the slam, slam, slam of your heart as you worked to internalize your panic. “Okay, well, good. Where was the irregularity, then?” 

“Well that’s the thing, Fagan, you see-” His twitchy smirk grew a tick and he held up one finger. “The report itself is perfect. Well written, thorough. Honestly, we could add it to the training manual as an example but the manual is already chock full of your reports.” 

Then what… You sat there silently, breathing through your nose to keep the rhythm even, and waited for him to drop the other shoe.  

“What’s irregular about this report is that you waited a day to file it when your MO has always been to file-” He snapped his fingers, “- like that.” 

That made no sense to you at all and you did nothing to hide your confusion. “Sir, I filed the report from the Yonto shuttle as soon as I left Cobalt Bay.” You shook your head. “You can ask Murph or Reece. They saw me writing it up and gave me flack for it because they said it makes the rest of them look bad, how quickly I file.” 

“Then the irregularity is that you re-opened it before I read it, then. Typically if you recall a detail that you want to add, you file an add-on page.” He blinked again, that fucking smirk ticking higher and tinting his eyes with something threatening. “So why didn’t you do that this time? You know, I did wonder whether or not I should trust you on a case involving Aurelac, but I-” 

“Excuse me, sir, but I have no idea what you’re talking about.” You interrupted him, some of the initial fear melting and boiling into something else. “I didn’t reopen the file. I submitted it, and then I read my prepwork for the case on Yonto.” 

You didn’t understand why he would even bother to lie about that, though, because you could easily prove him wrong by showing him the date. That wasn’t something that you needed to remember to add. The date stamp was programmed into the CMI system so that all reports would correspond with Central’s calendar without having to do any conversions. The only way the date could be changed on a report was by reopening it as Vayne had accused you of doing. 

But I didn’t do that. So what in Kevva’s name is he on about? 

You leaned forward in your chair. “The date that I submitted it on was the last time that I touched that file, sir. And as for my credibility regarding the Aurelac, I-” 

He spun the screen on his computer to face you, and what you saw made the rest of your sentence die on your tongue. But that makes no fuck-crusting sense.

“Tell me, Fagan, you took the shuttle to Yonto on the second, did you not?” 

You nodded, still stunned by what you saw. 

“Then pray tell, why does this say that it was last opened on the third?” 

“I-” You moved your chair closer to the desk so that you could read the report more clearly. “Sir, I can’t explain that. All I can say is that I give you my word that I filed it on the second and haven’t thought of it since.” 

That last part was an elaboration. Actually it was an outright lie. You’d spent all of your unoccupied time thinking of ways to start searching for Ezra again without drawing suspicion, wondering if Coney still owned the pool hall, agonizing over whether or not it was still a safe place for Fringers like Ezra. Like you. But Vayne had already called your loyalty into question and you needed him to think he still had it. Or that he ever truly did. 

You continued to scan the report, an incredulous look on your face, when you noticed an irregularity of your own. Hold on. That’s not right. “Wait.” You pointed at the screen, at the last paragraph in the observations section. “That’s been changed. Something’s been deleted there. I wrote that there was a glitch lasting less than a second on the footage. But it’s been taken out.” 

“So is that the edit that you made when you reopened the file on the third?” Vayne’s question was more baited than any hook on Lau or Yonto’s fishing lines. 

“As I said before, sir, I did not open the file on the third. Go ahead and strap me up to a lie detector if you really want to.” You hoped the extra bravado would make him fold. While you’d easily pass if asked about reopening the file, you knew that if the questions shifted to Aurelac, your former life of piracy, or Ezra, you wouldn’t be able to fool the machine. “What I think is more likely,” you went on, setting your expression into something serious and grim and taking care to put ice in your voice, “is that someone accessed our system and tampered with this file.” You lifted one brow. “Now, I don’t know about you, sir, but I think that is a far bigger problem than the one that you seem to have with me.” 

The man went pale at the prospect of someone on the outside digging around in the bureau’s data. You knew, and so did he, that there were so many things that CMI never intended anyone to see. Evidence which proved that inspectors had violated local laws while investigating incidents at Central Mining outposts. Accounts that paid hush money to thousands of citizens on dozens of planets so they’d keep their mouths shut about something that wouldn’t look good if it got out. Lists of individuals that CMI sent mercs after when they couldn’t catch them themselves, lists of people who they falsified information about to better suit their optics. 

Like Ezra. Like me. 

“How likely do you think that is, Fagan?” He’d suddenly dropped the accusatory tone and shit-gobbling grin, stress instantly rearranging his features into something small and pathetic. “And how far do you think… How many files do you think they could have-” 

“Well, I can’t know for sure unless I look through every last file…” You trailed off, relishing the way it made his spirit visibly drop even lower. Because that would take years. “I think I should go back to Cobalt Bay and take another look at that footage. Do another round of questioning, see if there could’ve been an angle I missed. Someone that could have known how to erase the-”

Some of the patheticism left his eyes then, and he shook his head. “Send you back to Cobalt Bay? To do further investigation on an Aurelac case that appears to have been tampered with? Fagan, I am still not sure how much I trust you with this. Frankly-” 

“Frankly, sir, your options are send me, or let someone else in on the fact that CMI has been infiltrated.” You sucked air through your teeth. “I wouldn’t think you would want that getting out.” 

You knew you had him but it was still satisfying to watch him sink again. 

“Fuck.” He muttered it under his breath, covering his eyes with one hand and rubbing it back over his head. “Alright. Go. You have an hour to catch the next shuttle back to Lau.” He peered over his shoulder at the shuttle schedule. “Looks like it’ll get you there by local midday. I want check-ins every three hours once you land, is that clear?” 

“Loud and.” 

With that you left Vayne’s office, legs wobbling like the rubbery vac-packed noodles you used to live on out in the Fringe from the adrenaline throbbing through your body, grabbed your things from your office, and made your way to the shuttle station. 

Please, you begged, of Kevva or whoever else might be listening, let this give me the time I need to find him. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Cee nearly passed out when she got the notification that all students doing their practicals at Cobalt Bay needed to report to the facility that day - whether they were scheduled or not - to comply with CMI proceedings regarding the Aurelac incident from the previous week. 

Oh, mother-crusting skud balls I really stuck my foot in it. I’m done. Fried. They’re gonna- Wait. 

She read the message again. 

All student interns at Cobalt Bay will need to comply with CMI proceedings as the facility will be visited by Chief Inspector Fagan, and all crew members including students will be required to give a statement regarding last week’s incident. 

That’s Dagger. Fagan, that’s… I thought they’d send someone else, but- She let out a sigh that turned into a nervous laugh. I can work with this. 

“Ceeeee,” Nash groaned from the bed across the room. “Why are you up and on your computer so earrrrllllly?” 

“Sorry,” she mumbled, moving her screen so that the glow wasn’t directed at the other girl. “Although it’s not that early, you know. We have class in twenty minutes.” 

Nash yawned. “Yeah, and my alarm was gonna go off in five. Early.” She rolled out of bed with far too much reluctance for someone who slept for ten hours straight, and started gathering her toiletries to go wash her face and brush her teeth. 

Before she left the room, though, Cee cleared her throat and spoke. “Hey I’m not gonna be in Chem this afternoon.” She cocked her head towards her computer, the headphones around her neck shifting as she did. Nash, still only half awake, gave her a confused look. Yeah I know, I’m always in class. “Got a message this morning about the refinery practical I’m doing at Cobalt Bay. They need all of us to report today for some big meeting.” 

It wasn’t a lie, just an omission of the fact that the meeting in question was actually an ongoing investigation. But the less she knows about it the better. The last thing Cee wanted was any of her friends being dragged into the mix because she’d shared with them stories of her little foray into evidence planting and database hacking. 

“Can you just let Professor Gatlin know? I’m gonna send him the same message I got from them, but we both know he’s not gonna check his inbox before class.” 

Nash rolled her eyes. “I’m still waiting for a response to a message I sent him last week, so yeah, don’t hold your breath. But I’ll tell him.” 

“Thanks, Nash.” Cee gave her a small smile. “Now go get ready. I’ll wait for you but not if you’re gonna make me late.” 

Nash made an exaggerated show of skedaddling towards the door. “Okay, okay, I’m going.” 

Cee waited until the door clicked shut before leaving her computer on her desk and going into the chest beside it. She removed the top compartment, dug her hand through the sweater piles, closed it around the small sack of gems, and pulled three of them out. Those she stuck in the inner pocket that she’d added to the old flannel she liked to wear as a light jacket - it had been Ezra’s, from when he was around her age, and it was the closest thing to a family heirloom that she had - and closed the chest before Nash returned. 

She had a plan for what to do at the refinery to get your attention. It was an even bigger risk than her last plan, and she didn’t know if it would even come to fruition, but it was all she had as backup. She couldn’t leave the facility without getting you a message, and the gems hidden in her smuggler’s pocket were her emergency exit route. 

And if I need to use them, I will. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

You waited as the student interns filed into the room that had been designated for your investigation, carefully watching them for any signs of suspicious behavior or nerves. You’d already finished with the actual crew that worked at the refinery, and none of them had tipped you off to anything out of the ordinary, so you knew that it was likely that you’d catch something with this group. 

And when the room was about two thirds of the way full, you did. Oh, that one knows something. 

The one in question was a feathery girl with short blonde hair that was drawn back into a ponytail. Her eyes, though, dark brown and determined, were what made you certain that she might be helpful for your case. Most of the others seemed timid, uninterested, bored, or even despite the time, still half asleep. But not this girl, who seemed to be measuring you just as acutely as you were doing to her. 

She gave nothing away during the group discussion, though, answering your questions as benignly as the others. You were getting ready to tell them that they could go unless any of them had anything more to add in private, when your wrist comm beeped with an incoming transmission from Vayne. “Excuse me for just a moment,” you asked of the students. “I’ll get you out of here soon, I just need to take this.” 

None of them seemed to care, probably because the longer they sat there, the more likely it was that they would be given permission to miss their next class back on campus, so you stepped out into the hall to answer. Twisting the dial to the holo setting, you waited for Vayne’s small, projected image to emit from the device. “Sir,” you greeted him. 

“Fagan. Have you finished speaking with the students? I want to sit in when you go over the footage. You haven’t done that yet, have you?” 

And he wants to bust my ass for irregularities? You trained your face into an expression of compliance. “I haven’t done that yet, no. And I’m just finishing up with the students now. I can dial you back when I’m done there, I don’t think it’ll take too long.” 

“No need, Fagan, I’ll stay on. If it’s only a few minutes it’s no problem.” 

For you, maybe. It’s no problem for you. You nodded. “Alright.” I doubt this will inspire any of them to pipe up, but… 

You re-entered the room, thirteen pairs of eyes going directly to the hologram on your wrist. “This is Inspector Vayne,” you informed the kids, gesturing with your free hand. “He works with me.” 

You knew that he would hate the implication that you were equals, but you had already established an easy atmosphere and you didn’t want to ruin that by telling them that an authority figure who had even more authority than you did was now listening to their every word and watching them like a hawk. Apart from a nod and a curt hello, Vayne had nothing to add, the room going silent for a few seconds. Clearing your throat, you changed that. 

“Right. So, you’re all clear to go unless any of you have anything else to add.” 

You directed your gaze to the girl you’d clocked at the outset - Cee, as her name tag said - but she was focused on the hologram, jaw tight and eyes a little wider than they were before. See? She definitely has something to say but this fuck-nugget being here is gonna spook her off. No one said anything, the students casting curious glances around the room to see whether anyone would, but you were far from shocked by that.

“Okay then,” you said with a smile that you hoped would soften the blow of Vayne’s holographic presence. “Thank you all again for coming in today. Your recollection of the timeframe we’re looking at has been very helpful. If any of you think of anything else that you think I should know, you have my contact information and you can use it anytime, day or night.” 

As soon as you were done talking, chairs started scraping as the students wasted no time in filing towards the door. You noticed, though, that Cee was doing her best to linger without blatantly appearing to do so, allowing several of her classmates to pass her as she slowly put the flannel she had draped over the back of her chair back on. Once she had, she shot you a pointed look, then looked down at her seat and back up to you. From there she’d made up the tail end of the line, and then she and the rest were gone. 

The security guard came in almost immediately, carrying a small, portable screen for you - and Vayne - to review the footage on. As he set up and Vayne made small talk with him from your wrist, you walked around to the other side of the room and took the seat directly next to the one where the girl had all but told you to look. And what you saw there stilled the air in your lungs. 

A folded piece of paper that said: DAGGER, with three more gems from the same Aurelac pull as the last ones sitting atop it. 

You used your free hand to covertly palm the objects, sliding them into your sleeve while the security footage began to play. It wasn’t until after, when the guard had left and Vayne had ended his transmission and you were alone, that you peeked into your cuff to make sure that the items were still there, and then you excused yourself to the restroom before heading back to the shuttle station. 

Securely pocketing the Aurelac in an inner pocket of your blazer - Ezra had shown you that trick ages ago - you opened the note with shaking hands. 

I know who you are. We have a mutual friend and we need to talk. I’ll send you a secure link tonight. 

It was short and unsigned and your heart slammed at your ribs as more questions than answers started filling your head. 

Who the hell is this girl? 

How does she know Ezra? 

And what in Kevva’s name has she gotten herself into? 

You composed yourself, splashed water on your face, and headed for the shuttle. The only thing you could do was file your next report and wait for whatever message was coming. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

She did say any time, day or night, right? 

Cee chewed her thumbnail and stared at the message she was about to send you. All it had was a link to a chat, one that she had coded to look like a photo she’d taken at the refinery just in case that stuffy guy from your wrist comm was monitoring your mail. There was no downside to sending it, and it was the only way she could think of to talk to you off the record. Nash was visiting her girlfriend for the night, so Cee had the room to herself and wouldn’t have to worry about hiding her screen. It was now or never, and it had to be now. 

She sent the message, and then waited. 

Less than ten minutes later, a new window popped open, and she sat up against the pillows in her bed, pulling her laptop closer so she could more easily respond. 

Here we go. 

_02/06/3096  _LST 09:13:22 PM  _YST 10:13:22 PM {PRIVATE CHANNEL SECURED} 

{INVITE SENT TO CMI EMPLOYEE 7593}{USERNAME CREATED FOR CMI EMPLOYEE 7593 = “SharpDagger”} 

[SharpDagger]: What is this? 

[CeeGull78]: I thought this might be a better way for us to talk. 

[CeeGull78]: Safer. 

[SharpDagger]: How do I know I can trust you? Who are you? What do you want? 

[CeeGull78]: How can you trust me? Because I have arguably more to lose than you. That work? 

[SharpDagger]: I doubt that. 

[CeeGull78]: It’s not a contest, it’s a fact. I’m a student at Cobalt. On a full scholarship. If I get caught I lose both of those things and I end up back where I was: A drifter out in the Fringe forever. 

[CeeGull78]: And my name is Cee. We met earlier. 

[SharpDagger]: So is this some kind of student prank? The Aurelac? A dare or something? 

[CeeGull78]: Skuffing crust-nuggets, lady! 

[CeeGull78]: Sorry. 

[CeeGull78]: It’s just… No. It’s not a prank. Like I wrote you in that note, we have a mutual friend. I care about him a lot and he seems to really care about you. All I wanted to do was help you both. 

[SharpDagger]: How did you get that Aurelac? 

[SharpDagger]: How did you get those exact pieces? 

[CeeGull78]: He gave them to me. Told me the story behind them and I liked it so he let me have them. I keep them for good luck I guess. 

[SharpDagger]: Ezra? How do you know him? 

[CeeGull78]: We met on the Green and helped each other survive. Now he’s basically the only family I have. 

[SharpDagger]: And he’s alive? 

[CeeGull78]: Yes? Why did you think he wasn’t? 

[SharpDagger]: Because on record, he’s not.

[CeeGull78]: Well your record is a lie. Which is pretty skuffing shady if you ask me. 

[SharpDagger]: You’re sure? 

[CeeGull78]: I mean I’m not talking to him right now, but yeah. I’m sure. He’s coming to visit for family weekend. 

[CeeGull78]: Do you love him? 

[SharpDagger]: Excuse me? 

[CeeGull78]: It’s not a trick question and I’m not trying to mess with you. Do you love Ezra? Because it’s clear that he loves you from how protective he got when I mentioned reaching out to you. 

[SharpDagger]: I’ve never stopped loving him. 

[SharpDagger]: Wait a minute. Cee, how did you find me? My name was changed. 

[CeeGull78]: Easy. I got into the PBR database, and then CMI’s. Compared your registration number. 

[CeeGull78]: So you didn’t change your name to keep Ezra from finding you? 

[SharpDagger]: No, it was changed by CMI. Not my call. 

[SharpDagger]: Hold on. Do you mean you hacked CMI? Were you the one who deleted information from one of my reports? 

[CeeGull78]: Yeah. I was trying to make sure no one looked at that footage too closely.

[SharpDagger]: Oh, kid. 

[SharpDagger]: I guess you didn’t know that the date stamp on those reports changes every time the report is opened, did you? 

[CeeGull78]: I didn’t. Crud. Does that mean that guy Vayne knows? 

[SharpDagger]: Yes. You cannot do that again. I was able to smooth it over this time because I don’t want him looking too closely, either. I can’t have him know that Ezra is alive or that he’s connected to this. 

[CeeGull78]: Why? What happened with you two? 

[SharpDagger]: I think I should let him answer that. If he’s like family, I don’t want to tell you anything that might upset you or change how you look at him. 

[CeeGull78]: I know who he is. There’s nothing you could tell me that I couldn’t already guess, but I get it. 

[CeeGull78]: So will you come see him when he’s here? Can you come back to Lau in a few days? Say it’s for the investigation?

[SharpDagger]: I can’t do that. I can’t contact him while on the job. They’re always watching me. Especially on this case because I have ties to Aurelac. 

[CeeGull78]: How can we make it happen, then? 

[SharpDagger]: We can’t, kid. 

[CeeGull78]: What if I went digging in the records again and saw what they had on him? If they wanted you to believe he was dead, there must be a reason that they didn’t want him on your radar. Or anyone’s, I guess. Does he know something that he shouldn’t?

[SharpDagger]: Kevva fuck it. Why didn’t I think of that? Of course. He knows about the mercs that CMI hires to kill and capture violators that they can’t pin down. He knows because they came for us. He survived, and they didn’t want that getting out. So when they couldn’t find him after that, they reported him as dead. 

[CeeGull78]: Woah. 

[SharpDagger]: He must be using a different name then, if he’s got a place? If he can book travel? 

[CeeGull78]: I don’t know. It’s been the same since I met him. Ezra Silver. 

[SharpDagger]: Silver? 

[SharpDagger]: That was my nickname for him. Because of his silver tongue and that streak in his hair. And because I always teased him about coming in second to me in our silly little dig competitions. 

[CeeGull78]: I told you he loves you. 

[CeeGull78]: Are the reports the only things in the CMI database that have date stamps? Like if I go through the records will it leave a trail? 

[SharpDagger]: Yes. The reports are the only documents that have that function. But does he know you’re doing this? 

[CeeGull78]: No, in fact he told me not to. But he also told me to leave him to die on the Green and I didn’t listen then either. 

[SharpDagger]: Oh I can see exactly why he took a shine to you. 

[SharpDagger]: This is dangerous though. And like you said, you have a lot to lose. You really shouldn’t. 

[CeeGull78]: Look he’s the only reason that I have anything to lose at all. So I’ll risk it if you’re in. Just say the word. 

[SharpDagger]: Okay. Just stay out of the field reports. I’ll do what I can to steer Vayne away from this for as long as I can. How long will you need? 

[CeeGull78]: I’ll start as soon as we log out here. If I work all night… Maybe a day or two? I’ll message you when I have something. 

[SharpDagger]: Be careful. Please be careful. 

[CeeGull78]: That’s my middle name. ;) 

[SharpDagger]: That was not at all comforting. But I trust you. 

[CeeGull78]: Smart. See you soon, Dagger. 

_02/06/3096  _LST 09:36:22 PM  _YST 10:36:22 PM {PRIVATE CHANNEL CLOSED} 

Okay. Cee cracked open a carbonated zinger drink and took a sip before opening a new window on her screen. She adjusted her headphones and selected a playlist, and then got to work. 

Let’s see what I can find. 

Five hours in, she had found several documents connected to Ezra. The first was the false death certificate that had been filed by CMI with Puggart Bench’s hall of records. There was another that looked like a contract with some mercenaries stationed out of Kren that had been tasked with the kill or capture of both you and Ezra, but she couldn’t be sure because it was written in Krenish, and that wasn’t a language that she was familiar with. I can run it through my translator program though, no problem. 

The last thing she found made her stomach sick - a wanted poster, presumably from before CMI decided that simpy killing him on record was enough if they couldn’t actually do it. But it wasn’t the list of offenses that she found so upsetting. She’d known half of those things about him before she even knew his name. It was the fact that Ezra, the man she’d come to care about more than anyone else, the man who cared for her like she was his own kin (That’s exactly what we are, Birdie, she could hear him say) was the one being targeted. 

She stared at the poster, that uneasy feeling turning to heavy anger in her belly as she imagined bounty hunters and mercs spread out all over the Fringe, ready to kill him without hesitation. 

Oh, Ezra. 

She always knew he’d had it hard in life. She never expected that he’d have a two hundred thousand credit price on his head, though, and while there was still more exploring to do in CMI’s records, Cee decided that it was enough for the night. I don’t want to see anything worse than this right now. The translator would take all night, anyway. 

Climbing down from the loft, she plugged her laptop in to charge and pulled Ezra’s old flannel on over her t-shirt before climbing back up again with her headphones. Music helped silence her thoughts when they got too loud sometimes, but that night it did little to squat to help clear thoughts of Ezra being hunted. It did nothing at all to stop her from wondering if Damon hadn’t considered going after that bounty back before he started toting her along on every job. 

I wish I was home right now. Or that Ezra was here. 

Tears slipped from her eyes, dampening her pillowcase as she finally drifted to sleep. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

True to her word, Cee had gotten back to you less than two days later. 

She sent another link, this one disguised as blueprints and specs from the Glossoil pump where she’d left the original pile of Aurelac gems. But when you clicked it, it opened as a packet of documents that Cee had downloaded from CMI’s classified database. 

A wanted poster that you’d never seen but that made you gasp and cover your mouth. Look at him. Look at what they tried to do to him. 

The false death certificate, which you had seen before but was just as painful to see again. Even though I know he’s not… Kevva, Ezra, I shouldn’t have believed them. I’m so sorry. 

And the most damning piece of information by far, the fully translated contract that had been put out on both of you, all for the high crime of digging on sites that Central Mining had already abandoned commercially. This is… This would cause big waves. Especially because we can’t be the only ones they put contracts out on. 

The last thing was a note written by Cee that she’d uploaded instead of putting in the body of the message. 

Dagger, 

By the time Ezra gets here this weekend, I’ll have more documents to send you. Proof of more shady crud that CMI tried to hide. Will that be enough to go public? Or at least to get them to let you out of all this? If so, come to Cobalt Academy this weekend. Say you’re visiting a student for family weekend if you can’t say it’s for your case. We can all go public with it together. And you and Ezra can finally see each other again. 

Don’t reply. 

-Cee

A sudden flicker of adrenaline turned into a flood as you considered that you might only be days away from seeing him again. From being in his arms again, maybe. Or I might be only a couple days away from being responsible for his death, my imprisonment, and Cee being left to the Fringe. You let out a slow, shaky breath. No. This is going to work. We’ll finally be together. 

You saved the documents that Cee sent you to an external drive and slipped it into your smuggler’s pocket, then deleted the hidden documents and saved her message to the folder labeled “Cobalt Bay”, since anyone else who looked at it would only see the spec sheet she’d programed it to read as, and then you headed home to pack for a weekend trip to Lau. 

The most important weekend trip of my life. 

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

“And we had our faces done with paint made from crushed Myllock shells, so it glowed all night long, and-”

Ezra beamed at Cee as she and her roommate regaled him with the stories they’d brought home from the previous weekend’s Myllock festival. The celebration of Lau’s most famous fauna, the bioluminescent cephalopods that were responsible for giving the planet its bright blue glow from space, was one of Lau’s most important annual cultural events. It had also been one of the things that Cee had been most excited about when she had been accepted into Cobalt Academy. Hearing that she’d been able to realize that wish alongside her desire for a formal education filled him with happiness. 

She has finally found a place to spread her wings. 

The three of them were sitting on the ledge of a large fountain in the center of Cobalt Academy’s quad, sun shining through the spray of water, breeze ruffling the reed grass surrounding the campus and playing with their hair. It was brisk, a reminder that cooler weather was right around the corner, but Ezra felt nothing but warmth. 

Eventually, Nash received an alert on her comm device, telling her that her parents had just arrived, and she excused herself to go meet them. “It was nice to meet you, Mr. Silver,” the girl said through a grin. Turning to Cee, she continued. “Maybe we can all go out for dinner tonight? You guys and my parents and I… I could see if Shay wants to come?” 

“That sounds delightful, Nash,” Ezra answered. 

But Cee responded differently. “Maybe,” she said with a soft smile. “Sounds nice, but maybe tomorrow?” She shrugged, rolling her eyes in Ezra’s direction. “Haven’t seen this one in a while. Kinda want to catch up tonight.”

Nash grinned. “Yeah, tomorrow works, too. You guys have fun. I’ll catch you later, Cee!” With that she was off, jogging towards the campus gates, long braids swinging side to side with her movement. 

“Well now, Birdie, I do believe when last we spoke you called me a sap.” Ezra raised an eyebrow, but couldn’t keep from also raising his mouth in a slight smirk. “It seems that the tables have been turned.” 

Cee shrugged and tried to keep a straight face. “Whatever.” 

Ezra laughed, the sound carrying across the quad. “Alright then. What would you like to do next, hmm? You mentioned that you wanted to give me a tour of the computer lab, did you not?” 

The girl closed her eyes and gave a dismissive shake of her head. “Yeah, but… tomorrow.” She sighed. “Right now I just want to sit here and-” She turned to look at him. “Just talk.” 

He tilted his head and gave her a small nod. “We can do that, Little Bird. I imagine that you have got that list of questions we spoke of ready to go?” 

She looked over his shoulder then, sucking in a breath as her eyes went wide. “Actually,” she said, bringing her gaze back to meet his, chewing her bottom lip. “There’s one more person we should talk to.” 

“Another friend? Someone who-” 

And then he heard it. The undeniable, soul-moving sound of your voice speaking his name, cutting deep into the center of his heart. Dagger? 

Mouth dropping open, he spent half a second giving Cee a questioning look, then slowly turned towards where he’d heard your voice. When he saw you standing there, dark glasses covering your eyes and a scarf tied around your head to hide your hair but still unmistakably you, he felt his lungs go empty and his heart stand still. It’s… she’s… He stood slowly, vaguely aware of Cee also rising to her feet. 

“Ezra,” you said again, a warble in your voice this time as you reached up to remove your glasses. “Oh, Kevva, Silver, it’s you. It’s-” You took a step closer, Ezra doing the same. “I-” 

He said your name then, reaching for you but holding back. Your eyes had fallen to the abrupt end of his right arm, and he saw them fill with shock. Of course. He swallowed hard, trying to get his heart back into his chest instead of clogging up his throat. Of course that would give her pause. Its-

But to his complete and utter surprise - which he realized, once he was able to access the rational part of his brain, where the memory of how deep your love had always run was kept - you were not deterred by his missing limb, nor did you give him a pitiful frown or treat him as though he were made of glass. Instead, you rushed forward and wrapped him in your arms, one going around his neck and the other slipping beneath his right arm. He immediately reciprocated your hold, his palm flattening against your shoulder blades, and when he felt you take a shuddering breath, he brought you even closer to his chest, bowing his head down to press his  cheek against your temple. 

How is this possible? 

“Are you really here?” He took a breath and flexed his fingers. “Is it truly you?” 

He knew it was. He knew it was you. Felt it in his bones, in his blood, in his very soul. But he had to ask anyway, had to hear you confirm it. Because he couldn’t for the life of him figure out how you were here, how he was breathing you in and feeling your heartbeat against his chest. 

“It’s me, Ezra,” you replied, nodding without pulling away. You were crying, he could hear it in your words and felt your tears dampen his shirt. “I’m so sorry it took me so damn long.” 

At that you both let out huffs of laughter - incredulous, effervescent, tear-tinted laughter - and he put enough distance between you to look into your eyes and swipe the wet skin beneath them with his thumb. “All is forgiven, Dagger.” You brought one hand up to the side of his face, your fingers sliding over the thin, curved scar there. “For there was never anything to forgive. Not for you. I am the one who failed to protect you. I’m the one who-” 

But you stopped him, in the best possible way, by pressing your lips to his in a lingering kiss. “You didn’t fail me, Ezra. You never could.” You kissed him again, then rested your forehead against his. “We were ambushed. Outnumbered. I never-” You sighed, closing your eyes and shaking your head. “I never blamed you, Ezra. Never.” 

He was about to respond when Cee cleared her throat, stepping closer to where the two of you stood and crossing her arms. “This is super heartwarming and all, but I think we should move it inside.” To you, she said, “Your disguise is nice and all but if you were followed, we shouldn’t be out in the open.” Turning to Ezra, she smirked. “Plus, everyone’s staring. You two are like maxing out on PDA right now and-” 

Ezra chuckled, releasing you to ruffle the girl’s hair. “Point taken, Birdie.” He frowned at her then, but the expression didn’t hold because he was far too overjoyed to even fake it. “Though I do remember telling you not to interfere here,” he cocked his head towards you, “I am very glad that you did not listen.” 

She scrunched her nose. “I knew you would be. Now c’mon.” She sighed. “We have some things to discuss and some shady skuffing stuff to blow wide open.”

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was summer when the three of you moved into the dune house in Sand Harbor. 

And it was the best summer of your lives.

—----------------------------------------------------------------------------

thank you for reading!

tags: @something-tofightfor @alraedesigns @pheedraws @shoopidly @fific7

@valkblue @a-court-of-feysand-and-elorcan @cannedsoupsucks @tobealostwanderer @paracosmenthusiast

@gracie7209 @dihra-vesa @marauderskeeper @novemberrain221 @littlemisspascal

@mishasminion360 @stevie75 @nyctophiliiiiaaa @practicalghost @tanzthompson

@harriedandharassed @woodlandmouth @thescarletfang @trickstersp8 @imtryingmybeskar

@wildmoonflower @mswarriorbabe80 @theredwritingwitch @silverstarsandsuns @pedro-pedrito-pascalito

@jedi-in-crocs @anoverwhelmingdin @chiyo13 @myloveistoolittle @spishsstuff

@noisynightmarepoetry @Severin-proud @Vickie5446 @jessthebaker

[st7rnioioss]

⋆·˚ ༘ * "I really want to kiss you." pt. 2

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: matt sturniolo x reader

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: part 2 to "i really want to kiss you", go read that! (im avoiding doing a summary)

𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: fluff, kissing, swearing

part one

a/n: i didn’t really expect to make part two, but here we are. just a bunch of fluff, no plot really LMAO.

───────── 🐇

Friday, 9:23 pm

“Hey, you home yet?”

“Not yet, still on my way. You looked good today”

“Stop, I’m blushing”

“What I’d do to sit beside you and watch”

“Matthew, you should concentrate on not getting run over. Cut the flirting!!!”

“Sorrryyy, I can’t help it, it’s not my fault you’re practically perfect”

“I LOVE YOI SO MUCH STOP”

Sunday, 8:47 pm

“Oh my God, finally! I can’t believe it took you guys that long,” Madi exclaimed on the other end of the phone.

“Yeah, he honestly kinda took me by surprise. I didn’t actually expect him to kiss me, but I had my suspicions,” you said, tucking yourself up in your covers in your soft bed.

“Tell me everything tomorrow at school, please! Also, do you think Nick and Chris knows?” Madi asked.

“Yeah, Nick texted me that Matt came home stumbling into the kitchen, yelling ‘I finally kissed her!’ and then proceeded to smile and ramble about the whole thing. His parents knows too,” you couldn’t help but blush at the imagination.

“Stop, that’s adorable. Anyways, I gotta go, I’m sorry! Tell me all about it tomorrow!” she said, the frown practically being audible.

“No it’s fine, Madi! I love you!” you said just before hanging up.

Monday, 12:21 am

“And then he asked me to kiss me again,” you giggled, taking a sip of your soda as you watched Matt turn beet red.

“Shut up, you’re embarrassing me,” he mumbled, playing with his lunch food as he looked down at you beside him. Chris was playfully hitting Matt’s shoulder, a proud expression on his faces, his mouth full of food. Nate was laughing at Chris, trying not to spit his food out.

“Finally! This was honestly painful. If only you knew how many times he came home just to ramble about you. Exhausting!” Nick sent a look to Madi who nodded, both smiling playfully at Matt. This made you blush, grabbing Matt’s hand under the table, looking up at him to smile softly.

“Well, he’s my boyfriend now, so you guys can stop complaining now,” you laughed, squeezing Matt’s hand. Matt sent a cheesy smile, giving your cheek a quick peck.

“Gross. At least don’t kiss during lunch,” Chris complained.

“Chris, shut up and eat your food with a closed mouth,” you mumbled, the whole table laughing at Chris’s offended expression.

Monday, 7:49 pm

“Matt, you’ve got to be kidding,” you laughed while yelling at Matt. You were walking on the sidewalk, the pouring rain rapidly soaking your shirt.

First he had suggested that you just took an uber home from the McDonald’s, but then he got the fantastic idea to walk instead. You liked the idea until it’s started raining heavily.

“Oh my God, my mom is gonna kill me,” Matt laughed, throwing an arm around your shoulder, looking down at you, completely drenched. In a white shirt, of course.

“Well, it was your idea!” you protested, crossing your arms because you got colder.

“Oh? So it’s my fault? You agreed to walk instead of taking an Uber!” he laughed, poking your cheek. You grabbed his finger with a soft smile, rolling your eyes at him.

“Stop fucking poking me, Matt” you lowered your voice, not letting go of his finger. He then eventually got free from your grip, intertwining his fingers with yours. He just smiled at you as an apology, and it sure as hell worked.

“Well, I’m enjoying myself. I like spending time with you, even if it’s in the pouring rain,” he shot a somewhat shy smile, his eyes darting between your eyes and your chest. He then eventually settled on your eyes, leaning closer to whisper in your ear.

“You’re so gorgeous, even completely soaked. I love you, you know that, right? I’m glad I decided to kiss you on that park bench,” he pressed a soft kiss to your cheek, making you halt your walk.

“Oh stop it, Matthew, you’re making me flustered,” you blushed, covering your face in your hands.

“Hey, don’t do that, I want to see your pretty face, just like I told you!” he giggled, grabbing your hands to lower them from your face. You locked eyes with him, reaching for his now soaked hair to move it out of your way, pecking his forehead gently.

“I love you way more,” you cheekily smiled, the both of you continuing to walk, Matt’s arm around your shoulder, yours around his waist.

a/n: i’m screaminggngnnggg😕😕😕 chris fluff coming soon😈

[puzzled-pegasus]

Percy and Leo hcs because nobody frickin talks about them

Percy is a Staring Into Your Soul Audhd and Leo is a Avoids Eye Contact Audhd so when theyre in conversation percy will just be like 🟢_🟢 and it kinda freaks Leo out

They have literally the craziest conversations because both their hyperactive brains go all over the place and they just be saying shit

They say their intrusive thoughts out loud to each other sometimes and everyone around is like 😨

Sometimes when they both get mood swingy or overstimulated at the same time they have dumbass arguments and get grumpy at each other and then feel bad later and apologize

Both sensory seeking like crazy so togeyher they make the craziest food combos and eat em

Percy keeps extra sodas under his bed at camp and mostly theyre for him but he'll give them to his very good friends if they want some caffiene. He'd give one to any of the seven but Leo is his biggest taker

They never go to sleep at sleepovers they alwasy are like "ok we should go to sleep now" but then they keep telling stories and making dumb jokes until whoops it's 3:47 AM and neither of them have slept a wink

Leo and Percy and Piper all have a 7 year old's sense of humor when it comes to bathroom jokes

Piper and Leo also have a 12 yo sense of humor w sex jokes and Percy also laughs at those jokes but gets like flustered and it's hilarious

Percy n leo share fidgets with each other

I feel like they would start a crocheting hobby togetehr?? Idk

Both are pretty good at video games idk maybe theyd play together

Leo helps Percy w his math hw sometimes or like explains concepts to help him understand how it works

They have a running joke/quirky thing where they leave mini rubber ducks and other such fun knickknacks in each others space as a wholesome prank

They probably have a very silly secret handshake

Leo is sometimes very good at pulling out Percy's secret inner cringe/dork side by way of committing to his antics really hard and makijg the worst jokes and Percy can't help laughing even though he feels embarrassed as hell and it's such a good vibe lmaoo

Like it's very often that Percy has to hide his face in his hands after Leo makes a god awful joke because he feels so ashamed for laughing

Its good for percy tho cus he likes to be cool and tough skater boy and whatnot but yk hes just a dork ass nerd with a horrible sense of humor just like Leo

They tease and banter to each other like brothers sometimes trying to be as obnoxious as possibke but they're actually trying to show affection lol

[curlyhairedbooklover]

What is the gender spilt of the murders in NBC Hannibal?

This is the third of three posts though this one works as a standalone, the first two are about the characters saying each other’s names and can be found here and here (I promise they are much more interesting than that summary makes them sound….) I decided to make this post because of this quote from Bryan Fuller; “And we are very conscious in the writer’s room; ‘Okay we just killed a woman, we have to kill a guy now.’” (47:20) And I always wondered how well they actually managed to do that…. thus I went out and collected the data and here it is!!

Adding a quick disclaimer that I did this for fun so I haven’t double checked it meaning there may be some mistakes!

As you can see from the data it turns out that they did kill less women than men during the show!!!! The total known kills in the show are 200 with 98 of them being men, 65 women and 37 were unknown!! I also kept track of who did the murder and those categories are: Hannibal, killer of the week, Will, and other.

To preface, I am only using “women” and “men” for my categories in this data as the show does not depict any trans or nb people (explicitly at least, there are a couple metaphorical/subtextual ones…) and if I could not tell the person’s gender or I simply did not see a body I categorised them as “unknown” 

You will be pleased to know that Hannibal killed 39.5 people (the 0.5 is Dolarhyde which I split between Will and Hannibal as it was a joint kill 😌)  over the show on screen and that 26.5 of them were men, 9 were women and only 4 were unknown! All I can say is that Hannibal is a feminist queen! That or women are significantly less rude in the Hannibal universe… although Freddie seems to defy that theory…. He does kill the most in s1 at 21 times! That essentially halves in s2 to only 12 times and again to 6.5 times in s3.. although it’s worth noting that I was unable to count his kills at Muskrat Farm as we don’t see any bodies on screen (though the script implies it was at least 7) and I only counted the Il Mostro kills that we saw evidence of instead of including the amount killed by the actual Il Mostro killer(s).. Not to mention that he spent half the season in prison! So all that said he did okay! Also I personally believe that his kill count across his lifetime is easily in the high hundreds, he has to meal plan if nothing else so let's put some respect on his name as Hannibal THEE Cannibal!

Unsurprisingly the killers of the week did make up most of the kills in the show, and killed 62 men, 56 women and 33 of unknown gender altogether. The killer of the week who did the most murder is James Grey at a whopping 50 but he did have a mural to create so that takes a lot of bodies! Second place goes to Lawrence Wells who murdered 17 people over his lifetime to create his totem pole, while Clark Ingram sneaks in at 3rd with 16 murders, although he only killed women and is the main reason why the women’s s2 kill count is higher than the men’s, boooooo! Poor Dolarhyde had to pick up all the slack in s3 as the only killer of the week but he did at least get 15 kills in! Sadly he was bound by the orders of the moon and could not do the suitable legwork 😔

Now Will DID get his own section of the table as is his right as the main character 😤 even if he only killed 3 people (which translates to 2.5 on the table as a result of having to share the dragon with Hannibal…). But they were all monumental kills, I mean Garret Jacob Hobbs haunted the rest of the show, Randall was turned into a magnificent tableau, and Francis was the culmination of his becoming and gave us That Ending!! It’s also not like he didn’t successfully manipulate multiple people into killing (or almost killing) people so I think he deserves extra points for those if only in our hearts!! Despite his low kill count he is the character we see commit murder the most on the show! He fantasises/imagines/hallucinates murdering 32 people across the show!! As the show moved away from the procedural nature he imagined killing less people; with s1 standing at 16, s2 moving down to 9 and then only 7 in s3! Just because most of the time he’s empathising with killers to recreate their kills doesn’t make the scenes any less sexy or iconic!!

The 7 other kills actually all come from women!! Another feminism win!! 3.3 is when Chiyoh killed her prisoner after being manipulated into it by Will. 3.7 sees Chiyoh kill again, this time’s it’s the 2 guys who were going to kill Jack and the 2 guards at Muskrat Farm, where we also we get Mason’s murder from Alana and Margot!! Then in 3.10 we get the flashback to Bedelia killing her patient! Go Girls!! Whooo!! 

In conclusion no one is surprised that there is a lot of murder in this show and Bryan Fuller while not exactly alternating each week in killing off each gender did not kill more women than men so arguably achieved his goal!

(part 1) (part 2) (part 3)

[eardefenders]

Sherlock & Co - Mailbag Episode 2 Transcript

00:00-00:30 Intro Music

00:27-00:34 *Sounds of a violin playing fade in*

00:34 Sherlock: You see? You see what I mean?

00:37 John: I…don’t.

00:39 Sherlock: Listen! *scoffs* Listen, closely this time. Shh. *resumes playing the bit from the fade in*

00:43 John: Argh. *pause* For God’s sake.

*Sherlock keeps playing*

00:46 John: Sherlock, please mate. We’ve got questions to get through here.

*Sherlock keeps playing*

00:52 John: Maaaate. Matey, mate mate mate mate.

00:55 Sherlock: Did you hear it this time?

00:57 John: Yeah. Sure. Uhh, right. So let’s dive into the discord chat. The brand spanking new discord for Sherlock and Co members. Brimming with Stamfords, Irregulars, and Diogene-sohmy God. There’s thousands of messages. Um, right. Should probably been keeping tabs on those questions. All right I’m going to scroll up and pick one f-from um the sssixteenth of January. Here we go! Come on down…IdleVice! Uh, your question is, “If you could make a Spotify playlist for each other of your own favorite songs, what would some of the highlights be and would you be willing to share the playlists with us. Ooh hoohoho. Uuuhhm. I don’t know if I’d ever get around to actually, y’know, putting the playlist together, as, as such, but what I-I would get Sherlock to listen to. Ummm mmmm probably Elbow? Elbow are a band from the north of England. Uh, Salford I think. But they have, uh, a few strings sort of. I-I don’t know what it’s called-but, elements that involve violins. Um, and all that jazz. Heh. Uh well not jazz! Uh, literally, not jazz. Uh, yeah, Sherlock, what about me?

02:07 Sherlock: Hm?

02:08 John: If you could make a playlist of songs for me what would it be?

02:12 Sherlock: I probably would never do that, Watson.

02:16 John: Okay. Uh, could you expand on that?

02:19 Sherlock: It’s a task that I wouldn’t find that fulfil-Vivaldi.

02:23 John: Uhh, right. Vivaldi. Yep. Anything else pop into mind?

02:29 Sherlock: Pop.

02:31 John: Pop? Is that-what’s that?

02:33 Sherlock: It’s a genre of music.

02:35 John: Uh, right, you’d make a pop playlist for me?

02:38 Sherlock: I’d probably enlist Mrs. Hudson to do that.

02:41 John: Fair enough. And why pop?

02:43 Sherlock: Because it’s an abbreviation for ‘popular music’.

02:45 John: No, I know that.

02:47 Sherlock: You like popular culture, therefore pop music could very well be your cup of green tea.

02:54 John: It’s, it’s just cup of tea. Bu-uh-uh, well, okay, uh, thank you for that. Uh, back to the discord dudes and dudettes. Um, not that I was implying any kind of masculine energy to the use of the word dudes. Dudes will remain, uh, um, an-an-an-androgynous here. My…dudes. Bit like the word mate! I do throw it around. Ummm. Some people just think it’s for blokes. Don’t know why. Uh, anyway. Here we go. Leaf-onk, layff, layfonk? I hope I’m saying that right. Uh, Leif-Leif*onk* asks, ‘Has Sherlock ever hit a vape?”

03:28 Sherlock: Yes.

03:29 John: Lovely. They’d also like to know the flavor.

03:31 Sherlock: Menthol.

03:32 John: D-do you want to expand?

03:35 Sherlock: Mm, not really.

03:37 John: Did you like it?

03:38 Sherlock: It was satisfactory, I suppose.

03:41 John: *sighs* Another thrilling q and a session with the master detective. Here we go! Number one archie fan-He-he-heeyyy! Archie! Found your number one fan mate. Heh. Think they also go by potpourri. Not sure. Don’t really know how discord works because I was born in 1989. Anyway! Number one Archie fan asks, do you have a favorite classical piece? Or a favorite composer, perhaps?

04:05 Sherlock: Mozart, generally. Can often be tied to my mood. What about Vivaldi? You said Vivaldi earlier?

04:12 Sherlock: That was a recommendation to you.

04:14 John: But not you?

04:14 Sherlock: Definitely not.

04:16 John: Great.

04:17 Sherlock: Uh, Mozart, Bach, Tchaikovsky. But I am often driven by whatever phase I feel I’m in.

04:23 John: And we’re in a Mozart phase now, are we?

04:26 Sherlock: We are indeed.

04:27 John: Fab. Right, uh, Reeonk asks-ohkay, ok, I see what you’re doing now. Cause of. Cause of Jonk. Okahaha. Let’s all laugh at Jonk-John, I mean.

04:40 Sherlock: *laughs*

04:41 John (affectionately): Oh, ge-Shut up, you big idiot.

04:44 Sherlock: *still laughing*

04:45 John (affectionately annoyed): Shut it. Ha. Uhhhh, we’ll cut that bit. I swear to God. Right! Reonk, who I think also goes by Perfo, if I click here. But yes, as I was saying, millennial at the wheel. Sorry. Reonk’s first question, “Hey John, if you were an animal, what animal would you be?” Uhhhum, *clicks tongue* look, I’ve got to be something airborne. Um, uh I’m sorry, but I have to. Y-y-you can’t have the chance to fly and turn it down, so, uh, I’m a bird.

05:09 Sherlock: Or a bug.

05:10 John: S-s-sorry?

05:11 Sherlock: Bugs. Insects. They’re airborne. Hm, as is some bacteria.

05:16 John: Great, yeah. Let me just decide between a gnat and a germ.

05:19 Sherlock: By all means. Take your time.

05:21 John: I’m being sarcastic. I’m not a bug and I’m not bloody…germs. I’m. *sighs* I mean it’s too much pressure being an eagle, isn’t it. Um, *clicks tongue three times* I don’t want to be something that’s crap at flying, like a swan or a goose or something. Shoutout to Heather, by the way. Ehhh, aw come on John, come on John. Um. Ooo! Tell you what. Now this is going to sound stupid, but if it was my brain in the animal-

05:47 Sherlock: Yes, this is going to sound stupid.

05:49 John: Shh-sh-shh. Yes, if it was me. In the animal. I’m going pigeon.

05:54 Sherlock: Pigeon?

05:55 John: Pigeon. Ehh? Right, listen, ok. I can still live in the city. I cou-I could even live in my room, really.

06:01 Sherlock: You absolutely cannot.

06:03 John: What? Why not?

06:04 Sherlock: I’m not flatsharing with a bloody pigeon, Watson.

06:06 John: It’s me.

06:07 Sherlock: Yes, in the body of a pigeon.

06:09 John: Listen, let me finish my point. I’m a pigeon. I’ve got my room. I can fly about London, y’know? See all the sites, dive bomb some tourists, do a little poo on the House of Commons. I could nick a bit of decent grub. Yeah, go on walks with Archie and Mariana in the park. And no one is the wiser. If I was an eagle or a, y’know, like an albatross, I couldn’t do that, could I? No? It’d be great flying across town, even take the tube. Saw a pigeon on the tube the other day.

06:39 Sherlock: Yes, you said. Twice.

06:41 John: I could look through people’s windows, you know go in their gardens, on their patios….That makes me sound creepy, doesn’t it? Ah, pigeon! *clears his throat* The answer is pigeon. Second question, “What kitchen appliance would you be?” *clicks tongue twice and sucks air in thorough his teeth* Hm. Not being a microwave. No way, don’t get cleaned enough and, uh, having curries and bloody pizzas blowing up inside me, geezus. Uh, fridge. Maybe. Mmm, but I’d see a lot of rotting food, wouldn’t I? Especially if people are away for a while. Probably go with something fun, y’know something where I come out of the pantry or the, y’know, the cupboard or whatever, and all the family go ‘yaayyy, heyhey here he is!’-Wafflemaker, I’d be a wafflemaker. Everyone loves waffles. No one’s getting board of me. I’m getting cleaned. Perfect. Pigeon and a wafflemaker. Ha! That’s not a bad name for our band, eh Sherlock?

07:32 Sherlock: We’re not making a band.

07:33 John: Yeahhh, it was a joke. Right! It’s biscuit time! Saren says ‘Question for Sherlock: What kind of biscuits are, in your opinion, the best?

07:42: *sound of someone walking away*

07:43 John: Uhh, what’re you doing?

07:44 Sherlock: Answering the question.

07:44 John: Well, that would involve sitting down and talking into the mic.

07:48 Sherlock *sound of papers*: Here.

07:49 John: This…is an essay….on biscuits.

07:52 Sherlock: Yes.

07:54 John: By you.

07:55 Sherlock: Yes.

07:56 John: Okay.

07:58 Sherlock: Well, read it. My findings are in there.

08:01 John: Whaaa…it’s thirty-nine pages long.

08:03 Sherlock: Indeed.

08:04 John: Thi-this is supposed to be a snappy question and answer segment. Y’know it’s supposed to be a patreon reward, not a bloody punishment. *sarcastically* ‘Aww thanks for giving six quid everybody, here’s an eleven hour lecture on biscuits.’

08:15 Sherlock: They asked the question.

08:16 John: Right, ok. So, uh, he was eating a lot of custard creams the other day. Um, for those of you who aren’t British, uh, a custard cream is, uh, a sort of sandwich structured biscuit, wouldn’t’cha say?

08:26 Sherlock: Correct. Yes. A sandwich in structure. Two light shortbread pieces acting as the bread. Often stamped with a Victorian inspired Baroque design. And the filling was once a buttercream, but now is a custard flavored cream based on vanilla custard. Not egg custard.

08:43 John: Right, yeah. It’s, it’s that. Um, they’re nice. They are nice. Very moreish. Um, Ellionk, or Ellie, I think, when they’re not ‘Onk’ified, want’s to know ‘Favorite Supermarket: Tesco or Sainsbury’s?’ Um, well, both have gone downhill in recent years, I have to say. So, I’m going to go for neither and say co-op. Yeah, cause every now and again you find a really really good one. But if I’m in fantasy land, it’s M&S Foods or Waitrose. *clicks tongue* Yeah. Uh, there’s a chemistry question here from Ranger Pip which I don’t even begin to understand, so I’m going to move on. Sorry, Ranger Pip.

09:18 John (cont.): Right, last one! ‘Question for possibly John or Sherlock, not sure, lol. What is the story behind the theme tune. Just have to say whoever composed it, the musicians need an award and a shoutout on the podcast.’ Uh, yeah, well it’s a great theme tune, isn’t it? It really is. It’s called ‘Mad Prodigy’. *clears his throat pointedly*

09:39 Sherlock: Why are you making that noise?

09:41 John: Ah well, just saying mate.

09:43 Sherlock: I’m not mad. Or a prodigy.

09:46 John: Hey, uh, I-I’m not saying anything. Um, yeah, it’s it’s by a guy called Jody Jenkins. Uhhh, the reason why I don’t release it like some people asked me to is because it’s owned by a royalty free site. Um, *clicks tongue* the reason why Jody Jenkins doesn’t release it, is the same reason. I-it’s owned by a royalty free site. Uh, that’s generally how they work. I-I pay a fee. Well. Goalhanger pay a fee, use the track, and it belongs too…yeah. Audio Network. Um, I think he’s fab, yeah. But as far as crediting him out loud on the podcast, um, some artists don’t want royalty free work assigned to them. Um, they just do it for a paycheck. Some do. I don’t know him obviously and of course, I-I could piss off the company that actually owns the audio if I just mention him and uh, not-

10:34: *phone vibrates*

10:36 John: Message from Mariana. ‘You’re waffling. These people are paying us their hard earned money.’ Right! Soundproofing in these old houses aren’t what they used to be, are they? Um, *clicks tongue* yeah that’s the reason songwise. Nothing for or against Jody Jenkins. I’m just playing it safe cause these things s-scare me. *chuckles* Corporations and blech, yeah. Uh, horrible stuff.

10:54: *phone vibrates*

10:55 John: Um, message from Mariana. Right, yeah, I’m gonna wrap this up. Uh, thanks for your questions my lovely friends, we’ll be back soon. And, now to play us out, the one and only, Sherlock Holmes.

11:08 Sherlock: What?

11:08 John: Play! Play a song!

11:10 Sherlock *pleased*: Oh. Excellent! Uh, okay. Here we go!

11:14: *violin playing starts up*

11:17 John: Bye bye guys!

11:32: *sherlock’s violin playing cuts into Mad Prodigy

11:32-12:02 *Mad Prodigy carries us out to the end*

[kedsandtubesocks]

12:07 am - Gojo Satoru

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☽ ⋆⁺₊⋆

Happy birthday to our Sagittarius boy, you are so deeply loved Gojo

tags: sweet fluff with a surprise ending - just like how the birthday boy would want it

wc: 1.6k

The weeks leading up to Gojo’s birthday have been a nightmare.

Whenever you casually tried asking your boyfriend what he wanted for a birthday present, his answer was always the same -

“You. You’re all I need.” And he said it with the same toothy genuine grin.

You still wanted to try and get him something though.

However… fate decided she instead wanted to fight you at every step.

The special outfit you ordered with the hope of it arriving in time for his birthday ended up back ordered and wouldn’t be shipped for another week. The cake shop you planned to grab his birthday cake from had an unexpected construction issue. The surprise trip you had been secretly trying so hard to plan grew harder and harder to figure out with Gojo’s constant meddling. Plus, with his hectic unpredictable schedule you wondered if a trip, surprise or not, was even possible.

Discouragement consumed you fast and the bitterness still lingered on your tongue. Even now, as you hung up streamers in your shared apartment, you wondered if this would even be enough. Were you even enough for a man who could have anything in this world?

Climbing down the small stepladder, you glance at the clock.

11:47

Just a few minutes short from the time actually turning into his birthday.

You’re at least thankful this week’s mission would keep him away until the morning. The extra time became a blessing and allowed you to decorate before he came home. You wanted to try and stay awake to greet him. But as more and more yawns over took you, you think maybe you might not be able to.

So you decided for the next best option. You already had most of the table set up for Gojo to see when he walked further into the apartment. Large balloons covered most of the table. Vibrant streamers hung from above. Your card for him sat waiting. And now you’d place out the final piece.

It wouldn’t be the cake you had hoped for, but the assortment of cupcakes you snagged from a bakery nearby were pretty adorable. You now move to set them out on the table.

The keys jingling however suddenly ring into the apartment.

No. He couldn’t be home now. Then the apartment door unlocking ignites panic. You rapidly place the cupcakes down on the table, and scurry to the door.

And there he is. The strongest sorcerer.

Satoru, even still in his work uniform, looks like a quiet dream in the soft light. Even as he unceremoniously drops his travel bag without a care. He shoves his blindfold up and those mythical cerulean eyes of his twinkle.

“Well now, what are you still doing up?” Gojo grins, his voice warm and curiously excited.

“What are you even doing here?! I thought you weren’t supposed to be back till this morning?!” You fire back.

“What? Can I not sneak back early for my birthday?” Satoru smirks while he walks towards you to already lean down to kiss you.

Then, he freezes. His eyes flicker to stare out behind you and you turn around. A balloon softly rolling out gives you away.

“Oh?” His damn amused voice twinkles brighter. “You having a party without me?”

“Yeah. I was waiting for my secret other boyfriend to come over until you showed up.” You playfully tell him.

“I just got home! Why do you wound me so?!” Gojo shrieks in horror. Quickly he draws you into his arms and holds you tight. You can’t help but burst into giggles as he playfully kisses every inch of your face.

You just accept your surprise is slightly ruined. However, in your boyfriend’s arms, defeat doesn’t feel so bad. Once he sets you back on the ground, Gojo follows right behind you giggling like a gleeful kid about to meet Santa.

“Alright,” you sigh. “I wanted to surprise you when you got home and-”

As you walk into the kitchen, instead of seeing the cupcakes on the table, they now sit on the chair and are flipped over in their container.

Your excitement deflates and a wave of sadness swallows you whole. In the frenzy of Gojo coming home, you must have not place the container fully on the table and they fell.

“Wow!” Satoru cries loud and excited. “You set up all of this?! Look at all the balloons?! And the streamers!”

You can’t even look at him, or even acknowledge him. Your focus is only on the ruined sweets you silently approach.

His voice vaguely behind you now sounds distant and concerned.

Tears begin clogging your throat and you furiously, angrily, blink them away. You shouldn’t be this upset. They’re just cupcakes. Gojo could buy a whole bakery if he wanted to. But maybe the exhaustion of the day catching up to you, or the frustration leading up to this, all of it has you crying.

Gojo cries out your name worried, panicked.

“Is this about the cupcakes?” He asks and his voice floats around you like a comforting balm.

“Because they’re not that messed up! Actually, they still look pretty intact if you ask me-”

“No.” You sigh through the hot tears. “It isn’t just about this.”

You explain everything. Before you can even get to how upset you were about the cupcakes falling, Satoru’s hands suddenly cradle your face. Swiftly he’s titling your head up and capturing your lips with his.

He kisses you fierce, dizzying, as if he’s trying to steal your breath away while also ground you completely to him.

“You damn adorable and gorgeous dummy.” Satoru whispers fiercely against your lips. “How many times did I tell you? You’re all I need.”

It gets harder fighting back the tears for another reason, one that’s sweeter than any confectionery.

You also realize you shouldn’t have doubted Satoru’s sugar skills because, like he prophesied, the cupcakes are actually pretty salvageable. And after pouting with the worst puppy dog eyes, Satoru manages to get you to at least split one of the cupcakes.

You glance at the clock.

It’s officially his birthday.

Your heart grows against its cage thinking of how grateful you feel getting to celebrate this incredible man. Even now as he tries to sneak another cupcake like you won’t see him.

Playfully you swipe your finger through the messy icing. You childishly place a dot of it on his cheek. Satoru’s sky blue eyes go wide a bit confused and stunned at the action while he turns to you.

“Happy Birthday Satoru.” You warmly tell him.

His handsome face melts, like he’s staring at the sun first breaking over the horizon and your heart trips over itself.

“You gonna lick this off me now?” He tilts his cheek and wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. You laugh, shaking your head.

Suddenly an entire messy half cupcake smashes into your face. It mainly catches the side of your lips and more of your cheek. But icing is all over you now.

“What was that for?!” You screech.

“You started it first! You know I had to finish it.” He grins triumphant and it makes you want to pummel him, birthday boy or not.

“I’ll clean you up if you want?” He purrs suggestively.

“No! And no more cupcakes for the rest of the night!” You swat at the container as you close it. Satoru effortlessly and swiftly however sweeps you in his embrace.

He also flattens his frosting covered cheek against yours and rubs them together making you shriek at his ridiculous actions.

“Aw! Come on baby! It’s my birthday! You can’t do this to me!” Gojo wails.

“I’m tempted to lock myself in the guest bedroom for the rest of the night now.” You snap back.

“Oh like that would stop me.” Gojo snorts almost insulated and you know it’s true.

While still in his arms, Satoru suddenly kisses your cheek with his lips pressing against the icing. The sensation is squishy, strange but makes your lips twitch giddy.

“You’re my extra sweet treat.” He whispers grinning.

“You’re ridiculous.” You scoff without any malice.

Gojo simply beams bigger as he dives in to kiss your cheek again. He even playfully bites at your skin causing you to let out surprise squeak.

Unfortunately, another surprise yawn also escapes you.

“Alright, let’s put this party on hold till later.” Gojo says.

The cupcakes are put away. He drags you into the bathroom to help clean up the icing properly. As the night begins to unwind, you glance over at your boyfriend.

He really does seem carved out of a dream, so handsome it’s unreal. Yet a bright color of frosting faintly lingers against his cheek. Of course he didn’t wipe it off fully. So wetting a small hand towel you lean up to clean the last bit of frosting painting his cheek.

Gojo’s eyes flicker to you and his gaze stays intently glued on you.

“Next year I'll just have us plan a trip for your birthday.” You sigh thinking of how a trip to the hot springs sounds so nice now.

“Next yeah, huh?” His voice is colored playful, a shade just below a tickle-me-pink color.

“Yes, next year.” You playfully elbow him. “Unless you already have plans without me?”

He snorts. “No…I want as many birthdays as I can get with you.”

His words cause your heart to sprout wings and flutter wildly in your chest.

“Even if I decide to stick around and let you annoy me forever?” You offer light, delicate, and cautious.

Satoru chuckles softly. “Funny enough, I’m kind of hoping for that.”

His words, so simple and soft, wrap around you. Suddenly his hand again cradles your face. His thumb strokes your cheek tender and delicate. Your eyes can’t help but look up to him. In the warm bathroom light Satoru’s sky eyes shimmer like the ocean at dawn, deeply reflective, yet so bright.

He says your name and it’s caressed with such tenderness you feel it sinking into your bones.

“I realize what I want for my birthday today.” Gojo mutters. His eyes flicker to your lips.

“Oh?” You wait for his answer to be something crude.

But it isn’t.

“Yeah…I wanna marry you.”

[artpoplibrary]

TIMEZONE

Ken Sato x GN!Reader

Angst?, Reader isn’t actually in this; he’s just thinking about them, reader may seem more AFAB (I swear it was an accident), Post-Ultraman: Rising, Ken’s OOC in this - blame the fact I wrote this when my brain was frying off in a heatwave 6 months ago, brief alcohol mention and depiction of a drunk character

It went to voicemail. Again. It was what? The fifth call in the past hour, honestly he deserved a medal for his self control. His thumb hovered over the call button once again, he knew you wouldn’t pick up but the sound of you on the voicemail made his heart break just a bit less.

It had been weeks since he’d seen you, the Giants were playing internationally and you hadn’t been able to join him. It was times like this that made him question if all this was worth it. He’d always dreamed of this, playing in the big leagues, and he’d done it. He had the trophies to prove it hanging on his wall, yet there had been something cracking in him for over a year now, since he’d met you, hell, since he’d taken in Emi.

Rather than hit the call button once more he pressed on your contact photo, it was a picture Mina had taken without either of you knowing. Your hair was wild. The three of you; you, him, and Emi had fallen asleep in her room, only for you to wake up snuggled into the grasp of the 20-foot-tall baby kaiju. Despite the circumstances, you were stunning; soft and sweet and his. The photo was zoomed in on you and Emi, his family. 

A smile tugged at his lips and he instantly winced. He’d not been sleeping well recently, it was hard to sleep without you there and your FaceTime calls could only do so much for him. The sleep deprivation had led to his coordination being less than stellar, not quite enough to affect him during the games but enough that he had tripped down the steps of the plane and landed on a pile of luggage, leading to a large black eye and several other cuts and bruises across his face.

God, he hadn’t even had the chance to tell you about it. His chest hurt the more he thought of it, 7000 kilometres, that was the only thing keeping him from you. He couldn’t believe he had to keep this up for another month and a half, 47 days. 47 days ‘till he could see you, ‘till he could hold you in his arms again. 47 days, 5 hours, and approximately 30 minutes if there were no delays in his flights. 

He could do this, it would all be worth it, your smile when he finally came home victorious would be more than enough. Of course he knew that it didn’t truly matter, you’d smile like that at him no matter what, and he loved that about you, but it didn’t feel right to him. Getting that smile even though he’d failed, running home with his tail between his legs simply because he couldn’t go a month or two without seeing you. But who could truly blame him? You were the best thing that could ever have happened to him.

He drifted off to sleep with a drink pressed against his cheek and your picture in his hands, wishing for a third option.

“Sato’s off his game, it’s sad, really.”

The TV blared in the back of his hotel room, it did what it could to block out the noise of his teammates and the loud music blasting from the room two down from his. He couldn’t stomach the party, they’d won with him barely doing a thing. 

“But we all know the saying, the bigger they are the harder they fall, will this be the case for the Giants player?”

He clicked off the remote, the flatscreen turning to black. That was enough of that, your voice echoed in his head. God, was he hallucinating? He could practically feel your soft touch on his face, brushing gently against the bruises, still yet to heal. 43 days now, 43 days and 12 hours. It was late, most days you would have been able to call but you’d been asked to work early  and wouldn’t be back until nearly 8 am his time. He wished he could strangle your boss, it wasn’t like you needed the extra cash, you were just too kind and your boss knew it, that’s why she’d always go out of her way to ask you to work overtime. 

Maybe you should just quit your job, he made enough for the both of you by a wide margin, being the worlds sweetheart, both as Ken Sato; famed baseball player, and Ultraman; Japan’s hero has its perks. He knew you’d never agree to it, much too dedicated to your job, a quality he both hated and adored, but a man could dream.

It was the sudden jolt at his door that roused him from his thoughts, opening it only to see the very red, exceedingly drunk face of one of his teammates. Which one, he wasn’t sure —though his jersey read 27— what he was sure of though was that whatever he wanted couldn’t be good. He was proved right when a moment later the man, 27, spoke.

“‘Ey, t’Shato,” his words slurred. How drunk was this guy? “Why don’ you c’me join ush?”

The woman on 27’s arm moved towards him, putting a hand on Kenji’s arm. He hadn’t paid her much mind so far, assuming she was a groupie or such. She didn’t look like any of his teammates' steady girlfriends, of which there were, unsurprisingly, very few. He’d been lucky enough to be graced with you, the same can’t be said for his teammates.

“Yeah, doll,” the woman spoke. “Why don’t you join us?” 

He flushed a bit, more with anger than embarrassment, at what she was implying, snatching his arm back and away. He needed to get out of here. 

“I’m happily taken,” he turned to 27’, “something you should know by now, rook’.”

He spat out the last word, more a taunt than a nickname, before closing the door fast. He needed to see you, feel you, if he did this much longer he might crack. The Giants weren’t playing for the next few days, no doubt the only reason that Coach had let them get wasted. 

He pulled out his phone, checking for the soonest flight back to Tokyo. 4:30 am, 1600$ a ticket, that was in less than 3 hours. Who gives a shit. He quickly grabbed a change of clothes, his passport, and a toothbrush, scrawling down a hasty note to leave by the Coach’s door and calling a cab while he paced around the elevator. Was this the right choice? Would you be okay with it, that was the real question. Kenji didn’t really give a shit about his contracts or the scandal, but you, would you be disappointed in him? Only one way to find out, really.

He booked the ticket on the cab ride, getting to the airport with an hour to spare. He pulled up your photo as soon as he was through TSA, you at one of his games. He hadn’t taken it, he didn’t really know who did, just some random paparazzi, but the photo was as nearly as famous as he was at this point. It was of the two of you, your hands thrown around his neck after one of the games. His back was to the camera, but he could see your face plain as day, hair wild with movement and your beautiful, wide grin.

 Your eyes were squeezed shut, it looked like you were laughing. The camera had caught you as you were pulling away from his lips, and the next day it was all over the papers. He didn’t mind, he’d wanted to go public with you for a few months at that point, this was just another reason he should. He remembered the way you called him panicked when you saw it, not out of worry for yourself but for him. God he loved you, stupid, beautiful, kind you. He couldn’t wait to see you, the photo still on screen as he boarded the flight, sending you one last text before going up in the air.

‘I’m coming home’

Author’s Note(s):

It’s so bad forgive meeeeee— this has been sitting in my notes app since August, I swear my writing has gotten better T.T

Anyway, the ending seems blunt now that I’ve reread it, so I might do a continuation in the future. I also have an old Vi songfic from a *slightly* later writing era I might post, but I don’t want to get into the habit of writing existing characters ‘cause I feel like they’re always so ooc—

Song this was based on —