#jasper ✦ langston

[plunderwater]

TIMING: Prior to Jasper losing his face LOCATION: Driftwood Diner PARTIES: Fang (@ronin-for-hire) & Jasper (@eatdearth) SUMMARY: Fang and Jasper meet up to try the White Crab seltzers at Driftwood Diner despite their shaky "first date" at Midnight Drive-In. CONTENT WARNINGS: Innuendos, awkward date stuff, passive-aggressiveness

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. It was supposed to be a pretty nice movie date at Midnight Drive-In, featuring the film called The Awakening of the Jiggly Pears; it was supposed to be a pretty nice dinner at Harborside, with Jasper getting to taste those White Crab seltzers at Driftwood Diner that she had been raving about. However, as it turned out, much to Jasper’s dismay, both times were with the same girl, and that same girl seemed extremely hostile toward him. Did he do something wrong to her? Something he couldn’t even remember? Did he accidentally piss on her parents’ graves or what?

“So, uhm, we meet again, huh?” Jasper tried to play it off coolly, chuckling at his lame attempt at an ice breaker. He’s never been at Harborside, at least not recently, at least not with someone new, someone who seemed like she’d rather break his kneecaps than do anything else with him, most of all enjoy the seltzers. But Jasper at least tried. No one can say he didn’t. Especially not at the face of a scowling she-devil. “T-thanks for being here.”

Fang squinted at Jasper, her arms crossed over her chest, as she sat back on her seat, scowling. The first time they had gone out, it was to watch that weird film at that weird drive-in. It wasn’t a bad first date, err first meeting, but it could have gone a lot better. At least he didn’t try anything weird. Then again, he wouldn’t have been able to. If he had, she would’ve made sure he wouldn’t try that again with anyone else. But at least he paid. And his car was clean. “Yeah, probably should’ve made sure it wasn’t you.”

Those words might have been sharper than most people would’ve liked, but they were the only words she knew. Well, the only delivery she knew. Fang didn’t live in this part of the world. She didn’t grow up with comfort and the luxury to give strangers the benefit of the doubt. Fang grew up in the part of the world where her parents died during a car crash, thanks to a monster. She grew up in the part of the world where no other relatives claimed her, leading to the guy that saved her to take her in, train her to be a monster killer. She’s been surviving against monsters ever since. “As long as you’re paying, Professor.”

“Of course, I will,” Jasper forced a smile on his face just as the waitress arrived, greeting them both and handing them each a menu. That comment of Fang’s, the one with the whole making sure it wasn’t him again thing, made him wince inside. It was a bit hurtful, but to be honest, he should have expected it from her. For some reason, she hated his guts. Was it his fault? Or maybe that was just who she was? He’d met people like that, had them in his class. Misdirected anger, that was what he liked to call it. She didn’t have enough on him, he thought, to have all that dislike of him be truly about him. It was, most likely, something else. “Two White Crab seltzers?”

Jasper posed the question to Fang, which the waitress picked up on. The latter had said the usual spiel of the restaurant, the food place, which Jasper didn’t bother to listen to. Or he would have, had he not focused on Fang’s misguided animosity toward him. Whatever the true cause of her negativity was, her hostility, he was now determined to find out, if only to make sure she’d tone it down a bit, or more importantly, he could make her feel more comfortable and less agitated. “Or do you have something else in mind? Something more you want to try?”

Fang accepted the menu and read it in a way that kept her from seeing Jasper’s face. Heaving a sigh, she read through the items offered, finding the White Crab seltzers. As if on cue, she reminisced on the first time she got them, having been dragged to the diner by Sara and her coworkers who wanted to try the new addition. The slayer wasn’t too thrilled at the thought of being forced to try a drink with crab in it, especially after her morgue fight, but ended up relenting after Sara guilted her like an Asian mom would. 

“Here,” Fang stated plainly, placing the menu on the table with her finger on the word ‘codburger’ while staring at Jasper with a playful smirk, as if challenging him to get the same dish. The slayer wasn’t much of a gambler, even though the codburger was always a gamble. Some days, the cod was delicious. Other days? She wasn’t even sure if it was cod in there. Definitely a dish she’d enjoy watching the geology professor try to overcome. “Two. One for me and you. Unless you’re scared?”

“Scared?” Jasper raised an eyebrow at Fang, utterly confused. Why would he be scared of a burger? Sure, he’s never had a burger with cod instead of meat, but he did have that tuna burger a while back. Cod and tuna… They’re basically the same thing, right? “Why would I be scared? It’s just fish,” he turned to the waitress with a warm smile, nodding at her after she clarified if that was all they wanted to have. White Crab seltzers and codburger… How could he expect anything else from a diner at Harborside.

“So,” Jasper tried to think of something else to talk about once the waitress left him alone with Fang. He tried to be careful about what topic to broach, tip-toeing on eggshells in his head. The last thing he wanted was for her to start yelling at him again. Then again, he did think she was cute when she got mad. Oh, no… What the actual fuck was that line of thinking? “...you come here often?” Smooth… As in smooth brain. Smooth brain Jasper. Gundam it.

Fang scoffed at Jasper before shaking her head, a grin finding its way across her lips. The man was walking the fine line that separated ignorance and stupidity, and the slayer was finding his stumbling a little bit humorous. She gave him a final shrug and leaned back against her seat, “All right, just fish, hm? We’ll see.” 

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the final dumb thing Jasper could have said. Fang scoffed a second time in under an hour, disbelief clear on her face. “Is that a pick-up line? You know we’re not in a bar, right?” 

Besides, Jasper had already technically picked her up, so there was no need for such a line. Picking up on that idea, Fang leaned forward, her lips contorting into a playful smirk. “Are you nervous, Professor?” He was a bit like this during the movie, too, though she simply attributed that to the fact that it was night time and she didn’t really give him an opening to do what he wanted, what guys on movie dates at night often liked to do. 

Quietly, without words, Jasper just stared at Fang, now a little considered at the implied dangers of a “codburger.” What was it? The cod was going to be overcooked? Raw? Jasper has had sushi before. He’s not lightweight when it comes to fish. Besides, what even is overcooked fish? Just mushy sea meat that he can still gulp down. Of all the things to be afraid of, especially in this part of Wicked’s Rest, fish was not going to be one of them for Jasper. 

“Oh, no,” Jasper shook his head, fumbling for a save. It was. It definitely was a pick-up line, though he may not have intended it as such. Jasper hasn’t been social lately, though to no fault of his own. He tries, but not a lot of people want to have some fun with him outside of office hours. The few that did intimidated him. The rest that he wanted to go out with, have some drinks, maybe a few burgers? Well, he’d rather not get some rumors going around at the university. Dating students was weird. “I was just trying to break the ice.”

“...a little bit,” came Jasper’s awkward admission after a few seconds of silence. The last time they were together, it didn’t really foster a good feeling between the two of them. This made him feel a bit hesitant to do anything now, for fear of a lot of things, most especially getting physical with her, and by that, getting beaten to a pulp. “Nice place…”

“Hm,” came Fang’s ice-cold reply, which was appropriate, considering Jasper was trying to break the ice. Or was that ironic? The slayer could never tell. She wasn’t a wordsmith, and the English language wasn’t her first or even her second language. Learning it took some time, as it was very weird and little all over the place. Just like him. 

Heaving a sigh, Fang crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back. Maybe she was being hard on him. Maybe he doesn’t deserve it as much as she thought. First impressions were important, and Jasper had fumbled that, but Fang could surely give him a second chance? Like her late mentor did. “It is, I guess.”

Now it was her turn to try to break her own ice, as she mustered enough courage and self-awareness to soften her stance. “What places do you go to? On your time, I mean,” Fang shrugged the query as the waitress returned with their burgers and seltzers. At first, she was disinterested in his answer, but as she reached for the seltzer, eager to try it, one glimpse of him made her a little more curious. Something about him reminded her of herself, and she hated it.

“My time?” Jasper was pleasantly surprised when Fang made the effort to make their set-up a little less hostile and a little more, well, interactive. He was already munching on the codburger, having found it a little too tempting. If what she was warning him about was truly dangerous, scary, or whatever else, then he wanted to just get it all over with, done with. The first bite was a little soft, maybe too soft, but her question distracted him from delving into that concern much deeper. “Well, I don’t know… Depends on the day, or night, I suppose.”

Jasper reached for his seltzer, taking a quick sip of it, finding the taste a little odd, though it was mostly due to the fact that he had never tasted anything like it. If it was a thing in this neighborhood, then he wouldn’t have known. Jasper rarely went here, even as a kid, even though he had wanted to. Who didn’t want to go to the beach as a kid? “Friday nights, I spend the night out, enjoying my freedom…with drinks,” he opted to omit the part where he usually did that alone. On his own. “What about you?” 

“Your time,” Fang reiterated the emphasis, taking a sip of the seltzer and surprisingly enjoying it. Must be a whole seafood thing. Back in Japan, she enjoyed a lot of seafood, even the stuff she didn’t know she’d like, the stuff she didn’t even know existed before then, and has since established a preference for all the white meat, and even the non-white meat, from the sea. Basically, it’s a whole thing with her. 

Next, she tried the burger, almost dreading the attempt, but was surprised, again, though pleasantly as well, when the cod in the codburger was very much a cod, tasted like one and tasted pretty fresh, too. Must be her lucky day. Odd.

“Me?” Fang chewed the bite she took as slowly as she could to relish and savor the taste. It was a damn good codburger. Well, hers was. She wasn’t sure if Jasper’s was any better. Or anyone else’s in that restaurant. But she didn’t dwell on that thought. Instead, she tried to think of a decent answer to the question, delving deep into her mind. She enjoyed slaying monsters for money, that was the answer she wanted to give, but of course she couldn’t. “Sex.” 

Nailed it.

Jasper almost choked on his food when he heard her reply, coughing as he desperately reached for his seltzer. His eyes were still wet and a bit red when he finally recuperated from the unexpected revelation. Jasper was no prude, so Fang having sex in her free time wasn’t anything that surprised him. What actually got him was the fact that she had offhandedly made the comment, sharing something intimate with him when she had previously only shared hostility with the geology professor. 

If they were close friends, then Jasper would have just laughed it off, especially if they had such an intimate rapport where they could joke about such things, talk openly about such personal details. But they weren’t. They had already gone out twice, sure, but the most they knew about each other was that Fang wasn’t a fan of Jasper and Jasper was clearly socially inept. “Y-yeah… O-okay,” he cleared his throat, making sure the seltzer got all the possible obstruction from the burger. “Me, too, I guess. Sex is great.” He had to feign another cough to mask his own embarrassment at his final remark.

Jasper felt like teleporting elsewhere as an aftermath of that exchange, though he wouldn’t know the first thing about that. He might be a spellcaster, but he was essentially a rung below beginner. He was more like a hobbyist, and his magical affinity was more toward earth elemental magic. Teleportation, if it even was a thing, would have been under a different category, he believed, though he was also not well-versed with other categories outside of elemental magic. 

Soon, his thoughts had to wander to the possibility that she might invite him over after this for some, well, great sex, but quickly shook his head to keep himself from dwelling over that possibility. It was just a stray bullet of sorts, surely, and nothing was going to come out of this second date. Surely. Jasper swallowed air, feeling his throat dry up from out of nowhere, despite the fact that he had just drank some seltzer not too long ago, finished the entire damned cup even.

Fang let out a brief chuckle, realizing that she was the alpha in this conversation. She should always be. By default. But sometimes, it was much easier and freer to not be the alpha. Sometimes, she did enjoy being the one following another, being second to someone else, someone who steered the conversation whichever way they wanted, the meet-up, the encounter. 

Most of the interactions she’d had usually ended with swords drawn, which in her case, was often literally. It’s nice to be able to just chill and put her feet up. With Jasper, that seems to always be the case, even if she had to be alpha. “Yeah? You must get a lot of sex then, being a smart professor guy and all?” It was mostly teasing, as Fang didn’t really want to know. Or did she?

The rest of the “date” went better than Fang expected. At least he was too far to try anything this time, too far to reach around her shoulders and leave his heavy, lanky arm on them, weighing her down like a steel ball shackled to her ankle, too far to brush strands of her hair away from her face and behind her ear. He’s probably watched more stupid rom-coms than actually gotten on dates. To be fair, though, she hasn’t been dating either. Still, she wasn’t watching rom-coms to fill that hole in her life. She’s been slaying monsters at night for cash instead. Not an ideal replacement but still a bit better. “So, what do you think? You and me?”

Jasper blushed, his cheeks feeling hot under Fang’s scrutinizing gaze, so he immediately tried to brush it off with an awkward grin paired with an even more awkward chuckle. “You think?” He thought the question would make him look cool, even though he was subconsciously asking her to repeat her assumption. 

“I mean, I am a smart professor guy and all,” Jasper began blabbering to try and find a way to make himself sound better than he actually is, though to little avail. “Professors tend to be smart guys, or smart girls, or women, since, you know, professors need their brains to graduate with their degrees and become professors…” He went on and on and on about unnecessary things, going around in circles, until Fang would stop him and they would find other topics to discuss.

When their conversation ended up with her asking him what he thought about the two of them, Jasper once again choked, this time on air, as he had already finished his meal. He stared at her with wide eyes, unsure of what to say, but slowly realized what she actually meant. Was it an invitation? Of course, it was! She wouldn’t actually ask for his dumb-ass opinion. Fang didn’t seem like someone who’d care for what Jasper actually thought. It was either he was down or he wasn’t, and Jasper would be dumber than dumb if he wasn’t. 

The geology professor immediately raised his hand in the air, not moving his eyes away from Fang just in case she changed her mind. “C-check please!”

[plunderwater]

Lucky me? [user actually groans in real life] Ugh.

[pm] I'm sure you do. No, not a gym instructor. Something, sure.

That [...] is very hurtful but also actually practical. If you don't have professor friends, I mean, or easy access to professors. Lucky you, you now have me. Hehe.

[pm] Thank god. I look pretty weird without all this hair. Okay [...] That's a little scary. Hmm, I see, I see. I'll take your word for it, and that's fine. We'll get there when we get there. I'm [...] sure you will. I don't have plans to get beaten up by anyone, so you'll be fine. Are you like a gym instructor or something?

[spice-and-fire]

TIMING: Recent LOCATION: The Wormhole PARTIES: @eatdearth x @spice-and-fire SUMMARY: Devi & Jasper meet at the Wormhole for drinks. CONTENT: None

“You know almonds, right?” Devi asked, as if those weren’t a common thing here or most places with a candy store or chocolate shop or even an airport shop. “I used to go crazy for them as a kid…” She shook her head, grinning, before taking a sip of her beer. “But my dad was the worst at shelling them. He'd just hack 'em to pieces with his knife, leaving a bunch of inedible mush behind. In the end, he'd salvage what he could by scraping pieces of the flesh off the shell, then mixing it with some milk and calling it porridge.”

It had been a long day. For most people, that would already be enough to get them a bottle of beer or two, but for someone in Worm Row? Someone like Devi who lives in the most dangerous neighborhood in town? It was just any other day, and a cold glass of beer was an excuse to feel a sort of relief from the day-to-day routine of surviving. “...I do miss the taste of that porridge sometimes...and I miss that old nut-cracker, too.”

It started out with a kiss, how did it end up like this? At least that’s how it went in Jasper’s head, complete with an imagined perfect rendition with his voice, which, of course, would not exist in reality. He was not a singer, especially not someone who could belt out a harmonious Mr. Brightside by The Killers with relative ease. Even the shower wouldn’t indulge his fantasy. It actually started with an attempt at a ‘deez nuts’ joke, the professor having been bombarded with hundreds of thousands of the sort just this week alone that his brain tried to lessen the trauma by pulling the same crap on a stranger. Unfortunately for him, the stranger seemed to have already drank too many beers to actually care.

Jasper heaved a sigh, nodding his head, pretending he was getting what she was talking about. In reality, he was barely listening. Something about almonds and milk. Great. She’s one of those people who aggressively prefers nut milk over cow milk. Jasper didn’t think they were especially harmful, or annoying, but because she was being harmful to him, mostly annoying, she couldn’t help but lump them all in together. And try to change the subject. “Speaking of cracking nuts, you from here? I’ve only been here a couple of times. Pretty far from where I live. Hoping none of my students would find me here.”

Devi simply nodded, taking another sip of her beer, more like a chug, as she never took her eyes off of Jasper. She was surprised, more impressed, that the random guy she was talking to was actually a professor of sorts, maybe even a kindergarten teacher. Don’t get her wrong: Professors are impressive, what with their degrees and everything, but kindergarten teachers? Those guys deal with tiny kids, annoying kids, kids that have yet to know shame and guilt. Those guys are way more impressive than anyone else. “Students? You teach?”

“Say, does your place need security?” Devi squinted as she leaned forward toward him, closer than he probably liked, her beer-scented breath warm to his face. “Because if you guys need security, or extra security, I’m really good at working security,” she leaned back, shrugging, a playful smirk on her face. Devi was proud of that part of her, being efficient and competent in the field of security. She’d done much worse in the past, beating people to a pulp, setting things including said people on fire, displaying gruesome violence all for a lot of money, so still being able to be on top of things and people without needing to resort to her past barbaric tendencies… Well, that was pretty impressive, if she thought so herself. “Like, really good.”

“I do,” Jasper beamed with pride. If there was one thing in his life he was most proud of, aside from his luxurious mane, it was his calling, his craft, his field. “I teach geology at the university. I’m a geologist, a professor, and an all-round rockstar.” With a shake of his head, he winked at the woman before realizing that pun might need some explaining. “Get it? Rockstar? Because I work with rocks?” Probably didn’t actually need some explaining. Might have made it a whole lot worse now. Puns have never been the most accepted form of humor, and explaining them? Well, that might be offensive to some people.

“Security?” Jasper instinctively raised an eyebrow. He looked the woman over, from head to toe, and subconsciously licked his lips. She was fine. More than fine. Like girlfriend material. Maybe even wife material. Definitely someone he’d take care of, love until the day he died. Or at least the idealized version he had of her. Jasper didn’t know her that much, not yet at least, to make this kind of assumption. He could blame the alcohol or the loneliness but he definitely needs some more maturing in that regard. “You work security?” He blurted out, in disbelief that someone who looked like her worked a field so risky and dangerous as security.

“Huh,” Devi squinted at Jasper, as if confused by his revelation. At first, she thought he didn’t look like a geology professor. But then again, what would a geology professor even look like? Devi, who barely had a formal education, wouldn’t know. Professors to her have always been silver-haired old men or bespectacled ladies with prim and proper clothing. Jasper seemed young and less disillusioned by the world around him, though she could be wrong. His ‘rock’ pun confirmed that. “...I see. You actually like rock, the music genre, or is that just for the wordplay?”

When his eyes wandered all over her, Devi felt the heat, becoming a little more defensive than usual. It was like he was judging her from the way she looked. Growing up in a different country from where she had been born, and being who, or more precisely, what she is, that whole thing was not her jam. So it made her a little more annoyed and a little less…nice. “Yeah, I do,” she blurted out almost instinctively, as aggressively as she could. “Got a problem with that, Professor?”

Eyebrow raised, an agitated Devi didn’t stop with that. She leaned forward, now wearing a scowl, doing the same thing to him as he had to her: Judging him after her eyes went over his entire body. “What are you even doing here? This is Worm Row, not your cushy university, with your rich students and expensive beers. You here for something illegal? Something scandalous, huh?” Was he a pervert? It was all starting to make sense to her now. A professor down there for a simple bottle of beer? Nah, he was more likely some sort of deviant, out to buy some folks’ time and company so he could do his weird, maybe even dark, desires with them. Disgusting. “You a piece of shit, Jimmy?”

“I mean, sure,” Jasper shrugged, clearly a filthy casual when it came to music genres. The man listens to The Coffeehouse playlist on Spotify without even remembering the individual titles on there. He was not the best guy to ask for recommendations on songs. He could barely remember the tunes he’s heard for days, both intentionally and unintentionally. “I like rock. I listen to it whenever I can. The Beatles, am I right?” Were the Beatles rock? He had a feeling the woman would tell him either way.

“Oh, no problem,” Jasper feigned a cough, feeling the weight of the night, the company, and the drinks just then. Was his shoulder aching? He could have sworn it wasn’t just a few seconds ago. Why would it even start to hurt? “No problem at all,” he repeated without looking at her, his full attention on the bad feeling on his shoulder. “I just meant, well, you look too pretty to be working security,” he fucked up, obliviously. “Like, you should be a model or something else.”

“Illegal?” Jasper perked up, eyes wide in horror when she started assuming the worst of him. In her defense, she had some great points. Why would a self-respecting professor go all the way down in Worm Row for a drink? In his defense? He was not a self-respecting professor, if not only a professor. “Oh, no! No, no, no! Nothing of the sort,” he gulped, straightened himself on his seat, as if that would help his argument. “I’m just… I don’t really want to run into students or other professors or everyone I know, you know? Also, it’s Jasper, not Jimmy… Did you give me your name?”

Devi wasn’t in the mood to argue. The alcohol coursing through her veins fought off any internal urge to pick a fight with Jasper’s statements. He was right about one thing, though: The Beatles were rock. And a bunch of other things. Hard to box legends with careers, especially music, that withstand time. With a wide grin on her face, she leaned back before unintentionally pounding his shoulder, closer to his back, with a wider hand. “You’re all right, Blackbird,” she chuckled. You’re all right.”

It helped that apparently his earlier comments were meant to be a compliment. Devi didn’t initially take them as such, but to be fair, Devi wasn’t taking things as they are at that point in time. If she was, she wouldn’t be drinking her problems away with a random stranger. A model, though? She felt that was a bit much. She’s been called pretty before, mostly by men with needs, but a model? That felt to her like an unnecessary stretch. “Maybe I am? I’m woman enough to be able to juggle more than one job, right?”

“Jasper,” Devi mouthed his name again. It wasn’t that odd of a name, though it was definitely less common than Jimmy. At least to her it was. She shrugged before she answered his question, “Nope.” Guy was relatable. At least he’d be if she was herself a few years ago. Running into faces she was familiar with in that state? That would’ve been impossible back then. She would’ve made sure of it. But that was all in the past. She’s lost so many loved ones, running into them again would be a welcomed respite from all the regrets, the bad memories, the living nightmares that has since haunted her sober days. 

“It’s Devi,” she let out a yawn, stretching her limbs to either side in protest at the sleepiness. “You know, I get you, Jasper. Sometimes, we just gotta be somewhere else, somewhere new, somewhere no one we know will find us.” It was exactly why she had even moved to town. Somewhere else. Somewhere new. Somewhere no one left she knew would find her. And her sins.

“Blackbird?” Jasper was confused. Where did that come from? Was it because of his skin tone? The geology professor wasn’t quite sure how to feel about that. On one hand, he should be offended, right? On the other? She’s kinda cute, so maybe that’s a win for him? Fortunately for him, his stupidity didn’t need to go any further than that. Instead, the sound of his name on her lips pulled him off those thoughts and elsewhere, somewhere much better. “You’re definitely a woman…”

It was Jasper’s turn to mouth her name, only he didn’t speak it out loud. In his head, he did, and that was more than enough for him. It wasn’t like he’d forget her name. He doubted he would forget it and her any time soon. Eyes following her body’s movements, the spellcaster found her words hitting close to home. Too close. Was she the same? A kindred spirit? Or were those words more apt for the friend he had lost down the mines. “Yeah, well,” Jasper heaved a sigh, his mood turning gloomy, as he switched his full attention back to the counter, resting his whole weight on his forearm against the tabletop. “If someone can find us where we think they won’t, maybe that’ll help us find someone else we haven’t been able to find…” Or something like that.

“Yeah?” Devi frowned. Didn’t he say he was a fan of the Beatles? His question confused her in turn, but instead of just prodding him with any accusations, she began singing the familiar line of the should-have-been familiar song to him. “Blackbird singing in the dead of night…” she began, leaning back on her seat, her back against the counter, arms over the tabletop, her head bowing up and down with the imaginary tune only she could hear. “Take these broken wings and learn to fly!” 

“All your life!” A table near them started to sing along, surprising Devi but in a way that only motivated her to continue singing with them, a huge grin on her face. “You were only waiting for this moment to arise…” When the brief sing-along ended, everyone who had participated chuckled and raised their bottles for a cozy cheer. She then heaved a sigh of contentment, and took a swig from her bottle. “Damn right, I am. More woman than any man can handle.” Another chuckle. Before the professor switched gears and started acting all sad. 

Devi could relate: With all her past mistakes, regrets even, disappearing in a small town her old…acquaintances wouldn’t even think of visiting was the best idea she’s ever had. She doubted anyone could find her there. And would rather not sadness find the both of them where and when they were right then and there. “Or… Maybe they’ve already found us, eh? And they’re the someone we didn’t know we needed to find!”

There was never a moment in Jasper’s life where he felt the utmost relief, though if there had been, he couldn’t remember. More importantly, he was impressed. It dawned on him that the woman he was drinking with may be somewhat of a local celebrity. Definitely not just a random face on the street. He’d seen people try to start a sing-along at a bar before, and most of the time, it took great effort. Unless it was a sports thing, strangers barely sang with each other unprompted. Here, the woman didn’t even ask for anyone else to support her singing. They just did. Granted she was pretty, so there’s that… “Oh, yeah!” Jasper nodded, grinning, before taking a swig from his drink. “I remember that song. Classic.”

Was she hitting on him? That was the thought that immediately ran down Jasper’s tiny brain with her final sentiments. After that talk about a woman no man can handle, the geology professor was thinking that maybe she was offering herself up to him as a challenge? Was that sexist? Some backwards misogynistic thought? In a way, in a specific context, maybe. At the moment? He just wasn’t sure. He was too intoxicated to delve deeper into such notions. At least that’s the excuse he wanted to go with. Dangerous territory right there, and he was a rock guy, not a sociopolitical/humanities big brain person. “Maybe,” he grinned again, loosening up in his seat. “Maybe I can be that man who can handle all that woman? Worth a try.”

“Yeah?” Devi grinned, an eyebrow raised as she looked him over from head to toe. He didn’t look bad. Entirely way better than the last guy who tried to hit on her. Now that guy? That guy was a complete fool. Tried to grab her when she said no, so Devi grabbed him back and knocked him out cold. The rest of the bar laughed at his unconscious ass and cheered her on. Now that guy was banned for life from the Wormhole. Poor guy. Now he wouldn’t be able to show them he could change. Also he got hauled into the station, so she guessed, if he wasn’t from Worm Row, that would suck. Or not, depending on whether he had friends in high places. Unfair but that’s just the world for most people. “Think so?”

“Mmm, you’re not bad…” Devi teased before finishing the entirety of what remained in her bottle, leaving it empty if not for air. She heaved a sigh of relief, grinned and then nodded at the bartender, before turning to the professor again. “You’re not married, are you? In a relationship with someone else? Because I don’t do people who’re already with other people. Unless there’s consent, like one of those open relationship things, but even then, I’m not really one for sharing.” The last thing she wanted was to break up a home or someone else’s heart. The last person who tried lying to her about all that found their bones broken. “If not, do you want to pay for all these, so we can get out of here, Blackbird?”

“OH, I’m definitely not married,” Jasper let out a chuckle, much louder and larger than he ever expected to. When he realized that, he meekly apologized with an awkward grin. He wasn’t even sure what he was apologizing for, but it felt like he should, so he did. “No relationships either. I was in one, with a coworker, but that did not end well.” He made sure to leave out the part where said coworker is still a coworker and still randomly shows up at his place whenever she feels like it. That was a weird situation, and he felt he didn’t need to add more weird in whatever this entire thing was. “So, nope, just me right now,” he shrugged. “...and my dog.”

Jasper lamented his mistake of adding that last line but decided it might have just added to his charm. Chicks digged dogs, right? Even though his was a total b-word. He was mid-sip when Devi insinuated what he thought she insinuated and almost spat out all the liquid. Without saying anything else, he scrambled for his wallet while at the same time calling for the bartender’s attention, rushing to pay for their drinks, for everything else, so they could go wherever she wanted them to go. Hopefully where he thought she wanted him. “Blackbird’s ready to fly!”

[wickedsrest-rp]

Name: Jasper H. Langston Species: Spellcaster Occupation: Geology Professor Age: 32 Years Old Played By: Joe Face Claim: Dev Patel

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but probably more the stones than the sticks."

Professor Jasper H. Langston is a geology professor at the University of Maine in Wicked’s Rest. He lives alone at his residence, Langston Manor, at Seven Peaks. Unbeknownst to most people, he is also a spellcaster with a special affinity for earth elemental magic. Outside of academia, he frequently holds solo expeditions into the Mines, hoping to find a friend he had lost so many years ago.

Speaking of so many years ago, Jasper also lost something else, a lot of someone else. As far as he knows, he was an orphan abandoned by his parents and adopted by his uncle, Flint Langston. What he doesn’t know, however, is that Flint, his biological uncle, killed every last member of their family. Why? Because Flint, who was not a spellcaster, believed that magic had plagued their family. Flint believed that the mystic arts were a curse upon their bloodline. Flint believed he was the only one who saw it, who needed to do something, and who had the grit and determination to save their legacy and wrest it from “Satan” himself.

Flint, however, didn’t believe that he had to kill the baby Jasper. It would have been too much for him. So, he adopted the boy, told him lies about his parents, and made sure to always remind him to never go into the Mines. Flint believed that the Mines would somehow seduce Jasper toward magic, a fate that he wanted to prevent so he could absolutely purge the demonic taint of the unholy arts upon their family. Slowly, and little by little, Flint raised Jasper far from magic, believing that he had snuffed out any supernatural flame within the boy, the same boy who would then help usher in a new path for their family, a path far away from the magic their family had practiced for generations.

Unfortunately for Flint, he would not be the only influence in Jasper’s life. Ostracized by his peers for losing his family and for living with his creepy uncle in an equally creepy cabin in the woods mountains, Jasper would inevitably make friends with another outsider, a young girl named Faith. Jasper’s first friend inspired in him a curiosity for the forbidden fruit, and together, the pair went under Flint’s nose to explore the mines. Every Saturday night, after Flint would be long asleep, the children would venture out into the tunnels, until that one tragic time when Jasper lost Faith to the haunting shadows of the mines.

Flint was furious when he found out what had happened. He didn’t care that Jasper, still a young boy, was traumatized by the event, by the disappearance of his friend. All Flint cared about was that he stop exploring the mines. But Jasper would not be denied. Despite being continuously grounded and strictly surveilled by his uncle, he still managed to continue sneaking into the mines whenever he could, trying to find Faith but never really getting any closure, never really making any progress on his own.

So he made new friends, the kind that would make Flint go on another murderous rampage, and started to dabble in magic to try and find Faith, ironically making the old man's fears come true. Jasper quickly found out his affinity for earth elemental magic, though he still had no idea why that was, but could not find an actual mentor to teach him the basics of spellcasting. Most of what Jasper learned, he learned himself. Or through sketchy means and terrible makeshift “teachers.” But he still could not find Faith.

A few months ago, Flint Langston passed away. A few weeks ago, Professor Jasper H. Langston finished overhauling Langston Manor, turning it into a more comfortable lair of sorts to live in. A few days ago, the geology professor reopened the entrance to the mines on the manor grounds.

How long will it take for him to finally find Faith? Or should the question be: How long will it take for the mines to claim him as well? Over time, mountains crumble while hills are raised. Which one will Professor Jasper H. Langston be?

Character Facts:

Personality: Diplomatic, enigmatic, aloof, distant, self-reliant, mediatory, even-handed, fair, indifferent, impartial

Jasper comes from a long line of spellcasters but he isn’t aware of such information because his non-spellcaster uncle, Flint, who believed their magic was a curse on their bloodline, murdered them all, only sparing Jasper who was still a baby back then. 

Jasper lost a friend, Faith, while exploring the Mines, and despite his uncle’s warnings, has kept returning to the Mines to try and find them. It got so bad that his uncle had the mines’ entrance on the manor grounds closed. Upon his uncle’s death, however, he reopened that same entrance to make his expeditions easier and closer to home. So far, zero deaths.

Desperate and obsessed, Jasper recently pursued magic to help him in his crusade to find his friend Faith. Because of his lineage, he has a natural affinity for earth elemental magic, but because he’s taken to magic a little late in his life, and because he’s had no real mentor or actual training, and because his work schedule is hell, he is barely decent at it.

A few summers ago, Jasper dated his fellow professor at the University of Maine, Nancy Go, who teaches business and economics. She still has a key to his place and often spends nights in one of the rooms even without his permission.

He has taken his geology mentor’s daughter as his protégé, even though he’s aware that the girl would rather be a performer than follow in his very strict father’s footsteps.

Jasper has a dog named Val, short for Valentine, who’s a cross between a beagle and a Japanese spitz. Born on February 14, Val has her own room in the manor and is very loud when it comes to strangers but is very docile in Nancy’s presence. Nancy could murder Jasper in cold blood and Val would just watch. 

The H in “Jasper H. Langston” stands for Harlan.

[canis-or-cannotis-lycaon]

The Science of Getting Lost

TIMING: Early May LOCATION: The Mines PARTIES: Jasper (@eatdearth and Gael (@lithium-argon-wo-l-f SUMMARY: Just a normal, scientific investigation involving a geologist (Jasper) and a chemist (Gael). They definitely don’t get separated in the mines. CONTENT WARNINGS: Family Death (Brief mention)

Well, Gael managed to put his name on the list in time for this “expedition” team to make a trip over to the mines to do some investigatory research regarding the strange goings-on in and around the area. There was supposed to be a team of five, including himself and Mr. Langston. Samples were to be taken and what could be tested on the site would’ve been, with the rest of the results being a job for the labs back at the UMWR.  …At least, that’s what he was expecting as he arrived at the scene of where everyone was supposed to meet up and he found that he was alone. He glanced around the area briefly, holding up a wrist to his nose as though that would stop the sulfuric stench from entering it. His other hand pulled up the information he’d saved to his phone, eyes quickly glancing to the clock in the upper right-hand corner. This was the right time, this was the right place… and it was also the first time Gael had been part of the expedition. Perhaps there was a common consensus that they ran fashionably late? Or worse: they canceled and no one bothered to let him know. He wondered if that was the case and, messenger back with equipment still hung carefully over his shoulder, he now checked his phone for an email he might’ve missed. He was so focused on trying to find that email that he didn’t realize that his head tilted sharply as he heard movement coming from behind him. ----

Jasper yawned as he wrapped his hands tightly around the straps of his massive backpack. He was making his way to their scheduled meeting place, once again alone, though he was unbothered. His teaching assistant, Yvonne Jung, the daughter and only child of his mentor who implicitly leveraged Jasper’s many owed favors to get his daughter the position, was not available today. 

She shouldn’t even be available any day, to be honest, considering she wasn’t a fan of this field and was just being forced into the study by her controlling father. Typical Asian family dynamic. Though Jasper, who was half-Asian, wouldn’t know, considering his own spellcasting kin was murdered by his late uncle, unbeknownst to him. 

What was ‘beknownst’ to him, aside from the fact that that wasn’t even a word to begin with, was that he was going to have to do all this again on his own. He had no faith the other members of the ‘expedition’ team would even show up, as they were all a bunch of lazy, disrespectful, uninterested, cool in an anti-authority kind of way, and definitely busy pseudo researchers that just wanted to get their name included on the credits should this whole gamble actually amount to anything, which no one except Jasper even had faith in. Or maybe there was someone else as bored and as socially un-busy as him. “Hello? Who are you?” ----

He wasn’t sure how long it was before Gael heard another human’s voice and he whipped around on the spot so quickly that the messenger bag swung to hit his other hip with flair. “Oh hi!” He replied, the relief that he wasn’t actually going to be alone in this himself evident in his tone. Before him stood a man, taller than him and with amazing facial hair. His dark eyes danced over the stranger as his hands messed the strap of his bag to adjust it back to his shoulder properly.

“I’m Gael Córdova, the chemistry professor,” He introduced, holding out his hand once they were done with the strap and taking a few confident steps towards the other man, who presumed was… well, one of the members of the awaited expedition. “I wasn’t sure if I was super early or late but I was starting to get worried that I’d been set up.” He scoffed. “Oh, er… If you aren’t with the university then sorry but– it’s still nice to see someone else here.” ----

When the stranger turned around, Jasper immediately recognized him. He’s seen him around the Chemistry Department of the University once or twice when he had to pay them a visit to remind his usual contact over there that he still needed help on something or another. These chemistry professors can be forgetful, probably because of work and stuff. At least what Jasper thought. If he wasn’t so oblivious, he’d realize his usual contact didn’t really like working with him. Probably all those rock-related dad jokes. 

“Ah, yes, you’re from the Chem Dept,” he said, matter-of-factly, as if that shortcut of a term caught on with anyone else when it didn’t. Jasper took his hand and vigorously shook it with both of his, excited to work with someone new. He was a lonely man, and it was even lonelier down there, so this was a great deal for him. “Yeah, I’m just about to set up,” he heaved a sigh as he carefully placed his backpack on the floor. “Jasper, Jasper Langston, from the, d’oh, Geology Department. It’s just the two of us, I think. You good with that?” ----

Oh, it was Jasper from Geo. It seemed obvious now that Gael took a longer look at the man. The enthusiastic shake of his hand didn’t go by the professor unnoticed, though, and he offered a smile with a nod. “Honestly I’m just glad I’m not by myself again.” He remembered having gone up to the general area before, returning with nothing but a splitting headache and zero answers. “I don’t mean to make assumptions but at this point, I’m sort of guessing that maybe you and I are the two scientists who actually, y’know, want to see what’s going on around here.”

Gael removed a small, rolled up picnic blanket from a clip around his belt and he turned away from the geologist to open it up, sighing as he did so. “I don’t have, like, a professional tarp; I kind of figured that we’d have a team that came with supplies.” He admitted. “At least I have a cute little blanket so we can pretend that we’re professionals.” He set the blanket down and placed his messenger back on one of the corners. “I’ve been up here once but care to let me in on what this place is?” He glanced up at Jasper expectantly, his dark eyes curious. ----

“You and me both,” Jasper chuckled at that before taking out a handheld device that was much wider than a phone. He started pointing it at the walls, at the ceiling, at anything he could of the mines basically, but it just beeped casually without really any urgency. He turned to Gael with a shrug. “Yeah, maybe,” he heaved a sigh, clearly disheartened at that fact. “My teaching assistant just has something important to do today, but I can’t speak for our peers.”

Jasper could always count on Yvonne, his teaching assistant, so he always cut her some slack. For someone who wasn’t interested in this field, who’d rather be doing something else, she carried her weight, and sometimes even his as well. With the rest of their peers, well, he wasn’t popular enough to warrant some respect, so it was always like this for him. Still, the science was worth it, so who cares about all that social junk, right? Jasper does. 

“We usually do, but as you can see, it’s just me at the moment. We’re actually just doing a quick rescan of the mines today, but I do have our usual equipment in a truck outside if you want to help me bring them in? Definitely a lot of weird stuff going on down here,” and as Jasper said that, his device suddenly died on him. “Hmm, fluff.” ----

Oh, they were going inside. Perhaps Gael should’ve, y’know, asked before starting to set anything up. Well, it’s not like he thought they were in danger of getting robbed or anything so he left his things where they were and he found himself looking at the device that Jasper was holding - a frequency scanner? Did it read mineral deposits in the rock?

Gael wished he had something like that that could read the air. He tried before, he could remember trying before but for some reason, all his samples returned corrupted or sometimes, not at all. It was almost as though something was sabotaging his results. Then again, that was an insane thought and Gael wasn’t insane (though the stench in the air didn’t help the budding headache he could feel in his temples again).

While he was ruminating in these brief thoughts, Jasper said some sort of soft curse and Gael glanced from the direction the geologist pointed the truck to be in back to his temporary companion. “Uh oh, your thing died?” He asked. “...Sorry, I didn’t answer your question. Yeah! Yeah, I can help bring the stuff in. How far in did you want to go?” He asked. “You got batteries for that in your pack? . . . What even is it?” He didn’t mean to sound like he was ignorant but curiosity often won out at the end of the day in his brain. ----

The device was, unfortunately, old as fudge. Jasper had gotten it as a hand me down from his mentor, Professor Jung, before the old man left for greener pastures. What were greener pastures for a geology professor? Jasper may never know. He doesn’t see himself following in his mentor’s footsteps. Well, with regard to retiring or leaving the university any time soon at least. Jasper needs the university. He needs the social experience more than anyone will ever know. It might be the only thing saving him from throwing himself down the mines full time. 

“Yeah, well,” Jasper heaved a sigh, shaking his head. It was routine by now, the device breaking down. If Jasper actually paid any attention to the damned thing, he would’ve realized it mostly does that inside the mines. But no, Jasper had already zeroed in on the fact that it was aged, ancient, and might be due for replacement by a newer generation device. Right under his nose, really. “It does that a lot. Batteries are new, so it’s probably just its age catching up to it. Department really needs to invest in new stuff.”

Jasper tried to downplay his disappointment with a chuckle, but dead air followed that right after. He lost himself in thoughts of why the department rarely listens to him, rarely caters to their own needs, rarely invests in useful stuff for them as well. Do they hate him? Or do they just not care about the field in and of itself? “Anyway, yeah, I’ve got the drills, hammers, and bags in the truck. They’re in a hard shell case. You know how to use a drill, right?” ----

So there was an old machine that scanned the rocks that routinely broke down, a bunch of drills, hammers, and bags in a truck when there were two people to carry it around, and… a crew of people who just decided not to show up to an excursion.

Gael wasn’t going to say that this was a bummer but it was kind of a bummer.

Part of him seemed to deflate and Jasper’s none-too-subtle disappointment in trying to pass off the fact that they gave him old, outdated tech only helped in making him wonder if it would be less of a waste of time to just… try this another day. However, Gael wasn’t a quitter and he put his hands in his pockets, adjusting his position so that he could start moving wherever he was told to go. On the other hand, though… “Iiiii do not,” He replied with an unusual amount of confidence for essentially admitting that he didn’t know how to do something. “But I can carry stuff sometimes. I can be your muscle and I’ll leave the geology tech up to you,” He offered.

“Or we could… do this another time?” He suggested after a pause. “Or, like… if you’re familiar enough with the interior, you could just show me around at what you guys might’ve found so far.” He was spitballing at this point; while Gael had a deep well of patience for people, and he certainly felt sympathy for Jasper seemingly being the main one who was interested in actually trying to figure out what was going on around there, he had considerably less patience for situations he acknowledged were out of his control. The smell wasn’t helping at all. ----

“Ah,” Jasper stated plainly. He didn’t even expect anyone else to come today, so why would he expect the only guy who did show up would know how to use a drill? To be fair, to him, though, it wasn’t just a drill. Certainly not a normal drill ordinary people regularly used in their households. It was more of a compounded drill, a specialized one, that geologists and miners used outside, in places like this, not inside households. That would be too much. “It’s all right. Yeah, maybe just carry the stuff and…”

Jasper heaved another sigh. There were two of them. Just two of them. It would have been challenging with just him alone but another person didn’t make much of a difference. Then again, him and Yvonne just did fine on their own sometimes, though carrying around heavy equipment, into and out of the mines, wasn’t something they did on their own. Maybe this guy was right. He stared at Gael with a raised eyebrow. Should he be calling him sir or something? Jasper should really socialize with the Chem Department, even though the last time he tried, he got brushed off by that cutie in a lab coat. What was her name again? Something that started with a letter A?

“Yeah, sure,” Jasper gave him a nod before leading him further in. The tunnels, he was very familiar with. At least the ones closer to the surface, the ones that didn’t have those miners that chased him off. Corporations are always a dick, he realized at a young age, which was why he supported local businesses instead of hoity-toity franchises. Screw Starbucks. This town has Sharma Tea and Bread Cemetery and a million other coffee places that taste better. “We should be close around that bend. Careful not to stray far from me, though. Unless you’ve been here before?” ----

To Gael’s relief and after what seemed like a bit of internal debate with Jasper, the latter agreed to his suggestion to give him a tour. The chemistry professor gave a small nod to the other man before starting to follow him in where they were abruptly greeted with darkness, even with the lights that offered shallow light… and the smell. The air was thick in the mouth of the mine entrance and only seemed to get thicker as they progressed and Gael felt his brow knit, placing a hand to his nose in as subtle a gesture as he could.

“Boy, it’s… pungent down here,” He remarked, trying to be light in his delivery but it was feathered with a subtle urge to gag. He kept his keen eyes on the geology professor, however, and when asked if he was familiar, Gael shook his head. “Unfortunately not. I moved here a few months ago but I was still getting my bearings.” Though that seemed like a flitting thought in his head as he grunted under his breath. Stick close to Jasper, don’t stray too far. Don’t listen to the sudden urge to scratch at your brain, digging into it and pulling out the feeling of sinking your teeth into a stranger’s arm.

Not Jasper’s arm. No one’s arm, what was he talking about? He opened his eyes, not realizing that he’d closed them and though something made it so that he could see better than complete blindness, he somehow lost sight of the geologist. “...Jasper?” He asked dumbly. ----

Jasper nodded fervently as he led Gael deeper and deeper into the mines. Or at least to where they had made their last progress. The geologist had gone much deeper than the rest of their team, though he would never advise the same to anyone else. Something about the mines, some things inside the mines, were not friendly. Jasper may not have encountered much of those unfriendly things, but just going off the vibes, the mines were not a place you wanted to hurl yourself into with just a phone. The flashlight’s useful, for a bit, but eventually, you’ll lose your signal. Or worse.

“Yes, well, there are certain chemical reactions that could very well be responsible for those smells,” Jasper explained in his professor’s voice, using a bunch of words that held no deep meaning for him, all while he continued to stare straight forward, never looking back behind him. Why would he? He knew the mines like the back of his hand. At least the parts where their team had explored. He knew where they were supposed to go. The other guy was also a professor, so he was also smart. That meant he would follow his advice and not stray far from him. He would not get lost. “...so rest assured, we’re pretty safe down here.”

Jasper then started talking about how the mines were a geological marvel, how certain things followed the rules that they were all accustomed to, the rules of the earth that they’ve studied over the years, the only rules that they’ve ever known, and how other things did not. There was enthusiasm in his voice, the same enthusiasm he’d have when talking about the Fast and the Furious franchise, the same enthusiasm a Marvel ‘fan’ would have when talking about the Disney Plus shows (that wasn’t She-Hulk twerking-related, even though if Deadpool did that, they’d all figuratively bust a nut, as his rival and student Jeremy would often say; maybe even literally, who knows?) 

But that enthusiasm was soon replaced with concern when Jasper looked behind him, his wide smile turning into a frown, eyes widening into confusion and horror, and found the chemistry professor was nowhere to be found. “Gael? Professor Cordova?” Oh, dear. Not again. ----

“Professor Langston?” Gael’s voice rang out and he only called every once in awhile, falling silent and trying desperately to hear any indication of where he was in relation to the geologist; sound normally carried so why did he feel like he was being smothered in deafening quiet? While normally he would’ve stayed rational and calm - indeed, when it wasn’t around ‘those instances’, he held value in his ability to rationalize things calmly and logically - he was having immense difficulties as he wandered in the winding tunnels of the mine. Where he was now had no more light, and not even his vision ‘gifted’ to him by his brain injury could decipher details anymore.

And the stench.

Maybe… This was Jasper’s idea of a joke. Maybe he was fed up with not being taken seriously by the board or their team so he decided to punch down to Gael, the one newer and less experienced than he was. The chemist had no idea where he was going, he didn’t know his way around, he didn’t know how to escape, he didn’t know anything. He didn’t even know that as he walked, craning his neck to hear and calling for the geology professor, the foul odor that permeated the rock and dirt inside the dark tunnels crawled around inside him, fuelling this unjustified rage, dropping him to his knees and starting to shred through his clothes.

Skin covered itself in fur, gasps of pain turned into twisted snarling, teeth fell out. Claws. A tail. Ears. Snout. Not quite wolf but not quite man. Neither. Both. Pain. Exhaling a hot breath through long canines, Gael widened his amber eyes and let out a small, but still pitched howl. THAT echoed through the caves. ----

Jasper was a mood, swinging between indifference and professional concern. On one hand, Professor Cordova was a grown man. He could find his way out of the mines…right? Sure, Jasper’s already lost one person to the mines, but that was years ago, and she was just a kid. He was, too. Professor Cordova was a different story. He was an adult. Surely, someone with that big brain could escape the tunnels with relative ease. Right?

On the other? The mines have their fair share of missing persons. Jasper had gathered as much from his own unprofessional investigation, haphazard interviews of miners he had conducted without their knowledge and sometimes using a fake name, nothing of which could ever hold up in court with zero physical evidence, just some drunken blue collar worker rambling about the Steves and Joes that were never seen again, ramblings that an expensive team of attorneys can so easily squish. 

Jasper heaved a sigh, shaking his head. Professor Cordova wasn’t a Steve or a Joe, but if he goes missing, it’s Jasper’s ass on the line when he returns to the university. Unless of course no one knew Professor Cordova’s schedule? Maybe he had a drinking habit? Maybe Jasper can just feign ignorance and pin his possible disappearance on— “What the fuck was that?” Jasper gulped, his hand pressed hard on the side of the mines. He had never heard anything like it before, certainly not in there. As he pressed the rest of his body against the cold hard rocky surface of the closest wall, he felt his heart race fast. Faster than it had ever in recent memory. “Shit. What if it— No! Professor Cordova!”

Against his smarter instincts, Jasper ran to where he had heard the howl, fearing that his companion was the cause of all that howling. A stray wolf having jumped a chemistry professor? It would be the first time he’d witness such a thing! Unbeknownst to him, he would be witnessing a different thing for the first time. ---- Still in the dark but now equipped with more proficient tools, Gael held his head up and attempted to sniff the air, feeling the fur on his hackles stand on end as all he seemed to smell was the disgusting rot. A low growl rumbling at the bottom of his throat, he reached up and felt the ceiling close to his head and while he was content to walk on his hind legs, he needed to be more careful in these narrow tunnels. He dropped to all fours quietly and he started stalking forward when he suddenly stopped, turning his head sharply as he heard a noise coming from a different direction. He wasn’t alone in these dark tunnels. Not even sure why HE was where he was, Gael decided to go in the direction of the new noise but didn’t have to travel far when he stopped short, hearing rapidly-approaching footfalls and his bright amber eyes fell upon a silhouette. A human. Unable to contain his excitement, his tail started wagging wildly and he bared his teeth, his lips seeming to form a wide, doglike smile as a noise that sounded like an unholy mixture of a human laugh and a yelp ripped from his throat.

From the corner of his eye, Jasper caught a glimpse of a vague form that stood like a human would. He immediately thought it was Gael, which he wasn’t exactly wrong about. Just not the Gael he knew, apparently, though it wouldn’t be apparent until he was close enough to realize what creature truly waited for him.  ----

“Ah, there you are,” Jasper shook his head, still oblivious to the horrifying truth as he made his way toward its actual form, still some steps from actually laying eyes on its shadow’s owner. “Didn’t I tell you to stay close, Professor… Cordova?”

And there it was. The stark realization that Professor Cordova was not where Jasper thought he was. His immediate thought, now that he was staring at the abomination with wide, terrified eyes, was that Gael was somewhere else, somewhere safer than where the geology professor stood. As the creature glared at him, Jasper gulped. What the actual fuck was it even? A dog? A wolf? A hellhound? Probably that last one since the fucking mines must be connected to hell or some shit.

“Nope,” Jasper squealed before turning around, running away from the predator as it half-laughed and half-howled at him. At least he thought that was a laugh and a howl. “Fuck me, fuck me, fuck me!”

One minute, the shadow was there and the next it was gone but Gael knew better. He could sense it, give it some time to run - the wolf enjoyed the chase, proud of himself for being able to catch things like birds and squirrels. They ran, tried to fly. This was similar yet different. He lowered himself onto all fours and rather lazily trotted after the shadow, trying to get more of a scent even though it was difficult with the stench of something else permeating the area, seeping through the walls.

The wolf didn’t actually start pursuing the shadow until he turned the corner where his amber eyes saw something illuminated faintly in the murk of the dark. It seemed to be… light dancing on the shadow. Confusing as it was since there didn’t seem to be any light for it to bounce off of, the wolf dropped to a creep, his body coiling with potential energy before he sprang forward into a bound. He easily caught up to the figure with a loud growl.

With a forward-reaching leap, his arms out in front of him, the wolf’s beetle-black claws snagged on something and the two of them were sent crashing to the ground. Wasting no time, the wolf snapped his jaws, catching what he perceived to be skin between his long canines and he proceeded to shake his head, pulling at it with everything he had like a dog playing tug of war with a toy. ----

Jasper ran as fast as he could, though that wasn’t saying much, considering he was no athlete. As he huffed and he puffed his way away from the monstrous wolf-like creature that was most definitely going to eat him, he wondered how the hell could it have gotten inside the mines. He’d been going there on his own, sometimes even with company, and he’d never come across such a thing. Was it lost? Did someone, or something, leave it there? Or was this whole thing connected to the weird happenings all over town?

He made one single mistake of looking back, trying to see if he was clear, if by some miracle his pursuer decided he wasn’t worth the jog, but the next thing Jasper knew, he was down on the ground, wincing in pain as his body collided with the hard ground of the tunnel. “Fuck…me,” he groaned, as he heard a faint ringing in his ear. “This is like that car thing all over again…except no pretty girls…” It took him a few seconds, wasted time he didn’t really afford, before he realized the predator was inches from his flesh, toying with his recently acquired hoodie, a gift for himself by himself just because he was feeling it, that had the word ‘SNACC’ emblazoned in unnecessarily huge font smack-dab in the middle of it. How appropriate.

Jasper grimaced as he tried to delicately free himself from semi-captivity. The creature did not seem to be sinking its teeth into his flesh with rabid urgency. Instead, it seemed to be under the mistaken impression that the hoodie was part of his flesh. He wasn’t quite sure if it was a race thing, which his non-concussed brain wouldn’t have even thought of, but he struggled and fought as discreetly as he could until finally, by some miracle or divine intervention, he managed to set himself free. 

Thud! 

Jasper fell on the ground on all fours. He took a moment to see if the predator realized what had happened but he dared not look back. Not again. Not this time. That fucked him over the first time. “Ah, fuck it,” he just bolted out of there, huffing and puffing his way away from the big bad wolf thing. “If I survive this, I’m going to work on my cardio…” ----

His fangs were still embedded in the flesh, tasteless though it was and in a mighty motion, Gael threw his head back, stripping the layer from clean off his prey.

Literally. He wasn’t expecting it to come apart so easily and he fell backwards with a yelp, the skin he pulled off landing gently on top of him for a moment as he began flailing wildly as the thing he wanted so badly was suddenly wrapping around him. This wasn’t in the plan, he didn’t know what was going on all of a sudden. He flopped onto his stomach, using a clawed hand to pull the skin from where it’d covered part of his back. The sound of fabric ripping could be heard down the dark hall by the time the wolf realized that what he’d gotten caught in his jaws was not, in fact, anything tasty or worth his time, he growled and abruptly abandoned the not-skin after sticking his nose into it. No blood, no flesh, no meat.

Worthless.

To make matters worse, the wolf turned his gaze up and forwards but he saw nothing in front of him, nothing but what seemed to be an infinite dark tunnel. He looked behind him and was met with the same vision. He lifted his nose and tried to catch a scent but all he got was that infernal stench, the one that riled him up and caused him to snarl to himself as he lost his prey. With a huff, he started to whine quietly, feeling pain in his stomach that seemed to start there and stretched itself to his extremities. His tail twitched, his hind legs cracked as he moved them and as he pinned his ears, feeling pain starting to wash over him like a rising tide, he snatched up the not-skin and buried his nose in it to catch a scent.

He lost the prey but maybe the prey knew the way out. And the wolf would be sure to find it before he went back to sleep.

[endlessreruns]

arlo demont / 25 / 5'8 (he/they) / town visitor / intro

ashley song / 33 / 5'0 (she/her) / town resident / intro

derek pardeshi / 41 / 5'9 (he/him) / town resident / intro

eagan connolly / 25 / 5'5 (they/she) / town visitor / intro

easton weston / 33/ 5'10 (they/he) / town resident intro

eldon harcourt / 28 / 5'11 (he/him) / commune visitor / intro

evora kaplan / 33 / 5'7 (she/they) / town visitor / intro

fallon barlowe / 20 / 5'4 (she/he) / town resident / intro

felix berkowitz / 25 / 5'7 (he/they) town visitor / intro

ferdinand 'ferdie' weaver / 22 / 5'5 (they/he) commune visitor / intro

harvey langston / 31 / 5'9 (he/him) / town visitor / intro

jasper larkin / 30 / 5'9 (he/him) town resident / intro

jeremy marsh / 24 / 5'10 (he/him) commune visitor / intro

kaveh del rosario / 21 / 6'0 (he/him) / commune resident / intro

kevin 'kc' carpenter / 32 / 5'11 (he/him) / town resident / intro

lincoln abernathy / 45 / 5'11 (he/him) / commune resident / intro

mason greene / 26 / 5'8 (he/him) / town visitor / intro

maverick cafferty / 29 / 5'10 (he/they) / town resident / intro

nadine briggs / 23 / 5'4 (she/her) commune resident / intro

nickleby 'nick' dalton / 26 / 5'9 (they/them) / town resident / intro

parker russo / 21 / 5'6 (he/they) / commune visitor / intro

poppy hastings / 21 / 5'3 (she/they) / commune visitor / intro

rivers caldwell / 25 / 5'10 (he/him) / town visitor / intro

roman forest / 22 / 5'7 (he/him) / 'town' visitor / intro

sicilia 'lia' flowers / 29 / 5'5 (she/her) / commune resident / intro

stella hendrix / 27 / 5'7 (she/her) town resident / intro

[memento-morri-writes]

It’s Blorbo Blursday!! If you want, send me an ask, and I’ll send one back, if you want! :)

OC list under the cut!

All the Queen’s Horses: - Fallon Oakes - Kristopher Pelle - Captain Xavier Blackthorne - Lavinia Braune - Duncan Viadore - Hermes “Andino” - Moira Valythe - Nina Warner - Nora Vogt ~ minor characters ~ - Pierre Pelle - Sebastian Pelle - Mabel - Victor Pelle - [unnamed sister] Pelle - Tessa Smallwood - Leo Langston

Call of Shadows: - Dorian - Ashlin - Lenora - Squish - Theo - Calista - The Hunstman ~ minor characters ~ - Gwendolyn / Evangeline (I haven’t decided yet) -  Jinx - Tamsyn Runaway Prince WIP: - Jasper (the bodyguard) - Luca (the prince) - Oriana (the captain) - Kora (the first mate) - Ren (the navigator) - Solana (the healer) - Zara (the outsider)

High Fantasy WIP: - The Narrator - Avidra Shadowbreath - Asra - Brynn - Orion - Unnamed Shadow Warlock - Unnamed Healer

Political Fantasy WIP: - <Prince> - Alora (the Princess) - Lila - Erin

Supernatural Roadtrip WIP: - Gabriel - Sebastian - Raven(?)

BONUS: DnD Characters: - Laverna Rosefist - Zenara Raventhorn - Alarion Castien Varro - Avra Shadowbreath - Asra Dain - Unnamed Bard - Unnamed Sorcerer (Orion?) - Asola Riava Ashmark - Rook (Adrian Lockwood) - Commander Saber “Sabe” - Elira “Ellie” Aravelle Duskstep

[inmystateofbuzz]

@goldthreadsnyc

[a-supernatural-writer]

All “The Lost Boys” Original Characters

“Good Times” Original Character(s)

Elizabeth Whitlock

Varian Hawthorne

Kurt Windsor

Wendy Van Doren

“Lost in the Shadows” Original Characters

Vanessa McConnell

Sarah Coffin

Danielle Obray

Luis Beckom

Timothy Emerich

“Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me” Original Character(s)

Katherine Duke

Stella Pruitt

Lucretia English

Annalise Radcliff

“Laying Down The Law” Original Character(s)

Damian Ashford

Natalia Lauder

Tristian Berkshire

“People Are Strange” Original Characters

Munroe Langston

Neil Prince

Jayson Sapphirus

Franky Cornelius

Dominik Hart

Ellie June

Lara Castellan

Mariam Astaril

“Cry Little Sister” Original Character(s)

Melissa Fox

Taron Sullivan

“Power Play” Original Character(s)

Simon Umbra

Morticia

“I Still Believe” Original Characters

Crystal Hendrix

Jasper Hendrix

Onyx Hendrix

“Beauty Has Her Way” Original Character(s)

Topaz Lovell

Jasmine Montgomery

Oak Grimaldi

“To The Shock of Miss Louise” Original Characters

Roseanne Grant

Zeus Donahue

Annika Reece

Basil Kline

Sallie Izzard

Jack Clemonte

Mikki Abrams

Dexter Alderidge

Amaryllis Nolan

Dodger Irvine

[gisellelx]

Why the title of your story Cien Años de Compañerismo is in spanish? That's been a curiosity of mine for some time; is it for a meaningful reason or just because?

tl;dr It’s because I’m a big nerd. 🤓

A long time ago, I was an English major, and I’ve never stopped loving literary fiction and poetry and I read a lot of both. So I often give my fics names which come from other works, because I think it’s fun. Often the allusion to the other work is meaningful to the fic, sometimes it’s just a play on the words in the other title. Sometimes in the reviews someone recognizes the title and understands the allusion and it makes me giddy. And other times they don’t and it’s just my private joke with myself and that's fine, too.

Cien Años de Soledad (One Hundred Years of Solitude) is a magical realism novel by Columbian author Gabriel García Márquez. I’m nowhere near his caliber as a writer, and my story is a completely different one (although I suppose there are some similarities to magical realism). But I was struck by the idea that Carlisle, especially, and Esme to a different extent, experienced solitude prior to meeting each other. Couple that with it being “A hundred years” and...you get One Hundred Years of Companionship. I went back and forth between that and The Doctor and the Tree Climber but felt that Cien Años better captured what I was trying to do. And I kept the title in Spanish to match the original.

Other fics of mine with nerdy, easter-egg allusion titles under the cut: 

“For a Season” originally “For a Season, There Must Be Pain,” based on a line from “The Widower” by Rudyard Kipling

“24601″ which within the fic makes a direct comparison of Jasper to Jean Valjean from Les Miserables

 Patroclus Rising, which alludes to a reading of Carlisle/Edward as Achilles/Patroclus from The Illiad

“Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Vampire” which is another just straight up play on words with no particular meaning ascribed within the fic, based on Wallace Stevens’ “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird” 

“Strange Fruit” based on the Billie Holliday song of the same name. 

And then just the other day I dropped a tumblr fragment, “Dreams Deferred” the title of which quotes “Harlem” by Langston Hughes. I have some cognitive dissonance there because I think Carlisle, for all I love writing him, is the walking embodiment of a particular type of casual, rich, oblivious white guy racism, and so to even name a tiny ficlet after a poem by one of the 20th century’s most storied Black poets is an issue. Yet that poem speaks well to the other things C is thinking about there and so I used it anyway.

So. That’s why Cien Años is in Spanish. I’m just a big nerdy goofball. The titles make me happy, and that's the point of fanfic, after all.

[plunderwater]

TIMING: Recent LOCATION: Sea Breeze Boathouse, Harborside, White Crest PARTIES: Shan "Aika" (@plunderwater) & Jasper (@eatdearth) SUMMARY: Shan "Aika" and Jasper go on a boat ride together! With Val the dog! CONTENT WARNINGS: Technically an attempt on someone's life

The last time Shan was around these parts was not that long of a time. At least not in her seal form. Renting a boat has never been something she was interested in either. For obvious reasons. Why row a boat, after all, when you can swim far better than any boat could float? But she did promise some guy she’d keep him company. Much easier to get secrets out of someone when they’re alone or lonely. Big catch if they’re both.

“Well, hello, handsome!” Shan waved at the arriving man from a distance, a huge smile on her face. Finally, he has arrived. Finally, they can rent a boat as per their discussion, all expenses paid by him, of course. Most importantly, finally, she can drag someone deep into the waters for a laugh or two. It’s not like she’s going to leave him there, anyway. It’s always more fun when they start wheezing, trying to catch their breaths, after her game. “Are you ready for some fun?”

The recent surge of arcane power from the blue moon has certainly made Jasper much more confident than usual. The geology professor had always been a little awkward, if not hilariously annoying. This time, however, it was evident in his strut, in the way he winked and smirked at everyone he passed by in his path to the boathouse, that he was feeling like a new man, maybe even a different man. It hadn’t been too long ago since he lost his face to the mines, thanks to a volmugger with a gagging problem, a traumatic tragedy in his life, but now here he was, already experiencing another strange, supernatural occurrence in just a few months, only this time, he’s liking it.

At the sight of the lovely young woman waving at him, Jasper would’ve gone cartoon wolf and made that ‘awooga’ noise. Given enough time, and perhaps leeway, he would’ve. But Val tugged on her leash, forcing the earth magician to focus his attention on her or risk an escape into the water. Despite their, well, differences, Val and Jasper decided on a truce, realizing this trip would benefit both parties: Val, so she can finally leave the creepy manor Jasper’s uncle bequeathed him, and Jasper, so he can finally leave the creepy manor his uncle bequeathed him. 

All those days moping and skulking because of his missing face left Jasper gravely in need of this trip. He was very excited when he realized he would be experiencing it with a beautiful stranger, so much so, he didn’t even care if Val was included in the package. “You must be…the person I’ve been talking to online! How do you do? You look absolutely amazing! Stunning, even!” 

Shan smirked as soon as he opened his mouth. Her first thought was that he must be an experienced charmer, though something about him made her very curious. Almost like he was being too much of a charmer. In her line of work, too much of anything can be very revealing. Especially when it comes to strangers. Trying to match his excitement, Shan widened her grin and offered her hand to shake. An introductory refresh should balance the scales between them. “Aika Chan,” she gave her one of her aliases without a single sense of hesitation. She’s done this before. Numerous times already. It was second nature by now. “And I see you’re quite the ladies’ man, professor.” Professor Jasper H. Langston. Geology professor at the University of Wicked’s Rest, Maine. She already knew him. At least the things on his online profile. She wasn’t quite sure digging further would be necessary. Maybe she’ll find out soon enough.

A stolen glimpse, a momentary distraction, however, revealed something else, something much more important — The professor had a dog! Crap! The swear word quickly exploded in her head, though it was already too late. Shan was already bowing down, toward the dog, already squealing like an elated lover, drowning in good, positive vibes at the mere presence of a furry cutie. “Aww! Who do we have here? You have a very adorable wingman, professor!” She heaved a sigh of joy, giddy at the four-legged angel. “Who’s a good boy?” 

Aika Chan? Jasper paused, caught off guard by the name. Not because it was suspicious, at least not to him, but because it sounded so very cute! Like how the girls say their names, introduce themselves, in those Japanese cartoons. Wait, is she Japanese? Jasper would have lucked out if that’s the case. He does love gyoza. “Aika Chan… That’s a lovely name,” he gave her his hand, waiting for her to reciprocate so that he could shake her most likely soft fingers. “Am I? I can only attest to the fact that I am indeed a professor… Professor Jasper H. Langston, University of Wicked’s Rest, Maine!” There was pride in his introduction. A lot of it.

But before he could turn that pride into something else, Val took over the scene, stealing the show with her cuteness. The half-beagle, half-Japanese spitz bounced on all fours as she skipped toward Aika, her tongue out and her tailing wagging excitedly. Aside from Jasper’s coworker/ex, the dog has suffered a lack of beauty around her, with only the spellcaster and the boring silence keeping her company since the death of her previous owner, who was Jasper’s late uncle. Without much prodding, Val was all over Aika, sniffing and licking whatever she could of her, much to Jasper’s dismay. “She’s a she, actually,” he scratched his head, an awkward smile on his face. “Her name’s Val. She’s 50% beagle and 50% Japanese spitz.” 100% butthole.

Yes, I already knew that. Shan hid the truth of her prior knowledge of his identity behind her impressed gaze complete with wide eyes and an innocent smile. A geology professor might not be the most useful of contacts, but he does seem very proud of his affiliation with the university. Who knows? Maybe she can make use of him in other ways. A quick but thorough look-over of the otherwise charming and dusky man seemed to support that thinking. Underneath that pride must be an equally potent virility. “A pleasure to meet you, professor!”

“May I?” Shan posed the question to both the human and the dog but did not wait for the former’s answer. When Val allowed her to touch and pet her furry being, the selkie took the opportunity to carefully and gently lift the dog and carry her in her arms. As if Val’s cuteness had given her the extra strength to do so. At least for the few seconds that she could. Shan gracefully deposited Val back on the ground when she realized she could not keep the physical charade up, awkwardly giggling to mask her failure. “I’m so sorry! I’m getting way ahead of myself! Should we find a boat first?”

“Oh, yes, of course!” Jasper was so caught up between getting jealous of Val and getting distracted by Shan Aika’s charming good looks that he almost forgot what they were there for. No matter. That was easily remedied. He was a well-dressed man. She was a very attractive young woman. And they had a dog with them. Talking up the boat rental girl was easier than making next week’s lesson plan. In a span of minutes, seconds even, Jasper had secured all three of them (sadly Val had to be there) a boat. Not long after, they were on it, rowing across the waters, all three of them (sadly Val had to be there). “You do this often, Miss…Chan?”

It was a strange feeling. Not just the unexpected but welcomed surge of mystical powers in his bones, not just the trauma of having his face stolen by a creature he did not understand in a place he could barely make sense of, but also being a distance away from any semblance of earth. Jasper, being a spellcaster with a strong elemental affinity to the element of earth, had never been that far from the ground, off the ground, with the sole exception of the plane rides he had to take during his overseas seminars. This was perhaps the first time he was distant from his element in his hometown. As he rowed and rowed, that was all he could think of, though a stolen glimpse of Aika and Val made him smile. This was the perfect family he’s always sought, the vision of which, an idealized version. Shame it wasn’t real. At least not yet.

“Perfect day for a boat ride,” Jasper muttered under his breath, uncertain if she’d hear him, though he wouldn’t mind either way. “Perfect company, too…”

“Not often,” Shan purred, as she combed Val’s fur, the satisfied dog on her lap. They sat across from Jasper who had to row on his own, as there was nowhere else to sit and Shan had lamented her lack of upper body strength to ferry the three of them across the waters. Jasper seemed at that moment like any giddy lover, one who craved the opportunity to impress their better half and make themselves feel worthy in everyone’s watching eyes. It was a role she liked to play against, mostly because it gave her more power than the others tended to realize until it was already too late. “I prefer actually getting down and dirty in the water… You know? Get wet.”

“Oh, sweetie,” Shan gave her her sweetest smile, the best one she had in her arsenal. Funny story: That same smile was actually stolen from a naive boy in Japan. Or was it Korea? Either way, she was the last person he ever shared that smile with. “You flatter me too much! I could say the same thing…” No, she could not. Jasper didn’t seem like anyone important to, well, anyone. Might as well just spend the day with his cutie patootie dog! “I don’t think I’ve ever been with a distinguished professor before…” She had. Years ago. But that one wasn’t a geologist. “And a geologist at that!” The selkie made the effort to flutter her eyelashes, making him feel she had more of her interest than he actually did. Most people rarely get that opportunity. That was why, whenever it happens, all the moths slowly surrender to the flame. No questions asked. Only she had them. The questions. A lot of them. As per usual. 

“Does that mean you know a lot about the recent goings-on in town?” Shan tried to be as coy as possible, but with all the flirting and the faux weakness she had shown him, surely he wouldn’t think of her as anything more than just a curious little lady throwing so much interest in him and his line of work. “With the crystals and the mines?”

Jasper almost choked on air when the lovely woman spoke the words “dirty” and “wet” but mostly only after his dirty mind processed the equally unclean association of those words with her existence. He was an idiot, too, so that didn’t help. He quickly tried to regain his composure by returning her smile, chuckling with the confidence of a confidant at the exchange of the flattery. “Oh? But you’ve been with other professors before?” A stupid question, prompted mostly by his lack of other alternatives. “Yes, you could say that. Crystals, the mines, face thieves made of crystals from the mines… One could say I’m an expert on those things and more!”

Just because he got his face stolen doesn’t technically make him an expert on any of those things, especially the part about there being more. Jasper was a geologist. That was it. He was an expert in geology. That was it. Anything more, especially the supernatural? He was a noob. Barely even well-versed in the basics. But he was surging with power and pride, so he felt like he was the king of the world. Or at least, of the town. “Why do you ask? Are you interested in crystals and the mines? Because I could maybe take you on an expedition…maybe?” 

They were so far from the rest of the docks now, shrouded by the distance, barely visible to anyone who dared to care. In fact, if anything happened to either of them right then and there, no one would probably notice. Jasper thought about this, strangely, but immediately focused all his attention on the beautiful Aika. Maybe they’d share a kiss there, away from prying eyes. Ohoho!

Shan nodded, a playful smirk on her lips, already expecting Jasper’s manly man brain to go this route, “Plenty of professors.” She even made sure to add a hefty helping of confidence in that delivery, pride as well, just to draw him in. Like fish to bait. “Some of them, not even mine.” The truth was not far off, however. Shan has been with several professors, though not in that context. In her line of work, having access to an expert close by was always a boon. Speaking of experts…

“An expert? That’s very impressive! Only with you leading me by the hand, Professor,” Shan giggled. Like a schoolgirl. Or more accurately, the bait to his fish. It wasn’t just because he was a professor, too. Most men, though to be fair, also her, have a special place in their heart, a soft soft spot in an otherwise hard location, for school girls. Japan’s greatest export, maybe. A cultural gift. “Oh, we’re so far from prying eyes now, it seems,” the selkie feigned obliviousness to their current whereabouts, even though she had designed the entire play, so to speak. 

Releasing Val from her arms, Shan carefully inched her way closer to Jasper, her eyes seemingly drawn to his lips. “I think you have something on your lips, Professor…” She made sure to stop a breath away from him, her lips from his lips, enticing the man to take the first step, tricking him into thinking he still had control over the situation, even though the selkie had already researched him months ago. 

It wasn’t that hard, considering he had revealed as much online, starting with how he had lost his face in the mines. All Shan needed to do was follow him where she could, chat up or overhear the students that attend his class, even befriend his ex who also works at the university… All he needed to do was kiss her, have a little taste of her lips, let her pull him close… Into the waters. All her pelt needed to do was consume his magic, and if he had none, well, who was going to miss a geology professor who had no social life?   

Jasper’s eyes grew wider than he thought they ever could, and his grin did the same. He wasn’t a prude. He didn’t have the time or the right to be one. Hell, he didn’t even want to be one. People deserved the opportunity to enjoy themselves, their bodies, and Jasper would be lying if he said he didn’t want that opportunity for himself either, especially since he rarely got one. 

“You’re more impressive, I think,” Jasper almost howled, and he did in his head. Like a cartoon wolf. Awooga. “I would not mind the opportunity…to have you join an expedition in the future. I can check my calendar and maybe we can compare schedules once we’re back on dry land, hopefully at my place?”

But it seemed that they didn’t need to wait to get back on dry land, much to Jasper’s excitement. At first, he was worried he’d look like a fool in front of Aika, thanks whatever grime was on his lips. He tried to remember what he had for breakfast and failed. Was it jam? Was jam going to ruin this otherwise wonderful boat trip? 

No. Apparently, it was just an excuse for her to get closer, and how could Jasper decline an opportunity given to him so obviously? With only a second of hesitation, trying to gauge whether she’d pull away (he thanked his luck when she did not), the geology professor planted a soft kiss on the beautiful lady’s scrumptious lips and felt “sparks” fly around them, him, all over the place.

The selkie wasted no more time. As soon as Jasper kissed her, Shan pulled him close, her arms wrapping around him, his back, his body, like an octopus wrapping its tentacles around its prey. His dog stared at them, a little miffed, but perked up when the selkie leaned back, throwing herself and Jasper into the waters. Val barked and barked and barked, but it was too late. The dog could do nothing else but wag its tail and bark in alarm at the loss of her owner as splashing water almost ruined her dry fur.

This wasn’t the first time that Shan had done this, and she doubted that it would be the last. With her pelt malfunctioning, its hunger for magic too strong for the selkie to overcome, she had to resort to this tedious process. The manner would often be different — sometimes her victims would fall on dry land, without the need to drown in water — but the point was always the same: for her to survive, these spellcasters and fae must be sacrificed. Not something she wanted personally, in fact she loathed the thought of it because she perceived it beneath her, but beggars can’t be choosers.

Shan felt the panic set in within Jasper as soon as he realized what had happened. Or more appropriately, the change in location. Most men aren’t quick on the draw, especially if the selkie’s lips were still on theirs. Confusion takes them first. Why are we wet? Are we floating? Did our boat sink? But the panic can never be denied. Even if the mind remains clueless, the body will do whatever it can to survive. The struggling was annoying to her, but they were in her waters now, her territory, and all things considered, she had the home field advantage. Until… 

At first, Jasper just thought Aika was pulling him closer, on top of her, as all lovers kissing on a boat tend to do. At least that’s what he thought they did. But then things got a little wetter. Jasper thought their kiss was getting more passionate, more unruly, more uncontrollable. Because of course it would be, considering they both wanted this. But then things got a little too wet for his comfort and everything else, including his clothes, were now soaked. That couldn’t have been just a kiss, right? Definitely nothing normal.

So he panicked. His eyes shot wide open, the waters around him and her surprising the geology professor. Did she throw them overboard? Aika didn’t look like she was worried, much to Jasper’s concern. To him, she was enjoying herself so much, she was oblivious to the danger they were in. He tried to pull away, shake her awake, and even drag her upward, back to the boat, but her grip felt stronger, tighter, and the waters as well. They were going to drown. They were going to die down there. 

All rationality left Jasper, replaced by his survival instincts. His body and his mind did not want him to die down there, did not want Aika to die down there with him. But they could only do so much. Luckily for him, there was another aspect of the geology professor that could do more. A lot more. So, as soon as Jasper started to lose consciousness, his magic kicked in, wild and surging, overfed by the strange blue moon that the scientist could not explain himself. 

Pieces of rocks and stone from the waterbed suddenly shot up, a few hitting Aika, like missiles aimed at Jasper, except they didn’t hit him. All they did was surround him, forming a shell of sorts, before sending him back out of the water, spitting him on the nearest shore and crumbling like sand swallowed by the sea. The geologist was still unconscious but at least he was no longer drowning.

Where did the projectiles come from? Even under attack, Shan was still trying to make sense of things before taking cover. When the first hit came, however, when she was struck by one of the rocks for the first time, her instincts took over, and the selkie quickly spun around to avoid the second. At the same time, she withdrew her pelt hidden sneakily within the fur coat around her shoulders, the entire thing technically the pelt wrapped inside a thin but magical bag that resembled a fur coat’s exterior. It was a hard thing to acquire, rather a hard thing to make a spellcaster give her, but everyone would do anything to live. Just like Jasper and his magic, it seemed.

More rocks started to unearth themselves from the ground below, deep underwater, forcing Shan to wear her pelt despite it still needing a bit of mystic juice. Can’t be helped, however. She was ambushed by some sort of surging earth spell. If she delayed any further, she and her pelt would be floating in the waters, only found much later by curious passersby. Shan wasn’t going to die there. Not anytime soon. Draining the few magic that remained in the pelt, Shan transformed, and as quickly as she could, mostly because she feared taking her time would endanger both her and her pelt further, the Seal swam away to safety, catching a stolen glimpse at the last minute of the strange earthen shell, egg, that had consumed Jasper and whisked him back up to safety. So close.

Like Jasper, Shan managed to get herself back to shore as well, though he was nowhere to be found. She quickly took off her pelt, scowling at how her prey had escaped her. All she needed was for him to go unconscious for a few, so that she could steal his magic. She wasn’t going to kill him…probably. Shan planned to get him back to the boat as soon as her pelt was recharged. Did she consider his survival heavily? Not really, but she didn’t consider his death heavily as well. That should count for something, right? 

“Ugh, looks like it’s back to the drawing board,” Shan heaved a sigh of disappointment, shaking her head, as she picked herself off of the ground, once again stowing her pelt within her fur coat, rolling it to give the exterior the bounce most people liked, them oblivious to the true danger the somewhat fashionable apparel hid. “But we’ll meet again, Professor… That’s a promise.” 

When Jasper came to, he was back on solid ground. His throat immediately tried to regurgitate the remaining water in it, violently forcing as many of the foreign liquid out as possible. The geology professor coughed and spat and technically vomited the waters out, heaving on the ground as he turned himself as upright as he could, only noticing then that he wasn’t alone. Val barked, wagging its tail. The dog looked concerned, the first time she had ever been when it came to him, and sniffed him all over. When their eyes met, however, and Val realized its late master’s only living relative was pretty much all right, even though Jasper was wet and still suffering the effects of almost getting drowned, the dog raised its nose at him and looked away. 

“So you do care about me?” Jasper coughed, chuckling. He couldn’t believe all he needed to do for his late uncle’s dog to show some semblance of affection toward him was to almost die. He’d done worse for a human girl. “Exposed!” He doubled down, much to Val’s annoyance. The dog growled and sat with her back, mostly butt, to him, pretending to not care about his well-being anymore. Maybe it no longer did. After all, Jasper was now conscious enough to pick himself off the ground, and Val did not have to worry about who’ll feed her anymore. “Where is…”

A sharp pain in his head interrupted his train of thought. Jasper coughed again, drops of saltwater still inside him. Maybe even clinging to his lungs or whatever. Shaking his head, he tried to pick up Val but the dog was like eww no you’re wet you dipshit and avoided his touch. Jasper grinned. Shaking his head again, he gestured for Val to just follow him as he tried to find their way home. “That’s the last time I’ll go on a date with a hot girl I’ve never met.” It won’t.

[plunderwater]

[...] Uh-huh. I wasn't being nice. Are you sure you're You should see a doctor.

I mean, if you put it that way, I guess I am [...] That makes sense. Can't always be on top. Sometimes, you gotta be the bottom. I mean, on the bottom? Anyway, thanks, that means a lot to me. Don't have to be a seer to be nice. :)

[spice-and-fire]

tea for two ❀ jasper & meera

TIMING: Recent LOCATION: Best Exotic Herbal Tea PARTIES: Meera @the-haunteang and Jasper @eatdearth SUMMARY: Meera tries to take a tea break on her own but Jasper joins her. Recipes are shared and a new friendship is born! CONTENT WARNING: None

It has been a grueling week. Between his work at the university and whatever the heck was going on at the mines, Jasper has had better days and certainly better nights. It wasn’t enough that he never stopped trying to find his lost friend in the mines, barely making any progress despite him sticking to the paths away from where most of the mining activity was, but now everything was in jeopardy. With all the strange goings-on revolving around the mines, security was at an all-time high, at least as far as Jasper has heard, which meant that he needed to be extra careful when doing his exploring. And also extra stressed. 

So, what does the stressed geology professor do to alleviate some of that, well, stress? Visit Best Exotic Herbal Tea Shop, of course. Sure, he could have just bought tea online, which was what the cool kids were doing these days, but Jasper has been an occasional regular at the shop, if that was even a thing, only getting his fix here and nowhere else, so he figured he might as well pay a visit to his favorite tea shop. “Morning,” he awkwardly flashed the pretty cashier, waving at her as he approached. “What’s today’s special?”

Meera had been very observant since the morning started. Well, to be fair, she was always observant. That was probably why her dead relatives wouldn’t let her be, ghosting her every now and then, announced. Most people were lucky only the living ghosted them. Meera, on the other hand, was plagued by visions of dead relatives popping up randomly. Not all of them even had anything to say. Some of them just appear from out of nowhere to stare at her like complete creeps.

Speaking of creeps… “Good morning,” Meera channeled her sunniest of sunshine smiles, though he wasn’t quite sure what to make of this occasional regular. The times she’d seen him at the shop, he seemed to be preoccupied up there, in his head. He also seemed to be very awkward, not just around her and the staff, but sometimes with the other customers as well. Or maybe she was just projecting? Either way, he could be somewhat of a kindred spirit. Shouldn’t that be a good thing? “Just brewing some jasmine tea for myself and the staff. You’re welcome to try some if you’d like?”

The fact that it might’ve been just the kind of invitation one threw out there for politeness’ sake, the kind that the invited should decline, never even crossed Jasper’s mind. With a huge grin, he simply nodded and inserted himself into the picture, technically not inviting himself to the staff’s tea time since the cashier did invite him, so it was her fault for him gate-crashing their sanctuary or whatever. “Sounds good! I love jasmine tea!”

For a moment or two, Jasper just stood there, expectantly, with that stupidly massive smile on his stupid face. He was giving off mad golden retriever energy, even if he was oblivious to it himself. Jasper rarely got invited to things, so this was pretty much a big deal for him, a very big and very good deal. “I’m Jasper, by the way,” he introduced himself, without even the girl’s prompting. “I teach geology at the University.”

“Oh,” Meera tried to muster a warm smile but it was weaker than most. The tea was just for her and the staff, and she did expect him to decline the offer, as most customers tended to do, but she supposed it was her fault for faking the enthusiasm in that invitation anyway. Karma, wasn’t it? She gestured for him to take a seat before moving toward the boiling teapot behind her. “Then I’ll get you a cup in a bit.”

Meera heaved a sigh, her back to him still, when she introduced himself. To be fair, it was nice of him to do so. Meera had been trapped in this shop for so long, rarely going out for fear of having her ghostly ancestors stalk her every move, possibly putting those she befriended in danger. Unfortunately for Jasper, it was also one of those days when she was feeling terrible about anything and everything. Still, she tried to return his niceness, turning toward him with a nod. “Pleasure to meet you…Professor Jasper? I’m Meera.”

“Pleasure’s all mine, Meera! That’s a lovely name… Meera,” Jasper, still with that unnervingly goofy smile, stood there for a few more seconds before it registered in his head what the girl named Meera had wanted him to do: Sit down. Once he realized that, he immediately looked around for somewhere to park his trunk, noticing an empty table close by and occupying it with just himself. He took the strap of his sling bag off of his shoulder and unnecessarily placed the entire thing on the seat next to him, tap-tapping his fingers on his knees as he waited patiently.

When the tea finally arrived, Jasper gave Meera a quick smile before immediately trying to take a sip of it. But it was hot, naturally, and he found his tongue a victim of his immense stupidity. Making a weird face and trying to cool his burnt tongue by fanning it with his hand in futility, Jasper tried his best to keep his own cool before the other girl left him be, if she would leave him be. He’d rather look the fool than be left all on his own, to be honest. “Do you guys have, like, a cold dessert?” 

Meera found it odd that he had to say her name twice in such quick succession. Was that how he always took to new acquaintances introducing themselves? She tried to understand it, trying to make that oddness turn into something positive. People tend to fear what they don’t understand, she read in a magazine her grandma loved to read, and she supposed people also tend to have other negative feelings towards the same things they barely understood. Maybe if she understood him, it wouldn’t be so bad. He wouldn’t be so strange.

“A cold dessert?” Meera couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. The tea was supposed to be free, but an additional dessert would definitely cost something. She tried to think of whether she had a stored dessert somewhere, but her eyes immediately found her small cooler at the far side of the counter. Her lips immediately curled into a smile when she remembered what was in there. “We’ve got something I’m sure you’ll like. Be right back,” she immediately fluttered to that cooler, took what should’ve appeared like a pair of long popsicles, plopped them on a porcelain plate, and went back to him. “Here you go!”

Meera then sat at the same table, pouring herself a cup of the same jasmine tea and taking one of the long popsicles for herself. “It’s called kulfi,” she grinned, excited to share her culture with her new friend. “It’s a popular frozen dessert back in India—sinfully rich, dense and creamy. You reduce the milk flavored with saffron, cardamom, pistachio and almonds, and then you serve them chilled. Go on, Professor Jasper! Taste it! I’m sure you’ll love it!”

Jasper held his burnt tongue out as he waited for Meera’s cold dessert. Not unlike a thirsty dog abandoned in the heat. When she returned with the popsicles, he quickly grabbed one, intending to suck on it right away to alleviate the lingering pain on his tongue. But it was too beautiful, so beautiful in fact that he had to take a few more seconds, just enduring the pain of the heat, to stare and gawk at the gorgeous dessert. “This looks amazing! I love pistachio and almonds!”

When Jasper finally tasted it, taking a slow lick with the burnt area of his tongue, he felt himself grin from ear to ear. Not unlike that same dog from before that had finally found salvation from the heat in a pool of drinkable water. The feeling was quite the same, if not better because the dessert tasted better than mere water. The symphony of flavor with the spices and the nuts combined with the refreshing milk… Jasper was the luckiest idiot in the world! “This is so good! Can I get the recipe for this? I’d love to have this again when I’m alone…I mean, back home.”

Meera’s face lit up when Jasper expressed his utmost enjoyment of the meal. He seemed very delighted at the dessert, which Meera did not expect. Well, she expected him to like it, sure, but not that much. Was he exaggerating? From the looks of how he seemed to be overjoyed at the taste, probably not. Maybe he just seemed that way. Maybe it was just him. He probably had a bad week, or suffered something terrible recently, so this ice-cold respite from that memory was well received. Either way, she should offer it to anyone who’d buy a lot of stuff from the shop. As an incentive, maybe, or more appropriately a reward.

“Well, I’d have to ask the chef,” Meera was torn between selflessly sharing her culture to someone else, a stranger she had just met, and making tons of profit from it by making sure it was only served at the shop, but in the end, the former won over the latter. Even if someone had the same recipe, the product may not always resemble each other. That’s where love and authenticity come in. “I’m kidding! Of course you can!” She took out a pen and a paper and started scribbling the recipe. “You should share it with friends and family when you can, though. Tastier that way.”

“Awesome!” Jasper watched Meera as she wrote down the recipe, stealing spoonfuls of his new favorite dessert. It then dawned on him that maybe he should repay this kindness by sharing with her something he really liked. But what did he really like? What did he really like that she probably hasn’t had yet? Burgers? Everyone has had burgers. Steak? Fries? Damn it. The more he thought about it, the more he realized he was a basic bitch. Jasper didn’t have anything unique. All of the things he liked everyone else had already tasted for themselves. Was he really that boring? “I’d share something with you, but I’m pretty sure you’ve already tasted them all.”

Jasper tried to make a joke of his terrible basic-ness, but he couldn’t even muster a chuckle. It just made him even more sad, sadder, to realize that he had nothing to offer the lovely lady before him. At least, nothing that she could plop in her mouth and savor like he was savoring the delicious dessert that was almost gone by now. But then he realized: Maybe he had something she’d be interested in. “Say, do you like rocks?”

“Do I like what?” Meera was caught surprised by Jasper’s question. It was a bit odd, having come from out of nowhere. They were talking about food, at least she was sharing with him a recipe for a delicious dessert, and they were having food, so for him to segue into rocks… Meera found it a little confusing. Did he eat rocks? Are rocks even edible? Sure, she’d seen that video with the soup and the hot rock that heats the soup, but she had doubts he meant the same thing. “Rocks? Why do you ask?”

Once she was done with her writing, she handed the piece of paper to Jasper. Meera gave him a quick smile, though her confusion was still obvious on her face. She wasn’t as cunning as she’d like, to be honest. On most days, even a stranger can read what she was thinking, feeling, just by stealing a glimpse of her face. Today, Jasper could easily notice that she was a bit curious at where he was getting at with his question, but then she remembered the first part of it. “Oh, I think that would be impossible: I can’t have already tasted everything, right? I don’t even go out of the shop. Maybe you have something you love eating that I haven’t had yet? Worth a try?”

“Oh,” Jasper was also surprised by Meera’s question. Did she forget him already? Or maybe she was just too busy in her head to put two and two together. Jasper’s been there, done that. Some days, he’d be slower than slow, his mind cluttered with all the things he had to do for the day. Like his lesson plans and his…lesson plans. Huh. There should really be more stuff on his schedule, but for the life of him, at least at this moment, that’s all that came to his mind. He simply shrugged and pointed at himself while he continued explaining the facts to the attractive young woman with him. “Because, you know, I’m a geology professor… I teach rocks.”

Jasper eagerly received the recipe in writing, grinning from ear to ear, as his eyes wandered to what was written on the paper. He tried committing the entire thing to memory right then and there, even though he knew he wouldn’t even remember the first part of it. Still, he was just excited to receive something from someone else, someone new. “Well, in that case, I do have this fried rice recipe that I got from,” Jasper gulped, changing the fact from ‘a YouTube short’ to, “...my grandmother. Would you be interested in that?” Haiyaaah, he’s already lying to her. What a shame.

Ah, that made sense. Meera simply nodded at Jasper, a little embarrassed that she didn’t make that connection quite so easily. Hiding her humiliation behind a sip of her tea, she questioned whether she should have paid more attention. To be fair, though, it was always hard for her to pay attention to one thing, especially when the ghosts of her dead ancestors were known to pop out in unexpected places every now and then. Meera almost always had her guard up in that regard, with her attention spread thin between what was right in front of her and what could be in a random corner in the room she was in. “Oh, yes, of course, rocks,” she feigned a cough, taking her time, as she returned her cup back on the table. “I guess I don’t hate rocks?”

“Fried rice?” Meera’s demeanor switched from embarrassed and defensive to excited. She loved fried rice. Not as much as she loved her own culture’s food, which was basically, to her at least, mostly biryani, butter chicken, and samosas, but fried rice was just too easy or more appropriately more accessible than most other foods. “I would be interested in your grandmother’s recipe, Professor Jasper!” She rested her face on her hand that was propped up on the table by her elbow, eager to know more about his grandma’s genius. All grandmas were great in the kitchen. ‘Nuff said!

She guesses she doesn’t hate rocks. If Jasper spent a bit more time dwelling on that thought, he would have realized that maybe he was boring her. Then again, Jasper has never spent any bits of ‘more time’ on any thought that didn’t involve rocks, so that should explain why he’s both alone and lonely. 

He could blame his strange upbringing: After his own uncle murdered the rest of his spellcasting family, without his knowledge, the kinslayer spared him for being a baby, though Flint Langston did more than he should have keeping Jasper away from the Mines as well as from any one of his peers. It was a sad and lonely childhood that paved the road for an even sadder and lonelier adulthood. But he digressed. 

“That’s good enough for me! You should join me on one of my expeditions some time. If I get lucky, and I have a feeling I will, I might get permission to investigate the strange goings-on in the Mines! Wouldn’t that be awesome?!” No, it would not. Jasper should know it by now: He was the only one who ever got excited about such things. Well, him and people like him. Other geologists. Or other weirdos. “Oh, well, I guess I can write my grandmother’s fried rice recipe for you,” he shrugged at that, less excited with the actual connection. “You’ve got a pen? And a paper?”

“Expeditions?” Meera was genuinely unsure what he meant. Was he like Indiana Jones? Going on expeditions to unearth archeological mysteries? That was about what she knew of the word, which wasn’t much really, thanks mostly to having been sheltered all her life, trapped in her family’s controlling traditions, the walls of the tea shop seemed like they were built to keep her in than anything else. 

When Jasper started talking about the mines and the strange goings-on down there, Meera immediately frowned. So he wasn’t an Indiana Jones type, more like one of those sewer inspectors that get eaten by the monster living in the tunnels in those horror movies. That wasn’t something she’d like to be a part of, but still, she mustered a smile. Fortunately, he moved the conversation along, and Meera quickly retrieved a pen and paper for him to write that recipe down. “That would be so nice of you! I love fried rice!”

Jasper grinned at Meera as he finished writing up what he could recall of the recipe, sliding the pen and paper back at her with as much grace as he could muster, a miracle really, considering Jasper was not a graceful guy. In fact, he was far from the very definition of the word. “Awesome! Hopefully, you’ll love grandma’s recipe,” Jasper looked her in the eyes with his big brown pair and nodded fervently, as if he was trying to sell her the recipe. “I love it, and it’s saved my life a couple of times!”

With that out of the way, Jasper took his cup and took a quick sip of the tea. He delighted in how refreshing it was, how amazing it tasted, and how warm he felt inside once he took all of it in. He was usually more of a coffee guy, truth be told, but that was mostly because he needed the caffeine to stay awake at work and it was more accessible in his office than tea. But maybe he should change that. “You guys have tea that can keep me awake at work like coffee does?”

“Saved your life how?” Meera’s interest was piqued at that revelation. She had just taken the recipe, looked it over with a smile, marveling at how Jasper’s grandma preferred different things to combine into what she could only imagine was a scrumptious dish. Meera was no Iron Chef but she could cook herself a great meal. The rest of the tea shop loved her cooking, though to be fair, she was paying them and that might be a bias that would no doubt influence their opinion. Nevertheless, she has never heard of a fried rice recipe saving someone’s life before. Unless he was just exaggerating, of course.

“You mean like green tea?” Meera tilted her head to one side, confused as to what Jasper meant exactly by tea keeping him awake. There was green tea, which did the job well, but if he wanted to be more specific in the green-ness of the tea, or the tea-ness of the green, there was also matcha tea. Most tea would do the job, to be fair. Well, except maybe herbal teas, the ones that come without caffeine. Chamomile, lemon balm, and Valerian root teas all easily come to mind. “We have green tea.”

Jasper shrugged at Meera, a mixture of embarrassment and pride at what he was about to admit: "Well, you know, struggling college student days… Struggling postgraduate days… Basically whenever the academe makes me struggle, I guess. Grandma’s fried rice recipe’s always there to bail me out!” Embarrassment because those days were far behind him and looking back has always made him cringe. Pride because despite those struggles, during those terrible days, he survived. 

“Oh, then, I’ll have green tea, please,” Jasper shifted quickly to his more positive, more curious demeanor. Just like that. Without any hesitation. None at all. He did enjoy Best Exotic Tea’s, well, teas, so this was a no-brainer to him. He almost forgot about the most important thing, though, but he immediately recovered in that respect. “Your best green tea! Not anything less. What you yourself considered your best green tea, I mean.” Meera was the expert. He was down for whatever.

Meera simply nodded, pretending to relate. While she did go to college, she never really struggled. At least not in the way that struggling college students were supposed to. She had her mother backing her up, helping her along the way, and even though her father’s side of the family had been far away, they also made sure to contribute in their own supportive ways. She also did not pursue any postgraduate degrees, so that one, she could most definitely not relate with. “Oh, I see, well,” she feigned a cough before awkwardly patting him on the back. “...there, there.”

Meera almost heaved a sigh of relief outside of her head when Jasper decided to take their conversation toward something else, something she could relate more to, and that was enjoying green tea. She wasn’t sure if she considered anything the best green tea, per se, as she always considered them all wonderful in their own little ways, but it was a means to get the heck out of there, so she excitedly did so. “One best green tea from Best Exotic Tea, coming right up!”

Meera immediately ran to the counter, took a quick look at their selections, and chose what she drank more often compared to the others. She then quickly rang it up and placed it in a brown paper back before returning to the table and handing Jasper the purchase, a hand outstretched to take his payment, with the receipt intentionally placed in front of his eyes. “Would that be all?”

“That would be all,” Jasper gave Meera a boyish grin as he quickly finished his free tea and scrambled to stand up and take his purchase for the day. As much as he wanted to stay longer, and not be alone back home, it finally dawned on him that he might be intruding on her business hours. Jasper might be lonely but he wasn’t that oblivious. Well, at least not most of the time. In this case, he really wanted to support the town’s local businesses, not impede them in any way. He’ll definitely be back, though, especially because of the kind owner. “Thanks for indulging me for a bit, Meera. I enjoyed your company, but I wouldn’t want to be a burden to your business.”

“I’ll come back some other time for the other teas,” Jasper chuckled before giving her a wave, bidding her and her staff goodbye. “I’ll make sure to come back for the snacks, too.” That wasn’t an empty promise, the kind that people often do when they want to disengage from an encounter with a business owner. Jasper was going to come back. If not for the tea and the snacks, then for Meera. The conversation they had, the warmth she shared, he hadn’t had anything of the sort for a long while. It was definitely the draw that made her business become number one in his book. “Enjoy the rest of your day, new friends!”

Meera gave him a polite smile, relieved that he was finally setting out to do other things in other places. It wasn’t the most selfless thought, far from it even, but she did feel like she deserved some time for herself, and although she also felt guilty of somewhat shooing the professor away, he might be better off doing other things in other places with better company than a cursed tea shop owner who’s plagued by the annoying ghosts of her dead relatives. “The pleasure was all mine. Please, you will never be a burden to us here at Best Exotic Tea!”

As he began walking out, Meera could only watch him leave. Of course he was coming back. That was the good ending, right? For a customer to keep coming back to the shop. Something about him, though, felt strange to the medium. It felt sad, made her sad, but she wasn’t quite sure what it was. When he called them ‘new friends,’ Meera couldn’t help but smirk. She turned to her other coworkers, employees, and she and Khadija shared a smile. When she turned her attention back to Jasper’s direction, a different face shoved itself inches from her own, forcing her to take a few steps back, stumbling in shock. “H-help me…”

Great. Another ghost. This one seemed new, though it definitely resembled another, hopefully still living relative she knew. Well, seen in old family photos. Meera didn’t really know many of her relatives. All that time living far away from everyone, in hiding in Mexico, distanced her from her father’s family, her cursed bloodline. Ignoring the suddenly dissipated ghost, who will most likely reform later, perhaps at an unfortunate time, to suddenly ask for her help again, unexpected and uninvited, she tried to see where Jasper was but he was already gone. A tinge of sadness invaded her mind but she immediately brushed it off. This was her destiny, her fate, her curse. Lonely but never alone. A single living human drowning in a sea of ghosts. 

Meera went back to sit at the table and took a sip of tea to try and enjoy the rest of her break. “Better the ghosts you know.” Yet she didn’t even know most of them.

[hyperion-moonbabe-art3mis]

Virago 13. It was All Lies

Summary: Y/N was sent to the ground after spending five years in the Skybox for stealing medical supplies and murder. How will she deal with her new environment and learn to survive on earth? Will she crack under the pressure of becoming a leader of the 100 or will she embrace it. 

Post Date: 08.28.20

Word count: 1.6k

Pairing: Bellamy Blake x Reader

Based off: 02x02 “Inclement Weather”

Masterlist

100 Master List

The next couple of hours made you feel like you were back in the Skybox. You enjoyed having something to do around camp, but here, you had nothing to do. It made you feel like a prisoner again. It didn’t help much that you weren’t allowed to leave either.

“Look who finally got released,” You hear Jasper say from beside your bed. You pop up to see Miller and Maya walk into the room.

“Hey,” Miller says making his way towards you, Clarke and Jasper.

“Miller,” Clarke says as she moves to the edge of her bed, dangling her legs off the side.

“I’m glad you’re ok,” You say moving to the edge of your bed as well.

“Yeah. It only took, what, three surgeries?” He looks over to Maya for confirmation. “I hear you two are fitting right in?” Miller gestures to you and Clarke. You notice the upward glare from Maya, before realizing that she was looking at Clarke.

“Twice a day. Don’t forget. He’ll be okay in a few days. Here,” Maya says handing Miller a pill bottle and a bag. Jasper starts to talk to Maya and you notice how well they’re hitting it off, it makes you happy seeing how happy he is. Not much later an alarm starts to go off.

“What’s going on?” You ask stepping in front of Maya as she starts to rush out.

“That signal means a surface patrol is back, and someone needs medical attention. I have to go to quarantine,” She explains before rushing past you.

“Hey Clarke, Y/N. What are you doing?” Jasper catches both of your arms as you and Clarke start to follow her.

“Maybe they found survivors. If our people are hurt, we have the right to know,” Clarke explains for the both of you.

“Pretty sure we shouldn’t go wandering around,” Jasper says following you two as you don’t give him a chance to finish. The three of you run down the halls before finding where Maya had gone to. A group of people including her were getting dressed in suits.

“Who attacked them?” Clarke asks after hearing one of the men explain what happened.

“What are they doing here?” He questions Maya. You don’t hesitate for a moment to take a key card from the man’s shirt behind you and run off. “Stop it’s not safe!” The first man yells.

“It is for us,” Clarke responds as you scan the keycard. “Come on Jasper,” She says as you open the door.

“Someone’s gotta keep them out of trouble,” You hear Jasper’s voice as you run into the quarantine area.

“Clarke, Y/N slow down,” Jasper says as he catches up to you.”Stop pushing so hard. These people are--” Jasper starts as you make your way into a room.

“Are lying to us,” Clarke states as we get to a body in a bag.

“That’s a bullet wound,” You point out as you inspect the body. “Grounders don’t use guns,” You state looking back to Jasper.

“Unless the grounders got the guns from us,” Jasper suggests.

“Unlikely,” You respond back.

“I think our people are alive out there,” Clarke adds in.

“Get them out of here.” The doctor from before says as she makes her way into the room. Closely following are two people helping a heavily burned man from the radiation. 

You, Jasper and Clarke, are escorted back to your room, but being impatient you and Clarke ask to see the body again. A few hours later, two guards had picked you up and taken you back to another quarantine room, where Dante was waiting. 

“Sorry to keep you waiting. We had to finish decontamination.” The doctor says as she rolls in the body.

“Thank you, Dr. Tsing,” Dante says to her.

“The man with the burns, how is he?” Clarke questions.

“He’s improving,” Tsing responds.

“I’d like to talk to him,” You butt in.

“I’d like to too,”  Clarke adds.

“Sir, only patients are allowed in medical,” Tsing explains.

“We can arrange that,” Dante replies. Tsing pulls back the sheet on the body for us to inspect again.

“What is this?” Clarke asks pointing to the port like thing of the man’s chest.

“It’s a dialysis shunt. We all have them in case of exposure. Would you like to see the exit wound?” Tsing asks. You and Clarke nod as Tsing starts to roll over the body as Dante helps her. 

“Sargent Langston was forced to push the arrow out in the field,” Tsing explains as a smaller wound than what we saw earlier was displayed. Tsing then brings out the arrowhead he was shot with. You and Clarke look at eachother confused, but still knowing that something is up.

“What did President Wallace say?” Jasper questions as you and Clarke make your way back into the room.

“He showed us Shaw’s body. It looked like an arrow wound,” You explain as you walk towards your bed.

“Maybe because it is an arrow wound,” Jasper responds.

“Or that’s what they want us to think,” Clarke whispers as you see Japsers face turn to disappointment.  “What? They could’ve doctored it,” Clarke responds to his facial expression.

“Clarke and Y/N. You guys sound like crazy people. Why do you want to screw this up for us? Jasper whispers back.

“We don’t know what this is,” You add.

“This is safe. This is food, a real bed, clothes. My personal favorite: not getting speared by grounders. And how long do you guys think they’ll let us stay if you guys keep this up?” Jasper questions.

“Did someone threaten you?” Clarke asks, clearly concerned for their safety.

“No. No, it’s common sense. Look we’re guests here, not prisoners. What would you do with a guest who kept calling you a liar? Generally, acted like an ungrateful ass?” Jasper asks, upset at both of our actions.

“I’d kick their ungrateful ass out.” Miller butts in not shifting his eyes up from his book.

“Right now, the biggest threat to us is you two,” Jasper points out before walking away. 

“I get what Jasper is saying but I can’t help but feel like something is up,” You say to Clarke.

“I agree, but we have no means of proving anything,” Clarke sighs. 

Later in the day you and the group are in the main area just hanging out. You try to keep busy and enjoy yourself but you can’t help but feel like something is wrong. You notice Clarke sitting by the hallway, looking just as miserable as you.

“Frustrated too?” You ask as she tosses a paper in the trash next to her.

“We look that bad, huh?” She asks back. You laugh and nod and look up noticing Clarke’s facial expression change.

“What is it?” You whisper. She nods her head forward and you turn around to see the man, Langston, with almost completely clear skin walk by. Clarke gets up from her seat as you follow her.  You follow her to where Langston was standing and waiting for an elevator but she stops, letting him go into the elevator.

You walk off to try and let go of the fact that Langston was fine. But your brain kept telling you to find out and get out of Mount Weather. You keep walking through the halls figuring out how to get into medical since its only for patients. Soon enough you come up onto a slightly ajar door with the perfect sharp edge to reopen one of your wounds.

You look around to make sure that no one was in sight before dragging the sharp edge across the cut you got from the glass earlier. You start to walk around with your bloody arm.

“Excuse me...I--I cut my arm,” You say to a guard as you fake stumble into their arms.

“I’ll take you right to medical,” He says as you fake pass out in his arms. You feel yourself being set on a bed in the med bay. You lay with your eyes closed continuing to fake sleep as someone stitches your arm back up and places another cover ontop.

“Got another one,” You hear someone say as you hear the door open to the med bay. 

“Alright set her down next to Y/N,” You hear the familiar voice say as you recognize it as Tsing. You lie a bit longer until you hear her heels click off in the distance finally opening your eyes. 

You first look over and find Clarke lying next to you. You bring up your newly stitched up arm as she does the same, ���Guess we had the same idea,” You whisper to her.

The two of you get up from your beds as Clarke makes her way over to Langston, trying to wake him up. “What are they doing to you?” She whispers.

“Where do you think these tubes lead?” You question as you inspect them.

“Nowhere good, I’m guessing,” She responds back. You watch as she follows where the tubs connect to and follow her.

The tubes lead you two to a large door. You try to open it but it clearly doesn’t budge without the proper access, “Think we could get in there through that vent?” Clarke asks as she looks up at the vent on the same wall as the door.

The two of you work together to get the vent off and climb through it. Once you’re at the other side you’re greeted by grounds in white clothes bung upside down. You and Clarke looked at eachother in astonishment. You make your way through the hung up grounders before finally taking notice of the many cages holding more grounders.

You and Clarke walk between cages as the grounders try to reach out for you, in hopes of being saved. You notice Clarke stop and bend down at a particular cage.

“Anya?” You question bending down after Clarke.

A/N: So this part is just a filler but also a very important one. I hope you enjoyed it!

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Player Info: Joe / He, him / GMT+8

Character: Jasper Langston

[wonderful-writer]

15 - Great Escape

Summary: Tensions run high as Clarke and Y/n still don’t trust Mount Weather. Upon the reveal that an officer with severe radiation burns is nearly healed less than a day later, the girls make a break for it and discover a secret that Mount Weather has been hiding for years.

Word Count: 3.43k

Based Off: 02x02, “Inclement Weather” & 02x03, “Reapercussions”

The next day, you and Clarke sat on her bed, trying to figure out the map. “It just doesn’t make sense. No exits, no emergency plan, nothing.”

Jasper looked over the rail of her bed and said, “It’s not bad. Maybe they’ll hang it up on the walls here one day.”

You smiled at your brother and he smiled back, turning his attention to the door as Miller and Maya walked through. 

“Miller,” Clarke said, sitting up on the bed with you. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

You gave a short wave to him, which he returned. “Yeah. It only took, what, 3 surgeries?” 

“I hear you guys are fitting right in.” His tone seemed upset, puzzling you. Clarke looked to Maya and she looked away bashfully before handing a bottle of pills to Miller.

“Twice a day, don’t forget. You’ll be okay in a few days.” She slipped the duffel bag off of her shoulder and handed it to him, turning to Jasper and walking away, while Miller put his bag on the bunk next to Clarke’s.

Not long after, alarms startled you and the other delinquents as maya turned and made her way out of the room. Clarke stopped her and you got to them in time to find out that the alarms meant that someone from the patrols had returned injured.

You and Clarke turned to follow her, but Jasper grabbed you by the wrist and spun you both around. 

“Hey, Y/n, what are you doing?”

“Maybe they found survivors. If our people are hurt, we have a right to know.” 

“I’m pretty sure we shouldn’t just go wandering around.” 

You both had left before he could properly finish his sentence, following after Maya. Jasper ran to catch up with you.

“Who attacked them?” Clarke asked the man who was briefing Maya.

“What are they doing here?” He asked the girl.

Clarke turned and took the keycard from the man behind her, pressing it to the keypad beside the door.

“Stop! It’s not safe!”

“It is for us.” You said, walking through the door with Jasper. 

You ran down the long hall with Clarke, passing paintings as you went. She stopped as the hallway ended and split off into two directions. 

“Guys, slow down!” Jasper called after you. You ignored him and followed Clarke into the first door on the right. “Stop pushing so hard, these people are--”

He stopped himself as he saw the body on the table, covered  by a clear plastic sheet. You and Clarke looked at the wound, before she continued Jasper’s sentence.

“Are lying to us. That’s a bullet wound. Grounders don’t use guns.” 

“Unless the grounders got the guns from us,” Jasper tried. 

“I don’t think so.” You stepped in. “I think our people are alive out there.” 

You turned around with Clarke to see what Jasper was looking at, when Dr. Tsing and two other men, all in hazmat suits, brought in a man covered in blood and burns from the radiation. Another man in a hazmat suit led the three of you out of the room and the quarantine ward, back into the regular halls of Mount Weather. 

Jasper went back to the 48’s living quarters, while you and Clarke went to the dining hall to confront Dante.

“We need to talk.” Clarke demanded.

“Sure. Let’s talk over breakfast.” The man agreed.

“Who shot that soldier?” You asked abruptly. 

Dante guided you and Clarke to the corner of the room to talk privately. “The patrol that was looking for your people was attacked by what you call grounders.”

“We’ve fought grounders. They don’t use guns.” You explained.

“I never mentioned guns.” Dante defended. “Sergeant Shaw was shot by an arrow.” 

“That’s not true. I-I saw the wound.” Clarke countered.

“Sometimes, we feel so strongly about our people we see things that aren’t there,” Dante told  you. 

“We’d like to see the body.” You asked. 

“Of course,” Dante smiled and went to put his plate away. You looked at Clarke with suspicion about the situation, her looking at you the same way. Both of you knew something was going on and were determined to figure it out. 

“Come with me.” He directed you back to the quarantine ward and you waited in an empty room for Dr. Tsing to bring in the body.

“Sorry to keep you waiting,” She said as she wheeled in the gurney. “We had to finish decontamination.”

She stood next to Dante as you and Clarke stood beside one another on the other side of the gurney. 

“Thank you, Dr. Tsing.”

“The man with the burns,” Clarke brought up. “How is he?”

“He’s improving,” Dr. Tsing told her with a little bit of hesitation.

“We would like to talk to him,” You mentioned.

“Sir,” She addressed the President. “Only patients are allowed in medical.”

“We can arrange that,” Dante told you. Dr. Tsing pulled down the sheet to Sergeant Shaw’s waist as Clarke pointed to the round object sticking out of his chest.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a dialysis shunt,” Dr. Tsing replied. “We all have them in case of exposure.”

“Would you like to see the exit wound?” She asked you. You and Clarke nodded and she began to pull Sergeant Shaw's arm to get his body on it’s side, showing you the exit wound.

“Sergeant Langston was forced to push the arrow out in the field.” She and Dante, who helped hold the body, let go as she went to the cupboard behind her to retrieve the arrowhead.

She showed it to you and Clarke, who seemed to begin to believe the fact that she only thought she saw a bullet wound, but you didn’t. If Sergeant Langston was forced to push the arrow out on the field, why would they still have the arrowhead? Why would he keep in to give to the medical staff instead of leaving it where they put it after it was out?

After that, you went back to the living quarters, which were much less lively than this morning. Jasper approached you and fell in line with your walk.

“What did President Wallace say?” He asked.

“He showed us Shaw’s body.” Clarke told him. “It looked like an arrow wound.” 

“Maybe because it is an arrow wound?” 

“Or that’s what they want us to think.” You suggested. “What? They could have doctored it.”

“Y/n, you sound like a crazy person. Why do you want to screw this up for us?”

“Yeah, well, I’m not. The arrowhead was still bloody when they showed it to us and they said they had to push out the arrow in the field. No one keeps the arrowhead of an arrow if they’ve already removed it from a body.”

“And we don’t even know what this is.” Clarke said.

“This is… safe. This is food, a real bed, clothes, and my personal favourite-- not getting speared by grounders. How long do you think they’ll let us stay here if you two keep this up?”

“Did someone threaten you?” Clarke asked him.

“Heh, no. No. It’s common sense. Look, we’re guests here. Not prisoners. What would you do with a guest who kept calling you a liar and generally acted like an ungrateful ass?” Jasper asked.

“Kick their ungrateful ass out.” Miller responded from his bed without looking up from his book.

“Right now, our biggest threat to us is you guys.” With that, Jasper walked away and left you and Clarke standing there. You didn’t feel like a threat. You knew these people were lying to all of you. You and Clarke just had to prove it to everyone.

Later that night, the 48 were all hanging around in the dining hall, doing their own things. Music played and everyone chatted while you and Clarke sat in chairs near the entrance, her holding the map she drew. Frustrated, she balled it up and threw it in the trash.

“Langston,” One of the guards said, catching your attention. “Where are you going man? Tonight’s movie night.”

“I gotta pass. Doc says I got one more treatment.” He replied. Just a few hours ago he was red and covered in burns, how had he looked almost untouched by the radiation now? 

You looked at Clarke, wondering if she saw the same thing. She followed Langston and you followed her, watching as he got in the elevator to go to medical before heading back to the living quarters. 

“Only patients are allowed in medical,” She muttered, looking at the sharp corner of the bunk bed. You nodded at her from the other side and she removed the bandage from her arm as you did with yours, running your arm across the corner, cutting your stitches as Clarke did. 

You could’ve reopened your stab wound, but cutting it with the edge of the bed would have been really hard to do and you couldn’t have reached it by yourself. However, the cut on your arm proved to be enough as Clarke collapsed soon after she cut herself. You weren’t bleeding as much as her, but you extended the cut further than it was, passing out a couple of minutes after. 

After the bandages were placed on your arms, you and Clarke woke up, watching as Dr. Tsing walked to the door at the other end of the room and scanned her keycard to go into the restricted room. 

Clarke got out of her bed and you followed, watching her try to wake up Langston, but to no avail. The burns on his hands and face were no longer as bad as before, also noticing that his dialysis shunt was in use, pumping blood into his system. 

Your eyes followed the tube from the machine and into a pipe, following said pipe along the wall, until it disappeared. Clarke tried opening the door that led to the other room, but it was keycard activated. You took a step back and noticed a vent, just beside the door.

“Clarke,” You whispered, pointing to the vent once she turned around. You opened it, using all of your upper body strength to climb into the vent, Clarke following after. You crawled the length of it, pushing the opening on the other side until it clattered to the floor, allowing you to get through.

The first thing you heard was the mechanical whirring and a ventilator hissing, realizing what it was for when you looked around. Two people hung from their feet, monitors and wires connected to them as they were unconscious. You noticed a tattoo on one of their bodies, marking them as a grounder. 

Tubes were taking their blood and circulating more back in, bringing you and Clarke to the same realization: They were using grounders for their blood.

You turned after Clarke called your name, seeing even more grounders in cages, moaning in pain. They reached out to the two of you as you passed their cages, watching Clarke bend down to one of them. You did the same, recognizing who was in it as you bent down.

“Anya?” You and Clarke asked. 

“I’m gonna get you out of here,” Clarke assured the woman as she struggled with the lock. After she couldn’t get it open with ehr bare hands, you and her walked away to find something to open the cage with. 

Clarke found an electrical pipe and ripped it from the wall, using it to break the lock open. You opened the cage door while Clarke started helping Anya out of the cage. Dr. Tsing came into the room and caused you to panic, Clarke pulling herself into Anya’s cage with her while you hid at the end of the cages, praying she wouldn’t see you. 

As soon as she was there, she was gone, and You moved from your hiding spot to meet Clarke and Anya and help support Anya by putting her other arm around your shoulder like Clarke had done. You made it over to one of the doors that said it was the end of the containment area, entering a room with no other doors. The doors behind you slid closed and you began to panic as Clarke attempted to pry them open. 

An alarm similar to the one from when you tried to leave started to blare and Clarke stepped away from the door, back to where you and Anya stood.

“What is that?” She asked. 

“I don’t know,” Clarke responded. The floor gave out beneath you and all three of you began to fall, sliding down some sort of chute. You landed among more bodies, most of them still breathing. Barely alive, but alive nonetheless. 

You three began to panic, getting out of the body ridden cart, while Anya stayed sitting, checking to see if the boy in front of you was still alive. 

“Anya, take my hand!” Clarke yelled. Anya accepted and pulled her out of the cart, landing on a railroad. 

“We’re out.” Clarke said, noting the door that would lead us back into the mountain. You looked around and saw what looked like a pile of clothes, moving towards it. 

“Hey. Come on, get dressed.” You said, kneeling down and picking up the clothes. “We’re not going to cover any ground dressed like this.”

Clarke followed, picking up some boots and sorting through the clothes as Anya still rested on the cart.

“I won’t leave my people behind.” She said. 

“Anya, listen to me. My people are still inside that place, too,  but they have guards. They have weapons. Once we get out of here, we can find help. We can come back.” Clarke assured her.

“There is no ‘we’.” Anya snipped. You heard voices come from the other end of the tunnel and Anya noted that someone was coming.

“Not just someone. Reapers.” Clarke said. Anya went to pick up a boulder to fight, but Clarke argued that she could barely stand. 

“I have a better idea, come on.” You got into the empty cart on the tracks, helping Anya get in while Clarke threw the clothes into it. She hopped in and you all closed your eyes as the reapers approached the cart, tossing the bodies from the cart you fell into along with you three.

The cart began to move, wheels creaking as they moved along the tracks. You tried your best to stay still and keep yourself covered as the reapers hauled one of the bodies from the cart and away from you. You heard him scream and Clarke got up to check if the reapers were distracted, which they were.

“Okay, come on.” 

You and Anya sat up, but she went over to the other person laying in the cart.

“What are you doing? Let’s go.” Clarke asked, keeping her voice low. 

“Yu gonplei este odon.” Anya whispered, snapping the man’s neck and saving him the misery of being torn apart by reapers. 

You moved to get the clothes out of the cart with Clarke, jumping out and moving back down the tunnel without being seen. You got dressed as you ran, Clarke cursing as you couldn’t find your way out.

“Damn it! This place is a maze.” 

Anya coughed and stopped running for a few moments, giving you time to shrug on the jacket you found. “What are they doing to us?”

“They’re using your blood.” You responded. “We saw a soldier come in with radiation burns; hours later, he was fine.”

“It’s like your blood is healing them somehow.” Clarke told her. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” 

“Come on, this way.” You and Clarke started walking again and Anya went the other way. You turned around to catch up with her. “Hey, what are you doing? That’s the way back to the reapers.”

“You go your way, I’ll go mine.” Anya said. 

“Anya, we need to stick together,” You told the woman. 

“I told you, there is no ‘we’.” 

“I saved your life.” Clarke rebutted.

“You saved my life because you need me.” Anya corrected her. “I know the way back to your people. I know where the traps are hidden. You’d never make it alone.”

“We don’t have time for this.” Clarke decided, turning back around with you. “Our best chance of making it out of here alive is together. All we need to do is keep moving and hope—“

She turned and saw no traces of Anya, causing the both of you to whisper her name and go the way she went. You turned around once more and started running when you saw firelight, indicating that the reapers were coming. 

You kept running through the tunnels, pausing every little bit to catch your breath and check to see if reapers were behind you. You stopped abruptly when a reaper started towards you both from the direction you were running in. You went to the natural light on another pathway, but another reaper stopped you, and you turned around and saw even more coming from that direction.

It was safe to say you were trapped, and likely going to die. You backed yourselves up to the tunnel wall as the reapers closed in on you, but as a high-pitched ringing filled your ears, the reapers cowered away and covered their own. You and Clarke looked to your left to see two guards in hazmat suits. One with a flashlight, and the other holding the device that caused the sound.

“Get the hell away from them! Now!” The reapers started to run away and the one holding the flashlight turned to you.

“Clarke Griffin and Y/n Kane, you’re coming with us.”

The guards led you back to the door and as you approached it, Clarke began to speak. “I saw everything. I know what you’re doing to them.”

“That’s why you’re both going in the harvest chamber with them.” The guard told you. 

“Alpha-Delta 2, we’ve reached the intake. Two prisoners in custody.” He spoke into the intercom.

“Your mission was to bring back three. The outsider cannot be allowed to leave this mountain. Alpha-Delta 1 is coming out now.” A voice came from the intercom. 

To your surprise, Anya jumped down from somewhere you couldn’t see and attacked the guard that held you. Clarke grabbed the mask from the man who was at the intercom, leaving him to the radiation. 

“His mask!” You shouted. 

Anya pulled the mask off of the other guard and told you she found a way out. You both followed her back down the tunnel, but not before Clarke grabbed the discarded gun. You ran just as more guards came through the door. 

You both ran with Anya, stopping at an opening that led to a very far drop into water. 

“Wait, there has to be another way!” Clarke yelled over the rushing water.

“There isn’t,” Anya shouted back.

“Just give up, girls. You have no place else to go.” The guards shouted as they aimed at the three of you.

Anya looked between the two of you and jumped down into the water, Clarke calling her name as she went.

“We don’t have to kill you two. Do you hear me? It doesn’t have to end like this.” The guard told you. “Just surrender.”

You and Clarke kept looking from the guards to the lake below, weighing your options. Clarke dropped her weapon and you put your hands up, walking towards the guards. As they looked away you turned and ran, jumping into the water with Clarke, when everything went black.

You woke up again on rocky terrain, coughing up the water that had entered your lungs. Clarke was beside you doing the same thing, and Anya beside her, waiting for you to finish. You rolled over and sat up, hearing Clarke thank Anya for saving her.

“I think we should go back to the dropship first.” Clarke suggested. “So I can see who my people--” Anya smashed a rock over Clarke’s head and straddled her. 

“We’re not going back to your dropship. You killed 300  of my warriors. I can’t show my face without a prize.” She tied Clarke’s hands together with rope and then did yours, you putting up no struggle to void getting hurt any further.

She hauled you both up and tied a longer rope to both of your bound hands, dragging you along like you were her pet. You didn’t know that this was what was going to happen when you escaped Mount Weather, and now you had to try and fight your way out of another bad situation and try to get home. 

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