#just noticed the spoon is also covered in slop..... like not just the part where it holds slop but the entire thing

[tvmblrsillyman]

If you're curious how they prepared it by the way

[deputyrhiannonhale]

Nodus Tollens Chapter 4

Back, back, back again with a new chapter! Same TW apply; language, game canon violence, fear

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3

tagging: @returnofthepd3 @ja-crispea @dieguzguz @shelliechen @deputyjessicaquinn @f0xyboxes @farcry-5fan @xbaebsae @veinereastath @ec-10 @tomexraider @sharky-broshaw @hopecountygazette

**

A notebook crashed against the door after William left the room, 15 year old Rhi was baring her teeth, something she would never do in front of her Step-Father, even though she desperately wanted to. Yet, after seeing what he could do to Deeter, she chickened out, not that she wanted to admit that out loud. She just let everyone think she was just mousy and quiet. She fell onto her bed and tried to fight back tears, she was so tired of that man telling her she is worthless and will never amount to anything in life.

After a few moments of silence, she heard her bedroom door open slightly, she turned her head quickly, assuming it was going to be William, but instead it was Deeter. He was leaning against her door frame, his lanky arms crossed over his chest and he was giving her his trademark lopsided grin.

“Seems you’ve had a visit from the asshole, huh?” He asked, before pushing himself off the frame and walking over to her bed as she sat up, sitting Indian style and hugging a pillow to her chest, and he flopped down on the bed next to her, propped up on his elbows.

“Unfortunately. How do you deal with him?” Rhi looked over her shoulder at him, and he shrugged, sitting up and bumping her shoulder with his own.

“After 16 years...you just get used to it.” Rhi gave him a pitiful look, here she was feeling sorry for herself, only having to deal with William for a couple of years, and poor Deeter has had to deal with this everyday for 16 years.

“I’m sorry, Deets.” He shrugged again, smiling, taking the pillow from her and playfully hitting her over the head with it before tossing it behind them.

“What’s say we go get some ice cream at the Creamery?” Deeter suggested after they both stopped laughing, and she gave him a confused look.

“We don’t have money though.” Rhi pointed out and Deeter chuckled, pulling out a handful of bills from his front pocket, spreading the bills out and fanning himself with them.

“We do if you steal it from the asshat.” Rhi got a mischievous grin on her face and they both launched off the bed and ran down the stairs and out of the house.

At the ice cream shop, Rhi skipped up to the counter, it was rare for them to get any kind of sweets anymore, so to say was excited wasn’t a strong enough word. The girl behind the counter didn’t look enthused to be at work, popping her gum annoyingly just waiting for the duo to order.

“I think I want four scoops, two chocolate and two peanut butter.” Rhi ordered, pointing at the flavors she wanted through the glass, causing Deeter to laugh loudly.

“You know what, make that two!” There was no way they were going to be able to eat all of that, and really they should have just shared the four scoops, but Deeter had stolen enough cash to pay for that and then some.

“Fuck…” Rhi groaned out, her stomach already beginning to hurt as she looked down at her unfinished frozen dessert that had long begun to melt in the cup. She slumped back against her chair, turning the ice cream into a soupy mush with the plastic spoon. “Yo, I think I’m gonna be sick, Deets.” She admitted, a low belch coming from her, and she quickly covered her mouth, and Deeter laughed at her, scooping up some of his own mush. He wiggled his black eyebrows at her, turning the spoon to face her and Rhi had only enough time to squeak before the cool mess slopped her on the cheek. 

Rhi’s face was shocked, but she quickly fell into fits of laughter, lobbing her own ice cream at Deeter, which caught him on his slender neck. Bombs of ice cream flew back and forth before the girl behind the counter exploded, her shouting caused Rhi and Deeter to stop what they were doing, and with comedic timing, a glob of ice cream fell from Deeter’s hair onto the floor. They both grabbed their things and ran cackling from the store.

*

Rhi’s eyes cracked open slowly, the warmth from having Deeter with her again still radiating within her, until cold reality sunk in and she had to remember where she even was. Sharky’s snoring coming from the cot beside her own grounded her to the moment. She rolled onto her back and looked at the cot next to her to see Sharky sleeping away without a care in the world. Rhi rubbed her eyes before staring at the ceiling as the last few days replayed in her brain.

The Peggies had Addie and Xander locked inside one of the side buildings a few nights before, several of them patrolling the vicinity. Rhi and Sharky had descended on them like a bat out of hell, it was lots of confusion and screaming, gunshots and blood. They had saved several people and even ran off the cult from several hot spots in the Henbane area. So the fact her brain gave her a happy dream to save her for even a few moments from the craziness that has become her life wasn’t surprising to her. 

Rhi touched her cheek and winced, she had gotten punched pretty good by one of the Peggies who had come into the Marina from a boat, the bruise itself was healing, turning that ugly yellow-green color but it was still tender to the touch. He had caught her off guard, but she quickly put him in his place with a roundhouse kick and then snapping his neck.

“You ok, Shorty?” Sharky asked, his voice still husky with sleep and Rhi jumped slightly, she had been so lost in her thoughts, she hadn’t even noticed he had stopped snoring. She cut her eyes over to him as he sat up, groaning slightly, the sheet falling off of his upper body to reveal he was just sleeping in his underwear, which caused Rhi to quickly look back towards the ceiling.

“Yeah, the cheek is just a little tender I guess.” Rhi admitted, with a small shrug of her shoulder, and Sharky stood from the makeshift bed to come stand next to her, bending at his waist to check out the bruising on her face. Rhi felt panic rise in her slightly from the fact that Sharky apparently has no shame and was just letting his dick be that close to her person. Of course, she was still a female and let her eyes wander to check everything out in what she hoped was a discrete look. She took note of several different small burn scars that marred parts of his chest.

“My eyes are up here, Dep.” Sharky quipped playfully and Rhi felt mortified that she had let herself get caught, and she proceeded to cover her face with both her hands while making a groaning noise. “I’m just fuckin’ with ya, ya can look all ya want to.” Rhi peeked at Sharky from behind her fingers, before he straightened and allowed her to sit up in the cot. The side of her hair she slept on was a tangled mess, and she tried brushing her fingers through it, as Sharky walked away, coming back with a cold can of root beer for Rhi.

“Hey thanks. That’s one of my favorite drinks.” She said, smiling as she cracked the top, and he nodded, sitting back on his own cot with, opening his own can of soda.

“I know, I noticed that the last few nights when we was havin’ dinner with aunt Addie.” Sharky confessed, before taking a long drink from the can. Rhi lowered her own and looked over at Sharky in almost a new light, also thankful to see that he had at least slipped his jeans back on. “Dep...who is Deets? I heard ya mumbling that name before I fell asleep last night.” Sharky sounded so innocent when he asked his question, keeping his eyes on his can and Rhi gave a quick, sad smile.

“He is...was my step-brother.” She corrected herself, sitting the can on the box close by the cot, before picking up her most prized possession, Deeter’s lighter, and she hesitantly reached across the space between them so Sharky could see the Zippo. She had it specially made for him, with his favorite band’s logo on the front. “He used this for everything.” She told Sharky as he looked at the Sex Pistols logo, rubbng his thumb over it. Rhi knew he was going to ask what happened, and she just wasn’t ready to tell him, Deeter was still hers, she wasn’t ready to share his story with anyone else. Sharky looked at her, his mouth open, but Addie burst into the small room, saving Rhi just in time.

“Hope y’all are decent!” Addie shouted, laughing, but quickly stopped and frowned when she noticed how serious the room felt, her eye catching the lighter in Sharky’s possession, and she nodded quickly. “Aw, here I was thinkin’ y’all might blow off some steam with each other.” She teased, walking over to the cots, pulling Rhi to her feet, and Sharky returned the lighter to her.

“Addie…” Rhi began, softly, slightly embarrassed that Addie would think she would just jump right into bed with Sharky, shooting him a sheepish look, to find he was chuckling.

“I haven’t put those sweet moves on her yet, auntie.” Sharky pointed out, pulling first his shirt then his hoodie over his head, and Addie snorted.

“What sweet moves is that?” Addie shot back and Rhi just looked between the two, confused how the conversation had been steered to Sharky trying to seduce her.

“Ok...well...I’m gonna get dressed, if you two don’t mind.” Rhi motioned at the fact she was still in some of Addie’s old sleepwear that was really too long for her short stature, and Addie chuckled.

“Ya mean ya aren’t gonna go busting ass in that?” She teased and Rhi blushed heavily, imagining herself running around in this night shirt that hung off one shoulder and she shook her head fervently.

“It’d be a good distraction, Dep.” Sharky joined in and Rhi growled slightly, marching towards them both, shoving them out the door.

“I can’t have you being distracted Charlemagne, I need you to have my back.” She retorted, before shutting the door forcefully, hating the fact that she got embarrassed so easily. She slammed her back against the door, covering her eyes with her hand again. She is usually so in control of her emotions, well, except her anger, and yet since she’s woken up this morning she has been a bumbling mess. Is it because she had such a pleasant dream, getting to see Deeter again, and it’s made her less guarded, or is she actually starting to feel comfortable in Sharky’s presence?

Rhi was asking herself these questions as she got dressed, finally deciding that maybe it was a little bit of both. Sharky had plenty of opportunities to abandon her on their journey here and he never did, so maybe she could trust him. She supposed that she shouldn’t hold something against him that happened so many years ago, considering it seems he has definitely let it go by how he was getting to know her, and trying his best to help her in any way he could. She sighed heavily, tossing her hair up in a messy ponytail and rolling her shoulder, loosening herself up as she walked out of the room.

“Hey, Addie,” Rhi began as she walked around the island, grabbing a banana off the banana hanger she was sure Xander had something to do with. “Have you heard any chatter about where my uncle may be? Dutch told me he was in this region, but didn’t give me much after that.” She explained as she plopped into a chair, peeling and eating the banana. Addie shrugged, appearing pensive for a moment.

“Sorry, honey, I’m afraid I haven’t. ‘Course, I have been watching Xander doin’ yoga this mornin’, so I may have been a little distracted.” Addie confided, leaning closer to Rhi, as if it were a secret, and Rhi tossed her head back in laughter.

“I mean, I suppose I can’t blame ya for that.” She whispered back as they both watched Xander drinking water at the sink, and Sharky made a ‘harrumph’ sound, adjusting his ball cap before folding his arms over his chest, causing Rhi and Addie to look at him, laughing again. “Aw, Sharky, don’t be jealous.” Rhi teased, pushing on his shoulder playfully, and he batted her hand away humorously.

“If I had my guesses,” Sharky finally interjected, once the batting each other's hands was finished. “I’d guess the jail. Although, I don’t really wanna go there.”

“Obviously.” Rhi stated in a deadpan voice, as she continued to tease him, and he shot her a sarcastic look, which caused both her and Addie to laugh. “OK, Sharkster, lead me to the jail then.” Rhi stated, winking at him, and standing to throw away the banana peel. “We’ll be back later I’m sure. I’ve just really gotta find Earl. Make sure he’s ok.” Addie nodded, standing and giving Rhi a big hug.

“You’re like a daughter to me, ya know that right, girl? So be safe.” Rhi felt a pressure in her chest, having not gotten much love from her mother after her father's death all those years ago, she really began to look up to Addie as a mother figure. She had helped Rhi more with growing as a person than Julia ever had.

“I will, I love ya, Addie.” Rhi choked out and Addie rubbed her back, before slightly pushing her towards the door.

“Go save the day, Kiddo. If ya need me and Tulip, don’t be afraid to give me a holler.”

~

“FUCK!” Rhi shouted, kicking the flat tire of the ATV, screaming more obscenities as Sharky just watched her. “That fucking Peggie shot out the tire!” She growled, her tiny frame visibly shaking with rage fueled tremors, and Sharky tentatively placed a hand on her shoulder.

“It’s ok, Dep, we can get it fixed.” He pointed out and Rhi looked at him, feeling some of her anger leaving her body at his voice of reason. Which in and of itself was terrifying that Sharky was being the voice of reason between the two of them, but she finally nodded.

“I know but fuck if this wasn’t bad timing.” She hissed out bitterly, allowing Sharky’s hand to stay rested on her shoulder. “Rhi...you can just call me Rhi. You don’t have to call me Dep all the time. We are friends now after all.” Rhi informed him, patting his hand on her shoulder, before she began walking in the direction they had been driving.

Rhi looked up at the sky, it was already muggy this early in the morning and she sighed loudly, hating feeling overheated, sure she would get burned in the unrelenting sun. Suddenly a field of whiteflowers caught her attention.

“Hey, what are those, they’re really pretty.” Rhi asked, steering off her trajectory to investigate.

“Rhi, don’t go in there!” Sharky yelled, breaking into running to try to intercept her, but he was too late. Rhi walked into the middle of the bliss flowers, and everything began to become distorted, her vision and even her hearing was playing tricks on her. The woman she now knows is Faith appeared before her, giving her a soft smile, and Rhi felt herself falling and could do nothing to stop it.

Rhi opened her eyes to find herself in an open field, it wasn’t where she had gone down, and her brain definitely felt foggy, she looked around, rubbing her eyes trying to clear them, but it did nothing. Finally Faith appeared before her again.

“Faith…?” Rhi asked almost hesitantly as Faith took her hand in both of her own. “What the fuck is going on?”

“I know all about you, Rhi Hale. You are so much like me...your family not loving you…leaving you to die. We will love you here, unconditionally. John will love you here unconditionally. You know you want to be with him...and us. You can be free...and you can be happy. Don’t you want to be happy for once?” The girl before her pulled Rhi along through the field, letting her go long enough to twirl around in the weeds and wildflowers, the animals even looking peaceful in this clouded dream.

“I...don’t know...I’m so...confused.” Rhi touched her head, as it was swimming under the influence of the Bliss, shaking her over and over, trying to make sense of everything.

“Here you do not have to prove your worth like you do with the others. Your worth will be given to you here, because all we want from you is to exist and be happy. The Father will protect us from all harm.” Faith took Rhi’s hand again, and they both took flight, Rhi feeling her stomach fall to her feet, her fear of heights causing her breathing to accelerate as she watched the ground getting farther and farther away until Faith dropped her on Joseph’s statue, on his Bible. She looked at the words, before looking back up to Faith, surprised to see Burke there with her. “Just take the leap of Faith. The path to Eden is clear to those who have faith.” The blonde girl promised flying back away from the statue, and Rhi could swear she could see angel wings on her.

“Burke...you don’t believe this shit, do ya?” Rhi asked the Marshal, as butterflies began to land on him. He turned to look at her, holding his hand out to Rhi, and she pulled back reflexively.

“Walk the path.” He said, turning to the edge of the book, holding his arms out to the sides, letting himself fall forward. Rhi rushed towards him, trying to stop him, but she stopped, looking over the edge at how high up she was, and she crouched, placing her hands on the cool concrete.

“This is just a dream...it’s gotta be. This is too fuckin’ trippy to not be a dream. Which means if I do fall, I’ll be ok. I’m sure this is just stress induced, or heat exhaustion.” Rhi was muttering to herself, squeezing her eyes shut tightly, getting on her knees and crawling closer to the edge until her hand met air, and she opened her eyes again and screamed, falling back onto her butt. “Get it together bitch, you can do this. It’s all just in my head anyway.” Rhi got shakily to her feet, inching towards the edge, looking at Faith one more time, before the blonde girl disappeared into a misty cloud of green. Rhi took in several deep breaths before she walked off the edge of the book, screaming as she watched the ground come closer and she flailed her arms for purchase that she would never find.

~~

Rhi groaned, her head was throbbing slightly, and she felt cool rock beneath her. Her eyes opened slowly, and she rolled over onto her back. She sat up, her eyes scanning the area, there were bodies all around her and she startled, scrambling backwards like a fleeing bug, her chest rising and falling rapidly in her panic, her back being met with the rock face behind her. Once she regained control of herself, she looked up to see she was in fact below Joseph’s giant eyesore of a statue. Had she really fallen, or was it all a dream? How else would she have gotten here otherwise? Rhi and Sharky had been miles away from this spot last she could remember. Then it was like a lightbulb flashed in her mind. Sharky! Where was Sharky?

“Sharky!” She called out on her radio in a desperate attempt to reach him, hoping someone would answer her at the very least, if not him.

“Dep! Where are ya? We been lookin’ everywhere for ya!” Rhi felt relief wash over her, and she stood at her full height, dusting off her backside and easily maneuvering around the bodies and the blood. “It’s like ya just fuckin’ disappeared in those flowers!”

“I’m at the bottom of Joseph's statue.” She informed him, looking at the giant painted starburst cross that was the Project’s logo, for lack of better terms.

“Ok, Shorty, just stay there, I’m comin’ to get ya.” Sharky promised, and Rhi nodded to herself, attaching the radio back to her belt, walking out of the shadows and into the sunlight. Based on it’s position, Rhi guessed it was about one in the afternoon, had she really been out of commission for that many hours? It had only felt like minutes to her.

She leaned against a tall rock, rubbing her temples before digging out her container of water, taking a long drink, and splashing some of it on her face. She was enjoying the feeling so much, she didn’t hear the Peggies sneaking up on her until it was too late.

One grabbed Rhi, pulling her away from the rock, wrapping her arms around Rhi from behind, and in a semi-automatic response, she hopped up slightly, and used the forward momentum to send the woman flying over her and onto the ground flat on her back. It knocked the wind out of her, but it didn’t stop the second cult member from grabbing Rhi and tying her up. Rhi was cursing and wriggling around trying to get herself free, when the Peggie stood over her and smiled, and not in a friendly way.

“John is going to be happy to see you.” With that, the butt of the rifle came down against the side of Rhi’s head and everything went black.

[mauve-n-arcadia]

The Pining of the Void: Chapter 1 The Crystal mines

By Mauve & Arcadia

Deep in a Cave was not Where Glush preferred to be. It was damp and muddy, and he really didn’t care for how much washing it took to get the sweat and dirt out of his jumpsuit after a long day in the mine. He placed a chisel in between the rock and the crystal jutting out of it. The crystal shone a yellow light over his tools, thankfully making it very clear where Glush should strike, and he brought his hammer down on the chisel.

The rock was shunted down a bit and then sloughed off the crystal, letting more yellow light pour into the cave. Glush took off his left glove and wiped the sweat off his brow as he stood up and appraised his work. A good chunk of crystal about the size of his thigh was jutting out of the wall, and it looked like if he wiggled it a little he might be able to pull it free.

“How are you doing over here, Glush?” Glush looked over his shoulder to see the white light of a miner's helmet peeking out from behind him, then foreman Shadbak emerged from the depths of the cave.

Glush made a sound of annoyance, he was immersed in his repetitive motion and beat of his work. He gestured towards the rock as if saying, ‘it was going well till you interrupted’.

Shadbak gleaned the meaning behind the gestures and grunts.

“If you use your axe as a pivot from the bottom that should pop right out.”

Glush stared at the crystal appraisingly, he didn’t mind bashing it till the rock came out, but he wasn’t opposed to making his work easier. 

He placed his chisel towards the bottom of the crystal, and it did indeed pop out with minimal effort.

Glush smiled at Shabak and then tossed the Crystal at her. Without missing a beat, she took a large bag off her hip and pulled it open. The Crystal disappeared into the bag with a swish.

“Good work, Think it’s about time we call it a night. We've tapped most of the big veins of spell crystal here, and we ought to give it a chance to regenerate.”

Glush smiled broadly and sighed in relief.

“You look like you could use the fresh air too!” Shadback added as the two of them started their way out of the cave. Glush thought that he could also use a nice long wash, and a cold drink. 

As they crawled through bottlenecks and hoisted themselves up steep walls, Glush noticed that the rest of the miners were nowhere to be seen. He did have a habit for being the one to wander furthest into any given mine, weather he was directed to or not. It just seemed like all the best spell stones were in the deepest caves.

Glush wasn’t sure how he ever ended up with such odd talents, but it was just a fact of life for him.

Finally, at the mouth of the cave, Glush Stretched his arms as far above him as he could, and took in the sunset as it dipped below the horizon far to his other side. The yellow and orange hues were only interrupted by a light smear of clouds and Tall grass that went on as far as he could see.

It was a treat to see the untamed wild these days. It almost seemed like all of the land was taken up by some warlord or other. Though he knew that just behind him, atop the plateau stood Belladonna's west fortress, thakfully it was comfortably out of sight.

---

The next day Glush woke up sluggishly. He rolled out of his cot and hit the ground with a loud thud. He made his way through a small labyrinth of cots to get to the outside of the tent and approached the breakfast pot. 

Today’s breakfast was a rather grey gruel, but Glush ate it all the same. The excuse for the poor breakfasts was that they hadn’t been meeting the quota, so the company couldn’t afford the proper meals. Glush knew it was more of a punishment.

Shabak of course, was already seated and eating. She was an early riser. Glush made his way to the pot, and ladled out some grey for himself in order to join her. 

They ate in companionable silence. Every time Shabak opened her mouth to make small talk, Glush would spoon more gruel into his own mouth to avoid answering. She still found occasion to prattle on.

“Your numbers up yesterday, but everyone else's were down….we may need to move on from this location soon, or dig new tunnels.”

Glush fought a glob of slop down his throat, and cleared it to speak. His first attempt came out as a crackling squeak, then he tried again. 

“Dig more and  fort fall down into land.” Glush jammed another spoonful of the muddy grey in his mouth so he had an excuse to stop speaking again.

“Hah! I’d love to see the warlords fort sink into the earth as much as anyone, afraid that even though there are a considerable amount of tunnels in the plateau, it is nowhere near collapsing, which even if it’s good for Belladonna, it’s also good for us!”

Glush grunted, unconvinced. He was at least half sure that his deathbed would be under a ton of rocks, and probably one of the warlord’s shoddy fortresses one of these days. There wasn’t much he could do about it except hope it didn’t happen though. Spell crystal mining was about the only job that he could get.

Well, it was the only job that best fit him, He was qualified for it, it made him enough money to get by and buy the odd instrument here and there, and he didn’t have to talk to anyone. It was pretty absurd how many jobs required you to speak. That was never something Glush was very good at though.

In fact, Shadbak was probably the only person Glush had spoken more than a brief introduction to in years, and that was only because she would talk to him all the time.

He didn’t mind it much. Shadbak knew better than to expect a verbal response for the most part, but after they had been working together for about a year, she was too curious to not ask questions.

Speaking of which, she had that glint in her eye that meant she was probably about to ask him something. Glush put his spoon down and braced himself. 

“So why the piccolo? You’ve been saving up for a nice instrument as long as I known you and you buy that tiny thing? It’s not even made for Orc hands.” she held up her own hands showing her broad palms, regular sized for an orc lady, but absolutely monstrous compared to human hands that such delicate instruments were made for.

Glush huffed. Questions about why he does what he does were the worst, because they were hard to answer, and when he did, Shadbak was rarely ever satisfied with his response. 

Glush didn’t know how to articulate the answer she wanted. The piccolo just felt right, and sounded nice.

“Pick - low, not that small…” Glush struggled to find the words, “Sound nice. Like… hmm.” Shadbak was still giving him an expectant look, and he couldn’t think of any better words, So Glush fished the tiny instrument out from the inner pocket of his dust covered vest and began to play.

His large fingertips did not falter on the tiny machinations of the piccolo and for the brief moments he played he felt free. The notes danced in the air and flew from his lungs like a flock of birds out of a tree. 

When he finished he stored the piccolo back carefully and looked at Shadbak, her eyes looked a little glazed over.

“Okay, I guess that’s a good enough reason.” She said. “You know with talent like that, you could easily make it as a minstrel. Nobles would pay fine for your little song twig.” Glush chortled and stuffed his mouth, making it clear he was not going to say anything else.

Shadbak looked thoughtfuly at Glush. “I guess it might be difficult since the nobles don’t care much for Orcs.” 

Glush nodded, giving her a look like ‘duh.’

She got up and gathered her dishes, patting glush on the back as she walked by. “Their loss, we get to have the best flutist this side of Yshvid, and we’re just humble miners!”

Glush shortly followed her and got ready to start his day in the mines.

---

As he began to fall underneath the shadows of the plateau his ears perked to the sound of hoofbeats approaching rapidly. 

An armoured figure appeared atop a grey warhorse. 

They pointed menacingly. “You there” they snarled. “Where is the foreman”

Glush blinked a few times at the regalia of the knight and their steed. They were covered in checkered purple and green, and the hanging fabrics were decorated with purple bells. The whole display was a little ridiculous, as was the usual sensibilities of nobility.

Glush though, then he shrugged at the knight's question. He really didn’t know where she went after breakfast. She could be in her tent, in the mine, wherever she damn well pleased really.

Glush couldn’t see the Knight lips curl underneath their helmet, but he could certainly hear the acid tone in their voice.

“Well perhaps you should find him” and they tapped the insignia on their shield, a purple flower.

Glush turned without acknowledging their request and walked into the mines. He didn’t feel like dealing with nobility right now, and though the caves were never comfortable, their silence and isolation was welcome.

Well, relative isolation. The other miners kept to themselves, simply nodding and smiling at glush as he passed by. That wasn’t bad though, as long as nobody tried to talk to him, he actually enjoyed company.

He saw Shadbak sizing up a fresh outcropping of spell crystal. The vein was too small yesterday to really do anything about, with crystals smaller than a fist, but overnight it had grown drastically to the size of the crystal he had finished with yesterday.

She looked over her shoulder to see who was shuffling up behind her and smiled at Glush.

“Got a real good one right here, Not sure if we should take it though. Spell stone that grows this fast may be part of a node.” She felt her hand along the shining surface of the spell crystal. Glush didn’t understand much about the mechanics of magic, but he knew that if this vein was part of a ‘node’ it would be better left alone.

“Hmm. well, don’t really have enough time to figure it out, you and I gotta pick up the slack for the rest of the team, I’m tired of gruel for every meal!” She motioned for Glush to follow, and they both descended deeper into the cavern.

---

Glush and Shadbak fell into a familiar rhythm, She would guide him to the best spell crystals, tell him the most efficient way to pry it from the walls, He would make a few deft whacks, and toss the Rough gemstones into Shadbak’s bag. Time passed easily this way, and Glush had almost completely forgotten there was a knight waiting outside for the forman.

He held the spell crystal he just mined and paused, breaking their rhythm.

“What is it?” Shadbak asked. 

“Knight, outside.”Glush said.

“Huh?” Shadbak’s face quickly went from one of confusion, to one of sudden and urgent realization. “You left a KNIGHT waiting outside this whole time?”

Glush shrugged.

“UGH, you are just awful sometimes.” She didn’t really sound serious, but it was clear she was annoyed.

Shadbak rushed out without another word. So Glush just...kept working. Without Shadbak guiding him, he found himself venturing deeper and deeper into the system. But there wasn’t much to be gleaned. Glush recognized all these tunnels from the many days spent in them before. 

He was working on a rather stubborn crystal. Losing himself in the rhythmic clunk, clunk, clunk, of his axe, when he barely was able to make out the gathering bells at the front of the mine.

He gave the crystal a few last hurried clunks before it popped out, then gathered his meager findings in his arms to be deposited, and meandered topside. 

Shadbak was already giving the others the news. 

“We will be moving west, we’ll need to be packed up first thing in the morning” She announced.

Glush left his pile with the others for Shadbak to collect. 

“But I don’t want to get farther away from my family's village!” One of the Orcs protested. Glush couldn’t remember his name.

“Then don’t come!” Shadbak exclaimed. It looked like she was getting frustrated with the pushback. They all knew we’d have to move on from this mine eventually.

“We’ll be meeting up with another mining company, so there will be plenty of workers to go around. AND, they are paying us 15% more per crystal at this location!”

The crowd murmured at that. Goodbye gruel, hello stew.

“I need everyone up and packing by 7am.” And that was the last of the speech. She found Glush at the edge of the group and locked eyes with him. The harshness in her face eased into more of a scolding look. Glush figured that maybe he was actually supposed to follow Shadbak out, and he pulled nervously at his collar as she approached.

“You hear all that?” Glush shrugged and nodded yes at the same time. He only heard the tail end of her announcement, but he got the important bit. Shadbak sighed. “Look, next time Belladonna sends a knight to our camp, don’t just blow him off. We’re lucky this was just about a job she needs us for.”

Glush shrugged again and smiled.

“Don’t pull that innocent bullshit on me, Glush! Now get your green ass in gear and get ready to go!”

---

[imaginedanganronpa]

Can you please do a scenario where the V3 cast gets into a food fight? Everyone, except for Himiko, Gonta and Kiibo, got detention for partaking in the food fight and had to clean the place. The said three, were either sleeping through the whole scene or protecting the other two from getting hurt. Also Shuichi’s lowkey savage when it comes to avenging his friends.

V3 Cast Getting Into a Food-Fight!

They aren’t a typically troublesome class, but theydefinitely had their moments. 

Anytime something like this arose it was usually by Ouma Kokichi’s hand, butthat goes without saying. He’s not a bad kid, per-se, he’s just a prankster.

He’s the one who started it. It happened when he used hisspoon as a catapult to flick oatmeal at Miu, who was sitting across from himand minding her own business. It lands on her cheek and sticks.

“What the fuck?” She stares at him and stands up defensively, slamming herhands on the table. “Are you starting shit?”

“No,” he says playfully with a smug look, “just a… food fight!” He put a lot ofemphasis and force on the last part, screaming and cupping his hands around hismouth. Immediately afterwards, he dumps the rest of the oatmeal on Miu’s head.

She fights back tears as she does the same to him but he swiftly dodges herthrows. 

The others waste no time jumping in on the fun. Angie gullibly follows, not realizing that food fights are usually frowned upon. “Oh, yay!” Shecheers happily as she turns to her side and throws her cup of water in Tenko’s face. 

The Aikido Master sits there, stunned, with a surprised expression. She’s silentwith her mouth hanging open. Himiko was peacefully sleeping beside her sinceLunch was usually her Nap-Time, and Tenko didn’t want to disturb her. 

Without saying a word, she rises and splashes Angie’s face back with an angrylook on her face. She doesn’t stop there, though, and grabs Angie’s head while shoving it into the cupcakes on her plate – not hard enough to hurt her. 

Angie doesn’t seem to really get it and instead gleefully laughs. 

By now. Miu has an entire assembly of apples, oranges, and other fruits likethat and is launching them aimlessly at her classmates. One hits Kaede in theback of her head which Saihara is not a fan of. His true colors show and he goes into a blind fit of rage, a complete savage when it comes to avenging loved ones.

Without thinking, he throws one back at the Inventor and is throwing more thanjust that – whatever he can get his hands on is now flying. Meanwhile, Rantarocomforts Kaede who is rubbing her head.

The catalyst trickles down from there and now most of their class is partakingin full-fledged food fight. 

“Heads up!” Yells an over-confident Miu as an airborne fudge-cake goes sailingacross the table and ends up smacking directly into an innocent bystander Maki,who was just trying to have a conversation with Kaito. She wasn’t even lookingin the direction and the chocolate became a tangled mess in the back of herhair.

Immediately, Kaito was fuming – his cheeks turned bright red and his eyeslocked on Miu. He was going to avenge her! Needless to say Maki was prettyangry too, scowling at the blonde. 

Simultaneously, the pair started throwing whatever they could find. Kaito endedup splashing orange-juice in Miu’s face while Maki went rogue and, in a blindrage, ended up hitting Tenko and Angie with the slop that came out of thekitchen.

Himiko, still sound asleep, felt the loose bits fall on her but never oncestirred.

Kiibo had excused himself from the table right before the food-fight occurredand came back in the midst of it. He watched as Ryoma made a slingshot and waslaunching small items at people with keen precision.

Confused, he started backing away. Kiibo can’t really afford getting food stuckin his systems – it would take forever to clean out and repair himself. Gontanoticed the frustration in the Robot’s face and stood to protect his friend. 

From a distance, Gonta acted as the mediator for his class. “Hey, friends!Stop fighting!” His loud voice tried to overtake their laughter and screams butno one seemed to pay attention to him.

Saihara watched as one of Ryoma’s fruits landed on Kaede’s cheek and burst uponcontact. She swings her head around and shoots him and intimidating glare. 

Before she can do anything, Saihara is lunging over the table and shoving a piedirectly into Ryoma’s face. The smaller man can do the same, dumping a cartonof milk over his head and pushing Saihara off of him.

Kaede loosens up, trying to settle the others down but gives up. 

Rantaro hadbeen sitting quietly, watching the rest of his class hesitantly, before arandom pizza landed on his chest. He stared down awkwardly and Kaede had tostop herself from giggling. 

She then pushed his face into the dessert he was going to eat and he wipes itoff, looking at her whilst somewhat irritated. Rantaro couldn’t stop himself fromlaughing, though, because hers was contagious.

Ouma had been taking ketchup bottles and spraying them at people. 

And Kirumi decided to let loose for one day and join in on the fun, originallystanding back but now standing front and center. She had a plate ofmashed-potatoes that went straight for the section where Korekiyo, Maki, andKaito sat. 

She placed her hand over her mouth to stop herself from giggling. Korekiyo retaliated by picking up a stack of pancakes and slinging them like disks, syrup flying off the sides and spraying onto the others. Pizzas were also being thrown by Kaito and sticking to his friends’ clothes.

Tsumugi originally scurried away from the fight but couldn’t ward of the urges to join, and now she was taking Ramen Noodles and tossing them in the air. One cup landed on Kaede’s head and before long, almost everyone was covered head-to-toe in noodles and rice.

Juzo and other Security ended up bolting in not too long after the food-fighttook place, scanning the situation. Himiko remained sound asleep throughout the whole ordeal, and Gontawas still standing in front of Kiibo with his arms outstretched in a protectivemanner whilst trying to get his classmates to settle down. 

They called those three out first. Himiko woke up with a confused look on herface. “W-wait… what happened? Why am I covered in food?” Her eyes dart up tomeet with Tenko’s and the others who were sitting around her. “Why are all ofyou…?”

She hurried into the hallway with Gonta and Kiibo by her side. Those three were pardoned since they were the only ones not partaking in the fight. Everyone else got detention and sent to Jin Kirigiri’s Office.

As punishment, those who took place in the fight were forced to clean up their mess. After actually getting in trouble, everyone seemed to turn on Ouma who couldn’t stop smiling at himself.

“Oh, come on~ You guys had fun!” 

- Mod Rantaro

[redroseinsanity]

Grounded

Late for Daichi’s birthday and Daisuga Day and inspired by passengers stranded in Taiwan on NYE. 

This is possibly the worst way I can spend my birthday, Sawamura Daichi thinks to himself, wedged into a middle seat with a baby bawling its eyes out two rows back on a plane that’s been stuck on the tarmac for two hours.

He knew he’d start his birthday in the air when he booked a flight that left at 8pm, but he’d also hoped that he would be able to spend the rest of the day after he landed exploring the city before his business meetings started on the 3rd of January.

Sadly, fate seemed to decree that he was to turn twenty four feeling like a wretched and squashed marshmallow, a bit too dried out from the aeroplane air and desperately wanting to go to sleep but feeling painfully uncomfortable in the too small chair and with the dig of his seatmate’s elbow in his side. He glanced over at the owner of the offending joint and found a flabby middle-aged man fast asleep in his aisle seat.

With a sigh, Daichi shifted a smidgen over, just enough to escape the jabbing elbow and enough so that he was looking out past the person in the window seat to gaze out at the lights of the airport runway. At least that was beautiful in a way and mildly remedied the fact that Daichi was likely to start his birthday contorted into an unspeakably tiny aeroplane chair with a very sad selection of entertainment available and no water.

“Holy cheeseballs, this plane doesn’t take off soon, I’m going to charge into the cockpit and fly this thing myself,” the window seat passenger muttered, fingers drumming on the cover of his book which lay, rather abandoned, in his lap.

Catching Daichi’s sharp, surprised (and slightly amused look) his way, the window seat passenger offered a wry smile.

“Sorry, I don’t really like being in enclosed spaces, two hours is three hours too long on the tarmac.”

Daichi chuckled as he tamped down rising butterflies in his stomach when he took in porcelain skin and bright eyes framed by soft, tousled silver hair and the most perfect beauty mark.

How had he not noticed this absolute stunner sitting right next to him the entire time? Probably because I was too busy wallowing in self-pity for having to start my twenty fourth year on earth in a flying tin can that refuses to fly.

“Yeah, I wish they would just tell us what’s going on so that I would at least know why I have to spend my birthday in absolute agony in an airplane that’s going nowhere,” Daichi smiled crookedly, rubbing the back of his neck in the manner of a truly resigned man.

The beautiful stranger’s hazel eyes widened as he inhaled sharply.

“It’s your birthday?” he hissed, looking far more aghast on Daichi’s behalf than Daichi had felt in the past two hours.

“Not yet!” Daichi assured him and then checked his watch, “But in two hours.” He sagged into his seat.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time, landing in a gorgeous city on the morning of my birthday and taking the time to wander around,” Daichi explained, shaking his head at himself, “Obviously in hindsight, not such a good plan.”

“This is a travesty,” the gorgeous seatmate pounded a fist on his book, his voice turning into an angry whisper, “We shouldn’t be stuck here with no sign of moving and you shouldn’t be trapped here on your birthday!”

Opening his mouth to assure him that now that he had dug his grave, he was quite prepared to lie in it, Daichi was cut off by an overhead announcement.

“Good evening, everyone. This is your captain speaking. As you all are aware, we’ve been trying to remedy an electrical fault before taking off. However, I’ve just been notified that we require a new part to fly safely and so, we invite all passengers to disembark and we hope to fly within the next three hours as we wait for the new part to arrive and be swapped in,” there was a collective groan that reverberated around the cabin and immediately, people began murmuring among themselves. Daichi strained to hear the rest of the announcement.

“We sincerely apologise for this delay and will be offering complimentary dining and entertainment vouchers for you to use while waiting. Thank you and we ask for your understanding.”

Half an hour later, Daichi found himself back in the brightly lit walkway filled with shops and eateries, backpack slung over one shoulder and clutching several vouchers.

“Hey!” A familiar silver head bounced over, “Y’know, I’m kind of glad just to be out of there,” Daichi’s flying partner beamed up at him, smile rivaling the brilliant lights from above.

“Any longer and I may have lost it and started climbing the walls,” he grinned cheekily, a smile so contagious that Daichi involuntarily smiled back.

“Plus! They gave so many vouchers, you know what that means?” Daichi shook his head, “It’s a sign,” the silver haired angel stage whispered and Daichi stifled a laugh, “You weren’t meant to start your birthday in that torture device disguised as a mode of transport,” he cast a narrow eyed glare back at the plane, “You were meant to eat copious amounts of food and milk their PR team for all their worth!”

With a handful of vouchers being waved gleefully in his face, Daichi couldn’t control the laughter that escaped him.

“Of course,” he held up his own set, a smile colouring his voice, “Would you do me the honours of spending a ridiculous amount of money that isn’t ours with me?”

Linking a fairly toned arm with Daichi’s own muscled one, the fair stranger peeked up under lowered lashes.

“Why,” he purred, setting Daichi aflame with a single word, “I thought you’d never ask.”

“My name is Daichi, by the way,” Daichi said suddenly, when they’d finished two bowls of ramen each and were digging into ice cream, “I forgot that we never really…”

“Try this, Daichi, it tastes like it was made by the gods themselves,” A spoonful of creamy goodness was held up to his lips by a slim hand, “I’m Sugawara, but you can call me Suga.”

It did taste like it was crafted by divine hands and Daichi told him so. He didn’t tell Suga that he was the most insane and fun person he had ever met in his life, he just drank in the other man’s enthusiasm and excited gestures as he told hilarious stories and kept eating his rum and raisin.

“Obviously, when put in that situation, you’ll have to take your shirt off and then run screaming into the traffic!” Suga exclaimed, waving face cream around as he told Daichi about his colleagues who honestly sounded like lunatics.

“Absolutely,” Daichi replied with as straight a face as possible, “In fact, in those kinds of extreme circumstances, I would also recommend dousing oneself with luminescent paint and then running around the neighbourhood banging on a bucket or some kind of crockery.”

“Without question,” Suga nodded gravely, setting the cream down. There was a moment’s pause before they succumbed to a bout of hysterical giggles and Suga moved on to another moisturizer. Suga was devastatingly handsome and with his eyes crinkled at the corners, clear laughter pealing from deep in his belly, Daichi wondered if it was too soon to be falling for someone. He definitely had a crush, but laughing in duty-free at god knows what time with this shining being was messing with his head and heart far more than he had anticipated.

“You can’t say that if you’ve never tried it!” Suga gasped, sitting upright in the cushy armchair that he’d settled into with his loot of creams and a cup of juice.

“I don’t need to try it! I have smelled it and I know that I never need to even lick it ever in my life,” Daichi stated, feeling a little sleepy even though it wasn’t yet midnight. He usually slept relatively early so anything past eleven was technically past his bedtime. His friends teased him for being an old man, but Daichi liked his sleep and woke up early to run so he didn’t mind the good humoured jibes.

“No way,” Suga leaned into Daichi’s chair, adjacent to his, “This is life changing, I swear. You have to have tried it at least once in your life before you say no.” Shifting a little, he folded his legs into the chair, curling in on himself a little. Suga rested his chin on the arm of Daichi’s chair, peering up in so adorable a manner, Daichi nearly had an aneurysm.

“Nope, you can’t trick me into this, I know it’s a trap,” he retorted, taking another sip of his own smoothie and trying to steady his heartbeat. Easy, Sawamura, you hardly know this guy, he warned himself.

I think I know enough to know I want to know more.

Suga let out a shriek that cascaded into laughter as he tore down the hallway perched on a trolley that Daichi was pushing. Daichi’s lungs were protesting and he could feel the two bowls of ramen slopping around in his stomach but he kept going, chasing the honeyed chimes of Suga’s delight.

It was addictive, really. He had no business being so greedy but here he was, hoping that they’d never get called back to the plane so that he could keep spending time in this limbo with the most unreal person he’d ever met. It seemed like a dream, an impossible and far-fetched fantasy set in a space that didn’t exist where time slipped into darkness and all that mattered was this man, burning brighter than the sun.

When the call for them to re-board came, Daichi was sorely disappointed and it may have been his imagination but Suga might have looked a tad upset as well. They trekked over to the boarding gate until Suga turned abruptly, Daichi nearly walking into him before pulling up short.

He halted inches away from ploughing Suga down and stayed there, staring down at the brilliant light in the other man’s eyes as he smiled gently.

“Happy birthday, Daichi,” Suga tilted his head, “I hope you had fun! Better than being stuck on an airplane anyway, no?” Startled, Daichi checked his watch and found the numbers 2.37am flashing back at him.

“Suga,” he started, one hand reaching out to brush the other man’s arm. Suga who had turned to go wheeled back, eyes expectant, expression soft.

“That was the best birthday I’ve had in a long time. Thank you for spending it with me,” he grinned bashfully, earnestly and Suga’s expression turned softer and triumphant all at once.

They’d certainly exhausted themselves in the airport because the moment they’d gotten on the flight, the pair of them had conked out before the plane even managed to pull up off the runway and into the air.

The next thing Daichi knew, he awoke to a fluffy argon hair pressed against the side of his face and a warm weight on his arm. He looked down and realised that Suga looked even more ethereal in morning light. The clear gold glinted off eyelashes and bathed a face that looked even sweeter when asleep.

There was a sudden pang in his gut when Daichi realised that he’d never see Suga again once they got off this flight. With a sudden fervor, Daichi cast his gaze back down and tried to memorize the planes of Suga’s face.

“Well then, this is me,” Daichi said quietly, hauling his luggage off the conveyor belt.

“Well then,” Suga echoed, eyes fixed on his shoes, eyebrows vaguely knitted.

“If you-”

“I was-”

They spoke at the same time and then both tried to gesture each other to go first. Suga cleared his throat.

“I was just gonna say,” Suga hesitated and then seemed to decide to steel himself with the words coming out in a rush, “I’m free today if you’d like to spend the rest of your birthday together.”

Daichi stared at him, the words ringing in his ears but barely processing. Then it hit him, a smile blooming on his face as ecstasy exploded within him.

“Yes,” he heard himself say, and then again just in case he dreamed it, “Yes! I’d love to. It’s already been the best birthday, and it’s all been thanks to you.”

Suga turned a faint pink, then held out his phone.

“Exchange numbers so we can fix a place to meet after dropping off our luggage?”

They parted ways at the taxi stand and just before Suga dashed off to load up his taxi, he turned breathlessly to Daichi, face alight just like it had been hours ago in the airport.

Stretching up on his toes, he pressed a tender kiss on Daichi’s cheek.

“Happy birthday, Daichi,” he breathed, “See you in a bit.”

Daichi watched him go with the sense of being hit by a boulder of some sort, a silly grin plastered on his face and a glow lighting him up from within.