#just to avoid their ears bleeding yknow

[feelingsaph]

A short Spotify playlist for what I headcanon to be songs that fits Saiki Squad’s vibes/what they’d sing in karaoke hehe

You might be able to tell who sings what 🤣

Would appreciate some song recs too :3

[joanquill]

If you’re requests are open(feel free to ignore this if not) HEAR ME OUT, headcanons/imagine/whatever you wanna do really with the moriarty bros liking a childhood friend(separately or they can all like the. Friend that’s up to you) like maybe it was the kid that one duchess adopted(yknow the one that made Earl Moriarty feel like he had to adopt a kid) cause like the duchess was like an actual nice person who wanted to help the poor an all that so maybe she raised the orphan the same way?(im so heckin sorry if none of this makes sense my dude, I’m horrible at this rip)

Being Childhood Friends with the Moriarty Brothers

Albert, William, and Louis James Moriarty

A/N: It's okay my guy! It was clear and it was really fun writing this one :) I may have forgotten the romance part last minute asjkas so it's longer than normal :') Tag/s: Long (1.7k words)

Growing up in the orphanage since you were a baby, you have half given up on the idea of being adopted.

So the fact that a kind woman-- a duchess no less, adopted you was a surprise you never saw coming.

But you were grateful for your new life and the woman you now call your mother for this second chance.

Coming from rock bottom yourself, you and the duchess worked hard with foundations and charities for the poor and unfortunate, even if it meant scandals and rumors circling around you and your new family.

However, your new title didn't mean anything to other noble kids.

You were scrutinized and avoided like a plague by other noble families.

This didn't come as a surprise, but it was still uncomfortable attending balls and having everyone stay five feet away from you, spreading rumors about you being riddled with disease.

The duchess defended you, saying despite not being bound by blood, you were her child through and through and a noble.

Unfortunately, her words only fell on deaf ears.

Not that you mind, knowing firsthand how the rich treat the poor on the streets.

Worried about you feeling lonely, your mother tried to make friends with other fellow mothers and set up a playdate or tea parties, rich or poor.

Even when you tried to play nice with other nobles, as suggested by the duchess, the noble kids didn't give you a chance.

It also didn't help with their mothers calling your mother a hedge creeper, wagtail, or their husband's mistress.

To say you were banned from a couple of tea parties was an understatement.

However, hearing Lord Moriarty also adopted kids, the duchess wasted no time setting up a playdate for you.

Albert James Moriarty

You two have actually met before during a party.

Granted, scaring the kids who threw rocks at you to run into a thorny rose bush was not the best first impression, but it did make quite an impact on him.

He found you in the gardens, admiring the flowers, when a group of kids thought it would be funny to throw rocks at you.

He was about to tell off the kids until one threw a rock especially hard, making you fall on your face.

Snapping, you decided to play along with their accusations of you being diseased.

A limp in your step, hoarse voice, reaching out your arms to them as you chased them through the gardens and made them run through a thorny bush, making you smile in triumph.

Albert saw the whole thing, hiding a smile behind his hand as he watched you dust yourself off.

He was about to introduce himself to you until he saw your forehead bleeding and led you back inside to treat your wound.

It may not have been the best way, but hey! You made a friend!

Ever since that day, you would always look for Albert and follow him around for the rest of the gathering.

You knew his mother hated you, and his brother saw you as an insect. But you just completely ignore them and talk to Albert, making the two furious.

He taught you the etiquette needed to see in nobles and even the dances for different music.

If you two weren't outside avoiding the party, you two were talking and eating in the corner off in your own world.

Because of this, some noble kids started trying to get close to you to reach Albert or just hate your complete existence.

Despite all this, you kept hanging out with Albert unapologetically, seeing he was as lonely as you were in this rich man's world.

NOW while he only saw you as a good friend, Albert knew he wanted to stay by your side as long as he could.

Sneaking out of parties, knowing looks, and inside jokes the two of you only knew were some of his treasured memories.

However, he also knew the judging stares of other nobles, saying you weren't supposed to be here.

He tried to step away, hoping you would be safer if you had some distance, but he would always find you within arm's reach.

You kept smiling and being yourself despite everyone around you waiting for one mistake to drag you down.

You were the only one who was a genuine friend to him, wanting nothing in return but his company.

While you were rough around the edges as a noble, you were a gem as a person, always lending a helping hand to those in need.

You were also the only one who would accompany him during his trips to the orphanages or outreach programs.

He would even catch you volunteering, hosting charities, or helping others with your own pocket money.

So when he saw you jumping into traffic to save a child, tattering your outfit in the process but smiling in relief to see the child was safe, he knew he couldn't let you go.

William James Moriarty

The first time you heard about William was from Albert about how he met a genius orphan who knew how to read advanced books at a young age and even gave advice to adults despite being a child.

And now, here you were on a playdate with him and his younger brother.

You tried getting close to the two, seeing how Albert praised them and wanted to get to know them better.

But you couldn't help but notice an invisible wall around the two brothers. Especially William.

While William was friendly from the start, you noticed something lurking behind his smile.

This didn't stop you from trying to be friends with them, though.

Relying on Albert's stories (and Albert himself), you tried getting close to William through his intellect.

Reading books together, visiting museums and art galleries, going to the public library, even showing him your own textbooks from your school.

His teasing you for your wrong answers was not welcomed, though.

Whenever you would ask him something, no matter how absurd, he always entertained you and gave you an answer.

During your talks, you would always have tea and snacks ready, considering how some of them would last for hours.

Slowly, William started to make the first move and approach you.

Offering to teach you lessons you found difficult, offering a tea party, or suggesting somewhere new for you four to visit.

Despite noticing the distance between you two getting smaller, you could still feel the invisible wall between you.

However, this didn't stop you from befriending the boy and treating him like the kid he was.

When he first met you, he thought you were only interesting, seeing as you were the reason he and Louis got adopted in the first place.

When he would approach you, it was only to feed your curiosity, seeing as you had a lot of questions about different things.

He would always give you an answer, watching your expression change as you listen to him.

Slowly, he started enjoying talking to you, amused at how you would find interest in the most bizarre things, ranging from random trivia to high-level knowledge.

That was until he found out you were asking for advice on how to put on successful charities and programs to help people.

When you revealed to him your plans to make a hospital for the impaired, you were proud of yourself for surprising the boy.

Even more when you told him you'd make sure to give him the recognition he deserved.

Considering how his intellect was only used for simple things such as growing flowers or for schemes like robbing a bank, you were a refreshing change of pace.

Now whenever you would ask him something, he would try to guess what you had planned through your questions, sometimes even teasing you when he got it right (which was all the time).

It became a little game between you two, one which he would look forward to and catch himself smiling at the sight of you.

Louis James Moriarty

Louis was the hardest one to become friends with.

He never left William's side and would keep his eyes on you.

Whenever you tried to talk to Louis, he only gave you short answers.

However, this didn't faze you as you kept trying to find a middle ground.

Not surprisingly, he would liven up whenever you would mention or compliment William.

Much to the boy's dismay, who is usually no farther than three feet away from you both.

Considering he had heart surgery, you tried to be considerate and only hang out at the Moriarty manor to spend time with him.

This was how you found out how he was treated by the staff.

While the butler treated you better for being a guest, you didn't excuse his treatment of Louis.

Now, you always help Louis with his chores and glare at the butler whenever Louis mentions the things he made him do.

One day, you offhanded mentioned how strong Louis must have been, going through everything he had.

Surprised by the sudden compliment, he mutters how untrue it was and what a burden he was to his brother.

This made you shower him with praise, saying he should be more confident in himself.

After that, Louis started warming up to you. Even greeting you as soon as you arrive with a smile on his face.

You may have bragged to Albert about being the first one to befriend Louis out of you two. 

At first, he was wary of you. Despite knowing you were also adopted, he didn't trust you.

But you would always make an effort to get to know Louis, even doing chores with him and defending him whenever you visit.

You never looked at him with pity and treated him just like another kid.

Whenever you and his brothers would play, you would always invite Louis and even pull him along, whether it was just hanging out in the manor or visiting some exotic spot in the city.

You would always listen and pay attention to him, making sure he was heard and seen by others whenever he spoke up.

And whenever he spoke ill of himself, you try to boost his confidence and point out his good points with clear eyes.

So when you called him strong and said how much he meant to you and his brothers, he knew you weren't lying.

Slowly, Louis started warming up to you and even clinging to you, which didn't go unnoticed by you three.

You may have cried tears of joy while William and Albert clapped for you.

Now, he considers you one of his trusted confidants and was always the first to greet you, even preparing your favorite tea and snacks in advance for your visits.

[overthinkingtaleblr]

I have a sudden urge to write.

Toast. Running. Into. Werewolf. Hunters

Like some hunters roll into town, and as the locals have a friendly chat with them, one of them mentions that there's currently been a werewolf epidemic in some neighbouring states. While most have been taken care of, some managed to flee, so they're looking for any stragglers.

At some point P.I.E catches wind of this. Toast, while a little panicked, reassures himself that he'll be fine: he's dark-furred, can sniff them a mile away, and knows the area better! He can just avoid them and be fine!

Cut to Ghost getting woken up late at night by scrapping at the door and whimpering. He opens the door to a very injured Toast; his shoulder is bleeding heavily due to a bullet wound, and he's wheezing bad. It takes a long time to take the silver bullet out, and longer to treat the wound (as well as any lesser injuries he sustained) as best he can, but Ghost manages to bandage his shoulder, and calm Toast down from the adrenaline. (although he did end up with wolf sick on his lap that stunk of garlic and wolfsbane)

When it's morning hits and Toast changes back, he's borderline near dead from exhaustion, so he taps out while Ghost gets some fresh clothes before leaving for P.I.E. He can handle himself without Toast, Right? (Spoiler: barely) By the afternoon he wakes up and manages to throw up again (this time he got to the toilet and hurled in there), and after Ghost comes home and he has some water, he explained what happened. Turns out the hunters were very prepared.

During the night, be had stumbled upon a dead deer that looking back looked very suspicious, but he felt like was starving and, hey, you can't pass up on free food, so he dived in. He managed to eat a good amount, stopping because there was something thick smeared inside that was becoming hard to stomach and he felt not so great.

He stumbled on his way, feeling sicker and more sluggish as the night wore on. When he layed down to rest, he was about to fall asleep when he got shot at. The first bullet caught his ear, and the sluggishness and lingering drowsiness made it hard to react fast enough before the hunters caught up and pinned him down. He waited while they started talking about what to do with him and whenever to shoot him through the brain or heart, and took his chance when he felt the hands going slack.

During his escape, one hunter took aim at his head but hit his shoulder instead, which slowed him down, but was able to sprint all the way back to Ghost's place. He also apologizes for puking on him.

Ghost is just happy he isn't dead. They can't exactly do anything because considering what the hunters have at their disposal, they're definitely from somewhere higher up, and god knows the reproduction (living or dead) if Ghost tries to retaliate, so for now Toast will just have to stay low at full moons until the Hunters leave.

During those full moons, Toast is kinda miserable: he wants to run around and do stuff but he can't because he's injured and he might get spotted again, but Ghost does help with changing old bandages, getting food (and the odd jams) and just being there, so it's not as bad as it can be.

Then the Hunters start asking for anything related to "a large black canine". Oh no.

That's as far as I've gotten so feel free to add any ideas. :D

My idea is you should write this as a proper fic!! This is a Solid first few chapters laid out here and I’d love to see where it goes!

To open discussion for others to give their ideas and inputs, I’ll start ^^

Maybe toast isn’t the only black werewolf in the area, but something about them makes them completely innocent and undeserving of any pain, so this isn’t just about saving him, but the other person too.

Or maybe before really knowing the whole situation, PIE agrees with the hunters to do an intern swap— Yknow to give both groups of trainees more knowledge they otherwise wouldn’t get— and now Ghost and Toast are Down two very helpful interns and aren’t sure if they can trust the new ones.

OR MAYBE TOAST MANAGES TO BITE ONE OF THE HUNTERS!!!

That is all, everyone feel free to share your own ideas however small or large <3

[luckbandit]

That dark SBI au sounds awesome. Could I hear more? (If you want, obviously)

Yknow what, sure! Can’t say much because spoilers but here’s a snippet of what’s to come.

Tw: animal death, mentions of animal torture

Every city had its fair share of crooks and criminals. Men, women, and anything else in between who believe that they are above the boundaries of law. That they, and they alone, were better than some government implanted system meant to keep them in line. Most of these people are caught and become victims of such abhorred law, thrown into prison and forced to leave their life of crime for a life of penance.

The ones who don’t are the ones who know better. They don’t break the law, rather poke and prod at it, shaping it to fit their narrative instead of the government’s. They find loopholes, ways to stay hidden, and if that doesn’t work, the right amount of cash in the right pair of hands can make up for such things. Some cities are unlucky enough to have an abundance of this breed of criminal. Essempi was one of those cities.

Within this criminal underbelly, money traveled fast and rumors even faster. It was worse than a group of old ladies in a retirement home, but none of these crooks can complain. It’s how they got their reputations after all. There was the Dream Team, a trio of ruthless and efficient hitmen for hire. Alexis Quackity, the scarred duck hybrid who ran the ever profitable Las Nevadas strip. And of course, there was the Angel of Death. An elytran whose pitch black wings were as beautiful as they were terrifying. A staple in the black market, a madman who wasn’t held back by such frivolous things as morality.

Philza took offense to that last one. He wouldn’t call himself mad, but rather curious. He always had been, ever since he was a little boy, he wanted to know everything about everything; history, math, science, medicine, you name it. But his calling really came to him in middle school. It was the typical dissecting a frog lab, done every year in every school, there was really nothing special about it. But while Phil’s classmates recoiled in disgust at the dead amphibian, Philza himself was immediately hooked. He took the poor animal apart with diligence, taking in every scrap of knowledge he could get.

It wasn’t long however, before his excitement faded into boredom.

“Can frogs live without their limbs?”

His lab partner, a girl with floppy goat ears and horns, turned to him in surprise, not exactly sure of what she just heard, “What?”

Philza didn’t look at her, his eyes solely focused on the dead frog, its stomach cut open, insides out in the open for anyone to see, “Sometimes in order to save a human’s or hybrid’s life, you have to cut off a limb. They’ll be disabled, but they’ll still be able to function and live a relatively normal life. Is it the same for a frog, or are their limbs more vital? Or maybe it’ll give them too much of a disadvantage and they’ll be swept away by natural selection.” he thought about it for a second, “They probably would bleed out before they can find out. Frogs don’t get medical attention.”

His partner was at a loss of words, “I-”

“Speaking of blood”, Philza interrupted, finally looking up at her and making her jump. “How much blood does a frog need to live? Is it the same percentage of a human’s, or something completely different?”

The goat hybrid girl stared at him, before finally finding her voice, “I- I guess it’s something people don’t really think about.”

“I suppose. Shame really, that it's already dead. Can’t do much with a corpse, otherwise we could’ve found the answer to both of those questions if it was still alive. Granted, we probably would’ve needed two frogs to do it, but I’m sure there’s someone here who doesn’t want their’s”.

Philza went back to working on the lab. He was completely oblivious to the look of absolute terror his lab partner was giving to him, nor did he notice how she made sure to avoid him for the rest of the year.

[withaconscience]

Drabble - The Gamals

tw: mention of self harm

[ there are STILL no readmores on mobile apparently? i’ll add one when next I’m on but for now just ignore this if you want to ]

Raena scrunched up her nose and giggled at Oliver’s stupid joke, picking up another one of the tiny cupcakes he’d made. She unwrapped it from its little paper ruffle-thing and popped it into her mouth, kicked the arch of her foot against the bottom rung of his bar stool. And then her gaze caught on the inside of her brother’s forearm, about an inch away from his elbow. The thin, bulky line of a scar rested there, about an inch and a half long, with another, thinner line settled beneath it.

Oli’s smile faded when she kept on staring at something on his arm. His gaze followed hers.

“What,” he asked, lifting up his arm to look at it, “is there frosting on me or something?”

Raena set down her wrapper and took Oli’s hand in her own, using it as /leverage/ to bring his arm closer to her.

“Raena,” Oliver’s voice sounded guarded, flat like usual, and he tilted his head to the side, flippant.

“When the fuck’d you do this? How have I never seen this?” Raena brought the fingers of her other hand up, not touching the scars but hovering above the skin below them. /Almost/ touching.

“/I/ didn’t do it. It’s from Mrs Frizzle.”

“What?” She met Oliver’s gaze, as best she could. Oli had went to pick up another cupcake.

“That cat that lived across the street from us in Queens. Remember?” Oli brought the cupcake to his mouth and bit off the top of it, getting white frosting at the corner of his mouth.

“No, I don’t remember...” Raena let go of Oliver’s hand and crossed her arms. “That doesn’t look like a /cat/ did it.”

“Well, she did. It was one of the deepest cuts the doctors had ever seen from a cat.” Raena watched him and Oliver opened his mouth, shut it, and then he was /smiling/. “Honestly, Rae. Gramma took me to the hospital since she couldn’t get them to stop bleeding.” He put down his empty cupcake wrapper. He’d eaten the rest. Oli avoided her gaze. “I wouldn’t lie to you about this shit. I’d tell you.”

“Would you?”

“Yes. Why?” Oliver looked up. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

“Me? No! Christ, I just wanted to make sure you...” Raena waved her hands up by her head, feeling /uncomfortable/ now. “Make sure you’re all right.”

“I am.”

“Good...”

The pause that stretched between them was cavernous. Oliver pushed the wrapper on the counter with his finger.

“Yeah,” he said, “I’d tell you. I /thought/ about it when I was younger, but...”

“When?”

Oli met her gaze. Raena felt like she could see the whites of his eyes better than usual.

“Middle school. Felt like it’d make stuff easier.”

“You know it doesn’t.”

“Well...” Oliver shrugged. “Just...in general. Thought about, like...” He shrugged again, and Raena could see him trying to close up. “It’s whatever, now, anyways.”

“Oliver.” She’d started rubbing the back of her middle finger. Oliver, Oliver, Oliver.

He was staring off to one side, at the ground. A muscle in his jaw worked. “I still think like that sometimes, but it doesn’t bother me anymore. It’s just, like, a habit.”

“About /hurting/ yourself?”

“About joining them.”

Raena didn’t know what she’d expected by pressing him. She’d gotten an answer and Oli just looked on the brink of shutting up again. Going quiet for three hours until he banged about the house more than necessary and ended up shouting and...

“Just,” Oliver reached up and scratched the space beside his eye. “Just to see them. But cutting wasn’t gonna get me that far, yknow? You gotta be dead to see dead people.”

Rae was trying to process that. Oliver thought about shit like that too? Why didn’t they talk about it? He never said anything. At all. Even now, unless she pressed, he never brought anything up. She had to press him to get him to own up about his insomnia, too.

“But I’m not rushing to get outta here anymore. Maybe we’ll see ‘em when the time comes, maybe not.” Oliver picked up the empty cupcake wrappers, crumpled them in the palm of his hand and counted the space above the remaining ones in the tin. “But /these/ are from Mrs Frizzle.”

Oliver got to his feet and watched Rae for a second. She was staring at the cupcakes, feeling like the conversation wasn’t over but not knowing what to offer up to keep it going. Oli leaned forward and kissed the side of her head. She smiled at it, but it was too soft and didn’t stick around long.

“Hey,” Oli said. Monotone. Level. She looked at him. “Family’s the most important fucking thing.” Rae rested her forehead against her brother’s shoulder.

“The most important fucking thing,” she echoed.

“All right.” Oli moved away, toward the trash can, and the wrappers crinkling as he let them go were as loud as a sonic boom in her ears. “You all done?”

“Huh?”

“The cupcakes, Rae. You want more?”

“Oh, no. No, I’m good.” She went to collect her wrappers but realized Oli had grabbed hers too. She smiled at him across the island and he smiled back.

She was glad she’d asked, at least.

“I’ll pack these up for you to take with you, then.” He picked up the tin and turned his back to set them beside the stove, ducking down to get the aluminum foil or whatever. Rae watched him.

She /knew/ Oliver wouldn’t lie to her. But it still didn’t sit right with her. Just /barely/ talking about heavy shit like that, was she supposed to just drop it? Oli seemed content to. Rae picked up her glass of wine and finished it off.

Maybe she could just take a hint this time. For once. For Oli. For family.

[the-mf-bread-babies]

loneliness </\///\|/3

a fic by rocco wulfram north, m.d.

(found that name on hardcore baby names)

–chmapter jop–

before the tríp

It was a normal day for the Skullsmashers: go to somewhere, kill people, be gay, sleep, get brunch. Right now was the first part of their daily routine, and they were getting ready for it.

“holy fuck nova could you hurry the shit up i have to brush my fucking teeth you bitch” Ace hissed, knocking repeatedly on the bathroom door. “Fuck You. I'm Going To Go To Hell Itself” Nova gargled back, mouth full of mouthwash. More banging was heard; the door had seen better days.

Several feet away was Jake, all dressed up and ready to go, waiting for the others to get ready. He sat on the couch gayly in the living room down the hall, scrolling through Apocalypse Twitter. ‘every day i throw down an unpeeled boiled egg from the rooftop to simulate fear and unreadiness’ he read, a tweet from Orc's account. What the fuck. Classic Orc.

“ah fuck !! am i late !!” Jake turned around to see Damon panicking and counting the daggers in his pockets. “no no not at all. i just get ready really quickly to throw everyone into a state of disarray” Jake replied in an honest, monotone voice. “come sit down”

Damon sat down nervously next to his captain, knowing he'll ask him for Bambi on the PS2 now. “look. look at them those dumbshits” Jake uttered, pointing to Ace and Nova arguing. “those little bastards are completely unaware that ive put a fake cockroach puppet in the mirror. watch now” he added, pulling out a cheap remote control and pressing a button.

*sound of glass breaking* Jake sighed. “okay maybe that wasn't really the best idea” Nova screamed, running out of the bathroom and confusing Ace. “Fucking Roach!!!!!!!!!!!!!” she yelled, already too far away from them to be heard clearly. “huh. well okay then!” Ace grinned, going into the bathroom.

“i'll guard. you do your thing okay? :-)” Damon said to Jake, smiling mischievously. Jake's heart skipped a beat as he was suddenly flustered by the killer's action. «oh god, shit's just gonna get more complicated from here» he thought, staring into nothingness.

Damon braced himself against the bathroom door, eager to hear Ace's chaotic screaming. “ready ??” Damon asked, sending Jake back to the real world. “hhuh??????? oh yea right” he mumbled before beginning to control the cockroach with the remote. “this shit cost me like 200 bucks so it better be worth it”

HOLY MOTHER OF

F U C K

JAKE JESUS FUCKING CHRIST

WHAT THE S H IT DUDE

ace will remember this.

Jake cackled loudly, rolling on the floor and hitting the table with his fist. “LMAOOOOK FUCK YOUUU” he yelled, angering Ace even more. “I WILL GODDAMN SKIN UOUR FUCKIGN ISTINEDSTINES OLD MAN I SWEAR TKC FUCKF” they yelled back, pushing the door repeatedly. “IM GOIND TO FUCKIGN DIR HERE YOU BITCH”

“ah . ace ? could you move a little please ? i'm trying to get in ?” Damon said annoyingly kindly, making Ace jab a fake knife through the space between the door and the doorway. “THIS IS THE BEST FUCKIGN KNIFE I HAVE ON ME RIGT NOW BUT PLEADR JSUT FUCK O F F”

“hm ... i'll have to check in with the blacksmith today to know what this one's worth... possibly rusted here, though.... could also just be dirt tho.....” Damon mumbled, examining the knife. “FUCKING HEL P” Ace yelled in distress, his breath seeping through the door. “ace. brush your fucking teeth that's disgusting.”

“IM FUCKIF D TRYINF THERES JUST A FUCKGIFN ROSCH HEREERF” Ace explained fearfully, trying their best to get some pity from the other. “a what ?? don't think we have those here” “A FUCKIFN COKROSKC” “corrosion ???? how bad” “FUCK YOU A GODDMAND COKCROACH” “girls?? what?? are they milfs??” “HOW THEE DFUCKDB DID YEOU HEAR FTHAY WHATS DUCUNESKRHI”

Jake's hand slapped against Damon's shoulder as a way of saying thanks. “good work out there soldier. us skullsmashers really need someone like you damon” He said confidently, disguising his flirting as a compliment. “cool !! you too man !!” The shorter man replied, completely unaware of the flirting and continuing to yearn for the mutual love between him and Jake. fuckin idiots lmao

“alrighty fuckers, let's move!”

Rachel's voice sent Ace and Nova into a panic, making them scram to look for their weapons and equipment. “Got everything ya need? W'ain't makin' any stops; tryin'a save fuel.” Shaw asked, leaning against the wall at the entrance menacingly. “When the fuck did you even come here.” Dennis asked in surprise, carrying suitcases. “Hmph. Man never tells his secrets, young man.” She replied, tilting her cowboy hat. “What…”

Aaron was sitting peacefully in the trunk of a pickup truck they had, only to be met by a large backpack to the face. “ah!!!!!!!! very sorry!!!!!!! we'll be going in separate vehicles, and trunk space is very much needed!!!!!!!!” Whitney said, apologizing. “Ah. Well. O-okay then.” Aaron stuttered out, holding back tears from the painful impact the backpack had. Pretty sure he'll get a bruise from that.

Henderson and Rachel were waiting in the front seats of yet another pickup truck. To pass the time, they took very cringey pictures of each other pretending to be on Cowboy TikTok™. “Do one where you're pregnant with the truck's baby!” Henderson suggested, making Rachel flip the bird at her but begrudgingly agreeing with her stupid idea. “i literally would skin you alive.” She spat out, putting a pumpkin inside her shirt. “That's… literally so sexy, babe.” Henderson replied back, taking more pictures.

Meanwhile, Andre was busy explaining to Cyprus, who was in a small glass jar, that forcibly entering Damon's bloodstream and mutilating his entire body was not very nice, with Orc and Sarah judging. “YES BUT UNLIMITED POWER COULD BE RIGHT IN OUR HANDS ANDRE” “That'd very mean of you to do, and could actually probably kill you too in the process.” he explained to deaf ears. Well, technically no ears. Yet. “CYPRUS I KNOW IT SOUNDS STUPID BUT YOU COULD LITERALLY DO THE SAME BUT LIKE IN AN ELEPHANTS BODY DUDE” Orc suggested, only to be ignored. “cmon cyprus just pleaaaaase dont kill ppl ok”

Jake looked outside, then back at Damon. “well guess its time to move!” “yea ... but at what cost.” Damon replied confusingly, making a sad face. “did you know today is…” he started, then regretted saying anything. “nvm…” He turned away from the punk, sniffling and walking to Dennis and Aaron.

“damon” “??” Jake asked quietly, craning his neck a little before making the decision to leave the new recruit alone. Instead, he joined Henderson and Rachel in their odd activities.

“hey guys. i fucking miss sans.” Damon confessed, taking a seat next to Dennis. “My nose is bleeding.” Aaron pointed out. “ok. today's sunday. and you Know what That Means… Meant,” The boy continued, facing the ground. “Kanye West he…” Dennis began (begun???? idk). “… liked.” Aaron continued, also affected emotionally by the departure of not only Sans, but Komaeda too.

Jake stared longingly at the family, wishing he was a part of it too. He truly felt Ariel Little Mermaid's desire to become human. Seven Vagánias… that was a risk he was willing to take for him. He would shave his eyebrows off for that man, and he just might do it right now.

“Jake? Don't do that. Please don't fucking do that.” Henderson suddenly interrupted, surprising Jake. “do what” Henderson squinted her eyes, giving Jake a suspicious look. “That's the face you make when you want to do silly things…” She pointed out.

“You had that when you almost electrocuted yourself at that stable, you had that when you threw the dart at Scoran, you had that when you glued Marcus and Reese–” “OKAY OKAY I GET IT IM A DUMMY SILLY LITTLE BITCH BOY OK”

Rachel put the pumpkin back on the ground and went to the two friends, curious to know what the quarrel was about. “what's poppin gayboy!” She loudly asked, slapping Jake's forearm strongly. “i am in peril and shaking and crying” “daddy issues” “yget?” He explained, gesturing towards the Russells.

“ah. please clarify what kind.” Rachel said, knowing Jake has a very questionable taste for fictional middle-aged men, such as Sigma Overwatch and the guy from the cowboy game. “the fuckin. family one rachel” “look at em just vibing and simply being gay”

Rachel and Henderson gave eachother a look that questioned whether Damon and Jake were going to be a thing or not, since Jake's technically still with Andre. “Considering the fact that they adopted Damon, they could probably also adopt you if you wanted to.” Henderson suggested, knowing Jake wouldn't like this and would stupidly unknowingly accidentally confess his love for Damon to them both right then and there.

“what?????” “ew no thatd be fuckin incest or some shit what the fuck” Jake said, being grossed out. “what would be the incestuous part, jacon. we did not say or hint at anything related to incest.” Rachel asked, making Jake's hair stand up in panic. “fuCKIN NOTHING DUH” “BUT LIKE YKNOW I GET CRUSHES REALLY EASILY YEA??????” Jake explained weirdly.

“So there's a new one right now, huh…” Henderson asked… feeling like she was in Ace Attorney. “no!!!! no wait” “well yea– no.. but i–” “fuck You but yes” Jake grumbled. “ah no, we won't tell, obviously. it was just getting way too obvious, so we just wanted to hear it from both sides.” “WH” Rachel said mysteriously, getting into the driver's seat of the pickup truck. “okay guys let's go!!” She yelled out, starting the engine. “THE FUCK IS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN??????” “BOTH SIDES???”

chapter dos

two four trucks

The journey to god knows fuckin where idk didn't plan i guess a fuckin cabin or smth idk was long and torturous, especially when Rachel said that cryptic-ass thing before going. What the fuck was that supposed to mean, bro.

sudden interlude for seating arrangements !!

truck 1: Henderson, rachel, whitney, CYPRUS

truck 2: jake, damon, marge, Andre, Aaron

truck 3: ace, Nova, Dennis

truck 4: sarah, ORC, Shaw, viper

truck two.

Jake awkwardly patted Marge's head in the backseat of the truck, avoiding eye contact with Damon and Andre. Of course he had to go on a three-day trip in the same car with his ex, his crush, AND his crush's father. God, he was pretty sure this was the lab rats' doing.

“cows.” Damon pointed outside, earning Andre's attention. “Holy– what are those?” He asked, taking his sunglasses off to admire the beautiful little cows. “Cows… we drink their milk and wear their skin as jackets…” Aaron explained, his eyes drifting from the road momentarily. “They can have best friends and stuff. Really nice guys. Also, they're expensive as hell.”

“Y–You do what. Their skin??” Andre asked, his voice a pitch higher than usual. “yeah and we rate them based on which layer it is. also, like their meat, expensive as hell. but still very cool.” Damon said, confusing Andre even more. “they also give us cheese and ice cream and whipped cream and stuff. underrated little babies. they deserve better.” “they also have nose rings which are punk as hell–”

“Wait, why the nose– cheese?! Cheese?! AND ice cream??!” Andre asked again, his mind attempting to comprehend the greatness that cows are. “Oh man, you are not ready to hear about pigs.” Aaron said jokingly. “What the fuck are pigs???” “Sausages, ham slices, bacon, lard, leather too, rotisserie–” “aaron please i'm gonna throw up.” “Oh, right. Sorry,”

Jake sat quietly in his seat, just now realising how much of his world Andre's missing. Sure, his world was much cooler, but do they have sheep? Palm trees? Penguins? Thought not, bitch. “andre do you know what a kangaroo is” He asked, breaking his silence like that one YouTuber.

“A what?” “kangaroo. some of them are buff as shit and they move by hopping. they cant hop backwards and they also keep their babies in little pouches attached to them and their bones and guts are exposed on the inside of said pouch. baby kangaroos are about the size of a jellybean, and the adults can box you”

“They what” “yea they're weird as fuck.” “its from australia so” “That sounds fake.” “oh man. wombats bro. quokkas. fuckin drop bears and flying foxes. PLATYPUSES!!!” “wombats poop in cubes and quokkas are always smiling” “Koala bears hold onto tree branches and eat their mom's shit, which is the leaves of said tree branches.” “Please stop what the fuck” “ohoho fucking GEESE” “GET IM JAKE MY NEIGHBOR HAD FUCKIN THREE OF THOSE BITCHES”

truck three.

The three sat silently, with the exception of Dennis, who was swearing at random times. “You call that a fuckin’ turn, old man?! HUH?!!” Ace's shoulders jumped, the sudden exclamations preventing them from sleeping through the trip. “This Is Probably The Last Time We'll See Each Other Alive.” Nova stated calmly. “i slept for like two minutes last night… didn't even get to wear conditioner today. unrelated but just sharing my struggles with you.” Ace said, shifting into a more comfortable sleeping position.

Dennis overheard the two talking, and opted to stay quiet for the rest of the trip, before stumbling across a strange sight. “FROG!!!” he yelled, waking up the duo. “he said fuck! he said the f” Ace yelled out while rubbing their eyes. “Are We Aliven't” Nova asked, stretching. “Sadly, no, but the good news is, I found a frog!” Dennis excitedly said, opening the car door.

“WHAT” “THAT SHITS GONNA POISON US WHAT THE FUCK” Nova yelled out, unfortunately not loud enough for Dennis to hear it. The man kept walking towards the creature that was technically an alien to them, and picked it up with watery hands. “DENNIS YOU'RE GONNA FUCKING KILL US ALL!!!!!!! DENNIS!!!!!!”

“So, you kids know how to handle a frog?” Dennis asked in a wholesome tone, alerting the two even more. “KILL IT KILL IT FUCKING KILL IT” “Oh, are you guys allergic to this little guy? Sorry, I'll put it in the dashboard instead.” “GET ITBOUT WHAT THE FUCK DENNID JESUS” “… Huh?” “POSIOJ DART FOGR” Nova shouted, hiding behind the passenger seat and being pushed by Ace, who was also going to hide there. “BITCH”

Dennis and the frog stared at them in confusion, hearing their horrified screams. “This is… a wood frog… not a poison dart… that one would probably die in this climate…” he explained plainly, his hands gently cupping the newfound friend. “oh. ok” Ace muttered quietly, while Nova maintained an awkward silence. “You can… pat them very softly if you want.” Dennis suggested. “Or spray the shit outta them. That could work too.”

Nova nervously held out her hand to pat the frog, then smiled in succeeding to do so. “Death Quivers Before Me” She said, proceeding to pat it even more. “can i do the spray thing.” Ace asked, their voice quiet as a whisper. “Yeah, sure. Go right ahead.”

*the frog was going to die so technically they didnt like fuck up the ecosystem or smth. do not attempt this irl.

truck four.

“What jolly tunes d'ya have on this here truck. Fellas.” Shaw asked, observing the radio. “uh, really, i don't think it'll be necessary!!!!!” Viper nervously said, only to be ignored. “NONSENSE! ONE'S TASTE IN SHANTIES PROVES TO BE A WINDOW INTO THEIR LIVES.” Orc said wisely, patting them on the shoulder. “i guess that's good advice, but really–”

TWO TRUCKS HAVING SEX. TWO TRUCKS HAVING SEX. MY MUSCLES. MY MUSCLES. INVOLUNTARILY FLEX.

“I SEE. A MATING SONG FOR YOUR SPECIES?” “my truck f### playlist,.,.,.” Viper tried to mute the speaker to no avail as most of the buttons on the control panel were very much broken. “I'm. Very sorry for this, pardner. But this doesn't sound so bad. I could put this in a jukebox…” Shaw consoled, only making them panic more. “im so f#ckig sorry” They said, before smashing the radio with a briefcase.

They all paused for a moment, unsure of what to do. “i have spotify…” Sarah croaked, holding up her phone. “they have lemon demon too, if you want…” She muttered, scrolling through the song choices. “does anyone want to listen to wet a–” “no.” “okay.”

The truck grew even quieter for a while, until Shaw gave a suggestion to pass the time. “Wanna play 20 questions?” “I'll start: how many folks have y'all killed?” Viper gave the assassin a horrified look, confusing her. “I think mine's around 150. No… 145…” She confessed, rubbing her chin. “Wait, or was it 160?”

“like six. do you like girls, and, follow up question, do you also coincidentally like short girls with long hair.” Sarah said without hesitation, stopping Orc from answering the first question. “Yes! I literally have a wife!” Shaw shouted happily, rolling up her sleeves to show Sarah her tattoos. “This one is her setting herself on fire and me getting inspired–” “ah, yes–” “That one was a total cover-up! Previously, it was the names of my exes, all thirteen of them, but now, it's my cat!”

After some time of receiving a bit too much RexShaw lore, Sarah finally got the answer she so desperately needed from Viper. This was the verdict that determines whether she could make a move or not. This answer could change– “i am gay and do not get attracted to women. thank you.” Ah. Back to more hunting. “I am a lesbian! High-five!” Shaw exclaimed.

And finally, the first truck.

truck one.

Loud country music blared in the truck as they drove by the snowy mountains of uhh. Winsnow. Like winter and snow. They had all chosen separate routes in order to cover more land and see if there were any new developments in the area.

“BRANDY!!! FETCH ANOTHER ROUNF!!!!!!” Rachel screeched as she drummed on the dashboard. “AND SHE FJSJS” Henderson kept driving, searching every inch of land for a rest stop to stretch her legs and also listen to something else.

“hendy.” Rachel said, getting her girlfriend's attention. “do you wanna buy that slime that cleans cars and stuff?” Henderson stared into the distance, pondering. “Hm. There's always the possibility of the slime disappearing under mysterious circumstances and turning up in the trash can the next day covered in saliva, so.” Whitney looked away, feeling attacked.

“yeah, that's a problem.” Rachel muttered, her hand instinctually moving to Henderson's. “Please don't crash the car.” She begged, looking sadly at her. “is there a domino's nearby. i heard they have that new peanut butter chocolate lava cake.” Rachel asked, cupping Henderson's face gently.

“Rachel. There's fucking mountains.” Henderson pointed out, gesturing towards their surroundings. ��That shit will freeze.” Rachel put her head down in disappointment. “yeah. damn.” “MORE FLESH!!! MORE FLESH!!! MORE FUCKING FLESH!!!”

Oh yeah, Cyprus was here the whole time. “why does the metal say fuck?????” And Whitney too! “MIND YOUR OWN GODDAMN BUSINESS. FLESH NEEDED!” Cyprus yelled out, resembling a hungry toddler on a road trip.

“do you want like a burger or something......” Whitney asked, judging the spirit. “FLESH” “like are you more of a kfc or a mcdonalds guy” “NEED FLESH” She gave the couple a look, one that was kind of undecipherable due to her lack of normal face details like eyebrows, visible pupils, etc.

“So, three peanut butter lava cakes and one meat lover's… what else?” “ah!!!!!! no lava cake for me, i'm on a diet!!!!!! dirt and dirt only!!!!!!!!!!! also fish bones as a treat” Whitney corrected, her eyes searching for a nearby body of water. “Or, we could get Cyprus the fish meat, and Whitney the bones.” “sounds good to me!!!!!!!!” “FLESH”

…

“welcome to domino's! can i get your order?”

“three peanut butter lava cakes, please. that's all. thank you.” Rachel said, her seat switched with Henderson's, who was too nervous to order. “okay but they each take like three hours to make” “what.” “yea you can stop by like the grocery store up ahead” “fuck you for ordering this” “i–” “fuck off”

the grocewy stowe

The truck stopped by the front of the building, Rachel telling them to go in first while she searches for a good parking spot. Much to Henderson's disappointment.

“My lover…” Henderson said with fear in her voice. “it's okay… go along… i… i have to do this for you…” “for you all… i won't forget the good that you've done to me and everyone i've ever known…” “Rach, please don't go, I lo–” “you all are the kindest people… heaven may wait eagerly for you, but as for me, the ground trembles for its latest meal. fresh from the oven, i will enter the furnace…” “why the fuck would they cook you again” “because i'm TOAST!!” “haha”

“Kill Ronald Reagan while you're at it… I forgot which one he is but I'm pretty sure he's a total bitch…” “i will meet you doomguy” “heeeeeeeh” Rachel whined weakly as she slowly drove over to the spot she wanted.

MOTHERFUCKER.

A silver Honda Civic quickly made its way into there, angering the scientist. “not on my watch, fucker.” Rachel muttered, sliding the pickup truck across the road. She slammed her palm onto the car horn, which terrified even a murder of crows.

“huh wonder who that is” “hm anyway which fish do u like ???? :-)”

A woman who seemed to be in her late 40s exited the Honda Civic, throwing a rather large and flashy boa around her neck. “Jesús, ít's cold in hère,” The lady commented, putting on a pair of expensive-looking sunglasses. “Márie, come along, ma cheghhy!” (i forgot how to spell it)

oh, son of a B I T C H .

it's the french lady who smells weird.

Of course, seeing your enemy in any circumstance that wasn't planned was clearly a little scary and will probably be your last day alive, but bumping into them at a Target was kinda… awkward.

Both the hazelnut and the dolphin were less armed and armoured than usual, and there weren't any bodyguards or security. Usually, if a top leader goes anywhere, the standard protocol was to do thirty separate background checks on the location and have it guarded up somewhere in the three months before their arrival.

So, obviously, someone in Top 50 driving around town in a decades-old car buying groceries isn't very safe, or probably even legal. Hell, she hasn't even seen them wear anything this ridiculous ever. Could this be a distraction? Or is it an opportunity?

Ah, wait, they're both wearing their stupid little marriage bracelets.

It's the middle of October.

This is their anniversary vacation.

Shit.

in the store

Henderson strolled through the aisles with Whitney at her side, hugging Cyprus's jar. She examined the cereal boxes to make sure they didn't contain any food colouring that could potentially kill her.

Whitney, on the other hand, zoomed over to the meat section, licking her lips at the sight of a raw cod. “cyprus…… do you feel that? the need to devour a being???? the uncontrollable desire for energy that it transcends all laws and regulations placed on mankind?????? the growing hunger for power, one that's so strong it controls your every need????

a natural, primal instinct to become such a brutal being that no one, not even you, recognise yourself anymore. you look at yourself in the mirror and you feel like you want to destroy that, to put yourself onto the pedestal you belong on, to wreak havoc on the cosmos of all beings, living and dead, real and mythical, walking and extinct.

you know that you're the only who understands this instinct, the only one who follows it to this distance. everyone else may underestimate you, but in the end, you'll rise above them all. man's natural instinct is to become the ruler of all.”

“What the fuck, Whitney. Anyway, I talked to the deli guy and he said he could pay you to eat up some scraps if you want. You down?” Henderson asked, her trolley already full of snacks. “yea fuck it man” Whitney replied, walking over to the ‘staff only’ door. “im hungy as fuck”

parking lot.

Despite the growing need to kill the woman, Rachel was managing to control herself. Even though this was the perfect opportunity to eliminate one of them, she knows she'll be replaced by someone much crueler. So for now, she'll just stick to watching this lady consider which can of tomato sauce is better than the other.

Rachel parked the truck near the entrance and the Honda Civic. She kept an eye on the couple as she quietly made her way inside through the back door.

“So thàt's when Í saìd, ‘that's not a cactùs, that's a lámp!” Karén playfully said, her hand entwined with her wife's. Rachel was unsure whether to stalk the two or join her friends in shopping.

WELL, FIND THAT OUT IN THE NEXT PART,

B I T C H !! !! !!

[booksncoffee]

how you get the boy - thirteen

“If you’re a good friend then you probably know that I lo-“

“-love Louis, I know.” He finished off my sentence before cracking a telling smile and giving my shoulder a squeeze. I could sense that he was about to say something I wouldn't like and I was right. “But feelings can change, Tee.”

read below // story page

If I didn't know Harry better, I would say that he was avoiding me, for it had been three days since the incident in the hallway and yet, I hadn’t seen him at all after that despite the fact that we lived just next door. Or despite the fact that we had always bumped into each other before, but now all of sudden, it seemed as though he never left his flat and I was beginning to wonder if he really did live in this building.

Unfortunately, that wasn't the case because I did know Harry enough to know that it wasn't him who’s avoiding me; it was me who’s avoiding him.

See, steering clear of Harry wasn't exactly part of my plan, but when it’s the only thing I knew seeing that it’s one of the fewer things I was good at, that’s exactly what I found myself doing.

I didn't realise that I had been missing my trip to The Cup every morning for the past three days until Niall casually brought up his name in our conversation.

As much as I hated to admit it, I could still clearly remember the dejection etched on his face as he glanced at us before he stepped inside and hard as I tried, I couldn't quite erase it from my memory. Not even the memory of Louis’ lips pressed against mine or his fingers digging into my skin could help bury the image of those stupid, stupid, beautiful green eyes that taunted me every night, that appeared behind my eyelids each time I closed them.

‘It was just your bloody imagination, Tee’ had become my mantra. Nevertheless, I was aware that I was just fooling myself because no matter how convincing I sounded in my head, I knew that if it were an imagination, I wouldn't be able to conjure it up, wouldn't be able to see it clearly as though I’d seen it with my own eyes. I did, I did, I did, and I couldn't banish it from my thoughts.

“Tee, I know you’re shite at confrontation,” Niall stated, his accusation pulling me out of my reverie, to which I immediately smacked his head, emitting a yelp from him. Rubbing the sore spot, he then rolled his eyes at me and continued his interrupted speech. “But yknow, you should give it a try. Who knows it might work. In fact, ‘m positive it’ll solve 90% of your bleeding dilemmas.”  

“That’s not true,” I crinkled my nose at him despite the fact that it was true. But having someone else point out a fact about yourself – one that you refused to acknowledge, especially – wasn't exactly in the list of the things that I enjoyed in life. I chose to deny it until I made everyone around me including myself believed that little lie. “I do enjoy confrontation. And where’d you get the statistics?”

Niall let out a loud scoff, causing some people that were browsing through the records to glance at us, as he quirked an eyebrow at me and gave me a look that said he didn't trust me. “Tee, we all know that’s bullshit.”

“No s’not,” I shook my head, crossing my arms in front of my chest whilst a pout made an appearance on my chapped lips. “Just because you’ve never seen me confronting anyone doesn't mean it’s bullshit, Ni.” I continued with my head held high, to which he simply chuckled instead of taking me seriously.

In my head, I was already strangling him and making him choke on his chuckle because damn it, I hated that sound so much when it’s directed at me. Fortunately for me, it did stop after a few seconds even though it seemed as if it wouldn't. I would’ve been more glad if he were to remain quiet but that was just too much to ask, wasn't it?

“’Kay let’s see if you’re telling the truth, yeah?” Niall suddenly mentioned as the corners of his lips were tugged upwards into that devilish smirk I knew very well and hated with every fibre of my being. “He’s here.”

Before I got the chance to let the word ‘what’ leave my lips, the bell above the door jingled, producing a sound that signalled that someone had just walked in and my eyes widened in horror as realisation dawned on me. I looked around the store in an attempt to search for the nearest hiding spot but when my eyes landed on the cash register, I realised that it was too late to hide behind it now because Niall was already calling out Harry’s name, telling the bloke to come over to us.

That wasn't the only thing I realised, no, I also realised that I did avoid confrontation and Niall’s smirk was all the confirmation I needed to know that I would be getting shit from him for the rest of my life because of this.

Bollocks.

Flabbergasted, I glanced through my shoulder just in time to see Harry’s smile as well as his face dropped upon seeing me and I felt a pang of sadness hitting me. Granted that, I quickly disregarded it and focused on the anger I felt towards Niall that was growing by each seconds that passed. I really wished I could strangle him the way I did in my head a couple of seconds ago and get away with it.

I should’ve known that when Niall told me over the phone that he wanted me to come over to the record store he was working at, he was up to something because he’d never asked me to visit him at work before. It had slipped his mouth once before that he didn't like it when I came to the record store, said I always managed to cause a scene whenever I turned up and so, I chose not to come over anymore unless I really needed something from the store.

Well, this time, it was on him if I were to cause a scene because he’d just dragged me into a hole I didn't dig.

“Hey, mate,” Harry said once he’d reached us, his smile reappearing as his gaze landed on Niall. It didn't go unnoticed by me that he was making sure that there was a gap between us as he stood closer to Niall, arms crossing in front of chest like he was trying to protect himself from something. “Everything’s alright?”

Niall nodded his head, his devilish smirk never leaving his peachy thin lips. It took everything in me not to elbow him so hard until it left bruise, but somehow I managed to control the urge by clenching my fist. “The record you’re asking for is here.”

His serious feature morphed into one that displayed delight upon hearing that and I found myself basking in the warmth of his smile and the little dents of delight that appeared at the corner of his lips. Before he could notice that I was staring at him, I blinked my eyes once, twice and looked away, pretending as though I hadn’t just thought about his dimples and how much I wanted to drown in them.

“It did?” Harry asked, breaking the silence between the three of us and Niall nodded his head before he excused himself to go and get the vinyl from the backroom.

As soon as he left the two of us standing awkwardly by the vinyl section, I realised that Niall had just pushed me into the hole he had dug for me. Clenching and unclenching my fist, my eyes darted from Harry’s face to the floor, as I wasn't sure if I should be the one to start the conversation. After ten seconds of debating with myself, I decided to keep quiet and wait until Niall retur-

“How’re you, Harry?” I asked before I got the chance to stop the words from rolling off of my tongue. Mentally, I had already slapped myself over ten times.

Apparently, it wasn't just me who’s taken aback by the question that had just slipped past my lips; Harry was too. It was evident in his face that he hadn’t expected me to say a word to him and I understood that. In fact, if I were him, I’d be surprised too. Especially after the shameful things I’d done.

“’m alright, I guess,” he answered with a shrug, uncertainty – that was never there before – settling over his voice. He scratched his jaw twice and rubbed the back of his neck once before he asked me, “How ‘bout you?”

“Great, yeah,” I nodded as I pulled my bottom lip between my teeth and chewed on it. My gaze followed his eyes that drifted down to my lips for a couple of seconds before they returned to my eyes and he cracked a small smile, an insincere one at that.

“Date with Louis went well, I suppose?” There was a hint of bitterness in his deep voice and I chose not to obsess over it until I was alone later.

Instead, I shrugged, opting for the indifference act I had perfected over the past few months. “Yeah, it did.”

Harry hummed his response as he pinched his bottom lip between his fingers, eyes scanning my face like he was hoping that he could detect a lie. He couldn't, because the date was good; in fact, it was probably the best one I’d gone to. Dropping his hand to his side, he then opened his mouth to speak, “That’s good.”

The awkwardness was palpable – that much I knew – and it didn't take a genius to figure out that Harry had something else to say, that there’s more to his ‘that’s good’. However, before I could point that out, Niall returned from the backroom with the vinyl he was talking about. There’s a bounce in his steps and a smirk on his face as he made his way to us, to which I simply scoffed to myself. He must have thought that Harry and I had sorted our shits out.

“Here ya go, H,” Niall handed Harry the vinyl that he accepted with a huge smile adorning his face and I tried to catch a peek at it. Paul Simon. I’d say I wasn't surprised, but I was, for I’d never pegged him as someone who listened to songs like Graceland. “Took me weeks to get that! Bloody Arnold wouldn't let me get a hold on it until yesterday. Said he didn't trust me with this or summat. Real pain in the arse, that one.”

At that, laughter tumbled off Harry’s lips and it was the music to my ears. “Thanks, mate,” he said once his laughter had died down, waving the record in front of his face, “Really appreciate it.”

“S’nothing,” he said dismissively before he added jokingly, “you paid me, remember?”

I felt as though I shouldn't be here, shouldn't be standing between two blokes who were far taller than me and listening to their conversation. My presence was not needed and therefore, I decided to leave the record store and return to my flat instead.

I didn't get to do so, however, because I’d only managed to take two steps before I felt Niall’s fingers wrapped around my forearm, tugging at me and pulling me back to him.

“You busy tonight, H?” Niall asked as he pulled me to his side, draping his arm over my shoulder so I wouldn't be able to leave. Arsehole. “Think we should go to Vortex tonight. Been a while, don’t ya think?”

Since I was standing close to Niall, I took that as a chance to nudge him in the rib with my pointy elbow – that’s what I’d been told by Shiloh – and smirked when he winced in pain.

“It’s been a while, yeah, but I’ve, erm, got things to do tonight,” Harry answered whilst rubbing the back of his neck and shifting from one foot to another. “Sorry, mate.”

Niall scoffed, “No need to apologise, H. Guess it’ll just be me and Tee tonight.”

“How ‘bout Louis, yeah? Bet he can come with you?” Harry said, though it didn't come out as a statement, as he glanced at me for a couple of seconds, something that I couldn't quite perceive flashing in his eyes. Then, he looked at Niall and hitched his thumb towards the exit before either of us could answer his question that didn't quite need an answer. “Anyway, I’ve gotta run to The Cup now. Thanks again for this, Ni.”

The blond haired bloke waved him off and once Harry was completely out of our sight, Niall turned to me, brows furrowing in confusion. I could see the cogs turning above his head and I waited for him to say something. When he didn't, I nudged him once more, emitting another yelp from him.

“Stop that, will you?” Niall groaned as he rubbed the spot below his rib, “They’re gonna leave bruises.”

“Whatever, Ni,” I rolled my eyes, “What’re you thinking so hard about anyway?”

Then the contemplating look returned. He scratched his eyebrow whilst his eyes darted from the big window that overlooked the street then to me, “H told me yesterday that he has a day off today.”

For the first few minutes, I shrugged off that piece of information because it was useless, because why would I want to know if he had a day off or not if I didn't even go to The Cup anymore. Having said that, somehow it was when I was making my way back to my flat that I realised that maybe, just maybe Harry was avoiding me too. Which explained the lie he made up about having to be elsewhere when he didn't have to, when he could’ve just stayed with us.  

&&

Louis returned to the flat twenty minutes after I did.

“Niall told me you’re going to Vortex tonight?” Louis questioned as he occupied the empty spot next to me on the couch and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. Pulling me closer to him, he planted a kiss on my forehead and I rested my head on his chest, inhaling the faint smell of his cologne.

Ever since the kiss we had after the date, nothing more than harmless kisses on the cheeks or forehead – sometimes a peck on the lips – and cuddles on the couch in front of the television happened. It was as though we were both skirting around the edges, both unsure where to go from there.

Thus, we decided to settle on going back to the way we were. Except, we’re allowed to hold each other’s hands or kissed each other’s lips whenever we wanted to. I’d never had the boldness to do the latter somehow. It had always been him who’d initiate a kiss on the lips, which never lasted for more than five seconds.

“Yeah,” I mumbled against the material of his t-shirt and focused on the sound of his steady heartbeat as opposed to mine that was beating wildly against my chest, “I don’t think ‘m going.”

“No, no,” Louis disagreed and I removed my head from his chest and knitted my eyebrows together as I looked at him, “I specifically remember Niall telling me that if you said you wanna back out of this night out, I have to persuade you to go.”

“He did, really?” I wasn't surprised because that did sound like something Niall would say, but still. That bastard. “How exactly are you gonna persuade me, Lou?”

Louis pursed his mouth in a smug smirk and he patted my knee before he heaved himself off the couch, glancing at me through his shoulder. “By coming with you and making sure that you’re not getting out of this.”

Then, he disappeared into his room, giving me no choice but to get up from my comfortable spot on the couch and made my way to my room where I, once again, stressed over what I was going to wear. Whilst staring at the clothes I had hung in the wardrobe, I heard the soft sound of a familiar music playing through the thin wall of my room and next thing I knew, I found my feet shuffling towards the source of the sound.

I pressed my ear against the wall.

Marvin Gaye was playing and I smiled to myself; he’d never failed to surprise me with his choice of music. Come to think of it, he’d never failed to surprise me with anything.  

The second that thought came into my mind, I brushed it off and returned to my wardrobe where I picked the first thing my eyes landed on: the black dress I wore on Harry’s birthday. I remembered the smirk that graced his lips when he not-so-subtly checked me out, remembered what went down by the end of the night.

Shit.

Why everything that crossed my mind today seemed to lead back to Harry, I hadn’t a clue. And I hated it, hated the knowledge of him occupying every crevice of my mind so much. I blamed the brief conversation we had earlier for making me think of him, but then again, he had already been in my mind before Niall tricked me into coming to the record store when he knew Harry was coming over as well.

“Fuck me,” Louis said under his breath, but I heard it – of course I did – and I glanced through my shoulder to see him standing in front of my doorway. One hand stuffed in the pocket of his black skinny jeans, he brought another one hand up to his jaw and rubbed it thoughtfully as he looked at me. “You look smashing, Tee.”

“Thanks,” I replied sheepishly. Tucking a strand of hair behind my ear, I made a move to grab my jacket and put it on, worried that the weather would only get colder by the end of the night or morning – depending on when we decided to leave Vortex. After making sure that I’d taken everything with me – my mobile phone, my key and my money – I made my way to Louis and smiled when the familiar scent of his cologne hit my senses. “We should go before Niall starts calling me.”

Louis mumbled something about me being right as he stepped aside and let me step out of the room. I looked at him. He was shaking his head like he was trying to shake off whatever thought he had in his mind and I ignored the rush I felt running through my vein when our shoulders brushed.

Instead, I focused on getting my steps right so I wouldn't fall on my arse and embarrass myself. Louis pushed my hand away before I could reach for the knob and opened the front door for us. He was so adamant about this whole ‘ladies first’ thing and I found it quite endearing.

Come to think of it, I’d always found anything he did endearing.

Like how he opened the car door for me and did a little bow before I climbed in or like how he would increase the volume of the radio when his favourite song came on the radio – but lower it quickly when he heard me saying something – or like how he placed his palm on the small of my back if we were to walk next to each other; the list was endless.

It wasn't until we’d arrived at Vortex that I realised I’d missed out one thing that I found the most endearing about Louis. How he entwined our fingers, making sure that I stayed close to him as we walked into the club like he was trying to protect me from all these drunken people. The music inside of Vortex was so loud – louder than any other days – to which I actually winced when the sound hit my eardrums. Louis gave my hand a reassuring squeeze and I relaxed a bit until we met up with Niall who’s already saved a few seats for us.

“Hiya Tee!” Liam exclaimed rather excitedly when he spotted me and I could only assume that he was already drunk because one, he’d never greeted me like that and two, he’d never winked at me like he just did two seconds ago. “I see that you came with Louis.”

Although Vortex was considerably dark, they must have seen red leaked into my cheeks as I nervously smiled and bit my lip as Louis moved from standing behind me to smack Liam, to which they both ended up laughing when Liam nearly fell off his chair. Niall, on the other hand, rolled his eyes. I’d say that he wasn't exactly enthusiastic about Louis and I, but I paid no attention to it.

“Are you two together or summat?” Liam questioned next with a kink of his eyebrows. At that, Niall scrunched his nose and I blamed his expression for my hasty answer.

“No,” I answered much too quickly and I cursed to myself, wishing that I could slap a hand over my mouth. I could feel Louis tensing up slightly behind me and I glanced through my shoulder to see that instead of having a frown adorning his forehead, he was shooting a smile at me and the tense dissipated when I returned his smile. Relieved, I turned back to Liam and continued, “No, we’re not.”

“Shame,” he muttered under his breath before he brought the glass up to his lips and took a swig of the liquor. “You two would look good together, I reckon.”

In front of me, I could see that Niall was holding back his snort and I couldn't help but wonder why he seemed so snarky tonight. Hence, I kicked his foot under the table, urging him to look at me. “Ni, could you come with me to the bar?” When I saw that his lips were forming the syllable ‘no’, I kicked his foot again, to which he groaned and agreed reluctantly.

Once I was sure that Louis and Liam wouldn't see or hear us, I stopped Niall in his tracks and squinted my eyes at him as I tried to scan his face. When his feature, gave nothing away, I asked, “Okay, what’s wrong with you?”

He shrugged half-heartedly, eyes avoiding my gaze, “Dunno what you’re talking about.”

“Bullshit.” I pointed out as I crossed my arms in front of my chest, “Ni, in case you’ve forgotten, I know you just as well as you know me. So, what is it?”

Niall gave a sideway glance before he ran his fingers through his hair and let out a heavy, weighted sigh. “This is stupid but I just.. Jo and I haven’t talked since our date.”

“What-Why?”

“Dunno,” He shrugged again and this time he ran a hand down his face whilst a muffled groan left his throat, “She said she’ll text me the next morning but it’s been, what, a week?”

Eyebrows knitted together, I tried to remember the day Niall and I went to the cupcake shop where he scored himself a date with Jo, whereas I got a box of cupcakes that I brought to Harry’s flat when I returned home later.

It had been a week.

“And she hasn't texted you?”

“No,” he shook his head, his glum expression making its return on his face. Although every now and then I enjoyed making Niall’s life miserable, right now, I wished I could wipe the sadness off of his face. Wished his eyes would light up with the usual cheekiness instead. Sighing, his hand drifted into his pocket, “S’pose she doesn't like me.”

“I doubt that,” I said, confidence lilting my voice. I was 100% positive that she liked him; I’d seen the secret smile she had on her face when she looked at him. And I was certain the smile was reserved for Niall and only Niall. “Don’t you think that maybe she’s scared to text you first?”

“Why’d she be scared?” Niall asked, his face etched with confusion, to which I told him that I would be scared to text a bloke first and that he should probably text her first. “Right, you’re right, Tee.”

“I know I’m right,” I replied with a smug grin adorning my lips, bumping his shoulder with mine. “Is that the only reason why you rolled your eyes at Louis and I just now?”

“I did, didn't I?” He smirked innocently and I punched his arm twice – he really was asking for it today. “Dunno, Tee, I don’t like seeing you and Louis, I guess?”

Brows furrowing, I shoved him once more because there’s absolutely no reason for his dislike towards Louis or towards me or towards the two of us. As far as I was concerned, none of us hated one another. “Why?”

“’Cos Harry likes you, Tee,” He gave me a pointed look as though I should be able to figure that out myself.

“Wha- how’d you know? Did he tell you?”

“He didn't have to, I knew.” Bloody liar. Niall wasn't that good at perceiving things; at least not on this matter. No one knew about Harry and I. I was pretty certain that this piece of information must have slipped past Harry’s lips whilst they were conversing over the phone – or whilst they were out, God knew when – and Niall, being a quite good listener that he was, must have questioned his friend about us. Must have gotten all the information he needed from the bloke. “I know a lot of things about you two, Tee.”

I rolled my eyes and snorted. “What are you? A mind reader? A stalker?”

“I’m a good friend, that's what I am.” He answered with head held high, chin jutted out and I had to resist the urge to punch his arm again. Or rather, punch his face. It’s enough that I’d left some bruises on his body when I elbowed him earlier today.

“If you’re a good friend then you probably know that I lo-“

“-love Louis, I know.” He finished off my sentence before cracking a telling smile and giving my shoulder a squeeze. I could sense that he was about to say something I wouldn't like and I was right. “But feelings can change, Tee.”

&&

We – Louis and I – ended up leaving Vortex an hour later. Initially, I wanted to leave the place alone but Louis didn't think it’s safe for me to take the cab alone and so, he decided to come home with me as well. Niall wasn't too happy with my decision, though, but with Liam keeping him companied for the rest of the night, he had no reason to stop me from leaving.

The question of whether I was okay or not left Louis’ lips every five minutes and each time it did, I lied to him and told him that I was just tired.

Truth was, after what Niall said to me, I couldn't stop thinking about it, couldn't stop wondering if feelings really could change – in my case, that is – because I had grown so used to the idea that my feelings for Louis would be the one thing that was constant in my life.  But I couldn't tell him that. So I told him that I was tired and sleep was all I needed.

After pressing a kiss on my forehead and wishing me goodnight, we went into our rooms. I locked the door though I rarely did that before – I’d always liked to leave the door slightly open – and let out a long sigh when my eyes landed on my bed. I wasn't lying, after all, I was tired.

As soon as I had washed my face, brushed my teeth and changed into something more comfortable, I fell asleep when my head hit the pillow. I was sure that I could’ve gotten a good night sleep, very sure until I wasn't anymore.

At around 2.30 in the morning, I heard a loud thump against my wall. It was so loud to the point that it jolted me awake. I wouldn't have a problem falling back to sleep if the sound didn't return.

But it did.

And that was how I found myself lying awake in my bed, eyes shooting murderous glare at the ceiling above me as I pressed the pillow against my ears. It didn't mute the sound, however; I could still hear the faint sound of it and it drove me crazy. Crazy enough for me to drag my heavy limbs out of my bed and out of my room. I didn't even bother to make sure that I looked presentable before I made a beeline to the front door and surprisingly, without bumping into anything and without making any loud noises and waking Louis up, I managed to get myself out of the flat.

My bare feet supposedly had a mind of their own as they navigated me to his flat and it wasn’t until I was standing in front of Harry’s door, my knuckle only an inch away from the door, that a pang of conscience hit me and I felt as though I was finally fully awake.

I was bloody standing in front of Harry’s flat, ready to stop him from having sex with whoever that was, at 3 in the morning in nothing but my sleeping outfit. I blinked my eyes once, twice, as I dropped my hand to my side and cursed under my breath. I didn't know what had gotten me, but I knew for sure that I was ashamed of myself for thinking that I had the right to come here and tell him off.  

He could do whatever he wanted and who was I to stop him?

Therefore, with those words being repeated in my head again and again, I returned to my room and got under the sheet. My speeding heartbeat refused to calm down and with each thump I heard, my heartbeat only increased and I could feel something running through my vein, something foreign. Then there’s that bitter taste on my tongue and even as I had swallowed it down, it remained there until the sun came up and it was time for me to leave the comfort of my bed.  

I blamed the lack of sleep and the exhaustion, of course, for my behaviour four hours later.

“You forgot the bloody syrup, how could you forget it?” I normally wouldn't snap over small matter like this – one thing I was proud of myself – but I was exhausted and I was quite sure that this headache was going to kill me if I didn't consume caffeine as soon as possible.

The girl – who looked slightly younger than me – winced at the way I spoke to her, muttering her apologies to me and I wished I could feel sorry for her, but I couldn't. Not right now, at least; I might feel terrible about this later once I no longer felt like there’s tons of bricks on my shoulders and like the sky was falling down on me.

Then his smooth yet raspy voice pulled me back to earth and reminded me that my world hadn’t ended yet. Thank God.

“Let me do that,” he said softly before telling the girl to go back to the counter and take the order instead. “You scared the piss out of the poor new kid.”

He didn't even look at me when he said that, so I leant forward and watched as he made my coffee from the scratch, “She’s new?”

“Mhmm,” he hummed as he made a move to pour the caramel syrup in my drink whilst a small smirk tugging at his lips. He must have heard what I said earlier. “Bad day, huh?”

“Yeah, I didn't get laid last night.” I huffed and as soon as those words left my lips, I wished I could take them back. I hadn’t meant to sound bitter, hadn’t meant to bring up what happened at 3 in the morning and I sure as hell hadn’t meant to let him know that I’d heard him. Loud and clear.

His green eyes were intense for a couple of seconds as they looked at me and my thoughts ran wild at the sight of that. He coughed into his fist and ran his fingers through his hair before he walked over to the new kid and said something her. Next thing I knew, he was standing next to me, his warmth radiating off of his body and I found myself savouring it until he opened his mouth and told me that ‘we should probably talk.’ Then it was coldness that I felt.

“So last night-“

“You said you have things to do,” I interfered before he got the opportunity to finish his sentence, feeling my nose flared up from the pent up anger, which I didn't even know where it came from. “Was getting laid one of the things you needed to do?”

Harry’s jaw dropped open for a fraction, though, I had to admit that he was quick to mask his feature with indifference. Bet he learned that from me. “That.. Why’d you care about that, bun- Tenley?”

“I didn’t,” I answered a bit too quickly and I could only hope that he didn't hear the lie in my voice, didn't notice the way I faltered when the word rolled off of my tongue. “But I did lose my sleep because of the thumping noise.”

“You wanna talk about losing sleep?” He quirked an eyebrow at me, a mechanical laugh leaving his throat and I frowned at him, wondering where he’s going with this. “Tenley, I couldn't fucking sleep after seeing you with Louis. I couldn't get the image of him kissing you out of my head and I can’t get the image of you enjoying the kiss so much out of my head and it drives me mental, alright?”

The revelation rendered me speechless and for a solid minute, I felt sorry for him for losing sleep over me. But then I remembered. Remembered the reason why we’re having this talk. “So you decided to screw some girl and torture me with the sound of her moan instead? The sound of the two of you going at it?”

His brows descended into a frown and he pinched his bottom lip between his fingers as he bought himself some time. “I didn't think you’d be awake,” he murmured and his voice was so slow that those words almost didn't reach my ears.

“Well, I was and have been since then,” I replied, bitterness creeping its way into my voice, to which he frowned at me.

“Tenley, what’d you feel if you told someone that you like him and then two nights later, you found him kissing another girl?”

I crossed my arms in front of my chest – the coffee he’d prepared for me long forgotten – as I tried to make sense of his question. “What does this have to do with our conversation?”

He shook his head and shrugged. “I thought since you told me what put you in a bad mood, why not I tell you mine as well?”

He was being sarcastic, I was pretty sure of that, so I decided to do the same. “I wouldn't take the first girl I found at the pub to my bed, that’s for sure.”

Harry was great at composing himself, I noticed, for his feature didn't change at all once he heard my reply. And if I weren’t too consumed by my anger towards him at the moment, I would’ve said that I admire his ability to get control of himself. Unlike me who was now clenching and unclenching my fist underneath the table and to stop myself from saying more stupid things, I brought the paper cup up to my lips and took a sip of the coffee.

Every five seconds my eyes would dart to him and I would look away instantly when he glanced at me. I hated seeing the creases between his brows. Wished I could make it disappear with my fingertips. I couldn’t because it wasn't my place to do that and I wouldn't because.. Well, I couldn't think of the reason why I wouldn't want to smoothen the lines between his brows. But I knew I would figure it out later.

“It just doesn't make sense, you know,” he said all of sudden, breaking the silence that was looming over us with his raspy voice. I looked up and saw that he was already looking at me, his green eyes scrutinising my face like this was the last time he’d be able to truly look me in the eyes.

“What?” I asked, scared. Scared to hear what he had to say. Scared that my voice would give away the thoughts running wild in my mind.

He ran his tongue over his lower lip and pulled it between his teeth, releasing it as he released the breath he was holding. “That Louis starts liking you when I am falling for you.”

Five minutes of silence passed between us and I still didn't speak, but I was looking at Harry and I realised that things would never be the same between us anymore. And I despised the knowledge so much because I didn't know what to do with it. So I did what I did best. I stood up from the chair and left The Cup without saying another word.

[thetoffeefox]

Rebirth Chapter One: It Suits You

Aslaug, February, Areona, Astrid, and Slatesdale(slate) belongs to me and is only to be used by me. No one has permission to use them unless otherwise stated by me. Nakura, Hiroshi, Trampas, Shepherdstone and Moskau belongs to @teatimewithsentinel any and all questions about them must go through to them. 

Cheating death is something he has done on and off over the course of his existence. It’s almost like a signature for him. The great Shepherdstone flirting with and successfully avoiding deaths toxic kiss. He got such a high from it, it was addicting. This time though he was certain he was going to slip away, he wasn't going to cheat it this time. He got too cocky something he should know not to do, but he did and here he was on the ground battered and bruised, blood seeping from deep wounds and cuts. There was something odd though he was waiting for the final strike. He was waiting for the blow that would end him, instead, he felt something splatter onto him. He grunted as the distinct smell of blood pierced his senses. He grunted while he shifted trying to raise his head, after a few more moments he managed to do so only for his eyes to go wide as they pierced into near lifeless emerald ones.

Aslaug Rivermoon had cast herself in front of him to shield him from harm, but why? He could hear Nakura’s screams in the background. Why? Why would she put herself in harm’s way for him? What in God’s name would possess her to do such a thing? He was her enemy and her assailant. So why? Why would she risk death for him? He watches as a smile comes to her face as she tries to find words to give him the answer to the question that is burning in his gaze...No...She was looking for her voice, looking for her ability to speak. Finally, she manages to do so, but what comes out only makes his brow furrow in confusion. Craning his neck a bit more he looks over her body. She has multiple puncture wounds in her abdomen and two in her chest cavity. She will die if February doesn’t get to her and act fast. He hisses and grunts as black spots dance around his vision. Panting he goes back to noting his own injuries that are still bleeding heavily. Stupid girl, if she dies she will have wasted her life on trying to save him. If he keeps bleeding this heavily he too will die. He smirks, what a stupid girl indeed. He then notes the voices of everyone around him though he is far from understanding what is being said. Huh? His vision is gone….the voices are….gone.

Waking up was the last thing he thought he would be doing, but here he was alive and in the middle of what he could only assume to be a routine checkup from February. Her eyes gaze into his for only but a moment before focusing back on her work. February Valdis was also a Valkyrian Fox, probably the most stunning and ethereal looking of her kind. She was honestly more attractive than Aslaug. Then again that might be because she is a true living and breathing deity. A messenger and servant of old and forgotten gods. He feels excitement swell up in him, to think he is this close to a being with such diverse and well capable powers!!! He is snapped from his inner musing by a light growl piercing his ears, looking from the corner of his eyes he is greeted by a large shaggy wolf with gold eyes. Ah, Slatesdale! He had to admit to himself the wolf in front of him was also a rare find and not just because he was half dire. His ability to manipulate plants and taint them with his own energy was also a rare gem. He wasn’t going to deny he was easy on the eyes as well.

“He can’t move much yknow, let him fancy whatever sick fantasies are running through that head of his.” She states making the wolf sit next to her with a huff.

Shepherdstone feels himself smirk in amusement, but it dies the moment Slate whips around and snaps his jaws only inches away from his face. He had to say it was actually a tad bit frightening. He had known the wolf to be able to keep his cool when it came to his taunting and threats. His control was iron clad but the wolf in front of him seemed to have very little if any what so ever. Something else was obviously bugging the wolf before him and now that he thought about it February was not herself either. The fox hadn’t spit out an insult or snide remark to him not even once since he has woke, that is when it clicks.

“...How is she?...” He asks his voice is barely above a whisper.

He watches as both of them freeze and tense up at his question. The look in their eyes said it all the silence said it all. It explained the outburst from Slate, what it didn’t explain was why was he still being cared for? He was certain that each and every one of them is blaming him for it. He backtracks his thinking as a strange feeling wells up inside of his chest. Aslaug Rivermoon is dead. Such a thought is so foreign in his mind for some strange reason. It leaves a bitter taste in his mouth as he thinks it again. Turning his head away from the both of them he focuses on the traditional style pattern on the wall of the room. What is this feeling? It’s not a feeling he thought he would even remotely feel when he would imagine and depict her death over and over in his head. He felt Slate’s and February’s eyes on him they were curious and confused by his actions. Moments later he hears the clicking of nails leaving the room. His ears twitched noting that Slate had not gone far….He was guarding him? Facing the fox in front of him she sighed and went back to her work.

“...You’ve made a real mess of things...She asked that you be healed...Some of us don’t exactly want that though..” She explains.

He let out hum trying to determine who was on what side, it was obvious that Nakura would be all for letting him get killed as well as Trampas and Moskau. It took a moment but he then determined Hiroshi would probably like to see him dead as well. So that left February and Slate to protect him and possibly Areona. If Astrid was nearby he would have her assistance as well. He didn’t even try and think that he could turn anyone them against the other it wasn’t going to work and even if it did the moment it happened it would seal his fate because if one person got hurt all of them would turn on him. After February had patched him up again she left him to his own musings. Days had gone by, it wasn’t until tonight that he felt he had the strength to get up so he did so. It did cause immense pain for him the tightness in his skin around the wounds screamed in protest as his body and muscles shifted. Sliding open the door to the bedroom he was greeted with a sleeping Slate and a few yard away in the grass was Trampas who was snoring the night away. Stepping over Slate with ease he made his way around the shrines taking in the scenery and surroundings down to even smell. That wasn’t what he was looking for though. It was the seventh night since she had died, he was certain Areona was going to follow tradition when it came to Valkyrian Fox’s death. It was believed that if the body was laid out that their soul might return within seven days and that person would be reborn again.  

Of course, it was a silly wise tail, once someone died they stayed dead. Aslaug Rivermoon was gone for eternity, she is dead….she is dead. After a bit more searching an unmistakable scent pierces his nose, Magnolias, and Lilacs, it was faint but it was still there. Following it he found himself all the way on the other end of the shrine at the back corner. Made sense that they would want her body as far away from him as possible. Opening the door he felt his stomach go hollow as he noted the candles and incenses in the room, that wasn’t what he was focused on though. His main goal was lying beneath the white sheet in the middle of the room. Strange his whole body felt heavy all of a sudden, could he be more tired than he originally thought? He pushes past it though and settles on the floor of the room before reaching out and pulling the white sheet off the top of Aslaug. Her eyes were closed as compared to the haunting image of their lifelessness that seemed to be engraved in his mind’s eye. She was the polar opposite of what he had last seen. She looked almost peaceful. He barely even recognized that he had lightly stroked her cheek with his fingers until the coldness of her skin registered on his. It was then that her last words to him clicked in his mind.

“...My….Kimono..”

Pulling the sheet further down he slid his hand into the pocket of her kimono. He remembers when she first showed it to him, he thought it was so silly as did the others. His finger touches something smooth and cold he grasps it and pulls out looking at it awe. It was a hair comb that was adorned with hand-crafted metal sakura blossoms their center were adorned with pearls. Slowly he slides it into her hair as a memory stirred. It was late summer when an earthquake rocked her small village, everyone had blamed her for it. Her parents were even a bit skeptical of it. Shepherdstone had known though it wasn’t her fault, she was out with him hunting when it had hit, but he wasn’t going to let her tell them that knowing full and well she would be punished for doing what men in her village were suppose to do. He had found her at the place where they had first met she curled into a ball under the base of a tree sobbing. He wasn’t one to console people, but he found himself doing so. He had even gifted her the item that now rests in her once lustrous purple hair. Aslaug Rivermoon had gained her memories back...that was what she was trying to tell him. She had remembered him if only she had known it was all a lie then again that probably wouldn’t have made death any easier for her. It might have just made her ask more questions. Ignorance is truly bliss. He looks at her one last time and the three words he told her long ago slipped out.

It suits you...