#like girl go back to your cave of. You don't exist to us. oh my god that's so weird. oh my godddd

[chainsawpng]

CRAZY.

[luveline]

Miguel requests you say? 🤭 how about grumpy lovesick Miguel giving spider girl a hickey cause no one’s gonna notice right? only for someone to notice lol he’d be teased relentlessly.

thank you for your request!! —miguel gives spidergirl!reader a hickey. fem!reader, 1.5k

Miguel runs his entire life based on the assumption that there's not enough time. The multiverse is caving in on itself and he's probably the only one who can stop it —he doesn't have time to be kissing you in a dark hallway on the way to the control room. 

He doesn't have time and he shouldn't be doing this here, but you looked at him like he hung the moon for making some stupid joke, and you're always lovely, sweeping around him without worry to ask how he's feeling today, to touch his arm and really mean it. Did you get any sleep? 

He's not thinking as his hand closes down on your shoulder to pull you forward, not thinking as he chases you back into an alcove, not thinking as the seam of your lips parts under the pressure of his kissing, as you sigh into it, as your hands go limp where they're pressed to his neck. 

Miguel used to be better with words. He kisses you until you can't breathe, taking and taking and taking, your touch and especially your open-mouthed kisses a balm. And as you catch your breath, your hand rubbing affectionately at the back of his neck, he tilts your chin up with a no-nonsense thumb and noses at the column of your throat. He's trying to be quick and forgetting to be nice, nipping little welts like a line of longing from your jawline to your collar, hand hooked in your suit and holding it down for a better angle. 

He thinks, if he were to let the suit spring back into place, no one would see what he wants to do. 

"Can I?" he asks, hand full of your face, your head weighed heavily to one side. 

You're breathless. "I'd let you do anything you want to me," you say honestly. 

He attempts to ruin your right there in the hall. The hand that isn't holding your face squeezes at your waist unabashedly, pulling you as close as he can get as he works his teeth against the delicate skin of your neck. Open-mouthed, Miguel plasters damp crescents up to your pulse, where he stays, where he bites. You shudder at the feeling. Your happy sigh eggs him on. 

He's feeling pretty smug about the whole thing when he finally arrives ten minutes late to the command centre. The platform starts to rise under his feet, Lyla on his shoulder, Margo at the helm. You sit on the edge and swing your feet, hand drifting to your freshly bruised neck and prodding gently. He wonders if you've ever had a hickey before, and concludes you likely haven't; you've no room for subtlety. 

The smugness fades. You don't have a subtle bone in your body, actually, and he didn't ask you to hide it. He's not sure he wants to —you don't want to be his secret, and though it humanises him too much for his liking in the eyes of some of the other Spiders to have evident feelings for you, he doesn't want you to feel that way. You probably think the hickey is a 'freaky' badge of honour, the way you function. You'd sounded oh so happy to get it, and you'd kissed him when he pulled away like you were saying thank you. 

You definitely have some misconceptions Miguel needs to set straight, and he will. Just not in front of Lyla. He's only now started setting boundaries with the AI, like, try not to watch what I'm doing all the time, and, please don't pop into existence to make snarky commentary at my lame attempts at romance. It sort of kills the mood.

The day moves forward smoothly. Miguel might actually get away with it. You ease back fully onto the platform with your back to all of them, a book in your lap, humming at odd times until you forget to hum. Lyla runs calculations. Margo runs the teleportation room. Nobody notices anything unusual, not the mess of his hair from your squeezing fingers nor the rumpled neck of your suit. 

Legs crossed, you lay back and stretch your arms up toward him. He notices your movement from the corner of his eye and turns to give you a reassuring smile. He'd say he needs to find you a job, but there are enough spiders doing enough jobs. You have a training course tomorrow for strike force, but today, you're good to lounge about on the floor and send him lazy winks. 

Peter B. Parker arrives, and of course he brings trouble. 

"Hey, Spider," he calls, nodding at you, then Margo, and then Miguel. "Spider, Spider. Hi, Lyla." 

"What do you want?" Miguel asks tiredly. 

"Lyla asked me to come," he says. 

"For what?" Miguel asks Lyla. 

"Peter's useful. You need two team captains today in case the canon events on Earth-898 and 1264 converge at the same time and there are anomalies. I don't see why I have to tell you this." 

Miguel groans and he and his AI descend into an argument. You wave at Peter from the platform as it begins to descend toward him, fingers spread and swaying like sea grass. 

"Hi, Peter," you say, "where's Mayday? I'm owed a baby hold, you promised." 

"I did, I did promise!" Peter says. He squints at you. "I think I made one of the Spider-Girls that looks like you hold her, actually. That would explain why she was so confused. Woah, what happened?" 

Three heads turn at Peter's surprise. You stand up and hop the small distance from the platform to the floor as it stops moving, confused. "What?" 

"You have a bruise the size of Hawaii!" Peter's eyebrows jump his forehead. "I thought you were looking after her?" he asks Miguel. 

"He is," you say, less confused now. 

"What bruise?" Lyla asks. 

"It's not appropriate," Miguel says. "Margo's here." 

"Margo," Lyla says pleadingly. 

Margo sighs at the acute and abject unseriousness of her colleagues and logs out. As soon as she's gone, Lyla whizzes from Miguel's shoulder to yours, and while the hologram can't move aside your suit's high neck, she doesn't really need to. The dark colour of your hickey peeks out regardless. 

"Jesus, Miguel," Lyla says, "what's wrong with you?" 

Peter looks a funny mixture of embarrassed to have brought it up and pleased. "I mean, good for you guys." 

Miguel's surprised when you —tries to make him dance in public, lackadaisical, carefree you— pull the neck of your suit up and bat your hand. Lyla zips away from your fingers. 

"Please, stop," you say, laughing uncomfortably. 

Miguel hadn't considered how you might feel if you were discovered. He winces and steps off of the platform to get his arm around your shoulder. "Peter," he says, feeling wildly over protective, "you can do my tasks, since you're here. Lyla will help. It's my lunch break." 

"You don't have a lunch break." 

"I barely said anything!" Peter protests. 

Despite a batch of grumbling complaints, Peter climbs onto the platform, dragging a chair to Miguel's crop of orange screens. 

You let Miguel guide you to the hall, an apology on the tip of his tongue. You're a few steps deep when you drop the sad-sack act and spin out of his arm, turning to face him. A devious smile curls the corners of your lips up. "That was good, right?" 

"You're not upset?" he asks, eyebrows set into their usual frown.

"Nah. You wanted to get out of there, right? Your cheeks went pink." 

"They did not." 

"They did! Like when you kiss me, they went all pink, you can practically see how warm you were." You make a heart with your hands and press it to your chest. "Saved you, handsome." 

He looks up at the ceiling. Of course you know him well enough to know he wasn't keen on being teased. Of course you're not embarrassed at being marked up and discovered. You love his attention, you love all the boyfriend‐like stuff he does, kisses and hugs and hickeys, the whole job lot. He doesn't need to worry. 

"Thank you," he says. It's sweet of you to rescue him. You're a sweet woman. 

"You're welcome. Maybe next time, if you're going to get shy, you could give me one where people won't see." 

"Stop," he warns without heat. 

You laugh and twine your hand with his, yanking him down the hall. To the cafeteria, he guesses. He wouldn't know. He's never been there. Miguel really doesn't have a lunch break. 

[jinlizz-dragondrama]

The Rise of a Demon

"Thank you for this amazing turnout!" The mayor says

"Woohoo!" I shout

"Let's hear it for Monkie Kid! Hero of the city!" Mei exclaims while excitedly destroying furniture in the restaurant

The mayor hands MK the key and explains that it is a key that can open anything. As soon as MK touches it the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I get the slight sense of danger. It doesn't help that the mayor laughs like a maniac and quickly says something some ancient artifacts then poofs out of existence.

"Wow, a key that can open anything," MK says

We immediately go out and try the key on different things. We hit the arcade, helped set free some puppies, bought shoes, partied up at a DJ booth, went swimming in the weather room, raced our vehicles, got all the toys out of the claw machines, ate a bunch of ice cream and so much more.

*Gasps* "Mei! Nuwa! OK hear me out! We knew the key could magically unlock anything. But maybe...it can also magically lock anything too!"

"You described all keys... " Mei says And I nod in agreement

We end up locking Pigsy's restaurant and we laugh watching Pigsy trying to break into his restaurant.

"I've never missed a day of work, since I was 13... *fourth wall break* "No guys this isn't child labor stuff I like sweeping and helping make the noodles. I took my job very seriously back then....and still do...moving on. *End of the fourth wall break*

As we are too distracted laughing, we get pushed over the edge of MK's fire escape porch. I land on top of some boxes with a grunt and pained moan I look up to see what or who did this.

"Noodle Boy finally" Red Son sneers

"Ugh it's you, why are you so obsessed with us? Get a hobby!" I say while angrily shaking my fist at him

"What are you doing in MK's house?" Mei asks

"Your house is depressing, I almost feel bad for stealing stuff from you. But I'm gonna need that magic key....oh and you girl your apartment is trashed too" Red Son says nonchalantly

"You big ole....wait...how did you know I lived above MK? You better not have touched my stuff!"

Red Son uses his powers to nab the key and he zooms into his Bull Tank. Mei whistles for her bike and goes after him on her bike. I get into my quad and follow suit. We end up leaving MK behind...oops. Mei and I catch up with Red Son rather quickly.

"Can't you little Peasants let me plot in peace? Just one time!" Red Son shouts as he explodes into flames

"Easy there hothead don't want you to break anything, I think you need to cool off!" I pull out a fire extinguisher and spray the foamy mixture at him.

He disengages from the main tank and descends into his race car. Catapulting the tank at us we scramble to get out of the way.

"Not cool man!" I growl

"So long 'Dragon Horse Girl' and 'weak little nobody'! Here's a tip! Next time, pick one animal, -and...." Red Son gets cut off by the huge Monkie King staff and gets flung a few feet down the raceway.

MK grabs the key and looks at Red Son.

"What do you want with this key anyway?" He asks

"Why spoil the surprise? Now hand that key over and quit wasting my time" PIF coos

"Not a chance," I say as I pull out two hairpins from my hair that elongate to the length of a small dagger and we jump to attack her.

She knocks us away with her magic fan, knocking us into a wall and MK ends up dropping the key which Red Son quickly grabs.

"Come, Red Son. We have things to do" PIF says

"Thanks for the key losers!" Red Son teases and they both vanish.

"What could they want with that key?" I ask

"Whatever the reason is, we have to keep our guard up" Mei states

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up once more and the feeling of danger comes back again. But this time it's harder to shake off the feeling.

A disembodied voice whispers in my ear "Freedom"

Mk and I pile onto my quad and Mei rides her bike back to Pigsy's.

A few days go by and MK and I are in Monkey King's cave.

"You know when I found I was going to be trained by The Monkey King, Great Sage, equal to heaven. I had no idea...that I'd be stuck here hammering walls 12 hours a day!" MK shouts while throwing the hammer

"Or that I'd be helping!" I shout as I pick up heavy rocks that had fallen onto the ground while MK hammered away.

"That's what happens when you go snoring around in places where you don't belong," Monkey King says while he relaxes on his cloud.

I groan and wipe swear from my brow

*Flashback*

"Monkey King, where are you?" MK? Where are those two?" I sigh as I shout for them.

I shrug my shoulders and go looking for that shrine again. I find it once again, pushing the vines out of the way, I make my way down to it, fresh offerings and incense are lit once more. I kneel before it and sigh.

"Ugh next time Monkey King asks me to come train I'm gonna say no" I fold my arms with a hmph

But I can't get Red Son's voice out of my head "Weak little nobody"

"Am I a weak nobody?" I say quietly while clenching my fists

"Hey, what are you doing down her kid?"

I jump and turn around awkwardly laughing

"Hey Wukong, um you see...I was..uh...you know...exploring....since you guys were nowhere to be found and I stumbled upon this shrine....." I shift from side to side

Wukong lifts a brow at me not convinced by my lie.

"Woah what's this Monkey King? Who's she?" MK asks while pointing at the picture

"No one, let's go it's training time," Wukong says

*End of Flashback*

"Was she your girlfriend?" I ask teasingly

Wukong sputters, blushes, and falls off his cloud.

"No, and it's none of your business!"

"Yeah that's not convincing at all, give us the deets!" MK says

"You're supposed to be training, Now get back to it" He summons the cloud again and hops back on.

"Ugh, how am I supposed to do the hero stuff if I don't know the fighting stuff? Mk whines

"Yeah, and I can't protect anyone by lifting rocks. I'll get more muscles but not get better at fighting" I say while flexing my nonexistent arm muscles

"Ooohoooh. So you want to know the 'fighting stuff, huh?' Like this?" Wukong throws the staff at the wall that MK was hammering at, both of us ducking out of the way and it leaves a giant hole.

We both have star eyes and we shout together "YES!"

"Exactly like that! I am ready for some awesome!" MK says determined

Wukong laughs at us and tells MK he needs practice and then points at me

"And you, you just..." wukong gets cut off by MK's phone ringing

"MK we really need your help!" Mei says on the FaceTime call.

Looking at the monster causes me to have a memory flash, but it causes me to have a slight headache thinking about it. I'm soon dragged out of the cave screeching while MK wildly runs out of it.

Making it to the city we see how big it is. A sweat drop rolls down the side of my face.

"Uh MK I think we should...and there he goes" I sigh

"Yep," Mei says

"Here comes Monkey-" MK shouts

He's thrown back down to the ground creating a crater next to Pigsy and Sandy.

"Yeah we already tried that MK" Mei says embarrassed

"Wait is that?" I squint at the figure that comes zooming towards the creature and easily defeats it.

"Is that Monkie King?" MK asks and rushes off to see if it is him.

Groaning and chasing after him, I get to where I saw him run off and see it isn't Monkie King but an unknown monkey.

"Um, I'm sorry who are you?"

"Macaque. Actually 'The uh...Siz-Eared Macaque' is, you know, my full name. Well.. see you around, MK"

Mk starts to fan girl so hard and I roll my eyes a bit but also had to admit that it was pretty cool what he did. So many questions start to pop into my head.

Why is this guy showing up now? Is he just as powerful as Wukong? Why is he so hot? Um, forget that last bit. But it is odd, the again Monkie King was hiding away til he found a successor so maybe the same kind of thing was happening with this guy. Something seems a bit off about him.

It was decided that against my better judgment would take Macaque as a new mentor. He practiced long and hard with this Six-Eared Macaque until he finally proved what he learned by doing the same move Wukong did to another part of the wall.

"Woah....How'd you learn to do that?" He gasps "Have you been running around with other mentors?" He questions 

While they argue I'm just being nosy and sweeping the air, moping the walls you know how it is. Mk storms off and I see Wukong's expression to one of concern.

I tailed MK to the location of the "demon".

"So many stairs..." *inhales deeply and chugs water* "Oh my God, I'm outta shape. MK imma comin'"

I reach the top just in time for Monkie King to appear, I see Wukong stare down at MK and turn his attention back to Macaque.

"Hey so Monkie King it would have been nice if you had given me a ride up here you jerk, ugh I need to lie down," I say while breathing heavily and falling to the ground.

Macaque and Wukong start an epic battle, while Macaque is distracted I go over to MK and try to pull the staff off of him.

"This is stuck on good I can't get it!" I grunt and try using all my strength to pull it

"Sorry guys nothing personal," Macaque says while summoning the shadow demon

We both scream and I use my body to protect him

"Kid, Nuwa I'm coming" Wukong yells

When the pain from the punch doesn't come, I turn around to see that he came just in time to block a punch from the Shadow Demon.

"Kid we're definitely gonna have words later, but it's time for the hero stuff!" Monkey King grunts

MK and I get the staff off him, I step back and let him swing the staff.

"Patience. Focus. Step into the strike" We all shout

The staff hits the shadow demon which causes an explosion. Wukong rushes to protectively block the rock debris from hurting us. It felt oddly familiar and I smiled to myself. Later on, we are back in the cave, and MK is busy cleaning up a storm. I'm busy meditating and balancing books on my outstretched arms and my leg up in the air.

"This is totally gonna be a do the boring chores and learn awesome Kung fu...right?" MK says

"Ummm, sure," Wukong says hesitantly

After several days of training, we return to the city and it's a lot more blue than usual. All of a sudden some bull clones surround us and their eyes and mouths glow a very bright icy blue color. We start to panic, I start running but I realize my legs are moving but my body is not going anywhere, they start to ounce on us but Pigsy's food truck plows through them.

Out steps the gang in full apocalyptic gear.

"Guys! You look so awesome!" Mk says

"Yeah. So, uh...some stuff happened while you two were away and got kind of intense." Mei says awkwardly

"But I left you with one of my boys!" Mk says

"Oh he's been super useful," Tang says

The clone shrugs his shoulders and poofs out of existence

"Tang!" I shout while rushing over to hug him

"So what happened?" Mk asks

Tang puts a hand out which makes contact with my head, I still try to plow through to hug him but the hand isn't budging. He cleared his throat and pushed his glasses close to his face.

"Well after you left, the bull clones attacked. But they were different, more powerful than before. We believe it's all tied back to the Demon Bull King himself. MK....Nuwa...He's conquered everything." Tang finishes solemnly.

I groan and Sandy points to the mountain where they hear a strange noise. We pile into the food truck and head straight for it.

"All right, what's the plan?" Sandy asks

"Uh, I don't know. I was just gonna wing it" MK says unsure

"Sounds great let's go," Sandy says all hyped up

Pigsy revs the engine of the food truck and we all give MK a thumbs-up signaling that we will help him no matter what. Pigsy hits the gas and we start zooming toward to entrance of the town room, Sandy tosses MK, Mei, and me to the giant hole in the ground. We fall a good distance until Mei pulls out her sword and jams it into the wall slowing our descent down to a halt.

"Now what?" MK asks

"Uh guys," I say while looking around us and we spot Bull clones all over the walls like bats seemingly in a resting state. But it didn't last long Mei's phone began to ring and soon woke up the clones.

She scrambles to grab it and accidentally lets go of her sword, MK quickly grabs onto the sword, but I lose my grip and start to fall.

"Nuwa!" They both shout panicked

I close my eyes feeling the wind rush against my face then it stops, I slowly open my eyes and see I'm floating.

"No way!" MK says shocked

"What, what WHAT!?" I shout

"You've got wings," Mei says excitedly with star eyes

"Huh?" I say confused and look at my back and sure enough black leathery wings protrude from my back and are flapping.

"Geez I ruined my favorite hoodie.....but I can fly" I start to zoom around and giggle.

Mei's phone continues to ring as it was an update for Monkey Mech. They both look at each other and grin.

"Here comes Monkie Kid" we all shout while MK jams the staff into the nearby wall and creates the Monkie Kid Mech.

"You hold off the zombie bull clones. I'll get down and finish this" MK tells Mei from inside the Mech.

I'm flying around the outside of it and notice the bull clones are plummeting towards us, I then hear MK being thrown from the Mech and screaming his way down. I start flying after him, catching him and not being able to stop, wrapping my wings around us and crashing into the ground. While above us Mei is holding her own fighting the bull clones like the boss she is.

We crashed and landed in between DBK, Red Son, and PIF.

"Noodle boy and...?" Red Son says surprised

"Littke thieves," DBK says annoyed

Standing up, stretching our backs, and groaning

"Yeah I totally saved us" I shout

"You?!" Red Son shouts as he points at me and his eyes look at my wings

Following his line of sight I blush out of embarrassment

"One crisis at a time Red Son!" I sigh

Red Son still has the surprised Pikachu face and DBK starts charging after us. We dodge out of the way of every throw he makes until PIF uses her fans to move us out of the range of his attacks and directs us to the canisters on DBK's back.

"OK, time for round two" MK exclaims

I stretch my wings out and get into a fighting position.

"No! This time, we fight with you." Red Son says while sprinting off

"You two will have one shot. Make it count" PIF says darting after her son.

Both mother and son attack together, but they are pushed back by DBK's immense newfound power. DBK storms menacingly towards his family. I fly in front of DBK's view of the two and MK throws rocks to distract him. But DBK smashed his hand onto MK and pinned him to the rock wall. Thankfully while I was in DBK's view for a brief few seconds MK made a copy of himself and sent clones of himself to attack at once.

"Here comes Monkey Kid!" MK shouts as I fly to him grabbing him, spinning and tossing him towards DBK for the finishing blows.

The canister is knocked off of him and it explodes sending icy blue energy dispersing everywhere. The DBK family throne room starts to collapse. They make their quick escape and I make one last eye contact with Red Son before he disappears.

"You can't just! Ugh again" MK shouts and dodges rocks that are falling. I grab him and start flying and dodging the rocks. But a huge rock starts its descent toward us and I can't move out of the way in time thankfully Mei comes to the rescue with the Monkie Mech and stops the rock.

"Let's get out of here you Monkie Kids," she says.

After all was said and done, we sat on the Mech's shoulder and ate celebratory noodles.

"You did it guys, you defeated DBK again!" Sandy says

"I don't know if we did, whatever was powering him up it made him...different.

"On another note...where did those wings come from?!" Tang says while pointing at them

I flap them a few times and shrug

"I don't know they just appeared when I was in danger. I kind of don't want to think too hard about it...." I say a bit awkwardly while swirling my noodles around

*sigh* "Who would have thought that adopting these two little orphans would cause our lives to be so adventure-filled" Pigsy says while ruffling my hair

We all share a laugh, finishing our noodles and putting a pin on the "wings" conversation. I decide to go for a walk, I walk past an alleyway and see a little girl reaching for her kitty. I tuck my wings into my hoodie and walk over to her.

"Here let me help you," I say startling her

"Oh thank you," she says gratefully

Handing her the kitty and smiling at her, I see a puff of blue smoke bouncing its way toward us, pushing her out of the way. Before I know it my line of vision blurs, and I feel ice-cold, my head is swimming with unintelligible voices, and pain courses through my body as I become pospassed. I open my eyes to see myself floating in pitch-blackness and a blue skull floating in front of me. Then my consciousness was pushed forward, I could see my surroundings but I couldn't move my body. My mouth moves but I hear an evil laugh that wasn't my own.

"Oh no..."

[kenny-the-ken]

Y O U + M E |Pt 3|

A LOT OF WARNINGS WITH THIS ONE!!!! ALL AGED UP CHARACTERS AND IN HIGH SCHOOL/COLLEGE!! Loosely based on the Netflix show YOU, if y'all have seen it,,, then you know what Kenny's gonna do. If you haven't seen it,,, strap yourselves in, it's a lot!! Yandre Kenny, strong language, sexual content, violence, mentions of blood, gore, stalking, obsession and narcissistic thinking, so please beware!! I warned y'all!!

ALSO!!! A lot of this fic is written as Kenny's internal monologue and from his perspective so bare that in mind!!

Spring break. The literal bane of my existence. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love parties, I've taken more drugs than most people I know, excluding my parents of course, but Spring Break in the US was known for crazy parties, girls half naked in bikinis, guys chugging 2% alcohol content beers thinking that they're the shit, and copious amounts of drugs.

I don't care about any of that though, no, not at all, which you may be extremely shocked to hear, the only thing I cared about was, what were you doing for spring break?

Were you going to any parties? Were you meeting any friends, old or new? Were you planning to show yourself off in a tiny bikini, not that I'm complaining, but I'd rather see you like that alone, without other men's wondering eyes glaring at you as if you're a piece of meat. I can promise you y/n, that would not end well for anyone involved.

I had texted you this morning, like we do every morning. We fucked but after that it felt like we drifted apart. Or rather, you drifted from me. So here I sit, in my bathroom, cock in hand with my face buried in your used panties that I'd stolen from a while back, I assumed you didn't miss them much, and anyway, they were currently in use.

I'd give anything for another taste, your lips were soft, plumped, and oh so red from how aggressive I can be, your h/c cascaded perfectly down your back, and your breasts.

"Fuck." I knew thinking about you like this would make me cum faster, and that's exactly what I wanted, for reasons you'll find out soon enough.

Your pierced nipples and how perfectly shaped they were, your ass was round and perfect for slapping when you needed taught a lesson. Your hips were perfect for gripping, and oh how I'd grip your hips and fuck myself deeper and deeper and shit.

And just like that, here I am, hand covered in my own jizz, cock twitching between my legs and your panties still in my hand.

I have a box, I keep it under lock and key behind my wardrobe, just some little souvenirs, your panties, some nude Polaroids I'd found of you in your bedroom. Oh yeah, and one of Clyde's teeth. Just to remember him by.

You see, although we weren't dating, that didn't mean that you weren't in need of protection, you see, I'd overheard Clyde chatting to Jimmy about how he was thinking of asking you on a date. Now, I've known Clyde for a long time, he uses women like they're nothing, fucks 'em, leaves 'em.

What did you expect me to do? I mean, I did this for you! He was going to take advantage of your kindness and use you for his own sexual gratification and desires and then throw you away like you're worthless, and you are far from worthless. I'd kiss your feet as you walked the earth if you'd let me, oh how I'd worship you, like you deserve to be.

It wasn't too hard to kill Clyde, you see, when you've been known as a fuck boy before, which I unfortunately have been, other fuck boys, they tend to trust you more. So Clyde was pretty easy to reel in. I told him the truth, how I was working on an English project with you and I fucked you in your bedroom, and Clyde was all over that shit like a dog on heat. He was so focussed on what he was planning to text to you, obviously with my keen eye proof reading it for him, he was too distracted to notice me coming behind him with a brick. He only realised just as it was too late, sorry dude, your skull's caved in.

We needn't worry about the details of where his body is, let's just say... I've taken care of it. And tonight was our date, and also the first night of spring break, I would ask you what you were up to, and of course I wouldn't demand to come, unless you chose to invite me, no, I would just hang out in background, you won't even notice that I'm there. And I dare anyone to try anything, they would be dead men walking.

It didn't take long for the time of our date to roll around, and I stood on your doorstep, politely knocking on your door a few times, before smiling as the door cracked open.

You were breathtaking. I'd worked my ass off at City Wok to be able to afford to take you out to dinner, and my god, no food could ever look as delicious as you looked right now. Your tits, your hips, your ass, your legs, your hair, your face, everything! We were destined to be together, and when you smiled back at me I swore my heart swole in my chest.

"Hey, Kenny. You ready to go?" You asked, pulling your leather jacket on over your short, black dress that was showing off way too much cleavage for me to control myself for the entire evening, god I'd take you right here right now if I could.

"I was born ready, baby. I got these for you." I replied, bowing to you and holding out a small bouquet of flowers, your hand clutching your chest, and a gasp leaving your red stained lips.

"They're beautiful, Ken! Oh you shouldn't have! I'll just go get these into a vase, please come in." You spoke like an angel, and who was I to say no to an invitation into your home?

"I wanted to. I really do mean what I said last time, I've had my eye on you from you moved here, y/n, and you're different than those other girls, you're special, I can tell." You cheeks were flushed which meant that my charm was working. You'd be mine soon, and as much as I wanted to show you off to the world, I also wanted to hide you from it, so no one would dare to try and steal what's rightfully mine, or they'd end up like Clyde. Buried in the middle of fuck knows where.

"Had your eye on me? Not a little stalker are you, McCormick?" You joked, and I hoped it was a joke, you were laughing and so was I, so that was a good sign.

"Not at all! I mean, how could my eyes not go to you when you walk past me? I mean, look at you!" And slinging my arms round your hips would surely make you see that I was nothing but a pure gentleman.

"You're such a flirt, Kenny." God the way you looked at me, it was no surprise that to me that you'd stolen my heart, god the things I would do to you, the things I would do for you, oh they were criminal, but in this moment as I stood staring into your perfect e/c eyes, I couldn't care if my crimes caught up with me, I mean, getting away with it would be easy, trust me, I'm not that stupid.

Around two hours had passed and so far, our date seemed to be going perfectly, you were laughing at my jokes, I flirted, and you flirted right back, you'd told me about a huge spring break party at Tolken's house, you'd asked me to be your plus one, of course I'd gratefully accept, I needed to keep you safe, you even took my hand within your own when we were leaving the restaurant, my plan was working a charm, and you'd invited me in to your house for a quick night cap, no doubt I'd be staying the night.

And when you led me to your bedroom wearing nothing but some skimpy lingerie, I knew that your panties that were in my safe would be getting a much needed night off from being pressed against my face.

You were on top of me, grinding on me, fuck you were so needy, and my cock was growing by the second, I couldn't help but groan and pull your hips down against my own.

I'd swapped the positions, and now you lay beneath me, I'd left dozens of hickeys all over your neck, your breasts, your stomach, thighs, and now I was going to taste your sweet cunt again, god I couldn't wait, it had been too long from I'd tasted you, had my tongue inside you, claiming your insides, god I was starved, and I couldn't wait any longer, and just as I pressed a closed mouth kiss against your parted lips, your fucking phone rang.

"Ignore it. Don't answer." I ordered, my tongue lapping up your wetness, a moan coming from your lips as your phone started ringing again, and of course, being the kind person that you are, you answered.

And this couldn't have been a worse time, your face was worried, and you moved my head from where I wanted desperately to be for the past week, it was your mother.

Drug overdose, she was in hospital and you had to be there to take care of her, not that she ever did the same for you. No, you'd told me previously that our lives were similar in a lot of ways, and that's where my need to protect you came from. You were like a delicate flower awaiting to bloom, but others put you in the dark, stopped you ever from doing so, from ever reaching your full potential, but I was here now. I was going to care for you, I'd put you in the sun and give you all the love and support I could, the perfect partner, a soul mate some may say.

And as you hurried to pull your sweatpants and T-shirt on to your small frame, tears welling in the corners of your eyes, you gave me a hug, whispering sweet apologies, and I offered to come with you, which you declined. And I understood why, I hated people meeting my parents, seeing my sorry excuse of a home, fitted with built in meth lab in the garden. You were embarrassed, ashamed of your drug addict mother, and I felt that pain, I knew it personally. I was strong enough to deal with it, but you darling, you're too fragile, far too good to be feeling that way, and by god would I protect you from anything.

I'm so sorry to say this baby, your mother will never get clean, she's never been clean your entire life, it truly is a miracle that she's lasted this long. I'd be doing you and everyone else a favour. You'd told me this wasn't the first overdose she'd had, and every one made you feel the same way, like you were the parent, like you were at fault, you didn't keep an attentive enough eye on her, the pain you were feeling was soul destroying, not just for you, but for me too! How dare that woman who brought you into this world make you feel so awful, how dare she cause you pain and misery, if she died it would mean she couldn't cause any more of that, sure you'd be sad, but you'd realise in time that life was better without having to worry every time you left the house if you would come back to your mother, her skin blue and covered in her own vomit, which she choked on in her drug idled state.

And I would care for you, I'd be your shoulder to cry on, your support network, your lover and your boyfriend all tied into one, the whole package, you'd fall straight into my lap and I swear, I'd never ever let you go.

I'm sorry hunny, but your mother needs to be dealt with, and it would be easier than you'd think, one bad batch could wipe out hundreds of drug addicts, and besides, it's not as if I'd never used this method before. My parents died of an 'overdose', well, at least that's what the coroner's report said on the matter, Karen was put into my care, and the home was given to us, and life had been so much happier from I did my whole family a favour and took them out of the equation, and I know you will feel the same, in time at least.

As I drove you to the hospital you told me about your childhood. How you'd been in foster care, then your mother cleaned her act up and for a long time she was stable and in recovery, till she met some douchebag when you were ten, and she was back to using again, and your life had never been the same since.

When we pulled up outside the hospital, you hugged me tightly and kissed me twice, telling me that you'd text me later, and thanking me for the lovely evening, I assured you that this was to be the first of many of these delightful evenings, and even in the deepest depths of your pain, you still smiled at me.

I watched you till your figure disappeared inside the hospital, and I knew there and then what had to be done. I'm sorry baby, but your mother isn't good for you, she's not good for you, not good for us!

She had to go, and I had to be the one to kill her.

[icouldntcareless22]

I will remember you(Part 2)

Extraordinary you!Au x Zombie Apocalypse!Au

Summary: The world was damned. A deadly virus going around turning everyone in zombies? Yeah, the world was definitely damned. But that was the least of his problems right now. Time was slipping by him..he had been hearing weird sounds. He decided that he was going crazy. Until a certain someone appeared and told him not to worry because apparently this all a fiction, more specifically a comic?

Words: 9k

AN: The next thing I want to put out is a Seungmin fanfic because I think people overlook him so much! I will try to organize my thoughts and put it out shortly! I hope you enjoy my work!

Part 1

Comic? Character? Me?

He shook his head, shaking the idea off him.  There was absolutely no way. Thoughts were swimming around his head, making him feel light headed and dizzy. Was it really possible for all this to be a lie? He felt silly just by thinking it. The sunlight warming his skin felt real, the delightful laughter filling the classroom felt real, he felt real. Frustrated signs left him again.

Two days already passed since Y/N revealed to him the crazy shit that she thought the world consisted of. He recalled their conversation with disdain... 

  "Wow you are even more fucking crazy than I am"he exclaimed, beliwered. He took a step back, widening the distance between them. Who knows maybe a zombie bit her and all this were side effects.

   "Maybe I am" she beamed happily, repeatedly patting the spot next to her expecting him to sit with her. He raised an eyebrow only to meet the same annoyingly cheery expression, he signed and caved. He slowly lowered himself to the ground, it was still warm from the setting sun above them he noticed. 

"So do you want to learn more?"she inquired as she was talking with me about the weather ,hands busy brushing through her thick and tangled locks.

   "Enlight me" he taunted her as he scanned the yard. He hadn't been here in months. From the level ground everything was way bigger than he remembered. Seeing it from up close was a reminder of the old times and how fucked up was his current situation.

   "They won't come" she stated simply, still running her fingers through her brown locks. Total at ease in this environment. "I lounge here often enough. Never met a functioning zombie here"

   "How come? Your writer doesn't fancy gardens? Oh!Oh! Are the zombies allergic?!" Irony was evident in his tone "That would explain soo much!"

   "Ha ha..No, in the shadow they just...exist. They are not chasing us,not trying to eat us. I can just simply past one and it won't do anything. Just trust me"she shrugged, laying down to absorb as much sun as she could.

   "I don't. Not even a little bit" he bit back and she laughed.

   If he was honest that moment right there seemed straight out of a book. She laying there laughter filling the air, the sun setting behind them showering them in golden light, the breeze blowing just enough to feel refreshed and light. The flowers, even though they were dying like everything on this planet, still smelled wonderful. It was beautiful.. too bad he cared so little for it.

   "So you're saying that this is a comic book? And what's the plot?" he snickered as he laid down as well. He normally would be so alert and ready to spring at any moment. But seeing her lazing around and being comfortable, made him more lazy as well. Her serenity calmed him oddly enough.

    She shifted to her side, one arm supporting her weight to take a better look at him. She aspect him deeply, as if she was deciding to tell him a secret or not. He didn't know what expression he was wearing, maybe contempt or boredom, but she seemed to find whatever she was looking for. "Well, the zombie apocalypse trope is pretty obvious."

     "Oh really? I hadn't noticed that!"he scoffed

     "Surprise!" She joked back, an ironic laugh leaving her "other than that.. you know the new girl? She is a spy from an opposite camp. The government is scavenging for survivors, the catch? They have limited space. So the smarter thing to do is eliminate the competition, according to them at least. Maniacs all of them if you ask me. Soo, they send her over to deal with us from the inside. Pretty stereotypical, right?"

       His mouth fell open and his eyebrows flew to his hairline. Spy? The government? Every thought he was ready to voice in an rather rude way stayed there, catch in his throat "You are joking..right?"he eventually uttered.

      "Wish I was believe me"she signed.

      He didn't say anything for a while then he just stood up wordlessly and left.

And he had avoided her ever since like she was the plague.

   He had to organize his thoughts. Provided she was telling the truth..how could he prevent the invasion of an enemy camp? How could he make the government pick them? How could he stop the girl? He tried to find a perfect solution only to come up empty.

   He spend many sleepless nights. Okay three to be exact! But he needed the sleep! He had things to do and errands to run but the thing is wherever he went, he kept seeing her. Like fate was playing some twisted game against him. He was helping out with weaponry? She was there. He was keeping watch? She was releasing him of his duties. Heck she even slept two classrooms away he discovered as he went to sleep yesterday and she called out good night to him, making him jump out of his skin and dart inside.

   He was currently in the weaponry area, also known as the janitor's closet and the benches outside of it, as it held the most tools that were of use to them. His unwounded hand served as a painful reminder of that fact. As Felix was tying the rope around two broken broomsticks to serve as a spear that he had no experience handling. The many times he had accidentally sprung it upon random people near him confirmed that so his preference for knives and close range weaponry was clear but as a good fellow he helped. As he was finishing honing the weapon, he realized that she was there too. Brown hair pilled on top of her head in a way too messy bun, white T shirt with patches of dirty stuck on it, clearly stating that she was pulling her weight around the camp and oversized denim jeans shorts that was a clearly bad choice for someone that had to run at the drop of a hat. Was she around that often before? How come he didn't noticed her?

   As he glanced at her, he suddenly met her stare. She blinked slowly at him as a smile spread on her face, a greeting. He immediately turned his head the other way, flustered to be caught looking so obviously at her.

    Instead he focused on the craft in his hands, tying the ropes with way more vigor than necessary. With a few more tugs he was done.

       "Hey-!" He started and paused, barely catching himself. What was his name again? He racked his brain trying to come up with an answer. He had been around this kid 6 months now, they slept at the same classroom and hang out frequently together after a long day's work, so it was not acceptable not to remember his name.

       "Can't remember, can ya?" A low voice whispered to his ear."I am curious though. Whose names do you remember?"

 Upon feeling the low voice on his ear the boy swirled towards her. Of course she made her way from across the closet to sit with him, just so she can spite him.

    He didn't answered her, just squinted his eyes at her. She was getting on his nerves really. All the crazy talk didn't help his situation and now she was popping up everywhere.She was an easy target to get out all his frustration and ire."What the fuck?"

    She titled her head looking at him."You know in the comics you are made out to be such a sweetheart. From up close you are more like an asshole"

    "Fuck off then."he shrugged, curiosity peeked. Sweetheart? Him? That writer ought to get his eyes checked. He maybe had more of baby face, but that meant nothing. It was the freckles, he decided.

     "Nah, assholes are more my type" he let out a huff at her flirty commend. It had been months, a year top, since he was last hit on and she was cute. Too bad she was batshit crazy. "You can't remember his name because he doesn't have one" she resumed.

     "What?"he questioned ,startled.

     "He is an extra, unlike you he doesn't have a set up. He doesn't need a name, he is just there to fill the empty space." She said picking dirty from her nails.

     "Everyone has a name" he refuted, leaning towards her to whisper in her ear. If someone heard them talking they would be deemed as lunatics and  thrown out to the zombies together.

      "Name someone besides your friend group and me"she tutted.

      "Hyunjin,Minho, Seungmin..you want me to continue?" He sassed, relaxing more on the bench he had stationed himself.

      "You don't consider them part of your group?"she asked, an odd expression on her face.

      "We're not that close" he simply answered. They seemed that way? I mean, sure they hang out but if he was made to chose someone to go to with a secret Changbin and Jisung would be it for him. They were the most understanding and kind people he knew.

      "Huh" she seemed lost in her thoughts.

      "What?" He asked again

      "Nothing"she answered "Anyway, don't you want me to show you the proof you asked for? If you come with me tonight I will show you"

      He was suspicious. Things always got messy when she appeared "Where are we going?"

      "To show you the comic,of course" she smiled mischievously.

     "But where?"

     "You'll see"

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~

    When Felix opened his eyes darkness greeted him.

     Of course it had to be in the middle of the night,he grumbled. Even though he didn't like the events taking place right now he quietly got up, taking extra care as to not wake up Jisung or any of the others sleeping soundly on the floor. The old oil lamp provided the only source of light to help him make his way to the front door. But if he prided himself on something it was how agile he was. Minho once compared him to a cat and even though he would like something more..regal he appreciated the compliment.

     Tippy toeing to the front between the masses of bodies was a piece of cake and soon Felix was closing the door behind him and walking down the hallway. The halls were totally empty, which was an understatement. It still didn't sit right with him to see them empty, though. They usually were filled with ex-students talking and laughing, now the large windows casted an airily glow that creeped him out. He shook his head, deciding to hurry. As soon as he hit the last step he saw you laying down on top of the desk, mere meters from the patched up door that almost went down the other day.

      "Do you do anything besides laying down?" He said announcing his presence as he went to stand over her head, flicking her lightly on the forehead

      She immediately opened her eyes, hands flying to the spot he hit and craned her neck to look at him. "I lay down as often as I can. I don't know about you, but I am not athlete material and this damn world keeps me in my toes"

      He hummed softly. "Where are going?"

      She righted herself on the desk and hoped down, bouncing energetically on her feet. "Follow me, grumpy pants"

      She made a bee line to the window on the right side of the room, opening it and jumping outside. Fortunately the height was not too much for them, so they easily landed in the back area of the school, back when he first caught a glimpse of her.

      "Now we have to climb through that window"she pointed to a ground floor window, similar to the one they just exited. "Once we are in,we just take the stairs to the second floor and turn left and into the library we go!"she word-vomited, unable to stop herself it seemed. She was way too talkative for such late hour.

      "Do you always talk that much?"he wondered as be followed her. She ignored him as she drew closer to the window. She stood still for a second,before muttering something under her breath. She started to walk away from the wall, skipping down the back yard, a loud noice was heard and soon after she come back with a chair in her arms.

      "I swear every time!" She exaggerated.

      "What?"he asked, as she placed the chair under the half open window.

      She stepped on the chair, pushing the heavy window open bit by bit. "When a scene take place, everything that happened on shadow goes back to their original place, so I have to keep carrying the chair back here. It's really annoying " she glanced at him, noticing his confused appearance and explained. "For example, let's say you injury yourself in the shadow.. it won't appear in the scene because the writer didn't mean to write that but if it happens on the scene it's permanent" the window was completely open by the time she finished her sentence,giving her the chance to jump inside.

      Once she jumped into the building she stuck her head outside and shouted "Your turn!"

      So he injured himself in the shadow when he scratched himself on the nails? Was that why the wound disappeared overnight?He climbed on the rusty old chair and easily followed her steps. In mere seconds he stood beside her in the opposite side of the school.

      He was starstruck. The school was.. pristine. That was the exact word that described it. The little furniture that the hall held, such as bookcases and a couple of lockers, were in their normal positions -completely dust and damage free. From the side of his eye he could see the cafeteria were the same applied. The lunch tables and all of their chairs were stacked neatly against each other like waiting for thousand of kids to sit on them and happily eat away the awful cafeteria lunch.

      She was examinating him as he looked around "Weird,huh?" She asked him, his confusion and awe all over his face.

      "Why is the place like that? It is overrunned by zombies. It should have been total chaos in here" he asked as he turned around and around to catch all the little details.

      "Because the writer didn't have a need to write it destroyed. My guess is that he needed a model of a school and that is why that part exists. He technically doesn't need to write this part, but it would be weird not to exist and ta da!!" She exclaimed, jumping light and using flashy jazz hands.

      "Huh.." he marveled, coming back to her side.

      "Ready?" He nodded at her and they started to climb the stairs quietly.

      He had a million things he wanted to ask, still only half believing her. He looked at her back and decided to speak up "How did you figured out?That it was safe I mean?"

      She reflected on the question and answered "It was a month in the comic, after the virus spread. I started to hear noises, time flew right by and I started to get strong headaches..Much like you did."she cocked her head in his direction as she naturally took a left turn to head to the library. "Then it started coming up to me. The truth. Memories. Flashes from the past. And that was it."

      He paused, legs feeling weaker than usual. He grabbed her arm before she could open the double door that lead to the library."What do you mean flashes from the past?"

      She looked at him over her shoulder, a secretive smile on her face "You didn't think that was my first rodeo, right?" She said voice enigmatic and dark, as she pushed the door open.

      The library stayed the same. That was his first thought. The room had a high ceiling making it appear enormous,tall rows of bookcases stretched all over the place, making almost like a labyrinth. The wooden floor and cozy little spots made it more comfortable and warm despite it's intimidating size. In the middle of the room was a small circle, where students could study and lazy around. It was like a day hadn't passed.

      Y/N flew from beside him and headed over the fiction section, searching for something. He followed her as he did most of the evening. She had started talking before he even reached her.

      "The comic book appears here every time..Not the same place everything time though. I tried to take it with me but it won't stay. It just disappears. It's like a treasure hunt every time!" She said, giggling. She was passing rows and rows of books, making sure her hand is brushing every one of them.

      "You said that is not your first rodeo. What does that mean?"he asked carefully.

      Without pausing her stride she answered "I have been in other comics before, the writer likes to use characters from his past books. Lazy bastard. I have been in a college comics. In a mafia one too! Was never the lead though " she murmured the last part.

      Meanwhile Felix didn't know what to say. So this meant she had lived at least 3 lives before this one?

     "So have we met before?" He wondered.

     "Don't think so..I would have definitely remembered you"she stated, making him flush. Red splotches were sprawled all over his face and neck he was sure. It wasn't that he hadn't heard a compliment before, but the way she said she would surely remember him without much explanation hinting he was special enough to be remembered.. he was strangely touched.

      "Here it is!" She exclaimed, jumping up, steadying herself on the lowest shelf and stretching to catch a thin book.She looked at him and cocked her head to the studying area in the middle of the library.

      She reached the desk that was near them and made herself comfortable on top of the desk, instead of a chair. She placed the book beside her and waved him closer. He took a seat in the chair in front at the book and looked at it, a snort leaving him immediately.

      "Deadly love?" He questioned, reading the title.

    "I Know!!!"she yelped, throwing her hands in the air.

    It was small, barely larger than his hand and it's color was black with splatters of red. Blood, he realized. He slowly opened the first page and sketches of familiar faces greeted him. The drawing of Hyunjin and the new girl was the first thing that caught his eye. A few notable info under their sketches, along with their names. In the page next to them he saw his name, along with his friend's and acquaintance's names. He ran his fingers over his own drawing.

    Lee Felix. 18. Friend of Hyunjin, the favorite of the group, a total sweetheart.

    That was it. His whole being summed up in those meaningless words. Rage filled him but he clenched his teeth and suppressed it. Now wasn't the time for that. He turned a page and an other page and an another and an another. Words had left him, numbness had taken over.    

     He turned his head towards Y/N, waiting for some guidance or comforting words. He was not sure what look he was displaying but as soon as he turned her hand found home in his shoulder rubbing it soothingly.

    "It's gonna be okay." She muttered voice light and warm, just like that time at the roof. He signed as he brought his hands on his face, rubbing it roughly before regaining control.

    He continued to flip the pages, his fingers brushing against the scenes in which he took part in. He could recognize quite a few events, the scenes which contained the romance between hyunjin and his girl he did not care to read. But what caught his attention was the scenes with you and from the enemy camp. You weren't in many scenes and those you were in, he almost didn't recognize you. You always wore a sneer and pretty much bullying the fuck out of the poor main lead. It was a struck difference between the you, who he saw in the paper and the you, who was looking at him right now. As for enemy camp... the whole plan laid before him and he didn't know what to do with this information.

    "We have to tell someone, do something!"  he protested, glancing up to your figure that was reading along. You were unusually quiet, a far away look in your brown eyes that unsettled him greatly.

     "What would you like to do?"Y/N asked, leaning her weight on her hands that were against the desk casually.

      "We have to tell Chan! We have to kick her out of her and move our camp!"he yelled, unable to hold his temper in check.

       "Very valid points. Do it" she challenged, a airy smile on her face. She suddenly leaned closer to him,face very close to his person, from her place on the desk she looked almost menacing. She almost looked like her book self.

        "Why do I sense a but?"he groaned, exaggerated at this point.

        "They won't listen. You could tell them everything and they won't by the next scene. It is an unfortunate catch of the comic." She hopped down from the desk and she stated circling around him. "Okay, quiz time!"

        He looked at her with a look that said really, but she nodded.

        "Shadow!"

        He let out a long breath and kicked lightly his feet like a fretful child but answered her question nonetheless. "We have free will, can do whatever we want"

        She pumped her fists in the air and with a voice of a bad show presenter she shouted "Correct! What is the noise you hear?"

        "Umm.." he got nothing to show there.

        "Eeech! Incorrect! That the sound of a scene starting. Haven't you noticed you are saying things you don't mean and want when you hear the sounds?" She grabbed the book from his hands and and flipped through stopping at a familiar scene."This is  the scene where Hyunjin tells you about his feelings. You said that you are not close with him, but here you are consoling him. Why? Because the writer made you do it."

         Felix stared the scene before him. It was true that he cared little about such things and he didn't understand the need he had that moment to console him. Was it truly everything a lie? Was such a puppet to the writer?

         "Don't be sad Lixie! We have each other now!" She said throwing an arm around his shoulders, rubbing her cheek against him.

          He right away unwinded her arm from his person and pushed her lightly away. "I don't know you."

          "We can get to know each other. Something tells me that we will be great friends." she beamed at him, still not shying away from him.

          "Why are you so happy all the time? We are ,like, dying"he wondered, making himself comfortable on the chair.

          "My set up is a minor villain as you saw. I am always a bitch on the scenes I am in. Got tired of frowning all the time. You probably won't remember me in the scenes but I always bully the new girl, I am a lackey to Mina.. you know short black hair ? Frowning all the time? Loud as fuck?"

          "Yeah I somewhat remember her..but not you.."he mumbled the last part, hoping she wouldn't hear.

          "Don't sweat it, I am an extra.I am even lucky to get a name" she cackled settling down again,this time beside him."So what you wanna do now? Should I bring other comics?" She asked hopefully.

          He though about arguing with her, but he had nothing better to do."Let me come with you. I don't trust your taste"

          "Romance not your taste Lixie?" She teasingly mocked, looking him through her lashes.

          He rolled his eyes and made his way to the fiction section.

          She giggled and followed him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~

      The next few weeks were way more fun than the 6 months he spend here.

      He was way calmer now that he was sure he wasn't losing it. He also was more calm with the whole zombie situation. In the past he jumped at the slightest noise, he was ready to bolt at the drop of a hat. He was scared for his life. Now he laid at the roof, gazing at the horizon. It was funny how things changed.

       Over the past weeks he had gotten a lot closer with Y/N. Unwillingly, he would always claim and she would always smile. During the lunch breaks they would always sneak to the library to lazy around and read some comics. They tried to turn on some devices, Y/N insisting that some may work. A waste of time that was. But he learned that she enjoyed some gaming back in the days, not as much as he did but it would be nice to play together. He wondered what Fortnite would be with her, probably a lot of shouting from him and uncontrollable giggles from her as she messed up. They would always brave the other side of the school as well, finding a lot of lost things in the process. He had discovered a ton of clothes laying around, knifes laying around in the kitchen of the cafeteria, which he tried to sneak over to the other side. All in vain as they were gone by the morning. Y/N had discovered an old radio in the library, probably older than both of them combined, and she had the damn thing blasting all day long. He had tried to throw that blasted thing away only for it to show up in it's place the next noon. While Y/N was happy..him? Not so much... especially cause she turned it even higher in volume, dancing around rhythmically to its beats, causing him a headache, which she quoted was totally deserved. They had discovered cards and board games as well, making the time pass easier. She had found some old pencils and markers in some drawer and had insisted that he would be her model, saying it was her dream once to become an artist. One look at the final result had Felix reaching over and tearing apart the caricature she had drawn, not minding her cries of protest."It gives me the creeps"he had said to her and he was being truthful! She wasn't cut to be an artist in the slightest, after that attempt she had for shaken drawing in favor of other skills.

         A loud noise shook him out of his thoughts. He slowly turned around to see a familiar face enter the rooftop.

       "Hey Mina..I can handle your shift for today..I know you are tired these days, why don't you take a rest?" Y/N sweetly proposed, leaning forward with earnest eyes pined on the other girl.

       "Y/N!! I kinda am, now that you mentioned it" Mina said stretching her sore muscles. "You are such a sweetheart for thinking of me. Thanks dear" she said heading towards the door,sending a flying kiss her way on the way. "Well!..Have fun!"

       "I intend to" Y/N said, wolfishly. She turned to him, already wearing a chesire smile on her face. "Oh Lixie! Look what I have here!" She extended her hand towards him. An pack of Uno cards in her grasp.

       He titled his head and paused. "You agreed to change shifts just to paly Uno with me?" He asked, incredulously.

       "What can I say? I was bored" she shrugged, having already crossed the distance and foldings the cards. "You wanna go first or should I?"

         He rolled his eyes as he settled down as well. "You go"

         "I must warn you though. I am a pro"she challenged, raising her eyebrow.

           "We shall see"he returned.

         Three games later and he still had to won. He threw his head back, a scream bubbling in his throat. "You-you are cheating!"he accused, aggressively pointing at her.

       "No I am not! Now take your six cards like a man!" She protested, eyes sparkling with victory.

            He groaned as he went to draw six more cards- 

         Blink.

         Swoosh!

 "Okay guys, here's the plan."

     A couple of students were gathered in the teacher's office. He couldn't get used to this feeling now that he knew what it is. A scene was starting. His gaze darted around taking everything in. He recognized several faces, Chan's, Minho's, Mina's, Spy girl's and finally yours. You looked so different now though. You had that look he only catch a glimpse of in the comic book. Five minutes before your eyes were glistening, you were laughing carefree as you were whooping his ass at Uno. Now your eyes were focused and aggressive, a frown marrying your pretty face, your hair pulled back and your arms crossed. You were ready for battle. Then he realized why. Of course. The supplies. Minho mentioned that they were running dangerously low.

       "We will go to the second floor today. Our goal is mainly canned food. If you can find packaged bread, it's fine too. Y/N and Mina you take the first floor, we have scanned it already but see if you can find some more medicine." Chan explained. Short and to the point as always. "You ready? All got your tools?" He received nods from all around. 

       Before he could say anything or catch your gaze-

       Swoosh!

     They stood before the market already. He wanted to turn and look at you, but his face stayed turned straight, his knuckles turning white from his fierce grip on his knife.

        Chan turned and pointed to the entrance. Words were a threat right now, not a friend. All together they started to enter the building. It once was a market place filled with everything you could imagine from painkillers to furniture, now it was all past glory. Half the lights were shut or shattered making the place plunged in darkness, the rows of shelves were half-empty or cluttered from the many hands that went through them. Many products were on the floor, some opened and thrown away in it's previous owner's hurry, making the stench so strongly that a few of them had to place a cloth over their nose. Quickly they ascended the stairs, his vision of the girls downstairs gone. He had a bad feeling, he didn't want to be there for a second more but his feet wouldn't listen to him. So even though he wanted to stop and run the other way, he continued searching rows and rows of products.

       Four minutes in, he had his bag full and was ready to go. Now he thought about it, this must be the work of the writer- a never ending of supplies abandoned super market. But the run here was too uneventful. He tapped Chan on the shoulder, jerking his head towards the staircase. The older male nodded as well and hand-gestured the rest of the team to follow. When they were in the middle of the staircase a loud noise alerted them and the inhuman grunt that followed filled them with even more dread. Running as fast and noiseless as they could, they made bee line to the exit. That's when the thought popped up in his head.

       No! Y/N is still in there! He willed his feet to stop running, to turn the other way but they failed him miserably. His breath started coming quicker than normal, his palms sweating. He had to find a way in! But the damn scene wasn't ending! From the side of his eye, he saw a lone petite figure darting towards the direction of the other girls. But that was the last thing he saw before his traitorous feet carried him outside. As soon as they were outside Chan shouted" The girls" and started to make his way inside yet again but Minho, ever the strategist, stopped him by shaking his head.

        "It's too late now Chan"he whispered, already closing the large doors sealing them inside, making them safe and sealing the girls' fate.

       No..no! This couldn't be happening, would he lose her? He couldn't lose her... Panic choked him, tears sprung to his eyes and his damned feet still wouldn't move! He closed his eyes, shoulders dropping waiting for the known sound to end the scene so he could fall apart.

       "Hurry! Come on! Come on!" A feminine voice yelled, sounds of feet stomping to them was the only other sound be heard.

       "You escaped!" Chan said, slumping with relief.

     He turned to look at them.

     All of you reached them,out of breath and clutching each other tightly as you answered like one, but the noise was too loud for them to hear. Felix couldn't believe the relief that he felt. You were there, albeit dirty,sweaty and nearly slumped over from the exhaustion but you were there-safe.

      "I saw the zombie going to them! So I threw an cup or whatever that was near me to the opposite side. The zombie got distracted by the sounds and forgot about us. We heard the door closing so we hid in the back room and we escaped from the window there." Spy Girl said.

      "Thank you..You saved us"Mina said, you nodding repeatedly from beside her, still visibly trembling.

 "I did what anyone would do" she replied, rocking on her heels with a big smile on her face.

       Swoosh!

 Felix felt like he could finally breath. He couldn't wait until they were alone. "Y/N!" He dived immediately to her,cradling her face in his hands. After a good look on her face, he run his hands across her trying to find fault. "You okay?Are you hurt?" His hands roamed all over her, not wanting to hurt her but still wanting to check. They settled on her forearms shaking her lightly. "Y-Y/N?" He asked again when he didn't get an answer. He grinded his teeth, getting impatient.

      "I am fine Lixie." She willed herself to respond. But he saw her, her skin was ashen and her eyes filled with unreleased tears. He wanted to comfort her first, but his feelings got the best of him.

         "What the fuck! You could have gotten killed! Why didn't you tried to run?!" He spatted at her, tightening his hands on her for a moment before letting her go. He stayed close, too close for comfort but not close enough for his. He run his hands through his hair, tugging it roughly. He couldn't stay still, body filled with adrenaline.

           She lowered her head, staring at her feet. Totally avoiding eye contact. "For the same reason you didn't come back to help" she whispered back. That, right there, was a stab right at his heart. He kept quiet out of frustration. He wanted to help, he sweared he did but his feet were nailed to the ground!

        She looked at him through her lashes, shoulder hitting him gently. "I am fine. Really"

She offered a smile, more shaky and uncertain than her usually cheeky a d mischievous one, but he would take what he could get.

      Wordlessly he snaked his hand over her shoulders, cuddling her to his side. He couldn't get over this feeling that washed over him, he needed her near right now. Only she could make the bad feeling go away.

         "Eeeh... shall we go back now that everyone is here?" Chan proposed. Everyone eagerly nodded their consent and rushed to get away from the store.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~

     They barely made it inside when everyone flew off, the scene no longer binding them together until they were the only ones in the hall. Felix tugged her hand, that he now realized he never had let go of, cocking his head towards the window. Y/N paused for a moment before nodding and following him.

      After helping her get out of the window, he went to find the stupid chair that kept disappearing.It was out of habit now, the drill between them known for a while. They climbed in silently and made their way up together. He didn't like the silence, he got so used to her talking a mile a minute. Now she was out of words it seemed, and that alone scared him. He let go of her hand that he had grabbed yet again without his knowledge and pushed the double doors open. The library seemed especially inviting today. Warm sunlight showering every corner of the place, wooden floors almost shinning in response to the exposure. They had left several pieces of clothing over the time but they kept disappearing so the place was too clean for his taste. He ushered her in the middle and made her take a sit in a chair in front of him. He awkwardly crouched before her wanting to look at her.

       "Hey" he whispered, reaching a hand to pull her hair away from her face. He placed his hand against her cheek turning her head lightly to him. She was still shaken up. His other hand found way to her thigh rubbing soothing circles to calm her down. "You are okay now Y/N"

          Her only response was a nod as she stared off to space. She looked at him, but not really.

        "Do you wanna talk about it?" He continued, still running soothingly circles over her leg. 

        She swallowed thickly before opening her mouth. "I thought I was done for Felix. I t-thought my time was u-up." She said, still looking off to space.

       "Look at me" Felix whispered, guiding her face to his. He placed his forehead against her and closed his eyes, hoping this would ground her as much it grounded him."You are here. With me. Nothing bad happened. You are here"he repeated, feeling her rigid body calm a bit, shoulders slumping and hearing her repeat "with you" made something snap in him.

       Maybe it was the fear he felt today at the thought that he lost her , maybe it was the thought what would he do in this place without her and her company keeping him warm or maybe it was how beautiful she looked with her flushed cheeks and red bitten lips but he felt that if he didn't feel them on his right that second he would explode.

          "Y/N..."he breathed out. Maybe it was his tone or the way his breath caught up she seemed to realize what he wanted. Because now that her watery eyes opened they met his longing stare and fleeted down to his half open lips.

        He hesitated as he cradled her face, angling her face to his own. But the bashful smile on her face and her already closed eyes spurred him to lean forward and close the distance between their lips. He gently pressed his mouth to her, just a gentle warm touch. She  tasted fresh like running water and something entire her and he was immediately sold. Their lips brushed against each other slowly, dancing to their own tempo until he felt her tongue on his lip, asking him to deepen their kiss, which he gladly accepted. They mouths classed perfectly, her hands were embracing him pulling him closer and he was in turn caressing every inch he could get hold of. Her cold hands gently touched his neck and chin causing him to shudder and her to smile. She broke away to take a much needed breath and looked at him, wearing that heart-stopping smile. She suddenly jumped into his arms, making him lose balance and fall to the hard wood floor. Any other day he would have been pissed, now he laughed wholeheartedly as he trapped her in his embrace . She signed with content and hide her face in the crook of his neck.

      "Can we stay like that for a while?"

      "As long as you would like,love"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~

    A few more weeks passed filled with laughter and secret rendezvous. Their days were mostly spend in the library chilling. They would lazy around ,reading or playing cards. Felix quickly learned that you were too good of a player. Experience- you claimed from the days were you would gamble away in the mafia world. You had also gotten your hands upon some crafts books you wanted to try drawing skills long forgotten,but the result was hundreds paper cranes floating around the library. He had tried to join you but after 3 disfigured cranes, he decided that he had had enough choosing instead to lay there as you crafted away. His favourite past time thought would be the time you spend in each other's embrace,kissing away the anxiety and loving each other. Funny, he thought, I didn't think I would be as open to affection as Y/N was. There was not a minute he wasn't touching you in some way that would be either a arm thrown over your shoulders or placed on your waist or simply his lips against yours. You were inseparable.

     You didn't even separate in sleep. Y/N would always end up in his blanket, either she was there talking with him and his friends and she would simply doze off there or she would be in the door with her own blanket waiting for someone to let her in, just like an oversized puppy. The first few times Changbin and Jisung threw some questioning looks at him but after a few days they welcomed you in just as often. They even remembered your name after using so much time in the shadow.

      Right now you were laying side by side on the library floor, the sun warming your figures, almost lulling you to sleep.At least one of you.

     "Lixiee" a whiny voice penetrates his eardrum. He ignored said voice with the hope of catching some sleep."Lixie I know you're not sleeping." She said drawing closer, half laying on top of him 

         "How?"he said not bothering to open his eyes. He was so relaxed right now that every small movement was a promise of pain.

         "You snore when you sleep" she sassed back, now poking at his ribs.

        "I do not snore"he protested lazily,finally turning his head to look at her laying in his arms all snuggly and adorable.

        "Made you look through"she said, playing with his T shirt sleeve. 

          He half laughed half signed. He laid his head back down staring blankly at the ceiling. "What you wanted?" he asked, raising an arm to caress her hair.

         "I found a book-" he groaned without hearing the rest "you didn't even let me finish!" She jokingly protested, mirth dancing in her brown eyes.

          He stopped faking his death to let her finish her sentence. "I found a book about dancing-" on que he started to groan louder.

      "Ohh come on! We didn't held any dances before this whole fiasco started"she protested, crossing her arms and adoring a pout on her face.

     Felix looked at her being all pouty for a dance. He turned on his side, jutting out his arms to support his weight. "What kind of dance?" he asked out of curiosity.

  Her eyes immediately light up. She turned the book to him showing off a page of a pair-

"Waltzing!" She cried out, grinning

      He looked at the page. He could waltz.. it was just staying in place and twirling her around. His eyes fleeted to hers, watching her practically vibrate. "Okay" he agreed.

     She let out a small cry, kissing him swiftly and darted from her seat on the floor in search of something. A beat later he heard a melody playing in the background. The radio.       A melancholic yet passionate tone was swirling in the air now, the sun was hitting just right and Y/N approaching him with graceful strides and a sweet smile on her face made Felix feel fuzzy and warm inside.

    "Can I have this dance, kind sir?" She lightly bowed, stretching her hand out to him. She looked at him through her lashes, eyes filled with stars and smile with mischief.

    He let out a happy puff of air "Well of course" he stood up and pulled her close, placing his hand on her waist. She stepped even closer,not an inch separating their bodies, placed her hand on his shoulder and whispered "To my left". And they started waltzing. Their first circle was kind of awkward as they didn't know what exactly they were doing, but as the second circle rolled in they were gliding across the wooden floor more smoothly. The sound of Waltz no. 2 that filling the air covered their delighted giggles and accompanied their longing gazes. 

    She never looked more beautiful than right now, he thought. Darks eyes locked on his, never breaking contact, her hands that were always running a few degrees colder than his,were pulling him closer,now thrown over his shoulder playing with his hair. Her own glossy dark hair were swaying around her, caressing him as they moved around. She looked adorable with her white tee and great sweatpants that she clutched like an evening gown. He was beyond happy in this moment. The world may be damned, but he felt a new kind of hope now.

    He suddenly grabbed her by the waist , hosting her up in the air and twirled her around. She was startled for a moment , before throwing her head back and let out a loud laugh. He carefully set her down and as the song drew to its peak and great ending, he dipped her gently.

    Her brown eyes were half closed, her pupils dilated and lips half open inviting him in. He dipped even further and closed the distance between them kissing her with all he got. All the emotion he felt in that moment convened in the pressing of his lips and tightening of his hands around her.

      He eventually let go of her lips to get some necessary air into his lungs. Eyes still closed as savoring the moment ,they righted their postures. They didn't let go of each other right away, just stood there gazing at each other's eyes. She tip toed to press a lingering kiss on his lips "That was fun" she said, rocking back and forth in his arms  "we should do it more often"

     "As you wish, my lady" he whispered leaned in for more sweet kisses.

~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Swoosh!

As soon as Felix gained consciousness he was sure of 3 things. Firstly, that awful sound in his ears is the sound of a scene starting, secondly, even if he couldn't move his head to check, he was sure you weren't beside him sleeping as he last remembered and thirdly, something very bad was happening.

     "Guys! We got to go! We are under attack! Get up, we got to go!" An alarmed Hyunjin that moments before burst into the room, shouted, shaking unconscious students awake with force.

      "Who is attacking us?!" Changbin asked in a horrified stupor. 

       Hyunjin threw a glance over his shoulder to a girl half hidden behind him."I will explain later. Now we got to hurry!" He said already taking off to wake the others.He unwillingly got up and followed suit. He ran to the closest classrooms, waking up other unsuspecting students all the while trying to catch a glimpse of you. Panic had taken over everyone,the entire school was up and running but that was nothing until they heard the sounds of engines running. He threw himself against the nearest window and watch with horror as enormous car decorated with spikes and wire netting tore it's way through the front gates, letting the enemy in as well as dozens upon dozens of zombies.

A arm grabbed his own and for a moment he thought that the scene was over and you were grabbing him trying to get him away from the horrors. But the hope fell through as Changbin shouted his name and for him to focus. He continued running not knowing where he was going. He was starting to panic as well he didn't know what would they do and more importantly he didn't know where you where. None of the students he helped were you. He knew that your classroom when you didn't sleep with him was on this floor so logically you would be safe..

     But the panic he felt before was nothing compared to the one he was feeling now as he heard the screams that accompanied the gunshots. He exchanged a petrified look with Changbin and they run."What is happening?" He screamed, feeling helpless.

    "I don't know man, just run!"he yelled, clearly as overwhelmed as he felt.

 "Felix! Changbin!" A yelp was heard from behind them. As soon as they turned they spotted Chan running to them. "An enemy camp has invaded ours. They have guns and they are killing everyone that crosses their eyes. Hyunjin told to gather you all in the roof that-that the government is going to pick us up,that they are looking for survivors!Try to avoid anyone strange looking...and don't go on the first floor.Please" he said.The next second he threw himself at us, clutching us tight. "I will see you on the roof. But... "He trailed off looking as if he couldn't keep in the tears.

     "Go. We will be right behind you" Changbin said returning the hug. Felix clutching him just as tight. He looked at them one last time and sped off.

Swoosh!

Finally!

Felix was ready to take off. He had wasted precious time already in this fucking bullshit, he cared enough for Chan to appreciate this small moment, but he needed to find you. He took a total of 3 steps before an arm wrapped around his.

    "What?" he snapped, almost seeing red.

Changbin didn't move an inch."Where the fuck you going Felix?"

      "I have to find Y/N"he said trying to break free from the boy"I-I have to find her!"he shouted

       "We have to get to the roof"Changbin said, determinated. Felix managed to shrugged him off, adrenaline coursing through his veins.

        "You go first. I..I can't leave without her Binnie" he begged him, the desperation on his face evident. The older boy took a step back, a stern expression on his face that Felix hasn't associated with him. "Don't fight a losing battle" he warned "I will wait for you upstairs. I will wait for you man" he finally said , quickly hugging him once again and turned around, disappearing in the dark.

    As soon as Changbin left his sight , he run. He jogged all around the place, hiding himself at the slightest sound. He was brave enough to do this for you, he reminded himself. The fear of a bullet through his brain was not enough to hold him back.So he continued running, his eyes missing nothing. He met a lot of students, terrified and trembling on different corners of the school so he explained as fast as he could and sent them on their way. But there was no sign of you. He checked everywhere,on the teacher's office,on the janitor's closet, on every classroom...that left him with only one opinion.

     He rocked on his heels, trussing his hair before making the decision. You were worth the risk, so as quietly he could he went down the stairs.

      As he made his way down the first thing that hit was the stench. Copper and gun fire. The second thing he noticed was that no one was there except fallen bodies. Tears sprung to his eyes. He knew this people, he talked to them hours before and now they were lifeless masses on the floor because of a massacre. He swallowed and made himself look at their faces. No sign of you but this time he was relieved. "Y/N!" He whispered-shouted, scanning the place once again. 

"Fe-Felix!" A voice called out, weak, barely managing to speak up so he can notice. But he noticed, he swung his head to the direction of their window. He run so fast he didn't notice the trail of blood he run through, until he jumped out of the window and he saw you.

    You were laying just beside the window, clearly not having any more strength to pull yourself further away, looking like a total mess. Your hair disheveled beyond saving, skin ashen almost a sickly white, your lips that were usually smiling were twisted in a grimace, but you were alive.

      "Y/N!" He couldn't stop himself he immediately threw his hands around you, holding you tight but your response was one he didn't expect. A loud pained groan left your lips ,your whole body tensing. "Y-Y/N?" He stuttered, feeling lost. Until he saw the way you held yourself, the dried blood in your chin and lips ,but most importantly the flesh blood that was pooling in your stomach region. 

      "Why are you here,love?" She asked placing a cold hand on his cheek, caressing him lovingly. "You are supposed to be on the roof from what I heard"

      "I came to get you.Come on hang on to me, I can carry you up. Come on" he said, trying to place her hand around a his shoulders, but he only felt her tense more, pain filling her. He tried to snake his hands under her legs and host her up but it ended the same.

        "Lixie-"she started but he shushed her. He tried to collect her in his arms again, but he could feel how heavy her body was, how she couldn't control her movements. 

       "No!No no no no!No!" He chanted, as he capped her face "You have to get up, we have to get out together! I will dance with you every day! I will play cards with you! I will cook for you!You won't have to do anything! Just" he sobbed, tears he could no longer hold now were freely flowing. " Just stay with me. Please Y/N"he cried, willing her to live with him.

   "Felix,look at me" she breathed. He shook his head, burrowing his head in the crook of your neck, hugging you, breathing you in. He felt your lips at his temple and your weak arms wrapping themselves around him. "I will try to remember you in our next life. I will remember you." She promised. He pulled himself back and gave her a tearful smile.

     "And I will remember you, my love. I will remember you" he promised and leaned down to connect their lips one last time.

Swoosh!

He blinked.

He was on a helicopter, looking down at the school along with some of the others. He recognized Chan and Minho, who were going from person to person trying to reassure and comfort. He spotted Jisung and Changbin close by him, Hyunjin and his girl huddled in a corner clutching each other but he turned away , not standing the sigh of them. He turned his attention to the school below him. Now a graveyard for the fallen ones. A place that will always remind us of our loved ones. 

Tears filled his vision.

Goodbye my love , he thought. I will find you again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~

Swoosh!

Blinding lights was the first thing he saw. Music was the first thing he heard. Something heavy on his person was the first thing he felt.

He opened his eyes and he was in awe.

They first thing he did was look down only to see a heavy armor surrounding him. It was all silver metal with gold finishings. A sword was fastened in the armor, he was sure it weighted the same amount as him, if it wasn't even heavier.Then he looked up to see where he was.

A palace. He was in a real life palace. It was pristine. White walls with golden details engraved in complicated designs stretched over the walls. The ceiling was high up, so the enormous golden chandelier had more room to extend all over the people dancing. They all glided so gracefully on the marble floor as thought they didn't touch it.

 Every girl was dressed in long regal dresses which when they moved on the dance floor twirled around them making them look like fairies, every man had a three piece suit and while they were magnificent they looked like the belonged in a medieval play. All had adored masks, some were more plain but still painfully beautiful with golden or silver details, others had chosen more bold colours with feathers and glittery dust decorating them. He could spot figures with plainer clothes and simple masks carrying traits and drinks. Servants,he thought. With an other quick look around he spotted men dressed in the same silver armor he wore. 

Upon a elevated space was a seat fit for a king. On its sides sat two smaller seats,not less regal. All had crimson cushions and gold details as well. Gold must be their thing,he thought. Two tall guards stood behind the thrones wearing an even heavier armor than his.

Great. Zombie apocalypse first, now Arthur and the round table. Excellent.

He leaned against the wall he was by and gazed at the crowd. He didn't see anyone he knew as he didn't know what was he supposed to do here. 

He didn't much attention to his surrounding until he felt a presence stop before him.

"Can I have this dance, kind sir?" a melodious voice echoed.

 He pinned her with his eyes "Y/N?" Voice lashed with doubt he called her.

A black mask with silver details hide her face, but he could recognize that eyes. He would never forget those eyes. 

He looked at her. Not believing that she stood before him, alive and well.He stared with vigor trying to erase the last memory of her bleeding at the ground and burn this one to his memory.

A silver tiara sat on top of glossy brown hair that were curled to perfection, her face although hidden by the mask was alluring completed by a set of rubby red lips. Her gown was amazing black velvet and tulle were wrapped around her in a perfect balance. If the other girls looked fairies, she looked like a queen. A dark queen of vengeance. 

"The one and only" she smirked, extending her hand. In his stupor he took it and stepped in the dance floor with her. She placed her right hand on his shoulders, fingers immediately starting to play with his hair and left hand placed in his. He tightened his arms around her in a daze. 

"You are here" the stupid smile didn't leave his face. She was here, her cold hands clutching his and looking him like he hung the stars. "I am so sor-" 

 "Lixie shhh. No. None of that. We are here. Together" they circled the dance floor twice by now and whispers started to arise, following them as they started their third round. 

"Together" he agreed.

"What is going on here?" He lowered his head placing on top of hers. She hid her face on his neck, placing a sweet kiss there making him flush.

"You are my knight in shining armor" she sung. "You are in for a surprise, knight"

"What?"he leaned back to take a good look at her. She smiled and opened her mouth-

  Swoosh!

He was back by the wall in what he assumed was his post. As soon as the scene started trumpets started playing announcing the entrance of the royal family. First entered the king, the tall man with a golden crown on his head had no mask for he had no need for it. He was the king you could see it in the way he moved. Second entered the queen, a beautiful woman that age hadn't touched yet. She was the epitome of grace. And lastly entered the princess-

Y/N?!

Her figure glad in all black gazed at the crowd with boredom and disinterest. She swept the dance floor who had frozen in their spots upon the entrance, over the guests. Her gaze caught his own for a brief moment her intense gaze piercing him. She lightly squinted her eyes at him and gave him a hint of a smile, then she was gone. She climbed on the marble pondium along with her parents' and sat on the left plush throne by her father. She got comfortable on her chair, took a glass of wine and observed.

 Quite some time passed and while Felix didn't always look at your side, everytime he did he met your stare. You looked at him like a cat that was looking at their milk, if it was anyone else he would be uncomfortable but he was actually enjoying your attention. He could get used to having scenes with you.

Clink clink! 

The king stood up, clinking his goblet earning everyone's attention."My dear subjects! We have gathered here today to celebrate my daughter's birthday. This year as she is turning eighteen she will be choosing a husband to take! And he is here tonight!" His voice echoed throughout the ballroom. Husband? A shot of fear passed through him. We would have to antagonize a husband now?

"I shall go to him now,father. To my future husband and king. He shall be the only one I marry" a snarky voice was heard. And a blackened figure aroused. 

She started to make her way through the crowd, everyone parting to make way for the future queen. A black dream through and through. Her black heels echoed as she walked and walked. Her figure was nearing him, he could see her face now, smirk intact, figure straight with pride and experience he was sure. Thoughts were swirling in his head until her figure stopped before him. Now his head was empty, empty of all except her.

 "He will be my husband" she said, manicured hand pointing straight at him.

 She smiled at him as hush whispers surrounded.

While on the outer side he wore a shocked expression,he smiled back from the inside and he was sure she knew.

He could get used to this comic, he thought.

[countrymusiclover]

37 - Mirror of Darkness

Part 38

His Golden Princess

@lostweasleychild @fanficismydrug @misskitty1912-blog @drakoneve

Shifting my gaze up and down the ice cave I gripped the dagger knowing that this would be another weird magic encounter. Rumple stands beside me knowing that I could sense the same magic that he could. “She's not at home. I don't sense her magic.”

“Good. Okay. You stay here as a lookout. I'm going in.” I started to walk forward until he gently grabbed my wrist holding onto the dagger in my right hand.

Meeting his deep gaze he asked, trying to figure out where my head was at. To be honest I was only half sure of that answer. “What could you possibly want from the Snow Queen's cave?”

“A hat... One that can strip a magical being of their powers. I found it written about in some of the books we were reading to fix your blackening heart.” I explained pulling my wrist from his grasp.

He slumped his shoulders at my words. “That sounds like a remarkable object... Almost too good to be true, which means it probably is.”

“It can’t be, Rumple. We live in a world of magic and fairy tales. So it has to exist now I’m going to find it and you need to stay here and keep an eye out for her. Because it's the only way to force her to tell us where Anna is.” Waving my right hand I transported into the cave with an orange cloud of smoke disappearing away. Wrapping my arms around myself I began searching around the cave seeing everything white and covered in some type of snow. Then there’s a large mirror in the center of the cave.

Walking towards it I raised my hand feeling deep magic radiating from it and surrounding me inside this room. “Hello my dearie, Astrid.” Stumbling backwards my eyes locked onto someone that slightly looked familiar in the mirror. The girl had my eyes but her hair that was falling over her shoulders was black as night.

“What the hell are you. Why is my hair black like my mothers?” I asked, not understanding how I am looking like a Dark One.

The unfamiliar me smirked holding up the dagger in her hand. “As you said I am you, Astrid. It is rather embarrassing that you haven’t figured out why I look like this, read the dagger girl.”

Stepping closer to the mirror I bit my tongue reading my name across the blade in her hands. Holding the blade in my hand I scoffed not believing what she was saying right now. “That’s not possible, I can't be the Dark One. Rumple is….the only way I would become it was if he…died again.”

“Oh please princess. You’re not even going to consider the fact that you might enjoy such power. You literally share a heart with the man who has access to such power. Did you ever think that the voices of the darkness might not start calling out to you hmm.” The other Astrid smirked even bigger, slightly swinging the dagger in her hands.

Gripping the dagger in my right hand I stomped away from the mirror. This cannot be happening. The mirror is definitely cursed by some sort of dark magic. “I will not become the Dark One…I will not become the Dark One.”

“Yes you will. You will embrace darkness in your life. There will never be two saviors in this town. I mean did you honestly think that you weren’t going to become this when you literally married the darkest man alive.” She chuckled until I heard footsteps approaching me.

“Astrid the Snow Queen is approaching the cave. We have to go.” Rumple spoke seeing my eyes focused on the mirror.

Opening my left hand I pushed past him turning my knuckles almost white with how tightly I was clutching the dagger. “Go to hell! I will never become like you, I will never become the Dark One!”

“Astrid! Ast we have to leave. Don’t look in the mirror. Look at me, lass.” Rumple called out to me before I threw the fireball at him where he ducked and it hit the mirror doing nothing to destroy it. Running forward I attempted and managed to strike him across the face with the dagger until he used magic to transport us back to the shop.

Thrashing against his hold I elbowed him in the rib until he gripped my forearms holding me still. “Let... Let me go! It's okay. We're back in the shop. We're back in the shop. It's okay.”

“No. You were outside the cave. I commanded that you wait there.” I spat in his face glaring into those brown eyes still seeing the darker side of me in them.

He loosens his grip on me, finally letting me go. “You commanded me to keep watch. I sensed she was coming back. I came to find you, and I'm glad I did.” My eyes scanned over him finally breaking myself from the trance that it had put me under, noticing a fresh cut from the dagger on his chin.

“I... I hurt you. I... I'm so sorry, Rumple.” I sucked in a shaky breath dropping the dagger in my trembling hand so it smacked the wooden floor of the shop.

Rumple raised his right hand up to cradle my face in his palm. Leaning into his touch he whispered softly. “It's okay, Astrid. I know you wouldn’t hurt me.”

“When I f-found that mirror, something came over me, like a... Like a spell. And... And it spoke to me and made me... Made me believe all these horrible things, and it said to me that the dagger…that it would one day read that I was the…the Dark One.” I started sobbing where I fling my arms around his neck. Burying my face into the fabric of his suit just crying so much.

He wrapped his arms around my waist holding me close with his eyes locked onto the dagger laying on the floor. He knew something was different lately since the pregnancy and the fact that you shared the same beating heart now. “I can assure you that nothing that mirror said is true. It was imbued with the darkest of magic. I-I know you would never wrong me….I will figure this out Astrid I promise. I will find out what this means.”

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[justmanic03]

Amethyst - Chapter Twenty-Three

A/N: Whooo! Two chapters in one day! Thank god it's Friday

Pokemon Trainer Mackenzie sent out Gengar!

Go! Lily! I know you can do it!

Gengar used toxic!

Gladimax was badly poisoned!

I decided that I'd try for a one hit KO before giving her an antidote, and to do so, I used a move I had taught to her myself, Titanium Glade. The attack thrashed downwards, and thorns from the move slightly embedded Gengar's body, causing it to lose almost all of its HP. However, Mackenzie had equipped him with a focus sash, enabling him to hang on with a tiny HP left.

Gengar used Hex!

Gladimax avoided the attack! I smirked, her evasiveness was one of her best qualities in battle.

Unfortunately, despite the antidote, Mackenzie's Gengar still managed to take her down. I clenched my fists in frustration, I almost had him.

"Don't give up, Y/N!" Lisa called out from the sidelines as I sent out my beloved and loyal Glaceon, Stalagus.

Stalagus successfully took down Mackenzie's Gengar and fully-evolved Hydroxyl (which had started out as Hydroxa all the way back from Birch's lab).

Mackenzie's head darted in several directions as he realised he was running out of options.

His final Pokemon was Sableye, and by this point, I still had two Pokemon left to fight. I watched my opponent closely as he inserted his ionisation chip into Sableye's Pokeball, and I immediately followed suit with Stalagus.

The blinding light from the two ionised Pokemon was enough to light up the entire cave, as Lisa sat on the sidelines, mesmerised by the intense battle that was occurring in front of her.

Stalagus was ultimately successful, and he whistled in victory, as Mackenzie bent over with his head in his hands.

"Awww, shucks... you did it, Y/N," he grinned awkwardly.

Lisa sat there, mesmerised. "That was... it was..."

"Underwhelming, to say the least." Someone cut her off.

We all looked around, and frowned upon noticing Freya, the Harp Girl, standing cross-armed behind Mack.

"What do you want?!" Lisa spat.

The masked woman only huffed in response. "That racket you were making is upsetting my Pokemon. So I came to see what all the ruckus was about. I figured you miscreants would have something to do with it."

I couldn't help but notice what she was wearing. She had a long, baggy black hoodie that went down to her knees, with a huge white slogan printed on the front. It read: "Fighting Against Corruption."

"Can you stop butting your nose into everything we do?! Don't you have your own life?!" Lisa snapped. "Oh, and by the way, Y/N has told me everything. You're the leader of Team Moon, aren't you?"

"Hahahahhaha, you haven't changed one bit, have you?" Freya laughed in response.

"Actually, she's changed a lot." I corrected.

"Still just as slow-witted as ever, though." Harp girl continued. "If you really think I'd have anything to do with those low-ranking, pseudo-gangster Team Rocket wannabes, you'd be insulting my intelligence."

"Sounds exactly like something you'd say to try and throw us off the scent." Mackenzie chimed in.

Freya looked him up and down. "You fancy yourself a detective or something? You've a hell of a long way to go."

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Team Moon doesn't even exist anymore." She said casually.

"Wait... WHAT?!" Lisa exclaimed.

"HUH?!" Mackenzie gasped.

I also opened my mouth, yet no words could come out. It was as if my brain and body had completely frozen. My confusion also skyrocketed. Team Moon did exist... they had been terrorising Taldourse for decades... not to mention those corrupted Pokemon...

Freya groaned in frustration. "Have you three learned NOTHING over your gym journey?! Team Moon has been defunct for over three years now! Flossi and Kossi saw to their demise!"

"The Champions destroyed Team Moon?! That doesn't make sense! You're lying!" Mackenzie interjected.

Freya continued, "Just because Flossi and Kossi didn't shout their good deeds from the rooftops, doesn't mean they didn't lay their lives on the line to save the nation." She then turned on her heel, and walked in the opposite direction, leaving the three of us dumbfounded.

***

It just... didn't make sense.

There was an actual base in Opaquia that we were going to investigate, Team Moon's faces were regularly featured on Rogue Magazine... yet Freya had claimed they didn't exist? What madness? She was clearly one of those spoilt, arrogant princesses who could probably lie her way out of anything. I couldn't trust a word that came from her.

But on the other hand, the more I thought about it... the more likely it seemed that Team Moon were, in fact, a thing of the past. This explained why there hadn't been a single grunt seen around in an extremely long time. It also explained why Opaquia was completely abandoned. Surely it would be infested with criminals if they really had a base there? Yet Jordan and Buzz had found nothing? And the Elite Four were just as confused as us... could it be true?

And then, there was the mystery of Kossi's death, and the unknown person who had fled the scene. Up until this point, I had been convinced that Team Moon were the ones responsible. They were the only ones with a clear motive, after all. Yet if Team Moon were already defunct at the time, they couldn't have been responsible. (Unless it was, perhaps, a former member looking for revenge against him?) I shook my head, trying not to get lost in my thoughts. I had to brace myself for my next destination after all.

Perhaps when I arrived in Opaquia, I would finally unveil Taldourse's truth, which appeared to be shrouded in mystery.

[sweetish-original-story]

Chapter 9

After what felt like a long few minutes, longer every time Dulce comes here, finally he touches the tree that marks the edge between the shore and the forest, luckily unmarked by the border.

Dulce patted the trunk and declared in a proud tone, finally free from the cage of anxiety that silently haunted him, "Here it is!"

"Here it is? " Sammy repeated.

Out of nowhere he lifted the flowing skirt of leaves with with no shame or hesitation, revealing a cove that was full of miles and miles of opalescent crystals.

The size of an earring stud to the size of small home, they all looked as if they were glowing. Dulce knew this is what she was stunned by, and decided to tell her what his father told him when he first entered the cave.

"Some say that these crystals are so bright and pure that they reflect any light that enters for 2 million years. Come on, let's get a few."

Dulce took off his shoes and left them on a crystal that looked like it was dull and dirtied. Sammy followed suit. They rolled up their pants and stepped into the crystal clear spring water puddles of the cave, purified by thousands of years of sand and stalactites. The only signs of people were baskets and odd symbols carved into the rock.

There was a burst of air that hit Sammy's lungs, so saccharine sweet it nearly candied her insides, and her mouth began to drool so much that by the time she noticed, she had already added a drop or two into the water before covering her mouth in embarrasment.

Dulce patted her back before entering the cave himself, leaving the leaves behind to hide the entrance once again.

A long time ago it affected him too, but his body had gotten so used to it over the years that he barely notices the shift anymore.

"Alright," Dulce started. "So what your gonna want to do is-"

"Hey hey hey, I'm helping you, remember?" Sammy interrupted, full of vim and vigor.

She proceeded to wrap her coat around her waist and tie her hair up.

"Let me be your knight in your time of need, my darling, you shant lift even a finger until my debt to you is repaid."

She then unbuttoned her blouse and marched like a soldier toward the ones that looked the most ripe, intending to gather them into one of the baskets she had picked up.

"Alright, fine, you don't need my help." He responded in a mix of annoyance and amusement. "Harvest away, oh brave and noble knight."

Fifteen minutes had gone by and she only managed to shake loose ten puny rocks. It was impossible to tell what was ready and what wasn't. Dulce had been sitting with his arms behind his head on a smooth boulder of sweetness.

He finally decided to give her determination a break and piped up;

"There's an easier way. "

Sammy turned around in relief. "Oh thank goodness." She sighed, letting go of the act.

Dulce closed his eyes and gently felt at the wall beside him. His hand stopped at a point, made a fist and in one swing cracked a full crystal into pieces, causing a chain reaction that shook bits and peices from the ceiling right into the water, like a shower rainbow colored pearls.

Sammy's relief faded into bewilderment.

"Why," she asked, barely able to register the prank he pulled, "why didn't you do that the whole time?"

He took the time to answer as carefully as he could. "Well I was going to," he stated "but then you took your shirt off."

The next thing Dulce knew, the world had gone dark and his face was covered in two different fabrics and a pile of sugar crystals. All he could hear was her frustration and laughter.

[dailytatsu]

Heya! Can I request an Aether/Lumine & reader?

So reader is basically an immortal half-elf who've lived for centuries and a well refined fighter. Well at the beginning even tho they volunteered to tag along on traveler's journey to find their sibling, reader is rather obnoxious and a lazy-dork who only help when actually needed. But as the journey continues, they began to act like traveler's bodyguard after witnessing (archon quest spoiler!) traveler almost getting killed by the Shogun? And maybe random shenanigans happen between them (ft.Paimon). I don't mind if you do either Aether or Lumine if you feel pressured 🙏

Hi! This kind are my favorites! Tysm for requesting! (๑>◡<๑)

I did this with Aether since he is my favorite is who I chose, and I feel more comfortable writing with guys than with girls.

I know they have some different personalities but I can help but see Lumine as the all mighty abyss princess.

Hope you enjoy!

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Aether & Half-elf! Reader

GN! Reader

Inazuma Archon Quest Spoilers!

Request are open; sorry for any mistakes!

Genshin Impact Masterlist

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Aether always thought that immortality brought with it wisdom, beings who live for much longer than an ordinary human tend to gain an understanding of life and changes in the world after years of appreciating the passing of the ages.

But when he met you he couldn't help but feel that all his beliefs were based on fiction and old rumors from other worlds. You were anything but wise, not even his first choice to be the voice of reason.

Even Paimon takes her role as his guide seriously.

But what was so wrong about you that get him on his nerves all the time? And most important, why does is he still dealing with you?

To be fair, maybe he was waiting a little too much from you. After all, he always forget that you still have half of a human’s nature.

“Mmh? What are you doing?” You asked Aether the first time he removed your hair from your ears to see if they were pointy. They were, and Paimon yelled kind of a objection when she realize she had to pay for losing their bet.

Not a human, not a elf, but a hybrid between them.

The first encounter was really something he would never forget. Rumors about treasures and requests from the guild made them follow some clues to find a cave that was marked as lost, impossible to enter and explore.

But “impossible” is a word that doesn’t exist their vocabulary. Yet is common that regretting comes along when you’re that bold and risky.

At the very end of that strange cave there wasn’t a treasure waiting, not even a new clue to keep going with the mystery. Instead, was a humanoid silhouette, they seemed to be meditating, not showing a single interest in their voices neither getting nervous because of Aether and Paimon taking some steps forward to have a better look.

But they were breathing, and both could see the pupils moving slightly under their eyelids. Eyebrows twitching now and then, like they were having a nightmare, one of which they couldn’t wake up.

Paimon encouraged him to get even closer to shake that person's shoulder, while she was hiding behind some rocks, obviously.

Aether summoned his sword and then he approached slowly until touching them with his fingertips, waiting for some kind of jumpscare.

The stranger raised their arm, carefully but also in a robotic way. Their fingers were tense, as much that it was painful just looking at them. Like a quiet call, like a order that couldn’t be heard, from the pile of rocks where Paimon was hiding something emerge, breaking through the stone and letting a rusty polearm to be seen.

Their fingers closed around the weapon, bringing them back to reality.

“Master and weapon, reunited again, rise so the world can meet their end!”

Or at least that's what he would have preferred to find. A servant guarding a lost relic, a soulless body moving by a curse, perhaps even a fate that death could not prevent.

But instead it was something really underwhelming, something that broke the mystical and strange atmosphere. That person opened their eyes, annoyed by the light of the torches and disoriented by the situation.

With their body in pain and numb at the same time, how long have they slept in that position?

The first thing they did after waking up was sneezing.

‘So much dust…’

Never accepting missions for exploring legendary caves ever again. Nope. Negative. He refuse to.

What if they find another (Y/N)? Thanks, but no. One is more than enough.

“So what you mean is that your parents' families exiled you and locked you up in the cave for being an ‘abomination’ to both species?” Paimon confirmed once the three of you were back in the surface again. Her hands moving side to side to explain -in a very expressive way- everything you told them.

“It seems that we found the remains of an ancient race that used to exist in Teyvat.” Aether said, still surprised by the way you roamed to feel the wood of the trees and the grass under your bare feet. Kind of heartbreaking.

“Like the boar we found with Xiangling!”

He wasn’t sure if it was okay to compare both encounters but he could see her point.

“… ‘Wait for us’, they told me, ‘think about your existence and find the answer to why your conception is not the atrocity that everyone says you are. May their words not reach you, because we have long ears to hear the words of the gods and not the ones of those who defile earth’… ” You pronounced after decades of not needing to use the language you were taught, with one hand on your chin and eyes closed to concentrate. All you had left was the few memories you preserved inside your mind and heart.

“With ‘they’ you mean your parents?”

You nodded.

“And what happened next?… ” Asked back the tiny companion of the blond guy that rescued you.

“I got bored and I fell asleep.” You admitted, carefree about it, shrugging your shoulders and sighing.

A total waste of your youth.

“Eh!? Then you didn’t thought about those things? That sounded important!” Paimon seemed disappointed for your answer, while Aether held his forehead, without having a clue of how he was supposed to react.

That was the day you joined their party! New team member, (Y/N) strikes in!

Or something like that,,

“H-Hey! We could use a hand over here!… woah!” The little white girl scold you but from your high sit on the top of a big rock only a exaggerated yawning can be heard. Paimon crossed her arms to almost immediately duck down to dodge a fire bullet from the Fatui. Aether didn’t say anything, he was concentrated fighting.

“Oh, yeah… You’re doing great. Go, Aether, go…”

“Was that supposed to be a cheering?!”

“Hey, calm down” You said “He doesn’t need my help. Just take a look, he’s an adventurer. If I meddle it will be really boring for him.”

“Hmp! Now Paimon believes that you were lying when you said that you were a well refined fighter!” She was floating around you, ignoring the battle of his blond friend. Like a pesky bee, the only thing you did was avoiding her furious gaze. “Don’t ignore Paimon! How can you not hear with those ears!? That’s it! Paimon will give you a ugly nickname!”

“What about ‘extinct deaf elf-der’?”

“Yeah, that’s a good one!” She agreed immediately, then she shook her head, pointing at you like a guilty criminal. “Wait, Paimon doesn’t need your suggestions!”

When the last Fatui was defeated Aether turned back to face both of you, sighing because of the new arguing between you two. His sword disappeared and some steps were took to get closer.

Your eyes met each other, a slight smile in your face after looking him safe and sound. So confident but so unaware of the remain danger hiding. Your expression became a surprised one, then your gaze sharped like a killer sight.

You left Paimon on top of the rock when you jumped down, summoning your own weapon you ran straight to where Aether was. The traveler panicked just a fraction of second before loosing sight of you.

Next thing they know was that a you were behind him, facing at the nothing with a defensive pose, just a second of silence before a impact could be heard. Some dirt and dust was lift as the pair of Fatui Pyro Agents became visible again. They stayed there, defeated in one hit.

“Like I said. It would be pretty boring if I meddle...” Aether and Paimon were shocked, none of them felt their presence, not even the heat of the pyro delusion. Your weapon disappeared in the air, and your hands rested on your waist. “Dear Seven, that was intense.” Looking at your friends you sighed, with the laziness on your body language. “It was my turn to cook dinner, right? What a pain having to eat again… ”

Acting that relaxed after that really made them went Ô_Ô and Ö

A silent speech, where devotion and gratitude are the best topics of conversation. The message that is heard even if there’s no words in between. Just a exchange of gazes. Little signs of affection that are shown when it’s necessary.

Your family was gone. No clues about their whereabouts could’ve found in that cave of where you came. Not even the skeletons of a couple holding their hands and petrified in a sobbing position. Not even ashes.

When you have been thinking about the most unimportant things in the universe for so long you can deal with the lost faster than anyone else. Getting the idea of no remain evidence of your parents and feeling that it wasn’t that heartbreaking.

Maybe because you gained a new family almost immediately.

Still you could empathize with Aether, he still had his precious memories with his sister, still remember her face and her voice. And most important was that he knew that she was still roaming Teyvat, waiting for him.

Even if they leave behind Paimon and you at the end of the trip.

Or even if they just leave you behind.

‘I’m okay with that.’

You thought, stroking Paimon’s hair when her head found a comfortable place to rest in your lap. You thought, moving your shoulder so Aether wouldn’t have neck pain. Both sleeping peacefully and you staying awake night by night.

You’ve slept enough, for so long besides.

Somehow the flames of the campfire are warmer now that you have someone to look how the fire dance in the night.

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“I see, so you were serious when you told me that your companion was a mystical extinct creature, weren’t you?” Albedo’s hand went up to hold his chin, analyzing you from distance.

“They are half of it, actually.” Aether answered back, notice how Sucrose was asking you permission to check your features. The sparkle in her eyes made you accept her petition after feeling with the back against the wall.

“Your ears are like mine! Look, look!” Klee pulled your shirt, then she pointed at the side of her head.

“… Still the shape of both are quite different, the length too.”

Years of isolation really are hitting hard right now. You felt overwhelmed and somehow shy when Sucrose hold your face to have a better look.

You follow the traveler to everywhere, no matter the place, you were there. Like a shadow, sometimes just a spectator, other times like an actual active team member.

“Who would’ve tell that our Honorary Knight also has his own knight watching his back.” Kaeya’s voice has that joke but charming tone, as always.

Day after day, it’s the same, everyone talking you through Aether. Like some kind of translator.

“More like a human shield.” Your hand landed on top of Aether’s head, not agreeing with his explanation.

Bonk.

“I guess everything’s better than being Emergency Food.”

“Hey!”

“Haha! You three are quite a team, aren’t you?”

Of course you were. Mondstadt, Liyue, you name it. You could assure that every place in this two nations have at least one story about the team.

You knew that the most brave and magnificent outlander in Teyvat didn’t need a guardian, he can defend himself (somehow even if he’s still using that dull blade).

Bodyguarding also sounds like such a hassle…

You only provide a last resource help when was needed, sometimes also helping with some puzzles and mysteries.

The long eared people was known to be wise and smart people that searched for the full comprehension of the world. Also such a nerds and fans of knowledge. So, even if you considered yourself dumb, in your blood was the instinct of looking for the truth, and sometimes that impulse could be really annoying.

You were always near enough to reach him. Pulling his scarf from behind to move him away from danger. Countering after he gets hit.

Always in a place where you could reach him.

You just needed to extend your arm and you would catch Aether. It was always like this. Always with you jumping in the middle of the crossfire to shield them if it was necessary.

It’s always like this.

Until the day you three set a foot in Inazuma’s land. And a bad feeling of a imminent catastrophe made your shiver.

A new nation, a new problem to solve. But a war? Boldness and stupidity sometimes looks like the same thing, but no matter how many times you repeat this to Aether, he would still ran into problems.

And you would follow him, until your debt is paid, until his travel is done.

It used to be like this.

But then you failed him after being unable to move because of the fear that paralyzed your body. The day Aether faced Shogun Raiden in the ceremony. The day you heard the broken voice of a god inside the Shogun you also fell apart. It was painful, cruel, a void of anger and sadness.

Jumping into danger, without you behind.

You tried to ran between the goddess and your savior, you tried to get closer to at least be useful one last time as the shield you promised to be.

You tried.

But, for the first time, your hand didn’t reach him.

The void of despair and darkness that could be heard inside the Shogun devoured him.

The tears of panic and fear in Paimon’s eyes. The way the Shogun lifted her sword to end his life. The way you were paralyzed because of her presence, forced to be part of the crowd and presence his execution.

That day your facade of laziness faded away, the real feeling of being a knight burnt along your proud. It was so annoying, it was so unnecessary, but still you couldn’t ignore it.

“Are you… are you sure that you’re okay? We don’t have to find the Sangonomiya resistance today. If you need to rest then-” Your hands were shaking when you placed them in Aether’s shoulders, holding yourself for tearing up.

“We have to keep going. I’ll be fine.”

“Besides, if we stay near Inazuma this night they could find us! Paimon won’t be able to sleep like that!” Your mouth opened to counter their arguments, but not a single word dared to go against Aether’s plans.

They could see it in your face. The worry, the remains of shock and fear, the guilty.

“Don’t try to look strong then. If you get tired, tell us. I can carry you in my back.” Even if you were offering help your voice was serious, so cold but so hurt at the same time that nor Aether or Paimon knew what to said to bring the old you back.

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“… Aren’t you coming?” You could hear how the door was slid to let him saw you. The lighted spots on Aether’s clothes were purple, just as the lighting that almost end him. Your lips made a concerned and stressed grimace.

The young traveler took a seat next to you, outside the structure, sitting on the wooden steps and looking at the starry sky. The wind was cold but still the soldiers of the resistance were talking normally and the slight feeling of discommodity because of the excessive presence of other people was climbing up your back.

“(Y/N), there’s no need of guard us every night. You also need to sleep.”

“I'm not tired, I think I've gotten enough sleep, at least not to need it until the next century.”

Aether’s expressions went into a sarcastic one, asking if you were serious with just his gaze.

“That’s not how it works.” He said, trying to change the mood. “And if it does, then why are you always snoozing during the day in every chance you get?”

You had the answer to that, but you weren’t sure about telling him.

“Because everything supposed to be boring. Nothing really changed a lot and… looking at the familiar places was depressing.” So easy, so simple, but still enjoying the company, still enjoying the sound of theirs laughs and their own shenanigans. “… Lately, I’ve been thinking that I should not had left the cave. Don’t get me wrong, I do appreciate that you two helped me to be back at the surface, and I really want to help you on your journey, but if you still run into the chaos by own decision I think I could not follow you any longer before being a burden in your adventures.”

Overprotection, an unbreakable shield, frequently avoiding fights, always being pulled back to not be part of the battle. Enemies of the braveness of the traveler.

Worry, panic, an overreaction due to fear of loosing everything again.

‘let me do it’, ‘I got it’, ‘wait here’, ‘don’t get close’.

These day could be described like that.

“So, before I do something worse as an excuse of defend you, please let me find a cave to await. You do what’s is needed and… call me back, or leave me there, anything you think it’s better… ”

You could be pronouncing the words from the very bottom of your heart, but still your face was the same seriousness as the accident almost happened.

And even with that you felt his gloved hand removing the hair that was covering your right ear, revealing how it slightly leaned down, showing sadness unwittingly.

“Hey, cut it out… I’m serious about this… ”

“It doesn’t matter if you think that it’s the best option, you’re still sad about leaving.”

“… That’s cheating.” Removing his hand away from your hair you tried to act indifferent.

“You know the reason why we invited you to came along?”

‘You felt sorry for me.’

“I can’t totally tell the exact reason, but it wasn’t for you to pay us some kind of debt because of saving you.” He crossed his arms, looking at the stars, wondering if his sisters was doing the same. “We don’t need a guardian, we need our friend back. And I know you care about Paimon and me, but still you must enjoy the journey. It’s not fair that you are always aware of every potential danger while we mess around lately.”

An eternal silence, your response is late to appear but somehow Aether can tell that you already have something on your mind.

“Then apologize.”

“… Why?”

“For believing that playing as the hero and jumping to face the Shogun was something you had to do.”

“… but-”

Neither Aether nor you slept that night, the blonde had to listen for hours to all the things that you ever wanted to complain about since you arrived in Inazuma.

You made your position on joining the army of the rebellion very clear, you had no intention of fighting to seek "justice" or "peace". Because after all, that fight did not correspond to you, but if he asked you to, you would protect some soldiers or help to guard the barracks, if he asked you to, you wouldn’t complain about it (at least not that much).

Both had enough of each other’s attitude, but it was okay. Because that was what all of you chose in first place.

[giorno-plays-piano]

Your friendly neighborhood man-serpent

Pairing: naga!Peter Parker x Reader

Warnings: yandere, dubcon, kidnapping, mind control (kinda).

Words: 2000.

Summary: You definitely had to choose the mountain road over the forest one.

P.S. Again, huge thanks to @navegandoaciegas for giving me the inspiration to write!

_______________

"You chose the wrong path." The creature whispered into your ear as it carried you in his long, pale arms back to the light, away from the cold cave where it cornered you, frightened and frozen, barely feeling your legs in the cold groundwater.

Oh, you knew you chose the wrong path when an enormous naga started chasing you in the forest, his scary green tail big enough to wrap around your body and suffocate you in a couple of minutes. Honestly, you had never even imagined such monster to exist in the first place: you would definitely prefer taking the mountain road despite it being far more difficult than the forest one.

As you kept running away, screaming and crying, pleading the creature not to bite you, he drove you to that nasty cave where you fell into the freezing waters, hurriedly scrambling to your feet before you felt the scales of his tail rubbing against your skin: the creature had already wrapped his tail around you, probably eager to squeeze your poor human body to death and have you for breakfast. When you turned your head and saw its sharp fangs glistening with saliva, you finally cried like a little girl.

"Please, don't bite me." You pleaded in a weak voice as the creature caressed your cheek with its oddly human fingers.

"Just once." It assured you softly, bringing his fangs to the crook of you neck. "It won't hurt too much."

Though you thought with a teeth like this it definitely would, the creature told you the truth: it truly didn't hurt as bad as you had imagined. It was quick, like a shot a healer would give you, and then you felt warmth spreading slowly from the place of the bite. It felt... strangely comfortable when you realized you were calming down despite the horror of the situation. Weren't the venom of a naga supposed to hurt terribly?

"It does hurt." The creature hummed, releazing you from his tail's grip and gently taking you in its arms when you weren't able to stand on your own, too weak from whatever it got into your system. "Not that I actually poisoned you, darling. Of course, since it's the mating season, I wanted to inject some aphrodisiac so you'd be more willing to accept me as your mate, but you were so scared I thought it's better to let you calm down and rest."

Oh. Apparently, you got yourself a pretty compassionate snake friend. Oddly enough, you felt you worries fading away in a matter of a couple of minutes, relaxing in the creature's hands. Was it some sedative he used on you? You thought it was, exhaling loudly and closing your eyes.

As he - it was a male, surely - carried you back to the sunlight, you snuggled against his warm chest, enjoying being carried as if you were a little girl. Mating season, huh? This naga male deemed you attractive enough to have you as his mate despite you being a human. It was definitely flattering, you thought when a man-serpent gently brushed your hair away from your face and smiled at you.

The human part of him was quite handsome, you had to admit - he had shiny brown hair slicked back, a pair of pretty dark eyes, pale skin and lips that were thin, but there was substance to them. Besides, even the snake part, that tail starting from his waistline, wasn't as frightening to you anymore: well, what of it if he was a naga? The world was full of peculiar creatures, and all of them deserved to live despite their scary looks.

"Where are you taking me?" You wondered when you saw him entering another cave, though much smaller one than where you tried to hide before.

"Hot springs." The man-serpent said with a little hiss, licking his lips with ahis long, girthy tongue. "You are totally drenched, precious. This is no good."

How sweet of him, you thought, relaxing in his arms and feeling your heartbeat totally coming back to normal and your body becoming weightless as whatever sedative he injected came to full force.

"Girls shouldn't get into cold waters. It's not good for your health." He kept talking quietly, lowering you to the ground near a little pond filled with warm water and starting to strip you of your drenched clothes. "But don't worry, these springs are very good. They'll keep you nice and warm."

You nodded to him, paying no attention when Peter, that was his name, bared your breasts, caressing them just ever so slightly before taking off your pants torn in the chase. Soon he left you completely naked, though he hadn't tried touching you inappropriately - well, almost. Instead, he got inside the pond and gently tugged you by the arm, making you slip on top of his tail as your body refused to move by itself. When you asked him if you'd always be like that from now on, he laughed at you, saying the effect would fade off soon. In the end, he only wanted you to calm down and relax.

"Is the water good for you?" The man-serpent asked, lowering himself into the pond so much you were now laying on his chest, your body almost fully covered by water.

You hummed with content, a huge serpent's tail in between your legs while you put your head on the man's chest, too. Oh, it was nice and warm, just as he said. You certainly loved this place, enjoying those little noises Peter was making when he started pouring water on the back of your neck, then your head, soaking your hair. Since you couldn't move much, he was willing to help you bathe.

"It's so sweet of you." You murmured, feeling pure bliss when he started scratching your head with his nails, his other hand caressing your back. "Thank you, Peter. You're lovely."

Apparently, nagas could be shy, too, as you watched him getting a little red from your compliment. Instead saying something, he just muttered a few barely audible words and flipped you, your back now laying on his chest while he kept washing your body, now caressing your breasts. His touch was so pleasant you mewled when Peter was rubbing your belly in circular motions, his hands so gentle and soft as if he was a healer, not a creature of the forest.

Inhaling the smell of your damp hair, he then paid attention to your hips, shaking his head disapprovingly when he saw the little scratches and bruises everywhere on your legs. "You're not taking good care of yourself." He said with regret in his voice, and you bit your lower lip, feeling a little guilty. "You're a girl, aren't you? You have to be kind to your body."

"I'm sorry." You murmured and licked your lips when Peter's hand clamped down your pussy, spreading your folds gently. "I didn't know how."

"It's alright. I'll teach you." He exhaled into your ear, making you giggle from the warmth.

He let you sat on his tail again, just so he didn't have to support your body, and then his hands drifted to your lower belly, rubbing your mound, then spreading your pussy wide and caressing it so tenderly as if he were your lover. When you though Peter was going to push his fingers inside a little further, he withdrew them and started touching you hips and thighs instead, washing the dirt and dry blood away.

Shit, you loved his hands. He was so gentle and attentive it made you sob.

"Does it hurt anywhere?" Peter asked with concerned expression when he heard you, but you shook your head instead, a little embarrassed at the noise you made. "Oh, precious little thing, you're so sensitive. Did I make you hurt down there? Did I? I'm so sorry, darling. I know girls are very sensitive over there."

Strangely, you didn't feel shy when he spoke about something so intimate, nor you found odd that a stranger you barely knew was helping you bathe, all naked and completely helpless. Barely noticing how agreeable whatever he injected made you, you simply nodded at him, and Peter promised he will be more careful from now on.

When he touched your lower belly after that, his fingers barely brushing against your skin, you let out a little moan. He was so, so good. How did he know how to touch you, relaxing your strained muscles? As his arms moved to your back, attacking certain points and sensitive areas with his finger pads, you were ready to mewl, enjoying every touch and slowly melting on top of him.

"This feels like heaven." You mumbled with your eyes closed and feeling lightheaded. "Peter, I'm... oohh... so grateful to you. How can I thank you?"

If you opened your eyes and turned your head to face him, you would see him blushing yet sending you a slightly sly look, licking his lips. But you were in pure bliss, listening to the water washing over your relaxed body and unaware of what was on Peter's mind.

"I like kissing. If you want to thank me, maybe you could kiss me?" He asked you innocently enough, batting his long eyelashes at you as you giggled softly, finally turning your face to him.

"Kiss? You're so sweet, Peter. Of course, I"ll kiss you."

But before you leaned over, reaching to his face, he quickly dropped his head to you and claimed your mouth, spreading your lips with his long tongue and sneaking it inside. Swirling it inside your mouth, filling it full, naga licked it's insides, dominating over you and placing his warm hands on your breasts. If only you could gather yourself together and think what he was doing to you, you'd slap his hands away and try to escape, fearing of what the man-serpent could do to you... but your mind was empty when Peter kept kissing you, massaging your breasts tenderly and pinching your nipples.

When you finally thought he could accidentally suffocate you, Peter released you, letting your breathe.

"Can I ask you for one more favor?" He smacked his lips, licking them as he stared at you with his cheeks turning pink. "Please."

"Hmm? Y-yeah."

"Can you make love to me, precious? I know it's a lot to ask, but nobody's been coming to my place for such a long time." He sighed sadly, pressing himself closer to you. "All I want is just to feel somebody's warmth. Believe it or not, you're the only girl I've seen seen for the last couple of years."

He sounded to pitiful, you thought, watching him slowly becoming red with shame as he kept throwing shy glances at you, his lips glistening with salive as he licked them again and again, showing you his forked tongue. Poor little creature, he couldn't enjoy anyone's company for so long! Of course, you had to help him, you decided, thinking of how gentle he was to you all the time, surely knowing how to treat a girl right. Besides, what would you lose from spending some more time with him?

"It's alright, I guess." You slurred in a daze, turning your head to him and feeling him kissing your cheek.

"I'm so happy I met you." Peter murmured, then licking your ear with his long tongue as his hand crawled lower, touching your mound. "It's gonna be alright, I'll prepare both of your holes before, so you won't feel any pain."

"Woah, both?" For a couple of seconds your eyes widened: it appeared Peter was quite a pervert. You had never tried having sex like that before, and your expression turned a little anxious.

"Didn't you know? Oh, I'm so, so sorry." His low whisper made you tremble with want, his fingers already fucking your cunt. "Men of my kind have two dicks, darling. But don't you worry, you'll take both of them just fine."

_____________________

Tags: @finleyjayne @alexakeyloveloki   @helenaeisenhower @villanellevi @hurricanerin @abyssaint @heeeyitskay @chris-evans-indian-fanfic @navegandoaciegas @rosalynshields @brattycherubwrites @sllooney @angrythingstarlight @lookiamtrying @buckysbunny @soleil-dor @stargazingfangirl18 @dillybuggg @literate-lamb @cosicas-cuquis @sarge-barnes-sir @buckybarnesplumwhore​ @jaysayey @megzdoodle

[withdrawingramen]

Contract

CW: Reference to long-term captivity, labor & beatings, referenced whump of a female minor [ 17y ], authoritative & intimidating whumper The door clicked open. Sihyeon had no interest in looking up at the man shutting the door after him. Her bloodlust had gotten so fierce that last night she dreamt of her supervisor's murder. Yet he now sat down in front of her, still alive, still breathing, still mocking her existence. The only things that stopped her from clawing his throat out were the cuffs, chains, rather. And the sturdy glass wall that drew the line between her and the rest of the world. Kurai Sorano made himself comfortable in the chair across her, lazily placing a bunch of papers on the table, continuing to open the tiny hatch in the glass and sliding the papers to her side. "It's something you'll be interested in, probably." She didn't speak. She was tired from the day's exertion, the beating she took during the week, and just in general, everything. Sihyeon's eyes darted to the documents, a jumble of words decorating them. From "Latent" to "Public Welfare", nothing she understood nor was she interested in. She looked away. "Read it, girl. You want to get out of here, don't you?" The man said, disinterest coating his voice. Get out? How long it had been since she'd been outcasted, she'd lost track. She'd given up on it. There was no way out of this. "Prime Minister's courtesy." "Then I definitely don't want it." Sihyeon spoke for the first time in, hours? Days? Her voice was too hoarse, denoting the lack of use for casual conversation. "Oh, I know you very well do. You went on a murder spree to try and escape over a year ago. Now you're getting the easy way out, Sihyeon." Her eyes widened. Sihyeon. That was her name. Her head jerked up to look the man in the eye. "My name. Why-?" Kurai chuckled. "I don't usually bother looking up the names, but since you'll be directly under me, I made an exception. We've got all your information, should it really be that surprising?" His tone had changed. Sihyeon recognized it. That same tone of voice that rang in her ears before agony ensued. A pen now rolled to her side from the hatch. "I don't care if you don't want to read it, you're going to sign it regardless." She'd begun shivering. What was even on the paper? Had she forgotten how to read? Sihyeon scanned the papers for any sense of familiarity, not being able to make sense of anything. Something about training periods, exams, supervisors, public service, she didn't get it. "I don't understand.." Kurai sighed. "Like I said, easy way out. Work for us under some conditions, and things will be much easier. I don't plan on giving you the comfort of ease, though." "Work with you?" Sihyeon snarled. It came off much nasty than she'd intended, but to hell with it, she didn't mind screaming obscenities at the man till her throat was raw. "Yeah, me. Now, there's the pen and paper, sign the fucking contract." She nodded in hesitation. "You don't want to walk out of this place with an even worse black eye. Don't make me come over there, please." Sihyeon froze. What should she do? What could she do? Cave in? To the government? She muttered something along the lines of "would die before I work with you..." but she couldn't hear herself. Her judgement felt so, so clouded. What would be easy? What would be hard? She'd probably understand more if she actually read the papers- Kurai Sorano didn't wait. He snatched the papers away before she could lay a hand on them. "Fine, then. Die in this shithole of a place. You'll spare me the trouble, anyway." No, wait. She wanted to get out. Right? Was this a chance to make things better, or was it another ploy? "Wait." She fumbled out by the time her supervisor had stood up, already heading for the door. He didn't seem to have heard. You're gonna wanna take that chance, love. "I'll do it." She said, louder, this time. Kurai now standing in the doorway, looked back at her. "Give me those papers." The man smiled. "Good girl."

[bitchfitch]

Copper artfight resource

big soft boy. if a cup of spicy hot chocolate was a massive apex predator/ obligate carnivore.

mikely stabbed him the first time they met and he fell in love Instantly.

an excerpt:

Death crept through the lavish halls of a rich man's home. Old cracked paint flaked beside sun faded tapestries and over well worn wood floors. The raged leather soles of of his boots softly thumping along with the creaking of old wood that accompanied his every step. He found the room easily, following the sound of a fading cough and short not quite gasping breaths that failed to draw enough air. 

He ducked through the door and the dying man greeted him with age hazed eyes and a broad grin.

"Copper!" his exclamation carried joy even if his lungs couldn't support more than a creaking whisper, "Bastard, it's so good to see you again," he stopped to catch his breath, his eyes closing as he did so,

"And you as well," Copper returned the smile as he sat in the chair beside the bed, "But to be honest I'm a touch surprised, both that you can see anything through those cataracts, and that you would… Appreciate my presence," 

The rich man chuckled, "Not many people have hair that color, even fewer are as tall as you. I may not be able to see much, but I can still see that,"

"I suppose you're right," Copper huffs with a hand going to his dark red mess of a mane "Still, you must remember the terms of our deal and what my presence means for you now?"

"I do," he nods, "I'm going to die tonight, going to see Min again," 

"Min?"

"My wife," he smiles as he speaks of her even as his words become more labored, "That quill you gave me, I wrote a letter to the girl I had fallen in love with when we were young. I didn't know she couldn't read, so she had to get someone else to read it to her, but when she'd heard what I wrote she came all the way into the valley to slap me and call me an idiot," he laughs, "Told me we should've eloped when we were both still fresh, before she'd found another man to call her own,

I'd not even thought that she'd have gone on like that. It made sense, she could have, and did, do so much better than me. But luck of lucks saw that husband of hers dead not long after. I felt bad for being so happy, but I couldn't stop smiling when she and I married,

That quill- You, gave me the happiest life I could have imagined. I'm glad to pay my end of the deal now, because it means I get to see her again,"

"It's a rare treat to find someone with no regrets, thank you for your story," Copper smiles softly, genuine and warm,

"Oh, I've got regrets," the rich man say "Many, but I don't care to dwell on them, not now… or… Well, one, there's one,"

"Hmm?"

"Min and I, we had a fight right before… She was so mad at me last time I saw her. Do you think she still is?"

"I don't know, but you will have plenty of time to make it up to her soon,"

"Yeah, yeah that's true… It's close now is it?"

"Moments if I had to guess," Copper shrugs, "The clot in your lung is migrating and will soon block off blood flow to the area completely. After that happens you won't be able to get enough air and will… fall asleep, then you will suffocate over a few minutes. It won't be the most pleasant of deaths, but it won't hurt badly," he simplified things greatly, not caring for the slight inaccuracies so long as they helped keep the rich man calm and peaceful in these final moments.

"Any final requests?" Copper cocks his head,

"I think… yeah, I think I want to be alone for this. Thank you," 

"Of course. Rest well then, and may your sleep bring great growth" Copper stood from his seat, the blessing leaving him without thought as the rich man closed his eyes a smile still tugging on his old, withered face.

The door to the rich man's room shut with a light thud as Copper drifted down the halls, a heavy sigh falling from his lips. He rarely visited the dying, usually he only came to the deceased caught between their death's and their afterlives to guide them across, and this was why. He knew where the clot was, it would only take a moment and a little bit of concentration to break it up enough that the rich man's body would be able to handle it on it's own. Sure, doing so would probably only buy him a few more bed bound days, a week maybe, but healers can rarely be trusted to leave the sick and dying to the whims of nature and he was no different. 

He wandered through the empty halls decorated with treasures that, do to a single deal made half a century ago, would soon be his, and found his way into a shrine room. Shelves upon shelves of precious jewls and metals, fine fabrics and sculptures filled the room. Though the alter beneath the stained glass window held only sea glass and shells that glittered from around a poorly made tapestry that depicted a stormy ocean.

The threads were too loose in some places too tight in others and there were places where it was clear the weaver ran out of one color and had attempted to dye more only for it to come out just wrong enough to be noticed. It was clearly made by inexperienced hands and now stood displayed still in it's loom in the place of honor on this shrine. Pride in its existence radiated from it and that made it stunning despite it's flaws. 

Distantly, he felt the rich man die, quietly and peacefully.

One of Copper's aspects would guide him across and later while Copper slept he'd dream of the conversation that aspect and the rich man would have, and he would dream of the conversations his other, near innumerable, aspects would have, and have had, and have been having with every other human who has crossed into his domain since he last slept. Then he would wake, and forget almost everything said during those conversations as they meld together into a messy but beautiful tapestry. All the threads visible and traceable in their places but ultimately he saw it not for the individuals, but the grander thing they made together.

He picked at the stones and shells scattered on one of the shelves, his dulled claws scraping against the rough surface. He should probably go find someone to deal with the body…

The soft creaking protest of a floor board that no longer fit in it's place being tread on called from behind him. Copper turned, curious to who or what would be intruding on this moment, but he was left slack jawed with a greeting trapped behind his lips as he saw the man.

Surrounded by gold and silver and precious gems that glittered in the low moonlight that flowed through the windows, this man outshone them all. He was tall for a human, coming up to just below Copper's collar bones, with broad, strong looking shoulders. His sharp features highlighted by the silver light caressing his warm tan skin and haloed by that same light echoing through the broken strands of bleach blonde hair that fell from his neat bun to frame his narrow face.

Light agitation turned to wonder and awesrrucked silence as Copper struggled for a second to find words, but once again those words died when he met the man's eyes, they were probably a deep brown but the low light turned them onyx. His gaze was sturdy, not cold or calculating, not bored. Determined but practiced.

The strange, beutiful, human man wore the expression of a butcher or a slaughterer, he did not draw perverse pleasure or joy from what came next. He was so obviously merely doing a job as he moved faster than Copper's confusion addled mind could react to that that alone struck more fear into Copper's core than if the man were hissing and snapping with rage.

The ice hot cut of an iron blade dug past the flesh between his ribs and into his chest even as he recoiled. On pure instinct he growled an awful rumbling sound that made the butcher- the hunter, flinch as Copper managed to stumble away, nearly falling to one knee as his own lung struggled to inflate. He could feel his magic burning along the wound as it tried, and failed to pull it closed. His hand going to his bloodied side in a vain attempt of staunching the flow. 

The hunter advanced, cautious and silent, his blade, slicked with Copper's own viscous black blood, raised as he followed the retreating god.

Copper hissed as his back collided with a shelf, cornered he pulled his attentions together just enough to attempt to teleport away, only to feel his magic jolt painfully within him as it failed completely.

The hunter advanced, already readying another swing.

In that moment Copper forced himself to focus on the warm summer night air, on the flickering candles and the heat of the hunter's body, most seals could be overpowered, he just needs to rush it hard enough. 

Heat leaves the room, the hunter stumbles with a pained gasp as the heat leaves him too. Copper doesn't see if the hunter falls because the seal gives as he uses all of that stolen energy to burst against it.

He drops to his knees on the cold stone floor of the cave he calls home. His blood singing through magic seared veins, his hands shaking as he braces one against the floor below him as his world swims, both from blood loss and the disorientation that always came with pushing his power that hard,

He struggles with his wound, gasping with effort as his magic finally starts working again. The wound tieing itself closed beneath his palm, a thick black scar forming as he comes down from the mountain top high of fearing for his life for the very first time since before the advent of this universe.

Copper slumps against the water-carved wall of his home, his head falling back against it with a deep buzz running beneath his skin, and he Laughs, deep and hearty and Alive in a way he has not felt in centuries.

---

A day passed, and Copper's wound still ached every time he bent wrong, sending a pang through his chest as his heart picked up at the memory that accompanied it. Truly, he could only go a few moments without thinking of the death dealing adonis that had, very litteraly, struck him to his very heart. He needed to find the man again, to see if a second meeting would make his blood race the way the first had.

Perhaps he would even find out why he'd been attacked, but if Copper was being honest with himself, he didn't care to know. The Hunter was a mystery, and like many mysteries, he was one that could be enjoyed as is, and did not need unraveling quite yet. Still, Copper couldn't wait around for fate to bless him with a second chance meeting. He needed to find The Hunter on his own, and that meant doing a little investigating.

The moment Copper had had time to rest he laid in his bed and let his consciousness drift to the aspect that could interact with the grand tapestry. The Hunter had not hesitated for even a moment, had not flinched at spilling blood, and so there was no denying that he was experienced. That, perhaps, killing was something that either came easy to him or that he was very well practiced in the art of it.

The hunter was young, maybe mid twenties to early thirties, which narrowed his search, and the location narrowed it further. That valley was a hard month long trek through ice capped mountains from the next nearest settlement. The Hunter probably lived and prowled within its confines.

Copper focused on the last ten years worth of threads from that area that ended in white knots, the tragic, violent deaths. This would be where he found what he would need.

Going by date he gently tugged the ends through the weave so that he could examine them closer. He was careful to not pull anything more than an hours worth at a time, dreading upsetting the careful balance of the fabric and the places of the souls that he examined within it. It took a few tries, a few years worth of deaths until he found the first one that he could catch a glimpse of The Hunter from. 

And oh how Copper dreaded what he saw. Five years before he'd met the man, an older boy, maybe sixteen with sharp, fearful and wild, onyx eyes and short, jagged ink black hair cried with blood stained hands, one still holding a blade, the same one Copper would become familiar with, it was still slick with the red of human blood as the boy stumbled back against the wall as the man he'd just killed gasped his last breath.

Copper found the conversation he'd had with that spirit, a man who'd heard screaming from within a home. He'd gone to help only to be found by the Chief's boy before he could find the source of the screams. Copper had reassured him, had praised him for his bravery, had not paid enough attention. He'd guided the kind man to his afterlife while the chief's boy who would become The Hunter silently wept beside the man's body, struggling against the tears as someone called out for him. 

Tucking the tread back into place with one hand and pulling another free with the other. He grimaced when he realized it was merely a visitor's thread. Someone from Copper's own home universe who'd come into this one for one reason or another only to find their end here.

The visitor's soul had not been theirs to keep stored away amongst those of their creations and so had already been returned home. Where it would have dissipated into the background energy to eventually become the fuel for something new. No life was stored in this thread, it was merely a place holder.

Copper found more threads like that in his search, nearly twenty pale threads all from the last few years lined side by side. Tragic human deaths surrounding them but none of those human deaths involved The Hunter. That was odd, very few places in his tapestry looked so strange and knotted, and most patches that did were of wars and disasters not… whatever this was.

If he had been tangible in that moment he would've been nipping at his claws as he tried to piece together what something so strange could mean. But no answers came to him.

He found the next, and most recent, human victim of The Hunter, a man now, still too young, but undeniably a man by Copper's math, cold and stoney eyed, tangled bleached hair and a badly bruised and swelling jaw. Copper would have been surprised if The Hunter didn't have a few cracked or missing teeth from the injury, the mandible itself might be broken, a serious wound that needs setting and cleaning imeaditly. Copper's mind supplied him with the diagnosis without him meaning to think of it, so focused was he on that wrecked face and the lack of answers it presented that his mind tried to give him what few answers it could, even if those answers were worthless.

The woman The Hunter had killed had sat silent and glaring at The Hunter who silently watched her die,  his blade dripping with her blood. She'd not spoken a word to Copper. Fuming as she stormed through the gate without any guidance from him.

He wished he had insisted on actually speaking to her, on finding the answers. The iron eyed Hunter was a far cry from that sobbing boy, and yet they shared a thread.

More visitors, more tragedy, and no more answers came from the grand tapestry. 

He needed to return to that valley, surely if tragedy struck this often they'd welcome a healer? Even if they didn't, the Oracle made her home at the very center, and while Copper tried to avoid his sister's emissaries, The Oracle would be able to tell him what he needed if all else failed. Besides, her daughter was such a cute little thing, it would be a joy to hold a chubby baby again. Would the daughter still be a baby? maybe she was toddling about already, having her first little prophecies as she explored the world she would be entrusted to protect.

Oh Copper couldn't wait to visit.

[avionvadion]

More of my old pokemon drawings! Since... I’m apparently back in that obsession now. Frick. Oh well. These were for chapters 10 and 12 respectively. The Underground Hideout and The Taste of Freedom. 

Basil: Bulbasaur. Belladonna: Weepinbell. Ansem: Eevee. 

There is a lot of dark topics surrounding this story, such as kidnapping, trauma, and abuse, so... if that makes you uncomfortable please don’t keep reading. 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/22998952/chapters/54987940

Grunt, the girl, is  thirteen. Various factors such as stress, depression, and malnourishment had caused her growth to be greatly stunted so she looks like a small child. One of her hands is crooked from an injury she received growing up in Team Rocket, the majority of her arm numb as a result of poor healing. She met Steven YEARS ago, which is the very start of the story, when he was ten and she was four. They made a promise over a broken dawn stone to meet again after she was taken in by social services, but then Team Rocket happened. Because of her lack of a name they called her “Grunt” to mock her future as a Team Rocket grunt. 

As a result of learning from the news that his very new friend got taken, Steven makes it a goal to track them down. Several years pass with no luck and everyone convinces him to give up, so he focuses on his career instead. But then... the headquarters blows up, because a certain legendary pokemon was told the truth and escaped. And he picks up where he left off, aiming to avenge the friend everyone is convinced is long dead or a member of Team Rocket, with Wallace and Winona’s help. (This is where the conspiracy theorist Steven drawing desire comes in, since he has all these old newspapers and stuff for all the Team Rocket sightings and missing children/pokemon) 

Meanwhile, Grunt- having recently escaped due to the explosion- ends up journeying, very reluctantly might I add, with Brock and eventually Blue, to strengthen her pokemon by taking on the gym leaders, heading back to Hoenn, and freeing all the children/pokemon being held captive by Team Rocket, and hopefully reunite with that friend she can no longer truly remember- the dawn stone being the only thing she had that reminds her that he had once existed. 

The man antagonists in this story are Richard (Rich) and Velga, Giovanni, and all of Team Rocket. (Jesse and James will make their appearance in ORAS) 

Chapter 10 Bit: I had been more than prepared to defend myself against anything the adult could have done. The battle went by easier than expected, especially compared to Rich and Velga, and his tactics reminded me more of those random goons found lurking about in Mt. Moon when Brock and I had been searching for the fossils. What neither of us had been expecting, however, was what happened after I defeated him.

"Wh… What!?"

"I told you before," I growled, starting to feel the familiar sensation of frustration as my words continued to fail in being understood by this person, "I'm not joining you."

"But… with your skills you could totally become a top leader!" He protested. "Your pōkemon and leadership are incredible!" When he saw I was not being swayed he faltered, taking several steps back. His teeth ground together and his eyes lit up with rage, frustration on his face. "You and that boy… damn it all! Do you realize what you're turning down!? You selfish, spoiled little kids will never understand what it's like to be part of something great! Not like this! So I guess… I'll just have to show you."

"Explain!" Brock frowned deeply when the adult started to cackle, the teen stepping forward and readying to summon a pokemon at a moment's notice. "What are you trying to do? Why does Team Rocket want to use kids so badly?"

"Hm?" He tilted his head, blinking. "Oh, you haven't figured it out? You really are just a child."

I closed my eyes, expression growing empty and solemn. It was such an obvious answer, one I had learned a long time ago. Considering how he's acted so far, I knew my travelling companion would not like the answer. Ignorance, in cases like these, was complete and total bliss. But when living under such terrible conditions like I had for so long ignorance was a curse and knowledge was power. With his view of the world, I knew the truth would only enrage him further should he find out.

"Brock, don't…"

The boy looked back at me, confused when he heard my voice trail off and go quiet. "But you want to know, right? You deserve to know! Grunt, you-"

"Grunt?" The adult echoed. Realization dawned on his face and he whirled around, staring at me with big eyes. "You can't be… no, no, no- hold on. Yes, of course! How did I not realize!? You were there that day, weren't you? The day the headquarters blew up…"

The hate on his face intensified and Brock tensed, chills going down his spine as he took a fearful step back, holding a shaky arm up in front of me, the boy bravely pushing me behind him. His actions no longer surprised me, though the logic behind them did. "It wasn't her fault!" He protested, defending me. The way he said it made it almost sound like that sentence would solve everything; that it would make all the hurt go away. Brock, despite his fear, spoke with confidence.

Unfortunately, he knew nothing. I still haven't explained everything to him.

Him believing that I didn't know why children were being used was proof of that. I knew all too well why kids like me were targeted; I just… found it hard to speak about it. I think I just didn't want to upset him anymore than he already was over my situation, which was weird. He shouldn't be so upset about it; it wasn't like my life was something particularly special that should be deserving of attention, and yet… here we are.

He said I was the one who cared too much, but it was so obviously the other way around. This only showed more with Brock's kind words.

Unfortunately, the person across from us did not care to listen. He was bristling with rage, only hearing and focusing on what he wanted to. "It was… It was you! You little brat- my friend died in that fire!"

I flinched at those words, the guilt washing over me like a tidal wave. It was suffocating, the weight of the lives taken crushing me inside. My head ducked down as he continued to scream, Brock's back being the only thing blocking him from my view. The boy kept me behind him as best as he could as we started to become surrounded- all the trainers from before crowding around us and removing their disguises, revealing the large red R that was plastered over all of their chests.

"That's not on you," I heard Brock say firmly, speaking to me and momentarily snapping me out of my darker thoughts, his attention never leaving the evil trainers around us, "you didn't mean for it to happen."

But... I still caused it. I freed the legendary pōkemon that exploded the building.

Their deaths were on my hands. I murdered them.

And these people… those that were little kids had actually been wearing well-made masks, revealing very small adults. They were all Team Rocket. In my panic to rescue Blue I made a very grave mistake; I stopped observing. If I had paid the slightest bit of attention to their attire or appearance anymore than I had then this could have been avoided. I knew their tactics inside-out and yet I let this happen.

I… I screwed up. Frick.

Why do I keep making the simplest of mistakes? Was it because this was the outside world?

It was so much larger and vast than I had ever expected it to be, and despite my reluctance to trust strangers I still found myself letting down my guard, fooled by the kindness that had been shown to me by so many. This was going to cost us dearly.

The people started to grow closer and I tensed, watching as Ansem and Basil growled at the Team Rocket members. There were so many of them; I could handle one or two of them easily, but six? The leader yelled at me, cursing my existence, and without realizing I found myself grabbing onto the hem of Brock's jacket, scared as the consequences of my foolishness caught up with me, clinging onto the newer light shining before me in desperation for comfort.

I… caused this.

I failed. Just like back in the caves, I… couldn't protect anyone.

We were totally trapped.

Brock glanced over his shoulder at me before turning around, wrapping his arms around me. I was shaking, barely breathing as horror and guilt took over, the older teen keeping me pressed close to his chest protectively. He called out to my pōkemon, catching their attention as I started to shut down and surrender to my darker emotions. "Ansem, Belladonna, Basil! Get us out of here!"

"Oh, no you don't! Aerodactyl, go!" The violet-haired man raised a hand outwards, eyes flashing dangerously. A large gust of wind appeared, nearly blowing us all off our feet. Suddenly a big pōkemon appeared from a pōkeball, flying high into the air, beating its wings. An ear-piercing screech erupted from its throat, making it difficult to hear the goon speak. "If it weren't for the boss wanting you alive, I'd kill you myself! So instead, I'll have you all suffer! "

The ground began to shake, and Brock stumbled sideways- being forced to let go as I staggered backwards. Basil panicked and leapt into his arms, scared of being seperated, and Ansem started to bark again and dashed towards me, Belladonna right behind him.

Just where was this earthquake coming from? It wasn't from his Aerodactyl; it was coming from…

...underground?

Oh frick, oh frick, oh Arceus, oh gods-

I'm so sorry-!

We're going to be killed!

I screwed up!

This is all my fault!

Why did I escape so soon!?

The ground itself began to open up, shifting as two metal slabs drifted apart, and as I sat there frozen in terror Brock was shouting, calling out me as he stumbled over, trying to get to me and the rest of my pōkemon. Basil wailed loudly, tears in his eyes, and in my shock it took me a second too long to notice Brock's outstretched hand. I struggled to move, constantly knocked back down by the violent shaking of the earth, and in my desperation I reached out for him.

This was all too familiar.

In the recesses of my mind, buried deep into my memory from a time long ago, I remembered. It wasn't the first time I bore witness to such a thing, but I was certainly never on it when it happened. It was just like how the Hoenn base opened up when I was first stolen away and… when I left to Kanto on that cursed helicopter Rich and Velga made me ride.

And, deeper still, I had the feeling that I once reached out like this for someone. Who, I wasn't sure, but the sensation of a memory was there- trying to claw its way to the surface and tearing at my brain, forcing my skull to throb even more than it already was.

The Team Rocket goon raised his voice, shouting at us with a crazed grin, rage in his eyes. "Your pōkemon, your supplies; they'll all be ours!" He declared. "And you, Grunt, traitor to our kind, will suffer alongside your foolish companion!"

That was when the ground beneath me gave way, crumbling to pieces, and as I fell through the trap door I saw a quick flash of green-and-brown as Brock leapt after, following me down into the underground like a fool.

"Together forever! Trapped in the underground maze we've created!"

Rather than air, I thought of water- cold, freezing water that was filled with debris, and skies that seemed to boil with heat. Falling deeper and deeper, sinking below the surface.

Stuck… in the terrifying abyss of darkness.

As we tumbled deep into the black I muttered not so much as a word, not even able to scream, only watching with wide eyes as the light above us vanished. For a moment, as the trap doors closed and we continued to fall, all hope was lost. I found myself wondering if this was truly the end.

"A-Are you okay? What's wrong?"

It was still there- buried in the recesses of my mind. As much as I felt I should start ignoring it, I couldn't help but find that the traces of connection still held strong. My heart just couldn't let go. Everything always went back to that one person, after all, and I spent so long surviving on the pure hope of seeing him again. Even now he was haunting me, the memory of that promise keeping me rooted to this earth.

Earth…

So many years I spent living on this planet; obeying orders, acting as the puppet I was groomed to be, and plotting schemes that were only doomed to fail. Everything I ever dreamed of or desired to obtain was just too far out of reach, and they were all centered around that boy I had met so long ago. As time past my goals did shift, focusing more on the rescue of the other children, but the fact remained- I wanted to see him again.

To thank him for saving me so many times.

But… it was all an illusion. Even this freedom I have now is false.

I'm still trapped by Team Rocket.

And now… I've never felt more useless. Falling endlessly through nothingness, mind and heart slowly giving up as everything went downhill once more. It wasn't as if I truly desired to go on this journey in the first place; all I wanted was to find the police, inform them of the hideout, and then go on my way to find that mysterious boy whom I made a promise to. Yet… those plans failed too.

Everything I come up with just… fails.

Perhaps this was the world's cruel sense of justice- to get back at me for causing such a tragedy. Team Rocket was full of cruel and terrible people; they were evil beyond belief. But that didn't mean the deserved to die. Those evil enough to kidnap children and torture them, stealing them away from their families, and even go so far as to experiment on innocent pōkemon…

They needed to be imprisoned. That fate, that kind of suffering, was far worse and more befitting.

But… I was starting to believe that there was no such thing as justice. Only karma, the world making twists and turns to toy with the lives of those that lived on its back.

"Don't forget about me, you hear!?"

I'm sorry. I did. I remember your words, though the voice that once accompanied them is long gone. It was thanks to you that I became so good at surviving, yet I'm afraid that that itself was a grave mistake. My existence only ever seemed to cause others to hurt. Whether it be by putting them in danger or inadvertently hurting them with words…

I'm starting to think you should have let me rot on that street.

"Veeevaa!"

That cry snapped me back into my senses.

The world around me seemed to recollect sound and my eyes slowly opened, vision taking a while to adjust to the dark. In the distance, somewhere nearby, I could hear Ansem barking. Brock was screaming- calling out to me and trying to locate where I was. The guilt hit full force as I thought about the family that was waiting for him. They had told me to protect him, to keep him safe, and here he is falling to his death because of me.

There's… no way I can just let him die, can I?

Not like this.

Basil, Belladonna… they were all so innocent. Like the kind strangers I've met, they've only done things to help me. The pōkemon chose me as their trainer.

Did that… Did that condemn them to this fate? Because they outstretched their hands to me?

I don't… want that. I don't want them to suffer because of me.

Too much blood has already been spilled.

I can't help people; I'm only ever good at endangering them. My only real accomplishment was staying alive- so, that means… I just have to figure out a way to extend that to those I surrounded myself with. The determination to reach my goal, the willingness to do whatever it took to reach the finish line. The reluctance of falling back into the arms of those who would hurt me, to accept those who would gather me.

Obligation, obedience. Fear, guilt. Cowardice, courage.

Hate… and love.

My eyes squeezed tightly shut, burning with tears as so many emotions welled up inside me, mixing together and creation a concoction that was far from healthy. As they bubbled up, some strange sensation rising in the back of my throat, I opened my mouth and out came a cry- a scream full of rage and frustration, aggravating my still-not-quite-healed vocal chords. A howl echoed out afterwards, coming from the ever loyal Ansem, the pōkemon reacting quite intensely to my overflowing emotions. My arms shot out and I reached blindly in the direction I heard them, body coiling around a large and soft body, fur tickling my face.

It was so dark I couldn't see anything and it hurt so much to keep my eyes open, but I have to get us through this! I have to survive, so they can survive! It's the only thing my foolish self is good at!

I had no idea how much longer we had before we splat against the ground, as we had been falling for quite a while, and as a result of this knowledge adrenaline started to pump through my veins, causing my heart to race as I hiccuped and choked, mind reeling with ideas and solutions to the problem we found ourselves in. That goon said we were heading into an underground maze, which meant it could very well be a Team Rocket hideout they've created. Our pōkemon, our supplies- he said they would be theirs.

This trap was most likely designed to capture those who refused their offer to join the organization, made with the intention of stealing their money and pōkemon.

That meant that there had to be some sort of safety mechanism at the bottom- or maybe they expected us to call the pōkemon back into their pōkeballs to save them, leaving us humans to splatter into goop at the bottom. Regardless the reason, the design, or their plans, we couldn't risk just falling forever until we became sludge on the ground. We had to take precautions. And, as someone who grown up learning how to plot and scheme by the very criminals that were entrapping us, they were greatly underestimating me.

No… they were underestimating us.

I'm not alone anymore. Brock, the pōkemon… we're all here working together. Journeying together. We're friends.

And Brock just so happened to be a retired gym leader, who owned a pōkemon that was so large that he could easily stop our fall if he so wished.

If memory served correctly, and I'm praying it did because I'm panicking so badly right now that it was rather hard to think straight, Onix was a pōkemon who liked to burrow in underground places. He could even evolve naturally into some kind of steel-type pōkemon once deep enough, becoming embedded with either crystals or diamonds, or maybe both.

It might hurt a bit, but… we could use him to our advantage here. Feeling Ansem nuzzle his face into the curve of my bandaged neck, I called out as loudly as I could, ignoring the sensation of what felt like glass piercing the inside of my throat. "Brooooock!"

"Grunt!?" The boy was alarmed. It sounded like he was coming somewhere from my… left… yet higher up. He jumped in after me, so it makes sense that I'm farther down than him. "Grunt, where are you!?"

"O-Over here!"

Ansem started to bark, sensing my pain as I started to cough. Frick- I seriously needed a drink now. It felt like needles were stabbing my neck from the inside. It was almost as if the pōkemon was trying to alert the others to our presence, so that I wouldn't have to.

Still, if we couldn't reach each other… the plan might not work. "Can you hear me!? G-Grab my hand!"

"Where!?"

I reached out above me, following the sound of his voice, trying to grasp some part of him.

Something brushed my fingers and, before I even had a chance to latch on, his hand grabbed onto my wrist and suddenly I was being pulling forward. I barely had time to let out a yelp before his arms were around my back, holding me and Ansem to him, the boy cradling the back of my head as if to shield my skull from anymore injury. I wasn't quite sure when it happened, how it happened, but sometime during the past few days his touches were starting to become less anxiety inducing and more comforting.

"I've got you!"

I didn't flinch away as much in the hospital when he was braiding my hair back then, either, so I could only assume it was because of something during my wretched stay there. Something that was actually making me reach out for touch. Keeping one hand on his shoulder and the other wrapped around Ansem so not to drop him, I was about to suggest my idea when Brock yelled again.

"W-We need to do something quick!"

"I-I know, just- where's Onix!?"

"Onix? Oh, of course!" Keeping an arm around my waist, Ansem wailing as his claws dug deep into my shoulder, Basil clinging to Brock's backpack while Belladonna cried from somewhere nearby, Brock reached out to his belt. Snatching a pōkeball and enlargening it, he held it up into the air and yelled, "Onix, come out! I choose you!"

Chapter 12 Bit: 

I squeezed my eyes tightly shut, bringing the dawn stone up and resting my knuckles against my lips. My voice was muffled, but I didn't care. Everything just hurt so much, yet somehow not enough all the same. The cold, the numbness- it was all there. Amplified. Suffocating. Choking. I could barely think.

"H-he gave… he gave me the stone… t-to remind me. To remind him in case he… he forgot about me."

"...I see." Brock gave my shoulder a light squeeze, seeing how hard I was trying not to break down. "I'm glad he found you, then."

Yeah. But…

"I-I don't remember." Brock's eyebrows shot up, alarmed when he heard the sudden crack in my voice. I looked up at him, bottom lip quivering as a fresh wave of tears welled up. "I-I don't remember him, Brock. H-His face, his name, I- I can't… I can't r-recall…"

I can't recall anything.

Before he could say something to that and before I could say anything else, the woman suddenly spoke up- near flinching back when Ansem snarled at her. "W-We're here! T-Take this staircase and go through the teleporter, and you'll find the control room. See? I-I'll… I'll show you!"

Inhaling sharply, trying to distance myself from my emotions long enough to get through whatever the next encounter was, I pulled away from Brock and picked up the pace, moving my short legs as fast as they would go. I waited until the woman was through the teleporter to go myself, Ansem still being carried and stone back in my pocket, and Belladonna and Basil followed suit. Then it was Brock, then Machamp and Blue, and gradually the rest of the pōkemon…

But we weren't the only group here in the room. Without a word Machamp lowered Blue to the ground, leaving me to struggle in holding him up alone until Brock came over and grabbed the teen by the shoulders. Then the large muscular pōkemon stepped forward, standing in front of us three with Ansem and Umbreon on either side of him. Basil and Belladonna released the woman we were holding captive and she stumbled forward, rushing to the group of Team Rocket goons and… their pōkemon.

They were expecting us.

I mean, I can only imagine how much word got around about us kids when Brock was tending to Blue back in the lab- the people Belladonna knocked out must have woken up and alerted the higher-ups. These people, the adults, were more than ready to fight.

Or, rather, more than ready to have innocent pōkemon do the fighting for them.

The woman we had released whirled around with a gasp, striking the pose every goon had been forced to memorize. It took everything I had not to cringe at the sight of it, instead focusing on making sure I didn't topple over from Blue's body weight. "To infect the world with devastation, to blight all people in every nation! To denounce the goodness of truth and love, to extend our wrath to the stars above! We are Team Rocket circling the earth day and night, and you are just a bunch of brats in our way! C'mon, everyone- group attack!"

Oh no. Okay. Here we go.

A Tauros lowed and stomped a hoof against the floor, a Meowth residing atop its back. Two Zubats flew around them, flapping their wings as they stared at us nervously. Brock scowled, clicking his tongue and using one hand to reach to his belt. "Of course there are several here… Geodude, go! Help out the others!"

"M-Machamp…!" Blue began, voice hoarse from coughing. "Get them!"

"Ansem-!" I was unable to finish. Machamp was suddenly storming forward, locked onto its targets, swinging with all four fists at the Tauros when it charged. I cringed and ducked my head down upon hearing the bull-pōkemon's cries of pain, knowing full well it was fighting against its will. I hated this violence so much. "Belladonna, Basil…"

"Bulba!"

"Weeeepin!"

Vines erupted from their bodies and swung towards their foes, catching the Zubats before they could unleash a devasting flying-attack upon them. Meowth leapt up from the defeated Tauros' back, landing atop Machamp's head and using it to boost itself up again, and slashed at the vines. Basil cried out and loosened his hold, allowing a Zubat to escape, and the pōkemon hurriedly let loose several blades of wind.

Aerial Ace.

Belladonna was sent flying, several cuts lining her body as she crashed into the wall, vines retreated back into her body. Basil let out a concerned shout, but barely had time to recover himself when the second Zubat slammed itself right into him, head ramming into his side. No…

"Stand up!" My voice was panicked. Blue looked down at me in surprise as Brock ordered his Geodude to defend Belladonna as Meowth approached her. He never heard me sound so desperate and scared before. "Stand up now!"

Don't do this.

Don't you dare die.

"Basil!"

We haven't lost a single battle, so there was no way it could happen now. I won't let it.

Bulbasaur struggled to push himself up onto his feet, red eyes watering from the pain. Cuts now lined his legs from Zubat using Aerial Ace on him after the headbutt, but his expression was a determined one.

Ansem, seeing the way his companions were harmed, let out an angered roar, deciding to leave Meowth and Belladonna's Zubat alone for now, Geodude taking care of it with Machamp's help, and targeted Basil's Zubat instead. Stretching out his claws, Ansem jumped into the air as high as his legs would let him, and he caught his front paws on the pōkemon's wings, knocking it greatly off balance.

"Vaaaa!"

As they fell to the ground Ansem rolled over, biting down hard into its wings and tearing them. He was furious. The woman from before- the one we had guide us here- was glaring daggers at us, shaking with her fists held to her side in a rage. The other Team Rocket goons were both startled and very much angry, unable to believe they were now losing the battle. Worse of all, it was to a bunch of kids and their pōkemon.

Feeling Blue's weight increase I shifted in place, standing on my toes in an attempt to straighten my back and keep Blue from leaning over too much. Unfortunately, that was quite difficult as I was the smallest human in existence and these two were hecking towers in comparison. I could feel the heat coming off of Blue's face due to his fever- his heart pounding desperately in his chest in an attempt to keep him breathing. It was very unnerving.

"W-Weezings!" I glanced behind me as best as I could, trying to get a look at the other pōkemon, but auburn hair was in the way. "C-Can you help? Please?"

"Weeez?" They looked at me, surprised. "Weezing?"

The many Weezings looked at each other. If memory served right, these pōkemon had a variety of very useful moves- assuming they've already learned them, of course, and Belladonna was a bit too hurt to use her Sleeping Powder special on them.

"Weez…"

"Weez, Weezing!"

"Weez!"

"O-On the Team Rocket members!" I continued, voice cracking a little. Brock stopped issuing orders and looking back at me, alarmed. Then a bright grin spread across his face.

"Grunt, you're a genius!"

That was the wrong thing to say. The higher-up Team Rocket members shared a glance, their faces paling and somehow becoming disbelieving and enraged all at once. "Wait, what?"

"Grunt?"

One of them pointed at me, narrowing his eyes. "You're the escapee from headquarters? You? I knew you were a child, but… how old are you!? Eight?" The gaped, dumbfounded, and I tensed upon hearing their words. I was starting to believe that maybe going by my old title was a bad idea, and that maybe I should just go around titleless and nameless. "The fuck? Holy Arceus- if we bring you back to the boss…"

"We'll be promoted again!" A female Team Rocket member gasped, pressing her hands to her face. The woman from before looked exasperated by their behavior, her main goal being revenge for how we treated her. "And their pōkemon… they might be ours!"

"Who cares about that?" Another exclaimed. "Think of the pay raise!"

"Wow," Blue choked out, trying to joke, "you're famous, huh?"

My expression went blank at that, disliking the attention I was receiving. A flash of purple in the corner of my eyes snapped me back into attention, and I raised my head with wide eyes to see the many Weezings floating forward, Machamp carrying Belladonna and Basil back to us while Ansem removed his fangs from a fainted Zubat.

The Weezings continued forward, not stopping until they were past our pōkemon and residing over the fainted ones, facing the Team Rocket goons with a strange look in their eyes. The poison-type pōkemon looked angry, hurt, scared… and very fierce. "W-Weezings?"

Suddenly, and without warning, they all surged forward- flying over the crowd to the goons and headbutting them as hard as they possibly could. On impact the Weezings let out huge clouds of grey and purple smoke, causing the Team Rocket goons to start coughing as the smoke filled up the area. The many Zubats behind us, the ones we freed, decided they wanted to help out as well- swinging their wings forward and causing air blades to shoot towards them, slicing at the goons and tearing up their uniforms.

I tried not to flinch away this time upon hearing their screams, but it was too much. I just… couldn't not close my eyes. Machamp setting Basil and Belladonna by my feet, he dashed back into the action with Geodude, Ansem following behind. Together they all attacked the goons, knocking them out hard as they collapsed onto the ground. I think I heard a nasty crack from one of them, probably from the one Machamp punched in the ribs, but…

No. You know what? I'm not…

I'm not going to think about it. I cringed and shook my head, eyebrows knitting together as pain temporary flickered onto my expression. I tightened my hold on Blue's arm and waist, shifting once more as I nearly lost balance from standing on my toes for so long. "Um, frick. Okay. Uh- Brock, I-"

"I'm on it."

"Huh?" I blinked, eyes opening and turning to see him walking over there where the adults and pōkemon were, the Weezings' smoke clearing. He still had to hold part of his hood over his mouth so he wouldn't start coughing, since there was quite a bit left, but it was otherwise okay for him to head into it. "What are-"

Oh.

He knelt down, patting the adults down in an attempt to find what I could only assume to be a keycard or remote, or anything that would help us get out of here. He tossed whatever pōkeballs he found onto the ground, leaving Machamp to stomp on the empty ones- while freeing the others that remained inside. Brock also rummaged through their bags, pulling out several super potions and berries, and used those on the fainted and injured pōkemon.

Blue and I slowly waddled our way over there, and upon seeing the pōkemon's confused stares and the way the boys were looking at me… I had to greet the previously abused pōkemon. It was very awkward and uncomfortable, and it was only thanks to the other rescued pōkemon jumping into the conversation that the newly freed ones calmed down. It was mess.

Meowth looked especially lost.

"Meow…?"

A Weezing floated down and spoke to it. Understanding dawned on its face and relieved tears welled up in the pōkemon's eyes.

"Mrrooooooow!"

Haaaah, I need to get out of here. Brock shoved the remainder of the supplies into his own backpack, deciding that Team Rocket didn't need these supplies if they were just going to use them for villainy, and he slid the straps over his shoulders. Standing, he let out a heavy sigh and looked up, smiling softly at Geodude as he floated over. "Hey, buddy. You did great out there!" He raised a hand, petting the pōkemon lightly on the head.

"Geooo!" Geodude beamed, proud of himself. Shortly after, Brock recalled the pōkemon back into its ball. The boy turned, staring at the large array of computers behind him.

"I… think this might be the control panel you were talking about, Grunt."

Yeah. Yeah, he calls me by my title way too often.

He was a stupidly nice person, but every time he called me by that title it always sent whatever Team Rocket goon we were battling into a fury. And while, strategically, it could be a good thing as that meant the opponent would stop thinking clearly and act on impulse… it mostly depended on the person we were dealing with. And while deciding not to go by it anymore would prevent that from happening, chances are Team Rocket will now recognize me no matter what since so many have seen what I look like.

So… what should I do?

I bit down on my lip, thinking deeply as I glanced around at the many screens and buttons. They were all so familiar to me, yet strange all the same. How come? It wasn't from the Hoenn base, though I have seen many adults work with the computers there. I watched as Brock began to fiddle with the buttons, Basil marching up and nuzzling his leg, Belladonna and Ansem sitting at my feet. I've come to the conclusion that Basil really liked Brock, which just goes further to show what a kind person he is.

I'm surprised he didn't choose him as trainer instead.

[derl30]

ALTERED STATES REVIEW TIME!

OK, this tumblr is, today, a vehicle for me to review ALTERED STATES. And you (the one person who stumbled on this review two-hundred years from n- oh who am I kidding, when the aliens from A.I. who show up to thaw out Haley Joel Osment and the teddy bear who was the real hero of that movie find this) should be very excited about this. Because this movie is insane. And highly entertaining.

Yes, the movie poster looks like ass. If I told you this was a movie where William Hurt (not the William Hurt from that awful 90's Lost in Space remake, or the one who slept through an entire performance as Duke Leto in the Syfy miniseries of Dune. This is before the body snatchers got him) took ayahuasca and got in a isolation tank and it blew his mind so hard he started devolving into a neanderthal and creating dimensional portals and he couldn't stop because he was addicted to finding the truth of existence... Well you wouldn't get that from this poster, would you? So let's move on. Shall we?

The film opens in 1967 with William Hurt's character, psychopathologist Edward Jessup, already immersed in a sensory deprivation tank, whilst his colleague and “buddy” Bob Balaban (he's just Bob Balaban in everything I'm not giving you his character's name look it up yourself if it's bugging you so much) oversees.

Now, you may notice I put buddy in quotes. The reason for that is that Jessup is a self-obsessed ass who seemingly has no reason to be around other people unless he can expound to them one of his various monologues. Bob Balaban barely gets a word in edgewise throughout the entire film. Bob Balaban.

See, Jessup loves the sensory deprivation tank experience. Unsurprisingly, as it allows him to be completely alone with himself for hours.

Later, at perhaps the lamest party ever, a bunch of faculty are chilling out and listening to the Doors. Everyone we see is talking about Jessup. Why? Well, much as Jessup is obsessed with himself, everyone else seems to follow suit by being obsessed with him. One young woman, Emily, (Blair Brown) is introduced to him in this very shot below as he arrives at the party:

Notice how is framed in holy light? There is a closeup after, of him framed in blinding glowing light followed up with a zoom in on Emily's face, enraptured with this incredible dynamic man. So much so that the moment he tries to make a goddamn sandwich she starts grabbing his celery (get your mind out of the gutter) and flirting with him. Which for these two that means talking science, immediately. Talking more at each other than with each other. This is often the way with Paddy Chayefsky's scripts.

PAUSE

Paddy Chayefsky is doubtless one of the great American writers for the screen. He wrote Marty, The Hospital and Network (which is a fucking incredible piece of work). He got an Oscar for all three. He also wrote this movie (Altered States, remember? Good lord) and disowned it completely three weeks in to production. His scripts tend to have very intelligent, driven characters at the center, who monologue extensively at each other. These scripts are not attempting to sound naturalistic.

Ken Russell, however, directed the film. He, like Chayefsky, is top notch at what he does (Direct. I said he directed the film like a second ago, come on keep up). His films, like Women in Love, The Devils, (which was banned in several major countries upon release and has never been shown publicly in its full, uncut form (by the way it's a masterpiece)) the Who's Tommy, Gothic, and Lair of the White Worm are all fucking gonzo nuts. I mean like, when you gave this guy the reins, you were going to Overthetopsville and there will be no stops on this trip. And god bless! I love directors who GO for it!

You're getting the chance to make a movie. Stop hemming and hawing and hit me over the head with what you want to say! Film is a visual medium, USE IT!

I feel I might have made my feelings clear here. So, moving on...

Ken Russell and Paddy Chayefsky immediately started butting heads, right from the start. Chayefsky was a BIG deal, and he wanted control over the picture in a BIG way. Ken would listen to his suggestions on everything to lighting and set dressing, and politely tell him, “No.”, and continue being the director of the film. Chayefsky hated him pretty quickly.

He had much more control over films like The Hospital. Which, if you watch The Hospital, well, it shows. You've got great actors (George C. Scott, Dame Diana Rigg (Dame may be the greatest official title of all time)) saying great dialogue. But its just two very witty bitter people sort of expounding on topics and speaking at each other and suddenly admitting they are in love and discussing what drapes they will have to buy for their new home. It's utterly preposterous, and it doesn't work in the way Sidney Lumet got it to work in Network, by literally making one of the lead characters realize his life is turning into a ludicrous soap opera.

So of course Ken tried to humanize, naturalize, the dialogue sequences. And it works! The film feels more human than the Hospital or Network. Despite the fact that Jessup is literally becoming more and more inhuman throughout the film. One of the ways he does this is by having the character's eat, drink, and work on other things during the dialogue sequences. This is perfectly normal in film, it's called giving the actor “business” to do, during the scene. Chayefsky HATED this. “They are mumbling my precious dialogue! Chewing through it! Sucking it through a straw!” Sorry, Chayefsky buddy. It works for the picture. Chayefsky also felt the actors were too emotional with his dialogue. Right. See, they call that acting.

UNPAUSE

Which brings us back to the first meeting of Emily and Jessup at the party. They are eating during this important scene! I can just picture Chayefsky seeing this, and running to the studio brass to tattle and get Ken Russell fired (as he got Arthur Penn of Bonnie and Clyde fame fired before Ken Russell came on board).

Emily and Jessup are, true to Chayefsky form, extremely intelligent, driven people and hearing them discuss topics such as anthropology and schizophrenia is quite interesting. It's just that what is to come, film being a visual medium, will eclipse just about any dialogue, no matter how good, from our mind thingys.

The two give up on the science talk and go straight to banging on her couch. After, she asks what he was thinking about. His answer is priceless. “God. Jesus. Crucifixions.”

She smiles.

Bwahahaha! Oh Paddy Chayefsky, you sure know women.

He admits he used to have religious visions. She listens to him from the sweaty couch whilst he sits naked on the floor, and starts going on about his father's horrible death of cancer and his loss of faith. And he admits to her that he's a nut. Her response is to call him a fascinating bastard. I think Lucas may have taken notes for Padme and Anakin.

So naturally, they get married immediately.

But none of that matters because Jessup gets back in the sensory deprivation tank and has his first vision. A nightmare of his dying father and lost faith in christianity. It's pretty great, filled with foreboding hospital rooms, his father's face being covered in a burning Shroud of Turin, everything covered by horrible blood red clouds and then THIS FUCKING THING SHOWS UP AND ITS ALIVE AND WRIGGLING

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

excuse me...

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

The many-eyed goat is slaughtered over a gold bible and suddenly Jessups screwing Emily again and we enter a blood vessel looking thing and the vision ends and he never mentions this again. Oh. Okay,

Emily continues on about what a nut Jessup is as they make marriage plans. Her monologue:

“You're an unmitigated madman. You don't have to tell me how weird you are. I know how weird you are. I'm the girl in your bed the past two months. Even sex is a mystical experience for you. You carry on like a flagellant... Which can be very nice, but I sometimes wonder if it's me that's being made love to. I feel like I'm being harpooned by some raging monk in the act of receiving God. (Emphasis mine)

"And you are a Faust-freak Eddie! You'd sell your soul to find the great truth. Well, human life doesn't have great truths. We're born in doubt. We spend our lives persuading ourselves we're alive. And one way we do that is we love each other, like I love you. I can't imagine living without you. So let's get married, and if it turns out to be a disaster, it'll be a disaster.”

It's a disaster.

As in, by the next scene. It starts off happy enough looking, they have kids and people are smiling. And hey, wow it's seven years later! But, well, see, whoops, they are getting a divorce. Well, not they. See, he is divorcing her because he considers the seven years with her a complete waste.

She still loves him, desperately. He doesn't give a shit about her or the kids. He tells Bob Balaban this, straight up. And then starts bugging him about deprivation tanks and Hinchi Indians in South America who have sacred mushrooms that can really fuck you up.

It's at this point you would like for Jessup to be hit by a Mack truck. But the movie continues on. By the way, this is one of the kids he doesn't give a crap about:

That's right. Drew Barrymore's first role is a kid that William Hurt doesn't give a shit about. Something that William Hurt would make a career out of with narcoleptic performances in Lost in Space and Syfy's Dune. So, Emily takes the kids to Africa for her anthropology work while Jessup goes to South America to go deeper into his own creepy mind.

The Hinchi Indians agree to allow him to participate in the drug ritual. They enter their holy cave.

This shot is beautiful. At this point the film becomes increasingly gorgeous. Ken Russell has started to go into overdrive, ladies and gentlemen. Buckle. Your. Seatbelts.

The Indians grab Jessup's hand and cut him, freaking him out. They pour his blood into the drug mixture. They begin to drink. Then he takes a sip. The intensity of the film here has quadrupled. The vision begins, fireworks going off all around him. He sees cave paintings of humans and komodo dragons and this:

The proper life he left behind with Emily. He's convulsing, sweating. The Indians are all around, masked. Snakes. He's laughing in pain. Energy spills from the void. A snake under the parasol strikes and begins to strangle him. He and Emily march toward a nuclear explosion as energy pours from the cut on his hand, becoming a lizard. From within a sandstorm, Emily watches him, naked. Jessup looks at her, entranced, as the soothing sands cover them both, slowly.

It's a beautiful sequence. A perfect film sequence. I can't overstate how strong the vision sequences are from this point forward. Great visual effects work and the madman mind of Ken Russell create something unforgettable, with it's own pace, independent from the rest of the film.

Jessup awakens with a komodo dragon laying before him, ripped to pieces. The Indians and the others all claim he killed it in rage. Jessup remembers nothing, takes samples of the drug to reproduce it, and goes back home.

Back home, Jessup keeps doing as much of the drug as he can and having Bob Balaban record results. They can't up the dosage any more so Jessup hops back in to the self deprivation tank to create a more extreme experience.

In his next session, Jessup states he is having a vision of early man, hunting a deer and killing it. Suddenly he states he is one of them, killing the deer. He begins to grunt like an animal. The two pull him out. He's incredibly pale, blood seeping out of his mouth. He can't speak, and has difficulty breathing. He insists they do an X-ray. It shows that there is a vocalizing lump in the front part of his throat. Jessup claims that his body had begun to revert to a simian state. The medical doctor agrees, stating the throat X-rays looks like that of a gorilla.

Luckily his throat returns to normal. So Jessup finishes up his day by having over a student of his and sleeping with her.

Our hero, people!

At this point we hardly feel sorry for him as his body suddenly begins to twist and bulge in the middle of the night, shifting in and out of neanderthal shapes. It's a horrific sequence, disturbing as hell. You certainly didn't expect the film to shift into body horror.

Jessup feels normal after a while. but sees visions of lava explosions, the birthing of the Earth all around him. Not a good sign.

He goes to pick up Emily from the airport the next day. She asks how he is doing.

“Oh, fine.”

Yeah right.

Emily has been told what Jessup has been doing and is worried, which of course pisses off Jessup even more. The guy is obviously obsessed with reaching the truth and root of existence, much as Emily surmised earlier, and we see he has no fear of even losing his own soul, again true to her word. The only thing that allows us to give a shit about him at this point is that Emily cares for him and she's decent people, okay?

So back Jessup goes into the tank with his ayahuasca or whatever it is. Alone. The tank door opens from the inside.

The hand that pushes it open is covered in thick hair. He's devolved.

Ape-Jessup escapes the tank room and chases a janitor around the building. Again, this scene is fucking freaky as hell. We can't get a good look at this screaming animal that was Jessup.

The janitor gets a guard to help and chases after him into the boiler room, where we finally get a good look at him when he assaults the security guard and escapes.

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Ape-Jessup runs through the city at night, making his way to the zoo where he kills a antelope and eats it. The Ape-Jessup sequence goes on way too long, but is nonetheless unforgettable. The makeup is much more convincing than the above picture suggests, and whoever performed Ape-Jessup did an admirable job.

The cops find an unconscious Jessup in the zoo and bring him in. Emily picks him up and questions him. Jessup admits everything that he can remember. He also admits that he probably killed that security guard. And once again doesn't seem to give a shit. Prick. He calls it the most supremely satisfying time of his life.

Even Emily seems disgusted with him. But, she's also fascinated with what he's accomplished. As an anthropologist, his transformation fascinates her. And so, she agrees to help oversee his next session. Big mistake.

Before the big session Emily and Jessup romantically reconnect, and then into the climactic session we go!

Get your popcorn ready!

After a few hours in to the session, the video monitor shows Jessup begin to literally melt apart like goo, reverting to primordial ooze, the very beginning of existence. An attempt to open the isolation tank doors blasts everyone unconscious, as light and energy pour forth. Emily is the only one left. She sees Jessup's life energy pulse from within the tank.

Rain pours down around them. The pipes on the walls twist and turn like jelly. The ground is covered with a pool of swirling fog and energy. Emily advances toward the vortex of the tank.

In the emptiness of the beginning of everything, Emily seizes the energy before her and reconstitutes Jessup.

They take him home. While he sleeps, Emily rages over the fact that she loves such a insane bastard, and can't get over him. And, then, after Bob Balaban leaves, leaving Emily alone, Jessup wakes up.

He sweetly admits that the truth he learned was that there was no learnable truth, just unknowable horror, and all that's real is human experience. And he'll be a good boy from now on. Well too bad!

Because that horrible truth isn't done with him, and it's back to goo-Jessup! Emily tries to help him, grabbing him, but this in turn effects her, turning her into a shimmering lava form of herself. Both of them begin to self-destruct as Jessup, enraged, watching her in pain, struggles to retake his humanity, slamming himself into the wall, reforming himself through sheer will and physicality. He grabs her and brings her back, mirroring what she did for him during the final session. They embrace naked in the hallway. He finally admits, “I love you, Emily.”

Fade to credits.

Awww true love!

What can I say to sum up? Awesome 80's practical effects. Genius wacko go-for-it Ken Russell directing. Out of this world vision sequences. A awake and actually remarkable performance from William Hurt. An occasionally turgid but often fascinating script by the ever ornery Paddy Chayefsky. Whats not to like?

Well, the ending is a little rushed. The ape sequence goes on for a little too long and takes up perhaps too much of the films overall running time. The central love story is, well... a little hard to swallow, but hey, I guess there really is somebody out there for everyone. Even self-absorbed, deadbeat, cheating, sensory deprivation loving, ayahuasca dropping, Harvard teachers with a messiah complex!

And on that note, aliens from A.I. Artifical Intelligence, have a good day, and don't leave poor Teddy alone with no one to keep him company!

Sayonara!

[retroateez]

1980s horror film - s.mingi

hello all!!!

it’s been a lot longer than i intended, but a bunch of stuff came up and i both didn’t have time and didn’t feel like writing. this also wasn’t what i initially planned on posting, but life works weirdly and here we are. that being said, i wrote this in a way that is different to how i typically write so i apologise if it sounds/feels weird or awkward. regardless, i hope u enjoy! (also i didn’t realise it was all lower case so please ignore the inconsistency lmao)

//

pairing: song mingi x reader genre: unrequited love?? idk how to tag it oops word count: 1660 this is inspired by a song titled ‘1980s horror film II’ by wallows! 

//

mingi had been waiting for eons to score a date with y/n. way too long. all of his friends (mainly wooyoung), teased him constantly about her, but he had never gathered the courage to do anything about it.

they'd been friends for a long while, even hanging out a few times together at the cinema, or just going out for lunch before mingi realised he had an absolutely huge crush on her.

recently he'd been avoiding her like the plague, using volleyball practice, or band rehearsal with the boys as an excuse not to hang out with her. 

that was, until one sunny saturday afternoon, when she called him out of the blue. he took a few moments to collect himself, staring at the ringing phone in his hand like it was a ticking bomb seconds away from a devastating explosion.

"hey dingus!" y/n called down the phone once he had collected himself enough to answer. "what are you doing?" she asked.

"nothing. why?" 

"i'm bored." she declared. "wanna come over?"

"s-sure!" mingi agreed straight away.

"sweet. see you soon then!" y/n hung up, and mingi was convinced he might pass out.

he'd never been to her house before. maybe she really did like him back? oh god, he was starting to internally panic now; how was he supposed to act? he didn't want to be a creep but he didn't want to be painfully awkward either. oh god. oh god oh god oh god.

"get it together, mingi." he scowled at himself in the mirror, shaking his faded red hair side to side. he couldn’t make a fool of himself in front of her; he absolutely would not allow it. 

this could be his chance, to finally muster enough balls to ask y/n out before it was too late. yes, he'd decided; today would be the day.

-----

half an hour later, an exceptionally nervous song mingi knocked on the door of his highschool crush. he reached up and brushed a shaking hand through his hair, wondering whether his legs were numb from fear or the chilling bite of the surprisingly cold weather. 

a few moments passed, then the door swung open to reveal y/n. she was dressed in her usual style, comfy, stylish, beautiful, very y/n. in truth, she could be wearing a trashbag and mingi would still say she looked gorgeous.

she gave him a wide, toothy grin and stepped aside to let him in.

"welcome to mi casa!" she motioned to the hallway dramatically, one arm sweeping out in front of her and almost bashing her elbow into the kitchen doorframe.

"i wanna watch a movie!" she said, once she had recovered from the near injury. "i've already got the snacks ready, so let's go!"

she began bounding up the stairs, mingi following her before realising where they were headed and freezing abruptly in his tracks.

"we're going upstairs?" he breathed, anxiety flooding him from head to foot.

just what exactly was she expecting from him?

"yeah?" she shrugged. "is that a problem?"

"no!" he replied, perhaps a little too quickly. "no, that's not a problem at all."

-----

he was scared.

bordering on terrified.

y/n's bedroom was dark; having pulled the curtains before mingi's arrival to avoid the sun glaring onto the television.

as the minutes went on, mingi became less and less sure just what she was planning this afternoon.

she paced over to the tv set, opening a dvd case and slotting a disc into the player.

"it's a 1980s horror film," she explained. "i've been wanting to watch it for ages, but i didn't want to watch it alone... you don't mind, do you?"

mingi shook his head quickly. he did in fact mind, not being the biggest fan of the horror genre, but he'd made it this far, and backing out now was definitely not an option. plus, if wooyoung caught wind of mingi chickening out, he would never hear the end of it.

"here," she motioned to her bed; a double, with lilac sheets and an appropriate amount of cushions bundled up by her pillows. "take a seat."

unsure of whether he should, but not wanting to be rude, mingi crawled across her bed, sitting down amidst the cushions and crossing his legs like an obedient, yet timid child. he watched y/n grab her desk chair, dragging it across the room and placing it beside the bed, distanced but still close enough to mingi to completely throw him off his guard.

"don't you want the be-"

"nonsense!" she cut him off before he could even get the words out. "you're my guest, so you get the bed."

mingi was bewildered. never in his life had he expected to be in this situation. it appeared that y/n had absolutely zero intentions of doing anything romantic. which, don't get him wrong, was totally fine, but regardless he was still confused.

all the cheesy high school romance movies he’d watched, and all the young adult fiction novels he had read hinted that when you were invited to your crush’s house, alone, it usually indicated they wanted something romantic. or something more. absolutely nothing had prepared him for, or even suggested that the current circumstances would ever occur in a million years. mingi felt rather cheated, to be honest.

was she making him wait on purpose? deliberately staying away from him in the hopes that he'd just cave in and sweep her off her feet? y/n didn't seem like that kind of girl, but mingi had been wrong about a lot of things when it came to y/n. 

the movie began to play, and they sat surrounded by darkness, mingi decided he would simply go with the flow. he was a nervous wreck, but he wasn't a pervert; he wouldn't do anything unless y/n initiated it. the last thing he wanted was to make her uncomfortable. 

despite reaching a solution, he couldn't get it out of his mind how close they were in the moment. glancing to his side, he could very much reach out and gently touch her hair. or softly caress her cheek. 

obviously, he wouldn't, because that would be weird. and that was a vibe he was trying to avoid today.

halfway through the movie, y/n jumped up, explaining she had to use the bathroom and scaring the shit out of mingi in the process.

he kept his gaze fixed on the movie playing in front of him, but his mind wandered to other places. he sighed deeply.

he didn't even know what to say to her.

she's always on his mind,

and yet,

he's too afraid to say anything. how long would this pathetic pining go on for? surely it would be better for him to take wooyoung's advice and just go for it? otherwise he'll be playing this game for god knows how long. 

that was it.

he simply couldn't help the way he was feeling; he needed to get it out, to tell her how he truly feels.

and maybe, just maybe, she'd feel the same way too.

y/n comes back, and mingi gears himself up for his confession. digging into the deepest corners of his mind to find the right words to use. deciding to abandon his previous resolution to let y/n initiate, he convinces himself to take charge and follow the lead of every heteronormative teen movie in existence, and sweep the girl off her feet.

until she ditches the chair, motioning for mingi to scooch over and then she lays down right beside him. 

the bed is fairly large, but then again mingi is no regular sized teenage boy, his lanky frame taking up a considerable portion of the bed.. as a result, his right side and her left are pressed flush against each other, and poor mingi thinks he's about to explode.

but still, he inhales deeply, surveying the situation.

the lights are off, 

the mood was right.

perfect.

mingi lets her settle for a short while, which is really him internally psyching himself up, before setting his masterplan into action.

he turns his head slowly to look at y/n, noticing how invested she is in the movie and he pouts a little.

he wants her attention.

she still doesn't notice, so he opts for placing his hand on her cheek as gently as he can and guides her gaze towards him.

her eyebrows furrow together in confusion, but she makes no effort to move away.

frozen anxiety that mingi misinterprets as a green light.

his eyes fall shut, and his upper body leans forward the tiniest amount. he's so close. so close to finally being able to show y/n how he feels. he's seconds away from having a weight lifted off his shoulders. he can't wait to shove it in wooyoung's face either, all the times the younger boy had called him a pussy had pissed mingi off to no end, but look at him now wooyoung, look at him now.

all he needed was for y/n to bridge the gap between them.

but instead, a small hand on mingi's shoulder pushes him back, and his eyes snap open abruptly, and he feels his stomach fall straight through his ass.

"y/n, i-"

the look on her face stops mingi dead in his tracks, because he can't read her expression.

is she mad? is she super pissed that he tried to kiss her? he'd understand if she was, it probably wasn't the best course of action but it was the best he could come up with. is she angry? is she hurt? disappointed? he searches her eyes, burning into his, for answers but comes up short. all he can do is try and guess how she's feeling, but realistically he's no expert, he's no mindreader, how is he suppo-

"mingi, i'm really not that into guys." 

oh.  

[roswelldetails]

RNM 2x08 - Say It Ain't So

EPISODE SUMMARY:

JAMIE CLAYTON GUEST STARS — Despite promising Liz (Jeanine Mason) that he’ll take things easy with his new heart, Max (Nathan Dean) sets out to find Cameron after learning that she’s gone missing. Michael (Michael Vlamis) grows concerned about Maria (Heather Hemmens) after a surprising discovery about her family history leaves her vulnerable. Elsewhere, ready to move on, Alex (Tyler Blackburn) goes on a date with Forrest (guest star Christian Antidormi), and Rosa (Amber Midthunder) makes a decision about her future. Rachel Raimist directed the episode written by Eva McKenna & Christopher Hollier (#208). Original airdate 5/4/2020. 

DETAILS:

Rosa's secret identity:

"...Cousin Rosalinda from Arizona. My mom married a minor league baseball player, but when he got relocated to a team in Florida…"

"Okay, you know what, let's just go with, they're dead."

This is a Twilight reference.

Rosa about the Mean Girl's art in the cave:

"That reminds me of Stephen Powers before he sold out."

Stephen Powers is a former street artist who went commercial. Some examples of his older work here:

Other examples of his newer, more commercial work here:

By the way, speaking of the cave:

And this is some fabulous visual storytelling right here:

Max is working at the Wild Pony. Temporarily, of course.

"Turns out debt collectors don't care if you've been half dead in a glowing pod for a few months."

So much for the headcanon that Max "I've been driving the same car since high school and am a homeowner before 30" Evans is good with his money. 😆 Debt collectors don't show up that fast… not that I know from experience or anything.  😳 *backs slowly away*

Iris refers to the cave as the go to hang spot for all the artsy weirdos. So it isn't like it was specifically Rosa's cave/hidden spot.

It's the first time we've seen this particular cave other than in 2008 flashbacks.

Iris Sanchez & Rosa Ortecho. Flower, Mexican family name. 😭 The hint is there!

Also 👀 from:

The iris earned its name from the ancient Greek Goddess Iris, a messenger to the gods who was thought to use the rainbow as a bridge between heaven and earth...these flowers were named to honor the Rainbow Goddess and bring favor upon the earth.

Mimi made Maria take back the necklace.

"She said that it was too late for her and that I needed it more."

Michael has seen the necklace before, but he didn't know what the flower was when he fixed the clasp and returned it to her in 1x10.  It was 1x11 when they learned of the existence of the anti alien pollen. Michael reminds us:

"I know this flower.  Its pollen has a paralytic effect on alien abilities."

Once Maria takes it off, she can name every card Michael pulls from the deck.

Maria lists off a bunch of necklace facts from past episodes that fandom has previously noted...

Her powers were heightened when Michael had the necklace in 1x10. 

She wasn't wearing it when Noah invaded her at the gala.

And she wasn't wearing it at Woman As Warrior in 2x02 when she sensed that Isobel was pregnant.

"Kyle said you aren't an alien."

Fact. Kyle did say that.  It doesn't mean that it's a fact that Maria doesn't have alien DNA in her though.

Kyle determined that her blood doesn't carry the alien protein that's in the Pod Squad and Rosa. He is making an assumption that the protein is tied to being an alien.

He said he ran other tests, but the results would take longer to come in. 

Also, just a personal theory, what else do Rosa and the Pod Squad (and Noah) all have in common? They all spent significant time marinating in a pod full of goo. Rosa (10 years), Pod Squad (at least 50 years), Noah (60 years). Kyle has not studied any samples of alien biology from an alien who didn't spend time in pod goo. It's possible the protein is related to the pod goo, moreso than the alien biology. Again, just speculation on my part.

Maria confirms that her mom started getting sick when she was 18, just after she passed the necklace on to Maria.

"If this prevents you from having more episodes, it probably stops the neurodegeneration process too. It's not kryptonite, Maria. This is preventative medicine. Keep it on."

In 2x06 it was established that in addition to Sanders' place being a junkyard and a mechanic/auto shop, they also do tow truck service.  Now that comes into play again as Michael was hired to bring Cam's car back to Roswell for the investigation into her disappearance.  He brought it to the junk yard first though to give Max and Liz an hour to check the car for clues before the sheriff's department comes to collect it.

Max is smart too, in his own way. He quickly identified that "Agent Powell" was driving a rental car and that her gun wasn't government issue. 

However, it's only when he sees her tattoo (which Cam told him about in 1x07) that he confirms that she's actually Charlie Cameron!

(10 points to fandom!)

Max & Liz's conversation with Charlie is mostly just reminding us what we know about Charlie and Jenna's relationship. 

Liz indicates that Jenna had been looking for Charlie for months.  Charlie responds that she didn't want to be found (both things we learned in 2x04 through Cam's discussion with Jesse Manes.

Max indicates that Jenna thought that Charlie hated her, a call back to us first learning about Charlie and the matching tattoos in 1x07.

"I worked on a controversial project a while back. A lot of dangerous people want to know what I know."

(Again, stuff we learned in 2x04).

They learn through Cam's text history that she was looking for Jesse Manes (which we already knew, because...2x04).

"I'm just a guy standing in front of a tourist trap asking a history buff to shoot him with high velocity paint."

Tongue-in-cheek reference to the movie Notting Hill.

"So, you're cool playing war? Doesn't bring anything up?"

"Oh, yeah, my PTSD triggers are a little more complicated. Suffice to say, this war zone is the only place that my family actually got along when I was a kid."

"Yeah, some of my old platoon buddies actually play in leagues."

"I didn't know that you served."

"Yeah I wouldn't go bragging about it to a guy with a Purple Heart. I might have googled you."

New information… both that Forrest served, that he looked into Alex (which could be innocent OR sketchy…).

And of course this is the first open discussion about Alex's PTSD issues.

Cowboys versus aliens paintball… Alex is the cowboy, so Forrest must be the alien.

The call that interrupted Forrest's attempt to kiss Alex was from the hospital. Hence why Alex goes there to see Jesse.

"Look, if I had a little lucky charm that could stop people like Noah from messing with me, I would have that surgically implanted into my décolletage."

Have to admit, I wasn't sure what décolletage meant, so in case anyone else isn't familiar: 

"These abilities are a part of me. I'm not gonna just throw away the chance to learn about who I am. That make sense to you?"

"Yeah, actually, it does."

"You've gotten stronger this year, right?  Can you teach me to train? Learn how to control it all?"

"Look, it took a lot of practice before I could do anything without puking and guzzling acetone to kill the pain.  And you can't practice, because according to Kyle, every time you do it eats your brain."

"Look, I'll stop before it goes that far, okay? I know the signs. Besides, if you help me, maybe I can help you. There must be something that you want to know about your future."

"What about my past?"

Max meeting with Jesse at the Crashdown. This is super interesting because it's the first time Max has sat down, face to face, with a hostile human who knows he's an alien. 

"My uncle used to bring me here. That was back when it catered to a more civil clientele. People who actually respected the history of this town."

This is likely foreshadowing what's to come next week, based on the promo pics released.

Again, similar to the scene with Charlie at the junkyard, much of this exchange between Max and Jesse is just reminding us of stuff we learned in 1x04.

"The last time I saw her she came to me with questions about her sister.  And I told her that the people most interested in Charlie's device were a black ops group based out of Los Alamos. They're called Deep Sky. This is their logo. Paramilitary. And I told Jenna that what she was getting into was gonna be dangerous. But apparently she didn't listen.

Note: in case any of you are unaware, in Los Alamos there's a US DOE lab that has a long, sketchy history of weapons development.  Makes perfect since that it's where a paramilitary organization interested in Charlie's research would be based there.

The Deep Sky Logo

I compared this to a number of screenshots of alien symbols (like the ones we saw in Jim Valenti's letters in 1x12) and there were no matches.

However, fandom has already noted that the logo matches Trevor's ring in 2x06 (see that episode's details post for the photo).

"Charlie Cameron's mind is a unique specimen. Kind of like you. And there's always someone in the shadows waiting to crack those open."

"What did you do to Jenna?"

"I told her the truth. Which is more than you ever did. You're kind of a wolf in sheep's clothing, aren't you?"

"And what are you? Do you feel like a hero? All those people you tortured, all those people you killed. Turns out none of them were an enemy.  They were refugees. So you're not just a murderer, you're a failure."

"Yeah, I know. I am. But I tell you, something shifted in my brain when I had the stroke.  All the hate's gone out of me. All the fight. Caulfield is over and my son Flint has been reassigned. Look at me. I can barely walk."

Liz and Charlie in the car:

"Waitressing's really got to blow when you've grown a fully functioning heart muscle in a lab.  Or are you not the same Elizabeth Ortecho who co-authored a 2013 paper on cellular reprogramming? Some people build model trains; I do my homework.  Your boyfriend seems more like the train type."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"We've discovered new worlds and changed the course of mankind from a microscope. Should I go Netflix and chill with my boyfriend or stay in the lab, architecting the future?"

"No offense, but if it's true that you've been in prison and in hiding, it does not seem like you've seen much of the inside of a lab either."

"I went too far.  I thought I was building something with real value. The thing is, anything that has the potential to create real change, it scares people. And anything that scares people is inherently dangerous no matter what your intention is."

"You could start over. Get a new identity, work at a research university."

"I've done extraordinary things. Everything ordinary is ruined now."

More exposition that we already know as Max catches Charlie and Liz up on what he learns from Jesse.

"He said Cam is headed to Los Alamos to investigate a group called Deep Sky. Does that mean anything to you?"

"No. Let me reach out to some of my military contacts, do some recon. Give me a day, we'll go from there."

Liz and Michael, in the lab, on The Science:

"I'm looking for the sample of yellow pollen."

"The stuff I swept off the floor after throwing it at Noah? I don't know. I didn't see it while we were packing up."

"Well it was here a few months back.  Did I miss an experiment where it grew legs and a fondness for the outdoors?"

"Could have been accidentally thrown away. Sample was too oxidized to be of much use, and I've been trying to get my hands on fresh flowers, but it's impossible. I think they might be extinct. Why are you freaking out?"

"Because I have a math problem. There's only one flower in Maria's necklace, but there are two DeLuca women and apparently the flower is the key to preventing their illness. This is everything from the Caulfield drives and the experiments done on Maria's grandmother. A lot of it was lost in a lab fire in the '80s, but…"

"I'll take a look."

(Aside… 👀 Lab fire in the '80s. I have a feeling that's more foreshadowing.)

"I just want you to see if anything done could be undone. I don't want you to, like, Dr. Frankenstein it. The experiments were very bad."

"My days as an alien scientist are officially over."

"Why don't I believe you?"

"'Cause it's hard not to think about the far-reaching implications of this kind of research. You don't get sick on this planet. If I could figure out why, I could eradicate all illness."

"But you can't. Because that would expose us."

"Which I would obviously never do. It's over."

Arturo's text to Liz:

Have you seen our little mouse?

"Rosalinda" is late for her first shift.

Isobel and Maria go to Michael's trailer and Isobel shows Maria the newspaper clip of Michael's mom to try to trigger a vision.

"It's not working. And I don't feel great going through this stuff without Michael knowing."

"Why not? One day this palace might all be yours."

"It's not working.  I have a business to run, and you need to go Instagram something."

"Says the social media revitalizer. Listen, word to the wise, every time Max saw Liz in a skirt and tried not to pop a bulb, he wound up setting off a fire alarm. Everytime I push myself too hard, I miss time, or wind up accidentally realizing that my mom still thinks about her ex-boyfriend Rocco, like, in vivid detail."

"Okay, where are you going with this?"

"Effort doesn't equal control. So if you want to do this you're gonna have to embrace your inner ice queen and let it go."

"I'm not great at letting things go."

"Yeah, I know.  That's hard…"

Maria's vision:

Triggered by a t-shirt hanging in the trailer.

Louise is hanging laundry

Walt runs up to her and gives her a little windmill with her name on it. (Initially I thought her name was pressed or punched into the metal, but on second viewing, it looks like it might be puff paint or something similar.)

Walt runs off to find Nora and Louise goes back to hanging laundry.

After the vision Maria's nose starts bleeding.

Max goes after Charlie to stop her from turning herself in.

I wonder if his tire screeching action guy driving is supposed to be emphasizing to the audience that he's not being as cautious as he should be? 

Deep Sky said that if Charlie "...wasn't at Sutter's grain depot by 11pm, that they would torture (Cam) to death."

Charlie heard on the call:

A train rolling by

A demonic laugh

And somehow that's enough for Max to magically know exactly where Cam is.

Alex and Jesse at the hospital:

"Hey, they said that you mixed whiskey with your medications.  That's not like you."

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"I don't know. I mean, you're my father. I can't seem to shake you."

"Yeah. I failed."

"Yes. But in what way specifically?"

"Uncle Tripp. I let him down. I never could figure out what he needed of me. And tonight I went to the bunker.  And I keep trying to crack the code."

"Liz said that you spoke to Max Evans. She said that you were half decent to him. Is that what this is about?"

"One of them killed Tripp, you know."

"An alien? Yeah. Then he hunted them. He dragged them to a torture chamber. I'm not surprised one of them…" 

Jesse slams his cane.

"He was the best man I ever knew.

Jesse tries to stand and falls into Alex, then continues to walk away.

The location that Deep Sky is holding Cam looks like a rodeo or horse arena or racetrack with a big grandstand.

There are nearby train tracks, and a warehouse where a mechanic repairs old carnival rides.

As Max and Charlie are scoping out the area you can hear both sounds softly in the background.

The sniper was watching and shooting at them from the grandstand.

Charlie is shot in the leg.

"Let me go get her."

"No. Deep Sky wants me alive. Your brain is worth considerably less to them which means it'll be splattered all over the dirt."

(Oh the irony...confirming that Charlie doesn't know that Max is an alien.)

"If anything goes wrong, call Liz. No doctors."

Max does shoot the sniper!

And then uses his powers to knock out the power (and instantly feeling it in his heart when he starts to use his powers!!!!!!) which, as @angsty-aliens very eloquently pointed out, is absurd because there was a big red lever that would have done the same thing. *facepalm*

Cam on her kidnapping:

"The last thing I remember is this weird sound. It made the hairs on my arm stand up. And this bright light, and the pain in the back of my neck like you wouldn't believe."

Cam's burn is fractals.  Like Liz's burn from Max's powers in 1x03. Top is Liz's fresh burn in 1x03, bottom is Cam's not-so-fresh burn in 2x08. Keep in mind, we don't know how long Cam was missing for.

Rosa and Iris at the "art show".

"So you said you're from Roswell?"

"Oh, I was from Roswell.  I got out and went to art school as soon as I graduated. I work for an artist now. I help her run her gallery. Yeah, I used to want to be a painter, but then I realized I loved curating art way more than I ever loved making it."

👀 I wonder what this says about Rosa's internal motivation. If Iris is the life she wishes that she had, does she not want to be a painter? Or is that her internal insecurity rearing its head.  Like, she can't even dream about that possibility because it's what she really wants above all else.  Which is why Iris then motivates her to paint and prove to her inner self that she is an artist? 

Speaking of which, here's Rosa's painting from the episode. Mucho gracias to @rosaortecho for giffing it for me since it wasn't cap-able in a single shot.

Iris's assessment of Rosa's art:

"This piece is you outrunning your demons. This is amazing. That's what you have to do.  You have to capture them and rattle the cage.  This is art. This is what you're meant to do, Rosa!"

Rosa's hallucination starts to fall apart as they dance.  She starts coughing and having trouble breathing.

"Your star sign's just out of whack."

Play on lyrics from God of Wine by Third Eye Blind, which was heavily referenced in 1x02. 

The direct quote is "your star sign's out of whack" and the next lyric is "a fraudulent zodiac"

Which, of course, is what Rosa had written on her hand before she died in 2008 and is a reference to Ophiuchus, which was Noah's zodiac obsession.

And then Liz finds her overdosing in the cave. 

The coughing in Rosa's hallucination was from smoke inhalation.  Because while passed out she started a fire with her powers.

Feels like a good time to point out that it's the same cave that she died in back in 2008, and she would have died there again if Liz hadn't found her. 😭

At the hospital Rosa tells Liz that she wants to go to rehab, but she knows she can't since she can't control her powers. 

Liz gives her Maria's necklace to borrow since it will suppress her powers and allow her to go to rehab.

Alex and Forrest at the Wild Pony:

"I still have my dad's voice in my head telling me that being seen with a man in public is an embarrassment. To my name and my uniform."

"Well, there's nothing like a dad voice to mess up a perfectly good date."

"It's also just that...I mean, Roswell's so conservative. This bar is filled with cowboys. If you want to go someplace private…"

"Look, I like you. But I don't want to climb into somebody else's closet."

"I cannot tell you how badly I want to be done with this frickin' closet."

"But you're not. And that's okay. Really. Listen, if that voice in your head ever shuts up, give me a call. Because between you and me, making out with a hot guy in public is only made hotter when it pisses off all the bigots and homophobes."

Charlie took off and left a note for Jenna. According to Jenna it says she's gonna disappear again and not to look for her.

Arturo is taking Rosa to a rehab center that Kyle set her up with "a few hours away".

Max tells Liz "let's go home." So… did she move in with him??

Liz says no though.  She says she has to open the diner and cry alone.  But instead she goes to the secret lab.  

Both Max and Liz were evading the truth a little bit here.  Liz didn't tell Max that she wanted to go to the secret lab.  Max didn't tell Liz that his heart did wonk out after using his powers and he did overdo it going after Cam. Bad Echo!!

Liz goes back to packing the secret lab up initially, but then her eyes fall into the Caulfield folders, and she stops. 

She unpacks her stolen equipment (genetic sequencer?), puts on her lab coat, and sits down to start reading the file.

Isobel brings Michael beer as a peace offering, since she's coming to admit that she helped Maria trigger a vision.  She thinks Michael will be mad, but he isn't because he and Maria already worked it out.

So Isobel tells him about the vision and seeing Louise, and specifically about Walt giving Louise the windmill. 

Michael immediately reacts, goes to a shelf, and grabs a similar windmill.

Turns out Walt is Sanders.  He pulls up in his car and Michael immediately confronts Sanders.

"It was you. You're Walt. You're the little boy in the photo.  You knew my mother."

And Sanders nods.

10 more points to fandom.

Max goes to Charlie's hotel to confront her about turning herself in to Deep Sky.

The windmill in both scenes. Until I put this together I didn't think they were the same one (because Louise's name isn't on Michael's. But other details (like the word weight on one of the legs) are the same.

"You think Deep Sky needs to have Jenna by the throat to kill her? Okay, the only way that I can protect her is from the inside."

Then the "abduction scene" happens.

It mirrors what happened to Jenna in 2x04, only to Max and Charlie.

MUSIC:

1.  Hole "Celebrity Skin"

2.  Lukas Nelson & Promise Of The Real "Die Alone"

3.  Shelly Fairchild "Worry No More"

4.  Marc Danzeisen "Some Things Last Forever"

5.  Joey Sykes "Sign Of The Times"

6.  I AM ORFA "Like That Look"

7.  Danny Ayer "Set Us Free"

8.  Hamish Anderson "Trouble"

9.  OMC "How Bizarre"

10.  Muscadine Bloodline "Movin' On"

11.  Little May "Hide"