#like i would get my ears pointed (although you have such a good idea w/ trying diff jewelry in my helix) or my canines elongated

[farmdog]

i wanted to add my experience with my own piercings that have been species affirming, i hope that's okay!!

i want to start off w/ seconding stretched lobes, i love how floppy mine are and when i can feel them move! i feel really dog species validated when my gf tells me that they are notably large compared to unstretched ears. :3

large-gauge conch piercing with horseshoe (or ring) jewelry: i did not expect this to be so kin validating but it is THE number one piercing for me. my conch was punched at 8g, and i've kept a large horseshoe in it since the beginning. not only does the big jewelry feel like an ear tag, which is super validating for goat/other livestock feelings, but the jewelry constantly bumps against my other piercings and jingles like dog tags!! so now every time i shake my head around i jingle just like a dog with a collar on, it feels so good.

canine bites: soo nice for big teeth feelings. i got my snake bites done first, then the angel bites, and it felt completely different having just the lower vs them all together. with just snake bites, it felt like having tusks, or just pretty prominent lower teeth (like an english bulldog), so moreso like my lower teeth were sticking out of my mouth in some way. all together, it felt like having my full set of canine teeth had extended to become very prominent, both inside and outside of my mouth. being able to clack them together was another surprising source of validity; they felt like a beak, or like snapping big teeth together.

eyebrows!!: i loved my eyebrow piercings, i don't even really know where to begin explaining how they brought species euphoria? like, they held slightly more tension in the skin at the ends of my eyebrows, and that in turn made me feel more animal-like. it's a weird one. i think it's based on how animal eyebrow muscles look when they're tense? if you look at a wolf snarling, they hold the muscle tension over their eyes in a pretty similar spot to where outer eyebrow piercings are placed. it was validating for me, at least!! i didn't take these out until recently, so they're still healing, and even the residual feeling of that is still validating. the look is also pretty unhuman, in my opinion.

i LOVE the idea of genital piercings for kin validation, i don't have any but i have considered getting them many a time. i feel like species-related genital dysphoria isn't something that people really talk about (and i guess i can understand why, i think it's something people would love to misinterpret on purpose), but it's real...! i would love to feel less human in my genitalia, and i'm very lucky that my personal experience with transition has helped me feel that way, but i think having some piercings that change the look and feel of it would help with that as well.

in terms of other body mods, tattoos of my kintypes are another way i connect myself to them, but i do want to figure out ways to do tattoos that validate my species specifically, without being as obvious as tattooing brindling over my entire back or something (although now that i think about it that would be pretty cool). my gf and i both do stick n pokes on ourselves and each other, so i'm lucky i can (safely! do stick n pokes safely and responsibly please!) DIY things when i have the ideas.

someday i would consider looking into more 'professionally' done scarification, as well, as i think there are things i would feel validated with in that process. this is another one where i'm not entirely sure where i'd go with it, since i personally don't want a brand or markings scarified. much to think about.

piercings as species affirmation

contains discussion of genital piercings. (18+)

before i delve into my piercing ideas, think about what style of jewelry would communicate your species. shiny jewels? simplistic titanium? wood or bone? reminder as well that piercings are anatomy dependent. i recommend seeking the advice and services of a licensed, experienced piercer.

this is just off the top of my head of course, feel free to add on!

stretched lobes- heftier jewelry like glass plugs/tunnels or ear weights simulates floppy ears or neck fluff when your head is shaken from side to side.

nostrils- there are so many options here. spiked ends for reptiles/dragons. and even placement options! (ex: high nostril, standard nostril, forward facing nostril). larger ends that take up more space on the nostril have helped me cope with my lack of animal nose as it “bulks” it up a little.

septum- besides the obvious cow comparison, there are tons of options here. like the spike example with nostril piercings, pinchers give some spike.

lips- the world is literally your fucking oyster here. go hog wild. paired vertical upper lip piercings are literally fangs. consider: you are an insect with upper and lower lip piercings. or a robot.

genitals- if you suffer from gender related dysphoria this may be of interest to you as well. for example, gauged labia piercings can simulate the feeling of testicles. depending on the piercing, genital piercings change the function of the organ. (a trans femme experience will be linked!

ear cartilage- lots of options again. example: are you an elf or fae? get a helix piercing with a spiked end.

[etheries1015]

I had sort of a crack idea of what would the non-human twst boys do if their crush or s/o was allergic to them? Savanaclaw and Octonivelle with like the fur allergy and seafood allergy. Maybe diasomnia’s s/o has some sort of fairy allergy? Sorry if this is too silly for you to write, it’s alright if you don’t 😭

I LOVE THIS BECAUSE I'VE HAD A SIMILAR THOUGHT i'm allergic to cats and i'm like...man what am I gonna do around Grim BUAHAHA...this is a great idea. Nothing is too silly to write my friend!

Non-human Twst boys reacting to a S/O who is allergic to them!

featuring: Savanaclaw and Octavinelle!

general warnings: gender neutral reader, not really proof read \

TW: None! just fluff. and allergies.

Leona

The first time you sneezed around him, they didn't know it was literally BECAUSE of him. This was until you two took a nap together for the first time, and when you woke up he saw your face...Oh, brother. Your eyes were puffy and red, congested, and your nose leaked like nobody's business. He genuinely felt bad about this, but wouldn't let you in on his true feelings/emotions. Without understanding the cause (though he had an inkling) he immediately took you to the doctor.

"They're allergic to me? What kind of shitty nonsense is that?!"

Leona invested in the most expensive of healthcare for you. Allergy pills and whatnot, because he wasn't about to sacrifice his lovely naps with his significant other. No amount of allergy is gonna stop him from getting what he wants, and that is your affection.

Ruggie

"Sooo...basically you're saying you're allergic to me? Cause' im part heyena?"

"It's a little more complicated than that. It's more like...animal dander? I guess?" You didn't seem to certain in your answer either, it was more or less a guess since...well, there wasn't half beast half human where you are from. You can only make an educated guess on why you're so allergic to him based off of the information you had back at home.

Ruggie is honestly so sad about this. He can't afford to get you any treatments or medical help with this, so you two just have to be careful. He does manage to get his hands on some special washing products (probably legally) and takes extra care of what he eats, and how clean he his. He's consistently brushing his hair and cleaning his ears.

"Man i'm such a simp. What's wrong with me?!" ...He isn't used to bending backward for people. But seeing you so sick around him, hurt him even more than his pride, so he of course would do anything to make sure you're as comfortable around him as possible. Ahh...the power of love <3

Jack

He gives me the "I must stay away from you for your own good," Type. Although this doesn't last very long. Jack is incredibly loyal, and he's far too attached to let you go. There's times where he would try and keep a distance (much to your annoyance), but when you began sneezing and itching your eyes you knew he was somewhere nearby. Jack is protective like that, but it pains his heart to see you so sick because of something he cannot control.

He does both a mix of what Ruggie and Leona does. He took up extra part-time jobs to afford good allergy medication for you, the entire works. Pills, eye drops, nasal sprays, breathing treatments...He also invests in high-quality shampoo and conditioner to help rid of his dander and hopefully reduce the amount of shedding he has.

With the amount of hair Jack has, he is CONSTANTLY brushing it and it is CONSTANTLY shedding. He does EVERYTHING under the sun to control this, all for you. Although... this is a partnership! You told him that a relationship goes two ways. You love him regardless of how itchy you may get, and you equally chip in to problem-solve.

You're both loyal to each other until the very end, no matter what trivial matters may get in your way <3

Azul

He knew before you two started dating that you had a severe allergy to seafood, so he made it a point to avoid you. But...that didn't stop YOU from coming to HIM. It was one of the things that drew him towards you, the way even though you were gaining a rash you would still wrap your arms around the back of him. Although it wasn't as bad in his human form, he was always terrified what would happen if he were to unleash his original form.

But worry not! We are talking about the literal king of potionology. He finds a remedy very quickly, and you trust him...a little too fast. He is astonished when he says;

"Take this...the second you drink this your allergies will be something of the past. But be warned-" You grabbed it out of his hand and chugged it. He stared at you with his jaw slacked open, his face turning a deep shade of hot red when you throw yourself onto Azul and place a big fat kiss against his cheek.

He imploded. But hey! his potion worked! He tried to get you to give him some sort of paypack, but you mentioned that your form of payment was in that kiss.

He now demands kisses every time he makes the potion for you <3 It's kind of a silent agreement. He just stares at you after you're done drinking it, and whenever you feign ignorance the point upon his lips is far too obvious.

Jade

The first time you broke out in hives, he remained completely calm. Jade is rather smart, and he understands your allergy must be because of his disposition as a mer-folk. Although in human form, he couldn't help but notice the way you would hide your rashes either behind makeup or by bulking clothing. He was amused by this for a moment, but when he saw it worsen he couldn't help but become worried.

"Why would you go so far for me? what do you gain by allowing yourself to become sick?" When you replied with a blush that you simply liked Jade, thus his shock soon turned into action. He excused himself for a few days to climb mountains and collect the most effective of flowers and medicinal remedies for allergies and put together a potion that you were able to take to alleviate your symptoms.

He isn't the vice house warden for nothing! His talents and magic prowess truly aided him, albeit in a way that was seemingly selfish. It was all worth it for you, though.

But he does use you as an example during a class project in potionology, having you stand up in front of the class while he compares your allergies before and after taking the potion.

He got a 100% in the project. And a Significant other. A win-win for everyone!

Floyd

Floyd is much smarter than he lets on. The moment he hugs you from behind and touches your arm, he notices the rash right away. He eyed it with a frown, and without saying anything he let go of you much to your dismay, leaving you to your lonesome for a few days on end.

You had to admit you missed Floyd, his silly jokes and way of talking, his unpredictable personality, and the attention he would often give y you. While sitting at the table during a free period, your head was propped up against your hand and a sad sigh escaping your lips.

"Ehhhh? Why is shrimpy sitting here all alone? Didya miss me?" A familiar voice teased as arms wrapped around you and something akin to a vegetable drink set in front of you. You gasped and smile up at the tall male, who wasn't wrapping his arms around you as you were used to, typically ignoring the itching of your rashes. He convinced you to drink what he sat in front of you, and although you eyed it with suspicion, you sighed and drank it in one gulp and tightly shut eyes.

Nothing happened. You turned to look over at Floyd, about to question the purpose of making you drink the (surprisingly tasty) smoothie-like liquid but were quickly interrupted by lips pressing against your own.

The kiss caught you off guard and you began to panic, talking about your allergy...before you realized that nothing was happening. No rash, no itchiness, nothing.

"Seeeee? It's a potion. I made Azul make it for me. Now I can touch you as much as I want," He smiled proudly. However he managed to convince Azul would forever be beyond you...

He forgets to give you the potion sometimes, only when you two are cuddling and a rash or itching pops up do the both of you realize it's time for a dose.

Ya'll are so silly for each other <3

[solarsturniolo]

can you do sub chris or abc’s (maybe vibrator involved ?)

Sub!Chris Headcanons

Warnings: Sex / Cursing / mentions of overstimulation / p in v / no protection / sub!chris / use of toys /

Disclaimer!!!: This is just my opinion on what chris would be like if he was submissive. None of this is factual.

Tags: @flowerxbunnie @mattslolita @mattsbratt @oversturn @simplysturn @soursturniolo @megamett44-lover @sturnybabes @jjmaybankswifes-blog @plasticferal @cupidsword @liz-stxrn @sturniolosreads @sturnioloskies @bernardsleftbootycheek @egirlshit @matthemunch44 @nonamegirlxsturniolo @chrizz333 @sturniolopowers @mattsleftnipple03 @worldlxvlys @hearts4chris @tillies33ssss @myanacondadoes8108 @luvsturniolo05 @janiellasblog @creamoncreamoncream2 @breeloveschris @meg-sturniolo

Although Chris loves being dominant in the bedroom, he adores being taken care of, especially on those long days after numerous back to back meetings and creating content.

He’s easy to get into that headspace too. A simple shoulder and back rub will relax him, at which point he won’t even want to be dominant anymore. He just loves being cared for and getting the princess treatment from you.

He doesn’t like handcuffs or restraints, he likes being able to touch you. On the rare occasion that he does let you use them on him, he’s tugging on them and whining the whole time, begging to be let out. He can’t stand having you so close to him and not being able to touch and feel you.

He spends an ungodly amount of time on your chest. Touching them, massaging them, kissing them, sucking on them, marking them…he loves to hear the sounds you make while he takes his time with you.

Chris is always open to trying new things, so he wasn’t opposed to the idea of using a vibrator. He knew it made you feel good, so he had no real reason to deny trying it.

He may have ended up liking it a little too much though. He won’t even ask, he’ll grab it from the bedside drawer himself. Whether he’s in control and using it on you, or letting you use it on him until he’s sweaty and writhing in the sheets, Chris loves the way it enhances both his and your pleasure.

He’s vocal in bed normally, but even more so when he’s not in control. Something about the power being out of his hands drives him crazy and he’s not afraid or ashamed to make that known to you.

“F-Fuck, it feels so good. O-Oh my god, yea please don’t stop. I-It feels s-so good, I-I’m gonna cum. Please let me cum, p-please. F-Fuck, I’m such a m-messy boy, I-I’m gonna make s-such a mess. P-Please, can I cum? Please i’ve been such a good boy for you, m-my balls are s-so full, p-please. W-Wanna empty them in you, f-fuck.”

He tends to ramble the closer to his orgasm that he gets. It starts pretty light, just soft moans and whimpers with a few pleas thrown in the mix. But once he feels the warmth growing in the pit of his stomach, he can’t help himself. Any and everything he’s thinking is free game.

“W-Wanna fill you up, baby. P-Please, I’ve been a good boy for you. Did everything you asked me to. Y-You feel so good, please don’t make me pull out. F-Fuck, i’m begging you. I-I-Im a good boy, I-Im your good messy boy. P-Please, wanna make a mess all up in your guts.”

And not to mention he looks so pretty laying back on the bed, his sweaty hair clinging to his forehead, his lips parted as he pants and moans each time you sink down onto his cock. His eyes can barely stay open, eyelids hooded, determined to still watch you and admire you as you take care of him. His cheeks and ears flushed with a bright rosy tint, some of the color even showing on his chest from just how hard he was blushing.

Chris LOVES the sex, but he almost loves the aftercare more. The way you hold him while he clings to you, his head buried in your chest, panting as his body jolts with aftershocks. Your soft tender kisses on his head as his hips buck, burying his cock as far into you as he can. Your sweet whispers of praise in his ear, fingernails gently running along his back to soothe his tense muscles.

When he snaps out of it, he tries to take care of you and clean you up, but you insist that he doesn’t have to worry about it. You were there to soothe him after his intense performance, just like he always was there to take care of you when he’s in control.

Some nights you stay like that for a while, bodies together and joined at your most intimate parts. But some nights that are more intense than others you’ll run a bath for the both of you. He loves feeling you behind him, massaging his tense shoulders and working the knots out of his back. Baths with you are one of his happy places. For a moment the world stops, there’s no bad. He can relax, he can breathe, he can just be.

You take a generous amount of time focusing on washing his hair, knowing how much he enjoys the feeling of your fingers in his hair. Your nails massaging his scalp is enough to make him nearly fall asleep in your arms.

Once you’re both ready for bed, Chris will lay next to you and wait (im)patiently for you to ask if he’d like to cuddle. Chris enjoys being the little spoon, so he’ll roll over and wait to feel your arms gently wrap around him. He just adores being babied by you. He’ll whisper soft words to you, wishing you a goodnight while he kisses your knuckles.

In conclusion, Chris is baby. Argue with the wall

[mod-kyoko]

phone calls w/ kokichi oma

fandom: danganronpa

tags: drabble(?), fluff, reader is g/n, established relationship

a/n: happy belated birthday, kokichi

♤♡♤♡♤♡♤♡♤♡♤♤♡♤♡♤♡♤♡♤♡♤

kokichi oma does not like phone calls. or texting, even. he prefers irl interactions. so when you call him he always makes sure to answer with an audible sigh. dramatized, of course. and truthfully, even though you're the only one he can stand calling, it still tanks his social battery.

you, on the other hand, love calling your boyfriend. at the end of a busy day, all you want is to hear his voice, and laugh at his silly antics. it's hard to tell whether his exaggerated moaning and groaning about being on the phone is real, because he has said before he doesn't like talking over the phone.

one time you had a particularly bad day. you spilled your favorite drink all over yourself, dropped your food on the kitchen floor, tripped and fell over. pretty much every tiny bad thing that can happen to a person happened to you that day. though they were little things, every inconvenience piled on top of your heart until it felt like it would collapse. at the end of the day when you'd fulfilled all your responsibilities, and could finally relax, you flopped over on your bed, phone in hand.

it rang three times before your boyfriend answered, and greeted you with the usual "y/nnnn, what do you want?? i was about to go to bedddd.."

any other day and you would disregard his whines, but this time his complaints only weighed heavier on your heart, and it might have well been your breaking point.

"kokichi!" you couldn't help raising your voice as the rage boiled over. "i had a really bad day, and all i wanted was to hear your voice! because..." your voice cracked, and before you knew it tears were spilling down your cheeks. you audibly hiccuped into the phone. "because hearing your voice makes me feel better! that's all i wanted. but if you don't want to talk then i'll go. good night."

you left him no chance to respond, and he was silent during your tirade. after jabbing the end call button, you tossed your phone across your bed and shoved your head into the pillow. the cushion muffled your cries and covered your ears, and because of that you almost couldn't hear the ringing from the other end of your bed.

"ugh, who is it..." hastily wiping your tears, you retrieve your phone, and gawk at the screen. the caller id shows that kokichi is calling you. kokichi, who has never dialed a number in his life, was calling you back. with a sniffle, you answered the call, and waited for him to speak.

"y/n, i'm sorry. i didn't know that phone calls were so important to you. although, if you wanted to hear me talk, you should have just said so. i guess i don't mind gracing you with the opportunity to listen to my perfect, angelic voice."

his apology might have turned egotistical, but you knew he genuinely cared. a chuckle escaped you, and you leaned back into your comfy bed.

"i really do love the sound of your voice, i could listen to it for hours. it's so soothing," you knew this would only inflate his self-image, but you had to let him know. soon enough, your muscles relaxed and you sank into your mattress.

"say less! how about i tell you about my day? i had the best idea for a prank, and actually pulled it off! my victim was keebo. god, he's so dumb i can't believe he fell for it!"

as you listened to him ramble, you felt your eyelids droop. your body was ready to get some sleep, and you figured kokichi wouldn't mind if you fell asleep during the call. he would probably be excited to get off.

"and so i pulled the string, and he chased after the dollar like a dog! what an idiot! apparently robots can't run really fast, so i ran away with the dollar. watching him slouch over in defeat and give up was gold. oh! i got it on video! i'll send it to you."

by the time he finished his story, you had already dozed off.

"y/n?" he called out. "y/n?" he was met with silence again. "oh, you're asleep." he lowered his voice into a whisper. "i guess i'll go to sleep too." those were the last words he said that night, before the both of you were asleep.

the next morning, when you awoke and grabbed your phone to look at the time, you realized that neither of you had ended the call, and were delighted to hear kokichi's low snoring on the other end.

your face heated up at the thought of kokichi left leaving the call going all night just for you, that he was so vulnerable to sleep next to the phone with you. you didn't want it to end, so you put the phone down and closed your eyes, listening to his steady breathing.

all-night phone calls became a frequent occurrence between the two of you after that.

♤♡♤♡♤♡♤♡♤♡♤♡♤♡♤♡♤♡♤♡♤♡

kokichiiiibffmmnmlsdffmf

-mod kyoko

[spinnysocks]

It's not Halloween I know, but what do the Outlanders do during the holiday in your human AU? Forgive me on that last question I sent to you btw.

i'm very sorry for not answering your previous ask in time (asking about what the outlanders do leading up to spooky month), but good question! :D

jasiri will not rest until EVERYTHING is decorated. just like christmas and birthdays, she goes all out. though, halloween is kinda special because a lot of the outlanders are seen/used to be seen as scary so, i imagine it might be a favourite out of the holidays. they like to embrace being ‘scary’ sometimes

she hosts a halloween party at her place and oh my god the outfits. THE OUTFITS /vpos. i think i'd have to make an entirely separate post on who would wear what. maybe on halloween i will. i'd love any suggestions or thoughts :]]

let's cut to the chase — TRICK OR TREATING!!! i usually think about the outlanders in the same apartment block (different apartments for the different groups/species y'know) so i'm just imagining the kids knocking on everyone's doors for sweets 🥹 wema and tunu get so excited when they're getting greeted by everyone, meanwhile dogo and kijana take a handful of sweets & run and love it when there's tricks involved. for obvious reasons

the idiots probably trick or treat too. let them have fun!!! i'm just imagining them being all happy knocking on doors meanwhile janja/reirei/kiburi are supervising them lmao. or maybe janja joins the trick or treating too with chungu and cheezi's persuasion

“who invented this holiday” asks everyone exasperatedly because halloween is MADE for the skinks. so so so many tricks and pranks take place. there is no escape /silly

HALLOWEEN ACTIVITIES!!! tamka and goigoi love doing apple bobbing, reirei is the best at it :] i don't know many other halloween activities I Am Sorry

toffee apples. that's the entire bullet point. toffee apples are good

at the end of the party they do horror stories. that goes about as well as you'd expect (the hyenas are clinging to each other for dear life, sumu is ominously questioning how someone in a story could die that quick, goigoi is snoring, jasiri is covering wema and tunu's ears, the skinks are laughing when someone in the story dies, etc!)

mzingo only enjoys this holiday for the rise in “good books” to read (he likes murder mysteries) and morbid decorations (although plastic)

dunno if this is a tradition worldwide but where i live there's fireworks on halloween. so at the end of the night there's a nice wholesome firework show to watch :)

oh my god i genuinely forgot about PUMPKINS. they definitely do pumpkin carvings. some of the carvings are definitely inappropriate or at least very messy hfgdj. at least they tried lmao

thank you for asking!! i did human au ideas for christmastime last year so this feels nice to do ^w^

[yourlocalartsonist]

ROTTMNT Moths Fly In Packs - Chapter Nine

HOLY MOTHERFUCKING SHIT I'M ALIVE AND I AM SO SORRY! It's been way too long and I'm genuinely sorry this chapter took several fucking months to make but IT'S FINALLY DONE! It ended up way longer than I intended man, I THOUGHT THIS WAS GONNA BE SHORT. It's my longest chapter yet fun fact. I don't even regret it really, it benefited so much from the extra effort. Hopefully the next few chapters won't take this long but I will refrain from jinxing myself again so🧍‍♀️Anyway enough blabbering, hope y'all enjoy this one ;w;

CREDIT To the MFIP Team: Thank you to @yosajaeofficial, @urlocalmj, misfortun3_ismyname (on TikTok), @chaoticspeedrun, @ramblehour and @goldanrabbit for being my lovely editors! MAN did they give this chapter a lot of polish-

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter | Chapter One

Disclaimer: Chapter involves verbal abuse/manipulation, harassment, gaslighting, depressive thoughts, violence, blood, mentions of a wounded limb, brief mentions of nausea, displayed anxiety, and curse words. If you're sensitive to that, scroll past and stay safe!

I rushed around my room throwing shit on as fast as I could. Not fast enough apparently, since my phone’s vibrating like it’s gonna explode.

It’s late as hell right now, but Zane insisted on meeting up. Pretty randomly at, like, 11pm on a school night. I was initially planning to reject the idea or ghost with the excuse of sleeping, but it’s been a good while since I actually did hang out with him. I know insomnia’s gonna keep me up for a bit anyway, so why the hell not? We might even have fun! Just wish he’d stop flooding my notifs like I didn't already say I was actively getting ready.

I looked in the mirror, checking to see if I was presentable enough for the outside realm. My reflection’s the same as always; for better or worse. Still the same pink dress, same green skirt, same  boots. Can’t forget the gold earrings; the only emergency asset I held onto. I don’t know what I expected. I don’t have much to work with. Guess the gloves from Donnie are new, at least. But I’m still getting… bored? A change in appearance—even a small one—might be able to fill that hole for a while. Keep me distracted.

Maybe I could do something with my hair tonight? I still have Mi’s ribbon lying here somewhere.

I ignored Zane’s digital pestering and spent a few extra minutes shuffling through drawers and boxes, eventually finding her long, white ribbon—handmade from moth silk. She wore it all the time. I barely remember her hair being fully down unless she was sleeping or about to shower. Except for that one night, of course. The night she left and was never found again. She almost did take the ribbon with her. Had her hair done up in a bun and everything, even a little fancier than usual. But she took it off once she saw me behind her, barely reflected in the mirror. She crouched down, placed it in my tiny palms, and gave me her wonderfully warm smile. It’s the last thing she left me with. The last gift she could ever give me. 

After that, the ribbon’s survived years of storage and then more years of… unconventional bullshit use. I know moth silk ain’t the weakest thing on Earth but I’ve deadass used this ribbon as a make-shift pulley system to sneak stuff into my room through the window before, some of which weighed more than me! Its got the endurance of a Nokia at this point. 

I’ve barely used the ribbon for its intended purpose, though. I mean, how could I? I’m not my mom no matter how similar we look. Maybe this is a me-thing, but I always felt wearing the ribbon would be like replacing her with myself. 

Although, I’m sure Mi would’ve loved it if I wore it. 

Using the ribbon, I tied my hair into a ponytail and styled it as a loose bow, just to see how it would look. The white tails gently draped over my back down to my hips. I never quite realized how long the ribbon was before now. I don’t look as fancy or pretty as mom did, but it’s the best I’ve got. It… it doesn’t look bad, though, I think. It actually looks kinda nice! Maybe I’ll use it a bit more often. 

My phone’s repeated buzzing snapped me out from my trance. “Alright, alright, shut up already.” I groaned. Zane’s growing impatient.

You: hey sorry I jsut finished getting ready

You: heading out the door now! :3 

Fuck doors. Sneaking out became a whole lot easier ever since I did it from my window, but he doesn’t have to know that. I can already imagine him scolding me about the dangers of dropping down from high places, even with the fire escape there. He wouldn’t be wrong, per se, but at this point I’ve handled worse. Would probably send him into cardiac arrest if he knew what I’d actually been up to these few months.

I sprinted to the spot we agreed to meet up at. Zane was already there, leaning against the wall with his hands stuffed in his pockets like always. 

“Salena! Hey!” He lit up like a star when he saw me, beckoning me over.

God, for a sour person, he has such a sweet smile. He’s usually so good at being intimidating and frightening. Yet the second he brings out his smile, all that built-up fear washes away like it was never there to begin with. 

“I almost thought you wouldn’t come.”

“Well, I figured I could use some fresh air.” I tilted my head to the side, eyeing his fit. “You left your sweater at home?”

“Hm?” He followed my gaze to his pitch black tank top in place of the usual outfit. “Oh, right! Yeah, the weather’s too hot for a sweater tonight. Forgot I changed it, really.”

Now that I’m looking closer, his choker’s missing too. It probably didn’t match with the top. Seems like it got swapped with a black watch on his left wrist that complimented the look way more. Doesn’t matter what he pretends to be though, I know Zane pays very close attention to his appearance. He’s gotta maintain the rep of our grade’s “Pretty Boy” after all. When it comes to him, every little detail matters.

Wait a sec…

“What happened to your arm?”

I couldn’t see ‘till he turned towards me but his left arm had a deep bluish-purple bruise spread across it. It looked like it was from something long like a pipe or a bat. Either way, it was gnarly enough to worry me. 

“Oh that. It’s nothing too bad.” He shrugged.

“You kiddin’ me? It looks awful! What happened?” I carefully grabbed his arm and took a closer look at the mark. I wish Leo was here, but thankfully I’ve picked up a little medic knowledge from him so I can at least tell if a bone is broken or not.

“Hey, don’t get your feathers all fluffed! I got a little hurt rough-housing with the guys, that’s all. You know how they are.”

“Rough-housing? Or a secret murder attempt?” I was only being half sarcastic. It wouldn’t be out of character for them.

“Don’t worry! It’s really sweet of you to care, but they’d never dare hurt me on purpose! Now, on another note…“ He paused for a moment, taking a proper look at me. For a little bit, I couldn’t tell why he smirked. “Looks like someone wanted to look cute tonight, ey? You wore your hair up.”

“Huh?” I touched my hair, forgetting I changed it earlier. “Oh, um, yeah! I-I did! I thought I’d give it a try. Does it… um, you know, look too bad or weird or?…”

“No! No, it… it looks really pretty.” Oh god, that’s a relief to hear! I was so paranoid it wouldn’t suit— “I gotta ask, though.”

I caught him inching closer. I tried creating space, but quickly realized I was up against the wall again. Should’ve been more careful about that. His hand reached out, bringing back all sorts of cringe-inducing memories. He didn’t technically pin me like last time, but he tucked my bangs back behind my ear. Feeling his fingers come into contact with my skin almost feels just as nauseating, though. 

“How’d you know I had a thing for girls in ponytails?”

And fuck, he made it weird again.

“Z-Zane?”

“Yeah?…” WHY ISN’T HE GETTING THE HINT!? “You know, you always look so soft when you dress up. You just bloom.”

“…So! What are we doing tonight?” 

His smile slightly dropped, likely upset I ruined whatever moment he was trying to have. Honestly, didn’t matter to me, as shitty as that sounds. I just wanted to change the topic so he’d step back a bit. We go through this every time; this stupid ass, awkward aura. I wish it would stop happening. 

On the bright side, he did step back and redirect his focus to answering my question. On the not so bright side, his answer was a pathetic shrug.

“I don’t know.”

“Y-you… What do you mean you don’t know? I snuck out here in the middle of the night, you told me it’d be something special! You’ve gotta have something planned.”

“Honest, I don’t! I thought it was beautiful outside and it reminded me of you. Wanted to see where such a lovely night could take us. I think that’s special enough, don’t you?”

“W-Well, I mean—“

He chuckled “What’s wrong? You’re not backing out now, are you?” 

I may have praised his smile earlier, but right now it’s making my eye twitch. I’m a little peeved knowing he brought me out here for shits and giggles when I could’ve at least been resting in bed, replenishing some of my energy. I know I don’t have the best sleeping habits, but that doesn’t mean I can’t get tired from the constant action going on! I don’t even know how long he’s gonna keep me hostage for! But… he’s also right that it’d be kinda shitty to bail now. Besides, I’m already out here so…

I guess all that’s left to do is suck it up and try to make the best of it. 

“Well, do you wanna… go for a walk or something?”

“Sounds perfect to me! Come on, hold my hand, Dove.”

For someone who supposedly didn’t have a plan, he sure took an awful lot of charge during that walk. He suggested we go to Central Park and practically dragged me there despite my common sense screaming to never go to that hellspawn at night. Although, I can’t complain too much. The park’s definitely the best place to see the stars, and tonight had clear skies! He made sure to keep a tight grip on me in case we ran into any classic New York weirdos anyway, so I should probably be less tense. I guess I got used to the guaranteed safety of having literal ninjas around me, I forgot what it was like hanging out with a regular person. 

On top of that, Zane seemed really happy! Happier than I’ve seen him in a while, actually. He was giddily pointing out any interesting greenery we saw and rambling random facts he knew about them. 

Even later, when we went and dined inside a relatively fancy restaurant, all he could focus on was the different plants they chose as decor. He’s such a huge nature geek, but he’d never let anyone know. Zane’s the type of guy to get 100% on a biology test and shamefully shove it in his backpack to avoid being labeled as a nerd. Being a nerd myself, I think it’s pretty cool, so I never understood it. But either way, I’m glad he feels safe around me. I’m glad he doesn’t hide around me.

I forgot about this side of him, I really did. The side that is my friend.

We were walking back to my place, taking in the bliss of the quiet night. Even if a part of me prefers the busier, noisy parts of the city, it’s really soothing to experience the calmer sides of it too. Everything about tonight feels nearly perfect. I’m surprised nothing ruined it. I’m debating if I could ruin it…

I really want to talk to him. I wanna bring up those photos, get some answers, put my strange emotions to rest once and for all. I wanna hear it from him that neither of them meant to hurt me. That this was just my mind screwing me over again. I need to know. I really need to know. 

You know, friends are supposed to lend a shoulder when you need it.

I don’t want to ruin the night. But friendship takes risks sometimes. That’s what shows its strength, right?

I take a deep breath and go for the leap of faith.

“So, I was wondering—” “Salena, I wanted to ask—” 

I really gotta work on my timing for these things.

“S-Sorry! You go first.”

He shook his head with a delicate smile. “Nah, it’s okay. You can go.”

“Are you sure? I-I mean it’s kinda complicated…”

“Yeah, I’m sure! I always love hearing you talk, anyway.” 

“O-okay then, well…” My hands balled up into determined fists and I looked him right in the eyes. I have to put an end to this or I’ll never be able to move on. “I’ll be real, it might be a weird question.But you’re my friend and I really trust you a lot. I… I have to know this, so please don’t get mad.”

“Yeah…?” Why did he have to lean in closer…

I came this far, I’m not letting my tongue shut me up again. 

“What’s going on with you and Jaiden?”

Immediately his demeanor changed. His posture slouched, the disappointment clear as day on his face. “Jaiden? You’re—you’re really thinking about… about them, now?” 

“Yes, b-but I want to stop! That’s why I need to ask you this, so please bear with me, Zane.”

He leaned back with a hand on his hip, the other covering his face as he exhaled. “And here I was getting my hopes up for nothing.”

He would never think that I heard him; Zane’s a good whisperer. Unfortunately, my hearing rivals it.

He looked at me again; his eyes didn’t feel the same. “Okay, fine. What is it?”

I felt my stomach twist into itself. My chest began to ache. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I was about to hurl.

It’s okay. Friends get a little upset at each other all the time. Doesn’t mean they’ll break apart. Don’t be a coward, Salena. 

I told him about everything. The canceled plans, Jaiden’s distant behavior, the increase in their pics together on his Instagram. I vented about how frustrated I felt with seeing them spend so much time together and then completely ignore me. And then vented some more about how frustrated I felt from that frustration, how I knew it was wrong yet couldn’t help it seeping into my everyday life! I let out a lot of steam tonight, even things I didn’t plan on telling him. The only things I left out, honestly, were anything related to the turtles to hide their identity. And to avoid any irrelevant questions.

He seemed strangely chipper hearing all of this, a curiously amused smirk plastered on his face. Not the reaction I expected, but I guess it’s better than him flipping out like I thought he would. 

“So, if I’m getting this right, you see me and Jaiden hanging out more often and it actually bothers you?”

“I don’t want it to but yeah, it bothers me a whole fucking lot. It’s taken over my life and I hate it! I hate being jealous! It’s so—“ 

“You’re jealous!? You’re jealous! Oh man, I can’t believe I am living in the same timeline where the Salena Moni is experiencing jealousy like every. Average. Lowlife. Person!” 

“Yeah, yeah, go ahead and rub it in, why dontcha? That helps me so much.” I pouted.

He laughed, enjoying my misery. “I know, I’m sorry. Just, damn! Somewhere, pigs are flying aren’t they?” If Meat Sweats could fly, I’d be his murderous Cupid.

“Har har. I get it though. I mean, you know me! I’ve felt envious before, but jealous? How does anyone even deal with this…?” I held myself a little tighter.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, Dove. It happens! Everyone gets a little jealous. It’s a normal thing to go through, Salena.”

“Yeah, I sure did want a normal life, so I guess I got what I wished for.” I can’t help feeling salty over all this. 

He only laughed and patted my hair, fluffing up the ponytail a little. 

“Hey, Zane? For the sake of my psyche, you sure I’m not a bad person for this?”

A tender sigh rang through my ears. “I’m sure. You could never be a bad person, Salena.” 

…I never realized a husky voice like his could feel so honeyed.

But he’s right. I’m not a bad person, I’m just human. If both him and Raph said the same thing, it’s more likely to be true.

“And for the record, Jaiden and I are just friends right now. There’s nothing going on between us, so you don’t have to worry.”

“Uh… Cool? I… might be a little lost here. Why are you telling me that?”

“Reassurance, obviously.”

I blinked, not really getting it or knowing how to respond. He thought for a moment, then had a face of realization while he giggled.

“Oh my god, don’t tell me you’re actually that innocent! You’re so cute, I swear!” He booped my nose and leaned in again with a huge smile. He lowered his voice almost to a whisper. “You’re jealous because you have a crush.” 

A crush?

“But why would I have a crush on Jaiden?” 

“I’m just saying—Wait, rewind. A crush on Jaiden?” He physically paused for a bit before awkwardly laughing. “No, sweetie, you don’t get jealous of your crush, you get jealous of the people they’re with!”

“That’s why I’m asking. Why would I have a crush on Jaiden?”

…Why does the air feel colder all of a sudden? 

The night was warm just a minute ago, but now it’s dead like the core of winter. His smile is long gone. His eyes, they’re slicing me in half. Is my breathing a little faster? He’s coming closer. I’m suddenly aware of just how alone we really are here in this silent little street. 

“To be clear. Who are you jealous of.”

My throat clogged up. I blinked and lowered my eyes so he wouldn’t see the tears being fought back. I forgot this side of him, too. The side that made my heart close in on itself.

“Salena, don’t make me ask twice.”

“Of you.” I managed to let out. “J-jealous of you.”

He wouldn’t speak for a while. Only felt him staring me down like a predator stalking its prey, making me swallow to keep my throat from drying up. My hands felt so clammy, begging me to wipe them on my skirt. But I didn’t dare move. I couldn’t even look at him right now.

“Of fucking course you are.”

I knew it was coming, but I still flinched when he cursed with no shame, tugging his hair and punching the wall next to me. It’s stupid, isn’t it? I can handle giant mutants and a literal cult of evil, but Zane’s temper was not something to be messed with, and my unlucky ass did exactly that.

“Why did I ever expect anything different! Of course it’s me you’re jealous of! Why the fuck would you phrase it like that if you meant something else, god dammit!”

You’re gonna bleed if you keep doing that…

“Z-Zane, I’m sorry. I-I didn’t think it’d come off as me being jealous of Jaiden—“

“OBVIOUSLY, IT FUCKING WOULD!!!” He grabbed my shoulders, bringing me closer to him. I don’t know if it’d be an exaggeration to say I nearly got a panic attack from the action alone. 

“When you say things like how you’re jealous of how much time Jaiden and I spend together, of course I think you’re jealous of them, not me! Why would I ever assume it was me! That never happens with anyone else! God, you’re such a fucking moron sometimes, I swear!” 

“I'm sorry… P-please stop…”

“After everything we’ve fucking been through, everything I did for you! All you can ever do is somehow relate me back to Jaiden! There’s always someone else! I mean nothing to you, Salena! Don’t I!? I! Mean! Nothing!”

“I-I didn’t mean to, I promise—”

“THAT DOESN’T MATTER, IDIOT!”

He let go and pushed me back. Sometimes I overlook how much bigger Zane is compared to me. This is not one of those times. 

“You know what? You know what’s funny, Salena? That night you’re so fucking fixated on, the one that’s consumed your ability to even think like a normal person? Yeah, I’ve got some news about that night.” 

I just want to disappear…

“I asked Jaiden to go with me to that shitty party on purpose!”

…

What?

“I asked them on purpose, I posted those pictures on purpose! I did everything ‘cause I knew you’d see it! I thought maybe then, for once, you’d finally, finally feel a single ounce of longing for me! That was all I wanted!”

What.

“…You better be lying, Zane.”

“I’m not. And you deserve this.”

I glared at him the entire time while he was too focused on his own bullshit words to even notice. My arms burned with the sensation of my nails digging deeper and deeper. I hope they'll draw blood.

“You don’t understand, Salena! You keep saying all these… all these stupid fucking things that no one else says to me! Do you know what it does to me? If I had my way, I’d hold you forever and never let you go. No one’s shown me kindness like you.”  I was so numb I couldn’t even react to him caressing my cheek. Only kept glaring. 

“But then you barely ever give me the time of day! You’re barely ever with me! Fuck, honestly, you’re never with me anymore! I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s not like you to say one thing and do another! You’re not that type of two-faced asshole! So why are you fucking acting like one!? Ever since that day you went to ‘hang out’ with that stupid drugged-out bitch you called a friend, you’ve never been the fucking same! With the way you act, I wouldn’t be fucking surprised if you got addicted and stay on the high 24/7!”

He’s… Is he talking about Mikey? That’s what this is about? Is he fucking serious right now.

“Who are you!? Where is my Salena?” 

“Did you know Jaiden and I had plans that day?”

“No, I didn’t. I’m not stupid, I wasn’t gonna go that far. I wanted you to get a taste of what it felt to not be chosen, that’s it! Obviously, it was dumb to think it would work!” The dumb bitch sighed, exasperated. As if he had any right to be. “Seems you don’t have room for me in that big heart of yours after all, huh? Maybe I’m a dick for saying this, but it’s honestly karma that I happened to choose the one day you two were gonna hang out. That’s gotta be a sign, Salena.”

You never get the fucking hint, do you Zane Evans?

“I need to go.”

I couldn’t even get two steps in before he gripped my wrist to stop me.

“Wait, what do you mean go? Go where?”

“I meant exactly what I said! I’ve had enough. Now let go of me.”

I yanked my arm back and stormed off, Zane following close behind. At least, judging from the sound he was. I didn’t bother looking back. 

“Hey! Your place is in the opposite direction!”

“Stop following me, I can go wherever I want!”

“Salena, seriously!? It’s already late, you’re gonna get lost! Come on, are you really that pissed off—”

“YES!!!”

I turned my heel and faced him.

“How are you even unsure of that!? You got upset I hung out with someone else for one day—a person I made plans with in advance, might I add—and you decided to take revenge on me!? Do you have any clue how fucked up that is!?”

“I got a little mad! So what? You’ve known me for two years! Stop overreacting about a harmless dig!”

“Harmless!? You have no idea what I’ve gone through this past month because of your little ‘harmless’ stunt! I’ve suffered so much because of you! I can’t even sleep because of you! God, sometimes you’re so—Ugh!”

I began counting down from ten to one, just like Raph taught. I shouldn’t say something I’ll regret later. Honestly, I shouldn’t have said anything at all.

He looked like a sad puppy. It’s clear he wasn’t expecting this. But somehow, my sympathy won’t halt my anger tonight.

“Salena, I… Look, I didn’t know you’d be so sensitive over this—“

“Zane, I really need to leave. I’m sorry I exploded like that, but it’s gonna happen again if I stay here any longer. So please, just stop following me. Hurting you would add more shit to my plate and I really don’t need that right now, okay?” 

“N-no! Stay! I can make it up to you!”

“Another day, any day, but not now! Not now.”

I walked away and this time he didn’t follow. 

“…Fine.”

I heard his footsteps stomp in the other direction, slowly fading away.

My own legs went faster till the wind consumed me. 

The anger returned almost instantly after I knew he left. I’m happy I kept my cool during the end back there but holy fucking shit! What was he thinking!? I wanted answers tonight but I didn’t expect this! I thought I was overthinking again! I thought my brain made up the possibility that they ditched me intentionally! But no, turns out it wasn’t just Jaiden but Zane, too! What the fuck did I do to them? What did he mean I “deserved it”!? 

I don’t get it, what is he expecting me to do? I know he… feels a certain way about me. But even then! I can’t just shit romantic feelings for him out my ass! 

Ugh, so fucking stupid. I’m gonna lose my head if I keep thinking about this.

I wandered around the city some more and got back to the main road where a good handful of cars were passing again. It’s past 1am now and I’ve gotta get ready for school in less than five hours. But I know damn well I won’t sleep, not after this. I don’t wanna go home. Take me anywhere but home. I don’t feel like facing any of this right now, I…

I want somewhere I can feel safe for a while, just so the day won’t end on such a horrible note.

I pulled out my phone and opened the contacts. I wish I was one of those folks who didn’t have to think of someone before they dialed but alas, here I am. 

I can’t talk to Jaiden. 

I obviously can’t talk to Zane.

I don’t know if I can tell Casey any of this yet.

I’d love to talk to April but she’s probably asleep by now. But… but the guys might not be! They’re usually up at these sort of freakish hours of the night. I could try giving the group chat a call and hope for the best. I feel bad for bothering them so often but who else do I have right now?

It took three rings before the line went through.

“You are conversing with Donatell—Why is your screen so dark?” 

Oh fucking lovely.

“H-hey, Donnie. Sorry, I didn’t realize it was a video call.”

As my luck would have it, Donnie was the one to pick up. No offense to him; he never did anything wrong. I’m just not entirely sure how he feels about me yet. So, having him answer when I’m already high on nerves isn’t what I pictured hoping for the best would result in. But he’s much, much better than being alone right now.

“Uh, what… Whatcha up to?”

“Oh, simply being my usual genius self to aid with our nightly hero duties! Sure, no regular teenager could detect a break-in on sensitive confidential info before the actual government could, but I, Othello Von Ryan, have proven to be no regular teen!” 

“Yep, definitely the usual for you.” 

Donnie’s def no less than Leo when it comes to being allergic to humility. Though, they both earned their egos. Donnie’s not wrong; not just any person could be nearly as smart as him.

“So, did you need anything fixed? You’re calling at a rather unusual hour for a school night.” 

“Oh, no, not really. I mean, I was kinda out with a friend, but things… ended abruptly. I don’t really feel like sleeping right now. I wanted some company?” 

He opened his mouth to respond but got interrupted by a familiar accent asking who was on the phone. The instant my name left his voice, three others repeated it with joy. My screen suddenly overflowed with four green goofballs all trying to fit in the camera’s scope at once.

“SALENA! How are you? How come you’re not asleep? Don’t you have school tomorrow?”

“Mikey, it’s Salena, it’s way too early for them to sleep.”

“Wow, Leo, anyone ever tell you how funny you are?” My words didn’t match my tone. I wonder why.

“Leo, let ‘er breathe!” The camera shook as a red bandana came into frame. “Hey, but for real. Why you up so late, Salena? Somethin’ up?”

“Nah, just couldn’t sleep! I thought I’d call you guys for a bit, but from the sounds of it, y’all seem kinda busy.” 

The camera moved again as the device got transferred to the next turtle. “Give me my—Ugh, there we go. And yes, you’re correct. We are actually busy with a mission tonight.” 

I tried keeping my smile intact as I understandingly nodded my head. Is he mad at me for assuming they were free the exact moment I needed them to be? I mean, I’d be mad at me, so it’d make sense.

“Hey, but you know what?” Leo leaned next to Donnie, trying to see the screen. “You should totally join us! Tag along, have some fun, we’d all love that!”

You would?

“What? Nardo, what are you—“

“OMIGOSH, YEAH!” Mikey jumped in, knocking Donnie out of frame entirely. “If you’re not gonna sleep, we should totally hang out! I really miss you, Salena!” 

“Uh, am I really the only one thinking it would be a bad idea to let the person who barely leaves their house join us on a mission to a highly-secured and regulated government facility?”

“Chillax, Don, she’ll be fine! You’ll be fine, right Salena?”

“I mean, uh—” 

“See? What’d I tell ya, totally fine!” 

“Raph agrees! Salena can handle herself.” 

“Oh sure, I’m absolutely positive nothing could go wrong! He said without a trace of doubt.”

…I can’t tell if he’s trying to protect me or just doesn’t want me there. Neither option feels good right now, to be honest.

“C’mon, Dee, we’ve all seen her fight before! Including you, remember? When they helped us stop Meat Sweats?”

 Mikey’s got a point. That was before I had any real battle experience, too! I don’t know why Donnie seems so hesitant about this. Or why it’s making me so pissy, actually.

Another car passed by and I lowered the volume a bit, remembering the time. Now that I’m actually near some apartments, I don’t wanna accidentally wake someone up. I really gotta save up for some new earbuds; my last ones broke like, a month ago and I can only make do for so long.

“Three to one, hermano. You’re outnumbered.”

“But—Sigh, forget it! Salena, I—“

“‘NOUGH SMALL TALK!” At this point, they’re just playing hot potato with Donnie’s phone. “Salena, hurry up! We’re boutta start the mission so don’t want ya missin’ out!”

“Ha! Almost made a pun!”

“Shut up, Leo. Anyways, we’re at uh… Uh… Hey, Donnie, where we at?” 

I could hear him struggling for his phone in the distance. “You could just send our coordinates!”

“I could send her our coordinates! …How does Raph do that, again?”

The audio muffled as the phone shuffled back to its rightful owner. “God, I’m so gonna install security on this thing. Anyway, I’m sending our location to you right now. And as I was GOING TO SAY BEFORE! Salena, I look forward to seeing you again.”

He flashed a smile and part of my worries vanished. I’m still not sure how to read him but if he’s being nice, it can’t be all bad, right?

“OH, AND IF YA CAN, COULD YOU BRING ME A SNACK—“ Donnie hung up before the teddy bear could finish.

Luckily for him, his face beamed when I finally arrived around twenty minutes later and did, in fact, bring him a snack. 

“Hey guys! Hope I didn’t take—“

I couldn’t even finish speaking before finding myself laughing on the floor with four giant turtles hounding me in hugs. 

“It has been way too long since we’ve hugged!” Poor Mikey, I haven’t been able to see him in a hot minute. “Nice ponytail, by the way. Really makes your eyes pop.”

“Aww, thanks! I missed you guys too. Ugh, I really wish scheduling was easier! I’d hang out more often.” 

“Dude, why waste time on schedules when you could just come over?”

“‘Xactly! Ain’t like you’re not welcome!”

“Oh. I-I mean, sure! If you guys really don’t have a problem with it…” I wonder if this is what it’s like to feel wanted.

“I just wanted you to get a taste of what it felt to not be chosen!”

…T-then again, they’re probably just being polite.

Click!

“And fits perfectly, just as the estimations foretold!” The fuck? 

I looked down and saw a shiny black belt matching the arm wraps now resting above my hips. It’s actually fairly loose around my waist but I’m guessing that was the intention. There’s a giant pink button on the left with the same M-shaped logo as all of theirs. It looked super cool, honestly! Even seemed to match with my outfit!

“Woaaah, what is this thing?”

“Donnie. Really?” Leo didn’t sound impressed and neither did the others but, like, who cares! The belt’s dope as hell!

He ignored them and continued addressing me. “It basically functions both as your very own panic button and is a carrier for your sickles thanks to a highly specific magnetic attraction! Plus, it obviously helps tie in your outfit better ‘cause Great Galileo did you need some accessories.”

“Damn, I didn’t know my sickles were magnetic!”

“Oh, they weren’t before, I installed magnets in them last night.” With that, he pulled my fucking weapons seemingly out of his ass. Judging by everyone else’s groans though, I’m the only one who’s surprised and confused.

“Donald! What did we say about breaking into strangers’ homes!” 

“Hey, I didn’t break in!… to a stranger’s home! I broke into Salena’s, Salena is not a stranger—OW, HEY!” Raph slapped the back of his head. One quick yet dramatic recovery later, we all began our route of sneaking into the building. 

Security wasn’t monitoring the higher floors, so we only had to ninja our way up ‘till there and the rest was easy peasy. I tried focusing on the quick briefing I was receiving on the way up but my mind was admittedly elsewhere. Back to the weird situation I thought I dreamt up last night.

I don’t remember much. I was too tired to really register anything, and Donnie being a ninja probably enhanced that. But I do remember still hearing faint footsteps in my room; drawers being opened, the closet getting browsed. I was so out of it I figured I probably hallucinated everything. Either way, I was way too paralyzed to do anything; I couldn’t even put my phone back earlier. Kept passing in and out of consciousness. But it seemed like someone put it back for me. They helped my sloppy body into a position that wouldn’t leave me aching the next morning and pulled the covers up to tuck me in. What really sealed the whole dream theory to me was the metallic-textured “hand” that patted my head before they left and let the world return to tranquility.

I seriously did figure it was all a weird fever dream or some shit. Personally, I still feel like that’s more believable than it being Donnie all along. But staring down at my sickles, I guess I can’t really argue against the proof right in front of me. 

“Gentlemen, here we are! The Techno Cosmic Research Institute! Otherwise known as”—the door opened as I returned back to present time—“The TCRI.”

The moon illuminated the flat, revealing that we were in a main lobby of some sorts. Huge and spacious, decorated with different plants I’m sure Zane would’ve gone crazy over. 

…I shouldn’t think about him right now.

It was a huge and spacious lobby full of plants. The windows that were tinted from the outside now presented a full view of the city skyline. Doors were carved into the walls, transitioning to the other rooms. Some, like the several meeting rooms, were made with glass so I could vaguely make out the interior from here. Others were blocked by heavy, solid, metal doors, holding whatever secrets the government had behind them.

I felt strange setting foot in this place, like I wasn’t supposed to be here. Well, I guess we are breaking and entering, but it’s not that. It’s something else, something I can’t quite explain. Unrelated to the guys but personal to me. I feel I’m not wanted for a reason I’m not yet aware of. It’s freaking me out a little. 

“So, what do the Purple Dragons want with this place again?”

“Honestly, your guess is as good as mine. I only caught a break-in to the system in general and tracked it back to Kendra, I don’t have info on what they’re trying to gain access to. Whatever it is, though, it has an impressively tight security system that’s nearly impossible to break! At least, not through their simple B-tier remote hacking.”

“If the Purple Dragons want it, then it’s gotta be something major.” I’ve known about them for a while thanks to April. 

It kinda shocked me at first, not because a group of teens created a tech-smart gang but because April O’Neil was a loser to someone. Call me a little biased—and you’d be right—but I still think Kendra’s got rocks for brains if she ignores someone like April. 

But that’s a mental essay for another day. Right now, Leo’s smirking. And if Leo’s smirking, things will either go amazingly well or horrifically wrong. 

“So… If we’re already here, why don’t we just figure out what they want ourselves?”

Mikey propped his chin up on Leo’s shoulder. “You mean like, go and explore? Sounds rad to me!”

“Yeah! Sneak around, let Donnie do his nerdy smart people stuff and see what’s so great about this place, yeah?” 

“Invade the privacy of our nation’s government and scavenge for confidential data!? Nardo, I love you!”

“Raph? Your call, buddy.”

He was shockingly quick to shrug. “Sure! Raph don’t see a problem with it. Sounds hella fun to me!”

“Uh, guys?” I raised my hand. “Isn’t this, like, highly illegal?” 

“And?” They all said in unison. To be fair, legal doesn’t sound like them anyway. 

“What are they gonna do? Arrest us?” His hand circled in front of his blue bandana.

“And don’t worry, you won’t get in trouble for anything that happens! Donnie can get rid of the evidence and no one will know you were here, right Dee?” Mikey shot a wink at Donnie.

“Affirmative!” 

Dang, Mikey’s made a lot of good points tonight. 

“Eh, you’re right. To hell with laws!” Passing up an opportunity to explore a space institution would be laughably unlike me, anyway! 

We decided to split up and meet back at the main lobby in fifteen, assuming the Purple Dragons hadn't arrived by then. It’s kind of scary wandering on my own in this place. It still feels off to me, but at the same time, I’ve always wanted so desperately to walk through a facility like this. Fascinating space research, meeting after meeting to discuss whatever new breakthrough was made, access to a shit ton of databases and technologies I’ll never have the chance to use at home!? Everything about this place is perfect! It’s all I dreamed it to be. 

So why won’t that damn feeling go away?

Whatever, it’s probably just tonight in general. I really, really, need to get over it and move on already or else I’m guaranteed to fuck up the whole mission.

I sighed and glanced down at my arm wraps, raising them to get a better look. Despite my flip-floppy mood, I couldn’t help but smile. It’s dorky but they do comfort me every now and then. They felt nice to wear and even looking at them made me all fuzzy and nostalgic. They feel like an older me even though I got them recently. 

“I take it you liked them, then.” 

His voice startled me, I thought everyone went their own ways but I guess Donnie was nearby. 

“Yeah, I do! The belt, too, they’re really cool gifts! Thank you.” He lit up when he heard those magic words. Man, I can’t believe I forgot to thank him sooner. Poor guy was probably aching for some feedback.

“I-I actually always wondered how you made them. They feel really sturdy but like, it’s not heavy to wear, either, if that makes sense.”

“Oh yeah, totally!” He typed on the screen on his arm, booting up the scanning feature to make sure we didn’t miss anything. “It’s an intentional design choice. They are supposed to act as armor, so.”

“Woah, cool! Do they count as tactical gear? As in military grade and all that jazz?”

“What? No, that’s not even good quality, that’s just a buzzword. Military grade simply means they met the minimum stated requirements at the lowest unit price.”

“…”

“…Low budget, few money, lead to mid product, good enough for gullible minds and general public consumption.” 

Ohhhh. “So they lied.”

“As per usual. It’s shit engineering in actuality.”

I pushed open one of the meeting rooms’ glass doors as Donnie’s shell held up a bright torch. We began scouting the area for anything interesting while continuing our talk. All this investigative work’s reminding me of April and the way she’d gush about doing the same. Completely understanding the appeal now; it feels so thrilling snooping around somewhere you’re not supposed to be! Especially when the law’s involved.

The room wasn’t anything unordinary. It looked like any other corporate meeting room. The long table leading to the small TV on the wall, decorative paintings and plants, the usual. Man, we probably should’ve gone into a more interesting—“OW!”

“…Watch your step.” He said after I already fell to my knees.

“Thanks for the very useful warning. What even was that?”

He shined the light closer to a… metal? No, definitely not entirely metal. A robot arm sloppily plopped on the floor. We couldn’t see what the arm was attached to, if it was attached to anything at all. It’s too long to trace back with the torch light from where we are. One thing’s for sure, though: It’s giant. The claw I tripped over is practically the same size as my head. 

“Hmm…” He crouched closer to the arm, slowly inspecting it. “Weird. It looks like it’s made of some cheap plastic. Perhaps a prototype of some sorts.”

“I don’t think they’d make it this big if it was a prototype.” Maybe we could do a test to see what type of plastic it is. “You got any fire?”

“While I see your angle and would love to carry through that experiment, it’s probably not wise to burn something we don’t know the purpose of. Or, you know, alert the security of our presence from the alarms.”

“Yeah, fair…” Man, would’ve been hella fun, though. 

We both stayed on the floor, a little stumped on what the hell this thing was. My eyes got bored after a while and wandered around the room again. The only interesting thing in here was this weird ass plastic arm, it’s pretty much useless looking around the room but it did keep me entertained. There were five plants in this room which explains the fresh smell, all of them were basic enough for me to recognize. Two zebra plants, a ponytail palm, and…

I ignored the plant on the table when I spotted something thin underneath it, hidden by the shadows. I think it’s a slip of paper?

Donnie’s sigh brought my attention back. “You know what, I’m gonna go to their computer lab to see if one of their databases has anything about this thing.”

“Aight, I’ll stay back and keep exploring. Good luck!”

Right as he left, I sped over to the mysterious paper, unable to contain my curiosity any longer. The table was tall enough for me to comfortably sit under, leaning over the paper on the floor to read it. It’s, coincidentally enough, about that puzzling arm. The incomplete text made it clear it was probably part of a stack of paper or a file and fell out. Sadly, it didn’t reveal much but what I could get out of it was that it’s an automated arm controlled by an AI system, mostly covered with polypropylene plastic. Heh, PP plastic. Oh, it was created for the purpose of security. Well that’s just fantastic. I should go warn the boys about it.

I quickly snapped a pic of the loose sheet, almost getting out from under the table.

…But I’m glad as hell I didn’t.

I heard it. A soft, mechanical hum as something slithered off the ground. I grabbed my sickles from their belt, trying to minimize my shaking. It took a few blinks and tries but I managed to turn invisible, watching the machine move through the darkness. How was it suddenly on?

Its movements were smooth and natural. Too natural for something meant to be robotic. It’s so eerily graceful, slithering through the air. The arm swiveled its claw around like an animal head checking its surroundings. It… It’s looking where I am. It’s looking at me. It shouldn’t be able to see me, I’m not supposed to be visible! But it won’t stop staring.

”FUCK!” I shrieked when it lunged at me, quickly slicing it before it could grab me. Thank god it’s just plastic… Why the fuck is it hollow? 

That doesn’t make any sense! Shouldn’t there be wiring or something? Even if not to connect the AI, how the hell can it move like that without anything to mimic muscle!? 

I gasped, turning my head to the side. I can hear something else. It’s gooey and mushy and… 

It’s looping around the room.

It’s getting louder.

”W-what the hell?”

…I think I can see it now. Something solid but stretchy, resembling thick vines climbing up the plastic arm. I backed up, watching as it crawled over to the newly severed claw. It pulled the claw back to its other half and tightened around them. It glowed? A sickeningly blinding green color. Before I realized what was going on, the claw suddenly reattached as the vines slinked back into the darkness. 

It saw me again and the chase resumed. 

It’s so damn fast, I can barely outrun it! Dodging is saving my ass but it keeps knocking over any furniture I used against it! 

I jumped when I heard Donnie from the comms. Wait, he installed comms on my arm wraps? Damn, I'm so frazzled, I forgot about those.

“What’s making all that racket? Everything okay over there?”

”You can hear that!?”

”Yeah, I’m literally right next door?”

”Well—SHIT!” Too fucking close, too fucking close! It almost fucking grabbed me! Fuck, my knees hurt from that! “SON OF A—Don’t worry, I can handle it! I’ll explain soon!”

I tried getting off the floor as quickly as possible but the claw pulled me back down. The four sharp grippers opened up like a mouth and a fucking chainsaw came out. It went straight for my head, life flashing before my eyes as my sickles blocked it by pure reflex, holding it back. It won’t back off! I can’t keep pushing forever! How the hell do I get out of this!?

“FIBONACCI!” 

A spinning titanium blur whacked the arm back, grabbing its attention to the maniacally smiling turtle now dashing through the room. His arm reached out, grabbing his staff from mid-air, and chopped off the robot arm with a giant drill. I curled in on myself right before a bright, violet shield spread over me and kept the arm’s falling metal parts from landing on me.

“You know, that did not seem like ‘handling it’.” 

My vision cleared to his hand offering to help me up. I’m suddenly getting deja vu from the other countless times my helpless damsel-wannabe ass needed a rescue. Panicked and guilt-ridden, I waved it off and got up on my own. 

“We gotta get outta here right now!”

“What? Why? I already—”

The vines returned and began repeating their process of fixing the arm. Though this time, it seems to be going faster.

“Oh my banana pancakes! What is that!?”

“I don’t know but that’s why we’re leaving! Come on!”

I grabbed his hand and we ran out the room, running into the others in the main lobby.

”Leo! There’s—”

“Crazy killer robot arms, we know. Was just in the middle of talking about that, actually.” He gave a glance of disapproval to the pouting red giant next to Mikey. Who also looks hella annoyed. It would appear we’ve walked in on a teensy squabble. 

I heard Donnie sigh beside me “Raph, please tell me you didn’t.” He left my clueless ass standing there to join in on their talk.

Wait—Oh god, not again!

Turning around, I grabbed my sickles. I heard it again. Managed to dodge just in time for its jab to my right. It seems the guys are too busy to notice and I really don’t wanna burden them again. I’ll solo this one!

“When I said we should go explore, I didn’t mean go ‘round pushing things! We’re in a government building, why would you touch anything!?”

I heard another hit coming and blocked it with the blade. 

Yeah, I-I can totally take this! I should let them finish their conversation—Holy fuck, there’s more than one, fucking end my suffering already. 

”I didn’t mean to! You guys know I got a weak spot, what was I supposed to do? If they didn’t want Raph to push the big, red button, maybe they shouldn’t make it big ‘n red!” 

“Buddy, that’s not how that works and you know that.”

There’s three of them now and they’re so unreasonably fast! It’s so hard to keep up! Ugh, it almost feels like I am being punished after all. 

My accidental yelp luckily got drowned by Mikey’s groan. “Man, just let it go! We can smell your ‘I know I fucked up but don’t wanna admit it ‘cause I’m the big brother’ stench!”

”THAT’S A DIFFERENT STENCH!”

”AHH!” 

I really didn’t mean to blurt that out but the claw dug into my leg and yanked me off the ground! Guilt aside, it’s probably a good thing I caught their attention, especially since I dropped my sickles like a fucking moron!

“SALENA!” His sword slashed through the air but got promptly blocked and thrown back by another metal claw. A scary amount of them are showing up now! The guys are completely surrounded and I’m stuck useless, dangling in the air!

One of the arms came closer and opened its grippers, a scanner popping out this time, its red beam blinding my eyes. My breathing grew shallow, the commotion from below fading away. I’m getting lightheaded from being suspended upside down. I need to get out of this situation. But there’s nothing I can do. Just squint past the light and anxiously wait for its next move. 

My ears burned from the claw’s monstrous shriek. It sounds like a fucking animalistic version of nails on a chalkboard! Why did it react to me like this? Why me? Aren’t we all intruders? Why is it just me!?

“You deserve this.”

Was he right?

I didn’t process getting swung in the air until I was let go with enough momentum to cause a crash through the decor. My arms shook as I tried lifting my body up. Everything hurts, everything fucking hurts! My ears, my arms, my legs! My head! I just wanted a little distraction tonight! Why is this happening?

Is this really my karma?

…Wait a sec.

When I managed to lift my head, I came face to face with a crack in the wall where the robot arms were emerging from. The vines I saw earlier turned out to be permanently merged with the arms at the roots and lead to… something behind the wall. The crack was too small to properly make much out but it looked like it was breathing?

Whatever, I don’t have time to be surprised. “Guys! The arms! They’re coming from over here!” 

The crack’s small but just big enough for something slim! Like—

The claw dug into my leg once again and began dragging me away. “Leo! Donnie! One of your weapons can fit through!” 

“Got it!”

“I’ll cover!”

Flashes of blue scattered around the lobby. Each portal and throw of his sword brought Leo closer and closer to the wall. I couldn’t watch for too long, though, as I found myself back in the air again. It froze my skin getting thrown across the room faster than before. This time, towards the glass windows. 

Chains grabbed at my ankle and yanked me back to the ground away from my disastrous fate. I looked up to see the tangerine flashing a confident yet relieved smile at me. “Hey!”

“…Hey!” 

Mystic metal clinked as Mikey pulled back some of the robot arms chasing after Leo to buy him more time. Raph and Donnie quickly shifted gears and guarded me to make sure the plastic freaks couldn’t grab me again. Mikey continued to aid Leo, bouncing all over the room, keeping the arms distracted with his flow and somehow, still bringing them back to where he originally stood: Away from Leo. 

Finally, a sword was heard stabbing through the air and splashing through a soft, squishy substance. The arms dropped to the floor as the thing in the wall hissed in pain, slowly leading to the dreadfully awaited silence at last.

Mikey reached his hand out for me and pulled me up. “You good?”

“Not dead, yeah.” 

“Guess that’s a start.”

I glanced to the side at Donnie staring blankly at me, confused until he walked over and held one of my arms to examine my wrap. 

“Hmm, I wonder if there’s some modification I can do to your gloves that prevents your sickles from getting so easily lost.” I guess that’s why he was staring a minute ago. 

“Honestly, that’d be great. I keep losing them, so…”

“Yeah, I was thinking—“ 

“Nerd-talk later! Do a med scan!” Leo shoved him out the way and accidentally knocked Mikey back. Didn’t seem like he noticed since he immediately started checking me for injuries. I don’t even know when he got here?

Donnie sighed but went through with it anyway, tapping on his wrist as he checked my vitals. “No broken bones, no internal bleeding, nothing too concerning to report thankfully. Salena, do you feel alright?” 

“Mhm! Just some scratches here and there but I’ll live.” 

“Just some scratches, hm? You forgettin’ something?” Leo pointed down to my horrifically bruised and bloody leg. Whoops.

“…I-I’ll still live.”

While Leo took care of bandaging my leg, the rest of us spent the next few minutes catching our breaths. Mikey laid on the floor, limbs starfished out, while Donnie was texting April and catching her up to speed. I can only imagine how devastated she’d be in the morning, finding out she missed all this action. It’d have been nice having her here, honestly. 

Raph wasn’t near us, though. He stood by the wall where the once-breathing specimen was at. He kept peeking through the crack, rubbing his arm and looking hesitant about something.

“Raph?” My voice prompted the others to turn their attention to him.

“…Nobody else wonderin’ what the hell this thing could be? I know we’re only here to stop the Purple Dinos—“

“That’s Purple Dragons, Raphala.”

“—Whatever! But really, guys! After all that, we just gonna head home and forget about it?” 

He’s not wrong.

Come to think of it, this place is government funded. There should be no reason why some foreign entity exists in a place like the TCRI. They’re supposed to do space research and nothing else. That’s what they’re paid for.

“You know what?” Donnie turned his phone off. “I could work on hacking through their system myself. I don’t know if it’ll prove successful, but I can try.”

I felt Mikey’s head drop on my shoulder. He sure loves doing that. “What do we do about the vine thingies?” 

“Well, we can’t just—“ Leo paused, making eye contact with Raph. They shared a smirk and nodded.

“You thinkin’ what thinkin’ big bro?”

He chuckled, punching his fists together. “You bet!”

A bright red aura surrounded his figure as his arm reeled back and locked the sais in his hands.

“POWER PUNCH JUTSU!!!”

My body staggered as the ground shook upon impact, the dust clearing to reveal the tiny gap in the wall is suddenly a giant ass hole now.

“Man, y’all really don’t give a shit about government property, do ya?” 

“Nope. But hey! It was def the right choice!” Raph’s snaggletooth gleamed through his mischievous smile.

The five of us stared through the hole, trying to comprehend the oversized specimen in front of us. It was a pulsing, yellow-green thing in the shape of a tall tube, wider on the top than the bottom. There were reddish lines on it zigzagging up and down almost like veins. It was punctured at its middle, caused by the blade of the katana that shot right through it a few moments ago. 

“Ya know, it kind of resembles a plant. Which would explain the mystery vines, actually.”

“What plant, then? Ain’t no plant Raph knows of that throbs.”

He shook his head with a light shrug. “Sadly, I am not sure. It looks a little like a pitcher plant but also not really? They shouldn’t be luminescent or have vines emerging out like that. And also the throbbing, of course.” 

Pitcher plant, ay? I’ve heard of that. They’re my favorite out of all the carnivorous jungle plants Zane rambled about once. Plants were actually one of the first things we had a genuine bond over, even if I’m pretty clueless about them. The way his eyes lit up when talking about them with so much love and adoration just melted me.

His eyes…

His godforsaken eyes…

“Salena?”

“Huh?” How long have I been spaced out?

“You sure you’re good? You seemed kinda out of it just now.” I forgot how close Mikey was to me, I should be more careful.

“Yeah, it’s nothing.”

“Really? ‘Cause lowkey, you’ve been off all night. I didn’t wanna say anything but…”

“Oh, no, no, I’m—“

“Actually, you did mention something happened between you and your friend earlier, remember? Before you called me.” This violet ass motherfucker did not just erm actually me at the worst time ever.

“That what this about, big man? Had another fight with your friend?” Why is everyone suddenly focused on me!?

“N-Not the same one! This is someone different, I promise! T-that’s not to say I have a problem with everyone! I just… Um…” Great going, Salena! Now they’ll think you’re just insufferable and incapable of friendship! “I-I don’t think we should be—Well, we kinda have worse issues to worry about, don’t we?”

“Kendra and her yes-men ain’t here yet. What I wanna know is why you’re so spacey tonight! Dr. Feelings can’t help if he can’t know!”

“It’s nothing! N-nothing too bad, at least. He just—A-actually, it was really mostly me so um… It’s hard to explain exactly…”

Geez, my palms are annoyingly sweaty. I really don’t wanna give them the wrong idea, it was just one fight! It’s not a representation of our entire relationship! But I know from experience any time I try talking about Zane to someone, they end up hating him and I don’t want that! Fuck, I should’ve been more careful. My stupid tongue-tied gibberish ain’t helping the situation, either!

My shoulders flinched when I saw Leo stand in front of me, hand on his hip as he faced towards his brothers. “Okay, hermanos, give her some space! Stop smothering! I know we’re all worried, I’m worried too, but if Salena doesn’t wanna talk, they shouldn’t be forced to.”

The others finally piped down. None of them looked happy about it—understandably so—but it seemed Leo was able to convince them to drop it, anyway. I really owe him one. 

He peeked over his shoulder to glance back at me. “If you do wanna talk about something, though, we’re here for you.” 

…It’s not that I don’t want to. I just don’t see how it’d help anything— 

CRASH!!!

HOLY FUCKING SHIT, HAVE WE NOT HAD ENOUGH SURPRISES FOR ONE NIGHT!?

“Good going, Jase. Real quiet of you.”

All of us, equally tense and gripping our weapons to stand guard, took a solid minute to process that the loud crash wasn’t another dumbass robot-plant-arm thing, but instead was Kendra and the other two stumbling through the main door they hacked open. Speak of the dragons and they arrive, I suppose.

She looked over at us and her sharp eyes drooped lower. “Of course.” 

I only ever knew Kendra before tonight, none of the other members. Hate her guts since she’s forever engraved as April’s bully in my mind and doesn’t seem to have changed. Her movements and mannerisms still match the coy, conniving person I remember her to be, walking over in such a smug, superior way that screams “greater than thou”. Once, back when they were still in high school, April had a mini breakdown due to college applications kicking her ass. She was struggling and stressing over not getting accepted into a good amount of her options and believed she’d have to rely solely on her safeties at that point. Kendra really rubbed it in. Wouldn’t shut up about it, demeaning her for being a failure. 

April knows damn well to never take Kendra seriously. However, it’s not a surprise those words still stung considering how stupidly frightening the whole college process is. Joke’s on Kendra, though. One of April’s main choices that had her wait-listed ended up accepting her in! As for Kendra? All hypocritical bark, no bite it seems. 

“Hello, Von Ryan. How’s life?”

“Good, good. How about you, enjoying your—what’d you call it? ‘Intellectual freedom’?” 

“Low blow even for you. You guys couldn’t fuck around here with your little toys another night?” She scoffed and rolled her eyes, her arms crossed over her chest. Her gaze drifted towards me as her brows furrowed more. 

“Who’s that—Hold up. You… Yeah, I remember you!” She’s doing that annoying fake-nice tone she uses sometimes, the one that makes me wanna punch her in the face. “You’re that idiot kid April wouldn’t shut up about tutoring last year! What’s a teacher’s pet like you doing here?”

Mikey gasped and covered my ears like a parent to a toddler witnessing sailor-speak. “Hey! Don’t you dare talk about our friend like that!” 

I honestly couldn’t care less what Kendra says about me. Personally, I’m more focused on the other two, right now. It’s my first time ever seeing them, I think Donnie said their names were Jason and Jeremy? They’ve been pretty quiet so far, standing at her side and smirking like Saturday-morning cartoon lackeys. One of them had a large, blocky figure, dark skin, and dyed green hair. His gold visor looked pretty cool, I’ll admit. The other—I could guess from his hunched demeanor alone—was definitely their token punching bag. He’s got these awkward gloves that are way too big for his hands. Dark eyes, short, black hair, and round… glasses…

NO FUCKING WAY!

“YOU—HIM! OH MY GOD! NOOOO, NO-NO-NO-NO! NO! NO!” Ain’t no motherfucking way this bitch is who I think he is, this has to be a prank! It has to! For the sake of my sanity! Oh, but it isn't! It’s fucking real!

“...Salena? You doin’ okay?” The others looked concerned at my sudden and dramatic outlash. Fucking of course, Donnie and Mikey wouldn’t know! Jason still had the bag over his head when he was around them! Fuck, why didn’t I just take it off right there!?

“Jason! That asshole was who we saved from Meatsweats a few months ago!”

Raph and Leo looked just as lost as before. Mikey and Donnie, on the other hand, went pale with shock.

“That was you!?” Donnie’s staff pointed directly at the fucker. “Why didn’t you say anything!? I know you recognized my voice!” 

“I can’t believe Salena and I interrupted a perfectly nice day to save you of all folks! You ruined our lovely little ice cream date, dawg!”

“I was being kidnapped by a pig monster? Why would I reveal I’m a rival when you were the only help I had?”

“And yet, here you are, the very reason we’re stuck in this creepy facility, preventing you three from illegally accessing information and doing who knows what with it even though you now owe us one, YOU UNGRATEFUL MENACE!”

Before I could fix my brain enough to join in on justifiably shaming the idiot, I noticed Leo and Raph exchanging confused glances at each other.

“...What the hell is going on?”

“Raph don’t know.” They both looked at me for answers because the universe hates me.

I tearfully and shamefully explained the bullshit scenario we are now stuck in due to my impulsivity. “Donnie, Mikey, and I saved a guy from Meatsweats I think back in April? H-he had a bag over his head so they didn’t know what he looked like and I-I was the only one who saw him without it b-but I didn’t know he was part of the fucking Purple Dragons and—Fuck my life! My first ever save and it was a villain!?” The one time I actually did something useful…

God, there’s so much noise everywhere! Everyone’s arguing with each other or trying to get it to stop or whatever else is going on! My head hurts. Why did I even come here? I should’ve just went home. I should’ve stayed with Zane. I keep getting in the way, I keep making mistakes, I keep ruining things!

I have to keep my composure, though. I don’t wanna cry in a situation like this, not when I’ve already done enough harm.

“Wait a sec, where’s Jeremy?” 

We all paused, the realization clearing up as we heard a cheer from another room. “Yes! I got in! I got past the system!”

“Holy shit, he’s in the computer lab! Quick, we—” 

A bat hit Donnie straight on his stomach and knocked him back, Raph catching him so he wouldn’t fall to the floor. 

Kendra clicked her tongue as she laughed. “I gotta hand it to ya, you morons somehow turned off these stupid security systems. Definitely the most annoying part I’d have had to figure out; I guess that’s why I wanted ‘em, anyway. I don’t know how you did it but congrats! You’re not completely useless.” It looked more like she was addressing Donnie over any of us.

“But now?” She and Jason blocked the door. Her bat stood by her side. “Stay out of my fucking way.”

Obviously, that’s not happening, so chaos erupted instead. One would think a Two VS. Five would be pretty easy to handle… until they saw how well Kendra used her bat, that is. She’s faster than I expected, able to zip around before anyone could properly react. Definitely has a strong arm, too. Then, of course, there’s the traitor. Jason pushed his glasses up his nose bridge and took out his own set of weapons. Or should I say, whipped them out. ‘Cause they’re actually fucking whips. 

They were almost impossible to get by. Glowing in the dark room, buzzing from the static friction they made against each other. 

He targeted them towards Leo who barely managed to dodge just in time. Mikey, not being as lucky, got smacked right in the face.

“OW! Hey! Since when did he even have those!?” 

“Oh! Since last week, actually. I made them using—”

Either the bitch has good hearing or I was too loud when my sickle swung at his head. “Are ya dense!? How are you still tryna maintain small-talk after literally betraying us!? You know what I looked like, you wouldn’t have even said anything if I didn’t call you out! You lied to me! I saved you and you lied!”

“AH! The hell, man!? You’re gonna kill me for that!?”

“No!” The sickles weren’t sharp, only a little solid. I know I gotta resist. Unfortunately. “Just knock you out for a bit, you scheming piece of shit!” 

I wish I could say I was making up for my several blunders tonight by at least being able to handle the living embodiment of a toothpick. My leg’s not super mangled up but, surprise-surprise, it’s hard to move at my fastest and dodge with it still being injured. He’s a little impressively good with those whips, too. It’s hard keeping track of where they both are at all times, the difficulty only increased by how quick he’s able to use them considering he’s only trained for a week. I’m trying my damn best with what I can.

“Oh my god, give it up with the guilt-tripping! I’m not gonna turn on my sister just ‘cause you saved me once!”

“Hell no! I risked turning into mutant-munchies for you—Hol’ up a sec.” The pure blasphemy that came out of his mouth shocked me so bad, I actually had to pause. “Kendra’s your sister? Ew, what’s that like?”

Yet another mistake on my part. One of the whips wrapped around my sickle to fling it and I—determined to not lose them again—got shot through the air along with it. 

At this rate, I’ll be free-bird flying and crashing to the floor every five minutes. I don’t even feel like getting up anymore. Fuck, I don’t usually feel pain so easily.

Hm?

The battle ground’s a little chaotic so it’s hard to follow when in the middle of it. But, now that I’m seeing it from a distance, everyone’s intentions are suddenly ten times clearer. Kendra’s hovering towards a specific direction, dancing around the door to where Jeremy is. Jason’s distracting everyone and keeping them from paying attention to her. I have a feeling that’s very much so on purpose.

She’s starting to go in. I guess it doesn’t matter whether or not I want to, I gotta get up now. I closed my eyes and with whatever strength I had, used my sickles to turn invisible and go after her. 

I snuck by Kendra and entered the lab. Jeremy was glued to the computer, staring at a loading screen. On the side of the PC was a USB stuck to the port. Of course, accidentally saving the villain wasn’t enough! They had to use the same shitty USB we went back for, too.

“Jeremy, status report!”

“It’s almost done downloading the files! Just a few more seconds and… We got it!”

“Nice work! Quick! Toss ‘em over!”

Oh boy, if Kendra’s able to gain the instructions for those freaky arms, who knows what she’ll make with it! I can’t let them get access to anything here!

 Thus, following my usual rule of acting-without-thinking, I threw a sickle at the USB. I don’t know if it was my panic or my rage that caused it to be so sharp but it cut the USB in half mid-air and smashed straight into one of the PCs. My punishment for resorting to such destructively impulsive solutions was being greeted by the lovely melody of security sirens going off for breaking their important tech.

“No! My USB! There was so much stuff in that! Fuck!” She is so seriously distraught over the wrong thing. 

Upon retrieving my sickle, I hadn’t realized I was flickering in and out of visibility till Kendra’s bat nearly made contact with my head. “You little skeeze! Do you have any idea how much of my progress you destroyed!” 

“But that’s mine and Jason’s progress—“

“SHUT UP!” She snapped her head back to bark at him and I took my moment of escape, knocking her down out of my way. Still, she kept up by yanking at my leg and pulling me down with her, severely getting on my nerves by now.

So, I kicked her in the face.

She stayed there, groaning in pain, while her sidekick buddy checked on her. Sure, I could’ve kicked a little softer but I think a bloody nose is merciful enough for her. 

I returned to the lobby, greeted by chaos more hectic than before. The alarms and sirens were still blaring, red lights flashing on and off the entire facility. Our oh so beloved security arm friends returned in even greater numbers now! If I believed in superstition, I’d believe this night was cursed.

Jason’s looking a little overwhelmed now having to solo both the Teenage Mutant Mad Dogz and the newly emerged robot claws, yet he’s still not giving in and letting the guys go in peace. Speaking of them, they’re scattered all over the place, trying to keep themselves and each other from getting yoinked and flung like I was earlier. 

Donnie was the only one who managed to maneuver over to me.

“Salena!?” 

“Donnie! What’s going on!? Where’d the stupid arms come from!?”

“Well, I suppose it’d be impractical if they only had one source of their weird mystic high-tech robots, so there’s that.” He spun his tech-bō and whacked away the claw that was following him. “What happened in there? You disappeared and then we heard a loud crash from that room and suddenly everything got dialed up to eleven!”

“Uh, yeah, my fault, I uh���Eek!” Thank god for reflexes, the only thing that let me slice at a robot arm before it sliced me. “Good news is, I destroyed the USB they were using so Kendra can’t access the government’s whatever-the-fuck anymore! Bad news, I also accidentally destroyed one of their computers in the process, set off the security alarms, and now we’re here. Sorry, haha…” 

“You what!?”

“It was an accident, I swear! I really didn’t mean—”

“You annoying little twinkle-toes!” Kendra charged at us from behind and her bat swung directly at me. Thankfully, Donnie blocked it from knocking me dead and sent Kendra back a few steps. 

“You know what? If you got Kendra this mad, then you’re forgiven for everything on my terms! Let’s go!” He grabbed my wrist and dragged us away from the bat-wielding maniac.

Though, I’m not sure whether a metal bat or metal claws are worse. A bunch of them charged towards me now that I got back within their sight. 

“Move!” He shoved me out of the way of the monster claws.

I slid on the ground, actually keeping my balance this time, and swung at another claw coming from my right. Without having a moment to breathe, I ducked and slashed at one right above me. I would’ve missed the one coming from behind me, had Raph not been there and created a mystic shield. There’s so many all around the flat and it seems I’m still their favorite toy. 

“Salena, try hidin’ somewhere!” He punched one of the claws straight on, the impact causing a loud clunk. “They keep coming after you!” 

“I can’t! They saw me even when I turned invisible, they probably have a different type of vision or something!” 

“Infrared vision, genius!” Kendra’s bat got caught by my sickle. She aimed for my torso this time, I’m surprised it wasn’t back at my head. “They were built with thermal sensors! Which I would’ve been able to shut off if somebody didn’t break the computers!”

“God, were you built to get on people’s nerves!?” 

I’ve just about had it with her bullshit, reflected in my blades turning sharp enough to slice her bat in half. I elbowed her in the stomach and took the chance to roll over to a new spot. The closest I can get to hiding is continuously moving, staying in one place meant getting hoarded.

Mikey grumbled nearby, his nunchucks spinning in his hands. “Man, they’re too much! We gotta go! Leo?”

“A bit busy!” Busy was right, he’s cutting down a good number of the plastic pains with his katanas. There’s no good opportunity to use them as an escape portal, let alone any safe ones.

Beep! Beep!

Donnie raised his gauntlet up and flashed what I assume to be the building’s security cameras he hacked into. “Oh, no, no, no, guys! They’re sending actual human officers up now! What do we do!?”

Everyone’s panicked, shit’s fucked to the brim, and the constant beeps and shrieks are only making it harder to think! Kendra’s yelling about her bat, Mikey’s chosen to deal with the Purple Disasters while they’re bickering away, Raph’s boxing the claws and shielding Donnie, who’s frantically typing at his wristwatch to hack the security, and Leo’s… Screaming and getting flung. Sweet, we’ve matched now.

I ran over to Leo, guarding him from the arms trying to take advantage of the situation. “So, how’d you like your first flight?”

“I’d prefer it more if I was actually expecting it.” He got up almost as fast as he crashed down, not wasting a single second to getting back in the fight. “Ugh, I gotta get us out of here, but I need an opening!”

“Want me to try clearing something out?”

“You got any plans on how—Shit, get back!” His arm pushed me back behind him to avoid getting hit. 

The white tails of my ribbon flew forward, slightly blocking my vision. I looked straight ahead, past the death machines and battle-ground chaos, and saw the glass windows showcasing the brightly-lit city night.

The ribbon…

…Bingo.

“I actually might.” I tugged at the silk tails and felt my hair flow down as it got undone. “Just trust me and get everyone out at the first opportunity you get!”

“Wait, what are you—”

I dashed past him before he could ask any questions, no real time for them now. My multitasking skills were given the ultimate test as I focused on darting across the room, intentionally getting the arms to gather and chase after me, while tying the ribbon to the handles of my sickles and connecting them together. 

In the corner of my eye, I saw Mikey had managed to take out Kendra and her sidekicks. Don’t even gotta worry about them now, it’s going better than I thought! There was pounding at the door. Seems Donnie locked the officers out for now, but I doubt it’ll be long till they find a way to break in by force. Gotta move fast. This plan could fail horrifically, but it’s the best shot we’ve got!

With all the security arms focused on me now, the boys had a clear opening to leave. I sprinted to the windows, wound back my sickles, and broke the glass with a single throw. 

Now or never!

“HOT SOUP!!!” 

And out the window I went.

The air felt amazing, rushing by my skin as I let gravity take over the fall. I turned myself over, now looking up at the sky. The arms were shooting out the windows, unable to reach down any further to get me. A flash of blue from the inside indicated everyone was out safely. That’s my cue to prevent myself from dying now!

I held onto one of my sickles and swung the other one up. My spine tingled as a pink aura washed over my hand and over the sickle that I grabbed, trailing its way up the white silk ribbon…

Transforming it to chains!?

The pure white mystic chain clanked as it stretched out. The sickle I threw up now broke through the glass side of the building and continued shattering through it straight down. A few broken shards chipped at me as I snapped back to reality and remembered the original plan. I closed my eyes and refocused on the sickles. No thoughts, no distractions, no room for any of them. I have to breathe. I have to focus. 

The blades morphed them into a stiff rubber. Too soft to break the glass, too strong to break itself in half, effectively yanking me to a stop. 

I did it.

I actually fucking did it!

“Holy truffle mac and cheese, that was awesome!”

“I know!” I excitedly greeted Donnie who had flown over using his jet pack. “I can’t believe it went so well! You saw it all?”

“And recorded!” He turned his back towards me and pointed at his shell. “Need a ride?” 

“Definitely.” 

We cruised across the sky onto the roof of a nearby building where the rest of the guys were. The instant I hopped off Donnie’s shell, Leo jumped me with a hug, followed by several frantic checks to make sure all limbs were intact.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt? Are you dizzy? What’s wrong with you? You’re crazy! You’re crazy, you know that!?”

“Now who’s smothering them?” Mikey snickered at Leo, who looked relieved and on the verge of tears at the same time. 

“Everyone shut up and look at this video first! You’ll probably forget whatever meaningless chitchat you were having, anyway!” Donnie hissed from glee, using his extra mechanical limbs to huddle us all around his phone that was playing the video of me from a few moments ago. 

Looking at the footage now, it seemed the pink aura actually came from my whole body. It spread throughout my arms and circled past my hands, flowing to the white ribbon and replacing them with shimmering, white chains. 

Mikey screamed from excitement, holding onto my hands. “MYSTIC CHAINS! Omigosh, we match now! We’re like twins!” 

“I know! Isn’t it great!? We can be chain buddies—Eh, nevermind, that doesn’t sound right.” 

We sat around for a while so Leo could help with all the cuts and microscopic bits of glass stuck to me. In the meantime, they were all curious how the chains even came to be, which I sadly didn’t have a clear answer for. I went ahead and reassured them my plan would’ve still worked with the ribbon itself, though. Speaking of, I can’t really get my ribbon back now. Sorry, Mi. However, I did figure out how to make the chains vanish and re-materialize, so at least I don’t have to learn a different fighting style! 

Donnie was paying attention, I think. Just multitasking with a few holographic monitors up. He sighed and put ‘em away after a while.

“Yeah, no, sorry guys. Maybe my brain’s too fuzzy but I can’t hack into the actual database tonight.”

“No big deal, Don. Ya done enough.” Raph gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder. “Hey, you guys wanna go grab some pizza? Raph could use a break.”

“Yeah, I think we all could.” Hopeful, green eyes faced towards me. “Salena? It’s late but… You wanna join us for a bit?”

It’s around 3am now. If I went home now, I’d only get three hours of sleep and that’s assuming I’ll conk out immediately. It’s not impossible, though, I can feel the energy crash creeping up from all the adrenaline. But, I don’t know. I don’t wanna go yet. 

“I’m already out, aren’t I? Might as well!” 

Turns out, for once tonight, I made the right choice. It was fun getting to be with them in a more casual manner. Just chilling at a park, enjoying some pizza, and re-energizing myself as I watched them goof around. I checked through my phone while I enjoyed the delicious cheesy glory.

Everything seemed normal.

Except for one tiny issue.

I was putting it off but Zane sent a voice note to me a few hours ago. I don’t have earbuds but everyone’s pretty distracted right now, anyway. I could listen to it. Maybe it’s… Maybe it’s better than I think it is. 

I lowered the volume just to have it barely audible and clicked play.

“Hey. Um… I hope you’re home and safe now. I…” He sighed and went silent for a while. 

“This wasn’t how I intended tonight to be. It was such a gorgeous night. The weather was perfect. Everything was perfect. It was all going so well. What happened? Why do we always end up like this?”

I wish I knew. Or that he knew. Maybe we could’ve helped each other if just one of us knew what was the problem.

“Everything in my life always goes so wrong. I’m so tired of it, Salena. You’re the only thing I haven’t messed up. I don’t want to mess this up. I just—” I could hear a creek from the door opening as someone came in the room. “Yeah, it’s on the floor, clean it up. I don’t know how, just go clean it!”

Sounds of glass being swept up filled the background atmosphere. Zane sighed again. “Sorry. One of my vases broke tonight. The cherry on top, right? Anyway, uh… I’ll just end it here. I hope you’re okay. I hope you’re dreaming of something nice. And I’m… I’m sorry.”

The voice note ended. It wasn’t that bad, I guess. I feel a little bad about earlier but I’m glad he apologized. I guess things are fine now. I should probably leave a text, it’d be wrong to hold a grudge if the situation’s already resolved. 

You: hey i’m safe yea. I just wanna say i’m sorry too for lashing out like that earlier. I hope you’re sleeping well, sweet dreams and see ya tomorrow <3

There we go. Nothing to worry about now. Nothing to stress over.

A hand tapped at my shoulder. I raised my head to meet Mikey smiling down at me. “Mind if I sit? They’re bein’ a little loco even for my taste right now.”

I looked straight and saw Leo and Donnie arguing over whether pineapple belongs on pizza and Raph taking the opportunity to sneakily eat their slices. Pretty tame behavior from them, but Mikey’s tone was too lighthearted to be serious, anyway. 

I shifted over on the bench and patted the empty space next to me. He sat down and brought his knees to his chest, his back leaning against my side. He shuffled with his phone for a bit before offering me one of his earbuds. “Wanna listen to Fall Out Boy with me?”

“Sure!” 

I could use some music after tonight.

Next Chapter

This chapter was nearly 15K words btw-

[ask-the-abomination]

"H-Hey, whoa, wait a minute! We're not here to cause trouble, I promise!"

Angel quickly assures the duo and backs up a few paces as the strange Sylveon brandishes a flaming scythe, hoping to deescalate the situation before it potentially turns violent. It's clear that the sudden and blatant show of aggression has startled them, their long ears pinning back against their head.

"Um..." comes a meek voice from behind Angel, belonging to a Vulpix, who cautiously steps forward.

"We're sorry for startling you...m-my name is Kenina, and this is my partner, Angel," Kenina introduces, her tone voice gentle and her expression concerned, although there is an obvious flicker of nervousness in her demeanor, too. But considering the reaction their initial approach earned, she can hardly be blamed for that.

"You two are being pursued, aren't you? If that's the case, we would like to help you, i-if you will let us..."

"Yeah! We're an Exploration Team, and helping other Pokemon trouble is part of what we do!"

The duo would glance at each other and back at the two smaller Pokemon. Both Vincent and Sabor would wield a very perplexed expression.

"Exploration..."

"T-Team?".

Neither have heard such a term before. Is this suppose to be something that could be beneficial and aide them through their troubles? Or, would it be something that could be absolutely detrimental and lead them to the dangers that neither seek? While the answer is there, with the two vulpines offering to lend a paw to help with their situation, both Vincent and Sabor would remain cautious of the matter. As much as aide feels like a god sent to have right now, it feels rather off to suddenly have someone openly willing to help two strangers. Two not so pleasantly looking bigger, strange creatures.

"... So what is it that you two want?..". Sabor spoke blatantly. "Clearly there is something you two want in exchange for helping us. So... What is it? Money? Food? Or you want us to do something in turn?" Vincent head would look between, going back and forth from Sabor to Kenina and Angel. While he believes that the two smaller Pokemon doesn't seem to hold any ill-intent, base on their postures and tone of voices, he is more leaning towards Sabor's point. In their eyes, help doesn't seem quite possible. At least, not for free. In their eyes, help is only possible if something is presented in exchange.

"U-Um..." Vincent would nervously speak up. Despite on how he feels of the matter, he still wishes to say something. "S-Say you were to help... What could you possibly do? A-Are you, erm, capable of keeping the Houndooms away permanently? O-Or s-somehow have the white coats off our backs? Do either of you have a p-plan to keep us safe?.." "A-And if you, Kenina and Angel, were able to succeed, what do you even want from us in return? It... Just sounds too good to be true for you little guys to help us strangers for nothing..."

"Dude, you're seriously not entertaining this. These what-you-mc-call-it team of fuzzballs are seriously not going to just settle our problems just like that. We both know that they'll just get themselves mulled, the very moment they dare take a step and hassle with those idiotic Houndooms."

"T-That wasn't what I was going for..." His tone dialed down, as his insides begun to whirl around. The feeling of guilt and nervousness spun throughout his inner body. "I-I-I just w-wanted to know what plans they have, i-if they do want to help us... I didn't say that I was open to the idea of letting them go and do whatever to help us. They... They seem to mean well. And I don't want Kenina and Angel to put themselves in harms way, because of us--Because of me..."

His red orbs would drift towards the direction of the vulpines. His voice shaken, as he spoke directly to the two. "I'm really, really sorry... You two seem like kind Pokemon. But... E-Even if your offer of help is strangely genuine, I-I can't let you two be put in harms way... I don't want to be the one t-to have another be killed..."

"..."

"... Our only best option is to continue to run... To find a new place to hide. I-I don't want the safety o-of others to be disrupted and damaged because of me... I-I'm sorry...." { Answer for @askteamsunshine }

[lyon-amore]

    I greet the guests arriving at the church. It's a fabulous day. The sky is clear, there's not a breath of wind and my chosen dress looks amazing on me.

    Both my family and Stephan and Jessy's friends.     My cousin is even nervous when he talks to his parents, and his sister tries to stop his monsters from getting into mischief.

    Klaus walks over to me, smiling. We've both helped the couple with the wedding rehearsals and of course he's the best man so I've had to see him quite a bit these past few months. I appreciate him for being a nice guy, but it's been awkward because it was all about weddings.

   “Nervous?’’ he asks me while brushing his hair out of his face with his hand in the manner clearly like a boy in a romance movie would do.

    “It's not my wedding, so I'm fine,” I remind him, keeping my distance. “If I were you, I'd worry more about your friend,’’ I point my thumb at Stephan and he laughs.

    “He thinks he's nervous, but he's actually happy,’’ I let out a small laugh. I don't argue with him on that. “I was thinking you could save me a dance at the party, you know... like old times.’’

    I bite the inside of my cheek, trying not to be rude. He’s one of the reasons I had to box up some things, thinking I was being ridiculous with the things I liked. But in the end I realized that we didn’t fit and… because something was missing when I was with him. Those special moments that never came. Yes, a good guy, but I didn’t feel special and he wasn’t who I was looking for in the end.

    “I'd love to, but―’’

    “I've already asked the princess for the first dance,’’ Phil comes over and puts his arm around my shoulders, “sorry man, she's already taken.’’

    I step on him with my heel when saying those last words. What do you mean taken’? What am I? A fish now?

    “Oh! I didn't know you were dating Phil,’’ he lets out a nervous laugh and slowly walks away, “well, see you later.’’

    When Klaus walks away, I look at Phil with a slight bow, while crossing my arms.

    “And my thanks for getting rid of him, princess?’’ he asks me with open arms “At least a kiss.’’

    “I only accept that attitude from a man, and he is not you,’’ I answer with a sigh “What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Jessy?’’

   “They are fixing her makeup,’’ he points with his head to the end of the street “, she started crying with happiness and the girls started fixing her, so I preferred to wait for her to come here.’’

    “The brother of the year.’’

    “I know,’’ he looks me up and down and smiles mischievously. “The dress suits you well. But do you know where it would be better?’’

    “Surprise me,’’ I say sarcastically.

    “Tonight, after the party,’’ he places his hand on my waist, pulling me closer to him. I look at his hand while frowning, “we can have our first night too. What do you think, princess?’’

    “Well… The truth is that I don't―’’

    I then feel a strange electric current throughout my body. I feel as if someone is watching me.

    I turn around and see a man dressed in black, with his hood up, at the end of the street. I can't see his face very well because of the hood, it shadows his features.     But something about him… Strange. He's kind of familiar.     I apologize to Phil and walk over to Stephan, interrupting the conversation.

    “Do you know who he is?’’ I ask him, looking discreetly while playing with my earrings, to hide the fact that I'm pointing at him.

    Stephan looks at him and shakes his head, although he makes a small nod for a second.

    “Uh… I have no idea,’’ he shrugs his shoulders, “Maybe he's just coming to mass?’’

    I look at him again. My curiosity about him is growing.

    “I'm going to ask him,’’ I finally say.

    “Macie! Not everything has to be… bad…’’

    I hear him let out a sigh as I move away from him, to approach the stranger.

    I see that the closer I get to him, the more nervous he gets, even taking out his cell phone as if to pretend to do something else.     When I'm in front of him, I notice his green eyes. His look is tired, and from time to time he looks at me surreptitiously, as if he thinks he's pretending to be invisible by ignoring me.     I can see his hair is a little long, on his neck. He even seems a little unkempt, but something about him makes him attractive. Or maybe it's because he has something that attracts me?

   “Hi,’’ I greet with a smile. Oddly enough, it makes me feel more comfortable to be next to him than next to Phil or Klaus. “Are you here on behalf of the groom or the bride?’’

    He blinks in confusion; I even notice how his face turns red.     I wait a little. Something… There is something that seems familiar, it is as if I have seen him before.     I wait for him to answer, but he looks away shyly.

    “Oh, no…’’ I bring my hands to my face, embarrassed.“Damn, I should have learned to speak in sign language, how embarrassing… Maybe he don't―’’

    “I am not… here on behalf of either of them,’’ I freeze when I hear his deep voice. It seems as if it even costs him to do so. “I am here for mass…’’

    I lower my hands, slowly. I'm still looking at him like a hypnotized fool.

    “Okay,’’ I nod slowly, “ it's just that since I'm greeting the guests, I wanted to make sure you're coming to the wedding.’’

    The boy looks at himself from head to toe, then looks at me.

    “Am I dressed appropriately for a wedding?’’ He arches an eyebrow and smiles. A beautiful smile that makes me feel my cheeks burn. I hope that thanks to the makeup my blush isn't noticeable, how embarrassing. “With a sweatshirt and jeans?’’

    “I don't judge,’’ I raise my hands so as not to be critical of each other's clothes, “it's just that you've caught my attention. Do we know each other?’’

    He looks away, almost sadly.

    “No I do not think so…”

    It's then that something crosses my mind, but it can't be true, right? I mean… he decided to walk away.     I open my mouth to ask him, but it is at that moment that they tell us to enter.

    “You should not stay out here,” he tells me and I look at him, “the others are going to be waiting for you.” His voice sounds pleasant to the ear, soft.

    A pleasant sensation runs through my body when I look at him.     He passes by me and I'm completely on fire when I feel our hands brush against each other. Noticing the electricity I had felt when I saw him.     I breathe a little heavily, trying to come back to reality.

    I look for the boy when I sit down. He is sitting on the end benches, alone. I raise my hand and wave at him, which makes him pull his hood further up in embarrassment.     I avoid letting out a laugh, looking adorable.

✴.·´¯`·.·★·.·`¯´·.✴

    Everyone at the party dances and laughs. The night is now for those who want to continue dancing.     I dance with my friends, I am grateful that thanks to Stephan I have met them, he really has a group of incredible friends. 

    I then decide to go out for some fresh air, feeling the cold of the night sink into my bones. And with a feeling of emptiness. Yes, I laugh, we make jokes, we dance, but something is missing. I've been like this for two years, I have to admit, when everything returned to normal. Or at least what is normal for me.     Of course I'm happy for Stephan, he's finally managed to find someone he can complement himself with.     But I also thought I had it years ago. We didn't share many conversations because Jake and my cousin were mostly busy finding Hannah, but from what I was able to talk to him, he made me feel like he was someone special. The same feeling I had when I saw that man.

    I hear the notification sound from my bag and take out my cell phone. My heart races when I see the message. ------------------------

Jake Hello Macie. ------------------------

I bite my lip as I smile. It's almost as if my thoughts have connected with him. --------------------------

Macie Wow, long time no see Jake! 😄 I already thought that an alternative universe had taken you through a portal

Jake Haha. No, that has not happened :) I am sorry. These last few years have been complicated and I have not been able to contact anyone.

Macie Oh really? A lot of work?

Jake Something like that.

Macie Stephan has married Jessy It’s a shame you couldn’t see him, he would have been happy for you to be here 🥺

Jake I know. --------------------------

    I notice how little by little I'm starting to get angry. So he knew that? Did he know he were going to get married?     I want to think that maybe he knows it from social media, but knowing Stephan and Jake so well and their mutual secrets, I'm sure that's not the case. --------------------------

Macie Oh… Don’t tell me that you have been in contact without me knowing it 😑

Jake Does it help if I say I'm sorry again?

Macie Jake… So this is what you do? You appear in chat to tell me that you have been in communication these years And I thought I was your friend too...

Jake It is not like it is been that long.

Macie Two years for me has been a long time… And even more so when I have only wanted to talk to you all this time and know why you decided to stay away from us… Or rather now after finding out about me… 😔

Jake I did not mean to walk away, but it was necessary. My life was complicated enough before to get close to you. --------------------------

    Knowing that Jake has never told me anything about his life, I alone have had to make my theories, and it's not like Stephan told me everything. So I just have a fear of this whole thing as to why he never wanted to open up to me more. --------------------------

Macie Is this when you tell me you were married? 😒

Jake No, that’s not what I was going to say :) But I am trying to get my life together a little bit now and it is not easy. And the first thing I wanted to do was see you.

Macie See me? What do you mean?

Jake The dress you are wearing… That color looks perfect on you.

Macie You… YOU ARE JUST AS TERRIBLE AS PHIL!

Jake Macie, wait a little before you compare me to him.

Macie No, you are not worse than him You are worse than IT Worse than Freddy Krueger Worse than the demon from Insidious

Jake I guess I deserve those titles. But can I talk now? If you allow me, of course.

Macie …. You have my permission…

Jake :) Let me say that for today they let me go out and I wanted to be able to go see my friend’s wedding. And of course, also to you.

Macie That man… Wasn't it easier to tell me it was you? 🙁

Jake I did not dare to do it because I was ashamed. I thought I would scare you if I showed up myself to you.

Macie Of course I wouldn’t do it! It’s more! I would be happy! --------------------------

    I write that he was someone special to me when I met him, but I delete it, I think it would be going too far and we have hardly had an interaction deep enough to write that to him.

    “That I would be scared of you?”I ask the air. “Rather it would be the other way around, you would be the scare of me.”

    “Was I really special?” I hear behind me, making me jump in place.

    I turn around and see him with a smile that makes me melt. But that doesn't change the fact that I'm embarrassed that he read it.

    “You know? You should wear a bell like cats,” I put the phone away and he laughs.

    “Bells are not good for cats, they can make them deaf,” he responds while unzipping the zipper of his sweatshirt.

    Unexpectedly, he places it on my shoulders. I try not to let my stupid face show as I notice how warm it is thanks to his body temperature. And worst of all, I can't tell that I'm noticing the aroma it gives off. I am going crazy.

    “I didn't know because I don't have a cat,” I put on my sweatshirt better, passing my arms through the sleeves, “I have a—”

    “Rabbit, I know,” I raise an eyebrow, curious about his words. “Let us say... When Stephan also brought you into the matter, I also investigated whether you were trustworthy.”

    “Oh…” I raise my eyebrows, nodding. “Yeah, I guess I would have done the same thing too.”

    We both let out a laugh. I guess we're not that different than I thought when it comes to research.

    We stayed for a while looking at each other. The silence is really pleasant, not uncomfortable at all. Simply by looking into his eyes, it is as if I connected with him.

    “You should come in and say hello to Stephan," I raise my hand, pointing to the restaurant, “I'm sure he would be excited—” I see from his expression that it's changing to one of feeling guilty, “You have already saw each other…”

    “This morning I went to his house to thank him for everything he did for me in person, that is why I was at church, he wanted me to be a guest." He scratches the back of his neck, nervous, “I did not think you would catch me so quickly when I arrived.”

    “I just turned around, nothing more,” I lie to him, just so as not to tell him that I had actually noticed something strange. Someone like him might treat me like a crazy person. “But I'm glad to finally meet my friend, it really has been a surprise.”

    Still not erasing the smile, he slowly raises his hand to my face, brushing my hair away from my face.

    "I would never be scared of your attitude, Macie, I actually like it." His words make my breath stop while he slowly lowers his hand down my face. 

    It's incredible how much self-control I have, because I think I would have already started kissing him. And no matter how much he says he wouldn't be scared, I think he would. How could he not be scared of a woman who is totally crazy about this moment right now?     I swallow saliva as I feel a shiver run through my body, but not from the cold, but from wanting to do something else.     I open my mouth to want to buy him at least a drink at the bar-restaurant, so I can talk a little more, but he is the one who speaks first.

   "I have to go now," he withdraws his hand quickly, and I see how he clenches it into a fist, annoyed, "they are waiting for me," I nod slowly and he sighs. “Take care, Macie.”

    When he goes to turn, I stop him. He looks first at my hand, then at me.

    “When... When can we see each other again?”I ask still without letting go. I'm holding on with the fear of never seeing him again.

    “I am not sure,” I can see the sadness in his eyes before looking away, “I do not even know if I will come back...”

    "Then... Tell me when you've finished that important work and I'll come look for you."

    He looks at me and shakes his head, slowly caressing my cheek. Again... This time he is going to notice the heat I feel at his touch.

    “Something better: I will go look for you,” I avoid falling in love with him by speaking in a solemn way, as if it were a promise. He approaches my face and I close my eyes. However, it is not a kiss. But a light whisper “Until we meet again.”

    I try not to fall when I feel his breath on my ear, to see him finally move away from me. I want to shout to him that I will be waiting for him, that no matter how long he is away, I will wait for his return. But the words don't come out. I have a lump in my throat with the fear that this would be the last time I will see him.

    When I see that he has disappeared, I grab the sweatshirt and put it to my nose, trying to maintain at all times that he has been here with me, that it was not a dream and that I have talked to him. The aroma of his sweatshirt comforts me and makes me feel that the moment was real.     My phone rings again and I blush when I read his message. --------------------------

Jake If you like the smell of fabric softener so much, I can always tell you the brand ;) --------------------------

    I look everywhere, hoping to see him somewhere. But I can't find him. Maybe he was camouflaged in the dark as he was leaving and has seen me doing this act. --------------------------

Macie Very funny… 😤​ And it’s wrong to spy that way, it’s pretty creepy

Jake I just wanted to look at you. For one last time. --------------------------

    I put a hand to my heart, feeling strong pain as I read his words. --------------------------

Macie Do you really have to go, Jake? Can't you stay at least for tonight?

(Send Error) --------------------------

    I let out a sigh when I see that our connection has already been lost. I put my phone away and go back into the restaurant.

    I'm so distracted by the moment I've had with Jake that I'm surprised when a bouquet collides with my body and I catch it almost clumsily.

   “What the—”

    “The next wedding will be Macie's!” I hear Jessy scream and I see all the girls look at me with envy, when I didn't even have the intention of picking it up.

    It's then that I remember Jake's words, that he's coming to get me, his 'until we meet again.' A few small tears of happiness escape me, along with a laugh.     I smell the bouquet and all those promises, I keep them in my heart, waiting for that day to truly return. 

[sencity]

sencha villosa . . ☪︎︎

“But can’t you see that I’m furiously in love with you? I want to fill my mouth with your lips and swallow your moans and just–…eat you alive until I reach your heart! Don't I even get a kiss good night? Or...I can even hold you in my arms as we sleep together? Is that all not worth enough as a reward? Do you even care about me?! Do I even matter to you?! Do you even love me?!”

☪︎︎ name  ፧  sencha villosa.

☪︎︎ age  ፧  twenty.

☪︎︎ race  ፧  east asian.

☪︎︎ ethnicity  ፧  south korean.

☪︎︎ height  ፧  5’5.

☪︎︎ temperament  ፧  prone to burning out, benevolent, extroverted, clingy/dependent, servile, irritable, + resentful.

☪︎︎ personality w/ others  ፧  he appreciates his quiet time and botany studies, completely comfortable with scratching his cat behind the ear while continuing with his palynological studies (since he recently found out he’s terribly allergic to solidagos). though, it doesn’t necessarily mean he likes being alone but is comfortable with being such, let alone timid or aloof. if you were ask the old lady with the heavy grocery bags, she would tell you that a “little man with a little smile” helped her to her car. he’s very helpful and considerate, kindhearted and quiet. he’s always ready to be there for the people he loves. he could come off as smothering or too soft, or even resentful if you decline his affection. there’s even be moments where he’s a bit slick-mouthed depending on the individual. still, his reliability cannot be doubted.

☪︎︎ personality w/ love interest ፧ heighten his current personality traits by 1,000 and that’s how he is towards you. he’s 100% willing to care for you consistently; you’re his top priority as if you were a flower of his own. he’s very, very, very much more clingy to the point where it seems needy. he’s completely drowning in the obsession he has towards you, the high you give him is absolutely unethical, he could barely keep his hands off you when you’re around. declining his affection would only worsen it. instead of sighing loudly when loved ones push him away, he’d keep trying, invading your personal space unknowingly, begging you just for one last hug. his acts of service always have the need to rub your feet and listen to your day, soaking in every single detail, or even writing things down afterwards and study your ideas, desiring to understand the deepest parts of you…

☪︎︎ yandere type  ፧  self-sacrificial + obsessive. his presence is overwhelming, he’s like a child with intense separation anxiety. he’d even tried detaching from you a bit since you were uncomfortable, but that only sent him to panic attacks, wondering if you were hurt while he was away, looking for someone supposedly better than him, or the multiple people eyeing you without his acknowledgment. he has the need to watch after you 25/8 with no excuses; the line between obsession and love has blurred intensely. although he’s uncomfortable with some of your requests, he’s willing to do absolutely everything just to see you pleased, even if it means harming himself during the process. his obsession towards you is unreal, whether if it’s humping against the countertop you were sitting on or forcefully remembering everything about you, using his free time to study you like an exotic herb.

☪︎︎ theme song  ፧  ifhy — tyler, the creator.

and with that, here’s his sfw and nsfw headcanons …

my masterlist …

and the rest of my yandere ocs …

© all rights reserved 𝄁︎ sencity. “don’t become a fertilizer for my bed of butterworts and don’t be a parrot because you’re unoriginal.” — sencha.

[kittyt-hexxed]

Book Two of Hexed - The Fury of Zaun (Vi × POC!Reader) - Ch.20

Next Upload Date: September 30th

Act 2: Chapter Twenty - Winter Woes

Warnings: Mentioned child abandonment, struggles in winter time, talk of freezing to death/hypothermia, war talk, Vi and Mel have a conversation

Summary: The first winter snowfall is officially here, throwing Zaun into chaos. But, in the chaos, the plans continue to move forward. Deals are made, people discuss their next moves and you’re one step closer to Piltover’s retribution.

It was one of the rare days that Vi wasn’t on patrol. She was supposed to be on a date with Y/n but she had an emergency and cancelled. Vi suspected it might have to do with the snowfall this morning. She wanted to ask if she needed to come down to the city, but Y/n had let her know it was unnecessary before she even asked. So that led Vi to being dragged to the Councilor building by Jayce when he ran into her. The Councilor building was hot, hot enough to forget that it was snowing outside if you didn’t look out a window. Vi found a chair to sit in while Jayce rambled about their progress with catching her sister. Thanks to winter being on their doorstep, it made it harder to stay out longer than necessary. There was concern over Enforcers freezing and they were trying to figure out how to upgrade the uniforms. Vi didn’t care about it as long as they were delayed.

Vi yawns, wondering if Jayce would notice if she takes a nap. He was very good at making people bored enough to fall asleep. Her dates with Y/n were the highlight of her week and got her through days like this. Jayce stopped talking just as Vi was about to nod off, and she forced her eyes open in interest.

“Mel!” Jayce grins past Vi’s spot on the couch. Vi sits up and makes eye contact with Mel who’s dressed as impeccable as always.

“Good afternoon, Vi.” Mel smiles pleasantly.

“Afternoon, Mel.” Vi nods in return, “You’re done with your paperwork for today?” Although they didn’t speak much, their interactions have been very friendly since the gala. Vi had been put on security for Mel at some point and they surprisingly had a lot to talk about. They had similar ideas and viewpoints, even the same taste in food! It was a pleasant surprise for Vi to find a councilor who’s in touch with the world around them.

“Ah, I haven’t seen the inside of my office today and I don’t intend to.” She winks, lifting her hands to show that she’s holding two milkshakes, “I actually came to find you.”

”Are those salted caramel brownie milkshakes?” Vi eyes the drinks in Mel’s hands, clearly wanting one.

“Yes, and this one’s for you.” Mel hands it to her, chuckling at the sparkles in Vi’s eyes, “Y/n told me it was your favorite. My mother and I met with her early this morning before my mother left for Noxus.”

“I…” The words die on Vi’s tongue as she gingerly accepts the drink, “Thank you. I can pay you back for it later.”

“There’s no need.” Mel holds up a hand, “Come on. You’re going on a walk with me.” She takes a drink from her milkshake, humming in satisfaction as she starts walking away. Vi glances at Jayce as she gets up, seeing his shocked expression at not getting Mel’s attention. She snorts out a laugh, choosing to drink from her milkshake instead as she follows Mel. They leave the room and walk in silence as they enjoy their drinks. The Councilor building is always active as assistants, merchants, and other people pass by for their meetings. Due to her security details, Vi learned that Mel liked to wait until she was in a secure place before talking. She didn’t mind that at all after Jayce talked her ears off. They got to Mel’s office and Vi couldn’t help but grin at that.

“I thought you weren’t going to be here?” Vi asks as she holds the door open.

“I’m not.” Mel smiles mischievously, “If anyone needs me, Elora will be handling that.”

“How did you find me?” Vi raises an eyebrow, “I didn’t think anyone saw Jayce kidnap me. You’re my hero.” She says jokingly.

“Y/n told me she wasn’t seeing you today, so I figured Jayce would take advantage of that. And, I was right.” Mel chuckles as she takes a seat, then frowns, “I’ve been meaning to check on you. Every time I’ve gotten a free moment, you’re off doing work or taking lessons. So I knew I needed to grab you away at some point.” She watches as Vi takes a seat across from her, hanging her legs over the arm of the chair.

“Check on me?” Vi furrows her brow, “Why?”

“I know exhaustion when I see it. Every time I see you on or off the job, you look like you’re about to fall over… although you hide it very well.” Mel says gently, “...Are you satisfied with your placement at the Kiramman’s?”

“Am I satisfied being at the Kiramman’s?” Vi parrots, blinking at Mel, “I… no one has asked me that before. I guess I am. I mean- they’re a great host.” She struggles with what to say. ‘What do I say to that?’ Vi thinks. ‘Do I be honest or…?’

“You can be honest. This will stay between us. I will be the first to admit that I am not as fond of the Kirammans as I should be. Cassandra has given me some pointers over the years, but I do not agree with her mindset.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m sure you know of her attitude towards Zaunites and people generally not a part of the noble class. Not unless they bring her something of value.”

“I’ve noticed.” Vi chuckles, not feeling amused, “The only people in that manor who are genuinely kind people are Tobias and the staff. I felt like I couldn’t do anything without Cassandra’s permission or having Caitlyn by my side. I would sneak out to get fresh air, but that got exhausting after some time. Tobias has made my stay at the manor less… painful. He approached me in the library one day and he’s made it his mission ever since to spend time with me. The staff leaves behind little treats outside the door or they’ll leave me food when I haven’t eaten. The only time I’m at the manor is to sleep, but even then I tend to nap in other places. It’s… not the place I really want to be at.”

“I put in a request to reassign you to my mansion this morning.” Mel admits, “I would have done it sooner, but I didn’t have a chance to talk with you about it. The reasoning I gave is that you’re in a relationship with a family member so you’d be more comfortable with me.”

“Family mem… Y/n?” Vi perks up.

“Yes. According to Noxian laws, she’s technically family. And, I agree with Y/n that Piltover needs an overhaul.” She steeples her hands, “War is coming to Piltover, Vi. You need to make your decision before then.”

“Decision? There’s no decision I need to make.” Vi shakes her head.

“Your sister. Jinx.” Mel’s words startle Vi, “You need to decide if you’re protecting her or helping the Enforcers bring her to justice. You won’t be able to hold them off forever.”

“I know.” Vi sighs heavily, running a hand through her hair, “I know.”

~

You were running through the streets of Zaun, a child clutched to your chest because their life depended on it. It started snowing before it was predicted to and preparations hadn’t been finished. There were still families who didn’t have the proper items to keep them warm. You had gotten lucky while doing your usual rounds. You heard wailing in a normally abandoned area of the city. It was a place children were frequently left in when their parents couldn’t care for them. It was a very fragile situation. You’d either find a child sick and dying or a dead body. There were too many mouths to feed and not enough people able to care for them. The baby had been left swaddled in a blanket too thin to keep it warm. It was likely the only thing its parents could have found before leaving it behind. It was the sad reality of winter in Zaun. But, it wouldn’t be like that anymore.

“I’VE GOT AN EMERGENCY!” You scream the moment you see the Temple. You were panicking. You had wrapped the baby up in your coat hoping that the fur on the inside would warm it up quickly. But, you knew the signs of hypothermia. This baby might not survive unless it gets proper care.

“I’ll take it!” One of the acolytes intercepts you and you urgently hand the baby over.

“Hypothermia.” You tell her and she nods before running off with the baby. You watch as they disappear into the Temple before tuning into what’s going on around you. Dozens of Zaunites are waiting in line for their handouts of blankets and coats. There are various barrels burning around the area to bring warmth to the people huddled around them. You let out a long exhale, feeling a hand on your shoulder and turning to the person. Scar gives you a soft look.

“I know it’s hard.” He squeezes your shoulder, “We’ll get through this.”

“Thank you, Scar.” You pat his hand, “It’s a slow process, but we’re doing much better.”

“I’m sorry you had to cancel your date with Vi this morning.”

“There are more important matters than a date. Securing Zaun is one of them.” You give him a small smile, “My meeting this morning with Councilor Medarda was a long, but productive one. I’ve secured our assistance from Topside.”

“It’s still unbelievable that a Councilor wants to help us.” Heather comes over with two mugs of coffee in her hands, “Well, two of them.”

“Yes, Councilor Shoola. She’s been down here quite frequently to help.” Ekko startles your little group talking from above you. You look up to see him lounging on his hoverboard, eyes widening as he grins down at you, “What?”

“I hate you.” You giggle, reaching up to yank on his leg.

“I love you, too, sis.” Ekko chuckles, shaking your hand off his leg, “Besides, it’s 3 pm. You and Heather have somewhere to be. Sevika is already at the meeting with the Chem-Barons.”

“Oh, shit.” You curse, sharing a look with Heather before hurriedly downing your coffee. The hot liquid burned your tongue, but drinking something hot and bitter in this weather felt good. Scar takes your empty cup from you as you let out a content sigh. The warmth spreads through you and you rub your arms, remembering that you had removed your coat earlier for the baby.

“Oh, here.” Ekko tosses a coat to you, “I had a feeling you might need another one.”

“You know me too well.” You grin at him, pulling it on, “We’re going to head out now, but you better comm me if I’m needed.” You narrow your eyes at Ekko and Scar.

“Don’t worry, we know.” Scar pats your head. You nod.

“Remind me where we're going?” Heather tilts her head, as you say goodbye and lead her down an alley. You weren’t overly secretive about your powers anymore, but you still liked being discreet with the rifts.

“We’re meeting up with our friends in Piltover.” You let her step through first, following closely behind her, and squint at the sudden light in your eyes. Rifting in and out of the darkness was still a pain to get used to. With a snap of your fingers, you feel the tingling in your horns that signals that they’ve been hidden. Heather is crouched at the edge of the rooftop, looking down into the alley with interest. You crouch down next to her, curious about what has caught her interest so quickly. She points to the opening of the alley, a small cafe with outdoor seating resting at the mouth of it. You didn’t even have to ask her what she was indicating to because you could hear it—a Hex Crystal. It was calling out to you.

“Want another coffee?” You glance at Heather.

“I could go for another one.” She nods, “Besides, I like stealing shiny things.” That makes you chuckle and the two of you jump down from the roof. In another life, you and Heather would have been jewelry thieves together or something. It made you happy that she tended to keep an eye out for hex crystals, especially with her keen eyes.

The two of you link arms, giggling at a silent joke as you walk up to the café. You could smell the coffee from outside the building. It irritated you. Everything in Piltover was far better than the scraps you got in Zaun. Even the coffee beans sold to the people had a bitter taste to them. As much as you enjoyed some of your days up here, they would be tinged red with your hatred.

A bell rings as you slip inside, and you're enveloped with a warmth that's almost too much with a coat on. A quick glance has you confirming that people inside took their coats off. You end up in line while Heather goes to pick a place to sit. The sound of the Brackern within the crystal was making your heart ache. It’s very rare for you to find one outside of Jayce’s tools or workshops, so this wasn’t one you were passing on. Your fingers twitch but you keep yourself focused and give your orders. As you step to the other end of the counter, you hear Heather call out your name. You turn in her direction and see her sitting at a table with a girl who has light pink hair. They wave at you and you wave back, watching closely as they talk.

“Y/n?” Your attention is pulled in front of you, “One spiced mocha and one black coffee?”

“Yes, thank you.” You flash a smile, taking the drinks from the barista. You head over to the table Heather is sitting at and the Brackern’s song gets louder as you do. This was the girl with the crystal.

“Here you go. Black like your soul.” You joke, placing the drink down in front of Heather.

“Thank you, milady.” Heather winks, “I hope you don’t mind the company. This is Seraphine.” She motions to the girl across from her. You take a seat, meet the girl’s eyes, and watch as they widen in surprise. ‘Why would she be surprised to see me?’

“Hello!” Seraphine grins, “It’s nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you, too.” You nod. You let Heather carry the conversation, pitching in here and there when you feel like it. But, you notice that Seraphine seemed very interested in you. Her eyes would dart over to you while Heather was talking or she’d stare a little too hard when you were. Your drinks were almost done when you finally had an opening.

“My mother got them custom-made for me. Apparently, Jayce liked the challenge of making something that helps drown out outside noise, so he fulfilled her request.” Seraphine hands them over to Heather who inspects them. Casually, she hands it over to you and you feel your fingertips tingle with magic.

“The craftsmanship of these headphones is quite wonderful.” You run your fingers along the band, “You’re lucky to own one of Mr.Talis’ pieces.” You touch the crystal and feel it warm underneath your fingers. You see panic flash into Seraphines’ eyes just before she yanks it from your hands.

“Yes, well, I take very good care of it because of that.” Seraphine’s words come out rushed, “It’s also very special to me in its own way.”

“That’s good.” You smile at her before finishing off your drink, “You ready to go, Heather?” You look to your friend, who nods.

“Yup! We don’t want to be late for our meeting.” Heather stands and pushes her chair under the table, “It was nice to meet you, Seraphine.” She waves, intertwining her arm with yours. Dazed, Seraphine only manages to wave back half-heartedly and you and Heather leave the café. You walk in silence until you’re a good distance away.

“Can I see it?” Heather asks sweetly.

“Of course.” You hold out your hand, the crystal rolling out onto your palm, “She won’t notice it’s gone. The headphones will work normally, just not at the expense of a creature’s soul.”

“I can’t wait until you take out the Hex Gate.” She mutters, careful not to let her voice rise loud enough to be heard, “How many crystals would that be?”

“Hundreds, if Viktor is correct.” You glance at her, “He said he may be off by a couple hundred.”

“Viktor is never off.”

“Tell him that.”

The rest of the walk to Chrissy’s home passed by quickly. It was a quaint little townhouse not too far from the café. Her front door was painted yellow and had the letter C on it. You walk up to the door and knock before taking a step back so you’re not in the way. A couple of seconds pass and the door swings open.

“You’re right on time.” Chrissy’s smile is welcoming as she steps aside to let you in. You hit the snow off your boots before walking in. The inside of her home was a pretty shade of pink and covered in decorations. You take your coat off and hang it on the rack by the door, taking in all of the decor.

“You have a lot of stuff hanging.” You comment while looking at a painting of a Shuriman warrior.

“I’m allowed to keep anything old and unwanted from the Archives. Some of this stuff is from Piltover’s early days following the Runic War. Paintings and other creations from forgotten artists. Everything else is Shuriman.” Chrissy points to a ceramic desert hare, “Except for that. I used to have a pet desert hare when I was younger. It died but my parents had that made for me.”

“That’s sweet of them.” Heather smiles, “It must have been an experience moving here.”

“Very.” Chrissy nods, leading you upstairs, “Shurima is very different from here. It took me a while to figure out how to fit in.”

“Will you tell me more about it, sometime?” You ask, curious about the place the Brackern came from.

“Sure, I’d like that.” Chrissy flashes you a smile. You walk into an open loft that overlooks the front door. Two of the other girls were quietly waiting there, seated on various cushions and blankets.

“Hello.” You and Heather chorus.

“Hello.” They respond.

“Thank you for meeting me.” You sit down, accepting a blanket from Ves, “Today is officially the first day of winter, so it seemed like the perfect time.”

“What’s going on?” Niki asks, “Why today?”

“Winter is a time of extreme grief in Zaun. Children and adults are found frozen to death. With today being the first snowfall, I thought it would be poetic to bring you this warning.”

“Warning?” Ves shifts in place, her brow dropping in confusion.

“Yes.” Heather nods, “Our plans have been set in stone. Now, they’re encased in ice.”

“Starting tomorrow, we will begin disrupting life in Piltover. By the start of spring, we will be going to war.” You place a little flag on the ground. “I’m giving you a chance to protect your families. Every house you don’t want to be harmed should have one of these. No one will touch them.”

“I’m sensing a but.” Chrissy points out.

“But, that only works for the houses. Get your families out of here. Send them on a vacation for a little. I can’t guarantee their lives if their jobs put them in harm’s way.”

“There is a place we can send them. It’s a little island off the coast of here. It’s Ms.Medarda’s private island but I don’t think she’d mind if we use it.” Niki speaks up.

“Perfect.” You smile.

“Do you have any information for us?” Heather takes the focus.

“House Ferrous is always watching. Be careful.” Niki frowns, “Ms.Medarda cautioned me about that.”

“I witnessed some Councilors making a deal the other day. I’m not sure what it was about, but they all seemed happy. I’d recommend checking any upcoming decrees.” Ves sighs.

“Good job.” Heather praises them, “What about you, Chrissy?”

“Here’s the blueprint of the warning bell tower.” Chrissy holds out a rolled-up parchment, “It shows all entrances, exits, and where enforcers should be positioned.”

“This is exactly what I needed.” Heather smirks, “Thank you for getting this.”

You talk for a while about how to get their families out of here. Time off from their jobs, getting the flags on the houses, and even how to avoid suspicion from their bosses. You were impressed by how knowledgeable Chrissy was. It made you happy to know that someone from your childhood was doing well. You didn’t hold her being a Piltoven against her. It was the best life her family could give her. Those weren’t the people you wanted to pay and they would be protected when the time came.

A few hours later, you said your goodbyes. You were anxious to get back to assisting down in the Undercity. It didn’t sit right with you being away for so long during a time of need for your people. Heather went ahead when you realized that Chrissy wanted a private word with you. She pulled you aside into the kitchen, busying herself with the kettle.

“I really am glad you’re okay. There’d be some days where you’d be on my mind and I’d worry about you. About whether or not you were…” Chrissy trails off, nervously fidgeting with her fingers.

“Thank you for your concern.” You put a hand on her shoulder and give it a squeeze, “I mean it.”

“Did you really go through all of that? Is living in Zaun that horrible?”

“It’s not horrible. Don’t get me wrong, Zaun is a hard place to live, but we also do our best to enjoy our lives. I became a sex worker and I enjoy it.” You lean against the counter, “It’s the difference between the cities that isn’t right. Even something as simple as coffee. We pay $3 more and it tastes like burnt dirt. Here in Piltover, it’s smooth and rich with a nice flavor. We get what they don’t want.”

“I’m so sorry.” Chrissy lifts her hand to wipe her cheek and you realize she’s crying. “None of you deserve that. No one does.”

“You may feel conflicted about it, but that’s what this war is for.”

“I don’t feel conflicted. I’m just sad. My heart goes out to all of you. I hope the information I’ve given can help.”

“It’s helped.” You can’t keep the smirk off your face at the thought. Chrissy has supplied you with copies of building blueprints, especially the important ones in Piltover. It was essential to your plans. “It’s helped a lot.”

“Good. Now, don’t let me keep you. You should get back down there.”

“Don’t worry. You haven’t.” You two hug and you head for the door.

~

When you found Sevika, she was focused on whatever item she was working on. The room smelled of her fancy cigars and the spicy scent of her cologne. Sevika’s workshop was one of your favorite places to visit. Ever since she was freed up from the work that came with being Silco’s right hand, she had more time for herself. The weapons enthusiast that she is, Sevika spent a lot of time designing and upgrading things. A lot of the weapons being prepared came from her. So, you were curious to see what she was crafting now. She continued to impress you with her ingenuity and it made you happy to have so many talented people around you.

You leaned in the doorway, watching her move around and screw something down. She wasn’t one to sketch out her ideas. She kept them all in her head, so the walls and desks were much less cluttered than you were used to.

“If you keep looking at me like that, I’ll have to assume you’re here for sex.” Sevika says without looking up from her work. You giggle.

“If I came for sex, we’d be having sex.” You respond, walking over to stand next to her, “What are you working on? It looks volatile.” You say that because of the multicolored chemicals in various tubes. It seems to be an explosion of some sort, but not what you’re used to seeing from her.

“It’s for Jinx. With her birthday being tomorrow, I wanted to give her something extra.” Sevika smirks, her silver eyes filled with mischief.

“Oh, I think she’ll be thrilled for it.” You smirk back, glancing at the blueprints for the treasury. Sevika had made a copy of it and it was marked with various numbers. She had explained to you once that it was how she measured wall integrity. Which ones were load-bearing, how strong they were, and how much force it could take before it failed. All of it was calculated before it was given a number. “After all, you can never have too many party favors.”

“I don’t think Piltover will appreciate the surprise party.” Sevika chuckles, clipping a wire and rerouting it to one of the vials.

“Who doesn’t love a good party?” You lean down against her back, letting your arms drape over her shoulders, “Especially when fireworks are involved?” You can feel her shoulders move up and down in a silent shrug.

“Not that I’m admitting to it, but I enjoy a good firework display.”

“And our Chem-Barons?”

“They’re prepared to completely starve Piltover out. They’re strengthening trade lines with other countries and exporting more to them. By the time the cutoff starts, they should have enough money saved up to get through it.”

“All is going to plan then.” You purr, pressing a kiss to Sevika’s cheek. “Thank you for the hard work you’re putting in.”

“Hard work?” Sevika scoffs. “It’s just another day for me.”

“And tomorrow is a fun day for all of us. I hope you’re ready to enjoy the show.”

[weebsinstash]

I saw one of post about Valentino and I was think that even though he has social media account but I think he would hate memes unless it hasvsomething sexual with it.

So seeing reader in lingerie, and forcing them to do that sad cat dancing meme with cat ear/tail and either post on his account or blackmail them not to post it.

I'm sorry your getting harrased by the kiddies and trying guilt trip you on someone else's actions,/consequences

Sometimes I think of kind of specific scenarios to write or at least share and I'm never sure what to post because I still kind of cringe at myself all the time lol

I've actually thought about social media stuff w Val like, quietly stalking all your photos or posts to see what you're up to when you're not around him, and I've also thought of the juicy possibility of like, what if this account was intended to be secret so you have a lot of personal stuff on there, ranging from you meeting up with friends to wearing cute outfits to hang out. It's such a deeper more candid and personal look into your life and things about you that he didn't know before and he's creepin for sure, maybe even creating another account to save and like all your posts in secret, or just screenshotting things

(Tbh an idea I keep having is, since he's a pimp that works in the adult film industry, he clearly isn't shy about watching others 'perform' and things like that, so imagine as a yandere he's of course one of those that saves tons of photos of you, and they don't even have to be sexual, although those are his favorites. Like imagine the Reader from the hidden camera room idea a while back just stumbling on to like Val's phone left open or a drawer of a desk in his office open when you go to drop off rent or he takes you to his house briefly to wait on him while he grabs sometjing he forgot and you stumble into like a closet with like a photo shrine on the wall, and this is how you find out 1) oh hes crazy and 2) there are cameras in your room)

Although that being said i constantly flip flop between "Valentino would happily watch other people wreck your holes for either punishment or his entertainment and or profit" versus "he's too possessive to stand sharing you either anyone else" and really, isn't both good. I've honestly been meaning to redo my fic Pet because I didn't like the end result and I like the idea of him using a leash. Because he's so tall he can't exactly pull you by the arm so a leash can pull you around and humiliate you, he probably has a fetish for that and seeing you all teary eyed and embarrassed 😩❤️

If he's openly following you he never likes or interacts with anything you post unless it's to mock or tease you in some way, like you'll post something about a thing you like and he'll just comment 'cringe' or something vaguely similar, kind of like how he speaks to Vox tbh. I also think of "what if Valentino forces you to spend time with him and it kind of backfires on him because you get along with Vox really well and makes him jealous" or it becomes some weird poly scenario where he is kind of excluded (at least by you, or maybe you hate both of them, friends with Vox initially but enemies after he turns on you and decides he wante you as more than a friend and is just as forceful as his boyfriend)

Like one idea I've had repeatedly is, Reader is doing her thing where she's kind of having to wait on the big boss hand and foot, and Vox is in a poor mood glued to his phone playing a phone game because there's a special event going on and it's gonna end soon and he wants all the loot, and at some point Val is taking a phonecall and Vox looks over and you're finally getting to sit down and, your phone makes a sudden sound effect and he KNOWS that sound, you're playing the exact same game. Valentino comes back and you're both just kind of shoulder to shoulder to show each other your phones and compare teams and equipment, i think its be neat if you both had some sort of unit or character or component the other was missing and thus have an incentive to okay together and just a cute coincidence, maybe you're even getting some tips from the self proclaimed master of media that you didn't know before.

I also still like the idea of "Val goes through your shit and sees your lingerie/walks in on you wearing lingerie" and he decides "oh thats some kid bullshit, let me show you some REAL hot girl shit" and suddenly you're being pressured/forced into wearing like, garters, crotchless panties, thin see through material that he can rip his long fingers through

Another idea is. Imagine Reader just being kind of the errand girl/personal assistant to him, and one day he's on a set and the main actress is late, and you know how he is with his money. He's got all these actors and camera crew paid for their time and they're missing the main lead? And then in walks you with Vals coffee or some benign shit he asked for and, a little voice in his head is like, hm, you're cute, you're around the same body type as the girl who was supposed to show up. Maybe they should just... switch genres a little, do some improv, amd work with what has been provided to them...

Also what if Val deliberately gave you like high end mascara that wasn't waterproof so that when he makes you cry or you cry while getting fucked you just have those big black tear stains. He's probably freaky like that, wanting lipstick rings on his dick n shit while taunting you and telling you you're a mess 😩❤️

[ozrockbitway]

If Vale had groovy cards, what do you think they would look like/be the story behind them? 👀

Vale groovy cards...I eventually plan on drawing their Groovy art at some point. Im just drawing blanks on how to do it + I'd wana do a BG and make it SICK like an actual card. So...one day...eventually :')) I am drawing more recently so!! its a possibility!!

I'll focus on the 2 SRs I have for them I guess?? Considering the bday one is technically an interview so...not much story there?? Although for that one I'd like Grim to be the one interviewing them & have him in the groovy art too uwu/

Suitor Suit Vale!

It starts off with them fretting over their looks. Like a bit after they've all changed into the suits to go save Idia. Vale is just nervous cuz they don't usually dress up, but they also like it?? No time to appreciate it all though when the homie is in danger!

There's also talk on how to woo the ghost bride. I'm thinking that Vale ends up suggesting really good lines?! They just say it's cliched stuff from novels about princesses and whatnot but hey, those kinda things might actually work. I think Ace would try to prod them a little like, what would you say to get someone's hand in marriage, without 'cheating' aka using your novel knowledge. Do something from the heart.

To be continued in pt 2 lol

Commentary from Vale about how this tragic tale of the ghost bride finding her one true love would make for a good novel. Insert comments about oh please dont do it. They laugh...maybe they won't but no promises hehehe.

Ima dab me in some Corpse Bride reference here. sorta. Basically it's Vale on their way back to Ramshackle at night with the looming thought of how they never got to give their hand at wooing the princess. They take Ace's words to heart and try to think of something to say. Also a comment from either Rook or Epel, probably Rook about thinking about someone who inspires such thoughts (coughs Idia coughs)

They give a soliloquy, their own heartfelt confession and lines for a wedding. They get a bit embarrassed afterwards and glad that no one is around. But they're totally using that in the future.

haha funny bonus is if the Shroud bros hear it or something and Ortho just eye emojis at his bro like HMMMMMMMM lil bro knows what's up

I'd like their groovy to be like gets down on one knee and extends hand out to the player or something?? w/ the ramshackle background?? to be more shippy its them doing it to Idia B))

Starsending Robes Vale!

steals my own fic idea lol. sort of. but it starts off with Ortho asking about what Vale's wish would be despite giving/sharing it with Grim. They're honestly not so sure about it like?? The thought of having magic does come to mind and they say it but they know that isn't possible. So maybe something else? Ortho says to think on it and he'll grant it!

Vale ends up hunting for wishes with Ortho & Idia the most out of the selected trio. I know the Shroud bros get the wishes from the Leech bros, so Vale ends up hanging around them for a bit. The eels are so kind and willing to lend an ear to Vale's woes...at least they seem to be interested.

Vale admits that they don't know what to wish for. Floyd points out it doesn't matter since they don't get a wish anyway while Jade is softens the blow saying its all for fun and its not so serious. Conversation ensues and it boils down to Floyd's side saying be selfish or following after Jade's with his selfless wish. Ugh decisions!

to be continued...

The night of the starsending...

They're still conflicted on what to choose. Selfish and selfless. They're rarely the former, but the latter is so much easier. They consider the bros (Jade & Ortho) and their wishes. As they think on it they end up seeing the "shooting stars". And then it hits them.

The whole thing is done and Idia is probably trying to peace out but Vale spots them and is just like!! I know my wish!! Idia is like?? wishing is over but go off I guess??

My wish...is to spend as much time with my friends here.

They probably explain that they were tempted to wish for everyone's wish to come true, but they can be a little selfish and wish for that instead, right? It's silly, but that means they also get to spend more time with him and Ortho too!

tbh the image I have in mind would be similar to the header on my sideblog or just focusing on Vale making the wish with Idia in it uwaaa

[queen-of-midnights]

Dreamer of light

Masterlist

Word count: 1k

Chapter 8

"Training"

I had an interesting early morning, to say the least, as I woke up with none other than Morrigan on my doorstep, a pile of leathers in hands, trying to pass off as friendly, so I took up her offer on trying all of them on. Maybe she isn't so bad.

"So how are you dealing with it all? Your sisters, they..." she averted her gaze while I analyzed the outfits, mostly trying not to sound offensive when she describes them. Understandable.

"Are having a terrible time with it, indeed. But it was expected. It's unlike anything you may experience, I find out so many new things about myself, some worse than others. And then there is a matter of my new 'position' which is more than weird." She smiled sadly, reaching out a hand and placed it on my arm in support.

"Well, you can expect that given that you and your sister took parts of the Cauldron with you. And the fact that you nearly destroyed it is.. unbelievable. "She looked at me as if I cut the world apart and then sew it back together, amazement shone across her delicate features.

"So it's still standing?" I ask as I go to change, finding a white pair of leathers that I liked.

"From intel, yes." Morrigan sounded shaken, that meeting really gave her a good scare, it seems.

The leathers fit me like a glove, the white giving me the same comfort it did on the Mortal Lands. Thankfully that did not change. I take a moment for the first time since I became Fae to take in my features in, pointed ears, my brown hair had a strange kind of glow, the tattoos on my arms also shone quite brightly, although now they were covered, my features were more perfected and despite the fact that my limbs were slightly longer, that did not change my slightly more curved figure. I still find myself sometimes in small things.

My wings also looked completely ethereal, they somehow didn't get stuck while putting on the costume.

I sense Morrigan's worry from the time I spent alone confined in the bathroom with no word, so I sighed and got out, continuing the conversation.

"Unfortunate thing. I have to finish the job now. Again." She simply stared at me, her eyes giving dome sort of shine.

"You look.. wow." I giggle, so this is what left her speechless, huh?

"I also like it, a lot." She shot up, looking excited.

"You should wear it, then. Oh, I have so many ideas for dresses, we must go shopping!" Maybe we can become friends.

"I would love that, Mor. Thank you." She smiled and hugged me, leaving while reminding me that I am expected to be on the rooftop in 15 minutes, so I decided that I was also going to tale my leave not long after her.

The house led me to the roof easily, as I was yet to get used to my surroundings. There was no one there yet so I went along and sat in the middle of the fighting ring. Spreading my wings, feeling the coolness of the early morning air, feeling the sparks of life and energy led by the cool wind.

I felt at peace.

Then I heard multiple gasps and I turned to found my friends and sisters all wearing on surprised expressions. When Feyre saw the confusion on my face, she spoke.

"Look around you, Sienna." And then I saw them, the same energies I felt could now be seen, resembling shards of light. Now I understood their reaction. It was mesmerizing.

Slowly I took my concentration off of them and saw them turn into mist. With their departure, quietness settled in. But I could feel that one person was not entirely content, turning around to see Rhys' frown lessen trying to force a smile.

I dislike his pride, and I believed through and through that we could get along. Now I am seriously doubtful.

I had no time left to think about it as Cassian laughed loudly before picking me up and spinning me around, making me giggle in return.

"You're ready for training, little one?" He put me down gently while smiling widely.

"I believe so." At that Feyre put a hand on my shoulder, fake whispering.

"Sadly you won't say that after the actual training." And with that we began.

It is quite unfortunate that Feyre was right, training was extremely difficult, especially when I was not particularly athletic.

Warm ups were decent, mostly because they were meant for beginners. But after, when we worked on my back muscles, especially those of my wings, I can wholeheartedly admit that I have not felt such pain in a while.

"Have you had the instinct to take flight ever since you got them?" I nodded.

"Every single day. Why do you think I pick forests as my place for my walks?" He grinned.

"Smart choice." He patted me on the back as I winced, my muscles already sore. He gave me an apologetic look.

"Seems we'll have to leave that for another day. Go and fresh up, Amren is waiting for you. You'll need your luck then." He seemed pained only by the thought, which was understandable as they had no idea about the likes of us, although they still see me as the little sister. All but one.

"Unfortunately, I don't believe in luck. Thanks for everything, Cass." He hummed, turning back to his own devices.

With that, I left for my room, ever muscle in my body sore, I basically had to drag myself to the bath, which was already filled with water and flower petals, as well as scents, lilac, rain and sea salt.

The warmth was all I needed, although, I had one thought in mind, how in the world would I dry up my wings to not look like a disheveled duck?

[tm-trx]

currents.25/2023

selections from my week in media [18-24 june 2023]

Click through for kpop ramblings, underwhelming dramas, entertaining dramas, and way too many parenthetical thoughts.

[anticipating]

SHINee - It’s finally comeback week! Maybe we’ll get a performance in the suits? And I’m excited that Minho & Taemin will be on Amazing Saturday.

[listening]

Bouncy / ATEEZ - It’s an earworm at this point, but I’m not mad about it.

Pentagon - Based on this post, I made up a bunch of playlists and have been working my way through them [standouts so far: Like This, Daisy, Shine, Do or Not, and Critical Beauty]. I like them, although I will say they sound “stereotypically kpop” to my ears right now. I don’t consider this to be a bad thing, it’s just that it’s what I would have expected kpop to sound like before I actually started listening to it. For reference: the first kpop I heard was SHINee thanks to Boys Over Flowers, but BTS is who got me started listening to it. Then I figured out who SHINee were and have mostly stayed there. I tend to like groups with clear-cut ‘leader’ voices* so SHINee is exactly what I love.

But it is still early days, and I have not watched any of Pentagon’s promo content so I have very little idea who the members are or what their voices sound like (that said, there is one guy that is starting to stand out - Kino I think?). In that vein, if you are their fan please feel free to send me links (or tag me). I’ll be looking for guides to watch too, but I’m sure some are better than others.

*What I’m calling groups with one or two people whose voices are distinct enough to stand out without knowing the members (whether that person is the official ‘leader’ or not). SHINee is of course my prime example, with both Jonghyun’s and Onew’s voices clearly standing out. This isn’t a quality or value judgement, my ears are just very good at voice recognition so that’s the thing I focus in on most of the time.

TL;DR: Pentagon is great and I want to keep listening/learning until I know them better. (I wasn’t kidding about the playlists. I think I’m up to six. LOL)

[reading]

An Elegant Solution by giraffeter - MDZS fix-it - reread

[watching]

The First Responders - If I had known it ended on a cliffhanger I would have waited until season two was out (MDL says it’s coming August 2023). It was mostly okay. There was a corruption subplot that wasn’t integrated well at all and felt shoe-horned in. On the flip side, I really liked Dojin, the firefighter of the lead triad. Said triad is a great candidate for ot3-ness (which I loved), even though the show went with the tired old love triangle trope. The cases of the week were all interesting and heart-breaking by turns.

King the Land - This show is still firmly in romcom territory and honestly I’m loving it. I haven’t watched a chaebol kdrama in awhile, so the tropes aren’t old or annoying, but instead cheesy and funny.

Love Tractor - It’s still just okay. It’s a critique cliche, but the two leads feel like they are in different dramas. One is in a light and cute country mouse/city mouse romcom, the other is in a moody finding yourself YA romance. (It will surprise no one who has read anything in my #tmtrx watches drama tag which one I prefer.) The appearance of the boyfriend this week was the highlight of the episode. That final conversation was so so good. I hurt for both of them. It’s a painful truth that high school-to-college relationships rarely work out.

Shigatsu no Tokyo wa (Tokyo in April is) - I think I should have waited on this one. We’re two episodes into an eight episode show of 30-minute episodes and I’m getting the slow drip feeling. The problem is that I love it so I’ll probably keep torturing myself by watching week to week.

SHINee World IV concert - Wow. SHINee is back! It was an incredible concert. They really are live vocal kings.

Step By Step - Fits neatly into my ‘delicious angst’ file. What a great episode.

W Two Worlds - Rewatched the whole series this week. I love it so much. I wish they’d made a tie-in manhwa (or at least printed a collection of the manhwa art), because I love the art style they used for it in the show. I also wish the boxed set wasn’t so ding-dang expensive because apparently it includes a director’s cut?!

previous Currents posts

[writer-akihiko]

so mc running away i love it the angst 👌 so if its alright can you the same but with the dorm leaders?(pls do a good ending my poor heart cannot take it-༎ຶ‿༎ຶ)

Dorm Leaders + MC Running Away

So I apologise for the lack of happy endings, if you want to call it that. The scenarios turned out much more different than the First Years probably because of the power gap I had in mind. Also, for anyone wondering, the Vice Dorm Leaders will have a shot of saving you next! When I get to it... Cut for length. Also please help to share because I limited the tags!

Warnings: Character Death [Not you or the main boy], mentions of abuse and emotional manipulation [On the Reader] and violent actions [The Dorm Leaders]

"I'm not going back."

"Wh... What?" He was astonished. "YN... I've looked far and wide for you- please-"

No words left his mouth as you stepped away from him, tears in your eyes and you were going to make a run for it again.

Malleus Draconia

Your words struck a chord in him. He didn't mean it, but when you said that you weren't going back, he almost lost control. What did you mean you weren't going back? You promised him to be his Queen!

No... he's not accepting this. His Queen deserved better. His larger hands encircled your wrists, stopping you in your tracks. No matter how much you tugged and pushed, Malleus' strength was beyond you. In your sole despair, you fell in his embrace.

Every ache and injury struck your core, as you cried your heart out. "I can't go back Malleus," you whimpered. "I... I'm sorry."

Your hands gripped tighter onto his clothes. "I don't mean to fight against you, I-"

The Fae Prince sealed your bruised lips with his own, pulling your smaller form into his lap as he took in the moment of the bittersweet, longing kiss. "YN... listen to me," He said, his own ice cold tears falling onto your cheek, healing your wounds. "You never have to apologise for your suffering. Not even to me."

Malleus held you close as you drowsed off. The gentle smile hardened into a growl, as his back arched, black wings bursting out of his body. Malleus, in his dragon form, summoned the thorns to protect you, holding you as if you were his personal dragon hoard…

The principal, or more accurately the culprit, Dire Crowley was a fool to step out. It disgusted Malleus to his very core, his claws setting the very ground on fire as Crowley stepped closer. No words were exchanged between them. For all the suffering you faced, it was to be paid in tenfold as the dragon took a deep breath, releasing the fire in his chest.

"It was a fraction of her suffering…"

Riddle Rosehearts

He was ballistic. Riddle had been eager to bring you back immediately, but the sheer refusal and attempt to run away made him think that you hate him. He was blaming himself, sobbing to the ground.

Riddle's breakdown made you stop. No matter what you did, you still love him. Riddle's hiccups of sobbing paused at the feeling of your arms wrap around him. He wanted this, he wanted your warmth, he wanted- no… he needed you so badly he'd ceased to function without you.

"I don't hate you Riddle," You said, kissing his tears away. Your pretty Queen of Hearts had ruined the uniform he so proudly kept up with and Riddle himself was unkempt. Riddle cradled your sore body, letting you tell him your stresses and your breaking point abused over and over again by Crowley.

Riddle's heart softened ever so much for you, as he realised that he was to a fault as well. It was then he started to cry for you. "YN… I… I lost control. I know I can't be forgiven for the stress you went through so-"

"Rosehearts! You found her, how wonderful!" The jovial Principal cried out. In his hand was a magic tracking spell and that's when Riddle was struck with guilt once more. He doomed you, again. He… no, he refuses to end it this way.

Your loving self became meek, frightened by the aspect of being under Crowley's care once more. You trembled, reaching out to the hem of Riddle's coat. "Riddle… Please don't let them take me…"

He pulled you up, whispering to you. "When I cast my magic, run YN."

"Ridd-"

"Never thought you'd defy me, Rosehearts. Being a law abider and all~"

"Off With Your Head."

Kalim Al-Asim

"Y-YN?"

Kalim desperately hung onto your ankle, on his knees, begging and bargaining you to stay.

"YN… Please don't leave me again," He begged. "I'll… I'll stop dragging you to parties! I'll get you anything you want just please… please come back to me."

His tears wet your foot, as his grip left light marks on your ankle. Kalim never meant to harm you. He was so desperate to make you stay, but in his heart, he knew that he didn't have the strength to keep you with him if you desired to leave.

"How could you think that?!" You cried out. You stooped to Kalim's level, tackling him in hug so hard that he crashes to the ground. "I… I'd never leave you if I had the choice! I couldn't stand NRC anymore…"

You sobbed into Kalim's chest, wondering when it'd all end. You could never refuse Kalim, but what about everyone else? What about Crowley? Your spine shivered at the monster's name, wanting everything to disappear except for you and Kalim.

Kalim didn't know what to do. He didn't understand why Crowley would do such a thing to you. If Crowley was causing you such pain… He'd just have to get rid of the problem. You only deserve the best, after all. It's not his fault, nor is it yours.

You had cried yourself to utter exhaustion. Kalim gently wrapped you up in his jacket, cradling you to his chest. As if clockwork, Crowley appeared to the heartwarming scene, simply glad that you were going to be returned.

"Al-Asim, Dire should patch her up nicely-"

"No."

Crowley coughed. "What was that?"

"I said no," Kalim reiterated. "I have no reason to listen to you…"

"Since YN and I aren't your students anymore."

Azul Ashengrotto

How grateful he was to find you near the water. He almost turned red at the thought of you willing to search for him. Azul never thought you'd long for him this way, but you knew him, and you knew him well.

As if on cue, you looked beyond the trees to see your beloved, running from the sandy shores barefoot to be caught by your precious Azul. Azul doesn't have the best reflexes, trying to catch you without hurting you.

Azul took one good look at you, and the sight was enough to make him cry. Messy hair, cuts and bruises littering your skin possibly from running through the rocky forest, feet with sores from rocks… and tearful, sorrowful eyes.

Not an inch of sadness deserved to touch you. That was one of his core beliefs. He didn't say anything to prompt you to tell about what you'd been suffering. He knew. He knew every line of the story, and it made him ever so guilty that it led to this. If he just paid more attention to you, or at least try to.

Azul offered you everything. An ear to listen and his body for comfort, with his arms wrapping about you. If the simple action was enough for your forgiveness, he'd do it over and over again.

It was for a moment Azul held you, before running the water with you in tow. From the forest emerged the tweels, but what was behind you made you scream. Crowley, with his magic, retaliating against the twins' magic.

Azul wrapped you around his tentacles, drifting further into the ocean with you. He bent down to whisper in your ear. "YN, close your eyes. Don't look."

You shut your eyes tight as you did, hiding yourself in Azul's chest, away from the scene.

"May we never see you again, Crowley."

Azul and the twins in their merforms plummet into the ocean, deep down where Crowley would never come to touch you.

Idia Shroud

He wasn't surprised that the huge robot scared you. It was his secret project after all. He immediately let himself out of the robot, but he was hesitant to step into the forest. Idia was scared, but he still had to protect you!

"Y-YN..."

"Idia!..."

You stopped running, seeing your boyfriend pop out of the robot. Idia was quick to get over his reluctance as his panic shifts to your injuries instead. He wanted to cry out of joy from the mere chance of finding you.

Idia tried to treat your wounds as best as he could with the emergency kit conveniently equipped [he really did think of everything] although his wrapping technique was unkempt at best.

Idia's attempts to heal you made you forget of all the suffering. You couldn't help but laugh, realising how much you missed Idia. He knew that you needed this time. Oh, how he wanted to whisk you away...

But he might as well. You're his, right?

Crowley didn't get close to reaching you. Idia thought of it all. He tracked every move the principal made, fooling Crowley to think that Idia was with you the entire time, with the tracking device that Crowley so faithfully gave him.

"How desperate... it's honestly funny..." Idia scoffed at the idea of Crowley getting to you.

With the S.T.Y.X androids, Idia confronted Crowley, who was in sheer confusion.

"Crowley… burn in hell."

Leona Kingscholar

Leona didn't hold back. He couldn't believe you would say such a thign to him… The only conclusion he reached to was that you hated him. You hated his very core, just like everyone else… He was scared. It frightened him to the core that after everything he did, you still hated him.

"YN… stop fucking around with me," He said, grabbing onto your wrist. He wasn't about to throw a tantrum then and there. He had to get things straight. "Hey… tell me. Was I just a waste for you?"

"W-What are you talking about Leona?" You pushed against his chest, trying to get some distance but Leona was way stronger than you. The lion couldn't listen to reason. He simply went on about how you must've hated him, and how much you despised him.

"Did I mean nothing to you, YN?" Leona was shaking, his shoulders trembling from the mere thought of hearing those words.

You wrapped your arms around Leona, pulling him in close. "I never did… How dare you think that you stupid lion?!" You said, sobbing your heart out. You were equally hurt, but you never once thought Leona would think such a thing.

The emotional reunion was interrupted by the principal himself, pretending to be moved by such a scene. The false pretense of safety caught on to you, and you were sent into a panic, clinging onto Leona for fear of your life.

"I hate you!" You yelled, your body crumpling to the ground just as Leona caught you. "I hate you, I hate you. I don't want to go back, don't make me!"

If you were to scream anymore, you might collapse from exhaustion. Leona was quick to carry you in his arms, holding you close to his chest, where you were comforted by his heartbeat.

"Hoi, good for nothing principal," Leona called out, a single claw drawn out, igniting his Unique Magic.

"Move before I turn you to sand."

Vil Schoenheit

He was stunned to see you in such a state. He called out for you, and you stopped in your tracks. Was he that incompetent that he can't keep you with him? Did he not treat you right? Was his mere presence just torture for you?

Vil couldn't keep it in anymore. He needed to know. "YN… why won't you come back? Tell me, is it my fault? Am I not worthy of you?!"

The once prideful queen fell into shambles of insecurity as his mind won't stop painting images of you walking away from him, of you calling him your doom, of him being your captor… No, he didn't mean it…

"Was I the villain in your story?! WAS I?!"

Vil had never cried as much as he did. He needed to know that you didn't of him as a nuisance. He really was worthless if he made you feel unwanted… so please, he needed an answer.

"How could you think that, my love?"

You stooped to Vil's level, brushing away the tears that ruined his makeup with your very hands. Oh, your poor Vil… You were too selfish, thinking of your own suffering. With Vil in your arms, you felt whole once again. You gave Vil your actual answer, relenting every moment of your stress that stemmed from Crowley.

Oh… how his sweet potato must've suffered. Vil had a stuck of guilt, considering that he was under an Overblot as well. No matter, he had to make things right. For your sake, for his love's sake.

"YN, Crowley is trying to find you. But I… I have to set things right," He said, pulling you up.

The rustle of leaves had you on guard as from it came Dire Crowley, revelling in the scene.

"Schoenheit. You are supposed to bring LN YN to me immediately as I ordered."

Vil for once scared you. It scared you how enraged he was, and your heart wrenched at seeing the ink droplets by his hand.

"Vil, don't you dare-"

He turned back to you, whispering for you to run to Rook's safety. "Don't cry, my love."

You tried to hold the tears once again as you saw Vil shifting forms to an ink-like mess, this time his rage directed at Crowley. You could only run away, praying in your heart that Vil was safe.

[doriana-gray-games]

Mini romance guide 💖 Chapter 1 to 2

Hi! I thought I should make a mini game guide to show some of the romance options that you might have missed, especially if you are playing a shy, oblivious, or tsundere MC :)

Not updated for Juli update yet!

First things first, some clarification:

There are a lot of options that give romance points, but managing to get romance points (when you don't want them) OR failing to get them (when you do want them) will not ruin your playthrough! Worst case scenario you will get an RO that confesses to you, (tho that is unlikely with low romance points), and then you can turn them down without any harm done! Or, if you get few points, perhaps you will have to do the confessing (and some convincing that you do care about them, like that, despite not showing it much...) 😅

A simplified version of my plan for the romance routes are kind of like this: (hi=high, lo=low, mi=medium)

Hi Romance + Hi friendship (love)

Lo Romance + Hi friendship (friendship)

Hi Romance + Mi friendship (passion/crush)

Hi Romance + Lo friendship (hate/lust/bickering-love)

Mi friendship (acquainted)

Low friendship (enemies)

Mi Romance (interested)

So if you are going for a bickering relationship with Lestrade, the meaner you are, the more I recommend gaining romance points—at this point in the game there is no choice that locks you out of the Lestrade romance!

And the romance "gates" will be quite low, at least for MC to confess from a friendship path (although it varies for RO to RO). Watson will only require some romance points to accept a confession—but they will require more to start getting jealous of other ROs or to confess themselves etc.

The romance options guide:

In chapter 1, there are only three choices that give romance points, which are all with Lestrade (and they don't give a lot), but the choices are:

- "Hello to you too, ${lestradeName}." (when you first meet them)

- "Do you?" (when discussing the witness's occupation)

- "You're blushing..." (when discussing the witness's occupation)

(*there are different forms of romance points, and some other relevant variables, but I will only talk about the most general and common one!)

This is only some of the available romance points/choices!

Non-forward romance options:

#which blossomed into an unbreakable bond between kindred souls. + 1 Watson romance

#"$!{lestradeName}..." I whisper softly by their ear. + 2 Lestrade romance points

And I realize that one seems forward—but after choosing it, the MC can then choose why they did what they did, which can be shy/oblivious/other.

#I find myself drawn to the gaze—intoxicated by its depth. + 1

#"Thank you for thinking of me for the case, $!{lestradeName}, you are a good friend." I say, although the word 'friend' feels... lacking. + 1

#"My saviour." +1

#"No?" + 1 (after calling W attractive)

Shy romance options:

#I thought I was being considerate by waking them gently... now I feel all embarrassed... +1 L

#"Y—Your hand, John/Jane, is still on..." + 1

#You blush, furiously. + 1

#You feel your skin warm something furious. + 1

#"..." + 1 (after calling W attractive)

#"..." + 1 (after telling W not to get involved with anyone)

#"I do not like the idea, is all..." + 1

Oblivious romance options:

#I thought I was being considerate by waking them gently... now I feel all embarrassed... + 1 L

#You blush, furiously. + 1

#You feel your skin warm something furious. + 1

The Watson kiss scene has the ability to, afterwards, choose motivation/method which are at least oblivious, I would say.

#Deduction— (when you ask Watson on their love live, tho it needs at least one romance point to appear!) + 1

—it leads to this:

"You have a marker of... [i]affection[/i] on your face. It is common with the male/female species when in a relationship or courting another. Are you?"

#"You are an attractive man/woman of appropriate age. It seemed... likely." + 1

#"That is obvious, Watson." + 1 (after calling W attractive)

#"Of course, Watson." +1 (possible oblivious) (after telling W not to get involved with anyone)

Tsundere romance options:

#which blossomed into an unbreakable bond between kindred souls... though I would never say such things out-loud. + 1 Watson romance points

#"B—be quiet. You are twisting my words!" + 1 (after calling W attractive)

#"B—be quiet. You are insinuating things I—I never implied!" (after telling W not to get involved with anyone) + 1

#"It would interfere with our work." I say, not really fearing for the work at all... + 1

#"No!" (after telling W not to get involved with anyone) + 1

I would recommend gaining at least one romance point with a potential RO if you want romantic flavor text, unless you want to go full friends to lovers where there is no romantic subtext until later.

And on the opposite side of that, if you happen to gain a romance point when you do not want it, it won't matter too much, and i'll create a romance wipe in chapter 3 where you remove such points by choosing a particular choice.

I'm open to adding more flirt options if you tell me where you think it is missing <3