#listening to labyrinth while making this was um a lot

[waywardted]

EMMA (2020) | TED LASSO (2020 - ?)

[frostironfudge]

Labyrinth - Bucky Barnes - Chapter IX

Summary: labyrinth (noun), a complicated set of paths and passages, through which it is difficult to find your way. Bucky and You would do anything for Steve and Wanda, your respective best friends. In an attempt to avoid a tradition Steve and Wanda come up with a lie involving their best friends.  A lie, that involves building a labyrinth. Bucky and You begin to build but will you two find your way out or be caught in it?

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader, (Modern AU)

Word Count: 13.2 k || Dividers: @firefly-graphics

Warnings: chapter contains 18+ moments, minors DNI, fluff, sm/ut, dir/ty talk, p in v, hot bucky, swearing, soft bucky, protective bucky, drinking, a few derogatory comments from sharon and brock, feels cause wedding speeches. discussion about financial troubles, illness and surgery of family members

AN.: last chapter before the epilogue

Main Masterlist || AO3 || Fic Masterlist || Fic Playlist

New York City greets you with looming clouds, rain and traffic. Parting at the airport with the remaining couples, staring out of the taxi window and at the racing droplets a sigh escapes your lips. 

It isn’t tired, nor is it one of relief but one that serves as a reminder. The reminder made you smile. Your thumb traces the ring, now that harbours a promise. 

A promise of truths instead of lies. 

A promise backed by feelings of love, reciprocated love. 

A promise that Bucky and you would make it out together.

Puffin: Thinking of you, my Sunshine. 

The message makes you giddy with happiness. 

Puffin loves Sunshine. 

Bucky loves you, you! 

Puffin: you look adorable grinning at the screen, I didn’t realise I had that effect on you. 

The grin drops and you search around the packed cars in the unmoving lane. How the hell did he know? 

Puffin: Searching for me in the crowd? I’m in your heart, raza de soare.

Sunshine: You’re incorrigible. Pulling my leg like that. 

Puffin: I had to pull your leg to get you to the edge, you denied me my pre-flight meal. 

You shiver at the reminder, clit pulsing in memory of Bucky’s lips latched around it. Devouring you, the moans he prayed against you. Hands holding your hips, keeping you in place. 

Sunshine: aiwurjd

This fucking man will drive you to the brink of insanity. 

Sunshine: i meant um

Puffin: 🤣🤣🤣

Sunshine: oh you aren’t getting any meals now. 

Puffin: Sunshine, you can’t deny me. 

Sunshine: watch me. 

Puffin: watch you? 

Sunshine: yeah, you will know what I mean. 

You had taken a few pictures in the pretty lingerie that was stuffed deep into your suitcase. It was supposed to be what you wore during your first night there but that turned to well, almost freezing and then being saved by Bucky. 

You had however taken pictures while packing. Selecting three you send them off to Bucky, your face hidden in them but he would know it's you. 

Puffin: qeuejdh

You giggle happily. 

Puffin: where have you been hiding this pretty set? Why was I not allowed to take it off of your body with my teeth? Or rip it? And then buy you a new one and rip it too?

You can just imagine him shifting around in his seat. 

Sunshine: oh just this was in my suitcase…

Puffin: And you did not put it on?????????? Is this how you treat the love of your life? Is this how I am to be treated by the love of my life??? 

Puffin: lots to unpack in that message but I mean every word. 

He begins to video call as you type out the reply. Connecting the headphones you answer. Bucky’s face pops up, his hair is slightly dishevelled but his eyes are bright. A smile on his lips. Those kissable, love confessing lips. 

You smile back, “Hi.”

“Don’t hi, me, I’m mad at you! I could have unwrapped you like the best fucking present and you deny me?” Bucky places a hand on his heart to convey his feelings of betrayal.  

“Overdramatic much?” You shake your head but laugh at his antics. 

“Sunshine, I meant what I said.” He adds, expression turning serious the way it does when he really wants you to listen. 

“I know.” You hope your expression conveys it. 

That he knows, you know because it is true for you too. 

“Good, I was beginning to think I’d have to change cabs.” The camera shifts and you stare at yourself looking into the phone. 

Blinking several times, you look at the side, sure enough Bucky grins and waves. His laugh thrums through you. You wave back at him and shake your head at his antics. The traffic clears and the two of you watch as the roads diverge, taking you to opposite sides of the city.

“I miss you.” You tell him, thumb running over his face.

“I miss you too.” The smile isn’t happy but one of solemn acceptance, “I’ll meet you soon enough okay? Work needs to be–great just got called in for a zoom meeting.” He grumbles, the screen blurring as Bucky switches apps to reply.

The call drops and he sends a string of texts, you assure him that it's okay. Soon enough as your apartment comes into view exhaustion creeps along your body. 

The couch is covered in pillows. Your delivery app says the food will be here in five minutes. You’re aching to tuck into the comfort food and the comfort film ready to play on your laptop.

Deciding to text a picture to Wanda and Bucky of your plans seems ideal.

Wanda was AWOL understandably so, the family surprised them with a gettogether, luckily Sharon and Brock didn’t make the cut. 

Wanda: ugh, I love my family, but I just want to go home and cuddle stevie.

You: cuddle? [insert corgi giving side eye GIF]

Wanda: we can do things before cuddling

You: there’s my Wanda!

Wanda: any cuddling involved on your end?

You: Bucky’s stuck in Zoom conferences, apparently another client is sceptical and Darcy requested Yusuf to have Bucky come in on board. 

Wanda: [video attached]

You click play, Pietro pops up on screen, you laugh at his grumpy expression.

“You’ve betrayed me, sweet girl.” Pietro huffs, hands on his hips and now sporting a pout on his face.

You giggle. The doorbell rings, the video continues as you head to the door.

“I thought I’d play the long game but no, you had to let the guy sweep in and take what's mine.” He places his hand on his heart, “You wound me, Angel.” Pietro fake cries.

You laugh, “Hey, How are you– Bucky?” 

There Bucky is, hair tied in a low bun, a few strands falling out. He’s holding your take out bag and one of his own, but his pretty blue eyes are narrowed at your phone.

“Pietro.” Bucky says with such disdain. The video continues, “The grumpy man always had your heart.” Pietro continues, “He better keep you happy.”

“Pietro!” Bucky grins, happy with what he’s saying.

“And honestly if he fucks up I’ll sweep in and protect your heart–”

Bucky grabs your phone, shifting both bags to one hand; breaking you out of your stupor and cutting video Pietro off.

“Hey Pietro, her heart is already protected so better luck with someone else because even in another life I’m hers and she’s mine.” Bucky smiles satisfied with the video, sends it and then grins at you.

“I thought you were caught up at work?” You still stare at him.

Bucky shrugs, “I missed my Sunshine.”

You grab the take out bags, setting them on the little cabinet. Immediately you fling yourself at him. Bucky catches you easily, kissing the side of your head. His arms tighten around you. His face is buried in the crook of your neck.

Bucky carries you in, shutting the door with his foot. Your fingers card through his hair, undoing the hair tie he hums then sighs. He’s addicted to the way you feel wrapped up in his arms, no longer does he have to hold back his affection. No longer does he ball his hands into fists so that they do not seek you out more than the little slice of your heaven he allowed himself to be carried toward.

You pull away in the slightest, noses brushing as your eyes meet his, he licks his bottom lip. Eyes closed as your fingers trace his jaw. The entire day your mind went back to the moment he confessed but even more to the way you felt half asleep. 

Dreaming of this happiness. 

“If i’m still dreaming,” You whisper, “If I’m still dreaming Bucky,” he feels your lips brushing over his forehead, “then please,” cheeks, nose, “don’t wake me up.” 

“Sunshine,” He opens his eyes to the crack in your voice and the glaze over your eyes.

You shake your head, “You’re the love of my life too, Puffin.”

Bucky presses his lips to yours with an urgency that moulds into softness. There is heat underneath but neither of you make a move to burn in it. Opting to bask within each other. Hands lost in each other’s hair, trying to be as closely pressed as possible. Tracing over your back upon with stories of pleasure and stolen moments blaming exhaustion were etched.

When the two of you pull away, you’re straddling his lap looking down at his kiss bitten lips. Bucky’s tongue moves over his bottom lip, warm palm cupping your cheek. Blue eyes drinking you in, his heart hammering as your hand encases his own. 

The ring he gave you gleams, he beams brightly. 

“I love you.” He whispers, you lean into his palm. Smiling shyly at him, cheeks warming. 

“I love you.” You whisper back, kissing his palm. 

Bucky’s grin remains upon his features, the crinkles by his eyes have you fall a little more in love with this man.

There is so much more for you to discover and learn, likewise for Bucky towards you. The relationship would begin, not allowing the years gone by to get in the way. To make up for lost time but also not dwell upon it. 

“How’s Alpine?” You ask once the food orders are sprawled across the table, Tangled set to begin on the monitor. 

Bucky eyes the set up warily, using bigger books to prop the monitor, “She’s okay, I checked up on her, fed her treats and told her you’re officially my girl.” 

“Officially your girl?” You turn to him bemused. 

“She was very pleased, you will be getting a be my meowmmy card soon.” Bucky teases, then shakes his head, “I’d rant to her alot about you, usually after our meetings with Wanda and Steve.”

“Alpine’s your confidant isn’t she?” You smile at him, he nods. 

“I didn’t think I would have made a great cat dad, but she's just, she’s part of my whole world you know? She helped me so much it was lonely when I moved out. I had so much anxiety leaving my parents alone. Even though I was on a good paying job and we were out of ‘the financial trouble phase’.” He sets his plate down, you follow, then turn to him. 

In the weeks when lines blurred. He had told you quite a bit about his family life but not this phase. You knew him throughout all of this better never intimately. You never knew what he hid behind the scowls you threw at each other. The burning glares that singed everyone’s eyebrows off their faces. 

“Things were rough, with student loans, Becca’s and mine… Mom working two jobs, Dad’s condition had gotten worse because of the diabetes, ulcer on the leg…” he sighs, you rest your palm upon his, he intertwines your hands. 

“We were worried about surgery, if it became worse an amputation would be the only option.” He sighs yet again. 

“If it turns into gangrene and hampers blood circulation…” You trail off knowing this as well, “My dad had the issue with his foot… had to amputate three and a half toes.” 

Bucky’s eyes widened, his own mind reeling, there was so much you both still had to share, still had to learn, “I can’t imagine what you must have gone through as a family...”

“I’ll tell you all about it, but first I want to listen to you.” You assure him. 

“It healed though in time, I was in and out of the dorm with Steve, most days it was as if I was wasting money paying for the dorm. I worked up the nerve to speak to Steve and what he did was so fucking amazing I’ll never forget it. He told me he won some fucking keg drinking competition and that the frat house was paying for accommodation.” He laughs, 

“He lied ofcourse, covered my end of the expenses for two years while we dealt with things at home. When my laptop gave me shit and broke down. He got three new ones saying his mom ordered two extra on accident for Christmas. He made sure Becca had a new laptop the first year she started uni.”  

“He’s an amazing person.” You commend, your fingers playing with the ends of his hair. Bucky hums softly, urging you to continue. The soft touch provides comfort to him.

“He is, while I took up odd jobs, repairing stuff, call centre jobs, reviewing things, you name it. Steve tutored me in lectures I slept through, what free time I had during uni hours I kept myself in the library or study hall. Whatever I earned I was frugal. I put most of it towards my parents and Becca.” Bucky reminisced with a grin on his face, “She got hired and so did I right during placement week, both jobs are stellar in pay much more than the odd buck earned and things got better.” 

“I’m proud of you, Bucky.” You squeeze his hand. 

“Thank you.” 

“Then I got hired by Yusuf Khan. The commute was brutal from home. So I moved. However, things were good, but I unfortunately harboured too much anxiety that day, technically late at night when I found Alpine; I was contemplating leaving, which is why I was pacing the parking lot. Going back home even though it was at max a 45 minute distance.” Bucky chuckles, 

“Tiny little furball gave me so much love in the first interaction. When I gave her some leftover chicken bits, she stood on the kitchen island as if she owned the place. I knew I had to try. It may sound as if I got instant perspective, but that's not it.”

“She awoke hope within you, in that moment you finally had hope to think that things would get better.” You try to make sense of the feeling he may have had, when he nods you smile. 

“I went to therapy, got myself in order, invested well. Got us in much better positions, bought an additional home on mortgage, flipped it, sold it for a profit, bought a studio with the profit and rented it out to keep some active income for my parents and now its a few years since and I’ve gotten all I wanted, now I just want more with everyone I have.” 

It’s quiet for several moments when you reach for him cupping his face and then hugging him tightly. Bucky envelopes you in his arms, your sighs of contentment are an echo of one another. 

“I didn’t know how much was going on, Wanda let it slip that things were hard but every time I saw you, seeing how much you persevered through it all I always felt proud and happy for you. Even if we bickered or just gave the hostile silent treatment I was proud of what you did for yourself and your family.” You admit to him.

Bucky runs his fingers over your back, he can hear the honesty in your voice. 

“Tell me about your times now. I know we’ve covered why your contact is reduced with them.” He hopes the moment is safe enough for you to share.

A deep inhale and you close your eyes, “They didn’t approve of the baking business, I used to do it on the side for a little extra money and I enjoyed it alot. Pastry chef was the goal but then they convinced me to pursue well…”

“Get a ‘real degree���?” He offers, you nod against his shoulder, “I’m sorry you had to give up on that goal. Do you ever think of going back? Pastry school, I mean.”

“Sometimes I used to but, as I got more settled into the web design field I couldn’t keep it afloat.” You shift back, looking into his blue eyes that watch you with so much tenderness, “I took short courses during university breaks, those cooking for fun classes? Online stuff, books. Just wanted to learn how to make pastries and I did.” You smile.

“That's my girl.” His praise warms your skin and heart.

“The reason I stepped back was when all of dad’s health issues were going on, my brother did not step up to the task. It all fell on me. Mom was a wreck, my brother would rather be anywhere but at home. When I took the call for the surgery, the doctors said he would die because the blood supply had gotten very, very poor. They anticipated embolisms or infection spreading across. It was a split second decision.” You’re transported back to the ICU, monitors ringing, doctor’s words overlapping, and the nurse thrusting the consent form into your hands.

“Your decision saved him.” Bucky repeats what you’ve told yourself over and over, what the doctors told you and your family.

“It did, but my brother turned and twisted everything saying I gave zero respect to my mother or to him to collectively decide. My father thought I took the costliest way out. It got to a point where staying in that house had become horrible.” You sigh, “The year we met all this was going on… When things for us fell apart, it seemed as if it all was falling apart. I just wanted to be saved from it all.” 

“Beck came in then didn’t he? Pretending to be everything you needed?” Bucky hates the venom in his words but he despises the guy.

“He wasn’t everything I wanted or needed, those criterias were only met by you.” You rest your forehead against his, Bucky sighs.

“But he did swoop in. I did get caught up. I did ignore the red flags. All because I didn’t want to feel as horrible as I did. I already moved into the dorm with Wanda, then when I got my own job I found a dude subletting his place, and dating Beck was expensive. Only the finest of things, he’d make a face at handmade cards or mementos for a long time. I didn't realise I lost so much of myself in that relationship. When I went back home because things with Wanda were starting to get rocky, my brother said I should have sucked it up and stayed for the money.”

“That fucking asshole.” Bucky swallows, “I’m sorry–,”

“No he was an asshole and I said that to his face and left.” You nudge Bucky’s nose with yours, he gives you a soft kiss. 

“There’s more but that can wait for another night.” He kisses your temple. 

You nod, still curling up against him, the food for now forgotten as he presses play on the movie.

Teakwood candles burn in the corner curated by Wanda. The darkwood office is well thought out. Steve watches on as Bucky paces. The brunette riddled with nervous energy, unlike his usual stoic self. The papers that are in Steve’s hands are no longer gazed upon by Bucky. The words and graphs committed to memory. 

“Why are you so nervous? You've done it, the take over is happening.” The ‘corporate lawyer voice’ Steve uses is not unfamiliar. 

“I’m worried about the underlying personal issue,” Bucky finally stops the pacing, deciding to sit on the carpeted floor of his friend’s office, “Beck will retaliate citing that, but I have more than enough to throw him down further. As much as I want to hurt him…”

“You do not want to fight her battles for her?” Steve offers understanding the dilemma.

��Yes… I, It is personal. Beck made comments to me in our Finance Major, but what he put Sunshine through is arguably worse.” 

The two grow quiet again, Steve re-reads the papers, his firm knew of the acquisition, the main buyers had appointed them. The contracts were drafted by him and his firm’s best people. Under ironclad NDAs he couldn’t let Bucky know he was involved in the very deal his best friend was working hard to close. 

“I can’t believe you’re working with Tony Stark though.” Bucky pats Steve’s back, grins forming on their faces.

“I know, they might have us on board contractually, too.”

“Stevie, that's great news!” 

“I know, Buck, just this deal goes well and then we can get that contract. I’m trusting Y/N’s vision board.” Steve chuckles and Bucky’s brows furrowed in confusion.

“Oh yeah, she probably won’t tell you unless what she kept on the board comes true.” Steve explains.

“She had you working with Tony Stark on her board?” Bucky was going to ask you about this board.

“Technically she said she had herself seeing me work with a dream client of mine.” The blond grins, “NDA, I couldn’t tell her who it was just that it’s a big client.”

“So Sunshine has a secret vision board?” Bucky whips his phone out, offended he doesn’t know about the board. It was date night but he would question you. A few days had passed since the night at your house. You had been over at his place as well.

Alpine curling up on your chest as you lay your head on his thigh while watching a movie. Bucky smiles recalling the way your hair felt between his fingers as he carded through them watching you instead of the movie. 

He gazes back down at his device, an unread text awaits him.

Sunshine: I have an activity planned for date night! All the materials ready and we meet at your place

Puffin: I can’t wait, Sunshine.

Steve chuckles, “You aren’t demanding about the board are you?” 

“It can wait.” Bucky dismisses the thought away, typing that he would arrange for the food and drinks asking if you would prefer any cuisine.

Bucky was fucking glad you both had exchanged keys, because the sight that greeted him of Alpine and you dancing to Taylor Swift in his living room oblivious to his presence as he recorded this moment was worth so much more than he could comprehend. 

You notice Bucky, how could you not feel his presence the minute he would enter close to your orbit? Alpine’s blue eyes gleam at you as you sing off-key to the lyrics while holding her paw in your palm and pretending to waltz. Alpine huffs when she’s had enough pushing away from you and bounding up her dad’s leg to his arms. 

“It is a nice sight to come home to,” Bucky kisses her sweet little nose, the furball purrs happily.

“She is adorable.” You agree with him.

“I meant you, Sunshine.” He meets your gaze, smiling as he can pinpoint the signs of your blush, the way you momentarily break away from his eyes, tilt your head and then look right back at him, your irises not just harbouring the colour he so deeply loves but also a warmth that burns him, consumes him. Your own love for him.

“So what is this date you’ve planned?” He diverts, Alpine leaps out of his arms heading to her water bowl and then to her lounging spot near the window.

“A couple’s vision board.” You grin at him.

“A couple’s vision board?” He raises a brow, his earlier conversation with Steve returning to the forefront.

“Yeah, you basically cut out pictures of things you want to achieve or manifest and well–if you find it stupid we can just paint on the canvas…” You pick at the hangnail by your thumb, trying to divert your mind from chastising you for the stupid idea.

Bucky cups your cheek, making you look at him, his right hand interlaces with your hand that was picking at the hangnail. He squeezes it gently.

“Should we put in a warm, sunny getaway? I think we’ve had enough of a cold climate.” He kisses your nose, making you grin. You nod, kissing his palm.

“Mediterranean?” You wonder, he nods, grinning too.

You lead him to the set up done in the living room, behind the sectional, fully complete with a sheet on the floor to prevent paint spills. 

“Oh and should we sign it off as ‘Sunshine and Puffin’s’ or ‘Puffin and Sunshine’s’ Vision Board?” Bucky questions as he sits down, helping you unwrap the canvas, after he brings in his photo printer to be closer to you two.

“Puffin and Sunshine? Alphabetical?” You hum, going through images to find the perfect couple travel aesthetic. 

The process begins then, finding pictures of each thing listed and settling on an image or a quote the two of you equally adore to print and place onto the board. 

Bucky writes a list of things he wants the two of you to be able to do, he even downloads and prints a small picture of a wedding to sneak onto the board without you noticing. 

After a while of cutting and glueing and smearing paint across each other’s cheeks. Bucky rests his chin on your shoulder, his arms around you. The two of you watch the vision board with awe and then your eyes narrow.

“Did you put ‘Have sex on hotel balcony’ right next to the Eiffel tower picture?” You look at his side profile.

Bucky holds back a laugh, “Well, do you not want to? Be full of me? While the lights shine bright, twinkling? Mimicking the way pleasure thrums through your body?” His hands move then from your waist to your thighs, parting them. 

Calloused fingers moving along your inner thigh, “Tell me Sunshine? Do you not enjoy it when you’re bent over? Feeling me deep within you?”

Your breath hitches as his lips brush over the sensitive spot on your neck.

“People could see us, be oh so jealous of us. Two people so in love it consumes them. They would say our love and lust is brighter than their cities.” He cups your mound, the skirt pushed up to your hips, your panties pushed aside. 

Bucky moans as your arousal coats his fingers, “I want to feel you claim me in every corner of the world. Every city we visit, Sunshine, I want to be yours, I want you to be mine.” Your head rests against his shoulder, his fingers part your folds, his middle finger sinking into you.

“Bucky,” You plead, needing more.

“Right here, baby. You feel so good, taking my fingers so well.” Bucky adds another, you moan, your fingers wrapping around his wrist. When did he move your legs apart further with his knees under yours, you don’t understand.

You fall fully against him when his left hand joins in, fingers rubbing your clit as his fingers thrust into you. Your hips raise and grind against him. Pleasure blooming across you, Bucky watches in the reflection of his balcony window as you fall apart for him.

You come with a cry of his name, panting and bliss dragging you under. He doesn’t stop not until he has made you ride through your orgasm. You watch with a half mast gaze as he licks his fingers clean.

“Decadent, my good girl. My sunshine. Soarele meu.” Bucky watches as you turn, straddling him pushing down his sweats, greed driving the two of you. When he calls you his, it illuminates you brighter, turns you a little feral you won’t lie. You love it, he loves it. 

He smiles into the kiss you tease him with, that you haven't noticed yet, the picture he put of a married couple right next to a picture of the two of you.

Bucky moans into your mouth as you sink down on his cock, inch by inch. You whimper as he nips upon your bottom lip once he’s completely sheathed by you. Hands on your hips, your hands on his shoulders. 

You stay that way for a moment, foreheads pressed to one another's. 

“You tore my panties.” You huff realising through the haze.

“Sunshine, I’m a little preoccupied to even care about them.”

You narrow your eyes, clenching your walls, he hisses, his hands grip your hips and make you grind down. Your clit stimulated–you whimper and moan. He grins, your personal devil.

“Two can play, Sunshine,”

“I won’t move.” 

Soon your back is against the floor, legs around Bucky’s hips. 

“I can do the hard work, you just stay there and moan my name.” His cocky smirk sends a shiver through you, “Oh my pussy loves the idea.” He admires your cunt by softly tracing his fingers over your slick folds, tapping your clit and giving light thrusts.

“Bucky–,” You try to grab onto him, one hand pins down both of yours, you stare up at him. Anticipation pools in your belly.

“I told you, Sunshine. You just lay there and take it like my good fucking girl.” He brushes his lips over yours, you feel him pull his hips away, your walls clamp not wanting to let him go, he thrusts back in, his pace hard but slow. 

The sound of flesh slapping against the other, your moans, his grunts, your whimpers and his groans. Your neediness, his praise, his dirty words and your praise. Your worlds collide and shatter in the best way, pleasure breaks across Bucky and your skies. 

When he feels your orgasm take over your body, triggering his own, his hands grip your jaw making you look at him.

Bucky’s eyes close, he moans a prayer of your name. His hair falls across his cheekbones, your hand reaches up to stroke his cheek, his lips brush over the inside of your palm. 

At night, after your little nap, you go to retrieve the vision board, to tuck it away into his wardrobe. That is when you see it, the wedding picture, you write on a small folded sheet sticking it near the picture. 

It would be a little surprise for him, you’d pretend to not see the pictures, but whenever he sees the folded paper, he would know your answer to the unasked question. Three letters that would make him the happiest. Thereby making you the happiest. 

Yes.

You stare at Wanda, really give her a good hard look. She stares right back, her eyes roll yet again as she palpates your reluctance. Her lips part to tell you that it's okay but you hold up a hand.

“I am not using your wedding as bait.” You refuse her plan, she glares at you, “What are you glaring at me for? It’s your day!” 

Steve coughs from the living room.

“It’s your shared day!” You correct, then wince.

“Steve, stop eavesdropping! Go play with Bucky.” Wanda calls out.

“We don’t play–,” Steve begins,

“So why did I scramble to buy the damn PS5?” She counters.

Bucky guffaws and then yelps, then Steve yelps.

“Boys, anywho, come on, no other chance will you get, plus Sharon is planning to wear white.” Wanda adds.

Your mouth drops open, “That bitch!”

“Now will you please let us have their downfall at my reception? It will be my wedding gift.” Your best friend brings out her puppy eyes.

“You have my blessing to absolutely annihilate those shitheads.” Wanda grins happily as she watches your features change from reluctance to consideration.

You sigh, the rehearsal dinner was just done, the ceremony was the day after. Bucky had gotten the merger out of the way the news would break amidst the wedding reception. Steve’s team would take care to keep the ropes tight till he sent the message to allow the news to be published to the public.

“You’re okay with it?” You ask again.

“Look I have the main ceremony and who told you I won’t make it about myself–”

Steve coughs again.

“Myself and Steve! Jeez, will you let me complete sentences?”

“Sorry babydoll.” Steve calls out.

“Okay, let's get back at them.” You nod. Steve and Bucky enter the kitchen area again.

“Alright now, this is exactly how it will go down.” Wanda pulls out a rolled chart, unrolling it across the island top.

Bucky wraps his arm around your waist, “Ready for vengeance?” He whispers.

“With you by my side I’m ready for anything.” You look up at him, he smiles, his dimple showing.

“Aw cute, flirt later, listen to the plan first.” Wanda snaps her fingers.

“It’s all military time coded.” Bucky observes the steps.

“Well duh, I need my sunset beach picture of Steve kissing me as the minister declares us husband and wife. The beach resort was booked for the photo op.” Wanda looks at you with disbelief, “Are you sure you wanna date him?”

“Hey!” Bucky interjects offended.

“Wan.” You huff a laugh, giggling when Bucky looks at you offended as well.

“What I’m just making sure.” She raises her hands in surrender.

“Just tell him the plan, baby.” Steve kisses her forehead, “She’s just excited about being a mastermind.”

“Well no one is taking Sunshine away from me.” Bucky pulls you closer.

“No one can and no one will.” You assure him kissing his jaw.

Pink roses adorn the aisles, the breeze softly bellows across the resort’s private beach. The event management had put down the makeshift wooden flooring. Sand however had made its way onto sections but the altar was impeccable.

In the conservatory Wanda looks towards you, amidst the final check of her make up, the veil, her something borrowed, old and blue. Her assistant pours out a shot of vodka and the bride grabs it with eager hands. 

The two of you laugh as she downs the shot just before the Wan and Steve’s mothers each enter to check upon their daughter. 

Across, in the other wing of the conservatory Steve and Bucky share a drink. The two reminisce over the conversations about this fateful day. Bucky hands a small box sent over by Wanda to his best friend. The groom cannot help but laugh at the cartoon doodle socks with the note that said, ‘Incase you get cold feet. Don’t.’ 

Steve scribbles his own answering note back to Wanda which Bucky delivers in your hand. He waits as the bride and groom play this little game of passing the note along. The two of you indulge yourselves as well, exchanging kisses each time the note was delivered. 

You hear the soft aw when you pull away from Bucky. Outside the groom’s door. Sarah Rogers and Winnie Barnes stand there with beaming smiles on their faces.

Heat creeps over your cheeks, Winnie only grins brighter at you. Bucky’s arm rests around your waist as he lets you shy away against him. He places a kiss on your temple. His mother was onto his denial of feelings.

Calling him out in Romanian when he told her about your shared confession. The entire time you gazed between the mother son duo confused when Becca walked in, giving you a full translation because she heard the yelling match to her room.

Three days after returning from the trip

“She’s calling him an idiot.” Becca says, grabbing an apple from the fruit basket and offering you the bowl of strawberries. Your fingers intertwine as you twist them nervously. Gaze bouncing between mother and son.

Bucky says something with an exasperated expression and shakes his head. Winnie clicks her tongue and the back of her hand meets her palm to emphasise her point.

This goes back and forth and Becca keeps translating, its mostly funny to watch and hear because she keeps laughing every time Winnie is calling out the shared stupidity of losing six years.

“He said, ‘Yes, I was dumb to not resolve things before but the two of us were manipulated.’ Then mom said, ‘You were not manipulated you were a dumbass to not approach her directly.’” The mother and son look at Becca.

“And now they will begin to tell me off, Mom come on, you should be happy he’s finally calling her Soare to her face rather than muttering it in his sleep or when he’s absentmindedly telling us about her.” She defends herself and the tips of Bucky’s ears go pink.

“You… How long have you called me Sunshine?” You ask, Bucky glares at his sister, who only grins at him and blows a kiss to him.

“You and Wanda should hang out, she’d love you.” You comment as Becca jumps off the chair.

“I know, I love Wanda, she’s my hero.” 

Winnie had slowly stepped away, her happiness knowing no bounds.

“I’ve thought you were Sunshine since you brightened my day when I saw you first.” Bucky admits, you grin wider. 

The two of you ignore the squeals of his family. Bucky walks around the kitchen island. Hands cupping your face. 

“Sorry about them, they are just a little excited for me.” He brushes his thumb over your cheek bone.

“I think it's adorable. Plus Becca could be a wonderful interpreter.”

Bucky rolls his eyes, but his gaze is soft, “Come on, let's go to the bookstore, I’ll buy you all the books you want.” 

“You both are staying for dinner!” Winnie calls out, “I want to know your mireasă (bride) better.”

You raise a brow to Bucky, he scrambles and you worry about the word’s meaning.

“She said dragă, which means sweetheart. Try it?” Bucky encourages you, his fingertips trace your jaw, left hand, grabs the chair, manoeuvring it so he stands between your legs.

“That didn’t sound like dr-rea-ga?” You attempt to say it correctly.

“Mea Dragă, my darling or my sweetheart. It’s actually said as Dragă mea. Sometimes the rules of English come into other languages when speaking quickly.” Bucky easily covers his mother’s slip up.

“Dragă mea?” It sounds better as you say it this time.

“Good.” Bucky rewards you with a kiss.

“What other words do I need to know?” You ask him, “Wait, the most important words!”

“What?” He tilts his head in wonder.

“I love you! How do I say it in Romanian?”

Bucky chuckles, azure eyes brightening at your eagerness to share his language, “Te iubesc. Two words, eight letters instead of three words.” 

He repeats it, over and over. Letting you follow along as he breaks the word into parts then together. Till you get the pronunciation correct. 

“Dragă mea, te iubesc.” You say to him at the end of the night as he stands at your door, hands in his pockets, cheeks coated in the blush that makes you swoon at his beauty.

“Say it again, Sunshine.”

“Puffin mea, dragă mea, te iubesc.” You hardly get time to recover, his body moulds against yours. Lips hungry, ravenous in the most loving way. His hands are just as eager and wanton as your own.

The door closes, you’re held up by Bucky. Your head moves to the side in pleasure, you don’t notice the frame of the order that saved your business tilts as his thrusts are frantic, the two of you repeating the words in Romanian and English. 

When the event planner gets a whiff of the notes exchange programme Bucky and you are shooed away and the bride and groom are warned about the time constraints. 

The crowd is seated, cell phones tucked away with a scary looking bouncer to allow only the photographer to take pictures. The bridesmaids and groomsmen walk down the aisle separating at the altar. 

Your arm looped with Bucky’s both of you making sure you had the vows, rings and anything else needed to make the ceremony proceed smoothly. The song changes and you look at Bucky and then at Wanda.

The string instrumental is from the first song the two of you danced at the party, Counting Stars by OneRepublic.

“Our,” your throat constricts, Bucky smiles nodding. “Our song.”

You look back at Wanda with gratitude, she smiles at you, “Now go, I’ll be there in a sec.”

The two of you step out, the chorus of the song plays as the two of you walk towards the altar. Bucky can’t help but feel happiness, he mouths a thank you to Steve who shrugs it off. You part from Bucky with a kiss to his cheek. 

The band changes the tune to the bridal march, Wanda walks down the aisle looking every bit beautiful. Steve begins to cry and looks at Bucky who pats his back and offers him a tissue.

“She’s my dream girl.” Steve tells everyone and sniffles, using the tissue to help himself. Her father sheds a few tears giving her hand into Steve’s. The father and son-in-law share a hug. 

“Son, you’ve been taking care of her for the past many years, I know you will continue doing so, I’m giving you my princess, you treat her as the queen she is to you.” Her father says and Steve nods.

“I will, Sir.”

“I will, Dad.” Her father corrects, Steve can’t help the watery laugh that blubbers from him.

The minister begins the ceremony, you can’t help but tear up as it unfolds. Watching Steve and Wanda go from cheesy flirting to dating to living together and now being married. 

A fairytale romance even though Wanda hated the fantasy association. Steve would agree though. 

The minister smiles then allows for the two to say their prepared vows. 

You hand Wanda her cue cards and take her bouquet from her for the time being. 

“Stevie, I’ve known you through several phases of our lives. In each phase you have been the person I needed and wanted, you have been not just my boyfriend but my best friend, my confidant and above all my everything. When you proposed I knew I wanted to be yours and no I’m not talking about the ring, I’m talking about when you proposed for us to be together all those years ago,” 

Steve chuckles and then sniffles. 

“Steve, I vow to be the partner you need and want, I vow to make my famous butter chicken for you whenever you want,” That earns her laughs.

“I vow to be your friend, I vow to be your date at all boring lawyer events, I vow to be with you in health, in sickness, in happiness and in sadness, I vow to be your everything as you remain my ev-everything. Husband, I know you call me wife whenever you talk about me. I can’t wait until you don’t have to hide that and call me yo-your wife all the time. I vow to love you unconditionally.”

You hand her a tissue, your gaze meets Bucky’s and the two of you are misty eyed. 

Bucky hands Steve his cue cards. 

“Wanda Maximoff, you are my dream girl, baby. Ask Bucky, I would not shut up about you.” Steve smiles at her, she chuckles. 

Bucky nods, “Affirmative.”

“You are everything to me and more, from the first day of correcting my presentation in the middle of my presentation,” Steve sheepishly shrugs it off. 

“You used Comic Sans!” She reminds him not forgetting about it. 

Laughter surrounds the couple. 

“I would have kept using it if it meant I’d have your attention. Wan, you are the light in darkness, you are bewitching as the day that I met you. Whatever love spell we may be under, I hope it never breaks. Somepeople may consider marriage a hex but I don’t, thank you for allowing me to be your everything. Thank you for being my everything.” 

Steve takes a deep breath,

“You have my vow, Wanda, to be yours for always, the way you need and want, through every crest and trough life sends our way. I promise you to be the best that I can be for you. I also vow to keep buying you notebooks for your mastermind plans.” 

She swats him lightly. He only laughs, holding onto her hand that stays on his chest. 

“I vow to be the husband that you, my wife will need and want in happiness, in sadness, in health and in sickness.” He takes a deep breath, smiling through his happy tears.

“I vow to love you, unconditionally.” 

“Beautiful vows,” He goes over asking them for their I dos, both of them grinning widely at the other, “by the authority vested in me by the state of New York; I now pronounce you husband and wife.” The minister smiles, “You may now kiss the bride.” 

“Don’t mind if I do, kiss my wife.” Steve pulls Wanda close, he cups her cheek. Their wedding track is played. Wanda smiles up at him. 

The two of them are still misty eyed. They share a laugh. Before their lips meet.

The guests clap and holler, you can’t help but cheer them on through the happy tears. Bucky finds your gaze once again, reaching over to hand you a tissue without interrupting the couple. 

You wonder what it would feel like standing at the altar with Bucky. The feeling dawns upon you as Steve and Wanda pull away from the kiss but rest their foreheads together lost in the moment.

You raise your gaze to find him looking at you, your heart somersaults. It would feel right.

Bucky knows it would feel right, making you Mrs. Barnes one day.

The fairy lights and candle lights flicker on as the sky grows darker.

“Guests and loved ones of the couple, may I take pleasure in announcing for the first time, Steve and Wanda Rogers!” The minister exclaims as the guests cheer on further. 

Wanda turns to you, excited and she hugs you. You hug her back.

“I’m so happy for you Wan.” You tighten the hug as she does too, both of you sniffle in tandem.

“We have to be careful with eye make up.” She tries to keep her voice even.

“I made them use waterproof mascara.” You tell her knowing tears would happen despite her declaring she would not cry.

“Steve did cry seeing you.” You tell her on the lighter note, she laughs.

“He did good.” Wanda says, “I mean look at me, he won the fucking lotto.” 

“He did win the lotto, he won the world with you Wanda.” Bucky adds and Steve’s wife returns in his arms.

“Aw, Bucky, are you going soft and mushy after all these grumpy years?” Wanda teases him, Steve chuckles.

“Love makes him all soft and mushy.” Steve earns an eye roll from his best man.

“There he is!” Stevepretends to wipe the sweat off of his forehead, “Thought I lost you there bud.”

“Now come on, at 2000 Hours we have a reception to execute.” Wanda reminds you all, the two of them walk back to the conservatory as everyone throws the flower petals.

Bucky offers you his hand, “Honestly, I wouldn’t have missed the wedding as I had planned months ago.”

You link your arm through his, giving him a curious look, you knew he wanted to skip because of the strained history the two of you shared.

“You’d torture yourself?” Your tone is light but the two of you know the heaviness that is held by the words.

The two of you continue your walk, faster paced than the rest to have a moment alone before the chaos. 

“Sunshine, you own my heart even if I did not want you to, so yes. I would put us both through the torture of going through all of this for just a moment to be close to you. I know it sounds mean and selfish–,”

“I’d do it just for a moment of your time too.” You admit, Bucky leads you to a corner, pushing you against the wall.

“What does that say about us? Masochists?” He murmurs, you look to the side. He grips your jaw making you look back at him, “We’ve got time.”

“Unrequited love is painful, we lived with it for years.” You meet his darkening gaze, “We’re the only ones who can erase the pain.” 

“Because we’re the ones that caused it.” He feels your lips brush his jaw, before he can taste your lips upon his own. 

Bucky sighs into your mouth, your fingers run through his hair. His palms grip your waist, the ring digging into your hip. You moan when his tongue meets yours, he’s about to push up your dress to just have a little taste when the clearing of a familiar throat has you both pull away.

Wanda and Steve stand there shaking their heads.

“Your four minute window is up. Bridal party portraits now.” Wanda taps Steve’s watch.

Steve gives the two of you an apologetic look, he did try to distract Wanda.

“Why does no man read the docket? Horny stuff is scheduled for later tonight.” She shakes her head and turns leading the group to the photograph location.

“Please tell me she isn’t responsible for our wedding.” Bucky whispers to you.

“I can hear you and I am responsible. I’m the best damn wedding planner to exist.” Wanda calls out.

Steve and you laugh as Bucky huffs annoyed.

“Well I’d like several bouts of horny time scheduled.” He requests, “You know so Steve and you can blow off steam and not disappear on us.” 

“It’s my wedding so I’ll let that slide, Barnes.” Steve waves a dismissive hand.

“It’s true though.” You not so subtly whisper.

“We heard that.” Is the Rogers' reply in unison.

Bucky and you giggle much to their ire but then straighten up when both of them glare at you both. Feeling as though toddlers are being told off by their parents.

The first part of the revenge plan was a carefully crafted invite for Sharon and Brock. Wanda had to stop her cackle when the two of them entered the reception area. Much after the couple’s entry. 

“You altered the timing on their card?” Steve whispers, she nods.

“And the theme, I wrote disco.” Wanda adds on, her eyes move to Bucky and you, going over the speech order.

Bucky raises his head to look for Pietro as he would open up the floor for the speeches but what he finds instead he has to bite his cheek. He taps your shoulder several times to pull you away from texting Pietro, he was off wandering around instead of being ready for his speech. 

“What?” You hiss at him because if Pietro fucks up you would be worst than Wanda.

“Look.” He gestures in the general direction.

You look at the direction and your laugh gets caught in a fake cough.

Sharon is dressed in a sparkly silver jumpsuit, her hair in tight curls and a hairband. Brock looks slightly in check with only his sparkly silver jacket being on disco theme. 

You whip in the direction of Wanda and share a non verbal conversation just in looks. 

She giggles behind her champagne glass. Steve shakes his head, chuckling. 

Bucky lets a laugh slip and so do you. 

“Um, did they come for the wedding or the senior’s 80s theme retreat in the other hall?” Pietro appears next to you.

Bucky raises a brow at him, he moves away in the slightest.

“I have no idea…” You try not to laugh.

“Well you gotta think they’re on their way here.” Pietro nods.

Bucky and you turn in time, his arm around your waist and pleasant smiles plastered across your faces.

“Sharon, Brock, we didn't think you were coming.” Bucky begins before they can say anything.

“Why would we not? We’re on time.” Sharon feigned nonchalance.

“You missed the ceremony. Oh Sharon it puts every other wedding I have been to shame.” An aunt of Steve’s walks up to the table.

Sharon laughs dryly, “I mean Brock and I flew everyone, well not everyone out to Spain.” She looks apologetically at Bucky and you. His fingers tighten slightly upon your waist.

“I know darling but the magic of the beach wedding today was beautiful. I was telling the other relatives and they all agreed.” 

“Well they probably will remember the wonderful reception.” Brock intervenes as Sharon gleefully smiles.

“Oh the noise I remember that, anyways, dearest,” She turns to Bucky and you. 

Sharon huffs, “Brocksie, get me a drink please?” 

 “The two of you are so sweet. I need some help with getting my husband’s wheelchair, these chairs aren’t very comfortable.” She explains. 

“Which room are you in Aunt Tara?” Bucky questions, “I can have someone retrieve it back from the room. I know the hotel one isn’t all that comfortable.” 

“Ah yes, let me go fetch the keycard, thank you.” She smiles at you all before turning away. 

“Aunt Tara! Let me help you.” Sharon follows her, “And remind you of the beautiful lantern ceremony.” 

“Alright I think you can.” Aunt Tara says, sighing. 

“I’ll still have the staff help you out.” Bucky adds before she’s out of earshot. 

“Pietro,” You hand him the mic, “You’re up first.” 

“Good luck kiss?” Pietro smirks looking at Bucky. 

“Don’t push your luck, Maximoff.” Your man grumbles. 

“Bucky.” You reach up kissing his cheek. 

Pietro places a hand over his heart. “You’re killing me, Feather.” 

“Feather?” Bucky narrows his eyes. 

“Pietro, stop trying to annoy my man.” You glare at him, he knew about the tumultuous life after one night you went to the Maximoff residence in tears. 

Wanda wasn’t back home yet but Pietro stayed up with you making sure you were okay. The heartbreak you harboured was known to him and even if the two of you never saw each other as anything more than friends, he would always flirt with you. 

“It’s fun, annoying him.” Is all he says before going towards the married couple. 

“Asshole. Fought him off once, I’ll do it again.” Bucky mutters.

“Fought him off?” You raise your brows at him. 

“It was when, well—,”

“Hey, where is Sharon? Also why aren't you guys in themed outfits?” Brock cut the conversation off. 

“Oh hey, um she went with Aunt Tara.” You look around, sure enough both are missing. 

“Then why did she ask me to bring her a drink?” He grumbles and you don’t know what to do. 

Well you do, because Wanda told you to do so, “Hey, why don’t I show you your seat and send over a bottle just for the two of you?” Your offer is met by a nod. 

Bucky squeezes your hand before you leave, he watches as you begin to converse with Rumlow on the way to show him his seat. He waits for your conversation to seem longer and then trails out of the reception hall, quick steps to follow towards where Sharon would be. 

Just how Aunt Tara was told to do so.

Sharon stands there huffing, outside the room as Aunt Tara takes her sweet time to come out. When she spots him, her blonde hair is flipped back to show the skin of her shoulders. Bucky controls his eye roll, fiddling with his ring that solidifies his bond with you. 

“Bucky!” Sharon beams, he gives her a curt nod.

“You were a while, I thought I’d help.” He shrugs, she nods.

“Yeah I think she’s gone to the bathroom, I keep hearing the flush…” Her nose scrunches with disgust, “Also why is no one in the disco theme?” Her gaze trails over him Bucky takes a step back, he was distant enough but her gaze was leering.

“You didn’t know? The printer fucked up with some of the invites… Relatives called because disco was never a theme that Wanda and Steve would choose. You didn’t rectify with Wanda?”

Sharon struggles for an answer, “There was a charity Gala actually, they were on the same theme so Brock and I just shrugged. You know how much I enjoy philanthropy.” 

“I know. Noble of you.” He looks back at the door, pretending to contemplate something.

“Spill?” Sharon encourages.

“I don’t know if I should tell you this, I haven’t even told Steve.” He adds the spice and Sharon eats up the lie that is about to begin.

“What? You can trust me Bucky, I always want what is best for you,” Her gaze drops to his ring, “Even if it isn’t always right for you.” 

“How much has Brock told you about the money coming in from the sale of the company?” The question has Sharon do a double take. 

“Um, what do you mean by that?” 

“Just tell me the number he told you, Steve told me in confidence there were some issues clouding around your family. I want to know if he is being honest to you.” Bucky reaches out to touch her arm as if offering comfort then he pulls it away.

“He’s said it's not a lot of capital appreciation.” Sharon’s lips press into a thin line.

“Sharon, I think he is fooling you. I. Please tell me you won’t speak to him right now, I don’t want you dealing with him alone. If he gets aggressive.”

“I can hold my own.” She smiles, indicating just how vindictive she can be.

Good Bucky thinks this will work out.

“He spilled about the prenup on the trip.” 

Sharon’s mouth falls open, eyes wide and her breathing increases, “What? That fucker!” Sharon seethes, her fists clenching.

“Sharon, you promised to be calm.” Bucky shakes his head.

“You look as though you want to say something?” Brock chuckles looking at your shifty expression, your eyes dart to the door once more for good measure.

“I actually do…” You sigh, “I wanted to talk to you about Beck.” 

Brock pauses, the two of you stop walking to his table.

“What not going to work out with, Barnes?” He smirks.

His gaze moving to find Bucky, you grab his arm.

“Brock is about what I overheard Beck say one night. Related to your company.” You feel relief when he stops his search for Bucky.

“What did he say and why are you telling me now?” He narrows his eyes.

“Because I overheard Bucky as well and I could not in good conscience let it go.” You reason, “Look the speeches have a few more minutes, I need to tell you before Sharon comes back.

“What does Sharon have to do with it?” Brock demands, fingers tightening around the glass of alcohol.

“You remember when Beck came back from the joint vacation you guys took?” You add an urgency to your voice, he nods, “Well I had found something in his suitcase when he asked me to get his toiletry bag,”

“What?” 

“Can we go out… I don't want anyone overhearing.”  

The two of you head out to the lobby, Brock rests a hand on his hip, the other beckoning you to speak, then he sips his drink.

“I found a few women’s clothes that matched Sharon’s from the pictures she uploaded to her instagram.”

“You do know I know she’s cheating on me. I told you about Beck’s infidelity too.” He shrugs as if this is old news.

“Well do you know he told her he bought your shares out? Bucky was saying that the deal does not look good at all for you, Brock over the work video call he had. Also, I’m telling you this in confidence, since you have always been honest with me. I want to repay that by telling you this, on girls night back at Aspen, Sharon mentioned a prenup after Wanda got an email from Steve.” 

“You’re speaking in circles, Y/N. So what if she mentioned one?” Brock rolls his eyes, but he fiddles with his collar.

“Brock, she said and I quote, ‘pretty sure Brocksie will have nothing soon, the prenup I have and the proof of his infidelity he loses all the remaining money to me.’” You wait for the words to sink in, you watch on as the emotional colours on his face change.

The calmness turns into shock, into anger, finally into calculative mode.

 You wonder if there ever was love between the two or was it only love for the money?

“Fuck so she’s probably filed for the divorce. She was speaking to the damn lawyer. That liar!” Brock roars and you step back as he throws the glass on the floor.

“Brock–,”

“Who have you told?” He steps close to you.

“No one! I told you all this in confidence! Because you warned me about Beck and breaking up with him was helpful to me.” 

“Oh please I only told you to break up with him because he would be distraught and not pay attention to any side deals I was doing.” Brock runs a hand through his hair several times. 

“I’m sure he was fine, given his continued trips.” You roll your eyes now, “Anyways, I’ve moved on to better bank balances,” The words sour on your tongue but you have to keep up the charade, “I’m telling you this so you can save yourself and your money from Sharon.” You have to draw attention away from Beck. 

“Good you told me, I’m going to fuck her over in this entire divorce, she fucking cheated on me first.” He pinches the bridge of his nose.

“Look, say nothing during this, keep up the charade. Then get your lawyer to have her pay up.” You advise.

Wanda had seen the prenup, reading through the main reasons had to be whoever cheats loses everything. They now had to just prove who cheated first. Which would be their own battle in this sham marriage of their own.

“You’re right. That bitch shouldn’t see things coming.” He agrees, “I’m going to my table, if I need to get in touch with my lawyer I’ll ask you to cover for me in front of her okay?”

“Okay.” You agree.

“Now calm down and lets head back before she sees anything.” You lead Brock back and Bucky leads pushing the empty wheelchair with Sharon arm in arm with Aunt Tara from the other entrance. Fuck.

Bucky’s eyes widen the same way. They could not see you and Bucky individually interacting with each other’s spouses. It could cause suspicion, they played this game once already. It cost the two of you too much.

You push Brock towards the buffet, “What the fuck?” he trips hands landing in the ice kept for the oysters.

“Your wife.” You whisper-yell at him, waving your hands for him to look away.

“Right. Go.” He mutters and you shake your head, returning to your original place.

Wanda, Steve and Pietro share a glance with you, a subtle nod their way has them speaking in hushed whispers again.

Bucky sighs with relief as they help Uncle Al onto the wheelchair and Aunt Tara gives him a kiss on the cheek. Sharon is already taking her place next to Brock. The two share a loving glance.

Bucky walks to you at the emcee stand you both were to share, “Went as planned?”

“Yeah, hopefully they bicker soon enough.” You look up at him, “I really want them to pay. They played with us and they don’t even respect their marriage.” 

“I know Sunshine. They will. If this plan doesn’t work, we’ll figure something else out.” Bucky assures you cupping your cheek.

You kiss his palm, Wanda coughs. You can hear her tapping Steve’s watch again.

Bucky closes his eyes, “It was enough that I had to deal with her because of Steve.” 

You giggle, “Oh come on you love her.”

“She’s alot like Becca, annoying younger sister.” He huffs, turning to face her and he glares at her. 

She blows a raspberry at him, Pietro laughs and Steve just records Bucky’s bewildered expression.

“Puffin, let’s host this wedding.”

“Best emcees on the planet, Sunshine.” 

Sarah Roger’s speech has everyone misty eyed, the pictures she showed on the projector of a young Steve, fighting off several ailments and sharing the known fact that it was going to be a miracle if he pulled through his hospitalisations. 

To her retelling of the day she met Wanda in the grocery store and told Steve about a redhead woman who put a racist asshole in place all the while continuing her self check out. Onto the moment that the very same redhead appeared at her doorstep and was introduced as Steve’s girlfriend.

“And today, I get to introduce her as his wife,” She turns to look at Wanda, “You’ve been my daughter for a long time and now it just makes it legally binding.” 

Wanda gives a watery laugh. 

Steve kisses his wife’s cheek. 

The guests clap and cheer. Sarah hands over the mic to Bucky, who hands it over to you. Only Bucky and you remained to give your best man and maid of honour speech. You were excited since the two of you were keeping each other’s words as surprises. 

You’re about to introduce Bucky to take centre stage, when the scrape of a chair draws everyone’s attention.

“Sharon just shut the fuck up for one night!” Brock yells and the scraping of cutlery stops, so does the small murmuring,

“Me? You want me to shut up? Why don’t you shut down your whoring around, asshole!” Sharon demands from Brock.

“Me? What about you sleeping around since fucking college? Then even most of the guys I work with, you’re the one whoring around!” He accuses her and she scoffs.

“Your dick isn’t enough to keep me happy.” 

“Yeah well nor is my money! Beck, seriously? I mean its enough you chase after every guy Y/N manages to get but fuck, going behind my back and having a deal with Beck?” Brock has disgust written all over his face.

“Please, she has no fucking–, the audacity you have? I could get any guy, I’m the prize and fuck you, you’re the one hungry for money!” 

Brock seethes, Sharon’s chest rises and falls both searching for a verbal attack.

Bucky and you exchange a glance, the tensions were rising between them. The loved up display crumbling as the words of trust and love spewed on from the speakers. 

“Sharon–,” Her father begins.

“No daddy! I should have listened to you, he is useless, his money is also gone now! You know I’m wearing the socialite’s second hand outfit? Me! Second hand!” Sharon stops her foot like a petulant child.

“Are you so shallow? Fuck, what the fuck is wrong with you? Mr. Carter your daughter is a fucking mess! She slept with my fucking business partner to one up Y/N! All for losing Barnes’ affections!” Brock points finally at the two of you.

“What about you? You wanted to sleep with her too to one up Barnes and Beck! You thought telling her about the cheating will have her be an easy fuck! You even wanted to fuck Wanda! I even tried getting with ‘illness ridden cousin Steve’ to make that happen for you! You know how disgusting he is!?” Sharon throws her drink on Brock and he smears the mashed potato across her face and neck.

The guests gasp and so does Sharon, “You fucker! Now we won’t be able to get our money back!” 

“Well good you nicked the fucking without insurance rental!” Brock reminds her.

“Excuse me?” Wanda’s voice rings out the mic you held now in her hands. 

Everyone turns to her, she waves at the crowd with a smile. 

“Now, hey hello, thank you all for coming to my wedding. Lovely to have you all here, while I have your attention, security is on its way to take out the trash. Yes I’m talking about you Sharon and Brock. You insult my husband, both my families. You even insult our best friends, hell you’ve been insulting us all for ages. Take your stupid sham of a marriage out of this event hall, hell off of the property. You dare not try and come back.” Wanda smiles as the security comes in escorting the two of them out. 

As they are heading out, the struggle Sharon puts up makes way for a waiter to drop his entire tray of beers for the father’s and uncles onto Sharon and Brock by default. You cover your mouth with your hand and Bucky doesn’t hold back his laugh. Pure karma.

“I wish I could say I planned that.” Wanda giggles. Steve chuckles, “I’m giving you credit.”

Sharon’s parents look apologetic as they move out of the hall as well. 

The crowd breaks into whispers. 

“Are the two of you alright?” Steve questions Bucky and you. 

You’ve held onto Bucky’s hand tightly, his thumb swipes over the back of your hand. 

Bucky still processes everything, there was so much hate they harboured out of jealousy. 

You aren’t upset, just surprised at everything that transpired, surprised at the jealousy people were capable of feeling.

“Puffin?” You find yourself looking into his eyes, “Sunshine?” 

Wanda smiles at the two of you, Steve smiles as well while Bucky cups your cheek, his lips crashing to yours, the kiss is bordering on sweet, happiness felt across the way his lips curve upwards, you giggle as he pulls you closer.

“Alright everyone, back to the speeches.” Wanda says once the two of you pull away staring at each other goofily grinning.”

Wanda hands you the mic back, “Everyone, I would like to introduce the Best Man, James Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers’ best friend and my everything.” 

The guests cheer, the couple take their seats again. Bucky takes the mic standing at the mark.

“Good Evening everyone, thank you for coming out to celebrate one of the sweetest love stories I’ve ever witnessed. Steve and Wanda were a pair probably made in some chaotic portion of heaven.” Bucky chuckles, while Steve and Wanda narrow their eyes at him.

“What I said, heaven not hell, though that would be accurate. Steve used to drag me to these lectures, I understood we were sneaking into Wanda’s class. Now I had my own selfish motivations when it came to attending, I had my sights set on some too.” Bucky looks at you, your cheeks heat.

Bucky smiles at you then continues, “Now Steve realised quite soon that I could be bribed by my crush to do his bidding. Yet again they pulled the same stunt for the wedding under the whole guise of tradition, but Y/N and I would have been their go to people in a heartbeat. I’ve known Stevie since we were kids. I’ve seen him at his weakest and strongest, his will and inner strength however never deterred. When he saw Wanda and asked her out. The first statement he told me while nursing a pint of Ben and Jerry’s was that he would one day marry her.”

Everyone aws, Steve’s face turned red. Wanda’s head rests on his shoulder.

“I knew then that this day would come, I just hadn’t known that I would also have my Sunshine by my side, watching our best friends who fell in love get married. Wanda, I know you will love and care for Steve in the way he deserves. You told me months ago that you’re stealing my best friend. Well Wan, my now annoying sister through marriage to my brother,”

You smile at the happiness that Wanda feels at the acceptance Bucky gives her.

“You’re the only person I trust with Steve’s heart, so even if you steal him away, I won’t fight back, because I know for one, Steve will kill me if I take him away from you. But I also know that when two halves of one soul meet, not even destiny can separate them. So cheers to you for proving soulmates exist and for making us all believe in true love again. Even if we had our hearts clouded about its existence.” 

Bucky raises his glass, the guests follow suit. He goes over to their table. Steve pulls him in the biggest hug and the two laugh and wipe at their eyes. Pulling away and doing a bro hug to offset the emotions.

Wanda hugs Bucky tightly, then whispers something to him that makes him laugh. He pats her head, before turning to the crowd again.

“Everyone, I hope you have space in your hearts for one more speech, from the Maid of Honour, Y/N, bestest friend of Wanda and my raza de soare, my Sunshine,” Bucky holds out his hand for you to take, he kisses the back of your hand while retreating to the emcee stand.

He watches you with the softest gaze, you can’t help but feel a little shy. You look at the crowd, taking in a deep breath.

“Hi everyone, I know you all want to move onto dessert so I’ll try to keep this short.” It earns you a few laughs.

“I met Wanda not as early as I’d like, college was amazing with her and sometimes we would imagine what all stages of school would seem like if we were together back then as well. We have different theories but one thing we know for sure is we would have remained best friends.” 

“When Wanda came over one day gushing over Steve Rogers I remember asking her who? And I swear she almost disowned me for not knowing who I was referring to, it is only after I clarified that I hope you aren’t talking about the blue eyed brunette who was in our class but never spoke, did she tell me ‘no Y/N, I’m speaking of the blue eyed blonde!’ You can imagine my immense relief at that point.”

Bucky shakes his head at you, the college class and finds your gaze again and again playing over in his mind as though it was yesterday.

“Safe to say after that I was dragged to football games, which again as Bucky didn’t mind an extra class, I didn’t mind those matches because he would be here. So we both were a little selfish amidst the love story taking place.” You shrug, “At least Bucky and I don’t take the blame for being kicked out of several places. That’s on the married couple.” 

A few common and old friends laugh knowing all about what you mention.

“When Wanda told me she wanted to propose to Steve, I only asked her if she had the ring size right. I knew that it was the easiest decision she ever made in her life, choosing to spend it with Steve.” You look at Steve then, smiling at him.

“Steve, you're one of my closest friends and not just because Wanda pulls you into one of our gossip sessions or because you think you have to be nice to me on account of Wanda. You’re the elder brother I always wanted, I know I can come to you in happiness or sadness and I know without a shred of doubt you would be there for me.” You swallow the lump in your throat.

Wanda wipes the corner of her eyes.

“I knew one day I’d be Wanda’s Maid of Honour, everyone who knows our friendship knows we decided on the flower arrangement within the first year of becoming besties. What I didn’t know was the maze, Bucky and I would have to conjure to honour the requests of the parents. We were lost in it for so long trying to find our own ways out, but together” You look at Bucky. He looks at you with a smile. You both know this is going off topic.

“But I don’t want to escape it, I want to stay in it with you. I want to fall into it again with you, dragă mea.” You pause your speech, Bucky and your gazes locked upon each other. 

Steve and Wanda share a knowing look, their efforts bearing fruit would never stop feeling fucking amazing.

“So yes, Steve and Wanda,” You break out of your spell with Bucky, “Thank you for reminding us about the fact that true love exists, that bonds can stand the test of time. May we all gather again together to renew your vows because yes, Wan and I have even planned that ceremony.” You look at Bucky, grining, “With military timing.” you add to annoy him. He huffs, but smiles. 

“To Wanda and Steve, from crushes, to first great loves, to marriage, to forever.” You raise your glass, everyone follows suit. Bucky joins you, kissing your forehead. 

The dance floor opens up then, while guests either eat dessert or choose to dance. 

Bucky and you decide to step out on the beach for a quiet moment together, before Wanda comes in tapping away on Steve’s watch. 

Your back against his chest, the music from inside muffled. The waves amplified. Bucky sways the two of you with his arms around you. Ever so often you lean back to share a kiss or just look at eachother with pure love.

The door slides open, amplifying the music, Sarah Rogers and Natalya Maximoff are laughing as they step out for air. Bucky and you shift to let them get some space as well. 

They sigh happily. You both smile at them.

“Wonderful speeches both of you.” Sarah praises, “Really beautiful.”

“Thank you.” The two of you say at the same time.

“I have a question though.” Natalya tilts her head, Sarah grabs her arm.

“What question?” Bucky frowns.

“What was that tradition?” Natalya continues, trying to free her hand from Sarah. 

“The tradition you told Wanda regarding the Maid of Honour and Best Man.” You remind her chuckling, she looks at you still confused.

“Nattie, I think you’re too drunk.” Sarah laughs it off.

“The one where those two title holders have to be married.” Bucky adds on, Sarah chuckles, pulling Natalya away, “Oh look I see Aunt Tara waving at us!” 

They take quick steps in, “There is no tradition like that though, Sar.”

“Oh hush, I know.” Sarah says, but you both hear them.

At that moment the music was switched from pop to a soft ballad. 

You turn in Bucky’s arms, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“That our best friends had a military timing plan for us all this time?” He raises a brow. 

You nod, he grabs your hand. Heading towards the dance floor again, trying to locate the two masterminds, 

Pietro gestures out, the main doors that lead to the aisle. Sure enough the deck has an abandoned wedding dress and suit. The waves carry the moans over making Bucky and you step back inside to a safer place. Heading back to the reception hall.

Bucky stares at you for a moment before grinning, you look at him before remembering.

“I put in ‘abandoned reception for sex’.” You tell him your answer for the bookstore bet.

“I put in the same thing, Sunshine.” He chuckles, the two of you begin to laugh.

“May I have this dance Sunshine?” He offers his hand.

“You may, Puffin, I believe we have six years of dances to make up for,” Your hand fits into his as though made for him. Your other hand is upon his shoulder. Bucky’s free hand moves around your waist, pulling you closer. 

His lips brush over your earlobe, “You sure you want to be stuck in this with me, Sunshine?” He can’t wait to tell you he knows about your ‘yes’.

“We made this labyrinth together, we’ll stay in it together, Puffin. Forever even.” You answer him, the music changes to your shared song. 

The song reaches it’s end with you pressed up against Bucky. Your hearts beating in sync, happiness and love surrounding the two of you.

Sunshine and Puffin finally get to kiss at the end of their song without any interruption.

A.N.: well we only have the epilogue left! sunshine and puffin are in their labyrinth and love every minute of it.... let me know your thoughts! also brb crying because i love this fic so much

tagging: @slutforsexyseabass @elle14-blog1 @sxnshinebxcky @sebsgirl71479 @pandaxnienke @stevesmewmew @tfandtws @povlvr @tanyaspartak@maggiejackson3@brodymarx @ladylee76 @buckyinluv @buckymcbuckbarnes @almostcontentcreator @alltoounwellread @unaxv @stickyjudgeturtleghost(strikedthrough if unable to be tagged)

[geometropolis]

grt3D episode 12: the logarithm labyrinth

square and droplet were lying on their beds late at night, wide awake. 

“okay, so…” droplet started. “what’s your favorite number?”

“27,” square replied.

“favorite color?”

“gray.”

“favorite song?”

“fallen angle by poison. how about you?”

“well, um… 3, rainbow, and somebody to love by quintuple.”

“i love quintuple!” square exclaimed. “oh, have you listened to their song with data bowie?”

“under pressure? of course!” 

“not to mention other classic bands like fleetwood math, blue öval cult, guns and rulers…”

“i love those! wow, we have a lot in common!” droplet smiled.

“in terms of our music taste, anyway… hey, y’know what else we have in common?

“what?” 

“we’re both pretty darn awesome. we were so on top of today’s challenge.”

“you’re right. i wonder what we’ll do today…”

“nothing a pair of wings can’t help!” droplet’s wings were sitting on one of the empty beds.

“you don’t know that.”

“yeah, no, i don’t.” square sat up. “y’know, if origin already knows every challenge we’re gonna do, i wonder if i can trick him into telling us. so we can prepare ahead of time.”

“i mean we could, in theory. but that wouldn’t be very nice, would it?”

“i guess not…” a pause. “hey, i just realized i’m the only group twoer left. i mean, i knew already that my friends had been eliminated, but darn, they were my whole team then.”

“star and i are the only cool kids. i wonder how he’s doing?”

“you wanna find out?”

“can i?”

square smiled at her. 

the two left the cabin and started walking towards the homeslices’. droplet approached the window and looked through, to see star staring right at her! or… through her?

“aah!” she yelped, falling backwards. 

“golly!” he cried, shaking himself. he left his cabin and joined her outside. “droplet, what in math are you doing here?”

“i wanted to see how you’re doing, that’s all.”

“well i’m doing fine, buddy! bit nervous about tomorrow morning’s elimination, but otherwise, smooth sailing for me.”

“think you might get eliminated?”

“maybe.”

“well, if you do, you’ll get to see heart again!”

star chuckled sadly. “that’s the thing…”

“what?” droplet blinked at him.

“i want to prove to heart that i’ve really changed for the better. i only want to see him once i’m worthy to be his friend again.”

“but you’ve already grown so much, star!”

star smiled. “i know i have. but i want to be even better!”

square was leaning on the side of the cabin. “i think that’s a noble goal,” he said. “good luck with that.”

“hey, you haven’t wanted to win for a while, have you?” star asked.

“nope. i’m glad you two want to, though. hope you don’t get eliminated tomorrow.”

“thanks.” star looked slightly uneasy.

“hey, star,” droplet piped up. “...what’s your favorite song?”

“what makes you beautiful by one dimension. why?”

“noooo!” square cried over-dramatically. “he’s not one of us!”

“next thing we know he’s gonna say he listens to odd sheeran!” droplet chimed in, laughing. “unironically!”

star shook his head affectionately. “good night to neither of you.” and he went back into his cabin.

“i bet everyone else here also has garbage taste in music,” square retorted.

“all the more reason why we’re on the same team…!” droplet giggled.

…

“so, oval… how was your first day of co-hosting?”

“not bad, not bad… well, i guess it was a little rough.”

origin sighed. “yup. that’s just how it is around here… the contestants are always mad about something. and i don’t blame them.”

“neither do i. hey, what’ll we do if möbius never comes back?” oval had a worried expression. “then the winner won’t be able to go to the 3rd dimension… this’ll all be for nothing…”

“there’s nothing i can really do to get in contact with möbius strip, unfortunately.”

“hey, how did you end up working for him anyway? what’s your connection to him?”

“well, hm… möbius strip heard about me from my older sister a while back, and she has basically the same abilities i do. then he used his powers to come here, and he found me, and he told me about this idea he had for a game show. he told me that hey, he could travel between the 2nd and 3rd dimensions, and that it’d be fun if he could have a little competition where a shape could win the ability to go to the 3rd dimension. he just wanted my help with some stuff, and i obliged, as i had nothing better to do.”

“but why you in particular?”

“well, because of my sister he knew about my ability to access the paradox. maybe that’s why?”

“do you not know?”

“no, not really.”

oval was still curious. “how long have you known möbius strip?”

origin paused to think. “well, i–”

“hey guys!” hexagon greeted, hand in hand with octagon. “we’re back to our early morning walks.”

“oh!” oval exclaimed. “good morning, you two!”

“how are you?”

“i’m doing well. hey, glad to see you two cheering up a bit since yesterday morning.”

octagon smiled slightly. “yeah. we’ve had time to process.”

“good thing we did that during the challenge rather than instead of it!” hexagon chuckled.

“yup. we talked afterward too, though.”

hexagon nudged octagon with her elbow. “late into the night…! just like we’re on a sleepover…!”

octagon rolled her eyes but couldn’t stop herself from smiling. “shut up.”

“hey, you think it’s time to wake everyone up?” oval asked origin.

“yeah, um, probably. you wanna do it?”

“sure! i’ll be back in a jiff.” 

as oval left to rouse the other contestants, origin translated over to hexagon and octagon. “so?” he asked eagerly. “what’s up with you two?”

“nothing,” octagon muttered, biting her pacifier. “we’re just…really good friends now. we talk a lot.”

“for hours and hours~!” hexagon said in a dreamy sort of voice. she chuckled. “sorry, it’s just cute when you get flustered.”

“aaugh!! shut up!!!!”

as oval was walking over to the cabins, he spotted something strange behind a bush; he picked it up and tucked it away.

soon enough, he returned to the main field with the other contestants.

“so?” parallelogram asked origin drily. “who’s next on your list?”

origin edged back uncomfortably. “we’ll get to the elimination in a moment. how’s everyone doing?”

“pretty good,” square said. droplet nodded.

“yeah, i’m okay,” star agreed.

“okay, well, yes,” origin continued, “it is time for the elimination.” 

“and the homeslices lost yesterday’s challenge,” oval said. “so one of you will be sent to the paradox.”

“you may take this time to talk.”

parallelogram looked at his teammates. both looked antsy.

“to talk about what?” he asked. “enough with the theatrics, origin. you know who’s being eliminated. just spit it out already…”

origin sighed. “okay… the eliminated contestant is, um… parallelogram.”

“i knew it!” parallelogram cried. “i swear to the primes!”

“i’m really sorry, parallelogram.” origin began to buzz.

heptagon stared up at him with wide, glistening eyes. “parry…”

“take it easy, heptagon,” parallelogram said in a grave voice as he floated towards origin. “and star… figure out what you wanna do, and do it. just make my elimination worth it…”

star nodded silently as origin vanished, parallelogram gone with him.

“okay,” oval went on, “origin told me what today’s challenge is going to be, so i might as well explain it to you all.”

“yeah, go ahead,” square said.

“okay. so just northwest of where we are right now is the logarithm labyrinth.”

“oh, i’ve heard of that place!” hexagon piped up. “it’s this complicated cave system, right?”

“you got it! it’s this system of really intricate caves, like a maze. the challenge will be to get from one end of the tunnels to the other. but what’s important to note is that only one member of your team needs to reach the other side for you to be safe. the last team to have someone get across will be up for elimination.”

“that doesn’t sound too bad,” droplet said. “right?”

origin soon reappeared. “oval, you explained everything?”

“indeed i did!” 

“okay! so i’ll take you all over there. now hold still everyone~!” origin began to buzz again.

“hey, can you not take me?” oval asked. “i just want to walk.”

“oh, okey doke!” the remaining shapes lost their limbs and stuck to origin; together they translated over to the logarithm labyrinth, oval right behind them. 

origin released the contestants, still missing their arms and legs. but before he could use his powers to fix that, a beam of light hit them all. 

“the grapher!” origin gasped, seeing oval holding it proudly. “that’s where that thing went!” 

“i found it by a bush,” oval explained. 

“how about you hold onto it for now? so i don’t lose it again?”

“sounds like a plan!” oval gave him a thumbs up.

“okay, so are we starting?” octagon asked, crowded around the labyrinth entrance with the other contestants who now had their limbs.

“oh, yes! 3… 2… 1… go!”

everyone squeezed through the opening to find a large cavern with many tunnels branching off of it.

“i think we should split up,” square said. “only one of us needs to get to the end, after all.”

“okey doke!” droplet replied. “i’ll see you on the other side!” she popped into one of the tunnels, while square popped into another.

“we should probably do the same,” hexagon told octagon. 

“oh…” octagon frowned. “i thought we’d do it together…”

hexagon paused, then shook herself. “y’know what? yeah. c’mon, octagon!” she grabbed her hand and led her into a tunnel.

star began to go one way, with a sulking heptagon trailing behind him.

“y’know, heptagon,” star piped up, stopping, “we don’t both need to get to the other side. you can just relax if you want.”

“but that’ll lessen your chances of–”

“shshh, i don’t care, dude! i’m still figuring out if i even want to win! just go back and take a nap. that’s the most helpful thing you could do right now.”

star smiled. heptagon’s harshly lined face softened. “...okay. thank you.” with that, heptagon turned back.

“now it’s just you and me, star,” star said to himself. “just you and me…”

droplet was pretty small, so she found it relatively easy to navigate through the tunnels – there were little crevices and narrow shortcuts that few others would likely be able to fit through.

it’s weird going this alone, she thought. it’s for the best of course, but i dunno… it’s weird. hey, what’s that?

she had spotted a crystal poking out of the tunnel’s rocky wall, and marveled at it for a moment.

meanwhile, origin and oval had made their way to the other side of the labyrinth to wait for the contestants as they exited; origin had his camera lens.

suddenly, oval groaned.

“what is it?” origin asked.

“i forgot to tell them all to be careful. sometimes the walls break up and rocks go flying around – i hope none of them get hurt…”

“i’m sure they’ll be fine, don’t worry.”

“you’re probably right…” but oval remained uneasy.

“also, i’m just now realizing that the eliminated contestants won’t be seeing much. it’s not like i can broadcast inside the labyrinth itself…”

hexagon bumped into a wall. “oy vey, a dead end.”

“i guess we should’ve gone right at the fork, not left,” octagon said. “we’ll just retrace our steps.”

“okey doke! you lead the way, octy!” 

the two began to walk in the other direction.

“y’know, octagon…” hexagon said, “sorry for making so many jokes about, um, us being good friends now, and us talking and stuff… you just have such a funny reaction to it!”

“hm.” octagon stopped as they reached the fork in the tunnel, and took the path they previously hadn’t taken. “well, for the record, i’m not actually that bothered by it. i just have to wonder… how is my reaction funny???”

“i dunno, it just is! it’s adorable!” hexagon giggled. “you look away and your face gets all red whenever i so much as mention the fact that we talk…”

“well it’s because you make it sound like it’s a big deal!!! when it isn’t!!!!!” octagon stopped herself and took a breath. “...i just did it again, didn’t i?”

meanwhile, square was traversing the caverns by himself. 

it’s just like the time i was going it alone through the forest for the turf war challenge, he thought grimly. the other three are in the paradox without me… i wonder if they miss me…

he soon found himself at a dead end and shook his head. “how many dead ends has this been? 5? screw this.” he kicked the rocky tunnel wall in frustration.

a distant rumble could be heard…

heptagon had just exited the cave. suddenly, the tunnel walls that had just enclosed him broke up into rocky pieces, blocking the passageway. 

“geez,” he muttered to himself. “i got out just in time.”

hm, he thought. where would it be easiest for me to relax? should i stay here? or go back to the cabins? or go around to where origin and oval are? …i’m overthinking this, aren’t i?

so heptagon simply sat down right by the labyrinth and closed his eyes. 

hexagon and octagon were still chatting as they made their way through.

“guess what!” hexagon exclaimed. 

“what?” octagon responded.

“i heard that droplet won the citywide storytelling contest this past year.”

“oh really? wow.”

“yeah. and kite got first prize in a creative writing competition.”

“have you gotten any awards?”

“well…” hexagon chuckled sheepishly, “maybe a few…”

“wait – you’re the one who won the citywide spelling bee five years in a row! that’s you!”

“the one and only!”

“that’s crazy!” octagon nudged her affectionately. “you’re like a celebrity!”

“hey!”

“when we get back i have to get your autograph.”

“knock it off!” hexagon nudged her back. “i bet you’ve gotten your fair share of achievements yourself.”

“you don’t know that!”

“oh c’mon octagon, you’re a smart cookie!”

“so you’re gonna steal me? you cookie thief?”

the two burst into laughter.

“but really,” hexagon continued. “i bet you got straight As in grade school. gold honor roll. ms. valedictorian herself.”

“yeah, you got me…”

“what was your score on the SAT?”

“1520. why?”

“oh my primes!” hexagon laughed. “you’re insane!”

“no, you’re insane!”

at the same time, star was walking through the tunnels at a casual pace, talking to himself.

“it’s been, like, a week since heart was eliminated. that’s crazy, man! hey, this place looks familiar…”

he found himself in a large cavern.

“i’m right back at the beginning, aren’t i!” he exclaimed. “lol, oh well…”

star began to pace back and forth in the empty space before him, thinking to himself.

i only really signed up for this whole thing so i could hang out with him, he pondered, so i could hang out with this IDEA of him. i had just attached myself so strongly to the idea of a perfectly happy, carefree heart… when that isn’t real. there’s no perfectly happy, carefree star either. 

“what am i doing with myself now?” he said aloud. “i don’t know if heart and i will be friends after this… but that shouldn’t be all i’m thinking of. i need to do something with myself.”

he looked toward one of the tunnels.

“i need to win.”

droplet had found a multitude of crystals in the labyrinth walls. and they were colorful! everything in geometropolis was gray, minus its inhabitants – so droplet’s eyes were wide in awe at the sight of these marvelous gems.

the crystals made a path through the caverns which she followed eagerly. much to her surprise, droplet saw the light creeping in at the end of the tunnel! she had found the exit!

“AAAAAAAAAAAH!” 

droplet jolted at the sound of the cry. it was square!

she ran back through the tunnels and finally reached her teammate, surrounded by broken cavern walls.

“what’s wrong?” droplet asked. “i heard you yell!”

“one of these rocks crushed my foot,” he groaned. “but i’m fine. sorry to worry you.”

“just glad you’re okay.”

“how far along were you?”

“i just found the exit…”

“oh…”

meanwhile, hexagon and octagon were continuing along at a steady pace.

“it’s hard to say who’s the toughest competition,” octagon said. “most of the others still in the game don’t really want to be.”

“i suppose you’re right,” hexagon responded. “square? no. heptagon? definitely not. star? not sure, but i don’t think so. as far as i know the only one who really wants to win is droplet.”

“hm.”

“i guess my toughest competition is you!” hexagon elbowed octagon playfully. 

“...hey, i think that’s the exit!” octagon pointed ahead towards the light.

the two made it out of the labyrinth to greet origin and oval.

“and nothing without pentagon is the first team safe!” oval announced. “congratulations! now it’s down to go the DSTance and the homeslices!”

square sighed. “i’ll make my way. but go without me, droplet. i don’t want to slow you down.”

droplet hesitated. “okay.”

she ran off to find the crystals again, and noticed a flash of pink ahead of her.

“star!” she exclaimed.

he barely caught a glimpse of her as he sped past. “droplet!”

“it looks like a race between the last of us cool kids!”

“indeed it does!”

droplet was on star’s tail, but she couldn’t catch up to him. she spotted a little crevice in the wall and jumped through the shortcut, emerging a little ways in front of her old teammate.

“you’ve always been the inventive type!” star exclaimed, “but i won’t let that stop me!” he jumped ahead of her and kept running.

the two were coming up on the exit, lined with crystals sparkling in the light. 

“i never knew you were so fast!” droplet huffed.

“i’ve never had a reason to run!”

“and there we go!” oval exclaimed. “the homeslices are safe! that means go the DSTance is up for elimination.”

droplet emerged from the labyrinth mere seconds after star and collapsed in exhaustion. 

“that was epic,” star said, helping her up to her feet.

“hey,” origin started, “where’s heptagon and square?”

“square’s still inside,” droplet replied, an edge of concern to her voice. “his foot got smooshed by a rock… he’s coming out, but he’s probably going pretty slowly.”

“and heptagon’s somewhere,” star answered, “just not in the labyrinth. i told him to go take a nap.”

“where did he go?” origin asked.

“dunno. i thought he would’ve gone to you, but maybe he just plopped down by the entrance.”

“okay. hm, i have an idea…”

origin started buzzing; star, droplet, hexagon, and octagon all lost their limbs and stuck to him at once – and soon enough, square and heptagon were dragged over to him as well, like metal to a magnet.

“oh!” square gasped. “my foot can’t hurt if it’s gone.”

and so origin took the contestants back to the main field while oval followed behind him, using the grapher to return the arms and legs to his fellow shapes.

“does your foot still hurt?” droplet asked square.

“nope. it’s good as new. hey, sorry we lost.”

“it’s fine. anyway, it wasn’t your fault.”

square shrugged. “i dunno, it feels like it is.”

“well möbius strip is wrong. no need to feel bad.”

droplet smiled. square smiled back. “if you say so.”

octagon and hexagon had been chatting ever since they had emerged from the logarithm labyrinth, and continued to do so as they went to their cabin.

“so what about that autograph?” octagon asked cheekily.

“what do you want me to sign?” hexagon replied, grinning.

octagon lifted up her pacifier. “this!”

…

“AAAAH I HATE MӦBIUS STRIP I HATE THIS SHOW I HATE EVERYTHING!!!!”

“...hello to you too, parry.”

parallelogram suddenly rushed over to kite. “primes, how i’ve missed you! geez!”

kite chuckled. “i’ve missed you so much… hey, crazy to think heptagon is the last one of us still standing, huh?”

“yeah… he’s a good guy. he doesn’t deserve this.”

“you don’t deserve this either.”

“yeah, i don’t. screw möbius strip!! that pathetic jerkwad!!!”

“kinda hope he never comes back. origin is a much better host.”

“you got that right! but then the bar is incredibly low.”

“true.”

soon enough all of the inhabitants of the paradox gathered round to watch the contest – only to be treated with a static view of the mouth of a cave.

“this isn’t very exciting,” triangle said. “y’know what? how about we go over the standings again?”

“sounds like a plan,” trapezoid replied. “so who’s left?”

“we have hexagon and octagon on nothing without pentagon, square and droplet on go the DSTance, and heptagon and star on the homeslices,” rhombus said. “pretty interesting variety.”

“three who really want to win and three who really don’t…” heart murmured. “and yet all of them are d-doing pretty well for themselves.”

“we can all agree that heptagon does not want to be there,” rectangle said, “like at all. i’m on the fence about square – he came to the competition with the intention of winning, so i’m not ruling out the possibility of that coming back.”

“and he is a pretty darn good teammate,” trapezoid noted. “we should definitely watch out for him.”

“how about star?” pentagon asked. “i’ve never known what’s going on with him.”

“yeah, he’s a bit of a mystery,” circle said, “surprisingly enough. why is he here?”

“well, um…” heart started, “he j-just came here to have fun with me. of course, heh, at this p-point it’s clear that that didn’t really pan out…”

“so what’s he doing now?” parallelogram asked. “do you think he might want to actually win now?”

“maybe. he’s never cared about that kind of stuff before… but i d-dunno, things have changed.”

“hm.”

“well, okay, so we can put heptagon at the bottom,” kite concluded, “but from there it’s hard to tell. maybe we should go from the top down?”

“i’d say hexagon and octagon are at the top of their game,” triangle said. “those two are probably the ones to beat at the moment.”

“who would you say is stronger?” rectangle asked.

“i’d think hexagon, only by slightly,” rhombus interjected. “both are very strong, and work incredibly well together, but octagon seems to be a bit more volatile emotion-wise. hexagon has a better handle on things like that, at least generally speaking.”

“you’re not wrong,” trapezoid conceded.

“not to mention how hexagon is good at being sociable with anyone, while octagon’s only just getting used to this type of thing. once teams dissipate, which i’m assuming they will soon, hexagon will have more flexibility in terms of making alliances.”

everyone seemed to agree with this.

“so on top is hexagon and octagon,” circle restated. “then who?”

“rectangle’s right in that square might rediscover his desire to win,” parallelogram noted, “but as of right now? he still doesn’t really want to. he has potential, but at least in the current moment, square would place pretty low.”

“and i’d place star right next to him for the same reason,” kite said. “things have changed and he’s changed, but nobody has any clue what he’s really been up to lately or what he wants. at least up until now he has yet to definitively say he wants to win, but i could see him pushing through if it did come to that.”

“then droplet would g-go right below hexagon and octagon,” heart continued. “she isn’t the most skilled or experienced, sure, but she’s incredibly creative and great in teams – and she really does w-want to win!”

the group continued to discuss the state of the competition despite having little to no idea what the current challenge was. eventually, however, go the DSTance ended up losing.

“so…” triangle started. “how have things changed in the past 5 minutes…?”

“star is up,” rhombus said. “way, way up.”

[izabellwit]

🤡😈🎢✨🎶🍦💖🎯👀✅💔

im sorry im sending so many of these feel free to ignore some if you already got em <3

these answers got kinda long so dhjfgj under the readmore it goes!!

🤡What's a line, scene, or exchange you've written that made you laugh?

Hunter manages to shove all the junk into one corner and make the start of a fairly presentable bed in the other corner by the time the human re-arrives in the Boiling Isles and throws open his door hard enough to smack it against the wall.

“You took my advice!” shouts the human, at the top of her lungs.

“Hiiiiii,” says Hunter, hands over his ears. The human takes a deep breath. Hunter closes the door in her face. “Byeeee.”

(From this fic!!)

There's a lot of lines I've written over the years that make me laugh, but Hunter and Luz as a funny sibling duo…. Every time I reread this fic I giggle at this scene. 

😈 Has there been a point in a story where you did something just to be playfully mean to your readers?

OH ABSOLUTELY there's a few lil ones… I think the one I do most often is namedrop other fandoms/charcters? This happens a lot in my KH fics. Like I'll have a TWEWY reference or character show up for like one second and then never again. Just for funsies and also flavor and also bc I love twewy. 

Sometimes I will also set up scenes specifically to make readers think the worse happened/some guy died or whatever and then it gets revealed its something funny instead. I do that a lot too djhsfgkj

🎢Which of your fics would you call your wildest ride?

LABYRINTHS OF THE HEART. I love all I've written but nothing will ever come close to Labyrinths. It was freshmen year of college and stuff was happening irl and that fic just. Went places. I had so much fun with it.

✨Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

AAAA. UM. Oh god. Uhhhh I think I do pretty well with characterization / character voice? Also a lot of my fics I write for me and im always very happy with them… they are exactly what I wanted to read. Does that count??

🎶Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?

YEAH. For certain fics I'll make a whole playlist, even! As for a song on loop.... this one! Inkpot Gods by the Amazing Devil never leaves my brain haha

🍦What's the sweetest fic you've created so far?

Ohhh gosh. Okay so its either Klee meeting the knights of Favonius or Hyakkimaru and Dororo comedy fic hjdfgkjgh

💖What made you start writing?

Oooo I gotta think about this one... hmmm, I think, I've always been a daydreamer and as a kid I used to be annoyed I couldn't "reread" my daydreams like I could my favorite books?? so I decided I just had to write them down eventually I think jhdfkgj

Of course in my mind before i could write down my ideas I had to actually get GOOD at writing (kid brain. My logic is silly, write whatever and whenever u want, u do not need "skill" to get started but ANYWAY) that's also how I started writing fic, for writing practice!! And now years later I'm still at it haha

🎯Have any of your readers accurately guessed major plot points? Care to share which?

Oooooh, a lot of readers in Labyrinths guessed the final plot point, which is that Varian will become the moondrop… most of my fics don't tend to have major twists though, I think…? There's one other fic I've written that has a HUGEE twist, but it hasn't been revealed yet and no one's guessed it yet, so ;)

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

i have a player and xehanort on the island fic in the works (exploring his possible childhood, character study and legacies kinda thing), and its still veeeeeery rough draft (like. basically still just notes) but I do have this exchange!!!

-do you think they’ll like me?

-who?

-the friends from my dreams. I’m not— do you think they’ll like me anyway?

-of course.

-but how do you know? What if they don’t? What if— what if I go out there and no one—

-he stops. He doesn’t know where he was going with that.

-silence. And then his teacher leans forward, and holds him close. I love you, they say. I love you very much.

-that isn’t what I asked.

-but it's my answer. They press a hand to his head. You’ll understand, one day. 

✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to?

The above exhange: "i love you / that isn't what I asked / but it is my answer" has actually shown up in a few fics! It's a common theme I guess u could say... its a conversation that means something to me and I think it is changed slightly by the context of every story, so I keep bringing it in jhdfgkj

Other things that crop up a lot....Found family for sure! Uhhh the phrase "rolling the thought like candy on [their] tongue" shows up a lot without my meaning it too djhfgjkh

Oh!!! Honey!! Honey shows up a lot. I think honey is fantastic. Did u know it lasts forever? Also it has great medical properties--Anyway I think you get the idea haha

💔 Is there a fic of yours that broke your heart?

https://archiveofourown.org/works/27801085/chapters/68061658 hehe

Anyway. The woods whispering fic may be completed but I think about the fucked up found family relationships in that fic 24/7. The moment i posted the last chapter i had to stare at a wall for a bit haha

[letstrywritingmaybe]

Just a random thought, since I love song fics… I wonder if I could somehow make a fic using my Spotify wrapped playlist as inspiration hmm… I’m gonna think out loud under the cut

Crash my car… so a meet ugly if it’s an AU (I love these!) but also lyrics could make it canon verse

Roses, need I say more, this is so CoAi vibes already. Lyrics probs more canon?

Bang, um… yeah okay probs canon divergence from the looks of things

Way less sad, labyrinth, know it all, lost, talk too much, maroon (oooo, as if I want already dreaming of a midnights album fic), close to you, 1 last cigarette, bummerland (cause we’re only going up from here. Okay this is like all my fics though), anti-hero, miss you a little, see through, blind, snow on the beach (okay but I did use a lyric already for the December fic…), American money (ngl always wanted to use this song as inspo cause of my bias of mirroring my golden otp), daphne blue (I don’t wanna talk about it! And I think we both know why! Wish it wasn’t automatic, the way I want you every time. Ugh this song man), loneliness for love (this song has always low key reminded me of my fav), karma (cause karma is her boyfriend!?!), songs I can’t listen too (my bias of superposition being their song), isabelle (hm… eh), love somebody (this one!!!), lavender haze (again the midnights album fic really should just be a thing), I like that, hate you + love you (ah yes the low key toxic vibe of it all. Why am I like this), SAD (clap your hands) (honestly probs more of a kaishi vibe but not very shippy really, but we’ll roll with it), you’re on your own kid, 2/14 (can’t fall in love tonight, well guess what pal! It’s happening!), 3 o’clock things (insomnia my old friend but also this ship doesn’t sleep I swear), choke (basically just die, which is such a mood), bejeweled (best believe my queen is still bejeweled and she can still make the whole place shimmer. And when they ask if she has a man? She can still say she doesn’t remember~ seriously this album fic when. Does someone else wanna be in charge of this cause I’m super intrigued by how people write using the same source but it always turns out different and I love that!), never a good time (the demise of the canon ship, there’s literally no good way for them to break up. They’re way too toxic and while obviously they shouldn’t work out, it’s annoying that I even have to figure a way to make amicable. I literally don’t even bother anymore. I hate canon), palm reader (got your crystals in your pocket like a drug dealer, bars. Love this line always), all my favorite songs (see the neon trees song cause that is the tie in), mastermind (most CoAi song off the album hands down), less than I do (I hope you feel blue, less than I do… did I really write a fic if I don’t make him suffer?), ghost story (see previous note), wave of you, question…?, Greek tragedy (she hits like ecstasy~), I think I like you (geezus Christ you think buddy!!! Literally I wanna scream every time cause why the fuck is he like this!!! HOW DO YOU NOT KNOW YOURE IN LOVE WITH MY QUEEN!!! I say as if he isn’t canonly dense as fuck when it comes to romance, it’s literally why I can’t deal with him sometimes and will only write him when he fucking is aware! As a hopeless romantic, it kills me to see him be so dumb about this kinda stuff), electric love, sweet nothing (okay I honestly see this more as kaishi but it’s cause I’m soft for them but also imagining it as CoAi is very cute too), strawberry sunscreen (she tastes like sunscreen and summertime, actually lots of feels about this… like you know when a summer fling is going to end cause it can’t last and you know it but you still keep going for it even. Living in the moment and falling more and being so happy and just disregarding the fallout that’s to come. Again just my feelings with this ship, the song does not give this vibe at all), run (need I say more, this is a theme for this ship), baby blue shades (hm… again I’m thinking more of symbolism but the song is not at all the way I’m making it out to be in my head)

midnight rain (ugh okay my fav song off the album but in regards to the ship there’s so much about this song man. And I never think of him, except on midnights like this. My whole heart. I guess sometimes we all get just what we wanted. I guess sometimes we all get some kind of haunted. Listen I’m a firm firm believe that they would absolutely be each other’s the one that got away and that just pains me so much), can you handle my love??, I ain’t worried, world’s smallest violin, vigilante shit, girl(you’re gonna take me back to a time when I loved and I mean it), animal(so look me in the eyes, am I someone else?)

you are the traffic (I actually have a fic with this as the title and it is not a great one. Not as messy as devour, but not great either. A terrible toxic relationship that should definitely end, but because it’s me… yeah…)

Dear reader, automatic (god I love the way you talk the way you feel baby), higher, blu (fall into your blue, what the hell is love if you’re in complete control, fighting it is hopeless, sinking in your ocean just like you designed me to do), would’ve could’ve should’ve (the regrets aspect but also John Mayer is a piece of shit, not fic related of course but I never liked him), Thelma + Louise, coming home, boys (got hungover from your words, in New York it’s the worst, all these nights are a blur), the Great War, superposition, cemetery (def not a shippy song but we’ll roll with the title), low key (see I only lie when I love you summary), Paris, I want it all (he’s the selfish one but he’s not wrong when it’s for her), love me like a friend (fwb fic when), song about you (see me always being on the song fic train), high Infidelity, stay next to me

Cringe (honestly could go one of two ways for me. Either more fuel for no canon ship or desperation for my ship. Again I write this all the time), still not dead (honestly the theme of the series if we’re just looking at the title here), bigger than the whole sky, wish you were sober, the other side of paradise (of all glass animal songs it was this one??? I wish you could see the naked truth… I guess), sunshine, glitch, choker (self-sabotage is a sweet romance)

tangerine (okay here’s another one, hm… honestly more of a failed ship song but perhaps a dramatic thing of this is what will happen to me if I miss out on keeping you), dancing in the kitchen

state of grace (okay I never liked the idea of writing a red album fic cause it is the ultimate breakup album and in my world my ship always works out. So really this is more for the canon ship, which I low key have put a lot of thought into and may just write it one day… but I don’t really wanna cause I do not care about the canon ship. But I literally have it all mapped out in my head. All 30 songs. But anyways this is the worthwhile fight I guess would be his stance for my queen if I’m making it for my ship)

My play (basically the perfect scenario, but we all know nothing ever goes to plan in the real world), lean on me, someday, red (see note about this being a canon ship break up album and my ship is absolutely not a red ship cause to me those do not last. I say as I have a red otp), drivers license (okay this does not apply to them at all, but we can roll with it in the way that we’re tying in the crash my car song. Am I bringing back the idea of an AU?), 18

Get away (okay I can’t. This has always been a kaishi song to me and I kinda still really wanna write this fic for them one day… but I guess we can roll with this as just the title, cause the lyrics are definitely more geared towards kaishi for me)

Message in a bottle (again we don’t need to go over this again, so title it is), record player (title), strawberries & cigarettes (basic but so what), find someone, run (but this one is for the one in Run To Change The End Game. I still need to finish that and perhaps add the joker and the queen, but for this purpose we’ll continue the theme of running away or not), new religion, everybody talks (in which as per usual in my fics, everyone ships them), (skipping this one cause it’s not my song but one of my brothers that made the list)

Treacherous (okay I know I said no red songs cause breakup album but… this to me has (still is) always been the most CoAi song Tay ever wrote so… yeah)

In conclusion, this would literally be every fic I’ve ever written so yeah. Totally doable

[ellana-ravenwood]

“Mom got lost again” - Batfam x Fem!Reader

Synopsis : Little snippets about how “Batmom” (reader) will never find her way in the Mansion. But it’s fine, really, because she can always count on her husband and children to “save” her.  //DRABBLE

So. I was watching one of those “Architect’s digest” video on YouTube where they visit houses that are millions and millions of dollars worth, and besides the fact that I was thinking “wow look at all those beautiful things I’ll never be able to afford”, I couldn’t shake another thought off…and that was that I would totally get lost in many of those houses. Like, the way some are designed, they’re literally Dedalus’ labyrinth my dudes. So anyway, here’s not-really-a-fic-nor-a-drabble for you, a sort of snippet kind of thing, about this. Hope you’ll like it : 

My masterlist blog : @ella-ravenwood-archives

__________________________________________________

Before the kids

“Hey Alfred, where’s (Y/N) ?”

He asks, one early evening as he just got home from work and knows you were going to meet up with him at his place.

“Oh Lady (Y/L/N) wanted to go see the library, so I took her there.”

“Thank you.”

Bruce arrives in the library, but you’re nowhere to be found. Wondering where you went he calls you but it seems like your cell don’t have any battery anymore. He starts to walk around the West Wing, looking in every room and…Finally, he finds you.

You’re sitting down against a wall in the corridor, looking discouraged, staring at your dead phone. You spot him and jump to your feet, looking very relieved. You then rush in Bruce’s arms, he catches you in extremis and you exclaims :

“Oh my god ! Bruce ! I love you !”

Insert a lot of kisses on his cheeks a really huge hug, as if you haven’t seen him in ages. But I mean, getting lost any place is sort of distressing, and you looooove that man. So much.

A little confuse, although always happy to have your affection, he asks : 

“What…is going on ?”

“I got lost…”

“You got lost ?”

"You have a very big house.”

Highly amused, Bruce responds : “I do.”

“So I got lost.”

“Ah. And what were you doing sitting there ?”

“Well…My parents always taught me to stay where I was, if I ever got lost somewhere, so when they’d came to look for me we’d be sure to see each others instead of passing right next to each others a thousand times…”

Bruce can’t help but burst out in laughter. Even more so that you genuinely looks like a kid that got separated from her parents. And oh, oh you love his laughter. 

It’s always a feat, when you can hear it. Especially when it comes from the heart like right now, when he genuinely laughs this deep beautiful laugh, because he’s happy. Because you make him happy. 

He’s not laughing at you, he just laughs because...You’re too much sometimes. 

And exactly what he needs. Too much is good, for a man like him.

He takes your hand and shows you around one more time. 

But he can see that even so, you can’t seem to remember the layout of the house, and you getting lost will happen again for sure. 

And he’s right. He showed you around his manor so many times, yet it seems you just can’t remember certain places. Like you memorized the places you go the most, kitchen, bedroom, bathroom, access to the Batcave...and most of the time you find your way around easily (albeit sometimes still a little lost). 

But there’s entire areas of the house you try not to venture in or...it ends with Bruce coming to your rescue. Or Alfred. But he usually leaves Bruce to do it, as the man just...loves the way you two love each others. 

It’s always rather cute. And it warms the butler’s heart. 

Never in his wildest dream would he ever have thought that his Master Bruce would find someone like you. Someone accepting and understanding, and loving him unconditionally. And someone that Bruce loved fully in return, and whom he cherished above all. 

Yes. Alfred often let Bruce go on the hunt for you across the Manor, simply because he shipped you both since the very first time he saw you together, and he thoroughly enjoyed when his Master Bruce was acting like a lovesick puppy around you. When he was acting like a “normal” man, just hopelessly in love with his wife. 

And it was so pure, and beautiful.

So what if sometimes you’d wait a little long, lost in those endless corridors ? Alfred knew that Bruce would find you. Always. And that when he did, as usual, you would make Bruce’s heart melt, and he’d feel happy just by seeing you and...honestly it was all wort it. 

Bruce sometimes suspect you do it on purpose. That you get lost just so he can find you. And honestly ? He really doesn’t mind... 

Saved by the little bird

"Over a year of living here, I swear I still can’t...where...wait, didn’t I just pass this damn yet-again-another-living room ?! Aaaah what the fuck why is everything looking the same. Fucking shit. What a shitastrophy. Fucking cockburger son of a bitchtits little f-”

“Um...Are you ok, mom ?”

Oh sssshhhh...Alfred wouldn’t be happy with you for swearing around your young son. Dick was only eight, after all. 

He had started to call you “mom” since very recently, and it always made your heart skip a beat. Made you feel utterly happy. 

As the boy came in behind you from the corridor, you were about to kick a potted plant out of frustration (another thing that Alfred wouldn’t be very happy about). You turn around, slowly get your foot back on the floor, and say : 

“Um. I got um...Lost...” 

“Lost ?” 

“Yes...I just...can’t get used to the size of this house. I wanted to get something that Alfred said was in the East wing, which is somewhere I never really go. And um...”

“You got lost.”

“Yes. Don’t make fun of me ok, your dad is already enough.” 

“I wasn’t going to make fun of you !” 

Your son says, a little virulently, as if offended you’d ever think such a thing ! You smile at him, because how sweet could this kid get really ? 

“Alright little buddy, sorry I ever made such an assumption. So, if you’re not gonna mock me...maybe you can save me then ?”

“Save you ?” 

“Well, I’m lost. And you don’t seem lost.” 

“That’s because I’m not, I always found my way out of the labyrinths in fun fairs very easily !” 

He tells you, smiling widely, excited at the prospect of helping you. 

“Where do you need to go ?” 

“Let’s try to get to the kitchen.” 

“I know the way ! Come on !” 

He takes your hand in his little one, and drags you behind him, leading you across corridors and rooms up until...

“Here !” 

He tells you, smiling widely. And it’s so cute, because he’s missing a few teeth and his smile is just so pure...You just want to squish his little face and hug him to death. 

“Ah my savior ! What can I ever repay you with ?” 

You ask, taking an overdramatic tone of voice, knowing little Dickie always loved when you two played pretend and such. He takes the gruffest voice he can and says : 

“Well, my lady can repay me with...um...Cookies, yes I think cookies will do !” 

“Cookies ? Well this sounds fair, for this dashing saving you just did ! Macadamia or chocolate chip ?” 

“Both ?” 

“Both it is !” 

It happened many times, that you paid your oldest son with cookies, after he saved you from getting lost in your own house...Even as an adult, he’d demand payment of fresh cookies, and then would go show them off to his siblings, refusing to share, as the “good” older brother he was haha. 

Lost together

You find Jason in one of the many gaming room, while you were trying to get to the kitchen. You know for a fact that there are no gaming rooms on the way to the kitchen, but you can’t really figure out where you messed up...Was it when you went left after the third bathroom ? Or when you took the stairs down right before one of the mezzanine ? Wait, did that mezzanine have a piano ? Because if it did then it was the right way, if it didn’t, then you were on the other side of the damn house. Or maybe just right next to...Yeah ok. Lost again. 

But you found Jason. 

Maybe he could help ? 

The boy was sitting in a huge comfortable leather armchair, reading a book. When he heard you come in the room, he snapped his head up and a huge smile illuminated his cute little face. 

“Finally ! Mom !” 

He jumps off the armchair, putting down his books, and goes to jump in your arms. Then he says : 

“I was trying to go to the arcade room ! Because I wanted to beat your high score on Tekken, but I always only followed someone there, and I can’t find it anymore...” 

Ah. The arcade. One of the only room you sort of knew where to find...If you started from the front door. Or your bedroom. Not from a random room god knew where in the mansion. 

Why was this house so big ??? 

“I’m sorry to bother you with this, I know I should’ve paid more attention when Alfred showed me, but it’s just-”

Oh no. Oh no the little one was looking at you worryingly, probably because you weren’t responding, and he thought he was being a pain. 

Little Buddy always thought he was bothering people...So hurriedly, you said : 

“Oh no no Jason, you’re not bothering me at all ! It’s just um..I’m um...I’m sort of lost too.” 

“You are ?”

“I am.” 

“Really ?” 

“Really.” 

“Well damn.” 

“Haha right ? Usually your father or Dick would save me. Or Alfred.”

“Yeah same.”

“I actually rarely walk around alone now that I think about it.” 

“Yeah same !”

There’s a short pause, where you look at each others and smile at this little moment. And then, as you slowly both realize that you’re lost, IN YOUR OWN HOME, and the ridiculousness of the situation down on you, you explode in laughter. 

You end up getting back to the armchair, and Jason settles comfortably in your lap as you continue to read the book he was reading, out loud, and he listens to you happily. Nobody ever really read him stories before you and Bruce... 

Bruce finds the both of you later in the day, fast asleep in the armchair, Jason latched on your arm as you hug him to you. 

He finds the sight so adorably charming. He sits down next to the two of you, enjoying this moment of quiet and peace. And then he picks up the book you were reading, reading it himself...Ah. It’s one of his favorite childhood book. 

He reads it, waiting for you two to wake up, not wanting to disturb your sleep. 

It’s rare, that he has some free time. And he really doesn’t mind spending it watching over his sleeping wife and son, waiting for them to wake up and guide their way back to the part of the house they know...

Damn. Damn he loves them so much. 

"I memorized the blueprints” 

“And see, here’s a secret passage !” 

The boy says excitedly, as he shows you and Bruce a hidden door in one of the wall, behind a heavy tapestry. 

“...Wait...I didn’t even know that was there...How did...What ?” 

Your husband asks, half-confused, half-impressed, with maybe a little hint of hurt pride in there as well...it’s his house after all. 

“I memorized the blueprints of the house that are in the library.” 

The little one says, smiling widely at his new father. Bruce responds : 

“I have those blueprints, I never saw this secret passage ever in my life.” 

“You must have the “official” blueprints, the one Allan Wayne gave to others. The blueprints in the library, the ones I found, were tucked away inside one of the book and showed more than the “official” ones. Your great-great-great-great-great grandfather was a very paranoid man, I assume he pulled a Madame Winchester on the builders.” 

“Madame Win...Huh ?” 

“You know, famous Winchester mansion ? Super haunted ? She gave instructions to many different people to build certain things and there isn’t really blueprints that shows a correct layout of everything ?”

“Right...Sure...” 

“I assume you were too busy building the bat cave to really pay attention to the house. But it’s quite a wonder ! There’s so many new secrets I haven’t discovered yet !” 

A soft, tender smile spreads on your husband’s face as he looks down at Tim. Bruce says : 

“That’s quite a discovery you found there my boy, and you say you memorized it already ?” 

“It was easy, I just had to keep in mind the-”

And then Tim started to get lost in long complicated explanation that you didn’t understand, while your husband seemed very interested. 

You couldn’t help but smile. How cute...

Today, you were sort of glad, that you got very lost in your own home again, and got saved by little Timmy. He hadn’t lived in the house for very long by that time, but already knew it even better than Bruce, apparently. 

It was so nice, to have such a sweet little on in your life again...Dick hadn’t been by in a while, busy with the titans. And Jason...

You didn’t want to think about Jason. 

Or at least, not in the way you would end up thinking about him. You wanted to remember his smiles, and how he always got lost too in this house. Not...Not...the broken body Bruce brought back...You...

You shooed the memory away, and focused on your son. 

Tim was now going on and on about how he found really cool places that weren’t on the normal blueprints, and how he wanted to show Bruce and you. 

And Bruce was smiling. For the first time in ages. Your husband was smiling, faced with such an excited little one. 

So yes. Yes, today you were glad you got lost in your own home, and that your tiny son found you and showed you the way. That it lead you to ask him how the hell was he that fast in memorizing the house’s layout, and then him explaining things about the blueprints. 

And consequently, how Bruce and him started to truly bond, started to talk about the house and about the Wayne legacy...

It was nice. To finally see your husband smile again. Propelled by a sudden surge of motherly love, you hugged Tim tight, and the boy, a bit confused at first, hugged you back without much questions. 

And this sight. 

His wife and his son hugging. 

It warmed Bruce’s heart in a way his heart hadn’t been warmed since he lost Jason. 

Yes. It was good, that sometimes you’d get lost in your own damn house. 

This is a fun game

By the time Cassandra came into your life, this “mom got lost again” thing became sort of a game. It was about who would find you first, when they realized you were lost. 

You’d be gone a little too long after saying : “I’m gonna go get the ice cream in the freezer”, and they knew. It was time to set a party to find you. 

“3, 2, 1...GO !” And they’d run in each different direction, searching for you. 

The winner gets cookies. Baked by you... 

Cass liked that game. 

Because even if she lost, she would’ve spend quality times with her family. Fun times. Looking for her beloved mother. 

Mother. 

The only mother she ever had. 

Mom. 

It’s a word that always easily rolled off her tongue. 

Mom. 

“Found, mom.” 

You jumped a little in the air, as your only daughter suddenly appeared out of nowhere. She was looking at you upside down, and it took you a little bit to realize she was actually dangling off in a very spider-man way off of the floor just above. She must’ve heard your footsteps (or more likely, your growls about being lost again). 

She jumped off, and you felt your heart stop, suddenly fearing she would fall down but..Not, she agilely jumps over the rail, and is in front of you, smiling. 

Finding you was Cass’ favorite game. Because when she did, you’d always look at her fondly, give her a hug, and praise her for being the best.

And for someone like Cassandra, who grew up treated like an emotionless machine by a man who never viewed her as more than a weapon...it felt nice, to have such a loving person in her life. 

When Cass thought of you, her mind filled with bright colors, and her heart with warmth. Because she grew up never learning how to speak, her thoughts didn’t quite work in words like most people, but in colors and temperatures. 

And you, you were reassuring colors and soothing warmth. 

Mom. 

Such a simple word. Yet it took her a while to be able to even say it. 

Now she could speak, in big thanks to you. And her father.

She loved you guys so much. So much. 

She loved you. 

“Mom.” 

She says, reaching a hand for yours. And you take it, smiling once more, shaking your head and apologizing that you made her look for you...Oh. 

Oh but she doesn’t mind. None of them do. 

Because when they find you. When they “save you”, you always look at them with such unconditional love. No matter what. 

Finding you is Cass’ favorite game. 

It always leaves her feeling nice and warm, loved and safe. 

Finding you is Cass’ favorite game. 

And one day, she’ll be able to tell you all of that. One day, she’ll be able to tell you to never apologize, because she loves to look for you. She loves you. 

One day. One day she’ll talk to you about all of this. 

But for now, it was fine for both of you that her feelings translated in only smiles, affectionate touch, and one very important word...

“Mom”. 

“I won’t let you get lost !” 

Damian hated the mere idea of you being in any kind of distress. 

ANY kind. 

So when he learned that you would often get lost in the Manor, and even as everyone assured him it just sort of became an inside joke within the family, your youngest son took it upon himself to make sure you’d never get lost again. 

He started to put up signs everywhere in the house, giving indications as to where you were and where was what. Detailed little maps, arrows and such. Drawn by himself. It took him WEEKS to finally cover the entire Manor. 

It’s something no one ever thought of before because...Although you often got lost, it was always nice to try and find you, and well, you would still know your way around the part of the house you’d most go to. 

In fact, when you got lost, it was often because you’d go in a wing you didn’t know much for whatever reason, and they’d know where to look for you. 

So they never really saw a reason to make signs telling you the right way. Or yeah, they never really thought about it. 

But Damian...Damian was set to make the house “lost proof”.

As a result, you definitely didn’t get lost as many times. Which was...nice ? 

But once, at dinner, Dick was reminiscing of that one time you got lost in the attic for some reason, and couldn’t find your way out, and him and Jason had to get you, and how they laughed a lot and you praised them for saving you...

And Damian grew quiet. And upset. When you asked him why, he refused to answer, but the next day, you ventured in a part of the house you rarely went to so you could go fetch something and...

All the signs telling you which way to go were gone. Which didn’t worry you much, you knew you’d be found by one of your family member before long, or would just find your own way out after a while. 

But it was odd nonetheless. 

It’s only when Damian found you, and “saved” you that you understood why the signs weren’t on anymore. 

Damian too, wanted to “save” you from getting lost. Wanted to laugh with you because it was silly that you got lost in your own house. Wanted you to bake him cookies as a reward for saving him. Wanted to share those bonding moments with you...

It was so cute, and showed how far Damian really went since Talia first dropped him on your door, that you couldn’t help but hug the hell out of your baby. 

He was a little embarrassed, but hugged you back nonetheless. 

Yes. Yes Damian had come along way, since he first came into your life. He learned how to love, how it felt to be loved, and how...how sometimes he would crave for your attention. 

And so he took down the signs. So he could save you. So he could share this with you, just like you did share those moments with all his other siblings. 

He took down the signs, because you getting lost was an important inside joke of this family...And because he was, now, part of this family. 

What even is this place...

Duke thought he would never EVER find his way back in this new house. 

His bedroom was in...east wing ? West wing ? ...SOMEWHERE. 

The first few days of living there were overwhelming, and he constantly had to make sure he wasn’t far from one of the other family member because he was so afraid to get lost. 

He couldn’t remember the right way to anywhere. This was all too big. 

He grew up in a small two bedrooms apartment, in the heart of Gotham’s sludge. He could find his way in this gigantic city easily, knew the place like the back of his hand but...

The Manor ? 

It was uncharted territory. In every sense of the term. 

First it was on the outskirt of Gotham, in the hills, a place he never set foot in.

And then the house, but also the land around it was bigger than his neighborhood ! It was so foreign for him... 

But he hid this well. He hid the fact he was overwhelmed well. And just made sure he’d always be with someone when walking around the manor. 

He tried to remember the way they took, he really did. But every time he thought he got it, they’d use another way and he was totally lost again. 

Alfred showed him around the first day, but it was too many informations at the same time. Him and his ADHD couldn’t process it.  

What would you guys say, if he mentioned he was getting lost in the house ? Surely, you’d mock him. Or just feel sorry for him ? 

He wasn’t sure, and he didn’t want to know. Acclimating to this new life was already hard enough, what with discovering his meta-powers, having to deal with what happened to his parents, and living in this all new environment. 

You made it comfortable and easy for him. You were just so welcoming and loving. But it was still hard...he was only a boy. 

And so he said nothing. And now...now, lost and walking through corridors that all looked the same, he dearly regretted it. 

He turned a corner, and...there you were. 

“Oh, hey Dukie”. 

He smiled shyly, afraid you would know he was lost, and said : 

“Hi.” 

“What’s up ?” 

“Nothing, I was going to- I was exploring the house.” 

He was about to say he was trying to get to the movie theater, where Damian  and Cass were surely waiting for him by that time, so they could watch a movie. But what if he was totally off ? Far from where the home cinema was supposed to be ? 

“Exploring the house” sounded like a safe thing to say. 

“Oh, careful not to get lost haha. Happens to me all the time...” 

Wait...What ? Were you joking ? He wasn’t sure. 

“Actually, I’m lost right now. I wanted to take a shortcut from the kitchen to the bat cave to see Bruce -I miss him- -Yeah I know only saw him couple of hours ago-, but I must’ve taken a wrong turn...Somewhere...”

You were holding your chin in your hand now, trying to remember where you could possibly have taken the wrong turn. And Duke realized you were serious.

“You’re lost ?” 

“Yeaaaah. Go ahead, you can laugh. I know I’d laugh at myself too haha. I just could...never quite figure out how this house worked ? I grew up in a one bedroom apartment, sleeping in the living room with my brothers. And then when I moved in on my own I had an even smaller place. So. It’s a change. Even after all those years I’m still not quite used to it.”

“Ah me too ! I mean, I just can’t figure out the layout of this place !”

“Ah ? Hey, for you too, sometimes you think you definitely know where you’re going and then you find yourself outside in the garden and you just have no idea how you got there ?”

“Yes !!!! I was sure of my way so many times but then one wrong turn and...here I am.” 

“Well Duke, believe me I get it. I get it haha.” 

You then proceeded to tell him all the most embarrassing stories of you getting lost, including that one time at a charity event held in your house, someone asked you to take them to a certain place, and your asshole of a husband let you do it just because he knew you wouldn’t find the way, and because you getting lost with their guest was the only fun entertainment of the night. 

And this. 

This simple shared thing, of you two getting lost...

It was amongst the first time Duke really felt home. Really felt like he wasn’t alone. 

Those past few days had been difficult for him. This was all so new. 

And yet, with a few smiles, silly stories and support..You made him feel like he was truly home. And he didn’t even notice the hours you two passed, sat on the floor in that corridor, before Bruce found you and took you back to where you initially wanted to go...   

Saved by the littlest bird

Thomas is about eight, and you’re about to have a heart pinching flashback as he’s going to remind you of your first baby...

Dick was going to be almost thirty, by then. He was married, and with a kid on the way (I’m not here for ship wars, you chose with who he is, wether it’s Babs or Kori, or whoever else). Oh, how long ago it was, that his little eight years old hand would hold yours to guide you across the manor...

Too bad. Because right now, you definitely needed some help navigating around. Lost again. Ugh. T’was getting old. 

“Mommy...You’ve been living in this house for over 15 years now, how can you still get lost ?” 

Your littlest baby. Thomas. Appearing from around the corner, and as he saw you, rolling his eyes like never before. Yet smirking, in a very “Bruce” way. Ah. Like father, like son. 

“...”

Is your only answer. 

You avoid his judging gaze, but did it in a way that was overdoing it, so he knew you were just pretending to be embarrassed haha. He rolled his eyes, and then takes out a walkie talkie and says : 

“I found her Damdam, she’s in the West Wing near one of the drawing room. Over.” 

“Ok, thanks little buddy, let’s meet up in the kitchen, over.” 

“Ok cool, be right there, over.” 

This little exchange made you smile, oh those two were very close. Well, all your children were close. But Damian and Thomas had a little something, because they were the youngest, and because Damian took to heart his big brother role. He was also the only one still living in the manor by that time, all your other children having their own place in Gotham, going to college or already working...a wave of nostalgia threatened to take over you, and you quickly thought of something else. 

“Little buddy”, Damian called Thomas. Copying you for sure. How cute.  

“Come on mommy, I’ll take you back to the kitchen. You can make us cookies then, yes ?” 

“Of course my baby, any flavor you want.” 

“Well Damian will surely want the white chocolate chip ones, so I’m good with those too.” 

Thomas was such a sweet consilient boy. He didn’t really mind anything, and would follow you guys anywhere...as long as he could be with his family, and enjoy their presence, he just never minded. 

He definitely had a stubborn and strong personality, but he was still oh so sweet. And nice. Even if he did mock you a lot for getting lost in your own home...

“Where did you get the walkies ?” 

“Dick gave it to me last time he came, so we could cheat at hide and seek. Don’t tell Tim.” 

You chuckle, imagining how nuts your kids would get because Dick always goddamn won...

Ah and of course Dick would give a talkie to his littlest brother. To be honest, Thomas reminded you of Dick in lots of ways. 

They were both gentle, funny, sweet and nice...with outburst of anger and pride sometimes. Ah quite like Bruce too. You loved them all so damn much. 

“Now come mom, I think dad will be home soon too ! We can watch a movie before the patrol ! With cookies !!” 

You smile, and you take your son’s hand. Your youngest boy. Reminiscent of when Dick used to do this. All those years ago. 

Reminiscent of a time you didn’t feel so weak... 

(I’M SORRY I HAD TO ADD THIS LAST LINE FOR IT TO FIT IN THE WORLD I SORT OF MADE !! If you know you know). 

And if you’re wondering who the hell Thomas is : Polichinelle, “Go away, you’re confusing my baby”, Shaky steps and bad teaching, Master of Diaper, How do you make babies ?, What it means to be a big brother - By Damian Wayne and After Batmom’s death)

Bonus : There’s a moment, in one of the video I watched, where the guy showing the house off is basically like : “You might think this is a beautiful dining room…but it’s not, it’s a breakfast room”, and I had random flashes of Alfred showing the manor to one of the kids, or even to Batmom as she first comes to the house, and him talking about the “breakfast room”, and the boys/Batmom just not being able to get over the fact there’s a room that exist just to eat breakfast in…(wait till they see the personal SPA floor uh). Only Damian would be like : “Tt. Only one breakfast room ?” XD. Anyway. I thought I shared, because it made me laugh to imagine how ridiculous Wayne Manor is. Wait worst, in one of the video the people living in it had a room bigger than my entire apartment that existed for the SOLE PURPOSE OF CUTTING BOUQUETS OF FRESH FLOWERS ??????? That I’m sure they wouldn’t have. I mean, a garden that Alfred would cherish, for sure. But...an entire room just to cut FRESH (the dude really put an emphasis on that) flowers...My guy...what...

_________________________________________________

Ok the end. Hope you liked whatever my thoughts were on this Saturday night. I didn't put as much effort in this as I usually do and wrote it rather fast, hope it’s still ok, I just wanted to share a little something that wouldn't leave my head up until I finally wrote about it :). 

PS : Also it’s all sort of a joke I thought about, I know most people would probably find their way after living for ages in the same place, but ah you get what I meant haha. Also I get lost in my own basement sometimes because of how the layout is, so ya know...hahaha. 

[buoyantsaturn]

I’m all eyes (1/1)

summary: So, obviously, if Nico was wearing Jason’s sweatshirt, then they must be dating, right?

word count: 1,871

read on ao3

Will didn’t think he was the jealous type. Jealousy required some amount of anger, right? But he wasn’t angry - maybe just disappointed. And really, he didn’t even have all of the facts, so he shouldn’t let himself get worked up over it anyway. 

It’s just that, well. It sucked to always look over at the Big Three table to see Nico in that giant purple SPQR sweatshirt. Or, it didn’t suck - it was a good look, and purple was definitely Nico’s color, as much as Will would prefer to see him in camp orange. The part that sucked was that Jason was always sitting beside him, and that sweatshirt definitely looked like it was Jason’s size. 

So, obviously, if Nico was wearing Jason’s sweatshirt, then they must be dating, right? And on the one hand, it was exciting, because that meant Nico was into guys, which meant that Will might have a chance with him (and bonus points because he, too, was tall, blond, and blue-eyed). On the other hand, Nico was taken, and Will wasn’t a homewrecker (or whatever the fifteen year old version of a homewrecker was).

Anyway, Will had a lot of mixed feelings about seeing Nico in that sweatshirt. And he kept having those mixed feelings when he started to see more and more of Nico around camp. He would come by the archery range while Will was practicing with his shotgun (on his own target that he’d made specifically for shooting practice). He had started going to campfires (where he would pull the sweatshirt over his knees and turn himself into an adorable purple blob). He’d even started coming by the infirmary every few days so that Will could make sure he was keeping his fading in check (so, to be fair, Will had asked him to stop by occasionally, but that was for purely medical reasons).

On one particularly hot day in September, Nico entered the infirmary sans sweatshirt, and Will’s heart jumped in his chest. Sure, he’d seen Nico without that sweatshirt on a few times before, but he’d reacted the same way then, too. He tried to act normal, checking Nico’s solidity and making sure that his arms and legs still cast shadows, but the second Piper stepped into the infirmary, Will’s mind went blank.

She was wearing a giant purple SPQR sweatshirt, the one that looked just like Jason’s that Nico always wore. And hadn’t Jason and Piper been dating before they set off on the Argo II? 

“Is that Jason’s sweatshirt?” Will’s mouth asked before his brain could stop it.

Piper paused and glanced down, like she’d forgotten what she was wearing. “Oh, uh, yeah. Nyssa’s got the AC blasting in the bunker, so I snagged this from Jason’s cabin on the way here.”

“Oh.” Did that mean they were still dating? Or maybe they just had a really amicable breakup? Or...Nico, Jason, and Piper were all in some sort of polyamorous relationship? Not that there was anything wrong with that, of course, but the three of them together certainly made for an odd bunch. “Sorry, did you need help?” 

She shook her head. “Nah, just came to see what was holding Nico up. He’s been helping us try to track down Leo.” 

“Really?” Will asked, glancing at Nico in surprise. “That’s...nice of you.” 

Nico shrugged. “I’m just gonna make sure he stays dead this time.” 

Will grinned. “Ah. That’s more like it.” 

“So, am I good to go?” Nico asked. “I’d like to track Leo down before Thanatos does.” 

Will rolled his eyes fondly. “Yeah, go ahead. But as a bit of medical advice, murder might not be best for your mental health.” 

Nico scrunched up his nose. “I don’t think you have to worry about that.” 

“Sure, Death Boy,” Will said, brushing off his reply. It was probably a joke anyway. Right? “Get out of here already. I’ll see you later.” 

As Nico started toward the door, Piper threw an arm around him, which Nico immediately tried to shove off, albeit unsuccessfully. Once he was sure they were gone, and once Kayla returned from her snack break, Will snuck out the back entrance.

He went to the cave under Half Blood Hill, announcing himself as he pushed the curtain aside and walked in. He found Rachel the way he usually did, one bare foot holding a paintbrush as she worked on her current project. “Hey,” she greeted, not lifting her eyes from the canvas.

“Hey,” Will replied moments before flopping down face-first onto a pile of overstuffed pillows. He was pretty sure it was the space that Rachel pretended was her bed whenever she stayed the night at camp so that Chiron wouldn’t realize that she snuck into the Apollo cabin every night to sleep on one of the spare bunks. He’d gotten close with Rachel since the end of the Titan war, seeing as he was usually the one to catch her when she collapsed after giving a prophecy. It had helped them bond. Now Rachel felt like something of a sister, except Will’s only experience with siblings were his godly siblings, who always just felt like close friends. So, anyway, Rachel was somewhere between Will’s newest vaguely-related sister and a close friend. Which meant that they had a good enough relationship that they could sit in silence without it being awkward, which was how the next few minutes passed.

Then, Will lifted his face off of a pillow and glanced to the side, spotting a familiar shade of purple. He picked it up - an oversized SPQR sweatshirt. “Whose is this?” 

“Huh?” Rachel barely glanced away for a second before turning back to her easel. “Oh. That’s Nico’s. He must’ve left it here last night.” 

Will’s head snapped up. “Nico was here? Wait, you hang out with Nico?” 

Rachel shrugged. She leaned forward and pulled the brush out from between her toes, apparently deciding that Will had become too much of a distraction for the time being. “Yeah, we go way back. We both helped Percy and Annabeth with the Labyrinth, remember? And then after that he would check in on me sometimes to, like, make sure nobody came after me. It was kinda creepy at first, you know, because he just sort of appears out of nowhere sometimes? But as soon as I started feeding him, he opened his mouth and never really shut up, so the creepiness kinda faded.” 

Will smoothed a hand across the fabric. It was soft, and big enough that it would fit him easily. And Rachel said it was Nico’s, not Jason’s - not that it could be, since he’d just seen Piper wearing Jason’s about ten minutes ago. And if Rachel and Nico were friends, then she would know-- “So Nico’s not dating Jason?” 

Rachel blinked, clearly taken aback by the question, and then laughed. “No, definitely not.”

Will’s brain was moving too fast for him to process anything. “He-- I--” He scrambled to his feet and gathered the sweatshirt in his hands. “I gotta go!” 

“Uh, bye?” Rachel called after him as Will took off out of the cave. Piper had said that she was with Nyssa at Bunker Nine, so Will took off toward the woods. He was grateful for his long legs that carried him across camp so quickly, leaping over fallen branches and thankfully not tripping up on any roots. He found himself outside Bunker Nine in no time, and it wasn’t long before his eyes landed on Nico. He sprinted up to the other boy, hunching over for half a second to catch his breath before he said, “Can I talk to you?” 

Nico nodded, his eyes wide in obvious surprise at having Will suddenly appear in front of him. (Served him right for doing the same to everyone else for the last few years.) Will led him out of the bunker and away from listening ears, and then handed over the sweatshirt.

“Oh,” Nico said, sounding almost disappointed. “Um. Thanks.” 

“Rachel told me it was yours, so I...brought it,” Will told him. “I always thought-- I mean, I assumed-- You and Jason are just so close, and I figured--” 

“I don’t like Jason,” Nico said quickly, defensively, and his cheeks began to color. “Not… Not like that, I mean. He just got this for me because he was sick of me stealing his all the time.” 

“No, right, of course,” Will replied as his heart sank. “I mean-- Oh gods, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to assume you liked guys-- I never should’ve--” 

“I do,” Nico cut in, and Will’s mouth snapped shut. “I, um. I’m...gay.” 

“Oh. Oh! Cool! I mean, I am too! Or, uh, I’m bi, but, uh. I like guys, too.”

If Will’s arms weren’t frozen at his side, he probably would’ve smacked himself for babbling like a total idiot. But maybe it was worth it to see the way Nico’s cheeks continued to grow red.

“Cool,” Nico said softly, dropping his gaze to his shoes before rapidly looking around at anything that wasn’t Will. “Would you, um. Would you maybe be interested in sitting with me at the campfire tonight?” 

Will was pretty sure his soul had left his body, but he still managed to ask, “Like, as a date?” 

Nico scuffed the toe of his shoe against the dirt. “If… If you want.” 

“Yeah!” Will said quickly, and then, “That would be, um. Cool.” 

“Cool,” Nico repeated. He started fidgeting with the sweatshirt in his hands before he suddenly held it out to Will. “You should take this. It’ll probably be cold tonight, so…” 

Will barely managed to stop himself from saying, it’s okay, I have my own. Instead, he forced his hands out to take the sweatshirt back. “Cool.” Did he know any other word in the English language besides cool? “I’ll, um. See you tonight then.” 

Nico smiled, and Will’s heart soared. “Yeah. See you tonight.” 

When Will arrived at the campfire later, happily yet nervously showing off the SPQR laurels on his chest, he made his way straight to Nico, relieved to see that the other boy had shown up in just a t-shirt. 

“Hey,” Will said, smiling brightly as he sat down in the open space beside Nico. “You know, it might get cold this far from the fire. Maybe you should borrow this.” Will held out his own neatly folded orange camp hoodie, one with a large 7 on the back and a red cross on one sleeve - a sweatshirt that was unmistakably Will’s. 

Nico smiled down at the sweatshirt, and then up at Will like this was exactly what he’d been hoping for. “Okay,” he said as he took the sweatshirt and pulled it on over his head. 

“It might be a little big on you,” Will warned, but Nico only smiled brighter when his head popped out of the neck hole. 

“That’s okay,” Nico replied. Just the very tips of his fingers stuck out the ends of the sleeves, and Will got the sudden urge to hold Nico’s hand. Maybe he would try later, when Nico didn’t have all of his focus directed at Will. “That’s how I like it.” 

thanks for reading!!

buy me a coffee

[imthatchishiyasimp]

Loses and promises

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hi!!! I'm back hehe

It took me a long time to wrap my head around this idea, but I think I like how it turned out. I've been busy with work and I didn't get to post anything this week, I'm sorry.

Also: BIG THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT, THE LIKES AND REBLOGS AND FOLLOWS!!! I didn't, in a million times, thought you would like this THAT much. I really appreciate it, love you so much.

Without further ado, enjoy the read!!

TW: Blood, death and injuries are both mentioned and described

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

I knock on his door, hard and fast. Jumping in one foot, I try to keep my balance while I tie my trainer. I rest my back on the door to prevent the obvious fall, and I finish tying the shoe. Except the door suddenly opens and I fall backwards pretty fast with a little scream.

“What the fuck?” He says, catching me by the shoulders and stepping back. “What do you want?” The question rolls with scepticism as he turns me around to face me.

I arch my eyebrows and point my finger to my wrist, simulating the time in a wristwatch.

“Already?” Chishiya hums and crosses his arms. “I must have lost track of time. Have they already made the teams?”

“Yup, and guess who’s going to annoy you for the rest of the night…”

He makes a face that’s supposed to look bothered. And he sure is bothered, he hates having to deal with me during games. But I can see through that. He’s not the only one that hates pairing in games; I do too. Not only because he’s annoying and always acts like he’s the only one worthy of winning, but because I would hate to be involved in a heart’s game with him. I know he would do anything to survive, anything, even if it kills him. And I would too. And he knows it.

“We are leaving in a few minutes. Get ready, you lazy ass” I turn around and head to my room to finish getting ready. I hear his breathy laugh just as he starts closing the door of his room. I might need something to protect myself, or something to get rid of people. Who knows what we will be facing tonight.

The car is full of people and smells like alcohol, drugs and sweat. It’s disgusting and I try to get my face as far as it can go through the window.

“Will you stop moving? It’s pretty uncomfortable and I hate the smell as much as you, so either you make me a place in that window or I throw you off my lap” Chishiya says, calmly and quietly near my ear. My hair blows as his breath leaves his lips and chills run through my body, keeping me so still that it seems as if I turned into rock.

Indeed I am in his lap, and indeed I have been moving. But just because I want to breathe fresh air. Just because of that. Sure. No reason behind.

I laugh, in silence, but I laugh. There were too many people in need of refilling their visas, so we had to pair in greater groups. And I was so not gonna sit in the laps of the horny people overbooking the Beach. So , after a huge fight, I made Chishiya sit under me, in exchange of looking for white hair dye.

I move just a bit more to play with him and I feel him tense under me, his hands coming to my hips. “Okay, okay, I’ll stop” So I move to the edge and get comfortable on his knees, leaving him a small place on the window to put his face.

We watch as the city moves in darkness, leaving behind flashes of light holding game’s arenas. I can hear distant music and screams, gunshots and creepy sounds. Maybe it’s real, maybe it’s my imagination, but I would swear on my visa that they won’t stop when the sun comes up. It’s been so long that even when I close my eyes I can still listen to the people dying in their games. I try to silence them with other things, and sometimes it works, but I’m getting tired of it.

The doors of a forest garden awaits us as we arrive. It’s a closed part of the outskirts of the city, enclosing a private area huge enough to get lost wandering around.

The tables at both sides of the door have the phones and some weapons. There’s no limit entry and it looks like there might be enough phones for the lot of us. There are five other people alongside Chishiya and I. I only know two of them: Hiro, the cook at the Beach, and Ume, a bookish girl that’s always lounging in the silent rooms. The rest look kind of familiar but I don’t remember talking to them.

I get off Chishiya’s lap with a hop and take a phone off the table. It beeps with the facial recognition and just says to wait ten minutes to close the entry.

“Want to bet on the game?” Chishiya asks, nodding to the doors.

“Probably a physical, given that we are so far from the city. So I would say a spade one” I guess. It looks like we will have a big arena, and probably something to run from, if we take into account the weapons.

“Looks like your brain hasn’t died yet” He moves before I can get him with a punch.

“REGISTRATION HAS CLOSED, THERE ARE A TOTAL OF 7 PARTICIPANTS. THE GAME WILL NOW COMMENCE”

All of us gather at the entrance, some of us already with weapons in our hands. I’ve chosen a blade big enough to protect me and some small knives hidden in my top and trainers. I don’t like guns and they run out of ammo quite quickly.

“DIFFICULTY: EIGHT OF SPADES”

“GAME: LABYRINTH”

“RULE: YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO CONTINUE IF YOU DON’T PASS THE TESTS. YOU MUST START ALONE, BUT YOU ARE NOT FORBIDDEN TO PAIR ONCE STARTED THE MAZE”.

“CLEAR CONDITION: FIND YOUR WAY AROUND THE MAZE AND SUCCESSFULLY OPEN THE EXIT DOOR. YOU CLEAR THE GAME WHEN YOU GET THROUGH THE EXIT DOOR”.

“TIME LIMIT: 2 HOURS”.

“AFTER THE 2 HOURS HAVE PASSED, THE MAZE WILL BE SHUT DOWN WITH NO EXIT”.

The doors open and we enter the maze. There are several “starts” written on the floor at the entrance of different passages. The walls are so high that I can’t even try to guess what’s at the top. It’s too dark to see more than a few meters from your hands, and the cold is starting to get annoying.

The seven of us position ourselves one next to each other on the central passages and we wait. No sound can be heard, no light can be seen. It’s creepy as hell. I look sideways and I spot Chishiya lowering his hood and lifting his sleeves. He totally hates running, but you can bet he’s gonna give it all.

“GAME START”

Without hesitation, I sprint into my passage.

I’ve been running non stop since the beginning, and this maze is big as hell itself. People always tell you to stick to the left or right and you will get to the end, and that I’ve been doing. But just when I could. There are so many traps around, it’s like they didn’t think we could survive this, so they threw everything they got.

From knife floors, poison ponds, holes… My feet are done for the day, my legs are bathed in blood from the knives and spikes, and I feel kinda dizzy because of the poison gas. But I keep running. The time is halfway gone, and I don’t think I’m even close to the exit.

I haven’t heard any of the other players since the start. I’m a bit worried, and I keep going back to their faces at the car, at the entrance and the moment I lost sight of them when I started running. Will I see them again? How many of them? Will someone make it?

I turn to the left and get thrown to the floor with a nudge on the nose.

“Holy fuck!” I scream in agony, holding my bleeding nose. I would bet my visa on it, it’s broken for sure. Oh God it hurts too much. My face feels heavy and it stings deep inside.

“Jesus, where the hell are you going without looking? Are you stupid? You could have met some kind of trap, idiot”

I look up and catch a glimpse of white hair. But just a glimpse, because the whole rest of Chishiya is covered in ashes. The bastard just stays there, looking down at me without offering a hand. Totally expected that, to be honest.

I get up and punch him straight in the chest. He howls and gets away looking angry. “You deserved that, you totally smashed your elbow on my face on purpose. You were just waiting there to punch me”

“What the fuck? Why would I?”

I study the situation and try to look for lies, but it’s a lost cause with him. “Shut up and start running, we have a long way to go”

So both of us pair up and keep on running together, helping each other in a few traps to minimize the damage. We still get burned and sliced, but we manage to stay together for a good twenty minutes.

Until we don’t.

We are on an empty corridor surrounded by bindweed. What I thought was going to be a calm and peaceful section turns into a nightmare. From nowhere, ropes start to come out and try to catch our feet, arms and trunk.

Both of us jump and get down to escape from the ropes, sometimes getting too close to the bushes and winning new bruises everywhere. The strength that these things have is incredible and intolerable. It feels as if my bones are breaking under the knots. I grasp Chishiya’s hand to keep from getting sucked into the wall, and he takes me out of it. His hand grips mine with a strength I didn’t know he possessed, and I dwell on the feeling of his cold and soft fingers around mine, enjoying the safety his presence gives anywhere he is.

Lost in his eyes, which are making sure I’m not caught into any ropes anymore, we get pulled away in an instant and Chishiya disappears from my sight into the wall, his eyes not leaving mine.

“No! You bastard! You don’t get to abandon me here! Come back!” I scream into the bushes. I slice the ropes with my knives and get away from that corridor as fast as I can.

My face still hurts from the nudge, and my arm feels funny. Both my legs are covered in bruises and cuts from the ropes and the falls. I’m a mess. Everything hurts. Everything is a mess.

I go back to the feeling of finding him. Maybe I didn’t dwell on it, but I felt safer, I felt relieved to have some company; I felt happy to have him there with me, to back me up and get me through difficult things. Will I see him again? Is he okay? Will he be there?

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. You better be there when I get off this fucking maze, or I will search for you to cut you into pieces” I whisper to the night, running again, looking behind me from time to time to check if he’s behind me, stoping just before a turn to prevent another hit. He totally did that on purpose.

I step into a two paths corridor. Both of them are covered in darkness and I can’t say which one looks better. Not wanting to lose any more time, I take the right one, although it doesn’t take me long to return. The blood covers the floor and gets sticky when I step into it. I bend over to see what’s in front of me and gulp down seeing the body of Hiro full of insects eating him alive.

He’s whimpering in pain and coughing blood, moving just a bit, probably paralyzed. I don’t know when he catches me, but his eyes get full of tears and he mouths a silent plea, tears streaming down his face and mixing with the blood. I remember when I met him, asking for a bite of something after a run through the city and hungry enough to eat whatever. He made me a simple sandwich, but I swear it was the best one I have ever had. He stayed in the kitchen with me, talking about his life and asking too many questions. Ever since then, he’s always been there when I needed to disconnect from the games, from the people, from the world. Always with a smile and a new recipe to try.

Now all that is left is pain and suffering.

Getting as close as I dare, I whisper a silent sorry and goodbye before ending his suffering. I run away and don’t look back at all, his face and pain engraved in my mind.

When I get to the exit I almost scream in relief. It’s a big door made of small bars with a big “EXIT” written in red above it. The time is almost up and I can’t see anyone here. The place where I came from is not the only way of getting here, there are three more corridors ending in this place.

The thing is, the doors are closed, and they have a huge key hole in the middle. I look around and I spot a key shining on the top of the door. It’s hanging by a thread, laughing at me from up there.

I scoff, tired as I can be, and I stop in front of the door. Guessing from the place where it is, I must need to climb through the door and it doesn’t seem dangerous at all, but I still don’t trust it. Checking the time I decide that I can’t risk it on trying to search for another way of getting the key, so I grasp the bars.

The heat burns through me and paralyzes me in the spot. I feel as if my hand is going to come off right now. I let go of the door and caress the palm of my hand, blowing air as kindly as I can, tears streaming down my face of the pain.

“FIVE MINUTES LEFT”

“I hate this. I hate it so much” Curses leave my lips as I get higher and higher, once again at the door and burning my hands and feet in the process. I can’t feel it anymore, I just know it’s painful and it’s going to leave ugly scars. I grip the key and rip it from the thread and throw myself to the floor, not caring to limb down properly.

The floor meets my back and I roll over. I would have stayed there, I swear. I was done with everything. My whole body was hurting, my mind was going blank and kept screaming.

“Tsk” I hear some rustling near me and then a foot nudges me on the back of my head. “Are you alive there?” I moan in response and turn over, glaring at the clever smirk of Chishiya. “Do you mind handing over the key? I’m in desperate need of a shower”.

“I don’t know, would you mind stopping hitting me on purpose?” I mumble through moans of pain.

He sighs and bends next to me, placing his face just above mine, our noses almost touching. I can feel his breath, the quick rhythm it still has, the cold and the smell of sweat and toxic reaching me.

“For the last time, I did not hit you on purpose” He whispers looking straight at me.

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” I question. You won't ever know with him.

“Trust me, if I had hit you on purpose, I would have done it a lot harder”. His eyes hold that smart look, the condescending vibes all around him, but I think I can see worry and relief and…

“Oh fucking hell, yes! You guys made it! We are saved and alive and… Oh God, two minutes left, tell me you know how to open that door or I will kill myself right here” One of the guys we came with sprouts from a passage, holding Ume’s limping form and followed by another guy who’s gripping a tourniquet around his arm. I’m glad to see most of us are alive after that hell.

Chishiya takes the fey from my hand with caution to not touch the burnt parts of my palms and fingers. He quickly pushes the key into the lock and pushes the door hard.

I don’t know why, but I was scared of it not opening. Silly, I know, but after so many games with tricks at the end, I didn’t know what to expect. The phones beep immediately, and I struggle to get up to a sitting position.

“GAME CLEAR”.

“CONGRATULATIONS”.

Relief flows inside all of us, dropping to the floor and crying happy tears. Is it really a win? It doesn't feel like that anymore. I think I've lost some things inside those walls and darkness.

I thought I was hurting, but in just a second, all the injuries I have, start to really hurt and the pain makes me close my eyes and shake like crazy. I might need a whole week of rest after this.

Arms come from behind me and take me up. I’m lost in the sudden change of position and it takes me a while to realize Chishiya is holding me in a bridal style. He quickly gets ahead of the rest, not caring to check if they are following us, and heads to the place we left the car.

It’s a long way until we get there and I nod off a few times, resting my head and hiding in his soft tingling hair, taking his scent apart from all the other ones. I don’t dream at all, it’s all blank, but I wake up startled looking for Hiro or Chishiya, afraid they’re not here anymore. I get sad and I cry silently when I remember Hiro’s body and scared face, pleading for mercy; and I sigh with relief when I feel Chishiya holding me tighter after I wake up shaking, crossing our eyes and making me feel safe with just a look.

“Don’t ever disappear like that again. Don’t even dare. Promise me” I angrily say after one of my nightmares. He doesn’t say anything, and I don’t need him to. He just needs to know. I pretend I don’t see the almost imperceptible nod he does once I return to put my head on his chest.

The ride back is a blur. We have more space now that two of us are missing, but it’s heavy inside. I keep next to Chishiya, him holding me while I rest and sleep in between nightmares. None of us has said anything since we left the forest. We are all relieving our paths along the maze, the things we saw and the hopelessness we felt, the fear of being left there forever.

The sunrise marks our arrival at the Beach. People there are waiting for the cars still gone and they welcome us with joy and worry. We are rushed to the medical room to get checked up on, and although I try to walk there, pathetically I must say, I can feel Chishiya is ready to ame me in case I fall. He leaves once An puts me on a bed and starts treating my wounds.

But I know he will be back. He always comes back. He promised.

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

Hope you liked it!! Give me some feedback and love if you might, I would love to hear from you.

As always, I'm still open to requests and comments. If you want me to tag you on the next post, do tell me!

Be safe and take care!!

[icefire149]

An Angel’s Vow

Chapter Seven - (Read on AO3 | Read from the beginning)

An hour and a half later the three of them were standing outside of a large, chain store supermarket. Mesmerized, Jack’s eyes widened with excitement. “Daa!” He glanced at Cas and then immediately back at the building in front of them. “Daaa!”

Cas chuckled, rearranging Jack in his arms. Luckily because of his angelic strength, he could hold the baby with only one arm even when Jack was squirming. A rare, tiny smile stayed etched on Cas’ face.

Claire glanced at them out of the corner of her eye. For privacy Cas leaned in close to speak and Claire did too. “Every time he says Da, Jack keeps hitting me with his wings.”

“What?” Claire bumped her head into Cas’ shoulder. One of her hands latched onto the side of his sleeve. “He has wings? Can he fl-”

“Shh.” Claire closed her mouth and blinked. Cas continued. “Yes, he has wings. He doesn’t quite know...what they can….”

“Ohhhhh. Okay.” She glanced at the baby still caught up with all the sights and sounds of the busy supermarket. His little fist was against Cas’ chest. “Yeah we wouldn’t want a flight risk situation.”

“Absolutely not.”

They went inside and Jack twisted and squirmed more in Cas’ arm. “Big!”

Grinning, Claire followed along at Cas’ side. She was paying more attention to Jack than she was her surroundings at this point. “Is this his first time?”

“The local market is much smaller than this.” Cas turned his head to glance around. They were aimlessly walking straight into the middle of the store. He seemed almost overwhelmed himself, and he held Jack closer.

“Sooo are we avoiding the toy aisle or not?” Claire raised a teasing eyebrow.

Cas narrowed his eyes. “Is that something I should be worried about?”

“Nah. You might need a shopping cart though.”

He blinked and looked intently at the people walking past them. They all had one. “You might have a point.”

“How else were you going to carry everything?” she quipped. Her eyes caught the movement of his hand. “You know you don’t have to hold Jack every moment of the day, right?”

It didn’t matter how fast he pushed down his emotions, Claire still caught the wave of fear in his eyes. Her smile faltered. “Is….being out of the house too much for you?”

“No.”

“Then what? You look spooked.”

Cas surveyed their surroundings again and he pulled her in even closer. “You don’t understand what could happen if we’re found. And there’s a lot of people here.”

“Okay,” Claire said, taking a step back. “But you said it yourself. No one’s shown up since Jack was born. And you’ve warded us. There’s nothing else you can do.”

“That’s not good enough.”

She put a hand on her hip. “Well too bad. It’s all you got.”

Cas rolled his eyes. Jack watched their exchange curiously.

“If anything happens we’ll do like we’ve always done. We fight.”

Cas shook his head and stepped forward, trying to exude a menacing aura. Claire stared back at him unfazed.

“If anything happens,” Cas started. “you run. Disappear into the crowd. Get as far away from me, Jack, and here as possible. You don’t want to be tied to this, Claire.”

“Well maybe...you should have thought of that before you ran off with my dad’s face!”

They both stood there, Claire silently fuming and Cas choking on his guilt, for a while. People passed on by them, oblivious.

“Laire.” Jack broke the tension. He reached his hands out to Claire.

Sighing, she put her arms out to take him. Cas bit his bottom lip.

“What, you don’t trust me?”

“I trust you with my life.”

“With Jack’s too?”

Wordlessly, Cas handed the nephilim over. After a few moments of shuffling, she ended up with Jack seated on her hip. His fingers curled into the fabric of her light jacket.

“Go take a moment. Scout for enemies if you gotta. Shoo.” Claire waved him off.

Cas rolled his eyes with his whole body. He sighed, “Claire.”

“Just go get the cart. We’ll meet you where ever the baby clothes are.”

“Okay.” Cas crouched down to Jack’s eye level. “Behave.”

“Oo-kay, Da,” Jack said before squishing his face into Claire’s side.

“Yeah, bye Da,” Claire teased with a sharp edge to her voice.

Rolling his eyes, yet again, Cas went searching for the shopping carts.

Chuckling, Claire readjusted Jack again and looked around for any sign of where they needed to go. “Okay-” Jack stared up at her intently. “Jack.” His head tilted and his eyes squinted like he wanted to ask a question.

She wondered if he could tell that she stopped honeybee before it rolled off her tongue. Shaking it off, she continued, “Let’s look for some new clothes.”

-

Cas brought himself back to the entrance of the store. He wasn’t exactly sure where the shopping carts were, but logically this felt like the correct location. This would have been easier if he wasn’t still on edge. His eyes kept darting around, looking for anything suspicious.

It didn’t make a bit of sense to him that no one had come for Jack yet. He turned before realizing it was the clanging of metal coming his way that caught his attention. A whole line of carriages were being pushed near by. A relieved sigh escaped him. At least that was one less thing to waste time thinking about.

Cas stood back and watched where the shopping carts were being brought. He planned on waiting for the store employee to go before he selected one. A large part of his mind kept circling around Jack. His birth should have emitted a pulse large enough to draw untold numbers of eyes, and it likely did. They escaped, yes, but there’s a good chance Jack emits pulses of power at random. Likely, when he grows….like last night. Probably once he figures out more things he’s capable of doing too. Cas felt like a heavy stone had been dropped into his stomach.

He felt like he was failing his mission. Castiel needed to get back to Claire and Jack immediately. He needed to keep them safe. Frowning, his frayed wings itched to unravel into waves of light again, but after everything….they’re incapable of ever reaching the correct pitch. If they could, he wouldn’t have to worry. He would be able to see the kids from here.

The carts were left over by the far wall. Cas made his way over and looked over a few of them. They all appeared to be the same, but he found that some were dirtier than others and the metal was sharp in places on another. Eventually, he settled on one that seemed suitable enough for the task.

His hands curled around the handle, and he turned the cart around. Castiel? He froze. Um, Cas? It’s Sam.

-

They walked around for a while before coming close to the right section. The store felt like a labyrinth. Claire turned to peek around the aisles. “Do you see Cas anywhere?”

“No Daa?” Jack frowned.

“Nope. No Cas anywhere.” Claire stopped and leaned against a shelf. “He’ll be here soon. He always comes back.”

And then, there was a muffled ringing noise coming from Claire’s pocket. Sighing, she struggled to dig it out with her free hand. Of course, it flew out of her hand. “Fuck!” She missed catching it.

But before it could smash into the ground, it stopped. The phone was floating in mid air, still ringing. Claire snatched before anyone else could see. “Holy fuck, Jack. Was that you? You’re telekinetic?!”

Shy, he hid his face in her side. A soft smile was there before he squished himself into her.

“Hello?…..Claire? You there?”

She looked at the phone in her hand. It was Alex. The call answered during the scramble. “Shit.” Jack peeked a curious eye at her. Claire put the phone up to her ear. “What do you want? I’m busy.”

“Who’s Jack?”

“Jack who? I don’t know what you’re talking about. Cut to the chase.”

One of Jack’s hands curled into her hair while he squinted at her. She shot him a, don’t you dare, look.

“Oooo someone’s defensive. Spill barbie. What’s with the secret dream house life? I thought you were on a hunt.”

“Shut it. Don’t be gross.”

“Gross? I’m not the one hiding a boooy.”

“Stop it! He’s like-….just stop. He’s a literal toddler that I’m holding.”

“What! Who handed you a baby?”

“It’s a long story.”

“I thought Jody said you were dealing with a haunting.”

“Things change. Now did you want something?”

“Are you….okay?”

“Yeah!”

Jack’s expression softened, but his fingers were still tangled in her hair. “Ookay. Okay. Okay. Okay.”

“Holy shit. You’re actually holding a baby right now.”

“Why would I lie about that?”

“I just can’t picture you with a kid.”

“Don’t you have other people to drain? I-”

“Daaas!” Jack started squirming so fast that he tugged hard on Claire’s hair. He tried reaching his hands out. “Das!”

“-gotta go,” Claire mumbled, looking up to see Cas pushing the shopping cart towards them. But then, his eyes widened. Him and the cart moved faster towards them and Claire was certain it wasn’t Cas’ doing.

“Jack!” Cas yelled, and he stopped moving. Jack buried his face and hands into Claire’s jacket.

“Claire? Who was-” Claire hung up and shoved the phone back into her pant’s pocket.

“Hey Cas. Did you know that Jack is telekinetic?” Claire unhooked his fingers and held Jack out to him while he stopped the cart in front of them.

Jack clapped his hands and then reached them out. “Das!”

Cas raised an eyebrow and Claire shrugged. He took Jack back into his arms. “I had a feeling he’d be telekinetic. It’s a simple thing any angel can do.”

Crossing her arms, Claire shot Cas a pointed look. “So you’ve been holding out on me?”

“I fail to see when this would have come up.”

Claire stepped away from the shelf and walked a few steps before turning around. “True.”

Nodding, Cas turned his attention to Jack. With his free hand, he lightly held onto one of Jack’s hands. “I need you to listen well, honeybee. We need to wait until we get home before we do any more moving things with our minds business.”

Jack frowned, sticking his bottom lip out.

Cas slightly tilted his head to the side. “Okay?”

“F-uck.”

[phykios]

honesty and promise me part 9, co-written with @darkmagyk [read on ao3]

He doesn’t text her later. He doesn’t text her for two weeks. On day fifteen of no contact from Percy, Annabeth begins to accept that whatever they had might be over now. 

That’s alright, she reminds herself. She had been working up to breaking it off with him for a while, and he just went ahead and did it for her. Saves her the trouble, really. 

October rolls on, wet and cold, inching ever closer to Halloween, and Annabeth finds herself seeking refuge at Piper’s, lending her body and her skills to help her friend finish her collection before her self-imposed deadline. At least the work provides a nice distraction from her silent phone--when Percy stopped texting her, Thalia did, too. Well. That’s that, she supposes.

Still, the fact that they were never officially dating doesn’t stop Annabeth from scrolling through his Instagram at 2 AM like some pathetic ex-girlfriend, screenshotting all her favorite photos so she can look at them later without the threat of accidentally liking them. He’s been posting a lot of stills from that fucking music video again, the divinely crafted muscles of his body on full display in cool, blue light, brown cheekbone and jawline sharper than ever. Beyonce herself even liked a few of them. 

God damn she’s a fucking idiot. 

It must be the self-pity that’s making her crazy, because when Luke calls her up to be his date/eye candy to some fancy semi-costumed party that weekend at an art gallery on the Lower East Side, she agrees without even thinking about it.

The gallery isn’t that far (certainly much, much closer than the Lincoln Center) but Annabeth has not worn heels in probably up to a calendar year, and she just cannot make herself walk that far. She will not. Her tiny-ass cross-body bag isn’t big enough to hold a separate pair of walking shoes. So she ponies up the exorbitant cab fare to the Lower East Side, asking the driver to drop her at the Seward Park Library so she can elegantly sashay down the sidewalk with the rest of the rich and glamorous. 

No one spares her a second glance, which is both relieving and strangely disheartening. She’s become too used to turning heads, she thinks.

Well. One head in particular.

“Hey, Annabeth!” Luke appears from thin air, dressed immaculately as always. His sandy hair has come a long way since business school, now tamed and laid perfectly, but with the faintest touch of dishevelment, like he couldn’t completely fix it after someone’s hands had been all over it. He looks even more handsome than he had on her birthday. He kisses her on the cheek, right on the sensitive skin of an old, failed piercing, and she shivers. “You look incredible.” 

Before she left Piper’s apartment that day, Annabeth had raided her small stash of designer clothes and had rediscovered her old faithful that Piper had tried to bury, the midi-length Valentino dress she had worn to the unveiling of her and Leo’s collaboration. It’s a light, powder blue, which can’t be helped, but the lace collar and three-quarter sleeves cover most of her tattoos. She had dug out her tiara, too, making herself a low-key Halloween costume out of the spring season dress. Though the dress doesn’t fit like it did a year ago, Which is depressing as all hell. “Thanks. You, too.”

He beams at her, holding out his arm. “Shall we?”

“Who did you say was the artist, again?” she asks, taking it.

“I didn’t. Something with an ‘L,’ I think. Levelle? Levique? I don’t remember.”

The white gallery walls have been draped in shades of inky blue and midnight purple, all the better to see the crystal sculptures on display: beautiful renderings of swords and skulls, deadly weapons and human bones. There’s something mind-numbingly obvious about holding a spooky, macabre-themed gallery show on Halloween night, entitled “Death and Riches,” but she has to admit, the artwork is stunning. The crystals take what little light is cast from the weak ceiling lamps and multiply it, casting the dark velvets in rainbow reflections. Annabeth feels like she’s walking through the night sky, like she could reach out and rearrange the stars in the constellations. “Look at this,” she murmurs to Luke, stopping them in front of a sculpture of an ancient cavalry sword. “This is incredible.”

He grunts. “Yeah, it’s cool.”

Annabeth fixes him with a look. “‘Cool’? Seriously?”

“What? It’s just a rock.”

She shakes her head. “You are wasted on an art gallery.”

“I am,” he agrees, swiftly. “I wouldn’t even be here if it weren’t for my bosses.”

“What do you mean?”

Luke steers her away from the sculpture, moving them onward. “One of our assistant executives, he’s about to close a huge deal with some big wig from Europe who runs this massive import/export, but before everything is made official, he wanted to meet all of us.”

“Why here, though?”

“He’s in town for this gallery opening; the artist is his niece, or something.”

Ugh. This is why she swore off business bros: always an ulterior motive with these people. “Hey, I’m going to go look for something to drink, do you want anything?”

“No, I’m good,” he waves her off.

Annabeth, teetering on her towering heels, has to make her way against the current of the crowd towards the refreshments table along the edge of the wall. She feels ten pounds lighter without all the metal in her face, her center of gravity completely out of whack--not to mention she’s having trouble seeing with all this hair in her face. To better disguise her undercut, she had brushed all her hair over her head in one big, voluminous side ponytail on the wrong side of her face. It’s disorienting, to say the least.

Her stomach roils at the display of food, even as her mouth waters a little bit at the bruschetta with olive tapenade. Rather than risk it, she decides to just go with a glass of sparkling cider. She’s been feeling sick and anxious all day long, dreading every moment of this gala; the last thing she wants to do is exacerbate it with champagne. 

Before she makes her way back to Luke’s side, however, she wants to take another look at the actual art. Or at least find out who the actual artist is. Whoever they are, they are phenomenally talented. 

“Excuse me,” Annabeth says to the staff member manning the food table. “Do you have any more information about the artist? I’d love to see more of their work.”

“Sure!” she chirps, turning round to grab something off a stack of pamphlets beside her. “You can read more about Ms. Levesque here.”

“Thank you,” says Annabeth, taking the glossy brochure. Levesque. Levesque Levesque Levesque. She knows that name, she’s sure of it. Penny in the air… 

Slowly, like she’s walking a labyrinth, she makes her way around the gallery. The booklet has descriptions of each piece of art on display, contexts and histories and prices that make her sweat a little. But by the time she returns to the cavalry sword, her head is swimming--probably from the lack of food--her eyes straining in the dim light. She has completely lost track of Luke. She has completely lost track of the time. Annabeth puts her hand to her head, pressing her fingers against the bone of her forehead.

“Hey, are you okay?”

She jolts at the feel of a hand on her shoulder. The owner of the hand pulls away immediately, holding it up in a placating motion. 

“Whoa, hey, it’s okay. I didn’t mean to startle you.”

Annabeth blinks at the person in front of her. He’s blond, tall, with glasses and a scar on his upper lip, and she cannot shake the bone-deep feeling that she’s seen him before. 

“You look a little pale. Do you need to sit down?” he asks, electric blue eyes shining with concern. 

She shakes her head. “No, no, I’m okay, just a little… the light, you know. Makes it hard to read.”

“I know how you feel,” he says, nodding sagely. “The lighting setup here is absolute murder on my glasses.” Then he sticks out his hand, proud and jutting. “I’m Jason.”

Furiously, she blinks away unbidden tears, turning her sudden sob into a light laugh at the thought of the last time she had met someone named Jason. Or, someone she thought had been named Jason. “Annabeth.” His grip is firm and congenial, like a senator. “Are you with Mercury Exchange, too?”

“Oh, no,” he says, “I’m just here to support the artist. She’s my cousin.”

“Well, congratulations to your cousin on a beautiful gallery opening,” says Annabeth, inclining her head with a smile that he returns. “These sculptures are incredible.”

Jason follows her gaze, and when she looks at him again, he’s smiling. The scar gives his smile an adorable edge. “Hazel is very talented.”

Penny drops. “Hazel Levesque?” Annabeth asks. “Your cousin is Hazel Levesque?” 

“Yeah!” Jason beams. “You ever listen to a band called Pluto’s Daughter?”

“You’re Jason Grace?”

That takes him aback, blinking in shock. “Yes… how did you--oh, you know Thalia?” he asks.

No. No no no, this cannot be happening. “Um, not-not really, I just--”

“I just saw her, like, ten minutes ago--”

No no no, she cannot be here, she can’t see Annabeth, not like this-- “Actually,” Annabeth cuts in, “I should really get back to my date, I’m sure he’s worried sick, it was nice meeting you!” And she bolts from the conversation in the general direction of the exit, leaving a very confused member of the cousin consortium in her wake. 

Stupid, so stupid, how did she not look this up beforehand, how did she not put it together sooner? She can’t let anyone see her like this, dolled up and--and downright clean. The crowd has turned into an impenetrable wall, the gaps between patrons too small for her to slip between. The dark walls close in around her, suffocating her, and her panic rises, stomach churning, bile crawling up her throat.

From the crush of people, a hand shoots out to grasp hers, and she jumps a foot in the air. “There you are!” says Luke. “Come on, I want you to meet the big wig.”

“Oh, Luke, I don’t know,” she stammers, “I’m-I’m not feeling very well, I think I had a bad burrito earlier, and--”

“It’ll just take a minute,” he wheedles, “We just gotta show up, make some small talk for a few minutes, then I’ll get you home. Sounds good?” But she can’t resist as he pulls her deeper into the gallery.

Like fucking Moses and the fucking Red Sea, the crowd parts before them, laying out a clear path to the three very well dressed men in the center of the room. Even from behind, she can tell that they’re all related: three copies of the same broad build, the same thick, black hair, peppered with grey, the same radiating aura of power and influence, engaged in deep, important conversation. 

“Mr. Olympianides?” Luke politely interjects. 

As one, the three of them turn to face him, identical gazes sizing them up, pinning them in place. “Yes?” intones the oldest-looking one, his earth-brown eyes cold and dispassionate. 

“I think he means me, brother,” says the middle-looking one, jovial. “You’re with Mercury too, if I’m not mistaken?”

“Yes, sir,” says Luke, holding out a hand. “Luke Castellan, it’s an honor to meet you.”

“Ah, of course!” he says, taking Luke’s hand. “I’ve heard great things about you from Prometheus. I understand I have you to thank for the success of the Saturn deal?”

Luke, wholly in his element, smiles his perfectly practiced sycophantic smile--just the right cocktail of humble and arrogant, gracious and gregarious. You can tell he double majored in theater. “It was no trouble at all, really.” 

Then he turns his gaze to Annabeth, and she just about faints. 

Those eyes. She knows those eyes. Perfectly blue-green, like the waters of the Mediterranean in the sunshine, beneath thick, black eyebrows, with an aquiline nose and a full, salt and pepper beard--she is, without a doubt, looking into the unimaginably handsome face of Percy’s father. 

“May I have the name of your lovely lady?” He takes her hand, bringing it up to his for a kiss. 

Annabeth’s eyes practically bug out of her head. This is what Percy will turn into in twenty years? Good lord.

“This is my…” Luke trails off, sparing her a glance. “This is Annabeth Chase. She’s an architect here in New York. Annabeth, these are the gentlemen I was telling you about: Hades, Poseidon, and Zeus Olympianides.”

Oddly enough, part of her relaxes, even at Luke’s little fib. If Percy’s father is here, then that means that Percy might not be. She would still have to duck Thalia, but if Luke lets her leave within the next few minutes, that shouldn’t be too hard.

“Chase--like the Boston Chases?” the oldest brother asks. She’s seen those dark eyes, as well, lined with black, and sometimes with glitter. 

Annabeth smiles, just a little vacant. She hasn’t had a conversation like this in two years, but back in Boston she’d had them nearly weekly. “That’s the one,” she agrees, letting a giggle out at the end. With business bros her age, they preferred a little bit of a too cool attitude, they’d loved her with all the metal in her face. But the older ones like a giggle. From the corner of her vision, she sees Luke give her just a little bit of a side eye. 

“You’re Randolph’s daughter?” Asks the other brother. His eyes are electric blue. Even if Annabeth hadn’t just met Jason, she’d have known this was Thalia’s father from twenty paces. 

“I’m his niece,” Annabeth says. “Frederick is my father.”

“The middle one?” Percy’s father says, with a little bit of a grin. 

“Yes.” So far, so good--and no one has asked about her mother. It doesn’t exactly take a genius to see that she is not her stepmother’s daughter.

There’s maybe the slightest hint of snideness when Zeus says, “Another Harvard graduate, I assume.”

So there are a lot of Chases at Harvard. On a whim, one night while she should have been writing her Modernism final instead, Annabeth had spent several hours making an academic genealogical chart, inordinately pleased when she found out that her old, decrepit freshman history professor had also taught her father, way back in the day. 

“Guilty,” she titters, “but I did attend Miss Minerva’s here in the city.”

“So your Randolph’s niece,” Thalia’s dad asks again, “And Frey Vanir is married to your aunt.”

“Yes.” She bites down on the “sir.” She’s got to have some standards. 

“Good families,” Nico and Hazel’s father says, nodding at her, “Chases and Vanir.” 

Annabeth has some very, very hazy memories of meeting her own fabulously wealthy extended family, just after her little cousin Magnus had been born. She doesn’t recall much, but she can remember the high, vaulted ceilings of her aunt’s apartment on Commonwealth Avenue, the view of the Public Gardens just down the block, and the very big, very sharp-looking sword hanging above the mantel. The Chases are a well-off family, it’s true, but the Vanir, old money from leftover Nordic peerage are very much on the Olympianides' level, even if Annabeth is the one wearing a tiara that allegedly once belonged to the crown jewels of Sweden. 

Athena Pallas is on that same level, too, but Annabeth would rather run into Thalia then talk about her mother. Especially with these people.

Then Poseidon’s gaze fixes on something behind her, and he breaks into a broad, heartbreakingly familiar grin. “Ah, Percy, there you are!” he calls. 

The smile drops from her face, and her blood freezes. Caught in the gravity well of a black hole, she turns. 

A huge mistake. 

Her only thought is How dare he be so handsome.

He’s in a suit she’s never seen before, crisply pressed, but comfortable, simple black but with pearl cuff links, to match his father’s. The sharp lines of the suit hide his beautiful form beneath them in a way that makes Annabeth understand the appeal of lingerie like she never has before. He looms, back discipline-straight, his face scrubbed clean and eyebrows perfectly shaped, and to cap it all off, a pair of simple, classy diamond studs in his ears. Percy Jackson remains, as always, unfairly gorgeous, the perfect specimen of male beauty, and Annabeth is powerless under his gaze.

And he’s just heard every word of their conversation.

“Percy,” his father says, “have you met Annabeth Chase?”

Percy stares at her, mouth open a little. She watches those eyes take her in from top to bottom, hairstyle to clean face to conservative dress to high heels. Never, ever one to hide his emotions, she can see his inner monologue playing out on his face: shock and awe, bewilderment and confusion, jerkily transitioning to… to a politely blank face. Like the surface of the ocean, the wave of his feelings disappear beneath his skin, leaving no trace that they were ever there. “No,” he says, in a tone that broaches no argument. “No, I don’t believe I’ve ever met Annabeth Chase before.”

He takes her in again. Percy was never above leering, but he was always pretty situational about it. He would wait until sex was explicitly on the table, wait until she wanted to see him go just a little bit crazy for her. He doesn’t leer now, cataloguing the dress, the shoes, the tiara.

“Cinderella?” he asks, before the conversation can become awkward and their audience can notice something else.

“Yes,” she says, unable to force the smile she’d used on his father just minutes before. “What girl doesn’t want to be a princess for Halloween?”

“Cinderella was always your favorite, wasn’t she?” Percy’s father asks him. Then he laughs. “Once we went to Disney in Paris, I think, and Percy, all of ten years old, cried because he didn’t think he was going to be able to meet her.” 

Percy’s face stays blank. “I was six, Dad.” 

Annabeth winces, internally. That was the year, he’d told her, that he’d spent in shoes that didn’t fit because his new ones had been destroyed by bullies taunting him over ballet, and he didn’t want to tell his mother because trying to buy him a second pair of shoes would have been a struggle. She wonders if maybe he was crying because he’d spent the day walking around Disneyland in shoes two sizes too small, and no one had noticed.

His father laughs again. “Still,” he says, “Cinderella is your favorite.” 

“I don’t have much use for princesses anymore,” Percy says. “Fairy tales and true love are kid stuff.”

His uncles laugh along with his father, and Luke just frowns at Percy, like he’s not sure what to make of him. But his family seems convinced it's the wisdom of youth.

“Oh,” says Poseidon, “You never know when you can find someone special.” He does leer at Annabeth, just a bit. There isn’t a lot to leer at in this dress, but it's unmistakable. He’s very handsome, but the leer is perhaps the first time she’s thought he didn’t favor his son. 

“Were you the one who dated the princess of what it was called?” Thalia’s father asks. “Or was Triton? Or was it both of you?” 

“No,” Hazel and Nico’s father says, “no, they both dated Atlas’s girl. Right?”

“Yes, Uncle Hades,” Percy says. 

“Zoe?” 

Calypso, Annabeth thinks, just before Percy says it out loud and they all nod. 

“Is she here?” Thalia’s father asks, glancing around. “Or do you have a different date tonight?”

Annabeth hasn’t even considered Percy having a date. But the idea of it causes a wave of nausea to come over her, of a beautiful woman on Percy’s arm, one of his fellow dancers, or perhaps some heiress, who he could take to fancy parties and show off to his father and uncles.

That could have so easily been you, says a voice in the back of her head. 

I’m no one’s arm candy, she wants to yell at herself. 

But she can’t, because she’s literally resting on Luke’s arm, while three powerful businessmen ogle her. 

She breathes through her nose, and tries to keep from throwing up. Or crying. 

“Percy knows its best to come to events like this stag,” Percy’s father winks at him, and then unmistakably at her, “you never know what sorts of lovely creatures you might run into.” 

Percy frowns, clearly uncomfortable. “I think Miss Chase definitely came with her boyfriend.” He nods to Luke, and gives him a smile Annabeth has never seen. So forced and fake and clearly unhappy. 

She wishes she could stop everything and scream at Percy that Luke’s not her boyfriend. That he could never be. That she does not want Luke, not the way she wants Percy. 

But time goes on, and so does Percy. “I don’t like coming to these sorts of things alone, if I can help it.” 

And the world nearly collapses out from under her feet. 

“The buddy system is important.” He turns his head, clearly searching the milling crowd for someone. Annabeth doesn’t follow his gaze. She doesn’t want to see the woman he willingly shows off to his father. She glances at Luke instead. His face is still placid, but she’s known him a long time, in all sorts of states. He’s clearly uncomfortable. 

“Thalia,” Percy’s voice says, not a shout, but a request. Annabeth doesn’t look over at him, or the direction he shouted, but Luke does. He breaks away from her gaze and actually unlinks their arms. His mask slips a little bit more. 

At the last possible second Annabeth looks over too. 

Thalia Grace looks exactly like the Thalia Annabeth has always known. Her hair is slicked down in some old fashioned pin curls, and she’s wearing a cocktail dress and red soled heels that are too big for her, but you can see the tattoos up and down her arms and legs, underneath her ripped fishnets. Her facial piercings are all still in, and her eyebrows and ears are full of safety pins and the necklace around her neck is made of them too. She’s wearing the same beat up leather gloves as always. 

For just a second, Annabeth hates her. Because Thalia is clearly so Thalia, so comfortable in being Thalia, and she can walk around this fucking gala, with buisness bros and old money, and look totally comfortable and confident. 

And Annabeth keeps adjusting her sleeves and hair, worried that somethings going to move wrong, and it's going to become obvious that she’s… something? 

Then their eyes meet, and it's almost as bad as when Percy showed up. Thalia looks lost, and then she glances to Annabeth’s side, at Luke and her face settles into a frown not unlike Percy’s. 

She stops beside Percy who smiles at her, “Thalia and I always use the buddy system.” He says. Then, as he holds out his hand to her, his smile becomes the closest she could ever refer to as cruel. “Thalia, have you met Annabeth Chase? Of the Boston Chases? Her uncle is Frey Vanir.” 

Standing tall, bright eyes ringed in black, Thalia takes in all of Annabeth. She’s done this before, when Annabeth was drunk and crying on a dirty bar floor, with a couple hours old tattoo on her arm and a couple of days old ring in her eyebrow. Annabeth had seen her mother on Wednesday for lunch and had destroyed her life by dinner. She doesn’t really remember what they’d talked about, in the wee hours as Friday became Saturday: not being good enough for your family, how New York took your dreams, chewed them up, and spit them out, how your father would never understand you and your mother would never love you. That sort of thing.

She’d been a gross, pathetic mess. But Thalia had seen something in her that night. Had lifted her off the floor and out the door and eventually onto the mattress in the place she’d been renting weekly at the time. She’d taken Annabeth into her world.

Now, it doesn’t look like she sees anything good in Annabeth Chase of the Boston Chases, in designer heels, with a designer bag, wrapped in a designer dress and dripping in jewels. Annabeth knows she looks like a dozen other girls at this event, girls that Luke’s (and maybe Thalia’s and, God, maybe even Percy’s) eyes have wandered over with interest. 

“Miss Chase, despite being from Boston,” Percy says to Thalia, “was mentioning some of the schools she went to in New York. I thought maybe you might have known each other through one.” 

Percy’s face has gone perfectly blank, but Thalia’s… Thalia’s is angry. 

“No,” she says, “we did not go to school together. But Luke and I did.”

It’s Annabeth’s turn to gape, eyes wide as she turns to him, shocked. 

Luke tries to smile. “Yes, we did, but--” 

Thalia doesn’t let him finish. “Are you still sending weekly audition tapes to Lorne Michaels?” she asks, a snarl that only an idiot would mistake for a grin on her face. 

Annabeth would laugh, if she felt like laughing at anything right now.

Luke tries to speak again, but Thalia talks right over him. “No, of course not. You’re doing some business thing.” She eyes his suit and then her three older relatives. “Why else would we be here? I know you never really had the brains for the arts. You were always more interested in the carnal passions of acting.” 

Annabeth actually does laugh, just a bit, both because that’s clearly something Luke had once said (and Annabeth remembered him coming straight out of NYU, a Yankee transplant to Boston, she could totally believe it) and because Thalia got Luke’s cadence and tone down perfectly. 

But it does nothing to relieve the tension. If anything, it's gone up. 

Percy’s father forces his own laugh. “It is so much fun when you run into old friends like this.” He offers, clearly sensing the storm brewing. Percy has at least tried to force it down. “And it's good to see you, as well, Thalia. It's been a long time.” 

“It has, Uncle Poseidon,” She agrees. 

“Mr. Castellan has left the world of acting for our bland business and finance meetings, but are you still acting?”

Thalia goes very still. 

Annabeth, in the two years she’s known Thalia Grace, has never even once heard her so much as allude to acting in anything. She set up equipment and tended bars for cash. The only acting she ever did was pretending not to be hungover. 

It’s a slight movement, but she sees Thalia reach out and grip Percy’s arm. He meets it, holding on. Steadying. 

He understands what’s going on here.

“She’s not,” Thalia’s father says. He’s been polite so far this evening, but now he sounds annoyed. “All that talent and all that promise, and she’s thrown it all away.” He looks at Thalia, electric eyes to electric eyes, and shakes his head. “You could have been just like your mother.” 

Percy, Luke, and Hades all let out a sharp breath. 

Thalia’s smile, sharp, turns acidic. “I can't be,” she says. “I don't drive. So I couldn't drive myself into a tree.”

Her father narrows his gaze, mouth tight. Annabeth has actually seen that look on Thalia’s face before. Poseidon looks suddenly very sorry he ever opened his mouth. 

Thalia turns to Percy. “Do you think Hazel would mind if I committed a murder and ruined her big night?” 

It's a very Thalia thing to say, but Annabeth has never really considered the theatricality of her before. This is an artist working her craft, taking words and turning them into daggers.

“Hazel loves performance art,” Percy says. “And it is on theme.” 

Thalia nods and then looks at her father. She smiles. “That sounds like a lot of work, so, instead, why don’t I do just what you want. I’ll be my mother. I’ll go get fabulously drunk and embarrass you horribly. Unfortunately, this is a 21+ event, so I won’t be able to endanger any children in the process. But you never know.”   

She spins on her heels, and walks away. 

“I'm going to make sure she doesn’t enganger any children just to prove a point,” Percy says. “I'll see you later.” He nods to his family, and then offers Annabeth a very formal handshake. “So nice to meet you.” 

She’s missed his hands on her. She doesn’t want to let go. 

But she lets him, and he moves over to give Luke one, too. He leans in, just a little bit, and lowers his voice so only Luke and Annabeth can hear. “You shouldn’t make a scene in a public place. But you deserve to know, she’s been cheating on you since May.”

Annabeth can’t breathe for a moment. The perfect man, handsome and charming and crueler than she ever believed possible.   

Her stomach rolls again. 

Behind her, she hears Poseidon say, “Do you often tell women whose mothers’ acting career dried up and then descended into substance abuse that you hope they have the same career as said mothers? Because wow."

“I’m sorry,” Luke whispers. “I’m not sure what’s going on, but I’m very sorry.” 

He turns to speak with the three brothers, to formally and probably seamlessly untangle themselves from all of this, and she tries to turn too, but the effort to spin gets too much. 

She’s still nauseous, feeling light-headed. The stiletto heels only add to the problem. She shakes and stumbles, right into Luke, who catches her on one arm, Poseidon on the other. Annabeth has to work very hard not to yank herself away from him. 

“Are you alright?” Poseidon’s accent isn’t the same as Percy’s at all, his hands too smooth. There are differences between the two that she can focus on. 

“I haven’t been feeling well tonight,” she admits, if it will get her out of here faster. 

“Do you need to sit down?” Asks Poseidon. “I’m sure there is a medical professional around here.” 

“No, no, thank you,” she says. “I should probably head out, If that’s okay,” she tells Luke, apologetically.

He nods, finally complying with her need for escape. “Of course.” 

When Poseidon lets go of her arm, she basically falls into Luke. It's embarrassing. Her eighteen year old self is probably cheering. Unfortunately for her, that crush was killed two great heartbreaks ago. Now, it’s just quiet and awkward as they walk away. “Sorry,” she says. 

“Sorry? I should be thanking you. That was a really good excuse.” Then he looks at her--really looks. “It wasn’t an excuse, was it?”

She shakes her head, miserable. 

“Is it because of that guy? Percy? Do you know him?”

She nods.

“Why does he think you’ve been cheating on me since May?”

“Because he thinks you and I are a couple, and I’ve been sleeping with him since May.” 

Luke lets out a low whistle. “You and those business bros.” He shakes his head. Sometimes he doesn’t quite have the self-awareness that he should, she thinks. “I blame myself. If I didn’t invite you to that MBA party, maybe you wouldn’t have lost your virginity to that asshole in my cohort.” 

“Percy’s not a business bro,” she says, defending him, though for the life of her she doesn’t know why. “He’s a ballet dancer with NYCB. It… ended about 3 weeks ago. I’d tell you about it, but I do actually feel pretty horrible.”

Luke frowns at her. “You want me to get you a cab?”

Annabeth shakes her head. “I know you have more business bro things to do. I can get myself home.”

He waits several seconds, before giving her a hug and a kiss on the forehead, wishing her goodnight, leaving her in the middle of the mingling crowd and the crystal displays. 

Annabeth shuffles towards the exit, passing the food table. Even the smell makes her feel like she’s going to throw up. Walking faster doesn’t exactly help. 

Eventually, she manages to get out of the main gallery, where the lobby and coat check had been set up, very much regretting letting Luke go. Right now, walking outside and finding a cab might as well be like attempting a quick little jaunt up Mt. Everest. Head aching, stomach rolling, she slumps against the wall outside the coat check, laying her warm cheek against the cool wall. 

That’s when she hears the muffled shouting. 

Two voices she knows intimately. 

“How can you say that?” Thalia whisper-screams. “In what possible universe are they the same?”

“How are they not?” Percy quietly shouts back. “They’re exactly the same.”

“I can’t even believe you’re defending her. She lied to us--she hurt you, just like--”

“Don’t you dare try and tell me you’re doing this for me. This is about you and your problems. Like always.”

“I don’t have to listen to this shit.” Then comes the telltale clacks of Thalia stomping about in her high heels. She flings open the door of the coat closet, and comes face to face with Annabeth--who probably looks about like death warmed over. Thalia takes one look at Annabeth, sneers, then stalks away, anger sparking off of her like static shock. 

Hot on her heels comes Percy, equally furious. "Then find someone else’s couch to crash on tonight!" He shouts at her retreating form.

Then he sees Annabeth.

She hopes she never has to see him that angry ever again. 

It takes a couple of pounding heartbeats, but he visibly dials it back down, rage giving way to something a little less intense, the bitterness bleeding out of him until he’s only just annoyed. “Oh,” he says. “It’s you.”

There’s a million and one things she wants to tell him; her mind is a hurricane, every thought and feeling moving at a hundred and fifty miles per hour, sentences forming on her tongue in one second and ripped away the next. She wants to tell him that she never meant to hurt him, but all that comes out is, “Luke isn’t my boyfriend.”

“What, he dump you already?”

“We’ve never dated,” she says. “He’s just a friend. I haven’t cheated on anyone.”

“Oh, so you’ll get all dolled up for some guy that isn’t your boyfriend, but you couldn’t be bothered to find a pair of jeans without holes in them to come see my show?”

Her stomach lurches, in both anger and regret. She did do those things. “You told me that you didn’t care what I wore.”

“And I didn’t, because I thought you didn’t either.”

“I don’t!”

“Oh yeah? Is that why you parted your hair on the wrong side? Because you didn’t care if someone would see your undercut?”

She can’t say anything to that, because of course, he had hit the nail on the head. 

“I mean, Thalia may be messed up, but at least she has the guts not to hide it, but you--” he sputters, gesturing angrily to her head, “you put on a tiara and pretend you haven’t been gutter trash for the last two years.”

Indignation rises in her. Gutter trash? “You’re one to talk--you can’t go anywhere nicer than Antonio’s for dinner but you own a custom fucking Italian suit and diamond earrings?”

He scowls. “Oh, I'm sorry, just so we're clear, Kym got me this suit so I would stop, and I quote, 'embarrassing her with my poverty.' I borrowed the earrings from Nico. But you're right. The same Christmas I had my power and heat turned off in Paris, my dad got me these pearl cufflinks.” He raises his hands, brandishing them. “Just what I always wanted!”

“Don’t give me that--the man takes you, his bastard,” she spits, “on the family vacation to the Greek islands every goddamn summer! You think he wouldn’t drop a couple million for you if you asked? Meanwhile, I had to grovel at my mother’s feet for years for even the barest hint of support--”

“That is not even remotely the same thing, and you know it!”

“It isn’t?” She laughs, cruelly. “Because from where I’m standing, we were both left at the mercy of our shitty parents, but you’re too much of a coward to tell your father to fuck off when you really want to.”

That just about sets him off. His eyes darken like sea storms, raging and thunderous. “Don’t you dare try to pin this on me. You’re the one that lied to me for months, to Thalia for years--Jesus, Annabeth, was any of it real? Was everything you said to me over the last five months just some game to you?”

“How dare you,” she hisses. “How dare you even ask me that when you know full well you’re the only person I’ve shown my designs to in years.”

“Oh, really,” he says, and she goes cold. “What about the one that won the Eta Industries award? Did you not show that to anyone? Or did you get that one because they knew you were Annabeth Chase of the Boston Chases.” 

Clenching her fists, she growls, standing up against the wall. “Leo and I put our hearts and souls into that project, and we won, fair and fucking square. I wouldn’t expect you to understand, seeing as you probably only got into NYCB because someone cashed a seven figure check.” 

She doesn’t know if she’s ever said anything she believes less. 

Percy laughs, an ugly, bitter thing. “If it had been that easy, I would have asked him to do that five years ago.”

Then he frowns. “Are you… feeling okay?”

She is not, as a matter of fact, but it’s no longer his fucking business, now is it. Annabeth opens her mouth to tell him so, then abruptly closes it as a little bit of vomit erupts from her esophagus. She covers her mouth, pressing against her teeth, trying to will it back inside. 

Warm hands encircle her shoulders, holding her up as her legs threaten to buckle beneath her. “Come on,” he says, gruffly. 

Together, they stagger into the single-stall bathroom, when Annabeth rips himself from his grasp, dropping to her knees before the toilet, and hurls. Faintly, she hears the lock of the door click behind her, then jumps at the feel of his hand on her back. “Leave me alone,” she spits, hocking bile into the toilet.

He doesn’t answer, only gently repositions her braid behind her shoulder so she doesn’t get any vomit on it. 

She will not admit that his hand on her body is the best she’s felt all day. She will not. 

“Ugh,” she moans, in between bouts of bile. “Fuck me.”

“Jesus, what did you eat?”

Annabeth has barely eaten all day, so it’s mostly sparkling cider and a bit of the olive tapenade from earlier. 

Finally, after several excruciating minutes, it subsides. She feels twenty pounds lighter, like she’s vomited up all of her organs. Now if only she could have barfed up her heart as well. She’s sure Percy can feel how hard it’s beating, just from being around him again. 

When the hell did she let herself get this worked up over a fucking guy, anyway? She hasn’t felt like this since she was nineteen, moping over a missed connection. But she’s not nineteen anymore, she’s a grown woman who doesn’t need anyone taking care of her. She can handle it herself.

“Feeling better?” he asks. 

She coughs, attempting to clear her throat, throwing him a glare over her shoulder. “Leave me alone.”

“I’m not leaving you alone like this.” 

“I said,” she growls, fingers tightening around the bowl of the toilet. “Leave me al--” Her genius retort is, sadly, cut off by another bout of vomiting, so forceful that her tiara comes flying clean off. It would have landed straight into the bowl, were it not for Percy and his lightning reflexes, snatching it out of the air before the crown jewels of Sweden landed in a puddle of barf. 

When she comes back to herself, she realizes that she’s crying. 

The second wave passes, and she can breathe again. Her awareness returns to her in pieces, starting with the pinch in her knees from kneeling on the cold, hard floor for too long, then the cool porcelain of the toilet, oddly soothing against her flushed skin. Her mouth tastes like you’d expect, and she spits, trying to clear it in vain. 

“That’s it,” Percy murmurs behind her, rubbing gentle circles on her back. “Just let it out.”

Her chest heaves on a sob, quickly disguising it as a cough. Why won’t this man just leave?

When another five or so minutes pass without any more upchuck, she pulls away from him, practically crawling back until she hits the bathroom wall, the floor pressing up against her bones, and she kicks off her heels. Everything is too cold and too hot, Annabeth practically shaking out of her skin, taking in huge, gulping gasps of air. Faintly, she hears the door open and close, softly and carefully. 

Good. He’s gone. 

Her whole body shudders. Stubborn tears force their way out of her, crawling down her cheeks, mixing with the taste of vomit and lipstick. 

But she can’t wallow in it for too long, because a minute later, Percy comes back, crouching down next to her, offering her a plastic cup of water. “Here.”

She takes a swig, swishing it around her mouth. Staggering to her bare feet, she shambles over to the sink, spitting it out. 

There’s no way Annabeth can avoid looking at herself too closely in the mirror, but she tries, her eyes skating over her smeared mascara and running foundation, taking in her (thankfully) vomit free braid and her bare head. “Where,” she coughs. “Where is my tiara?”

“I got it.” In the mirror’s reflection, Percy holds it up. “Wouldn’t want the crown jewels of England to wind up in the toilet.”

“Sweden,” she says, on reflex.

“What?”

Why can’t she just shut her stupid mouth, for God’s sake-- “They were part of the Swedish crown jewels.”

He stares at her in the reflection, his eyes unfathomable. “I just don’t understand.”

“Understand what?” She asks, a question to which she really doesn’t want to know the answer.

“How I keep letting this happen.” Percy closes his eyes, shaking his head, raising his chin to the fluorescent lights of the bathroom. Like this, all the angles and contours of his stupidly beautiful face are thrown in sharp, brutal relief. He looks thin, somehow, the quiet sadness of his expression carved into the lines of his frown, of his squeezed shut eyes and the grim line of his lips. “I thought I was done with letting rich girls fuck me to make a point.”

Funny, how a simple sentence can feel like a knife in the stomach.

Percy, always so tall, slumps his shoulders, running a hand over his face. In seconds, the sadness is gone, replaced with a blank void of expression. “Will you let me call you a cab to take you home?” He asks, because of course, he’d never leave her alone like this. He’s too fucking good.

Annabeth nods into the mirror. 

He sidles up to her, slinging her arm around his shoulder. In his other hand, he carries her shoes and her tiara, dangling limply from his fingers. For a wild second she wants to turn and kiss him. She’s wanted to do that for weeks. She wants to wipe the tears and vomit off her face, stick back on her tiara, and go back to the party on his arm. They could make a beautiful picture, she thinks, Poseidon Olympianides’ son and Annabeth Chase of the Boston Chases. But when she tries to move, maybe to make a big mistake, she sways, unsteady. His grip on her waist tightens, holding her close, but his face is turned stubbornly out. He won’t even look at her.

The cool night air and the smell of city dirt is a welcome balm on her flushed face. In no time at all, Percy has hailed a cab, letting her hang off of him as she falls heavily onto the seat. With the utmost care and precision, he gently places her shoes and her crown on her lap, as controlled and careful as when he puts down a fellow dancer. There is no mistake here, she knows. Their little dance together is over. It feels like the end of one of those romantic movies from the 50s her dad used to love to cry over.

“Take her home, please,” he informs the cab driver, giving him her address, then without even sparing her a glance, he closes the door on her.

But greedy for one last look, Annabeth presses her face to the window as the driver pulls away from the curb. The night is dark and the streetlamps are unhelpful, but she can still see him as he cups his hands to his face, glowing like he holds a little star between his fingers, can see him tilt his head up and exhale, sending cigarette smoke up into the heavens.

[pennamesmith]

For Want of a Skeletor

Entrapta hosts a Princess Alliance meeting at the Crypto Castle and absolutely nothing goes wrong. More Skeletor stories!

*

The lights were on late in Dryl. 

Stars shone outside the windows. Entrapta sat hunched over her desk, studying datapads and readouts. A polite cough from the laboratory door caused her to look up from her work.

“Oh! I’m sorry Hordak, did I wake you?”

Her partner stepped softly into the room and shook his head. “Imp did. You know how he gets when either of us take too long to come to bed.” 

Hordak crossed the cluttered floor and joined Entrapta at the desk. He was holding Imp in his arms, and the smaller, winged clone whined plaintively when he saw her. Entrapta kept her screens on, but leaned gratefully into Hordak’s side and curled a tendril of hair around his waist. She yawned, despite herself. 

“I know. I just want to make sure I get everything right before the other princesses come over tomorrow.” She glanced back at the data, nervously tapping her fingertips together. “I’ve never hosted an Alliance meeting before! And this rescue will be our biggest mission since… well, you know. I don’t want to mess anything up.”

Hordak smiled. “Your diligence is admirable. But I also seem to recall someone telling me that imperfections are beautiful.”

Entrapta stuck out her tongue. “No fair.” 

“I’m afraid the science is sound. Come to bed, my dear.” 

The scientist scoffed, but she did not protest when Hordak gathered her up in his arms. She wrapped more of her hair around him, and Imp settled sleepily in the resulting nest. Entrapta could already feel herself drifting. 

“You will be a shining star tomorrow,” Hordak promised, as he carried his family back to rest. 

“Tomorrow,” echoed Imp.

*

The next day saw the Crypto Castle’s largest meeting room filled with princesses, dignitaries, and other honorary Alliance members. While Scorpia and Perfuma admired the tiny refreshments laid out for everyone, Mermista split her time between groaning at Sea Hawk’s boasts and trying every available chair to find the most comfortable one. Glimmer and Bow stepped uneasily around the edges of the room, watching carefully for anything that might be a trap, and Frosta followed their lead. Netossa and Spinnerella tried their best to find a chair Swift Wind could sit in. 

Adora and Catra, wearing increasingly baffled expressions, were conversing with two domestic-looking robots who sat at the head of the table next to Entrapta. One was tall and skinny, and the other wore a welded-on handlebar mustache. 

“Entrapta has parents?” Catra was asking, her face a galaxy of disbelief. 

“Adopted, technically. Or adapted,” the skinnier bot explained. “We’re Entrapta’s parental units. She built us when she was six. You must have seen the painting in the foyer.” 

“Yeah, we’ve been here pretty much the whole time,” the mustachioed model added. “You kids sure made a racket during your last few visits. What was that all about?” 

“Uh,” Adora faltered. 

To her immense relief, Hordak swept into the room at that very moment, flanked by Imp, Emily, and the reprogrammed Horde drone Entrapta had dubbed ‘Skeletor.’ 

“Welcome, everyone,” Hordak boomed, bringing the gathering to a respectful hush. 

“Witless fools! I’m in charge now! And if you know what’s good for you you’ll do as I say!” Skeletor shouted. 

Hordak scowled and shooed the fussing robot away from the table. “Pay no mind to that one,” he grumbled once he’d regained the floor. “Now then. Please allow me the honor of introducing the unparalleled mind who has made this operation possible, Princess Entrapta.” 

“Thank you all for coming!” Entrapta started, while everyone took their seats. “I know you’re all excited about what we’re planning, but there’s still a lot of preparation to do before we can take off. As the chief science officers for this mission, it’s vital that Hordak and I gather as much data on your abilities as possible! Interdimensional travel is severely unpredictable and —” 

“Hold on,” Mermista interrupted. “Exactly how high are the chances of us getting mutated by cosmic space energy or whatever? Because I only want cool mutations, not gross ones.” 

“Maybe thirty, thirty-five percent?” Entrapta guessed. She shrugged. “A lot of this is theoretical. You guys will be like my guinea pigs! By which I mean the small robotic animals in the castle I protect and care for. And experiment on, sometimes.” 

She laughed heartily. Glimmer and Bow shared a nervous glance. Perfuma turned slightly green. 

Entrapta regained her composure and pointed back to the display board. “Ahem. Anyway, the good news is we already know some things about where we’re going! Probably.” She shuffled her notes, gaining confidence as she spoke.

“Before Adora found the Sword of Protection, historians debated ancient records of She-Ra. Some claimed she was called ‘Her-Ra’ and fought for the ‘Power of Grayskull.’ But I theorize that what those archaeologists actually uncovered was evidence of —”

“I have a question!” Frosta yelled. “Will there be hunky guys in the other dimension? I’m asking for a friend.”

“It’s funny you mention that, actually,” Entrapta replied. “Listen, just let me finish and…” 

Unfortunately, anxious impatience had already gripped the assembled Alliance members. They clamored with questions, all talking at the same time. Entrapta shrank back in her seat and pulled her welding mask down, seeming to reach for something under the table. 

Hordak stood up. Just as it looked like he was about to do something violent, a loud alarm sounded and the lights in the room flashed red. 

“Uh-oh.” Entrapta glanced around at the assembled company. “Um, get ready to tuck and roll everybody!”

“Get ready to what?” Mermista cried out, but it was already too late. Multiple trap doors swung open across the meeting room floor, and with flailing limbs and startled shouts the guests were sent tumbling down chutes in every direction. In moments they had all vanished.

“I always feel so much better after doing something bad!” Skeletor cackled. “Now we begin phase two!” 

*

Adora and Catra, who had clung to each other as they fell, landed with a bump in a darkened, underground space. As soon as they arrived, bright lights flickered to life and a huge screen lit up against the wall. 

Entrapta’s face appeared on the monitor, larger than life. “Oh good! You’re alive,” she chirped when she saw the other two. 

Adora clambered to her feet. “Entrapta! What’s going on?” 

The scientist glanced away. “Well, I guess Skeletor didn’t like that we were ignoring him. So he stole my map of the castle and activated the security systems! Which means we’re all lost in the labyrinth until I can catch him. Isn’t that great?” 

“It’s something,” Catra groaned, rubbing her head. 

“Exactly! Now, without my map I can’t come find you. But if you can make it through the traps, the hallway you’re in should take you back to the meeting room. Then you’ll be safe until I can fix things!” 

The screen dimmed again before Catra or Adora could protest. Left with few other options, they turned to get a good look at whatever dangers lay ahead. 

They were standing at one end of a long corridor. Square blocks floated along its length, suspended in midair with anti-gravitational tech. An interrogative punctuation mark flashed on one, while a squat robot with painted-on angry eyebrows shambled slowly back and forth beneath it. 

Catra took it all in. “You have got to be kidding.” 

Adora had already drawn her sword and begun to venture forward. Catra was about to follow her, when something made her ears flick. A suspicious frown crossed her face.

“Hey, Adora!” Catra called. “Listen!” 

“What?” 

Catra pressed her ear to the wall. “There! Do you hear that?” 

“Obviously not,” Adora huffed. “Now stop dawdling, the first puzzle looks pretty easy.” 

Catra stayed where she was. “Hold on a second. This part of the castle feels familiar. I remember walking through here back when, uh, back when it was still Horde territory.” She coughed awkwardly, and then reached up to tilt the frame of a big-eyed kitten painting. “Look!” 

Something clicked and the wall slid open, revealing a new passageway. Distinctive laughter could be heard coming from the other end of it. A purple neon sign reading “Secret Entrance!!!” buzzed to life. 

Adora sighed and rolled her eyes. 

“One time Entrapta had me and Scorpia over for a life-size Snakemen and Ladders game that got a little out of hand,” Catra explained as they entered the tunnel. At the far end there was a brightly lit office; inside, it was filled with laboratory equipment, video monitors, and a humble but dignified desk. 

Hordak was sitting at the desk, in what appeared to be a smaller version of his old Fright Zone throne. It swiveled. Entrapta was sitting on the desk, and she waved as the other couple entered. 

“Myaah! Sleep gas and stun-rays only, my evil minions!” muttered Skeletor, who was busy working the video monitors. On closer inspection, Adora realized that each of them showed some of the other princesses as they traversed the castle labyrinth. 

“Welcome to mission control!” Entrapta sang, spreading her arms wide. “Hordak didn’t think you’d find us, but I had a hypothesis you might.” 

“It was a ruse!” Adora gasped, scandalized. “You’re not lost at all!” 

“You really need to hang out with Entrapta more if that still surprises you,” Catra observed. She looked at the monitors. “Ah, are they gonna be okay?” 

“Better than!” Entrapta sprang off the desk, hanging by her hair as she showed off multiple datapads. “Everyone was getting a little… distracted upstairs, so I just decided to speed things up a teensy bit! The princesses using their powers to escape the maze will let me get all the readings we need, and then we can have a nice little party! I had the baker make tiny cakes.” 

“I made sure Hordak’s doomberry pie was especially tasty!” Skeletor piped up. 

“And it’s all perfectly safe!” Entrapta promised. Discreetly, a ribbon of hair reached out to push a blinking button. On the monitors, Mermista and Sea Hawk were rescued from a robot shark attack by a convenient change of the currents. 

“This is hilarious,” Catra laughed, looking more closely. On one of the screens, Swift Wind was gleefully running loop-de-loops along a curving racetrack. “I think they’re actually having fun in there. Can we stay and watch?” 

“I’m afraid not,” Hordak said. She-Ra’s — and your — assessment is the most important of all. But we’d love to have you over to the castle for dinner soon. Shall we say eight o’clock next week?” 

“That sounds nice!” Adora chimed, before Catra could stop her. 

“Splendid. I’ll cook,” Hordak concluded. Then he pressed a button on his desk, and a trapdoor sent the younger women plummeting through the floor. 

Catra and Adora yelped in surprise, only for their fall to be cut short by an enormous pile of pillows on the level below. They struggled to their feet. Another corridor stretched away in front of them, filled with further challenges. Floating gold coins, each about four feet tall, indicated a pathway. 

“Try not to have too much fun,” Hordak called good-naturedly as the trapdoor slid shut. 

“Use the warp zone! It’s faster!” Entrapta added. 

“Have a nice trip down!” said Skeletor. 

*

Hordak settled back in his chair (it had soft armrests, and a cushion for lumbar support) and watched his partner at work. Entrapta flitted from screen to screen, taking notes and making adjustments. On one display, Bow and Glimmer had met up with Netossa and Spinnerella while navigating a cage minefield. On another, Frosta was making an ice bridge to help Perfuma and Scorpia cross a slow-moving spike trap. 

“I’m sorry you had to use your backup plan. They really are utter fools if they ever doubted your genius,” Hordak mused. 

“Different people have different strengths and weaknesses,” Entrapta replied, without looking up from her work. “And a good scientist collaborates whenever they can! Even if that requires a little creativity sometimes.” 

Hordak nodded. “Fair enough. Nevertheless, I would not blame you if you wished to have nothing more to do with the Princess Alliance. Even their attempts to help you can seem… insensitive. You’re not obligated to forgive that.” 

Skeletor looked up from his control panel and shook a fist. “Don’t you get awfully tired of being a hero all the time? Don’t you ever feel like doing something evil?” 

“They’re trying to be good friends,” Entrapta defended. “And so am I. And if I really did need their help, maybe things would be different. But I’ve got it all under control!” 

She vaulted across the room, flipping switches and turning dials along the way. On the monitors, Perfuma’s fall from a tall platform was gently broken by a sudden anti-gravitational field. 

“Besides, forgiveness isn’t always about the person being forgiven. It’s also about taking back potential energy that was lost.” 

“Did you learn that in my brother’s therapy group?” Hordak asked. 

Entrapta smirked. “Actually, he got it from me.” 

A pleasant ding sounded and Entrapta clapped her hair. “Hooray, everyone made it back! I’ll calculate the high scores and then we can continue the social experiment!” 

“You astonish me every day,” Hordak purred as he rose to follow her. Entrapta put out her hand, and he took it. 

“Wait for me!” Skeletor cried out. “You might get lost by yourself!” 

*

One week later, a much smaller gathering of royals met in Dryl. 

Catra and Adora sat together in one of the Crypto Castle’s least intimidating dining rooms, listening with barely-contained delight as Entrapta’s parental units thoroughly embarrassed their former boss. 

“...And so I said to him, ‘I have charging ports Hordak, can you download raw data offa me?’ Ha! Oh, you shoulda seen his face!” 

Hordak slouched in his chair. “I do not think we need to bore our guests with the details of this particular story,” he protested, feebly. 

“Oh, I’m not bored at all! I want to hear everything,” Catra said. She leaned forward, grinning. “So, was this before or after you hooked him up to the lie detector?” 

Entrapta giggled, and gave Hordak a gentle pat on the shoulder as she reached for another helping of his tiny quiche. All things considered, the night was going surprisingly well. 

It was exactly what Entrapta wanted. 

After dinner, wheeled bots carted away the leftovers and dirty dishes. Hordak poured coffee for himself and Adora, and the parental units retired to wherever it was they lived in the cavernous castle. Entrapta, lost in thought as usual, felt a familiar feline presence approach her. 

“Thank you,” Catra said, sincerely. “Not just for this. For everything. For being so nice all the time. For making this mission happen. It means a lot to me.” 

Entrapta smiled softly. “To me, too. Everyone makes mistakes. It would be a shame not to learn from them when we can.” 

“Did you say something?” Skeletor squawked, suddenly materializing in the doorway. 

Entrapta, unbothered, immediately produced a datapad. “Oh we’re just talking about the big rescue mission! Actually, you should probably take a look at my data, Skeletor. I haven’t told you much yet, and we might need you!” She held the blinking screen out happily. 

Skeletor looked at the datapad. At first he seemed confused; then he boggled as he registered the information in front of him. “Eternia?” he gasped in disbelief. “Grayskull?” 

His voice rose to a fevered pitch. “He-Man!”

For once, Skeletor had no words. He shrieked incomprehensibly instead, fists shaking. 

Hordak chuckled. “It’ll be just like the old days!” 

Skeletor screamed. 

[pluto-art]

Softly - PatB Fan Fiction

Type: Hurt/Comfort Rating: PG Summary: Baby Brain has known little but pain and misery in an unloving world, but when he gets paired up with a new lab student things change in a way he didn’t expect.

This started out as a mini story in a Discord server and got... a little out of hand. What you see here is how much I typed out in the server.

He hadn't been there long. Two... maybe three weeks? The cold metal had finally become familiar beneath his feet, and the strange blocks, though generally tasteless, kept him alive. There wasn't much that made his new living quarters interesting; there was only so much one could do in a pile of aspen shavings day after day. Occasionally, they would hook up to his cage some sort of liquid that wasn't his usual watery fair. He could never decipher or make heads or tails of the words on the sides of the bottles, saying things like D-D-T or S-N-I-P-P-L-E. The only distinguishing feature to him was that sometimes they tasted terrible, sometimes quite flavorful, and sometimes they tasted like nothing at all. Almost all of them turned his stomach. Driven to thirst, however, he'd play their cruel game. Choice was not something that existed in this crisp, sterile world; at least, not from a personal standpoint. When it did exist it meant the difference between a shock and a treat; a yellow light or a red light; a warm room or a cold one. Choice was manufactured.

He still cried almost every night. He tried to quiet the tears, but they didn't always listen. The others heard him. One or two laughed cynically. Most said nothing; they'd shed their own fair share and would again sooner than later. A single kind soul, a mother rat some doors down from him, occasionally whispered to him a lullaby or two when everyone else but them were asleep. They were songs she sang to her own children to quiet their tears, and she had no less compassion for this unfortunate soul, who was even worse off than her own brood -- he didn't even have any parents to nuzzle up to. Had she her way, she would have mutilated every last living human being in the facility. It was bad enough that they were tested on mercilessly as adults. To do so to children was simply insidious. Alas, she was simply a rat, and so could only dream of days when she wasn't.

Not that BR-41N (that's what they called him; no one had real names here) hadn't tried to be friendly with his captures. Aside from a particularly nasty poke from some long, thin, prickly object inserted into his thigh the first day (it had stung; oh, it had stung...) the proceeding couple of days had consisted of simple maze runs and treadmill exercises. Nothing too elaborate. As a child, he'd been used to running around a lot in the field, and sifting through the labyrinths reminded him of the long grass he'd play hide-and-seek in back home, except at the end of them was a tasty prize: a piece of cheese. He liked cheese. In the wild, it was hard to come by, but here they gave it to him generously, provided he finished the courses, which he always did. The fourth day followed in much the same way, but the fifth day brought something different: a sudden shock and a broken tail. That had changed his view of things. Perhaps the harsh awakening wouldn't have been so terrible had it not been followed by other unspeakable things -- poisoned food; friends made that, the next day, would never be seen again; more shocks given as punishment for choosing an incorrect panel; injections that made him see things he'd never seen, monsters and strange colors and other scary things that kept him awake at night; loud noises that came out of nowhere; and often, quite often, the terrifying echo of squeaks, barks, and meows that made up the daily music of Acme Laboratories. He hated it. He hated all of it. More than anything, he wanted to go home. He missed the warmth; the love; the soft whisper of the wind that traveled through his ivory fur. He wanted all of it back. But life? She was a harsh mistress. And no amount of crying, screaming, or pleading, seemed to ever make her turn an ear.

As the days turned into weeks, and the weeks... months, more than just a tail was broken. Trust was broken. Hope was broken. Spirit... was broken. If there was any love, if there was any future, it wasn't here. Kindness had proved unfruitful, and patience had run its course. He didn't find reason to be willing, nor show charity, towards those who made his life a living hell. What reason was there? What profit was in it? Time had told him, quite bluntly, there wasn't. It had taken him a full month to admit defeat, but admit it he did, and cynical he became, 'til every hand that reached in to grab him was ripe to be bitten, every shot that punctured his stomach was the unwelcome norm, and every newcomer that tried to strike up a friendship was easily ignored. The latter-most was simply wasting their time. He could read the colors on the cages now. He knew that a red mark meant "death". He only wondered why he, as of yet, had never been given one himself. It was as if life itself was laughing at him -- keeping him as witness to the horrors that went on inside the dragon's cave, yet never giving him the satisfaction of death.

And so the third month dawned, chilly and barren, or so the scientists said. Autumn had come. Not that any of the residents within the thick, cemented walls could see it. But the laboratory personnel spoke of it -- gold and crimson leaves, hot chocolate, dried wheat fields. He could almost smell the corn; could almost feel the breeze.... Days passed. For the first time, they gave him a cage mate. E8-WN, they called him. He was kind, but BR-41N had little love left to give. Besides, he had the red tag. It seemed they had only placed him here temporarily due to a lack of space. The next day he was taken to the back. The tiniest shred of pity nipped at BR-41N as he watched the little peach-furred mouse be carried into the surgical room, a curious look on his face. Another emotion was also present within him: jealousy. On the 17th day of September, a new thing happened -- a thing that, for the first time in a while, made the little mouse turn his head.

The school year had started, and, as such, fresh meat was welcomed into the laboratory in the form of fourteen college students looking to continue pursuits in medical science. They were all very quiet during the tour, one or two of them occasionally lifting a hand to ask a question about course materials or contact information. They were each, it seemed, to be given a subject: an animal from the laboratory to study, train, and conduct experiments on. Rats, mice, and hamsters had already been picked out for them, and each was given a black-coated subject or a brown-furred captive to take charge of. Each student's rodent was to be kept in the lab at all times, and specific instructions were given them as to the proper handling of the creatures. At least two experiments were to be conducted on them daily, three if possible. They could spend as much time with their charge as they wished, so long as they got their homework done. Fourteen students. Fourteen rodents. Four months to finish their work. Simple.

As it stood, however, there had been a miscalculation. Fourteen students. Fourteen rodents.... No. Not fourteen. Only thirteen. There'd been an error. They'd forgotten to set aside an extra subject. The unfortunate student without a charge was a college girl named Rachel. All other rodents were going through tests conducted by various personnel in the lab, set aside specifically for said conductions that couldn't currently be tampered with. All except one....

"So, um, Rachel," their teacher said, checking his student list. "You may have to share with... Peterson.... You know what? We might... actually have an extra for you. Hold on. Let me ask...."

And he departed into another room, calling for a "Jackson".

"Jackson! Can she use BR-41N? I don't think he's going through any rigorous testing.... Yeah? Okay. Yeah, that would work out perfectly. Thanks."

He turned back to his brood, many of whom looked quite eager to jump in to these intriguing studies, others looking downright bored.

"Okay. We have one for you. His code name is BR-41N. He's not going through any major testing, and he's generally given the usual works -- labyrinths, shock treatment, all that. But, um... he bites. Really bad. So... you'll have to watch it, all right?"

"Okay," Rachel nodded, looking a little nervous.

"All right. Umm.... Good. Yes. So, let's head back to the main campus, and... we'll start your work tomorrow."

And they left.

BR-41N had only heard part of all this, and had understood none of it. He shivered in his cage, taking a moment to drink some water out of the bottle that hung there. While the arrival of such a large group intrigued him, especially since it consisted of a much younger set than normal, it also made him nervous. Was it a sign of good things to come... or bad? Or just more of the usual fair? One could only wonder. For now, he was simply grateful that the cheese they'd given him today was, for once, not laced with drugs.

She came by on a Tuesday.

It was an hour after a cosmetics test that he heard a knock on the table. His skin still burned. He was cowering in a far corner, and looked back over his shoulder hesitantly.

Rachel stood there, smiling at him.

"Hello, little one." He stared at her, nonplussed. "I guess you're my charge. You gonna say hello?"

And she opened up the door of his cage.

He shuffled back further. He knew all too well by this point that the opening of a door meant one of two things: food or torture. Considering the fact that she didn't smell of food, he had to assume it was the latter.

"It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you. Well, hopefully not...."

Although he didn't understand a word of what she said, her tone was calm; soothing. No one in the lab ever talked to him like this. He couldn't help but stare curiously.

She held her hand up to the entrance and made a soft, squeak-like sound with her mouth. He frowned at her. As if that was going to convince him. He turned away.

"No? I don't blame you," she replied, taking a look at his clipboard. "BR-41N. What kind of a freak name is that? Mind if I call you Brain? Or Brian?"

No response.

"We'll go with Brian. Brain sounds kinda weird."

Brian it was.

She kept the door open, and he braced himself. Any moment now, gloved hands would be protruding into his enclosure to wrap themselves firmly about him, not tight enough to choke him, but secure enough that he couldn't escape. But the hand didn't come. If anything, she pulled up a chair, sat down, and rested her arms upon the table on which his cage sat. She was... giving him a choice? He stared at her, unsure how to react.

"Come on, sweet heart," she cooed, rubbing her fingers together encouragingly.

But he wouldn't budge. If this was some new trick, it wasn't going to work. He wished she'd just grab him and get it over with. Sooner or later, she'd have to. It was only a matter of time. And so he waited....

She sat there for a full twenty minutes, trying her best to get him to come over, but he refused to budge, and so she gave up. As expected, she still ran him through a maze, but instead of reaching in to grab him, she found a clear tube and scooped him up in it, covering both ends before depositing him into the run as such. It was... odd, but less invasive than what he was used to. He rather wished the others would do it that way.

Via the same method she returned him to his cage at the end of the test. As usual, he took to the corner, assuming his usual cowardly pose, but he turned to look at her as she spoke.

"Sorry about that. Nice job, though. See you tomorrow."

And so went the next day... and the next, always with the same introduction: She'd open his door, pull up a chair, and offer her hand to him. After twenty minutes of nothing, she'd scoop him up in the tube, deposit him in the maze or whatever other test he was to perform that day, and return him in the same manner. This went on for four whole weeks, always with a kind word, never coupled with a harsh prod or poking of his skin. He came to somewhat look forward to her almost daily visits, not because he trusted her (the one time she had tried touching him [with gloves on, of course], he'd given her a fair warning in the form of a bite), but because it was the only two hours during the day in which he knew he wouldn't be fed poison, given a shot, or made to inhale cigarette smoke. The other students joked with her. By far, she had the unfriendliest mouse out of all of them, and they found her kind advances a waste of time.

"Just pick him up!" a tall boy said.

Most of them had no problem with handling their subjects by the tail; at least, the boys generally didn't. The girls were kinder, but even they didn't take the time to get to know their animals intimately. They also were given the harder tests to conduct on their critters and so tried not to get attached.

Whereas most of the rats, mice, and hamsters given to the students would eventually be killed in some way or other at the end of the semester, via through vivisection, gassing, cancer, or some other method, BR-41N, or... Brian, as Rachel now called him, was not scheduled to be offed anytime soon and so could not undergo such rigorous experiments. As such, she got both the easy job of conducting very simple tests on him, and also the hard job of trying to work with the most hostile mouse in the entire facility.

"He's never gonna warm up to you," one of the other students said.

Rachel took it as a challenge.

"Watch me," she said.

But Brian was proving to be a much tougher can than expected. By the sixth week, he still hadn't even bothered to venture near the cage entrance when she sat near it, even with tasty treats in hand. He simply didn't trust anyone. Not anymore....

October came and went, to be replaced with a frosty November. Whenever Brian saw Rachel now she had a cup of tea in hand, the better to ward off the coming winter chill. Still she tried; still he refused to relent. Until the 9th....

It was late. She hadn't been able to get to the lab until 8:00 PM due to unfortunate series of events that involved a fender bender, two appointments, and a last minute essay. When she got to the lab she was tired... and not at all in the mood to deal with Brian's B.S., and he knew it.

"'Sup?" she asked him wearily, setting down her things in a huff. Only a handful of other people were still in the facility at this hour, none of them students. Fine by her. She preferred the quiet anyway. "We're gonna do something a little different today, bud."

Indeed.... He perked his ears up at her exhausted tone and the fact that, for once, she didn't open the cage door. But she did still slide the chair up to his table.

On the opposite side of the room was a television on a rolling stand. Normally, this was used for surgeries and other experiments. Once in a blue moon, however, someone would use it for recreational purposes -- to watch the local news when there was time to kill. Most fortunately for Rachel, it also came with a VHS player. Into it she popped a tape, before sitting down in the chair and grabbing her hot cup of peppermint tea. Despite himself, Brian took a whiff of the tea, whose scent had wafted into his cage and tickled his nose. It smelled good.

The film began to play. Brian didn't know the name of it, but whatever it was it was made up of very pretty pictures and featured a lot of dogs... and snow (at least at the beginning). It was rather soothing. Still, he didn't move from his spot, save to grab a lab block at one point to munch on, more to pass the time than anything. His stomach was still a little unsettled from earlier. Privately, he was a bit ticked off at the girl. Had she been a bit earlier he might have avoided the shock treatments. Not that they would have withheld them regardless.

It wasn't until the second song that his attention was at last caught.

"La la lu, La la lu, Oh my little star sweeper, I'll sweep the star dust for you...."

Sweetly did the animated woman sing her little song, and Brian, captivated, perked his ears. He looked up at the television. She was still singing. He stepped forward, bit by bit, until he was right up to the closed door, two little paws coming up to grasp at the bars of his cage as he stared, entranced, at the screen.

"La la lu, La la lu, And may love be your keeper, La la lu, La la lu, La la luuuuu."

And so it ended, all within the span of a minute, if that, but something had stirred with him -- a remembrance of home, and warmth, and what it was like to be loved.

He was still clutching at the bars when he noticed that Rachel was smiling at him, and he promptly sped back to his corner, embarrassed.

"Atta boy," she whispered, still grinning softly at him.

He refused to look at her. He wasn't touched by it or anything. He wasn't....

"It's okay. Don't be embarrassed," said the girl. "I like that song, too."

Brian stayed in his corner the rest of the movie, but the song never left his mind. 

---

The next day proceeded as normal. Once again, Rachel sat by his cage. Once again, she had brought a treat, albeit one he'd never seen before, nor smelled, for that matter. It was small... and white... and fluffy, and it smelled sugary and sweet. He wanted it. Oh, he wanted it so very badly. But nothing that ever came from the fingers of a scientist, even a soft-spoken one, was innocent. And so he refused, his back turned to her.

"Stubborn butt," said Rachel, and by her tone alone Brian could tell that it was a snide comment. He ignored her.

"Here."

As had occurred many times before, she left the treat in his cage near the entrance, closed the door, and sat to watch him. His eyes shifted towards the treat. It sat there, staring at him, mocking him. Eat me, it said. No, he thought. Oh, but it smelled so good....

Rachel sighed. So did Brian. She rested her head in her arms, exasperated. Maybe it really wasn't worth it....

Brian licked his lips. Perhaps....

He took a step forward. Rachel remained where she was, head in her arms, not looking at him. He moved another step. She was still as a stone. Patter patter patter patter patter... GRAB. He swooped back to his corner as fast as possible, marshmallow in his mouth. Rachel looked up... and chuckled. Brian dug into the treat, enjoying every second of it as teeth sunk into the savory delight. He'd never tasted anything this good before. It was better than mother's milk; much better than lab pellets; better than cheese....

"Silly little thing," Rachel giggled, smiling as he filled his cheeks with pleasantness. "Wait 'til you see what I bring you tomorrow."

Tomorrow, he was to find out, brought a piece of a doughnut, and the day after that a waffle. He'd never been this darn spoiled before. On the fourth occasion, he was, for once, already at the door, waiting to see what she'd bring. Lady and the Tramp and sugar, it turned out, were the keys to his heart, although he still wouldn't let her touch him. If her hand so much as brushed his fur he was back to his corner in a rush, although, this time, he didn't try to bite her first.

Rachel laughed when she saw the two little paws clutching at the gated entrance.

"You like 'em that much, huh? Here ya' go."

He stepped back to allow her access to the gate, and watched carefully as she placed something savory and smelling of salt inside. He sniffed, investigating as she closed the door. He took a tentative bite. Mmmmm. Yes, this was acceptable. Grabbing it, he rushed back to his usual corner and chowed down.

"Good. A fellow bacon appreciator," Rachel nodded, satisfied.

He ate the entire piece, licking his lips and proceeding to clean himself afterwards. That had been a bit messy. Good, but messy. If there was something he still valued, it was cleanliness. He could at least retain some form of dignity. The state of his fur was one of the few things he still had control over. Unlike some of the other unfortunate chaps, he'd never had to endure surgery or a shaved stomach.

Two little pink ears perked up as his cage door was opened yet again. More treats? No. Just Rachel, hand offered to him once more. Brian sighed. She just wouldn't give up, would she?

A second glance made him aware that she did, in fact, have something in her hand -- another marshmallow. Hmph. Sneaky. And yet, he'd be lying if he said he didn't want it....

"It's okay, little one," Rachel cooed, hand still outstretched, that plump marshmallow beckoning ever so tantalizingly. "I'm not gonna hurt you. I promise."

Brian sighed. He looked down at the floor, then over at her hand.

Rachel's eyes widened a touch, but she otherwise didn't reveal her surprise as Brian moved forward, inch by inch, step by step, towards her hand....

He stopped at the entrance, debating. Dare he...? It was a risk. He'd never willing done this, not since he'd been captured. It was a stupid decision. Stupid. And yet....

Her hand shifted a touch, and Brian shifted nervously with it. Rachel waited with bated breath.

He stepped forward....

In a flash, he'd grabbed the 'mallow from her hand and retreated to the back of his cage, not daring to even think about what he'd just done. It was foolish. It was dangerous. And yet, she hadn't tried to grab him, or even pet him. She'd just... given him a choice. And he'd taken it. Somehow, for some reason, he'd taken it.

Rachel smiled.

"Atta boy."

---

Perhaps it was the mere fact, the tantalizing realization, that he had a choice in the first place, that drew him back, but over the course of the next few weeks, things changed.

It had started slow at first. A light brush of the whiskers here; a sniff of the hand there. But, eventually, Brian, of his own accord, stepped into her hand. And she didn't close her fingers about him harshly, or strangle him, or pick him up by the tail. She simply... let him be. It was kind. It was unobtrusive. It was respectful. And he appreciated it.

No longer did the other students make fun, or joke that she'd never gain his trust. If anything, they questioned her.

"How the heck did you do it?" they'd ask, curious.

Even more confused were the scientists themselves. Not that anyone had tried very hard to gain the little mouse's trust. He was, in their opinion, not worth the time.

But he was to Rachel.

December came, and with it a complete turn-around in Brian's behavior, albeit towards one particular individual.

He eagerly rushed into her hand now. No need for the transportation tube. She could carry him on her shoulder to the maze area and pick him up with her bare hands as she placed him in the labyrinth, although she still made sure to let him take the first step and would, more often than not, simply offer a hand instead of plucking him from her shoulder. He still appreciated this.

Every weekday was now a day to look forward to. Sure, he was still tormented by the main personnel, but for two or three hours, two or three sweet hours, he didn't have to worry about anything. On the days he suffered from a stomach-ache, she'd hold him close to her chest and do her best to rub the pain away, offering him tea to ease his suffering, and if he fell asleep on her shoulder and woke up, shaking, from a bad dream, she'd rock him back and forth, singing "La La Lu" to him until the nightmares went away. On those rare nights, when she could only work late and no one was around, she'd bottle feed him. He'd been hesitant (and a little embarrassed) at first, but any reminder of home was difficult to ignore, and so he ended up embracing each form of love and affection with open paws, clutching tightly to her chest some days, as if this hug would be his last. For all he knew, it could be. He'd gotten used to her visits, but what if she left and never came back? He didn't want that love to leave....

December 14th.

The end of the semester was approaching. Rachel had told him, time and again, that she was leaving soon; that she would miss him; that she'd try to come back for the next semester. Brian understood none of this. He was a mouse, after all. Human language was foreign to him. The most he could understand was the occasional word -- his name, Brian, and various names of foods and tests -- and basic inflections that he knew signified concern, happiness, or contentment. But he didn't understand "leave", or "semester", or "miss". He could tell something was wrong, that she was sad, but as to why, he did not know.

A week from the last day of the semester, she brought a surprise: a movie. It had something to do with a rat, and food. He liked it for those things. He wished he could understand the words. It seemed interesting. He sat on Rachel's shoulder the entire time, at least until the end of the film, during which Rachel offered her hand to him. He accepted. She brought him up to her chest, nuzzling him close.

"I'm going away for a while, but... I'll try to be back next semester."

She petted him gently. He stared up at her, curious and concerned. Why was she so sad?

"I'm going to miss you...," she whispered. And, for the first time, she kissed him on his fuzzy white head. "I love you...."

He didn't understand the words, but he understood what they meant; how they felt.

Slowly, gently, he nuzzled close to her... and licked her fingers. It was the first time he'd shown genuine affection outside of nuzzling since he'd been captured. I love you, too....

He didn't understand it, but... there was something in the air that told him something big was coming. Something new. Something was going to be different....

December 18th came just like any other day. The semester was coming to a close. Many students had already finished their courses and gone home for the holidays. The occasional class still lingered on, including the medical science class. Most all had completed training and experimentation on their subjects for the season and were simply spending the next few days filing reports and filling out last minute essays. Some of the rodents wouldn't live to see the new year. Others had already been subjected to vivisection by their handlers and were far from the lab by this point. Subject BR-41N was one of the few who'd been given the same sheet on their clipboard day after day, week after week: a run of the mill of the usual, simple, non-invasive tests, along with an injection or two. But today was different.

As Rachel stepped up to Brian's cage, sipping at a hot cup of tea and smiling as her charge ran up to the bars to greet her, she frowned as she pulled up the clip board. His tag was yellow. Not the usual blue, but... yellow. She set down her cup, ignoring Brian's squeaky pleas to be let out as she looked over the sheet carefully.

Subject Reserved for Project B.R.A.I.N. // Invasive Study -- Cognitive Psychology, Neuroscience Psychology // 4:00 PM - Dec. 20

There was a pause, in which the dip in Rachel's brow furrowed ever deeper, her eyes roaming about the page scrutinizingly, before she slipped the paper out of its holder and headed back out the way she'd came, Brian looking curiously after her.

She marched all the way to a back office, in which sat one of the laboratory heads: Jackson. He looked up over his square-rimmed glasses as she knocked upon the exposed inner door frame.

"Yes?" he asked, sounding bored.

"Hey. Um.... I think you gave my subject the wrong paper."

"BR-41N?"

"Yeah. He got a yellow."

She stretched out her arm, offering the paper as proof, but he didn't take it. Instead, he looked up at her, fingers meeting at their tips, and said:

"No, I gave you the right paper. That's for BR-41N. His procedure is in two days."

His tone was flat and laced with a thin layer of poison, as if her daring to question him was a challenge.

"But... I thought he was just doing mainly labyrinth tests."

"Ms. Field, I thought you were told...?"

"Told what...?"

"He's been scheduled for this procedure for months. We wanted him fresh and so have eschewed more invasive tests until now. Frankly, you've been spending a little too much time with that mouse. He's gotten too friendly. We're not in the business of developing attachment here."

He said all this with a straight face, completely emotionless. Rachel swallowed thickly.

"Sir, I've... been going over this test. It's... very dangerous."

"Yes."

"It could kill him...."

"Yes?"

Rachel simply stared at him, uncertain of what to say next. He wasn't working with her here....

"Look.... What did you expect? You're studying medical science, correct?"

She nodded.

"Okay, well," he continued, a small chuckle of sarcasm escaping his lips as he said it. "Y-You have to realize that... this is a laboratory. We can't keep every subject. And these tests come with a lot of risks."

"Could you possibly do the test on another subject...?" Rachel asked, choosing her words carefully. "Brian is still kind of young, and..."

"Brian?"

Shoot.

"Sorry, I mean... BR-41N."

"You can't start... naming them, Miss Field. That's when you start getting attached. Understand?"

"I know...," Rachel mumbled, cheeks reddening as she looked down at her shoes.

"And the whole point of using him at this age is because his mind is younger. He's fresh."

"But he's just a baby..."

"Yes? And? A lot of the other students are working with infants."

"This one is...," Rachel began, than stopped. Already she'd said too much.

"Miss Field, if you don't prepare him for the procedure, someone else will. Now, you can either do your assignment or lose your credits. It's your choice."

Rachel sighed. Still holding the paper, she let her arm fall dramatically to her side.

"Fine...."

And she turned to walk off. But...

"Miss Field?"

She looked at him.

"Don't do anything stupid."

"Yes, Sir," Rachel replied, after a hefty pause, and headed back to her charge.

---

Brian didn't understand why Rachel was so quiet that day, nor why she cuddled him so much. She whispered to him something about "breaking out" and "night", but he didn't understand what those things meant, although he heard the urgency in her voice. As a result, he was a little more uptight the rest of the afternoon.

Before leaving, Rachel kissed the top of his head again, before setting him back down in the cage and hooking the door. Her good-byes were all but gibberish to him, although he recognized the word "tomorrow". So he'd be seeing her tomorrow. That was good. At least he had a time frame. He was naive to the rest....

---

December 19th 9:15 PM

BR-41N cleaned his whiskers, pondering.

She hadn't shown up today. Strange. "Tomorrow". She's said "tomorrow". Today was tomorrow. Why hadn't she come?

To his left, in a far corner of the room, someone sneezed in their cage. Brian frowned sadly. It was that hamster again. Whatever they'd given him had put him into a sneezing fit for an hour. Now and then he relapsed.

He yawned, stretched, and made for the food dispenser, when he suddenly heard a sharp click of a door being opened and abruptly snapped shut. He turned in the direction of the door. A light flicked on. Brian smiled.

Rachel's feet slid across the floor in haste. Instead of her usual student lab coat, she was decked out in her normal clothes, complete with backpack. Her hoodie was up, obscuring her hair, save for a few strands that stuck out here and there, as well as part of her face. She moved with purpose, albeit a little covertly, looking over her shoulder every now and then, as if expecting someone to grab her at any minute.

Set in a wall above the entrance to the room, a camera followed her. Rachel's eyes shifted at the sound as she moved towards Brian's cage. She knew she only had five, maybe ten, minutes at best.

Opening the cage door, she held her hand out for Brian to step onto. He hesitated. Something didn't smell right....

"Come on. We're busting you out of here, dude," Rachel whispered.

Brian cocked his head at her questioningly.

"Listen, they're going to put your through that splicer if we don't get you out of here, so come on."

There was an urgency in her voice that, despite his misgivings, compelled him to move forward. He trusted her too much by this point.

"Atta boy," she praised him, tucking him in her shirt pocket.

He peeked out, paws clutching at the edges of the pocket interestedly.

"Let's go," Rachel whispered, turning back to the door and stopping as she realized that someone was already standing there....

Framed in the metal doorway was a woman, thirty-five... maybe forty-something in age. Her arms were crossed, and the expression on her face seemed as taught and firm as the scrunchie tightening her poofy auburn hair. Her long lab coat was still settling; she must have only just gotten there. Rachel recognized this woman. Lana, her name was -- she was one of the head managers at the facility. Jackson had obviously tipped her off.

"Fancied a night stroll?" she asked, tone dripping with sarcasm.

Rachel remained frozen in place, a hand subconsciously cupping her shirt pocket. The gesture didn't go unnoticed.

"You know you're risking a lot for this. That's all your credits down the drain."

"He's worth it," Rachel answered, resolute.

"He's not. You take him and they'll just get another subject."

"At least I'll have saved this one."

"We'd still rather you not take an asset that's been reserved for months for this procedure," Lana nipped, taking a step forward.

Rachel took a step back. Her eyes shifted to a door to her left. It led to several other testing rooms and then back out into the main hallway. Some of the doors had security locks. It was the long way around, but if she was fast enough....

"Rachel...," Lana spoke, tone threatening as she advanced. "Put him down."

With each step Lana took towards her, Rachel moved two back. She could feel herself starting to perspire. Gosh, this was a stupid idea....

"Rachel...."

With a hand cupped over her shirt pocket, Rachel darted in the direction of the door, opening it up in a flash and slamming it shut behind her. Already she was racing for the opposite end of the room, where another door stood.

Brian jumped as an alarm went off, followed by red lights that flashed all throughout the facility. Rachel was already in the next room, her heart racing. She could hear the panicked footsteps behind her, mimicking her own, and hoped upon hope that she was faster than her pursuer.

Rachel picked up her pace as she entered the next room. This one, she knew, required an employee badge to open. All of the students had been given security badges, of course, primarily for general access to the entrance and main rooms. They worked on some doors in the facility. Some, but not all. She'd never been in these rooms. Privately, she prayed that they'd open for her.

Slamming her badge up against a wall panel, she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet nervously.

"Come on. Come oooon! Take it!!"

It did. The door unlocked, and she swung it open in haste to make for the next locked door, which also granted her entrance.

She was faster than Lana, but it didn't mean the woman wasn't hot on her heels. Brian shut his eyes tightly, huddling against Rachel's chest on the inside of her pocket as she darted about, her hand still cupping him securely. He knew, somehow, that this was about him. His ears rotated this way and that at the duo of clicking feet racing down the linoleum flooring. Who would win? Who was he most valuable to?

It wasn't until the fourth room that Rachel started to panic. Yet again, she'd reached a door asking for proof of access, except this time... her badge was not accepted. She shook the door handle feebly, knowing it wouldn't open; knowing this was the end of the line. Despite himself, Brian peeked out of the shirt pocket, just in time to see Lana as Rachel swiftly turned around to face the woman, who stood at the opposite end of the room, hair askew and chest heaving as she glared at Rachel and her tiny charge.

"You're persistent, I'll give you that," Lana huffed.

"Why do you need him?! Just let me take him and get another subject!" Rachel bit.

"We let you get away with it and you'll set a precedent! You know that!" Lana snapped right back. "And we don't want to waste any more time. We've spent too much money on this project."

"He's just a baby!"

"All of them are meant to be expendable! Hand him over!"

"No!"

Brian's ears flicked. Rachel held her breath. Was it just them, or did they hear... more footsteps?

"You won't have a choice," Lana said flatly, expressionless as she was joined by not one, not two, but five other lab hands, one of the them Jackson, all of them full-time personnel.

"Rachel.... Hand him over," Jackson said, holding out his hand expectantly.

Rachel glared daggers at him, even though she was fully aware of the impossibility of the situation. Like the mouse she was trying so hard to protect, she was trapped, her back against the wall, literally. They were going to take him. They were going to take him and there was nothing she could do about it....

"I told you not to do anything stupid," Jackson continued.

"Please...," Rachel pleaded, breathing heavily. "Please, let me take care of him. I'll train another in his place as compensation, I swear. Just... don't hurt him."

"And then you'll grow attached to that one and try and kidnap it. We've seen it before. You're not the first," Jackson reprimanded.

"Good," said Rachel. "I'm glad I'm not."

Privately, she wondered why she'd ever signed up for this in the first place. She wanted the degree. She wanted it badly. She also loved animals, and knew that following her passion came with sacrifices. What she hadn't counted on was how difficult it would be to accept that. It wasn't feasible, she realized. In fact, it was darn near impossible.

She looked down at the infant trembling in her pocket -- at this little creature that had captured her heart and locked it away, far away from any hopes and dreams of graduating in the medical field of her choosing. "He's not worth it," Lana had said. Was he not? Brian looked up at her, those glossy little eyes staring at her expectantly, trustingly. She smiled sadly at him and, for the last time, cuddled him close, before looking up at the troop across from her.

"If you want him, come and get him," she challenged. They weren't getting him without a fight.

And they rushed at her.

She tried to escape. Oh, she tried... and failed. They grabbed her by the arms as she wrestled against them, cheering Brian on as he somehow managed to escape from her pocket and slip underneath one of the shelving units in the room. But Lana caught him, Brian squeaking as his tail snagged between the beaker and the small metal panel she'd captured him with. He stared at Rachel, his desperate, panicked expression the last thing she saw before being knocked out.

-------

- Two Years Later -

The plan had failed. Rather spectacularly, he might add....

It was the first time in Brain's memory he could ever recall being caught red-handed by any of the personnel at Acme Labs. It was a miracle he and Pinky had managed to escape, but, despite his best attempts, they'd been separated in the process.

He made for a facility some yards away from the main laboratory, sweating as he squeezed under its front door and immediately hid under a cabinet to his right. Lights flashed now and again beyond the windows, desperate voices accompanying them as the scientists searched here and their for the escapees. Brain silently prayed that Pinky had somehow found a suitable hiding spot.

In his position under the cabinet, he backed up against the wall and slid down it, a paw clutching at his chest as he struggled to catch his breath. After a few seconds, he gulped, sniffed, and buried his face in his knees. Stupid. Stupid.... He'd jeopardized their whole mission. What if they'd captured Pinky? What would they do to him? And even if they did escape, where would they go? He'd ruined everything. Everything....

In his haste to remain undetected, he'd neglected to realize that this room... was not entirely devoid of life. It was a small area -- a security office, to be exact. Numerous monitors took up space on a desk, at which someone sat. They slid out of their chair and stepped over to Brain's hiding place. He noticed... and shivered.

Whatever, whomever, it was got down on their knees to peer at him from just outside the dresser.

"Hello...," they said.

It was a woman. Her voice was soft, and kind, but Brain turned his head away from her prying eyes. Typical. In an effort to not get caught he'd inevitably been ratted out. He immediately considered making a run for it, but, for some reason he couldn't explain, he didn't.

"Hey.... Shh. Shh. It's okay, little one. It's okay," cooed the woman. "You wanna come on out...?"

And she held out a hand to him. She didn't try to grab him, or scare him out. She simply... gave him a choice.

But it had been too long. He didn't recognize her, neither she him... until she noticed the tail. Then she knew.

"Brian...?" she breathed, eyes growing wide.

He stared at her, nonplussed, still shivering.

"Brian, it's me. Rachel," she beckoned, her hand still in place. But he didn't move. If anything, he frowned at her. "Brian"?

And she tried everything -- talking to him soothingly; offering him a treat from her pocket. Nothing worked. Brain simply hid his face once more, willing her to go away; to leave him be; to, hopefully, not report him to the authorities if they came to call.

Rachel sighed. She sat up for a moment, thinking, and blinked. Struck with a sudden idea, she rested her hands on her lap... and began to sing....

“La la lu, La la lu, Oh my little star sweeper, I'll sweep the star dust for you...“

Brain blinked... and lifted his head, ever so slowly....

“La la lu, La la lu, Little soft fluffy sleeper, Here comes a pink cloud for you...“

He stood up... and walked forward, right to the edge of the cabinet. She was still singing.

“La la lu, La la lu, Little wandering angel, Fold up your wings, Close your eyes...”

His mouth was fully open now, his round eyes glossy and getting ever shinier. He couldn't pull his gaze away from her face.

“La la lu, La la lu, And may love be your keeper...

La la lu, La la lu, La la lu....”

Rachel stared at him, smiling. He had completely stepped out from under the cabinet by now, his little body trembling slightly.

"Hello, little star sweeper," Rachel whispered to him.

Breath hitching, Brain ran onto her lap, up her shirt, and clutched tightly to her chest, only a second or two going by before he felt those familiar hands hold him gently, securely.

"Oh, Brian...," she choked, kissing his head. He didn't even flinch.

"Why didn't you come back?" he asked, unable to hold back his tears.

"I couldn't," she answered honestly. "But I was able to keep an eye on you from here."

He sniffed and pulled back a little to look around the room. It was, indeed, a security office, and a fairly high end one at that, decked out with all the works.

"I'm an artist now, but in my part time I take the night shift. They at least let me come back for that, probably 'cause Jackson and Lana are gone now," she chuckled softly. "I'm sorry I couldn't protect you this time...."

Brain looked up at her, suddenly understanding. All that time they'd never been caught; never been reported. All those months and years that the camera had simply turned a blind eye to their antics. He thought it was simply negligence. Now he knew why.

"Thank you...," Brain whispered. "And it's... Brain now."

"I know," she smiled. “I still watch tv, ya' know. I just still remember you as my 'Brian'. I'm sorry, Brain."

He couldn't help but smile. All this time....

"Come with me?" Rachel asked him.

"Where?"

"Back to my place. I'll hide you. You can have the guest room, if you'd like."

A sharp knock at the door startled them both, and she quickly ran to her desk, Brain in her hands. She lifted him up and under the desk.

"There's a hidden panel in the roof! Get in it!" she whispered to him urgently.

He found it, albeit with a little difficulty. He pushed at a little area that looked as if it had been cut into... and down shifted a small cubby in which she kept an assortment of odd bits and bobs that were probably not supposed to be in her possession -- special looking keys and badges, among other things. He slipped into it, and Rachel pushed it closed before walking over to answer the door....

Another barrage of bangs thundered at the entrance as Rachel opened it, a hand on her hip as she held the door ajar, doing her best to look as ticked off as possible.

"Sheesh! Gimme a minute to finish pouring my tea! Gosh...."

Outside stood two gentlemen, both in lab coats, looking frantic.

"Have you seen a mouse?" one of them said. He was taller and appeared to be the leader. "White. Large cranium. He was with a companion."

Rachel shrugged.

"Is that what you guys have been looking for?"

"You haven't seen them on your cameras?" the second man asked, panting a little.

Rachel shook her head.

"No, I haven't seen anything."

The men exchanged glances.

"We'd better search the place, just to make sure," the leader said, and without further ado they barged in and began searching every nook, cranny, drawer, and trash can they could. They failed to find the hidden cubby, however. "Can we ask you to roll back the footage?"

"Sure, but you're not gonna find anything," Rachel shrugged again.

They did as permitted, scrutinizing every bit of film captured within the last ten minutes. Although they managed to catch one or two glimpses of the mice leaving the lab, as expected, they couldn't find hair no hide of them on any other roll. Behind their backs, Rachel smirked. Smart little guy. Even on the run, he'd purposely made sure not to walk in the path of the cameras.

After several more minutes of scrutiny, they finally gave up, heading for the door in a huff.

"Sorry for your time. Report to us if you find anything," said the leader.

"No problem," Rachel said, shutting the door with a snap behind them and sighing deeply. Yeah, right..., she thought.

Going back to her desk, she pushed open the hidden cubby. It lowered down and Brain immediately jumped into her hand, breathing rather heavily.

"Sorry, little one," Rachel apologized. I can imagine it's pretty stuffy in there...."

He gave her a look, albeit not a very harsh one. He had no reason to complain.

She raised her hand, allowing him to jump up onto her shoulder.

"They'll be back later to go over more footage," Rachel warned, sitting down at her desk and leaning back in her chair.

"I know," Brain said, licking at his paws and smoothing out his frazzled fur.

Rachel jumped a little and stared at him.

"Heh. I forgot you guys talk now...."

"Is that a problem...?" Brain asked, a little nervously.

Rachel smiled.

"Not at all."

She reached out a hand to scratch at a spot behind his ears.

"What are you...? Ohhhh-ho-ho-ho...," Brain melted, reeling a little at first before giving way to a goofy smile and a thumping foot as he pressed into the touch.

"Still got that little sensitive spot, huh?" Rachel chuckled, her scratches evolving into a head massage.

Brain practically fell off her shoulder, Rachel catching him in her hands and raising him up to eye level, the better to get a good look at him. He cleared his throat, embarrassed. How demoralizing.... But Rachel simply beamed at him.

"You know... I really missed you."

"I... wish I could say the same...," Brain confessed, shuffling a foot. He imagined he had thought of her often, as an infant, but over time the memories simply... faded.

Rachel didn't look upset, though.

"I understand. It's okay. I still love you."

"I...," Brain began, then stopped. No. He couldn't bring himself to say it. Even with Pinky he couldn't ever admit such a thing, and he loved Pinky most of all.

"You don't have to say it. I know you do in your heart," Rachel said, and she kissed him tenderly on the top of his head.

His ears flattened as she did it, and he almost immediately smoothed out the area where she'd kissed him, but he couldn't hide the blush tickling his cheeks and ears. Her behavior was cheesy as all get out, but privately he knew she was right. He did care, even if he'd never admit it.

Just then, something, or... someone, slipped underneath the door. A white-furred, lanky somebody.

"Pinky!!" Brain yelped.

Brain leapt off of Rachel in a flash, landing hard on the floor and limping a little as he ran into Pinky's outstretched arms.

"Brain!!" Pinky shouted right back. "Oh, I thought I'd never see you again!!"

He twirled him around in a circle or two before Brain became aware of what he was doing and promptly pushed himself out of Pinky's grasp, clearing his throat, once again embarrassed.

"Y-Yes, well.... I'm... glad you're safe, Pinky," Brain replied awkwardly, patting his companion on the head.

"Ohhh! Who's this, Brain?" Pinky asked, pointing up at Rachel, who still sat in her computer chair, smiling down at them both.

"Umm.... Pinky, this is Rachel. She's... an old friend."

"Nice to meet you, Pinky! I've heard a lot about you. Well, maybe not heard, but... I've seen you guys on the tv a lot!" Rachel said, beaming.

"You have?!" Pinky gasped, clasping two paws to his face in surprise. "Did you hear that, Brain? We're famous!!"

"Pinky, we've been famous many times, all of them never lasting as long as I'd like...," Brain recollected.

"Well, yes, Brain, but never to a friend!"

Rachel smiled and leaned forward a little.

"I have a proposition for you guys."

"For both of us? Is that legal, Brain?" Pinky whispered to his cage mate, looking concerned, to which Brain facepalmed.

"Proposition, Pinky, not proposal."

"Ohhhhhhhhh. Well, that's different then, isn't it?" Pinky said, nodding eagerly to Rachel.

"How would you guys like to come room at my place? Just for as long as you need until you can get off your feet."

Once again, Pinky gasped excitedly.

"Can we, Brain?!"

"Well...," Brain pondered, hesitating. The offer, though generous, made him feel rather... helpless and awkward, as if he was intruding.

"You're welcome to any of the food and stuff. I've got havarti," she smirked.

Pinky gasped again.

"Oh, please, please, please, please, pleeeeaaaaase, Brain?!?" Pinky pleaded again.

"You're... sure you wouldn't mind?" Brain asked. "I'd hate to intrude...."

"My house is yours," Rachel said genuinely. "And it comes with a pool table," she added, winking at Pinky.

Pinky was doing his utmost to contain a squeal, biting his lip and practically bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet. Brain rolled his eyes.

"Oh, all right...," he relented.

"YAAAAAY!!" exclaimed Pinky, jumping into Rachel's outstretched hand, followed by Brain, as she lifted them up onto her shoulder.

"You'll have to hide in my backpack on the way to the car," she said. "The next guy is about to swap out with me."

And she pulled her backpack up from off the floor and plopped it onto the desk, opening it up. Pinky sprung off her shoulder as if it was a diving board, plunging into the depths of the backpack, which, by all accounts, wasn't very deep. Pinky didn't seem to mind, though. He had fun "swimming" around amongst the snacks, car keys, pencils, wallet, and little sketchpad all the same. Brain simply shook his head, unable to keep a smile off his face. What an idiot.

Rachel was as good as her word. They were given the guest bedroom, along with access to the rest of the house, food included. Provided they didn't draw too much attention to themselves, they were allowed to tinker and plan all they liked within the safety of the back room, and lie low they did, for Acme Labs was on the hunt for a good number of weeks before they gave up on finding them entirely.

Pinky was quite fond of the seemingly unlimited amount of cheese available in the fridge, along with the plethora of movies Rachel had at her disposal. He was often to be found in front of the television, and if he wasn't there he was by Brain's side almost constantly. Brain was most grateful for the space in which to concoct experiments and conjure up plans for world domination, although he had to improvise more often than not, seeing as he didn't have all of the lab's equipment at his beck and call anymore. It was something he sorely missed, but he couldn't say he minded the warm bed and good food that came with their new living quarters either. It was... nice.

Once in a blue moon (which ended up being once a month), Pinky would request Lady and the Tramp for movie night, not just because he liked it, but because of Brain's unusual reaction to it. He liked to watch him subconsciously lean up against Rachel as they sat next to her, eventually breaking down into a fit of silent tears as "La La Lu" danced around the room. Sometimes Rachel would pick him up, holding him close and massaging his head as he calmed against her chest. Oftentimes, Pinky would join them, cuddling up next to Brain as they nuzzled together in Rachel's warm hands.

"I love you, Brain," Pinky would mumble sweetly, giving him an extra squeeze.

"I love you, little one," whispered Rachel, petting him softly.

I love you, too, said Brain in his own little way, holding them both just a tiny bit tighter, a smile creeping its way up onto his face. It was nice, being loved....

~ I love you, too. ~

The End

-------------

The ending of this is meant to be sort of an alternate to Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain. What if they'd ended up there after running away from Acme instead of at Elmyra's?

I didn’t realize until after writing this that it makes no sense for Rachel to be cool with Brain talking one minute, only to be surprised by it the next. It’s a glaring error on my part, but I left it in as a reminder to myself that I need to be more careful. Lol.

Technically, this whole thing is a self-insert, although the name of the girl is not my real name. It’s actually the cognomen of my very first rat. Ha-ha. But the personality of the character is me -- how I talk; act around animals; and most likely what I’d do if put into this situation. The exception is the chase scene. I don’t think I’d act that... panicked? Who knows, though....

This is kind of a way I show compassion for Brain, seeing as I cannot, of course, give him an actual hug. I love Brain more than any other fictional character I’ve ever had the pleasure of watching on screen. It’s not a romantic love or anything. Certainly not. It’s more... maternal. The desire to love and protect is strong. That combination of: individual with a tragic backstory + laboratory setting + main character who happens to be a mouse = the perfect concoction to turn my heart to mush. I owned rats for many years and have a great love for animals, and tend to get attached to certain fictional characters, so here you have the result. He’d be as averse as ever to physical affection, but if I could hold Brain in my hands, plant a kiss on his head, and tell him he’s loved. I would. Thank God for Pinky.

[bluejaytaco]

What up? it DND wit Jay!

(We return to the realm where we are standing in front of a giant gold gate. There's a dwarf standing in front of it with a clip board in their hand, just flipping through.)

Alabaster: (walks up) H-Hail and well met, my friend.

Dwarf: Names?

Alabaster: Oh! Um, I'm fine.

Dwarf, flipping through his clipboard: Fine.... Fine.... Nope, not seeing any "fine" here.

Art: (Walks up)....What about Ebony?

Dwarf, flipping through: Uh, yeah. We got an "ebony".... He's an orc. And considering none of you are Orcs, I doubt any of you are Ebony.

Art: Uh, that's racist.

Theodora:... Quite a detailed guest list...

Koejin: (Walks up and points at a random name) That's me.

Dwarf, looks down at the name: Your Grenadine Ceriph? High priestess in Calor? (Context: Calor is a Tiefling city. Koejin is human... well... was)

Koejin: Yeah, that's me.

Dwarf, getting sick of us: Look, I don't have tie for you people messing... (looks up at Koejin and goes silent).... You're not supposed to be here. This isn't your realm.

Koejin: Uhhh... Well, I have business with the man in charge.

Dwarf: I'm gonna have to call Pelor.

The entire group: (various ways of saying, "You do that" From "yes, please do" to "yeah, get that fucking bitch here! I wanna speak to the manager!")

Dwarf, mumbling into a sending stone before looking back at us: Is one of you named Theodora?

Theodora: Uhh.... Yeah.

Dwarf: You guys can go in. That's all I needed because now I know your names. But thanks for lying to me!

(The gates open and we all walk through. It's less blinding, but only slightly less on the other side of the gate. We see people walking around and just enjoying their afterlife. In the far off distance, there is a silhouette of a giant castle. We can also see the opening to a large garden where Pelor is standing with his arms crossed. Some of us see Alabaster's daughter, Eris, stomping on the flowers.)

Pelor, voice booming towards us: Everyone, front and center!

(All of us go with different levels of reluctance. Hennessy leads the way while Art and Jaquine kinda trail back.)

Pelor: So, what is it you need from me? (He's still standing over us while Eris continues to stamp through the flowers.)

(For a moment, we're all silent.)

Theodora: We want to speak to Thia.

Pelor: Thia is not in a place to speak. She is in my castle now, practicing her abilities for the Cleanse.

Hennessy: Is she okay? You don't have her locked up somewhere, hurt, right?

Pelor: Hennessy, my dear boy. Would you lock up a tiger in a small cage? No, you would respect the animal. Thia is in a place of comfort and has free reign.

Hennessy: She's got free reign? So she can go smoke in every room of the castle?! Even your room?!

Pelor: uhh....yes...

Hennessy: Ohh that just won't do. That smell of recreational drugs gets into the fibers and it can be a bitch to get out.

Pelor, suddenly giving off the impression he would like to hurry this along so he could go clean: It doesn't matter. She is my key to cleansing the world and making it all light. And I can save you all, if you kneel before me and accept me as your true god.

(No one kneels but Hennessy does raise an eyebrow at the "kneel" comment.)

Koejin: So how do you promise our safety.

Pelor: Well, you are excluded from this. Your friends, however, are protected because my followers will all survive.

Art: Don't you need the dark to have the light?

Pelor:... You would think that. Ticket Master would have you think that. And you, specifically, reek of him.

Art: Uh, rude?

Pelor: You know what he wants, don't you? He wants me dead so he can be the god of light. His best friend being the god of darkness would mean the two of them would take over everything. The two of them would rule all.

(Art was trying really hard to not say how he didn't see this as a bad thing, considering his bias. But somehow, as everyone was arguing against the cleanse, it was returned to the subject of Art and Ticket Master.)

Pelor: I think we've had quite enough of this talk.

Art: Yeah, let's stop talking about Ticket Master and the guy who may or may not have had sex with him.

(Pelor reacted in disgust which just turned into Art shouting "Sex with Ticket Master!" at the god of light. The tiefling was really aiming to make the god throw up.)

Koejin, joining in: There were definitely tentacles involved!

Art: Lots of tentacles! Sooooo many tentacles!!!

Pelor: Enough! All of you! (grabs Eris by the hair) If none of you will take this seriously, there is no longer a reason to speak with you.

Eris, punching at the hand: Let go! (turns to Alabaster) Daddy! I don't wanna go!

(They walk through a wall made of marble that Hennessy tries to reach through to grab for Eris. He just barely pulls his hand back before the wall solidifies again and he loses his hand.)

Vincent, rushing up to Hennessy: What did you think you were doing?!

Hennessy: The girl didn't want to go with the man! And when the girl doesn't wanna go, you don't let her go!

Vincent: You're gonna make such a great dad!

(behind the garden and before the castle there was a massive labyrinth. We walked up to see two different entrances. Koejin ends up smelling something familiar but can't really pick where it's coming from.)

Art: Hmmm (turns to Red) think you can turn into a dragon and fly up? maybe we can see where to go.

Red, not all that enthused by the idea: Uhh, yeah, I guess. Step back.

(Everyone stands back to give her enough room to transform. She flies up to the edge of the maze, but once her talons hit the edge, they shoot up another hundred feet and knock her back down.)

Red, turns back into her base form and glares at everyone: Well, that didn't help!

Art: (shrugging) well, my plans aren't ever without fault.

(Hennessy casts detect magic and, aside from nearly having his brain explode from all the god magic around, he discovers on direction is dark magic while the other is light.

We end up going towards the dark side because we figure that's where Thia might be hiding.)

(First stop is a room with a sword in a stone. Hennessy can sense that the magic is dark, but it isn't the source.)

Koejin: (climbs up and pulls the sword from the stone and holds it up in the air. She then hears the sounds of us screaming in agony.)

What we see: Koejin pulling the sword out and standing with it like she's posing.

Art: Uhhh.... what is happening?

Theodora: Koejin? You okay?

Koejin vision! Art: (melting away and falling apart) You killed us!!!!

Koejin vision! Theodora: (Also melting) You let us dieeeee!!!!

Koejin, turning to see all this: No! No, I saved Art's life so many times! (Turns to Theodora) I'm sorry! I'm sorry!

Art: Koejin.... we're fine!

Koejin: (runs up to start trying to put Art's face back together. To everyone else, she'd just smooshing his face while still holding the sword.)

Theodora: (dispels the magic from the sword and a little imp pops free)

Koejin: (can now see that everyone's okay and it still just kinda groping Art's face.)

Art:....uh, Koejin?

Koejin: Yeah.... sorry. You were melting just now.

(We talk to the little imp briefly to find that he is a prisoner in the maze. He asks if he's free to go but as soon as he does, he's struck by lightning.)

(We continue down the path for a little bit before Koejin figures out that we're going the wrong way because she can no longer smell the "smelly smell that smells." In that time, Hennessy incinerated some talking furniture which the DM disappointedly let us know that we wouldn't be seeing the IKEA Lich. I have a feeling the IKEA Lich might pop up in a future one shot.

But also, we got this exchange.)

Theodora: (casts a spell in attempt to sober Koejin.)

Koejin: (starts screaming as her skin starts to burn) Stop!

Theodora: (stops immediately) I... I was just trying to help..

Koejin: I'm the God of intemperance, Theodora! You can't just sober me up!

Theodora: What?!

(This starts into a fight about how this isn't the weirdest thing we've been through while she continues to talk about how she wasn't expecting to hear her daughter was a god.)

Red: If I may, I can see where Theodora is coming from here. Be it the weirdest thing or not, finding out your child is involved in some affair with the gods can be surprising. (Shoots a look at Art) Like your son being intimately involved with a tentacle monster god.

Art:.... you weren't supposed to know about that....

Red: You were shouting about it just before while I was standing there.

Art:... right..... forgot you were there....

Red: Either way; something for us to talk about later, Sweetie.

Art rolling his eyes, sarcastically: But Mother, I love him.

((Koejin's Player: And I have to remember to write proper notes about what everyone knows and doesn't know.

DM: Eh, it's all out now))

(We head from the dark part to the light part and find ourselves walking down a hall for hours. It gets to the point where Mrs. Red starts to complain.)

Red: Ugh... when is this fucking thing going to end? Doesn't anyone have a way to move this along faster?

Art: It's going to feel like longer if you keep bitching.

Red: I don't even wanna be here!

Theodora: None of us want to be here!

Art, agreeing: Yeah, and yet, here we are! So, how about you shut your mouth for a bit while we figure out how to get home and make sure there's even a "home" to go back to!

Red:.... Actually, Art. Considering that, I think this might be a good time for you and I to talk....

(Art is pulled off to the side by Mrs. Red, Reita following. Theodora tries to usher everyone a respectful distance away to try and ensure privacy. She does her best, but pretty much everyone is still eavesdropping.)

Red: I know I haven't been the best mother... In fact, I might be the worst... But know that I will try to make this all better and I'm just looking for your forgiveness.

Art:.... you might remember us as a nice, happy little family, but let me tell you what I remember.

Koejin: You tell her, Art!

Art, ignoring her and pretending he doesn't know people are listening: ....you slicing off Reita's face, blowing up Thia's bar, threatening the lives of my friends, destroying the lives of countless different people; I could go on! You barely get to claim the title "mother!"

Red: I did what I thought was best!

Art: You entrusted your children to the God of Death and Deceit!

Red: I didn't do that! (long pause)....I did do that.

Art: Yeah, you did. So, this is how things are gonna go. We're going to go through here and make sure there's a world to get back to, we're going to go to Calor and you are going to fix this. Then we can talk about forgiveness.

Red: ....That's another thing I wanted to talk to you about. I would love... to return to our people. I know I'm a tiefling, but I still feel the rage... of a red dragon. Someone would need to take care of our people.

Art:.... the people that treated me like a pariah....

Vincent, butting in: Like Hell I'm gonna let that happen! (storms over to them and looks at Art) Look Art, I'm willing to admit you are not evil. But do you really think you can run Calor? As soon as everything gets hard you run away! Hell, you abandoned your own sister-

Reita, with a surprising amount of clarity: He didn't... abandon me. He thought I was dead.

(The remaining three tieflings turn and look at her.)

Reita: And you're not exactly one to talk; you created weapons for a tyrant and turned a blind eye to the problems in Calor. We've all done things we regret, but we learn and grow from them. How can you stand there and judge him from running from a bad situation when he was a kid? Hypocrite (shoves a slug into her mouth)

Art, smiling and a little misty-eyed: I'm so proud of you! (hugs Reita)

Reita: Uhhh, yeah. Sure.... (doesn't push him away, though)

Red:.... You're not supposed to be talking like that... how are you doing that?

Art, pulling away: Yeah, that was going to be the next part. You feeling okay?

Reita, shrugging: I feel good.... Like, really good.

Red: (grabs Reita and rips open the back of her cloak to see the stone in her spine is not glowing) This.... this isn't working. It should be working.

Art:....We should keep moving. Put a pin in this for now.

(We keep moving ahead with different twists and turns leading into random encounters. One of which is a growing garden gnome that we put Wreybar on top of so she could see over the walls. She tries to say what she sees, but speaks in a way only Wreybar understands.)

Theodora: Okay, but now how are we gonna get her down?

Red: I could probably fly up an-

Wreybar, jumping: Catch me!

Hennessy: (rushes to cast feather fall on her.)

(She floats down and lands nicely on the ground as we hear Thia's booming voice "Giant garden gnome? Goodbye giant garden gnome!" And the gnome just vanishes.)

(Wreybar starts talking in her gibberish and Koejin asks for a translator. Reita steps in and kneels down to her, nodding along by what she's saying.)

Reita: Wreybar says there's a latter coming out of a hole on the other side. It's right next to the castle. How do you guys not get that, she was speaking clearly.

Theodora: Maybe to you. Not all of us can speak Wreybar.

(We ended up getting into a few more shannanigans. At one point, Art attempted to use mislead in attempt to move through faster only to have Reita get impatient and run ahead. Art and Reita had a quick little spat about that along the lines of "by the time we find her, she'll have destroyed everything already!" "We can't find her at all if we're dead! No running ahead!" There was also a bit with Hennessy and Koejin teleporting out of the maze where they met a murder horse and a weird inky blob creature.

At that point the latter was the literally the next turn. But possibly the worst moment.)

DM: You guys come to a dead end. The smell is still coming from over it.

Koejin: Shit....

(We all check the wall to find no traps. But then... Alabaster touches it and a had grabs hold of him. It pulls itself out with his resistance and Alabaster is looking at a marble version of... himself.)

Alabaster: O-oh! Hail and well met... uh, me!

M! Alabaster: Oh! Hail and Well Met! How are you, my fine friend?

Alabaster: I'm quite well, thank you! How... who are you?

M! Alabaster: Oh, I am what remains of you. The you left behind when you left the Pelor faith!

Alabaster: Oh, I see.

M!Alabaster: Have you killed your daughter?

Alabaster: oh, no. That is.... no longer apart of the plan.

M! Alabaster: (grabs hold of Alabaster) I will do it then. I will kill your daughter. She is born of darkness, thus she must die!

(Everyone around him tenses up, but he somehow knows if he looks away, the creature will fade from his sight and go to kill Eris. He can only stare at it to hold it in place.)

Alabaster: (puts his hand to the copy's mouth and uses Create or Destroy Water)

M!Alabaster: (starts to crack and burst under the pressure. The amount of water forced inside kills the creature.)

((Create or destroy water has been a running gag in the campaign. It's been used a few times, but nothing really dark. Not like this.))

Alabaster:....(Still holding his marble copy with a stunned look.)

Art:....(walks up and pats him on the arm) You did what you had to do... Eris is safe now.

Theodora, nodding: Think of it as... you made the right choice.

Alabaster: (nods to both of them and closes the creatures eyes)

Koejin:.... we should destroy it. Just in case.

(They then proceed to break the thing into dust and we continued on our way.)

( We found the latter that brought us up to the castle. As we walk around to the entrance, Pelor stands by the door with his arms crossed.)

Pelor:.... what are you trying to accomplish here? Do you really think you can stop any of this?

Theodora: We're here to talk to Thia. Where's Thia?

Pelor, sighing: Look, last chance before I wipe you out of existence; kneel before me or leave my land and accept your fates.

Red, arms crossed(as is usual for her): Yeah, I'm not one for bowing to people. People bow to me.

Pelor: This goes for all for all of you?

(All of us agree. There will be no bowing.)

Pelor:....then so be it.

(Before he can move in to fight us, he is turned inside out and sucked into a little stone. Thia then drifts down, takes the stone, and crushes it.)

Art: ....hi, Thia....

Thia, glaring: Shut up, Art.

Art, nodding: Hmmm, mhm.

Thia: (turns to Theodora) Go home, Theodora.

(for a moment, her powers work on Theodora, but all of us stop her. This turns into a conversation about why the wipe is unnecessary. Koejin leads the conversation, then turned and asked for someone more "charisma based" to lead.

Art couldn't speak. Probably for the best. He and Thia have never really gotten along.)

Theodora: If you wipe out all existence, we won't be learning from our mistakes. Everything will end up being repeated! The war will be repeated!

Thia: Not if I don't allow free will.

Theodora: And then what is life? that's not a world; that's a simulation.

Thia:... better that than allowing a kid to grow up in the woods all alone.

Theodora:.... Thia, we can make this world better. Create a place where something like that doesn't happen. But this.... this isn't the way.

Thia:....Do all of you agree? Should I.... give up my power?

(This was a major turning point in the story. Because this is where the end boss was decided. And we told Thia to give up her power.)

Thia, nodding: Alright... let's go back home. No reason to strand ourselves here. (she opens a portal)

(We walk through to find ourselves in the tavern Thia owns. She wills away her power, but it's no big ta-do.)

Koejin: Did it work?

Thia:.... I don't know.... Art, give me some money.

Art:..... no....

Koejin: It worked!

(We all celebrate before we all notice the portal hasn't closed. When we turn and look, we see Pelor's face.... on Ticket Master's body. He throws it away like a mask and grins at us.)

Ticket Master: Guess who's the new God of Light? (smiles and waves as the portal closes)

(Outside, we hear loud banging. When we run out, we can see darkness and light bouncing off of each other before they begin to swirl and spread. They head for us.)

Theodora: (hears the voice of Bahamut and an open blue portal) Everyone! We have to go!

(Everyone dives into the portal. Art takes a moment before diving in with the group.)

(There will be one last session and we can all really feel it now. I'm kinda sad that Ticket Master is now the BBEG, but we all saw that coming. There's just a lot to figure out here.)

[r-romanoff]

Photon Blasts & Spider Webs

Chapter: 2

Peter Parker x Male Reader

Masterlist

Chapter Summary:

September, 25, 2019

"I don't know what to do ned. I mean I don't want to lie to Y/N, I mean I don't wanna spy on him either but still you get the point." I turn to him for advice after fully explaining situation. "Peter this is something that Nick Fury asked of you personally-" "through Happy." I correct him; "None the less this is a big deal and think of it this way, if you to actually become really good friends it would be in your favor. It's a win win, for his mom Fury and you." Ned tries to point out the brightside for me the, me still feeling the same since the beginning of this conversation. "Dud his mom is freaking awesome, I met her while saving the world! Also all I'm saying is I don't want an energy Blasts to the face if he finds out even if it is just for a month." I inform Ned on an other one of the countless ways this can go wrong. "That is actually true." He kinda laughs back. "Dude it's not funny, I could die. Wow I never thought I would ever die at the hands of spying on an other teenager." I realise how strange that would be for me.

"Hey you guys coming or not you've been in the bathroom for a while and Mj, Betty, and I wanna head to the food court first." I hear Y/N's voice as he entered the rest rooms he was wearing a red converse, a worn pink jacket that looks like it could have belonged to a girl, and normal blue jeans. "Is that a girl jacket?" I turn to see ned speak the same question on my mind. Looking back to Y/N for a reaction to be met with slight giggling and an embarrassed smile. "It's um, my sister's" he answers Ned's question. "Hurry up I'm starving!" MJ's annoyed moan bounces of the bathroom walls from the entrance Ned and I rushing out not wanting to irritate her any more than we probably had for the last 7 minutes. "So, to the food court!" I announce stepping out of the bathroom, ned right behind me. "Ok actually. I'll meet you guys there I have to take this it's my mom, it's very important to me." Y/N starts walking away in the other direction immediately with a small sense of urgency. Without a second to ask what was going on he was gone, disappeared in the labyrinth which was the mall. "Wow I've never seen anyone that serious about a call from their mom before." Mj says before completely seeming to forget about it and beins to walk with Betty to the Food court Ned and I not straying far. "Do you think he talks to his mom often, considering her profession." Ned asks leading me to ponder. "I don't think so, I mean she's probably always busy. Also considering how her work tends to take her far I don't think the commune so often." I lay my thoughts out. "Are you two gonna keep talking about the new kid behind his back or are you gonna hurry up and get to the food court." Mj turns to sulk at us Betty also budding in. "Yeah you seem pretty interested in him for some reason, it's kinda wired don't you think. Also kinda rude talking about him like I didn't invite him." She continues to avoid walking into people on our way to get something to eat. "No not really, he's just an interesting person don't you think." I try to make it sound as normal as possible not wanting Mj to think I'm weird, nor Betty. "What does his mom do anyway, you were saying." Mj says keeping the topic going. Turning to Ned I shoot him an expression, basically saying I don't know what to say because well she's an intergalactic superhero. "She is a... Lieutenant in the air force" Ned quickly comes up with, I quickly high five him after. "That's pretty cool I mean kinda frightening but-" "I'm Getting Chinese." Mj interrupts Betty practically running into line as we finally made it to the area of scattered tables and groups of other teenagers. "I'm gonna get sea food, we can all find a table in a bit." Betty runs off her khaki plaid skirt swooshing behind her. "Pizza?" I turn to Ned being my last companion. "Combination." He answers both of us making out way down the court into line.

Eventually we all finished grabbing what we're gonna eat and made our way to a large circular table probably meant for a couple more people. Then again considering Mj bought half of the Chinese food in the entire mall was appropriate. "And that's why they are my favorite fictional eco goth bad of all time, but if I had to choose a real one It would be nirvana, or the killers, or the third blind eye. Probably, I don't know I listen to a lot of rock bands." Mj finishes, "Mine is Led Zeppelin." I answer, "No Doubt, is my absolute favorite." Betty shares as we finally begin digging into out food. "Panic at the disco." Ned gives his opinion on the matter. "Favorite musical?" Mj presents a new topic "Heathers is the best, however I like the movie better." I answer. "Hamilton or Phantom of the oprah probably." Mj shoots back. "Annie just because it's a classic." Ned reason's giving some sort of insight. "That's a tough one. Mean Girls, Chicago, or Wicked. Top three!" Betty exclaims "Wow Mj, your eating faster then Peter." Ned shifts the group's attention to the burnett who had just finished slurping down a bowl of chow mein. Accompanied by an empty bowl of rice and orange chicken.

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

This was supposed to be chapter 2 if anyone remembers me, if you want me to continue I will I have nothing else to do during quarantine, so I probably might idk.

Ps this hasn't been edited so if it's bad forgive me

Tag List (ask to be put on)

@klanceiscannon14 @wiitchy-wooo @multifandom-slytherin @jonnyjay2413 @lazerman217 @stuffdealwithit @sorceressandy @sunshadetrees @filthydeatheaters

[magictaverntranscripts]

Episode 6 - The Vermilion Minotaur

[static] Mysterious Man: The following podcast is not real. But it is really sponsored by Field Notes Brand. USA-made memo books and other products, including seasonal limited editions. Visit fieldnotesbrand.com, or 400 North May. [static] [theme music] Arnie: Hello From the Magic Tavern! [trill] Arnie: A weekly podcast from the magical land of Foon. I'm your host, Arnie Niekamp, I'm from Chicago. If you haven't listened to the podcast before, here's a real quick explanation of what's happened. A few weeks ago, about a month ago, I fell through a dimensional rift behind a Burger King, into this magical land called Foon. Luckily, I'm still getting a slight wifi signal from the Burger King, I guess through the dimensional rift. And so I'm hosting a weekly podcast from a tavern in Foon. The tavern is called the vermilion Minotaur, and I'm actually very excited this week that I've been able to talk the tavern owner into being a guest on the podcast. And we'll get to you in a second, but first I want to, uh, introduce my...mostly weekly co-host, Chunt, the talking badger.

Chunt: And your roommate. Hey, how's it going, Arnie? Arnie: And my roommate, exactly. You've been very kind to let me stay with you. Chunt: No worries, yeah, no worries. Arnie: I've been there for almo-, over a month. Chunt: Yeah. It's flown by. Arnie: And uh, Usidore the wizard is here... Chunt: Do you have sarcasm in...your world? Arnie: [laughs] Yes, yes. Chunt: Oh, 'cause I said, "It's flown by" but I...was [trailing off] being sarcastic. Arnie: You were being sarcastic. Chunt: Yeah. Arnie: Okay. I'm sorry. Chunt: No, I was- Arnie: Do you want me to not...have I been staying there too long? Chunt: I'd rather you- I'd rather know that you're with me and safe, then out somewhere else wandering around, but... Arnie: I w-, 'Cause I have like, nothing. I have no money- Otok: We have plenty of open rooms. Arnie: You have plenty of open rooms here? Otok: We do! Arnie: Well, why don't we go ahead and introduce our guest. Otok: Oh, sorry. Arnie: Our guest, uh, why don't you introduce yourself? Otok: Uh...[sighs as Usidore's voice gets increasingly louder in the background] Arnie: Oh, I'm sorry... Usidore: [eventually shouting]...and Shadow, Manipulator of Magical Delights, Devourer of Chaos, Champion of the Great Halls of Terr'akkas. The elves know me as Fi’ang Yalok! The dwarves know me as Zoenen Hoogastangs. Arnie: [somewhat sadly] Hoobastank. Usidore: And I am known in the Northeast as Gaismunēnas Meistar. You...[fades out again] Arnie: U- Otok: Uh- Arnie: Usidore is here, he's just wandering ar- I think he's drunk. I think he's wandering around trying- Chunt: Mm-hmm. Arnie: -to get people on his quest. Otok: Fi'ang Yalok is here nearly every night of the week. Arnie: Oh, so you refer to h- you know him as Fi'ang Yalok? Otok: Oh, I'm sorry yeah, well, I'm half. Half, half-elf. Arnie: Oh, you're half-elf? Otok: Right. Arnie: Wow, okay, all right, I'm sorry- Otok: So it's just habit. Arnie: Please introduce yourself. Otok: Um, I'm sorry. Otok Barleyfoot, owner and operator of the Vermilion Minotaur. Chunt: Mm-hmm. Otok: It's a family-run business. Arnie: I'm so excited to have you on. 'Cause I've been hosting this podcast every week since I've gotten here. I love the vermilion Minotaur, it's a cool- Otok: Thank you. Arnie: -tavern, and lots of adventurers and different people come through here. Otok: I hope you've tried our spiced potatoes! Arnie: I hav- I haven't. I haven't tried the spiced potatoes. Otok: [sighs] Okay. Arnie: I'm not a big...I'm not a big starch guy? Otok: All right. Chunt: If I were to look at you, I'd say you're a big starch guy. [laughs] Arnie: [laughs] Chunt, are you okay? I feel like maybe I'm upsetting you. Chunt: I'm a little high st-, I'm a little high-strung, okay? I'm a little high-strung. I just came from a session. I had a- Arnie: You- Chunt: Do you- Are you familiar with fetishes? Do you know what fetishes are? Arnie: Yes. Chunt: I make a little- whenever I change into a new animal, I'm currently a badger, I've been a badger for a little while. Uh...there's a group of people who will pay me to pose... Arnie: Uh-huh. Chunt: For a fetish, and I- they have me, I"ll like grubs or something, and they'll watch me eat grubs, or- Arnie: Uh-huh. Chunt: I'll wear just like, a wet t-shirt that says like, uh, "Kiss the Chunt" or something like that. Arnie: Oh... Otok: It's the underbelly of... Chunt: Yeah. Otok: Hogsface. Arnie: Yeah, there's a- Chunt: "Got Chunt", so I mean it's just- Arnie: Got Chu- oh, yeah. Chunt: There's a certain select group who are into watching me in whatever state I'm in do...certain deeds. Arnie: Yeah, I guess that explains why that explains why that one day, you came home with a wet t-shirt that said, "Chunt Hardly Wait"... Chunt: [laughs] Arnie: [laughs] Chunt: Yeah, I don't know why I wrote that, I don't know what was coming into my mind, but, "Chunt Hardly Wait". Arnie: But I'm sorry, I'd like to get back to our guest. So, I love the vermilion Minotaur- Otok: Thank you. Arnie: So tell me a little bit about the establishment. Otok: Well, as you can see, it's um, it's carved out of the base of a barleywood tree. Arnie: Ooo. Otok: Right at the edge of McShingleshane forest. Arnie: [laughing] Uh-huh. Otok: It was carved out- Arnie: I was wondering what the name of that forest was. Otok: Oh, McShingleshane. Arnie: Yeah. Otok: And so, my family took it over right from the beginning- Arnie: Uh-huh. Otok: -Called it the Vermilion Minotaur because of the old vermilion minotaur legend. Arnie: Wh- what is the Legend of the Vermilion Minotaur? Chunt: Ooo, let me...I'm gonna' blow out some candles here. Arnie: Ooo, wow, it's spooky! Chunt: Set the mood, I'm gonna' set the mood. Otok: Thank you. Thank you, Chunt. Chunt used to work here, so we have a pretty good- Arnie: I did not know that! Otok: -relationship. Chunt: Yep. Otok: Yeah. Chunt: Every once in a while I'll bounce here. Depending on the size of the animal, I'll be a bouncer. Arnie: Wow. Chunt: But if I'm [chuckles] if I'm a caterpillar or something, I'll probably just...[laughs] stay inside. Arnie: [laughs] Otok: Back in the kitchen. Chunt: Yeah. Arnie: Is it safe for a caterpillar in the kitchen? Chunt: I usually just wrap a cocoon around myself. Otok: Yeah. Arnie: So, the Vermilion Minot- the, uh- Otok: The Vermilion Minot-, ah yes, the Legend of the Vermilion Minotaur, um, is of course the old story when the, um, the...countess' baby, um, was trapped in the forest. And eight vermilion minotaurs invited the baby into their labyrinth. Arnie: Uh-huh. Otok: And then, the heavens rained down, and then...the horses came... Arnie and Chunt: [laughing quietly] Arnie: This is a very- I'm having a- Otok: I'm not a good- You know- Arnie: It's hard to parse this, this legend! Chunt: It's, well there's, it's told a few ways- Arnie: It sounds like it's like a fever dream! Chunt: I think it's open- Otok: Uh, it might be me. My wife was the storyteller. Um- Arnie: Are you okay? Otok: Yeah, um. I'm sorry. I just...it's a story I used to tell my daughter. Arnie: I don't think I've met your daughter. Or your wife. Otok: Well, my wife...my wife passed some years ago. Arnie: Oh, I'm sor- I'm very sorry. Otok: She was crushed by a barleywood tree. Arnie: Oh... Otok: And my daughter, um, she ran away. She wanted to be a warrior. Arnie: Uh-huh? Otok: And she joined the um, the Falsetto Marauders. Arnie: The Falsetto Marauders? Otok: And I haven't seen her in...two Blunders. Arnie: I'm so sorry to hear about...the tragedies in your family. Otok: Right. Arnie: I don't know if you want to talk about it, or we could change the subject...we could talk about the- Otok: No, it's fine. I uh- and in fact...quite frankly I'm looking for, I'm looking for some adventurers to um- Arnie: Mm-hmm? Otok: -to aid me in getting my daughter back. Arnie: [astonished] Really? So you have your own quest that you wanna' go on? Otok: Yeah. Fi’ang Yalok, I've spoken to him about it, um, he seems distracted- Arnie: Yeah. Otok: -with something else. Um, but you know, ideally I'd get some help. Arnie: Yeah, I mean- Otok: Getting her back. Arnie: I have to stay here, because this is pretty important communication- Otok: Right. Arnie: Explain this world to our world. Otok: Well, y- Chunt: And I was like, Arnie's got a similar situation where, kinda similar, where he's left his wife and daughter behind? Arnie: [laughs] I'm not- Chunt: And he's done nothing to search for them. Otok: Ooooh. Arnie: No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Otok: You chose to leave them behind? Arnie: No, that is absolutely not true. I, I have a w- a wife and a newborn, uh, child at home, and I am heartbroken that I am not with them, and I worry, and think about it every day. Uh, I did not intentionally come here, I'm really just trying to make the best out of it, and trying to do important work with this podcast, but I, like you, am very heartbroken. Otok: You seem pretty jovial. Arnie: No I- [laughs] Otok: And- [laughs] Could we get-? Chunt: Could we get some spicy potatoes over here? Otok: Yes, please, the spiced...[clears throat] Arnie: So- okay, so you're trying to get adventurers together. Otok: Right. Arnie: Your daughter went off to, with the Falsetto Marauders? Is that what you said? Otok: Yes. That is correct. They're a mercenary group of warriors. They're always looking for young, young trainees. Arnie: And do they sing? Chunt: No, it's- you know when they're near, because you hear like a [breathy, high pitched whine]. Like a "Whaa" Otok: Warrior call. Chunt: Yeah. Usidore: [off-mic far in background, unintelligible] Arnie: And so, is she in any partic- Like, I mean, first of all you should go after her, but...it seems like she chose to go off... Otok: The Falsetto Marauders are the worst kind of people on the face of Foon! I mean, they're disgusting animals! Arnie: What, what horrible things have they done? Otok: They killed off all of the, the sheep... [long pause] Arnie and Otok: [laughing] Chunt: [scoffs] All- I mean we don't have sh-, we used to have sheep, we don't have any more. I know when my cousin was a baby, they walked by and just like, smacked him. Arnie: I gotta' say- Chunt: Across the face. Like, a baby. Arnie: Look, I'm not saying, I'm not saying that those things aren't [laughing] I'm not saying that those- Chunt: Are you laughing at my cousin getting smacked? Arnie: [still laughing] I'm so sorry... Otok: And that's not the only- Chunt: In the f- Otok: -baby they've smacked, either. Arnie: Sure. Look, I'm not saying- Otok: When they, when you hear that sound coming into town- Usidore: [off-mic, much louder] -SUPPOSE YOU CAN [unintelligible] WEST WITH SPINTAX THE GREEN, THEN! [unintelligible, angry] USIDORE SHALL NOT STAND FOR IT! [more unintelligible, angry shouting, growing quieter as if leaving] Chunt: Wizard fight! [laughs] Arnie: Oh... Otok: Ooo. [yelling] Not in here, boys! Arnie: Look, I'm not saying that- I just that like, killing sheep and smacking babies, on the scale- Otok: Every last sheep. Arnie: On the scale of the kind of awful things you could do in this land, the stuff I've kinda' heard about, this seems, pretty small scale stuff. Otok: Would you want your daughter, your abandoned daughter, to join a- Arnie: Not ab- Abandoned is an exaggeration. Otok: -a group of angry, baby-slapping, sheep-killing marauders? Arnie: No, of course. I'm just saying like, if this is what she wants to be doing with her life...? Otok: Activia had a beautiful voice. Arnie: Activia? Otok: My daughter. Arnie: Her name was Activia? Chunt: Mm-hmm. Otok: That's correct. Chunt: We used to, uh, any time we'd see her around town we'd kind-of sing it? [singing to the tune of the Activia yogurt jingle] Ac-ti-via... Arnie: Okay, well you know what? Let's take a quick break. Usidore: [off-mic, much closer than before] Augh! I'm caught in my robe! I'm caught in my robe! Otok: [sighs] Arnie: Um, we gotta' help Usidore. Otok: We can't have this. Arnie: We're gonna' take a quick break, refresh our drinks, and help Usidore, and we'll be right back with more tales from the Vermilion Minotaur. [Ad Music] Usidore: [off-mic] I think this will be a wonderful opportunity for you. [clears throat] To get out of Hogsface and learn a little bit more about the world around you! Well it turns out that there is evil in this world- Unknown voice: [yelling angrily] Shut up! Usidore: Take up arms against it for it is each ourouururrrururrrururrruh our duty to decide when it is time, for we can no longer stand for the evil- Unknown voice: [still yelling] This is horsh- Shut up! Usidore: To invade our lives. Unknown voice: [anguished groan] Usidore: This is your- this is your last chance! I won't ask YOU AGAIN! THIS IS, I WON'T ASK FOR YOU TO COME ALONG WITH ME ON MY WONDERFUL JOURNEY! SO MUCH GOLD AND HONOR AND PRESTIGE TO BE WON! [Ad music ends] Arnie: Welcome back! All right, so we, I guess we've helped Usidore, at least as much as we possibly can. I wanna' talk a little bit more about the, the tavern itself. Otok: Well, it's a place to, to meet friends. Arnie: Mm-hmm. Otok: To have good conversation. Arnie: Yeah? Otok: We've got some, sort of out of, out of bar activities we do? Arnie: Uh-huh. Otok: We've got a mittens team. And in fact, we're down a guy...if...all right, well we'll talk later. Arnie: Ah, I don't- I'm not very athletic myself. I know Usidore has been really wanting to get into playing mittens. Otok: ...Yeah. [sighs] Yeah, he's mentioned that. Arnie: ...Not- Okay, that's fine. Otok: Yeah, we don't- Arnie: I, I get it. You don't even- Otok: We've got a w-wizard. Chunt: [chuckles] Arnie: [laughs] That's not a big- Otok: [mutters] So we don't really need another one... Arnie: That's not a big deal. What's it like running a tavern in a magical land? Is it dangerous? I mean, I know we're on, what is it? This big, through-fare road, you probably get a lot of strange creatures and adventurers coming in all the time. Otok: Right, well, they always come in here. I mean, where do you think they get their rumors and their gossip? They come here, to the Vermilion Minotaur. Our barkeeps are more than happy to supply it. Arnie: Yeah. Otok: But it can be dangerous, I mean, I mean I already told you how my daughter is gone- Arnie: Yeah. Otok: And my wife was crushed, so- Arnie: I know, I know, we talked- [laughs] Otok: It's weird that you're leading me to more- Chunt: [singing] Ac-ti-via! Arnie: That's really bringing the podca- let's not talk so much about that anymore. So, the bartenders being kind-of rumor mongers, are they trained to do that? Usidore: [muttering incoherently far in the background] Otok: Well, it just comes naturally. I mean, people come for, they're looking for work, they're looking for adventure, and they ask the barkeep. Arnie: Are you, do you collect rumors yourself? Like are there any juicy rumors floating around lately? Otok: [tisks] I mean, I've got a couple. I mean, I don't know if I wanna' spread it. You know, I'll give you one. Arnie: Great! Otok: I'll give you one. Um, so the, the Raven's Crew? Um, you know- Arnie: I don't know what that is. Otok: Oh, well they're, um, they kind-of kidnap children? Arnie: Uh-huh. Otok: Yeah. The Raven's Crew? Chunt: They don't smack 'em though. They kidnap 'em. Arnie: They just- Usidore: [far in the background]...all of Foon will... Otok: No, they don't smack 'em. Chunt: They don't smack 'em or slap 'em- Usidore: [in background, suddenly louder] darkness! [Continues, unintelligible] Otok: Right, they're just a kidnapping of children g- it's a religious cult. Arnie: Oh, I see. Otok: The Raven's Crew, they're very um, and so they kidnap children, they bring them to their palace, and um, brainwash them. Usidore: [continuing to recruit in the background, mostly unintelligible] Arnie: Yeah. Otok: Anyway, there's a rumor that one of them is working um, at the, uh, cobbler. Arnie: Really? Otok: Yeah. I don't know if it's a former Raven's Crew member or a current, but- Usidore: [Getting steadily louder] he shall sit upon a chair, a trophy of his...a lost man... Otok: -it's just one little rumor I heard. Chunt: Yeah, I heard that one. Arnie: [laughs] You heard that one as well? No one tells me- Chunt: I heard, I heard he's also uh, I heard he's gay. [pause, Usidore still talking in the background] Chunt: [laughs] Arnie: That's...fine. Otok: Yeah. Chunt: No, it's fine, I've had sex with, with male animals, it's just...it's something to talk about. Arnie: Sure, of course. Otok: Usually you have to buy a second ale to get that extra rumor. Arnie: Ah, I see! So it's kind-of an unsp- Chunt: I'm sorry, I blew his wad- Otok: It's all right! No, Chunt, it's, don't worry about it. Arnie: It's like an unspoken menu item. Otok: Right. You know, it's like, "Ah, I'll have another ale from the barkeep" well- Chunt: Let me be clear, Chunt doesn't care about homosexuality, it's just...it's just fun to talk about. Arnie: It's just fun to talk about. Chunt: Everyone loves to talk about sexuality, right? Arnie: Sure, of course! Yeah! Chunt: Do you ha-, I mean, in your world do you talk about who's gay and who's not? Arnie: Yeah, I suppose we do, to some extent. Chunt: Yeah, but it's not in like a nasty way, it's just like, "Oh, that's fun." Arnie: I mean, unfortunately some people do talk about it in a nasty way. But then, also, people, I guess people do just generally gossip. I mean, especially if you're not sure, or surprised... Chunt: Yeah. Arnie: Or w-, like uh, it switches? Chunt: Chunt accepts all. Otok: Foon is a pretty accepting place. Arnie: It seems like it. It does! It really does. And there's so many, and there's so many things to kind of be accepting of, like, you know, people who have sex with animals and then turn into those animals! Otok: Right. Chunt: Right, thank you. Can I ask you something real quick? Usidore: [laughing uproariously, much closer] Yes! My friend Chunt is a shapeshifter! Say- Chunt! Wave! Chunt: Hello! Usidore: Hello! That's Chunt! Arnie: Usidore, if you're going to try to engage us, I wish you would be on the podcast. Usidore: I'm sorry? Arnie: If you're going to try to engage us, I wish you would be on the podcast. Usidore: I'm trying- Arnie: Do you reali- you know every week, you've been on this podcast! Usidore: I know, but I'm, I'm...I'm working hard this week, Arnold. I'm going to recruit some adventurers to defeat the Dark Lord! Arnie: Okay. Usidore: I'm re-committed! [laughs] Unknown voice: [annoyed] I'm trying to study! Arnie: All right. Otok: Ah, yeah. Chunt: I feel like two more drinks and he'll be in the wizard state, so... Arnie: Oh god, I hate the wizard state, so much. Chunt: It can be a blessing. Arnie: Yeah. Do you have any, like, what's like, so what are the perks of being a tavern owner? Otok: Well, like I said, everybody kinda' comes to me. Arnie: Yeah. Otok: You know and I've known people since they were young, y'know. Arnie: Sure! Otok: We've been here. I've billed their fathers, and their father's fathers. We also do a good deal of charity work. Arnie: Really? Otok: And if you could- Arnie: That's fantastic Otok: -if you're going to be around, it'd be great if you would, y'know, chip in. Arnie: Uhh, yeah, if I have time. What, like w- w- Chunt: If you have time? To give money? [laughs] Arnie: I- first of all I don't have any money. Otok: Are you working? Chunt: He didn't ask for a time commitment, he asked for mon- for a donation. Arnie: Oh, I thought he was suggesting that I do some charity work. Chunt: Oh, I thought you were suggesting a donation. Otok: Well, I was suggesting a donation, but we also have our Vermilion Minotaur March coming up. And if you march around the outskirts of the town with us, that would also- Arnie: And what does, what are we raising money for? Otok: Um, for an extension for the Vermilion Minotaur… Arnie: [incredulous laughter] That does not- wait, for- hold on, that's not charity. That's not charity! Otok: We- uh, did you know that we house eight unwed mothers? Arnie: I did not know that. Otok: Well now you do. Arnie: So, becau- [laughs] is this because of like your wife and that, y'know, your child, that- Otok: I thought you didn't want to talk about that. Arnie: I really, I guess I don't but it just seems so...Chunt, right, doesn't it seem...that seems like probably why? Chunt: Do you think he slept with those women? Arnie: No! [laughing] I'm not! Chunt: You think he's the father of those- Arnie: I'm- Otok: How dare you? Arnie: I'm not accusing you of anything! Otok: And even if I did, I'm a- I'm a widower! My wife died- Arnie: That's true! You were, I mean- Otok: She would want- Arnie: You can have sex with as many people as you want! Otok: Okay. I haven't though. Chunt: Can I ask you something? Can I ask you something direct? Because you seem...real...in a not real hurry to get home. Are you gay? Do you have a wife and kids, or are you gay? Arnie: I'm not gay! I have, I- I love my wife and my child, and I really do want to get home to them, I'm just, y'know, while I'm here I'm trying to make the most of it. Otok: You should know that there are a couple rumors about you. Arnie: There are rumors about me? Otok: Mm-hm. Chunt: I spread most of them. Otok: Yeah. Arnie: Oh, Chunt. Well, what are the rumors? Otok: Well, there's one that you're gay. [Arnie laughs] Chunt: Which you can't be upset with, right? Arnie: I'm not upset! Chunt: Because you said- Arnie: No I'm not! Here's the thing, I'm not having sex with anybody here. I, I guess I can understand why people, y;know, I haven't immediately sidled up to a wench here, so I guess I'm...that means I'm gay, but I'm not! Otok: We don't call them wenches. Arnie: I'm too faithful! I'm sorry, what do you call them? Otok: [pause] Barmaids. Arnie: Barmaids? [laughs] Fair, fair, fair enough. All right, what's another rumor about me? Otok: I don't know if you're gonna want to hear it. Arnie: Is it really that bad? Chunt: I told people that you poop standing up. [chuckles] Arnie: Yeah, one time! Otok: And in Foon that's the sign of a...that's the Dark sign. I mean, one of the Dark signs. Arnie: That, that means I'm evil? Chunt: Mm-hmm. Otok: Mm-hmm. Arnie: I didn't know- Look, first of all, the plumbing here is weird. There's no really good- I mean, in my world, going to the bathroom is very like, much more of a convenient situation. And so I was just trying to figure out the least grotesque way to kind of like poop in the arrangement here, and I was standing up, trying something out, Chunt walked in on me, it was embarrassing. It was really embarrassing. Otok: Do you use something- Usidore: [in the background] I know I've asked you before Otok: -besides a poop pot and a thistle brush? Where you come from? Usidore: [in the background] Make your children proud, pick up a sword! Yea, unwed mothers, come with me on this quest to defeat the Dark Lord! Arnie: Oh no. Otok: Oh no, stay away from them. [to Usidore] Fi’ang Yalok! Usidore: [in the background] Please, I beg of you! Stop- Don't go to your day jobs! Arnie: Don't- What kind of adventure is he going to have with a bunch of unwed mothers? Otok: You're sick. Chunt: You're bringing this down. Arnie: I really- I was so excited to have- I feel like this has really taken a horrible turn. Y'know, I love the Vermilion Minotaur, I'm so excited to have you on as a guest, I'm sorry if I've offended you. And Chunt, I've clearly upset you as well. Chunt: No, I told you, I had a long day of being fetishized, so it's just- Arnie: Okay- Chunt: -it's that. Arnie: Well, what are some things coming up with the Vermilion Minotaur? People listening to this, in my world, if they can somehow come though that dimensional rift, if they find themselves in Foon- Otok: Sure- Arnie: -like things they could expect if they come to the Vermilion Minotaur. Otok: Well, um, we have Open Mike Night. Arnie: Wha, really? Otok: Once a week, absolutely. Arnie: That's so strange, because before I came here, you guys didn't even know what microphones were. [pause] Otok: Microphone? Chunt: What are- Microphone? Arnie: What is, what is Open Mic Night? Chunt: We have a guy named Mike, and he'll split himself open. Arnie: [laughing] Oh god! Chunt: He's an inside-outer. Otok: Yeah. Chunt: Which means he can exist either with his skin intact or sort-of popped out. Arnie: Eugh. Chunt: And then he'll do like 2 to 3 minutes of standup. [laughter] Otok: It's...it gets pretty crowded here...on Open Mike Nights. Arnie: What- I'm gonna- What night, what night of the week is Open Mike Night? Otok: Flenday. Arnie: [laughs] Flenday? All right, here's what I' m gonna' do. I'm gonna' figure out what day Flenday is, I'm gonna kinda' try to make it a point not to come on Flenday. And I'm sorry, I was just- Chunt: Come on, I was testing out some new material! I told you about this the other day, I said, 'Come support my new material.' Arnie: Aah- I didn't know- Otok: Chunt's performing, yeah. Chunt: Chunt's- Chunt's observations! Arnie: All right Chunt, sure, show us some of your new material. Chunt: Ah, don't make me be funny on the spot! Arnie: All right, well how about this- Chunt: Have you ever been walking...next to a tree...and a leaf will fall? And you're like, "Chunt's up with that?" Otok: [laughs] Chunt: That's my catchphrase, it's "Chunt's up with that" Arnie: "Chunt's up with that?" Ok. That's- that's pretty good. Chunt: I don't want any feedback from you. Otok: And that's just one thing going on. And then there's Chunt's Night. Arnie: There's Chunt's- there's a lot of Chunt-centric nights here. Chunt: I'm uh, I mean, I've been here since I was a kid I've been running around here. Otok's been like a, like a father to me. Otok: Aw, little Chunt, you should have known Chunt when he was a little, little guy. Arnie: What was he like? Otok: Well, he went through different phases. When he was different animals. Arnie: What has been your favorite form that Chunt has been in? Otok: Otter. Arnie: Otter? Chunt: Mm-hmm. Arnie: Otters are pretty adorable. Otok: Yep. Chunt: I used to come in here, just lay on my back and crack open clams on my tummy. Arnie: Oh, that's pretty...that's pretty cute. Otok: And then he'd have sex with a caterpillar. Chunt: Yeah. Otok: Head to the kitchen- Chunt: [simultaneous] Yeah, 'See you in three months!' Otok: [simultaneous] Fry him up. Chunt: Yeah. [laughter] [trill] Arnie: Otok, thank you so much for agreeing to be a guest on Hello From the Magic Tavern. I love the Vermilion Minotaur, I'm glad that people get a little bit more of a sense of this place we've been podcasting from every week. Otok: Using my best booth. Arnie: Yes! And please, I mean, I know you're often very busy running the place, but if you ever want to sit in on the podcast please, please do. Otok: Thank you. Arnie: And maybe we can get out word about your missing daughter… Otok: Activia. Arnie: About Activia. I mean, we won't dwell on it too much because it's kind of depressing but… Usidore: [in the background, singing]Ac-ti-vi-a! Otok: All right. All right, Usidore. Arnie: Um, as always, please, if you enjoy this podcast, go to iTunes, give us a review, give us five stars. And just let people know. This is a major discovery, and I'm sure most of earth is really going crazy about it right now. But on the off chance that it isn't major news, please get the word out there. Also, you can email us your questions about Foon at magictavern@puppies.supplies. I swear it's a real email address, it's all I could get, there's some weird firewall with the Burger King WiFi- it's not worth going into. But, uh, we got an email from Joshua Bright, who asks: "Is there an amusement park in Foon? If so, what are its mascots and assorted attractions?" I don't even know if you would even know what an amusement park is. It's just like a...a large, like a fair? Otok: Sure. Arnie: Or a festival that's just always there, and you go, and there are rides, and people dressed up in weird costumes. Chunt: Oohh, we have uh, there's Topple Land. Otok: Yeah. Chunt: And it's uh, you basically climb up to the top of a tree, and they'll, somebody will knock over the tree, and you just uh- It's where you go to die. Arnie: Oh, god! Chunt: It's when you're ready to die, yeah. Arnie: I feel like that would be- Chunt: So we don't have the term Amusement Park- Arnie: Let's not talk about that, in front of- Chunt: Oh okay. We call them Death Parks. Arnie: I know, but his wife was killed by a tree. Otok: Chunt knows. Chunt: Yeah, I mean, we have that rapport so… Otok: Right, at the Death Parks the trees aren't doing it intentionally, it's...part of the ritual. Arnie: I see. Is it common for people to go and kill themselves at this...Topple Park? Chunt: I mean if uh, a tree topples in the forest, does anyone hear it? [pause] Chunt: It's pretty common. Arnie: Chunt's up with that? Otok: Chunt's up with that? [theme music] [static] Mysterious Man: Well, what another wondrous array of imaginings in a fantastical world that isn't real, because it's fake. Chunt the Badger was brought to glorious life by the human Adal Rafai. Usidore the Wizard was played by Matt Young. Special guest Otok Barleyfoot was played by Nick Baer. He would agree with me that assembling an army of robots powered by the souls of children is no easy task. You can follow Nick on Twitter @nbaer. Don't be terrified by the unconventional spelling. ANd Evan Jacover was in there somewhere, yelling in the background. Produced by Evan Jacover and Ryan DiGiorgi. Edited by Ryan DeGiorgi. Music by Andy Poland. Hello From the Magic Tavern Logo by Allard Leban. Learn more about the show, and the fantastical world we've haphazardly assembled, at hellofromthemagictavern.com. Or follow us on Twitter @magictavern. This wonderous ball of lies was brought to you by Field Notes, with the help of the Chicago Podcast Cooperative. Learn more about Field Notes at fieldnotesbrand.com, and the Chicago Podcast Cooperative at chicagopodcastcoop.com. [static] [theme song end]

[yukippe]

soft as she is

for @pjofemslashweek day 1: firsts (first heartbreak, first love, first kiss) | read on ao3 | word count: 7.4k

chapter one

  the war is coming. that’s the whisper coming from everyone’s mouth. drew hears it in every one of her siblings' sighs, she hears it at all the tables at meals, she sees in it chiron’s always tired face. 

  years ago, before the fall of the labyrinth or the revival of thalia grace or even the claiming of percy jackson - drew used to use charmspeak for fun. she’d convince her friends to go on the tallest roller coaster with her, or get her dad to take her shopping, or get off scot free when prank calling someone. when she tried to convince the world to get her a visit with her mother her voice ran dry. aphrodite didn’t even bother to visit her dreams and her charmspeak didn’t work for months. drew doesn’t use charmspeak much anymore, no matter what others say. 

  silena’s had her practicing everyday. silena is the only sibling older than drew in camp. and silena wants them to fight in the war. when drew and silena were the youngest in cabin 10 they’d stuck together, though now drew can’t remember what it was like to know all of her sister’s secrets. but, silena had whispered that her charmspeak could be more when they were little. now, silena is doing her best to make it so. 

  silena believes they can win the war that ends on percy jackson’s birthday. drew doesn’t have her faith, but she can fight by her sister if that’s what silena needs. she thinks of charles beckendorf and how silena refuses to hear anything on breaking up with him - and drew thinks of katie gardner in cabin four who never remembers to touch up her chipping nail polish. if drew’s only big sister left can have the type of love that lasts - maybe drew can too. the war is coming. drew doesn’t have much time left to take a chance.

  halfway through june, right after katie comes back to camp, drew decides to completely innocently take up hours at the strawberry farm. she tells silena she’s testing out how charmspeak works on plants (surprisingly well) and she tells her friends she’s testing out a strawberry aesthetic (it turns out so well she ends up making earrings and ordering a new flavour lip gloss). drew doesn’t need to do much, it’s not like anyone would ever guess why she’s there. 

  nobody knows she likes girls, besides silena, and silena would never guess she likes katie. because katie’s good. katie doesn’t turn down quests, or work and she always reports travis and connor stoll to chiron when they’re about to pull a prank. she runs her cabin with her half sister miranda and drew’s never heard anything honestly bad about her, except for maybe the stupid jokes the stoll brothers say. if everyone knew she liked girls they would expect her to like someone like herself, drew thinks. someone obviously pretty and not covered in dirt who never wears makeup and doesn’t bother to alter the camp t shirt. 

  but katie’s katie. katie’s one of the campers that’s been around forever. she’s been at camp one summer longer than drew, when katie was ten and drew was nine, katie showed her around camp while they both waited to be claimed. 

  katie and drew came early. they weren’t the youngest, that was annabeth who had years on them both. katie was a summer only camper, but drew’s dad had told her she had to stay at camp until high school when he dropped her off that summer. he’d known her mother was a goddess - the story he’d always told was that he prayed for a muse and he got something even better. he didn’t know which one though. 

  so drew tanaka was left crying in the big house in camp full of kids too big with no clue who her mom was and her dad off to get back to his world of models and galleries and trips to europe. chiron had left her with a box of tissues, but he’d been busy trying to keep some children of the war god from starting a fight, like that was something normal around camp. drew just wanted to go back to her room with her fluffy carpet and her plans with her friends and her dad who normally listened to what she wanted when she phrased it the right way. she couldn’t get the words to take the right sugary taste and the perfect soft roundness they had when people listened. no one ever seemed to listen without it. but it took so much work to get them to sound perfect and drew was tired of it. 

   and then katie gardner passed by with a potted cactus in her arms. she’d only had a summer and a year on drew, but she’d put down the pot at the bottom of the steps and walked up to wear drew was sitting on the porch swing and sat next to her. 

  “i’m katie gardner,” she offered. “this is my second summer and. well i guess i kinda know how you feel. i cried a bunch last summer, but this place is nice. there are people like us here.”

  drew had wiped her tears away and crossed her arms and looked katie up and down. “i’m drew. what’s your mom in charge of?”

  “i don’t know, i haven’t been claimed yet,” katie said. her face got a little screwy at that and drew didn’t want to have to try and comfort another girl when she was already upset so she stuck her hand out to shake katie’s. 

  “your mom’s stupid then,” drew said. katie smiled softly and teary at that and drew didn’t mention it. 

  “so,” drew said, still holding katie’s hand because it felt right. “what is there to do around here?”

  katie’s smile grew a little bigger and she stood up, pulling drew with her by their still linked hands, “the strawberry fields are my favourite spot, but the arts and crafts centre is also nice. we could make friendship bracelets there, if you’d like?”

  “sure,” drew said, trying not to sound too eager. “i um. i’d like that a lot. Thanks.”

  the rest of the first summer was a haze of flower crowns katie made for them and sneaking to the waterfall without luke noticing and drew painting katie’s nails in the bottom bunk they shared - all the other bunks full - and katie and drew lying lazily on the beach and trading flavoured chapstick and hoarding the smelly markers during arts and crafts. it ended with drew and katie both being claimed after they helped the cabin win capture the flag. then katie left to go home and when she came back the next summer they were in different cabins.

  different cabins mean more when you’re eleven and ten. at sixteen and fifteen they don’t mean much at all. drew’s closest with her half siblings, but she’s friends with malcolm from athena and sits at the campfire with lou ellen and butch who’re claimed but both still stuck in eleven with no place else to go. She still isn’t friends with katie from though, what she wants is more. 

  there’s war coming. drew can want more as long as she lives, but she only has two months guaranteed left. she does her hours in the field at the same time as katie and she does a free block in the stables when katie does, even though she’s never liked the pegasi much, and she just so happens to make it to the scarce few parties in the woods (far fewer than any other year, there are less campers to go and less energy to bring to them) that she knows katie is going to. 

  and then, finally, she gets a chance. the stolls get called away with percy jackson on one of the little skirmishes that are popping up too often for anyone's comfort and that leaves the camp store unmanned for a day. they signed katie up to do it for them without asking and she’s angrily packaging berries in baskets when drew goes for it. she’s closing the baskets wrong - though she’s normally perfect at it - so drew plucks the basket she’s holding out of her hands and closes it properly, her perfectly manicured nails clicking the lid into place, before reaching out to pause katie’s trembling hands. 

  katie’s endlessly pretty when she’s mad. drew understands why travis always tries to mess with her, as she has katie’s eyes on her. “hey,” she says. the word comes out round and pink and drew’s heart races - her charmspeak isn’t what she needs now so she pushes it down her throat. “i heard the stolls stuck you with their camp store shifts, do you want a hand?”

  she hasn’t been this nervous since she was nine and had katie’s arms around her while they watched the end of summer fireworks. drew’s never liked to look vulnerable so she hasn’t let herself be since before she lived in cabin ten with half siblings she could never quite trust. 

  the look in katie’s eyes shifts and the tenseness that was taught in her skin relaxes and she smiles, “sure, drew. i’m in tomorrow at two pm - don’t be late.” the last bit comes out a little teasing and drew smirks back. 

  “i’d never dare be late to meet you, i’ll see you then,” she winks, carefully, and then she slips past and around katie, her heart still racing but her face carefully composed, as she heads to her cabin. she sneaks a look back over her shoulder to see katie watching her go and she turns back quickly to hide her blush. tomorrow at two pm. she won’t be late. 

  instead, she’s early. silena had asked her where she was going and lacy and val had watched her get ready from one of the top bunks, but she hadn’t let anyone slow her down. she’d fussed earlier in the morning but she didn’t let any of it show as she left her cabin to meet katie. lou ellen had the shift before katie and she rose an eyebrow at drew as drew took her place, but she didn’t say anything. that’s why drew liked lou ellen so much, she’d wait to bother drew later. 

  katie arrives at two pm on the dot and giggles when she sees drew is early. “i knew you wouldn’t be late, but i didn’t think you’d beat me here.”

  “i didn’t want to miss any time with you,” drew says with a shrug. the words themselves are soft, but she makes sure she says them with an edge. she’s taking a chance, but she isn’t ready to soften all her sharp bits yet. 

  katie wanders through the aisles, still giggling. “okay, sure drew. i’m just gonna make sure everything’s stocked up in the aisles and then we can just hang out.”

  drew nods when katie looks to check for her reaction, and doesn’t let it show that it maybe kinda hurts that katie doesn’t believe her. katie doesn’t have any reason to think she was being honest - drew’s always had a bite to her and if katie likes her back like drew thinks she might, then hopefully they’ll have time to learn when the other is telling the truth in the time they have left. drew tidies up the till in the meantime. she’s never liked things messy, beauty and love can be messy all they like but the aphrodite cabin has always gotten perfect on cabin inspections for a reason. 

  finally, katie walks back around to where drew is. katie hops onto the counter and grins down at her and drew finds herself playing with her bangles. “so,” katie says, her legs swinging on the other side of the counter. “what made you want to join me here today? i know you don’t typically take shifts here.”

  yesterday when drew got back to cabin ten after talking to katie in the strawberry fields silena had been talking about how she and beckendorf got together. silena’s told drew the story multiple times, but it’s a nice story. it’s a good love story. 

  “okay, okay, shut up everyone!” silena says, half laughing in her bunk, pillow clutched to her chest. the cabin all quiets down. every single one of drew’s half siblings know to pay attention to a love story. 

  “okay,” silena says again, catching her breath. “i’d maybe kinda saved charlie from giant ants-” at this, drew and all of her siblings shriek, they can’t help it, it’s family pride.

  “omg shut up!!” silena says, sitting up. “do you want to hear the story or not?”

  “oh you know you love it, just keep going!” mitch calls from the bunk under silena’s. silena throws her pillow at his face and he laughs, but silena finally gets back to it. 

  “okay! okay, so everyone had known he had this massive crush on me for years and i thought it was kinda cute i guess - but he didn’t do anything about it! and you can like a guy forever, but if he never does anything nothing’s gonna happen. it was capture the flag and we were running out of summers together so i was maybe flirting-” wolf whistles interrupt her, but silena shushes them all. “anyways! it was capture the flag and annabeth and i captured percy - but then he pointed out that charlie had been kidnapped by the myrmekes and i was so scared - though don’t tell anyone i was scared! - but i got it together and the three of us not only put together the giant bronze dragon in the woods we also freed charlie from the ant hill he almost died in and then! we destroyed charlie and percy.”

  “um,” lacy says. “what about him asking you out?”

  “oh yeah,” silena looks at her nails. “hm.” drew throws her pillow at silena and silena laughs. “okay! okay, so we got back from saving charlie and charlie had just jumped on the dragon to turn it off and it was like. super brave and very hot, you know? anyways after turning off a dragon i guess he figured out how to be brave enough to ask me out so he asked me to the fireworks - and i said yes thank you very much! i told him i’d been waiting for him to ask me the whooole time-”

  “get it!!” cam calls. 

  silena laughs, “yeah so i tell him that, and then i kiss his cheek - just his cheek we hadn’t even gone on a date yet! but i kiss his cheek and charlie reaches for my hand, and after i kicked his ass in capture the flag we snuck out that night to go stargazing and - no more yelling okay it’s late!! and we made out by the waterfall - no yelling i said - but the best part wasn’t even that. it was when he lead me to the waterfall and told me he didn’t know how long we were going to have together but he wanted every minute with me, because he said i was worth every minute and he wanted as long as possible to learn what love was with me. and well, now we know!”

  drew’s siblings shriek and laugh at that, even though it’s late and silena just told them not too. drew lets herself relax back into her bunk after she steals silena’s pillow from mitch - they always end up trading pillows like this at night when they tell love stories - and she thinks of tomorrow. she’s never had the love silena has. And yeah, silena should’ve dumped beckendorf and broken his heart like they were taught by their long gone older siblings. but, if silena can get happy ever after with her first love… drew can’t see why the same can’t be true for her. she doesn’t have much time left, so she wants as much of it as she can get. 

  “katie,” drew starts. her voice is shaking so she pinches her wrist and starts again, katie’s listening with a smile, it’s just as soft as the day drew met her. “katie i like spending time with you. that’s why i’ve been hanging around the strawberry fields recently, too.”

  “i like spending time with you too, drew.” katie says. katie reaches out and places a hand on drew’s wrist. drew’s eyes watch as katie’s chipped green nail polish glimmers against her bangles. katie’s fingers separate the bracelets one bye one and drew’s breath catches.

  drew breathes, slowly, “katie. katie i should tell you something.”

  katie looks up into drew’s eyes, face warm and drew screws up her courage and okay this is the most nervous she’s ever been. yesterday isn’t even close. “katie i like you. you’re cute and you’re sweet, and i think we could be something special.”

  drew bites at her strawberry flavoured lip and titls her head at katie. she’s - hopeful. and then katie looks away. katie’s legs have stopped swinging, coming to a standstill that drew has never seen katie ever have. and then katie pulls her hand away from drew’s wrist and drew wants to cry. 

 “drew i. drew i’m sorry but, i just.” katie looks back at drew and drew knows katie’s sorry but it doesn’t help. Katie keeps talking, but the words wash over her and she shifts her dumb hopeful smile into a smirk. that’s stronger. she nods at the right things and waves it off. 

 “don’t worry about it,” drew says and she lets her voice turn sugary with charm. “it’s chill katie. anyways, i’m gonna go. byeee.” and then she walks around the counter and as she leaves she doesn’t look back.

  the war is coming. it makes sense. to her it meant a last chance, to katie it means there’s no point in worrying about love. (to say that to a daughter of the love goddess - drew knows that that, at least, katie didn’t realize)

  it’s drew’s first heartbreak. seeing silena after beckendorf is her second. her third is when she sees her sister's face, melted and scarred and unrecognizable and - still painfully beautiful. the fourth is when she finds the charm around silena’s wrist as she burns her shroud and learns silena was a traitor. the war comes and goes and drew’s heart broke and broke and broke and she learns her stupid lesson. 

  after that, drew closes the door to her heart and she closes it on her siblings as well. silena didn’t want to break beckendorf’s heart, but she was a traitor. she would’ve traded cabin ten for kronos’s army - even if it wasn’t where she was in the end at some point she would’ve. drew turns the cabin sharp. she doesn’t think about first loves and she doesn’t think about telling her siblings the shape her love takes - instead she spends her rite of passage with a boy from nike who made fun of her when they were younger and she smiles when she breaks his heart. she doesn’t think about katie gardner. 

  (no, thats a lie. she thinks about katie gardner way too much. she’s different, everyone is, and even as drew lets herself harden she can’t help but watch as katie kisses travis at the fireworks. katie gardner breaks her heart again when she kisses travis and drew looks away and turns to malcolm to make fun of one of the new hermes kids.)

-

chapter two

  the war is over. drew barely believes it. the first war made drew close her heart. it and everything it caused made drew meaner than she thought she could be. the war is over. But it doesn’t feel any different. when piper mclean swings into camp and goes on that dumb quest drew bites her lip and she sharpens her words even more than before and she’s just so fucking angry all of the time and the war is over but another one is right there and-

  (she spotted katie and travis kissing at the campfire jason was claimed at but she just made a mess of herself and she’s so fucking tired of that. she’s so tired of not being right)

  piper mclean comes back from her quest and everyone knows there’s a second war on it’s way. the first war is something drew tries to forget. she lost friends to it. she lost her family. The war is over. their lives were supposed to reach some level of normal. the fates don’t seem to give a shit, they seem to want everyone to live through it again. the first war was a nightmare but it’s over. drew wants anything but another war. except - the second war is giving her another sister. piper is the first new aphrodite camper that wasn’t already in camp since before the titan war. 

  piper takes the cabin counsellor role and drew lets her have it. the war is over. does that matter when there’s another one? but - the second war isn’t like the first. the titan war was her siblings crowding in their cabin together, holding onto everyone and hoping they wouldn’t lose anyone. it was learning her big sister was a traitor the entire time. it was. it was full of death. the second war isn’t free from loss, but instead of taking everything it gives them a sister camp. drew does her hours in the combat arena for the first time ever and she lets her new half brother michael teach her how to use a sword and she only puts up a little fight. at camp jupiter they live together into old age. the only demigods drew knows that lived to old age have dispersed through the world, available to call once or twice, but drew will never get a city with them. stupid annabeth chase wants a city, drew can see it, but it will be for the campers now. not the ones who left because there was no other life for them. the war is over. drew doesn’t know what that means. 

 for piper mclean little ms movie star, it means her best friend is dead. piper needs her to soften her words and drew does. she tells lacy to start sharing love stories at night when piper starts shaking and drew remembers what it’s like to spend her nights laughing with her half siblings again. the war is over. drew stops waiting to see what it means and decides that herself. she does butch’s toes in the rainbow pattern he likes and runs jewellrey making sessions in the arts and crafts center and she even participates in capture the flag for the first time since before the last war. she doesn’t open her heart up but she relearns her mother's domain. and she practices her charmspeak because piper might be her sister and she might be hurting, but drew’s not going to make everything easy for her. it’s not worth it if it is. 

  the last few weeks of summer are spent like that. drew enters junior year and ignored bratty sadie kane who thinks she’s special now that she’s a sophomore. she takes the lead in all the drama productions that are school wide and even bothers to help lacy learn how the lights work when she signs up so she can hang out with sadie. It’s...fun. the war is over. drew is still learning what it means to know she’s going to survive. 

  drew’s a daughter of aphrodite, but more importantly she’s the oldest camper and the longest serving camper in cabin ten. she’s seen her half siblings leave camp and never come home. she knows where they went, though, when they left the strawberry fields and canoe lake in the dust. 

  “where are you going?” drew asks. she’s twelve and her head counsellor is leaving with no plans to come back. arabella sighs as she packs her bags and turns back to look at drew, slumping onto her bunk as she meets drew’s eyes. 

  “drew, baby, i’m too old for camp now,” she says it sweetly, not quite the way drew’s charmspeak sounds, but close. “i’m gonna be a star, drew. another one of our siblings got me a spot on a new show and i’m gonna be on it. remember camilla, the head counsellor from last year? she’s in europe now doing fashion shows. mom might not visit us, but she did give us something special. when we have the drive we can be the biggest stars in the sky.”

  drew nods, carefully, and then she holds out her little address book she bought from the camp store. if arabella is going to be a star, drew is going to have her contact information. she tells arabella that and her sister laughs and fills in her information with no hesitation. “drew, i’ll do you one better. i’ll give you all of the contacts of our siblings that i have too. when you’re ready for the spotlight reach out to any of us and we’ll get you what you need.”

  the smile on arabella’s face grows as she signs the bottom with a signature that is clearly well practiced and fitting for a star. drew takes the book back and holds it close to her chest. over the next few years as siblings leave, drew carefully writes down their information. later, she adds it to her laptop and phone and backs them up as many times as she can think.

  she has siblings on magazine covers, broadway stages, oscar winning movie posters. and drew has their numbers programmed on her phone. drew never knew what her calling was, now she thinks she has an idea. before she boards the bus to go back home with lacy she calls up arabella and she promises her an agent when she gets back from camp. the war is over. she can set her roots down anywhere and….she can leave camp without being a traitor. 

  when she and lacy get in a shoving match as they walk past thalia’s tree drew doesn’t dig her nails in to lacy’s arm to get her to stop. instead, drew pops a stick of bubblegum into her mouth and offers one to lacy. this could be her last summer at camp. part of her wants her siblings to ask her for her contact information before she leaves like she did for all of the cabin ten campers before her that made it out alive. lacy takes it, examines it carefully, and shoves it in her mouth. 

  then, drew pauses. “wait a minute. hon, didn’t you have braces?”

  lacy nods, and then she curls her lips up as she smirks at drew, displaying perfectly aligned brace free teeth. “i got them off three weeks ago!”

  “hm,” drew says. “they look half decent. fix the pigtails and i’ll maybe let you borrow something from my closet.” she keeps walking as she says that, chewing her gum. it’s strange looking at camp and not recognizing most of the faces. new campers arrive every summer and fewer leave. she turns to ask lacy if she knows who the group clustered around the big house porch are -

  lacy is still back where she was when drew gave her the gum. drew raises an eyebrow and lacy stumbles forward, looking a little lost. drew grabs her arm and steers her towards cabin ten. lacy snaps out of her haze after a bit and manages to get into the cabin by herself. drew rolls her eyes and claims her bunk. she finds a few papers waiting on the table the typically stick shared accessories on and picks it up. It’s a bunch of head counsellor information and drew skips over most of it up to - assignments for older campers. drew still has to do some activities with her cabin but she’s outgrown some of the others, in the space where she used to have monster 101 and ancient greek and the like, she now has hours supervising and running events at the arts and crafts centre and - drew drops the papers and turns back to her bunk. 

 she’s almost completely settled in when piper walks in, leading a new boy with valentina and mitch. the four of them claim their bunks, there’s only one bunk left. drew’s eyes stay on the bunk. cam’s bags are left unpacked on their bed, lacy is in the bathroom, the new boy is being shown the ropes by val and piper, mitch is a year rounder...sometimes bunks are empty. 

  the war is over. silena’s bunk is still empty. drew closes her eyes. 

  “drew?” there’s a new girl sitting on the top bunk by the closet. drew memorized every single one of her siblings' names and faces at the end of last summer after her claiming before they all went back home for school, so she knows this girl is new. she’s wearing a headscarf with a pretty flower pattern and her eyes are a glittery pink. and she looks like she’s the same age as drew. there hadn’t been any summer campers her age last year in cabin ten. 

  “yeah,” drew says. she doesn’t say anything else. the new girl doesn’t seem to mind. 

  “i’m silena beauregard,” she says smiling. “we’re sisters i guess. it’s nice to meet you, i don’t have any siblings outside of camp.”

  drew eyes her carefully. and then she walks over to silena’s bunk and climbs up the ladder. she reaches out and shakes silena’s hands and carefully examines silena’s nail polish, now that she’s up close. “me neither,” drew says. “i like your nail polish.”

  silena’s smile gets even bigger and her back straightens up, “i brought it with me! can i do your nails?”

  drew shrugs, but she’s smiling too, “sure.”

  drew walks over to silena’s bunk and lifts her hand to brush against the wooden rail that kept silena from rolling off onto the ground for years. 

  “drew!” piper’s voice calls. drew turns over to see piper holding the papers up. all of drew’s siblings are back at the cabin now drew drops her hand from the rail. “you have most of your shifts in the arts and crafts centre, but you also have a few in the strawberry fields. cool? cool. okay mitch you’re-”

  “strawberry fields?” lacy asks, popping her head out of the bathroom to eye drew carefully. “piper are you sure about that one? drew doesn’t work in the strawberry fields.”

  cam coughs awkwardly, “she did. once. with katie gardner.”

  “uh,” piper says. “okay, well it says here you have your first shift with katie so i guess it’ll be fine. it’s thursday at two by the way, so you have a few days to fight chiron or whoever on it. um, anyways, mitch you’re on lifeguard duty during canoe lessons - that’s pretty cool mitch, i didn’t know you were a lifeguard.”

  her first shift is with katie gardner. she knew that already of course. she had just hoped she read it wrong. drew decides to ignore it until it’s thursday. 

  on tuesday, her friends decided to crash her arts and crafts lesson. she has the nike and nemesis cabins so it’s really just turned into a race. drew maybe made it worse when she said whoever had the best earrings would win a prize. drew hasn’t decided what the prize is yet. butch starts making a pair next to her while lou ellen sabotages the kids she thinks are doing too well. malcolm asks her how she’s doing. 

  “i’m fine,” drew says. “i’m scheduled for the strawberry fields with katie gardner on thursday.”

  malcolm hums at that, “you know, when i was trying to get connor to ask me out last week - shh i know he’s in love with your brother shut up - anyways he told me his brother and katie are over.”

  drew doesn’t say anything to that. she just reaches over and straightens the wire on butch’s earrings he grins at her and bumps into her shoulder and she shoves him back into his seat. it’s been a while since her sister was the only one who knew she liked girls. 

  “anyways,” malcolm says. “is your brother going to ask connor out or not? connor’s so mopey over travis being gone, mitch will have to make the first move.”

  drew rolls her eyes, “i don’t pay attention to my siblings love lives. anyways, i’m thinking about not coming back next summer.”

  butch blinks at her, “what?” then he throws a piece of clay at lou ellen to get her to pay attention. “lou ellen, drew says she’s not coming back next summer.”

  lou ellen mirrors butch’s blink. “drew, what the fuck?”

  “well,” drew says, playing with the clay in front of her as she avoids her friends eyes. “one of my older siblings is getting me an agent, but she told me they film mostly during the summer. and it would be my last summer anyways.”

  “an agent?” lou ellen says, her voice quieter. “that’s a big deal.”

  “i know,” drew says. malcolm looks like he’s about to tell her why an agent is stupid and not coming back to camp is stupid and why she should just listen to the athena kid, when a tiny daughter of nemesis drops a perfectly made pair of clay earrings in the shap of bloody knives in front of drew. 

  “well,” she says standing up. “we have a winner!” the rest of the kids start shouting, but drew just holds up the earrings and they quiet down. no one really wants to fight with a child of nemesis who won fair and square (more or less, considering lou ellen’s interference) with knife shaped jewelry. 

  when drew sits back down the kid has her arms crossed and a glint in her eyes, “i want my prize.”

  drew shrugs, “what do you want that i can give?”

  the kid lights up. “i want an aphrodite makeover.” 

  “well,” drew says, beaming next to her friends who have started to crack up, “i cant happily arrange that.”

  her friends have to filter out after that, but butch catches drew’s arm as he leaves and he looks her in the eye, “we’re still your friends, even if you don’t come back next summer. you know that, right?”

  drew rolls her eyes at him, but it’s fond. “yes i know, you’ll get dibs on my autographs and everything.” butch smiles at her as he leaves and he dangles his new earrings in her face as malcolm doubles back to pull him to their next activity. 

  after that, drew manages to push the thought of her upcoming unavoidable time with katie to the back of her mind. 

  when the day finally comes, she pulls cam and julian over to her stuff in the closet after they get their hours and she makes them pick between her altered camp shirts for her. there’s the one she ripped the sleeves off of, the one she cropped, the one she made into an off the shoulder, the one she fringed the edges of, and the one she dyed and embroidered a heart onto. 

  cam sighs at her as she fusses, “what are you trying to do here? drew you know she had that thing with travis for like, ever.” julian elbows cam for that and tells drew to go with the cropped one. drew smiles at him, only mostly fake and then she turns to cam.

  “why would i care that katie was making out with travis for the past two summers?” drew asks, her words sugary, her charmspeak slipping out gently. 

  “because you’re still kinda into her,” cam says. julian elbows cam harder this time. drew blinks at them both and the two of them shrug at her. 

  “well,” julian says. “cam didn’t have to be a dick, but yeah. we know you used to like her. you wouldn’t spend so much time in a field for anyone.”

  “oh,” drew says. drew had thought this whole time that silena was the only one of her siblings who knew she liked girls. julian seems to realize what she’s thinking, because he slings an arm around her shoulder and squeezes as he directs her towards the bathroom so she can do her makeup. cam trails behind them, but is quiet enough so drew doesn’t say anything. 

  “now i don’t know if you actually want to win her over or whatever, but i do that eyeliner thing for you that i did when i got cecil to ask me out,” julian smiles at her as the two of them stare at the bathroom mirror and drew smiles back, sharper and small, but she smiles back. she’d heard rumours from lou ellen about him and cecil but she’d never asked. 

  drew looks at the carefully colour coded makeup products displayed in the bathroom year round and picks out her favourite pink pencil, “i don’t know if i want to win her over. but i want her to see me at my best.”

  julian squeezes her shoulders and turns her around and does her eyeliner perfectly. when he’s finished cam passes her her strawberry shaped earrings and drew smiles at them both, softer than she normally does when they can see. 

  and then drew walks over to the strawberry fields for the first time since before the war. her pink eyeliner is perfect and her camp shirt is cropped to wear her high waisted denim shorts reach and her strawberry shaped earrings swing in the air. katie is at the edge of the bushes holding two wicker baskets in her arms. she’s wearing a flower crown in her hair and drew’s breath totally doesn’t catch. 

  she takes her basket from katie and they start walking through the bushes. they aren’t the only two in the fields, but they seem to be the only demigods. the others are nymphs and satyrs. drew reaches for a malformed strawberry. when she touches it it shimmers lightly, she plucks it and pulls it up to her eye. it’s in the shape of a heart. 

  drew swallows and puts it in her basket and turns to look at katie. katie’s busy plucking strawberries. drew blinks and turns back to the bushes, she must’ve been seeing things. except, it keeps happening. drew almost confronts katie, and then she realizes that she’s just going to stop getting the heart shaped strawberries if she says anything. it’s probably just their godly inclinations getting confused. 

  after the eleventh heart shaped strawberry they start to get bigger. when drew picks a heart shaped strawberry the size of her hand she stops brushing it off and she puts down her basket. 

  “katie gardner, what the fuck is this?” 

  katie stands up slowly and puts her basket down on the ground. “well,” katie says. “um.”

  drew shoves the strawberry at katie and katie plucks it out of drew’s hands, “wait! wait, wait um.”

  “are you trying to make fun of me? this isn’t funny katie gardner.” drew’s face is flushed and her fingers have curled into fists. she could put up with spending time with the girl she was halfway in love with once, but she’s not going to put up with her mocking her. 

  “no!” katie says, and katie’s face is so open and sorry that drew even believes her a bit. drew lets her hands relax by her side and she gestures at katie to keep talking. “well,” katie says. “i heard you were thinking about not coming back next summer.”

  drew raises an eyebrow at her, “and?” she doesn’t know where katie’s heard that from, but she’s suspecting some convoluted train of malcolm and lou ellen and cecil and connor. 

  “okay, um. okay. we’ve. well we’ve known each other forever, since we were little, and at first i thought i was just upset because if you were thinking about leaving it meant our time was running out. and then i started thinking about our time running out and - and i remember what you said back a few months ago before the titan war,” katie takes a deep breath and drew sees she’s fiddling with a bracelet on her wrist. and. drew recognizes it. she has a matching one underneath her bunk pillow from their first summer at camp together that katie and her made for each other. katie clears her throat and continues, “and at the time - at the time i was dumb. i didn’t even know if i liked girls but i thought if i liked any girl i would like you, but i was so worried about the war and one of my little brothers had just gone to the other side and i didn’t want to lose anyone too close. and then i thought you might ask again after the war, but you didn’t.”

  “i thought you didn’t like me at all,” drew says, quieter than she means to. 

  katie laughs a little, but it wavers and drew freezes as she realizes katie has started to cry a bit, “that makes perfect sense. ha. but, i didn’t know because i was dumb. and then travis was being sweet to me all day and he asked to kiss me and i saw yes because i just really wanted to be held. and everything with travis was so good, and i’m not sorry about it really, because i liked him a lot and i don’t regret being with him but. but we broke up when he went to university and i’m going in september, so we both knew it was coming to an end. but, but i never saw you anymore. and i’d missed you so much in the time between the summer when we were little and the months before the war and then you were gone again and. and then i heard you were leaving and i knew i had to do something and i saw you today with your perfect eyeliner and your really cute earrings and-”

 katie cuts herself off, blushing and crying a bit and drew reaches out. she’s not used to reaching out and she’s not sure she can be as soft as she needs to be, but she catches one of katies hands and squeezes it. “yeah?” drew asks. 

  “and. and i saw you in that crop top and i wanted to scream a bit,” katie admits. “i really, really like you drew. and i know you probably don’t like me back, but i had to try-”

  “wait,” drew says. “of course i like you back.” because of course she does. katie broke her heart, but drew would rather katie break her heart than let anyone else close to touching it in the same way. katie with her heart shaped strawberry plan and beautiful brown eyes and soft sweet smiles. 

  “oh,” katie says. “really? because you’re drew tanaka and you’re kinda the most beautiful girl ever. and you were the best friend i used to dream of when i was a kid that summer.”

  drew links her fingers with katie’s and steps close, “your nail polish is still chipped.”

  “sorry?” katie says, a little confused. 

  “nothing, ignore that,” drew bites her lip and tastes strawberry. “katie, will you go out with me?”

  and then katie smiles the soft smile she’s had since they were little that drew’s been in love with for years and nods, “yeah. i’d like that a lot.”

  “cool,” drew says. and she smiles back with the smile she’s only let katie have. katie steps closer to her, and with her free hand she presses her thumb up against drew’s mouth. drew hopes that katie can’t hear her heartbeat race, and then katie meets her eyes right on. 

  “drew,” katie asks. “can i kiss you?”

  drew answers by taking katie’s other hand and leaning in. their lips meet, and drew tries to memorize the softness of katie’s lips against hers. 

  when they seperate katie giggles, “i always thought your lips would taste like strawberries. guess i was right.”

  later, drew and katie will talk about their plans and the schools and programs they’re planning for and they’ll get to know each others friends and each others siblings. katie’s lips will taste like strawberries because she’ll steal drew’s lipgloss and they’ll make out in all the spots they frequented as kids. 

  now, drew laughs with katie and kisses her again, and again and again until all she can taste is strawberries. the war is long gone, and their future is starting.