#little blue bird from the pillow flew

[llovelymoonn]

my favourite faye wei wei paintings

little blue bird from the pillow flew (2020) \\ first i must clean the keys of the piano with milk (2022) \\ the black bells of a distant new mexico (2023) \\ an echo trapped forever (2023) \\ sweet velvet flower there is no time/ I ask to go back I wish you were mine (2021) \\ two butterfly lovers (2021) \\ untitled (2022) \\ nectar for honey (2021) \\ red i (2022) \\ fountain lies the sun (2017)

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[angelpassing-by]

THE FASTEST WAY IS SELDOM THE BEST

After an attempt, you try to comfort your lover and look through his recovery. Pairing: Tighnari x gn!reader Cw: impplied suicide attempt. A/N: I had some wips about character conforting reader, but none of them seemed good enough to post. I know this is a weird format, but though it would be comforting to read how you comfort someone. Again, English is not my firt language and I'm afraid I sound a bit too formal [it would be great if you had some tips in how to write not so robotically/essay like(?)]. If there is something you would like for me to write, message me, maybe I'll post some sort of guide lines to show what is it that I'm willing to write.

“I wanted to escape, maybe forever.”

Tighnari lies on the simple bed, head thrown against the embroidered pillows. His face – bronzed before – is pale and stained with tears, eyes lost in the ceiling of the room thinly veiled by the smoke of incense burning.

“I understand it, really” You respond trying to keep your voice even, but your lover says nothing, as if he can't believe you. You gently take is hand between your own and rub soothing circles on top of it with your thumb. “I know sometimes life becomes too daunting and the easiest way out seems to be the light at the end of the tunnel.” You whisper

Now he’s looking at you, his eyes glimmering with new pools of tears that threaten to spill into the blankets. “But you told me once that the fastest method is seldom the answer.” Tighnari chuckles, only a raspy sound that seems like a pained groan, but you can see the slight twitch in his ears and the way his frame sinks a little bit more into the mattress, as if more relaxed.

You begin then to reminisce of that particular day leaning against the bed frame and using one hand to caress your lover’s hair. Your voice is barely audible in the clutered room.

“It had been a quite long day, you were on duty and had proposed for me to join you – you didn't wanted me to be alone – and I was jumping from rock to rock in the edge of the path leading home. Do you remember?” A faint nod “For hours you had talked about the flowers and the little forest animas we encountered with such fondness it almost made me jealous” The corners of his mouth curve ever so slightly “You didn’t let me take some roses; said it would be a disaster to the ecosystem. And right there, just in the front of the village, in the middle of the path, lied a beautiful bird feather, it’s blue hues made it look like some sort of treasure or spirit buried beneath the damp dirt. I ran for it, carelessly, anticipating an impressive monologue about birds from you, but I ran too fast and the feather was too light”

“I remember, his hoarse voice cuts through the story” and through the tiredness, he smiles relieved.

“Yes” now you are also smiling sadly and you fingers keep brushing his hair with slow deliberate motions. “I ran too fast, and the feather flew out and into the bridge and as I chased it, it fell below the wooden structure. That’s when you caught up to me and told me .”

How could you not see it? It was so obvious, his tired movements, his longing stares at night, sitting in front of the bedroom window and sighing pitifully. You should have done something. That is what you repeat to yourself everyday sinc the incident happened, still convinced you could have done something to prevent it, although your lover has already told you that tha isn't a burden for you to carry. And obviously, everything seems so crystal clear in retrospective.

"We can't change the past, so holding grudges against it is simply futile." Those are words of wisdom from Tighnari on a rainy afternoon.

Tighnari is sitting outside on a kitchen chair propped on  some velvety green pillows that keep his weak body comfortably leaned into the firm wood. He has changed his usual ranger clothes for some flowy linen garments  and a blanket sent by Candace after the news reached Ardu Village is draped over his knees. It’s woven with a variety of reds and browns and depicts a forest scene populated by shadowy dusk birds and half hidden lizards.

After Collei left, settling in a quaint town in the proximities of Sumeru city, the cabin had fallen silent. Tighnari started to space out his lectures in wildlife and botanic, often preferring the warm seat next to the fire where you cooked. At first, everyone just thought of it as a domestic situation, both of you had even started thinking about children during the months prior to Collei’s departure, just a loving couple wanting to be together. But then he slowly started missing patrols; it was at some point commonplace to see Iraj and Nasring on your living room trying to convince your lover to leave the house and help them in their duties.

You should have known, but you were also going through a lot. Your cooking supplied the forest rangers and watchers and your stock of ointments and pomades were highly sought after by the townsfolk. With little to no time to spend with Tighnari, your living arrangement and relationship deteriorated with each passing day. It also didn’t help that Cyno stopped visiting Gandharva Ville after a while and that his letters, frequent and light hearted before, became rare occurrences with little more than bad news.

But now, Tighnari stretches carefully and happily looks at you at the other side of the kitchen window through his lashes. The sun is making him more optimistic, at least, that’s what he tells you at night, just before you both fall asleep in each other’s arms. Maybe it’s also the overexcited rambles that Collei sends through her letters or the short Genious  Invokation duels with Cyno during his recurring visits.

It has been well over a month, Tighnari is sitting, still too weak to stand for long periods of time, next to the stove. His soothing voice filling the inside of the home with vibrant colors of the rainforest through his tales. The counters are filled with  spice bowls and chopped vegetables whose stories Tighnari never forgets to tell you about. You place a steaming spoon of soup in front of his face.

“Do you like it?” You ask as you watch you lover frowning in a comically exaggerated thinking pose.

“It’s magnificent, love” He responds after a dramatic pause. His sweet words caress your skin and you can’t help but place a big kiss on his forehead, on then one over his nose. “Hey!” he playfully reprimands you, but you can see through the corner of your eye the wagging of his tail.

[gumballavocadoharry]

Two singles, one baby:

*Harry's POV*

It was the glare of dawn that stung me awake with it's sharp resilient rays. The yellow glow shined on my face, nudging me awake before yell of my alarm could. I lazily rolled myself over the edge, where I could stretch myself awake. I heard stretching was a way to wake up in the morning and keep you from falling asleep.

It was practical advice for me, seeing as how only a week ago my problem lied with my bed head hitting the fabric of my soft feathery pillow. But I figured it was either a 5 more minute sleep or my job to pay the bills, so I think I made the right choice. I moped downstairs into the kitchen, where I heated the kettle on the stove, after pouring water inside. Oh how I fancied a cup of hot tea in the morning. I preferred the latter over coffee, only drinking the highly caffeinated drink in the case of my morning stretches not being enough of a wake up call.

While waiting, I took myself to my kitchen nook to listen to the cheerful melody's of the little sparrows that flew in and out of the backyard. I was a simple man, who enjoyed the small things in life. That's why living in this humble little blue house in the middle of the neighborhood was suitable and adequate. Some of my friends liked the high rise life of living richly or beyond their means; often setting them in debt before we graduated college.

They would always joke and nickname me the 'mom' of the group for my modest comforts and nonchalant attitude of partying wildly and running risky acts. I much rather preferred independent nights of ordering takeout and binging corney movies.

The hissing of kettle uprooted me from my seat, excitedly ready to pour a cup of chamomile. I fixed a slice of toast and bacon with it, before taking the breakfast to the table to enjoy. My eyes would toss themselves back and forth between my breakfast and my phone; checking emails from work and if there was anything that needed to be done. My eyes glanced to the round green clock that was hanging over the kitchen calendar. My morning walk. I never miss it, mostly because from being the stuffy office, it was the few little glimmer of vitamin D, I could conquer before the bullet of nightfall would reach, once office hours came to a halt.

I all too eagerly grabbed my sweat jacket and threw on some clothes. Nothing fancy or exercise type because it was more of a walk around for enjoyment with the benefit of getting healthy. I took a step outside on my welcome mat; the fresh air filling my lungs with tranquility and morning weather. After locking my front door, I walked onto the concrete sidewalk, taking the dew of the early morning.

The grass was still moist, the birds chirped eternally and the sounds of the world were quiet yet busy. But it wasn't until my eye caught the sight of the slender lady with her usual long ponytail that swung back and forth, withlist pushing the tall bulky stroller that carried her ten month old baby girl.

From what I heard of her, she's a single mother and widow. I see them always walking in the neighborhood every morning like me, sometimes whistling a tune along with the tweets of the birds that fly around. She always says hi when we pass glances from sharing the wide sidewalk. It's only then that I notice just how beautiful she is. Her treacly smile, her ticklish laugh, her peachy cheeks that she shares with her daughter is enticing. Like a waterfall in a greeny forest. Her daughter is already her mini mirror as she not only has features like her mother scarily, but her mannerisms are exactly like her as well.

If I'm lucky, I'm able to catch a glimpse of the infant who sits patiently in her in facing stroller, flashing her adorable little smile that I can't help but reciprocate with my own dimpled one. The only words I've said to the young lady were a "hi" which is as much as I could choke out. Walking up to her and asking: "Hello, I'm Harry. Wanna go out on a date with me?" And then watch her run away from me in horror. I shook the odious thought from my head; wanting to continue my pleasant walk.

But eyes kept glancing back and forth from the lady and baby, walking across the street. Her house must be there? I almost knocked myself into a streetlight from watching the beauty take her quotidian strolls. My heart sped up a million times just from staring at her. And no, it wasn't from the walk that I was accidentally hyping myself up from. Butterflies fluttered around inside my nervous stomach when her diamond eyes would beeline over in my direction.

She was a catch. And I was ready to wheel her in as well. But there just wasn't a moment where I could start a conversation and we would share a laugh, maybe escalate to a coffee or a fancy dinner? Or....

I was getting ahead of myself. I often pictured it being a icy day in the break of winter, her car getting stuck; me shoveling it out; giving her some hot chocolate...maybe giving her baby a teddy bear or story book. My daydreaming is what caught me off my toes to my beeping watch. I rushed back inside the house and ran into the shower, scrubbing myself so I could be ready for work.

I threw on my uniform that was office styled in a dress shirt and a red tie and khakis. Granted it wasn't the 'coolest' style of clothing I've ever worn, but the benefits of being in an office cubicle half the day; became greater upon realizing this was one of them.

I grabbed my cell phone, wallet and keys, before whisking myself out the door and into my car.

Telemarketing wasn't the most favored job in the world, as it was met with abrupt hangups, people cursing you out and just no one answering. But that didn't stop my paycheck. I mean, I knew as much as the next person telemarketers were annoying, but I've never known anyone to be in a full on rage with them; in the same way detectives, police officers and lawyers have to watch their backs of lurking perpetrators everytime they dare start the engine of their car or sit by a clear window in their own home.

At least that's where my worries took me: in a deep little whirlpool of the duskiness and fatalistic little carousel I took myself on. But despite the supposition of the job, it did make me gain more respect for the telemarketing industry. I don't find myself joining in with all those people who hang up impatiently or who condemn them as a blocked number in their phones out of sympathy.

After all, I would go through that a hundred times a day, no matter how much of a genial tone I would portray. One guy actually threatened me to the extent of finding where I live. I hung immediately and reported the number to my supervisor who took him off the call list.

It wasn't until I pulled up the short 5 foot tanish building, that my mind ran into work mode. It was basically second nature now to not have to strain a jovial tone with people who couldn't give a crap about your marketing and weren't opposed to let you know it.

But it wasn't like we were scamming people: I could never work for someone who does; we were actually meaning it with the things we tried to advertise: life insurance, car insurance, even random things like food, clothes and makeup.

I usually worked in that department, as it wasn't as brutal there.

The long fatiguing hours went by faster than usual; which came as a surprise as I spent most of the time watching the tiny particle dust bunnies float effortlessly in the sunlight.

I was charmed to see the sun was beetling in between twilight and the diluted water blue that had variations of peach and sunkist mixed together. I was so eager to enjoy the rest of the day, that I had subconsciously undid my tie before even setting in my car.

The radio played some mellow hits that were entertainment for getting home; but only upon then I saw the ponytail lady and her baby, who was a wailing mess. I practically hopped out of my car car while it was still moving and parked it in the driveway.

I noticed them on my side of the street and standing only a little feet in front of my house. Despite the jitters dangling in the back of my throat, I still managed to gasp out an: "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, well...no. My little girl's toy is stuck in that tree and....I'm sorry I didn't mean to stand in front of your house...I was just thinking of how I could get it down..."

"It's no problem-I'll get it," She looked at me like I was a magician who had just claimed to tell the future. But her face changed once she saw the guy who was in khakis and a loose tie, climb the tree like a desperate monkey and snag the little barbie doll with such ease. "Thank you so much!" She gratefully said. She was enamored at the moment I handed the baby her doll.

She cooed and smiled at with 3 toothed grin. "There you go sweetie," I cooed. "Thank you again" Her mother said, this time more sentiment in her voice. My eyes were infatuated with her grateful glimmer in her eyes. Maybe it was that fatherly instinct she sensed in me that charmed her; after all, I did always want children. "She's so cute, what's her name?" I said, hoping to break the ice of our anything but casual stares at one another.

"Bethany, but we call her Beth for short," I punctuated a smile, "That's a pretty name...Bethany." I liked the way it rolled off my tongue. And what's your mummy's name?

"I'm Yn," I think she sensed my notion. "Beautiful name, yn," I said with such grace. It rolled and bounced off the tip of my tongue and into a bucket of first impressions. "I'm Harry," I said, practically filicking myself for not giving a proper introduction to myself.

"Harry. A boy in my class had that same name and I always loved it." Yn tried to make small talk with the little piece of info she had to use with me. I smiled, the deafening sounds of awkwardness were becoming confident. "It was nice meeting you...and you," I said waving to Beth. "Thank you, it was great meeting you too, and thank you again...she loves that doll." Yn's voice sounded junctured.

She bit her lip wanting to say more, but left it at that. "See you around." She smiled and walked off, holding the little girl in her arms. I smiled, watching her walk away. Yn. Her name was now a tattoo in my brain. It played like a video montage of all the times we've interacted.

But this time was different. I went back into my house and started on dinner which consisted of a light sandwich, lemonade and some little debbie cupcakes I had stored away in the pantry.

My evening plans consisted of sappy comedy shows and my elementary school dinner. But it was the thought of Yn that summoned my mind off the unfilling dinner. Her perfect cupid's bow that themed her curvaceous lips were a plump bunny pink. Her natural rosation of her cheeks in the brilliant sunshine; her perfect smile that flaunts her rigidly straight teeth. Everything about her just seem to come into this distinguishable beam of light.

My heart became warm and fuzzy from thinking of her presence that was so illuminating. Yn had a certain awe about her that made her stand out. She could enthrall attention without even trying. And of course, the little beauty that she always takes with her is an eyestopper too.

My night dreams were filled with a flourish of her face. I know some might call it a pathetic teenage dream; a childlike wish that would never be wished upon by a star. But to me this was something....

Yes, I knew it was just a little crush, but it was just mere loneliness that was anchor to my wishes of a companion. The flicker of being alone wasn't as scary as the thought of not mattering to someone. I wanted someone, I wanted to make someone happy. Someone to cherish; not out of desperation, but genuine lust of a meaningful relationship.

The answers to my wish were upon on my front door with a number that led to yn, and an invitation to a coffee date.

My heart.....was taking shape to such a glorious frame. And yn's name....was an imprint to it.

*Sorry if the ending was a bit dopey....*

To @haarrrys for giving me inspiration everyday!!!!

[cas-readsandwrites]

Welcome

Setting: TLOU, right after S1 finale, back in Jackson

Characters: Joel x OC reader, Ellie

(I started a whole thing with like 6 pages of back story and decided nope none of this was what I actually wanted to revel in for now, so a few helpful things to know are that OC is one of the original Jackson settlers, has a social work/psychology background, and Linda and Bruce are the people who lived in her house Before Cordyceps)

Length: 2.5k

Rating: This one is all-ages fluff (...for now?)

I stood in the middle of one of the greenhouses, looking around me and to my flower garden. I didn't know anything about this man and the new girl, other than that they had somehow made it across the country alone, willingly left Jackson, and came back again. My platitudes of nice flowers and silly games seemed insufficient. They more likely needed… tetanus shots. Vitamins. A very soft pillow. 

Well, I am who I am, I decided, and things like this are what make our town thrive. I clipped some lavender - everybody loves lavender, it's nice and calming. Sunflowers. They were a little garish next to the lavender, so something to tie it together. Hydrangeas? Sure. We actually had a lot of hydrangea bushes around town, they were an easy perennial plant for the retirement and time-share crowd who lived here before, but most needed to be cut back whereas mine were regularly maintained and now different colors and sizes thanks to my experiments with soil additives. I added some ornamental greenery and wrapped it in an old feed bag, and placed it in a basket from the stash on the shelf. Soft purple, vibrant yellow, light blue… suddenly it felt fitting, the colors of the sky.

I had already poked around at school and even in my basement, but Linda and Bruce didn't seem to do much as far as entertainment for their grandkids. At school I found a box that a patrol team had brought back full of items I wasn't sure what to do with yet, and had brought home some comic books and Monopoly Deal. Joel definitely didn't seem like a man who would care about flowers, but I wondered if Ellie just might enjoy an adventure and a competitive game. 

Well, here we go. I picked up their basket and left the greenhouse, cutting back across the main street where I had laid eyes on Ellie and Joel all of two times from a distance, and down the residential streets that led back to the neighborhood. Maria and Tommy had offered up the house across the street from theirs, and it felt different, good, knowing that there was a growing family on this street, not another empty house that was a reminder of who used to be there or should be there. 

The sun was starting to set in that dazzling way it does along the spring equinox, fading periwinkle blue split with fiery streaks of pink and orange. Birds flew overhead or rested in the small tended yards, quiet noises came from open windows around me and my favorite boots meeting the pebbled drive. I felt the bittersweet grief that tinged moments like this, heart aching with guilt for my mother, my friends, the people I left behind outside who didn't get to see this through, but the joy that at least some of us did. I marched resolutely up to the door of the blue house, and knocked. 

I had the wherewithal to step back down the porch stairs, knowing from experience that most people didn't recently live in places where their front doors received polite knocks. I was glad I did, because the front door cracked in and, lit by the setting sun behind me, I saw the glint of a dark, wary set of eyes, and a pistol held at ready. Though at least it was pointed down.

I moved very slowly backwards and down another step to the walk, talking another step back once my foot found the ground. “Hi there. You won't need that, it's just me.” 

The only sign he heard me was the quickening of his chest, like his breath was catching up after being left behind, and the tensing of his jaw and slight flare of his nose. 

There was a sudden thumping behind him and the door flung the rest of the way open, the girl I knew was Ellie shouldering her way past the man who I could see now was Joel. He tensed his jaw and closed his eyes, and for a moment I really was afraid he was going to freeze up or faint. 

“Hey! I saw you earlier,” Ellie said, “are you on that council with Maria?” Behind her, Joel seemed to make a strong effort to take a deep breath and holstered the pistol on his belt. 

“Jesus, Ellie-” he said, but she cut him off already. I suppressed a smile, wondering how in the world he kept his patience for months out in the open with her. 

“Ooh, neat!” she said, going for the basket. “This one's new,” she grabbed the game and held it up over her shoulder for Joel to see behind her. “What the fuck, where did you find these?!” She grabbed the comics, leaving the basket and the flowers, turning to him. “At least it's not Volume 3 of Will Livingston.” 

He shook his head at her, finally crossing his arms and looking more at ease as he leaned against the doorway. Perhaps it was because I was already standing down three steps, but now that he was standing in the open much closer than the distance Maria had pointed him out from earlier, and seeing where Ellie pushed past him, I realized how tall he was. Not just tall, but broad across the doorway, her small frame not even reaching his shoulder. Well, that intimidation factor and reaction time probably helped them on the outside. 

“You can't just barge past me like that,” he said to her. “We don't know people here yet.”

I opened my mouth again. “You don't have to worry about that, you're safe here, really. People actually do just knock on doors because they want to see their neighbors.” 

I watched, interested, as they both looked at each other, some sort of quick, invisible communication with minute changes in expression as Joel pursed his lips and cocked his head at her and she shook her head back in an exasperated way. He ticked his head again, before turning back to me.

“And it's not polite, Ellie,” he said, a southern accent softening “polite”. “I'm uh, sorry about that,” he acknowledged, fiddling with the handle on the gun and dropping it back in the holster. “Just not used to seeing a whole lot of other people around.”

“That's alright, really,” I said again, reaching out to pick up the basket to hand to him. “You must be Ellie,” I said to her, stepping past her to hand the basket to Joel. “I see she got the good stuff already,” as she triumphantly held up the books and card games with a grin, “but Maria told me you were back and staying, and I know it's not much but I try to drop off a few things to everyone new, just something nice to brighten up the house, I know how gloomy it can be even if we try to check on the unoccupied houses.” 

Joel tentatively reached out, and I dropped the handle into his palm - a hand and fist that matched the size of the rest of him. Ellie peered over the edge. “OH, I like those, we saw a lot of those,” she said, pointing to the sunflowers. 

I smiled. “I bet you did, they do pretty well with no one looking after them, especially in a field, the birds just take the seeds and more and more spread.” 

“Yeah,” she nodded. “We-” she suddenly cut off and looked at Joel, a question across her face and a closed expression from him. As an almost-officially-trained clinician, their interactions were really something to watch. 

“Yeah, we did see some farms and stuff,” he acknowledged still looking at her.

“Do you know this game?” She asked, holding up the Monopoly Deal. “I know Skip-bo, and Boggle, and some poker and stuff-” Joel's stern, cautious demeanor broke and he rolled his eyes in a recognizable heaven help me expression of a parent - “do you want to play?” 

I realized she was asking me and that my eyes were caught on Joel. “Oh- sure! Well, I'd love to, but it's getting kind of late, we should ask, um…” my voice trailed off as I looked over her at Joel and realized Maria didn't give me a straight answer. Father? Uncle? I had met some people in really terrible situations, what we had blatantly called human trafficking before and now accepted as just terrible captive situations, and they didn't strike me as such, but I still realized I didn't actually know what they were to each other. 

He cleared his throat and pushed off the doorframe. “Just Joel,” he said. “One game, Ellie, you'll have plenty of time to meet more people soon.” 

She rolled her eyes. “Fine, sheesh. Hope it's a really long game.” She grinned mischievously at me. “Come on. It's not as dusty here as I thought it would be.” She held the door open for me as she walked through. I had to sort of slide past Joel as he turned to make room in the doorway, my basket in his hand, sunflower petals and hydrangea bunches absurdly small and delicate in his grasp. I glanced up at him with a shrug meant as both permission and apology. This was his home now, after all. The gravity of his presence somehow made me stop as my eyes caught his, the purple-blue light of the sky casting his profile into a jagged relief echoing the mountains behind him. His eyes seemed to search mine for a minute, soft and light in contrast to the strong lines of his brow and jaw. 

“There's enough room at the table, I think,” Ellie yelled, and I about fell over across the threshold. I caught myself and stumbled toward her voice in the kitchen. “It says we have to have a draw pile and a bunch of discard piles and ooh cool fake money and stuff-” I made my way towards her and as I looked back at Joel, standing in the doorway of his own home. I swear he chuckled, though at myself or at Ellie, I wasn't sure.

Later, after I had thoroughly schooled Ellie in Monopoly Deal - which I felt slightly bad about, more due to her impatience in reading the directions and her ruthless strategy to buy and sell everything and take chances on the draw pile - and she repaid me by rattling on about comic book characters that I couldn't keep straight, Joel intervened from the corner he was sitting in. He had spent the evening sitting off to the side watching Ellie, or pacing around the house and poking in drawers or shelves he probably had not had a chance to take inventory of yet. I noticed throughout the game that Ellie's eyes often flicked to him, as if she was keeping stock of how far away he was and what obstacles she might have to run through to get to him. He didn't look towards her quite as much but I noticed he often kept his left side to her and even when elsewhere in the room kept his head tilted to her, attuned to her voice and sounds of.her hands on the cards and feet kicking the chair or stomping the ground. 

“All right, it's full dark, come on Ellie. You've eaten, you've played, you gotta sleep.” She only mildly protested, and he leaned towards her. “You've seen the whole house. I got it, it's ok,” he added softly, and I pretended to look away in interest at the shelves in the kitchen. 

“Only because it's a real bed,” she pointed at him. “If it's full dark, old man, you better go, too. You don't have to take watch tonight.” 

Out of my peripheral vision focused on the 21-year-old calendar likely melted to the side of the refrigerator at this point, I saw traces of another one of their invisible exchanges, dubious, questioning, acquiescing, before Ellie gave an exaggerated sigh bounced up from the table. “‘Night, Rosie!” She said to me. I looked back from someone's dentist appointment reminder in September 2003 to wave to Ellie as she walked through the kitchen to the living room and up the stairs. 

Joel leaned back and sighed, rocking his chair on the back two legs. “Thank you for that. We've met a few people on the way, but it's been a while since she had a chance to just be a kid like that again.” He rubbed his hands over his face

I nodded, my sensibilities barely keeping my curiosity at bay. 

“There are plenty more games in the mess hall,” I said, “and most houses have some too, seems like the kind of place a lot of families went on vacation, there's a surprising amount of useful stuff left. Or we repurpose the stuff that doesn't seem useful.”

Joel nodded this time. “Rosie, was it?” He asked gruffly, the fatigue of whatever their journey had been clearly pressing on him.

“Or just Rose. It's something Maria's called me for a while, probably because roses were the first things I tried to grow here. Or maybe it refers to the whole rose-colored glasses idea.” I waved my hand around at the game, the house. “I know it's not easy getting here, believe me, and I work with a lot of families and kids at the school who are still processing it, but I think we have it really good here, and I'm happy with it.”

Joel made a noise low in his throat, and the hair on my arms goosebumps and my stomach made an unfamiliar swoop. “We've seen a lot, maybe a bit too much to see it like that,” he said, almost too quietly. He added, more directly this time, “that your real name? What people call you?”

I decided to challenge his mumbled comment. “Does it matter?” I looked straight at him, at those soft warm eyes so in contrast with the rest of him. 

He tilted his head to one side and shook it once slowly. “No, don't s��pose it does,” he answered, either about my name or the comment. He stood up, balancing his instincts with likely some long-dormant attempt to remember manners and hospitality, and I made it easy for him, knowing this was only their second night back.  

“Goodnight, Joel. Tell Ellie she can come visit whenever she wants, as long you're OK with it,” I added. “I work at the school and run a group at the greenhouse too, the families know the kids are pretty much welcome at any time. I have a literal open door policy, even at home.” If my door is open, everyone knows they can come in and find me.

I paused, my hand on the door as his eyes followed me through the dim light of the kitchen, basket of flowers in shadow next to him on a counter. “Welcome to Jackson.”

[gx-gameon]

Part 11 of Yugi raises Jaden

Start - pervious

Jaden woke up on a beach. The gentle waves crashing on the shore of the island. As he looked out at the ocean he caught a glimpse of of the sky. It was full of stars and nebulas, Jupiter floating closely by.

Oh, he was back in his dreams. He didn’t know what this place was called but he felt like he did at one point. Like the name was just on the tip of his tongue but he just couldn’t recall it.

But something was different this time. His head was pillowed on top of something. Or more accurately someone as he was using their lap as a pillow and could feel their fingers carding through his hair. He turned his head to look up at the person.

It was a woman with long white hair, her bangs covering one of her eyes. Her large white hat casting shadows over her gentle face. She smiled down warmly at Jaden as the little boy pushed himself into a seated position and turned to face her.

“You’re the Silent Magician!” He said pointing at her. She smiled warmly at him and nodded before pointing over his shoulder.

Jaden turned to see what she was pointing to. Six creatures were racing towards them cheering. A strawberrry colored bird flew towards him trilling in excitement. A soft pink dolphin swam as close as it could to them splashing and squeaking at him happily. A brown larva like bug with a swirl of green on its forehead crawled up to him humming a tone that blended nicely with the bird’s trills. A light brown mole and a purple grey cat like creature dashed to him stoping just short of slamming into him as they gruffed and mewed. Bringing up the rear was a small glowing childlike creature that leaned into him and he could feel rather than hear their humming.

While the creatures looked strange he felt like he had known them all his life as they vied for his attention. He looked back at the Silent Magician, who was watching the scene with open amusement. The woman gave a gentle nod and motioned forward with her hand as if to say ‘go on.’ Jaden smiled as he and the creatures started playing together on the beach.

While there was a whole island to explore they stayed close to the water’s edge so the dolphin could play with all of them. Jaden looked back to see Silent Magician talking to a young boy. He had to be older than Jaden but his white armor with blue and red accents made it hard to place the boy’s age. But he seemed to be watching over Jaden and the other creatures fondly while talking to Silent Magician.

All was peaceful until a light flashed. The small creatures surrounded Jaden protectively. The little cat and mole’s fur standing on edge while the bird’s feathers fluffed up to make itself appear bigger than it was. Jaden took an unconscious step back away from the light. The strange older boy moved quickly to place himself between the light and Jaden’s group, his arm out stretch to keep them behind him.

But Silent Magician was calm as she stood up and gestured for them to all calm down. She recognized this magic. The light took on a golden hue as it started to turn into the shape of a man.

The tense atmosphere lessened. The creatures surrounding Jaden were still cautious but this was obviously not the monster they thought it was.

The form came into view. It was a handsome dark skinned male dressed in golden armor with a white cap and vail completing his flowing ascetic. He took in the scene of scared children in front of him. He placed his staff on the ground and kneeled. “Excuse me for the sudden intrusion. My name is Mahad, I am Pharaoh Atem’s loyal servant and a friend of Yugi Muto.” Jaden perked up at the mention of Yugi’s name.

Mahad had spotted the boy and was about to speak more when a hand landed on his shoulder. He looked up to see Silent Magician smiling down at him. “Ah it good to see you here my friend.” While he had never fought beside Silent Magician he remembered her from Yugi’s duel against Atem. He knew the duel spirit’s loyalty lied firmly with Yugi. She was a powerful sorceress and he was glad she was on their side.

Jaden watched the two spirits interact as he started to step forward. The little creatures stayed close to him, unwilling to leave his side as he approached the unknown. The older boy stayed between Jaden and the magicians but didn’t stop Jaden’s approach, staying one step ahead of him at all times.

“You know d-Yugi?” Jaden asked as he approached the kneeling Magician.

Mahad smiled at the boy. “We are old friends. He wanted me to come check on you.” Mahad didn’t know how much to reveal to the child. He had been told that the boy didn’t remember his dreams upon waking so he was unsure if the boy would know about the apparent threat coming their way.

“Why has Muto sent two of his spirits here?” The white armored boy questions. He still kept himself firmly between Jaden and the two spellcasters. While he had accepted Silent Magician’s presence he could tell that Mahad was different.

“Yugi is with my Pharaoh right now. He is unable to watch over Jaden himself so I offered to ease his worries by coming myself.” Mahad explained to Jaden’s monster spirit. He had never seen this duel spirit before, any of them honestly, they must be new creations. He was about to ask for the young spirit’s name when Jaden ducked under his arm and approached Mahad.

“Is d-Yugi okay?” The little boy asked worriedly.

Mahad smiled reassuringly at the boy. “He’s perfectly safe. He and the Pharaoh had some things to discuss and then he will return to you.” The tension that had been in Jaden seemed to ease instantly at that news.

“He’ll be home soon.” The little boy smiled up at Mahad and Silent Magician.

The armored boy, seeing as his master had decided to trust the two Magicians, had left his side momentarily to pick up the pink dolphin from the waves. The little creature had been making quite the fuss since it was unable to accompany Jaden like the others. The boy scooped the small dolphin up and brought it over to the rest of the group. The creature wiggled the whole way over, only calming when Jaden laid his palm on it’s forehead.

For a moment all was peaceful.

Then another light exploded on the beach. The brightness of it was almost blinding. And with it came a horrific shrieking sound. Jaden covered his ears and cried out as his spirits crowded around him to shield him. Mahad and Silent Magician moving into protective stances in front of the children.

The light had a cold silvery glow to it before the creature within revealed itself. Darkness enveloped the light and in front of them stood a fiend. The fiend raised their head to look at them. They had split colored hair, the right side being white and the left side being purple. Actually they seemed to be split down their whole body. Having an orange eye and feminine body on the right side and a teal eye and masculine body on the left side. The only part of them that seemed symmetrical were they dragon like wings that flared out from their back.

“Jaden how could you send me away!” The fiend shouted at the little boy taking an aggressive step forward.

Jaden took a step back. Responding in a shaky voice. “Who- who are you?” That was obviously not the right thing to say as the fiend grew more enraged.

“How could you forget me? You promised you’d never abandon me!” The fiend took another step forward.

“That’s enough!” Mahad called from his place between the little boy and the enraged spirit. “Explain yourself.” Mahad didn’t know why this Spirit was so enraged but he was starting to put the pieces together. But how could a spirit hold so much rage for a child.

The fiend snapped their head towards Mahad. “Explain myself? To you? I am his protector and guardian. You would be explaining your presence to me.” The fiend flared their wings aggressively.

“Protector? You’re terrifying him.” Mahad rebuked the idea. The Silent Magician moving to block Jaden from the fiend’s view. Both spellcasters had sworn their lives to protect their masters’. They couldn’t imagine treating Atem of Yugi the way this fiend was treating Jaden.

The fiend snarled at them. “He abandoned me! He let them send me away!” They then turned their attention to Jaden once more. “Why did you send me away? They’re hurting me!” They took another step forward and the Silent Magician brandished her wand to signal for them to back off.

“That’s enough!” Mahad argued back. “A protector does not behave this way. We accept our master’s will. If you were sent away by other people then it was not Jaden’s fault.” Mahad could understand anger at others for separating you from your master but the rage they had against Jaden was unnatural for a sworn protector to feel. Actually everything about this felt wrong. Why had a fiend appeared in a burst of light? Something wasn’t right here. The whole reality had shifted as soon as they had arrived. There was something wrong here. Something powerful at play.

But the fiend wasn’t going to give Mahad time to figure it out. “And who are you to tell me my role? Who are you to stand between me and Jaden?” They cried as they launched themselves forward. Jaden screamed as they flew forward. The white armored boy flying between Jaden and the attack.

Silent Magician attacked the fiend trying to stop the incoming attack. The fiend screamed in pain but didn’t stop. They crashed right into Silent Magician. The Magician opened her mouth in a silent scream as she shattered and returned to her card.

Mahad was shocked. This fiend had just tanked a hit form Silent Magician and destroyed her. But he couldn’t waste time processing that as Jaden screamed in terror watching the spirit Yugi had left him get destroyed. The fiend turned her attention to Jaden and the small child-like monster spirits trying to protect him. The fiend raised their hand to attack and Mahad was having none of it.

Mahad rushed forward and attacked the fiend creature. They were dark type monster spirit so his attack strength doubled. There was no way 5000 attack points wasn’t enough to silence this fiend.

“In the name of the Pharaoh I vanquish thee.” Mahad called as he struck down the fiend. They screamed in pain and staggered away from Jaden. Mahad expected victory but then the fiend stood and rushed him.

“Tell your Pharaoh you failed.” They sneered as they struck him and he felt the moment he left that reality. The last thing he heard was Jaden’s terrified scream.

He opened his eyes and found himself back in the afterlife. This wasn’t good! He had to tell Atem and Yugi immediately.

————————————————————————

Jaden watched horrified as the two protectors Yugi had sent him were swiftly defeated. the fiend stood up and looked at Jaden.

“There now were alone. Well almost.” They said sneering at the monster spirits surrounding Jaden. The boy is white armor launched himself at the fiend and all Jaden could do is scream as he watched his older friend disappear before his eyes.

He was in so much trouble here.

————————————————————————

Joey had fallen asleep after tucking Jaden in. There was only two beds in the apartment Mokuba had lead them to. Mokuba took his regular bed for himself and told them they could use Seto’s. Joey had given the bed to Jaden so that the little one could sleep well. It wasn’t the first time Joey had camped out on the floor.

He had stayed up for a bit playing games on his phone or looking over his deck. He wanted to make sure Jaden wasn’t having one of the nightmares Yugi told him about. But Jaden seemed to be fine and eventually sleep caught up to Joey.

A few hours later Jaden started to toss and turn whimpering in his sleep. Yet this didn’t rouse Joey. What did wake the blond duelist up was the bright flash of light. Joey’s eyes flew open to see what had just disturbed his rest.

There on the bed next to Jaden lay the Silent Magician card. The card was glowing as if it was trying to get Joey’s attention.

That’s when Joey heard a whimpering sound. His eyes traveled from the card to Jaden. The little boy’s face was all scrunched up and he was whimpering. Joey started to approach to wake the kid up when he started screaming and trashing.

Joey moved quickly to the boy’s side grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. “Jaden wake up! It’s not real!”

All of the commotion woke up Mokuba as the young business man jumped from his bed. “Whats happening?” He shout out over the screams.

“Jaden’s having one of his nightmares.” Joey called as he kept trying to rouse the screaming boy. “Come on buddy wake up!” He hadn’t realized just how bad these nightmares were. Yugi had told him they were violent but he hadn’t imagined this.

Finally Jaden’s eyes flew open, a scream dying in his lips. All was silent for a second, as Jaden sat there staring straight ahead.

“Jay?” Joey asked cautiously gaining the little boys attention. The little one turned his head to look at Joey. Once they landed on the blond duelist his eyes welled up with tears and he launched himself into Joey’s arms sobbing. “Whoa,” Joey said as he caught the young boy. “Hey it’s okay buddy I got you. You’re safe now. It’s over.” Joey tried his best to sooth the hysterical child in his arms, his eyes meeting Mokuba’s in a wide panic.

What was that? Why was Jaden having such terrifying night terrors?

Joey knew the reason why Yugi had come to the Kaiba brother was to see if they could find out more about Jaden’s history but, now he understood his friend’s desperation to do so. These night terrors were unbearable to witness. The absolute terror that Jaden experienced from them was heartbreaking and to see it night after night had to wreak his friend.

They sat there for a while, Joey gently soothing Jaden as the boy cried. At some point Mokuba had left and returned with a glass of water for the boy. The three of them were sitting quietly as Jaden was exhausted but unable to sleep, when Mokuba’s tablet started going haywire.

He ran and grabbed it before freezing. He dropped the tablet and ran out of the room.

“Whats wrong?” Joey called as he started to stand, Jaden still in his arms, to follow.

“It’s Seto’s vital’s! It’s stopped sending a signal!” Mokuba yelled in return, not stopping to see if Joey was following.

“What!” Joey shouted as he took off after the young tech wiz. “Now’s not the time to die rich boy.” He muttered under his breath as he ran to catch up with Mokuba. His head spinning with question. What happened to Kaiba? And would it happen to Yugi?

The little creatures that come over to Jaden are Chrysalis Chicky, Dolphin, Larva, Mole, Pantail, and Pinny. The baby versions of Jaden’s Neospacians. And the. The boy in white armor is Neos Alius which is basically a kid Neos. I wanted the Neo spacians to be protecting Jaden in his dreams but to also be kids and playmates for their young king.

Also Yubel can’t be destroyed in battle but can destroy the monster that attacks them? I know they reflect the damage to the opponent so that’s why they can’t defeat them.

Hopefully my vision came through.

Guys we are almost done with our frist arc!!!

[gumnut-logic]

It all happened so fast.

But then this was International Rescue and Scott Tracy, everything happened fast.

A plane on an irrecoverable dive towards the ocean. Fifteen passengers needing to be saved. One daredevil brother perched atop the aircraft, lasering a hole into the dying craft’s fuselage so he can yank those fifteen people out of their flying coffin.

Virgil at the helm of Two executing the fine control needed to keep his ‘bird a pace and able to lower the rescue rig to get those people off the plane.

Fast, extremely difficult, and one of International Rescue’s ‘Tuesdays’.

That completely went to all shit just as fast.

Virgil had pulled up all fifteen souls and stashed them safely in the belly of his ‘bird and Scott was the sole person remaining. Virgil saw him stand up and call One with his wrist control.

Just as the dying plane shook, causing Scott to stumble. Something flew off the front of the craft and hit Virgil’s brother from behind.

“Scott?!”

The pilot fell face first and onto the back of the plane, obviously not entirely unconscious, but the lack of response from comms as both Virgil and John called their brother’s name again clearly indicated that something was not right.

“I’m getting erratic vitals, Virgil, and he is not responding. Sixty seconds and that plane is in the water.

Virgil was already moving. “You have Two. Allow for my remote adjustments.”

“FAB, Thunderbird Two.”

Fast and ever so professional.

Two was flying parallel to the ailing plane, directly above, but simply lowering himself wouldn’t be enough to reach his brother. Calculations bounced around his brain as Virgil attached his grapple line and activated the hatch.

Wind tore at his helmet.

Scott was still prone on the back of the aircraft. It was a miracle he hadn’t been thrown off.

The ocean loomed far too close below.

Calculations made, Virgil jumped.

It was a wild ride, something his older brother would have revelled in. For a moment, Virgil was virtually weightless until his boots hit metal.

Then he was fighting the wind and running the length of a falling plane.

He didn’t have time to scan his brother, the ocean was far too close. So, it was with a prayer to the universe itself that he grabbed Scott, holding him close, and leapt off the plane. It collided with the water in a violent spray and died an all-consuming death.

Virgil grit his teeth as Two caught their line and coasted them just above the waves until John could push the Thunderbird into an gentle climb.

Scott’s head lolled against Virgil’s shoulder, limp.

He clung to his big brother.

God.

Virgil hooked Scott’s harness to his own and set the grapple line to retrieve. They were safe.

He held Scott ever so tight all the way up, regardless.

Surfacing inside Two’s cockpit was a relief battered only by Scott’s unknown condition. Unclipping Scott’s harness, Virgil lifted his legs properly into his arms and carried him over to one of the pull-down stretchers. Virgil nudged it with a foot and it unfolded, letting him place his brother down gently on the soft surface.

A flicker of yellow light and the mediscanner declared that while Scott had a pile of new bruises across his back, his only major complaint was a concussion.

As if the diagnosis was a trigger, Scott groaned and attempted to curl up.

“Hey, relax. You’re okay.” Virgil reached over and unclipped his brother’s helmet, sliding it off carefully and lowering his head to the pillow.

“Virgil?” Scott screwed up his face and raised a hand to his head. “Ow.”

“You’re okay. Just a little encounter with some random fuselage.” He gently pulled Scott’s hands away from his face. “Let me see those baby blues.”

“Not babies.”

Virgil arched an eyebrow as Scott opened his eyes and squinted.

“Urgh.”

The baby blues disappeared quickly into a grimace.

“Nausea?”

His grunt was affirmative.

“Hang in there. I’ll get you something and then we’ll get you home.”

“One?” It was a single syllable, but it meant everything.

“John has her. Don’t worry.”

Another grunt. Scott’s face was still scrunched up and Virgil grabbed a kit, hunting for the anti-nausea meds.

“Virgil?”

“Yeah?” He was going to have a word with Gordon. Why was this pack out of order?

“Thanks.”

Virgil turned to his prone brother and found those blue eyes struggling to stay steady enough to convey exactly what he felt.

Virgil reached out and placed a hand on his brother’s arm. “Hey, anytime. You know that.”

His brother groaned again, and Virgil went back to locating medication before he had to clean up a mess.

Fortunately, he found it and, moments later, both brothers breathed a sigh of relief. Scott melted into the mattress, knotted muscles unwinding and Virgil leant against the side and took a moment.

He would have to pick up control of Two shortly, deliver the fifteen passengers to the nearest GDF base, and then fly home.

But right now? He reached over and brushed a stray hair off Scott’s forehead. His brother wrinkled his brow in response, eyes still closed, and Virgil couldn’t help but smile just a little.

Injured, but safe.

Thank god.

-o-o-o-

[bigmack2go]

Their apartment is small. But it’s cozy and, honestly, they don’t need more. They’re on the second floor and when you come into theres the kitchen to your left and to your right there’s a little door in the wall to a sort of storrage room and next to it the entrance to the living room. Up ahead are two doors to the bedroom and the office. In between there’s the toilet and the bathroom. The hallway has a wooden drawer with a mirror above and the living room and the bedroom are connected by a little balcony with a door on each end.

Albert got to furnish it all. They agreed he has the best taste. Basically, Spot keeps it clean, Al keeps it pretty and Race keeps it existing.

The living room is cozy. Its small and full of pillows. And stuff. Next to the entry a the dinnertable is set into the room with the short side at the wall. They barely use it because its allways full of paperwork. Race’s paperwork because he’s the one who handles their finances since he’s the only one who’s sort of good with maths. It usually has a pink rose in a vase on it. They have a tiny, blue couch that barely fits a person, a cozy corner with one of those hanging thingys and a little wooden rustical table which is where they eat instead. Theres a lot of fairylights and hanging plants in that room. Spots electric guitar is in the corner that he doesn’t even know how to play. Its white. They have a little liquor cabinet with fancy glasses and a carafe. However they mostly use it for cofee and stuff. The second part is full of discs for the recordplayer thats on a little white chair on the opposite of the room. Speaking of chairs; they are very mismatched. Race uses a barstool, Albert has an office chair and Spot has a folding chair. They also have a hamburger “pillow” for Race and an armchair that only Spot is allowed to use. Albert has a beanbag. Theres also a little yellow pillow chair in the corner. A lamp stands next to the sofa and there’s a cat-tree behind it. They also have a little birdcage hanging around there but it’s always open so the bird can fly out whenever it wants. It’s not actually their bird but it flew in there one day and completely freaked then out. It took them a while to get it back out and it just showed up on their balcony again the next day. It kept coming back and they’ve grown quite fond of it. The cat and the dig get along with it too. They call it tweety because they don’t own a single creative cell in their body. They have a lot of candles and the three bigger christals that don’t fot in the shelf are on the windowsill, the dinnertable and the drawer that the TV stands on. Above the TV theres a little ikea shelf with another plant on top. Thats also where the rest of Racer’s christal-collection is. A little salt lamp accenting it. On top of the shelf there’s each of their childhood stuffed animal: Race had a simple teddy bear, Alberts was a bunny and Spot had a little spotted dog. Albert also has his guitar on the wall here.

Their kitchen is something else. Spots coffee machine is his whole pride and joy and its also the only place in there thats sort if clean around. You can barely move in there and no one knows how they find stuff in there, but they somehow do. Davey fainted the first time he saw it. That place is fucking loaded. With the most random stuff too. And when i say random i mean random. Most of they stuff they don’t even know where they got it from or, honestly, that they even have. That may or may not be related to the fact that half of it isn’t even theirs. It sort of replaces a storage room. Dont get me wrong; they have a storage room. Right next to their door to be exactly. But they also have a kitchen so theres that. They have two refrigerators for whatever reason. Both are always either so full they barely close or empty to the last crumb. The only thing thats never missing is grapes. They love grapes. And they always have grapes at all costs. Their toaster is really fancy and their microwave is one of those that looks like an old TV. They have a sort of concerning mug collection. Albert is only allowed to use the kitchen when they’re having chilli and Race is banned completely. It took them two years of procrastinating to clean it until they cave up and just accepted that this is just how it is. They have one of those old stoves that works with gas and actual flames.

They haven’t even installed a lamb in their office. Its just a single light bulb. They have a wall with fairy lights and photos, polaroids and memories. On another walk the have their future plans; a world map with all the cities they wanna travel to ine day and a globus on the drawer at that wall with little flags on it, possible baby-names, designs for a house to move in, rings they would want should Poly-Marrige become legal one day and hotels to stay at for their next vaccination. Their office is also where the rats live, the cat and the dog also each have their bed there and the cat has another (bigger) cat-tree.

Their bedroom is a bit more modern compared to the livingroom. At the corner to the window they have a little piano with a little soft chair. Albert loves watching Race and/or Spot play. Above the piano is another shelf with one part full of perfumes, bodysprays and Deodorants. Underneath is a big canvas of a coffee bean and the dresser next to it. The bed is opposite that wall; the far wall to the door on the windows side. Two nightstands that you may or may jot find their three champagne classes on in the morning infront theres a ting white polstererd bank. Above the bed is an LED sign reading “sex” in plain letters, they generally have a lot of led’s. A standing shelf parts their bed from a little sofa sort of thing thats right opposite the door. They have a hanging chair and some more beanbags and pillowchairs in there. The wall that’s on the end to the office has a mirror and a little table for them to get ready. Between the piano and the bed, under the window theres the cats bed and Alberts longboard hangs above the couch like a trophy. The room has a lot of plants because let me tell you, three men sleeping in one room starts to smell fast. They also have a little wooden table with a single candle on it that they never lit once because its really fancy. That table also has lights in it as to make the rustical look maych the rest if the room.

The balcony is small, even smaller than the bathroom. Its full of fairylights and they somehow made it into a little lounge. There’s another place for tweety to sit and kets be honest, Race probably hang up a “Jazz Cafe” sign. It’s perfect to view mannhattan and the brooklyn bridge.

[kumeko]

A/N: For the @memoryofpromises zine! I cheated a little and put both Riku/Naminé + Repli!Riku/Naminé in this fic.

…

…

…

…

The market was lively. Sitting on the steps to the town’s well, Naminé curiously watched as villagers bustled from shop to shop, their arms loaded with fresh fruit, meat, and other supplies. Children weaved between strangers’ legs, laughing as they chased one another. Shopkeepers rang bells and shouted, trying to attract visitors. Coins clinked as goods were exchanged and the sharp scent of roasted meat wafted through the air. The whole place hummed with energy and she couldn’t tear her eyes away, fascinated.

She hadn’t known that a place could be so alive. Looking down, Naminé started to etch out the market with a stick she’d found, scraping the pointed end on the hard dirt ground. If only she had something to catch the bright colours: the gleaming red apples, the dirty grey capes, the play of light and shadows from between the bazaar awnings. If only she could memorize it all and never forget.

A shadow fell on her sketch and Naminé looked up to find her companion glaring at her. At his feet were two big white bags, stuffed to the brim. “What are you doing?” he asked, his voice low and scratchy. A ragged brown cape concealed his white hair, but nothing could hide his bright, blue eyes.

“Do you need water?” she asked, touching her throat. He sounded parched.

His frown grew deeper and he crossed his arms. Gesturing with a jut of his chin at her picture, he repeated, “What are you doing?”

“Sketching,” Naminé replied innocently, smiling as she glanced at the market. “I wanted to try to capture it all.”

“Are you using your powers?” He leaned forward, pulling her cape back over her head. She hadn’t noticed it’d fallen. Despite his gruff voice, his hands were gentle, carefully brushing back her hair before securing the cloth.

She watched him in silence. He smelled vaguely of the sea, despite never having been there, and it was funny the things that were carried over, the things that were inherent to a person. When he pulled back, Naminé shook her head. “No, just normal sketching.”

“Good.�� He sighed, tension escaping his shoulders. Stuffing one bag under an arm and holding the other in that hand, he held out his free hand to her. “Come on, we have to go. We’ve been here too long.”

“I don’t think the organization will find us here,” Naminé murmured, taking his hand anyways. He pulled her up, his arm surprisingly strong for how lean it appeared.

“Did you foresee that?” he asked quickly. He was still holding her hand.

“No, just a hunch.” Dragging her foot over her sketch, Naminé wiped it clear, leaving behind only the stick. “Let’s go, Riku.” He flinched at the name. “Do you want me to call you something else?”

His jaw clenched but he shook his head. “No. I am Riku.” 

In a sense, she supposed, that was true.

-x-

Naminé blinked, staring at a pristine white page in a notebook. The paper crinkled as she flipped throughout, revealing dozens of sketches of the sky and migratory birds. Tracing the pencil lines with a finger, Naminé lowered her eyes. She was dreaming of that moment again, a dream that felt as real as a vision.

She lifted her eyes to gaze at the barred window in front of her, the thick metal stripes that gave her a peek of freedom. Around her, her small room was littered with soft pillows and silken sheets, with plush rugs and intricate lamps. A golden cage filled with the finest goods Organization XIII could lay their hands on. Golden bracelets clinked on her hands and feet, as though the rich metal could help her forget that they were chains.

A bird flew past the window and Naminé took a deep breath. She knew what came next. A salty scent flooded her senses, like a tide coming in, and behind her, she heard footsteps approaching her door. A rough voice asked, “Naminé, it’s time. Are you ready?”

She didn’t have to turn around to know the sharp blue eyes that awaited her. She didn’t have to, yet her body moved anyways, almost by instinct, and she stared at the familiar face of her companion. No, not quite—this Riku wore a half-smile, his expression almost kind as she came closer. Naminé had often wondered just where her spell had gone wrong, just what her Riku was missing that this Riku had. Experience. Time. There was something lacking that made her Riku gruff and angry, like he was waiting for something.

Then again, maybe this Riku had been like that when they first met. She couldn’t remember, it had been so long ago now. Only this moment remained crystal clear, a memory that refused to fade. Only this and his last breath, her hands covered in his blood, her sight blurry from tears.

“Here.” As usual, Riku held out his hand, offering his assistance in her escape.

She knew how this would end. Naminé took his hand and woke up.

-x-

Naminé leaned over to her right, peering down hill at the winding path as it led out of the forest. In the distance, plumes of smoke curled in the evening air, a dark grey against the pink sky. Even from here, she could hear the din of the town. “I can’t believe there are so many people.”

Pouring over a map he’d stolen, Riku scoffed, “Of course there are. The world’s pretty big.”

She flushed, her neck burning. “That’s true.” Even if she’d spent most of her life in Castle Oblivion, trapped by the organization, she wasn’t entirely ignorant of the world. Her visions of the future had given her peeks of a world she’d never experienced.

Still, it was one thing to see it, another to be in it. Every market was an assault on her senses, a cacophony of sounds and smells. Naminé scuffed her shoe on the ground, biting her lip. “It’s just, aren’t you curious?” Every town had a different feel to it. She could spend her life going through them and cataloguing the differences. “It’s a place you’ve never been to.”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “Not really,” Riku muttered, his finger tracing a path on the map. “I have memories.”

In a sense, she supposed he did. She glanced at the city one last time. “If there are so many people, then they might not find us here. Or anywhere. It’s too big for them to search everywhere.”

At that, Riku looked up from the map. His brow furrowed, his lips a thin line, and he shook his head. “You’re too powerful for that. They won’t just let you go.” Paper crinkled as his grip tightened. “You won’t be safe until we reach Destiny Islands.”

She couldn’t hear that name without remembering flashes of sun and water, three smiling children eating a star fruit. Sneak peeks of a past she should never have looked at. Stepping closer to him, Naminé studied the map. It barely covered half the continent, the vast majority of it forest with a stream leading to the ocean. “Have you figured out how to get there yet?”

Riku’s jaw tightened. Reluctantly, he shook his head. “Not yet.” His eyes lowered, long eyelashes hiding his gaze. “My…his memories…they’re incomplete. Foggy.”

Her fault entirely. Naminé bit her cheek, looking away. “We can go somewhere else,” she suggested. “There have to be other safe places.”

“No,” Riku barked, rolling up the map. “We have to go there.” He winced as he accessed his memories, as he strained to remember more. “Sora, he’s there. He can help you.”

The child with a gap-tooth and the biggest smile. “He might not be a fighter,” she countered, unable to shake the memory she’d stolen.

“He’s not as good as me, but he’s capable.” Riku grabbed her hand, his grip soft but firm. He went down the path leading away from the city. “It’s this way.”

-x-

Naminé dreamed of the scent of iron intermingling with sea-salt. If it wasn’t the start, it was the end, and Riku lay in her hands, his life pouring out him. Blood stuck to her hands as she cradled his head, begging him to breathe, to live, to not leave her alone.

He lifted a hand to her cheek, his touch soft. His lips moved slowly. No matter how many times she tried to stop, her sobs drowned out his final words. Did he blame her? Did he hate her? She was the reason he was dying here, a sword through his chest, and not safe at home with his two best friends.

Her powers were useless here. No matter what future she saw, it was dark and empty.

His hand slipped from her cheek, red smudging her skin, and the sound that escaped her wasn’t human in the least.

-x-

“Did you love him?”

Naminé blinked, tearing her eyes away from the flickering flame. Next to her, Riku was sharpening his sword, his right hand firmly sliding a rock across the blade. Despite his attempt at apathy, he was watching her from the corner of his eyes, his shoulders hunched, his jaw clenched.

She didn’t have to ask who he was talking about. They had been together for almost four months now and aside from the initial week, this was the first time she’d heard him ask about the original Riku. “Love?” she repeated, watching as his muscles tightened at the question.

“Did you?” he repeated.

How oddly direct. He was usually cagier when it came to something personal. Hugging her legs, she tucked her chin on her knees and considered the question. Love. Closing her eyes, she shook her head. “No, not exactly.”

He gave up the pretence of sharpening his blade. “What does that mean?”

“He was kind.” Naminé could still feel his calloused hand that first time she’d grabbed it, his widening smile when she hesitantly asked for his help. “I didn’t know anyone could be so kind, so warm.”

“That’s it?” Riku knitted his brows, not quite believing her. “You created me. You didn’t want him to die and you created me.”

Her eyes flew open. “That was…” She trailed off helplessly. How could she explain the panic that flooded her when she realized he was dying, the grief that ran straight through her spine? Maybe she shouldn’t have taken his hand, maybe she should have accepted her lot in life. He could have lived to be an old man.

It had been too late then. It had been to late to change his fate, too late to save his life, too late to resurrect his body. The best she could do was capture his essence in a golem, to push her memories of Riku into a container and hope they stuck.

I didn’t want to be alone, she wanted to say, but the words were stuck in her throat, an ugly truth she couldn’t discard. It hadn’t been just sorrow and guilt that forced her hand—it had been fear. She couldn’t call any of these ugly emotions love, she had no right to.

And if he found out, this Riku wouldn’t look at her the same. Copy or not, he wouldn’t look at her the same and she couldn’t take that.

“It wasn’t love,” she finally uttered, falling back to the original question. “I didn’t want him to die because of me.”

A half truth, but it seemed like it satisfied Riku. He studied her one last time before returning to his sword maintenance. “So that’s all it was.” His muscles were still tense and she knew the questions weren’t entirely over. Though his mood seemed better than before. “Then…”

“Then?” she prompted.

He glanced at her, his bright blue eyes boring into hers. “What about m—” Cutting himself off, he quickly stood up. “Never mind,” he muttered, stuffing his hands in his pockets. His ears were a dark red. “I’ll check the area again.”

-x-

Naminé leaned forward, stretching a hand out from the lip of the cave. They had been lucky to find it just as the rainstorm had started, keeping themselves dry for the worst of it. And now, after waiting for several hours, it seemed like the storm had finally stopped. The wind had died down, the sun was peeking out from the clouds, and the only water that hit her was the steady drip from an overhanging tree. “I think it’s done.”

There was no response behind her, not even the usual soft rustle of cloth when Riku moved, giving him away when his footsteps were too quiet for her to hear. “Riku?” She turned back to her companion. Slumped against the cave wall, he gave no indication that he’d heard her.

Softly, she approached him. Still nothing. Coming to a stop in front of him, she leaned forward and squinted in the darkness. His breathing came slow and steady, his body completely still, and she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as she listened.

Riku was asleep. Slowly, so as to not disturb, she sat down beside him. He must have been tired—he rarely rested when she was awake, more often than not patrolling and scaring off any interlopers. It was unusual to find him asleep, even odder to find him in a deep slumber. In the dim light, she could barely make out his profile. Even while unconscious, he looked worn. He was trying to hard. Just like his original, he was impossibly kind, far too kind for someone like her.

At least he wasn’t angry in his sleep. That was one thing she hadn’t expected, the rage that simmered under this Riku’s skin. He was brasher, more eager to leap into danger, as though he used all his carefulness on her and left nothing for himself. Was this a fault of hers, her imperfect spell causing him to fill in the blanks of his heart with other emotions? Or was it anger from the original, at what she’d done, at what’d she’d caused?

She never wanted to find out the answer. Some things were better left unsaid. Reaching for his left arm, she watched as his expression twitched before smoothening out. Her fingers brushed against his pale forearm but he didn’t stir any further.

Relieved, she went concentrated on his arm. Riku would be angry if he knew what she was about to do. Lightly, she stroked his skin, her digits tracing images of stars and the sea. The future was filled with so many vague shapes, like hills rising out of the fog. Magic sparked at her fingertips, her eyes glowing as she tried to peer deeper into his future.

Water. The cry of sea gulls. A sharp tang of sea salt. Destiny Islands, she hoped, but it could be any port town.

Riku, a boy called. Sora, she was certain. It had to be Sora.

Was this the past or the future? Try as she might, the future remained cloudy, the fog enveloping everything in a thick, white blanket. It’d been like this ever since she’d created Riku, her visions growing weaker with each passing day. The future was obscured and it scared her a little, walking into everything blind.

If only she could see Riku’s future. She hoped he’d live.

-x-

Warm. That was the first thought that entered Naminé’s mind as she slowly woke up, swimming back to consciousness. There was something warm around her shoulders. Something hard against her head. Her eyes fluttered open and she stared at the dirt floor, dazed.

Sunlight streamed into the cave, lighting up the shallow shelter. It was morning. She must have fallen asleep. Still groggy, Naminé stared blankly at the ground. Outside, she could hear the quiet drip of rain sliding off leaves. Through it all, she still felt something warm. Glancing to her left, she stared at a grey tunic. Riku’s grey tunic.

That jolted her to her senses, though she kept still as she assessed the situation. Riku’s arm was curled around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him until her head pressed against his chest. His breathing was still calm. Was he still asleep then? An unconscious move rather than a conscious one? Whatever it was, his hold was firm, pinning her to his side.

There was something comforting about it all. Something safe. Naminé couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt that way. He was warmer than her and she leaned closer, soaking in the heat. They should get up.

They should.

Naminé closed her eyes and breathed Riku in. A few more minutes couldn’t hurt.

[madelineserenity]

Reaper Nurse Christmas Prompt Countdown | Day 1: Mariah

(This one is with a reader in a polygamous relationship with the nurses. As Christmas is a time for family, I'll be writing some with a child, girlfriend/wife/fiancée, etc. reader. Play Peer Gynt in the background for best effect)

Birds flew playfully in the morning sky.

Insects bathed happily in the cool dew that dripped from leaves and made spider webs glow like the sun.

The sunlight shone gently through your curtains as the breeze tickled them awake.

The entire hospital was bathed in the morning light.

You drowsily sit up and stretch your arms up, straining until you hear a small pop in your shoulder. Even though the day was so calm and peaceful, and you were more than willing to lay back into your soft and squishy pillows, it was too beautiful a day to be wasted. You pulled out the little yoga mat tucked into one of your little box shelves, before rolling it out on the cool marble floor. You pulled yourself into an upward-facing-dog position, hearing another loud pop in your back. The nurses had given you your yoga mat after learning you had trouble waking up in the morning. You used to need two or three prompts from the nurses to get out of bed for breakfast, and even then, you'd be lethargic and rather quite grumpy. Now, you felt like you had so much energy and you felt ready to take on the world in the mornings.

As you shifted positions, lying on your side, and pulling your right leg up to your back, you wondered what lovely breakfast they'd organised for you today. The nurses loved to spoil you, even if some of them were... a little wild, to say the least.

That was when you were startled to hear the sound of an upcoming announcement. What could it possibly be at this time of day?

(turn off your Peer Gynt, it all goes downhill from here, folks.)

🎵 I 🎵

A song? Just as it started, your phone's morning alarm began to chime, lighting up its screen.

7:45 AM 1st Dec

🎵 Don't want a lot for Christmas... 🎵

No. No no no no NO. You immediately flung yourself up, almost tripping as your mat shifted under the sudden movement. You threw open your closet and pulled on your baby blue dressing gown, pulled your door open and ran into the halls.

🎵 There is just one thing I need... 🎵

There was nobody around. Your room was on the fourth floor, far away from the soul shards, and thus, away from any men who could take advantage of your mortality, who could kill you to get you out of their way...

🎵 I don't care about the presents... 🎵

The nurses were probably downstairs, definitely very confused as well. They knew you would prefer to have the freedom to wake up and come down by yourself, they coddled you so often it was the least they could do. Right now though, you wished there was a nurse around. They knew where the PA room was and turn that bloody song off. You had been able to keep the memelord nurses from playing it yesterday, "It's not even December!", but what could you do now!?

🎵 ...underneath the Christmas tree... 🎵

A door opened behind you.

🎵 I just want you for my own... 🎵

"...Who's there? I know one of you jackasses is there. Can y'all stop cloaking and trying to give me an aneurysm?"

🎵 More than you could ever know... 🎵

She appeared.

You could see under her bag, she was smirking.

🎵 Make my wish come true... 🎵

It was Caroline, a professional shitposter and absolute anarchist.

"Merry Christmas, love. I bought a little padlock Matron wasn't aware of - attached it to the public address system room door -"

"YOU DID THIS?!"

🎵 All I want for Christmas is.... 🎵

"Mhm! And here," she pulled a shiny, new key out of her pocket. "is the only key to it!" She skated to the side of the hall and unlocked the window, but before you could get to her, she'd skated away from you - backwards, just to be a show-off - chuckling.

As you tried to grab it, she tossed it out of the window, down four levels, directly into a massive bush of thorny roses, just as the

🎵 You 🎵

rang through the halls.

You screamed at the top of your lungs, frightening the life... death? out of the nurses below, who immediately panicked and skated like hell to the elevators, some couldn't bear to wait for the lifts while you were in danger, so they ripped their skates off and started gunning it up the long, painful flights of stairs.

This was going to be hell...

[askthechronoverse]

It's time for a vacation! The Chronoverse Crew is going on a roadtrip and adventure is in the backseat... and maybe something else as well.

Part One || Part Two

The morning air was overloaded with the sounds of cicadas and birds creating a borderline cacophonous symphony. That didn't matter to the Unikingdom's only true human resident, who was finally getting a quality level of sleep. He muttered something incoherent, digging his head into his pillow. This peace was soon broken by a loud series of knocks on his bedroom door. The human snapped to a sitting position and grabbed a laser gun, aiming it at the door and working on pure instinct. The door practically burst open and, when the intruder revealed themself he put his gun down and rolled his eyes.

"GOOD MORNING, RJ!" Unikitty flew into the dark bedroom and pulled the blackout curtains open to let sunlight join the party. Rex squinted in response to the sudden and unwanted appearance of light. 

"Mornin'?" The human replied, trying to figure out how the unicorn cat broke into his house. He rubbed his left eye with his hand and yawned. "We need to talk about boundaries again, don't we."

"We need to talk about something else first." Of course they did. Rex slowly got to his feet and began to look for a change of clothes. "It's summertime and it's almost time for my friends and I to go on our annual vacation!"

"You woke me up to tell me to castlesit? I'll do it, but can you keep conversations like this to after my morning coffee?" He found enough clothes to make a coherent outfit and started to push the floating unicorn cat out of his room.

"Nope! Because you are now my friend, that means you're going too." The cat held on to the doorframe. Rex stopped pushing, his expression a mix of annoyance and hidden flattery. 

"You… never asked me if I wanted to go, Princess. I could be doing something that day." Rex pointed out, the words coming out almost halfheartedly.

"I know you aren't. We have the same friends, RJ!" Unikitty countered. "And they're coming… well, everyone here in the Unikingdom is. So come with us." 

"This isn't an invitation I can decline, is it." Rex turned on the bedroom light and started to tame his wild hair in a small wall mounted mirror. 

"Nope! Besides, after what we've been through we could use a vacation!" There was a deep level of tiredness in her voice that really drove that point home. The human said nothing at first. He couldn't really counter that, though he would have preferred time alone to recover and adjust a little more to the peacetime chaos of the Unikingdom. "We're leaving in a few hours, so get packed and I'll take you to the castle!" This stopped Rex in his tracks.

"We're leavin'... in a few hours?"

"Yep! I'll be in the living room!" The cat floated off, closing the door and leaving the human stunned.

Unikitty was pulling a whole tray of cookies out of the oven by the time Rex emerged from his room, dressed in a denim vest and a ripped shirt that had a faded Space Corps logo printed on it. He held a beaten up duffel bag in his arms. He threw the bag on the couch and walked to his study. When Unikitty poked her head into the study, she found her friend on his radio, attempting to get a raptor to watch his house while he was away. She grinned widely, since he didn't sound too upset at the sudden prospect of a vacation with friends. When he was done, Unikitty grabbed his bag. 

"You're dressed and packed. Let's go! The others are waiting!" She grabbed Rex's hand and dragged him out of the cabin, barely giving him time to lock his front door.

The two friends soon found themselves in the shadow of the Unikitty shaped castle, a beaten up sky blue and faded green van on the road. Doctor Fox was dressed in a jumpsuit and checking the engine. She saw the two and waved. 

"RJ!" She closed the hood of the van and shuffled over to her friend, smiling excitedly. "I'm happy you decided to come! My calculations show that adding you to the trip will make the vacation 300% cooler!" That made the man smile a little.

"Princess gave me no choice, but I'm glad I'm addin' somethin' to the whole thing." He yawned, watching Unikitty through his bag haphazardly in the trunk. "Ya know where we're goin'?"

"I don't, actually. Unikitty only told Richard because he's driving, but he's not willing to part with that information either."

"Maybe I should go back to my cabin and get another bag. I assumed we were goin' to the beach, but maybe I shoulda known better." The Master Breaker was about to leave when he was stopped by Unikitty.

"There's no time now, RJ! We don't wanna leave without you!" She opened his duffle bag and dug through it, pulling out his guitar and grinning. "You have everything you need anyway and then some!"

"Get out of my duffle bag!" He pushed the royal cat away, snatched his guitar out of her paws and started to put it in the bag. He turned and saw Puppycorn and Hawkodile coming over the hill. The puppy saw his friend and tackled him with a hug. "Hey, kid! Good morning!"

"Mornin', RJ! You're comin' on vacation with us? That's so rad!" The puppy's ball tail wagged as he got off of Rex. Hawkodile just greeted the human with a knowing and sympathetic nod.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Rex flashed the pup a tired smile as Hawkodile threw his and Puppycorn's bags in the trunk. "Hey, Hawk. We got time for me to run to the coffee shop in town? I'll getcha some too."

"I'll make the run, bro. Ya take your coffee with thirteen sugars still?" The hawk crocodile stretched his wings, preparing to take flight. 

"Yeah. I can't cut the sugar down any further. Too used to it bein' overly sweet." Rex shrugged as Hawkodile rushed off to get them both coffee. "Get somethin' for Rich, too!" He called after the bodyguard's afterimage as the last member of the group floated into view. "Mornin', Rich." The brick was overburdened by his own bag and Unikitty's luggage and was relieved when Rex took some from him. 

"I'd say I was glad you decided to come with us, but I know the princess probably didn't give you a choice." Richard bobbed in a way that could be interpreted as a nod. "I will warn you that our road trips can get chaotic. Will you be alright with that?"

"Is it more chaotic than a normal day with the Princess?"

"I can't say you don't have a point. But the answer to that is yes. And the chaos isn’t entirely her doing." Richard didn't hold any tone to betray his feelings on that fact. That seemed to bother Rex that much more.  

"Well… I'm callin' shotgun." Rex jumped in the passenger seat next to the driver's seat and reclined in the seat with his hands behind his head. 

"Hey! I wanted to sit there!" Unikitty pouted. She squished her face against the window and stared at Rex, who just ignored her. "I'm always shotgun!"

"Princess, you can get that seat on the way home." Richard was handed a coffee cup by Hawkodile, who had just come back from the cafe. "Now, is everyone here and do you have everything you need? We have time for a few stops before we reach our destination, but we can't be late." Hawkodile and Rex waved from their positions, already engaged in a conversation about battle strategy. Doctor Fox called from under the van and Puppycorn barked at a squirrel in a tree. 

"Looks like we're all here, Richard!" Unikitty flew like a flash into the van, taking a seat in the middle, while her brother and Doctor Fox sat on either side of her. Hawkodile sat in the back as best he could, though it was clear the van only seated five.

"Ya sure we got a big enough van, Rich? I can follow behind in my truck, if ya wa-" Rex was interrupted by Unikitty, who leaned into his and Richard's part of the van.

"Nope! We need to stick together! That's how a road trip works!" 

"I'm sure Hawk would appreciate not bein'-"

"NOPE! It's like you've never been on a road trip before, RJ!"

"Well, unless the whole TAKOS Tuesday thing or the trip through the Systar System counts-"

"Which they don't." Unikitty interjected.

"We didn't do road trips in Bricksburg. We had everything we needed in the city. There was an amusement park and -!" 

"You didn't even go on any with your raptors?" Unikitty was floored.

"Not much room in the whole 'get revenge' timetable to sightsee… Well now that I think about it, the kid an' I did go back in time to Bricksburg together. That counts, right?" Rex shrugged.

"Yeah! That totally counts!" Puppycorn bounced in his seat, his eyes lighting up with recognition. Unikitty thought for a second and nodded in agreement. She will totally count that. 

"So you know! You and Little Bro didn't take two different time machines!" She leaned back into her seat, hushing Rex when he tried to argue. "Let's go, Rick!"

"Of course, Princess. We do have a tight schedule." The brick started the van and drove, Rex watching him with fascination by how a being with no hands could somehow drive.

The group were soon on the road. Rex was fully awake at this point and watched the world float past them from the window. The others started to discuss their excitement for this trip animatedly from the back, but the human tuned them out. He jumped a little when Richard spoke.

"How have you been doing, Rex?" The brick kept his eyes on the road as he talked.

"I've been holdin' up, Rich. Still can't get used to all this." The human adjusted the blue bandana that was tied around his neck.

"What can't you get used to?"

"A lot of things. Havin' friends that want me to be happy, people seein' me as a hero, the hustle and bustle of the kingdom in general… It's a lot." Rex leaned back in the seat as much as he could without adjusting it. 

"I hope you get better adjusted to that in time, especially having friends like us. We may not be the dinosaurs you normally talk to, but we care about you and, yes, we want you to be happy." Richard smiled, but kept his focus on driving. 

"Yes, RJ. You're one of us now." Unikitty whispered suddenly in the human's ear. "One of us." She slipped into the backseat and resumed her part of the backseat conversation without missing a beat.

"That was… disturbing." Rex shook his head and turned back to Richard. "So. Ya wanna tell me where we're goin'?"

"I'm going to be honest with you and tell you that I don't know where we're going. Princess Unikitty's directions are terrible and I'm pretty sure it would involve us driving several miles through the desert for some reason." Rex's left eye twitched when Richard mentioned the desert. "That was my thought, too. I'm not sure what she was thinking, given your past experiences. I have taken the liberty to avoid doing… that, but I still don't know where she wanted to go. I'll be stopping soon to see if we can figure that out."

"Thanks for that," was the only response the human gave as he settled back to watching the treeline come and go. The van soon stopped at a small gas station that felt friendly and only slightly disused, where Hawkodile got out to top off the van's gas tank. Rex turned to Puppycorn, poking his head from the front seat.

"Kid. Be honest. Do ya need to go? Don't know when we'll be stoppin' next." He spoke softly and patiently. 

"Uh… no. But I want some trip snacks!" The puppy wagged his tail.

"I'll get some snacks if you go anyway. We don't want Rich to have to stop again, right?" The puppy shook his head and headed for the station's restroom. "And that's how ya get that kid to listen to you." Rex got out as well and headed for the mini mart with his hands in his pockets. He pulled out his phone and scrolled through his Brick-a-gram feed, occasionally liking photos that came from his friends from other planets’ accounts. He grabbed some snacks that were easy to clean if they spilled and some coffee and waited for the cashier to finish the transaction before him to put his chosen provisions on the counter along with some Apocalypseburgian currency. 

"Uh… dude? What is this?" The cashier held the beaten and battered  money up for the distracted time traveler to see.

"Money that is probably worthless here. Hang on…" He pulled out his wallet and pulled out bills from Bricksburg, Syspocalypstar, and even some older Systar System coins before finding shiny gold coins with Unikitty’s head on them. "I… collect coins. Here. Some good old Unikingdom Lolly."

"You bring your collection with you?" The cashier lifted an eyebrow incredulously as he took the Lolly coins and slid the change across the counter.

"Ya never know when you'll meet another… coin collector." He put the currency, including the change, back in his wallet and took his purchases. "See ya." He headed out the door and was quickly joined by Puppycorn. 

"Didja get the snacks?" The puppy jumped around the human, excited for the prospect of snacks.

"Didja wash your paws?" After Rex asked this, the puppy ran back to the bathroom and returned with wet paws. "Close enough for me. Here." He handed the puppy a bag of gummy bears and headed for the van. Hawkodile had finished his task as Rex got there. "Hey, Hawk. Ya want some coffee?" 

"Nah. I'm good, bro." The hawk crocodile looked over to Rex and saw his phone lock screen was set to a photo of himself and Emmet goofing around. He chose not to say anything about that, instead focusing on the snacks he was holding. "Ya need to stop eating so much sugar."

"Can't help it. Always had a sweet tooth." He dug through a bag of candied pecans and threw one in his mouth.

"Yeah, but you've already had two cups of coffee with thirteen sugars each. That's a lot of sugar and it's only 10." The two took a walk around the station as they spoke, waiting for Unikitty and Richard to finish talking.

"It used to be a lot worse, bro." He pocketed the bag and walked in step with the chimera. "It's the least of my issues right now." The man whispered a small thank you to the brats upstairs when Doctor Fox waved them back to the van. Puppycorn was already inside, head poking out of the open window. He and Hawkodile got to the van, where they could now see that Richard was fretting over a map over the steering wheel while Unikitty sat in the front passenger side seat, sticking her tongue out as Rex as he approached that side. "Hey, Rich." He spoke as he and Hawkodile tried to fit themselves into the backseat with Puppycorn and, eventually, Doctor Fox. "Ya finally get the whole destination thing figured out?"

"I'm just gonna give Richard directions until we get to the next stop." Unikitty seemed way too happy to basically say she wasn't telling anyone anything. "It's a secret."

"Princess, what if this trip takes longer than a day? We shouldn't be gone for so-" Richard was quickly hushed by his princess.

"It'll be fine! We won't be gone for long enough for the people to notice!"

"I'm supposed to be going to Syspocalypstar in a few days to see Em-" Like Richard before him, Rex was shushed by Unikitty.

"You'll get home in time to see him! And, if not, he'll understand!" 

"Sad thing is she ain't wrong. But I'm just gonna text him an' tell him…" Rex rolled his eyes at his phone, seeing that he had no signal. "Later." He put his phone away. He tried to relax, but it was too cramped for him to lean back. The rest of the van fell back into casual conversation, Rex choosing to try to get some sleep to the drone of the van's engine. He was quickly nudged awake by Puppycorn, who slurped some unknown liquid he had clearly gotten at the gas station.

"Can you take me with you on your trip to see your bro? I wanna fly in your super rad spaceship again." He growled a little as he chewed on a particularly stubborn gummy bear.

"Pretty sure the Rexcelsior is on the no fly list, so I'm takin' somethin' a lot smaller. I can try to take ya, but it's gonna be cramped."

"Kinda like this?"

"Actually, know what? The ship'll be less cramped." Rex laughed as Hawkodile adjusted to a more comfortable position. "Em’ll be happy to have ya. Not sure about his girlfriend, but I don't care what she thinks." He didn't sound as sincere with the last part of the sentence, accented by a brief glance downward. Puppycorn didn't catch this, though. 

"Can we go to that pizza place again?" The puppy asked, holding on to his energy levels.

"Not sure it even exists now. I'd ask Em, but I have no signal on my satellite phone." He shot a brief glare at Unikitty's headrest. "So gonna say maybe, but don't get your hopes up." The pup nodded and the conversation soon moved on to skateboarding tips. Unikitty listened and smiled, glad her friend was able to slip into being part of the group so easily. 

"I think he's finally really happy now. Don't you think, Rick?" Unikitty's voice made Richard jump a little.

"RJ does seem to be less dour and I do think he's better adjusted to us. I don't doubt this is because of what we've been through with him. I can't speak for him, but it looks like he has a new purpose. That may be just what he needed." Richard smiled a little himself. "I know I'm glad he's doing better."

"Oo! We're at the first real stop of our trip! Pull in here, Rick!" Richard lifted an eyebrow at a small diner with a large fiberglass taco just next to it. A neon sign on the roof declared the place to be "Taco Joe's Diner", with a gaudy metal sign below it saying it was home of the world's largest fiberglass taco. The friends in the back of the van stopped their conversations and looked out the window.

"Well, it is past lunchtime…" Richard parked the van with perfect precision. When they stopped, the passengers in the back piled out, the lone human stretching a little as his boots hit the dusty ground. 

"Dibs on shotgun." He declared as he looked at the large taco. "Ya know, I really should demand old Business gives out the tacos he owes the people of Bricksburg." He walked a short circuit around the van and fished his instant camera from his duffel bag before joining the group again. “If he hasn’t already. Em claimed he gave control of the Realms to the Assembly of Master Builders and Queen Wa’nabi, but it’s the least he can do now.” He looked up and saw that the others were already starting to head inside. He rushed after.

As they entered the diner, it was clear how underwhelmed Unikitty was. It looked like it fell out of the 1950's, but took a few stray hits of grime and rust on the way down. The place was nearly empty, with a hot sauce bottle waitress serving a surly looking figure some piping hot coffee at a counter that cut the place in a rough half. There were no tables with chairs, just booths that could seat maybe half of their party each without being super uncomfortable situated along the knick knack covered walls. The others didn't seem to mind this nearly as much as the princess did or if they did, it wasn't as transparently written on their faces. The waitress eyed the group with her dot eyes and gave them a wave. 

"Welcome to Taco Joe's! Have a seat. I'll be with y'all in just a tick!" She spoke in a cheery voice that felt welcoming and warm. The group piled into two booths, with Richard, Rex and Puppycorn in one and the others in the one directly next to them. 

"Welcome to the cool kids' table, Rich." Rex sat alone in the booth and close to the large window, with Puppycorn sitting directly across from him. "Glad ya made it. I was worried someone else was gonna take your seat." The human added this last part with a small grin. 

"You wanted me to sit with you? I'm shocked you didn't want Hawkodile." Richard's usual monotone held a hint of happiness at the idea of being wanted.

"I think he an' Doc need some alone time. Besides, I like your company." Rex looked out the window at the small town that surrounded them. The town was sleepy despite the clear tourist trap they were built around. It was strange how quiet it was, but he brushed that off in his mind. "I gotta take a pic of us before we leave." He mostly said this to himself, but it was loud enough for the rest of the table to hear. The waitress came over with a pad and a pencil, as well as some paper menus. She passed them out to the group and gave a bright, only slightly customer service smile.

"What can I getcha'll to drink?" The group, with the exception of Rex and Richard, gave their drink orders almost simultaneously. The poor girl was able to keep up, to her credit. Richard ordered a plain glass of water once she finished writing the other orders. "How 'boutchu, handsome?" She turned to Rex, giving him a wink.

"Coffee. I'll have it black since you're sweet enough," he stated while returning the wink. She turned a brighter red and rushed to get their drinks. He grabbed a pink packet from a small tray in front of a small jukebox that looked like it hadn't worked in centuries and played with it. Richard, hiding a slight frown, stopped Puppycorn from mimicking the action with a packet of ketchup.  "You guys do this every year, huh?" Richard shook his head as Puppycorn looked up at the brick with confusion.

"This is… our second year doing this after the Princess landed in the new Kingdom.” He floated close to Rex’s ear as he said this information. “We did this every year when she was younger, but that… She wants to bring that tradition back.” He moved back out of Rex’s personal space and spoke normally. “We may need to make new arrangements next time to make sure you can fit into the equation. I don't think Princess Unikitty counted for six people if I'm being honest. You've been with us for a while now, however, so I'm a little less sure what she was thinking."

"Does anyone really know what the Princess is thinking?" Rex shrugged. "She does what she wants. I get that. Seen it firsthand. Watched it help sink an entire submarine."

"I assume you're referring to the TAKOS Tuesday incident?"

"One small part of it, but yes."

"I sometimes forget you were someone different a long time ago," Richard admitted. "I can't see you as anyone else but who I've seen you become."

"That's why I like ya, Rich." The human smiled not noticing as a coffee cup with a cartoon taco and the words “taco me after my morning coffee” imprinted on it was placed in front of him and the bitter liquid was poured in the cup. "Ya don't make me feel like I need to be someone else I just don't have the capacity to be anymore."

"Princess Unikitty doesn't feel that way anymore, either. She's just happy you're happy."

"Well, then! What'll it be?" The waitress's voice cut into the conversation like a bubbly thousand degree knife.

"We'll get the party tray! That should be enough for everyone, right?" Unikitty spoke before anyone else could and the waitress ran off before anyone could object. Rex rolled his eyes and took a gulp from his coffee mug. 

"There is a chance we will need to get a hotel for the evening. Are you alright with sharing a room with someone, RJ?" Richard asked, a pen in one of the grooves on his head. "I know you have issues when you sleep."

"If I have to. Ya mind if the person is you? Hawk can be with Princess and PC to do his bodyguard thing and Doc can have her own room." 

"That's a sound strategy, RJ. I wouldn't mind spending more time with you if you don't." The brick smiled as he made notes on a napkin. "Would you be willing to look up hotels on your phone within a few hours' drive from here in all directions?" The human nodded and got to work, quickly shooting Emmet a text to tell him he was dragged on vacation and may have to postpone his visit.

"I'm starting to think this was all a ploy to get me and you alone or somethin'." Rex teased as he scrolled. He glanced over to Unikitty. "I could see her doin' that."

"Oh, I don't know about that." Richard didn't show any outward sign of how he really felt. He simply chose to drink his water quietly. 

The food came quickly and uneventfully enough and the gang soon left the diner. "Hey, guys. Get in front of the taco. I need a picture." Hawkodile went to grab Rex's camera, but he shook his head. "You too. I put a timer on this bad boy." He perched the camera on the hood of the van and pointed it towards the taco and the gathered friends. "We got one minute. Get ready." The friends gathered together and after a while, the camera spat a photo out of the thin slot at the bottom. Rex grabbed the photo and pocketed it. "Never shake a photo from an instant camera." He said to Puppycorn as he passed him, jumping into the front passenger seat before Unikitty could say anything.

"Hey! He took shotgun again!" Unikitty whined as she floated in the backseat with her brother. 

"He had dibs, Big Sis." Puppycorn pointed out. 

"Yeah. I had dibs." Rex didn't turn to the princess, but he was smirking smugly.

"Besides, RJ will be navigating us to a hotel when the time comes to rest." Richard stated flatly. "You can still tell me where to go, but did you plan for time to sleep on this trip?"

"Uh…" The cat floated down to the seat gently and frowned. "Go left, OK?" Richard nodded and pulled out of the diner and through the quiet town. It was a town that very much had seen better days and was only inhabited by a few people who looked like they were always living here and always will. Rex closed his eyes, but was woken up by Unikitty shouting for Richard to stop the van. He looked out the front window to see a sign for something called Tourmaline Falls. "Follow that sign! We have to go!"

 The brick said nothing and just followed the sign's direction out of town a short distance. He parked in a dirt lot that was crowned by a large gateway that looked like it was made out of the stone the falls were named after. The group could already hear the sound of falling water as they got out of the van and approached the gateway. A being that looked like it was made out of coal handed Unikitty a pamphlet that talked about the falls and requested a donation to keep the area clean and untouched. She threw the being a few coins and followed her friends to the origin of the noise.

The falls were the centerpiece of a large, dark cave. Natural light poured from the top of the cave and only over the falls, lighting blue and green stones that were roughly polished by the heavy flow of water. The falls were roped off to prevent people from dropping into the hole the water flowed into, but that didn't matter. A cool breeze came from the falls themselves, which felt great after being in an over occupied van for even a short period of time. Rex got as close as the barricade would permit and just watched the falls for a bit. Doctor Fox began to collect rock and water samples for later. Richard floated next to the human and took out a camera of his own, this one a small disposable one. He took a picture of Rex by the falls that seemed to be more of Rex than the falls. The human stepped back and took a picture of the falls of his own, his expression soft and enamored.

"I don't think I've seen anything more amazing." He put the photo in his pocket. Richard said nothing, but looked down at his camera.

"We may have to come back later to get more samples!" Doctor Fox called from somewhere in the darker parts of the cave. Unikitty yawned, already bored. 

"Can we go? This is really boring." She moaned. 

"Wasn't this your idea, Unikitty?" Hawkodile said pointedly. 

"I know, but I wanna go now."

"Wait for RJ. I think the guy's havin' a moment over there." Hawkodile jabbed his thumb over to Rex, who was still close to the falls. The human turned to the others after a moment of almost total silence and shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. He headed to the others, followed by Richard and Doctor Fox. "Looks like he's good now. Let's go." The six friends left, but not before Rex got another picture of the group at the gateway. He and Unikitty raced to the van, the man losing to the cat for the front seat by a hair. Unikitty stuck her tongue out at Rex as he climbed in the back. Richard's eyes flashed a slight disappointment as he got into the driver's seat. 

"Is there any other place you want to see before we find a town and a place to stay?" Richard asked Unikitty. 

"We're good. Carry on." Unikitty grinned. 

"RJ. Where is the next town?" Richard looked ahead as he spoke, unable to look at the man now without having to fight the urge to blush deeply. 

"It's about 15 miles from here. Just off the main road." He looked at a map on his phone. "It's a place called Chantilly. It's apparently the home of a purple cow named 'Chanty', if we're in a sightseein' mood when we get there." He checked his messages and chuckled. "Emmet says hi, Princess." 

"Ooh! Tell him I say hi! And hi to Wyldstyle too!" Unikitty's eyes lit up at the mention of her distant friend. Rex nodded and texted that before putting his phone away.

 Richard started to drive away from the falls, letting the others talk among themselves for the rest of the trip to the town that, when he pulled into the main street, he had to admit was an attraction in itself. The town looked like it was made of whipped cream and candy. He wasn't sure if Rex chose this place because it was close or because of how strange it all was. He drove until he found a hotel, a grand looking villa with a sign over the door that softly and proudly proclaimed it was the Chantilly Grand Hotel. He pulled the van into the cream colored parking lot.

"Once we get our rooms, we have the rest of the day to do what you want to do. Just stay in town." Richard got out of the van. Rex and Hawkodile helped unload the group's luggage as Richard paid for their rooms and handed out the room keys. The rooms were assigned as Rex had suggested, which disappointed Puppycorn. This disappointment went away quickly enough when he saw a sign for a pool.

The group put their bags in their rooms and headed their separate ways. Rex and Richard settled in their room for the time being. The room was as cream colored as the town around them, gold accenting the walls, curtains, and furniture. There were two beds, covered in light colored fabrics made of airy material. Richard floated just above one of the beds, one close to the front door. The human dug through his back for swimming trunks and walked into the bathroom to change. He soon came back and Richard couldn't help but notice the scars and other signs of damage on his body. Some he recognized from the fight for the Unikingdom's freedom, namely two long ones on either side of his lower torso. Those scars seemed older than they actually were and could have been from when he was an angrier man. Richard knew better. His large eyes shot downward.

"Does it still hurt?" The question made Rex stop in his tracks. Rex paused for a moment before answering.

"Yeah, sometimes. I think the sword was cursed, but I ain’t bringin’ it to the Assembly to find out." Rex leaned against the doorframe, turning to face Richard. "Not much ya can do." 

"No…" Richard frowned softly. He wanted to do something for the man, though. Maybe hold him in his non-existent arms? Would that be too bold? Of course it would. He had so much he would need to do to get close to being able to do that. "However, if there is anything I can do to help, I want to help."

"Now that you mention it, maybe we can go get some drinks after I come back? It helps to get my mind off it." Rex grabbed a large towel from the bathroom and waited for an answer.

"I would be happy to join you." Richard watched Rex leave and took a breath to assess the situation. He hadn't felt like this since his unrequited lover that he still had yet to speak to. Did he fall for the man's charm further somehow? Seeing his dark eyes light up when they were at the falls made his feelings for Rex more real. He had to remain rational about this. They were just two friends going to a hotel bar for some drinks. There was no need to rush into things. For all he knew, it was the beauty of the falls that made him feel this way. Right? No. It wasn’t and he knew it. He had to remember that he told the guy about his feelings for him the night he regretted more than anything else.

By the time Rex had returned from the pool, Richard had started reading a book about alternative uses for paperclips, but was wearing a little blue bowtie. Wordlessly, Rex went to get changed. Richard looked up when the bathroom door closed, noticing that the clothes Rex had been wearing when they got to the hotel were left on the bed. Was he getting into something nicer, too? He didn't have too long to wait, but he decided that the way Rex dressed would set the tone for the evening. Usually, just having a drink with a friend would be less formal and not a reason to look nice. Right? He really didn't do even that often, since he blended in with the wallpaper so often and didn't have friends outside the castle. Yes, Rex counted as one of those despite living outside the castle himself but he was also an outsider who was far more grounded than the rest of the gang.

The man did soon emerge and Richard looked more confused than anything. He was wearing a new vest, but this one was made of leather. His shirt was a tank top with a faded emblem that the brick would barely see. He jumped when his friend spoke.

"Come on, Rich. I could really use a drink right now." The two headed for the bar, which was called the Creme Club by a fancy looking wooden sign over the door. The area was small and intimate, the color scheme carried over from the rooms. There was a stage opposite the bar that was empty at the present, but a sign on the slick wooden bar hinted that there was live music nightly. The wooden tables were simple and elegant and the chairs matched. Richard let Rex set the pace still, trying to find meaning in the one on one meetup. Rex chose a table in a far corner that could only possibly seat two. Was he trying not to be seen by the others? Richard's heart fell, but he decided to keep his hopes up. An overly angled waitress came over and Richard ordered ice water. Rex shook his head and asked for something far harder: a bourbon neat. The waitress left and Rex looked down, holding his side.

"Are you sure you don't need medical attention?" Richard frowned, one stray sweat drop shaped sparkle matter popping up over his head. 

"I'm fine." Rex said through closed teeth. He took a few deep breaths that only seemed to vaguely help. "Or I will be soon enough." The waitress came back with their drinks and the man waited for her to leave before having a drink. He looked around and when he didn't see what he was looking for, spoke again. "I don't get a lotta time to talk to ya like this… Were ya always the castle caretaker and Princess's advisor?" So he was looking for one of the others to show up, Richard assumed. Interesting. “Like, I mean in the old days. Before the… what didja call it? The Fall?”

"Well, no. I'm honestly lucky to have that job, given my past. I was hired as the Princess’ advisor since she was born, but…" Richard decided to be open with the guy. After all, this was the man who ended the world and who saved him from himself. If anyone was going to not judge him about a seedy past, it was him. "I've been to prison before."

"Now that is unexpected." Rex rested his head on his curled hand, eyes urging Richard to continue with captivated interest.

"I mostly was the one to manage the money for my crew, but I did occasionally do field work if I needed some extra cash. Making evidence disappear is a lot easier than you think. It just takes a single paperclip and some ingenuity." The brick found Rex's interest oddly exciting. It was rare someone took this much of an interest in him. "Anyway… I made some miscalculations and ended up getting caught. I had to break out of prison and fled from my home in Frowntown to the Unikingdom. I must have seemed qualified to Queen Butterlope and King Enoue, since they gave me the job on the spot. To this day, I don’t understand why they didn’t run a background check."

"Who know ya were hidin' that kinda backstory? I just thought you were trying to be intimidating when you hinted at a dark past that night." The man was clearly still interested and not running from the situation. That was good, right?

"Most people don't really ask. I'm grateful for that, because I still have to keep the Old Unikingdom a secret." Richard had just a hint of emotion behind the monotone. 

"That's a shame. I mean, it's useful that our pasts are easy to cover up around here, but it's better to have someone to talk it all out with. Not sure if this'll bring up some things best forgotten, but do you feel any regrets about it all?"

"Well… I suppose not. I had to make a living somehow and it was the best option I had at the time." Rex was asking questions? This wasn't something Richard was used to at all.

"Hey, we gotta do what we can to survive, right?" Rex was predictably non-judgemental about the whole thing. It was refreshing. "Nothin' wrong with that. Besides, look atcha now: Ya live in a castle an' probably make better money in the long run."

"I also don’t believe my old crew exists. I looked it up once, but I didn’t see anything. It makes it a lot harder to fall into old habits. Though I will admit that getting that confession tape brought back some of the thrills I got doing field work." Richard barely noticed that Rex ordered another round of whatever he was drinking, as well as a glass for him. 

"Ya could always leave Princess to clean up her own messes for a while an' go on an adventure or two with me. Travelling around time is pretty thrilling and doesn't end in prisontime." Well, with some potential exceptions, he'd assume.

"I don't know. I feel like the kingdom would fall apart without me. It is… kind… of you to offer." Richard could feel his cheeks go flush.

"It's not an offer I make to everyone, Rich. I just make it for the people I really like. Doc hasn't even gotten that invite and she's a scientist who should see my ship in action." He only let the people he liked a lot time travel with him? So, that probably meant that, up to this point, only Puppycorn was given that chance. But why Richard? "Besides, I think ya need ta get away from the castle more often." The drinks were delivered and the man shrugged. "I know I wouldn't be able to stand the Princess's energy for more than a few hours most days."

"I have a duty to the Unikingdom, RJ. I'm sure you understand better than most that I was given a second chance and I owe the kingdom my diligence."

"Rich, you won't be throwing anything away gettin' out for a little bit. My ship's a time machine. I can have you home before Princess can activate a single glitter bomb. You always say I'm one of you and… I rarely heard that when I was growing up. Or even when I was the Special. I need to return that favor somehow." There was something in the man's eyes that made Richard's heart beat faster. 

"Maybe someday, RJ." Why couldn't he commit to letting this man whisk him off his feet? It wasn't like he didn't want to. The man nodded in response. 

"Offer's there if ya want it." Rex took a sip of the amber liquid in his glass and glanced at the door. "Think it's too late to keep the night goin' a little longer?"

"Why would you want to do that? Most people wouldn't want to spend this much time with me."

"That's a problem, I think. You're more interesting than you lead on and I'm kicking myself because I haven't spent enough time with you to see that." Rex kept his eye on the door, but suspected that a place like the Creme Club would be too adult for the prince and princess to wander into. 

"We have all the time you want to spend, RJ." Richard let some flattery bubble to the surface of his monotone. "It's just so uncommon that I feel this seen. I usually feel invisible."

"That's just wrong. I know what it's like to blend in like that. I wouldn't wish that loneliness on my worst enemy." His voice was unstable now, slipping out of the verbal mask. "I won't do that to you."

"RJ… I know you won't. You haven't yet." Richard smiled softly, his half closed eyes almost sparking. "I'm amazed by how passionate you are about this, but you do appear to be a man of passion." Richard's cheeks turned just a little pinker. 

"Yeah. I think I always was, but not givin' a crap makes it easier to drag that out of me." He waved down the waitress and asked for two menus. She shuffled away and Rex turned back to Richard. "Ya seem flush. Ya feelin' alright?"

"Yes. I'm fine." Richard glanced at the menu once it was offered to him and it was clear this hotel restaurant was very upscale. "Maybe we should find another place to have dinner? The least expensive thing is a lot more than I budgeted for dinner on this trip." Rex scratched his head.

"My bank account's still frozen because of the whole Armommageddeon thing. You're probably right." He asked the waitress for his drink tab and paid for that. He pulled out his phone and looked for a cheaper place within walking distance while he finished his drink.

"I can ask for your account to be unfrozen after this trip. I may need to temporarily take control of it, but that would only be so the Systarian government can finish any investigations they have pending." Richard offered. "How do you have money right now?"

"I had some older coins converted to Unikingdom Lolly after things calmed down." Rex's lips curled up a little and he pocketed his phone. "There's a diner about two blocks from here that's apparently got some good milkshakes. The whole town was built around it. Let's see what all the hype is about." He got out of his chair and left the bar from an entrance that led out into the main street. Richard followed along, bobbing next to his companion as best as he could.

The two made small talk until they reached a building that looked like a normal restaurant, a stark contrast from the cream themed world around them. A sign happily let everyone know that the diner was called O'Hare's. They walked in and were greeted by a large rabbit they had to assume was old O'Hare himself. The whole place looked like it was trapped in a bubble in time, with all of the 80's style fixtures looking brand new. It was clear the large gray rabbit was proud of his establishment. The two travelers slid into a booth and sat across from each other. A second, younger rabbit handed them menus and let them be. After some silence, Rex spoke. 

"I never realized how alike we are." His voice was softer than normal, barely recognizable. 

"It is interesting how you and I found ourselves on similar paths that led us to the Unikingdom and to our eventual friendship." Richard liked the half step his companion's voice had taken. It sounded right, somehow. 

The two eventually placed their orders and went back to small talk about the trip so far. The conversation remained light as the time passed, but it was clear to anyone watching that they were connecting. And someone was watching: a very excited and slightly confused Unikitty who had floated in as the two were talking. She was joined by Hawkodile and Puppycorn, but the two were too occupied with their own conversation to notice that the princess was focused on other things.

"Are they…?" The cat tried to sneak closer to her advisor and friend, but Hawkodile stopped her with a sunglasses obscured look. She watched the two talk, but didn't see or hear anything that made her feel like she was right in her unspoken suspicions. She sank back into her seat, occasionally going back to watching the two until they eventually finished dinner and left for the hotel. "Why would he want to spend time with boring old Richard?" 

"They looked like they were enjoying themselves, Princess." Hawkodile stated as he looked around the room for signs of danger.

"That's even weirder. Richard is so boring." Unikitty stuck out her tongue. "Why would RJ like talking to him?"

"They must've found something in common. It's how you make friends, after all." Hawkodile shrugged. 

The twilight gave the cream colored town an eerie look. Rex stood on the balcony while Richard sat at the room's obligatory desk with a pencil and paper. He stared at the paper for a long time, occasionally glancing at the man on the balcony. The slight movement of the ends of Rex's headband and his dark hair indicated a slight breeze. His back was turned to the glass door and he leaned over the railing, just watching the sun set. Richard turned back to the paper and looked for the words. Pen finally hit paper after another round of watching the man on the balcony. When Rex turned to go inside, Richard grabbed an envelope from the desk and shoved the paper into it. Rex didn't say anything to Richard as he flopped on his bed and turned on the TV. 

"Let me know when ya wanna sleep, Rich." He flipped through the channels until he found an action movie. 

"You should sleep as well, Rex. I know it's hard for you, but we do have to keep up with the princess until we get back to the Unikingdom." Richard sounded concerned, which overrode the monotone in his voice. 

"I'll try. If I start sleepwalkin' and ya catch me, try to keep me away from the balcony." His eyes were still on the movie. Richard bobbed in agreement and floated off to get into his pajamas, which consisted of a light yellow nightcap and an actual, very tiny, full set of matching pajamas. Rex lifted an eyebrow at this, but went back to the movie. Somehow, that just made sense. Richard tried to stay up with Rex for the rest of the movie, but fell asleep during the climax. Rex turned the TV off and tried to sleep as well, but sleep didn't come until hours later. The sleep that did come was fitful and barely got deep. 

Rex woke the next morning with Richard gone and both of their bags gone. On the desk was a change of clothes for him, some breakfast and coffee, and an envelope. He got out of bed and walked to the desk, opening the envelope and reading the note within:

RJ

Take your time getting ready to leave. The princess wanted to see that purple cow you had mentioned yesterday, so I left with the others to see that. I've already packed the van, so we will be ready to leave when you are. You didn't sleepwalk last night, but I do worry you didn't sleep. well, either. If you need more sleep, I'll try to find a place to stop for the others so you can do that.

Richard.

That letter felt so formal. Rex did have to admit it was nice that Richard left it, though. He couldn't deny that there was a fear that they just left him in this unknown town. He did as the note suggested and took his time getting ready to go out the door. By the time the rest of the group returned to the hotel, he was sitting on the hood of the van, waiting for them.

"Good morning, sleepyhead!" Unikitty sang out.

"You missed the super rad looking cow." Puppycorn added, opening the van's back door. He stopped when he noticed that the van had an extra row of seats. He shrugged this off and jumped in the middle row. 

"Is this our van?" Hawkodile looked around the parking lot skeptically.

"I Master Built a second row of backseats. We had just enough room for one." Rex slid off of the hood and saw that Unikitty beat him to the front seat. He sat next to Puppycorn, which made Doctor Fox and Hawkodile pile in the back row. "Should be less cramped back there now."

"That was a really bro move. Thanks." Hawkodile grinned, turning slightly red with his close proximity to Doctor Fox.

"Yes, thank you Rex. That resolves a problem we would have had with this van going forward." Richard flashed a smile to the Master Breaker as he got in the driver's seat. 

"I owed ya for breakfast anyway." Rex winked back as he sat back in the newly built seat. 

"Let's go! We're getting close to our next destination already!" Unikitty was slightly more chipper than usual this morning. The van was soon on the road again, the less miserable members of the back rows playing car games while Unikitty navigated and Richard drove. It felt like hours before Richard pulled over on the side of the road and got out of the car. 

"Hawkodile, can you please take over driving? I need a break before I start to be more susceptible to road rage." 

"Got it." The two swapped seats and were back on the road quickly. Through all of this, Rex was asleep. The sound of the door closing woke the man up, who yawned as he looked around him. 

"Hmm. Hey, Rich. Who's drivin'?" He looked at the driver's seat and saw Hawkodile, who was trying to get information from Unikitty and failing at it. "Ya could have told me ya needed a break."

"I'm glad he didn't. You've been asleep for the past half hour, bro. You could have gotten us killed if you're that tired." Hawkodile shouted, keeping the frustrated tone he was giving Unikitty unintentionally. 

"I'm fine. I drive like this all the time."

"Probably because you drink enough caffeine to power Frowntown. I've got this. Go back to sleep." Hawkodile went back to focusing on the road and getting directions from Unikitty. 

"Pull over an' I'll show ya what I can do like this." Rex growled. Thankfully, the threat was ignored and the trip continued. 

When the man was fully aware of his surroundings next, the van stopped again. This time, it was in front of a rest stop with a small, nondescript restaurant called the Snack and Make Tracks. The rest of the group was gone. Rex rolled his eyes and got out of the van, heading to the restaurant. As he walked in, the rest of the group walked out of the stop's minimart. They piled in the car, Hawkodile getting in the driver's seat again. 

"We ready to go? Is everyone here?" Hawkodile did not look behind him. 

"Uh… RJ is mi-" Puppycorn was interrupted by Unikitty. 

"He's just asleep like we left him, Little Bro! Let's get going! To the next stop!" The royal cat sang happily. Like Hawkodile, she didn't look back.

"Princess, I wouldn't leave just yet. If you look behind you, you'll see that RJ-" Richard tried to add to the conversation, but the van was already peeling out of the parking lot. The group drove until Unikitty saw a sign for the world's largest ball of yarn. They pulled over and piled out of the van, the backseat passengers looking at each other with worry. 

"Is Rexy just gonna sleep all day?" Unikitty climbed in the back to wake her friend and frowned. "Oh. He's… uh… not here." 

"That's what I was trying to say, Big Sis." Puppycorn looked down. Unikitty looked at her phone and saw she had a message from their missing friend.

"Oh. That's… colorful." Unikitty rubbed her head. "Just two words, but you can tell how angry he is." 

"You just said he was sleeping." Hawkodile folded his arms while Unikitty texted him back to ask where he was. "I'll go pick him up when you tell me where he is." 

"He's just texting those two words. I think he's mad." Unikitty turned blue, tears welling up in her eyes.

"We left a man with abandonment issues behind at a truck stop. I'd say that reaction makes sense." Doctor Fox frowned, guilty she didn't speak up.

Richard grabbed Unikitty's phone and composed a text:

RJ. Stay at the truck stop. I'll come get you. Please stay calm. Richard. 

He waited for a reply, which came quickly. "RJ claims he started to hitchhike home. I'll tell him to go back to the truck stop and meet me there. Please stay where you are."

"But that was a half hour away! You want us to stay here for an hour‽" Unikitty moaned. 

"Yes. I don't want us to split up any further." Richard got into the van and drove off.

"Besides, Princess, I think this'll be a real treat compared to having to drive with RJ after this." Hawkodile shook his head. "Come on, guys."

Rex had arrived just before the van did and Richard could see something he could only describe as off in Rex's eyes. The normally laid back man held himself with a terrifying aura, one he suspected few people had seen first hand. Richard swallowed as he approached.

"RJ? I'm sorry for the mixup." He floated closer, not wanting to look into the storm behind Rex's dark eyes. "Puppycorn and I tried to let the princess know, but she didn't want to listen."

"You need to be more assertive, Rich." The anger edged his voice, but was held back by a strange calmness. "Let's go. Now." He got into the passenger seat and waited for Richard to leave. Richard tried to make small talk at first, but Rex said nothing the whole ride to the tourist trap. They ended up driving in total, heavy silence.

As they were turning into the parking lot, Richard spoke. "RJ, please remember that we care. We came back for you."

"No. You came back." When they parked, Rex got out of the van and marched over to Unikitty, who was coming out of the attraction. "What were you thinking?" He growled, which put Hawkodile on edge. "You drag me on this trip, don't wake me when you stop for food, then just leave me without checking to see if I was in the back seat?"  He hissed the last part of the sentence. 

"I thought you were asleep." Unikitty was still blue, her ears going back.

"You know I sleep talk. You know what I sound like when I do that. Isn't it odd that you didn't hear anything like that for a half hour?" He wasn't raising his voice, but the sparkle matter flying from his head was stormy and vibrantly potent. This scared the royal cat even more. 

"RJ, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I didn't think-!"

"No. You didn't." He turned around to go back to the van. "I'm going back to the van to get my unbridled rage in check. Make sure I'm actually in the van when you get back." He settled back into the front seat. 

"I'll stay with him. Please give us a little time."

"Hurry. There's only so many times I can see a ball of yarn." Hawkodile shook his head as Richard left. The brick climbed in the driver's seat and turned to Rex.

"RJ. We don't have to talk, but I'll listen if you need to let your anger out." Richard's tone was soothing and patient.

"Me too!" Puppycorn was suddenly in the backseat, leaning into the front. 

"I can provide a shoulder to cry on: mine or one I can make out of spare parts." Doctor Fox said, also from the back seat.

"Look, I'm glad ya wanna make me feel better…" If there was a 'but' in that sentence, it died in the silence. "I know ya ain't gonna leave me alone, so I may as well talk. Princess is just so impulsive. What if she didn't ask you guys to stop here? I would have been hitchhikin' for a whole day back to Action Forest with no food, no clothes, and no usable money. Also, you all need to be more assertive. You saw I wasn't back there. Don't let her interrupt you like I'm sure she probably did. Cut her off. Tell her she's wrong. One day, letting her step all over ya is gonna lead to something terrible and… unfixable." His angry aura seemed to give way to a deep sadness.

"This is different, RJ. We didn't forget you for long." Richard kept a soothing tone.

"Actually, the three of us didn't forget you at all." Doctor Fox added. "You're our friend. A Unikingdom citizen doesn't forget a friend. We may leave them in a truck stop for a bit, but that's not permanent."

"Don't be sad! I can give you some of my snacks!" Puppycorn passed Rex an almost fully eaten bag of popcorn. The man turned around to give the pup a pat on the head and his popcorn bag back.

"We still have what I assume is a long trip ahead of us. Please, have patience. I did warn you that our vacations get chaotic. If all that happens in the end is leaving you at a rest stop, then it's the calmest vacation we've had in a long time." Richard's voice was helping more than anyone would have suspected. Rex took a deep breath and shook his head. 

"I'm so tired of her crap." Rex rolled the window down and leaned out of it. As he finished the sentence, Unikitty and Hawkodile returned to the van and piled in the back. 

"RJ, I should have checked myself. That wasn't cool and I'm sorry." Hawkodile rubbed his neck. That just earned a cold shrug. 

"Yeah. I'm sorry, too." Unikitty couldn't look at the man directly. Rex turned to look at the two of them.

"The awkward glance downward makes that apology sincere enough for me, Princess." He sounded cold still, but at least wasn't hissing at her. The friends moved on to the next destination in relative silence, none daring to speak save for Unikitty relaying directions to Richard. 

When they finally stopped, it was to a small pie stand out in the middle of nowhere. Richard nudged Rex with invisible hands to get his attention after getting everyone's pie preferences.

"I'm going to need some help, if you don't mind providing it." The man simply shrugged and hopped out of the van. 

Unikitty took advantage of this and flew into the passenger seat while it was unoccupied. She watched the two walk to the stand and she leaned on the dashboard. She could have sworn she heard Rex laugh as the two waited in line. This change in mood was confirmed by his sparkle matter, which had the occasional lightning bolt mixed in with cartoony raptors and planets. It took them a while to come back with the pies, mostly because they were deeply into their conversation, which Unikitty only really caught little pieces of that didn't provide context. Question mark sparkle matter flew from her horn as Rex opened the driver's side door and got in.

"Are you awake enough to drive, Brickowski?" Hawkodile asked as Rex settled into the driver's seat.

"Yeah. Rich needed a rest." The brick bobbed in agreement as he got in the back as Rex spoke. "And you already had a turn as a relief driver." There was a slight bitterness in his tone. 

"RJ promised me that he would pull over if he felt like drifting off. Princess, please be as clear with Rex as possible with directions. He's not as familiar with the roads you keep taking us on." Richard buckled his seatbelt and relaxed with his slice of pie. "Leave when you're ready, Rex."

"We probably should look for a place to stay soon. Unless we're actually close?" Unikitty shook her head. "Of course we're not. Ya got a map, or are we just navigatin' by sun position?" She nodded and pulled out her map, which she only showed off briefly before pulling it close to her. 

"Okay, RJ. We're taking this highway down… three blocks until you see a fork in the road. You'd be going left." She struggled for a moment to read the map. 

"If you look at the bottom of the map, it will tell you what distance in miles is equal to one square on the map. What does that say?" Rex spoke in a very patient tone of voice. 

"One square is a mile. So… three miles?" The man gave a short nod and began to travel using the directions provided. 

The two only communicated like this for a while, Unikitty getting a little jealous that the others had started talking about other things. She decided to speak up when she claimed they were close to their next destination. 

"You're spending a lot of time with Rick this whole trip."

"He didn't leave me at a truck stop, Princess." Rex said flatly, keeping a rigid eye on the road.

"Yeah… but you hung out with him before the whole truck stop thing, too."

"We happened to be in the same hotel room, Princess. I can room with someone else next time if that's a problem." His tone could be used as a substitute for the air conditioner.

"I saw you at that restaurant together." She continued to drill.

"So what? It was cheap. Can't two friends have dinner together?" Richard overheard this and listened in, seeing if he could get meaning from this conversation. 

"Weeeeellll…. Do you like-like him?"

"I don't see that as any of your concern." Rex remained defensive. This had both Unikitty and Richard with lifted eyebrows. The princess puffed up her cheeks. 

"As your friend and the Prime Minister of Love-"

"The only other person who needs to know if I like Richard like that is Richard. That's it. If we wanna tell ya after that, then that's a decision we make together." He continued to hold his tone. That didn't really help either listening party figure out his true feelings. "Where's the exit, Princess?"

"We… passed it three minutes ago. Oh well!" That made Rex grip the steering wheel until his knuckles turned pale. "We can move on to the last thing! Take the next exit! Onward!" The man made no reaction other than taking the directions given.

[leavelenaalone]

Faye Wei Wei

an echo trapped forever (2023)

little blue bird from the pillow flew (2020)

[leslie-the-second]

I saw you when I opened the window. You were smiling as your hair whips on my face. You haven't wash your hair in a long time, I can tell. They all tangled together and formed impossible knots, just like the alleys of the old city where we used to meander around together after school. And then suddenly you disappeared. I thought your father was coming to pick you up. Then I saw you outside the window. Then you were gone. I heard a loud bang. Mom complained to me how loud the neighbour downstairs was. I locked myself in my room and crawled into bed and covered my head with blanket and pillow as tightly as I could, just like I always do in these situations, almost to the point of suffocating. Well I was suffocating, when the siren shriek and teared the entire room open. I saw papers, with fragmented words all over and broken sentences suspended midair, sucked out from the room into the sky, immediately dampen and then crushed by the heavy rain. The rain was so heavy, I remember, that the thick cloth they used to cover you did little to obscure that helpless little smile still lingered on your face. I can see it clearly, through all these years and sleepless nights lying between us now, how relieved you were. That cloth gradually turned translucent, sunk into your skin, and your pale face, morphed with that cloth, became stoic, almost statue-like. Even the droplets of rain sliding down your face seemed to be reflecting some sort of marble lustre. But no one seemed to notice. I didn't. Not until oh so many years later. I can see it now. There was never a cloth on your body. That cloth was resting right against the face of each of us around you that day, and the day before, and - well months, years, perhaps ever since we began meandering in the alleyways of the old cities after school, perhaps even before that. Through out all these years of knowing you I've never saw your smiles with such relief and lightness as that night when you were lying under the heavy rain that seemed to crush us all into pieces. Some of those pieces I lost to the rain that night I never found back. Perhaps they all became statues just like you, in some parks, solemnly, and with that otherworldliness unique to statues, staring right down at the rowdy mortals passing by and all their mundane fiasco, and at the same time seemed completely apart from all that.

The next day, I closed my eyes when I opened the window. I felt something fluffy on the back of my hand. It was a bird feather. Blue. Still a little wet from the rain last night. Then I saw a blue bird resting on top of you. It didn't move for a long time. But it flew away at last. I never saw you after.

[gumnut-logic]

I saw these this morning and I read this before bed last night. Scott, you give your brother so many grey hairs. (Scott Tracy, you is an amazing hero).

-o-o-o-

It all happened so fast.

But then this was International Rescue and Scott Tracy, everything happened fast.

A plane on an irrecoverable dive towards the ocean. Fifteen passengers needing to be saved. One daredevil brother perched atop the aircraft, lasering a hole into the dying craft’s fuselage so he can yank those fifteen people out of their flying coffin.

Virgil at the helm of Two executing the fine control needed to keep his ‘bird a pace and able to lower the rescue rig to get those people off the plane.

Fast, extremely difficult, and one of International Rescue’s ‘Tuesdays’.

That completely went to all shit just as fast.

Virgil had pulled up all fifteen souls and stashed them safely in the belly of his ‘bird and Scott was the sole person remaining. Virgil saw him stand up and call One with his wrist control.

Just as the dying plane shook, causing Scott to stumble. Something flew off the front of the craft and hit Virgil’s brother from behind.

“Scott?!”

The pilot fell face first and onto the back of the plane, obviously not entirely unconscious, but the lack of response from comms as both Virgil and John called their brother’s name again clearly indicated that something was not right.

“I’m getting erratic vitals, Virgil, and he is not responding. Sixty seconds and that plane is in the water.

Virgil was already moving. “You have Two. Allow for my remote adjustments.”

“FAB, Thunderbird Two.”

Fast and ever so professional.

Two was flying parallel to the ailing plane, directly above, but simply lowering himself wouldn’t be enough to reach his brother. Calculations bounced around his brain as Virgil attached his grapple line and activated the hatch.

Wind tore at his helmet.

Scott was still prone on the back of the aircraft. It was a miracle he hadn’t been thrown off.

The ocean loomed far too close below.

Calculations made, Virgil jumped.

It was a wild ride, something his older brother would have revelled in. For a moment, Virgil was virtually weightless until his boots hit metal.

Then he was fighting the wind and running the length of a falling plane.

He didn’t have time to scan his brother, the ocean was far too close. So, it was with a prayer to the universe itself that he grabbed Scott, holding him close, and leapt off the plane. It collided with the water in a violent spray and died an all-consuming death.

Virgil grit his teeth as Two caught their line and coasted them just above the waves until John could push the Thunderbird into an gentle climb.

Scott’s head lolled against Virgil’s shoulder, limp.

He clung to his big brother.

God.

Virgil hooked Scott’s harness to his own and set the grapple line to retrieve. They were safe.

He held Scott ever so tight all the way up, regardless.

Surfacing inside Two’s cockpit was a relief battered only by Scott’s unknown condition. Unclipping Scott’s harness, Virgil lifted his legs properly into his arms and carried him over to one of the pull-down stretchers. Virgil nudged it with a foot and it unfolded, letting him place his brother down gently on the soft surface.

A flicker of yellow light and the mediscanner declared that while Scott had a pile of new bruises across his back, his only major complaint was a concussion.

As if the diagnosis was a trigger, Scott groaned and attempted to curl up.

“Hey, relax. You’re okay.” Virgil reached over and unclipped his brother’s helmet, sliding it off carefully and lowering his head to the pillow.

“Virgil?” Scott screwed up his face and raised a hand to his head. “Ow.”

“You’re okay. Just a little encounter with some random fuselage.” He gently pulled Scott’s hands away from his face. “Let me see those baby blues.”

“Not babies.”

Virgil arched an eyebrow as Scott opened his eyes and squinted.

“Urgh.”

The baby blues disappeared quickly into a grimace.

“Nausea?”

His grunt was affirmative.

“Hang in there. I’ll get you something and then we’ll get you home.”

“One?” It was a single syllable, but it meant everything.

“John has her. Don’t worry.”

Another grunt. Scott’s face was still scrunched up and Virgil grabbed a kit, hunting for the anti-nausea meds.

“Virgil?”

“Yeah?” He was going to have a word with Gordon. Why was this pack out of order?

“Thanks.”

Virgil turned to his prone brother and found those blue eyes struggling to stay steady enough to convey exactly what he felt.

Virgil reached out and placed a hand on his brother’s arm. “Hey, anytime. You know that.”

His brother groaned again, and Virgil went back to locating medication before he had to clean up a mess.

Fortunately, he found it and, moments later, both brothers breathed a sigh of relief. Scott melted into the mattress, knotted muscles unwinding and Virgil leant against the side and took a moment.

He would have to pick up control of Two shortly, deliver the fifteen passengers to the nearest GDF base, and then fly home.

But right now? He reached over and brushed a stray hair off Scott’s forehead. His brother wrinkled his brow in response, eyes still closed, and Virgil couldn’t help but smile just a little.

Injured, but safe.

Thank god.

-o-o-o-

[imabookadict]

hey i saw u are back!! could u done az X reader on her birthday??

a/n: i can try😌 i apologize in advance for any wrong grammar or such. i haven’t done this in a while.

warnings: fluff. lots.

————

In all honesty, your birthday never really mattered much to you. It was too much planning, too much attention, too exhausting.

But for your mate- your birthday was everything.

You had waken up to soft kisses ghosting along your skin and Azriel’s warm smile as he peered down at you in the dim light. His eyes were squinted, his hair mused from sleep, and you could just tell, he was so excited.

This was the first birthday he got to spend with you, and he was determined to make it the best one you had.

He was aware that you were not the biggest fan of birthdays, but he knew that he could change your mind.

So when you just rolled over and shoved your head back towards the pillow, he frowned and got off the bed.

You startled when he picked you up, still half asleep. He carried you down the stairs, pressing soft kisses into your hair and mumbling sweet nothings like, “good morning, baby.” And, “today is my little love’s special day, isn’t it?”

You just smiled into his chest and shook your head.

When he had set you down at the table, you had gasped at what was set out. What you expected to have been breakfast was actually a jumpsuit. It had different shades of the colour of your eyes, these big buttons that managed to stand out the most, and it was all silky and new.

You had absolutely loved it.

After you thanked him a million times and then some, he just grinned at you and said, “I was the one who found it.”

And the way you could just hear how proud he was, made you smile so wide. He was adorable.

After you both had changed, you emerged into your living room dressed and ready to go. Az was yet to give you an actual location, but you couldn’t help but feel giddy with excitement.

Your mate had dressed simple in dark blues and blacks that matched with his wings and the Siphons kept on the back of his scarred hands. He knew he looked good.

He stopped in the doorway for a moment when he saw you, all dressed up and pretty in that jumpsuit he had bought you and the ring kept on your left finger from the mating ceremony, and he felt so overcome with love, he may have swayed on the spot.

As he winnowed you two away, he whispered in your ear, “absolutely stunning, my love. As always.”

You both appeared in what looked to be a small street in front of a small café. When you entered, you instantly knew where you were.

Helion had visited the Night Court a few months prior, and had told you about this cute little café in his Court that also acted as a bookstore. The books were all extremely expensive and first editions, but the entire place had an ethereal kinda feeling to it.

Looking back over your shoulder at Azriel, you knew he was remembering the conversation you had with him shortly after talking with Helion. You had mentioned how badly you had wanted to go, but never had any time.

Well, now was your time.

You sat down with your mate at a small table beside a large window overlooking the bay. The birds flew close to the water and the sun was now all the way up. It was gorgeous.

When the waitress came and asked for your order, you were about to open your mouth when Az beat you to it. He ordered you both coffee and a strawberry cheesecake.

You raised a brow at him. “Cheesecake? Are you straying from your diet, love?”

He just chuckled. “For you? Of course.” And after a moment, he added, “Anything for you.”

When the waitress returned with your order, you both politely thanked her before picking up your mugs and taking a sip. You were about to plunge your fork into the cake when Azriel tutted and his shadows wrapped around your wrist, gently restraining it. “Not quite yet, darling.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out three candles and a lighter. After setting the candles and lighting them, he smiled at you and said, “I have a cheesy declaration to make, if you’d let me.”

“You’ll just do it anyways, won’t you?”

He smirked. “Well, yes.” He cleared his throat and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper from his jacket, which earned him a laugh.

“My love, my mate, my dearest girl; you are the love of my life. You are my other half. I have been made aware that you do not appreciate this specific day, but I strongly do. I am appreciative of this day because you were brought into this dark world, bringing with you a new light that will later on shine on my life. I appreciate you and your kindness, and will forever be grateful for this day because it means that you are here. On this world. With me. Forever. I love you, sweetheart.”

You were not an emotional person. You did not cry over small things. But you did not consider this a small thing.

You looked at him, right in the eye. “I love you. I don’t deserve you. I love my birthday now, thankyou.”

He gave a triumphant grin and leaned forward. “Happy birthday, my love. Eat up.”

[baroquebucky]

fool for you

bucky just wants to be with you forever

word count: 1.9k

masterlist

a/n: hi bffs !! hope u are all well <33 pls enjoy this v fluffy one shot inspired by own post :’ ) let me know what u all think !!

You were tired, your eyelids felt heavy and you struggled to pay attention to the tv. Your head falling to the side as you drifted off, eyes shooting open when you realized you were falling asleep. You got up quickly, splashing your face with water and settling back on the couch, rubbing your eyes and focusing on the tv again.

1:57 a.m.

You checked your phone in hopes of a “five minutes away :)” text from bucky, but there was none. You yawned again and changed the channel, flipping through some channels to try to wake you up before deciding to just switch to netflix instead.

You smiled as your favorite show played, nuzzling into the blanket bucky had given you and focusing on the show. The sound of keys rattling woke you up, you hadn’t even realize you had fallen asleep.

“shit” bucky whispered as the door slammed into the wall. “sorry” bucky spoke, apologizing to the wall before dragging his suitcase as quietly as he could. He kicked off his boots and his eyes landed on you asleep on the couch.

“buck?” you mumbled, willing your eyes open. Your vision was fuzzy and you could hear the tv still playing, you moved a little, forgetting you were on the couch and slipped off the edge. You couldn’t even process that you had fallen by the time bucky caught you in his arms, smiling at you.

“hi doll” bucky smiled at you, kissing your forehead gently and easily lifting you in his arm. He turned the tv off and carried you into your shared room, gently placing you on the bed.

“what time ‘s it?” You mumbled, rubbing your eyes and yawning, finally waking up.

“almost 3” he smiled at you softly, rummaging through his drawer and taking out a change of clothes. You nodded as he pulled out a black t shirt and some boxers, walking towards you and kissing your temple.

“I’m gonna shower doll, you can go to sleep” he assured you and you nodded, knowing full well you’d end up waiting up for him anyway.

“don’t slip” you smiled and he rolled his eyes, waving you off with a small smile on his face.

“it was one time!” He groaned before closing the door to the restroom.

You smiled to yourself as you heard the shower turn on, rolling over to your side and closing your eyes. The sleep that had been taking over you earlier was nowhere to be found. You kicked the covers off you and groaned, frowning as you stared at the ceiling. You grabbed your phone from the nightstand and scrolled through Twitter for a while, waiting for bucky to finish showering so you could cuddle up to him and fall asleep.

You could feel yourself growing hungry, glancing at the time on your phone you frowned a bit, it was already 3:07 am. you drank some water and tried to fall back asleep, cuddling into your pillow and letting out a soft sigh when you finally got comfortable. Right as you were finally going to sleep bucky opened the restroom door, the sound making your eyes shoot open and heart race. 

“did I wake you?” bucky whispered, a frown on his face as he heard your heart rate quicker than usual. You shook your head with a small smile. He knew you were lying but he didn't say anything, he just threw his dirty clothes in the laundry basket and settled next to you under the covers. He threw his right arm around you, pulling you closer to him and kissing the top of your head. 

“g’night doll” he mumbled and closed his eyes, already falling asleep from how exhausted he was. 

“goodnight buck” you replied softly, closing your eyes and relishing in the feeling of his arm around you. It was silent, with only the sounds of the city flowing through the Brooklyn apartment. 

Then your stomach growled, causing bucky to looked at you with wide eyes and you stifled a giggle. You mumbled a ‘sorry’ before closing your eyes again, hoping it wouldn't keep growling. 

You were wrong. Your stomach was relentless, and finally you got up, slipping from Bucky grasp and scurrying into the kitchen to find something to eat. Bucky felt your absence almost immediately, he opened his eyes and frowned, getting up and making his way into the kitchen. 

“didnt mean to wake you angel” you apologized as he walked towards you. He shook his head and wrapping his arms around you, letting his chin rest onto of your head. His eyes fluttered closed as you relaxed into him, your arms snaking around his waist and leaning your head against his chest. The sound of the microwave made you pull away from him, grabbing the hot cup of Mac and cheese and setting it on the dining table, Bucky soon following you and sitting next to you. 

“now im hungry” he frowned and you laughed, giving him some of your Mac and cheese which he gratefully ate. Within minutes the small bowl of Mac and cheese was empty, the two of you still hungry.  You stared at bucky, a small smile creeping onto both of your faces. You were both thinking the same thing. 

“no we shouldn't” you shook your head and bucky agreed. 

“yeah no its almost 4 we should get to bed” he replied, you both got up, making eye contact before bursting into a fit of giggles and smiles, heading straight towards the kitchen and definitely not bed. You pulled your phone out and put on some music. 

“you were thinking about French toast right?” you asked and bucky smiled, already opening the fridge for the ingredients, you grinned and you opened the pantry to get the other things you needed. You both sang along to the music softly, swaying to the beat. 

As bucky made the mix you grabbed the bread and two plates, heating up the pan and putting some butter on it, letting it melt. You moved easily in the kitchen with bucky, ever since you had moved in together everything just seemed to work for you guys. 

As you dipped the bread into the batter before putting it in the pan. Turning to bucky and using the spatula as a microphone, singing along to some 40s song you had added for bucky. You smiled as he took the spatula from your hand, setting it down and grabbing your hands, dancing along to the song. 

Bucky had the brightest smile on his face as you followed his lead, letting him twirl you around as the song played. You looked up at him as he danced with you, meeting his light blue eyes. Your eyes met and bucky couldn't stop himself. 

“I can't wait any longer oh my god” he rushed out, letting go of you and rushing back into the bedroom, leaving you along in the kitchen. 

You frowned, did you do something wrong? You focused back on the French toast, flipping the slice so it wouldn't burn before placing it on Buckys plate. You frowned as you looked for the powdered sugar. Realizing you hadn't taken it out you turned around to get it, your back to the bedroom door. As you searched for it your mind raced, was he breaking up with you? Was he just really tired?

Meanwhile Bucky was rummaging through all his drawers, wondering where the hell he put the ring he picked out with Steve seven months ago. His heart was racing as he heard you cooking the french toast, confused as to why he left you. Finally he found the black velvet box in the back of his sock drawer, smiling as he ran back out to meet you in the kitchen. 

Bucky saw you facing the drawer, so he wasted no time sneaking up behind you and getting down on one knee silently, opening the small box to reveal the ring. 

You finally found the powdered sugar, opening it and turning around. You turned quickly, eyes immediately landing on bucky, right in front of you. 

On one knee. With a ring.

You dropped the powdered sugar, causing it to land all over you, bucky and the ring. Your hands flew to your mouth as he smiled at you brightly.

“are you joking? this is a joke right?” you questioned and bucky shook his head, still on one knee despite having powdered sugar all over his shirt. 

“y/n I love you so much, I wanna spend forever with you. Everything feels so right with you I just- its like we’re just meant to be, I can't imagine a life without you. I wanna make you happy, I wanna travel the world with you, I wanna dance in the kitchen at 3 am and make French toast at ungodly hours with you for the rest of my life” he rambled, you felt your ears burning as he continued, your mind still processing that he was actually proposing. 

“-I love how competitive you are and how excited you get over anything and everything, I just love you so much-” he cut himself off when he looked at you for the first time since he started rambling, smiling softly up at you as you looked at him, fondness in your eyes and a tear rolling down your cheek. 

“will you marry me?” he spoke, breathless. 

Never in your life have you nodded so quickly. 

“yes, of course yes” you whispered and bucky smiled, jumping to his feet as you cupped his face, crashing your lips onto his, smiling into the kiss. You pulled away with a sniffle, smiling as he took your hand and slid the ring on, he blushed at the sight of it. 

You looked at each other with a smile, kissing once more before you realizing the french toast was cold by now. You pulled away quickly, grabbing the powdered sugar bag from the floor and sprinkling some lightly on your plates. 

“sorry about all that” you laughed, motioning to the powdered sugar all over the two of you and the floor. Bucky just grinned, waving it off as the two of you ate the French toast, a smile never leaving either of your faces. Both pf you giggling as the sun came up and birds began to sing. 

Not long after you finished Bucky cleaned up your mess, you changed into one of his t shirts and slipped into bed, a smile on your face as he walked into the room, taking his shirt off and slipping out of his sweats before moving into bed next to you. 

You wasted no time as he laid on his back, moving his arm so you could rest your head on his chest. He cradled you gently as you got comfortable, kissing the top of your head once you settled in. 

“love you so much angel, can't wait until we get to spend forever together” you mumbled with a smile on your face, already drifting off to sleep. Bucky smiled at your words, letting his fingers run through your hair. 

“and I love you more than yesterday” he whispered, “but less than tomorrow.”

Bucky meant his words. He meant them with everything he was. He fell in love with you everyday. He always found himself falling deeper and deeper, but he never complained. Now could fall in love with you for the rest of his life.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Twisted Tarot XXI — The World

“Live with no excuses and travel with no regrets.”

The World, Upright: completion, integration, accomplishment, travel

The World, Reversed: seeking personal closure, short-cuts, delays

He is well-traveled and wise, having accomplished much in his long life. Now he has a new purpose, a new aspiration: safeguarding the future for his friends and his family. Each journey is one that he cherishes, each memory a chance to reflect and gain an appreciation and a better understanding of the twisted world. From the old, emerge anew.

Reveal the Shape of thy Soul…

… Lilia Vanrouge!

With the vernal equinox came spring cleaning: the one time of the year when Lilia might be so inclined as to organize his things.

Truly, a once-in-a-blue-moon event.

Diasomnia had a tendency to collect dust in its dark, hallowed halls—but this trait was doubly true for its vice dorm leader’s quarters. Lilia’s room boasted all manner of strange and mysterious items, souvenirs from distant lands and secrets from shrouded pasts. Mounted on the walls, tossed at the base of his bed, spilling out of drawers. Everywhere.

Each day, Lilia seemed to collect more and more, letting his piles fester. It was a wonder how even he managed to locate anything in that mess (though if you were to ask Lilia, he would pout and insist his space was “organized chaos”).

He now stood before that very chaos.

With a feather duster in hand, and layers of protective gear on—rubber gloves concealing his hands an apron hanging off his body, a dust mask slapped onto his face—he was perfectly suited up for combat.

“This is war,” Lilia declared, pointing his feather duster at a shelf. It was carved out of proud oak, but one couldn’t tell that at a glance—dust was caked so thickly onto it that that wood appeared a deep gray rather than golden brown. “Prepare yourself~”

The grime, of course, could not respond.

“Kufufu. Here I come!”

Lilia wore a fanged grin as he brandished his weapon and flew at his target.

Fwap, thwap—he beat the duster furiously, as if fighting off a foul demon, an enemy soldier. Each powerful strike kicked up a dark cloud. Slowly restoring the color of the wood.

The furious movement shook the shelves, made the books shudder.

PLAPP!

Something rocketed from the top of the bookshelf, making Lilia jump—and the bats napping on his ceiling scatter. Startled screeches before settling back into faint murmurs.

“Oops! Oh dear, how clumsy of me.”

Lilia bent down for the fallen item—and his heart stood still.

A lone book had unceremoniously tumbled to the floor. It was sprawled wide open, displaying its contents: several photos of a pudgy, silver-haired youth.

In one picture, he was held up by the underarms, a pacifier stuck in his mouth, his little legs struggling to keep upright. In another, he was seated in a chair, a spoon of unidentified goop (presumably food) sticking out of his mouth. Playing with various toys, sleeping, making funny faces...

Lilia smiled to himself as he whisked the photo album up. That’s right... These are some of Silver’s baby pictures.

He carefully flipped to the next page, which showcased a slightly older version of the same child at a desk and with a wooden sword. The pages after, he was even more aged, having developed a stoic, handsome face and a lean body packed with muscle. Silver had grown taller than Lilia, and come to don the same uniform as him.

The beautiful ceremonial robes of Night Raven College, the neon green color and armband of Diasomnia.

“... They grow up so fast. Where did all of that time go?” Lilia giggled as he continued to wander down memory lane.

The next section of the book contained far more recent happenings, mostly school events.

There was Silver and Sebek on horseback, ever so gallant, and Silver mobbed by the local bird population. The sweat sparkling on their determined faces as they hauled fish, lumber, and magical stones. And, of course, the time Sebek chucked a cuckoo clock at Silver, and pillows at everyone else.

Then there was Lilia himself looking quite pleased as he was presented with a dish smothered in tomato sauce—the fruits of Silver’s labor in a culinary course. Posing together with their matching batons, one gifted to Silver for his birthday.

There were even photos featuring their venerable dorm leader and prince. Rare moments where Malleus would appear, a small smile at his lips—handing colorful, intricate hourglasses to his dorm members, blowing plumes of fire to spook them. Skillful fingers at a pipe organ, producing a bone-chilling song to dance to.

And, finally...

Silver.

Silver surrounded by his second year friends. Each raised a glass filled with carbonated fruit juice in a toast trapped in time. Bubbles and confetti rained down on them, their faces brimming with youth, skin outlined in streaks of color that lit up the night sky.

A fittingly flashy way to celebrate the founding of NRC.

Lilia’s heart warmed.

His hand instinctively pressed on, eager to see what was next—and he was greeted with emptiness. The next spread was comprised of two blank pages, and nothing more than that.

Ah, so this is where it ends.

Lilia laid a tender hand on the blank page. On a future yet to be written, surely full of untold fun and adventures.

... No. This isn’g the end at all. It’s just the beginning. The start of something new—a new chapter of this life.

His resolve spiked, like a sword’s blade grinding against a stone. The friction, sharpening the weapon and his mind.

Lilia snapped the photo album shut and hugged it tightly against his chest. The tome was heavy and warm, almost like a second heart. The past, the present, and the future beat and bled as one.

With faith, trust, and a little pixie dust, Lilia whispered his deepest desire into the world.

“... I hope we can make many more happy memories together, everyone.”

Here, at our Night Raven College.