#long skirts are fine but its hot and my cat tries to eat them

[thegalaxyonherlips]

This is a petition to the Lords up in fashion heaven. Please, please can I get a skirt that is not a line that just sits above the knee? My waist is real high up and I just want a skirt that doesn't make me feel like a grandma or is prone to having my whole ass hang out the back.

[remmushound]

Curse of the Clan chapter 65 FINALE!!

Tags: @scentedcandlecryptid @selfindulgenz

“LEOOOO!” Michelangelo ran over to Leonardo out of breath, colliding with his brother before he could stop himself. “Leo Leo Leo Leo Leo Leo—“

“Woah woah woah!” Leonardo laughed and put both hands against Michelangelo’s shoulders to keep the excited turtle at bay, “Where’s the fire?”

Michelangelo took a long, deep breath. “I traded face painting for a snail and traded the snail fir a painted rock and I traded the painted rock for a cane and I traded the cane for a ball and I traded the ball for a basket of muffins and I traded the basket of muffins for a kitten and I named him Klunk!”

Michelangelo shoved a tiny orange and white kitten in Leonardo’s face; Klunk gave a tiny mew and batted curiously at Leonardo’s nose before quickly being pulled back against Michelangelo.

“That’s great, Mikey—“

But Michelangelo was already running away again on the trail of a bright butterfly, which left Leonardo once more wandering in search of something to do. Everywhere he looked was something new— young yokai playing games or families swimming in the river or flying flips through the air either on wings or paragliders. Everywhere they all seemed to be having the time of their lives. None of the activities caught and kept his attention though until he happened to look over to an ice cream cart manned by a slime yokai. The current customers were a calico nekomata and an old rat.

“Dad?” Confusion came first, and then came a sneaky, mischievous grin. He rubbed his hands together not unlike a supervillain, “Ohhh this is good~”

Slowly, like he was walking across a cloud, Leonardo glided behind a tree. He pulled himself onto a higher branch to get a vantage point, watching as Splinter and the strange woman passed under; he caught a snippet of conversation.

“I can barely handle my four boys; I don’t know how you manage so many!”

“It’s not all fun and laughter that’s for sure, but most of them get adopted really quickly…”

Leonardo jumped the next tree over, silently cursing himself as a falling leaf made Splinter stop and look up. His nose twitched, eyes narrowing just the slightest bit as he stared directly at Leonardo, but perhaps not seeing him; Leonardo remained like a statue.

“Splinter, what’s the matter?” The woman came to up wrap her arms around Splinter’s arm, looking up and trying to see what he saw.

“Nothing.” Splinter said quickly, “Just thought I saw something.”

Slowly, with Splinter dragging his feet, they moved on. Leonardo saw no point in hiding anymore. Before they could get far, Leonardo dropped down in front of them.

“So do I get to be the flowergirl?”

“AH!” Both rat and cat screamed, but Splinter quickly fell to grabbing his sandal and repeatedly slapping Leonardo with it. “YOU! DUMB! DIRTY! YARO! Scared me half to death!”

Leonardo bunched himself at the assault, laughing harder with each slap as he did his best to protect his face. “I’m - sorry! It was too good to resist! Besides, flower girl is more for Mikey, I wanna be ring bearer!”

“You get to be NOTHING!”

“Now That’s just unfair!”

Splinter swung his arm around the cat to guide her quickly around Leonardo, trying his best to ignore his son's taunting presence.

“Was that your son?” The cat asked, trying to look back and steal another glimpse of Leonardo.

“Don’t look at him and maybe he’ll go away.”

***

“RENET!”

Renet stopped long enough to look around, giving a curious hum at the familiar voice. “Michael?”

“ME!”

Renet gave a startled yelp that was quick to turn into giggles when she recognized Michelangelo had come up from behind and wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug.

“HUG! Hi Renet!” Michelangelo skirted around to her front, smiling brightly, “I traded face painting for a snail and traded the snail for a painted rock and I traded the painted rock for a cane and I traded the cane for a ball and I traded the ball for a basket of muffins and I traded the basket of muffins for a kitten and I named him Klunk!” Klunk gave a soft meow. “Also! I caught a butterfly and traded it for a balloon and traded the ballon for an ice cream cone do you want it?”

Michelangelo offered a strawberry ice cream to Renet, who accepted it with a confused but excited smile. “Uh… thanks. I’ve never had ice cream before!”

She looked over the frozen treat for a curious moment, then took a big bite out of it before Michelangelo could stop her. The cold immediately seized her body and she brought a hand up to cover her mouth against the drool that tried to escape from the shock.

“Mm… cold.” She shivered, wiping her mouth once more before she let herself giggle.

“You’re supposed to lick it, not bite it.” Michelangelo encouraged.

Renet did as asked, swiping her tongue across the length of the dripping ice cream, “Mm! It’s good.”

“It’s ice cream, of course it’s good!” Michelangelo beamed, “What are you doing out here? I didn't think you left your mansion all that often.”

“Yeah I uh… I don’t.” Renet said with a giddy laugh, “Today’s actually the first day. I’ve never seen the sun before.. It’s just as beautiful as I imagined. But hot…”

Renet swiped a few beads of sweat off of her forehead. Michelangelo gasped and, out of an innocent want to help, went to grab the back of her wheelchair to push her. Renet pulled away from the attempt, rolling back around to face him while Michelangelo looked confused, and then startled at Renet’s uncomfortable expression.

“Actually I can roll myself.” She said slowly.

“OH! I— I’m sorry!” Michelangelo squeaked, head shrinking, “I was just going to bring you into the shade…”

Michelangelo motioned to the shade of a nearby tree and Renet started to roll herself over to it while Michelangelo trailed behind.

“I’m sorry.” He repeated again, “Was the hug bad too?”

“O-oh, no, you’re fine just… don’t grab my chair unless I ask you, okay?”

Michelangelo nodded quickly. “Yes Ma’am! And thanks again for, you know, making sure we don’t burn a fiery death in TCRI.”

“Oh yeah, no biggie.” She nodded; the ice cream in her hand was quickly disappearing. “I really enjoy being out here with all the sun and the grass and the bugs! Maaaan I love the bugs!”

“I didn't get out much as a child either.” Michelangelo related, “It was so fun when I got to learn about all the critters and— and watching the stars and the sun rise! And it never gets old because it’s always so different!”

“Well I’m glad to finally experience it.” Renet finished off her cone and then rolled a little further so her front was in the sun; she closed her eyes against the warmth, the light bouncing off her scales in a flashy display, like sunbeams on water. Her skin seemed to glow radiant like light amber, the baby blue headscarf catching the breeze. “The wind is like the sweetest honeydew on my skin… and it’s like I can taste the colors of the world!”

“Well, if you wanna enjoy even more of the world…” Michelangelo started, rubbing his head, “Maybe you want to come eat with me and my family?”

Renet opened her eyes and looked to Michelangelo. “I’d love to!

***

While his brothers were exploring, Donatello was content to stay at the table near the girls. He had been away for so long that there was a seemingly endless amount of social media he needed to catch up with, so he took the opportunity to get a head start on it. Occasionally April or Sunita would throw a shrimp or a burger his way to use him as a taste tester, but he didn't mind. Scrolling was certainly working up an appetite.

Something hit him in the face. Donatello groaned and reached up, having to swipe a few times before he was able to pull it off, and when he did he was hit with a wave wave of confusion. It was a cherry blossom flower— not just a petal, but a full, blooming flower! Even as Donatello held the stemless thing in his hand, it seemed to open a little wider, the dew drops on its petals dripping down and dampening his palm.

Donatello looked around and saw no tree, nor anyone carrying such flowers that could have been lost. Carefully, his fingers traced along the pink curves, soft as melted butter. He stood up, and when he did, he looked down. In the grass just ahead of him was a trail of flowers, blooming before his very eyes and stretching toward the warmth of the sun. The trail was expanding closer to him until the flowers came to him, gentle stems tickling his ankles as he lifted his feet to see the spectacle better. The blooming flowers led to a golden rift at the end of the trail, similar to Draxum’s except with flowers instead of vines. A rift identical to the one that had rescued Donatello and his brothers from The Sea of Trees.

“I told you your brothers would come.” Said a familiar voice— the kirins voice!

And then the flowers were gone, and so was the rift, and so was the voice.

“Don, food’s done.” April called, then put a hand on her hip and gave a frustrated huff when it seemed Donatello wasn’t listening to her.

“Y-yeah, be there in a second.” The hand that once held the cherry blossom felt empty now in its absence, and it took Donatello several long heartbeats to turn back to his meal. “Thanks April… it looks great.”

“It better!” April laughed, “Then again I’d bet anything looks great to you given the past two weeks you spent alone.”

“Yeah…” And Donatello looked to the table and saw a basket of berries sitting there for him, shining with a heavenly glow, “Alone.”

[purityoflust]

Hii can i have a creepypasta matchup?

I am Brazilian (so will have so bad english)

I'm Aries,rise in cancer

Im a girl and bi

appearance:

I have blonde medium hair,with hangs,i have light brown eyes i have pale skin,i wear glasses

I always wear black(with skirt ❤️,here is very hot i refuse to wear pants)

Im not to skinny(idk how my body look like so much)i have medium thighs,A slim waist, medium breasts (I consider it small), and i very proud of that i have a big butt (thank you genetic 😘)

Likes:

Witchcraft,games,music,cats, country's,horror movies,i listen to Rock/eletronic/pop history,bats,snakes, dance (i do belly dance too),pandas,flowers,cold weather (i wish it could snow here), Carnaval (a Holiday here),festa junina(a holiday too)rain,moon,yake care of myself,true crime,learn about psychopath's minds,florests,medicine,mental too

*Im scared of dogs,i was attached by dog's many times so yeah i don't deal with them

Deslikes:

Imsects,beach(rivers,lakes,sun,hot weather,liars,sushi, screams,loud sound,children basically 💀,im scared of needles(kinda ironic bcs i have a tattoo 💀)

Personality:

I make jokes about my traumas for me is hilarious (thats my way to deal with them) but i very curious and sometimes talkative,it depends how i woke up in the day(if i woke up good or bad), when i made a friend and it becomes my best friend i am kinda possessive (thats a problem i already having help with that)

I'm very jealous of everything, friends and even things

That's why I've never had a good or even serious relationship. I understand, even because no one has the patience to be with someone who is very jealous

I don't fell in love easily and i not to sensitive (training hold tears since my 11 y.o, that's a bad thing bcs nowadays i cant cry)I am ambivert,i have anxiety(i getting help with that too)

In a relationship:

I want someone that gives me attention and understand why i am so jealous(i know its hard) and deal with my mood swings,im very clingy so (poor person)i don't fell in love so easily so it will be hard,i am very shy too,but sometimes i like to flirt with people

I think is that

Bye🫂

Your matchup is: Clockwork!

GENERAL:

Hi Sugarplumb! Sorry I took so long, I was so busy. Didn't take too long to decide this match, though. I write each of the Creepypastas in my own way and had to build up the rest of the personalities, too.

YOU TWO AS A COUPLE:

Honestly, she isn't the biggest fan of witch-craft, but she enjoys watching you learn or practice it - and she helps any way she can if she needs to.

She enjoys music and LOVES rocking out with you to Rock and Pop. Dancing, too!

You like flowers, yeah? She's always getting you roses, or sunflowers - anything you prefer.

She isn't too big on the learning thing, but she likes learning about mental health. True crime isn't her big go-to since, well...she IS a murderer and she's basically family to a whole group of them. She knows how shit works.

She will beat up anyone who lies to you.

She doesn't understand how you don't like the sound of screaming, but she tries her best not to allow you to hear things such as that.

She makes sure to keep needles away from you at all costs.

Constantly compliments you and showers you with hugs and kisses.

She understands your issues and she's supportive.

She can get jealous too, and pretty bitchy, so she relates!

She's there for you 24/7.

Clockwork, AKA Natalie, makes tons of jokes as well.

Shit like "I'd rather chop off my clit and eat it than deal with this bullshit."

She also jokes about her own trauma.

She's fine with you being possessive, honestly - there's just a limit.

She will give you as much attention as she possibly can.

She's patient and softer with you, while being out there and hot-headed with others.

She's always there to help keep you relaxed when you have an anxiety attack or if you have corrupting thoughts.

Loves dressing up for you. And she loves your clothing style.

Overall a great gf.

So sorry this was so short, I'm a bit occupied and I have a few more requests to get done. BUT, I hope you like it nonetheless!

[randowolfwriter]

Rocking that Solo (Intro)- Hot Dog Dilemma

Just a little one-shot from my self indulgent Older Warners au. Might consider doing more of these if it gets enough interest. 

Summary: 

A hot dog vendor meets the strangest girl (or puppy) he’s ever seen. Little does he know, she has a few tricks up her sleeve. 

She was a weird child. Probably one of the strangest the hot dog vendor had ever seen.

At first, he figured she had really poofy hair tied back with a sparkly heart-shaped hair tie, but then she approached him and saw that it wasn’t hair, but a pair of really large ears. Rabbit ears maybe? Then he noticed that she appeared to be covered in fur, ink-black with the exception of white that covered her entire face with a red nose that looked awfully a lot like a cat’s. When she smiled, he noticed tiny little fangs that made up her canines, and when she stepped back for a bit, he noticed that she wasn’t wearing any shoes—she didn’t need any. Giant white paws were what she walked on all day, much bigger than her front paws that looked more like hands. Then the key indicator of her strange appearance was that she had a tail, a long black one that was hard to determine whether it better belonged on a cat or a monkey. She could have been an animal that just escaped from the zoo had she not been wearing a giant purple sweater with a jean skirt and asking him tons of questions like any girl her age would ask. 

Yes, this indeed was the strangest little girl the vendor had ever seen, and yet, this wasn’t the first time she had visited him that day.

“You seem like a pretty cool guy,” She beamed through what appeared to be a Liverpool accent. “I’d love to have your job.”

“What are you doing back here?” The vendor barked. “Didn’t I tell you to get lost?”

“But I know where I am, so how can I get lost?” The girl inferred.

“I told you, I’m not bringing down the price of a dog.”

“But ten dollars is a little much, don’t you think? If I ran a hot dog cart, I would give everyone in the world a hot dog, and then I’d have the rest for myself.”

“Listen, little girl?” The vendor leaned over, trying to size himself up in order to intimidate her. “Are you gonna buy a dog or what? I haven’t got all day.”

Not once did she flinch from the vendor’s harsh demeanor, instead she kept smiling with a glimmer in those dark beady eyes of hers. “Well, I probably won’t since they’re so pricey. I just thought you should know that one of your cart’s wheels is missing.”

“What?”

The vendor tried to examine the wheel from where he leaned, but unfortunately, he couldn't. It was one of the front ones, which led him to move his lazy self to examine it. Clear as afternoon it was missing, despite it was there this morning when he wheeled the cart through the park. He only had a few customers that day, and none had bothered to mess with those wheels. In conclusion, it seemed that not only was this little girl strange, but she was also a wheel thief.

“Alright, where is it?” He grumbled.

“What?” The little girl asked coyly.

“The wheel? What did you do with it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Don’t play dumb with me!” He could hear his voice raise at the girl’s bewildered expression. “I know you have it!” 

“I swear I don’t-- well, I mean I don’t swear because Daddoo says it’s not nice to swear-- but I know I don’t have it. Here, I’ll show you.”

She then reached into the pockets of her skirt and pulled out a bunch of trinkets and trash she had collected over time. “See, I have a bobby pin, two pennies, a piece of lint, a heart sticker…"

As the vendor was preoccupied with the girl, another child appeared behind the hot dog cart. Just like the little girl, he had long ears that drooped like a puppy’s, white fur on his face that covered his black fur like a mask, a red nose, and beady black eyes that made him look more animal than human. The only distinction that he was more human than animal was a green sweatshirt he wore (yet he didn’t wear any pants.) The boy stuck out his tongue nervously as he watched the little girl prattle on to the hot dog vendor about the items in her pockets; it seemed like she had a lot for just two measly pockets.

Seeing that the vendor was distracted, the boy began piling hot dog packs, bratwurst packs, hot dog bun packs, small bags of potato chips, soda cans, anything he could get his paws on and threw them into a random sack that he pulled out of nowhere. Well, more like from behind him. But how he made a sack appear from nothing was really something. 

Meanwhile, the girl did everything she could to keep the vendor’s attention on her at all times.

“See, I don’t have it. I only take things that can fit in my pockets,” she explained.

“Fine, so you don’t have it,” the vendor grumbled once more. “But how is it that it hasn’t been missing all day, and then suddenly you show up, and it’s gone?”

“Don’t know. Sounds like a ‘you’ problem.”

The boy was taking an awfully long time. Every time he grabbed a hot dog packet or a bratwurst packet, his stomach lurched – the thought of eating meat was the bane of his existence.

Suddenly, the mustard bottle slipped out of his paws just as he reached for it, and rolled right in front of the girl and the vendor. To make matters even more awkward, the vendor stepped on the bottle and it squirted a dark yellow onto the pavement.  

“Huh? How did that get there…” The vendor turned and finally noticed the boy. The boy let out a startled gasp and shivered where he stood. 

“Um, hey! Wanna see me do a dance?” The girl chirped, trying to divert the vendor’s attention back to her. She then performed a couple of twirls seeing if that'd work, but it was too late. The vendor had already noticed the thief at his stand, her partner in crime.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?!” The boy immediately closed the sack and scrambled out of there. “You have to pay for that!”

“Run, Smakko!” The girl cried as she raced after him. As the boy sped off like a frightened hare and the girl caught up to him in seconds, it was clear that the two were related.

Twins.

She was the distraction, and he was what the hot dog vendor should have been looking out for. Now here they were, little dog-monkey rascals that were better off locked up in a zoo than running away with his product.

“When I get my hands on you two, I’ll make sure you’ll get what’s coming to you!” He roared after them. 

“But you have to catch us first!” The girl shouted with a giggle. 

All through the park, the vendor chased after them. The chase felt like it went on for hours with the kids’ insane energy and the vendor’s determination to get his product back. It wasn’t until the kids ran smack dab into an officer minding his own business that they were finally caught. Immediately upon collision, he grabbed the two kids by the scruff of their clothes and held them up like noisy kittens, mostly pertaining to the girl who kicked in defiance while the boy hung there like a wet rag.

“Are these two giving you any trouble?” The officer spoke in what also appeared to be a deep Liverpool accent. He sounded a little like Ringo Starr. For some reason, upon hearing the officer's voice, the girl settled down. 

“You bet! Those mongrels there stole my hot dogs!” The vendor exclaimed, pointing a large index finger at the two. 

“Not like you were using it anyway,” The girl spat.

“Those two need to be taken back to the zoo where they belong!”

“No worries, sir. I’ll take care of them,” The large officer said, eyeing each of them with a stern glare. “Now give the man back his dogs.”

The boy then handed the vendor the giant sack. It seemed lighter than what he thought it would be. “Well appreciated, officer,” the vendor thanked.

He gave the vendor a small wave, “No need for thanks. All in a day’s work."  Then he gave the kids another stern glare. "Let’s go, pups.”

For some reason, as the officer walked off with the two kids curled in his arms, they seemed too content for having just been apprehended. Well, the boy still had that fearful look in his eyes as if it was stuck that way, but the look on the girl’s face was one that was not expected; she seemed too happy. 

The further the vendor walked away from them, the more he realized that the officer himself looked kind of strange. He looked like any other big officer just patrolling the city and keeping the neighborhood peace, yet then he remembered his face...something was off about it. It was pale, almost like it was covered in fur, he had a big red nose, and he had beady black eyes, just like those kids…

Suddenly, he stopped and opened the sack to find that his cart’s product wasn't in there, just a bunch of stuffed rubber dogs that squeaked.  

He’d been duped. Those weird kids and that weird officer were all related and they made off with his hot dogs. He wasn’t going to let them get away with it that easily. The vendor ran right up to them, his face red as the ketchup bottles that were just stolen.  

“Thieves!” He screamed at them. “Who do you think you are?”

The officer then stopped and set the kids down, “Well, I know for a fact that I’m no Bizzie.” 

Suddenly, he tore off the hat to reveal pierced dog-like ears sticking out of a baseball cap that looked like it had been beaten up over the years, especially with that giant bite mark that ate half its bill. Long unkempt black fur-- or it might have been hair-- flowed past his shoulders, while some even jutted out from his hat. Underneath the uniform, he wore a blue sweater covered with a brown leather jacket, torn jeans, and giant white paws that he walked upon just like the two kids. In likeness, this man could have been a rock star had he not had the black and white puppy-dog face like the kids and stuck out his tongue to compliment the look. 

“What are you?!” The vendor shuddered in bewilderment. He couldn’t decide whether he was some mutated dog or probably the ugliest man he had ever seen.

“Why he’s my Daddoo, silly!” The girl giggled. “I’m Jojo,” then she pointed towards the boy identical to her, “and this is my brother, Smakko." Then she held out her arms and posed, while her brother seemed hesitant to follow suit. "And we’re the Warner twins!"

“I don’t care if you were the Olsen twins. I demand that you give me back my hot dogs this instant!"

“I hope you don’t mind me asking,” the man referred to as ‘Daddoo’ asked, “but that wouldn’t happen to be your cart, is it?”

The vendor then turned to see his hot dog cart speeding right towards them. Without a moment to react, the vendor was hit right with the cart and sent flying down the path while the father and his children moved to the side just in time. Luckily for the vendor, the cart didn’t go right into the busy streets of downtown traffic, but it did crash him into a nearby tree, causing the poor man to see hotdogs flying over his head.

“Look sir, your wheel came back,” Jojo pointed out.

“Yes, I see that,” the vendor said dizzily, then passed out.

“Naughty kids,” the father scolded, “who taught you such awful manners?” Then a giant smile appeared on his face, his tongue sticking out once more. 

“Now what do you say to the nice man?”

“Thanks for the hot dogs, sir!” Jojo thanked with a wave. 

“Thank you,” The boy named Smakko only muttered.  

The hot dog vendor perked up from his short comatose just as the father, with both of his strange puppy kids, the girl clinging to him like a koala and the boy clutching the bag filled with his product, walked away. No doubt about it, this was a horrible day, both personally and economically. 

But really, why did it matter? The vendor's cart was surprisingly okay, despite the crash and the strange reappearance of the wheel. Not to mention, there was a lot more product than what the family made off with, but losing those profits was going to hurt him. He'd have to lower the price of those dogs, and bratwursts, and basically everything at his cart just to make up for the stolen product. 

He went to authorities about it, but all they did was laugh, except for one, who seemed to shake in his seat at the mere mention of puppy-kids. Like they were going to be any help. 

Eventually, the hot dog vendor had to shrug off this brash occurrence and continue with his business. People were still going to want hot dogs, and unfortunately be desperate enough to pay ten bucks for it. 

However, this strange moment like a fly in the ear returned to him one day when he was visiting his family. His nieces and nephews were busy watching an old cartoon that he remembered was on when he was a kid called “Animaniacs,” which was considered one of the greatest cartoons of the decade. Of course, he didn’t think much of it now that he was a man in his thirties, but during this particular viewing, there was something that stood out to him.

The three main kids, with those long ears, black-furred with pale white faces, those red noses, and those beady black eyes…they looked exactly like the kids that harassed him at the park. Not to mention, the boy wearing the baseball cap looked exactly like the timid boy who barely spoke a word during their encounter. The boy in the show brimmed with confidence compared to the shy nature of the boy who had the gall to steal his hotdogs, yet had his sister do most of the talking.      

Then another thought occurred to him. The father of those two children also wore a blue sweater, and his head was covered with a red cap similar to the boy’s in the show, except his was worn with age. Then there was that smile, that puppy-dog-looking face with his pink tongue sticking out as if to distract from the fact that he was a freak of nature. He also brimmed with tons of confidence. How could anyone go out in public looking the way he did, with that long unkempt hair, those piercings that bit at his ears, and the strange rock star vibe he gave off just by being near him?           

No, it couldn't be. But maybe? 

Could possibly the middle child, the hungriest, the quietest, and the wackiest of the Warner trio next to his chatty older brother and his sassy younger sister might have grown up into the man he encountered at the park? That strange man with his strange children who were also giant troublemakers like he was. Could possibly the father of those two twins might have been…

Wakko Warner?  

[isabellitah]

I DEMAND A FLUFFY KLAUS IMAGINE🤬🤬🤬

🤍 KLAUS x SIBLING

Title : safe place

Pairing : none but this focuses on Eightie's relationship with Klaus

Warning : a bit of angst at first and some cuss words

Request : I DEMAND A FLUFFY KLAUS IMAGINE🤬🤬🤬

Note : yOU WOULDN’T TELL ME IF YOU WANTED SIBLING FLUFF OR ROMANCE FLUFF SO SIBLING FLUFF IT IS AND- YOUR CAT IS ADORABLE HMPH HUGS AND KISSES FROM ME 🤧

you landed on your ass in a random alley at night on 1960 at Dallas alone

you heard a faint click from afar but ignored it

shaking your head from its daze, you stood up and left the alley- set on looking for your family

-

Klaus desperately tried to push back all his anxious thougts that immediately plagued him

Why was he here?

Where even was he?

Where were his siblings?

Luther?

Diego?

Allison?

Five?

Ben?

Vanya?

Eightie?

Oh God-

Eightie-

Wait are any of you even alive?

Was he the only one who made it?

What made him, of all people, deserving of life over his brothers and sisters?

What was he going to do now?

A sob broke out of Klaus. He- no one can help him. No- no one he knows is alive... He’s alone. Shit- he’s all alone.

-

About three days later, Klaus was starving. He hasn’t eaten anything but the leftover’s from the dumpsters and whatever people were willing to give him. He was so close to giving up- I mean- he can barely be sober; how is he meant to stop the apocalypse without any of you?

He stumbled out of the alley he came from- it’s been his home for the past few days- as he followed the familiar and enticing smell of diner food. Growing up going to Griddy’s with his siblings, Klaus knew the smell of a home-cooked style meal when he smelled one. And his stomach did too as it twisted into knots of starvation. Not bothering to think anything through, he flung open the door to the diner and dropped himself into a booth near the door. Aside from the bell on top of the door ringing, what caught nearly the entire diner’s attention were his clothes. Compared to the other inhabitants of the diner – the men’s nicely pressed trousers paired with comfortable overcoats and the women’s long skirts and petticoats – Klaus’s tattered and sleeveless army shirt, laced leather pants, shaggy hair, and dirt covered face instantly earned him the full attention of the diner.

Normally Klaus thrived off of receiving attention. But God he’s tired. He doesn’t have the energy to be happy or embarrassed- he honestly just wanted good food and his family. He was so tired that he didn’t even feel it when his eyes shut closed. The firmness of the booth chair and the cool air from the air conditioner were a nice change to a cold and unforgiving ground.

-

You’ve been here in the 60s for about two weeks now. You haven’t seen any of your siblings yet but you know they’re alive somewhere- it was a gut feeling and it was what pushed you to where you are now. Luckily you had a mini sling bag with you when you all time travelled so you had some money. And that some money which would’ve been moderate for your time, was a big amount in the 60s. You were comfortable enough to have rented a luxurious apartment and not need to work for a few years but you loved helping people. And so- you found a job here at Gladys’ Diner as ‘Tee’, and you rented a comfortable two-bedroom apartment not far from here; just in case you run into any of your siblings and they need a home. It was hard at first- making up lies on why you lived alone and how you got the money you have but- you made it. Lost in your thoughts, you didn’t hear a thing until you were called by your fellow co-worker, “Uhh, Tee?” resisting the urge to flinch, you turned to face her.

You turned to your normally happy co-worker and were immediately worried for she had a concerned look on her usually smiley face, “is somethig the matter?” In response, she discreetly pointed her pen towards the booth by the entrance. Following the pen’s direction you were immediately met with the sight of a man with dark hair and grimy skin leaning against the back of the bench with his legs stretched out across the booth under the table and eyes fallen shut. He looked oddly familiar but eh. It might be your wishful thinking once again. After all- you did imagine hearing Luther’s voice calling for Allison not that long ago- but upon looking out your window, it was just an old man so you didn’t bother. You did give that old man five dollars the next day though.

“You wanna switch for today?” you asked as she nodded in a way that instantly made you assume that she was thinking something along the lines of, ‘Better you than me.’ And so you took the notepad and pen from her and left her to cater to the counter.

Upon seeing you make your way towards the unknown man, most customers looked away while some - mostly men - continued looking just in case you needed help. Their wives did after all adore you as you had the optimism and smile of someone youthful thus bringing up this urge in them to protect you. You arrived beside the booth and put a hand on the man’s shoulder. He tensed at the contact before looking at you and once the dazed look disappeared, he stared at you in a horrified manner, “O- Oh God- Eightie- y-you’re d-” you were shocked yet elated to see your brother but you knew you had to calm him, “I’m not dead, Klausy,” you sat beside him and wrapped your arms around him as he buried his face in between your neck, “I’m right here with you, okay? I’m not leaving you any time soon.”

Seeing this, the customers looking at you looked away.

You slowly detached yourself from him- much to his displeasure, “now, Klausy, what do you wanna eat? Hmm?”

“Service water, please. And if you have any crackers, I’ll take those too, please.” you rose an eyebrow but knew arguing with him would lead to nowhere in the state he was in. Klaus started to shiver from one, the air conditioning, two his slightly wet clothes, and three, from the harsh wind that came from outside when a couple entered the diner. “coming right up, Klausy,” you felt your heart break at the state your brother was in. After returning to the kitchen to fill up a cup with water, you grabbed a pot of hot chocolate and poured some into a mug, along with a plate of buttered toast before returning to the table. Looking at your co-worker, you gave her ten dollars and upong seeing her bewildered look, you told her that this was one of your siblings who went missing a few weeks ago. Lookig at you with empathy, she gave you your five dollars back and said she’ll half with you. You tried to convince her otherwise but she was stubborn and told you to go and spend time with your brother, and that she was willing to take your shift for the remaining day. It was a calm day, after all, so it wouldn’t be much trouble. Taking off your apron, you thanked her and brought your tray to Klaus’ table.

Placing the tray down, you sat down across your brother who had his head in his hands, you said, “I put in an order for you as well. I hope you still like your eggs scrambled and with tomatoes and onions,”

“Nononono- I- Eightie I ca-” he struggled to say what he had in mind as he looked at you in panic, “Eightie- I can’t pay for this. I can’t pay for anything- I don’t have any money.”

“It’s okay, Klausy, I got you.” Y/N said with a reassuring smile.

“No Eightie. I don’t want to be anymore of a burden. I-I’m fine with some crackers,” he tried to argue, “I’m skinny, I don’t need a lot of food.” even though he knew arguing with you when it came to his health was futile.

“You’re my last customer before my shift is over, Klausy. It’s okay. Don’t worry about. You’re never a burden, okay? After this, we’re going to m- our place. You’ll shower and change clothes, I bought clothes in everyone’s sizes just in case, and we can talk- or rest. Whichever comes first.”

“... Okay,” a gentle smile fell over Klaus’s face. You talked as he ate and when he was done eating and drinking, you found your old Klausy back. Your conversation jumped from so many different topics that didn’t even relate to the other. It was chaotic- but it was fun. It was a safe place for Klaus. Being with you, that is. You’re his safe place. He remembers that now.s

-

You ended up travelling anywhere and everywhere you can with Klaus- and yes, he still ended up making his cult. It was a very... interesting thing to experience. Throughout their entire journey, they had each other as the other’s safe space. Where they could let out all their fears and worries and anxieties with no fear of being judged. The safe space where they knew they were genuinely loved for being themselves- flaws and all.

And one night, Klaus let out one of his biggest insecurities.

You were both seated in the fireplace of the mansion of one of his cult members just relaxing when he all of a sudden asked, “what’s my purpose in life?” thrown off, all that left your mouth was a “huh?”

Klaus’ chuckle had a tinged of sadness to it as he repeated his question. You thought hard on it before answering him, “you never really know, Klausy. Each decision we make leads to a different path- a different purpose each time and we can never actually guess where we’ll end up in. All we can do is try our best and hope for the best.”

It was silent as Klaus processed what you said. While he was thinking, you rested your head on Klaus’s shoulder to give him comfort.

“What if I’m in the wrong path now? What if- what if this is it for me? Like, I have a cult for me- what if that’s my only purpose in life?”

“You’re not. You know why? You found me- by accident, yes but you found me. Had you chose a different diner to enter, you wouldn’t have ever found me- we both would’ve been miserable. Also- just because you got to your goal, that doesn’t mean you’re at the destination you’re meant to be in. No matter what path you choose- I’ll always- always be here for you, okay, Klausy? I’m not leaving you anytime soon.”

With tears in his eyes, Klaus straightened his back and wrapped his arms around you, prompting you to sit on his lap. You wrapped your arms around him in return as he buried his neck into where you neck and shoulder met.

“Thank you, Eightie... for everything. For being there for me even when I couldn’t be sober to save my self. For being there when I was struggling to become and stay sober. And for being here now. Thank you for never giving up on me even when everyone else, including I, did.”

“You’re family, Klaus. And you forever will be. You’ll always be a part of my life. And just like what you told me not even a year ago, if you ever need me, I’ll be here for you. That’s what family is for.”

Klaus smiled as you continued brushing a hand through his hair.

[thecleverdame]

This Is Not A Fairy Tale - One

Alpha!Prince!Sam x Omega!Reader

Story Masterlist 

Summary: You’re a suppressed Omega who is forced into servitude after the death of your father. Your stepmother Naomi is a heartless woman who forces you to do the cooking and cleaning, while she tries to marry off her own two daughters, Alex and Claire. But your life takes a wonderful and dangerous turn when you meet the charming Prince Sam who also happens to be an Alpha.

Warnings: ABO smut, abuse, death of parents, magic

Beta:  ilikaicalie  

*This story is complete and posted on Patreon. Become a patron for a monthly pledge of $2.50 and get access to all my Patreon content. 

-

Once upon a time, you were happy.

There are faint and fading memories that still linger. The face of your father, the scruff of his beard when he kissed you and the way he held you in his arms. He was a warm, kind man with a heart of gold who taught you many useful skills, the most important being how to always find the positive in any situation.

He was your hero, a giant of a man who could do no wrong and made you feel loved and safe. The two of you were tucked away into your own quiet little corner of the world.

He met Naomi when you were eight. She was a blonde, pushy sort of woman who was used to getting her way. She smiled and cooed over you, putting on a show for your father but even as a girl you knew she was poison. There was disdain bubbling under the surface. For many years you thought back on those early days, trying to pinpoint why she harbored such immediate hate.

Now you know. She was jealous. Jealous of your father’s unwavering love and excitement in your company. She wanted him to love her the way he loved you. Perhaps if she had been his first love he could have given her his whole heart. But your mother stole it many years before you were born.

He told you stories of your mother, a strong woman who argued as fiercely as she loved. She died giving birth to you, gave her life to bring you into the world but your father never once made you feel as if it was your fault. He only spoke of how proud she would have been of the little woman you were becoming.

Life was good, despite Naomi’s harsh stares and her two boorish daughters. As long as you had your father, you were willing to share him. For reasons beyond your comprehension, Naomi made him happy, and his happiness was yours in kind.

Six months to the day after they married, your father died. It was an accident, the carriage overturned, he fell and snapped his neck. It was quick and unexpected. You sobbed on the cold stone in front of the hearth, crying into your hands and begging God to bring him back. He was all you had in the world and now, there was nothing.

Naomi didn’t turn you on you all at once. It happened slowly over time. She took the toys from your bedroom, assigned chores that previously belonged to the servants. She ensured that you worked from sunup to sundown, laboring until your fingers bled. Exhaustion drained the fight right out of you and before you knew it, the world was turned upside down.

When your first heat came you were fifteen and living the bowels of the house, sleeping on a bed of straw. You writhed in pain, screaming and crying until Naomi’s daughters, Alex, and Claire found you in a state of pure agony.

“What’s wrong with her?” Claire asked, standing next to her mother as they watched you with interest.

“Is she sick?” Alex leaned forward to inspect you.

“My Lord,” Naomi breathed, staring in disbelief. You were an Omega. She could scarcely believe her eyes. “How is this possible?”

You shouldn’t have existed.

There were only a handful of Omegas left in the world. Betas were commonplace, Alphas were rarer, but not unheard of, but Omegas were coveted, sought-after. This meant you were special, that someone would want you and she couldn’t stand the idea of you being elevated above her or her daughters.

Thirteen Years Later

“Wake up!”

The toe of a boot connects with your ribs, jarring you awake. You sit up on the floor, blinking in confusion.

“What’s happened?” You squint, staring up at your step-mother.

“Get up,” she spits, thrusting a cup of tea toward you. “The girls and I are headed into the city. We want to get an early start, so let’s get this out of the way.”

You groan, looking up at her as you take the mug from her hands. This is your morning ritual. This tea, which is more of a poison, is disgusting and bitter. It drains the life from you, twisting your stomach into a knot and causing nausea that stays with you for days at a time. It’s been slowly killing you for years and someday soon it will do its job. But it keeps your Omega at bay, suppresses your heats and urges. That’s what matters, subduing your instincts.

After she leaves you’re free to get up and begin the day in peace. You change out of your nightgown, inspecting your ribs before pulling on your only dress. The weight has been falling off for a long time, but there’s not much left to lose. Once you had hips and curves, but now you’re wasting away.

The morning chores fly by. Cleaning Alex and Claire’s bedroom takes ten times as long when they’re present. They enjoy throwing clothes onto the floor as you pick them up and hurling insults designed to keep you in your place. Naomi’s room is always the most time consuming, she likes things just so and has a tendency to follow you around, pointing out spots you’ve missed and demanding you start over.

And if you take too long, they beat you. Sometimes with a switch, other times with whatever object is the closest.

But today will have none of that. By the time the sun is high you’re finished with all your daily chores. You will often take a secret nap in the barn in the afternoon, a quick little cat nap so you can make it through the day, but this afternoon the empowerment of freedom is calling your name.

The fields in summer have always been your favorite. There are wildflowers in every direction as far as the eyes can see. You wander to the edge of the forest, then follow the stream just happy to be out in the sun and the warm blowing breeze. The birds sing, flitting from branch to branch and you get lost in the memory of better times.

Coming upon a clearing, you head to the willow tree with her branches hanging nearly to the ground. Underneath her shade, there is a soft bed of moss and you lie down, staring up at the beams of sunlight shining between the narrow leaves.

You're almost asleep when you hear the hooves of a horse. Emerging from underneath the branches you coming face to face with a tall, handsome man. He stops short, the reigns of his horse in his hands.

“I’m sorry,” he offers with a small bow. “I didn’t realize there was anyone out here.”

“I was quite hidden.” You look him over trying to decide if he’s any kind of a threat. A woman alone in the country is an easy target for rapscallions, but he doesn’t seem the sort.

His clothes alone tell you of his wealth, and his demeanor has the self-assurance of someone who’s accustomed to a position of stature.

“Would you like me to leave you?” He looks from you to his horse, his eyes lingering on your face. “I wouldn’t want to intrude.”

“There is no intrusion,” you smile. “I was under the impression that this place was my secret, but I don’t mind sharing.”

“Good,” he stares at you, a big, broad smile revealing white teeth. “I was out for a ride and decided to stop to eat. Would you like to join me?”

“Oh, thank you, but I didn’t bring anything with me.”

“I have more than enough.”

Before you have the chance to protest he’s pulling his saddlebag off the horse, and unrolling a blanket to layout on the ground.

“I don’t want to take advantage of your hospitality.” You’re nervous, small excitement at this personable stranger.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I can’t think of a better way to spend an afternoon than having lunch with a beautiful woman.”  

You blush and he chuckles, taking your hand to lower you onto the blanket. The instant his skin touches your hand you feel it, a rush of heat that seems to beeline right for your heart.

“Thank you,” you sputter focused on straightening your skirts.

“Of course.”

He’s looking at you but you don’t meet his gaze, afraid of giving away this embarrassing attraction. You’ve never responded like this to any man before, but he is quite a breathtaking specimen of the gender.

He unrolls several cloths, laying out a feast of bread, cheese, sweet fruits, and wine.

For the first time in nearly a year, your stomach settles and you enjoy the food in front of you. He was right, he has enough to feed ten men and you eat until your belly is full.

“What’s your name?” he asks, tearing away a bite of bread with his teeth.

“Y/N.” You take a sip of the wine. “And you?”

“Sam.” He watches you until you’re forced to look away. “Forgive me, I have this feeling as if we’ve met before. There’s something so familiar about you.”

“I think I would remember you.” You blurt it out before you can stop yourself, and immediately recoil. “I only meant, you’re very tall. Hard to forget.”

“Well,” he grins, breaking a piece of cheese in two, handing you half. “I would remember you as well. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a woman as magnificent as you.”

“My God,” you suck in a breath, looking away from him as your cheeks burn hot.

“Forgive me, I’m being too forward. I’m not normally this bold with someone I’ve just met.”

“Where do you live?” you ask, desperate to turn the conversation around. “Perhaps we have bumped into each other and simply don’t remember.”

“In the city.”

“I’ve been to the city many times, what district?”

He waits for a moment as if considering the authenticity of your question.

“The castle.”

The castle. Your mind processes a million tiny pieces of information all at once. The fine gold thread of his clothes, the horse, the leather of the saddle and the ruby red ring around his middle finger.

Dear God in heaven.

“You are...Prince Samuel?” you ask but you already know the answer, suddenly frightened.

“What’s wrong?” he asks, reaching out as you stand up.

“I shouldn’t be here. I shouldn’t have left the house and now I’m taking up your time.”

“Stop,” he commands and you freeze as he stands. “Please, don’t run away. While we don’t know each other, I do find your presence...calming. I can’t explain it, but I hope you might feel it too.”

You do. Your aching bones and tired body feel alive, in perfect working order.

“I am no one, my lord.” You look at the ground, unsure of why you’re so afraid. Noami has you conditioned, fearful of consequences at every turn.

“On the contrary, you are a truly remarkable creature.”

“You shouldn’t say such things.” Your eyes tick up, sneaking a look at him but only for a second.

“Right.” He shakes his head. “I don’t know what’s come over me. I’m not normally a man who speaks in such a way to a lady. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry.” You gulp, gathering courage and looking him in the eyes. “I should go home but I don’t want to.”

“I don’t want you to, either.” His jaw clenches and then he gestures toward the blanket. “Shall we sit and talk for a while?”

“I’d like that.” You sit, side by side, staring out into the field talking but not really listening because all you can focus on is how wonderful he smells. It’s a scent that grows stronger with each passing moment, curling around you like smoke and settling right into your bones.

It finally dawns on you. He’s an Alpha. You’ve never met one in person before, they’re a rarity, but the King and both his sons are Alphas. Perhaps that’s the reason for your bold demeanor.

“You live nearby?” he asks, eyes flitting from your mouth to your neck. There’s sweat pooling in the dip between his collar bones and you’re fixated on it.

“Close enough.”

“And do you enjoy...living in the country?”

“Yes, very much.”

“Will you forgive my indecency, but can I just…” he leans forward, waiting for you to stop him but you’re frozen in place.

Sam lowers his face to your neck, the very tip of his nose touching under your ear and a shiver shoots from the back of your skull all the way down to your toes. He draws in a deep breath, making a small, strangled noise before pulling back.

His eyes are lit up with surprise and confusion.

“You’re an Omega,” he whispers, looking in amazement as if you are indeed some wild spectacle.

“Yes,” you mutter, stuck in this moment, unable to move. He’s very close, inches away from your face. He’s breathtakingly handsome...this will surely be the death of you.

“I didn’t know there were any of your kind left in this part of the world.”

“My step-mother hid me away,” you explain softly, looking down at your work-worn palms.

“Who are you?” He takes your hands in his, big rough hands that squeeze you tight.

Eyes fluttering closed you try to ignore how wonderful his touch feels. You wish he would wrap his arms around you and hold you, never letting go.

“I told you.” You’re suddenly overcome with emotion, tears pooling in your eyes. “I am no one.”

“That couldn’t be further from the truth, Omega.” He’s closer now, eyes darting from your lips to your throat, then your bosom. There’s a frenzy building, you both feel it.

You whimper when he calls you Omega. No man has ever used your title before, no less an Alpha.

“I scrub floors.” Your lids flutter, breathing him in.

“I don’t care.” Two fingers touch under your chin, tilting your face up to him.

There’s an ache between your thighs the likes of which you’ve never felt before. A throb that’s emanating from your bud and sending a desperate need out in every direction. Breath flutters and the rest of the world goes silent as you both feel any semblance of restraint slipping away.

“I don’t think we should be alone together,” you say.

“No, probably not.” He doesn’t look away, still holding your face up to his. “Can I kiss you?”

You nod yes, unable to speak.

His lips are gentle at first. The warm press of his mouth is wonderful and opens up a world you never knew existed. When you sigh his tongue curls into your mouth, wet and slick over your own as he forages deeper.

Before you know what’s happening you’re lying on your back with Sam hovering above you, his mouth moving from your mouth down your jaw. He nips at your chin, teeth scraping down your throat as you roll your hips in search of more.

“Can I touch you?” he asks again.

“Yes.” Your voice is broken, but you manage at least a single word as his hand snakes under your skirt.

Long fingers trail over your thigh, moving higher and higher until he’s right there.

“Have you ever been touched before?” he inquires, the pads of his fingers moving slowly up and down close enough to your sex that he can feel the heat on his knuckles.

“No,” you admit. You’ve scarcely touched yourself, never had the inclination. But something about Sam has ignited a dormant need inside you.

He grunts, watching your face as the tip of his thumb dips between your folds. Everything down there is wet heat, and slick, dripping for his touch. He rubs his thumb up and down the length of your pussy, sinking in a little deeper but only teasing.

And then his thumb moves up to your clit and you think you might perish here and now. You’re sweating, gasping and wiggling as he rubs you with a well-placed touch. It’s not long until there’s the build up, pleasure stacking upon pleasure and the world explodes. He presses gently with two fingers either side of your clit, keeping firm pressure as you cum. Legs stiffen, toes curl and you cry out the only word that makes sense.

“Alpha!”

“Omega,” he growls back, dipping down to kiss your lips.

There’s a bulge in his trousers, pressing firm into your hip and you’d like to explore more of him when you hear the church bells ringing in the distance. The chimes shock you back into reality and you sit up, pushing him off you.

“I have to go!” You’re panicked, a shaking hand over your mouth.

“I’ll take you wherever you need to go.” Sam offers. He watches in confusion as you adjust your dress, cheeks still red from your peak.

“No! You can’t!” you sputter. “I’m sorry but I have to get back. It’s six and I need to be home when they return!”

“When who returns? Why won’t you let me-”

“I’m sorry,” you stop, standing on your tiptoes to kiss him one last time. “Goodbye, Alpha.”

Before Sam can stop you, your sprint off toward the woods.

[nokomiss]

@deadtedkord replied to your post “I’m still up for taking fic prompts! Let me know if there’s something...”

not to pop up w angst but maybe something about either bruce or steph keeping tabs on steph's adopted baby years down the line. not getting involved just, checking in every now and again to make sure that kid is safe and happy and never has to know the pain that they do. make me CRY 2020

Okay this skirts the line of ‘not getting involved’ as steph’s baby does make an appearance but this wouldn’t leave me alone! hope you enjoy <3

*

It was a slow night in Gotham, which just… didn’t feel right to Steph. So instead of cutting her Batgirl patrol short and heading home to study for the midterm she had in two days, she hit up the comms to see if anyone else needed a hand.  

Robin and Nightwing were fine, apparently eating falafels and chatting with some stray cats after interrupting a carjacking.  Tim was off with Young Justice, Jason was with the Outlaws, Babs was doing some fairly intense cold-case research that Steph knew would end with her sneezing over some dusty police file and Cass was having a movie night with Alfred.  

Steph finally asked Bruce, knowing that he always had something going on.

Being left out of a case is fine -- they all do their own investigations, there’s nothing at all unusual about that -- but there was something about the sharpness of Bruce’s voice when he said, “You’re not needed, Batgirl,” that hit Steph the wrong way.

It had felt personal, in a way things between them hadn’t in a long while.

So Steph did what she did best: ignored the hell out of Bruce’s pettiness and showed up anyway.

Immediately she could tell that she wasn’t actually needed.  The kidnappers weren’t exactly supervillain material.  The kids were unharmed and locked in a room together.

She couldn’t figure out why Bruce had tried to keep her away.

She helped zip-tie the kidnappers, who Bruce had dealt with quickly and easily while she’d still been assessing the situation and trying to find whatever hidden threat she was meant to stay away from.

And it was Bruce that she was dealing with, she realized suddenly. There was a stiffness in his shoulders, a tightness in his jaw showing that he was uncomfortable with something, and that wasn’t a Batman trait at all.  

Only the fact that the kidnappers were still conscious -- albeit dazed -- kept her from asking what was up. 

“You can go now,” Bruce said. He still hadn’t unlocked the door the kids were behind, even though Steph knew that they’d been there for hours. 

“What? There are like five kids in there,” Steph said. “I’ll help. Kids love Batgirl.”

That strange twist of his mouth again, and then Bruce said, “Okay.”

It sounded almost like he was trying to convince himself that it was a good idea.

Steph rolled her eyes as she unlocked the door. The kids themselves were totally unharmed, and the kidnappers had clearly known what they were doing in one respect: the room was stocked in juice boxes and tablets, and the kids were for the most part calmly playing games.  They ranged between roughly four and six years old, and there were loud gasps of joy when Batgirl and Batman barged into the room.

There was no clear-cut demographic of the children -- two boys, three girls, a variety of ethnicities, though Steph noticed they all wore nice clothes, clearly no hand-me-downs, and their shoes were trendy and had clean soles.  Chosen for their parents’ wallet size instead of anything more nefarious, most likely, which made Steph relieved.  

Steph’s checking the kids over, making sure everyone’s physically and mentally good when one of the girls says, “Thank you for saving us, Batgirl!”

Steph looks at her directly for the first time and felt her heart drop.

She knew that face. She’d seen it a thousand times, she’d seen it in the pictures her mom still had hanging in the hallway from her childhood. The same eyes, the same baby-fine blonde hair, the same wide smile. Other things were different -- she couldn’t stop staring, couldn’t stop seeing the shape of her mom’s jaw, her dad’s ears, and her loser ex-boyfriend Dean’s freckles and eyebrows.  

It felt like she was frozen, like the way she felt in dreams sometimes, like the air itself had solidified and moving just took too much effort.  

She could feel Bruce’s presence behind her, heard the rumble of his voice letting the kids knew that their parents would be so proud of how brave they were being, that the bad people were going to jail, that help was on its way.

She blinked, and everything rushed back into focus. And she was still standing there, dressed as Batgirl, while the girl she’d given birth to beamed up at Batman like he was the most amazing thing she’d ever seen.

“You’re welcome,” Steph tells her daughter. 

The girl smiles and flings her arms around Steph’s waist.  Her face is pressed into Steph’s belly, just inches away from the c-section scar, and Steph rests her hand on her back, wishes that she wasn’t wearing gloves so that she could feel how warm and alive and present she was.  

It’s a moment she never thought she’d have - that she’d never really wanted to have, if she’s honest, because she knew that if she held her daughter she might never let go -- and it’s over before she knows it.  The girl lets go, hurries back to the other kids, beaming and saying, “I hugged Batgirl!” like it’s the biggest accomplishment of her life.

One look at Bruce and what she already knows is true is confirmed beyond a doubt; he’s watching her carefully, like she’s something that might break. Like she’s in danger of doing something dumb.

She shook her head lightly at him, trying to show without words that she’s not going to break, that she’s not going to try to do something stupid, that she’s-- 

That she’s happy and sad and trying very, very hard not to think about the fact that her daughter is four years old and has survived her first kidnapping.  

They lead the kids out of the room, shielding them from the kidnappers with their capes. Bruce lets her accompany her daughter, holding her hand and marveling at the way her little fingers curled perfectly into Steph’s, the way her daughter held her head high, tears unshed.  

“You are so, so brave,” Steph tells her, because she’s never going to have this chance again, and she’s wearing a mask, and her daughter is looking at her with something akin to hero-worship in her eyes. Steph remembers being little and seeing Batman and the way the thought of heroes out there making the world safer had made her feel, and it twists something inside all sharp and intense to think of her daughter feeling that when looking at Steph. “Always remember that. You’re incredible, and your parents are so lucky to have you.” Quieter, because she had the chance, and she knew better than to squander a chance -- “Your mother’s so proud of you.”

“She’s gonna be, I didn’t cry hardly at all,” the girl says, and Steph’s heart twists again, because there’s sweetness and love and pride in her expression at the thought of her mom seeing how brave she was. This is a girl who is happy, who is loved, who will have the best possible life.

Steph smiled at her as widely as she could and waved, not trusting her voice. 

Before she leaves, she sees a woman break through the line of cops and cry out, “Hope!”

Steph’s daughter runs into the woman’s arms, and just like that, the spell is broken, and she’s not Steph’s daughter anymore. She’s someone else’s daughter, a woman who is sobbing with relief that her little girl is unharmed, who is clinging her daughter so tight that the girl -- Hope, her name is Hope -- is pushing away at her, is laughing and talking a mile a minute about her ordeal, and Steph hears her voice, crystal-clear, say, “Batgirl rescued me, Momma, she said I was brave.”

Steph barely makes it out of sight -- there’s a building, two blocks over, and the roof has an abandoned, overgrown garden, and Steph likes to go there, sometimes. She’s standing in the overgrown garden and Bruce is hugging her, and she’s laughing and crying all at once. 

“Hope,” she says into Bruce’s chest, conscious of the fact that minutes before, she’d been holding her own daughter like this. “You knew that already, didn’t you?”

“You know I’ve been keeping track of her.” Bruce’s voice is gentle,  “Do you want to know anything else?”

Steph shakes her head, still pressed tight against the Batsuit -- the smell of kevlar and sweat and faintly, leather -- but then asks, terrified of the answer, “That-- she hasn’t had experiences like that before, right?”

She doesn’t even really want to know the answer, doesn’t want to know if her daughter had been doomed from the start, if her bad luck was somehow genetic, but Bruce replies. “She’s never been targeted before, no. She handled herself admirably.”

“She did, didn’t she?” Steph said, obscurely proud. She doesn’t really want to but she lets go of Bruce, steps back to sit on a wrought-iron bench.  In the daylight it would be scorching hot, but at night, the metal is cool and inviting.  

Bruce sits beside her.

“I know I shouldn’t have gone,” Steph says, because acknowledging her own fuck-ups is something she’s used to, “and I’m glad you tried to keep me away.”

“I didn’t intend for you to find out about this,” Bruce said. “I know the topic is… painful.”

Steph opened her mouth to tell Bruce he had no idea, to try to put to words the conflicting swirl of emotions-- not regret, exactly, because she knew with bone-deep certainty that she’d made the right decision to not raise her daughter, to keep her away from the wreckage that had been her life the past few years, but a more abstract feeling of sadness that the circumstances had been necessary at all in the first place. A wish of what might have been, had she been older, had she been prepared, had she not grown up the way she had.  A thought that at some point in the future, things might be different.

But then she realized that Bruce, out of everyone, actually would understand. He had children. 

“My mom told me,” Steph began, unsure as to how Bruce would take this, but knowing she had to set the words free that were bubbling up in her throat, “that kids, whether or not they were yours, are the one thing in the world guaranteed to break your heart.  Because you want so much for them, you want them to have everything that you never had, that could never possibly be, and that-- that it’s impossible. You can’t remake the world, can’t make it a kinder place. You just have to live with it. That loving a child meant pinning your heart to your sleeve, and having to suffer the consequences.”

Bruce didn’t say anything, but reached over and clasped her hand in his own. 

“I think-- I think she might have been wrong. About not being and to remake the world, because that’s what we do every night. And she was right, but… I know she didn’t want me to go through everything I had.” Looking back, she’d been a lot younger than she’d realized when she’d been pregnant. Just a few scant years older than Damian, and he was so firmly a child in her mind that it made her reconsider all those feelings she’d had at the time of being grown-up.  She hadn’t felt it at the time, but she was older now, had a world of experiences that shone a light on exactly how young she’d been when she’d gotten pregnant.

She knew that to Bruce, she likely still was a child. Right now, she didn’t feel it. 

“Like, I knew she was out in the world before,” Steph said. “But now… She’s real, in a way that she wasn’t before.”

“Her life is significantly safer than ours,” Bruce said, reassuringly. She could hear the truth of it in his voice, trusted him on this.  Then he said, “I knew you didn’t want to see her.” There was no condemnation in his voice, only understanding, but Steph felt compelled to defend herself anyway. 

“I wanted to see her so badly,” she said. She couldn’t look at Bruce, just looked at the tangle of dying plants around them, at the Gotham skyline, all soft lights and sharp edges, beyond that. “It felt like losing part of myself at first, but I knew… I knew what her life would be if I kept her. What my life would be.”  She took a deep breath. “If I’d held her, and wasn’t strong enough to let her go afterwards, I would have been condemning us both.”

Now it seemed unfathomable. She wouldn’t be Batgirl now, she knew that much. Would never have been Robin. Spoiler might have been laid to the wayside, like it had when she’d been pregnant, but she remembered how she’d longed to go out in the night even when her belly made her waddle and struggle to sit up. Likely she still would have figured out a way.

But she wouldn’t have taken the risks she had. Wouldn’t have thrown herself into things as wildly. She probably wouldn’t have died, wouldn’t have broken her mother’s heart, wouldn’t have caused all the grief she could still sometimes see in Tim and Cass’s face when it was alluded to.

Instead, she knew the path her life would have taken: trying at first to stay in school, but working long hours. Her mom being forced to babysit every spare moment, life turning into a never ending scheduling conflict. Quitting school in favor of a minimum wage paycheck and abandoning hope of becoming something greater, something more. She might have managed a nursing degree, her own mother had with an infant at home, but she’d seen that path, too. 

She wouldn’t be here, now: sitting on a rooftop with Batman, filled with a flurry of might-have-beens, having just saved a roomful of children who looked up to her with something akin to worship. Wouldn’t be worrying about a midterm in biology. 

And the woman she’d seen, the one who’d loved her daughter enough to elbow her way through a police line, wouldn’t have that. 

“She looked so loved,” Steph said.

“She has good parents,” Bruce said. “She’s taken care of. Cherished.”

“She seemed okay, and the kidnappers were jokes, but they didn’t… this isn’t going to hurt her, is it?”  Steph had been kidnapped plenty, had been involved in various criminal acts even younger, and she knew it had skewed the way she looked at the world. 

“She attends a preschool,” Bruce said. “They were meant to be going on a field trip to a farm outside of town. One of the kidnappers disguised themselves as the van driver, while the others distracted the teachers. One of the other children on board’s father is the director of a medical group, I understand that there are delays with getting treatment for the child of one of the kidnappers. She was never harmed.”

Oh. That explained the juice boxes, they loved their own child enough to do something desperate to save them.

“That kid’s going to get the treatment it needs, right?” Steph already knew the answer but asked anyway.

“They’ll get a letter from Wayne Memorial this week,” Bruce confirmed.

Steph had another question, one that Bruce likely wouldn’t answer. Shouldn’t answer, but she wanted confirmation. “Did… Does it feel different, with Damian, from the others?”

Bruce took a minute to think, long enough that she knew he was answering her underlying question with care. “At first. The others, I chose. I brought them in, I thought it through, I knew them and wanted them in my life. Wanted to make a home for them. I didn’t choose him. And at first, if anything, it was harder.”

Steph listened. She wasn’t sure if Bruce had ever spoken of this out loud.

“But then it was like he’d always been a part of my life, just like the others, a part that was irreplaceable and unique but that I loved in the same way.” 

That settled something within her, something she hadn’t realized was bothering her. 

A long pause, then Steph broke the silence. “How do you do it?”

Bruce looked at her, waiting for clarification.

“Send your kids out there every night,” Steph said.  She could still feel the way her heart had dropped when she’d realized that her daughter was in danger, and couldn’t fathom what it would be like knowing her child was out trying to punch supervillains in the face. “Doesn’t it scare you?”

“Every day,” Bruce said. “Every night.”

She wondered if he was thinking about Jason’s death, about all the close calls. About how Damian flung himself into danger so recklessly, like he still believed he was invincible. The way all kids thought they were invincible. About Dick, Tim, Cass. About all of his children, choosing the fight over safety every time.

 She wondered if he was thinking about her in Leslie’s clinic, clutching his hand and dying.

Bruce continued, looking down at their currently clasped hands. “I have faith in their ability to keep themselves as safe as possible. I train them as best I can, make sure they have the best equipment. Try to always know where they are, in case I can help. But mostly… your mother was right. Having kids is putting a piece of yourself out in the world and not knowing if it’s safe or not, and being grateful for every day that it is.”

He’d been careful with his words, never said you, but Steph could feel the weight of a small fortune’s worth of equipment and technology in her suit, in her belt. The communicators that shared her location. 

The way he’d tried to protect her by trying to keep her away tonight, so that she wouldn’t have to face this complicated churn of emotions.

She rested her head on his shoulder and mumbled, “Thank you. For everything.”

She felt him shift, and the slightest hint of pressure as he pressed a kiss into the top of her cowl.  

“There’s a file, if you want to know more about her.”

She’d known that, from the moment she’d made him promise to keep her baby safe.  She knew Bruce didn’t do half-measures, that he took each promise he made as a lifelong commitment.  She’d known that, and she’d never consciously thought about it, because it was too much. “No, I think-- I think I saw enough.”

She’d seen a child deeply loved, a child that was brave and beautiful and bright.  That flung herself at heroes, safe in the knowledge that they were only there to help.

She’d seen all she needed to know that her daughter was living the life she’d hoped to have herself as a child. That she was living the life that Steph had hoped for when she’d signed those papers.  

That this was one glorious instance of one of her choices going exactly right.

[artificialqueens]

That's so Sharon Needles (Shalaska) - Needles4prez

Summary: Sharon had convinced herself for a while now that Alaska had probably entirely moved on from their past years spent together.

AN: This is a short messy fic I quickly wrote after a pretty rough week. It’s cheesy and fluffy and extremely dumb. My apologies if the writing quality is poor, plenty of wine will do that to ya! I’m working on some more serious multi chapter fics for later, but figured this’ll do for now. <3

Simple 1.8k words

Sharon had convinced herself for a while now that Alaska had probably entirely moved on from their past years spent together. It’d been two months since they’d broken up and stopped talking and Sharon couldn’t prevent the thoughts of Alaska hooking up with other people. It was wrong to be fazed by the idea of someone you love bettering themselves by moving on, Sharon knew that much. And, yet she still dreaded the return to her apartment in Pittsburgh, every single night. Sharon hadn’t moved on. She was however, a good liar. Sharon Needles had the ability to plaster on a confident smile that told the world with ease, that she, simply needed no one to rely on for anything. Maybe it’d be an inspiring message to project to everyone, if it hadn’t been so damn untrue. Parts of Sharon’s life were blessed, she ensured that she never found herself becoming ungrateful for all that her friends and chosen family have done for her. She had secured a strong career for herself, built her life from the ground up, and succeeded in receiving a rewarding paycheck at the end of each month. All was well, to the eye of an outsider. But, no one saw the Sharon who would have outbursts, cursing Alaska’s name as any minor thing goes wrong.

Their apartment was much messier now that Alaska was gone, beer cans were scattered all over the floor’s surface, no longer a pretty blonde there to gladly pick them up after her self-proclaimed PBR Princess. Cooking rarely took place anymore, Sharon stumbling into the poxy home space in the late hours, occasionally able to catch a takeaway place in time. Sure, neither her or Alaska had been fantastic cooks to begin with, but they made it work. It was an enjoyable experience, laughter erupting from the two of them as they regularly managed to burn the bottom of their pan with something as simple as pasta bake. Sharon at most times can feel her mind slipping away, and next thing she knows, she’ll be stood in the centre of her kitchen envisioning Alaska wrapping her arms around her waist, slender arms squeezing with nothing but love. The worst times were always at night, and they only worsened when Sharon had to lay alone in bed, alienated and desperate for her previous lifestyle to somehow snap back into existence. Usually clinging to her cat Cerrone, or sometimes a pillow, in dire need for any form of touch; it constantly felt impossible to adapt to whatever this pitiful routine had become. Though it wasn’t easy, Sharon had for the past two months, avoided her most nearby gay bar like the plague. It would’ve been naive to think that she would manage to not come into contact with Alaska, and Sharon knew it’d hurt with more than she could handle if she did see her. Alaska would blatantly be doing just fine, upbeat and left scarless from the painful break up, while Sharon is cut and resentful. At least, that’s how things had been going before that night. That night at 11 PM where Sharon discarded the half-empty Chinese noodle box on her kitchen counter, assured herself she was better than this - she was Sharon Needles after all, and took out her favourite silk black dress from her closet, changing and throwing on a pair of heeled knee-high boots that flattered her shapely legs. A few years after being with Alaska, Sharon had admittedly started to eat much better and regularly than before, the tiniest sight of podge seeping above the tight fit of her undergarments. She was tired of weeping each night with no one by her side, tired of being terrified of the mere thought of bumping into Alaska at the bar they both loved so dearly, tired of pretending that she’s okay without the tall girl who had been her companion for almost 3 years now. It was ridiculous, maybe even pathetic. Sharon Needles had been fooling herself for two whole months now, and for what? If any time was her time, it was now. It was likely the alcohol that’d built up this steep hill of courage, and it worked for her. So, proudly, she slipped essentials into her purse, and exited her apartment complex, headed for the Blue Moon. The cold weather lingering on the streets brought a small chill to Sharon’s exposed skin, goosebumps rising and tickling the back of her neck, trailing its way down past her shoulders, and to the very bottom of her arms. She should’ve worn her leather jacket, but she knew if she spent any more time in her apartment, that this sudden rush of pride and bravery, would soon slowly fade. She brushed off the sensation, caressing her arms softly and swinging her long black hair over her shoulders and quickening her pace with determination. “Ouch, watch where you’re going for fucks sake!” A voice hisses, the sounds of whines and whimpers following behind. “Shit, I’m sorry.” Sharon quickly recovers from her collision with the other lady, holding out a hand apologetically for the girl who’s ass is currently on the sidewalk. The stranger reaches for the hand, and only as her head tilts up to connect her eyes with the clumsy person in front her, does it become clear to Sharon that it’s Alaska who’d toppled over. They stay silent for a moment as Alaska’s petite self gets heaved up, and Sharon can’t help but flush crimson at the awkward encounter. Prior to this, Sharon had rehearsed manys ways that the two would reunite, but this - was certainly not one of those ways. The blonde was repping a hot pink lipstick topped with a gloss, smokey eyeshadow, an obnoxious red bow the colour of Sharon’s cheeks tied into her tall ponytail, a tight red cocktail dress that fit her slender body perfectly; fabric clinging to her slim figure, hugging her long thin legs which made their existence known with thanks to the absence in length of the dress. Sharon tried not to stare too hard, but the way she had wiggled her body to get back on her feet caused the skirt of her dress to hitch up even higher. “I miss you, Alaska.” Sharon had never been one to beat around the bush, the intensity of her bluntness normally too much for people to know how to work with. It wasn’t always quite this bad, however. “How many beers?” It wasn’t an angry response, infact, the words were hushed like a whisper. Alaska was the only person who truly knew Sharon beneath the surface, the only person who had seen her vulnerable side, the self-doubt, the lack of confidence. She wasn’t stupid, this boldness stemmed from someplace else than just her natural mindset. “Two,” Sharon wanted to deny having had any, but knew better. She shoved her hand into her purse and rumadged it around blindly in search for a cigarette, or maybe a vape, or maybe a beer - any vice that would help in coping with whatever the fuck this was. A pack of cigarettes were closest to her grasp, so she settled for one and slipped it between her lips, bringing her lighter up and letting out a curse of aggravation under her breath as it stubbornly fails on her a couple times. Alaska snatched the lighter out from her hand, lazily pushing it back into Sharon’s purse with one hand, and stealing the cigarette with the other. This time, she places it between her own lips, holding in a cackle at the sight of Sharon who’s smiling smugly at her as she lights the cigarette with her much more trustworthy lighter, exhaling the smoke and blowing it over to Sharon’s face. “Why wait so long if you missed me that much?” Alaska huffs childishy, raising an eyebrow questioningly, and also, a little teasingly. Alaska had been impatiently waiting like a Princess in a tower for Sharon to cave into the pain of the quiet two months, admittedly experiencing aches in the pit of her belly as time continued to pass and concern began threatening her. “Oh, wait, did I say, I missed you? I was talking about Cerrone, he missed you.” She received an audible groan and a pair of rolling eyes for that one. Alaska purposely breathed out more smoke in Sharon’s direction and her lips suddenly curled up into a knowing smirk, one that Sharon had been all-too familiar with. “I have a boyfriend, anyways…” She trailed off, head tilted in favour to her left with two fingers now pressing on Sharon’s bottom lip. Sharon instinctively parted her lips and adjusted her head to take both the fingers in her mouth, sucking long and frustratingly slow; provoking a small gasp from the content blonde. Alaska snappily dropped the cigarette to the floor and crushed it with her pink heel, quickly returning back to Sharon who’s in a state of complete awe, dragging her fingers out of her mouth and down to Sharon’s chin, ensuring a stripe of dark lipstick marks the journey. “Even if that were true, you know you’ll always be mine.” Alaska shrugged but never denied it. Sharon, getting impatient, grabbed Alaska’s head and pulled her in for a passionate and heated kiss. Alaska’s arms snaked around Sharon’s neck and forcefully brought them closer till their chests slammed together in a motion on the verge of hurting. Sharon’s hands crept down to Alaska’s ass and she groped it, squeezing tightly at the sensation of Alaska’s tongue slipping into her mouth. Sharon could taste the smoke on Alaska’s tongue as it sloppily grazed along Sharon’s teeth and licked a stripe along the roof of her mouth before diving down to tangle their tongues together in an intertwining mess. The actions continued and repeated themselves for a while, until the two collectively pulled back panting and both in search for air. “I love you Alaska,” Sharon’s breathing was still a little unsteady, and her usually haunting tone was trembling as though she were a teenager all over again.  

“I love you too, Noodles.” Sharon bent herself down to be around level with Alaska's stomach, her arms holding securely around the tiny waist of the the tall girl, lifting her up and swinging her body over her shoulder. Alaska is pulled into a fit of girlish giggles as her head dangles about only able to see Sharon’s back, excitedly kicking her legs about while Sharon begins to retrace her steps from earlier and return back to their apartment. “Cerrone’s gonna be ecstatic to have his other mom back.” They both chuckle like little kids and Sharon feels at home again. Truthfully, she couldn’t recall the exact reason for their breakup in the first place, it was likely a petty drunken fight that only resulted in a breakup because neither wanted to apologise first. Within the time frame of almost three years, it hadn’t been the first time a messy breakup had occurred.

“Hey, you know, this kinda felt like the other night when I was carrying that corpse back to my place.”

“That’s so you, Sharon Needles.”

*

Sharon awoke to the blaring sound of her phone’s alarm. She reached her arm over to her bedside table to shut it off, and when she settled back into bed she sprawled her legs out, expectant to feel the warmth of her lover. Instead, her comfort dissolved at the sensation of; nothing. She was still alone, the exact same as every other night before. It had been pure fantasy. She clutched onto her sheets and shoved her face into the stack of pillows all piled on her side of the bed, crying angrily at herself. Moments had been bad, but this was evil.

[navek15]

Fairy Tail: The Bravestar Saga Ch. 1

Author's Note 1: Fairy Tail: The Bravestar Saga is a non-profit fanfiction series.

Fairy Tail and Fairy Tail Series II are all owned by A-1 Pictures, Satelight, Bridge Madman Entertainment, Funimation TXN, Kodansha, and Hiro Mashima.

Any original characters and concepts are owned by Navek or xpegasus.

Please support the official release.

In a land far, far, away lies the Kingdom of Fiore. A small and peaceful nation of about 17,000,000 and a place filled with magic. Found in every home, bought and sold in every marketplace. For most, magic is merely a tool, a mundane part of everyday life.

For some, however, magic is an art, and they've devoted their lives to its practice. These are the Wizards. Banded together into magical guilds, they ply their skills in search of fame and fortune. Many such guilds dot the landscape of Fiore.

But there is a certain guild in a certain town that sores high above the rest. One from which countless legends have been born. A guild that will no doubt continue to create legends well into the future.

Its name is Fairy Tail. And this is the story of one such legend.

                     Navek and xpegasus present

                               A Fairy Tail Story

                      Fairy Tail: The Bravestar Saga

                    Chapter 1: A New Legend Begins!

Hargeon…

The sound of seagulls cawing and the waves crashing against the beach sang through the air as early morning rolled over the port town of Hargeon. The daily 9 AM train had arrived in town, and the sounds of feet reverberated through the station as passengers got off and boarded the train. Among the passengers getting off was an interesting group of young adults consisting of two men, a woman, and a cat.

The cat had blue & white fur, a green backpack, and black eyes. But the most interesting thing about this cat was its very long tail and the fact that it stood upright on two legs.

The scrawnier of the two men had scruffy brown hair, green eyes, and lightly tanned skin. He wore a black t-shirt, a pair of brown goggles with green lenses around his neck, blue jeans, a silver bracelet with two green gems on his left wrist, green and white sneakers, and a pair of black gloves. However, the right glove left his thumb and pinky exposed, while the left glove only covered his thumb and pointer finger.

The lone woman outdid her male companions in both height and muscle mass. She had long orange hair tied in a ponytail, purple eyes, tan skin, a sleeveless red shirt, red fingerless gloves, white bandages covering her forearms, purple leggings, and black boots.

Rounding off the group was the second male who was wearing a long-sleeve red jacket, a white scale patterned scarf, an orange-trimmed black kilt over his baggy white pants, black sandals, and a green backpack. He had black eyes, spiky pink hair, and was currently writhing in pain on the station floor.

"Oh, thank the founders! It's over!" the pink-haired man said.

The woman sighed and helped the queasy man onto his feet. He leaned on her shoulders.

"Thanks, Alyssa."

"No problema," she said with a smile. "But now…"

"Oh, crap," the pink-haired man said as he saw the blue cat handing the brunette a bottle of nasty-looking green liquid.

"Come on, Natsu," the brunette said. "You gotta drink it."

"But it's so gross!" Natsu cried as he tried to walk away, only for Alyssa to put him into a shoulder hold. "Hey, wait!"

"Sorry, hun. But Zeke's right," she replied with an apologetic smile. The brunette uncorked the bottle, only to sigh as Natsu shut his mouth tight.

"Happy."

"Aye, sir!" the cat replied with a salute before pulling a feather out of his backpack. Happy approached Natsu's feet and began to tickle his toes. Natsu tried his best not to laugh, but it was a fight he quickly lost. The instant Natsu opened his mouth, Zeke shoved the bottle down his throat.

"Just drink already," Zeke shouted in annoyance, the crowd taking in the strange sight as mothers told their children not to look at them. After Natsu finally swallowed the green liquid…

"Oh, man! I feel like a new man!" Natsu excitedly exclaimed with his arms raised, Alyssa giggling while Zeke rolled his eyes.

"Honestly, man. You don't need to be such a baby about taking your medicine," Zeke said as he tossed Happy the empty bottle.

"Well, that's Natsu for ya," Happy replied as he put the bottle back in his backpack.

"Easy for you guys to say! You don't have to drink that crap!" Natsu shouted back before turning around to face the city. "Alright, enough stalling. Time to go look for Igneel!"

"Got it!" Alyssa said as she ran after him.

"Aye, sir!" Happy said.

"Hey, wait for me!" Zeke exclaimed as he and Happy chased after their friends.

In another part of town, a blonde girl grumbled as she stomped through the streets. She had an hourglass figure, blonde hair tied in a side ponytail with a blue bow, brown eyes, pink heart-shaped earrings, a blue & white shirt, a black wristband on her right wrist, a blue skirt, and black boots. On her right hip was a key ring that held gold and silver keys, and on the other side was a black whip with a brown handle.

'I can't believe that old geezer only dropped the price down by a couple of thousand Jewels,' the blonde thought to herself. 'Nice to know what my sex appeal is really worth.' However, her attention was drawn in when she saw a large crowd gathering in the town square. 'Huh. I wonder what that's about.'

Back with the strange quartet, they had begun their search.

"IGNEEL!" Natsu shouted at the top of his lungs, scaring away some birds as he looked around. Near him, Happy came back up from a sewer entrance.

"Well, he's not down there," the blue cat reported. Nearby, Alyssa lifted a dumpster over her head like a feather, spooking the raccoon that was sleeping under it.

"Nope," she replied before looking up. "You see anything, Zeke?!"

The brunette was on top of a roof and hanging on to a weather vane, his goggles over his eyes. "Nope. Everything looks fine!" Zeke leaped off the roof before ricocheting off the alleyway walls and onto the street. "You'd think it'd be easy to spot someone like Igneel."

"I hate to say it, but maybe that clue we got was a dud," Alyssa said. Natsu frowned as he began to think the same. But suddenly, the quartet heard some women screaming excitedly.

"It's Salamander!"

"He's so hot!"

"I hear his fire magic is insane!"

"You guys think that might be him?" Zeke asked.

"Let's go find out!" Natsu shouted as the four ran towards the commotion.

In the middle of Hargeon's town square, a large group of women had gathered together and were swooning over the man in the center of the crowd. He was a slim man in his early thirties with sharp and angular features, a blue undercut, and a heavily stylized "X" tattoo above this right eyebrow. His outfit consisted of a white button-up shirt, a dark purple cape with high collar and sun symbols on either side, dark red pants, and several rings on his hands.

Among the crowd of swooning women was the blonde girl from earlier, looking at the man with astonished eyes and a blush on her cheeks.

'What the hell's going on?' she thought as her heart began to race, and her cheeks warmed with a blush. The feeling only intensified when the man winked at her. 'Could…this be…'

"Scusi! Coming through!" Alyssa said as she and others cut through the crowd. Natsu began to shout as they reached the center.

"Igneel! Igneel! It's me, Natsu!"

Everyone's attention was turned to the sudden arrival of the odd-looking strangers. When the blonde saw the four, all of the strange feelings in her chest suddenly vanished, and she realized what had happened.

"Who the hell are you?" Natsu asked.

"Who am I? Why, I am the great and mighty fire Wizard known as Salamander," the man smugly stated. "Surely, you must've heard of me."

"Can't say that we have," Zeke said, only to notice all the girls were now glaring at the four with murderous intent, which was then followed by them shouting some very colorful words at them.

"Now, now, my lovelies. No need to be rude," Salamander said. He pulled out four pieces of paper with his name on them. "Would you four care for my autograph? That way, you get something to brag about to your friends."

"Why the hell would we-" Natsu began to say.

"Thank you! We'll just take those and be on our way," Zeke said with a nervous grin, feeling the glares of the angry women boring into him. He quickly grabbed the autographed papers and pushed his friends away from the crowd. "Toodle-loo."

As the four left, Salamander told the ladies they were all invited to a party on his yacht later that night before taking off on a stream of fire.

"Guess that wasn't him," Happy commented.

"So is it me, or did that guy seem like a real creep?" Alyssa asked.

"That's because he is a creep." The four turned and saw a blonde girl approaching them with a thankful smile.

"Hi, my name's Lucy."

A little while later, the group was eating at a local restaurant. Lucy offered to treat the four to a meal…and was immediately regretting that decision. While Zeke and Happy's meal only consisted of a grilled chicken salad and a fish respectively, Natsu and Alyssa wasted no time ordering everything on the menu.

"It's nice that you offered to cover lunch…" Zeke began to say as his friends dug into their meals with gusto. "…but I probably should've warned you how much these two can pack it in."

"No, it's fine. I owe you guys one anyway." Lucy sighed out as pieces of food began to fly everywhere. 'There goes all the extra money I saved.'

"Anyway, we should probably introduce ourselves," the brunette said. "I'm Ezekiel, but my friends call me Zeke. The big lady is Alyssa, the spike head is Natsu, and the cat's name is Happy."

"Okay…but why can he talk?" Lucy asked.

"Because I'm a cat," Happy replied before going back to munching on his fish. Lucy looked at Zeke for a better answer, but the brunette just shrugged.

"Not that I'm complaining, but how exactly do you owe us one?" Natsu asked through a full mouth.

"Well, that Salamander guy was using some sort of Charm Magic. That's why all those women were falling over him," Lucy explained. "I got caught up in it too, but when you guys came barreling through, I was able to snap back to reality."

"Really. I thought Charm Magic was illegal," Zeke said as he began to contemplate something. As he did, Lucy realized something.

"That reminds me. Alyssa, you were right next to that creep. Why weren't you affected by his charm spell?" Lucy asked the orange-haired woman. The taller woman swallowed her food before answering.

"Well, it's quite simple, Lucy," Alyssa said before wrapped her arm around Natsu's shoulder, bringing his head to her shoulder and smiling. "It's because I've already been charmed by the sweetest man in all of Fiore."

"Aw, shucks," Natsu said with a blush and a smile. "No need to go that far, babe."

'Oh.' Lucy thought to herself, realizing that the pinkette and amazonian woman were an item. And Alyssa placing a hand under his chin and making him look in her eyes confirmed it.

"But, you deserve every bit of praise, amore mio."

"Ooh, I love it when you talk all fancy," Natsu said as he wrapped his arms around Alyssa's waist. Lucy could swear that the air around them began to sparkle as they looked into each other's eyes.

"Oh, Natsu," Alyssa said dreamily.

"Oh, Alyssa," he replied.

"Oh, Natsu."

"Oh, Alyssa."

Zeke and Happy sweatdropped as the couple repeated each other's names like a mantra. "They're at it again," the cat stated.

"Nice going, Lucy."

The blonde girl laughed in embarrassment. "By the way, you guys said you were looking for someone named Igneel, right?"

The question broke Natsu and Alyssa out of their couple's trance, as Alyssa answered. "That's right. Igneel is Natsu's dad. We heard a rumor that a Salamander was in Hargeon, so we decided to stop by and look around."

"Too bad that guy was a total dud," Happy said with a sigh.

"No kidding. He looked nothing like a dragon." Natsu stated. "I bet he can't even breathe fire."

"So, your dad looks like a dragon?" Lucy asked, trying to imagine how someone could resemble a dragon.

"No, he doesn't look like a dragon. He is a dragon," Natsu answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Lucy was stunned when she heard this. As fantastical as their world was, dragons were considered to be creatures of myth and legends. But there was also something else that she freaked her out.

"Why the hell would a dragon show up in the middle of a fishing town?!" Lucy exclaimed in shock. Natsu and Happy suddenly got a widened eyed look as the realization hit them like a sack of bricks.

"Ya, I didn't want to say anything…" Zeke spoke up with an awkward look. "...but I was thinking that Hargeon looked way too intact for supposedly being visited by a dragon."

"I was actually thinking the same thing," Alyssa said sheepishly. "Sorry, sweetie."

After paying the check, Lucy got up and left. However, as she turned back, she saw Natsu and Happy prostrating themselves on the floor while Zeke and Alyssa bowed.

"Thank you for the meal!" The four said.

"Stop it! You're embarrassing me!"

"Well, we need some way to repay you," Alyssa said. Natsu's face lit up as he got an idea.

"Here ya go!" Natsu said as he handed Lucy one of the autographs Salamander gave them.

"No, thanks," Lucy replied with a flat look.

And then…

"Wow, looks like Fairy Tail's at it again," Lucy said with a chuckle as read the newest issue of Sorcerer Weekly. After parting with the four weirdos, the blonde girl decided to relax at the local park and read one of her favorite magazines. "This time, they wrecked a bell tower."

Indeed, a news article detailed a team of Fairy Tail mages called Bravestar and their fight against a group of bandits in a small countryside town. However, the battle resulted in massive collateral damage, including the town's iconic bell tower.

"I wonder why I can't find a picture of those guys," Lucy said to herself. "Then again, if I caused that much damage, I'd probably high-tail it before anyone took a photo."

She flipped the page, showing the weekly centerfold featuring the Fairy Tail mage Mirajane. "And Mirajane's as gorgeous as ever." The blonde commented as she began to think out loud. "I wonder what I'd need to get into a magic guild like that. Is there a trial? Or I do gotta submit a job application or something?"

The blonde then rolled up and magazine and stood with a determined look on her face. "Oh well, it doesn't matter. 'Cause I'm gonna join Fairy Tail no matter what!"

"Ah, so you're looking to get into my guild, eh?" Lucy turned and, to her shock, saw Salamander walking out of the bushes.

"Salamander?!" Lucy exclaimed as she sprung from the bench. "What are you doing here? Don't you know it's rude to eavesdrop on a lady?!"

'You were the one talking to yourself,' the blue-haired man thought with a sweatdrop.

"And don't think you can charm me again! That kind of magic doesn't work when the target knows about it," Lucy proclaimed. Salamander's eyes widened with surprise.

"You figured out I was using Charm Magic? Very impressive," he said with a sly smile. "We could use those kinds of deduction skills at Fairy Tail."

"Fairy Tail?" Lucy parroted, suddenly remembering what Salamander said before. "No way! You're that Salamander?"

"The one and only," he said. Lucy's eyes sparkled with awe before she collected herself.

"Oh, yeah. So what?" Lucy crossed her arms and tried to act nonchalant.

"So don't want to join my guild?" Salamander asked with a cocky smirk.

"Well, I wouldn't say that," Lucy answered with a pout.

"Then how about a proposition?" Salamander said with a charming smile. "You come to my yacht party tonight and mingle a bit, and I'll put in a good word for you with the guild master. What do ya say?" He extended his hand.

And any amount of disgust or mistrust Lucy had vanished and instantly shook Salamander's hand with such force he nearly toppled over. "I'd love to come to your party tonight!" Lucy squealed in delight

Salamander chuckled at her enthusiasm. 'Well, that was easy.'

"You really think you can get me into Fairy Tail?" Lucy asked, finally releasing Salamander's hand.

"You have my word," Salamander said. With a snap of his fingers, a stream of magenta fire appeared beneath him and lifted him off the ground. "Just don't say anything about the charm spell, 'cause I'm planning on having some fun tonight."

"You got it, Mr. Salamander!" Lucy said with a salute.

"Excellent! See you at the party, darling! Flame Magic: Red Carpet!" With that, he took off into the sky on his transport of magenta fire. And it was only after he left that Lucy realized that he had pseudo-charmed her.

'Oh well. I just got to party with that sleazebag for one night, and I'm golden,' Lucy thought to herself. "Fairy Tail, here I come!"

And then...

"Looks like this trip was a total bust," Zeke said. Night had fallen on Hargeon. After their lunch, the eccentric quartet had decided to look around the rest of the fishing town, just in case there was any chance at all Igneel had been here. Unfortunately, they had no such luck and were now stuck in town for the night since their train wouldn't arrive until the next morning. The group was standing on a walkway that overlooked the city and ocean, giving them a fantastic view.

"Hey, isn't that the yacht where Salamander's hosting his party?" Happy asked, pointing to the distant boat that had left the harbor. Just thinking about being on a boat made Natsu nauseous until Alyssa rubbed his head.

"What? You've never heard of Salamander?" The group overheard a girl in a pink shirt say.

"No, not ringing any bells," her friend in a black shirt said. "Is he a big deal or something?"

"The biggest!" the girl in pink said. "He's a super-powerful and famous Fire Wizard from the Fairy Tail guild, not to mention handsome. I wish I could've gone to his party."

The four friends' eyes widened at the mention of "Fairy Tail." They turned their gaze towards the glistening yacht floating in the bay and narrowed their eyes.

"Fairy Tail, huh?" Alyssa said.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Zeke commented while Natsu glared.

Meanwhile, on the yacht, Lucy and Salamander were sitting in his private cabin while the rest of the ladies partied on the deck below. The blonde had changed into an elegant red dress to make a better impression.

"I've got to admit, you've got great taste," Lucy said as she ran her hands over the furniture. "Midian leather and Bellumi oak are hard to come by in Fiore."

"Why, thank you, Miss Lucy. Being a Wizard of such renown comes with its perks," Salamander said as he approached his liquor cabinet. "I appreciate the finer things in life." He grabbed two glasses and an amber-colored bottle.

"A toast to your beauty," Salamander said as he poured her a glass of orange wine. "Be sure to savor every drop."

Lucy put on her best fake smile and forced herself to laugh. Without his charm magic, Salamander really came off as a creep trying way too hard to be suave. But as he poured the drink, Lucy noticed one of his rings emitting a small glow. With a squint of her eyes, the blonde saw that ring had an image of a crescent moon and a closed eye.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Lucy said. Salamander stopped pouring and looked at her in confusion. "You're trying to enchant my drink with a sleep charm."

"Hmph." Salamander gave a small smile and set down the bottle. "You continue to impress me, my dear."

"Look, I really do wanna join Fairy Tail. But I'm not gonna sleep with you to make that happen."

Lucy was about to get up…until she heard the click of a gun and felt cold metal pressed against the back of her head. With wide eyes, Lucy slowly turned and saw a woman with light brown hair, brown skin, and blue eyes pointing a gold flintlock pistol at her. Her outfit consisted of a pair of black cat-eye glasses, a bedazzled black vest over a full-sleeve white buttoned shirt, a black tie with matching dress pants and shoes, and gun holsters on each side of her belt, one of which was currently empty.

"Ah, Ripley. I didn't even notice you come in," Salamander said with a smirk.

"Well, you were blowing it, so I figured I'd give this little tart an incentive not to do anything stupid."

"W-wait, I saw you when I got on the ship," Lucy said with terror clear in her voice. "You were one of the girls at the party."

"Oh, please. Don't compare me to those floozies," the bespectacled woman said with a cruel smile. "Unlike them, I'm not so easily swayed by such simple magic."

"Simple? I spent a fortune on these rings," Salamander growled in annoyance just as someone else walked into the cabin.

"Yo, Salamander. All the new merchandise is knocked out." Lucy looked at the man, and the first word that came to her mind was "snake." From his slanted black eyes to his lanky body to his clothing of a tight black top, fingerless gloves, scale-like green pants, and black leggings underneath. "The boys are bringing them down to the lower- Huh, what's going on here?"

"It seems this girl is too smart for her own good, Kurohebi," Ripley explained. Lucy then felt shivers run down her spine as Kurohebi looked down her body and licked his black lips. He was even creepier than Salamander.

"Maybe so, but we can probably make a couple of thousand Jewels off of her," the snake-like man said with a low chuckle.

"Merchandise? Jewels?" Lucy asked fearfully. "What's going on?"

"Guess the cat's out of the bag," Salamander said as he stood up. "But don't worry, Lucy. We'll make sure not to harm that pretty little head of yours until we reach Bosco. After that, we'll make sure you're sold to the highest bidder."

"Y-you…" Lucy's eyes widened as his words sank in. "You're slave traders! But...I thought you were a Fairy Tail wizard!"

"Don't you get it? Our little playboy just said that to get you to come on board," Ripley replied bemusedly, Kurohebi chuckling along with her.

"So all the girls at the party…"

"You'd be amazed how much some depraved rich guys are willing to pay for pretty girls," Kurohebi explained. A hard scowl on her face, Lucy reached for her key ring, only for Salamander to grab it with his fire magic. He brought the six keys to his eye-level to examine them.

"These are Gate Keys. So you're a Celestial Wizard," Salamander said as he walked towards the nearby window. "Only the contracted wizard can use these. They're absolutely useless to me."

Before Lucy could protest, Salamander tossed her Spirit Keys out the window. She could only stare in horror and disbelief as everything she'd worked for vanished into the waters below. Lucy felt a myriad of emotions bubbling up inside; sorrow at the loss of her keys; fear at what would happen to her and the girls on the ship; but above all else, anger. Lucy was furious at Salamander and his accomplices. Magic was something precious and beautiful, and to have it be used for heinous, evil acts was unforgivable. With her eyes watering and her teeth grit, Lucy glared at the blue-haired man.

"You used magic to take advantage of others!" She yelled out. "You're the worst kind of wizard!"

The roof of the cabin exploded, surprising the four as someone landed on the floor. When the smoke cleared, they saw Alyssa glaring at the three slavers, her stance proud and defiant.

"Alyssa!" Lucy said with a smile.

"It's that bodybuilder chick from earlier!" Salamander proclaimed.

"What the hell is going on here?" Alyssa asked.

"None of your business, you dumb gorilla!" Ripley said as she aimed her gun at the orange-haired woman. Alyssa spoke a chant.

"Boost Magic: Boosted Kick!"

To everyone's shock, Alyssa's legs glowed with purple magical energy, a purple magic circle with a fist in the center appearing behind her. With amazing speed that betrayed her size, Alyssa leaped ahead and delivered a round-house kick to Ripley's torso, knocking her through the cabin wall.

"That was magic!" Kurohebi exclaimed as Lucy and Salamander looked on in shock. Alyssa turned and glared at Salamander.

"Salamander, right? I heard some girls saying that you're a Fairy Tail wizard," Alyssa said as she gripped the hem of her shirt.

"Y-ya. So what of it?" Salamander asked with a trembling voice. Alyssa pulled up her shirt to reveal a dark purple mark over her abdominals. One that vaguely resembled a dancing fairy.

"Because I'm from Fairy Tail! And I've never seen you before in my life!"

"That mark!" Salamander shouted.

"No way!" Lucy exclaimed. "Alyssa's a Fairy Tail wizard?! And you could do laundry on her abs!"

"Lucy? What are you doing here?" a voice said from above. Lucy looked up at the hole Alyssa had made and saw Happy…floating in the air with a pair of white wings on his back.

"This guy tricked me. He said he could get me into Fairy Tail if I came to his party," Lucy said before noticing the elephant in the room. "Wait? When did you get wings?"

"We'll explain that later," Alyssa said, taking a fighting stance. "Happy, get Lucy out of here. I'll deal with these bastardos."

"Aye, ma'am!" Happy exclaimed as he wrapped his tail around Lucy's waist. "Hold on!"

Lucy screamed in shock as the blue cat lifted her into the sky.

"You won't get away!" Salamander proclaimed as he snapped his fingers. "Flame Magic: Red Carpet!"

Alyssa attempted to jump at Salamander but she was stopped in her tracks by a stream of magenta fire.

"Uh, uh, uh, big gal." Alyssa turned and saw Kurohebi, flames surrounding his hands. "You gotta deal with me."

'He's got flame magic too?' Alyssa thought as Salamander took off in the air after Happy & Lucy. Meanwhile, Ripley had finally managed to pull herself out of the rubble.

"Ripley, get the rest of the guys!" Kurohebi shouted. "I can already tell that this ladies' gonna be a big problem."

"Right," Ripely said as she ran out of the cabin.

"Go ahead. Bring as many people as you like, cazzo!" Alyssa shouted, cracking her knuckles as her thick arms began to glow with the same purple magic as before. "I'll kick all your asses!"

On the shores of Hargeon, Natsu and Zeke stood atop the seawall. The brunette looked out onto the water with his goggles over his eyes. But these were no ordinary eyewear. By feeding a small degree of mana into them, Zeke was able to see over great distances.

"What's going on?" Natsu asked as he saw streams of fire flying through the sky.

"That Salamander guy is chasing Happy and…Lucy?" Zeke replied, watching as the blue-haired man unleashed blasts of flame magic at the two as Happy weaved and bobbed to dodge his attacks.

"This sucks! I should be out there!" Natsu groaned.

"We both know you'd get sick as soon as you stepped one foot on the boat," Zeke said, causing his friend to pout. "Besides."

Zeke fed mana into his bracelet, causing the gems in it to glow. In an instant, it transformed into a majestic silver longbow with green accents and shimmering bowstring. The green gems now sat directly above and below the arrow rest. "I could use the target practice."

A green magic circle with an arrow at its center appeared between the gems. Zeke placed his right hand in the circle and pulled back on the bowstring. As he did, an arrow made of solid green magical energy manifested within the bow, its arrowhead consisting of three points.

"Arch Shot: Tri-Seeker Arrow!" The arrow soared through the air like a rocket-propelled bird of prey.

Salamander grit his teeth and furrowed his brow as rode atop his Red Carpet, growing increasingly frustrated at his inability to hit Happy and Lucy.

'That cat's faster than he looks,' the flame wizard thought to himself. But out of the corner of his eye, he saw the glowing arrow heading towards and barely dodged it.

"Nice try," Zeke said with a smirk as the arrow suddenly split into three streams of emerald light that curved and chased after Salamander until they blasted him, causing the flame mage to fall on the deck of his yacht.

"What was that?" Lucy asked.

"That was Zeke's Arch Shot magic," Happy answered.

"He launched a spell from that far away," Lucy said in amazement.

"Um, Lucy?"

She looked up. "What is it?"

"My magic-" Happy began to say before his wings vanished. "-just ran out."

"YOU STUPID CAT!" Lucy screamed as the two fell into the ocean. But as they were submerged, Lucy saw something twinkling on the seafloor.

Back on the yacht, Salamander groaned as he got back up. He checked to make sure nothing was broken and gaped in horror when he saw the arrows had torn his cape to pieces. As he vowed vengeance for the destruction of his favorite cape, Salamander noticed that the fight between Alyssa and Kurohebi had moved to the deck.

"Prominence Typhoon!" Kurohebi shouted as he launched a column of fire at Alyssa.

"Boost Magic: Boosted Leap!" she chanted. Magic enveloped her legs as she leaped out of the way. With magic still running through her legs, Alyssa jumped towards her opponent as her right arm lit up like her legs. "Boost Magic: Enhanced Knuckle!"

Kurohebi barely had time to dodge as Alyssa attempted to punch him, her fist smashing through the deck floor. However, the snake-like man smirked as he swiped his fingers across her legs as magic circles spun in his eyes.

"Copy Magic: Epithet Scan." Alyssa felt a burst of magic enter her body and then leave. She back-handed Kurohebi, pushing him across the deck. However, the black-haired mage simply chuckled. "Alright, big girl. Let's how you handle your own magic. Boosted Kick!"

To Alyssa's surprise, purple magic surrounded Kurohebi's legs before he leaped and kicked her into a table.

'Copy Magic?! Merda!' Alyssa thought to herself as she got back up.

"Hey, Kuro!" The two mages turned and saw Ripley flanked by all slavers' goons, her golden guns in hands, and a large case strapped to her back. "If you don't want to die, then get out of the way!"

"You got it," he said before leaping out of the way. Alyssa quickly channeling her mana into her legs.

"Guns Magic: Rapid-Fire!"

"Boost Magic: Boosted Jump!"

Ripley unleashed a torrent of yellow mana bullets that Alyssa was forced to jump to avoid. The orange-haired woman quickly jumped behind the buffet table and tipped it to use as a makeshift barrier.

But before the slavers could get cocky, Salamander saw another arrow pass the ship before breaking into three streams of green light again. He scowled as he snapped his fingers. "Flame Magic: Red Curtain!"

A large wall of fire appeared on the deck, blocking the arrows. "Ripley, there's another Fairy Tail wizard attacking from long-range! Get rid of them!"

"Alright, but mind your tone," Ripley said before running towards a nearby ladder, leaving Alyssa to fight Salamander, Kurohebi, and their goons. The bespectacled wizard quickly reached the roof of the yacht and opened the case, revealing a golden sniper rifle with a long barrel and a scope. "Okay, Ronney. Time to go hunting."

Ripley laid down on her stomach and aimed her rifle towards the direction the arrows came. Like Zeke did with his magical goggles, Ripley fed mana into her scope, allowing her to see Natsu and Zeke on Hargeon's beach. With a grin, the Guns Wizard readied her next spell, a yellow magic circle with a bullet epithet appearing in front of the barrel.

"Guns Magic: Horizon Bullet!" With a pull of her trigger, a magical bullet shot through the air, barreling towards Zeke and Natsu. The pink-haired man's ears twitched when he heard the shot.

"Incoming!" Natsu shouted before tackling Zeke into the sand as bullet destroyed the part of the seawall they'd been standing on. "What the hell was that?!"

Zeke quickly sat up and zoomed in again with his goggles, seeing Ripley on the roof of the yacht. The two were forced to evade more Horizon Bullets that sent sand flying high in the sky when they hit the beach.

"Looks like one of Salamander's lackeys has long-range magic," Zeke stated before noticing that they had begun to attract the attention of Hargeon's citizens. "Natsu, try to get the rubberneckers away from the beach."

"Got it!" Natsu replied before running towards the townspeople. "You guys better high-tail it out of here! Things are about to get crazy magical!"

As Natsu tried to get the townsfolk away from the beach, Zeke stood defiantly, Ripley right in his sight. He conjured another arrow, this one with an arrowhead shaped like a stick of dynamite. "Alright, lady. You picked the wrong wizard to pick a firefight with. Arch Shot: Demolition Arrow!"

Ripley barely had time to roll away as Zeke's spell hit the roof, exploding upon impact. She quickly aimed and fired another Horizon Bullet that Zeke was forced to dodge. The two then proceeded to engage in a long-range battle, each of them launching spells from a great distance and dodging when they needed to. However, since Ripley and her allies were on a boat, they were slowly losing as Zeke's spells kept blasting more of the yacht apart.

As this was going on, Lucy and Happy emerged from the sea, the blonde having recovered her keys from the ocean floor. Lucy looked at the yacht with a determined smirk as she grabbed a golden key. "Here we go. Open, Gate of the Water Bearer - Aquarius!"

Lucy plunged the key into the water and a blue magic circle with a cross epithet appeared. With a burst of mana and water, a blue-haired mermaid with a dark blue tail appeared before Lucy and Happy, a blue and silver urn in her hands.

"That was awesome!" Happy cried out with joy.

"That's the power of a Celestial Wizard," Lucy explained. "I can summon spirits from the Celestial Realm to assist me in battle."

She turned and pointed at the yacht. "Listen up, Aquarius. I want you to use your magic to push that ship back into the port." However, the spirit glared at Lucy with piercing blue eyes and grit her teeth. "Hey," Lucy exclaimed. "Drop the attitude and help me!"

"Let's get something straight…" Aquarius said, her voice low and dangerous as water began to flow around her, and she narrowed her eyes at Lucy and Happy, sending shivers down their spines. "…the next time you so much as think about dropping my key, you're dead."

"U-understood," Lucy squeaked out while Happy let out a terrified whimper as Aquarius unleashed her spell and a torrent of ocean water was sucked into her urn.

"Poseidon's Wrath!" With a ferocious yell, Aquarius launched a tidal wave at the yacht…that also engulfed Lucy and Happy. Back on the yacht, Alyssa was in the midst of blocking Kurohebi's blows and Salamander's flame magic, only for the three wizards, Ripley, and the goons to notice the sudden shadow cast over the boat. They looked up and gaped at the massive tidal wave heading their way.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" the slavers all shouted.

"¡SANTO CIELO!" Alyssa yelled as the yacht was consumed by the wave.

Back on the shore, Zeke's eyes and mouth widened in shock at the approaching water. The green-eyed man quickly turned around and ran towards Natsu and the crowd. "EVERYONE, RUN FOR IT!"

Natsu and the townsfolk turned and balked at the sight of the rapidly approaching wave and attempted to high-tail away from the beach. As the wave was about to hit the shore, Zeke grabbed Natsu and created a green barrier around them just as the tidal wave consumed them and Hargeon's shore.

Luckily the seawall blocked the bulk of the water and what water made it past did barely any damage as Hargeon's buildings were built to withstand flooding. And as fast as it came, the water receded, revealing that Zeke had fallen on top of Natsu, the two men groaning in pain.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Natsu groaned out as Zeke got off him.

"No idea. Maybe one of Salamander's lackeys di-" As the brunette opened his eyes, he realized that his magic goggles had been shattered. "Damn it! I just bought these!"

"LET'S HIGH-TAIL IT, LADIES!" The two wizards looked and saw that Salamander's yacht had crashed into the shore, waking the girls and giving them the opportunity to escape

At the same time, Lucy and Happy washed up on the shore, the blonde coughing up seawater while the cat ended up buried head-first in the sand. Lucy then noticed Aquarius floating next to her.

"What's the big idea?! You think you could've tried not to sweep me up with the ship?!"

"Oh, that was an accident," Aquarius replied with a smile. "I didn't mean to get the ship."

"YOU WERE AIMING FOR ME?!" Lucy yelled as her spirit turned away.

"Don't call me for a while," the mermaid said with a haughty smirk. "I'm going on a week-long vacation with my boyfriend. And he's hot."

"You don't have to rub it in!" Lucy shouted as her spirit returned to the Celestial Realm. Suddenly, Lucy, Happy, Natsu, and Zeke's attention was brought to the yacht by Alyssa's yells as she was sent flying by Salamander's Flame Magic and crashed into the beach.

"Alyssa!" Natsu and Zeke shouted as they rushed towards her. They quickly helped her up and saw the slavers walking towards them, Salamander, Kurohebi, and Ripley all seething with rage.

"I've had enough of this!" Salamander shouted as he conjured up a magic circle in front of him. "I'll burn all you idiots to ash with a single spell! FLAME MAGIC: PROMINENCE TYPHOON!"

Natsu pushed Zeke and Alyssa out of harm's way and was completely consumed by a swirling pillar of fire.

"NATSU!" Lucy yelled while Kurohebi cackled.

"Aw, isn't that sweet? Pinkie sacrificed himself to save his buddies," Kurohebi said with a bemused smirk.

"Looks like Fairy Tail ain't all it's cracked up to be," Ripley taunted. But suddenly, Zeke and Alyssa began to chuckle, confusing everybody.

"Oh, please. As if Natsu could be killed by fire magic," Zeke said with a smirk of his own.

"How're the flames, tesoro mio?" Alyssa asked.

"Not gonna lie…" Natsu's voice came from within the inferno. "…it's pretty gross."

"HE'S STILL ALIVE?!" The trio of slavers cried out. What happened next utterly baffled everyone except Zeke, Alyssa, and Happy. A loud slurping sound was heard across the beach, the fire began to shrink. It shrank further until everyone could see that Natsu was actually eating the fire! Aside from his burnt coat, he was completely unharmed.

"Thanks for the meal, poser," Natsu said as he tore off the remains of his coat, revealing an open black and orange-trimmed vest, his muscular torso and arms, a black wristband on his left wrist, and a red Fairy Tail mark on his right shoulder. "Now, I've got a fire in my belly that's raging to get out!"

Natsu then smashed his fists together, conjuring up an orange circle with a dragon epithet in front of him. He then sucked in a massive amount of air. "Fire Dragon's Roar!"

From his mouth, Natsu unleashed his own torrent of flames. Salamander evaded with his Red Carpet spell, and Kurohebi boosted his legs to get himself and Ripley rolled out of the way. The rest of the slavers panicked and ran as Natsu's spells destroyed the remains of their yacht.

"A Fairy Tail wizard with spiky pink hair, a scaly scarf, and unique fire magic," Kurohebi said as his eyes widened in realization. "Bora, this guy's the real Salamander!"

"Natsu's Salamander?!" Lucy exclaimed.

"Don't use my real name, you idiot!" the man called Bora said as Natsu, Alyssa, and Zeke stood together, staring the other trio down.

"Bora Solak, or Bora the Prominence as he likes to call himself," Happy said, surprising Lucy. "I've heard of this guy; he used to be a member of the guild Titan Nose but got kicked out for bad behavior."

(Music Que - Fairy Tail Main Theme)

"We should probably introduce ourselves," Natsu stated as the air around him began to heat up. "I'm Natsu Dragneel, the Fire Dragon-Slayer!"

"My name's Alyssa Grunewald!" Alyssa said as she moved into a fighting stance. "And they call me the Boost Queen!"

"The name's Ezekiel Hudson, archer extraordinaire and proud heir of the heroic Hudson legacy," Zeke said as he tossed aside his broken goggles. He then pulled down his shirt collar, revealing a green Fairy Tail guild mark just below his left collar bone. "And you assholes are dealing with the greatest team Fairy Tail's ever had: Bravestar!"

'THEY'RE TEAM BRAVESTAR!' Lucy thought in absolute shock. These weirdos she'd bought lunch for were the infamous Team Bravestar she'd read so much about. While Fairy Tail wizards were known for being rowdy, she had read about a trio of wizards that went overboard during their fights, even by their guild's standards. Because of this, Bravestar was also known as Fairy Tail's Demolition Team.

"Pay attention! Because this is what real Fairy Tail wizards can do!" Natsu shouted, charging ahead, his fists engulfed in orange flames.

"S-Stay back!" Bora shouted. "Flame Magic: Red Shower!"

Bora unleashed a barrage of fireballs at team Bravestar. Natsu didn't even bother to dodge and ran straight towards Bora. Natsu leapt into the air with a burst of flame with a blazing right fist.

"Fire Dragon's Blazing Fist!" With a powerful swing, Natsu punched Bora with enough force to send him flying into a nearby building.

"Try eating this, Salamander!" Ripley shouted as she aimed her pistols at Natsu. "Guns Magic: Rapid-Fire!"

"Nice try!" Zeke shouted, this time conjuring up an arrow with an arrowhead shaped like a bundle of smaller arrows. "Arch Shot: Arrow Volley!"

Zeke the arrow and in a flash of light, it split into a volley of 100 small arrows that tore through Ripely's bullets.

"Damn you!" Kurohebi shouted, charging at Zeke with mana flowing around his legs. He suddenly felt intense burning pain shoot through them. He let out a pain yelled as he slowed to a crawl, allowing Alyssa to jump in and catch his hand.

"Looks like you copied my magic's weakness too!" Alyssa proclaimed as she channeled magic through her arms. "Boost Magic: Grand Toss!"

With a powerful swing, Alyssa tossed Kurohebi over the wrecked yacht.

"Their magic is nuts," Lucy said, completely in awe as the trio continued to fight.

"Aye," Happy said and began to explain. "Zeke uses hereditary magic that only his family has called Arch Shot Magic. It has properties of both Archery and Light Magic. Alyssa's magic is Boost Magic. It can supercharge the caster's physical abilities, but using too much can damage their insides, so they need to have a strong body to use it properly. And Natsu's Fire Dragon-Slayer Magic gives him all the abilities of a fire dragon. So he's not only immune to fire, but he can also replenish his mana by eating it."

Ripley scowled as she aimed Zeke and Alyssa, but Natsu charged at her, his arms now coated in fire.

"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack!" With a swing of his arms, Natsu unleashed twin torrents of fire at Ripley and blasted her into the water, knocking her unconscious. Bora emerged from the rubble of the building atop his red carpet with a wild and crazed look on his face.

"DAMN YOU ALL!" Bora screamed as a massive magic circle appeared beneath him. "BURN IN HELL!" A gargantuan crimson fireball in the shape of a skull formed above his head. "FORBIDDEN FLAME MAGIC: RED SK-"

"Arch Shot: Demolition Arrow!" Before Bora could finish his incantation, Zeke fired a magic arrow at Bora's fireball. The explosion was seen and heard all across Hargeon and beyond as Bora was blasted out of the air. As Bora fell to the ground, his eyes widened when he saw Alyssa charging at him, the magic around her arms glowing far brighter than before.

"Hey, stronzo!" Alyssa shouted. "This is what you get for impersonating my boyfriend! Boost Magic: Grand Combo-Punch!"

As soon as Bora came within arms' length, Alyssa unleashed a ferocious barrage of supercharged punches. And with a final solid right hook, the fake Salamander was sent flying into the town, crashing into a nearby water fountain. And with that, the battle between team Bravestar and the slavers reached its end.

(Music End)

"Alright! We won!" Natsu shouted as he and Zeke shared a fist bump. They ran up the seawall's stairs to join Alyssa.

"We rock!" Alyssa cheered as she and Zeke then did a double high-five, which she immediately regretted it as her arms began to hurt. "Owie."

"Oh, crap! Sorry, Alyssa," Zeke replied.

"It's okay. They're just a little sore," she said. But before the trio could continue their celebration, they heard something fall and break. Turning around, they saw that the fountain Alyssa had knocked Bora into had broken in half. They also finally noticed that while the buildings in Hargeon were mostly fine, most of the street had been upended by the tidal wave, and the buildings closest to the beach had been hit by some stray spells.

"You guys were amazing, but you really overdid it!" Lucy exclaimed as she and Happy approached the three.

"Well, I can't argue with that," Alyssa said, rubbing the back of her head with a nervous laugh. However, Natsu genuinely chuckled.

"Actually, this is pretty good by our standards," Natsu said.

"Aw, man!" Zeke exclaimed as he started pulling his hair. "Master Makarov's gonna have an ulcer when he hears about this."

"To be fair, Lucy and the fish lady did most of the damage," Happy said.

"Hey!" the blonde shouted.

"You caused that tidal wave?!" Zeke yelled. "And what fish lady are you talking about?!"

Before they could continue their conversation, Natsu's ears picked the sound of marching feet. He spun around and saw a large group of soldiers clad in orange & blue uniforms marching through the town."Oh shit! It's the Rune Knights!"

"The army's here?!" Lucy shouted.

"Run for it!" Zeke shouted as the five bolted away as fast as they could, Natsu grabbing Lucy by the arm.

"Why are you taking me?" Lucy asked as she was dragged off.

"You said you wanted to join Fairy Tail, right?" Alyssa asked. Lucy's eyes widened in disbelief. Actual Fairy Tail wizards were inviting her to join their guild. As they ran, the blonde saw that the four guild wizards had sincere expressions on their faces, even as they ran for their lives.

"So, let's go!" Natsu said excitedly. Lucy smiled back at them, slipping her arm out of Natsu's and started willingly running away with the four.

"Alright!" Lucy cheered with an ear to ear smile as the five ran out of Hargeon. It had been a crazy day, but Lucy had a feeling that things would only get better from here.

And indeed, the five friends would back on this night and realize that it was this day in Hargeon when their legend truly began.

Elsewhere…

On top of a snow-covered mountain caught in a raging blizzard, a fierce battle had just reached its conclusion. A lone mage stood amongst the corpses of over a dozen ape-like creatures, out of breath and barely holding himself up with his broadsword. The man appeared to be in his early forties. He had black eyes, slicked-back dark blue hair, and his outfit consisted of an open white coat with blue inner-lining, rolled up brown pants held up by a white belt, an s-shaped necklace hanging around his neck, and a pair of dark brown loafers.

'Well, that about wraps things up,' the man thought to himself, standing up as his broadsword vanished in a dark blue light. 'Time to head home.'

Unfortunately, one of the ape creatures the man had been fighting was rather clever, playing dead amongst its brethren. With his foe's guard down, the beast howled and attacked, the raging winds drowning out the man's screams.

To be continued…

Author's Note 2: Back when I wrote the first chapter of A New Day five years ago, I had no idea how much that story would mean to me. Writing AND and its sequels helped me improve my writing skills more than I ever imagined. And it was through these Fairy Tail stories that I met my co-writer, editor, and one of my best friends, xpegasus.

But recently, as I reread A New Day while compiling that story and sequels together, I realized just how flawed it was. I barely broke away from the canon, limiting my creativity and original flare. I also didn't really know whether I wanted to stick with the original Fairy Tail magic system for awhile, winging it until me and XPegasus sorted out the details midway through Homecoming. And I realized that it can be hard to get people invested in the later parts of my story if the beginning is mediocre.

So, now with years of experience under my belt, my best friend at my side, and a firm idea for where I want my Fairy Tail story, I've decided to reboot the Fairy Mythos Series. Or as it's going to be known from now on, Fairy Tail: The Bravestar Saga!

I hope that everyone who's followed all of my Fairy Tail stories until now will join me and xpegasus as we venture once again into this magical world. And hopefully, we'll make a lot of new friends and fans along the way.

Next Chapter: The Brawl at Mt. Hakobe!

See you next time!

[thank-you-phipps]

Review: The Hating Game by Sally Thorne

So, I’m on my third of fourth reread, and it’s held up well over time. I was in a pretty shitty mood today, so it’s had its work cut out for it, battling all my negativity, which tends to manifest in intense distrust of this sort of book. I’m thinking the cynical mood will help to balance out the blinding heart eyes and give an objective perspective. 

When I first read this book I thought I’d found the holy grail, and though there have been a few books after that that have taken the cake, I still think it’s wonderfully written and it has basically none of my usual rom-com pet-peeves, which makes it easy to like.

That being said, this book doesn’t try hard enough. I know this isn’t literature. I don’t expect to be tossed about so much as by Jane Eyre wandering the moors, putting her faith in nothing but God Himself; but the sheen has worn off rather quickly for a book that once held pride of place in my heart. I mean, Red, White, and Royal Blue is a rom-com through and through, but I can hardly read the emails for how heart-wrenching and raw they are, so it’s not the genre’s fault. 

My main problem, which wasn’t immediately clear to me after I’d read it again, is that there’s not much of a plot or any kind of conflict at all. It’s pretty up-hill the whole ride, and even though they are “mean” to each other for a lot of the book (I’d classify this enemies-to-lovers), there is no real threat of any meaningful harm being done to there relationship, however caustic it may seem on the surface. You know they’re just flirting, albeit kinda antagonistic flirting. Of course you root for them, but at some point banter isn’t enough. As I’ve said, there’s basically no plot, and though I’m a decided rom-com light-skirt, when, for all intents and purposes, the whole book is the hooey gooey precious cuddles, the soft stares, the love words, or the antagonistic sexual tension, then the quality of the romance takes a hit. From what I can tell, the “climax” was Lucy finding out that Josh and Mindy were together a long time ago, and she feels insecure. That is quickly gotten over, though, and a hot sex scene is queued up ready to go. No big deal. Well, if the author doesn’t want too much conflict stemming directly from the romantic pair themselves, fine, but they’ve got to make up for it with conflict elsewhere, or else what am I here for? You can’t keep me on the hook if you just keep feeding me sweets. Now that the novelty has worn off, I had to shoulder all the work, trying to imbue myself with some sense that there are stakes involved and some reason to get attached to the story when there wasn’t really a whole lot to keep me invested besides her feminine wiles and his cutting whit. You gotta make me suffer a bit. You can’t rely on the characters alone to carry the romance. It always helps to develop a romantic pairing when they are forced to play with the world the author has created (e.g. The Soldier’s Scoundrel, and The Lawrence Brown Affair, both by my lady love, Cat Sebastian, to whom I’ve sold my immortal soul.) and that’s what I found most lacking

This is all thrown into unflattering relief by the holy undeserved overabundance of sap. Now that I’m looking at it with more objective familiarity (not a good mindset if you’re wanting to actually enjoy a  romantic comedy) Josh’s ministrations at the end of the book especially felt over the top. Don’t get me wrong, I still go a little starry-eyed. Sally does a superb job at love talk, making it original to boot, and I was emotionally masturbating to this emotion porno of epic proportions. But if you’re going to serve me that good, you’d better make your characters suffer to balance the scale. I’m more likely to let myself enjoy that kind of over the top confessional stuff if it’s in some historical romance a la Lisa Kleypas, where I’ve already thrown out my dignity with the bathwater. But this is a real life rom-com (…oxymoron…) where the romance takes place in world whose inhabitants should be self aware enough to call bullshit. I mean, come on. There is literally a sepia-filter road trip montage scene. It’s jarring when you’re trying to enjoy something good (despite my critiques), but you’ve put it in this gaudy picture frame and you can’t help questioning it’s value. Couldn’t you have at least tried to make it seem a little more down to earth, so the negligible chance of this ever happening in the real world aren’t rubbed in my face with quite so much heartless glee? You could have made it just as poignant and also made it feel realistic. Would have pack more of a punch that way. 

Anyway, one huge point in her favor: Sally does a fine job of making Josh masculine without resorting to alpha male-ism, which I suppose many authors find difficult (Looking at you, Kleypas). Lucy is cute and actually has a personality, but it irritated my that she objectified Josh as much as she did. It’s something I noticed in 99 Percent Mine, Sally’s second book, in which the objectification of the male love interest made me feel a bit ill. It started out so promising and then the romantic pair were together for a few pages and I had to stop. I’m all for the main characters taking pleasure in each other’s bodies, but the way Lucy was practically drooling over him when it came time for that, turned me off. It sounded as though she wasn’t really paying Josh himself any attention, and there was a literal scene in which she's squeezing and weighing is muscles in her hand. Gross. I’m hyper sensitive to this particular quirk in romance, and I think Sally does a good job overall of cancelling those blips out with comments on the other end of the spectrum, but it still rankles.I will say that it’s not nearly as pronounced as in 99 Percent mine. 

I know this review is negative on the whole, but keep in mind, I’ve read this book four or five times, so it must being doing something right. It’s one of the better rom-coms by a long shot, and I’m sure I’ll read it again in another few months and eat it up shamelessly. Just didn’t have much patience today.

[katieinmyanmar]

(January 18-February 14)

Min gă la ba! Welcome to my blog! Sorry this took so long to get up, I’ve been incredibly busy these last three weeks.

A quick note before I start: I use Myanmar (people here pronounce it “mee-an-mar”) and Myanmar language rather than Burma and Burmese because that is how people here refer to the country and language. I also don’t have a Myanmar language keyboard for my computer, so for Romanization of Myanmar script I use the system designed by Aye Su Mon.

Some background information on how the Peace Corps (PC, they really love their acronyms) works: for about three months we are in training (called Pre-Service Training or PST), then we move to our individual sites after swearing in as Volunteers. We will serve at our sites for two years, integrating into our communities, teaching English, training teachers, and working on community development projects. During PST, we learn about the Myanmar language, culture, and education system, as well as have technical training on how to teach English as a foreign language. They days are long and exhausting (all day six days a week), but I’m enjoying what i’m learning and it’s not too bad for the most part. I’m learning a lot, especially about Myanmar culture and language. We’ve all gotten used to being really tired and super busy. I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since I arrived—it feels like I’ve been here way longer.

The people of Myanmar are truly the kindest, most generous people I have ever met. Whether it’s a hot meal, a tuktuk ride, or simply being patient as we stumble through Myanmar language phrases, everyone has been unbelievably kind. Most people in Myanmar have rarely (if ever) seen a foreigner before, much less an American. Because of this, we attract a lot of attention whenever we go out into the city, which is perfectly fine, even though it does take some getting used to.

One of the highlights of being in Myanmar is the food. Myanmar food is very oily and sometimes spicy, but it tastes very good. Rice (htă miǹ, pronounced like “ta-min”) is served for three meals a day, usually with some meat (the shrimp curry is my favorite) and vegetables and tea. I think one of my favorite breakfasts so far has been mohinga, which is essentially a fish-based soup that you eat with green onions, cilantro, noodles, and chili peppers. Every region has its own version (and every region thinks theirs is the best), so there are many varieties.

Myanmar people don’t really do dessert, usually for dessert there is fruit or jaggery (palm sugar cubes). The other day, one of my PC friends taught the hotel staff how to make pancakes (they were very improvised but mostly worked, and the staff was pretty into it), so we had pancakes (of sorts, they weren’t really “pancakes” like Americans would think of them) for breakfast the next day. It was extremely exciting, there is a version of French toast here but so far no pancakes. Since we don’t have maple syrup (I’ve been told you can buy it in Yangon, but it’s super expensive), we ate our pancakes with honey and bananas.

On my days off, I have been going into Bago city with some of my PC friends and exploring the pagodas. Bago is not like an American city: there are not any skyscrapers or tall buildings, but there are plenty of motorbikes, trucks, and tuktuks rushing by. Crossing the street can be quite a challenge! There are also way more dogs and cats here than in America. So far I have been to the Shwemawdaw Pagoda and the Shwe Thalyaung Buddha (Reclining Buddha), as well as several other pagodas that I don’t know the names of (one had a massive Burmese Python in it, which was really cool). I have also been to the Kanbawza-thadi Royal Palace (Golden Palace) outside of Bago. All the pagodas are beautiful and the Kanbawza-thadi Royal Palace was breathtaking. Everything was golden and extremely ornate. I am really interested in Myanmar history, and I hope to learn more about it while I am serving here. I can do another post on pagodas later if there’s interest, I don’t want to make a long post even longer. 

To help us learn about Myanmar language and culture, each of us has a sponsor family who lives in the community near where we are staying. In most countries, PCVs live with a host family during their service, but for various reasons we cannot do that in Myanmar. The sponsor family program is Peace Corps Myanmar’s adaption of the host family program: we eat dinner with our families about twice a week, and on Saturdays we spend the afternoon with them. My family and my friend Liz’s family are friends, so we spend a lot of time together. In my family (mí thà zú, pronounced “me taaa zoo”) are my ă meì (mother, pronounced “ah may”), ă phei (father, pronounced “ah pay”), ă ko (older brother), ă má (older sister), and nyi má leh (younger sister, pronounced “ni ma ley”). My family is loving and amazing, though it can be hard to communicate because they speak very limited English and I speak very limited Myanmar. I am learning so much from my family regardless, especially about Myanmar language. The other members of my group (cluster) and I have started bringing our language homework because our families always like to help us and teach us new words. My family is kind, loving, and generous; my ă má even took me to a tailor to get a longyi (traditional Myanmar wrap-around skirt worn by both men and women) and shirt made for me!

A few days ago we had our first English Club session. English Club is an opportunity for us to practice our teaching with Myanmar schoolchildren (sixth-eighth graders) in a Myanmar classroom. English Club is very different from the regular classroom because there are only about fifteen students (regular classrooms usually have up to 60 students) and it focuses on speaking. We were co-teaching with a partner (though I was in a group of three because we had an odd number) and had to plan a ninety-minute lesson. It was really cool to be in front of actual students, especially because before this I had only practiced with my cohort. The students were really smart and engaged, we actually felt that we had made the lesson too easy. It was difficult because we had never taught in front of students before, but we were able to improvise when our lesson finished early and the lesson as a whole went really well, so I consider it a win. I’m looking forward to doing it again, even though lesson planning is stressful I really enjoy teaching.

Now, you might be wondering how Peace Corps Trainees in Myanmar entertain themselves when there is limited Internet (except at this hotel, which has wifi!!!). The answer is lots and lots of cards (everything from President to Oh Hell), Uno, karaoke, group study sessions, and chiǹ louǹ (pronounced “chin loon,” but with a very soft n). I can’t really explain chiǹ louǹ except to describe how it’s played: everyone stands in a circle (barefoot) and tries to keep a special wicker ball in the air. The catch is that you can’t use your hands, so you have to hit the ball with your legs, feet, chest, or head.

The second thing you’re probably wondering about is the climate in Myanmar. Myanmar is tropical and has three seasons: hot, cold, and rainy. It’s the end of the cold season right now (hot season starts in March/April), and the average temperature is about 95 degrees Fahrenheit. In the hot season, temperatures can reach up to 116 degrees Fahrenheit, and the rainy season is, well, rainy. Not “rainy” like “Oh it’s pouring for a few days”—actual monsoons, especially in Mon State. There are lots of geckos (which are the best because they eat spiders and mosquitos), snakes (though I haven’t actually seen one in the wild), dogs, cats, chickens, cows, and other various creatures. The mosquitos can be pretty relentless, but I’ve learned to accept it and wear a lot of bug spray when I go out.

(click on the pictures to see the captions) 

[blueangelicrose]

A New Beginning: Chapter 13 (part 2): Just Dance!!!

The atmosphere was tense and a bit awkward as the four of them, all decked out in their best clothes, were driving in Josephine's company's limo. It was only a half hour ago that Joan semi-explained what was happening to the Cup brothers and the casino crew. At first, Cuphead refused to go and tried to get out of his dashing monkey suit. But then his boss snapped his claw like fingers to use his magic to redress Cuphead. "Oh, no. You're not ditching out on this party. It's both you and Dice's jobs to make this casino more attracting to those sympathetic and selfish fat cats. Normally I would just leave it to Dice alone to do the job. And yes, having YOU tag along of all people to represent the casino is taking a HUGE risk. But it's time to broaden your horizons and make you somewhat capable of a decent job. Just think of this as one of those learning field trips. Only if you screw up I'll deduct your pay for the next 6 months and I'll personally throw you into one of my pits in Hell!" Cuphead gulped then looked at Joan who had the look of a sad puppy who had been rejected. Cuphead couldn't help that pang of guilt upon the realization that he unintentionally turned her down to go out on a date. He wanted to smack himself in the head for not realizing what he did. Then he had an idea. It was a stretch, but maybe....."Heh. Don't worry boss. Me and Dice will make ya proud! Especially if we're being escorted by these lovely ladies. Also, I'm pretty sure that if I do something stupid by accident; Joan will snap me out of it. Right Joan?"

She flushed a light crimson red when he said that she was lovely. And that she was being so highly regarded and relied on by Cuphead felt amazing. "Y-Yeah, definitely! I'll keep an eye on him! If I see him screw up on anything I'll fix it!" It was a little hard to believe her with that flustered look on her face and the shakiness in her voice. The Devil raised a brow then shrugged his shoulders like he didn't give a crud. "Just make sure he doesn't go on a drunken rampage. Again." He narrowed his eyes and glared at Cuphead when he said "again". Cuphead nervously smiled then saluted to him to indicate that he was clear on the subject.

It didn't take too long for Dice to get changed into one of his fancy royal purple suits. Only this one was different from the others that he wore. It was not only royal purple but it also had pieces of gold trim around the tux area and on his sleeves. And instead of a bowtie, he wore a gold tye. (For reference on how it looks like go to Zaraegis- Finale- a King Dice lyric comic. His design, not mine.) He looked absolutely splendid! Josephine, though looked cool as ice, deep down she couldn't help but feel like her body was hot as lava with the feeling that could only be described as LOVE. As they walked out of the casino, they saw the shiny limo pull up front. Which, in all its glory, wowed Cuphead with stars in his eyes. He questioned/begged Josephine if there was going to be alcohol in the limo while they were being driven. Josephine looked over to Joan and then at King Dice with a look that said, "Is it a good idea for me to let him drink the white wine that's in the limo?" To which their silent reply was, "NO!" And now we return to the present with the awkward silence that hung in the enclosed air that was within the limo. While Josephine gently sipped her drink, she suddenly thought of an ice breaker.

"You know Cuphead, Joanie over there has a fantastic singing voice! She always did. Ever since she was small. In fact, I asked my director if she could do a duet with me on stage at the charity ball!" That little tibbit failed to be mentioned to Joan when they were discussing the plans. "I'M DOING WHAT?!!!" Both Cuphead, Dice, and the driver jumped when she screamed this. Which caused the limo to swerve to and fro until it was stabilized. Josephine only flinched while tightly closing her eyes till Joan stopped screaming. This revelation lead to a telepathic argument between the two sisters. Joan being the one mostly doing the arguing and yelling. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME! I THOUGHT WE HAD AN AGREEMENT THAT I WOULD JUST BE A GUEST! NOT ONE OF YOUR SINGING PARTNERS!" "I'm sorry! I meant to tell you, but I thought if I did, you wouldn't come~!" "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DRAGGED ME INTO ONE OF YOUR SHENANIGANS THAT HAS ONE OF YOUR HIDDEN AGENDAS! AGAIN!!!". "Sorry~!!!!! But can you do it this one time? For me? For Cuphead?" She glared at her sister then her attention went towards Cuphead, he had nothing but curiosity in his eyes and a cute smile that just screamed vibes of one that was eager to find out something. Her look softened and then telepathically said to sister, "Fine! But if you pull something like this without my consent again; you're SO done for! Hear me?!" Her sister gulped nervously and nodded real slowly, "Yes."

Soon enough the limo pulled up front of town hall along with the other limos. And as Josephine stepped out, cameras were flashing, screams of the fans and cat calls from the perverts were made and of course the annoying reporters were all around her. The only thing separating them were the big burly bee police guards that were assigned to protect the celebrities at tonight's party. Josephine put on her sunglasses to protect her eyes from the flashes of the cameras, then turned around and held out her hand for Dice to take. He was a little taken aback by this. But regardless, he took it and slowly stepped out of the car. What she did next had himself even more surprised. She had linked her arm around his while still tightly holding his hand. And while they were walking down the red carpet, there was this frazzled looking reporter wearing a white blouse and black mid-length skirt and a pair of black flats. Her shiny black hair was relatively long with a single braided ponytail. And just like Joan, she wore thick glasses that hardly showed what her eyes looked like at all. And like Joan, she wore them for the purpose of disguise. She needed them to see of course, but she purposely had them designed like that. Mainly for the purpose of keeping a low profile and because she was very shy. Kinda contradicting for a reporter. But underneath all of that, she had the most the most unique and beautiful eyes. Her left eye was a golden brown while her right was a bright forest green. She also had cute thick freckles across the bridge of her nose and had a cute dimple of a chin. When she was a child she had been teased by the boys in her neighborhood about being a freakish looking girl. She held in her all her emotions as she was focused on her one goal. Getting an interview with the Isles' newest star!

"If I could get an interview with Miss Star, then certainly boss will raise my pay check! The sooner I get the money, the better." As she said this, she opened her small gold locket around her neck. In the locket was a small picture of her, her brother and her mother. Her mother had been sick for a while and her brother was attending college overseas. With both of the payments of medical bills and school fees she had to work numerous jobs just to get by. So if she got a raise in payment, then surely she could afford better treatment for her mother and more supplies for her brother. The only thing was, was that there was the huge and impenetrable looking wall of other reporters and fans. She tried numerous times to get through, but was only met with her butt landing on the ground. She huffed in frustration then realized something. She could always sneak in. She traveled to the back of the building and noticed the lack of security employees and cameras protecting the back entrance. She was wondering if there was some sort of plan afoot. But it just turned out that it was a lousy security guard's break time and the security's funds were short so they couldn't install cameras. Either way, she carefully snuck in and searched from hall to hall to find the party. But to no avail, she was officially lost. "What do I do now?!"

While all this was going on, the four "celebrities" entered the ballroom, sat at their tables, ordered something to eat and drink. (Joan, making sure that Cuphead didn't have too much of either of them), and decided to mingle with the other celebs that were at the party. Joan made sure to keep an eye on Cuphead to make sure he didn't do something stupid. (Which was a challenge in and of itself). A few hours of this went by and Joan was already feeling exhausted. She loved Cuphead but he had WAY too energy. But then, she noticed that they had already started the dances. Then out of the blue, Cuphead came from behind her and sheepishly asked, "W-w-would you like to dance?" As he said this he held out his hand for her to take while looking away and blushing a deep red across his cheeks. She blushed as well then smiled, "Yes, yes I would." Soon enough, she took his hand and the both of them headed to the dance floor. "Do you even know how to slow dance Cuphead?" "Ehhh, not really. Could you guide me through it?" She giggled, and said, "Of course." As they slow danced, she guided him one step at a time but yet making it look not suspicious that it was his first time slow dancing. They quitely talked back and forth getting to know one another, but of course, on Joan's end, didn't reveal TOO much. Not quite yet.

End of chapter 13 (part 2)

To be continued in chapter 13 (part 3)

[insomniac-dot-ink]

Puddle Jumper, Ch1

Genre: sci-fi fantasy, wlw, series

Words: 3.2K

Summary: A young woman starts seeing a mysterious figure in the nearby puddles, it’s only a matter of time before she goes looking into them

CHAPTERS: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

WordPress ⭐Ko-Fi ⭐Patreon

CHAPTER ONE: MARNY ISN’T DEAD

When I was seven I lived in a place with no rain. Dry as dust and thirsty as a man lampooned in the pacific, I thought Arizona would never end. Skies as blue as uncut blood, land bathed in brilliant bleached light from one corner to the next. It was the third place I ever lived, a small tiny condominium with five neighbors and no outlet mall for twenty miles.

All the houses in the town had three things in common: the color beige, tiny blinking wall lizards, and an oblong pool in every backyard. Some of the pools were even filled, those were the people you wanted to make friends with but I never was very good at making friends. You could lose them too easily, upset them too thoroughly, lose them, lose them, lose.

It was a barking hot day in late August when I Arizona become more of an enigma than just the heat and grungy pool bottoms.

It was August and I stare at one of the Arizona house lizards, with it’s muddy green stripes down its back and tiny little hands clinging to our wall. I pinch my lips together and wiggle my fingers, it’s thin scaly body mocks me. My mom always told me to leave them alone- more would just take their place. I’m not very good at letting things go.

I follow the lizard, watching it waddle and blink across my bumpy living room wall, I huff a deep breath, trying to get up the nerve to make a dive at him again. “This isn’t your home,” I hiss and scowl at the thing. “Go make a tiny lizard home outside, shoo.” He doesn’t listen.

The house was empty, my mom had given up forcing me to go to school that day in particular since I managed to kick and scream at the door so much. I was eight, I could stay home alone for just a day. A stalk a lizard along the living room wall and bite my bottom lip so hard it cracks, sweet beads down my brow. I meet the lizards eye and we size each other up, only one champion could arise. 

I tense.

“Boof!”

I only jump slightly when a loud bark erupts off to my left.

“Boof!”

I frown and turn around to face our small reddish-brown terrier mix, he stares blandly back at me. He was seven-years old at this point and still hadn’t learned polite conversation.

He was more of a ‘constant screamer’ than the conversational type, I scowl back at him.

“Shush, Rusty, I’m working.” I straighten my shirt like I had seen my dad do last year, right before he left for the office each day.

“Boof, boof, boof!”

I roll my eyes and turn back to the wall, “at least try and eat the lizard. It’s bringing disease!” I didn’t know that, but neither did Rusty.

He goes to the door and scratches at it, “Boof, boof.”

I put my hands on my hips, “It’s so dang hot, Rust, you’ll start panting and whine to come back in,” I wag a finger, “silly boy.”

“Boof, boof-” His eyes are focused on something outside, I don’t check what it is.

I try to reason with him, “it’s just the sun boy.”

“Boof, boof, boof, boof,” he yaps non-stop.

“Fine, fine!” I say hotly and turn toward the sliding glass door, I didn’t know what he was looking at at the time. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I open the door and shoo him out into the dry scraggly grass and empty blue sky.

He’s gone in a heartbeat, Rusty was a good dog. He never complained when we took our long road trips with few bathroom breaks, he always put his small head on my lap when I cried.

He didn’t go streaking off into the neighbors yard as fast as a bullet, he didn’t go running out into nowhere. But my mom always said no matter how well you know an animal they’ll still be a whole other world to you. They don’t think the same.

Rusty did take off like a speeding bullet.

I stick my head out after him and for a moment, just a moment, I think I see him falling, falling and falling straight into the neighbors shallow pool.

But that can’t be true.

I dash outside and yelp at the painful spiky dry grass hitting my soft bare feet and go jumping and yelping toward the pool, “you silly dog.” I chastise when I get to the pool, but, of course, it’s empty.

I stand there for a very long five minutes.

We spend the next few days with ‘lost’ posters and circling the town in my mom’s brown corolla.

Perhaps if I had known better I wouldn’t have lost him. I was a responsible child, that’s how I documented it. I didn’t think of my mother’s wrath or the spanking I’d get, I bit my lip and didn’t think about how we could possibly lose a small terrier dog on a street with only five people.

I cry and keep looking for our small terrier mix for three months, right up until the neighbor girl just tells me my dog is dead. That’s just what happens to pets she said, she lost her hamster last year just like that, it’s how it was.

I cry again, I was a big crier, my mom said I’d never get a boyfriend if I kept that up, but maybe she was telling a joke or nursing one of her famous headaches, I don’t know.

When I was 28 I lived somewhere with only rain and sky the color of rumbling grey mush, it was all rain and streets with no sidewalks, and I this time I had hope Marny wasn’t dead.

-------

I’m 28 and it’s a damp fall day with no hope of sun in sight.

A light drizzle wets my cheek and clings to my clothes like a chilly dust sprinkling the earth. The rain isn’t heavy enough to demand an umbrella, but it does send a chill into my bones. I wish I’d worn some more sensible shoes, but I don’t want to go back now.

The neighborhood is silent all around me, crawling with it’s own faceless quiet. I stare around, searching for even the tiniest movement.

I cup my hands around my mouth. “Marny!” I call in a sing-song voice.

Nothing, just the hush of a neighborhood full of overworked young adults and a nuclear family that always made their kids go to school each day (unlike some people).

My sneakers make an uncomfortable squishing sound as I step out of the grass and onto the driveway. I stare right, left, right again. Still nothing.

Other than a bird squawking tunelessly in the distance, it feels like I’m the lone survivor of some nuclear apocalypse. Well, that’s Thursday afternoon for you.

I walk down the street, shoes squishing with every step, stopping at each house to check their gardens and bushes.

I pause at end of the road to hike up my too-loose jeans. Marny rarely leaves the street but I decide to check anyway. She doesn’t know the rest of the neighborhood well, and might have gotten lost. That could explain why I haven’t seen her in days.

My street is about halfway down a steep slope with the neighborhood entrance at one end, beside the cemetery, and the park at the bottom. I remember when I first got here and rode my bike down this slope, crashing into the fence at the bottom. There’s a slight ache in left hand where I skid on the slick street and rammed into the metal, Julie called it ‘over-enthusiasm.’ I called it getting rid of my new bike.

I sniff and remind myself I am an adult that does not resent inanimate objects, I skirt the fence anyway.

“Marny,” I call again, this time a little more weakly.

The road is empty as I begin the slow climb up to the neighborhood entrance. The cemetery is damp and full of uneven patchy ground, annoyingly mundane for a place dedicated to dead bodies. If Marny is sleeping here again though I’ll still be glad I checked, even though I was starting to frown deeply. I would check the benches, and then the park, and then I’ll break out the ‘lost’ posers. Something twinges inside me at the thought.

I sigh and hike up my pants again. I need either a belt or a smaller pair of pants, but I’m lucky to get to the grocery store these days, much less Goodwill.

“Marny,” I call, mindless of anyone who could be listening. “Marny! If you don’t come out right now I’m going to eat all your tuna Meow Mix! Don’t think I won’t.”

I wouldn’t eat it of course. I’ve tried it, and it tastes worse than you would think. Very filling though.

The cemetery is small plot of land that blends mutely into the surrounding area, my friend once asked if I minded living by a dead person plot, but it never really stood out in my mind. 

Wild green grass, a collection of crumbling headstones, and a single willow tree that rose in the middle like the citadel of a long forgotten city. No one has been buried here in decades and not not even the local goth kids wanted to bother the Sue’s and Paul’s of the bland graveyard.

Marny likes to come here and sunbathe on the stone benches, ignoring the world and showing her belly to the light. Of course, she’s not here either. I check the hedges along the rear.

“Here kitty!” I call.

A raindrop falls through the air, landing on my nose. I wipe it away with my sleeve.

“Please not today,” I growl at the sky as if it will change anything. I don’t know what I expect of Portland weather.

When I’m sufficiently sure that Marny isn’t in the cemetery itself, I turn toward the muddy creek on its outskirts. I’m starting to get a sick feeling in my stomach, it wasn’t like her to disappear for days. In fact, it wasn’t like her to not be in plain sight giving me hard looks that asked: where is my dinner? And, why aren’t you wearing pants? Where is cat God now? Because, actually, I might be her.

But Marny wasn’t here.

I squeeze my eyes shut and block out the memory of a sharp thwap to the buttocks all those years ago. I take a deep steadying breath, “I’m an adult,” I reassure a ghost of myself, “I can take care of… things.” I spit the last word and keep walking.

I find the road and sturdy cement bridge leading toward the park just a skip away from the cemetery itself. I grit my teeth as the raindrops start to pelt my back, I wasn’t going back. Not quite yet. I survey the park, I check the neglected tables under the gizbo, I only collapse a little bit when despair starts to sink in.

“Marny,” I say softly this time and I’m almost crying. “Goddammit,” I’m making frantic little circles in the park, whistling and calling like a madwoman, “Marny! Marn! Please,” I’m running buck wild back across the bridge when I hear it.

Crystal clear and echoing like a feather-light tap on the shoulder. It hits me like a familiar pop song half-heard, the lyrics just out of reach.

A meow.

“Marny?” I pause, calling softly, “are you there?” Hope lifts like a little buoyant balloon in my chest.

I cross the bridge and I squat in the grass, peering around.

“Meow,” I hear it again and perk up, it’s behind me, I walk back across the bridge.

The sound rings through the silent air, piercing and clear. It’s not a distressed sound. It reminds me more of the one she would use when she wanted out, or wanted to come in the bathroom to watch the facet water.

“Meow.”

I turn in a slow circle, trying to locate the source. I peer over the railing into the creek. The only thing running under the bridge is a thick grey sludge. I wrinkle my nose.

“Meow,” she calls softly.

It sounds like it’s coming from the road. I head out into the street and stop. She’s nowhere to be seen.

“Come on girl!” I call. “Come on Marny.”

There it is again. While before it was distant, this time it’s right next to me. I freeze, standing on the bridge and shifting in place, I look down.

A pair of yellow-green eyes stare back at me. I blink, the world turns in reverse and the whole sky was bleeds red.

“What?” I say out loud to no one in particular.

It’s my cat. It’s Marny. But... it isn’t.

I stare into the puddle, only barely an inch deep, and Marny stares back at me. I glance around. It’s clearly not a reflection. My cat is in a puddle. My ten-pound monster cat is an inch-deep puddle.

I squat down to get a closer look. It’s clearly her, splotchy calico pattern and soft doe-eyes, long white whiskers and overly pleased look on her face, everything.

I don’t know how long I sit there, the rain soaking my hair and dripping down my back. A car roars by and I don’t lift my head to even glance at it.

Perhaps I could have flagged them down and asked ‘are you seeing this?’ Or ‘ubduh duh dah?’ as a more likely question I could get out right now.

Marny stares at me, I stare back, she yawns widely- like this is just a normal day at the office for her. I examine her through the flat circle of water.

It’s only then that I notice the gloved hands wrapped tight around her body, thick black things that are just visible in the image. There’s something else inside the puddle. A person, or a monster, or something, and they have my cat.

The unseen being shakes Marny, as if waiting for me to take her.

I bite my lower lip, and wonder if this is really happening.

They shake her again and Marny squirms in place, looking displeased.

I have to take the cat. I have to reach into the puddle and pull my cat out. I have to reach into a one inch deep puddle and pull out a ten pound cat that should not be able to physically fit inside.

I reach out hesitantly, curiously, like I’m nine again and about ot burn my fingertips off on the stove just to see if I can.

I take a deep breath, preparing to defy my better judgement and not just go check into a local nut house. I reach for the puddle.

“Don’t touch that,” a voice booms from somewhere close-by.

I lose my balance, falling backward into the wet pavement and hitting my tailbone roughly. “Ow!”

I rub my ass quickly and then look back into the puddle with my teeth bared, my mouth falls cleanly open.

A stranger stares at me out of the puddle, all flared nostrils and bushy eyebrows.

“What do you think you’re doing?” the stranger spits.

“What?” I say slowly.

The stranger glances in both directions. “Turn this damn thing off,” she barks at someone I can’t see and adjusts a pair of goggles perched on her short spiky brown hair. I notice a thick red scarf around her neck. “What?” I repeat.

The image in the puddle starts to flicker, she lifts her chin and the color starts to bleed out of whatever I’m seeing.

“Hey!” I yell, “Wait wait,” the colors begin to melt and disperse into ripples, “you have my cat!”

The image disappears like a mirage in the desert, and I’m left, soaking wet and utterly alone. The puddle lay empty, as if I hadn’t just lost my mind (and perhaps my cat) in one single moment.

I take a second to think about Rusty and what my mom would possibly say. Probably something about not crying.

--

It takes me ten minutes to pick up a nearby stick and poke the puddle, curiously tapping on its surface and waiting for a tentacle to come out of it or figure to announce ‘Yer a wizard Lori.’ Nothing but a few ripples arise.

“Well dammit,” I scratch the back of my neck and I swear I hear another mew. But it takes another ten minutes for me to realize that nothing new was going to rise out of the water.

It takes me five minutes to walk home and put an ice pack on my bruises where I landed on my ass.

It was a long Thursday and even longer evening as I stare at the ceiling and think about nothing. Work would call soon and ask if I was coming back yet.

I’m dozing, a computer open in my lap with several google searches open starting with ‘Top tests for your mental health’ and pages called ‘Is God Contacting you? Take this quiz and find out!”

My consciousness is scattered to the breeze when I hear small, tiny, scratch at the door. I start awake, knocking ice pack down to the floor and sitting up straight.

Another push comes at the door.

“Rusty?” I squint at the door and pause, “Marny.”

I run to the front door to rip it open, a cool breeze hits my face and I stand listlessly in front of an empty perch. 

And then another soft mew arises behind me.

When I turn around I see a plump, round, calico cat sitting on my kitchen counter, she’s twitching her tail and blinking at me.

“Marny!” I say her name like a curse this time and fold my arms over my chest as if I plan to ask her what she think she’s doing. She loudly asks for diner in reply.

“What do, how did you, ugh.” I pull at my long black hair and go stomping back over to her. “I hope you have a good explanation for all this young lady.”

“Mrrrrow.”

I ruffle my hair, “that’s what I thought.” I shake my head and reach under the counter for her dish. I push down any other feelings.

She had probably been sleeping in my closet this whole time. Or under my clothes pile from yesterday. Or anywhere not a watery 1-inch puddle on a random bridge.

I’m ready to keep chewing her out and then push my nose into her butter soft fur and inhale, but then, of course, I notice something stuck in her collar.

My eyes go wide, “what have you been…up to?” I furrow my brow and reach slowly, hesitantly, toward a thin white piece of paper wrapped around her orange collar. I poke it.

I exhale, “it’s just paper.” I shake my head and delicately remove it from around the band. It feels strange and soft in my hands, but I ignore any shifting in my stomach as I slowly unroll it.

I frown decidedly at five simple words: Stop. Sending. Us. Your. Cat.

“I’m not sending her anywhere,” I argue with no one, I turn my chin sharply up, “You hear that?” I yell at the ceiling, “she just gets out sometimes.” I grumble and try to shake sense back into my head, I go to toss out the piece of paper.

The neighborhood kids could be very strange I decided. I throw it out, get out the meow mix and lock the doors twice that night. The memory fades like the image in the puddle itself.

That is until the next time Marny disappears.

[hamilton-one-shots]

Hamilton High School AU 48

When the pair arrived at Jefferson Hall, Theodosia's jaw dropped at what she saw. "Woah... This place is amazing.. Just how loaded are the Jeffersons?"

"I have no idea and I'm almost afraid to find out." Aaron parked his car and got out, going around and opening the door for Theodosia before walking with her to the entrance. He used the key that Thomas had given him and went inside, telling the few people working what they were there for as they went to the main hall.

"Wow.. Well, this definitely fits the Disney theme," Theodosia chuckled as she looked around the hall. "This is perfect." She made her way to a corner and began sketching out the area as Aaron looked around the hall. She sketched out the hall once as it was, then again with decorations, just to be able to see the difference. Once she was done with that, she moved towards the outer hall way, asking the employees if they'd be able to decorate that as well. They assured her that it'd be fine and she did the same for there as well as the entrance before going back to Aaron. "Hey.. Sorry for taking so much time.."

"No, it's fine. Everyone has their own processes." He smiled.

"Thanks.." She returned the smile. "I'm ready. Did you want to do anything else while we were here?"

"No. Why don't we go to Mulligan's while we're out?"

"That sounds great." She followed him to his car and he drove them to the shop. "So, who did you want to go as? Um.. Did you want to go dressed to match?"

He smiled. "I hadn't thought much about it, but that sounds nice."

"Cool! What's your favorite Disney movie?"

"Well, I'm not much of a Disney fan... I guess the Little Mermaid?"

"Yeah, I like that one too. You could be Eric and I could be Ariel."

He nodded and smiled. When they got to the shop, Hugh was jolted awake by the door and smiled at the two.

"What can I do for you today?"

"We're friends with Lafayette and we heard that you guys know about a Disney dance that we're holding next week?"

He thought for a moment. "Let me ask my wife." He got up and walked towards the back. Within a minute, Sarah appeared, just as bright as ever.

"Hi! Laffy told me all about the dance and I guess I forgot to tell Hugh here. I can help you two."

Aaron smiled. "Thank you. We were thinking maybe something like Little Mermaid?.. Ariel for her, of course, and I could be Eric?"

"That sounds lovely! Come on, I'm sure we could find something lovely for you, dear."

Theodosia didn't have much time to react before Sarah dragged her off.

Hugh chuckled and shook his head. "You'll have to excuse my wife. Your girlfriend will be returned safe and sound, I assure you."

Aaron nodded and smiled at the thought of someone thinking that Theodosia was his girlfriend. He wasn't sure how exactly to correct him, so he stayed quiet, allowing Theodosia to do that if she so desired to.

Hugh took him to the area of guys outfits and got him an Eric costume. He tried it on and made sure it fit, then changed back into his own clothes and went to Hugh, just as Theodosia was being forced out of the back.

"I'm not sure about-"

"Oh, hush, dear, you look lovely!"

"But I-"

"Come show off how pretty you look!" And pretty she was. Sarah tugged Theodosia out from the back, revealing her outfit.

She blushed as she stood in a purple, spaghetti strap crop top and an emerald skirt that was short in the front and long in the back, trailing into a fish tail like parting. The fact that it was seemingly made out of sequins made it look just like scales.

Aaron caught himself staring as she came out. As soon as he realized it, he stopped and blushed. "You look beautiful, Theodosia. Anyone with eyes can see it."

Theodosia felt her brain shut down and reboot. Aaron had just called her beautiful.

Sarah and Hugh gave each other a knowing look.

"We have some more outfits, if you want to try them."

"N-No, it's okay. I like this one."

"Great! You can go change back into your own clothes, then."

Theodosia disappeared back to wherever Sarah had dragged her and changed back into her clothes.

In the meantime, Aaron paid for both of their costumes.

Theodosia came back just as Hugh gave Aaron his receipt and his own costume.

"Are you ready to go? I already paid for both of our costumes."

"Oh, you didn't have to pay for mine, silly.. I'll pay you back later."

"No, there's no need. Don't worry about it." He smiled.

"If you say so.." Theodosia smiled shyly and followed him out and to his car, letting him drive them back to his house.

John got back to school just in time for lunch, sitting with his friends and smiling. "Hey guys. Where's Alex?"

"Library with Jefferson. Something about a dance for the debate club," Hercules shrugged.

"Oh, is that what he's meeting with him about? He told me about the dance and told me it was for first years, mainly. I guess the debate society is hosting it." He grabbed his food and began eating.

"Where were you this morning, anyways? Alexander said you got called to the office."

"Police station.. I got questioned about the Laurens Pamphlet."

"So, that's why you made that post.. You lied?.." Lafayette asked quietly.

John nodded. "What was I supposed to do? Let my siblings get separated in foster care? They have too huge of a bond for that... I can't let that happen to them and I know he'd never hurt them, even if they were gay.."

Lafayette nodded slowly and continued eating. He wasn't sure how he felt about that, Henry really should've suffered for everything that he'd done, but he trusted John's choice.

Hercules wasn't so on board with it. John had gotten beaten by his father and he was going to let him get away with it? He couldn't see why John and Lafayette were both okay with any of what was happening. But, like Lafayette, he knew that this was ultimately John's choice and trusted his decision.

John messaged Thomas as he ate. [Do not lay a hand on Alexander.]

Thomas replied quickly once he saw who the text was from. [Only because you asked xx]

He smiled a bit and finished eating, then went to class once the bell rang.

After a few hours of going over decorating plans and recruiting a few people via Facebook, Theodosia and Aaron were interrupted by the door opening and an older woman coming through.

"Oh, hello there. Aaron told me he'd be spending the say with one of his friends. You must be Theodosia. I'm Aaron's grandmother, Sarah or Ms Pierpont, whichever you prefer."

Theodosia stood up as she came over and shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Ms Pierpont. I see where Aaron gets his polite nature from."

She smiled and nodded. "I think he was just born that way. But I imagine that it's easier around you, as highly as he speaks of you."

"Grandma!" Aaron grumbled.

Theodosia giggled and checked the time. "I should get going.. I have drama." She turned to Aaron. "You're welcome to join."

Before Aaron could respond, his grandmother continued picking on him. "You should join her, Aaron. It isn't like you have much else to do besides spoil your cat."

"I do not spoil CC. And I was going to agree to join her."

Theodosia giggled again. "My Pomeranian is asleep in his room.. She's a bit hyper.. I'm sorry if she wakes up and bothers you."

"I may be getting old, but I can handle a dog. You two go on." She smiled and waved them off, following them to the door before shutting it behind them.

"Sorry about my grandma.. I think she's just glad I'm making more friends."

"No, it's fine. Your grandmother was a lovely lady."

Aaron smiled and held the door open for her, as usual, before getting in on the other side and driving them to the school.

When they got there, Theodosia was just in time to see her friends. "Hey, girls!"

They smiled and hugged her. "Hi, Theo!"

Martha smiled as she pulled away. "We're getting fitted for costumes! Come on!" She pulled her towards the drama room, where all of the girls were being fitted.

Frances smiled and pulled Aaron towards the stage, where the boys were getting fitted. "Maybe you can help me with something." She showed him Thomas and Lafayette who were arguing in the corner.

"France has OKAY drinks... but you can't beat wine made hot-and-warm in good old downtown Virginia..."

Lafayette rolled his eyes. "Oh, please. When was the last time you heard someone talking about a good Virginian wine. It's always French. Maybe even Californian. But never Virginian."

"They've been at this for an hour," Frances sighed.

"That's because you can find French wine at any corner store you pass. Virginian wine is only for the very classy."

"And by that, of course, you mean that Virginia only creates not even one truly good bottle a year. French wine is widely sold because it has a reputation for greatness."

Thomas opened his mouth to retort when the rest of the girls flooded in. "Ah, Theodosia, you come from a wealthy family, right? You must know. What's better? French wine or Virginian wine?"

"Actually.. I prefer Sherry.. So Spanish."

Thomas tutted, but Lafayette smiled.

"At least her choice is respectable. European wine as a whole is better."

"Aaron, what do you think?" Thomas asked.

"In all honesty? It doesn't matter. Most wine professionals can't tell the difference between an expensive and a cheap wine. But, considering the fact that France doesn't have to import grapes for the majority of its wine production, I'm going to have to go with French." He shrugged. "Virginian wine is only expensive because it's rare."

Thomas tutted. "Y'all wouldn't know a good wine if you drowned in it."

"Now that you're done arguing, do you think you can put your shirts on and we can get some rehearsal done?"

"Laf sure cast you right," Thomas remarked as he and Laf did just that.

"Excuse me?"

"Frankie, practice now, fight later," Theodosia said, though she completely changed her mind the next time the next time Thomas opened his mouth.

"Someone's on her period."

The girls, Lafayette, and Aaron all gasped in sync.

Aaron stepped forward and put a hand on Frances's shoulder. "Kick his ass."

He and the others watched as Frances began storming towards Thomas. "First of all, it's kind of hard to have a period when I'm trans! Second, how dare you, you piece of flaming garbage! I can't believe how disrespectful and inconsiderate-" She continued ranting and marching towards him.

Thomas, though almost a foot taller than her, began backing away as she got closer and picked up speed, only for her to do the same. It wasn't long before she was full on chasing him around the auditorium.

As satisfying as it was to watch, they did need to get some practice done. And Lafayette was the only one who was not only strong enough to stop Thomas from running, but also highly unlikely to be killed by Frances for taking mercy on him. He got up and stepped into Thomas's path, grabbing his arm and standing between him and Frances.

"Sorry. We need him for practice."

She tutted. "He's lucky he's a good actor."

"I'm just saying I'd be pretty upset if I was bleeding out of my- Ow!" he exclaimed as Lafayette flicked his forehead.

"Unless you are suicidal, I suggest that you shut up. Unless you've experienced the hell that I've heard a period can be, you have no right to speak."

Thomas shut up and pouted like a child, letting Lafayette drag him away from Frances and her murderous glare.

"Well," Eacker began. "Now that we're all settled, why don't we get to work today on Dead Girl Walking. The reprise, that is."

Lafayette almost had a heart attack at first.

"Theodosia, you and the other students can start with your part, then Lafayette, you, Thomas, and Alison can work on yours. Then we can put the two together."

Everyone got in place for their respective roles and the music began, the students playing their parts. Theodosia, as a former cheerleader herself, did especially well, adding a few flips to her dimple choreography routine.

Eacker was far from opposed to the change, smiling and nodding in approval as they finished. "That was great! Theodosia, maybe add a few more of those flips next time?"

"Yes sir." She smiled. She hopped off of the stage and Lafayette climbed up, taking a deep breath and getting into character as the music started.

"I wanted someone strong who could protect me. I let his anger fester and infect me. His solution is a lie. No one here deserves to die. Except for me and the monster I created. Yeah! Yeah! Heads up, J.D., I'm a dead girl walking!" He started walking in a giant circle across the stage and back. "Can't hide from me, I'm a dead girl walking! And there's your final bell." He pointed up in the direction of the sound of the bell. "It's one more dance and then farewell. Cheek to cheek in hell with a dead girl walkin'!" He started passed the girl playing Ms Fleming, only for her to reach out and tap his shoulder. He turned to her, clearly annoyed by her wasting his time.

"Veronica! Jason Dean told me you'd just committed suicide!"

Lafayette simply shrugged. "Yeah, well, he's wrong about a lot of things."

"I threw together a lovely tribute, especially considering the short notice..."

Lafayette rolled his eyes a bit before asking. "Ms. Fleming, what's under the gym?"

"The boiler room."

He snapped his fingers and turned to walk off. "That's it!"

She grabbed his shoulder to stop him from walking off. "Veronica, what's going on?"

He pulled her hand off of his shoulder. "Got no time to talk, I'm a dead girl walking!" He walked over to where Thomas was waiting, the other students singing their part in the background, his stride speeding up as the song began to intensify. "Step away from the bomb." He demanded, completely serious and completely in character.

Everyone was on their seats as Lafayette performed, their attention at his command.

And then Thomas got to his feet, his trademark smirk on his face. "And here I was thinking you'd lost your taste for feigned suicides." He shrugged, then pointed behind him. "Oh, and this little thing? I'd hardly call this a bomb... this is just to set off the pack of thermals under the gym- now those... are bombs." He took a few steps towards Lafayette, looking more like a villain now than he ever had whilst tormenting poor Alexander. "People are going to see the ashes of Westerburg High School and they're going to think 'There's a school that self destructed not because society doesn't care, but because that school WAS society!" There was something of a dangerous glare in his eyes, now mere centimeters from Lafayette's face. "The only place that Heathers and Marthas can get along is in heaven!"

Lafayette let his expression soften. "I wish your mom had been a little stronger... I wish she stayed around a little longer..." He grabbed Thomas's hands and worked the prop gun out of it. "I wish your dad were good! I wish grown-ups understood! I wish we’d met before they convinced you life is war! I wish you'd come with me.." He pulled the gun away only for Thomas to grab his hands.

"I wish I had more TNT," he hissed.

The pair began to try and wrestle the prop away from each other as a few of the other students sang the background vocals and Thomas tried to see if he could make Lafayette laugh mid performance.

"Virginian wine is better," he whispered as the gunshot rang before saying his next line out loud. "Is this good for you? Because it kind of sucked for me." He dropped to the ground and the song ended.

Lafayette resisted the urge to laugh, but he'd be lying if he said he didn't crack the tiniest of smiles.

The class applauded them just as they had the group before and Thomas and Lafayette hopped off of the stage and grabbed their things, since their time was already up. Frances and Martha ran up to Lafayette while Theodosia stuck with Aaron, all discussing their plans for the sleepover that night.

[marveloverthinker]

Shadowrun San Antonio: The Burrito Run

Angels wept as Ryan walked the soaked streets of San Antonio.

His eyes flicked to them as he strode, the odd statues that had been built during the Aztlan war, part protest, part memorial, part fortification. The older folks swore that, in times of need, the Angels would strike to defend their turf, or some rot like that. But for now, rain gathered in their wings and flowed down their faces, like tears from a forgotten time. The scene was only slightly ruined by street vendors who shouted, for all to hear, about how their tamales were better than anything you could get on the other side of town.

Ryan took a seat at one such cart, balancing precariously on the rickety stool as a Tejana Ork woman, her deaths mask exquisitely painted, swayed over to him to take his order. “The regular, gringo?”

He grinned. “Double, if you'd be so kind, Marta. I won't be alone for long.”

The eyes narrowed, crinkling the paint around her eyes. “You know I don't like you doing business here. This is a clean establishment.”

“So Pablo over there assures me,” Ryan said with a touch of sarcasm, giving a nod to a cat that sprawled just within the shelter of the cart's canopy, gorging itself on a freshly caught rat.

Marta tsked through her tusks, a sound Ryan found fascinating. “From the Sewers, of course. Pablo does well with vermin. Like you.”

“Peace, Senora. No haggling or rough talk, I promise. Just a little food before heading elsewhere.”

Marta considered this, then the E-pesos Ryan offered her, which she finally took. “Fine, but if your bendejo friend makes a move on my Maria like the last guy…”

Guys were always making moves on Maria. Her bright eyes and sweet laugh caught attention, her grace held it, and her goblinoid heritage had taken the latina tradition of curves to a whole new level of enticing. Ryan chuckled. “She can handle herself, Marta…”

“That will be Senora Diaz to you, and any bendejo you bring by here, so long as you are on the job. It's passed time you gave up running shadows, anyway. We mourn enough dead boys as it is.”

Ryan simply sighed and waited as Marta started rolling the burritos, smiling a bit as she stuffed a little extra into his. Brusque though she could be, she had always complained that he was too skinny, elf or no.

There was a scraping noise as the stool next to him was pulled up, and he glanced over with a bit of a grin as a Stetson was placed on the Countertop, still dripping rain. “Nash,” he said in greeting.

“Ryan,” came the reply, heavy with classic Texan drawl. “Sorry I'm late. Took forever to find a dry place to tie up Annie.”

“It happens,” Ryan answered. “I already ordered. Hope you like burritos. And if you don't, keep it to yourself, because Marta's in a special mood.”

“Mierda.” Marta swore as she approached. “You never said who was coming.”

“Miss me, Marta?” Nash drawled, knuckling his forehead. “It's been awhile.”

“I should kick you both out now,” Marta said as she put the plates in front of them. “Two elves at a Ork cart. People will talk, and it will make trouble. You two can just disappear, but Maria's a good girl, deep down, and…”

“And yet, people talk anyway. Easy, mama. Nash. Ryan.” Ryan turned on his stool to see Maria swaying towards them, her usual skirts traded for faux-leather jeans and and a subtly armored jacket. “Don't eat too much, now. You know it makes you sleepy.”

“Pura Mierda,” Marta retorted. “They're both of them too skinny. How they do what they do without any more meat is…”

“A trade secret, ma'am,” Nash said, putting his stetson on as he stood. “We'd better roll, don't you think?”

Ryan sighed, swallowed down a few bites of the burrito (they really were among the best in town, and that was saying something) and then stood with a resigned nod. The three turned as one and walked back into the rain, ignoring Marta's muttering as it faded into the noise of the droplets all around them.

They made quite a scene, the three of them. Maria, graceful as a flamenco dancer with just enough deadly to keep people from staring too long. Nash, his boots, belt buckle, duster and stetson making him look like something of the Tri-D, and Ryan himself, looking just like he had when he got off the train from Seattle, complete with piercings, tattoos, and hair that stayed spiked despite the best efforts of the rain.

As odd a group as any Ryan had ever run with, but after three years of successful(ish) running, practically family, including the overbearing, mildly abusive aunt.

“So what is it tonight?” Maria asked as they turned a corner. “Hovercar, refitted aerial drone, or are you finally gonna let me take Annie for a ride?”

“Never,” Nash said, simply, and then blinked as his eyes went out of focus. Ryan hated that. Most riggers closed their eyes, but this… even though it mattered not at all to how Nash worked, it sure looked creepy. “Annie's mine. Today we go old school.” Even as he spoke, a rickety old van pulled up alongside them, tires splashing water from the street in every direction. Ryan climbed right in, but Maria sighed.

“Just once,” she complained as she followed, “I'd like to go to a job with some style…”

——

The red and blue lights sparkled in the rain droplets that clung stubbornly to the van's rearview window. Maria snapped the gum in her mouth as she rolled down her window, flashing a smile at the Troll who shined a light into the van's interior. “What seems to be the problem, officer?”

The Troll frowned, and opened its mouth hesitantly. “Vehicle not… not authorized. Old plates. No… wireless? Identification.” The words were slow and plodded, even for a Troll. Not an English speaker then… a recent recruit, from the capitol by his accent. Maria grinned at him. “What? Oh, sweetie, I been driving this heap for years now. I'm sure it can't be a problem.”

“Problem…” the Troll retorted, likely in way of disagreement. He pulled up a retinal scanner. “Will need SIN, and…”

Suddenly the lights on the patrol car went dark, and the sudden change gave the brief appearance of near perfect blackness inside the van before normal eyes could recover. The Troll barely had a moment to look to his vehicle before he froze at the sensation of a shotgun stuck in his back.

“You're new, huh? Well here's the deal, tusky…”

“Watch your mouth…” Maria called from the passenger seat, but Ryan refused to be distracted. “You can live a good long life in your line of work, or in this town, but never both, you got me? Or should I have the girl inside translate for you?”

The Troll glanced back to the van, where Maria had an SMG aimed up into his nostril. “I'll make sure he does.” She said sweetly, before a stream of Spanish talked the Troll gently through the process of climbing into the back of the Van with his hands behind his back.

Seeing she had the situation under control, Ryan rushed over to the squad car, where Nash was sitting, apparently all blank, in the front seat. “Any response?”

“His personal comms are run through the car. Our Sergeant… Martinez… has just reported some drugged out hippies, and run their data. They'll report back SINless and he'll be ordered to bring them in.”

“How long?”

“Ten minutes. The bottleneck on the info line to the computers at the Capitol makes their response time trash out here. You'd almost think Aztlan wasn't planning on staying.”

“I wish,” Ryan muttered, receiving an answering nod from Nash as he went to collect Maria. Ten minutes bought them time, widened the window a fraction. Popping open the van's rear doors, he awkwardly started changing into an Aztlan military uniform. —-

“Ten seconds and counting.”

Ryan rushed down the hallway, ignoring the shouts coming from behind him, all of them in the clipped Spanish of the Aztlani Capitol. The occupation government sent in more of them every day, it seemed, and yet San Antonio remained beautifully, gloriously, Tejano. Remembering the cultural mongrel that was the Seattle Metroplex, Ryan could only count that a victory, so long as he could keep breathing.

“Five seconds.” his earpiece chirped. Ryan grimaced. He didn't need the countdown, but wasted no breath informing Maria of that. No word from Nash, either, but Ryan didn't let that bother him. The car was either there, or not. Outside, he heard the squeal of tires on wet pavement, and grinned.

The doors burst open as Ryan hurled himself through them, gun already out and firing at the Van that tore away from the building. “Vamanos!” He shouted at the gate guards, who were staring at both him and the van, startled. “Saboteador!” From one of the windows of the van, a startled troll looked at him, then roared, firing with a sidearm. Ryan winced as one shot ricocheted dangerously near to him, then dove to a nearby military car, which picked him up and took of after the van, in hot pursuit.

Nash sat at the wheel, staring blankly ahead as Maria grinned at him from her hiding place in the back. Her lips mouthed the words, “dos… uno…”

And an explosion ripped the checkpoint apart behind them.

The radio burst to life, howling for all units to pursue the saboteur. Ryan took some shots from his open window, causing the Troll to duck his head again.

“Can I look, yet?” Maria asked from the backseat. Ryan growled.

“We've still got our friends all around us. Nash, how long?”

“Now. Hold on, Maria.”

The squib went off, and the car spun out as the other pursuit vehicles carefully wheeled around it, not even bothering to look back as they traded shots with the enraged Troll in the backseat. Ryan took a moment before moving… with the explosion, response to a single blown car would be slow.

Maria finally looked up and laughed at the pillar of fire and smoke that now rose in a bright pillar over southern San Antonio. Already, the Aztlan military was arriving, being informed of the situation by the cars now in high speed pursuit. Suddenly Nash blinked, then glanced over at him. They all got out of the car as one, easing their way down into the floodway that would lead them all the way back to the barrio.

“How'd it go inside?” Nash asked. Ryan just smiled, then held up the heavy cartridge. It would be a payday, after all. —-

The talking head blinked through the rain that fell through her tri-d image as she gave the report, her lips oddly out of sync due to the automated translation.

“Aztlani authorities have blamed the explosion on faulty gas lines running through the city, while local utilities workers have claimed no knowledge of any such faults. Investigations go apace, but given the usual reticence of the Occupation force to give details on such issues, it is possible that…”

Marta brought over three plates of tacos to place on the counter. “I heard two cops say that it was sabotage. Some rogue Troll, based on the reports over the band.”

Maria shrugged, taking one of the tacos and eating it voraciously. Nash shrugged as he shot his tequila back. “I heard that the troll was a captured occupation soldier himself, claims to have been kidnapped by an elf and a ork.”

“I've heard…” Ryan said, mouth full of taco, “that one of the cars in pursuit got taken out in the chase. The car was found, but with no sign of the two elves inside it. They might be insiders, but no one knows. All in car video feeds looped old footage… of the troll.”

“You are all too clever by half…” Marta said through her glower. “Eventually, those imbecil will learn who has been jerking them around, and when they do…”

Ryan sighed, and keyed up a credstick, which he slotted at the counter. The tip indicator gave a little ring, and Marta gasped as quite a lot of e-pesos flooded into her account.

“For the service, senora,” Ryan said as he took his leave. “Hasta la vista.”

[fox-and-benedict]

[Fanfic, 100% Orange Juice] Favourite Customer

Series: 100% Orange Juice/ QP Shooting ‘verse Words: 1737 Characters: QP, Aru, Arthur, Syura Originally Posted: Janurary 20th, 2017 (blogspot version) A/N: This is is still one of my favourite humour pieces. Although I feel like I’ve drifted away from this style since, I would like to reprise it or reincorporate it into future comedy stories -- nothing that produces the phrase ‘pew pew windmill’ can be bad. This was also the start of my QP/Aru shipping.

Aru's ears drooped. Despite being a functional killing machine equipped with the powers of flight, seasonal gifts, and spewing bullets out of her face, she was still beholden to her lapine nature. Some part of her would always dislike loud noises, unnatural tastes and arguments, and the look on Arthur's face told her that an argument was well on the way. "Hey, Mr Shopkeeper. Give me a cola, with plenty of ice," Syura commanded. Syura was petite, redheaded, and completely unaware of her own particular place on the food chain. There was a certain smugness about her that screamed Stage 1 boss, in Aru's opinion. "Do this look like a grocery store, kid?" Arthur growled, his eye twitching behind his dark glasses. The butt of his cigarette, held loosely at the corner of his mouth in defiance of all smoking laws, crumpled as his jaw begin to grind. "We don't stock cola." "Who cares if you stock it? I asked for a cola. A real, hot-blooded merchant would see this as an opportunity," Syura replied, half wheedling, half scolding. "Oh, believe me, my blood is boiling right about now. I'm a businessman, not an errand boy. How about you take a little walk around the block and get a cola yourself?" "Hey, I'm doing you a favour, businessman. You know how much time and money real businesses spend on analytics to figure out what their customers want? I just told you for free. It's my first time in this shop, my frenemy is showing me around, and I want a cola. Make it happen," the girl said, puffing out her somewhat unimpressive chest. "Of course, I'll pay you extra for your time. I'm not an unreasonable lady." "That's just because you ain't a lady," Arthur sighed. He stubbed out his cigarette in a cheap ashtray on the shop counter, and blew a leisurely ring of smoke. "...How much extra we talking about?" Syura smiled a catlike smile, and launched her negotiations in earnest. She was a veteran of videogame bartering systems and economics; she knew how much a broadsword was worth and how much an adventurer could expect to be paid for slaying their first novelty giant-sized rat. Arthur, on the other hand, knew how to use his stern looks and rough voice to gouge a price. It ought to be a close contest, Aru thought, but it was better than an actual fight. Assured that she would have no need to administer some concussive diplomacy, she turned her attention to QP. QP was a regular customer at the Rbit Room. In fact, she was the regular customer. Not everybody had the temperament, discipline or desire to learn the ancient arts of the battle bunnies. In fact, the general, uneducated consensus was that these arts did not exist, which was a definite problem when it came to paying the bills. Yet QP would wander into the shop after school like clockwork, clutching her allowance in her hands, carefully inspecting musty tomes on rabbit warfare and then asking if the contents could, perhaps, be summed up in the form of a limerick or a haiku to help her understand them. Aru was not particularly good at either, which lead to memorable offerings like: Glimmer of power, You are the pew-pew windmill What up, it's Orbit Regardless, the dog girl always seemed to appreciate the effort, because, as she said, it came from the heart. She had a talent for seeing the best in everybody that Aru, as a result of her own duty to peer into the hearts of children across the globe and pronounce a select portion of them to be naughty in the sovereign eyes of Santa, had difficulty fathoming. QP did not, for instance, see Arthur as a grizzled, chain smoking, questionably ethical merchant motivated only by raw greed and the fear of Aru's retribution. In fact, her opinion of Arthur seemed to stop at "tall", which was a small mercy for all parties involved. "What brings you here today, QP? We're always delighted to see you, but are you looking for anything in particular?" Aru asked, ignoring the intense economic debate going on between Syura and Arthur. QP scratched her nose. "Well, uh... Actually, Syura was just being really weird, and I needed an adult. The closest thing to an adult I know is a big bullying cat who throws darts around everywhere and leads an evil organisation dedicated to taking over the world, so I decided you were my next best bet." "You keep such interesting social circles," Aru murmured. "I don't really keep them. I'd throw them back into the ocean if I could. I just keep running into strange people and they stick to me," the dog replied mournfully. Ah, so she's acquired a quirky stable of friends she doesn't really like that much, Aru thought. She's finally begun to mature as a shoot 'em up protagonist. She left that unsaid, and tried a different tack. "I'm happy for you to hang around as long as you like, but I don't really understand... Syura is your friend, right?" "Kind of." "Kind of?" "It's ambiguous," Syura said proudly, having paid Arthur four times the going rate for a cola and sent him on his way. She was flush from what she no doubt considered a victory. "Nice to meet you, by the way. I'm Syura, embryonic developer of videogames. One day, I will hatch into a beautiful game dev swan!" Aru fought the urge to roll her eyes. "Very interesting social circles, indeed. What exactly was she doing that was so weird?" QP opened her mouth to talk, but Syura beat her to it. "I wasn't doing anything weird. In fact, I was being generous, and telling my unemployed friend here how I'd give her a job when I get my studio all set up." "She wants me to wear a maid outfit," QP added, mournfully. Syura shrugged. "Well, of course. Your head is full of pudding, so I can't let you handle any of the code. All you'd need to do is flutter around the studio, bring me tea, address me as master, let me rest my head in your lap and massage my temples whenever I get tired of looking at the computer screen, and then occasionally do some light debugging. It's a cushy gig!" "The rest I could deal with, but the debugging is too much! It's sexual harassment! Tell her, Aru!" the dog said, and clung to Aru's arm like it was a anchor against a flood of madness. Aru, however, had transcended her mortal form and was roaming in the magical world of her own imagination. A girl with dog ears and a maid outfit? Surely it was too much power for one mortal to have. The amount of money and popularity that she could amass in the hidden circles of the world was astronomical. A very small part of Aru -- the part that mourned as it watched the Rbit room go into decline, the part that wanted to eat quality food instead of economy rice day after day after day -- whispered in the back of her head, telling her that she should harness that power. Another part of Aru had gone in an entirely different direction. QP was her favourite customer, but she'd rarely ever seen her wearing anything but her school uniform. Putting aside the maid cosplay, which was too dangerous to think about in public, she wondered what her friend would look like in more classically feminine clothes. "Aru? Earth to Aru? You zoned out for a little while there," QP called, waving her hand in front of the rabbit's eyes. "While drooling," Syura added helpfully. "Yes, well, um, shop harassment is against sexual rules. I mean, sexual harassment is against shop rules!" the rabbit replied, feeling a trickle of sweat wind its way down her forehead. There was a moment of silence. Then there was another moment of silence, consecutive to the last. Moments of silence began to shunt into each other like minecarts on a crowded track. Overpopulation of moments of silence began to threaten the national ecosystem, and local government authorities sent out an all-points bulletin to park rangers announcing the sad necessity of a cull. Then, at last, Syura spoke. "Fine. I'll allow it. You go on ahead, QP. I want to actually look around this goofy little shop and drink my cola." QP, anxious to escape and run home for a cup of well-earned pudding, seized the chance and trotted out of the shop. Syura watched her go, a wide smile on her face. After the dog had been gone for a good few seconds, she turned to Aru, and grinned. Aru blanched. "...Were you looking for any merchandise in particular?" she tried. "No," Syura replied, shrugging. "I was just thinking that maybe we share some interests, you know? We could be great friends. Hey, hey. Take a look at this for a moment." She produced a phone from her pocket, and began pressing buttons faster than Aru could comprehend, her fingers no more than a blur passing over the screen. Before long, she had found what she was looking for, and presented the phone to Aru, her chest puffed out with pride. On the screen was a picture of a maid uniform. It was high quality, dyed sumptuous black with a pristine white apron. It was also very short. Aru felt breezy just looking at it. "So, let's skip the formalities and get down to business. I think that with enough prodding, I can get QP into this thing. How much are you prepared to pay for pictures?" "...Make me an offer," Aru said, making a steeple of her fingers. "20 apiece?" "20?! Listen, friend, I asked you to make me an offer, not make me angry," Aru growled, warming to her part. Arthur was a hard nosed, occasionally crooked businessman. Aru kept the Rbit room in business and still had enough left over to buy toys for the world's children at the end of the year. Negotiating was her strong suit. "For 20, I'd want fifteen minutes of lap pillow and the skirt would need to be at least two inches shorter." Syura looked at her, blank eyed. Then, slowly, she began to smile. "You know what, Aru?" she said. "I think we're gonna get along great."