#lu ten would like to die now please. for real this time.

[discordiansamba]

for the first time in years, zuko returns home.

he sort of had before, when he was still lee. but although the villa on ember island was filled with fond memories, it wasn't home- and he hadn't been himself, either. uncle times it so that they arrive at the royal capital in the middle of the night, and literally steal into the palace like thieves. zuko can understand the logic behind it. uncle wanted to wait before he officially announced his and lu ten's return.

he wanted to give them time to get used to palace life again.

(...he also probably wanted to keep an eye on zuko's sleepwalking. since that was apparently a thing he had been doing for awhile now.)

"i feel like i'm the one invading the fire nation," jin playfully teases.

it makes him crack a smile. truthfully, he's been nervous ever since he spotted the caldera in the horizon. everything suddenly feels so real to him, in a way it hadn't until now. he was going home. he was going to be a prince of the fire nation again- not the crown prince, now that lu ten was back. but still a prince.

and jin was here with him.

he can tell from the way she grips his arm that she's nervous too. he can't blame her. her life is about to turn upside-down, the same way his had... well. several times, actually. when mom disappeared. the agni kai. finding the avatar. being declared a traitor. waking up as lee. he's getting kind of tired of it.

"you'll do fine," zuko promises her, "-i'm out of practice too."

then he crinkles his nose and admits. actually. i was never very good at it to begin with. maybe i should join those etiquette lessons uncle is arranging for you. jin makes a nervous giggle, and zuko finally works up the nerve to actually. you know. enter the palace. everyone else had already- and he means everyone, since the avatar's group had also accompanied them back to the caldera.

(...he wasn't getting rid of them, was he?)

the first thing he notices is that the portraits are gone.

uncle has had them taken down, he learns. not all of them- only from sozin onward. it didn't seem appropriate to celebrate the accomplishments of their forefathers. zuko can't argue with that. he's also keenly reminded that his father sits locked away in the capital prison. aang didn't kill him. he just took away his firebending.

...he wonders if his father knew what azula had done to him.

he doesn't feel the sense of homecoming he thought he would. he puts it from his mind- he's changed a lot these past few years. maybe that's all it is. he'd always imagined this moment going differently- returning home with the avatar in chains, to reclaim his position as his father's heir. now the avatar was... kind of his friend, maybe. and he wasn't anyone's heir anymore.

...he was okay with that, actually.

it's late, so they're guided to their chambers. jin looks awed when she steps into hers- he can't blame her. he remembers the way lee felt. he tells her goodnight- and she doesn't let him leave without a kiss. he's beet red as the servant shows him to his old quarters... which is helpful, since he doesn't know where they are anymore.

stupid patchwork memory.

he all but collapses into bed. part of him wants to stay up. he's worried about the sleepwalking. he settles for asking the servant to lock the door, and then passes out-

-and wakes up the next morning sitting in front of the door, like he'd tried to leave and failed.

well. fuck.

zuko's in the courtyard. he's got swords.

sokka is instantly worried. like. for a lot of reason. chief among them because before the whole... brainwashing thing, zuko's dedicated mission in life was hunting down and capturing the avatar. he hadn't shown any inclination to pick it back up after he'd gotten un-brainwashed, but...

"sokka," zuko doesn't even turn to look at him, "-i know you're there."

sokka stays still. he's bluffing. he's perfectly hidden in the bushes.

zuko points a sword in his general direction and tells him to get out of the bushes. okay. maybe he does know where he was. the not-looking but knowing where he is thing reminds him a little of toph, but zuko is apparently half blind. maybe that shouldn't be a surprise.

"okay, you caught me," sokka stands up, "-but the real question is... what are you doing?"

zuko just gives him a bland look. he's practicing, what does it look like? turns out his dao were in the jasmine dragon this whole time. it's been two years since he touched them. he's gotten rusty. he can't really firebend at the moment, so he figured now was a good time to pick them back up.

you know, sokka says. not to boast, but while you were off serving tea, he'd studied the blade himself. zuko rolls his eyes. yeah, i heard. you learned from piandao. something about losing your comet sword during the invasion and pleading with aang to search the ocean for it for you?

"first off," sokka says, "-it was a space sword. second off-"

he draws said sword. the pleading paid off. why don't we spar a little? swordbender to swordbender.

zuko briefly looks like he's thinking about killing him again. sokka doesn't mind. it's good for his recovery. then zuko just shrugs. sure. i could use the practice. you weren't the only one to study with piandao, though.

sokka readies himself. he's not worried. zuko hasn't picked up a sword in two years. how good could he be?

the answer? very.

okay. now he thinks he can understand how he'd broke aang out of pohuai stronghold with just swords. sokka sits up, and he swears zuko smirks as he sheathes his swords- but he also offers him a hand. sokka hauls himself up with it, dusting off the back of his pants. huh. guess that's why lan-wei wanted to convince you you were useless at swordplay.

"yeah, probably," zuko says, "-he wanted me to think i was defenseless. i'm pretty sure if you put dao in lee's hands, he wouldn't even be able to use them."

he looks at zuko. he asks what that's like, to have his own skills stolen from him like that. he shakes his head. he couldn't tell you. lee didn't even know what he was capable of. there's nothing to miss if you don't even know it's gone.

and that? that's scary.

"...i guess i should thank you," zuko says after a moment, "-for not just leaving me like that."

sokka shrugs it off. no problem. you weren't their friend or anything, but they couldn't just leave you like that. at the same time... he thinks lee had become their friend, at the end there. those last few days at the ember island villa felt like they'd roped a new friend into their little group. maybe it's why they'd all gone along with katara's crazy idea to let lee choose.

he missed him, just a little.

ah well. guess he'd have to just make do with zuko.

[ilovebeing-weird]

Have a Coffee

Chapter-3

Chapter-1 Chapter-2

So, people who like angst. There won't be much angst here. I hate it! There would be hurt/comfort at best. This is going to be a fluffy story. And if I get anything wrong in the airport scenes, it's because idk how they work. Never been to an airport.

"Flight 204, to New York, from Air France will leave soon. Passengers please board the plane. Flight 204....." The voice was heard from the speakers

"Queenie, it's our flight. Let's go." Marinette called Chloe, who was busy fighting with a person, because he didn't recognise her and it's 'ridiculous, utterly ridiculous'

"Hmph, you better keep up with the celebrities. I am the Chloe Bourgeois. The only daughter of Style Queen, Audrey Bourgeois. The person who has her own amazing business. The best friend of cocci-"

"Chlo!" Mari put her hand to prevent her from speaking more than necessary. "Our flight, let's go."

"Oh"

"Je suis désolée Monsieur." (I am sorry sir)

"C'est bon." (It's okay)

"Let's go Chloe."

"I can't wait to go to New York! It's gonna be sooo much fun! I am so excited" Adrien squealed heading towards his seat

"When are you not excited?" Kagami asked rolling her eyes at her boyfriend's behavior

"Don't put your cloudy shade over my sunlight." Adrien said dramatically, in response Kagami again rolled her eyes.

"If you think I am such a rain cloud, why are you dating me?"

"Because I love you, Duh!"

Kagami's face went as red as a tomato.

"Aww, you're blushing!"

"No, I am not."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I am not."

"Yes-"

"Guys as cute as you are, can we just please move." Luka said moving to his seat

"Sorry Lukes."

"Luka-bear, window seat is mine."

"I know Bee."

"Mari, you get the aisle seat. And Lu you'll have to sit in the middle." Chloe pointed to everyone's seat

"Yes Queenie!" Marinette saluted

"Perfect, now I will sleep for hours, I need my beauty sleep after all. If I will get dark circles it will be ridi-"

"RIDICULOUS, UTTERLY RIDICULOUS" All of them yelled

"Melody, your soul mark is in English, right. Maybe you'll find your soulmate here."

"Oooooh"

"Yeah, probably. My luck is not that good though."

"Don't lose hope yet Marinette, who knows maybe something good will happen."

"Maybe"

"The flight is ready to take off, passengers please wear their seatbelts. The flight is ready to…"

"I think we should get seated." Kagami took her seat "And Mars, don't worry, you will find your soulmate soon. It's destiny."

"You're right. It's destiny."

They all got seated, and Marinette was dying from lack of her coffee.

"I need my coooooffeeeee."

"No, sleep."

"Coffeeeee."

"Mel, for the last time, Sleeeeep!! Please."

"But I don't wanna. I have work-"

"That can wait. I am sure your clients will understand. And even if they won't I am sure you're ahead of your schedule." Marinette opened her mouth to say something but closed it again, it happened for a good three minutes before she gave in.

"......fine."

"Good"

"but you are working as my mannequin later."

"If it gets you to sleep."

"Why are you obsessed with making me sleep?"

"Because I care." Came his soft reply.

~After 5 hours~

"Marinette~ Where are you?~" A maniacal voice was heard

"Marinette! Answer me before I come there! Guess I will have to teach you another lesson!"

"Why don't you just die, you stupid piece of shit?" A punch

"Why are you even alive?" A kick

"You're nothing more than a waste of space." A push and marinette fell to the ground

"Nobody ever loved you, and nobody ever will! You don't even have a soulmate!" Marinette tried to say something, deny it, tell them that she had one, but she couldn't "And your "friends" they just hang out with you for pity!"

"I can't even believe I was friends with you!"

"You're nothing more than a jealous bully!"

She tried to do something, anything! But she wasn't able to, it was almost like she was bound by an invisible force.

"I hate you! I can't believe I was besties with you! You are just a liar and a bully!" Another kick, it didn't hurt. Not more than their betrayal.

"Asshole!"

"Bitch!"

"Slut"

"Waste of time!"

She sat there, listening to them. All of their insults, she didn't care. Not anymore.

"Guess I will have to put an end to it all, huh? I feel sad, you were a good playtoy." Her da-, no Mr.Dupain said, and the knife came down, she was screaming but no sound came out

"Marinette!" Huh? She didn't die?

"Marinette!" Adrien, she recognized the voice

"Marinette!" Marinette woke up with a shock

"What happened?"

"You were screaming and thrashing in your sleep."

"Oh, I had a nightmare." Adrien wiped her tears, she'd been crying? She didn't know.

"Wanna talk about it?" No she didn't, it will make it all real. It would bring flashbacks and she would have a panic attack.

"Not really." It was good that Adrien respected her wishes and didn't push it. "How long till we reach?"

"Uh, it's been five hours, so I am guessing three hours more. You wanna eat something?"

"N-" Adrien cut her off

"You know what? You do want to. You will obviously deny it, but I am not gonna let you starve."

"Why are you all like this?"

"Like what? So caring and such good friends? You deserve it."

"I hate you, each one of you."

"Aww, you know you love us! You looove us"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Mari rolled her eyes. She knew she loved them, they knew she loved them. They all loved each other, platonically obviously. But, there was a part of her which always wondered if they hung out with her just because they pitied her. They wouldn't do that, right?

Would they?

Finally almost eight hours passed, she had eaten and now she was working on some new designs while her friends slept peacefully.

"There has been a technical issue, the flight would land right here, in Gotham. Passengers are required to please wear their seatbelts and not panic."

WHAT!? The flight had to make an abrupt stop at Gotham at all of places, the fucking CRIME CAPITAL!! Oh no, oh no, OH HELL NO! This is a disaster, this is a disaster, a disaster. Wasn't luck supposed to be on her side? Did the miraculous mean nothing?

She quickly wore her seatbelt and checked all of her friends' too before waking them up.

"Umm, guys, there has been a technical issue, the flight's gonna land now, so you may wanna wake up." It didn't work, the formal and polite option didn't work "GUYS WAKE UP! THE FLIGHT'S GONNA LAND RIGHT NOW IN GOTHAM!" That worked! It jolted awake all of them.

"Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous!!"

"You've got to be kidding me!"

"In the fucking crime capital?!"

"Maybe it is destiny." Marinette gave Luka a weird look that said 'are you crazy or something?'

"Maybe you will find your soulmate here."

"Of fucking course. In the crime capital. Maybe my soulmate is a criminal too, huh?"

"Don't be such a pessimist Mari, there are good people too in Gotham."

"So any idea what we wanna do?" Marinette asked once they were out of the plane.

"Let's order a cab to New York?"

"Yeah, let's do that. Let me check the cabs… There's no cab available for where you wanna go….. " Blood drained from Adrien's face as he read that.

"So, we are forced to stay in Gotham?"

"Kinda"

"Well what should we do now?" Luka gained their attention

"Let's go shopping!!" Chloe, obviously, cheered "Before either of you deny, Kags, you need new clothes, no offense, but you really have a bad fashion sense. Luka-bae, I need you to carry my bags. Adri-kins, Kags need you. And Mari-bear, you have a good fashion choice." Luka and Adrien sighed, guess they have to carry their bags forever.

"I don't know Chlo, I really need some coffee and have to do some work. I guess I will go to a café instead." Marinette said sheepishly

"Hmm, if you say so." Marinette was genuinely surprised that she let her off the hook. Usually she would be dragged with them. "You can send us your location and we'll meet you there in two hours?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"Okay, bye, don't have a overdose~"

"Bye queenie!"

"Now let's find a café with an internet connection and quiet environment." She quickly searched all the café near her, fortunately the nearest café was within walking distance.

She walked for ten minutes before she reached the café "coffee and joy" apparently this café has amazing coffee and the batfam, mostly Red Robin, always comes here. The atmosphere was good, not too crowded but enough for it to be good.

She walked inside, it was good. As soon as she walked in she was greeted by the fragrance of coffee. The circular tables had plants on the side, couples were talking and chattering. There were families enjoying themselves, and a person who was typing away on his computer, huh, he almost looks dead. Well, who was she to judge, she was sure she looked the same while she was working.

She went to order. The workers there were happy and cheery. Weird, this is Gotham. Aren't people supposed to be gloomy and annoyed here? Well, Paris, the supposedly city of love, the people there are--the ones she knows the rest she is sure are good--are evil. She is not even exaggerating.

"Hi! How can I help you today?" The worker, she learnt the name was Sam, asked her.

"Hey can I get a black coffee with…..eight espresso shots? thank you!" The worker looked shocked, obviously anyone would be shocked if someone ordered this much caffeine. She muttered something that she couldn't quite make out but it sounded like 'there's three of them' . What did she mean by three of them? Eh, whatever.

"What name should I write on the cup?"

"Marinette." Marinette, the only reminder of her fam- the people she lived with. The name that was given to her by her grandma that she loves dearly. At Least her grandparents are good people.

"Okay, why don't you wait and I will call you?"

"Sure" She went to the table in the corner. So she would not grab any attention but will be able to go to the counter easily when called.

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

Tim was having a sucky day. Firstly, he was almost late to the meeting because Bruce thought it was good to let him sleep in. Fuck you Bruce! I don't need to sleep. Then Alfred banned coffee. Why? Because apparently he had a little too much coffee. Thirdly, his brothers were still obsessed with making him sleep, he already slept last night!

"Ughhh" Tim groaned, luckily his favourite café was just around the corner. He would go and grab some coffee there and work in peace.

Upon entering the café he was greeted by the sweet fragrance of coffee. Oh, how much he loved it. If he didn't find his soulmate he would marry coffee. Bruce wouldn't have a problem, right?

"Hey Sam!" Tim greeted the always cheerful barista

"Hey Mr. Drake. Your usual?"

"Yep."

"It will be ready soon!"

Thanking her Tim made his way to his usual table and took out his laptop to go over the meeting details. After a minute or so grabbing his coffee and feeling alive again Tim started working on the documents. He was so lost in his world that he didn't realise someone coming in. Only when her name was called did he realise that.

Out of curiosity, Tim looked at her, and what he saw was something he would remember forever. That woman was beautiful. He knew that it was wrong, he knew that he had a soulmate, he knew he should wait for them wherever they are, but he also knew that he felt a connection with her, he also knew that he had to take his chance. So that's what he'll do.

Waiting for a while to gather some courage and thinking about what to say. He started to make his way to her. Only to be stopped by her sad expression, she was angry, mostly sad looking at her laptop. Huh, looks like she's not having a great day. He decided that he will go to her with coffee, after all what was something that coffee couldn't solve. He ordered two coffees for them, he knew that her order was the same as his.

He took a deep breath and made his way across the café to her and offered her the beverage in his hand. "Having a rough day?"

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

Marinette was relieved that she got her coffee. She hasn't had any since morning. Why does the world have to be sooo unfair to her!? Opening her laptop she found some new commissions…..and some emails from her old class. Can they just suck it and move on? How childish can anyone be.

She knows that she shouldn't be but she was sad looking at it. She was just about to delete them when a voice startled her.

"Having a rough day? Have a coffee, It will make it better." Marinette being Marinette jumped at the voice.

"Ahh! You scared me! Wait a second….. You are my soulmate! Thanks for the coffee by the way." As soon as their hands touched there was a golden glow around them, a welcoming glow.

"Hey, soulmate. I am Timothy Drake-Wayne please call me Tim."

"Hey Tim, I am Marinette. Nice to meet you."

"The pleasure is all mine, Marinette." Tim kissed her knuckles to which she responded by blushing.

@legodetectivemalsblog

[quazartranslates]

Welcome to the Nightmare Game II - CH41

**This is an edited machine translation. For more information, please [click here]**

[<<< Previous Chapter | Table of Contents | Next Chapter >>>]

-----

Chapter 41: Star Death Reality Show (XXIV)

For a long time, Qi Leren couldn’t find the ability to think.

He seemed to be a poor man petrified by magic, just sitting in a chair, watching the system prompt gradually disappear from the screen.

Ning Zhou was dead?

Dead. Qi Leren couldn't put this cold word on Ning Zhou. Even if it was just in his imagination, he couldn’t accept it.

His trachea seemed to be blocked, and Qi Leren felt that he had returned to the sea, feeling the pain caused by suffocation in the increasingly strong water pressure. He couldn't breathe and couldn't escape. The oppressive darkness and death surrounded him, tormented him, and made him unable to endure for even one second.

He had to go to Ning Zhou! He had to bring him back from Purgatory!

He had always been used to waiting passively, indulging his interia and dependence as he waited, comforting himself. This was the best way, but he didn't expect that some people, some things, he couldn’t wait for. The anxious sense of urgency weighed heavily on his shoulders; just like when he had used the Prophet's Heart, a huge clock kept counting down behind him.

Counting the seven days after his death, today was the twenty-fourth day after his resurrection. There were only five days left for him. He had to hurry back and bring Ning Zhou back, otherwise...

Qi Leren couldn't think of what followed.

Don don don— When a knock on the door sounded, Qi Leren was startled and hurriedly closed the laptop. At the moment it closed, it disappeared out of thin air. Thankfully he had turned off the invisible camera that followed him, otherwise he really didn't know how to explain all this.

A skill card was lying quietly on the computer desk. Qi Leren had no time to think about it. He put the skill card in the item bar and asked loudly, "Who’s there?"

When the door opened, Du Yue stood outside looking surprised. "You’re really here?"

This was a strange question. Qi Leren felt strange when he heard it: "How did you know I was here?"

Du Yue scratched his head, a little muddled and a little confused, and said, "There’s a very strange gentleman... I don't know where he came from... He showed me the way and said that you were here."

A chill penetrated Qi Leren's back and cold sweat flowed down. Qi Leren's hand was shaking. If he didn't deliberately control it, his voice would tremble. The familiar fear returned to him; even if he just thought the name of that person, he would feel terrible.

A person who suddenly appeared and knew him like the back of his hand, a person who could access and even interfere with the copy, a… terrible person.

He had come here again for the secret hidden in this laptop.

"Where is he?" Qi Leren asked slowly.

"He said he would be at the lowest level of the institute. Qianbei, is he a survivor of this planet? Did they not leave here, but lived underground or something?" Du Yue, who didn't know Su He, never thought of the man’s real identity, but thought he was a part of this copy.

Qi Leren took a deep breath, shook his head, and got up and walked out of the room.

"What about the others? Have you spoken with them?" Qi Leren asked.

"We split up just now," Du Yue said in a depressed way.

Qi Leren didn't ask any more questions and walked quickly towards the safe corridor. Since Su He wanted to see him, he had to bite the bullet and go, but this time he had no Easter Eggs. If Su He made him choose between life and death again...

I should make an agreement with him, Qi Leren thought. He absolutely couldn’t die here. If he died, Ning Zhou would be fated to follow that terrible path, leading to the abyss of death. He couldn't watch Ning Zhou die.

If Ning Zhou became a demon, he would accompany him.

If the world wouldn’t let them be together, then they would go to hell together.

He wasn’t afraid, because nothing was more terrible than losing him.

But if Su He insisted on killing him... Qi Leren stopped on the stairs, turned to Du Yue, and said, "I have something to ask of you."

"Qianbei, please say it, I’ll do it!" Along the way, because of Qi Leren’s dignified expression, Du Yue felt nervous, thinking he may have made some big mistake. Now that he heard that his qianbei wanted to make a request, all he had to do was clap a hand to his chest and promise.

"Don't follow me later, do everything possible to protect your own safety. If I die, go back to the Village of Dusk and find a woman named Chen Baiqi..." As Qi Leren spoke, he took out a pen and paper and quickly wrote about Ning Zhou, then handed it to Du Yue.

Du Yue opened his mouth and looked ready to cry. "Is it that dangerous? Qianbei, don’t go!"

"There are some things that can't be escaped," Qi Leren said. Su He had come in person, and it would take him only minutes to kill everyone in the copy. He didn't even have the cards to negotiate with him. It was simply a fantasy to avoid him. "If you find Dr. Lu, don't get separated from him. Although he’s often confused, he’s still very lucky. That person should not be interested in killing you... I’m leaving, you should be careful."

Du Yue gawked at Qi Leren. He really was crying. A big and strong boy who was only eighteen years old could not hold back his tears when faced with life or death, and he took Qi Leren's hand with a face of snot and tears and refused to let go.

Qi Leren had to comfort him with a white lie: "Don't worry, this is only the worst case. Generally, I’m lucky and won't die."

Du Yue was dumbfounded: "But Dr. Lu said that your luck level falls below the alphabet."

“………………”

Qi Leren, who had been exposed, finally just pushed Du Yue out of the stairwell and continued to go down. As the floor numbers dropped, he entered deeper and deeper underground, and the surrounding air became colder and colder. Even wearing temperature regulating clothes, it still made Qi Leren feel stiff all over.

As he walked, Qi Leren looked at the skill card that had been left after the laptop disappeared.

[Sophisticated Lawyer: A cunning lawyer should avoid the traps in the contract and do everything possible to help their client, who has paid enough in legal fees to avoid contracts that are not beneficial to them. If you sign a contract with anyone after equipping this skill card, that contract can't bind you, but a payment of 130 survival days will be consumed. Remaining usages: 1/1]

Qi Leren's face turned green. He worked hard with the Devil of Fraud to save 147 survival days, but this would take 130 days at once?! If this skill card was used and his identity was revealed in this copy... Very good, he would be directly obliterated because of insufficient survival days.

But he knew in his heart that if "it" would give him this thing, it was already hinting that he… he would need this skill card.

Just like the Easter Egg.

Qi Leren looked at this skill card with mixed feelings and inserted it into the card slot.

He had already reached the 13th floor underground. The depth of this underground research institute was really shocking. At present, he faced the exit of the stairwell. Qi Leren hesitated outside the door for a while before fearfully pushing it open.

Ahead of him, there was a cold and featureless metal corridor, dark and lacquered, and the range of a flashlight was limited. Where light couldn't reach, the deep darkness was like a beast's open jaws, waiting for him to trap himself.

Qi Leren let out a mouthful of hot air that condensed into a thin cloud of white smoke in the extremely low temperature air.

He stepped out of the stairwell.

Light suddenly hit his eye, and the sudden light blinded his eyes with whiteness, but the fresh air and warm temperature from the tip of the nose made him realize that he was no longer in the cold underground research institute.

Sure enough, when his sight returned to normal, the ethereal and clean world around him made him hold his mouth tightly shut.

The blue sky was endless, and there was one white island after another floating around him, unable to discern if they were white clouds or floating islands. Pigeons flew from the direction where the sun was rising, and the whole world was immersed in the hope of dawn. Who could have guessed that this was a Devil’s field?

Qi Leren stood on the tower of the floating island, where he had once come and had a friendly conversation with the Devil of Fraud.

At that time, Su He had said that this was the Village of Dawn in his memory, and he had projected the ideal hometown into his own field. Qi Leren didn't know whether this sentence is true or not, but if he thought deeply, he couldn't help but feel fear for the truth of the Village of Dawn—was the so-called Village of Dawn itself not this Devil’s field?

"Good morning, lost lamb." A hoarse and charming voice came from behind Qi Leren, which scared Qi Leren into turning around quickly.

On this terrace that had been empty only a few seconds ago, there appeared a woman holding a white porcelain tray, as if she had appeared out of thin air.

This was the sexiest woman Qi Leren had ever seen. This was so even though her hair was tied in a meticulous bun and she was dressed in a high-necked black dress, her whole body covered—only her face was exposed, and even her hands were wearing a pair of black silk gloves. Even if a naked woman was standing there, she would not attract more attention than her, because no one would have the same reserved yet affectionate smile as her.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Ruth. It's a very common name, isn't it? In the demon world’s capital city, if you shout Ruth casually, at least ten women will turn around. So I prefer others to call me the Witch of Lust." Ruth walked lightly to the round table and sat down, waving to Qi Leren again. "Sit down, the little pet His Majesty is in charge of keeps causing trouble again. If you ask me, it really needs to be changed to a bigger cage."

"What pet?" Qi Leren asked cautiously.

Ruth crossed her hands under her chin—this action was really like her master—and hesitated: "A goldfish."

A goldfish? Qi Leren was at a loss. What trouble could a goldfish make? Jumping out of the goldfish bowl? It was worth Su He handling it himself?

A goldfish bowl? This word suddenly awakened Qi Leren's reluctant memory. It suddenly occurred to him that Su He had been called away by a voice when he had revealed his identity and killed him. At that time, Qi Leren had lost blood and couldn’t see clearly, but his ears had still heard the voice. What were the exact words? They seemed to be...

[...The goldfish bowl has raised an alarm. It’s very likely that it will escape again...]

Wasn't what lived in the goldfish bowl a goldfish?

It was going to escape, and again? That is to say, it had escaped before?

What on earth was this thing?

Lust calmly poured tea for Qi Leren, and there were three tea sets on the table. Her and Qi Leren’s cups were already filled, but the empty one still waited for its bearer.

"He always makes us wait so long. If you don't mind, we can talk casually." Lust stirred the black tea in the porcelain cup with a delicate silver spoon, but her eyes never left Qi Leren for a moment.

"...What is there to talk about?" Qi Leren asked warily.

"Let's talk about men. Women like me and men like you always like this topic," the Witch of Lust laughed.

"..." What do you mean, "men like you"? Qi Leren was a little depressed.

"What do you think of His Majesty?" the Witch of Lust asked wistfully.

Could he say that he thought he was a deeply-scheming pervert? After Qi Leren learned Su He’s true face, it made his hair stand on end when he recalled the little things from when they used to get along. This feeling was probably like if he had found out an old friend of many years was actually a serial murderer, and that he was his next target.

However, Qi Leren couldn't make such comments to the witch about her boss, lest she become angry from his impudence and teach him to be a man in 10,000 ways. He had to breathe a sullen sigh, consider the sentence carefully and thoughtfully, and after deleting a few-hundred-word-long negative review, provide a small truth that wouldn’t offend anyone: "He’s very handsome."

Lust giggled with joy and reached out to touch Qi Leren's cheek: "You’re so cute, I like you a little."

A sigh came from behind Qi Leren: "Ruth, I asked you to dress properly and take care of the guest, not flirt with him."

The voice struck Qi Leren's head like thunder and lightning. He suddenly jumped up from his chair, then felt that he had overreacted, so he sat back down in embarrassment. The footsteps behind him were getting closer and closer, passing his seat and sitting down in the empty chair opposite Qi Leren.

Su He wore what appeared to be a riding suit, as if he had just arrived by horseback, and he took off his white gloves and held them in one hand. He looked like a human being, handsome and gentle. He didn't seem to notice Qi Leren’s blunder, and he forgot his former unhappiness. After sipping a mouthful of black tea that Ruth poured for him, he put down his cup and smiled, saying to Qi Leren who was on pins and needles:

"On this beautiful night, are you interested in making a deal with me?"

-----

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[zukkatrash]

atla pirate au

(soley based on me misreading a diff post and now wanting to see mai in a keira knightly getup) (also everything i know abt pirates is based on the pirates of the caribbean, treasure planet and black sails and hasty 2 am googling) (also also big fucking shoutout to @s-suki for helping me with this)

the gaang's ship - aka The Avatar

yue is captain!!! (@s-suki ur brain is huge and i luv u) so from what i know being a captain is a looot abt politics and u know our girl yue is good at that, not to mention how much her crew loves her bc she gives everything for them

sokka is navigator, one look at the stars and he knows where they are instantly, he charts a course in record time, captains have in fact fought over him but he is nothing but loyal to his captain!!!

aang spends at least half his time in the sails, as lookout and keeping knots secure(? idk shit abt sailing haha) he’s also the fastest one they got, no matter if he’s running, swimming or paddling a small boat

suki is the best fighter they have bc of course she is (also theres no misogyny in this bc i said so) grown men shit themselves when they see her / also shes boatswain (the boatswain was in charge of a ship's anchors, cordage, colors, deck crew and the ship's boats, and would also be in charge of the rigging while the ship was in dock)

toph! makes! bombs! also if u give her a gun that u found thats been underwater for three months and u give her like 2 hours, not only is it completely functional afterwards but it somehow works better than before?

katara is quartermaster and shes def like 30% of how yue keeps her crew in line

haru is ship cook (i know this has zero connection to canon but have you considered boi soft and warm like bread)

teo is the ships carpenter (highest ranking if they got more than one)

jet is a fighter obvs, also him and sokka do NOT get along but yue has this real icy stare that makes them both shut up immediately

smellerbee is dating toph and yue is not opposed to their relationship but does make sure theyre not around eachother too much when explosives are also near bc those 2 def get up to some wild shit

longshot is obvs the best shot they have and is the other lookout

appa is a parrot and he spends all of his time being adorable

momo is still a lemur and just steals so much shit

on to the firenation

ozai rules over a whole ass port/island or smth idk but like all the pirates have to deal with his fucking bullshit

zhao is his 2nd in command and yue at some point guts him 😊

azula is of course captain of her ship and she rules with an iron fist

mai is first mate (making any possible future betrayals that much worse)

ty lee is ship medic and just constantly gets underestimated in fights and wins like right away

zukos life motto on azulas ship is 'i hate it here' bc his job is basically everything nobody else wants to do (until! he is no longer on the ship. does he get pushed off the ship to drown? does he leave in the night with all the valuables he can carry and a map of a great prize? idk, YOU DECIDE)

more thoughts on zuko:

i dont think he’d join the gaang right away after he’s no longer with the fire nation but would first like half-die on some island (even if he didn’t get kicked off, i just imagine he’d do smth drastic like think he can sail a ship without getting lost just bc he’s spent a lot of time on a ship but like, honey no, navigation isnt as easy as it looks) bc zuko alone u kno

iroh is still his uncle in this, but zuko doesnt know that, so he thinks he’s just this weird hermit guy that finds him and takes him in

zuko is like "what does he want? what his secret agenda? how will this guy use this against me?" and iroh is just like "boy! eat something but also are u like okay? u want some cryptic advice thats consisting of 60 ocean metaphors?"

iroh does tell him hes his uncle tho and that he left when zuko was really young and he wasnt the only one who ran from that house that day...

URSA IS ALIVE!

she had been banished by ozai and threatened with zukos murder if she had stayed, ozai wouldve killed her but he knew he couldnt take her in a straight fight and if she had been the type you could assassinate they wouldntve ever gotten together anyway

now shes vibing with iroh and lu ten, because yes lu ten is alive (listen if there is any feasable way of my boi to be alive he is!!!)

also they’re def supporting everyone who opposes ozai as asafely as they can on whatever weird remote island theyre at

once zuko joins the crew of the avatar, sokka laughs like straight five minutes abt zuko thinking he could navigate his stolen boat after not even learning how to properly read a map, not to mention everything else that goes into navigating and zuko is like "fuck u" and sokka is like "lets show u how to read a map so this doesnt happen again" still with tears of laughter in his eyes, and maybe later when hes been on the crew for longer and maybe saved sokkas life in a fight, sokka teaches him abt the stars too and cue zuko pining after the way too beautiful guy trying to explain constellations but zuko just keeps getting lost in his eyes and being hyper aware of how close sokkas arm is when he points out specific stars

the reason zuko joins them in the first place is bc the avatar is the only crew that could protect him against azula and ozai and they’re the only ones willing/able to go up against the fire nation

also katara is the first to see zuko after he parted with the fn and she like immediately has a sword to his throat and boi just fucking faints

maybe jee is also a captain in this bc i really like it when the wani shows up in fanfics and maybe they’re not on good terms with ozai but they’re flying under the radar bc its just a small ship and they do bring in their percentage so maybe zuko joins his crew before he goes to find the gaang?

now some general thoughts:

the dai lee is the chinese navy out to get them all

miyuki is one of their highest ranking officers and gives the pirates a run for their money, but weirdly never goes to chase the Avatar

hakoda is also a captain but he’s working under ozai to take the operation down from the inside (also yes of course his husband bato is also there with him ^^)

kue is absolutely some weird hermit guy

once again big thanks to @s-suki for helping me with this check out their blog theyre great! (theyre on break rn tho but dont let that deter u!!)

if anyone wants to add to this PLEASE do!!! also if anyone draws or writes smth for this please please please tag me bc i would love to see it!! (also i will love u forever ♡)

[maladaptive-ninja-returns]

It’s The Avengers (03x06)

Loki x Reader Avengers The Office AU (Slowwwwww Burn)

Season 3 Episode 06: Mrs Silvertongue

Series Summary: Living in the Avengers facility post-apocalypse in a better timeline   Tony Stark has decided to capture every moment by pulling The Office on the Avengers. All of housemates are pretty used to the idea except for you, who had just come here to finish her degree, and the newest member- Loki.

Warnings: one of those tropes. one of those hnnghh tropes

Word Count: I was supposed to post this four hours ago but my colleague called me to play and that dumb dork was drunk while I was laughing throughout. So, here it is. Also...I’m hot. No, I am actually hot. The temperatures are going up! I need some cool breeze.

MASTERLIST in bio, darlings. Tags are open (check bio)

"Everybody stay together. Do not make eye contact with strangers. Do not buy stuff you don't know about and definitely do not leave your eatables unattended."

The camera switched from Loki's barely composed face to your stuffed one strapping the backpack securely behind you before looking at Loki and the sandwich sitting on the seat between the two of you.

"Wha," you stated, still not swallowing, "iss wight hea. Sop bein a wowwie wat."

The camera in Javi's hand caught the bustle on the 'station' where you all were supposed to board shuttles to be on your way to another galaxy before travelling to Knowhere. The area was thousands of square feet wide made in a dome shape outside a planet currently under the supervision of the soldiers form Andromeda. After the War, the security had been tightened around galaxy travel to monitor any remains of the Radicals who had supported Thanos and were currently the most wanted criminals in the universe. Screens everywhere showed the flights and timings along with various commercials for products all around the galaxy. Some you were able to read thank to the translation glasses the Hardy boys provided you, others were a jumbled mess of strokes and illegible patterns. Creatures from all around the wonderful black expanse moved about in this station while soldiers who looked like they had been overly tanned scanned them and their belongings before sending them on their designated shuttles. It all worked as an airport. Except for one thing.

"Well, at least there's no random selection here that is not based on some 'racist profiling'," you quoted, getting a nod of agreement from Javi.

"Oh, there is racist profiling here," Loki interrupted your blissful thoughts, "but ever since the war, it has just been bent towards the ones who helped Thanos."

"Huh, even space isn't free from such mindsets then."

An announcement on the screens caught Loki's attention. "That's our shuttle. Come on. Lulu, up."

Lulu jumped and settled on Loki's shoulder and the camera caught a full grin on your lips.

You: *smirk* And he was the one who didn't want me to take Lulu from the desert *tilt your head* you know what... he is exactly like a choco lava cake. Sturdy looking outside but soft, mushy and melting aaaaall on the inside *giggles*

 Loki: she was talking about me, wasn't she? *narrows eyes at the camera* What was she saying? Javi, tell me. Javi, we're good friends. Come on, Javi. You're stuck with me. Javi. Javi. Hey. I'm the only one who can get you out of this hell hole. Javi. *looks at Javi's figure walking away* Javi. Javi! Come on! Javi!!

The creature scanning your line seemed to come out of some American writer's stereotypical description of a green alien except for the part where her huge beady black eyes had slits, just like a cat. She was stoic as a feline too, going about her job without any emotion on her face. And when it came your turn to stand underneath the scanner, her ignorance of your greetings did not help your nerves.

"You are a...terran," she stated more than she asked.

"Yes, ma'am." You blinked like a dumb animal and tried to remember to smile.

"Your business in the galaxy?" Her slow and positively raspy voice interrogated.

"Just travelling with my-" you blinked again while trying to innocently shrug with a hint of shy, looking like a questionable human-"boys. You know, sight seeing."

Those silver slits stared at you for solid five seconds, not even breathing apparently, before stamping a token and handing it to you and diverting her attention to the next passenger- Loki.

You and your bags moved to the other side of the scanner, waiting for Loki and Lulu while Javier made it next to you from the scanner next to yours. The creature looked at the information the scan brought on her screen in a language neither you nor the camera understood. But one thing that was catching the camera's focus was this text blinking in red next to Loki's picture.

"You are Loki," she stated to the God, scrutinising him from head to toe in those black scruffed jeans and t-shirt underneath a deep maroon long jacket.

"Hm," you forced out a light chuckle, "guess Tony and Clint are not the only ones who are weirded out by seeing him in anything other than his New York attire."

"Of Asgard," Loki added with an 'at your pleasure’ smirk.

"A Frost Giant," the lady acknowledged in her raspy voice. "Have you travelled to the Andromeda before?"

"I have, yes. But not in the recent years."

"State your purpose for the visit to the galaxy."

"I am-" he paused to throw a quick look in your direction before going back to his interrogator- "going there on some unfinished business with an old friend."

The lady, stoic like a rock, looked at Loki for the next ten seconds before pressing a button underneath her screen. Somewhere behind you, you and the camera could hear synchronised footsteps. The camera turned to catch seven aliens- five bulky, one bulkier than all the others, and the last one a leaner and less appeasing version of the lady- walk past you towards Loki.

Lulu, who could feel the change in the atmosphere around him, felt himself shifting on Loki's shoulders while his fur stood up like a frightened cat. But never once did that little fluffy boy leave Loki's side.

"Loki, of Asgard," the leaner one announced, "you are to come with us. Please carry your belongings with you. Please refrain from using any means to resist for you will be charged against the law of the peace fleet. Please put your hands forward so we may put diluters on your wri-I see you already have some version of them on your wrist. Very well. Please follow me."

The camera caught you, mouth gaping open and eyes out in refrained horror, looking at Loki while trying to keep your breaths as calm as possible.

"Oh fuck," your breaths forced out, "what the fuck is happening? Oh fuck fuck fuck fuck fu-"

Loki was already moving behind the lean one, the parade of bulky Captain Gantu’s following him with their synchronised boot work. One of them looked down at the camera, sending a glare of yellow through those hollow eyes before turning back, entering what seemed like an elevator. Loki stood right in the middle, his eyes shifting from the lean alien to you for a few seconds before white doors closed and he disappeared from your view.

The camera now came back to your face, which was still staring in that direction, the colour from your skin a little faded, the pupils contracted to their limit, the breaths paused since God knows when. "Oh fuck we're gonna die."

.

There was a rhythmic pulse beating four times a second while the camera kept shifting- and vibrating a little- between two windows. Out of one window one could see those bulky dudes in attention standing at one door each, not shifting even a muscle while other aliens went about their business. The other window showed the lean guy standing with another alien that was bulkier in the middle. The lean one turned to the window at the rigorous tapping coming from the window.

"Calm down, Lulu," a soothing but tired voice came from out of the frame, making the little one turn towards Loki's figure sitting in what looked like a white chair beside an oval-shaped white table floating in the air, "they're not going to let us out. Not yet at least."

Lulu, who had paused to listen to the God suddenly found himself whimpering till its outright wails were catching everyone's attention outside the room.

"No, n-Lulu stop crying, Lu-" Loki got up from the chair and came to stand beside Lulu in two strides, picking the furry lump in both his hands while keeping his head away from those deafening wails. Slowly but surely, Loki brought the hysterical little lump to his chest, mostly to suppress the noise and wave uncomfortably at the judgmental eyes in his direction. At one point the fly camera-that had sneaked in with events yet unknown- caught an expression on Loki's face that reflected nothing but murder in his eyes. But the very next moment he sighed and brought his hands to stroke the frightened ball of fluff. "Hey, hey, hey," he shushed him, his hands being gentle and his expressions turning soft, "it's okay. It's completely fine. You're fine," he hummed, almost singing it while bouncing the little sobbing and hiccuping floof in his arms, "I'm in here too, aren't I? Right? You are not alone. You are not alone. We'll get out of here together as soon as we know who is behind all this mess, okay?"

The little furball sniffed and wiped his snot off on Loki's shirt. "You didn't have to do that," Loki pointed out with no real purpose to the already made mess. But Lulu was quiet now, possibly looking up at Loki and chirping something only the God understood and chuckled. "Yes-" he stroked Lulu's head- "she'll be fine without us. Once she stops panicking. Yes, yes, you're with me."

Lulu, chirped again, protruding his paw to carefully touch Loki's cheek and chirp some more. Whatever the little one had said, brought the God to a standstill, that tiny smile on his face frozen while his eyes seemed to have travelled somewhere far. "I wish that was true a few years in the past. How different some things would have been."

Lulu tilted his head in confusion while Loki seemed to be visiting certain memories that the camera on Lulu and others around them was not aware of. And all emotion in both these loveable creatures seemed to have been broken by a recognisable voice- so low and seemingly far away- somewhere in their vicinity. Lulu was the first to turn towards the window to the view of the lean guy, jumping at the sight.

And then Loki saw you standing right next to the alien who had arrested him, all colour from his face draining as he watched you flail your hands in some untethered rage right into the expressionless alien standing in front of you out of courtesy.

"Oh...oh no." Loki's face was completely opposite to whatever it is you were going through. Lulu was shifting his gaze between him and you, bouncing in Loki's arms with unadulterated joy. Javier was standing between the two of you with his camera- filming even in the midst of all the chaos.

Before he could compose himself, you were already walking towards him, the alien opening the door for you, letting you inside the room and closing it.

"Hey," your delighted and relieved face greeted Loki, "you guys okay?"

Lulu squirmed and chirped with joy, jumping straight into your arms to bonk his head with your face and rub himself all over you. Loki, on the other hand, stood there like he was seeing a ghost. "What are you doing here? You are not supposed to be here. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Oh neither did you, Loki," you were quick to point out.

Loki: *inhales* *put his palms together and brings them close to his face* *bends his hands towards the camera* Woman!

"You don't know what I or have not done so don't act like you know what you're doing, kitten," Loki pointed out rather harshly, forcing an offended gasp out of you, "you were supposed to be out there."

Your delight slowly seemed to be turning to an ember of rage. "Oh, I am sorry that tried to use my working brain to help you out in any way I can, your highness! If you wanted to spend more time in this weird jail you should have let me know when these big butts carried you off!"

"This does not concern you so stop," Loki did not let you finish. "Undo whatever it is you did. This is far more dangerous than you can stomach so off you go."

You scoffed and mocked him. "This is fir mir dingiris- well bad news it can't be undone because they think I'm your ride or die."

Loki was basically slapping himself on his face when trying to rub off the tension- along with his skin. "Wh-ha-hyy would they think that?! WHY?"

A whistle blew from behind the camera and Loki instantly caught it; along with catching your arms going across your chest while you tried to look anywhere but in the God's direction.

"Y/N," that soft but threatening growl was enough to crumble all the restraint you came undone faster than a horny teenage boy. "It's no big deal I just told them I'm your wife."

The camera timed the perfect zoom on that face that lost a couple of hundred years as it heard that sentence.

 On Earth

"It's no big deal I just told them I'm your wife."

A shrill 'Oh my Gaaaahd' left Scott's lungs while the soda bottle in his hand crushed and burst everywhere. A shriller wail left Peter as he threw his hands at his face in the utter disbelief and fell on the ground. A cushion blew up in the tight grasp of Bucky's hands, making feathers fly everywhere, and Sam stood up with one fist on his mouth and the other pointing at the screen, howling like a mad fan. Pepper watched with insane delight in her eyes while slapping the thighs next to hers that belonged to her husband who sat there looking at the screen with narrowed eyes as if he had seen something wrong- like a glitch maybe. Natasha was the only one maintaining her composure while sipping on her margarita and looking at the camera form under her lashes.

Scott & Peter: *do a whole routine with their hands in unison* I sayyyy Y/N and Loki sittin' in a tree!!! Fake M-A-R-R-I-A-G-E!!!!!

 Tony: *confused* Wife?

 Vision: I don't get why Scott and Peter are so excited. *looks to his right* Why are they...

*camera pans out to show Wanda barely containing her excitement in her pressed lips*

Wanda: beeeecause they might have a ship, Vis. *looks at the camera and smile a wide toothy smile*

Vision: *tilts his head* but there's no way they could ride a ship in this facility Wanda

 Tony: *still confused but in a different position* Wife??

 Steve: *blinks* I guess....that's a good...strategy? *frowns* I mean...sure. *hears a sniff from outside the frame*

*camera pans out to show stone-faced Bucky sitting next to him*

Bucky: *barely hides his breaking voice* Goo-*clears his throat*-good infiltration strategy.

Steve: *stares worriedly at him* You okay buddy?

Bucky: *crumbles* no~

 Tony: *lying flat on the sofa, face down* *raises his head* His wife??!!!

 Sam: *hollering* wife wife baby!! *turns to his side and nudges the person sitting next to him* come on get in on the fun!

Clint: *nearly saves his coffee pot from spilling all over him with Sam's nudge*

Sam: *keeps nudging and dancing in his seat* somebody's having some space fun!

Clint: *moves the pot into his other hand to drink it with hollow eyes looking at nothing, in particular,* somebody's gonna die of some fun

Sam: *all smiles for the camera* huh?

Clint: nothin' *looks at the camera zooming in on his stone face*

Tony: *wheeling out from under his car with tools in his hands* HIS WIFE??!!

Rhodey: *guffaws while clapping his hands over his head till he's wheezing* oh-oh my-oh Jesus! Poor Tony. *wipes the tears from his face* I told him karma is a bitch but I never thought it would come to bite him right in his ass!!! *continues to chortle*

Tony: *stops making his green smoothie to topple the jar into the sink and walk out of the screen screaming in groans* HIS WIFE?!! OH MY GOD!!!

 Space PD HQ

You haven't felt Loki breathing since you broke the news to him. He has just been standing there staring at you with faint confusion and curiosity, still as a statue.

"Loki-" you poke him- "Loki, say something! Don't just stand there like that! You're scaring me!"

"Y/N," he finally breathed out, his brows still creased, "do you know how many people I've killed?"

You shrugged. "I don't know? A couple? Do you know how many teenage girls I deceived when I was in high school?"

"How many?" He asks with keen interest before snapping himself back to reality. "Wait, what? No. Why would I need to know that?"

You shook your head casually while leaning on the floating table. "I don't know, I thought we were sharing our darkest numbers; like couples need to know these details. Right?"

"By the Norns," Loki groaned into his palms, rubbing his face hard. "Listen-"

The door hissed open and Mr Lean Alien walked in.

"Well, we haven't been introduced properly. My name is Tsuloche."

"Hi, Tsuloche. I'm Y/N," introduced yourself, closing the distance between you and Loki, your arms rubbing on each other.

"Listen, Tsulcohe, there has been a misunderstanding here. She-"

"Yeah, there's been a misunderstanding," your stressed and scoffed, crossing your arms across your chest, "like taking my husband prisoner for no reason at all?"

Tsuloche brought his nimble green- almost as thin and long as twigs- hands together. "Mrs....uhh...Miss Y/N, Loki has killed a lot of people in the past."

You groaned. "Now you sound just like my husband. I know he's killed a lot. And he's clearly suffering for it right now." You turned your head towards Loki, bringing your fingers to softly pinch his cheeks. "My poor baby."

Loki jerked away from your fingers slightly, whispering, "stop."

You didn't. Your fingers still reaching for those cheeks. "Stop it!"

You smiled as he grabbed your hand with his and held it in a good grip. "Okay, now you're just doing it to embarrass me in front of him."

Tsuloche tilted his head at this scene, blinking those translucent eyelids before his cat-like pupils dilated a little. "Do you know he supported Thanos' cause?"

You tried to yank your hand from his grip but Loki wasn't having it. So you turned back to Tsuloche. "Huh? Yeah, I know. He was undercover there to know his plans and stop him when the time came. What else you got?"

Tsuloche stood there blankly, shifting his gaze between you and the God for a good minute, his scarcely dilated pupils going back. "Why would you marry a criminal?! That too the one who tried to destroy your home?!"

You hummed and tried once again to slip your hands from Loki's death grip but failed- though that did not stir the seriousness away from your face at the alien's question. "Well, for the home invasion part, you'll understand if you ever had spiders, lizards and flies in your home."

Now, this confused the alien further but Loki forced out a laugh at your statement.

"I'm not sure I follow."

"Well, Tsuloche. The first time you see a spider or a lizard in your home, you scream and cry and want that monstrosity to be gone from your place. It's worse if they bring their friends over. At one point you form a plan of attack to get those sons of bitches out of your home because they don't pay the rent, do they? But it is later on that you realise that these spiders or lizards were actually what were keeping the flies away. You know, the flies that were contaminating your food and making you sick. The flies that were bringing disease from all corners. The only thing standing between you and death by flies was this one stubborn spider-" you squished Loki's face with your free hand, making him jerk and grab that other hand too- "who nearly killed all my people but didn't."

"As for the getting married part, Tsuloche, if you're married, you know very well the crimes you forgive when you love someone. I mean, have you seen this guy do anything bad since the War? No. That's 'cause he's been enjoying some downtime with me and my fam, getting to know me, marrying me, and now taking me and our little cuddly alien cat on a honeymoon! Ain't that right Lulu?!"

Lulu chirped.

By now those judgmental pupils were a full-blown dilated dorks looking at the two of you.

"Oh and that guy recording us outside is...is...our...videographer. Yes! That's who he is. There's a whole trend on Earth to put your life on the internet and stuff like that. So, he's here to...record everything we do on our honeymoon. Not everything, of course," you concluded a little loud with pressed lips and a nod as you realised the mistake.

"Nice save, dear," Loki chirped with a smirk.

"Shut up."

Those blown out pupils came back to disclose any emotions that last bit might have given away. Tsuloche cleared his throat. "Well, as...good as it all sounds, I am afraid I cannot let the Silvertongue go."

"Silvertongue?" you mentioned under your breath and looked at Loki's lips in amusement.

Loki caught your eyes darting to his tongue wetting his lips, sighing in a faint sense of defeat. "You know it's not silver. Why are you even looking at me like that?"

The camera caught your brow arch with some suggestions best kept to yourself. "Oh. I know," you sang, still looking at those lips, "I was wondering about what all would be...different if it were."

Wanda: *sits wide-eyed and flushed red* Uhh *clears throat* *presses her lips to suppress her smile* *talks softly with a shakey voice* I don't know what *puts one leg over another* *adjusts herself in the seat* what she meant by cat-that! What she meant by that. *turns red*

Loki just furrowed his brows at you uncomfortably before turning back to Tsuloche.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere without my husband, so..." You sat down on the lone chair in the room.

Tsuloche was already composing his wrinkled raisin face. "Very well then. I hope you find this interrogation room to your liking, Miss Y/N because he is not walking out of here for another seventy-two hours-"

The door hissed open to let in one of his subordinates who handed the alien a tiny cuboid-shaped device. One look at the tiny thing and Tsuloche looked back up with his sharp pupils dilating to the max. "Mrs and Mr Loki, you are free to go. The inconvenience is regretted and the department will provide you safe passage on the next shuttle to your destination."

A little surprised by the sudden turn of events neither of you wanted to let go of this opportunity. "And by our destination you mean anywhere we want?" You are eager to know; something that makes Loki's eyes turn to you and carry an expression barely recognisable on that perfect pale face. Some would even say it was a butt-hurt disappointment. 

"Destination means the place you were previously travelling to. Your bags have been transported. Now all you need to do is get on it and enjoy the rest of your honeymoon."

Heaving a sigh of relief, Loki let go of your hands but still smacked away the one coming for his cheek again, making you chuckle. "I have very limited knowledge on the feline species but it almost looks like you're happy to set us free, Tsuloche." Loki quirked his brow in agreement with your statement.

"What?!" Tsuloche was a little taken aback, continuously blinking his translucent eyelids to make those starry eyes contract to their predator like gaze. But he couldn't. "Highly mistaken you are, madam. I am definitely not happy to let you resume your honeymoon with your beloved. I am enraged that you will be going away with a criminal and your monstrous little pet somewhere to spend time together. I am-I am definitely offended by the idea of this hardened criminal getting a second chance at life with someone so beautiful as you!"

You squeaked. "Aw! He thinks I'm beautiful!" Loki rolled his eyes and looked at the camera.

Tsuloche: *highly conscious* you want me to say something in that camera? Is this for their honeymoon album? *Eyes dilate* oooh! *looks at the lens* uhh ahem, do not do anything unlawful you two. Space is a dangerous place. And...and *eyes dilate to their maximum capacity* take care. *Exhales* *wipes something off his face* oh dear! That was really hard.

 Space Shuttle

The entire shuttle was empty save for your little group. The seats were comfortable and the legroom quite spacious. Securing Lulu in a seat by the window, you sat down next to him, directly facing Loki. Javier sat next to him, recording the view out of the window.

“So, you sent in one of Javi’s camera flies, found a set of rules that said spouses are allowed to meet their other half and just...went with it?”

“I also used the uninet- the universal network- to find out about Tsuloche’s species and intimidated him with a little show of power. So, yeah. I read the rules of Space and this is the second time I saved your ass, Silvertongue," you state matter-of-factly, stretching your legs as much as possible.

"Don't get so cocky, kitten," Loki purred, fastening his seatbelt, "we still have a lot of places to go. You are lucky some people like your cute face."

Your brows went up and head tilted before Loki realised what he had done. "Aw! You think I'm cute!"

Lulu's camera caught Javier signing something to the two of you. "Keep having such petty arguments and aliens will actually believe you're married," you spoke his words out loud.

Both you and Loki looked at each other. "Married? To him?"

"Married? To her?"

The unison was too much on point. But the cackle eroding into the space out of the two of you made it better.

"You're funny," Loki chortled in Javi's direction.

"In your dreams, weirdo," you added. "Can you imagine? Mr and Mrs Silvertongue?" The laughs came out again while it was Javi's turn to look at Lulu's camera.

 Avengers Facility

"No, Nat, I don't think he'll go that way. He doesn't belong there, like, mentally speaking," Scott gesticulated with a lot of hand movements.

"I think Scott's right," Wanda added.

"No, come on. He knows it's his birthright. So that would be the most obvious thing to go for. And we know he wasn't really seen as much once all hell broke loose back home, right?" Nat put forward her point of view while sitting on the sofa in her jammies.

"But if it wasn't that way then?" Pietro asked with keen interest. Nat thought about it for a moment and shrugged.

"Then it definitely would have been the latter. I mean, you were practically raised as one. He was raised as one, right?" Bucky asked Steve. The latter nodded.

"But still," Steve contributed, " there was something wrong there, right? Which is why all of those incidents happened. Are we sure he would still go for it even if he wasn't just another kid?"

Now the lounge went silent, thinking all of it through while the camera showed a very disinterested Clint sitting on the dining table to clean his guns, bows and arrows. The expression in his eyes felt like he wanted to be anywhere but here.

The camera swerved to another person standing by the lounge entrance, looking at the whole scene with utmost disorientation. "What's going on?"

Everyone looked up at Tony standing at the door.

"Oh, we were discussing what surname would Loki choose if he and Y/N got married?" Nat casually answered.

"Like, would he go for Loki Odinson or Loki Laufeyson," Peter explained.

The camera zoomed in on Tony's face, which was trying to do it's best to understand what was going on before giving up and just tilting his head and narrowing his eyes at everybody.

"They have been at it for two hours," a defeated voice comes from Clint's corner, who was looking at some distant void while cleaning his weapons.

"This...is a hypothetical situation, right?" Tony made sure. He had to make sure.

It took a second before everyone shrugged, nodded and hummed in agreement. None- except one camera- caught Scott and Peter crossed his fingers behind their back.

"Oh my God, I just got it!" Scott exclaimed out of nowhere with a new realisation on his face. "He doesn't have to think about the surname. It's Y/N who'll be making the choice."

And just like that, the seriousness in the air changed into a shared epiphany and everyone agreed without any vote against that thought.

"You guys are having a lot of fun with this," Tony sang sarcastically with judgement filled in his tone.

"Yeah, what about it?" Pepper called out from her comfy armchair while eating cheeseburgers and sipping soda, looking at Tony for an answer.

Tony, on the other hand, shifted his weight between his legs. "No. Nothing. You have fun, sweetie. Kisses! Muah! Muah! Muah! Please don't kill me in my sleep tonight."

[awkwardpenguinproductions]

Mission

Part 6 of the Dragon of the Yuyan

Read on AO3 | Series Masterpost

Please beware the tags!

Zuko crouches on the thick tree limb, bow poised and arrow nocked, and silently watches the small herd of fox-deer grazing down below. One of the animals shifts, and between one breath and the next, Zuko aims, pulls, and looses, downing a medium-sized buck. A split second later, Private Shun of Haili Squad looses and brings down a second buck. He catches his eye across the clearing and grins at him, feeling his facepaint crinkle a bit. Shun nods back, cracking a tiny smile of approval, his own Yuyan “mask” smooth and flawless.

The fox-deer have run off, spooked by two of their own dropping dead from flying sticks, and Zuko and Shun clean and dress the kills before lugging them back to camp.

Kai is mending a net and sulking a few feet away from the campfire as Zuko and Shun approach, and he turns to pout at them pathetically.

Zuko, Jiyoti won't let me help make dinner! He signs, puffing out his cheeks like a child, although his eyes twinkle behind his own facepaint mask.

Because we don't all want to die of food poisoning, dumbass, Jiyoti replies, rolling her eyes and sticking out her tongue. On a bamboo mat in front of her is a pile of chopped tomato-chokes and a kitchen knife, while a pot full of boiling water and noodles hangs over the campfire.

Captain Hiroki is sitting nearby with the Captain of Haili Squad, Satomi, pouring over maps of the local terrain. He watches the conversation with a smirk, and signs, I have orders from Commander Toshiaki himself not to let you cook anything, Private Kai.

Kai groans silently and flops backward onto the ground. Why is everyone so mean to me?

Zuko places the fox-deer carcass on a bamboo mat that Mika spreads out, and gently kicks at Kai's hip. Cheer up, if you really want to help out, you can do the dishes after!

Somebody kill me please, Kai signs limply, wrinkling his nose.

Captain Satomi rolls her eyes. You'll have to wait until the mission's over, Private. We've got a job to do here.

Zuko butchers the two fox-deer, separating some of the meat out to be cooked fresh, and using his firebending to dry the rest into jerky. Jiyoti takes the fresh meat and spears it on thin sticks to roast over the fire, and once Zuko is done with the jerky, he takes over control of the fire while Mika and Haili Squad's sergeant, Ai, divvy the jerky up between the two squads' supplies.

After dinner, Captain Satomi orders the two squads to gather for a briefing.

We're a day out from Huzhen, where the Third Infantry Corps is waiting to take the last Earth Kingdom outpost west of the West Lake, she signs. The 63rd and 59th Divisions will reinforce the Third, while we keep watch on the rear and make sure the Earth Kingdom forces don't attempt to surprise our own. When we move out tomorrow, Haili Squad will take point and Chihese Squad will cover until we reach the Third's encampment.

Zuko isn't thrilled about having to trail behind two whole divisions of infantry all marching across the Earth Kingdom for a whole day, but at least he'll get to practice his tree-running.

The two squads and the divisions they're accompanying break camp the next morning and are formed up and marching as Agni rises before them. Zuko spends the morning leaping from tree limb to tree limb, racing Kai until the moron misses a step and gets a tree branch in the gut for his trouble, then following the cart Kai is assigned to "protect" and making stupid faces at him. The small force marches all day, eating on the go and only stopping for a few minutes at a time to refill waterskins as needed.

The sun is low behind them when they finally reach the Third Infantry Corps' encampment. The commanding officer of the Third, a Lieutenant General Hanzou, greets the arrivals and relieves the two Yuyan squads of their escort duty. Captains Satomi and Hiroki are to report to a strategy meeting in the morning with the rest of the Third's command staff, otherwise the squads are to stand down for the time being.

Zuko sleepily helps Kai pitch the tent, starts the campfire with an exhausted wave of his hand, and collapses into his bedroll with a silent sigh. It’s been a long week, and he has a split second to enjoy the idea of not having any real duties tomorrow before he's fast asleep.

As always, he rises with the sun, and joins the Third's firebenders in their morning meditation and drills before returning to his squad for breakfast. After a quick meal of fox-deer jerky and noodles, the captains go off to their meeting, while the sergeants drill the half-dozen privates for morning PT. After PT ends and the captains haven't returned, Zuko decides to spend his downtime exploring the Third's camp. He shimmies up a tall tree to get a good look at the lay of the land.

The Third Infantry Corps is camped on top of a bluff overlooking the village of Huzhen, which is a ramshackle cluster of buildings hugging the shore of the massive West Lake of the Earth Kingdom. Between the Third's camp and the village is a good half mile of open ground, which Zuko figures is where the battle with the Earth Kingdom forces camped just outside the village will take place. He peers at the haphazard collection of green tents huddled in a tight square less than a hundred feet from the edge of the lake, and his stomach sinks as he compares it to the sprawling complex of the Third's encampment on the bluff. He can't imagine such a small force, barely a company's worth, being so much trouble that a whole corps, made up of five divisions of Fire Nation Army Infantry, is needed to ensure victory. It feels a bit like treason, but he can't help but think that the Fire Nation Army's response to this situation is a little excessive.

But if there's anything his burning and abandonment has taught him, it's that nobody with any real power cares what he thinks.

Zuko leans back against the trunk of the tree and breathes. He can distantly hear the sounds of military life coming from the Third’s camp, and he lazily scans the neat assemblage of red tents until his eye falls on a dark, squat, rectangular box about the size of a mess tent. It’s a mobile prison, meant to contain earthbenders captured in battle, and Zuko is immediately on fire with curiosity. He’s never seen an earthbender before, and this could be his chance to get close without having to worry about them burying him alive or grinding him to a bloody paste between a pair of boulders. No one can bend metal, after all.

Zuko makes his way to the mobile prison, grinning and waving at the soldiers who called out friendly greetings, and ducking away from the ones who leer or swipe out at him.

The squat iron building seems much bigger now that Zuko is standing beside it than it had when Zuko had seen it from afar, but he shakes off his sudden nerves and circles around it. It’s made up of multiple panels of iron bolted together, with a single door and one long narrow window at the top of each panel for air. It can be put together in a matter of hours, and taken apart just as quickly.

“Who’s there?” A powerful male voice rings out from within. Zuko startles, then takes a running jump and lands lightly on the prison roof. Each panel of the roof has a large square barred window for light and air, and he approaches the closest one and peers down.

Narrowed green eyes glare murderously back. “Well?” Demands the hugely muscled man they, and the voice, belong to. “Who in Koh’s name are you? What do you want? If you’re just here to gawk, then you can go right on your merry way and leave us alone.”

Another man, with less muscles but an impressive brown beard, stomps over to join his fellow in glaring up at Zuko. “Something the matter, Corporal?”

“Got another visitor, Sergeant,” the corporal replies. “Not very chatty this time around.”

The sergeant’s face goes slack as he stares up at Zuko. “Oma and Shu, that’s one of those Yuyan demons!”

Demons? Zuko’s pretty sure no one in his Troop is a demon, except maybe Lan during that time of the month.

“For real, sir? A Yuyan?” The corporal asks, hostility melting slightly into curiosity.

The sergeant sneers. “Yeah, you can tell by the face markings and the uniform. They don’t talk, though, so good luck getting anything out of it.” The sergeant claps the corporal on the shoulder and ambles away to sit against the wall with some of the other earthbenders. The corporal stays where he is, fist propped on one hip and the other hand rubbing his stubbly chin, stance wide and firmly rooted as he stares up at Zuko. He almost looks… thoughtful, if Zuko is reading his face right.

“Hey up there,” he calls, far more curiosity than suspicion in his tone this time. “You understand Common?”

Zuko rolls his eyes, but obligingly taps out yes.

The corporal blinks, and his mouth works a bit without sound. Zuko wonders if the man actually expected a response.

“Does… does that mean yes?” The man asks, voice slow and careful, as though Zuko is a mongoose lizard about to spit poison.

Zuko taps out yes again.

A broad grin spreads across the corporal’s face. “Wow, okay, what’s “no”, then?”

Zuko taps out no, then again when the corporal asks. Then, seemingly emboldened by their interaction so far, the corporal asks, "Are you actually a demon?"

Zuko wants to bang his head against the metal, but settles for a simple no.

The corporal smiles sheepishly. "Sorry, had to ask. Nobody's ever gotten close enough to one of you to find out for sure. My name's Hwan. Do you have a name?"

Of course Zuko has a name. But he can't teach this Earth Kingdom corporal the signal language, Captain Hiroki would throw a fit, and Commander Toshiaki would never let Zuko out of the Stronghold again. So he can't actually tell Corporal Hwan his name.

And why would he even want to? He wonders to himself. These are earthbenders. They're savages who refuse to submit to Fire Nation superiority. Earthbenders killed Lu Ten, and broke Uncle Iroh's spirit. Why is he even thinking about trying to communicate with them?

But how superior can the Fire Nation be when they sacrifice their own for a meaningless victory? When the response to a tired, bedraggled force on the verge of surrender is overwhelming numbers?

Yes, Zuko taps out.

"Huh, I don't know a lot of Fire Nation names… is it Lee?"

Honestly, that would've been a really good guess––Lee is a popular name in the Fire Nation. Zuko shrugs, and taps out yes.

Hwan lights up like a Solstice firework. "Awesome, first guess! Is it true that the Yuyan Archers are non-benders?"

Yes.

"Wow, that's amazing. I'm an earthbender, I can't imagine not being able to bend," Hwan says, then looks around himself and bares his teeth in a sheepish grimace. "Of course, that was before I was put in here."

Now that is a question Zuko would love answered. What in Agni's name is Hwan and his unit doing here? Why are they being held prisoner on the front lines? Most prisoners of war captured in battle are immediately sent back to holding facilities within Fire Nation territory, either to be ransomed for their Fire Nation equivalents (not that there are many, given that any Fire Nation soldier would rather fight to the death than be taken captive) or to be conscripted into labor for mines and factories that supply the war effort. Depending on how long ago Hwan's unit had been taken, they should've been sent on their way long before Zuko and the Archers had arrived.

Hwan asks more questions, and Zuko marvels as everything he was ever taught about Earth Kingdom people is systematically proven wrong. Hwan is friendly, inquisitive, and intelligent, and honestly makes Zuko wish he could talk without having a panic attack because he has so many questions. The other men in Hwan's unit scowl and glower and mutter darkly, but Hwan happily chatters at Zuko without regard for their status as enemy combatants, and it blows Zuko's mind.

A gong sounds, signaling evening mess. Zuko has to go back to the Yuyan camp, or Captain Hiroki will send someone to retrieve him.

"Do you have to go?" Hwan asks.

Yes, Zuko taps out, reluctantly.

The Earth Kingdom soldier bites his lip, looking conflicted. "Will you… come back? When you can?"

Zuko blinks. While their interaction has been pleasant, and for Zuko, rather eye-opening, he hadn't expected Hwan to want to continue talking to him.

Yes, Zuko replies, resolving to steal some writing supplies to use on his next visit.

"Bye then! See you next time!" Hwan calls, waving. Zuko waves back, leaps off the mobile prison, and books it back to the camp, mind whirling.

Normally Zuko wolfs his food down at meals, partially a holdover from his six months of surviving in the wilderness where every second he lingered over food was one more second something stronger and fiercer than he was could steal it from him, and partially so that he could use his hands to sign with his squad and his other friends. Tonight he eats slowly, thoughtfully, turning over his odd conversation with Corporal Hwan of the Earth Kingdom Army in his mind. Kai has to snap his fingers five times to get Zuko's attention, but before his best friend can even position his hands to sign, Captain Satomi is already doing so.

Squads, fall in for briefing, she orders. Zuko puts aside his noodles and does his best to focus.

The Third Infantry Corps will move out at dawn tomorrow morning, she says, and then pauses to draw a diagram in the dirt. The 63rd and 59th Divisions will flank the Third on either side, surrounding the enemy. Chihese and Haili Squads will be stationed along the bluff to protect the Third's rear. We'll move out before dawn to select perches. Everyone needs to do a weapons check and get a good night's sleep tonight.

Zuko suppresses a sigh and goes to his bedroll. With sure, practiced fingers, he checks over his arrows and his bow, waxes his extra bowstrings, and sharpens his dao and throwing knives. Looks like he won't be visiting his new friend any time soon.

Getting up before dawn is easy for a firebender who meditates with the rising sun, but getting his non-bender best friend up is a process as long and tedious as filing expense reports with the rice counters back in Caldera. Zuko finally resorts to kicking Kai in the ass, hard, which does the trick but results in Kai shooting him baleful looks all through the hurried breakfast of cold onigiri. Zuko ignores him. This is his first real military action, and he is not going to let Kai's determination to sleep in ruin it for him.

The squads split up, with Chihese going northwest and Haili going northeast. The bluff is lined with scraggly tree-bushes, and every couple dozen feet, a squad member sets up a nest. Zuko is positioned between Jiyoti on his right and Mika on his left. He sets down his swords (he would only need them if things went completely to Koh's lair in a handbasket), resettles his quiver on his back, and strings his bow. Sunrise is moments away.

The sky lightens as the Earth Kingdom forces array themselves before the village. Zuko digs out his spyglass from his pack and raises it to his eye. His initial estimate of the enemy's numbers was pretty accurate: there's barely two hundred Earth Kingdom soldiers on the field.

As dawn breaks, the Third Infantry Corps marches out onto the field. Lieutenant General Hanzou and two of his close subordinates ride out on mongoose lizards to meet the Earth Kingdom commander, but the meeting is only a few minutes and both parties return to their respective forces.

A horn sounds, and the Earth Kingdom soldiers roar in response.

A small group of Fire Nation soldiers move forward to meet them, but something is wrong. They're shuffling awkwardly, not marching, and it seems like… they're being prodded along… at spearpoint?

Zuko raises his spyglass, frowning.

The uniforms on these soldiers are ill-fitting… too tight across backs and shoulders, and bunching too much at joints. There's also… shackles?... around the soldiers' wrists and ankles…

Zuko's insides twist.

One of the soldiers turns around, and Zuko's heart stops. Hwan.

The huge earthbender's eyes are wide and his face is pallid in the frame of the Fire Nation helmet on his head.

The disguised Earth Kingdom soldiers shout in terror as their comrades on the other side of the field charge.

Rocks whistle as they fly.

The air fills with screams.

Zuko feels numb. He feels like throwing up. But he can't look away.

The Earth Kingdom soldiers are merciless. If they realize that they are fighting their own brethren, they don't show it. The disguised captives try to scramble backwards, but they're chained hand and foot to each other. They're stuck, and the Earth Kingdom soldiers are relentless.

The captives are slaughtered, one and all.

In the echoing silence after the last boulder falls, all Zuko can hear is his heart thundering in his ears. A quintet of Earth Kingdom soldiers creep out of their trench and approach the dead. Wails rise up as they realize what has happened.

Then an arrow flies, trailing a crimson ribbon. The Third roars in unison and attacks.

In minutes that feel like days, the Earth Kingdom soldiers are all but wiped out. The 59th and 63rd Divisions move in less because they are needed, and more because they want to join in the fun. The Earth Kingdom company is torn to shreds like a fox-deer under the claws of a tigerdillo.

Zuko drops his bow, sweeps his dao out of the way, and vomits.

Then he curls forward with his forehead pressing into the dirt and sobs.

Previous | Next

[nourishing]

Bishop Berkeley or Mariana of the Universe by Liliana Heker

‘How much longer till Mom comes home?’ 

It’s the fourth time Mariana has asked that question. The first time, her sister Lucia answered that she’d be back real soon; the second, how the heck was she to know when Mom would be back; the third time, she didn’t answer, she just raised her eyebrows and stared at Mariana. That was when Mariana decided that things weren’t going all that well and that the best thing to do was not to ask any more questions. Anyhow, she asked herself, Why do I want Mom to come back, if I’m here with Lucia . . . ? She corrected herself: Why do I want Mom to come back, if I’m here with my big sister? She blinked, deeply moved by the thought. Big sisters look after little sisters, she told herself as if she were reciting a poem. How lucky to have a big sister. Lucia, with large guardian-angel wings, hovered for a second over Mariana’s head. But in a flash the winged image was replaced by another, one which returned every time their mother left them on their own: Lucia, eyes bulging out of their sockets, hair in a furious tangle, was pointing a gun at her. Sometimes there was no gun. Lucia would pounce on her, trying to rip Mariana’s eyes out with her nails. Or strangle her. The reason was always the same: Lucia had gone mad. 

It is a well-known fact that mad people kill normal people, which meant that if Lucia went mad when they were alone together, she’d kill Mariana. That was obvious. Therefore Mariana decides to abandon her good intentions and asks again, for the fourth time, ‘How much longer till Mom comes home?’ 

Lucia stops reading and sighs. ‘What I’d like to know,’ she says (and Mariana thinks, She said ‘I’d like to know’; does one say ‘I would like to know’ or ‘I should like to know’?) ‘What I’d like to know is why in God’s name do you always need Mom around?’ 

‘No.’ Now she’ll ask me, ‘No what?’ She always manages to make things difficult. But Lucia says nothing, and Mariana continues, ‘I was just curious, that’s all.’ 

‘At twelve.’ 

‘What do you mean, at twelve!’ Mariana cries. ‘But it’s only ten to nine now!’ 

‘I mean at twelve, six and six,’ Lucia says. 

Mariana howls with laughter at the joke; she laughs so hard that for a moment she thinks she’ll die laughing. To tell the truth, she can’t imagine anyone else on earth could be as funny as her sister. She’s the funniest, nicest person in the world, and she’ll never go mad. Why should she go mad, she, who’s so absolutely terrific? 

‘Lu,’ she says adoringly, ‘Let’s play something, okay? Let’s, okay?’ 

‘I’m reading.’ 

‘Reading what?’ 

‘Mediocre Man.’ 

‘Ah.’ I bet now she’ll ask me if I know what mediocre man means, and I won’t know, and she’ll say then, ‘Why do you say “Ah,” you idiot?’ Quickly she asks, ‘Lu, I can’t remember, what does Mediocre Man mean?’ 

‘The Mediocre Man is the man who has no ideals in life.’ 

‘Ah.’ This lays her mind at rest, because she certainly has ideals in life. She always imagines herself already grown up, all her problems over, everyone understands her, things turn out fine, and the world is wonderful. That’s having ideals in life. 

‘Lu,’ she says, ‘we, I mean, you and I, we’re not mediocre, are we?’ 

‘A pest,’ Lucia says. ‘That’s what you are.’ 

‘Lucia, why is it that you’re so unpleasant to everyone, eh?’ 

‘Listen, Mariana. Do you mind just letting me read in peace?’ 

‘You’re unpleasant to everyone. That’s terrible, Lucia. You fight with Mom, you fight with Dad. With everyone.’ Mariana lets out a deep sigh. ‘You give your parents nothing but trouble, Lucia.’ 

‘Mariana, I wish you’d just drop dead, okay?’ 

‘You’re horrible, Lucia, horrible! You don’t say to anyone that you wish they would drop dead, not to your worst enemy, and certainly not to your own sister.’

‘That’s it, now start to cry, so that afterwards they will scream at me and say that I torture you.’ 

‘Afterwards? When afterwards? Do you know exactly when Mom will be back?’

 ‘Just afterwards.’ Lucia has gone back to reading Mediocre Man. ‘Afterwards is afterwards.’ She lifts her eyes and frowns as if she were meditating on something very important. ‘The future, I mean.’ 

‘What future? You said Mom would be back very soon.’ 

Lucia shakes her head in resignation and goes back to her book. 

‘Yes, of course, she’ll be back very soon.’ 

‘No. Yes, of course, no. Is she coming back very soon or isn’t she coming back very soon?’ 

Lucia glares at Mariana; then she seems to remember something and smiles briefly. 

‘And anyway what does it matter?’ She shrugs her shoulders. 

‘What do you mean, what does it matter? You don’t know what you’re saying, do you? If someone comes home very soon, it means she comes home very soon, doesn’t it?’ 

‘If someone comes home, yes.’ 

‘What?’ 

‘I just said that if someone comes home, then yes. Will you please let me read?’

 ‘You’re a cow, that’s what you are! What you really want is for Mom never to come home again!’ 

Lucia closes the book and lays it down on the bed. She sighs. 

‘It has nothing to do with my wanting it or not,’ she explains. ‘What I’m saying is that it simply doesn’t matter if Mom is here or there.’ 

‘What do you mean, there?’ 

‘Just there; anywhere; it’s all the same.’

‘Why the same?’ 

Lucia rests her chin on both her hands and stares gravely at Mariana. 

‘Listen, Mariana,’ she says. ‘I’ve got something to tell you. Mom doesn’t exist.’

Mariana jumps. 

‘Don’t be stupid, okay?’ she says, trying to look calm. ‘You know Mom doesn’t like you saying stupid things like that.’ 

‘They’re not stupid things. Anyway, who cares what Mom says, if Mom doesn’t exist?’ 

‘Lu, I’m telling you for the last time: I-don’t-like-you-say-ing-stu-pid-things, okay?’ 

‘Look, Mariana,’ Lucia says in a tired tone of voice. ‘I’m not making it up; there’s a whole theory about it, a book.’ 

‘What does it say, the book?’ 

‘What I just said. That nothing really exists. That we imagine the world.’

‘What do we imagine about the world?’ 

‘Everything.’ 

‘You just want to frighten me, Lucia. Books don’t say things like that. What does it say, eh? For real.’ 

‘I’ve told you a thousand times. The desk, see? There isn’t really a desk there, you just imagine there’s a desk. Understand? You, now, this very minute, imagine that you’re inside a room, sitting on the bed, talking to me, and you imagine that somewhere else, far away, is Mom. That’s why you want Mom to come back. But those places don’t really exist, there is no here or far away. It’s all inside your head. You are imagining it all.’ 

‘And you?’ 

‘I what?’ 

‘There’s you, see?’ Mariana says with sudden joy. ‘You can’t imagine the desk in the same exact place that I imagine it, can you?’ 

‘You’ve got it all wrong, Mariana sweetheart. You just don’t understand, as usual. It’s not that both of us imagine that the desk is in the same place: it’s that you imagine that both of us imagine that the desk is in the same place.’ 

‘No, no, no, no. You got it all wrong. Each of us doesn’t imagine things on our own, and one can’t guess what the other is imagining. You talk about what you imagine. I say to you: how many pictures are there in this room? And I say to myself: there are three pictures in this room. And at exactly the same time you tell me that there are three pictures in this room. That means that the three pictures are here, that we see them, not that we imagine them. Because two people can’t imagine the same thing at the same time.’ 

‘Two can’t, that’s true.’ 

‘What do you mean?’ 

‘I’m saying that two people can’t.’ 

‘I don’t understand what you’re saying.’ 

‘I’m saying that you are also imagining me, Mariana.’ 

‘You’re lying, you’re lying! You’re the biggest liar in the whole world! I hate you, Lucia. Don’t you see? If I’m imagining you, how come you know I’m imagining you?’ 

‘I don’t know, I don’t anything. You are just making me up, Mariana. You’ve made up a person called Lucia, who’s your sister, and who knows you’ve made her up. That’s all.’ 

‘No, come on, Lu. Say it’s not true. What about the book?’ 

‘What book?’ 

‘The book that talks about all this.’ 

‘That talks about what?’ 

‘About things not really existing.’ 

‘Ah, the book . . . The book is also imagined by you.’ 

‘That’s a lie, Lucia, a lie! I could never imagine a book like that. I never know about things like that, don’t you understand, Lu? I could never imagine something as complicated as that.’ 

‘But my poor Mariana, that book is nothing compared to the other things you’ve imagined. Think of History and the Law of Gravity and Maths and all the books ever written in the world and Aspirins and the telegraph and planes. Do you realize what you’ve done?’ 

‘No, Lucia, no, please. Everyone knows about those things. Look. If I bring a lot of people into this room, and I say when I count up to three, we all point to the radio at the same time, then you’ll see. We’ll all point in the same direction. Let’s play at that, Lu, please, come on; let’s play at pointing at things. Please.’ 

‘But are you stupid or what? I’m telling you that you are the one who’s imagining all the people in the world.’ 

‘I don’t believe you. You say that just to frighten me. I can’t imagine all the people in the world. What about Mom? What about Dad?’ 

‘Them too.’ 

‘Then I’m all alone, Lu!’ 

‘Absolutely. All alone.’ 

‘That’s a lie, that’s a lie! Say that you’re lying! You’re just saying that to frighten me, right? Sure. Because everything’s here. The beds, the desk, the chairs. I can see them, I can touch them if I want to. Say yes, Lu. So that everything’s like before.’ 

‘But why do you want me to say yes, if anyway it will be you imagining that I am saying yes?’ 

‘Always me? So there’s no one but me in the world?’ 

���Right.’ 

‘And you?’ 

‘As I said, you’re imagining me.’ 

‘I don’t want to imagine any more, Lu. I’m afraid. I’m really frightened, Lu. How much longer till Mom comes home?’ 

Mariana leans out of the window. Mom, come back soon, she begs. But she no longer knows to whom she’s begging, or why. She shuts her eyes and the world disappears; she opens them, and it appears again. Everything, everything, everything. If she can’t think about her mother, she won’t have a mother any more. And if she can’t think about the sky, the sky . . . And dogs and clouds and God. Too many things to think about all at once, all on her own. And why she, alone? Why she alone in the universe? When you know about it, it’s so difficult. Suddenly she might forget about the sun or her house or Lucia. Or worse, she might remember Lucia, but a mad Lucia coming to kill her with a gun in her hand. And now she realizes at last how dangerous all this is. Because if she can’t stop herself thinking about it, then Lucia will really be like that, crazy, and kill her. And then there won’t be anyone left to imagine all those things. The trees will disappear and the desk and thunderstorms. The colour red will disappear and all the countries in the world. And the blue sky and the sky at night and the sparrows and the lions in Africa and the earth itself and singing songs. And no one will ever know that, once, a girl called Mariana invented a very complicated place to which she gave the name of Universe

[holylulusworld]

Twisted Feelings – Epilogue

Summary: Y/N thought she's twisted, and her feelings are sick as she loves her older half-brother. When the truth gets revealed she sees her feelings in a different light. This is not real incest they are not related by blood!

Pairing: Dean x Reader, Sam Winchester, Jo Harvelle

Warnings: language, fluff, smut, unprotected sex, comforting

Twisted Feelings Masterlist

 “Did you hear what I said, Baby?” Dean asks as you were daydreaming once again. Dean wants to marry you…

“Something about pie and burgers?” You try. “No, Babe but close. I said I want to eat your pussy on the backseat right now.”

“Dude! Right in front of me?” Sam is shaking his head, groaning. “Can you not make your boyfriend stop, Y/N? It’s getting ridiculous.”

“Sammy, Sammy. I didn’t get any for over three weeks, which means I need to check if her body is still sexy as hell and she’s my fiancée by now.” Dean retorts.

Sam chokes on his water, looking at his brother with wide eyes. “Fiancée? When did that happen?”

“Uh, last night when I was in Jo’s room.”

“I didn’t get a proper proposal…” Pouting you cross your arms over your chest, ignoring the way Dean’s hand sneaks between your thighs.

“How about I convince you right now…you…me…my backseat…” Dean leans closer, slinging one arm around your shoulder. “I could make you scream ‘I do’.”

“No way! I want romance, flowers and a nice dinner. Not a hard fuck in the backseat.”

Dean is licking his lips, glancing at Sam who tries to stay out of this discussion for good. He knows how to not get involved in your little fights with his brother and he knows how these fights end…

“Please, become my sexy wife. I got a ring and all.” Dean’s fingers creep closer to your core, brushing your clit lightly. “Come with me outside and we can do dirty things in my backseat…”

“There you are!” Jo coos walking toward your table, grinning from ear to ear. She’s acting like Dean is her best friend. 

While you glare at the blonde huntress Sam is awkwardly moving closer to you as Jo is pushing against his shoulder, trying to make the tall hunter budge.

“Did you already marry?” She smirks, waiting for your reaction as you feel Dean’s hand leaving your mound. He’s slipping his finger into the pocket of his pants, to get the little black box out.

Your eyes land on his hand, offering you the ring and you open the box underneath the table, placing the ring on your finger. Dean’s eyes lit up seeing the ring fits perfectly.

“Not yet, but we will soon. This weekend to be correct.” You lie shamelessly before you raise your hand to show her the beautiful golden band with a tiny diamond.

Jo’s face falls, seeing the ring. She grabs your hand to eye the golden band suspiciously. 

“I bet the diamond is fake.” Jo spats and you smirk at her. “Doesn’t matter, Josephine. I would marry Dean with paper rings or a pull tab. It’s not important if the ring has a diamond, Jo. All I want is Dean to become my husband, nothing else counts.”

You can see the wheels in Jo’s head spinning while she tries to find another way to ruin your day but you won’t let her. “You can do and say what you want, Jo. Dean loves me and I love Dean. Stop trying to get between us as you will not succeed.”

Dean is silent, only look at you wearing his ring. This is what he always dreamed off. Marrying you, having annoying kids. Living next door to his brother…

“You okay, Dean? Looks like you are miles away.” Sam is looking at his brother, seeing the change in Dean’s eyes.

“I’m great…” Dean clears his throat, glancing at your hand once again and a smile creeps onto his lips. “When we found the yellow-eyed demon and killed him, we will stop hunting. You will go back to Stanford, while Y/N and I will open a garage. My girl can handle cars even better than me.”

“You want to stop hunting for her? What about the family business, Winchester?” Jo is furious now. Jumping up she balls her hands into tiny fists and you can’t hold back a chuckle.

“Dean, you sure?” Sam asks but he doesn’t need to hear Dean’s answer. He can see it all over his big brother's face.

“More than sure, Sammy. We will settle down, buy a nice house. You will call the girl we met at this gallery…What was her name?”

“Sarah Blake?”

“Right! She was nice and liked you. I want our family to be safe, want kids and my little brother to become a lawyer. We will retire.” Dean exclaims. “I don’t want to see another Winchester die, Sammy. I got enough…”

“I guess we got a job to do then…” You lean against Dean’s shoulder, ignoring the boring looks Jo is throwing at you before she leaves the dinner, cursing your name.

“Did you realize Jo was a bit pissed?” Dean teases and you slap his thigh. “By the way, Sweetheart. You put the ring on your finger, which means you are mine from now on…”

Sam is smiling when you take Dean’s hand in yours, intervening your fingers with his. “I always was yours, Winchester. Now back to opening a garage. Will I be the boss or you…?”

“Let’s talk this out…”

----

Around six years later…

“Did you not see I already ordered the tires?” Groaning you look at the tires Dean ordered.

“I did not see an order. We can keep these too. Baby always needs new tires.” Dean won’t give away he made a mistake, so he crosses his arms over his chest, ignoring your glare.

“24? Does baby need 24 tires, Dean? Seriously? Does she have 24 tires now instead of four? Did she grow overnight?” Tilting your head, you poke your finger into Dean’s chest, and he starts licking his lips.

“No, but we can store these for bad times…”

“Bad times? We are drowning in work, Winchester. I had to work last Sunday too. Storing tires my ass, Dean. You will call Bobby and tell him you messed up this shit…again.”

Pointing a finger at the tires you stomp your foot. “I will not tell Bobby…” Dean shakes his head, glancing at the tires. “He gets mad…”

“Are you afraid of a retired hunter with a base cap? Bobby loves us! He moved closer to us, bought a new house to watch our son!”

“I know…” Sighing Dean wishes Sam would be here to help him win this fight but Sarah and his brother visit her father. “Sammy would help me…”

“He would help you my ass, Dean. Sam and Sarah would be on my side for sure.” Now Dean strides toward you, grabbing your waist to bring you flush against his chest.

“I can keep the tires and you’ll get something nice…” Dean offers. Eying your husband suspiciously you look him dead in the eyes. “Something nice you say…fine…”

----

Ten minutes later you curse yourself for falling for Dean’s trap. Bend over the Impala, nipples scrapping over the hood you try anything to not cum for your husband.

He’s cursing behind you, pressing your face onto the cool metal of his car. You can’t see his face, but you swear you can almost feel the smug grin on his plump lips as he drives his cock into you.

“Look at you. I knew you would love my nice surprise…”

“That’s…uh…fuck…harder…” Pushing back onto his cock you pant, feeling the coil tightening. “…not a surprise. You always try to get your cock into me…”

“I can’t deny you are right, Baby Girl.” Dean mocks now, angling his dick to hit your cervix. “But the surprise is I want another baby…”

“Forget it! You only want to become the boss of our company again.” Your pussy starts contracting around Dean, causing his thrusts to become erratic.

“I want you round again…”

“And I want you to read the papers!” Crying out his name you scrape your nails over the hood, feeling Dean filling you up.

“I will, promised. Now let’s clean you up and we can close the garage for today. I want to get you dirty again…”

----

Walking toward Bobby’s house, one arm slung around Dean’s waist while he has his arm slung around your shoulders you smile.

Giving up hunting wasn’t easy. The first years were hard. Sam struggled with going back to Stanford, but Dean and you helped him moving on, Sarah did too.

Bobby gave up hunting two years after you did. To be correct the moment he heard you are pregnant with Dean’s baby. He never looked back.

From time to time hunters call Bobby, asking for advice, and he gives advice, but nothing else. 

Your son is running toward you, holding out his arms, squealing at the sight of his parents. You named him John, after the man bringing you into Dean’s life.

Even if he was hiding the fact you were not his daughter John made it possible you and Dean found each other. So you will be thankful for the rest of your life.

“Perfect…” Dean whispers watching Bobby waving at you. “Perfect Dean…”

THE END

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[carol-effing-danvers]

knock me the fuck out (i dare ya, babe), finale

Weep with me tears of joy and fulfillment for this soft boy and his cuddly boyfriend.

i have some more thoughts about this universe that i may or not get to, but they aren't really relevant to the story i wanted to tell here, so those will have to be for another tale :D

part one, part two, part three

(if you’d prefer to read this in Ao3′s format, click here)

Billy is deliciously warm, deliciously relaxed and deeply asleep when the phone rings on the table beside the bed. He gives a displeased grunt and buries his face into the pillow as Steve rolls away from him to pick up the call, hoarsely croaking “’ello?” There’s a pause as he listens to the caller, then surprises Billy by tapping him on the shoulder. “For you, Billy.”

What the fuck? He mumbles a confused “Hello?”

“I’m so sorry.” Max sounds as tired as he is, maybe more. “But Lauren refuses to go to sleep – I told her that you’d be back in the morning, but it’s already almost midnight, and the more tired she is, the more upset she gets. Can you please talk to her for just a few minutes?”

“Yeah,” he slurs. “’a course. Lemme get up first so we ain’t talking in Steve’s ear while he’s tryin’ to sleep.”

“Oh my god,” Max says miserable and guilty, repeating “I’m so sorry, Billy.”

“No, no, no – it’s okay,” Gently, he closes the door behind him, thankful that Steve owns a cordless phone and trying not to walk into a wall. “I shoulda knew she’d bug out if I didn’t come home.”

Max murmurs “Lauren, Uncle Billy wants to talk to you.”

His whole heart breaks – Lulu is sucking in air hard, sobbing quietly. Poor Max must’ve been trying to get her to sleep for hours. “Hey, my girl. Why won’t you let Mommy tuck you in?”

“Wh-wh-why did you leave?!” she wails, sorrow all renewed.

“I didn’t leave you, baby. I’m having a sleepover with my friend, I’ll be back tomorrow. Mommy told you that, right?”

In a tiny voice, Lulu replies, “Yes.”

“I’m never gonna leave you without saying goodbye, Lulu,” he says softly. “I promise. Who’s my girl?”

“I-I am,” she hiccups, but she sounds a few shades calmer now.

“That’s right. And it’s gonna snow tomorrow, so I thought I’d take my girl out to make a snowman,” he says solemnly. “But we can’t do that if you’re too tired to play outside, Lulu. Can you lay down and close your eyes for me?”

“Don’t hang up!” she says, a bit frantic, and Billy feels another tug on his heartstrings.

“Won’t hang up, baby. Close your eyes for me and lay down. Okay? Lulu, skip to my Lu. Lulu, skip to my Lu. Lulu, skip to my Lu. Skip to my Lu, my darlin’…”

He has to stay with her, and sing to her, for he doesn’t know how long. He won’t leave until he’s sure that she won’t feel abandoned and there’s a period of calm before Max whispers “She’s asleep now. Thank you so much, Billy.”

She sounds close to tears herself. She’s probably been up since four or five o’clock this morning and as it turns out, Lulu isn’t the only girl with a piece of his heart. “Sweet dreams, little sister.”

“Sweet dreams, big brother.” Max sniffles.

Billy stumbles back toward the bedroom and finds Steve basically doing what he was doing for Lulu, except that Steve is singing his song to his fucking cat, a dark blob resting on his stomach as he pets her, scratching her around the ears and beneath her chin. “With no lovin’ in our souls, and no money in our clothes, you can’t say we’re satisfied…”

His voice is a beautiful purr, husky with sleep, warm and loving to an animal that Steve obviously cares about.

Billy is leveled like the Starcourt fucking Mall.

He blurts out, “You’re gettin’ the words wrong. It’s ‘coats’, not ‘clothes’.”

Fuckin’ smooth, Hargrove. Real fuckin’ smooth.

“Mmkay,” Steve says serenely, eyes closed. “It sounds better my way.”

Anything coming out of your mouth sounds better. “Yeah, it kinda does, doesn’t it?”

As he slides back underneath the covers, Angie gets annoyed with them moving around the bed and hops off to wander back out of the room, tail held high. Steve curls around him, humming contentedly under his breath. Steve’s nose brushes along his neck, breathing inward, and Billy feels like he’s gonna die, because this much happiness at once just can’t be good for you. His mouth has gone dry.

Steve gives another contented hum, wrapping an arm around his waist and a leg around his hips. His hand, resting at Billy’s heart, caresses down the scarred skin and muscle to rest near the waistband of his boxers, and Steve’s thumb leisurely strokes up and down his lower belly, through the trail of hair leading down to his crotch. He murmurs against Billy’s skin “I never get this.”

“Hm. I hope I’d remembered getting you to feel me up,” Billy replies, grinning at the quiet darkness.

“No.” He feels Steve grin against his shoulder, which is…just…the best feeling. “A bed. Talking. Just…letting me kiss you.”

“Letting you,” Billy repeats, a bit sarcastically. “It’s become my cross to bear.”

Steve lightly bites him on the shoulder, and Billy can feel the way his mouth still stretches around a smile. “Okay, you know what I’m saying here.”

“Yeah, I guess I do. But ain’t no hardship, sweetheart.” He squeezes Steve’s hand, and he’s silent for long enough that Billy asks, “What’chu thinkin’ about, Stevie?”

Steve sighs, low and sweet, fingers still petting at his belly. “Billy Hargrove thinks I’ve got heartbreaker’s eyes. I’m thinking ‘bout that.”

“You do,” he whispers, earnest, heart in his throat. “Took your sunglasses off and I see these big brown eyes – and my soul left my fuckin’ body, Steve, I swear. I remember-” Billy swallows, and part of him can go back to that scared, raging, confused boy. “I remember thinking that it wasn’t fair, that no boy should be able to break my heart with just eyes.”

Steve laughs, ducking his face into Billy’s neck sheepishly, even though Billy can’t see him anyway. His skin is hot against his own, lashes like the flutter of his butterfly wings over his skin, making his heart thud harder. “You are a real romantic. I never get that, either.”

Billy snorts, but he can’t really deny it. “It’s too bad, y’know. Cause you’re pretty good at this part, darlin’. Where the hell is my lullaby, though?”

Steve pets his skin some more, slow and lazy, and Billy thinks that maybe he’s already falling asleep-

“Which way you goin’, Billy? Can I go, too?” he croons, fingertips warm and gentle on his skin, petting his abdomen and stroking along the tendons of his neck, lips warm and whisper soft upon his skin. “Which way you goin’, Billy? Can I go with you? You are my whole, babe, my heart and soul, babe. I’d have nothing to show, babe, if you go away…”

He’s got chills running up and down his spine, even though his face and chest feel hot and feverish. Billy’s dying, he’s dying, because he knows now that his love was never wasted on this boy. “Who’s the real romantic?” he whispers hoarsely, relaxing his weight back against Steve’s body. “You’re sweet, Stevie.”

“You’re not fooling me,” he murmurs back and kisses beneath his ear, soft and wet. Billy shudders. “You are, too.”

He takes Steve’s hand, smooth from a life of finger-paint and glitter-glue, and presses his mouth to the palm. “Gotta keep that our special secret, darlin’.”

Sleepily, Steve says “Ain’t a secret, baby.”

---

Steve spends a week just sort of walking on fucking air.

“What’s up, buddy?” Steve doesn’t even bother to ask who it is – Dustin calls him at five o’clock on the dot, every Monday. “Excited to finish up your midterms and come home for a little while?”

“Yeah, I’m going straight to a study group as soon we’re done.” He sounds as cheerful as he ever is, but by now, Steve is also intimately familiar with what he sounds like when he’s tired, too.

“Okay, but try to make sure you get enough rest,” Steve says, holding the phone on his ear with his shoulder as he lifts Angie onto his lap. “You’re smarter when you’ve slept longer than four hours a night, buddy.”

“Yeah, I know.” Then, a little less cheerfully, “So, uh…how are you feeling?”

Steve frowns. Had he been sick the last time he talked to Dustin? He didn’t think so… “Uh…fine? Why?”

“Well, you know…the ten year anniversary is coming up,” Dustin says awkwardly. He sounds distinctly like he’s also frowning now. Unhappy. “And like…I get worried about you, and stuff.”

“Dustin…”

“-and you always say you’re fine, even when you’re definitely not fine…”

“…pal…”

“Robin says you’re okay, which I guess is good but…”

“Dustin.”

“-it’s not the same as be able to see for myself…”

“Dude, seriously-”

“And you’re lonely, man, the people there treat you like shit!”

“DUSTIN!” Steve says loudly, scaring poor Angie right off his lap. “…I have a boyfriend.”

He says the words before really thinking about them and all of their implications. Dustin lets out this hilarious little ‘eep!’ before shrieking “Oh my god, really?!” like he’s suddenly sixteen again and asking Steve how two men have sex, in the technical sense, and jeez-

Steve really misses him, feels his eyes sting. “Yeah. I mean…it’s a new thing, but we’ve already gone on a few dates and it’s going pretty well.”

“Really? Okay, well, what’s he like?!” Dustin asks impatiently.

“Uh, well…” Nervously, Steve wishes that he hadn’t bought a cordless phone. His fingers have nothing to play with in moment like these. “You sort of already know him…Or, I guess, knew him, would be the better way to put it.”

Exasperated, Dustin says, out of the blue, “Oh my god, if it’s Tommy Hall, Steve, I know he had a crush on you, but you can do way better-”

“What?! No, Tommy Hall didn’t-what the fuck, who gave you that idea?”

“Robin,” he says, with an obvious ‘duh’ at the end.

“What the fuck?!” Steve repeats, this time at a volume that makes Angie cower under the coffee table. “Oh Ang, I’m sorry, baby – c’mon. Daddy’s sorry.”

Apologetically, Dustin explains “She told me and Erica not to tell you, because she didn’t wanna out Tommy to you even though she was pretty sure he wanted to fuck you. Then after your crisis, we agreed he wasn’t good enough for you.” Steve feels a sudden headache coming on, because this entire scenario has ‘Scoops Troop’ written all over it in big bold letters. “If it’s not Tommy Hall, then who?”

“Billy. Max’s Billy.”

There is a pause before Dustin asks “…is he okay now?”

The thing about Dust is that he’s so outwardly goofy that it’s easy to forget that he’s so smart, and he’s so smart that it’s easy to forget that he’s so empathetic. “Yeah, he’s okay now. He grew up a lot more when he went back to California.”

“Is he nice?” It’s less a question and more a demand.

“He’s really nice,” Steve says honestly, finally coaxing Angie back onto his lap after earning her forgiveness. “And he’s more…patient now. More relaxed. I think Lauren might be his best friend – he calls her Lulu, and I see him every morning when he drops her off. He um…he works for El.”

Jane Hopper is something of a…not exactly a sore spot for Dustin, but mentioning her tends to make him droop like a wilting daisy. They are not close and probably never will be. Steve used to think Dust was exaggerating when he said that Eleven didn’t like him, but she tends to shut down in one on one conversations with him, and she’ll do just about anything to avoid being left in a room alone with him.

Steve doesn’t really think that it’s because El straight up doesn’t like him, he thinks that it’s more of a matter of a sheltered person like El not quite knowing how to deal with a personality as loud and attention-grabbing as Dustin’s could be. That reaction crushes his self-confidence though, so the Scoops Troop try not to bring her up, and Steve tries to do El the courtesy of not overwhelming her too often.

“Oh good, Mike was just telling me she was getting busy enough to start needing help,” Dustin says neutrally. There was a pause, and then, more quietly, he asks “Is Max doing okay?”

It’s a little weird, because even though they’re all the same age, Max kind of had to grow up the faster, because while the others were thinking about the end of their freshman year of college, Max was giving birth and dealing with a marriage and a mortgage. “I think she’s excited to have Billy back in town – he’s hinted that she was having a bit of financial trouble before he got here.”

“So, you don’t think that she and Justin will be getting back together?”

Steve sighs, irritated. “If Lucas wants to make me a spy, the least he could do is ask me the questions himself.”

“That’s not a yes,” Dust coaxes. “Just yes or no, I refused to ask you anything else.”

“No, I’m pretty much sure that if he comes back to town, Max will be asking to borrow the nail bat.”

“Hm, there’s a long line for that. Can you pick me up from the station?”

“Uh-huh. Eight o’lock on the 30th, right?”

“Right.” Dust sighs, and again Steve’s heart gives a painful pang at hearing how tired he sounds. “Sorry, it’s time for my study group. Love you, Steve.”

“Love ya, kid.”

---

He has way more work to do now, since Robin insists that the original bet was for only a make-out session and he kind of ended up with a boyfriend, so she gleefully dumped upon him all of the quizzes she gave before the students began spring break, including the twenty page midterms she made them do. He didn’t have to grade the three page essays at the end but that still left seventeen pages to mark through forty-five times.

Despite the stack of paperwork in front of him, Steve’s still got a huge grin on his face as he sits across from Robin in the diner and lifts his coffee mug. Dazed, he says “I’ve got a boyfriend.”

He can’t say it too loud, that’s inviting trouble on himself that he doesn’t need, but he can’t hold it in.

Robin looks up, threads of hair escaping from her messy bun, and smirks at him, but her eyes are enormous and warm. “Yeah, you do.” Setting down her pen and flexing her fingers, Rob rests her chin on her hand. “And you still haven’t given me any details on dates number two and three.”

Steve’s brain helpfully provides him with the dreamy vision of both of those.

Date number two was a pool house in Evansville, drinking beer, talking trash at each other that was at least half flirting, and finding reasons to brush up against Billy in public, until Billy stood behind him as he was making a shot and growled in his ear, “Get in the fuckin’ car, darlin’. Gonna bite you where you like it.”

They steamed up the windows of the Impala that was the Camaro’s spiritual successor, and Billy pulled him on his lap, yanked opened the buttons on his shirt and assaulted Steve’s chest – pinched, kissed, sucked, and yes bit him, until Steve had his hands braced on the roof to keep himself grounded in a world that kept spinning, and cried “Oh fuck, Billy, stop, I’m gonna come.”

“Mm, I don’t hear a downside anywhere in there. Lemme get you off, heartbreaker.”

Right there in the driver’s seat, Steve’s head thrown back and mouth wide open as he tugged frantically on Billy’s shortened hair, coming without a hand ever touching his dick because he had Billy’s groaning mouth sucking at his nipples. Limbs shaking, Steve shoved his hand down the front of his pants and jerked Billy off with sharp rotations of his wrist, kissing all over his face, his neck, his chest. “Baby, baby,” he murmured, nipping at Billy’s neck. “Look at me.”

Billy’s eyes were the blue of distant oceans, like he kept a part of California in him wherever he went. Steve whispered “Fuck, Billy, you’re beautiful” and suddenly his fingers were soaked with come, Billy staring up at him in stunned rapture, like Steve was the sun and he couldn’t bring himself to look away.

Date three was Billy making California-style tacos for him (he had no idea that avocados were so delicious, what the hell!) and then watched Stand By Me, the Friday night movie on tv, head on Billy’s shoulder while he explained how Stephen King basically ripped off The Party’s life story, minus Maxine and Eleven.

Billy looked so startled when Steve started groping him on the sofa. There were sometimes moments that Billy really seemed to think that Steve was some kind of stuck-up prude, when he looked absolutely flabbergasted that Steve was as into this as he was, could be as aggressive as he was.

“Bed?” Billy asked in his ear, grinding down against him, his hands squeezing Steve by the hips. Thick, throbbing against him, making Steve’s mouth water and his heart beat three times faster. His belly was wet with pre-come, smeared all over his skin, burning hot where their skin met.

Steve had his teeth clenched together, trying not to shout so loudly that all his neighbors knew his guest’s name was Billy. He grabbed Billy by the upper arms and squeezed hard, sweating and arching his hips into his every motion, thighs tightened around his hips. “Billy, if you stop right now, I swear I’ll kill you.”

“Yeah?” The dummy was so surprised. “Getting close, heartbreaker?”

Sometimes, Billy still seemed surprised that Steve even reacted to him, like he was an untouchable statue. My ice princess. But he was flesh and he was blood, and it scared him, how much he wanted Billy to touch him. How bewildered he felt at the sight of Billy lying next to him in the morning, face down in the pillow.

He’d show him a goddamn ice princess.

“Give it to me good, baby, c’mon,” he moaned, and Billy bucked faster, breathed harder. Steve could feel his arms shake and smiled against his mouth. Raking his nails down his back, Steve slid his hands beneath the back of Billy’s boxers and got two handfuls of his ass, rasping “That’s it, like you mean it. Fuck, don’t stop, Billy. Right there! Baby-baby-!”

“Steve-o, earth to Steve-o!” Robin sing-songs. “What planet did you land on, dingus? Care to share with the class?”

He waves her off. “You don’t want to hear all the sweaty, manly details, Rob…”

She watches him drift off, pale skin flushing warm and vivid. “Oh my god, what’s that face for? What did you do?!”

Blushing like a schoolgirl, Steve hides his face. “After the boning, he made me hot chocolate and we spent three hours cuddling on the couch!”

“Oh my god, Steve, leave it to you to get embarrassed by the high school romance bits,” Robin is laughing at him, loud and happy. “What a dingus!”

Despite her laughter, Rob is practically glowing. Has Steve’s new relationship really made her this happy? With a bit of a whine to his tone, Steve says, “Well it’s not like I haven’t done the other parts before! I didn’t even know Billy wanted to do the sappy shit!”

She clicked her tongue, grinning fondly. “You love it.”

“I do,” he admits, bashful. “He’s all…romantic and stuff. Y’know.”

“And stuff? Come on, you can give me better details than that.” Steve can’t manage to do anything but blush harder and Rob smiles like the Cheshire cat. “Oh, that good, huh? I bet he brings you breakfast in bed and calls you pet names.”

Steve is hiding a smile behind his fingers, a lost and awed expression in his eyes. “Heartbreaker.”

“Hm?”

“He calls me sweetheart, and darlin’, and-and heartbreaker.” Self-conscious with himself, Steve buries his head in his arms and moans, “Oh god, please don’t make me say anything else.”

“That’s ridiculous and I love it,” Robin replies, with an enormous grin.

“Buckley, why are you torturin’ my guy?” Neither of them heard Billy walk into the diner, but there he is – blue flannel, fleece-lined jacket, and heavy denim. Steve becomes a puddle in the booth and it must be obvious because Rob looks positively gleeful and Billy is starting to look smug and maybe a little besotted.

Fuck.

---

Billy knows that Robin must’ve been teasing him – Steve’s pretty face is all pink, even the tips of his ears are red. Buckley, on the other hand, is almost demonic with glee. Clearing his throat, Steve gives him such an adoring expression that it leaves Billy nearly breathless. “Hi there, Harrington.”

“What are you doing here?” Steve asks playfully, with a smile that veers dangerously close to naked flirtation.

He shrugs. “Lulu went to her friend Sam’s birthday party. Wanted to check on you, since you said the slave driver chained you to your paperwork.”

Buckley huffs. “I won that bet fair and square!”

Steve huffs back, with an endearing little pout. “I never agreed to it, you bully!” He throws Billy a look with those devastating eyes. “She’s going to abandon me to see a movie. Wanna keep me company?”

If anyone ever figures out how fucking easily he falls to that gaze, he’s a dead man. Aw shit. From Buckley’s face, she’s already figured that out. “Yeah, ‘course.”

Buckley rolls her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, like getting to moon at your new boyfriend is such a hardship.”

“Rob!” Steve hisses, looking at nervously.

She scoffs, getting up from the opposite side so that Billy could take her place. She gives Billy sort of a challenging stare, and tosses her head. “If he didn’t wanna go public, he should’ve said no the first damn time, when you warned him.”

Maybe Billy’s answer would be different if his father were still alive. But he ain’t. “It ain’t that big a deal – just don’t wanna get Harrington into any shit.”

She pitches her voice so that it won’t carry. “You don’t get to take whatever you want in private and leave him out in the cold in public.”

He can’t even imagine how Old Billy would react to having a woman talk to him like this. But by the hardness in her eyes, he does know that even Old Billy wouldn’t have scared her. Robin Buckley has fought monsters far more disturbing the one he used to be. She also, judging from the steel in her jaw, has seen people (men? women? both?) do this to Steve before. Take their physical pleasure from him in dark of night and then pretend they can’t see him in the light of day.

She looks ready to knock his teeth out if she doesn’t like his answer, and Billy can both understand that anger, and respect her desire to protect Steve from pain. “Down girl,” he murmurs, “I wouldn’t leave him out in the cold anywhere, never mind around these wolves.”

“Rob,” Steve says lowly. “Don’t give him a shovel speech. I can take care of myself.”

“You shouldn’t have to,” she responds, with a smile that’s equally sweet and poisonous. Billy’s opinion of her skyrockets. “Have fun, boys.”

Steve sighs at her retreating back, looking put upon for a moment before he smiles at Billy again. Flicking his hair out of his face, he pushes his glasses up his nose and admits, “I actually do have to work on these. Sorry.”

Billy steals his coffee mug. “Yeah, I kinda assumed that.” He pulls a dog-eared copy of Red Dragon from his jacket pocket. “Don’t worry, I can keep myself entertained. Besides, I got somethin’ real pretty to look at.”

He throws in a wink just for good measure, just because he knows he’ll be well rewarded with another rosy blush coloring Steve’s cheeks.

It’s relaxing, sitting around like a normal couple, nobody giving a shit about the two of them sitting there. Understandably, he’s pretty surprised when something – or someone – touches his dick under the table.

His eyes immediately shoots up to Steve’s face as the arch of a socked foot presses into the fly of his jeans, rubbing gently against the rapidly thickening semi there. The question on his lips dies almost instantly. He hardly needs to ask if it’s an accident – Steve’s gaze is already fixed on Billy, biting down on the corner of his lip as he tries to hide the curve of a wicked smile, his eyes dark behind the frames of his glasses.

Billy’s mouth drops open slightly as Steve’s toes curls around the rigid line of cock, wedged painfully against his zipper. Steve makes a low noise, a satisfied kind of purring, at how quickly Billy goes from semi to fully hard. Gripping the edge of the table with one hand and squashing his book into an open position with the other, Billy croaks “Steve.”

Oh so innocently with his angel-faced smile and his creamy rose blush, Steve says “What are you reading?”

Billy has to bite down a pained groan as Steve rubs him just a little harder. It’s torturous – there’s too many layers between them to get Billy off, which he suspects that Steve is well aware of, but it also feels so good that he doesn’t really want him to stop. Too late, he recalls Robin’s words about Steve in the 11th Hour. He likes to flirt with danger. He’s addicted to risk.

He honestly couldn’t think of anything riskier than Steve trying to bring him off in the middle of one of the town’s busiest attractions, only edged out by the churches and the bars. Billy stares at him helplessly, wide-eyed and voiceless with the force of his surging arousal. There is the hint of a command in his voice when Steve repeats, “What are you reading, Billy?”

“R-red-Red Dragon,” Billy responds hoarsely, fighting to stop himself from humping Steve like a fucking animal. He can’t stop himself from letting go of the table and sliding his hand under the cuffs of Steve’s slacks, wrapping his fingers around his ankle to keep him there.

Steve looks very pleased indeed and gives Billy’s dick another rub, finding his cockhead through his pants and flexing his toes right around it. “Steve,” he says weakly. “Are you trying to give me a fetish?”

Surprised, he asks “Do you have one?”

“No, but-” He holds in a whine and hisses, “Keep touchin’ my dick like that, and I’m gonna start having inappropriate thoughts about your feet, sweetheart.”

Surprised and curious now, Steve presses harder. “Can you come this way?”

“I don’t-I don’t know.” Billy has to hold back another whine and quickly lets go of his book before he can start accidentally ripping out pages. “Why…why are you…?”

Shyly, which is very rich coming from someone in the middle of giving him a footjob in public, Steve says “Just trying to make you feel good. Can’t use my hands from all the way over here.”

Despite these words, his stare on Billy is hungry, and he can hear Steve panting softly through his words. The distant part of his mind that’s still rational wonders what is that’s doing it for him – that Billy is kinda weirdly turned on by his feet, that Billy is somewhat at his mercy, or that anyone could catch them doing this. Or maybe it’s a little of all three.

Unable to take it any longer, Billy gently pulls Steve’s sock off, preferring to be able to touch warm skin, and cups the top of his foot against his dick. He strokes Steve’s ankle and rolls his hips as subtly as he can, swallowing a moan as Steve’s dark longing stare holds him captive.

“Dunno where you got an idea like this, heartbreaker,” Billy croaks.

“We can stop,” Steve suggests sweetly, pushing his heel against his aching balls and flexing his toes again. Watching Billy’s eyelashes flutter and the way the hand still on the table clenches and unclenches spastically. Steve nibbles his lower lip and lowers his voice to a suggestive, throaty husk “Or you can just come for me.”

“Steve.” He doesn’t know which is stronger, surprise or desperation or fear.

“Nobody’s watching,” he promises, still in that honey-sweet persuasive purr. He emphasizes this with an up and down rub against the denim seam and licks his lips with an obscene flick of the tongue.

Billy’s cock twitches hard, weeping pre-come into his boxers, and he knows that Steve can feel it because he’s losing the effort to hold in that wicked smile now. His tongue darts out again, like he can taste Billy in the air, and Steve squirms around like he’s trying to relieve the pressure on his own cock.

He sinks down in the booth and spreads this thighs apart, holding Steve against his prick with a little more pressure. He pleads “F-faster, darlin’. Just a little…”

Billy can feel the muscles and tendons in his ankle flexing and shifting as Steve immediately gives in, all coy teasing over as rubs at a pace clearly meant to bring Billy off even through the thick fabric. An echo from the past murmurs “Yeah, it’s me. Don’t cream your pants.”

His lips form around a silent ‘fuck’, trying not to be extremely obvious when he bucks into the contact, choking off his noises to soft helpless whimpers.  

“Fuck, you are so hot,” Steve breathes in the present, nostrils flaring. He’s almost openly panting now and his eyes look nearly black.

Black holes that want to completely consume him. Billy bites down a scream and comes, wet and sticky, because beneath that angel-faced sweetness is a wicked, hungry smile. Just for Billy.

Lazily, Steve takes a twenty dollar bill from his jacket and slaps it down onto the sticky table. “Gimme my sock back,” he says, collecting all his papers and fondly stroking down Billy’s thigh before taking his foot back. “Do you like French silk?”

“Who doesn’t?” Billy says faintly, dazed.

“Good,” Steve says, all sugar and sweetness again. Billy’s fucking dizzy, man. “I made us one. Let’s go.”

“Don’t you want…?” His eyes dart down to Steve’s lap.

“Already did,” and there’s a hint of that dark gleam again. “Watching you, baby.”

Holy fucking shit.

[oldfashionedswiftcurse]

Like Pieces into Place

Hi hi hi,

I’m working on a new fanfic that takes place near the London countryside with Taylor and Joe (during/post-Calvin, Tom Hiddleston doesn’t exist in this lol). Please let me know if you have questions, comments, feedback, etc. Enjoy!

The lush greens and reds greeted her and her Range Rover as they barreled over the rocky driveway to her cabin. She certainly wasn’t in Nashville anymore. She wasn’t even in America. Taylor had left behind the populated city life for some time away. Although Tree had mentioned that the private cabin was located right on the outskirts of London, she hadn’t specified the immense distance between Taylor and her neighbors. Other than the beautiful ranch they passed earlier, there was little sign of life, and while it would definitely allow her to concentrate fully on her next album, it gave her little to do otherwise.

           “Tree, when you said private, I didn’t actually expect a murder cabin. Just to be clear, should I call 911 during an emergency or just accept that I will most likely be slaughtered by a serial killer?”

           “Taylor, no one is going to kill you. It’s both cute and rustic, and you did reiterate how much you wanted your privacy,” Tree echoed, and Taylor admitted defeat.

           “You’re right. I guess, if a daily phone call with Adam and utter loneliness for the other twenty three hours of the day is the path I chose, I’ll just have to deal with it.”

           “Atta girl,” Tree beckoned, rustling with her phone in the background. “By the way, you can take a break with the dramatics. The Maxes will be joining you every morning for this next week, so I think you’ll manage just fine. It’ll be a great new album.”

           Taylor chuckled, hanging up the phone. As she parked the car and carried her bags inside, she basked in the refreshing feeling of doing something alone. It had been so long since she had carried her own bag or driven herself that she was glad to be doing basic chores. After unpacking slowly and memorizing the basic layout of the cabin, Taylor changed into a gray sweatshirt and leggings and walked through the seemingly endless forest. As the wind began to blow her blonde curls into her eyes, Taylor opted to cover herself with her hood as a shield.

           It was the perfect temperature, just cool enough for the wind to leave some goosebumps on her arm, but warm enough for her breath not to leave a trace in the air around her. Taylor would describe it as the perfect level of balminess. As she continued onward, Taylor spotted the same ranch from earlier. There were distant cries of laughter, and she was relieved that she was vacationing (if that was even the right word for it) near a family. Families always made her feel warm inside, and in this particular moment, she thought back to her own childhood farm as she picked pumpkins while her brother, Austin, ran through the fields.

           The ranch was massive, but still maintained a distinctly homely quality to it. The farm area was attached to a large white Victorian home equipped with a wraparound porch and a porch swing. It was the kind of home you grew old in, accepting the peaceful transition from a bustling city to a quiet town. She wondered what Christmases were like in that house and whether or not the children shared the same memories that she did from her childhood.

           “Lucky, come back! Dad’s going to have a fit, and I won’t be able to go to the festival this weekend!”

           The sound was very distant, but as Taylor watched a tiny Australian Shepherd waddle right past her, she knew that the voice would be linked to a young child. The cherubic, blonde child appeared before her, armed with a doughnut and a long leash, and frantically raced after her dog.

           “Here, let me help,” Taylor muttered, chasing after the dog and scooping it easily into her arms as the girl clicked the leash into place. “This little guy’s got a lot of power in him, huh?”

           The girl eagerly nodded, and as Taylor placed the dog onto the ground, the girl managed to take a bite of her very pink, very frosted doughnut.

           “Thank you, Miss. If we hadn’t caught him in time, he’d be gone forever, and Dad would never let me get another pet! This is Lucky, and I’m Madilyn. We live just down the path there,” she said, extending a hand to Taylor and then deciding against it due to her frosted fingers. “Are you living out in that cabin? Dad said it was about time we got a new neighbor.”

           “I am. Hi, my name’s Taylor,” she said gleefully, sliding her hood down. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Madilyn. And you too, Lucky, rebellious as you may be.”

           And as Taylor smiled at the excited puppy, Madilyn’s jaw dropped.

           “You’re…this can’t be real. Maybe I hit a boulder and fell off a cliff or something because…well, I don’t know if anyone’s ever told you before, but you look an awful lot like…”

           “Taylor Swift?” The pop sensation teased, but as Maddie’s cheeks grew pink with embarrassment or awe or a series of different emotions, Taylor couldn’t help herself. “That would be me.”

           She shrugged, and Maddie looked on in amazement.

           “Do you mind?” Maddie glanced inquisitively, reaching for her phone.

           Taylor acquiesced immediately, smiling brightly for the selfie. Her smile was authentic, unblemished by the city facades and too-bright paparazzi lights.

           “If you don’t mind me asking,” the girl interrupted politely, “what are you doing…here? My friend from school, Elizabeth, never wants to play here, and her mom’s only in banking. I can’t imagine an actual pop legend wanting to spend time around here when you could be surrounded by crowds and cameras!”

           “First of all, your friend, Elizabeth, doesn’t seem like she gave this place much of a try.  You should never have to convince or beg people to spend time with you in your home, especially if you have a puppy as cute as Lucky. Second of all, the fame and attention…it can be too much too often. It’s nice to distance yourself sometimes, which is exactly why I’m here in this wonderful setting as you so quaintly put it,” Taylor responded, and the girl’s wide, green eyes looked back in great doubt.

           “I’m only eight,” the girl replied succinctly, and Taylor wondered why she even tried. “I’m not sure I can quaintly put anything.”

           At that age, friendships still carried the appearance of continuity, and of course a girl just about to enter tweenhood was still tricked by the allure of fame. It was a disillusioning realization one could only come to after spending years and years in the spotlight.

           “MADDIE! MADILYN?!” A deep voice bellowed, and Maddie instantly glanced backward and then back to Taylor.

           “Is it okay if I invite some friends over tomorrow to meet you? They would die if they knew you were here!” The girl uttered, reaching once more for her phone.

           When she noticed the huge glops of frosting made by her fingers during the selfie, she hesitated and wiped her fingers on her bright red leggings.

           “I’d actually appreciate it if you kept my presence here a secret, Maddie,” Taylor muttered, and the girl’s head shot back in resignation.

           “Are you kidding? This could change my life!”

           “I’d be pretty upset if one of my friends broke my trust like that, Madilyn. I hope we can be friends.”

           Maddie’s shoulders fell in defeat, but she smiled back.

           “Tell you what, I won’t tell anyone about you if you don’t tell my dad that I almost lost Lucky. I really want Lucky to have a brother or sister, and both Dad and Granny Lu always vote me down, and it’d be a tremendous help…”

           At that moment, her sentence was cut short by the appearance of a broad-shouldered, blonde man.

           “Madilyn, how many times have I told you not to stray too far from the ranch? I knew getting a dog was a bad idea, but somehow, I let you convince me anyway.”

           He froze when he spotted the two blondes before him.

           “There you are! Madilyn Alwyn, when I say that dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes, I don’t mean that we’ll wait for the princess’ grand arrival whenever she feels like stepping into the kitchen.”

           He glanced over at Taylor quizzically, then back to his daughter.

           “Now, I expect to see Lucky all washed up and you sitting at the dinner table in approximately ten minutes,” he said unflinchingly, and the blonde child shrugged apologetically at Taylor and then raced away with Lucky in tow.

           “I apologize to you if she kept you. I’m Joe, Joe Alwyn, I own the ranch just down there. And that was Maddie. She’s eight, and while I’m glad she can finally walk without a diaper or a stroller, I must confess it has proven to be a struggle to find her anywhere,” he said breathily, and the rapid inhale-exhale pattern of his chest acknowledged that he had been pretty frantic in his search for his daughter.

           “Taylor. It’s nice to meet you. She’s really a pleasure, and she does have a way with people,” she teased, extending her hand.

           Joe reciprocated the action, and the sleeve of his dark blue flannel brushed against her hand when their hands locked together.

           “She didn’t try to sell you anything, did she? I’d check your pockets too for valuables. I’d say she ranges from savvy saleswoman to common grifter depending on the day.”

           Taylor chuckled before noticing that their hands had not separated. They both glanced down, returning their respective hands back to the side of their bodies.

           “She did not try to sell me anything, I promise. She did say something about a huge blowout party tomorrow though, something about unicorns and carnival rides,” she teased.

           He rolled his blue eyes, chuckling himself. His ice-blue eyes crinkled when he laughed, a habit Taylor wondered whether or not he was aware of.

           “She got it from her mum, I swear,” he said, his bright gaze growing slightly grim. “So how long are you planning to stay around here?”

           “A few weeks, at least. I’m a musician, and I’m planning to write a bit of music while here,” she said, gesturing to the copse of trees surrounding them.

           “If you ever need someone to play a saxophone,” he whispered, gauging from her wide eyes that this plan would never come to fruition, “I’m always available. I was a pretty skilled sax player in my day.”

           “I will definitely take you up on that offer if I find myself in need of a…saxophone,” she joked, slipping her hands in her pockets. “It was nice to meet you, Joe Alwyn.”

           “You won’t be taking me up on that offer, I assume,” Joe said, scratching the back of his neck goodheartedly. “I may have slightly over exaggerated my saxophone playing abilities.

           Taylor shook her head, smiling at the ground.

           “But if you keep Lucky around, I will make every effort to see him. That Maddie is pretty special too.”

           Joe grinned back at her, and they separated with a quick wave. Taylor made her way back to her cabin just in time for her to respond to a few texts from close family and friends. She spotted a quick text from Adam and checked her hair quickly to make sure she was prepared for their scheduled Facetime call. One glance at the text, and Taylor knew it was bad news.

           Sry babe, didn’t register the time change between Sydney and London. we’ll figure this out. xxx adam

           She exhaled in defeat, throwing her hair into a loose ponytail. Tonight, she would soak in a long, hot bath and squeeze in some writing time. There were many ideas swirling around her head, and as she slipped into a restful sleep in the bath, her mind kept thinking of ways to incorporate a saxophone into her next album.

[whereissora]

My Favorite Sora and Riku BroTP Moments

 First off, I don’t ship Soriku. Sorry, but I just don’t. I have never gotten a romantic vibe from them EVER and I really enjoy how they interact and work together like a pair of brothers. There are plenty of other tumblrs that post Soriku, and I assure you they’re not hard to find.

 Riku is sexy and important and Sora is a literal drop of sunshine, and I love both these boys so much. I really enjoy how much Riku’s character arc reminds me of Zuko from ATLA and how he embodies the “protective big brother” cliche which can be seen in a lot of animes. Likewise, Sora is a wonderful protagonist and the way he adores and actually listens to Riku makes me want to give Riku a thumbs up:

Good job, Riku, on somewhat-raising Sora. He’s wonderful in a million amazing ways~

 I know Sora has parents alright, im just messing around~

 And so, as I write this, I will be viewing Sora and Riku in a very platonic manner. These two are close to the point of being real brother’s, and since Kairi does play a part in their relationship, she will be mentioned here and there.

Just know that even if you ship SoRiku and I ship SoKai, doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy this list! This is a BroTP post, not an OTP post, but you may find one of the reasons you ship SoRiku on here even if I have a different understanding of the moment in question.

I will be leaving comments open, with one request: you may say whatever you like in response to this post so as long as you are respectful about it. So please, no character bashing, no ship bashing, and definitely no harassment or bullying. I will block any guilty party and/or close the comments for this post. 

10) Encounter in the Land of Dragons

 Sora spends the majority of KH2 looking for Riku, and eventually, Kairi. By the time he makes his second trip to “The Land of Dragons” (I’m super tempted to write China, here) Sora has still yet to encounter Riku despite all the extra behind-the-scenes help Riku keeps giving him. 

 They finally run into each other here, but Sora assumes its a member of Org XIII given what he seems to be doing and what he is wearing. Riku casually warns Sora to watch his back by pointing at the heartless, which Sora then takes out. After the fight, Riku makes this hilarious gesture, like he’s saying “well, look at that. You’ve become so dependable,” then runs off. Sora gives chase until losing sight of him at which point he wonders aloud:

 “That guy...”

 “No...! Why... Would he...?” 

 Sora thinks that it’s Riku he just met, and kinda reaches for him as he calls his name. He says “Riku?” in a way that doesn’t hide how cautiously hopeful he is, and is overjoyed later when he hears from the emperor that the guy in the black coat “was kinda rude.”

Sora, YOU’RE a little rude.

9) Riku demands to know what Diz wants (with Sora)

 Diz is a pretty suspicious character, and Riku trusts him about as far as he can throw him. Unfortunately, the only people Riku trusts implicitly are comatose, absent, or far away. He can’t wake Sora up on his own, so he begrudgingly accepts Diz’s help.

 Near the end of Sora’s reconstruction, Diz expresses his thoughts over Sora waking up in a way that’s... mildly creepy. 

 Diz doesn’t really care for Sora as a person. He’s a means to an end. Riku isn’t stupid--he can tell. His priority is doing everything he can to help Sora wake up. But the minute  Diz says Sora’s name--in a tone that makes it abundantly clear he is being used, like Roxas is--Riku takes a seat like “Don’t you f***ing dare. What do you want with us, anyway?” And says the polite version of that. 

8) Riku visits Namine

I’m not sure whether Riku knew to go see Namine on his own, or if he was summoned there by Diz. But either way, Sora’s awakening is taking way too long. 

 After leaving Castle Oblivion, Riku began investigating the Organization since they literally forced Sora into an indefinite, comatose state. Namine promised to look after Sora, and when they meet again, Riku, gently, but firmly, reminds her of this, as if to ask “What’s taking so long?”

 There can’t be a good reason, so he needs to know. That way, he can help.

 Unfortunately, the situation is that some of Sora’s memories currently reside in two different people. Namine carefully explains that there is no way to help Sora without harming them, and if they try to do that anyway, Sora will wake up only to realize no one remembers him. 

Here, the camera shifts from Namine to Riku while keeping that one line on the screen, making it clear that’s not an option for them. Sora cannot wake up to find out he’s been forgotten--they are not willing to risk that. 

 This leaves just the worst possible option, and that is to kill two people. 

 A role which Riku now resigns himself to.

 This might have been higher on the list if not for how SAD it is... For everyone involved. 

7) Sora remembers how they grew up together

 KH1′s ending broke a lot of hearts (cough not as much as III cough) and final mix’s version just twisted the knife with this little scene. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I do not remember seeing this little Sora-flashback first time around. 

 The door has been shut and locked, leaving Riku and Mickey stranded in the Dark Realm. Sora looks on as he recalls his childhood spent growing up alongside Riku, how they laughed and ran together, and this scene couldn’t possibly be more heart wrenching--

Hears Project Destatis D.B. themes and variations playing in the background~

👏Thank👏you👏Everglow👏

You, too @projectdestati

6) Sora and Riku fight the final battle together

I love all the little scenes in this fight. 

 You get a lot of these two protecting/supporting each other here.

 At one point, Sora is nabbed by Xemnas and is having his HP drained, and you get to fight as Riku in order to free him.

 When Xemnas starts firing those light-rods or whatever they’re called at Sora and Riku, the boys stand back to back as they deflect them. 

 This leaves them so drained that Xemnas is able to kick Riku back and attack Sora, but Riku pulls Sora out of the way AND TAKES THE HIT HIMSELF.

 Sora and Riku use their combined strength to shoot Xemnas out of the sky.

 And on top of all that, you get this:

SORA AND RIKU STOPPED IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT TO FIST BUMP!!!! This is canon. THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED!!!

 It’s as if they’re each telling the other:

                                             “No worries! I’m here.”

5) Riku meets Xion (twice) 

For the sake of keeping this list to my top ten, I’m including Riku’s first and second meetings with Xion as one reason. I know, I know, I’m kind of cheating, but I really can’t choose between these two.

 While investigating Org XIII, Riku must wear their coat. It allows him to move about without detection. Ironically, this also gets their attention since he’s Riku, he’s not one of their members, and he’s clearly opposed to them. They send Xion to take him out, but he defeats her and is both disturbed and concerned by her appearance. 

 Xion demands to know why Riku is dressed as one of them, and he answers:

                            “To make sure my best friend... Sleeps in peace.”

Riku is determined to protect Sora, who is vulnerable in his sleeping state, no matter what Riku is forced to wear, or who he transforms into. This may partly be due to the fact that:  

 Riku was the one who opened the DTD and destroyed the islands.

 Riku is the reason Kairi’s heart was separated from her body and went into Sora’s for shelter.

 And Sora ultimately had to stab himself through the heart to free her and complete the keyhole in Hollow Bastion.

 And all of this led to the creation of Roxas, Sora’s Nobody, being born. Sora wouldn’t even be in this mess if it weren’t for Riku’s actions. Heck, without Riku, Sora never would’ve gotten the keyblade, which has made Sora a huge target for Org XIII. Riku carries that guilt with him everywhere he goes throughout Days, as he struggles to help Namine complete Sora’s reconstruction.

The next time Riku meets Xion, she’s run off from the Organization because she learned what she really was. She tries to ask Riku where Sora is and he outright tells her:

                                             “That secret stays with me.”

Riku says this in a way that makes it clear he would die before he handed Sora over to the enemy, and isn’t willing to risk Sora’s safety for anything.

 Riku, buddy, you’re a priority, too.

He never blamed Xion or Roxas for the Organization’s actions, though, because just like Sora, these two were being used. So when Xion asks “Do you hate me for taking your friend away from you?” Riku’s answer is:

                                             “Nah... I guess I’m just sad.”

Me: 

Xion is the reason Sora cannot wake up! On top of that, because Xion exists, Riku must see to it that both she and Roxas meet their ends if he ever wants to see Sora again. And despite all that, Riku doesn’t hate her. 

5) “Don’t be so reckless. Do you want to end up like Riku?”

Halfway through KH2, Saix implies that Riku has ended up in a dire situation, causing Sora to react with alarm. As far as Saix knows, Riku was taken out by Roxas, and he’s more than happy to let that slip to Sora who has been searching everywhere for him.

With or without his memories of C.O., Sora’s last real memory of Riku is watching him be trapped in the Dark Realm when they closed the door together.

The Dark Realm is basically the KH version of Hell, and it’s not the place for hearts of light residing within still-living individuals. From what Sora’s seen of the Dark Realm, it is crawling with dark sides, and even if there is a light within the darkness, the Dark Realm is not a safe place to be.

So hearing Saix say “Do you want to end up like Riku?” has a pretty powerful impact on him. Aside from his own firm belief in Riku’s strength, Sora has been given every reason to believe Riku is dead. There’s no sign of him anywhere, no word of him from anyone, and the last place he was seen in is a relatively fatal environment.  

And now he has even less reason to hope Riku is still alive.

4) Riku rescues Sora in 3D

 Say what you will about 3D, but the bro feels are HEAVY in this game. 

 Once again, Sora is lured into one of the Organizations traps.

 And again Riku attempts to protect him from this trap. 

 Again, he failed to reach Sora in time. It is only with the help of Donald, Goofy, Mickey, and Axel that he is able to retrieve Sora before it is too late. 

 Sora’s heart was trapped in darkest abyss, leaving Sora’s empty body in a sleeping state, similar to what Ven suffered through for over a decade. Yen Sid theorizes that Riku, who unlocked the seven sleeping keyholes within Sora’s dreams, now has the ability to retrieve Sora’s heart and wake him from his sleep.

 Come to think, maybe this has something to do with why we see Riku looking for Sora in the KH3 secret movie instead of Kairi?

It’s insanely dangerous to venture into the abyss, but Riku goes anyway and is successful in rescuing Sora.

 3)  Did I mention that Sora called for Riku when YMX nabbed him?

Sora’s afraid! He’s steeming in darkness and he’s struggling to keep his eyes open because he knows there’s a chance this will be the last thing he sees! He’s aware that if his body is turned into a vessel, he’ll be used to hurt Riku, Kairi, and everyone else he loves.

 So what does he do? He calls for Riku!

 Riku has been taking the exam with him, and if there’s anyone who can pull him out of this mess its Riku, the same person who has almost always come to his rescue. 

 And Riku does that just that.

 I actually really enjoyed 3D just because it was fairly dark, and heroes can’t succeed all the time. Plus, Riku got to play the role of the one who has Sora’s back no matter what and was rewarded with the title of Keyblade Master for his trouble.

Sora deserves to be Master, too--

2) Kairi reunites Sora and Riku in TWTNW

This scene has me in tears, even now. 

 As mentioned before, Sora has been given every reason to believe Riku is dead. 

 He saw someone in the Land of Dragons who was using Riku's keyblade, and was kind of acting like Riku. But was that really him? Or just another member of Org XIII messing with him? 

 What did Saix mean when he warned Sora not to be reckless like Riku was?

 King Mickey made a promise to Riku, but what sort of promise? And why won’t he say anything about Riku?

 What happened?

 Where is he?

 Thanks to Kairi, Sora is able to reunite with Riku properly. Riku wasn’t even going to say anything to Sora--he still feels ashamed of himself for betraying Sora, and for looking the way he does. But Kairi takes both boys hands and has Sora close his eyes, and Sora is able to finally figure it out:

 Riku was always close by, helping him. He just looks a little different.

 Sora raises his head, and his eyes first widen then scrunch up as the tears come. 

He takes Riku’s hand and falls to his knees. 

Once he’s down there, he can’t hold himself together anymore and just starts weeping. 

 This is part of the reason people ship SoRiku at all, and heck, I might have too if not for SoKai and the fact that Sora is a super affectionate person. 

 Also, it’s pretty clear by how relieved and tearful Sora is that he more-or-less believed Riku was gone. He looked for him, but couldn’t find him anywhere. The organization loves to mess with him--maybe that guy who was behaving like Riku in the Land of Dragon’s killed him and stole his sword. Maybe the reason Mickey won’t say anything is because the truth is too much. 

 I have best friends that I’ve grown up with, too. If they were to vanish like Riku did, and I went from country to country in search of them, and then if I finally found them after being told everywhere I went that they were gone... Well, I’d be more of a mess than Sora because I’m not as strong as him. 

 Sora manages to choke out that he looked ABSOLUTELY EVERYWHERE for Riku. To which Riku answers:

This earns a shocked little gasp from Sora, because it’s kind of a slap in the face to Sora’s efforts to locate Riku.

 Not that Riku is trying to be cruel here. Sora doesn’t understand yet that Riku only pushed him away in order to protect him. And when Sora demands, “Why didn’t you let me know you were okay?” Riku calmly explains that he couldn’t stand for Sora and Kairi to see him like this, with Heartless Ansem’s face. The face of the man that possessed him and nearly killed Sora and Kairi.

 But they don’t care what he looks like, because it’s still Riku on the inside.

1) Riku protects Sora in KH3

Gosh, this was such a heavy moment. 

 Sora and Riku were just forced to watch as all their friends were whisked away into the Demon Tide. The last person to go was Kairi, and once she’s gone, Sora falls to his knees lets out a scream that destroyed me physically, emotionally, and mentally.

We have never seen this side of Sora before, and neither has Riku. Just after Kairi is taken away, Riku is standing nearby, staring out at the demon tide, apparently in shock. We can’t see his face, but Riku grew up with Kairi, too, and he’s clearly distressed by what just happened. 

 But Sora screams his heart out and Riku immediately rushes to his side. He kneels and listens as Sora gives up and claims he is worthless without the others. Riku’s expression is soft at first but slowly hardens, and after Sora cries over his failure, Riku quietly gets up and tells him:

                                     “Sora, you don’t believe that.”

                                              “I know you don’t.”

 Riku then walks forward without another word, and singlehandedly keeps the demon tide at bay. 

 Sora cannot find the strength to get up and help, but Riku doesn’t yield. He screams in defiance as the shadows overtake him, determined to protect Sora until the end. 

 Overall, I just really like how Riku has Sora’s back no matter what and how Sora quietly acknowledges that in KH3 when comparing Riku and himself to Anna and Elsa:

These two are bros for life.

[syncogon]

[QZGS TL] Butterfly Blue 2015 Ningbo Q&A

This is a translation of a transcription of a Q&A session with Butterfly Blue from 2015/07/26 at an event in Ningbo. 

Source transcription: http://792690803.lofter.com/post/1ce16a63_7bf1770

A number or “Q:” denote the question; “A:” denotes BB’s answer. (comments) are notes from the transcriber [comments] are translator’s (my) notes Some aren’t super relevant to QZGS, so I’ve omitted those.

As always, please let me know of any errors; there were a few things I was unsure of. This is really long, but I might do some more digging for old BB Q&A things. They’re quite interesting and insightful (and amusing).

1.叶修到底有几个小号？ 1. How many side accounts does Ye Xiu actually have?

这不是我知道的，他自己也不太清楚。因为肯定有很多，所以他不会在意这些细节，你也不要在意。 A: This isn’t something I know, he himself isn’t too clear. He definitely has a lot, so he won’t pay too much attention to details like that, and you shouldn’t either.

（虫爹补充：不要问设定的问题。） (BB added: Don’t ask me questions about world setup.)

2.你最喜欢哪对cp？ 2. What’s your favorite pairing?

以我的视角会把每对cp当成一个组合，都是很喜欢的。要说的话就是叶修和苏沐橙。 A: I personally treat every pairing as a partnership, and I like them all. If I had to pick, I’d say Ye Xiu and Su Mucheng.

3.最喜欢张新杰，想问有没有打算写第四赛季的番外或者我们家张新杰的番外？（现场一片“你们家”） 3. Zhang Xinjie is my favorite, I wanted to ask, do you have any plans to write a prequel about Season 4 or about our Zhang Xinjie? (live crowd echoes: “your” Zhang Xinjie?)

第四赛季的话会想一下。因为那一赛季如果要写内容比较多。因为那个赛季比较重要，很多正篇里的主要人物都会出场。如果要写张新杰可能会是其中之一，但不会是主角，因为那一赛季主角很多。 A: Season 4… I’d think about it. Because that season, if I were to write about it, there’d be a lot of content. Because that season was relatively important, a lot of important characters in the main novel would make an appearance. If I wrote it, Zhang Xinjie would probably be one of them, but he wouldn’t be the main character, because there were many main characters that season.

那会写霸图夺冠吗？ Q: Then will you write about Tyranny winning the championship?

如果要写的话总决赛肯定重要一些。 A: If I wrote it, the finals match would definitely be important.

4.张新杰他这么的这么的······呃，那个什么，他每天都这么遵守时间，那他为什么会近视啊？（提问的妹子结巴了很久） 4. Zhang Xinjie, he’s so, so… Hm, that, every day he sticks so closely to his time schedule, then why is he nearsighted? (the girl asking hesitated a lot)

因为平时学习太刻苦了。 A: Because his normal studies are too intense.

5、苏沐秋到底是今年暑假什么时候······死亡的？ 5. This year’s summer break, when exactly did Su Muqiu… die?

有没有这么问的。 A: Who asks like that?

你说了是今年暑假，那具体时间呢？ Q: You said it was this year’s summer, then when exactly?

具体没写大概就是七八月份。（这里吐槽非常激烈） A: I never said exactly, probably around July or August. (lots of audience complaining/mocking)

6、女神你害怕了吗？ 6. Are you scared of the goddesses?

我为什么要害怕。 A: Why would I be scared.

如果你继续写的话第十一赛季会不会是霸图冠军了？毕竟乐乐太哭逼了。 Q: If you continued to write, would Tyranny win in Season 11? After all, Lele is too tragic.

这种其实也算设定上的问题。（后面没有听清等我拿到小伙伴的那份录音会试着补上） A: This counts as a setup question. (didn’t hear the rest clearly)

那想法也没有吗？ Q: Then do you have any idea?

我要写才会想。 A: I think about it when I have to write it.

那你觉得霸图会有潜力拿冠军吗？乐乐加盟之后。 Q: Then do you think Tyranny has the strength to get the championship? After Lele joined.

每个队伍都有机会的。 A: Every team has a chance.

7、苏沐秋出场就死的设定是不是太草率了，还会有隐藏设定吗？ 7. Having Su Muqiu appear and then die, isn’t that too sloppy/hasty? Are there any hidden designs?

在一本书里有一个人死掉很普通的，这也不算什么有新意的。在我写的时候苏沐秋苏沐橙叶修都是一开始就设定好的，苏沐秋从一开始就是——啊。 A: Having one person die in a novel is very ordinary, this isn’t anything new. When I wrote this, Su Muqiu, Su Mucheng, Ye Xiu, they were all designed from the start, and from the very start Su Muqiu was… ah.

8、（我问哒！）在最后几场重要的季后赛，都是很久才写完的。想问一下，这么重要的比赛你今天的更新写完就先搁笔了，不会有一种很奇怪的感觉吗？ 8. (my question!) For the last few important playoffs battles, it took a long time for them to be finished. For such important battles, do you feel weird signing off when you finish the day’s update?

最后的比赛我之前攒了很多本，留到最后就一点一点用掉了，所以没有什么奇怪的。 A: I’d planned out the last battles beforehand, and as I got to the end I slowly used them up, so there was nothing weird.

那你会不会有大致的构思，或者是：今天写到这里了，那明天就接着随便的来吧？ Q: Then did you already have a rough idea, or were you like: Today I wrote to here, then tomorrow I’ll just write as it comes?

有些是边写边想的，但最后的比赛很重要都是早就想好的。 A: Some of it I wrote on the fly, but the last battles were very important and I’d planned them out long beforehand.

9、你有减肥的打算吗？ 9. Do you have any plans to lose weight?

没有。 Q: No.

10、有写新嘉世的打算吗？ 10. Any plans to write about New Excellent Era?

我现在写的都是之前的。以后的正篇没有打算。 A: Anything I’m writing now is all about the past. I don’t have plans to write official things about the future.

11、很多人对黄少的定义很标签化，能不能给黄少一个全面一点的评价？ 11. A lot of people’s definitions of Huang Shaotian are just sticking labels on him. Could you give Huang Shao an overall evaluation?

能用词语概括都是标签化的。（中间一段没有听清）就是机会主义吧，毕竟他大比赛时就是这样。至于话比较多是细节上的。 A: Any verbal descriptions are will have a lot of labels. (didn’t hear clearly the middle part) He’s an opportunist [overall], after all he’s like that in major battles. As for his talkativeness, that’s just a detail.

12、我们知道周泽楷和苏沐秋同样是神枪手，苏沐秋提前离开了《荣耀》舞台。那么以十年为一周期，周泽楷所在的战队叫作轮回。就战斗风格周泽楷和苏沐秋很像。以及苏沐橙放在娱乐圈也是一个不可多得的美人那么苏沐秋和苏沐橙是亲兄妹，那么苏沐秋也是一个放在娱乐圈也不可多得的帅哥。那么现在问题来了，虫爹你到底是以怎样的心态来创造周泽楷这个角色？（掌声） 12. We know that Zhou Zekai and Su Muqiu are both Sharpshooters, Su Muqiu left the Glory stage early. Then take a decade as one cycle, Zhou Zekai’s team is called Samsara [reincarnation]. In terms of playstyle, Zhou Zekai and Su Muqiu are very similar. Since Su Mucheng was said to be a rare beauty even if she were in the show business, and Su Muqiu and Su Mucheng were blood siblings, then Su Muqiu was also probably a handsome guy who’d stand out in the show business. Then here’s the question, what kind of mentality were you in when you created the character of Zhou Zekai?

我觉得你前面朗诵的那一段很不错。这两个人没有任何关联，除了神枪手。 A: I feel like that bit you recited at the beginning was really quite impressive. These two people don’t have any relationship, aside from both being Sharpshooters.

13、我旁边的那位要楚云秀娶她你愿不愿意？ 13. The person next to me wants Chu Yunxiu to marry her, do you agree?

次元可能很难突破啊。 A: It’s very hard to break the fourth wall!

14、会不会有轮回番外？ 14. Will you write Samsara prequel?

番外是按时间来的，第五赛季暂时写不到。如果会写到，轮回会比较多。但不是以周泽楷为主要角色。 A: The prequels are in chronological order, for now I can’t reach Season 5. If I do, then I’ll write a lot about Samsara, but not with Zhou Zekai as the main character.

15、周泽楷和黄少天有强烈反差，黄少天选手对周泽楷怎么看呢？ 15. Zhou Zekai and Huang Shaotian are very opposite characters, what does Huang Shaotian think of Zhou Zekai?

其实也没有太大反差，就是一个话多一个话少。周泽楷就是很努力，黄少天更剑走偏锋一点。看法的话就是觉得对方都很优秀，不可能因为在这个方面上很强就看不起对方啊。 A: They’re actually not too opposite, just that one talks a lot while the other talks very little. Zhou Zekai just works very hard, Huang Shaotian’s sword takes a slanting path. In terms of opinion, they both think the other is very outstanding. They wouldn’t look down upon each other because of their own strength.

16、联盟初期的三大神是叶修、韩文清和郭明宇，但是在番外里扫地焚香的操作者叫吕良······郭明宇去哪儿了？ 16. At the very beginning of the Alliance, the three top gods were Ye Xiu, Han Wenqing, and Guo Mingyu, but in the prequel, Peaceful Hermit’s controller was called Lu Liang… Where did Guo Mingyu go?

啊我可能是名字写错了吧。写番外以前忘掉了吧。 A: Ah I might have written the wrong name. When I wrote the prequel I probably forgot.

那郭明宇欠了叶修多少钱？ Q: Then how much money does Guo Mingyu owe Ye Xiu?

这是番外里的吗？我不记得写过了。有这么一段吗？ A: Was this in the prequel? I don’t remember writing it. Was there a passage like that?

17、绕按垂杨的真名？就是蓝溪阁和蓝河一起的那个剑客。 17. Poplar Beach’s real name? That Blade Master that was in Blue Brook with Blue River.

这种小角色有什么关系啊。 A: What does such a minor character have to do with anything?

18、会对第四赛季叶秋打败王杰希做具体描写吗？ 18. Will you describe Ye Qiu fighting Wang Jiexi in Season 4?

第四赛季？他在第一赛季里就会遇到啊。为什么要放到第四赛季描写？（这里应该是虫爹口误） A: Season 4? They met in Season 1. Why would I have to describe them in Season 4? (BB probably misspoke here) [probably meant Season 3, not 1]

19、方士谦是什么时候封神的？ 19. When did Fang Shiqian become a god?

夺冠的那个赛季吧。第五赛季。会比较后面，因为毕竟第二赛季他还是个新人，那时候还很年轻。 A: Probably the year they won the championship, Season 5. It’d be toward the end, since after all he was still a rookie in Season 2, very young at the time.

他现在被人说很熊孩子，比较真性情，那什么时候会成长起来？和王杰希的关系什么时候会好起来？（大意如此） Q: Right now people are calling him a bad boy, relatively instinctive/impulsive, then when will he mature? When does his relationship with Wang Jiexi improve? (the general meaning of the question was this)

这个主要是场上的搭档，没什么好不好的。还是会一起努力的。 A: They’re mainly partners on the battlefield, nothing good or bad. They’ll still work hard together.

20、全职有点武侠风，你是不是有古龙金庸的武侠情节？ 20. QZGS has a bit of a Wuxia vibe, do you have any Gu Long / Jin Yong-esque plots? [two famous wuxia writers]

看的书不多，金庸古龙看得比较完整，印象也比较深刻。这一代写书的都会受金庸古龙的影响，个人偏爱古龙一些。如果说有一些影子的话，可能会受一些影响。 A: I haven’t read many novels, but I did see a lot of Jin Yong and Gu Long, and have strong impressions of them. All of the books written in this era will be influenced by Jin Yong / Gu Long, I personally prefer Gu Long a bit more. If I said there were a few shadows, there was probably some influence.

21、全职确定要拍电视剧吗？ 21. Is QZGS filming a TV adaptation?

版权是很早就售出了，但现在还没有正式启动。 A: The rights were sold early on, but for now there are no official actions. [2018: it’s in the works!]

如果启动会像三叔一样钦点角色吧？ Q: If it does go into production, will you handpick actors?

我应该不会吧。我不觉得自己会比专业的人做得更好。（现场嘈杂） A: Probably not. I don’t think I could do a better job than the professionals. (crowd becomes noisy)

22、最开始的叶修和现在已经退役的叶修有什么区别吗？ 22. The Ye Xiu at the very beginning and the now-retired Ye Xiu, are there any differences?

年龄变大了。 A: He became older.

性格上的变化呢？比如从浮躁到温柔？ Q: Changes in personality then? Such as going from impulsive to warm?

没有吧。他对《荣耀》坚持十年性格上不会有太大的改变。男主嘛。 A: Not really. His personality, maintaining Glory for ten years, wouldn’t have changed that much. He’s the male lead.

23、刘皓如果不是在嘉世，而是在微草爸爸——在微草的环境下性格会不会有什么改变，依旧这么狗屎—— 23. If Liu Hao wasn’t in Excellent Era, but under Tiny Herb’s Dad – under Tiny Herb’s environment, would his personality have any changes, or would he still be this shitty-

如果在微草不太好思考。但他这个人物我写得功利心稍微重一些，很多人是把这个竞技当做理想和目标，刘皓的话理想要差一些。他可能更加注重名气啊或者竞争力啊这些。 A: If he were at Tiny Herb, that’s hard to say. But his character, I wrote him a bit more utilitarian. Lots of people treat this competitive struggle itself as their dreams and goals, but Liu Hao’s dreams aren’t so noble. He might care more about fame or power or things like that.

24、唐柔和她的痴汉会有什么样的结局？ 24. Tang Rou and her idiot [Du Ming], will they ever have some sort of ending?

写那一段出于什么考虑，就是为了丰富一下人物吧。毕竟总是打来打去很枯燥。 A: I wrote that bit in order to flesh out the characters a bit more. After all, just fighting back and forth all the time would get very boring.

祝小虫生日快乐。 Q: Happy birthday to Little Bug [BB’s daughter].

谢谢谢谢。 A: Thank you, thank you.

25、全职里除了包子还有谁染发？ 25. In QZGS, aside from Steamed Bun, who else has dyed hair?

呃，画手画成那个其实并不是染发，因为是二次元所以要区别人物。 A: Hm, what the artists draw isn’t really dyed hair, it’s more just to differentiate the characters as needed for 2D works [animations/comics/games].

黄少天的头发真的是黄的吗？苏沐橙的头发真的是橙色的吗？ Q: Is Huang Shaotian’s hair really yellow? Is Su Mucheng’s hair really orange?

可能是为了区别人物，但以我对世俗的看法大家应该都是黑发而已。 A: Maybe in order to differentiate the characters, but in my view of that world, everyone should have black hair.

那乐乐有小辫子吗？ Q: Then does Lele have a little ponytail?

我文里应该没写，画里画了那应该就是那样吧。 A: I never described it in the novel, but he’s drawn like that, so he’s just like that.

26、今天还有更新吗？ 26. Will there be an update today?

看签售结束是几点。 A: Depends on when this event ends.

27、孙翔在联盟里是不是智商就比较低啊？ 27: Is Sun Xiang’s IQ relatively low in the Alliance?

我觉得书里人没有智商上的问题大家都是性格问题，都是性格决定的。 A: I feel that no one in the novel has a problem of IQ, it’s all a problem of personality, it’s all determined by personality.

28、我是一位孙翔粉，你知道周泽楷是联盟第一脸，孙翔有前三吗？ 28. I’m a Sun Xiang fan, you know that Zhou Zekai is the number one face in the Alliance, so is Sun Xiang in the top 3?

这也要排名。这个没有想过。周泽楷就是这样的形象，那孙翔形象应该也会好一点。 A: Rank this too? I haven’t thought about this. Zhou Zekai just has this kind of image, then Sun Xiang’s image should also be pretty good.

29、写完番外会写世邀赛吗？ 29. After you write the prequels will you write about the World Championship?

没有想过。 A: I haven’t thought about it.

我微博上有个小号叫今天蝴蝶蓝更新了吗，每天会骚扰你。我发现你之前连续更新了五六天，为什么昨天停更了？ Q: On Weibo I have a side account called “did BB update today,” every day I bother you. I discovered that earlier you updated five or six days consecutively, why did you stop yesterday?

因为昨天来宁波了。来了一个新地方要择时嘛。经常出门就会断更。 A: Because yesterday I came to Ningbo. Coming to a new place takes time. Going out often will interrupt updates.

回去会更吗？ Q: Will you update when you go back?

昨天其实写了一半，但是太晚就睡了。 A: Yesterday I actually wrote half, but then it was too late and I fell asleep.

30、有一个问题困扰我很久了。蓝雨第六赛季时李远和徐景熙都是不在的，那他们的夺冠阵营应该是黄少喻队郑轩于峰宋晓，蓝雨的奶妈在哪里？ 30. There’s a question that’s bothered me for a while now. In Season 6, Li Yuan and Xu Jingxi both weren’t in Blue Rain yet, then their roster when they won the championship would be Huang Shao, Captain Yu, Zheng Xuan, Yu Feng, Song Xiao, where’s Blue Rain’s milk mother [healer]?

这个问题也困扰我很久了。应该是有的，但是没写到。 A: This question has also bothered me for a while. There should be one, but I didn’t write it.

别哥出去买饮料后来回来了吗？ Q: After Brother Bie [Liu Xiaobie] left to buy drinks, did he come back?

这个问题以前活动上也回答过很多次了。买到了就回来了。 A: I’ve answered this question many times at previous events. After he bought them he came back.

31、蓝河前期戏份比较多，为什么后面就没有戏份了？ 31. Blue River had a lot of scenes in the early parts of the novel, how come he stopped appearing in the later parts?

他的水平只能打打网游。到了职业圈戏份他自然而然就退出了。 A: With his skill, he could only play in-game. Once the novel reached the professional circle, he naturally faded away.

32、孙翔和唐昊比较接近，有什么区别？ 32. Sun Xiang and Tang Hao are pretty similar, what are some of their differences?

可能比较接近吧，孙翔可能稍微任性多一点，唐昊拼劲足一些。（这里感谢 @非确定物终点站 指正错误，原先听成了“成熟一些”，很抱歉！） A: They might be close, Sun Xiang might be a bit more willful, Tang Hao might fight a little harder/more aggressive. (thanks to user for correcting my mistake)

33、你到底跟江南是什么关系？（现场起哄） 33. What kind of relationship do you have with Jiang Nan? (jeers)

很多认识的作者中的一个啊。没有什么特别的关系。 A: One of the many authors I know. No special relationship.

34、天醒相比全职更新要慢很多，我们称为转型的阵痛，那这个阵痛过去了吗？能不能一天一更或者两更？都不期待三更了。 34. [asking about why his new novel updates much slower than QZGS]

你要说转型的问题也有。毕竟写玄幻和写游戏有些措辞是不一样的，比如在游戏里可以写秒杀或者瞬移，在玄幻里就不能用。但是很多其他作者好像就是这样写的。我觉得肯定是我太讲究了吧。然后我也不知道更新，继续努力吧。 A: [the so-called “class change” problems are there like you said. After all, writing fantasy and writing gaming are two different things… I’ll keep working hard]

35、全职的人或是事会有原型吗？叶修的原型是？ 35. Are the QZGS characters based off real people? Who is Ye Xiu based off of?

应该都没有吧。有时候可能会激发了一下灵感，但具体想不起来了，没有刻意地去写。跟有没有原型没有必然关系，不是有原型就会让人印象深刻，没有原型也可以写出来。因为不是某一个原型，而是好几个原型的。 A: There shouldn’t be. Sometimes there might be a feeling that they’re reminiscent of someone, but I can’t think of any specifics, and I wasn’t purposefully basing them off anyone. That doesn’t have to do with whether or not there was an inspiration, it’s not that if there is a specific inspiration it’ll leave a deep impression on people, if there’s no basis I can still write it out [?]. Because there isn’t one specific inspiration, there are lots of them.

36、在座的99%都是妹子，你有什么看法？ 36. 99% of the people here are female, do you have any thoughts on that?

我早就已经习惯了啊。 A: I got used to it long ago.

有什么鼓励吗？因为我们这么喜欢您的书。 Q: Do you have any words of encouragement? Because we all love your novels.

怎么鼓励啊？物有所值啊。呃，很谢谢大家这么多年，因为我从第一本开始，不是说99%全是女生，但是女读者相对比其他作者稍微多一些。我要谦虚吗（笑）？女读者这么多年越来越多，我在想是不是因为女读者相对比较活跃一些，存在感比较强烈一些，所以每次活动才会看到这么多。不论男女都要感谢大家。然后我也确实想不起有什么特别原因。就是谢谢，非常谢谢。谢谢。 A: How to encourage? You’re really looking for the value for your money. Hm, thank you everyone for all these years, because starting from my first book, it wasn’t 99% female, but I did have slightly more female readers than other authors did. Should I be humble? (laughs) There are more and more female readers these years, I wonder if it’s because female readers are more active and have a stronger presence that I see so many at every event. But no matter male or female I have to thank everyone. And then I honestly can’t think of any specific reason. I just thank you, thank you very much. Thank you.

37、小虫子周五过生日，然后你周六就离开，你就不觉得愧疚吗？ 37. Little Bug celebrated her birthday on Friday, and then you left on Saturday, don’t you feel guilty?

周五过生日啊，周六离开啊，有什么问题吗？ A: Friday celebrate birthday, Saturday leave, is there a problem?

过完生日你就走了？ Q: After celebrating the birthday you just left?

对啊。 A: Right.

看来你是不觉得愧疚了。 Q: Looks like you don’t feel guilty.

是的。 A: Yeah.

38、番外中叶修公然挖墙脚邀请韩文清，但是韩文清回了一个“滚”。你觉得他们有没有私下思考过他们两个成为队友的场景。 38. In the prequel, Ye Xiu publicly tried to dig through the wall to invite Han Wenqing, but Han Wenqing replied with a “leave.” Do you feel that they’ve ever subconsciously considered what it’d be like to become teammates?

想可能会想。因为不止这个，包括我们平时看足球比赛篮球比赛，也会想象某两个明星会在一起的场景。所以他们也���想，有这个想法非常正常，但现实就是这么残酷啊。 A: They might have thought about this. Because it’s not just this, it’s like how normally when we watch soccer or basketball, we’ll also imagine what it’s like if two stars teamed up. So they’d also think about this, thinking about this is very normal, but reality is just that cruel.  

39、《天醒之路》中大师兄的那个竹椅是什么口感，嘎嘣脆吗？因为你写了好几次那个兔子啃竹椅。 39. [another q about his new novel]

写了两次吧。兔子是会啃那种东西的。（贱笑）

大师兄会领便当吗？

还没写到，要再想一想。

40、叶修在退役前并不知道有世邀赛对吗？ 40. Before he retired, Ye Xiu didn’t know about the World Championships, right?

对。 A: Right.

如果他先知道了世邀赛，他还会坚持退役吗？ Q: If he knew beforehand, would he still insist on retiring?

退役这个决定和这个是没有关系的，我觉得就算知道了这个消息以他的性格肯定会退役的。比如说不是父亲把他推出来做这个事的话，他可能也会像韩文清一样不参加世邀赛。 A: His decision to retire has nothing to do with that. I feel that even if he knew about this news, with his personality, he would still retire. For example, if his father hadn’t pushed him out to do this thing, he probably would be like Han Wenqing and just wouldn’t participate.

41、全职里矛盾的设定非常多。本来想打一个文件叫《杀死虫爹的n个理由的》（虫爹：只有一个理由吧），比如文中生灵灭的职业名称有机械师和机械专家，分别出现了几十多次和几十多次；百花缭乱有弹药师和弹药专家，分别出现了几百多次和几十多次；还有神枪手和漫游枪手，盗贼和窃贼，大漠孤烟和逐烟霞都曾使用“回旋腿”和“旋风脚”······ 41. There are lots of mistakes in QZGS. I originally wanted to write an article called “N reasons to kill Bug Dad” (BB: There should only be one reason), such as in the text, Life Extinguisher’s class was sometimes called Mechanic sometimes [smth similar], each a few dozen times; Dazzling Hundred Blossoms’ class was Spitfire or [smth similar], one a few hundred and one a few dozen times; and there’s also Sharpshooter versus [mistake], Thief and [mistake], Desert Dust and Chasing Haze have both used [two diff kicking attack names]…

那是两个技能，旋风腿是拳系的（应该是口误），名字搞反了而已。 A: Those are two different attacks, [Tornado Kick?] is Fighter class (BB misspoke), just got the names reversed.

设定整理党表示哭晕在厕所啊虫爹。 Q: The fans organizing the setup/worldbuilding details are crying in the bathroom, Bug Dad.

因为我没有整理过设定。我是有一个技能树，会边写边往里填，但有时候会忘记往里填，后来那个台湾的繁体编辑，他就会问我为什么这个设定和文里不一样啊。（笑） A: Because I never organized the setup. I have a skill tree, I’d fill in it as I wrote, but sometimes I forgot that I put something there, and then that Taiwanese editor editing into traditional Chinese, he’ll ask me why this setup is different from the novel text. (laughs)

【这个妹子的问题比较长······我整理了一下大概是这样的。妹子如果能看到有遗漏跟我说QAQ】

42、你对黄少天和秋葵、喻文州和白斩鸡这个谜一样的设定有什么看法？ 42. What’s your opinion on Huang Shaotian and okra, Yu Wenzhou and sliced cold chicken, this riddle-like design?

这个也是人设上的问题，是后期补上的，都是无关大题的小细节。 This is also a character design question, it was added later, small details that didn’t have much to do with the big picture.

43、叶秋在番外里还会出场吗？然后在叶修生日时虫爹曾写过“祝叶修生日快乐”，后面写了一个“秋”又打了一个叉，你对叶秋到底有什么偏见？ 42. Will Ye Qiu appear in the prequel? And then when Ye Xiu was celebrating his birthday, Bug Dad wrote “Happy Birthday to Ye Xiu”, and there was a “Qiu” afterwards that was crossed off, what bias do you have against Ye Qiu?

是我写的吗？可能是我写的，我忘掉了。 A: Did I write it? I might have written it, I forgot.

叶秋如果是职业赛的话很难写到，可能会闪一下。 A: It’s hard to write about Ye Qiu when writing about the professional matches, he might just make a cameo.

44、戴妍琦真的是个腐女吗？ 44. Is Dai Yanqi really a fujoshi?

这个，不是我文里的设定，是你们写着玩的吧。 A: This, isn’t a design I have in the text, it’s something you guys wrote for fun.

她转过“真爱一万年”。 Q: She reblogged a “true love lasts ten thousand years.”

那只是开个玩笑，换我我也会这么转。 A: That was just a joke. If it were me I’d also post that.

45、叶修的家庭背景？ 45. Ye Xiu’s family background?

背景没有做过，反正就是比较了不起的背景。 Q: I haven’t established that background. In any case, it’s a rather remarkable background.

46、你知道王不留行的疗效吗？ 46. Do you know the healing properties of the Vaccaria plant? [Vaccaria cures period pains]

知道这个词怎么可能不知道这个意思。觉得这个名字很酷嘛。 A: I know that phrase, of course I know the meaning. I just thought the name was really cool.

47、叶修每天抽这么多烟、熬夜晚睡，为什么身体还这么好？ 47. Every day, Ye Xiu smokes so much, stays up late, how come his body is still in such good health?

他身体还可以。他虚胖，怎么可能会很好。 A: He’s in okay health. He’s a bit chubby, how could he be very healthy.

48、会有邱非番外吗？ 48. Will there be a Qiu Fei prequel?

按我的写法不会太多。 A: By my writing style, probably not too much.

如果苏沐秋没有死的话，他会和叶修一起打联赛，那么叶修第十赛季还会不会退役？ Q: If Su Muqiu hadn’t died, and he and Ye Xiu played in the League together, would Ye Xiu still retire in Season 10?

应该还是会退的。年纪大了，差不多了。 A: He probably still would retire. He’s old, it’s about time.

49、虫爹你上B站吗？ 49. Bug Dad, are you on Bilibili?

那个视频网站对吧？我在那儿有时候会去看盗版电影。 A: That video-sharing website, right? Sometimes I’ll go there to watch pirated movies.

B站里有起点的《全职》宣传视频，你有看过吗？ Q: On Bilibili, there’s an official QZGS promo video from Qidian, have you watched it before?

就是人物一个一个出的那个吗？那个很早了。 A: The one with all the characters one after another? That’s really early.

你看过上面的弹幕吗？ Q: Have you seen the scrolling comments at the top?

我上B站一般关掉那个弹幕。 A: When I go on Bilibili, I typically turn off the scrolling comments.

你一定要看弹幕，弹幕里有我们对全职深深的爱。 Q: You have to look at the scrolling comments, they’re filled with our deep love of QZGS.

我会重看一遍的。 A: I’ll rewatch it.

弹幕里有很多刷自己喜爱的角色的。（和上句大意相同） Q: There are lots of comments about everyone’s favorite characters. (basically same as above comment)

对啊，所以我关掉它。 A: Right, so I turn them off.

你要去看的。 Q: You should take a look.

好好好。 A: Yes yes yes.

50、这个问题我没有听清。大概是关于《荣耀》是否会合服，虫爹说没有想过，应该不会，毕竟有神之领域这种设定。 50. (This question I didn’t hear clearly, something about whether Glory would ever combine its servers, Bug Dad said he hadn’t thought about it but probably not, since there’s the design of the Heavenly Domain.)

51、刚才有人问到B站上的宣传视频，那个视频是你们找到御寒呢还是御寒亲自给你们做的？ 51. Just now someone asked about the official promo video on Bilibili, for that video, did you find someone to do it for you or did they do it for you personally? [can’t tell if 御寒 is a proper noun or smth]

这个应该是起点去找的，我不是太清楚。 A: I think Qidian went to find someone, I’m not too sure.

这本书关于网游游戏的，现实中虫爹有没有自己喜欢的电子竞技队？ Q: This novel is about gaming, does Bug Dad have any esports teams he supports in real life?

我不太清楚电子竞技队的情况，不好意思。《荣耀》的赛制更与NBA相似，角色的关系是参考F1的，我对电子竞技了解的不是特别多。 A: I’m not too sure on the status of various esports teams, I’m sorry. Glory’s competitive scene is similar to the NBA, the character’s relationships reference F1, I don’t understand too much about the competitive esports scene.

52、黄少被树砸死是怎么想到的？ 52. How did you think of Huang Shao being killed by a cut tree?

环境啊什么的都是胜利的因素，正好在树林里，这个事情就很合理地发生了。 A: The environment and whatnot is always a core part of victory, they were in a forest, so this thing very naturally happened.

黄少的生日快到了，有什么想说的吗？ Q: Huang Shao’s birthday is almost here, do you have anything you want to say?

生日快乐啊，还能说什么。 A: Happy birthday, what else is there to say.

53、DNF上有过虫爹的签名，和你平常的签名不太一样。它是有一个斜方向的，你平常更习惯平着签。 53. [smth about DNF and BB’s autographs; he doesn’t pay much attention when signing]

斜的啊那它放斜了呗。不用在意。

虫爹签名很散，这个签名比较紧。

签名就几分钟的事儿啊，我不太在意。

54、DNF背景比较西幻，角色ID也比较诗意，比如一叶之秋，大漠孤烟，夜雨声烦，然后中间有一个叫索克萨尔的，画风好像会不会有点不一样？取名是根据什么取的？ 54. DNF’s background is a bit like western magic, and the character IDs are relatively poetic, like One Autumn Leaf, Desert Dust, Troubling Rain, and then in the middle there’s one called Swoksaar, which seems a bit different? How did you pick names?

是网游啊，网游里面角色取什么ID是没什么考虑的。比如说玩剑三也有不是武侠的名字。这是一个在网游里特别正常的现象，是合理性的表现。 A: It’s an online game, the character IDs in-game weren’t chosen with too much consideration. Such as when playing The Fate of Swordsman 3 they’re not all Wuxia names. This is a very common sight seen in online games, it’s a logical thing.

55、唐昊和孙翔的战术意识谁比较强？ 55. Tang Hao and Sun Xiang, who has a better tactical sense?

战术意识他们两个人不相上下，可能都是个人英雄主义色彩要浓一些。 A: In terms of tactics they’re both about the same, they might both be a bit strong on the “individual heroism” thing.

56、番外会不会写义斩啊？ 56. Will the prequel talk about Heavenly Swords?

啊？（虫爹这里明显愣了一下！！！他竟然愣了！！！）义斩在正文里比较多了。番外写十赛季以前的，义斩可能不会出现了。 A: Ah? (Bug Dad was noticeably taken aback here!!!) Heavenly Swords already appeared a lot in the main novel. The prequel is covering things before Season 10, Heavenly Swords probably won’t appear.

57、为什么蓝雨和微草是世仇而不是百花？毕竟百花的两次冠军都是被微草拿走的。 57. Why are Blue Rain and Tiny Herb death rivals and not Hundred Blossoms? After all Hundred Blossoms’ two chances at the championship were both taken away by Tiny Herb.

百花也是啊。 A: Hundred Blossoms is too.

58、王杰希给自己的角色取王不留行他心里是怎么想的？ 58. What was Wang Jiexi thinking when he named his character Vaccaria?

比较酷而已。 A: It’s just pretty cool.

你是怎么想的？ Q: What were you thinking?

酷而已。我跟他的想法是一样的。这个不是他取的吧？是我取的。（笑）这个角色不是王杰希取的，是微草战队的之前就留下来的角色。 A: It’s just cool. I thought the same as him. The name wasn’t given by him, right? I named it. (laughs) This character wasn’t named by Wang Jiexi, it was a character passed on through Team Tiny Herb.

那你是怎么想的？ Q: Then what were you thinking?

我就觉得比较好听啊。 A: I just thought it sounded pretty nice.

虫爹关于今天分享会的总结： Bug Dad’s summary of today’s event:

呃·······还是希望大家不要老问设定上的问题，我们可以讨论文学性比较足的，换个方面的。因为五百万字还是会写了前面忘了后面的。有时候我想起来了会去翻前面，但是在我写番外的时候完全没有想到前面竟然已经出现了这个人物。如果我有疑点我会去原文里搜索一下。这种漏洞应该在文里有多少。我的文档不是一个整的文档，全职是一1700多个文档，每个文档3000字左右的散的，所以如果我要去找，要去修的话都不知道它在那个文档、哪一章里。所以一直只能这样将错就错的。但我觉得设定上的问题对于人物性格没有影响，大概就是像前面说的，那样弹药师和弹药专家或者人物名字来回换这样的硬伤吧。其他的我觉得不会影响剧情走向的漏洞没有。大概就这样吧。 Hm… I still hope that people won’t always ask about setup/design questions, we can discuss a lot about more literary things, change the perspective. Because when writing 5 million words, I still might write things and forget what I’ve written. Sometimes I’ll remember to check the beginning, but when I wrote the prequel I completely didn’t realize that there was already such a character appearing in the main novel. If I had doubts, then I’d search in the original text. There were probably a few such holes in the text. My text document isn’t a whole document, QZGS has 1700+ documents, each one with 3000 words scattered, so if I wanted to look, to fix, I wouldn’t even know which document, which chapter. So I could only just let the mistakes go. But I feel that problems in the setup shouldn’t affect the personalities of the characters, it should just be like the previous question said, with Spitfire or character names changing, those sorts of surface injuries. The others, I don’t feel they’d cause any weaknesses in the plot. That’s about it.  

我已经就今天的问题做了总结，大家都是问设定上的，没有其他的。 I just summarized today’s questions, everyone was asking about the setup/design, there’s nothing else. [I can’t tell if this is BB or the transcriber]

【 这次分享会的时间较长，录音有45分钟，整理下来也有将近6000字。因为我在后排，录音也不清楚，况且时间太长，难免有漏下或者错误。希望在场的小天使指出~还有就是每个人的问题都要相应的描述，因为太多了所以后面只挑了问题，没有描述了。非常抱歉啦。】 (transcribers disclaimers; some paraphrases, possibly some mistakes)

[jfastereft]

"WITH WHOM?!"* a poem  a.k.a.: "She Has "Ruined' Me!"  :)  - Jan. 16, 2019 (Wed)     Dedicated: To all The People sending me [Sensual] Site invitations that I can never just ask to go away, so I just keep clicking them off, about, 1000 e-mail [dating] mailings a day and count myself lucky that I do not have 2000 invitations!

{Does ANYBODY in “The World of Tumblr” think that this is kinda ridiculous: My changing words, here and there, altering potential suggestive words and/or ideas, ever so slightly, so I do not get BLOCKED again, by Tumblr censors because I have violated so-called “Community Standards?”  Isn’t there SOMEONE “out there” that realizes how STUPID the censorial procedures for Facebook and Tumblr and other social medias have become, when you have to pussy-foot (is it, perhaps, “wrong” to use the word “pussy” because it might be considered another violation of the Politically (in)Correct idiocy that is now manifesting on The Internet that USED TO BE considered a place where you could just PUT STUFF, without having to EVERY SINGLE DAY and with every single post - wonder whether you were gonna get reprimanded because of someone’s oversensitive attitude about “this or that!?”) around here like I’m doing?!  Where does it end, you guys and gals, who seem to be so smug, sitting in your proverbial Ivory Towers, spending time (&, I guess, getting PAID for it!!), determining what YOU think is appropriate or not, based on, really, no standards at all - just your particular feelings at that time and on that day - about what YOU think should be shown or not.  Anyway!  Does ANYONE out there think this is at least a little bit RIDICULOUS?  What about you folks sitting there, blocking and deleting?  Do you ever consider that MAYBE you do not know what the heck you are doing?  Do you ever think about that?  Mmmm?  DON’T think about it!  Are you going to “block” me for my venting here, when your “appeal” procedures themselves are done without any input from me, and there seems to be NO real reasons given when I appeal yet another post for violation of “community standards,” when, after reviewing it myself, I am sure there is nothing there that’s more “revealing” than the paintings that you allow on Tumblr because they were done by some French Impressionist painter who has been dead for about 200 years.  IF you are even reading this, you don’t care, do you?  because you have NO phone numbers people can call you at - you are totally isolated!  Yeah!  “ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY!”   (“Bill?  Could you please grab me another coke and bag of chips from the vending machine?  I need some energy, so I can read another one of these sinister posts and determine if I think it’s a little bit too ‘raunchy’ for public consumption!  God, I love my job!  Bill?  O. M. G.!  SOMEONE GET AN AMBULANCE!  Bill is “down,” I think after having read another of those THINGS from The Mystic Poet!  Bill!  Oh, God, Bill!  I love you, Bill!  I WILL marry you!  I WOULD HAVE had s-x with you that last time, but I couldn’t find the key for my chastity belt!  Bill!  Oh, no, GOD!  Dear Lord: Please!  Don’t let Bill die!  What will I do?  Who can I turn to?  Wait!  I am getting a spiritual directive!  What is that, Lord?  What?  You want me to - what? - read, each word and line - of The Mystic Poet’s last ten postings?  Oh, Lord!  Please!  Don’t ask me to do THAT!  Please, Lord!  Bill?  Bill!  You have arisen - from The Dead!  Bill, I love you!  Hey, wait!  Bill!?  What is that t-shirt you have on?  “MYSTIC POET FAN CLUB”  Bill!  Why?  Bill!  (pause) Bill, I will NEVER date you again!  Traitor! (pause)   Oh, Sam?!  Hi, Sam; I really like you, Sam!  Did I ever tell you?  I dream of you at night, Sam!  I do!  Yeah, you agree?  That MYSTIC POET site!  Yeah!  Obscene!  Yup!  Offensive?  Yup!  I LIKE YOU, SAM; you are MY kinda people!  What are you doing Saturday night, Sam?!  I’m free!  but I’M NOT EASY!)   Q.E.D.}

     from a fictitious series of poems entitled: "There can be ONLY ONE!" 

Well-now, YES!  

Here's-the-Bottom-Line:

The "site" you sent-me's GREAT, 

And-I-can say, with-absolute-candor,        (that)-I-DO - appreciate,

All those s-xy bodies (especially)-of-pretty-mo-ning-girls!

I love them sh-rn, even partially, or with their public kurls,

But, HONEY!  y-know, with porn - I-(gotta)-work-hard to-achieve,

Any (political?) election, even partially, so I-REALLY DO BELIEVE,

That SO MUCH WORK? It IS a WASTE,

(For) When-I'm-with-YOU, I am so "graced,"

For - YOU'RE MY ONE AND ONLY, with-your oo-oo's - and-oose - and-smile,

And I pop-eth to attention! Yes-I-do!  Oh, my!   "Sieg Heil!"

(So)- I'D RATHER SPEND MY TIME, (pause) LU-XURIATING-WITH-YOU,

Than-with-A-1000 [date]-night-girls - and this much, Hon, is true:

That you're so super s-xy, and, when you come-(in)to view,

I have it ALL -  all that I need - you are so "coochy-coo,"**

Election-is so natural (so)-with-you I'll-cuddle-and-"kith!"

For-it-does-   TRULY   -matter, 

Who-you-do-it-with!                    :) - I am ruined; no one else is you!

  fin  <3 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNQ_A9bJBt4

 * - in bed

** - or CUDDLY POO!! :)

[11jj11]

Far From Yesterday - Chapter 10 -Marissonshipping

It’s been a while since an update-- but here’s chapter ten!

   Tonight the Hyper Beam hit her.

   After so many nights of seeing the green being releasing the attack at her– only to awaken moments before it struck– she had come to expect that. At this point she had felt no fear as she had watched the dark mass of energy rush towards her as she flew through the night sky. Except for this time she didn’t jerk awake– and the attack slammed into her chest.

   It was agony.

   No cry of pain escaped dream Mairin’s mouth– but a burst of pain flared across her body as the Hyper Beam slammed against her. It was as if she had been set on fire, the painful flames biting her skin. The force of the Hyper Beam knocked her from her flight– sending her crashing towards the ground. The wind rushed past her, its whistling nearly as painful as the deafening roar coming from the green being above.

   Then she slammed into the earth, a plume of sand being sent up as she crashed into the desert. Somehow despite the sand stinging her eyes, her dream self made no effort to close its eyes. The sting of the sand was nothing compared to the agony on her body however. Her head tilted skyward as the sand started to settle– the green creature zipping overhead to discover her fate. The pain was searing, as if it were eating away at her very flesh– yet it started to die down moments later, a brief glow surrounding her as it did so.

   Her eyes were trained on the night sky– and for the first time Mairin was properly able to observe green being that had been haunting her nightmares for so many nights. Shivers raced through Mairin as she realized that this creature was no stranger to her however, its serpentine shape having once fed her nightmares when she was a still on her journey years before.

   Rayquaza.

   The mighty dragon let out a roar of frustration as it saw her standing, circling above her as he prepared to attack once more. Everything screamed at Mairin to run, but her dream self remained in a strange calm. An energy ran through her, and it felt as if her body had turned to jelly. It was a sensation she couldn’t even describe... but she felt like she was changing, flowing.

   The feeling was so alien that Mairin could feel herself shivering even though her mind was still locked in the dream.

   The foreign feeling faded, and Mairin noticed that the ground seemed farther below her than before. She didn’t have time to consider this though, and her body rose up into the air once more, rushing up to meet the Rayquaza. He let out a bitter snarl, purple energy gathering in front of him. She felt her arms coming together, a energy humming through her at the same moment the Dragon Pulse was forming in front of Rayquaza...

   And that’s when Mairin found herself being pulled from her dream.

   She wasn’t jerked awake like she so often had these last few nights, rather she felt a warm grasp on her arm shaking her. She was slowly waking up, the vivid desert night vanishing as her room took shape. She sat straight up as she found herself shaken out of the dream– skin coated in sweat, her heart racing. She jerked her head around, mind trying to piece everything together.

   “Lu,” A low voice said, and she turned and found herself looking into the eyes her Lucario.

   “L-luke,” Mairin whispered, and she glanced around her dark room. She paused to gather her thoughts. “Is... is something wrong? It’s still night, isn’t it? Why did you wake me up?”

   “Rio,” He grunted, and he placed a paw right next to the spike on his chest– where his heart was. He then watched her with intent eyes, as if trying to force her to understand with his gaze. She just stared back, and he rolled his eyes. After a moment he held his paw out, a blue glow lighting it, and then he placed it on her chest. “Lu.”

   “Aura,” She after a moment, remembering just what the species were known for. “You woke me up... because of my aura?”

   “Car,” Luke said, relaxing.

   She thought on this. “Could you sense I was having a nightmare or something then? I guess something like that could make my aura go weird... I mean, I don’t know much about aura...” She glanced at him. “When did you even get out of your Pokeball?”

   He shrugged. “Lu.”

   She snorted. “I appreciate it, but all I have been having lately is nightmares, I’m pretty use to it now... that and being sick,” She added as her stomach growled– she had thrown up at dinner and had gone to bed with an empty stomach. “The dreams feel so real, Luke... but now that I think about it’s pretty clear that these nightmares aren’t real... like, the ones with Rayquaza are just impossible!”

   Because she knew for a fact that she couldn’t fly.

   Luke pulled back as she said Rayquaza’s name. His eyes widened, and he watched Mairin for a second. There was a brief moment of hesitation, but then he reached out for the edge of her bed– right where Ruby was curled up fast asleep.

   “No!” Mairin cried in a loud whisper, grabbing his paw. He looked up at her, and she held her breath as Ruby stirred, but stayed asleep. Mairin swiftly looked about the room– Chespie was asleep in the corner like usual, and Poppy was curled up on the pillow. “You’re going to wake up Ruby, aren’t you?”

   “Rio,” He replied, yanking his paw out of her grasp and reaching for the Absol again.

   “I don’t want you telling her!” Mairin insisted in a loud whisper. “I know I struggled with nightmares about Rayquaza in the past, but my memories aren’t straight so it’s no surprise that they’ve come up again,” Luke just started at her. “L-look, I’ve seen Ruby and Alain alone with each other, I’m pretty sure that they take turns keeping tabs on me.”

   Luke nodded in confirmation at this statement, which only made Mairin’s heart twist.

   “This was just a nightmare...” Mairin said slowly. “I don’t want Ruby to start worrying over nothing, and then get Alain worried too. We finally got on positive terms today, er- yesterday I guess, and I don’t want to ruin that by him getting worked up over some nightmare like I know he would. I’m fine, so can we please just keep this between you and me?”

   The dreams weren’t even that horrifying... just painful.

   Luke hesitated, the Lucario glancing at Ruby, before at last letting out a long sigh. Mairin brightened as the canine nodded.

   “Thank you,” She said in a whisper, reaching out and pulling him into a hug. She quickly let go as the spike in his chest dug into her– Lucarios really weren’t meant to be hugged. “Heh. I’m going to try to go back to sleep now, kay?”

   Luke waved a paw, as if telling her to get on with it, and she laid back down. It was a unsettling to know that the Lucario was probably just staring at her, so she rolled over on her side so she was facing away from him. She felt Poppy press up against her, and she turned back over to look at the little Pokemon.

   “Lee...” The little sea lion said softly in her sleep, a small bubble expanding and contracting as she breathed, just like in a cartoon. She smiled, wondering if Popplios were where that animation feature had come from.

   “Hey, Luke...” Mairin asked softly. “Can you sense the aura of my baby...? Or she still too young to have her own aura...? Everyone has their own, right...?”

   Luke sighed, but closed his eyes. His aura sensors were spread out, and one paw was held out towards her, glowing. She watched him as he scanned her with his aura powers, and after a moment he opened his eyes. He held his paws closely together, then pointed at her stomach.

   “A little bit?” She said, recognizing the gesture. “Are you saying you can sense a small aura? Like... it’s really dim?”

   She wondered if she was wording that right, but aura seemed to be some kind of inner light.

   The Lucario nodded.

   Mairin smiled, and she placed both hands on her stomach. “Do you hear that? You already have your own aura... you’re alive in there...” She smiled. “She’s alive Luke, I have a baby in me.”

   The feeling was amazing, knowing that her own child was within her.

   She didn’t know why she kept calling the baby a she– there was no way possible that they could know at this point. But yet every time she thought of the little child in her, even though it hadn’t even been twenty-four hours since she had found out about her, she just felt that it was going to be a girl.

   “Thank you, Luke...” Mairin whispered, and she closed her eyes, hands still over to stomach.

   It wasn’t long until Mairin fell asleep once more, a smile on her face. The smile remained, even as the center of her back and the twisting marks on her arms started to tingle, a new dream taking hold of her. Luke’s eyes narrowed as he felt her aura twisted again, drowning out the small flicker of aura coming from the baby.

   But her churning aura gave no sign of a nightmare that threw her emotions about like the one he had woken her up from– so Luke let her sleep.

------------------------------

   “Eeeeee!”

   “Ow...” Mairin muttered at the high pitched squeal. “Bonnie, I don’t need to lose my hearing alongside my memories!”

   “Sorry,” Bonnie said, the blonde making no effort to hide the huge grin on her face. “But this is like the cutest thing ever!”

   “‘Cute’?” Max muttered, shaking his head. “You meet your amnesic friend, and you call it cute?”

   Bonnie waved her hand in a dismissive manner, scooting closer to Mairin. “Max told me about your amnesia the day it happened, so it’s not a surprise for me anymore,” Her grin softened into a smile. “I would have come by sooner, but Max didn’t want me to overwhelm you while you were adjusting,” Bonnie scoffed. “But I highly doubt you seeing me would have overwhelmed you though.”

   “It’s great to see you again,” Mairin said with a smile, shifting on the couch in Bonnie’s apartment uncertainly. Her energetic friend’s spirit had clearly had not been dampered in the passing years, and like seeing Serena it was nice to have a familiar, smiling face. “The first few days were hard, but I think I’m settled now.”

   A week. As of today it had been a whole week since she had lost her memories.

   Yesterday had been a day of phone calls– canceling doctors appointments for her scans, and making new ones for the baby. Alain had taken care of all of it, much to Mairin’s relief. Mairin was an outgoing person, but talking to bored receptionists had never been an enjoyable pastime.

   “Honestly, this whole thing is just the cutest thing ever,” Bonnie said with a grin as her Dedenne climbed onto her shoulder. “It’s like an adorable movie– girl loses her memories, and is now trying to rekindle a forgotten love...”

   “More like a bad fanfiction,” Max muttered, earning a playful slap from Bonnie.

   “Fanfictions are awesome,” Bonnie said. “You just have to find the good ones!” She returned her focus to Mairin, still grinning. “Now, tell me everything about the baby!”

   “Um... well... I’m having one,” Mairin said uncertainly– literally all she knew about it.

   “Are far along are you?” Bonnie asked excitedly. “Do you want a boy or a girl? Do you have any names picked out? What–”

   “Breathe,” Max told Bonnie, his tone sounding exasperated, as if this were something he had to remind his girlfriend of constantly. “And we don’t know how far along she is, she hasn’t been to the doctor yet. She could be anywhere from a few days to a couple weeks, Mairin could have also easily been keeping quiet about this before the amnesia hit.”

   Mairin shook her head. “I have a feeling I would have told Alain if I knew before,” She shifted. “Though I could be farther along, since the first few weeks can be pretty uneventful... at least that’s what it said in that book Sophie lent to me.”

   Bonnie’s eyes gleamed. “Sophie has a book about pregnancy,” She gave Max a light punch in the arm. “Ha! I told you she and the professor would want to start a family sometime!”

   Max sighed. “Or, maybe, we live in a huge lab with a ton of books.”

   Bonnie didn’t seem put off at this at all, victory still gleaming in her eyes. “Anyways– names? Gender? Anything, I’m all ears!”

   Mairin gave a faint smile, pausing to gather her thoughts. “Well... I think it’s going to be a girl, just gut instinct, you know? As for names, I honestly really have no idea... I guess that’s another thing I’ll have to talk to Alain about...”

   Bonnie snorted. “You’re going to name the baby.”

   “It’s his baby too!” Mairin said, her hands going to her stomach.

   Bonnie laughed. “Yeah? So? You’re going to be the one naming it! Not only are you going to be delivering my future niece– oh yeah, I’m going to be her adopted aunt– but Alain is horrible when it comes to names! You’ve seen it with his Pokemon, the only time he’s ever tried to name one was when his Charizard had that egg, and even in the end you had to come in and stop him from calling it ‘Charmander the second’.”

   A strange feeling settled into Mairin’s chest. “...I named Alex?”

   Bonnie paused as well, as if just realizing what she brought up. “Yeah... you did. You two did use to get along...” Bonnie shook her head. “We’re here to talk about you though– I’ll go grab some papers and we can start brainstorming names!”

   Then just like that Bonnie was on her feet, darting out of the room with a Dedenne climbing onto her head.

   Mairin had a smile on her face. “It’s nice to see some people haven’t changed.”

   Max looked off towards where Bonnie had ran out. “Believe it or not she does have a mature side to her. I think she’s just really excited to see you again... I mean, the old you.”

   Mairin frowned. “...What do you mean?”

   Max glanced down at his feet. “...Mairin... let’s just say if we went back a few years, even seeing a forced smile was considered rare,” Max looked away. “I think Bonnie’s just really glad to see the side of you that’s not afraid to smile again.”

   The strange feeling returned to Mairin’s chest, twisting. “...What happened?”

   Max’s hands tightened. “...I’d rather not talk about it,” He said in a low tone. “It was hard on everyone.”

   Mairin looked away, knowing that she could press Max some more– but she didn’t. Clearly what had taken place was a struggle, since Max had been very open with her until now. Mairin also knew that he wasn’t purposely clamming up like Alain had been doing, and it wouldn’t be fair to try to make him speak about something he didn’t want to. So instead Mairin settled onto the couch, trying to ignore the dizzy feeling in her head as she waited for Bonnie to return.

   Bonnie did return– with colored pens and bright pieces of paper to write down baby names. A Greninja had come in after her carrying a tray of cookies on its head, which Mairin politely declined, not wanting to gamble against her stomach at someone else’s house. So they sat around Bonnie’s small coffee table jotting down names, light conversation passing between them. Max seemed to maintain a serious attitude no matter what silliness Bonnie tossed into the air, but the smile on his face showed that he was happy.

   Mairin chose to stay quieter, the smell of the cookies making her stomach tighten. She focused on the list she was writing, taking her time with each name she wrote. This wasn’t the first list of names she had written in her lifetime– when she was younger she had done this as well, with the idea of parenthood far off though– but there was a fresh sense of realness running through her now. Even if Bonnie had pulled this idea out for fun, Mairin found herself carefully considering each name before she added it to the list.

   All of the names were girl names.

   “You know, this really is a lot of fun,” Bonnie let out a sigh as she added another name to her growing list. “It makes me really want to have a baby.”

   Mairin stiffened a grin as she noticed that Max was now staring very intently as his paper.

------------------------------

   Mairin was not looking forward to another night of sleep.

   Because that meant only another painful nightmare.

   She shivered as she stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around her as the water shut off. She had now spent two nights in a row being hit by the painful Hyper Beam, and the mere thought of going through that pain again made her gulp– because it felt so real. Lucario had woken her up again last night before the dream had progressed too far, and she wondered how long it would be before he decided to tell someone...

   No, she’d just have to force her thoughts elsewhere before she went to sleep. Just think hard enough on something else, and hopefully her mind would comply and let her dreams be elsewhere tonight. Mairin relaxed somewhat as she dried herself off, though doubts still lingered as she started to put on her nightwear– since the nightmares had been there every night so far.

   Mairin was starting to understand why she had woken up in short pants and a tank top that first night without her memories, when she was used to wearing warmer things to bed– she always woke up sweating now because of her dreams. She slipped on her shorts, wondering just how long it’d be until she’d have to wear different outfits because of the baby.

   She paused, before looking up into the mirror. Even if she had been becoming more accepting of the situation she was in, she still had been avoiding looking at her reflection for too long. No matter what was happening, nothing was more disconcerting than looking in the mirror and seeing a face older than what you were use too– even if it was by only a few years. However she pulled those thoughts away as she looked at herself, wondering what she’d look like with a little bump.

   Her hands went to her bare belly, excitement running through her. Her baby– something that couldn’t be taken from her. This was her child, a member of her family that was growing right in her. It was such a wonderful feeling to think on, one that always made her heart soar. She turned a bit, taking in her exhausted form, wondering if she’d ever get used to the struggles of pregnancy. She wasn’t even that far along, surely it would only get harder from here...

   Her hands tranced the twisting white marks on her arms as she thought, and Mairin shivered at the touch. She pulled her hands away, hating the sensation of the tingles running through them. She peered into the mirror again, examining the marks. They wound up her arms, twisting all the way to her shoulders. She shifted the strap of her bra slightly as she studied the marks, wondering just what had formed them.

   She turned around, wondering if they continued on her back at all, and she found herself going still as she looked at her back. There was indeed a white mark on her back– but it was not part of the twisting ones. This one was right in the center of her back– a huge white circle that stood out against the rest of her skin. She just stared, gulping slightly.

   Because the mark was just where she had felt the burning during her trance out on the streets.

   Her arms had burned in that trance then too... so was that what these marks were? Had they been burned into her? Why? How? They were so unnatural– and it clearly hadn’t been an accident.

   But she had a feeling that ‘an accident’ would be the answer she’d get if she asked Alain.

   “No!” Mairin whispered to herself, closing her eyes. She couldn’t dwell on things like that, not when she was trying to repair everything between them... including the things she couldn’t remember. Alain clearly wasn’t the person to go to for answers, she’d just have to find someone else...

   She swiftly tugged a tank top on over her head, ready to get out of the bathroom. She regretted the action slightly though, since her tank got a bit wet from her sopping hair. Mairin sighed, grabbing a smaller towel and rubbing it against the ends of her hair to try to dry it somewhat. Mairin wasn’t in the mood to blow dry her hair and be forced to stare at her reflection even more, so she wrapped her hair up in a towel and gathered up her things.

   She let out a sigh as she stepped out of the bathroom, glad to be free of the small room. Now, if she could only be free of her thoughts as well that’d be wonderful...

   “Mairin.”

   “Eep!” Mairin cried, startled as she was pulled from her thoughts as she walked down the hallway– even though that was the very thing she had been wanting. She quickly turned and found Alain walking towards her. “D-don’t scare me like that.”

   “Sorry,” He said, smiling softly. “I just wanted to ask you something.”

   “What’s up?” Mairin asked, shifting her items in her hands.

   He hesitated for a moment. “I... I was just wondering if tomorrow would be a good day...” He began, blue eyes meeting amber. “For the... date.”

   Mairin blinked. “Tomorrow?”

   Alain shifted. “If you don’t want to we–”

   “No, no,” Mairin said swiftly, giving him a small smile. “I- I’m the one that suggested it. Tomorrow would be great.”

   However her stomach twisted, and she couldn’t bring herself to meet Alain’s eyes. She wasn’t against the idea... but she knew it wasn’t going to be the same as a normal first date. Even if you disregarded the fact that they were married and she was carrying their child, she still knew that Alain had deep feelings for her. While she... she was still a bit on edge at the idea of going out with him at all.

   She liked Alain– but she just didn’t see him as more than a friend.

   But that was the point of this date, to see if she could find those feelings she had clearly once had. Fear did gnaw at Mairin though, not of the date, but fear towards the idea that her feelings might not change at all. What would she do then? End the marriage she had with Alain? She didn’t want to be in a relationship where she didn’t return the feelings, but how could she take something away from Alain when he had done nothing?

   “Mairin, I know that look,” Alain said, crossing his arms. “You’re overthinking things. If you don’t want to do it tomorrow– or at all for that matter– then we don’t have to.”

   “No, I want to try this,” Mairin said, sitting up straighter. “B-besides, I’ve never been on a date before, from what I can remember... this will be fun.”

   She hoped.

   Alain’s eyes gleamed with excitement at this answer, and once again she felt her insides curl. Even if Alain was acting relaxed and indifferent, she knew that if she backed out now it would hurt him. Mairin’s thoughts turned back to the first day without her memories, when she had acted horrified at waking up next to him.

   How much had that hurt him?

   “Alright then,” Alain said, eyes still lit happily. “Tomorrow.”

   “What are we going to do?” Mairin asked– it was quite clear that he was going to be the one to plan this out.

   Alain grinned. “You’ll see,” He said, and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Goodnight, Mairin.”

   Her feelings were still scrambled, not quite sure of what to feel about what was going to take place. “Goodnight?”

   Alain smiled, but said nothing else as he headed towards the bathroom. Mairin turned slightly, watching him continue down the hallway, uncertainty running through her. Once he was out of sight she headed towards her bedroom, where she was greeted happily by Chespie. Mairin’s mind was still wandering off in its own direction as she hugged her starter, and then at last she stumbled into her room.

   Her thoughts refused to settle– jumping from her dreams, to Alain, to the baby in her, and of course to the future laying ahead of her. She couldn’t even mull through her thoughts, each of them racing about her mind before she could even expand on each idea. She let them bounce about in her mind as she put her things away and sat down on her bed– perhaps scattered thoughts would mean scattered dreams tonight.

   Unfortunately Mairin’s hope for a restful night was dashed as she drifted off to sleep– soon finding herself in a familiar dream of Rayquaza’s attacks, the night sky above and the sandy desert below her.