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euanpc · 2 years ago

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Space Pirate Lesbians

Contents Overview 2 Characters 2 Pirate Crew 2 Eliza/Elisabeth 2 Joceline 2 Weapons expert 2 Janitor 2 Isabella 2 Others 2 First Antagonist 2 Vladimir Poutine 2 Main Antagonist 2 Rich NFT Guys 3 Enemy big brain droid 3 Space Russians 3 Cyborgs 3 Security guards 3 William K. Afton 3 Normal Captains 3 Standard freight ship crew 3 Game Play 3 Environment 3 Plot 4 I 4 II 4 III 4 Multiple planned ENDINGS 4 Risks and Mitigations 5 Timeline 5 Budget 6 Wages 6 Wages total: £1,100,000 6 Material costs 6 Material costs Total: £2,199.99 7 Sum Total: £1,102,199.99 7

Overview Starts off very tacky, standard 2D platform and visuals, and escalates after a significant character death of the main character’s girlfriend (she dies brutally, in an airlock). During the ensuing panic after the unexpected incident, the original main antagonist takes pity on the main character, seeing how she reacts to the loss of her girlfriend, and promises to help her find and defeat whoever killed MC’s girlfriend. Characters Pirate Crew So the game begins with you as the leader of a pirate crew whose members are: Eliza/Elisabeth - main character, captain of the space pirate ship. Joceline - an asexual female hacker is later revealed to have altered the main character’s memory to remove her first encounter of the first main antagonist. This is because she felt that the MC had been torn apart by guilt and grief by what she had done with the first antagonist (killed his family) pregame. Weapons expert – female who uses a lot of makeup, earrings, nose piercing, green lipstick etc. Has a lot of weapons. Janitor – male veteran, responsible for multiple war crimes, seems underpowered at first, and does not do much apart from maintenance of ship. Isabella - your girlfriend, demolitionist. Starts off as a very prominent character before going missing in the first part of the second section of the game, which involves you breaking into the first antagonists place of operations to see your girlfriend brutally murdered in an airlock. Others First Antagonist could act in a similar way to Emerald from Steven Universe in Part 1, being a stereotypical villain. Throughout the game, more is revealed regarding his past experience with MC, such as how she accidentally killed his parents. After the first part he pities and relates to MC, having also lost a loved one, and agrees to help her find and get revenge on the killer. Vladimir Poutine is bald, and always seen wearing a bulky black metallic armour covering everywhere but his head. He is arrogant, and the leader of a large space empire based off of a random moon that lost orbit with its planet. He is effectively a man-child, who gets what ever he wants by force. He tries to make a name for himself by taking credit for the murder of Isabella. Main Antagonist, killed Isabella, could be working under First Antagonist (although not for him). First Antagonist did not order the execution of Isabella. Maybe s/he wants to please their boss, or maybe they love their boss and want to avenge their boss’s parents’ death through extreme means. In their love for the First Antagonist, they became a murderer and would kill or do anything necessary to make First Antagonist happy. Is also a threat to international security. Rich NFT Guys They own a capitalist space ship, which is shipping NFTs. You can steel the NFTs and their money, because NFTs suck. Enemy big brain droid, effectively a brain in a jar on top of a metal barrel, which has two tracks to move, and two machine guns either side of it. Space Russians wear black military uniform and work for Vladimir Poutine. Cyborgs, humans who are part robot, working for the Main Antagonist. Security guards, wear standard black security uniform (tuxedo with badge and black trousers, earpiece and a black security hat). Work for Rich NFT Guys. William K. Afton, minor easter egg character, still isn’t dead, he always comes back, whether he likes it or not. Normal Captains, run standard freight ships which you can rob. Also hire security guards in lower frequency. Standard freight ship crew, wear everyday shipping overalls (like a red bobble hat, yellow socks, green boots, blue jeans, yellow jackets etc.) act as the bulk of security for freight ships. Game Play You operate off a main pirate spaceship, from which you can upgrade. This is partially based off Starbound, which is sometimes referred to as space Terraria. When going on missions or looting, you bring parts of the crew with you, who will be able to combat different obstacles, or help in certain situations. E.g. with certain obstacles, such as reinforced doors or defences your girlfriend Isabella will be able to use explosive to remove them. As captain you will be able to order members of your team to do certain things, such as engage in combat and you can order crew members to do things they can’t do, but this will take longer and sometimes won’t work at all. If your orders are rubbish, or you are not nice to your crew, they may avoid completing in the way you set them out or outright refuse to follow orders. Graphics: title screen will have 80s neonesque vibe. Graphics overall will be made quite similar to 80s style space fiction, except without the goldfish bowl hats, and conversation graphics will be similar to that of Stardew Valley. Bright vibrant colours like purple, yellows, to again reaffirm the 80s vibe, similar to what you see outside American diners. Environment Based after a very large, controversial war between 2 superpowers, in which multiple atrocities were committed by both sides. It is common to come across a completely abandoned planet which has been completely destroyed by chemical or biological weapons, and is completely uninhabitable. The divide between the rich a poor has neither increased nor decreased, although national debt for most countries, even those not involved, has increased. The war has also caused divides in society and increased xenophobia’s. Shipping large quantities of goods throughout space is very common, and large space ports exist all across the universe. Multiple domains, such as the British Empire, span the universe in a large amount of different sizes and power. Although there is still a large amount of unclaimed deep space territory between them. Plot I Vibe check hostiles with explosives Vibe with GF Very GF and MC centred Space loot plunder and steal Has a thermonuclear missile for no REASON BECAUSE WHY NOT References the next villain space poutine Kill a bunch of baddies Easter egg: wii fucking gun Fight against antagonist who is originally thought to be 1d, hinted background, but he always comes back, and then develops in section 2. GF says she has something important to tell you, then goes missing II In the first part of the second section of the game, you break into the first antagonists place of operations to see your girlfriend brutally murdered in an airlock. Then you receive a transmission from the second antagonist, Space Vladimir Poutin, who claims responsibility for the murder of said girlfriend. In the next stage you fight the forces of Space Vladimir Poutin (SVP). After defeating him, SVP admits that he lied when he claimed responsibility for the incident at the start of the section. III MC and 1st antagonist are sitting in a bar, when they manage to deduce that MC’s memory has been altered to make her forget killing the 1st antagonist’s family in a hostage situation gone wrong. It is quickly deduced that Joceline had altered the MC’s memory, and the MC’s girlfriend was going to tell MC the truth. Making Joceline the prime suspect. Although she admits to her crime of altering the MC’s memory, Joceline justifies doing so by claiming that MC was distraught with guilt, and she tried to help the MC the only way she knew how, through technology. Joceline heavily denies killing the MC’s girlfriend, although she does feel guilt about Isabella, and confirms that this is what she wanted to tell MC. The killer could be connected to, but not acting under orders from the 1st

Multiple planned ENDINGS Janitor blows himself up to kill the killer of Isabella, but may not be dead, because we don’t actually see him blow himself up. We see a final transmission from the Janitor and then take control of him while he blows up the spaceship. Genocide route, where you kill your crew, fight Janitor in a sans-esque boss fight. The first antagonist will realise that grief has turned you into a monster and decide to take both him and you down in a final boss fight where loser dies, and if you win your ship explodes going too close to a black hole into which 1st antagonist was driving the ship, and both of you float off into space (alive in a space suite).

Risks and Mitigations The game might take longer to develop than expected, so trailers and advertisements should only be released once it is certain that the game will be produced b a certain time. If this fails to work, we can announce delays when development is taking longer than expected. The game could accused of queerbaiting, this could negatively impact the game’s reputation and reception. We could deal with this by denying all claims and listening to the community. We could also mitigate the risk by instead of focusing on a person’s characteristics for what they are (eg. this character is gay) for who they really are (e.g. trigger happy, nervous, shy). People might not like the name of the game and resort to violence to prevent it being published. The name will not be changed however, rather presenting the game as a certain political agenda, or neutral. We could also go overbudget. To mitigate this risk, we should try to use less than the whole budget given, to reduce the chance of going over limit, and reserving a part of the budget in case such a thing happens. The game could end up similar in quality to High Guardian Spice, to mitigate this risk we will actually pay our employees, and make sure that all content is of high enough quality to be feasibly produced.

Timeline Two teams communicating very well, one developing art assets, the other code, plus soundtrack developer and marketing person. Two artists and two programmers working in proximity for easy communication. The soundtrack developer will have to be communicating closely with both teams to get a feel for the game, so the soundtrack is of a high quality. Artist1: pixel art, in game sprites and art, graphics. Artist2: handling more in detail high-quality cut scenes. Both programmers are working on the game.

The game may take anywhere between 2 and 4 years to develop.

MONTH CONTENT MANAGEMENT 1 Plan 2 animator, 2 programmers and soundtrack composer hired. 2 Base game engine with minimal art, mostly place holders 3 Basic pixel art complete as well as 1st chapter base complete 4 More fleshed out physics and in-game mechanics 5 Completion of all of art for chapter 1 6 Basics laid out for chapter 2, start work on high quality animation of Isabella blowing up 7 Working on the explosion 8 Chapter 2 50% complete. Most base art work for Chapter 2 and the blowing up of Isabella should be complete. 9 All game play assets for Chapter 2 complete 10 All art for Chapter 2 complete. Base game for Chapter 2 complete. 11 Polish Chapter 2 and 1, begin development for Chapter 3. 12 Basic art assets for Chapter 3 complete. 13 Gameplay for Chapter 3 complete (good ending). 14 Final Boss for bad ending complete. 15 Main endings complete. 16 All endings complete. 17 Flesh out more aspects pf gameplay, e.g. more weapons, armour and enemies. Hire PR person. 18 Market game. JUnit test the game. Complete and add soundtrack. 19 Create and release demo. 20 Use feedback to fix bugs, test to find and fix more bugs. 21 Polish game. 22 Create and release second demo. 23 Polish game more, contingency 24 Release.

Budget

Target budget is a £100,000. Wages Programmers paid £80,000/annum, altogether £320,000-640,000 Animators paid £40,000/annum, altogether £160,000-£310,000 Audio paid £100,000 for the complete soundtrack. PR paid £35,000/annum, for the last 8 months of development and a further 1 year, altogether £47,500. Wages total: £1,100,000 Material costs Hardware: £1,200 (https://prorefurbished.co.uk/products/copy-of-apple-imac-21-5-desktop-intel-i5-2-50ghz-8gb-ram-1-tb-hdd-high-sierra-a-grade?variant=39903166791732&currency=GBP&utm_medium=product_sync&utm_source=google&utm_content=sag_organic&utm_campaign=sag_organic&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI2LPT9bXr9gIVHIBQBh2gDA0nEAQYAyABEgIINPD_BwE) Software: GML or Unity £100 LogicPro £19.99 (https://softpedia.uk/product/logic-pro-x-2021-mac-only/)

Musical keyboard: £ 380 (https://store.focusrite.com/en-gb/product/launchkey-61-mk3-/NOVLKE61MK3~NOVLKE61MK3) Working from home, meetings at MacDonalds. Calls over zoom. Contingencies: £500 Material costs Total: £2,199.99

Sum Total: £1,102,199.99

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zuffer-weird-girl · 4 years ago

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What if s/o is a thief trying to steal Pirate! Overhaul's treasures but then s/o was caught and almost got killed but then Overhaul planed to use her as like an assistant or something?? Sorry, I can't explain much😔 I LUV UR FANFICS BY THE WAYY!!💖 It always motivates me😔✨❤

A mere thief getting on one of the most terrifying and scary ships of all sea, ruled by the tyrant and stoic captain any pirate or simple civilian ever heard of.

Captain Overhaul.

And now, as the trope had left the boat on the deck. You saw a opportunity to get your hands on their stolen treasure. The captain always carried his most gains with him, always with arrogance that whoever crossed his path on sea or eatlrth would have the same destiny. Death.

Yet you, with one braincell aparently, sneaked inside the ship and knocked out one of the man's responsible for vigilance. You smirked to yourself and a bit of pity for the blonde whose was on the wood of the ground as you snuck in inside.

You lighten up carefully one of your matches on the bottom of your boot. Widening your eyes at the amount of gold coins, rum barrels, jewel chests among ruby, jade and diamonds.... you left out a small "wow" as you wondered around.... ocasionally picking one or two things and shoving down your purse you always carried.

You stopped walking and furrowed your eyebrows when you saw a painting. Bringing the light close, you brushed your hand on the dusty painting to see an old man with two kids... the girl was taller and had similarities with the elder while the boy on the left was younger and totally different.... Golden eyes and dark brown hair on his features.

"Huh..." you muttered while hissing when you burned your finger accidentaly with the match. Grumbling and lightening up another one.

Some box with food were in there as well and you were impressed by how much everything, excluding the painting, was in great state... not even one bit of dust on the gold or other things.

"Weird..." you muttered before hearing some drunk voices and footsteps coming from outside.

Cursing you threw the match out from a window and hided yourself on one of the boxes at hearing the sounds of boots echoing and getting closer...

"Maybe it was a mistake staying in here?" You heard a voice and you curled up even more but still tried to poke an eye out of your hidding spot to see something...

"NOnSeNsE!" Another one shouted and you cringed at how loud it was "CAPTaiN KnoWs WhAT He I DoInG PunnNKKKKkk-!"

"Punk?" You muttered quietly before the voices went quiet for a bit.

"Yes Overhaul. We will tell the other to get up by morning." And with that, the voices were out...

You heard stories of thsi young king of the seas before... and hearing the name Overhaul caused almost everyone you knew to shiver... No one who met him came back to tell the story...

You gulped and made quietly your way out as soon as you heard the creaking of the door... you couldn't just get out now... especially with all the crew wide awake...

Well... they did drinked aparently... so you just had to wait a few minutes. So the best you could do was patiently what until everything was quiet enough to get out and ran away.

You heard a sound of water and arched your eyebrow up when you saw water with soap poking and sliding down the door that just had closed... did... did that man was cleaning his own office? Do pirates do that?

You shrugged and quietly went upstairs at noticing not a sound was muttered.. you opened the door slowly and slid you way out of it and closing without a sound.

You looked at the deck and everyone was almost passed out... some even drooling on the ground of teh ship. You made a disgusted face and tiptoed your way out till the exit of the ship....

You were almost there as you laughed inside of your head before your body stopped when a bigger and rough hand closed around your wrist as you gasped at seing a man with white hair glaring down at you.

"What are you doinh in here?" He growled as you gulped.

"G-Got in teh wrong ship!" You yelped quietly... but the man only furrowed even more his eyebrows and shouted "LIFT ANCHOR! WE HAVE A CLANDESTINE HERE!"

Shit...

They all woke up immediately, some grabbing their swords as other went to lift the anchor. The man let go of your wrist as you tried to run back to the exit only to see you were away from the port.

"DAMMIT!" You shouted, preparing to jump on the water before you screamed when a much bigger than the other grabbed your forearm and even lifted you off from the ground.

"Aaaa!" The muscular man let out as you kicked and squirmed on his grasp "What we have here??? Trying to steal from Overhow?"

"More respect towards our Captain Rappa. Now-" the blonde pushed his glasses up with his middle finger as he glared at you "Hold still this street rat."

You growled at him before you kicked the man, Rappa, on the balls as he shouted and let you go... you ran but three man circled around you... One with a bag on his head, one bald and the other blinded you had knocked out earlier whose cleary wasn't happy to see you again.

"Get THIS WOMAN!" Another blonde shouted as you cursed before grabbing the bag face man's forearm and jumping to give a kick right on the bald one's face before punching on the blonde's jaw to get a run for it.

You screamed again when you felt something on your ankle and before you knew it, you were hanging upside down as you saw all the eyes on you...

"Now, what do we have here?" A indigo drunk guy sluttered as he tried to touch you before you slapped him away, accidentally letting your purse fall and show the things you had just grabbed it.

The white haired man from before crouched down to see it as the blonde with glasses from earlier got close.

"Is Captain's things." The man whispered as the blonde nodded, glaring at you.

"So a mere thief huh?" You gulped before yelping when a crow screamed in your ear and flew to be on top on one of the mans.

"Come on, as if pirates aren'tthiefs themselfs..." you mumbled as you hang up side down, smirking and arching one eyebrow before you widened your eyes at seing the same crow transform into a muscled name as he screamed down at you.

"DARe To COmPArE US WiTh YoU ThEN?!" Ah, so this was the guys who shouted "punk" earlier....

"What should we do with her?" A blonde with closed eyes asked, almost I dissapointed as The indigo one spoke after.

"Hey boss, let's shave her!" The guy laughed as you gasped in offense.

"Idiot." The men in glasses muttered while shaking his head.

"Walk the board!" The Rappa guys yelled as you rolled your eyes.

"Tacky dude. Tacky." All of them looked at you in shock, whispering to one another before the white haired man took off his sword.

"Silence all of you." He spike before walking, pointing the tip of his sword to your throat as your breath started to quickened.

The door slammed and everyone tensed, your attacker pulling his sword back and walking away from you as the other males stand by in two lines.

You squinted your eyes, one black boot coming out of the dark and one gloved hand on teh door... despite the night being dark as always, you gulped in fear at the golden eyes narrowing at your figure from the distance.

"Captain." They all saluted Rappa hesitated but did it anyway as the unknown male came in view.

Hat covering the top of his dark brow hair as hsi golden eyes shined along with the moon light... His cape and vests didn't reached the ground and he carrie along a belt that he aparently had both a sword and a shotgun...

He walked slowly towards you, The crown man and the white haired dude trailing a bit behind him as he looked at you from the ground at your hanging upside down corpse.

"... what do we have here?" His voice was a dark and low one as he put his hands behind his back and walked in circles around where you were standing... your head just on the same height as his own one but only for a few inches higher.

"Setsuno." He said, and the blonde shivered "I thought you were looking for our ship..." his tone was cold and dissapointed.

"F-Forgive me C-Captain." He looked over his shoulders at the blonde "She knocked me out, that's why you all probably found me on the floor."

"I will decide your punishement later..." he growled and they all shivered before he returned to lock his golden orbs with you "For now I aparently have to deal with this problem. One that aparently gave you a bit of work to just maintain our prisoner."

"Forgive us Overhaul." The white haired man spoke more confidently as be also looked at you "But we found out that this woman is not only a clandestine, but also one that stolen a bit of your possesions."

He hummed before taking his sword out and lifting up in teh air with a pysocothic look "In that case-"

Everyone closed their eyes as well as you, but you only groaned when your face and body met harshly the ground as you hissed in pain before your vision meet Overhaul's boots..

You gasped when you felt him grabbing you by the hair and taking your face up to look at him.

"So you're a thief. Have to be very brave or some stupid girl to invade my ship out of all the ones on that port." He yanked your head even more as you hissed bit glared at him back "You can have what you picked up. Really, I wont mind."

Everyone let out a confused nose before you saw the crown man throw your purse on the sea.

You were suddenly lifted up by the hair as he yanked you along with by the end of the ship, the most scariest thing was that he was calm, not laughing not shouting. HE WAS FUCKING CALM. You panted while staring at the water above your feet as you were only being held by one of Overhaul's hand.

"You still want that thing?" You shook your head desperately as he hummed "What a shame..."

You went to look but as soon as your feet disconnected with the ground and felt his hand pushing you you let out a bloody scream you met the cold water.

He only looked at you coming out of the water to breath a few minutes ago.

"SADISTIC!" you shouted, teeth hitting together as he only lifted one of his eyebrows.

"We are far away from that shameful city we were now. If you swan until there, your body will be tired out, not even speaking about the sharks and other sea creatures that can come easily after you." Some of the crea laughed as you tried still have more strengh to say with your head out of the water.

"Maybe..." he hitted his finger lightly on his forehead as he stared right in your eyes "Maybe you can be useful on my ship... After all, you own me after that audacity of yours."

"FUCK YOU! AS IF!" you shouted back as he sighed, having his back to you and lifting his hand up.

"In that case. Be my guest to be eaten by sharks." You glared at him before you froze at seing one shark not much far away...

Be a slave for pirates or die by a shark..?

You cried ass you swan the list you could before you gave up and shouted, all of your pride completely lost on that moment.

"I ACCEPT! I ACCEPT OKAY?! TAKE ME OUT OF HERE! PLEASE I BEG YOU-!"

He stopped and smiled sadistically before gaving a look to Mimic, whose nodded and transformed into a crown and went to throw you a rope as you cried in relief and started to grab it.

"Pull her." He muttered to Rappa whose did abruptly. You were soon back on the grounds of the ship as you trembled... Glaring already at the boots in front of you as Overhaul looked down at you, so I the crown rested on his shoulder as the other men snickered at you.

"Welcome to the Hassaikai... slave." He let out a sinister smirk on his face before he snapped his fingers for two man to lift you up.

"Put a chain on her. Maybe this way she wont be a idiot enough to jump amd kill herself on the sea." He ordered before the showed the crown out of his shoulder and walked casually back to his quarters, not before stopping and giving you a look over his shoulders.

"Call me your captain Overhaul from now on until you let your final breath out..." With that he closed the door, leaving you to widen your eyes in horror and be dragged by the man by some other place of the ship.

(Aaaaa I loved this piece, should I continued???"

#overhaul x reader #chisaki kai x reader #overhaul #chisaki kai #bnha imagine #bnha characters #bnha villains x reader #bnha au #captain overhaul #pirate au #shiiit i loved this #zuffer writings

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searchingwardrobes · 4 years ago

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Valentine Throwbacks: Day 3

This Valentine’s fic was also written for the Tumblr Valentine’s prompts back in 2018. This one was day 8: First “I love you.” I don’t know if this qualifies as canon or canon divergent. I think of it as “filling in a plot hole.” Dark Hook’s words to Emma in Broken Heart about how he always said it first made no sense to me. After all, from what we saw on screen, Emma said it first and Killian had only ever said it indirectly. I know some people explain it by saying the darkness twists the truth, but I got to thinking . . . In Operation Mongoose, all Emma said was that she never told him how she felt. Maybe he threw the “L” word around all the time. I know people have very strong feelings about this topic, but this isn’t me portraying Killian as “taking away Emma’s agency” (because that would imply a man can never say “I love you” first, which is ridiculous, or that saying the words at all are somehow manipulative, which is also ridiculous). This is just me doing what fanfic writers do - taking canon and going, I wonder . . .

Can you tell I had to delete a nasty comment about this fic back in 2018? I still love it, though, and wanted to share it again.

Summary: Three times Killian Jones tells Emma Swan he loves her, and one time he doesn't.

Words: 2k and some change

Rating: T

Also on Ao3

Tagging: @snowbellewells @whimsicallyenchantedrose @kmomof4 @let-it-raines @teamhook @bethacaciakay @xhookswenchx @tiganasummertree @shireness-says @stahlop @scientificapricot @welllpthisishappening @resident-of-storybrooke @thislassishooked @ilovemesomekillianjones @kday426 @ekr032-blog-blog @lfh1226-linda @ultraluckycatnd @nikkiemms @optomisticgirl @profdanglaisstuff @carpedzem @ohmakemeahercules @branlovestowrite @superchocovian @sherlockwhovian @vvbooklady1256 @hollyethecurious @winterbaby89 @delirious-latenight-laughs @jennjenn615 @snidgetsafan @xsajx @itsfabianadocarmo @spartanguard @hookedonapirate

One: The First Date

The sea always calmed Killian, and while calm was an odd way to feel when he was finally on a date with Emma Swan, it was the best word he could use to describe how he felt right now. Despite his worries over his supposedly cursed hand, despite the ice witch who was out there somewhere, Killian felt deliciously content in this moment. Emma’s hand was in his, he could hear the soothing beat of the waves beneath the docks, and Emma’s hair glittered like gold in the moonlight.

She let go of his hand to lean against the railing of the boardwalk, and as she did, he noted the elegant curve of her neck, the way her ponytail swished against her shoulder blades, the almost girlish way she popped her foot and dug her toe into the old, wet boards. She shivered, and he inwardly berated himself for not thinking of the dropping temperatures or her bare shoulders (aside from admiring her soft skin, that is).

He shrugged out of his leather jacket and quickly draped it over her. “Here love, you have more need of this than I do.”

Emma accepted it gladly with a soft thank you, slipping her arms into the sleeves and hugging her torso. She was uncharacteristically vulnerable tonight, and he hoped that was because she felt safe with him.

She shivered still as she drew the jacket tighter around herself, and Killian came closer to wrap his arms around her from behind. She sighed and leaned back into him. Words didn’t seem necessary for the moment as they simply stood there, wrapped up in one another, gazing at the stars. Killian lowered his head to nuzzle into her neck, the scent of her shampoo making his heart thud loudly in his chest.

“I love you,” he whispered. He wasn’t sure if it was the quiet, or her softness in his arms, but the words just slipped out.

She stiffened slightly, and he held his breath, fearful that he had spoken too soon. She turned, still in the circle of his arms, her face flushed, eyes shining and darting to and fro. The moment stretched out, marked by the undulating sound of the waves below.

Finally, she raised up on her tiptoes and kissed him. He kissed her back, knowing it was the only answer she could give. At least for now.

Two: Valentine’s Day

“Swan!” Killian shouted, as he burst into the loft. His fear ratcheted up a few more notches when he saw that the place was empty. It had been weeks since the Crocodile left town, and therefore weeks since there had been a crisis, but Emma’s text message had him falling right back into that mode. He glanced down at his screen to read the message again.

Come to the loft. Hurry.

He heard a laugh from the top of the stairs, and when he lifted his gaze from his phone, he saw Emma standing there, a bright smile on her face. Killian let out a huge sigh of relief as he pocketed his phone.

“Bloody hell, Swan, you scared me to death!”

“I scared Captain Hook?” she teased, crossing her arms over her chest and cocking her head. “Yay me. Now get up here, pirate.”

Killian did as she asked without further complaint. Belle had teased him about being whipped, and when she explained to him what that meant, he couldn’t really argue. He’d traded his ship for this woman, jumped through a time portal for her. Anything else was a trifle, really.

When he reached the second floor of the loft, Emma stood in front of her bathroom door with her hands behind her back grasping the doorknob. She wore an eager grin and there was delight shining in her eyes.

“Do you know what today is?”

Killian scratched his jaw with the curve of his hook. “Aye, Valentine’s Day, a holiday which requires Granny to decorate the diner with tacky red hearts and naked babies with bows and arrows.”

Emma chuckled and shook her head. “Yeah, I know, it’s kind of cheesy. But you’ve done so much for me, I wanted to do a little something for you . . . so . . . “

With that she flung the door open, simultaneously grabbing his hook and pulling him through the door. The claw foot tub in the corner was filled to almost overflowing with big, frothy bubbles.

“It’s a bubble bath,” Emma explained, shaking his arm excitedly. “You were so thrilled with showers, and my parents said there were no bubble baths in the Enchanted Forest, not like this, sooo . . ta-da!”

Killian grinned at the thought she had apparently put into this. He approached the tub cautiously, dipping his hand in to find the water invitingly warm. It was difficult to keep water at such a perfect temperature back in the Enchanted Forest. He glanced around and also saw candles burning all over the room.

“Come on,” Emma said, yanking on his arm, “before the water gets cold and the bubbles disappear.”

She had already yanked off his jacket and tossed it on the floor. He was blushing, which was slightly embarrassing. “You, uh, talked to your parents about this?”

Emma rolled her eyes as she unbuttoned his vest. “Are you kidding? My dad would have a coronary. After he pulled his gun on you, that is. I just asked for a few hours without the baby. I think mom suspected something, but my dad seems to be a little clueless about that sort of thing. Or at least when it involves me.”

Killian’s vest was cast aside, and he watched Emma as she worked on the buttons of his shirt. Her tongue stuck out of the corner of her mouth as she worked them. “How do you do this with one hand?” She muttered. “These buttons are tiny.”

Killian cleared his throat nervously as he closed his hand around Emma’s, “I think I can handle it from here.”

“No way, sailor,” Emma corrected him with a heated stare, “that tub is big enough for two.”

His blush only increased as he gazed into her eyes. Not only was this a new step in their own relationship, but it was a level of intimacy he had never shared with anyone after losing his hand. Sex became nothing more than a rough, quick release with nameless, faceless women who craved a night to forget just as much as he did. While some women had seen him without his hook, no living person had seen him without his brace since that horrible, painful day on his ship so long ago. And he hated to admit it, even to himself, but he was ashamed.

“Emma,” was all he managed to choke out as he rubbed his thumb nervously along the inside of her wrist. He wasn’t sure how to put what he was feeling into words. He just stood there, staring at the floor and clenching his jaw.

“Hey,” Emma said softly, reaching up with both hands to cup his face. She eased his chin up until his eyes met hers, and what he saw there stole his breath. Understanding. Patience. And above all, acceptance. She ran her thumbs wordlessly across his cheeks for a moment, then her hands drifted down to finish the buttons. She eased his shirt off his shoulders and one arm, then carefully worked the other sleeve around his hook. Then she ran her hand over the leather straps, almost as if she were admiring them.

“It’s okay,” she whispered as she unbuckled them. Her voice soothed him, but he still closed his eyes as she eased the brace completely from his torso. He kept them closed as her hands mapped his chest, his shoulders, his arms. Then she was cradling his stump in both hands, running her thumbs over the scars. His eyes finally opened to see her do what he had thought was unthinkable. She lifted his arm to her lips and placed a soft kiss at the end of it. His own breath came out in a shaky hiss.

“It’s okay,” she said again, pressing his stump against her to rest between her breasts. She stepped closer, her free arm encircling his waist, her cheek pressed against his chest, his bad arm wedged between them.

Killian, almost overcome with the tenderness of the moment, brought his hand up shakily to run his one hand through her hair. He lowered his face to breathe in the softness of her hair. “I love you so much,” he told her huskily.

She lifted her head to look at him, her mouth agape. Her eyes were awash with intensity, and he waited with bated breath for her words to come.

But Emma’s expression changed to a smirk as she yanked at the zipper of his jeans instead.

Three: The Cabin in the Woods

He stands there, simply gazing at her in amazement. He can’t believe she doesn’t know. Tears prick at his eyes. Is it that hard for her to believe she’s enough?

“Don’t you know, Emma?” he finally manages to say around the lump in his throat. “It’s you.”

The look on her face almost kills him. So shocked and full of wonder. They are drawn together slowly, tenderly, and as he kisses her, he can taste a tear in the corner of her mouth. He turns to kiss the salty path on her cheek.

“I love you,” he breathes against her petal soft skin.

She just buries her face in the crook of his neck and sighs.

Four: The Loft

One moment, lowly deckhand Hook feels cold steel slice through skin, muscle, and sinew. He reaches his one hand out to Emma Swan, regretting that he hadn’t grabbed hold of the moment offered him earlier. That he hadn’t leaned down and kissed her. Because no one has ever looked at him that way before. And no one has ever looked as devastated as Emma Swan does right now as he falls to the ground, the life bleeding out of him.

The next moment, his eyes are opening and he’s on his back on a hardwood floor. He’s Captain Hook again. No, he’s Killian Jones, hero and the man who loves Emma Swan. He smiles. They did it. Henry and Emma did it!

Henry! He leaps to his feet, ignoring the groans of Snow and David still on the floor behind him as he races upstairs to be sure the lad is ok. He doesn’t even have time to look for the boy when Emma bursts in, “Hook!” the first word on her lips.

He can tell she’s frantic and distraught, so he plays cocky and comedic. It was the right choice, as her face lights up with joy. She comes racing up the stairs, his given name now spoken with delight as she tackles him with a hug. It takes him by surprise when she tumbles with him onto the bed, knocking the breath out of him in the process. But he delights in the weight of her pressing him into the mattress and he enjoys it even more when she pins his arms on either side of his head, propping herself up to grin down at him. He really wishes her parents weren’t right downstairs.

“Didn’t mean to frighten you, love,” he tells her, “when I woke, I came up here to check on your boy.”

“He’s fine, Henry’s fine . . . “ She trails off, her smile faltering, and her eyes getting a sort of far-off look.

Concerned, he sits up, his forehead creasing as he searches her suddenly pale expression. “What is it, love?”

“It’s just . . . when I saw you die . . . I was afraid I would never get to tell you . . . “

Killian thinks he knows where she’s going with this. He understands her walls, her fears, her insecurities. Mostly because he’s felt them too. He tries to encourage her, but feels he only succeeds in plastering a ridiculously broad grin on his face.

“To tell you . . . thank you.”

For a brief moment, his heart drops all the way to his stomach. He died for her, and still she holds back. But he swallows down the hurt and disappointment. It has to be on her terms, he only wants it on her terms, and so he smiles. He barely hears the rest of her babbling thank you.

“All in a day’s work for a hero,” he tells her when she finishes. She presses her forehead to his, burying her fingers in his hair. He wonders if she expects him to say it like he always does: I love you. But this time, he can’t.

Killian Jones is a patient man. One day, perhaps, she’ll simply say it. Those three little words he longs to hear from her lips.

#cs ff #cs fanfic #cs valentine fic #i love you #canon compliant #filling plot holes #light angst

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blursed-ninjago-ideas · 3 years ago

Note

Grandpa Djinn au

[Kai roughly tosses a bowl of Yakisoba down in front of Ronin. Meanwhile Nya is taking orders from a bunch of sailors. Zane is in the back cooking and Skylor is managing the bar.]

Ronin: Hey I wanted the Squid ink Noodles!

Kai: And I wanted a Leviathan! Life ain't fair!

[Kai slams another a plate down and mutters order up to a heavily tattooed sailor. Garmadon enters the room in his armor and smiles darkly.]

Garmadon: (Sing song) I’m back!

[Nya tosses her apron and written orders to Skylor who catches them easily. She moves next to an empty table.]

Nya: Loser party of one! Right this way please!

[Nya kicks out a chair which Garmadon manages to catch and sit down on. Nya giggles as Garmadon looks around the noodle bar and frowns]

Garmadon: Place still stinks. I thought Chen’s kid would run a tighter ship maybe get better ingredients and better servers. Then again you can’t expect much from pirates and a cult leader’s kid.

[A loud growl is heard from behind the bar which is revealed to be a rather irate Skylor. Skylor stares angrily at Garmadon from her position.]

Nya: Oh I’m sorry we’re down a butler today, Milord. I see you’ve gotten a new set of arms as well. Hmm must be because you’re not secure about yourself in your nether regions, so you had to make it up with some new limbs.

Garmadon: Where is she brat?

Nya: You know, I've dreamed of this. You wanting something from me and me watching you squirm like a worm on a hook. Especially after you held me hostage in your tacky dungeon.

Garmadon: I’m so flattered you dreamed of me. I haven’t thought of you since I escaped the underworld.

[Nya slams her fist down on the table and tosses Misako’s green scarf at Garmadon.]

Nya: Obviously. You have your perfect little life don’t you?

(Nya raises her voice)

Nya: Doesn’t he have the perfect little life? And our homes were ruined by your Serpentine and Skulkin!

[Nya’s crew and the other patrons of the bar making angry agreeing noises. Several of the sailors get up from the bar and with Kai taking out a scimitar from his apron pocket. The angry group start heading towards Nya and Garmadon.]

Garmadon: Listen if you have some kinda score to settle with me. Game on! I see no need to bring Misako into this.

Nya: (giggles and raises her hand to wave the sailors and her brother back) It maybe a little unnecessary but ugh, it is so much fun. Here’s the deal.

Garmadon: Just like your grandfather always a catch.

[Nya sits down and gets into the position to arm wrestle]

Nya: If you win Misako is free to go. Hmm?

[Garmadon puts on of his arms on the table]

Nya: Don’t you wanna know what I get if I win?

[Garmadon grips Nya’s hand]

Garmadon: Still dreaming.

Nya: Last time I checked you thought you had things all settled up too. Huh, how did that work out for you again? Oh right getting banished to the underworld.

Garmadon: On three.

Garmadon and Nya: One, two, three!

[Garmadon and Nya start to arm wrestle]

Nya: ( Nya giggles her eyes glowing a bright teal) You know that whole Big hero act? (Nya rolls her eyes) Ugh! I never bought it for a second. You could save a whole city, but you're still a villain.

Garmadon: And you can slap a pirate hat on, but you're still shrimpy.

[Garmadon almost manages to flip Nya’s arm down but she recovers quickly. Nya gasps and simply continues to armwrestle him. Garmadon’s eyes start to glow a sickly purple but Nya is simply giggling while he almost pins her arm down.]

Nya: If I win you bring me the mega weapon.

[Garmadon’s concentration is broken and his eyes cease to glow. Nya uses this moment of distraction to flip his arm over causing Garmadon to lose. Nya simply cackles at her victory while her crew cheers her on. Nya then rises from her seat and slams her hands down on the table. Now towering over the sitting Garmadon]

Nya: Now if you want wifeypoo back, bring me the mega weapon to my ship tomorrow at 12 noon sharp.

[Nya turns around]

Nya: Oh and if you blab you can kiss your wife goodbye.

[Nya laughs as she walks away with Kai guarding her back.]

Descendants 2...

Ok guys, you have to stop lifting entire scripts from things, loosely changing some words or lines, and then submitting it without proper credit. It's kind of a jerk move. The writers of these shows and movies will probably never see this blog, but they still deserve to have their work credited.

I'm not perfect and I can't catch them all. I don't want people thinking anyone is trying to pass this stuff off as original and we, the mods, will get the hate mail for it if someone takes offense.

Please, just mention if it's a lifted scene and were you got it, ok?

-Ivy

#Mod Ivy #is this off topic?#also I'd much prefer you guys try writing your own stuff #it's much more rewarding for everyone

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tackyink · 4 years ago

Text

Why do I do this to myself, I ask, as I post the next chapter two weeks after the first one, which took four years, thus defeating the entire point of extensive editing and risking a huge tone shift. Then again, I’ve been whining about it so much that it would be odd not to share.

Chapter 1

— — — — — — — —

Chapter 2

The sun pounds down with criminal intent as Alex and her friend run across the terrace of Mrs. Isabel’s monumental house. They are adventurers this time, or maybe pirates. It doesn’t matter. The reflection of the light on the colorful tiles and whitewashed buildings is blinding, and her friend’s blonde hair makes her glow like she’s wearing a crown woven with sunlight. They are wearing matching pendants of stone that she picked for them while she was on a trip.

Laughing, her friend turns to Alex with a toy chest between her hands, but Alex can’t hear the sounds coming from her mouth and her face is a featureless blur that she can’t make sense of. Who’s this person? The stress of not being able to focus on her face makes the image vanish into white, then black, then...

When Alex woke up, she vaguely remembered dreaming about home, so she didn’t give it much thought. She very rarely remembered dreams, and dreams related to the past were the worst because they were filled with people she hadn’t seen in years, so she wasn’t going to make an effort to recall only to feel bad.

Getting up with a lot effort, she remembered she had gone straight to bed as soon as she got home the day before and she needed a shower. She groaned as she undressed and dropped on the nightstand the seastone pendant she usually wore under her clothes. It was a small, useless thing that may have at some point been used as a bullet and repurposed, but it was a gift from a family friend, and she liked how it looked. A good luck charm of sorts that clearly wasn’t doing its job.

The shower seemed to stretch to infinity as she reviewed the events of the previous day and what she needed to do from then on. She wished that had been a dream. If only things were always that easy.

True to word, the pirates had left with the rising sun. Alex didn’t get to see their ship, even though the first thing she did that morning was go to the port to sneak a glance and contemplate the fish-shaped submarine in its entire tacky splendor. She’d always liked watching ships, ever since she was a kid and sat down at the beach or near the shipyard to see them from up close.

The following weeks were a haze of bureaucracy and preparations to leave her post at the library. She booked a ticket for a passenger ship to the city-island of St. Poplar with the intention of catching another ship from there that could sail her to the Sabaody Archipelago. Then she’d need to request permission to cross the Red Line, and once she was there, well, it wasn’t like she was in a big hurry to return home. But if she didn’t enter the New World soon, there was a chance that once the Poneglyph was be discovered and she’d be held up as soon as she set foot on holy land.

Nearly a month and a half had passed by the time she was able to get all her ducks in a row: training her replacement at work, sending letters to friends and family telling them she was moving, as well as shipping a couple of boxes to the Sabaody Archipelago. When that was done, Alex spent the longest three weeks of her life inside that passenger ship, trapped in a vessel wondering where the heck was her life going, but after several stops along the way, in a very early morning, she arrived to Saint Poplar. She had about a month to go until the renovations started and she became officially a fugitive. Probably. The fact that she wouldn’t be able to know if she was overreacting unless shit hit the fan didn’t help her feel secure in any decision she took, but hey, if she was wrong and nothing happened in the end, she could always go back to Duster Town.

The first thing she did upon arrival was consult the ship schedules at the port. Several pages with timetables were tacked to a board with a glass cover. It was better kept than most information boards she had come across, but it was to be expected, since Saint Poplar and the surrounding islands were popular tourist spots.

By the looks of it, she had missed the last direct ship to Marineford by two days, and the next one wasn’t scheduled yet because there was an Aqua Laguna alert. Joy. She had to explain her predicament to a few locals until one of the women working at the port gave her something useful to work with.

“There should still be a liner leaving Water 7 in a few days. They usually wait until the last day so as many people as possible can leave the island before the sea gets too rough.”

Alex took this information as well as one would take a knee to the solar plexus. Another trip meant more money wasted. It was becoming increasingly evident that she’d have to pick up a job somewhere before she was able to cross the Red Line, because safe passage required money. Lots of it. And unless she robbed a bank, she didn’t think she’d be able to get it before the archive renovation started. She had a gun. And she entertained the idea for the entirety of two seconds before coming back to reality.

“Okay,” she said. If nothing else, she’d be able to sightsee. That was an island she had wanted to visit for a long time. “Do you know where can I take a ship to Water 7?”

“There are no ships to Water 7,” the lady replied, amused. “There’s the Sea Train.”

“Oh! I forgot.” It was very much like her to know the Sea Train was a thing and not remember that it had an actual purpose, besides making a city famous. “Is the station far from here, or…?”

“No, it’s…” She looked below the ship schedules in front of them. There was a faded map of the city behind the glass. She pointed one spot, on the opposite side of the city. It was mostly a straight line from where she was if she followed the main streets. “Here. It’s easy to find.”

She had to resist the temptation to pull out of her backpack a fountain pen and draw the map on the back of her hand, since she didn’t trust her memory all that much, and instead she said, “Thank you very much!”

The woman smiled at her, lifted a crate bigger than Alex without breaking a sweat, and went on her merry way. Meanwhile, she spent the following minutes staring intensely at the map to make completely sure that she wasn’t going to take a wrong turn even though there were absolutely no turns to make. Anxiety was a wonderful condition.

By the time she started moving, she was looking at the next hours in a different light. As inconvenient as this detour was, Alex felt more excited than anything else at the idea of riding a Sea Train and going to the city where it originated. She’d seen the pictures, and it was supposed to be all canals that the locals navigated with little boats instead of wheeled vehicles. May as well enjoy the trip as much as she could, right?

Humming as she went, the trek across the St. Poplar brought her through streets of stone lined with tall buildings, some made of that same stone, but most of them in a more polished classical style. The pediments she saw suggested fifteenth century, so not too old. The less ostentatious houses were brick painted in light tones, with planters hanging from balconies that added little splashes of color to the otherwise muted palette and, in the case of those that were more worn out, provided the exciting possibility of said planters falling on a passerby’s head. Better to stay away from some of those cornices, too.

The atmosphere more than made up for the stoning risk, though. The city was as lively as it could be, and she found herself wishing that she had an excuse to remain in it for a little longer, but it was not to be. Come to think of it, wasn’t there a huge carnival going on in San Faldo around those dates? That explained the people walking around in costumes and elaborate masks. If she ever got to go on vacation again, she was making this area of Paradise her priority.

But if an Aqua Laguna was approaching, she needed to be out of its range as soon as possible, or she risked getting stranded in a place highly frequented by government employees where she could be spotted without backup. Moving swiftly was a priority until she could settle down and lay low to see how the situation unfolded.

She took longer to get to her destination than if she hadn’t kept getting distracted with every little thing that caught her attention, but eventually she was greeted by a platform and a white-gray building with a sign that identified it as Spring Station. She looked out to the sea, unable to see anything at first, until she noticed a shadow beneath the water. Railways swayed back and forth with the waves, a feat of engineering that she wouldn’t have believed had the train not been functional for over ten years. It even connected directly with Enies Lobby, so it had to be reliable. The government wouldn’t be using it to routinely transport their own people otherwise.

She walked into the station and headed straight to the timetable next to the ticket window. There were people sitting inside with bags, and many of them in costume. She wished she could spare the money and the time to join in, or at least run her hands over the velvety fabrics and intricate embroidery. She had done her fair share of sewing and the construction and materials of the costumes were seamstress porn.

The train was scheduled for departure in two hours. Better not to wander too far.

❦

There were many people inside Alex’s car, some dressed in regular clothes, some in costume. She would have liked to sit next to the window, but she was stuck in an aisle seat, and though she wasn’t uncomfortable by any means, she lamented having to spend the trip looking at her feet instead of the sea.

The seats were really nice, though. She wondered how luxurious first class had to be, if her butt was already on velvet and her feet on fluffy carpet. That was where the government agents must go, since when they stopped at Enies Lobby, nobody entered her car or the adjacent ones, judging by the lack of noise.

About an hour passed without incident until she noticed a faint smell, like smoke, and soon after, someone spoke through the PA system.

“Dear passengers, we inform you that the Sea Train is going to make an unscheduled stop at Shift Station for maintenance. The new hour of arrival to Water 7 will be 12 PM. We are sorry for the inconvenience. You may leave your seats until it’s time to resume the voyage.”

Varying degrees of protests filled the car, but Alex couldn’t say she minded. The train was starting to get stuffy with so many people, and she sensed an incoming headache from the nonstop chatter of the group across the aisle.

A scarce minute later, the train reduced its speed until it came to a halt, and immediately after, a stewardess appeared to unlock the doors. Alex decided to get up, find out in what kind of place this Shift Station was, and stretch her legs, because the seat may have been velvet, but the cushion under it was long flattened. First class was hoarding the good ones for sure.

The smell of saltwater hit her in the face with the subtlety of a Buster Call. She was very confused at how much water she was seeing until she realized that the station was little more than a platform on each side of the rails, a lighthouse, and a house in the middle of the ocean.

There wasn’t much to see once the first impression wore off, though she could have easily spent hours just watching the hypnotic swaying of the waves. There had always been something drawing her to it. She thought about how terrifying it had to be getting caught there during a storm, and how solid the little house on the platform must have been to still be standing there for a decade. The station master, if there was one, had to have nerves of steel.

Since she had nothing else to do, she stretched and began to pace around the platform, watching the passengers who had also gotten off the train. Not too many, considering the amount of people that were travelling in it, but she had to admit the platform amidst the waves was not for the faint of heart. She was certainly not going to get close to the edge. She saw mostly the same types of people she had been sitting with, but from the first car appeared a group dressed in expensive clothing and another of men in black suits.

She did a double take when she saw a familiar World Government insignia on the lapels of their jackets. Embroidery work was wasted on those people. They were Cipher Pol agents, and while their presence was more than reasonable, they still put her on edge. Best not to get close. How did one try their hardest to not look guilty without looking even guiltier?

Faced with this unsolvable conundrum, she diverted her gaze to look anywhere but at them, and out of the corner of her eye she noticed one of them look in her direction for a moment before going back to their conversation. Slowly and innocently, if steps could be walked in such a way, she ducked into the building and decided to keep to the shadows until the train was ready to go. Out of sight, out of mind, they said, and in case she actually became a fugitive, she didn’t need to be remembered by a member of an intelligence agency.

The fresh air was nice, though. Definitely worth sharing her vital space with government agents for a few minutes.

“Chimney got clogged again, didn’t it?”

Alex wanted to jump out of her skin when she suddenly heard a voice behind her, but the upside of being in a constant state of mild anxiety was that she just tensed up very hard when she got spooked. Shoulders squared and butt firmly clenched, she turned around to see an old woman with a grin so wide that it dipped into the uncanny valley. She was stocky, with lime green hair tied in braids, and wore a hat with Water 7’s initials that probably meant she worked there.

This was not how Alex had expected the station master to look, and if she had had it in her to worry about complete strangers, she would have been concerned about the woman’s safety.

A small girl with lips and hair conspicuously similar to the woman’s spoke up from behind her, annoyed. “I didn’t! I’ve been going every day!”

The older woman laughed loudly. “I meant the train, not you!”

The girl huffed and left, but the older woman stayed.

Now that she was facing her, her breath hit Alex, and it reeked of alcohol. Oh dear. She hoped the woman didn’t have a terribly important job there. She didn’t get what was so funny about the exchange, but she didn’t want to ask, either.

“I don’t know,” she replied with hesitation, realizing she had been asked a question. “They just told us we were going to stop for a while.”

“It happens sometimes.” She said. The grin was perpetually etched in her face. “They made the chimney too long, but Tom always said it looked nicer that way. You’d think Iceburg would have more sense once he took over, but he says he doesn’t want to change it.”

As soon as those names were dropped, Alex’s brain began to try and make connections like a madman with a wall covered in papers trying to make sense of a conspiracy theory. She didn’t know if the woman was assuming she knew who those people were or she was so drunk that she didn’t care.

Fortunately for Alex, she did know, marginally, who she was referring to – Iceburg, Water 7’s current mayor, was famous worldwide thanks to the Galley-La Company, and by Tom she assumed she meant the man who designed the original sea train. That name would have escaped her, had not a number of coincidences engraved it in her mind.

She couldn’t say if Tom had been forgotten as a relic of a past era or forcibly ejected from public memory as a result of being connected to Gold Roger and ever-present racism. He was a genius inventor, the one who put Water 7 on the world map by building the Sea Train, and the world returned the favor by executing him.

Most executions relating to the Pirate King had happened when Alex was still very young and didn’t pay much attention to anything that went on outside of her immediate vicinity, but Tom’s happened much later, when she was twenty and being aware of the world’s geopolitics was an indispensable part of her studies. They granted him a few more years to finish the Sea Train, and everybody back then had been convinced that his service would be repaid with a pardon, but that wasn’t how the World Government worked.

Unstoppable in their mission to purge every little thing that remained of Roger, they eliminated the man who built the Oro Jackson. Alex’s friend opened a bottle of his wife’s good whiskey, and then another, and suddenly it was four in the morning with him slurring and sobbing on the table, and his wife was halfway through the second pack of cigarettes of the night and Alex was so drunk in solidarity too that it was a good thing that her chair had a sturdy back and armrests, because otherwise she was pretty sure she’d have slid to the sticky floor and stayed there listening to old stories. He had a killer hangover the next day and Alex was just sleepy because young bodies were capable of amazing things, and then everything seemed to return to normal.

That had been a bad year, and a combination of everything happening at once and managing to torpedo her own academic career meant that putting it behind wasn’t an easy thing to do. Aside from Tom’s execution bringing down the mood considerably and her own personal problems, passage through the Red Line was also shut for months after queen Otohime’s assassination, meaning that Alex couldn’t return home at the time the country was going through the worst political unrest in centuries, and even if she had been free to go, the long absence would have made her flunk the year and lose her scholarship. Alex remembered that year like one remembered a fever nightmare: fuzzy, never ending, with huge gaps in the middle, yet sinking its claws so deep within that it was just a mention or reminder away from resurfacing. Sabaody got worse around that time, too, due to Doflamingo’s rise to Shichibukai and king status. His auction house started operating in the archipelago while Marines looked the other way, and kidnapping crews grew in number and activity.

All in all, not the best time of her life. In fact, current technically-not-on-the-run Alex was still faring so much better than past Alex that the thought wrapped around from depressing to funny.

She looked at the Sea Train, trying to imagine it with a shorter chimney. Two men were at the top of the smokebox with big brushes. “I can see their point. The proportions would be off.”

The woman must have been in a very good mood, because she chuckled. “I’m not an engineer or an artist, so I can’t say. Why are you here, anyway? Do you need anything?”

“Oh, no, sorry, it’s just—” She thought about the Cipher Pol agents out there. “There’s a lot of people on the platform.”

“And it’s windy, too,” she said, looking at the sky. “People have gotten blown away before, you know.”

“…Oh. That’s good to know, thanks,” she said, timidly taking a step back into the house so she wasn’t being hit by the wind anymore. Alex still had some time to kill and was curious about the woman, and talkative as she was, she assumed she wouldn’t mind a bit of prodding. “You mentioned Iceburg and Tom. Do you know them?”

The laugh that came next didn’t sound as happy as the other ones, somehow. “Know them? I’ve known Iceburg since he was a little brat. Tom was a good friend. Did you know that Iceburg was his apprentice? Not that these people care,” she nudged her head towards the Cipher Pol agents and Alex sank even deeper into the little house. “Tom died so they could save face, but they won’t touch Iceburg because he’s useful. That’s all they mean to them.”

Alex didn’t know very well how to respond, but she felt the need to say something. “I have a friend who said the same. He sailed on one of Tom’s ships years ago.”

The woman looked at Alex, and beyond the drunken stupor, some clarity shined behind her eyes. “Oh? And what did he think about it? Was it smooth sailing?”

Alex smiled just a little bit. “Not really, but he says it was the best ship in the world.”

The woman cackled, happily this time. “Of course it was! He made the best ships! Not even Iceburg or…” She trailed off, and Alex couldn’t tell if she had forgotten where she was going or she had done it on purpose. “Say, are you headed to Water 7?”

“Yes, why?”

“I need you to do me a favor. All this talk’s gotten me nostalgic and the Aqua Laguna will be here any day, so…” The woman walked to a counter, pulled out a notebook, wrote something, tore out the page and kissed it before folding it twice. She waddled back to Alex and gave her the paper. “Give this to Iceburg.”

Alex’s hand froze with the paper already in it. “I… don’t think I can do that. Isn’t he famous? How am I supposed to meet him?”

The woman brushed her concerns off like nothing, and Alex’s nerves didn’t appreciate that. “Nah, it’s not a problem. Go to Dock 1 in the afternoon, he’s usually there avoiding official duty. Tell them Kokoro sent you. That should be enough.”

“Okay…?” She said, still unsure. “I won’t promise anything, though.”

“No need for promises, just deliver it. I need a drinking buddy.” And she added, “You should go to Blueno’s bar while you’re there. The booze is cheap and the food is good, and that isn’t something you can’t say about many places in the city.”

“Oh?” This new topic was interesting. “Is it very expensive?”

Kokoro laughed. “You’ll see when you get there.”

That sounded ominous for her budget, and Alex didn’t feel too good about this ordeal she had been roped into because the last thing she wanted to do was enable an alcoholic lady. But maybe Iceburg would look after her…? They were longtime friends, according to her.

At any rate, there wasn’t much point in refusing the errand. If delivering the note happened to be too complicated, she could pass and no one would be none the wiser. Her priority was to find a ship and get to Sabaody the sooner, the better.

And when she was there, maybe tell her friends that she had met a friend of a friend.

❦

When Alex arrived to Blue station, she had to remind herself that she had several objectives in mind and sightseeing came second. She put on her sunglasses to block out the glare of the sun and its reflection on the water, and looked up.

In front of her stood a colossal city built upwards and turned fountain, with five different levels of construction that culminated in an upwards surge of water. It was collected by a series of canalizations that crossed the city from the top to sea level and divided the second tier in smaller areas.

Water 7 was one of the many independent state-islands in the area, and though not affiliated with the World Government – it hadn’t been a notable location at all, before the Sea Train that ironically connected it to Enies Lobby was put in motion – its globally renowned shipyards often worked on Marine ships and other vessels for people with important positions in the government. It was said that nowhere else in the world could you find better shipwrights than in Water 7, and the man famously acclaimed for it was Iceburg, current mayor and owner of the aforementioned shipyards. He had founded the Galley-La company a few years ago, recruiting the best shipwrights he could find for his behemoth of an enterprise, and it worked. Alex was actually excited to see firsthand what all the fuss was about.

But first things first, and before taking the mysterious note to the mayor, she needed to find the ship that would take her to the Sabaody Archipelago.

She got unnecessarily lost several times inside the labyrinth of canals and side streets because she refused to walk up to people and ask, but eventually, she found the Grand Canal of the island and the harbor where most ships docked.

It didn’t take her long to mind a means of transport, thankfully. The passenger ship departed the next day in the morning, and with a lot of pain, Alex had to fork over a good chunk of her remaining savings to secure a ticket on such short notice. It wasn’t the end of the world, since, she already counted on having to stay in Sabaody for a while to rebuild her budget, but it stung.

After the more pressing issue was dealt with, she took a walk around the area to find somewhere to eat, maybe try some local specialty, but she felt her hunger vanish when she looked at the prices of the menus outside. Kokoro had been right. What was the place she had mentioned… Bruno’s? Blueno’s? Yeah, that sounded familiar.

Unfortunately, a cursory glance didn’t reveal its location. If it was cheaper, it was probably somewhere less central, and if that was the case, she’d have more luck crossing the bridge to Green Bit unscathed than finding it without assistance.

Face with the unavoidable fact that she had to ask someone if she had any hopes of finding the place, she took a look around and decided she might as well procrastinate on it for as long as she could. She started to walk towards the upper part of the city, the Shipbuilding Island, where the docks were located, or so multiple signposts said. It really drove home that they were the main attraction of the city, more than the canals of the amazing architecture.

Getting there was going to take a while. She could have rented one of those cute Yagara boats, but she was cheap as hell, and, not less importantly, the critters seemed a little overenthusiastic. After the trip, all the walking she had done and the lack of food, she wasn’t in the mood to be social with anybody, human or not.

Maybe she would be lucky and come across Blueno’s place as she went to the shipyards. Yeah. That was a hopeful lie she could hang onto while she forced her body to walk way more than it was used to.

She hummed on her way up, singing to herself when she went through empty streets. As it turned out, the difficulty of reaching the shipyards by foot wasn’t finding the way up, but rather being in the proper sidewalk when she happened upon the next bridge or set of stairs, and after an hour she had lost count of the amount of times she had reached a dead end and had to turn back to the nearest bridge to cross the street and ascend, from the third instance onwards accompanied by a cranky ‘GAAAAH’ as she ran in the right direction. One would have thought this wouldn’t have won her any points with the locals, but she heard a few snickering at her and saying something in a language she didn’t speak but universally translated as ‘hahaha, tourists.’

She’d be the first to admit that going up that monumental city while carrying a backpack wasn’t her brightest idea, but she was damned if she was going to cave in at that point and rent the Yagara. She’d wash downstream on the way back if it came to that, but she had to get to the top now by her own means.

The moment she set foot on Shipbuilding island, she walked a few steps away from the staircase to not block it, dropped her backpack, and then her ass next to it to catch her breath.

When she recovered enough to raise her head instead of thinking how miserably sore she was going to be in the morning, she was greeted by an even better view than when she arrived to the Blue Station, and she pushed her glasses up for a moment to better see the colors of the city.

The lowest level of Water 7 extended below her, clusters of white houses and orange roofs covering the entire expanse of the island that wasn’t occupied by the canals. The wind blew harder at that level, too, with less obstacles in its path, since that part of the city was built on a steep incline, and it carried with it the spray of the central fountain, painting a timid rainbow across the sky. She imagined the view at night being just as stunning.

She chose to view this as the reward for her efforts, and then snorted at her the consolation prize of her own making.

As nice as it was to stare at the city and the sky and sea beyond, she was there with a double mission of getting the note to Iceburg and being a little nosy, so she looked at the monumental stone door she had just crossed with the number three painted on it. She was willing to go out on a limb and assume that that wasn’t Dock 1, so she began to circle around the area to find the next one, and once again she had to go the way she had come when she saw the next door had a four. Alex would be the first to agree that the most powerful force in the universe was cosmic irony, but after the sidewalk business while she made her way up there, this seemed a little excessive.

At least the circular shape of the area and the conveniently located bridges allowed her to cross over the canals with ease, saving her from getting lost again, and in a matter of minutes door number one, wide open, came into view.

At first she didn’t know where to go, since each dock could have easily been a town on their own. She began to walk upwards, wondering how was she supposed to find Iceburg and with little intent to go out of her way to find him if she didn’t have luck. A couple of minutes later, she noticed a group of townspeople standing in a half circle and staring at something. Alex decided to approach them and see what was going on. There was a good chance that the mayor himself was attracting the crowd, if he really was as popular as the rumors said.

Standing at a safe distance from the group, she realized that it was composed mostly by women, and she looked at whatever had them so interested. A man with his torso covered in tattoos was carrying a couple of long planks over his shoulder with surprising ease, and another one, farther away, was sawing a tree trunk so big that it couldn’t be for anything but a mast. He caught Alex’s attention because for some reason he was wearing a top hat that clashed horribly with the rest of his outfit and there was a pigeon sitting on a nearby pile of crates and watching him work with surprising focus. None of them, obviously, looked like mayor material.

Alex wasn’t sure what the crowd was doing there until she heard a hushed comment about the shipwright’s arms and being able to break concrete with those. Oh, God, they were there to ogle at the shipwrights? Alex wasn’t nearly straight enough for this. How was that even allowed? She took a step away from them, but by then a cheerful man wearing a tracksuit of questionable taste had noticed the group and acknowledged them with a wave and a smile. One of the girls swooned, and Alex died a little inside, then died some more because she had worked hard on leaving behind her ‘not like the other girls phase’ but the circumstances weren’t helping matters.

The other workers were busy, but the new face seemed to be free at the moment, he looked friendly, and she had come to the conclusion that she’d have to communicate with strangers if Kokoro’s note was to be delivered. She waved back at the man with the paper in her hand and something that resembled urgency on her face. She wasn’t hopeful, but to her surprise, he started to walk towards her. At the same time, the man with the top hat finished the cut he was making and the white pigeon stood up, cooed at tracksuit guy, and flew to rest on the shoulder of his coworker.

“Hattori is so cute,” one of the women said.

Alex didn’t know anymore who of the three was Hattori. She was even more confused when top hat guy passed near his colleague and the pigeon said, “I’ll take care of it.”

“Lucci’s coming our way!” One of the younger girls said, excited.

“Do you think he’ll pick another fight with Paulie today?”

“I hope so! Did you see what his fingers did to the—”

Alright, time to unplug from the conversation. She could guess that Lucci was the name of the man, because she didn’t think a pigeon, no matter how articulate, could inspire so much passion.

The name gave her pause.

Where had she heard it before? It sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it. Maybe she had heard someone talk about him at some point. He had to be a renowned shipwright if he was working in Dock 1 of Water 7, of all places.

Lucci was tall, but she didn’t realize just how much until he was right in front of her, staring her down in a way that, in any other context, she’d have assumed meant that he was about to snap her neck. Was he taller than Trafalgar Law, or did the top hat made him look like he was? She only knew that if she ever had the back luck of bumping into the guy, she would likely split her forehead against his pectoral muscles. The man was built like a classical marble statue with facial hair, tattoos, and a serious case of resting bitchface. She could empathize with him on the latter.

“Can I help you?”

Alex didn’t know whether to look at the pigeon or the man, and in a panic, she settled on the man because it felt wiser to not lose sight of him than a bird.

And what a bird. That pigeon was easily the size of her head.

“I met a woman named Kokoro at Shift Station. She asked me to give this note to mayor Iceburg,” she said, showing the folded note to him.

He extended a hand for her to pass the paper, and she wasn’t sure how ethical it was to let another person read a clearly personal note with a kiss stamped on it, but to be quite frank, she didn’t care and he and the close attention his group of fans was making her anxious.

A pair of strangely-shaped eyebrows lifted when he read the message.

“Kokoro?” The bird repeated. There had to be a trick there. That was a pigeon, not a parrot, they weren’t supposed be able to enunciate like humans. It was probably unreasonable of her to revoke her suspension of disbelief due to that when she knew there were so many strange creatures living in the Grand Line, but she had to draw the line somewhere. “Mayor Iceburg is doing his rounds right now. He should be here in a few minutes. You can wait for him over there,” he said, gesturing with a wing at a pile of neatly stacked timber across from where his owner had been working, and Lucci returned the note to her. “Don’t be noisy.”

“I wasn’t going to,” she retorted with a mix of indignation and embarrassment, reflexively taking a step away from him and the group she had just been associated with. The movement telegraphed against her will that she found him intimidating, which only served to embarrass her more. “Thank you.”

There really was no way anybody with functioning eyes could mistake her for one of the group. The ladies looked nice, and Alex looked like… well, she couldn’t tell, but she was glad she didn’t have a mirror on hand, because if she looked as sweaty as she felt, she wasn’t a pretty sight. The boots and big backpack on her back were also clear signs that she wasn’t from around there.

Wordlessly, Lucci returned to his job while Alex was left with the impression that she had just been made fun of, not that anybody could tell by the shipwright’s stony face. She relaxed a little when he left her alone, not in small part due to the attention of the group being lifted from her.

That place was nothing like the shipyards she was used to. Canals ran through it, same as in the city below, and led to other slide-like canalizations that connected to the lower levels. There were a lot of those all around the city, she had noticed, acting as roads for the Yagaras, and, she guessed in the case of the larger ones, to help transport the newly built or repaired ships from the docks to sea level.

Some time had passed when she caught sight of a blue-haired man in a striped suit walking in her general direction, closely followed by a blonde woman with a strict expression, and while he was busy inspecting the work of a shipwright, she noticed Alex was away from the crowd and made a beeline for her.

“Excuse me.” The tone of the pleasantry suggested that it was actually her who was excusing Alex’s presence. “Do you have any business here?”

Alex didn’t enjoy being talked down to, so the reply came out harsher that she meant. “As a matter of fact, I do.” When she realized how snappy she had sounded, she explained quickly, “I was told by Kokoro to deliver a message to mayor Iceburg, and he,” she gestured at Lucci, who was busy with his job and not paying them any mind, with the note, “said I could wait for him here.”

“Did he, now,” she replied, sending a skeptical glance at the man, and she extended her hand towards Alex. Someone must have pissed in her coffee that morning. “Let me see.”

That note was going to places, she thought, but the woman must have found its contents acceptable, because she returned it to Alex and told her, “Wait here.”

Alex was about to start having flashbacks of all the bureaucratic mess involved with her recent move out of Duster Town. The woman went to the man in the suit and directed him towards Alex while she walked over to Lucci to tell him something she wasn’t able to hear because she now had to pay attention to the mayor of the city.

“Hello,” he said, sounding much politer than the woman. “Kalifa tells me you have a message for me.”

It was curious, comparing the old descriptions she had heard of the man with his current appearance. He wouldn’t have been caught dead in a suit twenty years ago, for instance.

“Yes, from Kokoro. Here,” she said, finally giving the note to its intended recipient and feeling like she was set free from a curse.

“Hm?” He opened he note, and after just a split second his face turned into a grimace. “Ugh, gross!”

“Uh, what?” The note had already passed two filters, so she couldn’t imagine what could warrant that reaction.

He showed her the note and Alex read it for the first time. Same place, same time? It said. The lipstick imprint of the kiss was smudged and stained the whole page. Iceburg didn’t waste any time in crumpling the paper and tossing it over his shoulder.

“Thank you for delivering the message.”

“Mr. Iceburg! No littering!” The woman from before warned, but someone else replied to her.

“Don’t speak like that to Mr. Iceburg, you wretched woman! And show some property while you’re in the docks!”

The woman didn’t reply, but she sent a death glare to the man who had spoken up, and Alex could have sworn that she pulled down the zipper of her jacket lower than it already was, drawing an even bigger reaction from him.

“Nmaa, don’t mind them,” Iceburg said, sounding bored. WYou don’t seem from around here. Are you visiting?”

“Just passing by before the Aqua Laguna comes,” she replied. “But I wish I could stay longer.”

He smiled with something akin to pride. “It’s a good city, isn’t it? What have you seen so far?”

“Oh, well, I walked around the Grand Canal and the shopping district earlier, and I saw a bit of the city while I walked up here, but—”

“You walked here?”

Oh, this was so awkward. She should have tossed that note into the sea. “I’m a historian,” she replied, because that was an excuse that always curbed people’s curiosity. “I wanted to take my time exploring.”

“If that’s the case, have you seen the maritime museum yet? It’s near the Grand Canal, and there’s a showcase about the origins of the city right now.”

She wasn’t a big fan of museums, truth be told, but professional habit compelled her to go anyway. The list of places she had to visit didn’t seem to shrink. “No, but I’ll be sure to—Oh, that reminds me!” Might as well ask while she had his attention, she thought. “Kokoro recommended going to Blueno’s bar while I was here. Where can I find it?”

“Ah, good idea!” Iceburg’s face lit up. “Let’s see, what can we do… Since you don’t have a Yagara, let me ask Kalifa if she has a map of—”

“No need, Mr. Iceburg.” Someone else piped up. “It’s time for my break, so I can show her.”

The guy in the tracksuit from before was walking up to them, showing a warm smile.

“That would be perfect,” Iceburg replied, and the said to Alex. “This is one of our foremen, Kaku.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Kaku looked young and sounded old at once. “Likewise,” Alex replied. “I’m Alex.”

“Well then, Alex,” he said in a suspiciously cheerful tone. “I don’t have long, so we’ll have to get there in a jiffy. Are you ready?”

As ready as she was ever going to be until she had a good night’s sleep. “Sure. Whenever you…”

A not so inoffensive grin spread on Kaku’s face and he broke into a sprint in Alex’s direction, so fast that she couldn’t duck from his path before he threw an arm around her, easily lifting her from the floor, extra weight from the backpack and all, and he kept running toward the edge of the level and jumped.

She thought she yelled, but she couldn’t hear her own voice against the roar of the wind in her ears and her blood pressure rising at the absolute certainty that she was going to become a pancake, the only doubt being whether she’d be dry or wet at the bottom of a canal.

On reflex, she grabbed tightly onto the only thing available, which was Kaku’s arm firmly wrapped around her torso, and her grip was met with stone hard muscle. What was up with these shipwrights?

She saw Dock 1 get smaller and smaller at breakneck speed as she fell backwards, and she braced for impact and shut her eyes as the first rooftop approached, but they didn’t crash against it because Kaku did something before he hit it. She felt it in the shift of his body, like he had bounced off the surface.

Alex paid more attention to his feet after she realized she wasn’t going to die splattered against a rooftop, and the second time she saw it: right before his shoes touched the roof tiles, he jumped again, stepping on air, effectively creating the illusion that he was jumping from building to building.

The adrenaline-fueled fear of impending doom was suddenly replaced by cold dread.

She had seen that before. She knew what that was.

A civilian couldn’t possibly know how to do that.

So who was the man carrying her right now? The only thing separating her from certain death? Could he have learned to do that anywhere else or could it be a different technique? There was always a chance that he was retired, but he was so young, and already so skilled, and she knew for a fact that the Marines didn’t like letting go of those.

…Marines?

Where… where had she heard the name Lucci, again…?

She had to be imagining things, for sure, but she also had a strong feeling that she needed to take her leave from the island as soon as possible. She was sleeping with a gun under her pillow that night.

With a few last hops, Kaku landed on firm ground and Alex thanked her lucky stars when he put her down safely. She felt lightheaded, and wasn’t sure if it was because of the sudden freefall or that her all-consuming paranoia had her doubting the intentions of one of Galley-La’s foremen, which sounded increasingly stupid the longer her feet where in contact with solid stone.

“Here we are,” he said, gesturing at something behind Alex’s back.

Her reaction was slow, but when she turned around, she saw a door with a big red sign above that said Blueno’s.

She felt a pang of guilt for being afraid of the guy when he had done her a huge favor, albeit in a kind of dickish way. Dock 1 was a good ways away, and she would have given up if she had had to walk there. She looked at him and admitted, “That was pretty cool once I got over the heart attack.”

She still sounded kind of breathless and didn’t know if asking how he had learned to extreme parkour was a good idea.

Kaku laughed with joy that rang true. “My apologies about that. I rarely ever have company on the way down.”

She tried to picture Kaku grabbing Lucci the same way he had done to her and jumping down, and her brain broke during the attempt. “Yeah, I can’t imagine that colleague of yours with the top hat jumping down the…” She trailed off, interrupted by her own thoughts and questions about that other guy, and the pause became awkward. “Anyway—”

“You can ask,” he said, smiling.

She jumped at the opportunity. “Is he a ventriloquist?”

“It’s a hobby,” Kaku replied, amused, as he pushed the door open. “Ladies first.”

Alex didn’t know what it was with every strange man he came across lately that their courtesies sounded vaguely threatening, but she entered the venue, nonetheless.

It was much nicer than she had expected. The bartender was a wide man with a circle beard and hair sticking out like horns, and he was appropriately wiping a set of glasses behind the counter, like every barman should during their first introduction.

“Good afternoon, Blueno!” Kaku greeted him before Alex could say anything, going inside after her.

“Same as always?”

“Please.” He leaned against the bar. Alex sat on a barstool near him and tried to be emotionally ready to be the third wheel in two strangers’ interaction. “Oh, and something for the others, too. Whatever it is. We’re finishing a big repair today and you know how it goes.”

“Is it the Marine warship?”

“A windjammer for a private client. Working metal is a pain, and they want it yesterday.” He sounded displeased for the first time since they had met. “You can’t rush a good job.”

“The customer is never right,” Blueno agreed.

Kaku raised an eyebrow at him. “I hope that wasn’t directed at me.”

“Of course not,” Blueno’s reply sounded paternalistic. Alex could sense the history behind these two. “It’s odd to see you with someone else.”

Kaku put aside his mild annoyance to introduce her. “She’s Alex. She was visiting the shipyards and I brought her along on my way down.”

“Hi,” she said, looking for any other words she had learned during the course of her life and drawing a blank. Someone kill her, please.

“I see. I thought the landing sounded heavier than usual,” Blueno observed.

“Attentive as always.” Kaku commended him. “But what an awful thing to say to a young lady. She’s light as a two-by-four.”

“No offense meant,” Blueno said to her in good humor. “It’s part of the job.”

“None taken, I’m at least a four-by-four.”

There was a hint of a smile, on his face when he asked, “What will you have?”

“Whatever you recommend. I haven’t eaten since I woke up.”

“Can you believe she walked all the way to Dock 1 to sightsee?” Kaku chuckled. “I didn’t think historians were the sporty types.”

“You heard that?”

“I have pretty good hearing, too.”

“I can’t imagine what type of madman wouldn’t ride a Yagara to make that trip,” Blueno replied. No doubts about who he had in mind this time. “A historian, huh? I suppose this city’s fairly old.”

“The architecture’s really interesting.” She replied, finally reaching a topic that she could talk about. Though she was a bit concerned that they knew what she was because Suspicious Foreman was suspicious, she didn’t see what harm could come of it. “It’s impressive to think this is all supported by wood pillars.”

“They keep sinking year by year, though. At this rate, there won’t be a city in a few decades,” Kaku said, surprisingly grim.

“Thanks for showing me the rooftops while they’re still visible, then,” Alex joked in a weak attempt to bring his good mood back.

It worked. He had such a cute smile. “You’re more than welcome.” He turned to the bartender. “Now then, Blueno…”

“Right away,” the man replied, going into the kitchen and leaving Alex and Kaku alone for a few minutes.

A companionable silence, until Kaku broke it and his question put Alex on edge again. “Where do historians in the making study nowadays, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“Marineford, mostly. There aren’t many places left.” The same people offering the current curriculum had made sure of it.

“And what drives someone so young to be so interested in history?”

She had been asked that question so many times, and the real answer was always curiosity. To learn the truths that shaped the present. She had the folder with the Poneglyph transcript in her backpack to account for that.

But even partial truths could be dangerous given her current situation, so she replied, “I could ask the same of you. How does someone so young get so good at building ships?”

There was a flash of surprise in his face at the question being turned against him. It was quickly substituted by one of his smiles, but Alex had the impression that he was very aware that she was deflecting on purpose. “I’ve liked them since I was a kid,” he said. “I couldn’t tell you why.”

She shrugged, mirroring his smile. “There’s your answer.”

He laughed lightly and turned to look at the bottles behind the bar with an amused expression. He didn’t insist or say anything else, and the more at ease he looked, the more anxious Alex grew.

It wasn’t long until Blueno showed up again with a bag full of sandwiches wrapped in paper in one hand and a towering plate of pasta with black sauce on the other that she set in front of Alex.

“Thanks,” Kaku said, putting the money on the counter and grabbing the bag. “See you later.” And he faced Alex one last time, lifting his cap a little in a polite gesture and revealing a blonde mass of curls. “It’s been a pleasure. Good luck on your travels.”

“Thank you!”

He left the bar, and his departure added to the leaning tower of pasta made her think that her day was starting to look up until she remembered that she had only mentioned she was leaving soon to Iceburg.

How long had he been listening in?

❦

She couldn’t sleep.

Despite her misgivings, the rest of the day had passed without incident. She booked a room for the night at an inn off the beaten path that Blueno had recommended, checked out the maritime museum, and nearly fallen asleep after half an hour because that was the effect that, sadly, most museums had on her. But she did see an old picture next to a Sea Train model of Tom, his two apprentices, and the master of Shift Station.

Time didn’t wait for anybody, she thought as she flexed her aching hands.

She ended up walking around again, this time only through the lowest district, rejecting even the mere sight of stairs, and saw a cape where someone had built the weirdest and most colorful house of the city. Near it was a scrapyard, and though she had no intentions of going close to either, a couple of locals told her to watch her belongings while she was there. It was a bit nostalgic.

It was difficult to believe, she thought as she stared at the ceiling of her room, that such a vibrant city was sinking under its own weight, and that as soon as the sea swallowed it, there would be nothing but stories being told about it. Maybe that was how those legends of ancient islands that disappeared came to be. Maybe Water 7 would become a legend to, a few centuries down the line.

She fidgeted with the stone around her neck, a nervous habit had for as long as she’d been wearing it. It was better than biting her nails, at least, but it looked weird when she wore it inside her clothes and unconsciously reached for it, so she did her best to avoid it.

She was very tired and sore from all that walking, but try as she might, she couldn’t turn off her thoughts. After way too much tossing and turning, she decided she would rather see more of the city than waste her time in bed. She could catch up on sleep when she boarded the ship to Sabaody, anyway.

She picked up the same pair of jeans she had been wearing all day, the black tank top she usually wore under her sweaters, and tossed around her shoulders the same red shawl she used to wear like a scarf in Harlun. It wasn’t cold outside, but the night breeze was somewhat chilly. Better safe than sorry.

She debated whether to pick up the gun in her backpack or leave it there, and she decided on the former. A present from her father when she came of age for the sake of her safety, and one she had never liked.

It wasn’t too late yet, only a few minutes past 10 PM, and there was still a healthy flow of people on the streets. Alex made her way to one of the many Yagara rental shops still open and paid for one of the small ones. There she went, defeating her own purpose like the hypocrite she was.

“One question,” she told the shop owner as she settled on the boat, “Are the docks open at this hour?”

“They usually leave the doors open, yeah. Sometimes there’s people working at night.” He replied. “Why, you want to go now?”

“I was thinking of checking out the view from the highest part of the city.”

“That so? Then you just need to go up one of the main canals in the Shipbuilding Island.”

“Thanks!” She said, and then patted the Yagara on the head. It was cold, wet and scaly. “Can you bring me to Dock 1? There’s no hurry.” She had seen one of them speeding through a canal early and she was not ready for that.

The Yagara uttered a high-pitched guttural sound that no fishlike creature had any business doing and started to swim at a relaxed pace.

Alex didn’t know how long it took them to get to their destination, distracted as she was watching the city from a different viewpoint, but the higher they went, the less people that seemed to be out. By the time they reached Dock 1, the area was devoid of human presence, and all the ship parts and materials Alex had seen in the morning had been either moved somewhere safer or covered by tarps to protect them from the weather.

The Yagara continued its slow ascent through the canal that separated Dock 1 and 2, and the base of the fountain wasn’t too far when she heard hammering sounds. Someone was still working.

Curiosity, as was usual, got the best of her and she told the Yagara to slow down. Whoever was there also noticed her presence, because the hammering stopped.

A man stepped under the light of a streetlight, hammer in hand, to check out the canal, and Alex realized with surprise that he was none other than Water 7’s mayor, though he had shed the jacket and shirt. He was wearing only an undershirt with those awful striped pants from before and business shoes.

“Who’s there?” He asked.

Alex realized the light didn’t reach her, so he was probably just seeing a shadow, and in the deserted dock it had to be more than a little unnerving. She nudged the Yagara towards the light and replied, “It’s me from before! Sorry to interrupt, I was just passing by!”

Iceburg looked at her with interest and approached her, so she thought it was only polite to step out of the boat.

“Where are you going at this hour?” He asked, stopping at arm’s length of her.

“I was trying to get to the top of the city.” She smiled apologetically. “I’m sightseeing.”

He relaxed upon hearing the explanation, and with a smile, he said, “Glad to see that the scare from earlier didn’t kill you.”

It was official, everybody in Dock 1 had decided to pick on her. “It could have!” She replied. “Does he do that often?”

“Jumping? Yes, but most of the time he doesn’t take people with him. He did it to Paulie once and he was foaming at the mouth when they landed. Never heard the end of it for a week." The fondness with which he spoke betrayed that he hadn’t minded the aftermath as much as the words suggested.

She didn’t know who Paulie was, but he was justified in being upset. She also thought that it was nice to meet a boss that seemed to appreciate his workers. “I don’t see other shipwrights around. Are you working here alone?”

“Nmaa…” he started lazily, “I sent them home. The heavy lifting was done; I can finish it myself.”

Iceburg may have been a shipwright before becoming president of the company, but Alex hadn’t expected him to do manual labor when he had paid other people for it. “The windjammer?”

“Kaku told you?” He sounded pleased, and he answered the unspoken question from before. She assumed he got it a lot. “My day job is meetings, papers and ass kissing all day long. I prefer this.”

This was much easier to reconcile with the stories she had heard of Water 7. “I can’t say I’d mind the papers, but the rest sounds exhausting.”

“Bodies need to move. Weren’t you doing field research today?”

“By accident.” She couldn’t help the smile that appeared on her face. He was easy to talk to, and seeing this side of him, she didn’t feel like she had to watch her words so much. “I’m trying to find a way home. Train and ship schedules brought me here.”

“You chose a difficult time of the year to sail. Is it far away?”

She nodded lightly. “It’s still a ways away.” Nonetheless, she was glad for this detour. Maybe that was why she found the courage to say, “I have a friend who came to this city about twenty years ago. He said you worked on his ship.”

Maybe it was because she lost filters when she was tired.

“Is that so?” He said, curious. “I’ve worked in many ships. Things were very different back then.” He glanced away, at the district that had only taken this shape a few years ago, thanks to him. “Did the ship do its job?”

She wondered what to say. Nothing that could do it justice, for sure. “Brought them to the end of the world, in fact.”

She wished she had been there to see it.

Iceburg’s eyes widened with surprise, and after a short, contemplative silence, he said, “That ship took much from us.” There was hurt in his voice. “I think Tom knew it would be one of his last, so he put his everything in it. He would have done anything for his friends.”

It was easy to forget that every great story had real people behind it. “Sorry for bringing it up.”

He shook his head. “We never regretted it, so… don’t. It was a magnificent ship. Tom’s best work, after the Sea Train.” He paused. “Is your friend okay?”

“Doing alright for sure. He’d be all over the papers if something happened to him.”

“That’s good to hear.” A smile that reached his eyes came back only to morph into a sigh in an instant. “Well, I need to go back to…”

“Of course!” She said very quickly. “Sorry for holding you up. It was a pleasure to meet you.” And to put a face to the stories, too.

“I should say the same,” he said, and it didn’t sound like an empty pleasantry. “Fair winds on the way back home.”

“Thank you.”

As he started to walk away, Alex hopped back on the boat and pulled the shawl tighter around her. Perhaps she should have put on a jacket, after all.

The view from the top of the district was as spectacular as she had hoped.

❦

She wasn’t sure how she got up from bed the next morning. Must have been the fairies that pushed her upright, because everything hurt and she was so exhausted that she couldn’t even open her eyes after a thorough face wash. Somehow, she managed to drag her feet to the dining room and have a light breakfast. Bless the laziness that had prevented her from changing into her pajamas again before she dropped on the bed when she returned from the docks, because she didn’t think she’d have been able to stick her legs in the right holes of the jeans.

She returned to her room, triple checked to make sure she wasn’t leaving anything behind, and checked out of the inn.

Despite the brief but intense stay, and the uneasy feeling she had since she had met Kaku, she didn’t really want to go, but she had done the right thing booking passage for the ship to Sabaody. Imagine getting stuck in a city next to one of the government’s main islands because of a high tide. No, thanks, she hadn’t come this far to fail when she was a week away from her destination.

So it was with a bit of regret that Alex boarded the passenger ship that would carry her to the archipelago, but she had always been good at ignoring what she felt like doing in favor of what had to be done, and this was going to be no exception.

From the deck, she saw a pirate ship sail past them, black flag with a straw hat billowing in the wind.

#what are tags even and what are titles #degrees of separation

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is0gild · 4 years ago

Text

Ice Cream and Fire Oven Pizza - Chapter 19

Pairing: Elsa x Lea/Axel || Side Pairing: Riku x OC

Summary: Modern AU. She's an introvert ball of nerves who works at Ice Palace, a mall food court ice cream shop. He's the outgoing, sassy goofball who works at the Pizza Planet across the way. Hilarity, snark, and fluffy romcom hijinks ensue.

Word Count: 9,165

FIRST CHAPTER || PREVIOUS CHAPTER || NEXT CHAPTER

Credit for super friggin’ cute and super friggin’ amazing cover art goes to the super friggin’ talented ky-jane here on tumblr!

Neverland, as I was currently discovering, was a huge indoor playground at the Dusk Town Center mall. A place where children never had to grow up, or so its big overhead sign boasted. Its vast range of diversions for the little ones included such attractions as a jungle gym in the shape of a large comical skull, a huge green plastic alligator that had a slide built into its long back, and monkey bars supported at either end by large, spooky prop trees. Off in one corner, there were even synthetic, cute yet culturally problematic teepees for the tiny tots to crawl around and hide in. But its crowning jewel seemed to be the kiddie train that ran along the tracks circling the entire play area. Each of its carts were actually little pirate ships that could fit one child in it, maybe two if they were really little.

Since the playground was in the middle of a wide open mall walkway, many stores surrounded it, such as an antique shop by the name of Cave of Wonders. Beyond the rusty brass lamps in its window and past an old, tacky purple carpet draping off a shelf, a friendly young woman with long black hair tied back into a two-sectioned ponytail and wearing a turquoise crop top could be seen running the counter.

Next door to that was Game-A-Saurus Rex, a video game store sporting a green t-rex mascot as part of its logo. An absolute giant of an employee with messy brown hair was currently setting up a display pyramid but his meaty, clumsy hands accidentally knocked it over, wrecking it. I got the feeling this wasn't the first time from the look of being one hundred percent done he was receiving from his silver haired coworker with mismatched eyes.

Neighboring them, I was a bit surprised to discover there was even an Esmerelda's Secrets here as well, a… ahem, lingerie store, to use a more PG term. I found its location so near to the play area to be a bit of a questionable mall layout choice.

I sighed, paper bag lunch crinkling in my grip as I glanced around.

Where was he?

"Are you sure this is where he told you he wanted to meet up?" Kristoff asked beside me, his eyes scanning about as well. Thankfully, he'd forgiven me by now for the minor phone-hurling fiasco and we were back on speaking terms again.

"Positive," I fished my mobile out of my pocket with my free hand, rereading Lea's text asking me to head to Neverland once my lunch break had started.

Since I'd never heard of it before, I'd asked Kristoff (him being the closest person at hand since he'd been working the Ice Palace registers with me) if he'd known what it was. I figured he could at least point me in the right direction, which would be faster than looking at a mall directory. Instead, since he was getting off shift the same time I was going on lunch, he'd offered to walk me there, saying it was on his way anyway.

But now here we were and a certain redhead was nowhere to be seen.

"Bah, I'm sure he'll turn up any second now," Kristoff shrugged off with a laugh. I said nothing, just continued to frown down at my phone before raising my eyes to take another look around. Shoving one of his hands into his pocket while he used the other to ruffle the hair at the back of his head, Kristoff said, "So… your sister…"

"Anna? What about her?" I muttered distractedly, gaze still jumping from face to unfamiliar face. Come on, Lea was a friggin' mountain with hair like a beacon that could light a path home for even the most wayward of lost ships. The guy should have been sticking out like a sore thumb.

He pursed his lips to one side, slightly widened eyes darting about now. "She's… well, she's really… neat." I blinked, slowly looking over at him now. He stiffened, then gave a weak chuckle, "Did I say neat? Not neat, I meant, ah… pretty!" His face blanched. "Pretty… pretty, pretty swell, that is! Yeah, a real bangarang," insert his wince here, "gal that, uh... that's really, er…"

Annnnnd now he was blushing. What was with him, anyway? It was so unlike him to be getting all tongue-tied and-

Oh.

Oh dear. I knew what this was.

Someone had a crush.

Ugh, why did I have to be the one to break his heart by telling him my sister was already in a relationship?

"...anyway," his voice cracked and he coughed, beating a fist to his chest before trying again. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say, or… rather ask is... would you know if, ah… is... is she seeing any-" his idly wandering gaze landed on something past me and he froze, words dying on his tongue. Then his eyelids drooped. "...I think I found your boyfriend."

My brow furrowed at the face he was making before I turned on my heel, following his gaze.

I heard them before I saw them. Cheerful whoops and hollers echoing from the plastic tunnel over the railroad tracks, heralding the emerging train of pirate ships. Then there they were: Lea and Roxas, taking up a full boat each as the locomotive chugged along, their hands thrown up high over their heads as they cackled in almost maniac glee. The two kids in the cart behind them - a carrot top boy in a green cap embroidered with a red feather logo and a little blonde girl wearing toy fairy wings - were giving them funny looks.

I spluttered, my fingers shooting up to smother and hide the grin I was fighting. This was behavior I did not want to encourage.

There he was, ladies and gentlemen. My bad-boy boyfriend in all his glory.

I hope the Duke's spy wasn't here to witness this.

Scratch that, I'd rather no one were here to witness this.

"Those goddamn morons have been at this for over ten minutes now," I heard a grumble from a familiar voice close by. I looked to my right to discover Xion standing there, watching them with a scowl and one eye twitching. As the train drew near, she called out flatly, "Oh yeah, looking real classy there, guys!"

"We're posh as fuck!" Lea replied smugly with a pinky raised, heedless of what nearby young and impressionable ears might overhear. Then his eyes drifted past her to notice me for the first time. His already beaming face did the impossible and brightened even further. As his little pirate ship choo-chooed its way past us, he cried out, "There you are, El! 'Bout time! We're celebrating!"

"El? Who's El? No, you must have me mistaken for someone else. I don't know you," I shook my head, taking a step back. "Quick, let's get out of here," I hissed to Kristoff, snatching his arm with one hand and using the other to hide my face as I tried to make a hasty retreat.

"Oh-ho, no ya don't! You're not getting away that easily!" I heard Lea laugh behind me. I hazarded a quick glance over my shoulder to see him struggling to get out of the cart - he was wedged in there pretty good, seeing as how those boats were never meant to withstand a man of his considerable stature. However, he finally managed to wiggle himself free and jump off the moving kiddie train, stumbling over the railing surrounding it and leaving poor Roxas behind looking quite distraught at having been abandoned.

Then he was charging towards me and I spun around to face him, defensively throwing my hands up in front of me. "Got ya!" he declared triumphantly, snagging me by the waist, my arms instinctively going to hug his neck as he lifted me up and spun me around a couple times.

What was even happening?

"Right," Kristoff said. Don't ask me how, but I could distinctly hear the eyeroll in his voice. "I think I'm gonna go now."

He walked off and I frowned after him as Lea put me back down, though his arms still kept me trapped against him. Then I shrugged. Kristoff's wee crush would have to be a problem for another day. Looking up at Lea, I shook my head with a barely suppressed smile, "What has you so giddy?"

"I got my test grade back today," he chirped, nuzzling his nose to mine for all the crowded mall to see.

"Your test?" I cocked my head at him. Then it clicked. "Oh, the one I helped you study for? You passed?"

"Passed nothing, I aced that sucker! Made it my bitch and it was all thanks to you!" And with that, he was hoisting me up for another twirl.

"Dude, what the hell?!" a shout suddenly rang out across the mall before Roxas came bursting out of the press of shoppers, sneakers screeching to a halt in front of us as he glared at Lea. "Can't believe you just ditched me like that! I looked like a total dumbass riding that thing all by myself!"

"Oh sure," Xion deadpanned at his side, "cuz you looked like a regular Einstein before as a grown-ass man riding around in the widdle choo-choo train with another grown-ass man."

Roxas crossed his arms and stuck his nose up in the air with a harrumph. "You're just jelly cuz we didn't invite you."

She scoffed, "You didn't invite me cuz I turned you guys down the last ten times you tried to drag me onto that dumb thing because I didn't want to look stupid."

"Your face looks stupid!"

Xion lunged at him, but Lea had already put me down and was snagging them both by the scruff of their shirt collars, dragging them apart from each other. He sighed, "Kiddos, please, would you start acting like the grown-ups that you are?"

Said the adult man who'd just been joyriding in the kiddie train.

Seriously, how were these three even college students? They all acted like a bunch of preschoolers.

"Ha, fat chance with this dope," Xion snerked, reaching across to flick Roxas in the forehead.

"Why you-" he broke free of Lea's grasp. Xion gasped and managed to squirm loose herself, bolting and squealing with laughter as she disappeared into the crowd, Roxas hot on her heels.

"Oi, kids these days. I give up," Lea grumbled, shaking his head and tossing his hands up in defeat. "Now where were we?" Looking back at me, his eyes lit up. "Ah yes," he bent forward, bringing us nose to nose with a tiny smirk, "my reward."

Both eyebrows shot up my forehead and I staggered back a bit. "Your… reward?"

"Mm-hm!" he nodded, grin twitching wider. "For kicking that test's ass, I get a reward! It's standard girlfriend protocol."

I blinked, "...it is?"

"Didn't ya read your dating handbook?"

...there's a handbook?!

Wait. No. That was just a joke.

And wishful thinking on my part.

Because I mean, seriously, how much easier would my life be right now if I could consult a handbook?

That aside, I had to get back to the matter at hand: some kind of reward for Lea. Which was my duty as the girlfriend. Apparently. What did that even entail? What was it supposed to be? What was I supposed to do? My face paled and my hands clenched. This was too much responsibility to be thrust onto me all of a sudden! What, was I supposed to buy him something? Or… maybe this was this another PDA situation? I mean, I hadn't made a move in that department since the roller rink a couple days ago. If tripping and crashing into him even counted. Which, personally, I was still chalking up as one for the win column. Had to take my small victories wherever I could! That said… perhaps it was high time I gave it another go?

Yes. Okay. I was going to do this. This… I was going to do.

My gaze hardened and my nostrils flared slightly as I started taking deep, sharp breaths, psyching myself up.

I got this. No more putting it off. Be strong! Be brave! Carpe diem! Seize the day! Grab the bull by the horns! Strike while the iron's hot!

Lea snerked, straightening up, "Woah, El, your face! Relax! I'm kidding! Just teasing ya like I always-"

YOLO!

I dropped my lunch bag, grabbed his head in both hands, yanked him down and kissed him.

...on the nose.

Way to bury the lead there, I know.

But hey, it still counted! Let me have this!

I held it for the space of a few thundering heartbeats before I pulled back, releasing his face and doing my best to ignore the slight jitters I felt from the adrenaline surge.

Lea was stock-still and just giving me a blank, wide-eyed stare.

Huh… not the reaction I was expecting.

A few long seconds ticked by where nothing happened. My eyes darted about nervously. Then I slowly, awkwardly picked my lunch sack back up off the floor. And still nothing from him. Nada. Not one peep.

Should… should I say something?

That's when he jolted upright (startling me half to death, I might add) and brought both his hands up to cup his nose, spinning around so his back was to me now.

Okay, really, really not the reaction I was expecting. At all. Just what-

Then it hit me.

I hadn't asked his permission first! And after he'd been so careful with me all this time too! Apparently I couldn't even return the favor! Fudge, this was like the Kissident all over again. Except worse! At least then, it'd been an accident. This time I'd done it on purpose! This was premeditated! Not to mention this now made me a repeat offender! A… a serial kisser! Would my reign of smooching terror never cease?

Anxiety eating up at me now like a swarm of angry ants in the pit of my stomach, I bit down on my bottom lip and took a hesitant step forward. "Lea?" I asked, my voice small. "Did I do something wrong or-"

"Nope! No, it was good. Really, really good," he said quickly, voice tight and muffled still by his hands. Then I heard him puff out a slow breath, watched his arms fall to his sides and he whipped around towards me once more, huge smile splitting his face in two. "So good, in fact, it's high-five worthy. Whaddya say, wanna high-five? Let's high-five." He held his palm up in front of me. I wordlessly stared back at him, arching an eyebrow. He was being weird, even for him. And why was he talking so fast? He hastily dropped his hand, "Not high-five. Forget that. That's stupid. We should, uh… we should go. Wanna go? Let's go."

As he snagged my free hand in his and tugged me into a walk beside him, I tipped my head to the left and uncertainly gave him some side-eye. "...where are we going?"

Seemingly already recovered, his grip shifted to instead hook our pinkies together as he shot me a wink. "Where all couples sneak off to whenever they have a lil free time. Somewhere dark, secret and secluded so," here he raised his voice for all to hear over the mall hub-bub, "we can make out!"

My feet faltered and I stumbled, barely catching myself as my face spontaneously broke out into its best impersonation of a tomato. "M-make out?!"

He snorted, bending close to my ear and whispering, "Calm down, only said it for show. We'll just find some place to lay low until your lunch is over and let the gossip mill churn." Straightening back up to his full height, he beamed, "Sound good, my knuddelbärchen?" A crease formed between my eyebrows and he chuckled. "Go on, ask. Ya know ya want to."

I sighed, "And knuddelbärchen is…?"

"German for cuddle bear," he pinched my cheek.

"No."

"You can sleep on it, then get back to me."

I rolled my eyes but held my tongue as I continued to let him lead the way to wherever it was we were going. It wasn't long before we entered a part of the mall I was more familiar with and he turned us down the deserted wing that was under construction. Ah, back to the clocktower then, was it? So be it.

Once the locked door was picked and we were inside, I started to head for the stairs but he stopped me with a hand on my elbow. At my questioning look, he said, "Dunno where the kiddos disappeared off to. They may have beat us to the punch and could be up there already, which'll totally bust our whole fake make-out sesh. Better to just hide out down here instead."

"Alright," I nodded as he released my arm.

And there it was again. That strangeness that seemed to hang in the air whenever we were alone together now. Whenever we didn't have to put on the act of being in a relationship. I was now so used to him lacing our fingers together every chance he got that when he didn't this time, instead opting to stuff his hands into his pockets with a grin and a soft "heh," my own hand almost felt… slighted? Bereft? Sad? Could hands even feel sad? Well, whatever the hand equivalent of sadness was, it felt that.

There were a couple large, dusty crates stored in here with us at the bottom of the clocktower. I stepped over to one, gingerly dusting off the surface before setting my paper bag down on top of it. Then I cleared my throat and looked to him with a small, timid smile. "This whole rent-a-boyfriend thing is really becoming a full time job now, isn't it? Sorry… to be wasting your time like this. I'm sure there are better ways you'd be preferring to spend it rather than stuck here with me."

Lea blinked at me, then huffed out a breath of a laugh. "Hey, you already forgetting whose idea it was for us to steal away on our own like this? Ya got nothing to be sorry for. I like this, it's fun! 'Sides," he moved to stand in front of me, leaning one shoulder against the wooden support beam there that was holding up the decrepit old staircase above us, "it's not a waste. I'm a big fan of my El time. Love having any excuse to hang out with ya and have you all to myself."

Cue heart spasm.

Dropping my gaze and tugging my Ice Palace cap down to hide my warming cheeks, I zeroed in on opening my lunch bag with far more acute focus than was absolutely necessary. Let's see what Mama Rayne had packed for me today, inquiring minds were simply dying to know. To him, I just mumbled, "To each their own, I guess."

"So…" he reached a hand out, index finger flicking the bill of my hat back up so he could meet my eyes when he smirked, "...you kissed me."

All color drained from my face.

Crud. Was hoping this wouldn't come up.

"I'm sorry!" came bursting out of me.

His head rocked back before he snorted and sighed, "You apologize too much, ya know that? Fine, I'll bite. What're you sorry for now?"

"I should've asked if that was okay before I did it!" I took off my cap, wringing it between my hands. "I overstepped, I shouldn't have just assumed! I hope I didn't freak you out or make things awkward or uncomfortable or, or weird or-"

"Woah, woah, slow down," he chuckled, holding up his hands. "Ya got nothing to worry about. I was totally, one hundred and ten percent cool with it!"

My eyebrows knit together. "Really?" I frowned, absently setting the hat down on the box. "But you seemed so… I thought I might've upset you or-"

"Upset? Nah, not even a lil bit! Surprised, maybe, cuz I never in a million years expected you to, ah… heh…" he paused, pursing his lips to the right as he dragged his hand along the nape of his neck. Then he closed his eyes in a grin, "How 'bout this? This, right here, right now, is me giving you the okay to do whatever you want to me from now on in order to maintain your girlfriend cover. Anything goes, got it?"

Eyes growing round, I stammered, "A-anything?"

He couldn't be serious! Anything was a lot. Anything was… well, anything.

"Yup, anything! Don't hold back. Just feel free to go to town on me."

This was too much power. Do not want. Take it back.

"I, uh…" What does one even say to that? "O-okay… thanks?" Was this something I should be thanking him for? Seemed like a weird thing to thank him for. This whole discussion just seemed weird, period. Concentrating on my packed lunch once more, I pulled out a ziplock of baby carrots. "...I don't think I'll be, er… going to town on you any time soon though, but the offer is, ah…" Is what? "...appreciated?" Sure, let's go with that.

"Shame," Lea tsked under his breath, then snerked as his hand shot up to block the carrot I threw at him. "Kidding, kidding! Still, just know that door's always open, in case ya ever wanna put on a bit of a show for any audience we might have. I won't be bothered. Promise."

"I'll keep that in mind," I muttered, taking out a second carrot to nibble on as I averted my gaze. Was ready to talk about something else now.

"Still, fact of the matter remains," one corner of his lips curled up, "you kissed me."

Gah! Would he stop saying that already!

A soft harrumph. "Only on the nose."

"One lucky nose!" He hunched forward slightly, pointing at it, "I'll have you know I'm never gonna wash this puppy ever again."

I snorted, setting the ziplock down on the box and reaching back into the paper sack to see what other goodies it contained. "Be serious."

"I am! Wouldn't wanna lose the divine blessing you've bestowed upon it on this fine day!"

Biting back a smile now as I continued to root around in the bag, I shook my head. "Does this mean that you also haven't washed your lips since the-" I abruptly froze, eyes widening and mouth clamping shut.

There was a pause, then I could see out of my peripheral the slow cheshire grin spreading across Lea's face. "Go on, since the…?"

Since the Kissident, was what I'd been about to say.

I knew it.

He knew it.

But did I have the guts to actually power through and finish that sentence?

Frantic fingers grabbing the first thing they could out of the lunch sack, I shoved it into his face with a weak laugh, "Chocolate pudding cup?"

Nope. I sure as heck most certainly did not.

Elsa, Queen of the Skillful and Seamless Subject Change.

"Oo!" he chirped in delight, taking it. Well, he was easily distracted. That, or he was just being nice and letting me off the hook. Probably the latter. "A nose kiss and pudding? Big day!"

With a soft, relieved sigh through my nostrils, I fished out a plastic spoon to hand him as well. "Don't forget about the train ride too. Big day indeed… do you and Roxas do that often?"

Having already torn into it and taken a spoonful into his mouth, he swallowed. "Not really. Only for special occasions. Wouldn't wanna cheapen the experience."

My eyes crinkled. "Because it's already so sophisticated and highbrow to begin with," I said, forgoing the PB and J sandwich at the bottom of the bag for now and instead opting to pull out some string cheese. Removing the wrapper, I asked, "Passing an exam counts as a special occasion?"

"Only the hard as balls ones that can make or break my overall grade for the course," he shrugged, scooping out some more pudding and offering it to me, to which I just shook my head.

"Ah," I rested one hip against the crate, peeling off a thin strip of mozzarella and slipping it into my mouth. "How many years do you have left on your degree anyway?"

"Couple more. Though I hear if I'm a model student, they'll let me graduate early for good behavior."

"Don't think that's how it works," I hummed a low laugh. "Then after that… what was it again? ...a nice little ice cream shanty by the seashore, I believe?"

Lea grinned around his spoon, "Something like that."

Pulling off another strand, I hesitated with a slight frown. "...but why ice cream?" At his cocked head and raised eyebrows, I worried my lower lip between my teeth. How to phrase this? "...it's just been something I've been wondering about actually. What with your mother dropping you off at an ice cream shop before she, ah... split when you were so little, I would have thought it would just be a… a source of bad memories, is all."

He snorted, looking down at his spoon as he swirled it around in the chocolate goop. "S'not the ice cream's fault my deadbeat mom abandoned Saïx and me when we were kids. She's taken a lot from me, I won't let her take that too. 'Sides, also got a lotta good memories tied to ice cream. Fun times with friends and whatnot. It's nice that something so simple can bring a smile to people's faces and I just like the idea of being a part of that. Sounds silly, I know, but what can I say?" He thrust the now heavily pudding-laden utensil up high in the air, "I have a calling! And answer it I must!"

I brought a curled finger to my lips, hiding the tiny smile. "Some calling. You still haven't even guessed which one's my favorite yet."

"Told ya, it's a process," he stuck the spoon into his mouth, holding it there as he squinted thoughtfully. "Speaking of… lessee, what other flavors haven't come up yet… ah! Three Wishes?" he asked, pointing the plastic implement at me. Then he scoffed, "Yeah right. Way too gimmicky with all that blue cotton candy. It's trying too hard. Classy and effortless is more your speed."

My smile ticked wider as my fingers plucked further at the string cheese. "Are we still even talking about ice cream anymore?"

"Course! Trust me, I've got this down to a science. I know my shit."

"If you say so," I gave a soft snort. "You really have me at the edge of my seat here. I can't wait to see which one you finally land on."

"Me neither. I'm just as much on this journey as you are," he chuckled, tossing the now empty cup onto the crate alongside the paper bag. Propping one shoulder against the post again, he looked down and scratched his cheek. "...hey, so, ya free in a couple nights? Saïx's been wanting to meet my new lady friend and suggested we have you over for dinner."

Finishing the last of my own snack, I quirked an eyebrow at him. "He knows you have a lady friend?"

"Wasn't hard for him to guess since I've been out all night a lot recently, what with your couch being my new home away from home."

"Oh." My fingers reached for a tendril of my ponytail to twist as I mulled for a second. "Yeah, I suppose… I don't have any closing shifts coming up for a while, so I'm free for the next few nights. Just let me know when."

"Sweet! We can see this as a test run of sorts. Practice for the big weekend with your folks and-" he suddenly fell silent, head jerking to his right. I blinked, confused. Then I heard it too. This soft rattling coming from the doorknob - the telltale sounds of a lock being picked. "Crap! The kiddos! Hide," Lea hissed, grabbing my shoulders and shoving us both beneath the staircase, my back hitting the wall behind me.

The door burst open. I didn't so much see it since the stairs were now between me and it, blocking my line of sight, but I heard it along with the echoing laughter of two very familiar voices. As it slammed shut again and the staircase began to quake from feet running up it hard, I heard Xion ask, "Think we'll find them up there?"

"Probably." That was Roxas. I turned my head to the left, watching through the slats between the steps as his sneakers blurred past. "Giving each other tonsillectomies, no doubt."

My face heated as I realized they were talking about Lea and me.

But good news! Lea's plan was working. People thought we were off somewhere, er... shall we say, necking.

Or at the very least, those two thought so anyway.

I heard a snigger from Xion as her boots rushed past the gap not too far behind him. "Perfect. Let's scare them shitless."

They both cackled and tried to shush each other at the same time as I heard their thudding footsteps fade further and further away above us. Once I was certain they were gone, I puffed out the breath I'd been holding.

That's when I became aware of several things. Very, very aware.

Aware of the familiar feeling of Lea's eyes on me. Aware of how close we were. Of his grip still on my shoulders. Of my hands on his chest. Of the gentle thud of his heartbeat beneath my fingertips. Of his warm, spicy boy scent. Of his body pressed to mine, pinning me to the wall still from his rush just seconds ago to get us both out of sight. Of the fact that I could still sense his gaze on me.

Oh gosh, was there something on my face?

I slowly turned my head to look up at him and meet his eyes. He had that look in them again that I'd seen once or twice before. The one that made my insides twist and flip-flop.

Emergency! This is not a drill, people! Fetch the conceal-don't-feel armor and suit up, stat! I repeat, this is not a drill!

The slightest hint of a grin tugged at the corner of his lips and when he spoke, his voice was low. Barely above a whisper. "You know what would… really sell this make-out sesh? ...if right along here..." he ran the tip of his index finger along the side of my neck down to where it met my shoulder, so lightly I hardly felt it, his eyes following its trail the whole time, "...there was a hickey. Maybe two or three. Ya know… just for appearances, of course..."

I just stared at him for a second. Then two. Then I smiled, "That's a great idea!"

He looked taken aback, his gaze widening. "Wait, really?!"

"Of course! Did you bring any makeup with you?" I asked. He just gave me a blank look. "You know, like your guyliner. Do you have anything else? Something that could make the fake marks look convincing?"

He blinked a couple times. "Makeup… right… that's what I meant… heh..." his eyes darted to the left. "But shoot, you know what? Didn't bring any with me." A slow smirk stretching across his face now, he bent down to press his forehead to mine as his eyes hooded, "But hey... we could also always make 'em the old fashioned way."

Once more I stared, expression neutral.

Processing… processing…

Then my eyelids drooped. "...you're messing with me again, aren't you?"

Lea stiffened. Then he relaxed, straightening back up and bracing an elbow against the wall above my head, resting his brow to his forearm as his whole body shook with a soft chuckle. "Yup! Yup, you uh… you caught me alright! Totes was."

Conceal-don't-feel armor saves the day once again! If it hadn't been for that, my heart might have exploded in that situation.

Man, was I getting good at deflecting these little jokes of his now or what?

He shifted over and away from me, giving us both some breathing room now. "Do you think maybe we should go somewhere else?" I asked, my gaze drifting up the clocktower as I returned to the crate, repacking my lunch back into its bag and picking up my hat. Thank goodness the "kiddos" hadn't noticed this stuff before dashing upstairs. "Just so Xion and Roxas don't catch us down here?"

"Sure, good call. I gotta few other secret spots 'round this place we can hole up in until your lunch is over." He went to the door, pushing it open a crack so he could peek out.

"Okay," I nodded while waiting for him to make sure the coast was clear. Then I grinned. "You know, you almost had me going back there with the hickies."

"If only," he muttered so softly, I wasn't sure I'd heard correctly.

"Hm?"

His shoulders tensed, then he breathed a feeble laugh as he glanced back at me, "If only… I'd, er... remembered to bring some makeup! Ah well, maybe next time, huh? C'mon, let's go." His hand reached for mine.

I took it and suddenly my hand didn't feel so sad anymore as I let him lead me back out into the mall.

I couldn't sleep.

I rolled over onto my left side, pulling the sheets up to my chin and curling in on myself a bit. Then over to my right. A few seconds ticked by. Then I rested my back to the mattress and frowned up at my bedroom ceiling, at the long thin patch of frail moonlight slashing across it from between the curtains of my window. Sighing, I tossed over onto my side again and tried putting my head beneath the pillow this time, hoping the added darkness and some light hypoxia would do the trick to knock me out.

No such luck.

With another heavy sigh, I sat up, letting the pillow fall back down behind me. I brought a hand up towards one of my earplugs, stopping just short of reaching it as I frowned over at the wall I shared with my roommates. Then I tentatively pulled it out, already preemptively grimacing as the noises I might hear.

Instead my ears were greeted with a very different sound and from a different direction no less. Coming through my closed door from the living room was a faint, hollow murmur of voices. I squinted towards it, tipping my head to one side. Was that… the TV? Tugging the other earplug out, I set both down onto my nightstand as I listened for another minute, my fingers fiddling with my braid. Then folding my sheets away from me, I got out of bed, smoothed my nightgown and crept over to the door to open it.

Lea was sitting on his couch out here, the glow of the television screen the only thing illuminating him in the otherwise dark living room. Since him couch-surfing here was becoming a bit of a habit now, he'd started bringing an overnight bag with him for things like toiletries and the pyjamas he was currently wearing - a black tank top and PJ pants patterned with tiny fireballs sporting evil smiley faces. In fact I think it may have been the same design on the frisbees I'd seen back at his apartment. Some kind of brand logo, perhaps?

His elbows were braced up on the backrest behind him, temple propped against one fist as he watched the screen. He glanced over at me as I stepped out, quirking an eyebrow and lifting his head off his knuckles. "El?"

I gave my braid a tiny tug before dropping my hands and clasping them together, forcing them to be still as I gave him a small smile. "You're up late."

He grinned back. "Yeah. Never really could pass out to total silence," he nodded towards where his own earplugs laid discarded on the coffee table. Then he wrinkled his nose, shooting a sideways glance towards Rayne's and Riku's room. "But shit, you weren't kidding 'bout those two going at it like jackrabbits in there. Had to do something to tune 'em out, so turned on the ol' tube and guess what I found?"

I moved to stand beside him for a better view of the TV. The scene was currently zoomed in on a couple riding in the back row seat of a trolley. The girl was distracted, lost in whatever she was talking about while the guy was reaching his hand over to tuck her hair back, only to awkwardly snatch it away when she suddenly turned to look at him, completely oblivious to the gesture as she continued to enthusiastically ramble on. My smile grew as I took a seat next to Lea. "It's Before Dawn. Imagine that."

"I know. What timing, right?" he hummed a small laugh. We were both quiet for a few seconds, simply watching the movie. Then he nudged my knee with his, "And what brings ya out here in the middle of the night? Other than the pleasure of my charming company, of course."

That earned him a soft snort as I slouched more comfortably into the sofa and picked up one of the small throw pillows, hugging it in my arms. "Trouble sleeping."

"Oh?" he looked over at me, relaxing his hand along the top of the cushions behind my head. "Something on your mind?"

I gnawed on my bottom lip, not taking my eyes off the television even though I wasn't really paying attention to it anymore. "...it's just coming up so fast."

Brow furrowing, he squinted up at the ceiling in thought for a second. "You mean our visit to the parental units?"

My insides churned as I gave a small nod. "It's only a week away now. It doesn't feel like enough time. I don't know if I'll be able to go through with this… if we… if I will be prepared in time… if I'll be able to face them."

"Hey, don't worry 'bout it," he flashed a warm grin. "You and me? We got this. I like to think we've become quite the awesome dynamic duo. Gotten pretty good at this whole girlfriend-boyfriend thing. Got the entire mall buying into our story and if we can fool them, we can fool anyone."

"But it's not anyone," I muttered, squeezing the pillow more tightly to me. "It's Father. And Mother. And..." my face scrunched up, "...the Duke too? ...for some reason? Anyway, tricking Father for a grand total of five minutes was one thing, but now? Now it's my whole family. For a whole weekend. What if they find out?" Oh dear, I could already feel a panic attack coming on just thinking about it. I turned my head, frowning at him. "...what if I can't do this?"

The hand behind me lifted, hesitantly hovering and shifting about for a second before settling on a quick, reassuring pat to my head. "Just say the word and you can pull the plug on this whole op anytime ya want. Don't force yourself to do anything you don't wanna do. But just know you're a lot stronger than you think. And chances are? It won't be as bad as you fear." He poked himself in the side of the head, just above his left ear, "Our brains like to mess with us, tell us things will be a lot worse than they actually turn out to be. And 'sides, you won't be doing this alone. I'll be right there with you the whole weekend. Your sister too. We got your back. You got a support system. Consider us your safety net. We'll be there to pick up the slack and catch you if you fall."

I bowed my head, nose perched on top of the edge of the pillow now. "...thank you. That helps," I muffled into it, my tiny smile hidden. And I meant it. I could already feel some of my unease starting to slip away. Straightening back up and tossing my head back onto the couch, I inhaled deeply before loudly exhaling. "I should just stop thinking about it. Stressing out over it now does me no good. I need to be talking about something else."

"Something else, huh?" he mumbled, eyes returning to the movie as he scratched the tip of his nose. "...so I had a thought. Remember the other day when you said you'd be looking for a new place in a few months when lil Baby Hewley arrived?" His knee started jiggling up and down while out of the corner of my eye, I could see his fingers fidgeting with the seam of the backrest cushions. "Well, what if… and ya know, this would only be if you weren't able to find somewhere on your own and if, like… you had no place else to go and were up shit's creek and whatnot, but… what if you moved in with…" he glanced back my way, "...me?"

I blinked at him. "...you?"

His face brightened. "Yeah, whaddya think? We got plenty of space for ya! It'll be a total blast! And hey, we could even get ya a puppy."

Fighting a grin, I quirked an eyebrow. "A puppy? But what about Saïx?"

"Psh," he brushed off, one hand batting the air. "Saïx can fight me. You want a dog? You're getting a dog, end of story."

I snerked and looked down. Lips pursing to one side, I did a mental replay of what I could remember of when Lea had given me the grand tour of his apartment. "...am I forgetting a third bedroom you guys have?"

"Nah," he shook his head, "just the two. But you can have mine and I'll just… I dunno, sleep on the couch."

"You can't sleep on the couch in your own home," I scoffed.

"Sure I can! I'm actually growing quite accustomed to catching some Z's on 'em. These bad boys are surprisingly comfy," he pat the armrest next to him and beamed. "In fact, dunno if I can ever go back to a lame ol' bed again!"

Rolling my eyes, I said, "I meant because Saïx will see you. Won't he have questions about you sleeping on the sofa every night?"

"Oh. Right," he laughed, fingers ruffling his hair. "Well then I can just… sleep in the room with you. On the floor," he hastily amended. "Yeah, it'll be fun! Like a slumber party every night!"

One side of my lips twitched up as I toyed with the corner of the throw pillow I was still holding snug. "You're sweet, but… no, that'd just be crazy."

"...yeah. Crazy," he averted his gaze with a tiny chuckle. Then he frowned, plucking the short hairs at the nape of his neck. "...is it though? I mean, think about it. It'd be like the next stage of our dating evolution. That's what all couples do sooner or later, right? Move in together?"

"But the baby will be here in, what…" both my eyebrows rose as I stared off into space, "...four more months? Five? I figure we'll have probably staged a breakup by then."

"Breakup?!" he jerked forward in his seat, eyes widening slightly.

I knit my eyebrows together. "Well yeah. You… didn't think we were going to be fake dating forever, right?"

"Well, I…" he hunched forward, propping his elbows on his knees and folding his hands together beneath his nose as he narrowed his gaze on the floor. "...no, I guess not."

I tilted my head at him. Then opened my mouth. Then closed it. I focused on the TV instead. "...I figured… it'd be some time after we visited my parents. Depending on how it goes, of course. Once I was…" I shrugged, gripping the pillow more tightly, "...sure they weren't going to try to interfere with my life anymore. After that… maybe a few more weeks? A month, perhaps? Just so it wouldn't look too quick, too… suspicious or raise questions…"

Why was this so hard? Why did it make my heart squeeze, just a bit? Come on, it's not like it was a real breakup! Besides, this could maybe, possibly, eventually open up the door to actually start something more real with him in the future. If I ever got the guts up to even pursue something like that… whenever he started dating again… which would be when he no longer had to focus on his schoolwork… aka when he graduated...

...in two years…

Why did that suddenly seem like an eternity?

"...yeah," he sighed and slumped back again, his arm returning to its position behind me as he stretched them both out along the backrest once more, "that all makes sense, I guess." His lips were a flat line for a few seconds, but then he grinned over at me. "Tell ya one thing, though. Fake getting over you ain't gonna be easy. Might have to try and fake win you back."

"Oh no," I stifled a soft laugh into my fingers. "Hang on, let me guess… You. In a trenchcoat. Standing in the middle of the bustling food court. Boombox held high over your head and blasting out some old, cheesy love song. That about sum it up?"

He smirked, "Ah, fan of the classics like me, I see. Good guess, but I was actually thinking less John Cusack in Say Anything and more Heath Ledger in 10 Things I Hate About You. Me. With a mic hacked into the food court's overhead speakers. Singing and dancing around on table tops while mall security chases me all over the place."

This big dork really was a sap. That is, if his taste in movies had anything to say about it.

Shaking my head in amusement, I said, "Who's to say you'd even fake want me back? Maybe it's you who ends up fake dumping me."

He huffed out a derisive snort, "Not a chance. I'd never be dumb enough to let someone like you go." I looked away, grateful the light from the TV wasn't bright enough to reveal the gentle warmth spreading into my cheeks. Lea shrugged as he went on, "Now, dumb enough to do something stupid and royally fuck it up so you'd kick my ass to the curb however? Yeah, now that sounds like it'd be pretty on brand for me."

"No, I don't think so," I smiled, resting my chin atop the seam of the throw pillow. "...thanks, Lea. I feel a lot better now. You're a… a really good friend."

Lea was quick to return the smile, "It's what I'm here for!" His gaze went back to the screen and there was a brief pause where the only sound was the low drone from the movie. "So… was that your roundabout way of wishing me a good night?"

"Hmm..." A beat before I shook my head, "Not yet. I think I'd like to stay and watch for a little while longer, if that's alright."

"It's more than alright," the corners of his eyes crinkled as he settled into his seat more comfortably. "It's alright times two."

I'm not sure exactly when it was I nodded off. Last scene I clearly remembered was our leading couple sitting at a restaurant together, their hands miming phones to their ears as they made imaginary calls to one another, so it must have been not too long after that. Next thing I knew I was blinking blearily at the television as it showed the girl now sitting on a bed in a small apartment, serenading the guy with her guitar. They both looked maybe a few years older. Must have been one of the sequels to the first movie. I was less familiar with those. It seemed Lea had stumbled upon some sort of late night marathon.

As consciousness returned to me piece by tiny piece, it slowly came to my attention that there was something... off about the pillow my cheek was resting against. Like the fact that it was oddly firm. And warm. And…

...breathing?

Eyes fully snapping open now, they darted about to realize I'd fallen asleep on Lea. Against his chest, to be exact. Embarrassed and panicking maybe just a smidge, I immediately tried to straighten up and away from him, only to be held firmly in place by the arm - his arm - that was draped heavily around my shoulders. I furrowed my brow over at it. Wha-?

Then he made a noise and I tensed.

Took me several heart-pounding seconds to register that noise for what it was.

A snore.

Puffing out a hushed breath and forcing my muscles to relax, I tentatively, cautiously turned my head to try and look up at him. Didn't work, and it only took me another second to realize why. There was a weight pressing down on the top of my hair that I hadn't really noticed until just now.

He was using my head as a pillow.

Welp. This was quite the predicament I found myself in.

Oh gosh, I just hope we'd fallen asleep roughly around the same time and had just, I don't know... naturally gravitated toward one another in our slumber? If I'd been snuggling up to him like this while he was awake the whole time, I'd never live it down.

Next thing my brain decided to alert me to was the fact that I'd misplaced my throw pillow. I must have dropped it when I'd dozed off for I was pretty sure I could feel it on the floor brushing against my bare feet. But that wasn't the important part. No, the important part was what my hands had decided to do in the wake of its disappearance. Left hand? It was good. Just laying there in my lap, all well behaved and polite-like. The right one, however? Had found its way over to rest atop Lea's knee. The little trollop. Especially considering that one of his hands was currently covering it. Had it no decency? No shame?

I considered my situation for another minute. Then taking a deep breath, I decided to commence with the extraction. Should be easier now that I was fully awake and aware of my circumstances so I could approach it all with a cooler, more level head.

First I used my free hand to gently lift his arm from my shoulder and gingerly set it back down on the couch backrest. Another snore from him and I froze. After a few seconds where nothing else happened however and I was sure I hadn't disturbed him, I then proceeded to bring my hand back up, this time to delicately press my fingertips to his chin.

Careful now, careful… wouldn't want to wake him…

I slowly pushed his head off mine and kept going until it lolled back onto the cushions behind him instead. With nothing left weighing me down now, I crept up onto my feet and peeked back at him to make sure he still snoozed. I was rewarded with yet another soft snore. That was all the confirmation I needed. I turned to make a break for my room.

Victory! Success! Elsa, Queen of The Daring Escape and-

Ack!

...okay, so something had just happened. More precisely, two somethings, both occurring at the exact same time. The first? Was my arm being pulled taut and bouncing me back like a rubber band stretched too tight. I stumbled but caught myself, the carpet muffling any sound I might have made. The second? Now that was just a word. One single, solitary word:

"Stay."

That one word sent my heart catapulting up into my throat as I whipped around to discover Lea had pulled his head up and was now looking straight at me.

Fudge, fudge, fudge, fudge!

...but actually… wait… his eyelids were sagging heavily. Half closed and groggy. His expression slack. And now that I thought about, when he'd spoken, it had come out sounding a little… sluggish? One might even say… drowsy?

...was he still half asleep?

I haltingly raised a hand to wave in front of his face. No reaction. As my shallow breaths began to slow and my heart rate calmed, I next looked down at my other hand to see what the snag had been there. This was the one that had been on his knee with his hand on top of it. Was still on top of it and, in fact, had tightened his grip around my fingers. This was what had snared me and brought my getaway to a screeching halt.

Yeesh, what a clingy sleeper he must be.

I brought my gaze back up to his face. He was still giving me that droopy, zombie-eyed stare. I tucked in my lower lip, studying him for a moment. Then I took a tiny step closer and bent over him slightly. My free hand came up, reaching for him. I froze midway, fingers curling towards my palm, hesitating. But only for a heartbeat before I was pushing forward again.

"Shh… go back to sleep," I whispered, gently stroking his hair just above his ear.

His really, really soft, silky smooth hair.

Which I'd not been expecting. Not at all.

Crud, I shouldn't be blushing this much.

However, it seemed to have the desired effect. His eyelids drifted all the way closed now as his head sank back down into the couch cushion. His hold on my hand relaxed enough for me to slip it free. I straightened back up, rubbing my rescued hand with the other as I watched him sleep for a few more seconds, my head tipping to one side. Then I retrieved the throw pillow from the floor and put it back on the sofa next to him before picking up the comforter to drape over him. It was only now I realized that it was too small for him for if I brought it up to cover his shoulders, it left his feet exposed.

The friggin' behemoth. Why hadn't he said anything? I'd have to see about finding a bigger one for him tomorrow.

I briefly considered turning off the TV but decided against it on the off chance the sudden lack of noise would wake him. Turning, I tiptoed back towards my bedroom, stopping in the doorway for one last backwards glance at him. Still out like a light. A grin pulled at one side of my mouth as I murmured, "Sweet dreams, sleeping beauty."

The only answer I got was a snore.

Author's Note: Our awkward penguin did it! She intentionally "made a move" for the first time, I'm so proud T_T Looks like our fire boi tried to make a bit of a move himself under the clocktower staircase there… with far less successful results xD One step forward, two steps back, huh? *Siiiiigh* ah well, these two will get there eventually :P And this is yet another chapter I lament not writing anything from Lea's POV… so many scenes in my head going on for him off camera that will never see the light of day xD Fun fact: The ice cream this chapter, Three Wishes, is named after (you guessed it) Agrabah's keyblade and I imagine its description on the menu would look something like: "This blueberry flavored soft serve will have you wishing for more! Comes in a blue cone wrapped in a ring of matching blue cotton candy, with lamp-shaped sugar cubes and a sprinkling of extra sugar to top it all off."

Next chapter, with that "make a move" hurdle finally overcome, what's next in our couple's fake dating adventures? Looks like there's a certain dinner with a certain Moon Boy on the horizon, how will this lil "test run" go? Will it be a resounding success or could it spell utter defeat for our pair? Not to mention the weekend with the folks is fast approaching, will our couple be ready in time? And just how DOES Lea fit his behemoth self into those itty-bitty pirate ship train carts? Some things will forever remain a mystery, but for the rest, stay tuned!

Thanks for reading, I super duper appreciate it! And an extra BIG thank you to those of you who’ve liked, reblogged, and followed so far, seeing those lil notifications always brings the biggest, goofiest smile to my face!

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producingtrashycontent · 4 years ago

Note

Might I ask you for a bit of William x Mereoleona scenario? Maybe with pirate x navy person dynamics? Or maybe with them just being dressed in those costumes for a halloween-like event?

Of course you can ask!!! I love this ship! I read a few chapters of One Piece while writing this, so if you get One Piece vibes, that's why. (Excuse my cringy as hell title. I couldn't come up with one.)

Not All Pirates Are Bad

Captain William Vangeance never regretted his life as a navy officer. He always believed pirates were the scourge that terrorized the people of this world. He had lost many friends to pirate attacks. One day, he swore to himself that he would become a navy captain to help people in need. Pirates were devils. Whenever he imagined them, he saw them with little horns on their head and tails with points in the shape of an arrow.

Recently, a group of pirates had been causing trouble on a nearby island, so William gathered up a few of his subordinates and set sail towards Kiten Island.

•~•~•~•

William removed the mask on his head and held it close to him. That mask was given to him by someone he looked up to. He was never letting it go, even if it looked a little tacky. He had painted it to match his navy uniform. Now, the mask blended with the rest of his crew and was nearly unnoticeable. Placing his mask on his nightstand, William rolled onto his bed. It would take a week to reach the island, and his crew had already been at sea for 2 days. Life at sea was hard; William was lucky to live on dry land for the most part.

A gentle knock on William's door interrupted his thoughts. His personal aide, Alecdora Sandler, stepped in a moment later. "Captain Vangeance. A ship has been spotted on the horizon coming from the direction of Kiten. What shall we do?"

"Identity the vessel. If it's a navy ship, simply pass it. If it has any markings of a pirate ship, warn me and be ready to fight."

It was only a few moments later when something crashed into the water near the stern of the ship. That's where William's room was. Alecdora didn't even need to warn him. He knew this was a pirate ship attacking. Grabbing his pistol off his bed, William bolted for the door. William also grabbed his sword, which had been sitting by the door, and slid it into his scabbard. World Tree Magic was no good on the open sea, but William slid his grimoire into its pouch just in case.

By the time William arrived on the deck, the other ship was close enough to identify it as a pirate ship. The setting sun slowly covered the other ship as a cloud floated in the distance, and William caught a glimpse of the other ship's flag. It was the flag of the Crimson Lion Pirates. Known for their dual abilities of fire magic and swordsmanship, the Crimson Lions were one of the most feared pirate crews on the sea today. Unfortunately for William's crew, they were facing a headwind that gave the other ship the speed it needed to reach the navy ship.

It barely moments later when the Crimson Lions made their way across the gap between both ships. Pistols went off, swords clashed, and fists flew. A pirate ran towards William with his sword outstretched. William dodged and hit him with a punch that sent him flying overboard. Shaking his wrist out, William froze when he heard someone mention his rank behind him.

"Where's your captain?" A feminine voice growled.

"I-I would never tell..." a voice whimpered in response.

"Tell me where he is, or I'll shove this sword up your ass!"

"He's right there!" The blond navy officer pointed in William's direction. The woman holding him threw him overboard and stormed over to William.

"David!" As William leaned against the railing to reach for David, the woman pressed herself against William and held a sword up to his neck.

"Move or say anything wrong, and you're dead. Now, I want the Navy's map of this area. It's bound to have all the islands and towns that the Navy is supposed to protect."

William moved back slightly, and the woman pressed herself against him even harder than before. William swallowed when he felt her breasts press against his back. He was never good with women, especially with spirited ones like this.

"Answer me!"

William let out a shaky breath. "What if we talked about this over some drinks?"

"Haha! You're really something, captain. Trying to convince me not to pirate." The woman removed her sword from William's neck for a moment and pointed at the pirates that were beginning to outnumber his men. "These men are pirates. Part of being a pirate is raiding ships. Do you really think you can give pirates money and think they'll be satisfied? Pirates find joy in raiding ships. Now, if you don't want you men to be slaughtered, then take me to where your maps are."

"O-ok." William began formulating a plan to escape and fight back when the barrel of a gun was pressed to his head.

"I know you were thinking of escaping and fighting me. This pistol is loaded with ammo and backed by my Fire Magic. If you even think of escaping, I'll blast your head into mush. And don't forget that I'm the strongest fire mage on my ship, so even an injury to the foot may leave you wounded for years to come."

Wait, the strongest mage on her ship? I know that Captain Fuegoleon is scarily strong, but there were rumours that his sister was even stronger. Could she be-? William whipped around to face the woman. She was shocked that he did that, but she didn't hesitate in cocking the pistol.

"Wait! Please don't shoot!" William shot her a look that caused her to make a few weird faces before settling on a furious face. "You're Mereoleona Vermillion, The Uncrowned, Undefeated Lioness, right?"

"It's been a while since someone lived long enough to identify me."

"You also said something that I found weird earlier. You said that this was your ship and these are your men. Isn't Captain Fuegoleon captain of the ship?"

Mereoleona let out a sigh. "Yes, but my idiot brother was injured a month ago, and he's hasn't woken up since."

"Oh, I'm sorry about that. I hope he recovers fully."

"You hope he recovers?" Mereoleona raised an eyebrow. "What kind of Navy Officer wishes good health on a pirate captain? Shouldn't you be happy that he's injured?"

"Well, I'm not the type to wish ill will upon others, even if they're my enemies."

Mereoleona raised an eyebrow. He's definitely an odd one. He may be nice, but he's still a Navy Officer. I still need that map!

"Take me to the map!" Mereoleona ordered him.

"Um, of course."

•~•~•~•

"This is exactly what we needed." Mereoleona rubbed her hands together before gently picking up the Navy's map. "It has Nean Island and all of its trade routes. That's perfect."

"Why would you need Nean Island's trade routes?" William asked. "Granted, they have the best healers around, but they're by no means wealthy."

Mereoleona frowned. "That's none of your business, Navy Boy."

"I'm sorry if I prodded too much..."

Mereoleona stayed silent. It looked as though she wanted to say something. After a few silent moments, she spoke. "I've had my men raiding Navy Ships for medical supplies. You already know that my brother is injured. He hasn't woken up in so long, so I'm worried he won't get better. I know this is a stark contrast to my reputation and usual personality, but I can care too. He's my little brother after all."

William's eyes widened. "Oh, so you want Nean's trade routes to raid their medical supplies and possibly enlist a healer to help your brother. You really are kind at heart."

Glancing off to the side, Mereoleona scoffed. "Don't go telling people that."

"My lips are sealed."

Mereoleona grabbed a rope lying in the corner of the room. "I'm gonna tie you up with this so it doesn't look like we cooperated for a moment. I don't have a desire to kill you, so I'll let you off scot-free this time."

"I can't argue with that logic." William smiled. "Tie me up."

•~•~•~•

When Mereoleona and William arrived on the deck, Mereoleona took on her fearsome side again and dragged William out onto the deck. She let out a high-pitched whistle that got the attention of her crew.

"Alright you imbeciles! Let's head out before these weaklings call for reinforcements!"

"Yes ma'am!"

Mereoleona grabbed William and leaned close to his ear. "Um, thanks for the map. I'll hold off attacking any Navy ships that you're on."

William smiled. "And how will you know I'm on the ship?"

"If I see you on it after I invade the ship, I'll leave."

"Well, I feel very safe now."

Mereoleona gave him a hard shove that nearly threw him off balance. As he stumbled, William wasn't sure if he imagined the rosy color on her cheeks or if it was a trick of the light. It was hard to see at dusk.

As the Crimson Lions left with their stolen goods, Alecdora released William from the ropes binding his limbs together. William walked to the side of the ship and leaned on the railing as he watched the Crimson Lions' ship sail away. He caught a glimpse of Mereoleona ordering her men around. Leaning his head against his fist, William watched Mereoleona and her ship disappear into the horizon. He wasn't sure what this fluttery feeling in his chest was, but William was sure it would lead him back to Mereoleona. He was sure of it.

William sighed. "I guess not all pirates are bad..."

#black clover #william vangeance #mereoleona vermillion #mereoleona x william #william x mereoleona #merilliam

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bellatrixobsessed1 · 4 years ago

Text

Kissing Dead Pearls (Part 12)

Azula wishes that she could say her first date went flawlessly. But it didn’t. She was awkward as hell and she isn’t sure how she’d managed to get a second one. God, she doesn’t even know why she had been so awkward, they’d been friends since childhood. But she always finds herself tripping over her own emotions when it comes to love, romance, and softer things.

She isn’t meant for it. She is meant for competition and relishing in victory. For bursts of power and excitement, the thrill of a new endeavor or achievement. And yet she found herself wandering the boardwalk that evening hand in hand with her childhood friend. The sun was well on its way down painting the entirety of the boardwalk in a vivid shade of orange.

“Sno-cone?” Sokka offered. “Cotton candy?”

He had been spoiling her all night and she was the one with the cash to throw around. She’d made a promise to herself to make sure to pay for their next date and to make it a somewhat upscale one.

“Just cotton candy.” She answered. They hadn’t even made it to the tiki restaurant that he’d wanted to show her, she didn’t want to fill up on snack food before they got there. He held out a cotton candy cone, picked a small blue fluff of it off, and said, “open your mouth.”

“Why?” She’d asked holding her hand out.

He had rolled his eyes. “I’m gonna feed it to you.”

“I can feed myself?”

His laugh had been precious, she almost didn’t mind that it was at her expense. Her cheeks had slightly colored. “Sometimes couples like to feed each other.”

Azula crinkled her brows, “why?”

“Because it’s romantic.” He replied simply.

“How so?”

He laughs again. “I don’t know, I didn’t make the rule. Now open your mouth.”

Hesitantly, Azula obliged and he popped the piece of cotton candy onto her tongue. There was a burst of sugary sweetness as it dissolved.

“Was that so hard?” He nudged her.

“It was agonizing difficult.” She grumbled, folding her hands over her chest.

He slung an arm across her neck and over her shoulder. “C’mon, we’re almost there.” He pointed to a small little shack with a straw and bamboo roof. Colorful paper lanterns hung from the boarders of the roof and decorated the ceiling. On each of the four supporting posts, circled bright strands of cheap lights shaped like pineapples and flamingos.

“Tacky.” She commented with a roll of her eyes.

“Tiki.” He corrected, making her wonder why she felt so flustered when he’d been the one making the cringeworthy jokes.

Even from that distance she had heard the thrumming, upbeat drums of that year’s most popular reggaeton hit. No wonder he’d liked that restaurant so much. He took her hand again and tugged her along in an excited speedwalk. “Alright, Azula, are you ready for the best smoothie you’ll ever taste!?”

He was so enthusiastic that she had to crack a smile. “I hope that they’re as good as you say they are.”

“They have some pretty tasty onion rings too.”

It was getting easier but her tummy was still fluttering incessantly. Sokka pulled out a stool and motioned for her to have a seat. Azula looked the chair over and took a deep breath, she had to boost herself up on the lower rung of the chair and quite literally climb it to actually get to her seat, it left her feeling doubly awkward. Sokka’s chuckling hadn’t helped. He wiped a tear from his eye, “geez, sometimes I forget that you're that short.”

“Shut up!” She snapped, he only snickered harder. She was certain that he was getting a kick out of seeing her face go bright red.

There were so many couples out and about that night, and somehow she felt like she just stood out among them. As though she were some sort of fake, a bizarre parody of what a girlfriend was supposed to be and look like. Her laughs had been too forced and there had been undertones of nervousness. And for the life of her she couldn’t figure out why. She’d known him for so long and she’d never had any problems conversing with him. Never had any problems being herself.

But somehow this was different. Something about it just was.

She felt like she was on her way to ruining not just their new relationship, but their longtime friendship as well.

“You alright?” He asked.

She’d nodded.

“You just…” he trailed off and took an onion ring and then a sip of his smoothie--mango-peach--and continued, “aren’t being you.” He seemed to think for a moment before backtracking, “you seem anxious. Am I doing something wrong?”

Her heart halted. Because it was her. Something was wrong with her, not him. She shakes her head, “you’re fine, Sokka.”

He gave her a soft smile and cupped his hand over hers. His ocean blue eyes were so soft and loving, it made her feel that much guiltier. “This is your first date, isn’t it?”

She nodded.

“It’s always a little awkward at first.” He assured.

Azula thought that it ran a little deeper than that. Genuinely, she wanted the affection. Truly a kiss sounded nice. But actually receiving one? The very possibility that her night would probably end with one…? It caused her stomach to lurch.

It was just that she hadn’t ever opened up before. Never found the courage to show a softer side of herself and it just felt weird and wrong to do so.

Sokka hummed softly, “hey, I have an idea!” He declared.

“Is it a good one?”

He wriggled his brows. “It’s an idea.”

Azula buried her face in her hands, each time he’d ever said that, it turned out to be a dreadful one.

“You just sit there, okay?”

She bit the inside of her cheek. “Sure, Sokka.” She paused, “but if this is awful, I’m going to throw you off of the pier, understand?”

He flashed her a mischievous grin, “guess I better get my swim trunks on.”

That night she was exposed to the worst karaoke cover that she’d ever heard, but it sure as hell made her feel less obvious and out of place. For that night she was simply, ‘that girl with the karaoke boyfriend’.

He certainly was no siren. He was more comparable to, perhaps a walrus where vocal quality was concerned.

That night she pushed him off of the pier just as she had promised.

That night, he told her that she could take her time to get used to things, that they didn’t have to have their first kiss right away.

That night they had their first kiss anyways; on the edge of the dock she’d just thrown him from. He hugged her close and soaked her clothes with ocean water.

.oOo.

A walk on the boardwalk is out of the question, because that is where Sokka had taken her. It feels dreadfully strange to have her hand in Jet’s. It isn’t particularly unpleasant by any means. In fact, Jet is very sweet and gentle. A stark contrast to Sokka, who enjoyed playing rough with and teasing her.

It is both a relief and a sting. The contrast is so stark that she doesn’t feel like she is trying to use him as a fill-in Sokka but it very considerably accentuates that Sokka is gone and that she is with someone else.

“How about a walk on the beach?” He suggests.

That would make sense, they spend a lot of time on the beach surfing. Maybe they can have themselves a more passionate practices. But the beach is very close to the cove, she and Sokka’s cover. Though that beach isn’t the only beach, it is simply the closest one to her house.

“There’s a beach across town that I’ve been meaning to check out.” Azula says.

“Alright, a walk on the beach it is.” He beams. He slides an arm around her waist and leads her to his car.

Suddenly she feels shamefully shy again. Sokka is the only person she’d ever let touch her like that. Sokka is the only person who she thought would. Though it doesn’t feel particularly wrong to let Jet do so. It, in fact, feels rather nice to have that kind of affection again.

All the same it feels wrong. So horribly wrong to let him take her by the waist when she’d never truly called it off with Sokka. When he is probably isolated and touched-starved somewhere out at sea.

And especially when she catches herself pretending that it is Sokka who is holding her.

“What kind of music are you in the mood for?” Jet asks as he messes with the radio dials, “personally I think synthwave has the right vibe for cruising down a road by the ocean.”

“Synthwave is fine.” She forces a smile.

“Cool.” He pushes at his sunglasses and leans back in the seat.

It is nice to have the wind in her hair, to feel it warmly on her face as she watches the palm trees rush by. In some sense it makes her feel alive again. She glances at Jet who nods his head to the music. The wind flutters his hair. One hand on the wheel he reaches for his soda and has a sip before putting it back in the cupholder. “Want a sip?”

Azula brings her lips to the staw, she can slightly taste him on it as she has her drink. “Thank you.” She says, putting the cup back down.

“Yeah, any time.” He pulls into a parking spot. “Leave the boards here or do you think we’ll use them?”

Azula thinks for a moment. “Leave them. We can just walk this time.”

He nods, “sounds good, I think it’d be nice to just walk and get to know you better.”

Just like that it occurs to her that they talk almost daily but they never really had a real conversation. They mostly talk about surfing and parties. It will be rather nice to know his interests and hobbies. What his home life is like and what his pet peeves are.

He holds his hand out and she takes it as they make their way down to the sand. For much of the sunset they sit at the shoreline and dip their feet in the water, discussing more mundane things.

He really loves synthwave and his favorite color is brown of all colors. He says that it reminds him driftwood and that he used to build driftwood castles and pirate ships with his childhood friends before he’d moved to Port Tui-La. He’d called his crew the Freedom Fighters and they were ‘good and noble’ pirates. He mentioned that his first mate, Smellerbee caused a mutiny one time and took over the ship.

Azula had, had a good chuckle at this.

For herself, Azula mentioned the fish game. She also made note that she preferred tea to coffee and that blue is superior to brown in every way.

After some time of quiet, just watching the sun show its last rays while skipping rocks and fidgeting with shells Jet says, “hey, I’m sorry about your mom and Sokka. The reason I moved is because I lost both of my parents in a house fire.” He pauses. “Some men in masks just poured gasoline all around and lit it up while they were asleep. I was at Longshot’s house…” he trails off. “I never did find out who they were or why they did it. I live with my uncle now.”

Azula swallows, her belly flutters for his loss. “Yeah.” She stuffs her hands into the pockets of her shorts. “It’s...it never feels the same. There’s this emptiness…”

Jet nods. “And you can’t fill it.”

“It’s like there’s a hole. You can meet new people, but that doesn’t fill the hole, you just have a mound of sand next to the hole. You can push the sand in but it doesn’t quite fill it right.”

Jet quirks a brow. “Yeah, that’s a good way of describing it.” He pauses. “But having a new mound is better than nothing at all, right?”

She can see it in his eyes that it runs deeper than just a general analogy.

She thinks for a moment before finally nodding. “Yes. I think that it is better to try to make something new, even if it isn’t the same.”

Jet’s darkly colored eyes light up. He tenderly caresses her cheek and leans in.

For a fleeting moment she thinks that it might be too soon. She very nearly tells him not yet. But is it really too soon? It has been months. She hasn’t feel a connection like this, a warmth like this in months.

She decides that it isn’t too soon.

His lips find hers.

It is a kind kiss, soft and delicate. Her belly flutters again, both pleasantly and with a sense of melancholy. She isn’t alone.

She deepens the kiss.

A tear slips down her cheek.

#avatar the last airbender #Azula #Sokka #Sokkla #Jet #Jetzula #Fanfiction

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