#maybe you should put up some safety rails for her in your shop

[bunnymajo]

Trip the Sungazer vs. Noodle House

[duuhrayliegh]

my hero - request

request: anon: hi could you write a sebastian x female reader fic where she suffers from anxiety and feels bad because of it but he comforts her and tells her there’s nothing wrong with her and how strong she is even though she has this disorder

pairing: sebastian stan x female!reader

warnings: self-esteem issues, anxiety, toxicity in the fandom, language?

a/n: hey nona! you weren’t super specific on what type of anxiety that you wanted to reader to have, so if this isn’t what you had in mind, lmk and i’ll write you another fic! other than that i hope you like it!

p.s.: my requests and tag lists are open!!

xoxo ray

check out my m.list

You and Seb met at a coffee shop in New York. It was totally cliche and seemed straight out of a storybook. You had somehow managed to spill coffee on that specimen of a man, and he was kind enough to let you pay for his dry cleaning. Your relationship didn’t grow until you ran into him again while you were at a bar with your friends. If he had any say in telling the story of how you met, he spotted you from across the smoky bar and he knew then and there that he had to get to know you. Truthfully, you liked his version, but the real one was just indescribable. It seemed, to you at least, that you were destined to be with this man. Seeing him twice in one week? Come on, that’s possible if you were in the small town you grew up in, but not New York.

You obviously had recognized him as an actor, but really you didn’t care. That’s what drew Sebastian to you in the first place. You treated him as if he was any other guy on the street, he was able to be a normal person around you. Now, two years later, you lounge on the couch of your apartment in LA that you shared with the man you love. He’s still auditioning for any role that catches his eye and you’re supporting him no matter what.

His fans for the most part adored you and your relationship with Sebastian. The fans who didn’t like you were your only issue with this whole affair, but they had nothing to do with Sebastian other than flood his socials with nasty messages about you. You weren’t perfect, that you knew all too well, and you tried to let the comments roll off your shoulders. Most of the time you were successful in your efforts, but other times they clung to your skin like an unwanted disease.

Sebastian was currently promoting his new project Endings, Beginnings. You were so unbelievably proud of Seb, he was doing something that made him happy. In this particular film, he was acting alongside Shailene Woodley, who was just amazing. Seb always came home gushing about the new inside jokes that they had come up with. One of your favorite things that Seb did with you was run lines. You liked having the inside scoop on his new works, but this one was harder for you. It had quite a few sex scenes between Seb’s character Frank and Shailene’s Daphne.

Not that it bothered you. Nope. Didn’t bother you. At all.

...mmm, okay maybe it bugged you a little. It wasn’t that you didn’t trust Sebastian, it was… well you couldn’t really describe what it was. Whatever the case may be, it was putting you deeper and deeper into a funk, one that you were having a hard time coming out of. And Seb’s fans who weren’t in your corner, weren’t really helping you any.

A few nights ago, Seb surprised you with a casual night out in LA. He texted you before he got home and told you that he was going to be taking you out. Did he give you a dress code for the evening? No, he did not (wonderful, thanks so much Seb). You decided to dress in a half business casual, half rail me when we get home outfit. You ended up wearing an adorable bustier top that was embroidered with pretty blue and pink flowers, a pair of destroyed jeans covered your legs. You finished it off with a pair of nude heels, when you looked in the mirror, you thought you looked hot as fuck. It was around seven when Seb picked you up, mouth hanging open, in awe of your outfit.

“Oh my god. You look so beautiful, Y/N.” He opened the passenger door of his car after he hugged you, giving you a small peck on the lips. Sebastian drove you to a restaurant a block off of Thai Town called Home Restaurant.

“Babe, this place is so cute!” You squeezed Sebastian’s upper arm, jumping up and down beside him. “How’d you find this place?” Sebastian shook his head, smiling at you.

“I asked Shai, actually.” He rubbed his hand on the back of his neck, and your heart sank a little. Why did it do that? “She said that the paps hardly ever come around here.” He leaned down pressing a kiss to your temple. “I thought that draga mea deserved a quiet night out on the town.” His voice rasped as he spoke in his native tongue, making a shiver race down your spine.

“Well, tell her I said thank you.” You offered him a small smile. He wrapped his arm around your waist, drawing circles on the exposed skin above your jeans. He spoke with the hostess as your mind drifted away. You were pulled out of your thoughts when he guided you to your table. Sebastian sat across from you, staring deeply into your eyes. You brought your hand up to rest your chin on it, staring back at him. “How’s everything been going?” You were genuinely interested in the answer and it made your heart warm watching his face light up.

“It’s been going really well. Everyone we worked with was real nice, it made all the scenes more comfortable.” Seb’s eyebrows rose at the mention of the scenes and you knew which ones he was referring to.

“Oh, right.” You tried not to let your emotions show.

“Yeah, we’re about to start teasing some of them to promote the show.” Seb sighed at the thought of having to use social media, you shook your head at him.

“I’ll help you with it, you dork.” You laughed to hide your discomfort. “Which scene did they approve for the posts?” Sebastian began to speak when he was interrupted by your waitress. After the two of you ordered your food, the waitress returned with your drinks. Sebastian took a large gulp of his before answering your previous question.

“They want me to post the trailer and then the scene between Frank and Daphne at the bar.” You tried to think back to the script, remembering the context. Frank and Daphne were meeting after Daphne had gone out on a date with Jack. Daphne was claiming that she didn’t want to be a wedge in their friendship, then proceeded to make out with Frank. If you were recalling correctly, Frank and Daphne’s first sex scene followed soon after.

“Okay, we can do that. Do you have any behind the scene pictures you wanna post too?” Seb got out his phone, scrolling through his camera roll to see. He had several different photos of him with Jamie and then him with Shailene. He showed you his phone on a picture of Shailene leaned against him on a couch, her arm over his waist. A red filter colored the photo, you had to hand it to him, it was a good one to use. “We can post it whenever we get home, love.” Sebastian locked his phone and shoved it in his pocket, to focus solely on you.

“How has your day been, draga mea?” You bit your lip as you thought about what you’ve been doing. You’ve been working towards your Master’s, so your days have been filled with preparing for your dissertation. On top of that, you’ve become a bit of an influencer on different social media platforms. Really, you believe your popularity came from your relationship with Sebastian. You’ve been giving his fans the content that they’ve always wanted. Not only that, but you’re active with them.

“My day was good today. I had to edit a few papers from my other classmates but other than that I didn’t do much. I did make a few TikTok videos, but really today was a bit of a lounge day for me.” Seb smiled at you, proud of how hard you’ve been working.

“I should be getting a few days off soon, so we can relax together in the apartment, if you aren’t too busy with your classes.” He stretched his arm across the table, palm up waiting for your hand. Seb pulled your hand up to his mouth, placing a sloppy kiss onto the back of it. His eyes settled on you lovingly. To Sebastian, you were the greatest thing that had ever happened to him.

The two of you managed to finish your meal in peace. No fans came up to Sebastian asking for photos, no paparazzi swarms when you left, just a quiet meal for a normal couple in love. After you got home and you were snuggled in your pajamas alongside Sebastian in your comfortable bed, he handed you his phone to read over his post for his Instagram. The paragraph was sappy, about his time working with Drake, the director, and working with the rest of the cast. Seb always was a softy, never was able to hide it, especially in promo posts.

“It looks good to me. Are you going to post it now? Or wait until tomorrow morning?” Seb debated, he probably should wait and do it tomorrow, but he was most likely going to forget to do it. He clicked post, putting his phone on charge and snuggling into you.

“Thank you for always being there for me, Y/N.” He kissed your jawline, nuzzling his face into your neck. “It really means a lot to me, baby. I love you so much.” He wrapped both hands around your waist, pulling you to his front. You smiled wide, momentarily forgetting all of your troubles.

“I love you too, Seb.” You turned your head slightly, pressing a kiss against the corner of his mouth. “Now let’s get some sleep, love.” Little did you know that a single post could ruin all of the progress that you thought you had made.

*********************

You woke the next morning, alone in bed. You could hear pots clanging in the kitchen of your home, bringing a smile to your face. Before you left the safety of your bed, you checked your socials out of habit. You opened Instagram first, seeing an absurd amount of notifications this early in the morning. Your smile dropped as soon as you opened the first post. Comments on Sebastian’s post about Endings, Beginnings and his chemistry with Shailene weren’t entirely out of the ordinary. They were to be expected, they were playing parts in a love triangle. People were ‘shipping’ Shailene with Seb and Jamie, so that wasn’t too crazy.

What hurt you were the comments saying, “living for shailene and sebastian! she’s a much better match for him than y/n.”

“never thought that y/n girl was going to last, glad he’s going w shailene”

“shailene and seb supremacy”

“yes! i’ve always supported seb in everything he’s done, but i rlly questioned him when he got w that y/n girl. what was he thinking?!”

Tears gathered in your eyes as you continued scrolling. You never thought you and Sebastian never fit. You knew that people had issues with your relationship, but you never let it get in your head this bad. You checked your explore page, pictures of you and Sebastian from last night were riddling the page.

Your heart dropped.

There were pictures of the two of you from last night with parts of your body circled. The exposed skin above your waistband, the excess skin on your neck and arms. You don’t know where they got these pictures, but your stomach was steadily sinking with each picture you saw. The door of your room opened, revealing a smiley Sebastian with a plate full of eggs in one hand and a cup of orange juice in the other.

“Good morning, baby.” You quickly shoved your phone away from you, wiping your tears away from your eyes to meet his. His brows furrowed immediately. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” You snuffled quietly, before answering.

“Uh, nothing. I’m just so proud of you.” You smiled at him, not wanting to bring down his already happy mood with your problems. Was that entirely healthy? Probably not, but you were doing it anyway, consequences be damned.

“Oh, well you don’t have to cry for me, Y/N. Even if you’re proud.” He walked up to your side of the bed, placing the cup and plate on your nightstand. He brought his hand up to your cheeks, wiping away your tear streaks. “You know that I only like to see tears whenever it’s me causing you so much pleasure you beg me to stop.” He winked at you, smirking at your rising blush. To say that didn’t lift your spirits for about half a second would be a lie. Sebastian brought the plate to your lap, waiting for you to start eating. At this particular moment, after seeing all those horrible pictures of your body, your appetite had gone out the window, but he was so smiley.

“After you eat, I want ya to shower.” Sebastian’s hand came up to your jaw, cupping it as you used it to chew the eggs. “We’ve got a long day of lounging and enjoying each other's company ahead of us.” Sebastian stood from the bed, throwing a wink at you as he left the room dramatically. You stopped eating soon after he left, the food tasting like ash on your tongue. At some point, you got into the bathroom, staring at the reflection in the mirror.

Your phone was in your hand again. The pictures flooding your Twitter feed. Shaky breaths left your mouth as you watched your reflection tilt its head. Tears began gathering in your eyes as it felt like you weren’t in your own skin anymore. You had worked so hard to be comfortable in your own body.

It’s amazing how just one picture can ruin everything.

You leaned forward on the countertop, hands holding up your weight. You shifted towards the mirror, examining every miniscule detail that your eyes could see. Your lids came down quickly, tears dragging down your cheeks. You squeezed your eyes closed, shaking your head back and forth.

“You are not going to let this get to you.” You took a few deep breaths as you turned on the shower. Not wanting to be around the mirror anymore, you kept your bath short, talking to yourself the whole time. By the time you left the bathroom, it was steamed completely, you couldn’t see your reflection even if you wanted to.

“He loves you.” You had a mantra and you continued to repeat it as you walked into your shared closet. “He loves all of you.” You pulled one of his old t-shirts off a hanger. “Sebastian loves you.” A pair of your underwear and his loose boxers covered your lower half. “Sebastian loves all of you.” You shoved your feet into a pair of fuzzy pink socks, leaving the closet still muttering to yourself. You tucked your phone into your waistband after checking your socials again. You know you shouldn’t have, but there was some part of you that just wouldn’t let you not.

The same shit covered your For You page on TikTok. Videos from the trailer of Seb and Shailene and then videos of you and Seb, comparing the two relationships. “They do fit well together.” You thought to yourself. A part of you wondering why Seb was with you in the first place.

“Did you say something, love?” Sebastian looked at you from the couch. A blanket was strewn over his lower half, his upper body inviting, waiting for you to join him. His smile dropped when he took in your glassy eyes instead of your usual happy expression.

“Oh baby, what’s wrong?” He started towards you, eyes running over your body for any outward injuries. An understanding look crossed his face when he saw your phone clutched in your hand. “Y/N, talk to me, baby.” Sebastian’s hands rested on your shoulders, lightly caressing your biceps. You recoiled from his touch, feeling uncomfortable in your own body.

“Just some stuff that some fans posted.” Seb’s thumb traced just under your eye, wiping away the tears. He held his right hand out for your phone, to understand what you were talking about. His brows furrowed deeply as he scrolled, not fully processing how destructive his fans could be. Sebastian always believed that they were the best fucking people in the world. He knew that they could be mean, but this was something else.

“They don’t know what they’re talking about, Y/N.” Sebastian’s voice was firm. It was almost strong enough to cut through the fog invading your brain, but not quite. You had officially zoned out. Dead to the world. Lost in your own thoughts. No matter how destructive those thoughts may be.

Sebastian noticed that you were already too deep, having experienced this with you many times before. He was aware that you were self-conscious, insecure, however you want to describe it. Your anxiety always got worse when you were stressed. Prepping for your dissertation was definitely a stressful time. Add on top of that, Sebastian was constantly pulling you from your work for various reasons. Had he contributed to this? Scratch that thought, he didn’t have time for that. He needed to bring you back down to Earth, back to him.

“Y/N.” His hands hovered over your hips. “I’m going to touch you for a second.” He directed you to the couch, settling on the coffee table in front of you. His fingers lightly traced circles onto your knees, as he assessed how he should approach this.

“Y/N. Baby?” Sebastian hesitated before bringing his fingers up to your chin, not wanting you to react badly. “I’m right here, Y/N, it’s Sebastian.” His left hand hadn’t left your knee, continuing to trace small patterns into your skin, giving you something to ground yourself with. He watched you blink and swallow harshly, inhaling sharply before opening your mouth.

“Why are you with me?” Your chin trembled with unvoiced sobs. “You deserve the world, Seb. I’m not even--” Your sentence was cut off by a loud whimper causing tears to start streak down. Sebastian wasn’t sure if this was a situation where you wanted him to be involved, so he waited for a sign.

“I’m not even worth a glance from you.” Your hand came up to wipe at your runny nose. “They’re so right. You need to be with someone like Shailene.” A bitter sob racked your body, making your body fold in half. Sebastian caught you before you hurt yourself.

“Y/N. I love you.” He always heard you say that to yourself when you thought he wasn’t listening. He knew that you suffered from anxiety, so he was always watching. Always paying attention to your little cues. The little things that he could use to help you as much as he could. “I love all of you.” He held one of your hands, running his thumb over the back of it.

“I don’t care what they say, baby.” He lifted your face to his, steel blue eyes locking with your cloudy pair. “I picked you.” He pecked your right cheek. “I want you.” A peck to your left. “I want only you.” One to your forehead. “It’s always been you, Y/N.” Another on your chin. “I love all of you, Y/N.” Sebastian landed a final short kiss to your lips, lingering for only a second.

“I want you to understand something, Y/N.” His gaze never left you. “I’m not going anywhere.” His brows raised as he hardened his voice. “I’m especially not going anywhere at the behest of my fans. I love them to death, but they don’t get to decide who I love.” Sebastian shifted to sit next to you on the couch. “Is it okay if I put my arms around you?” All he got was a brief nod in return, which was expected.

“I’m yours, Y/N. As much as you’re mine.” His arms descended around you, wrapping you in a loving embrace. You turned to face him fully, bringing your own arms around his waist, shoving your head into his neck.

“I’m sorry you have to deal with all my shit, Seb.” Sebastian almost missed your comment because you spoke into his shoulder and through loud snuffles. He backed away to look you in the face.

“I signed up for this, Y/N. I’m here for whatever we go through.” He tucked a stray hair behind your ear. “We go through ‘your shit’ together, Y/N. This is a partnership, a two-way street.” He looked at the weak smile on your face, heart warming slightly at the sight. His face turned serious, casting a glance at your phone on the coffee table.

“How long have you been sitting on this?” He knew how quickly your mind could twist things, so he wasn’t sure what to expect. You bit your lip, not meeting his eyes anymore.

“Just since this morning.” He held you away from his body, watching your expression.

“Is this why you were crying earlier?” You gave him a meek nod in response. “Baby, I thought we talked about this. We have to talk to each other when we think we’re going to go into a funk.” The two of you had talked about it before, but you didn’t think this was going to be a funk.

“I should’ve been able to just shake this off because I know you love me and you won’t leave me because of something that some people on the Internet say.” The words left your mouth before you could process everything, your mind quick to defend itself.

“It’s okay, Y/N. You don’t always have to be able to shake something off. We just have to keep each other in the loop.” Sebastian looked over your tear-stained face, pressing a kiss to your forehead again. “Let’s ditch the phones today. Just spend the day in each other’s arms, how’s that sound?” You smiled softly, nodding at the man in front of you. He got up quickly hiding both of your phones in the kitchen somewhere.

This definitely wasn’t a solution to dealing with your anxiety, Sebastian knew that. It also wasn’t dealing with the toxic people on the Internet, but you didn’t need that right now. You needed to be immersed in an environment that accepted what you were going through without judgement, Sebastian could provide that. Seb hummed happily when you snuggled into his side under the covers on your couch while he searched for a movie. He kissed the top of your head and he felt you smile against his stomach.

“I’m proud of you, draga mea.” You turned to face him, a confused expression lacing your features.

“For what, Seb?” He stroked your face with a single finger, mapping out your features.

“I’m proud of how you handle yourself. I’m amazed at how strong you are, even when you think you’re not.” He leaned closer to you, whispering his next words. “You’re my hero.” One corner of your mouth twitched upwards, not wanting to accept it. You rolled your eyes playfully, settling back onto his stomach before speaking.

“I love you, Sebastian.”

“And I love you, Y/N.”

[smutty-ki113r]

🌐Discord🌐||

Comfort one-shot reader x creepy pastas (Slenderman, Jeff, Toby, E.J, BEN, Sally, Masky, Hoodie, Jane and L.J.)

Inspired by: The living tombstone

You woke to excessive yelling, turning over and pushing the pillow over your face groaning. The voice got louder and you felt a pair of hands shake you awake, throwing the pillow at them you found that it was Toby. He let out an abrupt gasp and continued to jump around the hotel room. You understood why he was so excited, it was the first day of your trip to Disney world after all.

I know it seems unconventional but you had managed to convince slender to let you guys go. Obviously it was on Halloween weekend, the only time they could go into the parks without being questioned for their looks. That day you would all be going to Epcot.

Masky was probably the most excited about that park even though he had an expressionless face on the ride there. He had been so against going, at least it seemed like it. But you saw him putting ciggarates in a fanny pack when getting ready to leave.

Smiling fondly at the memory you got up and dressed. After breakfast you all drove to the park, seeing the Halloween decorations in orange and black with the shapes of Mickey Mouse. You groaned at the bickering going on in the third row of seats with Jeff and E.J, who was trying to convince Jeff to leave his knife in the car.

“They’ll stop you at security” you called back to him.

“I can hide it” he protested.

“Jeff they have literal metal detectors” E.J rebutted.

“What if I put it in my pants” he said smartly.

“NO” you yelled. After a death glare and a small tug of war between him and E.J he left it. He walked at the back of the group, slumping with his hands in his hoodie pocket. At the entrance the whole crowd was met with “oohs” and compliments about your “costumes”.

There was so much to do, but Hoodie (secretly Masky too) and BEN wanted to go to Spaceship earth. They were all so amazed on how there was a ride inside of the Epcot ball.

“It’s an XXL golf ball” BEN kept saying, convinced that there was nothing inside. There wasn’t much wait but since you were all a big crowd it took a bit to get in. Slender had the hardest time getting in the cart, he had to crouch excessively to fit. You rode with BEN, who was really excited at first because he thought there was going to be a drop but it turned out bore him. He thought it was going too slow, and so he had the bright idea to tamper with the manuals. “Time to spice things up” he said rubbing his hands maliciously. At one point all the carts started spinning, he lifted his hands and “wheeed”. You could hear Sally yelling from the back with Slender holding her in the seat since there was no restraints. At the end he scolded Ben, rushing him out of there as the cast members apologized for the inexplicable inconvenience.

He came out of there with a proud grin, cackling as he pointed out the dumbfounded face E.J made in the picture and the one with Jeff with his tongue out. The smiling killer joined him, watching Toby spin from the dizziness- it was pretty funny though.

Slender admired the late October scenery until Sally pulled him into a stand and graced him with a Mickey Mouse hat. Jeff was yet another unfortunate victim of Sally’s plan, wearing the mickey ears that had a pastel veil. BEN was throwing fits of giggles at this, but you knew Jeff was fucking insecure so you put on ears along with Sally.

The first country you stopped at was Mexico, where you went inside the pyramid. Jeff traded his ears for a big Mexican hat, Ben too. They played with the maracas while Toby, Sally and Hoodie went into the glass shop. It was a recipe for disaster, but you followed regardless. Sally tried on every. Single. Princess crown while Toby looked at the glass pieces a bit too closely. He started ticking while holding one, even though the sign said not to touch them. It flew across the store and collided with a whole other shelf, all of them broke and he started apologizing furiously as Slender messed the employees’ mind to make him forget about the accident.

He had to pull Toby out of the store and drag him to the boat ride, you patted him on the back daringly as he had the guiltiest look. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea for slender to go on the boat ride, he was far too tall and had to bend his knees to look like a grasshopper while Sally smiled and sung along with the cartoon characters. When you got off you could hear Slender mumbling something about his back.

Norway didn’t have much to do but Sally begged to go on the Elsa ride, Hoodie accompanied her happily. Toby as well, but he was really enthusiastic about the songs- he knew all of them. Him and Sally harmonized during the chorus for “let it go”. Since there were a shit ton of little kids there L.J was about to combust. Surprisingly he stayed super silent with occasional grumbles, making mental notes for when he got out of the park. He had to ditch the group to shop for Candy, which he found in China.

Jane was absolutely fascinated with the Zodiac garden there, watching the beautiful plants in the morning sun. Masky tried to relax by watching the show inside the pavillion but Toby caught up to him. He really couldn’t sit still and Masky had to scold him for sitting on the rail he wasn’t supposed to sit on. After, you found E.J playing with Sally with the marionettes and BEN with a cup of Boba. He seemed to be enjoying it- a lot. It was the funniest thing to watch him suck up all the tapioca stuck in the ice, his cheeks got super red and you couldn’t help but let out a laugh.

Jeff was gladly giving Toby his Mickey Mouse ears. In the afternoon you moved to Italy, where L.J was getting complimented for his “stilts”. There wasn’t much to do in Germany or America so you guys went to Japan. Laughing Jack was a lost cause, going straight for the candy while Jeff was mesmerized by the samurai swords. He was looking around to see if he could steal one, but how in the world would he hide that- definitely not in his pants. You caught on quick.

“Just ONE” he pleaded with you as you pulled him away from the glass. “Don’t do this to meeee” he screeched at you like a starved man asking for food.

Trying to throw hands and hit you while you grasped onto his hoodie. You managed to bring him with you as you walked out of the store. Passing by Masky who was trying to get away from Toby- he was fanning masky with those big fans. Jeff sat sourly as you ordered food, a stressed Masky came soon after. He was glad to have some quiet from the ruckus outside, enjoying a meal with you. When he was done he went outside to have a smoke from his fanny pack.

Going back to the store with Jeff on a tight leash AWAY from the swords you found Sally playing with the plushies and L.J taking packs and packs of candy. You stood and stared at him as he loaded up on the strawberry gummies. “What?” He deadpanned as a few fell down from his pile. You just laughed and helped him hold some of them, putting them in your backpack and walking out of the store because- y’all are criminals, and you steal.

It was now late afternoon, and you only had a few countries left to complete the full round of the park. Toby got lost in France, you all spent about twenty minutes looking for him and apparently Slender too who disappeared soon after. Then out of some room came one of them.

“where where you?” Jane asked.

Slender stepped forward “at the show, there were some magnificent castles and I think I’ll have to visit. Maybe even take ideas for house redecoration” he nodded.

Then out of nowhere appeared a cast member holding the hand of one shaking Toby, whose eyes were puffy and cheeks red. “Did you lose this little boy” she asked slender, he shook his head yes and gave a sigh.

The lady was in absolute awe of the group, especially daddy dilf slender. “How IS it that you see through that mask” she mused, taking slender’s head in her hands even though he was super tall. Her mouth was open as she pulled him super close to observe his (non-existent) face. BEN was snickering and you looked back and forth to see slender pretty flustered at the lady’s proximity.

“Leave him alone” Jane smacked BEN behind his head and took him by the ear. You followed them to the U.K. She threw him in one of the phone booths and held the door so he couldn’t escape. You could hear him complain from inside “let me outttt” he said muffled. Jeff caught up and went into the one on the opposite side, playing with the buttons on the dial. When Slender came back he took out a Camera to snap pictures of BEN and Jeff. You stood to the side while he did, obviously both of them didn’t notice. They were pretty candid and when they saw what was happening they ran out of there, only to have their spaces replaced with Sally and E.J, who had to pose with her for the picture.

The sun was starting to set and you guys only had a couple things left to do, one of which Jeff almost exploded in wait for. He wanted to try test track so bad, the line was gruesome and he tapped his foot impatiently in wait. BEN kept tampering with the car parts on display, making doors open and lights flash in boredom. Toby waited outside with Slender because he had anxiety around going too fast in a car and possibly reliving trauma. Jeff, on the other hand, was so excited when it was finally time to go on. He let you sit next to him in the front with BEN in the back. The ride was entertaining sure but the best part was probably Jeff’s face at the end. The car went so fast that Jeff’s cheeks were pushed back with the wind, stretching out his carved smile and flapping as he waved his hands in the air.

Then when it ended he wanted to steal one of the cars from the display.

“I can turn it on and take the safety off” BEN tuned in cheekily.

“Yessss” Jeff said with a fist pump, “which one should we get?” He asked.

“The red one” BEN decided.

“Guys nonononon” you tried complaining but they were dedicated.

“Stop complaining” BEN said, distracting you while Jeff snuck up on you from behind. Covering your mouth with his hand and restraining your arms with another “This is for not letting me take that knife”.

Picking you up and throwing you in the backseat of the car before revving the engine. With tears of joy in your eyes you saw Slender appear in the rear mirror of the car, tendrils waving around in fury. If BEN wasn’t dead yet he would definetly be now, Jeff turned paler than usual. Thank goodness he saw what was going on. They were about to drive off in one of those Toyotas- forget about mass murder, they were about to commit grand theft auto.

Next was the Nemo ride, but BEN was absolutely petrified of being near water so he waited outside with Slender-who very much could not fit in that shell car as much as he tried. Sally really liked it, she went with Toby and you went with Jane. Masky and Hoodie went together. Needless to say all of you enjoyed it very much, and the aquarium after was great too. Jane sat where she could watch the Dolphins and you could hear Toby and Sally’s footsteps running around from tank to tank.

“Do you think Slender will let me take a shark home?” He asked Masky, who told him no. But when they were outside Toby went straight to Slender. “Can I take a pet home?” He pleaded. Slender gave him a strict no but Toby continued to beg, “how about a seahorse?”, “not even a starfish?”. He got shot down but quickly recovered when you guys went to Soarin.

All of them- they loved flying. Even through it was just a ride, it was exhilarating. Passing through the sea and waterfalls, even the castles where Slender would have smiled at (if he had a mouth). Toby yelled like a mother fucker the whole time, luckily Masky was sitting next to you and hoodie- away from earshot. Jeff got the bad end of his shouting, making a face like he was about to murder poor Toby. But the brunette was so distracted by the lights and scenery he didn’t notice. E.J was pretty fascinated too, the height scared him a bit- he was used to being on the ground. Then you all shared some food from the cafeteria and went outside to watch the light show from Canada.

It was such a nice moment, with the sun already set and a hazy glow lingering in the air. You took a deep breath in, the ambiance felt like something unreal. The Epcot ball was illuminated by purplish lights in the background and across the lake you could see all the countries monuments lined with white lights. Slender had Sally on his shoulders so she could take in the view. It made you so happy to be with all of them in an instance like this. You looked back to find L.J eating his candy. With BEN and Hoodie next to you, Masky was leaning on the railing with his elbows next to E.J. and Toby was about to fall asleep. He got pretty startled when the fireworks started, but Sally’s eyes lit up with happiness. She cheered as you watched the group, it was such a kindling time with them. You couldn’t wait for the next day of the trip.

[melon-wing]

My Captain [Pirate AU]

[PIRATE AU MASTERLIST] This is part two of @gridoc ‘s birthday present, also based on a wonderful commission she did for me! This is set way after the other stories, when Grian just left the navy and joined Doc’s crew

~*~

Grian stood at the railing of the ship, looking at the first rays of the sun peaking out at the horizon, searching for any sign of a navy ship. He was now part of Doc’s crew… And wasn’t this a weird thing to even think about, let alone say out loud? Sure, he had wanted to do it. He never did anything this rash without thinking about it… It was still weird. Especially in situations like these, everyone asleep but him, the safety of a whole pirate crew in his hands.

He had been the last one to take the night shift and it was always a challenge for him, standing out here all alone with nothing but his thoughts keeping him company. He was only glad the others trusted him enough to put him on the night shift at all. It really spoke louder than a thousand words.

He heard the creak of a door and steps, making him tense a bit. He took a deep breath and forced his shoulders to relax again, before turning around.

Ren stood a few steps towards him, a bright smile on his face. Ren was always the first one to get up on deck and he was the only one who was always bright and cheery right after getting up. Ren walked up to him, but stopped about a metre away, leaving him his space, just like he always did. And Grian was thankful for that.

“Did anything happen? Any ships? Any scary magical feelings?”

Grian shook his head. “I would have called you if that was the case.”

Ren nodded and stretched a bit. “Good, good. Doc should be out and about in a few along with the rest of the crew.” Ren looked at him for a while, as if he wanted to say something but held back. Grian was pretty sure it was something concerning Doc and he was really glad that Ren never actually went through with asking. Because he might have joined the crew to get away from the navy, but he still got confused everytime he thought about his relationship with the crew’s captain. And they all must have noticed.

“Not now, Ren.”

“That’s what you say every time. One day you’ll need to talk about it… Or at least think about it.”

“There’s not a day I don’t think about it.” Grian smiled and looked at the sea, his loose hair flying in the wind. “I owe your Captain my life after all. He came when no one else did. He’s… He’s important to me. I just don’t know if I really...”

Grian stopped himself when the door to the deck opened again and Doc stepped out. His smile widened a bit, a warm feeling entering his chest as he looked at his… the Captain. Doc was rubbing his eye, his hair was a mess, his clothes dishevelled and a deep frown showed that he had probably once more been kicked out of bed by either Etho or False. Going by the size of that frown it had probably been Etho and Doc had most likely already heard more than one bad joke this early in the morning.

When Grian turned his gaze back, he realised that Ren was looking at him knowingly, a wide smirk on his face, arms crossed in front of his chest, one eyebrow raised. And Grian immediately knew what that look meant. “Oh, shut up.”

“I’m not saying anything”, Ren replied in a sing-song voice.

“You were thinking about it! Stop that!” Grian grumbled and when Ren started laughing he threw his hands up in frustration and walked to the door leading below deck. It was his turn to get some sleep while the rest of the crew started working.

This also meant he had to walk past Doc. Grian realised with annoyance that his heart started beating a bit faster the closer he got.

“Doc”, he said shortly when he was a few steps away from Doc.

He would never get used to this, the way Doc’s head snapped up to look at him, the way just uttering one word made Doc smile so brightly, his eyes sparkling with uncontainable joy.

Doc behaved so differently around him than around any other member of his crew, keeping him at the back at each and every battle. And Grian hated that. He was one of the best fighters on this ship. He had proven that, when he had defeated Doc a few years back. But Doc treated him like he was made out of glass and unable to protect himself.

“Grian, are you...”

“Going to bed. See you when we hit land”, Grian just replied shortly.

Grian didn’t look back when he went below deck, the route already so familiar. He walked past the Captain’s cabin and then stopped at the next door. This room totally wasn’t the place a newcomer like him deserved or would have gotten if it had been anyone but him. It was a miracle the rest of the crew didn’t hate him for this blatant favouritism.

Grian sighed and stepped into the room, taking off his belt and weapons, putting them all aside, except for a small knife that he laid down right next to his pillow. He took off his shirt next, keeping his eyes on the wooden wall straight ahead. He didn’t want to see the faint marks that were still covering his body. One day they’d fade or become just another scar on his body, but that day wasn’t today; that day was still far away.

~*~

There was loud knocking on his door and Grian awoke with a start, hand instantly flying to the knife, eyes searching the room.

“Grian? We put down the anchor. Doc wants you to get ready.”

Grian took a deep breath at the sound of Etho’s voice from outside and slowly put his knife down. The disorientation from having just woken up disappeared again.

“I’ll be out in a minute.”

When Grian stepped on the deck, the others were already busy unloading some wares to sell off and he immediately went over to help, when Doc stepped into his path.

“Not today. They can handle that, Grian. I really need someone to… accompany me into town and I’d like for you to come along.”

Grian knew what Doc was doing. He rarely let Grian go anywhere on his own, let alone have him somewhere out of his sight when they were off the Golden Goat. And it annoyed Grian that he went along with it every time. He never once went against Doc’s orders, no matter how stupid they sometimes were. But he felt safest when he was with Doc. No one else made him feel this way. That still didn’t stop him from arguing.

“You know that you don’t really need me. I won’t be in any danger here. My Captain let me go to town alone all the time.”

Grian noticed the way Doc flinched a bit and then he realised that he had slipped up… Again. 

“I am your Captain, Grian.” Doc’s voice was so gentle, but Grian still felt a tremble running through his body as if he had been reprimanded. He had been part of the crew for a while now. He still referred to his old Captain as his Captain far too often. He still referred to himself as a navy officer sometimes… And he had never once called Doc his Captain. He knew Doc had noticed… He had even once overheard Doc talking to Ren about it. He knew Doc blamed himself when Grian slipped up like that, thinking he wasn’t making Grian feel as a part of the crew.

“Sorry”, he muttered quietly and as an apology – and maybe as a way to change the topic - added on, “I’ll accompany you. We can leave right now, if you want to.“

Doc‘s face lit up a bit, but Grian could see the way his smile was strained just a little. They were both trying their best, but everything was still too new to work flawlessly. Grian really hoped he‘d get used to this sooner rather than later. It had been his decision after all. He had wanted this… Well, at least he thought that way. Doc always pretended that Grian hadn’t had any other choice. Maybe that was the reason he thought Grian didn‘t feel like he belonged. And maybe sometimes… Maybe sometimes he really didn’t.

“Let‘s go then”, Doc said and started walking, Grian right behind him as they moved down to the port. “This is a pretty neutral area, so They didn’t have to worry much. The navy doesn‘t drop by often and when they do, they never really get into fights. They are too scared to lose business here if they anger the traders. The traders got good wares and money and pirates are among their best customers.”

They walked past a lot of people hurrying around. The port was buzzing with activity, ships leaving and arriving, wares being loaded, repairs being made. It was chaos, but it was a chaos Grian was used to. Seeing everyone run around, busy with their own life made him feel calmer. Nobody was paying any attention to him and Doc. They weren’t a feared pirate Captain and a traitorous navy officer here. They were just two more people walking through the streets 

“So…”, Grian started when they left the port, moving on to the streets of the town, passing by some vendors trying to sell their wares. “What exactly are we doing here?”

“Oh, just some old acquaintance of mine I need to visit. She sells information, for a certain price, you know? I think she likes me enough. I never have to pay too much to get what I want.”

“So… You hussle her.”

Doc smirked slightly, taking the accusation almost like a compliment. “Well not exactly. I‘m just really good at bargaining, you know? I can be pretty convincing if I want to be. I also always try to get some nice jewelry for her. She likes that.”

Grian rolled his eyes a bit and turned his gaze back to the street. They were getting further away from the main road. The shops were becoming more run down, the wares in the window getting more and more illegal and Grian was pretty sure they had entered a blackmarket area.

He had been in those areas a lot back in the navy, but wearing his uniform, people had always been scared by him, trying to hide their more exotic and expensive items, seeing him as a threat to their business. Now everyone was looking at them with a calculating expression, some even trying to approach them with their wares. Doc made them all back away with one glance.

They turned another corner, the house fronts becoming even more broken, some of the vendors only using small blankets on the floor to show their wares. Finally, right in the middle of the street, in front of a black wooden door, Doc came to a halt. 

Grian looked at the building. It was small, the windows were covered with fabric on the inside. The glass had countless cracks and he wondered how it was still holding together. The black paint of the door must have been newer than the house and window, since it was the only thing not completely run down, only chipping off in a few places.

“This looks really welcoming. I‘m glad you took me along after all. Wouldn‘t want you here all by yourself.”

Doc glanced at Grian and shrugged. “I‘ve been alone here a lot before, don‘t worry. It‘s safe. She wants me to stay her customer after all.” Doc stopped, smiling sheepishly, probably remembering how he‘d told Grian that he needed him here. “It‘s still a good idea not to wander around here alone in case something does happen. You never know. And you’re one of my best fighters after all.”

Grian chuckled quietly and motioned Doc to go on, not even commenting on the rambling. Doc sighed and turned back to the door, knocking a few times in what might have been a pattern or a code… Or maybe just Doc being extra again.

There were steps on the other side and then a small window inside the door slid open. Gray eyes stared at Doc, then at Grian and back to Doc, squinting slightly, showing the deep wrinkles around them even more clearly. 

“Doc. Didn‘t I tell you not to show your ass around here again?” A voice croaked at them, sounding really pissed off. 

“Well nice to see you too! It‘s been so long! I brought you a present.”

The eyes snapped to Grian and seemed to take him in from head to toes. He shuddered below the almost invasive stare. “Didn’t take you as that kind of guy, Captain Doc. You know he‘s too old to sell. Although, given the right customer I might…”

Grian could practically feel the air around them getting darker as Doc growled in annoyance or maybe anger.

“You won‘t put your grimy hands on him. He‘s part of my crew. If you so much as touch him our business here is over.”

“As if I have ever wanted to do business with you, Doc.”, she grumbled and the small window slammed shut. Grian thought that would be it. Doc had managed to piss her off enough for her to cut ties, but a second later the door opened and the old lady stood in front of them. She was wearing a dusty worn out dress that had probably seen better days once upon a time.

She was still glaring at Doc, but then stepped aside to let them pass. When Doc had walked by her, she turned her eyes to Grian and her mouth twisted into a smile that sent shivers down his spine. He hurriedly went after Doc and inside the room. It was dark in here and the air reeked of dust and mold. There was barely any light, except for a few torches lining the walls. 

The walls were covered in dark dusty fabric. The room was lined with shelves containing a missmatch of items. There were books and maps, things floating in glasses. Grian really didn‘t want to look too close at them. He was pretty sure he’d seen some body parts.

In the middle of the room stood a desk and the lady wobbled past them again to sit on the other side of it. 

“So, Captain. What can I do for you? Treasure Maps? Love potion for your Navy toy?”

Doc flinched at the last part and Grian‘s eyes widened.

“How did you know?”, Doc‘s voice seemed calm, but Grian could tell how tense he was from the way he sounded. 

“Word gets around my boy. Some say you seduced a Navy soldier to join you, others say you fell for him and kidnapped him to have your wicked way with him. Poor boy in the claws of a horrible pirate, who doesn‘t care for anything but his own pleasure and not the well being of-“

“I‘m perfectly fine!”, Grian interrupted her, hands balled into fists. He‘d seen the shadow crossing Doc‘s face. He knew Doc still blamed himself for everything that had happened. He wouldn‘t have some old lady berating him. “I joined his crew because I wanted to, because he was there for me when the navy wasn‘t, because the navy is a bunch of arseholes. So stop your stupid gossiping. He hasn’t kidnapped anyone.“

The old lady‘s eyes stayed on Grian for a while and then she smiled softly, her eyes becoming more gentle.

“Oh. So it‘s you after all. I thought so. You don‘t look like you belong here. You look far too proper to mingle among pirates and us low lifes.“ She clapped twice and out of one of the dark corners stepped a young girl. 

Doc squinted his eyes at her, looking uncomfortable at the presence of a mere child. “I thought you worked alone.”

“I‘m not getting any younger, my boy. I took on an assistant. But don‘t worry. I‘ll send her away while we do business”, she said, scribbling something on a piece of paper with an old worn quill before handing it to the small girl. She couldn‘t have been more than 10 years old. „Go fetch this for me, dearie. Hurry along. You don‘t have all day. I want you back by the time these two gentlemen leave.”

The child nodded, not ever speaking up and just hurried out of the room. Grian looked after her and then sighed, turning back to the old woman.

“So, Captain Doc, I heard you came bearing gifts? If it‘s nice enough I might consider listening to your questions. Not promising any answers though.”

Doc didn‘t look too happy, but he took out a small bag out of his pocket, throwing it onto the desk. With a sudden burst of speed the old lady grabbed the bag, tearing it open and turning it around, a few necklaces and bejewled rings fell out. She looked at them for a while and from the sparkle in her eyes Grian could tell that she was very happy with her present, even when she tried to keep an emotionless face.

“Well. At least these don‘t look as pitiful as the last ones you brought me. They are almost halfway decent. I will listen to you, but I can‘t promise you any help. For a gift this cheap I‘ll only do it if I want to and if it‘s not too much trouble.”

“I need information. I need to know about a pirate raid. 10 years ago on Gedwyld

Island. Pirates attacked a small seemingly unimportant village. They were ordered by someone else to attack. It was no accident that those pirates were on the island that day. I need to know who was behind the attack. And I want to know why they attacked. Who was ordering them to do it?”

Grian‘s head snapped towards Doc, eyes going wide. He had thought that Doc would just ask for some maps or some inside information for the navy, not this. Why was Doc interested in his childhood home? Was Doc doing this for him? What would having this information even achieve?

“That is quite a lot of questions, my boy.”

The old lady looked at Doc in deep thought. Her eyes darted to one of the clocks hanging on the wall. Grian followed her gaze, the time on that one seemed off. According to the clock it was just a few minutes after noon, when it was already late noon. When he kept staring at it for a while he realized that the hand was going backwards. Huh… Weird.

“It is. If you have answers, I will reward you of course. If you don‘t have the information I‘ll pay you a small fee to gather them and we will return in a month to collect them.”

The old lady looked thoughtful, nodding slowly before turning around in her chair and grabbing a heavy old looking book from the shelf behind her. Her eyes darted to the clock once more. The hand had moved back another minute. She started to slowly flip through the pages, taking her time to trace the lines with her finger before flipping to the next. 

Grian could tell Doc was getting impatient next to him. He kept tapping his foot on the floor, clenching and unclenching his fists. And Grian could relate to this restless feeling.

“Well it looks like you will need a while, old hag. So how about we leave now and-”

“No! Stay!” The urgency in her voice startled Grian. Doc next to him raised an eyebrow.

“If you‘re so worried about losing business you should hurry up. I‘m a busy man. My ship doesn‘t run itself.”

The clock ticked backwards another minute and when the old lady looked at it again, she smiled in satisfaction.

“Ah, well. Looks like it‘s too late now anyways. It was a pleasure doing business with you, Captain, but the navy just pays so much better. You really shouldn‘t have pissed them off, taking one of their little stars into your greedy hands. They apparently had big plans for him. Plans that are worth a fortune.“

Doc‘s hand immediately flew to his sword, Grian had his in hand already, when the door burst open. Grian's heart immediately sank. Two navy officers stood in the door, the little girl right behind them, pointing a shaky finger in their direction.

"Surrender, Captain Doc!", the first navy officer shouted, glaring at Doc, before his gaze turned to Grian and he sneered. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen, haven't they, Lieutenant?"

Grian tightened his grip on the sword, casting a short glance in Doc's direction. Those two soldiers would be no problem for them, but Grian really didn't want to hurt them too badly. He knew he shouldn't think of them any different than all his other enemies, but it was still so hard. Seeing the uniforms sure triggered something inside him, but it also held him back. Fighting alongside people wearing those outfits had been too ingrained into his head.

"Well. I won't. I don't see the need to surrender to some poor weaklings like you", Doc replied, talking down to those navy officers with a smirk, but Grian could tell that he was worried from the way his fingers twitched a little. He got why Doc felt tense like that. They were still far away from the ship and didn't know how many navy officers were rushing over to their location right now. They were in danger and couldn’t tell how much would be thrown their way.

"Oh, there is some incentive for surrendering, you know. If you two surrender we won't hurt the traitor. The higher ups still have some use for the cursed child. But if you decide to fight I really can't guarantee for his safety. You know things happen in the heat of the battle. I never liked Lieutenant Grian that much. My blade could accidentally run through him and-"

The officer stopped, when Grian snorted loudly and turned to glare at him.

"Oh please, Henry. You couldn't hit a pirate dummy if it stood right in front of you back in our academy days. It's a wonder they let someone like you graduate." 

Just as Grian had expected of his hot headed opponent, he let out an enraged scream and charged forward without putting any thought into his action, blade outstretched to pierce Grian. 

“Idiot”, Grian just whispered with a smirk and ducked under the blade, grabbing the arm of the soldier and throwing him over his shoulder onto the old lady‘s desk. „Let‘s leave, Doc. We need to get back to the crew!“

Doc looked at the fallen soldier and then at him and nodded, before charging the remaining officer. Doc‘s blade pierced right through him and Grian winced as a cold shiver ran down his back, seeing blood pour over the white shirt of the navy uniform. Every fiber inside of him wanted to help the officer falling down. This was his comrade. This was a law abiding citizen. He should help. He could help. He needed to save him. But when Doc grabbed his arm, Grian averted his gaze from the body, looking into Doc‘s worried eyes.

“You good?”

Doc knew. Doc always knew. That was the reason he never let Grian fight alongside them when it came to going against the navy even though he‘d been with them for a month now.

“Yes. Just…” Grian motioned around them to the fallen officers, though the one Grian had attacked was mostly uninjured and just unconscious. “It‘s… Those are people I went to the academy with. Takes time getting used to. I’m just glad they aren‘t part of my crew and I don‘t have to fight my capt-“

Grian stopped himself, but he could still see the look of hurt flashing over Doc‘s face, before Doc turned away, dropping his hand from Grian‘s arm. “Let‘s hurry along.”

They pushed past the little girl and stepped outside the shop. Grian could hear shouts in the distance that were pretty unmistakably navy soldiers screaming out orders. A lot of the vendors along the streets were suddenly in a hurry, trying to hide parts of their wares.

The shouts were coming from the direction they had arrived from - the direction leading back to the port. Grian just prayed that the navy hadn‘t gotten to the Golden Goat yet. Not that he didn‘t trust Ren to take command and defend the ship, but it would just complicate things.

Before Grian could decide what to do, Doc had grabbed his wrist, pulling him along into one of the side alleys. Grian rushed along, but his eyes kept darting to the hand touching him. These last weeks, Doc had done his best to avoid any form of prolonged touch to give Grian space. Almost all of the contact they‘ve had, had been initiated by Grian. And not once since the rescue from… not once had Doc pulled him along by his hand.

They turned another corner. Doc cast a glance back at him and noticed the way Grian looked at the hand, letting go immediately.

“Sorry. We needed to hurry. I didn’t think… I shouldn‘t have done that.“

“It‘s fine. Let‘s keep going. Take the lead and I‘ll follow you.”

Doc nodded and started running again, Grian hot on his trail. Doc made his way swiftly through the tiny alleys, jumping over more than one wall and Grian went after him, trusting him blindly. Doc knew these streets far better than him after all. The port was getting closer. Grian could see the mast of the Golden Goat in the distance, recognizing it among all the other ships even from this far away.

“We have to turn onto the main road next. Be prepared for an attack once we do“, Doc called back and Grian adjusted the grip on his sword. He was ready for anything the world would throw at him. 

Well… Everything but a navy officer jumping down from a roof of one of the houses framing the alley, landing right between them, making Grian stop in his tracks. Doc kept running into the main road a few metres before he finally realised that Grian wasn‘t behind him anymore. It was too late. A few soldiers stepped in between the two of them. Grian tried to search for a way around his opponent, but two others stepped up to him and he needed to back away a few steps, to get out of their weapons‘ reach.

“Grian! Fuck! Don‘t you assholes dare touch him. If you so much as lay a finger on him, I‘m gonna rip you apart, limb by limb!”, Doc shouted from down the street, but going from how far away his voice sounded he had also been pushed back a bit. There was no way they could help each other like this.

Those soldiers must have planned to seperate them. He just hoped that Doc would do the smart thing and rush back to the ship, even if that meant leaving Grian alone here. The crew‘s support would be so important now.

Grian had been in a lot of battles before. Alot of those battles had not been in his favour and he’d still come out victorious. He’d seen more than his fair share of fights, for someone his age. But this? This felt different. He wasn’t wearing his uniform anymore. He wasn’t fighting with the law behind him anymore.

This wasn’t even their first fight against a navy crew, but Doc had always kept him on the back line when things like that happened. Grian was pretty sure he would have put him below deck if he thought Grian would go along with it. In the short fight earlier he had been able to knock his opponent out, but if he held back here, he‘d lose.

Grian‘s eyes  kept darting between his opponents, holding his sword protectively in front of himself, waiting for an attack or maybe an opening for him to get rid of one already. A fight against all of them at once would be impossible.

“You really have fallen far. Look at yourself…“, one of the officers said. Grian thought he recognized him from somewhere, but couldn‘t really pinpoint it, until… “Captain Sam was really sad to see you leave. You were such an entertaining guest.”

Grian froze for a second, hearing that name and realizing that the man in front of him was part of Sam‘s crew. That guy had been there when Sam had sold him out. Was Sam here as well? Grian felt his heart rate increase at the thought alone, his eyes darting around. 

The officer smirked at Grian‘s reaction and jumped forward. Grian raised his own sword just in time to block the attack, eyes wide, arm shaking a bit from the impact he hadn‘t been prepared to take.

“It was a good look on you, Grian, tied up, beaten and bleeding. It made me want to do bad things to you. You‘ve always been so high and mighty. Watching Sam break you… It was like a work of art. Such a pity someone managed to put the pieces back together. I liked you more when you were a little puppet”, his opponent whispered, voice too quiet for the others to hear. Grian tried to tune it all out. He knew those words were meant to distract him from the fight and he shouldn‘t let it get to him. It had been so long. He was better now. He was with Doc now. He was safe. Doc had promised to protect him, no matter what. He needed Doc. He needed to get to Doc.

The muscles in Grian‘s arm tensed and he let his sword strike, pushing his attacker stumbling back, right into one of the other guys. Grian turned his attention to the third soldier. He looked younger than the other two and his uniform was less decorated as well. Grian almost felt bad, but he knew he couldn‘t hold back… He really really shouldn‘t hold back.

His sword flew through the air, past the other blade and cutting deep into the soldier‘s shoulder. The young man screamed and dropped his sword and Grian jumped back again, before the others could attack. He was holding back. He could have - no - he should have gone for the neck. He could have killed him with one attack. But he had hesitated, repositioning his blade just a bit before it could hit.

Why was he risking his own life for someone who was ready to kill him without a second thought? He shouldn’t be hesitating. “I won’t die here today.”

The two soldiers glared at him, one rushing to their fallen comrade, pulling him back, away from Grian. That left only him and the guy from Sam’s ship.

“No you won’t die. The order is to take you alive. Operation Cursed Child will begin once you’re returned to the headquarters.”

Grian looked at his opponent in confusion, but didn’t get the time to ponder on what he had said for too long. A blade came flying his way. Their swords kept clashing together and Grian had to admit that his opponent was a skilled fighter, but he also knew that he was better. He would win. He could end this. He didn’t even need to kill. He wouldn’t have to harm a navy soldier. He could just disarm him. He had the upper hand. He only needed a little more time to- 

There was a loud scream. A loud and pain filled scream. Grian knew that voice, but he had never heard it like that. And when his eyes searched the entrance to their alley, he saw Doc fall to the floor, lying on the ground face first, a foot on his back, a blade at his neck.

Something snapped.

“Oh, looks like your little pirate is-”

His opponent never got to finish his sentence as Grian’s blade pierced right through his eyeball into his brain. Blood sprayed as he pulled it back out, but Grian didn’t care, rushing forward. The second soldier tried to block his way, but Grian stabbed him right through the abdomen, before kicking him off his sword to the ground.

Someone bent down to Doc, handcuffs ready and Grian screamed.

“Get your dirty hands off of my Captain!”

His shout made the soldier above Doc snap up again, scrambling for his sword, but he was too late. Grian’s blade was already cutting deep into his chest. Now Grian stood above Doc, sword raised, turning around slowly, surrounded by soldiers. He let out a low growl, glaring at each and every one of them.

“You hurt my Captain and I will kill you.”

Grian knew they were heavily outnumbered, even when Doc slowly got to his feet again, standing back to back with Grian. Still the soldiers didn‘t attack, watching them with wary eyes. Grian felt dread rise inside of him. They wouldn‘t make it out alive… No. He would. For whatever reason they still needed him. But Doc wouldn‘t. They‘d kill Doc. 

Images flashed in front of Grian‘s mind. Doc‘s head on a block, an axe raised above him, flying down and-

A warm touch on his hand snapped Grian out of his thoughts and he just now realised that he had been shaking. He didn‘t need to look down to know that the hand gently holding his was Doc‘s. It was funny how one small touch calmed Grian down so much and helped him focus again. One simple touch made him feel so safe and warm. Ever since Doc had saved him that first time, holding that hand made him feel like no harm would come to him. 

„Let‘s go out with a bang, love“, Doc said and his voice was so soft despite their current situation.

Grian just nodded and pressed Doc‘s hand with his own to show him the same support. Someone shouted an order from the back row. Grian let his hand slip out of Doc‘s grasp, but the feeling of safety stayed as he faced the fight.

They would lose. They would fall, but they would give those guys one hell of a fight. They wouldn‘t go down without taking some of their opponents along with them.

Everyone was waiting, all muscles tensed. People around them were looking at them curiously. Suddenly one of the soldiers surged forward and the spell seemed to be broken. Grian barely had time to move, blocking one attack after the other, sword always making it just in time. He didn‘t pay attention to the things happening behind him. He knew his back was as safe as it could be and it filled him with determination. If he could at least hold them long enough for Doc to get away. They didn‘t want to kill him and the way they fought showed just that. There was just a slight bit of hesitance in the attacks. He could use that to his advantage.

Grian pressed on further, giving even more, fighting harder, deflecting attacks and starting counter attacks. He managed to hit one of them across the face, drawing a loud almost inhuman yell as the soldier stepped back, but his place was already taken by another one.

He growled and kept fighting. He stopped attack after attack, but  then he heard a pained sound behind him. He shouldn’t turn around. He needed to stay focused. He heard a blade clattering to the floor, far too close for it to be one of the enemies. Grian turned his head just slightly, to see Doc go down to his knees, to the floor, holding one hand to his bleeding shoulder, a sword at his throat.

Grian screamed, a shout tearing from his throat that didn’t even sound human to his own ears. He hit the blade on Doc’s neck so hard, he sent it flying into the head of another soldier.

“Don’t. Ever. Touch. Him.”

Grian glared at them, looming over Doc. They seemed to hesitate for a second, but the attacks kept coming again. Grian was able to deflect them, but as more kept coming from the front, he left his back open and suddenly he was grabbed by the shoulders, sword slipping from his grasp, as he was pulled back. Grian struggled, digging his heels into the ground, as he was pulled away from Doc. 

Doc stared at him, trying to jump up, but suddenly there were hands on him as well, digging into his wound. Doc froze and it didn’t take long to chain his hands behind his back. Grian suddenly felt the anger leave him and fear settle in. He couldn’t lose Doc. He couldn’t. Not now when he had finally decided to stay by his side.

And then something else started to rise inside of Grian. Suddenly he felt a primal rage inside. He looked at Doc and ground his teeth. Those soldiers were taking what was his. He closed his eyes and felt it. The same feeling he had felt under the sea when the siren had dragged Doc down below. The same energy was running through him. And he knew when he would open his mouth now he’d hurt everyone who was able to hear him, soldier and civilian alike. He didn’t even know why he knew, he just did. Everyone would fall. Just not Doc. Never Doc. He had to save his mate.

He took a breath, opening his eyes. He could hear Doc gasp in shock. He must have noticed some change in Grian.

“Grian… Don’t!”

Grian opened his mouth.

A loud shot rang through the street, before one sound left him, startling Grian out of his trance like state. He blinked a few times, every trace of the energy gone again. He looked around in confusion, searching for the source of that sound. The shot had been far too loud to be a simple gun. And that‘s when he saw it. The sails of the Golden Goat behind the crowd of navy soldiers. There was a smoking hole in the ground a couple of metres from them, navy soldiers rushing away to pull injured people to safety.

“Back off or we will kill you all! No hesitation.“

Ren‘s voice was booming loud. People around them started panicking. There were screams and chaos. 

And then Grian could hear steps rushing towards them and when he looked over he saw Doc‘s crew charging in, False right there at the front of them, her eyes filled with fury and a promise of pain.

Someone was pulling at him, trying to take him away. Grian dug his heels into the ground, but soon another pair of arms grabbed him and he stumbled backwards. His eyes searched for Doc in the chaos. He felt a heavy weight lift off his chest, when he realised that False was already by his side, her bloody sword raised as some other crew member was taking the chains off of their captain.

He kept getting further and further away. They were trying to pull him to one of the alleys and out of sight.

Grian opened his mouth to scream, but as soon as he did that someone shoved a dirty rag in between his lips. Grian only renewed his struggles, managing to land a few kicks on the two people holding him, but they didn‘t ease their hold on him.

He looked at Doc in desperation, trying to alert him that Grian was taken away in the chaos and panic. And as if Doc had sensed his terror, his gaze snapped up, searching and finally landing on Grian. His eyes widened for a second and then he smiled relieved. With just that one smile Grian immediately felt safe again. He didn‘t even have to wonder what would happen next. Doc smiling like that meant there was no danger for Grian.

There was a loud thud and one of the bodies holding him crumbled to the floor. Grian looked over his shoulder, only to see Etho, smiling softly at him, before he put a knife through the other soldier’s back. The hands holding Grian disappeared along with the enemy falling to the ground.

“You alright, new guy?“

Grian nodded and raised his shaking hands to take the cloth from his mouth, throwing it to the ground in disgust. “Yeah. All good. Thanks. You can go and give your medical expertise to our captain now.“

Etho's eyes widened a bit and then he smiled even brighter. “I see, it‘s no longer just ‘your captain‘ now. Welcome to the crew, Grian.“

Grian rolled his eyes, following Etho over to Doc who was already unchained and arguing with False who had thrown him over her shoulder.

“I can walk on my own!”

“You are wounded.“

“On my fucking shoulder! My legs work perfectly fine!”

“Struggle and I will change that.”

Grian laughed a bit at False‘s deadpan voice, until her gaze turned to him. “Don‘t think I have forgotten that both of you idiots got yourself into that situation. If you so much as smirk, I will carry you as well, boy. I‘ve got two shoulders after all.”

Grian felt the urge to salute, but just nodded and tried his best not to smile. No one ever dared to argue with False when she took that tone, and Grian sure as hell wouldn‘t change that tradition.

They hurried to the ship and boarded, sails lowered the moment Etho in the back stepped aboard. None of them wanted to battle a navy ship, especially not now when their Captain was already injured.

“False. Carry Doc below deck“, Etho shouted over the busy deck and False nodded, leaving through the door already. Grian wanted to follow, but was stopped by Etho.

“Not you. I won’t let you get away without a check up this time. Do you have any injuries? Anything that needs my attention now?”

„Just sore. Maybe a few bruises“, Grian replied, „Worst thing happening to me is that I can‘t get rid of the taste of that darn dirty rag.“ 

Etho laughed, and after some fumbling around in his bag, pressed a flask into Grian‘s hand. “Here. That should help.“

Grian looked at Etho‘s retreating form, before taking one swig of the bottle. His throat burned and he scrunched up his face at the taste, deciding against taking even one more drop. But oh well… It had indeed replaced the rotten taste the rag had left in his mouth and any reminder of being almost kidnapped again.

~*~

Grian stood at the railing, watching the moon rise and the stars come out. He was alone at deck once more, having insisted on still doing his shift of the night watch. He wasn‘t really wounded. And he could use the peace and quiet to calm down.

A light wind was blowing, whipping around his hair. When had it gotten so long again? He pulled out one of the strings on his shirt and pulled his hair back, tying them together. It felt weird after all this time. Weird and freeing at the same time. As if a chapter of his life had ended.

There were steps behind him. Grian didn‘t have to turn around. The sound was all too familiar to him, even before he had joined this crew. All the other nights, he had stepped away. All of the previous nights, he had stopped things from progressing. He hadn‘t even waited for what had been to come. He had always walked away, the message pretty clear.

He waited.

The steps stopped behind him.

Grian turned around.

“Doc…”

Doc looked at him, hand raised, seemingly hesitating, clearly intending to put it on Grian‘s shoulder, but not daring to overstep any boundaries. So Grian took the step over that line. He moved forward and the hand  was on his shoulder. 

Doc‘s eyes widened for a second, but then he smiled softly.

“I was scared I‘d lose you again, Grian.”

“You were the one lying on the floor about to be taken to prison, you know.“

Doc chuckled softly. The hand moved from Grian‘s shoulder, giving him a small pat and then moving away again. Grian felt dissappointed at the sudden loss of contact.

“I know. You saved me, Grian.“

“I‘d do anything to keep you safe, Captain.“

“Say it again...”, Doc whispered, his eyes so close, Grian could see the way they sparkled, his gaze so soft.

“Captain”, Grian repeated just as quietly, feeling happiness at just uttering this single word. “My Captain.”

Doc breathed in shakily, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. And he was so close. So close. The moon was high up in the sky, illuminating Doc's face. Doc's arms were moving, but he stopped and Grian could see how he resisted the urge to hug him. Always treating him like glass... Even now.

Grian took a hold of Doc's arm before he could lower it again and put it on his waist.

Grian moved forward, a sudden need to touch - to feel Doc - rising inside him. When their chests touched a second hand wound around him, joining the first on his back.

Grian smiled. He did feel some underlying nervousness. He felt his heart racing. He felt a slight urge to step back out of the embrace again. But above all of it - overshadowing all the other emotions - he felt safe.

"Grian. You don't have to..."

"I'm not doing this because I have to. I'm doing this because I want to. I... I should have done it way sooner. We live a dangerous life. Any day could be our last. Today could have been your last day. We both survived too much to let our worries stop us." Grian felt his heart beating in his throat as Doc finally tightened the embrace, and in return Grian put his arms around the other.

"Grian..." Doc smiled so brightly that it made Grian's heart only beat faster. He really should have done this sooner. He should have let Doc close again. Doc who had saved him, who had always been there for him and never expecting anything in return.

"I love you."

Doc's eyes widened, his mouth dropping open, before he closed it again, smiling even brighter than Grian had ever seen him smile.

„I love you too, Grian.“

[nutty1005]

Marvelous City – Chongqing Special

Video Link: https://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNTA2NzMzODYxNg==.html

Translator’s Note: This is translated off the Marvelous City - Chongqing Special Episode. I wrote it in an article form because of video copyrights issues. This documentary was filmed early 2020, but only aired recently. Xiao Zhan’s episode aired on 12 Jan, this special episode aired on 17 Jan.

Q: What difference do you feel returning to Chongqing this time round?

A: Actually for all my years, I’ve never seriously experienced Chongqing like this. Because when you’re living within it, you will not jump to an outsider’s point of view and deliberately observe places, scenery and food. I grew up with Chongqing and it’s melded within me, hence this time I came back, including the air raid shelters, the local delicacies, or the Xiao Mian, I have a new understanding and knowledge of them. The feeling in my heart is different as well.

Q: What are your biggest takeaway from this visit?

A: As a Chongqinger who has grown up and lived twenty odd years in Chongqing, I realized my understanding of the air raids shelters, I originally thought they were just shelters. But after my discussion with Mr. Xiang, I discovered that there were many stories regarding them. Yesterday, he spoke of an example, an elder he interviewed, and that elder told him that during those years, once there was an alarm, he was actually secretly happy. He would watch for the shelter the lady he liked ran into, and he would follow that lady to that shelter. So you see, it’s that sort of finding joy in their chaotic lives. I feel that that is, very accurately, the description of Chongqingers’ optimism. But actually, it’s easy to say that we would feel like that – since we have to live every day, living a day happily versus living a day miserably, why should we not live happily. But few are able to do that, moreover in such a chaotic environment. So when he told me those stories yesterday, I felt especially touched. I was quite moved, actually.

Q: How was the experience when you previously rode the light rail?

A: The line for Niujiaotuo was especially interesting. To walk from Rail Line 3 to Rail Line 2, it took 15 minutes. If the person in front of you walked especially slowly, plus everyone was going to work in the morning, it’s just shoulder to shoulder crowded. Basically, even if you wanted to run, you couldn’t, you could only push your way through and then run forward. That period was especially weird. I was thinking, why weren’t these ladies and gentlemen in a hurry, then I’d be “excuse me excuse me”, push through them and run forward, then start queuing.

Rail Line 2 would come, because it was suspended between bridges, when the glass door opens you’d have to squeeze your way in, and there would be some situations, like some people with their bags stuck outside, their slipper stuck outside, and then all kinds of stuff, sometimes even their breakfast would be stuck outside. Then there’s like burst soy bean drinks, there’s a lot of situations like this, and actually below Rail Line 2, there was a huge safety net. The net was there because they were afraid of falling objects from great heights, and these might fall and hit someone below. So sometimes, well sometimes in the summer, I would see that there’s some ridiculous things piling on the net, someone’s slipper, belt, bag or umbrella, etc. I don’t know if it’s still there, I guess they would clean it regularly. But I felt that this was especially funny, funny and sad at the same time. I mean who would want to squeeze with people early in the morning, you’d be squeezed half dead, everyone would be angry, and you’d argue in the morning.

But you couldn’t help it, it’s for livelihood, hence that time when I saw that there were many reports saying “it’s so tough, this year is so tough on me”, but then I also felt that actually everyone had it tough. I feel that everyone is moving forward while trying to live, actually we’re like a battalion, and we are all being pushed forward by our lives. We’re already at 2020 and every single day before was tough, it’s all tough, so I feel that we just have to manage and adjust. I feel that our attitudes need to be managed well.

I remember that time, I was squeezed so badly that I was plastered onto the glass door. That glass door, I was literally stuck onto it, and then when I looked down at the Jialing River, because the Rail Line 2 was suspended over it, I just looked at the Jialing River below and thought, actually that scenery was rather pretty. So, I’d just watch the scenery, and when you start to carefully observe, you would feel that it’s actually quite beautiful. In the mornings, there would be elders swimming in the winter, and then there’d be some reefs, because I recall that it’d be dry season during the winter, the water levels would go down and hence the waters would also become somewhat clearer. Jialing River, with those oddly shaped reefs, and then there was all kinds of people fishing, jogging alongside. What also attracted me was the windows, they looked like film, frame by frame, and the windows on the light rail were also frame by frame. And then after night falls, because the light rail was built along the river, the night view by the river, those lights and those skyscrapers would be varicolored, just like a movie.

Q: What do you like about Chongqing?

A: I like its summer and I also like its winter. There’s two sensations, the summer’s passionate like fire, whereas the winter, and you’d feel that the chill seeps into your bones, just you’d feel hurt magically. Hotpot, Xiao Mian, spicy diced chicken, peppercorn chicken, there’s too many of them, I love them all. Double-cooked pork… I feel that these food are something engraved in your bones since childhood. When you mention those food, your mouth instinctively salivates. I already have the taste of peppercorn chicken in my mouth, it’s strange, but I haven’t had peppercorn chicken for a very long time, but now I am just… *swallows saliva*

Q: What is the Chongqing delicacy of your heart?

A: There’s no need to say. I used to go to this noodle stall in the past. It didn’t have a name, it’s just an aunty, and that aunty is especially nice. Because every time I went there I would tell her, aunty, for example I wanted to eat wontons, we call them Chao Shou, I’d say, “Aunty I want less wontons more vegetables”, and then the aunty would put in a lot of vegetables, but she didn’t really remove that many wontons. Every time I went there I don’t have to give her my order, I’d say “the same old”, and she’d know exactly what to make, just put more vegetables inside. So sometimes, I’d just watch her cook, and while watching her busy around, you’d feel especially warm in your heart. It’s just a stall, but every neighbor would be eating there, and they’d be eating there for decades, their children and even grand children would be eating there as well. Slowly, the stall would became a part of their emotional support, like maybe I won’t eat this noodles today, or perhaps she didn’t open today, it would became a kind of concern for that person. Eventually, it’s no longer a matter of a bowl of Xiao Mian, but a habit of life, an emotional interaction. I feel that this is the power of Chongqing delicacies in my heart.

Q: How was your childhood like?

Actually when you talk about my childhood, I really liked the environment I lived in when I was really young. Sometimes I would dream and I often dreamed of that period. When I was young, the early 90s era, multimedia wasn’t as advanced, there were no mobile phones or computers. There were probably arcade centers during that period of time, those that you needed to slot in coins, but children weren’t allowed to go, we had to sneak in. But mostly, it was our neighbors.

As a child, once we finish our homework, we could go downstairs and yell out “So-and-so, come down quickly”, and with a whoosh, all the children in the district would come down. Everyone would play hide-and-seek and then beanbag toss (TN: similar to cornhole), just all kinds of board games, any sort will do. All of these games are interactive. I still remember the shop on the first floor downstairs from my home, he modified the shop to become a snack stop, and all of the kids would buy snacks from him. I remember that real fresh milk was delivered on a bicycle, everyday freshly squeezed, and we would collect from him using our own bags or buckets. It’s just especially down-to-earth. I remember that time at around 5pm or 6pm,you’d hear yelling, as in that sort “selling milk” (TN: in Chongqing accent) and those fat sausages. Over there, fat sausages (TN: in Chongqing accent), all these kinds of finger food, you know? Wow, I miss those days.

And during that period, the smells of cooking would fill up the entire district, whether by mothers or grandmothers, they’d be cooking and the whole district would permeate with delicious smells. It was just especially wonderful, I feel that that period was really down-to-earth, everyone was especially vivid. Actually, I feel that our lives now are a bit cold, just a bit cold. Then, we would know all of our neighbors, but now, I doubt that we understand our neighbors well.

Q: What do you think of the phrase “pa erduo”? (TN: henpecked, literally means to be pulled by the ear)

Pa erduo (TN: In Chongqing accent), it means that the person’s ear is especially soft. It used to mean that the man is some kind of a loser, but I feel that now, this phrase is adorable. I feel that it’s a compliment, it means that Chongqing men treat their wives well, it’s a display of love for their wives, so I feel that it’s adorable. When I’m out, I am upright and indomitable, I can be your pillar of support, but when I’m back home, I will dote on you fully. I feel that it’s especially good, my father is like this. My father is especially cute sometimes, oh dear, I’m going to betray my father. He is especially cute, he would often tell my mother to let him maintain some dignity when they’re out, just especially cute. I feel that as a couple, they are quite good, just very standard, in my eyes, they are the standard Chongqing couple. Because actually my mother doesn’t talk a lot outside, she listens to whatever my father says, but once we are back home, my dad will give in to my mother most of the time.

Q: What is your relationship with your hometown?

To me, I feel that I am just very proud of her, she’s my pride. Maybe there are some youths, actually I was the same when I was a teenager, I thought about whether I should leave Chongqing to a bigger city. At that time, everyone was talking about Bei-Shang-Guang (TN: Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou), and I thought about whether I wanted to take a look there, for example design, obviously Bei-Shang-Guang is the forefront of China, spearheading. I thought about it as well, whether I should go and take a look, but when I was studying in the university, and then after I graduated, to me, I was slowly adjusting to the life in Chongqing, so I feel this differs from person to person. Hence at that time I felt that it was also quite fine remaining in Chongqing. If I can’t attain a top leader position outside, or become a highflier, then why shouldn’t I just stay grounded and do well in my own hometown? Actually those were my thoughts at that time, but as fate has it, I still left Chongqing. So I feel this is really just fate, just something mysterious. Now that there’s so much skyscrapers in Chongqing, so many office buildings, so many of them graded 5A, there are so many youths working in there, fighting for their dreams. There may be some people who doesn’t like it, some may be forced to work by their families, or the job was found for them by a relative, but I believe that most youths have an ambitious heart, and they want to fulfill the dreams they had when they were studying, their endeavors, and they are just fighting for their ideals. I feel that every city has its own charm, and Chongqing charm lies in the fact that it’s vivid. It’s very lively, it’s a young city, and everyone is fighting, for their lives, for their ambitions. She is a very lively city.

Q: Do you think you have the tenacity of a Chongqinger?

A: Very tenacious. I feel that I am a very tenacious person. Just when I encounter things, like I’ve lived in Chongqing for 23 years, well-adjusted to the living and working environment of Chongqing, and then suddenly I went to Beijing, to the entertainment business. It’s just worlds apart, two entirely different living environments. And truth be told, that period of time was quite tough. Whether it was singing, dancing or acting, to me those were all brand new things, but at that time I felt, since I’m already here, then I must do it well with all of my efforts. No matter how tough or how difficult, those were my choices, even if I had to crawl I had to finish the journey, that’s how I felt.

[tsipasce]

Same Difference, ch.01

Summary: When Chronostasis is almost crushed by a falling beam, a passerby, Nanami, saves him. In an instant, she disassembles and reassembles it into harmless bits of metal. There are no other witnesses, but after she leaves, he makes an urgent call. "Overhaul, we need to talk. Now."

A/N: As you can see, I am terrible at summaries, but this is a multichapter fic that began as a plain reader insert but morphed into a beast all its own. Anybutts, I’ll be putting out chapters every week because Overhaul is a dick, but I just can’t help myself. Let me know what y’all think~

Chapter links:  02

AO3 | Fanfic

It was a picturesque late summer day, the sun was shining brighter than All Might’s smile and the clouds were fluffier than Fat Gum— Man I should really.. not get into poetry. That was terrible. Nanami thought to herself as she began daydreaming. She’d been cooped up in her office for what felt like ages and the temptation to escape from her office was palpable. She’d call it an escape, but in her defense, she’d chipped away rather efficiently at her mountain of paperwork and her last appointment of the day wasn’t for another couple hours. Before the mental argument for frolicking over to the nearby café could be made, she’d already grabbed her keys and purse and was out the door of her office. Walking down the hall, she made small talk and greeted her colleagues and coworkers in passing. It had only been a year and a half since graduating, but she was confident that hearing her name with Dr. in front of it would never get old.  

“Well look who decided to leave their cave today…” a distant voice called from behind. The figure coming towards her was waving a bit too enthusiastically for someone who’d just worked 12 hours straight.

“ Ha. Ha. How very original ~” she replied dryly.

He stopped at a comfortable distance in front of her and smiled. Forgetting how nice it was to see a friendly face after being cooped up in her office, she reflexively returned a tired smile of her own.

Dr. Tanaka was one of those colleagues who was just cool enough to be considered an actual friend outside of work and after her own, long shift she could use a casual chat with a friend.

“Headed out for a break?” He continued.

“Finally, yes. It’s just too nice outside and mama needs a sugar rush. Want to come with?”

“No thanks, I think I’m going to finish my rounds and head home, but if you’re looking for sugar, I’d avoid the usual spot. Some petty criminals were caught there earlier so it’s cordoned off for the rest of the day.”

“Really?” She sighed, annoyed at the inconvenience.

“Yes, really. But, there is a place I passed by this morning that had one of the best mochas I’ve had in a while, you should try it out and let me know what you think.” He replied seeing her perk up at the mention of anything related to chocolate.

“Well, I’m down to do a little coffee shop research,” she replied having already made her order in her head.” I’ll give it a try.”

“There’s a good sport. What’s the worst that could happen? Here’s the address” he texted her the location and an adorable café with way too many sweets popped up—Tanaka was definitely a good friend.

Mentally already at the café, she said her goodbyes and headed out the door, determined to seize what was left of the day and some pastries.

 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 On her way, Nanami decided to take the scenic route. It was about the same distance as her usual spot, just in a different direction. Having already mentally noted the directions, she took the opportunity to really appreciate what she’d been missing. All the sounds and sights of a peaceful Friday afternoon. People walking about on errands, the sound of kids playing in the park nearby, and the smell of something amazing letting her know she was headed in the right direction. A creaking noise broke her out of her reverie and she looked up to see a load of large steel beams being moved by a crane. It seemed way too risky to be moving such large materials in a place that densely populated, but she figured they had to build it somehow and continued on her journey.

After another block she turned the corner, spotting her destination. Walking in, she was thankful the atmosphere matched the photos and had already planned on thanking Tanaka for such a solid recommendation. The barista actually looked like she was enjoying her job and cheerily informed her that the pastry she’d picked was baked fresh every day in-house to complement their homemade syrups. Could this day get any better?

While waiting for her order, Nanami got a text that her appointment needed to come in earlier, and she’d need to return to the office soon. Eh, that’s alright, I’ll still have 30 minutes to enjoy the food on the walk back. The barista called her name and she hurriedly picked up her order, assuring them she’d be back again.

One foot already in another daydream, she leisurely made the walk back to the hospital, taking in the sights. The people eating in the bistro, the smell of flowers in the local shop, the sound of the wires creaking and buckling above the strange man in the alley… Hold up.

Oh shit. Nanami thought to herself, already exasperated.

As much as people called doctors heroes, she wasn’t that type of hero. Her quirk just wasn’t meant for that kind of work. However, judging by how precariously the beam was dangling above his head, she thought she might need to reconsider. Before she could finish her internal conflict, her feet were moving. If I could just get in range to yell at him, he might be able to get out of the way in time. Maybe. Did she really want to take that gamble with a stranger’s life though? She knew the answer before it was asked, pressing forward towards the site.

He was across the street and she hopped over the guard rails, thanking her lucky stars she took a passing interest in parkour that one year in college. Just as she cleared the rail, the cord holding the beam snapped. Her heart sunk, knowing what she’d have to do. Unless he had a speed quirk, she was his only chance. She and her quirk...

Revamp? No, that sounds lame. Renovate? Okay well now I just sound like I have some weird home improvement power—but enough of that. Focus, girl.

He heard the beam falling and glanced upwards, his expression making it clear that he knew it was too late to use whatever quirk he had to get out of it. Right before the look of acceptance could settle onto his face, she jumped beside him, her hand stretched upwards towards the beam. Her fingertip and the metal made contact for a split second and then… “clink”. A thousand more tiny clinking noises followed soon after. She’d done it.

Though disassembling the beam into a thousand tiny nuts wasn’t amazing per se, it beat turning it into a plume of toxic dust for passerby’s to inhale or disassembling the beam into two and risking the halves falling onto another street or a nearby building. Judging by the very alive man next to her, she’d say she did a pretty good job for a not-hero.

It seemed as if the alley was closed off enough that thankfully no one else on the street had noticed the commotion, and the construction workers would take a few minutes to get down to where they assumed the beam would have landed. Now came the hard part: Making sure no one knew exactly what happened and that I was ever here.

Nanami was very secretive of her quirk. She used it sparingly to help people and perform everyday tasks with a bit of convenience, but deep down she knew it had the potential to be something else. She’d learned the hard way to keep it in check and avoided overindulging. Only her parents and her closest friends knew what it was and even then, she did her best to downplay it. Especially after the incident.

She snapped out of her inner monologue to see a very shocked man standing next to her, staring at her as if he’d seen something that was both extraordinary, yet familiar. He was a little taller than her but seemed close to her in age. He was wearing what appeared to be a stark white raincoat and had distinctive, pointy hair—not just pointy, she noted, there’s whole arrows at the end. Quirks really produce some interesting phenotypes…

Remembering that she needed to remedy the situation and get back to the office as soon as humanly possible, she broke the silence.

“Uhhhm, hi. Are you alright?” she began nervously.

“How did you ...” He still looked like he had seen a ghost, but she needed this interaction to end before the construction workers came and started asking questions.

“Look, I know this must be a bit jarring, but I really need to go. Will you be alright until someone else arrives?” She quickly realized being both direct and smooth was more difficult than she’d imagined.

An emotion she couldn’t put a name to flashed across his face and he recomposed himself.

“Could I at least know your name to thank you?” He asked innocently.

“Oh no, you don’t have to thank me. But if you really want to—just do me a solid and promise me you’ll keep this between the two of us, please?” She said antsy and almost pleading, knowing the workers and passerby’s curious about the missing giant beam and metal rain could come by at any second.

He paused and she could tell he wanted to say more but didn’t. “Of course, thank you for you hel—”

With the verbal confirmation that her secret was seemingly safe, she ran like the wind out of the vicinity and back to the safety of her office. After recollecting herself, she realized her treats had gotten lost in the melee and her pockets were now full of various nuts and bolts. No wonder why it was so hard to run... she thought to herself, emptying out 10-15lbs of bolts from her coat pockets.  Looks like I won’t need to go to the hardware store for a while…

She quickly shrugged it off and walked into her appointment, already plotting to do nothing but sip some wine at home and chastise herself for not being more discreet about using her quirk.

 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 As Chronostasis was inspecting the sight of the Hassakai’s latest development, he had lost himself completely in thought. By the time he realized his error he was sure it was too late. He had never used his quirk on an object that large and in that moment of hesitation he feared the worst. Then in an instant, a woman stood beside him under the falling beam and did what he’d only seen one other person do before: Overhaul. With a single touch she disassembled the object and reformed it into something else. Perhaps it was a fluke, he considered, but if so, why did she seem so desperate to keep it a secret? As she bolted before he could finish his sentence, he followed her silently a few blocks before she entered a nearby hospital.

After reconfirming with himself what he’d seen, he made a prompt call, forgoing the usual formality in his calm urgency.

“We need to talk. Now.”

[fleckcmscott]

Watch What Happens - Chapter 4

Chapter links: 1, 2, 3

Summary: Arthur, an aspiring comedian, has struggled to find normalcy and compassion his entire life. Y/N, a hard-working paralegal and transplant to Gotham, has just been put on a case for the Wayne Foundation. When they meet, unexpected sparks fly.

Chapter warning: Swearing

Words: 2,803

A/N: The joke Arthur comes up with in the third part of this chapter doesn’t completely work with a “Y/N,” because it uses the OFC’s name for alliteration. (The OFC version of this fic is posted on AO3.) Sorry!

It was Saturday. Y/N was supposed to have the day off, but she’d spent her Friday night reading parts of the Wayne file. It had been engrossing. From what she’d gathered, the foundation wanted to convert the rent-controlled housing buildings into a medical clinic. The buildings in question had all but been abandoned, the motions claimed, and were in serious disrepair.

The current owner’s response had been lackluster - a counter-motion stating both the addresses in question were up to code and actively being used. But they had neglected to provide more than a couple leases or rental agreements. She wasn’t surprised. The motions were dating back two years. She could imagine the current owner, a family that had had possession of the buildings since the late 1800s, was running out of funds. Their most recent filings were done without a lawyer.

The addresses were about two miles uptown from her apartment. Seeing at least one of them would give her a chance to determine what the actual situation was. And it gave her a good excuse for a brisk walk. She checked the clock as she finished her coffee: 7:13 AM. Good. She hoped it was early enough to visit one of the buildings and look it over without being noticed. She slipped on a thick coat, grabbed her purse and an umbrella, and headed outside.

Gotham was dreary this morning, an unpredictable drizzle. She still wasn’t use to the city’s typical Eastern rain. At least it wasn’t snowing yet - Patricia had told her winter seemed to come earlier every year. This was the one season she missed being further South. The autumn lasted for weeks back home; she’d still be wearing a light jacket.

She eyed the architecture as she walked. It became less decorative the further she went. Gone were the porticoes and fancy facades of the wealthier parts of the city, replaced by simple brick and concrete. There was a brutality in how quick the change was, as if the builders thought people in cheaper apartments couldn’t enjoy aesthetics. Parks and artwork grew rarer, too, until the area was almost totally devoid of public spaces.  

Letting out a breath, she approached one of the apartment complexes. The four story building was uncharacteristically stout for Gotham. A tenement covered in graffiti. Walking around it, she lightly inspected the foundation for faults that would be obvious to her layman’s eyes. There were no cracks, no chunks appeared to be missing.

The front door was ajar, held open with a triangular piece of wood. She gingerly pushed it open, trying not to make any noise, and let herself in. The entrance was in some disrepair. Dark green paint peeled in the corners of the lobby, the laminate floor was coming up in some places. The florescent lights were on, though, and the floor was shining. Whoever lived there cared enough to clean the place.

The stairs were solid when she stepped on them, the railing a bit wobbly but sturdy enough to put her weight on it. As she reached the second floor, she wondered where the Wayne Foundation had gotten the idea that this building was abandoned. She walked down the hall, noticing every name plate and personal touch - a postcard of a sunny place here, a wreath there - on the doors.

“Hey, who are you?”

Y/N stopped and turned to the direction the voice had come from. An elderly woman stood there, newspaper in one hand, pink robe being held closed by the other. She looked displeased.

Fuck. Y/N cursed herself, both for being too bold and being too stupid to think about being seen by a tenant. She gave the woman a friendly smile and approached her. “I’m sorry to have bothered you, ma'am. My name is Y/N. I just wanted to see-”

The woman’s face softened. “Oh, you’re not from Renew Corp.?”

Y/N furrowed her brow in confusion. “Renew Corp.?”

“Yeah. They keep harassing us. You hold on a minute.” The woman disappeared for a moment, closing the door.

Y/N sighed and leaned against the wall. She didn’t want to stumble onto anything crazy; she just needed to gather evidence to support the Wayne Foundation’s position. She wanted to do her job and do it well. Rubbing her face, she could already feel a headache coming on. The first Wayne case she was entrusted with, and she was already finding leads she didn’t want to.

God dammit. She knew she wouldn’t be able to let this go.

As soon as the woman returned, Y/N straightened up. “Here you are,” the woman said, handing her the letter. “They keep sending them in these red envelopes. As if that could scare me. I lived through the war.” She laughed to herself.

Y/N couldn’t help but smile back as she read the addressee’s name. After opening the envelope, she scanned the letter. “Ms. McPhee, may I keep this?”

“Go ahead. I’ll get another one in a few days,” Ms. McPhee answered.

Y/N tucked the letter in her purse. “Thank you.”

Ms. McPhee nodded. “Sorry about earlier. We don’t get many visitors here.” She gestured behind here with her thumb. “Do you want to come in for a cup of tea? I have a cat. You’re not allergic, are you?”

Y/N took a step back, placing a hand over her chest. “I’d love to but I have to get going. Would it be alright if I dropped by sometime? Asked a few more questions?” There was a pause. At Ms. McPhee’s expression, Y/N added, “Bring some tea biscuits along?”

That got her.

~~~~~

On the way back to her apartment, while still in Otisburg, Y/N decided to treat herself to breakfast. A couple of diners lined the streets, but food from a greasy spoon wasn’t what she was looking for. A bakery would work; she could get something light and sweet. A donut shop caught her eye. And her nose. She peeked in through the old, warped windows. Lackluster lighting, just enough film on the glass to make her question the place’s health inspection certificate. She’d found her joint.

The row of people waiting against the wall surprised her when she went inside. After a few moments deliberation, she decided to stay, not having concrete plans for the rest of the day. Copies of the Gotham Gazette were piled high, not yet in their display case. Shuffling along as the line moved forward, she grabbed a paper and started reading the headlines: “Thomas Wayne - Will he or won’t he?;” “A New Day for Gotham;” “New Budget Cuts Risk Safety.” God, news like this made her wish she gave less of a shit. She closed the paper and looked up towards the entrance, the bell above the door ringing endlessly as more people poured in.

And there he stood. Good hair, Tan jacket. He was leaning against the wall, seven people down from her. She noticed he was wearing a brown cardigan and button-up shirt. His hair was a little damp, probably from the weather. It didn’t affect his good looks in the slightest.

She hadn’t expected his eyes to dart to hers so quickly.

Heat rose to her cheeks. Dammit, she scolded herself. You’re staring at him again. Leave the man alone, you idiot.  She tried to focus on the menu hanging overhead.

That focus failed utterly when she saw him sidle up beside her in her peripheral vision. He stopped about two feet away. As it had at the store, it took him a few moments to speak. “Hi,” he said.

“Hey,” she replied, eyes still averted. “Fancy seeing you again.”

“Yeah.” He looked up at the menu, too, but she wasn’t convinced he was reading it.

She allowed herself a glance at his profile, long enough to realize it was a mistake if she wanted to stop ogling him. She was close enough to see the hint of laugh lines at the corner of his eye, the rounded tip of his nose, that damned jawline. She swallowed and looked down. His hand was worrying his pocket. The tension with which he held himself was obvious. It was hard to figure out if his hesitancy was peculiar or adorable. She decided it was both. “How was your TV dinner?” she asked.

“Fine. They’re always the same. Yours?” His deep voice was slightly raspy when he answered.

She gave a small shrug. “It didn’t kill me.”

The man chuckled at that and flicked his eyes to her for a moment. “Good.” The line moved forward and he stepped with her. “You should get the-”

“Hey, buddy,” a voice from the back bellowed. “You can’t just cut in line.”

The effect on Good hair, Tan jacket was immediate. He stiffened even further, cheeks turning pink, his jaw clenching. He briefly brought his hand to his mouth and winced. As he spoke, softly but loud enough for the asshole in the back to hear, his eyelids fluttered shut. “I wasn’t cutting. I just wanted to say hello.”

The fact that he responded surprised her. She liked it. When he started to turn towards the end of the line, she stepped closer to him. “What do you want? I’m next in line.” When he didn’t answer, she said, “I’ll grab it. It’s no big deal.”

He blinked at her before digging into his pocket and handing her change. "Cinnamon sugar. I was going to suggest you get it. It’s the best one.”

Smiling, she nodded. “Thanks for the recommendation. It’s my first time here.” She extended her hand to him. “I’m Y/N, by the way.”

He looked at her hand before grasping it gently with his. “My name’s Arthur. Arthur Fleck.” The smoothness of his palm was warm on hers, the fingertips of his long fingers resting against the back of her hand. “I’ll wait outside.” With that, he released her and left.

After getting their order, she left the shop to find the morning’s drizzle had turned to a steady rain.  Arthur was standing under the shop’s awning, smoking. She thought she’d detected the scent of nicotine. And maybe some cologne. “Here. You got the last cinnamon sugar.” She started to hand him the donut.

He shook his head. “I’ll take the other.”

“I hope you like chocolate.” Y/N gave him the small wax paper bag. “Can you tell me where the nearest subway is? I need to head home.”

“Newkirk Plaza.” His brows knit together and he looked down as he took a long drag off his cigarette. “I could walk you there?”

She noticed he’d said it quickly, as if he didn’t want to lose courage. She took the umbrella from inside her coat and opened it, then stuck her arm out so he’d have room to share it. “Sure. That’d be great.”

“Yeah?” He laughed softly, surprise on his face. “Okay.” Cautiously, but with some eagerness, he stepped under her umbrella. He seemed to hold his breath as they started walking in the direction of the train station.

They strolled in companionable silence. As each block ended and another began, she found herself wishing he would talk. He’d invited her on the walk, after all. Maybe she could bring him out. “Have you in lived in Gotham long?”

He flicked his cigarette on the ground and let out a small huff. “All my life.”

“You’re a real Gothamite, then. I’m a transplant. Moved here about a year and half ago.”

“Oh yeah? Where from?”

“Boonville, Missouri.” Waving her hand dismissively, she continued. “Trust me. You’ve never heard of it.”

He looked at her, studying her face for a moment. “You don’t have an accent,” he said.

Y/N rolled her eyes. “That’s intentional.” She adjusted the umbrella in her hand. “I made sure to lose it as a kid. When I eventually moved away, I didn’t want to be out of place. It’s nice to be anonymous.”

Arthur took out another smoke and placed it between his lips. “But why come here? It’s so cold. People are mean. The garbage strikes…” He lit his cigarette. “It’s rough.”

“Believe me. Small towns have their own problems. They’re just not as visible. And everyone knows each other. God, it’s disgusting.” She laughed, then. “No, I really love it here. Best decision I’ve ever made.”

He shook his head, the corner of his mouth rising. “Hm.”

When the sign for Newkirk Plaza was in view, his steps slowed. Y/N noticed. He must have enjoyed walking with her. She liked it, too, which felt odd, since he was a stranger. Odd but good.

Arthur stopped as they reached the entrance to the station. He looked away from her and down the stairwell, as if what bit of confidence he had was ebbing. “If you go down these stairs, you can pick which line you want.”

Y/N nodded and smiled. “Thanks for the stroll, Arthur.”

“Yeah.” After a few beats of silence, he gazed back up at her. “You know, I do stand-up comedy?”

She looked at him in disbelief. This guy? This bashful guy got up on stage in front of people? “Really?”

“Maybe you could come see a show sometime,” he said.

She studied him for a few moments. The slight puffiness under his eyes, the tiredness in his face. The way he stood there, waiting for her reply with cautious hope, gave him an air of quiet fragility. Even though she was intrigued by him, she wasn’t ready to give her personal information out. Not yet. She wracked her brain, trying to think of a kind but honest answer. “Well, my job is going to be bringing me to this area again soon. When we see each other, you can tell me when and where, okay?”

He smiled slightly at the non-committal response. “All right.”

Y/N tried to hand him the umbrella. “I suspect you have a ways to walk.”

He put his hand up, then pulled the hood on his jacket over his head. “It’s okay, I just live over on Anderson.”

“Oh, okay.” She cleared her throat. “Well, I’ve gotta go. See you around, Arthur." She started down the stairs, then turned to him again, blushing lightly as she met his eyes. “Thanks for the donut, too.”

~~~~~

Arthur felt like he could take on the world (or at least Gotham City). The nice woman from the store had somehow wound up in his nearby donut shop. He’d said hello. They’d gone for a walk. Shared an umbrella. Had a conversation. He hadn’t fucked up.

When at the train station, he’d been tempted to follow her, not wanting to lose the connection they’d had. But he’d trailed his neighbor, Sophie, to work one time in a pathetic attempt to ask her out. He hadn’t worked up the nerve to do it by the time they’d reached Sophie’s place of employment, so he’d turned around. That evening, she had knocked on his door and explained, with more kindness than he deserved, that he’d alarmed her and following her was inappropriate. Even though he had been embarrassed, he appreciated her taking the time to spell it out for him.

He was determined not to do something that stupid with Y/N.

Sophie. Y/N. What was it with woman with (Y first initial) names? They’re both saucy and sweet. Laughing lightly, he exited the elevator and headed towards his apartment.

“Mom, I’m back.” After hanging his jacket, he put the donut on a small plate and cut it into bite-sized pieces. That would make it easier for Penny to eat. He poured her a cup of coffee and headed into the living room.

His mother was asleep in the easy chair. “Good Morning Gotham” was playing on the TV. Arthur approached her gently and shook her shoulder. Her eyes slowly opened. It took a few seconds for her to focus on him. “Oh, Happy, did you check the mail?”

“It’s too early. The mail hasn’t come yet.” He put the plate in her hands. “Here. Eat this. I’m going to do laundry. I’ll be in the basement.”

She kept her eyes on the television when she gave her delayed answer. “Okay, Happy.”

Arthur stepped by her, basket in hand. On the way out, he grabbed his pen and journal. Once the laundry was on, he sat in a chair across from the machine and opened the worn notebook across his lap.

He thought of Y/N for a while, then his upcoming job at the children’s hospital on Wednesday. He’d been practicing his magic tricks, but would end with a dance. He loved working there. The kids were always so happy to meet Carnival the Clown. Maybe the upcoming week would be decent. A little kinder than most.

Tag list (Let me know if you want to be added!): @harmonioussolve​ @clowndaddyfleck​ @stephieraptorr​

[persephonescat]

Birds and Other Supernatural Phenomenons

Hiiii! This is… long. Probably the longest chapter I’m going to have, but it’s all only one scene and I just couldn’t cut it in half. Thank you for your comments! They make my whole week! Some of you pointed out a few mistakes in the last chapter, I hope it’s all good now! ^^ And please tell me if there are any weird sentences or typos or anything. Multiple people told me that the last chapter’s storm came very suddenly, so I re-read the sixth chapter and as it turns out, the sentence about the weather was lost in the editing. It all looked very dark and moody in my head, so I didn’t notice there was no description of it. Thank you for telling me, I’m definitely going to correct that.

(I think we should call this fic BaOSP in the future when we’re just talking about it in the comments or on Discord or just in general, bc this title is really long… The title and the tags will stay the same of course, it’s just that from now on, BaOSP is the official (???) shortened version of it.)

Damian meets Marinette, I REPEAT, DAMIAN MEETS MARINETTE.

Ch. 1    Previous    Masterpost    AO3 

________________

Ch. 8: Lord Annoyance

It was Monday night and Damian Wayne already hated the week.

Tim finally passed out on Saturday and did nothing but sleep all weekend, so on one hand, now he was capable of speaking in full sentences. On the other hand, all of his sentences were about the process of etching and nobody knew why, so it wasn’t any less problematic.

Dick came home with several holes in his shoe and refused to speak about it.

Jason didn’t eat anything but pork for a week straight and this morning he swore to go vegetarian.

Bruce was in the process of finding new hobbies - Tim said it was midlife crisis, Jason said the old man was finally going crazy and Cass was out of town, so she just yelled at them via video chat. Barbara and Steph laughing their asses off every time the topic came up didn’t help either, but after seeing the anvil in the living room while going to get breakfast, Damian was starting to agree with Jason.

On top of it all, some idiot under the name of Dark Nomad killed a chicken, painted obscene pictures on the walls of one of Bruce’s apartments with its blood, then for some reason, they stole some garden interior and part of the fence. Just fantastic.

And guess who had to track him down and arrest him? Robin. Because his family was a bunch of freaking sadists.

On top of it all, when he finally arrived on the rooftop where the petty villain was spotted two days in a row, the idiot wasn’t alone.

Robin landed quietly, hid behind a metal staircase leading the upper parts of the building and stopped to listen to the conversation going down between the two shadowy forms. He was already planning revenge in the back of his mind - it would’ve been ridiculously easy to poison at least two out of his three brothers. Not too badly but enough for them to have an unpleasant couple of days.

“Did you manage to sleep during the day, or should I be worried about you suddenly falling down from here because of exhaustion?” one of the forms asked flatly, a young girl sitting on the edge of the roof. She looked tiny compared to the Nomad sitting beside her, but she didn’t seem to be afraid at all. Her body language was taunting and open, her dark hair shimmered in the light coming from the streets below as she turned her head towards the boy. She had a slight French accent.

“Nah, I had double English in the afternoon, so I’m good,” the Nomad said, playing with a stray thread on his hoodie. “You?”

“I slept on the bus…” the girl started, trailing off. She tilted her head, concentrating on something. “Could you give me a minute?” she asked, standing up. For a moment, Damian felt relieved. She was already leaving.

Then she turned towards him.

She could’ve just heard something. She could’ve just checked out the area. It could’ve been a coincidence, but she was staring right at him, even though he was sure he wasn’t visible in the dark.

She walked towards his hiding place with no hesitation or fear. He was standing there motionlessly as she got closer. He studied her form, looking for weapons and weak points. She was wearing a warm cardigan with jeans and dark boots. He eyed her scarf and gloves suspiciously. It wasn’t that cold, but he didn’t see anything hidden in them.

Her red lipstick matched her scarf, her hair was tied into a loose braid coming forward at the side of her neck, dancing gracefully when a light breeze caught it. Her body language was still way too open and she foolishly grabbed the railing of the staircase before peeking behind it, leaving her torso even more vulnerable.

If he was ever planning on confronting her, he would’ve changed his mind after that. She was clearly harmless when it came to physical combat.

What the hell was she doing here, then?

“Can I help you?” she asked, looking at where his mask covered his eyes. Her voice was toneless and her accent was gone. Robin wondered if he was just imagining it earlier. Maybe he was too deep in his thoughts to pay attention.

It happened a lot nowadays. Him, getting lost in his thoughts and not paying attention. At first, it annoyed him - and scared the living daylight out of him, not as if he was about to tell that to anyone. Now he knew it was part of being human. It meant he was getting healthier, as Alfred put it. Making mistakes was part of life and he wanted to have a life, right?

Yes, he did.

Sometimes he looked at Bruce and his sorry brothers and realized that he already had a one. It made him feel weird. Happy, probably, but it was a new kind of happy. It made him want to smile at the most random times and help Alfred with chores. It made him have this… desire to go after Bruce when he disappeared to his garden to calm down, to bring home some donuts for Dick every time he passed that shop he liked, to take Jason to Disneyland on his birthday, to make Cass smile more often, to pull up the security footages from the Cave on his computer, so he could check on Tim without him knowing.

It was terrifying and he wouldn’t have changed it for anything in the world.

“Robin?” the girl asked impatiently. Damn, he zoned out. He cleared his throat, trying to find the right thing to say.

“Errm… do you realize you are sitting with a criminal?” Good job, Damian, your brothers would be proud. Why not ask her her favorite color too, maybe that will help. He was prepared to hear Jason’s amused words through the comms, but surprisingly, his brother stayed quiet.

“Are you concerned about my safety?” The girl narrowed her eyes.

He straightened his back and cleared his mind.

“Actually, I’m here to arrest the Dark Nomad,” he told her, trying to sound professional. Not as if it mattered anymore.

“Why?”

“Damaging private property, theft, and vandalism.”

“Could you elaborate? Picking flowers in a park could be considered all three of those.” Her voice was mocking now.

Damian stared at her. She was at least a head shorter than him, with no weapons. He was Robin. She was either incredibly dangerous or very stupid, and he had a hard time believing in the first scenario.

“He killed an animal, draw obscene pictures on the street with its blood, did damage that’s repairing will take hundreds of dollars, stole garden interior… should I continue?”

“When did he do all that?” the girl asked. She didn’t seem surprised at all.

“Why would I tell you?” frowned Robin. “I’m here to arrest him, that’s the only important thing.” Harmless or not, she was getting annoying.

“Well, you can’t legally make arrests given that you’re not a police officer, which means that you have absolutely no reason to be here. You might as well go home,” she explained simply. Her voice was toneless again, she spoke as if she was just stating facts, - which she did, after all.

Damian’s blood was starting to boil. Did the psychopaths roaming this city have a right to murder people? No. Did they have any right to hurt civilians? No. Was any of the things they did legal? No.

Who was this kid to come and tell him about rights, when his family seemed to be the only ones protecting them?

The girl was looking at him as if she was staring into his soul, then suddenly, she smirked.

“Not as if that would stop you,” she said, and Robin looked at her quizzically. “But I have a feeling that you’re after the wrong guy, so if you told me when he did all that, it would clear a few things.”

He was lost. What did this girl want? She was too weird to be stupid. She let the railing go now and was standing with her arms at her sides, her head slightly tilted.

“Today, between two and three AM,” he told her finally, curious about her reaction.

She stared right into his eyes, even though his mask was hiding them and said, “He was with me.”

Robin didn’t see anything about her body language betraying her, but she must’ve noticed he didn’t believe her because she continued.

“We were talking about Tamás Vekerdy and Bruno Bettelheim. They’re psychologists who often write about children. He arrived around midnight, and when he left it was already past five in the morning, so there is no way he could’ve done anything unless he has an evil twin.”

He scoffed angrily. When he spoke again, he was hissing the words from behind his clenched teeth.

“These things don’t take long. He might’ve just slipped away for a few minutes and came back, unless of course if you were in the same position for five hours.” He might’ve also growled a little. He was standing only inches from her now, looming over her.

“That’s not too hard to check, your Highness.” She cocked her head and held his gaze fearlessly. “Where did all this happen?”

He was about to bite back but he stopped abruptly.

Okay, so he might’ve been a little wrong. If the girl was telling the truth, the guy should’ve disappeared for at least one and a half hours to get to the scene from here. Not as if that meant anything, she could’ve easily lied. He just didn’t notice it.

A voice saved him from having to answer.

“Marinette? Is everything okay?” The Dark Nomad was walking towards them. When he noticed Robin, a terrified expression took over his confused one. He was about to go and stand between the girl and the vigilante when she lifted her arm to stop him, not moving her gaze away from Robin. The Nomad looked like a caged animal but didn’t try to fight her.

“Lord Annoyance here states that last night, you cloned yourself between The Book of Diaries and NurtureShock, and went to draw booties and steal a bunch of garden gnomes.”

The Nomad opened his mouth to say something but Robin beat him to it.

“Okay, so first of all, it wasn’t just "booties” and they were drawn with blood, which makes it considerably worse.“ Jason, who was listening to everything he said trough the comms the whole time, chose that moment to burst out laughing. He did his best to ignore him.

"Second of all, a lot of things were stolen, not just…” yep, that sentence was a bad idea, “Garden gnomes.”

“Why do you think he did it in the first place?” the girl, - Marinette cut back.

“It was private property. There was a camera.”

“Whose?”

He took a second to consider the possible fallback of the answer. The existence of Bruce Wayne wasn’t a secret. Neither was the fact that he owned multiple buildings around the city. Maybe it was going to scare the villain enough that he confesses.

“Bruce Wayne’s,” he said finally. The girl’s undisturbed expression made him feel uneasy. “Have you heard of him?”

“Oh, you mean that’s who the big ass tower in the middle of the city is named after? I thought it was the ship name of watery rain or way of pain or something.” Her words were dripping from sarcasm.

‘Who are you talking to? What did they say?’ asked Jason like an excited child but Damian once again ignored him.

“Well, I’m sorry, but his alibi is pretty shaky, you know. Villains can be very convincing here, in case you didn’t notice.” He didn’t think this guy could convince anyone, but it was possible.

“Yeah, his ski mask really makes me shake in fear,” Marinette said flatly.

The villain finally got a chance to say something but his moment didn’t last long.

“It’s not a-”

“Yes, it is. Shut up.” Marinette pinched the bridge of her nose. “He is wearing a hoodie and a mask ever since… birth, probably. How did anyone recognize him?”

“He left his signature,” Robin told her. He wasn’t even angry anymore, he was just very annoyed.

Marinette froze. She almost seemed to forget about Robin as she finally broke eye contact and turned around.

“You… have a signature?” she asked the Dark Nomad, who was still standing behind her, ready to jump at any moment.

He opened and closed his mouth a few times. It reminded Robin of a distressed duck.

“Kinda,” he said quietly.

“Why would you do that?” asked Marinette, gesticulating wildly.

“It’s part of the aesthetic, okay?” he explained with a hurt expression.

“Hey, I’m accusing you of a crime here!” reminded them Robin. This was taking way longer than he wanted it to.

Marinette once again turned to him, let out a deep breath and arranged her face into a more professional expression.

Finally.

“Right,” she started seriously. She gave him a second to compose himself, then continued. “Boobs.”

The Dark Nomad snorted, but Marinette just gave him an unimpressed look and let out an exasperated sigh.

“Okay, so tell Mr. Wayne, that he should be looking for another idiot because I was looking after this one at the time.”

Before he could answer, he heard Jason’s voice in his ear.

'There is a robbery going down at Chucko’s. I’m going in.’

Damian cursed quietly.

“Don’t. Wait for me. I’ll be there in two,” he told him, placing his fingers on the comm so the two people standing in front of him knew he wasn’t speaking to them.

“I have to go,” he told them quickly, then took off before they could do as much as blink.

***

Marinette ran after the vigilante but stopped at the edge of the roof. She saw a dark form jumping over rooftops. After a few seconds, it disappeared and relief rushed over her body.

She was way too tired to think about how she just got into an argument with one of Gotham’s heroes.

She closed her eyes and turned to go back to her room. She needed to sleep. A lot.

“You’re kinda terrifying when you’re sleep-deprived, did you know that?” said Jeremy, coming out from behind the metal staircase.

“I always am,” answered Marinette, still not opening her eyes.

“Do you mean terrifying or sleep-deprived?” asked Jeremy confusedly.

Marinette gave him a small wave, then climbed back to the hotel without a word.

________________

*Quiet chanting* comments, comments, comments

*Chanting intensifies* comMEnts, COMments, coMMENTS

*Thunder*

*The flattering of wings and the sounds of scared birds*

*Chanting* COMMENTS, COMMENTS, COMMENTS, COMMENTS

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[tanstar]

Rambling about RE2R and RE3R’s cut content part 1

Part 1: RE2R

So the original re2 is my favourite RE title. It introduced me to the series (I watched my dad play it) and it was the debut of my favourite RE character, Claire Redfield. So I was overjoyed when I learned it was getting remade. Now all I really wanted from this remake was a melding of the original scenarios to create the true canon storyline of re2 and some fun interactions between our characters and I thought that would be a given... So you can imagine my disappointment at what we got. I also love the original re3 and was looking forward to RE3R for similar reasons though I also wanted to see how they’d update Nemesis. Now I’m not saying either are bad games at all, I think both are worth experiencing and purchasing. I just want to air my grievances with both remakes and their cut content but I will also share what I did enjoy. 

Also want to say that I know these games are more like reimaginings or retellings but even from that perspective there’s still issues.

Spoilers ahead. 

Just a quick list of RE2R’s cut content:

No proper B scenarios that offer a cohesive narrative. A severe lack of notes/files/diaries for lore and worldbuiling. No zapping system. No bowgun. No explosive rounds for the grenade launcher. Robert Kendo’s death isn’t shown. Leon and Claire’s interactions are severely trimmed down. Marvins transformation cutscene isn’t shown. Two playable segments as Ada and Sherry (Sherry’s second playable segment maybe has the darkest scene in the game, as she collapses after falling down the trash disposal chute her mutated father lurches towards her, stands above her and we cut to black and shortly after this we learn from Annette that William is trying to find Sherry to implant his embryos in her). Multiple unique boss fights depending on scenario. Irons’s death is far more gruesome in both scenarios in og 2. Ben has far less screentime. No super lickers. No giant moth and it’s larvae. No spiders. No crows. Barely any music. No classic iconic lines (“You lose, big guy” etc). Plant 43 has lost it’s iconic yonic design in favour of looking like a rainforest or something. The ivy’s are now human plant hybrids instead of mutated plants. No super ivys. The alligator is now a RE6 style chase sequence instead of a boss fight. No factory. No marshalling yard. Birkin’s transformation by injecting himself with the g virus and the cause of the T virus outbreak are far more clear in the original. No street section for the opening of the B scenario and no cutscene or explanation for the helicopter crash. Leon no longer saves an infected Sherry from the sick room and brings her to the train. The train no longer self destructs and Sherry no longer saves the day by stopping the train.

That’s a lot of cuts right? Now of course not all of these cuts were bad decisions. While I like the crows for atmospheric purposes, i can understand their removal. Same with Kendo’s death and Marvin turning into a zombie, they wanted a different approach with these characters and I can accept that. Even the zapping system’s exclusion I can understand because although it was a cool little gameplay element that added to the cohesion of the overlapping story, it’s really not that neccessary. And the exclusion of iconic lines is understandable as I believe narrative should always take precedence over fanservice. 

I’m fine with content being cut as long as it’s in favour of the story or is replaced with something else. RE2R did neither of those things. RE3R gets a ton of shit for it’s cut content but RE2R not only did it first but also cut waaaaay more content than RE3R.

RE2R fucked up it's story bad. Og re2 has the strongest narrative of the ps1 trilogy imo with two separate scenarios per character that integrated into two strong narratives. The game throws you straight into the deep end as you navigate the city streets filled with zombies, you watch Kendo be eaten alive as the zombies break into his shop and finally you reach the RPD. And that’s only the A scenario, the B scenario has you witness the cause of the helicopter crash as you make it to the east side of the RPD. From the beginning the og re2 puts in the effort to tell the whole story of whatever scenario you choose. Like the remake there are certain story beats only one character will face, Claire is the only one to meet Irons and Sherry, Leon meets Ada and Ben( he does meet Sherry in the B scenario but we’ll get there). Also in the original due to Leon giving Claire a radio both characters are able to keep in contact and therefore keep each other up to date on their progress. 

So let’s talk a bout the marshalling yard and factory. The marshalling yard is one of my favourite locations in the original. Its atmospheric music, its industrial design and the iconic shot of the train on the turntable with the moon in the background. It’s so foreboding and it leads to an iconic fight with Birkin as you descend to the lab, while protecting either Ada or Sherry (and depending on which scenario you are playing his form will be different). The factory is a small but crucial area to the worldbuilding of og 2 (It’s a cover were Umbrella employees access the underground lab) whereas RE2R has... a sinkhole in the middle of the city. And it’s important in keeping a cohesive overlapping narrative as the reason our protagonists don’t encounter each other in the lab is because the B scenario character has access to the factory. It also contains two iconic scenes for the B scenarios for each character (it should be noted that in the og 2 Mr X is exclusive to the B scenarios). Claire saves Sherry from Mr X, taunts him and then tricks him into falling over the railing into a vat of what looks like molten iron, it’s so badass and it cemented Claire as my favourite character. In Leon’s scenario B Ada arrives to fend off Mr X and protect Leon, she succeeds and Mr X falls over the railing but in the process he nearly kills her, this leads to the kiss between Leon and Ada. No manipulation, just genuine affection for each other. In either B scenario the self destruct sequence is set off by MrX instead of it being exclusively Leons fault like in RE2R. And the factory is important as it gives access to the elevator for the B scenario character to escape to the train. The A and B scenario characters have different methods of escape that make more sense in the original and that comes down to the factory’s inclusion.

So now let’s talk about cut character interactions. In the original Marvin relays to the player the events of re1, I’m fine with this omission as it’s not super important to the overall narrative of re2. Claire and Leon can either reunite in the STARS office or the hallway behind the spade door (Leon also encounters Sherry here but she runs away). Regardless Claire finds out her brother isn’t in the city by reading his diary, Leon gives her a radio so they can stay in contact (which they do, throughout the entire game) and they split up, with Leon looking for an escape route and Claire looking for survivors. Claire’s encounter with chief Irons is very different. The mayor’s daughter’s dead body is sprawled over Irons’s desk as he talks about dealing with the undead and then brings up his hobby of... Taxidermy. It’s just very unsettling and what makes it worse is that earlier before you could access the room, you very clearly hear a woman scream. Once you head into the adjacent room Claire encounters Sherry and radios Leon to tell him. Sherry warns Claire of a monster that is chasing her and runs off again. When Claire returns to Irons’s office he is gone and so is the body of the mayor’s daughter. In Leon’s scenario he meets Ada in the parking lot and she tells him she is looking for her boyfriend John. Now for players who had played re1 this was a neat little reference that tied both games together. With Ada’s assistance Leon gains access to the Cells and meets Ben. Ben willingly locked himself in his cell for safety and won’t leave until Leon finds a way out unfortunately Ben is attacked and either implanted with a G embryo or fatally slashed by Birkin, however he was able to hand over his investigative notes on chief Irons’s corruption and involvement with Umbrella. Likewise when Claire encounters a now crazed irons in his torture chamber, he explains the G virus, Umbrella’s involvement and that Sherry is the daughter of the man responsible for the outbreak. Irons is then either killed from being cut in half by Birkin or from the G embryo. There’s just a lot more build up, subtlety and payoff in the original game that just feels rushed in RE2R and I don’t know why. 

Sherry and Claire’s relationship is portrayed pretty well in RE2R. Although their time spent together is severely cut short, like seriously they only know each other for a whole two minutes before Irons drags Sherry off to the orphanage. The original has Claire and Sherry interact way more, with Sherry travelling by your side through parts of the sewers and the entirety of the marshalling yard. Still a good portrayal overall though.

So we have to talk about Ada and Leon. In the original she is at first portrayed as aloof but eventually from her time spent with Leon, she shows her more vulnerable and genuinely caring side. She is a spy and secretly after the g virus but she also genuinely cares for Leon’s safety, almost dying in the B scenario as she protects him from Mr X. RE2R almost get’s this right. She is initially abrasive but warms up to Leon’s sincerity and kindness. The problem is she is far too manipulative. Their first kiss in og 2 only happens the B scenario and is 100% sincere, Ada might be dying from her wounds so it might be the only chance they get. The remake on the other hand comes across as really skeevy and manipulative. In og 2 when Ada confronts Leon on the bridge he doesn’t believe for a second that she’ll hurt him and he’s right, after she falls off the side of the bridge you can inspect her pistol and find out that it wasn’t even loaded! Also I find Leon to be just a bit too naive in RE2R, he acted like a police officer in the original but in the remake he feels more like a boyscout. I can see what they were going for with his arc for RE2R but is just misses the mark for me personally. Not to say he’s awful or anything, he’s still very likable just a bit of a let down in terms of how he’s used in the story. Namely that he really doesn’t get much to do. He saves Ada, sets off the self destruct sequence, kills Mr X with Ada’s help and gets forced to fight G3 by Annette. The most useful thing he does is willingly fight Birkin on the train in the 2nd run to protect Claire and Sherry. In the og 2 B scenario per Claire’s request via radio, Leon carries an infected Sherry to the train, activates the power and opens the gates, fights the super Tyrant and kills it with Ada’s help and then activates the train to finally escape the underground lab. Then he fights G5 Birkin, when they find out the train is going to self destruct he directs Sherry on how to stop the train and our trio are able to escape. The game then ends on Leon’s iconic line “ It’s up to us to take out umbrella.”

And that ending... Oh boy did it not land for me. It’s almost comical how chipper it is considering what’s to come for these characters. Our trio promises to stick together except canonically Claire heads off on her own like five minutes later because Leon knows if she gets taken in by the government it will hinder her quest to find her brother, so he tells her to leave while he looks after Sherry. So Claire leaves and we get the events for Code Veronica. And as for Leon and Sherry, we know from Darkside Chronicles that Leon was blackmailed into working for the government through threats of experimentation on Sherry. He agrees to work for them to protect her but guess what they still turn her into a test subject anyway! And re6 confirms that the experiments where more than Sherry could bare, as she herself tells Jake. Also the fact that Leon and Claire’s friendship never got any developement in RE2R really works against this ending imo. 

 So what did RE2R get right? Well it has enjoyable puzzles and the solution changes depending on what run you’re playing! While I do miss the soundtrack and think it could have been remixed to fit the tone of the game, the ambient sounds used are spooky and effective. The gore effects are phenomenal. Marvin's expanded role is great, he’s an actual character this time around and it’s sad that we can’t save him. Sherry is adorable and her voice actress does a great job, she’s just incredibly sweet and likable. While Claire can come across a little Moira-ish sometimes, she’s great for the most part. She still get’s to be incredibly caring towards Sherry while also being a total badass who willingly faces down G3. The G3 fight is great and the remixed boss theme is beautiful. William Birkin's transformations are great (though I do wish dog birkin was more like the original), just the detail of his mutated bones and tissue is amazing and grotesque. Speaking of Birkin, the scene where he uses the last of his willpower to kill Mr X and protect Sherry before being overtaken by the g virus completely is so fantastic and perfectly directed. Backtacking/exploration is enjoyable (except the fucking sewers). It has variety of unlockable costumes which is my favourite kind of unlockable. S+ is a fun challenge. The fourth survivor and Tofu modes are really challenging yet fun and have great music, like seriously Hunk’s theme “Looming dread” is fantastic and probably my favourite song in the game. It’s always a joy to see Hunk and he is portrayed perfectly. It’s still an enjoyable game and a good starting point for newcomers, I’d just recommend they play or at least watch a playthroough or the cutscenes of the original to get the full story. Also if you want a fun reimagined, abridged retelling of og re2 then you should look up Darkside Chronicles. The premise is what would happen if Leon and Claire never got separated.

This got waaay longer than I expected so in part 2 I’ll discuss my problems with RE3R and its cut content as well as what I liked.

[ask-de-writer]

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT : Part 29 of 83 : World of Sea

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to World of Sea

SEA DRAGON’S GIFT

Part 29 of 83

by

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

140406 words

copyright 2020

written 2007

All rights reserved.

Reproduction in any form, physical, electronic or digital is prohibited without the express consent of the author.

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Copyright fair use rules for Tumblr users

Users   of Tumblr.com are specifically granted the following rights.  They may   reblog the story provided that all author and copyright information   remains intact.  They may use the characters or original characters in   my settings for fan fiction, fan art works, cosplay, or fan musical   compositions.

All sorts of fan art, cosplay, music or fiction is actively encouraged.

///////////////////////

New to the story?  Read from the beginning.  PART 1 is here

///////////////////////

“Kurin and I were playmates when we were young,” Silor began earnestly. “We didn’t know what Cat was back then.  She was just someone who was always there.  Cat knew lots of good stories about the First Ships.  That’s where it started.  Kurin started asking for more stories and Cat started teaching her apart from the rest of us.

“One night, Kurin’s father died.  He was only twenty nine or thirty. Kurin found him.  Within a short time, her mother went raving mad, then ceased to move or do anything.  She’s still like that. Afterwards, Kurin and Cat, the Dragon, became inseparable.  I think that her parents were a test of Kurin by the Dragon but I’ll never know for sure.

“A little after that, Kurin beat me out of the boat-shop apprenticeship under Master Juris.  I was two Gatherings older and considered likely for the job.  Then, without any explanation, no other Craft on the Longin would have me either.  Her influence was spreading.

“To be fair, I never heard of Cat doing anything evil.  She wasn’t human, so she may not have realized what kind of person she was teaching.

“I became a deck-hand.  I was a good one.  In only one and a half Gatherings I was made lead deck-hand, the youngest ever on the Longin.  Ask anyone, I was well-thought-of, maybe officer material in a few more Gatherings.

“I admit that I fell asleep on watch.  It was only a nap, and I was on duty in the hold.  How much trouble was that?  I’ll tell you.  They stripped me of my lead deck-hand job!  Only three of her lousy crabs died, and they broke me for it!

“Later, I was in a class,” Silor paused, torn between ingrained loyalty and his tale.  “I can’t tell you what the class was about.  That’s Ship’s Business.  The important thing is this.  She was in the class, too.  Captain Mord told me that I was doing well and then threw me out of the class.”

Huh, she thought, hearing this out, If he believes what he’s saying there’s enough emptiness in his head to make a good float out of it.  I’ve heard some of these tales from other sources.  It’s obvious that he’s left out more than he’s told.  “Ye make a start on yer case but i’ t’is come up in t’e Arrakan fleet, ye’d lose.  Oi need more proof.  Especially about t’e fleet bein’ under ‘er control.  Ye’ve nae even addressed t’at.”

“Tanlin, love, I can attest to at least some of what he says.  He first brought the matter to my attention five Gatherings ago, as a lad of nine.  Since then I have watched the surreptitious machinations of Kurin.  She does far more than make toys!”

“Oi fail t’ see ‘t, Barad, m’ luve.  T’e fleet dinnae revolve about ‘er.  She commands nane, nae is she any but kind.”

Silor started to rise up in protest but Barad waved him down.  “That is true.  She is far too clever to put herself in so exposed a position. Why should she take risks when others will do so for her without even knowing that they serve her?  She has real power — — and no need for the trappings of power.”

He appeared to be hit by inspiration.  “Stand up, Silor!”

Mystified, Silor did so.

“There you are, Tanlin, the proof stands before you.”

“Oi’m now confused.  Enlighten m’.”

“Why was he exiled?”

“‘E slept on wotch, w’ich ‘e admits, an’ gave away Ship’s Business.”

“What business did he give away?  I’ll tell you.  He told amusing stories about their crabbing venture, which I grant is a main business for them.  The deadly revelation?  That they had special nets for crabs and knew where to find them.  Both are obvious to anyone who thinks for ten seconds.”

“Oi’m beginnin’ t’ see.  T’is wa’ a mere pretext.”

“Exactly. Once he was ejected from the Longin, his credentials should have gotten him an immediate berth on almost any ship in the fleet.  It didn’t happen.

“I was at the Captains’ Council.  Everyone agreed, even the Longin, that he had done nothing to die for but no ship would save him.  And they agreed that he was worth saving.  Thus, exile.  She rid herself of a nuisance, and no blood shed, nor clue that it was even her doing — — unless one looks at the whole unlikely chain of events.”

“Wy’d ye nae just take ‘im up t’en, like so many ot’ers ye’ve ‘elped?”

“Yes,” said Silor.  “Why did you let me be sent away?”

“Safety,” said Barad solemnly.  “Yours and mine.  You opposed her openly and she determined to have you removed.  That is why the others would not help you.  

“What would have happened to your only refuge if I had opposed her will by taking you openly?  I play the part of buffoon, many laugh at this ship and myself.  Let them.  It keeps her from taking us seriously. That is the only safety that there is.”

“Now Oi see ‘t.  Wye wa’ ‘t so ‘ard t’ see?”  You do play well to his madness, Barad.  I would not have tried to turn this one to a tool.  I must learn what you plan to do.  This one is dangerous.

Solemnly Barad said, “This is why only she, of all who claim to be Dragon-witches, is dangerous.  She never owns-up to her power.  She never claims it.  She just uses it, hidden from all.”

There was a discrete rap at the door.  They all quieted at once.  Barad went and opened it a narrow slit.  A whispered conversation followed.

“That was the watch officer.  We need to go up on deck.”

As they were going up the companion-ladder to the deck, Barad asked casually, “Have you ever seen your boat before?”

“Yes,” said Silor tightly.  “In the Longin’s boat-shop.”

“Master Juris must have been pleased with it.”

“He was but he didn’t build it …”  A look of fear washed across Silor’s face as the realization hit.  “Kurin did.  It was her journeyman’s submission piece.”  He ran to the rail.  “Where is it?  Where’s the boat?”

“I’m Officer of the Watch, Theld Elon, Sir.  Boat’s at the end of its line.”  The line went down into the water, drawn tight and pulled back at an angle by the Grandalor’s speed.  “Went down sudden a few minutes ago.”

Tanlin looked calmly over the side.  “‘T appears t’at we almost missed pickin’ ye up.  Oi wonder ‘ow t’is ‘appened?” How did you do this, you old dragon?  What a touch!  I would never have thought of this!

“Mister Theld, heave to,” ordered Captain Barad with quiet authority.  “Get a diver on deck now!  We need to secure that boat for lifting.  With the water in her she’ll be heavy when she breaches the surface.”

Theld set to issuing orders, and the tocsin began its tattoo of command, bringing the watch to deck.  A diver, roused from her bunk, came up still yawning and stretching.  A pair of ungainly looking flat things were hung over her shoulder.

“What’s the problem, Captain?”

“We need to retrieve the boat that’s on the end of this line.”

Without any question as to why or if it were urgent, the diver got straight to business.

“What kind of boat is it and how big?”

“Day-sailer. About twenty five feet long, loaded for a month’s voyage.” Captain Barad looked for confirmation to Silor, who nodded.

“How long is this line?”  She had stripped, leaving only a pair of tight fitting shorts.  Sitting on the deck, she began strapping the flat things onto her feet.  She tied her hair into a tight bun.

“About forty feet.”

“OK, I’ll need two fifty foot, number three cables.  Attach the first one to the cargo block of the heavy crane.  Get the portable crane over here and secure it to the mizzen mast.  Put the other cable onto its cargo block.”

There was a lull for Captain Barad, Tanlin and Silor, as the watch crew prepared things to the diver’s satisfaction.

“What are those things on her feet?” Silor asked.

“Arrakan diver’s flips,” Tanlin answered.  “Our divers ‘ave used t’em for Gat’erings past remembering.”

“I thought that you lost your memory,” said Silor curiously.  “Did it come back?”  At her look of distress and Barad’s of rage, he feared that he had made a serious mistake.

“Nae, Luve.  Donnae ‘old ‘t against ‘im.”  She was biting back tears.  The more I do this the easier it is to forget that it’s an act.  “Ye cannae protect m’ from t’e world forever, an’ Oi must learn t’ cope wit’ ‘t.” She turned to Silor.  “Tis like t’is.  Oi lost only ane t’ing from m’ memory.  People. M’sel’ an’ eveyane t’at Oi’ve ever known, until Oi awoke t’ t’e Orca song.

“Oi can draw ye t’e plan an’ lines o’ ever’ ship Oi‘ve lived on.  Oi know all t’at Oi used t’ know.  Oi ‘ave t’e ’ule Arrakan fleet, ‘ts laws, customs, navigation, ever’t’in’s ‘ere,” she tapped her temple.  “But t’ere’s nae ane person t’ere!  Nae even m’sel’!  Tis worse t’an ghosts.  Tis utterly empty an’ never stops ‘urting, unless Oi can focus on somet’in’ new.

“Barad’s precious t’ m’ because ‘e keeps m’ safe at night.  ‘E ‘olds m’ an’ keeps t’e emptiness inside from swallowin’ m’.” Strange, but that’s nearly true.  Even if what we did was wrong, what’s done is done.  We were married before the whole Naral fleet by Arrakan law and, as it was accepted, it’s now legal by the Third Great Law.  I’m being treated like a partner and friend as a wife should be.

“I’m sorry,” said Silor sincerely.  “I have some idea of what you must feel.  I’ve lost my ship, too.  Also, my fleet, all that made home for me.  They’re gone but I remember everything and everyone.  It hurts.”

“Oi donnae t’ink Oi’d like t’ trade places wit’ ye, Silor.”  My act is sailing closer and closer to reality.  Your madness is driving you ever further onto dry land.

TO BE CONTINUED

<==PREVIOUS   NEXT==>

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[indigo-rainn]

Keep Me Close

Chapter 1 – Tidal

SUMMARY: When something goes wrong during Sasuke's two-year solo quest for redemption, Konoha launches a rescue mission to get him back. However, when things start to go south, the team struggles to make a decision: do they save their friend, or risk everything to prevent his skills from falling into the wrong hands? / SasuSaku, Team 7

A/N: Posted this originally on FFN, but I thought I’d share it here as well. I’ve been getting back into the fandom recently after many years away, and I love how quickly the SasuSaku feels came rushing back. <33 Can’t get enough of these two.

I hope you guys enjoy!

The lavender sky dipped itself into corals along its horizon, darkened just overhead to a touch below indigo. Stars winked on one by one within this shade, reflected too in the shimmering sea, joined by the stirring of an offshore breeze. The rush of waves against the sea cliffs below served as the only sound, spare the soft tapping of footsteps on the ledge above. They belonged to a passing shadow by the name of Sasuke Uchiha.

A gull cried overhead, and the raven-haired shinobi tracked its movements warily before the bird disappeared beyond the trees. His obsidian gaze fell back to the ocean – he hadn't been to the coast in years, and he had forgotten the loudness of it. The salt in his nose, the rush of the waves in his ears – it was all a distraction, a nuisance that he didn’t particularly care for. He could see the enjoyment of it, but now, at that moment he found it put him on edge.

Sasuke paused to pull a scroll from his pocket, and unfurled it on the ground. He yanked open a pen with his teeth, and scribbled his note. He scowled at the mess of it – writing was exceedingly difficult with one hand – and made an attempt at smoothing a few lines.

Kyreen ETA: midday tomorrow. Criminal org.? Q. harbor master. SU.

Sasuke whistled through his teeth as he rose to his feet, rolling the scroll as a bird circled. It landed evenly on his shoulder, ruffling its feathers and nuzzling his cheek with affection. He pushed the creature away from his face and set to tying the parchment to its leg. In a moment, Sasuke had finished, and the bird took off into the night toward Konoha.

During Sasuke's most recent visit to the village, Kakashi had been adamant about daily check-ins. He'd sat Sasuke down, given him a hard time about his "angsty aloofness," and told him to send a daily note. A spree of missing nin reports from fringe territories, coupled with a particularly grueling winter across the continent, had made the council anxious over any "key assets" still out in the field.

"I'm not particularly worried about your wellbeing, Sasuke, but we have to set an example here…" Kakashi had explained tiredly. "Plus, I want to keep track of you. I'm getting old. I'm already old. Allow me this."

Sasuke's expressions tightened as he set off along the coast once more. It was only later, after he'd overheard a conversation between Shikamaru and Naruto before leaving town, that he had realized that the village was more worried about his kekkei genkai falling into the wrong hands than they were for his safety. He smirked at the idea. As if he could be beaten in combat, let alone lose to someone who could then steal his eyes.

Not possible.

What he would do, however, was take out whoever was abducting low-level shinobi along the remote coast of the Mist. Whatever scum waited for him in the fishing village of Kyreen, he would tie them in a neat bow and deliver them to the nearest police force. Then he'd take the missing ninja from whatever cell they were being kept in, dust them off, and return them to their homes. It was a standard mission, something fit for a chuunin – or even Team 7, at their formation – but since Sasuke was already in the region, he volunteered to get it done on his own.

Sasuke settled into a brisk pace. He wanted to get a few more miles in before settling in for the night. His mind wandered.

After all this, he would return to Konoha. That was something he'd decided on, without ever really deciding. It just came to him one morning. He was bone tired, and his body felt ready to stop for a while. He needed to rest, and he needed to train – the constant walking had taken a toll on his physical strength, and that was something he disliked.

He also wanted to plan out the next phase of his mission, and for that he needed maps, intel and, perhaps, a partner. A quiet, unexpected smile lifted his face in the dark.

Sasuke continued walking through the dark for some time. When he grew tired, he shielded his chakra, walked into the forest some ways, and pulled out his sleeping pad beneath an old oak tree. In a moment, he was asleep beneath his blanket.

Sakura sat on the porch at her home, wrapped in her thick down comforter. Ino was next to her, and together they stared out over the village, sipping on mugs of herbal tea. The lights twinkled, and the bubble of people leaving their various places of work grew quieter.

"This is way less fun with tea than wine. Do you have a bottle open?" Ino blurted finally, plopping her mug down and standing up from her seat. She cracked her back to the side, and then the other, and turned to go inside.

"No, but there should be an unopened bottle on the counter. Beers in the fridge too," answered Sakura. Ino disappeared inside: "You want one?" she called out. Sakura looked back and shook her head. Ino made her way back and curled up in her seat again, overfilled glass in hand.

"What's got you so down?" she asked, taking a long sip of the red, and eyeing her strawberry-haired friend. Sakura was never one to decline wine, especially when it was just the two of them.

"I don't know," she said after some time, sipping her tea. Then, after another pregnant pause: "The holidays are hard, sometimes. The hospital has been so quiet lately, and everyone splits off with their person after. The fact that I am totally alone hits home a little harder than usual. You know? It's just me and the cat. And it's not even my cat."

As if in answer to being spoken about, an orange calico slunk out from the apartment onto the porch. It sat between them, made a sound that was a cross between a meow and a belch, and hopped up onto the railing. The cat didn't really belong to anyone – it had followed Sasuke to the house one day, and never left. Now it required feeding and constant attention.

"You're not totally alone," said Ino. "He might not be here right now, but he's yours."

"Don't be ridiculous. He's been here a grand total of twelve days over the past ten years. And five of those days were in prison…" muttered Sakura. "And besides, he is absolutely not mine. Not anyone's. Running around the globe without a care in the god damn world. He's the worst sometimes."

"But, also, the best."

"…Yeah."

Sakura ran her finger along the rim of her mug absently, the taste of ginger on her lips. Ginger tea was his favorite, bizarrely enough. A calming tea, for one of the least calm people she knew of. Fitting, in his own ironic way. She closed her eyes, biting her lip hard.

She had never really known Sasuke, for all of those years she spent on his team, and then searching for him when he left. She thought she did, but she didn't really. Maybe there wasn't much to know, apart from the all-consuming revenge complex, and now that he'd had time to grow, there was a lot to him. All of these little facets and interests and hobbies that seemed odd when connected to someone of his prowess, but formed a part of him all the same.

Like the fact that he loved to paint. She'd left her watercolors out one evening when he'd popped through town, and he had settled into them while she'd stepped out to change as if he'd been painting all along. When he left, she'd put his finished picture up on the fridge – a cherry blossom tree, in full bloom. Now it was framed in her room.

"Sakura?" Ino murmured.

"Yeah?"

"It'll be okay. He'll be home soon," she said, setting her wine down momentarily to wrap her arms around her friend's shoulders with an affectionate squeeze.

"Love you, Ino. Thanks," said Sakura. Ino nodded, and threw up her arms in a big yawn.

"Aaand now that we're finished moping, can we please watch that reality show everyone's been talking about?"

"Only if you promise not to pause it every time that one guy comes on screen." They laughed, gathered up their blankets, and retreated indoors. The cat followed in behind them as a light snow wandered down from the sky.

Sasuke watched the town of Kyreen bustling about from a safe distance, assessing the layout before making his final approach. It was mid-morning, and the village looked nearly the same as every other town he'd passed along the coast, nestled against an inlet with a single dock and a disheveled collection of dinghy's bobbing in the water. There were more buildings in Kyreen than the last town he'd passed through, however. From his vantage in a tree, he counted ten residential homes as well as several shops clustered in a circle around an open market area. A low fence circled the town, with an open gate to the main road. Someone had stuck a hand-painted "We welcome travelers!" sign next to the entrance.

Nothing seemed particularly out of the ordinary. The ebb and flow here was standard – fisherman went out on their boats, came back with their catch, unloaded, and their wives exchanged the catch in the town square for grains and baked goods and whatever else there was available. The smell of smoked fish filled the air. Happy dogs lounged about in the sun, and children played along the water's edge.

Sasuke picked out the harbor master's house without too much difficult – it was the largest residential building, and had a somewhat new coat of paint. The man who Sasuke suspected to be the harbor master was just inside, his chakra signature seated at a table in the main room. A few weeks ago, this same man had sent an urgent letter to Konoha. Of the twelve shinobi that had gone missing, four had been stationed in or around this town, and one of those three was the master's own son. The town was scared, and thieves would soon circle.

Sasuke dropped from his perch to the ground, gathered his cloak around him, and made his way toward the town. Although snow had not yet fallen, the bite of winter lurked in the air, and the people he passed as he entered town were bundled in furs. Seal furs, by the look of it. Despite the cold, everyone was quite friendly and, were it not for his silence, would have happily engaged him in conversation and perhaps asked him to tea. He found it uncomfortable.

He approached one of the market stalls he'd picked out from afar, run by a very elderly woman selling assorted rice balls. She perked up when he stepped forward.

"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes!" she gushed, pulling back her curtain so that he could get a good look at what she had made for that day. Fish, crab, chicken, with various spices for each. He pointed at the fish one, and she grabbed two, wrapping them in a fabric napkin. She handed them to him delicately, and he passed her a few bills.

"I've got a chair over here, if you'd like to sit," she offered as she plopped herself into one of two Adirondack chairs beside her stand. He joined her, nibbling on one of the rice balls. It was surprisingly rich.

"Thank you," he murmured. She nodded and laced her fingers together, looking at him up and down with curiosity. She was a short woman, with dark leathered skin and long fingers. Her hair was wild and gray, pulled back in a messy bun, stuck with beads and braids and at least one feather.

"What brings you to town?" she asked finally. "We don't get many handsome young men passing through these parts."

When Sasuke blanched, she quickly continued: "Oh, wipe that expression off your face. I'm not trying to set you up with my granddaughter or anything silly like that! Just making conversation. Finish your food, child."

He did as he was told, and turned to watch the market bustle about them as he ate. He liked this old woman, as old and grizzled and off-her-rocker as she was.

"Tell me about the harbor master, if you would," he said after a time of silence, turning back toward the woman. She blinked, then leaned back in her chair.

"His name is Enko. Good man, yessir," she answered slowly. "He treats the whole town like family. Every one of us. Good man."

"Go on." The hesitation in her voice spoke volumes.

"Well, his son went missing a few weeks ago. He was a kid, just out of the academy up the coast. He was back visiting, and went into the woods to pick some herbs with his mum. They never came back – the wife was a bloodied mess, cold when they found her. The son had just vanished into thin air." As she told the story, her hand involuntarily moved to her chest, where it clasped a pendant around her neck. "Enko doesn't leave his house much anymore, really. Can you blame him? Nothing like this has happened here before. A week later, two more kids are gone. Another just a few days ago. It's all going to hell."

"Can you tell me more about the kids?" Sasuke asked after a long pause, when it appeared that the woman had caught her breath. "How old were they? Skill level?"

"Enko's son, Dan, was not quite 14. I used to watch him when his parents were busy. Scrappy kid, dark hair and dark eyes. The others were older, all teenagers. The most recent was in his 20s – he had one of those green vests that ninja wear. They were all good kids… I don't know why someone would do something like this."

Sasuke folded and refolded his napkin in his hand, a feeling of unsettledness rising in his gut. He wanted to speed this up. He asked for the woman's name.

"Gana. And yours?"

"Sasuke." He stood and offered her his hand, which she shook gratefully. Then, he turned and trudged toward the harbor master's house.

Sakura sat on her desk at the front of the class, watching her students scribbling away. Exam day was an easy day for a teacher, but a frustrating day for a doctor. Her time felt wasted watching over these kids write – she wanted to be in the ICU, helping her burn victim from the day before. She glanced out the window, the sun shining brilliantly against the newly-fallen snow.

One by one, the students handed in their papers, thanked her, and headed out to enjoy a few weeks of the class-free holiday break. She didn't blame them – her class was known for being one of the most intensive in the Konoha medical school.

Sakura locked up the classroom behind her, exams in hand, and slipped into her office. She dropped off the exams in the TA's box, grabbed her bag, and headed to the hospital wing at a fast clip. She pushed through the double doors, and the rush of beeping monitors and nurses brought her immediate ease. She changed into her scrubs mechanically, dropped her bag in a cubby, and dove into the fray. Within minutes, she was setting a child's arm, and then healing a puncture wound from an exercise-gone-awry, and then back to setting another broken arm.

"Here, I want you to hold up your good arm like this. Okay?" Sakura raised her hand, and the five-year-old she was treating mimicked. It was a way to distract. "Perfect. Hold that there, and I'll be right back with your new armor!" I.E. a splint for his wrist.

She turned, her tray of scalpels and bandages in hand, and froze midstride. At first it was just a pain in her chest. A white-hot pain that snatched her breath. Then it spread, in a blindingly wild fire, filling her with a fear and a horror that was not her own. Her body trembled violently, and she tried to open her mouth but couldn't speak. She couldn't breathe. Then, the screaming. The most viscerally horrible screaming she'd ever heard – a tortured screaming, agony over and over again in her ears, more agony than she'd experienced – ringing in her ears like a violent drum. Screaming. The tray clattered to the floor, tools flying in all directions. She crumpled against the wall, covering her ears, but couldn't get away. Tears leaked from her eyes as she sunk to the floor, nurses crowding around her as she curled into a ball on the linoleum. She couldn't hear them over the screams. Screams that, as she was forced to listen, she knew she recognized.

Then, all at once, it stopped.

Enko, the harbor master, eagerly led him into the kitchen. Although his eyes were gray – the kind of deep gray one gets from prolonged grief – he smiled pleasantly, and showed Sasuke around the main level of his house as any good host would. He was a stocky man, with thick arms and a thick white beard. His clothes were simple, his demeanor equally so. A fisherman, who'd lost his wife and son, trying to make things right.

"Can I interest you in some tea?" asked Enko, after offering Sasuke a seat at the kitchen table. He nodded, and Enko busied himself at the kettle. Sasuke, meanwhile, took a moment to examine the room.

The house was simple enough – very little decorations, no paintings or photos or anything like that. Old floral wallpaper, a few trinkets on the shelves, and simple furniture. He sensed no other chakra signatures in the house, and he checked to make sure.

Enko set two mugs on the table, and took a deep sip of his own. "I hope you like green," he said quietly, glancing up at Sasuke for nervous affirmation. Sasuke thanked him, and sipped at the drink. It was warm and delightfully bitter. Although not his favorite, it would certainly do.

"Tell me everything," Sasuke said quietly, folding his hands in front of his face and leaning in.

Enko talked at length, repeating much of the information offered by the woman at the stand. He was out fishing for the day, his son visiting home after being away from some time. They went out to the forests to forage, and never came back. Enko stared into his mug, his demeanor saddening as he pressed on.

Sasuke made a sorry attempt to stifle a yawn as the man spoke. He was very tired – he had slept poorly the previous night. He took another sip of his tea and shook his head to clear himself.

"Can you tell me more about your son? How old was he?" Sasuke managed as Enko stood and moved into the kitchen. He took out a few biscuits from a cupboard, and set to arranging them on a plate.

"He was a good boy. Tall, smudge of dark hair. Bright brown eyes, like his mum. Terrible at taijutsu, but he had a knack for substitutions. Best in his class!" Enko seemed to lose his train of thought, before picking it up again. "He was eighteen."

Eighteen? Why did that seem wrong?

Sasuke sat back in his chair. His head was swimming, he couldn't think. Something was wrong. His eyes flicked up to glare at Enko, and found the man watching him closely, an odd gleam to his eye. Sasuke tried to stand up, and stumbled back. His body felt heavy and unresponsive. He squeezed his eyes shut, but found his mind unable to keep a straight thought. He gripped the edge of the table with his hand such that his knuckles turned white, mustering all he had to stay steady.

"W-what the hell did you do to me?" he growled through gritted teeth.

He could sense Enko rushing toward him, but it was at a lag. He tried to gather up his chakra, but the threads evaded him. Something heavy rammed into him, and he fell back hard onto the wood floor. He tried to activate his eyes, but couldn't. He tried again, and the familiar red swam before his vision, but slowly. At a lag. This is bad.

A feral instinct took over, and he drove his knee into the person that had attacked him. Everything was blurry, he couldn't see anything at all. He could feel the edges of his senses going black – he was passing out, that much he knew – and fury lanced through his limbs at the thought of it. He forced his chakra through, and didn't realize until after that he was screaming. At once he could see, and his Mangekyou slid easily into place –

But it was too late. He looked down, only to see that he was standing in the middle of a seal on the floor. A seal for blocking his abilities. There were seals everywhere, actually, and he was in the middle of them all. And they were glowing, in the midst of activating, seconds away from sealing his abilities away. An ambush. A fucking perfect ambush.

Rage consumed him. Screaming in fury, he lit fire to the room. The black of unconsciousness closing in on him, he sent black flames everywhere. Burn in hell, burn in hell, burn in hell–

A blinding light swallowed the room as the seals finished activating. His screams turned from fury to pain. He collapsed in a writhing heap, unable to see or feel or think apart from the pain inflicted by the seals. And then he was out, limp on the floor as the enemy scrambled to cart him away.

End of Chapter 1! What’d you think?? I will upload the rest of the chapters here soon, but if you’re dying to read more now, you can find up through Chapter 5 here:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12764887/1/Keep-Me-Close

Thank you for reading!

xoxo

Indigo

[lalast0ne]

A Blacksoul Tale

A story written by Layla & Wilder

On a snowy night, the train left the station.....destination Canada. The steady rock and roll motion on the tracks had the passengers fast asleep through the night. The conductor dozed, waking to a sea of fog and the realization he was off course, on another set of tracks heading straight into the middle of nowhere.  

At the far back of the train, in the very last car, a couple in distress were currently non the wiser that the train was off course. Sleep eludes them; the man paces within the confines of the narrow aisle while the woman concentrates on her breathing, panting as she’d been taught. Her water had broken a little over an hour ago but they currently can’t go anywhere. The train was holding them hostage, unknowingly.  

Each mile passed by at a painstakingly slow speed. Each rock on the tracks had her rolling in pain. She looked out the window and did a double take, panic taking hold on her as her surroundings finally registered. She’d made this trip enough times to know that the train was not on its usual route.....that this train was not going to Canada.

Feeling helpless and unable to stand seeing his wife in so much pain, the husband steps away to find help of any kind. Making his way through the cars, he passes two or maybe three people, who somehow manage to remain asleep, with the sole goal of making his way to the conductor. He needed the train to stop and he needed help; they needed help. 

One way or another his wife needed to get off this train because, three weeks ahead of schedule, the baby was coming. He growled as he heard her screams of pain and looked back over his shoulder to see her rise from her seat and begin pacing the aisle that he himself had been walking only moments ago.

At 21 years of age, this was not how Margot Carson envisioned she’d welcome her first, and definitely only, child into the world.  The notion of a quick and painless birth were well and truly out of the window. Her fingers turned white as she held onto the head rest of the seats either side of her for support, she gritted her teeth and groaned as another intense pain gripped her stomach. No one had warned her that the pain would be this unbearable and in this moment she couldn’t imagine why any woman would do this more than once. 

Taking a deep breath she peeled her eyes opened and watched as her husband approached; no conductor in tow and no miracle doctor traipsing behind him who’d be able to help. His shoulders were up around his ears and panic written all over his face. He had no clue how to help her, why should he? He’d never experienced this before either, but he’s continued asking her what he could do to help was becoming frustrating. 

He reached her with an apologetic look, unable to offer any words of comfort or reassurance that help was on the way. Help wasn’t coming. Instead he brushed her hair from her face and cupped her cheek affectionately. They’d get thru this together, like any team of husband and wife should. Taking her hand as another contraction began to build, he rubbed the base of her back whispering words of encouragement and love. 

The train began to pick up speed once more, which surely was a good thing, the thick cloud of fog giving way to snow. It wasn’t uncommon this time of year for snow to be falling, it was winter after all.

Margot looked out the carriage window then turned to smile at her husband. A moments peace settled between them. She’d always loved the snow and how beautiful it had the ability to make the ugliest landscape look ... and just as she was about to remind Dwayne of that, chaos ensued. 

The howling screech of the brakes along the snowy rails broke the calm that had momentarily descended between the young married couple. Their worlds were turned on their sides, quite literally, along with the train, finally bringing their journey to a stop. Safety now came in surviving outside the confines of the car. In the snow. On this winter night. 

Dwayne scrambled to help Margot, the blood dripping down the side of his face from the gash above his eyebrow. Margot in even more pain and not just from the baby, began to crawl towards her husband, crying out every time she put pressure on her right knee. Once reconnected, both began to crawl towards the freezing air to freedom. Unconcerned with anyone other than themselves right now and their baby. 

The cold air entered their lungs and froze Dwight and Margot bone deep. Adrenaline couldn’t even stop their bodies from shaking. No one else exited the train. They were alone.....two soon to become three. The snow their blanket. Cold the enemy. Water moved beside them, slow like molasses. Almost frozen. 

Margot’s contractions were rolling fast. Heart rates escalating. In the distance, the sky was coming to life. Black standing back as shades of yellow and pink took center stage. The realization they were in the middle of nowhere hit as hard as the train crashed. Fast and without warning. 

Like a storm passing overhead, winds picked up, snow blurring their vision. Margot gripping Dwight, her lifeline in this battle. Metal gleams in the air, a slice through the air. Again and again. The bleak color of winter, glows red like Christmas. 

The only noise that breaks free is a babies cry. A baby born, a new life beginning as two were cut short. Life flowing through the babies heart. Alone on the rivers edge.

She turns the pages of the photo album, her fingers tracing the faces of those people in the pictures that are protected by the clear plastic. Her family. Not her blood family; she’d never met those, but the family who had taken her into their home when she was a baby, who’d raised her like their other children and who loved her like she was one of their own. 

As the years had passed, her sisters and brothers had moved away. Each one creating their own families, while she remained in the family home. Her adoptive parents had long since passed away and without them there, visits from her siblings became few and far between until they’d become non existent.  

The end of the year always had her looking at pictures, reminiscing and reflecting on her life; life back then when she’d been young and life now. Reflecting on how much had changed in her lifetime .. how much the town had changed in her lifetime. 

The what if’s dance around in her head until she turns the page and comes face to face with her biggest regret. Even though the picture is close to 50 years old, he still has the ability to cause the butterflies in her stomach to take flight. The love of her life who she let walk away. All because she was too stubborn to leave the only place she’d ever known. She’d had ambitions and dreams, all of which revolved around this town. He’d had bigger dreams that had taken him to the city. He’d asked her repeatedly, actually begged her, to go with him. To marry her, to start the family they’d talked about so often, but she couldn’t do it and he’d gone anyway. He’d written to her a few times, given his address and asked her to visit. Only when the letters had dried up did she made the decision to go. She’d packed an overnight back, pocketed her savings and went to him, to her love, to see what all the fuss of the big city was about, to maybe even see if she could life there. 

The journey had been quicker than she expected. The hustle and bustle had been unlike anything she’d ever experienced and after asking a few people for directions she found her destination. She’d waited in the coffee shop across from his apartment, waiting for him to come home so she could surprise him. Watching all the glamorous city woman tottering down the street in their high heels had passed the time and suddenly she wanted to be those women. She wanted to be a part of this life. Of his life. As her thoughts turned to him, as if by magic, he appeared. Stood on the bottom step of his given address, a huge smile on his face. She quickly began to gather her belongings then stopped as he waved at someone. Turning he head in the direction he waved she saw some waving back. Someone glamorous, in a pristine white skirt suit who threw her arms around him excitedly. Frozen to the spot, she could only watch as her one and only disappeared inside with his new love. 

She closed the album and her eyes all at once, a tear sliding down her cheek. Her heart had shattered that day in to a thousand pieces and she’d never let anyone close enough to put the pieces back together. 

Solitude. Loss. Heartbreak. 

Happiness. Love. Laughter.

A town that fell in love with her equally as she fell in love with it. Through her eyes, she had seen changes and things that remained the same. The town falling and thriving. There was no shuffling through this town. You either stayed or left. It infiltrated your soul as it did hers. She may walk the streets alone but she knew its secrets. She’d seen the town change hands through her life, from grandfather to father, then finally a changing of the guard occurred several years ago, to son. A man in black walked her same streets, learning the secrets she alone held. Two old souls, lives years apart but one goal between them.....BlackSoul.

No sides were ever taken, just a mutual understanding silently formed. She knew his secrets just like he knew hers. He knew she was the mistress of the town. Adopted as a baby and brought in as one of their own. Hidden in plain view.

The dark of night had Delores up and pacing her living room. Something was wrong and she felt it all the way to her bones. Her thoughts pulled her to leave the safety of her house. To once again walk the familiar streets. But this time, she veered left. Away from her streets. 

Winter had not be cruel and shown her wrath yet. The river calm and tranquil as the dark faded into evil shades of red. A warning sign. 

Delores turned her back to the town she called home. Arms stretched out, summoning the unknown. A familiar blade slices the air. Only one cry breaks the silence. Red coating his hand. 

77 years passed from birth to death. A circle closed along the banks of the river, her life ending.  Emerging from the shadows, I check for her pulse and slide the blade into my boot. Leaving the river and woods to cover my tracks and death. A mistresses lost breath extinguished.

[helpisgotten]

I get that I'm probably not the best on here but here's my longest prologue. I'm just going to share it here because why not? Also I apologize beforehand if my writing sucks.

     The gentle swish of her dresses end; the click of her heeled shoes on the flooring of her castle. Braided hair up into a dazzling bun. Long flowing sleeves, hair done to look amazingly. Oh how the shine bounced from her wavy brown hair, no wonder boys go after her. Rings from the family fitting onto her fingers perfectly, the heirloom pendant necklace she got from her mother. The dress she wore being a pale pink. Sleeves going down to her wrists, kind of puffy from the crook of her elbow down. This beautiful lace starting around her neck, going down her dress some. Shaped like flowers the lace is, pale pink in color the lace is. It went down her front, back, and sides, skirt of the dress being made from tulle, if that is even the right word for it.

     Her brown eyes scanned over other royalty, Queens, Kings, Princes, Princesses, Dukes, Duchesses. Eyes scanned her; her walk, the way she set her hand on the rail. How her curtsey seemed too perfect. Gaxes caught onto her hair, not a single strand being out of place. Her entire appearance made it out for other people to believe the fact, the fact that she does not belong.

     They take into account her wall, her actions, her talk, the way she moves, her hair's "perfectness". Kingdom's and Empires, all gathered under one roof for a night of fun. Drinking, feasting, eating, chatting, sleeping with someone from another Kingdom or Empire. Oh yes, that happens a lot. Some heirs to their parents crowns should inherit two kingdoms or empires, or, a kingdom and empire. No one says a word about it though. It would destroy many treaties and relationships if word got out.

     Grand columns of marble held the roof up. A second story of places to stand and look over the ball room she has entered. Wine flowing freely, slipping in to hands of some; responsible ones knowing their limit. Some... not knowing their own limit. The times of guards escorting royals out the door is astoundingly large. Even they like to let go of all sanity, whatever sanity they have left that is.

     "Princess, may I have this dance?" A male voice called out to the princess already in a bow, his hand extended for her to take.

     Who would be asking her of all people for a dance? Three glasses of wine in, she will surely step on his shoes, scuff them, ruin them someway. There will always be a way for her to embarrass herself infront of this man. Surely, all of what she believes cannot be true about herself, right? Right. She just needs to forget about her usual, clumsiness and tomfoolery for one dance, one dance with a, complete stranger. Yes, a complete stranger will surely make her forget about her usual antics.

     Once she was done contemplating her choices, her brown eyes glanced over, only to meet a well shaped chest. Knowing better to be in someone's chest like that infront of many others, she took her gaze farther up. Meeting a pair of grass green eyes. So light in color, looking to be full of life. Pale brown hair, tanned skin from being in the sun. A jawline that guys envy. This man, whoever he may be, can capture a women's heart this easily, could he capture a man's as well? As to not dwell on his sexuality any longer than she had already, she spoke.

     "Ah, I sincerely apologize for not speaking earlier. I may have been distracted by the chandelier above us." How much of a lie she has used this moment.

     "There is no chandelier above us." He chuckled, catching her in her lie. "You have not answered my question..."

     "Oh, ah, yes." She corrected herself quickly when it came up. "I accept your offer, what is your name?"

     "Bennet, Drew Bennet."

     "Get the archers ready Arthur!" Hogan bellowed to the other men, staring at the large beast infront of them all. "On my words!"

     Men rushed around, getting weapons ready; sharpening swords and arrows. Lighting arrows on fire, shooting them out at the danger. Weapons stuck in the meat and flesh of the enemy. Fire tickling up the sides of the building, they cannot escape this fire. The large brick gate they stood on stood has not a single chance against their enemy.

     Men were doing many things, writing short letters to their loved ones, taking their own life at the gate. Stripping themself of an piece of clothing, leaving it for someone to find with the hope of remembrance for the dead, for the ones who could not make it out alive. Some were eating their last meal before death. Some were saying good bye to their friends before death.

     "The beast is winning! The beast is winning!" One man cried out, shooting another flaming arrow at the beast. "We cannot win! I retreat!"

     "What are you doing! We need all of the men we have to defeat this-" The first man to speak turned his head around wildly, left, right, up, down; all of his soldiers, all of his men are fleeing. No one else is going to try to defend the gate, the town, the people, their families. Some have given their life to protect their kingdom! But no, most end up fleeing the fight. They are right. All of these men are cowards.

     He stared up, into the bright orange eyes of the enemy. His heart pounding against his chest, blood rushing to his ears. Legs beginning to quiver, mouth dropping to the ground. Weapons rendered useless, so he dropped them. The banging of his bow and arrow on the bricks below him did not bring to his ears. His fear took over him, legs quaking as if an earthquake was two bones surrounded in flesh and meat. Trying to stumble back from his fate, he shouted out something random. He was flamed down like the rest of them.

     The flames of the unknown beast took down the man. Killed remaining survivors of the village, painting an orange hue over it all. Hay lit on fire, animals died, babies died, everything and everyone is dying.

     The dragon smiled, huffs of smoke coming from her nose. Wings beating against the air, claws as long as oak trees dragging on the bricks. Tis not a human that broke through their defenses, tis a dragon.

     Running is fairly easy when they have been training for it, years of training. That, or he has been chased by bullies and shop owners too many times to count.

     "Get back here you little ruffian!" He called out, mocking the men behind him. So slow, can't even keep up with a Sixteen year old thief. "Never!"

     "I think never has come young boy." He stumbled backwards, landing on his behind. The bread he stole falling from his pocket. "Young thief."

     "I didn't want the bread for myself, I got it for my brother. And I'm not a thief, I simply borrowed it. Borrowed it forever, maybe." He glanced around for a second, before springing up, running for the opening of the alleyway. He was grabbed on the upper arm.

     "You are so infuriating." One man snapped at the younger guy, stepping closer to his skinnier enemy.

     He was waiting, awaiting for his face to be bashed in by a barrage of fists and feet. By his ribs breaking, his entire body screaming in pain. It's going to happen; bruises, cuts, scrapes, stab wound, slash of a sword or guillotine. His life is over, his entire life is over. He is going to die.

     "What are you doing to him?" A female voice could be heard, her eyebrow perfectly raised at the four of them.

     "Princess!" A gasp came from another man, two of them hoping she would not kill them all. "We were-"

     "About to harm a commoner boy? For stealing a chunk of bread; you are so corny, childish, ugly, rude, prudish, nasty..." She listed off insult after insult mouth quicker than a revolver. "Let him go. Right this instant or my father will have your head on the ground, detached from your body."

     The men took in what she said, and scattered. Rushing past her, leaving him against the wall. He still cannot believe she is infront of him, standing up to the three guys who could have killed him in moments. Glancing to the princess, who changed his fate, can't believe that this is even real. It feels so fake, imaginary.

     "Thank you?" Not knowing what else to say, it just came out, came out like a question.

     "Don't act like a question is your answer." She flicked her hand outwards, signaling for him to follow after her. "Are you ignoring me?"

     "Oh, never!" He got by her side in seconds. No one is going to ignore someone who has this much power is not to be ignored.

     "Now, follow me. We need to have a discussion."

     

     The scent of bread flowing through the bakery, going out the open door to draw in more people. Every person knows of this bakery, they know of the best bread in town coming from here. All of the sweets royalty eat come from this very building, made by her and her fathers hands. Rolled out, put in their containers, carted off to their desired destinations. Hands of the unknown touching the bread, passing it off to the next person. Feeding many, many mouths with their goods. They know of the name that this bakery goes by; no one can pronounce the name though, so complicated to do.

     Having not a single care in the world for her own safety, Annalise slipped her fingers in and out of the rich pockets. Looting, taking, no oone will notice their grandfather's watch be missing. Long nimble fingers moving quickly to get out of the area quicker. Guards are already on her tail for the last stunt she pulled; Annalise does not need to meet the royal guards three times in a week. It won't make her have a good reputation with others.

     She managed to grab three items, going over forty thousand coins easily, more than enough to get her by for some time. She does not need much food to survive on her own. Eating lightly for so long gets Annalise used to not having much food. Her poorer background may have a thing to do with it as well, but she will not share that information with anyone. Her background is for herself to know; for herself only.

     "Annalise!" Sarah skipped over to her best friend, metal jingling about in her satchel. The fruits of her labor can be heard clearly with every step she took. "What did you get? I got a few things over here. I got a necklace, a ring, a fan, a-"

     "Sarah. If you raise your voice anymore than you already have we will surely be caught. Your antics are what got us the surprise visit from the royal guard the day before?" Annalise calmed her friend down, showing her the three items she snagged. "Fourty thousand, in only three items."

     Her doe brown eyes widened at the sight of the three things Annalise held. "You got a ducheses coin purse, two diamond earrings, and a matching necklace? Annalise how did you manage to get the necklace, you would of been so close to a woman to snag this? You could have gotten caught when doing this."

     "We could have been caught easily every single day we went on the town to collect our prizes. Doing this for so long Sarah, you begin to simply not care for your own safety anymore. If we die we die. If we live we live then. No one other than fate himself can decide what happens to us. It's just unpredictable. Come on now, we need to walk otherwise..." Annalise moved closer to whisper, but didn't. Sarah got the hint Annalise gave her instantly. She nodded quickly, linking her arm with Annalise's. They began to walk down the street.

     Looking at them from a different point of view, no one could have guessed they stole from people and businesses to live, to eat, to keep their home afloat. Yes, Annalise and Sarah are poor. Very poor. The clothes they have are from their apprenticeship at the Taylor's shoppe. If they did not have the internships they have now; rags or being naked would be their two options of clothing. And they are not going to be naked.

     They kept the usual chatter and banter up as time passed. Feet moving in the same direction; at the same moments, in perfect sync. It is very questionable for how they can move like this. The two do not question it however.

     "Annalise, can we get a new loaf of bread? I am becoming a tad bit hungry now."

     "Sure, Sarah. We'll go get a loaf of bread."

     Fenway dodged the apple core thrown at his head, the constant laughter of the bullies infront of him loud and annoying. He took a step backwards, then turned tail to escape their wrath. Feet hitting the ground harshly as he ran to his cottage, his home, where father will surely make them leave him alone. Fairy tails are what he dreamed. There is no escaping them. 

     Swiftly navigating through the tall flowers, Fenway could see the top of his home in the distance. His feet were weak, legs shaking a little bit. No, he will not give out, he will not be weak.

     He gave out, he's weak.

     "Can't even run the entire way home Fenway. You are so weak in your bones it makes me laugh." Henry spat down to the side, finally catching up with him. Brown eyes stared down to the green ones filled with tears.

     Fenway kept his mouth shut, knowing better than to anger kids bigger than him; they will kill him if they wish to do so. Ruthless that twelve year olds can be.

     "You're still on the ground, huh? Still on the ground face first in the grass like the coward you are. Do you think you can fight back? Do you think you can? No one can beat me, no one can beat me! I am the greatest, the greatest person alive here. I am the king, the one that rules over everyone here! Everyone will kiss my feet, including you Fenway. You will be, my servant." His choice of words are always going to be demeaning, to have the tone or hint that he's better than everyone. It's his turn to be the bully.

     "You are a bully Henry, I apologize that your Dad left for war and never came back but that has no reason to make you angry with me." Fenway got from the ground, albeit he should not have after he spoke. "You need to talk about this to your Mum. Not take out your frustrations on me."

     Silence wiped their feet off on the welcome mat by the front door. Putting their fedora on the hat hook in the mudroom, Silence then began to take their shoes off. Shoes put in the right place, socks pulled off and chilling in the small hamper in the corner. Large winter coats hanging off wooden hooks built into the wall. Rain boots sitting on a mat under the winter coats. House slippers sat unused in their cube shaped storage units. Lights were off in the home, until now.

     Silence walked out of the mudroom, turning on all of the lights in the house. It began to make itself at home, popping a bag of popcorn in the microwave as they looked in the fridge for a soda. When they found a coke zero, they frowned, but shrugged. Silence can deal with a coke zero as a drink. The sound to get the popcorn out as soon as possible came; Silence put their drink on the counter to pull the bag out. Once the bad sat next to the soda, Silence looked through all of the cupboards, finding a round bowl to pour the popcorn into. One is set on the counter. Ah, the food is amazing.

     Aside from Silence taking it's time to settle in, the argument got worse between the two boys. Henry is getting more aggressive, shoving Fenway while the yelling occured. Fenway kept pushing against Henry's shove, which is why he has not fell to the ground. Fenway hoped that he would not loose the sudden confidence he gained in this moment. His confidence leaves quickly in different situations.

     "That isn't your concern!" Henry snapped. "My parents are none of your concern!"

     "Then why are you defensive?" Fenway raised an eyebrow to Henry. "You are so childish Henry."

     That made the first punch be thrown. Fenway's jaw began to bruise when Henry's fist connected. He used his left leg to kick at Henry's knee. He dodge the pity kick, tackling Fenway to the ground as the wrestling began. Flipping from Henry being on top to Fenway under him, then the other way around; grass being trampled by the constant rolling. Seeing this as a opportunity to run back home, Fenway pushed off of Henry to sprint again. Henry ran after Fenway, slamming him to the ground ten feet from his home.

     He yelled out in pain, a rib or two being bruised in the process. Fenway kicked his legs, frantically reaching backwards to feel for Henry's hair. If he yanked on it hard enough then he will leave him alone? Henry smirked to himself as he grabbed a fistful of Fenway's hair, preparing to hit his face against the ground multiple times. At that exact moment though, he was screwed over. A small blue dragon came shooting from the sky, wailing itss war cry of a thousand kittens in the attempt to scare Henry off. Due to their younger ages, it did not take long for Henry to be scared.

     Fenway took massive breaths of relief at Henry's form getting further and further away from him. The calmness finally came, but he doesn't think it will last for long. His savior came at last, in the form of a baby dragon still growing.

     "Thank you, George. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You just saved my life." George growled out, smiling while his tongue lolled out of his scaly muzzle. He does like compliments, George does indeed.

     The small blue dragon could barely be considered blue. Pale blue scaes that could pass as white if just giving a glance to it. Claws a white color stained with blood from hunting mice and other small animals it could. Teeth small but sharp enough to get close to the bone. Wings that are probably the length of Fenway's arms, flapping up and down to keep him afloat. George's tail swishes back and forth as he's flying to balance himself out. Little patches of ice spotted on his scales, cold air puffing out of his nostrils. Ocean blue eyes being the darkest blue on George. Holding so many mysteries, calming, like the waves before the storm; knowing the calm fury that comes with water.

     "Come on now George, we need to get home." Fenway breathed out at last, signaling for George to follow him with a flick of his wrist. "Mum will have to clean us up."

     George flew a few feet above Fenway as the short journey to his home came to an end. He entered the front door of his home, George walking in after him. Barely being able to fit through the door; George is going to grow so, so much more in the near future.

     "Fenway! Did that Henry boy bother you again?" Ginny, his mother, came from their small kitchen area upon hearing her son enter home again. His roughed up form could only show hoe pained he truly felt. "You have so many bruises!"

     "Mum, George saved me though! Henry would have done much worse if he wasn't there to stop him. Aren't you glad I have someone like George Mum? Aren't you?"

     Ginny smiled, shaking her head at her young son and his odd friend. It's still unknown whether George will have fire or ice, possibly a completely different power or element. Maybe, perhaps, George would have both. Perchance it would be blue fire that George has. Who cares? They will all know eventually what his little power is.

     "George can't stay in home forever Fenway. He'll have to start sleeping outside your window now if he grows too big." Ginny ruffed his hair, then gently rubbing George as she grabbed a wicker basket. "Sorry to leave all of a sudden Fen, out to gather more corn and berries."

     Fenway nodded as his mother left out the door for that corn and berries. Now being home alone, he could finally go to his room and pull out his sketchbook to finish a previous sketch of George. He found his room rather quickly, rummaging about in his chest to find the sketchbook he worked so hard to get from the city. His hands grasped his leather cover; at last, his therapy. How he escapes the world without going to the forest with George. Fenway just, loves, this sketchbook of his. He really loves it with his entire life. If he had to be honest, Fenway loves this sketchbook as much as he loves George. Which already means, he loves this sketchbook and George beyond everything.

     His left hand held the pen he used to draw and shade with. Most people guessed he was right handed because, well, most people are right handed. Fenway has never met another left handed person in his life- besides his father. Father is left handed, but Fenway has no idea who his father is. It seems that Mum knows who Dad is, but she won't tell a single soul who he is. Fenway will find that out eventually, he will know who his Dad is before he dies, passes away, ceases to live, any alternative to saying before he croaks and just falls over, unable to wake up from it.

     "George, can you move right there so I can see your claws better? And can you put your foot on my leg? Thank you George." The small dragon moved over, setting a foot on his leg. The claws are super close up now, amazing.

     Dipping the pen in and out of ink as the page became filled with the shape, shades, and scales of his small friend. His round eyes, blue, his favorite color. Another reason why he loves George. Just so amazing in his eyes. Also, one handsome dragon to draw.

*

*

*

     Fenway rolled to his left in his sleep, nearly falling off his bed. George picked his head up, seeing this, and going to push him back onto his bed. The dragon baby stood on his legs, nudging Fenway onto the bed. He huffed in a satisfied way when Fenway stayed still, sleeping leacefully once again. His best friend at last is comfortable, asleep. Safe from Henry, safe from the world. If only he could hope that to be a reality.

     Someone heard of Fenway's little dragon buddy George. Having a dragon familiar is unheard of, and leads to death for the person and their dragon familiar; because of a dragon's typical murderous tendencies. George is one of the most energetic and childish dragons Fenway has ever met. George is the only dragon familiar he has ever met, the only dragon he has ever met in his entire life. He's pretty sure that dragons are mainly extinct because of the mass killing of dragons decades ago. Because one tree catches on fire from an abused dragon all dragons deserve to die.

     With the location of Fenway and George being confirmed by Henry himself, they are no longer safe. People are on their way to kill George and Fenway. Holding massive pitchforks, fire arrows, swords, knives; what is coming for them is not the Royal Guard, tis an angry mob of people wishing death upon the two. No one wishes to see a dragon. Never again; they want dragons to die.

     Years ago, the first dragon familiar came to be. Breaking out from an egg and growing into a large black death bringer, it came out to be the most dangerous familiar ever known. Once that familiar hatched, more dragon familiars popped up everywhere. Elderly were getting dragon familiars, babies were getting dragon familiars, teenagers, people of all ages got these dragon familiars. Some dragon familiars grew to be the size of parrots, some growing to be the size of a small kingdom. Some being the size of a horse, some fitting in the palm of their hands. All sizes, all colors, all shapes of dragons came out, were documented, were seen, amazing. A rainbow of dragons. Lovely.

     His calm did not last forever. It is never going to be calm in his life, never going to be calm when there is a dragon in the house however.

     "Fenway!" Ginny threw his door open, charging towards his bed as the blanket was yanked off of her son. "Fenway get up this instant! Fenway!"

     Fenway did not listen to his mother, rolling onto his other side now to hopefully, "get rid of the dreadful noise" that wishes to disrupt his amazing slumber. She began to frantically shake them as the surrounding area lit up with yells. That finally seemed to wake him up; the yelling.

     "Mum what's going on, why is everyone yelling?" Fenway sat up, stretching and groaning as be blinked to get eyesight back. "Mum, what is happening?"

     "You need to get up. They're coming for you. You need to run and take George with you." Ginny threw some of his clothes into a sack that held food rations, tying the sack together as she opened the window in his room. "Fenway you need to leave and never turn back."

     "Mum why do I need to leave?" Fenway's worrying only grew as the sack hit him square on the chest. "Mum why do I need to leave? Please answer me!"

     "They figured out you have a dragon familiar. Dragon familiars are prohibited from living here Fenway. Having a dragon familiar will lead to your death if you do not do as I say and leave with George out your window this instant!" Ginny turned her glare to fix upon her son. "Leave Fenway. Whatever you do, do not come back here. Ever."

     "Mum I don't want to-"

     "Leave, now Fenway!"

[asflowersfade]

Scribble-Doodle: Alec Fray #10

Set in my Alec Fray AU. Werewolves and warlocks and all that hassle.

It’s Friday night and they just closed the shop for the day. Or at least they closed it for the mundane crowd, opening it for their… other clientele. So, it’s just Alec and Dot because Jocelyn and Clary went out for their regular mother-daughter-evening. It’s quiet and peaceful and Alec uses the lull to take out the trash.

And that’s when it happens.

He slams the dumpster closed and turns to go back inside - it’s a balmy night but the little alley behind the shop is not exactly a place to linger - when he hears the growl and freezes.

It’s starts low, turning progressively louder and more sinister, and then there’s a loud thump, and when he turns around slowly, he sees a werewolf standing on top of the dumpster, barely three feet away, looming over him. He’s huge and hairy and his eyes glow with inner light. And his teeth are monstrous!

Alec swallows hard - and drops to the ground. As the thing passes over him, he feels the air move and he hears the snap of teeth barely an inch or so away from his neck. And then he rolls, scraping his hands and knees, and when he stops, crouching low with his palms flat on the ground, and lifts his head, he sees the wolf hit the pavement softly and then whip around lightning fast, snarling.

Raziel! Alec thinks with his heart thumping hard. What now? The thing’s directly between him and the door leading back inside the shop - and also between him and the opening of the alley, Alec stuck at the blind end with a high wall behind him. If he still had his runes, he would have at least a slim chance to take down the thing. But as it is…

Snarling again, the werewolf digs its huge claws into the ground, tearing at the pavement, and then it jumps. And Alec prepares to roll again - only it turns out he doesn’t have to because something snatches the werewolf in mid-air and drags it down to the ground.

There’s a loud crash as the two shapes drop and roll, and then, in a crackling flare of magic, they both change back: one’s some stranger, white, massive and shaggy, with an unkempt, brutish appearance - and the other’s Luke, standing tall and unmoving between the man and Alec.

“Get out of my way, Luke!” the stranger yells. “That’s an order!”

Luke spreads his arms. “What do you think you’re doing, Theo?” he says, trying to calm the other man down.

Theo points over Luke’s shoulder, at Alec who gets up slowly from his crouch. “If it weren’t for him, the Clave wouldn’t be after me right now!” he rages, spit flying from his lips.

“And what exactly did Alec do?” Luke asks reasonably.

“It was him who pointed them in my direction to save that fool David’s miserable hide!” Theo spits out. “Now that useless mutt is with the Praetor Lupus and the Clave is out for my blood. They want to put me down like some rabid dog!”

It seems to dawn on Luke what’s happening here. “It was you who turned David?” he asks in disbelief. “You turned him and then you let him loose?”

“I did it to strengthen our numbers!” Theo protests, defending his actions. “We’re dying out because his people” --he stabs his finger in Alec’s direction again-- “are hunting us for sports!”

Luke shakes his head. “And you think that turning unwilling people and letting them roam the streets, unsupervised is the answer? You didn’t do it to help your pack, Theo! You did it just because you felt like it. You always do whatever you want and damn the consequences!”

Theo narrows his eyes. “Get out of the way, Luke!”

But Luke doesn’t move. “No.”

“You would challenge your alpha for that… that brat?” Theo roars.

“Yes!” Luke snaps back.

And then they both start forward again, changing back into wolves in mid-jump and slamming into each other, growling and snarling, tearing at each other and rolling on the ground.

Alec looks around quickly, then he takes a running leap and jumps up onto the dumpster and from there he swings himself further up onto the fire escape to get out of the way. He doesn’t know if Luke can take his alpha or not but he’ll have a better chance if he doesn’t have to worry about Alec.

From the safety of the fire escape, Alec watches the two werewolves fight with his heart in his throat, praying for Luke’s safety. And though the fight doesn’t last longer than a minute or two, it seems like an eternity to him.

Finally, there’s a loud thump and a sharp crack and then magic flares up again, followed by silence. Alec doesn’t know who won but someone obviously did, the fight’s over.

Carefully, he climbs over the railing and drops back down into the alley, landing light and bending his knees to absorb the impact. Then he starts forward warily, ready to bolt if need be, but he has to check on Luke who got involved only to protect him and who might be hurt and in need of help.

“Luke?” Alec calls out softly.

And then Luke stumbles out from behind the dumpster in shredded and bloody clothes and with his eyes flaring green, the winner and the new alpha of the New York pack. But he’s also slashed and bitten and barely conscious.

Alec catches him before he can fall and screams Dot’s name.

Alec rushes into the living room with a tray full of bandages, an apology for not finding more around the apartment already on his lips, but he stops short, eyes going wide because there’s a stranger there, with Dot and Luke, a man dressed in flashy clothes and sparkling with glitter. Who…?

“I just need you to keep him from dying long enough for me to prepare the healing potion,” Dot’s saying to the man.

She’s kneeling by Luke’s side, trying to heal his wounds with magic but they’re refusing to even scab over and Luke’s bleeding all over her and the upholstery and the floor… Alec’s never seen anyone bleed this much and survive!

“Dotty, like I was trying to tell you,” the stranger says, exasperated, “I would love to help, you know that - Luke’s my friend, too! - but I had barely enough strength left to portal over here! I’ve spent the whole day mitigating a nixie family feud! I could maybe light up a candle but that’s it!”

Dot makes a frustrated noise as Luke spasm again, groaning in pain. Then she catches sight of Alec and her eyes widen. “I have an idea,” she tells the man, then she scrambles to her feet and walks over quickly. “Alec, honey, I have a big favor to ask.”

Alec sets the tray aside and looks down at her; over the last few months he shot up two inches and now he seems to be towering over her. “Anything,” he say and he means it.

She smiles at him. “My friend here is a warlock, like me. He can help us save Luke. But he doesn’t have enough strength left to do it.” She pauses, then she takes a deep breath and continues, “Would you be willing to share yours with him?”

Alec glances at the stranger who’s now kneeling by the couch on which Luke’s thrashing in pain, then back at Dot. “I don’t understand,” he admits. Because he doesn’t. He’s been trying to learn as much as he could about Downworlders and their customs since he started living here and helping out in the shop but he still knows very little.

“Every living being has a well of strength inside them - Shadowhunters even more so than others since their strength comes from angels - and we warlocks can tap into that strength, siphon it, you can say, use it and shape it,” she explains quickly. “It’s not exactly comfortable but it doesn’t cause any permanent damage, I swear, it’ll just make you tired, nothing a good night’s sleep can’t cure. But it would help us immensely.” She looks at him imploringly.

Alec’s brows furrow for a second. “So, basically, you want me to play a battery?”

Dot blinks at him, then she grins wide. “Something like that, yes.”

“Alright,” Alec replies. He still doesn’t know what to think of it but he would trust Dot with his life. And if it helps Luke…

Smiling, Dot pulls him down - his shirt’s already ruined anyway - and plants a kiss on his forehead. “Thank you,” she tells him, then she turns to the stranger. “Magnus? Alec here will lend you his strength. I promise I’ll hurry.” And with that she rushes out of the living room.

The stranger - Magnus - turns around and looks up from his kneeling position, measuring Alec guardedly. Even in the soft glow of the lamps everything about him sparkles, from the glitter in his hair to his no doubt expensive jewelry.

“Hi,” Magnus says finally, tilting his head to one side curiously.

“Hello,” Alec responds, stepping closer. He clears his throat. “What-what should I do?”

Magnus pats the carpeted floor by his side with one hand. “Come here.”

Alec complies and drops to his knees, rubbing his sweaty palms on his pants. He admits, at least to himself, that he’s nervous. He has no idea what’s going to happen and he hates the unknown. “And now?”

Magnus reaches out. “Give me your hand.”

Alec slips his hand into Magnus’; the warlock’s hand is soft and warm, not at all clammy or cold like Alec’s. Alec feels embarrassed.

“Magnus Bane,” the warlock says, shaking their hands.

Blinking, Alec looks down at their hands, still pumping up and down. What…? He glances up and finds Magnus grinning at him.

“I thought I should at least introduce myself properly before I tapped you like a keg,” he jokes gently.

Alec lets out a long breath and forces himself to relax because he realizes what Magnus is trying to do, that he’s trying to set Alec at ease, calm him down. Alec shakes his hand back. “Alec L--Fray. Alec Fray,” he corrects himself quickly.

“Great, Alec L-Fray,” Magnus tells him, winking. “And now, let’s help our friend here, alright?” He nods at Luke.

Smiling fleetingly, Alec nods. “Alright.”

And then he feels a tug, a strong, dragging pull deep inside him, and everything else falls away. The last thing he’s truly aware of is Magnus glancing back at him with wide, surprised eyes. Then his world shrinks to nothing but the feeling of being drained.

It’s the sensation of being watched that wakes Alec up.

Slowly he opens his eyes. He’s lying in his bed, curled up on his side and with his head pillowed on his arm, facing the window and the armchair in front of it - and also Magnus Bane who’s sitting in said armchair, cross-legged and with his elbows on his knees and his chin propped up on his fists. And who’s staring at Alec with a curious expression on his face.

“Hello,” Alec says quietly.

“Hi,” Magnus responds just as softly.

“You’re staring,” Alec points out.

“That I am,” Magnus agrees.

Alec furrows his brows. “Why?”

Magnus purses his lips. “Because you, Alec L-Fray, are quite a fascinating specimen.”

“It’s just Fray,” Alec corrects him. “Alec Fray.”

“Alright,” Magnus allows.

Alec’s about to ask what exactly makes him so fascinating, when he remembers. “How’s Luke?”

Leaning back in the armchair, Magnus waves a hand airily. “Fit as a fiddle. Or at least he will be soon, probably in a day or so, considering his newly won alpha status. Jocelyn and Clary are with him now. And Dot, too.”

Alec breathes out in relief. “That’s good.”

Magnus nods again. “That it is,” he agrees.

And then Alec frowns again. “And you are here why?”

Magnus wrinkles his nose delicately. “I’m here to keep an eye on you. Dotty read me the riot act for draining you like that.” He huffs. “As if I hadn’t warned her that I was wrung dry!” Then he pauses and glances at Alec sheepishly. “Still, I am sorry about that.”

Alec shrugs. “It’s okay. I’m just glad we saved Luke. If my strength helped, then there’s nothing to apologize for.”

“It did. And that brings me back to you being a fascinating specimen, Alec Fray,” Magnus states. “You’re a Shadowhunter. I felt it the moment I tapped into your strength.”

Alec freezes for a moment, emotions boiling inside him: fear, anger, shame, longing… “I was,” he replies in the end a little hoarsely. He knows he should deny it but he’s always hated lying. And besides, Magnus seems to know anyway, so what would be the point?

Hearing the pain in Alec’s voice, Magnus’ eyes, his whole expression turns from inquisitive to kind. “No, you still are, Alec. The runes, they were just the outward representation of who you were. They didn’t make or break you. Over the years, I’ve met several Shadowhunters who got de-runed - and not one of them was a bad person, just the opposite. Don’t let the Clave’s opinion be the measure of your worth.”

Swallowing hard, Alec whispers, “I’m trying not to.”

Magnus nods firmly. “Good. Because you just helped save a werewolf’s life by sharing your strength with a warlock. And from what Dotty told me, you saved another one of us from execution using your knowledge of the Accords. You are upholding your people’s creed and protecting the innocents and you don’t need runes for that. Just a good heart and a good head on your shoulders.”

Alec glances away, flushing a little. He’s never been good at accepting compliments.

“Alright,” Magnus say briskly as if sensing Alec’s awkwardness, “I should really be going now that I can assure Dotty that you won’t suddenly expire during the night hours.” Then he unfolds his legs, dropping his stockinged feet to the floor, and as he gets up, he leans over and with mischief in his eyes he whispers conspiratorially, “Don’t let Dorothea’s sweet appearance fool you, she’s mean!”

Alec hides his smile behind a blanket.

Magnus walks up to the door and stops there, turning back. “I’m glad to have met you, Alec Fray. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Alec replies, still smiling.

And it’s not until Alec’s about to fall asleep that it hits him, the realization, and his eyes fly open in the dark. Magnus Bane. It wasn’t just some random warlock but Magnus Bane himself.

Alec just met the High Warlock of Brooklyn!

[secondgenerationnerd]

Mother Knows Best

Author’s notes: Another SpeedDemon fic? Say it ain’t so. I’m kidding. Can’t remember why I decided to write this aside from causing my bestie @girlwonder123x some pain (love you!). I also reference a few stories on @dctinytitans so you should totally check them out! (next Fic is gonna be a Lian Harper fic)

Rating: M for swearing and violence.

Words: 4606

         “Ok, lightning bug,” Irey reaches into her daughter’s crib,” Mama’s here. I gotcha.”

         Irey speaks softly, mostly about nothing, as she changes the five-month-old. Asha looks up at her mother, looking every bit like her father except for those dazzling green eyes, babbling and gurgling to herself. Irey smiles. She tickles the little girl, filling the room with giggles,” Someone’s in a good mood. You wanna see if Baba’s up? Huh? You wanna talk to Baba?”

         Asha snuggles up to her mother as they go to the living room. Irey makes a list of things she needs to do as she settles on the couch, pulling her nursing bra to the side. Asha latches on easily, long lashes fluttering shut. Irey looks down at her daughter with so much love. Breastfeeding is one of the things she’s loved most about being a mom. The health benefits and science behind it she loves, but being able to hold her baby, bonding with her this way is something she will never take for granted. After all, It’s something she never thought she would get.

         When Irey and her twin brother, Jai, were 13, they’d been told that they have a very low chance of ever having kids. This was due to the stress their powers put on their bodies, as they had to produce more ATP and there had been more science babble that Irey heard but didn’t process. At 13, she knew at some point she wanted a family, but not now. It didn’t really hit her until she was 17 and she had been dating Damian a while. They’d been cuddling on her bed, talking about nothing in particular. It just hit her how much she wanted to grow old and have a family with him. And how that might not happen.

         When Irey found out she was pregnant, she straight up called her doctor a liar. He did three different pregnancy tests, two in front of her face. She still couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t until that first ultrasound, where she heard Asha’s heartbeat for the first time, that it hit her. She was having a baby. The baby now nestled in her arms, contently nursing.

         Irey takes another minute to just be with her daughter before grabbing her communicator. She can’t exactly call Damian’s cell phone, but the process of getting in touch with him on the communicators is a pain in the ass. She has to request it, hope to whatever is out there that he’s available to talk and has service, and, even then, it’s not like they can really talk because it’s being recorded. Irey rolls her eyes as she selects Robin V (His brothers and Steph don’t even use the damn names anymore) and waits, her eyes drifting around the room. She smiles at a picture on the mantle. Damian and Irey are maybe 11 and curled up together in an oversized armchair. They were in the Wayne Manor library. Damian’s arm had found its way around her, holding her loosely. Irey, on the other hand, had both arms around his waist and her face practically buried in his neck, cuddling him like he was a teddy bear. You’d never know two seconds later he was punching Dick in the face.

         That had been the day they met. Her dad needed to talk to Dick (who she has long since stopped calling Uncle Dick because it was too weird) about something, and Damian was saddled with her. Damian had been an asshole towards her. He’s the first to admit it, but things got better as the day went on. He’d gotten her a rose from the garden after finding her crying there. He ended up reading Hamlet to her. Irey, to this day, still has no idea how they ended up cuddling in the photo. She just remembers feeling warm and Damian’s smooth voice reading the words she doesn’t quite understand.

         “Hello, my beautiful flower,” Irey looks at her communicator’s screen. Her heart soars at the sight of Damian. He looks like hell. Dark hair messy, dirt and sweat cover his face, showing her where his mask had been, a bruise starting to form on his cheek up towards his forehead. Irey beams, thinking he’s never looked more handsome.

         “Hey, babe,” Irey adjusts herself as Asha finishes feeding,” We miss you.”

         “Miss you too. I don’t like being away from my girls,” Damian smiles,” How are you?”

         “Well, not tracking a drug cartel in Guatemala, but I can’t complain,” Irey points the camera at Asha. The baby squeals at her father’s image, stretching her little fists out for him,” I think Asha misses her baba.”

         “Hi, Hayati,” Damian coos to his daughter,” I miss you so much. Baba loves you and can’t wait to see you tonight.”

         “Tonight?” Irey points the communicator back at her,” You all finished already?”

         “It’s been a week, Nuri,” he points out.

         “You’re working with Lian, Gar, and Bart. Forgive me for thinking the mission would last longer,” She teases. Damian smirks.

         “Why do you think I’m leading the team?” Irey snorts at this,” No, we finished yesterday. Father said to stick around til tonight, see if any more news comes our way. Then they’ll zeta us home.

         “I can’t wait to see you,” Irey gives him a smirk that sends a jolt of electricity down his spine,” I miss my fiancé. The bed is too big and cold without you.”

         “I’m sure we can warm it up,” Damian assures her with a wink,” Honestly, as much as I love you, Irey, it’s taken everything for me to not murder Bart. I can’t believe he’s related to you.”

         “I usually chalk it up to a future thing and leave it at that. Besides, your family isn’t much better.” Irey stands up, getting Asha a bottle of formula. Poor baby has her mother’s overactive metabolism. Irey sets the communicator on the counter, so she can still talk to him.

         “Fair enough,” Damian chuckles,” What do you two have planned for today?”

         Irey looks down at Asha, speaking in her baby voice,” Well, when it’s not 2:34 in the morning, Mama and Asha are going to get breakfast with Uncle Jai-Jai. Then we have to go to the doctor to get weighed. And if we’re still in a good mood, we’re gonna go grocery shopping and get yummy things to try; like bananas and strawberries and-“

         “You know,” A cool voice behind her interrupts,” If you speak to her like that, your daughter will grow up to be dimwitted.”

         Irey drops the bottle in her hand, whipping around. A woman looks at her. Dark brown hair, green eyes, caramel skin. Irey adjusts her grip on Asha, holding her as close to her chest as she can,” Talia.”

         “Irey?” Damian’s voice calls out. Irey uses a very tiny portion of her speed to grab the communicator so Damian can see her. She doesn’t dare use anymore or got too far, in fear of hurting Asha. Irey gasps when a dart hits her arm, barely missing her baby,” IREY?!”

         “Hello, my son,” Talia says coolly. Irey isn’t sure who recoils more at the words- her or Damian.

         “Damian,” Irey’s voice is firm,” I need you to hang up- “

         “N- “

         “Hang up and call the league.” Irey barks, not taking her eyes off of Talia. She feels different, slower. Whatever was in that dart must be neutralizing her powers. She growls,” What do you want?”

         “Can’t a grandmother come to see her granddaughter?” Talia moves towards her. Irey steps back, keeping her grip on Asha tight.

         “Stay. The. Hell. Away. From. My. Baby.” Irey spits. Talia smirks and it takes everything for Irey not to think of how much it looks like Damian’s.

         “You don’t scare me, speedster.”

         “I might not be scary, but I can be pretty fucking ruthless when it comes to my daughter’s safety.” Damian’s still watching, unable to move.

         “Who said it’s her safety you need to worry about?” Irey doesn’t have time to react as Talia pulls out a gun and fires at her. Just before Damian’s feed cuts out, he hears a crash and Asha crying…

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

         Dick, Jason, Cass, and Tim are silent as they enter their little brother’s apartment. Normally, they would stop to look at some of the pictures on the wall, as Irey likes to switch them out. Now they stop because of the blood splatter on the wall and the trail on the floor. Jason kneels beside a streak and mouths fresh. While Cass and Tim clear the living room and kitchen, Jason and Dick check down the hall. They open doors along the way, waiting for someone to jump out at them. Nothing. They check the master bedroom, finding nothing but an unmade bed and a pile of laundry. The men jump at the sharp cry that comes from the only room yet to be cleared.

         Cass and Tim meet them outside Asha’s room. Cass mouths Home clear. They nod. Dick throws the door open. Asha wails from her crib, holding onto the railing. While the other three check the room, Dick picks up his niece,” Hey, hey, hey. You’re ok. I got you, pretty girl, I got you.”

         “Dick.” Tim flips on the light. The front of Asha’s purple pajamas is covered in blood. Tears cut trails in the splatters on her cheeks.

         “Jesus fucking Christ,” Jason picks up a note in her crib. SAVE MY MOMMY in crisp feminine letters. The siblings exchange a knowing glance. This wasn’t good. Dick bounces Asha, trying to calm her, as Jason grumbles,” Wally’s gonna blow a gasket. Damian’s gonna blow a gasket.”

         “Baby,” Cass holds her arms out to Dick,” Give me baby.”

         Dick gently passes Asha to Cass. The dancer moves around the room in quick, sharp steps. The same pattern over and over. Most babies would hate the movement. Most babies don’t have Irey West for a mother. Asha’s cries fade to hiccups as she rests in her aunt’s arms, looking around for her mother or father.

         “We need to get her somewhere safe,” Tim says. Dick nods, already grabbing the prepacked diaper bag that Irey kept on the rocking chair. He opens her drawers, looking for something warm for the baby to wear in the cold December night.

         “So…who wants to tell Damian his fiancée and the mother of his child has been kidnapped by his mother?” Jason asks. No one answers him. No one wants to answer.

         After making sure Asha is secured to Jason’s chest with three separate straps and bundled up as warm as possible, the group heads towards the Batcave. It takes almost an hour to get there as Jason avoids any rough roads. Asha sleeps the whole way. They head Damian screaming the minute they ride into the cave.

         “WHERE ARE THEY?!” He roars at Bruce, Clark, and Diana,” WHERE’S MY FAMILY?!”

         “Damian, you need to calm down,” Bruce’s voice is firm and even.

         “DON’T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN WHEN I JUST SAW THE LOVE OF MY LIFE GET SHOT BY MY MOTHER WHILE HOLDING OUR CHILD!”

         Asha wakes up at the sounds of her father’s shouts. She wriggles against her uncle, not wanting him anymore. Jason quickly unhooks her.

         “Damian-“Dick begins.

         “WHAT?!” Damian whips around. Everyone, everyone, watches his shoulders relax and his eyes soften. They hear the breath he releases at the sight of his daughter. Asha holds her arms out to him, babbling and cooing. Damian runs to Jason, cape flying up behind him, and taking her from him. He holds her tight, kissing her dark curls over and over and over,” I’m here. Daddy’s here. You’re safe. I got you. Daddy’s got you. I got you.”

         He holds her tight, just reminding himself that she’s here and alive and safe. But then he takes a closer look. Little bits of blood still fleck her cheeks and neck. His heart stops,” Where’s Irey?”

         None of his siblings answer him. Dick is the only one to meet his eyes. Instead of answering, he hands his little brother the evidence bag with the note inside. As quickly as his demeanor had changed when he saw Asha, it changes again. All the light fades from his eyes and his face grow tight. Asha gurgles in her father’s arms, typically something that would make him smile at her. This time he doesn’t react. He doesn’t look at his daughter, instead handing her to Dick. Asha’s confused as her father walks away. She starts crying. Damian doesn’t react.

         “Where are you going?” Dick asks, trying to calm Asha. The baby cries harder, stretching her arms out for Damian.

         “To find Irey,” Damian, without a second thought, hops onto his old motorcycle. He rides away before anyone can say anything to him.  

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

         Irey grits her teeth as the pain courses through her body. She won’t scream. Talia doesn’t get to hear her scream. Instead, Irey pulls on her chains. Why the fuck a church has a dungeon she’s not sure. Talia nods at her henchman, who cuts the electricity off. Irey releases a sharp breath.

         “I’m impressed,” Talia says, looking at Irey like a piece of meat,” I didn’t think you’d last this long.”

         “Fuck. You.” Irey growls. Her hair falls over her shoulders and into her eyes.

         Talia ignores this,” I suppose my son wouldn’t be attracted to someone weak. Though I still don’t see why he would choose you.”

         “Because I actually love him,” Irey doesn’t care if Talia knows it,” I love him and I love who he is- “

         “You stupid girl, you don’t know who he is- “

         “I know who you tried to turn him into. A cold-blooded killer who would never love anyone. Never let anyone in. And guess what, bitch? That isn’t Damian.” Irey can’t stop the cry of pain as Talia turns the electricity on again. Irey can tolerate more than a normal human, thank you speed force, but her muscles tighten until it feels like they’re ripping. She’s breathing heavily as the power cuts off.

         “I know my son better than some whore.” Talia’s words sting, but Irey meets her eyes.

         “I’m not a whore. I’m the love of his life, the mother of his child-“

         “A bastard-“

         “Just like her father.” Irey hates saying it, but technically it’s true,” But until her father, Asha will have a mother who loves her. Who will protect her. Who won’t ever use her like she’s just a pawn in a bigger game.”

         Talia slaps her across the face. Irey looks back at the older woman’s eyes, refusing to back down,” You think you scare me, bitch? I’m Irey West. I’ve been doing this shit since I was 10. There’s nothing you can do to me that I haven’t already been through.”

         “Maybe not you,” Talia’s fingernails dig into Irey’s cheeks,” But there’s a little girl I can still hurt.”

         Irey doesn’t recognize her voice through the anger and venom,” If you touch my daughter, I’ll shove my hand through your heart.”

         “My dear, there isn’t anything you can do to stop me-“

         “But there’s plenty I can do.” Both women look up. Damian stands in the doorway, blood on his uniform and his unsheathed katana. Irey relaxes at the sight of him,” Get away from her.”

         “Get him!” Talia shouts at the henchmen. Irey watches in horror as they attack Damian. But then she sees the cold look in his eyes. No.

         Damian doesn’t hesitate to kill the men, slicing them down as if they are inconveniences. No mercy, no pausing. Just killing. It’s just her, Talia, and Damian a minute later. Talia seems shocked,” I thought you weren’t supposed to kill.”

         “Doesn’t mean I can’t. I will say this one more time. Get. Away. From. Irey.” He snarls. Talia looks between Irey and Damian. Reaching into her pocket, she holds up a switch.

         “Unless I walk out of here, Asha will never see her mother again.” Damian looks between his mother and Irey. Irey can see some light come back into his eyes, see her Damian returning.

         “I won’t hurt you,” Damian sheathes his katana. He slowly moves towards them. Talia backs away towards another door. Just as Damian reaches Irey, Talia flips the switch. Irey screams at the top of her lungs, her back arching and every nerve flaring in pain.

         She sees snippets of her life pass before her eyes. She’s helping her mom make pancakes. Her dad is reading Lord of the Rings to her and Jai. She’s learning to throw lightning. She’s jumping around her room. She’s dancing in her underwear. She’s kissing Damian for the first time, his hands on her waist, the rain hitting their skin. Lian is shouting in her ear as something explodes. Mar’i’s teaching her how to make a Tamaranian dish. Jon’s telling her about an article he’s working on. Damian’s pressing kisses to her skin, telling her how beautiful she is. She’s holding Asha for the first time. Damian is down on one knee, asking her to be his forever.

         The pain cuts off and Irey slumps forward. Everything hurts. Her lungs feel like they’ve been fried. Her vision is blurry. Damian is at her chains. He picks the locks with ease and grabs her before she can fall to the ground. She can hear his heart beating. She can feel his arms shaking.

         “Irey…” She nearly sobs at the gentle way he says her name. She looks up at him.

         “Let’s go home.” She whispers. He nods. Damian removes his cape, wrapping it around her. She doesn’t bother reminding him that she doesn’t get cold. Irey lets him pick her up, breathing in his scent. Underneath the sweat and dirt, she picks up the traces of his cinnamon cologne. This is her Damian. He’s hers. She just has to remind him of that.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

         Irey winces as Alfred dresses her shoulder. Whatever the dart had in it has yet to wear off. At least she has a cool new scar to show off.

         “I’m sorry, Miss Irey. Shouldn’t be much longer,” He assures her. Irey gives him a pained smile.

         “Would you believe me if I said giving birth to Asha with no painkillers hurt less than tonight?”

         “Miss Irey, you’ve sparred with Miss Mar’i before. I don’t doubt that you’ve faced worse pain in your life.” Irey laughs at this, then grabs her ribs,” Master Damian seems to be in a better mood.”

         “I saw him, Alfred. He went back to who he was before. Jason told me…He told me Asha was crying and Damian walked away from her.” Alfred finishes wrapping her shoulder.

         “Miss Irey, there are very few things in this world that we can change. Who Master Damian was before coming here is one of them.” Irey looks down,” However, it’s been a long time since I’ve seen him act like that.”

         “Really?”

         “Yes. I believe the last time he gave into the darkness was about 5 years ago. After Miss Mar’i was nearly killed by her aunt.” For some reason this makes her feel a little better,” Miss Irey, if I may, Master Damian will never be free of those demons. No matter how much you might want to believe he could be, they are still there.”

         “I don’t know how to help him, Alfred.” She looks at the old butler,” I’m going to be his wife-“

         “Which means you, more than anyone else, have the privilege of knocking sense into his thick skull. Not an easy task as I’m sure you are aware of.”

         Irey laughs at this, ignoring the pain it causes her,” What would this family have done without you, Alfred Pennyworth?”

         “I do not believe the family would be as whole as they are. And a few of them would be missing limbs.” Irey laughs again. There’s a soft knock on the door,” It’s open.”

         Damian enters, holding a now sleeping Asha. He smiles at Irey. Irey sees his family at the doorway. She looks Alfred,” Can we have the room for a minute?”

         “Of course.” Alfred gathers his things and shoos the other’s away from the door. Damian sits on the bed with her.

         “How much trouble am I in?” He asks in Arabic. Both of them knew his family was probably listening right outside the door, but none of them spoke Arabic. Irey had learned it after they were dating.

         “Do you want me to answer honestly or sugar coat it?”

         “Honestly.”

         “Damian, you shut down. They told me Asha was crying, crying for you, and you ignored her. Not once, in her entire life, have you done that.” Irey looks down at their sleeping daughter. Asha’s curls are damp from her usual night sweats. She sucks on a baby bottle top. She’s content in her father’s arms,” I know what happened scared you. It scared me too. But things like this will happen in the future.”

         “You don’t know that-“

         “I know we both agreed that we would continue to be heroes. To set an example for Asha. To make the world a better, safer place for her to grow up in.”

         “How could it be a better place for her to grow up in if her mother isn’t there? How can I look our beautiful little girl in the eyes and promise I will never let anything bad happen to her when I couldn’t protect you? How can I possibly look her in the eyes if I have to tell her she will never hear you sing her to sleep or hold her or tell her you love her?”

         “Baby, I know you are scared. I don’t know what I would do if you died and I had to raise Asha by myself. But that’s not what I’m worried about. I’m worried you will take all that hurt and anger and sadness and you’ll shut her out. You can’t do that. Not to Asha.”

         “Irey- “

         “I mean it, Damian. You cannot ignore Asha. No matter how much you are hurting. No matter how much you miss me. Asha needs you. She needs her father. She needs you to be there to wipe her tears away, patch up her skinned knees, fix her broken heart. She needs you to tell her stories about our old missions and how we fell in love. About the song you sang to me when you told me you had a crush on me. About our first kiss in the rain and the horrible head colds we had afterward. She needs you to chase the monsters away. She needs her daddy, especially if Mommy can’t be there.”

         Damian gives her a sad look,” I hate that my mother hurt you.”

         “Babe.” Irey kisses him. It’s soft and sad and longing,” What happened is not your fault. It’s hers. Only hers. You are not like her.”

         Damian tucks a strand of her fiery hair behind her ear,” I love you, Irey West. You are half my heart.”

         “I wonder who the other half is,” Irey presses a kiss to Asha’s forehead.

         “HAVE YOU TWO MADE UP YET?!” Jason yells. Irey laughs and Damian rolls his eyes.

         “Come on in, you guys,” Irey calls out. His family piles into the room. Damian scoots on the bed so he’s sitting beside her.

         “So the wedding still on?” Jason asks.

         “Todd, I swear to god-“

         “Actually,” Irey turns to Damian,” Can I see your ring?”

         Damian frowns, but hands over the obsidian engagement ring she’d given him two months ago. Irey’s own ring was at home. Irey turns to face him, holding one of his hands. Her eyes meet his, filled with love and awe,” Damian Wayne-Al Ghul, you are an impulsive man. You can be short tempered, bitter, broody-“

         “Have I mentioned how much I love this girl?” Jason asks. Dick shushes him.

         “There are a million things about you that I should hate. But I don’t. I don’t hate them, even though everyone keeps telling me I should.” Irey’s green eyes sparkle,” I meant what I said the first time I proposed. I’ve loved you since the day we met. You are my best friend, my rock, my confidant, my lightning rod. You have made me feel so beautiful and powerful and strong. Even though your mom is literally the worst mother-in-law ever, I still want to be your wife.”

         Damian beams at her. Irey holds up the ring and asks,” So, Damian Wayne-Al Ghul, do you still want to be my husband?”

         “Of course,” Damian laughs,” I have backed out yet.”

         Irey laughs and slips his ring back on,” Good because it would have been really awkward if you told me no in front of your family.”

         “We would have had to kick your ass,” Tim informs his little brother.

         “I think you mean try,” Irey says.

         “You have to take his side- “

         “Actually,” Irey turns to face the Batfam,” I decided to calculate who wins more often in a fight by reviewing old footage. Damian wins his fights against Tim 68% of the time, Jason 54%, Dick 77% of the time, and Cass 49.5% of the time. This means his odds of kicking your asses is about 62.125%”

         Damian grins at his brothers’ and sister’s stunned expressions,” She’s as smart as she is beautiful.”

         “I like you a lot less now,” Jason grunts.

         “What about Damian and Bruce?”

         “Insufficient information to draw a conclusion.” Irey grins,” You want to hear how likely he is to beat me in a fight?”

         The others roar with laughter, waking Asha. Irey gently takes the baby from Damian, shushing her. Asha looks up at her parents, specifically Damian. Then, clear as day, she exclaims,” Baba!”

         The other adults laugh while Damian and Irey look at each other stunned.

         “Bottle would be her first word,” Dick laughs.

         “She’s not saying bottle,” Damian’s trying very hard not to cry.

         “She said ‘baba’ that’s like universal baby talk for bottle,” Tim points out.

         “Baba,” Irey smiles at them,” means Daddy in Arabic. That’s what we call Damian at home. He’s Asha’s baba.”

         “Baba!” Asha smiles up at Damian,” Baba, baba, baba, baba…”

         “You know most infants aren’t actually talking around this time,” Tim informs them,” They just babble and we try to make sense of the gibberish-“

         Damian throws one of his hidden knives at Tim’s head. He misses, intentionally, but it shuts the older man up. The family decides to leave the young couple alone. Irey lays back, watching Damian as he coos to Asha in Arabic. His hands carefully caressing her curls and wiping drool from her chin. Irey smiles. This is her future.

         “I promise,” Damian says a little while later, Asha sleeping with her head on his shoulder. Irey looks at him, confused.

         “You promise what?”

         “I promise to not shut Asha out. If anything happens to you, I promise I won’t shut down. Or I’ll try at least.” Irey looks up at him, tears blurring her eyes.

         “Promise?”

         “Promise.” Damian pulls Irey close to him. She wraps her arms around his waist, nuzzling her face into his shirt. Damian listens as her breathing evens out and all the muscles in her body relax. This, this right here is heaven. His daughter sleeping on his chest and the love of his life at his side, both of them safe and loved and alive and with him.

         What more could he ask for?

[secretagentspydetectiveninja]

The Misadventures of Prince Kim - chapter 36

This one was already ready but I told myself to stop procrastinating on other stuff before posting it... and then ignored myself and decided to post it anyway because if there is one person who is a bigger fool than Kim, it is me. Anyway, here be lots of Kimax :D

And also on AO3, as always

Marinette and Adrien took almost a week to travel all the way back to Cheng, having to take the carriage since the trains were still not running, as always. Ever since Agreste had started taking over territory deep into Asia, all the rail lines had “mysteriously” been stopped with no sign of starting up again, even for royalty. It was no secret that the empire was using them to transport mined goods back to their capital and preventing anyone else from sharing.

“Marinette, it’s so good to see you!” Queen Sabine exclaimed when they arrived, rushing forwards hug her daughter. Formal royal customs and protocol were rarely followed in Marinette’s tight-knit family. “I’m so glad you made it here safely.”

“What do you mean?” Marinette asked.

“Nothing in particular,” King Tom said, joining the hug. “It’s just that the state of the world has been a bit… tense, lately. Like anything could go wrong at any point. But don’t worry – you’ll always be safe here at home!”

“Where’s Kim?” Sabine asked, looking at the carriage, frowning. “And who’s this?”

“This is, um, Felix,” Marinette said, grabbing Adrien’s hand and pulling him over. “He’s a noble, a refugee fleeing from the Agreste Empire when they took his homeland. I said he could stay here with us for the holidays.”

“It is nice to meet you, Felix,” Sabine said. “You can always feel free to come here whenever you need to. Our kingdoms do not support the Agreste Empire at all.”

“Thank you, Your Majesty,” Adrien said, bowing. “It is an honour to be here.”

“And where is Kim?” Tom asked. “I thought he would be staying here with us too. The more guests, the merrier!”

“He went to stay with Max,” Marinette said, trying not to smile too much. She could guess perfectly well why Kim had wanted to stay with Max so much. She had been suspecting it right since she saw how much Kim missed Max during the summer holidays, and her suspicions were practically confirmed when Kim had quickly dashed into her room to let her know he wouldn’t need to stay in Cheng this time. His eyes had practically been glowing.

“Oh, well that’s nice for him!” Tom continued. “It’s good to explore and make friends with leaders from all over the world. Having allies will be very important for him.”

Friends… allies… neither of those quite captured it. Marinette tried not to grin again.

“Speaking of which,” Sabine said, “his grandmother, the Queen-Regent of Lê Chiến, has been corresponding with us again and has a proposition, though of course we won’t decide on anything without your input. You and Kim are close in age and good friends, and our countries would certainly be stronger with a formal alliance between them – especially considering everything that’s going on with Agreste right now. So what do you say to a betrothal?”

“W-what?” Marinette could feel the blood rushing away from her face.

“You don’t have to decide straightaway! It’s just an option.”

“Me? Betrothed to Kim?” She shook her head. “He’s… he’s great and all, but… but…”

“Remember, marriages between royals are usually for necessity and politics, not love. At least Kim is someone you get along with. If you agree to this now, you won’t have to worry that later you’ll end up engaged to someone much worse.”

Marinette gulped. How to explain to her parents that she was already in love with Adrien, the heir to the throne of the empire that was her sworn enemy? How to explain that Kim was clearly already interested in someone else?

“And didn’t you used to have a crush on Kim?” Tom asked, winking at her.

“What? That was like 10 years ago!” She blushed just remembering it. Alright, she had once had a bit of a soft spot for Kim when they were little kids. But she was long over that! Kim was more like a brother to her these days.

“Well just have a think about it, alright? We won’t force you into anything, we promise. We just want safety and stability for our countries, and happiness for our wonderful daughter and her good friend. It would be a good match.”

“I’m in love with Felix!” Marinette blurted out, gripping Adrien’s hand tightly in her own. “Felix and I, we’re… we’re a couple.”

Her parents blinked, silent for a few seconds, taken aback. They recovered quickly.

“In that case we will have to tell Kim’s grandmother that you will be rejecting the proposal,” Sabine said, smiling. “It would be quite unfair for you to have to marry someone else when you’re already together with someone who would be a perfectly appropriate match.”

“I’m so happy for you two!” Tom said, giving them both a clap on the back. “Say, Felix, where did you say you were from again?”

“An area near the 1st region,” Adrien mumbled. Marinette could feel his hand shaking and sweating. Well, he wasn’t exactly lying – his home palace really was near the 1st region.

“And what title are you? We need to know how to formally address you.”

“Um… Duke of the Alpine,” he replied. That wasn’t entirely a lie either – one of Adrien’s many titles included Duke of the Alpine. Thank goodness Cheng was so far away that it would be hard for her parents to verify his claim. She really did not like having to lie to them, but it was necessary for Adrien’s safety. No one could know he was here.

“Wonderful! Well, Duke Felix, we look forward to getting to know you. Come on inside and we’ll show you around!”

“Thank you,” Adrien mumbled, moving to follow them.

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief. At least Adrien was safe for now. How long was he going to have to stay undercover for? There was no end in sight to the tyranny of the Agreste Empire, nor its enmity with Lê Chiến. What would happen if war broke out? What if Adrien was discovered, and forced to return home? Nothing boded well. Marinette had no idea how her relationship with him was going to survive.

But at least he was okay for the time being. That was the most important thing.

Meanwhile, over on another part of the planet, Kim had already spent a week with Max in Kanté. Things were quite similar to how they had been last year, and yet… something was different, too. Kim couldn’t help wondering if somehow the sun was shining more brightly, or perhaps the air was fresher, or maybe everything had been cleaned thoroughly enough to sparkle.

“Kim, slow down!” Max called, half-laughing, as Kim pulled him along by the hand. “We’ve got plenty of time!”

“But it’s more fun to run!”

Within a few more seconds they had reached where they were running to – the top of the large grassy dome overlooking the capital city. It was one of the places Max had taken him while sightseeing last year. Kim remembered how magical it had felt here last time, seeing the bustling metropolis beneath them, almost too futuristic to believe, with aeroplanes zooming through the sky above them…

And yes, there it was again! This time it looked so magical it felt like being in a dream, or in some other world entirely. There were maglev train tracks stretching off into the desert, colourful skyscrapers for miles around, thousands and thousands of cars driving along the immaculate roads! Everything was amazing!

Kim pulled out of his pocket a little camera he had bought from a tourist shop earlier. He lifted it up to take a picture of the view…

Hmm, something was missing. It wasn’t possible to get the scope of the city without something in the foreground to contrast it.

“Max, can you just stand there for a second?” Kim asked, pointing at the very top of the hill.

“You want to take a picture of me?”

“Yeah! This picture would look awesome with you in it!”

Max went and stood on the very top of the summit. “How’s this?”

“That’s perfect!” Kim had to stop himself from saying “You’re perfect”. He looked through the lens and took the photo. This was going to look amazing!

“Thanks!” Max said, coming back over to him. “I can’t wait to see what these look like when we get the film developed.”

“Me too!” Kim put the camera back in his pocket. “Hey, do you think I could cartwheel all the way down this hill? How many cartwheels would it take?”

Max frowned. “My guess is about 8, but I would also guess that broken wrists or ankles would be a likely outcome, so I would advise against it.”

That was so sweet! Max was concerned for his wellbeing! Wait, of course he was – he was Kim’s best friend. Duh. Kim knew he needed to stop taking every little interaction as romantic in nature. He was too sappy and lovesick for his own good.

“You’re right,” he said. “Anyway Max, today was another awesome day, so uh… thanks for showing me around again. I hope you’re not getting tired.”

“Don’t worry, I’m definitely not! It’s not every day I get to show my favourite city in the world to one of my best friends in the world.”

The way Max was standing there beaming at him, in front of the beautiful landscape, the wind ruffling his hair...

“Kim? Are you alright?”

“I’m fine!” Kim said quickly. “Fine. Just, uh, tired. Maybe we should go back to the palace now and get some rest. After all, we’ve got that yuletide diplomatic ball thing to attend tomorrow, right?”

Max’s kingdom was hosting this year’s Peace Ball that took place every December, with leaders from every country in the International Alliance attending. It was probably going to be posh and formal and boring, but at least Max would be there too. Hopefully it wouldn’t be too bad.

“Yes, we need to prepare for that,” Max said, nodding. “In fact, I’ve got a surprise in store for you about that.”

“Ooh, really? What?”

“You’ll see very soon!”

He chuckled and began walking back down the hill, towards where the guards were waiting. Kim just took his hand again and ran, pulling him down behind him. He could hear Max laughing away so happily. It was so cute!

They arrived back at the palace soon enough, and Kim went back to his room to rest. He lay on the bed and stared up at the ceiling fan above him, the blades spinning so fast they merged into a blur. Almost like his own heartbeat. He couldn’t get this stupid grin off his face. One thought kept running through his mind:

Thank goodness for Max.

He was serious. Not just because he was in love with him, but in general. Thank goodness Max was around. Everything recently had been going so wrong – the flu pandemic, the looming war between Agreste and Lê Chiến, his grandfather’s suspicious death, the fact that he was going to soon be responsible for an entire country, just everything being so confusing he could barely sort out his own emotions or even tell up from down.

But here, with Max by his side, were a few weeks of respite. It was like being in a blissful bubble of peace and happiness. Being able to spend time with Max, no school to get in the way, just forgetting about all his worries for a little while. This was exactly what he needed in his life right now. It was almost no wonder he had fallen in love with Max – how could he resist someone who was just this perfect for him?

That being said, he still wasn’t sure whether or not Max loved him back like that. Of course Max cared about him, that much was certain. But romantically? That was another matter.

When should he tell him? This sort of thing should not be rushed, that had already caused him enough trouble in the past. Asking out Chloé on a whim had been a disaster, kissing Adrien at the winter party in first year had made things awkward between them, and running away immediately after confessing to Alix had caused him a lot more stress than he needed. This time he needed to think it through properly.

What about the Cupid Festival? A day like that would be perfect for confessing his true feelings! And anyway, Max was his best friend. Even if he didn’t love Kim back like that, he wouldn’t be weirded out or anything. Things would still go well. Yes, the Cupid Festival seemed like a good day to do it. He had made up his mind.

Until then, though…

He covered his face with his hands, knowing he was blushing, not entirely caring. Spending time with Max was so much fun! It always had been, but something was just so different now. And Kim had had plenty of crushes before, too many to count, and he had been so head over heels for people he didn’t think he would be able to get over it, and yet…

This still felt different somehow. Never before had he fallen in love so slowly, so gently. Usually he just met someone cute for the first time and that was it, he would be smitten. But not this time. The fact that he loved Max now just seemed like an extension of their close friendship. That they had grown closer and closer over the years, and at some point Kim’s feelings for him slipped from platonic to romantic without him even realizing. He was sure that hadn’t happened with anyone else before.

With Chloé, he’d just talked to her a little at her birthday banquet, feeling so flustered at how pretty and powerful she was, and then decided to ask her out when he saw her again at school. There had been nothing slow about it. With Adrien, he hadn’t realized what he was feeling at the time was a crush, since he didn’t know that was possible, but he definitely had strong feelings for him right from the beginning. It only hit him at the winter party. And as for Alix, well… Kim could easily pinpoint the moment he realized he liked her. But his crush on her had always felt very separate from their friendship, almost like it was oddly superficial despite how strong it did indeed get.

But Max! Kim thought back over the past few months, trying to recall everything. He had missed Max’s company so much over the summer holidays, more than he had expected to… he had been so grateful to see Max go into quarantine just for him… he felt so oddly happy waking up every day and knowing Max was there with him… and he won arm wrestles just by hearing Max laugh… cuddled with him after the earthquake… cried into his arms after receiving that letter from home… not wanted to put him down after the spider incident–

There was a knock on the door. Kim sat up, wondering if that was Max. It must be – who else could it be? No one else here really bothered talking to him.

His brain felt strangely reckless all of a sudden. In the spring holidays, when he had answered the door without a shirt on, Max had run away with a nosebleed, right? What if he did it again? Just to see if Max still liked him, or was he over him now? Wait, was that even a good idea? Oh – who cared!

He pulled his shirt off and scrunched it up in his hand, really not thinking about it properly, then ran towards the door and opened it to see–

ALIX?!

What was she doing here?!

She took one look up at him and burst into laughter. “Kim, what the… did you think I was Max or something, were you like… trying to impress him or what…?!” She wiped a few tears out of her eyes, she was laughing so much. Even her snake looked like it was laughing somehow.

“Don’t tell him,” Kim muttered, grumpily putting his shirt back on. Why did the shirt thing never freaking work, darn it?!

“Don’t worry, I won’t,” she said, still grinning rather annoyingly. “But I don’t think you need to worry about impressing Max like that, he already knows perfectly well how shredded you are. You know, because of the spring holidays? When you did this exact same thing except you were trying to impress me instead? Which wouldn’t have worked because–”

“So what are you doing here?” Kim asked quickly. He didn’t want to think about the spring holidays.

“Setting you up with Max, of course. And also I have to attend the Peace Ball since I’m a pharaoh and my kingdom practically founded the International Alliance, so yeah. At least it won’t be so boring this year with you two here. Posh events like these can be very romantic, I’ve seen it with my own two eyes. So you and Max have to get together.”

“I was thinking maybe the Cupid Festival might be better…”

“What, really? That overrated festival day where people use it as an excuse to be all mushy in public and act like romance is the only kind of love there is, or all that matters? No thanks, I am far too aromantic for that – which reminds me of another reason I’m here. I have to get that science journal off Max. Don’t ask. Oh, and one more reason – to give you this.”

She handed him a little box-like thing with an electric screen and buttons on it.

“Is this a phone?” he asked. It looked a bit like one, but the ones he had usually seen had wires connecting them to the electricity lines. The only portable ones he had seen were Max’s phone and Alix’s sceptre-phone-thing, whatever it was.

“Yep, it’s a phone, and it’s yours now. Special gift from my kingdom.”

What? An expensive portable phone… just for him?

“You really didn’t have to,” he mumbled, trying to ignore the fact that his eyes were suddenly watering.

“Oh shush, you have to keep it. Anyway, you can use it to properly keep in touch with your family once they’ve fixed the telecommunication lines, without having to send letters! And also this phone has an update with the very latest technology, where you can send people messages by typing them in using the buttons. Kind of like sending a letter, except instantaneous. Look.”

She grabbed it off him and selected the little letter icon from the menu, then showed him the two phone numbers already stored in his phone – hers and Max’s. All you had to do was type in any message, then select who to send it to, then press enter and – voila! It was simple.

“That’s actually really cool,” he said, taking the phone back. “Seriously, thank you so much!”

“Hey, it’s no problem. You deserve some good things to happen to you now. Your year has been pretty sucky so far.”

Without even needing to think, he bent down and hugged her. “Thanks for being the coolest best friend ever. And your year hasn’t exactly been the greatest so far either, with all the like… timeline nonsense and stuff, so…”

“Oh man, don’t even bring up those stupid timelines,” she said.

“Why, what happened now?”

“You don’t wanna know. Like trust me, you really, really, do not wanna know.”

“Are you sure?” He grinned. “What, is it too ‘embarrassing’ to tell me about again?”

She whacked his arm with her sceptre. “It’s embarrassing for you too, you dolt. Anyway, I’ve got a science journal to be reading, so I’ll see you later.��

“Yeah, bye.”

She left, and Kim closed the door. He looked down at his new phone. This thing… could it really be used to send messages to people thousands of miles away? All the way on the other side of the earth? And she had just given it to him like it was no big deal?

Those telecommunication lines had to be fixed soon. And he had to talk to his family properly.