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mcytadventevent · 14 days ago

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@hn-undercover-9503 is creating for Day Twenty!

Prompt: Snowmen

Their piece is written, featuring various members of the Rats 2 SMP!

Credit Links:

https://www.tumblr.com/blog/hn-undercover-9503

https://archiveofourown.org/users/hn_undercover/profile

(Piece below the cut!)

In the grand old City of Lights, there stands a grand old building on a busy street. Le Terriere, an aparthotel whose residents aim to experience all that the glorious city has to offer to them. People roam up and down the halls, stroll the streets, talking amongst themselves and taking in the sights around them.

If you look past the stately exterior, though, you might begin to notice some things amiss. There are tiny holes in some of the windows, just small enough for a tiny creature to squeeze through. There are chunks taken from some of the large pillars and spandrels, the impressions of tiny teeth embedded into the walls. And hidden behind beds and bookcases and boxes and bathtubs, you might find little tunnels leading all throughout the building, much too small for a human to even think of traversing.

Every so often, if you're paying attention, you might catch a quick glimpse of the tiny inhabitants responsible as they run down the hallways, scale the walls, and climb up to the rafters. And if you happened to look into the expansive attic, you would see all the little spaces they've created for themselves. Homes and offices and galleries–whatever the tiny inhabitants could imagine and create, it is up there.

Today, however, if you looked into the attic, you would be sorely disappointed to find no little residents inside. Rather, you should turn to the ledge overlooking the garden. Here, you would find all twenty of them gathered up, each looking over the edge with varying degrees of intrigue. Some of them have yet to take their eyes off of what's happening below, while others are busy whispering among themselves or complaining about all the commotion.

“This is so boring!” One of them in particular cries. A little rat called Tubbo, smaller than most of them in a red plaid shirt, head thrown back mid-tantrum and repeatedly hitting a fist against the ledge.

“Shh, Tubrat!” Another of them calls back to him, a little white rat by the name of Shebly, her gaze locked on the events going on beneath them. “We’re trying to listen!”

“Can’t believe I’m about to agree with Tubrat, but what are we doing here?” Another demands, a rat with shaggy blond hair and an eyepatch over one eye called Martyn, standing just behind one of the rats in a red coat–the pirate captain, Ren–who is knelt over the ledge looking down.“It’s just a bunch of humans being weird. I see no reason for us to care about it.”

“Don’t you think it’s interesting, Martyn?” Asks the rat in the post hat, Water, poking her head over the side.

“Not one bit,”

“Guys, look! They're putting a carrot on it now.” The rat in the sweater–Sniff–comments, frowning. “What do you think it's for?”

“Well it's obviously a nose.” Says the rat in the red dress, called Korva. “Although if the humans think a carrot will help that thing smell, they must be rather dim.”

“Oh, but they’re so cute!” Shelby squeals, her tail swishing faster in her excitement. “They look just like the little humans!”

“They just look bloody creepy to me,” Martyn scoffs. “Why’ve they gone and put faces on them?”

“Maybe they’re supposed to keep away the bad things?” Water muses, still staring intently down into the courtyard where, currently, several of the younger humans and a few older ones are standing around. What’s captured the attention of this little mischief of rats is the center of the yard, where some of the children have come together to stack snow in large spheres and decorate it with various items they’d grabbed from throughout the house.

“Oh, like a scarecrow!” A rat with braided hair and no shirt, called Bekyamon, announces with a smile. “I know those!”

“I think those are usually put around plants, though, aren’t they?” Asks the rat with the white fur and colorful stains, the one called Scott. “And won’t these melt?”

“Maybe they’re to ward off the evil spirits!” The little purple rat called Ros gasps, garnering several odd looks from the rest of the group. “Wh-What?” She squeaks, seeming sheepish now. “Humans do that sort of thing all the time! In the fall, they cut up pumpkins and make them glow and it makes the evil spirits stay away! It’s true!”

“In that case, why don’t we do it too?” The rat in the dark hood, simply known as Ratman, suggests with a cheerful giggle. “If there’s evil spirits coming, we can’t have them getting up into the rattic. Besides, it’ll be fun!”

“Ooh, that sounds amazing!” Ros cheers, getting up immediately and practically bouncing on her heels. “How do we start, Ratman?”

“Hm, well…we need snow.”

Martyn rolls his eyes. “Never would have guessed that.”

“Alright alright, there’s no need to be fighting.” The rat with the ear piercing, called Owen, speaks up for the first time in a while, climbing down from the edge of the roof where he’d been perched before. “It sounds like it could be fun, but whoever doesn’t want to can sit out.”

“I want to help make the snow wards!” Ros throws her hand up immediately, still bouncing in place. “Who’s coming with us?”

“I believe creating these snow wards could be rather entertaining, not to mention extremely practical, Lady Ros!” Ren cries, standing up from his spot and moving to stand beside her and Ratman with a bright smile. Begrudgingly, his lieutenant follows, arms crossed and frowning but right beside him nonetheless.

“Anyone not want to help?” Owen asks, looking around at the group. Only a few of them elect to stay behind in the end, leaving the rest of them to decide how they are going to tackle their newfound quest.

“Okay, let’s figure out what we’re going to need.” The rat with the paintbrush–Eloise–says, her wife hanging over her shoulder to watch as she begins scribbling on a ripped piece of paper. “The wards are made of snow, and they used a bunch of different stuff to decorate them. Are we making ours that big?”

“That doesn’t seem very practical.” Owen says.

“Let’s make them our size, then!” Shelby says. “They’ll look just like us!”

“Right, so we need snow and the bits to decorate.”

“What can we use to decorate?” Ros questions. “Everything the humans use is too big…”

“I’ve got an idea.” Korva steps forward. “One of the women in the west wing keeps rolls of yarn. We can take some pieces of it to use as decorations.”

“There’s all those pebbles outside we can use for eyes!” Bekyamon shouts, raising her paws to cover over her own eyes with a big grin.

“That’s a wonderful idea, Bek!” Eloise praises, and the wide rat’s smile only grows brighter.

“I’m sure the humans will have something in the kitchen that could be used for a nose.” Captain Ren comments, humming to himself in thought.

“I’ll go with the captain, then.” Martyn says with a sigh. “Can’t have him going alone with how much he gets himself caught.”

“L-Lieutenant!”

“I want to go with Korva to get the yarn!” Ros cries, grabbing onto its arm.

“Then Eloise and I will head to the garden and start getting the pebbles!” Bek cries, clinging to her wife’s hand.

“And I’ll join you.” Ratman tells them, ignoring the irritated look Bek shoots his direction. “Gathering all those rocks is more than a two rat job, you know!”

“I’ll join the captain’s team, I guess.” The rat in the red hood, known as Apo, says with a heavy sigh. It’s the first time he’s spoken since the plans were made, and he doesn’t miss the annoyed scoff Martyn gives at his announcement.

“I think I’ll go with Ros and Korva,” Scott says, standing up and moving to join the two of them.

“Oooh, me too!” Shelby volunteers.

“Why don’t the rest of us help with the snow?” Water asks, looking around at their little group.

“That’s a great idea, Water. Well? Shall we get going?”

“Yes!” Ren cries, pointing in the direction of the way down into the main house. “Let us go forth and forge our magical snow wards, rats! Onward!”

All the lights of the house are just turning off for the night when the group of four little rats turn the corner into the west wing of the building. Korva stands at the front, leading the group down the hallway and to one of the many doors. “I believe it's this one,” it whispers, placing a single paw on the door. “Seems like it's locked, though.”

“Has she gone to bed already?” Ros asks, trying to peek through the tiny gaps between the wall and the door.

“But it's so early!” Shelby cries, feeling around the door hinges. “Is there another way inside?”

“I don't believe–”

“Guys!” Scott suddenly shouts, and all four of them look up at the sound of incoming footsteps.

“Hide!” Scott squeaks, and they all scramble for a hiding spot as a human woman with long brown hair approaches the very door they'd been poking at. She produces a key and unlocks it, stepping in and miraculously leaving the door open behind her.

They run inside, unwilling to let the opportunity pass. Luckily for them, she stops to grab a pair of shoes from the floor and goes to leave again. And in her hurry, she fails to notice the little rat pressing against the door to keep it open. As soon as she's gone, the four of them breathe a collective sigh of relief.

“That was close!” Ros exclaims, smiling brightly. “But we're in now! What colors should we get?”

“Red, obviously.” Korva says, already climbing on top of the stately desk in the corner where a large basket filled with all different colors of yarn sits.

“I want purple!” Ros shouts, climbing after it. Scott and Shelby do the same, until all four of them are standing around the basket.

“We should bring every color!” Shelby suggests cheerfully. “That way everyone can pick their favorite!”

“I don't think we have enough hands for that, Shelby.” Scott says, pulling himself up to rummage in the basket alongside Korva.

“Fine, then I want yellow!”

“We'll grab as many as we can.” Korva promises as Scott withdraws his trusty knife and starts cutting away at different colors of yarn. Korva helps by handing the pieces down to Shelby and Ros, who toss yarn over their shoulders and into their packs to carry it all.

When they’ve grabbed as much as they all can carry, Korva and Scott climb down from the basket and start getting ready to leave the room to meet up with the rest of their friends in the garden. However, just as they’re about to hop down, a new noise makes all four of them freeze in place, eyes traveling to the doorway in unison.

Crouched in the doorway is one of every rat’s worst nightmares–a cat as black as night, with glowing green eyes and pupils blown wide. It’s already looking right at them, a low rumbling the only warning seconds before it pounces at the table to attack.

“RUN!” Scott shouts as all four rats scatter in different directions. The cat yowls in anger, knocking the basket from the desk as it scrambles after the closest rat, which happens to be Shelby. She manages to duck under the swipe of the feline’s claws and grab onto the windowsill, scurrying her way all the way to the top.

While the cat remains distracted tracking her every move, Korva, Ros, and Scott gather up underneath the desk, breathing hard. “What do we do?” Korva whispers frantically, staring up at where Shelby is still desperately clinging onto the curtains.

“Shelby’s gonna be eaten!” Ros squeaks, fists bunching up in her dress.

“Calm down, we can get out of this!” Scott attempts to cajole their group, looking over at the cat rather than up at Shelby. “We’ve just got to outsmart it.”

“Outsmart it?” Korva demands, placing its hands on its hips with a huff. “It’s got Shelby cornered!”

“Just trust me, okay?” Scott tries, creeping out from under the desk. Both Ros and Korva share incredulous looks before reluctantly trailing behind him, keeping their heads low as Scott makes his way all the way to the door before turning around.

Shelby is watching them with wide eyes, scrabbling for hold on the top of the curtains. “Guys?!” She cries, and the cat yowls again, clawing at the bottom of the curtains and looking about ready to start climbing. “What are you doing?”

Scott raises a single paw and gives her a thumbs up before dashing around the other side of the door. Korva sputters in disbelief for a moment, rushing after him to berate him only to find that he’s stopped on the other side. He’s taken the strings of yarn tossed over his shoulder and is tying them together hastily. Spotting Korva, he holds out one side of the makeshift rope and shakes it frantically.

“Help me!” He whispers, and Korva takes the other end of the rope and starts tying its own strings onto it. When Scott deems it long enough, he grabs onto the edge of the door and scrambles up to the doorknob. He tosses one end of the string over it, and only then does Korva understand his plan.

“Help me tie it off!” Scott hisses, and Korva scrambles to assist. Meanwhile, Ros stands nervously in the doorway, glancing frantically between them and Shelby.

“Ros, we need you to get her attention!” Korva says. “When we give the signal, she’s got to run!”

Ros nods, turning towards Shelby fully and jumping onto the end of the bed, waving her arms wildly to catch her attention. When Shelby finally notices her, she makes a series of exaggerated gestures involving the door and a lot of running. But Shelby understands her, nodding to show as much.

Scott and Korva each grab on tight to their ends of the rope, and Ros raises up three little fingers for Shelby to see. As soon as she sees Scott nod, she begins counting.

“One…two…three!” She shrieks the final word, catching the attention of the cat again, who immediately trades its focus for the easier target. Ros squeaks and takes off towards the door with the cat right at her heels, giving Shelby the opportunity she needed to climb down and race after her.

“Go!” Korva shouts, the two of them pulling as hard as they can on their ends of the rope. The door creaks, swinging shut only a little bit at a time. They keep pulling, trying to get the door shut with enough time to let Ros and Shelby escape.

Ros gets there first, slipping between the crack in the door and throwing herself out the other side with a shout of relief. The cat yowls from inside the room, one paw swiping through the open crack. Korva and Scott strain to keep the door shut while Shelby takes a jump for the side of the door, slipping through right above the cat’s head. It continues to yowl and screech, tearing at the wall and doorway while Ros and Shelby both hurry to help their friends pull the door shut. After lots of heaving and pulling, they finally hear the door click shut. The cat keeps yelling from inside, clawing at the flooring underneath the door, but unable to reach the rats outside.

The four of them sit there for a while, catching their breaths and letting their racing hearts slow down. After some time, though, Ros releases her hold on her side of the rope and lets out a breathy laugh. “That was close!” She walks closer, carefully avoiding the swiping paws of the cat trapped inside. “Do you think we can still use these?” She asks, pointing up at the pieces of yarn tied to the doorknob.

“Absolutely!” Korva agrees with a smile, walking over to join her. “Let’s get to work untying these, and then we’ll head out to go meet the rest of our friends. How does that sound?”

“Sounds good to me.” Scott concurs, moving to the other side to join them. Shelby hops to her feet to join him, and together the four little rats begin working out the knots in their colorful rope. All the while, the pesky cat continues to yowl, mourning its chance at a tasty midnight snack.

Elsewhere in the house, three different rats are making their way down the main hallway towards the kitchen. All of them are intimately familiar with this space, having to run down on practically a daily basis to replenish their store of food stashed in the attic above the humans’ heads. At the front of the group stands Captain Jacques Levy La’rat–or Ren, as he is known by the other rats.

Moving along behind the captain is his trusty lieutenant, Martyn. The lieutenant seems especially irritated tonight, although his mood goes unnoticed by his captain. Slipping alongside of him is Apo, the newest addition to their ragtag group–and one that the lieutenant remains wary of. The three of them sneak silently down the corridor until they finally arrive at their destination–the kitchen.

“We have arrived, gentlemen!” Ren announces with a flourish, turning over his shoulder to grin at his companions. “Shall we spread out our efforts for finding noses for our glorious wards?”

“The ones the humans made were using…carrots?” Apo muses. “Should we do that, too?”

“Carrots are too big, genius.” Martyn snipes, earning himself a glare from Apo.

“Then we’ll use baby carrots, jerk!”

“Those are as tall as us!”

“Well then maybe–”

“Um, gentlemen, I’m sorry to interrupt, but–” The two of them cease their squabbling immediately and turn to face whatever has made Ren stop in his tracks. Their eyes follow all the way towards the back of the kitchen, to where a human stands–directly in the middle of the path towards the refrigerator and the pantry.

“How are we supposed to grab anything like this?” Apo complains in a whisper, crossing his arms with a huff.

“We’ll just have to maneuver around them!” Ren says, peeking around the corner behind the cabinet out at the human. They’re standing with their back turned towards the rats, humming under their breath.”

“It’s the middle of the night, what’s one of them doing in here this late anyway?” Martyn wonders, peering over his captain’s shoulders. “Is she…cutting something?”

“What’s that?”

“She’s got a knife!” Apo reaches to grab for their thumbtack, but Martyn grabs their wrist before they can draw it.

“Calm down, you idiot!” Martyn snaps, pushing him back. “Look at what she’s cutting!”

The other two pause, craning their necks to look as far as possible. The human is, sure enough, using a knife to cut something into a bowl. After a few moments, Ren lets out a small gasp.

“Why, Lieutenant, those are…carrots! And they’re so small!”

“Must be for a cake.” Apo mutters.

“Let’s take some!” Martyn cries, grinning maniacally. “We’ll grab us a handful, and that should be more than enough to make these wards.”

“But how are we supposed to do that when she’s right there?”

“I suppose we’ll just have to create a distraction, then!” Ren announces, turning around. “Lieutenant, take this!” He empties his satchel, which was only full of sticks and a couple extra potato chips, before thrusting it into the shorter rat’s paws. “Apo, my good sir, come with me!”

“Wh-What, why?”

“We are going to create a distraction, of course!” And before either one of them can protest his decision, the captain takes off running, headed straight for the cabinet where the human stands.

Martyn curses silently to himself, taking the opportunity to scurry up the side of the cabinet they’d been hiding behind and finding himself a sugar jar to hide behind instead. He peers out from the side, watching as his captain and crewmate race over the tiled floor until they’re only a few steps away from the human’s feet.

“What are you even planning on doing?!” Apo demands in a whisper-shout, trailing behind Ren’s much faster gait. “Captain!”

“You must simply trust my judgement, Apo sir!” Ren tells him, not so much as bothering to turn around.

They get to the end of the cabinet and pause, watching as the human continues their work. While Apo is distracted watching, Ren bumps his arm and points to a spot just next to them. Laying right there is a readied and primed mousetrap, with a fresh cube of cheese waiting on top.

Apo shakes his head immediately. “No, nope–no way! Not a chance, buddy! Not doing it!”

“It is for the greater good, Apo! And I will free you myself!”

“Then how about you do it?”

“W-Well, I would, but my joints are quite bothersome today–”

“Oh, gimme a break! If you want to go through with this crazy idea so bad, then you do it!”

Ren huffs indignantly, reaching a paw up to adjust his glasses. “I simply cannot allow such insubordination, Apo sir! As your captain, should you wish to remain a part of this crew, then–”

The captain is cut off by a sudden shout, and when they turn to look the human is looking directly at them. Immediately, both of them squeak and take off running. The human runs after them, shouting about filthy rats in the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Martyn slips out from behind the sugar jar and dashes over the rest of the countertops to where the human has left her bowl of cut carrots unattended. As he’s busy filling up the satchel with as many of the tiny carrot shavings as he can, he hears two unearthly loud squeaks from down the hall, followed by a set of stomping footsteps coming back towards the kitchen.

With a sigh, the lieutenant pulls the bag shut and hops down from the counter, right before the human comes storming back into the kitchen with a huff. She grabs the carrot bowl from the counter and crosses over to the fridge, mumbling under her breath the whole way. While she’s distracted with cleaning up her mess, Martyn dashes his way out of the kitchen and back down the hall to free his captain and his crewmate from the cage they’ve inevitably found themselves locked in.

“All in a day’s work…”

Out in the garden, three little rats have taken their bags and are scurrying about the gravel-lined path searching for only the best among them to use. The wide rat with the pigtails grumbles under her breath as she picks through the rocks, tossing any that are too jagged or slightly too large. She keeps shooting glances over towards Ratman just to her left, who hums to himself while he sorts, either unaware of her irritation or uncaring.

“Bek! Bek, look what I've found!” From across the way, the third rat in their group comes running over. She's carrying in her paws a small flower, just the right size to sit in the flat of her palm. She stops in front of her wife with a smile. “It matches your hair, see?”

Despite her sour mood, Bek can't help but smile back at her. “Does it?”

“Yes, it's perfect! Let me–” She pauses, raising up on her toes to tuck the tiny flower into her braid before stepping back. “There, see? It looks wonderful!”

“Aw, El–”

“Hey guys!” She huffs, all of her irritation flooding back at once at the sound of Ratman’s exclamation. “Look at all these ones! Perfect for eyes, dontcha think?”

“Good work, Ratman!” Eloise calls back, walking over to examine them for herself. Bek begrudgingly follows along behind her.

“Help me bag ‘em up, then!” He sings, already crouched to get as many of them into his bag as he can.

“How about El and I get these and you check on the others, Ratman?” Bek suggests, hardly even bothering to disguise the agitation in her tone.

“Hm…nope! I'm good!” Ratman giggles, tail swaying back and forth as he collects. “They'll be fine–this is more fun!”

Bek huffs, certain by now that the other is only doing this just to get on her nerves. Eloise reaches over and pats her hand with a smile before moving to join him.

“How many of these do you think we're going to need?” Bek asks, bending down to fill her own bag.

“As much as we can grab! We'll find somewhere to use them!” Ratman says, which only serves to make her roll her eyes.

“It can't hurt to have some extra, Bek.” Eloise attempts to placate her. “We'll head over to the others when our bags are full.”

Bek huffs, still irritated as she wanders off to start filling her own bag. This isn't how she'd been expecting things to happen today–it had been her suggestion to come down here to gather up the pebbles, specifically to get a moment alone with Eloise. It's as though ever since they arrived, they've barely had more than a few minutes at a time to themselves. And if she didn't know any better, she might assume Ratman knew as much as and was intentionally trying to butt in on her plan.

It's as she is crouched down looking over a few more of the little pebbles that she hears a loud squeal. Her head shoots up just in time to see Eloise scramble away from the hedge bush she'd been crouched near, the contents of her bag scattered in the grass. “S-S-Spider!” She squeals again, turning tail and running to the other side of the path. “It's huge!”

Immediately, Bek drops her bag and rushes over to where she'd run from. “I've got it! I can handle it!” But before she can make a dive into the bushes, she feels Ratman grab onto her tail. She hisses, turning back around to slap his hand away.

“What do you think you're doing, huh?” She demands, resorting to shoving his shoulder when he continues to ignore it. He pokes his head into the bushes to look for himself. Bek does the same, blinking as her eyes adjust to the dark before she spots it. It definitely is huge, and it’s looking right at them. She squeaks, but Ratman isn't running, so neither will she.

“Fear not!” Ratman exclaims, drawing his dagger and lowering into a fighting stance. “These foul beasts don't hold a candle to the amazing Ratman!”

“It's gonna jump!” Eloise warns a split second before the spider lets out a nasty hiss and leaps straight for Ratman’s face.

He screeches, flailing wildly with the dagger as he scrambles backwards, nearly crashing into El. And as funny as Bek feels it would be watching the nosy little rat get tossed around by a giant spider, she also doesn't want to risk getting her wife in the crossfire.

“I'll save you, El!” She cries, launching herself between Ratman and the spider. Only for it to immediately switch its focus to her instead.

“Oh, no…”

“Guys! The hose!” Eloise shouts, but Bek is a little preoccupied diving for her life. She doesn't notice when El takes off running to the left, making a grab for the length of green plastic that's lying on the grass. “We can use the garden hose to scare it away!”

“Brilliant idea, Eloise!” Ratman praises before Bek has a chance to. “Wide rat, help me turn the water on!”

He's already making a run for the other side of the path, following the trail of thick green plastic back to the metal spout hidden on the side of the building. Bek follows him, leaping up to the handle on top.

Ratman grips it with both paws and heaves, straining to turn the old metal. Bek adds her own strength, and together they manage to get it just far enough for water to start flowing.

At the end of the hose, Eloise squeaks in alarm. Bek hurries to get down and join her, but by the time she does she's already managed to direct the spray of water back across at the spider, which lets out a hiss and retreats almost immediately.

Behind her, Ratman starts pushing the handle in the opposite direction, much easier to turn off than to turn on. Bek lets him handle that and instead runs over the grass until she can throw her arms around her wife. “Are you alright?!” She demands instantly, pulling back to look her over. The artist rat smiles, slightly dirty and wet, but fine.

“I'm good, Bek. And hey…that was incredible!”

Bek beams wide. “You really think so?”

“I do! That was great–thanks for saving us, Be–”

“Anytime!” Bek contains herself as Ratman comes back to join them, the water shut off now. “It's all a part of the job…of Ratman!”

Eloise giggles, turning a look over to Bek that she can't help but smile at too. The two of them link hands before reaching down to pick up the other two full bags of rocks. “Yes, thank you, Ratman.” Eloise deadpans. “Let's go find the others, shall we?”

Eventually, all three groups of rats make their way back to the center of the garden, where the humans had set up their special snow wards. The rest of the rats had been hard at work too, collecting snow into small stacked spheres, one for each little rat in the rattic.

And come morning, when the gardener comes out to care for their plants and the children come outside to play again, they will find twenty little figures built in the snow. Decorated with yarn of all different colors, little shavings of carrot, and pieces of gravel from the garden path. None of the humans will know quite what to make of them, but that's alright. Because the rats know, and that's good enough.

#rats smp #trafficblr #ratsblr #mcyt advent #advent #advent calendar #holidays #countdown #day twenty #rats 2 smp ensemble #there's a lot #i lost count #sorry -mod mochi

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malewife-urahara · 2 years ago

Note

Hai urashin prompt: beach day special in which Shinji hates the sun and Kisuke took “clothing optional” as a sign from god. OR. Second prompt woah 2 for 1. Angst prompt: small talk about guilt, regret, and kissing guys with issues.

To preface, anon I am so sorry that this took so long. It has been a truly absurd amount of time which you did not deserve. This most like does not do your request justice but I have attempted to as asked and answered the second prompt you gave. I spent much too long hung up on the first prompt only to do the other one, funny how that works. I can only hope you derive some form of entertainment from this <3

"Do you believe in fate?"

Considering he had been asleep prior to a few seconds ago he had not been thinking, Shinji had simply been sleeping, peaceful and warm and hogging all the blankets in the communal area the Visored occupied and designated as a resting spot.

He blinked slowly, turning to the darker shape against the darkness of the room, squinting.

It had been literal years and suddenly Kisuke was dropping in for a late night chat like they met up every other weekend. It was no surprise he knew where they lived of course, probably the one to set up the protections around their place, including the training room that had appeared overnight.

Kisuke was really going to make him get out of the blankets into the cold of the room wasn’t he?

‘Course he was, the bastard.

Shinji knew the others would bitch if they kept chatting though and disrupted their oh so precious sleeping schedules. Unfortunately he can’t actually begrudge them that, given the way sleep evades them on most nights. With a grumble he shoves the blankets off of himself and follows the shadow of Kisuke who ghosts along the wide halls of the warehouse, instead of going into one of the main rooms that has actual lighting he goes straight to the door, not stopping or slowing and forcing Shinji to scramble into shoes, trying to get himself into any sort of order. “I was just thinking,” Kisuke continues smoothly once Shinji catches up with him, “that everything fell into place. Did things happen as they were meant to, or, was it unfortunate circumstance?”

“Never woulda got an abomination like that,” Kisuke’s gaze slides to him before skittering away as he covers up his smile with his fan. That’s a new accessory, right along with his clothing. Shinji wonders what else about him has changed.

Green fits him, he looks like some kind of plant, bright and healthy. Shinji shoves his hands deeper in his pockets and hunches further, shoulders curved inward. “That’s not all you were thinkin’ about.”

Of course he deliberately left open his statement, Kisuke, never known for taking a hint, makes a noncommittal sound neither affirmation nor denial in response. No, he continues leading Shinji on, taking turns on the street seemingly at random and he trails after automatically as the chatter never once ceases though it all starts to blur together.

After a while just to switch things up Shinji swings around in front of Kisuke and begins to walk backwards. Shinji tells himself it's because he has a brand and needs to stick with it, not because he wants to keep Kisuke in his sight, though that would be wise.

Kisuke’s steps don’t falter at the action, he never tries to brush past him, their steps actually remain synchronized as he silently indicates obstacles with his eyes. With a glance left, Shinji swerves far right, grin widening at the way Kisuke’s trying to trip him up.

Eventually they come upon a darkneed building, this does not deter Kisuke who slides open the door and smoothly steps inside.

When he notices Shinji’s hesitance, he pops his head back out, silver eyes seeming to glow in the dim light as he offers up a pout, “You’re coming right? After I went to all this effort to bring you, it sure would be a shame if you walked off now–”

“What’s in it for me?” Shinji snaps, already stepping inside. That same force that compelled him to follow Kisuke pulled him along in the pitch black, he stopped trying to fight it long ago, if he had attempted it at all on this chilly night. Besides, he was already out of bed and came all this way already. He may as well see this through to whatever inevitable unfortunate end it leads to.

“Oh, mm, lots of things.” Kisuke’s certainly gotten more foreboding in the years apart, Shinji glances around for lack of anything else, not knowing what they’re doing here. It’s a sparsely styled if outdated shop with a few rows of shelves holding an eclectic cluster of items and a some walls space There’s a low table with cushions off in the corner it seems more like stepping in someone’s living room and he has the urge to remove his shoes

Moving around and keeping up the idle chatter, stuffing things in a bag and Shinji can’t stop watching him, “You robbin’ the place?”

Kisuke doesn’t answer as he glides between shelves, picking things up, occasionally scrutinizing them only to put them back.

A few minutes later when the bag is considerably more filled he mutters offhandedly, “You still like natto don't you?” Kisuke doesn't even give Shinji a chance to answer before dropping a container of presumably natto in the bag along with whatever other mystery items he’s shoved in there.

The bag is lumpy, misshapen with its burden by the time they exit, Shinji wonders if the handle is going to snap. It feels like something has to give.

Yet still they walk in relative silence, the occasional rustle of the bag as Kisuke switches it between his hands, or the sharp noise his geta make with each step.

Suddenly, he stops and Shinji forces himself to as well not wanting to back into a telephone pole, not wanting to part just yet, ready to fire off a barb to get him to parry it Kisuke beats him to the punch, since when did he get in the habit of making the first move.

“This was not an attempt to lure you back with some harebrained scheme, it may have been to reconnect, or maybe I just wanted to offload some products before they expired.”

He smiles and it is brittle, so much so that all the things he could respond with die as Kisuke leans in close. His eyes seem to glow in the dim lights of the street, mercury piercing through an ill fitting gigai straight to his tainted soul “Oh, I could have loved you.”

“You saying ya can’t now?” His tongue feels heavy in his mouth, the words slow though instinctual.

A hand comes up to hold his face and somehow Kisuke’s cane and fan have disappeared. Yet the two of them are still here, standing together on a dimly lit abandoned street at some ungodly hour.

“No.” He says after a moment, voice nothing more than a low murmur, “but things are different now.”

“Circumstances have shifted. Choices that are not mine or yours to make are in the process of being conceived. And love…. would just be another way to hurt.”

“Goodnight Hirako-san.” He falls back onto his feet fully, geta sounding loud in the silence of the night with a decisive clack.

Stepping away without hesitation into the inky black of the poorly lit street. Leaving Shinji to the silence of said dark street, he barely has time for the complicated tangle of feelings to emerge before he registers the weight in his hands.

It’s the bag from earlier, now in his grasp. Shinji glimpses the eye-catching crimson kanji on the bag proclaiming Urahara Shoten, he’s standing outside the warehouse with no sign that there was ever anyone with him.

Shinji reaches out to the door to sneak back in, planning to toss the bag on their pile of crates that serves as a makeshift table before collapsing when something goes fluttering to the floor just as he goes to grasp the knob.

Bending down with an annoyed hiss he realizes it’s a coupon–

Buy three cartons of non-explosive radioactive dust and get one canister of pest repellent for free. Exclusions may apply. Offer does not expire.

–there’s a cartoonishly drawn Kisuke off to the side gesturing to the deal the coupon boasts. What a terrible advertisement. What a horrific sounding product. His jaw cracks painfully as he lets out helpless barks of laughter into the biting late night air and it’s not love because it can’t be.

#mod: squish #bleach #urashin #asks #if there is typos I apologize doubly so #originally this was going to delve into eldritich territory but it got too convoluted and niche #which is not something I could be sure you'd be interested in #and really this idea that I went with got compared to mochi which is a compliment of the highest caliber #so hopefully it shall suffice

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