#not even gonna glance in there out of morbid curiosity

[a-lonely-dunedain]

tumblr just recommended a "venting community" to me and I got black and white war flashbacks. felt like I just passed the grim reaper in the dairy isle at Kroger

[death---dealer]

I was just going to ask you if you were thinking about writing about Proximus, they beat me to it hahaha. I'd love to read that! Proximus has potential 🫦🫦

I love you and your books, and how you write and AAAA-

I dont write characters like this very well someone kill me im crying im just gonna crawl into my hole and never write for him again </3

Title: Nightly Reading. Fandom: ( Kingdom of the ) Planet of the Apes. Pairing: ( Mildly, I am easing myself okay ) SUPER VAGUE Implied! Proximus Caesar x Human! Reader. Rating: K. ( Not fluffy, but not like, bad lol. ) Words: 2.3K Summary: You were brought in to share duties with Trevathan. The only task was to read to a King.

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Books were such fascinating things. All of Human history had been documented, years and years upon knowledge now sitting in your hands at once moment like all the time was squeezed out, like lemon. Your fingers flitted across the page as if your touch alone was going to memorize the words that your eyes were able to read and make out, some faded and lost to the same concept that marveled you about them. Time. 

Admittedly, three-hundred years was bound to do something to the poor pages despite some groups of Humans trying to keep them safe. But, once Apes got their thick hands on them, you thought bitterly and let your eyes glide over to the Bonobo sitting atop his throne, most didn't care and they were left to ruin just like the rest of Humanity. Water damage was prominent in the book you held in your grasp, finger gliding right along the spine and feeling the imprint of the title against your fingertips.

Your movement was full of intent and was languid, almost sitting on the notions of flirtation. Proximus Caesar has never said anything to you about it out loud, but the glances that often fell on your hands were nothing short of curious morbidity. He was probably thinking just how easy it would be to get them all to snap off, one by one in his own hand, if you refused to read for him, if you refused to teach and entertain the ideas of a very clear Tyrant. Swallowing softly at the feeling of a lump in your throat, your gaze skirted along the rather delectably decorated room itself. Draped in red, the window off to the side let in enough of the Summer breeze and you were blessed with the scent of sea water. It was clear that he favored Roman History, just from the sweep of his throne that any Emperor had to be jealous of, the copper shining of his head dress, a crown not strewn of delicate greens of an olive branch usually depicted in the books you read to him, the draw of the chest piece, same flushed color as the head dress, draping down the taut muscles of his chest that you knew could rip you limb from limb without remorse. 

You dwindled at that, as you so often did in the recent meetings you had with him. The allure of his tapering waist was substantial before you snapped yourself out of it and focused on the encapsulating red of the drawn in shawl around his admirable waist, tucked so intricately that you had to wonder to yourself which female Ape he chose to tie it every morning. Or maybe he did it himself, there was nothing there to cure your curiosity on that. If you weren’t flushed with red that matched his dress, you were now as you let your eyes linger on it momentarily, almost admiring the stance of which he sat. 

The elongated table that Caesar himself could have been stabbed against was next to beckon homage. The table was strewn with a dance of fruits, some nuts, and a neatly sat pile of books and the gaze Proximus had moved from your hands to your face was clearly stating and demanding that you begin reading. In comparison to the earlier mentioned table, you felt small in your seat, and even smaller when he would graze his eyes from head to toe, as if he were able to pierce the wood of the table itself to do so.

Afraid to meet his gaze, you brought your knees in together and looked at the book once more, taking a note of the words on the spine rather than feeling them. Today’s topic was a personal favorite of your own you realized, drawing many parallels that the Bonobo was going to refuse to see even if you were adamant and you had the pleasure of spilling each sadistically-sounding word to him every other day, coordinating the duty with Trevathan. 

Proximus, in all his glory, had blessed you with a one-on-one conversation when you first arrived in the Kingdom. And, looking back at it, it was very obviously a coy play against an already starved and half-alive Human, a tactic you knew he enjoyed using if you used or said something he disliked and he’d pull the rest of the meals from coming to your door for the rest of the day as a punishment. He liked variety, that his other advisor only told him what he wanted to hear, not what he needed to hear. It was recognizable that you were fastened to do the same thing, but you were more able to play the game that Proximus himself set up for you, at least that’s what you thought when you took the agreement just to get some food and to save your own life.

He valued more than one opinion, and thus the idea was born that you would also read the same things that your human counterpart offered, and give your counteractive opinions to see what the King thought was best. You had to give it to Proximus --- While you did not agree with his ideology, he was remarkably smart to think of these things on his own.  Given the topic, it made no sense to have a juxtaposition position though. It was history, and nothing, not even a crazed Bonobo with piqued interest in you, in the very history sitting in your hand, was ever going to change. 

You simply told him what he wanted to hear, more subtly than Trevethan who had a hard time even facing Bonobo face to face when he knew what he was saying was being taken out of context. A spineless snake, you thought to yourself, like you were any better. Proximus only took you in because you were able to read, and in return, he gave you refuge. Only part was you were able to play the same game that Proximus played, and deep down, you loved it because you knew that it kept waiting for more, and kept him eager to keep you around instead of the other human. More chance for your survival that way. 

Now, two months later, you found yourself in a dance with Proximus every other evening, sometimes in the mornings if he never sent for you in the evenings, knowing it to be a point of contention with you, a stickler for schedules. You knew all the pieces, pawns, queen, knights, and at times, when he came towards you with intense movements, his feet racketing the ground and sending shock waves through your entire body, his eyes focused and incredibly darkened,  you thought that he had figured out your game, but nothing ever came of it and you needed to remind yourself to stay calm. 

Proximus would just ask you a question, or he’d move towards you to point at the book, emphasizing that he wanted you to explain further. Never with the intent to kill you, never with the idea that he knew what game you were playing against him. You had to bargain with yourself that while you were indeed playing chess, you left him to play checkers.  A shiver exploded down your spine in pride that you were able to pull the wool over his eyes, using the charm of Humanity rather than the easier tactic of laying over. Still, the prospect rose from time to time. You were just a Human, he was just an Ape. It became a teetering routine that you were beginning to enjoy.

Now, telling him that History was just that and there were no opinions to be made on it, and getting into the vault was going to prove fruitless was going to get you skinned by either Lightening or Sylva. You held your tongue. Probably both at the same time, one taking your bottom half off and the other taking the top, when you stopped to think about how truly sadistic these Apes were, but you tried to push it to the back of your mind upon living with them. At the very least, you were alive now and even though you had to climb your way up the theoretical tree to gain favor with the King, and even though the Ape who gave you sick solace in life also gave you the option of death, you liked your position of power. Maybe, you laughed sarcastically, that’s why Proximus was so relentless to keep it. 

“Caligula.”

Your words always put him on edge, so different from Trevethan! He wondered about that. The fact that you chose to stay rather than choosing death - Many Humans were fast to do that once Proximus had offered a deal. Very sad, but he never rested on it for long and would have them slaughtered. Not full of fear or pandering, you were honest, at least that’s how it came across, he never knew the malice that you held towards him. It was gentler in nature, but still packed a punch when you inflicted your words a certain way, garnering you more favor to him as he liked the way you pronounced words.

Infliction was a strong thing, and Proximus himself took a lot of what you said based purely on the tone you chose to use. Flirty at times when you knew he was taking in the delectation of how your smooth lips formed the words, softer at others when you were speaking of the Roman Emperors wives or lovers, something he found intensely interesting as he himself only had concubines, as far as your knowledge went. Never anything serious, never anything to the level of standard he held himself to, harder and more adamantly aggressive upon talking of the concept of Wars waged in the past. 

“We usually read about Julius Caesar,” You noted almost dully having admired the book and knew the change of topic beforehand. Tilting your head at the Ape a few feet away from you, the action and your words seemed profusely innocent --- Always intended and always strategic. “Why---” You were cut off.

“Something… New,” Proximus’ voice leaked torturous enthusiasm which made your stomach turn in on itself. Not terrible, but it wasn’t something you’d want against the shell of your ear in the moments of intimacy. Too hard, too mean in all aspects. But, the idea did hit the back of your mind vaguely at that. For such a Tyrant, he looked at you with eased gentleness that never came naturally to him. Make the Human feel more comfortable, the action usually yelled at you but it did the very opposite once you were able to see what he was actually doing. It was usually faux, but for a moment as you stared at each other, it seemed a thoughtful idea was that he --- was genuine, giving you something new to read about, genuine, giving you more grace and time rather than Trevethan.

“Thought it good… I learned about the… Other Rulers."

Proximus staggered to his feet, the movement leaving your entire body on edge, hair raised. That was one thing that always struck you; he moved with such innate aggression in even the simplest of actions.

Your eyes widened at the pure strength and power in his gait as he sauntered closer to you, one foot after the other, shoulders bobbing with the walk. Mindlessly, your throat closed as he stood beside you, letting a finger tap against the book cover. You only looked at his hand, having him so close in proximity. Your breath escaped your lips, hitting Proximus at his wrist and you watched vividly as the fur against his forearm wrestled with your exaltation. He got close, often choosing to sit next to you but this--- 

Your eyes looked upwards towards him, catapulting you into a panic at the look of his canines as he was resting in his usual scowl. You’d never seen them that close, and your fingers twitched mildly at the idea of just… Touching them to see how sharp they truly were. Eyes were remarkably different than any other Ape you’d been in close quarters with. Not very many, but you knew that they had sharp, intuitive and smart green irises.

While Proximus’ were similar in color, the backdrop almost seemed… Black, like the rest of his fur, but upon further inspection they appeared more blood shot. You noticed the hackles rising and falling when you brought your gaze to his shoulders, admiring the density of the fur that cushioned against his chest piece.

You swallowed, suddenly hit with a fluttering of fear that ravaged the front of your skull. Why was he so close? Why was he so----

 “Is he… a good one? This…” Proximus brought his lips together and coated his mouth with saliva, a few droplets ultimately falling on you when he finally spoke again. “Emperor?” Your eyebrows furrowed at that question and your mouth popped open as you scrambled for an answer, cursing yourself silently for getting so distracted. Usually Trevathan would read to him first followed by you the next night, always the same book, he just took in the way that you both read the material. This was the first time that Proximus was asking you to read him new material exclusively. 

Patting yourself on the back for finally climbing your way into his lap, you raised your eyebrows now at the question and processed. From what you knew about Caligula, he was quite a fervent and crazy leader. Wild things were done under his rule and all the things were done with the justification that he was indeed the Emperor and he set the standards for his people. He was known as the Mad Roman Emperor for a reason. Huh. That sounded familiar. 

Gracing Proximus with a smile of sorts, baring your teeth in the way that you knew he found amusing, you nodded and whispered softly for only him to hear as he was so kind as to bring his entire being so close that you were able to smell the crisp nature of gunpowder mixing with crisped sand and ocean water clinging to his fur. Green gaze fell to your shoulders out of curiosity, a very easy way to see if Humans were lying was to see the rapid nature of their breathing but you forced yours to stay rational and calm.

“He’s a great one.”

Kind of crazy, actually really, really out of his mind, you wanted to tack on but only smiled to yourself as you watched Proximus leave your side, finally allowing yourself to take a deep breath in as he sat across from you, fingers cracking open the book to finally proceed with the lesson.

[satansapostle6]

Angel With A Broken Wing | Jonah Simms

And if I may just take your breath away / I don't mind if there's not much to say / Sometimes the silence guides a mind / To move to a place so far away / The goosebumps start to raise / The minute that my left hand meets your waist / And then I watch your face / Put my finger on your tongue 'cause you love to taste, yeah / These hearts adore, everyone the other beats hardest for / Inside this place is warm / Outside it starts to pour

Warnings: Mature language and themes. Sexual content.

Chapter Five

Chapter Six: This Night Has Opened My Eyes

I hadn’t spoken to Marcus for weeks. I ignored every text message he sent, refused to ever say ‘hi’ back to him, made sure we were always on opposite sides of the store at work, and somehow, none of this seemed the least bit peculiar to him. If anything, it told me a lot about his luck with dating and just women in general.

Ever since the whole… debacle, work for me became even more laborious and painful than usual. Things were still weird with people from work ever since everyone found out that Marcus punched Ryan in the parking lot, which only made doing my job more difficult. Not only did my coworkers treat my home life and sex life like some outlandish ordeal they remember from Sex and the City, or Desperate Housewives meant for evaluation and discussion.

It also didn’t help that Marcus’s approach to what he deems to be our recent ‘breakup’ happened to be very Real Housewives in execution.

“So, on that note… Everyone please remember that condom sales typically occur without a demonstration… Okay?” Glenn smiles, concluding our morning staff meeting. “And if there are no other questions, well, that concludes today’s meeting.”

I just offer a rather half-hearted smile to Garrett as we glance at one another in a The Office-esque fashion, just getting through the work day in any way we can. I could already tell we were both silently praying for this staff meeting to be over, but of course, it just couldn’t be, as a hand went up. What I didn’t notice was that it was Marcus’s.

“Yes?” our over-enthusiastic manager beams, pointing at Marcus.

Marcus smiles as Glenn calls on him. “Yeah, I was just kind of wondering why Sophie hasn’t been returning my calls, even though I said ‘I love you’?” he says matter-of-factly, turning to look at me.

It took everything in my system not to commit an act of domestic terrorism. A wave of excitement and noise immediately washes over the room as everyone once again becomes enamored with discussing my private life. Garrett just freezes in his chair, a horrified defense mechanism smile plastered on his face as everyone starts to put in their two cents.

“I… We were really asking for questions about the condom thing,” Dina points out, trying to redirect the meeting as the assistant manager, “…But, admittedly, I am open to discussing this. Out of sheer, morbid curiosity,” she states frankly.

“Okay, well…” Marcus begins eagerly, most likely surprised anyone was listening to him, “Okay, so like…! Her legs were on my shoulders, and then I accidentally—”

“Woah!” Mateo gasps, laughing as he looks over at me, “I’m gonna need you to back it up a little bit…”

“Yeah, who’s usually on top?” Cheyenne wonders.

Marcus gives this far too much thought. “Um, usually we switch…? I like when she scratches down my back, but she likes when we can kinda, like, take turns slapping each other...?”

A bunch of people burst out laughing as I immediately begin to develop a headache already, slowly trying my best to hide my face behind my hand.

Garrett makes a face, grinning as he turns to me. “And how often does that happen?”

I make a face, shooting him a look as he chuckles to himself. Multiple people, including Elias, the human blob fish, turn and give me giant, disgusting grins as Marcus continues to go into excruciating detail. The only person in the entire room not saying anything was Jonah, who just awkwardly looked back and forth throughout the conversation, blinking and speechless, wanting to say something, but just unable to process anything that was currently going on at the moment.

*****

Later that day, Jonah found himself working photos with Marcus, which he found to be a painful assignment for a plethora of good reasons. He had remained relatively quiet as they worked together, mainly focused on getting himself through the shift. Marcus, however, didn’t seem to share this courteous sentiment. While Jonah sat on the counter, scrolling on his phone in polite silence as Marcus sat a few feet away, laughing loudly to himself as he looked through people’s photos.

Jonah looked up from his phone for a moment, off put by Marcus’s disregard for people’s privacy before deciding to go back to his scrolling, not wanting any part of whatever was going on over there. Marcus grinned as he held up a bunch of photos.

“Dude. Best part of working photos? Finding all the naked photos,” he shared.

Jonah just offers a clearly insincere and half-hearted smile as he nods wordlessly, unable to justify a response to that as he eventually went back to the article he was reading before.

“I’d show you naked photos of Sophie if I had any,” Marcus thought out loud.

Jonah looks up, trying to contain how uncomfortable and appalled he felt.

“You… Don’t have to do that,” Jonah states curtly.

“No, I’d have to,” Marcus remarks, seemingly genuinely reverent somehow, “God… She’s so beautiful,” he sighs dreamily.

Jonah grimaces, realizing there’s just too much to unpack there.

“You know…” he considers, trying to be as diplomatic as possible in this already wildly unpleasant interaction, “You… really shouldn’t put Sophie’s private life on blast like that…” he informs him.

“But,” Marcus protests with a smile, “It’s my private life, too, you know, I can talk about it if I want to.”

“Right…” Jonah thought, now fully aware of just how deep Marcus’s lack of consideration and selfishness really ran. “But… wouldn’t it be fair to say, that, I don’t know… since it’s a private affair that concerns the both of you, it’s… no longer just about you…?” he suggested.

Jonah was hoping to get through to Marcus, but it seemed he got something else from that entirely.

“No, no,” Marcus laughs, genuinely thinking Jonah was the misguided one, “It wasn’t an affair, neither of us were married… Although, I was technically still with my ex when we kinda started hooking up…”

Jonah was incredibly surprised by this, not having expected Sophie to be the kind of person at all to start seeing someone in a relationship. He knew he shouldn’t have, but now, he felt he had to ask questions.

“W-What?” he stammered, unable to hide his disappointment. “She—”

Jonah had to take a moment to collect himself as Marcus just looked at him blankly.

“Sophie… knew you had a girlfriend, when you guys started… seeing each other?” he questioned.

“Oh, no,” Marcus laughed it off, “Sophie had no idea. Why would I tell her that? Then she would’ve never hooked up with me,” he scoffed, as if it were obvious.

Jonah stared at him awkwardly. “Right…”

He was still reeling from this new piece of information, a newfound sympathy for Sophie setting in as a few other of the guys stopped by photos to talk to Marcus, jeering and laughing in a vulgar display of locker room talk not in a private, locker room-type environment. Jonah listened with guilt as Marcus spread half true and half completely made up rumors about Sophie to their coworkers out of spite, in disbelief over the kind of things men were comfortable saying around him just because he was also a man.

“…She likes doing it in the back of my car, in the Jack In The Box parking lot,” Marcus volunteers.

Jonah stares at him, genuinely unsure at this point whether any of this is true at all.

“…No, dude, you don’t understand… Sophie’s a freak, even for me. She wanted to do a bunch of stuff with whipped cream…?”

Jonah frowned, whispering softly. “Sophie’s lactose intolerant…”

*****

Eventually, unable to spend any more of his time with Marcus, Jonah wandered over to customer service where Garrett was working, hoping to get a sane perspective on the whole Sophie/Marcus thing. He figured Garrett, if anyone, would be able to shed some light on the situation. But of course, Sophie just had to be there already, sitting on Garrett’s desk as they talked. She just nodded when she saw Jonah, before getting back to work.

“Hey, Sophie,” Jonah smiled, wishing she’d stay longer.

He watched her leave before turning to Garrett.

“Hey, have you by any chance noticed how hard Marcus has been trying to spread rumors about Sophie…?” Jonah asked him, trying to be subtle in gathering information about Sophie.

“Yeah,” Garrett frowned sympathetically as he thought about his friend, “It’d be cruel if he wasn’t so stupid.”

Jonah looked at him curiously, not expecting him to be sympathetic to Marcus. “What, you think this is okay? I mean, this is an HR violation, the more you think about it.”

Garrett just sighed. “I don’t know. This isn’t even my business, but even Sophie doesn’t wanna pursue anything against Marcus. So if she doesn’t, then why should I try to involve myself?”

“So, just because Sophie doesn’t wanna call Marcus out on his behavior, no one should?” Jonah questioned. “How many women have been afraid to stand up to their abusers—”

“Okay, no,” Garrett interrupted him sharply.

Jonah nodded quickly. “Nope! Nope. You’re right. Too far.”

Only at that admission was Garrett able to nod and continue with the conversation.

“Dude,” he reminded Jonah firmly, “Nothing good ever comes out of getting involved with coworkers’ weird, complicated relationships. Or coworkers’ relationships. Or coworkers, in general,” he realized.

Jonah frowned at Garrett’s outward projection of pragmatism.

“Sophie and Marcus are adults— Well. Sophie’s an adult,” Garrett thought, “What she chooses to do is what she chooses to do. Just because you like her doesn’t change that fact.”

“What?!” Jonah laughed nervously, “I don’t—”

It took less than a look from Garrett to silence him.

“Look, as questionable and unfortunate as it is, i what happens to Sophie is on her to deal with; I’m not being a dick, I’m not saying that she isn’t my friend and I don’t empathize with her, I’m saying what happens between her and Marcus, and anyone else for that matter, is her business. She gets to decide how to deal with it; not you,” Garrett concluded.

“I know you feel some kinda way about this girl, whether you admit it or not, I don’t care… But I’m telling you, Jonah, you don’t know this girl. I don’t even know her that well, I’ve only known her since she started working here, like, less than two months ago. And because of that, I stay in my lane. And so should you; she’s dealing with things how she’s dealing with them. Getting involved would only be fucked up to her, and you.”

This made Jonah pause for a while, as he came to the realization that his intentions toward the whole Sophie/Marcus situation might have been more selfish than he was initially aware of. Garrett, naturally, could tell that Jonah was struggling with this concept, but didn’t necessarily have sufficient energy to fully address this, like some kind of therapist.

“I know you wanna get to know this girl,” Garrett frowned sympathetically, “But… You can’t just expect her to wanna get to know you.”

Fuck, Jonah realized, he was right.

“You wanna do something nice for her?” Garrett posed a question. “Don’t try to convince everybody at her place of work that she's some battered wife. Do something smaller, and nicer; ask her how she’s doing. Get her a snack, or a coffee.”

Jonah saw Garrett in a profoundly new light as he listened to him, finally.

“You’re a good friend. Not just to me, but to Sophie. You’re very insightful, you know that?” Jonah asked with a smile.

“Yeah,” Garrett nodded frustratedly, “I know.”

Jonah sat with his thoughts for a moment before Garrett shooed him away to end the weirdly vulnerable moment.

“Now get out of here,” Garrett muttered, trying to change the subject, “This isn’t a sitcom, I’m not your token black spirit guide.”

Jonah chuckled appreciatively as he walks away, pleased with the outcome of the conversation.

*****

“Bye, Sophie!”

Even though I was tired, I smiled as I waved to Cheyenne, who was like the little sister I never had. After I clocked out around 2, I immediately went outside for a cigarette. I didn’t even wait until I was physically out of the store before sticking a Newport in my mouth. I sat outside on the bench, staring off into nothingness for a moment as I thought about Marcus and just how many people had probably talked about my vagina today.

I was store 1217’s own Pamela Anderson. I even had the tattoo to prove it. I sighed heavily, from the heart as I turned to Brett sitting smoking on the other side of the bench as he just looked at me, the wrinkles of his face only making him seem more done.

“Light?” I said weakly.

He responded only by passing me his little red Bic lighter, the only response I needed. I smiled wordlessly as I took it, shielding my thin, frail cigarette from the world as I lit it, taking a deep breath in before handing the lighter back to Brett. He gave me a single, expressive look before taking it back, and putting it in his jacket pocket. I took out my earbuds, putting one in as I put on some music. Brett looked at me, and I handed him the other side. He took it, and we both listened to Casey Jones, a song that had gotten me through plenty of work days.

We sat in silence for another few minutes.

*****

Eventually, Brett got up and left, and someone else took his place.

“I’ve never seen Brett that friendly with anyone,” Jonah remarked.

I frowned. “We didn’t say a word.”

Jonah nodded. “True… But he was practically smiling. That’s, like, jumping for joy, coming from Brett.”

I nodded, and it was a short while before I saw Jonah offer me one of the two plastic coffee cups he was holding.

“Want a Vietnamese coffee?” he asked me.

I looked at him curiously. “We don’t sell those here.”

“I drove to Clayton to get it,” he smiled reassuringly.

I chuckled in surprise. Sometimes, Jonah was annoying, but sometimes… he was just surprising.

“There are a lot closer places to go for that,” I informed him, almost concerned by how far he decided to drive just for coffee.

Jonah shrugged with a smile, not seeming bothered by it.

“That was the place Garrett gave me,” he replied.

I raise an eyebrow. “And you decided to get advice from Garrett?”

He just shrugged. “He comes through sometimes…”

I nodded silently, as he slowly tried to hand the cup of iced coffee to me.

“Here,” he offered, “I got this for you.”

I froze, unable to understand why.

“…Why?” I wondered.

Jonah didn’t seem to know how to respond. I don’t think he was expecting the question.

“…I don’t know,” he stammered, “Because it’s a considerate thing to do?”

I stared. “I don’t buy it.”

“What?” he laughed, finding me overly suspicious.

“We’re not friends,” I said softly, “You think I’m a bitch.”

He paused, looking at me with what almost looked like hurt in his eyes.

“I don’t think you’re a bitch,” he murmured, looking me in the eyes with honesty.

“Then you’re stupid,” I blurted out quietly, immediately regretting the defense mechanism.

But he didn’t seem offended. I paused, before digressing.

“Why’d you buy me a coffee?” I asked again.

“…Because I’m stupid,” he offered with a smile.

He held out the coffee to me.

“Take it.”

I looked down at it before seeing the gentle insistence in his eyes. “Thank you.”

He nodded. “You’re welcome.”

I took the coffee, thankful for the gesture.

“I’m lactose intolerant, though… I’ll probably have to drink it later.”

He smiled, pulling something out of his jacket pocket. “I got you Lactaid.”

I just nodded, realizing just about everyone knows about my lactose intolerance. I laughed as I took the pills from him, opening them and washing them down with the coffee.

“These are my favorite,” I remarked peacefully.

“I heard,” Jonah nodded.

-

Chapter Seven

[galexis-void]

"Just Toying Around" (Candybats)

A/N: Okay, this one is more story based (unintentionally). Try to enjoy anyway, I spent a while on it.

Also, I used Google Translate for a decent chunk of this, so if I wrote something in your language and it's wrong, I sincerely apologize.

Summary: Streber received a strange gift in the mail, and his curiosity lands Kevin in a quite a predicament.

Trigger warnings: None that I can think of

Reminder: These stories are not built on logic. They're made to entertain, not to make sense. Also, be prepared if the characters here are out of character completely (again, the intention is not to be perfect).

(fic below the cut)

     Streber fiddled absently with the stuffed doll, staring blankly at its button-eyed face. The doll was simple, made of white fabric and with two buttons for eyes and a stitched mouth. There were no other distinguishing features.

     For days he’d been attempting to “animate” the toy. Gone were the days when practical mechanics excited him - his new focus was something much greater than that. If he could bring a toy to life… well, he wasn’t sure what he’d do with that knowledge yet, but he was certain it’d be something world-changing.

     Now, if only he could get the damn thing to work.

     A low whistle from the room caught his attention. “Are you really gonna keep yourself locked up in the batcave forever?”

     “That’s copyright, Kev,” Streber mumbled to himself.

     “You think I care? The only thing I care about is the fact that you’ve been in here for days.”

     Streber sighed, and threw the doll on the floor. “I can’t get this stupid thing to work!”

     “…it’s a toy.”

     “Look, babe, I love you, but please don’t question my work. Now, I need to figure out if I can make a machine for this thing.”

     Kevin entered the room and took a seat on the bed. “Really trying to get out of using that book, huh?”

     He was referring to the alleged spellbook that Streber had received as a gift a few days prior. There had been no name or return address on the package it had arrived in, just a picture of a crystal ball. While he’d tested some of the lesser spells out of morbid curiosity, he’d sworn off of using it. He claimed it was because he wanted his work to be a result of his “genuine intellectual prowess”, but the few friends of his who knew about the book knew the truth - he was afraid of the kind of things he could do with that power.

     “I don’t wanna hear that from the guy who has nightmares about the supernatural almost every day,” Streber answered stiffly, glancing over his shoulder at his boyfriend.

     “That was different. I couldn’t predict or control what happened then. But this is literally untold power you hold in your hands. And I’m surprised you haven’t been totally abusing it.”

     “You know I don’t like not knowing what will happen. Any spell in that thing-” he waved at it, “-could just as easily drop a meteor on the house as it could turn us all into dust. It’s not worth the risk.”

     “Did you even read any of the spells you cast, or did you just pick one and read it off?”

     Streber cursed under his breath. He hadn’t bothered to read them because he’d doubted the book’s authenticity. “I hate you.”

     “I’ll take that as a no. Maybe there’s an anti-lying spell in there that I can use on you. Even if you didn’t mean it, it still kinda hurts to hear that.”

     Streber rose and fetched the book. The cover was thick leather, though somehow it shone a metallic gold color. A large amethyst was set in the center, surrounded by silver symbols written in some lexicon that Streber didn’t recognize - they didn’t look like any lettering he’d seen before, English or otherwise. Silver clasps and a silver spine bound the book together. At first glance it looked like an elaborate prop, like something you’d see in the hands of a wizard in a fantasy movie.

     “Open it,” his boyfriend urged.

     “What’s with your sudden change in attitude? I would think this kind of thing would terrify you.”

     Kevin shrugged. “I gave up on things going back to normal when I was cornered by a serial killer. And before that a possessed doll. And a Lovecraftian horror before that. I don’t like it, but I figured it’d be better to embrace the change.”

     “That… is not something I’d expect to hear from you. But you’re right. When in Rome, I guess. Now let’s crack this puppy open.”

     He opened the book to a random page. It was mostly words, but only one set was in English. There seemed to be one page dedicated to one spell, with the English translation first, followed by numerous other languages.

ANIMATION SPELL - HECHIZO DE ANIMACIÓN - SORT D'ANIMATION - INCANTESIMO DI ANIMAZIONE - ANIMATUM CARMINA - ANIMATIONSMAGIE - Анимационное заклинание - 动画咒语 - アニメーション化された呪文

     There were even a few lines written in the unidentified lexicon again, but Streber didn’t bother trying to decipher those. Instead, he scanned the page for the English translation of the spell. Strangely, he found exactly what he was looking for on the first try.

You will need: the object you wish to animate, salt water, vanilla extract, and a person you intend to separate the soul from to use for the spell. Do not be afraid - you can return the soul to the original body at any time, with no harm done.

✫   ✫   ✫   ✫   ✫

Focus on the object of your fascination. Prepare a soak of salt water and a drop of vanilla. Steep the object of your fascination into the stew and wait for exactly four minutes. Remove the object. 

✫   ✫   ✫   ✫   ✫

Take the person you intend to separate the soul from and have them soak their hands in the stew for four minutes and three seconds. Two minutes into this process, place the object back into the stew and let them soak together. After four minutes and three seconds have passed, remove the object and have the person remove their hands, then say the following incantation:

✦ ✦ “REDDE HANC ANIMAM. SINITE HANC REM FLORERE.” ✦ ✦

To reverse the incantation, locate the corresponding restorative spell on page 242.

✦ ✦ ✦ ✦ ✦

     Streber glanced over the page once more, trying to comprehend. Kevin, who had been reading over his boyfriend’s shoulder, looked a bit pale. “Is this safe?”

     “Probably. I mean, they wouldn’t write it down if it wasn’t safe, right?”

     “Did you miss the part where it says you have to sacrifice a living soul to animate the object?”

     “Did you miss the part where it says you can return things to how they were?”

     “You’d better make sure that spell actually exists before you try this one.”

     Streber flipped to page 242, and located the spell in question. Much like the animation spell, it listed clear instructions for how to restore a dislocated soul, whether forcefully removed or having been disembodied for another reason. “Looks legitimate.”

     “You’re lucky I love you, otherwise I would never allow you to do this.”

     “I’ll make sure that I do it correctly. And I’ll switch you back right away.”

     The boys spent the next ten minutes collecting what they needed. Streber was meticulous with the instructions, not wanting to screw anything up. Throughout, it became increasingly obvious that Kevin was nervous - it seemed despite his big talk earlier, he was still plenty averse to anything vaguely unnatural. Even so, he didn’t withdraw from the procedure.

     Streber cleared his throat, and began to read the incantation aloud. Even though he didn’t sound any different, a sort of chill washed over him as he spoke, and it felt like he was breathing a little heavier. A breeze whipped through the room, threatening to tear the picture frames from the wall and sending his research papers scattered everywhere.

     The scariest part was that Kevin was nowhere to be seen.

     Streber immediately dropped the book in a panic, and called out worriedly for his boyfriend. Had he done the spell wrong? The spell was supposed to give life to the doll, not make his boyfriend vanish into thin air!

     Wait. The doll.

     Streber glanced over the table and almost shrieked. The doll was still there, but it didn’t look the same as before. Its lined smile had sunken into an almost surly expression, and now it had clothes…

     …clothes that looked exactly like the ones Kevin had been wearing a few minutes ago!

     Streber hesitantly picked up the doll. Now that he was looking over it more carefully, the doll looked unmistakably like Kevin. Starting to panic again, he turned the doll over in his hands again and again. The doll seemed lifeless, which meant that while Kevin’s soul had merged with the doll, the spell hadn’t completely worked.

     But Streber didn’t care about that anymore - the immediate concern was Kevin.

     Hey! Take it easy! I’m getting dizzy… *bleh*

     Streber dropped the doll in fright. It sounded like Kevin, but…

     Ouch…

     Streber glanced down at the fallen toy, carefully reaching for it. Was this possible?

     “Kev?” he questioned doubtfully.

     Yeah, it’s me! I don’t think your spell worked…

     “You definitely merged with the doll, but all that did was make it look like you.”

     *hrrrgh* I-I can’t move!

     “It’s okay, I got you. Let’s see what we can do to get you back to normal.”

     But as soon as he said that, something else crossed his mind. If this doll was basically a miniature Kevin…

     “Actually…” he started slowly, carefully running a finger over the doll’s side stitches, “…I’m gonna try something first.”

     Huh? C’mon, I don’t wanna stay-EEEEK!

     Streber heard a familiar squeak, and he smiled… yes, his theory was correct.

     Streber poked the doll’s belly, each flustered sound from his boyfriend making him smile wider and wider. Chuckling softly, he kept poking various spots on the toy’s torso, enjoying the delightful laughs and squeals from Keivn.

     AAIIEHEHEHE! H-HEHEHEHEY! THIS ISN’T FA- HAHAHAHAHA!

     “Oh, shush, you know you love it,” Streber teased. He then switched tactics and smothered the doll’s midsection with kisses.

     EEEEEEEHHEHEHEHEHEHE! I’M GONNA DIHIHIHIE!

     “You are so dramatic, you know that? It’s just belly kisses, Kev. You love those!~”

     But eventually, Streber did stop the tickles. He needed to work on getting Kevin back to normal - there would be plenty of time for tickles after that.

     After about an hour of continuous failures, Streber lunged forward and tightly embraced his very disoriented partner. “Finally! I’m so glad to see you!”

     “I’m glad to be me again,” Kevin mumbled in a daze. But he quickly snapped out of it when Streber squeezed his sides. “WHAHAHA-? COME OHOHON!”

     “Hey, something could’ve gone wrong with the spell! I have to make sure everything’s in order! Like maybe you’re missing a bone or two, or you lost some of your squish.”

     Suffice to say, the rest of the night was filled with loud laughs - from both sides.

-END-

[kristannafever]

She Ain’t Gotta Do Much - 3

Kristanna Modern AU Rated: M WC: 5542

Chapter Index

-----------------

The next morning Kristoff brought his own coffee, not wanting to deal with the suits or Berkleigh upstairs again, even if it did mean he might bump into the Boss.  Anna was becoming an increasing presence on his mind when he wasn’t working.  

He looked at the stupid Instagram app the night before, sneering at his ugly ass photo.  Berkleigh had indeed added herself to his account.  He was following one and had one follower.   She must have followed him back when he’d gone back to work.  

Out of what could only be morbid curiosity, he looked at few of her pictures.  It was nothing but twerking, bikini poses and duck-faced selfies.   With a sneer he’d closed the app on his phone and planned to figure out how to delete it in the morning.  That picture she took of him was fucking awful anyway, he had no use for social media.

Then as he’d drifted off to sleep, he wondered if Anna had an Instagram account.  If she did, what did her pictures look like?

Sven came in with a coffee and two croissants, handing one to Kristoff and muttering something like ‘get over it already, it’s free food.’

They worked hard and took their lunch on a picnic table outside on the opposite side of the building as the day before.  It was an hour earlier than they normally took it and Kristoff had his fingers crossed that they were not going to run into Berkleigh again.

He ate his sandwich and opened Instagram again, quickly glancing at Sven to see he was occupied in his own phone while he ate, then located the search thing to look up Anna. He found her quickly, beautiful smile unmistakable blue eyes staring back at him from her profile picture.  He went onto her account and began looking at her photos.  

Most of them were work related.  The ones that weren’t we usually her with people, or her at some sort of function or on some kind of vacation.  There was a mix of her professional and personal attire across all of her pictures. He paused on one particular photo of her in a park of some sort, hair twisted into twin braids, pink flannel shirt and blue jeans.  He had to admit he preferred this look over the one she had for work.  

That was when he accidentally liked the picture.

All afternoon he wondered what her liking his photo back had meant.  It was a message that she knew he was looking and she had wanted him to know that she knew.  Which meant… what?  He agonized about it until she came to check on their progress and bid them a good evening like nothing had changed.   That left him even more confused.

That night before bed, as much as he wanted to see the rest of her pictures, he didn’t dare open up that app again.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

 The next day had been long and hard.  The only saving grace was that it was Friday, which meant beers after work and two carefree days of doing whatever the fuck they wanted.  They only had about two hours of work left when Anna interrupted them with a sorry looking expression on her face.  It put Kristoff immediately on guard to see her friendly ease was replaced with nervousness

“Sorry for the intrusion,” she began.  

Sven shot Kristoff a sideways glance.  He was on edge too.  Anna hadn’t been nearly this formal or forlorn looking with them so far.  Something was wrong.

She said, “I apologize, gentleman.  I’m not sure how to start…”

“It’s okay, Boss. Just let us have it.”  Sven’s tone was serious.

“A potential overseas client has informed us of a schedule change.  They were supposed to visit the upper offices in the timeline we laid down, only they’ve moved the visit up a bit.”  She winced, saying the last part.

Kristoff’s stomach dropped. “How much is a bit?

“One week,” she answered quietly.

Sven and Kristoff both let out a simultaneous exasperation of air.  They were already working twelve-hour days.  Getting the entire scope of work done in three weeks was going to be impossible.

“I know, guys, I know! And I am so sorry,” Anna said.

Sven said, “Boss… that’s just not gonna happen.”

Anna began to wring her hands together.  “I don’t have many options here.  I was told I needed to get my people out by that timeframe.  They don’t want the office full of all the extra labourers when their big deal potential client comes in.  It is imperative to them that we pick him up.  They are offering a huge bonus for you both to get it done on time.”

“We have our electrician slotted in for the timeframe you gave us, not to mention-” Kristoff started, thinking furiously about all the logistics when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“Let us talk it out a bit, okay Boss?  See what we can come up with?” Sven said.

She nodded, her anxious eyes shifting over to Kristoff a moment.  “I’ll come back when I’m leaving for the day.”

Both men nodded and watched her walk away.

Kristoff turned to Sven. “What the fuck are we going to do?”

He threw his hands up. “I don’t know. We can’t do it!  That gives us what?  Just over two weeks to get it done to the finishing stage.  Impossible!  I don’t know what we are going to tell her.”

“Maybe they can move to some other space?”

Sven shook his head. “She explained very clearly before we went over the scope of work that the stipulations on accepting Anna’s request to get the renovations done to her floor, was that the CEO and other big wigs wanted as little interruption in their operations as possible.  Moving somewhere else is going to take too much time and resources.”  He paused, chewing on his lip.  “This is probably going to come down harder on her than us.   You really should have been paying attention to that conversation.”

Kristoff absolutely did not want to let Anna down or get her into hot water with her superiors.  He hated seeing the stress on her features only moments ago.  It didn’t sit right with him to see her without an easy smile.  

He rubbed his fingers down his chin, thinking.  “We can hire a grunt to haul while we finish the demo.”

“Okay, but like you said, what about the electrician?  We have him lined up based on the initial time frame.  Not to mention that asshole is going to balk at having to get it done about three times quicker than we agreed to.”

“If he can’t work with us, we’ll fine someone else.”

“That soon?  And that’s if we are at the framing stage by then. Can’t show a grunt how to frame properly, we know that from experience.  Oh, and then there’s the sheetrock.  You and I both know we are none too quick at that.  We’d need to hire a company to come in and get it done.  And rush them.  That will really up our overhead.”

“She mentioned a big bonus if we can get it done.”

“Kristoff, none of that is going to matter, because we can’t get it done.  We were already on a massive time restraint.  We would need to have to work this weekend and the next two, plus the sixty hours a week we are already putting in to even have a chance at this. We can’t do that again, we got so burnt-out last time it nearly put an end to us.”

“I know, I know.  Just let me think about this a moment.”

His eyes narrowed. “Why aren’t you freaking out about this as much as I am right now?”

“Because, Sven,” Kristoff shot back, “we both knew how important this job is to our survival. If we can’t do it, even if they are in breach of contract, it’s not going to look very good for us, is it?”

“No, I guess not.”

“So let’s figure this the fuck out, okay?”

Sven hesitated, then nodded. He knew as well as Kristoff that the stakes were high.

*****

Anna’s heart was hammering in her chest as she took the elevator one floor down.  She walked through the dirt and dust on her heels, nearly choking at how thick it was in the air.  The guys had resumed working, meaning they must be finished talking about how – or if – they were going to proceed.

She called to them repeatedly until they heard her and turned of their obnoxiously loud tools. It was amazing how much they had removed from the space already.  Perhaps there was hope that this was possible.  She hated how much pressure the bumped-up time frame was putting on everyone.

They walked over, brushing the dust off their clothing.

Anna tried not to cough. “Hello, gentlemen.  I wonder if you might have a solution for me?”

“Can I ask first,” Sven said, “what are the repercussions if we can’t get this done?”

“Well, you can-”

“We meant for you,” Kristoff interrupted.

“Me?”  They both nodded.  She was touched that they were worried about her.  It was so damn sweet of them.  “Everything moves so quickly in the corporate world, it wont effect me too badly one way or another.  The only negative for me is that my superiors might harbour some doubts as to whether I might be qualified for any future promotions from my current position if I can’t take care of this myself.”

“What does it mean for us then, if we can’t do it?” Sven asked.

“You can sue for breach of contract, and they will just throw money at you to make it go away. That’s why they are prepared to throw money at you to get it done when they want.  If you guys can’t do it, they’ll pay you off and then pay to get someone who can.  Simple as that.”

“How much money are they offering?” Kristoff asked.

Anna gave them the figure and both men were clearly shocked despite trying to remain impassive.  They looked at each other, having a silent conversation, and turned back to her, which was kind of adorable.  Anna could tell they were best friends and had been for a long time.

Sven said, “We have some ideas about how we can possibly manage this.”

“Lay it on me.”

“We bring on a labourer to haul trash while we finish the demo.”

“How long?” Anna asked.

“Two days tops. Starting tomorrow.  And that’s if we can find someone tonight.”

“No need to stress over finding a labourer, I can haul trash, no problem.”

Kristoff looked about to object at that when Sven shot him a look.  It made Anna want to smile were she not still nervous about getting these guys to accept the new terms.

“Done,” Sven continued. “Next, we’ll work fourteen-hour days next week.  If we don’t get next weekend off to rest after this twelve-day long haul, we are going to get burnt out.”

“Of course, completely understandable,” Anna agreed.

“We’ll get to work immediately on re-organizing our electrician as soon as Kris and I are done the framing. Then we will sub-contract the drywall to get it done as quickly as possible.”

Anna nodded, eager with there the conversation was going.  “I can help with that.  I can talk to the electrician and find another one if he isn’t on board.  I can also source out a good drywall company for you and get them in when you need them.”

“That would help a lot, actually,” Kristoff said, finally smiling a little.  It suited him wonderfully.

“Lastly,” Sven added, “the windows and doors for each office that you picked out are still being manufactured.  There us no way we can speed that up.  You are going to have to deal with us in your space for a lot more of the finishing work than we anticipated.  We will not have the paint done as we had initially discussed, and we will most likely still be fucking around with the taping and flooring, so you will have to find a way to work around us.”

“That’s fine!  We can absolutely do that.  I will make sure my team stays organized and out of your way.”

The men shared another silent look and this time Anna did smile.  

“If all of this is acceptable,” Kristoff said, “then you can move back into your space in two weeks from today.”

Her mouth dropped open. “Are you serious?  We can move in on the Friday?”  She assumed they’d have to be moving in over the weekend before the client came with the tightened timeline.  

Kristoff and Sven nodded and Anna immediately felt a lump in her throat.  

“I could hug you!”  She started towards them fully intending to do so.

They both backed up a step. “It’s okay,” Kristoff said, holding up a hand. “We are filthy.”

“I don’t give a shit,” she said, and threw her arms around him.  He barely moved, but Anna didn’t care.  She also didn’t care that he smelled like dust and sweat.  She was just elated that they cared so much to work with her on this.  She hugged Sven next and he patted her shoulder blade a few times with his fingers.  

She stepped back and Kristoff looked down at her, disappointed.  Anna realized her black blazer was covered with dust.  She brushed it off and smiled at them.  “I will be here bright an early, ready to help. What time?”

“Are you sure?” Kristoff started. “It’s going to be a lot of lifting heavy material into the bin in the alley.  Pretty dirty hard manual labour.”

Anna tilted up her chin. “I am no stranger to hard work, Kristoff.”

He looked a little surprised to hear her say his name out loud.  The only she reason that she knew Kris was short for Kristoff, was because she learned his full name after liked her photo on Instagram.  Or perhaps he was surprised by her defiance.  Either way, he was not the first man she had to prove wrong.  At least with Kristoff, it looked like he’d regretted his choice of words as soon as he said them, unlike most of the other assholes she’d had to deal with over the years.

“He just means it’s going to be a workout.”  Sven flashed Kristoff a strained look.  “No issue for you though, Boss. I am sure.”

“Of course, I meant nothing by it,” Kristoff added, not quite meeting her eyes.

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

 Kristoff woke up feeling stupid all over again over his words, making Anna think he was suggesting that she couldn’t handle hauling the construction trash.  It had kept him up late, frustrated that she might get wrong ideas about what kind of person he was.  He only spoke up out of concern, knowing that it was more physically demanding than most might realize.

He scarfed down some scrambled eggs standing in his kitchen then threw a PB and J together.  He’d slept in a bit and did not want to be the one to show up late.  He was right on time when he rolled up to Sven’s house and he hopped in their work van.

The drive was quiet. They were both tired from a full week of work and were looking at another long seven days ahead of them. It was the uglier side of being self-employed.  They were responsible for every facet of their business, including the labour.  It was the dream that one day they would be the ones with offices, running their company and hiring people to do the labour. Only then would they feel like they’d made it.  For now, however, they worked job to job, and Kristoff’s Ma carried around a cell with the number from their advertising should anyone call inquiring about work.

So far, it had remained silent.

They parked and rode up in the elevator.  When Kristoff walked through the doors into the construction area, he was surprised Anna was standing there waiting for them.  

She smiled. “Good morning, gentleman.”

They both bid her a ‘good morning’ in return and Sven began the run-down of what her job for the weekend was going to be.

Kristoff couldn’t stop staring at her.  She wore a brand-new set of Carhart work clothes and gloves, looking like she’d picked them up after work on her way home last night.  He was impressed with her forethought.  Her appearance mirrored theirs, so she clearly understood the scope of work.  It made him admire her even more.

They got to work and a couple of times Kristoff had to remind himself to stay on task.  When his mind wandered, his work slowed down, and they could not afford to slack off.  At least Sven didn’t appear to notice.  If he did, Kristoff was going to get an earful on the ride home.

*****

After three trips down hauling all the construction garbage, Anna was feeling pretty damn great with herself.  It felt good to get in some physical work.  Sure, she was sweaty and the thick gloves were sure to destroy her manicure, but she was hauling ass getting the stuff down to the bin and doing a great job. Both men had shared impressed glances a few times.

She kept plugging away until it was lunch time.  She hadn’t realized that they brough their own and she felt a little sheepish that she needed to duck out like she usually did and get some.  Wanting to be quick, she picked up a sandwich at the deli across the street and rushed back.  They were almost done however, and quickly got back to it while Anna scarfed down her meal as they filled the bin.

By the end of the day her muscles were burning.  They worked at least two hours past when Anna assumed they would quit.  She didn’t dare speak on it though.  Both of them looked absolutely beat and they still had six very long days ahead of them.

No one said much as the men packed up their tools, then they all rode down in the elevator.  

“Same time tomorrow?” Anna asked when they were outside, kind of hoping they would have a later start. She was tired as hell.  

Sven said, “You bet.”

Anna missed him calling her Boss all of the sudden.  He looked too tired to keep up with his humour.  She glanced over at Kristoff and he was looking intently at her.

“Thanks for all your help today,” he paused for just a second, “Miss Arendelle.”

~   ~   ~   ~   ~

 Her entire body was sore when she woke.  It was slow going, trying to haul her ass out of bed.  For breakfast she ended up having to stuff a granola bar in her bag to eat while she drove to work and chided herself on not having time to make a lunch.  

Anna had wanted to be on time, except she got there about ten minutes late.  The bin was already full when she arrived on the floor.  

Without greeting them, she hauled the bin down and emptied it.  When she got back to the floor there was a pile started for her.  Working quickly, she filled it as Sven brough over a few more items to top it off.  Anna took it down and the next pile was a bit smaller.  It took four loads to get caught up to them.  They worked so fast it was incredible.  

Anna had been working so diligently, she hadn’t even realized how far they had gotten until Sven pulled out a broom and started sweeping.  She looked around, realizing that Kristoff was just finishing with the last of it.  When he was done, he loaded up her bin and gave her a smile.

“Last one,” he said.

Anna grinned back at him and took the load down, thinking about how gorgeous a smile looked on him. She was bouncing on her sore legs, excited they had gotten it all done before lunch time.  She eagerly wanted to go home and have a nice long hot soak to ease her muscles.  Followed by a couple of glasses of wine and ordering from her favourite Italian place for dinner.

When she got back up to the floor with the bin, they were still working however.   Kristoff was measuring something on the floor when Sven noticed her walk up to them.

“Thanks for the help, Boss!”

“You’re welcome,” she responded. “What… are you doing now?”

“Marking a layout for the framing,” Kristoff said, still looking down at his tape measure.

“Oh.  Can I help?”

“Nah, you’re good,” Sven replied.  “You can go home now, Boss.”

Anna had been thinking of doing just that a few moments ago, only that was when she thought that the guys could knock off early too.  She should have known there was more that they needed to accomplish today for the week ahead.  

“Seriously, just give me a job.  I can manage,” she offered.

Kristoff stood as the tape measure snapped back into the case.  “Honestly, this is pretty much all we can do today.  We’re picking up the material in the morning and then we start framing.  Once we’re done with this we’re out of here too.”

“Oh, okay.  How long will that take?”

Kristoff’s head tilted slightly to the side as he looked into her eyes.  “Couple of hours.”

Anna pulled her phone out of her back pocket and looked at the time. “So, about three?”

“About there, yeah,” Kristoff agreed.

His brown eyes were so warm and inviting.  Anna knew immediately her plans had changed.   “Okay, I am buying you both drinks and dinner tonight as a thank you.  You name the time and the place.”

-----

It had taken some convincing, but they guys finally accepted.  Or rather, Sven had accepted.  Kristoff was silent and appeared eager to go the entire time, and Sven only agreed after he’d looked at his friend.

Anna went home to shower and change into casual clothes and realized as she was getting ready that she was ecstatic.  They didn’t have too much of an opportunity to talk with all the work that needed to be done, but she’d observed more about Kristoff that she liked.  The way he joked with Sven in passing, the way he smiled at her every time be brought material to the bin.  The way she’d caught him breaking things up into more manageable pieces.  Some of the items Sven had thrown in she had indeed struggled to lift into the trash bin in the alley, not that she would ever admit that.  

Kristoff suggested a Pub that him and Sven frequented quite a bit and Anna was waiting outside when they arrived.  

They both showed up in jeans and that was where the similarities ended.    Outside of their nearly identical work clothing, it was interesting to see their different personalities reflected in their choice of personal ware.  Anna approached them for another hug, not giving them any options to opt out.  Sven gave her another awkward pat on the back and then Kristoff actually hugged her properly, although loosely.  He smelled amazing.  Like soap and shampoo.  Sven was wearing some strong cologne, which seemed appropriate for how he was dressed. All designer, all to impress.  He had on a thick metal chain necklace and rings on each hand.  She imagined he went to clubs on Saturday nights.

Then there was Kristoff. Flannel shirt, boot cut jeans and worn in cowboy boots.  Feathery blond hair clean and soft looking from the shower he would have had only an hour ago.  Easy smile, nothing else.  Down to earth and absolutely everything that Anna had come to find attractive in a man.  It was something else to see him out of his work clothes.

The girls on the floor had pestered her about which one of the two jacked construction workers she thought was hotter, and they all had their own opinions on who was better looking. While Kristoff and Sven were both very handsome, for her it wasn’t so cut and dry.  What attracted her to men was more than simply looks.  After that first meeting, she knew Sven wasn’t her type, even though she still liked him as a human being and definitely could see them being easy friends.  Kristoff on the other hand, was a little harder to peg, therefore a little harder to see for who he was.  It had taken a bit, but she could see it now having been around him all weekend.

And she liked it.  A lot.

They all ordered beer and they all fell into easy conversation.  Even Kristoff was more talkative than she’d ever seen him.  It delighted her to no end to see him comfortable and showing her what he was like outside of work.

After sharing a couple dozen wings and a few other appetizers, Sven announced he was tired and wanted to head home.  Kristoff appeared a little surprised by that for a slit second before brushing it off. Sven thanked Anna for the drinks and the food, then he smacked Kristoff on the arm and told him to be there bright-eyed and bushy-tailed in the morning.  Kristoff grinned and gave him the finger in return.

Anna found herself smiling ear to ear watching them.

When Sven left, Anna asked, “Would you like to stay for one more, Kristoff?”  She really hoped that he would say yes.  

He smiled. “Sure.”

They ordered another round and a silence fell between them.  Anna was the one to break it.  “I apologize again for putting such a rush on the job.”

“It’s okay, no worries,” he said softly.

“I truly am grateful you guys accommodated me with everything.”

Kristoff shrugged. “Could be worse.  If you weren’t leaving the bathrooms and breakrooms where they are, it would be really difficult.  It gets complicated when you have to move around a bunch of plumbing.”

Anna smiled. “I can imagine. When we outgrew our space and the bosses were set to move up to the floor above us, they tore everything out. It took months.  They kept changing things and adding things.  The CEO decided he wanted a fireplace in his office!”

“A fireplace?” Kristoff chuckled.  “Whatever for?”

“God, who knows with that guy.”  Anna took a sip of her beer.  “That’s why I wanted to re-do our space so much.  I may be the boss for everyone on my floor now, but I don’t want them to think my head got so big that I believe I deserve a massive over-the-top office. Not to mention it’s not my style at all.”

“Oh?”  Kristoff raised his eyebrows.  “What is your style?”

Anna sat back in thought. No one had outright asked her that since she brought up the renovation.  

“Something functional. Simple, but not minimalist.  Wood and earth tones for the furniture and pops of colour everywhere else.  Basically, nothing like how it used to be.”  She chuckled. “Although I do love the idea of some bookcases.”

“I can build some for you, if you’d like.”

She blinked at him, touched with the offer.  “I couldn’t ask you to add onto all the other work you have.”

He smiled.  “It’s no issue.  Won’t take me very long.  I do a lot of built-ins.  The bonus will more than cover the cost of material for something so small.”

Anna looked into his eyes. They were so warm, so lovely.   She had no idea she would get so much enjoyment out of looking into someone’s eyes. And now that she had gotten to know him better, his demeanor was absolutely wonderful.  A far cry from almost every man who worked on that upper floor.  She realized that she wanted to start spending a lot more time with such a delightful man.  As long as he was available, that is.

“That would be very kind of you, Kristoff.”

“No problem, really.”

They were quiet a moment, sipping their beer when Anna decided to go for it.  She would have already been looking all over his Instagram account to try and find out, only he just had that one stupid photo of himself.

“So, Kristoff, you have a girl waiting at home for you or what?”

His eyebrows shot up. “Me?  No.  No one waiting at home.”

“Hmmm.  And are you and Berkleigh a thing, or?”  Anna was pretty confident that it wasn’t an issue but she needed to find out all the same.  There was no point in wasting her time on someone who had other ideas.

His cheeks started to darken.  “Her? No, nothing going on.  I mean, I’m not interested.  At all.”

“You might want to tell her that.  She thinks you’re going to ask her out soon.”

“Shit.”  His shoulders dropped and his hand came up to rake through his hair.  He looked down.  “I was trying so hard not to be rude to her.  She’s… very…”

“Annoying?”

He looked up, smile pulling at the side of his mouth.  “I was going to say persistent.”

Anna laughed.  “She is that, too.”

“I figured.  She was pestering me to set up an Instagram account and told me she wasn’t going to leave me alone until she did it for me. I didn’t really want it.  I don’t know why I caved.”

She arched an eyebrow. “Trying to be polite?”

“Something like that.”

“Is that who took that photo of you?  It’s awful.”

Kristoff laughed. “It’s terrible, I know!”

Anna adored his laugh. It was something special that he showed to few people, she could tell.  There was a lot to admire about him the more Anna spent with him.

“We can fix that.” She held out her hand.  “Give me your phone.”

He didn’t hesitate. After unlocking it, he placed it in her palm and sat back in the booth.  Anna opened his camera and lifted the phone.

“Tilt your head to the side a bit.”  He did as he was asked.  “Now smile. No, not that smile, it looks forced. Give me that little half smile you used when I called Berkleigh annoying.  Yes, that’s it.  Perfect!”

Anna took the photo and looked at it.  Damn he was handsome.  Easily one of the most striking men she’d had the pleasure of being out with.  Not that this was a date.  Yet.

“There, now this is a good picture,” she said, handing the phone back.  “You can make it your profile picture and just delete that awful one. Make your first post what you want it to be, you know.  Not what someone else thinks it should be.”

Kristoff appraised himself on the screen a moment before looking back up at her.  “Thank you… Anna.  It’s a very nice picture.”

That was the first time he’d called her by her first name and it delighted her to no end.  He tucked the phone back in his pocket and they sipped their drinks again.  

Anna said, “You can follow me, you know.”

He just about choked on his beer.  “What?”

She laughed. “On Instagram. You can follow me.  I mean, we both know you were looking.”

He pursed his lips as he turned his head away, clearly embarrassed but smiling nonetheless.  His hand came up and rubbed his jaw before he looked back to her, cheeks all red again.  “We’re just gonna openly talk about that, huh?”

Anna grinned.  “Oh, I’m sorry.  Is this something that you were hoping to never think about again?”

“Actually, yes.”

Anna laughed again. “Oh, Kristoff.  You are adorable you know that?”

One eyebrow went up.  “Am I now?”

“Uh huh. Cuter than a baby lamb.”

The side of his nose came up and he was smiling naturally now.  “A baby lamb?  Not that cute.  Baby buffalo or something, maybe.”

She laughed harder. It had been a long time since someone had made her feel so delightfully at ease.  This man was something special.

*****

They exchanged their phone numbers at the end of the evening and later that night when Kristoff was lying in bed, he added the picture that Anna took of him as his profile picture to his Instagram.  It took forever for him to figure out how to do it.  Then he deleted the one that Berkleigh had taken and unfollowed, then blocked her.   After that he followed Anna.  She followed him back two minutes later, making him smile.

Then he changed his account to Private.  

It did cross his mind if that might be a little harsh to just block Berkleigh like that, except Anna was clearly interested and that was everything to him right now.  He did not want the secretary to get in the way of what he could have with her.

He was sure he was going to fall asleep smiling he was so happy.  As soon as they were done this long-ass work week, he was going to ask her out on a proper date.

---

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter

[heartxshaped-bruises]

------ RACHEL WAS APPREHENSIVE. A streak that had always been a part of his personality but only manifested into a solid pillar after this whole shit went down. There were rarely any good days. For 3 years he'd been pushed into this mindset of walking on eggshells around everyone. Authorities, inmates, journalists... it wasn't any different with Aurora. He was afraid to say the wrong thing in the worst moment and for it to bite him in the ass. Frankly, he regretted his question the instant it was out. Didn't expect the girl to even bother, just to turn around and walk right back to where she came from. Leaving him out here, as she should. But she didn't.

       Another surprise, the second one in a row. They had things in common, rooted in the same horrible incident and finding a splinter of solace in it was the most they'd get out of it. And maybe, if he dared to get his hopes up -- CLOSURE. He fucking wished that they'd both find it. But he had the feeling this wasn't over.

       Adjusting his pace to Aurora's, Rachel noticed that she'd started crying, but he pretended he didn't notice. No need to make her feel more uncomfortable, right? Man... he felt truly sorry for her. Even if they could relate in a few areas, he couldn't imagine what she must've went through. Christ alive, a part of him didn't want to. He told himself that was a normal reaction, contradicting his MORBID CURIOSITY and the delusion that her story would numb the pain of his own. Distract him for a bit, fill in the voids that he'd wrecked his head about.

       But instead... what he got was the apprehension creeping back as she went on. Felt himself tense at her words. ❛❛You... you can't recall it?❜❜ His voice gave little away, but he was on the brink of falling victim again to the vicious cycle of thoughts that haunted him since day 1. If Aurora's memory had blanks, if she repressed important parts of it due to THE TRAUMA she went through -- the only thing that got him out of prison -- it could also be the very reason to get him back behind bars. He knew they'd argue. What if they'd deem her testimony invalid? That it didn't prove that he wasn't involved somehow? It didn't prove shit.

       Rachel found himself sucking in a hard breath and tried to shake off the circling thoughts. You gotta keep calm. Don't let it show, listen to her. Just listen. Don't stress her out. As she said, she felt bad enough for how other people treated her. She was right. It wasn't fair at all. ❛❛I do feel bad for you❜❜, he admitted quietly. Unwilling to let that fall under the table. ❛❛But I don't want you to feel small because of that. So, whatever you're gonna say, it's gonna make me feel like shit too, if that makes up for it.❜❜ He flashed a brief side-glance at her, biting his lip in thought for a moment. ❛❛But if you want, I promise. Okay? I'm not gonna look at you like YOU'RE A VICTIM. I'm pretty sure you did all you could.❜❜ That last part was nothing but a low mutter.

More than anything she appreciated his honesty. Aurora noticed that people liked to dance around topics with her, watering shit down or withholding information completely. It drove her up the wall. Yet here was Rachel, admitting that no he wasn’t okay. It was a small moment but it meant a lot to her. Personally she felt caught between a rock and a hard place most of the time. If she was emotional, then she wasn’t coping well and needed to be fretted over. If she was calm and ‘normal’ then she was lying about her real feelings and was pushed into therapy. There was no winning. This hadn’t happened to anyone else but her and Rachel, and they got to dictate how they felt about it all. It seemed only fair…

She was entranced by him. Every thing he said to her felt important. He was right - she did know what he was talking about. All too well. And there was a sad comfort in that. There was no telling what would come of this conversation but at least she knew that she wasn’t alone. “Yeah… that sounds exactly right… Some mornings I get confused. I’ll forget about it all, like it never happened. But as soon as I leave my room, I don’t know, I get set off. The fact that I’m able to leave the room at all, I think, still fucks with me. It doesn’t feel real, if that makes sense. I still expect to be shut in. Confined. So nights like this… it’s a lot of mixed emotions. Freeing. But also terrifying.”

Without needing to say it out loud, it seemed they were granting each other the space to get stuff off their chests. Stuff no one else would understand, let alone be able to stomach. Their understanding would only go so far though. Their prisons were very different and there was curiosity on both ends. His question was blunt but she could tell he didn’t mean it to sound so harsh. The fact that he instantly back tracked made her want to try answering him - he deserved that much.

A deep breath expelled from her lungs as she stepped with him. Moving was a good idea; the stillness of their bodies made everything more intense. “No, no, you’re allowed to ask. I get it. It’s not stupid at all. There’s, uhh, there’s a few reasons why I haven’t been talking about it, especially with the public. On one hand, I still don’t really know what happened. It’s hard to trust my memories, you know? Am I blocking stuff out to protect myself? Did it happen as I remember it? And trying to sort out a timeline is next to impossible. The days just bled together after a while….” She was shaking, whether it was from the cold or her nerves was unclear. But she’d keep going until she couldn’t anymore. “On the other hand, there’s this look that people get when I do start to get into it. It’s this– this look of pity. And it makes me feel so small, Rachel, so insignificant. I don’t matter at that point, just my story. I’ll be another victim used as fodder for a true crime documentary and I just— that’s not fair!” She swiped furiously at the stray tears that had rolled down her cheeks. She wasn’t going to break down on him, no, that wouldn’t be fair either. “I-if you can promise not to look at me like that, I’ll tell you what I remember.”

[soupbabe]

Bo has a Secret (Bo Sinclair x Reader)

Reader finds Bo's diary.

Based off of a post where I called Bo a journal girlie and @slvt4slashers2 's reblog <3

You weren't supposed to find it. You were just supposed to drop off and put up Bo's laundry, but there it was: a leather bound journal, haphazardly laying in his dresser. At first you didn't know what it was and you really had to applaud Bo for covering up what lied beneath the pages.

The first ten pages were nothing too special, only containing grocery lists and town runs for later on in the week and what appeared to be an updated report on the mechanics of Ambrose. Little notes in his surprisingly tidy handwriting detailing if a sound effect started skipping again or if the puppies in the window started malfunctioning.

But as you went deeper into the book, you found a different side of Bo.

A multicolored, your-name-in-hearts side of Bo.

Your face flushed warm at the title page at the almost childlike displays of "Y/n + Bo" and "[Mr./Mx./Mrs.] Y/n Sinclair." At this point, your curiosity passed the point of simple morbid curiosity and into the the realm of invasion of privacy as you read along the lines of paper.

The small doodles and craft store stickers felt like a distraction as you continued, making you forget who's diary you were reading. His dated confessions held a tone of embarrassment and frustration with his feelings. The earlier entries had a pattern of dumbing down his emotions whenever he thought you looked "not too bad," but as they grew more recent, his language certainly got a lot more colorful and shameless.

Amidst your look into Bo's thoughts, the man himself just about had a heart attack when he walked into his room. His voice was loud and clear as he drew near, "Now what the hell do you think you're doing?" He was quick to snatch the journal out of your hands, without giving you much room to talk. "How much did you see?" The question came off as a command and it had you frozen on his bed. Your voice lacked confidence as you responded, "...the stickers."

Bo's face turned red at the realization, both in embarrassment and anger. While you've been in Ambrose for a while now, there's a reason he hasn't expressed his feelings to you yet. It was a tough situation he even knew he couldn't solve by getting rid of you, he found himself too attached. He hated to admit that you've charmed him ever since he saw you. You had him staying up late at night in his room like a teenage girl, laying on his stomach writing about the pull he felt that made him spare you.

The man's stare and silence created a thick tension, making you avoid his gaze and look at your shoes like a kid who got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. "I'm sorry, Bo. I should've known better than to read it." Bo scanned your downtrodden expression and squatted down to your eye level, bringing a hand to your chin to lift your head. His voice was low and stern. "I got two things to tell you: this is a warning, I ain't going to do anything to you. Secondly, you're not going to tell anyone about this, you hear me?" You let out a nod and a swift "I understand."

At your words he stood back up and stared out the window, observing Lester's truck filled with a couple more passengers than the usual. "Just to let you know- I didn't mind your writing at all. You never failed to flatter me." Bo gave a hum in acknowledgement, only focussing on the men getting out of the truck. He gripped a pocket knife hidden in his pocket tightly, relieved that he found something to take his anger out of so soon.

You looked over at the scene outside and stood up, "Alright. I'll go ahead and warn Vincent." Bo turned around to leave, but stopped to give you a quick peck to the cheek. "We're gonna talk about this later, sweetheart." He didn't even have to glance back to know his actions had you caught off guard and flustered.

Little did you know, it was only the start of his own plan to get back at you for reading his diary.

[cloudninetonine]

Can you make player telling a story about their favourite cartoon when they just a kid (6-10) and their favourite cartoon is happy tree friends. (not gonna lie that cartoon is a part of my childhood tho :D.)

(I'M SORRY THIS IS REALLY SHORT! BUT I HOPE YOU LIKE IT ANYWAY! I was stumped because I've never watched HTF (For good reasons) so I was lost on what to write)

“What in Hylia’s name-”

“Dear Golden Three-”

“Why is there so much!?”

“You used to watch this as a child!?”

Yeah, it probably wasn’t the best thing to bring up but they did ask! You’d discovered that some of your apps were still working while just messing about on your phone earlier that day and to your great relief Netflix seemed to be working! So the only option was to go straight to your favourite cartoon and entertain yourself as the group rested for the day.

The show was, however, not the best thing to watch while in the presence of others.

Happy Tree Friends, scarring but your absolute favourite.

“Wait, what is he doing- Dear Ordon!”

Sky had caught it over your shoulder at a particularly gory scene and had yelped in complete shock, catching the attention of the others and causing you to pause the show, glancing over to him in confusion.

You, of course, ended up having to have a talk with the group.

“Listen,” You had started, sat comfortably on your rock with your leg crossed over one another “I know it’s disturbing but it’s one of my favourite cartoons! I used to watch it all the time when I was younger and I’ve become desensitised to the violence! It’s why I don’t even flinch when you guys tear apart those bokoblins and moblins on the daily- aren’t you glad I don't go screaming my head off about seeing monster guts and all that jazz?”

Warriors made a face “It is nice not having to deal with such reactions- but you say you watched this while you were a child? That is very disturbing!”

“Morbid curiosity is a thing, you know” You sassed, crossing your arms.

“Morbid curiosity is just that: curiosity” Time replied, mirroring your stance “What you have for this….cartoon is not what one would call healthy”

You rolled your eyes, pulling out your phone once again “It’s like really a horror story or listening to spooky tales around the fire! Look- how about I show you an episode and let you guys decide how to feel about it?”

Shared glances showed hesitation, but Wind piped up with a shout of encouragement with a puff of his chest “I’m not afraid of something colourful moving pictures!”

And of course, these men weren’t going to let the boy show them up.

So, now, here you were, episode 5 of the first season, the heroes glued to the screen in absolute horror as Nutty was once again torn apart by one of his reckless stunts fueled by a sugar rush, the screams of pain making some flinch and ending with Four standing and walking away.

“Want me to turn it off now-”

“No!”

You grinned, taking a bite of the stew Wild had prepared for dinner.

Morbid curiosity was sure a curse.

But hell, who were you to complain?

[twdsunshine]

“I ain't gonna hurt ya.  Ya gotta calm down, girl.” (Daryl x Reader)

Requested by Anon.

You were surrounded.  Actually, that wasn’t technically true.  There were only two of them, but the size of them, the broad shoulders of the men and their height made it feel as though every avenue of escape was cut off as they closed in on you.  The apparent eldest wore a chilling smirk as he looked you up and down, the feeling of his gaze raking over your body turning your stomach and making your skin crawl, whilst the other, when you glanced back his way, was concentrating on your face, his eyes narrowed as though he was trying to get a read on you.  Your breath was coming in short, sharp gasps, every muscle tensed as you prepared to fight, your knife clutched tightly in your fist as you hovered on the balls of your feet.

“Well, looky what we have here,” the older man drawled, his rifle raised and angled towards the centre of your chest.  “We got a live one, little brother.  Reckon we could have some fun with her, whaddya think?”

“Shuttit, Merle,” the younger one snarled, and the crossbow that he’d had poised and ready to fire dropped a little as he decided that you posed no immediate threat, though his finger was still resting over the trigger.  “Hey.”  His voice was a rough rasp as he addressed you, his drawl distinctively Southern so you knew he must be a local.  “S’alright.  Ya on your own?”

“Tell me ya got a sister somewhere round here,” Merle cut in before you could respond.  “Ain’t like I’m opposed to sharin’, but it sure does make it easier if we got one a piece.”

“Merle!” the younger brother snapped again, and you found yourself edging closer to him and away from the leering redneck with the gun, figuring he may just be the lesser of two evils.  Your hand was shaking, your knife slipping in the grip of your sweaty palm, and you scanned the forest that bordered the road, wondering if you might be able to make a break for it.  Before you could so much as take a step though, a guttural groan drifted out from between the trees, and a corpse staggered out of the shadows, drawn by your voices.  It had only been a few days since your hometown had been overrun by the shuffling dead, and the sight of its snapping jaws and yellowed eyes still had terror coursing through you.  “Ya wanna get that, man?”

“On it.”  Merle backed off then, pacing towards the biter, preparing to take a shot, and you turned your attention back to the bowman, who was approaching you with one hand outstretched.

You lashed out without thinking, your mounting panic and the adrenaline thrumming through your bloodstream sending you headfirst into fight mode, when it seemed flight wasn’t an option.

“Hey!  I ain’t gonna hurt ya!  Ya gotta calm down, girl!”  He retreated hurriedly, watching you with caution as he waited to see if you’d attack again.  “M’Daryl.  That’s my brother, Merle.”  He gestured over towards the trees where Merle had ditched his gun in favour of a vicious looking blade which he sunk into the skull of the corpse, crowing in morbid delight when it dropped.  “Ya from round here?  Ya got people with ya?”

As he spoke, he let his bow fall to his side, and you found your gaze locked onto the piercing blue of his eyes, finding nothing there but curiosity and uncertainty which you were sure matched your own.  There was something grounding about his intensity, and you kept your focus on him even as his brother swaggered back towards the road to join you once again.  “No.  It’s just me.  I’m a student at GSU.  I was… I’m trying to get back home, find my parents, but I got turned around, and now… I’m not even sure where I am.”

“Where’s home?” he asked, his brow creasing with a frown, and you knew he was probably avoiding saying what you already knew in your heart to be true.  The chances were that there was nothing left for you to go home to.  All broadcasts had stopped.  There was no news coming out of any state, it seemed, and that could only mean that the undead were everywhere, decimating the population until there was barely anyone left.  It was only through sheer luck that you were still standing yourself.

“Charleston.”

“Shit, ya kiddin’ me?  That’s over three hundred miles from here.”

“Yep.”  You nodded as if you were confident in your decision to try to survive the journey alone, but, in reality, you knew you would never make it.  You just didn’t know where else to go.  “So, if you could just tell me where we are and point me in the right direction, I should really keep moving.”

“Just outside a’Westbridge.  How long since ya left the city?”

“A couple of days.  Why?”

“Ya made it twenty miles, give or take,” Daryl told you with an apologetic shrug, and you knew then that it was hopeless.  At your current pace, you would be looking at over two weeks of hard walking, and you knew you’d only slow as food and water became an issue.  Plus, you’d have to try to dodge the corpses as much as possible, and try to find your way, which you obviously sucked at.  You let out a sigh, rubbing your hand over your face, unable to even consider what else to do now.  A part of you wished that Merle, who was watching your exchange with amusement quirking his lips, would just put a bullet in your head and end it all.  “Look, we’re gonna head up into the hills, camp out, hunt…  Ya can join us.  Ain’t the best company, but s’gotta be better than facin’ it out here on yer own.”

“Speak for yourself, baby brother,” Merle muttered, but he was shut down with a sharp look.

“Yeah.  Yeah, okay.”  The words had left your lips before you were even really aware of it, and you felt a sense of relief wash over you as the bowman nodded.  You weren’t really sure why, but, as you hefted your pack up on your shoulder, turning to fall into step beside him and his brother as they continued on their way, you had a feeling that Daryl might just look out for you, and he was right: having someone to watch your back was a million times better than facing this new world on your own.

[gruesomejack]

Jen had moved a small TV into her office. Maybe she shouldn't be filling her head with the bullshit about her client on the local news, but she couldn't help it. It was like a nasty car wreck-- You had to slow down to look even if you knew it'd disturb you for the rest of the day. Pure and honest human morbid curiosity.

"Is that the bullshit you're spreading about him?"

Jen paused and peeked up from her paperwork. She knew that voice. Madcara'd lashes narrowed over blue eyes as she looked at the TV, her heart immediately jumping to a start. "I told you not to talk to reporters!" She hissed quietly, "Alex Prescott, you better not say a damn thing else." He was a good boy, a smart boy. It was just a shock to get cornered, right? He'd slip off, go home, and they wouldn't have to worry about it at all. Jen took in a breath and let it out before going back to her papers.

It was the pained yell of the sleazy local reporter that grabbed her attention again, her already large eyes near bugging out of her head. She stared at the television and watched the broadcast cut immediately to their technical difficulties error. Alex had punched him. Jen sat back in her seat and rubbed at her forehead before grabbing her pack of cigarettes from her pocket. About half was gone by the time she'd calmed herself down enough to get up. Alex would be back here; he'd been stopping by to feed that rabbit Jonathan thought he was hiding, and she was going to give him an earful when he did.

Smoothing the wrinkles from her coat, she stomped out past Mary and made her way to the adjacent building. Inside, she managed a few brief smiles to the patients hanging around on the first floor before climbing up to the second, making a line for one of the bedrooms. With a firm knock, she waited outside the door.

Brows furrowed, Harvey pulled the door open and immediately tried to close it when he saw Jennifer's irritated expression. Pink heel in the blocking him, she nudged the door back open and put her hands on her hips. "Mister Holmes."

Harvey frowned. "Hey, Jen..."

Glancing behind him, she caught the image on his TV. The news was back on. "Did you catch the latest segment about Jon?"

"If that means Alex throwing hands at the news guy, then yeah." He said, flashing a grin. "Funny shit. I would've hit him, too."

Jen sighed. "Yeah, me too..." She agreed before shaking her head and frowning again. "But he's gonna get Jon in trouble!" Poking gently at the young man's chest, she pouted at him. "When he comes here, you send him to me. Got it?"

Rubbing at the side of his neck, he rolled his eyes. "Yeah, alright."

"It... happened again."

Jennifer blinked. Narrowing her eyes, she very nearly hung up the phone until the voice on the other line started to choke. She knew that voice. "...Jonathan? Jonathan! Where are you? What happened?!"

Jack Stone had been missing for three days; a runaway. It'd been a disappointing thought. He was doing so well in his therapy and treatment, and it didn't quite make sense to anyone here for him to up and abandon all his progress. It, unfortunately, wasn't exactly an uncommon occurrence, though. Some patients see themselves as fixed once past a certain point and decide to check themselves out and leave before treatment is finished. The majority of them failed to thrive and ended up back in medical care or... worse.

At least, Jennifer had thought he was a runaway. Hearing him cry and babble on the other line was more than enough to convince her that wasn't the case. Her heart was racing in her chest, her palm running over her forehead as she scrambled for a pen. "J-.. Jon! Jon! Slow!" She begged him and then immediately apologized when she heard him whine in fear. Pushing out a stressed breath, she grabbed her notepad and swallowed hard. As soft and gently as she could, she spoke again. "...Okay, honey, do you know where you're at?"

------

The scene at the house was out of a nightmare. The body of Alan Nowak was nearly unidentifiable, his face damaged so badly. As horrifying as that was, it wasn't what really scared her.

Jennifer felt her heart drop to her stomach as the paramedics ushered her client outside on a gurney. Jonathan was unconscious and handcuffed to the railing. His own face was swollen so bad it was hard to really recognize it as the kind young man she talked with regularly. Jogging after one of the EMTs, she grabbed his shoulder. "Why isn't he awake? He was conscious when he called. What happened?"

Helping his partner load him into the back of the ambulance, he glanced back at the woman and offered her a frown. "Strung himself up. I... guess he killed that boy and couldn't sit with it." He said and hopped up into the vehicle. Jennifer's limbs felt heavy, her face paled. She watched the two emergency responders stick him with an IV and fix an oxygen mask over his face. "Oh, Jon.."

-----

Back in her office, she shut the door behind her and moved to sink into her chair. Running her hand over her lips, Jennifer closed her eyes and let out a slow breath. Fuck. Shit! She buried her face in her arms and stomped at the floor with her pink heel. Doing her best to gather herself together enough to speak, she lifted her head and reached for the phone.

"Mary?" She paged the front desk. "Can you do me a favor? Give Alex Prescott a call and have him meet me at the hospital in an hour."

@purposefully-lost

[chil2de]

that one scene from csm but make it my favourite haikyuu characters

aka: you give them the lollipop you were eating

featuring: miya atsumu, miya osamu, suna rintarou, sakusa kiyoomi, iwaizumi hajime, tendou satori

atsumu

“that’s nasty as shit”

“y’all still eat those?” atsumu sneers, slumping down on the bench beside you. he slings his arm over you to set down the drink he got for you. from your peripherals, you watch him screw open a bottle of water before chugging half the contents.

“what do you mean still? you’re acting like you were born three decades ago. have you ever even had one?”

“why would i eat one? it’ll be gone in like a minute” he scoffs, screwing the lid back on.

“that’s ‘cause you’re one of those psychopaths who bite straight into it. you’re supposed to wait for it to dissolve in your m—“

“wait for it to do what?”

“huh? dissolve in your m—“

you turn your attention towards atsumu’s stifled laughter.

“you’re tryin’ so hard to not say ‘suck’ and it’s fuckin’ killing me” he snorts, eyebrows raising in amusement.

“are you a child?” you sneer, gritting your teeth a little into the candy.

“i ain’t got a lollipop in my mouth”

“that’s why ‘samu’s the better twin.” you hum. when atsumu’s mouth rolls into an ‘o’ you take the opportunity to plunge the lollipop into his mouth, relishing the way surprise paints him.

for a second, your thumb lingers on his bottom lip. his eyelids are still blown with shock before he tucks the lollipop away, delicacy audibly knocking against his teeth.

“cute.” you hum, pulling atsumu’s bottom lip down. he jams his lips closed, shooting you daggers in the process. it only fuels you more when he’s left in a pout but his eyes shriek bloody murder.

“shut the hell up, asshole.”

-

osamu

“i mean..”

“here. you wanted this one, right?” osamu opens the grocery bag, rummaging through the contents before leaning over the passenger seat to give you your lollipop.

you lean back over to him, planting a small kiss onto his cheek before murmuring a soft thank you against his skin.

“oh! you got the melon one, too! i heard they’re good.” you hum, working the wrapper off as osamu drives the key into the exhaust.

“probably tastes like melon.” he laughs with a puff of exhaled air.

“you didn’t get one for yourself?” you inquire, turning to face osamu as he leans one arm behind your seat- peering out behind him to back out of the parking lot.

“one of..?” he trails, attention clearly elsewhere for a second.

“the lollipop. you wanna try?”

“(y/n), i don’t want your cooties.” osamu hums in amusement, yet continues to pop his mouth open whilst he’s still facing you. having not tried the lollipop yourself, you quickly give it a few swipes before letting osamu taste it.

“tastes like melon.” he agrees, humming thoughtfully as he straightens himself to face forward.

“right? it’s kinda weird, like there’s an aftertaste.”

“there’s a few extras in the bag, you wanna try those too?”

-

suna

“thanks.”

you sling your arm over your bed, digging and thrashing around for your phone until it falls within your reach. even though suna’s a room away, instead of using your voice, you decide to send him a message. you can even hear the faint buzz and ring of his phone going off in the distance.

it’s a beat, two, three until you can hear rustling ring in the air; followed by the faint pitter patter of suna’s footsteps.

when the door opens, he pops his head through with a look of disgruntlement evident on him.

“are you mute?” he sighs, glancing around to try to figure out what you want before you get a chance to speak.

you grab the lollipop from your mouth, sticking it out in front of you.

“i don’t wanna eat it anymore.”

suna slumps off of the door, taking a few steps forward to extend his hand before taking the candy from you.

“i’ll throw it away for you, doll.” he hums flatly, ghosting a smirk on his lips as he listens to your clamor and turmoil at the newfound information.

subsequently, when suna settles back down at his desk, he sends you a snap. the picture includes him holding the stick at an angle so that you can see the bulge of the lollipop against his skin, ornating his cheek in a small ‘o’. moreover, the caption reads “gotem😎”

-

sakusa

“no.”

sakusa raises an eyebrow incredulously at your morbid proposal, features scrunching into mutiny underneath his mask.

“give it here. i’m throwing it away.” he tilts his digits in a ‘come here’ motion, beckoning for you to hand the lollipop over.

“kiyoomiiii! it won’t kill you!” you guffaw, hesitantly handing over the candy in betrayal. he shoots you a sideways glare, carefully covering the lollipop up with the original wrapper it came in.

“but we’ve kis—“

“—how am i supposed to know that you’re not carrying a disease?” sakusa refutes, warning you to not cause a scene in front of his team mates. if they caught wind that he even allowed you to touch his hand, let alone kiss him, he’s sure that he’ll never hear the end of it.

later that day, as you swing by the gymnasium to catch the end of sakusa’s practice, you spot him halfway across the court- resting on a bench.

with every step forwards, your eyes focus on the foreign object that pokes out of his mouth. it’s a white lollipop stick, the same one you’d given him earlier.

you raise a finger in rebuttal, tone sneering.

“is that—“

he grabs the lollipop, motioning it towards you.

“why? you want it back?”

-

iwaizumi

“couldn’t you have bought another one?”

“iwa-chaaaan! how are your blood sugar levels?”

“iwa-chan?” his face scrunches, clearly disappointed and a little agitated over the downgrade in his pet name. whatever happened to babe? baby? haji, even? he’s not necessarily thrilled that you’re talking to him at the same level oikawa does.

“huh? you good?” you wave your hand out, fanning it in front of iwaizumi’s face to catch his attention.

“yeah, what? i don’t know. i don’t check it.” he huffs momentarily.

iwaizumi’s quick to spot the lollipop sitting in your mouth, tucked away in your cheek so that you can speak properly. you can already see the suspicion crawling onto him, and unfortunately he’s half a step further than you.

“don’t you have another one?” iwaizumi sighs, refusing to meet the puppy eyes that make his heart strings pull.

“why? don’t wanna share with me?” you grin, securing the stick in place so that he can’t grab ahold of it.

“really? you’re not gonna share it with me now?”

before you’re able to start a game of tug of war, iwaizumi steals the candy by yanking it out of your mouth and swiftly taking it for him to taste.

“what the hell?” his features bundle up into disgust and his gaze locks with yours. you can’t help the slight giggles that threaten to spill past your lips.

“you got the orange one? that’s nasty.” iwaizumi mumbles, twirling the lollipop in his mouth as though he might become accustomed to the taste.

“so? no one’s forcing you to eat it. spit it out or throw it away.”

“no way.”

-

tendou

“ehh? you really wanna share it?”

from across the assortment of candy jars that lay in front of him, tendou leans over the counter. he creases his brow in concentration, as though he’s plotting his next move to win a checkmate in chess. in fact, he’s just trying his best to pick what snacks to stockpile for when he’s cuddling with you later.

tendou’s face contorts into disgust and he hisses a low tut when his eyes lay upon the untouched container of black liquorice. he moves his slender fingers towards said container, analysing the amount of content inside.

“satori? you like black liquorice? it’s okay, i won’t tell anyone.” you sneer, digging your elbow into tendou’s side. he uncoils from the jar as though he’s just touched a hot pan.

“eh? do i look like someone who likes black liquorice?” he raises an eyebrow, setting the container back down before grabbing something else and stuffing it into a paper bag.

“i mean.. yeah? you were just fondling black liquorice?”

“whaaaat? there’s some things that i like fondling, but black liquorice ain’t one of them.” tendou hums, snapping his head back to look at you in his peripherals. you send another jab to his side, apologising profusely to the employee for his inappropriate comment.

“satori!” you guffaw, watching the smug grin tilt onto him whilst you’re left speeding away from him out of embarrassment. tendou only reaches his hand out and stops you short by the arm, assertively yet carefully dragging you back to walk alongside him.

“you can’t just say that in public!”

“say what?” he cocks his head, blowing his eyelids open with curiosity. you watch his lips descend into that cute little pout and you’ve almost lost your mind already.

“oh? but i didn’t specify what i was talking about, did i? you’re so diiiirtyyyyy~”

“shut up! whatever— anyways, what’d you get?” you grit your teeth, turning your face away from him.

you can feel tendou’s cold fingertips grasp your chin. he tilts you forward, other hand dipping a green lollipop into your mouth.

“here! this is for you, angel~”

-

people who reblog r cool <3

[qlala]

pleeease, my kingdom for just one snippet of the cat!Len fic? 🙏👑

gdsgjl at this rate it's just gonna be a collection of snippets i've already posted on tumblr but I AM having too much fun with it, so here you go:

*****

“Alright,” Barry said, stretching. “We’ve been working on this for hours. I’m starving. Wally, you want dinner?”

“Big Belly has a new veggie burger,” Wally said, sitting back from his own research to crack his neck. “I’ve been meaning to try it.”

“Okay, I’ll call and—ow, Jesus, Snart!”

He tried to yank his leg back in betrayal, but Len narrowed his eyes where he was standing on his back paws and pressed his front claws another millimeter into Barry’s calf through his jeans.

“What?” Barry demanded, a little shrill even to his own ears.

One of Len’s ears flicked in annoyance. When Barry only raised an eyebrow, he made a testy noise bordering on a growl.

“You… Oh.” Barry dragged a hand over the back of his neck and glanced over at Wally with a wince. “Right. We should get something for Len, too. If you want to go pick up Big Belly? I think that pet store on East 15th is still open, so I can go get—oh my god.”

Len had put some real weight behind his claws at the words pet store, and Barry looked down at him incredulously. “I don’t know if you’ve forgotten? You’re a cat right now. You should be eating cat food. I’m sure it tastes… fine.” It was a bad lie, and he pushed past it. “What am I supposed to do, get you a burger?”

Len blinked once.

“No,” Barry said. “That’s—people food, alright? Look, I’ll get the expensive stuff. From that commercial, with the white cat on the label?”

Len glowered back, blue eyes unblinking.

“Glare all you want,” Barry said, firmly. “You’re getting cat food, and that’s final.”

*****

“This is ridiculous,” Barry muttered, pulling the last box out of the Big Belly Burger bag and checking the contents. “New rule, okay? No more breaking skin. That blood’s never gonna come out of my jeans.”

He held the box above Len’s head, waiting for him to meet his gaze. Len glanced between the box and Barry, his tail twitching impatiently.

“I didn’t see you blink once for yes.”

Len glanced away, then looked back at him with a tipped head and a flat glare. He blinked.

“Good,” Barry said. “See, that wasn’t so hard. Now you can have your chicken.”

Len still seemed annoyed by the compromise, but Barry was fairly sure cats ate birds in the wild, and the grilled chicken sandwich (minus the lettuce, tomato, mayo, hot sauce, and bun) was at least less bad for Len than a seasoned burger patty would’ve been.

“This is so weird,” Wally said, veggie burger in hand.

Barry spared a pained glance at where Len was dragging a piece of charred chicken the size of his head out of the grease-stained cardboard box, then muttered, “I’m trying not to think about it.”

“I mean, it’s kinda fucked up, right?” Wally continued. “Like, if this cat is Len—“

Barry didn’t like where he was going, and paused as he was about to take a first bite of his burger. “Wally…”

“—what’s to say the chicken he’s eating wasn’t a person too? Or that cow?”

Barry dropped his burger back on its wrapper with a baleful look.

Wally gave him a sheepish shrug. “Sorry?”

“Yeah, well, maybe your”—Barry tried to poke Wally’s sandwich, and Wally pulled it out of the way with an offended glimmer of speed—“soy protein was a person, too.”

Wally’s smile was equal parts smug and doubtful. “Seems less likely, though.”

Barry rolled his eyes, then reached over and snagged a piece of the grilled chicken from Len’s box. Len growled at him for it (a surprisingly intimidating sound with his jaws around his food), and Barry pointed an accusing finger at Wally.

“Blame him,” he said. “At least if this was a person, you’re already eating them.”

“Uh, I’m not sure that makes it better,” Wally said, glancing between Len and Barry with morbid curiosity on his face. “That’s like, some Hannibal Lecter shit. Sharing a person.”

“Wally,” Barry said, exasperated, letting his arm drop, his elbow on the table. Then glanced down in surprise when he felt small, delicate paws touch his bare forearm. Len was up on his hind paws, and he nosed into Barry’s hand as he watched, determined eyes on the chicken he was holding.

The brush of whiskers against his wrist made Barry laugh, and he surrendered. “Alright,” he said, grinning despite himself at the determined look in Len’s eyes. “Your person, Dr. Lecter. You can have it back.”

Len took the chicken in his teeth, and balanced briefly on his back paws before dropping neatly back to the table. He pointedly started eating it from the side Barry hadn’t taken a bite of, and Barry dropped his hand to scratch between his ears.

His fur was as soft as it looked, and Len tolerated it for a second longer than Barry expected—which was to say, about a second. Then Len ducked away with a frisk of his tail and dragged the food about a foot down the table and out of Barry's reach.

“Dude.”

Barry’s neck warmed even as he lifted his gaze to find Wally staring at him. “What?”

Wally’s raised eyebrow said more than Barry wanted to hear, and he glanced away with a roll of his eyes that probably looked as embarrassed as it felt.

[boop-le-snoot]

BUTT-DIAL? NO, BOOTY CALL | tony stark

explicit, 5,4k words. wrong number text, family shame & wedding drama that isn't even his and a ruined first date. despite the implications of the situation, both reader and tony are very entertained. meet-ugly series, part three.

[no y/n, no "you", no name, no reader description - race/age/body type neutral, she/her pronouns]

💚 masterlist ☀️ taglist & faq 💚

Another sunny day spent wasted in a conference room full of boring, old, conceited chairmen. Tony Stark vehemently refused to commiserate with them, their boring speeches and blunt, straightforward thinking. Sitting through a meeting was like walking on nails barefoot: painful, pointless. Mind-numbing.

His phone beeped loudly and he reached into his pocket, pretending to not see Pepper's disapproving look. Both of them knew he was hoping for a sudden Assemble call - that would surely get him out of the meeting - but as much as he hoped, they never struck at the right time.

Except, this time it wasn't a call for assistance, and neither it was an automated spam message with Pizza Hut promo codes. Tony's eyebrows drew close and his lips upturned as he read and re-read the obvious rant written on his screen, typing up his answer before he managed to resist the morbid curiosity that was fueled by his boredom.

Whoever it was, they were justifiably angry and the whole situation was almost too comical to be true, except he'd known people exactly like the runaway bride, selfish, greedy and stupid. He totally understood the woman's desire to just go and load up on tequila shots somewhere - so he bid her a haste farewell, all the while snickering to himself.

"It's Rogers," Tony offered in the way of explanation to a glaring Pepper, locking his phone away and settling in to continue pretending he was listening as another old, crusty white man offered his input on topics he was too much of a dinosaur to even really know about.

He couldn't stop thinking about the incident over the days, the story making him snort more times than he could count as the memory randomly crossed his mind in the lab, at the coffee pot or during dinner. So when a message came through from that very same number, the smirk snuck up onto his face before he even read its contents.

A brief crash course in memes from Parker had turned out to be more useful than ever. Irritating Rogers with pictures got old very fast, however, in moments Tony got rendered speechless they proved to be the perfect substitute for trying to articulate all his thoughts on the matter.

Celebrity appearance, she said? More likely than one would think. The engineer had nearly doubled over in a fit of laughter when she'd texted him that; obviously, the woman had no clue who she was texting with and he decided to further indulge in his curiosity by asking for her name: Friday did the rest.

A phone number and a name, ten minutes, and all her social media were free for him to stalk. Investigate- uh, observe. With little effort, Tony found both her and her brother, the unlucky groom, and the runaway bride and even her step-dad. On paper, they all looked like average middle-class families. Nothing seemed amiss.

It didn't mean anything, but Tony caught himself thinking about the woman. Perhaps it might have been the mischievous gleem in her eyes that was easily spotted in every picture or perhaps the raunchy sense of humour not much different from his own. Pretty, witty and smart - what's there not to like?

"So that's why you've been going around, smiling like a middle-schooler with a crush," Natasha's voice whisper-shouted in Tony's ear as the spy discreetly peered over his shoulder into his phone. He had the chat pulled up, debating on starting a casual conversation-

"Jesus Christ, Romanoff, somebody needs to put a bell on you," Tony snapped, startled, pressing the button to lock his phone immediately.

"Uhuh," The redhead replied, side-eyeing a snickering Barnes. "Who is she?"

Tony rubbed his face, feeling the beginnings of a blush starting to creep in. He felt like he was caught doing something he wasn't supposed to and the rest of the team acting like children wasn't helping the matter. "I got a butt-dial text about some wedding drama. Some chick's brother's fiance was fucking her own stepdad and ditched the wedding for her old man."

Stunned silence settled briefly into the room as Romanoff's eyes widened and Barnes choked on his orange juice. Serves him right, Tony thought, and continued his coffee-making process in quiet irritation.

"Wait, wait, hold on," Wilson half-laughed half-yelled. "You gotta spill the tea, man, this sounds too good to be true. Stories like that just don't fall into your hands."

With a sigh, he recounted the woman's story and read the texts aloud, silencing his snickering enough to be able to keep a straight face - but not for long, Rogers decided it was the time for another one of his Captain America Is Disappointed In You speeches and Tony himself couldn't even disagree.

Now that he thought about it, he came off as a kind of asshole. She and her family was going through something traumatic and he went and treated it like free entertainment. Which, to be fair, it was, but she didn't deserve to be treated like a circus clown. She actually seemed like a good sister and friend.

"Just text her," Natasha rolled her eyes at him, grabbing the coffee pot out of his frozen hand. "You're not Steve, you can keep a decent conversation via text."

Being compared to Steve and his pre-historic messaging habits really did a number on Tony's ego; the eyeroll he gave Romanoff was truly out of this world, all but teleporting him to his lab where he tried to find a way to approach the woman without coming off as incredibly creepy, as if the fact that he'd stalked her on social media didn't already put him firmly into the weirdo category.

Most likely, Tony would have spent many many days on overthinking before just grabbing one of his suits to make a truly impressive landing on her small balcony downtown; thankfully, fate had intervened and saved him from making another epic mistake. He'd made a note to ask Thor about it sometime, settling down with his tablet and popcorn bowl to watch TV on the team's movie night.

Or, more precisely, Tony settled in to watch the drama unfold as the various members of the team fought tooth and nail for the film that they wanted to watch. He never cared about it much, dozing off halfway through most of them - his teammates had the worst taste in movies - so he didn't bother joining the scuffle except when it was Peter's turn to pick. For obvious reasons.

"If you can't decide I'm gonna have someone else pick a movie," Natasha rolled her eyes, equally fed up with fully grown adults acting like spoiled toddlers.

With a stutter of his breath, Tony's hand reached for his phone as he had an Idea.

Seconds tickled as the "typing..." bubble appeared and disappeared multiple times. She must think he's just a thirsty frat boy; Tony's brow furrowed, but the curiosity was far too strong in him. Something about her vibe, her feisty nature captivated him and kept him thinking about her.

The agreement came as a surprise. In the two minutes the woman had spent thinking up her answer, Tony prepared himself to be rebuffed gently, or, worst case, be called a creep. But no - she agreed, but not before vehemently insisting that if he would end up being a creepy serial killer, she would haunt his ass for the remainder of his life.

Friday couldn't come soon enough. Tony spent most of the day loitering between his lab and the penthouse, glancing at his phone every now and then to make sure she wouldn't cancel on him last minute. The engineer wanted to see the witty, no-filter-having woman in the flesh.

And see her, he did. He'd pulled up in front of the hole-in-the wall Ramen&Bar place Clint had been raving about weeks prior - contrary to popular belief, Tony was perfectly fine with going to places that didn't have Michelin stars - and leaned against the door of his Audi R8, eyes immediately taking note of the figure calmly walking down the street, head tilted down where she was typing up a reply to him.

Tony smirked as she lifted her face up to see him, mouth immediately falling open. The shock was obvious; it lasted mere seconds until her shoulders dropped and she sighed almost... In disappointment. He frowned.

"I jinxed it, didn't I? Here's my celebrity appearance," The laugh was a little nervous and quite sardonic. "Hi, Tony, nice to finally see you."

He smiled, unsure, quipping back easily. "Let's face it, I'm not the worst famous Tony out there." Opening the door of the building for the woman, she stepped in eagerly enough, eyes immediately falling on the bartender and the few dimly lit tables in the back.

"Not by any means," She turned towards him, walking backwards. Tony met her stare; it was just like he'd imagined it to be, curious, mischievous and a little daring. She didn't even attempt to play subtle, raking over him from head to toe. "Not at all, I think," She gave another teasing smile, finally turning around, addressing the bartender and rattling off her order without as much as looking at the menu.

Tony couldn't stop staring. He was aware it was creepy, she was aware of his clever brown eyes barely paying attention to their surroundings or the beer or the food. The woman just quirked an eyebrow every time she caught him. His curiosity couldn't wait any more. "Why aren't you freaking out?" He blurted out, cursing himself out almost immediately after the words left his mouth.

"My almost-sister-in-law was fucking her own stepdad," The woman deadpanned. "I ran out of fucks to give, sorry." She thoughtfully chewed her food, briefly looking to the side. "Not to sound like an asshole, but don't you have enough people fawning over you? Doesn't it get old?"

Tony nodded, choosing to stay silent on the matter besides offering an amicable, "That's valid."

The mischief lit up again in her eyes. "You look taller on TV," She snorted, immediately falling into a fit of laughter at his face full of outrage. He sputtered, muttering something about audacity of some people, which made her only laugh harder. "Here's a pro tip from my 4'11 bestie: when someone calls you short, you snarl at them and say you're fun-sized. She swears by it," The woman remarked conversationally, grinning a two hundred watt smile.

Tony was glad at least someone was enjoying their little... Date. "And you know all about fun, don't you?" He aimed for grumpy; it came out as teasing. His famous smirk made a return appearance as he watched her throat bob.

The atmosphere between them had changed at some point; the same old routine of teasing and dancing around each other, but this time, Tony all but purred in satisfaction, finally meeting someone who was an even match to his wit and charm.

"I do," She replied with that cocky confidence, her devil eyes lighting up, lingering on his face. "Got a problem with that?"

The plate was pushed away, napkin falling into the food carelessly as he gestured for the waiter to bring the check. "As a scientist, I cannot confirm whether a theory is true until I have direct evidence," The bullshit flowed easily from his mouth, but the woman appeared to be amused by it - for a change. "M'fraid I'm gonna need that evidence," His fingers drummed on the table, impatiently, inches away from her hand.

"Of course, Mr. Stark," Her voice dropped, she was fully aware of what she was doing by calling him that. That, and those deep, magnetic eyes made Tony's trousers feel a little too tight for comfort.

His phone rang loudly, dissipating the atmosphere they had created with a shrill noise. Captain Cockblock struck again.

Fumbling fingers, Tony tapped the green icon, shooting an apologetic look to the woman. "Rogers, there better be another alien invasion or I'm revoking your phone privileges," The woman chortled, taking a sip of her beer, trying hard not to seem like she was listening in and failing spectacularly at it. "Today, out of all days? Can't Strange fill in for me?" The engineer palmed his face, running a hand through his neatly done-up hair. It would be covered in soot and sweat in an hour anyways. "Fine, I'll be there in twenty minutes. Romanoff better be hauling Barton's lazy ass out of Bed-Stuy." With a frown, Tony poked the red icon and stuffed the phone back in his pocket, looking for all and all, like an angry adolescent.

The woman, however, didn't indicate any signs of displeasure. Her hand timidly reached out for his, giving it a brief squeeze. "Go, save the world, Mr. Stark," Her smile was sympathetic. They both stood up at the same time, Tony watching her incredulously as the woman untied a scrap of red fabric from around her neck and placed it around his wrist, tying the fabric with a loose but, frankly, pretty knot. "I like that bandanna, would be a shame if you didn't return it," She explained, shrugging her shoulders.

Tony snorted, fondly rolling his eyes, before beelining for the door, activating his Iron Man suit on the way out. Turning around before take off, he noticed her throw a couple of crumpled bills to the server who was too busy ogling him.

He forgot to pay for dinner, Tony realized as he made his way to the other part of the city. Well, fuck, he would definitely have to see her again.

---

An alien invasion during her first good date in ages - scribble, scribble, sigh. She couldn't do much more than that - just as she thought her string of bad luck had ended, the world turned around and flipped her a juicy bird, all but laughing straight in her face. Like that already wasn't enough, oh no, she groused as she spied the debris and random abandoned cars on her way home - it looked like some portion of the battle had been close to her home and only the sheer mental exhaustion that resulted from her life being turned upside down during the last month prevented her from having a full-on freak-out in the middle of the eerily quiet street.

Truly, the fucks she had to give had been expired.

The gloomy mood was interrupted by a cry - for help or of outrage, she didn't know, but the kindness in her, the very values she'd been raised with didn't allow her just to walk by, and with another resigned sigh, she tucked the nice blouse she'd put on for the date under her warm sweater and set off in the direction of the sound, finding the culprit in little under a couple of minutes.

Freeing the trapped civilian wasn't easy but, thankfully, neither it required super-strength or any kind of heavy machinery. The man thanked her and with him in tow, both of them set off to inspect nearby nooks and crannies. Logic won that day - if there's was one person, there could be more.

Hours later, sweaty, sore and bruised, the woman greedily chugged the water bottle someone had passed onto her as the amount of medics and firefighters had finally reached the threshold of when her help wasn't needed anymore. While her date and his colleagues fought whatever nasty that thought NYC was a sandbox battleground for their amusement, the woman found herself helping out with retrieval & evacuation of the civilians that didn't make it out of the neighborhood before the heat of the fight reached it. There were no deaths registered as of then and deep inside, she felt proud, knowing that she had contributed to the statistic at least a little.

Her phone was dying, her body was covered in dirt and scratches from head to toe and the bruises were beginning to ache. Tony's worry-worting was cute but the tiredness overcame her, making her brain sluggish and her demeanor short, so she hastily pocketed the phone, trailing over to the closest man in uniform she could spot.

"Sir?" She addressed him, eyeing the unfamiliar logo on his jacket. "Can I go, please?" She pointed to the yellow tape surrounding the makeshift medical station.

"I'm going to have to see your ID first," He replied apologetically, tapping away on his tablet.

With a sigh, she dug through her purse, giving it to him and using the brief moment of respite to smooth back her hair and dust off her clothing. There was a cloud of concrete and dirt surrounding her.

"I'm afraid I can't let you go just yet, Mr. Stark left strict instructions for you to be picked up by him personally," The agent gave the ID back with a suspicious glint in his eye.

"Oh c'mon," The annoyed whine escaped her lips before she registered it. "It was our first date," She offered to the puzzled agent, only succeeding in making him lean back and inspect her with a raised eyebrow. "Bye," She replied none too kindly, walking off to find a place to sit down.

The time passed in a strange way. The aches and pains and exhaustion made it stop, and if someone would have asked her, she wouldn't know how much of it has passed until her eyes reluctantly cracked open at the sound of a familiar voice, coming to see a pair of expensive shoes covered in dust. At least she wasn't the only one that looked like she'd taken a roll through someone's gritty attic.

"Morning, you Tasmanian Devil," Tony sounded jovial, all things considered.

"Hello to you too, Tin Can," The woman greeted him on par, without missing a beat.

"Now, now," He offered her his hand, which she took gratefully, before pulling her to her feet. "I come with peace offerings. Your building is under quarantine and I've got a perfectly good bed and a shower with thirty settings on it at my place. Whatcha say?"

She only pretended to think about it. Her reply was haste. "I don't make a habit of going into strange dudes' towers but I'll make an exception this once." A shower and a bed sounded heavenly.

Finally getting the chance to look at him, Tony appeared to be unhurt but equally exhausted and dirty. A few scrapes on his face and arms, he was missing his blazer, and had a weary tone to his face. Some parts of his Iron Suit were still on him - like the chest plate - but besides that, he was whole. The red of the bandanna she gave him was equally dirty but still neatly tied around his wrist, just like she left it.

"How's your relationship with heights?" He asked her and all she could do was blink, watching curiously as his body was enveloped by the red and gold, crawling over his skin like a swarm of shiny termites. That was all the warning she got before the metal arms - quite literally - sweeped her off her feet. "Faster this way," She could hear the nonchalant shrug in the metallic voice coming from the helmet. "Now hold on."

Awe and fear culminated inside the woman but the weariness had long since surpassed comfortable levels and all she did was give a weak nod and close her eyes as Tony lifted off, gusts of wind making her skin break out in goosebumps and her hair stand up wildly on her head. During the short trip her eyes fluttered open only once just to close back up immediately - all she saw were clouds, white and fluffy, like marshmallows, and the shining beacons of NYC skyscrapers somewhere far away.

The paralyzing anxiety fully dissipated only when her feet found purchase on the tiled floors, Tony's arms never ceasing to support her swaying frame until the breaths she took were her own and not the result of her fluttering heart and muted panic. "You with me, Wonder Woman?"

"Yes, Weird Science," She mumbled. "Thanks for the heads up," The annoyance had to find a way out and that it did.

"You're welcome," The cocky smirk returned to Tony's face as his suit receded, leaving him barefoot, dirty jeans and a torn tee. He stretched with a sweet groan, gesturing towards the door. "Friday will direct you towards the showers. Feel free to grab a t-shirt from the closet."

The woman nodded, too awestruck by the man and his hospitality, eyes darting all over the tastefully decorated room, the expensive knick-knacks scattered everywhere, the absolutely enormous sloppily made bed. Tony Stark liked to live luxuriously - even the shower was a state of the art technological wonder.

Dirty pants and dusty blouse went flying somewhere in the back of the bathroom as the woman stood up on her tippy toes, reaching for the sky, stretching her sore muscles. The glass wall of the shower had began to fog up from the hot water. The knock went barely noticed by the woman who jumped as Tony's voice startled her out of her daydream.

"Forgot I ran out of towels here..." He trailed off, voice dropping as he spotted her only in her underwear. She turned, responding with a lopsided grin, spying the stack of fluffy grey in his arms, the arc reactor in the middle of his bare chest. He smirked, "Damn. Can I join you?" Giving her what only could be described as a respectful once-over.

Tired as she was, her sense of humour and wit didn't go down for a much needed nap just yet. "I don't know, you tell me. Can you?" Turning back around, the woman made a short show of unclasping her bra and tossing it in the general vicinity of her dirty clothing pile. She'd worn a cute matching set of undies that day and the fact didn't go over Tony's head, she was sure.

The door clicked shut just as she raised her face to the stream of water, feeling calmer with each second, muscles relaxing themselves as the hot stream washed away the dirt and the dust off her body.

"And I thought this evening was ruined," Tony's voice insinuated from behind her. A hand reached for the soap, his body heat scorching compared to the steaming water. He stayed just a few inches away, enough to feel him, enough for her body to respond and crave more. "It's nice to be wrong for a change. Refreshing."

The woman hummed, reaching up to run her fingers through her wet, knotted hair. "First decent evening in ages. I wasn't gonna let some uninvited Predator knock-offs ruin it for me," She was more than a little peeved at the space invaders interrupting her nice date. Tony was a great conversationalist, it was easy to talk to him and he had a brilliant sense of humour. Not to mention the obvious, he was easy on the eyes.

"That's the spirit," The voice was closer now, almost in her ear. Even though her eyes were closed, the woman was aware he was reaching for something, letting him butt her hands out of the way to lather her hair, scrubbing at her scalp meticulously, until the sounds that left her mouth bordered on embarrassing. Once that was done, Tony moved onto her body, running his hands over her back, the outside of her hips. "M'not stepping over, am I?" He asked quietly, touch faltering every time he brushed over a scrape or a bruise.

"No, you're doing great, Tony," It wasn't exactly conventional - sharing a very intimate shower after an interrupted first date, but then again, nothing about this man was conventional and her life had already been turned upside down no less than twice recently. The woman didn't lie, the gentle, caring touch felt soothing.

Arching her back, she lifted her arms to repay him with the same, raking her fingers through his hair, leaning into the shudder that ran throughout his body. It was nice to bask in whatever they had going on, so the motion to face him was almost reluctant. Water droplets stuck to his eyelashes and his eyes were tired but not in a way that suggested he'd kick her out first chance.

Their kiss was sweet, slow, like they already were familiar with each other in a special way. The woman tugged on his lip with her teeth - such was her character - and he pressed closer to her, raising a hand to hold the side of her face. In muted curiosity, she couldn't help but wonder if there ever had been someone that waited for him once his battles were over.

Tony's eyelashes, the very same that had no business being this long on a man, fluttered against her cheek as they stood under the shower, letting water wash away the day.

"I've always wanted to kiss in the rain, like they do in the movies. This is the closest I've gotten," She whispered, gently kneading the arch of his shoulders. "Feels better than it looks, to be honest."

Tony snorted, reaching for the knob to turn it off. "Cheesy," He teased her, wrapping a warm, fluffy towel around her body. Both people made quick work of drying themselves, exiting the fogged up bathroom, making way into the bedroom, padding soft on the carpet and falling down on the bed carelessly.

"I'm the queen of cheesy one-liners," The woman raised her eyebrows, scooting under the sheets next to Tony who opened his arms wide, a smirk on his face. She didn't give him the chance to reply, slotting her lips over his instead and groaning as their heated bodies once again rested against each other.

She ran her hands over Tony's defined pecs, glossing over the arc reactor, raked nails over his tummy, eating up the sighs leaving his mouth at the gesture. He was a beautiful man, she wasn't going to lie to herself. The warmth that settled low in her belly grew, spreading throughout her limbs and temporarily overshadowing the exhaustion.

The engineer, too, was quite excited - his erection poked her hip - and content to be steered to her wishes by the hand in his hair. Groans and sighs left his moist, parted lips as his eagerness bled into his hands, grip firm and steady on the panting woman's hips.

Adrenaline did something to her body, caused it to ache sweetly, a hunger to be satisfied only by a lover's touch. And touch she did; her mouth tasted him, alternating sucking gentle marks onto his throat and nibbling on the skin stretched thinly over his collarbones. Tony's sighs grew in depth and volume with every silent action of worship.

No inch of his body was left untouched, the woman was an all-hands-on-deck kind of lover, happily making her way down until soft lips wrapped around the crown of his cock, making his hips arch into it, hands fisted in the soft white sheets. "You devil," Tony gasped out, limbs turning to jelly, watching the woman all but devour his cock.

She popped off minutely, a trail of sticky saliva running down her chin, sticking to his glistening cock. "The power of Christ compels me?" With a smirk, her tongue trailed from his balls to the very tip, paying extra attention to the frenulum, making Tony shudder and gasp out an embarrassed laugh.

"Uh-uh," Stripped of his usual snark, he was but a man at her mercy.

"It's not very compelling," The predatory stretch of her lips widened as she took mercy on him, giving his cock a few slow tugs with her hand. Her mouth, her hand and his cock were dripping. "Gonna let me do all the legwork, Mr. Stark?" She sat up straighter, inadvertently drawing his eyes to the apex of her thighs where the woman's sex glistened in the dim light, lips swollen and inviting.

It sounded like she was mocking him, teasing him, egging him into a lustful frenzy none of them had the energy for but craved anyway. Tony Stark wasn't the one to back down from a fair challenge so he relented, flipping them over with ease, landing between her spread legs, eyes drawn to the momentary bounce of her breasts. Tony wasted no time in suckling a hard nipple into his mouth, humming in response to her choked-off moan of surprise.

"Tony," Her body arched into his touch, tender skin hot under the callouses on his fingertips.

"Yes, demon, dear?" A lopsided grin and laughter in his eyes preceded the wet stripe Tony licked down to her navel. "Wasn't there something about not telling demons your name? Guess you have power over me now," He trailed off cheekily, soft breaths puffing over her mound.

The woman bit her lip, peering down to rake a hand through Tony's hair, snagging a fistful to gently steer him towards her pussy. Tony's smile was one of satisfaction as he obediently followed her silent order, nosing along the line of her cunt, dipping his tongue to run slow, sloppy lines through the soaked folds.

"Fuck," She mumbled, spreading her legs without shame. "Yeah, right there," Her fingers turned white at the agility of Tony's tongue on her clit. He was swift and relentless in pursuit of the spots that made her moan and clench around nothing. The moisture of her sex soaked his goatee but he couldn't care less.

He growled when she attempted to withdraw, wrapping his muscular arms around her thighs to keep her still for his pleasure, wringing noises that increased in volume with every stroke of his tongue on her sex.

"Tony- please, Tony, I'm gonna-" The warning was brief; her back arched as a broken moan found its way past her moist, parted lips, her pussy spasmed, dripping all over his face and the sheets.

The engineer hid his smile against her thigh, discreetly wiping the obscene amounts of moisture she produced. It wasn't very long until her hands, slightly shaky, were tugging him upwards to meet his face in a rushed, graceless kiss. There was an equal lack of finesse in the glide of his erection along her sex.

"Okay?" He mumbled into her ear, lining himself up with her fluttering cunt.

"Please," She gasped, her hands pushing his hips onto her, eagerly lifting up to accept the sweet intrusion.

There was a quiet stutter in both of their breathing, hearts thudding against their ribs as he finally bottomed out, the thickness of him nestled snugly inside the rippling muscle. The pace he started out was agonizingly slow and inexplicably sweet, neither of them wanting to end their coupling prematurely but not being able to hold back the need that consumed them both.

"Fuck, you're so good to me," Tony's mumbling was overshadowed by the slick sounds coming from the place they were joined. "Gonna fill up this pretty pussy."

The woman keened at the idea, digging her nails into his ass, pulling him further into her.

"You'd like that?" He picked up the pace, blunt tip of his cock catching up with the tail end of her previous orgasm and re-lighting the fire in her belly anew.

"Yeah, Tony, please," No trace of the previous coyness in her voice, the woman was more than ready to beg, murder and steal to feel the man come undone in her arms.

It didn't take long, not with the adrenaline making their blood sing and the chemistry they shared. The brutal pace of Tony's hips quickly grew sloppy and erratic, the tightening of her inner muscles egging him on. He chased his release with deep, powerful thrusts that had the bedsheets rustle pitifully and beads of clear swear drip down his forehead.

As soon as her body arched once more, Tony let go of his control, slotting himself deeply into her spasming heat, cock throbbing as he painted her insides white with his seed, groaning incomprehensible compliments and profanities through his teeth. Chest heaving, the engineer couldn't do much more but let himself carefully fall onto her chest, aftershocks making him twitch when the woman began running a gentle hand through his hair.

"We're doing this again," He decided, still breathless but already a step ahead. She laughed.

Tony Stark taglist: @pilloclock @mikariell95 @letsby @sleep-i-ness @toomanyrobins @mostly-marvel-musings @persephonehemingway @downeyreads @schemefrenzy @lillsxd @slothspaghettiwrites @bluecrazedandbeautiful

[otomotoelzhinee]

SAILOR MAX: Chapter 1

Before we start, I just wanna thank everyone for being so, so patient with me and this project!! I’ve worked hard on this AU, and I can only hope it was worth the wait. I also wanna thank the people who helped me with the project in general with stuff like worldbuilding, character relationships etc; and with the chapter itself by offering criticism to my writing (cause as we know, it’s not my forte). You know who you are and I just want you to know most of this stuff wouldn’t have been possible without your help. Lastly, thanks to my partner for the ungodly amount of support and patience, cause I know my perfectionism can get messy and they were always there to set me straight. I probably wouldn’t have had the courage to go through with this if it wasn’t for them. With all that out of the way...

“The Day a Lagomorph became a Sailor Soldier“

Word count: 18,361

Fog.

An intense fog was covering the entire place. Wherever he walked, no matter how much he had advanced, Max was not capable of seeing anything, or hearing anything. The atmosphere was cold and heavy, there was a weight that came directly from his legs, as they struggled to move across the intense fog field.

He desperately wanted to run through it, in hopes of finding something, someone, anything at all that could help him understand his situation. But no matter how hard he tried, his legs would not move. It almost felt as if he was slowly floating around.

He hadn’t even realized that, this entire time, he never felt his feet touching the floor, or a ground of any sort. The fog had made it impossible to see anything under him.

There were no echoes, no wind, not even the sound of his own breath was something he could perceive. Just pure, overwhelming silence. “What kind of place is this?” He wondered.

 “I’m so cold…”

“…Where are you?”

 As that last sentence crossed his mind, his ears finally began to capture a sound. It was the distant screams of a crowd, they were screams of terror. Or, were they cheering…?

No…it was both, both sounds from two different groups, clashing with one another. It became hard to tell exactly what was going on, but Max kept running forward. The sounds became louder and clearer, a clash of hard metals joined the chaos. There was a moment where he could hear the current event surrounding him. But despite this, no matter how much his eyes searched, no one was there with him.

The screams, the pleadings, they wouldn’t stop. His eyes kept searching, but it was all so loud and fast, was he going insane? Only the frantic sounds of his heart, pounding harder and harder into his ears, was able to overshadow it all. He closed his eyes and held his ears tightly.

“Where’s everyone? What is happening?!”

It was then when Max felt another presence approaching him, something physical. Something he might actually be able to see, someone he might be able to speak to! But there was no way for him to tell who it was without turning around first.

Disoriented and stumbling a little, he opened his eyes, turning around awkwardly. All he saw at that moment, was…

 “MAXIMILIANO!”

Max gasped. The loud and angry voice made him jump on his bed, his heart almost escaped out of his chest. He hardly had the time to process the situation before hearing that voice again, scolding him from the floor below him.

 “Maximiliano, you have FIVE minutes to get ready for school, or you’re going to be late! You hear me? FIVE. MINUTES.”

 The entire room was made out of vague shapes and shadows, Max barely managed to recognize the clock by his side. He rubbed his eyes in an attempt to clear his vision, and what he saw made him release a scream of pure horror.

 He jumped from his bed and quickly started to get dressed. He stood in front of a large mirror that was standing against the wall, on the back of his bed.

“MOM! Why didn’t you wake me up sooner?”

His mother was still on the second floor. “I tried waking you up nicely- Three times! But you wouldn’t answer, even with the alarm. So now you’re late!”

 Max, now all well dressed in his gakuran, went down the little stairs in his room and opened the little door on the floor to release the ladder. He threw his briefcase to the second floor before going down the ladder, only to stop halfway and jump down since it wasn’t very high. He grabbed his briefcase and started running downstairs to the kitchen as fast as he could, so fast, in fact, that he ended up rolling down the stairs instead.

 His mother heard the impact and immediately became worried. “Max! Geez, are you okay?!” She spoke from the kitchen, sitting at the table where she was previously reading the newspaper.  

“Oww…’Course I’m not, Mom!” He stood up and rubbed his lower back as he approached the kitchen, making loud and long hisses through his teeth to make it as evident as possible to her he was in pain. Although in reality, and surprisingly, Max didn’t feel the impact at all.

 His mother, while genuinely concerned, was still too upset to give Max the attention he was asking for.

 “Ay, este cabro…” She sighed “…You’re too careless! Here, take your lunch and leave already, and be careful out there!”

“Yeah, yeah!” He received the little lunch bag grudgingly and ran to the main door, but his mother made one last question before he opened the door.

“Hey, aren’t you forgetting something?”

 Max took a second to look around him and think, he had his lunch in one hand and his briefcase in the other. He had his notebooks, a pencil, what else could he be missing…?

 “…Oh c’mon.”

 Reluctantly, he approached his mother again to give her a quick peck on the cheek. His mother chuckled and said goodbye to her son as he closed the door. Because of his height, anyone would assume it’d take him a while to arrive to the school. But Max was incredibly agile, even for a lagomorph, and this physical ability had saved him from getting late a couple of times before. However, he had no idea what fate would prepare for him today.

 He was getting his hopes high as he quickly recognized the streets, knowing he was getting closer to his destination, “I can make it, I can make it! I’m gonna make it!!” he repeated to himself.

And he would have made it! If only he had noticed the little creature in front of him lying on the sidewalk. His foot stepped on it and quickly made him lose balance, making him fall on his precious face.

His nose was bleeding a bit, but that didn’t bother him. He was mostly worried about how the teacher would react to this ‘new look’.

 “AGH! Damn it, that’s gonna leave a mark! What the hell did I trip over with, anyway?”

 When he looked back, he noticed that the creature in the sidewalk was actually a small, white, and poor little rat that had the bad luck to cross paths with Max.

His first reaction was disgust, he shivered as he loudly reaffirmed that he just stepped on a rat, even if no one was around to hear. Then he noticed the rat was not moving, and now he was terrified he may have just committed his first murder, and he just began high school this year! What a world, what a world…

He was hesitant to hold the creature for obvious reasons, but it didn’t seem dirty. Its hair was pure white and radiant, it seemed soft at first glance, the only strange detail was the band aids it had on its forehead. Maybe it was already wounded before encountering Max? What if it had an owner? And what if it was a rich person who would seek the head of anyone who tried to hurt their pet? Max was about to panic at that very moment, so he gently pushed the little rodent with one of his fingers to see if there was any reaction. When he saw it shaking at the touch, he finally held it between his trembling hands.

 “H-hey, are you alive?! Oh crap, I’m so sorry! I didn’t break any bones, did I?”

 The little rat opened its eyes slowly, Max’s weight on its body really stunned it, but nothing the rodent wouldn’t be able to survive. The rodent started to shake in Max’s hands, seemingly trying to get to the band aids, its sudden movements almost made Max drop the creature, but he did his best to keep himself calm.

 “What’s wrong? You don’t like the band aids? …Do they itch, or something?”

It seemed like they were seriously annoying the rat, and Max was actually curious as to what kind of wound it could have on its forehead. Is it just a scratch? Or maybe something more horrific, more morbid and disgusting, that would keep him wild awake every night for the rest of his life? Whatever it was, he had to know!

With a small (not really) grin of curiosity on his face, he quickly began to remove the band aids from the rat’s forehead, and to his surprise, there were no signs of blood whatsoever. But before he could inspect better, the rat gave a high jump to his head, as a way to impulse itself in the air. The rat landed at the top of a wall that surrounded a garden of one of the houses, and its eyes seemed to be locked in Max’s eyes.

As the rat kept looking, Max finally took the chance to look at its forehead. It had a peculiar mark, a bald spot that resembled a crescent moon looking upward, which was quite funny to him.

The rat inclined itself to look at Max better, and with that he felt a slight sensation of intimidation. “Just what kind of rodent was this? Do they all behave this way?” His question would have to wait for another day, because the school’s bell gave its last rang, and now Max was officially late.

 “…GOD DAMNIT! I shouldn’t be wasting time like this! Crap, crap, CRAP!”

 He cleaned his nose, grabbed his briefcase, and restarted his race to the school. The little creature kept its eyes on him, until he was out of its sight.

  ══════════════════*.•:•.☽✧   ✦ ✧☾.•:•.*══════════════════

 “Ah…Crap.”

 As Max took the time to catch his breath, he stood in front of the closed door of his classroom. Because he had arrived late, he knew that if he called out for his teacher or knocked on the door, he would not be let in. But worst of all, he was probably deemed absent from this class, and would not be allowed inside until the first hour had passed.

He felt humiliated, having to stand in the corridor all by himself, but also tired, with his eyes slowly feeling dry and heavy. If only he hadn't spent the night reading manga, he might have woken up at a decent time, and then made it in time for school. Just who was responsible for that?

 “Geez…I can't believe a cute lil’ lagomorph like me has to be standing up in the middle of the corridor. My feet hurt so much because of these stupid school slippers...Ugh, and I really tried to get here fast!”

 Instead of continuing complaining to himself, Max started looking outside the window seeking for anything to distract him. Sadly, all there was were the clouds crossing across the sky, and a few birds flying by. The small creatures quickly reminded him of the small rodent he encountered not too long ago, and the strange event made him think of his even stranger dream from this morning.

If he was being honest, this was not the first dream he had that was related to that fog and those feelings of incapacity. But these dreams started so long ago, Max could no longer remember when exactly, and the mere act of trying brought him headaches.

There was something about these dreams that made him feel nervous, as if something horrible was going to happen soon. Or maybe it was something that had already happened, and his mind was trying to recall the event. But no matter how familiar the scenario felt in his mind, it still didn’t ring any bells, Max was sure he had never been in such a situation before in his whole life!

And yet…

 “…Ugh.” he rubbed his eyes. “Maybe my head is making up this stuff ‘cause of the lack of sleep. I hate waking up so early, my eyes are burning.”

  And suddenly, he heard an uproarious growl making itself present all across the corridor. Of course... He completely forgot he didn’t have breakfast this morning, no wonder he felt exhausted.

 Max looked around the corridor to make sure he was alone, and took his lunch bag from his briefcase, desperately trying to untie the knot. Once his bento box was uncovered, he opened it without a care. The smell that came out of the box was mesmerizing for him, and the content’s reveal was too much to handle. His mouth was watering, and his stomach only growled louder at the sight.

  “Well… I’m sure it’ll be fine if I just take a small bite to compensate for skipping breakfast! Thanks for the food!”

 But just as Max was about to insert his teeth into the delicious food, the door of the classroom slipped open.

  “Tsukino Maximiliano, what do you think you’re doing?”

  Max hid the bento box behind his back in an attempt to pretend he wasn’t doing what he was clearly caught doing, but somehow, his plan failed; and the look on Miss Gibbens face said she was not pleased in the slightest. He then tried to find an excuse, but his teacher did not give him a second to speak, so she proceeded.

  “It is for behavior like this that your grades are declining!”

 And with that statement out of the way, she showed Max the results of his last English test, putting the test right in front of his face.

With only a quick inspection to the piece of paper, Max felt like he wanted to disappear at that very moment. Only 30 points? How embarrassing, and it was especially frustrating because he actually did know all the answers to these questions. If only he hadn’t fallen asleep during the test, maybe he could’ve answered properly, and with a more readable handwriting, too. He managed to hear a few chuckles from his classmates before the teacher finally allowed him inside the classroom.

“This day can only get better”, he sarcastically thought to himself.

  ══════════════════*.•:•.☽✧   ✦ ✧☾.•:•.*══════════════════

 In another part of the world, in a much more cold, dark and desolate location, a heavy snowstorm was taking place. And among that storm, somewhere under the snow, an old castle of great size lay hidden. The material of the walls was rusty and cracked, and the colors had faded. Some of the pillars that decorated hallways had collapsed long ago, and darkness swallowed every room to the smallest corner. Only the weak light, emitted by the very few torches hung on the walls, would allow anyone to watch where they step.

Somewhere, in one of the many hallways, a tall anthropomorphic dog in a dark blue suit was walking through. His fur was of a pale, prim color, and his snoot was of a much whiter tone. He had short pointy ears hanging from his head, and his eyes were of a pastel blue color. He adjusted his white gloves with care as he approached his destination, his eyes fixated on it as they looked forward.

He arrived at a small sanctuary of sorts, where at its center resided a small pit completely filled with clay. He stood up in front of it, he stretched his right arm, and with a firm tone in his voice he called a name…

 “Rise up, Morgana! Oh fervent servant of our mistress!”

  The clay inside the pit began to shake, and it quickly raised together, struggling violently as it tried to take form. Eventually it transformed into a humanoid creature with a curvy shape, and once the base of the body was done, the clay figure began to draw in itself clothes, hair, eyes and other details. Once it all solidified, color began to fill its cheek, to then spread to its entire body, the creation was complete.

 “Now listen closely, Morgana, your mission today will be to collect a large amount of human energy.  But above it all, you must find an ancient object, a Silver Crystal. It is of great importance to our queen, so do not disappoint me.”

  The humanoid figure smiled at the order and made a reverence to her master, before vanishing in the air.

  ══════════════════*.•:•.☽✧   ✦ ✧☾.•:•.*══════════════════

 Back at the school, everyone was getting ready for lunch time, but Max was still sitting at his desk, completely asleep. The view was quite disturbing, actually, his mouth was completely open and leaking disgusting fluids all over his desk. He was so still he may as well be dead, but Inés was so used to this she didn’t give it any second thoughts. She and Max have been friends since Elementary school, and his weird mannerism was an everyday thing for her, it was amusing at best.

  “Max…Hey, Max.”

  She put her hand on his back and shook the lagomorph's body in hopes of getting a reaction. It took Max a second, but he finally came back to some of his senses and slowly opened his eyes.

  “I-Inés…What are you doing here?” He cleaned his mouth with the sleeve of his gakuran in a sloppy manner.

“What do you mean?” She laughed. “We’re at school, what else am I going to be doing here?”

“S-School…?” Max’s eyes were squinting as he tried to look at his surroundings. He barely recognized the shape of Inés in front of him, and even less the entire classroom.

“Geez, how can you get that disoriented after a nap? C’mon, it’s lunch time, Lorne and the girls are waiting.”

  Max rubbed his eyes as he began to search for his lunch bag among his other stuff, and Inés cleaned the mess over his desk with her handkerchief.

  “You’re just like a baby.” She commented as a way to tease him.

 After Max was ready and fully awake, they began walking downstairs on their way to the schoolyard, both him and Inés carrying their bentos. Inés didn't take long to ask him what the reason behind the hijinks of this morning was, with a mocking smile on her face. The Lagomorph didn’t take the interrogation too kindly, claiming everything that happened today was out of his control. But there was one situation that he did not even think of mentioning to his friend, and that was the strange encounter with the white rodent.

In reality, he pretty much forgot about the encounter at this point, thinking of it as some sort of fever dream, an illusion of his head at best. And right now he had only one thing in his mind: Sit on his favorite bench, gossip with his friends and eat until his lunch was no more.

 When Inés stopped the teasing for the sake of Max’s ego, the duo finally arrived with Lorne, who was waiting for them with an orange juice box on his hand; Sitting on a bench that was under the trees. In a bench right next to the last but in a vertical position, two other girls were sitting on it. Their names were Amano and Suri, friends of Inés from another class who would sometimes join in the little group of Max, Lorne and Inés.

  Inés sat together with the girls, leaving Max no choice but to sit at the other extreme of the bench, which was nearest to Lorne. Max didn’t like having to sit this close to Lorne, as his sole presence would put him in a bad mood, but he wasn’t quite sure why. Lorne wasn't a bad kid, he was only a huge nerd who never shut up, but that seems to be enough of a reason for Max to sort of dislike his “friend”.

The group greeted each other and began talking about how their day went, and which classes they had today. Lorne immediately mentioned the English test results, saying, or rather showing off in Max’s eyes, how he got a better score than most kids in the class.

 “I thought it’d be an easy exam, but 95 points is all I managed to get. I guess I should have prepared myself more! Tests are just like games, aren't they?”

  ‘Games’? How could he even say such a thing! How dare he presume to be better at English than him. Max was focusing on his food to avoid looking at Lorne, but he was absolutely furious, nobody was even laughing at his joke!

Well…Inés did chuckle a little, but Lorne was still irritating in Max’s eyes, and no one would be able to change his mind.

 “Oh! By the way, how many points did you get, Mr. Max?”

  Max choked on his tamagoyaki, he swallowed it the best he could before starting to laugh as loud as he could.

 “Ah, me? Well, I got a perfect score, of course! Haha!”

“Wow! Really?! Well, you are a genius when it comes to English, Mr. Max!”

  Lorne was a kid who had no malice in his heart. His admiration towards Max’s capacity to understand a foreign language that, to him, seemed so complex and sophisticated, was as true and honest as it can be.  And as much as Max disliked Lorne, he had to admit, Lorne knew how to flatter a guy. After all, who doesn't like a bit of praise for their accomplishments?

 “Could I see your test? I-I’d just like to see what answers you have so I can understand what I did wrong! Of course, if you don’t have a problem with that!”

 At that point, Max was no longer laughing, his thoughts were rushing in his head trying to find a good excuse not to seem suspicious. That was the sign for Inés to interfere and help her friend get out of the hole he was digging himself in.

 “Hey now, how about we change the subject?” Inés said calmly. “We shouldn't be thinking about school in our recess anyway, this is our time to relax.”

 Lorne was quick to apologize, not wanting to disturb any of his friends. Max on the other hand, resumed his affairs and continued eating his lunch, swallowing both the food and the shame deep down his throat. Meanwhile everyone else kept the conversation going. That’s when one of Inés' friends, Amano, took the chance to speak.

 “Oh, that’s right! Inés, have you heard about the recent robbery in a jewelry store at Chūō? It happened in the middle of the night, and the owners almost got hurt! There’s been lots of crimes near Minato ward these days, too. You and your mother should be careful!”

“Yes, I’ve heard, and you’re right. My mom’s been taking precautions, but she says there’s nothing to worry about, that our store is safe.”

Inés put her hands together, tightly. “Still, it’s a little scary to think that something could happen to us. I’m honestly not sure what I’d do…”

 Her friends immediately noticed her concern, and Suri began rubbing her back as a way to comfort her. Lorne thought this would be a good time to share his own news, and that way lighter up the mood of the conversation.

 “But you forgot the most important detail, Amano! Sailor V arrested the criminals from the Chūō robbery! It’s been confirmed!”  

“No way!” Amano gasped. “Sailor V? You mean it?”

Max’s right ear twitched, and finally he raised his head up to look at Lorne. “Sailor V? What the heck is that?”

“You don't KNOW?” The group exclaimed in awe.

Max shrugged his shoulders and lowered his ears. He shouted “I’m not DEAF, you guys!”

  Lorne chuckled, he began to fix his glasses and showed an unusual confidence in his face. After quickly cleaning his throat, he began his tale.

 “Sailor V is a beautiful and mysterious heroine in shining armor, who wears a mask to hide her identity. She appeared a couple of years ago out of nowhere, and has been helping keep the city a safe place ever since. Many people know about her existence, but pictures of her are very rare, and always unclear! She always leaves the crime scene before the arrival of the police, leaving the criminals tied up and unconscious, ready to be arrested!”

“Woah!” The girls exclaimed.

“It is said she has very long hair that shines in the dark, and that she's incredibly strong! But the biggest rumor that’s being spread is that she works as a special agent for the police, but nobody knows for sure…”

   The three girls were fascinated by the tale, but Lorne was impatiently waiting for the response of Max the most. There was a second of silence before Max finally raised his head and looked at Lorne.

  “…Oh, yer done already? Sorry, I stopped listening after you said ‘Sailor V’.”

 Everyone sighed.

 “Anyway...” Suri started. “I'm so happy Sailor V is back on her rounds! It’s been a couple of months since we’ve heard of her!”

“Could you imagine, though?” Amano sighed as she fixed her hair. “Being surrounded by so many beautiful, sparkling, precious gems? Honestly, I don’t think I could resist the temptation myself!”

“Ah, you’re right. Jewels are just so beautiful!”

“Now we’re talking!” Max quickly joined in the conversation. “Inés, your mom has the jewelry store open today, right?”

“Oh, yes! In fact, there’s a special sale today, you can find some jewelry for half the original price.”

“That’s great! We should go check out those prices, then! What do you say, girls?”

“Inéees?” The girls stared at her.

“…Weeell…” She pondered in a teasing tone. “…I don’t see why not!”

 When Max said all, of course, he was not trying to include Lorne. As the boy drank his juice, Amano, Max and Suri cheered in excitement.

Max then noticed Inés resting her hand on his small shoulder, she was looking at him with a smile.

  “What’s wrong, Inés?”

“Sorry, but I just remembered I’ve got a surprise for you. Follow me!”

 The word “surprise” made him think of the word “gift”, and because Inés was relatively rich, his expectations were always high. Inés could see the interest sparkling in his eyes, and Max did not hesitate to follow her back inside the school building. That is until he noticed that the direction they were going would actually lead them to the bathrooms of the first floor.

  “Hey, Inés, what gives?”

“Okay, so!” She stopped the walk and turned around to see Max. “I know you’re going to freak out, but hear me out. I need you to get in the girls bathroom and wait for me in the last stall.”

“What?! Why?”

“Hurry up before the break is over. I promise I’ll be back soon!”

“No, but-! I-Inés! What is…!”

  As Inés ran upstairs, she left Max standing in front of the bathroom with a good amount of questions wandering around his head. He stood in that same spot for a few minutes, debating on what he should do. Should he just wait outside instead? Or should he go back with his friends and ignore this nonsensical request?

What was she thinking anyway? Inés was not usually like this, and Max really hated to be left in the dark. But because she was his best friend, and quite honestly, he really wanted that expensive gift, he thought he should trust her. After all, what reasons did he have not to?

And so, making sure nobody was looking, he ran inside the bathroom and into the stall Inés had told him to go. He stood still in a corner, quite nervous, and he had two main reasons. One: because he didn’t want to get caught by some girl passing by. And two: Because he absolutely did not want to accidentally step near the toilet, who knows what sort of disgusting and horrible acts have been committed there.

 Everything was quiet, for the most part. Except for the noisy voices of kids playing outside, this was mainly the floor of the junior high students, after all. Thankfully, none of the little girls had approached the bathroom so far, which made him feel a bit less anxious, yet not enough to lower his guard.

He stood there for just a few minutes, yet it felt like an eternity to him. Suddenly, he began to hear some steps entering the bathroom that slowly approached his stall. He thought it may be Inés, but didn’t dare to speak up. What if it’s another girl? The sole idea made him stop breathing for a second.

 It wasn’t until he heard a quiet “Max? Are you there?” that he sighed with relief.

“Yeah, I’m here, but what the heck are we doing here, Inés? I could get in serious trouble for this!”

“Shh!” she gave Max a warning as he was being a bit too loud. “I know, I’m sorry! I just wanted to make sure nobody would look at you weird. Now here, open it quick!”

 ‘Look at you weird’? What exactly was she referring to? Most kids would already look at him weird for being one of the very few Lagomorphs at this school, so what could possibly draw more attention to Max?

Inés slid a black bag under the door of the stall, Max took it and began to rip it apart without much care. Although the sound of the bag being torn apart echoed through the room, he thought it was better to do it quickly and get this over with, rather than do it slowly and wait for someone to come and catch them.

  Once he recognized the content inside the bag, his anger vanished, only leaving pure and utter happiness that reflected through his face. It was a dark blue sailor uniform, with a big bow of the same color attached to the blouse and two thin red stripes in the collar and the cuffs. It was the design used by the senior high school girls from this establishment, and it was his size! Max did not think twice about trying it out.

When Max was finally ready, he left the bathroom stall he was hiding in and began to show Inés his new look, giving a quick spin around to show the entire outfit.

 “So! How do I look?”

Inés giggled. “Well, the important question is: How do you feel? Do you like it?”

 He began to look at himself, holding his skirt from each side like a princess in a big dress. The dark color of the uniform gave him a feeling of maturity and realization. For the very first time, he felt like a full-blown senior high school student, which drew a big smile on his face.

  “I… LOVE IT!”

He jumped into Inés arms and hugged her as tightly as he could, clinging onto her like a child holding onto his mother. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” is all he kept repeating. Inés smiled as she reciprocated the hug.

“How did you manage to get one of my size? And with the summer blouse included!”

“I, uh, didn't. I got the smallest uniform there was and I had to cut and sew some parts myself.”

“Wait, wait! Wait... You made this uniform? For ME?”

“You said you wanted to wear a skirt this year, something different to start high school with, and I just-”

“No, no, no. Say no more…” He purposefully hid the upper half of his face under his arm as he kept holding onto his friend. “You’re such a kind soul… I-I really don’t deserve you, Inés. I think…I may even cry a little…”

“Oh, please.” she gave a quick eye roll. “You’re not the type.”

Max drastically changed his tone and stopped covering his face. “Ah, you’re right! You know me so well, Inés!”

They both laughed it off.

  ══════════════════*.•:•.☽✧   ✦ ✧☾.•:•.*══════════════════

 It was now around 3 in the afternoon. School was finally over and Max, alongside his friends, were ready to start their favorite activity of the day: Window shopping!

Max was pretty cheerful, maybe a bit too cheerful, but not for the reasons the girls thought. While he was indeed excited to go see precious stones and gems, among other stuff, all he really thought about was how cute he felt in his new uniform. When Amano and Suri saw him they just laughed it off, not thinking much of his look. Inés on the other hand, was happy to see that her small action had brought so much joy to her friend.

“Max, Look!” Inés called his attention, as he was still with his head in the clouds. He shifted his attention to the tall, very fancy building at the end of the street. Its exterior walls were white and the first floor’s showcase had purple windows, while the other three upper floors had crystal clear windows.

Max instantly knew what the building was, but it didn't take much work to figure it out, since there was already a big and very "in your face" signboard at the upper left of the first floor, which had the store's name written with big cursive letters, the Jewelry ABE・P.

"Kinda cheesy" he thought. But that didn't stop him or the girls from running right to the store's showcase and see what they had for sale.

Inés on the other hand, simply stood behind them, as a way to not disturb them. The shiny rocks that were on sale were nothing she hadn't seen before, considering it’s her mother’s work, and jewelry itself was not one of her biggest interests anyway. But she still explained in the most brief way possible all the articles that were being displayed in the showcase, just to make her friends happy.

 "And that one is called ‘Pigeon blood ruby’, it costs one billion yen! Unfortunately, this one is not on discount.”

 Max frowned. “You're serious? Who the heck would have that much money these days?”

“C’mon Max, I’m sure there’s more accessible prices inside the store!” Suri smiled at Max before following Amano inside the building. Inés then approached him and gently placed her hand on his shoulder.

“Let’s go, Max.”

   As the automatic door opened, the group was immediately able to hear the lousy crowd of women. Looking at, taking, and wearing as much jewelry as their wallets could afford. The view was shocking at first, but nothing that could be considered strange, this was a discount sale after all. Whatever reason a person may have, the opportunity to get a pretty necklace, or a shiny ring, would not be wasted.

And of course, Inés’ mother knew she only needed to give these people a little tiny bit of encouragement to buy everything. And so, with her sales megaphone, she continued to cheer on the crowd.

  “Thank you everyone for coming! Go ahead and look, there’s enough jewelry for everyone! Our jewels are of the best quality, I assure you that you will not find these beautiful pieces anywhere else at this price!”

 Inés’s mother, ‘Mrs. Abel’, was a middle aged woman with light brown, short curly hair. She enjoyed dressing up in fancy clothes and wearing a modest amount of jewelry, along with some red lipstick to highlight her face.

‘Mrs.Abel’ also liked to keep her store clean, the floor was sparkling white, and Max could practically see his own reflection.

The room was huge, with cream colored walls on the first floor, and sky blue colored walls on the second floor, which was visible from the group’s position; alongside the many rooms of the second floor. The second floor was also being supported by big, white pillars (three on each side of the first floor), that would give the store a classy vibe.

At the top of it all, a great Chandelier full of crystals was hanging from the ceiling, currently being unused. Max assumed that because of its great size, it would be more than enough to illuminate the entire room during the night.

  “Mom, I’m home!”

 “Ah, Inés! Welcome home, darling!” ‘Mrs. Abel’ turned around to greet her daughter, as she smiled cheerfully. “Are those your friends?”

 “Yes.”

‘Mrs. Abel’ giggled. “Wonderful! Don’t worry girls, I know there’s a lot of people here, but feel free to look at anything you like. I’ll even give you a special discount for being friends of Inés!”

 “Seriously?!” Max and the girls stared at each other with their mouths open, the sale was already crazy cheap, now they would get another discount on top of the already established one? ‘Mrs. Abel’ either hit her head really hard today, or just didn’t care how much money she would be losing.

Either way, Amano and Suri immediately ran into the crowd of women to see if there was anything that they could find intact, and Max was just about to follow them. But then, it hit him, a fact he completely dismissed for the entire day, something he could‘ve prevented, but was now too late…

He was out of cash. And what’s worse, even if he ran back home right now, he could not ask his parents for a single yen, no. Not after that terrible grade he got on his English test. He knew what would happen once they found out, which would be soon or later.

So, as he quickly accepted his defeat, he limited himself to stay beside Inés and watch with melancholy how his friends got to enjoy the sale. Without him.

  “…You know, something about this feels…Wrong.” Inés murmured.

“Tell me about it…”

“I mean, I know my mom is very enthusiastic… But, we've never had so many sales before, and never at this scale! I wonder what’s gotten into her.”

Max just sighed, his eyes completely fixed on the crowd.

 “Please, do not push each other!” ‘Mrs. Abel’ kept on cheering her clients. “I promise there’s enough for everyone!”

 Inés stared at her mother, trying with all her might to discover what was going on inside her head at this moment. Despite them being in the same room, Inés felt a certain distance between the two, but what could be causing these feelings? This is her mother, she has been in this business for years, and she absolutely must know what she’s doing.

Yet, why is she doing this? Inés’ little head kept working out an answer, yet it would not come out.

 And speaking of questionable intentions, Max just had an idea.

 “Oee, Inés.” He whispered.

“Oh-” Inés snapped back into reality “Yes?”

“Ye think you could, please, pretty please, lend me some money? I forgot mine at home!”

“Ah, sure. What do you need it for?”

“Mmm, well…” Max danced around the question for a little. “You knooow~”

 Inés tilted her head slightly.

 “…Ah, I see. No, sorry Max.”

“Aww, c’mon! You’re my best friend in the whole wide world! Can’t you help out a friend in need?”

Inés used a more serious tone, without trying to be rude. “Max, any money I have was given to me by my mother. If I lend it to you to buy jewelry, there would be no gain for my mother’s business. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to say no this time.”

“Geez! A simple ‘no’ would've been enough.” He crossed his arms and looked in an opposite direction.

 Inés sighed. Max was exasperating sometimes, it was hard to say no to him without getting on his nerves. Yet somehow, neither of them could stay angry at each other for too long.

 “Alright…But could you at least let me use the bathroom? I need to change clothes.”

“Oh, yes. Of course! Follow me.”

  ══════════════════*.•:•.☽✧   ✦ ✧☾.•:•.*══════════════════

 Max said goodbye to Inés before leaving the store, and started walking to the direction of his house, now wearing his gakuran; its dark and lifeless blue color only lowered the mood for him. What a big chance he had right now, he could’ve gotten something pretty for himself like a ring, or a necklace, but he had to screw it up by wasting his allowance on childish stuff. And not to mention that darn test…

He took the piece of paper out of his bag and stared at it, it was covered in red lines crossing out all the questions he didn’t answer, while the ones he did answer were all perfect. “If my mom sees this, she’s definitely gonna kill me…”

 Part of him had gotten used to this by now. How he couldn’t bring himself to study, getting yelled at by his teacher for his poor grades, getting yelled at back at home again. But, he was supposed to be good at this one subject, it was his thing! And because of a single mistake, he ruined it.

What bothered him most, is that there was only one person to blame for this, but his pride wouldn’t let him say who exactly.

 “…BAH! Let the wind blow it away!” He crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it behind him.

 There we go, now that he got rid of the test, he could just lie to his mom and say the test results haven't been given yet. Eventually, she will forget about it, and Max will avoid any further trouble-

 “Hey, Bunny-boy!”

 …Perhaps not.

Max felt a shiver down his spine. Something about the tone in the stranger’s voice instantly told him he must’ve done something bad to bother him.

“Do I look like a trash-can to you? You should be more careful where you aim at, it hit my face.”

Max held his breath in for a moment, how is it possible he didn’t notice someone standing behind him? Was he really that stupid? As much as he would’ve loved to run away home and avoid the conflict, he turned around to face the stranger.

 “I-I’m really sorry, sir! I-I wasn’t paying attention!”

 Max didn’t really know who he was talking to or how old they were, but he assumed he was a ‘sir’ when he noticed all the fancy clothes he was wearing. Max knew nothing about fashion, otherwise, he would’ve been able to guess what he was looking at was a morning dress. Max did, however, recognize the quality of the fabric, and the amount of earth-like colors in the suit.

From the dark green coat and his green beige waistcoat, to his brown trousers, along the orange necktie that stood out from the entire combo. To Max it was quite hexcentric, ridiculous even, but of course- He would not voice his opinion of fashion to this stranger.

 Besides the peculiar clothing, the man was tall, extremely tall. Especially for Max, who could barely reach the guy’s stomach. Even though he looked quite chubby, there was no doubt for Max that a single push from the guy could leave him in the ground. He also looked like an anthropomorphic being, just like him, but Max couldn’t tell what kind.

Max began to search for more clues. At first he thought he could be a bear, mainly for the color of his fur. But despite his height, the stranger wasn't tall enough to pass as one. Max then tried to get a look at his face, but the stranger had it covered with a wrinkled piece of paper in front of him, the same one Max threw at him by accident.

Wait a minute... It was Max’s test!

  “…30 points?” The stranger smirked.

 Now he was making fun of him! The shame, the horror! Right now, a good punch in the gut from the man didn’t seem like such a terrible option for Max. At least if he was left unconscious, he wouldn’t have to hear any more humiliating comments about his poor performance.

 “Geez. You should focus on your studies first, rather than carelessly littering people on the street, Bunny-boy."

 “B-Bunny?” Although he might have been afraid, there was one thing Max would absolutely, not by any means, tolerate from anyone in this world; and that was being called a bunny. He may have let it slide the first time, but he would not do the same for a second time.

“Excuse me, sir, but you should get your eyes checked! Because I am a Lagomorph, not a Bunny!”

The stranger chuckled at Max’s reaction and returned the wrinkled piece of paper to him, placing it right on his face as a way of teasing him. “Well, you should pay more attention in class, Lago-boy.”

Max growled at the rude gesture, he took his test and violently put it aside, finally allowing the man and him to be face to face. “That- Is none of your business!”

  Max was frozen. He stared into the stranger’s eyes, and despite the fact that he was wearing shades, Max could still see right through them. Finally, he was able to figure out the anthro-being he was dealing with.

He was an anthropomorphic dog with black eyes. His snoot was round and his ears were long and fluffy, they were practically hanging from his head, and Max felt the strange need to touch them.

He started to get the feeling that something about this guy was very, very familiar. And the more he stared at him, taking the time to analyze all of his features, searching for that ‘ah-ha!’ sign that would help him understand: “Just who is this guy?” The more he felt the two of them had, somehow, already met. But where and when, exactly? He couldn’t tell.

 “Hey, Lago-boy? Did you lose something?” The dog waved his hand in front of Max’s face.

“H-Huh?” Max blinked twice, startled.

“Oh, geez. You just keep living in the clouds and refuse to get down, don’t you?”

“What? N-no!”

“Alright, alright, if you say so. It’s ‘none of my business’ anyway.”

The dog turned around in the other direction and said goodbye to Max, but Max wasn’t done with this conversation just yet.

“Wait a second!”

“Hmm?” The dog stood still and looked back at Max.

 Every part of his body was shaking, his hunch was practically screaming, he had to know! Max had to know if, by the smallest chance…If it was him.

…But he did not have the courage to ask. Too many unpleasant things happened today, and now, based merely on feelings, he was going to ask this total stranger if he was ‘this’ certain person? And what if he said no? Max would only look like a complete idiot in front of someone he doesn’t even know. No, he would rather leave things just like this, as mere coincidences, and avoid any further embarrassment.

 “…Sorry, nevermind. Must’ve confused you with someone else.”

 Max then walked in the opposite direction without saying anything else, leaving the dog in front of the jewelry store. The stranger was a bit confused, but he quickly dismissed the moment as nothing of importance, as he had other things to worry about. He shifted his attention to the tall building in front of him and examined every inch of its structure, including the windows, until he was convinced that this was the place he was looking for.

 Max kept going on his path, also trying to dismiss the event that just happened, and get home as soon as possible. Perhaps he could get a nice nap, too, he felt like he deserved it after such a stressful day. But that guy, his face…

“It had to be him, I know it was him.” He kept repeating those words to himself, and he would argue back at himself. “But it’s impossible, it can’t be, they look nothing alike, and he would never dress like that!”

The ideas kept clashing with one another over and over again, and Max felt a headache was coming soon if he didn’t do something about this matter. That’s when he noticed that he was passing right in front of a game center, one he casually visits now and then, The Game Center CROWN. And to his surprise, a poster had been recently added to the wall promoting a new game.

The poster was a cartoony illustration of a girl with long, light blonde hair and a red mask covering her eyes. She was wearing stylized armor that seemed inspired by a sailor uniform. She had the look of a hero ready to fight the bad guys, which were also depicted in the poster, but without taking the hero’s spotlight. The game was called Sailor V: Hero of the Night! Now where has he heard that name before…?

 “Ah, this must be the girl Lorne was talking about! ‘Sailor V’, huh?”

 Max examined the poster for a while, with slight annoyance, the thought of this popular superhero girl really tickled his anger, and his envy as well. Why was she getting all the attention? What made her so special? Is it because she had a fancy name and cute clothes? Anyone could do that. At least that’s what he thought, as he imagined himself in the spot of Sailor V. But that was just a fantasy, deep down, he knew it was impossible. Some people’s lives are just too easy, he thought, and he was not one of the lucky ones.

 “…What a stupid name. What does the V stand for, anyway-?”

“Good afternoon, sir.”

 Max released a fast scream of pure, sheer terror and stood back, leaning against the door entrance of the arcade. He looked back at the person who just spoke to him, and felt great relief when he realized who it was.

 “H-Hyōsuke! I, uh…Didn’t see you there!”

 Hashimoto Hyōsuke was the son of the owner of the game center CROWN, and had a part time job in the arcade. He had tanned skin and his hairstyle was similar to a ‘pompadour’, he also liked to wear shades all the time and never take them off.

They met at a time when Max used to visit the arcade frequently, and somehow became good friends. Despite the fact that Hyōsuke is a University student, Max always addresses him by his first name and almost never used honorifics, and despite Max being younger than him, Hyōsuke always treated him in a very polite manner. Although, to be fair, he tends to treat everyone respectfully no matter their age, and Max loved this! Being treated like some sort of respected gentleman always boosted his ego.

 “Please step aside from the door, sir, before it-”

“WOAH-!”

“…Opens.”

 Max, who just met with the cold and crystal clear floor of the game center, immediately started complaining. Not because the fall was painful in any way (And even if it was, he lacked sensitivity to pain.), but because he liked complaining, it was a way to release stress.

 “God- DAMN IT! Why does this keep happening to me?!”

“It’s okay sir, everyone has accidentally fallen into an automatic door once in their lives, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

 Hyōsuke offered his hand to Max as a way to help him stand up, the lagomorph took it with certain embarrassment.

 “Thanks, Hyōsuke…But that’s not what I mean.”

“Did something happen?”

“Eh… Let’s just say this wasn’t my day, at all.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, sir. Perhaps a time in the arcade would help you clear your mind.”

“Woah, sneaky guy! But, I’m sorry to tell you I don’t have a single coin in my pocket.”

“Are you quite sure, sir? We have a new game available since yesterday.”

“A new game?!” The smile that had just formed in his face quickly came and went as the gears in his head started to turn. “…Wait, you’re not talking about that Sailor V chick, right? Because in that case, I-”

 Max froze for a mere second and shook his left ear. He felt a presence behind him, something with his eyes fixated on his back, but once he turned around, he couldn’t see anyone else. It was just him and Hyōsuke, and yet, he could still feel there was someone else.

 "Something troubling you, sir?"

“Huh? Oh, no, nothing at all! Sorry, I’m a little distracted and I just want to go home and rest.”

 There was something troubling him indeed, but Max couldn’t figure out himself what it was exactly that gave him these feelings, and he found no point in telling his friend.

 “Alright sir, be careful on the way home.”

“Yeah, I will. Goodbye, Hyōsuke!”

  ══════════════════*.•:•.☽✧   ✦ ✧☾.•:•.*══════════════════

 As the sun slowly sank through the pink clouds, Max had finally arrived at his home, and he was ready to take a snack from the fridge, relax and take a good nap. He opened the door and announced his arrival.

“Mama, I’m home!”

His mother came from the kitchen, cleaning her wet hands with her apron. “Welcome home, hun! What took you so long?”

“Ah, Sorry! I was hanging out with Inés and we didn’t notice how late it was getting!”

“I see… Oh!”

Mrs. Tsukino giggled as their conversation was abruptly interrupted by tiny bundles of joy, her six youngest daughters, who were happy to see her big brother finally at home.

“Max! Max! Max!” they shouted as they jumped and pushed each other playfully, trying to get a chance at hugging their big brother. Max had to make an effort not to lose his balance.

“What took you so long?” said Olivia in an upset tone, as if trying to scold Max.

“Did you bring us something?” Said Asami, the tiniest of the sisters.

“Asami! Don’t be rude!” Replied Josefa, the tallest and oldest of the sisters.

“We really, really, really missed you!” Said Isabella, the dearest sister out of the six.

 Since she was born without one of her legs, she had to use a special prosthetic leg for a tiny lagomorph like herself. But she didn't mind. In fact, she thought it looked cool.

 “Hey, Hey! One at a time, kiddoes! You're gonna make me fall on my butt!”  

 The little ones began to laugh.

 “Girls, please. Give your brother some space.”

 The little ones apologized, finally leaving the poor lagomorph a moment to breathe and stand up properly. The girls hid behind their mother as she began retaking her conversation with her son.

 “By the way, Max. How did you do in your exam?”

“Oh, That! Well, you see-”

“Because I crossed paths with Lorne earlier today, and he told me you guys got the results already. He said he got 95 points!”

 Max stood still with a blank expression, admiring how his entire plan crumbled in front of him, thanks to his gossipy little friend. “That blabbermouth, I’m gonna strangle him for this!” He took a mental note before proceeding to answer to his mother.

“…OH! REALLY? Woah that’s AMAZING isn’t it?” He laughed it off, pretending to play dumb as a last attempt to escape his mother’s interrogation. But it didn't work out.

“Now tell me, how did you do?”

“Well…Ah, you see! …Th-the thing iiis…!”

“Maximiliano.”

Max was looking to the ground avoiding eye contact, but he already knew his mom’s tender, welcoming smile was vanishing, along with her patience. He sighed and accepted that there was no escape from the hell that was about to rise, and decided to give her the test in her hands.

Mrs. Tsukino took it and examined it for a moment, a moment that felt like an eternity for Max. The little ones got on their tip toes trying to take a look as well. Everything was quiet for a few seconds, until…

“Maximiliano Santiago Tsukino SILVA!”

The rage Mrs. Tsukino felt was so strong, Max swore he could see fire in her eyes.

“Uh-Ooh.” The little girls stepped aside, knowing exactly what was coming for their big brother.

Max began to sweat, somehow; despite lagomorphs being incapable of it. He chuckled nervously. “M-Mama…I can explain!”

“¡Cómo se te ocurre traerme una nota tan baja a MI casa! ¡AFUERA! ¡NO TE QUIERO VER!”

“W-WAIT! WOAH-!”

Mrs. Tsukino furiously pushed Max outside of the house and shut the door in front of him, leaving him in the front yard to think of what he just did. In part, it could’ve been worse, at least he didn’t get an ear pulling or something similar. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure for how long his mom was planning on leaving him there, and the mere thought of spending the night outside wasn’t comforting. So he followed the next step of his plan B.

He began to make a scandal.

“MAMAAA! C’MON, IT’S NOT THAT BAD, PLEASE LET ME IN, PLEAAASE!”

“What’s going on here?”

Max’s left ear twitched, he recognized that voice! It was the annoying and overly confident voice of his little brother, Dante, the oldest of the group of the six lagomorph boys. They approached the front door as they were eating their lollipops, seemingly showing them off to their big brother as they walked past him.

“What, did you get kicked out again?” said Dante with a big smile.

“Wouldn’t that make it the 4th time?” Said Bruno, a chubby, small lagomorph.

“No, actually. Last time, mom locked the house after she went shopping and forgot Max was going to arrive late, so he had to wait outside. This is only the 3rth time Mom kicks him out for failing an exam.” Said Hiroaki, the smartest of the six boys.

“What an Idiot! Why didn't he use the back door?” Said Yukio, who was carrying a chocolate bar and a soda inside his open backpack.

“We don’t have one.” Replied Hiroaki.

“We don’t?”

“Hey!” Max had enough of these kids and their mean comments. “How can you treat me like that? I’m your big brother, you should respect me!”

“It’s not our fault you have such terrible grades! I wish we had a big brother that was actually smart!” Dante then made a funny expression to mock him, sticking his tongue out.

“That’s IT!”

The boys were laughing uncontrollably at Max and how easy it was to provoke him. He was getting ready to throw a kick at them and they quickly went inside the house to avoid it. Dante shut the door as fast as his giggling body allowed him, without realizing that the poor door would be the one receiving the impact of that Kick.

Max hit the door with his bare foot, harder than he expected. He hit it so hard that he actually felt that pain slowly building up from his heel to his brain and the tip of his ears. He held it in, he was really trying to hold it in, but he couldn't. He let out a scream of pure pain, combined with more whining. While he was indeed insensitive to pain, there were still certain things he could feel, and right now he wished he didn't.

 “MOOOM! OPEN THE DOOR, DANTE HIT ME!”

 The boys were still giggling inside the house, they couldn’t help it, but the girls didn’t enjoy this attitude in the slightest; so they made an attempt at trying to talk things out with their mom. They tugged her apron gently, asking to please let their big brother back inside the house. “He didn’t mean to!” they said. But Mrs. Tsukino was not going to let him in that easily, what he did was unforgivable, and he deserved to be reprimanded for it!

…Although, if he kept screaming for a few more minutes, she may consider letting it pass. After all, she was still young and she wanted to conserve her good hearing intact. And the neighbors may start complaining there’s a squeaky rabbit that won’t shut up.

  ══════════════════*.•:•.☽✧   ✦ ✧☾.•:•.*══════════════════

 Back at the Jewelry store, where the sun’s rays were no longer illuminating the streets, and the moon was slowly making itself more present, a dark and imposing figure stood up at the other side of the street. The mysterious stranger, who was dressed in fancy clothing and covered his eyes with a white mask, hid in the shadows provided by the buildings. He was waiting for a chance to enter the store, which seemed to be closed, as the lights were off.

His intentions were obvious. What he was searching for were precious and shiny stones for him to take home, and he was willing to take them no matter who stood in his way. Although he was not here to start a fight, it was not outside the realm of possibilities. He'd just kindly take a few gems without the owner of the store's knowledge and no one would get harmed, simple, like always.

Little did he know, the vast majority of the articles being displayed this morning were no longer available, thanks to “Mrs. Abel’s”…Or rather, Morgana’s big sale.

The first part of her plan was a complete success. Now all the women and men who bought those precious objects were contaminated with dark energy, energy that Morgana herself placed inside all those fake stones that decorated the collars and rings, making them look shinier and more appealing to the human eye.

“Humans and their pitiful wants, they are so gullible.” She laughed.

Now all she had to do was call back the energy of her victims as they wore the jewels. She was using a special red glass container of a cylindrical shape to store all the human energy in it as it arrived. She placed it on the counter and activated it with a single move of her hand. The energy began to flow right from the houses of the victims and back at Morgana’s artifact.

Every person in the city wearing their recently bought jewelry at that moment, quickly began to feel weak, disoriented. Some even felt dizzy and had to go to the bathroom urgently, as the nausea was too much to handle.

“So much energy…Lord Jadeite will surely be pleased! Although…”

She began to look at her surroundings, several times.

“…The object he entrusted to me doesn't seem to be here. I will have to make one last quick inspection to the building before I-”

The door beside the counter, where Morgana was standing, started to open. A thin figure was standing under the door frame, letting the light of the other room get into the store.

“Mom? What are you doing?” Inés spoke in a gentle tone.

Morgana could’ve come up with an excuse, but she didn’t bother. She was done with her job, and she already knew what she had to do with intruders.

Inés kept going as she received no answer. “I thought you had closed the store already…?”

Morgana turned her face around, allowing the light coming from the other room to reach her. She let her teeth show off, growing into fangs, twisting her face slightly as she smiled; she had nothing else to hide from this kid.

Inés gasped loudly and stepped back, her eyes couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her mind began to rush, trying to find an explanation, was this an illusion? Is she dreaming?

Her body began to shake, begging for her to run upstairs, back to her room and lock herself there. She couldn’t respond to the signs on time, as Morgana stretched her limbs to an unhuman capacity and violently grabbed her arm, pulling her inside the store.

The door had been closed, and Inés had nowhere to go.

  ══════════════════*.•:•.☽✧   ✦ ✧☾.•:•.*══════════════════

 Back at the Tsukino residence, Max was climbing the ladder to his room halfheartedly. He sat in the tiny stairs of his room for a moment, letting the small door close as the ladder came back to its original position. He then yawned and stretched as he walked to his bed.

When he left the house in the morning, he left his bed undone, but now it was fixed and he could only guess it was his mother, who may have entered the room during the day. The empty glass that he left over the nightstand was also gone, but the manga he was reading last night was still at the window.

 He left his briefcase over the white, small round table near the bed, and sighed. “Finally, she let me in! Geez, I don't know why she gets like that, she's so mean to me…”

”…I don’t wanna do my homework, I think I'll just take a small nap and then figure it out.”

 And following his last words, Max laid down in the warm bed comforter and closed his eyes, falling asleep in just a couple of minutes.

 The minutes kept passing as Max kept dreaming, and the wind began to blow against his window, making him shake slightly because of the noise; but it was not nearly enough to wake him up. If he had woken up at that moment, he probably would’ve noticed the small shadow in front of his window, standing still.

The wind somehow made its way into the room, unhooking the window lock, opening it slightly for a moment, before shutting down abruptly. Finally the lagomorph opened his eyes and sat on his bed, rubbing his eyes before looking at the window. Once his vision was getting clear, he saw a small, white and blurry figure, slowly taking shape into the curious rodent he encountered earlier today. And, once again, the creature was staring at him with its tiny eyes.

“What the…The rat with the bald spot? How did you get here?”

“Oh, Holy Lunar Trinity…” She said exasperated. “It is not a bald spot, okay? It’s a tattoo. Quite the rude assumption, child.”

Max blinked twice, his eyes fixed on the rodent. There’s no way he heard that, there’s no way those words came out of this tiny creature’s mouth. There is absolutely no way the rat just spoke to him like a tiny grandma scolding her grandchild. Rats don’t do that! …Right?

But, the rat kept going with what she had to say, and Max just couldn’t react to any of it.

 “Ahem! Anyways, my name is Luna, and I’ve been looking for you for quite a long time, Max. I’d also like to thank you for taking off the band aids from my forehead. Because of that obstruction, I wasn't able to speak, and it also affected my sensory skills. The kids of this neighborhood are so naughty!”

“Ahh…” Max seemed to wake up from his trance, nodding slightly. “I see now.”

“You do? I’m glad! It’s good to finally meet you, dear, I really don’t know what I would've done if I hadn't found you-”

“Good night.”

Luna was so wrapped up in her excitement that she didn't realize the moment Max was laying down in bed again, facing the opposite direction.

 “Eh? M-Max! What do you think you’re doing? Wake up, this is no time to rest!”

 But Max ignored Luna’s complaints entirely. She jumped to his bed and began shaking him as strongly as her tiny body allowed her, and it was not enough to even bother the Lagomorph. Maybe if I stay like this, she’ll go away. That was his plan, but Luna was not gonna stand there with her little arms closed.

 “Ah, I just remembered! I’ve also got a gift for you, Max dear.”

Max’s ears twitched, that was everything Luna needed. She stood back on her two hind legs and the mark on her forehead began to shine. She gave a high jump followed by a spin in the air. As she was doing this stunt, the mark on her forehead began to shine even brighter, until the light became a solid object that left sparkles around as it materialized.

Luna finally landed on the bed, and with one last spin in her place she stood on one leg (her other leg raising high), and caught the object with her right hand. She made each movement look elegant and so simple, her eyes were closed the entire time. But more interesting than her dance moves, Max was much more interested in the object Luna held between her tiny, pink hands.

 “Here, this is a special brooch, it’s magical.” She winked.

The brooch was made of pure gold and had a crescent moon symbol at the center, along a pink gem at the top. The contour of the brooch also had smaller gems: A blue one at the bottom, a red one at the top, a green one at the left and an orange one at the right.

“Wait, this is for me? You’re seriously giving it to me?” Max smiled.

“Of course!”

“WOAH!” Max took it with excitement and jumped out of the bed. “Thank you! It’s so shiny, I love shiny things! But, wait, how am I gonna…?”

“Max?” Luna waved her hand at him to call his attention.

“Ah! I’ve got it!” Max sat on his knees near the white table and began to open his briefcase quickly.

He started to throw everything inside the briefcase around the floor of his room, not caring where it would land or how, and stopped once he was able to take out what he was really looking for: His sailor uniform. He took it from the black bag where it was and tossed the bag away, quickly taking off his gakuran and putting on the other uniform; all of this while Luna was still trying to get Max’s attention.

“Max, please, you’ve got to listen to me! There’s been a lot of strange events happening all around the city of Tokyo, crimes that not even the police can figure out! And it is your duty to stop this chaos, Max, you’re our chosen Sailor Soldier!”

 Max was now fully dressed and wearing his new brooch, which he placed at the center of the bow in his blouse. He took a big mirror that was around the room and placed it carefully in front of him. Admiring his new accessory in the mirror, Luna took the chance to jump to the night stand to be in front of Max, trying to get the Lagomorph to look at her, and it seemed to work.

“And besides!” She proceeded. “You must find your allies as well, to find and protect our princess!”

“Aha, Aha, Aha. Sure! Anything else?”

“…You don’t believe a single word I told you, do you?”

“Oh no, no!” Max shook his head. “Sure I believe you!”

 Max was smiling and giggling, but Luna knew he wasn’t buying her story, he only cared about the pretty brooch. That was okay with her, as she was not going to give up just yet.

 “Okay, if that’s true, then repeat these words after me…Moon Prism Power, Make-Up!”

Max chuckled. “What?”

“You said you believed me.”

“I do! I promise!”

“Go ahead, then.”

 Max giggled one last time before taking a deep breath, frowning suddenly, forcing his cheeks not to smile again. Max did believe in Luna’s words, actually. The issue lied in the fact that he didn’t believe any of this was real. He had a rough day after all, so maybe, his mind was making up for it by creating a magical dream in which he’s a superhero. Someone wanted, someone needed! Someone useful and important! And he was going to enjoy this dream for as long as it lasted.

He put his hand in the air, pretending to stand in an epic pose, and shout the ‘magical phrase’ his ‘magical rat’ gave him.

“Moon Prism Power! Make-UP!”

 Max couldn't have possibly imagined what came next, as this energy bursted suddenly from his chest, it was a strong and powerful feeling surrounding his entire body, wrapping him in a cocoon of indescribable warmth. It was overwhelming, scary, yet exciting. It filled him with great joy and determination!

He closed his eyes, holding onto this feeling for as long as he could. But just as it came, the moment he opened his eyes, the feeling was completely gone. All that was left was him, standing in front of the big mirror, and Luna, who seemed quite happy for some reason.

He stared at Luna in confusion as to what just happened, before taking a look at himself in the mirror. There was something… different, Max had to take a moment to realize it, his chest bow seemed to have changed its color, he was wearing earrings too. And, did his skirt just… shrink?

No, that wasn’t quite it, this was an entire different outfit. What Max was wearing was a white leotard with a chest protector over it, and a blue collar with two white stripes. He also had white shoulder pads, gloves, and a blue skirt, along with a big red-ish pink bow at the center of his chest and his back, a choker and a pair of red boots of the same color, with a white border at the top.

His boots had golden crescent moon ornaments, just like his earrings and his choker. And the crown of it all was his tiara, which has special ornaments and a dark pink gem at the center.

What the hell was all this?

 “So, how’s that for a proof?” Luna spoke. “Do you understand what I’m saying now?”

 Max took a good look at his new clothes, feeling the texture of his gloves and admiring how his new jewelry shined. He felt an unusual comfort, even more than earlier today when he wore his other uniform, this suit just felt…Right.

 He giggled. “Look at me! I look like a superhero!”

“Max!”

“Aw, don’t worry Luna, I said I believed you!”

“That’s good, but I’m afraid you’re still not taking me seriously! Just-- Quit spinning around, please, and listen!”

“Yeah, yeah, sure!” Max waved his hand in a condescending manner. “So, what else do I need to know-?”

Suddenly, at that moment, the gem in his tiara began to project an intense shine. Max’s ears began to twitch as they captured a sound, it was muffed, but Max made an effort to pay closer attention, until the sound began surrounding him. It was a voice, a plea, and it didn't take long for him to recognize the person making it. It was his friend Inés.

  Max was surrounded in this aura of danger and malice, but he was the only one who could perceive it. All that Luna saw was how the teen was completely ignoring her instructions, and she was getting tired of this treatment. “Max, can you hear me?”

“Inés? But how…?”

“MAX!”

“AH!”

Max pressed his hand against his chest, the threatening aura had finally disappeared. “Ah, Luna, you startled me!”

“Startled you?”

 She started connecting the dots in her head.

 “You heard a cry of help, didn’t you?”

“‘Cry of help’…Yeah, you could say that.”

“Tell me, what did you hear?”

“Umm, well…” Max rested his left hand on his waist, rubbing his chin with one finger of his right hand. “I think I heard Inés screaming! She said something about her mom, but I couldn't hear the rest.”

Luna stood up in the nightstand. “Inés is the girl that owns a Jewelry store, right? Perhaps the store is being robbed. Max, now that you've transformed into a Sailor Soldier, you must go and help her!”

“…Eh?”

Luna pointed a finger at Max, accentuating his importance at this moment in time. “Consider this your first training session. Now go there and save Inés! Go, Sailor Moon!”

 ‘Sailor Moon’, was that supposed to be his ‘hero’ name? Well, it certainly had a nice ring to it.

Wait, but that would imply he would actually have to fight people, hand to hand combat. Well, maybe he could bite them in the arm and they would eventually give up!

But wait! Most thieves are armed, right? And they’re very dangerous by nature! And Max could barely remember the last time he had a fight, he must’ve been as tall as a chair back then!

…Actually, he hasn’t grown all that much since then, he still had issues sitting in chairs that were not made specifically for small creatures like him.

 “Wait, me?” Max made a gesture pointing at his own face. “You’re talking about me? Shouldn’t we, uh… Call the police for this kind of thing?”

“Forget the police! Now, let’s go save your friend!”

  Luna immediately ran to the window and proceeded to carefully walk on the house’s roof, climbing down a pipe to get to the ground. Max, who was sitting on his bed near the window, looked at her quite displeased.

  “Hey, hold on! Where are you going? You don’t expect me to jump from here now, do ya?”

“You’re a bunny, your species is agile. I'm sure you can handle a jump to the balcony on the lower floor”

“B-BUNNY? I am NOT…!” Max stopped his incoming rant, as he saw Luna climbing down the pipe with the least bit of interest in what he had to say.

 “Oh, I’ll show you…’Bunny’!”

 He carefully sat on the window as he kept mumbling under his breath. He was so angry at Luna that he almost forgot how dangerous the act he was doing truly was, which could be considered an advantage, as he did not hesitate when falling down from the window of his room to the balcony of the second floor. Once he realized he had landed without a single bruise, the next jump didn’t seem so scary, and proceeded to hold onto the other side of the wooden railing to do his second jump. “What a strange dream this is!” He thought, but this small act of bravery began to fill him with security, with a twist of excitement as to what dangers he’d find in the jewelry store.

  ══════════════════*.•:•.☽✧   ✦ ✧☾.•:•.*══════════════════

  “No! Stop! Get away from me!”

Morgana laughed, slowly approaching the defenseless girl. As she walked, her body kept changing, almost deteriorating.

As the color of her skin was fading and her limbs began to extend in an unnatural manner, Inés kept clinging onto the piece of furniture she had cornered herself against, trying to look away from her. This creature, this… Monster. Was clearly not her mother, but her resemblance was still there, and she could not bear to see it rot in front of her.

“What’s wrong, darling? Are you afraid of seeing your own mother's face?”

“How dare you!” Inés was now in tears. She shut her eyes and confronted Morgana to the best of her ability. “What did you do to my mother? Where did you take her?!”

 Morgana violently stretched her arms directly towards the girl’s neck. She began to squeeze it little by litte, lifting her from the ground, as Inés struggled to break free.

 “Do you want to know what happened to your mommy? Do you want me to tell you what I really did to her?”

 The fear in Inés' eyes only fed Morgana’s cruelty even further. The teen kept struggling against her grasp, kicking her feet in the air, using all of the force in her body to push the monster away. But that force was fading, as Morgana continued to squeeze every bit of breath from her body

 “D’aww. Don’t you worry, little one. Soon, you and your mother will be together forever!”

  Morgana let out a strong, heartfelt laugh. Knowing she had successfully completed most of her task, and that no one could possibly stop her at this point.

 “STOP RIGHT THERE! You ugly WITCH!”

 Morgana freezes, letting go of Inés’ neck just for a second, enough for her to simply pass out from the exhaustion and dizziness. But not before her eyes managed to capture a single, small shadow, standing under the door of the jewelry store.

 Morgana stood still, only turning around her neck. She bitterly replied to the stranger. “Who is this? Who are you?!”

 “Aha! Excellent question. My name is…!”

 “…Hey, Luna. Who am I again?”

 Luna gave a harsh sigh. “You are Sailor Moon, the soldier of Love and Justice!”

 “AHA! Yes, I am…What she just said! And I’ve come here to kick your butt!”

 Max kept showing a confident smile on his face, which only further reflected his complete ignorance of what was at stake right now, and who was at the hands of Morgana right now. But Luna didn’t seem to notice the peculiarity of these actions. All she saw was Max’s cocky attitude taking over him, and decided to let it pass. It was better for him to be confident than afraid.

Morgana then responded with a loud, wicked laugh. Dropping the unconscious girl to the ground.

 “Sailor Moon?” She emphasized in a burlesque tone. “I've never heard of such a RIDICULOUS name ever before!”

Morgana stretched her hand back to the counter, grabbing the red artifact where she had stored all the human energy. She held it up, shouting. “Rise up, SLAVES! Come and serve the purpose of our dark mistress!”

 “Gee-eez!” Max held his ears down. “Keep it down, old lady! Are you trying to wake up the entire city?”

“Precisely.”

“…Huh?”

 There was a moment of silence inside the building.

Max then began to hear a particular sound, getting louder, closer. Until finally, he was able to recognize it. Steps. Many, Many steps behind him…

 “Wh- …HAAH?! WHAT ARE ALL THESE LADIES DOING HERE?!”

 Max turns around to discover a crowd of women standing right outside the jewelry store, all of which were wearing expensive jewelry accessories in different parts of their bodies. Their eyes were lost, as if a part of them was not even there at all. Max began to take a few steps back.

 “Now, slaves! Get rid of him!”

 “No. Wait, wait, wait. Timeout! TIMEOUT!”

 Max moved his feet and began to run as the crowd entered the building. They chased after him through every corner of the room, meanwhile Max clumsy, but effectively avoided the women’s grasps. He ran, crouched and jumped over every obstacle, not caring if he broke a piece of glass from one of the empty display cases.

“Luna! What am I supposed to do?”

“Stay still and calm down! Just give them a good punch!”

“WHAT? No WAY! I’m not gonna hit a buncha old ladies, one of them could be as old as my mom!”

“You have to defend yourself, Sailor Moon. Fight! Then your tiara, and…!”

Unexpectedly for Luna, one of the possessed women among the crowd had the clever idea of breaking one of those display cases, getting a fairly sized piece of broken glass in her hands.

She began to chase the Lagomorph with great speed, Max was barely able to escape her deadly hand swings. But once he managed to run past her, his feet tangled against one another, making him instantly fall in the pieces of shattered glass that were scattered on the ground.

He quickly gathered his composure and ran towards one of the pillars in the room, falling near it in the process. He leaned against it, using it as a support to stand up, but one of his feet had slipped and made his behind fall back on the floor.

 “I…I can’t…” He gasped. “I can’t keep up…Why…?”

 Then, the revelation laid right in front of his very eyes. A small, burning and fresh cut on one of his knees, which opened his eyes to all the small bruises he had accumulated on both of his knees.

But that couldn’t be possible, no. No way…

 Luna then appeared behind the pillar, whispering. “What are you doing, Sailor Moon? Stand up! You have to fight!”

 But Max, surprisingly, had nothing to respond.

 “Sailor Moon! They’re coming to get you, quickly!”

 The crowd was slowly surrounding the lagomorph. But he could only stare at his wounds. He mumbled something under his breath, something about his bruises.

 “Sailor Moon?”

 “…This isn’t a dream.”

 Max had finally managed to lift up his view and look around him, but it was far too late. The group of women had him trapped against the pillar. Max managed to catch a glimpse of a pair of legs, laying on the ground far away, before the group got in the way of his vision. He felt the air escaping from him, those clothes, could they have been Inés’s?

Was she…?

 “Look out, MAX!”

 Max was shook away from his thoughts by Luna.

Morgana, raising behind the crowd, began to stretch her limbs and reach out for Max from the other side of the room. Max could see the wrinkled hand getting closer, he could almost feel her long and red claws stabbing his neck. But it didn’t matter how much Luna, or himself, begged for his body to move; Max had been frozen in place.

 But then… A scream of pure pain came from Morgana. She had to stop her hand and return it to its place. A clear and burning cut on the back of her hand, but how? What could’ve possibly been the cause?

 “Who did this? Who are you?! SHOW YOURSELF!”

 The group of women began to stand back in confusion, allowing Morgana to see the other side of the room. Her victim was still in the exact same spot, still paralyzed, but his gaze was focused somewhere else. Following his gaze, Morgana found the perpetrator of her wound embedded in the floor.

A single Red Rose.

 And suddenly. BANG! BANG! BANG!

One shot right after the other, more Roses of red and white colors began to stab the floor. A column of Roses was formed, and before anyone in the room could breathe, an explosion surrounded the women. They had no choice but to run back to Morgana, as a thick smoke screen began to fill the room.

 “S-Sailor Moon!” Luna covered her mouth with one hand and squeezed her nose with the other, containing her coughs the best she could. She called out to her pupil, but he was no longer there.

Max had his eyes shut tightly, unknowing of the fuss that was going on. He felt a strange, but comforting warmth surrounding him, making him hold tightly onto it.

It was then he heard a particular melody, a short ballad being whistled in a soothing manner. He opened his eyes with slight fear, looking for the source of the melody.

A tall, masculine figure covered in black, and a white mask covering his eyes. He was holding Max firmly with only one of his arms, using the other to spin his cane in the air and dispel the smoke that came from the floor below. The fabric of the clothing was something Max had never seen before, it was smooth and sparkling. But what concerned him most, was how familiar this was, how familiar the stranger’s shape really was…

 Morgana, along with her mind controlled slaves, were immediately drawn by the movement at the second floor. As the smoke began to fade, the unwanted stranger’s shape became clearer to them.

“Show yourself, coward! How dare you hurt ME, Morgana! Faithful servant of Lord Jadeite!”

 The stranger then spoke directly to the crowd.

 “To harm innocent lives is simply an act of cowardice, no matter the reasons, and I am not one to stand such vile acts. Whoever you are, I will make sure to put you back to the hellish hole you came out of!”

“Such insolence…!” Morgana hissed. “SLAVES! Teach this fool a lesson!”

 The group under Morgana’s control went directly to the door behind the counter, but were unable to reach it in time. A single shot echoed inside the store, and just like that, a red rose had been put in their way, making them run to the other direction before it inevitably exploded.

 Max stared at the gun in awe. It was a gorgeous weapon of a pure white color, with a flower pattern all over the frame, and small vines drawn at the top of the barrel. He had never seen anything like it.

 The stranger in black put down the lagomorph, walking towards the balcony as he re-loaded his gun. Max’s jaw almost dropped when he realized he was using rose seeds. He at least expected a fully bloomed rose, as that would’ve made much more sense in his head. Regardless, how could that even be possible? Was he really, truly awake?

 “So, lil’ pal. Any ideas on how to get rid of the ol’ witch down there?”

“Huh?” Max blinked twice. “Ah- Yeah! I mean, I-I’m here for that! …I think?”

 A couple of shots echoed in the room. Followed by the screams of distress of the group of women running in circles.

 “Perfect. Then I’m counting on ya to take her down.”

“And what are you gonna do, uhhh…” Max took a second to get his thoughts together. “...‘Mister’?”

 The stranger pushed his large cape aside, revealing a device of a small grappling hook on his belt. He shot the grappling hook towards the giant chandelier, tensioning the cable to make sure it was secure.

 “I'll be the distracting factor.”

 And just like that, the stranger jumped from the balcony right into action. Using his weight, he rocked around the room in a circle. The women would run from one direction to the other, desperately avoiding the red roses the stranger in black would shoot.

It was a sight of chaos, a black smoke began to cover the first floor as more roses kept exploding, marks of dust were all over the floor and the walls; and the women ran desperate like chickens. Morgana, being unable to instruct them properly, started to lose her patience. She tried to reach out the stranger with her other hand, which only resulted in yet another injury on the back of her hand.

Max was having the time of his life watching everything unfold from the second floor, but what fascinated him most, was the stranger.

Max wasn’t sure if this man was probably used to this environment. Maybe he had seen many other ugly monsters that possess humans for their evil schemes, it had to be that. Otherwise, how could he be so confident in his actions?

He swayed around, from left to right, every shot landing exactly where it needed to. And despite the havoc he was causing, not a single rose managed to hurt the ladies.

The stranger was in his playground, the smile on his face could not be hidden behind that mask.

And something about that fact brought butterflies to Max’s stomach…A sight only for him to admire, only for him to remember. No one but him. That brought a big, goofy smile to his face.

 “SAILOR MOOON!”

 Max screeched. As if he had just been caught doing something dirty.

 “L-Luna! I-I wasn’t…!”

“I’ve been calling you out three times now! I swear, you’re living up in the clouds.”

“Hey! That’s-”

“Ah-Ah!” Luna exclaimed, putting her paw right in front of Max’s face as a gesture to silence him. “Now listen to me! While that guy down there is messing around with the mob, you need to sneak behind Morgana and finish her off.”

“Ah-Ha. Yeah. And how exactly am I gonna do that?!”

“You’re right, I did not mention this before, I’m sorry.”

“You should be! I could’ve been killed down there-!“

“Please, pay close attention!” Luna now had both paws over Max’s mouth. “The tiara you’re wearing isn’t a mere piece of jewelry, it’s a weapon. You need to call it by shouting ‘Moon Tiara…’”

 Another couple of explosions were heard from the down floor, slightly shaking the second floor.

 “…And then throw it at the enemy!”

“Uhm-Hum. Und whot iff I fail?”

“You won’t! The tiara will never fail you. Now get down there and show that old hag who’s boss!”

 Luna then put her hands away from Max’s mouth and jumped to his shoulder, as he carefully got on top of the balcony. He tried not to look down, feeling his legs shaking slightly by the mere thought of it. Sure, he had previously jumped from a high place and landed safely, but that was before he discovered it was all real. That confidence he had built up before was now completely gone.

 “Are you sure I’m not just gonna. Y’know. Die?”

“Just relax, you’re a Sailor Soldier. Hard as a rock!”

 And just before Max could give his last protest, Luna used her own weight to push Max down, forcing him to Jump.

 While the stranger kept terrorizing the ladies, Morgana kept screaming at the top of her lungs for one of them to PLEASE do something about the intruders. Meanwhile, Max had landed on the ground safely, and was getting ready to summon his attack.

 He reached out to the tiara, and the red gem at the center began to shine with intensity. Once he removed the tiara from his head, the piece had transformed into a disc shape with a sharpened outer edge. It was shining bright as a star, Max could feel the warmth coming from the object.

He knew what he had to do.

 He held the weapon tight, took air into his lungs, and shouted...

 “MOON TIARA… CHAKRAM!”

 And WOOSH! He threw the weapon with all of the strength in his arm.

The tiara flew at great speed across the room, past Morgana. And she turned around to see where that breeze had come from.

 “…It’s you!” Morgana wrinkled her nose and began to stretch her limbs again, making her taller, and taller... “You, little pest! I’m gonna make you pay for what you’ve done…!”

 But then…

  SLASH!

 The Tiara had returned, slicing Morgana’s neck side to side! Her head coming off of her body, and one last expression of pure disbelief plastered all over her face. Her body almost immediately dropped the red artifact, shattering into tiny pieces the moment it reached the ground, and all the stolen energy began returning to their rightful owners.

The giant and beheaded corpse began to highlight a shine coming from the neck, running all across the body. And just like that, Morgana was gone with a bang.

 Max stood still for a couple of seconds. He then slowly lifted his head from behind the display case he was hiding at.

“Is it over…?”

Luna came out and began to search for any sight of Morgana, only finding a pile of powdered clay in the middle of the room, alongside the shards of the container of human energy. Meanwhile, the women that had been previously brainwashed, were now laying down on the floor unconscious.

 “I think so. Good job, Sailor Moon!”

 Max let out a deep sigh, but the night was not over yet.

Both Luna and Max turned around the moment they heard a heartfelt laugh coming from the second floor, at the other side of the room. It was the stranger in black.

 “Good job, lil’ buddy. We got rid of that monster just in time!”

Max got out of his hiding place, fixing his skirt in a quick manner. “Ah, yeah! Th-Thank you for your help!”

The man chuckled. “No, thank you. This night would not have been nearly as entertaining without you.”

 A warm, intense feeling began burning Max’s cheeks. Which he quickly dismissed. “Ahaha! Oh, well. You know! That’s my job.”

“Oh?” The stranger fixed his mask in a playful manner. “Am I in the presence of a hero?”

“That’s right! My name is Sailor Moon, and don’t you dare forget it!”

“I would never.” He smiled.

 The stranger then searched inside his jacket. “Here, a hero deserves a reward!”

 He threw an object at Max, who, miraculously, managed to catch it in the air. He kept the object inside his hands for a moment, trying to take a guess before opening up the surprise. The object was small, but heavy and with sharp edges.

 “Eh…?”

 Max opened his hands. The object was a white gemstone, sparkling many other colors in the palm of his hands. It was gorgeous, certainly pretty expensive, but where did he…?

…Oh.

 “Hold it…DID YOU STEAL THIS JUST NOW?”

The stranger laughed once again, and said his goodbyes before jumping outside the window, leaving the store for good.

 “W-WAIT!”

 Max ran outside the store. Luna chased after her pupil.

“STOP RIGHT THERE, YOU THIEF! YOU CAN’T JUST…!”

 Max felt the time freezing, just for a moment. He saw the stranger do many impossible things tonight, but this might be the one that takes the cake.

After the stranger had jumped from the window of the second floor, he managed to land at the top of a light pole in the street. Not a single scratch was done to the material, and not a single sight of hesitation was visible from the man. With a single foot, he firmly jumped again from the light pole. Now floating high in the sky, light as a feather, with all the city streets shining below him.

How…How was he capable of such wonders? No creature on earth should be capable of these acts. And yet, in front of his very eyes, there he was defying everything Max took for a fact.

The stranger looked down to the lagomorph one last time.

 “Remember me as well. My name is Tuxedo Mask. We’ll meet again, Sailor Moon…”

 Max was left in a trance, unable to look away from the man. Many thoughts rushed through his mind, and not a single one connected with the other. And just like that, by the mere blink of an eye, the stranger was gone. Max was only left with a single piece to remember the encounter, which he held tightly to his chest, as if desperate to cling onto something that was real. Something that could tell him this was, indeed, not a dream.

 “Sailor Moon! Let’s move!” Luna appeared right behind him.

“Huh…?” It took a moment, but Max was finally set free from his thoughts. “Ah, right! Yeah! But, what about the store-?”

“-Inés!” Max started to panic. “She’s still inside! I have to check on her!”

“Calm down, calm down!” Luna got in his way before he tried to enter the store again. “She’s perfectly fine, if only unconscious like everyone else!”

“But…!”

 Both Luna and Max twitched their ears, as they felt something approaching at great speed, but still quite far away. A bunch of loud sounds coming from many cars in movement.

 “The police. Just in time.” Luna snickered. “We have to leave now, or else we’re gonna be here all night!”

 Max found himself in a small dilemma. He knew what would happen if the cops found him in the middle of the crime scene, and would probably not believe him if he told them a giant monster that looks like a witch came in and caused all of this mess.

As the sirens began to sound louder and clearer, he realized he couldn’t ignore his decision any longer. Leaving Inés alone, as bad as it felt, was the only thing he could do.

 “…Damn it.”

 And so, Max and Luna made a run for it.

 The police arrived almost immediately after the duo’s escape, with an ambulance. And from one of the cars, a tall and distinguished man was the first to come out and enter the building.

The first thing the police noticed was the amount of bodies all over the floor. They were immediately checked upon and assisted by the paramedics. The distinguished man then commanded his team to search around the area, as he walked around the room digging for some clues himself.

Very deep inside the room, far away from everything, the man found a small white rose still embedded in the floor. Its petals were closed, it seemed like it had not bloomed yet. He got on his knees to take a closer look…

 “Inspector Kamino! Don’t!”

 One of the police men tried to warm him, but it was too late, the rose opened its petals and blew up on the Inspector’s face. He was not injured, but instead received all of the thick, white smoke the rose released.

 The inspector stood up and covered his mouth and nose with his forearm. “What the hell is this?!”

 “It’s another one of Tuxedo Mask’s toys, sir! It’s brand new.”

 “Goddamn it! Fell for it immediately.” He coughed.

 “There’s also marks of small explosions all over the walls and the floor. There’s no doubt he was here.”

 “Hmm…” The inspector scratched his chin, making a loud sound as his fingernails scratched his beard. “He was definitely here, but…He’s not one to make such a mess. He’s usually a lot more, y’know, subtle.”

 “Do you think someone else was involved?”

 “Possibly, it does look like a war zone here. Keep searching, we’ll interrogate the victims later.”

 “Inspector Kamino!” Another policeman came in. “We found a woman in the store’s basement! She’s still conscious, but needs help immediately.”

 The inspector ordered to bring more paramedics before running back with the second police man back to the basement, hoping to get a bit of info from the woman before she was taken away. He needed to know just what happened to this place, and who exactly was behind all of this.

  ══════════════════*.•:•.☽✧   ✦ ✧☾.•:•.*══════════════════

  Meanwhile, back at the cold, desolated castle. The tall, anthropomorphic dog known as Jadeite, had been carefully watching the events of that night from a purple crystal ball. From the moment that ‘Sailor Moon’ arrived, to the moment where his clay doll had been beheaded in cold blood. A shame, really. Morgana was one of his favorites, always did her job, until now. She had grown overly confident, and she let two intruders ruin their plans. Only a fool could’ve made such a mistake.

Because of this mistake, they just lost a great amount of human energy, and that meant their plans would be horribly delayed. Jadeite was furious, truly. But he would not allow this inconvenience to get the better of him.

 “Such a waste of good clay, that was…” Said Jadeite in a cold tone. His blue eyes fixed on the Crystal Ball. The images had stopped to a certain moment where Sailor Moon’s face was the most visible.

“Sailor Moon…I’ll remember your name. And I’ll make sure the next doll takes special care of you next time.”

 The light of the Crystal Ball began to blink, little by little losing its power. Until finally its light faded, leaving Jadeite alone, surrounded by darkness…

 ══════════════════*.•:•.☽✧   ✦ ✧☾.•:•.*══════════════════

 The next morning, Max attended school like usual. Except this time, little ol’ Luna decided to accompany him. It was a shocker finding her inside the school grounds, but luckily, it seemed no teachers had noticed her presence so far.

During recess, Max was walking around the corridors of the school, searching for his friends, when he stopped at a corner to see a big surprise. His friend, Inés, was safe and sound! She was talking to her group of friends like usual, seemingly excited about the subject of the conversation.

Max had not seen Inés in the first hours of class that morning, so he had assumed she was going to stay home that day. But of course, someone as remarkable as her wouldn't let this situation stop her from fulfilling her duty as a young citizen. Inés wasn’t exactly a nerd, unlike Lorne, but she was committed. Something Max genuinely admired about her.

However, as much as he wished to, Max couldn’t bring himself to talk to his friend. He still felt quite guilty for having to leave her behind, and did not know how to act casual about everything that happened last night. What if Inés started to suspect him? How could he possibly explain something not even he understands? He began to hold his skirt tightly, trying to control his nerves.

Instead, both he and Luna decided to eavesdrop on the group of teens.

 “And then! Then she- grabbed me by the neck! And started to squeeze me, harder and harder!” Inés made a gesture with her hands near her neck. She then showed her classmates the remaining marks she had on her neck from last night, to prove it was real.

 Her friends gasped at the horrific tale. “How did you manage to escape?!” Amano asked with a certain corner in her tone.

“I’m not sure.” Said Inés. “I think…There was someone else there.”

“Someone else? Like who?” asked Suri.

“I didn’t see them clearly, but…”

“Uh-hu?” said everyone.

“…I think it was a hero. Before I passed out, I heard them say ‘stop right there, ugly witch!’.” Inés made a voice she considered cool to imitate her hero. “And then they said something about being a Sailor.”

“Sailor? Like Sailor V?!” Lorne jumped immediately into the convo.

 “Sailor V.” Max chuckled in a derogatory manner. “She wasn’t even near the area!”

“Shh!” Said Luna, trying to listen to the kid’s conversation further.

 “No…” Inés continued. “This one was nothing like Sailor V. I don’t know who they were, or how they look. But they saved me and my mother’s life. I can never repay that.”

 Those words made Max show a smile from cheek to cheek. It was all he needed to hear, that his actions had caused a good outcome, that he had finally done something right for someone! He stopped listening to the conversation and rested against the wall, letting out a rewarding sigh.

 “Well, at least we know she’s not gonna be an issue.” Said Luna.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I was worried she might have caught you, of course! You need to be careful with your identity, Max. If someone else found out you’re a Sailor Soldier…”

“Well, I’m sure Morgana appreciated you telling her my real name before I cut her head off.” Max replied sarcastically.

Luna started to babble for a second. “W-w-well! It was a matter of life and death! Y-you weren’t moving, and I was…!”

 Luna stared at the lagomorph with a certain shame in her eyes. She then sighed.

 “I’m so sorry I put you through all of that, Max. I assumed the moment you transformed, your will as a Sailor would wake up with you! But that was careless of me, and I should’ve explained to you how to fight before sending you there. I’m deeply sorry, child.”

“Geez…” Max chuckled. “Don't get all mushy on me now, grandma! It’s okay, I forgive you.”

“You’re sure!”

“Of course!” Max gave her a big smile. “Besides, had we not gone there, who knows what would’ve happened to all those victims…!”

 Max twitched his left ear. Seemingly freezing in his place.

Luna stared at the kid with concern, until she started to hear it too.

Loud footsteps began approaching the duo, the kind of footsteps only a tall creature could make. Max looked towards the direction they were coming, and his heart dropped the very second he laid eyes on that person. With his brown, brushed fur, his long, fluffy ears, and a sparkling clean Gakuran.

It was him, the man he saw the other day outside the jewelry store. But, he was actually a student? Oh, how stupid Max must’ve looked calling him a “Sir”.

But that wasn’t all that was in his mind.

As the anthro dog walked in front of him, Max gave him a second, much careful look. And even after the guy had already walked past him, Max continued to stare at him. From the back of his head, to his shoulders, the size of his arms, all of his shape spoke to him…

After all this time. All these years. Could it be? Could it really be him…?

 “…Sam.” He whispered.

Notes: 

"Cabro" o "Cabrito": Is a word used in Chile to refer to a young boy. But the literal spanish to english translation would be "goat".

Bento: a Japanese-style packed lunch, consisting of items such as rice, vegetables, and sashimi.

Tamagoyaki: A sweet rolled Japanese omelette.

Gakuran: Classic Japanese Male uniform.

[stanknotstark]

Toxic + Toxic = Healthy

Summary: You and Loki break up. Both of you deal with it uncharacteristically. Loki sleeps with girls that look like you and you mess around with Thor in retaliation. It’s all very healthy stuff here.

You and Loki had had an unceremonious falling out a couple weeks ago and called it quits on the relationship you had built. You had been dating for 6 months but Loki had started an argument about how you didn’t love him, that you lie to him, that you probably sleep with men behind his back. Everything was false, of course, you’d never do that to Loki and it hurt that he even thought that. So, you told him that you need some time to think and Loki having to have the last word said maybe breaking up is the best option. You agreed and while you saw the shock in Loki’s eyes at your agreement you were too pissed to care and left. 

What makes it awkward is that you both live in Stark’s tower and still have to interact with each other. What makes it even more awkward is that the rest of the Avengers walk on egg shells every time they’re in the same room as the both of you. 

You’re taking it like a champ, you feel. You only cry about it when you go to sleep at night, in the privacy of your own room. Sometimes when you spar with your teammates you might hit a bit harder than necessary. You even manage to speak with Loki civilly. On the outside it would appear that you’re completely fine with the break up, but on the inside and behind closed doors you’re literally falling apart. You’re sure the only person who realizes this is Natasha because that woman sees everything. 

You almost lose your composure the first time you see Loki bring a girl back to the tower. It’s only been three weeks and he’s already whoring around. You��re livid, he claims to love you then gets over you in three weeks? Bullshit. 

What you fail to realize at first is that the girl he brings to the tower kind of looks like you. It isn’t until you’re in the kitchen eating breakfast that you realize this. She comes in, only wearing one of Loki’s too large t-shirts and enjoys a bowl of cereal with you. 

You don’t get mad at the girl, you’re mad of course, but she’s not the problem. She doesn’t know what happened between you and Loki. She has no idea you even dated Loki. So you talk with her like you would any stranger. With a happy smile, a joyful voice, and morbid curiosity about having a new person in the tower. 

“It’s really cool to see the tower from the inside. I always look up and imagine what you guys live like.” The girl says with a smile at you. 

You smile back, “It’s pretty laid back, honestly. Nothing too exciting happens around here.” 

“That’s what it looks like,” The girl laughs a light laugh, “I doubt I’ll ever come back, Loki said it was a one time thing, but I’m happy I got the chance anyways.” 

You squint at the girl when she’s not looking at you because she’s eating her cereal and question everything. Loki doesn’t do one night stands. That’s what the god had told you the first time you both fell into bed together. He had explicitly stated. “If I bed you, I mean to have you forever, I do not play games when it comes to courting.”

You hum at the girl and truly look at her. Her hair is cut at about your length and although the color is a tiny bit off it’s still in the same general shade as yours. Her features are vastly different from yours but her body shape is almost exactly like yours too. 

At this conclusion you’ve thought of three things. One, Loki is trying to make you jealous. Two, Loki is showing there are many other girls just like you he can use. Three, Loki is still hung up on you and has really bad coping skills. 

You bring you mug up coffee to your lips as you ponder over your conclusion and raise your eyes when Natasha walks into the kitchen. She raises her brows at the girl, with a glance to you, who introduces herself as Nat reaches in the fridge and pulls a carton of eggs out. 

As Natasha waits for her pan to heat up so she may cook her eggs she questions the girl. 

“What is it you do?” 

“Oh, I’m an accountant for a small company here in-” The girl stops and looks at you, concerned when you start choking on your coffee, “-are you ok?” She asks, you nod still choking a little but get it under control. 

“I used to be an accountant, I started out with a small company based in Colorado then moved here when Stark offered me a better job.” You tell her. 

“Oh! I just started my job seeing how I just graduated, but it’s my dream to work for someone as significant as Tony Stark.” 

You smile and nod, “I’ll put in a good word for you, see if we can get you a promotion you can’t deny.” You say, glancing at Nat who is smirking devilishly at you. You truly do want the best for this girl but at the same time you’d like to see Loki squirm with his one night stand working in the same tower he resides in.  

The next time it happens is two days later. This time you’re in the common area with Bruce, teaching him how to play Minecraft at night when the elevator dings. You both look up and see Loki ravishing some poor girl on the elevator’s wall. They let out small moans and gasps. Then Loki turns and looks out the elevator to see you and Bruce staring at them, game completely forgotten. 

You’re sure Bruce is wide eyed and blushing like crazy, you can’t see his face seeing as he’s turned towards the elevator. However, you control your face and look bored with a raised brow at Loki. 

“My apologies, I thought I had pressed my floor.” Loki says.

The girl he was just basically eating up giggles and pokes her head around his body to look at you two. 

“We’re really sorry!” 

They both pull from each other but don’t truly stop touching, they’re just in a presentable position now. Loki pushes his correct floor number and you watch as they disappear in the elevator. 

When Bruce looks at you he’s not blushing or wide eyed. He actually looks a bit green in the face. 

“You ok?” You ask, confused. 

“It’s wrong of him to do that to you. He’s smart, has to have his floor memorized. The only way he’d hit this floor was because he knows you’re here.” Bruce says with a sigh, the green hue in his face receding. 

You chuckle, nodding to the controller in Bruces hand so he can continue harvesting his wheat. 

“It’s ok, he’s always been really bad when it comes to coping skills.” 

Bruce watches the TV as he harvests wheat but gives you a glance with a raised brow. 

“The women he’s bringing to the building look like me. Or at least the first one did for sure, I wasn’t really looking at this one. The last one even had the same job I used to have.”

Bruce frowns at the TV then realization dawns on his face. “Now that you mention it, this girl did have the same characteristics as you...” 

You hum with a small smile. “Loki is going to be Loki, I’m just trying my best to get over him and move on.” 

You watch as Bruce pauses the game and looks at you with an evil grin. You’re a little shocked because you’ve never seen the doctor show any emotions like this. His eyes are far away in thought, but he smirks with malicious intent. 

“What if you dated one of us? Not really, but in public you would kiss and hug, hold hands do all the couple stuff in front of Loki?” Bruce asks. 

Your face must be shocked because Bruce chuckles. 

Breaking from your shock you smirk back at the doctor. “And just who would I date?” 

Bruce thinks for a second, “Well Loki....” Then you see a sinister look come over his face. “Thor.”

You gasp and slap Bruce on the shoulder, “That’s evil, Bruce!”

Bruce chuckles and shrugs his shoulders with a now timid look on his face. 

“I live with a bunch of people that have perfected getting under each others skin, I’ve picked up on how to do it too.” 

“I’ll talk with Thor later. Tell him of your nefarious plan, it’s genius!” You say relishing in the fact that you’ll be able to break Loki’s heart more, the god deserves it you justify. 

You talk with Thor and kickoff the plan right away. The next morning, Loki actually comes in and has breakfast with his one night stand across from you at the table as you enjoy staring at the newspaper, waiting on Thor to come in. They’re being sickly cute, feeding each other, giggling, and just overall making you want to throw up. You know Loki is truly nothing like this, he’s just putting on a show for you. 

When Thor walks in he gives a big good morning, throwing you a smirk Loki misses because he’s too busy kissing ass to his girl. Thor makes coffee for you and brings it over to you. When he sets it in front of you he says, “Just how you like it!” 

Then Thor leans down and takes your lips into his. Thor really puts on a show and brings a hand up to caress at your jaw as he delves into your mouth with his tongue. When he pulls away you’re breathless and look up at him with adoration. Both the gods really know how to use their mouths...and tongues for that matter. 

You lick your lips and look at the girl Loki brought home when she makes a remark. 

“Looks like we’re not the only ones who got lucky!” She giggles. 

You smile at her, glance at Loki who is glaring daggers into you, then look back up to Thor as you raise your coffee mug to him and say, “Thanks, sweetheart.” 

Thor smiles down at you and offers to make you breakfast but you decline saying you need to help Tony with something. Before you leave the room Thor pulls you into another kiss, lets you go, and slaps your ass as you walk away. You give a small yelp and giggle. Enjoying every second you feel Loki glaring at you before you leave the kitchen. 

You spend a few hours with Tony just talking as he works on his suit. You came down here to hide and be happy at the whole situation that had just happened. Tony laughs uncontrollably when you tell him what’s going on. 

“This is either gonna turn into amazing make up sex or a really big argument.” Tony says, wiping a hand over his face, smearing it with oil. 

You laugh as you sit on his work table, swinging your legs. 

“As long as he hurts just as much as I do, I don’t care which one happens.” 

“That’s toxic.” Tony states without malice. “But so is Loki so it kind of cancels each other out, right?” He asks, throwing you a devious look tapping his wrench to his chin as he does. 

“Ya, we’ll go with that.” You say, jumping from the table, getting ready to leave the lab.

“Thanks for letting me hide for a bit.” You say.

“Anytime!” Tony says over his shoulder as you leave. 

You’re walking down the hallway to your room when Loki materializes out of nowhere and pins your to the wall. His left hand pins your waist to the wall, his right hand is balled in a fist and rests on the wall next to your face. His face is inches from yours, absolutely livid. 

“You play with fire without thinking about the consequences, sweetheart.” Loki spits out the nick name you used earlier.

“What? You didn’t expect me to fight back when you started fucking girls three weeks into our break up?” You ask through gritted teeth. “You were supposed to be in love with me Loki, if you were really in love you would have waited a bit longer.” 

Loki’s face turns to regret before he gets angry again. 

“You could have went for anyone other than my brother, you can’t act like you’re holier than me.” 

You scoff and push at Loki who doesn’t budge. “You started it when you brought home girls that look like me. Making me think I was expendable, replaceable.” You say, your voice cracking when you say replaceable. “I may act like I’m fine all the time but my heart is in pieces Loki. You decided to take my heart and step all over it like I meant nothing to you!” You begin crying.

Loki furrows his brows at your tears, like he actually cares that he’s the one who made them fall. 

You close your eyes so you don’t have to look at his face anymore. Silently crying there. You feel Loki wipe your tears with his right hand, his left hand keeps you pinned though which is smart because if you could break his grip you’d run from the situation. His right hand stops wiping at your tears when they stop falling and slides his hand down till it’s cusping your neck.

“That was not my intention.” Loki finally says in a soft voice. 

You open your eyes and frown at the god. “So it was just you trying to cope in a really bad way...” You say, deflating in his hold but leaning into his hand. You haven’t felt his touch in weeks and your body is practically craving it. You hate that you react like this. 

Loki gives a sad smile. “We are a concoction of toxic chemicals. We may not get a happy ending...” Loki whispers, his thumb caressing your jawline where his hand holds your neck, his eyes roaming over your face, “But I wouldn’t have it any other way. You’re worth every second.” Loki finishes, closing his eyes and kissing you.

You lean into the kiss, tasting Loki and losing yourself in his mouth as he dominates your weak fighting with tongue. His left hand comes up to grab your hair and pull at it causing you to gasp into his mouth. He practically swallows the gasp and moans. His right hand squeezes your neck then drifts down over your breast, making sure to flow over your nipple, and then grabs your hip in a bruising grip and pulls your body to arch into his. 

When you pull from his kiss you look into his eyes and see nothing but love and lust. Then it changes to a frown and insecurity. 

“Did you sleep with him?” Loki whispers, not sure he wants to know the answer. 

“No.”

Loki sighs and uses both hands to hug you into his body, burying his face in your neck. When he pulls away to look at you you see the love there again.

“I love you.” He says sweetly. 

You smile up at him, “I love you too.” 

[heywoodvirgin]

WIP / Ghost In The Shell

Untitled wip of the first GITS fic I’m working on. Attempting to rewrite the boat scene with Motoko and Batou as I felt it, giving the characters voices between the dialogues lines. I like it so far, so have it :) 

Characterization gives me a hard time, I always think I’m writing off character even if it’s probably not the case? I don’t know. 

*

“A cyborg who goes diving in her spare time.” 

“That can't be a good sign. When did you start doing this?” 

“Doesn't the ocean scare you? lf the floaters stopped working.”  

Chain questions he knows will stay without commentary, an edge to the last one, tone slightly shifting from playful to querulous that he tries to chock back with a sip of beer. 

The questionable choice of eyes implants makes the man hard to read to most people, but not to her, yet she can't lie, sometimes she needs to look behind the silver discs that never reflect anything but light, and as time passed she could have, perhaps, picked up and collected patterns and pointers, yet as perspicacious as she is, it remains always knotty to pin the looks her partner gives, or what exactly he's trying to hide, if he is trying at all. She'd seen it before though, stolen glances at pictures she shouldn't go and look for, but she went and did, just to confirm something, appease a morbid curiosity, look deeper into his "humanity", or maybe she just wanted to know the color, file it away for a future quip. She couldn’t look more than a few seconds before closing the file, the feeling that stayed with her afterward must’ve been the retribution for her displaced curiosity.                                                                    

“Then l'd probably die. Or would you dive in after me?”  

Her tone is seasoned with the unhid provocation of someone who already knows the answer. 

“No one forced you to come out here with me. and I sure as hell don’t want a lecture” she adds for good measure. 

“l just–”

Throat slicer, his Major, makes him dig his heels in like an amateur as he averts his eyes from her disrobed back. And he’s exasperated that he can’t finish his thought, offer his honesty, or just work on an equally cutting reply. When she serves gratuitous cruelty as she does now, part of him always wants to give up already, yet his ghost whispers that it’s in such times that she needs him the most, to dig past her decoys, scratch the steeled skin she so stubbornly envelopes herself in, see to the wounds behind, be a tenacious friend. 

So he gives her her space and his back, gaze lost in the skies on fire, and by the time she comes out of the wheelhouse, fresh and changed, the night is already blue around them. She lets the silence linger, aware of his spaced sips. He’s thinking of what he’s gonna say next without bumping into her walls again. There have always been communication loopholes between them from time to time, and that’s fine, he thinks, as long as they always work past them. She feels his eyes on her as he mulls another question over and as she stares at the cityscape looming in the mid-distance.