#oh actually . maybe he’s a wolfboy

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

@teddybeartoji

Getting used to pen pressure again

[ryuichirou]

this might be a random ask but what do you think the twst bottoms reaction would be to jack’s knot? asking because i don’t think everyone would know/suspect it so there would be a variety of reactions

also because jack deserves a bit more lovin <3

Anon! Jack really does deserve a bit more lovin, so I went ahead and gave him not only NRC bottoms, but also a couple of extra boys. Aside from this being a very fun, horny reply to write, it’s also always kind of interesting to think about how aware the boys of twst world are about different species in their world… because public education surely doesn’t educate non-beastboys about this kind of stuff! But it should!

Anyways~

Riddle – if this isn’t anything spontaneous, he would probably do some research and get prepared for the knot! And he would be a little smug about it because it means that he wouldn’t make a rookie mistake everyone makes when having sex with a beastman for the first time. But he would still underestimate the size of Jack’s knot and realise that his preparations weren’t enough when it actually happens. It’ll be so awkward because he wouldn’t even be able to stand up until the knot is completely gone – Riddle is so much smaller than Jack that he’d just… hang in there :”( with his feet at least 20 cm above the ground. He might start panicking, but mostly out of embarrassment; it’s up to Jack to make sure he doesn’t start crying.

Deuce – we’ve seen his reaction hehe <3 But if it isn’t their first time, I think Deuce would get used to it pretty soon. While Jack would think that he should get better at catching himself at just the right moment to pull out not to get stuck inside Deuce, Deuce meanwhile would start enjoying the knot more and more every time they have sex. It hurts a little bit, but it’s a numbing pain that is also kind of pleasurable…

Leona – he would get silently disappointed in himself because he knew it would happen, and he didn’t stop Jack in time. But there is no way he would admit it, so he’ll end up bitching at Jack for being sloppy and overly excited, like a pup that doesn’t know when to stop. It’s not like Leona minds it too much though, as long as they don’t get cuddly or romantic and just wait for this thing to go away…

Jamil – despite seeing them every day, he doesn’t get to talk to beastmen very often: there aren’t a lot of beastmen in his dorm or his class; and with those who are there Jamil isn’t close enough to know this valuable piece of knowledge. So yeah, he knows there are some things that are unique to certain types of beastmen, and frankly he could’ve deduced it because he knows how dogs work, but… but… okay, yes, he didn’t know! But the moment he felt the knot growing inside him, he would instantly know exactly what it was, and he would hurry to jump away from the dick, but that wouldn’t help – he’ll get stuck with Jack. And he would get super embarrassed and frustrated with himself, maybe cover his face in shame and get either too talkative or silent, maybe complain about how he didn’t want this whole thing to take this long and how he has to start cooking dinner soon; but deep inside he’ll think that this is super hot. What isn’t hot is that now Jack wants to bring him to the kitchen looking like this; is he out of his mind?? (He’s trying to help…)

Vil – oh he is aware. Is it because he is surprisingly knowledgeable about sex in general or because he did his own research about wolfboys specifically because of one boy he used to really like when he was a kid? Your guess is as good as mine. Anyways, he would probably look forward to it in a way, or at least be prepared for it. Actually prepared, not Riddle prepared. It would still be bigger and more intense than he anticipated, but he would welcome the surprise; and while Jack would get flustered and apologetic, Vil would tell him that he has nothing to apologise for and turn this already post-nut situation very horny somehow. Jack never expected him to react this way, but I guess he really is just that special to Vil huh.

Epel – similarly to Deuce, he would start panicking, but also similarly to Riddle, he would look absolutely pathetic getting stuck on Jack’s dick with his tiny body suspended in the air. He would grab Jack, scratch him a little because he’d get afraid that he’ll fall off, but also try to pull himself off Jack’s dick and tug on him. Then he’ll start both crying and hyperventilating because he is very embarrassed, kind of scared and feels like a little bitch (which he loves a lot when he’s horny, but after cumming it’s just too embarrassing!!). After the hysterics calms down though and he is free, he’ll be okay and very spunky. He kind of knew that Jack’s dick would do this thing because he’s heard stuff from his teammates, a lot of which are beastmen. It was just kind of scary for the first time…

Idia – he also knew something like that would happen, but was in denial about it for the entire time, so really jokes on him. He really thought something as pervy and hentai-like wouldn’t happen irl… Why is he having sex with Jack in the first place? At first he would start complaining about Jack’s thing doing something useless, because it’s not like Idia could have pups, so why would it still do the knot when there is nothing to “knot” in the first place? Hiding his embarrassment and the cringe of the situation, he’d start talking so much that Jack will end up covering his mouth with his huge palm. And then Idia would either shut up or suddenly try to roll around… both because looking into Jack’s eyes while they’re stuck like that together is unbearable, and because for some reason he got hard again while feeling not only fucked, but pretty much bred by a wolf dick. He hopes Jack didn’t notice the latter thing…

Silver – oh he would be okay. He’d get mildly surprised, but then go “oh, right, you are a wolf”. No explanation necessary, no panic and no overdramatic reaction, just a very obvious blush on Silver’s face, chest and shoulders. Then he might ensure Jack that it’s okay and they could wait for some time… Maybe he’ll even touch the base of the penis with his fingers and massage it to make it easier for Jack. He would seem so experienced that Jack would ask if this isn’t the first time he’s having sex with a wolf beastman, but Silver would shake his head and say that this is indeed his first time. Somehow, this information made the whole situation a little weird and confusing.

Malleus – he wouldn’t really panic or anything, but he would get surprised, so he would need an explanation. He doesn’t know a lot about the ways other species procreate, so he would find it pretty fascinating… then he would confess that at first he thought something was wrong, and maybe even got a bit annoyed at something this big getting stuck inside of him, but he finds something extremely romantic about it <3 But also very lewd. The flirtiness on his face would make Jack blush a little… he better be happy that Malleus didn’t ruin his knot with magic though because it was his initial thought.

Rollo – he would probably consider it to be a punishment for sleeping with a magician lol I don’t remember him having any heavy bias against beastmen specifically (he seems to be more concerned with fae, or one fae in particular), but Jack is still a NRC student, and all of his other features would also add to Rollo feeling like he shouldn’t get intimate with him. He would love it a bit too much, so after he gets a knot, an irrational part of his brain would think that something thought that if he loves it so much, he’ll get stuck with this thing inside forever. Just out of sheer surprise and panic of course, because if he was thinking straight he would very easily figure out what was going on, and that all he had to do was wait for 10 minutes or so. Jack should shut him up or distract him in some (sexy) way just so Rollo doesn’t do anything drastic.

Fellow – he doesn’t get to hook up with other beastmen all that often, especially those who are of a similar “family” to him: foxes are still doggies, after all. He knows what a knot is, his own penis gets swollen when he is aroused, but since he doesn’t usually penetrate, this thing doesn’t get used much, so it gets un-swollen pretty quickly… so he was still very surprised when Jack knotted him: it was so hard, impossible to do anything with and so hot. Fellow is super experienced with sex, but something about being bred by a big young wolf pup scratched a very special itch inside of him and made him whine like a little bitch. It felt weirdly right in a very feral way.

[the-owl-house-takes]

I have a genuine dislike bordering on hatred for some Hunter fans who just... Make everything about him in the most annoying way possible. This one person on insta and Tumblr, a major

Darius? Oh, he's just Hunter's dad and nothing else. He looks after Hunter and is better than Belos and neeeever did anything cruel to Hunter and has no moral complexity as a character NONONO he's just Hunter's dad obviously

Willow? Hunters mommy girlfriend of course who protects him and acts oddly motherly towards him (weird) and rubs his belly and look after him 🥺

Gus? Hunter's friend who usually third wheels Hunter and Willow uwu. He's just there, doing nothing, being the supportive stereotype

Luz? Oh, she's just some side character you can maybe ship with Hunter. She's annoying and to the side, unlike the amazing totally baby uwu abuse victim baby boy wolfboy Hunter who can do no wrong. How dare Luz be the main character!

Amity? Despite being so similar to hunter she's a bully so SHES EVIL (ignoring the fact that Hunter almost killed people and threatened Luz and Eda in his first appearance and would have continued unless Luz had actually gone out of her way to help his ass). Also she's a woman (BOO!!!) and a lesbian (BOO!!!!)

Camila? Screw Vee and Luz, he's obviously her favourite child and only son - wow he's such a mommys boy 🥺🥺🥺 she's his baby boy uwu and she only cares about him and has no issues of her own

Etc.

This annoys me so fucking much and I really need to get it out before I officially lose all my remaining and dwindling interest in the series because I don't want to keep my annoyance pent up forever yk.

-

[twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat]

Haiii hello :3 I’m back again with more stsg thoughts !! So,, I feel like we can all recognise that teen stsg are complete and utter losers BUT there are quite a few scenes in the anime that make it obvious that the both of them are capable of being serious to protect people when it’s necessary.. and it made me think of how they would react if you got seriously injured hmmm HMMMMM (this totally isn’t yummy to me because I wanna see feral protective stsg…. Totally…..) or maybe it’s a lil like when Toji told sugu that he killed satoru hhhh … like ur all on a mission together and u get separated somehow and satoru is like “where tf did y/n go 🙁🙁” and whoever they’re fighting comes outta nowhere like “oh I killed th-“ 💥💥💥💥💥💥 ‘n it turns out you’re just a little injured 😭😭 but I feel like they’d be sooo dramatic and worried about you :( and satoru “jokes” that now they won’t be able to leave u alone incase u get injured again…he’s just gonna have to keep an eye on u and protect u forever and ever (he means it) and sugu js goes full mother mode like he’s forcing u to stay in bed, makes you soup, reminds u to take pain meds and listens to every word of advice the doctor gives to help u recover from the injury 💔💔 hrherh I know this wasn’t as long as my usual asks but I thought it was cute and I’ve been thinking about the stupid losers all day… can’t wait to see the sashisu thing uve been working on too !! I love them sooo much I know shoko doesn’t get much love in this fandom :( loser boys (stsg) taking up too much of the spotlight smh…. Move outta the way…. It’s bae shokos turn…. (Joke I still love stsg💔) but she’s my cute tired loser wife with a coffee addiction and I hold her very dear to my heart she’s my princess with a disorder (the disorder is depression) hehe I hope u have a wonderful day/night/whatever time it is for uuu !! — stsg anon !! 💗🌸

had to go into pixlr to make this r u proud of me…. HEHEH STSG ANON MY SWEETIE my number one supplier of treats <33333 i loveloveloveeee feral protective stsg…. ure so real…… they’re both wolfboys at heart i think .

but ohhhh u always get them perfectly….. toru joking around to lighten to mood (but he’s actually not joking at all) while sugu goes mother hen mode……… :((( they’re both sooo so worried. there’s nothing they wouldn’t do to protect u!!!….. one scenario i keep thinking of is reader falling down a set of stairs or slipping on a patch of ice when it’s cold n slippery outside…. and spraining their ankle… so stsg has to take care of them and they’re both just. Wrecks. bc they feel sooo guilty and they hate seeing u in pain….. i imagine that it’d hit sugu extra hard so toru tries to be more serious and mature than usual to make up for it!! idk i just feel like sugu is especially prone to blaming himself over things like this :((( even if it wasn’t his fault at all…. and he tries to distract himself from the shame by tending to u like a baby chick. makes u food and carries u around the house…. sits u down on his lap and tries to distract u from the way his eyes gloss over w tears bc he can’t stop looking at the cast on ur foot and he just feels so incredibly guilty :((((((((….. sniffle. i wanna hug him.

i got carried away phfkdjkdkf BUT I LOVE YOUUU STSG ANON and i love this concept sm…….. they’re both papabears :((( i feel like satoru gets a lot more serious when you’re injured, while suguru gets more meek than usual…. it’s kind of a reversal of their usual roles but it’s great bc they balance each other out !! :3 like. in the scenario above i feel like satoru might get frustrated bc they told you to be careful not to slip on the ice or whatever but suguru is there to remind him that you’re in pain and that it was an accident :(( and when it’s a more minor injury i think suguru is the one to get slightly condescending bc why would you go out into the rain without a jacket?? /obviously/ you’d catch a cold, dummy. and satoru is there to defend your honour with his life LMAO…… they’re sooo so silly.

ALSOOOO STSG ANON ….. i’m so glad that ure excited for the sashisu fic 😭😭😭 that made me so happy!!! i agree sm, shoko is sooo underrated she’s my little meow meow i love her sm :((

she’s my cute tired loser wife with a coffee addiction and I hold her very dear to my heart she’s my princess with a disorder (the disorder is depression)

YOU’RE SO REALLLLL PDHFJJDJF MY BEAUTIFUL PRINCESS WITH A DISORDER <3…. i knew i could trust u stsg anon, she’s SUCH a loser and we don’t talk abt it enough smh. she’s literally soooo similar to stsg like they’re all the same… soft sappy silly little losers…… oh how i love them so <33

[richardsphere]

Rwby Catchup V8E4 (last one for the day probably)

Back into the prison. Qrow’s going full batman-level brooding. (but then, if I had a cursed soul i would too) Looks like they might be setting both Harriet and Wolfboy (do i know his name? I feel i probably should by now) up for “benevolent treason”. I hope so, they are the least boring members of the Ops. Chasescene, Grapplinghook the leg of the monster that has previously shown the ability to liquidise its own body at will. it definitly wont just shapeshift its leg out of constriction. High Fives! And Jaune instantly regrets it Aura is strangely inconsistent isnt it? There are episodes where Jaune, noted haver of an alledgedly above-average amount goes down in 1 hit, and then theres this scene where Ren leaves no surface un-facesmashed without ever feeling anything. Shield-enade turns into a ramp. (thats cool, did i mention how i like the creativity in their kits yet? I think i spend too much time criticising the often terribly flawed story but its moments like these that remind me why i stick around) And we lost Oscar. I thought Weiss had manners, but seeing as her first instinct on greeting her brother is to point a deadly weapon at his neck i seem to be mistaken. Maybe your brother would like you more if you didnt do that. I think that might’ve genuinely been Whitleys way of asking “how can I help”, and if it is that way. Man is Weiss being a bitch here telling him to “go to his room”. Like you do not live here and havent for years and his life is falling apart around the boy. JYR are stuck in the tundra without phones. (which brings me on a tangent, are their phones connected to the local Transit Tower in atlas? the one controlled by Ironwood? This seems like a gross oversight of our Dear Dictator.) Oh are they trying to play Ren’s single-minded obsession at the cost of politeness as an Ironwood Parrallel? not really working for me but i can respect the attempt. Ren is right that they werent ready, but then no one is ready for the apocalypse. and also Is Ren still on this “blind faith in authorities” thing? I thought we got over that with Ozpin, i get that you acknowledge that Team Goodguy doesnt know what its doing but newsflash No one in this universe has ever known what they were doing, Even the gods were only fucking around to see what they would find out with their MagiScienceproject.  Oscar wakes up, ozpin assures him everything will be fine. (the most recent in his ever-going string of increasingly unbelievable deceptions.) Salem used Torturebeam its visually stunning, but not verry effective. Cinder stepping closer and closer to her eventual betrayal, “without you I am nothing”. Now that is the second time we have heard her say that. Probably implies she may be about to get an actual backstory. If only the show had planted these seeds earlier i might even be bothered to care. Cinder doenst think Salem knows Team Goodguy is going to go after the satelite. Cinder is an idiot. Salem has admitted that the entire atlas arc is about setting the stage for her final act. Salem probably wants the satelite up in space because it leads to Operation 100 kuroyuri’s at once as established in V7E2. Neo is going to exit the story for a bit and emerald is taking the stage again instead.  “yeah ruby” followed by a tiny moment of jaune looking around, not confused but as if he’s putting dots together. This is the scene where the “years waiting for this” start.

[neuxue]

Wheel of Time liveblogging: Towers of Midnight ch 10

An Asha’man contemplates personhood and Perrin finally has a meeting.

Chapter 10: After the Taint

Back to Perrin, who’s talking with Elyas and Grady and walking through camp and still not meeting Galad. His last chapter seemed like the last few moments before such a meeting, but I guess we’re drawing this out a bit more?

Ah, a fallen statue with a sword. Well, now I know generally where we are in the timeline, at least. That’s the statue Rand mentioned to Nynaeve (when he told her to dream on my behalf, Nynaeve; and yes, that still hurts).

Perrin’s second-guessing all his life choices—okay, in fairness, mostly just his recent strategic choices—and Elyas, voice of reason, is making the very good point that you can’t actually anticipate every eventuality. Or, as Lan might say, “You can never know everything, and part of what you know is always wrong. Perhaps even the most important part. A portion of wisdom lies in knowing that.”

Lan may not be there, but I’m glad Perrin has both Elyas and Tam with him. Both of them are good… not just grounding influences but I guess… steadying ones. They’re people who have gone through quite a lot of Life Experience, not all of it pleasant, and have emerged from it with a clear sense of who they are, and how they fit into the world around them. And Perrin needs people like that with him now; Rand needs people who help remind him he’s human, Mat needs his Greek chorus, and Perrin needs… people who have found that kind of balance within themselves, to show him it’s possible. Elyas, who has found his balance between man and wolf. Tam, the farmer and soldier, and neither of those lessening the other. In a way, I think they’re both not unlike the sort of person Perrin himself might be when he’s older.

I suppose what I’m getting at here is, it’s good for Perrin to have some role models.

Ugh, apparently the Two Rivers people are still judging Perrin for that time they think he slept with Berelain. Don’t slutshame the wolfboy, people; for all you know he has an open marriage!

…Okay anyone who’s met Faile could likely guess that’s not the case. But they should know better than to trust so much to rumour, especially when they know Perrin. Unfortunately, though, people are people. Also, you know, Wheel Of Absolutely No Communication and all that. Sigh.

Perrin wants to sneak into the Whitecloaks’ camp for a rescue mission, and Grady just wants to go Dumai’s Wells on their asses. Not…sure either of those is exactly a great solution here, boys. Have you considered talking? Oh, wait, no, forgot what series I’m reading.

He hated the idea of letting the Asha’man loose with impunity. The scent of burned flesh in the air, the earth ripped apart and broken. The scents of Dumai’s Wells. However, he couldn’t afford another distraction like Malden. If there were no other choice, he’d give the order.

And now he knows how Rand felt, when he did give that order.

Still, this could be taken as a small moment of growth for Perrin, to acknowledge—hating the idea but not letting it drag him fully into a crisis of self-hatred—that he could do this, will do this if he has to. That this is an option available to him, and that if it is necessary, he’ll do it. And being able to do that not in the moment (the way he sort of did with the Shaido prisoners, for example), and not in that desperate single-minded focus on finding Faile, but as a simple evaluation of the options available to him, in anticipation of what might be needed for this next task.

Still, for all their sakes, let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.

Not yet, though. There are no coincidences with ta’veren. The wolves, the Whitecloaks. Things he had been outrunning for some time were returning to hunt him.

Wow that sounds almost like self-awareness! And lack of denial! Again, to Perrin’s credit, he’s been alright at that for a little while now, but it’s still a big enough achievement that I’ll celebrate it whenever it happens with these boys.

But yes, Perrin. It’s the endgame of an epic fantasy series; there are no coincidences here.

The Whitecloaks had haunted him since his early days out of the Two Rivers. Dealing with them had never been simple.

It felt like the time had come. Time to make an end to his troubles with them, one way or another.

That, basically. Coming full circle and getting closure to an arc and all that fun stuff.

Which is another reason why this shouldn’t end in violence, perhaps. Because that’s what started all of this: Perrin fought the Whitecloaks, and killed two of them (and then several more, with Gaul, for old times’ sake), and had to Deal With That, both in his own mind acknowledging himself as a killer and with the consequences of it. And at every stage of this he’s been in conflict with the Whitecloaks. Fighting them directly, or at odds with them in the Two Rivers.

(They make such a good point of conflict for him too, especially when you set the Tuatha’an on the other side, because together they kind of represent an extreme version of some of the sides of Perrin’s own conflict within himself. The Tuatha’an as an extreme version of his wish for peace and his fear of the violence he carries within himself; the Whitecloaks as an extreme version of a determination to do the right thing.)

But now the Whitecloaks are being set up for a kind of redemption via Galad, and Perrin’s arc is drawing to a close for the endgame, and so it would fit both sides for this long-running conflict, which challenges the fundamentals of who they are, to come to a close not in violence but in alliance. To recognise in each other something to be admired rather than only something to be feared or hated. To see points of similarity rather than just irreconcilable difference. Because to do so would also, I think, mean accepting some of those things in themselves, so that they can all move forwards.

And on the subject of alliance where once was enmity, the Asha’man and Aes Sedai with Perrin have figured out linking. Well, Neald has, and Grady seems keen to get on board. Cooperation! Overcoming millennia-long barriers! Being stronger together!

“Light! It’s wonderful. We should have done this months ago.”

Or centuries, but it’s all relative, right?

I do love, though, that at almost every turn, once this kind of cooperation happens, it’s seen by those involved as something positive, treated with this kind of joyous amazement. Like Nynaeve’s first time as part of a circle, or this, or affirmations of friendship, or those moments when characters finally decide to be open or honest with one another. It’s almost always rewarded; it takes a hell of a lot of work and time and pain to get there, but once they do, it’s something good.

“I was wondering if I might…” [Grady] seemed hesitant. “Well, if I might have leave to slip over to the Black Tower for an afternoon, to see my family.”

Oh. Oh man. Okay I think I see where this is going. (The importance of having family, to keep him grounded, as Rand recognised so long ago when he first started gathering men who could channel, before he all but lost sight of his own anchors. And the taint is gone now so it’s safe, or at least safer…).

Also, please let Grady or someone go to the Black Tower because I need a Black Tower interlude. It has been far too long and there have been far too few in the first place. What is happening there. I need to know. Because of reasons.

Damn it Perrin let him go see his family! I mean okay fair, there’s a clear threat ahead and a possible threat behind so tactically yeah, not a great time. And he does agree to let Grady go at some point soon.

“You never worried about this before, Grady,” Perrin said. “Has something changed?”

“Everything,” Grady said softly. Perrin got a whiff of his scent. Hopeful. “It changed a few weeks back. But of course you don’t know. Nobody knows. Fager and I weren’t certain at first, and we weren’t sure if we should tell anyone for fear of sounding delusional.”

“Know what?”

“My Lord, the taint. It’s gone.”

And with it, the certain death sentence they’ve all been living under. It does change everything: once, they were weapons, because that was all they could hope to be in their brief time of power before madness. Once, all they could do in the end was die for this cause. Now, there’s a chance they can live for it. Can let themselves be more than weapons again, can hope for something more.

In its own way it’s yet another version of Rand’s realisation on Dragonmount, for all that this comes earlier chronologically (and for all that we’ve seen it happen already for some of the characters who were closer to the cleansing). This idea that there might be more to the future than death, more to give than a last stand and despair, more to be than a weapon.

The timing of this does seem kind of weird, given that the cleansing was several books ago now, and the explanation that they were waiting to be sure… eh, I suppose no one ever tells anyone anything in this series so it doesn’t strain suspension of disbelief too far. I suppose it just feels weird because everything about Perrin’s chapters up until now has felt like a building up of tension before his inevitable meeting with Galad, and this feels like a kind of random digression.

Not an unimportant one—this is lovely, and fits well in terms of where we are in the overall story in the sense of realisation of hope once thought lost—but just… somewhat oddly placed.

“Seems the sort of thing Rand might have been about,” Perrin said.

Which might just be the most chill reaction to hearing about the cleansing of saidin we’ve seen from anyone. Oh, a miracle? The removal of a three-thousand-year-old evil that has gradually destroyed so much of society and thrown the world out of balance? Yeah, that sounds like something Rand would do, cool, fair enough.

It probably helps that Perrin himself can’t channel, so all of this would feel a bit more… abstract, maybe? Which might make it easier to accept than it would be for someone to whom this is an integral part of their lives. Still, it makes me laugh.

“When I joined the Lord Dragon, I knew what would happen to me. A few more years and I’d be gone. Might as well spend them fighting. The Lord Dragon told me I was a soldier, and a soldier can’t leave his duty. So I haven’t asked to go back before now. You needed me.”

“That’s changed?”

“My Lord, the taint is gone. I’m not going to go mad. That means… well, I’ve always had a reason to fight. But now I’ve got a reason to live, too.”

This, exactly. The difference between having something to die for and having something to live for; dying for a cause and living for one. It’s adjacent to Rand’s own why do you fight question and realisation, but it’s also the realisation that there is something more than death ahead.

There’s a kind of honour, certainly, in knowing he’s going to die and deciding to at least make that death worth something—give that brief time before madness to some kind of cause, use this power that damns him to serve some goal. But now that’s not the only choice. Now he can decide to fight, still, but also to live, and to hope for something else; to be a soldier, yes, but not merely a weapon.

It’s one of those shifts in perspective that from one angle looks so slight but that actually means everything, that changes everything.

And again, while the specific timing in this chapter is a little weird, it otherwise is such a fitting realisation; sure, it’s technically before Dragonmount, but narratively it’s during this time when this kind of shifting perspective is spreading across the world from its epicentre: the mountain where hope first seemed to die and now at last has been restored. This realisation that there’s more than just a dark inevitability to the future; that instead there are choices and things to live for and possibilities and second chances.

(There’s one rather prominent character who still has yet to come to his own version of this realisation, but he’s riding towards it now, unless I am very much mistaken).

That was what Perrin had sensed in the Asha’man all along, the reason they held themselves apart, often seeming so sombre. Everyone else fought for life. The Asha’man… they’d fought to die.

That’s how Rand feels, Perrin thought.

Indeed. And almost surprisingly perceptive of Perrin; for a while in the middle he sort of… didn’t quite allow himself to see Rand’s despair and sadness. But he’s absolutely right, in this.

And he touches on another key part of this change, in that thought of the Asha’man holding themselves apart. Not quite letting themselves be part of the world in the same way as others, not allowing themselves connections and friendships and anchors; turning themselves to weapons (or, in Rand’s case, to steel, to cuendillar). Which then leads to a kind of apathy or despair, to no longer having anything to live for, because they allow themselves nothing, because they don’t allow themselves to be people. But now they can, and so Grady is reaching back out to those things that mattered, back when he was a person and not a weapon (like the veins of gold). Drawing on them once more to pull himself back, to let himself be himself again.

I suppose in a way this ties into where Perrin is in his own story as well, now that he has found Faile and come out of the other side of that single-minded despair in which nothing else mattered. Because he, too, is finding his footing again after that. Finding some kind of purpose. It’s not like-for-like, but it all ties together.

Grady laughed. It felt odd, but good, to hear that from the man.

Laughter and tears.

Oh, are we actually going to get the meeting with Galad now?

“There is a stranger riding along the road towards camp. He flies a flag of peace, but he wears the clothing of these Children of the Light.”

FINALLY.

Oh good Tam is here. Tam is a good person to have around when everything’s likely to go to shit.

Ah it’s Dain Bornhald rather than Galad. That’s… not exactly ideal. He and Perrin didn’t precisely part on the best of terms. Or meet on the best of terms. Or ever interact on anything but the worst of terms, really.

Anyway Bornhald opens by calling Perrin a criminal so we’re off to a great start.

“It is you. The Light has delivered you to us.”

“Unless it has also delivered you an army three or four times the size of the one you have now,” Perrin called, “then I doubt very much that it will matter.”

I’m always here for Perrin’s backtalk, of course, but I’m pretty sure an outright threat isn’t going to help this situation any. Then again, it was more or less a lost cause as soon as Bornhald showed up, given I don’t think anything but a severe concussion and possibly amnesia is going to change his opinion of Perrin, so.

Perrin’s attempting something vaguely resembling diplomacy, in that he’s basically saying ‘why don’t we just ignore each other until we’re out of sight’, but Bornhald’s not so keen on that option. Unsurprisingly.

“But I will leave that for the Lord Captain Commander to explain. He wishes to see you for himself.”

YES. FINALLY.

Though Perrin’s not so keen on walking into what could very likely be a trap, and Tam’s thinking much the same thing… but hey, he’s ta’veren; what could possibly go wrong? When has knowing they’re walking into a trap ever gone anything but perfectly well for any of these characters? (Don’t answer that).

“Burn me, Tam. I have to at least try before attacking them.”

That’s… a fair point, at least given Perrin’s own sense of honour and morality. It’s part of his ongoing conflict with the Whitecloaks as well, really: at none of their encounters has he actually wanted to kill them, or to attack first. He’s not out hunting them, and while he does sort of bear a grudge against them now, it wasn’t always that way. It’s just that there’s quite a lot of bad blood there, and even in the early days things went south quickly, and so it inevitably ended in bloodshed.

The six of them broke away from camp, and blessedly, Faile didn’t seem to have heard what was happening. Perrin would bring her if there was a longer parley or discussion, but he intended this trip to be quick, and he needed to be able to move without worrying about her.

Kind of a shame, given that she could be an asset in a discussion or negotiation. But at least he knows that well enough to be thinking of bringing her along if there’s going to be extended talking, I suppose. Would Galad know her? Maybe not on sight, but I’d imagine he might know her name, and certainly would know her father’s… that could help. Or not; who knows.

HI GALAD.

The tall man had fine features and short, dark hair. Most women would probably call him handsome. He smelled… better than the other Whitecloaks.

This description is just trying way too hard to emphasise the ‘no homo’ that it pretty much runs screaming in the other direction, and I’m laughing.

“Goldeneyes,” the man said. “So it is true.”

“You’re the Lord Captain Commander?” Perrin asked.

“I am.”

Oh, of course we’re doing this without Perrin ever getting his name. Of course. I can’t quite decide if that strains my suspension of disbelief or not, but either way: ARGH. Then again, Perrin’s never actually met Galad and doesn’t know that Maighdin is Morgase, and barely even knows Elayne, so knowing Galad’s identity might not actually help him all that much.

“What will it take for you to release the people of mine you’re holding?”

“My men tell me they tried such an exchange once,” the Whitecloak leader said. “And that you deceived them and betrayed them.”

Well, yes, they would say that. But Galad, you of all people should know that there are probably more sides to that particular story, especially given you’re not getting it from an unbiased source.

Galad keeps listing out Perrin’s alleged crimes, some of which could be argued to be true (killing Whitecloaks); some of which are bullshit (leading Trollocs to attack his own village), but none of which he has any actual evidence for, beyond the word of his own men. Their word against Perrin’s, and it seems like Galad should also know that just because he’s the Lord Captain Commander now, and trying to drag this organisation kicking and screaming into some kind of redemption, doesn’t mean everyone in it is suddenly noble and honourable and not lying outright to him.

Or even that they’re mistaken. That, as is so often the case, there’s just more to the story. That maybe the people whose information he’s relying on didn’t know everything that was actually happening. Which is closer to the truth, really; Bornhald genuinely believes Perrin is evil, and so everything else gets filtered through that lens of confirmation bias.

“I want a more formal parley, where we can sit down and discuss. Not something improvised like this.”

“I doubt that will be needed,” the Whitecloak leader said. “I am not here to bargain. I merely wanted to see you for myself. You wish your people freed? Meet my army on the field of battle. Do this, and I will release the captives, regardless of the outcome.”

I am a little surprised Galad outright refuses Perrin’s request to sit down and talk about this like adults. Because sure, he’s seen Perrin now, but what information does that tell him? It’s a perfectly reasonable request, and nothing Perrin’s said to him has been particularly unreasonable, and again, Galad should know better than to just take as absolute truth everything he’s been told.

Then again, Bornhald told him the truth about Valda and Morgase, so maybe that’s earned him Galad’s trust? Still, it seems odd that he wouldn’t give Perrin some kind of chance—a trial, or a conversation—to defend himself, before challenging him to a battle, where so many more people could die.

I just don’t get Galad sometimes, but what else is new.

“Your force will face ours under the Light,” the Whitecloak leader said. “Those are our terms.”

So you’re just going to sentence some of your own people to death in order to determine this, rather than… talk? Sure. Okay. Trial by combat by proxy; why the hell not.

I’m still guessing it’s not actually going to come to that, somehow, though I can’t quite see how. Unless Galad sees Morgase. That’s the only thing I can think of that could potentially stop this from turning into the mess it’s currently heading for.

He could take the Whitecloak leader captive right here, with barely a thought.

Perrin was tempted. But they had come under the Whitecloak’s oath of safety. He would not break the peace.

That’s some rather weird logic, if you’re intending to then meet him on the field of battle. Capture one person, and the cost is breaking an oath of peace. Keep that oath of peace, and the cost is, very probably, the lives of some of the people following you.

I mean okay, I get it, truce flags should be honoured because otherwise Bad Things Happen, but… eh. Like with a lot of the ‘rules’ of warfare, sometimes thinking about it too hard gets a bit weird.

***

Oh we get a Galad POV now, so maybe his thinking will make more sense. Though admittedly I don’t hold out a great deal of hope for that, because again, Galad’s thought process just baffles me sometimes.

Those golden eyes were unsettling. He had discounted Byar’s insistence that this man was not merely a Darkfriend, but Shadowspawn. However, looking into those eyes, Galad was no longer certain he could dismiss those claims.

Come on, Galad, did no one ever teach you not to judge people by their appearance?

Like, on the one hand… okay, people he trusts have told him some pretty terrible thing about this guy, and he does have (apparently) unsettling eyes, and he didn’t deny any of the accusations Galad listed out. And confirmation bias, again, is a strong thing. It does make sense that he would be wary of Perrin, and expect him to be an enemy, to potentially be evil, and to see that at least his physical description matches what he was told so maybe the rest does, too.

It’s just frustrating.

“They would not have harmed me,” Galad said.

So you’ll believe he’s a monster, but also that you were safe?

To be fair, his reasoning for why he was safe does make sense, more or less, given what he knows and (mostly) what he assumes.

“If he is as you and Child Byar say, then he worries greatly about his image. He didn’t lead Trollocs against the Two Rivers directly. He pretended to defend them.” Such a man would act with subtlety. Galad had been safe.

Well, it makes sense if you partially discard Occam’s Razor and also fail to account for the possibility that he’s not as Bornhald and Child Byar say. Then again, if that’s true, then Galad was also safe, because Perrin’s not a monster or a threat.

Alright, fine, Galad, I’ll give you that one.

Those eyes… they were almost a condemnation by themselves.

Seriously, people, what is it with determining a person’s morality by their eye colour? You live in a world with literal magic! Sometimes weird shit happens!

And Aybara had reacted to the mention of the murdered Whitecloaks, stiffening. Beyond that, there was the talk his people gave of him in alliance with the Seanchan and having with him men who could channel.

Again, I can just about see where Galad’s coming from, and how he’s putting the pieces together, but I wish he’d stop for just a moment to consider that maybe there’s more to the story. But then, he’s hardly the only person in this series to come to not-entirely-accurate conclusions based on flawed or incomplete information. They’re all just working with what they have, and sometimes what they have is wrong, but… well, if I gave Lan’s a portion of wisdom quote to Perrin earlier, I suppose it’s only fair I grant Galad the same courtesy now. He doesn’t have perfect evidence that what he’s been told is right, but it paints a compelling enough picture, and he doesn’t have much evidence to the contrary, either.

Better to defeat this Aybara now, than to wait and face him at the Last Battle. As quickly as that, he made his decision. The right decision. They would fight.

Morgase, get over here; we need you.  

Previous (ToM ch 9)

[drabbledragon]

Linktober: Fall

Still a few days behind but I’m catching up! I’ll be up to date in no time!

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26749021/chapters/65731681

Summary: One of the Links is always changing, just like the leaves in fall.

Warnings: Swearing

Day 6: Fall

This forest was unlike anything the group had ever encountered before. Tall Aspen trees towered over them and created a mosaic of red, orange, and yellow up in the treetops, and a small stream trickled peacefully by small river rocks. The dirt ground beneath them was laden with hoof tracks and piles of leaves, with no indication that humans nor Hylians have ever stepped foot in this very forest. The place was wild, breathtaking, and absolutely beautiful in all its untamed might.

“It appears that we’re stuck in between eras.” The Hero of Time had concluded. The group discussion they had had a little while ago turned out to be inconclusive, with their best guess being a time between Twilight’s and Wild’s eras - but even that claim was a bit shaky.

Sky stepped forward and curiously looked at the trees around him. “ We haven’t seen any monsters here yet,” He turned back and regarded the other heroes with pinched brows, “ So do you guys think we’re in a time where Ganon doesn’t exist?”

“We very well could be.” Warriors chimed in.

The heroes had broken out into another murmured discussion about the matter, each one of them trying to figure out why exactly the Goddess would send them to a timeline with no destruction and no one to save. Among those several heroes was Four, eyes distant as his four personalities argued in his head.

C’mon, Blue, it’ll be fun!

Red, I’m not going to act like a five year - old and jump into a pile of leaves.

Awww, please? They’re so colorful and pretty and they make a cool crunch sound when you step on them! And this might be our only chance to relax and have some fun! Plus you heard Sky: there are no monsters here so we don’t have to worry about getting attacked or anything!

One, that’s not what Sky said; Sky said that we haven’t seen any monsters yet, meaning that there could very well be monsters, but just hidden. Two, how do you think the others would react? They’ll most likely treat us like little kids after, and I don’t want to be teased all the time like Wind.

But Vioooo, it’s just a little pile of leaves. Maybe everyone else will join when they see us jump in first! The corner of Four’s lips twitched.

Guys, Warriors is talking to us.

The Hero of the Four Sword was startled back into reality, and nearly shrunk under the captain’s expectant gaze. Struggling to find his voice, he stuttered out a quick, “ H - huh?”

“I asked you what you thought about the situation.” The Hero of Warriors frowned. Then with a placement of hands on hips and a raised brow, the man questioned, “ Were you even listening to a thing I’ve been saying?”

“Oh, um ...” The silence between them was palpable, and no matter how much of four’s personalities tried to rack their brains for the captain’s recent words, all they could think about was Red’s excitable personality bubbling to the surface. Green could feel himself quickly becoming suppressed under his red counterpart’s desire to let loose and have some fun, and he could feel his gaze flickering more and more to the piles of leaves rather than Warriors’s face. Three - quarters of him begged Red not to give in to his impulsivity, but they were fighting a losing battle, and Red was clearly the victor.

Four was pushing past Warriors before he even knew it.

Seven curious faces and an offended Warriors watched as their smallest hero leapt into the pile of foliage, giggling and smiling as colorful leaves fluttered around him like winter’s snow. His face was alight with newfound joy as he mindlessly tossed red, orange, and yellow leaves into the air, and for once, he felt like just another child enjoying a crisp autumn day. He idly wondered how long it had been since he was last able to be his exuberant self - to just abandon his duty as a knight and enjoy the small joys in life. He abruptly froze.

Red! What did you do? Everyone’s staring!

Oh my Goddesses, they’re never gonna let us live this down.

If we have to explain ourselves, you’re the one who’ll have to do it.

Red looked to the remaining heroes with tears in his eyes. Oh man, what’s he going to say?

He startled when a rush of blue and blonde jumped into the pile of leaves next to him.

“Woohoo!” Wind shouted when he popped his head out the pile, leaves and twigs tangled into his hair. He looked to the Hero of the Four Sword and beamed, “ That was really fun! Let’s do that again, Four!”

And the Hero of the Four Sword glowed, his red eyes bright with elation.

Not long after, Wild, Hyrule, and a newly - transformed Wolfie had joined in, each one of them caught in a fit of giggles and whoops as they hopped from leaf pile to leaf pile. It appeared that the heroes' concern about being dropped into an unfamiliar Hyrule had slowly dribbled away, giving way to amusement as they watched the five heroes let loose and enjoy themselves. With a warm smile, Time decided,

“I guess we’ll be staying here for the night.”

Dusk had quickly approached soon after, causing fading rays of sunlight to shine weakly through the trees. The Hero of Twilight and the Hero of the Four Sword walked purposefully through the forest, the former remaining in his Twili form as the two scoured the area for food.

The smaller of the two heroes took out his makeshift - shopping list Wild had given him, and scanned it over for the umpteenth time.

Well we have the mushrooms and apples the cook asked for, so we’re really just missing the honey.

We know, Vio. Can you just stop looking over that thing every five seconds? It’s starting to piss me off.

Wolfie questioningly looked back as he heard the paper crumple in the other’s hands, but Four simply ignored him.

Blue, it’s okay! I’m sure Vio’s doing his best! Plus it’s hard for us to remember things, right? So it’s okay for him to check back every once in a while.

Sure, but every five fucking seconds? None of us have memory issues that bad; Vio’s either messing with us or actually has amnesia like Wild. 

Hey, look!

Red, Blue, and Vio all looked to where Green mentally motioned. There it was: their last ingredient was hanging on a high branch just above them, the bee’s nest swinging idly in the cool breeze.

“It’s really high up,” Twilight pursed his lips, his form now that of a Hylian’s. “ Maybe I can grab it with my Clawshot.” He was just about to search for his aforementioned tool when a sudden snort caught his attention.

“Really, Wolfboy? You need something like that to get a little bee’s nest? I can get that with my bow and arrow in one shot, no doubt.”

The Hero of Twilight looked over the other with obvious skepticism. “ Blue eyes, huh? So I guess Blue’s the one doing the talking.” Then with a taunting smirk, he asked, “ Hmph, up for a little challenge?”

Blue, just please say no.

“You bet your furry ass I am!”

Green mentally facepalmed.

“Then it’s settled,” Twilight said, taking out an orange Rupee and waving it around. “ First one to get the beehive gets 100 Rupees.”

100 Rupees? Blue gawked, that was going to be an easy win! With Vio’s precision and Green’s coordination, the four of them were guaranteed to win! Blue reached down to his bag to find his Bow, but paused when he felt that something was off. With a slow glance down, he was slightly horrified to find that his tunic was completely blue.

He quickly swivelled on his heels and frowned to see his three counterparts smiling right back at him. “Hey, seriously?! You guys are quitting on me just like that?!”

“Well you’re the one that wanted to challenge Twilight, not us.” Vio shrugged. “ So if you want to win, then do it fairly.”

“Yeah,” Red chimed in. “ I wanna see you win!”

Blue gritted his teeth. Really? His three other counterparts were bailing on him just because of something so stupid as playing fair? They were all part of the same person, for Hylia’s sake; using each one of their abilities was totally fair! He shrunk when he felt Twilight’s shadow looming over him.

“Well, Blue?” His eyes darted over to the Ordonian’s smirk. “ Is our competition still on? Or do you just wanna hand me my 100 Rupees now?”

There was a moment of hesitance from Four’s blue counterpart until he finally shouted back, “ You’re on, Furball!”

The two heroes each positioned themselves on either side of the tree, bows readily aimed at their  unsuspecting prize. Blue did his best not to tremble under the pressure, but after taking a glance at the cool, calm, and collected Ordonian standing right across from him, he couldn’t help but feel his confidence wane like a dying fire. 

“Ready ...” Green drawled from a distance, hand raised readily in the air.

Blue took a steadying breath. He could do this; just one little hit at the bee’s nest’s stem and those 100 Rupees were as good as his.

“Go!”

The call caused two arrows to fly simultaneously through the air like a quick gust of wind, both projectiles aimed at the same target. They both sliced through the air at an amazing speed but just as Blue had feared, Twilight’s arrow had reached the nest first, easily nicking the stem and sending the hive falling towards the ground.

But Blue wasn’t done yet. He may have lost the battle, but he’ll win the war.

Four’s blue counterpart broke into a sprint almost immediately after, arms strewn out in an attempt to catch the nest. He had successfully caught it when it was just a hair’s breadth away from hitting the ground, and he couldn’t help but cheer out in victory; but he had poorly miscalculated his win, because the next thing he knew, his degree of momentum had sent him tumbling towards the ground with a roll, and the steep decline of the hill only seemed to spur him on. He eventually ended up in a nearby stream not long after, with arms raised above his head in order to avoid the beehive from getting wet while the rest of him was currently drowning underwater. When he was finally able to gain his bearings, he sat up and looked to his three counterparts and the Ordonian looking back at him from the top of the hill, Vio and Twilight doing their best to hold in their laughter while Red and Green didn’t even bother.

Wild was cooking later that night, the smell of Glazed Mushrooms and Honeyed Apples wafting through the air in a tantalizing manner. Four sat blissfully next to the small campfire, and watched quietly as the group’s resident cook stirred the pot once again.

The Hero of Wilds pursed his lips as he said, “I honestly thought there would be more honey in that hive, but since we’re in a weird sorta Hyrule - limbo, I guess it would make sense if everything was a little bit off.”

Yes, Blue, it is weird that there wasn’t much honey in there.

Blue’s sudden flare of anger caused Four’s jaw to stiffen.

Y’know what, Vio? How about you go get the honey next time? I can sit there and supervise you while you do it and after you’re done drowning in a river, I can go over and laugh at you. 

It’s your fault for challenging Twilight like that; you knew he would win.

Hey, doesn’t that smell like dad’s cooking?

The four of them sharpened their focus to the warm smell that was coming from the pot, and each one of them hummed in agreement.

Yeah, you’re kinda right, Red.

I wonder what he’s up to, him being the head knight and all.

Oooo, you think he’s drinking hot chocolate right now? I bet that vendor in Castletown is already selling some!

Idiot, he’s probably working his ass off protecting the castle! He doesn’t have time for stupid stuff like that!

“I miss him.”

Every personality within Four inwardly gasped at Green’s sudden words, and none of them missed the confused side - glance Wild gave them.

The cook’s brows pinched together as he said, “ You missing someone?”

“I, uh -” Green, who was now forcibly shoved to the front to deal with their situation, racked his brain for a way to explain himself; but when none came, he eventually settled on a wistful sigh and said, “ Yeah, I just miss my dad.”

“Oh yeah? What’s he up to now?”

“Well, he’s the head knight in my Hyrule, so he’s probably off protecting Zelda and stuff like that.” A nostalgic smile crossed his lips. “ When I was a little kid, my dad always used to make me fresh - cooked eggs and honeyed fruit for breakfast, and just before he headed out, he would always tell me how much he loved me even when I was a little brat, and I would always give him the biggest hug back. It’s been awhile since I’ve last seen him, but I know he misses me a lot, and he’s eagerly waiting for the day I come back home.” He nonchalantly shrugged. “ I guess you’re cooking just reminded me of him.”

Green sucked in a sharp breath through his teeth. What was he thinking telling Wild of all people about his family?! He knew the Hero of Wilds’s was very sensitive about the matter, and for Green to just go on and practically brag about how his family was still alive and well? What an idiot!

But to Four’s pleasant surprise, the cook simply answered back with a longing smile. “ I got a few people I’ve been missing, too: my Zelda, Impa, Sidon - I know they’re all their wits end trying to figure out where the hell I went, so hopefully we’ll be able to stop by my Hyrule soon and I could explain to them what’s going on.” He propped a cheek on one of his hands and wondered aloud, “ I wonder if we could visit Sidon first. It’s been a while since I’ve last seen him and I did promise him that we’d go swimming at Palmorae Beach soon.” 

Green smiled. At least they all had someone to go home to.

The full moon casted a beautiful light across their camp tonight, and the peaceful and quiet atmosphere seemed to compel the heroes into talking about their adventures again.

“Okay, but did you really fight the moon?”

“Perhaps, but that’s for me to know and for you to find out.”

“Jeeze, Old Man, you’re such a tease.”

The camp seemed alight with cheer and good banter, but one of the Links was quiet, plate in hand and eyes glued onto his shadow.

Warriors. Sleep. Snore.

Vio’s eyes lit up with mundane amusement. He had figured out what his shadow was trying to say: Warriors was caught snoring one night, and to be honest, it was pretty hilarious to watch in Shadow’s opinion.

Out of the four personalities that resided in Four’s body, Vio had become the best at deciphering what Shadow was trying to say, and that was pretty impressive considering the latter had to use some modified form of sign language so the four of them could actually see the signs he was trying to make. Having your shadow hold a hand in front of its own body did make it impossible to pull any kind of meaning from it, after all.

“Your shadow: it’s facing the wrong direction.”

Red, Blue, and Green all startled at the Hero of Time’s sudden observation, but Vio was good at keeping up appearances in tense situations. With a flash of disinterested violet eyes, he glanced to Time and explained in a hush voice, “ It’s a side effect of the Four Sword; the magic held by it seemed to change everything about us.”

The leader of the group regarded him for a few more tense seconds before tiredly sighing, “ Ah, the things you poor boys went through. If I could’ve prevented any of your adventures from ever happening, I would.” And with that being said, Time turned back to the rest of the Links, an amused smile on his lips as he watched their antics. 

Hylia, Vio, you just saved all of our asses.

Yeah, did you see that scary look Time was giving us?! I almost couldn’t breathe for a second!

Do you think he’ll just let us live this down? Like do you think he’ll ever bring this up again?

Thank you. Vio.

Vio smiled at Shadow’s gratitude. He had saved all of his counterparts from a terrible interrogation and from a chance of being casted away from the group just because he was technically some derivative of a Dark Link. 

A sigh blew through his nose.

Sure, Shadow may have been an enemy hellbent on killing every single one of Four’s personalities before but he had changed, coming to the realisation that Vaati’s wish to plunge all of Hyrule into darkness was beyond cruel, and he had taken to sacrificing himself all for the sake of making sure that Red, Blue, Green, and Vio were able to save the kingdom in time. Shadow was on their side - every one of Four’s counterparts were sure of it - but the rest of the Links wouldn’t understand.

But things change, just like the leaves in fall, and just like Four’s personalities.

<Previous Next>

[rubykgrant]

I can’t show the sketches of it (because I can’t go to where I scan my pictures right now), but I started thinkling about a reverse-role Inuyasha thing, and it is just so funny to me-

Inuyasha is like a normal highschool boy, he’s a loud-mouth and gets bad grades, most people assume he’s in some kinda gang but he’s too much of dork to even function with a group of people (he’s basically Yusuke from Yu Yu Hakusho hahaha). Koga is this other kid one grade up, he’s somehow a legit punk who has also managed to create a goody-two-shoes facade around the teachers because he gets straight As and is good athlete, and they HATE each other’s GUTS. Koga hates him because he always has some smart-mouth comment to say, and Inuyasha hates him because he’s a show-off.

Sango is totally the PE teacher and coach for various sports teams, and Miroku is that one teacher who thinks he’s a great writer but he just teaches history. Also, I’m gonna fix Miroku a little bit for my own sanity; he definitely hits on all the other teachers and single moms (plus a few who aren’t single, which earns him a black-eye once or twice), but he leaves the students ALONE. In fact, he’s actually super paranoid about the kids, he’s a chaperone for all the field trips, and if kids from another school try to flirt with any of his students, he jumps in with “REMEMBER, DON’T LET ANYBODY PRESSURE YOU INTO ANYTHING”. The intent is nice, but the result is embarrassing. Sango is way more chill and everybody thinks she’s super cool.

Shippo is a younger kid who goes to a different school, but he winds up knowing Inuyasha through online gaming; Shippo keeps kicking his butt. They meet at a gaming convention tournament, where Inuyasha was ready to have a legit fight with the jerk who’s been killing him online for almost a year, but then he just sees this child who’s all “Hey, I’m *username-whatever*!”, and he goes “Oh he’s like... 11? He’s a baby? Man, I can’t punch a baby”. So they accidentally become IRL friends. People ask Inuyasha why he’s friends with a little kid, and the answer is “Well, I was gonna smack him, but I changed my mind. Now he just keeps following me” (which is what a sibling relationship is).

Sesshoumaru is Inuyasha’s half-bro still, and currently, Inuyasha has no idea who he is... but Sesshoumaru does. He’s aware of the fact that his father left his mother for somebody else, had a child with this other woman, and then passed away. He finally tracked down his half-bro, and is thinking about how to approach this teenager. Sesshoumaru is himself an adult, outwardly seeming like a successful businessman who owns an antique shop, but he has some shady side-businesses. There is some complication with his father’s inheritance; if he tries to claim it, Inuyasha would also be notified, and the kid currently has no idea his father left him anything. Sesshoumaru doesn’t want to share what he feels should be all his, and he’s debating if he should maybe try to just pull an intimidation tactic to scare Inuyasha (Sesshoumaru is a pretty unnerving dude, but Inuyasha also has no fear and no braincells, so that might not work).

Kaede is Inuyasha’s foster guardian. She’s known him since he was young as a neighbor, and was there when a fire took his mother’s life. Years passed, and wasn’t getting along with his current foster family, so Kaede took him in. She often argues with the boy, but no matter how mean he acts, she never kicks him out or gives up on him. He doesn’t often admit this, but he truly appreciates it, and knowing he’s got somebody who cares about him makes him try to be better.

Neraku has a similar life to Sesshoumaru, but on a MUCH larger scale; he’s managed to be an incredibly rich and corrupt businessman who is actually the one responsible for a lot of death and pain in the lives of others, but manages to go mostly unnoticed. He’s incredibly cruel and also also plans ahead. Knowing he had various health problems, he literally only had children so he would have more likely matches for potential organ transplants. While he gives these children very “elegant” lifestyles, they have never known any affection from him, and he’s not above pulling them into the life of crime as well. He’s aware of a rare artifact one family has kept for generations, as well as an inheritance another family hasn’t fully claimed, and plans to get his hands on BOTH. The fact that everybody connected to the people he wants to steal from have also been previous victims of his evil at some point is very amusing to him.

On a day when several plans go into action, Inuyasha is given what he thinks is a goodluck charm from Kaede, but it is actually a very special jewel... both Sesshoumaru and Neraku (with his family and accomplices along for the ride) seemed to think along the same lines, and attempt to kid-nap Inuyasha; but he is WAY more trouble than they expected. Sango and Miroku get pulled into the situation to protect their student, Koga (and his buddies) is there because he can’t let Inuyasha have ALL the attention, Shippo was in the wrong place at the wrong time to try and talk to his friend, and everything turns into a huge mess. Eventually Sesshoumaru realizes that Neraku is after him as well, so he decides it will maybe be a little better to change his plan; now telling Inuyasha that he’s here to SAVE the boy, because he’s Inuyasha’s long-lost brother and something-something-emotional-manipulation, he joins the group running from Neraku. Inuyasha leads them back to his home, where they attempt to hide in the old shrine house... and then things go from scary to an absolute NIGHTMARE. A demon literally comes out of the old well, pulling everybody in (this includes the pursuing villains)

Both groups wake up in the past, scary demons ready to eat them for a snack, all ready to take the jewel Inuyasha holds. They meet Kikiyo, who demands to know why this boy in the strange clothes has what is supposed to be her family jewel. She runs to the shrine in her village and sees it is still there... somehow, there are two of them. One is from the future, kept over the generations by Kikyo’s family, until her ancestor Kaede gave it to Inuyasha. It seems odd that she’d trust him with this, but now it sure is his problem. As more demons attack, Inuyasha gets lost, and finds somebody in the forest; a young girl, who is actually a demon herself, sealed to a tree. Unable to protect himself from the demons, Inuyasha frees her (he still winds up as the one with the SIT collar though, Kagome was a little too quick and avoiding the beads)

So, the rest of the series involves the characters from the modern world learning various skills or gaining abilities that let them fight enemies (I think maybe only one of the jewels gets shattered, and the main characters each get one ow two shards that they use). Kikiyo remains in her village to guard the jewel from her time that is still whole, and Inuyasha gets a bit of a crush on her because she’s so much nicer than the mean demoness he has to spend all his time with. Neraku once again allows himself to be consumed by demons to become more powerful (he also transforms his children into half-demons, which they don’t much care for, but they can’t exactly stop him). Koga has fun being a superfast wolfboy. Miroku and Songo are mostly the same, but because they are teachers and most of these kids are their students, they are super over-protective of everybody. Sesshoumaru has to keep pretending he doesn’t totally despise Inuyasha, and WHOOPS, he kinda maybe starts to give a heck about this brat. Eventually, everybody goes home... including the now demon Neraku. Using his new powers, he causing all kinds of problems inthe modern world. Kagome winds up following along, and the rest of the story happens in the current time. Neraku summons ancient demons to the city, or creates all new monsters, and the group tries to stop him. He steals the jewel shards they gathered, then they all get lost again, same old song-and-dance, but with a contemporary setting. Sesshoumaru winds up adopting a young homeless girl because having a bro around kinda got to him, Neraku steals and brainwashes Sango’s little brother, and through it all Inuyasha starts to maybe kinda sorta like Kagome

[chaospectre]

Huddle Up!

The week before Winter Break gets pretty cold around Spooky High. Classes are usually ended a week prior, out of concern for some of the more damp students, but assignments are due, lunch is still served, and clubs still run. Of course, some people get their stuff done early, but you’d be surprised how many of the students stick around just to hang out with their friends. It’s almost like that’s all they do around here.

That’s why it’s especially bad for any students sticking around in the dormitory this winter that the main boiler froze over. Blobert had to return home early to avoid freezing solid. Miri lives off campus anyway, but she had her phone serf text everyone apologizing for depriving them of her royal presence by staying home. Amira was walking the halls of the dormitory, checking in on her friends that were still here, those who couldn’t get back to their actual homes just yet for whatever reason. She knew how cold it was, but she was in good health so her fires burned strongly.

When she found Liam, he wasn’t any more disgruntled than usual. His undeath left him unconcerned with the weather, if he even felt it. Polly was predictably unphased, although she did look a little irritable. Something about people feeling the cold too much when she tried to get her fix.

Scott brought his gaze up from a small teacup he was holding in front of him from beneath his puddle of blankets, and finally registered that he had a visitor. “Oh hey there, Amira. I didn’t see you there. What brings you to my room, all confused-like?”

“Scott...” It wasn’t unlike Scott to be unresponsive, or pensive (whatever that amounted to for such a darling moron), but Amira saw a downright sullen Scott swaddled into a sad lump on his bed in this dimly lit room. “Why didn’t you say anything? Or get up to close the windows?”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just a little cold and trying to warm myself up with a bit of tea...”

Questions sprung to mind. Scott gets cold? With all that fur? But then why didn’t he- And that tea doesn’t look hot at all... “Oh, honey, do you want me to heat that up for you?”

Scott glanced at his tepid teacup, and then mustered a soft smile for Amira. “That’d be sweet of you. Thank you kindly.” He motioned for her to take the cup from his hands, as he was reluctant to move too far outside of his ball of blankets. As Amira took the cup and began to conjure her flames, she nodded questioningly at the bed, next to Scott. Scott looked at the space next to him, then at Amira, tilted his head back a bit further and adopted his trademark perplexed expression, then his face faintly lit up with understanding. “Oh yeah. Please, park it if you like.”

“Thanks.” Amira gently eased onto the bed, next to Scott, taking care with his tea. Getting to sit here was more than she expected when she came to check up on him. She’s had a small candle lit for the good boy for a while now, but Scott is so friendly with everyone that it’s been hard for her to get some one-on-one time with him. “Now this cup won’t take too long to heat up, but while I’ve got it going, somebody ought to say this to you: You look like a wet dog in a blizzard, hon.”

"Oh? Oh!" Scott scrambled within his little ball to put on a toothy grin. "Haha! I guess it is a little cold! I just, uh..."

"Scott... What's wrong?"

"Wha- why would anything be wrong? I am saying I am fine, so I must be fi-"

"Scott. Honey. Your face is twitching. You never were a great pretender." Scott chuckled, softly, until it was painfully obvious he was keeping it up just to buy time.

"Oh, I don't know. I’m not even sure what I’m feeling.”

“Well, if you like, we can sit here and you can take your time talking through it with me?”

Scott could only smile softly at that. “Gosh, Amira, that’s swell of you. It just feels silly because I guess I was just feeling a little lonely...”

“I can understand that. Now that everyone’s back home for break, it’s pretty quiet out here.”

“Yeah...”

“Scott, your ears are drooping more than they were a moment ago. Did I get it wrong?”

“Huh? Oh, uh... I...”

“Scott?” The wolfboy churned at the sight of Amira’s concerned face. He knew she didn’t come here to be worried. His brow furrowed. His teeth clenched to hold back a... groan? Maybe a growl? Then his fists clenched as well, and then- CRACK! CLASH! CLATTER! Scott winced at each sound and retreated into the dark of his blanket cocoon. The teacup’s handle broke under his grip, and the rest of the cup had shattered on the floor. 

He was almost trembling underneath all of the blankets, at least until he heard fast footfalls recede into the hallway. He slackened, but then sank. He’d scared Amira off. That couldn’t be what she’d come to visit him for at all. He spiraled down and further down in this line...

...until he heard the soft scraping of ceramic. He could hear brushing. He peeked out of his ball and saw Amira on one knee with a dustpan and a roll of paper towels. She had already brushed the shards formerly known as teacup onto the pan and was reaching over for Scott’s trash bin. He watched as she poured the broken teacup into the bin, then set aside the bin and move for the paper towels, and that’s when she noticed his watching. “Sorry that took a minute, Scott. I actually had to yell at Juan the large magical latino Janitor until he’d let me borrow all this.” She grinned as she set about tearing off strips of paper towel to mop up the tea.

Scott wanted to get up. He wanted to stop Amira from cleaning up his mess. He just wanted to be fine, to stop feeling this stupid way, and stop forcing her to deal with- “I’m sorry if I pushed you before you were really ready to talk, Scott.” No, what, why is she- “I care about you, but I shouldn’t have assumed I understood what you’re going through right now.” She was smiling, but Scott heard disappointment underneath her gracious apology. This was wrong, she was only trying to- “Don’t worry about all this. I’ll clean this up, and then I’ll get out of your-”

“I’M SORRY AMIRA!” Scott erupted from his blankets and scrambled the short distance to sweep Amira into a fierce hug. “I’M SORRY I SCARED YOU! I-” He felt tapping on his shoulder and looked down at the fiery djinn.

“Scott... it’s a little tight...”

He immediately released his grip and moved to pull away, but Amira stopped him and pulled him close, into a softer embrace. “That’s better.”

It was. Scott melted into the warm comfort of Amira’s arms, there on his dorm room floor. “You didn’t scare me, honey. I was startled, for sure. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like this. But it’s okay. I’m okay. You’re okay.” That felt true.

They stayed that way a while. Amira slowly stroked Scott’s head, and Scott nuzzled Amira’s neck. She seemed content to do this for as long as he needed. She was just so...

“Amira?”

“Yes, Scott?”

“I... sometimes I... feel sad.”

“Oh.” Amira continued petting. “Is something in particular bothering you?”

“No. I don’t think so. I don’t know why I feel sad.”

“That’s... okay. Sometimes people get sad. It’s normal.”

“I don’t. Not for no reason. I don’t think people like me when I’m sad.”

“People like you just fine, honey. They love you!”

“Well, yeah, but I know people like me for my... because I... I’m always happy. So I always have to be happy. Even when I’m not.”

“Oh honey...”

“It’s real easy when everyone’s around. Everyone’s real fun, and they’re usually happy to see me, so it’s easy to just... be happy. But everyone had to go home... and I... sometimes I... can’t.”

“Scott...” Amira drew back to look the wolfboy in his eyes. “It’s okay to be sad. Er, well, it probably sucks for you, but I’m not going to hate you if you’re sad. Far from it. You don’t need to hide it from me, from any of us. I know I’d be disappointed if you were feeling blue and you hid it from me... because then I wouldn’t get a chance to hold you like this...” Amira embraced Scott again. “...and try to make it a little better.”

Scott relaxed into Amira again. “Amira... I... you’re really nice.” She also felt nice. Really nice.

“Aww, thanks.”

The two stayed like that for a while longer. Then Amira stood up, brought Scott to his feet, and sat him on the bed, while she finished dealing with whatever tea was left on the floor.

“You know Scott, maybe later we can watch that Drag Racing show Damien likes? It’s gonna be on. I can see if Liam and Polly would be down?”

Scott was still coming down from everything, but that sounded good to him. He nodded. Amira smiled and finished throwing the last of the wet paper towels into the bin. She picked up the dustpan, brush, and paper towels.

“Alright. Are you gonna be okay for a bit while I return this stuff to Juan?” Scott nodded again.

Amira moved to open Scott’s door. “Alright then. I’ll let you know when-” She was cut short by a frigid gust of wind that intruded as she opened the door. She quickly shut it again, but she saw Scott shivering and reaching for his blankets again as she turned around.

Why was she leaving again? He was right there. Scott. It was Scott! Scott Howl! And he’s cold! She could- no... no way...

Scott was pulling the blankets around himself when Amira stepped back over to the bed. She was looking at the ground, and not directly at him. “Scott?”

“Hm? Yeah?” Scott looked up at Amira as he worked the blankets around his shoulders. She still wasn’t looking at him. What was wrong? “Amira?”

Amira couldn’t believe she was going to- “Scott... do you want me to... heat that up for you?”

Scott stared at Amira. His head tilted to one side. Amira still wasn’t looking at him, but Scott thought he saw a bit of color in her cheeks. Is she alright? What was she even talking about? He had already broken the...

Scott’s eyes widened dramatically. He couldn’t help smiling a toothy grin. He couldn’t help sweeping Amira up into his arms and onto his bed, under all the blankets.

He couldn’t help being a ferocious cuddler.

[qm-vox]

Cinderella Sanction Quest - Semper Fi

James’s father had been fond of the phrase ‘look on the bright side’. It’s the sort of useless platitude that a person ignores right up until their life goes completely fucking insane and all of a sudden ‘useless’ becomes ‘only rock in a sea of madness’.

So, the bad news: Agent James Nichols, former United States Marine, current member of Task Force: VALKYRIE, was living a lie that could cost him his job, his life, and/or his sanity at a moment’s notice.

The good news: lots of night shifts!

Being in the monster-hunting business meant a lot more nocturnal work than made any kind of scientific sense. Biologically speaking, there was no reason, whatsoever, for the overwhelming amount of light-shy horrors in James’s line of work. Being one of those horrors, he knew the actual reason was because humans were scared of the dark, and always would be. But there was no taking that to the boys and girls down in R&D, now was there?

James’s mouth said, “They send in more of those etheric goggles?” because it was still in this meeting, even if his mind wasn’t. His ears were trying to do their duty too, the poor bastards, but with his brain lost in itself they were having a hell of a time.

“Rounds,” Agent Michelle answered.

“That just -” Ricky started.

“We know,” Michelle and James said at the same time.

“Score one for government work,” Ricky muttered. Ricky was the kind of guy who grabbed a new styrofoam cup every time he wanted coffee. In a related story, Ricky had to buy his own cups, because the Old Man had had enough of buying them for him. “We hear from Geri Squad?”

“Nothing bad, check-ins at the usual times,” James answered, his brain actually latching onto this one. “Just like when you asked ten minutes ago.”

“Yeah, it’s just...”

“Something feels wrong,” Michelle finished, and her two work partners nodded silently. “Which is why we’re inside, having a bullshit meeting that could have been an email, because all of us want to be sure the other two are as scared as we are.”

“That’s weaponizing your psych degree,” James said, pointing his own cup - the rim chewed from compuslive nibbling - at Michelle.

“I’m sorry, which one of us decided to ‘distract’ the Old Man before the dock job by putting laxatives in his food?”

“And his drinks,” Ricky added.

“Leading to his hospitalization,” Michelle concluded.

“I was acquitted,” James’s mouth managed. His brain had gone back off on its own tangent. Something did feel wrong, something in the air but not like a scent. More like a darkness or, or -

Or a light, maybe? Like a nagging light, yeah. Something shining from a weird spot in the room, and you can’t quite figure out from where, or why, and if only you could just find it everything would be fine.

Hold up, James’s eyes interrupted. Michelle’s pointing an actual gun at you and she seems serious.

That’s crazy talk, James’s brain returned, and then it double-checked.

“Michelle, the fuck,” James said flatly, staring at the pistol in his fellow Agent’s hand. “What are you - Ricky, seriously?”

“You got something to tell us, James?” Ricky’s elbow twitched, just the faintest shake.

“Maybe? Why are there guns in our shitty meeting room?”

Michelle picked up her phone in one hand, tapped something, and turned it to James with the front camera on. He could see his face; lean, scarred just under the left eye from a bigass stinger, slight muzzle, thick fur done up in the style of facial hair. Lupine, mainly.

“That’s my face,” James’s mouth answered, because his brain was still working through it.

“Yeah, and what big eyes you have,” Michelle said slowly.

“Oh fuck me,” James and his brain said at the same time. “You can see me.”

“Yeah,” Michelle and Ricky answered.

“...If I said I can explain?”

*    *    *    *    *

Michelle and Ricky passed him off to the Old Man. The Old Man called in Project: TWILIGHT. TWILIGHT’s field boy recused himself from the interrogation, so that became one of their suits, who ended up getting dragged out by Michelle after he pulled a gun in the middle of questioning. Now it was James and some CIA spook he’d never met before, an Agent Vasquez. He had the chance to use the restroom and wash up before he got let back into the interrogation room. She came in a solid eight minutes later, with food.

“I hope you can tolerate McDonald’s, because that’s what’s open. Greasy bag of death.” Vasquez tossed the paper sack to James’s side of the table. “Again, from the top.”

“What’s the point? You’re looking for inconsistencies in the story, fine. I get it. But you’re just gonna shoot me in the back of the head, so maybe, I dunno, do that. Bury me outdoors.”

“From the top, Agent Nichols.”

James sighed. “I’m the same James Nichols you recruited to Task Force: VALKYRIE. My unit was assaulted in the Mojave by an extra normal entity while on leave. Two of us died. A third was put down after he proved infected. My record speaks for itself.”

“It does,” Vasquez agreed. “If I have to eat this shit, you should too.” She took out a pair of fries and bit off their ends. “Seriously.”

“This cutting-edge CIA interrogation techniques?”

“My mother didn’t raise me to let people go hungry in my own house, and as of right now, I own this building and everyone in it. Eat your goddamn food.”

James fished a burger out of the bag, opened it, regretted opening it, and took a bite because hunger was stronger than his standards. He scarfed the thing, needing to feel something in his belly, before he kept going. “So...the county line job.”

“Operation Little Night,” Vasquez corrected. “You were cut off from your team.”

“You could say it like that. I was abducted. The thing that linked back up with the team wasn’t me.”

“The thing that linked back up with the team wasn’t visibly lupine,” the spook opined. 

“See, this shit here is why I think you’re just going to shoot me,” James snapped. “Do it or don’t, alright? I’d’ve shot me by now, because fuck me, one, and two, I’ve got no way to prove anything. Nothing but my word to say that I’m the kind of crazy motherfucker who went back to TFV knowing you’d assume I’m a monster and put two in my head. It was a dumbass move and I kept doing it for three years running! The vigilantes I’ve got under-the-table deals with? More people like this,” James gestured to his face. “The ‘tips’ I give out to my team that put us in the position to protect civilians? Magic. That what you wanna hear? Except you can’t verify that either, so fuck off and quit with the fuckin’ runaround.”

Vasquez leaned in, brown eyes locked on James’s. “So why come back, Mister Dumbass?”

“Why - Jesus, lady. Why do you think? I swore an oath. An oath I haven’t been released from.” James leaned back, disbelief in his eyes. “Maybe that’s just words to you over at the spookshow, but it’s not to me, and not to anyone I’ve served with. ‘Always faithful’.”

Vasquez looked thoughtful for a moment, and then tossed something bright and metal in front of James. He looked down, dumbly, at the key sitting there.

“You’ve got forty-five minutes to figure out your most convincing version of that speech before you give it to the brass,” Vasquez said. “They’ve gotta try and give it to the White House and Congress, so you better make it good. You’re the third one of you folks we’ve found in the ranks, and the other two had to be sedated.”

“What the hell happened?” James asked, even as he uncuffed himself.

“Who knows, but the gig is up, Agent Nichols. And VALKYRIE is calling its shot. You up for preventing a war before it can start?”

“You gonna feed me better than McDonald’s?”

“I’ll feed you your own asshole if you keep sassing my cooking in my own house, wolfboy.”

[travellingwiththedead]

Going through your blog, because I have been tumblr absent! I always want more of your writing, so Sanctuary and number one of the prompts? Please!

Than you for the prompt :D Here you go:

1. “Care to explain why my bathtub is full of frogs?” (Sanctuary)

“Careto explain why my bathtub is full of frogs?”

Helenlooked from Henry's sheepish face to Nikola's completely unrepentantone and a strange sense of deja vu stole over her.

“Well,anyone?”

Henryrubbed a hand over the back of his neck, his other hand clutching athis tablet computer like it was a life preserver. It was a nervousgesture she remembered from as far back as when he was barely tallenough to reach door handles and carried around his blanket insteadof a computer.

Nikola,on the other hand, was just smirking and, uncharacteristically, nottalking. When was the last time he'd been silent this long,Helen wondered.

“They'reabnormal frogs!”, Henry finally sputtered when he couldn't take thesilence any longer. “They're...we...well, they're called AnuraHerketis...they do, well...”

Henryjust wiggled his hand to indicate the equally wiggly mass in herbathtub.

Helenwatched them for a moment, her brain quite unable to pick out whatthe individual frogs were doing. All she saw was a brown-green massof sluggish movement.

“I'msorry, Henry, but I fail to see how they are doing anythingnon-abnormal frogs wouldn't do.”

Henryopened and closed his mouth a few times, clearly trying and failingto string together a coherent sentence, a blush starting to spreadover his cheeks.

Finallyhe turned with a frustrated Dude! towardsTesla and waved his hands about again, clearly urging him to join theconversation.

Helenlifted an eyebrow and looked questioningly at her old friend.

“Careto help Henry out, Nikola?”

Hetilted his head to the side as if considering it.

“Oh,actually I was enjoying watching Wolfgang falling over his own wordsquite a lot. Maybe we should give him another chance?”

“Dude!”

“Ormaybe not, he seems to be stuck on single word sentences now.”

Helenrolled her eyes and admired Henry's self control because he clearlylooked like he wanted to punch Tesla.

“Outwith it, Nikola.”

“Oh,so we are back to assuming everything is my fault? And here I wasjust trying to help out Heinrich with his little amphibian problem.Why would I put frogsin your bathtub?”

Helooked decidedly disgusted at the prospect and Helen rubbed herforehead in frustration for a second.

“Fine,I don't care who put them in there, I just want to know why.”

“BecauseI found them, on the surface. I was doing a supply run for computerparts, you know, because I still need to fix the cameras Dr. Vampiroblew out when he overloaded the circuit last week, which really heshould be doing himself...”

Helenlooked at him fondly and mildly said: “Henry, you're rambling. Thefrogs?”

“Yes,sorry Doc, the frogs...well, they were so close to the road and Iknew they were abnormals, they didn't smell right for normal frogs,you see, and I didn't want them to get run over so I kind of put themin a box and brought them here”, Henry finished, talking so fastthe words nearly blurred together.

BothHelen and Henry wisely ignored Nikola's sarcastic “Do you always goabout smelling frogs, Wolfboy?”

AfterHelen had finally worked through Henry's recital she threw anotherglance at the bathtub.

“Wait,you put all of these into a box and brought them here?”

Agrin spread over Nikola's face.

“Ah,she's finally catching on. You see, Helen, you have been asking thewrong questions. The one you should be asking is How manyfrogs are there.”

Helenthrew up her hands in frustration.

“Enoughwith the riddles already. Nikola, explain, with as few words aspossible, what is going on here!”

“Well,it's a form of protection, you see, an illusion, that the frogs canproject into minds of any animal that might happen to discover themin flagranti delicto.They can't get eaten if the predator doesn't know which ones are thereal frogs. We're just waiting for them to, well, finish, so Henrycan put them in separate cages.”

Helenlooked at him for a moment, trying to gauge whether he was  tellingthe truth or pulling her leg, but the blush spreading farther onHenry's face convinced her that Nikola might actually be telling thetruth.

“Thereare abnormal frogs having sex in my bathtub? And here I thought I'dseen it all...”

Nikola'sgrin got even wider and he wiggled his eyebrows at her. She shot himan exasperated look before turning back to Henry, who was acting likea teenager when their parents were flirting a bit tooenthusiastically in front of them.

“Henry,could you please find a suitable habitat for the frogs once theyhave...once they stop projecting illusions, and please make sure thatwe do not get a repeat of the Nubbin situation.”

“Yes,boss, of course, right away...”

Stabbingaway at his tablet furiously Henry still didn't quite meet her eyes.

“Comeon, Nikola, I am sure Henry has this well in hand and would rather bewithout an unnecessary audience, or comments.”

TakingNikola's arm she pulled him from the room, hoping to save Henry frommore embarrassment.

“Iguess this is a new definition of safer sex...”, Tesla said as thedoor closed behind them.

“Ohwill you shut up?”, she groaned, mentally preparing herself fordecades of references about this situation, especially in Henry'spresence.

[kieiron]

Affirmation (18+)

Chapters: 1/1 (Completed)

Word count: 2.2k

Rating: Mature

Fandom: The Brodiac

Pairings, Characters: Archibald Kieron/Srinu Tinia

Tags: Established relationship, Urban fantasy, Werewolf Sag, Vampire Aqua, Couple banter

Warnings: Alcohol, Blood, Death mention

    Still an hour until midnight. And yet there it is; another howl, unnecessarily followed by a whole bunch of others booming through the dampness of the bar illuminated in distractingly painful strobe lights, and even more distracting mixture of scents in the air. But even between all the elves gossiping, angels pushing their oh-so-mighty wings in everyone’s faces and werewolves all hooting excitedly at every little drinking game round passing, Srinu can point him out in the crowd.

    Of course he can. It’s not like he Didn’t remember his scent better than the vampire’s own death. It’s not like he Didn’t just start the latest round of howling within his wolf pack. It’s not like he Didn’t see his face every time he wakes up and plus just made love to him this morning.

    And it’s not like Srinu Didn’t spend his entire time being here tonight lazily sipping on the cocktail that provides him little satisfaction while closely watching him having the time of his life, dancing wildly like a fool with his pack, trying to impress him.

    If it weren’t for him wanting to spend the New Years Eve here, Srinu would have been out the door faster than he can see another human giving him the stink eye for being the only vampire out tonight (he’s happily taken, thank you very much). They could’ve gone to that siren-owned restaurant he’s been suggesting all month for them to try, for fuck’s sake.

    Ah, speak of the devil. Here comes the wolfman, with that signature smug smile and ear twitches. Srinu liked the subtle punk rock look he’s got going on tonight, not in spite of the fact that the choice of style is in complementary to the high collar leather jacket to hide the Vampire Biting Post he’s got underneath.

    “Hey”, Archibald slurred. Srinu observed him before he give a reply. Not drunk just yet, but the warmth of the alcohol and the bonding session with his friends must’ve left him too cozy.

    “You”, was the reply Srinu settled with.

    “Me!” His boyfriend took another swig of his cheap beer. He finished with a loud satisfied exhale, wiped his mouth, and gave the vampire some good ol’ eyelash batting. “So, like… What’s a hottie like you doing out here alone?”

    Srinu snorted, but the creeping endeared grin was futile. He leaned back to the wall behind him. “I’m waiting for my boyfriend to finish up wrestling out his friends on the dance floor.”

    “Oh”, Archibald took a moment to think of an in-character reply. “Maybe your boyfriend had, you know, an event planned out in mind in like, uhhh… an hour?”

    “Like a New Year’s Eve kiss?”

    “Yes… Wink, wink.”

    “In this dingy old bar and not at home?”

    “It’s not dingy! Just old. Probably as old as you, so shut it, old man.”

    “Just because you took me out here on our first date doesn’t mean we have to do everything here.” The place was so much nicer in that memory, or maybe it was the early-relationship-lovesickness talking in his place.

    “You’re right, we haven’t had sex in the small ass bathroom stall yet.”

    Srinu laughed. “Maybe next time. But babe, come on.”

    Archibald pouted. “Can’t I show you off in front of my friends for once?”

    “Is that what this is about?”

    “Sorry. No good?”

    “No, it’s okay, it’s just—“ The vampire glanced back between him and his wolf pack in the background, still busy with a drinking game. “I’m surprised. You aren’t usually that big for PDA in front of people you know.”

    The man in front of him rubbed the back of his neck. “It’s because you seem like you just want to keep it to ourselves until, you know, last fullmoon. The one where you kissed me in my stinky wolf form.”

    Ah. Right, that night. That night spent in Leander’s family’s ranch out of the city, where packs of wolves more than he can imagine celebrated the act of just fucking shit up; chasing each other through the fields and forests and hills, wrestling in the dirt and howling impossibly ten times more frequently than they already do in public.

Srinu had been hesitant to come, but did anyway to look out for his man (and witness at least once what he’s like exactly at his wolf fullest). Archibald happily gave him what was certainly the world’s most enthusiastic blowjob the day Srinu told him he’d come, and it’s not like he’d be the only non-werewolf present — but the event was still a mess. He couldn’t keep up with his overexcited boyfriend even when he reluctantly used his vampire speed, and ended up kissing him in front of everyone in both exasperation and relief.

    Archibald is grinning at the memory. “So you’re weird. But that really made me happy and that— that was so sweet. And you were so opposed to coming at first too! Honestly I’ve... Always wanted to be mushy with you and show you off, because you’re like so great and amazing and”, he took a deep breath. “I’m like, so into you, dude.”

    “Dude”, Srinu echoed.

    “Is that all you got from that?!” he bellowed with a laugh. Srinu laughed along, resting a hand on his lover’s arm.

    “For the record, I didn’t hate it”, he assured. “Both the event and the kiss. And I get you. You’re a softie. You were just waiting for my approval. And now we’ll perform the sexiest kiss your friends will ever get the pleasure to see.”

    “Right! A very hot kiss, produced by two very hot people.”

    “Ooh, self confidence. I like that.”

    “Thanks, I grew it myself!” Archibald paused. “No wolf form, though. Be weird at home. Well— that goes without saying, is it...”

    “Mhmm”, Srinu’s eyes settle on a bruise peeking out from under his collar. “Can I bite your neck?”

    “Y—… You’re gonna feed on me in front of this whole crowd?”

    Srinu glanced at the crowd again. Still no other vampires in the bar, no need to tell anyone to back off his man. Okay, not like it was necessary to begin with, since Archibald can intimidate off anyone himself if he really wants to. And the thought of showing off how committed his boyfriend is from how much he’s been marked up to everyone else is kind of a turn on.

    The blue-haired man glanced back to him with a smirk after the self-reassurance. “You were begging for it last night, so I assume it’s pretty sex.”

    “I—“ A flustered laugh followed. “Yeah, it is pretty sex but”, The werewolf chewed on his lips, his voice suddenly softening. “I see it as a… Special us thing, you know?…”

    “Oh”, even though he’s dead, Srinu felt warm. He set their glasses aside quietly and closed the distance between them. “That’s… Really sweet, actually.”

    “I hope the invitation still stands when we get home, though?” Archibald’s smile was just as warm, but his eyes were clearly suggestive as he wraps his arms around the vampire’s waist. Srinu returned the gaze.

    “I’ll make you bleed hard, wolfboy.”

    “Ominous, but thank God, I thought you were about to use the usual cheesy ‘suck you dry’ line.”

    Srinu laughed, giving his boyfriend a light peck on the lips which was returned with peppers of kisses on his face, the wolf’s tail wagging rapidly. He received them gladly, but playfully turned away with a grin on his face when Archibald clearly got too excited as his kisses evolved into the usual slobbery ones.

    “Alright, alright! Let’s save the dog kisses for your friends.”

    With a smile, he was pulled to the pack of wolves Archibald associate with. Srinu could name two at best — Finlay, the guy who usually win all the wrestling despite his height (or lackthereof) and Leander, the one that knows everyone and know of their relationship first. The group raised their glasses at them, barking welcomes and scooted to give them a spot to sit on the sharing booth. The seats were cramped enough to force the couple’s thighs to fully press against each other, but you know what? It works in Srinu’s favor. As his boyfriend re-introduced him to the gang, the vampire shamelessly ran his fingers through his inner thigh as little promises of tonight.

    He can feel Archibald shudder beneath his touch, and snuggled against the side of Srinu’s face in response.

    The time leading up to the final countdown was a blur, as his attention were only on his boyfriend — Srinu faintly hears the group talking about plans for the next fullmoon, and then everyone at the bar were screaming out numbers, and the next thing he knew the man he loves pulled him even closer and pressed their lips together as the visitors around them cheers, screams and howls.

    The wolf crowd in particular was hooting at them as Srinu’s hands wandered over his lover under the jacket and the man in question tugged gently on his hair, earning welcomed moans. Maybe Srinu couldn’t taste the cheap beer in Archibald’s mouth, but the warmth and gasping he offered him was enough. When they pulled away for a second, he tugged on his lower lip with his usually well-hidden fangs, drawing blood before proceeding to suck on it as Archibald moaned. It wasn’t enough for Srinu, but it’d help him cope for now.

    “Sorry”, he had to say when they pulled back for real, glad to see how spent the werewolf looks. “I couldn’t help myself.”

    Srinu would’ve been happy to do another round of one of this, but it didn’t even take Archibald hearing his pack cheering for the two to get a room for him to drag them out of there.

    Thankfully, it wasn’t hard to find where Archibald parked his motorbike with his night vision. He was quiet (albeit a little panting), waiting for Srinu to climb on and strap his helmet to reach for his wrists and wrap his arms around Archibald’s own waist to hold on.

    The very faint scent of the violet-haired man’s blood seems to hit right at Srinu’s nose through the breeze of the bike running through the night, and he inhaled all of it, contentedly pressing his cheek against his lover’s back. Around them, the city sprung to life with life with blurring bright lights they passed, muffled cheering from every direction and a heightened waft of faerie dust that seems to engulf them.

    Maybe Srinu would’ve liked that magical, coming-of-age-movie kind of scene to last longer, but as they reached into the confines of their shared dark apartment, he couldn’t complain.

    “You’re eager to bleed”, was breathed out as he was pressed against the door. He notes that his partner is already hard, and yep, feeding may not be the last thing on their to-do list on this first day of the year.

    The reply he received was another deep kiss. This, too, works in Srinu’s favor. Archibald grinds against him like a dog in heat, messing up even more of the vampire’s longer locks.

    “Baby, please”, the werewolf pleaded, frantically slipping off his jacket and unbuttoning his first few buttons before pulling at his collars, widely exposing his neck and chest area, where a number of marks were visibly still healing. “Take it all.”

    If there’s one thing Archibald should know the most about their relationship, is that he could trust that Srinu would never hurt him. No matter how intense the tension is. No matter how much he begs to be sucked off completely in the heat of the moment. No matter whether or not they are climbing up to their orgasm. He knows Srinu would still hold back, as careful as he always is, and make it as pleasurable as possible for him as well.

    Including now.

    Thankfully, their bedroom isn’t too far from the entrance. Alternating between kissing around the area and licking at the bite spot within his inner thighs, Srinu slowly jerked off his lover, just enough to tease him. Archibald, laid on the bed all for him, kept himself busy stroking at his hair, sighing softly here and there, offering a couple encouraging words in between. Srinu had no idea how feeding must’ve felt good to a werewolf, but hey, he’s happy.

    Srinu himself, especially, is currently at his happiest as the taste of the familiar blood is lapped and sucked. What was a flavorless alcohol to him can now be tasted through Archibald’s system, and oh,... That’s pretty satisfying, actually.

    Some vampires may argue that the blood of non-humans including werewolves doesn’t taste as good in terms of flavor due to lifestyle and diet and whatnot, but Srinu would like to call bullshit on that. As sappy as it sounds, their love makes Archibald’s blood the best he’s ever tasted.

    And thank whatever higher power made them exist in such a way — lovemaking even multiplied that.

    So even as he prepped himself with his own fingers and sank down on his loved one’s lubed length, his lips stayed on the new biting spot on Archibald’s neck. And as he heard the two of them groan simultaneously, he knows he’d go through the trouble of hanging out in that dingy bar all over again if it means the moment will lead up to this.

    Even if it means postponing the restaurant reservations he’d made earlier that month for the proposal plans.

[professor-riddikulus]

Craigslist - Ch 2

Summary: James and Sirius are looking for a roommate for their Los Angeles house - Remus has just moved from Dublin needs a place to rent while he goes to graduate school. One Craigslist ad later, the three of them find themselves living together and shit is bound to get complicated. Featuring trans Remus and the wonder of Wolfstar.

Author’s Note: I know it has been a long time friends, but I’m back! Hooray summer! I hope to be updating this more regularly now that all those pesky seminar papers are completed. I am sorry for what I assume is going to be the ridiculousness of this chapter. As you probably know, Sirius cannot be contained. Anyway, enjoy! 

You can also read this story on FF.net or Ao3 if your heart desires

It took an hour for Sirius to take a shower and get ready, during which time Padfoot and I watched several episodes of some cracked-out show called The Amazing World of Gumball and I did the cereal dishes that Sirius had left behind. He came jauntily down the stairs, hair tied back and still damp, a loose black muscle tank on that showed too much of his strong tattooed arms, too much of his lean muscled torso. I tried not to stare. I probably failed miserably because he looked pleased with himself.

“I assume,” he said flipping his keys from one hand to another, “that we're not taking the bike?”

“Your motorbike? Nah I don't particularly feel like dying this afternoon.”

He made a noise somewhere between a snicker and an indignant huff.

“Fine the car then. But I warn you, it's a few years old.”

I, of course, assumed that he meant a few years old like Lily meant a few years old when she talked about her 10 year old crappy Prius. What he actually meant was a black Mercedes S-Class that probably cost more than four years of my graduate stipend and that was exactly 3 years old. It was so beautiful that I was actually nervous to sit in the seat. Opulence in most forms makes me uncomfortable -- my parents always made a tidy living but I was always the kid putting away coins for a rainy day. The responsible one. Some people are built to be pampered, can adjust to being treated like kings, to throwing caution to the wind. I never felt comfortable indulging -- instead I was the kid who didn’t want anyone to look at him when they sang a the happy birthday song. It isn’t shyness not really, it’s well, wanting to fly under the radar I suppose. Showing off what you have draws attention.

I just looked at Sirius and I knew this wasn’t him. He stood taller than me but his posture was proud. He wasn’t afraid to take up space, wasn’t afraid to be noticed. He had no idea that taking up that space, taking up oxygen, meant taking it from someone else. I was stiff and trying not to move my dirty shoes too much on the carpet, Sirius on the other hand was completely at ease, his ripped skinny jeans clashing with the dark brown leather of the seats. He was leaned back, reclined like his body itself was used to luxury. Watching him driving the 5 with his sunglasses on, singing along to some mindless pop tune, I had the distinct feeling that Los Angeles was not going to be anything like I expected. Sure they said it was a town for movie stars, but it’s difficult to understand how value works here. Some people have so much they don’t even notice how much they have. Sirius certainly didn’t. This guy, this house, it wasn't like being in another country. I have been to France once, and nobody there even spoke the language that I spoke, yet I still felt like less of an alien. How rich was this guy?

I looked down at my Target t-shirt, one that Lily and I had picked out only a few days before. It was my favorite, but next to the glamour of the car, the palm trees, and the guy sitting next to me I felt distinctly shabby. It wasn’t like I was usually fashion-forward. I do my best to stay at least a bit put together but I’m not a trend-setter. I’m sure his pants cost the same as my whole outfit. Probably more, actually. I tried to shake myself, there was no reason to be ashamed, and in any case he was the one being stupid by buying such an expensive car. I sighed, if I had that kind of money, even a quarter of that kind of money, there are so many other things I’d be doing with it. I’d be giving back to the community, I’d be working for a nonprofit, I’d be paying off my student loans. I’d be doing something, anything, other than buying a car that might be the price of a house anywhere else. The very thought of it made my nerves feel frayed. I was going to be living around this kind of wealth, benefitting from it even.

I looked over at Sirius, whose grin slipped a bit at what must have been a concerned or frustrated look on my face but which he quickly replaced the grin. Perhaps he didn’t want me to see his concern?

“You don’t like Drake? We can change the radio to something else?”

“Don’t worry mate, I’m good. Your car is really something.”

“Yeah it’s pretty okay. I bought it as a graduation present to myself.”

“Oh? Where did you do your undergraduate degree?”

“James and I went to USC together, that’s where you’re going, right?”

“Yeah,” I grinned to myself, I hadn’t even considered that Sirius had gone to college at all somehow, but if he did, USC didn’t surprise me. Lily told me that it had a bit of a reputation for being a school for rich American kids, especially west coast kids -- those Orange County, Beverly Hills, Malibu, rich kids -- someone like Sirius I guess, “I guess you’ll have to show me around at some point.”

“You’ll figure it out quick, s’not a big campus.”

I paused, weighing my options a bit. I chewed the inside of my lip. You’re being a coward Remus Lupin. He’s not going to think anything. “So,” I let the word hang in the air a bit, “do they have, erm, a big queer community there? Like among the undergraduates at least?”

Sirius smirked at me, “Are we gonna have that talk?”

I panicked, “What? What talk?!”

“I mean the, ‘oh-here’s-how-I-came-out’ talk. The ‘I’m-gay-you’re-gay’ talk. The ‘do-you-have-a-boyfriend’ talk.”

“I see no reason why we have to. All that is pretty obvious isn’t it?” I picked at the stray thread sticking out from the knee of my jeans but I could feel him looking back and forth from the road to me, trying to catch my eyes. I was embarrassed for a reason I couldn’t quite explain, sweating a bit, and not because of the heat. He looked at me like he was trying to read me, like he was regarding a particularly interesting painting and he wanted to examine the individual brush strokes. I felt on display under such scrutiny, exposed even, but I forced my eyes back up to his. He wasn’t going to see me squirm. I wasn’t going to let him affect me. He was just some spoiled kid from southern California. I was going to hold my own.

Sirius smiled, “Maybe not that last one. You haven’t picked up some all-American boy, swooned by the lilting accent of Mother Ireland?”

“Excuse me?” I laughed so hard at this abrupt shift that I needed a minute to compose myself, “What even are you?”

“I told you, wolfboy, I’m a star.”

“You’re something, that’s for sure.”

“Something amazing. It’s okay, I understand, words fail you.”

I shook my head at this, how I was supposed to continue the conversation after that, I had no idea. I had the distinct feeling that what was happening was something of a face off. He was taking the measure of me, wanted to see if I was going to keep up with him. It was the same feeling that I had when he fired his ‘interview’ questions at me. It was like dealing with a toddler that wanted to see how far he could push the rules. Luckily, I’m stubborn, and I’ve always loved a challenge. When I didn’t say anything, Sirius didn’t seem to have a hard time filling the void. He probably would have talked to the empty seat if I hadn’t been there.

“Yeah, it’s badass that you’re a big queer though. I was getting annoyed being the only rainbow unicorn in the house. Now we finally outnumber James and his dirty fucking heterosexuality.”

I laughed a little, “Yeah. In case he tries to convert us, strength in numbers and all that.”

“Oh don’t worry, he’s way beyond that. Literally all our friends are queer, he always complains there’s never anyone for him to date because all our female friends are lezzies. Dude that reminds me, we should definitely have a pool party to welcome you to the family.”

Literally anything but a pool party. Pool parties meant swimming which meant swimwear and I didn’t think we were going to be at that point for quite a while, if at all, really.

“I dunno, maybe in a little bit when I get settled and get the furniture built and everything.”

Sirius shrugged and ran a hand along the top of his head, pushing back the strands of dark hair that had fallen around his face, I think it was the first time that I hadn’t seen him smiling and I wondered if I had wounded him, “Yeah, ‘course. Whatever you want.”

We pulled up to the Ikea in Burbank and parked, and Sirius looked at me, wide-eyed and stunned. “Don’t fuck with me Remus, this…” he gestured to the giant blue and yellow building in front of us that was the biggest one I’d ever seen, “this is a fucking furniture store?! It looks like several goddamn airplane hangers put together.”

“Just you wait,” I told him unbuckling my seatbelt, “I have a feeling you’re going to lose it.”

I was not wrong.

“This is fucking NUTS!” Sirius leaned dangerously far over the escalator as we took it up to the second floor to start making our way through the maze of mock rooms that made up the Ikea showroom. I pulled on the back of his shirt, trying not to be distracted by the amount of tan skin this action revealed.

“You’re going to kill yourself. God Sirius don’t lean that far over.”

“Okay Dad sorry.” Sirius snickered but he stopped leaning over the escalator.

When we got to the top Sirius’ eyes lit up as he surveyed the floor full of mock-rooms and tiny apartments. “YOU COULD LIVE HERE!” He nearly ran to the first room, threw himself on the couch and put his feet up on the coffee table. I rolled my eyes and picked up a pencil and pad to record the numbers of the furniture. When I walked over to Sirius he was wiggling his feet and looking incredibly pleased.

“It’s like a goddamn Swedish Disneyland dude.”

I laughed, “And like Disneyland, we’ve got a long way to go, you can’t spend ten minutes sitting on every couch along the way.”

“This one is comfy though, you should get it.”

I turned over the ticket and laughed, “No way, it’s almost two thousand dollars.”

Sirius’ eyes got, if possible, even wider, “That’s it?! Dude that’s hella cheap.”

“Not at Ikea Sirius, you’ve got a lot to learn.”

“It gets cheaper?”

“Jesus you’re spoiled aren’t you?”

“Yeah well, I’m amazing so…”

“You’ve got to be kidding with me.”

Sirius looked me dead in the eyes from his slouched perch on the couch, “Absolutely not, I’m completely Sirius.”

“Okay, that’s enough,” I said exasperatedly, throwing up my hands a bit dramatically and trying to hide a smile, “I’m leaving your punny ass here.” I didn’t want to laugh but something about his mix of monetary ignorance and over-the-top childish antics meant that I couldn’t help it. You are not supposed to find him funny. He is a complete wank. He wants you to laugh, wants the attention. Don’t you fall for it. I wasn’t going to be just another sad sack who gave Sirius Black attention, even if I wanted to be. I started walking away towards the next room, which had a smaller sofa with shelves built into the side and back that was a bit more my style.

Sirius jogged to catch up with me and threw an arm around my shoulders, he was a few inches taller than me with a much longer torso and so his arm fit comfortably there. He smelled good, like rain and wood and cigarette smoke. “No one ever leaves my ass Lupin.”

“This is going to be a long day if you don’t focus and help me pick out furniture.”

“Okay,” he said with mock composure, “I promise to be on my best behavior.”

His best behavior it turned out, involved pretending that each room was part of his house, picking up everything that wasn’t tied down, arguing with me about the color of the upholstery, trying to wear curtains like a toga, spinning around on the desk chairs, forcing me to lay next to him on every mattress, climbing through (and getting stuck in) the children's tunnel, and generally making a fool of himself. I tried to contain the damage, shooting apologizing looks at passerby and generally steering him away from irate employees but it was difficult to try to pretend to be stern with him when I was snorting with laughter. When I pointed out that people were staring, he just responded shrugging and laughing “of course they’re staring, we’re gorgeous”. He was an idiot for sure, but you had to admire him for his general lack of fucks.   

“I can’t afford that one, Black!” Sirius was sitting on the edge of one of the nicer beds in the showroom. This one was a mid tone warm wood with a dark blue upholstered headboard that looked like a lovely place to lean back on while reading a book. I really did like it, and so arguing with Sirius about why I wasn’t going to buy it was proving to be difficult.

“Remus it is only $499. And it’s the bed! It is the literal centerpiece of your life, sleeping, watching TV, fuck--”

“OKAY OKAY shut up oh my god those people are giving us the boss eyes.” I cut him off as a posh looking couple with a little girl hastily pulled her away from the madman and his terrible language, “Look Sirius I have to buy a whole bedroom and living room/office I can’t get the exact one I want of everything.”

“I’m just saying that other bed you wrote down looks like it would break if you were using it properly.” He had a point here, but the metal one was $350 less and that was a large amount of money for some fake wood.

I laughed and felt my cheeks getting hot, “I don’t think we have to worry about me using it for anything other than sleeping.”

“Please. You’re going to get so much fucking play in Los Angeles dude. You’re fucking cute.”

“Okay but we were talking about the bed.”

“Ahhhh,” Sirius looked satisfied with himself, one hand on his hip, “You can’t take a compliment can you?”

I was absolutely bright red at this point. I felt like his eyes were appraising me. I knew that look, I’d seen it before. “Sirius focus, the bed.”

“Well I still say you gotta splurge on the bed,” he said and he started cracking up, “Oh my GOD that sounded SO WRONG!” Then he laugh-snorted so loudly that across the aisle a woman started giggling. I laughed so hard I was crying and had to sit down next to him on the bed. It was several minutes before the two of us even calmed down enough to speak to one another and I was wiping the tears from my eyes with the back of my arm.

“Okay Lupin, I’m buying the bed.”

“What? You are not.”

“We’re roomies now right? Family. And I fuckin’ like you.”

“I mean I like you too so far--”

“So far? Fuck the hell off.” He looked actually offended so I tried once again to redirect his attention to the task at hand.

“I just mean it’s $500 Sirius. I can’t accept that, we barely know each other.”

“Just let me buy you a house warming gift. Stop making such a big fucking deal over it. It’s just money.”

“I can’t Sirius. It’s just too much money.”

“Okay well I’m buying this bed because the headboard is dope and I know you like it a ton more than the other one, AND because I’ve jumped on it and know it’s sturdy enough,” And the cheeky bastard winked at me again, “So if you buy that other shitty $150 one you’ll have two beds and I know that back house is spacious but I don’t think two queen beds would fit in it.”

What was I going to say? I could already tell by the way that he drew himself up when he said it, the way his tone shifted to all-business, (and I turned out to be right) that Sirius wasn’t the kind of person who takes no for an answer. He gave orders like someone that was used to having those orders obeyed. Someone who had heard ‘yes’ a few too many times. When he gets his mind stuck on something there’s no moving him. So I sighed and smiled at him.

“Okay. Thank you. I don’t know what to say.”

He stood, took the pencil from my hand and wrote down the number of the new bed on the pad that already had a long list of the other furniture I was buying. “Thank you will do, Lupin. Now let’s go get the last few things, you told me there’s ice cream at the end of this and I am all about that.”

He complained all the way through picking out rugs and curtains and throw pillows (I really like throw pillows okay?) but when we got to actually picking up all the boxes from the warehouse the biggest problem I had was trying not to just stand there and watch him load cart after cart with heavy boxes. Give me a break, yeah? He was showing a lot of skin and I’m on a lot of testosterone. Together we wheeled the loaded carts to the delivery counter (and went back for two more). A little more than $3,500 later, I had a bed, couch, bedside table, desk, two chairs, two rugs, coffee table, lights, shelves, TV stand, dresser, sheets and towels, comforter, curtains, throw pillows, a large cactus Sirius was calling “the scary phallus”, and even a warm blanket that reminded me of one of my favorite old jumpers. I had only spend so much money at once one other time in my life, when I bought a shitty old car my first year of uni from a kid that I had a crush on at the time. The car worked out, the crush...not so much.

I treated Sirius to an ice cream, which I figured was less than he deserved after spending five hours with me in Ikea and buying me a bed. But it was the most that he’d accept. I didn’t know what else to do. But he seemed happy enough, he did flush a bit red when I wouldn’t stop thanking him, so I guess he appreciated it even if he told me to “shut the actual fuck up”. Somehow he was still full of energy even after lifting hundreds of pounds of furniture and walking all over the certifiably biggest Ikea in the country. If I had been worried about how nice his car was on the way there, I worried less on the way back, leaning back into the incredibly soft seats and putting my head back felt like a reward after carting box after box to the delivery desk.

Sirius looked over and grinned, “Big day huh?”

I nodded, “I’m glad I only have one day until the mattress shows up, today has been a lot. The moving and the shopping and your bolloxology.”

“Um excuse me?” He laughed, “What the actual fuck did you just call me?”

“Bolloxology, you know, messing about. Your BS.”

“Holy fuck that is a ridiculous word.”

“You’re a ridiculous word.”

“Oh fantastic comeback, real smart. I can see why they let you into a PhD program.”

“You are such a muppet, and yes before you ask it means you’re an idiot.”

Sirius grinned, I had the distinct impression that he took most insults as if they were compliments -- a trait which made him infinitely charming, and infinitely frustrating at the same time. He turned up the radio and some alternative rock band was playing. As we sat quietly in traffic on the 5, the sun started to set, and it glinted deep red off the building windows, bathing the car in a warm light. It felt like we were glowing, the windows rolled down, the air just a touch stagnant between the hot cars. I felt a pang of homesickness. It was so different from the cloudy, misty-cool nights of Dublin, the old stone streets, the bustle of Grafton, the smell of the grass and trees in the park across from my favorite pub. I missed my warm jumpers with the permanent smell of tea clinging to them, the cigarette smoke hanging lazily in the air around the corner shop, proper chocolate. I missed stumbling out of The George at 3am scuttered as fuck all with my mates Sean and Frankie after a drag show and a heavy drinking session.  

As excited as I was about the new furniture, the new graduate program, the new friends and colleagues, the new roommates even, there was something sad about the perfect California horizon reflecting the last glimpses of the day. Something huge and daunting about the hot city that made me feel a bit lost, as if between the picture perfect landscape and the rubbish in the gutter there was a facade that frightened and excited me in equal measure. It was all just so big. And I was holding on to a runaway train -- Los Angeles felt like a million miles away from home. This was what it felt like, I thought a bit ruefully, to be homesick. This was also what it felt like to make something of yourself.

We arrived back at the house when it was dark, after stopping to pick up food for a whiny James who was bored without Sirius around to annoy him. When we pulled up to the house I smiled, I still could not believe that somehow I’d gotten a spot in this mansion. I was still waiting for the other shoe to drop, waiting for them to find out who I was -- emphasis on the was -- but maybe they were the good sort. Maybe…

Sirius opened the door, I didn’t have a key to the front house yet, and Padfoot came bounding out. James, hair wild, glasses halfway down his nose, was sitting on the couch in front of Comedy Central working on his laptop. He lit up when he saw Sirius which I thought was sweet until--

“FOOD!” He exclaimed gleefully. “Fucking finally! Oh god is that Golden Hen?! Yesssss.”

Sirius and I passed him several containers of Chinese food and he ate faster than I thought was humanly possible. How he could eat the amount meant for a medium sized family and be as thin as he was I have no idea. I've since learned that James is a human garbage can and his jittery, always-in-motion body consumes calories at an unbelievable rate. Some guys get all the luck.

“How did it go at Ikea?” He asked through a mouth of vegetable fried rice.

“I think it was quite an education for Sirius.”

“Did you know they have ICE CREAM there dude?! It's amazing it's huge and they have all these tiny apartments in it and they sell like pots and pans for like five dollars!”

“Yeah,” James replied nonchalantly, digging through a new container of food, “I went with the Dork when she and Marlene got their new place.”

“I saw their couch!”

“Sorry, who?” I looked confusedly from one loudly chewing roommate to the other.

“Oh!” Sirius dropped the spring roll he was holding. “James we should have them over tomorrow when Wolfram here has all his furniture delivered.” The conversation was getting further and further from something that I could track, it was like they were speaking their own language.

“Sorry,” I said, wincing at the apology, “but who are we talking about, and erm...did you just call me Wolfram?”

Sirius shrugged but there was a slyness to his eyes. “Marls and the Dork--”

But James cut in, “Marlene and Dorcas are our lesbian friends. Marlene went to high school with Sirius and I, and she picked up a girlfriend up in Berkeley. Marlene and Sirius used to date before they both caught the gay so they’re still weirdly in love with one another.”

Sirius shrugged again, “She’s a fucking bombshell, who wouldn’t be fond of her?”

“I certainly am, too bad she’s given up guys.”

I laughed at James, “Not for her, statistically women who have sex with women have way more orgasms.”

James looked affronted, “Okay, listen to PhD over here. But I’ll have you know, I’m a giver.”

“Where you stick your dick is neither here nor there --” Sirius started, but I cut him off.

“Yeah, apparently it’s nowhere at all.”

James threw a fortune cookie at me but I dodged left quickly enough that it merely hit the couch behind me. Sirius laughed so hard that he almost spilt his beer, “Well he’s got you figured out hasn’t he?”

James looked at him through narrowed eyes but said nothing so Sirius eventually lapsed into a teary-eyed silence. “Okay okay, but for real Marlene and Dorcas should come over tomorrow cause we can all build Remus’ furniture together. We were going to plan a party to welcome Remus to the family but maybe just do this on the DL. Don’t want to scare him too much.”

“You really don’t have to do that.” The last thing I needed was to be the center of attention. I wasn’t even adjusted to the two guys I had moved in with. Now I had to worry about impressing their friends? And I hadn’t had a moment to myself. I really thought I’d be building by myself, maybe some Netflix on my computer. But what was I supposed to say? They wanted to be nice. They wanted to make an effort. Come on Remus. You can’t move all the way to America and then not make a fucking effort to be social.

“I mean we don’t have to do anything dude. We’re doing this because you seem cool and we like to have a good time.” James grinned and ran a hand through his hair which left a piece of rice along his temple. I decided not to point this out but instead grinned right back at him. I caught Sirius’ eye who smiled conspiratorially at me, he’d clearly seen James make a mess of himself too. I knew immediately that he was also planning to let James sit there like a tool rather than say anything.

“So Marlene and Dorcas won’t mind helping? It is a lot of work.”

“Nah,” Sirius couldn’t tear his eyes away from the rice in James’ hair, he was not exactly the best at keeping a straight face but perhaps Sirius staring weirdly at him was routine because James seemed not to notice, “They’re lesbians they’re good at building stuff you know.”

I rolled my eyes, “I’m going to text Lily too?”

James lit up like a fucking ray of sunshine. I almost instantly regretted suggesting it. Things always get complicated when your mates want to bone one another, but on the other hand, I didn’t want to be totally outnumbered with people that I didn’t know and since I’d moved to Los Angeles, Lily was the only person I’d met from abroad. Sure she was from England, but you have to take what you can get when no one in America can make a decent cup of tea.

Sirius nodded, “I mean the more hands the easier it’ll be right? We can do beer and pizza and maybe even swim a bit.”

“I’m already texting the girls.” James was tapping madly at his phone.

That night, after stuffing my face with Chinese food with James and Sirius, I padded upstairs to sleep in one of the guest bedrooms after James absolutely refused to let me spend the night on the sofa. Despite myself I think I was already starting to like the two idiots. It was weird, I’d never had cis guy mates in Ireland that would stick around for very long. Something about my having a vagina. Sure there were lads that would return my texts periodically, or that were good for a pint or two. I don’t know what made them scare so easily -- I was still the same guy. I’d been lucky, I’d been able to pass as a (perhaps effeminate) guy for awhile even before I started testosterone. But it was always the same once they found out -- the queers, the ones that had wanted to fuck me, or to keep me around to see if they wanted to fuck me, when they found out that I lacked something they liked, that was enough reason to abandon ship. The straights, the ones that were good for a night out on the piss or that didn’t mind me when I was a winner for their team in football, they disappeared entirely. I was no longer one of the gang. Didn’t matter that the dosage I was on meant I had more testo in my system than some of them. I liked them, yeah, but I also didn’t want to get attached. Being attached, hoping for something more than a casual friendship with cis guys was like -- it was asking for heartbreak.

I waited until I heard the two of them head to bed before I stripped down to my boxer briefs. I lifted my arms and pulled my binder off slowly, peeling it away from my ribs and wincing. Too many hours in it today meant that I was probably going to feel it tomorrow. Even with the new ones I’d ordered there was always that inability to take a deep breath, the pull on the ribs that made you sore and sweaty after a long day in the thing. It was one thing in Dublin where it never got too hot, but here, where it seemingly never dipped under 70, adding an extra layer was tough. I touched my chest a bit and it was tender but I didn't think I'd have bruises. I thought about how James and Sirius had invited their friends over tomorrow and sighed. I probably wouldn't have much chance to go without the damn thing tomorrow either. Swimming? It was out of the question -- I was going to have to find a reason to pass.

I could have just told them when I came in for the interview. Lily never asked me why I didn’t even though she knew, for which I was grateful. I had been open with the department at USC, had even mentioned it in my entrance essay. I was working on trans and queer literature and film it wasn’t the most difficult puzzle to piece together. Somehow though, I just hadn’t been able to do it. I didn’t want to lose the chance at the room, and sure, I guess I liked them. Now it was as if I were keeping it from them. Every day that passed meant that I was going to get more attached to my new mansion, my new mates. It would be better to get it all out in the open now and find out if they were going to be phobic.

But now I’d ordered the furniture. It was coming tomorrow, and leaving was going to be a bit harder when I had a small apartment’s worth of furniture to move along with the boxes that were currently in the pool house. I ran my hands through my hair, trying not to let the fear that shot through me overwhelm me. Sirius was queer, he specifically asked for a queer roommate. It wasn’t going to matter. And anyway, there was no reason why they should find out.

[hiro-gari]

AAAA THANK YOU I'm so glad that you like the short dialogues and my potrayal for them!! Been trying to make Garou and Badd sounds IC enough because I tend to write them too OOC so I'm very happy that you thought it's good aaaah tysm 😭🙏💗💘💕

And yess same! 😆🙌 Ambiguous open ending sounds more interesting, because that way we can have unlimited possible endings as many as possible 👀✨

So what I've got in my mind about that Garou&Badd's dialogue endings are basically like these:

-Silly dumb route: I had older headcanon that they likes to chat random topics that often escalated into debate or making some stupid conspiracy theories ALL. NIGHT. LONG, lmao! Usually it was Garou who spout some random nonsenses first that Badd couldn't help but giving him responses, but occasionally Badd also suddenly bringing up some intriguing topics that pulling Garou's interest, lol! Let them being dumbass boyfriends who just likes to share silly interests with eachother 😆

-Heartwarming happy route: Y'know Badd is secretly a hopeless romantic who loves lovely idea of having soulmates that always find eachother no matter what? He was thinking that despite his first meeting moment with Garou wasn't perfect like what he imagined before (being enemies and not so lovey-dovey), but he loves Garou so much and sure that the wolfboy is his fated soulmate. And he wanted to know if Garou shared the same thought as him.. In which Garou reciprocated him, hence the sweet promise between them 😚

-Hurt/comfort route: I mentioned before that Badd's mom was the one who tell him about the soulmate concept, right? Badd missed his mom that night that's why he brings up the topic to Garou. He wasn't sure if soulmates are real or not. If the concept is real, he wanted to make sure Garou wont forget him in the next life. But ithe concept isn't real, he still wanted to be with Garou forever, spending time and living their life as best as they could.. :"") And Garou was here to comfort Badd and tried to get him sleeping soon, because they must go to work in the morning lol! 😂

-Angsty/sad route: This is actually the original ending before I scrapped off because I wasn't satisfied by it, lol. The dialogue was made when I was in my not-so-good days, and it was supposed to have one more line in the ending of their dialogues, something like "On the next morning, the rescue team found Garou and Badd died on eachother's arms" 😢💔

So the backstory, they both just finished their mission together, Badd was unfortunately fatally wounded before Garou could shielded him and he went berserk. Then to accompany Badd's last moment, Garou craddled him in his arms while exchanging convos just like they usually do when sleeping together. As Badd went to eternal sleep, Garou lost his will to live and died together with him. Hopefully Badd's story is true so they could meet eachother again. It was winter and the location was kinda difficult to reach, so the rescue team were too late to save them.

I scrapped off this idea because beside it was too sad, the plot was basically just like my Reincarnated Demon/Angel AU where Badd died, Garou went berserk and died too, before both get reincarnated as demon/angel (enemies again). Thus I decided to make it open ending with happier-leaning possibilities like on above examples 😅

BUT! After I read your interpretation in your tags: #so the second time I read it I thought maybe Badd has memories from a past life?? #possibly multiple liftetimes :’) #and every time garou forgets #but of course they find each other again #and badd tries to make sure he remembers this time around 😭

YASS THIS IS IT! Your idea is BRILLIANT, I personally love this way!! 👀😳👌💖🌟✨ Y'know I usually write stories where they both still can obtaining happy ending together despite experiencing angsty stuff throughout the story. And your interpretation is perfect for that situation! 😚👍

Tbh it reminds me of Madoka Magica story, where one of the protags has a controlling-time magic power which allowed her to go back in the past, just so she could save her bestfriend (or love interest). Even they have shared a promise that they wont forget eachother no matter what, which unfortunately the protags' bestfriend forget her everytime they meet again in different timelines. The anime looked so cute but actually very depressing (has nice OST and heart-touching sweet ending, though!).

But I believe despite being reborn, meeting again, then separated again by death, Garou and Badd still have the best happy life in each lifetimes! And even though Garou always ended up forgets about their past life, he never fails to find Badd just like what they have promised before, aww.. 😍😚💕 It gives Badd hopes that at least in the deepest Garou's mind, he never actually forgets their vow. It's like, the vow has already stamped on Garou's soul :"")💕

So in the end, Garou and Badd will always find happiness in their perfectly-imperfect life together as destined soulmates. They deserved happy ending throughout the whole hardship 👍💖💝

Waah sorry I was rambling too much again! I love it when discussing something with people, and your amazing takes or headcanons always make me go "OH YEAH I'M IN! 👀😳✨👏👏".

And I'm so sorry that you've been in bad day, gotta sending you support hugs, love, cozy blanket and hot cocoa on your way! I hope everything will getting much better soon for you~ 😤😚💕💞💖💝🌸🌺🌼🍀🍀🍀🍀🌻🌻🌻🌻🌷🌷💐☕🍪🍫

Also don't worry it's okay you can write whenever you feel like it, because your well-being is the most important thing. Please take your time as much as you need! 😉👍💖 We will still waiting patiently for your next works, so please don't give up, we believe in you! AAA I LOVE YOU TOO~ 😘❤💜💙💚💛🌼🌻🌼🌹🌹

P.S.: I will be right back on bringing my other silly headcanons that definitely much more happier than this one, 100% angst-free guaranteed (100% dumbassery guaranteed, though, lmao)! 😁😆 Maybe I will submit it to you on next week, hopefully it could liften up your spirit 😊🌸

-Little1993lamb-

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Omg of course!! Gotta leave you some Reviews™️ too, even though you’re the master of them 😉 Sorry I sometimes struggle with articulating specifically what I love about your submissions and there’s always a whole lotta keyboard smashing :”)

LMFAO @ the thought of them staying up all night talking about completely nonsensical things just because 😂😂 (or maybe it’s not nonsensical, the OPM verse do be kinda crazy sometimes 🤷🏻‍♀️) But neither of them seem to have many friends their own age, so they’ve probably got years of socializing to catch up on, some fantastical stuff’s bound to be brought up

I love all the different routes this could take: lovey dovey Badd yes!! It’s canon as far as I’m concerned 💕 this guy bought like 100+ roses for his sister’s piano recital, I refuse to believe he’s not absolutely full of love! And for the hurt/comfort one asjdkslsk *clutches chest* Badd probably struggles with just coming out and saying he’s missing his mom, but surely Garou’s realized by now how important family is to Badd, and he knows to give him all his love and comfort whenever he mentions her awww 🥺

Ack I definitely feel ya on the angst 💔 I too have a lot of scrapped angsty fics T~T in a weird way, it’s therapeutic though. And definitely don’t hesitate to post or publish it, because making readers Feel Things is what we do 😉 Even if it makes them mad at us 😭😭 Maaan I kinda thought that’s what you were angling towards, but now with the additional background story I’m- *holding back the tears* hnnnnnnn~ It’s bittersweet, but beautiful nonetheless 💕

AHH yey I’m so glad you liked my little interpretation 🙈💕 I imagine Badd just running into Garou again, getting attacked like he does every time, and being like “ah shit, here we go again, he’s clueless as ever” 🤦🏻‍♀️ But also he’s kind of excited to meet him all over again, and to see what kind of adventurous mischief they’re going to experience together 💖

I’m looking up Madoka Magica rn 👀 it looks excellent 👌 (I mean, you had me at “nice OST”) Ahhhhhh early 2010’s anime just hits differently, I’m definitely gonna check it out, thank you!

Thank you for always supporting me 😘💕💖 *lots of hugs to you* I’m just in a funky kinda headspace, work’s been kind of kicking my ass and it makes me sad that I don’t have the time or energy to do the things I wanna do waaa 😩 Thank you for always being patient with me 🥺💗💞💝 I’m so looking forward to reading more of your work (YAAAAS FLUFF TIME!!!), you do these lovable dorks so much justice, thank you for all that you do 😚🥰