#oh my BRAIN CELLS JUST IMPLODED I LOVE HIM SO MUCH

[befuddledcinnamonroll]

I actually have time for a more leisurely watch this morning, woohoo!

Anyone else think that Satang could play a hell of a villain? Like one that uses his cuteness for evil instead of good.

Peem still not understanding the magnetic pull he has for Phum, lol. Man doesn't hesitate for a second to get as close as possible.

Apparently Mick gets the brain cell this episode.

Wait, do we have two brain cells this episode?

OMG MATT THAT'S WHAT I JUST SAID!!!

Phuwin's beauty can be so distracting sometimes.

We know why you don't have a choice Chain.

I love that pretty much everyone else complains, but Chain is like "this is the life I have chosen".

Sirs, these drinks are all still completely full, why even get them? Like seriously production, I know they add color, but just fill them up halfway to begin with.

Lol, Toey, this man wants you, that's why he's holding back.

Peem, you have a puppy now, accept it.

He's so cuuuuuute.

I like the little moments where you can tell Fang is like "how is this my type?", but he can't help himself.

Sir, no. Whatever you are thinking, no. Just no.

I really respect how Phum is just fully invested in showing Peem how utterly whipped for him he is. No games, no tricks, just full "please step on me" energy.

Damn, these two and their chemistry. No wonder Peem is so close to snapping.

But also if they don't make out soon I'm gonna break something.

I am living for Phum's "the audacity of this bitch" face in the background.

Lol, when your best friends are shocked to find you have actual competencies.

I know the main purpose of this scene is for Phum to confirm he has real feelings for Peem, but I'm so glad they're addressing Fang & Tan's relationship here.

It's clear that Fang does like Tan, but next to someone with Tan's exuberance, it helps to hear him say the words.

I am so here for these friend shenanigans.

THEME OF THE SHOW ALERT!!!

*Be with the people who let you be yourself, my bebes.*

Also I love the little detail that Tan hits Toey more gently than they've been doing with each other. He's their baby.

Oh god, first Phum confesses and now he's eye-fucking Peem, I am going to implode.

Yay, Peem, finally!!

Now for the love of god go stick your tongue in that man's mouth.

[sweet-beezus]

Ohhh yeah we delving into the sweet treats this fine day of @khoc-week!

These are the kind of fun little ditties that rot my brain day in and day out, so I'm thrilled to get to indulge in some fun, albeit short, writing about it!!

One day I will fully indulge and the world will implode-

Erm. Anyway-

*scribbles out that 'or' and shoddily writes in an 'and' in its place*

Day 3 - Friends (and) Lovers

While they are all super close to each other in one way or another, they each have their own unique relationships they make outside the Heart Hotel dynamic!

I'll still touch on their relationships with one another, but it's also what's outside the clique that counts~

Iris:

Her only big relationship is with Alto, their dynamic being "innocent baby man and grumpy keeper of the brain cell."

Despite that, Iris sees him in a best friend sort of way, the two were super close when they got separated, after all. When they reunite, it's almost if no time had passed, and perhaps Iris learns to... loosen up?

She made teammates and brief friendships, but nothing seemed to come close to their dynamic. Maybe if she had more time, that wouldn't be the case, but the world may never know!

Iris sees Iliana and Reixen as her older sisters, in a way, even though the two of them get on her (and each other's) nerves most of the time. She looks up to them despite their somewhat brainless way of handling things, and it gives her role models she hadn't gotten back in her actual time.

Irene gets the special privelege of being her mother figure! Because in all honesty she doesn't recall having a mom, so Irene is her next best bet. She's too much of a steel wall to admit it, but Irene is her favorite of the others.

♡♡♡

Irene:

Irene up until now really only interacted with castle staff, so her closest relations were really only a coworker dynamic in full. She enjoys tea time with Aeleus and Dilan, at least!

Aside from that, she started collecting adoptions in town, starting with Ienzo and Kairi, and moving on to Lea and Isa, Ventus, even, until finally any random stranger with children who frequently visited was not safe! Specifically Iliana-

She ended up collecting two others in the form of Iris and Reixen! Both reluctant at first but gave up and settled into it like a pair of stray cats. Reixen is far more open about it, but Iris is still touchy. Eventually, she will cave and accept her fate...

More came in after the events of KH3. No one was safe from her love and support, especially after the war-

She doesn't have very many parental rivalries, most of the group's parental figures tend to be in united agreement about the children, but she does have some tension towards Ansem the Wise and Even just based on prior experience. Mickey? It's a work in progress. Donald and Goofy? Her besties.

Eventually, she finds a fine companion in Iliana's uncle, Russell, and mayhaps... the two have a silly romance?

After a post-KH3 meetcute when everyone is hunkered down in recovery, they stay at his shop for a few nights, so the two have time to get to know each other. They mostly talk about their experiences with their little arsonist, but it eventually evolves into more personal territory, something they resolve after a few very simple and cute dates.

Finally, a time where Irene can truly get out of uniform...

Also he's one of the stoic types that she just KNOWS she has to break eventually. She will get this man to smile no matter the cost!

Oh yeah it's all coming together~

They've earned it considering all the stress they go through with their collective adopted charges-

♡♡♡

Iliana:

Iliana out of all of them makes the most connections, but only a few of them stuck because she struggles to allow herself to make friends. Allies, sure, but friends? Naaaah~

She started out in her home world with a friend group in the form of Enya, Harlow, Rinée, and Tobias. They were all super close up until their teen years, sticking by each other through thick and thin! And they involved her little brother at times when her parents were out of town.

Her little brother, Mandorian is, like, THE most important person to her. He's just a little guy who loves frogs and hanging out with his big sis when she's not busy training. The two are so often left unattended that it's not hard to believe they spend most of their time together. Wherever she goes, he's close behind!

But whenever they're not together, she's hanging out with Tobias!

She and Tobias were two peas in a pod, completely inseperable most of the time. Tobias was her (secondary) light, and her brother's personal favorite person aside from her, so you can understand how soul destroying it was when they got murked (by her mortal enemy, she doesn't know this until way later though) in order to kickstart and send her on her hero's journey-

She fell out of touch with the others by the time she left due to the loss bringing out the worst in all of them, but Enya seemed to be the only one who continued to cling to what was left of their friendship...

Anyway-

After suffering a horrible death and was subsequently resurrected, she got pulled into Sora's goofy family along with Alto, which filled in a gap left behind by her other (temporary) loss of her younger brother.

It's like she gained two new dads and two lil' bros all in one day, what a world-

Being parentified at a young age meant she knew how to handle keeping Sora and Alto in line, but that doesn't really stop her from doing her own very stupid stuff when they aren't looking. The hypocrite-

She kind of develops a dad dynamic with King Mickey as well, but it's not terribly definitive considering how absent he is...

Over time, the Guardians of Light end up being her found family DLC add-on, it's very wholesome! She's touchy about it, but like Iris eventually she will cave in to the love and affection.

Irene, Reixen, and Iris are like her chill aunt and weird siblings that irritate her, and that's very cool of them. They were there first, so no one can top that. They're like the only family she had most of the time aside from her uncle, so there's a distinct boundary of trust between them that others can't really match.

Along the way, she also has many unrequited crushes on princesses or side characters of sorts, but the only romance in the timeline she persues (even if she's unaware of it half the time, she's very dense) is with Ienzo! Because a certain porcupine is now part of a polycule with a grape and an electric beetle- It would have never worked out, tbh.

She didn't settle, she just had a sudden and very real realization that she fell for probably THE dorkiest person possible. So many characters to pick, so many pretty princesses, handsome princes, teammates with more screentime, and it had to be a basement dwelling rat (affectionate)...

Considering her prior heartbreak at the loss of her childhood bestie, it does take a while for her to come to terms with the fact that it's okay to move on. She holds on to so much that you may need to pry it from her very warm, still alive hands-

Luckily, the two did know each other well enough since they interacted a bunch when they were kids, she did visit Radiant Garden quite a bit after all, it only made sense they may have some chemistry later down the line. Her grandma would joke about it with Ansem the Wise, but little did she know that it would become very real and very cute actually-

I dunno what it is with her and nerds, but if you can talk her ear off while all the info leaks out of her hearing holes, you have most certainly won her heart. Ienzo also partially fits the bill for her morosexual side, depending on the situation that isn't science related. Like cooking or something. Equal parts smart and dumb, just the way she enjoys them-

They're both t4t brainless nerds and in love, love wins etc etc.

♡♡♡

And there you have it! It's not much but it's honest work-

They all deserve the love and respect they get along their journies, and I'm happy to say that they do find it all eventually!

Enough on that though, we're indulging in angst this next day. See y'all on Day 4!! >:3c

[kimium]

Me: I want to ramble on my blog. If only there was a way.

Me: Wait a second. This is my blog.

Hi, so I'm just going to ramble about my ships in Twisted Wonderland because 1) My blog and 2) I've written two (2) fics for the fandom and thus this has granted me my free "I can talk about the fandom randomly" card. That's how it works, right?

Anyways, here is the current state of my Twisted Wonderland ships. There are different categories because Why Not. Rest is under the cut.

Note: This is just silly fun and if you don't agree with my ships that's fine. It's all fictional anyways.

Ships That I Immediately Shipped No Questions Asked (in order of "THIS IS MY OTP" to "I Really Enjoy This Ship")

Vil/Rook: If someone told me when I first started this game back in January that I'd end up liking Vil, I wouldn't have believed them. On the surface, Vil's character trope is one I dislike. However, I love Vil's determination and work ethic. I firmly believe Vil and Rook are the most synchronized house leader/vice leader combo in the entire game. They're also the kind to be Secretly Disgustingly Romantic. (Epel is appalled.)

Ace/Deuce: I don't really think I need to explain this one. They're the brain cell duo and their interactions/banter are adorable. Also, they're the combo of Dumbass/Dumbass and that's a great ship dynamic.

Trey/Cater: They're basically the parents of the dorm. Though, while I think Cater is the "fun" parent, who allows things to slide, Trey is the "Caring/Worrying" parent. I firmly believe without Trey the dorm would have imploded long, long before Yuu arrived.

Leona/Malleus: It's all about that "one party thinks the other is their enemy/rival and hates them while the other doesn't view it that way" dynamic. Also, the character foil between Leona and Malleus (both princes, both have high expectations thrust upon them, both are talented and gifted, etc.) drives me. Always weak to a good character foil.

Azul/Jade: It's actually hard to decide if I like Azul more with Jade or Floyd. Honestly, I usually shrug and go "OT3 that" but it's complicated with the three of them. Still, I think Azul can have TWO boyfriends and the three agreeing it's not cheating. Merpeople can have different morals/ethics for relationships than humans, right?

Uh anyways, I love how Jade's calm demeanor can counter Azul's secretly Frantic and Panicking Energy. But Jade has enough teasing in him to keep Azul on his toes.

Cute ships that I enjoy (in order of "I'd read a fic about it" to "That's Nice" and read if I enjoyed the premise)

Floyd/Riddle: As soon as I read the one vignette with Floyd basically pigtail pulling Riddle (metaphorically) I knew I'd love it. The teasing and dynamic is super cute. Also "Goldfishie" as a nickname is hilarious.

Jack/Epel: This is a classic "I admire you please help me out to achieve what I want" turned "Oh No my admiration has turned into a crush! Help!" Also, Jack is a Sweet Boy and I want him to be Happy.

Jack/Vil: They're childhood friends. That alone is enough to get me to ship them, but that vignette with Vil scolding Jack for wearing his ceremonial robes incorrectly and proceeding to fix it?? Top Tier.

Leona/Ruggie: I don't have a lot of thought with this one other than "Ruggie keeps teasing and flirting with Leona only to pull a Shocked Pikachu Face when Leona snaps and Does Something About the Flirting".

Silver/Sebek: Another ship I don't have a lot of thoughts other than Sebek pretending he isn't affected by Silver but is Very Much Affected by Silver. Whether Silver is oblivious or just shrugs and accepts Sebek will tell him on his own time is up to you.

Ships that Make me Go "That's Neat" (in order of "I see where you're coming from" to "Interesting.")

Jamil/Kalim: Okay. The most popular Twisted Wonderland ship on AO3 has arrived. Truthfully, I'm very conflicted. On one hand I like it because it's a classic "servant and master" dynamic that fiction enjoys. On the other hand I don't think it works unless they sit down and fully unpack all of the unsaid things before proceeding to work through their emotional baggage together. Otherwise I think it's an insult to Jamil who has some legitimate grievances over Kalim. And it's an insult to Kalim because while he's ignorant, I don't believe he's malicious.

Or you can just write them in an AU without the emotional baggage. That works ahaha.

Leona/Vil: It's another character foil situation here. Only this one is a little more focused on "work ethic" rather than "royalty and talent". The only reason I like Leona/Malleus better is because I'm such a big Vil/Rook shipper.

Idia/Malleus: It's funny because it's "technology WIZARD and genius of his generation" VS. "Man who doesn't understand how a Tamagotchi like device works".

Jamil/Azul: I've seen this pop up and I can see the appeal.

Ships that are 100% Rare (in order of "If I was the kind of person to write a rare pair for TW, I'd write it" to "That's just a funny character combo")

Lilia/Trein: Look. Picture this: young Trein a "Straight A student who if asked "What are you weekend plans?" replies, "Study." in Night Raven College meets Lilia (who I am firmly in the camp "in adult form Lilia has long hair") and has a wild, passionate romance with. One that Trein never, ever forgets but pretends he thinks it's a mistake. Then, years later he meets "young" Lilia acting like his student and he's So Done.

Malleus/Cater: This is a similar idea to Idia only Cater's advantage is "Understands social media and trends" to which Malleus understands none of those things.

Crewel/Vargas: It's an opposite attracts sort of deal, but I'm also perfectly fine with them being unlikely friends. If they're friends I have an entire "Restaurant Staff Think They're an Actual Couple" joke with @m34gs.

Bonus: "But who do YOU ship Yuu with??"

Uh... I don't ship Yuu with anyone, but if I had to pick one (1) character it would be Malleus. Only because I cannot get the joke "Malleus didn't get the memo that this isn't an otome game" out of my brain.

[ragingbookdragon]

A Lifetime In The Dreams Between

Hal Jordan x Reader One-Shot

Word Count: 3.1K Warnings: Explicit Lanuage, Angst!

Author's Note: I have completed an idea! Enjoy! -Thorne

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

He didn’t know what happened. One second he was throwing up a shield to protect himself from the blast and the next his eyes were widening as the black magic passed through the construct and hit him straight in the chest. Shouts echoed all around him, but all Hal understood was that the world was swirling black and blue around him, figures blurring faster and faster, and he finally understood what it was like to see the world when Barry would run. And all he remembered was feeling the blood drain from his face as he dropped to his knees, and pitched forward, falling into darkness.

***

He could hear voices above him, stressed and frantic.

“He’s going into cardiac arrest!” Barry.

“Shit! Flash shock him!” (Y/N)?

“He won’t survive that much generated electricity!”

“Hal won’t survive if you don’t! Damn it, Barry! Shock him!”

Hands pressed to his chest and a shock jumped Hal’s chest, and he descended back into darkness.

***

His eyes snapped open, and he winced, raising a hand to his head, but someone grabbed his arm. “Don’t try to move, Hal.”

He lolled his head, eyes rolling as the metal ceiling flowed above; he felt so far away and so weak, brain fuzzing, and Barry appeared in his sight, searing his gaze.

“He’s having a seizure. His brain can’t handle the stress.” He looked at the woman across from him. “We have to get him to the med bay.”

She nodded, folding Hal’s hand back to his chest as she worried, “Hang on, Hal. You’re going to be okay.”

(Y/N)’s voice was so comforting, so warm, so trusting, and all Hal could do was shut his eyes, his brain imploding on itself.

***

He rolled over onto his side, burrowing his face in the soft pillow, exhaling deeply. Sleep welcomed him again and he was about to fall off the deep end when someone’s hand caressed his hip, lips pressing against the space between his shoulder blades.

“Good morning,” they murmured, trailing kisses up his back to his neck and to his ear. “Sleep well?”

He moaned lowly in his throat and turned his head, blinking blearily as their face came into clearing—actually her face, and suddenly his eyes went wide as he flailed, pulling away from her. “(Y/N)!”

She cocked a brow as he fell over the side of the bed, immediately shooting up, eyes shocked and very confused. “That’s my name, Hal.” Propping herself on her elbow, she asked, “Everything alright?”

Hal’s mouth opened and closed, and he looked down, his eyes widening all over again as he realized he was nude; he jerked the sheet to cover himself, an action not really in his repertoire. His coffee eyes went to her body, and she was there too, bare as the morning day.

“You’re naked. We’re naked,” he blurted out and she huffed a laugh.

“Yeah? Traditionally, married people typically get naked every other night when they make love.”

“Married?” Hal’s eyes shot to his left hand, and he almost collapsed on the floor again; sure enough a gold band was around his ring finger. “Holy shit,” he breathed, and he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to be more shocked about, the fact that they were married or that he didn’t remember it.

“Hal?” (Y/N) was crawling over the bed, her hand coming to cup his cheek. “Is everything alright?”

He gazed into her eyes, so stunned that this woman that hated his guts was so concerned for him. “I…I don’t know.”

Her brows furrowed and she shuffled, sitting on the edge of the bed, and maneuvered Hal’s head until it was resting in her lap, his back against the side of the frame. She carded her fingers through his hair and bent down, gently pressing kisses where she could reach, to his forehead, his nose, his cheeks, his lips, everywhere; then she smiled against his lips. “Something tells me you and Barry got so drunk last night you forgot you married me.”

“What?”

(Y/N) snorted, pulling away and with her free hand, she caressed his cheek. “You and Barry went to Aviators last night and came back at like three AM hammered out of your minds.” Her smile was ridiculously bright, and it made Hal’s heartbeat flutter against his rib cage. “You,” she started, but broke into a giggle. “You looked at me and said, ‘Hey pretty mama, wanna fly with me?’.”

Laughing again, she continued, “And when I said that I was your wife, you went, ‘Holy shit, I scored.’.” (Y/N) sighed wistfully and kissed his forehead. “Barry collapsed onto the couch, and you left a trail of clothes from the living room before collapsing in the bed.”

Tugging a strand of his brown hair, she said, “I had to maneuver the covers underneath your body in order to get into bed last night.” She pressed one more kiss to his forehead. “You’re still hungover though, so get back in bed and sleep a little while longer while I go make sure Barry’s up and awake, okay?”

Hal could only nod and when he tipped his head up to let her stand, he stopped her and pulled her down, pressing his lips to hers. (Y/N) responded eagerly, already forgoing checking on the Speedster as she lowered herself into his lap, and Hal immediately wrapped one arm around her waist, the other planting itself on the bed as he shifted his legs, giving himself some leverage to pick the two of them off the ground and shuffle back onto the bed.

And the second Hal’s thighs connected with the mattress he found himself being shoved down onto it, (Y/N)’s hands smoothing down his chest and abs, a flirtatious look on her face.

He couldn’t help but feel cocky. “See something you like?”

She grinned, splaying her fingers on his abdomen. “Actually, I feel something I like.” (Y/N) ground down on his hips and Hal inhaled sharply, causing her grin to turn into a downright evil smirk as she quipped, “And it seems like you feel it too.”

His hands came up to grasp her hips when someone stumbled through the bedroom door. “Hey, do you guys have any toothpa—oh dear God, you guys are fonduing!” They both jumped and looked at Barry who was busy shoving a hand to cover his eyes, the other fumbling for the door frame. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I swear I didn’t see anything, (Y/N).”

Hal snorted. “How come you’re not swearing you didn’t see any of me?”

“Because I’ve seen all of you before, Hal. Multiple times in fact.” Barry retorted, speeding out of the bedroom.

(Y/N) chuckled and pressed a kiss to Hal’s collarbone, starting to shimmy out of his lap, only stopping when he started whining at her. “What?”

“Why are you leaving?” he questioned, and she flicked his shoulder.

“Because you need to get up and cook some breakfast before all of us have to get back out and go to work.”

Hal blanched. “Work?”

(Y/N) tossed him a look as she pulled on some pajama bottoms and one of his t-shirts. “Yes, Hal Jordan, you have to go into space and be a space ranger.”

“Oh, Green Lantern, right.” He sighed in relief. “I thought you meant the airfield.”

She snorted. “Oh, that too. Carol called and asked if you’d come down and fly one of the new F-18’s they got recently.”

Hal perked up. “How fast?”

“Fast, fly-boy. Now get up and go cook while I shower.” And she was off into their bathroom, shutting the door behind her.

***

Hal wandered into the kitchen, watching as Barry lifted his head from the refrigerator. “Morning.”

“Mornin’,” he replied, flicking on the coffee maker. “So…can I ask you a question?”

“I’m not checking your dick again to see if it’s above average, Hal,” Barry deadpanned and Hal about fell to his feet in laughter.

“What! No!” he chuckled and wiped his eyes, pouring water into the top of the coffee maker. “About last night…what…exactly happened?”

Barry looked at him, pulling out the pack of roast beef. “You don’t remember?”

“Well, from what (Y/N) said, I’m surprised either of us remembered how to get back here.” He met Barry’s eyes. “Everything’s a little fuzzy. I was just wondering if you could fill me in.”

The Speedster nodded, shoving a piece of meat in his mouth. “Well, I got off patrol and came over here, and then you said we should go out. But (Y/N) had some things to take care of, so she told us to go have fun. And then we went to that military bar you like, and we got dared to drink some marines under the table, and you can’t say no to a dare from ‘warthogs’, so you just had to drink more pitchers than they did.”

He snorted. “I barely had enough functioning brain cells to remember how to get back, but we just crammed into a cab and drove back here.” He wiped his eyes. “You kept telling the cabbie to play Danger Zone the entire time.”

Hal wasn’t somebody who was embarrassed easily, and as much as he loved Top Gun, he felt flustered that he was drunkenly belting out the main song the night before.

“And when we got here, I fell asleep on the couch, but (Y/N) was already chasing you down the hall because you were stripping left and right.”

Barry had all but fallen into hysterics as Hal merely set the coffee pot under the drip. “Yeah…about that too.” He felt confused. “You didn’t happen to like…change the timeline again, did you?”

The Speedster stopped laughing at that, blue eyes wide and concerned. “What? No. Why do you ask?”

Hal shook his head, twirling the gold band on his finger. “Because I don’t really remember marrying (Y/N)? But I do remember how much she hates my guts.”

“Well, yeah, but that death scare you gave her a few years ago really made her realize that as much as she hated you, she loved you just as much.” Barry rested a hand on his shoulder. “Now that I think about it, you did take a bad blow a couple days ago. Maybe you’re still reeling.”

The pilot nodded, listening to the coffee pour. “Yeah…maybe.”

Footsteps sounded from the living room and (Y/N) appeared in the entryway, a towel wrapped around her head, a bathrobe around her body; she scowled. “Hal, you were supposed to start breakfast.”

He blinked. “I haven’t even had coffee yet.”

“Lazy,” she griped, yanking the roast beef out of Barry’s hands. “That’s for sandwiches, not to eat out of the package, you bottomless pit.” Shoving the meat back in the refrigerator, she said, “There’s eggs…ham…I could omelets?”

“Omelets sound good,” Barry replied, taking the coffee mug out of Hal’s hands who in turn glared at the Speedster. “Do you have onions and peppers to add?”

“Mmm…I dunno…Hal used the last of the onions and peppers the other night to make steak with.” (Y/N) looked back at him, lips parting to speak when a beeping came from the living room.

Barry darted out and back in with a blinking device in his hands. “It’s the League Communicator.”

Immediately, she and Barry suited up and her eyes found Hal’s behind her blue mask. “Highball, get your head in the game. We’ve got a mission.”

He shook himself out of his stupor and the green suit formed to his body, though he muttered, “I still haven’t had my coffee yet…”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes. “Race you guys to the Watchtower.”

“You’re on.” Barry chirped, the two of them disappearing in flashes of yellow and blue.

***

It seemed like much more routine patrol than it was a mission, but still, when Hal and (Y/N) finally made it back to Coast City, they all but collapsed onto the couch. Her suit faded from her body, and she rolled onto her back, laying her head on his thigh.

“I’m so tired,” she groaned, shutting her eyes.

Hal stared down at her, the green suit receding. “You look tired,” he murmured, resting his arm comfortably on her chest, his fingers rubbing soothing circles in her collarbone. “I still can’t believe you socked that bank robber in the face like Guy.”

(Y/N) giggled. “Hey, that man can teach anyone to throw a good punch.” Her eyes opened, and she reached up, tracing the dark circles under his eyes. “You look more tired than I am, husband of mine.”

Hal smiled, turning his face to press a sweet kiss to her wrist. “I’m just glad we’re home for the evening.” He expected her face to rest in relief, but it only clouded, and he murmured, “(Y/N)? What’s wrong?”

“Do you remember what we talked about a couple week ago?”

No, he did not.“You know I have a terrible memory, babe.”

(Y/N) rolled her eyes, a knowing sigh passing her lips. “Your memory is almost as bad as Barry’s ability to be on time.” Blinking at the ceiling, she said, “You know, what we talked about…having a family? How you said you wanted to try?”

Hal’s heart dropped into his stomach. “Yeah? What about it?”

She looked up at him. “I’m pregnant.”

“What?” His eyes immediately darted to her stomach, and he reached down, pressing his hand to her abdomen. “Are you really?”

(Y/N) nodded. “Yeah. Took a test last night.” Snorting, she added, “I was going to tell you, but you went out and got drunk, so I figured I should wait.”

Hal simply stared at her stomach. “Holy shit. You’re pregnant?”

“Yes, Hal. I’m pregnant.”

“I did that?”

“No, Bruce did.”

He scowled at her. “That’s not funny.”

(Y/N) winked. “No, it’s not. It’s hilarious.” She rose from the sofa, stretching her arms above her head. “I say it’s probably time for bed.”

Hal watched her. “You go on ahead. I’ll be there soon.”

“Yeah?” he nodded, and she bent down, pecking his lips. “I love you, Hal.”

“I love you too, (Y/N),” he replied, watching as she walked down the hallway, disappearing into their bedroom.

It was so weird. To be married to her. He knew this had to be some giant hallucination from his subconscious desires of wanting her, but still, even this “dream” seemed so real. Usually, she and Hal were at each other’s throats; they’d fight at the drop of a hat just because the other looked at them funny, and yet, other than him and Barry, (Y/N) was the only person that could keep up with Hal. To keep him on his toes. The only person smart enough to keep in his six. The only person he trusted to be his wingman. And he realized through all their fights that he cared for her.

Hal looked down at the band on his finger, and something warm spread through his chest when he thought about a little kid running around the apartment dressed in a baby flight suit, squealing “daddy!” at the top of their lungs. He wanted that. As much as being a father scared him, he wanted that. And he wanted it with (Y/N).

He smiled widely and got to his feet, but the second he did, the world shifted, and his vision darkened, body becoming weightless as he dropped to the floor.

***

Something was stroking his hair, gently smoothing it across his forehead, and a voice whispered, “Wake up, Hal. C’mon.”

He tried to open his eyes, but they were so heavy.

“If you wake up, I’ll watch Top Gun with you until you’re thoroughly convinced I could fly a jet.”

That made him want to smile and the hand shifted, cupping his cheek.

“Just open your eyes for me, Hal. Please. I…I need you.”

“You do?” he murmured, managing to crack one eye open, taking in the sight of (Y/N) sitting there beside his med bay bed, tears in her eyes.

She gave him a watery laugh and leaned forward, pressing her lips to his cheek. “Yes, you stupid ass.” (Y/N) pulled away, running her hand over his cheek. “You’ve been out almost an entire day.”

Hal inhaled deeply as she helped him sit up. “What happened?”

“You took a blow of dark magic to the heart and almost died on us. Twice.” She took his temperature and heart rate. “You went into cardiac arrest on the field and then had a seizure when we got you here in the Watchtower.” Meeting his eyes, she said, “You owe Barry a thanks for shocking your heart and J’onn for getting your mind to calm during your seizure.”

He blinked, completely dumbfounded. “Wow…that’s…I took a lot of damage, huh?”

(Y/N)’s eyes flashed with anger, and she socked his shoulder. “You’re damn straight you did. What the fuck were you thinking? Using constructs against a black magician?”

“Well, what’d you want me to do? Stand there like a jackass?” Hal retorted with a glare.

“Maybe you could’ve moved?” she met his glare head on. “You almost got yourself killed.”

“People die every day, (Y/N). I’m going to die one day.”

“And who would you leave behind if you did, huh? You’d leave behind your family and friends. You’d leave behind Guy and Kyle and John. You’d leave behind Barry. You’d leave me behind.” (Y/N) searched his eyes. “Don’t you know how heartbroken we’d be if you died, Hal? How devastated I’d be?”

Hal’s jaw went slack, and she shook her head. “This is just like you. Always flying headfirst into danger without a single regard for anyone else. You are so foolish and stupid and—”

He grabbed her chin and pulled her to him in a searing kiss. It was over as fast as it happened and when he pulled away, he smirked at the stunned expression on her face. “Oh? So that’s what it takes for you to quit yelling at me? Man, I should’ve done that a long time ago.”

(Y/N) blinked in shock, one hand coming to press against her lips. “What…what was that?”

“That was a kiss, (Y/N). You see when two people care about each other very much they—”

The meeting of a palm and a cheek echoed through the med bay, and he grabbed his face, gaping at her as she scrambled up.

“You don’t just kiss people, you ass!” (Y/N) shouted, though she looked more flustered than angry. “That’s—It’s not right!”

She spun and ran for the med bay doors, and he called out, “Wait! You didn’t tell me if you loved me!”

“Go to hell, Hal Jordan!” she shouted in return and Hal grinned wide and smug as he reclined on the pillows, eyes directing to the glass window, giving him the view of space.

That dream didn’t seem too far out of reach now.

[jessiebanethedragon]

hello if you're not too busy or something may i request a crosshair fic where he teases the reader a lot bcs she's shorter than him (probably like, reaches his chest and that's it) and like it's cute and wholesome? srry if it's weird hehe im a sucker for height differences bcs i too, am vv short. i love your fics btw 👉👈

heya! thanks for the Request and the love xoxoxo, this started in my head as cute fluff and turned a lil more saucy than i thought it would be so... yeah... oops (Hope you like!)

Oh how you hated him, the resident sniper of Clone Force 99. You absolutely hated him, every single cell in your body despised the man. And every time you saw him that stupidly handsome face was there to mock you. He made you seethe with anger, that smirk with the toothpick and the eyes that would side stare at you like he was checking you out when in reality he was just trying to rile you up all over again. 

You’d kick his ass if it wasn't so damn attractive. 

“You look like you’re going to implode Picks.” Hunter mentioned offhand one morning in a briefing room.  Even the name sent you into a rage. Picks. Short for Toothpick, which according to Crosshair, you were the size of. 

“I hate him.” You grit out, causing Hunter to laugh from his spot in the corner, even the mere thought of you working with them again was driving you crazy. Well, okay, you didn't hate him per-say, in fact you’re actually afraid of the opposite but it’s easier to pretend that you dislike the  sniper than it is to pine over him constantly. 

“He’s not that bad…” Hunter started and then stopped when you sent him a glare. 

“Who’s not that bad?”  Tech asked entering the briefing room to look over the Holoprojection once more before you departed. With Wrecker in tow the two began discussing various assault attempts for the mission. 

“Crosshair.” Hunter supplied for his goggled brother, who immediately looked over to you, who was currently perched on a ledge, trying to ignore how your heart clenched at every mention of his name. 

“Ah yes, well…” Tech trailed off, “Don’t worry Picks i’m sure he’s uh…. Mellowed.” he offered, trying to ease your worries. 

“I hate him.” You stated again, maybe if you said it out loud enough it would be true. 

“Well that’s just rude Short Stuff.” The voice drawled from the doorway, where of course, the man in question was leaning. Not even wearing his full armor like the rest of the batch. You swore he left the top half off and pushed his sleeves up just to annoy you. 

“Listen here wise-ass. This is my mission, you follow my command.” You said hoping down from the ledge and stalking over to him, falling short (no pun intended) when your face met his chest. 

Oh the universe was cruel. 

“Yeah and what are you going to do if i don’t?” He teased, still very much relaxed. 

“I’ll kick your ass.” You snapped at him, causing Crosshair to smirk and roll the toothpick in his mouth to the opposite side. 

“Sure you can reach that high?” He asked, and if you weren't fuming before you were now. Why did he have to be so stunning and suave and flirty and oh right you’re supposed to be pissed at him... 

“Why you little…” you started.

“That's you pretty girl.” He interrupted, maker you could not win with this man.  

“I could have you court martialed.” You countered. Feeling a little disappointed that you’d reached the point of pulling rank in order to win an argument with him but he really was that difficult. 

“Of course you could. But where’s the fun in that?” He tossed back to you, before lazily saluting Hunter and striding out of the door. You threw your hands in the air as he sauntered away, had he really just shown up to drive you crazy and then leave. Probably. But he was certainly not getting the last say this time. 

“Hey!” you called after him, jogging down the empty hallway to catch up. 

“Yes general?” He raised an eyebrow for a split second before a look of fear overtook his face as you sprinted at him. Throwing yourself at the unsuspecting sniper and tackling him to the floor. Crosshair wasn't exactly as much muscle as his brothers, but he was still much bigger than you. And that didn't make an impromptu wrestling session in a GAR hallway easy. So of course in moments he had you pinned against the wall (no complaint from you other than the embarrassment of being beaten.) Legs flailing every which way in an attempt to kick/knee him in a not-so-low blow to his crotch. 

“Hey.” he said, trying to maneuver away from you legs but still keep your upper half pinned. You let out a frustrated scream. 

“Hey.” He pressed again, softer this time. 

“What?” You huffed relenting, and slipping into the grip he had on your hands and one on your hip to support you. Oh, well now things were a tad awkward. 

“I think there was some miscommunication.” Crosshair states, watching you get more and more confused. 

“How so?” You take his bait, you have no idea where he’s going with this. He lets out a sigh looking around and stepping closer to you, is it weird to notice how good he smells? You ask yourself, right around the same time your eyes meet his and you turn to putty in his hands. 

“I was tryin’ to…”  he starts before letting off another sigh. Gently leaning closer, testing the boundaries, waiting for you to tell him to back off. Instead you take a breath. 

“Trying to what?” you whisper, before it all clicks, the teasing, the names weren't even names at all. Terms of endearment, your brain finally makes the connection. 

“Listen, the long necks didn't exactly teach flirting.” He admits quietly. Loosening his hands and letting your feet reconnect with the floor. 

“I can tell.” You tease, and you see Crosshairs mouth open and close, like it’s searching for words that he doesn't know. 

“I’m sorry.” He settles on, “if I upset you.” You straighten in shock, did he just apologise? Did the sniper of the Bad Batch, known for his assholery just give you an apology? Now that was a win. He pauses for a second before turning away from you. And as if you're possessed by a much more confident version of yourself, your hand grasps his and stops him from leaving. 

“You are so stupid.” You shake your head at him, leaning up onto your toes to fist his blacks and pull him close to you. 

It’s not exactly a romantic kiss, more like a kiss that's been pushed away for so long it’s surfacing with a vengeance. It’s full of yearning and want, and so when Crosshair leans down whispers for you to jump, and all but slams you into the wall again, you happily comply. Legs around his waist and tongues in each other's mouths. 

And then he groans. The bastard has the audacity to groan into your mouth, the sound has you reeling and whining into his. And maker what are you even doing? This is so against every rule in the GAR regulation handbook.    

“Regulations.” You pant as somewhere he moves from your lips to your jaw to your neck.

“I don’t give a damn.” He almost growls into your neck. Especially when your hands anchor themselves in his hair. 

“But…” Your brain tries to think of any reason to not do what you’re doing right now, but it draws a blank. So you let all your responsibilities go to hell as you pull his face back to yours and envelop his lips again.  

“That's so gross.” Tech comments at the view in front of him, having leant out of the doorway to make sure you hadn't killed his vod. And instead getting greeted by what could only be described as the most intense makeout session he’d ever seen. 

“What's gross?” Hunter asked, moving to join him, and before Tech had a chance to want him. “Oh for kriffs sake!” He shouted, throwing his hands in the air at his sniper's actions. 

“I liked it better when they hated each other…” Tech stated a look of disgust on his face. “Hunter?” He asked turning to where his sergeant had been, only to see him sitting back in the briefing room holding his head in his hands and Wrecker having the time of his life laughing it up in the doorway.

“It’s about damn time!” He called loud enough for the two of you to jump apart in surprise. Flushing red as you caught Techs terrified face and Wreckers loud laugh.

“Come on Toothpick, you got a mission to run.” Crosshair said, looking down at you and stealing one last soft kiss before turning back to his brothers. 

Okay so maybe you didn't hate him all that much. 

[adaodinson]

Would she?

Here´s the second part of Would she? I´ve had some free time and got the inspiration to write it. And one thing, I mention a movie called “Wolfwalkers” during the story, I highly recommend it, it´s a beautiful and artistic but deep animated movie.

Again, I´ll leave the translations to the Spanish words and phrases at the end of each phrase.

Relationship: Marcus Moreno x Fem Mexican reader (it is in English and most of the dialogues are too, her being Mexican is more about the story)

Summary: You are having dinner with the Morenos for the first time and a feeling of both nervousness and excitement covers both yours and Marcus´ body.

Warnings: Age gap, reader is Mexican, some swearing.

Part 2

Part 3

You woke up at the feeling of a small certain creature jumping to your stomach and purring softly. You blinked many times trying to get used to the light of the day and spotted your cat Wolfie staring at you. You turned around to see the time and as you saw your clock, you basically jumped out of bed scaring the living crap out of your cat. You weren´t used to the way your furniture was arranged in your new apartment, so it took a few more seconds than usual for you to find the bathroom.

-Shit, shit, shit- you said acknowledging it was 2 in the afternoon and realizing you wouldn´t have time to do everything you had planned to do. You had bumped into Missy for the second time yesterday and she had quickly told you dinner would be at 7 the next day, since earlier she hadn´t told you at what time you would be expected.

You had offered to bring dessert and you had planned making your famous chocolate chip cookies (famous between your family and friends, obviously) but you were waking up insanely late and still had to go out and buy all the ingredients. You hurried to the store and the second you got back home you started with the dough. While the cookies were in the oven, you went to your room to decide what you would wear. It was a simple dinner, you had no reason to be this nervous but you were. You cursed at the feeling that strange man caused on you and wondered how you would be able to make it through the whole dinner without imploding in your seat in front of the nice girl and handsome guy.

A pair of jeans, black boots, a white blouse with long sleeves and no shoulders and your favorite leather jacket. Simple but perfect. You looked in the mirror with satisfaction. Sure you had some insecurities about your body and face, but you were working very hard on loving yourself as you were, and with all honesty, you liked how you looked on that outfit. You got the cookies out of the oven and took a shower. Once you finished, you put on a light makeup and got dressed. It was 6o´clock and you only had to put the cookies in a plate and wait till it was time to go.

Marcus had woken up pretty early, he was a nerve rack not only because he would get to talk to you that same day, but because he had to make dinner himself and had no idea how he would pull that off without setting his house on fire or ending up ordering food and plating it to make it seem he had made it.

He decided he would try to make something simple so that he could put more effort into it: a pasta and some salad. How hard could it be? He had been stuck in his mind for so long he didn´t realize it was almost 3 and he still had to buy what he needed, so he asked Missy if she was decent enough to go to the supermarket and got ready to go.

She joked around reminding him all the things he had done in the kitchen that deserved their own TV show for how unique and disastrous they were.

-That time when you broke the whole carton of eggs in the sink instead of the bowl, or when you were making pasta but forgot the water so it got caught on fire. Oh or when instead of vinegar for the dressing you used vanilla- She said not being able to hold back the tears from how hard she was laughing-

-Ha ha ha ha you´re very funny. But really, I need your help, I don´t want to mess this up- He said as he pushed the car through the fruit aisle.

-I will help you, remember I like her too, I don´t want her to have to move again because her crazy neighbor made some pasta sauce explode on her- They both laughed all the way back to the car after buying everything. Rushing back to the house they started preparing everything.

They took turns so that one could be cooking and the other getting changed and ready. Things looked pretty good, nothing smelled weird, the kitchen was still standing, no vanilla and vinegar had been mixed up. Everything seemed perfect, almost too good to be true.

It was time, finally. You hugged your cat and asked him to wish you luck. He just lovingly stared at you and you took that as a good thing.

You were carrying the cookie plate and your bag while you locked the door behind you. You looked at both sides of the street before crossing and in a matter of seconds you were in front of the Moreno´s house. You took a deep breath and knocked on the door before your fear could stop you.

A shorter head peeked through the door as the owner of it opened it. Missy received you with a bright smile.

-Hi! Welcome- she said as she moved from the door to let you in.

-Hi Missy, how are you?- you said as you walked inside. It was a beautiful house, not too big but with enough room for two to three people. It was simply decorated but with a clear style and it smelled amazing.

-I´m good, thanks. This is my dad- She said as she pointed at the tall man standing next to you that for some reason you hadn´t seen. You looked at him and you swear you had to swallow a freaking moan from how gorgeous he was.

-Hello, I´m Marcus- he said as he extended his hand for you to shake.

-Hi Marcus- you said and then told him your name as you reached out for his hand.

-Welcome to the neighborhood and to our house- he said with a small chuckle. God, he swore you were glowing. You seemed so perfect, with your bright eyes and precious smile. He though your name suited you perfectly and he just couldn’t take his eyes off of you.

-Thank you so much for everything, it has been pretty hard for me to settle with the small amount of time I´ve lived here, but it´s amazing to know already I have such nice neighbors- you had no idea where that came form but you thanked your brain for coming up with it and your mouth for being able to say it so well.

Both looked at you with the same smile shining in their lips. They were so alike in certain ways.

They showed you around the first floor and then guided you to the dining room where the food was resting ready to be eaten. It all looked amazing.

-This smells amazing- you said happily.

-I hope you like it- Marcus said with a hint of fear in his tone.

-Be glad if you do- Missy said with a smirk and Marcus hit her playfully in the shoulder.

The three of you sat down and Marcus served all of you a generous portion of red pasta and salad. You stared down at your plate and smiled for yourself. You all started talking about your day as you tried the salad. Missy shared some stories of how Marcus had failed in the kitchen before and you shared crazy stories about your family. Like that one time when you got stuck at a parking place because your uncle that happened to be about ten blocks away had kept the car keys and the place was about to close; or that time when your parents were still dating (you weren´t born) and your mom drove you dad´s car into a pool by accident. As you told that last story Marcus laughed so hard some of his drink came out from his nose just like Violet in the Incredibles 2. Missy and you laughed so hard your stomaches ached.

It was time to try the pasta. Carefully, you used your fork to grab some of it and put it in your mouth. You had expected it to be an only tomato pasta, apparently it had peppers too, but since you were Mexican you were used to spicy and you loved it. You thought for a second you hadn´t told Missy where you came from, so you guessed they liked spicy too.

-JESUS NOOOOO WHAAAT- you jumped so high you almost saw the lamp that hanged from the celling in front of you. You looked at Missy who stood up from her seat and basically ran screaming through the kitchen looking for water.

Marcus´ face was covered in red and he looked at you with a strange look.

-You want milk for spicy sweetie! I´m so so so sorry, how are you not dying?- he asked looking at you. Okay now you were quite confused.

-What?- you said.

-Well the pasta, I mixed up some of the tomatoes with peppers and it´s spicy as hell. I´m used to spicy because of my mom but Missy isn´t- he stared down at you with a disappointed look in his face, but also a puzzled one. Why didn´t you react like Missy? Why didn’t you spit out the disgusting thing he had made?

-Marcus- you said with a soft chuckle- I´m Mexican, I adore spicy food and I´m used to eating it too, I loved the flavor of your pasta, it´s amazing. I didn’t tell Missy where I come from, so I assumed you guys liked spicy too and that had been why you made it like this. I honestly love this pasta.

Marcus looked at you and he swore he would never let you go, even if it was just as a friend, he wanted you around.

Without thinking and letting his arms move on their own, Marcus reached out for you and trapped you in a hug. He was as shocked as you were, but even more when you locked your arms on his shoulders hugging him back.

-¿Hablas en serio?- (Are you serious?) He asked softly wanting to know if what you were saying was true.

-Claro que hablo en serio- (Of course I´m serious) You answered quietly with a perfect Spanish pronunciation and a hint of laughter in your voice. You both stayed like that for what seemed forever until Missy came back and coughed softly.

-Are you done you fools? Or do you have another plan for almost killing me and then celebrating with a hug?- She asked with a serious look at first, but breaking into laughter at the middle of the sentence. The two of you split not daring to look at the other one because of the embarrassment.

-I´m gonna go get changed because I spilled half of the water I used before SOMEONE decided to tell me milk was better for spicy- she said as she walked upstairs.

You took another bite of your pasta and smiled at the memory it gave you about Mexico.

-So- you said swallowing what you were eating- Missy told me your job keeps you away from her a lot, what do you do?- you asked.

Marcus hadn’t thought about whether or not he would tell you about his job. He now knew you didn´t know anything about the Heroics because you weren´t from around, but he also knew you would eventually find out and, honestly, he preferred to be the one to answer all the questions you could have rather that you looking it up.

-I´m what we call a Heroic, I basically fight to defend people when needed- You did not see that one coming. Some people had mentioned the Heroics and you had seen things about them in the TV, but Marcus being one of them… it was AMAZING.

-WHAAAT YOU´RE A HEROIC?- that came out way louder than what you had planned. He smiled and nodded.

-So you´ve heard about us?-

-Well of course, but you´re one of them?!- that was too much for you, this man was perfect- So you have like a superpower or what?- You said expecting him to laugh and saying you were ridiculous.

-Yep, I can control metal, basically- he said amused at your reaction.

-WHAAAAT you mean like Magneto?!-

He laughed out loud at your comparison and with a gaze he invited you to lift your unused spoon for a demonstration. You did as he asked and with all the surprise of the world, you saw the utensil leave your hand and land on Marcus´.

-NOOOOOO THAT´S SO COOL- you said, and without thinking you stood from your seat, ran towards him and grabbed his hand to examine it. You both felt an electric current run through your fingers as you touched, but trying to ignore that, you carefully looked at each one of his fingers and traced them in a gentle way that made him melt.

He sat quietly and let you examine his hands. He was dying on the inside though. He was so amazed by your reaction and he even let himself run his eyes through you now that you were busy. He saw your hair falling at your side, it looked so soft he felt the need to touch it but held back. He ran his eyes through your back and landed his gaze on your ass for a few seconds but he scolded himself and looked away. He turned his gaze back at your head and to your face. You were looking at him as if he was the most amazing piece of art you had ever seen, and his heart sunk at the sight. He traced your nose and your rosy cheeks, then your lips and subconsciously he licked his.

Missy had been observing you two for about five minutes and was between amused and consumed by a tender feeling. You were going to have an amazing long-lasting friendship, or if life smiled at the three of you, a beautiful and romantic relationship that she had already decided she completely supported.

She decided it was time to interrupt though, she would offer you to watch a movie as you ate the cookies you had brought, and she did.

-Okay I´m sure there is a perfect explanation for why you guys are like that, but instead of giving me nervous unfinished sentences, let´s choose a movie to watch while we eat dessert- Marcus and you both stared into each other´s eyes for a few seconds with clear embarrassment and slowly walked away from each other. You were already missing the other´s touch.

You all finished eating dinner, and after washing the dishes you decided to watch a new movie that came out called “Wolfwalkers”.

-Oh my God, these are amazing- Marcus said with a pretty surprised look in his face as he tried one of your cookies.

-They really are, wow- Missy responded with the same surprise as her father.

-Thank you guys, I´m glad you liked them. I love making them so anytime you want some just call me-

-We don´t have your number- Missy said quickly before any of you changed the subject.

-Oh that´s right- you said as you took the piece of paper Missy was handing you and you wrote down your number. Missy gave a discreet wink to her father while you were focused on your task and he just smiled at his daughter.

The three of you sitting on the couch, eating cookies and crying over the beautiful movie after an afternoon of laughing and hugging. It was perfect. You were dying to know what your future with the Morenos would be like.

[zims-left-shoe]

Hi, omg I love your stuff. Could I please request a tallest red x human female? I dont really have a specific idea. Just some fluff or headcannons is fine. Thank you so much. ILY😘

Yeah, of course! There’s a lot of dialogue, but I promise there’s fluff in the end!

Everything had been going so well. Until it didn’t.

A quiet moan of pain slipped out of your mouth as you continued to stay curled in fetal position on some hard surface, most likely a floor. Experimentally, you attempted to open your eyes, only to have your vision swamped by flashing saturated colors. You screwed your eyes shut again, drowning in the disorientation. There were probably voices around you, but they reached your ears as incoherent mumblings. Apparently, humans weren’t meant for instant intergalactic teleportation across schmillions of light years.

You were unsure of how long you had been laying wherever you were, nor did you suppose it mattered. Ever since you had been mildly conscious, you had been trying to recall what exactly had happened, without much luck. However, the second you had stopped caring about the preceding events, they all hit you with the force of twenty one bullet trains.

-

"Behold! Doesn't it amaze you?!" A very short alien gestured wildly to a glowing portal, grinning madly as if he couldn't believe his own genius. 

"Yes, Zim. It's very nice." Smiling uneasily, you nodded, your palms becoming slick with sweat. Over the years, you had learned to just agree with whatever Zim said, things went over much smoother that way. However, that didn't mean you weren't worried. Whatever Zim created tended to backfire...violently. Or explode. Or not work as intended. Or all of the above.

"Okay? But what does it even do?" The other human in the room spoke, more openly skeptic than you were. Purple light reflected off of his glasses as he shuffled through papers of calculations, which he couldn't read anyway, considering they were written in Irken. "Or, more accurately, what is it supposed to do?" 

"You imply that Zim's inventions never work as they should, Dib-stink!" Zim crossed his arms and turned away from Dib, clearly less than pleased with his lack of enthusiasm.

"That's because they don't!"

"Name one time!"

"Shall we take a look in The Cabinet?" The man decked out in black and blue thrusted an arm out towards a cabinet threatening to explode with close to ten years' worth of records of failed plans. Zim growled, lunging at Dib who was bent over in laughter. Before he could get very far, you grabbed the Irken's ankle, yanking him back. 

"That's enough, you two. Honestly. Act your age." The two disgruntled men grumbled complaints under their breath, but ceased their childish antics. If you hadn't known them for years, you wouldn't have believed that these two were now adults. "Now, Zim, could you kindly tell us what this thing does?" Your voice was soft and patient, hoping to set him back on track. He tended to become distracted quite often. 

"Yes! It's a portal that will allow the instant transportation of anything, the range being the entire universe!" He spread his arms wide, a laugh already bubbling up in his throat. Dib groaned and rolled his eyes.

"I thought you were working on the Irken conversions so I could finish my part on the ship." You couldn't help but crack a smile. Their ship was never going to be finished at this rate. 

"Yes, but this is much more important! I have an ingenious plan for it!"

"Enlighten us." Dib spoke flatly, still not convinced.

Zim pulled out a box wrapped up like a gift, complete with a neat little pink bow. "Zim will send this to my Tallest using the portal! Trust me, they'll love what's in here." Light from the portal glinted menacingly off of his teeth. The box made hushed mewling noises and began to ooze green goo.

"Is...is it alive?" Your voice was cautious. You took a step back when the box began to shake in his hands, bumping your back against one of the many machines in his lab.

"Zim, we've talked about this. The Tallest don't care, Irk has abandoned you, let it go. You know as well as I do that your mission isn't real, and that it's over." Dib sighed, not with frustration, more so pity. A few years ago when Zim had finally got it through his thick skull that his mission was a trick, it had devastated him to a point that no one had ever seen. You saw how much he needed a job, and Dib did as well. Dib had an issue with it in the beginning, but you both took him in, using his science skills to aid in Dib's personal projects. The last plan you were aware of was that the two were working on a ship of their own that would let them travel space together, something about Dib getting presentable proof of alien life while at the same time giving Zim a purpose. Zim seemed to have forgotten about Irk. Until now, at least.

"Don't worry about it! It's...a parting gift." The look in Zim's eyes brought you great discomfort. "Only a symbol of the termination of my service to the empire. That is all." His voice was pleasant enough, but you sensed some dark undertones. His fingers danced away on the controls, a dull hum echoing through the base as the portal fired up it's key functions. 'The Massive' and some coordinates became displayed on the screen above the portal, the destination locked in. 

"Zim…" Dib took a step forward, as did you. "You've had plenty of bad ideas, but I think this one is going to take the cake. So just shut the thing off." Zim shrugged his concerns off, stepping closer to the portal with the box that was becoming more aggressive the closer it came. Red light emitted from a lens at the top of the portal as it scanned the box in Zim's hand.

"Scan complete. Item composition: deadly. If transported, item will cause half of the universe to implode." The voice of the computer drawled. Your eyes widened as you looked to Zim, who acted as if he didn't hear the warning. More likely, he didn't care. When did he ever? He brought his arm back as he stood in front of the portal, preparing to throw the box.

Although it happened in the course of only a split second, it all was in slow motion for you. Without thinking, you took off, sprinting across the small room and leaping at Zim, harshly shoving him and the box out of the way of the portal. You had managed to prevent the tragedy of space implosion, but unfortunately, your forward motion continued, sending you through the portal. You had heard Dib's scream, but it sounded a million miles away. Your brain couldn't comprehend what had happened during the course of the teleportation, so it put you out of your misery, allowing you to pass out. 

-

"Ugh...Zim. Of course." You forced yourself to sit up, rubbing your eyes with closed fists. You were slouched over, and once the static finally cleared from your vision, you blinked several times until your eyes adjusted to the new light. The panicked whispers from before continued, but you could now make out what they were saying.

"Did she say 'Zim'?"

"What creature is it?"

"Is it a weapon?"

Your brain finally jumpstarted, and you whipped your head around, eyes darting from one face to another. Several Irkens surrounded you, to where you couldn't see anything but a sea of green. You scooted backwards to create more room between you and the crowd, bumping into something behind you. You jerked yourself around, facing two of the tallest creatures you had ever seen. Instantly you recognized them as Zim's Almighty Tallest. They were much taller in real life than you imagined them to be. Even as an adult female standing at your full height, you knew they would tower over you. Hell, they would overtake Dib by a landslide, who now stood well over six feet. They bent over you to get a better look. After a second of silent observation, the one in purple straightened up and groaned loudly, throwing his arms in the air.

"Oh god, it's one of those creatures that inhabits Zim's planet!" The purple one resumed wailing madly. The one dressed in red straightened up as well, but said nothing. His red bug eyes rested on you quizzically, intrigued by your mere existence. "You! How did you get here?" The purple one pointed a long and slender finger at you, his face filled with pure terror.

"I went through Zim's portal, it was an accident-" Your voice was panicky. Almost all of the Irkens around you were riddled with anxiety, which you absorbed like a sponge.

"So, Zim sent you!" The purple one just loved to shout, didn't he? You wondered if this was a common trait among Irkens.

"No! It-"

"He sent you for malicious purposes! Like, to, uh...to annoy us into oblivion! Yeah!" So, the purple one was a moron. Good to know. Nevertheless, the crowd of Irkens began mumbling, as if you were trapped in a high energy court room.

"This is all a big misunderstanding, now maybe you could just...drop me off at home, or maybe send me with an escape pod or something-"

"To the dungeons with her!" The purple one screeched, yet again pointing a finger at you. 

"Yes, My Tallest!" Two guards came up to you with taser spears, and you concluded it would be best not to fight. You had been electrocuted with high voltage electricity in Zim's lab once on accident, and it did not feel pleasant. A sigh fell from your lips as each guard took an arm, dragging you to the dungeons of The Massive while cheers rose from the Irken crowd. 

-

"I swear, I will kill Zim when I get my hands on him." You muttered, tossing a coin you had in your pocket against the wall for the four thousandth time. You sat on the floor of your cell, the cold concrete making you shiver. The wall that pressed against your back was the same. There wasn't even a cot in there. Iron bars with buzzing electricity fields between them blocked your exit.

"That's not the first time I've heard that in here." A voice floated toward your ears, however it was muffled by the surrounding concrete.

"Who are you?" You had assumed you were alone in there. After all, how often could you possibly use a dungeon on an armada flagship?

"I'm Deek. I think. Honestly, I've been here so long I can't even remember." The voice, which sounded male, giggled. "Anyway, what are you in here for?"

"Not sure. Trespassing, maybe? The more accurate term would be a kneejerk reaction. What about you?"

"Being annoying. I guess."

"Shit, really? I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's better than being tossed out the airlock." You ceased throwing the coin. Decidedly, Irken society seemed to be hell in space. "In fact, they just threw Jix out last week. Poor gal." Deek's voice held a tinge of sadness. Images flashed through your mind of your body being launched into space. That wasn't how you had envisioned dying. You shuddered. 

The sound of a door opening and steps approaching your cell caused every muscle in your body to tense. You vaguely wondered if it was your turn for death by airlock. You squeezed your eyes shut, curling yourself into a ball with your face between your knees, not wanting to see who had stopped in front of your cell.

"So..." The voice was level and calm, a stark contrast to the chaos of before. Cautiously, you lifted your head, opening your eyes. At your level, you could only see a long crimson skirt. Pushing yourself up to a standing position, you still had to crane your neck to see his face. The red Tallest stood before you, a bored expression plastered on his face. 

"Are you here to kill me?"

"Uh..." He almost seemed surprised that you had asked that. Even still, you wouldn't take any chances. 

"You shouldn't kill me! Just, you know, reverse engineer the phenomena or something and teleport me back! Or even send me in an escape pod! Humans, uhm, we cause massive explosions when killed! Yeah! So you'd destroy yourself in the process." If he had sensed you were lying, he didn't care. However, he did look puzzled by your desperate reaction.

"What? No, I'm not here to kill you." He let out a massive sigh, bending over to look you in the eye. "I'm just bored. There's only so much of Purple's antics I can take at a time." Your shoulders relaxed in immediate relief. 

"Wait, his name is Purple? Let me guess, your name is Red?" That was such a strange notion to you. Every other Irken you had heard of all had such bizarre names, and apparently these two just went by Red and Purple.

"Yeah? So? Also, it's Tallest to you." The threatening tone inserted into his words was half-hearted at best.

"Can't I call you Red? I'm not Irken."

"I don't think so, short-thing."

"Why not? And I'm not short! You're just tall. Plus, my name is Y/n. Not short-thing." You huffed, unconsciously shifting to stand on your toes, increasing your height by maybe an inch at the most. He seemed to appreciate his height being acknowledged, so he relented.

"Fine, do what you want." Red continued to stare at you, almost as if he couldn't quite understand what you were. You didn't blame him, the circumstance had been kind of sudden. Plus, he hadn't heard from Zim in years. Most likely, everyone had assumed him to be dead. 

"You said you were bored? I'll have you know, I can be quite entertaining! So maybe you could, I dunno, get me out of here?" Your lips lifted in a sweet smile, hoping Irkens could be swayed by charm. There was a second of silence as he mulled the idea over. On one hand, it would give him something to do besides eat and blow things up. On the other, if anyone saw, many questions would arise. Despite his concerns, curiosity won out. With his two thin fingers, he tapped a code into a keypad on the wall. There was a dying buzz as the electricity stopped flowing and the iron bars were lifted. There was a part of you that was amazed that he actually let you out. You stepped out, watching his face to make sure he wasn't bluffing about sparing your life. Not a muscle in his body so much as twitched, hell, you weren't even sure if he was breathing. You didn't know how he could with a waist like that. "So, what now?" 

"I thought you said you were the master of fun?"

"I said I was entertaining, not the master of fun. But, I dunno, we could start by getting out of here. Space prison kind of kills the vibe."

"Fine." Red began walking, well, hovering down the hall. He did not look back to see if you were following, and you had to jog to catch up. "Oh, and this isn't space prison, that's Moo-Ping 10. This is more like space holding." 

"There's a difference?"

"Oh yeah." You were sure you were both still in the belly of the ship, considering you never once went up a flight of stairs. However, you had exited the dungeon area, and emerged into a more open room. There were some tables and chairs, and the room was lit by white florescent lights. Everything else within the room was some shade of pink. Occasionally, he would take a quick glance around, as if to make sure no one was watching. Was he supposed to be down here? If he was a supreme leader of society, you weren't sure why it mattered where he was or who he was with.

"What is this place?" You finally asked as he took a seat in a chair, chin resting in his hand. His glances in your direction were fleeting and infrequient, almost as if he were embarrassed to be intrigued by something so short. 

"Not sure. An unused dining hall maybe?" Satisfied with his answer, you took a seat next to him. Taking the opportunity to look him up and down, youwere confused by his anatomy. He was built differently than every Irken you had ever seen. You pointed to his impossibly skinny waist. 

"How?" You opted for that phrasing, as you were unsure if 'is that natural?' would have been rude. 

"Hm? Oh. Corset." His answers to everything were quick and simple. Even still, you couldn't help but stare in wonder. 

"Doesn't it hurt?" You assumed having a corset tightened to such an extreme would be incredibly painful, but he only shrugged without a care.

"You get used to it. It's all part of being Tallest, just as is losing your thumbs." A smirk etched its way onto his face at your horrfied expression as his wiggled his two fingers through the gauntlet on his arm. Subconsciously you rubbed your thumbs, lips pursed in a tight line. "You're a curious little thing."

"You act like I'm a child! I'm a grown woman, thank you very much." You may still have been young by human standards, but you had still made it over the age of 18, so technically, you were an adult. Red chuckled at your pouting, as you had just proven his point unintentionally. A ghost of a smile was present on his face. Was he actually enjoying himself? You decided to switch gears. "The whole dynamic of Irk is strange."

"Oh yeah? How so?" 

"It's like one big military." Red snickered, unable to stop the chuckle that rose from his chest.

"Of course it is. That's kind of our whole thing." He lifted a hand, trying to gesture to the armada as a whole. 

"Oh, yeah. Right." Another silence fell between you two. It was rather difficult for you as a human to comprehend Irken society. It all just seemed so...foreign. So static and stiff. 

Red was the first to speak again. "Tell me then. What's Earth like?" Excitedly, you sat up in your chair, eyes shining. 

"Well, people still respect each other, sometimes anyway, but everyone is less stiff with each other. There's more kindness. Now, don't get me wrong, there are many who are full of hate and lots of people fight all the time, but it's still less so than Irk. Plus, height isn't such a huge deal. And there's relationships." Your words came out quickly, hands moving to accentuate your thoughts.

"Relationships?" If Red had eyebrows, they would be raised in questioning. His voice was laced with suspicion, as if he didn't trust the concept.

"Yeah! All different kinds. Familial, platonic, romantic, etc. You know, parents, siblings, friends, that kind of thing...usually, they're all based on love. And, no offense, but there seems to be an absence of that here." You had heard it from Zim many times before. Irkens can't feel love, they trust no one and all that. On some level, you doubted that to be true, rather it was more of a choice, that maybe they were told that love is a sign of weakness so they chose not to feel anything at all.

"Love...?" Red spit out the word as if it burned his tongue. Clearly, love was not a well thought of concept in Irken culture. After a moment, he appeared to recall something. "I think I remember something that happened years ago...Zim called about some romantic experiment he was running on some girl. Said it was very pain-based. This is something humans find...pleasant?" Waving your hands you shook your head in a clear 'no'. No wonder Red was concerned by the idea of love.

"No! Not unless you're a masochist anyway. I don't know what the hell he was doing, but that's not what love is."

His tone showed that he was still mildly disgusted with the topic, but nevertheless, he proceeded to ask for further clarification. "Then what is it?" Red was never very interested when Zim had been reporting ten-ish years ago, but now that he had a subject sitting right in front of him, the idea became somewhat exciting.

"Like, romantic love?" You asked, a small part of you hoping he was asking about platonic love instead. You weren't entirely sure how to explain romance to a species who understood nothing but pain and hierarchy. Red nodded, asking you to go on. You breathed out a relenting sigh, struggling for the right words to explain it. "Romance is...uhm…it's when..." Red peered at you expectantly, crimson eyes wide and inquisitive. Finally, you came up with something. "It's when you like someone very much, and you would do almost anything for them." He nodded slowly, looking as if he was beginning to grasp it.

"Like pledging your loyalty?" Loyalty was a thing Irkens could understand thoroughly.

"Yeah, like that! And you want to do lots of stuff together! Spend time together and all that. There's also physical affection." His head cocked to the side, similar to a puppy. 

"Physical affection?"

"Ye...Yeah...!" Your feet shifted on the floor as you clutched the hem of your shirt between your fingers. You couldn't help but feel nervous under his gaze. Your face flushed as he stared out at you through half-lidded eyes, overly fixated on the topic of physical affection. 

"What's that?" Once again, his voice was as even as could be. The corners of his mouth turned upwards in a grin, enjoying the way you were acting. It was quite amusing to him. You suddenly regretted bringing up the subject of romance.

"Like, examples?" Swallowing hard, your fingers began to drum on the table. How were you possibly supposed to describe it to him? He certainly wouldn't know what a hug or a kiss was. "I don't think I can exactly describe it to you..." You hoped he would leave it at that and move on.

Of course that wasn't the case. That was the problem with Irkens. Once they found a way to make you squirm, they would push until it was no longer fun. "Then show it to me." His response was quick, zero hesitation. He looked completely satisfied, for once not feeling that familiar dull, almost constant ache of boredom. You weren't sure about it at first, but the longer he looked at you with that smug expression, the more determined you became to wipe that smirk off his face. 

"Fine." Irkens are touch-starved creatures. It wouldn't take anything too extreme to accomplish what you wanted. You stood up, moving over to plant yourself right in his lap. Taking his hand, you intertwined your fingers with his two, pressing your face into his chest. "Humans do things like cuddle and hold hands." His heartbeat was similar to a human's, the rhythym just slightly different. This close, you could hear the soft hum of his PAK. With your free hand, you traced indescribable shapes into his chest. If you were to look up, you would have seen his antennae twitching. Already, you had accomplished what you had set out to. He was no longer teasing or overconfident. Although he would never admit it, he was content with the attention. As you continued to draw random nothingness, Red let out what sounded like a low purr, the sound sending a pleasant rumble through his chest and against your skin. A series of quiet chirps followed, and you had to assume he was satisfied. You couldn't help but giggle, and at the time, the uncertainty of how you would get home was the furthest thing from your mind.

"Do humans do anything else?" Red attempted to suppress the spark in his voice, but was wildly unsuccessful. His tone was the farthest thing from passive. You let go of his hand, sitting up to face him. 

"Of course we do." You experimentally raised a hand to his face, seeing if he would shy away. That was not the case, rather the opposite. He seemed to almost lean into your touch. You weren't sure why he was so okay with this; you supposed that each Irken had different policies and tolerances when it came to physical contact. Red seemed to be anxiously awaiting whatever was coming next, his expression eager. "Sometimes we give each other kisses." You didn't bother fighting the smile that played at your lips as you peppered several kisses all over his face. There was barely an inch of his cheeks and forehead that went untouched. Red's face felt hot beneath your lips, and if Irkens could blush, you were sure he would be completely flushed. His fingers had drifted to your sides, lightly resting there. 

Hmm...Irkens are quite interesting... You thought as you held eye contact with Red. He was clearly embarrassed to be engaging in this, but more so at the fact that he was enjoying it. And yet, he held your gaze, unwilling to back down. You wondered what would happen if someone found him like this. What would even happen?

"The rest of human physical affection is rather intimate, so the lesson will have to end here." Before he could protest, you leaned in one last time, pressing your lips to where his should be. His fingers dug into your sides, antennae shooting straight up in the air. You had never dreamed that you would be kissing an alien leader on a warship in space, but you wouldn't say you were disappointed. Pulling away, Red's grip on you loosened, and something bright caught your eye. Small sparks were being thrown from his PAK, which concerned you slightly. "Uh, Red...?" Pointing a finger to his PAK, he shook his head wildly, and after a moment, everything seemed to be alright again.

"It's fine!" He spoke abruptly, voice loud and awkward. His voice drew in some company, as Purple stuck his head in the room.

"There you are! Zim keeps sending transmissions through and he's going crazy-" Red yelped, practically throwing you off of him and into the nearest chair he could find.

"So, do I go home now?" You asked, and for the first time, Purple seemed to notice you.

"Ack! How did you get out of the dungeons?!" Purple jumped back, despite already being across the room from you.

"I have super powers." You snickered at his frightened appearance. Red rolled his eyes, waving his counterpart off.

"Just go, I'll deal with Zim." Purple nodded, zipping out of the room. You weren't sure if your senses were playing tricks on you, or if Red really was disappointed to see you leave. "C'mon, Y/n. Let's go figure out how to reverse engineer a transport portal."

[sloppy-butcher]

Ok,new follower here. So this blog is amazing,you writings are just beautiful. I hope I can become as good as you, beause I would like to open my own blog, but I always think my works are too bad. Anyways, I don't know if you write soulmates stuff, like your partner name is written on your body or thigs like that. If so, could you write something related with Joey and Frank sharing the same male sm reader? If you don't feel comfortable writing for three characters or for a male reader it's fine!

THANK YOU SO MUCH for your support T_T I love you so much! I encourage you to start that blog because the only way to get better is to try. and if you do start a blog, drop me that link babey

So i spent a hot minute finding which soulmate alternative universe would best fit your request since you didn’t specifically state which au you wanted. Well, i found a reaaallly interesting one. hope it’s okay

This AU states that soulmates share pain. If one is hurt the other shows their wounds or bruises. I think this will work well with Frank and Joey and a survivor!S/O. I have no problem writing for a male S/O (although i will probs just make this gender nuetral as i dont see gender really playing an important role in this (and i prefer gender nuetral tings)) or for three characters. i will have to write this in HeadCanon form as i am very lazy and i dont want to write like a full fic T_T cause you know.... i have toomuch to say

hope these are okay? ily

Soulmate Au HeadCanons: Poly!The Legion (Frank and Joey) with a Survivor S/O

They realized their connection long before they even knew you existed. The theory was that soulmates shared pain and it was obvious to them that they were meant to be together. Joey would share in Franks pain, he could feel the scar that tore across his face and Frank could feel when Joey had worked himself far past his breaking point. They thought they were the only ones connected in this psychic-link, bound by a force too grand and cosmic to be comprehended by simple-minded mortals. But like the universe, fate works in mysterious ways and everything changed when you joined the Fog.

Joey first noticed it when he went to sit down at the end of a particularly gruelling workday. He felt his left shoulder explode into a burning hot pain and his body seized with the sudden shock. He barely held back his cries of a surprise but Frank wasn’t so well-restrained. Joey heard him from across the Lodge and fearing for his friend, ran off in the direction of his call ignoring his own body screaming for him to stop. He found Frank surrounded by a worried Julie and Susie. They looked between him and Joey, expressions from behind their masks piercing through to Joey's soul. They were worried for their friends, Frank’s scream and Joey’s sluggish and limp stature was enough to tell the girls that the pain the two were experiencing was, no doubt, incredibly excruciating. No one knew what had just happened, neither of them had been hurt or injured, and they feared that maybe the two were being punished by the Entity for a lacklustre performance. But both boys assured they did well enough to keep the thing satisfied and when the pain spontaneously faded, the whole incident was pushed out of their minds and momentarily forgotten.

But the pain never stopped completely. It was sporadic, turning on randomly like a lightswitch bursting with newfound anger and agony that would contort their limbs and burn their muscles. And there was nothing they could do to alleviate the pain, no amount of massaging or rubbing could take away the sharp edge of the hurt; there weren’t even enough painkillers in the realm to quell the agony. The only thing the boys could do was just sit there and wait for the pain to decide to go away. It was torture, sometimes the simple act of sitting alone was pure unadulterated suffering. But still, the boys had no idea where this pain was coming from.

It was only after Joey returned from a trial in which he had mori’d a rather annoying and pesky survivor that something started to click. Joey walked into the main lounge of the Resort and found his friends standing around the fire pit waiting for him. Frank had his shirt off and the pants of his left leg rolled up. Ordinarily the sight of Frank without his shirt on would excite Joey but something made him hesitate. A harsh red scar ripped down Frank’s chest and when Frank noticed Joey's reaction he held out his left arm for the other to inspect. Another red wound ran across the forearm. There was no mistaking it now. It was their trademark kill, a stab at the left arm followed by the grabbing of the left ankle then finished with the brutal gutting from the collar bone all the way down to the hip. “We watched it appear.” Julie’s voice wavered with concern. “We watched it appear on him as if...” She broke off ‘as if Joey himself did it to him.’. Joey approached Frank. Through the pinpricks of his mask, Joey could see Frank's eyes and he could feel his pain. Without saying much the girls made Joey take off his own shirt and directed him to stand next to Frank. When Julie stepped back to inspect both boys she raised a hand to cover the mouth of her mask and Susie audibly gasped. They were identical, both bore the exact same scars of the exact same knife.

To be honest, the boys would never have figured out the source of their shared pain. Combined the two barely make up a single brain cell so it was by the grace of God or something else that allowed the truth to finally be exposed. It was in a trial between you and Frank. The killer had been run around for the past ten minutes and with no sign of catching his elusive prey. You were impressed by your capable teammate and when they went down just outside the opened exit gate you leapt into action to save the wounded hero. You ended up sacrificing yourself for them, a worthy trade, everyone else got out except you. And, to you, that was okay. You were okay with this. Frank, however, was not. He was beyond furious at being denied his prey and when he trudged back to your collapsed form he felt his rage overflow him. He stood over you and you smugly returned his glare. That was it. In a swift motion, he punched you in the face. Your nose broke and blood gushed out and into your mouth. You screamed out but your cries, however, were mixed in with the killers. Frank recoiled, clutching at his mask where his nose would be. You watched in shock as he spilt swear words and stomped around you.

Curiously you reached up for your busted face and using your thumb and forefinger you squeezed the throbbing nose. Frank’s cries intensified and he clawed desperately at his mask. Through the haze he caught you staring at him in shocked amusement, which he mistook for condescending judgment. He growled and stormed over to you determined to make you regret everything. Panicking you grabbed your nose again and Frank jumped back. And then all the pieces fell into place. Frank could feel your pain. His eyes widened on your collapsed body and it felt as if his world was imploding. Oh shit.

It took some convincing but eventually, you agreed to meet Frank back at the Resort. He told you there was someone else, another ‘soulmate’ in this trifecta of fucked-up bullshit. You used the term ‘soulmate’ loosely. You had heard the stories about soulmates, people destined to be together would share such a special bond that they would even share pain. But never in a million years would you have guessed that your soulmate (or soulmateS) was, a serial killer. You really wanted it to not be real, you wanted this to be some kind of dream, a sick nightmare you were experiencing while laying on your deathbed somewhere far away. But there Frank was before you at the boundary between snow and forest,  like he promised you, with his partner Joey. You walked up to them and stopped at a safe distance away. Joey seemed to bloat his chest as if to say not to try anything. Frank looked at you and you knew you had to show him. Reaching up you grabbed at your nose which was starting to feel better but was still puffy and red. You put pressure on it and Frank began to shake with the pain. Frank moaned and clenched his fists in an effort to ride out the pain like Joey was but after a moment he relented and shouted at you to stop. Frank turned and muttered something to Joey who never took his gaze off you. You could have sworn that he was a stone-statue because he never moved and showed no sign that what you did had affected him in any way. But then you noticed his slight leg twitch and the irregular heaving of his chest. He did feel it. Frank returned his attention back to you and in the cold silence of realization, you said, “Well? What do we do now?”

You could have forgotten everything, walked away from the nonsensical situation that had been presented before you and continued on living a simple life devoid of drama and tension. But that life would also lack depth, something to make it special and worthwhile. You were presented with your soulmates, a rarity in this hellhole and something about the wonder of what made the universe decide to bring you all together surpassed your urge to stay away. Slowly but surely you introduced yourself into their lives. Your interactions at first were stiff and hollow, fear and uncertainty making you doubt if the boys would respect the bound of soulmates enough to not kill you or at least hurt you.

But time wore on and you became braver. They were gentle, well... they tried to be. And when you spoke with them as people do you realized that you had a lot in common with them both. And eventually, you were confident enough to laugh and joke with them.

Joey was the one who needed the most time to accept that you and he were soulmates. He eyed you suspiciously as you would talk with Frank, feeling some kind of jealousy build up in his chest. He hated how you could get Frank to react in ways he had never seen before. He hated how easy it was for you. One day when he had you alone to himself, he finally broke that long silence between you two. But where he expected a change in personality, a two-face switch, Joey only found genuineness. You were as kind and playful with him as you were with Frank, unfazed by your burden of the circumstance and not worried by his own mistakes and misfortunes. You were strong and he admired you for that. “How do you do it?” Joey softly asked clutching his hand which now held a new red welt. The mood quietened down and you turned to look at him. “How do you handle all this pain each and every day?” You reached out and gently took his hand in yours. Suddenly all his pain vanished at the contact and he slightly gasped at the shock. You were warm and comforting, like the wind of a summer’s afternoon, constant and welcoming. He raised his eyes to yours and you gave him your best smile. He melted. “One day at a time.” You replied squeezing his hand for emphasis. You relaxed and began to pull away only to stop as he held you firm, determined to not let your warmth go.

Frank always had a problem when it came to hurting you in trials. While Joey could suck it up and deal with the pain, Frank could not bear the thought of having a hook run through your shoulder and subsequently his. It was you who finally convinced him that his job was more important than your fleeting health.  You took Frank's hand in yours, engulfing him in your comfort and reassurance. “We can get through this. I will get better.” He breathed out and admitted, albeit to himself, that you were right. This was a momentary instance, a speck of nothing when compared to the kind of torture the Entity would inflict on him. And it wasn’t just himself he had to look out for, it was everyone. He had you and Joey he had to look out for. With a look apologetic regret Frank would mercilessly hunt you down and when he would lift you up and onto the meat hook he could hear you at the back of his mind saying, “Suck it up, Princess.”

They would always feel awful if you had a particularly bad day. You would trudge back to the Resort trying your best to hide from their concerned eyes your bruised limb or uneven walk but of course, they already knew what had happened. Joey would sweep you effortlessly off your feet and he would not let you walk around without his assistance. Frank, although less forward than the other, would follow behind and would pester you with questions, ‘Are you okay now?’ ‘Are you comfortable?’ ‘Anyway that he could help ease the hurt?’ They both were like oversized puppies yapping at your ankles because they heard you make a noise. You’d reassure them that you were fine and after exchanging doubtful looks between each other they would give in and give you some air.

They would listen to your stories. It's one thing to experience the pain and another thing to watch it happen. You’d tell them about how you got your injuries and more often than not you would end up a broken-down and crying mess. The image of looming figures silhouetted against an endless black sky haunts your mind. Although you all share the physical scars, the mental ones stay trapped inside you. When you would become an inconsolable disaster the boys would be by your side in an instant. By the time you regained control over your anxiety, you would find yourself buried in the arms of either Joey or Frank. You face pushed deep into their bodies as if they were trying to shield you from the monster that was yourself. It was scary, they could tell. But you weren’t alone. Not anymore. 

After a long day's work of causing and enduring pain, when your bodies would ache with collective suffering the 3 of you would find a quiet cove to all lie it. The boys would sleep on either side of you, draping their limps over you and almost drowning you in their weight. It felt good to be lost at sea with them, so far away from the pain of the day and from the pain tomorrow will bring. If for a moment, you all were at peace, happy and content in the embrace of your soulmates. 

[shelbazoidz]

Okay okay okay lemme have the brain cell for a sec y’all. I’m gonna come at Supercorp mess as queer woman of color, begrudgingly watcing this damn show. In my 23 years of life all I can scream is representation matters. I can’t understand on what planet writers would vehemently argue against something that would bring so much joy to so many people. Here’s just a short list of things in the past two or so years that made me feel seen:  

1. SHE-RA. Oh bitch, this show. This show right here was an experience. Married lesbian and gay couples? Huntra flirting!? NON-BINARY DOUBLE TROUBLE!? They do all these things without making them a big deal, it's just a part of the world. Because guess what, you can have multiple LGBT characters in a show! Who knew!? 

2. I don’t know if y'all can understand how much black people lost their minds when Black Panther came out. We LOST. OUR.  MINDS. It was one of the best feelings ever to watch that movie with other POC and just flip shit because wow wow wow this is a first. Black people in a film where we are technologically advanced and thriving!? WHAT?

3. Watching The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (yes yes I know this show ain’t perfect)  and seeing how Theo got to play out in the show. HOLY SHIT?! Right? There’s trans people watching that and seeing themselves in him. The support he got from his friends? Ugh, sensational.  Another part of that is when Zelda kissed Mambo Marie. Like I rocketed out of my chair, screaming and running around my house. How could writers want to deny that experience to someone?! Pure pure joy,. A bitch was out of breath from running and screaming. 

4. Kipo! When Benson said he was gay after Kipo confessed to him, then they hugged because it was perefctly fine?!  A black kid who is gay and meets another boy that they let him have heart eyes over while playing adroble lovey dovey music, in a cartoon!? What? 10 year old me would never believe such a thing happened. We almost cried watching it because coming out is ROUGH. Seeing something like that could literally change lives. 

When it comes to Supercorp, it’s not just because I’m a dumb dumb lesbian who wants this ship to happen. It's because I want other people to have these experiences. I can just imagine the people this would touch if they let Supercorp be canon. (And adressed their other queer charcters like they acually exist) CW has legit laid out a red carpet for this relationship but they’re acting like we’re the crazy people for even THINKING it’s possible Kara and Lena could be together. We’ve just been labeled these man hating toxic fools who want to watch the world burn. When they are the one who wrote the relationship like this and keep sticking Kara with other characters that have nowhere near the connection she and Lena do. Like if they tried to build this same type of relationship with a man, then that would have been fine, but they didn’t and are baffled when we don't like a new love interest. The world will not implode if you let your main character date a woman. Y'all said it yourself, Lena and Kara were an UNSTOPPABLE DUO.

In the end, representation matters.  Anyone who wants to argue can eat my ass. I’m too old, too black, too tired to be fighting with y’all when I know I can’t convince you otherwise. 

 Thank you for coming to my TED talk.

[thorne93]

The Softest Fire (Part 16)

Prompt: Rosaline Vaughan had it all: fame, money, power, glory, a high status job. Until, one day, she woke up, and realized something was missing from her life.

Word Count: 3305

Warnings: aaaannngst, heartbreak

Notes: First Fantastic Beast fic! I could NOT have done this at all without @arrow-guy. They have created a counterpart to this fic, writing it from Nora Vaughan’s perspective (Rosaline’s cousin/adopted sister). Fic aesthetic done by @mrs-dragneel-stark-solo​

Newt, Theseus, Nora, and Dumbledore entered the room. Newt stood beside Nora as she sat across from me, and Theseus stood beside Dumbledore when he sat. 

I peered up at them, my usual bite giving way to general curiosity. 

“What’s going on?” I asked, no threat or malice in my voice. 

“We… We have something we need to tell you,” Nora started, gesturing slightly to Dumbledore. 

“What could it possibly be?” I questioned, wondering why it took four of the best wizards I knew to address it. 

“Rosaline,” Dumbledore began, huffing out a breath, “you’ve been cursed.” 

My eyebrow twitched up. “Cursed?” 

Everyone nodded. 

“It appears Grindelwald put you under a series of complex curses. He toyed with memories, he put you under the Imperius curse, along with other loyalty spells and charms. The love you feel for him, the loyalty, it’s all a farce.” 

I peered at them, my gaze saying nothing. 

“I…” Was all I could get out. I wanted to argue, to say he was my true love, but something in me felt they weren’t lying. My memories felt far too fuzzy for me to confirm nor deny their claim. With sorrow in my tone, I asked, “So what now? I’m imprisoned?” 

“Absolutely not. We’re going to work to get the curses out of you. So long as you don’t fight us, it should be relatively easy and painless. We have to be careful not to destroy your mind in the process. I’d like to give you your memories back.” 

I nodded gently. “Whatever you think is best,” I stated, feeling violated and exposed. “Let’s just get this over.”

“I’m surprised you aren’t fighting us more,” Theseus coolly remarked. 

“Either you’re wrong and this is a waste of our time, or you’re right and I won’t want to be cursed any more. It’s all the same to me.” 

Everyone nodded, leaving the room, except Newt. He held onto the door and turned back to me and said, “We’ll fix this, Rosaline. Everything will be okay.” 

All I could do was nod and smile faintly at him. I truly hoped he was right. 

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

For the next few weeks, I felt like a lab rat. Sometimes Dumbledore visited me, sometimes Nora did, sometimes it was an auror I’d never met before. Other times, it was two or more. They stuck their wands against my temple and they worked on me for hours at a time. 

As the first spells fell away, my hatred and anger melted away. I no longer said hateful things to anyone who came in. I didn’t give anyone extra grief. I didn’t demand my wand. My memories were still fuzzy and I still missed Gellert though, but the desire to be right next to him had fizzled.

At first it was rather easy, not uncomfortable, but I suppose it was the easy spells out first, because everything that followed was hell. After the first six or so spells, they got worse. 

A blood curdling scream erupted in my holding cell. Nora shut her eyes, trying to ignore how it pierced her ears.

“Fucking hell, Rosaline!” she admonished, pulling her wand away, breathing heavily. 

I glared at her. “It hurts,” I informed with malice. “Sorry, I’ll  try to keep my screams of agony down for you.”

“Thank you,” she said, a small smile playing at her lips, and despite myself, one came to mine too before we were laughing together. A fit of giggles completely took us over as I laid on my cot and she leaned on the edge. Finally, we gathered our wits and wiped our eyes of happy tears. 

“Are you done for the day?”

“Not nearly, but I’m exhausted trying to pull this spell from you. I need to get back to the bookstore and you need rest. Someone will be back tomorrow to try again.” 

I nodded while she stood and started to leave. She spun to face me. 

“Thank you, for being so cooperative,” she said with a solemn smile. 

“My pleasure, Nora.” 

And so, the spells continued to get ripped from my mind. Feeling as if my brain was on fire and being axed simultaneously. The team worked and worked until suddenly, the ties to Grindelwald fell away nearly entirely. I no longer wanted to be his wife, be near him, or help him. 

I pulled off my engagement ring and sat it on the table one day. Nora was pleasantly surprised to see that, I believe. 

“What’s that?” she asked as she walked in, sitting across from me, curious. She picked it up. “Ah, your engagement ring. Wait, does this mean...?” 

I peered at her, my thoughts unsure. “I don’t know. I don’t know what it means. I just... I feel like if Grindelwald was in this room, I would obey him, but I have no desire to be near him. How is that possible? I still remember being in love with him? I still…” I trailed off. “My mind is so muddled.” 

Nora gazed at me sympathetically, reaching across and squeezing my hand. “We’ll get there. All that’s left is the Imperius curse. Then you’re free.”

“One curse? The imperius?” I frowned, thinking. “That’s what’s holding me?” 

She nodded. “Yes. I think that’s why you still feel obedient to him.” 

“I wish I could just… shake this last spell lose. This is ridiculous,” I remarked, crossing my arms. “I should be a match for Grindelwald.” 

Nora smirked. “You are, but the Imperius curse is powerful, so is he. You’ve also been under its influence for months. It’ll take a lot to bring you out of this, Little Rose.”

Her words made me frown for half a second. I was about to ask her what she called me, but somewhere in the recess of my mind, I could hear Aunt Cecelia saying that to me when I was five. They were chasing me in the backyard, I had a hold of Nora’s wand, and I was running with it. Nora was laughing hysterically from the patio while Uncle Joshua smiled at me. 

That was all it took for the floodgates to open. Every memory Grindelwald had blurred and distorted restored to their previous clarity. Nora was never unkind to me. Sometimes we didn’t see eye to eye, and our idea of fashion differed wildly, but she was an amazing cousin. She had my back and I had hers. 

Uncle Joshua and Aunt Cecelia were nothing but loving to me, raising me as their own, buying me the finest goods for Hogwarts. They checked in on me regularly and we always spent Christmas together, happily. 

And Newt… Oh god… All the love hit me like a wrecking ball. The patience, the compassion, the care, the kindness, the courage. I fell in love with Newt for everything Grindelwald wasn’t. 

“Oh god,” I suddenly gasped, and Nora peered at me. 

“What is it?” 

“I… loved Newt.” 

The more the memories came in, the harder it was for me to breathe. 

Her eyes assessed me, she wasn’t sure what was happening. 

“You were always kind to me. You-- Oh my god, oh my god,” I gasped, my hands flying to my face. Horror painted my expression. “Oh god, Nora, what have I done?” Sobs came before I even realized it. I didn’t even know why I was crying, to be honest. 

Within a second she was out of her seat, wrapping her arms around me in a comforting hug.

“Shh, it’s alright. You remember, don’t you?”

I nodded, still sobbing violently. My breathing was rough, I couldn’t catch my breath. “I remember it all. I didn’t join Grindelwald. I went in there to end him. He--He cursed me!” I cried out. “I lived with him! I was going to marry him and be happy about it! Nora… I gave him everything! He stole my mind, my memories, my…” I stopped, saying the words was too much. “How could he do that to me? How could I let him do that to me? The things I did for him. I--”

She continued to stroke my hair, shushing me, trying to comfort me but I just kept babbling. 

“I told you awful things. I told Newt awful things.” 

“You weren’t yourself, we know that,” she assured.

“I did everything he said, without question, without fail….”

“You had no choice.”

“He exploited me. Newt broke my heart and that son of a bitch turned that against me.” My hands clenched into fists. Sorrow gave way to raging fire. 

The door opened, revealing Newt, and the sight of him made my chest nearly implode and a harder sob rocked my body again. Once he saw my reaction, he simply said, “My apologies,” and left. 

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

Nora had told everyone to give me space. She informed them that I was curse free and had no desire to see Grindelwald. She was reluctant to give me my wand back and I didn’t blame her. She said that Theseus and his team would probably be in the next day to question me on what I could give them about Grindelwald. I told her I would be ready for it. 

Night had fallen, but the room was brightly lit from a full moon. 

Thoughts had consumed my mind ever since the last spell broke. I relived old memories, happy to remember the good times, but more than anything, I wept. Tears flowed down my face as I lied, staring, thinking about how badly it must’ve hurt Nora while I was gone. No doubt she searched for me day and night. And Newt, left to take care of all of his animals, and his heart undoubtedly hurting from losing Leta. Theseus’s pain I couldn’t even begin to imagine. He and I were never close, nor did I suspect we ever would be, but he didn’t deserve to have his fiance killed in front of his very eyes. And what I said to him… I was cruel. 

To top it all off, I joined the man who caused pain to those I love. I joined the man who tormented Dumbledore, a man who I held dear to my heart as friend and mentor. I let him twist my mind. For Merlin’s sake, he ordered me to kill my cousin and the love of my life and I complied without hesitation. He inflicted unspeakable pain to Newt and I stood by and watched. 

What kind of a monster lived inside me?

The door to my holding room creaked open. My gaze shifted from the window to the door, breaking my thoughts from hating myself. When I saw who my visitor was, my chest constricted all over again and tears threatened to flow.

“Rosaline?” Newt said quietly into the dark, his silhouette lit by the light in the hall. 

“Yes?” I croaked out.

“I wanted to check on you. Nora said you broke to the last curse.” 

“Mhm,” was all I could say. 

He came in, shutting the door behind him. “May I sit?”

“Sure,” I said, failing to keep the tears at bay. 

He grabbed a chair and pulled it close to my cot. 

“How are you doing?” he asked softly once he got settled. 

“I--Not well,” I admitted. 

“I guess that’s to be expected. I’m sorry you had to find out this way. I can’t imagine what you’ve been through.” 

Silence fell between us, I wasn’t sure what to say to him, or what he wanted me to say. 

“So what do you remember?”

“Everything,” I whispered before the first sob broke from me and Newt immediately left his chair to sit on my cot, putting a comforting hand on my shoulder. “I remember falling in love with you. I remember working alongside you. I remember being best friends with Nora. I remember walking into those blue flames to kill that son of a bitch and now…. He took me because I’m powerful. He wanted me for my magic, nothing else. He took how I always felt like second best and twisted that. Do you know how demented that feels? To have the memories in my head. Happy memories of Grindelwald?” 

“I’m sure it’s very hard.”

“The worst part is he said everything right, he did everything right. All in all, he was never cruel to me, other than cursing me. All I’d wanted from you, he had done for me. He put me on a pedestal, gave me power, worshipped me. All so I would be his obedient little pet.”

I shook my head, wiping my tears as I laughed without humor. “All my life, I’ve felt like I was never good enough. Nora always had her friends, making them everywhere she went. At school, every professor seemed to admire my wit but, I think in all reality only Dumbledore liked me. Leta Lestrange, well, you always had a soft spot for her and she was nothing but a troublemaker. Not to mention Tina. At the Ministry, they liked my power, but I wasn’t anyone’s friend. Do you know what I mean?” I asked, peering at him. “People like me, people respect me, but no one notices if I don’t show up to the party.” 

“I do,” he quietly said.

Again, I laughed. “Newt… You love Tina. I did everything I could for you and you still fell for Tina. I thought I did everything right. Speaking of, how are you and Tina?” I didn’t really want to know, but I was trying to be kind. The idea of them together sent me reeling, but I didn’t have any room to request him to be mine.

Newt’s gaze dropped as his hand fell from my shoulder. 

“I… We aren’t…”

A perplexed frown found my face. “Together?” I finished.

He nodded meekly.

“What ever for?” I demanded. “You tormented me for over a year with pining for her and yet you are still not with her?” 

“She’s not the one I want to be with,” he breathed, his eyes looking at me, his gaze pointed. 

My face and heart betrayed me. The tiniest of grins tugged at the corner of my lips, while my heart fluttered at his words and his expression. A feeling of relief washed through me, finally, I knew he cared for me too, maybe even loved me. 

This is all you’ve ever wanted, this is what you wanted to hear right? So why does it hurt so bad? Maybe because you know he deserves better. He shouldn’t love you. He can’t love you. It would only end up getting him hurt. 

I peered at him with a sudden panic in my chest. I knew what I had to do, what I had to say. I had to let him go. I had to make him see that being with anyone elsas the best option for him. 

“Oh, Newt… no,” I objected softly. “You don’t want to be with someone like me. I’m not good for you. I don’t deserve you, Tina does.” 

“I don’t give a damn who deserves me,” he slightly snapped. “I know the pain of watching the person I love love someone else.”

“Welcome to the club.” I wanted to roll my eyes. Chagrin wrapped around me like a familiar cocoon. The pain he felt wasn’t news to me, he should be more sympathetic of-- And then it hit me. 

He just said he loved me, for the first time. I never knew he loved me. I suspected he might care, and I hoped for love… But to have him admit it… My heart softened more at that confession.

“Rosaline,” he said as he turned more towards me, taking my hand in his, “watching you love him, hearing about your engagement to him, that nearly killed me. It would have destroyed me to see you with anyone but me, but to know it was Grindelwald… You’re so pure and loving and he’s so vile and awful. I worried I had pushed you into his arms. I thought it was my fault for being so stupid for not telling you I loved you back at Flamel’s.” 

I pressed my lips together as I listened. “You didn’t do anything,” I assured. “I didn’t choose him. But you do deserve someone better. When I first started working with you, I told you I wanted to help the world, make a living at doing something kind and productive, not sitting on my behind  making legislative decisions.” I paused, biting my lip. “But the truth is… I think I left because deep down I knew I was capable of the things Grindelwald had me do.”

“Rosaline, no--”

I held up a hand to stop him. “I’m not being dramatic, Newt. I’m serious. I worried that if I came into power, some other part of me would take over. I worried I’d be corrupted, coerced, or even become terrible all on my own. Grindelwald didn’t make me powerful, I was already that. He didn’t do anything but make me loyal to him. The hurting, the rage, the loneliness, that was all there, he just twisted it to use it as a tool.” 

“I don’t believe that. You’re good. I’ve seen you. You care about every living thing with all your heart.”

“I do,” I agreed, my gaze falling. “But what if that changed? I like power, Newt, I’m not going to pretend I don’t. I like respect. I like knowing I’m the most powerful person in the room.”

“We all know that,” he assured with a soft smile. 

“But what scares me more, is what kind of person I became with Grindelwald is who I am deep down. What if that’s really who I am?” 

“If you really thought that, you wouldn’t have let us lift the curses. You would be running back to him right now.” 

I shrugged. “I don’t know. I know I did unspeakable things, and I should’ve been strong enough and smart enough to get out of it, and I didn’t. What does that say about me? What kind of evil lives inside me?” 

He took his hand and swept my blonde locks behind my ear. “Rosaline Vaughan, if anyone in this world is deserving of love, it’s you. Damn Grindelwald. He did nothing more than manipulate your memories and emotions. You are a good person, to your core.” 

“I’m not so sure any more.” 

“Maybe you don’t see it, but I do, Nora does, Dumbledore does. I know you may think you had to fight to be appreciated, but I assure you, Nora did nothing but fret over finding you. You are her world. All the students envied you at Hogwarts, believe me, I know because I was one. And I think the professors were frustrated that they couldn’t teach you anything new,” he teased, a smile touching both of our lips. “Theseus always spoke highly of you while you worked at the Ministry. It is a workplace and favoritism would be frowned upon. As much as I hated it, and I’m sure you do too, the most powerful Dark Wizard in history wanted you to be his bride. Regardless of why, he chose you out of everyone. He thought your power, over anyone else’s, would be his best shot at ruling the wizarding world. In an odd way, it’s a big compliment.”

I smiled slightly. 

“Friends are overrated anyway, look how many I have,” he remarked.

This made me laugh, for the first time in I had no idea how long. 

“This is true, and you’re a remarkable man.” 

He gazed down at me with kind adoration. “I’m glad you think so.” 

“Thank you, Newt. I needed to hear that.” 

He nodded, patting my hand. “I’ll let you rest now.”

“Goodnight,” I said as he got up to leave.

“G’night, Rosaline.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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[lastbluetardis]

Home for the Holidays (1/2)

This is part one of my gift to @timeladyelpia for the @dwsecretsanta gift exchange! Apologies for the delay; I hope you enjoy this! Your info said you enjoy reunions and established relationships, so that’s what this is :)

Ten x Rose, 4400 words, teen

Also tagging @doctorroseprompts 

Summary: Despite being locked away in different universes, the Doctor and Rose have managed to stay connected through their marriage bond, celebrating holidays and special events even through the impenetrable distance. After celebrating three Christmases apart, fate brings them together once more just in time for the holidays.

Note: If anybody remembers this little ficlet (If Only in My Dreams) I wrote for last year’s Ficmas, I borrowed from that idea and wrote the reunion. However, you do NOT need to have read that in order to understand this.

AO3

The holidays were one of the hardest times for the Doctor. Though he didn’t naturally celebrate—at least not any Earth or human holiday—Rose had. Oh, he would join in the festivities with his past companions, wishing them Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Joyous Festivus, or whatever holiday they in particular celebrated, but he was always on the outside looking in.

But all of that had changed when he’d met Rose, when he regenerated into his current body and left her and the Earth to fend for themselves during a Sycorax invasion while he was—helpfully—in a regenerative coma. All on Christmas Day.

When it all had blown over—blown up, more like it, thanks to Harriet Jones, former Prime Minister—he had strangely been invited to Christmas dinner at the Tylers’. Even more strangely, he’d said yes. After he changed, of course. He couldn’t very well have Christmas dinner in his borrowed jimjams. No, he’d gone back to his TARDIS and found himself a new outfit before heading back up to Rose and her mother.

Even now, remembering the look of appreciation in Rose’s eyes when she beheld him in his new suit sent butterflies through his stomach.

He had stayed for dinner and the snow-that-wasn’t-snow and for dessert. And even once that was finished, once the food was cleared away and the dishes piled high in the sink for the following morning, he hadn’t wanted to leave quite yet. So he had accepted Rose’s invitation to sleep on the sofa for the night. Not that Time Lords needed much sleep. (However, newly-regenerated Time Lord could certainly use a nap.)

He had spent the next couple weeks with the Tylers, which was virtually unheard of for him. But the TARDIS had been in no shape to fly, thanks to whatever jiggery-pokery Rose had done to the old girl to look into her heart to become the Bad Wolf. And thanks to his less-than-stellar driving while his brain was imploding and collapsing during some regeneration complications. 

No matter, he had been able to get his beloved ship flying again a week or so after the New Year. In the interim, between TARDIS repairs, he had reconnected with Rose. Answering all of her questions regarding regeneration. Filling in the gaps of her memory during her time as Bad Wolf. Recounting all of their adventures together to prove to her, without a doubt, that he was still the Doctor. Still her Doctor, though he’d never exactly stated it as such.

(Little did he know then that Rose had already considered him her Doctor. She later confessed to him that his earnest attempts to convince her of his identity had been endearing.)

On the evening before he and Rose were to depart for the stars once more, Rose had stayed up late with him in Jackie’s living room and had presented him with a small package. She had seemed slightly embarrassed or self-conscious as he ripped into the brown-paper-wrapped parcel; she had begun rambling about traditions and new beginnings and something about “together”, which he very much liked to think about. He liked the idea of him and Rose together forever.

Upon indelicately ripping off the wrapping paper, he saw a simple white box. When he removed the lid, a Christmas ornament lay nestled in a soft bed of shredded cotton. His hearts had constricted in his chest as he pulled out the ornament, two penguins clad in hats and scarves leaning in to touch the tips of their beaks together. Beneath, in an elegant script, were the words “The Doctor + Rose’s First Christmas” and the year.

“I know it’s silly,” Rose said, still looking anywhere but him. “Christmas is over now, and it’s not like we even had a tree in the TARDIS to put it on, but I saw it and couldn’t resist. Obviously, I wrote in our names. Not many ornaments have ‘the Doctor’ written on ‘em.”

He pulled her into his arms, silencing her words. “It’s perfect,” he said through the lump in his throat. “Tell you what. We can put it up on the tree next Christmas. And get another ornament to go with it. Eh? Can be a tradition.”

Rose wrinkled her nose. “You put up a Christmas tree in that box of yours?”

“Not usually,” he admitted. “But you celebrate Christmas. I want the TARDIS to feel like home for you, and if celebrating all of your little human holidays makes it feel like home, then I want to celebrate with you, however you’d like. If you’d like.”

Her expression softened and she smiled shyly at him. “The TARDIS is already my home, Doctor.”

The admission both floored and delighted him. A big, beaming grin split his face in two, and the echoing expression lit up her face too.

He very nearly kissed her then, and he spent the rest of the night, after Rose had gone to bed, cursing himself for not seizing the opportunity.

No matter. They got there eventually, after a few hiccups in the road.

By the time their second Christmas rolled around, they were an actual proper couple, and they went shopping together not only for their first Christmas tree, but also for the companion to the penguin ornament. They’d decided on two polar bears decorating a Christmas tree together, snouts pressed together in a supposed kiss.

They had bought other decorations as well, but they displayed their couples’ ornaments proudly on the front of the tree, making sure no branches, lights, or baubles obscured them from view.

“I wonder how long it’ll take before we have enough couples’ ornaments to decorate the tree just with them,” Rose mused as they de-decked their tree after the holidays. “Ages and ages, I’ll bet.”

“Well, it’s a good thing we’ve got ages and ages,” he replied, a goofy grin on his face. “Forever, in fact.”

And they did. They had forever together. Whatever Rose had done as Bad Wolf had changed her at the cellular level. Her body wasn’t breaking down at all; it had enough regenerative energy—courtesy of the TARDIS—to replenish any aged and dying cells before they turned hazardous. For all intents and purposes, she would live just as long as the Doctor. Longer, perhaps.

Upon realizing what that meant for them, for their future together, they decided to bind themselves together in every way possible. One soul in two bodies. At least, that was how Rose had liked to think of it when he had explained the telepathic marriage bond. An open channel between them, their minds, allowing them to see the most intimate parts of the other.

There had been no one the Doctor had wanted to share that sort of connection with, apart from Rose. There had never been anyone like her before—nobody he loved as deeply, fiercely, wholly, eternally—and there would never be anyone like her again.

Not even now that she was gone.

It had been over three years since Torchwood. Since Canary Wharf. Since the Daleks and Cybermen and parallel worlds and Void breaches that ended with the multiverse being saved, but with Rose being trapped permanently in another world.

In those first few moments, as he watched the Void breach fold in on itself like a crumpled piece of paper, the Doctor had held his breath and tensed for the inevitable slash of pain in his mind as his bond with Rose broke. But when a minute passed, then two, then ten and his bond with Rose was still there, he relaxed a fraction.

The anguish and desperation clanging from her half of the bond was what kept him sane, funnily enough. Regardless of their mutual devastation, the fact that he could still feel her in his mind meant he hadn’t truly lost her. She wasn’t truly gone. He wasn’t truly alone.

It had taken months for them to adapt and adjust to their new reality. Time moved around them differently; Pete’s World, as he’d dubbed it, moved slightly faster than their prime universe. And time didn’t really exist in the TARDIS. However, they tried to sync their internal body clocks with each other, to sleep and eat and relax at the same time to make up for the fact that they weren’t physically with each other.

Despite having his wife in his head at all times, he still missed her. He missed her more with every passing day. Nevertheless, they had coped as best they could.

However, the holidays still hurt. It hurt to try to celebrate with Rose when she was—literally—worlds away. Universes away. It hurt to go out and get a Christmas tree. It hurt to decorate it. But above all, it hurt to pick out and purchase their couples’ ornament alone. He’d had to pick out the last three on his own, and if his calculations were correct—which they were, because he was quite brilliant—he would be needing to go out and buy a new one soon. Their sixth overall, the fourth he would buy alone.

Despite Rose’s confidence in the Dimension Cannon—a clever bit of technology that the Torchwood researchers and engineers in Pete’s World had been developing for well over a year now—it seemed as though the Cannon hadn’t worked enough to bring her back to this world in time for Christmas.

But he didn’t care when she came home. He just cared that she did come home. One day.

He had been skeptical of the Cannon when Rose first informed him of its creation, but now that it began showing signs of life—acting as a crude teleport—he was cautiously optimistic that one day it would work. Once he or any of the Torchwood scientists managed to figure out how to poke a hole through the Void, through the fabric of reality, large enough for Rose to squeeze through, but small enough that the entire microcosm of the multiverse didn’t implode in the process. It was a delicate balancing act.

However, now that Rose was busy testing the Dimension Cannon, letting it blast her to whatever corner of her universe it fancied, their bond was a little more strained and out of sync. It had nearly given him a hearts-attack when she went utterly silent one day, only to reappear in his mind hours later as though nothing had happened.

She had since taken to warning him about when she was planning a Cannon jump so he wouldn’t be alarmed if she disappeared from his head for a few hours. Though he appreciated it, it didn’t stop his anxiety from squeezing a tight band around his chest. Every time her half of the bond went quiet, he feared he would never hear from her again.

Inevitably, though, she always returned. She would always return.

He had taken to running errands on the days she did her Cannon jumps. Not only did it distract him from the silence in his head, but it gave him a break from trying to keep his body clock synced with Rose’s. He didn’t need to concern himself about when or where he went, or for how long.

On one particular day in the beginning of December—for Rose, at least… Pete’s World had gotten completely out of sync with their universe by now—the Doctor had decided to visit Ghealach, a small moon on the other end of the galaxy that was basically a junk shop masquerading as a bazaar. The unique feature of Ghealach, however, was that it was utterly psy-null. Telepathy was strictly forbidden as a security measure; the shop owners didn’t want a telepathic being creeping into their heads to swindle them out of money and supplies.

As such, if the Doctor were to go to Ghealach, it meant his bond with Rose would be silenced.

I’ll be there for just a few hours, he told her that morning. I should be done by the time you’re back, but in the event that I’m not, I don’t want you to worry.

Thanks for telling me. Stay safe, Doctor.

He snorted. I’m not the one blasting myself to the gods know where.

He got the impression she was sticking her tongue out at him, and so he rolled his eyes right back.

Be safe, he murmured, passing a kiss and a caress down their bond.

He piloted himself to Ghealach but stayed in the TARDIS until Rose’s presence faded from his mind, indicating she’d gone on her jump.

Wearily, the Doctor rubbed at his eyes and at the dull throb that pulsed behind his temples. Ignoring the ache, he grabbed his overcoat, swung it around his shoulders, and exited the TARDIS.

Ghealach was bustling with activity. All sorts of creatures were buying and selling, bartering and trading. While he usually loved the atmosphere—all of those people, all that life—he couldn’t stomach it today.

So he moved with a purpose, knowing where he could find the parts that he needed to fix the TARDIS. Well, not exactly fix, as nothing was technically broken. But the mechanisms behind the fine-tune precision needed for landing at the coordinates he set must be going a bit faulty. He was landing in an incorrect time or location more often than usual.

If Rose were there, she would’ve teased him about his poor piloting skills.

Pushing that thought aside, the Doctor strode from tent to tent, turning out his pockets to exchange whatever baubles and trinkets and bits of alien tech he happened to have.

It took nearly two hours, but he finally had all of the pieces he had sought out to find, plus a few extra bits he didn’t need but might one day have use for.

It took another half hour or wandering to find the TARDIS again. He hadn’t realized how far he had wandered into the labyrinthine stalls of the market. But he finally beheld his glorious ship. It was odd not to hear her welcoming hum as he approached. Even his bond with his ship was muted on this moon.

He slid his key into the lock and turned it, pushing the door inward. Her central rotor gleamed in welcome and the lights flickered between bright and dull. As soon as he closed the door behind him, leaving the psy-null territory, he felt his ship’s utter joy and delight.

“I missed you too,” he cooed to his ship, affectionately rubbing one of the coral struts as he draped his coat across it.

It was only when he’d skipped up to the center console that he realized his ship wasn’t the sole presence in his mind.

Oh! You’re back earlier than I thought, he said, cringing. Sorry, love. Didn’t think I'd be on that moon for so long.

“Doctor.”

Her voice was faint and breathless, and the Doctor clenched his jaw; it sounded as though she was right beside him. He was getting bombarded with a mixture of emotions, strong ones at that. Stronger than he usually felt from their strained bond.

What’s the matter? Everything all right? Jump go okay?

“It’s you… It’s really, actually you.”

He frowned at the display controls of his ship as he worked on sending her into flight. Rose was coming across clearly. He could read every thread of thought and emotion: disbelief, confusion, love, hurt, happiness, desperation. All of it. Everything that was going on inside that beautiful head of hers was broadcast for him to see.

But if he could sense her so easily, then that meant…

Where are you? he asked, frantically tugging the display screen so close to his face that his nose nearly brushed it. He typed at the keyboard fervently, even though he had no coordinates to input. I’ll find you, Rose. I will find you. Gods, you’re here. Where are you? I’ll find you.

A choked sob sounded from his wife, and he reached into himself, into their bond, to cradle her close. A maelstrom hit him, and he couldn’t seem to soothe her, no matter how much comfort and love he swaddled her in.

I know, love. I know. We’re so close. All these years and you’ve finally done it. You’re brilliant, you are. We’re so close now. Just tell me where you are and I’ll come get you and bring you home. But I need to know where you are.

“Turn around.”

Turn around? What? Where are you, Rose? I need as much information as you can give me so I can find you.

“Turn. Around.”

His mind was still churning even as something—someone—touched his shoulder. Fingers gripped his shoulder hard and tugged. Spinning on his heel, his jaw slackened as he beheld the blonde standing before him. Rose. His wife. His bondmate. His everything.

“Rose?” he croaked, clenching his hands into fists at his side.

She looked nearly the same as the day he’d lost her. The planes of her face had sharpened, the roundness of youth having faded over the years, and her hair was a gentler shade of blonde, seemingly professionally dyed rather than a cheap bit of bleaching product she found in the shops.

His eyes roved across her face hungrily, urgently willing her to be real, as his mind sought her out. He hadn’t realized how muffled their bond had become, separated as they were through universes, but now it was in perfect focus, at full power. It was as though a radio station that had been staticky was now tuned.

And all of the emotions swirling through both of their minds was being broadcast on all frequencies. Shock and disbelief and tentative, delicate hope.

“Oh, Doctor!”

Rose launched herself at him, pulling him from his stupor. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, holding her as close as he could. Her warm, small body contoured to his, pressing against every inch of him until there was no space left between them.

Her hands scrabbled at his back, searching for better purchase to cling to him. He buried his nose into the soft spot where her shoulder met her neck and breathed in deeply, inhaling the smell of her. She smelled like energy and electricity, but beneath that was the familiar scent of Rose. Of home.

“What… How…?”

“It worked,” she said, her voice warbling. “The Cannon… it worked. With a bit of help. Needed a bit of alien tech to help brace the Void open, then close it up behind me. Some friendly aliens helped out with that. Though they said the fabric of that reality was already fragile. Not sure what that was about. Torchwood promised to look into it, and I said we’d look into it from this side of things.”

“Fragile?” he asked, pulling away from her. “How can the fabric of reality become ‘fragile’?”

Rose looked like she was about to open her mouth, perhaps to offer her input, but the Doctor realized he didn’t particularly want to talk about the fabric of reality or the universe or anything that wasn’t Rose.

He shook his head and cradled Rose’s jaw in her palm, brushing his thumb against her lower lip. She sighed, her warm breath ghosting across his hand.

“I’ve missed you,” he rasped, raking his eyes over her face to recommit every detail to memory. She was even more beautiful, more breathtaking, than he remembered. “So much, Rose. There wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t miss you. And I know we were never truly apart, but…”

Rose rocked up onto her toes, fisted her hands in the lapels of his suit, and tugged him down until their mouths met in a hard kiss. All thoughts left his mind as he lost himself in her. The taste of her, the touch of her, the smell of her, the sound of her, the sight of her. His senses were utterly overwhelmed by her, and he wouldn’t have it any other way. Pleasure sparked through his veins as their lips moved together in a familiar rhythm of pulling and yielding, sliding and gliding.

A full-body shudder rippled down his spine as his mouth parted for her probing tongue. The little whimper she let out weakened his knees and he stumbled back a step until his backside pressed against the central console of the TARDIS.

Rose followed, not breaking the kiss. The Doctor braced himself against the console, more than willing to let Rose cage him in, resting her weight against his. Their bodies moved together, rocking and writhing as their hands explored every inch of each other that they’d been deprived of for three and a half years.

“I missed you,” he murmured between frantic kisses. “I love you.”

I love you, he whispered into her mind. His half of the bond wrapped around her half even tighter than his body wrapped around hers, needing to feel her everywhere, needing to hold her close to convince himself that this was real, that she was real, and that she was here with him.

“I’m here,” she mumbled against his mouth. I’m here. I’m back. I came back. I love you. I love you.

Her hands moved restlessly across his body, alternating between pressing into the small of his back and his hair. Desire rippled through him as their hips and legs tangled together, rubbing and grinding and relishing all of the sensations they’d been deprived of for these many long years.

Sure, they’d had the mental presence of each other during their separation, but no number of mental embraces could replace a real hug, of being ensconced in another’s arms, two bodies inhabiting one space.

A deep groan rumbled up the Doctor’s chest as he devoured Rose’s mouth. The bedroom was too far away for the utter need throbbing through them both. Hastily removing all necessary pieces of clothing, they joined together on the raggedy old jump seat. Their bodies moved as one, touching and kissing and teasing and tasting until their coupling culminated in the pinnacle of pleasure and love.

Afterwards, they sat slumped together, panting for breath and clinging to each other. The Doctor skated his fingertips up and down the smooth expanse of Rose’s spine. She still had her shirt on, and the fabric bunched and fell with every up and down motion of his hand.

“I love you,” he said groggily, pressing a series of kisses to the column of her throat. His mind was blissfully blank and full of Rose. She was everywhere, filling the deep, dark expanse of his mind with her light and warmth.

“You feel so good,” she sighed, nuzzling closer physically and mentally. “I hadn’t realized how faint our bond had become. But now… God.”

“Mmm,” he hummed in agreement. Then he asked the question that had slowly been eating away at him. “How long were you waiting in here? How did you even find the ship? That moon… you wouldn’t have been able to feel her—or me.”

“Maybe a half hour,” Rose said. “Felt like an eternity. But then I reminded myself that I was lucky enough to have found the TARDIS at all. I would’ve been devastated to know I’d landed here but just missed you.”

He would’ve been devastated too. Even more horrifying was the idea that Rose wouldn’t even have been able to reach out for him to tell him where she was, what with that telepathic dampener suppressing their bond.

“But I was just wandering around when I found the TARDIS,” Rose continued. “I nearly walked right by her at first, ‘cos I didn’t think the jump had actually worked. I figured I was on an alien planet in that other universe. But then I walked past her and the door just… clicked open. That’s when I turned and saw her, and I ran right in.

“But then I wasn’t sure which version of you it would be. Everything about the TARDIS looked the same, so I figured I wasn’t too far off. Then I was beginning to think about how I would explain everything if it was a past you. Especially if it was a past you who hadn’t met me yet; how on Earth would I explain to you who I was and why you needed to help me.”

“The marriage bond would’ve been proof enough,” he assured her, tapping at his temple for emphasis. “The bond transcends time, through regenerations, past and present. No matter which version of me walked through those doors, I would have known who you are.”

“Thank God it was you,” she said. “Though for a minute there I thought I went mad and was invisible.”

He offered her a sheepish grin. “Sorry. I didn’t think to look around the TARDIS. I didn’t expect anyone to be in here.”

She smirked at him, then nestled her head into the crook of his neck, letting out a sated sigh Despite the sound of utter contentment, she murmured, “We should get up.”

“Or we could stay here like this forever,” he countered.

“As wonderful as that sounds, my legs are going half numb,” she retorted. “And I feel disgusting. I could use a shower, if you’d care to join me?”

His belly swooped in renewed desire as he nodded fervently. Rose grinned at him, her tongue poking teasingly out of the corner of her mouth. He pinched her bum for her cheek, causing her to shriek with laughter and swat at his hand.

A daft grin settled across his face at the sound. Oh, how he’d missed her.

He couldn’t help but lean up to plant a row of tiny kisses across her jaw, beginning at the sensitive skin beneath her ear and working his way to the corner of her mouth. He felt her cheek lift in a smile as her hand went to the back of his head to keep him where he was. As if he would ever wish to stop kissing her.

“Shower?” he mumbled against her skin, slowly making a path down her neck.

“Mhm,” she hummed distractedly.

He laughed softly and pressed a final kiss to the hollow of her throat. “Come on. Let’s get cleaned up.”

Rose heaved a great sigh but dutifully lifted herself off of his lap to stand on wobbly legs. He followed suit, and they each fixed their jumble of half-off clothing before they moved, hand in hand, down the corridor of their home.

Part Two (the Christmas fluff) coming soon!

[cloudbatcave]

Cloud Plays White: Finale

This is a long one, folks, since I realized I had a bit in my notes I had forgotten about and only found after I posted this, lol, so I have now edited it in.

when we last left off I was criticizing Alder for being useless in apprehending Ghetsis and Iris for not just taking me to Drayden’s house herself when it is Right Fucking There. 

So I’m still futzing around Opelucid here.

“No way, without pokemon, I’ll be lonely and sad! …but am I just using my pokemon, then?”

wow, seems there’s some brain cells there after all. you keep exercising those, brah.

I run into a guy who thinks that it’s okay for team plasma to take pokemon from weak trainers, even though he considers himself one and feels bad for the people they rob.

There’s another dude in the same room who used to be part of team plasma but left because it was weird for him that everyone thought the same way.

See, I appreciate this part of the game’s writing - I wish there was more stuff like this, people who are conflicted and their viewpoints being front and center instead of the simplistic garbage we’re fed by Iris and Alder and company.

Though there’s an absolute nut job who says that despite the years he’s trained with his pokemon he’ll let it go if it makes it a perfect being and I am just not even gonna unpack all the lunacy there.

There’s a kid who thinks that just because N has the legendary pokemon, he must be the hero.

I am very concerned about everyone in Unova being so gullible.

“Your Scrafty looks like it can try a little harder.”

WELL FUCK YOU TOO RANDOM LADY??? LAD DOES HIS BEST AND I WILL NOT HAVE HIM SLANDERED THIS WAY

I finally go to Drayden’s and get told how the original dragon performed mitosis and now we have two dragons and also they once destroyed the region with fire and lightning but it’s chill.

“People may hurt pokemon even more by imposing their selfish thoughts on them. But no matter what, Pokemon and people believe in each other, need each other, and will continue to live together…”

Drayden is smarter and more nuanced than like, anyone else, why is he not a main character.

Iris chips in about how much she can’t forgive Plasma and Drayden mentions they don’t know how to wake up Zekrom.

Well, to be fair, I’d be very surprised if they did.

Off to the gym, this’ll be interesting since I have no ice or dragon moves on my team.

I get through the trainers okay, now time to fight Daffodil.

Her Haxorus was a bit tricky but nothing I couldn’t handle, and when I walk out Juniper shows up.

And somehow she knows how to resurrect Zekrom. Cool!

She blahs about how it’ll wake up when it deems someone worthy and talks about how much I’ve changed and shows me to the gate where the route to the pokemon league is.

“Chirae? Do you regret setting out on your pokemon journey?”

UH.

MAYBE?

mmm, that’s not fair to my pokemon though - nigh everyone around me may be looney tunes or incompetent, but they’ve been good pals.

So I hit “no” after all.

and she gives me a master ball. dope.

I make it to the gates of victory road and I honestly really like the bit where each section of them is themed after the badges! That’s a nice touch, I think that was only also done in the FRLG remakes if I recall correctly. It makes it feel a lot more ceremonious and important.

Ah here come my two idiots.

Bianca asks Cheren to smile and he’d probably implode if he did. He finally isn’t an asshole though, good for him.

The bug badge guard tells me to “fight valiantly like an insect” which is funny but I guess does make sense. Ants can fuck some stuff up, man.

Honestly I want to be a badge gate guard, seems like a fun job.

Also, I caught an excadrill in a raid the day I wrote this, and caught an excadrill in this game. Their pokedex entry includes this gem:

“Their tunnels can be destructive to subway systems”

Given the battle subway exists in this game, their insurance payments must be obscene. Imagine getting your match interrupted by a giant mole with metal fists that doesn’t give a fuck.

I named her Beans. She looks like a Beans.

I also caught a Deino. The Irate Pokémon that can’t see and tackles people to learn about its surroundings. I feel a kinship with this creature.

I named him Mezzo for laughs.

And I managed to get myself back to the beginning of victory road. Good job, cloud.

Okay I think I’ve found the right path, found a new dude to beat up which is a good sign. Apparently he’s lost too.

Love when a trainer switches out to a Pokémon mine doesn’t have a type advantage against and it gets wiped in two hits anyway. Death is inevitable.

“I’ve thought about what I can do to help my Pokémon win and I finally figured out the answer!”

Is it git gud?

Flame charge raises my speed, opponent’s klang uses automotize to prove it can do that too, dies because it’s too busy trying to go fast.

Then I get nailed by a flare blitz. Darmanitan is toxic to gen 5 nuzlocke runs, I swear. Especially since I have no one on my hodgepodge team resistant to fire. At least my unfezant is faster.

“Read what your opponent wants to do. Your opponent is human and may change plans from moment to moment. Be careful!”

There’s some meta joke to be made there but I’m not thinking of anything witty. Something something AI having a point even if not in this context.

Back to the beginning again but I think I know what I need to do now.

I looked at a walkthrough to check, tho, lmfao. Was tired of climbing up there only to fall down the wrong spot.

“There’s an item at the bottom! Do you want to slide all the way down?”

You’re the devil talking and you tempt me but I will ignore your silver tongue for now.

So I’m at the league and I thought Cheran would pop out of the bushes before I got here. That’s weird. I could swear he fights me one last time before I challenge the elite four.

NO CHERAN. OKAY. WHAT. IS MY GAME GLITCHED??

I guess not! Huh.

All right then. Time to try and see if I can win with my very unbalanced team.

Lmfao yeah my first attempt against the ghost trainer crashed and burned. Literally, thanks to her Chandelure. Very glad I saved on the outside. TIME TO GO TRAIN MORE.

No Marty, you may not learn wild charge, this is a no recoil moves household, self harm is bad.

Some grinding later, I am ready to try again.

Shauntal gave me a little trouble but was much more manageable. Grimsley was easy, only his Krookodile gave me issues.

I really like the elite four battle areas in this gen, I do admit. Very aesthetic.

Ah shit I know that Musharna is coming.

Never mind, that pink and purple snoozeball went down easy. I didn’t have a single Pokémon faint.

Unless Marshal breaks the trend the fights have actually gotten easier as I went.

He actually was a bit tricky, gave me a good show.

Hello endless stairs, hello N and Alder, hello giant random castle that just explodes out of the ground somehow.

“What has just appeared is team plasma’s castle”

Thanks mate, never would’ve figured that out without you. Why do you need a castle. 

Oh wow, the gym leaders finally decided to be useful and fight the sages for me instead of letting extremists wander around unchecked.

Thanks y’all! Trying not being pointless more often!

“Ignoring team plasma...that would be a terrible thing for us gym leaders to do.”

You all already did that, Elena. I watched as Clay and Iris let these assholes go. We could have avoided this whole plot if literally any of you had done more earlier.

So the game says the castle was built by the Pokémon team plasma took but how the fuck did they like...work underground...you know what I’m not gonna even think about it too hard because it makes no sense and I know that. I must make my peace.

I also like how the castle is nonsensical and yet there’s a line of dialogue about how they’ll liberate the Pokémon in PCs too for their Master Plan(TM), which is surprisingly thoughtful. This game is so inconsistent with how much sense its lore makes. It’ll come up with something clever and then wear its underwear on its head the next minute.

“Will you go the Pokémon league?”

Hey what - WHY DID YOU TELEPORT ME HOW CAN YOU DO THAT. DO YOU HAVE AN ABRA OR WHAT

THAT WAS RANDOM

Well at least there’s someone there to randomly teleport me back too.

WHEEEEEE

Hi Reshiram, convenient how that mini fire tornado you made didn’t burn me or N.

Hi Zekrom, convenient how your lightning didn’t hurt us either, you’re a considerate chap

Aight, let’s see if I can catch this bastard

...I did and it only took me like five balls. Okay then.

N gave me a good fight, so there’s that.

Love how Ghetsis’s bouffalant kills itself via recoil from its own move and my scrafty’s rocky helmet.

He gave me a good fight too though.

I do like the ending, despite my issues with how the game presents its message. N is a great character and I appreciate what Nintendo was trying to do with the game’s plot, they just...didn’t really delve into it like they should have.

I’m glad I replayed it. I still have my issues with gen 5 but I see a lot more of its positives now.

We’ll see if I do any post-game content, I have gotten kind of attached to my grump-ass trainersona and his weird team.

[wrciteoff]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Split them however you want among all our characters interacting. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐

For each “⭐️” I get, I’ll write a headcanon about our muses. // @xviperinae

Oh boy. Buckle in hens, we’re in for a long ride. if you thought i wasn’t going to go all out you were strongly misled. under a read more bc..... there is a lot.

Jacks & Viper

⭐️ There is VERY little that Jacks wouldn’t do for Viper. It’s been so long since he’s felt any form of connection from another person that Jacks probably clings a little too tightly to that.

⭐️ Whiskey has taken on a secret meaning between them for ‘i’m sorry’. After a fight or if the other is reopening an old wound in themselves a bottle of whiskey is soon bought to the scene. It’s not that they can’t verbalise those two words to each other but they’re both stubborn and sometimes ‘i’m sorry’ is easier to hear when it’s not said out loud.

⭐️  Jacks WOULD hide a body/cover up a crime scene for Viper. But he would also probably vomit...a lot. And pass out. And honestly at some point you’ve just got to admit that whilst the THOUGHT is there practically speaking he would just be a god damn liability.

⭐️ Because of the scarring(or rather the implications of the scars) Jacks doesn’t like holding hands. That being said Viper is the one person he will reach across and give her hand a gentle squeeze sometimes. It’s never a long touch and only on the rare occasions he feels its needed but it IS there. She’s also the one person he wouldn’t flinch his own hand away from if she reached for his.

⭐️ Jacks doesn’t realise Viper’s crush on him but if he did oh hens my heart is weak because he would be so SOFT and capable of more gentleness than he knows. it would mean so much to Jacks to let Viper know that even though he can’t return her affections in that particular way he LOVES her, completely and unconditionally. man, i get real emotional over this every time we talk about it but jUST. he loves her so much ok so v much and like a lil gentle hand squeeze when he realises and a ‘i get it. it’s gonna be tough to find someone prettier than me’ but also a ‘but god, look at you, you’re beautiful and you’re gonna find someone so much better’

Estela & Viper

⭐️ Every year for Christmas Estela goes ENTIRELY over board on decorations. Everything has to match a particular colour theme and each ornament has to reflect the light in a CERTAIN way. It is a complete ordeal that extends throughout the December months. Despite this Viper is allowed ONE decoration on the holy shrine for a tree and undoubtedly it’s like a miniature Tennessee whiskey bottle or something that she just knows Estela is going to hate. And Estela just accepts it. Because. GOD. If this isn’t the woman she loves.

⭐️ One year Viper bought Alejandro a Christmas jumper. but like, a real weird knitted turtle neck type deal with snowmen and robins on it and Estela found it the most hilarious thing she’d seen all year and every year on Christmas eve they put it this solemn 100 pound Doberman.

⭐️ Following from that with other doggy head canons, Viper is the only person Alejandro relaxes around beyond Estela. It took a fair amount of time before the guard dog realised Viper was the OPPOSITE of a threat. But now on quiet evenings he’ll even rest his giant head on her lap.

⭐️ Estela feels TREMENDOUS guilt over her feelings for Viper. Knowing that her selfishness is putting Viper’s life and health in jeopardy leaves a permanently bitter taste in her mouth.

( perhaps that’s why it’s so unfair that Vipers kisses taste so sweet. )

⭐️ Estela’s love for Viper is subtle but also entirely obvious if you know where to look. It’s in the slight shifts of movements that follow Viper’s, aware of the others motions without having to look. Or the way her gaze lingers a little too long, always captivated, hooked on whatever Viper is doing.

⭐️ cliché but Estela steals Vipers clothes...... a lot.

⭐️ Viper is the only person who can make Estela blush. And this was going to be a stand alone point because let’s face it, we love to see it. But also Viper is the only person who can make Estela snort with laughter or cry in an argument or leave her jaw aching from smiling. Viper is the only person who makes Estela act human.

Mila & Viper

⭐️ Mila finds herself drawn towards Viper’s aura whilst also being disconcerted by it. She finds it entirely difficult to get an accurate read on just who Viper is from energy alone. At some point I feel as though Mila would abandon her ‘sight’ and trust Viper for how she presents herself. Although the collateral fall out from that if Mila ever did discover Viper’s occupation would be... uh oh.

⭐️ Still kind of relating onto that point !! (my bad. it’s just a v interesting dynamic ok !!) Mila is very black and white on morality. She would/will/does trust Viper implicitly and entirely naively as an older sister figure in her life and someone she could admire and depend upon. And that black and white stance would be entirely challenged and crumbled upon realising that whilst she is safe with Viper that doesn’t mean everyone else is safe around Viper either.

⭐️ I like to think that maybe Mila’s seen little flashes of Viper in the corner of some of her visions. A strand of hair or a familiar gait. Little flickers that wouldn’t quite add up unless she knew that Viper had been at the heart of some of those deaths.

⭐️ Softer head canon to end on but Mila defo still has that umbrella. It’s one of her favourites now. Nobody tell her where Viper got it from, I mean it - NO one.

Lex & Martin

⭐️ Yeets these two in here because i am weak. but martin got to meet lex in such a rarely vulnerable state that already there is a very fragile flammable bridge of trust between them. Martin got to see lex as an actual KID. A scared little boy that wanted his mum or his dad or anyone at all. and don’t get me wrong, a huge amount of trust comes from the fact that Martin is (beautiful n lovely n too pure) gentle and just happens to be there at the right time but ALSO he sounds like the kid’s home and he sounds like safety n im gonna cry now ty

⭐️ Lex lashes out A LOT at martin before he really gets to know him. his dad always taught him that doctors were bad news and he feels exposed that the first time they met he was so vulnerable.  but martin just?? responds with honesty and gentleness always and lex ??? needs that. and in a matter of months the kid looks up to him and wants to be more like him. 

⭐️ lex absolutely wouldn't know how to express love especially when it borders on parental so he just leaves the weirdest gifts for martin. the WEIRDEST. a tube of fruit pastels. a dying house plant. a funky looking bone that he found the other day. the gifts make little to no sense but the fundamental binding feature is that NONE are stolen. he saves up scraps and pennies to make martin proud rather than steal something on the side. 

⭐️ i know we talked about this over discord but my fave unofficial headcanon is that if/when lex ever finds out that Martin isn’t technically Scottish his brain would just ??? implode. the singular brain cell would just ... frazzle. would pretend to understand but the inside of his brain would just be (  X  )

[musette-thornsong]

OJ: God’s Right Here

Aura Zurie had found out years ago during her childhood that she was not all cell but only half. If being treated like crap by the entire city of Frank wasn’t bad enough, the virus, Thrax, whom she once called friend betrayed and stabbed her in the back (in more ways than one). After losing so much and being used by those she trusted, she had become officially devoid of all emotion and decided never to trust or let anyone inside ever again. The return of Thrax may change that when they are paired off to hunt down the resurrected mob boss, Scabies, who has kidnapped Ozzy and Drix and will only release them if they hand over a recently acquired rare artifact. But soon everyone (including Thrax) will realize the huge mistake they have made when messing with the wrong girl.

One-Shot Parody

Warning: Violence, gore, language, psychological humor

Words: 6,216

Aura, Meth, & Opius girls belongs to me

Staphylococcus Aureus borrowed from a real bacterium.

It was a dark time in the City of Frank. The Chief of Frank Police had just recently assigned a case to Osmosis Jones, Drix, and (recently hired) Thrax. The case followed the inconspicuous murder of Leah Estrogen from only a day ago. Apparently, she was killed in her sleep with no visible signs of a struggle and then her corpse was hung upside down from Ozzy’s apartment door with a message from (horrifyingly enough) the late mob boss Scabies. This gave an indication that somehow, he was still alive (even though Thrax had turned him into a pile of goop). The team had split up to find clues and came across one at the memory banks archive in ancient text about a gem that revives the dead. Ozzy and Drix went to go find it only to suddenly get kidnapped by unknown assailants. Thrax was then left a note by Scabies that if he wanted his teammates alive, he would find the item in question and bring it to them. Knowing he had little to no intel on ancient artifacts or spells and apparently had no other options, he sought out some help from his fellow coworkers. They suggested he talk to Aura Zurie since she was one of the few citizens who dabbled in that department given her “recently discovered” heritage. Thrax found this to not only a big help but also a chance to get close to her. Although she grieved for the loss of her foster mother, Leah, certain circumstances would have Thrax find that Aura would be less than willing to help him.

Thrax: (eagerly catches up to Aura as she walked down the street) Hey, baby, wait up!!

Aura: (continues walking on, stubbornly) I have nothing to say to you.

Thrax: (tries to play it cool in attempts to charm her) Aw come on, baby. I thought it would a nice opportunity to reconnect… (whispers in her ear) especially given our “special” history together.

Aura: (stops dead in her tracks before turning around facing him, angrily stating) First of all, as far as I’m concerned, we have no history. Secondly, I know why you came breezing down my path and I’m not pulling the pin on that grenade. I made the mistake of trusting you once all those years ago. And in return, it destroyed what was left of the innocence that was my life. I’ll be damned if I get involved with you and make the same mistake again (turns her back to him and proceeds to continue walking on)

Thrax: (feels guilty, knowing she was right but decides to play on her insecurities as a last resort, sighing) Well, I guess I can’t fault you there. I don’t blame you for not wanting to help. But even if you don’t, just know…it’s not your fault.

Aura: (halts with wide eyes upon hearing those words, flashes back to her mother on her deathbed when she was a child uttering those same words)

-FLASHBACK-

*Lisa: (sick in bed, barely stable) I’m afraid I don’t have the strength to go on any further. I’m sorry, Aura. I’m going to leave you all alone.

*Aura: (tearfully holds her mother’s hand) Please don’t go, Mommy

*Lisa: (weakly smiles while cupping little Aura’s cheek, wiping her tears away) Don’t cry, sweetie. I know it’s hard, but you must be strong and endure. I just wish your father could have been here with us (coughs) but know that he did love you very much. I love you, Aura. If things were different back then, we could have become a happy family. Even though my life was turned upside down, I don’t regret having you for a daughter. Just know, this is not your fault (utters before her hand falls from Aura, dying peacefully)

*Aura: (tears fall as she screams agony)

-END OF FLASHBACK-

Aura: (hears the words “Your fault” torment her mind over and over until her mental barrier suddenly breaks down from the inflicted guilt, shouting painfully while barely keeping her composure) WHAT’S WRONG, THRAX!?

Thrax: (surprised he got through to her and gave her the details [unfortunately more details than necessary for dick-move torment]) Well, I suppose it all started when I was born, my mother…

Aura: (facepalms her eyes before pulling the metaphorical pin off the grenade in her mind, groaning) Uuuuuuuuuugh….

Knowing this would take long, they stopped a nearby pub where Thrax continued the conversation for several hours until finally getting the main point for why he sought her out in the first place. He explained how Jones and Drix had disappeared and somehow Scabies was alive demanding for the artifact they were previously looking for in order to bring Leah back. Aura’s brain was about ready to implode from all the mental torture.

Thrax: (continues) …and then that old fart of a germ left this note stating where he was and that he had Jones and the cold pill. And unless the gem is given to the old codger, they can kiss their asses goodbye. And, well…you know the rest, baby.

Aura: (bangs her head on the table repeatedly from the long conversation until Thrax finishes, vents her frustration) GOD, DO I EVER!!! I CAN NEVER UN-KNOW!!! These nuclei receivers could have been used to formulate the perfect strategy in solving this case! Instead, they’ve memorized the different types and amounts of beatings you used to receive since you were four!!!

Thrax: (makes a callous reference) Yeah, much like you, my mother was one emotionally unstable bitch

Aura: (retorts sarcastically) Yeah, I know. And it’s because of that shit to this day, you are still a continuously blunt, all-around, never-ending ASSHOLE!!! (calms down after getting it all out of her system, sighs) Look, if I tell what you need to know about your stupid rock, will you leave me alone?

Thrax: (corrects her) Gem.

Aura: (annoyed) Honey, no language on Earth has a word for how little I care. A quantum super-computer calculating for a thousand years could not even approach the numbers FUCKS I do not give. The friggin’ heat death of the universe could not-

Thrax: Baby, are you going to tell me or not?

Aura: Eh, sure. Whatever. Allegedly, the once lush garden of Frank that was closed off (due to the strange death tolls) was turned into a restricted grave site called “The Valley of Remembrance”. At its center is a jeweled staff known as the Archangel’s Beacon which can pin-point the exact location of the Revival Gem.

Thrax: (mildly happy to hear this news) Seriously, then let’s go get it right now!

Aura: (halts him) Upbupbup, cool your jets, Hot-Shot. There’s more to it than that. For one thing, the gem can easily work on viruses at any time of death, within 15 years for germs and bacteria, but won’t work for cells 3 days after death. And seeing as how a day and a half has gone by already, not to mention you just spent the last 7 HOURS making me consider the pros and cons of a lobotomy via soup spoon, I’d say you got your work cut out for ya.

Thrax: (shocked by this news, eager to get going with only one day left) Oh boy! Well, let’s get going. We’ve got no time to lose (cups his hands around hers)

Aura: (brow twitches before giving her answer) Yeah, about that…

Aura was suddenly outside the pub walking through the crowd of cells out at night, minding their own business. Thrax trudged alongside her confused by the answer she gave him.

Thrax: (hysterically states his predicament) What do you mean you’re not going?! This is completely different from my life on the run trying set a record and getting into the medical books. I don’t know the unknown territories of this body like you do nor what dangers to expect from any of this. I could die on my own!

Aura: I believe I made myself clear about my number of FUCKS and willingness to give them.

Scabies: (pops out of nowhere looking worse for wear in many ways) Ebola Boy? Oh my god, how are you? I believe the last time we met was….oh yeah! When you sliced me up and painted the steam room floor with my carcass

Thrax: (expresses rather irritably, but restrains himself not wanting lose it and kill the only suspect they had in this case, grunting) Fiiine…

Scabies: (mockingly) And where’s the old crew? Haven’t seen them for quite some time

Thrax: They’re dead. Much like how you’ll be again if you don’t beat it.

Scabies: (feigns caring nature) Aww, ain’t that a pity? You at least make some good trophies out of em’?

Thrax: (disgusted) AW HELL NO!! I may be one sick sadistic motherfucker but I ain’t that sick, old man!

Scabies: Ah, such a waste…

Aura: (callously adds on) He’s right you know. Keeping specific remains of your enemies can make for some pretty-sick trophies.

Thrax: (annoyed) Okay, seriously, Aura!? That’s not funny. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a gem to find, two idiots to save, and a dead broad to revive.

Scabies: (looks to Aura scanning over with familiarity) Oh, Aura is it? You his new girl? Well, ain’t you a saucer of cream! It’s so nice to see that even the legendary Ebola-knockoff found someone on his level.

Thrax: (growls at the remark and how he was looking at Aura)

Aura: (laughs casually before eyes widen, clearly insulted) Ehehehe…What?

Scabies: Oh no, it’s cute. I just love the whole “tough-girl” persona ya got goin’ on here. Very convincing. Well, don’t wanna take up any more your time. Sure you sweet kids got a lot to do. I’m sure you’ll have no problem clearing “The Valley of Remembrance”.

Thrax: (attempts to speak for Aura) Actually, Aura just made it clear that she’s not-

Aura: (slightly deranged) Come on, Thrax. We got two idiots and a broad to save (starts walking past Scabies)

Thrax: (walks beside her rather delighted) So, you’re actually gonna help now? Well alright! Operation: Damage Control is a go (places his arm around her)

Aura: (firmly) Don’t touch me

Thrax: Still not there yet?

Aura: Not even close.

Scabies: (smiles wryly)

Thrax and Aura had stopped at a nearby inn for the night in order to get an early start on their mission for the Revival Gem. However, some would come to find it difficult to sleep that night. By morning, they had left the inn and made their way to the Valley of Remembrance where Thrax burned off seal to the gate to save time. Aura lead the way through the silent yet beautiful gardens and enchanted glades. It was all lovely but had an eeriness to it considering there was not one living thing around thus hinting to the term “silent as the grave”.

Aura: (calmly yet alert) Keep your eyes and ears open for anything. There’s no telling what might be lurking around.

Thrax: (smugly) Please. There ain’t nothin’ Big Daddy Thrax can’t handle.

Aura: (rolls her eyes, grunts) Uuugh

Thrax walked on casually next to Aura. He figured this would be a good opportunity to try to get close to her. But given the atmosphere, he wasn’t entirely sure how to break the ice nor certain if she even wanted to talk. Aura was unsure of a couple things too but figured she’d ask just to be sure.

Aura: (chuckles awkwardly) Hey, uh, random question. Uh, you didn’t hear anything…weird last night…Did you?

Thrax: (ponders back to last night) Uuuuuh….

 -FLASHBACK-

*Aura: (cries loudly through the wall) Momma Lisa!!! (cries more) Oh god, why couldn’t I save you?! Why?! Momma! MOMMA!!! (cries even more)

*Thrax: (hears her sorrowful wails in confusion unable to sleep)

-END OF FLASHBACK-

 Thrax: (slightly goes bright crimson, goes into immediate denial not wanting to say the wrong thing) Uh, no. Definitly not. I’m like a super heavy sleeper, so… (walks on)

Aura: (laughs nervously) Good, good (clears throat) Yeah, sleep is…sleep is good (continues walking)

Thrax: (comes to her, curiously) Sooooooo…Who’s Momma Lisa?

Aura: (snaps) I KNEW IT!!!

At the same time of her outburst, random vines sudden bursts out from bushes and quickly wrapped around Thrax’s ankles, lifting him straight off the ground. The vines revealed to belong to a giant Audrey II-like plant monster that became attracted to closest heat source. It opened its trap preparing to devour Thrax.

Aura: (slightly giggles at Thrax’s awkward predicament)

Thrax: (screams at the sudden lift coming face-to-face with the monster, embarrassment sets in as this was happening in front of Aura of all people) AAAAAAAAAAHH!!! Baby don’t stare at me like this!!

Aura: (yells in response) First off, I’m not your baby so quit calling me that! Secondly, I think you have more pressing concerns!!

Thrax: (slashes around frantically) Well, WHAT DO I DO?!

Aura: Just stay calm. You already have everything you need to beat it.

Thrax: (responds sarcastically) Oh, and what’s that? The power to believe in myself?

Aura: (irritated that Thrax was deliberately trying pluck a nerve) Noooooo, your claw, smartass!! Stab it!!

Thrax: Oh…right (slices off the vines from his ankles before diving at the plant beast, burying his claw straight through and causing it to explode before landing safely on the ground)

Aura: (sighs, locking arms Thrax against her better judgement) Yeah, maybe you should stick closer to me. Those things are attracted to heat and will not think twice about snuffing it out. And seeing as how you’re walking blazing inferno, you’re aggroing everything in this place.

Thrax: (blushes a bit then puts back on the “tough guy” façade before pulling away from her with a smirk) First off, if it’s one thing I know how to turn up and down, baby, it’s heat. Secondly, there’s need no need to worry your pretty, little head. Big Daddy Thrax can take care of himself (walks ahead before suddenly stepping on a random vine which woke up several more plant monsters, screaming) AAAAAAAAAAHH!!! BAAABYYYYYYY!!!!!

Aura: (raises a brow, unimpressed before sighing) This is gonna be my whole day, isn’t it?

After saving Thrax’s hide many a time from becoming every plant’s main course, they had finally reached the center of the valley. There atop an ancient pedestal stood the bejeweled Archangel’s Beacon staff in all its shiny, dusty, cobweb-covered glory.

Thrax: (grabs the staff) Hey, look. There it is!

Aura: Alright, now all we need is the dust!

Thrax: (excited before suddenly catching on to her sudden remark) Yeah- wait, what do you mean?

Aura: Well, I mean, we’re going need the Spark Powder to activate the staff. And we can only purchase said powder from the only drug dealer in this part of Frank who deals in the mystical department (for a certain price). Then once activated, the staff will guide us to the stronghold containing the gem where we’ll navigate ourselves through a series of traps within the catacombs (where most people would never think to look first), leading us to said gem and hopefully the quickest path to the throne/ritual room.

Thrax: (felt like his head was about to explode from the news) That’s INSANE! Just how paranoid were these people?! And since when did this magic stuff get so complicated?!

Aura: You don’t know much about Viral Ancient History or Magic, do you?

They continued their mission in hunting down the only drug dealer, Methadoneus Papaver, who contained the mystical Spark Powder. Once found at a nearby Opium Den, they could see the place was full of ill-repute as there were several Opius female germs publicly seducing several male cells on either ends of the establishment. When they all caught sight of Thrax, they brushed pass the others to gather around him since they never had a virus visit before (let alone a tall, strong, and handsome one). Though Thrax was flattered, he was more concerned with the mission at hand. Seeing as how it would take longer pushing through to get to Meth, Aura decided to take the high road and push Thrax into the crowd of horny germs who wasted no time in smothering him. Thrax was completely helpless in this situation. While he was known for being quite the “Ladies Man” & “Lady Killer”, he never had to deal with so many girls at once.

Aura: Hey look, girls! A present! (pushes Thrax into the Sea of Opius girls)

Thrax: Whoa!! (sees predicament he was suddenly in as the girls wasted no time going down on him, screaming out) NOOOOOO!!! They’re soooo hornyyyyyy!!!!

Aura: (caddy) But I thought there wasn’t anything Big Daddy Thrax couldn’t handle.

Thrax: (glares at her menacingly) Oh, you are SO gonna pay for that later!!

Aura: (chuckles sarcastically) Relax, this won’t take long. If anything, I’ll probably be down by the time you finish (heads upstairs the main den)

Once she found Meth, she got straight to the point about the Spark Powder. He attempted to hustle from her a ridiculous price as that was one of his rarest products that tended to go out quick. He even caused greater insult by trying to get Aura to “entice” the deal further. Meth asked her how much she thought the powder was worth believing she couldn’t do much to threaten him since she was a cop or the fact that she was just a dumb pheromone capable of only screwing her way to the top. But that was a mistake he would soon come to regret. The room suddenly went dark as Aura wasted no time in suddenly grabbing him by the throat, brandishing her claws near his chest, bearing fangs, and her crimson red eyes flashing gold as a warning. Getting the picture, Meth gave her a 75% discount on the powder in exchange for not killing him. When the lights came back on in the room, Aura warned him not to push his luck from now on before heading back down only to find that all the girls completely whored out and Thrax looking an absolute mess, barely keeping his composure and covered in kissy marks.

Aura: (looks over in shock and disbelief) DAAAMN!!! When I said I’d be down by the time you were finished, I was kidding!! But…DAMN!! (sees all the girls with blissful satisfied looks on their faces) Who would have thought you had that kind of stamina. Remind me never to question your libido again.

Thrax: (pants in moderate exhaustion) I never thought…in a million years…that I’d have to screw my way…out of a jam…like that. You got what we need?

Aura: (holds up the bag with the powder) Right here.

Thrax: Good (weakly grabs her by the collar, pulling her close to him) So don’t you EVER…do that…AGAIN!!

Aura: (pushes him off before dusting the staff with the powder) Oh, chill. I thought you would appreciate a group of women going ga-ga over you. (snarky) At least they’re the only ones dumb and horny enough to anyway. Now let’s get going, nearly half the day is gone and we’re running out of time.

Thrax: (grunts, thinking in frustration) *Why do I bother with this girl*

The staff glowed and blinked leading them to the gem’s location. When they were nearing the end of their journey, they came to the stronghold known as Mrsa Castle where they found a secret door leading to the catacombs. Just far up ahead was the Revival Gem on a pedestal. They made their way up to the end when suddenly trap after trap went off as they narrowly escape each one (especially Thrax as he was already worn out the orgy earlier). By the time they had barely made it out of the traps alive, they grabbed the gem and luckily found an elevator that lead them straight to the center of the throne room.

Aura: Man, I thought we were done after that 7th trap with the spiked wrecking balls, but then BAM!! There’s number #8 with the projectile acid worms!

Thrax: (less than enthusiastic) I just…I just want to go home.

Aura: (stops Thrax in his tracks) Wait. Hold on, Thrax. Do mine eyes deceive me?! Tis the fable Blob Throne of Staphylococcus Aureus! A being of microscopic knowledge and devourer of souls! Quickly, good sir! We must spirit away before- Oh my god! Will you just come out already?!

Scabies: (comes out from behind the throne and sat down in all his zombified glory) Well, for a pheromone you’ve got some rather keen instincts for you to have known I was here.

Aura: (casually) Scabies?! Oh my god, how are yo- Oh god, wow, that’s enough of that. (disgusted) Jesus, how do you put up that act all day?

Scabies: Ah, so you saw through me, did ya? You’re quite the clever pisha to haves figured I was once leader of the Sweat Gang

Aura: (laughs) The Sweat Gang? Wow, I thought you might be someone more dangerous, like Thrax over here or even Ebola! Never even heard of you.

Thrax: (looks to her, mildly blushing at the partial compliment)

Scabies: (confidently) Laugh all you like. We’re still one of the most feared gangs in the restricted zones of Frank.

Aura: (snarky) Ooh, impressive. You can frighten cells that think Pollen Pods are terrifying.

Thrax: (points out) Actually, some cells do find them rather terrifying considering Frank’s allergic to them. I mean, when you think about it, have you seen their eyes? They have no souls.

Scabies: Ah, so quick with the snark. Of course, that’s really all ya’ have goin’ on, isn’t it? A witty retort to distract everyone from what you really are. A sad, lonely little girl with no one who loves her. Someone so dead inside, she’d use a lethal virus as bait just to lure me out

Thrax: (defensively) Ok, seriously? My girl may have done some terrible things lately, but I know for a fact that she would never do something that horrible!

Aura: (bluntly) Nah, he’s right. I totally did that.

Thrax: (shocked) What?! How could you do that?!

Aura: Not so much fun when the shoe is on the other foot, is it? Keep in mind that you used and deceived me to meet your ends, remember? I just simply gave you a small taste of your own medicine.

Thrax: (dumbfounded by this newfound sinister change to her personality, though remained silent knowing she was right and should have seen this coming)

Aura: Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Scabies: And to top it all off, you play the “tough girl”. This invincible force you could never hope to be out there in the real world. Getting promoted to the FPD as a top-rated cop was probably the only best thing to ever happen to you. But there’s one thing your position will never let you hide. The one thing that’s haunted you your whole life, that you can never escape…

Aura: (narrows her eyes in annoyance)

Scabies: (smiles smugly) You are the bastard child of former cop-turned-all-around-whore. And trust me, I should know. She was one of my top earners

Aura: (laughs) What?! No, I’m not bastard child of a-…my mother wasn’t a-… (slips into psychotic laughter, finally snapping from the repressed memories of her dear mother) That’s crazy. That’s CRAZY!! HAHAHAHA!!!

Thrax: (looks at her worriedly) Uuuuh, baby, you feelin’ a’ight?

Scabies: Well, looks like my work here is done. I do so enjoy our chats, but I really have a ritual to get going. We’ll be taking the Revival Gem now, if you don’t mind.

Aura: (deranged) Really? Little old you is going to take from us? That’d be a neat TRICK!!

Scabies: Indeed. But a magician is nothing without his lovely assistants (snaps his fingers, giving a signal)

Suddenly, the old crew of the Sweat Gang suddenly came out of their hiding places looking as bad as Scabies. Like Scabies, they were all zombies out for revenge and ready to strike up some mayhem the second they were back to normal. The largest of the crew soon dragged two familiar faces tied up securely

Ozzy: (expresses joyfully upon seeing them) THRAX!! BABY GIRL!!! Boy, aren’t you two a sight for soar eyes!! It’s the funniest thing really. We found out the gem was here as well and came to retrieve it. And we would have called but (chuckles) these guys nabbed us out the blue and we’ve been trapped here ever since. (put on his usual facade) But of course not before Germinator Daddy opened a can of WHUP-ASS in honor of your moth-

Drix: (interrupts) Uh, Ozzy? I’d hate to interrupt such a “tearful” reunion, but do you think it could wait until after we’re rescued?

Thrax: How the hell are these clowns alive anyway?

Drix: (explains) It would appear when you killed Scabies and what was left him disappeared into the pipes, somehow the pipes were connected to the ones here at Mrsa Castle. The power of gem manifested once it sensed a dead soul, bringing Scabies back from the dead…um, partially. He then used a spell stolen from the archives to bring back the rest of them to seek out revenge. He used all of us to get to the gem so he could fully return all of them and himself to their original states before his 15 years comes to an end tonight!! (points out one last thing) Oh, and right now we’re probably about to die. Did I miss anything?

Ozzy: Uuuuhh, nope. That’s seems about right

All Germs: (start to move in on Thrax & Aura for the kill, snickering sinisterly)

Thrax: (worried, steps in front of Aura defensively) Oh crap, there’s too many of them, baby. I may be tired but that’s never stopped me before. I’ll back you up.

Aura: (places her hand on his shoulder, calmly but still in deranged state) Aww, that’s adorable.

Thrax: (raises a brow, confused) What is?

Aura: You think they’re a threat because we’re out numbered and they’re twice as strong due to them being undead. Well, you just sit tight. Show’s about to start. Careful, though. The first 3 rows are a ♫splash zone♫ (walks ahead of Thrax)

Thrax: (goes wide-eyed, worried) Baby, what do you mean by that?

Aura: (laughs psychotically)

Aura had officially snapped. As if things weren’t bad enough when she was reminded of her guilt. Or when she unknowingly aided Thrax in his plans to take down Frank when she was a child. Or when others saw her as a monster or a dumb pheromone whose only purpose in life is to screw or to kill just because she was born half-cell and half-virus. She could deal with all the taunts and slanders. But the moment someone insults her mother, the one organism in all of Frank that brought her into this world and held dear to her heart, that’s the moment when all she can see is red and loses her mind completely. All of that became clear when the entire throne room suddenly got darker and started to freak everyone out, especially Thrax. He had never seen her like this or any cell or virus with this kind of aura. He actually found it to be more terrifying than he was. It was at that moment Thrax realized all that she had to endure from the time of her birth, through her mother’s death, and living as an orphan on the street for years treated poorly by everyone in Frank. But the worst of it was when he walked into her life and used her in his scheme even though she trusted him, believing she had finally found a friend. His betrayal became the official turning point for what she was now. And the germs who were set to kill, started to get nervous and began to think otherwise about the whole situation.

Joe Cramp: (concerned) Um, boss? A-A thought occurs. This cop thought she was going up against someone as dangerous as Ebola, yet she brought herself and our…former boss. We sure we wanna mess with this chick?

Scabies: (callously confident) Please! The girl is all talk! And now that I’ve broken her, she’s not even THAT, anymore! She’s nothing but a gibbering mess, grasping at straws!

Aura: (still emanating the dark presence) Ooh, another one of your famous theories! Tell ya what. I’ll give you the first shot (eye twitches) See how that goes!

Joe Cramp: (thinks momentarily before concluding) Boss, I think this might be a trap.

Scabies: (abruptly) Enough! You’re all undead with twice your normal strength and there’s SEVEN of you! I think you’ve got this!

Aura: (smiles wryly, baring her fangs and eyes glowing yellow like a cat)

Scabies: Now, kill her!!

In a flash, they all came bearing down on her with no restraint. Each one either slashed at her with claws, beat her with a club, bit at her, stabbed her with knives, etc. And the whole time, she stood there not screaming in pain or giving in an inch. This made the others worry and wonder why she was refusing to do anything.

Drix: (shocked at the damage being done) Oh no, I knew it! Scabies must’ve really gotten into her head! She’s not even fighting back.

Ozzy: (worried for his adoptive daughter urges Thrax to help) Thrax, don’t just stand there! Help her!!

Thrax: (snaps out of it, adjusting himself while getting ready to jump in, thinking) *Oh, baby. Now I understand completely. It’s my fault this all happened to you. And right now, you need me more than ever* Well, I guess it’s up to me to save her or else-

Aura: (smiles as one of her wounds suddenly healed instantly along with the rest of her injuries)

Thrax: (stops in his tracks, stunned at the sight) Wait what?

All Germs: (pants, completely exhausted and shocked that she didn’t scream or go down after all they did to her)

Aura: Man, you guys are out of shape! Really oughta do some cardio.

Scabies: (frustrated) What are you Sissy Marys’ doing?! Quit screwing around and finish her!

Bruiser: (pants) I don’t understand, Boss! We threw everything we had at her! How is she still standing?!

Aura: How? Well, it’s quite simple, really. You see, ASSHOLE, you may think you’ve got all figured out. True, I was born a pheromone cell but that’s only half of it. There’s just one thing you didn’t account for.

Scabies: (getting angry)

Aura: As it turns out, the 2nd half of my makeup…is Chiroptera DNA!

Ozzy: (confused) Chiro-what now?

Drix: (explains) If I may, Chiroptera is the scientific classification order of bats more particularly the common vampire bat. They have many known diseases with one being the only rarest exception among them. And that rare disease is known as the legendary Draculine virus.

All: (gasps)

Ozzy: (curious) And you know this how?

Drix: (admitted truthfully) I studied her during that time she was in the hospital fighting Thrax’s venom. I managed to dig up some research on the subject as well as her background. I felt it was necessary for future medical reasons should you need it.

Aura: (sarcastically explains, chuckling) It’s funny how life works really. A respected female cop doing her job has an unexpected run-in with a virus that later puts her in a position she has absolutely no control over. Said events soon results into a half-breed child who eventually loses everything. But after years of loneliness and hell, you hoped you finally found someone whom you could trust that you felt connected to. And that goes out the window when he stabs you in the back in more ways than one and leaves you drifting in the void between this world and the next. Suddenly, the part of you that you didn’t know existed ends up being the thing that saves you from a near-death experience. Get to that point in your life where that side brings out more in you emotionally and physically, turning you a lethal force to be reckon with, and you’re basically untouchable. My wounds heal faster than you can make them. We could do this all day and you dumbasses would not be any closer to killing me. (laughs) Not that it wouldn’t be fun. But I’ve got good news! You see, there’s no need to wonder where your God is. Cause she’s right here… (whispers menacingly) and she’s fresh out of mercy.

All Germs: (whimpers and cries in terror)

Scabies: (scared, finally fed up) W-Well, way to prove my point, bitch! Lording your origins over them like some kind of god! Your strength is nothing but an illusion to cover-

Aura: (blazes swiftly like a gust of wind)

And what happened next shocked everyone. When everyone looked up, Aura was no longer where she was. They turned see that she was where Scabies was, who looked pale with fear as blood came out the corner of his mouth. It was at the moment they all could see something big and slimy pulsating. Aura had drove her claws deep into Scabies, creating a huge hole in his chest and ripped his barely beating heart through his back. Never had anyone there seen someone do anything so ruthless without hesitation or mercy. Scabies was shocked by this revelation as well as he weakly turned to meet her deadly gaze.

Ozzy & Drix: (shocked and horrified at the scene)

All Germs: (jaws dropped in shocked)

Thrax: (shocked and amazed, yet horrified)

Scabies: (whimpers, choking on his blood) Uuuugh….

Aura: (whispers before crushing his heart with her bare claws) I’m gettin’ real tired of your first-year-psych-student bullshit.

Scabies: (weakly) Enjoy this…while you can. It’s the deepest…a man will never be…in…you (goes up in blue flames disappearing from existence)

All Germs: (go up blue flames as well at the death of their master)

Thrax: (stares in confusion of everything that just transpired)

Aura: Yeah, well, you’re dead, soooooooooooo…. (frustrated, unable give a retort) DAMMIT!!!

An hour had passed since the incident. Aura sat on the throne staring off into space with a soulless gaze. Ozzy and Drix were still in shock that she had that kind of force in her and were worried for the well being of her current mental state. Thrax was even more worried for Aura as he was still processing the fact that this was all his fault for turning her into this, feeling untold guilt that she had become as ruthless and virulent as he was. It was all completely opposite of the sweet soul she used to be. Unable to bear the silence anymore, one of them had to speak up.

Thrax: (came up and sat beside her, concerned) Soooooo…how are you doing, baby?

Aura: (glumly) Fine. Why?

Drix: (points out) Well, you did just kill someone.

Ozzy: Which in turn killed a bunch more.

Thrax: As someone who’s killed more than his fair share of organisms, I usually feel a great sense of satisfaction from it. Which makes me kinda wonder, doesn’t that make you feel…something?

Aura: (nonchalantly) Oh, feelings? Yeah, thanks to you, I no longer have those. Went cold turkey

Ozzy: (shocked) What?! Baby girl, you can’t just do that! What’s the point in living if you can’t feel happiness, wonder, love…?

Aura: (lights up a little) Or the sweet taste of revenge! You’re right, Ozzy! What’s the point in living if I can’t enjoy such simple things?

Thrax: (sighs before lightly smiling) Close enough.

Aura: (feels a slightly new sense of being) You guys are good friends. We should go on more missions like this.

Drix: Um, I don’t think so

Ozzy: Don’t take this the wrong way, sweetie. We’re grateful for your help, but you’re-…

Thrax: Like the worst person we’ve ever had to work with.

Aura: (silent for a moment before responding) Is that your big plan? Huh? Make me feel feelings so you can cut me down a peg? That cuts deep, guys. But I respect that.

Ozzy: Yeah, that’s kinda the problem. But I suppose it’ll all be worth it to have Leah back.

Aura: That’s the spirit. Let’s get started.

They set up the ritual circle where Drix took Leah’s corpse out of his compartment (to keep her body from decaying) and laid her in the center. Using her blood, Aura brought the Revival Gem to Leah’s body. As the drop of blood glowed from the gem’s power, it fell onto the body making it glow brightly. It got brighter and brighter until suddenly…

Gem Voice: *Lifeline time limit has expired*

Leah: (goes up in blue flames, disappearing)

Ozzy: (stares in shock at what just happened)

Aura: I’m…sorry for your loss

Ozzy: (bloodcurdlingly screams) AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!

The aftermath of that incident was no better. After everything they went through, it was all a waste. And now Ozzy was running around the streets of Frank going on rampage, having officially lost the love of his life.

Thrax, Aura, & Drix: (suffers Ozzy’s wrath with some rather critical injuries, shocked)

Thrax: He took that well.

[prettyfunkyunorganized]

Sugar Daddy Hanzo part 13

Hey guys! Hope you all are well. I’m not doing so great today, so forgive me if that shows in my writing. My brain is exhausted and I struggled with writer’s block. 

If you guys ever want to throw ideas at me, I’m super cool with that and I will totally credit you!

Anywho, here’s 2,200-ish words for you. Love ya!

The next few days were spent lazing about with Hanzo and eating the plethora of comfort food your grandparents had left for you, but it was Monday again, and Hanzo had to be off to work. The man was definitely a bachelor, not doing the best of jobs staying quiet as he got ready to leave at a ridiculously early time. You were trying desperately to stay asleep but then heard an onslaught of angry Japanese. A laugh bubbled from your throat – his rare little outbursts always made you smile.

“Hanzo,” you called groggily, “everything okay in there?”

He poked his head out of the door with an apologetic look. “Forgive me, I did not mean to wake you.”

“It’s okay,” you said sitting up and rubbing your eyes, “I can always nap later. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” he huffed, glaring at the bathroom behind him.

You stood and ambled over to him sleepily. “So you just felt like curing out my bathroom? I know it’s small, but at least it works.”

“That is not the problem,” Hanzo explained, “I just managed to drop my cufflink down your drain, it all. Just a minor inconvenience. I need to go by my apartment to change anyway.”

“Something special about this cufflink,” you asked, pulling back your hair.

He looked a little sheepish. “No. It is only a trinket.”

“Come on you pressed,” opening up your linen closet and grabbing the mop bucket, “fess up.”

With a bit of confusion on his face, he watched as you began to push all the junk under your sink to the sides to make way for the bucket. “I admit, it has some sentimental value, but what on Earth are you doing?”

“Emptying out the P-trap,” you yawned, “to get you your cufflink.”

“The what?”

“P-trap.”

His frown deepened. “A trap for pee? In the sink?”

You burst out laughing. “No, my cute little rich boy, not that kind of ‘pee.’ Just plumbing. Come here, I’ll show you,” you said gesturing for him to kneel beside you.

He did as instructed and you handed him a flashlight to hold. After losing power while taking a shower, you kept one in every room. As soon as you put on rubber gloves, Hanzo got apprehensive. “My beauty, it is just a cufflink, no need to do anything drastic.”

“It’s basic plumbing,” you grinned, adjust the beam of the flashlight by moving his outstretched hand. “What, will I no longer be a beauty if I get my hands a little dirty?”

“Not at all,” he said, handing you the towel you pointed at, “but I am more than happy to call a plumber to deal with this for you.”

You scoffed, reaching into the back of the cabinet under your sink to shut off the water supply. “No way in hell am I letting you pay for a plumber for this! And the plumbers ‘round here are usually booked for weeks. Just give me a sec, this won’t take longer than a couple of minutes.”

In curious silence, Hanzo watched as you unscrewed the slip nuts on either side of the curvy piece of PVC pipe and let the water trickle out. Once it was all dripped away, you pulled out the bucket and felt around for the little piece of metal. You smiled triumphantly as you pulled out the little silver pin.

“Ta-da!”

Hanzo chuckled at you and shook his head. “Who knew I had fallen for such a handywoman?”

“What can I say,” you shrugged, holding his cufflink out for him to take, “some of us were broke ass college students who couldn’t afford to hire a professional. Thank god for YouTube tutorials.”

His whole body recoiled as you held the slightly soiled piece of metal out, “I don’t suppose you have some rubbing alcohol?”

You giggled, taking off one of your gloves and handing grabbing a nearby bottle. “How did you get by before you met me?”

“A lot of hired help,” he smirked, helping you up. “Thank you for doing this for me, especially after I woke you up so rudely.”

“No worries,” you said, swishing the disinfectant around, “I’ve done it plenty of times with earrings before work.”

With a quick tug, Hanzo pulled you close and kissed the well of your neck. “You are remarkable,” he said wistfully.

“Hanzo,” you laughed, “it’s the most basic plumbing you can do – the opposite of remarkable.”

“One man’s common is another man’s unbelievable,” gazing at you dreamily. His look hade your heart race. “I wish I could stay here with you another day.”

“I get the feeling a workaholic like you has plenty of vacation days built up,” you grinned wrapping your arms around him.

“That I do, but unfortunately I also have a meeting with an international client as well. You know, it has been a very long time since I wanted to take a day off. I have always felt I needed the distraction.”

You gave his cheek a quick peck and toyed with his silken hair. “Lucky for you, I’ve got a ton of vacation days, too. We’ll have to make good use of them soon.”

“Indeed we will,” Hanzo hummed, “but for now, I must go. May I call you later? See if you are up to lunch?”

“Please do,” you nodded, reluctantly letting him go. “I’ll tell you all about the other household repairs I can do.”

“Sounds delightful,” he smiled, kissing you as long as he could before rushing out the door.

You spent the next hours or so pretending you would be productive, but instead fell asleep on the couch.  It was your cell phone blaring away that woke you up in a panic.

“Hello,” you said rubbing your tired eyes. Then came a three hour long, entirely infuriating conversation with your company. They had found out you were released from the hospital and wondered why you were not clocked in. Less than a week after you had been shot point-blank. You were still sore and taking a myriad of drugs to help your body patch itself up. You doctor had told you to stay off your feet as much as possible for a week, and even after that, you were supposed to avoid anything that put too much stress on your body until your next appointment. If anything happened to your injured lung, it could be utterly deadly.

And yet the boss was yelling at you for ‘bungling the Lucio event.’

After your call had been dropped the third time while you were being transferred, you gave up and turned your phone off in a fury. “Fuck that,” you snarled, breathing heavily through your anger. Your pain flared up in response, and you held your chest. “I am not at all ready to go in yet,” you whispered dejectedly. You steadied your breathing and eyed the pain pills on your coffee table. Sure they would help, but opioids scare the hell out of you after watching one of your classmates dissolve into addiction. You snatched your phone and turned it back on.

“This is exactly why ‘do not disturb mode’ is a miracle,” you sighed, scrolling through Facebook and smirking as the office’s calls went right to voicemail. Being petty could feel damn good.

But then a notification reading ‘one missed call from Hanzo’ popped up.

“Oh fucking fuck,” you hissed, rushing to call him back.

“I hope I did not wake you for the second time today,” he said as he answered.

“No, no,” you sighed, “just avoiding someone else’s call.”

“Who is that,” he said gravely.

“Work,” you grumped, “they wanted to know why I wasn’t at my desk and it became a whole thing from there.”

“You were shot in the chest mere days ago,” Hanzo reeled, sounding just as angry as you.

“It’s a load of bullshit,” you griped, “but I don’t really want to talk about it right now.”

“Why don’t you let me take you out to a late lunch then,” Hanzo offered. “I can meet you at that burger place you told me you were telling me about. ‘Drown your woes in a plate of bacon and cheese covered fries,’ as you said in the hospital.”

“Dear god that sounds amazing you groaned,” getting up to get dressed, “but it doesn’t really seem like your kind of joint. It’s a greasy, hole in the wall kind of place.”

“I trust your judgment,” he said matter of factly, “and I will take off my tie before entering.”

You grinned, knowing he would still stick out like a sore thumb. “Sounds good. I’ll call a cab.”

Sure enough, Hanzo’s suit and sleek appearance had the other patrons raising eyebrows – the place was right next to campus, so most people were in sweats and sneakers. As you slid into the seat across from him, Hanzo gave an unnerving look to the group of guys who were staring at him from across the room. They instantly looked away, and you grinned.

“I probably shouldn’t love it so much when you do that, but I do,” you giggled.

“Do what,” Hanzo asked, sliding a menu over to you. He had left his gloves, probably a sign that he thought this place was grimy – which it was, but that was all part of the charm.

“You know, scaring the shit out of people with a look.”

His brow furrowed a bit until you nodded toward the table of young men. “Ah,” he said casually, “I suppose it is an automatic reaction for me now.”

“You make it sound like you’ve been stared at a lot,” you hinted.

“I have,” he explained, “ever since I was a child.”

“Care you elaborate?” He hesitated, as he always did when his childhood came up. “Come on,” you pleaded, “you don’t have to tell me much, but if this thing between us isn’t going to implode there’s got to be a little more give and take. You know I won’t judge you.”

Hanzo sighed deeply and leaned back in his chair, “I suppose you are right.” He looked out the window and spoke quietly. “My family was very prominent where I am from, and as children, Genji and I were recognized and notable – and therefore scrutinized – from a young age. We were taught we were superior and in turn taught that we were feared. I especially took to this idea, cultivating an image and persona that kept others beneath me.”

You leaned across the table and ran a few fingers up his arm. Hanzo looked to you for a brief moment before looking down, as if ashamed. “Sounds to me like you were pressured into acting that way.”

“Even if I was,” he huffed, “I still had a choice to act otherwise, and I did not. My brother was able to be his own man, even though he was raised much the same way.”

“No one said being a kid and learn the ways of the world was easy,” you assured him, “we all did stuff we’re not proud of. But you’re moving forward, that means a lot.”

He gave you a thin smile. “I think you give me too much credit.”

You couldn’t help but roll your eyes. “Did you, or you not just say something revealing about yourself?”

“I did, but I hardly think one small change constitutes ‘moving forward.’”

“It’s all about baby steps, handsome baby steps.”

The two of you ordered and ate a delicious bounty of unhealthy, happy-inducing food, Hanzo slowly loosening up. He even admitted the greasy fare ‘did, in fact, have decent flavor.’ Eventually, he set down his fork and gave you a knowing look.

“What is it,” you asked warily.

“Are we going to talk about your job making you upset now, or not?”

You groaned loudly. “Do we have to? I don’t want to ruin such a nice lunch with you, and I get the feeling I’ll be battling the bosses for the rest of the day.”

“Very well,” he said, sipping his drink, “but let me know if I can help, will you? I am more than happy to rain hell upon anyone for you.”

“Aw shucks,” you laughed, “you’re so sweet and intimidating.”

He scoffed. “I believe I can count on one hand the people who think I am sweet.”

“Just me?”

Hanzo thought a moment, “Very probably, yes.”

You smiled warmly at him, and he did the same, making you flush and toy with your necklace. Something in the back of your mind was suddenly clawing for attention. “Hanzo?”

“Yes,” he asked, still gazing at you.

“When are we going to talk about what we’re doing here? How we label this? Where we want it to go?”

He sighed and stroked his chin. “I know we need to, but I admit that I have been holding the conversation at bay.”

“You care about me, don’t you,” you asked softly.

“This morning you said you’d, well, ‘fallen for me.’ I not going to make you say any weighty words or anything, but you’re invested in us, right? You’re going to meet me halfway and talk to me and – ”

Hanzo reached across the table and took your hand, “I am completely dedicated to you. If you need anything from me or our relationship, you need only ask. I am here for you, as you have always been there for me.”

“Good,” you smiled, “I guess I just needed to hear it.”

He smiled and pressed a kiss to your knuckles, “I will be sure to tell you often. I adore you, and everything about you.”

@collinssie @watch-your-grammer @zarcake-writes @yesthisisbae @eebbapanda1@deercapitate @missbumblina@skyrina@justjaaaay@thewetbones@skyelentnight @ilovebva@punk-dork @cbrokeherboobs@sobanoodledragon@sydniesamm@honeyburger@knightofsexyness @queenoflabyrinths@speakingishard@iknowimcutethanks @ninevast@ivymarquis @sydniesamm@barbie-the-centrist@tumblertrash@angle0fthegourd@shaybae1997 @lillypet95 @rusty-potato@tt-nikithakppr @honeydew-do-you @kitties-and-unicorns @spookymf@seachelle-the-tideborn

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