#okay but is the goo being blue THAT important? crazy crazy

[sergle]

btw while I’m still being annoying, my favorite example to bring up in the “hygiene products that you can just pick up off the shelf at the store can have KNOWN carcinogens in them” conversation is coal tar. This one’s still crazy to me. It’s used in anti-dandruff products for its “anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties" but it’s also LIKE. a hazardous substance... but it can still go in your shampoo bc “aww but it’s only SOME poison, it’s not like, a LOT of poison, so we can still sell it and it’s ok”

[writertitan]

Wildflowers

pairing: levi x f!reader

word count: 2347

themes: reader pov + levi pov, day of wedding shenanigans, literally nothing but fluff, levi being a sentimental puddle of goo and not admitting it

requested by anon

As the sunlight tickles your face and wakes you, one hand reaches out like it normally does to find Levi. When you find emptiness, you frown for a moment, opening one eye to confirm he’s really not on his side of the bed like usual. It’s not until you see the small piece of paper on his pillow that it fully registers in your brain why he’s not there, and your heart swells suddenly as you sit up, a grin stretching across your face. 

You carefully pick up the piece of paper and look down at it, Levi’s neat handwriting scrawled in one simple sentence that sends your heart racing. 

See you at the altar. Don’t be late. 

Your engagement ring glints in the morning sun as you place the little note on your nightstand and get up to prepare for the most important day of your life. 

--

Why couldn’t he get it right? 

Levi huffs in frustration as he adjusts his tie for what feels like the hundredth time. He’s watching his reflection in the mirror, fingers fumbling with the fabric until he stills his movements at the sight of Erwin coming up behind him. 

“You look fine,” his friend chuckles, raising a thick brow. It’s silent for a moment, and then he speaks to Levi again. “Nervous?” 

“No,” Levi says, a little too quickly. 

He is nervous. 

Not because he’s having second thoughts, or because he’s unsure. In fact, he’s never felt so sure of a decision in his life, and that’s saying something for someone who already lives with no regrets. 

He’s nervous because he wants today to be perfect. Not just for his sake, but for you, too. 

This isn’t just the happiest day of his life, it’s the happiest day of yours, too. And Levi will be damned if he doesn’t make sure he doesn’t give that to you. 

There can’t be a hair out of place, there can’t be one mistake. But it’s already starting. He can’t get his tie right. It looks just a little crooked each time he adjusts it. 

Erwin chuckles again and moves to help Levi, adjusting his tie just so until he sees Levi glance in the mirror and visibly relax. He barely did anything, but he knows Levi’s just in his head.

“You look great,” he assures Levi, a large hand on the smaller man’s shoulder. “The picture perfect groom, actually.” 

Levi rolls his eyes and hopes that his heart stops fluttering soon. 

Once Erwin’s gone to check on a few things, he reaches into his pocket and pulls out the picture he swiped before leaving your shared home. It’s a photo of the two of you, your right cheek squished against his left one to get as close as possible for the photo that you took yourself. Unnecessary, really, but you did it to be cute. There’s a huge smile on your face and you’ve never looked so happy. Levi even has a hint of a smile quirking up his lips, but his real smile is in his eyes, bright and warm and looking straight into the camera. 

He stares at it for the longest time. It helps calm his nerves. He wants to see you that happy today, if not happier. 

When he puts the photo back in his pocket, he glances at his reflection in the mirror and groans in irritation. 

His tie’s fucked up again. 

--

Your mom and your best friend are running around you, finishing up the last few tasks before you have to get going. You’re pulling and tugging gently at your hair while you stare at yourself in the mirror, frowning to yourself. 

“What is it?” your best friend asks, coming up behind you. 

You glance at her through the mirror and sigh, then look back at yourself. 

“Do I look okay? Do you think my hair will stay in place?” 

Your friend laughs, and gives you a warm, knowing smile. 

“Nervous?” 

“No,” you say, a little too quickly. 

You are nervous. 

With another sigh, you turn to face her instead of gazing at her through the mirror, letting a shy smile peak out. 

“Okay, you got me,” you admit. “I just want everything about today to be perfect. Me included.” 

“Let me ask you this. If Levi came down wearing a burlap sack, would it bother you?” 

In all honesty, it wouldn’t. So you say so. 

“No. I just wanna marry him,” you whisper. 

“Exactly. And from what I gather, I don’t think Levi cares if you come walking down the aisle in a burlap sack with twigs in your hair. No matter what, it’ll be perfect, because it’s your wedding day,” your best friend reminds you. 

“Thanks,” you sigh, but this time it’s a pleased and relaxed sigh. 

She’s right. Today is already perfect, because today is your wedding day. And you’re marrying the love of your life. 

Your mother pops her head in, her eyes lit up with excitement. 

“Time to go!” 

--

Neither you or Levi wanted anything extravagant. Everything about your relationship was about enjoying the simple things in life and your engagement and wedding was no exception. 

Since the very first time you’d seriously begun discussing marriage, you’d dreamed of your wedding with Levi. Now, seeing it come to fruition exactly how you’d hoped, it took your breath away. 

The garden you were getting married in was blooming with flowers and vines and plants of all sorts, and the warm spring sun shone down on the little wooden altar on the other side of the garden, where you could make out Erwin’s hulking form and a familiar slender form before being whisked away to gather a few last things, including your bouquet. 

When Hange shoves a bouquet into your hands,  they give you a knowing grin and a little wink. 

“Don’t tell him I told you, but Levi picked those out himself,” they say, and your heart skips a beat as you stare down at the little bundle of flowers. 

You immediately know that most of them aren’t from the garden itself, but are a collection of small wildflowers in the surrounding area. Levi’s not exactly fond of flowers, but he once said he prefers wildflowers. You had agreed with him.

When Hange’s hand lifts to your hair, you look up at them again, puzzled. Hange shows you the little blue wildflower in their hand, smiling again. 

“Levi also picked out your something blue,” they explain. 

Your cheeks heat up as Hange nimbly secures the flower into your hair. 

And then you’re being guided back towards the little ceremony spot you’d picked out weeks ago with Levi. 

Instantly, your eyes meet the soft grey ones you fell in love with so long ago. It’s only been less than a day since you’d last been able to stare into that familiar gaze, but all day you’d craved the sight of him. As soon as Levi registers your face, his eyes soften the way they do when nobody else is around. It’s a look only reserved for you, and the fact that he feels safe and in love enough to show the small group of people how he looks at you in private, makes you nearly tear up. 

Everything else fades away and, although you know that you’ll be right next to him just moments from now, it feels like forever that you’re walking towards him. You have to silently remind yourself to keep a slow pace. 

But when Levi’s hand extends, reaching for you, you can’t help hurrying the last few steps so your hand can clasp in his and you can link your fingers together as you take your rightful place beside him. 

You’re still looking into his eyes. You’ve barely registered that there’s someone speaking, trying to marry you two together. 

The words are just aching to leave your mouth, though. 

I do. 

--

The ceremony is small and beautiful. It’s exactly the way Levi had wanted it, and he knows it’s exactly the way you wanted it, too. Just him, you, and the people closest to the two of you in the whole world. 

It’s such a small ceremony that it immediately blends into the little reception you’ve planned with him. 

Levi’s too busy kissing you to realize that there’s already a celebration taking place. The moment he’d been granted permission to kiss his bride (what an outdated speech), he seized the opportunity. 

He’s kissing his wife. His wife. His wife. 

He’s kissed you probably millions of times over the course of your relationship. There’s always magic in each kiss, but this one is powerful. Maybe the speech isn’t so outdated after all. Maybe there really is power in words. Because when Levi’s told to kiss his wife, there’s a shock of electricity that shoots from his head to his toes. 

When he pulls you away from you, it’s half his choice, half everyone else’s choice, because suddenly the small crowd you’ve invited to witness your marriage is collectively around the two of you to share hugs and congratulations. 

Levi pretends to be irritated, but his hand remains locked around yours and he squeezes it tenderly to let you know he’s happy, even though you know he’s happy. He shares a few soft smiles with his loved ones, but he never takes his eyes off you for more than two seconds. 

Beautiful. 

You’re absolutely beautiful. 

You’re always beautiful, but today, you’ve never looked more beautiful. Levi eyes the blue wildflower tucked away into your hair, the sight of making his heart go crazy in his chest, and then he eyes the bouquet of wildflowers he’d collected for you after making Hange swear not to reveal his secret. 

As everyone collectively starts moving towards the little cottage in the garden to have a small and quick reception dinner, Levi takes a moment to fall behind just enough to have a moment to himself. He takes out the identical blue wildflower in his pocket to inspect it. 

The two flowers - the one in your hair and the one in his pocket - had been growing together when he’d spotted them earlier. The prettiest ones in the field, if you asked him. 

Even though Levi was adamant that most wedding traditions were silly, he had remained steadfast in two of them, apparently. One being that he wanted to spend the day apart, to make the moment of joining together forever that much sweeter. And two...something blue. 

He knew that it was more of a tradition for the bride to uphold but he had seen those pretty blue flowers and instantly decided to twist the tradition a little to fit your love together. You had your something blue and he shared it with you. 

Levi tucks the flower back into his pocket gently before moving to be next to you again, his hand finding yours naturally. 

You look to him with a gaze full of love, and he offers you a smile.

“We’re married,” you whisper into his ear, making him shiver in the most delightful way. 

“Glad you understood what all that was about,” he teases back, but you just smile even wider, always knowing what he really means when he makes a sarcastic little quip like that. 

“I love you too,” you tell him. 

He loves you so much that it makes his heart swell almost painfully in his chest. But he’ll keep that to himself. 

--

The sunset is painting the sky purple and magenta and orange, and you’re tugging Levi along to go and watch the sunset together, away from the others. Not that they’d even notice; everyone’s had a little too much to drink, you included, and are just having a good time. 

“Just sit down,” you urge Levi, tugging him down underneath the little wooden altar you’d gotten married under just hours ago. The flowers and vines winding around the wood are still vibrant and not yet wilting, surprisingly, and sitting under it offers a fantastic view of the fuschia horizon, with hanging vines and flowers from the altar framing it to offer the most gorgeous sight. 

Even sitting there, watching the sky darken, hand reaching up so you can gently finger and tug at the flowers that frame your eyesight and give you such a spectacular view, such a spectacular memory to sear into your mind, there’s still something - someone - even more stunning. 

You turn to look at your husband, who is already looking at you. 

“You’re supposed to be watching the sunset,” you chide him, but the smile on your face erases any sort of playful irritation in your tone. 

“I’d rather look at my wife,” Levi says simply, so casually, and yet you can see the tips of his ears tinging pink. 

“Oh really?” you ask with a shy smile, gazing at him from under your lashes. 

“She’s the better view.” 

Now his voice is a whisper and he’s leaning in. 

You’re leaning in, too. 

It’s not the second, or third, or fourth kiss as husband and wife; you’ve been kissing Levi all day. You’ve already shared countless kisses as spouses. But this one marks the finality of your first day as two married souls. 

Once you pull away from the kiss, you move to sit between Levi’s legs. Your back rests comfortably against his sturdy chest. His arms wind around your middle. You smile to yourself and close your eyes when you feel his lips at your neck. 

You stay like that until the sun fully sinks beneath the horizon, and when the first stars start to twinkle their hellos is when your loved ones start calling out for you. 

“What are you two doing?! Nothing nasty, I hope!” Hange’s voice is the loudest of all, unfortunately. 

You laugh quietly as you slowly stand with Levi, his hand finding yours like always, and you lean in to kiss his cheek. 

“Let’s go back and start herding everyone home, husband.” 

At that, he actually chuckles. Levi’s soft grey eyes are a little brighter when he answers. 

“Okay, wife.” 

[knight-queen]

Dark Fate – Kou Mukami (Ecstasy Prologue) + CG

[Maniac Epilogue]  [Ecstasy Pro]  [Ecs 01]  [Ecs 02]  [Ecs 03]  [ Ecs 04 ] [ Ecs 05] [Ecs 06 ]  [Ecs7]  [Ecs 8 ] [Ecs 9]  [Ecs 10]  [Ecstasy Epilogue]

Place: 森 / Forest

Yui: (Certainly they are chasing after us…!)

Kou: M-neko chan, this way!

Yui: Y- yes!

*After a while*

Yui: Haah...hah…!

Kou: M-neko chan...are you okay?

Yui: Yeah...what about you? Doesn’t your injury hurt?

Kou: Not at all. It’s nothing so you can get relieved.

Yui: I am glad…

Kou: But at this rate...no good.

Because of the lunar eclipse, my sensation skills have weakened, so I can’t say where the bullets are coming from.

Shit, who the hell called hunters or whatever in the demon world…!

Yui: (Vampire hunters...they’re obvious enemies to Kou kun, I think.)

(I bet he’s much scared of them. Even when the ancestors (founders) attacked, he was calmer than this.)

Kou: ...Ah, sorry. I have...lose self-control.

Yui: Don’t care about it. More than that, who are called vampire hunters?

Kou: Vampire hunters are the people who follow orders of the Church and they’re demon-killers.

Typically, their main work is to get rid of the demons who’ll peak at the human world.

Yui: (Then, they should rarely come to the demon world…)

(Who summoned them here actually?)

Kou: Even also, those who aim to target the vampires by using bullets made of silver, are also called vampire hunters.

Normally, there shouldn’t be any reason to escape but...damn!

(Lunar eclipse...it feels so different than usual)

Kou: Anyway, for these hunters, we have to 一

Yui: ...Kou kun, just now

Kou: They’re close…

Yui: (What should we do...at this point)

Kou: It can’t be helped, if so then getting despaired is the only choice.

Yui: What are you planning to do?

Kou: I’ll do this..!!

*The forest is burning*

Yui: (Just by snapping the fingers, the forest gets...fire!)

What...the fire gets spreading widely.

Kou: I don’t know whether it will resist them or not but, it should be enough to protect us.

 一 Come’on , let’s go by this chance.

Yui: Yes…!

*After sometimes*

Place: Forest

Yui: Haah haah…

*Gun shoots*

Kou: Ugh…!

Yui: (We’re keep running, but vampire hunters are still after all…!)

Kou: Expectedly, that wasn’t enough to stop them huh…!

Yui: (Now we’ll eventually get caught by the fire...Kou kun will)

Kyaa…!

*Screen shakes*

Kou: M-neko chan!

Yui: Haah...haah...haa...I- I am fine...I got swayed a little...just that…

Kou: Kh….

Yui: (My leg got twisted. But...if I don’t stand up and run then)

I’m sorry Kou kun. I’m okay...so let’s hurry.

Kou: Place your arms at my neck, hold on.

Yui: I- I am fine...kh!

Kou: Just listen and embrace me. I don’t wanna hurt you where I’m aware of it, Please.

Yui: ...got it.

Kou: Hold me tightly okay?

Yui: (I ended up being a bother to him...even though, right now, he’s the one to face hard times)

Place: 洞窟 / Cave

Kou: I’ll lower your hand now, be careful.

Yui: Thank you….what’ll we do hereafter?

If they find us here, we can’t escape anymore.

Kou: Gh….

Yui: What’s wrong...kou kun?

Kou: It’s fine now.

Yui: Fine...what?

*Fades to CG as he shows a knife*

Kou: Hold this.

Yui: ...Knife? Why are you telling me to...hold this...why?

Kou: If I’m going to die like this, then I want to be ended up by your hands.

Yui: …...kh!!

Kou: Please!!

Yui: I can’t...something like.

Kou: Yui, it’s something I’m requesting.

Yui: NO…! You told us to be together forever….!!

Kou: We’re together. I am forever and ever, by your side.

If you are my blue sky then I’m your blue sky too. So, you can say it by looking up.

I am always with you.

Yui: No….!! I absolutely can’t take your life like this…!!

I am alive, because you’re with me. And that’s the way I have chosen to live all the way…!

(With a knife...I can’t do it!)

NO... absolutely NO!

Kou: The end of a vampire's long life is the beginning of celebration, that’s what Ruki kun said.

With this, I can vanish this cursed body. It’s not something to be sad like humans.

Yui: Kou kun, you’re not cursed!

Kou: ……

To be struck by bullets...and get beaten, I can’t die like this where I’m cursed!

Yui: …...gh!

Kou: Atleast, at the moment I’ll die, I want to...pass away by watching my life as my pride.

When I’ll think you love me...I’d like to get dissolved in the sky.

Yui: Kou kun…

Kou: Please.

*Takes the knife*

Yui: (Is it really the end…? Isn’t there any other way?)

(He said, if I kill him then...it will be the most blessed thing for him?)

(If it’s the most important wish for my lover then...I will) (1)

*CG Fades as someone holds Kou*

Kou: ...Kh!

Yui: (There’s a shadow...behind Kou kun!)

Kou: …….Good evening, hunter san.

Yui: (He’s pointing the gun to Kou kun’s head...kh)

Kou: I am sorry if you are in a hurry. I am in the middle of something important. Won’t you wait a little?

???: Put down that knife.

Yui: (This voice...this face)

Kou: Come on...hurry up.

Yui: (Don’t tell me this person’s called vampire hunter…)

No way, why…

???: No, this voice….Yui!?

Yui: Dad...why!!

Kou: ….You just said, Dad!?

Yui: Dad, stop it, don’t do something terrible to Kou kun! Please!

Seiji: ……

Yui: This person is different, he’s not a bad vampire...so please.

Seiji: There’s nothing good or bad about vampires.

Yui: Dad…!!

Seiji: We humans and vampires are incompatible. No way, I can allow any co-existence.

Yui: You’re wrong...it’s not like that! I have always known Kou kun!

Seiji: It’s not a consideration of humans. Whatever...your body appearance or figure is, you’re already a vampire.

Yui: (Father is...pointing gun at me. Is he about to kill two of us together…!)

Kou: ...Hey you. I’m the one who’s your target. Hurry up and settle it.

But, can’t you let go of this girl? I know your thoughts but she's a human.

If you kill her, then you’ll be a human murderer. Since, the same goes for killing a vampire, you don’t have to commit so many sins.

Seiji: I don’t need your instructions, vampire! I am the one to decide what I will do.

一一 This is my daughter.

Kou: Parents are said to be on their children’s side!? How can you call yourself a parent at this point!!

Seiji: ………*angry sigh*

Yui: (Kou kun told me that he doesn't know his parents…)

(I thought that my dad will be by my side until the end, I’ll be by his side till the end...but)

(To dad, I am almost the same as a vampire now...someone who has to be killed…!)

Seiji: It’s useless to talk any further.

Kou: Hhh….

Yui: Dad…!

Seiji: 一一 Farewell, vampires.

Yui: …...kh!

???: Do ya’ think it’s so easy!!

*Stabs Seiji and falls*

Seiji: Gh…!!

Kou: Yuma kun…!!

Yuma: Goddamn! Hurry and go away!!

Azusa: Hurry up and go….!

Yui: Azusa kun…!

Yuma: GOO!!

Kou: Got it...thank you!

Azusa: Don’t try to come back…

Yui: Y- yes!

*They run*

Azusa: I’m glad...they’re safe…

Yuma: We gotta make our gateway too! The gun’s that crap man is holding, snatch all of ‘em!!

Azusa: Yes…!

*On the other side*

Place: Forest

Yui: (Yuma and Azusa have come to help us…!)

(Knowing that they will be facing danger, they still helped us to run...be fast and we have to escape far away!)

Kou: Even though I thought it was the end…

Even though I abandoned Lord Karl Heinz...Yuma, Azusa…

Yui: (They also decided Kou kun to be the most precious...they helped him)

(I’m happy just like I’m for myself)

(We have to cool down and get to a safe place. Also for rewarding the feelings they showed us)

Place: ???

Yui: Where is...this?

Kou: ...I don’t know as well. We ran like crazy, we made a wrong approach for this.

Yui: A big castle…..is there anyone?

Kou: Anyway, let’s see what happens entering there. It doesn’t seem like there’s a place for hiding.

Yui: Yeah...you’re right. If we explain the circumstances, they may let us have shelter.

*They enters*

Kou: There’s no sign of presence...neither are any vampires’.

Yui: (Then, whose castle….?)

Kou: I don’t smell any scent of others, also it doesn’t seem like any dangerous place.

Let’s be here for a while.

Yui: ...Yes.

ーThe Endー

[imnotwolverine]

Free writing - Mom And The Mushrooms

Author’s note: Again -- if you’re here for the Henry content you can skip this one. I can’t find any inspiration for Henry stories at the moment, so I thought I’d share one of my ‘free writing’ stories instead. I’m super nervous about sharing this with you, but..ever tried ever failed, right?😅

Mom And The Mushrooms

Warnings: Dystopian, character death, food poisoning, grief

Word count: 3.607 (13 min. reading time) 

--

Phase 1: Denial

They had to be kidding right?

With a shaking jumble the train came to yet another screeching halt. And we weren’t even there yet.

Would they throw me out here? In this suburban, white picketed wilderness? I could see the grass growing thigh high. Trees poking out through the roofs of houses that had once been the wet dream of every newly-wed nuclear family.

If only they had known what would come of the world. 

Leaning into the large glass window, I let my eyes wander. There wasn’t even a platform in sight, the rails tracking for miles ahead before I could make out the silhouette of my hometown in the distance. It was no more but a bluer shade of blue in the crisp sky. Like a fever dream that I so eagerly wanted to wake up from right now. I didn’t want to be here. In this train. Going home. Or whatever was left of home.

I watched as two blue uniformed men passed outside my window. Train crew. Their stubby fingers letting factory rolled cigarettes dance as smoke puffed from their lips, their moustaches curling up with something that might just be a smile. I hadn’t seen people smile for years. So, sure. It was a little weird.

Would they throw me out here? With a speeding heart I watched them, but they walked on. Onward to the nose of the train, their pace glacial as they sauntered on side by side. Why were they so happy? Idiots.

Sighing, I rested back into the coffee stained bench, the old raggedy fabric reminding me of the long years this train had been in service. It was a miracle that it still managed to move out here once a week. In between the mighty storms, floods, hurricanes and what not. It was a miracle that people still dared to go out in this wilderness. Myself included. Though, I obviously didn’t have much of a choice.

Simmering quietly, my attention was drawn to an old broadcaster that crackled to life. The sound resembled something that might have once sounded human. But right now it sounded more like metallic gibberish. Hard to discern and probably also hardly important.

“Kggg--zz running int-----resume in a tsssskk --”

*click*

It was the last stop before we finally arrived in my hometown. Home. Pff. They had to be kidding right?

--

Phase 2: Anger

Home was a town without a name. The sign was long stolen and had never been replaced. RB04 - Midhaven. That’s what it was called. For it was located exactly in the middle of two supercities; 8LU3 - Blue City and R3D - Red City.

It was the only town that still had a few inhabitants for miles to come. And it had a shop too, my feet dragging inside as I tugged my suitcase along. The copper bell by the door tolled loudly and I couldn’t help myself but think: I fucking hate this.

‘Angel?’ A halfling sized man walked out from behind the counter, his head appearing from behind a rack with candied bars past their expiration date. He looked a century older, and perhaps an inch or so smaller. But he was still Bub. He still had that stupid smile on his face. That spiky white hair. A near toothless smile. Why did these people ever smile? What was there to smile about?

‘Bub.’ - I sounded tired.

The man’s furry brows lifted, and for a moment I wondered if he could see me at all.

‘You look terrible.’ - Fair enough, he did.

I shrugged. ‘Much like this town.’

For a moment we just stared at each other as a strange energy crackled in the late afternoon air, the rest of the small shop completely abandoned. Then again; so was most of this town. The bell behind my head ringed again, this time by a gust of autumn wind that washed inside, breaking the silence. Bub cleared his gravelly throat.

‘You’re here for ye mum’s stuff?’

‘I am.’

His brows furrowed even more, before finally he turned his attention to the counter, small feet shuffling back until I could see no more of him but the few white hairs that poked out over the wooden counter. I could see him move to and fro, but I was too tired, upset..and perhaps a touch angry, to be willing to care.

‘Tis been long since last I saw you.’ He spoke from behind the counter. ‘You a grand cuisine cook now?’

I felt my gut drop and face sour. I wish I could say I had. I had promised I would. But I had failed. I was a fucking, miserable failure. I hated myself. I was angry at myself. And had I just been better, smarter, faster...and less of an expensive mushroom stealing mess..I wouldn’t be here. They wouldn’t have cast me out. I could have made my mother proud.

I could still hear her voice: “Don’t forget about us - because we won’t forget about you. And know I’ll always be here for you.”

Well that was a lie. She was proclaimed dead and I was here, alone. Or well, sort of. Bub was still around. And for some odd reason I believed he was one of those immortal beings, ready to even outlive me, the last girl to ever be born in Midhaven. He was like one of those wizard-like creatures that offered you omens and odd jokes. In fact the only thing he missed was a bushy full beard. He sure got the humour right. I think. I mean, society wasn’t about fun. I had learned that the hard way in the last ten years as I worked my way up in the kitchen of The White Hall.

Fuck. I hated myself, for making such a mess of my life. And what in the hell was Bub doing back there?

I peeked over the counter but couldn’t see more than Bub’s spiky white hair. ‘So..how are you Bub?’

He didn’t respond and I decided to just breathe and let my anger fizzle and eyes wander. This shop had been here since I was young. It was all artificial foods. Tasteless crap. Quick, easy, cheap. No animals hurt. No nature hurt. No nature even needed.

I hated that, too; for true beauty, taste and pleasure, a little hurt is needed. That’s what the kitchen taught me. You’ve gotta sear, steam, salt, dry and beat your ingredients if you want to make them taste like anything. Pain. Pleasure. Perfection.

Perhaps that was the silver lining of my return. It sure hurt good.

Bub returned from behind the counter with a key on a keychain, the red colour of the cord faded.

‘No need to bother with the pleasantries.’ Bub finally answered, a little defeated. ‘Miryam died. The boys left for the city. Business is terrible. Do you want anything else?’

I looked down at the small man and felt something that might just be a pang of sympathy. I hadn’t felt sympathy in a long time and it made me uncomfortable to say the least. In my time as a sous-chef, sympathy was the last skill I’d ever need to use. I just had to perform, perform, perform!

I quietly took the keychain and looked back into the dusty old shop, wondering.

‘Did the farm close down?’ My eye fell on the corner where some fresh produce had  once been displayed; the empty crates looked too dusty for my question to even need answering.

‘A long time ago. Yes. There’s no business to be done in onions and leeks no more.’

‘Shame.’

‘Gotta blame the people.’

Another silence fell and for another moment we just looked at each other. A small smile formed on Bub’s wrinkly little mouth and I sighed. Could you really blame the people when they simply couldn’t even afford good food if they wanted to? I retaliated.

‘You’re right. And eh, give me some of the red stuff.’

Bub nodded and picked one off the long row of identically red labeled cans, his small body wobbling as the contents shifted his center of gravity.

‘This should keep you stuffed for a good week. Anything else?’

‘Nope. That’s all.’ I took the can from him. ‘How much is it?’

His smile grew. ‘One home cooked meal.’

I wasn’t sure if I was going mad by that point, but I swear that man had just asked me to cook for him. And it wasn’t likely to be warming up this red goopy goo. I looked down at the can and then the man, confusion crawling over my tired face.

‘What now?’

‘Your mother taught you to forage, right? I haven’t had a proper good meal in…’ He raised a brow as if thinking. ‘..ages.’

I blinked at him as he walked back to his hiding spot behind the counter, the deal apparently made.

‘I have some pig’s grease stacked away. Not much. But enough. See you tomorrow?’

I knew I should say no. In fact I had almost sworn to never cook again as they had thrown me on this train today. But something deep inside of me sang to Bub’s words. Begged me to consider. Perhaps it were the rich autumn smells in the air. Luscious and fungal. Perhaps it was my grumbling stomach combined with the hopeful glint I saw in Bub’s eyes. In any way. Before I knew it, the word was out.

‘O-okay.’ I breathed.

‘Great. See you tomorrow, Angel.’

--

Phase 3: Bargaining

They had never found my mom’s body. And laying here in my mom’s bed, I could swear she had been here only hours earlier. I could still smell her. That nauseating combination of heady flowery scents. Even now it made me a little sick in the stomach. Honeysuckle, herby, rosy..skunk.

I had despised this smell with a passion, but for the moment it gave me comfort. And perhaps even hope. Perhaps my mom wasn’t really dead. Perhaps she had just met a new man and moved to a new apartment further down town. Perhaps, she had just forgotten to send me an update. I mean. I never sent her updates about my life. So who could blame her? Oh mom. You crazy, crazy woman.

I rolled over in bed and inhaled deeply. Memorizing the dizzying smells combined with the wisp of morning air as it moved in through the cracked open window. It smelled devine. Like wet dirt and sunshine. So very different from the pristine clean smells of the city, which were all chemical and dispassionate.

In nature smells had a goal. To entice. To warn. To taste. To .. love. And my mom had been just that. Always completely and utterly in love. With nature, beasts.. and men. Let’s not forget about men.

Rolling out of bed I trudged into the small apartment, flowery cushions layered with dust and vines moving in through the cracks in the walls. I took a few testy bites of the red goo, but decided that I might as well move out and see if Bub had been right. Whether I could forage at all.

--

The morning was still surprisingly cool, my fingers wrapping urgently around my city-girl coat to keep warm. My practical shoes beat a steady rhythm on the pavements and for long quiet moments I remembered my youth here. There had been more people then. There had still been a school, some bars, jobs, families. But right now they all seemed to have left. Just like my mom had. Away from this overgrown misery. Million dollar misery.

My mom had once told me that these car wrecks by the road had once been driven by the richest of the richest. They’d sit in the back and have drivers drive them to important business meetings in the tops of the highest skyscrapers. They’d wear sleek tuxedo’s and go to fancy balls. They’d go dancing with pretty women. On live music, played on real instruments. And they’d have food. The best that money could buy.

Right now those cars were no more but rusty wreckages. Bugatti. Astin Martin. Ferrari. The city had swallowed them back up, large trees now growing around them, breaking up the cracked tarmac like spindly green fingers.

In the distance I could see some movement. A herd of deer. And though I knew there would be animals, I could still feel my heart race at the sight of their fluffy white butts, nervous cheeks halting their chewing as they noticed my presence. I held my breath and waited, but they fled all the same. Softly their hooves clacked as they jumped through the city jungle. One by one. A great buck following them last, large antlers reaching out like roots from his head.

‘Everything is connected dear. The people, the plants, the trees, the earth and the sky. We’re all connected, living the circle of life. Over and over and over. And that’s not scary. That’s beautiful.’

I could hear my mom as we’d saunter through the wilder parts of the city. Picking herbs to make that watery drink. What was it called again? Ah yes. Tea. My sweetness, I had missed tea. And, I missed mom.

Taking a steadying breath I calmed my escalating thoughts, instead focusing on my journey for today. Today, I was going to cook Bub a meal. And this time I would not have to steal the ingredients. No, I’d find them myself. Thank you very much.

--

‘This is divine!’ Bub exclaimed with a full mouth.

I smiled woefully and looked down at the mushroom stew I had managed to make with the meagre bounty I had gathered. I could have done better probably. But it was good enough for Bub. He was humming and buzzing with every bite.

‘Say Bub..’ I swallowed and looked up at the small man who barely managed to reach out above the table’s edge.

‘Yes Angel?’

‘I never heard how she died.’

Bub stopped chewing and licked his lips. He sighed and slowly shook his head. ‘A broken heart I’m sure. If ever I saw one so passionate about her man, she was it.’

‘And then he left her.’

‘He did.’

‘And you..saw she was dead?’

Bub realised what I was aiming at and huffed softly. ‘Dear. I am so sorry. It must be painful to be back here. All the memories. With your mom especially. I mean. It is difficult with there being no body and all. But she is gone. She is. She was never one to leave without a trace. A sign. A note. A goodbye...’

I didn’t listen as he rambled on. Because as I looked down at my meal I somewhere deep down knew that he was absolutely right.

--

Scene 4: Depression

I probably shouldn’t have pushed my grief away for so long. Back home my body decided it was time for a cleanse. And it sure wasn’t pretty. I sat on the toilet for hours. And for hours I wondered if I perhaps should have put that red goo some place cooler. Did I get food poisoning?

Slow hours passed and I felt dehydrated and exhausted by the time I could lay back down on my mom’s bed again, my dreams after fitful until morning came again.

The next day there was little I could do. I had hoped that I’d see some familiar faces around other than Bub. But the streets were deserted and for hours I’d just wander, reminiscing the old days. I was glad I felt somewhat better. Physically that is. Mentally I was but a shadow of my old, confident self. I had never felt grief before, so I figured I had to just occupy my body until my mind would be too tired to think.

I had nothing left to live for. I had lost my permit to live in the City. My job. My savings. My mom. My ..home. And all I could think of was that it was all my fault. I had left my mom all those years ago. I had made that decision without her. I just went, angry and spiteful of her dreamy daze that got us nowhere.

For long years I didn’t speak or update my mom. But she did update me. The beauty of personal codes was that you couldn’t simply disappear. Updates would always find you when you were in the land of the living.

Should I send my mom an update? See if she’d respond?

I looked down at my feet, their soles no longer touching tarmac but sand, the sediment carried into the streets after centuries of howling winds. And before me there were trees. Not the spindly kind like in my mom’s neighbourhood. But ancient trees, their leaves all fallen down in deep shades of red, purple and yellow, the sun tickling through their bald branches.

And then I could feel rain. Timid at first. Teasing my hair and face as I looked up into the grey sky. I felt the small bullets of truth rain down on me. Torturing me with their cold little kisses. And my eyes started to burn. I knew my mom was dead. I just knew it. I had known it deep in my gut when I had gotten the obituary statement of the legal council. I had known it when Bub had sent word for me - he never did. I had known it when I had waved it away, stating to my colleagues that this was just my mom trying to make me come home.

I hadn’t come home to her then. I hadn’t looked for her. I had stayed. And now I was too late. All I had was the rain as I crumbled and cried beneath the weight. Of defeat. 

I failed you mom.

--

Phase 5:  Acceptance

After my poor night, I figured that the red goo was probably the cause of my digestional problems. And so, after I picked myself up and dried my tears, I scavenged for more food. And I was more successful this time too. The forest I had found offered a great source of roots and herbs. Herbs with which i made my first tea in years. And though the tea tasted alright, it wasn’t as great as when my mom made it. I missed my mom.

Slow days passed like that. Scavenging, foraging, cooking and sleeping. I wondered if this was what my life would be now. Had my mom really died of a broken heart? And if yes; could I? I’d wander and wonder. My feet hitting the streets with a little more confidence each day. And perhaps it was just madness kicking in, but I could swear I heard voices. First far away, making me drift around and search for human life. Then closer by; I realised they came from the earth.

‘Everything is connected.’

My mom had been right. She had once explained that many plants had huge root systems and that there were theories they could sense each other. Even sense each other’s pain. So perhaps, just maybe, they were sensing my pain, too.

The idea was absolutely absurd. I knew it was. But it did bring me some much needed comfort. I had even tried to find Bub and ask him about those roots, but he hadn’t been in his shop. Shop closed, come back later, the little sign on his door had stated. And so I did what any good scientist would do. I started to investigate.

--

The sky was so.. blue. Spreading my hands out over the soft warm moss, I looked through the small glade up at the tall tree branches and away into the eternal skies. I wasn’t quite sure when I had lain down. And if someone had come up and told me I had been laying here for years, then perhaps I would have simply agreed. I could feel those roots beneath me, clawing at me, fusing with me. Dragging me down until my body was but mush.

I could hear them too. Much louder now, especially here in this little sunny glade, a small mound risen like a small bed just for me. I had lain down some minutes, hours, days or years ago, and what a fine bed it was. Mossy, musky and sweet, I let it soothe me as my body started to beg and plead. First quietly, but by now it had become aggravating and paralyzing. I couldn’t as much as lift my fingers by this point now the aches started to grow in strength. It felt as if I was truly falling apart as I rooted into my new existence here at the bottom of these trees.

If you want to make your food taste like anything a little hurt is needed. You gotta sear, steam, salt, dry and beat. Pain. Pleasure. Perfection.

One week ago I lost it all. My house, income, job, future. It lost it all. But now, looking up at the blue sky, voices singing to me, those worries seemed so unimportant. Everything was alright. I was here. Back to my roots. Broken and bruised and hurting all over, I smiled. For the first time in years I smiled. Because as I lay here I realised it no longer mattered. I would never leave again.

‘I’m home mom.’ I muttered, my speech slurred as my body started to seize and shake.

I had made a mistake. That much was clear now. Because as I lay here, writhing and dying, I knew: it hadn’t been the city that would take me down, but the mushrooms. The mushrooms!

The end.

--

Author’s note: I might share some more free writing stories in the future if any of you are interested. But please..! I know you’re here to thirst over Henry (and so am I), so do not feel obligated to like, comment and reblog - though it is of course always most appreciated! Sending you my love dear readers and I hope you’re having a good weekend ❤️

Sources of inspiration: For my short stories I’m diving head first in a lot of interesting articles I’ve archived over the years. For this particular story I’ve delved into the world of the five stages of grieving, as well as the magical world of mushrooms. Did you know that the mushroom you see is but a tiny part of a much larger, growing being? You can somewhat compare mushrooms to apples, as mushrooms are but the fruit that are formed by the much larger mycelium that is found beneath the earth; always prepping to produce more ‘fruit’ when the atmosphere and moisture level is just right. The more you know...

[thewritingstar]

Prompt list 5 number 19 “gosh YoURE so cute” for Greens!! Doesnt matter to me if Butch is calling BC cute or if BC is calling Butch cute. Go ham girl! Thank you!

I rewrote this thing like five times and im shit at kissing scenes but heres some greens fluff and teasing! Enjoy :) 

Requests and asks always open! 

---

Another explosion echoed through the city as the group of monsters spit out mixtures of acid and fire. It was like a giant game of cat and mouse and right now the puffs and ruffs were the smallest mice you’ve ever seen. 

It had been a while since Buttercup felt this small but it also filled her with a sense of adrenaline she secretly craved. 

These monsters had heighten senses and they figured out that direct contact was not going to work so they had to use surprise attacks, Buttercups least favorite thing to do. She wanted to just fly at top speed through their stomachs and get on with it but due to her sisters orders, she was now pressing her back to a wall to keep out of sight. 

She was infidelity more of a to go action gal. Usually she wouldn’t hesitate to fly directly into harms way but over the years, a hundreds of Blossoms scoldings, she had eased back and had even formed her own line of strategy. 

Silent was what she needed to be and as she was holding her breath, she almost let out a scream as a figure surprised her to her right. The figure emerged from the shadow with hands up to avoid the green death rays that were seconds away from blasting his ass outta town. 

A feeling of calm washed over her as he came closer and she was thankful he had found her. 

“Hey.” He talked at the normal speaking level but that wasn’t what was needed now. 

“Butch!” She scolded quietly as she covered his mouth with her hand as they heard a monster stomp by. This wasn’t the time. 

The heard the massive steps pass and she lowered her hand, thinking of a plan of attack to ensure the safety of the town once again. 

“Sorry babe, didn't mean to startle you.” He leaned against the wall with a smirk and she kept on her pout trying not the let him affect her. 

“S’fine, just shut up.” She peaked her head around the corner and saw that nothing was there. Now she could follow it and blast it from behind. “We have to run after it, we can’t use our powers, too loud.” She said to him behind but he had already started to cross the street and she huffed before running after him. 

There was about three of these things in the city and she knew that the reds and blues were in the same predicament, but she wanted to be the first one to finish just in case back up was needed. 

They slipped down an alley and pressed their backs against it. She heard the footstep coming closer and held her breath as it passed by again. Almost there. 

She turned to look at Butch who was already staring at her. And she knew that look. His eyes were soft and slightly hooded and he wore a small smile that only she got to see. They weren’t even dating, yet, but she knew that if she didn’t stop him now a make out session would be happening at the worst possible time. 

Okay maybe they were dating, or whatever. But she didn’t need her sisters to know right now, it just-wasn’t time. She was also just mad that he looked incredibly adorable right about now. Not the time!

“Stop.” She hissed and he only quirked an eyebrow up. 

“Stop what?” Fucking tease. 

She blew on her bangs and narrowed her eye to glare but he was unfazed. “Staring at me.” 

“Why.”

She wanted to punch him. Now was not the time. 

“You know why!” She whispered yelled and he took a step forward before holding his hand above her head and leaning down so that their noses almost touched. 

“I don’t think I do but I would love to hear your reason.” His breath grazed her lips and he was so close to her that she knew her face was heating up. 

“Now really isn’t the time.” Her voice shrank lower and lower and he leaned impossibly closer. 

“Time for what?” He replied with a deadly tone. 

She almost hated how much he could stir her up. The looks and the teasing. Even at age 20, he made her feel like some stupid school girl who just had the biggest crush on someone, and she did but that wasn’t the point. The point was, he shouldn’t be able to make her feel this way even with just a single glance, it was unfair even if she enjoyed it. 

He made her feel important, like his eyes were only set on her. 

She thought to herself and looked around. Its not like she wouldn’t save the day anyways and plus, the monster just got here and Blossom said to keep it quiet until they were ready to strike. She wasn’t ready and he smelled like a mixture of smoke and pine and a little bit of sweat, which was gross but in the moment, it was her favorite. 

“Fuck you.” She spat before grabbing his collar and pressing her lips to his. She felt his lips turn to a smirk as he pressed back hard. 

She loved feeling his lips on her. Soft and rough at the same time. Usually it was a fight for dominance but in this case it was suppose to be quick and simple, her least favorite. She preferred the long adoring kisses that left them both breathless and wanting more. The silent kisses that held so much emotion that words couldn’t explain. Contrary to their personal attitudes, they liked to take their time with one another, savoring the moments. 

But wild kissing in the middle of a battle with a crazy monster and an adrenaline rush would have to do, plus its not like she didn’t enjoy the company. 

He used his free hand to slip behind her back and tug her closer and she took the opportunity to throw her hands around his neck. She bit his lips gently and the sound he made was like a symphony that she wanted to play on repeat. 

They pulled away for air, small gasps leaving their mouths as his forehead rested against hers. 

“Gosh you’re so fucking cute.” He said as he kissed her again, this time harder but quicker and popped right off of her. “And although I love you feeling me up babe, we got a monsters ass to kick so imma have to ask you to keep the hands off the merchandise until check out.” He winked and she was left with wide eyes as he looked around the corner. 

“Hey you’re the one!” She began to shout but he silenced her with a quick kiss that made her head fuzzy and heartbeat quicken.Typical school girl.  

“Careful love, you don’t want the monster to hear.” He laughed as her cheeks puffed and her face turned a deep shade of red. “Ohh shes mad.” Another laugh. 

“I fucking show you cute.” She pushed past him and stomped along before locating the monster. “Fucking cute my ass.” He heard her say to herself and he was thoroughly amused. 

In a flash she was gone and he followed as the finally caught up to the monster and took it down from behind. Even with her pout, she blasted through the creature, spilling its guts all over the windows and cars before landing on the other side and getting out of the way before it crushed her. 

She walked up to him who had received the splash zone of the guts and was coated in a disgusting green fluid. She wiped her face with her forearm before stalking up to him. “That fucking cute enough?” She said with with a hand on her hip. 

She stood with the same nasty green fluid dripping off from her and dirt smearing her face. Butch looked her up and down before taking her and pulling her to his chest like he did in the alley way. 

He scooped up a chunk of what was probably the monsters flesh and threw it to the ground letting it splash over their shoes. 

“Disgusting actually.” He spoke and she rolled her eyes as she pressed her palms flat against his chest and lightly pushed away, turning on her heel. 

She didn’t get far as she was pulled by the wrist and next thing she knew, he was dipping her like she was a dancer, surrounded by guts, goo and a fowl smell from the decaying monster. 

Her face was redder than Him himself and she never knew he could be this, dare she say suave? One of her legs was hiked off the ground as her arms clung to his neck and my gosh was she suddenly feeling flustered than ever before.

 She thanked her lucky stars that none of her sisters or the other ruffs were around to see this. She also made a mental note to kick his ass later for doing this stupid shit in public, no matter how charming it was. 

“But like I said before doll.” He brought her face close to his. “You’ve so fucking cute.”

“Cute.” She pouted and he rolled his eyes in a joking way. 

“My apologizes.” She smirked. “You are fucking gorgeous, bad ass, sexy-” Now it was his turn t be silenced as she pulled him in for a passionate kiss that left him weak in the knees. Ha take that. 

Their kiss was fast and eager and really gross as she was sure that his mouth had that sick goop on it but she couldn’t care. Right now all she could focus on was the man holding her close who made her feel gorgeous, bad ass sexy and some how, cute. 

Maybe she didn’t mind being called cute, as long as it was from him. 

---

Greens, greens, greens. gotta love them. Hope you enjoyed! 

[zukos-tsungi-horn]

Souvenirs We Never Lose

Chapter 1: the moment passed me by (1 | to be continued) (Read on AO3 | FFN)

Summary:  The past is never far. Zuko remembers what Katara said about the spirit water. Now there's a second scar to heal, and Katara's feelings are more complicated—but if he wants to erase the past, she's willing to give it a try. She owes him that much, and more. Zutara

Notes:  First Zutara (and atla in general) fic!  I saw @hanszimmr‘s post at like 1am one night and my brain demanded I write this immediately (post is a bit of a spoiler for this chapter though be warned if you click).  A gazillion thanks to @lexosaurus for betaing this I legit can’t thank you enough, you’re amazing my dude! This fic takes place post-canon but is slightly au to the finale, but what ways it’s au will become clear in this chapter. In other notes, the title and chapter headings are from the song “Name” by the Goo Goo Dolls.  Enjoy!

XXX

~Even though the moment passed me by, I still can’t turn away~

“Feeling nostalgic?”  Katara grinned out the corner of her mouth, strolling up to the prow of the ship.  

Zuko’s head twitched just enough to show that he’d heard, but he remained leaning against the railing, staring at the horizon as they cut through the frozen sea.  Despite the no-longer-familiar cold that sunk into her bones as they travelled farther north, he looked as comfortable as ever – well, as comfortable as he could be in those bulky Fire Lord robes.  She didn’t miss how he tugged at his collar when he thought no one was looking.

“No,” he replied without looking up from the water.  

She gazed at the ocean too, following the waves as they rolled away from the ship’s metal sides in mesmerizing patterns. White foam mixed with the stormy cobalt water to create a palette of swirling blues.  Mist sprayed up and tickled her face when she leaned closer, a comforting sensation that she hadn’t gotten while travelling on Appa.

“The last time I was here I almost died, remember?”  He said, managing to make it sound like any ordinary fact.  Koala sheep ate grass.  Water froze when it got cold.  Zuko almost died.

Phantom lightning flashed against the back of her eyelids when she squeezed them shut.  The North Pole wasn’t the closest he’d come to dying. Not by a long shot. His hand hovered just below his chest over the hidden scar, as if he was recalling the same memory.

Well, soon he’d be able to forget a little more easily.  

“You’ve almost died a lot of times.  I wasn’t sure this one was that memorable.”  She forced a joke, hoping to distract him from the melancholy he’d settled into.  He’d been so quiet this entire trip… alright, he was the quietest of her friends anyway. But lately he’d had that scrunched look permanently plastered on his face.  Normally that expression only surfaced when he was puzzling through something particularly difficult, like when he’d tried to get Aang to focus on learning firebending, or when they’d devised their plan to face Azula.

Maybe his mood wasn’t over anything that big this time. It could be because this was his first time out of the Fire Nation since his coronation four months ago.  But with his uncle taking care of everything back home, she’d thought Zuko might be able to relax.  Or, well, whatever the Zuko version of relaxing was, since he’d never quite known how to handle a break.

Not that this trip was a break, technically.  They were meeting to discuss opening trade with the Northern Water Tribe, which might not be his idea of a fun vacation.  But he’d complained enough about sleazy politicians trying to sway him back home that Katara thought he’d appreciate the blunt nature of the Northern Tribe.

Ignoring all of the official reasons for the trip, she knew at least one thing that he was looking forward to.  Even though his suggestion had cut her inside, she would help.  She owed him that much.

She owed him more than that.  Even if he wanted to forget, she didn’t.

“I don’t think I could forget almost being crushed by the ocean spirit.  Or nearly freezing.  Or…”

He finally met her eyes, his lips tweaking into a smirk.  She met it with a relieved grin of her own.

“Or what?”  She snarked back, leaning against the railing too.  After all, it wasn’t like she had anything to worry from falling overboard.

“Or you kicking my butt,” he admitted.  Her face warmed.

“I hope you’re not expecting an apology.  You were a real jerk back then.” The words came out before she thought them through.  Spirits, he was her friend; even if she’d been feeling conflicted about the purpose of this trip, there was no reason to snap at him.

He winced and then shrugged.  “I’ll give you that.”

Her stupid mouth—she could be as bad as Sokka sometimes.  She’d come over to figure out what was wrong, not make him feel worse.

“You’ve changed so much since then,” she said.

Just on the horizon, the icy architecture of the North Pole caught her eye.  The early winter sunset set the whole place aflame; the white snow of the buildings bled to ethereal reds, oranges, and pinks.  She held in a gasp at the sight, but Zuko looked like he barely noticed.

“Everything’s changed,” he said quietly, his chin dropping to rest on his hands folded over the rail.  “I just wonder if they’ll see that.”

“They will.  You paid to have the whole tribe rebuilt!  And technically it was the ocean spirit that wrecked it more than the Fire Nation.  You’ve already gone above and beyond what you had to.”

He closed his eyes and sighed.  “It just… it feels like it still won’t be enough.  My country spent one hundred years at war.  Hurting innocent people.  And now here I come, asking for a personal favor…”

His gloves stretched tightly over his knuckles as he gripped the rail.

“This was stupid.  This whole idea was…”

She placed her hand over his.

“It was a good idea,” she insisted, despite her own personal, selfish objections.  This wasn’t about her.  It was his body, his scars, his choice what to do with them.  “You had to come here for the delegation meeting anyway, and Yugoda will listen to me. I’m sure of it.”

Well, maybe sure wasn’t the right word, but she was confident.  She’d done more impossible things before.

“I didn’t have to come.”  He wiped his face with one hand.  Steam puffed up as the frost melted from his glove.  “I could’ve sent the ambassador.”

“Well, I’m glad you came anyway.  I’d much rather be sailing for a week with one of my friends than with some stuffy old ambassador.”

He gave another shadow of a smile.  Spirits, she’d missed those, though she hadn’t realized just how much until she finally saw him again.  

“I’m glad I could convince you to come for a couple weeks.  I couldn’t do this without you.”

It wasn’t flattery, and his matter-of-fact voice showed it.  He really couldn’t do this without her.  She was the only one Yugada would trust with the water from the Spirit Oasis.

She was the only one he would trust to erase the two blistering marks on his skin.  One, seared there by his own father, he’d finally told her.  And the other, the jagged star below his chest, from when he’d—when he’d—

After months of practice she could keep the memory from completely drowning her, but it still came in fragmented snapshots.  The blinding blue flash. His terrified shout. The paralysis that froze her without a single spark touching her skin–

Because he’d been there to take it for her.  She could have lost him forever, because she’d been stupid enough to look out from behind that pillar.  Because he’d been… been everything enough to try to save her.

To almost die for her.

That had… put a lot of things into perspective.

But not quickly enough.  Maybe if she’d sorted through those feelings before Mai had come back…

No, she wasn’t going down that path again.  Zuko was happy, and alive, and that was all she wanted.

Without warning, she felt a hand shaking her shoulder. She looked up to find Zuko staring at her in wide-eyed concern.  He was closer than she remembered; she shut down the sudden urge to touch the scar under his chest, just to make sure he was still okay.  

“Katara?  Can waterbenders get seasick?”

“I’m not seasick,” she grumbled, brushing him off in embarrassment.  There was no way he could tell what she was thinking, but that didn’t stop her from feeling like his golden eyes would see straight through her.

And see what, exactly?  We’re friends. Which was exactly why she needed to get those traitorous feelings under control.  She wasn’t going to make things awkward, not like Aang had lately.

“Oh.  Err, sorry.”  He turned towards the water again, his face etched with that familiar Zuko flavor of awkwardness.  

Well, at least he didn’t look despondent anymore.  

“I hope I didn’t pull you away from anything too important.  Well, I mean you’re travelling with Aang, and he’s the Avatar, I guess everything you’re doing is important…”

She snorted.  “Are we remembering the same Aang?  He’s probably off riding giant koi or something.  Sokka’s visiting Suki in Kyoshi, but Toph’s sticking around for a little bit longer, so he won’t be by himself.”  

Aang might wish he was after a week of just the two of them, though.  She smiled at the thought of Toph teasing him, and of him shamelessly taking it until she got bored and gave up.  Hopefully that would be the worst of it. Katara didn’t know what she’d do if she came back and found that the two of them had conned an entire village again.

“You’re not worried about him at all?”  Zuko asked, sounding surprised.

“Should I be?”  She frowned, pushing aside her earlier thoughts.  She couldn’t watch over Aang and Toph forever.  This “vacation” would be good for the three of them.  

“No offense, but you’re the worrying type.  And Toph and Aang by themselves…”  He grimaced.

“Who’s the worried one now?”  She laughed.  “Don’t get me wrong, they’ll drive each other crazy.  And probably destroy a few things.  Maybe scam some people… Okay, so I might be worried.  But you’re not the only one who needed to get away for awhile.”

“Really?”  His eyebrow crinkled.

“Really!”  She braced her arms against the railing. “I might not be running a country, but keeping track of those two is probably as much work.”

“I won’t argue with that.  How are they doing?”

“They’re doing fine.” she said.

He must have noticed her undertone, because his eyes narrowed shrewdly.

“How are you doing?”

He’d asked the same thing at the start of the trip. But this time was different.  The first time had been an awkward icebreaker—he’d reverted back to some of his original shyness in the four months since they’d last seen each other—but this question was sincere.  Maybe this trip really could be like old times, when they’d learned to open up to each other more than she’d ever imagined.

Too late she realized that she’d relied on him more than she could ever admit.

“I’m…” Katara paused, letting out a mixture between a sigh and a laugh.  She hadn’t been asked how she was in so long, she almost didn’t know what to say.  The war was over; everyone just assumed she was happy—and she was, mostly.  There was just something, something…

“I miss Sokka,” she found herself blurting.  It wasn’t the main thing, the right thing, but it was what came out.  And it was true.  “I love Toph and Aang, I really do, but Sokka’s my brother.  He’s always been there for me.  I write him every week, but it’s not the same.”

“Oh,” he said a little awkwardly.  Of course, he wouldn’t understand. His sister was literally insane.  But for a brief second, she wondered if he’d ever missed his sister when he’d been in exile, despite how horrible she was to him.

“That must be rough,” he finally said.   “I’m sure he’s missing you too.”

“Pff, I doubt it,” Her eyes fell back to the waves.  “He’s having the time of his life designing machines and spending time with Suki.  He tells me all about it in his letters.”

“Maybe he just doesn’t want you to worry about him?”  Zuko suggested.  

“Maybe.”

“Have you told him you miss him?”

“Well—no,” she admitted.

He shrugged. “Maybe he thinks you’re having too much fun without him, too.”   

She hated to admit it, but he had a point.  She was so used to staying strong for all of them, she tended to only write the fun things they did in her letters.  Only allow Sokka to see that everything was okay.

“I could see that, I guess.  He doesn’t know how much–”  She bit her lip.

“What?”  Zuko asked, catching her eyes again.  She felt her face flush, and his brow furrowed.

“Are you really that embarrassed that you miss him?  Sokka’s a good brother.  I’d miss him if I were you too.  I mean, I already miss him, and he’s not—”

She covered her laugh with her hand as Zuko’s rambling became less coherent.  She hoped this didn’t happen to him too often, or else he’d have a hard time as Fire Lord.

“I’m not embarrassed about Sokka, I’m—okay, you have to promise not to laugh.”

“You’re worried about me laughing?”  He raised an eyebrow before putting on his most serious face, one that made her laugh.  

Okay, maybe she wouldn’t mind him laughing—only because she heard his laugh so rarely, and she couldn’t admit that she’d missed it.

“You know what I mean.”  She rolled her eyes.  “Anyway, ever since you and Sokka left, and it’s just been me and Aang and Toph… Aang’s been…”

She massaged her forehead, wishing she didn’t have to say it out loud.  Even more than missing Sokka, this was what had really been bothering her.  She’d never spoken of it aloud, even though Toph had clearly guessed by now.

“Aang’s been what?”  He asked, and for all his talk of her being a worrier, concern laced his voice.  Her face burned; did he really have no idea? Even though it had gotten worse recently, Aang had never exactly been subtle.

“He still… he has this…” She gestured her arms widely, uselessly through the air.  He stared at her, his head tilting slightly.  Spirits, she was just going to have to say it, wasn’t she?  

“He’s had a massive crush on me for who knows how long and it’s just getting really really awkward.”  It all came out in one breath.  His good eye widened, but before he could comment, she continued, “Somebody put it into his head that because he’s the Avatar and he beat the Fire Lord, he can have any girl he wants.  As if that’s how love works!  I swear, whatever idiot gave him that idea must never have spoken to a girl in his life!”

Her voice was rising, grating as harshly as the steel against the ice the ship began to cut through.  She was drawing stares from the crewmen on deck, but she almost couldn’t bring herself to care.  She was tempted to just glare back at them, as if asking, was it you?  Were you the idiot who told him that?  

“I told him I was confused before the comet, but I was just trying to let him down gently, since he had enough to deal with getting ready to fight Ozai.”  She dropped her voice but kept rambling, wanting to get it all out while she could.  “I should’ve just told him no then, then I wouldn’t be—I thought his crush would just go away if I ignored it long enough, but I—I just don’t want…”

There were too many thoughts, too many feelings, trapped in her head for too long.  They couldn’t all come out at once.  It wasn’t like her; normally even when she was angry, her words came out in a steady stream of righteous indignation.  But it was too hard to stay angry at Aang.  Maybe she wasn’t confused about how she felt about Aang, but she was confused about what to do about it.

“I don’t want to hurt him,” she finally muttered, still not daring to meet Zuko’s eyes.  “But if he keeps trying to woo me, or whatever he thinks he’s doing, I’m going to have to.  I think it’s the only way he’ll listen.”

She finally looked back to Zuko, wondering what he was thinking.  It had been a while since she’d dumped a rant like this on him, though it certainly wasn’t the first time.  He’d listened to her vent a number of times on Ember Island, on the nights he’d follow her into the kitchen to find her scrubbing dishes so hard they almost shattered.  She hadn’t taken that for granted, but after all these months without him, she wished she’d thanked him for that more.

His expression wasn’t anything like the calm commiseration he had back then, though.  He blinked at her like she’d been speaking a different language this entire time.

“Wait.” Zuko shook his head quickly.  “So you don’t like Aang… like that?”

“What?  Were you even listening?  No I don’t like him like that!”  She didn’t mean to snap, but she couldn’t believe he would think she’d actually… Well, at least it meant he hadn’t guessed her true feelings.  

“Of course I’ll always love him, but like, as another brother.  Anything else would just be weird, especially the way he’s being now.”  She crossed her arms, as if they could keep the rekindled frustration from fuming out of her like a hot geyser.  “Not that it stops him from trying. Or Toph from teasing me about it. I’m sure she’s just doing it since you and Sokka aren’t around anymore to joke with her, but it’s still the worst.”

“Sorry,” he said instinctively, his gaze dodging hers.  His hand hovered just below his chest again.

“It’s not your fault.” She felt a little bad for dumping that all on him.  He had more important things to worry about than Aang’s crush. Considering where his hand was brushing, his scar might even be hurting him again.  Her heart twinged, but there was nothing she could do for it now.  

Soon, though.  She was the reason he bore that scar; it was only fitting that she helped him be free of it.  That was what he wanted.

“It’s not like you could’ve stayed, anyway,” she added.  Hopefully none of her regret over that—or over anything else—bled through.  

“...Yeah.”  He frowned.  “I guess not.  Anyway, even if it’s not my fault, I’m sorry.  That sucks.”

Well, that was one way of putting it.  For as calm as his voice stayed, she caught the flicker of fire in his amber eye.  But before she could wonder what it meant, he turned back towards the interior of the ship.

“Sorry, Katara.  Just feeling kind of—seasick.  I’ll find you when we dock, okay?”

“Yeah.  Okay.”  She breathed as he strode away, the cape of his Fire Lord outfit billowing out behind him.  

The wind felt colder without him standing next to her.  

XXX

The candles in Zuko’s room erupted, threatening to ignite the ridiculous fancy drapes the crew had insisted on hanging in the otherwise bleak cabin.  He bit back his anger before any lasting damage could be done, but an acrid stench still lingered.  His nostrils flared as he paced the cabin, trying to control his breathing.  The candles flickered in time before settling back down.  His own emotions weren’t so easily tamed.

Aang had lied to him.  Aang, the Avatar—no, his friend—had lied to him.  

His bedroom door had creaked open.  

“Zuko?  Can I ask you something?”  The normally cheery voice was subdued, but Zuko didn’t process that yet.  He was too busy wondering if this night could get any worse.  Why couldn’t they just let him sleep this whole humiliating experience off?

“Nngh.  I’m trying to sleep, Aang.”  He rolled over, flipping the pillow over his head.

“Yeah, but…”  Aang trailed off.  Still standing in the doorway, a flickering fireball in his palm casting shadows across the room.  He obviously wasn’t going to be swayed easily.  Maybe answering his question would take less effort than sending him back to bed.

“Fine, I’m awake now anyway,” Zuko grumbled, but didn’t sit up.  “What do you want?”

Despite the gruffness of his voice, Aang took the invitation to sit on the edge of his bed.  Nngh, that light was so bright…

“It’s about the play,” Aang said quickly.  His voice was way too urgent for the middle of the night, especially if it was just about that horrible excuse for a play.

“Forget it,” he said, eyes still shut.  “It’s all fake anyway.”

It was an echo of Katara’s earlier reassurances, the ones she’d given to the whole group as they’d eaten a subdued dinner.  But really, if Katara hadn’t been able to comfort him before, what made Aang think Zuko could?

“But was it all fake?  Really?”

With a long-suffering sigh, Zuko finally caved and sat up, wiping crust out of his good eye.  

“Why are you asking me this now?”

Aang just stared at him, his face almost ominous with the flickering light held under his chin.

“What happened in the tunnels under Ba Sing Se?”

Zuko blinked.  Out of all the questions Aang could’ve asked, he picked that?  This wasn’t a conversation he wanted to be having in the middle of the night.  Or ever.

It’s none of your business, he wanted to say.  He’d done a lot of stupid things that day, but that moment… he couldn’t bring himself to regret letting her in, as much as he regretted everything after that.  She was the first person he’d allowed to touch his scar. He couldn’t help remembering how cold her fingers had felt.  But soft too – like ice water.  Fitting.

And her offer.  For all that the stupid play had made fun of her for it, Katara did know how to share hope.  The idea of the magic spirit water still lingered in the back of his mind.  He didn’t know how to bring it up again without saying, “Hey, Katara, remember that time in Ba Sing Se when you tried to help me and I totally stabbed you in the back?”  Even though she’d forgiven him, he couldn’t see that going well.

“Something did happen,” Aang muttered darkly, reading the wrong meaning into his distracted silence.  

“It was nothing,” the lie was dry in the back of his throat.  It wasn’t nothing, not to him, but it definitely wasn’t what the play had made it out to be.  As if Katara would ever see him like that.

That thought pricked at something in his core, but he chose to ignore it.  Nothing good would come from it, anyway.

“Look, Aang,” he said when the younger boy kept glaring.  “What do you think happened?  I was working with Azula.  You know Katara didn’t want anything to do with me.  Agni, I fought you guys right after that!”  

But he realized he was addressing the wrong problem.  “Why does it matter anyway?”

He had a sinking feeling he already knew the answer.  There was only one reason the boy would wake him up in the middle of the night for this.

“Katara’s my girl,” he said, the fire in his palm leaping up.  “And she said she’s confused right now.  I just wanted to make sure you’re not the one confusing her.”

Katara?  Confused?  But she was more sure of herself than anyone Zuko knew.

“Look, if anyone’s confused here, it’s me,” he snapped, rubbing the heel of his palm against his forehead.  “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were threatening me.  In my own room.  While I’m trying to sleep.”

Aang had the decency to look a little abashed.  Good.  If things weren’t going well between him and Katara, it wasn’t Zuko’s fault.  As much as he sometimes wished it could be.

He immediately shut down that thought.  Agni, this is why you didn’t have conversations like this in the middle of the night!

“Can I go back to bed now?  Or is there something else you want to accuse me of?”  

He probably shouldn’t have released his frustration at Aang, but it worked.  

“Just… be sure to give her some space, okay?”  Aang said, sounding a little more like his usual self before he slunk back towards the door.

“Whatever,” he mumbled before flopping back on the bed.

So this day could get worse after all.

Aang had lied.  The play had been accurate in one respect, at least—Katara did see Aang as a brother.  Zuko snorted.  That would’ve been nice to know months ago, when…

When what?  When he’d actually had a chance?  He was kidding himself. He’d almost let himself go down that path right after the Agni Kai, when she’d brought him back from the brink of death.  Those memories were little more than a blur.  The only clear image he had from that time was her face hovering inches above his, her eyes glittering with tears, her lips parted in an endlessly repeated prayer.

“Stay with me.  Zuko please, stay with me…”

And that was probably just a wishful fever dream, anyway.  Even if she hadn’t been with Aang—if he’d known she wasn’t with Aang—he couldn’t have told her how he felt then.  What if she thought it was just trauma-induced delirium? Or worse, what if she said she liked him too, but only because she felt that she owed him for taking Azula’s lightning bolt?  That wouldn’t be fair to her at all.

That was months ago though.  Now you could.

The candles flickered again as he shut out that voice in the back of his head.  It was hardly like he could ask her out when she’d just complained about Aang’s unwelcome advances.  That would be insulting.  Besides, he was with Mai again.  For however long it would last this time…

He scratched at the scar on his chest through his robes. He wasn’t sure when scratching at the scar had become a habit.  Maybe if it hadn’t, he wouldn’t be in this mess now.

But he had to wonder how long Mai silently narrowed her eyes at that simple action before she’d spoken up about it.

“It’s a scar, Mai.  It’s not like I can get rid of it,” he grumbled, self consciously drawing his hand away from the one over his abdomen and brushing the one at his face.  “Believe me, if I could I would, but I... passed up that opportunity.”

Her eyes widened for a moment with unusual interest.  “But it’s possible.”

He turned so his scarred side was hidden from her.  “Maybe.  I don’t know.  I didn’t exactly give her the chance to try…”  Which was a good thing, he had to remind himself.  She’d needed the spirit water to save Aang.  Would he have been able to live with an unblemished face if it had meant the world burned?

Mai snorted.

“What?  There wasn’t time!  That was when—”

“Seriously, Zuko.  I didn’t ask for your excuses.”

He felt his old temper flaring up. “You never ask me about anything!  Do you really not want to know what happened at all?”

“Why does it matter?”  She asked flatly.

“Because—” He stopped himself. How could he explain it?  He knew in his heart that it did matter, that everything he’d been through had forged him into the person he was today.  But he couldn’t figure out how to put it into words.  Not now. And he really didn’t want to fight again.  He was so tired of fighting.

“Nevermind,” he muttered.  “Point is, my scars are just a part of me now.  You’ll just have to get used to them.”

“Hmm.  If you say so.”

But when she pulled him close to kiss him, he couldn’t help noticing her hands never danced near the scar in his core.

After that, he hadn’t been able to ignore it.  She glared every time he drew inward, holding a fist over his middle.  But the more he tried to hide it, the more his habit seemed to grow, as if he needed to protect that most vulnerable spot.

“Does it hurt?”  Mai finally asked.  

His eyes had widened in surprise at the concern.  “Not anymore.  She did a fantastic job.”  

He knew that was the wrong answer when her lip curled.

“Then why are you always touching it and making that face?”

“What face?  I don’t make a face!”  For a second he hoped she was going to mimic whatever face she’d made, just to show him.  But of course she wouldn’t break her mask for that.

“Whatever.  I’m going on a walk.”

“You don’t go on walks.” His brow furrowed.  He really didn’t know what she was talking about.  Did he make a face?

“And you don’t make faces.”  She shrugged, heading towards the edge of the courtyard before he could stop her.  But she paused at the edge of the columns.

“Her name.”

“What?”  His heart skipped.

“You don’t say it.  You assume I know who you’re talking about.”  It seemed clear that Mai had been thinking about this, but he didn’t understand why.  But her question was something he could grasp onto.  Maybe for once, he could find out what she was thinking.  That was, If she didn’t walk away first.

He stood and reached out, but couldn’t bring his feet to move towards her.  “What—”

“I do know who you’re talking about, Zuko.  But if there’s any girl who’s name should go without saying, it’s your girlfriend’s.  Right?”

“...Right,” he replied, a chill running through him at her sharp gaze.  Don’t ever break up with me again, she’d said.  This look seemed to say the same thing.  He was supposed to belong to her.

The scar he scratched over his middle said he belonged to someone else.  And suddenly it all made sense.

He was making that face.  Mai had been right.  He couldn’t keep going on like this.

Three sharp knocks on his door pulled him out of the thoughts.  His hand shot away from his scar as if Azula’s lightning still buzzed there.

He cleared his throat.  “Come in.”

The crewman cracked the door but didn’t take his invitation.  “Ship’s about to land, my Lord.”

Zuko sighed.  “Thanks.”

“Uhh, you’re welcome,” he replied before striding away.  The crew was still getting used to Zuko showing them basic human decency.  He didn’t even want to think about how they’d been treated under his father and Azula, not to mention his own past self.

Agni knew he had plenty to think about already.  

[trustdrogon]

Two Halves of a Spirit

Chapter 2: Can't Fight This Feeling

By the time Lin went home, showered, changed, and made it to the hospital, it was nearing four in the morning. She fretted the entire way, with Kun trying to keep her calm with idle chatter from the driver’s seat as he drove the both of them there. It was almost impossible to keep up the conversation with her best friend, when her soulmate was currently who knows where in the hospital. Lin just couldn’t sit still, couldn’t focus on anything other than her, and filled to the brim with anticipation and worry. When they’d arrived, she practically bolted from Kun’s car before her friend barely had the chance to put the vehicle in park and she was running towards the entrance doors like her life depended on it.   

 There was just one problem.    

The woman had no identification on her when she had been admitted to the hospital and therefore was currently listed as ‘Jane Doe’ on her forms. Hospital policy dictated that no persons outside of family were allowed any information on any patient at any given time, if they weren’t given permission. At the moment, they were waiting for the Police Department to come forward with any information they could find and her landlord to be contacted.  

 Therefore, Lin still had no idea what her name was, where she was from, nor did she currently have any family members at her door to tell her such knowledge.   

Sensing Lin’s increasing frustration with the nurse, Kun stepped forward and lightly pushed his friend out of the way. He leaned over the counter and gave her the best charming smile that he could muster. “Listen…” he began, quickly glancing at her name tag and then pulling out his wallet to show her his firefighter’s ID. “Xia. We’re both firefighters with the Republic City Fire Department and we helped put out the fire that happened early this morning. You know the woman that was brought in?” He gestured to Lin. “My friend over here saved her. Pulled her out of a burning building that almost collapsed on them. And you know what’s crazy about this whole thing? It turns out, she’s her soulmate! Sees color and everything. Told me my eyes were blue in a way like it was out of a romance novel or something.”   Xia glanced over at her from where she sat and bit her lip. She was a relatively young nurse, probably in her early 20s if she had to guess, still young enough to not view the world in a jaded manner like most people who couldn't see color were. Lin began to feel hopeful seeing that his friend was slowly winning her over. Kun was giving her that ‘look at me, I’m so adorable’ smile, the one that always seemed to be so popular with ladies when they were in the academy. Never before had Lin appreciated her friend’s flirtatious nature so much.   “Can you at least tell us if she’s going to be okay? You can understand why she’s so worried, can’t you? I mean, the woman just found her soulmate. The love of her life. She doesn’t even know her name! And she doesn’t even know she has a soulmate because she was knocked out when she found her. Can you believe that? So far it’s kind of tragic. A one-sided love story, if you will. Can’t blame the woman for being a little high strung, can you? I’m hoping that her new lady love is going to be able to loosen her up a bit. And believe me, I’ve known her almost my whole life – I’m willing to bet she’s going to be the better half of the duo.”

“Thanks, Kun,” Lin said, dryly.   Kun waved her off.   Xia sighed, swayed by Kun’s compelling argument, and turned to her computer. She clicked a few key strokes and brought up the information needed. “You didn’t hear this from me, got it?”.   “Heard what?” Kun shrugged, feigning an air of innocence around him. Lin eagerly stepped up to the counter as Xia read off the information from her screen.   “It looks like she’s got a concussion and a sprained ankle, according to doctor’s notes. She hit her head on something when she fell and she’s currently on oxygen to help clear the smoke inhalation from her lungs. She’s expected to fully recover and will most likely be discharged in a day or two if things keep going well. We’re still waiting on a family member to show up so we can get some paperwork signed.” She smiled at Lin. “She’s on the third floor, room number 26. Don’t stay too long in there, okay?” Lin grinned, and her shoulders sagged in relief. “Thank you so much!”.   “Yeah, thanks doll,” Kun winked at Xia, which caused her to giggle and then they were off to the elevators. 

“You know, I used to really hate it when you flirted with girls that were at the academy. But at this moment in time, all I can really think is ‘thank spirits for Kun’s penchant ways for charming women.’ You totally came through, Kun.” Lin told him as the elevator doors closed and began moving.   Kun flipped her off and rolled his eyes. “You’re welcome.”   

The doors opened and they moved along the hallway until they found room twenty-six. She stopped just short of the room, suddenly feeling nervous. There were curtains covering the window of her room so she couldn’t see her but she could feel her somewhat. The soul bond had already started to form and she could feel the tingling in her spine from being a few feet away from her. She looked at Kun. “Give me a few minutes, okay?”   Kun nodded, moving to sit on the chairs that were right outside her room. “I’ll be right here.”   

The room was quiet when she entered, her attention immediately focusing on the woman laying in the bed in front of her. “Hi beautiful,” she whispered to her as she moved closer, her eyes roaming over her, observing the bandage that covered part of her forehead and the oxygen mask that was currently covering her face. Slowly, she reached out for her hand, rubbing her thumb across the top. Little bolts of electricity were slowly running up her hand to her forearm and she reveled in the feeling. “Is this what it’s like to meet your other half?” she asked her, expecting no response. Her eyes took in the silver of her hair and the tanned of her skin and she swallowed, unable to completely believe how she’d ended up with such a gorgeous woman for a soulmate.   

It was amazing the difference she felt already even though the soul bond hadn’t yet been completed. Lin had always been content with how her life had turned out. She had grown up in a nice home, when her sister allow it and wasn't causing troubles, had dependable friends that were more like family, and her career was going well. Really, she didn’t have much to complain about. But with everything she had in her life, there was always something missing. And now she finally found it. She found her.   And already she was so important.   

She gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Wake up soon, okay? I can finally see the world in color and I’m dying to go out and see everything but I won’t do it yet. Not without you. I’d really like to explore all the colors with you.”   

Giving her one last glance, she let go of her hand. Already feeling the loss, she turned and headed back outside the room and made her way over to where Kun sat. She lowered herself into the chair next to her best friend and let out a sigh. “She was sleeping,” she mumbled, leaning back and resting her head against the wall. Her eyes took in the bright lights in the ceiling, moving over to the various paintings that were hung on the walls. Colors swirled around her and she found herself unable to look away, wishing she could have someone to share what she was feeling at that moment.   

“At least you know that she’s going to be okay. She’ll be up in no time and pretty soon, you guys will probably be making goo-goo eyes at each other.” Kun paused. “What’s it like?” he asked, quietly.   

A minute of silence passed as Lin thought of the best way to describe it. “It’s… it’s overwhelming. Seeing color is amazing though, Kun. It’s like everything is all bright and new, and there’s just so much to discover.” She sucked in air and let out a loud breath and faced her friend. “But it also feels like something isn’t quite right. Like I can’t go out and completely enjoy it because I’m stuck in limbo, waiting for something. Waiting for her to catch up.”  

“Well, you’ve waited your whole life for your soulmate. You can wait a little longer.”   “Yeah,” she sighed, but managed a smile. “Thanks for coming with me.”   “What are friends for?” Kun yawned. “We’re going to be here awhile, let’s get some shut eye while we still have a few hours.”   “Right.” Lin made herself as comfortable as she could while sitting upright in a chair. Glancing one last time at her door, she shut her eyes and slipped off into a dreamless sleep. 

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

There was a tingling sensation running up her spine and the feeling of someone watching her. Lin jolted awake, her senses on high alert and immediately scanning the area around her in case there was any danger nearby. Next to her, Kun was still asleep, snoring away and oblivious to the world around him. It was 8:47am, Lin briefly noted the time from the clock that was hanging on the wall, before her eyes landed on the man that was sitting in a chair across her and was currently glaring daggers at her.   

“Who are you?” the man growled. “And why have you been sleeping outside my sister’s hospital room all night?”   

 “Um… uh… I’m Lin,” she stammered. “Lin Beifong.”  

His gaze was slightly intimidating but in a funny way, still Lin held her ground. The man stared at her, regarding her with a look of suspicion for a moment before leaning forward slightly in his chair. “Beifong, huh?” He folded his hands in front of him, elbows resting on his knees. “You’re the one that pulled her out of the fire?”  

Lin stared right back. “Yes. That was me.” 

“Well, that’s good and all. But that still doesn’t explain what you’re doing here. You did your job. It's done.”   

She shook her head, maintaining eye contact. “No, it's not,” she said, quietly. “I didn't want her to wake up alone. Because of her, I see color.”   

The man was visibly surprised. “No shit. I don’t know what I was expecting you to say, but that was certainly not it.” He paused. “You’re her soulmate, huh? Prove it. What color is this chair?”   

Lin narrowed her eyes. “It’s navy blue. And the shirt you’re wearing is purple. And those flowers on that table over there are yellow,” she began pointing to various things all over the place. “That girl’s hairclip is orange, that’s brown, this thing over here is pink, and over there – that’s maroon. Is that enough proof for you?”  

The man’s lips curled into a smile and suddenly the rough exterior from before melted away, and he chuckled. “Alright, I believe you.” He extended his hand and for the first time, Lin noticed a gold ring adorning the fourth finger of his left hand. “Bumi. It’s nice to meet you Lin.”   

“So, you’re her brother?” Lin grasped Bumi’s hand and shook it firmly.  

“Older brother if you wanna get technical but yeah, we’re family. Thanks for saving her, ma’m.”  

She shook her head. “I’m just glad she’s going to be okay. I don’t think I would’ve been able to stand it if something happened to her.”  

“Crazy, isn’t it? How important your soulmate becomes the moment you see them?”   “When did you start seeing color?” Lin asked, interested.   

“Going on four years now. Just celebrated our anniversary, in fact.”  

“Wow.” Lin looked at the other man with fascination. “That’s amazing. I don’t know a lot of people that can see color. It’s really mind-boggling.”   Bumi hummed, nodding.   

There was a moment of silence, and then –   “What’s her name?” Lin blurted out. Then she blushed and ran a hand through her gray hair. “I mean… uh… it’s just, I’ve been dying to know.”   

Bumi began chuckling. “It’s Kya.”  

Kya. Her name is Kya.   

“Kya…” she tested out her name slowly, loving the way it rolled easily off her tongue. Lin smiled. “It’s beautiful.”   

Before Bumi could respond, there was a sudden loud beeping coming from the pager that was currently looped to his belt. Beside her, Kun jerked awake, his pager also going off. “Where’s the fire?” Kun asked, jumping to his feet and looking around in a daze, confusion marring his features. He blinked for a moment. “Oh right. We’re still at the hospital.” 

Lin looked at her pager as she stood from her chair. “We’re being dispatched,” she looked at Bumi. “Duty calls.”   

“Be careful,” Bumi nodded.   

“Lin! We gotta book it!” Kun called from where he was already standing by the elevator doors.   

“I’ll be back,” Lin gave Bumi a look that this was a promise she intended on keeping. “When she wakes up, can you tell her I’ll be back?”   

“I’ll be sure to tell her.”  

With those words, Lin took off.   

The fire that they had to fight that morning was a big one. One of those ‘almost impossible to believe it was happening’ scenarios. It was an awful fire, but at least the situation hadn’t ended tragically. A pipe had broken in the the boiler room in the basement of a high school, which meant that a gas leak had somehow caused an explosion to happen, causing the chaos to last most of the day and well into the night. Only a few students and a couple teachers had been badly injured but no deaths had occurred. It was an ideal situation, considering the circumstances. The fire had been extremely hard to contain and in the aftermath, a day and a half passed before she could make it back to the hospital.  

Lin felt her heart stop, standing in the doorway as she stared into the room. The curtains were drawn back, the bed was neatly made, and the machines that had been surrounding the bed were put away. A deafening sound filled her ears and she could feel her heartbeat pounding with despair, unable to stop the panicked feeling that was spreading through her body.   

The room was empty.  

And she was gone. 

[rixwrites]

The Chaser gets chased (1/4) (Hogwarts!Noorhelm)

Author’s note: Hello everyone. I recently binge-watched SKAM and fell in love with Noorhelm. I’ve been trying to get back into writing for a while and this happened. Before you start reading, you should know that this story is very OOC. I played around with the idea of Noora chasing William and what that would be like and somehow it resulted into a fic that’s currently 6k+ words long and is still missing a chapter... 

This story was inspired by a Hogwarts prompt I found floating somewhere around the internet - I don’t take credit for it! If I find the source, I’ll link it.

Prompt that inspired this: I’m a Quidditch player and you’re the announcer, and I’m trying really hard not to notice that your comments about me are becoming less and less about how I’m playing, and more and more about how I look in my Quidditch uniform.

Now: onwards with the first chapter! Do let me know what you think and whether I should bother with continuing!

CHAPTER 1

Noora jumps about a meter high when her Ancient Runes professor suddenly dismisses the class: she had been still terribly concentrated on the doodles she was drawing in the margin of her textbook. She stuffs the large volume in her already overflowing bag and scurries out of the room. 

She’s a little bummed that she hasn’t gotten around to animating the tiny figure but imagines she can do that during the next class. She rarely pays attention in there anyway.

Noora’s glad to have finished classes for the day and is already looking forward to the noisiness of the Gryffindor Common Room to unwind. But first: dinner. The blonde is starving! She runs into her best friend just outside of the Great Hall, the Hufflepuff looking freshly showered. Noora raises an eyebrow at the sight.

“A shower in the middle of the afternoon?” She asks.

“Herbology. Bubotubers.” Eva explains. “The guy next to me squeezed his a little too harshly and I ended up collecting the pus… with my face.”

Noora tries to stifle her laughter at her friend’s misfortune but doesn’t exactly succeed. Eva throws her a look of utter betrayal.

“Oh, sod off!” She cries out when she grabs the giggling blonde in a headlock. Noora tries to wrestle herself free from the tight grip and the duo stumbles into other students while roughhousing. When the victims of their antics shoot them annoyed looks, Noora turns on her very likeable Gryffindor-charm and is quickly forgiven. 

Ah, the joys of being extremely popular! 

“That stuff hurts and blisters like crazy! I was lucky Sprout Vanished it before it could do any real damage! You were almost in need of a new best friend: I could’ve been gravelly hurt!”

The two girls have reached the Ravenclaw table by now and Eva’s boyfriend Chris Schistad, one of Noora’s fellow Gryffindors, looks up from his plate. He points his fork at his girlfriend and squints his eyes.

“Who hurt you?” He mutters darkly. The boys surrounding him smother their synchronized coughs of ‘whipped’ in their food. “Sætre? Are we going to be down one Gryffindor in the morning?”

Noora’s mouth falls open when Chris���s neighbor, the male Sixth Year Ravenclaw Prefect intently reading a scrap of parchment, volunteers to help hide her body.

“Wilhelm,” Noora sounds gleeful when she addresses the brunette. “I should inform you that I’m much more fun to get your hands on when alive.”

She’s a little disappointed when he refuses to acknowledge her pick-up line. She continues trying to get his attention. “All you have to do, is ask, handsome. And I’m all yours.”

Chris and the rest of their friends chuckle at Noora’s flirting and Eva high-fives her best friend. William seems a whole lot less amused by her smug face.

“Don’t call me Wilhelm.” He grumbles and spreads the scroll out a little further, trying to occupy the entire spot beside him so as to keep her from having dinner next to him. He knows she won’t be as easily deterred, however.

“Halla, William,” Her voice sounds positively love-struck when she takes the seat beside him and straddles the bench, fully facing him. Her empty stomach entirely filled with butterflies – all thoughts of dinner completely forgotten. “Mitt livs kjærlighet.”

Noora has never given a single fuck about the obviousness of her heart eyes: her affection for William Magnusson never stowed away. Chris has delighted in the sexual tension surrounding the duo ever since the Norwegian transfer student got sorted into Gryffindor at the start of their Fifth Year and was later introduced to his best friend the Ravenclaw Prefect.

Noora Amalie Sætre became one of the school’s most popular students soon after she started attending Hogwarts: people were drawn in by her intellect, her bubbly personality and her sharp sense of humor. On top of all that, she easily established herself as a notorious party girl when she threw an epically memorable ‘first Quidditch victory of the season’-party which very few Gryffindors remember to this day.

Noora is the girl many girls want to be and plenty of the straight guys want to be with, but she’d give it all up without a second thought if William Magnusson asked her to. Unfortunately, William doesn’t want anything to do with her.

Chris has been (un)fortunate enough to witness several Noorhelm-interactions - Eva takes credit for that now infamous household name – and he still smirks every single time he watches his housemate turn into a puddle of goo whenever his best friend is within her sights.

“Go away, Sætre.” William doesn’t look away from the essay he’s reviewing. He pointedly ignores the Norwegian phrase she added for his ears only.

Sometime during her extensive research – Eva calls it stalking but Noora refuses to see it that way – the Gryffindor had learnt about William’s Norwegian ancestry. Despite the fact that he was born in England, it’s something she likes to use as an argument when she presents her case as to why they should be together. (Something about Norwegians sticking together in a castle full of Britons.)

When Noora later found out that William understood her native language, she became even more annoying. She began whispering all kinds of lovey-dovey stuff in his ears whenever she could get close enough. It drove him up the walls – and gave his friends way too much ammunition to use against him when they spotted his flustered state.

“But, elskling,” Noora pouts. “I need to tell you something extremely important.”

“I’m not interested.” William still won’t look at the pretty blonde. Said blonde sighs impatiently and Chris nervously draws Eva’s body a little closer to his. It wouldn’t be the first time objects started flying through the air with those two around.

Noora whips out her wand and Summons the essay that’s giving William an excuse not to pay attention to her. She spies Borkis’s name at the top and very nearly shoves the homework in the shy Hufflepuff’s plate of mashed potatoes. She smiles apologetically at him. Poor Borkis’s face turns scarlet.

“Will you listen to me now?” The persistenly irksome Gryffindor grins sweetly at William.

“Will it make you leave me alone?” The Ravenclaw sounds somewhat annoyed.

Chris often wonders what’s wrong with his best friend: a gorgeous, kind and funny girl is throwing herself at him and bloody William doesn’t want her. Not for the first time he contemplates physically knocking some sense into the guy.

“Probably not.” Noora shrugs. William sighs deeply.

“Out with it, then. Make it quick, though. I can only put up with you for so long.”

“Okay, okay. So,” Eva thinks her best friend resembles an excited puppy now that she holds William’s undivided attention. She imagines that if Noora had a tail, her whole body would’ve probably been wagging along with it.

“I just had Divination, yeah?” Noora starts. “And Trelawney –”

“Professor Trelawney.” William corrects her. She merely waves his good manners away and blows him a little kiss. He scowls at her in response.

“So, Trelawney gets out her tea cups, starts pouring tea and…” Suddenly Noora gasps. Her wide eyes make her look like she’s just been hit with a mean Stunning Spell.

“What’s your favorite tea, William?” Noora asks out of the blue.

William’s confused. What’s that got to do with her story?

“Why?” He asks warily.

“A good girlfriend should know her boyfriend’s favorite tea, right?” She explains it as if it really should be obvious. “Eva knows Chris’s favorite.”

The couple nods vehemently, showing their support for Noora’s case. William glares at his so-called friends - traitors.

“I’m not your boyfriend, Sætre.” William rolls his eyes at her. When would she get that little piece of reality through her thick skull?

“Yet.” The girl smirks. Her smirk is full of confidence. She’s convinced she’ll wear him down eventually. William bursts her bubble once again.

“Never.” He deadpans. “Out with the rest of the story. I’ve about reached my Noora Sætre-tolerance level for today.”

“Right, the story.” Noora winks. She clears her throat. “Where was I? Oh, Eva and I get our cup and while we drink we talk about how handsome you looked this morning during breakfast and…”

William’s friends start laughing once again and Noora is obviously pleased with herself. She coos when she spots the blush creeping from William’s neck to his cheeks.

“Aww, kjæreste,” She’s clearly enjoying this. William hates her. “No need to be embarrassed, you were fucking beautiful.”

William can’t deal with her anymore – he looks away. When he notices how his friends are still laughing and are thus encouraging the infuriating Gryffindor beside him, he weighs the pros and cons of throwing his cup of pumpkin juice at them. Unwilling to risk detention for the rest of the week, he opts for downing the entire cup in one go. He vehemently wishes it were Ogden Firewhiskey instead – and he doesn’t even drink, so that’s saying something.

Having had enough of this whole thing, William start gathering his stuff and whacks a still sniggering Erik over the head with his untouched copy of the Evening Prophet. Noora grabs his arm to stop him.

“Wait!” She cries out. “I haven’t yet told you what my tea leaves said.”

“I’m sure I’ll survive without knowing!”

“That’s not very Ravenclaw of you.” Noora sing-songs. “You’re a Prefect. Shouldn’t you be setting an example for the younger students?”

She’s got him – she knows how much pride he takes in the position he was awarded last year. William grunts to let her know he’s listening but he refuses to look at her again.

“They predicted a date with a handsome, dark-haired foreigner!” He hears her standing up from the table. The silverware rattles when she slams her knee into the tabletop. He almost scolds her for swearing in front of younger students but doesn’t want to attract any more attention to their quarreling. Though he’s pretty sure the entire Great Hall is paying attention to them by now.

“That’s you!” Noora sounds positively elated when she continues. He can hear her gloating. He despises her even more than he did five minutes ago. “So, how about it, William Magnusson? You, me, Hogsmeade?”

William hates how she keeps doing this. Asking him out in public, trying to gain sympathy from their audience. He likes to think he’s a nice person and nice people don’t reject others where the entire student body can witness it. Still, it’s Noora herself who keeps creating these situations.

“Once again, I was born in England which, by definition, means that I’m not a foreigner.” All he ever seems to do around her is roll his eyes. Part of him fears that one day he’ll roll them so hard they’ll fall out of his head.

“Also, you want to know a funny coincidence, Noora Amalie Sætre?” Despite the couple meters distance between them, William doesn’t need to raise his voice. The entire hall is dead quiet.

Noora shivers when William uses her full name. He’s the only one who ever does so. The only one she allows to do so.

She tilts her head a little. William definitely does not notice how her expressive blue eyes reflect the flickering candlelight. He doesn’t.

“The Boggart hiding in Slughorn’s closet showed me the exact same thing you saw in your tea leaves. Weird, right?” He shrugs. “Pity you don’t vanish with a simple ‘Riddikulus’…”

Noora blinks and for all her seemingly endless bravado, she can’t ignore the sting of his remark somewhere close to her heart. She tries to shake it off however, and attempts to keep an unaffected smile on her red-painted lips.

“You can try if you want.” She grins, but the amusement doesn’t reach her eyes. She hopes none of her peers notice something off about her voice. “But if it doesn’t work, you owe me that date.”

William can no longer stand to be in the same room as the aggravating blonde – even if said room is one as massive as Hogwarts’s majestic Great Hall. He stomps to the doors, trying to ignore the looks thrown at him.

Most of Noora’s romantic admirers wear an expression of either relief or anger on their faces: relief that he hadn’t taken her up on her offer, angered by the fact that he doesn’t want her. Noora’s many friends glare at him, no doubt pissed because of his harsh rejection. William feels even smaller when he sees the disappointed looks on some of his Professors’ faces.

Noora’s hand gets pulled – Eva offering her a consoling squeeze. She drags Noora down in the seat between her and Chris. The Hufflepuff wraps her best friend up in a comforting embrace and Chris squeezes his fellow Gryffindor’s hand, apologizing for his best friend’s actions.

Author’s note (2): That was it: the first chapter! Re-reading it here makes me wonder whether this story would sooner qualify as a crack!fic rather than a very OOC-story? *shrugs* Do let me know what you think! I already have two more chapters written and ready to be published if there’s an interest to this story! And I’m planning on starting the last chapter tonight...

Author’s note (3): I apologize profusely for possibly butchering the Norwegian language: I should know better than to trust Google Translate...

[monstersofsilence]

Attacking the keep

"Jaisnt, I got your message!" Alexandra came into the cellar as Jaisnt began to prep some weapons together. Zenira and Amorra were there helping him as they chose certain firearms to take. "Are we really going to do this?!"

"Yup." The blue blood answered and quickly cleaned out the inside of chamber of his rifle. "We're gonna hit Morrin's fancy mansion."

"Oh shit... oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! I don't know if I'm prepared for this! You have so many weapons that I don't know which ones I'll be goo-"

"Have you ever used a gun before?" Jaisnt interrupted.

Alexandra quickly thought for a moment. "Well... I never used a gun before. Only thing, I guess would count as one, was a prototype weapon I was making. It was almost like a gun, but-"

"Then you get to use a gun." Jaisnt interrupted once more.

"Woah, wait! Hey! I wasn't done!"

"Alex, you're in Alternia." Amorra began to speak. "On this planet, it's either live or die, and you don't get enough time to learn the ropes of whatever is being handed down to you. What we deal with, we learn from mistakes. We learn from the many cuts and bruises we get. So you're either going to be a helping hand or someone that will be a damsel. And hey, whenever you get back to your human planet, you'll learn some things to keep you safe."

"Um... right." The human said. She has forgotten that the species inhabiting this planet is different from Earth. On Earth,  you have to prepare for things though many parts of Earth have different views and values on certain matters. War is always a big topic among them. On Alternia, it's a fight for survival and other times for certain beliefs and it seems the whole planet is divided because of it. "So... what gun should I use?"

"Depends on what you think. I suggest taking three since you want to be light when maneuvering around. In fire fights, you have to be a harder target for those that want to have you on their sights." Jaisnt explained and pulled out an M16 assault rifle. "Take this. Modified it with a laser sight along with an EOTec holographic sight. The trigger is also a hair trigger so be careful with that when squeezing it. Very easy to set off, so be sure to have the safety on while we're heading to the mansion."

"Okay... other two?"

"A sub machine gun would do nicely. The Chopper, as I would like to call it. A modified version of the usual MP7 SMG. As for why I call it the Chopper, well because it's an ammo hose. Spits out bullets like a CZ, but that's why having a drum mag for it helps. And for a side arm, a Glock 17. I'd give you the G18 version, but since you already have two weapons that are automatics, the G17 should do nicely. Has an extended mag and a suppressor."

"Jeez... this is serious, huh?" Alexandra stated as she wraps the straps of the weapons over her shoulder and hid the handgun behind her back on the top hem of her shorts.

"You have no idea." He says and walks out of the cellar as Zenira, Amorra, and eventually the human followed behind him.

The plan is simple, get to the mansion and capture Morrin Luccan. Though, after the stunt that Jaisnt, Zenira, and his ancestor did during one of Morrin's parties, it's more than likely that the security is going be increased. As for knowing if any of Morrin's men might have firearms of their own is unknown to Jaisnt and everyone else. Being prepared is a good thing with ranged weaponry.

As the four finally got to the location of Morrin's mansion, they were surprised to the sight they were seeing. A lot of men seems to be pulling out a lot of things from furniture to stacks of papers. The papers they're burning, more than likely to not leave anything for anyone to see. "Huh... looks like they're cleaning hive." Jaisnt said as the four of them stayed at a farther distance and overlooked the place.

"But why?" Amorra questioned. "Does that mean he's not here anymore? Did your infiltrating really stirred him up that badly?"

"I don't think it was that..." Alexandra says as she looks over at all the men moving things out of the mansion.

"What do you mean?" Jaisnt wondered.

"Some of those things look like body bags... a whole lot of them, too. Jai, you said that infiltration mission you did went bad towards the end, right?"

"Yeah... but me and Zenira mainly had tranquilizer guns. Nothing that shouldn't cause fatal wounds or to kill." He answered. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that something must've happened after that mission you did. It seems like someone stirred up this Morrin guy and left a lot of bodies for him to clean out. After that, I'm pretty sure he found his place compromised and decided to move to a new location, but that also means to move out or destroy whatever is left behind." Alexandra explained as Jaisnt was surprised by the analysis.

"Huh... never thought of it that way." He says. "Good shit. Alright... well, I guess capturing this guy is out of the question. Our new plan of action is to stop those guys from destroying anything that could be important. Files, documents, dossiers, anything that could be helpful and anything that would know his new whereabouts is essential. Zenira, you provide sniper support. Shoot if we're getting overwhelmed."

Zenira nodded as she began to climb up a tree and takes her position as Jaisnt, Amorra, and Alexandra moved closer to the mansion. It wasn't long where everything amped up as soon as Jaisnt threw a couple of modified grenades. It wasn't to blow up the men at the mansion but to make holes for the three to take cover in. As the explosions erupted, and the dust settled, Jaisnt, Amorra, and Alexandra jumped into their holes as they heard gunshots being fired at their direction. It seemed the men were outfitted with firearms after all, Jaisnt quickly thought.

Jaisnt stayed in his hole as he pulled up his rifle, beginning to fire at Morrin's men while Amorra quickly activated her camouflage and quickly ran up to fight the enemy head on. Alexandra, on the other hand, covered her ears as she flinched with every bullet hitting near her position. Shakingly holding the rifle that was given to her, she peeked out to see what was going on. To her, everything felt like those movies. Everything is in slow motion, bullets flying by around her. Amorra uses her cybernetic legs to increase her speed as she keeps knocking down the enemies and shooting them with her SMG while they're on the ground to ensure they stay dead.

Looking back behind her, she could see Zenira taking shots, being patient, finding the right moment and firing. She's accurate. Very good. Jaisnt as well as she turned to look over at him. He was calm. He has been in fights before, she can see it in his eyes. Her? She feels helpless. Alexandra is a scientist. Not a fighter. Closing her eyes, she takes all of this in and it felt like sound finally back around her. Opening her eyes, she knows that she had to do something. Taking the rifle in her hands, she turned towards the enemy, taking the safety off, and fired. Timing her shots well to not try and shoot Amorra accidentally as the teal blood moved around. In that moment, she felt like she was fighting for her life and the lives of others. Something she never had to do before back on Earth.

From the other hole, Jaisnt glanced over to see Alexandra. He grinned. That girl found her fighting spirit, he quickly thought. Like that, he went on back to the offensive and soon enough, it was over. "Cease fire!" Jaisnt yelled and Alexandra, including Zenira, pulled their finger away from the triggers. Alexandra breathed in heavily, planting her head on the dirt as she exhaled, relieved that she's alive.

"Hey! We got a guy here! He surrendered!" Amorra yelled as she dragged a random troll out in the front. The troll frantically tried to run away as soon he was let go, but was stopped by the teal blood as dark mist spewed out from her hands. Her expression was a look of anger, intimidation. "I thought you surrendered..." She quietly said to him.

"Don't do anything rash, Amorra." Jaisnt said as he and Alexandra, along with Zenira catching up, walked over to the teal blood and the troll. Jaisnt looked over at the troll. Lesser muscle. Possibly got him signed up to just watch over things but never expected anything like a gun fight would happen.

"P-Please don't hurt me! I-I-I'll tell ya anything!" The troll begged. "Just... d-d-don't kill me..."

"Then tell us this, what's with those body bags?" Alexandra demanded. "Did something happened here?"

"Y-Yeah... a girl! Yeah! Red blood. She came here, tried fightin' Morrin, mah boss. She used some kinda crazy ass spell. It literally turned all the high bloods into zombies or whateva. All the buyas were literally undead and Morrin's right hand men took care of 'em, meaning they had to kill 'em. The low bloods and mutants took off. They were left alive..." The troll explained.

"Merlee..." Jaisnt muttered. "Merlee told me, Alex, and Zenira that she went to face Morrin, but she got injured and escaped."

"What does this Merlee girl had to do with him?" Amorra questioned.

"Ah! Oh! Mah boss wanted her because of how powerful she is. The red blood girl is the descendant to the most powerful mage in all of Alternia. The Exiled... she sure showed it during that rainy night. Like something off of a movie! The boss is obsessed over her, wanting her as a weapon. The Exiled was used like a tool of war. Morrin wants to do the same."

"That's basically the whole story." Jaisnt stated. "Looks like Morrin knew that if Merlee were to come back, she'd be coming for him again since she knew where he lived. That's why he decided to move."

"Tell us where he is!" Amorra demanded. "Or else you'll be sent into your own worst nightmares that you'll be spending the rest of your life driven insane until you die from them."

"A-A-Ah!! I-I don't know where he is!I was just told to get rid of the stuff from his old place! I know nothin' about where he is now! Us lesser guys never know what the hell is happenin' most of the time! We're practically expendable!"

"He's telling the truth." Alexandra says as Amorra and Jaisnt turned to look at her. "If he actually knew where this Morrin guy is, he would've  told us the moment you caught him. But... that doesn't leave the fact that maybe there's any kind of document that can hold the location of where he is?"

"As far as I can tell, none of that here. All the files we're burning are regarding trolls that we got stowed away and waiting to be put into auction for the slave trade. He literally didn't want no one to know of anything. He's that strict!"

"Shit..." Jaisnt whispered. "Well, there goes that... I'll have to go back to trying to search for Morrin's new location."

"What do we do with this guy, then?" Alexandra asked. Both Jaisnt, Amorra, and the human looked at each other, shrugging.

"Well... ya could let me go and I'll run off free and not tell anyone about ya all?" The troll said nervously only to get knocked out from behind. Zenira came up behind the troll and hit him directly on top of his head with the butt of her rifle. Looking down at the troll, she turned to everyone and gives a smile and a thumbs up.

"Well... that's one way." Jaisnt said. "Let's leave him here."

"Wh-what?!" Amorra cried out, shocked from what she heard. "This guy will wake up and tell him about us!"

"True..." He crouched down, taking out a grenade, pouring some glue-like substance and had the guys hand wrapped around it, Jaisnt pulled the pin, letting the troll deal with an active grenade. Let go of it, that means letting go the activation for it to set off. "Let's head back." Getting back up, he began walking back to the direction of his hive as the others followed while Amorra took one last look at the guy who is knocked out and then begin to follow the others.

As they walked, Jaisnt turned to look at Alexandra who was quiet, very unlike her. Normally she would be a bit chatty, but not this time. "Hey, Alex."

The girl got back to reality as she turned to look at him. "Uh... yeah?"

"You did great for your first time. You surprisingly were better than me." He praised her as she only smiled slightly from the compliment.

"Honestly... it was only at the end that I did something... I was so scared when they started firing at us. I never been in a situation like that before. Back at Earth, I'd always hear stuff like that on the news. Robbers having a gun fight against police officers, or our troops telling the world their stories of their gun fights. I always thought that stuff like that would never happen to me... I guess I was wrong."

"Well, you didn't expect that you'd be at some random ass planet where the species are violent as hell. That's the biggest thing."

"Yeah... I guess."

"What is a normal life like back your planet then. Tell me." Jaisnt asked.

"Well, like every day to me, normal as it can be." Alexandra answered. "When I was young, I'd get up, eat breakfast, and head to school. Now, I pretty much get up, work on new science experiments or projects and hoping that some of them would be approved by the head scientists, hoping to have my name out there. Though getting to that point was hard..."

"How so?"

"Well... my parents never saw eye-to-eye. My mom and dad would fight all the time. My mom didn't like that my dad was too focus on his work than the family. He was known in the world of science... which didn't make it easier for me in school... meaning I was the kid that has to strive to be the best than everyone else. I'd be the only kid that would have straight As. Nobody would talk to me... there was one time that some of the girls messed with me... they took my stuff and I kept begging them to give them back to me. They were assholes... I didn't know what to do but beg... I wanted to retaliate, but I was afraid of the what would happen if I did... during that fight a couple of minutes ago, it felt like that. I felt like I was ten years old all over again and I was being picked on, not knowing what to do. Whether to just hope until it was all over with... or fight."

"Jeez... that must've been rough. And whatever happened to your... mom and dad? Your guardians, I presume?"

"My mom separated from my dad when I turned fourteen. During that time, I skipped up a few grades and I was practically in college because of my intelligence, that and also my dad helped me get there... and... to be honest... I never liked my dad and how much he pressured me over the years. He literally drove my mom away from me. We didn't get to spend a lot of time together because of how busy my dad made me with constant readings and extra work he had me do... I practically didn't have a normal childhood."

Jaisnt stayed quiet. The human's life is so much different than his. Everyone's lives are different depending on how they are brought into the world with what's told to them, but hers seems like it was forced upon. the planet that she's from is a strange place to him and their customs are odd at best. Though he can see how they're similar. "Alexandra... one day, you have to tell me everything there is to know, and to do, at your homeworld. I know that life, like yours, was not the greatest, but just know that you don't have to do the things that were brought upon you. You're a scientist, right? Are you a scientist because that's your passion? That's something you want to do and succeed in? Or is it because the shadow of your dad still looms over you and you feel like you're still doing everything for him?"

The sudden question from Jaisnt was very sudden that she didn't know how to even answer it. Thinking over it, it literally made her question everything that she has been doing the last couple of years. Was Alexandra doing it for herself? Or for her dad? Taking a moment to reflect on it, she turned to him and responded to him. "I'm doing it for myself."

That was the answer he wanted to hear. Jaisnt smiled, nodding to her. "Good. Do it for you. Not for anyone else. You have been shown the ways to do what you're doing, but after that, you think about yourself. What's important is your own well being. I'm sure your mom would be happy knowing that if you were to meet her one day."

"Thanks..." Alexandra smiled. The rest of the walk is pure silence, but during that time, she thought over what he told her. Ever since her parents separated, she hasn't heard from her mother in so long. Alex assumed that her mother cut all ties to her and her father or maybe her dad is preventing her from speaking to her mother. Whenever she gets back to Earth, she's going to try and look for her and visit her. Catch up on all the years they missed out spending time together.

[dyde21]

Mechanic 16: The “Actually-A-Date”

Sorry for the delay! Important news after this story, till then enjoy! :D 

XxXxXxXxX

Pyrrha fidgeted in her seat, hardly able to sit still. She was too eager to get moving, sitting still on a bed was practically torture to her.

“If you don't stop moving, I'm undoing the braid and you can brave the streets on your own.” Blake's voice scolded slightly from behind her.

“I'm sorry.” Pyrrha mumbled an apology, finally settling down. She normally didn't wear a braid herself, so she wasn't the best at doing them. Especially not one she hoped to have stay in all day and still look nice. Nora and Ren weren't much help unfortunately, getting no real practice before. Jane's hair was always kept short and she had no sisters so she had no practice either.

Today was the day of her and Jaune's first “official” date. Which meant, they would be out and around the town most of the day, and since the Vytal festival was only a few days away, many visitors were there, and plenty of people who would be eager to stop and get a photo with The Pyrrha Nikos. While it did make her a bit sad to have to hide from her fans today, her focus was solely on enjoying this time with Jaune. Which meant she had to go incognito and be in disguise. She had even messaged Jaune, explaining her fears and told him to bundle up just a little more as well, since some of the photos of their dinner “not-a-date” had been circling around, and after their rather public kiss at the end of yesterday's practice it had come out that she was officially taken. Some of her more hardcore fans could now probably recognize Jaune so it'd be safer for them both to lay low while going out. At least for today.

Seeing as her usual ponytail would be a dead give away, and keeping her hair down would still be easy enough to recognize from old photos of official events, she had opted to go for a braid. Which meant getting help from outside her team given the situation. Ruby wasn't too good at braids either, her hair being too short and Yang's being off limits to practice on. Yang would have been an absolute nightmare with her teasing so she was out, which just left Blake and Weiss. When she had explained the situation, Blake stepped up, mentioning that her past made her a little more than experienced when it came to blending in.

So here she was, wearing a fake pair of glasses with a coat and scarf as Blake put the finishing touches on a long, yet simple braid.

“There.” She said after a moment, getting off the bed and stretching her legs. “No one will be able to recognize you.” She said, before pausing for a moment. Reaching over, she grabbed one of the hats they had set out and put it on Pyrrha. “Perfect.”

Standing up, Pyrrha looked herself over in the mirror. With the fake glasses and hat, it really did seem a bit difficult to recognize her.

Just offering her a simple smile, Blake put her hand on her hip. “Have fun on your date. It's about time.” She said with a wink before she left to go back to her own room, thinking about spending the day with a certain blonde.

Pyrrha thanked her as she left, turning to Jane who was just leaning over the back of a chair, a Cheshire grin on her face from ear to ear. “My little Pyrrha is so grown up. Finally going out with Jaune.”

Staring at the ground blushing, Pyrrha couldn't come up with anything to say. She only looked up at a flash as she saw Jane holding her scroll up, grinning. “Commemorative photo.”

Rolling her eyes, she grabbed her scroll, still no messages. “Is he going to be late?” She remarked idly, confused. Jaune was never late, he always messaged her early, usually making sure everything was okay. He was never hesitant about trying to make sure everything was okay and that he wasn't screwing up in some way.

At a knock on the door, she jumped slightly, surprised. Opening it, she saw a familiar pair of blue eyes staring back at her. “Jaune?”

“Uh, hey Pyrrha.” He grinned, scratching the back of his head. Pausing, his face turned to a look of confusion. “You wear glasses?”

Pyrrha shook her head as Jane face palmed in the background. “They're fake. Blake said they'd help.”

“Oh.” Jaune replied smartly.

Fidgeting with the hem of her Jacket, she looked at Jaune with a small smile. “So... ready? I'm surprised you came all the way up here. You could have just texted me, I would have met you at the entrance.” She offered.

Unable to meet her eyes, Jaune blushed slightly. “I was uh... a little excited so I thought I'd meet you at the door.”

Pyrrha just giggled slightly, amused by his antics. “How did you know what room I was in? You haven't been inside before.” She remarked after a moment.

Jaune's eyes shifted to over her other shoulder, still unable to meet her eyes. “I uh... didn't. I snuck in when someone was leaving the dorm, and I was on the elevator before I realized I didn't know your floor.”

Across the room Jane dropped her head on the desk, mumbling about someone being both dumb and adorable.

“Luckily Ruby got in the elevator with me. She told me where you guys all were.”

Pyrrha nodded. “That's goo- wait. Ruby!?” Her mind raced as she began to connect the dots. “That's bad. If she knows then Ya-” Before she could finish her sentence, she barely had time to react and catch Jaune as she was suddenly shoved into her room.

“Hold up, lover boy.” Yang's voice said as she walked in the room, dragging a Ruby behind her who had her heels dug into the floor, clearly trying to stop her sister who just dragged them both in the room.

“Yang! Just leave them alone! You promised to wait till after.”

Closing the door, Yang crossed her arms as she stared Jaune down.

“First things first.” In a blur, she had pulled out her scroll and snapped a few photos. A few keystrokes, and Pyrrha heard both her and Jane's scroll chime, and heard the buzz of Jaune's.

“Now Jaune, I'm glad you finally got a hint and you and Pyrrha are a thing now. Seriously. It's about time. But she's my friend, and I wanna make sure you treat her right.”

Jaune just stared at her, mortified. “I already had to deal with this from my sister.”

“What are your plans for Pyrrha?” Yang asked, ignoring her sister who suddenly left the room.

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow at both the phrasing of the words, and the question. Jaune had told her that he had a plan for the date so she didn't need to worry about it, so she also had no idea what to expect. He had just explained not to expect something fancy like last time so going undercover in casual clothes would be fine.

“What do you mean?” He asked after a moment. “We're just going out on the town.”

Yang sighed. “How boring. Are you telling me you haven't planned a special date to woo Pyrrha?”

Stammering, Jaune stood up straight. “Of course I planned it out! I am not going to screw this up!” He said defiantly, a hint of fear in his voice telling Pyrrha just how much he had been stressing about this date. She could practical see him staying up late, going over notes and talking to his sisters. She knew how determined he could be, and the last thing she wanted was him to worry about what was supposed to be a wonderful day between them. Glaring at Yang slightly, she threw her arm protectively around Jaune's waist.

“That's enough teasing, Yang. I'm sure what Jaune has planned will be lovely.”

Yang rolled her eyes. “That's cause you guys are in the honeymoon phase. You could fall in a lake and get in a fight and you guys would still call it the 'best date ever'. What I mean is wh-”

Yang was cut off as the door behind her exploded open and two bodies dove through the air, slamming into Yang and pinning her down.

“Run!”

“We can only hold her for so long!”

Ruby and Blake called out desperately as they pinned the blonde brawler down.

Noticing Yang starting to slip free, Jane threw herself on the dog-pile as well. “Run Pyrrha!”

Reacting first, Pyrrha grabbed Jaune's hand and started sprinting down the hallway, dragging him along towards freedom.

“Why is beacon so crazy?!” Jaune asked as they ran.

“I think it's something in the water.” Pyrrha offered.

“I love it!” He said after a moment before laughing.

Pyrrha wasn't sure how long they had run for, but they were both a little out of breath as they finally came to a stop, laughing hard as they leaned into each other for support.

Standing up, Jaune finally managed to catch his breath. “I'm not sure sprinting through the campus is the best way to stay inconspicuous.”

Pyrrha just shrugged, catching her breath as she made sure her braid was still in place. “Well, at least we made it to the entrance in good time. Ready?” She asked, wrapping her arm around Jaune's as she leaned against him.

Blushing slightly Jaune nodded, before grabbing her hand and holding it tightly as they began to walk towards the airships to get into town. The walk to the airship was quiet. After the chaos of leaving the dorms, and all the busyness in the air due to the festival, they were content just being in each other's presence at the moment.

As they sat in the back of the bus once again, leaning against each other as they watched the world pass by outside, Pyrrha turned her head, resting her chin on his shoulder. “So where are we heading?” She asked curiously. “Where” still wasn't too important to her, she was just happy to be with him, but she had faith that if Jaune put his mind to it, she certainly would enjoy the destination.

Jaune turned to look at her, kissing her nose causing her to giggle. He just smiled, before looking away, the corners of his mouth drooping slightly. “I uh... thought since we're starting so early we have some time before dinner so maybe we could go shopping a bit.”

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow curiously. Jaune certainly didn't seem like a big shopper, then again being dragged along by his sisters meant he might have acquired a taste for it. It would be the first she heard of it though. Still, noticing he seemed to be worried about her reaction she hummed happily. “Well that sounds lovely. I haven't really been out around the town casually in quite a while. Just what I needed.” She offered honestly. She couldn't remember the last time she just spent the day in town without some sort of objective.

She noticed Jaune seemed to relax ever so slightly and just grinned, giving his arm a reassuring squeeze. He really seemed stressed about making this date perfect. A frown slowly crept on her face, she didn't want him dealing with this the entire date. Sitting up straight she turned to face him with her body. “Jaune.” She spoke firmly.

Turning to her confused, Jaune looked at her nervously. Had he already screwed up? “I'm sorry Pyrrha. I know today can't possibly live up to the fancy dinner my sisters set up, but I really did put a lot of thoug-” He was cut off as Pyrrha just reached up and gently cupped both sides of his face.

“Jaune, listen to me carefully.” She said, staring directly into his eyes, making sure he was looking at her. She wasn't the best with expressing herself, but for the sake of his enjoyment of the day she would do what was needed. “I am overjoyed to be out with you today. It isn't a contest comparing now to the dinner we went to. You didn't need a plan for me to enjoy today. We could have just wandered around and I would be happy. Being with you is all I care about today, not what we do or where we go.”

Jaune just stared at her, trying to believe her words. He had always heard stories about his sister's boyfriends wooing them with elaborate plots, and any of the girls he had flirted with in the past never seemed interested in just a common blacksmith like he was. He'd dream his whole life about wooing his future girlfriend, and she was telling him not to worry about that?

“If you really want today to be special for me, then try to enjoy it like I am. Nothing makes me happier than see you... my boyfriend smile.” She corrected herself, blushing slightly. It was true, they were boyfriend and girlfriend now. “I don't want you needlessly worrying. Let's just live today, okay?” She asked, leaning up and kissing him on his forehead.

Staring back at her for a moment, Jaune felt his earlier worries and fears slowly start to slip away. “O-okay.” He said, a smile creeping on his face. “I felt too greedy just being happy around you. I was afraid of being selfish.”

Pyrrha chuckled, leaning her forehead against his. “Then I'm as selfish as you are. Let's just be selfish together today.”

Jaune just chuckled, finally getting the message. He leaned forward, still slightly hesitating as he asked for permission with his eyes.

Permission Pyrrha was all too eager to grant. Leaning forward she quickly kissed him on the lips.

They kissed for a brief moment, before someone on the ship coughed, causing them both to jump slightly. They finally realized they had had a few audience members to their little touching moment. This caused them both of flush red as Jaune buried his head into her shoulder in embarrassment.

Reaching up, she just pet his head reassuringly as she stared out the window, fighting off her own embarrassment. She heard the knowing chuckle from an elderly couple who just smiled at her before winking.

When the airship had finally landed, they were quick to speed away, eager to leave that situation behind. Pyrrha slowed down after a moment, still unsure of where they were going in the town, but Jaune just grinned and held her hand, leading her along. Smirking, Pyrrha sped up for a moment to match his pace as she wrapped her arm around his, slowing him down just a bit. Judging by the lack of looks she was receiving, her disguise was working.

Jaune got the hint, and slowed his pace and began to offer some small talk. They continued at the leisurely pace, talking about the lunch Alice and Ali had taken them out to the previous day, her plans for the Vytal festival, and his plan to see it with his sister.

When Jaune began to slow his pace, Pyrrha looked around a little confused. This part of the city was a little lesser known to her, she couldn't piece together what their first stop would be. “Jaune?”

Stepping away from her for a moment, he scratched the back of his head. “Well... I was thinking about where you might like to stop and this came into my mind yesterday. It's a bit of a guess though, if you think it's lame we can move on.” He offered, gesturing to the building near them.

Finally locating the smaller sign hanging above them she pieced it together. “Heroes and Halfwits?” She read out loud, wracking her brain to think of if she had heard the name before.

“It's uh... a comic shop. I heard about it from a customer once, and I've been going here since I moved here. I love it here, and you mentioned liking X-Ray and Vav so I thought maybe...”

Pyrrha just grinned. “I'm excited.” She explained, taking his hand. It was the truth. She had never had much exposure to comics growing up before, but Jane was a bit of a fan of them, Ruby as well so she had learned just a little by being around them. She had even read a comic or two while relaxing at Jaune's shop that he had brought for his breaks. Going into a place like this on her own would have been a little too nerve-wracking for Pyrrha perhaps, but with Jaune she was a little eager to explore this new world.

Letting out a breath of relief, he grabbed her hand and lead her up the small staircase immediately in the doorway, leading them to the little upstairs shop. It was a rather small shop, just a single room with a few bookshelves in the center, a few merchandise racks, but it was lined wall to wall with comics. Waving hello to the girl at the registered, he smiled. “Hey Liz.”

“Hey Ja...” Her eyes laser focused on the fact he was holding hands with this strange redhead, gears spinning in her head. “Is that her? DID YOU TWO FINALLY GET TOGETHER?” She asked, slamming her hands down on the counter, leaning over it. “God, finally. You've been talking about her for months.” She muttered, collapsing on the counter dramatically. “I was beginning to lose hope.”

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow as she saw Jaune blush red. “I forgot she works today. Her dad is much calmer.” He mumbled.

Pyrrha just giggled, kissing his cheek. Turning to the cashier she smiled. “Nice to meet you, I'm... Py... his girlfriend.” She explained with a sheepish smile.

Liz raised an eyebrow. “I know who you are. Though judging by your get up... got it. Nice to meet you!” She paused for a moment. “Since you two are gracing us today on your special day, you get the friends and family discount on any purchases today.” She offered, waggling her eyebrows at Jaune who just groaned, but muttered a thanks all the same. He quickly grabbed Pyrrha's hand, pulling her towards the back of the shop, placing a bookshelf between Liz and themselves.

Pyrrha just snickered. “She seems friendly.”

Jaune shook his head. “She's great. One of the first people I made friends with here. She likes to get a little... involved in people's lives though. Great cashier but a little nosy.” He remarked.

“I can hear you, you know!” She called out.

“That's my point!” Jaune called in reply, earning a giggle from Pyrrha.

Shaking his head to clear his mind, he turned to Pyrrha. “Here are the X-Ray and Vav comics, but I recommend just looking around. You may find one you enjoy even more.” He said, gesturing to them all.

Pyrrha's eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store, looking around at all the options. “There's so many.” She muttered, before hesitantly taking a step towards one of the bookshelves and letting her eyes scan over it.

Jaune just grinned, amused by his girlfriend's reaction. He began to find the latest issues of X-Ray and Vav, figuring he'd pick them up while he was here. He had saved his paychecks for a while for this. Every once in a while he looked over, seeing Pyrrha scanning a new comic. He moved over to the figurines, looking for any new ones as he wanted to give Pyrrha time to explore unhindered for a while. He knew she would be the type to feel rushed if he loitered around her, and he wanted her to enjoy exploring the same way he did the first time he came here with Alice.

However, a few minutes later he felt someone tug on his scarf slightly. He turned around, curious. Pyrrha was standing there holding a few comics, looking a bit sheepish. “Have you heard of these?”

Raising an eyebrow he looked at her choice. “Iliad?” He smirked after a moment. “Excellent choice.  Alice actually loves that series as well.”

“Here, follow me.” He said, grabbing her hand and leading her towards one of the corners of the shop. The corner of the shop was just windows, letting them have a view at the busy intersection down below. In front of it were two beanbag chairs, a little lamp between them.

Jaune quickly took a seat in one of the beanbags. “It's the best way to read a comic.” He offered.

Grinning, Pyrrha grabbed the other one and slid it over next to his, sitting on it so she could lean against Jaune.

Smiling, they both began to settle in and start reading their own series.

They were content. Pyrrha wished that moment could last forever as they were both lost in their own series, enjoying each other's company as they occasionally showed each other an interest panel or joke, laughing.

Their routine had only been broken up for a moment when Liz had showed up with two cold bottled iced teas, only offering them a wink and telling them to take their time.

Neither Jaune or Pyrrha was sure just how long they had spent like that, leaning into each other and reading comics.

Eventually though, Jaune's scroll buzzed and he checked it, noting the time. “Oh, crap. It's dinner time.” He remarked, showing Pyrrha.

She raised an eyebrow. Time had flown by in there, she had trouble believing they had spent so much of the day in the corner.

Standing up, they both groaned slightly as blood rushed back to their limbs. They giggled at each other before fixing up the corner to the way they had found it in the first place. Approaching the front, they had both decided to buy the comics they had read, and Jaune had even grabbed a figurine of the protagonist from the Iliad for Pyrrha as they moved to the front.

Liz was just leaning on the counter, her head in her hand as she stared at them with a warm smile. “You two are honestly adorable.” She replied, laughing at their blush as she began to ring them up.

After they both paid, they grabbed their bags, waving goodbye to Liz and promising to return again as they went back out.

They hurried down the street, still hand in hand as Jaune lead them to the restaurant.

“I didn't realize how hungry I had gotten.” Jaune offered as his stomach rumbled.

Nodding in agreement, Pyrrha shifted her grip on her bag. “Time sure does seem to pass when you're having fun. So where are we eating?”

“Well... it's not like the last restaurant...” He started off, his voice trailing slightly in concern.

“Jaune...” She warned, raising an eyebrow. He wasn't allowed to go down this path again.

“Right. Well, it's one of my favorite places. I've gone there with my family quite a few times.” He offered as they reached the destination. Pyrrha raised an eyebrow curiously.

“A diner?”

Smirking, Jaune just squeezed her hand slightly. “Trust me. The food is absolutely the best here. You can't go wrong with Mel's diner.”

“Well, let's go then.” She said as they made their way in. It certainly seemed to be a popular place. It was packed, but most of the patrons seemed to be on dates themselves. A bunch of young couples sat at the bar around the chefs, families littering the booths on the edge. “It seems a little busy.”

“Jaune!” A voice rang out.

Glancing up, Jaune smiled. “Hey Uncle.”

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow curiously. “Uncle?”

“Good friend of my dad. He helped us find the place for our shop here in Remnant. He's the line manager here.” Jaune explained, sharing a brief hug with the large man.

The man stood in front of them, arms wide with a large gut hanging from him. He let out a hearty laugh. “The arcs are always welcome here. That includes any friends.” He said, clasping a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder. “He let me know what was going on. We got two seats saved just for you.” He said, placing a massive hand on the back of each of them and ushering them inside to the bar. Sure enough there were two crudely made placards that read “Arc Date Night.”

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow curiously. “You seem to have a lot of friends in town.”

Jaune just shifted nervously as they set their bags down and each took a seat on the stools.

“My dad and mom just love talking to people. Plus, we're in the business of repairing usually important machines for people. We do a good a job and fixing problems tend to give people good impressions of us.”

Pyrrha just nodded, understanding the logic as she looked over her menu. She noticed Jaune was just looking at her smiling.

“Heads up!” Uncle's voice called out as Jaune raised his hands and caught a pen. “You know the drill.”

Jaune just smiled sheepishly before grabbing the placard for their “date night”. Flipping it over, he began to sign the back of it.

Looking over, Pyrrha saw the signatures of Alice, Bia, and another sister on it.

Noticing she had noticed, he blushed slightly. “It's apparently been a bit of a tradition since we moved here. Uncle insists that on first dates, the Arc kids need to bring their partners here. Says something about judging their quality himself, and wanting credit if things work out as being the place where it all started.” Jaune explained.

Pyrrha blushed, finding it her time to fidget. She glanced over at Uncle, who just seemed to be grinning at her with a warm smile.

Jaune just squeezed her hand. “Don't worry, it's just us remember?”

Looking over at him, she felt her heart flutter. The diner was certainly busy. Kids were laughing and loudly talking, people were moving to and from the soda fountain, and an older radio played music loudly. It a clear form of organized chaos, but at the moment none of that seemed to matter to Pyrrha. Everything else except for Jaune seemed to fade from focus as she just stared at the blonde boy smiling warmly at her. She felt love boiling up in her as she leaned forward, giving him a brief kiss, surprising him.

Jaune was caught off guard, but certainly welcome to the idea. It had only lasted a brief moment, before Pyrrha had pulled back and buried herself in her menu, looking over the options to hide her blush. She tried to ignore the booming laugh coming from Uncle.

“Anything is good.” Jaune offered after a moment. “I've had everything on the menu, and I've never been disappointed.”

Nodding, feeling her blush under control again, Pyrrha closed her menu. “I think I know then.”

As if on cue, a bubbly girl seemingly slid into existence next to them. “Ready to order?”

“Hey Kat.” Jaune said, flinching slightly as the girl pushed down on his head and ruffled up his hair.

“Jaune! It's taken you so long. I've been waiting forever for this. Alice told me to make sure I was working today, but wouldn't tell me why.” She rambled out in a bubbly tone, her smiling never leaving her face.

Glancing over, Pyrrha raised an eyebrow.

“Uncle's daughter. Alice's best friend.”

“Yup! That's me! Kat! Nice to meet cha, now what do you want cutie?” She asked Pyrrha, leaning down to get a better look. “Hmm... you're pretty. Perhaps a little too pretty for ol' Jaune. How'd he snag you? Did he lie?” She asked, tilting her head.

Pyrrha's mind raced to keep up with the girl's chirps, before she registered what she said. Her expression went from shock to mild annoyance. “Excuse me, but I happen to find Jaune very handsome. He certainly hasn't had to lie about anything to me.”

The girl just stared at her for a moment, before cracking up and slapping Pyrrha on the back a few times. “Yup!” She leaned over the counter. “She's a keeper Dad!” She called to uncle, before resting a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder.

“Sorry! We just had to test ya, ya know? Jaune needs a good girl who will stick up for him so he doesn't get pushed around. Glad to see he found one. Now what can I get for you?” She rushed out, pulling a pen from her ponytail as she held up a notepad eagerly.

Pyrrha just stared at her, once again trying to process the girl's quick speech and switching of subjects. “I'll have the double with cheese, and fries please. And a lemonade.” She said, conceding and just going with her order.

“Good choice! Jaune?” She chirped out.

“I'll have the d-”

“-Double dog. Chili, cheese, and ketchup. Garlic fries, no wait, normal fries cause you're on a date. Strawberry lemonade. Got it.” Kat interrupted.

“...Yeah.” He conceded with a sigh, handing her his and Pyrrha's menus. Looking to Pyrrha he smiled sheepishly. “Like I said, we eat here quite a bit.”

Pyrrha just giggled, as Kat zoomed away, already taking another order.

Jaune just shook his head. “I swear Kat is the only one who isn't intimidated by Alice and draws out her normal side. I'm still not sure if that's a good thing or not. Just make sure to never be in the same room as both of them.” Jaune relented, dropping his head on the counter.

Pyrrha just comforting pat his back.

Before long, they were both chatting idle again, completely lost in each other's presence. They were content with how things were. They weren't sure how long had passed before their food suddenly slid in front of them, a grinning Kat standing there. “This seems to be going well.” Was all she said before she dashed away, already addressing another table.

Pyrrha picked up the burger, looking at it expectantly. She had never really had a burger in a common diner like this. They weren't exactly the healthiest meals one could find, so her parents and team usually tried to sway her from having a lunch at place like this. Looking over, she was about to ask Jaune for advice on how to eat it. She was already feeling a bit nervous about digging in, when she saw him with a hot dog shoved in his mouth, staring at her like a deer in the headlights.

Slowly he took a bite, chewing before he coughed nervously and dabbed his mouth with a napkin. “Excuse me.” He muttered nervously, wincing as Kat slapped the back of his head as she walked by, muttering about manners.

Pyrrha just shrugged, figuring when in Atlas, do as the Atlasians do. So she went face first into a large bite. Her eyes widened as she turned to Jaune. “Thifh Ifh Guhd.” She praised, in awe of the flavors.

After a moment her eyes widened as she became mortified. She quickly wiped her face, as she finished chewing. “I said it's good...” She muttered meekly.

Uncle's booming laugh just sounded from the other side of the counter. “Now that's how you enjoy food! You two are doing it right!” He said with a joyous chortle. He rubbed his belly. “Though I'd be a little careful about how much you enjoy.” He said in a jolly tone.

Pyrrha and Jaune just shared a glance, before they both resumed eagerly eating, albeit just a little more dignified.

They found it hard to talk as they both rushed through their food. “We need to bring the rest of the gang here at some point.” Pyrrha muttered in joy.

Jaune raised an eyebrow. “Could we even bribe Weiss to show up here?”

Taking another bite, Pyrrha thought for a moment. “Ruby could convince her.” Another few chews. “If not, I hear Blake is pretty good with rope.”

This caused Jaune to laugh as he went back to finishing his second hot dog. It wasn't too much longer before they had both quickly devoured their meals.

They resumed chatting about the upcoming tournament, when they looked up at the sound of something sliding on the table next to them. Kat was there grinning as she slid a large milkshake with two straws in between them, before adding a little tray of fries. She merely winked before going back and highfiving her dad.

Jaune just face palmed. “I forgot they did this. Don't worr-” He was cut off as he looked over and saw Pyrrha already sucking on one of the straws, a faint blush coating her cheeks.

Well, he wouldn't want to be leave her alone right?

Jaune took a sip from the other straw, looking at Pyrrha and giggling after a moment. They both jumped at the flash of a camera. Kat was there, posing in front of them with a peace sign and taking a selfie.

“Kat!”

Kat just snickered. “Alice would literally come in here and kill me if I didn't get a picture of you two doing that. Don't worry, I got a normal picture without my selfie too, I just wanted to brag to all your sisters that I get to see you two.”

Jaune and Pyrrha just sighed. “Having a large family is rough isn't it?” She offered sympathetically.

“You have no idea.” He said after a moment, looking at her somberly before they both broke out into a fit of giggles.

Eventually the giggle-fit settled down and Pyrrha looked at the fries curiously. “Why the fries.”

For the first time, Jaune stared at her disappointed. “You're kidding.”

“What?” She asked, a bit defensively.

“You've never had fries and a shake before?”

“Um, no?” She squeaked out.

Jaune held out a fry to her. “If this relationship is going to work out, you need to try it.” He said in a dead serious tone.

Pyrrha raised an eyebrow, but grabbed the fry. She watched him grab one himself, and dip it in the shake before popping it in his mouth and smiling. Pyrrha was a bit hesitant, but he was studying her carefully. So she took the plunge. She dipped it in the milkshake before eating it. Her eyes widened yet again. “Oh my God.”

“Right?” Jaune offered, grinning.

Pyrrha quickly followed it up with a second fry. And a third. The salt from the fries blended perfectly with the sweetness of the chocolate shake, ascending her mouth into heaven.

Jaune grinned as they made quick work of the fries and shake.

Eventually though, they were done and it was starting to get late. They stood up, grabbing their bags as they made their way to the front. They were already bickering about who would pay, when Uncle clasped a large hand on Kat's shoulder.

“Don't insult us! You think we'd make an Arc kid pay on their date?”

Jaune just smiled, wrapping an arm around Pyrrha's shoulders. “Thank you Uncle.”

Kat just grinned. “By the way, what's her name? I don't think I was ever told.”

Pyrrha and Jaune shared a glance, before Jaune's hand shifted to hers.

“Pyrrha Nikos.” He said proudly.

They both stared at him, smiling as if all was good. A moment later it clicked. “Wait! You me-” They were cut off as they saw both Jaune and Pyrrha sprinting away from the store, before they could ask any more questions.

Slowing to a casual walk, they both laughed and swung their arms together. “Why are we always running from someone?” Jaune asked.

“Cause our friends are crazy and nosy.” Pyrrha explained, not complaining in the slightest.

Night was starting to creep in as they walked through the streets that still hummed with life. “I suppose we should get you back. You have a busy next few days.” Jaune said with a sigh.

Pyrrha nodded. “I suppose so. Plus if you're walking home I don't want you being out too late alone.” She added, pausing for a moment. “Not that that means we can't take the slow route.”

Jaune smirked. “Then follow me.” He said as they turned into the park, to take the pathway that would lead them to an airship station eventually.

They walked through the park night, holding their bags of comics as they leaned into each other, sharing their warmth.

“I really enjoyed tonight.” Jaune said after a brief lull in the conversation.

Resting her head on his shoulder, she lead him over to a bench off the side of the path. They sat down as she leaned against him. “Words can't express how lovely this day was for me. I will always remember it and cherish these memories.” She spoke honestly, looking up at him.

Jaune smiled. “I agree. You...” He paused, trying to find the right words.

“Before I met you, I felt like I would be stuck in the shop forever. Never amounting to more than a handyman. But since we started training, and every time we talk, I feel like I can do anything. Thank you, Pyrrha. You've really changed my life for the better.”

Pyrrha felt her heart swell at his words as she leaned in and kissed him briefly. “I was never able to form any real meaningful connections. But you've done so much for me. You shown me what it's like to fall for someone. What it's like to live as a normal person, if I didn't have these talents and I wasn't forced away from everyone else. You've helped me grow so much as a person Jaune, and I will never be able to express how much that means to me.” She replied.

They just stared at each other for a moment before they met their lips together and kissed. Neither of them had any more words they wanted to say as they were content kissing, letting their actions speak louder than their words.

Eventually though, a dog bark from a nearby jogger caused them to separate and rest their foreheads against each other. They were both blushing heavily. “We should get back...”

“Yeah...” Jaune confirmed as they stood up.

Pyrrha clutched Jaune's arm to her as they walked in a content silence.

The airship trip back to the dorms had been quiet as well, only a few small comments made. After their confessions, there wasn't much left they felt needed to be said that night.

Perhaps too soon, they found themselves inside the dorms again. As soon as they reached the floor where Pyrrha lived, they saw Yang appear, grinning from ear to ear.

Pyrrha tensed slightly, preparing for the teasing but Yang just approached them. Her grin turned from playful to warm as she pulled them both into a tight bear-hug.

“I'm so happy for you two.” She spoke in a warm motherly tone, not a hint of teasing in it. They just grinned, blushing slightly in return.

She hung back as Jaune walked Pyrrha to her door. Pausing at the door, Pyrrha shifted nervously, her hands fiddling with the bag of goodies she had gotten. “Thank you Jaune, for this lovely night.” She spoke after a moment.

Jaune just grinned, scratching the back of his head. “No, thank you Pyrrha.” They stared at each other for moment as they leaned in and kissed each other.

After a moment they separated as Jaune took a few steps back. “Get some rest. I'm looking forward to seeing you in the tournament! We'll go out to celebrate when you win.”

Pyrrha grinned. “That sounds lovely. Be safe getting home now, okay?”

Jaune saluted. “Promise!” He said before walking away, glancing over his shoulder to get one last glance at his girlfriend that night.

Pyrrha entered her room, and wasn't even surprised by the eager eyes waiting for her. “Not tonight, okay?” She said softly.

They all glanced at each other before sighing. “Okay. Tomorrow then.” Jane spoke up, before wrapping Pyrrha in a warm hug. “I'm happy for you.”

Pyrrha returned the hug before getting changed into her pajamas. Today had been wonderful. Nothing could compare to it, none of her victories nor awards. She knew she had found both her place in life and her partner. She knew whatever challenges came next, they would tackle them together.

XxXxXxXxX

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this! This is the second to last chapter of the story. It’s a bit sad to be ending this, but I’m excited to be moving on to other longer stories. I’ve always planned for the Vytal Festival to only be one chapter.

A few reasons for this. One, since Jaune isn’t on the team, all the matches that took place will go how they did in the show. I don’t want to write out Jaune watching all the matches, telling Pyrrha she did a good job, and waiting for the next match. It’d just be filler at this point. Second, we all know what the climax of this story will be, so I’m eager to wrap this up, and explain to you guys just exactly how I plan on playing out the events that you all have been dreading. 

I hope you don’t find this ending rushed, and I’m going to try to get it done at a reasonable pace but this chapter certainly will be the most difficult one for me to write, pacing wise. Covering the events of the volume in one chapter is going to be a bit tough, but a lot of it was RWBY focused which won’t be getting much attention. So I want to do it properly, then move on to my other stories. Which I’ll be deciding between the General!Pyrrha AU, the Busking!Jaune AU and a third one which I should be posting a test chapter in a day or two. ;)

Till then, thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! You’re freaking fantastic and I hope you have a wonderful day! o/

P.S. Fries and milkshakes are amazing together if and you disagree you are a HEATHEN!

[sueboohscorner]

The Vampire Diaries 815 Recap “We’re Planning a June Wedding” #TVD

Episode grade: 10.

We’re down to the final weeks of this wonderful series, and I am going to miss spending time with these characters! Thank goodness for the modern age, with Blu-ray box sets and Netflix-CW deals, allowing us to watch the best shows over and over again for all time. Remember when we had to make our own tapes of shows, with the VCR, and they’d either preserve the commercials, or you’d have to carefully hit pause on the recording and restart it at just the right time? Just me? All right, never mind.

In the final season’s blast from the past parade, we start by welcoming Matt’s crappy mom back to Mystic Falls. Remember Kelly Donovan? Drunk and embarrassing, neither providing a good example for her kids nor watching over them? Yeah, she hasn’t been exactly missed. Including by Matt, who reacts to his long lost mom in about the same way you might react to running into your high school bully at a chain restaurant. She’s apparently here with Peter, because contemplating hell makes one want to reach out to the wives they abandoned and make some amends, I guess.

Our heroes are hatching a plan to deal with the imminent return of Katherine, and it’s Damon who suggests that Katherine would be helpless to resist ruining Stefan’s wedding. I think there’s a little more to this, of course, that Damon is determined to see Stefan get a happy ending, and he knows that in their lives, the longer you wait to start your happy ending, the less likely you are to get there at all. So he chooses a Katherine plan that conveniently also lets him celebrate his little brother’s humanity and happiness. Notably, though, Caroline is not quite as sure about this plan. She says it’s because she wanted a big, beautiful wedding with time to plan (and no super-villain waiting in the wings), but it’s hard not to read a little uncertainty into her reluctance.

Stefan overhears Bonnie and Caroline in a moment of girl talk, and while the text is clearly about why Bonnie won’t be there as maid-of-honor (no offense, bestie, but you’re marrying the man who murdered my true love a couple of weeks ago), the subtext is unmistakably that Caroline isn’t really sure about this pairing. I think there’s a chance she’d back out if she actually believed the wedding was going to occur; she’s kind of rolling with this, because she’s pretty sure the ceremony won’t be completed. From the look on Stefan’s face, I think he’s reading her the same way I am. 

Also instrumental to the Katherine plan? An actual instrument with which to bring about her bitter end. Taking their inspiration from the Cade blade, they note that luck is on their side for once–Katherine’s body was burned here in Mystic Falls, so her bones are still around to turn into weapons. Peter Maxwell finally gets to be useful, because he’s a legacy metalworker, so he’s given the crucial task of forging the weapon. Don’t screw this up, bad dad.

Bad dad’s task leaves Matt alone with his crappy mom, giving us a chance to see her cough up some black goo and kill the hell out of a random chick, because Kelly Donovan is actually back…from hell!

Back at the mansion, Caroline finds a gift that is 100% obviously from Katherine, but she won’t realize that, because plot and stuff. I mean, seriously, it’s a printed card, not written, so there’s no handwriting to recognize, it’s addressed simply “To the Bride,” which is ominous AF, and inside the card, the typed message of “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue,” has the first phrase circled. Get a clue, Caroline. But hey, she’s got stuff on her mind. 

Here comes Damon, a very drunk Stefan in tow…no vampire metabolism anymore means rediscovering the experience of drinking yourself into a stupor and waking up hungover. Um…yay humanity? While Stefan is passed out, Damon and Caroline share a lovely moment. He puts her through a series of no doubt hilarious practice toasts for the reception, but we only see the last of them; he gets real and toasts to his dear friend Liz Forbes, who raised this strong, wonderful woman he is now honored to call his family. This is the truest smile from Caroline yet–even if she’s not 100% sure about Stefan, she can’t deny that being Damon’s sister-in-law is a-okay.

Damon puts Elena’s necklace on Caroline’s wrist, adding the “something borrowed,” and ensuring her friend is part of her day in some way. Damon, I’ll miss you most of all.

Caroline is getting ready for the wedding, and she opens a gift from Bonnie–here’s the something new! It’s a gorgeous tiara, because Bonnie’s a good friend who knows this isn’t the wedding Caroline has dreamed of…but that doesn’t mean she can’t still be a princess.

As another surprise gift to Caroline, Lizzie and Josie come running in, all dressed up for the big day! Alaric explains that Katherine would smell a rat if Caroline’s own daughters weren’t at the wedding, so Valerie did a protection spell to keep them safe that day. 

He, on the other hand, will not be there…Alaric was, after all, engaged to Caroline a few years ago himself. And just last week, before Stefan again showed up to screw him over, Alaric had been reaching out to Caroline about building a future together, centered around their kids…while it wasn’t overtly romantic, you could see the light in his eyes when he looked at her. I should note that I’m not often a fan of a storyline about a wistful love triangle and marrying the wrong person, but this really works for me. Alaric is such the better man! And while it made some sense that she had unfinished business with Stefan because of his having to go on the run, and it made some sense for vampires to be together…those aren’t factors anymore. She could have been free of her obligation to Stefan, but he came back and begged her to marry him anyway, and Caroline’s defining characteristic has always been steadfastness. She is being fairly railroaded into this wedding ceremony, and Alaric’s heartache is reasonable, not to mention beautifully acted.

Guests are arriving, starting with Matt’s lousy parents. Kelly Donovan greets her ex, Peter Maxwell, then instantly pries for details on the weapon he’s been forging to kill Katherine. When he acknowledges he’s already delivered it to Stefan, he is rendered useless to this hellcat, and she slashes his throat.

Bonnie again proves what an amazing person she is, showing up to the wedding to support Caroline. Enzo’s been the angel on her shoulder, begging her to put aside her anger toward a version of Stefan that no longer even exists. Aside: Enzo and Damon are both really good at compartmentalizing Ripper vs. Stefan, and that’s really because they are not like Stefan. Being a Ripper puts Stefan in a completely different category of vampire. Enzo and Damon can flip their switches and be legitimately different people than they were a moment before. Stefan is a Ripper, so his evil is a more ingrained part of his personality, not just a position on his humanity lever. But bless them, they don’t have his weakness, so they give him the benefit of the doubt.

Because Matt Davis is a truly spectacular actor, one of the best scenes in the episode is Alaric’s monologue to Dorian, remembering the long and winding road that brought him into these people’s overly complicated lives. I’m so grateful TVD made time for this quiet moment with one of my all-time favorite characters.

The wedding is getting started, and Caroline looks gorgeous walking down the aisle, of course! But when she takes her place beside Stefan, he recognizes the cameo necklace she’s wearing, and just as the audience knew, it was totally sent to her by Katherine. She freaks out, but Stefan says to leave it on, because Katherine will hate seeing it on her.

Sitting out in the crowd, Matt whispers to his lousy mom about how his dad should be there by now. Hilariously, she makes a well, isn’t that just like your dad? face, which is recognizable to any child of divorce.

Damon, acting as the officiant, loudly invites anyone to voice their objections to this union. When Katherine fails to show, Caroline’s moment of panic is evident–she really didn’t expect to have to go through with this wedding. But it’s too late now! 

Because they expected this to be interrupted by now, and perhaps because neither of them really believed the wedding was a great idea, the bride and groom have failed to prepare vows. Oops. Credit to Stefan for coming up with something charming enough to win Caroline over in the moment. By the time he kisses the bride, it seems like they’re both in the spirit of the event again, despite all the craziness.

There’s a little timeline weirdness here, in that Kelly Donovan runs out before the daytime wedding is over, yet it’s full dark out and well into the reception before Matt is seriously looking for her. Fortunately for Peter, she didn’t strike too deeply with her scary knife; Matt finds him alive and learns the truth about mom.

No one else knows yet, so we’re treated to a drunken toast from Kelly Donovan in the reception tent. She rants about how this crappy town never gave her a chance, and she reminds Damon of that time they made out (ha!). Then she brings up what he did to Vicki, who “never hurt anyone” (this is important). Finally, she gets in Matt’s face about how he cared for her so little that he didn’t even know she was dead. And the penny drops.

Confronted with the question of what Katherine is up to, Kelly honestly says she has no idea; she was too busy starting a gas leak in the house. Caroline knows that Bonnie just took Lizzie and Josie in to use the bathroom, so they’re all in a house about to explode…which it does.

Inside the blazing mansion, Bonnie and the girls are standing in a bubble of safety. The girls are magic siphons, after all, and holding Bonnie’s hands gives them access to her latent magic. Enzo appears to her to say his goodbyes; letting her magic get siphoned will save her life and the girls’, but it will also sever her connection to his pocket dimension. She doesn’t want to give him up, but the alternative is death, and he talks her into living. It’s heartbreaking. Enzo, you were the best vampire.

With the girls and Bonnie safe from the fire, it’s time to get back to squeezing Kelly Donovan for information. She took a deal from Katherine in exchange for a true death, returning to oblivion rather than more torture in hell. She reveals what else she knows of the master plan: Katherine is using the Maxwell hell bell! 

But wait, it can only be rung by someone in the Maxwell family line…and Kelly reveals that Vicki has also come back from hell for this assignment. And here’s where I again question the bizarrely selective quality of hell. Vicki died as a vampire, and she died long before the Other Side was destroyed. It makes sense that Katherine was so bad she was sucked into hell, but Vicki really wasn’t a bad person! Her mom just made a point of that in her drunken toast. I mean, I’ll take it–nice to see you again, Vicki–but I’m not sure it makes total sense. (Granted, I do recall Jeremy’s visits from ghost-Vicki who begged for help because she was in pain, and that fits with hell…but I’d still like an explanation of how she wound up there.)

Ah, TVD, I’m going to miss you. One more week of this gloriously well-written and well-acted series. Thanks to The CW for giving us The Vampire Diaries, and for letting it end with a plan, honoring the show as it deserves.

Who will you miss most of all? Comment with your favorite character!

[seriouslyhooked]

The Only One (The CS Mixtape) Part 131/?

Series of CS oneshots inspired by music. Collection on FF Here.

A/N: Hey all! This is a reader requested rewrite of the scene in season 4 (episode 16) where Killian tells Emma that she is his happy ending. Because I am completely incapable of holding back, I will be including an ‘I love you’ way before the show gave it to us, and some more fluff because in my opinion, you can never go wrong with cuteness. Inspired by the song ‘Hey Ya’ by Goo Goo Dolls.

Easily one of the most frustrating parts of being a hero was that Emma found herself strangled by fearful emotions all of the time. Someone was always at risk, someone was always a breath away from really being hurt (or worse), and all Emma could do was fight and claw for a way to save them and then basically pray that the people she loved all got out of these messes eventually.

Thankfully right now though, their seemed to be a tiny bit of reprieve on the horizon, and as Emma watched Ursula and her father reunited thanks to Killian’s hard work, the tightness in Emma’s chest began to lessen. Standing here in the arms of this man who was always fighting with her and trying to ease her burden, Emma felt the stirrings of hope that were so hard to hold onto in the midst of darkness like this. Yet with Killian at her side, Emma found it easier than it ever had been before to believe that things could be okay. They were making progress, even if it was too slow for her liking.

Of course that moment was eventually broken, and the realization that Cruella had escaped set everyone back in motion. Her parents and August left the cabin behind Poseidon and Ursula, and now the only two people here were Emma and a still troubled Killian. Instinctively Emma wanted to know what was bothering him and to see if she could help in any way.

“Hook, what’s wrong? You gave Ursula everything she wanted.”

It was amazing to see what he’d done and to watch Killian undo an old wound he’d once inflicted on the sea witch. Emma wasn’t under any sort of delusions about the man Killian had been the past few hundred years, but she also knew that this man, the one who was changing for the better and choosing to make good on past harms, was worth being with. No one else ever stood by her like he did. No one else ever gave so much asking for so little in return, and that made Killian one of the most important people in her life, hands down.

“But I almost didn’t, love,” Killian confessed, still not looking her way. “I was so desperate to figure out what the crocodile was up to, I almost became the man I used to be. You have no idea how easy it is to fall back into the darkness.”

By now Killian was looking her way, and the tone with which he said the words tore at Emma. She sympathized with him, knowing that even if she had never been blinded by revenge or treated people cruelly on a path to vengeance, she had her own demons in her past, and many a bad habit that she was trying now to fix. Probably the most prominent of all of those was her old tendency to run and push people away, but with every day those instincts lessened and Emma began to truly feel like she was safe here with her parents, Henry, and Killian to stay and to fight for what she wanted.

“Whatever mistakes you made with Ursula you fixed,” Emma promised, moving closer to Killian as she did. Her whispered words and the light touch of her hand on his usually would be enough to ease his anxieties, but Emma watched as his worries lingered, telling Emma that whatever he was battling it was big.

“Aye. But it’s a stark reminder of something,” Killian said, still clinging to that sadness and distress.

“What?” Emma asked, needing to know so that she could start to try and fix whatever it was that was wrong.

“With all this talk of authors and the book, we’ve never discussed one fact…” Killian let the air hang heavy with what he was about to say and the words he finally sent Emma’s way made her heart ache for him. “I was a villain.”

“But you’re not anymore,” Emma claimed, certain of that fact beyond a shadow of a doubt.

“Neither is Regina, but she still lost her happy ending,” Killian countered, his eyes letting Emma in on some of the pain he felt in admitting that the odds seemed stacked against him.

Emma considered his argument, but she acknowledged to herself that the circumstances between Killian and Regina were very different. Regina’s supposed happy ending was Robin, yet in the other timeline, Regina – or rather the Evil Queen –killed Robin’s wife, and Robin hadn’t realized it. Even if Marian hadn’t come back, that would have always been between them. As it was Emma couldn’t regret saving that woman, saving a little boy’s mother and a man’s wife, no matter what kind of pain it caused on Regina. She felt for Henry’s other Mom, but she also knew that she had been right to save Marian, and Emma believed that if Regina stayed on the path to good she would find whatever happy ending she was meant to have, either with Robin or with someone else.

“If we are to believe the rules of the book,” Killian continued, “then it’s only a matter of time before I lose mine.”

Emma glanced back to Killian instantly, searching his still defeated expression for answers. He dropped the admission so easily, and yet this was huge. Killian had found the happiness he wanted amidst all the mess of Neverland and Zelena, of Ice Queen curses, and the villains they were up against now? How could that be?

“Wait. If you’re afraid of losing your happy ending, that means you found it,” Emma said, awed at the idea even while a tiny voice in the back of her mind was crying out that of course he had. Why else would he still be here after everything if he hadn’t? “What is it?”

“Don’t you know, Emma? It’s you.”

Everything froze in that moment, time suspended, and Emma was left facing a wave of so many emotions that had been building up inside of her for months. This thing between Killian and her started off from the strangest of places – the two of them bickering (and okay maybe flirting) on the top of beanstalk as Emma struggled to get home to her son and Killian fought to get even with Gold. Yet over time so much had changed and so much had happened. Killian helped her stay alive more times than she could count, he protected her son and her parents, he stood by her side in the good times and in bad.

But most of all, he looked at her like this, not caring that his heart was so visibly on his sleeve. He said that she was his happy ending, but what Killian meant was that he loved her, that he saw a future with her, and that Emma made him happy. The thought that he could feel that way with such certainty shook Emma to her core, but sounding out above the fear was this feeling of complete and utter relief.

Because the truth was Emma had been thinking of what happiness looked like for her while all of this was happening, and she’d settled on the things she needed in the world to secure her own happy ending. There was Henry of course, and her parents and baby brother, and then there was Killian. He was the one person she trusted with her heart, the only person she’d ever been tempted to let in like this before, and as crazy as it was that he was a pirate and she was technically a princess, it was also totally and completely right. The two of them made sense, and in a world that often left Emma struggling to understand, that was a gift best not turned away.

Moving forward without a word Emma tilted her mouth up to kiss him, feeling a tear fall down her cheek when their lips met. It was the physical representation of everything she was feeling – anxiety at the swirling chaos still hovering all around them, joy at being wanted and truly cared for by the guy who she’d grown to feel for in return, and relief that she wasn’t actually as broken as she thought. If she was Killian wouldn’t want this with her, but he did. Somehow, someway, he did.

“We’re not letting anyone take this from us,” Emma said when she pulled back, breaking the sweet, silent promise she’d already given him in the kiss. “We’ll find a way to stop Gold and the others. We’ll get the author on our side. We’ll do whatever we have to do, but no one’s losing anything. Not anymore.”

The smile that played at the edges of Killian’s mouth was a welcome sight after going so long without it. It felt like sunlight breaking through the dreary, cloudy skies that the villains had brought with them, and Emma was so glad to see it again. This was the man she wanted beside her. The one who was soft and kind, yet with an intensity and lingering roguishness in those piercing blue eyes that she loved to see. Killian in any state was attractive, but like this he endeared himself to Emma’s heart so surely. There was no thinking about ever walking away from him when she was on the receiving end of one of his smiles, and luckily for her she was the recipient of such looks all the time.

“What? You disagree?” Emma teased, knowing he didn’t, but she wanted the easier playfulness they often had back. She was assured it would come too when he stepped closer and his arms came around to hold her to him.

“Never, Emma. I simply enjoyed the way you said ‘us’ as if we’re in this fight together.”

“We are, Killian. We have been for a while. Can’t you tell?” His hand came to cup her cheek, his thumb rubbing back and forth lightly, and Emma leaned into the action, feeling as he wiped away the lingering trail of her last tear.

“Sometimes it’s a little clearer than others,” he joked, his good humor returning more and more by the second. “But overall I know, Emma. I can feel how it is between us, and all I want is to see you happy and to be a part in making you that way. That’s all I’ve ever wanted when it comes to you, love.”

Emma smiled at that, memories of all kinds flittering through her mind as she digested Killian’s words. In nearly all of those recollections the two of them were facing deadlines or problems or full-blown crises, but cutting through the action and hectic pace that often came into their lives was this bond between them, this connection that Emma had never known before with anyone. It was a kind of recognition, like Emma almost knew Killian better than she knew herself, and like she was supposed to find him, even if they’d been worlds away from each other for so long, and the Universe kept throwing more chaos in their path.

For years and years Emma had been alone and it took an incredibly long time for her to open up to people. First it was Henry to break through the barriers, and then eventually her parents, but in forgiving her Mom and Dad for giving her up, Emma had stumbled upon a man who made it clear that he would never give up on her. And it was that unspoken promise, that fealty and loyalty and genuine caring that Killian carried with him always that made it possible for a guarded, scared, once lonely person like Emma to fall for him.

“I love you.”

The words surprised Killian and Emma equally, and a thousand thoughts went scrambling through Emma’s mind then about how now probably wasn’t the time to say that she loved him and how she was assuming an awful lot. Maybe her being his happy ending didn’t mean he was in love with her? Oh crap! This had just gotten so messy and Emma began babbling to counteract it or give him context or something.

“You don’t have to say anything. Honestly I don’t even really know how to do this whole relationship thing, but I think I’m starting to get the hang of it, or I was before everything went crazy again. All I know is that you see me for me and not as just the savior, and when everyone else needs saving you’re the one saving me. I couldn’t do half the things I’ve done without you there, and -,”

Killian’s lips crashed back down to Emma’s before she could get sucked into any more worry or regret and she channeled all of her fear and wondering into this kiss, one that went so much further than the last. It was all heat and passion and fire, and Emma felt Killian burning away all of her doubts with every part of his embrace. His hook pressed at the small of her back forcing her closer, and Emma arched into him, never wanting to let go now that she had him and he knew the truth of what she’d been holding back so long.

“I’m very glad to hear that you love me, Swan,” Killian said when they eventually broke apart. “For the truth is my heart’s been yours for quite a while. I love you in a way I never knew I could, and when we figure all of this out I intend to show you that as long as you let me, so you’re never in any doubt about my feelings for you.”

Emma leaned her forehead against Killian’s breathing in this moment and these precious feelings of love and acceptance. Her heart was pounding in her chest, her tummy fluttering, her hands practically shaking with this excess of emotion, but this right here was the epitome of peace. It was a magical sensation, sealing the answers in her heart to lingering questions that Emma had kept at arms length for too long, and now that she’d said the words aloud she felt freer. Of course she’d probably find some way to muck this up sooner rather than later, but for now things were just really, really good.

“Emma?” Someone called out a second before walking back in. “Oh! Sorry, I just – you two were right behind us and then…”

Emma bit back a groan as her mother popped back into the cabin, crashing this tender interlude between her and Killian, but Emma couldn’t help the smile that appeared when she pulled back and took Killian’ hand. She glanced over towards her mother and father and Emma didn’t try to hide anything when she greeted them again.

“That’s alright, Mom. We’re ready, right?” Emma asked Killian and he nodded.

“Aye, love. More than ready.”

And in the end they were, and through the ups and downs still to come, Emma and Killian were always certain of one thing – that the love between them was worth protecting and preserving, and that they would both do whatever it took to be together and to keep that love alive come hell or high water.

…………..

If I could give you All the things you've been denied Would it change you Would you feel alive But all that's left now Are these words that I've been trying to say to you now And together we'll get by somehow

And all you ever wanted was someone to find The truth you hide from everyone deep inside

Hey ya, hey ya You're the only one I want Hey ya, hey ya

And I would drown to save you From the sinking thoughts you feel And I'll love you just the same So don't you ever feel ashamed 'Cause we all get tired of fighting Just to feel like we belong And I know you feel forgotten But I've been here all along to say

And all you ever wanted was someone to find The truth you hide from everyone deep inside

Hey ya, hey ya You're the only one I want Hey ya, hey ya

Hey ya, hey ya You're the only one I want Hey ya, hey ya

And you hide yourself so deep inside Will I ever see Ever see you Now I'm the one who's been denied But I believe in you Believe in you

Hey ya, hey ya You're the only one I want Hey ya, hey ya

Hey ya, hey ya You're the only one I want Hey ya, hey ya

Hey ya, hey ya You're the only one I want Hey ya, hey ya

Hey ya, hey ya

You're the only one I want

Post-Note: So there we have it! Just a small rewrite today, but a fluffy one nonetheless. I want to thank my lovely reader who requested this song (if any of you haven’t heard it then you definitely need to!) and this scene. I hadn’t attempted to write it yet, and now I am so glad that I got to. It’s been a second since I got to do a rewrite and I think it’s safe to say I have overloaded myself with feels. For the rest of you waiting on songs – don’t worry, I have gotten your requests and I am working on them. Some of you are just so original and have such amazing visions I have to give them awhile to develop. But stay tuned, they are coming! Anyway, thank you all so much for reading and I hope you all have a great rest of your day!

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10,Part 11, Part 12,Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25, Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29, Part 30, Part 31, Part 32, Part 33, Part 34, Part 35, Part 36, Part 37, Part 38, Part 39, Part 40, Part 41, Part 42, Part 43, Part 44, Part 45, Part 46, Part 47, Part 48, Part 49, Part 50, Part 51, Part 52, Part 53, Part 54, Part 55, Part 56, Part 57, Part 58, Part 59, Part 60, Part 61, Part 62, Part 63, Part 64, Part 65, Part 66, Part 67, Part 68, Part 69, Part 70, Part 71, Part 72, Part 73, Part 74, Part 75, Part 76, Part 77, Part 78, Part 79, Part 80, Part 81, Part 82, Part 83, Part 84, Part 85, Part 86, Part 87, Part 88, Part 89, Part 90, Part 91, Part 92, Part 93, Part 94, Part 95, Part 96, Part 97, Part 98, Part 99, Part 100, Part 101, Part 102, Part 103, Part 104, Part 105, Part 106, Part 107, Part 108, Part 109, Part 110,Part 111, Part 112, Part 113, Part 114, Part 115, Part 116, Part 117, Part 118, Part 119,Part 120, Part 121, Part 122, Part 123, Part 124, Part 125, Part 126, Part 127, Part 128,Part 129, Part 130

[ntrending]

The inside scoop on Charmin’s fake poop (and how it helps keep your butt clean)

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/the-inside-scoop-on-charmins-fake-poop-and-how-it-helps-keep-your-butt-clean/

The inside scoop on Charmin’s fake poop (and how it helps keep your butt clean)

I’ve always been a big fan of poop, and not just because I get plenty of fiber. As a science journalist, I’ve long felt that stories about stools are some of the most fascinating to tell. Everybody poops, after all, and too many of us go through life without stopping to think of all the wild and crazy research going on to better understand the stuff. So when Proctor & Gamble offered PopSci an exclusive look at Charmin’s Cincinnati-based toilet-paper-testing facilities—including unprecedented access to their proprietary fake poop—I couldn’t say no. This was a poop scoop I just couldn’t pass up. Here are seven things we learned about your favorite flushables along the way.

There are robots devoted to wiping your butt

Okay, not literally. But P&G does have an analytical lab full of super-calibrated instruments for testing paper properties, and an increasing number of them are autonomous robots. I watched one bot spend several minutes retrieving tiny strips of paper and placing them in a device designed to slowly pull them apart, recording the force required to cause a tear. Other machines in the lab measure things like what angle a paper will drape at as it hangs off a roll, how much pressure a finger-sized probe will need to break a sheet while it’s wet versus when it’s dry, and exactly how thick the quilting on a slim piece of TP really is, down to fractions of a millimeter.

It’s a tug of war between softness and strength

Relatable, I know. But just stop for a second and think about the job you ask each sheet of toilet paper to do. It has to hold up really well until it’s been wet for more than a few seconds, and then it’s gotta make itself scarce. Meanwhile, you probably want it to feel reasonably soft on your butt. As the engineers at P&G explained during my visit, you can’t make absorbent paper softer without also making it weaker.

Bath tissue is a product that seems pretty simple to the consumer, and even most picky shoppers don’t do more than squeeze a package or look for eco-friendly messaging on the label. But it takes all of the analytical lab work described above to make a roll that fits the necessary criteria: toilet paper has to feel pretty good on your skin, not rip when you’re using it, and stay together and keep your hands safe from poop even once it gets a little wet. But it also has to break apart relatively quickly once it’s flushed, because no one wants a clogged toilet (or a fatberg). You can’t assume the most expensive product on the shelf is the most luxurious, because it’s still going represent a careful balance of those properties—and it might not skew in favor of the ones you find most important.

Fluffy white paper comes from trees, not recycled paper

It’s also pretty difficult to make soft and strong toilet paper using recycled fibers, which are shorter than virgin paper fibers (that’s why most products marketed as “soft,” including Charmin’s, get D or F ratings on sustainability from the Natural Resources Defense Council). So, while toilet paper’s job might seem easy from your perspective, it actually takes a lot of testing to find the right balance of strong, soft, and sustainable. The truth is that no company has really nailed that triple-threat combo yet, so the work of the TP-testing robots I met in Ohio is far from finished.

As a consumer, I think there’s a pretty important takeaway here: if sustainability is important to you, you’re going to have to do some research before buying your next batch of bath tissue. Where does the paper come from? How much wood goes into a roll? How much water?

You should figure out how soft is soft enough for you and shop accordingly, and you should also pay attention to how much paper you’re using—because if you’re using whole handfuls of rough and thin sheets, you might be better off buying a squishy roll you can train yourself to use more sparingly. Nobody is asking you to wipe your butt with sandpaper (which would be super bad for your sewer system, anyway) but there are options between single-ply and paper so cushy you could use it as a mattress. If you’re putting as much thought into the way you use TP as most people do (which is to say pretty much no thought at all) there are probably easy ways you could tweak your shopping choices and bathroom habits to cut down on the resources you send into the sewer.

People train for six months to evaluate the stuff you flush down your toilet

No, I’m not talking about the scientists and engineers who actually make the stuff you flush down your toilet (most of whom have several advanced degrees). Products like toilet paper have to satisfy consumers in ways you can’t measure with a super-calibrated robotic probe. Your impression of a roll is also influenced by more subjective qualities like softness, smell, plushness, and color.

At P&G, that data comes from a fleet of sensory testers who train for six months to evaluate samples with every sense but taste (which we really hope isn’t something you look for in your toilet paper). The testers, who are mostly students, retirees, and stay-at-home parents looking for interesting part-time work, are kind of a big deal: just around half of them actually qualify to stay on after going through that half-year of testing. Imagine watching six months of your life go down the crapper because you couldn’t learn to rate toilet paper roughness with enough precision.

Those delightfully weird product demos could be weirder

P&G’s Gregg Weaver has a very important—and very silly—job. As the Senior Scientist in Family Care Research & Development, he gets to oversee the invention of product demos for marketing and sales purposes. What’s a toilet paper demo look like? You’ve seen a bunch: just think of any paper product commercial with a side-by-side comparison. Stacking marbles on a stretched-out piece of tissue until it breaks, for example, might seem simple—but someone has to figure out exactly how many marbles a sheet of Charmin can handle, and whether that stack of balls looks impressive sitting next to the pile a competitor’s product can support. There’s a fine line between perfectly designing a little experiment so it provides the intended visual, and making it seem like your product can accomplish things it can’t. Some tests of strength just don’t translate as such to a person watching them on TV, and some of the coolest potential tricks might actually make your paper look bad.

But even when a test is technically effective, it’s not always destined for primetime. Weaver showed me a video clip of his favorite demo, which has only been used internally. He calls it “the balloon butt,” and it is a feat of engineering and a work of high art: with the camera focused on a slightly-deflated balloon smeared with goo, a hand emerges to tug down on the tied-off end. It creates a deep crease—a balloon butt—which the hand proceeds to wipe with toilet paper. Once released, the balloon springs back into shape and reveals whether the tissue managed to give it a deep clean. It’s the closest you can come to showing a butt being wiped on television—or too close, actually, since P&G wouldn’t even hand over the clip for use in this article. I can only imagine the demos they didn’t let me see.

Yes, there’s secret poop in the lab

While commercials may rely on tricks like blue liquids (a color chosen precisely because it doesn’t look like anything your body should be putting in the toilet) and cartoon bears (which, by nature of not being human, can acknowledge that they poop without offending our delicate sensibilities), people designing toilet paper need to know how it performs under fecal pressure. Luckily, NASA has a fake poop called FeClone designed to test astronaut facilities that stands in for real turds as TP flies through the clear pipes of the P&G flush lab, which is exactly what it sounds like—a trio of toilets topped with clocks so researchers can monitor a sheet’s behavior when it hits the bowl, and an in-house sewage system set-up to show off what happens after. The lab keeps a freezer full of FeClone on hand for creating realistic bundles of used tissue. That way, they can follow the journey of the sheets they’re testing from cradle (AKA roll) to grave (AKA pile of poop in your septic tank).

But what if you need your fake feces to do more than just flush like the real thing? What if you also need it to smear like the real thing?

P&G started using FeClone in 1994 (until then the company used mixtures made from dog food), and for a while, it was an all-purpose ersatz effluence. But it didn’t interact with skin the way real poop does—it feels more like sticky clay, as you can see in the video above. So, in 2010, the company started working on an “artificial BM” that has the same surface energy, fluid dynamics, and adhesion to human skin as the real stuff. The result is made of food-grade ingredients and even comes in a trio of textures, from diarrhea to constipation. It’s got everything but the smell. I got to play with some of it, and I can say it’s realistic enough that doing a wipe test (which involves squirting a little turd into a “butt” created by squishing the crook of your knee or elbow shut) in front of strangers felt very gross.

There’s humiliation packed into every single roll

Speaking of gross things in front of strangers, I also got to experience a facsimile of P&G’s 1-on-1 qualitative interviews, where researchers probe potential consumers about their bathroom habits and observe them using the product (in their elbow butts, of course). They do this to take notes on wiping behavior and effectiveness. I was asked to demonstrate how I usually grasp “my implement” (read: wad of toilet paper) and to show my interviewer how I pull it from the roll. There was also a pretty in-depth survey of my general bowel movement routine. Companies like P&G use these interviews to get as much data as possible about the acts of shopping, rolling, wiping, and flushing in the hopes of creating a product that does what consumers want it to do. After all, they can’t exactly follow thousands of people into the bathroom. Extremely awkward chats are the next best thing.

These questions are usually asked in private, where subjects are, presumably, less likely to get so flustered that they totally forget how they wipe their butts—and also where they’re not being filmed by their peers. You can check out a few highlights from my poop quiz in the video at the top of this post. At least I managed to get my elbow butt clean.

Written By Rachel Feltman