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duketectivecomics · 4 years ago

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You might've answered this already and I just didn't find it, but one thing that always perplexed me about Duke was how old he was in comparison to the other Batkids. It's obvious he's younger than Dick and Babs, and I pretty sure he's younger than Jason and Cass, and older than Damian, but I cannot tell if he's meant to be Tim and Steph's ages, younger, or older. Could you help me?

You’re all kinds of good here, anon!!! I answered a similar ask abt the Order of Adoption but didn’t dive into specific ages on that post BECAUSE well they didn’t ask lmaooo but ALSO:

Comic ages are very fluid usually! While Years™️ might pass in the canon proper, or while time seems to slow to a crawl, having a character’s age outright stated is something that occurs very rarely for most characters, if at all!

Because it’s always much easier to have a floating age range to work and play around in! It’s easier to keep a character Perpetually 12 or 16 or 25 or mid-40s or- you get the idea. SO, with that in mind. Let’s do our Best to Break Down What Age Duke Might Be Currently A N D how it might interact with the Other Batkids!

(Warning for a Very Long Post, lots of issue citations, and a LOT of comics terminology regarding specific runs/events/continunity. I’m gonna try to keep it as clear/concise as possible ofc but plz keep these things in mind! If you’re not at least marginally familiar with Bat-Comics, you might find yourself feeling a little lost here!)

So from the Zero Year arc we see a common Trend that plays out pretty consistently with Batfam comics: a Life-Changing Event Occuring while the protag is Young™️.

(Batman (2011) #30)

With how Duke is drawn in these particular issues, and given the trends of the past, I’d place him in the 8-12 range. The historic precedent being ofc that that is the same range that canon usually places both Bruce and Dick at for their Tragedies™; the more benign reason being that he... just very much Looks to be drawn in that Range. He’s very clearly an Older/Prepubescent child here.

Fast Forward to his Next Appearance in the Endgame arc and-

(Batman (2011) #37)

He’s definitely older! He’s wiser! And he’s giving Batman a fistbump lmao. Again, no strict age given here BUT, since they condensed each Robin to a Year or Two tops with Bruce (its n52 and its fucked up is what it is), we can assume it’s been at least 4-5 since Zero Year (which would mean if we go off the age range I proposed for that year, then theoretically he could be anywhere from 12-16 here, and I think that tracks pretty well. Not Perfectly and Certainly Not so well with Pre52 continuity ofc, but I’ll talk about that later!)

In We Are Robin, while its not stated Directly In The Text, it IS given as an Informational Tidbit that Duke is 16 (specifically this can be found at the end of issue #4)! (Sweet sweet canon confirmation FINALLY)

We know that WAR takes place Fairly Soon after Endgame (almost immediately, give or take a month or two given that Duke’s been placed in a few foster homes at this point and has racked up Quite A File) now, again id like to remind y’all that while this is a NICE starting point to have, keep in mind that comics are fluid and this may be retconned slightly/ignored in later stories bc Keeping Duke 16-ish is in DC’s Best Interest at the moment. (Having Relatable Teen Characters afterall is a Good Marketing strategy™️. And the longer they can Keep them Young, the Better)

With that in mind let’s take a moment to Highlight the fact that Duke and Damian have crossed paths at this point AND the storylines that have occurred during this year that were meant to be in conjunction with one another!

Because Prior to Endgame, Damian had Died! And just a year (in real, meat-space time) before We Are Robin, he was resurrected and had begun his “Year of Atonement” in the Robin: Son of Batman maxiseries. Midway through both this series and WAR (and, we can assume, midway thru this “Year” for Damian) the Robin War begins/ends and we see at least one major Moment between these two boys who will soon call one another brothers:

(Robin War #2)

Given that R:SoB is followed up VERY quickly by Teen Titans Rebirth (in which Damian celebrates his 13th birthday), we can conclude that Damian would be 12 during this time (well, 12 and 1/2 to play it safe lmao). That being said, this Confirms about a 4yr gap between Duke and Damian! (One Batkid down at least! but he’s the key to the others so put a pin in him!)

As We Are Robin draws to its conclusion, DC was releasing another arc that would eventually flow into the Rebirth Era, by the end of which, Bruce would approach Duke with an Idea (which involves Bruce becoming Dukes temporary guardian & as he states Many Times “Trying Something New” with Duke).

And thus the Rebirth Era begins, and Duke began his Year of training (most directly encapsulated by the Cursed Wheel arc in the All-Star Batman run:

(All-Star Batman #1 (back-up story))

Bruce introduces Duke to a training regimen that Alfred has named “the Cursed Wheel”. It encompasses all the training Bruce and the other bats have undergone and condenses it down into color-coordinated segments that will take Duke a Year to Complete.

It can be assumed that by the End of this Year Duke will somehow miraculously still be 16, despite, again, an entire ass year passing.

There’s one story that takes place mid-year in All-Star Batman, and the Cursed Wheel is meant to be capped off by Duke’s first Official Day as the Signal (in the titular Batman & the Signal ofc) BUT, near as I can tell after this story, Dukes age is not brought up again. So until they DO bring it up either in Batman & the Outsiders or whatever future run Duke becomes involved in, we can assume DC will be working with the idea that he’s meant to be in that 16-18 range from here on out (ie still a minor).

But, dear anon, you might be saying “okay, that’s cool, but how does that relate to my question abt how he falls in with the other Bats?” You’ll have to be a little patient with me here, but I think I may have cracked the code!

Keep in mind I’m gonna be addressing both the Post-Crisis to Flashpoint Continuity (ie mid-80s to 2010 in comics history) and the N52-slash-Rebirth Era (2010-Today). Its generally agreed by fandom and DC alike that these points of rebooting &/or Major Events constitute the era of “Modern” comics, and that everything from the 80s-on might more or less be canon on some level, even if not All of it is.

(Plus, most of fandom usually likes to borrow elements from both eras and much more rarely from stories before it, SO-)

Lets do a quick rundown of how everyone who’s Closer to Duke’s Age, Relates to each other first, age-wise:

Given that Jason was 15 when he died, in A Lonely Place of Dying its established that Bruce had become increasingly reckless since his death, and by the end of the story, Tim has stepped in to fill Robin’s shoes (he states that he’s 13 during this story btw). Pretty soon after, Stephanie Brown is introduced & established to be about a year older than Tim (wish I could pin-point a specific issue BUT, i unfortunately haven’t read any Tim OR Steph-involved comics that predate No Man’s Land... Besides the aforementioned Lonely Place and Young Justice technically, but im working on remedying that soon!)

NOW, during the No Man’s Land event, Cassandra is introduced, and pretty soon into her Batgirl run, its revealed that she’s around the same age as Jason (or at least how old he Would Have Been, had he not died.) Now, given that Jay has an August bday and Cass has a January one, fandom sometimes likes to play around with the idea of one being older than the other (OR even speculating/placing them in an AU as twins/siblings, given that Lady Shiva (Cass’ mom) was a Possible Candidate to be Jason’s biological mother but that’s a Whole Other Thing i wont get into here.)

The point being, Cass, in this era of comics, IS slightly older than Tim and Steph. At Tim’s start as Robin, their ages could either line up like: Tim-13, Steph-14, Cass-15 (being a few months ‘behind’ Jay), then Jason at 15/16 (depending on how soon Tim filled the role after Jay died in April) OR Jason-15/16, Cass-16/17 (in this case she’d be a few months ‘ahead’ now instead)

So brief detour to talk New 52, however! Because Tim, Steph & Cass all got switched around from where DC originally left them prior to the reboot! Now I haven’t read much of them in this era, other than Batman & Robin: Eternal, so my Understanding of their current ages is Spotty at Best. The general consensus seems to be that while before N52, Stephanie had been attending her first year of College (& doing VERY WELL i might add), with the reboot she was set back a few years alongside Tim to a vague Late-Teen state (so 16-18-ish, instead of a Very Clearly Established 18/19). Cass is probably the worst off for this reboot, given that B&R:E basically constitutes her new origin for the new continuity, and does nothing to confirm her age (all I really know is that she’s a Vague Late-Teen too... Probably? Maybe?), given how much they infantilize her, and subsequently how fandom in turn has taken to infantilizing her too, theres a semi-popular fanon that places her Younger that Tim and Steph. And I, for one, propose that we ignore that bc its Weak Sauce my dudes.

Some fans chose to ignore N52 continuity due to this vagueness, and will stick to the ages established before the N52/Rebirth reboots. But its something to keep in mind regardless bc we’re all obviously going to pull from what’s most familiar to us!

But WHERE could we place Duke with regards to them, then? Because them being “Late Teens” is certainly much too vague to work with!

This is Where Damian is the key!

Because Damian is one of those rare exceptions to the Reboot Rule. His story flowed almost seamlessly over from before to after. While he was made a Robin at the age of 10, he continued to grow and learn even after the universe was being rewritten to suit the whims of DC editorial.

If we choose to ignore how everyone else’s ages and origins were swapped around, and stick with the growth that was presented before the reboot, then we can draw some interesting conclusions!

Firstly, though Stephanie also had Died and subsequently Returned, she hadn’t lost much, if any time, from the Ordeal. At the start of her Batgirl run, she is enrolled at a Gotham university and making headway with a more firm foot in the Batfamily (even to the point that she and Damian spend a few issues bonding. At this point in time, Damian is definitely 11, and again, Steph can be assumed to be 18/19 during the course of her run. We’ll assume 18 for clarity’s sake.)

So, then when Damian is 11, now our line up is as Follows:

Dami - 11, Steph - 18, Tim - 17, Cass 19-21 (the range depending again, if you subscribe to Cass being either older/younger than Jason).

WHICH MEANS, If during Robin War Damian is 12 (and a half) THEN We’ve got an age line-up that Potentially looks Like This:

Dami -12(and 1/2), Duke - 16, Tim - 18, Steph - 19, Cass - 20-22 (And Obvsly Jason, Babs & Dick at their varying Older Ages than everyone here)

and im just now realizing i Didnt include Harper in this line-up, but thats bc she’d also throw a big wrench in all this. I’d personally throw her in with being Steph’s age, but I’m pretty sure she was supposed to be either that, or between Steph and Cass (again, since its N52, i believe Cass was/is assumed to be Younger than Steph, but that contradicts the assumed following of pre52 canon that we have for the above line-up, obvsly, and so we ignore that lmao)

All this to say, however, that canon and fandom is what you make of it, and if you want to wiggle these ages around a little, you’re more than allowed! God Knows i usually like to skew the Tim-Steph-Cass age group to be a tad older than this in my own fic writing, and I like to have Duke start as a Robin at 14/15 instead of 16, but that’s just bc I like the dynamic potential it could bring with them being Definitively Older that him, and thus in a more secure place to be Mentoring him right alongside Bruce & the others.

But you might see these age ranges and want to do something Different (say, making Tim, Steph, Cass, & Duke all the Same Age at 17 instead! And that very well tracks with how current comics kinda looks right now!) and you’re absolutely valid to do so! Because again, comic character’s ages are meant to be fluid, not fixed!

And at the end of the day, its all about wanting to see these teen heroes kick serious ass haha

#duke thomas #guest starring:#batfamily #damian wayne #tim drake #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #randywrites #randys meta #meta #asked and answered #anonymous asks #this was A LOT and i tried to throw some humor where i could #but uhhhh yeah!!! i hope this helps anon!!!#also just realizing its TWO AM WHERE DID THE TIME GO #ah well. Worth It

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artificialqueens · 4 years ago

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The Goode Case, 8/14 (Jaida/Jan) - Juno

Chapter Summary: Jaida, Brita and Jackie, with a little help from Dahlia, separate to look into the history of the guest house, and rendez-vous to discuss the plan to reach Gigi. Jaida is surprised by who else she sees that evening …

(A/N: As ever I’ve been really over the moon to receive such lovely supportive comments! Thank you to everyone!! I hope you enjoy part eight.)

2.50PM

Jaida led Aiden to the lobby to meet Crystal, who was sitting with Jackie, a box of tissues clutched in her lap. Aiden’s stoic expression softened at her friend’s tears, and she rubbed Crystal’s shoulder, while Crystal stood and pulled her into a hug.

Back in the meeting room, once the two students had left, Jackie could barely contain herself.

“Crystal saw that same woman that you described,” Jackie blurted out, as soon as the door was closed. “She gave the exact same description you gave us. And she saw Gigi too, in the same room you did.”

“Did Crystal mention anything about the day they found the anklet?” Jaida pulled out the chair next to Brita and sat down. “I wondered if a statement Aiden gave me corroborated with that.”

Jackie pulled out another chair opposite and sat down too, grabbing the jug of water from the centre of the table. “Yeah, she mentioned it. She said when they found the anklet, a woman appeared to her, and took her hand and started singing her some sort of lullaby. She suddenly realised she’d walked to the top of the stairs, and they both left. Well, ‘ran away’, Crystal said.”

“Who was the woman?”

Jackie looked grave. “She could just remember black hair. You were right, it’s the same woman that keeps coming up.”

“Any clues who she was?” Jaida asked, folding her arms.

Brita pushed the file she’d found to Jaida, who took a look at the yellowing paper and the name typed using an old label printer. “VISAGE, T. & M.”

Jaida opened the first page, and gasped at the picture.

“That’s her, I’m sure.” The woman had wavy black hair in a thick mane around her face, with sculpted cheeks and bright blue eyes. She checked the name in the ID details. Michelle Visage (née Goode).

“Records indicate the Visages bought the guest house in 1972. The wife had a reputation, the sort of thing you’d expect in some bad romance novel – seducing customers, you know – got her in a bit of trouble forty years ago,” Brita explained. “But the whole guest house had things happening. Have a look at the papers. Take one case in 1976. A fire broke out in the kitchen, and the only person to die was her sister-in-law. All the kitchen staff escaped, but her sister-in-law didn’t. And later on in 1978, well, read it for yourself.”

Jaida turned the pages, her eyes falling on another photo, this time of a man, a white shirt and large collar, open at the neck, hair long and swept over his forehead. He looked like –

“Girl, this is getting too strange now, this is the guy who I saw on the stairs!” Jaida pointed. She carried on reading the report, her hand going to her mouth as she did.

“He didn’t have a very happy ending, as you see. They found him hanged from the top of the stairs. It was ruled suicide, but it was suspect at the time, because there was a life insurance policy which had been taken out shortly before his death.” Brita craned her neck. “Have you seen the name?”

Jaida glanced at it. Thomas Visage. “Husband?”

“You got it. And of course there’s the link to the Goodes. We thought Gigi was making it up to impress her friend, but you can see the ID. It looks like she was right. And if both you and Crystal have both seen Michelle and Gigi together …”

“I don’t want to think about that until we find a body,” Jackie shuddered. “There’s still a chance. Just because Jaida saw Gigi, it doesn’t mean she’s dead. She saw you, didn’t she? Last night.”

“Anyway, what happened to this Visage woman?” Jaida asked, trying to keep them on track, leafing through the last few papers.

“Well, the hotel was in decline following Thomas’ death, and it seemed like the money from the life insurance couldn’t make Michelle happy,” Brita sighed. “She died in 1983. Overdose. Barbiturates and lots of vodka. The hotel was closed later that year, and it’s been closed ever since.”

Brita straightened up, adjusting her shirt. “Chief wants the whole street searched again. I’ve sent forensics already, sniffer dogs too, to see what they come up with.”

“Okay, good.” Jaida nodded.

“For the house, I think we need to get Dahlia in again. If Gigi is being sighted there, and as there are no other leads really, there must be some link. But we need a detailed plan this time. Anything can go wrong, especially as I for one don’t quite know how to control … this.” Brita motioned to herself.

“Not only that, I think we need some history of past paranormal investigations at this place,” Jaida suggested. “Dahl said she knew a psychic that won’t go near the place, so there must have been other investigations. Brita, I’d like to go talk to her at the shop this afternoon, if that’s alright?”

“Nice one, Jai, we need all the information we can get.”

Jackie clicked her ballpoint pen on and off. “If we’re going to get the truth about what happened to Gigi from these spirits, we need to use all resources. Including maybe Crystal, if she’ll come.”

“You can start on a plan, while Jaida is at Dahlia’s shop. I need to be available on call for forensics if they do find anything on Westfield. We can meet up from six and discuss the plan. Ideally, we’d need Dahlia to agree to come in tomorrow, preferably during the day.”

“I’ll ask, but she might not get time away from the shop. If her mom can get away from her shift early, then maybe. Where do you want to meet at six then?”

“How about … Vanjie’s? With a wine?” Brita suggested, as casually as she could muster.

Jaida looked at Jackie.

“I don’t even need to read your mind. Have you arranged to meet someone else there?” Jaida raised an eyebrow.

“Maybe, maybe not.” A grin spread across Brita’s face.

3.39PM

By the time Jaida got off the bus, the grey clouds had turned to a thick sheet of rain. Great. The wind hadn’t settled from yesterday either, so she had to jog the two blocks from the bus stop to Syn City, to avoid getting swept away by the New York autumn.

The “Open to demons customers” sign was on the door, which meant either Dahlia or her mom would be around. Jaida pushed the door, and the bell above it tinkled, letting them know someone was entering in case they were in one of the back rooms.

The shop was so narrow that there was barely room to walk past the bookshelves and esoteric wares, but once past them, the space was a little more open, with the checkout on the side and two rooms further back for personal readings. Dahlia had learned Tarot from her mom, which was her main trade, but she was also learning other divination methods, as well as her own studies. One of the rooms was Dahlia’s for reading appointments, along with Shuga and her crystal ball, and now Rock, who had replaced Lady Lemon who’d left for Canada earlier in the year.

Dahlia poked her head out of her room, and smirked when she saw it was Jaida. She leapt the three steps to the room and approached Jaida, slapping her hard on the arm.

“Hey! What was that for?”

“Girl, why didn’t you tell me you were a medium? I’ve known you for, like, two years, and you never thought you’d tell me you can see spirits?” Dahlia put her hands on her hips.

“I – I don’t know!” Jaida cried, a little exasperated. “You never asked!”

“I shouldn’t have to ask! You were seeing spirits at that house all this time, and I had to find that out from Rock!

“From Rock?”

“Yeah, she’s got this thing where if she touches someone, she knows what they’re thinking.” Dahlia rolled her eyes. “I know, that’s crazy, but it’s true.”

“Child,” Jaida muttered. “And let me guess. You can – I don’t know, you can fly or some shit.”

“Girl, I wish,” Dahlia snorted, “I can do cards, boards, but I can’t do anything naturally, like what you can.”

“I wanted to talk to you about last night, anyway,” Jaida whispered, looked around. “You got ten minutes?”

Dahlia led Jaida to her own room at the back of the shop, a tiny alcove just big enough for two people, and perched in one of the chairs, offering the other to Jaida.

“Thanks. I wanted to find out what you knew about the guest house.”

“Don’t you have the stories on files?” Dahlia cocked an eyebrow.

“Well sure, but we don’t log anything, y’know, paranormal or whatever.” Jaida used her fingers to draw quotation marks.

“I know what I’ve read, and it might not be the whole truth, but if that’s what you want to know?”

“Whatever you can give me would be a help.”

“Alright.” Dahlia grabbed her tablet from her bag under the folding table, and tapped into the screen, finally turning it to show Jaida.

“What’s that?”

“Paranormal Database on New York. Paradata, for short. It’s run by some lady in Queens. It’s like,” Dahlia ran a hand through her wavy brown hair, searching for the right words, “it’s kind of like Tripadvisor for the paranormal. People can go on there and report what they’ve done to investigate, and what’s happened.”

“And this website is in public domain?”

“Yeah, but it’s not really well-known outside the community. Keeps things a bit safer. And not everyone can register.” Dahlia shook her head. “You have to be invited by an existing member. I’ll invite you, if you want.”

“Sure, thanks.”

Dahlia found the house on the map, and clicked the link. She gave a low whistle. “Bitch, I’ve never seen this many reviews for somewhere that hasn’t been visited by, like the Ghost Hunters crew or something. There’s so many.”

She turned the tablet towards Jaida, who scanned through the reviews people had left on there, her breath catching in her throat.

“… domineering, territorial female presence, screaming at us to get out …”

“… my boyfriend saw a lady in the kitchen and won’t stop having nightmares …”

“ … tabletop session saw one woman possessed and a man incapacitated in a trance …”

“ … spirit drawing of a woman aged 37, died in a fire, year approx 1970 …”

One of them caught Jaida’s eye, from last year:

“Avoid the upstairs!!! DANGEROUS THREAT TO LIFE. Ghost tried to pull psychic off the stairs!! DO NOT GO HERE”

“Some of them can be a bit dramatic,” Dahlia interrupted Jaida’s reading, “but do any of them sound familiar?”

Jaida nodded. “Definitely some of them.”

“You want me to go back again, don’t you?” Dahlia asked cautiously. “I don’t even need to ask.”

“Would you consider it?”

Dahlia’s hands were trembling, Jaida noticed, but she moved them under the table to hide them.

“I mean, of course it pays well, but, like, I’m scared. And not just for me. For Rock, too. And for you. And for – actually, for all of us. All seven of us who were there last night, none of us came out the same. And Rock said –“ Dahlia gasped, raising a hand to her mouth. “I forgot to tell you! Rock said you saw Brita astrally project?”

“Yeah. But I didn’t know she was going to until she did it.”

With that, Dahlia leapt from her seat and grabbed Jaida’s hand, tugging her down the three steps and to the bookcases.

“She needs to read … this, before she does it again.” Dahlia pulled a paperback off the shelf. “Tell her she owes me fifteen dollars.”

“Dahl, I’ll just – settle that …” Jaida took her card from her purse. She turned the book over. Astral Projection For Beginners: A Complete Guide. “I’m sure she’ll put this on top of her pile.” Jaida rolled her eyes.

“I’m not joking, Jai. Being able to project naturally is really fucking unusual. Most people learn it. So if she can do it without even trying, she needs to know the risks. Like, now. Especially if she can’t control it.”

“Risks?” Jaida flicked through the book. “What sorts of things?”

“Mainly just other spirits wanting a free ride, or a free body to hop into.” Dahlia shuddered. “Not everyone you meet on the astral planes will be friendly.”

“Have you ever projected?”

“I’ve tried, but not so far.” Dahlia shook her head. “It’s really hard to master.”

The door tinkled, and Dahlia leapt from her seat, Jaida following her, but it was only Rock, her blue hair soaking wet with the rain which was still coming down in a sheet. She held two Starbucks takeouts in cardboard cup holders.

“Oh, hi again,” she waved to Jaida with her free hand. “I’d have bought you a mocha as well, if I’d known you were coming.”

“Thanks, baby,” Dahlia took her cup from Rock and planted a kiss on her lips. “You know just what I need on a Monday afternoon. And I was telling Jai about the projection book you recommended.”

“Yeah, you need to make sure your friend reads it straight away,” Rock’s expression turned grave again. “And tell her to train herself to control it.”

6.05PM

Jackie had met Jaida outside Vanjie’s, telling her that Brita had been called away by forensics to a potential lead on Northfield at about four thirty and hadn’t come back. Jaida had felt her heart sink a little, hoping it was not bad news, but Brita had stumbled in only five minutes after they had arrived.

“Was it serious?” Jaida asked quietly.

“Oh, no, it turned out to be a false alarm,” Brita laughed her infectious laugh, waving her hand. “Everything is fine. Wine?”

A glass of wine later, this time the three of them squeezed together on one side of the six-seater booth, somehow feeling much more comfortable and cosy than they had at any time previous. Jaida was on the end, always preferring an escape route, with Jackie sandwiched in the middle and Brita at the window, looking down at her phone and sometimes glancing outside at the street around them.

They’d forgotten it was student night when they had arrived, expecting it to be quiet like most places on Mondays, but the bar was getting busier and busier, and they had one of the last free booths. Lots of the students elected to stand, leaning on the bars and tables, and there was enough chatter in the air to drown out most of the music.

“What have you got so far, Jackie?” Jaida asked.

“The only person we’ve seen so far who’d led us to Gigi is … well, Thomas. And the only one of us who’s seen him is … well, you, Jai.” Jackie clicked her pen on and off, before Brita irritably snatched it from her hand. “Ow! Anyway, could he be responsible?”

“But he wanted to show me that Gigi was there,” Jaida said, the realisation dawning on her as she said the words. “Wait, why didn’t I get that before? He was trying to help us. Maybe he wanted to show -”

“I don’t think that’s right,” Brita interrupted suddenly. “He would have helped you get to Gigi, if that was the case. You said he just stood there.”

“That’s true,” murmured Jackie.

“Well, we’ve established that Gigi is stuck on the same plane that Thomas is on,” Jaida said, swirling her glass. “Can’t I just – link with him again? Persuade him to help? Maybe you two can connect too?”

“But we can’t see him,” Jackie whispered. She drummed on the notebook with her fingers. “Can we just link physically with you?”

“That won’t work, because it should have worked today if it did!”

“Maybe if Brita can project –“

“I don’t think that will work,” Brita interrupted again, wine obviously going straight to her head, “because I can’t control this fucking thing! There’s no point trying.”

“Can Dahlia come in the daytime tomorrow at all?” Jackie asked. “That would be the ideal, rather than waiting until the evening. And it depends on Crystal being free, too, but it’s been four days since anyone saw Gigi,” she added.

“I’ll ask Dahlia, but she works days in her shop.” Jaida pulled out her phone.

Jaida:Dahl, can u do tomorrow at all? Day time possible? X

Dahlia:girl u know I cant just close the shop! If I can get mom to watch it then yeh x

Jaida:Cool cool let me know x

“I’ll see if I can call Crystal,” Jackie said, and Jaida let her step out of the booth and walk to the door for better signal. Jaida’s phone buzzed in her hand as she left.

Heidi: Jai!! im french kissin in the USA lol xx

Jaida: LOL!! Are u with Nicky?? Xx

Heidi:yeah her student cancelled so we havin a night in xx

Heidi:her housemate has a big Farsi dictionary

Heidi: and a french one too

Heidi:Jai do u wanna know the french word for bitch?? Xx

Jaida laughed at the selfie Heidi sent over, in the apartment she recognised as Jackie’s. Wait until she mentioned to Jackie that her housemate was Heidi’s date.

“Left her a voicemail. Also, when this case is over, I’m not drinking for a month,” Jackie declared, coming back over. “I swear we’ve been out to a bar all week. Saturday, Sunday, and now today. I don’t wanna be drinking on weeknights!”

“Speaking of which, it’s your round Jai,” Brita sang, nudging her empty glass towards Jaida and pointing to the bar at Vanjie’s. It was still quiet, but people were starting to filter in and it wouldn’t be long until they were engulfed in people, queueing at the bar.

Jaida got up and grabbed the tray, going to the bar to order. Vanessa was way at the other end of the bar with someone else, and Brooke was nowhere to be seen, so Jaida was all alone, with her thoughts.

“Well, hey there!”

Jaida spun round at the voice, and the familiar peach shampoo, to the radiance that was Jan. Her brown eyes were crinkled as she smiled, her blonde hair slightly damp from the rain. Jaida felt her heart jump at the sight of her, the very last person she’d been expecting to see.

“Hey, Jan.” Jaida wasn’t sure what else to say, but she smiled widely, and turned to look for Vanessa, who was still on the other side of the bar. It wasn’t like Jaida to feel tongue-tied, but she couldn’t find any clever words to say for once.

“I uh, will try not to spill stuff on your shirt today, looks too smart to ruin!” Jan laughed at her own comment.

“Your shirt is nice too,” Jaida said, taking in Jan’s lavender blouse and the black knee-length skirt. Jaida silently admired how the material fell.

“Thanks! I had an audition this afternoon. Another ‘don’t call us, we’ll call you’ moment!” Jan laughed again, this time a little bitter. “Getting a break is hard anywhere, but here in NYC? It’s impossible. I was just on my way back, and a little birdie told me you’d be here.”

“Which little birdie might that be?” Jaida chuckled, looking over at Brita and Jackie, who went from watching them to snapping their necks the other direction, in the blink of an eye. “Or do I need to ask?”

“I don’t think you do!” Jan sniggered.

“So,” Jaida rested her arm on the bar, “you sing?”

“Sure!”

“What’s your favourite song to sing? Because I can’t sing a note!” Jaida cringed at her awful conversational skills. When did she become this corny?

“That’s just modest! I bet you can sing Christina with me.”

Jaida’s jaw fell wide open in shock. “The Christina? I’m not even sure I can sing one octave, let alone five!”

“I’ll teach you,” Jan winked, “just follow my lead.”

She tossed her hair, rolled her shoulders back, and opened her mouth.

I am beautiful, no matter what they say / Words can’t bring me down!

Jaida listened to the slow, emphatic lyrics, the perfect pitch that came from that throat, the way Jan’s face twisted with the emotion, and Jaida’s whole body tingled for a couple of seconds, feeling a spread of goose pimples down her arms.

“Now you try,” Jan took one of Jaida’s hands, her shoulders twitching with excitement. “Just relax, look at me, take a deep breath …”

The peach shampoo swirled round them both, and Jaida started to feel like she was in some sort of dream, and not wanting to wake up; as she took a sharp breath in to knock Jan flat with her dreadful voice …

You are beautiful, in every single way / Words can’t bring you down / So don’t you bring me down today!

Jaida realised that she wasn’t singing the words; it was Jan’s voice, while Jaida just mouthed the lyrics along, the glorious sound filling up every pore of her skin, every empty space in her mind. Jan’s thumb was rubbing her palm, and Jaida found she could focus on nothing else but the slight pressure, feeling herself being pulled slowly into Jan’s eyes as they came closer to her …

“WAIT, who’s singing? Does this bar say KARAOKE on the sign? Monday nights are for SINGING are they?” Vanessa had come out of nowhere, breaking the spell, Jaida dropping Jan’s hand and turning to face Vanessa.

“Sorry, V!”

But Vanessa was smirking, raising her eyebrows knowingly at the pair of them, before disappearing to the other end of the bar. Jan waited until Vanessa was busying herself serving before resting a hand on Jaida’s forearm.

“Well, it was nice seeing you again,” she said, her eyes darting around Jaida’s face. “My shift starts at seven, I have to get back. See you soon.”

Jaida was hit with a little bit of courage. She put her hand on Jan’s, holding her to her forearm. “Jan, give me your phone number. And on Friday, get the night off your shift.”

“What?” Jan looked stunned.

“Well … if you want, we can go somewhere nice. Quiet. Have a coffee or something. If you want, that is? I clock off at four thirty if I can get round Brita.”

Jan was silent for a second, blinking. Then she leaned in towards Jaida, and kissed her on the cheek, right next to her lips. Jaida momentarily lost herself in the heady scent of Jan’s perfume, the tender sensation of Jan’s lips against her skin, and as Jan reclined, smiling gently, Jaida had to blink to get her eyes to focus again.

“That sounds perfect.”

She was gone before Jaida could even think, a whoosh of blonde hair, closing the door of the bar and putting up her hood before walking off into the evening. Jaida exhaled slowly, not realising she’d been holding her breath.

Jaida glanced at her own booth, where Brita and Jackie hurriedly turned away from her again, like nothing had just happened.

“Child,” Jaida muttered to herself as she came back with the tray and three wines on it. Jackie looked at Jaida through her eyelashes, while Brita smirked triumphantly.

“You weren’t actually messaging Aiden, were you?” Jaida realised, tilting her head at Brita.

“Maybe I was and maybe I wasn’t,” Brita teased.

“Maybe you had a message from Jan, asking you to get me here tonight so she could drop in before her shift!”

Brita looked far too pleased with herself. She picked up her wine from the tray and chuckled.

“Have you got any more single friends?” Jackie asked Brita with a laugh.

Jaida ignored them both for a few minutes, busying herself with her phone, sending another urgent message.

Jaida: Heidi Almighty x

Jaida:My lovely ride or die

Jaida: The Bonnie to my Clyde xx

Heidi: Jai how many times have I told u, I got no bail money xx

Jaida: I got a fashion emergency, need date outfit help for Friday night! Xx

Heidi: oh really, where have I heard that before lol x

Jaida: Please!!!!!! :(

Heidi:ok hang on

[Heidi has added Nicky to the chat]

Nicky: bonsoir

Heidi:Jaida needs ur help with fashion cherie xx

Nicky: bien sûr

Jaida: LOL have you been teaching Heidi french? X

Heidi: merde!!

Nicky:that one was from my housemate’s dictionary……

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marvelgbt-posts · 6 years ago

Text

Projects

{Photographer! Peter Parker x Bigender! Artist! Reader}

Warnings: i dont know much bout the bigender community, and so i did my research. So you identify as two genders? I dont know what ‘genders’ exactly you’d want here, so i’ll put they/them pronouns if thats okay :)

Summary: ‘can i please get a bigender reader who goes to art school with peter, that has like, “god like abilities” and always compliments/draws/tells peter hes amazing. ((tag @give-you-the-sxn please?))

Ofc my beautiful valid child <3

A/N: i decided to change it up a bit and have the art class as a club after school instead. Also I hc that tom hollands peter parker is into photography. I hope you like it >///<

I listened to ‘youth’ by Shawn Mendes and Khalid while doing this.

*not edited*

“Welcome class,” the teacher greeted you all brightly, “I’m glad you could make it after school today, what with all the rain and all I assumed only two or three of you would have shown up today. Anyways, you know what to do. Best get to it.” She clapped her hands, before turning her heel and moving to write on the board, writing ‘Integrated Arts Club’ in a cursive calligraphy font. That was her contribution to the club. Calligraphy.

You sighed. This was a way for you to escape the harsh reality of the outside world. Half the students in this club were members of the community, no scratch that, the majority of students were gay. There was maybe only one or two straight people apart of this club.

You took out your paints, paintbrushes, pencils, and then got your canvas from inside the supply closet where you had left it yesterday. It was your newest project, a painting of a woman in white, with bright red lips and a black dress that blended into the black background of your canvas. You were inspired by a woman you had seen one night on the streets of Queens.

Taking a seat by yourself- taking up the whole table with your paints and brushes spread everywhere- you began painting. Everything was already finished, you just needed the details. You heard the door open and close, only choosing to look up when you finished an eyelash stroke.

“Yeah, this is where I go after school. That over there is Mia- the one spray painting the poster paper- and the dude over there with the guitar is Jay. That over there is (y/n), their bigender so I’d just use androgynous pronouns for them. Over there is Ms. Burningham, our club sponsor, and the dude in the corner is Max, he’s a comic book artist. You’d fit right in, Peter.”

The voice belonged to MJ, a close friend of yours. She often helped give you inspiration, letting you paint some of her sketches to life. You heard her walk behind you, leaning down so her hair was in your peripheral vision. You looked up, “Yo, MJ.” You smiled at her, then up at the newbie.

He was short, about an inch or so shorter than you, with brown eyes and hair. He wore a sweater over another shirt, jeans, and ha a camera in his hands. He was trembling, probably nervous.

“Hey, ahh, who’s this?” You asked MJ, who looked at Peter. She leaned back against the table, her palms getting paint on them from the splatters that had fallen off your plate of paint.

“Parker- Peter. Peter Parker. Nice to meet you.”

He went to shake your hand, you lifted yours up to show him you had gotten black and red all over them, “Sorry, dont wanna mess up your hands. That camera looks expensive.”

Peter made a small ‘oh’ noise, looking down to his small Canon camera. “Yeah, it- its almost completely brand new. I sold some of my old stuff to get it. Useless stuff, shirts and books and stuff.”

“Cool, cool. Uh, MJ, could you tell Jay to keep it down over there? Can’t hear my own thoughts over his wanna-be indie music,” you said, completely disregarding the boy in front of you now. It wasn’t that you were rude, you just wanted to get this painting finished hole everything was still wet, otherwise it would make problems later on. MJ rolled her eyes, but nodded. You flashed Peter a smile, before turning to you painting.

After about a minute of silence, you heard a gasp behind you, “Holy shit- that’s really good!” You looked up, seeing Peter next to you with his camera turned on. He blushed, “Sorry! It’s just you looked so calm and pleasing, I snapped a quick photo while you weren’t looking- sorry.”

You half-smiled, standing upright, “Thanks, and it’s okay. This class is freedom of expression. Just not expression, ‘kay? As in, no swearing,” you laughed and pointed to the lady at the front of the class, her hands busy grading the Latin worksheets. Peter nodded, surprise clear across his face, “Oh- sorry.”

“Can I see?”

“What?”

“The pictures, can I see? I mean, they're of me, right?”

“Oh- yeah! Totally!”

Peter pushed a few buttons on his camera, and he scrolled through some of the photos until he found yours. “Here-”

“Wow, i look hot!”

You moved closer to Peter to get a better look, gawking at the aesthetic that was put into one simple photo. You did look good in this photo. “Mind sending me this? Not just this, other stuff, too. I’d love to make a piece from these- oh, if that’s okay?”

“Uhh- yeah! Sure!”

***

You flopped onto the bed, curling up next to a pillow. It was cold from loneliness, making you snuggle closer to it. You looked at your nails- paint ad managed to get wedged between the nail and the skin, and no matter how hard you tried it wouldn’t wash away.

You sighed, ready to turn off the light until your phone went off. You checked it to see there was a message from MJ, asking you if it was okay to give Peter your number. You texted back, ‘Yeah. Totally.’

Three minutes later, your phone went off again and it was Peter.

Unknown

Hey (y/n) its peter

Parker

Peter parker

I just wanted to know if you wanted the photos to be on a hard drive or through gmail or something?

Hello?

-11:13-

You

Yeah

I’m here hi

A hard drive would be nice thanks

-11:15-

You took a moment to change Peter’s ID to his name. About five minutes later, Peter responded with more spam

Peter

Okay cool

Yeah okay

Yeah i can do that

Sure

Yeah

Okay

Cool

-11:32-

You

Lol

Imma sleep

Night peter

-11:35-

Peter

(…)

Night

-11:45-

***

The next day, you bumped into Peter in the hallway, “Oh, hi Pete. Can I call you that?”

“Hi, (y/n)! Yeah, totally cool!”

“Cool, got the hard drive?”

“Yeah, right here,” Peter patted his jean pockets for a bit before pulling out a black and red hard drive, “It has maybe 20 or 25 pictures here. Their mostly just random pictures of places around Queens, hope that’s okay?” You nod, “Thanks Pete.”

***

That night, you went home and changed Peter’s ID to ‘Pete’. After that, you plugged the hard drive into your laptop, opening the file titled ‘images’ and scrolling through the photos. Most of them were taken at impossible angles, and you wondered how Peter was able to capture photos like them. One was at the top of a building and looking down onto a busy interstate. Another was of the stars, a bit of the background trees getting in the frame. They were beautiful. Another was of MJ, her back towards the camera, a backpack strap in her hand, looking to the left at the sky with a sunset background. You saved that image as ‘Michelle_jERKFACE.jpeg’ on your computer. The photo Peter took of you earlier was amongst them as well.

You went to bed that night with a smile on your face and ideas fresh in your mind, ready for tomorrow's Club Meeting.

***

“Hey (y/n)! Like the pictures i sent?”

“Holy Shii-shhh! Peter! That sentence can go two ways!”

“OH! Sorry...”

“Its fine, and yes I did like them. They were really good! How come you never joined before?”

“Never thought i was good enough.”

“Not good enough?! Peter, those photos are professional level photos. They are wonderful and beautiful and deserve to be in a museum.”

“Oh, wow, thanks...” peter blushed, looking own with a small smile on his face.

***

You looked at the scenery before you, trees brown and crisp from the fall air. Peter sat next to you, his camera ready to snap a picture at any moment. MJ sat opposite Peter, sketchbook in hand and sketching the trees and people. Ned was posing by a fountain as Peter playfully took photos of him. You started sketching Peter into your own book, smiling when you finished and began shading.

MJ looked over at you, “Damn, you’re gay for Peter Parker.”

You looked at MJ with a shocked expression, before looking at the sketch and at Peter, who was now out of ear shot.

“Totally,” you smiled, before both of you went back to your drawings.

***

“Peter,” you looked at him seriously from your spot on his bed, “Ever think about kissing dudes before?”

Peter blushed, “I- ah, um...” His eyes widened, before looking down shamefully, “Y-Yeah… more than a few times...”

You smiled, “Cool, so what? You’re… bi?”

“More pan, I look for personality more than gender.”

“Cool, same. I’m (sexuality).”

“Oh, cool!”

***

“Peter, where are we going?”

“Behind the school. There’s something I need to show you.”

Peter had your hand tight in his grip, pulling you through the almost empty hallways. His voice didn’t stutter, which worried you.

Finally, you made it. Peter pulled out his camera, “Stand in front of that street art Mia did yesterday.” You did just that. Peter moved your arms to move in front of your sweater, telling you to tug at it a bit and look up at the sky. He moved some hair in front of your face to cover your eyes. He knelt down, snapping the photo.

“Cool, now stay there.”

“Do you always get like this for a photo?” You asked as Peter pressed record, moving next to you, “What do you mean?”

“Nothing, um. What are you doing?”

“Its for a project. I’m gonna screenshot part of the video later. Please, this is important.”

You watched Peter as he took control of the situation, taking your (smaller/bigger) hands in is own, intertwining them as he leant up.

“Kiss me.”

You coughed, moving back. Peter moved his arms around you again, “Please?”

“Why?”

“The project- please (y/n).”

You slowly gave in, letting Peter wrap his arms around your waist as you looked down into his eyes, your hands cupping his cheeks softly. He leant up to kiss you softly. Both of you stayed there, afraid and unsure of how to move.

“I’m sorry,” Peter said after a while, moving away. You were quick to react, taking the back of his head and slamming it back onto yours.

“Mph-!”

He was taken aback by the action, soon melting and whimpering into it.

Yep, you were so gay for Peter Parker.

#marevlgbt #request #male reader #bigender reader #gender neutral reader #mlm #x reader #peter parker x male reader #peter parker x gender neutral reader #peter parker x reader #peter parker x bigender reader #lgbt #gay imagine #lgbt imagine #marvelgbt imagine #marvel imagine

166 notes · View notes

karmanticmoved · 5 years ago

Note

1-85 uwu

j esus okay

1. describe yourself.

uh,, emotional ig, dumbass, quiet, exhausted all of the time, v queer, healthy mix of feminine and masculine, insecure, and not tha t great tbh. kinda a pussy ass b itch

2. if you could go anywhere for a week all expenses paid where would it be?

idrk. maybe somewhere like a hella nice beach in another country, maybe somewhere in europe. i like travelling but i hate the travel to get there and have no money so i havent put thought into it. maybe hawaii or somewhere like that.

3. do you have siblings?

the one thats still alive is my half brother

4. what is your favorite constellation, why?

orion maybe bc i don't know a lot but i can see that one from my bedroom window even in the city n idk. its comforting. or scorpius cause i'm a scorpio

5. favorite color.

yellow, pink, or blue.

6. what kind of music do you listen to?

almost anything. whatever catches my interest.

7. favorite flower. (you can name as many as you want cause flowers are awesome)

forgot what i said last time but those

yellow carnations i think?

8. if you could do magic, what is the first spell you would learn?

maybe smth to put myself to sleep immediately bc f uCk

9. favorite childhood memory.

my summer camp memories are pretty great. also memories of my dad and i going fishing are good.

10. have you ever been cheated on?

i mean in theory i couldve been bc online relationships but no. n im polyam and have identified as such for a majority of my relationships so no.

11. if you could describe your perfect room, what would it be?

big but not too big, yknow? like big enough that it can be filled and have room to walk around and lay on the ground or whatever but not Empty. and a pretty big bed to stretch out on, n a closet in the room. multiple windows w blackout curtains so theres light but it can be blocked out. n fluffy rugs or carpeting but preferably rugs in case smth spills so we can get it out of at least Remove the rug. and probably a cat tree thing in corner for dipper. n a computer desk and actual lights that light up the whole room. but probably,, fairy lights too bc full lights too bright. and i kinda want a pink room but blue or yellow work also. a nd pride flags on the walls + posters and various other stuff bc plain walls are boring. and tons n tons of b ooks too.

12. favorite animal.

river otter

13. what was the last photo you took of?

cat

14. do you believe in soul mates?

i'm not sure. i do kinda think there are people who you will like. really really click with and who become so important in your life that they're like. apart of u yknow? but i don't think that anyone as an individual needs to keep those people in their life forever. they arent destined to stay with them, and they shouldnt force that relationship (platonic, familial, romantic, or whatever) even if they were close for years and years. screw destiny. youll have people you care about, and sometimes you have to break that bond to save yourself, and thats okay. there will be other people who can and will be just as important. that got kinda off topic skbsks. i don't think theres really like Destiny soulmates. but there could be like. soulmates in the sense of for however long we're together, we're soul bonded. even if its not forever. does that even make se nse skbsns

15. do you hang toilet paper over or under?

over is the one thats socially acceptable right

16. your go to place to eat & your favorite thing to get there.

idk theres a place near a movie theater closeish to my house and its a nice little cafe and i dont eat there bc i dont eat much in general but i get their bubble tea and i love. raspberry bubble tea w rose popping bubbles. its comfort drink.

17. do you believe everything happens for a reason?

no. sometimes shit happens for no reason, and its bullshit, but you can't reverse it, so you gotta figure out how to move on from it.

18. guilty pressures?

im assuming thats meant to be pleasures

umm,, idrk. i don't know what exactly i like that would count as a guilty pleasure so,,

19. favorite mythical creature, why?

merpeople are s o cool i fuckin. love funky aquatic pals hell yeah. maybe im just Water babey but. they're rad. dragons are also hella cool bc like dragons???? theyre scaly and prett y and can breathe fire or have wings and kill u?? also like selkies bc again. water. but i used to hear a lot of stories abt them and theyre so nea t

20. something most people don’t know about you.

i have the potential to be a huge asshole and also kinda Wish to fuckin murder someone sometimes but. i act nice most of the time anyway.

not murder murder but i can get angr y enough that i just wanna Stab smth

21. where did you grow up, what was it like?

grew up kinda near the edge of the city, still in it but not like the main city area. in western washington. it was kinda rly boring, i used to spend a lot more time outside or just by myself playing with leaves or toys or whatever. when i had friends i played make believe w them even when outside of school. so yeah. boring id say.

22. do you believe aliens exist?

sure.

23. what was your last google search?

other than names for some actors n stuff, i was looking up various star wars things

24. what did your last relationship teach you?

the one that like. ended? i guess thatd be. be careful with your own feelings and try to figure them out before jumping into anything, and also don't try to force smth that in reality isnt really working.

25. would you relocate for love?

honestly yeah

26. do you hold grudges or forgive easy?

both. it just depends on how badly i or someone i care about was hurt by it. more likely to hold a grudge if a friend was hurt by someone d eep enough to leave a lasting impact or if they don't get a genuine apology i will be 🔫🔫. or if the person keeps hurting them. even if that person is also my friend.

27. favorite book.

favorite graphic novel is bloom by kevin panetta

favorite books in general are autoboyography, more happy than not, and what if its us. all gay. i know. its okay. im a kinnie.

28. do you consider yourself an extrovert or introvert?

introvert by far

29. have you ever kept a journal, do you now?

i tried once. i probably will have to once i go see a therapist, or at least one for my Bad Thoughts

30. top 5 favorite movies.

in no particular order

little shop of horrors, love simon, coco, it (2017 and 1990), and shazam! ig? maybe others but i definitely Forgot all the shit ive watched

31. do you believe that everything happens for a reason?

32. what is your greatest fear?

definitely gotta be all of the people i love hating me and abandoning me or secretly hating me and then leaving me without saying anything. and the worst part is im always afraid its gonna happen babeyy

33. favorite alcoholic beverage.

im baby

34. most embarrassing thing you’ve done.

im embarrassed by my own existence. i don't remember the Most embarrassing thing

35. do you believe in ghosts?

not until i have proof that i can actually trust and believe in

36. what is the best and worst part of your personality?

idk ig im nice. but im also. very easily set off on certain emotions especially the bad ones which sucks like especially jealousy bc i dont wanna!! feel jealous!! tho i think that ties into my greatest fear bc my brain immediately tells me im useless to everyone and they hate me. but. sometimes i get jealous and then feel bad for that and then hate myself for all of it. bc my friends deserve to hang out w other people and care about other people im just fucking stupid babey !!

37. should you split the dinner bill?

i rly don't get why you wouldnt tbh like if u both wanna be there u should both pay. but if one person gonna pay it should be the person that asked.

38. are you a good liar?

most of the time. when it comes to my mental health i can either lie great or im literally breaking down in front of the person so

39. what keeps you up at night?

depressing thoughts. anxiety about everything. wishing i could cuddle and fall asleep w jay. sometimes i just cant sleep bc im too restless.

40. would you rather go without your phone or music?

music. i need my phone to text my friends and i Need my friends

41. do you believe in god?

what god would let the world get to the point its at. what god would allow people to do such fucked up shit.

no. i don't.

42. how do you relax when frustrated?

cry, take a nap, take a shower, listen to music, cuddle dipper

43. what’s something that offends you?

when people go "oh yeah i support gay rights but im still gonna eat at chick fil a bc its good" like i get so fucking. pissed off by that. youre not gonna fucking s ta rv e without their goddamn chicken. i know a bi person who goes there and says its okay bc they dont Directly Give Their money to Specifically anti gay organisations but im just. ugh. fucking pissed bc there are other places to get food just avoid the one place for fucks sake. their food is good it doesnt matter. its like saying yeah pewdiepie is a bad person and nazi and a racist asshole but his videos r funni haha so im gonna watch him anyway

44. favorite food

i hate myself whenever i eat food

45. if you were on a 10 hour flight and could sit and talk to any person the entire time, who would it be?

@destinedformuchmore or @pinaplelee

46. when do you feel the most confident?

never? but ig i feel confident when working on tech construction during theater tech. as long as i know what im doing.

47. what do you do in your free time?

sleep. draw. cry. play video games. talk to my friends.

48. is there anyone who has completely lost your respect

matpat did for being a dick abt neopronouns and making a transphobic joke and only apologizing when a cis person told him to. not when hundreds of trans people did. and also other jokes that are inherently offensive to various groups. a n d for making extremely not Child friendly jokes in his videos which are very much targeted towards kids. say what you will about the target audience, there are a lot of children who watch them. please stop making creepy nsfw jokes if you won't even swear, sir.

49. have you ever broken someone’s heart?

i guess so yeah. but she also broke mine first.

50. did/do you play sports in school?

i did. i don't anymore bc highschool sports are bullshit but. basketball, ultimate, and soccer.

51. when are you happiest?

talkin 2 jay prolly

52. coffee or tea?

tea

53. what is one possession you own you wouldn’t want to live without?

my binder. or my stuffed cat puppet thing ive had since i was 7

54. what is the first thing you notice about a person?

their general emotions, mostly. like if theyre in a good mood or if theyre bored or distracted or whatever. or if they seem interested in actually talking to me

55. what is your favorite season, why?

fall. my birthday, the atmosphere is nice, it's pretty, its hoodie weather.

56. what makes you laugh?

stupid little comments or jokes my friends make tend to make me laugh a lot harder than i should but jabdn

57. are you a clean or messy person?

a mix. i Cannot have some things messy or i will ksjqkd. Die but i don't make my bed too often bc its ha rd when its against 3 walls.

58. what is important for a successful relationship?

communication communication communicati

talk about ur goddamn problems n keep talking to each other.

59. what was your upcoming like?

if thats supposed to be upbringing

idk, very relaxed. pretty easygoing and kinda boring.

60. favorite holiday?

any holiday in december rly. i don't celebrate a Lot but the atmosphere and others celebrating is nice to see. i kinda wish my parents did more to embrace the jewish part in our family blike. whatever. christmas is fun.

61. what is the first thing you’d do if you won the lottery?

give half of it to my parents. and then probably use it for plane ticket

62. what’s the best pizza topping combination?

hawaiian pizza. pinapple n canadian bacon ty

63. favorite outdoor activity.

frisbee

64. how are you? honestly.

not great. i want highschool to end.

65. would you rather go camping in the woods or stay at a beach resort?

idk. camping is fun but if i get to stay at the resort for free i would rly love 2 stay at a resort tbh ive never done that

66. what is the most beautiful thing in nature?

waterfalls. or rivers or just. water in nature. and very green forests. aNd snow.

67. favorite type of candy?

none

68. if your life was a book, what would be the title?

i can and will do arson, an autobiography

69. what movie quotes do you use of a regular bases?

i quote john mulaney and whatever my obsessions are pretty regularly

70. what was cool when you were young but not cool now?

silly bandz. pokemon cards. these weird unicorn figures i collected

71. what’s the craziest conversation you have ever eves dropped on?

im mostly the one having the weird conversations

72. what’s the most interesting documentary you’ve ever watched?

i watched one about dogs and cats and their evolution which was lit

73. what’s the worst hairstyle you’ve had?

when i let the lady just go fuckin ham on my hair bc i was watching spirit that horse movie and didnt wanna stop so it was. rly bad bangs and hella short in back but not the sides

74. what do you like to cook?

whatever im hungry for. i don't have the energy to cook a lot

75. what’s the coolest animal you’ve seen in the wild?

really pretty tropical fish

76. what’s the funniest tv show you’ve ever seen?

idk. i rly like schitts creek its pretty amusing

77. do you usually follow your heart or your head?

heart at first but my head if things get bad

78. what is your favorite quote?

"i have a splitting headache and i think i'm dying. how are you?"

or a character just saying "try harder" when another failed to do smth.

this is supposed to be deep or whatever but im in a Mood

79. what’s the weirdest crush you have ever had?

once had a crush on a character in a minecraft parody lmao

80. what’s your love language?

sending shit that makes me think of them. n just. making tons of stuff for them both online and irl like bracelets.

81. do you ever feel alone?

oh yeah. all the time. im not but it feels like i am which sucks

82. ever been bullied?

yeah

83. are you usually early or late?

late bc of my parents rip

84. what kind of art do you enjoy most?

drawing, or writing. also theater.

85. what do you wish you knew more about?

i just wish i could remember everything ive learned more about. i know a lot i just forget all.

id like to know more about forensics tho

#asks #long post #friends

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werewolfdays · 4 years ago

Text

Threats (part 2)

a good mood setter for me when writing this (very long) part was this song -

A day and a half. A day and a half with no luck. It felt like my brain was imploding with the migraine I had from worrying sick about where two of the most important people in the world to me were. The weight of this failure threatened to drag me down, but I raged through it. I will find them. Even if I had to tear the entire world apart to do so.

I had searched the entire grounds of the Lodge without so much as a proper direction to send me in and Skye’s scent in town led to a dead end, which confirmed my belief that she had been taken too. Though I did keep my phone close in case she called. The next nearest town seemed to be fruitless as well. Toby was asking around, trying to see if maybe Nadya’s captor passed through here to get some gas or something, but the locals were of no use either.

The endless circles and dead ends made this consume my entire mind. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t eat. All that was pushing me forward was an obsessive focus driven by a need to save the people I love. In a way, I was grateful for this terror and fury. It could very well be the thing that would save both my sister and my girlfriend.

Toby exited the gas station, walking towards where I was leaning against the car with my arms crossed and sporting scowl that had been on my face long enough that it might become permanent if we didn’t finish this soon.

He shook his head as he stopped in front of me, “They didn’t see him.”

Even though I expected that, I still pushed myself away from the car and growled, “This is fucking pointless, we’re just wasting time.”

“What else can we do?” Toby lifted his shoulders in exasperation, clearly as lost and frustrated as I was.

“We think harder.” I began to pace, hoping that the movement would clear my head a little more, “I swear, if Miranda has anything to do with this…” just the thought made me want to head straight for the Kincade Manor and threaten to rip her throat out if she didn’t tell me where they were.

Toby shook his head, “I honestly don’t think this is her. She wouldn’t take Skye too.”

“I guess so,” I muttered, feeling like he was probably right. My instincts told me it wasn’t her, this felt like something else, “Then we don’t know why they were taken, but where could they have taken them? They have to be holding them somewhere right?”

“Or they’ve been on the road this whole time.”

I shook my head, “No, it wouldn’t be practical to move hostages for this long. Whatever they want them for has to do with us because why only take Skye and Nadya out of everyone in the Lodge? They want something, we just don’t know what. They have to be somewhat close at least.”

He considered my ramblings, “An abandoned building then? Maybe on the outskirts of a town or a city so they don’t draw too much attention?”

My mind came to the same conclusion, but that still gave us a lot of ground to cover. Perhaps too much, “There are countless abandoned buildings, even in this county. We have to narrow it down somehow.”

“Let’s go back home then. We’ll search up any records in the area and go from there,” Toby gave me a concerned once-over, “Get you some rest too. Skye and Nadya will need you at your best.”

I knew he was right about that, though I wasn’t sure how I was going to be able to get even a wink of sleep. Still, I agreed and we both hopped back into the car to head home. The drive back to the Lodge will take several hours, and as time went on, the harder and harder it was to keep violent images from popping into my brain to torment me.

One was a flash of my sister in the middle of a street with a bullet in her head, eerily similar to the image of my father when he died. My hands started to tremble again, so I balled them into fists and pressed them into my forehead while I forced my eyes shut. Unfortunately that just gave me the picture of Nadya’s blood all over my hands and body, the lingering scent of it still hasn’t left me and it stung my nostrils with every shallow breath. That one sucked all of the air out of my lungs, making me roll the window down to search for any kind of relief.

“Just breathe, Jayde.” Toby said soothingly beside me, “We’re gonna find them.”

All I could do was silently nod. I can’t lose them like this.

We were two hours into the drive with me feeling like I was about to snap any second, when something happened. My phone rang. I jumped and scrambled to pull it out of my pocket, when I did, I was so fucking relieved to see my little sister’s number on the caller ID.

“Pull over.” I commanded Toby, which he did without question, and I flipped the phone open to answer it, “Skye?”

“No, sorry,” An unfamiliar male voice answered, “This is Anthony, Skye’s not available right now.”

My bones turned to ice and the seatbelt became suddenly constricting, so I unbuckled myself and threw the car door open, stepping out of the vehicle and a few paces into the brush until the ice turned to boiling rage, “I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but you are going to give them back to me right now and maybe I’ll consider letting you live.”

The stranger hummed in mock-thought for a moment, “That doesn’t sound very promising.”

“It’s the only offer on the table,” I said through clenched teeth, “I suggest you take it or I will rip your throat out when I find you.”

“You’re in no position to make any demands or threats, unfortunately.” Anthony replied formally, if a bit sarcastic, “I, however, am willing to make you an offer.”

“You’re a delusional dead man if you think I’d agree to anything you want.”

“Well, I’m a delusional dead man with all of the leverage. Or did you forget I have both your sister and your mate?” He let the silence hang until he was sure I didn’t have a reply to that, “I want to have a talk with you in person, you think you can handle that without ripping my head off? Maybe we can come to an agreement and both get what we want.”

My instincts told me that was bullshit, but I played along, “You’ll let them go if we talk?”

“If we come to terms.”

“Then I want proof that they’re alive and well. Let me speak to them.”

There was a sigh on the other end of the line, “Sure.”

After some shuffling, I heard a voice that finally started giving me hope, “Jayde?” my little sister called through the phone.

“Skye,” I answered through a breath of relief, “Are you alright?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.” She promised. I didn’t catch too much concern in her voice, but I worried that she was only trying to put on a brave face, “These thugs don’t scare me, they’re a bunch of puppies.”

“I’m coming to get you, okay?”

“I know you are.”

“Just hold on, I’ll be there as soon as I ca—”

“Okay,” Anthony suddenly said, “You satisfied?”

I gritted my teeth again, trying not to agitate him in case he took his anger out on Skye, “I’ll be more satisfied when I have them back. I want to talk to Nadya now.”

“Yeah, just a minute.” he sounded almost bored and I could tell he was walking to another room, “Gotta keep the hostages separate, I’m sure you understand.”

I rolled my eyes, remaining silent while I waited as patiently as I could for him to confirm that Nadya was alive. My palms started to sweat and I began to pace again, recalling the state of our room and seeing the streak of her blood on my fingertips. She’s going to be okay. I thought to myself. She has to be okay.

There were some shuffling noises, accompanied by footsteps, and a door opening and closing. Then I heard Anthony’s somewhat distant voice, “Someone wants to talk to you, little lamb. Don’t try anything, okay? I don’t think you would want her to hear you get hurt.”

Little lamb? That and his nonchalant threat made my anger flare up even more, but then I heard her voice, “Jayde?”

A wave of relief hit me so hard that tears started to blur my vision and my tone wavered when I spoke, “Nadya, please tell me you’re okay.”

“I’m fine, I promise,” she replied quickly, “All I have is a concussion.”

I could tell she was trying her best to placate me. She must have known about the horrific scene I discovered when I found that she was gone. I was absolutely furious that she had been hurt at all, but I was slightly reassured that Nadya didn’t seem too concerned about her injuries. “I’m coming soon. I won’t let anything else happen to you.”

“I know, Jay, just…” Nadya trailed off, sounding worried and even afraid, “Please be careful. I know it’s hard, but try to keep a level head. There’s more to this that you don’t know about and—”

Anthony must have pulled the phone away from her because I heard him again, “Boy, I hate to interrupt, but it looks like your time is up.”

“You lay a hand on her again and I swear, I’ll—”

“Let me stop you right there,” Christ, I was getting sick of this asshole interrupting, “I don’t want things to go too sour between us before you get here. Your human is fine. I’ll text you the address so you can come see for yourself.”

“Fine.” I replied curtly.

“Great. Now, I think it goes without saying, but I wouldn’t bring a cavalry with you or anything. Preferably just yourself, and try not to take your time getting here. Who knows what I’ll do if I get bored.”

I wouldn’t need a cavalry, “Understood.”

“See you soon.” Anthony said coldly before he hung up.

I looked down at my phone until a text popped up. Turns out I was right earlier, they weren’t very far away at all. Nadya’s warning echoed inside my head and my grip tightened around the burner until I started to hear the plastic crack.

There’s more to this that you don’t know about…

“This is a trap.” Toby murmured over my shoulder. I hadn’t even sensed him get out of the car.

I nodded and pocketed my phone, “I know.”

——

Anthony shoved Skye’s phone into his pocket once he texted Jayde the address. He looked over at me with an unreadable expression. My arms had been tied to the chair again after I was allowed me to clean the gash on my temple and finally forced myself to eat the food I had been given. Spending hours in this position started out extremely uncomfortable, but now it was beginning to be unbearable. I squirmed in my seat under his gaze to try and ease the aches, but it didn’t do much.

The symptoms of my concussion weren’t helping either. While the throbbing let up somewhat, the dizziness came in waves that I struggled to push through, so I spoke up about it once more, “I might need to go to the hospital. The trauma to my brain could be life threatening if it goes untreated.”

He only smiled at me and shook his head, “I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

I glared at him incredulously. He looked so arrogant after his conversation with Jayde and I couldn’t understand how he really thought this would end well for anyone, “What do you think you’re really going to get out of this? What makes you think it’s going to end here, even if you win?” All I got was a humorous scoff, so I tried one more time to reason with him, “Please, just walk away. If you leave now, you could have hours to put as much distance between us and you. I can convince Jayde to let you go.”

“That’s not going to happen.” Anthony replied, “I’m going to do what I have to, and then I’ll leave this all behind.”

I honestly couldn’t bear the mere thought of losing Jayde again. If he actually succeeded, it would destroy me, I was certain of that much. But I still held onto the hope that Jayde could handle this. We have been through worse, after all.

“So, you kill them,” There was still a part of his plan that he hadn’t disclosed to me yet, a part that I thought I already knew at least a couple answers for, “What happens to me then? Are you going to kill me too? Why am I even still alive?”

Anthony crossed his arms and sighed, like this was something he was still trying to figure out too, “I’d prefer not to kill you.”

“Then what?” I asked in terrified anticipation. There was no way he was going to let me go, was he?

“I like you.” He stated in a way that made me recoil, “Plus, you’re pretty useful with all the medical stuff… I want to turn you. Make you a part of my pack.”

I was rendered speechless for several long seconds. How he could think I would ever just let that happen baffled me, and the likely possibility that I wouldn’t have a choice in the matter shook me to the core, “Do you actually believe I would agree to that? Even if you forced me, you can’t seriously think I would just accept it.”

“So you would prefer death?” Anthony asked challengingly.

“You’re talking about killing the only real family I’ve ever had, murdering the love of my life, and forcefully stripping me of my humanity.” I spat bitterly, “Of course I’d rather die.”

He raised his eyebrows, clearly not expecting me to say that, but he gave a few short nods, “I would give it some more thought if I were you, because even if this doesn’t go my way, being turned is going to happen to you sooner or later.”

That wasn’t the first time I’ve been told that, and I doubt it would be the last if I escaped here alive and intact, but it still rattled my being and made me afraid of the future. As I sat there contemplating his words, Anthony turned on his heel and reached for the door.

He hesitated in the doorway, then looked back at me with some measure of pity, I was shocked to find, “It isn’t such a bad thing, you know.” He said softly, then shut the door behind him.

——

“Okay, luckily the layout isn’t too complicated,” Toby stated as we both looked at the blueprint for the abandoned office building on the laptop placed on the hood of the car. “It’s a single story, eight rooms, but lots of dense cover around the area.”

Toby and I parked a couple miles out from where Anthony told me to meet him so we could figure out some sort of plan. It felt like we were running on a ticking clock with too many unknown variables at play, but getting to talk to Nadya and Skye helped temper my terrorizing thoughts a little bit. I was still getting plagued with horrific outcomes to this, but every time a violent image popped in my head, I heard Nadya’s voice. Try to keep a level head.

“That’s cover for us, but cover for them too.” I considered with a deep furrow in my brow while I tried to come up with a good approach, “My guess is they have patrols around the area if they’re smart. We’ll take those out first, quietly if we can. Are there any rooms that don’t have windows?”

“Yes, two.” He pointed at one square towards the center of the building, and another a few paces from that.

“I’d be willing to bet that they’re keeping them in there. These are the entrances?” I pointed at the three gaps located on the outline of the building and Toby nodded, “We should head in through the north.”

“The furthest door away from those rooms?”

I nodded in confirmation, “They’ll have those rooms guarded with their focus on the nearest entrances, so they won’t expect us to come in through the north. Plus that exit has cover because of this room here,” My index finger followed the line of a hallway, “This can give us the opportunity to get the drop on them.”

“That doesn’t mean that this exit won’t be guarded.” Toby pointed out, “If it is, we could get caught up in that hallway or alert all of them and ruin this whole thing.”

I stared at him, “Then we better be quiet about it.”

Toby stared right back at me for a couple quiet moments, “You really think we can do this on our own?”

“I can.”

“Jayde, we’re basically going into this blind.” He said through a heavy release of breath, “Who knows if they even have Skye and Nadya there. Who knows what kind of trap they have planned. Hell, the entire place could be rigged to blow!”

“Toby, we are doing the best with what we have.” I tried not to growl at him, but the last thing we needed was him losing his confidence, “We don’t have a choice or the time to think too much about it.”

“We don’t even know how many there are.” He replied with a shake of his head.

My shoulders lifted in a shrug, “It doesn’t matter, the sun is setting and it will take hours for backup to get here. Who knows what he’ll do to them if we take too long.”

Toby’s eyes dropped to his feet as he shuffled in place nervously, “I guess…”

“I can do this.” I reassured him, reaching out and placing a hand on his shoulder, giving him a squeeze to get him to look up at me, “We can do this.”

He finally nodded and stood up a little straighter, “Alright.”

Feeling like he needed it as much as I did, I pulled Toby into an embrace. His arms wrapped around me and I bunched my fists into his jacket while burying my face in his shoulder. I closed my eyes, inhaling the scents of tobacco and leather, and allowed myself a small moment of peace in this contact. Toby squeezed me tighter for a moment and I could sense how terrified he was. He didn’t want to mess this up any more than I did. We both had a lot to lose tonight.

I pulled away, feeling better about our odds, “You ready to go get them back?”

Toby gave me a small smile and nodded, “Yeah.”

“Good.” I walked back towards the trunk of the car, “I’m gonna shift.” I explained while I started removing my clothes, “I need you on two legs, there should be a silencer in the trunk, you can take my gun.”

“You think shifting is the best play here?” He asked while he fished in the compartment for the silencer.

Even if it wasn’t, I didn’t care. The wolf under my skin knew we were close and wanted blood for having our pack taken from us. I could feel it grow increasingly restless under my skin since Nadya was taken. We both wanted our fangs to tear into flesh and enact retribution on anyone that gets in our way. I wasn’t entirely sure I could hold back a shift even if I wanted to.

“I could use as much power as I can get.” I answered while tossing my jacket and shirt into the open trunk.

“Fair enough.”

Toby and I ended up splitting up as we approached the building. I kept my body low, sniffing for any signs of patrolling wolves while trying to make sure I stayed upwind so they wouldn’t smell me coming. The sun was fully set now and I worried that my white fur would stand out in the blackness of night, but thankfully the foliage provided enough cover if I kept being careful. With my senses increased in my wolf form, my focus became even more intense. Every step I took was a calculated one. Every muscle was tensed for when I spotted my prey. My ears were tuned into every noise in the forest. I was ready for a fight.

I got confirmation of a suspected patrol when I caught the scent of an unknown wolf. Tracks that came from the direction of the office building led deeper into the trees in an obvious path around the area, and I followed it. Soon, my ears picked up footsteps up ahead. I went even lower to the ground to stalk forward until I finally caught sight of a dark shape in front of me. The wolf didn’t look alert, in fact they looked bored as they pawed the ground and huffed. That gave me hope that this pack wasn’t as skilled as I feared.

I moved as close as I could without getting detected, and when I saw one of their ears flick back towards me, I pounced. The wolf yelled in surprise when I slammed into them, trying desperately to twist out from under me and put some distance between us. I wouldn’t let them. Instead, I took advantage of their fatal and momentary confusion, swiftly locking my jaws around their throat and using my full bite force to crush their windpipe. The enemy wolf could only squirm feebly, managing to get a shallow slice on my side with their back leg before a loud crunch made their body go still.

When I tasted the metallic tang of blood on my tongue, I released the limp body and shook my ruff with a quiet growl. I craved another fight, needing to satisfy my bloodlust before the night is done. I needed every single one of them to pay.

There weren’t any other scents on the patrol route that I caught besides this wolf. I hoped that meant that they were the only patrol. If this pack only had one wolf on patrol, then they were either stupid or they didn’t have the numbers to spare. Both outcomes pushed the tides in our favor, but that didn’t mean I could let my guard down even a little bit. All it takes is one mistake on my part for this to go south. I could allow my confidence to rise, but I couldn’t let that make me sloppy.

Try to keep a level head.

The building came into view, as did the north entrance. Toby was right, it hadn’t been left alone. I noted a man standing by the door with a lit cigarette dangling out of his mouth and a pistol in his hand. He looked more alert, keeping a close eye on the treeline in front of him and I was lucky to have a thick trunk to hide behind when his gaze drifted over in my direction. This would be tougher as there was a clearing between me and him that spanned about a couple dozen feet. Even if I charged in a full on sprint, he could shoot me before I got to him or alert the others inside.

As I meticulously skirted around the edge of the treeline on his right side to get an angle on him, I noted movement to the left. It was Toby inching his way towards him in the shadows against the building. Toby still had the advantage of being around a corner, but he would only have a second to act once he got a clear shot. It would have to be a kill shot too, any noise from our target could be disastrous, so I waited in the brush in case I had to quickly step in.

Toby spotted me in the foliage, nodded, and peeked around the corner with his silenced weapon raised. The man on guard blinked in his direction for a brief moment, not having enough time to understand that Toby was a threat before he fired. I only needed the split second it took to see that the bullet’s path was slightly off to spring forward and finish the job. The cigarette dropped out of the guard’s mouth in shock as he stumbled back, palming the fresh wound on his neck. He raised his weapon to shoot Toby and I leapt on him from behind.

A grunting curse was all the man got out before I tore into his throat, ending him with a pathetic gurgle reaching my ears. The scent and taste of more blood, now staining my white fur, made my heart hammer with adrenaline. Two down. Hopefully not that many more to go.

Just as I was beginning to think that this would be easy, a booming howl cut through the night air, making both my head and Toby’s snap up in search of the source. There was a new wolf that broke through the trees, throwing their muzzle up in one more howl, this one felt more like a war cry, and I charged to meet them.

Our bodies slammed together, making the two of us a mess of snarling teeth and claws as we tore into each other. This wolf was slightly larger than me, but I didn’t let that stop my claws from ripping through the soft flesh of their belly. They let out a sharp whine, sinking their teeth into my back before throwing me away from them. I snarled through the pain, but regained my balance and tensed to lunge again, but two muffled shots sounded behind me. The enemy wolf collapsed silently and went still.

I swiveled around to share a look with Toby, who still had his gun aimed at the body of the wolf. No doubt about it, the entire place knew we were here now.

“Get inside.” He said tersely, and I wasted no time sprinting through the door he held open for me.

The hallway that I had hoped would give me cover instead worked against me because as soon as I rounded the corner, I was blindsided by a dark mass of an enemy. Their forceful strike sent the both of us into the far wall. My head was left swirling from the impact and they took that opportunity to strike at my throat. I rolled out of the way, kicking them right in the face. As they recoiled, I took a second to glance at Toby. He had his gun trained on my assailant, but I saw someone exit one of the rooms behind him, so I let out a bark as a warning. Toby turned just as the wolf I was facing shook off my blow, forcing my focus back to our fight.

I heard gunshots and growls echo through the dilapidated building. The scents of blood and gunpowder filled the air, overpowering the scent of mildew. This wolf was quick, dodging and shaking off my attacks easier than I’d like, making me more and more frustrated. At least they became more preoccupied with defense now that they didn’t have the element of surprise. I knew I just had to wait for an opening.

That opening came after they got impatient with dodging and attempted a strike towards my flank. I quickly twisted myself and lunged at them before they could land the hit. My jaws caught their muzzle in the blink of an eye, crushing the bones in their snout when I bit down. The wolf whimpered in pain while trying to shake me off, but I held tighter, looking over at where Toby finished his gunfight so I could line up this bastard for him. Luckily, all Toby needed was to see the positions we were in to finish my opponent off with a couple shots yet again.

With the area clear, at least temporarily, Toby reloaded and nodded towards the direction of the rooms we marked, “This way, come on.”

I took a step forward, when I heard a car pull up outside. Two sets of footsteps were heading towards the building. I didn’t want to keep fighting right now, not when I was unsure of Skye and Nadya’s fate, so Toby and I rushed for one of the rooms, hopefully to find them and prepare ourselves to fight our way out of here.

“Took you guys long enough.” A slightly battered looking Skye said from the chair she was tied to with a massive grin on her face.

The profound relief I felt at the sight of her filled me with the strength I needed to get us through this. We still had to get to Nadya, but we were so close now.

I wanted to go and inspect my sister, but Toby said, “Watch the door while I untie her.” So I stood like a sentinel, waiting and listening for any enemies we have yet to face. I heard the two sets of footsteps slowly circle around the building, trying to get a tactical advantage. They weren’t a threat quite yet. And then there was the blatant no show. Where is Anthony?

As if reading my mind, Skye said, “Jayde, I think that wackjob is with Nadya, you gotta go find her. He was giving me some serious creepy vibes, I don’t know what he’ll do to her.”

All sorts of possibilities made my stomach drop, but I still gave the two of them conflicted glances over my shoulder while Skye was being freed.

Toby nodded in reassurance, “We got this, go.”

After another second of hesitation, I bolted out of the door.

——

I was yanking helplessly on my restraints once again when I heard a distant howl. Likely from outside of whatever building they had us in. That long howl was followed by another one and it was too hard to tell if I recognized the voice. I was pretty certain it wasn’t Jayde. Then I heard footsteps running about on the other side of the closed door I was facing. Rushing and panicked footsteps. Confused calls to one another.

She’s here.

At the promise of escape, I tried even harder to break free of my bonds. It felt like my wrists were going to snap, but I finally saw the edges of the duct tape start to rip, so I bent my head down to try and help the process along with my teeth. That’s when I heard, as well as felt, a strong impact, like something had been slammed into a wall. A few seconds later and the sound of gunshots made me startle. Those shots were soon followed by more, accompanied by shouting and snarls.

Please be okay. I thought in a silent prayer, eternally frustrated with how useless I was right now.

Then the door opened, but instead of the one person I was hoping to see, I saw Anthony scramble in while looking panicked. He shut and locked the door behind him, quickly moving to the other door in the conference room to do the same.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

He didn’t answer me, or even acknowledge my presence, he just removed his jacket and walked behind me.

“This isn’t going the way you planned is it?” I looked over my shoulder at him to see he was discarding his shirt too, “If you make a run for it now, forget about all of this, and everyone wins.”

“If I have to run, I’m not forgetting this.” He replied through clenched teeth.

That felt like a deeper threat than it sounded and my eyes grew wide with horror when I thought I might have understood it. Before I could open my mouth to try and talk him down again, his eyes flashed to a gold that was somewhat similar to Jayde’s and I heard his bones begin to pop out of place. Anthony was shifting into a wolf with me in the room. My heartrate started to really pick up now, pounding hard enough to numb most of my body and make my head throb.

A couple minutes passed before I felt the presence of a very large beast behind me, growling and pacing, waiting for whoever will come through the doors. Anthony game close enough to me that I felt hot breath against my back as he growled and huffed in frustration, making the hair at the back of my neck stand on end. My entire body was frozen, terrified that I would set off the massive wolf with any amount of movement. If I did that, I feared what would happen to me. Would he only bite me? Or rip me to shreds? Would Jayde have to watch me bleed out?

In one heart stopping moment, I thought that exactly that was about to happen, because Anthony suddenly snarled loud enough to be a roar and he slammed his body into the side of mine. My chair tipped right over, slamming me into the ground, but luckily my shoulder took the brunt of the impact and not my concussed head, though that did become rattled. The door in front of us suddenly burst open while I still struggled to figure out what happened. I was awashed with relief at the blurry sight of Jayde in her wolf form.

As she started to slowly stalk into the room, looking as menacing as ever, covered in blood and growling, Anthony’s proximity to me made her falter. He came closer behind me, lowering his head with his teeth bared until they hovered directly over my throat. His threat was clear. Not a step closer or his fangs go into my jugular.

The two werewolves were locked in a stalemate, neither knowing how to proceed from this. I wasn’t sure what to do either, apart from staying as still as I possibly could, even holding my breath. I felt Anthony’s spittle drip onto my neck as he continued a steady growl that vibrated through my form and into the floor. I stared desperately at Jayde, but her furious eyes were glued to Anthony, her own threatening growl echoing through the entire conference room like a cacophonous thunder, even drowning out the rival wolf’s rumbling.

All three of us waited in a tense anticipation that made every hard beat of my heart feel like it lasted hours. I didn’t want this to be it for me. I didn’t want one wrong move to result in a bite. But I also didn’t know how I would get out of this without either of those possibilities happening. The way Jayde stood as still as I did, hackles raised and still snarling like a hellhound, made me think that she didn’t know any more than I did.

Of course, I couldn’t imagine that Anthony was thinking this would end well. If he bit me or killed me, he had to know his death was certain. He was probably weighing his options in a fight, but Jayde’s furious visage had to be giving him pause. Whatever it was that he was mulling over, he had to decide soon, I was getting worried that someone would lose patience.

It felt like ages, but suddenly the werewolf who had me under threat darted away from me with all of the speed he could muster, breaking through the only other door to this room in a shower of splinters. Anthony must have thought his best bet was to abandon it all and bolt. It seemed to go in his favor because Jayde hesitated to give chase, deciding after a conflicted shuffle to head straight for me.

The familiar white wolf sniffed my form in a close inspection, letting out a low whine in concern over my condition.

“I’m fine, Jay, I’m alright.” I assured her quickly. She started to chew at the tape holding me to the chair, but I knew I had to tell her to leave, “Jayde, listen to me, you can’t let him get away.” My right hand became free, and she ignored me to work on my left, but I pushed her back, “Stop, you have to listen!” Once her impatient golden eyes landed on me, I continued to explain as fast as I could, “Anthony was kicked out of the Thatcher pack. He sent hunters after them for it, it’s the reason why your dad’s pack was destroyed. It’s how they found your family. If he gets away, he’ll do the same with the Lodge, you have to stop him.”

Jayde became rigid and it was hard to gauge an expression in her wolfish features, but I could tell that she was having a difficult time processing all of that. She looked at where Anthony disappeared, then back at me, reluctant to leave my side.

“Go,” I commanded with a nod, “I’ll be okay.”

She let out another regretful whine, then bent down to press her forehead to mine. I reached up, brushing my hand through her fur to hold her to me briefly, allowing myself a moment of comfort and safety. Jayde nuzzled into me more in a silent promise to come back.

“I love you.” I told her as she backed away.

Jayde stared at me for another beat, and even though I knew she couldn’t say it back, I still felt it in the gentle look in her eyes. Then she threw her head up and howled, likely for the others to come for me, and gave me one more glance before she darted out of the broken doorway to chase after Anthony.

——

The further my legs carried me through the dark dense forest, the more I started to come to terms with Nadya’s words. I had almost forgotten about the warning she gave me over the phone earlier. There’s more to this that you don’t know about. Well, this was certainly more than I could have imagined. If she was right, then the wolf I was chasing down was the epicenter of all of my suffering. Without him, my parents could still be alive. Without him, my family wouldn’t have been torn apart. Without him, I wouldn’t have had to go through years of torture.

Rage drove me forward faster and harder than I’ve ever ran. This was no longer just about getting Skye and Nadya back and making him pay for it, this was about enacting the vengeance I’ve been taking out on hunters and soldiers for years. Only now it was a sole being that would be on the receiving end of my wrath.

Anthony was a fast runner, but not fast enough. I followed his scent for about half a mile before I finally caught sight of his light gray fur darting through the trees. He knew I was coming for him and he thought his best bet was to flee and not look back. That would be his last mistake.

I caught up to him in another burst of speed fueled by rage. Once he realized I was nearly on him, Anthony suddenly skidded to a stop and swiveled to meet me with an indignant snarl. Our two bodies rammed into each other midair with so much force that I was momentarily worried I had broken some bones. Even if I had, I didn’t feel it. Any pain was completely glossed over with my desire to tear my enemy limb from limb.

I sent my gnashing teeth towards his throat, but Anthony had already clamped his down on my shoulder, ripping through my flesh. Luckily my fur was thick enough to prevent any serious damage, so I bit down on his front leg instead. My teeth ripped apart tendons, causing Anthony to yelp in pain and release my shoulder to shake me off. I took the opportunity that gave me to strike at his head. My jaws slammed against his skull hard enough to make him stumble off his feet and whimper, but just as I was getting a good grip to crush him, he twisted underneath me and kicked me off with his back legs.

With the moment of separation, he regained his footing and we started to circle each other. My attacks have already left him weakened. Anthony tried to hide his limp, but his front left leg was too damaged to shake off and the punctures I left in his head started to ooze blood down the back of his neck. Still, he bared his fangs defiantly, like he thought he could still win this fight.

I stared him down with all of the hate I’ve ever felt in my body. My own low rumbling growl shook my being and radiated out of me, filling the night air with the sounds of my fury. A part of me wished that I could curse him out, scream at him for all that he did, make him understand just how much he took from me. But another part of me knew he didn’t deserve to know anything, only to be punished. I had no issue being the one to wipe him off this earth to get some measure of justice for my bloodline.

We both simultaneously lunged at each once again. I attacked more ferociously, tearing into any part of him that I could sink my teeth into while also clawing at what my jaws couldn’t reach. While Anthony was hurt, he still delivered blows that I’m sure I will be feeling later, but I pushed all that aside. I couldn’t think about anything else. I only had one goal here.

Growls and yelps and snarls drowned out the surrounding forest as we continued to fight viciously and brutally. Then something strange happened. A rare feeling that I think I have only felt a few times in my life, but one that I knew frightened me. And it was more consuming than it’s ever been. The pure and utter rage I felt blinded me until everything was blurred and muffled. The only sensation I could distinguish was a buzzing frequency like I had been shoved underwater. Only the water was a crimson film, both boiling hot and cold as ice at the same time. There wasn’t anything about me that was under control.

Suddenly through the blinding film, I tasted and smelled nothing but blood. It took me over and brought back everything. The red streak of Nadya’s blood smeared on my fingertips. The flash of a gun going off followed by the scent of my father’s blood as it pooled in the street. The scent of my own blood every time I was beaten or shot or stabbed. Then it was nothing but Anthony’s blood. All over me. In my mouth, matting my fur, seeping into the soil.

“Jayde!” Her voice called out in the far distance.

Hearing that made reality suddenly snap back into focus. That’s when I saw it. The remnants of a wolf strewn about on the forest floor. I stared at it all around me in confusion while my huffs fogged out into the air. It took a good moment to realize that I really had ripped him apart.

I thought maybe I should feel relieved that it was done, and I think I did, but that wasn’t all of it. A ringing replaced the buzzing in my head, high pitched and borderline painful. It shook me to the core and I started to back away from the carnage, but it was all over me. The deed was ingrained inside of me now as well. More frightening was the absence of regret. I knew I would have done it again if given the chance.

I also knew that it didn’t make any of it better. The emptiness of resurfaced loss was still there. The reminder of the trauma I endured remained. The only difference was a corpse now lay before me, mangled and in pieces. I felt myself start to slip away again.

“Jayde!” She yelled again, somewhat closer, though still far away.

Her call brought me back, tethering me to reality once more and refusing to let me go. Bones started to shift inside me as I felt my wolf begin to retreat. My human form overtook my wolf form after a swirling moment of vertigo, leaving me panting and kneeling on the forest floor. I kept my swaying form balanced with the tips of my fingers digging into the earth while I looked down at my blood-splattered skin that was steaming in the night air. Strands of my blonde hair hung over my face and were also stained with crimson, but I couldn’t bring myself to push it out of my sight.

“Oh my god…” I heard muttered out of her lips.

I forced my gaze up to see Nadya taking in the devastation I had caused. I became horrified with myself at the look on her face as she slowly stepped around the gore to get to me. The closer she got, the more afraid I became. Who knows what she thinks of me now? Nadya has seen me kill before, has seen me act ruthless and brutal, but never something like this. I was also afraid for her safety because I could still feel the wolf just under my skin, like a furious wild animal being forced into a cage.

Nadya fell to her knees directly in front of me and I held my hand out to stop her from coming any closer. It didn’t matter that I was no longer blinded by my anger, I had lost too much control for me to feel comfortable with her being near me.

“Nadya…” I whispered while shaking my head. It was too hard to look her in the eyes.

Without saying a single word, her hand gently wrapped around my wrist, bringing the hand I held out to keep her at bay towards her until my palm rested flat against her chest. My ears had picked up the rapid pace of her heart, but actually feeling it pound hard against the palm of my hand made me feel viscerally real. Then she inched closer to me, reaching up to carefully brush my hair back and cup my face. Those stunning brown eyes of hers, full of warmth even now, gazed directly into my glowing yellow ones.

I was shocked to find that the fear I sensed on her and saw in her eyes didn’t seem like she was afraid for herself. There was deep pain and concern written all over her face, but it was almost like it was for me and not because I must have looked like a broken and bloody monster.

Just as I was thinking about how much I hated her seeing me like this, Nadya rested her forehead against mine. I closed my eyes to let her fill my senses. The more her heartbeat began to calm, the more the restless wolf under my skin began to quiet. With every slow inhale I took to breathe in her scent, the more my breath steadied. The comforting warmth of her hands against my cheeks lowered the temperature of the shift. Nadya’s presence was soothing every part of me, down to my very soul, until I felt the last bit of anger fade away with my irises returning to their usual color.

“We’re okay.” She told me softly.

Those words drew me closer to her and I wrapped my arms around her to pull her into a fierce embrace. Nadya held onto me tightly, grounding me even further. Having her in my arms again after she was taken from me and after what I just did was what finally reduced me to tears. I choked on a sob, burying my face in her neck and shoulder while I failed to hold back a tidal wave of everything that’s been devastating my mind for the past two days.

“We’re okay,” Nadya repeated, her voice trembling as much as my body was, “I’m here.”

“I’m sorry.” I managed to mumble in between sobs.

“Shh, it’s okay.” She replied soothingly.

A mercifully long minute passed of us just holding each other. I was so caught up in everything that I didn’t even notice that Toby and Skye were there too until Toby spoke up, making me flinch. “We shouldn’t stay here.”

I reluctantly pulled away from Nadya and saw my sister looking at me with an expression that I couldn’t fully decipher. Skye looked confused, like she didn’t understand the scene before her and was trying to figure out whether or not she should ask about it. She didn’t know exactly what Anthony did, I was sure of that much, but there was also some underlying emotion on her face that escaped me. I wasn’t in the right space to explain any of it to her though. Toby came behind me to drape his jacket over my bare form. I accepted it with a grateful nod, wiping my face and letting them help me up.

“Let’s go home.” Nadya said, putting an arm around me and leading me away from the scene.

——

I tried my best to explain what I understood from what Anthony told me, but I was still distracted by Jayde. She sat next to me in the back seat, and while she started to appear more like herself once we got as much blood off of her as possible, there was still something off about her. I watched her carefully, noting how she kept zoning out and subtly shaking herself back into reality. What happened obviously changed her and I couldn’t help but feel like I was responsible in some small part.

There were also her wounds to consider. I could see blood start to seep into her clothes, but she wouldn’t let me tend to her until we got home. I thought maybe that was because she was still afraid to be near me, but ever since I brought her back to herself, she hasn’t broken contact with me for more than a few seconds at a time. Both of her hands still cradled one of mine, either fiddling with my fingers or tracing the bruises on my wrist.

“What kind of lunatic cowardly idiot would go to hunters because of his stupid grudge with a pack?” Skye ranted in angered disbelief, “I mean, seriously? The fact that he didn’t get his pelt nailed to the wall is shocking in itself. Getting hunters to do his dirty work…”

“He clearly wasn’t in his right mind.” Toby stated while he drove.

“Yeah, no shit. We didn’t even have anything to do with it! I had no idea he even existed! And he wanted to kill us for it?” Skye threw her hands up in exasperation.

I saw Jayde scowl and became worried that this was pulling her back into a dark place, “Skye, can we talk about this later?” I requested gently.

She glanced back at me, then at Jayde, and seeing her sister looking a little lost made her shoulders slump, “Yeah, sure.”

“Thank you.”

“You know, he got what was coming to him.” Skye told Jayde, who only barely met her gaze, “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Jayde remained silent and continued to distract herself with the contact she had with me. A few minutes passed before she finally spoke, “Nadya needs to go to the hospital.”

“No, Jay, it’s fine.” I replied, squeezing her hand in reassurance.

“Your head,” She reminded me.

“I can monitor my own concussion and we can stitch up the gash at home.”

Jayde’s concerned expression landed on me, giving me the impression that worrying about me was her current distraction, “Nadya…”

“I’ll need a couple stitches at the most. I’ll even let you do it.” I offered.

She released a slow breath, “Fine.”

The rest of our journey home was mostly spent in silence apart from a few words shared here and there. Jayde’s mood seemed to have a stubborn grip on her, but I was grateful that she still remained close to me. I watched her carefully, offering whatever comfort I could, though I had started to dwell on the guilt I felt. I wish I had been able to do more. None of the fighting and defense techniques helped me during this situation. I was left being utterly useless, having to be rescued, and I couldn’t stop thinking about Anthony’s comment on my humanity.

He was right about me being a liability. Maybe I could have made this rescue mission a bit less harrowing if I was a werewolf. Maybe I could have helped stop Anthony, made it so Jayde wouldn’t be so consumed with darkness. Hell, maybe I wouldn’t have even been captured at all. If I was stronger, I could have overpowered Anthony and avoided a lot of grief all together.

Maybe I should have just let him turn me.

That thought caused a shiver to run up my spine. Jayde’s head snapped toward me in concern, but I only shook my head and brushed her hand with my thumb in reassurance.

No, it would have been terrible if he turned me. I didn’t want to be a werewolf, much less being bitten by someone like him. But what if he was right? What if it was inevitable? I studied Jayde’s face again. She gave me no indication that she was mulling over the precariousness of my humanity like I was, but I recalled moments where, looking back on it now, she might be anticipating it.

If that was true, then I should probably come to terms with it eventually even though the entire concept terrified me. Perhaps soon. Because if it was going to happen to me sooner or later, I wanted at least some control over it. I wanted it to be given to me willingly. And from someone I love.

We got back to the Lodge early in the morning, all of us exhausted and a little battered, and I admired the way the wood wolf carvings on the walls and pillars were illuminated by the morning glow through the windows. A breath of relief escaped my lungs at finally being back home safe.

“Let’s get to the clinic.”

“I’m good there, doc.” Skye said, “I just need to crash, I think.”

I glanced at where I had seen scrapes and bruises on her face to see that they had all practically disappeared apart from a couple marks. So I nodded, wishing that I had the luxury of healing like that, “Okay.”

“I’m going to go get some rest too.” Toby chimed in, giving Jayde a concerned look, but meeting my eyes with an understanding. He knew we would take care of each other.

“I think we all need it.” I replied, nodding him on too.

As Skye turned to leave, Jayde reached out to grab her arm. Skye’s eyebrows raised expectantly in question, but then Jayde wrapped her arms around her. The younger blonde remained tensed for half a second in confusion, but then she quickly melted into her older sister’s hug, wrapping her arms around her too. I stepped back to give them a little space.

“If anything else had happened to you…” Jayde mumbled with a shake of her head.

“I know,” Skye said, “I’m good, Jayde.”

“I know you are. I will be too.”

“You better. We’ll be totally screwed if you fall off your rocker.”

The two of them shared a few light laughs, eventually pulling back and smiling at each other. I was smiling with them, beyond grateful that we were standing here together after everything we just went through. Jayde and Skye shared one more look, and then Skye and Toby went off to their rooms while Jayde and I headed for the clinic.

Jayde insisted on treating me first, so I held my hair out of the way since the gash was mostly behind my hairline to let her clean it. The sharp sting from the antiseptic made me flinch involuntarily. I noted Jayde’s expression scrunching up in displeasure at my pain, which made me want to try and hold in my reactions.

“Jayde, I’m—” I attempted to form a meaningful apology, but I was just too tired, “I’m so sorry.”

Her gaze met mine in confusion, “Why?”

I pursed my lips, “I shouldn’t have dumped all of that information on you like that. Not in that moment. I just didn’t think you would leave me otherwise.”

She put the antiseptic down and started getting the stitches ready. I got the impression that she was using that as an excuse not to look me in the eyes when she said, “I should be the one apologizing.”

“No,” I insisted with a shake of my head, “If I had only told you about what he was planning on doing once he got away, you wouldn’t have been…” The image of her covered in blood with that look on her face popped into my head, no doubt it will haunt me for a long time, “Put through that.”

“Yeah, well, like Skye said,” Jayde carefully started on the first suture, “He got what was coming to him. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”

“What about the cost to you?” I asked while keeping as still as I could and pushing through the pain of the stitches.

Jayde looked at me again for a few seconds before concentrating back on her task, “You aren’t afraid of me now, are you?”

I frowned, “No, of course not. I know that wasn’t you.”

“It was, Nadya.”

“It wasn’t.” I gently pushed her busy hands away so she would hold my gaze, “I could see it on your face. I can see it right now.”

“But I did it.” She insisted almost irritably, “It was me. No one else ripped Anthony apart.”

“Do you want me to be afraid of you? Is that it?” I asked while carefully searching her expression.

Jayde forced her eyes away from mine, glancing at everything in the room besides me and grinding her teeth. It wasn’t out of anger though. I could see tears start to well in her eyes. “No.”

Then I understood. She was trying to punish herself for it. “What you did… what I saw… I don’t think anyone deserves that, and maybe things should have gone differently, but I also don’t blame you or think any less of you either. I still love you. I still feel safe with you. Nothing’s changed between us, I hope you know that.”

Jayde used the back of her hand to swiftly brush away her stray tears and I watched as she took in a deep breath, releasing it in a shaky exhale. “God,” she said through a weak laugh, “I really have no fucking clue what I would have done if I lost you.”

I smiled warmly and reached up to tuck some of her hair behind her ear. Then I cupped the back of her neck to pull her in for a kiss. Our lips brushed together delicately, like we were both afraid to break the other, but after a few beats we melted into a soft rhythm. Neither of us deepened it apart from holding onto each other more fiercely for a second, Jayde’s hands gripped my sides like a lifeline while I tangled my hand through her hair and squeezed her arm to make sure she wouldn’t get away from me. Kissing her again banished all of the fear and worry and pain. At least for these moments. I knew I never wanted to let her go, just like I knew she never wanted to let me go either.

We pulled back to rest our foreheads together and regain breath, “Luckily, you won’t have to find out.”

“Yeah,” She replied, pulling away even further so I could catch the small smile on her lips, and went back to work on my stitches.

I was glad to finally be able to patch up Jayde’s injuries once she was done with mine. The hours that passed already gave her a good start on her healing, but there were still some wounds that needed to be stitched up. Her shoulder had taken the worst hit, what I thought was likely a wolf bite left some deep lacerations. I focused on cleaning and stitching those first. Though I hated all of the times I’ve seen her hurt, I was still somewhat grateful for the familiarity of healing her.

A bite on her back, somewhat near the wound on her shoulder, also needed some stitches. Apart from that, there were only scattered cuts and bruises here and there that were already mostly healed or scabbed over. I marveled at her body’s ability to mend itself, and again, felt envious of it. If I were able to heal like she could, she probably wouldn’t be so bothered whenever I got hurt…

I shook myself out of the thought and focused back on Jayde. It didn’t take too long to finish dressing her wounds, and once I was done, I pressed a weary kiss to the back of her shoulder, feeling my exhaustion start to hit me full force. “You’re all done.”

Jayde turned around, shrugging her button-up shirt back on her shoulders and looking me up and down while I yawned, “Guess we should get some sleep, huh?”

“I wouldn’t say no to it.” I replied with a tired smile.

“C’mon.” She mumbled once she finished buttoning her shirt.

I noted how her shoulders also slumped more, her muscles finally giving in to desperately needed rest. I followed her back to our room, but started to feel suddenly worried about the state it was in. Our space had been trashed when I was taken. I remember flailing and fighting with all I had in the brief moments before I was knocked unconscious. Would it be easy to sleep in the aftermath of that?

We got to our room and I was pleasantly surprised to find it had been completely repaired, “Wow,” I noted as I looked around, noting how everything was back in its place, “It’s almost like it never happened…”

Jayde nodded, going straight for the dresser for something more comfortable than jeans to sleep in, “Yeah, I wanted it to look normal for when I got you back home. A couple people agreed to do it for me while I was gone.”

“That was awfully nice.” I said and unceremoniously flopped down on my side of the bed, too tired to care about comfier clothes.

“You do a lot for the people here,” Jayde stated matter-of-factly, coming over to me, “It’s only natural that they wanna help you too.”

She unlaced my shoes and pulled them off, then started on my pants. I let her undress me. Just because I was too tired for sleepwear didn’t mean that I didn’t prefer it. I accepted the shorts she held out to me and shimmied into them while she got dressed as well.

“I’m going to sleep for a year.” I told her once she made her way into the bed beside me.

Jayde reached out to take off my glasses, making me chuckle at myself because I hadn’t even noticed they were still on, and said, “Why don’t we start with a day first?”

I wrapped my arms around her, careful to avoid her injuries, and snuggled against her as close as I could get, “I’ll try, but no promises.”

“I’ll take what I can get.” Jayde replied softly, “Goodnight, Nadya.”

“It’s the morning.” I mumbled with my eyes closed.

She let out a breath of amusement, “Go to sleep.”

“You first.”

“You’re not playing this game with me.”

I couldn’t hold back a smile as I buried my face in her neck further, “I love you.”

Jayde began stroking her hand up and down my back, as if I needed anything else to lull me to sleep, “I love you too.”

#ocs #original characters #original story #original writing #werewolves #My writing #my ocs #this definitely took me a long time to write ngl #feel like I need a good ass nap after this #Jayde #Nadya #Toby #Skye #Jayde pov #Nadya pov

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voightsgirl · 7 years ago

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crossfire: volume i - chapter 6

a/n here’s the next chapter!! i hope everyone’s enjoying this; i’ve had some really positive feedback so far and it makes me so so happy :) hopefully this will explain something about avery and erin...... & previous chapters can be found here

☆ tell her that it wasn’t her fault ☆

“So Paige Williams’s real name is Avery Murray,” Burgess relayed to the group, when everyone (save for Erin, who had disappeared, and Voight, who was still on the phone in his office) had assembled in the bullpen. “Which is completely irrelevant, really, other than she was rescued by this unit nearly five years ago when she was only nine years old, from a sex trafficking ring.”

The unit exchanged glances. Five years ago was before Burgess and Attwater’s times in Intelligence, and the others had seen so many victims, and so many children, over the years that they didn’t remember names anymore. And faces changed when most of them weren’t even teenagers when they were rescued. Voight re-entered the room then, and perched on the edge of Erin’s desk. He frowned, noticing that she wasn’t there, but didn’t press.

“Anyway,” Jay continued, eager to draw attention away from that case before someone put two and two together and realized that Erin was involved with this kid and where she had gone. “Avery met Luca a few months ago. He had just run away from his foster home for the first time, and she’d been on the streets for nearly a year – living in shelters in the winter and on the streets in the summer – so she helped him. She scored him some drugs, too, which is why she was scared to tell us everything.”

“The night of Luca’s murder,” added Burgess, “they had taken shelter together in an abandoned warehouse—”

“The one we found Luca in,” Voight suggested, and Burgess nodded.

“Avery said she woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of hushed shouting,” Burgess continued. “Said she could definitely make out Luca’s voice and someone older. They were speaking in Spanish, so she doesn’t know exactly what was spoken, but she said she could see a tattoo on the arm of the guy – a spider – and that after about five minutes of heated argument, a fight broke out. She wanted to help, but she was terrified and high and probably half frozen, and before she could move, the guy pulled out a gun and shot him, twice, in the head.”

“Poor kid,” said Ollinsky.

“That’s gotta be rough, seeing your friend murdered in front of you,” Atwater mused, and the silence that followed was the unit’s way of agreeing.

“She ran away the second the coast was clear. Said that she doesn’t trust the system. She didn’t want to be around the crime scene because if the cops found her they’d just put her back into care.”

“So why come forward?” Antonio asked.

Atwater shrugged. “I don’t know about you, bro, but my experience with teenagers is that they can either be incredibly cynical or incredibly idealistic. Usually a bit of both. She ran away because she’s cynical, but she came back because she still believes in justice. Idealism.”

“Okay,” Voight said. “So Ollinsky – you and Adam check our gang databases, see if you can put a face with the spider tat – preferably one with ties to our ring. If not, you can hit up Statesville and see if there are any records of a similar tat there.”

Ollinsky and Ruzek nodded, and left the rest of them where they stood.

“Atwater, I want you to look through security tapes, traffic cam footage, see if you can find any evidence of this guy in the area, or get a look at his face. License plates, clothing, anything we can use to get a proper ID on the shooter.”

“You don’t think it was Perez himself, do you?”

Voight shook his head. “He’s not that stupid. He’d send someone else to do his dirty work.”

“I hear ya,” Atwater agreed and retreated to his desk to begin his search.

“Burgess, Halstead,” Voight barked, and beckoned them. “My office. Now.”

They exchanged glances and, with pursed lips, followed their boss.

“What the hell happened in there?” he spun around, directing his sudden anger at Jay.

“All due respect, Sarge,” Jay began, but Voight cut him off. Burgess hung back. She knew that Erin and Jay were dating – they’d been living together for about a year now – but she hadn’t realized that there was still so much animosity between her boyfriend and her…foster dad? Father? Boss? She wasn’t entirely sure what label to attach to Voight. Come to think of it, she wasn’t sure that Erin herself even knew.

“All due respect?” Voight scoffed. “All due respect, Detective, but I am your boss. And you are going to answer my questions.”

Jay took a deep breath. “Five years ago, you remember, we worked that sex trafficking case? It was a big one, tough on all of us, and there were videos…We’d lost some of the kids – and then we found one of them alive. And Erin couldn’t bear to put her back into the system, after everything she’d been through and after some of the traffickers had been linked with corrupt and dirty DCFS employees, so she took her in, for about a week, until the case was solved and she was sure she could sort out a foster placement that she trusted?”

Voight nodded, remembering signing the paperwork to allow the kid to be put in protective custody.

“Paige Williams – or Avery Murray – is that kid.”

“Oh, Jesus,” Voight muttered, lifting his hands to his head. “And she recognized Erin?”

Jay swallowed. “It wasn’t pretty. She was angry that Erin put her back in the system, and Erin…”

“She took off?”

“Yeah,” Jay took a breath. “I can go after her, if you like?” he suggested. “I’ve tried calling, but she hasn’t picked up, and I know a couple of places she might be.”

Voight shook his head. “No. I’ll try her. If not, she’ll be fine. Just go home after shift, tell her that it wasn’t her fault, okay?”

Jay nodded his thanks. “Thanks, Sarge. Will do.”

Although Voight had given his blessing for Erin and Jay to date years ago now, and he was very much aware of their living situation, he had made it very clear from the start that he does not want to see any of their relationship at work. But sometimes, it came in handy – if he ever needed to scare Jay, for example, he just had to pull the overprotective father card. Watching Jay squirm was one of his new favorite hobbies.

But it helped, now that they were together, because it meant he had an extra pair of eyes on her. He worried about Erin, he couldn’t help it, but it made him sleep just a little bit better at night when he knew that Jay was there to look out for her. And to relay information onto him, when he really needed it.

It was slightly sneaky, Voight knew, using his status as his daughter’s boyfriend’s boss to force said boyfriend to keep him in the loop about developments in her personal life, but he was pretty sure that Erin was aware of it by now. They still talked, all the time – he forced her and Jay to come over for dinner every now and again – but he didn’t feel the need to keep checking up on her every two seconds now that he was sure that Jay had her back.

I need to know what someone has her back 24/7. He’d told Jay after he gave them his blessing, years ago.

Always. Jay had replied.

That was all the confirmation Voight needed, and though he knew the couple had been through their share of ups and downs these past few years, he knew that he could always count on him to keep his baby girl safe. And vice versa, of course.

When Jay had left, Voight turned his focus to Burgess. “Officer,” he greeted her.

“Sergeant,” she said in reply. It always made Voight laugh that Burgess still called him that, while others in their unit called him ‘Voight’ or ‘Sarge’ or even ‘Hank’. Well, only Erin and Ollinsky called him by his first name, but still. Hearing ‘Sergeant’ was always so weird. It made him think he was in trouble for something. (He usually was. But that wasn’t the point).

“I wanted to say well done for staying so professional in there. I know Erin’s your friend; I know you wanted to make sure she was okay. But you didn’t let your emotions compromise your professional integrity, and that’s hard to do.”

Burgess smiled. “Erin is my friend, Sir, and I’d do anything for her. But that kid, Avery, doesn’t have any friends. Not anymore. So you don’t have to thank me – it’s my job.”

Voight chuckled slightly. “You know every day that you’re in my unit, you prove to me why you should be.”

“Thanks, Sergeant,” Burgess nodded her appreciation, and turned around, closing the door gently as she left.

When she and Jay returned to work, she kept throwing glances his way, trying to read his expression to see if Erin had called him yet, not quite having the courage to ring Erin herself. They were friends, but she understood that Jay knew more about the situation than she did and she didn’t think it would do their relationship much good for her to be poking her nose in.

But she couldn’t help but worry when Erin didn’t return all of shift. She dropped her a quick text:

Hey Erin, sorry about earlier – I’m sure Avery didn’t mean everything she said. I’m here if you need anything.

And her stomach immediately settled when she got a reply only a few minutes later:

Thanks, Kim. No hard feelings J

Burgess knew her friend. However much Erin probably was pissed off at Kim, wherever she was, she blamed herself more.

☆ ☆ ☆

thank you for reading!! if you’d like to be notified when it’s updated either head over to my ff.net account or message me and i’ll tag you at the end of the post :)

@allenting @sophiaxjesse @writteninthestarsandthesky @riverdaleangels @chillmydude

#linstead #chicago pd #erin lindsay #jay halstead #cpd #linstead fics #myfics #erin #jay #crossfire #crossfire:1:6

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hoseokmylovesworld · 5 years ago

Text

Picture of Love | 07

Pairing: Photographer!Hoseok x OC x Producer!Yoongi

Genre/Warnings: Hoseok AU/Yoongi AU/Includes strong language.

Words: 3,330

Summary: Charlotte Galloway is the leader of the up and coming girl band, “She-Bang”, with a side hustle as a photographer for anyone who will hire her. She meets a fellow professional photographer named Jung Hoseok who helps “She-Bang” realize their dreams and Charlotte to make a love connection along the way.

I knew better than to think that the girls would be keeping to themselves, sleeping or doing anything other than pestering me as soon as I walk through the hotel room door. So when I am greeted with exactly that, I am not surprised whatsoever.

"How was it?"

"Did you have fun?"

"Did you fuck?"

Is all I hear on my journey through the hotel room, hanging up my jacket and slipping off my shoes on my way to my bed. I send a glare in Leyah's direction, knowing where that last question came from, before I sit at the head of my bed. The girls proceed to get comfortable around me, awaiting details of my date with J-Hope.

"So?" Carrie begins the interrogation. I sigh humorously and call back tonight's events.

"Okay...well basically we just went to dinner at Gary Danko." I pause for collective oo's and ah's heard around the bed. "Yeah." I comment with a smug smile. "We just talked...and flirted. A lot." I laughed and the girls follow suit.

"We just got to know each other...yeah." I say still dazed by how amazing tonight was and satisfies with my description.

"Awwwww!" Squealed Carrie causing the rest of us to roll our eyes and eventually laugh at her.

And I thought I was the softy. "What?! That was cute as fuck." She defended. I just shrug.

"But Gary Danko. I thought this kid was a photographer." Leyah chimed in.

"He is." As far as I know.

"Must be dealing on the side or somethi-"

"Leyah!" I chide her. She snickers at me. "Sorry. I'm sure he's not Char...doesn't seem like the type anyway." She murmurs the last bit under her breath. "Okay." I say signaling that this conversation is over. The girls and I sit in silence for a few before Vicky's curiosity gets the better of her.

"So you really didn't do anything?" she asks with squinted eyes. I can only assume she meant sexually because Leyah adds "I know right?! That's what I'm saying.", incredulously. "Yeah." Carrie adds. I literally drop my face to rest in my palm at their lack of faith in my will power.

"Guys, come on. It's not like I'm fighting myself not to jump J-Hope whenever I see him." Although I am. "...We did kiss though." I finished looking down at the bed awaiting judgement.

"WHAT?"

"When were you gonna tell us this?!"

"Was he good?"

I nod in shame. "Yeah. Sorry, I kinda forgot, somehow. And yes, he's amazing." I smile at the memory of it. The girls oggle me. I suspect they took pity on me in my transformation into a lovesick fool and decided to lay off because they stopped teasing me.

"So are you gonna see him again?" Vicky asks gently. "Yes." I answer immediately and she smiles brightly at me. "Good" I hear Leyah say as she leaves my bed to find her own. "You deserve this Char." Vicky an Carrie find their way to the other half of the suite.

I just nod in thanks, not knowing how to respond. "Okay guys, don't get all soft on me now." I try to pull myself together and get things back to normal.

"No, I believe you're the soft one." Leyah shot back. "Wahtever, I-" I start with her, but am interrupted by my cell phone ringing in my pocket. Looking at the caller ID, I say "Oh that's him now.", sweetly and picked up the call a bit too quickly. Stupid, stupid Char.

"Hey Jay." I greet him in the sweetest, most alluring voice I can muster at the moment, ignoring the gagging noises Leyah is making next to me.

"Hey there. I'm just getting in, wanted to let you know and see what we could work out about this photo shoot."

"Oh yes! Give me a second." I press the reciver of the phone to my chest and turn to the girls. "When are you all free to do the photo shoot with J-Hope?"

"I'm free whenever." Leyah droans.

"Yeah, me too." Vicky says.

"So I'm hearing tomorrow? Carrie?" I ask to make things official. Carrie doesn't speak for a couple moments and then utters "Um...I have a date tomorrow." Her eyes are everywhere, but on the girls and I start to get confused by her behavior.

We just gushed, literally gushed, over my date with J-Hope. We abolished our ban on romance and we are allowed to date again. So what's making Carrie act so preserved about it?

The silence passes as I congratulate her, not knowing what else to do I say, "Carrie, that's great!"

"Yeah, bro it's okay. We'll do it another time." Leyah adds. But Carrie still has that deer caught in the headlights look frozen on her face.

"So who is this guy, what's his name?" Its my turn to be nosey.

"...Her name is Roselin."

"Oh." Is my immediate reaction to her words. After that the girls are all silent. Not because we disapprove of her choice, but because we never knew Carrie was remotely into girls.

"That's great!" I say, awkwardly breaking the silence once again. "I'm so happy for you." Leyah and Vicky are quick to murmur in agreement.

Carrie gives a hint of a smile. "Thanks guys." she whispers, still looking down. "So I'm hearing Monday at noon?" Each of the girls nods and I relay the message to J-Hope. "That sounds perfect actually. I'll send you the address and details tonight. Oh and bring your equipment if you can."

"Okay, yeah sure. We can do that." Making a note to tell Kyle and Darren they actually had to do something in two days.

"Cool." J-Hope answers smoothly.

"Hey, thank you so much again for doing this, the girls and I really appreciate it." I stressed over the phone.

"Hey, don't even worry about it Char. I'm happy to do this for you." He assured "...and maybe your band too." He finished, making me chuckle. "Like I said, I really appreciate it Jay." I say dragging out my words in, hopefully, a seductive manor. Maybe I will repay him for his generosity in some other way, who knows. I can hear him let out a huff of air and I can just see his smug smile. "Oh. Ha. It's nothing." "Well, I'm gonna turn in now, so I'll see you on Monday?" I ask. "Yes you will. Goodnight, Charlotte." His sweet, deep voice drawled. "Goodnight, Jay."

+++++++++++++++++++++++

J-Hope had given me the address to an apartment building full of lofts that were apparently for sale. We were instructed to take the equipment to first floor of the building. We drug our instruments through the corridor that lead to the first loft in the complex and I was so impressed with and in awe of the scene we were met with after walking through the unlocked door that lead to our photo shoot.

The structure of the loft itself was beautiful. It was a spacious warehouse style with hard wood floors, concrete walls, a high ceiling and was only made up of the one room apart from the bathroom. The room was incredibly spacious and had a high ceiling to accommodate the fire escape-like steps that lead to the second-half-floor. I'd never seen anything like it in person. Not to mention the glorious sight of multiple white backdrops and lights in every corner with people to man them.

"Whoa." Is all I uttered as I walked further into the room, my friends behind me. "Yeah." Leyah weighed in.

I spot J-Hope talking to a pretty lady in a suit who looks to be in her mid-thirties, that beautiful camera in hand. He notices me at nearly the same time, smiling that blinding smile immediately in greeting. He looks breath taking in all black, bomber jacket, ripped jeans, pumas and all. His black hair parted down the middle, barely exposing his forehead and drawing attention to adorable glasses resting comfortably on his nose. God, is anyone else seeing this?

"Charlotte!" He approaches us, the lady he was talking to following behind him. "Jay!" I return his enthusiasm. Letting his camera hang around his neck, he leans in to peck me surprisingly on the cheek and grabs my guitar case from my hands in one fluid motion. I'm officially frozen to my spot in embarrassment and shock. He doesn't seem to notice as he greets the rest of the group.

"Hello everyone. This is Janice Bailey, this is actually her building." J-Hope explains. I unfreeze and promptly reach for Janice's hand to shake it. "It's nice to meet you. Thank you so much for letting us use this space. I'm Char." I say shaking her hand a little to wildly. "It's nice to meet you all as well. And I simply owed Hoseok a favor, this was him calling it in. I only wish to observe today's events." So that's how you say his name.

"If that's okay with you all." J-Hope looks over the group for objections, as do I. "Yeah, of course. It's fine." I assure them. "Great! You guys can set up whatever you need to against that backdrop over there." He said pointing to the largest backdrop of them all. I gently grip J-Hope's jacket before he can help She-Bang, Darren and Kyle to set up the drum set and keyboard. "What is all this Jay?" I whisper to him. "What?" He looked down at me with a clueless expression on his face. I just tilt my head to the right and lift my right brow. "This."

I gesture to our surroundings. I start to count the people in the room that seem to be helping with the shoot. There are six. One man is helping the group put together the instruments, one man is finishing setting up the backdrops, a woman is checking the lighting, another man seems to be already editing test photos and the last man and woman are stood at the back of the room talking over coffee. The woman excuses herself from the conversation to search through a crate of some sort that looks chuck full of makeup products. That's when I notice the coffee, donuts and other goodies along the wall near the bathroom. My jaw drops.

"Is that a makeup artist?" I ask incredulously. J-Hope pauses before responding. "I just wanted to be prepared." He sighed. "But you all showed up looking beautiful as always." He brushes the back of his fingers against my cheek and I deflate, all feelings of anxiety vanishing from my body at once. I sigh as well.

"You really didn't need to do all this." I remind him, wondering why someone would do all this for me.

"I wanted to. It's nothing really." He shakes his head drops his hand down to my arm before giving it a gently squeeze. I glance up at him in awe. "Thank you." I say for the thousandth time. He just nods and leads me to the rest of the band at the larger backdrop. As I turn around my eyes meet Darren's focused ones, he immediately looks away with a clenched jaw and furrowed eyebrows.

Right. Almost forgot about Darren's pure hatred for J-Hope. Please God, let this go well.

J-Hope carefully took Bruce, my guitar, out of it's case and handed it to me and then handed the case to one of his staff...Friends? Employees? Is he paying them for this?! I feel uneasiness rise in me once again. This all too much. I know he said he wouldn't charge us, but I could never pay him back for this. On the other hand, as I look around I realize I've never had anyone go to this length to impress or even make me happy. Darren breaks me out of my trance.

"You okay, Char?" he asks, from the sidelines of the drop to my left. My head cocks in his direction and I sigh before replying "Yes.", trying to reassure myself as well. He just nods, unconvinced.

"Okay guys!" An energetic J-Hope grabs my attention next. "While Leyah is sitting at the drum set and everyone has their instruments, why don't we get some somewhat candid shots?" The girls and I nod in understanding. My hands fly to a familiar chord on my guitar so that I look more natural. We even have some amps set up in the front and back to look more authentic.

J-Hope starts taking pictures frantically from different angles and the girls and I look at the camera fiercely, kind of loving the attention after a few moments I look passed the camera to J-Hope in awe. It's downright impressive to watch him in his zone and easy to see why he's in his position.

He knows how to get a specific reaction from his clients and knows how to capture their best sides, even though there are four of us, going as far as instructing some of us to pose specifically to get a good vantage point.

We immediately lock eyes when he looks up from the camera to us to gather himself and his next approach. He smiles fondly at me and I'm forced to drop my gaze to the floor and smile stupidly. Dumb ass.

"Charlotte." My eyes immediately flip up to meet J-Hope's, awaiting further instruction. "Could you possibly tilt your head to the left and jut your chin out the slightest bit?" I ponder his request in my head with a confused expression and attempt the position he just described.

"More out." He demanded. Attempt #2. I try to follow the order I've been given.

"No, like more natural. He offers, even trying to pose himself to serve as example. Okay, attempt number three. "Uh...No." He gives up and approaches me. Modelling is hard. J-Hope reaches me with his arms stretched out towards me, but pauses.

"May I?" He asks with curious eyes. I can only assume he's asking if he can touch my face and I accept.

He takes hold of my chin with his thumb and index finger with a gentle grip and redirects my head to fit his vision. His attention goes lower and to my chest and my eyebrows sky rocket until I see he actually means to adjust my jacket caught under my guitar strap. It is then that I realize I would not give a fuck if J-Hope were actually checking out my cleavage right now and I'm actually shocked and kind of offended that he isn't. The fuck?

He then makes his way back up like he's studying me for any detail out of place. His eyes lock on the hair hanging against my face and he reaches up rearrange the strand, but as he finishes we make eye contact once more. We've only been this close with each other three other times and this time I really took the time to appreciate how actually beautiful this man is up close. What is his damn skin routine?!

I hear someone clear their throat off to side, breaking me out of my trance and I realize J-Hope and I have been staring at each other that entire time. Great. J-Hope clears his throat as well, but out of embarrassment.

J-Hope continues on with the shoot just as professional as ever before making a wonderful request to Leyah. "Leyah, can you actually play the drums for a little bit?" Leyah shrugs her shoulders and plays a simple groove and Vicky decides to add a fitting baseline. Carrie and I follow suit because we can't let half the group have a jam session by themselves.

After a few minutes I'm not even worried about the camera because this place has the best acoustics I've ever heard and I finally feel totally comfortable.

J-Hope then had us move to the second backdrop across the loft without the instruments to take group shots. Leyah took full advantage of this opportunity to annoy me to no end without the consequence of me beating her ass because we're in public, but it made everyone else laugh and J-Hope wouldn't stop snapping photos so we must be doing something right.

Soon J-Hope ran the photos by us and we deemed the shoot successful and done. He's even agreed to spread the word about us to his celebrity friends. Not sure how seriously the rest of the group took that statement, but I held fast to that promise and am incredibly thankful. One of J-Hope's staff saves the pictures on a flash drive and the girls go to get the instruments packed up along with Darren and Kyle as I approach J-Hope.

"Jay, thank you again. This means so much to us." I say for umpteenth time. He just smiles at the floor before gazing up at me with kind eyes. "Don't mention it Charlotte, really. I actually had a lot of fun today. I actually took some video too, of the jam session if you're interested in that." he offers.

"Thank you. Yeah, no kidding. You were...amazing today." Damn, just suck his dick right here, why don't you?

J-Hope looks genuinely humbled by my compliment. "Thank you so much Charlotte. Maybe the roles can be reversed in the future." He proposed suggestively. "Whatever I take wouldn't be able to touch this, but sure." I accept, as I would any opportunity to learn from J-Hope. He pulls a face and says "I'm sure they would be incredible." He grabs my hand and gives it a squeeze. This kid is really into skin ship, which is more than I'm used to, but I can't see myself complaining.

Just let it happen Char.

"Hey, what are you doing for the rest of the day?" He brings his hand to wrap around my waist and rest on my lower back, only his camera between us. Hopefully you.

"Nothing, why?" I look up at him with hopeful eyes.

"How about an early dinner?" He invites licking his lips.

"I would love that." I answer more to his lips than to him. I assume I've been caught because he chuckles at my response and completely takes me by surprise when he pecks my lips. If I could blush I would, but instead I smile like an idiot as he lifts his hand to my shoulder and leads me over to my waiting group of friends.

"I'm gonna stick around here with Jay, you guys can go without me." Darren nods with a tired expression and exits the loft without a word, carrying the kick drum, symbols and one amp. Everyone looks at the exit for a few moments before returning our attention each other.

"Okayyy. Thank you for today J-Hope, you're a real one." Leyah says nodding and sporting a genuine smile. Vicky and Carrie follow suit and gives their thanks as well.

"It was no trouble at all ladies. You all did great work today." He responds, giving my shoulder a ginger squeeze. And smiling at the floor like an idiot becomes my permanent stance. How can someone make someone feel this stupid and good about themselves all at the same time?

"We'll see you at the hotel Char." The girls and Kyle say their goodbyes on their way out the door and then its just me, J-Hope and his crew.

"Okay, I have to stick around for a bit and get everything packed up before we can go." He explains. "That's okay I'll help out." I reply. J-Hope gives me an appreciative look and then nods. "Thanks, Charlotte." I help Jay and his crew clean up the drops, lights, tables and stands and snack on the provided donuts. I even take some for the girls because there are still so many left. I thank the crew for all their hard work today and soon I'm being escorted into J-Hope's car on our way to dinner.

#j-hope fanfic #suga fanfic #junghosoek #minyoongi #bts #btsfanfiction #AMBW #kpop #humour #sugardaddyj-hope

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wigglytuph · 7 years ago

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Blush, Kiss, Cuddle, Heartbeat, Romance, Joy, Happiness, Love, Beloved, Sweet, Cute, Thoughtful, Charmind, Beautiful, Affection, Kind, Heart Beat, Goggle, Laughter, Smild, Warmth, Huggable, Soul Mate, Unique, Trust, Dearest. Aka all of them (that you're comfortable with obv) #literallywastehistime2017

Ok here u go all of em minus the ones i already did. Also isabella said i could do a readmore on movile so if this doesnt work and i look like booboo then blame her

Blush : What do you do when you have a crush on someone?Im so introverted i just try to hang out with them as much as possible and be extra nice to them but dont rly do much else bdjfnfn. I havent even rly had a crush on someone in… forever tho so idk what id rly do

 Kiss : What’s the sweetest thing someone has done for you?Draw my fursona uwu

 Cuddle : Which one of your mutuals do you really want to hug right now?Every and all youve all been so sweet and nice and helped me feel less like shit tonight thank u i love u guys

 Heartbeat : What fictional character do you love?Top 3: KIRBY!!! BONES FROM ACNL!!!! And SOMBRA!!!! And then i have a Lot of Love in my Heart, so honorable mentions to bowser, darwin(tawog), my fursona, Sailor mercury, the list goes in

 Romance : Perfect date?Im a minimalist if we can just soend time together and do anything im happy. I just wanna cuddle and hug and kiss and love them and be close to them u kno. Maybe like…. chillen around the house, playin video games, go out to eat, come home for some light finger play and then just cuddle till we fall asleep u feel me

 Happiness : Who are your kin?100% yellow kirby, lowkey kin with shiny armaldo, thats all i can think of atm

 Love : Are you, or have you been, in love before?Sadly i have been ndjdjfnnfg

 Sweet: Favorite love song?Cant sleep love- pentatonix, the only exception- paramore, and uhhhh does fly me to the moon count?

 Cute : What’s your aesthetic?Cute shit, pastel colors(predominantly blues and greens), music or general sounds drowned out by rain

 Thoughtful : If you could change your name, what would you call yourself?Anna. I like jay tho.

 Charming : Who helps motivate you?What motivation lol nobody oops

 Beautiful : Who is your ideal significant other?Someone who truly loves me and has as much love to give to me as i have to give to them

 Affection : Who do you ship?My dick with my right hand (i dont do ships generally dhfjfnfj)

 Heart Beat : You’re getting coffee with a celebrity, who is it?OKAY I LITTERALLY HAD A DREAM THAT LIKE. IT LASTED ALL OF FOUR SECONDS. I WAS IN A COFFEE SHOP. Then LADY FUCKING GAGA COMES UP TO ME. LOOKS ME OVER. POINTS TO ME. AND SAYS “you should wear your hair up today.” AND THEN I IMMEDIATELY WOKE UP. And you know DAMN WELL I WORE MY HAIR UP THAT DAY.

So i guess lady gaga, but id love to meet zendaya one day

 Giggle : Do you believe in love at first sight?Yea

 Laughter : Who can always make you laugh?My friends!! Also jenna marbles jdufkebrhrjf

 Smile : What do you find attractive?kindness!!! Compassion!!! Love!!! Patience!!! Also a really nice ass!!!

Warmth : What is your happy place?Idk i dont rly… have…. one…? Windy days and rain makes me feel at peace i guess that applies

 Huggable : What are your favorite flowers?I LOVE THE BIRD OF PARADISE!!!!!!! Plumerias are pretty too

 Soul Mate : Who is your best friend? @ehnoshima @koalabuddy @frostios my 3 longest lasting friends and the only reason im still alive fhcidnurjfkg

 Unique : What qualities do you look for in other people?Same as attractive, i just want someone whos not an asshole who will loce and appreciate me

 Trust : Do you trust people easily?Way too easily. Ill trust a total stranger to watch my bag or some shit. Im fucking stupid but like… its who i am

 Dearest : What item is most dear to you?This took some time to think of but maybe my little cheapo $3 alarm clock i got in california. Its got three little cats on it and it… looks like me n my friends which was perfect so even tho i just got it i love it a lot.

Thanks for all of these this was a good to do to justkill time while im sitting in this empty parkinglot in my car hfjfnfhfjf. 💛💛💛

#sorry the formattings fucked up ill fix it when i get to my laptop #ask #anon

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gillywulf · 8 years ago

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you’re a problem but you’re mine (you’re a winner even though you think you’re not)

The pet Hotel AU.

AO3

Summary: Jason needs a job and PetStay needed him.

Pt. 1

~~~

Jason knew that his dad was going to say something he wouldn’t like. The way he sat at the kitchen table and stewed in silence while his two kids sat over a coloring book and his wife looked over some paperwork she’d brought home from the office. He always took longer to speak when the whole family was there, not that it every actually stopped him from saying it. Jason had just taken hold of the red crayon when he opened his mouth.

“You’ve graduated high school-”

“Thanks”

“-but now- Jay, that wasn’t a congratulations. You’ve graduated and you’re not going to college. What are you going to do?” His mother sighed and pinched her nose.

“Sam-”

“No, I want to know. Jason, what do you plan to do?” Sam demanded, his voice filling the small kitchen. Jason handed the red crayon to his sister, only for her to reach across him for the pink.

“I don’t know. Get a job, I guess” he mumbled. He put down the red and scanned for a blue to fill in a section at her instruction.

“You guess? If you don’t have a job in the next two weeks you’re out of the house” His declaration was followed by a beat of silence where everyone looked to see if he was joking.

“Sam!”

“What? Dad!” Sam just shook his head.

“Two weeks” he confirmed, getting up from the table and disappearing upstairs. Jason barely noticed his mother chase after him to argue. He barely noticed his little sister gape at him pleadingly. He could only focus on the blue crayon and how he had no idea what he was going to do.

“Welcome aboard!” Jason was a little blown away by the excitement in his new manager’s voice. Alvie was shorter than most men and probably grinned more and wider than most Jason knew. However, he was PetStay’s Hotel manager and he was willingly offering Jason a job, so what did it matter how smoothly he pulled his electronic id card from his pocket while clearly focusing on their conversation?

“Yeah, thanks” Jason mumbled. The small man was already far ahead, explaining store policy and how the break room was configured. For a non-chain, they seemed to have everything down to a perfect system. Alvie could tell him where every mop in the store was and how long it would take him to clean up a dog’s elimination. It was actually impressive.

“Here we are!” the manager announced as they arrived at the desk that sat between two large glass rooms, “this is where all the pet parents will check in, for both doggy day care and boarding. You won’t really have to worry about that because that’s Kimberly’s job”

“It’s Kim” The correction startled both of them as a girl appeared from a small room tucked behind one of the glass front rooms. She was drop-dead gorgeous with shoulder-length hair and an expression on her face that made it clear how above the situation she was. Jason was breathless. “Billy’s started on dinner, please don’t mess up his system again”

“Oh, absolutely not, I really shouldn’t have dived in. We’ll just say ‘hi’” Kim shrugged and moved to stand at one of the front desk computers, already forgetting they existed. Alvie didn’t waste any time either, already punching a series of numbers into the code-locked door behind the front desk. “Kimber- er, Kim is very good at her job. She has a 75% add-on addition rate with new pet parents. But don’t let her nice-girl persona fool you. She’s constantly breaking rules with Trini in the back”

Jason had no idea who Trini was, so he just nodded and listened as Alvie explained about always using the air-lock doors correctly. The doors dropped them into a hallway with a room of kennels on each end and they turned right before Alvie tugged Jason into a small kitchen where a boy was studiously scooping dog food from a container underneath the table.

“Hey Billy, this is Jason, he’s joining the team!” the manager introduced excitedly. For a long moment, Billy didn’t acknowledge the statement. His focus was on making sure the cup of food was a cup of food, no more no less. He picked off a pellet and dropped it back into the container before grinning at the two new arrivals.

“Hi, Jason! It’s nice to meet you. We really do need help around here. Whenever Trini and Zack are in camp that leaves just Kim and I do to nail grinds and baths but neither of us like doing those, so they almost never get done on time, so we could really use someone who doesn’t mind being wet with the dogs” Overwhelmed by the sheer number of words coming at him, Jason nodded.

“Yeah that’s...okay. It’s great to meet you, Billy” The boy gave him one last radiant smile before going back to his work. There were at least thirty dog bowls in front of him, some were paper fast food trays and others hefty metal, clearly meant to last. Only five of them had anything in them. Alvie tugged Jason’s sleeve again.

“You’ll learn about meal-times when you actually start, but here” he extended his arm to reference the massive room, “is where the boarding dogs stay. Anyone who stays overnight is on this side” The tour continued to the other side of the hallway where Alvie pointed out the bathroom, the employee lockers, and the grooming room in quick succession until they entered a smaller room of kennels.

“These are the day campers. All of them will leave by closing and over here-” he turned left and they were met with four pairs of large eyes staring at them, barely able to clear the top of the low wall, “-is Bigs day camp. And that’s Zack!” Alvie pointed inside the enclosure to the Asian boy who had a definitely too large dog clutched in his arms. “Please put Bently down”

“He challenged me, as the alpha, I had to respond” Zack shrugged and the Mastiff (Jason had no clue about breeds, who was he kidding?) seemed to peer at them in resignation.

“He didn’t- oh my god, put him down” Zack complied, but only after a massively exaggerated eye roll. The dog plodded off for a drink of water, unbothered. The boy waded through the cluster of big dogs all watching the new arrivals expectantly.

“Hey man, I’m Zack. I’m usually in Bigs. Crazy Girl is so small she’d probably get eaten” he laughed.

“I’m Jason”

“Great to meet you dude. I’d shake your hand but-” he gestured to the bars between them that kept the big dogs from jumping from the enclosure.

“Yeah, I get it” Jason waved him off in understanding as Alvie directed him to the farther of two glass doors a few feet away.

“Don’t let Crazy Girl scare you, Sugar’s in today!” Zack laughed as they disappeared into the cramped space.

“Ignore him,” Alvie muttered, “this is Smalls and that’s Trini” on the other side of the door was another playroom with tiny and mid-size dogs running around, napping or happily chewing on a toy, all while barely coming up to the knee of the small girl who stood grumpily against the wall. At her feet, a tiny dog with black and white hair longer than it’s legs barked constantly at her with it’s high pitched voice.

“I guess that’s Sugar” Jason mumbled. Alvie nodded.

“Most of us love Sugar, but I guess when you’re dealing with that for six hours a day, it’s understandable that she’s grumpy, whatever Zack says. Anyway, all small dogs will go here, along with some big dogs like Bard-” he pointed to a greyhound casually strolling around the room, “-who will freak out if they’re with the big buys” Jason nodded, drawing Trini’s attention to the door. He offered an awkward half-wave only for her to turn back to the irritating dog with a deeper scowl.

So those were his new co-workers.

Seven in the morning was way too early to be up and dealing with other people’s pets but that was what time he was scheduled and Jason wasn’t going to call out of his first day. Or complain. Because that would just give everyone the wrong impression of him. He wasn’t afraid of hard work, he just didn’t want to do it quite so early.

Kimberly was already at the front computer when he walked in, her navy blue polo looking better on her than it ever could on anyone else. She barely spared him a glance before she spoke.

“Follow me” she demanded, punching in the door code.

“Yeah okay” Jason jumped into the midway room before it slammed shut in between them.

“You will always need three things on you at all times; a pen, a lead, and a walkie. Each walkie is color coded and there’s a list of who has which walkie next to the charging station in the kitchen,” she pulled open the second door and stalked off towards said kitchen. Jason made sure to stay on her heels, both because she was talking kind of quietly and walking fast.

“I’ve got a pen”

“Leads are in the midway room,” the kitchen was empty of food bowls or Billy’s as Jason had last seen it. Kim marched over to the bin of walkies and pointed to a small laminated chart with various dots of color and spaces for a name next to each. Beside pink was Kim’s name, and Zack next to black. “I’m always pink, Trini is yellow, Billy is blue, and Zack is black. Tommy Jr, the overnighter, is usually green, but since he’s not here during the day you can use it if you want. Red and gold are also available” Careful to avoided one of the chosen colors, Jason grabbed one at random.

“I guess I’m red then”

“Great,” Kim took the walkie from his hand and clipped it into the neck v of his uniform polo, “sign off for it” She ducked under the computer in the corner and grabbed a stack of the paper fast food trays, dumping them on the table as two more people entered the room. The girl, Trini, never looked at him as she went directly to Kim and wrapped her arms around her waist and pressed her face in to her back. Kim never even paused.

“Good morning Jason” Billy grinned in the doorway, somehow very awake and even eager to be there.

“Hey Billy” Jason twisted the top of the walkie to ‘on’ as he smiled back.

“Okay,” Kim dropped a stack of metal bowls beside the paper ones and placed her hands on Trini’s at her stomach, “Jason, Billy’s going to teach you how to do breakfasts, just an overview so that you’re a little prepared for lunch later and then you’ll do some Individuals with Trini. Individuals are boarding dogs that can’t be in day camp, whether for medical or behavioral reasons usually. Got it?” Jason nodded. “Awesome. C’mon babe, you’re at work now, we can do this later” The front desk manager carefully dragged the girl clinging to her out of the room.

“Alright, let’s get started!” Billy clapped his hands together, rocking back on his heels, and then dove towards the computer, pressing keys until a long strip of white labels protruded from the tiny printer nearby. He dove in just as eagerly to his explanation, all the while pulling out measuring scoops and pulling the bins of food under the table slightly closer.

His words came too much, too fast and Jason could barely follow, but he loved it. Billy’s face was lit with a passionate kind of excitement that most people in this job would never have, hell, he was sure he’d never be that excited to feed a whole bunch of other people’s dogs. However, as it didn’t involve too many moving parts, the explanation finished quickly,

“Thank you, Billy. Do you like working here?” Jason asked, shuffling a small cat-sized bowl off to the side where Billy had put the others.

“Oh yeah! My mom’s allergic to both cats and dogs so it’s really great to hang with them all day. Also, Zack, Kim, and Trini are all super great and we go out to Krispy Kreme a lot. And no one’s mean about the fact that I’m on the spectrum so, yeah, I really do like it” He flashed Jason a grin. “I’m done now, so you should go do Individuals with Trini” Jason blinked in surprise.

“Oh, yeah okay. I’ll see you later, okay?”

“See you later, Jason!” Feeling more awake and optimistic than he had entering PetStay, he left the kitchen in search of Trini. Through the massive windows leading to the front desk, he could only see Kim highlighting charts. The small girl who’d buried her face between shoulder blades was no where to be found.

“Hey, new kid” Jason whirled around and found another playroom in the far corner of the boarding room. Trini stuck her hand through the bars to grab his attention. “We’re in here” He briefly wondered who ‘we’ was, but he’d see soon.

He went through the two doors (there were so many, at what point was overkill?) and was immediately tackled against the wall by 65 pounds of excited dog. The dog was tan with large brown spots and the sweetest face. Jason wasted no time in scratching him behind the ears.

“Mason, down. Cute huh?” Trini pat the dog’s side once he trotted over to her.

“Yeah, why is he Individual?”

“He wants to rip the face off of every dog he meets”

“Oh, okay that makes sense”

“Tommy’s apparently been working with his parents on that but,” she shook her head and Jason noticed for the first time the braids on the side of her head, “I don’t have much faith in that. You’ll see him in a minute” Mason took his time in sniffing around the room. Then, only once he’d found a spot that smelled just so, he dropped into a squat. “Big boy’s a three” she mumbled, pushing off from the wall towards the other corner where a mop, two buckets, and a scoop lay waiting. Mason was back in Jason’s arms.

“What does that mean?” he asked, trying get the excited dog back down to four feet.

“Three. Ya know, like, number one and number two? It’s just both” she shrugged as she scooped the poop up and dropped it into one of the buckets. “You write it on the day camp charts too. Zack will show you. Or not, he’s an idiot”

“Oh” They descended into silence. Mason was perfectly happy to go between them for affection or occasionally attack the ball or the playset against the wall. A pop song he’d definitely heard maybe once before played quietly through the speakers and the image of Trini clinging to Kim’s back and the taller girl calling her ‘babe’ would not leave his head. “Can I ask you something?”

“Maybe” she answered without hesitation. He paused. Was that just a no that she didn’t want to say? Her eye roll answered that. “Yeah, ask”

“Are you and Kim dating?” Trini’s whole body shuddered.

“No” Her jaw tightened and there was definitely more to it than ‘no’.

“Oh, okay, it’s just- it looked-”

“Stop while you’re ahead, homeboy”

“Got it”

So. Keeping track of 18 big dogs for seven hours a day was harder than Jason thought. And far more exhausting. There were behaviors he had to prevent and stop altogether as well as keeping track of who went to the bathroom and what they did. Zack was helpful, but his attention was so scattered and his disposition so wild that Jason wasn’t sure he trusted Zack not to fight with a dog.

It was a new feeling to have.

Dead on his feet and ready for a massive dinner, he dragged himself to the front employee room to clock out. Zack grabbed his shoulder halfway there.

“Hey man, you want to celebrate your first day at Krispy Kreme?” he offered. Zack’s already disheveled hair looked downright messy after the dogs had their way with it. Molly alone, a young lab, could have been the cause with how much she loved licking ears.

“Sure, if you want to pay. I haven’t got paycheck yet” Zack slung his arm over his shoulder.

“Yeah, pastries on me!” Thankfully, Krispy Kreme was only on the other side of the shopping complex from PetStay, so the walk was mercifully short, especially with the summer heat beginning to set in.

Zack spent the whole walk babbling about the dogs, the ones he loved, the ones he hated, and the ones that were plain odd, like Nero, a wall-eyed and pigeon-toed chocolate lab that never stopped smiling. Apparently he’d slammed a Boston terrier so hard that the smaller dog could only be Individual from that point on.

Trini had apparently pissed herself laughing.

And then promptly helped Kim take the terrier to the vet.

Jason liked the expressive way Zack talked. He used his whole body to tell a story, his hands, his shoulders, his face and his voice. He was so excited to talk about the dogs and the friends he’d made tending to them, just like Billy. It gave Jason hope that he might one day be the same.

The doughnut shop was thankfully not busy as the two of them ordered. As promised, Zack slid a few bucks across the counter to cover both doughnuts and coffees. Jason privately wondered if Zack needed more caffeine with his ingrained energy, but he didn’t know him well enough to judge.

“So what are you doing at PetStay man? You don’t look like you should work there” Zack asked as they slid into a booth. Jason shrugged.

“I did something stupid, lost any chance at college, and found myself in immediate need of a job” He kept his eyes down and took a sip to cover his embarrassed cheeks. Normally he wouldn’t be ashamed, but when he said it like that, it sounded a little pathetic.

“Oh that’s cool, I didn’t even graduate high school. Maybe you’ll get there. I’m here because I wanted a pet dog and this is a lot cheaper,” he grinned sharply and Jason laughed at the joke, “also my mom is sick and we’ve gotta find a way to pay for meds on top of you know, everything else. Trini’s been a great help on her days off. My mom likes her more than me probably” Jason frowned.

“Really? She seems kinda...”

“Oh, she’s absolutely mean as hell. But once you get past the rough exterior, she’s all mush. Just catch her with Kim or Billy. She loves them. And her kid brothers” They paused to take identical too-large bites of their doughnuts. They caught sight of the other with bits hanging out of their mouth and burst into laughter, careful not to choke on what they hadn’t swallowed (well, maybe only in Jason’s case).

“Can I ask you something?” Jason began after a long sip and a calming breath. Zack nodded and shoved the rest of his doughnut into his mouth. “what’s up with Kim and Trini? I mean, Trini said they weren’t dating but, I don’t know” Zack nodded along and brushed his hands free of crumbs before speaking.

“Yeah, they’re not dating, but they are going to be”

“How do you know that?” That seemed to be a very hard thing to know with such certainty.

“They told me. Not at the same time, though. Trini was little drunk and Kim was just getting done with the literal worst day someone could have that Trini helped pick her up from. Trini could be ready at the drop of a hat if it weren’t for the fact that she’s scared what her parents would think since they’ve definitely said some shitty stuff about her questionable sexuality”

“They don’t like it?” Zack shook his head.

“Nah, every time I’m over, they ask if we’re dating yet. It’s why she’s at mine a lot. I think Kim is scared by the inevitability of it all. From the moment they met, there’s been this crazy connection that you’d have to be oblivious to miss. Billy may have trouble with social stuff, but even he got that right away. She said something like, she’s scared by the fact that she knows she’s not going to ever want someone after Trini. We have a store pool on when they get their shit together, you want in?” he asked, downing the last of his coffee.

“How long have they known each other?” Jason narrowed his eyes.

“This has been going on for three years”

“Oh, okay, fuck no”

“Red, you nearly done that bath?” Jason shook his feet in a poor attempt to make them dry faster. He sent Winnie the Newfoundland a withering glare.

“Are you happy?” He sighed and punched the talk button on his walkie. “Yes pink, just getting her into the drier. Do you need something?”

“Yeah, you’ve got some safety videos to watch. The answers to the multiple choice questions are already written down, so it shouldn’t take long”

“Great, I’ll be there in a sec” Winnie was hardly cooperative, but eventually Jason maneuvered her into a kennel dryer with the hope that she could be ready to go sometime in the next four hours. Up front, Kim was typing away at her computer and scribbling names and room numbers onto ID bands. She didn’t turn at the sound of the door opening and closing behind her.

“Just put log in and take the quiz listed at the top. The answer key is-” she froze. “Fuck” Kim rarely looked so affected. Jason immediately felt his heart jump into his throat with worry.

“Kim? are you okay?” She ignored him and marched over to the window where Smalls was easily in view. Most of the small dogs had found a comfortable place to nap and calm down while a few small puppies rolled around with each other, nipping at heels and necks. The main point of interest however, was Trini, sunk to the floor with her back tot he wall and her head fallen into her arms. A black Maltese pawed continuously at her forearms.

“Fuck,” she raised her walkie, “Yellow babe, can you stand? Just a minute please. Blue, do you mind going into smalls to give yellow a break?” They watched Trini raise a thumbs up while they waited for Billy to radio in.

“Yeah! Is it country music time?”

“Yes it is. You’re a saint”

“That’s very nice of you Kim, thank you” They watched as the door to the relief room opened and closed, and the door to Smalls did the same, allowing Billy into the room and waking all of the dogs. They swarmed him like insects to a fruit left unattended in the middle of summer and Trini wasted no time in handing off the squirt bottle, offering him her most sincere thanks, and sneaking out of the room. Kim sighed in relief.

“She likes metal and despises country music. But between that and silence, she’ll choose the music. So she’ll sit there dying. Thankfully Billy loves country, so we stick him in for country music power hour” she explained, heading towards the midway room.

“Does this happen a lot?” Jason watched the dogs jump as high up as they could (never above Billy’s knees) to try and lick their new supervisor’s face.

“Country music power hour is every day at 1. I’m going to go talk to her” Kim wasted no time in punching in the door code and slipping through. Jason shook his head, turning slowly back to the computer quiz with a warm feeling in his chest. It felt like the beginnings of fondness. It took less than five minutes to log in and click the correct answers and no brain-power at all, so he went to the back rooms in an attempt to find Kim and ask what she wanted him to do next.

He found her by the employee lockers, her back to him. He opened his mouth to speak but froze. She wasn’t alone. There, crowded between Kim’s body and the side of the lockers was Trini. Kim’s hands rested over her jawline, her thumbs moving slowly over Trini’s hairline, and the full length of their bodies were clearly pressed together. Kim’s nose traced slow, delicate lines across Trini’s face, and the small girl was the most relaxed Jason had ever seen her. The phone in Kim’s back pocket played a slow soft song that clearly meant something to the both of them with the way they swayed so gently back and forth that it almost looked like they weren’t moving at all.

It was like a scene from a dramatic romance movie.

He wasn’t meant to see this.

Jason careful backed away and decided to do a water check. Those were always necessary and needed. As he worked, he felt the feeling in his chest grow. The beginnings of fondness were clearly out the window.

#power rangers #fanfiction #mine

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nonbinary-support · 8 years ago

Note

(1/2 nb questioning) I've been IDing as a trans guy for a while & I've felt a "connection" to being nb but not necessarily like I was "really" nb? Because I feel 100% okay with being a guy, & that feels different/stronger? than my connection to being nb.I mean I'm drawn to maverique, genderqu**r, & other nb identities that're more political, and the politics is sort of my main draw to it, because I want to draw attention to how garbage the gender binary is and things along those lines.

(2/2 nb questioning) I guess I don’t know if I “should” ID as nb if I don’t feel as strongly toward it? I don’t know if saying that I’m nb would be overstepping since I’m completely okay with just being male/being seen as male. Obviously having more than one gender is a thing but. Like I said my draw to nb-ness feels different than my maleness. I guess the long and short is that I don’t want to use those labels if that’d be me overstepping or doing something shitty. I hope that made sense. [[/end]]

you could be a nb guy. i am too. for me, it’s easier to live my day to day life as a binary guy. i’m ok with that. but i’m also nb. i can’t define your gender for you, though. that’s your call. but, if you do identify as nb, you aren’t overstepping in my opinion. (followers, please add on if you would like to)

- jay

#anonymous #queue

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rpchive · 6 years ago

Text

115th Encounter-- Snake Eyes

y’know; cheaters never prosper

[The next day...]

Collin approaches the door to Silky and XL's room and knocks a few times. XL answers the door, though she seems to take her time to do so. "...Oh, um...is something wrong?" Collin: Hey XL, everything's fine. Is this a bad time? XL: It's...not.

She steps aside, allowing Collin into the room. Silky lies on the table to the side of the room, her armor having been removed. This time, there is no tank obscuring her form, only her casual clothes, which do not cover the scars Atlas' armor had left behind. Many indents and seams line her scales, telling a story nobody wants to hear. XL remains patiently silent. Collin: Ah, uh... Is Silky doing alright? I heard she kinda got the short end of things back in FaWKES' place. XL: She's....she'll be alright. Unsurprisingly, fish don't do too well when they're electrified, even when something else absorbs most of it. It's nothing she can't get over; nothing she won't recover from; nothing serious; but...it's just taking her a little while to stay awake right now is all. I don't really understand it; but she just...can't stay up for long. But she doesn't pass out any longer; I mean, she's been staying awake for longer recently, so she's definitely getting better... Collin: Well that's... good. Have you asked Clair for help? I heard she has some sort of healing power or something, so maybe she could help Silky recover faster. XL: I don't want to push her; and I definitely don't want to keep her away from Daedalus right now. I don't think he'll ever relapse quite so severely he'd put all of us in danger, but I certainly understand that he could still pose a threat to those around him if he gets too disoriented. In short, I think he could hurt people, I don't think he'd ever fall back hard enough to kill. He's not that bad off. I've seen that bad off; those people beyond redemption, or those so far gone they can barely be helped...he's not up there. But I don't want to give any window for it. It can't get worse with Lobotomy gone, but with Paprika and Maya here, I can't help but worry he might get...desperate, I guess? Collin: ... That's a little tough to think about, but I guess I get your concern. I'm sure he wouldn't mind coming with her while she's helping you and Silky, but- ... A-Anyway, I'm getting sidetracked, sorry; you can ask them about it later if you want. I actually had sort of an odd question for you, if you have a minute. XL: If it helps, sure. Collin: Do you remember any planets that had a giant casino on it? A planet kinda like Earth, if possible? That demon Demo's reflection is looking for is apparently running some giant casino.

they’re a devil, not a demon. it’s a big difference

XL: Well, I haven't been, but Silky went to one the night Atlas decided to...bring out the armor. It wasn't Earth; Earth had been eaten; but it did have a few human colonies. Apex and novakids too. The casino itself was a magnet for trouble, the rich; the wicked; the foolish; the greedy; people would come from sectors to gamble at this place, a casino that was built so tall it stretched off-planet to a point. They called it the Nova Pin. Collin: Sounds pretty sketchy. Why would Silky want to go to a place like that? XL: Because she was still tailing Atlas. She didn't go because it was a casino, she went because Atlas was meeting with Greenfinger, Kluex, and the others. If things had gone well, she would've known the faces of everybody responsible for the war, and it would've been over.

I wouldn’t say the devil corrupted Atlas/Greenfinger/ect. but they definitely encouraged their dark ideals, effectively making them worse off

which implies some Not Good Things about this log in particular imo

Collin: ... Ah, I think I get the picture now. Do you remember where it is? Coordinate-wise, I mean. XL: It's in the Delta sector, umm...oh, of course. X is 376338522; Y is -59708896.

these are random coordinates I found while trying to google a planet that actually had the things I mentioned on them

Collin: ... You mind writing that down on something? XL: Right, I can do that. I'll pass it along to Nydins, sorry. Collin: It's fine, I just can't remember all those digits. I'm a little impressed you can, though. Do you just have a bunch of planet coordinates in your head? XL: Well, no, novakid brands are technically a piece of technology. It's just that brands, like everything else novakids make, are made up out of materials from a bunch of other stuff, which makes them very difficult for anyone or anything else to mess with in any way, which is good considering it controls the vast majority of our bodily functions, preventing us from overheating or exploding at random. Collin: Oh, that makes more sense, yeah. Alright, I'll let you pass that on to Nydins while I go let everyone know we've got a lead. You should try talking with Clair sometime soon, by the way. I'm sure she can figure out a way to help Silky. XL: I'll...give it a shot. Collin gives her a small wave and then heads out of her room to fill in Echo and the others involved in their conversation about the Nova Pin. In the meantime, XL gives the coordinates to Nydins, who sets the course for the casino's planet. After some more planning and some partially overheard conversations, Jay, Demo, Echo, Collin, Daedalus, and Fawkes form a group inside the console room and wait for the IT to land. Paprika, Rio, and Nydins are all waiting at the console, though Paprika looks eager to land.

Nydins: ...For the last time, you can't go out there; that casino's a dangerous place, on a dangerous planet, full of dangerous people.

Paprika: Lobotomy was way more dangerous, and I got to stand around in the middle of that all the time! Collin: Wait, you... want to go with us? Paprika: I do! I wasn't allowed to gamble or anything in Lobotomy, so of course I want to go to a casino. Daedalus: We're really not going there to gamble. You know that, right? Paprika: I mean, it's just the principal of being there... Collin: Do you have a way to keep yourself safe, at least? Paprika: Does Echo? I mean, the came here at the expense of her abilities, right? She doesn't even have an oracle...

Echo: Maybe not, but I still have my anubis. You don't have anything, though...

Paprika: ...Yeah, I'll admit, not being in Lobotomy left me pretty exposed. I can't even use EGO equipment...or, well, maybe I can now, but I wouldn't know how... Fawkes: EGO? Paprika: Oh, yeah! The suits and weapons Maya uses, they're called EGO! It stands for...Extermination of Geometrical Organ...uhh...that doesn't make any sense...who named these things...?

I like to think the definition of EGO was google translated for employees, but a Sephirah would know what they’re actually called

personally I think it stands for External Guerrilla Optimizer or something a little more “sensible” like that

Daedalus: Someone who's just as bad at acronyms as they are with human rights, if I had to guess.

Collin: I... don't really know what to think about this. I don't want you to stay cooped up in here all the time, but... Ugh, what do you guys think? Demo: I mean, a bunch of drunk humans armed with nothing but guns and money go in there; why can't a robot? Collin: I guess that's fair. Just stick with us for now, alright? There's no telling what this place is gonna be like. Paprika: Okay! I won't go far, I promise. Daedalus: Alright, Pepper Shaker's first willing adventure! Oughta be a good time all around, eh? Echo: Let's just have a look at this casino...ugh, I'm not even remotely surprised who we're looking for could be in a place like this... Daedalus: No kidding. I'm pretty sure casinos are probably the best habitat a demon could get, aside from maybe Vegas or something. The group exits the IT to what is apparently one of the levels of the Nova Pin itself. The IT has managed to appear in one of the hallways alongside a variety of other vending machines containing various snacks and drinks from other planets. Upon the floor, a bright, red carpet stretches in either direction, the white walls of the casino patterned with the card suits at random intervals along the way. This particular hall seems to be a red diamond. Collin: Well, at least we blend in? alienrabitt: Hey, if we come into a casino with this much luck, we're already doing well. Daedalus: Just don't burn it all in one place. Let's see if we can find our way to the casino floor. Heading to the right, it seems that each floor is a different thing, alternating between lobbies; vending machines; elevators; and of course, the casino floors. The casinos themselves seem to be divided, with a little section near the back blocked out of general view for VIPs. The tables and bars are crowded; many people mingling near the windows or heading up or down stairs, ramps, and elevators to go to other places. Not a single person seems to think anyone from the IT is out of place. Fawkes: It seems like we're surprisingly inconspicuous. More good fortune, then.

Collin: So how're we supposed to look for this guy? Just walk up to a random... uh, casino person and ask them if their boss is a demon?

devil =/= demon; demons are limited by the magic in their horns; devils draw power from the souls they’ve taken

Paprika: Hmm, well, a demon might want to draw a lot of attention to themselves, but someone who's really good at gambling, well, they'd probably be invited to be with the VIPs, right? 'Cause rich people like a challenge, and tricky people want people to take advantage of. And a demon wouldn't play for just cash, but you can't do anything that shady in a crowd; so they'd need a good way to cover it, and rich people, well, they have ways of making unsavory things go under the rugs, right? So we shouldn't bother with just the floor...

Demo: But how're we gonna sneak into a VIP section? We're clearly kind of a big group of nobodies, and if anyone asks for any kind of ID, we're screwed... Fawkes: Paprika said someone who's good at gambling might be invited to the VIP section, right? Maybe we just need to hit a jackpot or three? Echo: We don't even have anything to gamble with...and are we seriously gonna gamble? Fawkes: Hmm, I hadn't thought about money. The IT doesn't come with a bank account, unfortunately. alienrabitt: Urgh, we're kinda out of luck here. We can't gamble, and we can't sneak in...

Paprika: Well, maybe not with a big group, but maybe half of us could?

Demo: And how the hell are we gonna do that?

Paprika: We look for someone in a similar position! Maybe they're not looking for a devil, but maybe somebody here's desperate for something or something...? That's how it is in movies, right? Some really unlucky guy gets roped in with a mob boss or something...? Daedalus: You want us to ride on the coattails of someone in trouble with a casino run by a demon?

they’re not a- reasoning had nothing to do with it

Paprika: Maybe it's not run by the devil, maybe he just comes here a lot? Collin: I'm... not really following what the plan is supposed to be here. Paprika: We find a guy in trouble and hope that they get dragged into the VIP section for an all or nothing gamble of a lifetime! Orrr we just impersonate the staff and sneak in?

Demo: Well some of you could get away with that, but Jay, myself, and Fawkes? No chance. Daedalus: Already splitting up, huh? Sounds promising. Paprika: I mean, it's that or we just...hope they're on the floor...but I doubt it... Collin: It's fine, don't worry. I guess we'll need to walk around one of these casino areas and hope we find someone in trouble? We'll fall back on the staff plan if that doesn't work out. Paprika: Alright...better than not having any plan, I guess. With that, the group heads out into the casino area proper, looking for anyone that might be suspicious or noteworthy. There is nothing particularly of note; merely the standard crowd of gambling folk. Occasionally a human or novakid will get so rowdy that a bouncer will have to remove them from the floor, but otherwise, nothing seems to be drawing a big crowd or sticking out. Daedalus: I'm not getting a whole lot here. Anyone else have any luck? Demo: The floor's not looking too good. I think you guys are gonna have to play dress up...

Paprika: Well, good thing I brought my own suit...ehh, but the girls around here, they're wearing a...lot less than that...

Demo: Then you're probably gonna have to too.

Echo: ...If we don't get shot first, I might kill a man before we leave, but I'll try to stay level. Okay, gonna go steal some clothes, and pick up some drinks, because alcohol's gotta get me in. Rich people love free, expensive alcohol. Collin: Sounds good. What should we do? Demo: If you can pass as solidly human, dress like the staff and find a way to sneak into VIP. If you can't, find a way to stick close without getting kicked out. Collin: I... think I can manage that. Daedalus, come with me. We'll be right back.

Daedalus: Wait, what? Where are we going, exactly?

Collin doesn't answer, but gestures for him to follow and heads out into the crowd again. Daedalus rolls his eyes and follows after him. After several minutes pass, the pair return in fairly simple but high quality, well kept suits.

Collin: This look like it'll do the job? Demo: Uhh, yeah, you fit right in...

alienrabitt: I guess Echo and Paprika are still out there trying to find something...

Demo: That or they died of embarrassment and refused to come back... Daedalus: I'd say they could've just gotten the magical illusion treatment like Collin just pulled with us, but frankly that might be even weirder than just wearing something since Collin would have to do it. alienrabitt: You two just worry about sneaking in; I'm sure they'll catch up. Worst case, I go look for em. Collin: I guess that would be less conspicuous too, honestly.

Daedalus: Alright, time to see how hard we can bullshit these people.

Collin and Daedalus head off toward the VIP section of the casino. The bouncer standing at the door, a large, yellow novakid with a circular brand, stands wordlessly before the pair. They tilt their head to face the pair, waiting expectantly for something. Daedalus steps up to the bouncer, not missing a beat. "Hey, how's it going? My brother and I are running a little late to the party. Got hung up with some unexpected work stuff. Mind letting us in?" ???: ...You are the work staff. What, did you get wrapped up in trying to bounce one of those damn humans out? Those guys take some real effort sometimes. I saw a few get dragged off a minute ago. Daedalus: Yeah, you know how it is. Takes both of us just to handle one guy, depending on how drunk he is. I just wanted to check in with you before we head inside. Seems kinda rude to pretend I don't see you, isn't it? ???: Yeah, I know how that goes. Just let him know if he stays hot headed, we'll get hot handed, and he'll quit wigglin' as much, that's for sure.

Stepping aside, the novakid removes the velvet rope to let the boys through. "Got three groups tonight; one's the usual, two are some small name rich folk that are a little drunk and a lot bored. Just keep the drinks coming and they'll be happy as hylotl. You already know what to do for the third guy." Daedalus: Sounds good. Take it easy, champ.

Daedalus steps past the novakid into the VIP room with Collin quickly following behind him. There are currently four rooms, one of which is unoccupied. The first two rooms seem to have the biggest commotion, presumably occupied by the rich parties. Collin leans over slightly and whispers to Daedalus. "What're we supposed to do for the third guy, exactly?"

Daedalus: Hell if I know, but I'm willing to bet that might be our guy.

Collin: So, what, do we just... go in his room and see what happens?

Daedalus: You got it. Just gotta keep the bullshit train rolling.

Daedalus knocks on the door to the third room and pauses for a moment before opening it and heading inside with Collin. At the table at the back of the room, five people are currently seated.

The leftmost person, who appears to be a heavily modded glitch waitress of some sort, continues to nervously fidget in her seat. Her visor, nearly obscured by the bright, gradient green and blue hair that stretches down to her back, remains blank as she stares at the table, an uncomfortably large amount of poker chips covering half the surface area between her and the opposite side, none of which seem to belong to either party.

this girl! we’ll be seeing her later

The person to the left of the glitch appears to be a young human male, who seems to have snuck into the casino, clearly too young to be there, yet still there nonetheless. Pulling the collar of his dark brown varsity jacket up uncomfortably, he returns his gaze from the door to the cards in his hand. He seems to have a fairly standard appearance to him, short brown hair, brown eyes; however freckles stretch across his cheeks and over his nose.

this dude is generic because he’s Unimportant but he was trying to get glitch girl out of the casino since she doesn’t want to live there anymore

In the middle of the group is an adult dressed equally too casually for a casino; wearing a T-shirt that says "no breaks, just takes" in big, blue letters; half of which are obscured by a green tie covered in tiny flamingos with sunglasses on. Short black hair, dark green eyes, nothing particularly standing out with their physical features.

On the right side, Echo and Paprika are seated nervously, both dressed similarly to the glitch across the table in the standard waitress corsets; wrist cuffs; and stockings. Paprika looks ready to burst with embarrassment as she recognizes their new company. Daedalus and Collin pause for a split second to adjust to the awkward atmosphere. Taking a deep breath, Daedalus finally breaks the silence. "Gentlemen, good to see you! Everything alright so far?" The person in the center speaks, tilting their cards towards themselves as they do so. They smile softly, speaking in a rather androgynous voice as they respond, questionably more feminine than anything. "...Yes, things are going just fine. I'm assuming you won't be joining us?" Daedalus: Only if you'd like us to. Is there anything you need? ???: If you aren't going to be playing, I think we're alright. Don't mind the girls, they'll be back on the floor soon. I just wanted a quick round is all. Collin: Are you all playing? ???: Well, not together. One after another. I'm currently playing against this boy; but we'll be done once he's ready.

Collin: Once he's ready for what? ???: Once he's ready for it to be your turn, of course. Collin: It seems like he's the only one with cards, though. ???: Oh, I have cards. I have about 6 right now. I could have 8 in a minute; maybe 9. Depends on who's playing... Daedalus: That doesn't sound like your normal poker game rules... ???: Who said this was poker? Collin: What are you playing then? ???: A very special game. He has to guess what cards I have, and if he gets it wrong, I get his cards. Collin: Why would you want his cards, though? Is the point to make someone have an empty hand? ???: Yes; how observant of you. Daedalus: Still, I don't recognize those rules. Plus he seems kinda young to be gambling, don't you think? ???: And? I'm having him here, that should be enough. Daedalus: Can't imagine he has that much money to put down though... ???: Don't worry about it. Look, if you've got no business here, and if you aren't playing, then you don't need to be here. Daedalus: Alright, alright, if you really want another player, I'll give it a go. Smiling, the person opposite of the door gestures for Daedalus to take a seat somewhere at the table. The current company scoots a little more inward to allow the pair some room. Collin shoots Daedalus a concerned glance as they take seats around the table. Daedalus looks around at the others for a second before speaking again. "So, how does this work? Is it really just me guessing three of spades, queen of diamonds, so on and so forth?" ???: Yes, exactly. You guess what's in my hand, or you lose what's in yours. Simple as that. Daedalus: Still seems like kind of a strange game. Why aren't you guessing what's in mine? ???: Why should I guess? Daedalus: Usually games are a back-and-forth deal, that's all. I don't have any chips on me either, so we can't really play for anything. Rolling their eyes, the person slides a deck across the table, leaving it in the center. "We just play for keeps here. Pick one each. Doesn't matter which card you take." Collin and Daedalus each draw a card from the deck. Collin has drawn the King of Hearts. Daedalus has drawn the Ace of Spades.

The boy from the other side of the table speaks softly. "...So, uhh...we guess your hand still, right? Not their cards?"

The person at the center nods. "Yeah, that's right. Just mine." Collin: Is the deck different in any way? Is the joker still in it? ???: Yes, there are jokers. Only two. Daedalus: Good to know. The Joker, then. ???: ...Yes, that's one. And the other three...? Collin: The Jack of Spades? ???: I don't have any cards that have Spades. You lose. Collin: Well that was fast...

He holds his card out to them. The person takes Collin's card and sets it aside. The boy next to them seems visibly uncomfortable, despite nothing else happening. Shrugging, the person turns their gaze to the boy instead. "I'm still waiting..."

????: Uhh...Jack of Diamonds...

???: ...Yeah, I've got that. Lucky guess. Daedalus: Are we allowed to ask questions? You mentioned you don't have any spades just a second ago. ???: It's only fair, I guess. That's right, I don't have any spades at all. Daedalus: What suits do you have, then? ???: ...You know the Joker and the Jack of Diamonds. I have...three more cards. One from hearts; another diamond; and a club. No spades. Daedalus: Any other face cards? ???: A queen. Daedalus: Queen of hearts. ???: Ohh, you're very lucky... Daedalus: Had to be at some point. Evens or odds? ???: Odd. Daedalus: Is the diamond greater than five? ???: Depends on who you ask. Daedalus: Five of diamonds. ???: You lose. Daedalus makes an annoyed sound and slides his card over. "That was a very obtuse answer." The person looks over to the boy beside them. "Two to go~. What do you think?"

????: Uhhh...it's an ace, isn't it? Higher to some, one for others?

???: That's right! That just leaves one card. I'll let you all ask questions if you'd like. Collin: You already said it was odd, didn't you? ???: Yep. Odd number. Daedalus: Again, greater or equal to five? ???: Lower.

Paprika: An odd lower than 5...it can only be two numbers, then...

????: So, uhh...three? Since you think an ace can be lower or higher...

???: Congratulations; you have a good memory. Yes, that's right, Three of Clubs. You guessed all your own guesses right, so you and your waitress can leave. These two have to stick around for the next game, though.

Very nervously, the waitress shoves her way out from the seats, quickly pulling the boy along behind her despite his frantic protests as he begs her to wait for something. As they head out the door, he's cut off from saying "...But they don't know--...!" Collin: ... What was that about? What don't we know? ???: Plenty, apparently. If it wasn't apparent from your cards, I can tell none of you work here. C'mon; I've been coming here for decades. I meet all new hires.

all of the cards correspond to the people in the room. Paprika and Echo got the devil’s attention as soon as they changed clothes. once they realized the girls came with company, they decided to take their cards and use them to play against Daedalus an Collin; and that’s how they got there first

Daedalus: Well, guess I shouldn't be surprised about that one... ???: I also know you've got a party of 3 in the lobby. More than that somewhere else; but I can't see em until they come into the building... Collin: If you know all that, I'm guessing you know why we're here too. ???: I recognize one of you as a shadow. I'm sure she recognized me too...

Echo: You...you're the one responsible for all this...

???: I can't take you seriously in those outfits.

Snapping their fingers, the person shifts Echo and Paprika into their proper outfits.

Paprika: Wh-wha--!! How?!

???: So, it's obvious I know your names, but do any of you know mine? Any? Daedalus: Asking would've been suspicious while we were trying to be more lowkey, but clearly that wasn't ever happening anyway. Who are you, then? ???: Don't be ridiculous; a person's name holds power over them. You don't think I'm that stupid, do you? Call me anything you want; you'll probably be right enough.

Paprika: You, um...I'm pretty sure the people here would only call you bad names.

???: I've got a bad reputation; I don't mind. If you wanna call me a bastard or something, you're right; I am. I'm an asshole; I'm terrible; I drink; I gamble; I smoke; I've killed people; I've even done worse than that. So go ahead, do your worst. I don't care. Daedalus: Sure thing Biggles. Or should I pick something a little more fitting like Gambit? Echo: I...I don't even care what you're called, why!? Why did you do it?!

???: ...You know, most people want a name to the face. Fine, we'll go with what the floor calls me. Bandit's enough. And I did it because my son's worthless; you ought to see that too... Collin: I don't really see how. He didn't seem all that bad when we met him a little while back. Bandit: That's the problem; he's one of the future kings of hell; he needs to start acting like it! Collin: Well it's not like he was friendly. He permanently shrank Azreldeh's horns, made her forget she had a sister, and exiled her for helping us. He just wasn't...

Daedalus: A huge asshole about it?

Collin: ... I guess that works. Bandit: Well, that's an improvement. Not much progress, but improvement nonetheless...

Paprika: So...why did you decide to make an entire corrupt dimension to trap him in? Don't you realize there's innocent people there too?

Bandit: Innocents born from the corrupt; corruption born from innocence. Nobody is truly without sin; that's the big picture he should be taking away. And it looks like you took it too; a little too literally, apparently. Daedalus: Well, one of your little shadows in there is damn near running the asylum at this point and making life even more hell for everyone under him, so it was either get her out or leave her to suffer and most likely die. You don't have to be a saint to figure out which is the lesser of two evils there. Bandit: And why should any of that concern any of you? You don't belong there. Daedalus: Y'know, I'm no parent, but I'm pretty sure you're supposed to talk to your kids about life lessons, not demonstrate them by trapping sentient beings in a permanent hell as some kind of metaphor. Bandit: I mean, everything's gotta go somewhere, right? Look, I've seen this kind of thing before; heroes don't become villains from stern talks from their parents; they become villains due to skewed motives and bad intentions destroying everything they hold precious. Collin: I know this sounds weird but... does he really need to be a villain to run hell? I know it's not supposed to be a good place but there's nothing wrong with just being... well, just. Bandit: And just what the hell would you know about hell itself, huh? You're human! Exclusively human! I mean, you haven't even banged the hot demon princess thirsting over your dick, what the fuck would you know about fucking hell in any sense?! A moment of silence seeps in for a moment as Collin grapples with trying to process Bandit's words, broken by Daedalus clearing his throat a few seconds later.

Daedalus: Well, this is awkward suddenly...

Collin finally pulls himself back and glares back at Bandit. "L-Look, I don't have be some kind of demon or whatever to know how things should work. Whatever grand result you're hoping to get out of that dimension isn't gonna happen with the way things are going in there. It's not like these are evil souls or whatever in there anyway! It's just inverse reflections of people trapped in a cycle that punishes them for existing!" Bandit: And? Look, you don't know anything about running hell, let alone an entire dimension; what would you know about my mirrors? What at all? You can't tell me how to run the damn things; and you lost my game too, so you're doubly fucked on the telling me what to do front. Collin: What is that supposed to mean? Bandit: You had no idea what you were gambling with despite willingly walking into a casino to find a devil...? Daedalus: You never said anything when I mentioned not having chips... Bandit: I told you not to worry, didn't I? And now you don't have anything left to worry about, do you? See, I was right! Daedalus: ... Aren't you supposed to have a contract or something for this kind of shit? Bandit: Didn't the guy at the door tell you you oughtta know what you were in for? Daedalus: That... doesn't seem like it would count... Bandit: See? There you guys go with the not knowing anything about hell or devils thing. Look, quit worrying about it, alright? Anyway, we've still got three people sitting out there doing nothing, should I make this a party, or are we done here? Collin: We're not "done here" until you do something about those people trapped in your mirror dimension! Bandit: Oh my god, I've really had it with your whole shadow's rights activism. You're probably my chattiest customers yet, and by customers, I mean losers.

They flip Collin's card face down, forcing him to slam his head onto the table before flipping it back upright. "Please just answer my questions, it'll go a lot smoother if you do."

Echo: St-stop that!!

Bandit: I could rip it in half next... Gripping the side of his head, Collin groans before he looks back at Bandit. "... Fine, what the fuck do you want then?" Bandit: Your little trio outside; are we dragging them in, or are we done? Collin: What does that even mean? You want to trap their souls in cards too or whatever the hell this is? Bandit: No, I mean we've still got a gamble to make here. Either they play a game, or all four of you are done here, and nobody will find out where you went. Understand? Daedalus: ... Sounds like we don't really have a choice if we want to leave, then. Making a motion like yanking a rope, Bandit pulls Demo; Jay; and Fawkes into the room out of nowhere, despite their visible confusion. "Right! So, you guys walked in on my last game and joined, so this time, you get to pick!" Daedalus: Pro-tip: if you lose he gets your soul. We're already fucked, so good luck. Demo: Wait, what?!! We left you alone for like, 20 minutes! You've gotta be kidding me!! Daedalus: Yeah, yeah, we're all dumbasses. Pick something you're good at and save the roast for later. Demo: ...No pressure...

alienrabitt: Uhh...are we all picking our own, or...?

Bandit: Nope; one for all three of you. So...discuss. Fawkes: Well this is... problematic. Does it have to be a traditional card or casino game? Bandit: Any sort of game is fine, so long as there can be a winner, and it can be finished within, well, a human's natural lifespan; but I'm sure you want to make this quick. Fawkes: I'm worried this gambling business is going to become a trend soon at this rate. I'm not sure the last game I played would be good here. What do you two think? alienrabitt: I...don't think so. I hope we don't have to keep gambling for this kind of thing...um...

Demo: Does it have to be a one on one game?

Bandit: Nope, we can all play at once. Fawkes: Do you have something in mind, Demo? Demo: Well, no, nothing in particular. If they want this done quick, the fastest way would be all at once, though... Fawkes: Well, you have your standard games like blackjack or poker, or even something simple like drawing straws. I guess anything could technically be a gambling game... alienrabitt: ...Even if we win, you're not gonna break the curse on the mirror, are you?

Bandit: Of course not! Nothing you could bet would make me do that. At this point, you're playing for my amusement; nothing more, nothing less. Well, and the souls of your careless friends. Fawkes: Unfortunately I don't think we have much bargaining power here, unsurprisingly... alienrabitt: Ugh...this just gets worse...fine...

Demo: ...What's saying you won't cheat?

Bandit: Oh, nothing. I just said someone needs to win; I didn't say how. I'm a devil, I don't make rules. Fawkes seems to think for a few seconds before he finally speaks up. "... Alright then, straws it is, just me and you. If I fail, the other two can pick their own game. Whoever removes the shortest straw wins. If I win, we get everyone else's souls back. Sound fair enough?" Bandit: ...Wait, seriously? ...Well, alright.

They swipe their hand, clearing the table of all the chips upon it, but leaving everyone's cards.

that sounds like they slapped em onto the floor but they really just, like, waved them away

Fawkes retrieves a cup and a large wad of straws from a nearby refreshment station and sets them down on the table. One of his fingers folds out into a small laser which he uses to slice the straws into various random lengths. He dumps the straws into the cup and then takes a step back.

Fawkes: In the sake of fairness, I think we should choose a straw blindly without examing the cup closely. Does that sound reasonable? Bandit: ...Yeah, okay. Fawkes: Good. Then seeing as I am the challenger now, I think it's only fair that you choose first. Bandit chooses a straw near the center of the cup. Fawkes: Hmm, two-point-five centimeters. Not bad, I think that's one of the shortest lengths I cut.

Fawkes reaches out for one of the taller straws in the cup. Gripping its tip between his fingers, he suddenly twists to the side, revealing a nearly severed tip of the straw which easily snaps off in his grip. "... Four millimeters. I believe I win." Bandit: ...Ha! Hahaha, alright, you got me!

Taking the cards off the table, Bandit burns them all in their hands, though this seems to do no harm to the people they were tied to. "So, what's next?" Fawkes: If the mirror's curse is truly off the table, I'm not sure we have any further business here.

Daedalus: Are you really deadset on keeping it that way? We weren't lying about the state the place is in, y'know... Bandit: Well...I guess if you bet something really big, or did something really interesting, I might consider some changes... Collin: ... Something interesting? That seems awfully vague. Bandit: Well, I've been alive for a very long time; and I've seen just about everything mankind has to offer. And this space stuff was interesting for a few hundred years, but now? I want something new. That's why I keep doing this; that's why I've been challenging anyone who stands out in a crowd...I want something exciting! It's what I live for! Money; power; love; those don't matter at all! It's thrill! Thrill is all that matters; entertainment; excitement! I wanna be on the edge of my seat; blown away; speechless! I need something interesting!! alienrabitt: ...You already made an entire dimension by yourself; what could top that?

Bandit: Well, it's not all brand new; it's just a reflection. I can't make something entirely new; definitely not to that scale...

alienrabitt: ...Well, I mean, technically /I/ can, would that be enough?

Slowly leaning forward, Bandit eyes Jay with interest as they place their head in their hand, and their elbow on the table. "...Technically? What exactly does that mean?"

alienrabitt: I mean, it's...pretty big, I've never tried it before, and I don't have enough magic to do it on my own, but technically I can.

Bandit: Oh, don't worry about magic; I'll burn my whole dimension down if it means seeing this for real. You sure you wanna do this?

alienrabitt: ...Would you break your curse if I did?

Bandit: Oh hell yeah.

alienrabitt: Then...if I can get the magic to pull it off, I'll do it. Collin: You gonna need some help, Jay? alienrabitt: I mean, I'd need magic, but I have no idea how much...

Echo: More than he could possibly have; and more than your entire crew could provide. A dimension is massive; even when your shadow worked with us, we couldn't do anything that could give us a way out. You simply don't have what it takes; nobody does.

Demo: Oh, you oughtta know better than to tell either of these idiots "no;" they live their lives on making the impossible possible. Collin: Can't hurt to try, right?

He holds out a hand to Jay. "So uh, wanna give it a whirl?" Bandit: I hate to burst your bubble, but Jay's the one that offered, not you. You can't help.

*slam dunks Seras into the garbage*

Collin sighs and puts his hand back down. "Right, of course..." Demo: Well, you can't make a gate without me either. I'm guessing you're doing this exclusively alone?

Bandit: Yes and no.

They gesture with their hands, parting the table in half as they cross the room and walk towards Jay. "Give me your heart. No funny stuff. I want to make sure you're doing this right, and that you're not just trying to get rid of me."

alienrabitt: ...I...I can't just hand it over, I can't even touch it by myself--

Bandit: Fine, then I'll take it on my own.

With a sharp motion, Bandit pries Jay's oracle from his chest, causing it to shift to a deep, black color, as it seems to pull the light from around it rather than radiate any light of its own. The shell around Jay's injured arm bursts as his yellow magic shifts to orange, and he's floored by the abrupt shift in power. Collin immediately crackles with electricity as he snaps into a striking pose. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! You can't just grab his oracle like that, it'll-!" Bandit: It'll what? He's fine, see? Well...okay enough. Besides, he needs my magic to make a dimension. If he tried to use yours, he'd shred you to pieces in an instant and not even get a block's worth of turf done. So let the big dogs run with the big dogs, champ; just sit this one out like you're supposed to, or somebody's gonna get hurt in a way you don't want em to. His electricity subsides slightly, but Collin can't fully suppress the indignated anger in his expression as he takes a step back. Bandit: Right, so once I put this back, you make a whole new dimension, no tricks or anything, and once you're done, you're all theirs, okay?

Pulling Jay up off the floor, Bandit returns his oracle. Instantaneously, the entire surrounding area goes pitch black, spreading out seemingly infinitely in all directions, leaving nothing else behind save for the occupants of Bandit's room. A little nervous, Bandit looks down at Jay. "...Hey, you uhh...you're making a totally new one, right?"

Jay, however, does not seem capable of responding, his eyes glowing the solid orange of Bandit's magic as the darkness spreads beyond the edge of the planet, and out of sight. Daedalus: I don't know much about magic, but this is looking a little bad right now. Demo: You...you need to call this off!! Jay can't stop himself, if this is destroying the dimension, then--!!

Bandit: Then who cares? I don't owe these people anything. People owe me; that's the point. Collin: Shut up and get out of my way before you get literally everyone killed!

He rushes forward to Jay and reaches out desperately for his oracle. As Bandit tries to cut Collin off, Demo slams them away with a wall of sand. Collin attempts to grab the oracle, but the sheer gravity of Bandit's influence radiates a force that threatens to burn Collin's arm off. The white shard in Collin's leg bursts with light as it activates while runic symbols begin to flow across Collin's robes like water, both factors working desperately in tandem trying to keep Collin intact. Steeling himself, he cries out as he forces himself through the opposing power trying to keep him from reverting Jay's oracle back. The closer Collin manages to get to Jay's oracle, the more audible some form of chatter becomes. Among the chaos of Demo attacking Bandit and Paprika panicking about the state of the world around them, Tori can be heard desperately attempting to talk Jay down, while what sounds like thousands of other voices seem to drown him out with frantic shouts and screams, pleading and begging Jay for some sort of escape that he desperately continues to attempt to provide.

Shifting to their true form, Demo is rapidly engulfed in the sands of her anubis, forming a much larger construct; a massive, black cat-like thing with glowing red eyes that snaps at Bandit, driving them back as she forces them to keep their distance from Collin and Jay.

"HE ISN'T A TOY. HE NEVER WAS."

[[apparently “headers” can’t be put into blockquotes. anyway, this is OOC commentary from this box to the next IC interaction]]

this is the first time a kleivenn in their “true form” has spoken anything but Chariot; I wanna point that out

Collin struggles to maintain his focus amidst the overwhelming chaos around him. He shouts as loud as he can, trying to force his voice to push through the thousands of others. "Jay! You have to stop this! You're going to tear this entire dimension apart if you don't!"

Collin's attempt to cut through the noise seems to make some sort of impact. Though the onslaught of panic doesn't let up, the force keeping Collin's distance wavers slightly. Not quite enough to let him through, but enough to get him closer. Tori practically radiates relief, but continues to attempt to reach Jay, with the now audible addition of urging him to focus on his surroundings, attempting to get Jay to notice Collin.

Fed up with the people attempting to rob them of their fun, Bandit lashes out for Demo, disregarding the sand or their own safety. Seemingly unaffected by the anubis, they shove their way through the sand, grab Demo by the throat, and throw her out of her construct, dispelling the anubis and giving the both of them plenty of distance from the main attraction. With Demo now out of the way, Bandit returns their attention to Collin, attempting to charge him down.

in this particular instant Bandit got what they have later; because Demo needed it to be there for her sand constructs

also ngl, I had the jaguar from El Dorado in mind when she took this form

As Bandit moves in closer to Jay and Collin, a whirling hammer of fire hurls through the air and slams into him from the side. Daedalus takes a step forward as another hammer bursts into shape in his hand. Shifting into a throwing stance, he calls out to Bandit as he adjusts his grip on the weapon. "Not so fast, moron! There's plenty more where that came from!"

Collin begins drawing in trace amounts of the energy roiling off of Jay's oracle to maintain his protection from the energy surrounding it. He continues trying to get his attention in any way possible, still calling out to him. "Jay, whatever you're trying to do isn't worth the lives it'll cost to do it! Please, come back to me! You don't have to do this!"

and right here is where Collin draws in raw devil magic

With a bitter look, Bandit reveals something they grabbed while wading through the sands of Demo's anubis; her oracle tightly gripped in their hand, unchanging due to their focus on Jay. "Try it again, I dare you."

Slowly, they continue to move towards Collin, keeping aware of their surroundings.

Getting more urgently desperate for Jay's attention, Tori cries out, begging among the masses, one of thousands of crying voices, only to be the single one begging for Jay to stop. Again, the influence falters, allowing Collin to come into physical contact with the oracle, which still manages to burn despite his precautions. Daedalus' expression goes through several rapid changes before finally settling on fury, although he stops himself from immediately throwing another hammer.

Gritting his teeth through the pain, Collin pushes every bit of magic he can spare into Jay's oracle as he frantically attempts to bring him back to his usual state. "It's... okay Jay! Please just... come back to me! Get rid of this energy and... go back to normal!" In an instant, the darkness recedes back to its source, returning the current dimension to its normal state; however the toll taken on Jay seems to have been immense enough to expend any magic he had taken in, and his light-based form bursts, leaving only his oracle behind.

Filled with a bitter rage, Bandit squeezes Demo's oracle, cracking it in their hands. As Demo cries out in pain, Bandit registers that this, too, is an oracle. In a fit of spite, they bite into the oracle like an apple, leaving what appears to be little more than an eggshell's worth behind. Demo convulses sharply, letting out half of a whimper before instantaneously losing consciousness. Sighing, Bandit tosses the remainder of the oracle aside as if it were little more than garbage. "I can't believe this..."

this is why Bandit lost a fucking arm in the original draft before she pulled this bullshit

Daedalus' hammer disperses instantly as he scrambles for the remaining chunk of her oracle. Cradling it in his hands, he turns back to face Bandit as flames begin to flicker around his entire body. "What did you just fucking do?!" Bandit: Well, you took away everything I was trying to do, and she kept getting in my way, so I just made sure she'd stop doing that. Don't be so sour, it grows back or somethin'. Anyway, you all disappointed me, so the mirror's staying as it is, and the only people that got hurt by this are you guys, soooo... Fawkes: ... We need to leave.

Daedalus: Are you fucking serious? We're just gonna let him walk- Fawkes: We need to leave.

He carefully lifts Demo up off the floor. "There's nothing left to do here." Echo: ...We're going to end you...

Bandit: You wish. You're down two guys, damn near three. Now beat it, you defective piece of shit. Take the rest of the trash out with you. Daedalus almost entirely combusts but Collin grabs him by the shoulder and forcibly shoves him toward the door. The group makes their way back out of the VIP room for the IT as Daedalus tries not to set the entire casino on fire. As the group returns to the IT, Rio and Nydins meet them at the console room, only for what little color showing on Nydins' face to drain instantly upon seeing the state Demo and Jay are in. The pair stands in stunned silence, Rio's visor going completely blank as she tries to process what could've happened. Stumbling with her words, Rio is the first to pierce the quiet. "That...how did...where did you...? What...happened? Ah-- are they...?" Daedalus storms past them rather than answer as flames swell more and more around him. He throws the door to the training room open and then just as quickly slams it behind him. A muffled scream and the sound of rushing air is the only thing that can be faintly heard as Collin takes a deep breath.

Collin: This was a huge mistake. Nydins: What...can we do? Can we help...? Can...anyone? Collin: Jay should come back in a little while, but... I really don't know about Demo. I need to go see XL, the pain's starting to kick in from these burns...

Nydins: O...okay....I'll just...we'll just get us out... Collin nods once and quietly makes his way down the hall to XL's room.

hoooo, okay, next time we start dealing with the aftermath of all this, and who knows what else happens from there!

#[S4]

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