#okay so the actual details are a bit vague but i have a Vision

[gabbysdawsons]

911 + Buck love interest? <3

shoutout to the althea in 911 ask that i never answered- for giving me this idea-

Liberty Libby Whitman

she's a former med school student- she dropped out during her residency because she just couldn't handle that kind of pressure.

Her parents are both doctors and so is her older sister so its's- a bit of an issue in her family that she didn't go through with being a doctor.

after that she has a bit of a spiral, hopping from random job to job, trying to find something that really- makes her passionate. very Buck 1.0 of her, actually.

except instead of going from state to state she just ends up with a bunch of odd jobs all over LA- she was a sign spinner for a couple weeks-

and in all of these odd jobs she ends up as a temporary 911 operator where she meets Maddie Buckley

and i haven't really worked out exactly how she meets Buck but it's obviously- through Maddie. and they end up bonding over the- absolute messes they still both are.

[cosmerelists]

Canon Cosmere Couples: Did They Have A Good First Kiss?

As requested by @cosmereplay

Now, as I said when I accepted this post, there is NO CHANCE that I will actually remember who has canon first kisses and who doesn't. So please don't get annoyed by that. Except for Painter/Yumi, who I know had a terrible first kiss! Because Cosmereplay said so when requesting this list. :)

Anyway, here's how I think the first kiss went with canon Cosmere couples.

[SPOILERS FOR CANON COUPLES THROUGH ALL PUBLICATIONS INCLUDING WAT PREVIEWS—but the WAT one is under a read more!]

1. Wax & Steris: Great First Kiss

I feel like this one might be canon. I feel like whether or not this happened in canon, their first kiss happened when they were flying, and that Steris was overcome by the Romanticism and the Danger as she is in canon, and then she and Wax shared their first kiss. And I think it was legitimately great for both of them.

2. Adolin & Shallan: Good First Kiss

I think Adolin had plenty of kissing experience (depending on how "Not Before Marriage" the Vorins are...but like Dalinar & Navani kiss so surely Adolin can too) and that Shallan had none. In my head, Adolin kissed Shallan in the Perfect Romantic Moment and then Shallan panicked afterwards and said something which most people would have found incredibly awkward but which Adolin vibed with so completely that it just made the moment better.

3. Tress & Charlie: Bad First Kiss

Think about the "pair of gloves" scene. Those kids are so sweet and so awkward. And it is based on the Princess Bride, where Buttercup & Wesley shared a truly perfect kiss, which had (in that book) only happened three times in all of history. But this is a Hoid retelling. I don't think Tress & Charlie had that magic, so I think their first kiss was more ordinary and real.

4. Raoden & Sarene: Adequate First Kiss

I think that's how Sarene described it. Raoden thought it was a bit better than "adequate," but he yielded to Sarene's judgement that they'd "definitely get better with practice, though."

5. MeLaan & Wayne: Insanely Good First Kiss

MeLaan said Wayne was the best lay she'd ever had. So somehow Wayne is good at all of that. And they were so distracted boning that they missed a whole ass train robbery. They were definitely eating each others' faces.

6. Navani & Dalinar: Great First Kiss

I think this one is canon--I think their first kiss really was in the room after one of Dalinar's visions, when Navani kissed Dalinar & then they couldn't stop kissing for a minute. This is assuming that back when they were young and Navani was deciding between Dalinar & his brother, that she and Dalinar never kissed. And I don't think they did. I think they have "never actually kissed before" energy in the flashbacks. So assuming the canon kiss was their first one, it seemed like it was good! They're older & they know what they liked, and they definitely both seemed caught up in it.

7. Siri & Susebron: Great First Kiss

This one is canon, although not described in like a ton of detail I don't think. I mainly remember something like "Susebron didn't know what to do but Siri did" and that they were so insanely horny for each other that they hooked up despite that being the one thing that they needed to avoid doing. So, like, I think it's fair to say that they were into it.

8. Vin & Elend: Okay First Kiss

I don't mean to make this all about "prior kissing experience" like I'm looking at some sort of Kissing Resume. But Elend must have a bit of kissing trauma, since his only sexual experience prior to Vin was with a skaa woman he was forced to sleep with and who he later found out was executed for it. And Vin just generally has Trauma and was constantly on alert against sexual violence in particular. The two of them trust each other and like each other and per WOB were hooking up even before marriage (gasp!) but I think they were vaguely relieved when that First Kiss was over with.

9. Breeze & Allrianne: Bad First Kiss

I mean given that their relationship was Breeze being like "uh I don't know if I want this" and Allrianne being like "yes you do"...I dunno. I can't imagine their first kiss was good.

10. Gavilar & Navani: Bad First Kiss

Gavilar was imagining kissing himself and Navani was imagining kissing Dalinar.

11. Dalinar & Evi: Bad First Kiss

Evi was imagining kissing a Dalinar who loved her and Dalinar was imagining kissing Navani.

12. Sadeas & Ialai: Amazing First Kiss

I think Sadeas & Ialai are ridiculously sexually compatible and that they knew that from the first kiss. I dunno. That's the vibe I get from them.

13. Kelsier & Mare: Great First Kiss

I think their backstory is too tragic for them not to have had a great first kiss on top of everything else. Just to make Kelsier that much more sad, you know?

14. Kaladin & Lyn: Did Not Kiss

Not going to lie. I'm just going off of the energy from @room-temperature-orange-juice's comment on my "Is Kaladin Good in Bed" post which was, and I quote, "Bold of you to assume Kaladin would get laid. I love him, I treasure him, but he’s dense. Someone could lie naked on his bed, and he would be pacing the room, worrying about the safety of the vents."

I kinda like the idea of Lyn setting up all these romantic moments for Kissing Purposes and Kaladin never once realizing that that's what she's going for.

Bonus WAT spoiler couple under cut!

15. Jasnah and Hoid

This is a spoiler couple, but Jasnah and Hoid? Terrible first kiss. I do not think there is a world in which Jasnah and Hoid's first kiss was objectively good. This is based entirely on the WAT preview where Hoid is like kissing Jasnah's hand to get her excited and Jasnah is like "Mmm I am not Into That." Like I think they both wanted different things from that kiss and that neither of them really got it.

[askablindperson]

Hello, I am a writer who wants to write about a character with Lebers Congenital Amaurosis, and I’ve been struggling to find resources or descriptions on what vision is like for people with that condition. If you’re okay with it, could you describe what vision is like for you? Thank you and have a wonderful day! And sorry if you’ve already been asked this a million times.

Hi! Thank you for asking, and I would be glad to answer. I know what you mean, too. LCA is still somewhat common in the blind community, but I have also found quite a lack of resources to explain how it works to other folks. LCA is rarely included in any of those blindness simulation filters, either, though those also aren’t perfect representations.

A quick disclaimer: most of what I will share here is based on my own personal experience as well as the other blind people with LCA I have personally met in the trends I have observed in the community. I’m not a medical professional though, and I really don’t know that much about how these things pan out statistically Speaking.

First, one thing you should know is that LCA is progressive. It tends to be very slow and steady about it, and it took me 10 years to notice that I had had a significant change in vision which I only fully noticed in the last few months, but it is progressive, so it will inevitably get worse over a person’s lifetime. It just might take its sweet time getting there, and you won’t notice any overnight changes. at least not in the folks I’ve known, or in myself, or in most of the literature I’ve seen discussing it. There may be outliers though that I am less aware of.

The other thing I will say is that most of the other blind folks I have known with LCA actually have significantly less vision than I do, usually being born with little more than light perception and often losing what’s left of that light perception within their first few years of childhood. so a lot of them are totally blind as adults, or still only have light and shadow perception.

As for mine, at least in my experience, I seem to be somewhat of an outlier in LCA, in that I’m quite a high partial case. I believe I’ve been at least legally blind since birth, meaning my visual acuity was at least 20/200 or worse with some visual field issues also, but I’ve always had quite a lot more residual vision than most of the other folks with LCA I have met personally. Not all of them though. When I was a young child, my visual acuity was probably around the 20/200 Marc, but now at 27, my better eye is at about 20/650 and the worst eye is somewhere in the ballpark of 20/5000. Don’t ask me how they can even measure it when it gets that severe lol.

In practical terms, the way I have always described my vision is that it’s a lot like looking through a fogged up mirror when you get out of the shower, a foggy window in the winter, or the super blurred out background in a movie. You can make out plenty of shapes and colors and lights, and you can get a vague sense of what a lot of objects might be, but there is no detail and it’s extremely blurred out. if you happen to wear glasses, I often say that it’s like a lot of folks without their glasses on, but amped up to 11, and that’s even WITH my glasses. Without them, it’s even blurrier, though I don’t really wear glasses much anymore.

That description is in reference to my better eye, mind you. The worst one is so much worse that I can rarely make out actual objects with it or even silhouettes of people. It’s still colorful and everything, but the blurriness is significantly worse to the point that the eye isn’t really useful.

For me personally, as I have gotten older, my central vision has actually deteriorated a little bit faster than my peripheral vision, so I can ironically see a little clearer out of the corners of my eyes then I can looking straight ahead. I don’t know how common this is amongst folks with LCA, especially since most of the folks I know only have light and shadow perception where it’s harder to measure that, But that’s how it is for mine. It wasn’t like that as a child, I would have considered my central and peripheral vision to be fairly similar most of my life, but in the last 10 years, my central vision is noticeably worse now than my peripheral. if I look at a ceiling light through the corner of my eye, and then shift my eye so I’m looking at that same ceiling light to the center of my eye, it is instantly blurrier, like a little foggy film was put over it.

Also, at least for me, I have quite a few blind spots in my vision that impact my overall visual field. Contrary to what those vision loss simulation filters will have you believe though, those are not represented by black spots or white spots in real life. They’re just gone. Think of it sort of like Photoshopping somebody out of a picture. If they are standing in your blind spot, it’s not that there’s a blob over top of them, it’s as if that section of the picture was just cut out, and the two halves around it smashed together as if that part was never there. It’s just missing.

In actuality, everybody has a blind spot, even people with no vision problems whatsoever, so you may be able to get a better understanding of this by researching the general Blindspot that everyone has. I just have more of them because pieces of my retina have completely deteriorated and died off from my disorder.

The discussion of central versus peripheral vision and the blind spots applies to both of my eyes, but like above, just a lot more severe in the eye that’s worse. It’s not quite to the point where it only has light and shadow perception, but it’ll probably get there in the next 10 years or so. I’ve never leaned very heavily on that eye because it’s always been the much weaker one, but these days it is a little bit funny to see just how wildly different the exam for my right eye is compared to my left eye nowadays.

Lastly though, that does finish up the description of what my vision actually looks like, but I do want to leave you with one final note of consideration, which is not to focus overly hard on exactly what your character sees when writing them. At the end of the day, most of us who have been blind our entire lives don’t really go about our days actively paying attention to exactly what we can see and what we can’t, or thinking about what things look like through our eyes at that moment in time. We’re just living our lives with the vision we have, because we were born this way so it’s our normal, and sometimes focusing on it too much in the writing can cloud the characterization more than it helps.

All of that said, I do hope that this provides a useful framework. Mostly, my vision is just ridiculously blurry and really only gets a tiny bit less blurry with glasses, with a few holes punched here and there for good measure lol. To be honest, when I’m spending time with other blind people, we don’t actually usually spend all that much time describing exactly what each other’s vision looks like to each other or anything—it’s usually not exactly the most interesting thing we want to talk about—so I don’t know how common my specific details are to others with LCA. But that’s pretty much the long and short of my personal experience, and hopefully it can be useful when understanding your character.

[philtstone]

psych crew of your choice, "putting a hand over the other's mouth to shut them up"

shoutout to zainab and bbc's the musketeers for inspiring the chaos that is fic

The number of times Gus has had to smack a hand over his best friend's mouth in the last twenty four hours is really starting to get unhygienic. 

It doesn’t help that even while in the throes of crisis, Shawn’s first instinct is always, without fail, to stick his tongue out and lick Gus’s palm. This was true when they were six and is still somehow true now at age thirty. While Shawn’s phone rings – immediately proceeding the third time they’ve successfully panic-crashed back into the Psych office before Shawn can blurt out something that gets them both jailed – Gus tells him off. It doesn’t matter that Shawn could be finally losing his last marble due to the machinations of cosmic irony; Gus refuses to be licked another time. 

“You know how disgusting it is to have your spit on my hand when you literally just threw up two hours ago?” Gus asks, over the irritating jingle of Shawn’s ringtone going wild on the table. Shawn himself has already collapsed backwards onto the couch. Well, really, he kind of tripped. There’s an old pillow pet on the floor that both of them have forgotten to pick up for like, two months, and Shawn’s ability to keep his balance vacated the premises about six hours ago when, mere moments after Gus entered the office, thinking it was going to be a totally normal day for them, his best friend grabbed him by the shoulders – looking vaguely ill, definitely sweaty, and concerningly flushed – and declared, with no little amount of panic in his voice, that he might have actually turned into a real psychic.

A recent phenomenon, of course. Like, just within the last twelve hours. They don’t have any concrete proof, other than the fact that Shawn is convinced he saw, in technicolor, the exact details of a murder that he has encountered absolutely zero evidence for while he was trapped in a supply closet (Gus has no idea how he got there), and, also, had an extremely vivid and detailed vision of himself and Juliet, married.

This last thing happened about twenty minutes ago. 

Shawn’s spiraling. 

“Okay,” Gus had said, an eventful nine hours earlier. “Explain to me exactly what it is you’ve been seeing.”

“When?” Shawn wailed in a high-pitched approximation of Robin Williams’s Mrs. Doubtfire voice. Gus, perhaps unwisely, brushed this off as only slightly less normal than standard Shawn behavior. 

“Yesterday!” Gus said. Shawn had explained – in between three bouts of nausea and one ten minute stint in which he recited all of Ally Sheedy’s lines in St. Elmo’s Fire from memory – that the weirdness started in the middle of the previous night. “What makes you think you’re – seeing things?”

“Because,” Shawn moaned, “I can’t remember why they’re in my head! Or when they’re from. Gus, I woke up at two a.m. and my head was so fuzzy and dizzy that I threw up! And then after I threw up I saw a man, standing in broad daylight, eating two cherry-filled cruller donuts and sporting the world’s ugliest toupe, and then another man falling off the edge of a pier, the pier, it was that pier right outside, but I can’t remember actually seeing either of those two things! Except they’re in my head, Gus! I swear to God they happened! But when?” Shawn, at this point, took a deep long breath, swayed a bit on the spot, and added, “and then I thought maybe to clear my head I should microwave and eat a frozen burrito.”

“Let me guess,” Gus said, in only mild distress, “then you threw up again?”

“Oh my God, how did you know? Gus. Gus. Are you turning into a real psychic too?”

“Man, I don’t know! And, wait a minute, at what point did you end up in the supply closet?”

At this, Shawn put both hands up to his head and looked vaguely deranged. “Gus … there’s no supply closet in the Psych office.”

Oh, boy, Gus had thought.

READ MORE ON AO3

[heatwa-ves]

please explain your izuleo playlist with as much detail as you want im interestedddd

MIKIIII THANK YOU. okay here's my playlist and im gonna do a song by song breakdown... I'll try and keep it decently brief so this doesn't become one million words but we'll see. my playlist is vaguely chronological so it starts pre-checkmate!

astroboy- suggi

okay so this one is just straight up a leo song. you just have to listen to it it's literally about him "I raised my hands up real high, they called me stupid when I asked why we couldn't fly. am I too far ahead of my friends, or I am late?" hellooooo hello. hi. leo tsukinaga everyone!!!! right down to the moon/space theming

"oh, the rain, you're losing your flame, where'd the burn, the passion go? you run through the pain, you're losing your aim, and you feel like you alone missed the grow" LITERALLY about his breakdown post checkmate. uagh.

cheerleader- ashnikko

an izumi song!!! I don't have to explain anything here you get the vibes

brand new city- mitski

having to preface this by saying I do not listen to mitski this is the only song of hers I listen to and only because it makes me think of izumi so much I feel like throwing up.

"If I gave up on being pretty I wouldn't know how to be alive, I should move to a brand new city and teach myself how to die." yeah. izumi sena.

yoru ni kakeru- yoasobi

well I'm sure you know this song and the story behind it "the seduction of thanatos" I think it works very well about the izuleo dynamic around this time when they're very codependent and leo is so severely depressed and suicidal. they're fucked up 👍

it's all so incredibly loud- glass animals

so this one makes me think of izumi going to see leo in a similar vein to lionheart but probably before that and he sees leo so broken and neither of them can bring themselves to say anything. "I tried, for you and I, for too hard, for too long" makes me think of the ending scene of lionheart and so on

softcore- the neighborhood

"you've been my muse for a long time, you get me through every dark night. I'm always gone, out on the go, I'm on the run and you're home alone"

"every time I kiss you, baby, I can hear the sound of breaking down"

you get it. you see the vision. more depression era stuff.

less of you- keshi

depression era leo... there's so many lines in this song that correlate to them but a fav is "too much time in the limelight, gimme your all on the land line, want it so bad but I won't lie and it just gets worse in the night time."

are you happy? - shy martin

"and I know I thought that pain's part of love, but I think I broke you, though I didn't mean to. but are you happy, looking back at us when you met me? would you go back and tell yourself to leave it, knowing what we know?" UARFGHBHBB izumi.... who killed cock robin ass song.

from now on we are enemies - fall out boy

I've talked about this one EXTENSIVELY before but it really is just a song about leo tsukinaga. what else can I say.

always- keshi

well yk.

bad thoughts- half alive

i love when they hate eachother. they don't actually truly hate eachother but man sometimes it feels like it. everything hurts. "like a time you gave your all but just got hurt, like a crack in the mirror bringing out your worst"

to everyone who wants to die- takayan

read the translation oh my goddddd. leo. leo

sing to me- missio

this is a song I DREAM of making an animatic to its just so deeply fundamentally leo

never ending song- conan gray

okay this one is a bit more specific but I like to think of leo while he's out of school seeing izumi in a magazine or an ad or something.. and that brings with it a whole ton of complicated feelings

"but we've grown too close, now it can't amount to nothing. I can hear your voice in the music on the radio, and it goes on and on and on, like a never-ending song" you get ittttt

bodybag- chloe moriondo

more of the vibes more of the complicated feelings . this one is mostly here bc I love it and was thinking about izlo while listening icl. unrelated but chloe moriondo is cool as hell they have some awesome music videos especially the one for this song

love or the lack thereof - isaac dunbar

the epitome of pre/early ! izlo love. to meeee also I just love love loveeee it as a song

last minute - kitty

"you're the loop of rope I hung up in my stupid closet" "you're all poised and im made of poison" do you get it do you GET it. it's leo about izumi frfrfrrr

"could you wrap your hands all the way around my neck, and tell me where I stand, tell me everything I'm wrecking when I spin. take over my breath, in out in, I am missing you to death"

android girl- deco*27

I love this song and while I love the original im partial to rachies english cover especially the lines

"we restart and fall apart together, what we have will drag on in this way forever"

"make it stop, make it stop there's so much guilt and regret, I don't get how I can forget and start to hope again, we haven't even come to the end, so much for promising together forever, we aren't even friends"

the girl in my memories- jeebanoff

"in place of your fleeing love, only my sad solitude remains, even though that time won't come again, the memories that are gone, are forever" more depression yaaay

achilles come down- gang of youths

SORRY it's just such a compelling look at depression and being suicidal... so many of these songs are about Leo's depression but I swear this part of the playlist is over soon and moves further in the timeline. I really love this song it's just... everything about it... leo is achilles here of course and the voices talking him down and telling him to go through with it are his family/izumi and his own mind/the students from school respectively.

calender girl- stars

"all of the things that I thought were so easy just got harder and harder each day. december is darkest, in june there's the light, but this empty bedroom won't make anything right, while out on the landing a friend I forgot to send home, who waits up for me all through the night- calendar girl who's in love with the world, stay alive"

HEALING!!!!! GROWING AS A PERSON!!!!!! OVERCOMING DEPRESSION!!!! DO YOU GET IT

"I dreamed I was dying, as I so often do, and when I awoke I was sure it was true. I ran to the window, threw my head to the sky, and said "whoever is up there, please don't let me die," but I can't live forever, I can't always be, one day I'll be sand on a beach by a sea"

crush of judgement- knights killers

i don't need to explain this one

move me- half alive

THE izuleo song THE reason I made this playlist. won't you be my song when I cant dance WON'T YOU BE MY SONG WHEN I CANT DANCE!!!!!!!!!!!! LIGHT MY FIRE BURN THE TREES!!!!!!!!! also watch the music video it's gorgeous

the third heart- harumaki gohan

first of all go play genei ap rn it's a short mobile game created by this artist featuring lots of their songs about a reserved girl who loves music and her more extroverted friend who asks her for song recs. it's a very izuleo vibes game and just a beautiful game in general I think you'll love it sm mikiii

second of all.... just. this song. play the game and watch the music video for the full impact frfr 🫶 anyway back to izuleo

back around- half alive

depression never truly leaves but you get better!! it gets better!!! there are bad days but there are so so many good days!!! this whole album is kinda izlo vibes

you get me so high- the neighborhood

"you're my best friend I'll love you forever" 🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹 makes me think of them... kind of talking about their past .... not very well because they have no emotional maturity but still.

silent oath- knights

for obvious reasons

reunion- harumaki gohan

I imagine this is after the end of ! era .. they've both grown and matured immensely as people.. it'd probably have more impact if I read requiem but um..... I'll get to it... (I've been saying this for a year and a half) to me it's a goodbye to their teenage years and the ups and downs and them moving forward into adulthood and a more stable relationship

don't be so hard on your own beauty- yeule

they help eachother heal 🥹. this one is a bitttt more reliant on some of my takes on izumi that I don't really wanna get into rn but yk. it's here. it's vibey. things were bad and now they are better. there's sunlight streaming though their apartment window. they don't have anywhere else to be this morning. yk.

work of art- downer Inc, kellin quinn

ueeeghhvhb they love eachother.... izumi brings leo inspiration.... these descriptions are getting less and less coherent

I swear ill never leave again - keshi

ueeeeueueueuehhhehhehhehuuueueue

infinitely ordinary- the wrecks

I like the romance of mundanity.. I think they could be happy.. it's very hopeful and a good ending to the playlist

[iliveforyouilongforyouvesuvia]

yippie!!

ok so one day i was hangin out and thinking about how jinx and murie are both my favourite little sad wet guys in my two fave medias of all ever *And* at the same time SO far apart on the spectrum personalitywise

and it took me listening to this to flip the switch on the Autism Blender and want to just fucking mash them together like a coked up toddler making Slime out of fish guts and hayao miyazakis mothers ashes because thats what i do thats my job💅👌so theeeen it comes out pretty reminiscent of my first muriel au that also sprung up from a song i like, just- a bit to the left? like, moving along on the scale from The OG not liking violence and being involved in it whatsoever, to AU 1 where i pictured him going "yeah ok fuck it this is what i do i guess" and revengy motives to his whole thing that i now connected with him more thru the song lmao it just made me realize the vision of like. jinxies "murderingmurderinmurdering 💕fun✨" aspect + his potential desire to still do good things despite being doomed to be a machine made for destruction (ignore the fact of that desire being nonexistent in his canon form because of how he perceives himself as a thing unable to achieve performing any good ever under any circumstance) (but still refusing to actively cause harm as he isolates himself to prevent any situations arising that would lead him to do so) (ignore all that) (were yassifying him a little were allowed its fine ive already lost the plot here anyway were wildin) so a vigilanty type beat and also ~my axe is my buddy🥰 we both cry with the trees😔✊ /me & my axe will bring the devil to his knees (✿◕‿◕ )~ goes hard as phUCK

so then all that led to This new V.3 mutation where hed be actually having fun with it........ so I kinda start turning him over in my brain some more, forgetting about jink by now and at first I go Huh this is kinda. him but lucioey a lil bit. and THEN i go hm. Well this ground is awful soft n ready to dig

so with all that out of the way i can now present!: Brand New Vague Shadow of a Concept of an Idea that ill Never Do Anything with

and I really don’t know how to verbalize this very well at all mmjfdh but like. Ok bulletpoints activate

Muriel:

From a badass warrior tribe

Didn’t get booted out cuz theyre fine this time oopsie no genocide

Hes in there way chillin way awesome way good at fighting everybody loves him

Hes like. Way himboey in this one. SO jock. Smiles a lot <3 <3 <3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

Like okay if i was actually serious about writing this I think id need a fucking lucio consultant because I really know zilch about that bitch but like okay you know how lucios kinda all scary n cunty and cunning and fancy and seems like hes got shit figured out. Until he *starts talking*? Muriel here is like that but hes just really fucking scary until he starts talking BUT not like normally where hes adorable just has resting bitch face, its just like. that part of him that came thru in the reversed ending at the very end, yknow. but make it less depressing ihjhsrfbjs hes like full letterman jacket highschool bully core total kurt & ram vibe, like ok youd see him on a battlefield ABsolutely WRECKIng some fools into a pulp with his bare bear hands and immediately after that he turns around like WOOOOOOO THAT’S what im TALKIN ABOUT LETS GO GUYS WHO WANTS A BEER *cut to him chugging an entire keg over his head with da boys around losing their minds* like think college frat but they raid villages for fun and profit. Pretty orc coded. Kinda thor coded. Actually exactly thorcoded wow that really is what I was going for. I was wondering why I couldn’t help imagining him with a australian accent, I guess that’s a mystery solved. anyway

Maybe his parents got killed in some other battle im not sure how to weave around that in detail yet BUT- ok so check this I thought ill have to give him some motive to wanna reach the devil somehow for,,.,,… something right. to make him fill an antagonist role So this might be stupid a lil I just thought of this and it needs to cook for sure but what if he just rolled up into vesuvia as the magic capital or something whtver, to figure out how to get to talk to the devil, cuz he just like, really wants his parents back cuz they got valhallad in some glorious combat, and they were cool and he misses them and they could fight some more cool fights together and pillage n chill jhbsfvjgzdc beCAUsE hear me out im rolling with the swap inversions opposites motive here right, so the thing that popped up in my head was- Lucio had the “I wanna kill my parents bcause I hate them and so I can rule and get what I want” thing goin at the start right, like that is basically what started it off he got his dad he didnt get morgha SO what IF I gave murie a “i wanna conquer this place and use it to get my parents back. cuz I missem :(” like fully turned it around idk IDK IT SEEMS MESSY IDK IS IT CUTE IS IT DUMB IT MAKES ME FEEL DUMB BUT IN THAT WAY THAT MIGHT MEAN THAT ITS ACTUALLY WORKING BUT I DONT KNOW *screaming with no air*

But overall yeah hes khal drogo but more noticeably himboey but not in a likeable way cuz were switching them so I cant make him likeable for myself hnjdgfgb leaning into popular dumb jock trope

UnLESSSS i DID combo it with murdermuriel au 1.0 some more and made their tribe like. Not murdery somehow like what would be the opposite of the og scourge roaming around ruining shit. well that was the og kokhuri but now I gotta do some fucking triple axels here to make it make sense so how the fuck do I make this version of kokhuri more warriory in culture than the original but still nice like robinhoody style jhbfsvhjbs this is falling tf apart might need to scrap it bc on lucios end itd be even harder wouldn’t it. Spartan cunts but they don’t kill people that’s a nono lmao

now im thinking some more about the aspect of lucio being, you know. a pretty shitty leader right, and how to incorporate that here, because i have no idea if im following an actual set rule here regarding whats swapped and how even, theres barely a theme im straight up just

but yeah so now i figure it could be murie tryna get his folks back because they were the actual defacto leaders of their tribe, he was just kinda still following along and doin his chores in being the uhh the face, the charisma, the one to kinda like. get the people on board easier with whatever decision they made for them and hyping it up as the best possible choice anyone could ever make and maybe even actually believing it too cuz theyre actually that tightknit and he trusts them with anything aw. is this too onedimensional or can i give my boy some good nice facking family relations at least in an alternate life ghhkjkfdh hes their pride n joy and can do no wrong but yeah the point is he himself hasnt actually made any decisions without them before, isnt very good at actually leading and strategizing and planning and knowing how everything complicated works and he knows it, so he sees his only solution in bringing them back to not let everything fall apart

SEE I BROUGHT IT AROUND I CLEANED UP NICE WITH OG LUCIO SETTING OFF FROM THE POINT OF FEELING LIKE HES THE BEST AT EVERYTHING AND SHOULD B RECOGNIZED AS SUCH AND TRYING TO GET RID OF HIS PARENTS TO GET IT AND MY BOY HERE ENDING UP EXACTLY OPPOSITE. GO SHAWTY GO SHAWTY IM SO SMART am i fucking up lulus backstory i feel like i am cuz im like wait what the fuck did he kill his dad for again. demonheart. deal. thing. whatd he wish. like he wasnt already running for count n shit yet he did want to climb up the ladder in his own tribe right i have no idea yell at me in comments thank you

I also don’t know if the first (last) scourge battle wouldve happened or nah

Lucio/Montag

Oh my fucking god what if I figured out an alternative L moniker for murie so theyd get to switch letters in their namesssssssss like lucio is a made up name he made it up so like UAGHASHG L.,,,...,, Lion ofthe,... south NO he HAS to be bEAR CODED AAFYFFHG BUT LUCIO HAD LEOPARD IMAGERY N SHIT RAAHAHHGH IM FITIN FOR MY LIFE HERE

Anyway he lives in a forest somewhere cuz his tribe threw him out fully voluntarily bc he sucks ass (or at least for their standards cuz I guess he would be way younger than 18 here for this) (Like a spartan type deal ur too weak we don’t want you *drops you off a cliff*  *but theres 4 feet of snow under it so he survives*  *that’s so fucking goofy hjbsfbj kinda suits him*) so uhhhhhh i don’t know where hed be currently chilling for an mc to meet him ever but yeah hes kinda Floki Vikings™ type of vibe at least visually that’s what came to mind first to picture him lol

look at this little blond rat bastard. adorable. becoming increasingly obsessed. picturing lucio with this exact hairline. moving on

and his thing is hes still insecure as fuck but worse at ignoring it and hiding it and hes a lil nervous bundle of sticks and always talking bc of it, kinda Bruno Madrigalesque type vibe julian but a pitch more pathetic who knew it could be done yknow? opposite of The OG The Mountain The Stone Cold Silent The Muriel The Scourge The Kokhuri The Third and also me when writing and not stopped in time

oh oh what if he was totes in denial that his tribe kicked him out and in his view hes on some super intense convoluted secret mission (lasting from. age 7 to now apparently) and as soon as hes done they’ll totally come back for him kdfsgjffd I thought it could either be his own copium or he took it from some last interaction with someone who took pity on him as a kid and wanted to give him some comfort, or something he misunderstood entirely

hm. They both have canid familiars idk what to do with that. muriel with two wolves tho. thats hot shit righ there if i do say so myself

oh now im toying with the idea of taking away muriels SUPPOSED YET UNCONFIRMED AS MY VERY CONTROLLED ACADEMIC STUDY HAS SHOWN COUGHCOUGHJHBSRGJBHF talking to animals buff, i dont wanna just take it and give it to lucio tho, but like. what the fuck else do i give him. astral projecting to tie into his ghost era? sounds dope actually alright lets do that lmao

ok its 1 30 am i hope this is comprehensible to anybody anywhere im zonking out now khbsfhbfk love u

@tetsuooooooooooo I've missed your essays, this was such a treat to log in to!!!

And WOW, thorcoded Muriel is not something I ever would have thought of on my own but oddly enough I feel like the AU you're coming up with could really work, goodness me. And the way you've inverted Lucio's character too!! I'd love to see how their interaction dynamics invert as well!

Always good to hear from you friend, hope you're doing well!

[deadfrog-and-friends]

domestique part 9: in which we sweep the dishes and meet the human vacuum

(read parts 1-8 here)

Another month went by. I learned how to type, and to surf the internet. I helped Sistress type up some very basic spells ("reward helpful crows with good luck", "tits enlargening spell level 1", "video game dexterity buff") and started dollposting. Things started feeling normal. Then a cyclist from Merxy's team contacted Sistress.

He wanted to come visit, chat with Sistress, and pay his respects.

I listened to Sistress explain to him over the phone that Merxia had been restored to life, but she was a bit vague on the details. She didn't want to admit that she'd done so by stuffing another doll into Merxia's unresponsive shell, that probably wouldn't sound very good to a stranger. "So while this fellow visits, just don't say a lot" said Sistress. "You don't have to pretend to remember him, I told him you came back different, forgot most everything."

"You should have told him not to come," I said.

"But I think he wants to give us money," said Sistress. "In my tarot reading the other day it said a man on a horse was going to visit and bring gifts. I bet it meant a man on a bike. Anyway, you've been dollposting so much you should have your own laptop."

"What's this guy's name, anyway?" I asked.

"Wiebe? or Weibe? Wiebe S….sierksinga, or was it—"

A roar of noise rose up in my head and I couldn't hear anything else she said. My vision disolved into black and white static. And I saw the man's face. Actually I did remember him from when we watched the races. The commentators had called him Wiebe Sierkstra the Human Vacuum and he was another domestique for the team. He would always vacuum up his team mates, the commentators said, and make sure they got to the finish line. Sistress would always say "and then he—" and then make a rude gesture with her tongue in her cheek. He had been in the background of the shot of Merxia's interview, after her illicit sprint, looking pale and troubled.

This was the first time Merxy had pulled me out of consciousness in the middle of the day to show me something. He must have been important.

Moments later, well I'm not sure how long it was, the face cleared, the noise cleared, and I saw Sistress in front of me. She was holding my hands and peering up into my face.

"H-hi," I said.

"Nell," she said. "I'll tell him not to come."

"N-no. It's okay," I said. "I think we'd… like to see him."

That night, a bit nervous, I asked Merxy about him. Merxy flooded me with memories. There were in fact a lot of memories of him kneeling in front of her between her legs as she gently held his head in place, her fingers between his sandy hair. In hotel rooms. On top of mountains, next to their bikes. On the team bus, with others watching. Interspersed were memories of normal conversations with him, or memories of him holding her as she wept. She had wept a lot. It had just been very hard to be so hard from Mistress. Wiebe seemed to care.

I cleaned the entire house in the days leading up to Wiebe's visit. It wasn't for Sistress, I told myself, it was for Merxy. I didn't really know how to clean, but I watched videos online and talked to some of the maid dolls. Sistress took me out to buy cleaning supplies. (I finally learned to use the stairs.) I purged the house of years of dust, and swept every dish. Sistress was, I think, a little unnerved.

Wiebe arrived. The gift was Merxia's team bicycle, an extra one. I didn't know we had a heart, but it started beating like mad when we saw him standing in the doorway with the bike. I almost fell over, but Sistress caught me. She took my hand, and we all went into the living room.

Wiebe looked at his hands. "Thank you so much for having me." He had a light accent, pronouncing his v's like f's, his intonation lilted up and down and up and down. His voice made us shiver. I could feel the static rippling up and down my arms and legs.

"Of course," said Sistress. "And what a beautiful bicycle you've brought for Merxia. Though… we don't know if it is still able to ride."

"For sure, for sure," said Wiebe. "And…" he peered at us. "Miss Isabel said you might not remember much."

I blinked. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. "Ah…wa…" were the only sounds it seemed like I could make. My fingers twitched. I remembered the sex memories Merxia had shown me. There was a throb between my legs.

"You know what," Sistress said, blushing, "maybe she does remember you, Wiebe. Let me… give you two some privacy." She got up and left.

I glanced down realized that Sistress must have seen my doll parts become hard through my dress. I wondered if she felt jealous. I wondered if Wiebe noticed.

Wiebe sat down on the couch next to us where Sistress had been. We gave him our hand. He took it, and ran his finger all over it. We saw a tear fall on it. He was crying.

Crying. He was crying. Awa.

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. We lifted our hand to his cheek. "Het komt goed, het komt goed," this one crooned. "Het komt goed, liefje."

"Liefje…" he repeated, through sobs. "When you went off the cliff… I went after. I went to you."

I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. We put our arms around him, repeating "het komt goed, het komt goed." We were telling him it was going to be okay, maybe.

And he said, "I thought… I thought… I thought I felt you die, in my arms."

It was something about his voice. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know what to do. "Sorry, sorry," this one said. "Sorry…" Looking up at the sky, this one's sight darkening, the top of its head is gone, arms are around it, they are shaking, shaking, shaking, this one smells dirt, and sweat and tears. His—liefje's. Holding this one…while he cries. No. Wrong. Error. Error. Erro

"Merxy," this one said, "Broken." Error. Try to explain. "After Mistress. No race no more. Could not no." Holding him. While he cries. Log error. It is this one. Who should cry.

"I know," Wiebe said. "I understand but…it hurt so much more than I could have ever expected. A-and then… they took you away. A-and you never came back."

Failed. Failed liefje. "Sorry, sorry. Sorry to leave liefje. Leave liefje like that. This one's fault. Please. Do not cry. Broken doll not person, no problem not matter. Replace." Log. Broken doll. Decommission.

Wiebe shook his head, and lifted it. He was smiling through his tears. "No, don't you see?" he said "Nothing could replace you. D-don't worry about me. You're here, you're alive. Alive, and talking to me. And you … you remember. I thought you'd remember your Mistress, maybe, Miss Isabel, maybe even the directeur sportif, but me? A-and our name for each other? A-and—" He glanced at this one's lap. And didn't say anything more.

This one stroked his cheek. "Important," it said. He remembered himself.

"Y-yes. You're very important. I didn't tell you, so I was going to come here and try to explain to Miss Isabel, your only family, h-how much you meant to me. How…precious you are. I can't tell you how happy I am… happy that I can just tell you, directly."

"H-ha-appy?" this one said, its speech malfunctioning. Log. Its speech, whole body tremble now. "If happy, why so c-cry?"

In response, liefje kissed this one's cheek, from which tears freely flowed. "I love you," he said.

[aranarumei]

10 17 24 I think was the last one. hi kiri Ask game :)

ask me something from this list?

putting these answers under a cut bc it got long

10: what is the longest amount of time you’ve let a draft rest before you finished it?

okay I need to do some research for this one. I think this question means to ask, like, how long I’ve just… not worked on something before coming back to it and completing it? and that’s different from “how long have you worked on a project” which is… also a bit hard to determine. I’ll just note some interesting spans of time, then. my current WIP has existed in some form since October of 2021, which is fun. I’ve definitely spent a good 6 months not touching it in the slightest, maybe longer during the early years, but I’ve not finished this one yet. I am committed to completing this, though. it’s just a fic that takes and deserves a lot of work. apart from that, I’ve been writing vague scenes related to freed & laxus’s relationship, and snippet #4 was written 2 whole years after snippet #3. so I’m definitely someone who can return to old ideas… especially around 2021 and forward, my style hasn’t deviated enough for me to really never want to return back to any of it. so I tend to add to fics I haven’t touched in a long time. my ideas usually just hang in unpublished limbo for years, sadly. most of it will probably never see the light of day even though I like it. I’m trying to get more comfortable just posting scenes with little context, but it’s tough.

as for published stuff, for “bloom” I wrote the first scene in September of 2019, and then started working on it again in September 2020, which is when I then posted it.

17: talk about your writing and editing process

oh boy… how do I talk about this. I’m unsure even how to describe any of it.

like titles, I think my fic ideas stem from two places: the “point” and “concept” at hand. sometimes I’ll think “oh, this situation would be really fun to explore” (like, hanzawa showing up in the case files of jeweler richard) and work from there to figure out what the main idea of that story would look like (okay, so I think this would lead into discussing how hanzawa puts up a façade, and seigi’s influence would change him in a way that is impactful yet minimal enough to work for merging both canons), and sometimes I’ll think “oh, I really want to express this aspect of a story / character” (I want to write about what interests me regarding hanzawa and tashiro’s relationship) and have to figure out how to get there (I can have them discuss hanzawa’s dyed hair during club practice, and expand that out into various musings).

these usually start out with me just like… writing a scene, if I’ve got a vision of one in mind, but some just start out with like. a topic sentence. it depends how clear I am on what I’m doing. These days I outline more often, so I tend to hash out the concept alone or with a friend, collecting various ideas for how I might expand on whatever I initially thought, so it can actually be a complete piece of work. I first start by outlining various “scenes” or “moments” I think would work, and then I try to break it down into way more detail and build stuff out. for longer things, I might have extra notes just analyzing various parts of the piece.

writing is usually just pretty much… sitting down and doing it. I tend to write scene by scene, and write later scenes only when it’s like, I’ve got a perfect vision of how it’ll go and have to write it down. so I can have snippets of stuff that shows up later, but it’s not usually intentional. for fics where I have a detailed outline of bullet points, I stick that section of the outline in my draft and write while going through each bulleted point. delete a bullet point every time I complete that bit, until I’m done with the scene.

I edit a bit as I go, but to not get too stuck, if I’m struggling for words I tend to put that bit in square brackets [like so]. when I edit, I usually ctrl+f for these square brackets and try to address any notes I might’ve written down. then I like to just read through it and either mark it up as I go or just fix it as I go. it depends on the level of work something might need. I edit scene by scene, though when I edit is up to when I feel like it. sometimes it’s just at the end, or other times I write a scene, edit the scene, and then write the next one. if I can, I’ll sometimes get someone else to read over a scene, especially if I feel unsure about the direction.

lastly, I like to sleep or rest my eyes before doing a final check for grammar, spelling, and formatting. in general I like to try and have “fresh eyes” while editing!

24: how do you recharge when you’re not feeling creative?

…do I? I feel like I almost always want to write and want to be creative. Usually it’s life that’s hampering me. but there’s definitely times when words feel beyond me. I usually just sleep, or I try to switch formats… instead of prose, why not bullet point my way through it first? or talk through it and just vocalize all the dialogue? or I switch to handwriting text, or I change the font so what I’m working on looks visually different to before. I think that helps the work feel less stale. I also love talking to other people, because that makes me get a bit of external motivation.

[banana-pancake5]

Hmmmmm I wanna ask questions but idk where to start (that being said feel free to give me anything else you have, any fleeting thoughts or the like)

BUT DID FRIDA EVER HAVE ANY SUSPICIONS ABOUT THE YUREI AT ALL LIKE WAS THERE ANY MOMENT OF “hmmmm, that’s vaguely familiar but idk why” I CANT REMEMBER IF YOU SAID DEFINITELY WHETHER THEY EVER HAD ANY CONTACT BUT IM IMAGINING THEM BOTH SEPARATELY HAVING THEIR LAST HOPE OF EACH OTHER, FOR EXAMPLE VITAS LAST MOMENTS BEFORE GOING COOKOO ARE JUST SAD TIMES BC SISTER AND FRIDA JUST WISHES FOR HER SISTER ONE LAST TIME BEFORE GIVING IP HOPE AND IM JUST IMAGINING ARTISTIC PARALLELS WITH THEM BOTH FAR AWAY FROM EACH OTHER FEELING THE SAME STUFF (im a bit of a sucker for parallels i think) YEAH IDK WHERE THIS IS GOING BUT YOU ARE MAKING ME FEEL THINGS

Heads up this is basically a live brainstorm. I’m literally writing what comes to my head in the moment and derailing myself many times (this top sentence I’m writing half way through writing everything else below it)

AAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHH YESSSSSS OH I LOVE IT

To actually answer it more in depth, it’s a yes and no kinda? Frida has no hope that Vita is alive— OH WAIT OHNO WAIT IDEAS OKAY I INTERRUPT THIS TRAIN OF THOUGH WITH A SUDDEN IDEA

Okay okay okay what if —hear me out— before Frida begins running the Nexus she hunts down any surviving Foot Clan members as a solo mission type thingy. Through this she finds out —AHHHH THOUGHTS— that Vita was lost to the prison dimension (she just thought Vita was lost in some experiment she didn’t know the details.) after that she DOES have the hope that Vita is alive. She has this small twisted strand of hope that Vita survived all those years trapped and she searches. She goes off and searches for months for her sister and… well I have conflicting ideas… either she does find Yūrei —OH YESYESYEYESY NDIWXJNIJNE—

Okay ALRIGHT. Frida is on this long search for her sister. She’s been searching for months with no sign of anything. She’s on her way back, that small strand of hope finally snapped, but she is attacked by a hoard of Krang hounds, or a Krang mech. While running or fighting she falls with her head slamming against a rock. Her visions is blurry and she’s drifting between states of consciousness. Then Yūrei appears. Frida should be terrified but… she feels oddly safe. She doesn’t make the connection it’s her sister because she believes her sister is long dead, even if she had escaped. Then. Frida loses consciousness completely. When she wakes up she’s in a cave. There’s a fire lit beside her with Yūrei roasting something above it. Yūrei’s Krang mask is set down by the fire. She sat staring at the fire with a wide smile spread across her face. She stifled a few giggles with a hand to her mouth. When Frida stirred slightly Yūreis smile dropped into a scowl as her head whipped toward her. Her vibrant krangified eyes met with Frida’s frightful gaze. Then before Frida could blink Yūrei took her mask off the floor and dashed away. Frida didn’t recognize her as Vita but felt a strange connection. She didn’t get a good look at her but if she had she would have known in an instant. After that interaction Frida started back up the Hotel and in the back of her mind hoped that Yūrei would stumble upon it. She wanted to feel that connection again. She wanted to know why she felt it.

AH OKAY SO UH YEAH.

OH OH OH!! And when Vita sat there smiling at the fire it was because of the feeling that stranger (Frida) gave her. It made her feel warm and fuzzy and she couldn’t place it. It felt so right to be beside Frida. She felt an almost primal urge to protect Frida with her life. But her other instincts were screaming at her to get away. That it was dangerous. So she fled, in fear.

OKAY YIKES THIS HAS GOTTEN LONGER THAN INTENDED BUT I HAVE MORE MISCELLANEOUS THOUGHTS I WANNA SHARE

OOOOOOKKKKKKAAAAAYYYYYYY

Perhaps at one point Vita met Leo???? Similar to the situation above but when Leo is on a mission WITH BABY CASEY she comes and saves him from what would be a fatal blow. Leo doesn’t stick around but as he runs off with Jr. he hears her manic laugh and recognizes it as Yūrei. But, when he shares the tail with his brothers they don’t believe him. It’s a “Boy who cried wolf” scenario. I imagine Leo would love to try and scare his brothers with false stories of meeting Yūrei.

OKAY JADE IM DONE. BUT LIKE DUSHNCDSJHNCDSJISN I LOVE THAT PARALLEL SO MUCH YESYESYESYES!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHH IM DYING. I WOULD LOVE MORE QUESTIONS OR LIL THOUGHTS LIKE THIS (if you have any or want to send em ^-^) BC BOY OH DOES IT MAKE ME THINK.

[allenvooreef]

Fanwork creators self rec! When you get this, reply with your five favorite fics/art/podfics/etc. that you've made, then pass on to others. Let’s spread the self-love 🌼

Ohhhh let's see! I've been drawing mostly original art these days (never thought I'd be that person but here we are xD) but that makes it all the more fun to dig up some fanworks!

This Skyward Sword piece! Spent hours and hours painting every little detail, and enjoyed every bit of it.

This CritRole piece! I'm glad the colors turned out as dreamy as I'd pictured them.

The huge-ass Dragon Age medley I arranged and performed a couple years back! Proud of myself for actually finishing such a beast of a project.

A more recent Dragon Age fan piece that was a lot of fun to make. Just finding references for the mabari alone was a blast xD

And lastly, let's add some writing to keep it varied. I don't do a lot of that, but this small moment of reassurance between two Wardens was something I really enjoyed putting into words.

With a gasp she sat up on her bed roll. Breathing erratically, it took her a moment to grasp her surroundings and distinguish reality from the blood-curdling visions slowly fading from her mind’s eye. She heard a voice, distant at first through the sound of her blood rushing loudly in her eardrums. “Oh- Maker, I… Sorry! It’s okay, it’s-” Her hands searched around in the darkness for familiar fur, but instead found skin; an arm, a chest, a face. “It’s okay, it’s just a dream. Hey, you can calm down now.” “Alistair…?” she muttered, as her eyes started to adjust to the darkness. She could make out his silhouette against the glow from the campfire. Her breathing slowly returned to normal as she remembered. She was at camp, somewhere between the Korcari Wilds and a town called Lothering. The fatal battle, Flemeth’s rescue, it all came back to her now. His voice was soft and hesitant. “I- I should… Sorry.” She only realised she was still holding on to Alistair’s arm when he got up. Instinctively she clasped the heavy fabric of his shirt, hanging on to that reassuring bit of warmth, of human contact, for just a little longer. “No!” she blurted.  Alistair froze, uncertain.“I mean… Please.” She forced herself to let go of him, feeling like a complete idiot. They had known each other for what, a week? She certainly wasn’t the type to make friends easily, and it’s not like he had chosen to travel with her; a terrible twist of fate had forced them into each other’s company, along with the surly mage.  Between Morrigan having to leave the Wilds unwillingly and Alistair dealing with the loss of his fellow Wardens there hadn’t been much room for friendly chats. And yet, as she sat there, beads of sweat on her forehead and the memory of the nightmare still fresh, the young Warden felt like the only real thing in a world turned violently upside down. “I saw you turning in your sleep and I thought…” He sat down beside her, close enough to feel his warmth in the cool night air but not so close that they touched. He glanced at her. “I mean, not that I was watching you sleep or anything. I’m not- That would be really creepy. It’s just that… I have them too.” She stared past the campfire, where she could vaguely see Morrigan’s tent in the distance. Her dog was strolling through the bushes, no doubt in search of places to mark his territory. “The nightmares, I mean,” he said. “I have them too. They can be pretty rough. It’s a Warden thing, but I guess nobody got the chance to warn you about them, so…” He tousled his hair. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have woken you.” “It’s alright,” she said, but her voice came out strange and soft. She cleared her throat and wiped a strand of hair from her face. “It’s alright,” she repeated, more firmly this time. “Thank you, Alistair.” He smiled. They sat in silence for a while, the gently crackling fire and distant sounds of forest creatures filling the air. There was so much to say, so many questions to be answered, but this wasn’t the time. Right now she just took comfort in his presence; warm, safe, near. After a while he stretched his legs. “I should let you get back to sleep, we have a long day of travel ahead of us. I’ll be over there when you… If you need me.” “Alistair?” She hated that she was about to ask him this, but she was too tired to stop herself. “Hm?” “Could you… Would you stay? In case I…” She felt like a child, asking her father to leave the bedside candle on. But Alistair caught her gaze and in that moment she knew he understood.   She slept soundly the rest of the night, listening to Alistair’s steady breathing next to her. In the nights that followed the nightmares returned often, but the Wardens quickly grew into the habit of watching over each other. Turns out after you entrust your dreams to someone, making a friend is easy.

[confusedshades]

Ok I'm throwing Jason into this for maximum chaos and drama.

Jason had just gotten back from a mission with the Outlaws, which is why he can be forgiven for not knowing but as he stared at the group chat messages on his phone he wasn't sure whether to laugh at Bruce, sigh in exasperation at the adoption tendencies, or go guns blazing to find the kid's parents.

Jason decided to kill two birds with one stone. He went on patrol that evening, eager to find out more information on the new sibling and tease B about his adoption tendencies simultaneously. Luckily he found Batman easily enough early in his patrol and followed the man for a bit. He raised his eyebrows at the violence he was doling out at the criminals, but they were all left for the cops to process so that at least told Jason something.

He dropped down on the rooftop next to his father.

"B."

"Hood." The hand on the back of his neck in lieu of actual scenting grounded Jason further. Settled something he didn't even realise was unsettled.

"Heard you've found yourself a new trainee."

"Hng." Oooh that meant it was bad.

"How is baby Bat treating his successor? Any biting yet?"

"D is badly traumatized. He barely seems aware of his own dynamic. N caught him letting out a purr today and he was horrified at the reaction apparently."

Green tinged the edges of his vision like they hadn't in ages. A pup afraid of purring? Yeah he was heading back to get his favourite knife after this. "What do we know about him?"

Batman moved closer and as one they stepped away from the edge of the roof. He looked around before pressing a button on his gauntlet to start a small white noise machine. The big bad Bat breaking his own rules about personal details on the field? At least he remembered the white noise to make sure no one else could hear them if they tried.

"Danny Fenton is all we've been able to get out of him. He won't say anything about where he came from or anything else. We've figured out he's fourteen and physically okay. Emotionally and psychologically is a very different story. He doesn't have any scent - not even his own, doesn't know how to react with any of the dynamic centred behaviours. Scenting, cuddle piles, scent based emotional reading."

Jason's anger increased. To not even know what to do, to not even recognise anything meant the kid's instincts had been suppressed via training. "Was he kept isolated from everyone except his trainers?" He growled

Batman shook his head. "He lets things slip about friends or a sister, about classes at school. He knows how to interact with people and emotionally and socially his development seems fine. Just his dynamic which has been targeted."

The subvocal growl stuttered out in Jason's throat. Everything else was fine but just his dynamic was affected? A vague idea began to itch at the back of his mind. "B, are we sure the kid is actually from around here? And not an alternate dimension where they don't have dynamics?"

"Leslie did a full check up to rule that out early on. He has the biological aspects of the dynamics like extra scent glands and puppy fangs."

"I think it's time the kid met his older brother. Maybe a new face and fresh eyes will help."

The two agree on some logistics and part. Jason, due to his long absence decides to do a short patrol of his territory, check in with his men, remind people who keeps an eye on things. It's the twilight hour before sunrise, when even Gotham becomes silent for a breath, that he catches sight of a kid furtively trying to catch his attention.

He drops down to the ground to see what the issue is. "Oh thank the ancients I never thought I'd find you! I need help. These people keep trying to adopt me but they're also doing all these strange things that they say is normal for kids but they make me feel uncomfortable and strange and I just want to escape. Please I know I'm new to Gotham but everything I've read about you says you protect children, you have to help me!"

Jason looked around and tugged the kid towards one of the Alleys. Once they were out of sight he took off his helmet. It was effective in a lot of things, but when trying to talk to kids, he'd found that an actual face and voice were helpful for them, and being able to smell was helpful for him.

The minute he took off his helmet though he knew someone had not kept their eye on the ball. Because this kid vaguely smelled like pack, like the Batpack, but he didn't have his own scent. He could see the kids distress and lack of sleep all over him. The eye bags, the chewed till broken lip, picked edges of an obviously new sweatshirt.

"Alright kid, I'm going to need some information from you to help. What is your name? And do you have someplace safe to go?"

"Danny and uhh no. Not really. I can't go back to my own home but I can't go to the fruitloops either."

"Alright. I have a safe place close by if you want to stay with someone else," a rapidly paling face that shook made it clear that wasn't a possibility. "Or I can have you staying at one of my bolt holes. It's not the nicest place but it's got food water and security."

"Okay. Yeah. The, the bolt hole sounds good."

dc x dp prompt

So I just got into the dc x dp fandom very head strong and I’ve been reading dc x dp fics left and right, some of the fics containing a/b/o dynamics and I just had a thought what if Danny one day took a trip to the DC universe and this universe had the a/b/o dynamics

Danny: I am a traumatized teenager that is alone and is totally normal

Adopting orphans left and right Bruce Wayne: don’t worry pup I’ll take care of you, you’re obviously neglected due to you’re having no parental scent

Danny: STRANGER DANGER, There’s a child sniffing pervert on the loose protect your childern(runs away)

Bruce Wayne: ???

Bruce Wayne: was it something I said.

[jahayla-parker]

I have one for Peter to celebrate 100 followers.

Y/N is the daughter of Wanda and Vision (and she also possess the same abilities as Wanda) she’s dating Peter.

One night she gets a call from a crying Peter telling her to come to the school roof. When she gets there, she sees him on the floor crying. She goes over to him and hugs him, him hugging her back (afraid he'll lose her like he lost Aunt May). They stay like that for what feels like forever until MJ and Ned come and find them. They introduce them to Peter 2 and 3 and they agree to help cure the villains (basically the same scene from No Way Home)

When they get to the lab and get to work, Y/N notices some big cuts on Peter's face and uses her powers to heal them. They talk and Y/N wants to help them cure the villains. (I'm thinking Y/N can wear the same outfit as Wanda from MOM) .

During the fight, Y/N and Peter find the Green Goblin and begin fighting him. Peter loses control and begins to get more aggressive. Y/N tries to get him to stop but he won't listen. Peter 2 comes and helps Y/N reason with Peter to get him to stop.

(Can you just do the same ending as No Way Home but with Y/N remembering Peter even after the spell?)

Hope you like! ❤️🖤💜

Hiii! Thank u for this! I’ve been mentally writing one similar to this without te Wanda aspects of it, so This was a being able to actually write it out.

Thanks everyone for joining my celebration💟💜

Join my taglist here!

Loss: A NWH Holland!Spider-Man/Peter Parker

Summary: Peter has lost May and relies on gf!reader to help him. They fight and cure all the villains but are faced with Peter having to be forgotten by the world.

Fortunately, y/n remembers Peter even after the spell, but at what cost?

More details in the request above.

Warnings: NWH spoilers, death of May, angst, a few curses

Notes: when italics as used for whole paragraphs/sections it’s showing a flashback or otherwise previous event. I don’t think it was needed but hopefully cleans it up a bit lol.

Please lmk you guys want a part 2! Part 2 here

Waking up to her phone ringing loudly with Peter’s personalized ringtone, y/n abruptly mutes the sound so her mother won’t hear and then proceeds to answer his call.

“Petey? It’s late babe, is everything okay?” She asks, sitting up.

“C-ca-can you” Peter attempts, his voice breaking constantly.

“Peter?! What’s going on?! Where are you?! I’m coming to you!” Y/n promises, promptly getting out of bed and rushing to change into some clothes she can leave the house in.

“I-I’m on the school rooftop” he whispers, his voice still catching.

Slipping on a sweatshirt of Peter’s, she grabs her shoes but something feels off.

“Peter, are you safe?” She asks, wondering if his safety was in jeopardy and that was the cause behind her unease.

She would be uneasy with him simply crying as he was now, but this felt different.

“F-for now” he sniffles.

Squinting at his vague statement, y/n rushes over to her closet and decides to change once again.

As she changed into her scarlet colored “hero outfit” as the avengers called it, she kept Peter talking.

She hadn’t gotten him to explain what was happening that made him upset, but he’d finally stopped crying, him stating something about just hearing her voice making him less panicked.

Checking to ensure her outfit was complete, she zipped her boots.

Y/n threw on a black hoodie Peter bought her so that it concealed her leather corset-like top and threw her crown headpiece into her school bag.

She informed Peter she would have to hang up so she could get to him as she planned on using her levitation power to fly to him rather than walk or steal her mom’s car.

She was fairly experienced with using this power and used it more often than her mother Wanda, aka The Scarlet Witch did. Much to her mother’s disapproval as it often was done because y/n was late.

But, she knew she’d need both hands free to get to Peter safely and as quickly as she could.

As she rocketed across the sky, rain blowing past her once dry face, she looked around at her surroundings.

She and Peter always enjoyed looking at the lights of the city lighting up the evening sky and streets as they’d levitate/swing through the night.

However, tonight it was just her.

And while it was beautiful still, she couldn’t feel any positive emotions towards the city as she knew that something happened tonight here that made Peter upset.

She had told Peter she’d never use her abilities to try and read his mind, or otherwise do anything unethical, years ago when they first met.

However, tonight she dared to use her telepathy to communicate to Peter that she was nearly to him.

Doing so, she could feel the immense emotional pain he was experiencing and it nearly caused her to drop to the Brooklyn streets below her.

She had to fight to steady herself and keep her levitation going.

She also had to resist the urge to look around in his mind to see what was causing her precious boyfriend this much pain.

She knew Peter’s identity had been exposed but after Mr. Murdock helped him win his case against Mysterio’s false allegations, he’d started to feel more like himself.

She also knew that not getting into his dream school or even backup schools was troubling for him but she’d assured him they’d figure something out.

He felt horrible that he had impacted y/n’s college prospects as well, even though she assured him that her mother’s own mistakes a few years ago in Lagos already made it difficult.

She hadn’t heard much from him tonight as he simply told her he was going to speak to a mutual friend about college.

She knew he meant an avenger and while she didn’t think it was necessary, she figured no harm could really come of a simple conversation and asking for advice from one of their allies.

After all, they all knew who he was before his identity leaked and they had been sure to protect him and y/n from a lot of the more serious or dangerous aspects of their work.

She had no idea he’d went to Dr. Strange today to request he use a spell to undo the recent events. Let alone that he had done it to help y/n, MJ, and Ned with their schooling.

However, she was soon about to find out all of the chaos that erupted in the last 24hrs.

———

“Oh, Peter!” Y/n gasps, landing in the rooftop a few feet from him.

Peter’s head lifts and turns to her, breaking her heart as she sees the steady flow of tears on his face.

Y/n sprints to him and drops to her knees, her arms cradling his shaking body.

“What happened baby?” She asks, her hand pushing water out of his hair as she strokes his soaked head.

“M-May” he sobs, gripping onto y/n’s sweater with a vise grip.

“What about May?” She asks, her heart rate increasing as his does.

“I- I.. she… we…” he says, trying to figure out where to start.

“Shhh baby it’s okay. Where’s May Peter?” Y/n asked softly.

Peter sobbed more and held y/n closer to him, causing her to feel a tidal wave of nausea and anxiety rise as she contemplated what his reaction likely meant.

“Sh-she. She’s dead” he said, his body crumpling into her arms.

Y/n held her own emotions back for his sake and apologized to him as she merely held him to her.

She knew she didn’t need to apologize, she’d done nothing wrong.

But she wasn’t sure what to do and she knew what it was like to lose a loved one.

To lose a parental figure and have no control over it.

It was an unbearable pain that she wouldn’t wish upon anyone, certainly not Peter.

They sat there for a while just listening to each other’s heart beats and breathing.

“Peter, what happened?” Y/n asks, noticing his breathing has steadied from what it was when she arrived.

“I- I can’t” he whimpered, looking at his lap.

“Can you?” He asks, looking at her and tapping his head.

“Are you sure?” She asks. “Any limits?”

“No limits” he informs her, pulling her closer to him in desperation to feel her presence and know she’s here.

“Okay” she whispers, hesitantly reaching up to hold his face and let her telepathic ability connect easier.

Peter stared at her as she sifted through his memories.

He could feel the recollection of events faintly but realized she was manipulating it in a way that would allow him to not feel additional pain from it as she watched it unfold.

He knew she’d never try to erase his pain or emotions as much as she wanted him to be happy.

After a particularly rough mission, they talked about it and both agreed it was better to feel pain than to feel numb and that’s when she told him she’d never manipulate his feelings.

He acknowledged this was different.

It wasn’t his own brain forcing him to recall the memories at this moment.

If it had been, she would’ve left his emotional connection alone.

Instead it was the visual playback she was watching through his memories that was minutely noticeable rather than the memories themselves.

He watched her face trying to see her reactions and see if she blamed Peter the way he blamed himself.

Once she had finished, she lowered her hands as the tears she’d managed to contain thus far fell freely.

“I messed up” Peter whispers, hating that this is now causing his girlfriend pain as well, “and now May had to suffer”.

“Peter, this isn’t your fault and we’re going to get through this okay?” Y/n promises.

Peter forces a nod.

“N-no one has come to try to hurt you yet?” He asks, his eyes trying to look over her but the sweatshirt was covering her arms and upper body.

“No Peter. I’m safe, I’m here” she assures him.

Peter whimpers, “I was so worried you’d be hurt”.

Before she could reassure him again, he continued.

“If I don’t fix this, you could be. I… I can’t lose you. I already lost May… if something happened to you-” Peter rambles.

“It won’t. You won’t lose me. Okay?” She kisses his forehead as tears stream down both of their faces.

Peter snuggles in closely to her chest as he refuses to let her go, as if holding her tightly would prevent any harm to her.

Y/n embraces him back and rocks them slightly as she rests her chin on Peter’s head that’s tucked into her neck.

———

Neither one are sure how long they’ve been in that position when Peter hears someone approaching.

Peter instantly pulls back and stands up, stepping in front of y/n as she starts to stand.

Y/n places her hand on his shoulder to calm him when she see’s it’s Ned and MJ.

“What’re you guys doing here?” Y/n asks as Peter’s fear lowers but he doesn’t move away from shielding y/n.

“We heard what happened…” MJ replies.

“Yeah… the news covered it. We’re sorry Peter” Ned says, walking towards the couple.

After multiple apologies and attempts to comfort Peter, Ned bites his lip as MJ gives y/n a face that says she’s about to drop some big news.

Last time MJ made that face towards y/n it was about MJ admitting she actually had feelings for a classmate.

However, tonight y/n knew that face was likely a much bigger topic.

“What is it?” Y/n asks hesitantly.

Peter looks between his friends and girlfriend as he waits.

“So… you know how you said the villains were from other universes?” Ned asks, looking at y/n since she’d been the one to catch them up.

The news obviously covered the villains showing up out of nowhere, May’s death, and Peter’s connection to all of it.

However, it didn’t cover what exactly transpired with any detail which left y/n to do that for MJ and Ned.

Y/n nods her head, prompting MJ to respond, “well, we kinda knew that already”.

“How?” Peter asks, rubbing his already red eyes to get the rain out.

“That’s not a very easy answer… see… MJ and I were at my Lola’s house… watching the… news. When some people showed up” Ned explains.

“Are you guys hurt?” Peter panics.

“No, they were not villains” MJ says, “trust me, I even threw bread at them”.

“Bread?” Y/n laughs once in shock.

“Who were they?” Peter asked.

“Well, why don’t you ask them?” Ned points just as two shadows appear.

Peter steps back in front of y/n again protectively, even though her hands are already glowing in preparation of an attack.

“Aye, wait wait, woah” Peter blurts as the two men hop closer to their group.

“Sorry, about May” the older one says, his hands held up in surrender.

“Yeah. Sorry” the other one says, y/n and Peter noticing his outfit is similar to Peter’s Spider-Man suit.

This man tries to explain that he knows what it’s like but Peter cuts him off.

“No please don’t tell me you know what it is you’re going through” Peter remarks.

He turns his head back to look at y/n only to see she’s at his side now instead.

He makes eye contact with her before looking back to the man, “y/n is the only one here who knows and she didn’t even try to tell me that. She let me feel what I’m dealing with. So you don’t get to tell me you understand and hope it helps. She- May is gone”.

Squeezing Peter’s hand, y/n eyes the two men in front of them trying to understand what is happening.

“And it’s all my fault” he chokes.

Y/n tightens her grip on his hand as he holds his ground with the others, letting him know she didn’t agree about his self blame and that she was here for him.

———

It took some time but Peter and y/n were informed and caught up on who these two guys were.

Turns out… they were Peter Parker… well a Peter Parker.

Evidently there were Peter Parkers who were Spider-Man in other universes and when Dr. Strange did the spell, it brought them here.

It took some convincing to get Peter, her Peter, to once again agree to help the villains recover and get home.

Now they were seated in the school’s science lab, working on antidote methods for each villain.

Y/n pushed her notepad away and turned to face Peter. The real Peter. Her Peter.

“Oh Pete, do they hurt?” Y/n asks, her thumb underlining the gashes on his face.

“A bit” he admits, his hands on her thigh, “but I’ll be okay”.

She shakes her head and raises her other hand to cup his face.

“It’s an easy fix” she lies.

It wasn’t a particularly difficult task given her abilities but it was one she didn’t have a ton of experience with.

You’d think with her boyfriend being Spider-Man that she’d have used her powers to fix his wounds and ailments on a nightly basis.

However, she’d only recently learned how to utilize this particular power.

It had taken a random elementary school aged child bleeding in Europe after having fallen from the Ferris wheel during Mysterio’s attack projections for her to learn she could.

She’d watched the kid trying to limp away from the scene but struggling due to the large leg wound.

Planning on just applying pressure, y/n rushed to her and placed her hands on the injury and felt this tingling sensation in her hands.

When she pulled her hands back, the child’s leg was healed.

She’d worked to replicate that healing ability since and learned that -as with most of her powers- it required great concentration on the task at hand.

This was particularly challenging tonight considering there were two strangers with them (who shared her boyfriend’s new and alter ego) in their school lab that they’d all broken into in order to cure villains that killed Aunt May.

It was a lot to process to say the least.

“Are you sure about this Peter?” Y/n asked the pressing question she suppressed asking until his cuts had healed under her fingers.

“About?” He asks, kissing her hands as a thank you.

“This whole curing them thing” she says, shrugging.

She knew how it sounded, but she knew what it was like to be in his position.

She also was hurting herself over May’s death as they’d been very close.

“You don’t think we should?” He asks.

“It’s not that. Peter you’re incredible and I’ll do whatever it is you want to do. It’s just that need to know it’s okay if you’re hesitant about this” she tells him, looking into his eyes.

“I am a bit… namely with…” he trails off but y/n nods to tell him she knows who he’s referring to.

“But I think it’s what May would want me to do” he adds.

“I agree, it’s definitely a May thing and you pushing past your reservations is definitely a Peter thing” y/n comments, squeezing his hand.

“A Peter thing?” He laughs softly.

“Well a you thing I guess. I don’t know about the other Peters, but they’re here after all, so probably” she explains.

Peter nods, looking around at the older guys who share his name and identity.

His fear spikes knowing what they told him about losing their loved ones and namely about Gwen…

Y/n can see the turmoil in Peter’s eyes prompting her to squeeze his hand so he looks her way.

“You share a name and a hero identity. But you’re not the exact same. Things aren’t going to play out the same way. You’re my Peter, my Spider-Man. And together we’re going to accomplish this side by side” she assures him.

“Together” Peter nods, pulling her in for another hug.

———

“Osborne, please, I know you’re in there” y/n argues, struggling against the grip Green Goblin has on her.

She could easily blast her powers and send him flying, but that wouldn’t allow her to inject him with the serum they needed to cure him.

“As I told your little friend, Norman’s on sabbatical honey” he chuckles darkly.

Y/n groans and lightly pulses her power to send him off of her but keep him in near distance.

“We’re trying to help” she remarks, standing up and walking towards him with flaming hands ready.

“I don’t need your help” he hisses, stepping on to the mini hoverboard he used.

Y/n raises her hands to shield off the shots he begins firing at her.

Meanwhile, Peter (1) finishes tossing Ned one of the solutions when his spidey senses begin alerting him.

He throws his head back and forth, looking between each villain and his teammates.

His pace quickens when he still cannot find y/n.

His heart races, thumping wildly against his chest as his strained eyes search through the dark.

He mentally counts off which villains he’s found and which he hasn’t, hoping maybe he’ll find the villain she’s with first and then find her.

Just then, shots ring out and his body freezes as realization hits him.

She’s with Green Goblin.

She’s fighting Green Goblin, alone.

His eyes narrowing on anything green, he locates y/n and shoots a web as far as he can, swinging himself off a bar and closer to them.

His breathing hitches as he sees the panic on her face as her shield wavers slightly from exhaustion.

Y/n curses herself for not being more diligent in the training her mother wanted her to do.

Peter uses his webs to pull the hoverboard out from under Osborne’s body, sending him crashing down.

Y/n drops her shield and rushes to them as Peter lifts the hoverboard above his head and walks towards Osborne.

Y/n sees the rage in his eyes and decides to use her telekinetic ability to pull the board from his hands and set it down elsewhere.

Peter frowns before focusing back on Osborne as they exchange fists.

Y/n helps Peter in trying to incapacitate him so they can cure him.

However, without using her full abilities and both her and Peter being exhausted mentally and physically, they’re struggling.

Osborne gets a decent strike in and uses a shattered piece of glass from the ground to hit y/n in the abdomen.

Peter notices as she lands on the ground, pressing on her wound.

One downside to her healing ability? It doesn’t work on herself.

Peter was already enraged and wanting to kill Osborne but he fought it for May, for y/n, and the vision they saw of who he was.

But now, killing Osborne is the only option Peter can see. The only path before him.

Peter flips himself backwards to grab the board and while his webs deactivated the majority of weapons on it, the blades on the points at the front are still functional.

That’s all he needs to finish this.

Peter feels a surge of energy as he thinks about how ironic, how almost poetic, it will be to use his hoverboard to kill Osborne the way he killed May.

“Peter! Don’t” y/n yells, realizing his intent.

She scrambles to her feet and tries to reach him but she knows she’ll be too late.

She debates firing a bolt of energy towards the board to break it, but rejects it knowing her injury may cause her aim to be off and hit him.

“Peter please! This isn’t you! Don’t do this!” She pleads, shakily stepping closer to him.

While earlier tonight, she wondered if he really wanted to cure them, she never saw this coming.

She simply assumed maybe he’d just want to send them home without curing them first.

Not kill.

In her peripheral vision she sees Peter 2 running over and begs him to help stop Peter 1.

After much struggling, her Peter finally submits and drops the drone/hoverboard.

Peter 2 takes the syringe and injects Osborne as her Peter rushes to her.

“Are you okay?” He asks, pushing his hand against her wound.

“I’m okay Pete. It’s over now, look” she says, pointing to where Osborne, the true Osborne, is sitting next to Peter 2.

He nods and strikes her face with his free hand, “we need to get you help”.

“My mom can handle it” she says, laughing.

“Your mom will kill me, rightfully so” Peter sighs.

“Stop. It’s not your fault Peter” she argues.

Peter helps her up and supports her weight as they walk after she fights him carrying her.

“What’s that?” Y/n asks, pointing towards the sky where there is a bright purple glow.

Peter gulps and looks at Peter 2, “can you get her to safety? I need to handle this”.

“Peter what?” She asks, reaching for him as Peter 2 holds her up.

“I’ll explain when I can” he kisses her forehead before launching himself towards where Dr. Strange was waiting.

———

“No, absolutely not” y/n cries, shaking her head so adamantly it causes her torso to shift an tug on her poorly done stitches.

Since she couldn’t heal herself, Peter 3 used the stitching from her backpack (she’d brought with to carry the serums) and a shard of metal to stitch the wound.

He’d had experience stitching his own wounds, but he had limited resources here and y/n knew she’d need her mother to cleanse the wound and heal it so it wouldn’t be infected.

"I'll find you. okay? I promise you, whatever happens, I’ll find you, and we'll be together, and everything will be good again” Peter promises, cupping her face.

She shakes her head as tears keep falling, “I don’t like this. Peter… this plan sucks. Magic sucks. I’d give mine up to not lose you”.

" I'll always find my way back to you." He assures her, rubbing some dirt and dried blood from her cheek.

"Hey…. no tears, alright? This isn't goodbye” he says.

“I could never forget you, but I don’t like this risk. Magic has fucked us over in the past. Please don’t” y/n pleads, a firm grip on his suit.

"Y/n, I have to. I’m so sorry, I never meant to get you involved or get you hurt. I have to fix this and this is how” he says, tears rolling down his cheeks.

“Fine. But Peter, you... you must know, before anything else happens tonight. You must know that you were the greatest thing that ever happened to me” she says.

Peter closes his eyes and holds her tightly.

As the sky flows brighter, he pulls back and gives her a desperate, needy kiss.

“I love you Petey” she whines, resting her head on his forehead.

“I love you y/n y/m/n y/l/n. And I promise, I’ll make you remember me. I’ll explain everything. We’ll figure it out, together” he promises before heading back to Dr. Strange.

Y/n sobs as MJ and Ned embrace her.

They all watch as Peter and Dr. Strange begin the spell. Y/n attempts to throw up a shield around her brain.

But her exhaustion, injury, and promise to Peter to let him do this stop her.

Instead, she feels a tightness in her chest as she watches the sky glow so bright it forces her to close her eyes.

———2 months later ———

Peter felt his hands shake as he stood outside y/n’s door.

He groaned as the internal battle in his head reigned on.

For the last two months, Peter had kept his distance.

He tried to keep his promise, he really did.

Immediately upon the successful completion of Dr. Strange’s spell, Peter drafted a note trying to explain to y/n who he was.

A week later he was ready and went to the cafe MJ and y/n worked at.

He had the detailed note in his hand as he entered the cafe, seeing MJ at the counter and Ned drinking from a mug next to her.

His eyes darted around for the one person he desperately needed to see.

“Can I help you? A name for your order perhaps?” MJ asked, clearly not recognizing him.

Peter knew the plan had worked when he returned to no home and little to no belongings but hearing his friends not recognizing him hit harder.

He looked at the scratch above MJ’s eye and then the one on Ned’s arm.

While the sight of their injuries joined his plague of guilt, he knew seeing y/n’s would cripple him.

“I.. I’m Peter. Yo-your head, are you okay?” Peter asked.

“Oh, uh, yeah. I don’t know how it happened. I think probably a car accident as my friend Ned” Mj said pointing towards him, “has a cut too and so does our friend y/n”.

Peter forces a tight nod, “and you’re all okay?”.

“We are mostly. Y/N’s got infected as she was really upset after whatever happened and refused to let anyone treat it. She’s better now, but it wasn’t good.” MJ told him.

Peter felt bile in his throat as he crumpled the note in his coat pocket.

He knew it wasn’t likely y/n remembered him, she wasn’t supposed to after all.

But, her reaction told him she at least knew something was off and it caused her to act against her best interests.

And he was the one to blame for that.

He was the reason she was hurt.

He was the reason she felt off after the spell.

He was the reason she refused care.

Even if she didn’t remember him, he was the reason behind her trauma.

He couldn’t be that reason anymore.

If she never remembered him, she’d be safe.

If she never remembered him, she’d be happy.

If she never remembered him, she’d move on.

If she never remembered him, she’d find someone who deserved her.

If she never remembered him, she could live her life.

If she never remembered him, he would hurt for the rest of time.

But, If she never remembered him, she’d be better off so the pain he’d have would be worth it.

“Oh, I’m sorry” Peter said, ducking his head and quickly leaving the cafe.

Just as he stepped into the cold, he could hear her voice as she asked MJ what she missed.

His heart shattered as he hear y/n whisper his name, “Peter?”

He wasn’t sure if the confusion in her tone was her wondering why he was leaving abruptly without ordering, if some part of her recognized his name, or if she was simply reading the name MJ put down for his order.

He wouldn’t let the desire to find out win. He pushed it down and closed the door behind him without looking back.

That was two months ago.

Since then, he tried calling her, texting her, going to the cafe to see her, etc. But this battle in his head stopped him every time.

He let the guilt for May’s death and y/N’s injury take ahold of him.

He concluded the voice in his head telling him he was to blame and that the only way y/n could truly be safe was to let her forget him.

Yet, here he was… note in his shaking hand, knocking on her door.

Before he could regret his choice, the door opened and revealed y/n.

She was wearing one of his sweatshirts, her eyes red, no makeup on, blotchy skin from crying, an icecream container in her hand.

She looked just as beautiful as when he saw her last.

Her breath caught suddenly before she set the tub of icecream down.

Peter watched her for a moment, wondering how to explain who he was.

Little did he know, she knew.

Of course she knew.

She knew from the moment after the spell.

She didn’t now how or why she’d remembered him en no or else did.

But she did.

Everyone told her she was crazy.

That she made up her boyfriend as if he were some imaginary friend.

They told her Peter Parker did not exist.

But she knew they were wrong.

In fact, there were at least three Peter Parkers.

She’d met them just the other night.

There was only one though that was her Peter.

She needed her Peter back.

Since she remembered him, she hoped MJ and Ned would too.

But they didn’t.

She was all alone in her memories of the selfless boy she’d fallen in love with.

The boy she fought side by side with to protect their city and the world.

Yet, no one knew his name.

No one knew him.

No one but her.

It hurt her on a daily basis and yet Peter never showed.

He promised.

She trusted him.

She spent that first week trying find him.

But due to the spell, there were no traces of him anywhere.

Roughly a week after that night, she’d been at work when it seemed he stopped by.

She’d been in the bathroom but upon entering the cafe lounge, she felt this weight lift and she curiously looked around to see why.

Then she saw him.

Peter had his back to her, one foot out the cafe door.

But she’d recognize him anywhere, even from his side and/or back profile.

Her breath hitched but she called after him weakly.

He paused for a fraction of a second, reaffirming her recognition of him.

But then he was gone.

He heard her but didn’t respond.

He never turned around.

He never looked to her.

He never tried to tell her like he promised.

He just cut her off.

Now months later, he is standing in front of her apartment.

How he even knew where she lived was beyond her as she’d moved since last seeing him.

She couldn’t stand sleeping in a room where Peter had been.

A room where the photos she had framed with him in them were suddenly gaps on her wall.

A room where he’d comforted her when she needed it.

A room where that no longer happened.

A room that was a constant reminder of him.

A room that was a constant reminder of what they were.

A room that was a constant reminder of that night.

A room that was a constant reminder of May’s death.

A room that was a constant reminder that he was gone.

A room that was a constant reminder that they were done.

A room that was a constant reminder of his broken promise.

Her mom and Happy helped her get her own apartment hoping it would help her.

They attributed her suffering to May’s death.

And wile that was part of it, that wasn’t the whole story.

“Can I help you?” She asks, putting up an emotional wall between them.

“Uhh… yeah. This will sound crazy… but please hear me out. My name is Peter and-“ Peter began, scuffing his across her doormat.

“I know who you are Peter. Why are you here?” She asks, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Y-y-you do?” He stutters, eyes wide but a small smile starting.

“Mhm. Of course I do. We went to school together, we fought together with the avengers, we went nearly everywhere together” She begins.

“You were my best friend, my confidant, my l-l-love of my life… my boyfriend” She finishes, shaking her head.

Peter feels his heart swell at her compliments and recognition of him, but his stomach drops at seeing the emotion in her eyes.

“Well I guess you technically still are my boyfriend since we never officially broke up. I guess I’ll fix that now for us-“ she begins, desperately trying to reform her distance from him so he couldn’t hurt her heart again.

“Y/n, I-“ he says, his voice weak.

“No Peter. I don’t want to hear it. I’ve waited over TWO MONTHS for you to give me this conversation. Two months with nothing from you” y/n says, hoping he’ll just tell her he was too nervous she wouldn’t remember him to seek her out.

“You weren’t supposed to remember me” he whispers.

Y/n scoffs, “yeah well how well did that work out? Hmm? Because I do Peter. I remember it all”.

“I- I’m sorry” he sighs.

“For what Peter? For lying to me? For breaking your promise? For betraying my trust? For breaking my heart?” Y/n chokes as tears start falling.

“Y/n, I didn’t mean to hurt you” He frowns.

“Yet here we are” she says coldly, trying to keep her walls up against him.

“I thought it would be what was best for you” he admits, lifting his eyes to look at her.

“W-what?” She whispers, confused.

“I thought a fresh start with someone else would be good” He sighs.

“A fresh start?! So it was your way of ending things! That’s fantastic Peter! You couldn’t even just tell me you didn’t end to be with me any more. No you had to pretend I didn’t exist. That-… that we didn’t exist all because you wanted a fresh start?!” Y/n snaps, her chest tightening.

“Do you truly think so little of me?" Peter asks, tears in his eyes, “I didn’t want to breakup with you. I wanted you to move on to someone else, someone who wouldn’t jeopardize your safety “.

“You don’t get to make that choice for me Peter!” Y/n yells, the hurt in her chest reaching maximum capacity.

"I thought you’d forget me and if it stayed that way you’d be safe. It wasn’t easy but I tried to forget you. To protect you. I’ve never tried so hard in my life. But, it's impossible. It’s simply not possible for me to stop thinking about you” Peter rambles.

“So what?! I don’t get a choice because you wanted to ‘protect’ me. You fight to forget me but now that you can’t and now that you’re hurt , you come ? If that’s the case, you’re saying your pain isn’t worth my safety all of a sudden when for the last two months it evidently was?!” Y/n argues.

“No, it’s just… I realized that, like you just said, it wasn’t my choice to make. That if I focused the energy and time I put into trying to forget you, into getting stronger, faster, and otherwise more adept to precut you that we wouldn’t have to lose what we had not risk your safety. “ he explains, rubbing his neck.

“Your safety always has and always will come first. I wouldn’t be here if I hadn’t thought this through meticulously” he adds, trying to grab her hand.

She steps back, “I don’t need you to protect me Peter. I can take care of myself”.

“I know. You’re more than capable but I don’t ever want to be the reason you’re hurt” he sighs, looking at her side even though it is covered by her sweatshirt.

Y/n sighs and runs her hand through her tangled hair, “I don’t know what to do here Peter. I don’t know where to go from here or how”.

"Well, we're a team. Remember? So let's face this one together” he suggests.

“Together? Is that meant to be a cruel joke?! Where was the togetherness when everyone called me crazy? When everyone told me I made you up? When I had to cut MJ and Ned out of my life because they reminded me too much of you while they didn’t even recall who you were?!” Y/n asks angrily.

“I didn't mean for any of this to happen!” He defends.

“I know Peter. But you don’t get it, that makes this so much harder because then I feel bad for hating what you did to me. Because it wasn’t intentional. Except that part of it was. The outcomes may not have been what you wanted but they were a result of your choices and actions the worst part is you don't know what it was like” she sobs.

“If you’d wanted to, you could’ve talked about me to anyone. When I tried, I was told I was crazy. I had no one to go to. I should’ve at least had you. But I didn’t because you chose to remove yourself from my life without even consulting me. I was told I was crazy so often by those I cared about that I started to wonder if maybe I was crazy. After all, the Peter I knew, would never break a promise he made me, let alone my heart. But you did” y/n says, her fists clenching to stop shaking.

“I don’t care what your reasons were, you hurt me. I can't believe I ever trusted you...” she finishes, refusing to look at him as tears stream down both of their faces.

"I will never stop apologizing for this y/n but please, just... tell me how to fix this. " he begs.

“Peter, you lied to me. You abandoned me. I don’t think you can fix something like that” y/n says, breaking her own heart at the confession.

“I can't lose you...” he cries.

“Don’t you dare Peter! I was the one who lost you first, not the other way around! You say you don’t want to lose me yet chose to push me out of your life” y/n gasps.

“I know! Believe me, I’ve questioned myself everyday. Wondering if I was doing was really what was best for you or not. Because it hurt like hell. I’m sorry. I want to fix us, I want you, I want us back. So please?! What am I supposed to do?! I beg of you! Tell me, what the hell I am supposed to do?! " he sobs.

“If you don’t want to hurt me, please don't look at me like that...” y/n whispers, her eyes breaking away from him.

“Like what?” He whispers.

“Like you’re still in love with me, like you’re still the same exact boy I loved, like you’re still my Peter” she sighs.

“But I am y/n, I swear. You have to believe me” he pleads, stepping closer.

“God damnit Peter! I did! I believed in you, in us” She cries, stepping away, “but now…”.

“Now what?” Peter asks hesitantly a more of awkward and tense silence.

“I can’t trust you anymore” She concludes, choking on another sob as she shuts the door between them.

———

Do you guys want a part 2 with a happy ending?! Let me know!💟💜 Part 2 here.

Peter taglist: @galaxyholland @spideysbae @mcushvft @fishingirl12 @raajali3 @justapurrcat

Why am I in such an angsty mood? Poor Peter has been suffering 😭

[andreafmn]

Collision - Chapter 1

Word Count: 3,434

Characters: Female Reader Uley Character, Sam Uley, Allison Uley, Charlie Swan, Bella Swan, Seth Clearwater, Billy Black, Jacob Black, Emily Young, Paul Lahote, Harry and Sue Clearwater, Leah Clearwater

Story Description: (Y/N) Uley is back home after being away for four years. Her life at it’s first standstill and she is taking this time to find out who she is without school. But she never thought that coming back to the reservation would turn her whole life around. In the midst of secrets and mystery, a man crashes into (Y/N)’s and her life will never be the same. 

*DISCLAIMER* I do not own in any way Twilight, all credits of the pre-established characters, script, and storyline belong to Stephanie Meyer and Summit Entertainment. The only thing I own is Uley Reader insert, any upcoming characters, and her storyline, as well as her effects in the others’ story line.

Chapter: 1/?

A/N: There’s no Cullen’s in the first chapter, we’ll see them soon though. Also, Esme is in the story but her and Carlisle are not together romantically. If you enjoy my writing I’ll also be posting them in AO3 and Wattpad along with other stories (I also hope to start taking requests if ya’ll want) Hope you enjoy and all constructive criticism is encouraged.

Next->

Chapter 1

Going back home felt bizarre for (Y/N). It had been 4 years since she had moved away from the La Push Reservation on a scholarship to a prep boarding school in Seattle. Although students were expected to go back home during summer break, she spent her time in summer taking college classes or attending internships in the area, so going back didn’t fit into her plans.

But she had just graduated from high school and decided that taking a gap year could not hurt. Seeing her family wouldn’t be that bad either.

(Y/N) Uley had not reunited physically with Sam and Allison Uley since she left for school, only calling occasionally but always being to busy for anything else. The mother and son duo had grown accustomed to the short phone calls and vague emails they would receive from their studious family member. The Uley siblings used to be a very close pair, being only a year apart helped their bond. But since (Y/N) had invested all her energy into her high school career, their relationship rapidly dissipated; replaced by untold secrets and life-changing details.

The Uley girl had no idea what was in store when she went back home. She had left when she was 14 and was coming back an 18-year-old with a high school diploma and a bachelor’s degree. (Y/N) had always been an over achiever and applying to the school she had and taking dual enrollment was no surprise to her mother and brother.

The bus ride from Seattle to La Push lasted almost eight hours, so (Y/N) equipped herself with two books, plenty of snacks, and a fully charged iPod to handle the ride. She had gotten the earliest ride available always enjoying the intriguing mystery that 3 am travels brought. Her brown eyes surveyed the curious characters that voyaged alongside her a young woman sat with a sleeping baby in her arms, the dark circles under her eyes signaled the baby was still a newborn getting adapted to a sleep schedule; there was a middle-aged man, his eyes attached to a computer and a briefcase tight to his side; there were two teenagers, backpacks at their feet and shared headphones in between them. They were wearing light blue polo shirt and her school insignia embroidered on the left side of their shirt. She had seen them in passing, two freshmen still energetic and excited for their school life. She looked at them and smiled, remembering being in their shoes four years ago.

Four hours in, (Y/N) had finished one book, and the bus made its first stop in Port Angeles, the place where everyone that traveled with her got off. It wasn’t surprising to see from the top of her book as everyone got off, she didn’t recognize any of them from the reservation so it would have been surprising if any of them had stayed in the bus. For the next four hours, (Y/N) continued to read her second book surrounded by a comforting silence. The sun had risen about an hour ago and a nice warmth was streaming from the bus window and (Y/N) felt herself drift in bliss.

Her eyes fluttered open once again when she felt the bus finally rolling to a stop. She blinked a few times as she adjusted her vision to the bright midday sun and her brain restarted normal functions. The brunette gathered the bag with her travel companions and got up from the chair she had been glued to for eight hours.

“Have a good day,” the driver chimed as (Y/N) was walking down the bus.

“You too, drive safe!” The girl smiled and got her two suitcases out of the side of the bus.

(Y/N) got startled as she felt two arms wrap around her midriff and quickly swung her elbow back.

“Woah, woah, careful with those arms, (Y/N). It’s just me,” the girl turned around, a gleaming grin adorning her face.

“Sam!” She jumped onto the open arms of her older brother, seeing the years that had passed on his tired face.

“Look at you, darling. All grown up,” Allison Uley smiled, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

“Mom, I’ve missed you.” (Y/N) hugged her mother tightly, noticing the difference in heights of her and her mother. Another thing she noticed was the strain between her mother and her brother. Before she left, they all had a very close relationship but now it felt like so many things had interlaced into their bond. “Let’s go home yeah?”

“I’m, actually I gotta go to my house,” Sam scratched the back of his neck.

“What house?” (Y/N) chuckled.

“I moved out, but I’ll come over for your welcome dinner.”

“Sam, she just came back. Don’t you wanna spend time with your sister?” Allison begged, wanting to have both of her children under the same roof again.

“I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I just can’t, mom. Leave it.” Sam sighed. “I’ll see you at dinner, (Y/N).”

He kissed the top of his sister’s head and left. He wanted to tell them the whole truth, but he knew he couldn’t. Knowing that information would put them in a level of danger that he didn’t want them to be aware of.

(Y/N) stared at the retreating figure of his brother as he ran down the street, leaving her and their mother.

“What’s up with him?”

“Oh darling, if only I knew.” Allison sighed grabbing one of the suitcases her daughter had brought. “Let’s just head to the house so you can rest.”

“Yeah, let’s.” (Y/N) gave Allison a comforting smile and wheeled the second suitcase towards the truck.

The drive home was as short as she remembered, and the house hadn’t changed a bit. She walked up the steps to the porch and opened the old wooden door; it still made the same creaking sound. The house still smelled of seawater and pine, an odd mix but a comforting scent. (Y/N) regretted all the summers she missed here and all the days she spent away from her family.

She made her way up the stairs and entered the first door to the right. She ran her fingers through the stickers she had pasted on there when she was 13: a wolf, a rainbow, a heart, and a picture of her family. Her name still carved at the highest point of the door and she smiled at the memory of that. She sat atop Sam’s shoulder when she was just 12 years old, a trembling hand holding a pick as she carved as best as she could the name “(Y/N)”.

The doorknob as it was turned let out a squeaky groan and the door needed an extra push to open. The room had not changed at all. The walls were still painted a light green, the light switch still had the pink princess cover, the bedding had the little purple butterflies embroidered on them, and the pillows were all pink and purple. In a corner rested the five boxes (Y/N) had sent to the house from her dorm room.

“It hasn’t changed a bit,” (Y/N) commented as she felt her mother’s presence behind her.

“I didn’t want to change it until you came back,” Allison smiled. “But I’m sure you’d like to give this place a bit of a makeover.”

“Definitely,” she laughed. “I think I’ll go to Port Angeles this weekend, doing some shopping can’t hurt.”

“That’s true.” Allison side hugged her daughter as she laughed. She headed towards the door but stopped when she was called upon by her daughter.

“Hey, mom?”

“Yes, darling?”

“By any chance, do you know where Sam’s living?” Allison’s body stiffened but shared the information with her daughter. Maybe she could figure out why he’d just disappeared.

(Y/N) was surprised to hear he was living with a girl she barely knew. She knew of Emily Young through Leah Clearwater, but not much after that. Last thing she had heard Leah and Sam had been dating. She certainly had missed some very important pivotal points in her brother’s life.

The house wasn’t far, so she decided to walk there. Upon arrival she could feel the warm and inviting aura that the quaint house emanated. The blue door called to her as she knocked on it. It finally opened and revealed her brother.

“(Y/N), what’re you doing here?”

“I’m here to see my big brother. Is that such a crime?” She laughed.

“No, of course. Come in,” he smiled begrudgingly. “I don’t have much time so we gotta make this quick.”

“Wow, feeling the love there,” she chuckled passing through the doorframe.

“There’s just some things that I have to do before dinner tonight.”

“It’s okay, I get it. I just wanted to ask if you could help me on the weekend with my room. I’m bringing it four years into the present, gotta make sure it looks like an 18-year-old sleeps there.”

“Yeah, I’ll come over Sunday afternoon and help you then. Anything else you need?”

“Well, not exactly, but it wouldn’t help to catch up. You know make up for four years of chit chat conversations and get me up to date with at the happenings in your life.”

“There’s not much to say other than I moved out and I’m engaged.” He said nonchalantly.

“Excuse me?! You’re engaged and failed to mention that to me?”

“It’s not that big of a deal, (Y/N).”

“Yes, it is, Sam! You’re getting married and this is the first I’m ever hearing of this or the fact that you moved out or the fact that you’re engaged to your ex-girlfriend’s cousin. I think it is a big deal.”

“Okay, yeah. Kind of a long story on that one.”

“Enough time to tell it to me?” Sam hesitated. He could hear Emily’s truck approaching and two male voices coming back from patrol. He needed to get (Y/N) out of the house before they got here.

“Maybe another time. I’ll call you on Sunday, yeah?” Sam asked as he nudged his sister out of his house.

“I guess.” (Y/N) mumbled as she was pushed out the front door. “Bye.”

“See ya.” Sam kissed the side of her head and closed the door.

(Y/N) left the house with more questions about her brother that she had begun with but didn’t want to press on. There was no use if he wasn’t going to talk, so she walked back home.

Her mother had gone out, possibly grocery shopping for tonight’s dinner, giving (Y/N) time to catch up on some much-needed sleep. She walked up the stairs and into her room, plopping down on the bed not caring how she landed. All she wanted was to close her eyes and rest.

By six in the afternoon her eyes fluttered open once again. She could smell the dinner her mother had been cooking. The room had darkened as the sun was going down and thankfully her mother had turned on a lamp for (Y/N) to have some vision. The girl got up from bed and grabbed some clothes from her suitcase to take a quick shower before dinner. She stripped all her clothes off and let the water wash away all the hours of the day. As soon as the water started turning cold, she shut it off and got out.

For a second, (Y/N) stopped and stared at herself in the mirror above the sink. She barely recognized the girl staring back. The bags under her eyes were deeper than the last time she had seen herself in this specific mirror, her cheekbones were more defined than before, her skin paler than usual since she hadn’t really seen the sun in a while.

It didn’t take her long to change into some new clothes and head downstairs, where she saw her mother on the phone. Disappointment evident in her eyes.

“Sam, it’s your sister… please… ok, fine. Just don’t flake on her on Sunday,” Allison sighed, turning off her phone and slamming it on the counter.

“Everything okay, mom?”

“Oh, yeah, darling. Your brother won’t be able to join us, but Billy and Jacob, and the Clearwaters are on their way, and I also invited Charlie and Bella Swan. I hope you don’t mind that they join in.”

“No, I don’t mind. What about Paul?”

“You know I’ve never liked that boy, honey.” (Y/N) stared at her mother. Refusing to continue the conversation until Allison answered the question. “I did invite him, but he couldn’t come.”

“I love seeing you make an effort,” (Y/N) laughed and kissed her mother on the cheek. “I’ll set the table.”

“Thank you, darling.”

(Y/N) grabbed the 10 plates needed for the night and the respective cutlery. She still remembered how her mother liked the table arranged and set it as such. She set the vase filled with fresh flowers in the middle of the table, leaving space on the sides for the dinner platters. The arrival of the guests was soon after. (Y/N) had grown alongside Jacob and Leah, and on the summers, she would spend her times with the Swan girl. Once Seth was born, he became very close with the Uley girl.

“My oh my, (Y/N), how you’ve grown.” Billy Black grabbed Uley’s hand and smiled up at her, with the warmness that summer brought.

“Indeed, I have, and you haven’t aged a day in four years. What’s your secret?”

“It’s in the genes,” he laughed alongside the young girl. She’d always been a charmer, he thought “You remember my boy, Jacob, right?”

“How could I ever forget? Hey, Jake!”

“How you’ve been, (Y/N)?” Jacob approached his friend and wrapped her in a hug. “Been an awful long time.”

“Four years, that’s not much,” she smiled. “Come in.”

The father and son duo entered the house, and next came the Clearwaters. Harry, Sue, and Seth. No Leah. They had always been close to the Uleys, a bit of divide coming after the rupture between the eldest offspring of each family.

“Oh, wow, where has the time gone?” Sue commented, greeting the girl with a tight hug.

“4 years really do go by quick, don’t they?”

“They sure do, Harry.” (Y/N) smiled, motioning the couple in.

Finally, Seth walked in and engulfed (Y/N) in a tight hug. The girl was 5 years his elder, but he considered her one of his best friends. Seth and Paul were the only two people (Y/N) kept in close contact other than her family. For some time, Paul and (Y/N) had drifted apart but Seth always sent his monthly excited letters, updating her on what he had been up to.

“I missed you, (Y/N)!” Little Seth spoke into a bundle of brunette hair.

“I missed you too, Seth.” She smiled as he walked past her, joining his parents.

The last to enter were Sheriff Swan and Bella. The cop smiled at the girl and gave her a quick hug, commenting on how much she had grown, a low chuckle leaving his throat. Bella entered with hunched shoulders, possibly not wanting to be there but she still smiled at her old friend. Vague memories filled the girls’ heads of summer play dates and days at the beach.

“It’s been quite some time, huh?” Bella muttered.

“It sure has. It’s great to see you again,” (Y/N) smiled. “How have you liked Forks now that you’re back full time. Still hating cold weather?”

“Yeah,” the pale girl chuckled. “But it has its better days.”

The girls joined in a quick giggled before joining the rest of the group at the dinner table. Allison had already set the table and had said her hellos to the group.

The three males had engaged in sports conversations and the teens were all huddled in the kitchen munching on cheese and crackers and engaging in small chit chat.

“So, (Y/N), 18 and already a degree, how does that feel?” Jacob asked, stuffing his mouth with cheese and ham.

“Well, as good as it can be. Don’t know exactly what I’m gonna do now. All I know is that I’m taking a year off and taking a breather for the first time.” (Y/N) chuckled.

“I just can’t believe you’d spend all this time going to school, twice as much. I don’t like school at all,” Seth chimed in, picking apart the cheese and filling his mouth.

“So, you spent these past four years studying, including your summers?” Bella added.

“That’s correct,” (Y/N) smiled. “And now I have a degree and nothing to do with it.”

The group chuckled and moved towards the adults as they were being called to dinner. In the center of the table was a big platter of spaghetti and meatballs, (Y/N)’s favorite food, a tray of toasted garlic bread, and a bowl of a colorful mix of spring salad.

(Y/N) always enjoyed her mother’s cooking. Even on her saddest days, Allison’s cooking could warm her heart at any time. She and her mother had a very close relationship, even after four years of distance. Since her father left early in her life, her mother had always tried her hardest to make sure both her children were loved and cared for. And she stayed wondering where she had gone wrong with Sam and hoping (Y/N) didn’t stray away as her eldest had.

The dinner group had all taken their seats at the dinner table and were passing around the various platters, serving themselves their desired portions. Jacob and Seth were overfilling their plates, receiving a laugh from their respective parents. Charlie, Harry, and Billy were filling their plates with more protein than carbohydrates and the moms at the table smiled at the males engulfing the meatballs. (Y/N) looked around the table and smiled. It had been a long time since she had sat down with the important people in her life and was relaxed, even if two of them were missing.

After everyone was served, everything went almost quiet. Some background music could be heard from the living room and the sound of forks hitting plates and mouths chewing filled the environment. Everyone was comfortable with the silence, but there was still one question in everyone’s mind.

“Where’s Sam?” Seth spoke up, voicing everyone’s question. The whole table paused in action and Seth felt like a deer caught in the headlights. Sue softly elbowed her son. “What?”

“It’s okay, Sue,” (Y/N) smiled. “He couldn’t be here, bud.”

“Maybe he was feeling bad, like Leah.” He added earning a burning stare from both his parents.

“Maybe, Seth.”

“I just wanna apologize for our daughter missing this dinner. I know she really wanted to see you, (Y/N).”

“Oh, Harry, it’s really no problem. I’m sure I’ll catch up with her soon enough.” (Y/N) smiled trying to ease the tension felt in the room. She could see her mother gripping her fork tightly as she kept her head down. “But I would also like to apologize on behalf of Sam, I know he wanted to be here.”

Everyone simply nodded and went back to their plates. The rest of the evening was enjoyable. No one mentioned the pair that was missing, and (Y/N)’s past four years were questioned in depth. She had an answer for everything except “What are you gonna do now?”

She didn’t know and that’s what she answered. She mentioned she wanted to study medicine, having finished a degree in biology and always loved taking care of other people. Sue was excited, being a nurse herself. But (Y/N) had landed at a standstill in terms of her life and career. A vast portion of her life had been defined as a student and now that this part was over, she didn’t know who she was.  

The dinner festivities were over soon thereafter, leaving Allison and (Y/N) to clean up after the group. The Uley pair put everything away in silence, exhausted from the eventful day. (Y/N) could see as her mother wiped away a few stray tears, sniffling behind her hair. The girl knew better than to bring the topic back up and left her mother with a kiss on the temple and a good night.

Upstairs, (Y/N) prepared herself for bed. The event had drained nay energy still left in her and she plopped down on the bed with a small thud. She had prepared her clothes for the next day, knowing her energy would also be drained but still excited to have this change. Her eyes fluttered close as she heard in the distance her mother’s quiet footsteps on the staircase, darkness overtaking her.

Next->

A/N: if you wish to be tagged for the next parts, please let me know. I’d be happy to. <3

[mrpenguinpants]

Childe/Tartaglia: Fiancé HCs

Aww, I give major points to anyone that actually reads my tags because it’s a whole lot of word vomit and brainworms. THIS IS MY FINAL OFFERING TO CHILDE SO BUDDY  👏 COME 👏 HOME 👏 This will probably be my last fic this week since I’m going to be busy with term tests and 1.1. Can you tell how slow I am with these asks?

I need to stop tagging so much because tumblr keeps making me repost...

This isn’t necessarily a part 2 from my other Childe fic [ “Enemies” to “Lovers” ] but you can go ahead and read it that way. Not sure if this counts for tags but it doesn’t hurt. To be honest, I was planning for this to be the direct part 2 but then his character story dropped and I got slapped in the face with inspiration.

 [taglist]  <- if you want to be added, please read this first.

@youaskedfurret​ @diaxfeliz​ @wintergreen-aix​ @dandelily​ @thegayrubberducky​ @lovelykittycatmeow​ @yuunoagivesmelife​  @dokidokisama @hanniejji​  @mikeysbike​ @unionwitch​ @musekala​ @twistedsunnshiii​ @stanzastic​ @akaasea​

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Childe/Tartaglia: Fiancé HCs

Your relationship with Tartaglia is unorthodox to say the least. Usually, the average length of an engagement is 13 to 18 months but you didn’t need a calendar to tell you it’s been far longer than that. You probably spent more time with your fiancé’s sister than with the man himself but that was okay with you. Tonia was a really sweet girl and you knew what you were getting into when you accepted and returned his feelings when you two first started going out.

Before he became a Harbinger you were friend’s with him and Tonia. Almost everyone in Snezhnaya was part of the Fatui, working in factories, or a devote follower of Tsaritsa. So it was a breath of fresh air to meet two people that didn’t align themselves to that mindset or become a slave to work. You slowly became closer to the two siblings until the day a stuttering and pink Tartaglia confessed his feelings to you. You think back on that moment fondly since that was probably the first and last time you’ve seen him act in such a shy manner.

The day he proposed to you was the night right before he became a Harbinger. It wasn’t anything grand and you were pretty sure he hadn’t even told Tonia he was planning on proposing that very night. He said that he was waiting for the right moment and somehow felt the right moment was when you were in-between consciousness. When you couldn’t even give him a proper answer since he popped the question right as you fell asleep, but for all intensive purposes, that was probably on purpose. You had to chase him down in freezing cold weather, coat not even properly tied, as you yelled he was a piece of shit and that if he never came back you would hunt him down and kill him yourself.

He just grinned innocently and waved back to you as the ship departed. When asked by a curious merchant who wasn’t native to Snezhnaya asked if he had some...family issues he simply waved it off and said you were his beloved fiancé. The merchant was left very confused on Snezhnaya’s customs and traditions on marriage.

You both made an agreement that only he would write to you. He said that it was because trying to get in contact with him would be impossible, considering how often he moves, plus the different names he goes under. But in actuality, it’s because he want’s to keep the people closest to him as private as possible. The Fatui know of his sister already and most likely know of your existence but as long as he remains a Harbinger they can’t do anything. He won’t let them. But the Fatui have many enemies and while he hates denying your existence, if it’s to make sure you live a peaceful life with his sister, he’ll continue to pretend he’s never heard of your name before.

While he writes to his sister that he’s taking care of trivial matters when he’s on his assignment, he writes a bit more honestly and detailed in his hidden letters to you. You make sure to keep them in a box hidden away from Tonia so she never discovers them but you have an inkling she knows what her brother is up to. She watches the way your face pinches, that your fingers clutch the paper a little tighter, and how you seem to tap the page two times in sequence.

Despite the raging winter storms that swirl around Snezhnaya, you are always warm. He thinks you’re secretly a pyro vision user waiting for the right moment to make good on your word and burn him alive. Whenever his travel’s run late into the night and he arrives home tired and cold, he seeks Tonia’s room to make sure she’s sleeping peacefully. Then to you to do the same. Sometimes when you’re lucky and you wake up early, you’re greeted to Tartaglia clinging onto you refusing to move because you’re warm. Even going through daily routine’s he always has an arm around you or some part of his body against yours. You feel that his habits is rubbing off on his sister because slow morning’s like these see’s you as the human heater. With Tonia hugging you from the front, arms wrapped around your waist, while Tartaglia support’s from behind, arms around the both of you. Your hands laced with his as you both act as a shield for little Tonia.  

Tartaglia’s hands are always numb. He could be in Natlan where it never snows or facing the harsh winters of Snezhnaya, they are always numb. As if the skin of his fingertips were scalded off. Touching anything gives him an uncomfortable sensation so he wears gloves all the time except for two occasions. When he need’s to replace his gloves with a new pair or to lace your hand into his. He can vaguely feel the heat from your hand, see that you don’t have the same callouses that he has from wielding weapons, and can feel the same tingling sensation that would usually have him wrenching his bare hand away if it had been anything or anyone else, besides his sister of course. Instead he holds on as if you’re his last lifeline in the middle of the ocean, commits to memory the feeling of your hand in his, and the pins and needles that prick his fingertips fade away.

He grows restless when life is ordinary and boring so he’s always off fighting or doing something completely dangerous. He was the same before he became a Harbinger which leads to some fights between the two of you. You both handle fight’s pretty badly due to the upbringing of Snezhnaya and it makes Tonia sad when she sees her family argue. So instead you convey your inner worries through taps. One is for annoyance. Two is for worry. Three is for anger.  Likewise, Tartaglia has his own system.

On one rare occasion, Zhongli managed to catch the sight of a flicker of light on Tartaglia’s clothing. It confuses him since aren’t ring’s meant to be worn on the hand? The only response he get’s from Childe when he asks why is a vague answer filled with mirth. He say’s that he’s holding onto it for someone. Zhongli doesn’t quite understand since wouldn’t it be better to keep the ring in a box if it were meant for someone else? Childe wears a ring on his pinky already but it might be a Snezhnaya tradition to wear one ring on the hand, while the other is close to the heart.

He keeps his cheerful attitude on even when it feels as if the world is crushing him. That might be why he names himself Childe. But when it’s just the two of you he takes the mask off, the armor slips off, and let’s himself relax. Time’s like this he just wants to hold you and as he puts it, recharge.

For all his confident nature in fighting he knows that a committed relationship with him is hard. That if you ever want to walk away and find someone new he won’t stop you, but that you never contact him or his family. He won’t open his heart for another person for a long while or ever. He would still give you your ring and whatever you choose to do with it is up to you.

Tartaglia’s goals won’t change. He still has his family to take care of and even if you decide to leave, that doesn’t change the fact he still sees you as apart of his family.

You don’t mind if his goal takes him away from Snezhnaya for years and years. Or if the letter’s he writes become fewer and fewer.  As long as he comes home you don’t mind waiting.

It’s the middle of the night and he’s still awake. He just returned from his last assignment and Tsaritsa is already sending him across Teyvat for “business” related reasons. He just finished checking up on Tonia to see her sleeping soundly. She’s growing up really fast, he smiles slightly at the thought. She can already sleep on her own. He gently opens the door to your room, well really it’s both of yours but he hasn’t been doing a lot of sleeping there, and cringes slightly at the creek the doors give.

He takes a small minute to lean on the doorway and relaxes. He won’t have enough time to bask in your presence if he’s too make it on time. The winter storm continues outside, as if Tsaritsa herself is yelling at him to start moving. He doesn’t think there’s ever been an instance when they’ve been silent.

“I care about three things in this world. My sister, you, and my home,” Tartalia says softly as he walks over and kneels down beside your laying form, resting his hand beside yours as he places a soft kiss on temple. “When those three things are safe I can rest.”

You tap him two times. Your hand has laced around his in a loose grip to which he tightens. You both sit in silence as he wait’s for the pins and needles to stop spreading across his arm before speaking again.

“I know I already proposed but let’s elope somewhere. My next assignment is taking me to Liyue. I heard it’s quite a beautiful place. I’m thinking a spring wedding perhaps?”

One more tap but he’s learned to take your annoyance as you jesting or being flustered.

“Promise me you’ll be safe,” you ask.

“I can try but I can’t guarantee everyone else will be,” he laughs.  

You tap him three times. If you weren’t half asleep you would have probably thrown your pillow at him. He gives one last chuckle as his finger’s rubs patterns into your hand.

“I promise,” he swears.

He hears you hum happily as you begin to relax back into slumber. Slowly letting the feeling of his heartbeat lull you to sleep until your grip loosens around his wrist. Even as the winter winds howl outside you can sleep so peacefully. Unlike him where in the back of his mind are restless thoughts. Tsaritsa is asking something huge of him, another test of his loyalty and strength. He silently stands up as to not wake you again, gives you one last squeeze of the hand, one last fond look, before he leaves. Closing the door as quietly as he can, he steels himself to go back out into the cold.

[disregardcanon]

okay, so i’m unlikely to write this because *gestures vaguely to everything* but i REALLY like the idea of luz as a greek demigod who ends up in a new rome adjusted to feel more like the boiling isles. a few details

1. camilla had a brief fling with apollo before meeting and settling down with antonio. they both know that luz is biologically this other guy’s child and antonio never cared. camilla had NO IDEA that the guy was a greek god, though.

2. the blights are a VERY old roman family, descended from roman nobility and jupiter himself. they’ve transitioned each time the remnants of rome have moved, and try to periodically intermarry with demigods to keep the godly blood going. odalia’s godly blood is fairly diluted, but alador is a son of vulcan. ed and em both got very little power, but amity ended up with quite a bit of it.

3. willow is a distant descendant of ceres on one side and mars on the other. neither of her fathers inherited anything, so they assumed that she wouldn’t get anything either. she ended up with a blessing from great great great whatever grandmother ceres though and ended up with a great deal of power

4. gus is the only other full demigod in the bunch. he’s the son of perry porter (distant legacy of apollo) and trivia (the roman counterpoint of hecate).

5. belos is something resembling nero in trials of apollo, except he’s... actually in charge of new rome. the backstory that i’d probably go with for that would be that he’s. actually romulus and that caleb was actually remus. after killing remus and founding rome, he was able to reach a level of immortality/semi-godhood like the emperors in the series. he’s spent a GREAT deal of his time obsessing about what life would have been like if caleb hadn’t betrayed his vision for rome, and we get a hunter who’s half abused nero stepchild, half an attempt at resurrecting remus.

6. how does luz end up in new rome when she lives in connecticut? well. reality check is in california, you see. so. *insert circumstances here*

[otomotoelzhinee]

SAILOR MAX: Chapter 1

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

“The Day a Lagomorph became a Sailor Soldier“

Word count: 18,361

Fog.

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

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

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

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

 “I’m so cold…”

“…Where are you?”

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

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

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

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

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

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

 “MAXIMILIANO!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Hey, aren’t you forgetting something?”

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

 “…Oh c’mon.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 “Ah…Crap.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

And yet…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  “Max…Hey, Max.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Woah!” The girls exclaimed.

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

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

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

 Everyone sighed.

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Inéees?” The girls stared at her.

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

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

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

  “What’s wrong, Inés?”

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

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

  “Hey, Inés, what gives?”

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

“What?! Why?”

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

“No, but-! I-Inés! What is…!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 “So! How do I look?”

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

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

  “I… LOVE IT!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They both laughed it off.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Let’s go, Max.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  “Mom, I’m home!”

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

 “Yes.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

“Tell me about it…”

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

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

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

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

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

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

 “Oee, Inés.” He whispered.

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

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

“Ah, sure. What do you need it for?”

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

 Inés tilted her head slightly.

 “…Ah, I see. No, sorry Max.”

“Aww, c’mon! You’re my best friend in the whole wide world! Can’t you help out a friend in need?”

Inés used a more serious tone, without trying to be rude. “Max, any money I have was given to me by my mother. If I lend it to you to buy jewelry, there would be no gain for my mother’s business. I’m sorry, but I’m going to have to say no this time.”

“Geez! A simple ‘no’ would've been enough.” He crossed his arms and looked in an opposite direction.

 Inés sighed. Max was exasperating sometimes, it was hard to say no to him without getting on his nerves. Yet somehow, neither of them could stay angry at each other for too long.

 “Alright…But could you at least let me use the bathroom? I need to change clothes.”

“Oh, yes. Of course! Follow me.”

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

 Max said goodbye to Inés before leaving the store, and started walking to the direction of his house, now wearing his gakuran; its dark and lifeless blue color only lowered the mood for him. What a big chance he had right now, he could’ve gotten something pretty for himself like a ring, or a necklace, but he had to screw it up by wasting his allowance on childish stuff. And not to mention that darn test…

He took the piece of paper out of his bag and stared at it, it was covered in red lines crossing out all the questions he didn’t answer, while the ones he did answer were all perfect. “If my mom sees this, she’s definitely gonna kill me…”

 Part of him had gotten used to this by now. How he couldn’t bring himself to study, getting yelled at by his teacher for his poor grades, getting yelled at back at home again. But, he was supposed to be good at this one subject, it was his thing! And because of a single mistake, he ruined it.

What bothered him most, is that there was only one person to blame for this, but his pride wouldn’t let him say who exactly.

 “…BAH! Let the wind blow it away!” He crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it behind him.

 There we go, now that he got rid of the test, he could just lie to his mom and say the test results haven't been given yet. Eventually, she will forget about it, and Max will avoid any further trouble-

 “Hey, Bunny-boy!”

 …Perhaps not.

Max felt a shiver down his spine. Something about the tone in the stranger’s voice instantly told him he must’ve done something bad to bother him.

“Do I look like a trash-can to you? You should be more careful where you aim at, it hit my face.”

Max held his breath in for a moment, how is it possible he didn’t notice someone standing behind him? Was he really that stupid? As much as he would’ve loved to run away home and avoid the conflict, he turned around to face the stranger.

 “I-I’m really sorry, sir! I-I wasn’t paying attention!”

 Max didn’t really know who he was talking to or how old they were, but he assumed he was a ‘sir’ when he noticed all the fancy clothes he was wearing. Max knew nothing about fashion, otherwise, he would’ve been able to guess what he was looking at was a morning dress. Max did, however, recognize the quality of the fabric, and the amount of earth-like colors in the suit.

From the dark green coat and his green beige waistcoat, to his brown trousers, along the orange necktie that stood out from the entire combo. To Max it was quite hexcentric, ridiculous even, but of course- He would not voice his opinion of fashion to this stranger.

 Besides the peculiar clothing, the man was tall, extremely tall. Especially for Max, who could barely reach the guy’s stomach. Even though he looked quite chubby, there was no doubt for Max that a single push from the guy could leave him in the ground. He also looked like an anthropomorphic being, just like him, but Max couldn’t tell what kind.

Max began to search for more clues. At first he thought he could be a bear, mainly for the color of his fur. But despite his height, the stranger wasn't tall enough to pass as one. Max then tried to get a look at his face, but the stranger had it covered with a wrinkled piece of paper in front of him, the same one Max threw at him by accident.

Wait a minute... It was Max’s test!

  “…30 points?” The stranger smirked.

 Now he was making fun of him! The shame, the horror! Right now, a good punch in the gut from the man didn’t seem like such a terrible option for Max. At least if he was left unconscious, he wouldn’t have to hear any more humiliating comments about his poor performance.

 “Geez. You should focus on your studies first, rather than carelessly littering people on the street, Bunny-boy."

 “B-Bunny?” Although he might have been afraid, there was one thing Max would absolutely, not by any means, tolerate from anyone in this world; and that was being called a bunny. He may have let it slide the first time, but he would not do the same for a second time.

“Excuse me, sir, but you should get your eyes checked! Because I am a Lagomorph, not a Bunny!”

The stranger chuckled at Max’s reaction and returned the wrinkled piece of paper to him, placing it right on his face as a way of teasing him. “Well, you should pay more attention in class, Lago-boy.”

Max growled at the rude gesture, he took his test and violently put it aside, finally allowing the man and him to be face to face. “That- Is none of your business!”

  Max was frozen. He stared into the stranger’s eyes, and despite the fact that he was wearing shades, Max could still see right through them. Finally, he was able to figure out the anthro-being he was dealing with.

He was an anthropomorphic dog with black eyes. His snoot was round and his ears were long and fluffy, they were practically hanging from his head, and Max felt the strange need to touch them.

He started to get the feeling that something about this guy was very, very familiar. And the more he stared at him, taking the time to analyze all of his features, searching for that ‘ah-ha!’ sign that would help him understand: “Just who is this guy?” The more he felt the two of them had, somehow, already met. But where and when, exactly? He couldn’t tell.

 “Hey, Lago-boy? Did you lose something?” The dog waved his hand in front of Max’s face.

“H-Huh?” Max blinked twice, startled.

“Oh, geez. You just keep living in the clouds and refuse to get down, don’t you?”

“What? N-no!”

“Alright, alright, if you say so. It’s ‘none of my business’ anyway.”

The dog turned around in the other direction and said goodbye to Max, but Max wasn’t done with this conversation just yet.

“Wait a second!”

“Hmm?” The dog stood still and looked back at Max.

 Every part of his body was shaking, his hunch was practically screaming, he had to know! Max had to know if, by the smallest chance…If it was him.

…But he did not have the courage to ask. Too many unpleasant things happened today, and now, based merely on feelings, he was going to ask this total stranger if he was ‘this’ certain person? And what if he said no? Max would only look like a complete idiot in front of someone he doesn’t even know. No, he would rather leave things just like this, as mere coincidences, and avoid any further embarrassment.

 “…Sorry, nevermind. Must’ve confused you with someone else.”

 Max then walked in the opposite direction without saying anything else, leaving the dog in front of the jewelry store. The stranger was a bit confused, but he quickly dismissed the moment as nothing of importance, as he had other things to worry about. He shifted his attention to the tall building in front of him and examined every inch of its structure, including the windows, until he was convinced that this was the place he was looking for.

 Max kept going on his path, also trying to dismiss the event that just happened, and get home as soon as possible. Perhaps he could get a nice nap, too, he felt like he deserved it after such a stressful day. But that guy, his face…

“It had to be him, I know it was him.” He kept repeating those words to himself, and he would argue back at himself. “But it’s impossible, it can’t be, they look nothing alike, and he would never dress like that!”

The ideas kept clashing with one another over and over again, and Max felt a headache was coming soon if he didn’t do something about this matter. That’s when he noticed that he was passing right in front of a game center, one he casually visits now and then, The Game Center CROWN. And to his surprise, a poster had been recently added to the wall promoting a new game.

The poster was a cartoony illustration of a girl with long, light blonde hair and a red mask covering her eyes. She was wearing stylized armor that seemed inspired by a sailor uniform. She had the look of a hero ready to fight the bad guys, which were also depicted in the poster, but without taking the hero’s spotlight. The game was called Sailor V: Hero of the Night! Now where has he heard that name before…?

 “Ah, this must be the girl Lorne was talking about! ‘Sailor V’, huh?”

 Max examined the poster for a while, with slight annoyance, the thought of this popular superhero girl really tickled his anger, and his envy as well. Why was she getting all the attention? What made her so special? Is it because she had a fancy name and cute clothes? Anyone could do that. At least that’s what he thought, as he imagined himself in the spot of Sailor V. But that was just a fantasy, deep down, he knew it was impossible. Some people’s lives are just too easy, he thought, and he was not one of the lucky ones.

 “…What a stupid name. What does the V stand for, anyway-?”

“Good afternoon, sir.”

 Max released a fast scream of pure, sheer terror and stood back, leaning against the door entrance of the arcade. He looked back at the person who just spoke to him, and felt great relief when he realized who it was.

 “H-Hyōsuke! I, uh…Didn’t see you there!”

 Hashimoto Hyōsuke was the son of the owner of the game center CROWN, and had a part time job in the arcade. He had tanned skin and his hairstyle was similar to a ‘pompadour’, he also liked to wear shades all the time and never take them off.

They met at a time when Max used to visit the arcade frequently, and somehow became good friends. Despite the fact that Hyōsuke is a University student, Max always addresses him by his first name and almost never used honorifics, and despite Max being younger than him, Hyōsuke always treated him in a very polite manner. Although, to be fair, he tends to treat everyone respectfully no matter their age, and Max loved this! Being treated like some sort of respected gentleman always boosted his ego.

 “Please step aside from the door, sir, before it-”

“WOAH-!”

“…Opens.”

 Max, who just met with the cold and crystal clear floor of the game center, immediately started complaining. Not because the fall was painful in any way (And even if it was, he lacked sensitivity to pain.), but because he liked complaining, it was a way to release stress.

 “God- DAMN IT! Why does this keep happening to me?!”

“It’s okay sir, everyone has accidentally fallen into an automatic door once in their lives, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

 Hyōsuke offered his hand to Max as a way to help him stand up, the lagomorph took it with certain embarrassment.

 “Thanks, Hyōsuke…But that’s not what I mean.”

“Did something happen?”

“Eh… Let’s just say this wasn’t my day, at all.”

“I’m sorry to hear that, sir. Perhaps a time in the arcade would help you clear your mind.”

“Woah, sneaky guy! But, I’m sorry to tell you I don’t have a single coin in my pocket.”

“Are you quite sure, sir? We have a new game available since yesterday.”

“A new game?!” The smile that had just formed in his face quickly came and went as the gears in his head started to turn. “…Wait, you’re not talking about that Sailor V chick, right? Because in that case, I-”

 Max froze for a mere second and shook his left ear. He felt a presence behind him, something with his eyes fixated on his back, but once he turned around, he couldn’t see anyone else. It was just him and Hyōsuke, and yet, he could still feel there was someone else.

 "Something troubling you, sir?"

“Huh? Oh, no, nothing at all! Sorry, I’m a little distracted and I just want to go home and rest.”

 There was something troubling him indeed, but Max couldn’t figure out himself what it was exactly that gave him these feelings, and he found no point in telling his friend.

 “Alright sir, be careful on the way home.”

“Yeah, I will. Goodbye, Hyōsuke!”

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

 As the sun slowly sank through the pink clouds, Max had finally arrived at his home, and he was ready to take a snack from the fridge, relax and take a good nap. He opened the door and announced his arrival.

“Mama, I’m home!”

His mother came from the kitchen, cleaning her wet hands with her apron. “Welcome home, hun! What took you so long?”

“Ah, Sorry! I was hanging out with Inés and we didn’t notice how late it was getting!”

“I see… Oh!”

Mrs. Tsukino giggled as their conversation was abruptly interrupted by tiny bundles of joy, her six youngest daughters, who were happy to see her big brother finally at home.

“Max! Max! Max!” they shouted as they jumped and pushed each other playfully, trying to get a chance at hugging their big brother. Max had to make an effort not to lose his balance.

“What took you so long?” said Olivia in an upset tone, as if trying to scold Max.

“Did you bring us something?” Said Asami, the tiniest of the sisters.

“Asami! Don’t be rude!” Replied Josefa, the tallest and oldest of the sisters.

“We really, really, really missed you!” Said Isabella, the dearest sister out of the six.

 Since she was born without one of her legs, she had to use a special prosthetic leg for a tiny lagomorph like herself. But she didn't mind. In fact, she thought it looked cool.

 “Hey, Hey! One at a time, kiddoes! You're gonna make me fall on my butt!”  

 The little ones began to laugh.

 “Girls, please. Give your brother some space.”

 The little ones apologized, finally leaving the poor lagomorph a moment to breathe and stand up properly. The girls hid behind their mother as she began retaking her conversation with her son.

 “By the way, Max. How did you do in your exam?”

“Oh, That! Well, you see-”

“Because I crossed paths with Lorne earlier today, and he told me you guys got the results already. He said he got 95 points!”

 Max stood still with a blank expression, admiring how his entire plan crumbled in front of him, thanks to his gossipy little friend. “That blabbermouth, I’m gonna strangle him for this!” He took a mental note before proceeding to answer to his mother.

“…OH! REALLY? Woah that’s AMAZING isn’t it?” He laughed it off, pretending to play dumb as a last attempt to escape his mother’s interrogation. But it didn't work out.

“Now tell me, how did you do?”

“Well…Ah, you see! …Th-the thing iiis…!”

“Maximiliano.”

Max was looking to the ground avoiding eye contact, but he already knew his mom’s tender, welcoming smile was vanishing, along with her patience. He sighed and accepted that there was no escape from the hell that was about to rise, and decided to give her the test in her hands.

Mrs. Tsukino took it and examined it for a moment, a moment that felt like an eternity for Max. The little ones got on their tip toes trying to take a look as well. Everything was quiet for a few seconds, until…

“Maximiliano Santiago Tsukino SILVA!”

The rage Mrs. Tsukino felt was so strong, Max swore he could see fire in her eyes.

“Uh-Ooh.” The little girls stepped aside, knowing exactly what was coming for their big brother.

Max began to sweat, somehow; despite lagomorphs being incapable of it. He chuckled nervously. “M-Mama…I can explain!”

“¡Cómo se te ocurre traerme una nota tan baja a MI casa! ¡AFUERA! ¡NO TE QUIERO VER!”

“W-WAIT! WOAH-!”

Mrs. Tsukino furiously pushed Max outside of the house and shut the door in front of him, leaving him in the front yard to think of what he just did. In part, it could’ve been worse, at least he didn’t get an ear pulling or something similar. On the other hand, he wasn’t sure for how long his mom was planning on leaving him there, and the mere thought of spending the night outside wasn’t comforting. So he followed the next step of his plan B.

He began to make a scandal.

“MAMAAA! C’MON, IT’S NOT THAT BAD, PLEASE LET ME IN, PLEAAASE!”

“What’s going on here?”

Max’s left ear twitched, he recognized that voice! It was the annoying and overly confident voice of his little brother, Dante, the oldest of the group of the six lagomorph boys. They approached the front door as they were eating their lollipops, seemingly showing them off to their big brother as they walked past him.

“What, did you get kicked out again?” said Dante with a big smile.

“Wouldn’t that make it the 4th time?” Said Bruno, a chubby, small lagomorph.

“No, actually. Last time, mom locked the house after she went shopping and forgot Max was going to arrive late, so he had to wait outside. This is only the 3rth time Mom kicks him out for failing an exam.” Said Hiroaki, the smartest of the six boys.

“What an Idiot! Why didn't he use the back door?” Said Yukio, who was carrying a chocolate bar and a soda inside his open backpack.

“We don’t have one.” Replied Hiroaki.

“We don’t?”

“Hey!” Max had enough of these kids and their mean comments. “How can you treat me like that? I’m your big brother, you should respect me!”

“It’s not our fault you have such terrible grades! I wish we had a big brother that was actually smart!” Dante then made a funny expression to mock him, sticking his tongue out.

“That’s IT!”

The boys were laughing uncontrollably at Max and how easy it was to provoke him. He was getting ready to throw a kick at them and they quickly went inside the house to avoid it. Dante shut the door as fast as his giggling body allowed him, without realizing that the poor door would be the one receiving the impact of that Kick.

Max hit the door with his bare foot, harder than he expected. He hit it so hard that he actually felt that pain slowly building up from his heel to his brain and the tip of his ears. He held it in, he was really trying to hold it in, but he couldn't. He let out a scream of pure pain, combined with more whining. While he was indeed insensitive to pain, there were still certain things he could feel, and right now he wished he didn't.

 “MOOOM! OPEN THE DOOR, DANTE HIT ME!”

 The boys were still giggling inside the house, they couldn’t help it, but the girls didn’t enjoy this attitude in the slightest; so they made an attempt at trying to talk things out with their mom. They tugged her apron gently, asking to please let their big brother back inside the house. “He didn’t mean to!” they said. But Mrs. Tsukino was not going to let him in that easily, what he did was unforgivable, and he deserved to be reprimanded for it!

…Although, if he kept screaming for a few more minutes, she may consider letting it pass. After all, she was still young and she wanted to conserve her good hearing intact. And the neighbors may start complaining there’s a squeaky rabbit that won’t shut up.

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

 Back at the Jewelry store, where the sun’s rays were no longer illuminating the streets, and the moon was slowly making itself more present, a dark and imposing figure stood up at the other side of the street. The mysterious stranger, who was dressed in fancy clothing and covered his eyes with a white mask, hid in the shadows provided by the buildings. He was waiting for a chance to enter the store, which seemed to be closed, as the lights were off.

His intentions were obvious. What he was searching for were precious and shiny stones for him to take home, and he was willing to take them no matter who stood in his way. Although he was not here to start a fight, it was not outside the realm of possibilities. He'd just kindly take a few gems without the owner of the store's knowledge and no one would get harmed, simple, like always.

Little did he know, the vast majority of the articles being displayed this morning were no longer available, thanks to “Mrs. Abel’s”…Or rather, Morgana’s big sale.

The first part of her plan was a complete success. Now all the women and men who bought those precious objects were contaminated with dark energy, energy that Morgana herself placed inside all those fake stones that decorated the collars and rings, making them look shinier and more appealing to the human eye.

“Humans and their pitiful wants, they are so gullible.” She laughed.

Now all she had to do was call back the energy of her victims as they wore the jewels. She was using a special red glass container of a cylindrical shape to store all the human energy in it as it arrived. She placed it on the counter and activated it with a single move of her hand. The energy began to flow right from the houses of the victims and back at Morgana’s artifact.

Every person in the city wearing their recently bought jewelry at that moment, quickly began to feel weak, disoriented. Some even felt dizzy and had to go to the bathroom urgently, as the nausea was too much to handle.

“So much energy…Lord Jadeite will surely be pleased! Although…”

She began to look at her surroundings, several times.

“…The object he entrusted to me doesn't seem to be here. I will have to make one last quick inspection to the building before I-”

The door beside the counter, where Morgana was standing, started to open. A thin figure was standing under the door frame, letting the light of the other room get into the store.

“Mom? What are you doing?” Inés spoke in a gentle tone.

Morgana could’ve come up with an excuse, but she didn’t bother. She was done with her job, and she already knew what she had to do with intruders.

Inés kept going as she received no answer. “I thought you had closed the store already…?”

Morgana turned her face around, allowing the light coming from the other room to reach her. She let her teeth show off, growing into fangs, twisting her face slightly as she smiled; she had nothing else to hide from this kid.

Inés gasped loudly and stepped back, her eyes couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Her mind began to rush, trying to find an explanation, was this an illusion? Is she dreaming?

Her body began to shake, begging for her to run upstairs, back to her room and lock herself there. She couldn’t respond to the signs on time, as Morgana stretched her limbs to an unhuman capacity and violently grabbed her arm, pulling her inside the store.

The door had been closed, and Inés had nowhere to go.

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

 Back at the Tsukino residence, Max was climbing the ladder to his room halfheartedly. He sat in the tiny stairs of his room for a moment, letting the small door close as the ladder came back to its original position. He then yawned and stretched as he walked to his bed.

When he left the house in the morning, he left his bed undone, but now it was fixed and he could only guess it was his mother, who may have entered the room during the day. The empty glass that he left over the nightstand was also gone, but the manga he was reading last night was still at the window.

 He left his briefcase over the white, small round table near the bed, and sighed. “Finally, she let me in! Geez, I don't know why she gets like that, she's so mean to me…”

”…I don’t wanna do my homework, I think I'll just take a small nap and then figure it out.”

 And following his last words, Max laid down in the warm bed comforter and closed his eyes, falling asleep in just a couple of minutes.

 The minutes kept passing as Max kept dreaming, and the wind began to blow against his window, making him shake slightly because of the noise; but it was not nearly enough to wake him up. If he had woken up at that moment, he probably would’ve noticed the small shadow in front of his window, standing still.

The wind somehow made its way into the room, unhooking the window lock, opening it slightly for a moment, before shutting down abruptly. Finally the lagomorph opened his eyes and sat on his bed, rubbing his eyes before looking at the window. Once his vision was getting clear, he saw a small, white and blurry figure, slowly taking shape into the curious rodent he encountered earlier today. And, once again, the creature was staring at him with its tiny eyes.

“What the…The rat with the bald spot? How did you get here?”

“Oh, Holy Lunar Trinity…” She said exasperated. “It is not a bald spot, okay? It’s a tattoo. Quite the rude assumption, child.”

Max blinked twice, his eyes fixed on the rodent. There’s no way he heard that, there’s no way those words came out of this tiny creature’s mouth. There is absolutely no way the rat just spoke to him like a tiny grandma scolding her grandchild. Rats don’t do that! …Right?

But, the rat kept going with what she had to say, and Max just couldn’t react to any of it.

 “Ahem! Anyways, my name is Luna, and I’ve been looking for you for quite a long time, Max. I’d also like to thank you for taking off the band aids from my forehead. Because of that obstruction, I wasn't able to speak, and it also affected my sensory skills. The kids of this neighborhood are so naughty!”

“Ahh…” Max seemed to wake up from his trance, nodding slightly. “I see now.”

“You do? I’m glad! It’s good to finally meet you, dear, I really don’t know what I would've done if I hadn't found you-”

“Good night.”

Luna was so wrapped up in her excitement that she didn't realize the moment Max was laying down in bed again, facing the opposite direction.

 “Eh? M-Max! What do you think you’re doing? Wake up, this is no time to rest!”

 But Max ignored Luna’s complaints entirely. She jumped to his bed and began shaking him as strongly as her tiny body allowed her, and it was not enough to even bother the Lagomorph. Maybe if I stay like this, she’ll go away. That was his plan, but Luna was not gonna stand there with her little arms closed.

 “Ah, I just remembered! I’ve also got a gift for you, Max dear.”

Max’s ears twitched, that was everything Luna needed. She stood back on her two hind legs and the mark on her forehead began to shine. She gave a high jump followed by a spin in the air. As she was doing this stunt, the mark on her forehead began to shine even brighter, until the light became a solid object that left sparkles around as it materialized.

Luna finally landed on the bed, and with one last spin in her place she stood on one leg (her other leg raising high), and caught the object with her right hand. She made each movement look elegant and so simple, her eyes were closed the entire time. But more interesting than her dance moves, Max was much more interested in the object Luna held between her tiny, pink hands.

 “Here, this is a special brooch, it’s magical.” She winked.

The brooch was made of pure gold and had a crescent moon symbol at the center, along a pink gem at the top. The contour of the brooch also had smaller gems: A blue one at the bottom, a red one at the top, a green one at the left and an orange one at the right.

“Wait, this is for me? You’re seriously giving it to me?” Max smiled.

“Of course!”

“WOAH!” Max took it with excitement and jumped out of the bed. “Thank you! It’s so shiny, I love shiny things! But, wait, how am I gonna…?”

“Max?” Luna waved her hand at him to call his attention.

“Ah! I’ve got it!” Max sat on his knees near the white table and began to open his briefcase quickly.

He started to throw everything inside the briefcase around the floor of his room, not caring where it would land or how, and stopped once he was able to take out what he was really looking for: His sailor uniform. He took it from the black bag where it was and tossed the bag away, quickly taking off his gakuran and putting on the other uniform; all of this while Luna was still trying to get Max’s attention.

“Max, please, you’ve got to listen to me! There’s been a lot of strange events happening all around the city of Tokyo, crimes that not even the police can figure out! And it is your duty to stop this chaos, Max, you’re our chosen Sailor Soldier!”

 Max was now fully dressed and wearing his new brooch, which he placed at the center of the bow in his blouse. He took a big mirror that was around the room and placed it carefully in front of him. Admiring his new accessory in the mirror, Luna took the chance to jump to the night stand to be in front of Max, trying to get the Lagomorph to look at her, and it seemed to work.

“And besides!” She proceeded. “You must find your allies as well, to find and protect our princess!”

“Aha, Aha, Aha. Sure! Anything else?”

“…You don’t believe a single word I told you, do you?”

“Oh no, no!” Max shook his head. “Sure I believe you!”

 Max was smiling and giggling, but Luna knew he wasn’t buying her story, he only cared about the pretty brooch. That was okay with her, as she was not going to give up just yet.

 “Okay, if that’s true, then repeat these words after me…Moon Prism Power, Make-Up!”

Max chuckled. “What?”

“You said you believed me.”

“I do! I promise!”

“Go ahead, then.”

 Max giggled one last time before taking a deep breath, frowning suddenly, forcing his cheeks not to smile again. Max did believe in Luna’s words, actually. The issue lied in the fact that he didn’t believe any of this was real. He had a rough day after all, so maybe, his mind was making up for it by creating a magical dream in which he’s a superhero. Someone wanted, someone needed! Someone useful and important! And he was going to enjoy this dream for as long as it lasted.

He put his hand in the air, pretending to stand in an epic pose, and shout the ‘magical phrase’ his ‘magical rat’ gave him.

“Moon Prism Power! Make-UP!”

 Max couldn't have possibly imagined what came next, as this energy bursted suddenly from his chest, it was a strong and powerful feeling surrounding his entire body, wrapping him in a cocoon of indescribable warmth. It was overwhelming, scary, yet exciting. It filled him with great joy and determination!

He closed his eyes, holding onto this feeling for as long as he could. But just as it came, the moment he opened his eyes, the feeling was completely gone. All that was left was him, standing in front of the big mirror, and Luna, who seemed quite happy for some reason.

He stared at Luna in confusion as to what just happened, before taking a look at himself in the mirror. There was something… different, Max had to take a moment to realize it, his chest bow seemed to have changed its color, he was wearing earrings too. And, did his skirt just… shrink?

No, that wasn’t quite it, this was an entire different outfit. What Max was wearing was a white leotard with a chest protector over it, and a blue collar with two white stripes. He also had white shoulder pads, gloves, and a blue skirt, along with a big red-ish pink bow at the center of his chest and his back, a choker and a pair of red boots of the same color, with a white border at the top.

His boots had golden crescent moon ornaments, just like his earrings and his choker. And the crown of it all was his tiara, which has special ornaments and a dark pink gem at the center.

What the hell was all this?

 “So, how’s that for a proof?” Luna spoke. “Do you understand what I’m saying now?”

 Max took a good look at his new clothes, feeling the texture of his gloves and admiring how his new jewelry shined. He felt an unusual comfort, even more than earlier today when he wore his other uniform, this suit just felt…Right.

 He giggled. “Look at me! I look like a superhero!”

“Max!”

“Aw, don’t worry Luna, I said I believed you!”

“That’s good, but I’m afraid you’re still not taking me seriously! Just-- Quit spinning around, please, and listen!”

“Yeah, yeah, sure!” Max waved his hand in a condescending manner. “So, what else do I need to know-?”

Suddenly, at that moment, the gem in his tiara began to project an intense shine. Max’s ears began to twitch as they captured a sound, it was muffed, but Max made an effort to pay closer attention, until the sound began surrounding him. It was a voice, a plea, and it didn't take long for him to recognize the person making it. It was his friend Inés.

  Max was surrounded in this aura of danger and malice, but he was the only one who could perceive it. All that Luna saw was how the teen was completely ignoring her instructions, and she was getting tired of this treatment. “Max, can you hear me?”

“Inés? But how…?”

“MAX!”

“AH!”

Max pressed his hand against his chest, the threatening aura had finally disappeared. “Ah, Luna, you startled me!”

“Startled you?”

 She started connecting the dots in her head.

 “You heard a cry of help, didn’t you?”

“‘Cry of help’…Yeah, you could say that.”

“Tell me, what did you hear?”

“Umm, well…” Max rested his left hand on his waist, rubbing his chin with one finger of his right hand. “I think I heard Inés screaming! She said something about her mom, but I couldn't hear the rest.”

Luna stood up in the nightstand. “Inés is the girl that owns a Jewelry store, right? Perhaps the store is being robbed. Max, now that you've transformed into a Sailor Soldier, you must go and help her!”

“…Eh?”

Luna pointed a finger at Max, accentuating his importance at this moment in time. “Consider this your first training session. Now go there and save Inés! Go, Sailor Moon!”

 ‘Sailor Moon’, was that supposed to be his ‘hero’ name? Well, it certainly had a nice ring to it.

Wait, but that would imply he would actually have to fight people, hand to hand combat. Well, maybe he could bite them in the arm and they would eventually give up!

But wait! Most thieves are armed, right? And they’re very dangerous by nature! And Max could barely remember the last time he had a fight, he must’ve been as tall as a chair back then!

…Actually, he hasn’t grown all that much since then, he still had issues sitting in chairs that were not made specifically for small creatures like him.

 “Wait, me?” Max made a gesture pointing at his own face. “You’re talking about me? Shouldn’t we, uh… Call the police for this kind of thing?”

“Forget the police! Now, let’s go save your friend!”

  Luna immediately ran to the window and proceeded to carefully walk on the house’s roof, climbing down a pipe to get to the ground. Max, who was sitting on his bed near the window, looked at her quite displeased.

  “Hey, hold on! Where are you going? You don’t expect me to jump from here now, do ya?”

“You’re a bunny, your species is agile. I'm sure you can handle a jump to the balcony on the lower floor”

“B-BUNNY? I am NOT…!” Max stopped his incoming rant, as he saw Luna climbing down the pipe with the least bit of interest in what he had to say.

 “Oh, I’ll show you…’Bunny’!”

 He carefully sat on the window as he kept mumbling under his breath. He was so angry at Luna that he almost forgot how dangerous the act he was doing truly was, which could be considered an advantage, as he did not hesitate when falling down from the window of his room to the balcony of the second floor. Once he realized he had landed without a single bruise, the next jump didn’t seem so scary, and proceeded to hold onto the other side of the wooden railing to do his second jump. “What a strange dream this is!” He thought, but this small act of bravery began to fill him with security, with a twist of excitement as to what dangers he’d find in the jewelry store.

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

  “No! Stop! Get away from me!”

Morgana laughed, slowly approaching the defenseless girl. As she walked, her body kept changing, almost deteriorating.

As the color of her skin was fading and her limbs began to extend in an unnatural manner, Inés kept clinging onto the piece of furniture she had cornered herself against, trying to look away from her. This creature, this… Monster. Was clearly not her mother, but her resemblance was still there, and she could not bear to see it rot in front of her.

“What’s wrong, darling? Are you afraid of seeing your own mother's face?”

“How dare you!” Inés was now in tears. She shut her eyes and confronted Morgana to the best of her ability. “What did you do to my mother? Where did you take her?!”

 Morgana violently stretched her arms directly towards the girl’s neck. She began to squeeze it little by litte, lifting her from the ground, as Inés struggled to break free.

 “Do you want to know what happened to your mommy? Do you want me to tell you what I really did to her?”

 The fear in Inés' eyes only fed Morgana’s cruelty even further. The teen kept struggling against her grasp, kicking her feet in the air, using all of the force in her body to push the monster away. But that force was fading, as Morgana continued to squeeze every bit of breath from her body

 “D’aww. Don’t you worry, little one. Soon, you and your mother will be together forever!”

  Morgana let out a strong, heartfelt laugh. Knowing she had successfully completed most of her task, and that no one could possibly stop her at this point.

 “STOP RIGHT THERE! You ugly WITCH!”

 Morgana freezes, letting go of Inés’ neck just for a second, enough for her to simply pass out from the exhaustion and dizziness. But not before her eyes managed to capture a single, small shadow, standing under the door of the jewelry store.

 Morgana stood still, only turning around her neck. She bitterly replied to the stranger. “Who is this? Who are you?!”

 “Aha! Excellent question. My name is…!”

 “…Hey, Luna. Who am I again?”

 Luna gave a harsh sigh. “You are Sailor Moon, the soldier of Love and Justice!”

 “AHA! Yes, I am…What she just said! And I’ve come here to kick your butt!”

 Max kept showing a confident smile on his face, which only further reflected his complete ignorance of what was at stake right now, and who was at the hands of Morgana right now. But Luna didn’t seem to notice the peculiarity of these actions. All she saw was Max’s cocky attitude taking over him, and decided to let it pass. It was better for him to be confident than afraid.

Morgana then responded with a loud, wicked laugh. Dropping the unconscious girl to the ground.

 “Sailor Moon?” She emphasized in a burlesque tone. “I've never heard of such a RIDICULOUS name ever before!”

Morgana stretched her hand back to the counter, grabbing the red artifact where she had stored all the human energy. She held it up, shouting. “Rise up, SLAVES! Come and serve the purpose of our dark mistress!”

 “Gee-eez!” Max held his ears down. “Keep it down, old lady! Are you trying to wake up the entire city?”

“Precisely.”

“…Huh?”

 There was a moment of silence inside the building.

Max then began to hear a particular sound, getting louder, closer. Until finally, he was able to recognize it. Steps. Many, Many steps behind him…

 “Wh- …HAAH?! WHAT ARE ALL THESE LADIES DOING HERE?!”

 Max turns around to discover a crowd of women standing right outside the jewelry store, all of which were wearing expensive jewelry accessories in different parts of their bodies. Their eyes were lost, as if a part of them was not even there at all. Max began to take a few steps back.

 “Now, slaves! Get rid of him!”

 “No. Wait, wait, wait. Timeout! TIMEOUT!”

 Max moved his feet and began to run as the crowd entered the building. They chased after him through every corner of the room, meanwhile Max clumsy, but effectively avoided the women’s grasps. He ran, crouched and jumped over every obstacle, not caring if he broke a piece of glass from one of the empty display cases.

“Luna! What am I supposed to do?”

“Stay still and calm down! Just give them a good punch!”

“WHAT? No WAY! I’m not gonna hit a buncha old ladies, one of them could be as old as my mom!”

“You have to defend yourself, Sailor Moon. Fight! Then your tiara, and…!”

Unexpectedly for Luna, one of the possessed women among the crowd had the clever idea of breaking one of those display cases, getting a fairly sized piece of broken glass in her hands.

She began to chase the Lagomorph with great speed, Max was barely able to escape her deadly hand swings. But once he managed to run past her, his feet tangled against one another, making him instantly fall in the pieces of shattered glass that were scattered on the ground.

He quickly gathered his composure and ran towards one of the pillars in the room, falling near it in the process. He leaned against it, using it as a support to stand up, but one of his feet had slipped and made his behind fall back on the floor.

 “I…I can’t…” He gasped. “I can’t keep up…Why…?”

 Then, the revelation laid right in front of his very eyes. A small, burning and fresh cut on one of his knees, which opened his eyes to all the small bruises he had accumulated on both of his knees.

But that couldn’t be possible, no. No way…

 Luna then appeared behind the pillar, whispering. “What are you doing, Sailor Moon? Stand up! You have to fight!”

 But Max, surprisingly, had nothing to respond.

 “Sailor Moon! They’re coming to get you, quickly!”

 The crowd was slowly surrounding the lagomorph. But he could only stare at his wounds. He mumbled something under his breath, something about his bruises.

 “Sailor Moon?”

 “…This isn’t a dream.”

 Max had finally managed to lift up his view and look around him, but it was far too late. The group of women had him trapped against the pillar. Max managed to catch a glimpse of a pair of legs, laying on the ground far away, before the group got in the way of his vision. He felt the air escaping from him, those clothes, could they have been Inés’s?

Was she…?

 “Look out, MAX!”

 Max was shook away from his thoughts by Luna.

Morgana, raising behind the crowd, began to stretch her limbs and reach out for Max from the other side of the room. Max could see the wrinkled hand getting closer, he could almost feel her long and red claws stabbing his neck. But it didn’t matter how much Luna, or himself, begged for his body to move; Max had been frozen in place.

 But then… A scream of pure pain came from Morgana. She had to stop her hand and return it to its place. A clear and burning cut on the back of her hand, but how? What could’ve possibly been the cause?

 “Who did this? Who are you?! SHOW YOURSELF!”

 The group of women began to stand back in confusion, allowing Morgana to see the other side of the room. Her victim was still in the exact same spot, still paralyzed, but his gaze was focused somewhere else. Following his gaze, Morgana found the perpetrator of her wound embedded in the floor.

A single Red Rose.

 And suddenly. BANG! BANG! BANG!

One shot right after the other, more Roses of red and white colors began to stab the floor. A column of Roses was formed, and before anyone in the room could breathe, an explosion surrounded the women. They had no choice but to run back to Morgana, as a thick smoke screen began to fill the room.

 “S-Sailor Moon!” Luna covered her mouth with one hand and squeezed her nose with the other, containing her coughs the best she could. She called out to her pupil, but he was no longer there.

Max had his eyes shut tightly, unknowing of the fuss that was going on. He felt a strange, but comforting warmth surrounding him, making him hold tightly onto it.

It was then he heard a particular melody, a short ballad being whistled in a soothing manner. He opened his eyes with slight fear, looking for the source of the melody.

A tall, masculine figure covered in black, and a white mask covering his eyes. He was holding Max firmly with only one of his arms, using the other to spin his cane in the air and dispel the smoke that came from the floor below. The fabric of the clothing was something Max had never seen before, it was smooth and sparkling. But what concerned him most, was how familiar this was, how familiar the stranger’s shape really was…

 Morgana, along with her mind controlled slaves, were immediately drawn by the movement at the second floor. As the smoke began to fade, the unwanted stranger’s shape became clearer to them.

“Show yourself, coward! How dare you hurt ME, Morgana! Faithful servant of Lord Jadeite!”

 The stranger then spoke directly to the crowd.

 “To harm innocent lives is simply an act of cowardice, no matter the reasons, and I am not one to stand such vile acts. Whoever you are, I will make sure to put you back to the hellish hole you came out of!”

“Such insolence…!” Morgana hissed. “SLAVES! Teach this fool a lesson!”

 The group under Morgana’s control went directly to the door behind the counter, but were unable to reach it in time. A single shot echoed inside the store, and just like that, a red rose had been put in their way, making them run to the other direction before it inevitably exploded.

 Max stared at the gun in awe. It was a gorgeous weapon of a pure white color, with a flower pattern all over the frame, and small vines drawn at the top of the barrel. He had never seen anything like it.

 The stranger in black put down the lagomorph, walking towards the balcony as he re-loaded his gun. Max’s jaw almost dropped when he realized he was using rose seeds. He at least expected a fully bloomed rose, as that would’ve made much more sense in his head. Regardless, how could that even be possible? Was he really, truly awake?

 “So, lil’ pal. Any ideas on how to get rid of the ol’ witch down there?”

“Huh?” Max blinked twice. “Ah- Yeah! I mean, I-I’m here for that! …I think?”

 A couple of shots echoed in the room. Followed by the screams of distress of the group of women running in circles.

 “Perfect. Then I’m counting on ya to take her down.”

“And what are you gonna do, uhhh…” Max took a second to get his thoughts together. “...‘Mister’?”

 The stranger pushed his large cape aside, revealing a device of a small grappling hook on his belt. He shot the grappling hook towards the giant chandelier, tensioning the cable to make sure it was secure.

 “I'll be the distracting factor.”

 And just like that, the stranger jumped from the balcony right into action. Using his weight, he rocked around the room in a circle. The women would run from one direction to the other, desperately avoiding the red roses the stranger in black would shoot.

It was a sight of chaos, a black smoke began to cover the first floor as more roses kept exploding, marks of dust were all over the floor and the walls; and the women ran desperate like chickens. Morgana, being unable to instruct them properly, started to lose her patience. She tried to reach out the stranger with her other hand, which only resulted in yet another injury on the back of her hand.

Max was having the time of his life watching everything unfold from the second floor, but what fascinated him most, was the stranger.

Max wasn’t sure if this man was probably used to this environment. Maybe he had seen many other ugly monsters that possess humans for their evil schemes, it had to be that. Otherwise, how could he be so confident in his actions?

He swayed around, from left to right, every shot landing exactly where it needed to. And despite the havoc he was causing, not a single rose managed to hurt the ladies.

The stranger was in his playground, the smile on his face could not be hidden behind that mask.

And something about that fact brought butterflies to Max’s stomach…A sight only for him to admire, only for him to remember. No one but him. That brought a big, goofy smile to his face.

 “SAILOR MOOON!”

 Max screeched. As if he had just been caught doing something dirty.

 “L-Luna! I-I wasn’t…!”

“I’ve been calling you out three times now! I swear, you’re living up in the clouds.”

“Hey! That’s-”

“Ah-Ah!” Luna exclaimed, putting her paw right in front of Max’s face as a gesture to silence him. “Now listen to me! While that guy down there is messing around with the mob, you need to sneak behind Morgana and finish her off.”

“Ah-Ha. Yeah. And how exactly am I gonna do that?!”

“You’re right, I did not mention this before, I’m sorry.”

“You should be! I could’ve been killed down there-!“

“Please, pay close attention!” Luna now had both paws over Max’s mouth. “The tiara you’re wearing isn’t a mere piece of jewelry, it’s a weapon. You need to call it by shouting ‘Moon Tiara…’”

 Another couple of explosions were heard from the down floor, slightly shaking the second floor.

 “…And then throw it at the enemy!”

“Uhm-Hum. Und whot iff I fail?”

“You won’t! The tiara will never fail you. Now get down there and show that old hag who’s boss!”

 Luna then put her hands away from Max’s mouth and jumped to his shoulder, as he carefully got on top of the balcony. He tried not to look down, feeling his legs shaking slightly by the mere thought of it. Sure, he had previously jumped from a high place and landed safely, but that was before he discovered it was all real. That confidence he had built up before was now completely gone.

 “Are you sure I’m not just gonna. Y’know. Die?”

“Just relax, you’re a Sailor Soldier. Hard as a rock!”

 And just before Max could give his last protest, Luna used her own weight to push Max down, forcing him to Jump.

 While the stranger kept terrorizing the ladies, Morgana kept screaming at the top of her lungs for one of them to PLEASE do something about the intruders. Meanwhile, Max had landed on the ground safely, and was getting ready to summon his attack.

 He reached out to the tiara, and the red gem at the center began to shine with intensity. Once he removed the tiara from his head, the piece had transformed into a disc shape with a sharpened outer edge. It was shining bright as a star, Max could feel the warmth coming from the object.

He knew what he had to do.

 He held the weapon tight, took air into his lungs, and shouted...

 “MOON TIARA… CHAKRAM!”

 And WOOSH! He threw the weapon with all of the strength in his arm.

The tiara flew at great speed across the room, past Morgana. And she turned around to see where that breeze had come from.

 “…It’s you!” Morgana wrinkled her nose and began to stretch her limbs again, making her taller, and taller... “You, little pest! I’m gonna make you pay for what you’ve done…!”

 But then…

  SLASH!

 The Tiara had returned, slicing Morgana’s neck side to side! Her head coming off of her body, and one last expression of pure disbelief plastered all over her face. Her body almost immediately dropped the red artifact, shattering into tiny pieces the moment it reached the ground, and all the stolen energy began returning to their rightful owners.

The giant and beheaded corpse began to highlight a shine coming from the neck, running all across the body. And just like that, Morgana was gone with a bang.

 Max stood still for a couple of seconds. He then slowly lifted his head from behind the display case he was hiding at.

“Is it over…?”

Luna came out and began to search for any sight of Morgana, only finding a pile of powdered clay in the middle of the room, alongside the shards of the container of human energy. Meanwhile, the women that had been previously brainwashed, were now laying down on the floor unconscious.

 “I think so. Good job, Sailor Moon!”

 Max let out a deep sigh, but the night was not over yet.

Both Luna and Max turned around the moment they heard a heartfelt laugh coming from the second floor, at the other side of the room. It was the stranger in black.

 “Good job, lil’ buddy. We got rid of that monster just in time!”

Max got out of his hiding place, fixing his skirt in a quick manner. “Ah, yeah! Th-Thank you for your help!”

The man chuckled. “No, thank you. This night would not have been nearly as entertaining without you.”

 A warm, intense feeling began burning Max’s cheeks. Which he quickly dismissed. “Ahaha! Oh, well. You know! That’s my job.”

“Oh?” The stranger fixed his mask in a playful manner. “Am I in the presence of a hero?”

“That’s right! My name is Sailor Moon, and don’t you dare forget it!”

“I would never.” He smiled.

 The stranger then searched inside his jacket. “Here, a hero deserves a reward!”

 He threw an object at Max, who, miraculously, managed to catch it in the air. He kept the object inside his hands for a moment, trying to take a guess before opening up the surprise. The object was small, but heavy and with sharp edges.

 “Eh…?”

 Max opened his hands. The object was a white gemstone, sparkling many other colors in the palm of his hands. It was gorgeous, certainly pretty expensive, but where did he…?

…Oh.

 “Hold it…DID YOU STEAL THIS JUST NOW?”

The stranger laughed once again, and said his goodbyes before jumping outside the window, leaving the store for good.

 “W-WAIT!”

 Max ran outside the store. Luna chased after her pupil.

“STOP RIGHT THERE, YOU THIEF! YOU CAN’T JUST…!”

 Max felt the time freezing, just for a moment. He saw the stranger do many impossible things tonight, but this might be the one that takes the cake.

After the stranger had jumped from the window of the second floor, he managed to land at the top of a light pole in the street. Not a single scratch was done to the material, and not a single sight of hesitation was visible from the man. With a single foot, he firmly jumped again from the light pole. Now floating high in the sky, light as a feather, with all the city streets shining below him.

How…How was he capable of such wonders? No creature on earth should be capable of these acts. And yet, in front of his very eyes, there he was defying everything Max took for a fact.

The stranger looked down to the lagomorph one last time.

 “Remember me as well. My name is Tuxedo Mask. We’ll meet again, Sailor Moon…”

 Max was left in a trance, unable to look away from the man. Many thoughts rushed through his mind, and not a single one connected with the other. And just like that, by the mere blink of an eye, the stranger was gone. Max was only left with a single piece to remember the encounter, which he held tightly to his chest, as if desperate to cling onto something that was real. Something that could tell him this was, indeed, not a dream.

 “Sailor Moon! Let’s move!” Luna appeared right behind him.

“Huh…?” It took a moment, but Max was finally set free from his thoughts. “Ah, right! Yeah! But, what about the store-?”

“-Inés!” Max started to panic. “She’s still inside! I have to check on her!”

“Calm down, calm down!” Luna got in his way before he tried to enter the store again. “She’s perfectly fine, if only unconscious like everyone else!”

“But…!”

 Both Luna and Max twitched their ears, as they felt something approaching at great speed, but still quite far away. A bunch of loud sounds coming from many cars in movement.

 “The police. Just in time.” Luna snickered. “We have to leave now, or else we’re gonna be here all night!”

 Max found himself in a small dilemma. He knew what would happen if the cops found him in the middle of the crime scene, and would probably not believe him if he told them a giant monster that looks like a witch came in and caused all of this mess.

As the sirens began to sound louder and clearer, he realized he couldn’t ignore his decision any longer. Leaving Inés alone, as bad as it felt, was the only thing he could do.

 “…Damn it.”

 And so, Max and Luna made a run for it.

 The police arrived almost immediately after the duo’s escape, with an ambulance. And from one of the cars, a tall and distinguished man was the first to come out and enter the building.

The first thing the police noticed was the amount of bodies all over the floor. They were immediately checked upon and assisted by the paramedics. The distinguished man then commanded his team to search around the area, as he walked around the room digging for some clues himself.

Very deep inside the room, far away from everything, the man found a small white rose still embedded in the floor. Its petals were closed, it seemed like it had not bloomed yet. He got on his knees to take a closer look…

 “Inspector Kamino! Don’t!”

 One of the police men tried to warm him, but it was too late, the rose opened its petals and blew up on the Inspector’s face. He was not injured, but instead received all of the thick, white smoke the rose released.

 The inspector stood up and covered his mouth and nose with his forearm. “What the hell is this?!”

 “It’s another one of Tuxedo Mask’s toys, sir! It’s brand new.”

 “Goddamn it! Fell for it immediately.” He coughed.

 “There’s also marks of small explosions all over the walls and the floor. There’s no doubt he was here.”

 “Hmm…” The inspector scratched his chin, making a loud sound as his fingernails scratched his beard. “He was definitely here, but…He’s not one to make such a mess. He’s usually a lot more, y’know, subtle.”

 “Do you think someone else was involved?”

 “Possibly, it does look like a war zone here. Keep searching, we’ll interrogate the victims later.”

 “Inspector Kamino!” Another policeman came in. “We found a woman in the store’s basement! She’s still conscious, but needs help immediately.”

 The inspector ordered to bring more paramedics before running back with the second police man back to the basement, hoping to get a bit of info from the woman before she was taken away. He needed to know just what happened to this place, and who exactly was behind all of this.

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

  Meanwhile, back at the cold, desolated castle. The tall, anthropomorphic dog known as Jadeite, had been carefully watching the events of that night from a purple crystal ball. From the moment that ‘Sailor Moon’ arrived, to the moment where his clay doll had been beheaded in cold blood. A shame, really. Morgana was one of his favorites, always did her job, until now. She had grown overly confident, and she let two intruders ruin their plans. Only a fool could’ve made such a mistake.

Because of this mistake, they just lost a great amount of human energy, and that meant their plans would be horribly delayed. Jadeite was furious, truly. But he would not allow this inconvenience to get the better of him.

 “Such a waste of good clay, that was…” Said Jadeite in a cold tone. His blue eyes fixed on the Crystal Ball. The images had stopped to a certain moment where Sailor Moon’s face was the most visible.

“Sailor Moon…I’ll remember your name. And I’ll make sure the next doll takes special care of you next time.”

 The light of the Crystal Ball began to blink, little by little losing its power. Until finally its light faded, leaving Jadeite alone, surrounded by darkness…

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

 The next morning, Max attended school like usual. Except this time, little ol’ Luna decided to accompany him. It was a shocker finding her inside the school grounds, but luckily, it seemed no teachers had noticed her presence so far.

During recess, Max was walking around the corridors of the school, searching for his friends, when he stopped at a corner to see a big surprise. His friend, Inés, was safe and sound! She was talking to her group of friends like usual, seemingly excited about the subject of the conversation.

Max had not seen Inés in the first hours of class that morning, so he had assumed she was going to stay home that day. But of course, someone as remarkable as her wouldn't let this situation stop her from fulfilling her duty as a young citizen. Inés wasn’t exactly a nerd, unlike Lorne, but she was committed. Something Max genuinely admired about her.

However, as much as he wished to, Max couldn’t bring himself to talk to his friend. He still felt quite guilty for having to leave her behind, and did not know how to act casual about everything that happened last night. What if Inés started to suspect him? How could he possibly explain something not even he understands? He began to hold his skirt tightly, trying to control his nerves.

Instead, both he and Luna decided to eavesdrop on the group of teens.

 “And then! Then she- grabbed me by the neck! And started to squeeze me, harder and harder!” Inés made a gesture with her hands near her neck. She then showed her classmates the remaining marks she had on her neck from last night, to prove it was real.

 Her friends gasped at the horrific tale. “How did you manage to escape?!” Amano asked with a certain corner in her tone.

“I’m not sure.” Said Inés. “I think…There was someone else there.”

“Someone else? Like who?” asked Suri.

“I didn’t see them clearly, but…”

“Uh-hu?” said everyone.

“…I think it was a hero. Before I passed out, I heard them say ‘stop right there, ugly witch!’.” Inés made a voice she considered cool to imitate her hero. “And then they said something about being a Sailor.”

“Sailor? Like Sailor V?!” Lorne jumped immediately into the convo.

 “Sailor V.” Max chuckled in a derogatory manner. “She wasn’t even near the area!”

“Shh!” Said Luna, trying to listen to the kid’s conversation further.

 “No…” Inés continued. “This one was nothing like Sailor V. I don’t know who they were, or how they look. But they saved me and my mother’s life. I can never repay that.”

 Those words made Max show a smile from cheek to cheek. It was all he needed to hear, that his actions had caused a good outcome, that he had finally done something right for someone! He stopped listening to the conversation and rested against the wall, letting out a rewarding sigh.

 “Well, at least we know she’s not gonna be an issue.” Said Luna.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I was worried she might have caught you, of course! You need to be careful with your identity, Max. If someone else found out you’re a Sailor Soldier…”

“Well, I’m sure Morgana appreciated you telling her my real name before I cut her head off.” Max replied sarcastically.

Luna started to babble for a second. “W-w-well! It was a matter of life and death! Y-you weren’t moving, and I was…!”

 Luna stared at the lagomorph with a certain shame in her eyes. She then sighed.

 “I’m so sorry I put you through all of that, Max. I assumed the moment you transformed, your will as a Sailor would wake up with you! But that was careless of me, and I should’ve explained to you how to fight before sending you there. I’m deeply sorry, child.”

“Geez…” Max chuckled. “Don't get all mushy on me now, grandma! It’s okay, I forgive you.”

“You’re sure!”

“Of course!” Max gave her a big smile. “Besides, had we not gone there, who knows what would’ve happened to all those victims…!”

 Max twitched his left ear. Seemingly freezing in his place.

Luna stared at the kid with concern, until she started to hear it too.

Loud footsteps began approaching the duo, the kind of footsteps only a tall creature could make. Max looked towards the direction they were coming, and his heart dropped the very second he laid eyes on that person. With his brown, brushed fur, his long, fluffy ears, and a sparkling clean Gakuran.

It was him, the man he saw the other day outside the jewelry store. But, he was actually a student? Oh, how stupid Max must’ve looked calling him a “Sir”.

But that wasn’t all that was in his mind.

As the anthro dog walked in front of him, Max gave him a second, much careful look. And even after the guy had already walked past him, Max continued to stare at him. From the back of his head, to his shoulders, the size of his arms, all of his shape spoke to him…

After all this time. All these years. Could it be? Could it really be him…?

 “…Sam.” He whispered.

Notes: 

"Cabro" o "Cabrito": Is a word used in Chile to refer to a young boy. But the literal spanish to english translation would be "goat".

Bento: a Japanese-style packed lunch, consisting of items such as rice, vegetables, and sashimi.

Tamagoyaki: A sweet rolled Japanese omelette.

Gakuran: Classic Japanese Male uniform.