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heartofsnark · 3 years

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Can You Feel The Sun? (Chapter Eight): Icarus Falls

Notes: Why, yes, I am posting these relatively quickly. This is the last of a backlog since I’m actively still working on the next chapter, This is a doozy of a chapter, both emotionally and length wise, but I’m rather proud of it, if I’m being honest. I recommend settling in a snack and maybe...just maybe some tissues....

Word Count: 15327

Chapter Warnings: Multiple deaths, violence, gore, grief, angst.

If you haven’t yet, you can read the previous chapter here!~

V and Jackie get into the backseat of the Delamain taxi. White and tan leather interior, despite looking the nicest she ever has in twenty years she still feels like she might stain the white leather. No driver, instead there’s screens and consoles in the back of the seats in front of them. An avatar of a bald man with stark unnaturally white skin and blue lips

“Welcome on board this Delamain service. With Delamain, you leave your problems at the door,” the AI avatar greets them in a robotic voice.

“Son of a bitch! Better fuckin' believe I will!” Jackie yells out, still grinning. V lets out a breath of air meant to sound like a laugh, but the lump in her throat isn’t making it any easier.

“I see no reason why you should be using expletives.”

“Sorry, he gets… excited.” Her voice is tighter than she wants it to be, her leg bouncing now.

“Damn right, I’m excited. Hey, Del, what about that time I wanted to hire you for my cousin's bachelor party, huh?”

“Unfortunately, we do not take on such contracts.”

“Three months I'd been savin' up scratch… Egh, water under the bridge. Hit it, Del!”

“Before we begin our journey, I must verify the identities of all customers. Please proceed to connect your personal links,” the mercs plug their personal links into the console, “Thank you. "Excelsior" package activated.”

Crisp subtitles for Delamain alight along her contacts, more comprehensive than the lip reading tech sometimes gives. Maybe his AI avatar enunciates more properly than a human, she wonders.

“"Excelsior"? Hohoho, this just keeps gettin' better!”

Jackie laughs as the taxi cab starts to drive and V finds herself fiddling with her suit sleeve. It’s perfectly tailored, but she still feels like a kid in dress up. Having to pretend she’s a corpo, having to pretend to be a hearing person. Her bright painted nails seem to clash so much with the persona and she curses herself for not changing the polish. What if they’re caught right away? The corps smelling Heywood and The Badlands on them the second they walk through the door. What if the spoofed SID hack doesn’t work, what if the bot malfunctions… What if, what if, what if; spins around her brain. They can’t fuck this up, there’s no room for mistakes. One disaster will destroy their reputations, hell their entire merc careers. And that's the best case scenario.

When she glances at Jackie there’s no hint of nerves, no hint of reservation or fear, just giddy excitement. Like a kid getting ready to hit up a party.

“What’s got you riled up?” She asks in spoken English, deciding she’ll mostly speak for the ride since Jackie is the only person really here, that way he doesn’t have to look at her the entire time. And maybe she’s also hoping if she talks enough she won’t clam up too bad in Konpeki.

“Hang on, watch this… Delamain! Initiate combat mode!”

She can see the bright red ink of his tattoo peeking from his suit sleeve, eyes drawn to it, and something about that scares her more; a hint of his Valentino roots showing, would it be a literal red flag for Konpeki security.

“My apologies, but you do not appear to be in any sort of imminent danger,” Delamain crushes Jackie’s hopes, a frown replacing his grin.

“Huh… Oh well. Trust me, he'll mow down an army of ‘Saka ninjas if it comes down to it,” Jackie explains to V and she wraps her arms around herself, resisting the desire to bring her legs up into the seat, trying to get her mind off her nerves.

“So, what else is included in Excelsior mode?” V tries signing to the AI, curious if it has translation tech for ASL.

“Comprehensive health coverage, including the handling and disposal of a client's remains should death occur on board,” Delamain responds without hesitation and instantly ruins any chance of her getting her mind off the massive risks within this job.

“Damn. Shit got dark pretty quick,” Jackie comments.

“Dex isn’t skimping though.”

“And thanks to you, we're still gettin' a juicy forty percent.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Excelsior…This is how you wanna cruise into the major leagues…” He says like the job is already done and they’re hitting up an after party…

“Wouldn’t get too excited yet, Jack, doing a job not hitting up a party.” And her words are too sharp, voice too venomous and rough in her throat. She regrets it as soon as they leave her lips, as soon as she’s spoken them into reality, wishing she could swallow them back down. His face drops completely, eyes harsh and she knows she fucked up.

“For real, V…? See me as that shallow?”

“I-”

“Lemme explain somethin' to you, V… My whole life I've spent in this shit around us! And I ain't goin' back!”

“I’m sorry, really, I just… I’m worried and I let my nerves talk for me, I’m sorry.” She quickly tries to smooth it over, those knots in her gut only winding tighter with Jackie mad at her.

“Swear to christ, V, I will never fucking get you,” he says, shaking his head and looking out the window.

“What do you mean?”

“Twenty years old, sitting in the back of a Delamain, on your way to do a job for Dex fuckin’ Deshawn and you can’t even muster a fuckin smile? You fuckin’ know what I’d have done to be where you are right now when I was your age, I was still dreaming of seeing The Afterlife! Took you less than a year to be here, took me ten! And you ain’t even happy about it! Then you act like I’m not takin’ it serious, like I don’t got my fuckin’ head in the game, just cause you can’t appreciate where the fuck you are right now!”

She chews her lip, not sure what to say to him. Guilt coming over her. He’s right, she hasn’t lived in Night City nor been a merc nearly as long. He’s been doing this since he left the Valentinos… For Jackie this has been a lifelong dream, the ultimate goal. She didn’t even consider it a possibility until she met him and now she’s already on her way there. Of course he’s happy, on the precipice of his dreams coming true.

“I’m sorry, really I didn’t mean to piss on your parade.”

“Yet somehow you always do.”

V sighs watching the city pass outside her window for a few more moments, tapping her fingers, that knot feels like a ball of lead now. She wants to claw her skin off, tear and tear away at herself, at her being, and maybe, just maybe she’ll find someone better under the gore. Someone who isn’t such a fucking asshole. Someone who knows how to keep their mouth shut and doesn’t ruin everything for everyone else. She’ll never understand why Jackie puts up with her, why he has for so long. She just doesn’t want to fuck this up. The job, her friendship, the little bit of happiness she’s built. V wrings her hands together, tight enough to hurt and she twists them a little harder, nails digging into the skin. If she can’t find anyone better maybe she’ll just claw away until she’s nothing at all.

She’s already a bundle of nerves over the heist and she can’t stand another moment of the tension hanging thick in the air.

“Did you fuck my wife?” She says in her best imitation of something between an Italian and a Brooklyn accent, watching Jackie’s face, the hint of a smile tugging at it. Tension starting to melt ever so slightly.

“Don’t get me started,” he returns forcing the same cheesy voice.

“Did you fuck my wife?”

“I think you fucked my wife and got me started.”

“I got started cause you fucked my wife.”

“I could trace back the moment I got started it’d definitely be when you fucked my wife!”

“That is unquestionably when I got started!” They’re smiling now, giggling at every other word as they choke on their cheesy jokes. Tension melts away as a weight is being lifted off her chest.

“My records indicate that neither of you are married.”

And they lose it, laughter filling the car at Delamain’s interjection to their stupidity. Its ridiculous and dumb and they sound like children. But, she’s thankful for the moment, the reprieve, where it’s laughter and not nerves tearing at her guts.

A call notification lights up on V’s optic contacts, T-Bug’s avatar and V answers, the runner’s voice coming just a moment later.

“Hey. How's things?”

“Eh,” Jackie answers, “been better, been worse.”

“We’re nearing our destination,” Delamain tells them and V’s throat tightens.

“Listen, set up a direct, encrypted line to guide you through Konpeki. V, ring Jackie now, see if we're in sync. Can't be too careful.”

She puts a call through to Jackie, inteface telling her it’s establishing a secure connection.

“And?” Bug asks, expectantly.

“Got static,” Jackie cringes, “Say somethin', Bug?”

“The greatest crimes issue from a desire for excess and not from necessity."

“Say what now?”

“Yeah, I read you. Not so much your Greek friend, though it was kind of exciting,” Jackie tells her with the ghost of a smile on his lips.

“Could give it some thought, try to understand…? How 'bout you, V?”

“I want more Aristotle!”

“Fuck off, both.”

Jackie and V share a giggle at the runner’s expense, V’s going to miss when Bug goes into retirement. If all works out, even on the brighter side, it may be the last time all three of them work together. But at least Bug will be happy and safe, unlike V or Jackie, this was never her dream or end goal.

“OK, tech checks out, looks like,” T-Bug confirms.

“Será mejor que sí…”

“Stay in touch”

And V just realizes the taxi has stopped moving, through Jackie’s window she can see the front entrance of the hotel. The bright red exterior walls, a worker standing at the ready and those nerves are clawing their way back with a vengeance, tearing up her insides and making her want to bolt, terrified that they’lll be found out as soon as they step foot in. They need to get moving, only way to get through the fear is to take control, do what needs to be done. And hopefully avoid puking in the back of an expensive AI taxi.

“Thank you for choosing the Delamain service. And best of luck. I shall await here for your return.”

“Shit's finally happenin’… “

“Its game time, got any iron left on you, time to put it away,” she tells him, tucking her gun and knife into the center compartment. Jackie following suit. V tugs off her suit jacket and rolls her white sleeves to her elbows, making sure her blades are accessible from the start.

“Alright, Hannah, let’s go.”

V opens the door of the Delamain, greeted by the view in front of the hotel, in the distance she can see the space travel facility, night settled over the water. The hotel has trees and plants out front, trying to sprinkle some nature into the cement and chrome world of Night City. She carries her suit jacket over her shoulder, keeping one hand busy with it, while the other sits in her pocket. Hoping it will keep her from signing if she needs to talk.

“Hold on, lemme grab the Flathead.” Jackie pops the trunk of the taxi and pulls out the case with the bot.

The mercs take the two marble steps up, a vibrant stript of red along the path.There’s long white marble with planters and the name of the hotel inscripted in gold.

“'Member, reservation's in your name… Ramón. You're there to meet Hajime Taki - military tech department rep. Papers are for the Flathead” T-Bug tells them as they get closer to the double doors.

“Welcome to Konpeki Plaza,” a man in a red, black, and gold uniform greets them, bowing his head as they pass by.

There’s a large waiting room, white couches along the sides with monitors displaying documentaries and vases with red hologram plants branching out of them. A security gate divides the waiting room from the front desk, scanners to check each guest for weaponry. Beyond it she can see staff with gold plated skin. All non-security personnel of the hotel are gold plated; receptionists, concierge, bartenders, and the like. A requirement for the job, even staff must match the aesthetic.

“Welcome to Konpeki Plaza. Please come through single file,” The guard tells them as they reach the full body scanner.

“You got it, holm-- uh, ahem, sir,” Jackie stumbles and V screams internally, watching her friend step forward. Blue light crackles along him, like lightning, then it flashes red. Misty’s warning of mean reds, flaring in V’s mind.

“Ahem. Hold on got something,” the guard stops Jackie before he can go any further, “Sir, care to explain why you're bringin’ a combat bot onto Konpeki Plaza premises?”

“Arms dealers.” V yells out quickly, hating how forced it sounds, tightening her fingers in her jacket, desperate not to sign on instinct and not realizing she forgot the ‘we’re’ part of her sentence until she finished saying it.

“Excuse me?”

“Ah!” A gold skinned concierge steps over, “You are here to see Taki-san, am I right? Please accept my apologies for the confusion.”

“Pff,” Jackie scoffs as the concierge bows and walks into the lobby, waiting at the front desk.

V steps into the scanner, guard assuring her it will only take a moment. It distorts her vision, crackling it with blue for just a moment. Then the guard tells her to go ahead and she walks forward, meeting Jackie at the desk. A woman with gold skin, black hair all shaved except for the bangs and sidelocks greets them. And V is starting to notice that the Arasaka logo is everywhere, the corp hotel owned by them. On the screens, gold emblazoned on marble planters, and on pamphlets. The hotel and Arasaka logo are clearly one in the same.

“Youkoso. Greetings and welcome to Konpeki Plaza,” she says bowing her head to them and V returns the gesture.

“We’d like to check in,” Jackie says and V sends him a silent thanks for talking. .

“Of course, just a moment, please” the receptionist taps away at a keyboard, “The name on the reservation is…?”

“Victorino.”

“Double room, two adults, one night. Correct?”

“That’s the one,” V tells her, with a tight nod.

“Perfect… I will go ahead and notify Taki-san of your arrival.”

“Shit, no good, not part of the plan. Talk her up, V, stall!” T-Bug yells out over the call and V is once again wanting to scream.

“That, uh, won't be necessary,” she curses herself for stuttering, “We'll go freshen up first, notify him ourselves.”

“But Taki-san is expecting you, no…?”

“Senorita, do you know how long we been traveling? Eighteen hours from New Barcelona. With a delay on Metakey 'cause some cyberpsycho blew himself into bits inside the terminal…”

“Been a nightmare, ugh.”

“Of course, I understand. You will be in the Lapis Lazuli Suite on level forty-two. Oh, one more little formality… Please validate your SID chip.”

“Honor's all yours, Hannah.”

A tablet on the table lights up with a bright blue handprint and she’s reminding of her issue getting into her own apartment. Bug said she put a temporary hack on their SID chip, but there’s an extra twinge of anxiety as V lays her hand down on it. She half expects it to show a senior citizen, to be outed as a fraud and tossed out the door.

“Everything seems to be in order. We wish you a pleasant stay!~”

“Better get goin'.”

V murmurs a thanks, feeling a bit of relief at having that part of this whole thing done. Playing corpo is somehow more stressful to her than the idea of breaking into Yorinobu’s penthouse. She follows behind Jackie. Large marble planters fill the lobby, some with trees that nearly touch the staggeringly high ceiling.

“New Barcelona? Really?” T-Bug comments as V follows Jackie up a short set of marble steps.

“It's called improvisin' - you should try it,” V stares up at a gold framed painting, “Whaddaya think, Hannah"?

“...” V raises an eyebrow at him with a soft noise in her throat.

“Quaint, cozy. Not like the hotel we had in Zurich for that convention.”

“Don't need that, Jack. Enough.”

“What? I’m takin’ this seriously!” Jackie grumbles when T-Bug scolds him.

They take two turns through the lobby, guards passing by talking about dolls being left in rough shape as they near what looks to be a bar in the corner. It's an open pathway inside, the bar illuminated in pink and a gold plated woman stands at a podium bearing Arasaka’s logo. There’s a lit collection of alcohol behind the bar, liquor that costs more than V’s rent, which isn’t a hard feat but still rubs her the wrong way.

“Bar don't look too shabby.”

“We don't do reservations on weekdays, so feel free to grab any available table. Or a couple of stools at the bar if you prefer?” She explains to them, a valley girl accent to her words.

“Could bring Misty here one day. When we, uh… close this deal.”

“Might take a look around.”

The idea of sitting down, if only for a moment, and catching her breath after the close call in the lobby sounds nice. Her nerves are frayed already, she’s never wanted to drink so much on a job before. A quick breather before she has a full blown panic attack.

“Shit,” Jackie curses, “look like some fuckin' travelin' salesman with this case. Go ahead, I’ll go on upstairs.”

V nods, watching Jackie go to the elevator, a part of her feels guilty, but she doesn’t intend to take too long. And it’s not as if she’s made visiting bars on the job a habit before, she can have this one. She rubs a hand over the back of her neck, feeling the chrome indents of her Mantis Blades cooling the skin. Half of the room is a lounge with black couches and slick pink metallic chairs, terrariums built into the walls. The other half is, gold stools and booths before the neon pink bar. Each side is filled with people mingling, dressed in high fashion, people who’ve gambled away more money than she’s ever seen.

“And when I say heads're gonna roll, I don't mean it as a fucking turn of phrase,” a half drunk man slurs his speech at the golden bartender. The stench of whiskey clings heavy to his clothes.

“Had enough guy, don’t you think? You’re making the other customers uncomfortable,” the bartender sends a pointed look towards V, a slight twang in his voice. She was looking for a breather, not conflict.

“Good! 'Cause this affects them, too! It'll slap everyone in the face!”

“What’s that?’ She entertains him, figuring it might get the guy gone sooner.

“You wanna know what a bearer of bad news looks like? What's four hundred yards long, weighs a hundred thousand tons, and is nuclear powered…? The answer's docked in the bay! Hanako Arasaka decided -,” he hiccups, “decided to take a little vacation!

“Big deal.”

“Don't know how big just yet,” her sarcasm doesn’t penetrate the fog of whiskey, “And by the time we do, it'll.. it'll be too late. Screw this. I'm gonna get some sleep…”

With that the man stumbles away, taking the too strong smell of booze with him and the shining bartender turns to her. His shaved hair either red or pink, color distorted in the glowing light.

“Evenin, what can I get you, baby?”

Her nose wrinkles at the term of endearment, “little forward, don’t you think?”

“Suckled it outta my ma's very breast,” he returns, “Fifty percent protein, the other half pure high octane CHOOH2.”

He presses two gilded hands to the bar leaning forward as he regales his story and she can’t help but raise an eyebrow; he’s implying he’s a nomad, but why would he tell her that?

“What?”

“She had wind and dust in her hair, so to speak. Belonged to the Aldecaldos. Before the bombs began fallin'. Her final words? ‘Wherever you go, whatever you do, be yourself, David.’ And so I ended up here. Still no one but myself.”

He’s full of shit, she decides immediately. Maybe her own distrust or her own frustration, nobody with nomad blood would end up here, gold plated and slinging drinks to corpos. At the very fucking least, they wouldn’t act so damn happy about it.

“Lovely story if it wasn’t a crock of shit.”

“Everyone's making something up,” he smirks, “Just like you, baby.”

“Excuse you?” she chokes out, feeling like ice water has been shot through her veins. He’s seen through her, that implication clear, but how? Even regaling to her some fucked up story of being a nomad, like he could smell the dust of the badlands still on her skin.

“Can I getcha somethin'? At the least, water?”

“Bourbon and cherry coke.”

“You got it, baby.��

The repeated use of the pet name earns him a glare, V tapping her fingers against the bar, his story and perceptiveness making her nerves worse. He sets the drink on the table and she downs it with a gulp, alcohol not quite loosening her how she hopes. She sets the glass down and leaves the bar, it may be petty but she doesn’t leave him a tip, frustrated at the idea he could have seen through her.

She jabs the elevator button, tapping her foot as she waits and stares at some painting. Its all abstract bullshit, pretty colors, but she’s not sure she sees much else to them. The golden doors open, the back of the elevator windowed with what looks like foliage inside, maybe it’s just a screen. V steps inside and jabs to her level. And after just a short ride, it stops at her floor.

The doors open and she sees Jackie, looking over one of the art pieces, walking past a desk and concierge to greet him.

“About time,” he says, when he spots her, the pair making a beeline to the suite. They walk past a couple speaking Russian, talking about testing on people, as they find the door.

Jackie opens the door and she gets her first peek of it, stepping in. The furthest wall almost entirely windowed, looking out over the hills. Another expanse dedicated to a terrarium, a large plush bed, white sofas, and a table projecting hologram displays of fish. V tosses her suit jacket off onto the couch.

“Pretty snazzy. Too bad we ain't stayin' the night. Nice choice, Bug.”

“Didn't pick it for snazz. Offers quickest access to the dweller and servers.”

“Sí, sí, me acuerdo,” jackie grumbles as he puts the Flathead case down on a table in front of the terrarium. The little spider bot springs to life the second it’s case is opened.

“Now you fire up the Flathead and find the shaft entrance.”

“Sounds simple enough…”

“Simplicity's sometimes toughest to master,” T-Bug tells her.

“Aurelius? Aristotle? Who's it this time?”

“Yours truly, that one's mine.”

“Go ahead and find the shaft, chica, I’ll get the Flathead running.”

V nods and begins looking around the room, scanning around, finding the shaft after a short moment. A little square panel standing out on the wall next to the terrarium, scanner telling her it’s Flathead compatible.

“Found it.”

“Good. Jackie, how's the Flathead lookin'?” T-Bug asks, he’s put the control shard in one of his neuroports while V was looking for the shaft, eyes now glowing bright white blue.

“All set. Systems’re operational, charge at a hundred…,” a moment passes his expression furrowing as he shakes his head, “Mierda. Little gonk's stuck.”

“Just gonna stand there and look at it? Gonna have to switch to manual control. V, take the control shard from Jackie. Gonna link your Kiroshis to surveillance so you can guide the bot.”

“Why me, Jack’s got full blown optics?” She asks, as he pulls the control shard from his head.

“Yeah, but you got better tech, unlike someone I ain’t run up my tab with Vik. Got last-gen firmware low flow. May be contacts, but you’re working with top notch Kiroshi tech.”

“Plus someone already has some playtime with the bot,” T-Bug outs her and Jackie raises an eyebrow at V, a teasing smile on his lips.

“You played with the bot?”

“Just… give me the shard,” she takes it from Jackie’s hand, “Surveillance cover the whole hotel?”

“Mhm. Even the bedrooms in the suites.”

“Seriously?”

“You'd be surprised what people're willin' to give up to feel secure. Lucky for us, Yorinobu's an exception. Penthouse is dark, no hotel security.’

“Okay, here goes.” V pushes the control shard into the slot, the interface says it’s connecting her, then it glitches and in a moment she’s looking at herself and Jackie through the surveillance camera.

“Patching you through to in-cam view. Might get a little disoriented, but don't freak”

Her vision switches between rooms; a man getting a lap dance from a doll in a dimly room, two men in another hotel room. And then it lands on a third room. A meeting of four people; two Arasaka suits and two faces she vaguely recognizes. The view doesn't shift again and she takes the chance to look closer, talks of losing control of Watson, election season. And it clicks, the mayor of Night City.

“Camera’s set,” V tells Bug, political bullshit isn’t her business, she can see the vague outline of the Flathead creeping into the room. Only slightly visible to her thanks to her connection,

“Get him to the next vent.”

V scans and finds the next vent shaft tucked in the corner of the room, sending the Flathead to it. She watches as it crawls and creeps through the room.

“C’mon little buddy, you got it, yes,” She cheers on the little machine as it skitters across the camera and into the vent.

“It’s a Military grade combat bot, not your pet, V. Patching you into the next cam now.”

The next room appears, more brightly lit with two maids working to clean it. V goes to send the Flathead into the vent but the request is denied, detecting one of the cleaning ladies is too far into it’s path.

“Cleaning crew’s in the way,” V tells Bug, listening to one of the women start drooling over Yorinobu.

“Gotta distract her. Hmm, let's see what's on the subnet…temp control on the terrarium, sic the bot on it.”

V follows the runner’s orders scanning and sending the Flathead onto the temp control. Barely a moment passes before the maid’s notice, freaking out about how expensive it is. The merc takes her chance and sends the bot into the unblocked vent shaft.

“Little guy’s through.”

Next cam flickers into a green tinted maintenance hallway, the bots legs tinkering across the floor. Vent on the other side of the room, V sends it through, smiling as her little buddy makes his way through. And it brings her to a new camera, it looks like where the surveillance feeds lead to. A console and row of screens with a security guard watching them.

“Dweller's just beyond the door. Flathead can jimmy the lock.”

V sends the command, watching it scamper to the door, tendrils working at the lock. But nothing gives away.

“He’s having some trouble, poor feller.”

“Shit… Gotta be another way. Lemme think… Got another cam other side of the door, but it's disabled.’

“Got a CCTV port, might be able to enable it.”

“Go for it.”

The Flathead creeps across the room and jacks into the port, giving V access to the other camera. And V switches her vision to it, the next room looks like a high tech runner’s nest. Two netrunning chairs in deep cooled divots within the room. But only one is in use, a man jacked into the security frame, illuminated in blue, screens running code around him.

“Dweller’s inside.”

“Just as planned.”

“Still don’t get why they only have the one.”

“Decent dweller's as good as a dozen rank-and-file. Lemme graft a demonoid onto your link, you’ll be able to jack the bot directly into the chair and neutralize the runner.”

“Got’cha”

“You'll have to get the Flathead in there first, though.”

“Got another shaft grate,” V finds when she twists the camera’s view, there had to be a vent in the other room, servers lining the walls. Bad ventilation and the entire operation overheats.

“Shaft may link both rooms, looks like. Toggle to the other cam.”

V does so, a moment of scanning and she finds a hidden shaft grate in the floor, “Think I got it.”

“Send the Flathead over there, then toggle over to the second cam.”

She waits until the bot is prying open the vent in the surveillance room, then flickers back over to the runner’s den, eyes on the vent and hoping she didn’t send their tech into the wrong room. A moment passes and she sees her robotic friend creeping his way out.

“Our friend’s inside.”

“Flathead into the chair, V, jack in.”

The bot crawls across the floor and into the netrunner’s cubby, creeping up the chair and scuttling over the man’s body. Deep in the subnet the man doesn’t stir or even notice as the bot hovers over his face and jacks into the chair. And the code across the screen glitches, replaced by a T.

“Holy shit.”

“Whoop! Got him! Love those daemons!” Bug cheers, louder and more excited than V has ever heard her. They did it, the bot is in, T-Bug has access to it all.

“Uh, Flathead buddy stays, right?”

“To keep an eye on the dweller, yeah. Punching into Konpeki’s main net. Go ahead and log out.”

The young merc’s vision starts to glitch and flicker red, her pulling the shard from her head, everything spinning. Lightheaded and her body feels both too light and too heavy. Like she could collapse and float away all at once.

“That's how it's done! How ya feelin'?” Jackie asks, concern lacing his voice.

“Like I’m about to puke on a rug worth more than my car.”

“Bug? How're you doin' on time?” The runner doesn’t respond right away, a moment too long passing.

“Bug?”

“Yeah, yeah, I'm here. Soooo listen, ICE is thicker than I thought. Piercing it'll take a couple hours.”

“A couple hours?! Can't do it any faster?”

“Want my brain to burst into flames? Just siddown and enjoy your snazzy suite.”

“Thanks, I will! V, you take it easy, c’mon rest for a bit.”

V doesn’t need anymore prodding, settling down onto the white sofa, hoping her head will stop spinning and stomach cease churning by the time Bug is done. The merc kicks off her heels and lays across the sofa, softer than her bed. Jackie sitting across on the other side of the table, V brings her hand up to her face, trying to block out the blue light from the holo projector. But catches herself looking at the bracelet Misty gave her, the way the beads catch the light, remembering the name of it.

“Hey, what was our suite’s name again?”

“Lapis lazuli, why?”

“Isn’t that what Misty’s bracelets are? The blue beads with the gold.”

“Oh...yeah, ain’t that some shit, must be a good sign.”

“Maybe… she read your cards before this?”

“Nah, didn’t get a chance, nagged me about mean reds though. What about you, cards in your favor?”

“All I remember is something about a magician and love, blegh.”

“Hehehe,” his laughter is warm and fills the huge room, “telling you, one day you’re gonna be head over heels with some chiccy or mano and you’re not gonna know what to do with yourself.”

“That how it was with you and Misty?”

“Pssh, knew I was crazy about her from day one, took a while to work up the nerve though one day I just told her the truth.”

“That you were in loooove~.”

“More like I’d take a bullet for her, chica.”

“Romantic.”

“Fuck yeah it is, in Night City, that’s worth a billion I love yous.”

“So you say.”

“Keep doing that and you’re gonna rub the finish off Vik’s work,” Jackie tells her and she realizes she’s been rubbing and fiddling with her implants, “be a waste for free work to be ruined.”

“I’m gonna pay him.”

“You give him anything upfront, even a dime?”

“I… gave him a hug…”

“Wow,” Jackie says half laughing and she’s laughing too, “a whole hug for top of the line chrome! Probably wasn’t even a real hug, just your half ass shit!”

“I may have only used one arm.”

“Santa mierda, V, gotta learn to hug people like you mean it.”

“Yes, yes,” she yawns, “blah blah blah, never know which hug will be the last one, blah….”

“Flathead wear you out that bad?”

“Maybe a little…” Her stomach feels better, but her head is still light, fuzzy. And in the plush of the sofa, with Jackie close by, she finds herself drifting away. Eyelids getting heavier with each word, each lull of his voice. She didn’t drink much, but she’s sure the bourbon didn’t help.

“Gonna be a while, might as well catch a cat nap, chica. Though Bug might not like it, haven’t quite managed to get the stick out of her ass.”

“Yeah..maybe…”

The world fades away, a soft fuzzy sleep taking over. Time ticks by around her as she catches a moment, or maybe several, to sleep. Her brain is still a little foggy, but the dizziness is gone by the time she slowly starts to wake back up. A bad case of cottonmouth as she wakes, world filtering back in.

Her suit jacket is tossed over her, a makeshift blanket she didn’t put there, she rolls over to sit, more stable than she was before. The time on the terrarium panel tells her only an hour or two has passed. Jackie’s back is too her, his eyes staring at the window. And she finds herself staring, standing in a suit and basked in the lights of the city view, he’s never seemed so serious.

“Whaddaya think? Why'd he give it all up?” He asks after a moment and she blinks, brain still foggy.

“Who?”

"Yorinobu Arasaka. The good life, I mean. Old news, I know. Just got to thinkin's all. It's like, think… You got everything, right? Eddies, education. Your pops can snap his fingers and turn half the fuckin’ planet into a nuclear wasteland… But instead you're like, ‘Nah, fuck it,’ and whaddaya go do? Start a fuckin' gang! Steel Dragons or some shit! You ghost from your fam, chip some RealSkinn and play gang leader for a few years. For what?!”

She can sense the frustration in every word, feel it every clench of his fingers or swing of his hands. Someone like Yorinobu was handed everything he could ever want; tried to piss it away to play edgerunner, then found himself sucking the silver spoon once again. But, she can’t blame him for wanting out from under his father’s thumb; that alone a feeling she knows too well. Her fingers hover over her wrist, the still branded flesh that Vik saved.

“Maybe...he just wanted out of the system.”

“So then why’d he come back.”

“Tough to ditch the system when the system’s your own family,” V admits, finger still on the mark.

“Black sheep’s still a sheep, eh?”

“Maybe…”

It took her forever to get the nerve to leave, she talked about it constantly, but it wasn’t until her mother’s death, murder, culling. Whatever she’s meant to call it, that she finally was pushed to make that move. Been gone for years now, but… more days than she cares to admit were spent wondering if she ever should have run, if she should crawl back and beg. If a family that hates her is better than no family at all…

“Crawled back on all fours, tail between his legs, fuckin’ cheap ass rebel. Fuckin’ tourist!”

Her nails dig into her skin; insecurities brimming, fear that maybe she’s just as much a fuckin’ tourist. Some black sheep nomad who’ll go running back to her dad, beg for another chance, playing pretend merc when all she’ll ever be is the family burden.

“Tourist or not, he just walked into the lobby. And we are back in biz. Penthouse security is neutralized.”

“Perfecto, let’s start this show.”

And with those words, they’re back in business, the younger merc up on her feet. V grabbing her jacket and following Jackie out of the suite, fiddling with the fabric as she walks, heels clicking across the floor.

“Hey, Bug…” Jackie says after a beat of silence, “were, uh… were you on comms that whole time?”

“Three and a half hours.”

“Eehh… about that stick up the ass…”

“Mean the one up mine?”

“Ehh, slip of the tongue, y'know…”

“I know. Now's your chance to make up to me,” T-Bug tells him as they reach the elevator, Jackie pressing the button.

“This is going pretty smooth right,” he turns to V as they wait, “right?”

“Really are a silver lining type, ain’t ya?” V teases as the doors open and they step into the elevator.

“Hey, when are you gonna wave off that dark cloud hanging over your head? Tellin’ you, it’s downhill from on in.”

She rolls her eyes and hits the button to the penthouse, elevator doors closing and the carriage rumbling, shaking as it ascends. Silence falling over them, only the sound of the elevator. Jackie’s leg shakes and she knows that silence is about to end.

“Ahh, there's the awkward silence. You, uh, wanna hear a joke?”

“Now? Seriously?”

“OK, so why'd the rockerboy's output kick him out of the apartment? ‘Cause he wasn't chippin' in.” Jackie cackles at his own joke and V rolls her eyes, a slight smile on her lips.

“Jesus Christ…”

Bug sounds a moment away from killing him, but thankfully for the older merc’s sake, the elevator comes to a stop. Doors opening up to Yorinobu’s suite. It feel different, seeing it from her own perspective instead of Evelyn’s and outside of a braindance editor. The entire suit feels bigger. A part of her wonders if it’s the height difference between herself and Evelyn, but decides to chalk it up to braindance shit instead.

“Huh… not bad bein' heir to the Arasaka empire. Sure as shit better'n bein' the son of Raúl Welles,” Jackie comments taking in the room.

V turns the corner through the room and a tank catches her eye. A slightly red light illuminating an iguana. It immediately reminds her of the only other iguana she knows, Manny. Come to think of it, his original crate was from Arasaka?

“Hey, Jackie, look!”

“Whoa, another fuckin’ iguana, not as cute as Manny though.”

“Manny’s original crate was marked Arasaka; think he might’ve been Yorinobu’s before we klepped him?”

“Think we stole his iguana and made him get a new one?”

“Maybe?” She gently taps the tank glass, watching the iguana’s tail flick back and forth.

“Guys! Focus! The safe! And make it quick!” Bug yells out, bringing the merc’s back down to earth. V tosses her jacket onto one of the seats in the center, searching around the penthouse. Rain patters outside the windowed walls. They know where the safe is, but how do they get it out of the floor?

“Why, what's the rush?”

“Sig on Yorinobu's gone dark!”

“What is he, a fuckin' sorcerer?”

“Some kinda dead zone's my guess - have him back in a sec. And you do your damn job! Look around for a switch.”

V walks around one of the dividers where Yorinobu’s bed is, the slick metal of a gun catching her eye first and foremost. Black and gray, with purple detailing. She checks it for ammo and finds it loaded then decides it’s hers.

“Looks like Yori left us a little gift,” she laughs, tucking the iron in her waistband. And on the other side of the bed, she finds a little switch. She presses it.

“Bingo, got somethin' ejectin’! C'mere, V!” Jackie calls her over to the corner of the room, heart pounding in her chest.

They’re so close to the finish line, each click of her heels feeling like a step closer. This could actually work. A large black safe has risen out of the floor, a small jack in port and two red lights. Jackie stands on one side of it, the gray rainy day behind him.

“What now, Bug?”

“Jack in your personal and make us rich.”

V plugs her personal link in, leaning one hand against the safe. Jackie leans against it from the other side, foreheads nearly touch as they wait for Bug to work her magic. Just get the chip and walk out, that’s all that’s left. All they need to do. She can’t stand still, itching to cross the finish line, minutes away from the major leagues.

“Gimme two…”

The merc’s interface shows Bug uploading the daemons to crack the case and V watches the number rise. Sixty percent, seventy, seventy-five; each ticking number another shaky breath, a rising beat of her heart, and a chill up her spine. Homestretch, nearly there.

And there’s a hum, V’s focus drawn away from the rising percentage, to the windows. Flying AV whirring through the gray skies, hovering around. She looks to Jackie, hoping somehow he’ll have an explanation, something to help her ignore the way her stomach is starting to drop.

“We got winged visitors… Bug…?” There’s catch in his voice, nerves. Jackie’s scared and she swallows the lump in her throat. His face illuminated in the red flashing lights of the case, mean reds, the words flash in V’s mind.

“Dunno who. But staffs abuzz, all two hundred on their feet, can't keep still…”

Somethings wrong, the hair on the back of her neck stands up, a chill in her she can’t shake. Something is so fucking wrong.

“Can't say I like this, how much longer, T?!”

“Shit. Yorinobu's penthouse bound!”

“What!?”V’s voice cracks, digging her nails into the safe, they’re fucked. They’re so fucked.

“Fuck him!” Jackie slams his hand down, rattling the container, “Open the safe!”

“Almost got it… Done!” The safe opens, revealing a cryo-container within. Bright white light and a fog of ice cold air coming with it. V rips her personal jack out.

“Preem, lets get the fuck out of here!”

“Lemme look to this, eh?” Jackie says, pulling the container out and looking at the little screens across it.

“Relic intact?”

"Bioshard integrity - one hundred percent." Guessin' that's a yes,” Jackie reads off the vitals of the shard, picking up the case.

“Good, let’s delta.”

The pair nearly trip through the center of the penthouse, rushing towards the elevator with Jackie lugging behind the giant cryo-container. So close, so close, so fucking close. An elevator and taxi ride away, then they’ll be at The Afterlife counting their eddies. The homestretch.

“Fuck, too late!” T-Bug yells before V can hit the elevator button, “Yorinobu's about to walk in - find cover!

“Where in the fuck!?” V swings her hands as she yells, they’re so fucking close. She rakes her nails across her face, leaving red angry marks down her skin.

“That pillar- try that!”

“You fuckin' kiddin'?!” Jackie screams as the mercs make a move to the pillar in the center of the penthouse, were she thought servers for the room were kept. The back of it opening up and allowing a tight passageway.

“No! Inside it! Now!”

V slips inside as quickly as she can, Jackie following suit. He holds the cry-container close to his chest. The glass barrier is one way, they can see out, but it can’t be seen in. Still not ideal cover, ideally they’d be outside of the fucking hotel by now. The merc presses her hands to the glass, cursing under her breath.

“We’re in,” she whispers to Bug.

“Which don't solve our problem, T.”

“I fuckin' know our problem's still there! Lemme think for a sec, okay?”

The lights to the penthouse come on, elevator doors opening as Yorinobu strides in. with mechanical monstrosity of a body guard from the BD taking large whirring steps after him. And he seems even bigger now. He’s a cyber giant, one mech hand larger than any part of V.

He’s outlined in red, his eyes staring straight at her, Vik said her new contacts would highlight if enemies saw her.. No, there’s no possible way. The man has barely set a borged-out foot into the room. She meets his gaze head on, swallowing the lump in her throat as she tries to seem braver than she is. On the off chance he may truly know the mercs are there.

“Is that… Is that Adam Smasher?” Jackie whispers and V trusts him to look at her hands as she signs, not wanting to break eye contact with the robotic monstrosity, refusing to show weakness.

“Bodyguard?”

“Worse,” her trust in her friend is well placed, “Night City legend. Bleak motherfuckin' one, too. What's the plan?”

“We stay quiet and we wait.”

A flash of movement makes V finally break the stare down, Yorinobu walks to the middle of the room and stops at the seat across from the table, black fabric strewn across it. He picks it up, regarding it for a moment and her heart drops into her stomach.

V’s jacket. She left her fucking jacket on his chair, like an idiot, she didn’t even have time to consider grabbing it. They’re going to die because she left her fucking jacket out in the open and Adam Smasher is still staring at her.

She half expects Yorinobu to call a sweep of the room, ring security, that he’ll realize the random jacket must be an intruder. But he shakes his head, tosses it aside onto the floor, not giving it another thought. While his body guard Smasher lingers in the corner, robotic eyes staring straight at V, watching the mercs squirm.

“Are they here yet?” Yorinobu asks out loud.

“They approach from the landing pad,” an AI voice responds.

“Fuck are they talking about?” V resists the urge to elbow Jackie, silence has never been more important. One sound too loud and a borged out psycho will rip their heads off. And if her contacts are right, Smasher may just be waiting for the perfect opportunity.

“Nuh-uh, no fucking way…. This isn't happening…!” T-Bug whispers over comms and V sees someone coming down the spiraling stairs, a guard it seems, with another older man following him, “Saburo Arasaka.”

The second man is older, much older than the first. Balding with gray hairs and liver spots across his scalp, glasses perched high upon his nose. Dressed in a mixture of yukata robes over what seems to be slacks and loafers he takes slow measured steps down the stairs. The head capitalist himself, owner of Arasaka.

“The emperor? Yet another asslickin' legend….”

V taps Jackie’s side and puts her finger to her lips, encouraging him to be quiet. The man who led Saburo in starts to walk around the room. He’s older than V or Jackie, but nowhere near Saburo’s age. Long graying dark hair pulled back in a bun, cyberware across his neck coming out from under his black suit.

“I thought I told you not to meddle in my affairs,” Yorinobu speaks in his native tongue, V’s contacts translating and subtitling to English.

“Oh fuck,” Jackie curses as the long haired guard comes to stand in front of them, silver ringed brown eyes starting to scan them.

“Leave us,” Saburo orders and the guard stops scanning, turning to face the corporate leader.

“Arasaka-sama, I still haven't done a full sweep.” The guard turns his back and V can see where part of his hair is shaved, allowing intense cyberware extending beyond his neck and towards his scalp.

“This is my son.”

“Of course. Should I retrieve what we come here to-”

“I will handle it. You may go.”

The long haired guard bows and goes to leave the room, finally Adam Smasher’s gaze on her drops, as the borged freak leaves with the guard through the elevator doors. If they’re here to retrieve something… it’s likely the biochip, which means if they go to get it and see it’s gone… They’re fucked. They’re straight fucked.

“Un-fucking-believable… Saburo Arasaka.” That comment makes V nudge Jackie with her foot, once again begging him to just stay quiet.

“Did you think I wouldn't know it was taken from me?” Saburo asks his son, barely making eye contact as Yorinobu looks through a datapad.

“Actually, I don't think of you at all. Ever. You see, that's your problem. You think the world revolves around you. Arrogant.”

“Yorinobu.”

“Why did you come? To humiliate me? To personally see to it that your son knows his place?”

“"The nail that protrudes from the wall gets hammered…"

“Couldn't think of anything original to say?” Yorinobu yells in exasperation, standing up and pacing around the room. He’s on edge, looking ready to jump out of his skin and V can’t say she has a good feeling about any of this.

“And do you think it ‘original’ to sell our greatest achievement to Westerners - our future to these… barbarians?!”

It’s definitely the biochip Saburo is after, they’re screwed, monumentally screwed. V would laugh if she didn’t feel like dying, of course, of course it all goes to shit.

“Our future? Ours?! You are mistaken. You've only ever cared about yourself… and your sick schemes.” Yorinobu points and swings his limbs, still pacing, every word coiled tight with barely restrained hatred.

“I knew this day would come. That sooner or later your impudence would cross the line,” Saburo is calmer, measured, taking soft steps towards his son, “There is much for which I could forgive you, but for treason - no.”

The two men, father and son now stand in front of the pillar before an audience they don’t know. Stares trained on each other, each hateful, but one furious in it’s spite and the other calm in it’s contempt. Moments pass, no word said, each waiting for the other to light a fuse that will set off the powder keg.

“I'm just glad your mother didn't live to see this. The heart should break but once.”

And it goes off. Saburo’s words are punctuated by Yorinobu’s hands wrapping tightly around the old man’s throat. Yorinobu slams his father back against the pillar, cracking the glass in front of Jackie and busting open Saburo’s head. Blood streaking the shards. And he pulls away and for a moment, as Saburo clutches at his crushed windpipe, Yorinobu seems nearly regretful.

“You shall never have to forgive me for anything again.”

His hands wrap again, choking his father against the pillar. Until Saburo starts to fall limp, Yorinobu bringing him down onto the floor in a lifeless heap. Yorinobu stands over his father. Saburo is dead, killed before the merc’s very eyes at the hands of his own son. Jackie curses and V watches as Yorinobu paces, mind clearly racing before he stands over his father’s corpse again.

“I wish… I wish to put the hotel on lockdown.”

What does that mean? What the hell does that mean?

“May I ask why?” The AI secretary asks him.

“Saburo Arasaka has been murdered.”

“Code red initiated. Attention! Code Red has been initiated throughout Konpeki Plaza. Please remain in your rooms and follow all instructions given by staff.”

Oh no, oh fuck no. The lights in the room drop, only bright neon red ones glowing angry in the dark. What the hell is going to happen? What the fuck do they do now? The elevator doors open, Smasher and the long haired guard walking in; the latter rushes and comes to a full stop when he sees Saburo’s corpse.

“What happened?”

“Someone… someone poisoned my father.”

“Poisoned…?”

“Seems so.”

“Yorinobu-san… I doubt…”

Yorinobu glowers at the guard, pushing into his personal space, trying to intimdate him. Trying to make him stop questioning what happened, trying to stop him from looking any closer. Anyone who gets a good look at Saburo’s corpse will see the fingerprints around his neck.

“What is your job, Takemura?”

“I don't follow.”

“It's a simple question. Answer it.”

“To protect the head of the Arasaka family.”

“I do sincerely hope you'll do a better job of executing your duties from now on…”

“Forgive me, Arasaka-sama,” the guard drops his head in shame, “I shall not disappoint.”

Yorinobu turns to leave the suite. The guard, Takemura, follows close behind. And the still red highlighted Smasher follows behind him. The elevator doors close behind them. Jackie and V left alone in the suite again. But what the fuck just happened?

“What the fuck just happened in there?” T-Bug asks, exactly what’s rattling around V’s skull as the pillar back opens again. Jackie and V clambering out.

“Yorinobu just killed Saburo, he fucking choked out his own dad, I didn’t even know you could do that!” V rambles and yells as she turns the corner of the pillar, looking down at Saburo’s corpse. She quickly checks his pockets, stealing some cash and a pair of dog tags off of him.

“What?”

“His own fuckin’ pops.”

“Know what this means?l Security's gonna swarm the place any second. Oh my god, we're so fucked!”

“We need to get the fuck out of here, now!” They can’t just go out the elevator, they’d meet security on the way. They’re beyond fucked. Why the hell did they take this stupid fucking job!?

“Gimme a sec!”

There’s the helipad, but it’s not like they have anything that fucking flies. Think, think, think; she screams in her head to just fucking think, there has to be something, anything.

“We don't have a sec!”

“Okay, got somethin'! Window - now! Releasing the lock! Should see a ladder… Ladder…”

V sees an opening in the large windowed walls, double doors practically made of glass they goes onto the ledge. This has to be in, T-Bug can undo the lock and they’ll slip out.

“Oh fuck.” T-Bugs voice drops and a chill shoots up V’s back, something is wrong.

“Bug!?”

“No, no, no, no - not now…! I’ve been made… “

And panic turns to agony as T-Bug screams, a shrill cry of pain then she’s gone. Connectuon cut and V freezes in place.

Bug is gone, just gone…

Maybe, Konpeki just cut their comms? But the scream rings through V’s mind. She’s heard of how runner’s can die, daemons and quick hacks. Having their entire brain fried, every nerve and neuron set on fire, burned from the inside out... And all that's left to find is a simmering corpse stewing in their own filth. Bug was never meant for that, meant to retire, meant to find peace after years of netrunning. But now…

“Bug.!? Bug!? Can you fuckin’ hear me, Bug please, are you there!?” V calls out, words slurring together. She just needs to hear Bug one more time, and know everything is okay.

And nothing.

“¡Pinche Dios Santo bendito! We lost her, V!”

“They...scorched her...didn’t they…?”

“We… we gotta go, V,” Jackie says, voice cracking as he smacks at V’s shoulder.

Bug’s final hack going through, the window unlocked. V steps out through the window onto the ledge, rain pelting her skin as she rushes around the corner. Bug said there’s a ladder they can use, last thing Bug ever said… There’s no time for mourning, no time to cry, they need to get through this. The ledge narrows around the corner, ride lights outside the hotel window guiding the way, secured against the steel of the hotel. V sees the yellow safety ladder. The merc presses her back to the building, gently side stepping across the narrow ledge, if they just reach the ladder. One wrong step and they’ll plummet.

“You can do it, Jackie… just don't look down,” jackie tries to talk himself up, following V, “ Yep, that's fuckin' high…!”

There’s a whir of engines, an aircraft vehicle buzzing around the outside of the hotel.

“Shit! That Trauma?” Jackie asks and that’s exactly what they need right now, doctors shooting them.

“If they’re here for Saburo, they’re a little late.”

“Just hope they didn't see us! ¡Chingada madre!”

The aircraft carrier flies in close, flashing blinding white light onto the mercs. It sees them, definitely sees them.

“Suspects in violation of security protocols.” The mechanical voice croaks out.

“Time to bail!’ Jackie screams and the aircraft starts to fire, drone automated shooting at them.

The glass around them bursts and V jumps, grabbing Jackie’s hand in her left, she swings her right blade out towards the ladder. It hooks in the bottom rung, creaking in distress as it stops their fall. And there the mercs hang, suspended by a single Mantis Blade and a ladder rung; rain pouring down upon them and a drone still searching for them through the debris. The strain pulls at V’s arm, pain shooting throughout, shoulders ache and left arm pulled tight trying to hold Jackie and the case he holds in his other hand.

If she could pull them up with the blade, maybe they can get to safety. But her muscles already strain, wrought tight with the strength it takes to hold them up. The blade pulling at the inner tissue it’s attached too, never meant to support more weight than the person it’s attached to. Rain and tears sting her eyes as she forces herself to pull with the blade, use it to lift them up.

“V! I can’t hold on!’ Jackie yells out, rain slick hand starting to slip from her own. She digs her nails into his skin, holding him tighter.

“Just a bit more, I can do this!”

Her throat is raw and she doesn’t know how much she believes her own words. Nerves scream in pain as her cyberware pulls at what’s left of her flesh. Muscles cry as forced beyond their capability. She curses beneath her breath, pulling them just a little further up. Immeasurable pain and brute force of will only amounting to the tiniest bit of progress, not even an inch closer to safety. Her blade is pulling further out from her skin, raising up from her arm in a way she knows it shouldn’t.

Every nerve in her arms on fire; blade tugging at flesh and the other nearly pulled from socket under Jackie’s weight. Barely an inch closer to the safety, Jackie slipping from her grip quicker than she can pull, blade lifting from her arm quicker than she can move them. Her teeth sinks into the inside of her cheek, hard enough to bleed as she pushes herself further. Closer, closer, she urges herself.

A bright white light shines across them, illuminating them in the gray night, adding another ache to her eyes. Drone marked Arasaka buzzing around, refinding them within the debris of the destroyed hotel wall. The robotic voice speaking again.

“Violators found.”

And her blade breaks, V’s eye blown wide as they begin to plummet, shock blurs her pain and deafens the world. Slowing it for a moment, only able to stare as metal snaps, tissue tears, and her arm is ripped open. Cyberware tearing out tissue and nerves, viscera left behind.

Then she hits glass, shattering it as gravity slams her through and shock becomes hurt. She hits metal, body bouncing from impact, crying as the air is knocked from her lungs. Her head bashing against something. V clutches her arm, the pain it hitting her as everything else does, blood sticking to her fingers. Each breath hurts, a labored wheeze as bruised lungs strain to work.

V blinks, sitting up slightly, regaining her sense of self now that her fall is broken. Across from her is Jackie and the cryo-case. She looks at her arm, A solid rip from wrist to near elbow, nearly an open hole, metal and moving inner parts of the cyberware mixed with gore. It doesn’t bleed as much as she'd expect, the internal mechanics helping block major bleed out. It hurts, metal now working against raw nerves. But, she’ll live… if this is the worst that happens, she’ll live.

The cryo-case is dented, part of it sparking and part of it splatted with blood. But her eye is drawn to Jackie. A tear in his gut, shrapnel and glass caught him well, bleeding more than her. The white of the button up around his stomach turned scarlet.

“The Relic! ¡Madres! Agh… Oh, this ain't good. Agh…” Jackie curses, each breath pained.

“Jackie, you’re hurt!”

“Worry about me later,” he growls, “check the relic… "Container depressurized. Biochip integrity at ninety-four percent." And fuckin' droppin'! Carajo! Parker! Call her!”

“And tell her what!? We fucked up!?”

“Just do it!”

Evelyn answers after a short ring, her avatar coming across V’s contacts.

“V?! Konpeki's all over the feeds! What the fuck's going on there?”

“Got a problem! Cryo-case is damaged. Biochip's integrity at… Jackie?”

“Eighty-six percent!”

“Eighty-six percent and droppin'!”

“Shit…! OK, listen to me. There's only one thing you can do. One of you's gotta slot the Relic into your neural port!”

“That sounds really dangerous!”

God only knows how this biochip could fuck them up, the relic itself is like putting another personality in your head, seeing ghosts. If this one is even half as fucked up as that, they could be putting themselves in serious danger.

“The longer you wait, the greater the risk we lose it!”

“Well, someone’s got to do it,” Jackie says, voice a rasp, face steadily draining color as he opens the case, “In the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit - Amen.”

Jackie crosses his body with the pray and pushes the chip into his neural port and V watches his eyes light up for a moment. And he’s quiet for another, a second too long.

“You okay?”

“Dunno… I guess… Don't feel any different.”

“Once you're back, we'll take out the Relic and run a full brain scan and sweep. But you two need to get the fuck out of there first!”

“We’re working on it!”

Jackie and V get back on their feet. He holds his hand to his stomach, trying to press his guts together and she keeps her arm held close to her chest, not putting pressure on it. Jackie calls Delamain.

“Del, we'll be there in a couple. Be ready, got it?”

“Certainly, Mr. Welles.”

“Better be fuckin' certain.”

“We gotta somehow… reach the lobby. Only chance to hit the garage. And we'd best be quick,” Jackie jabs himself with an air hypo, “ Oh-ho, that's the shit… Great… Now let's get outta here.”

“Wait, take your jacket off, use it to keep pressure on your gut, okay? Should help with the bleeding.”

It’s minimal first aid knowledge, she knows. Hold something to a wound to keep it from bleeding out as quickly. But it’s all she can offer, helping Jackie get the jacket off with one hand, so he can press it to his stomach wound. She can move her right hand somewhat, but it hurts and she swears she can see the tendons moving around the metal in the gaping wound her forearm has become. She catches herself wondering if she’ll be able to sign with her right hand again. But, there’s no time for those fears.

She walks down the red lit metal grate, heels nearly catching in it as she turns to a doorway. V leads the way, less injured than Jackie, she pushes the door open. A door lobby with glass banisters and plants, the only light the bright red ones.

“Great… Now let's get outta here,” Jackie says, each word a stressful choking sound to get out.

An AI voice speaks repeatedly over the speakers that Konpeki plaza is in code red, as the mercs work to move quickly and quietly. Catching the murmuring of two guards as they reach a marble staircase, speaking of sweeping the floors and checking the lobby. They creep around the corner and past a desk, seeing the back of the men’s through the glass banister. The only sound the pounding of V’s heart and Jackie’s labored breathing. They watch as the two men separate, enough space for each to grab one.

They move down the last stretch of the stairs, guards talking about evacuating Yorinobu. She lets Jackie take the one closest to them as she moves further to the one at the doorway. V swings her left blade, now her only one, through the man’s gut. Her right arm shoots pain through each nerve, metal inside churching to dispense a blade that no longer exists. She holds back a sound, Jackie’s already choked out the other guard, checking for pockets. Each one armed with a silenced gun. She steals ammo off of them.

They come to another door, each catching their breath. Sweat clinging to V’s brow as they brace themselves for what’s to come next.

“Careful… security likely to be swarmin' outside,” Jackie warns and V nods, words clumping together in her throat as she opens the door.

They stay crouched, spotting more guards as they go. The pair hide behind a planter, V taking a scan of the area, spotting a security camera. Remembering Bug’s lessons, she’s quickly able to shut them off. She’s the one to step back out, leading the way for the first time in months of working together. V needs to get Jackie through this, he’s holding on now, but..

She grabs a guard from behind and snaps their neck, arm twinging in agony at the movement she throws their body aside, clearing a long stretch of hallway for Jackie to follow her down. All light bright red and screens that once showed commercials now flash the words, Code Red. She leaves Jackie to stay hidden behind a counter when she sees another by the doorway, jumping at his back and dropping him just like his coworker.

“Ain't doin' too bad… Just a little further…” Jackie whispers as she drops another guy, her arm screaming at her to stop. But she’ll survive without an arm, if worse comes to worse, she can’t let Jackie get hurt any worse.

They creep through a door, past a desk, hearing a guard yelling out as they sneak and weave through the room. She watches over the top of a planter as the guard walks past them, none the wiser as V creeps around, getting behind him, and taking him down. She can’t risk leaving any behind, leaving one alive and them finding the mercs later. The hotel is huge, a labyrinth of Arasaka guards.

“Engaging hostiles!” A voice booms out, the mercs spotted by a heavily armed Arasaka guard who nearly trips over V.

Fuck, fuck, so much for stealth. Jackie shoots over a counter, trying to stay somewhat protected from the gunfire, while V takes lead, firing Yorinobu’s gun at the men, only dropping behind cover to reload, she blasts. Fuck it, stealth not an option, she’ll turn the whole damn hotel into a blood bath.

The guards drop and V knows she’s been shot, but she’s standing so she moves onward. Through a doorway, three more men open fire as the mercs turn the corner. V blasts a bullet through ones head, Jackie blows the second full of holes.

“One more fucker dead!”

The third is further back behind a glass door and V charges forward, glass open as she fires at the man. Bullets ripping through his chest in a spray of blood before he collapses, red smeared across the marble. If she gets a chance to sleep tonight, she’ll be seeing red in her dreams. The vivid neon lights of the emergency lit hotel, the burgundy uniforms, and the steady spray of it from every shot fired.

Jackie and V go running around a corner, through another glass doorway and slide into side of a marble planter. Taking a moment to breathe, she can hear guards talking. Orders from higher up, panicked yells from the less experienced. She can spot two around the corner, but can’t get a clear shot. She runs to the open doorway, catching one off guard as she slams into his view and rips a blade through his gut.

A full armored worker fires off when he sees it, partially hidden by a linen rack. Another runs in, half hiding behind a planter, firing off around the corner. She presses against a wall between it and a partial doorway, reloading before she looks back through. The less armored man moves around a pillar, peeking from behind cover, and she shoots his head as soon as she sees it, watching him hit the marble.

She struggles to get a clear shot of the third, still hidden behind the rack and so she runs forward, past the rack and coming to a sliding stop behind him. The guard fumbles to swing around when he realizes where she’s landed. Back turned to Jackie now, her friend fires a shot clean through the guard’s head.

The room is cleared for a moment and the elevator is nearby, she runs past a desk, when she sees the button screen. A glowing red off symbol.

“Fuck!”

“Chingo tu madre! It's shut down! What about the other one?” Jackie yells between rattling breaths, she wanted this to be stealthy, didn’t want to put him anymore danger.

She runs, heels clicking against blood streaked marble, nearly tripping over a corpse. Quickly trying to stop herself when another guard springs up behind a desk. Two more swarming the room, one in the heavy almost samurai-like Arasaka armor.

“Orale! Got to plough through them!”

She focuses on the Saka samurai, pulling the trigger again and again, Thankful to have emptied the ammo off every body she’s dropped so far. A bullet catches his throat, a gush of blood as he paints the floor, and she shifts to the other men. A headshot on one, the other already down thanks to Jackie.

V searches their corpses, pocketing ammo and bounce backs, when she finds an access token on the samurai. V thanks any god that may be listening, if they exist and makes a beeline for the elevator at the end of the room.

“Got access,” she breathes out, calling the elevator.

Its doors open and she steps in, the side railing lit that bright red. She waits as Jackie rushes in, he’s still in somewhat decent shape it seems. Not the ideal heist, she thinks as she hits the button, but maybe they can get out of this. Rush Jackie to a ripper, check on T-Bug, collect their eddies, and tonight will be a story to tell later. Remember the Konpeki Heist, how everything that could go wrong did.

“Hah-… agh! Heh, hng…” She can’t tell if he’s laughing or groaning in pain, maybe both. Blood is coating his hands, has he bled through the jacket? No, Jackie’s bulletproof, said it himself a billion times. He’ll be okay, he has to be.

“Jackie…”

“Saburo Arasaka, Hundred and fifty years… and today… of all fuckin' days. That's like… some divine comedy shit… hehehehe… agh.”

And he’s laughing, of course he is, holding his guts together and he laughs, because why would Jackie Welles do anything else. She’s not sure if she’s going to cry or laugh along, if she’s charmed or infuriated by it; is he just still desperately searching for that silver lining or does he genuinely not give a fuck if he flatlines? That idea, the thought, makes her throat tighten. He can’t die, he won’t die, she won’t let him.

“Save your strength, please, we’re not out of the woods yet.”

“What do you think I’m doing!?” She doesn’t miss the frustration, because if he wasn’t so hurt, he’d been the one leading that battle, charging in to take brunt of it all, “Buuut… chill, V. We'll get out alive.”

“I know we will,” she says and wants so desperately to believe.

The elevator reaches the lobby, doors open to more guards, more gunfire. She shoots at one that looks out behind a wall, three more in the main room of the lobby. Jackie slides behind a desk, using it for cover between shots. V takes lead, shooting from around a doorway. Its chaos and mayhem, V blasting the four men. One dropping behind a chair, catching one through the green ferns growing from a planter. Three more Arasaka corpses, splattering blood across marble and the roots of those towering trees. Bullet after bullet, shot after shot, until her ears are ringing and three remain; the mercs and one last guard.

He throws a grenade across the room at them, V shooting it in the air before it can hit them, smoke and fire smoldering across the ceiling. She uses the chance to close the gap and blows his brains out at close range.

Room cleared they rush through the rest of the lobby, finally reaching the elevator that will take them to the garage. V slams the button, calling the elevator. The door opens and she runs inside, expecting Jackie to run in after her. His steps are slowing and he leans against the wall for a moment instead, having to catch a second wind. He’s getting worse, but they’re in the homestretch, they can do this. They can do this, he stumbles through, leaning against the elevator wall.

“Argh… I'm leakin' a little…” His voice a rasp.

The elevator stops at the garage, so close to safety. Doors opening she can already hear the guards and the mercs step out, eye on them, its a swarm of Arasaka. Gunfire rings out alongside the screech of brakes. The Delamain taxis coming to a stop in the center of the garage, it’s doors flinging open.

“I advise that you waste no time in entering the vehicle,” Delamain chirps at them, like this is a normal night.

But she needs no prodding. V grabs Jackie’s hand and runs for the taxi, dragging him through the garage to the open doors. Rather than making him walk around, she shoves Jackie through her side on the right, letting him slide into the left seat before she jumps in; he needs the extra second of protection more than her. The doors shut, bulletproof shields raising as they the taxi is blasted by the guards. They’re safe? Right?

“Welcome back. With Delamain, you leave your problems at the door….”

“DRIVE NOW!”

And Delamain does just that, engines firing up as he rams through the garage door like it’s nothing. She leans forward on the two front seats. As the taxi takes a sharp turn, they’re almost there, almost safe. Jackie wasn’t fucking around about the combat mode.

“Not bad at all.”

“Client feedback noted.”

“How’s the ride looking?”

“Tiptop. Though alas, we are being pursued.”

And then she sees him, Adam Smasher, the borged monster of a former man rushes them. No hesitation, no fear, as he slams his entire body into the car. Shattering glass, gnashing metal, and nearly sending the car to the side; slamming V and Jackie to the right.

“Sweet fuckin’ jesus!”

Jackie curses as V screams, the hell kind of freak is this guy? The car goes back down on its wheels. Adam Smasher on a metal knee, slowing standing up on front of the car.

“Combat mode activated. Please remain calm.”

“Calm!!!????” She yells out as Delamain begins to drive backwards.

“Road block ahead. I kindly request that you brace for impact.”

“¡Oy, mis huevos! Shiiiit!”

The cab takes a turn, rather than driving through Adam Smasher, it goes through another roadway. A row of cars blocking the way and Delamain slams through through without hesitation, taking them through the Night City roads away from the hotel. Jackie is hunched over, bloody hands still pressing the jacket to his gut, the white shirt soaked through with it.

“A hostile enemy aircraft has a lock on us.”

V doesn’t need a word more from the AI taxi, climbing halfway out of the window, she spots the drones flying after them. Three of them. Needing steadier aim, she flips off her hearing aids with a thought, steeling herself as the car weaves through the road and she fires at them. This is Arasaka’s last ditch effor to keep a lock on them, if she can get rid of them, they’re in the clear.

Three shots; first drone goes down sparking as it hits the city streets. Two more kills the second, the metal remains slamming into a streetlamp. And the third goes down with a final shot, smoldering onto the roof of a BD store. She turns her hearing aids back on as she slides into her seat again; they’re gone.

“Hostile aircraft eliminated.”

“Nice work there… Del…”

She shifts to look at Jackie, he has one hand on his stomach, the other braced against the door. V grabs his shoulder with one hand and his leg with the other, practically shaking him.

“We did it, Jackie! We made it!”

“Heh...guess we did…” It’s not the triumphant excited Jackie, she’d expect to hear. His voice still rough, a rattle barely leaving his lungs. Her eyes sting, no, no.

“My medical diagnostics indicate that Mr. Welles’ condition is critical.”

“Critical, what- take us to a fucking ripperdoc, now! Vik’s behind Misty’s shop!”

She reaches to put pressure against the jacket over his wound, hand over his, but the fabric is bled all the way through. Blood sticking to her skin, warmer than Jackie’s skin and he’s looking pale, paler every second. He leans back against the chair, strength starting to leave his body.

“Apologies, but that will not be possible. Our itinerary has been pre-arranged and paid for in advance. I am not at liberty to alter it.”

“Fuck your itinerary and fuck your liberty, just get us to goddamn doctor!”

“It's OK, V… I'll hold out…”

When did his nose start to bleed, when he did he start hacking up blood, red streaking down his nostrils and over his chin. She sucks in a shaky breath, eyes starting to water. No, not Jackie, anyone but him… please. She doesn’t know who she’s begging; maybe god, maybe fate, maybe just anything in this world that will listen.

“Yeah, yeah,” she chokes out, nodding, “you-you just got to hold on, okay? And, and, we’ll hit the major leagues. Only the best jobs, swimming in eddies, just like you always wanted.”

She brings her forehead to his, feeling the cold sweat of his skin, hoping her warmth, touch, her words; anything will keep him alert. The tears flow freely now, wet and hot on her cheeks.

“Mija... you’re gonna be rich, I can feel it…”

“No, we’re gonna be rich, Jackie! You and me, that’s how it’s always been, I-I can’t do it without you, y-you got to stay with me okay! We’ll get back, you can see Misty and your mom, everyone and let them know you made it.”

“Misty… She knew… She always knew…” he breathes out, eyes glassy with a weak smile, “told me not to take this job, why she always got to be right?”

“J-just a little longer, please, Jackie...please,” she begs him, like he can stop it. Like he can put his inside back together, stop the color from draining out of his face, and can just stay with her.

“The biochip…” he holds her shoulder, grasp weak, and takes the chip from his head with the other, “Hold on to it. For me…”

And he slides it into her neuroport, her vision glitching for a moment. She surges forward, wrapping her arms as tightly as she can, burying his head into his chest, crying into him as she clings tightly; wishing she had the strength to just hold him together.

“Please, please, Jackie, I can’t lose you, just a little longer, please,” she sobs into his ashen skin and blood soaked shirt, begging with every slowed beat of his heart.

For a moment his hands graze her back and she waits for a bear hug, for him to squeeze the breath from her lungs and lift her from her seat like he’s done so many times. For him to be Jackie; her best friend, her partner in crimes, her brother, her everything. But his touch is faint, the space between each beat growing further and further. Until his hands fall limp, body slack in her arms, and she knows the next heartbeat will never come.

And she sobs, she holds him and cries out her pain, if only for a moment. No more ‘chicas’, ‘jainas’, or the odd ‘mija’. No more smiles that outshine the sun. No more nagging her to look on the bright side. No more bear hugs or hands the size of her head ruffling through her hair. No more Jackie…. And it’s not fair and it’s not right.

“Mr. Welles has passed. Where shall I take his remains?” A robotic voice asks and she realizes the car is no longer moving.

She forces herself to let him go, one of the hardest things she’ll ever have to do. Pulling away, she sees him, truly lifeless. Bright green eyes now dull with no light behind them, limp hands falling away from her.

“W-what?” She stumbles over the word, brain fogged over with grief.

“The Excelsior package provides for the disposal of passenger remains free of charge. I merely require a destination.”

“I…he-he’d want to be with his family,” she stumbles across her words.

“Mr. Welles' closest blood relative is Guadalupe Alejandra Welles, proprietress of the El Coyote Cojo bar. I will make sure to deliver him safely. Mr. DeShawn awaits you in room number two-oh-four. ”

That’s right… Dex… The chip. The world didn’t stop spinning, only her’s. There’s still a job. And the idea of still going, that there’s a tomorrow beyond today, seems unfathomable. How the hell could she ever move on…

Because Jackie would kill her if she didn’t and she knows that. He’d haunt her for a thousand years and kick her ass every day of it. She looks at the remains, her friend gone, now limp and bleeding across white leather. And knows if he could speak, he’d tell her to get her ass to that hotel room and finish this job, that he and Bug didn’t die just for V to bury herself alongside them. She squeezes his shoulder, presses her forehead to Jackie’s one last time, feeling the cold of his skin.

“See ya in the major leagues, Jack…”

V opens the car door and steps out into the backlot behind the motel. Rain pours down across her bloodied skin, soaking her to the bones, a numb chill clinging to her. Painted across brick is the Night City emblem marks the wall, red graffiti altering its slogan.. The city of broken dreams…

She moves, on autopilot as she makes her way up the stairs and to the back door of the motel, sheltered from the rain once she’s in a trash filled back room. The motel is bathed in the neon red lights, only offset by the white of sign bearing its name, it’s always red. She stumbles up the staircase and then another, past a tv chattering on about Saburo Arasaka.

The merc walks down the gloomy hallway, dark except for warm yellow floor lights, Graffiti covered walls, rain washing down the windows at the end of it. And she reaches room 204, her arm leaden as she knocks.

No response.

“Its V,” she yells out, knocking harder.

The door opens but before she can take another step, Dex’s body guard takes a step out. Large hand blocking her from coming further. He checks the hallway, making sure she wasn’t followed. After a moment, he finally pulls away.

“He waiting.”

The man takes a step back, allowing V into the room. She pushes through a bead curtain and sees Dex, leaning over a TV screen, another cigar between his golden fingers. She clears her throat, hearing the door close behind her.

“WNS… N54… Even the pirate networks… You blowin' up everywhere! And the Jackster? He out in the car?”

“He’s...dead,” her voice breaks, words like thorns in her throat. Having to say it, having to hear it from her own lips…

“Condolences friend,” he tells her, shifting to look at her rather than the tv, “and the relic?”

“Here,” she says, voice a murmur as she taps her neural port.

“Hmm, I was afraid of that…”

“What?!”

She got the fucking relic, everyone is fucking dead, but she got the relic! Everyone died for this fucking chip and now he’s disappointed that she has it!?

“Saburo Arasaka?” Dex paces, smoking his cigar, “Dead…?! You got any notion of the shit you pulled me into?! You offed the fuckin' emperor! His majesty! Anyone with so much as a pinky toe dipped in this mess is as good as dead!’

“I didn’t kill Saburo! I- I-” she stalls, wanting to say she didn’t do anything, but can she say that? Can she act like she didn’t fuck up any of this? Like she has no role in Jackie and Bug’s deaths…

"No shit?l Tell that to the ‘Saka ninjas they send after you!”

“We...we got to leave the city.”

Badlands isn’t the safest for her, but it will be safer with money, she could settle in another city, maybe. She can outrun her family more than Arasaka.

“You don’t say.”

“Call Parker, we close the deal, collect our eddies, and go off the radar.”

“A’ight, settle down,” he sits down on the leather couch, “Gotta be tactical about this. Parker, eddies, then we leave the city limits behind. But first… Your face… got blood all over it. Bathroom's there. Go get yourself cleaned up.”

He points her to the bathroom of the motel and she nods, in no place to argue, she just wants to be on the other side of this mess. To be able to tell herself at least she made it to the major leagues, at least Jackie would be proud of her, even if he isn’t here to see it.

V stumbles into the bathroom, legs wobbling. Everything should hurt, her arm ripped open. Bruises mottling every inch of flesh. But she’s… numb. She works on autopilot, only somewhat aware of the door shutting behind her as she grips the sink, streaking blood across the silver.

Her blood and Jackie’s.

Bile rushes up her throat, stinging as she pukes into the sink, choking and gagging it out. The tears threaten to come again, eyes stinging as he nails dig into the sink. He’s gone, he’s really fucking gone. Her best friend, her brother in everything but blood and name, her rock, and world. The man who took her in, who gave her a goal, a life…

And how’d she repay him?

Watch him die in the back of a Delamain. All her promises to keep him safe, to repay back all the kindness he gave to her. And she couldn’t save him, couldn’t protect him, couldn’t do shit but hold him. Fuckin’ only time she really hugged him with all she had and she doesn’t even know if he could really feel it, if his body was too numb.

If she would have refused the job.

If she had gotten them up the ladder.

If she had been stronger.

If she had been stealthier.

If she had gotten them through the lobby quicker.

If she could have convinced Delamain to get him to a doc.

If she knew better first aid.

If….if… if…

Thoughts spin and whirl through her mind, a thousand reasons why it’s her fault. Why she could have saved him, why she could have done more, why she failed him…

Misty will never take Jackie’s last name and it’s V’s fault. They’ll never have kids, they’ll never buy a home together, he’ll never get to take her to that stupid hotel bar with the annoying waiter.

Senora Welles will be forced to bury her son and it’s V’s fault. She’ll never hold her son again. Never see him smile again. Never see him live out his dream. Never cook his favorite foods for him and nag him not to talk with his mouth full.

Jackie had a future, a family, people who loved him. He was going to marry Misty one day, have kids. Get enough eddies to provide for them and his mom. And now there’s a hole in all of their lives. The world as a whole now worse off without him, her own world destroyed. It should have been her, she knows that, the world would be better off losing her than losing him.

Yet here she is and she’s just supposed to keep moving, supposed to keep breathing, supposed to live a life post Jackie.

When she looks up, she sees her own reflection staring back at her. Red rimmed eyes, swollen from crying and blood splattered across her skin, stuck in the ends of her hair. And she doesn’t know where it’s from, if it’s her own, if it’s Jackie’s, or if it’s from the people she killed tonight. T-Bug and Jackie gone, yet she’s here.

A brilliant talented netrunner is gone. But she’s still here.

The kindest man to walk in Night City is gone. But she’s still here.

She glares at herself, because she has no right to be here and the world has no right to be this cruel. Her fingers clenches, pulling at her damaged nerve endings and she slams her fist into the mirror. Glass shatters and crackles, shards splintering into her knuckles.

V washes the blood from her hands and face, cleaner but still a zombie as she turns to the door. Jackie wanted this for her, one of the only people who ever wanted anything good for her. If only for him, she owes it to him to finish this job. She stumbles to the bathroom door and opens it, stepping out.

Knuckles collide with her head, wracking more pain through an already injured merc, she’s sent sprawling to the ground. She curses and twists around on the floor, not sure she has the energy to stand back up, vision blurring as Dex’s bodyguard stomps on her. Heavy foot colliding with her head. She curses and sputters choking on blood. She twists onto her back, blinking through the pain as Dex’s bodyguard hands him a pistol. The fixer walks closer, standing over her.

“Can't risk it, V,” he says casually, leveling his gun with her head,” ‘Member our first convo?”

“I’ll fucking kill you!” She screams, spitting blood as she stares down the barrel.

“Seems I've chosen the quiet life, after all. No blaze o' glory for me.”

The shot rings out, loud and clear, the world going dark as a bullet rips through the young merc’s head. Blood splatters across the dirty carpet, her body going limp, a final breath gurgling forth as she chokes on her own blood, iron taste clinging in the back of her throat.

Then she’s gone.

#cyberpunk 2077 #cp2077 #silverv #johnny silverhand #jackie welles #female v #aidan becker #aidan v becker #angst

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scribbling-stiks · 3 years

Text

Retrievers - XXXV - Shaking Signs

Russia walks downstairs, and as soon as he gets down there, he feels eyes on him. He turns and sees many of the states staring at him in horror, and the other countries in the room seemed sympathetic and a little sick.

"What?" Russia asks.

"You've been through the wringer, Rooskie," Dixie says with an unreadable tone, looking bothered.

Russia looks down and realizes that he must not have remembered to put a shirt back on before coming downstairs. The scars that cover his arms and chest aren't pretty, but he figured that they weren't that ugly either, they just existed.

"Is that painful?" Egypt asks tentatively, waving over his chest.

"Yes. It is very stiff, and sometimes cracks," Russia admits, "But I am okay."

Ohio mutters something before turning up and talking to Russia. Russia tries to watch Ohio's mouth, and his face screws up. He can't hear the words clearly enough to understand, and trying to lip-read with a second language is hard.

'I can't pick out any words,' he thinks, cursing his ears.

"Russia?" Ohio calls, sounding annoyed and confused,

"I couldn't hear you," Russia says sheepishly.

Ohio turns around with a scoff. Russia flinches a little.

'I don't like this either.'

"Ohio!" America exclaims, "You will be nice! It's not Russia's fault, and you will respect that!"

Ohio mumbles something, shame on his face. Russia looks away and rubs the back of his neck. Embarrassment fills his stomach.

"I'm sorry," Russia says quietly, and he slinks into himself as his own voice sinks below the ringing in his head.

He leans over am to look even just a little smaller. He starts fidgeting with his hands and starts signing the ASL alphabet nervously. Then, Oregon walks up to him and signs hello.

"(Hi,)" Russia signs back, not able to meet her eyes.

"(I will teach you something,)" Oregon signs.

"(What?)" Russia asks, curiously looking up.

She starts signing around her face, making a motion around her ears. Then she spells it out for him and Russia's face lights up.

"(I can't hear you,)" Russia repeats.

She laughs a little and nods. Russia feels pride in his chest at having learned it.

"(You're good at signing,)" she comments with a smile.

Russia smiles brightly.

"(Thank you.)"

"(Do you want some more lessons?)"

"(Yes please.)"

And that's how Russia finds himself spending the rest of the day. He tried to absorb as many words and as much grammar as his mind could fit. And as time passes, the house began to smell like vegetable broth and meat.

His hands start to cramp and throb from the scars, but he refuses to stop until Oregon notices the shaking and stops giving him things to mimic.

"(You should take a break. It is a lot, and your scars look painful.)"

Russia looks away and shakes his hands furtively in an attempt to release the pain. Then he signs a quick thank you. Oregon smiles before signing goodbye and walking away.

Russia walks over to sit next to America, who is talking to Canada and laughing. America looks over and gives him a blinding grin.

"Hi, Rue!" America chirps.

"Awww," Canada teases loudly, "someone is happy about seeing his boyfriend~."

"Nade, shut up," America snaps back, his face growing red.

"Haven't heard that one in a while," Canada comments with a laugh.

"Oh! Are you teasing the lovebirds? Can I join?" Dixie asks from behind the couch.

"No," America replies.

"Sure! Aim here is getting all embarrassed too," Canada replies.

"Aww," Dixie coos.

"Dee, shut up," America yells, crossing his arms.

Dixie laughs. America pointedly looks away and back at Russia.

"What have you been up to?" America asks, the pink still staining his cheeks.

Russia moves to sign a response for practice, but his hands cramp up and he flinches. America's eyes travel down to his hands and his face falls a little.

"Sighing," Russia replies aloud.

"It looks like it," America comments, taking Russia's trembling hands, "you think you pushed it too far?"

Russia shrugs. "I have to learn as much as I can so I can communicate quietly."

"I guess that's true since whispering is off the table," America says, fidgeting with Russia's fingers.

Russia flinches at the movement.

"Meri, could you stop doing that please?" Russia asks, pain in his voice.

America jerks away and shoves his hands into his lap. Then, he mutters something that Russia doesn't catch.

"What?"

"Oh! Uh- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you," America stammers.

"It's okay," Russia soothes.

America nods and then head-butts Russia's arm. Russia smiles. America leans against him, and Russia closes his eyes, enjoying the contact and ignoring the stiffness in his hands.

"Dinner!" Wisconsin announces from the kitchen.

They walk into the kitchen side by side and Russia watches the bowls with a reluctant gaze.

"Rue? What's wrong?"

Russia looks away, embarrassed. America gives him a concerned look but doesn't push it. Russia fills a bowl with the ladle with great difficultly. His hands shake hard enough to cause him to drop it twice before successfully using it.

He scurries away, his face hot. He just manages to drop a spoon into the bowl before nearly dropping it onto the table. He sits down behind it and stares dejectedly at the bowl. His stomach grumbles, but he knows that his hands wouldn't be able to hold the spoon at all now.

'I need to stop pushing myself so far. It just makes things worse.'

America sits down next to him and begins rambling.

"So, it's gonna be you, me, Finland, Florida, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Kansas, and Alberta going to invade the base. I think we might have two cars drop us off there so we don't leave anything there and so we can fit everyone," America explains, shoving a spoon in his mouth.

Russia smiles and nods along, ignoring the hunger in his stomach to avoid the inevitable embarrassment of trying to eat with uncooperative hands.

"And we got to pack and stuff, and get our bags with supplies and food and weapons and maybe some games, I don't know yet. And- hey, are you okay? You're not eating," America asks, pointing at Russia's bowl with his spoon.

Russia looks away.

"Is it your hands?" America asks.

Russia flinches and stares at the table, his face burning.

'If I can hear it, everyone else can too,' he thinks bitterly.

"It's okay to need help," America says, reaching over.

Russia closes his eyes for a moment and swallows the mortification creeping up his throat.

"'Sides, lucky for us, it's romantic," America says with a smirk, picking up his spoon, "now here. Open your mouth."

Russia leans over and cooperates if only for the giddy smile America gives him. He flexes his trembling hands against the oak table.

As soon as they finish, America helps clear Russia's space and Russia wanders behind him. Soon, Russia finds himself sitting out on the couch next to America as Dixie announces an early departure to his room.

"He needs a break," America explains, tucking himself under Russia's arm, "but someone has to keep an eye on the kids, you know?"

They didn't need to stay out too long though. Most of the states and provinces also retreat on the earlier side, presumably to go to bed. And though Russia doubts the intention, he figures if America isn't bothered by it, it's fine.

Russia runs a sore hand through his hair. When he looks down at it to examine the shaking, he sees that his knuckles shine. He looks closer and finds that glitter had found its way onto his fingers.

He sighs with a short laugh.

'Sparkly.'

Soon, drowsiness tries to pull him into the couch, so Russia walks up to his bedroom. America follows close behind. Russia lies down in the blankets, and America creeps up behind him, wrapping him in a hug.

Russia relaxes and lets his mind wander.

'I wonder what tomorrow will have in store.'

Table of Contents

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parisakamali · 4 years

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BIE CONGRATS ON 300!! you deserve the world i'm so happy for you 💖💖can i please get a ❀ + /tagged/~ and ☆ + oblivion + blue! (and my birthday is march 26 the page is such a cute idea) tysm and congrats again!!

TYSM CHLOE YOU’RE SO LOVELY AS ALWAYS!!! 🥺💗 im so so happy you give me an opportunity to praise your beautiful creations!! and also yay playlists!!! you guessed it, this got long 😌

join my celebration uwu

❀ : let me start off by saying,,, who did u sell ur soul to for such beautiful gif coloring?? coloring gifs is so damn hard, and you’re just out here making it seem so easy! (im currently staring at all the tabs i have opened with ur gifsets how am i supposed to choose, goddamn)

this tatbilb gifest! im a big fan of colour palette sets and this one is a fave!! the colours are so vibrant and pretty, but they’re not too much so it’s not overwhelming the scene or making it look ugly. i also love the scenes you chose, they make me wanna rewatch the movie 🥺 i like how, despite being a very colourful set, it still has some softness to it and therefore stays true to the vibe of the movie

impeccable coloring displayed in this love, simon set!, this lara jean set! and this palm springs set! they’re all so SO beautiful, im in awe, ma’am!!! the blues, yellows and reds in the palm springs one are so vibrant and they create a happy, joyful and summer-y vibe i simply adore. the lara jean one is S O F T !! it fits her perfectly! also the two frames with text are also cute and i love how minimal they are so they dont overwhelm the rest of the set, if that makes sense. and the love simon one makes me... happy. it really does! i love how light your gifs are and how that creates a very youthful atmosphere, exactly how all this movie is!

this ronan edit! and this kevin edit! different but somehow alike; the ronan one is (i think) the first edit i saw from you and the reason i decided to stan forever. i love the moving text, it looks so so cool, but it’s not too much (meaning i didnt get motion sick, thanks)!!! also the fonts are really cool! and i love that it’s monochrome (this applies to both of them) im bad at colours but i will say i love the ones you chose for both of these edits! the kevin one is stunning!!!! textures! text placement! colours! fonts! wow wow !!! head high, left handed, i went wild when i saw it, i love it a lot!!!

this other kevin edit! in this house we love kevin day to the moon and back and he deserves the world, but he also deserves the coolest edits! which you provided!!! i like the fc a lot, not only bc i had these exact pictures saved for a kevin edit, but he really gives off kevin vibez. the coloring is sO BEAUTIFUL omg i like this style of coloring a lot and somehow i think it fits kevin. also, big fan of the gif overlay, he is in fact a man made for cameras <3

this rwrb edit! im pretty sure i have this one tagged as inspo, because i adore it so much. i love the second and third frames and how they actually extend to the other frames too. everything fits together so well, the continuity makes it seem like one big picture which is such a cool effect to achieve! it’s known already that im jealous of people who are good at text placement and you are amazing at it!!!

shout out to this trc edit! because holy shit it’s stunning! i like the colours and the starry overlay, but the way you made the text move is fascinating! i know cursive is a bITCH and you dealt with it so well, it looks amazing! i also like the font combo and the quotes are 🥺 really good.

☆ : there’s not much reasoning behind these choices, it’s just a bunch of songs i like and i hope you like some of them too! i tried to create a ~vibe~ but idk how successful i was 🙈 you can listen to it here!

c : c’est la vie - weathers

h : hate u - LØLØ

l : little poor me - layto

o : out of touch - _cut

e : elephants - asl

hope you have a beautiful day, just like you!!! 💛✨

#chloe tag #mutuals #biecelebrates #bluelilysargent #human interaction

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mxrainbowsheep · 5 years

Text

Music to My Ears

Chapter 1: Patton Herz

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

He rubbed his eyes as he woke up, wiping the grime away, he looked up at the clock and with one hand, and reached out to turn off the clock that was still beeping in the background, with the other.

Getting up, and putting on his thick framed glasses. He stretched and got up to take a shower. He was absolutely ecstatic about today, but he was also getting butterflies in his stomach just thinking about the event going on later in the next several hours.

He turned on the water and took a shower. After cleaning himself up in the shower, he stepped out and patted himself off. His burnished copper colored hair hung over his eyes sopping wet, quickly he took the towel to his head and shook his hair basically dry.

He brushed his teeth, and applied smell goods. Dressing in a teal shirt with some khakis, which made him look like a suburban dad, not that he minded. He put on his glasses, they were black, thickly framed. Behind his glasses were a pair of golden eyes that shined in the light and a face that was littered with freckles.

Walking out of the bathroom he walked to the kitchen getting an apple and a handful of trail mix. Chomping on his breakfast he scrolled through his phone liking cute photos of dogs and cats or other cute animals, and reblogging them.

As his hair dried it became more wispy and more curly. It just looked messy but he didn’t mind.

Patton Herz was a man who enjoyed puns. He also played guitar and he wrote silly and educational songs for kids online, he never really expected to get big, and he was not disappointed when he didn’t. Having been on Youtube for maybe three years he only had 167 subscribers. Which to him, was a whole lot. He didn’t get many hate comments actually it seemed that it was mostly parents and teachers thanking him for making such songs, and those types of comments always made him happy! Because at least some kiddos were being helped learn.

Because if there was one thing that Patton had learned while taking children’s psychology during college, (he minored in music theory) it was that children retained more information and ended up with better hand-eye coordination through song and dance.

But, he didn’t just sing on his channel he also showed kids how to make there own different kinds of slime, and would play with it on camera. Those tended to have more views upwards of 500 views, that had always surprised Patton. He also made challenge videos, doing a bunch of silly and harmless challenges, just in case little kids wanted to copy him.

Patton walked out of his apartment, guitar case in hand, he walked down the stairs, it was an odd process, as usual. Putting the guitar in front of him and stepping off one foot at a time, taking his time, he got down the stairs, it went faster each day as he already knew how to maneuver it. He walked out into the parking lot and got into his car. While he sat in side, he drew in a deep breath, to try and ease his nerves. It was his big day after all! A paid gig that had been planned months in advance!

It was his first paid gig, and his first time having a decently sized audience! He never played in underground bars where most wannabe singers did, mostly because he was sure that most of the drunk bar patrons didn’t want to learn about homophones through song.

He was finally going to play his guitar, on a stage! Well.. it wasn’t really a stage.. more like a mat, in the corner of the room, in the library. But before he got to the library he needed to stop and get some coffee, from his favorite coffee shop down the road.

Patton walked into the Dream Bean Coffee Shop, in this little town he lived in. He went to this shop often to write songs. Over the last three years he had made good friends with the staff, giving them as good of tips as he could. He walked to the door and pushed it open. Or well… he meant to. After wrestling with the door, for a few moments he walked inside.

Inside smelled of coffee beans and candy. He walked up in line and waited until it was his turn.

He examined the different items on the chalkboard menu.

A Flat White, a Caramel Macchiato, Caffe Mocha, a Caffe Latte... and all the stuff he wouldn’t be buying. He moved forward when the line did.

A small wait for the best coffee in the world, Patton thought to himself.

The building was small and made of stone, but it had been accented with a bright orange, and with a bright yellow. It made the place feel like a warm home. He liked that feeling. It made him feel happy and safe.

Soon enough he was standing in front of the register. In front of him stood a short Taino woman, with her hair in a bob, wearing an apron and the store branded headband.

“Hey music man! Let me guess, the usual?” she smirked.

“Aw! You know me too well Valerie!” Patton laughed

“I mean, you do order the same thing every time you’re here.” She smiled and turned around and gave out the order to the barista, Joan, who was behind her mixing the drinks.

“Well, that, that is Gru…” Patton giggled at his own Despicable Me pun.

Everyone in hearing range groaned.

“Thanks Val!” He called out turning away to sit down.

“No problem Pat!” Val smiled.

As Patton turned, he bumped into someone.\

“Oh! Uh super sorry!” He looked down at the man that stood in front of him.

He had black hair with a dyed purple fringe. He wore an oversized hoodie and dark jeans. The other man was looking at the ground, and it seemed like he was shrinking into his hoodie. It didn’t help that Patton was nearly 6’1.

To Patton, he seemed vaguely familiar. But Patton didn’t ask and just moved out of the man's way.

The man only nodded in response. Patton scratched the back of his head as he turned around to sit down, but he just couldn’t get over how familiar that man was, so he spun right back around and walked back towards the man.

“Hey! Aren’t you that singer for..” Patton paused taking a moment to think, “Oh what’s the name.. Pry.. pry something..” he looked away, mumbling to himself trying to figure it out.

“Uhh. Oh! Um! Pryder!” Patton looked back at the stranger, smiling widely because he remembered that name.

The stranger simply shook his head, then moving his hands in the air, he signed.

No, My name is Virgil.

Patton face palmed, “Oh! You’re deaf! I am so sorry!” Patton said and signed the words.

Virgil laughed and shook his head.

I’m not deaf, I’m just mute! He signed back, I’m surprised you know ASL.

“Oh! Yeah! I write music for little kids! So.. I taught myself asl, for the little kiddos that can’t hear!”

Virgil smiled. That is a very kind of you to do.

“It’s the least I could do!” Patton returned the smile.

The barista behind the counter called out an order, Virgil raised his hand and walked over to the barista to get his coffee. Patton stood awkwardly, waiting for his drink to be called.

Virgil walked back to him and waved, and motioned Patton to sit with him. Patton nodded and walked over to the two seater table tucked in between the two large windows.

I should be getting to the tour bus soon, but I haven’t talked to anyone who knew ASL, well besides for my brother, in so long!

“Aw! Well I’m glad we met!”

Yeah! Virgil smiled.

“Cotton Candy Frappe?” one of the barista’s called out, Patton looked up, then rushed up to the counter, and was given his drink.

“Thank you Terrance!”

“No problem, see ya next time Pat” he said as he turned back around and started the next order.

After sitting back down Patton thought over what Virgil had signed.

“Wait.. did you say uh..” He looked around, before deciding to sign, Tour Bus?

Virgil nodded.

So you are the singer for Pryder! Patton didn’t want to alert anyone in the cafe so as not to bother Virgil.

No, I’m his brother. Virgil then took a sip of his coffee.

“You two look so much alike!”

Twin brother.

“Ohhh I gotcha.. So do you..” Patton stopped, “Ah! Uh.. I’m bothering you aren’t I.”

No! No! It’s fine!” He paused looking for something to talk about, So you said you write music? Virgil asked.

“Yeah! This is where I normally come to write songs” Patton rubbed the back of his head and smiled sheepishly, “But singing funny songs for little kids doesn’t really get you anywhere! I mean, the library gigs are great and so are the school gigs!! The kiddos really enjoy them! But.. ah, it’s just a dream I’ll never achieve,” he laughed.

Virgil’s face dropped to confusion, and he looked down, in thought. Then his face lit up.

How about I give you the information to contact my manager!? He nodded excitedly.

“Wait really?” Patton was surprised, “I mean, you haven’t even heard me sing my songs, what if I sing terribly, and besides I don’t think your manager would want my childish songs!” he spoke quickly letting his insecurities show, “Oh! I’m sorry..”

“Don’t let him lie to you he’s got a voice of an angel,” Terrance had called out from over the counter.

“I second that,” Valerie called out

“Oh stop it!” Patton was flustered by the comment. “Both of you!”

“It’s true,” Terrance shrugged.

Virgil smiled amused, making a face like he was laughing.

Well, You’d be surprised, I don’t necessarily like my manager but, I mean, everybody has heard the name Pryder at one point and knows what I do because of him.

“You do drive a good point..”

“Do it Pat! Go chase your dreams!” Valerie said.

“Aw heck! Why not!” Patton smiled widely.

Alright! He paused, Do you have your phone on you? So you can write down the number?

Patton nodded before fumbling for his phone and pulling up his notes.

Vigil then signed a long string of letters and numbers.

“Thank you Virgil really!!”

Please call me Verge! Virgil smiled in response.

Patton smiled then looked down at his watch.

“Oh! Shoot! I have to get to the library!” Patton stood up grabbing his frappe, and his papers,

Sorry I kept you so long! Virgil looked alarmed.

“No! Don’t apologize! It’s alright! Uhh.. see you?” Patton spoke quickly, then bolted to his car, got in and started driving.

Terrance walked up to Virgil.

“Don’t worry too much! Patton is just nervous. He’s having his first concert at the nearby library, and he’s really nervous,” he informed Virgil. “Not that he hasn’t done the gig before, but this is the first time he’s getting paid to do it. The library is sponsoring him actually.”

Virgil nodded and grabbed his phone, he quickly wrote out a thank you. Terrance nodded and went back to work.

He debated for a moment what he should do, taking a sip of his coffee, he put down a tip, and got up sending his brother a text.

Chapter 2: Just a little bit Nervous…

Quickly rushing through the old hickory doors of the library, his guitar case beside him, He looked at his watch, and sighed a breath of release, he wasn’t late.

He looked around and took in the smell of books and coffee beans, then he walked up to the lady behind the check in/out counter.

“Um, I’m Patton Herz, I’m here for the musical educational… uhh, concert?”

“Oh! Yes! Please follow me!” she got up from behind her desk and quickly started shuffling towards a smaller room that was walled off as to not disturb the readers in the rest of the library.

He waited patiently for the kids and their parents to come into the library, and sit in the room with their parents. Tuning his guitar, as small groups of two or three wandered in. There was a soft rumble of rambunctious children.

Patton liked performing for children, as they were brutally honest, but that wasn’t just the honesty he appreciated, he also they were easier to entertain, but much more fun, if you could get them involved. It was the adults and teens that got dragged along that he was nervous about. Judgy eyes made him far more upset than a child’s honest opinion.

In due time he would get a teaching license for music and perhaps even special ed, and use his talents there. He was interrupted from his thoughts when he saw a librarian to the left of him he give him a thumbs up, that let him know they were ready for show time.

He strummed a G chord, it rang out, silencing the audience, he tapped the mic a few times. Patton took a deep breath.

“Hiya folks! How are you doing this fine morning?” Patton spoke into the mic

The children and some parents holding onto their littler ones, shouted out their response. It seemed that they were good.

“Seems to be a good morning for some of you doesn’t it! Say, I have a question, why did the scarecrow win an award?” Patton bawled his hands up and placed them on his hips, leaning forward.

A small chorus’s “what’s” came back to answer.

“He was outstanding in his field!”

The kids laughed and their parents groaned, some of the children repeated the joke to their parents.

Patton smiled, then grabbed a pick, and put his hands on his guitar. Patton thought it would be a good idea to play a few songs the little kids knew.

“Let’s start this concert off! Hmm.. what song should we be singing? Does anyone have an idea?”

Once again several shouts, Patton could barely hear one voice from another, but he did hear several shouts

“Did I hear a Head and Shoulders?”

Several shouts to confirm, and off Patton went, singing song after song, joke after joke, and he got to sing a few originals.

He had gone over his whole schtick several times over, he knew what he was doing, and the nervousness he felt was gone.

He finally ended the show with a bow.

“Thank you! Thank you for coming out and supporting your children’s wants to learn!! If you want your children to learn more or if you’d like to support me, and want your children to learn, all my songs are all free online on my Youtube channel! Just look up Patton Herz!”

After the show, several Mom’s came up to Patton thanking him, and complimenting him. Some of the little kids hiding behind their parents. He got on his knees and waved to the kids,

“Hi!” He said cheerfully, “Do you guys want a hug?” He opened his arms wide.

One kid peaked out behind his mother and then he hugged Patton, then a girl and another child ran over and they all gave him a quick hug.

“You dress funny! But you sound really pretty!” One of them said,

“Sarah!” The child’s mother said in a warning tone.

“No it’s fine!” He looked up to the mother, “Thank you Sarah!” He looked back at the girl. “Children are brutally honest it’s fine!” He stood up and patted her head.

He made eye contact with the hooded figure in the back, then the hooded figure started to walk away. Patton quickly made an excuse and walked towards the unknown figure.

Chapter 3: Virgil Pryder

Virgil Pryder was always shy, but as he grew older his anxiety started to become more and more prominent. It seemed the only way he could drown out the world, was through music. When he discovered he could make his own music, he never stopped there, each song he made, he posted on Youtube, some animators found a few of his songs, and made angsty animations from them. Every so often his songs would pop up on a lip syncing app. He got popular, gaining hundreds of subscribers every week.

Virgil's twin Remy found out about him making music and then begged Virgil to let him sing for him. Together they decided to be a band, Remy would sing and speak for Virgil, as he didn’t have a voice for himself. Not that he wanted to sing anyway. He was happy hiding behind the name he had chosen for the two, as if it were his mask.

The origin of the band name simply came from the fact that it was their last names. Well, one day Remy planned on changing his last name, but soon it was agreed upon that Virgil wasn’t going to show much of his face, so that-away he didn’t get a panic attack from any group that decided to swarm him. This meant that it had also been decided that Remy would be the face of the band, he would go to interviews, and talk about the band’s success.

One day, after months of convincing from Remy, he finally went out to get a manager, no sooner had he gotten one, he then ended up with a record label, several songs on the radio, and now he was one of the most well known dubstep/edm artists out there. Everyone had heard his music, and if they hadn’t listened to his it, people had heard of him vaguely.

But here he was. Listening to a stranger he had only met only ten minutes earlier, sing to a bunch of children and their parents.

He had his black hoodie on, and the hood was over his head, when he caught Patton’s eye. He pulled panicked and started turning away.

Patton ran after him. Not ran after in the sense of say running, but fast walking towards a person. Patton was quietly and quickly excusing himself from the different groups of people who approached him.

“Virgil?” Patton called out, walking up to him.

Virgil stopped and turned around slowly, he waved his hand shyly at Patton.

Patton smiled softly at him, “What are you doing here?”

Came to see the show. He paused a minute looking around. You do sound like an angel.

“Oh stop it!” Patton smiled. “I can’t believe you came! I thought you had to catch your bus?”

Yeah we have enough time. Besides the concert isn’t until a lot later, and it’s like 3 pm.

“Oh, I wish you luck for your concert, I’m sure it’s nothing like mine, haha, if you’d even call this a conc-“

“Oh my god, are you the lead singer, Remy, from Pryder??” A woman came up to them and interrupted their conversation. Her voice was annoyingly high pitched and nasally.

Virgil could only shake his head in response. Not only because he couldn’t speak but also because he wasn’t his brother.

“Oh my god you are! You have to be!! The likeness is uncanny! Can we take a picture, please, please!!! Oh my god, I’ve never met a celebrity before,” and she continued on and more people started to crowd around them. Then out of the corner of Virgil's eyes, Patton moved in front of him.

“Leave him alone. He isn’t Remy-dy or whoever. Now back off and go away before I report you all for harassment.” Patton spoke firmly. His arm outstretched in front of Virgil.

With some grunts and groans of disappointment, the crowd dispersed.

Patton turned around and smiled.

“I think they got the point!” As he said point he poked Virgil.

Virgil giggled.

Thank you. He mouthed the words as well.

“Aww shucks, You’re welcome!” Patton rubbed the back of his head.

Hey, take this, it’s a ticket for the show. So we're even. Virgil smiled.

“Aww thank you! I will try to stay as long as I can, I’m just sensitive to loud noises so I might not stay the whole night.

I understand. Virgil nodded. Don’t feel obliged to come if you can’t handle it.

Patton smiled.

“Thank you.”

🗤

But Patton decided to go and see the show anyway. It was later, almost five o’clock. He quickly ran down the stairs to get to his car. The Arena where it was at was almost an hour away and Patton wanted to be there a little bit early. So he got into his car drove himself down to where the concert was at.

He got out of the car and went to go stand in line. After a period of waiting, he finally got into the arena and got to where the concert was at.

Remy was on stage introducing every person who was working in the background. Patton knew it was Remy because he looked exactly like Virgil, except he was talking.

Soon the show started to run and music played Remy sang, and Patton got overwhelmed super quickly. After about an hour Patton had to leave the concert.

Chapter 4: Nervous, Again

Patton came home after the concert, absolutely wiped out because of the energy he had to expend to keep up with the crowd and the music. His head ached. He body ached. He opened his door after a minute of fumbling with keys.

He pushed his guitar in first then himself. Setting down the guitar he turned around closed the door. His feet practically dragged across the carpet. He kicked off his shoes and fell right into the couch landing on his back. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out a note, the one Virgil had written him, with the number to his manager on it.

Patton sat up straight, and fumbled around his coat looking for his phone, briefly having a panic attack, before finding his phone in his back pocket. He quickly dialed the number Virgil had given him in.

He was there, sitting in his apartment, it was very small, but so was the couch he had been sitting on, another thing that played into the smallness, was mostly due to the fact that it was not at all bare, it in fact was very crowded with small trinkets.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiing.

The phone began to ring. Patton looked around the room, there were shelves filled with movies (some on VHS, others on dvd, he even had some that were blu-ray not that he had a blu-ray player),

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiing.

There were also all sorts of music on the shelf or at least near it, (the music ranged from 45’s to 33’s, on the vinyl records, some were CD albums, others were cassette tapes),

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiing.

There were some succulent plants on a few shelves, and other miscellaneous items. Such random items included, a guitar stand next to the said shelf, a few guitar picks on the coffee table in front of him, cups that were placed randomly around his room. Not all of them on top of coasters.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiing.

Pattons leg bounced with anticipation, to guess, it had to have been going about 500 bpm.

updownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdownupdo-.

Click.

His leg stopped.

“Hello, thank you for calling MNDScapes this is Quill, how may I place your call?” the voice spoke sweetly over the phone.

Patton was so shocked that he couldn’t respond fast enough.

“Hello?” the voice called out. “This better not be a prank call.”

“No, Yes, Hi! Um, Sorry. I was given this number by Virgil, was told to request an appointment to get a manager? Uh, specifically Dillian Falsa?

“Ah! Virgil and Mr. Falsa! I’ll get you connected. Just a few moments please!” the phone clicked and there was elevator music.

It went on, and it went on, and it went on. It seemed to go on forever. Patton's breath got caust in his throat. He didn’t pay attention to it though, focusing more intently on the music playing in the background.

It clicked.

“Yesss?” a voice hissed over the phone.

Patton let go of a breath, he had forgot he had been holding. It took him no time at all to figure out that this Mr. Falsa.

“Hi!” His voice shone brightly, even through the phone, the man on the other line could tell that not only was he was a bright ball of sunshine, but that he was also another low life wanna-be famous guitarist, or something of the sort.

“Please, tell me what you are doing on the line, before I hang up.” he said coldly.

“Oh, uh, I met Virgil from the band Pryder, he gave me your office number, and he said you could manage me? Get me where I need to be?” Patton’s voice was soft as he questioned. He didn’t realize how tense he was. Had he been standing, people probably would have mistaken him for a plastic mannequin. He tried to relax, but his attempt failed miserably, as wherever he tried to move to get relaxed he just ended up winding back up again, like a wind up toy that a child kept winding up every time it started slowing.

“Ah, Virgil. He told me you might be calling, I assume this is Patton?” Mr. Falsa, said, his voice changing to a lighter tone. Patton could almost hear the soft smirk that landed across this mans face on the other end.

If it hadn’t been for Virgil, Dillian Falsa, would have hung up on this man who had telephoned him, and hadn’t even introduced himself or done anything that was considered “respectful”, well, at least not in the eyes of ethical business concerns. Not that Dillian followed said business ethics. Or any ethics. If Dillian wanted to follow ethics he wouldn’t be where he was now. He used the system the way he had wanted, and got exactly what he wanted.

Dillian was the type of man who had 20 different thousand dollar watches, and solely wore them according to the occasion. He was also a man who saved his money, invested it, and got more money.

He was also the type of man who could walk into a fancy and expensive store, let’s make one up now.. A stupid fancy made up brand like… Gucci.

He could walk into this said make-believe store, and make all of its inhabitants feel poorer as soon as they laid eyes upon him. Which wasn’t hard to do, considering a good chunk of the people who did see him were only and would only ever, window shop. Another small group he made feel poor were the workers, they may have gotten paid more than minimum wage, but where still not paid much more than that.

He had helped make several people famous, and by famous he meant, he got them lots of money. Some of his gems were, well, obviously Pryder, but also Logan and Roman Errege. Knowing his rates of success, he figured he could make Patton a superstar. If not a superstar, at least a one hit wonder.

“Ah! Yes sir! I am indeed Patton!” He smiled knowing that Virgil had put in a good word for him.

“Alright. Find a piece of paper and pen, and write down this address.” Dillian said, well, it was more commanded than it was said.

Patton fumbled along clumsily, grabbing the items requested and got ready to write. He nodded his head to signal Dillian to tell him the address. It Patton took about .5 secs to realise what he’d done, and then, with a sigh, a little piece of his soul died.

“Ready when you are, sir,” Patton said and no sooner had he said it Dillian spouted out the address, and Patton wrote it down like there was no tomorrow.

“Uh, what state would I be traveling too?” Patton asked, his voice was practically shaking.

“California.” he answered, “Can you make it there?” he asked in a deadpan voice.

“In about three days, driving anyway.”

“No, no, no. That isn’t good.” Dillian muttered to himself in response,

“Then I’m sorry I’m wast-”

“Quiet. I am thinking.” Dillian said sternly, abruptly interrupting Patton. “I want to see you succeed. I will personally see to it that you will.” he spoke again after a moment of thinking, one thing that he left off from telling Patton was the reason why, it’s because Virgil has never been wrong about someone having a good shot at being famous, and that he trusted Virgil’s word and didn’t need to hear Patton sing or anything, to know that it had Dillians most successful client’s seal of approval was all he needed.

“Tell you what, as long as you agree to what I say, I will pay for your trip here and your residence, I will probably ask Logan to spare you a room.”

Pattons eyes widen.

“Wai-wait... You’re just.. gonna spend a thousand dollars on me?” Patton was completely blown away by this act of kindness.

“It won’t cost a thousand dollars,”

“Oh, yeah, sorry, but yeah! Sure, I’ll do what I feels right!”

Dillian’s face curled into a crooked smirk.

“Perfect.” He said. “But first I will need an email so you can get the ticket digitally,”

Patton nodded to himself. “Right, yeah! Uh,” he listed off his email address.

“Thank you, now go get ready, and I’ll take care of this ticket.” Dillian took the phone away from his face and hung up.

“Thank you so much sir!” Patton said into phone. He didn’t get a response the line had gone dead. Patton shrugged to himself and grabbed a suitcase, and started piling all sorts of clothes into it. Polo’s, Khaki’s, you name it, he threw it in. He ran all the way around the house gathering smaller things.

Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Shampoo, Mouthwash, Pens, Chargers, Picks for the Guitar, the Guitar.

This took up the whole rest of the night. Grabbing all the things he believed he would need. He looked up lists on line, he watched videos on how to store more stuff into a small suitcase. He folded clothes, he washed and dried the dirty clothes.

Eventually he turned off the lights when it started nearing ten o’clock. He set himself in bed. Believing to have had everything he needed. Knowing he had everything he needed.

Patton laid in bed and thought to himself in awe. The moon peeked through the window in Patton’s room. Shining a window shaped.. shape.. onto his covers. It excited him knowing he was starting to get to where he wanted too. Or was he? Getting a manager is exciting at all, but this might mean, he has to give up teaching little kids stuff like math and science, and that’s all Patton wanted to do. Was help the little kids with learning. He supposed it didn’t matter, as long as he was making music, he figured he’d be happy.

He took a moment and absorbed the last little bit of his surroundings. His room. He had already called his friend Terrance earlier to house-sit his apartment while he was gone. So he didn’t know why he was nervous. Well, he did he just felt foolish about it, maybe he was just scared to leave, or maybe he was scared of flying on an airplane.

He continued on thinking these things until his brain finally decided to shut off for the night, and he fell deep into a slumber.

Chapter 5: Logan Aivot

Once again it seemed, Logan Aivot, was up at late night, writing the lyrics to the music he had made earlier that day.

This was certainly not the first time that he had been up this late writing music.

He banged his head against a wall trying to come up with something. He needed something now. He needed something quick, but he also wanted his next song to be meaningful, he wanted it to impact people no matter what they identified as. Just like the last few. But nothing would come to his mind.

Not a singular, word.

Just the idea of what he wanted to portray. It was an awful feeling. Knowing what he wanted to write, not knowing how he wanted to write it. It kept making him feel incompetent, it made him feel like he couldn’t do anything.

Because to Logan, all music needed meaning, or else it wasn’t really music. Everything needed at story. Everything needed a meaning. If it didn’t have that, if it didn’t have cryptically inspiring messages, then to him, it was a waste of 3 and a half minutes of someone’s time. He didn’t want that. He felt that people weren’t creating good music anymore, and he sought to fix that problem. To fix that gap.

He was just stuck.

Thunk.

His head hit the wall at the same time inspiration struck.

I got it! He thought to himself

“I can just write about being stuck! I know every fanfic writer hates being stuck.” He spoke out loud to nobody in particular.

He also had no idea where that last bit had come from. Probably the delirium of having stayed up way later that was one, necessary and two, healthy.

He was alone in his room. He was days away from getting on a plane to see his manager and discuss the advertisements for a new album, and he needed new songs, or else how would he stay relevant? That was one of the many very pointed questions that his manager had asked him. It was also one of the only questions that had stuck with him. It was his dream and his passion was to share his words with the world.

He had debuted his first album, “Words” last year, and it had been quite a hit with a small group of people, and he did have one of his songs on the radio. He was most proud of it. He just hoped it wasn’t played out.

He started scribbling down words and it flowed out of him.

Once he finished writing, he looked at it and cringed, but that didn’t stop him, because the greatest thing he learned was to not negatively criticize his art and he drew it. He instead focused this energy into writing corrections and making sure the rhyme structure was sound, and that sentences flowed correctly. He spent extra time on the chorus making sure it was perfect.

After the last period had been placed he barely blinked and he immediately fell asleep against his wall, pencil still in hand, snoring softly.

🗤

Later in the morning he awoke to a call from his friend Joan. He cast away the pencil that had managed to stay in his hand the whole night while he had slept, Logan picked up the phone and answered.

“Hey man, how’s your song-writing going?” they spoke over the phone.

“Uhh,” Logan paused, his brain still foggy from sleeping so late. Looking over at the paper in front of him, re-reading the words he wrote.

“Not good?” they asked over the phone.

“Well, I wouldn’t say it’s not good, objectively it does need some more fine tuning, but I don’t want to cheap out like most modern artists and repeat the chorus to, you know, death.”

“I understand that, do you need any help? Need any ideas? You know I’m always down for helping you out man.”

Logan took a second to assess himself. He couldn’t much assessing right now, because he hadn’t had a cup of coffee, and his brain was still fogged over.

But if there was one thing that Joan was best at, it had to have been that they were an amazing friend. Logan probably would have lost his sanity years ago if it hadn’t have been for Joan helping along the way.

“Yes, I do know, I thank you for the offer, though right now, I just need to fine tune these lyrics that I wrote last night. Wanna hear what I’ve got?” Logan asked,

“Sure! Let’s hear it!”

Logan didn’t bother singing it, even though he was friends with Joan, and even though he had already made one album before, he was still shy singing to just one person, besides he didn’t like to sing, not that he couldn’t. Just that he’d rather say it or perhaps rap it. He continued with the lyrics. Another reason that he said it was because Logan didn’t have a specific tune for these lyrics yet.

“Yeah, definitely sounds like it needs a tune up, but otherwise? I like it, I totally hate feeling that way as well!” Joan gave their criticism.

“Agreed, thank you Joan, you are once again, amazing help!”

“It’s what I’m here for!” Joan laughed “Alright man! I’ll check in next week, text me if you need me pal!”

“I always do.” Logan couldn’t help but smile.

“Alright. Uh, Take care man!”

“You too Joan!” Logan responded, and with that they both hit the “End Call” button. Neither of them say goodbye, because to both of them, there never really was a need to say bye. Bye meant you were leaving for a while.

Ah! He thought, another bit of inspiration filled his head.

He grabbed a spare piece of paper and wrote it down. Logan looked down at the other paper that was in front of him, all wrinkled from it being twisted in the blankets Logan slept under.

He started analyzing it.

That wasn’t grammatically correct. He grabbed a pencil and started erasing. And rewriting. That could be said better. Erase, rewrite. Oh! Alliteration! Nice. he thought to himself. This could rhyme better with this word, and so on and so forth.

Logan looked over to his phone to see just in time that his manager was calling.

“Hello Mr. Falsa, I didn’t expect that you would call today.”

“Neither did I Mr. Aivot, but Virgil found some new talent, his name’s Patton, and I was wondering, if you would give up a room to let him stay awhile, perhaps meet him when he gets here and help him get adjusted to city life?”

“Wait, why do I have to be put on babysitting duty? I have work to be doing!” Logan looked up at the wall, as if he was actually talking to Dillian face to face. his face scrunched up in confusion.

“It’ll only be for a little while, besides you’re both fresh talent, so I also expect you two to do a collab.”

“Collaborations are difficult you know, besides I’ve already done one.” Logan said, he put his phone on his shoulder, holding it down with his head. He continued rereading and rewriting the lyrics.

“Yes, but you’ve never done one with another person singing with you, and it will help him get out there.”

Logan sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew there was no winning with Mr. Falsa. Especially if he had already decided on the course of action before ever even thinking about asking any of the people involved.

“Alright. Fine.” Logan let go of the bridge of his nose, and went back to fixing up the lyrics. “I will let him stay, but he’s only staying until he can afford his own apartment and then he’s out. I don’t need someone barging in on my stuff and messing everything up,”

“He won’t. I know he won’t. He doesn’t seem like the type.”Dillian spoke evenly. Dillian knew how to talk to all of his clients, each one had specific tones they responded to better with. Logan was typically not one for drama, so Dillian almost always cut out any drama that was involved with anything.

“Well that certainly is a plus. Is that all you wished to talk about?” Logan erased something again.

“Yes, that was it for today.” Dillian paused, “He should be here later in the day. I’ll give you a call before he arrives.”

“Until then Mr. Falsa.” Logan said flatly. This was only because he was trying to find a rhyme for the word rut, that made sense in the actual context of the song.

“Until then,” With that Dillian hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair.

Logan lifted his head letting the phone drop in front of him. He sighed. Logan wasn’t looking forward to having to make friends with someone new. New people meant problems. New people meant that he had to deal with their naïvness, and teach them everything that they didn’t know. Sure he had only been in the game for two years, but that didn’t mean anything. To Logan at least.

Logan looked at the time. He figured he’d get some coffee and then get back and start writing out that other idea. Maybe he’d make it into a duet with this Patton person.

He got up and walked into the kitchen humming random little tune as he went and made himself some coffee.

Chapter 6: New Faces and New Places

Patton woke up a few minutes before his alarm went off. Quickly he turned off the alarm before it went off, he grabbed his glasses and put them on, moving slowly he put his hand on the wall and it up, soon enough his hand caught the light switch turning it on. He looked around for the clothes he set out and went off to take a shower.

Soon after he got out he checked his phone. Checking the time on the ticket, he thought it to be best if he left at nine, so he could get through TSA and wait a little bit before he had to board the plane, which was at 11:15 am.

Patton sat his phone down and started making himself some breakfast. He made himself a bowl of oatmeal, and filled the bowl with all strawberries, bananas, and some peaches. He also grabbed the last apple in his fridge, biting down, but not all the way through, he held it in his mouth, holding a spoon in one hand and a bowl in the other, he walked into the living room, he sat his bowl down on the coffee table, he set the spoon into the bowl, then grabbed the apple and finished biting it all the way through, set that down and got to eating.

When he was done eating, he checked the time.

Eight twentynine am.

He washed his dirty dishes quickly and put them away. He grabbed his suitcase and headed out the door. He was going to meet Terrance who was going to drive Patton’s car back from the airport. With his suitcase he pulled a similar maneuver that he did with his guitar case.

Once he made it down the stairs he placed the suitcase in the trunk of the car. Running back up the stairs he went back into his apartment looking around making sure he had gotten everything.

After he had decided that he indeed was not leaving anything behind, he went outside, closed the door behind him, and went down the stairs to his car. He opened the front seat car door, and sat inside it.

The inside of Patton’s car smelled like vanilla and cinnamon, with only the faintest of hints of a used car. He looked behind him and backed out of the parking lot, he then shifted gears, and he headed that way, to his friends house.

After driving for ten or so minutes, he arrived at Terrance’s apartment, he called Terrance on his smartphone, and then out his friend ran and jumped in the front seat with him. They talked all the way to the airport, and when they got there, Patton grabbed his suitcase, with the help of Terrance. Then Terrance shut the trunk and escorted Patton to the inside of the airport, while Patton’s suitcase trailed behind them.

“I’m so glad you’re here, I don’t know what I would have done without you, you’re literally the greatest human being on this planet!” Patton smiled weakly, his nerves were getting the best of him.

“No problem! That’s what friends are for Pat!” He smiled, ‘Wow, I still can’t believe it, I’m friends with someone famous.”

“Well, not yet..” Patton said, “Hopefully though!” Patton gave a half smile in return.

“Hopefully, but you better get going, getting through TSA sucks. I’ll see you another time!”

“Alright,” Patton opened his arms for a hug, and Terrance hugged him, gripping him tightly. A bear hug. Patton smiled and hugged back tighter. After a moment they let go and Patton let out a nervous laugh, as he started going forward. He waved a hand at Terrance. Then Patton turned around and started making his way through the airport.

Once Terrance lost sight of Patton he went back outside and drove Patton’s car back to his own apartment.

It took Patton a little longer than he expected to get from TSA to the main boarding area but when he arrived he only had to do a max of 15 minutes. That was, until the plane got delayed an hour and a half, due too, “Technical” issues. Patton didn’t mind the wait. He thought it to be a small price to pay when you didn’t pay for your ticket.

As time passed eventually he got on the plane and there he began his journey to California. It would take four hours of sitting in a plane forty thousand feet in the air. Yay.

🗤

When Patton exited the LAX airport in California, he saw two men wearing all black outfits with security guards. Looking around and waiting. They made eye contact with Patton and started walking towards him.

Patton gulped.

“Are you Patton Herz?” the guard on the right asked.

“Ye, uh, yeah. Yes I am.” He said unsure of what was happening.

“We are here to escort you. Apparently you’re important.” the other one said.

“Hired by Dillian Falsa.” the other one added.

Patton was most certainly not expecting to be escorted by bodyguards hired by Dillian.

“Uh, oh, that’s very kind of him.” Patton said, mostly to himself. “Just let me get my suitcase and then I guess we’ll be on our way..”

“We’ve taken care of that. It’s already being sent directly to the house you will be staying in.”

“Oh. Oh!” Patton exclaimed he was even more surprised and also relieved.

He certainly didn’t expect that his suitcase had already taken care of by these people. It was already in the limo that Patton was going to be riding in.

“Well I guess we better get going then..” Patton said.

The guards nodded and turned around Patton in tow behind them.

If Patton didn’t know any better he almost thought that he was being kidnapped. He followed the bodyguards to the VIP section of the airport. Patton reached for the back door, but quickly, a guard opened the limo door for him instead.

“Oh, alright,” Patton said aloud. “Thank you kindly!” Patton grinned at him, and the guard just nodded in response. He then got into the back of limo, the guards sat up in front and drove off.

Inside the limo was more room than Patton thought there needed to be for any moving vehicle. The interior was a pale butternut color pleather, the handles looked like they were made out of mahogany. There was a TV in front of him, he believed that to be unnecessary. As he continued looking around, he sat in awe.

Best not to touch anything. Patton thought to himself, incase he broke something.

Just one question popped up into Patton’s head. Why couldn't he have just taken a taxi like normal people did? This seemed way too fancy and over the top for Patton and it just didn’t make any sense to him. Was Dillian trying to gloat about his wealth?

🗤

When the limo rolled to a stopping point and the guards had let Patton know they had arrived, he got out of the limo. He turned around and waved the guards goodbye.

When he turned back around he noticed that in front of him were two large spinning doors.

That’s.. Odd… He thought to himself.

He walked into through one of these doors. He made sure that he didn’t get caught in the door frame. He walked right into the main lobby. He looked down at the floor, he saw linoleum flooring it was different shades of grey streaked along the floor. His eyes started to rise up surveying the rest of the room.

A few empty chairs lined the white walls. The walls were a pearlescent white, which made it feel like he was in a larger room than he actually was in. He didn’t like the way it made him feel like he was exposed. Not that he had ever done anything bad in his lifetime.

He walked up to the person at the desk, he assumed they were Quill.

“Uh, hello, Patton Herz here to see Mr. Dillian Falsa?”

“I’ll tell him you’re here.” they clicked a few buttons and spoke over the phone.

“Alright I’ll let him know.”

This was it, Patton thought. Mr. Falsa wasn’t even going to see him, he was just gonna send Patton back. He hadn’t even done anything but Mr. Falsa already knew Patton would amount to n-

“Mr. Falsa wants you up in his office. It’s on the third floor, the second door on your right!” Quill’s voice disrupted the negative thoughts that had erupted in his mind.

Patton nodded and smiled, wishing them a good day, Patton ran off to the elevator. He pressed the third floor button.

Ding

The elevator door closed and after a second, the elevator started going up. Patton’s stomach started doing flips and tricks as the elevator lifted itself up.

Ding.

First floor was already beneath him, and Patton started to take deep breaths. Trying to soothe himself from the big bundle of nerves that wrapped around his stomach.

Ding.

The doors swept open, and Patton stepped out. He felt like an alien stepping out of his spacecraft in a new forgien land. The cream colored carpet spread beneath his feet, down the depths of the hall in front of him. He looked around and noticed that in front of him was a three way.

He could continue forward or he could go left or right. He chose to go right. Going down the hall, not very far at least. There it was, the second door on the right.

That’s the door that would decide his future. Patton wanted to run and flee. But underneath all of the nerves, there was some part of him that was curious. Curious of what would happen once he opened that door. Curious to who he would meet, what they would discuss, and how his career might go from there. He was curious as to whose voices he heard on the other side.

He put his hand up to the door. He took a deep breath and rapped his knuckles against the fake wood door.

“You may enter.” A smooth voice came from the other side. He recognised it as Mr. Falsa’s.

Patton took the hand away from the door, and it fell to the silver door handle. He pushed the handle down and pushed open the door and saw a tall man standing in front of the desk. He held himself with a certain type of dignity. His arms were behind him and his shoulders squared out. Behind a pair of glasses that were so thick they could rival Patton’s, his eyes were a piercing dark blue. Patton could have gotten lost in the waves of an ocean that were his eyes.

The man sitting down behind the desk also held himself with a certain kind of dignity, but it was somehow a different kind of dignity. He sat with a more refined look about him. Where one reminded him of a professor at a college, the other reminded him of a man of power. When Patton got a good look at the man sitting down, something immediately told him that he was Mr. Falsa, and something else made him feel so much more poor than he already felt that he was.

He exhaled.

Dillian was the first to say anything, as an odd crooked smile fell across his face,

“Come sit down,” He lured Patton in, he was almost hypnotising, the way he spoke, Patton found himself walking forward, “We have a few things to discuss between the two of you.” he motioned to the chair.

Patton looked around, the slate colored walls made the few plants that were near the wall stand out. Dillian’s desk was a light honey, that also seemed to stand out from the wall. It seemed like it forced you to look at him. He looked back at the man he presumed was Logan and held out his hand to shake. Logan took it and shook firmly. Then quickly let go.

“Patton, Logan. Logan, Patton.” Dillian introduced them.

Patton turned to Dillian and held out his hand for a handshake. Dillian took it. His hands had gloves on them. Patton couldn’t figure out, for the life of him, why.

“A man of manners…” Dillian drawed out, “That will get you far you know?” He raised an eyebrow at Patton. Patton let go of the shake and shook his head.

“No I didn’t know that.” Patton shook his head and tilted it.

Dillian continued smiling, well you really couldn’t call it a smile. It hardly deserved the title, it really was more of a smirk. On one side of his face there seemed to be a scar, traveling from the corner of his mouth, up to and ending at his cheek. Dillian was dressed head to toe as a businessman.

“Please sit down.” Dillian motioned to the chair that was behind Patton.

Patton nodded again and sat down in it. As he sat in it, he realized it was a lot shorter than the desk. It made an illusion, one easily perceptible to tall people. Because when Patton sat down it appeared that Dillian was taller and bigger than him. As if he had dominion over Patton.

“May I just say that, it was super kind of you to fly me out and let me ride in that limo.”

Dillian didn’t say anything, because to him that wasn’t kindness. To him it was simply a risk to make back all his money and some more, that he spent on him. A risk he was willing to take.

“Tell me, what do you do music wise?” Dillian asked.

“Oh, me? I just sing silly little songs to help some kiddo’s out there learn! Ya know, trying to spread happiness and joy through learning and music!” Patton smiled widely. It had always been his personal goal to help others.

He didn’t know how he’d do it. But it knew he would try to help them. Patton was always squeamish, so doctor, vet, and surgeon were out. But he liked talking and often found himself always being asked for advice on things and how to deal with them. So at one point he just figured naturally he would do psychology.

“Then why didn’t you become a teacher?” Logan asked curiously. Patton was an oddity is Logan's mind.

“Because why would I? That’s not what I went to college for. Besides I would have had to have taken an education course, and I would have had to have gotten a license. There’s a lot of steps that it takes for becoming a teacher, other than getting just one degree.” Patton explained.

Logan nodded, as did Dillian. They were both taking in Patton, in person.

“So you know how to write music and compose lyrics I’m assuming?” Logan asked, this was a very important question to Logan because if he could get Patton to write the music, Logan would only have to focus on the song lyrics, which cut song production down by half. Or at least it did in Logan’s mind.

“Yes sir! I minored in music theory in college and I write pretty much everything on my own, except for covers.” Patton smiled brightly.

Dillian almost moved his hand to shield his eyes from the amount of light this man was beaming.

“Interesting. So you would have no qualms doing a collaboration with Logan here?” His voice was even.

He was clearly sizing Patton up figuring out ways to make him respond the way he wanted him too. Patton took notice of being sized up and didn’t let himself waiver even though his stomach was flipping itself into knots.

“No! None at all!” Patton flashed a smile at Logan.

“So here’s the deal right now, you work on getting an album ready, I’ll work on getting you a contract with a producing company, and I’ll help you start getting money”

“Oh really? That’d be Fantastic!”

Logan groaned at the mere implication of a pun, because of course this great big ball of sunshine also had to love puns.

“Did… Did you just make a Fanta pun?” He asked.

“Yes. Yes I did.” Patton said chuckling to himself.

This is going to be impossible. Thought Logan to himself. He didn’t know why, he just had a hunch that either Patton wouldn’t be cut out for this line of work, or that Patton would end up ending his own career before it even started.

Logan called it right then. Virgil might be good at spotting decent talent. But was he was extremely poor at judging someone’s character. He continued to think to himself.

“It doesn’t matter the jokes he makes in private, it matters that he knows how to work, and how to not rely on songwriters, because that means that he has to pay them.” Dillian said smoothly to Logan mostly, but that last part was most definitely aimed at Patton.

“You do realize that it’s a three percent chance you will amount to anything in this industry, don't you?” Logan asked looking at Patton.

“I am aware of that and I am willing to accept whatever comes my way.” Patton responded quickly.

Logan looked impressed the response, but that didn’t matter to Dillian, what mattered was that Patton knew what he had to be doing.

“You understand your job right now, correct?” Dillian said.

“Yes. Work on putting together an album and work with Logan here to create a song together.” Patton repeated back.

Dillian nodded. “Good, Good. Well. That’s it essentially. You’re both free to leave.” With that Logan got up and went to open the door. “Logan, do be kind to Patton.” Dillian called after.

“Planned on it sir.” he opened the door with one hand and vaguely gestured at Patton to follow him with the other.

So Patton did, he got up gave Dillian a smile, a nod, and a wave, Dililan returned the nod. Then Patton turned to Logan and followed followed him out.

They walked in silence. The air around them felt like a cage. Patton was so nervous he could hardly talk. The back of his throat had gone dry a long time ago. But Patton couldn’t stand the silence. So he spoke up.

“So, what do you do?” he asked, trying to match pace with Logan.

“I make music. Same as you.” His voice was flat and monotoned, he stopped at the elevator, pressing the button on the wall.

“Oh right.” With that Patton knew he that it would be a long and awkward trip to where they were going.

🗤

Logan parked the car and got out, Patton quickly followed suit. He followed Logan through the winding parking lot, then through the lobby, then to the elevator, where they waited till they got to the floor Logan was on, then he followed Logan until they got to a door and Logan and to fish for his keys.

Sticking the key into the lock he said,

“Here we are. It’s no pent-house but it is home.” Logan finally got the door open to his apartment.

Patton walked in first. He looked around. The apartment was so much larger than Pattons. It was also much more barren than his own. He suspected Logan liked it that way. He saw a couch in front of a TV, he also saw a small bookshelves with all sorts of smart people books on them.

“Go ahead. Make yourself comfortable. I’ll be in my room.” with that Logan walked off and left Patton alone.

🗤

The sun no longer hung in the sky like the beautiful painting that it had been earlier. Instead the moon glowed over the city. No stars in sight. Patton had been staring out the window when he had finally noticed why the night sky had looked so off to him. He sat in his new room, he had gotten ready for bed ages ago, and yet here he was one am and he couldn’t sleep.

It was dark in his room. Aside from the outside light that lit up different parts of his room. His bed was in the corner of the room, underneath a window which caused a square of light to be cast onto his floor. It was also quiet in his room. Except for the honking, the loud music, and the people shouting that was all going on outside.

He finally sat up, and decided to get something to drink. Water perhaps. He pulled the covers off of him and got out of bed as quietly as possible. He shuffled through the dark, looking for his phone, but instead he felt a pain shoot up from his foot because he had stubbed a toe on the nightstand. He reared his head back and he bit his lip as he was trying not to shout. If he didn’t have a filter he would have said some very colorful phrases that night.

After a moment the pain passed enough to where it was bearable, and he grabbed his phone, turned on the flashlight and made his way out of the room. Slowly he creaked open his door just enough so he could get through, then he walked into the living room and straight into the kitchen, Patton surveyed the cabinets looking for the glasses. But something was off.

Everything seemed a whole lot fuzzier than he remembered it being earlier that evening when he had first arrived there. He continued to look for a cup. For whatever reason Patton’s throat was parched.

Glasses… glasses… Oh! Glasses! Patton rolled his eyes as he thought, Ughhh I left my glasses in the bedroom. No wonder I can’t see anything. Without his glasses Patton couldn’t see anything up close. He had to get thick frames so that they could fit the glass part of the glasses in it. Not that Patton didn’t like thick frames, he actually thought they suited him better.

“The glasses are in the top cabinets, two over from the right.” A familiar voice said from behind him.

Patton basically screamed, and dropped his phone from his hands when they came up to protect his face. His chest rised up and fell back down quickly, he was breathing in deep breathes as a way to try and calm himself, as his heart nearly beat out of his chest. After he had gotten himself in more control of himself he turned around to see a figure that no doubt had to be Logan.

He seemed to be leaning against the wall then with a small chuckle he turned the kitchen lights on making Patton close his eyes and groan.

“Agh!” Patton rubbed his eyes “You scared me!” Patton opened one eye letting it get used to the bright light, then opened the other to do the same thing for it.

“I do apologize, I figured you had heard me exit my room.”

“Nope, sorry, I was too busy in thought.” He said answering back. I can’t believe I left my glasses in my room and instead grabbed my phone.”

“Happens.”

“What are you doing up this early?” Patton asked, then scolded “You should be in bed.”

“Could ask and say the same to you.” Logan responded as he walked to the refrigerator and opened it and looked inside for a few minutes before grabbing a gallon of milk.

“Fair point,” Patton nodded. He watched Logan as he opened a cabinet and pulled out two cups. He filled one with milk and left the other one empty. Patton assumed the other one was for him.

“Are you also an insomniac?”

“No, No I’m not I’m afraid. I think it’s a new place and my body isn’t quite used to here yet.”

Logan nodded.

“That is very possible.” he sipped on his milk, then he gestured vaguely to the other cup. “What’ll it be?”

“Uh.. water please!”

“Ah that’s good at least you drink water. But I wouldn’t suggest drinking the water around here. Tastes nasty compared from home. Bottled water here is the best option. After a while you do get used to it, but, once you visit home again, you’ll start drinking that water by the gallon. Happens every time.” Logan said all this while he walked over to the fridge, and pulled out a water bottle, he then tossed it at Patton, who had very poor reaction time, so by the time Patton’s hands went up to catch it, the bottle had already caught his face, however at least the bottle fell into Patton’s hands.

“Sorry,” Logan simply said

“No, not your fault I’ve always been more of a thrower than a catcher.” Patton giggled out as he opened his bottle and took a sip.

They drank in silence for a little bit. Patton couldn’t help but look out the window and again peer into starless sky once more.

Logan saw this and nodded to himself. He had, had the same reaction when he had moved here.

“It’s a shame isn’t it. Not a single start in the sky. On most nights you can hardly see the moon.”

“Really?” Patton asked still looking out the window, well looking wasn’t the right word. Squinting was, as that’s all he could do.

“Yes. It’s sad really, back where I was from, once a month we’d go out to the mountains and look at the stars. You’d never seen anything more dazzling in your life. You could hardly make out any constellations that’s how many stars were crowded next to each other.” He reminisced, nostalgia flowing out like an open gate. Planned on becoming an astronomer. Didn’t think my music career would have picked up the way it did.”

“Really?” Patton asked wistfully

“Yeah, I know big surprise,” Logan chuckled to himself.

“Where I’m from you could sometimes see some of the bigger constellations. Like Orion.” Patton said he was still squinting.

“You’ll get used to it too, ya know the missing stars. If you stay here that is.” he said

“What do you mean?” Patton looked back at Logan.

Logan looked directly at Patton.

“I’m not trying to be cruel in anyway, but do remember this is a 3% change you will blow up big. Hell, I’ve hardly grown big. I just have a decent following. In a few more years maybe then I’ll make it big.”

“Oh. Well” Patton said. “Thank you for your honesty.”

“I’m one of the few people you’ll get it from.” Logan took the last swig from his glass and set it down in the sink, “Good night Patton..” he paused. “And good luck.” and with that Logan walked off.

“Good night.” Patton called after.

He waited until he heard a door close then he grabbed his phone off the floor, then fumbled his way to the light switch, flipped off the lights, and then he went to bed himself. He knew in the morning they would start working together on the song.

Chapter 7: Roman Errege

“You’re going to be on Broadway,”

Those were the words that Roman Errege had been told a total of five years ago, back when he was only 25 years old. Those words circled again through his mind as he sat on the stage after he had gotten himself out of costume and hung it up for the last time that night. He scanned the empty seats as he sat in front of them. In the distance he saw the custodians cleaning.

That night had been the last time he would play the part that brought him fame all those years ago. He sat and remembered each ending of each show, each time he almost slipped out of character, each mistake, he hardly made any mistakes in the show, but he will admit, even he wasn’t perfect. He thought about how earlier that evening at the finale, they brought flowers for him, and how he bawled like a baby.

Those words were what changed everything for him. They echoed over and over again, ringing in his ears, no matter how hard he tried they wouldn’t leave his mind.

After smashing his first lead role he soon rised as a well known Broadway singer. His hopes and dreams were achieved, but like all good things, things must come to an end. For Roman, that was ending his time as lead role in Sweeney Todd, and he was upset over that. He felt like a lost puppy. He felt like a sad puddle of water. One of those puddles that were too shallow to splash.

He hopped off the stage, He had played on that stage 8 shows a week for the last few years. Sometimes he played different characters in between shows, but he was mainly known for his performance in Sweeney Todd.

He walked out of the theater, and headed home for the night. In the morning he would try and talk to Dillian and see where he would go next.

🗤

Roman walked into the office, Completely drained after his literal, last, performance. He closed the door softly behind him, and made his way to the chair in front of the desk. He sank down into the chair.

“Roman! Good to see you! How’s the show go?” Dillian smiled, but it wasn’t genuine, it’s one of those smiles that fall flat because the eyes aren’t shining brightly behind the smile. One that tells you the person is annoyed or sad, but doesn’t want you to know.

“Hey Dillian. I assume you know why I’m here?”

“To look for plays to audition for?”

“You got it.” Roman said glumly. Roman had always hated this feeling in his chest. Normally he felt it during the summer breaks between school plays. Where something just felt lacking. There was hardly ever anything to do during the summer, and he could never afford to do drama during the summer.

“Well, you’re in luck,” Dillian said, “Because it looks like a nearby theater is doing auditions for Urinetown.”

“Excuse me, what?”

“Urinetown, you know, the one abou-”

“Yes I know what it’s about. I’ve seen it. You..” Roman paused looking for the right words to say. He was appalled to say at the least. “I’m talking about what you’re asking me to do. What you’re asking me to go from.” Roman stood up, his temper began to rise. He could not be seen that way, a man who entered his career doing something very serious, immediately dragged down to do a lesser known, satirical comedy show. Roman was practically offended at the meer implication.

“Roman. Be reasonable. Unless you want to remain jobless for, until, oh I don’t know, a new show pops up, which is rare, by the way, or a different show is available, then I suggest you take you attitude and stick it where it belongs. I helped get you that job, I can make damn sure that you’ll never get another good one again.”

“Be reasonable? Be Reasonable??” Roman scoffed, “You should be reasonable, any self respecting man would rather do something, anything, else than jump down that low!”

“It’sss a job.” Dillian hissed out angrily, trying not to raise his voice as he dealt with the man in front of him. “Something to put food on the table for you.”

‘No! An insult it what it is!” Roman stormed out of the office and slammed the door behind him. He slammed it so hard the door vibrated in the frame.

From behind the door Dillian sighed. He knew he would have gotten that reaction, He just wanted to get it out of the way first off.

Roman walked down to the lobby. He was furious. He was outraged. He stomped his way down the hall and with a huff he sunk down in a random chair.

He hated that he was acting like a child, and that was making him even angrier. He felt like he was about to burst into tears, when he felt a hand on his shoulder, it soft and gentle, barely any weight to it.

If Roman didn’t know any better he almost would have ignored it, thinking that it was nothing, but he didn’t ignore it, he looked up, and he saw a man with the thickest pair of glasses you’d ever seen, and a face that was speckled with freckles. Roman was surprised, he thought that the hand must’ve belonged to a woman, and he had almost started saying that she was barking up the wrong tree.

“You okay?” He asked, his voice was soft and low. A smooth voice that sounded like he had wisdom beyond his years. Which was odd all things considered. The man looked no older that he was.

Roman nodded and smiled. Tears welling up behind his eyes, as if to tell the kind man that he was, in fact, not okay but instead was lying in hopes that he wouldn’t disturb this kind man’s day.

“You sure kiddo?” he tilted his head, he tilted it the way a kind father did, one that listened and understood you. Roman wished his actual dad was like that.

Roman exhaled an empty “ha” and looked away, and then looked back, biting his lip the way you would if you were stressed out, he shook his head, not making eye contact with the man next to him.

“Well, just take some deep breaths, okay?” his voice was calming, Roman was glad he met someone kind.

Roman nodded and did as he was told. He inhaled deeply, then let the air out, already feeling better, he gave the man a weak smile.

“Do you want to talk about what’s troubling you?”

Roman inhaled and let out a slow,

“Hooo boy,” he looked down, “You promise you won’t think it’s stupid?” he quickly glanced up at Patton.

Patton looked at Roman surprised, it almost looked like Roman had asked Patton to be mean.

“Why would I laugh at something that’s bothering you?” he said, his voice was strong, but it was also soft.

Romans eyes shot up to meet Pattons, and quickly fell back to the spot into the floor where it seemed like his eyes were boring a hole into it.

“Well uh, the other day was my last performance as Sweeney Todd, in, well, Sweeney Todd, and my manager wanted to see me about getting into a new show soon, and when he suggested I audition for Urinetown, which is a fantastic show, don’t get me wrong, it’s just..” Roman paused, “and I don’t even know why I got super upset about this, but,” he sighed, “I just, was insulted I guess, heh” he gave an unsure chuckle, “I’m sorry, I, this is really just stupid and I’m wasting your time aren’t I?”

“No! Not at all kiddo,” Patton shook his head, shocked that Roman would imply such a thing, “I don’t exactly understand, but I do empathize with you! Being told to go from something of a serious thriller, to a satirical comedy, it must feel like an insult!”

A tear ran down Roman’s cheek.

“And hey, keep your head up, okay? A prince can’t wear a crown, if it keeps falling off.” The man smiled, and wiped an escaped tear with his thumb.

Roman smiled and grabbed this kind man, and hugged him.

“Thank you for your words of kindness, … um.. sir.”

“Oh! Sorry, uh, I forgot to introduce myself! I’m Patton!” He smiled widely, hugging Roman back.

“Oh! Right, um, I’m Roman!” he sputtered out, pulling away from the hugs!

“I hope you don’t mind if I go Romaning around some puns!” Patton smiled proudly.

Roman rolled his eyes, and chuckled.

“Good one,” he smiled.

Patton seemed to glow, the pride on his face for sticking the landing of the pun.

“Say, you’re not that dashing broadway star are you?” he tilted his head.

Roman smiled widely and posed. His head was lifted upwards and arms flourished with his head, one hand just above his head, the other just below his shoulder. His classic pose.

“Why yes, yes I am!” He smiled proudly.

Patton smiled back.

“Well that’s good, you just remember one thing, it’s okay to feel the way you do. Emotions are human. Take good care of yourself okay?

“Patton Herz, Mr. Falsa is ready to see you.” said a person from behind the counter.

“I’m afraid that’s my que to leave.” Patton said smiling, he gave Roman a pat on the shoulder then got up and made his way to his manager’s office.

Chapter 8: Decisions Decisions

It had been four days since he had landed in California. For the past three of then Patton had been getting songs ready for his first album, and had also been working on the collab with Logan.

Patton assumed the contents of his album was why he was being called in by Dillian that day. He followed along the same path he had followed when he had arrived the first day. He reached the door and knocked, the newly familiar voice rang out from behind the door.

“You may enter,” it said.

Patton opened the door, walked inside and closed the door behind. He then walked over to sit in the chair, just as Dillian gestured.

This had been Patton’s second time in Dillians office. It now reminded him of a principal's office at school. Not that he had been to the principal’s office often at school. Just on the occasion when he talked a little to much.

Just like the first time he had been in there, due to his surroundings he was forced to look at Dillian. Dillian today wore a similar outfit to the one he had worn when Patton had first met him. But this time he wore a bowler hat.

“Patton, I have something to ask of you.” he started.

“What? What’s happening?” Patton started to panic again, thinking he was going to be sent home.

“Nothing, terrible, I just, I need you to try.. Something else,” he said he put a lot of emphasis on the word ‘this’.

“What do you mean? I just want to educate the kiddos!”

“Patton,” Dillian said in a tone that was a mix of soft and stern, it was odd but that was the effect it had. “There are a lot of low talent lowlifes, who want to educate children as well. Let them do that for you. Because I see a star in you. All you have to do, is do something different, something with substance.”

“But..”

“But nothing, Patton do you want to be known as “That-Guy-Who-Sings-Little-Kids-Songs”? Do you? Do you really?”

“I.. I guess not..” Patton looked away, ashamed and confused.

He swore he was sure what he wanted to, was to sing to kids, but, would singing for kids really get him to where he wanted to be?

“So what is it that you want to do? If you stay on the path you’re on, I will make sure that you are still with the record label you have now, but if you don’t, I can get you signed on with a different and better record label. What will it be then?”

“I.. I..” he looked back up at Dillan. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes, “I’ll have to think about it.” as soon as the words came out of his mouth, he regretted it instantly.

The words left a bad taste in his mouth. Like he had just swallowed a spoonful of iron. Those words meant he actually had to come up with an answer, he would probably have to produce one by tomorrow.

“Aww you don’t seem to happy, what’s wrong?” he paused and watched as Patton shook his head. “You should be.” Dillan said darkly, but then he continued in a completely different tone, “You know I should give you a, Patt-on the back, most wouldn’t have guts.”

“Heh,” Patton smiled slightly, “That joke was Dillame,”

“See that’s what I like about you Patton, never too far from a smile or cracking a joke. But if you do choose to stay and do something more serious, that’s gonna have to stop.”

“What?” Patton’s smile faded into a confused look.

“You’ll have to stop making jokes. Besides you’re bad at them, once I can get you an important interview, if you make those types of joke, people will think you’re annoying.”

“But, I love dad jokes!”

“Ah, another thing I’m going to have to ask you to drop if you decide to make the right choice. The dad act? Drop it. You’re not a dad.” He paused dramatically. “Do you understand?” he spoke coldly.

Patton nodded.

“Good. Not to say you can’t do that in the privacy in your own home, just not out in public.”

“Okay..”

“Oh Patton, do cheer up. Trust in me, I am only trying to help you.” Dillan his voice wavered up and down, then he continued his voice now leveled out, it was as smooth as concrete, “You will thank me later, for this.”

He examined his nails then looked up at Patton.

“Well.. Alright, I guess, you are trying to help me, so.. I will give it a good thought!” Patton’s spirit lifted and he smiled. “Thank you.”

Dillan didn’t say anything he just smiled, there was something about this smile though, it almost seemed as if there was something malicious behind it, Patton just shook it off as he then stood, and nodded at his manager,

“Oh! Before you go, I want your official answer by tomorrow,” he grabbed a sticky note, and wrote something down, “If you do decide you don’t want this.. Then I want you out of Logan’s before the end of the month.

Patton nodded. “Will do,” He said dryly, he did not like the threat of homelessness on his back. He felt a lump form in his throat, it was in that annoying spot, that spot behind and slightly under the tongue.

Dillan only tipped his hat in response. As quickly as he had entered his manager's office, he left, going out the door he came in. Closing the door, he now understood exactly where Roman had been coming from. But this time was different, his situation was the exact opposite of Patton’s. He walked back to the elevator, and made his way back to the apartments.

When he got there Logan was waiting for him on the couch.

“What’d the boss man want with you?” he called out from the couch.

“He wants me to stop doing what I’m doing, and drop the ‘dad’ act, whatever that means.” Patton shrugged walking over to the couch. Logan shrugged back.

“Did you agree to anything?” he asked looking up at Patton.

“No..” he leaned on the couch looking at the TV that wasn’t on.

“Smart. I assume he threatened you with homelessness?” Logan got up and started his way to fridge.

“Yeah..” Patton turned around and watched Logan.

“He does that, don’t worry, I’ll spot you a ride home if you decide to go.” Logan said opening the door to the fridge.

“Lunch?”

“Sure.”

Chapter 9: Final Decision

Patton walked into MNDScapes, he knew exactly what he was doing and where he was going. He didn’t even bother to say anything to Quill, he just walked over to the elevator and waited.

Ding.

He entered the elevator and waited as the doors closed behind him. He had made up his mind that night. He decided he didn’t like the way California didn’t have any stars in the sky, how it always smelled of distant smog. He didn’t like how loud it was, and he most certainly didn’t like how expensive everything was.

Ding.

He took that time last night to really reflect on what he wanted to do. He realized he never wanted to make an album. Honestly he didn’t even know why had come here. He didn’t even know why he called Mr. Falsa that very first night that all of this had begun.

Ding.

The elevator door slid open once more, and Patton walked through it. Days ago his stomach had been filled with knots. Now those knots had gone away, and were replaced by a gut feeling. A gut feeling that he was doing the right thing.

He marched down the hallway to the second door on the right. Knocked briefly.

“Who’s there?” Mr. Falsa called out from behind the door.

Patton didn’t even bother responding verbally he just opened the door.

“It’s me and I’ve made my decision,” Patton shut the door behind him and stood behind the chair that was in front of Dillians desk.

“Oh, well, very well, then sit.” Dillian said a smile creeping over his face. It was one of his smug smiles. One that often times deserved a punch to the face.

“No, I don’t think will.” Patton said, he remembered how the last few times he sat in that chair he felt powerless beneath Dillian, well this time, he was above Dilian, being tall had its perks.

“Fine then. What’s your decision then?” Dillian eyed down Patton his smirk turning into a sneer, his beady eyes really sold the look. If a rat could look angry, It would probably end up looking like Dillian.

“I don’t want fame.” Patton said, flashed another smile, “Fame is not what I ever even wanted. I’m so sorry I wasted your time and money, however, if you’d like to know I will be recording the song with Logan before I take my leave, so you will get some money off of my talents.”

“Fine. That’s your mistake.” Dillian spat coldly at Patton.

“Or is it?” Patton retaliated, he truly was surprised by how he was acting. It was truly such an odd rush of confidence.

“You’ll come running back to my office in a year.” he paused, “I just know it. He added through barred teeth. “And when you do, just know, I won’t be here to give you a helping hand, or a starting ssspot.” He had hissed out those last two words for dramatic effect.

“Good I won’t need it. I’ve realised my voice isn’t meant to be heard on radio’s, isn’t meant to be sold in mass, and most certainly isn’t to be used as a way for others to get their paycheck off of me.” Patton stated.

“Then get out of my office before I have you forcefully taken out of my office by the hand of my security.” Dillian’s eyes narrowed.

Patton shrugged, and walked to the door, opened it, and closed it. He continued back down the same path he had done several times before.

When Patton got into the lobby he had to stop and take a breather. He looked down at his hands and saw that they were shaking badly.

Oh, he thought to himself, That wasn’t confidence, that was adrenaline.

He took some deep breaths in and some deep breaths out as a way to try and calm his nerves.

“Are you alright Sir?” Quill looked up from behind the counter.

“Yes, just, just the aftermath of running on nothing, you must know how it goes! Have a good life now.” Patton immediately started heading for the door.

“You too sir!” they called after Patton.

He stopped and smiled, then exited the building. He reached the edge of the street and grabbed a taxi ride home. Like normal people did.

🗤

“No way, you actually said that?” Logan asked handing Patton a plate of food.

“Yeah, I know, I was surprised myself. But after it happened I realized my hands were shaking and how I was actually running off of,”

“Adrenaline?” Logan questioned

“Yeah, haha. I still can’t believe it. But at least I met some pretty awesome people!”

“But, you haven’t gone around the city at all, these past few days.” Logan pointed out.

“Well yeah, but, I think Tuesday I met that broadway prince, uh, Roman I believe he said he was and I got to meet you!”

Logan smiled, “You think I’m cool?”

“Yeah! Of course!” Patton smiled stupidly.

“Oh, well.. Well thank you.” Logan smiled back proudly.

Chapter 10: The Finale

It had been a week since he had been home. He had gone right back to how he had been functioning before. Doing different gigs around town, except now he went around the state and now each gig was paid. Just like this library gig.

Today he was performing at the same library that had given him a very interesting vacation just a week before hand.

He drove up to the library, guitar in hand. He made his way to the little room and watched as the parents came in their little ones somewhere near.

He looked out in front of him. The small gather of little kids and their parents. He smiled. He was right back where he always wanted to be.

#ts-storytime 2019 submission #sheepy writes #sanders sides #keep an eye out for the art piece that does with this!!

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zukoromantic · 6 years

Text

Late Secret Santa 2018

So I am technically a week too late with this, but better late than never... right??

MY SINCEREST APOLOGIES!!!

This is for the DuckTales secret santa thing and I got @im-sacred67 !! (They seem like a really cool person, I hope you have a merry christmas my friend uwu!) Along with a couple of other things they enhoy the Webby x Lena which is mY JAM so here we go.

So at this point Webby and ONLY Webby knows that Lena is her shadow. I went for that as I didn't want to fill this thing with my angsty headcanons, I figured that wouldn't make for a nice tone as a gift. SO HERE WE GO I GUESS??I hope you somehow enjoy this, whoops

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

"Webby, that's... still not actually how you're supposed to do it, I told you." Huey cringed at the sight of Webby landing safely in front of him after decorating the giant Christmas tree in a way that others would have considered 'dangerous'.

Dewey who had been hanging some candy canes on the lower branches of the tree took a few steps back until he was standing next to his brother. He took a look at their work. "I think it looks awesome", was all he commented.

One look at Huey made Webby be able to tell he was more than ready to contradict that statement. Before even being able to open his bill however, Donald approached from behind and wrapped his arms around the two of the trio.

"Ooh", he started, "we're not gonna fight on Christmas day. I think the tree looks-", he paused for a second. "Um, very pretty!"

Webby had to supress a grin at Huey rolling his eyes.

"Don't be so down, Hubert. There is no wrong way to get Christmas spirit into the house. Or - the mansion I guess."

In that moment the door was being opened in a loud manner.

"Hey everyone!"

"Hey Launchpad!", Dewey greeted him back.

"The tree's looking great once again!", the pilot said.

Webby watched as everyone started talking and chatting about this special gathering. She decided this was the perfect time to withdraw from the group. "I'm, uh, gonna go", she said, knowing nobody noticed anyway during the mess that their talking seemed like.

Without anyone following her she went upstairs to her room. Once she had entered she locked the door and breathed out in relief.

As she took a few steps forward she made sure to keep an eye on her shadow until the light was behind her in a way that made it appear on the wall in front of her.

"Lena?"

No response.

"Lena", Webby said now with more certainty. "I know you can hear me."

She watched as her own shadow started to change its figure and turned into the silhouette of her best friend. It wasn't an unfamiliar sight by now yet it still never failed to amaze her.

Even when she started to speak it gave Webby a weird feeling. "What is it?", she asked, slight anger in het voice.

"Lena, do you really not want to celebrate Christmas with us? It's gonna be so much fun, I promise!"

Lena sighed. "Webby, I really don't. You know I never celebrated Christmas before and I don't want to make everything awkward. Besides, do you think now is the right time to tell everyone that the shadow of your uncle's greatest enemy is still around? In... in a way at least..."

A frown formed upon Webby's face. So far Lena had not wanted to tell anyone that she was still present. She had said that she didn't want to upset anyone. At least not yet. Webby knew that was stupid and still she had to respect her best friend's decision. However that did not mean she couldn't try and talk her into reason.

"But it's so magical!", she insisted. The Duck family had seen more questionable things during their adventures, an old friend returning would not spoil the mood, she was convinced. Celebrating without the whole family present - or at least as present as could be - did not feel right. Lena was a part of the family, despite what she thought.

"I believe you... I just don't feel like it, okay?"

Even by the few features that her friend had been left with Webby could see the sadness on her face. She sighed in defeat. What was the point? She wasn't going to convince Lena any time soon. And even if she could she didn't want to force her friend into doing something that she didn't feel well about. She sat down onto the red carpet of her room and just stared at the ground. "I guess I just really want you to have fun again. You know, like back before the whole Magica-taking-over-thing."

"What?", Lena asked, judging by her voice a bit shocked. "No, no, I am having fun, believe me! Don't worry about me!"

Webby raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah? Because being trapped in the two-dimensional world of shadows without interacting with anyone is so much fun?"

"I am interacting. With you. Remember? Besides, do you have any idea how terrible it was to constantly have aunt Magica - I mean, Magica at your throat? I wasn't free either back then, I constantly had the pressure of listening to every single stupid word she said. Now I can hang out with you and don't have to worry about her anymore in any way. It's like a vacation to be honest."

Though even the motivating look on Lena's face couldn't quite bring Webby to smile. "But - wouldn't you rather spend your time with your family? And I'm not talking about Magica. I mean the family you actually belong to. You know, us."

"You know, you keep saying I'm a part of the family. What makes you even say that? What do I even have to do with all of you in your eyes? I mean, yes the triplets are nice and I did talk to Scrooge and your grandma a bit, but - the only person I'm actually, you know, close to, is..." Lena didn't finish her sentence. She looked away. Webby wasn't sure if shadows could cry. But if they could, she was pretty sure Lena was close to it. The sadness, almost fear, in her eyes made Webby feel a stabbing pain in her chest. Lena really thought she did not fit into this family. This huge crazy family. With nephews, housekeepers and butlers. With pilots slash drivers and granddaughters of employees. Why wouldn't someone who saved all of them from certain doom and - more importantly - a close friend who meant a lot to them not have a place in this? Why couldn't Lena see that? Why didn't she see how amazing and special she really was?

"You know what?", Webby asked. "If you don't want to celebrate Christmas with a big family, then let's just spend a little more time together now. Just the two of us. You are supposed to celebrate Christmas with the people you love the most after all." As soon as those last words left Webby's bill she felt her cheeks blushing a little. She wasn't even exactly sure why.

"But isn't everyone going to wonder where you are?", Lena asled with an undertone of slight disbelief.

"Don't worry, I'm sure we still have some time. They're quite the crowd so I don't think they'll realize I'm gone too soon. Besides we were only planning to eat dinner in, like, 45 minutes."

Lena gave it a short chuckle. A sound that made Webby's heart jump. "What's so funny?", she wanted to know, grinning already.

"Oh, nothing special. This only reminded me of our first meeting. When we ruined Ma Beagle's birthday and the triplets came looking for you because you weren't at the beach anymore. They were totally freaking out at the playground."

Webby couldn't help but laugh too. "Pfft, yeah, that was fun."

As quickly as the joy had found its way into Lena's eyes however, it left them again already. "We were always having fun. Before I met you, I didn't even know what 'having fun' actually meant." She chuckled again. "Sorry, I'm being super cheesy right now."

Webby looked into her eyes. "It's okay", she said, moving a bit closer to the wall that the silhouette of her friend could be seen on.

A few seconds they just sat there, looking into each other's eyes. Webby fully took the moment in.

"Lena?", she broke the silence.

"Yeah?"

"I miss you. I miss you a lot." Webby felt like she was close to tearing up. It was true. She missed her friend so much it hurt. She missed her everyday. Every time she saw the triplets having a good time, every time she was having a good time herself. It always reminded her of how Lena couldn't be having such a good time along side her. It just didn't feel right. If they were supposed to be a team how could she be having fun while Lena was trapped on walls and floors, only catching a glimpse of this world's beauty and colors. It wasn't fair. She wished she could just tell uncle Scrooge and they would all find a solution together. After all, as one of the most famous adventurers of all time - and probably the oldest duck in the world - he had to be able to figure something out. If only Lena would let them.

"You don't have to miss me. I'm right here, remember? Actually, as your shadow, we're now closer than ever. No reason to be down", Lena was trying to cheer her up.

"I know. But you're not really... You know, actually here." Webby placed her right hand on the wall next to the image of her friend. A compassionate look on her face, Lena slowly put her own hand in that spot. It might have been her imagination but Webby was sure she could feel the hand touching her own.

"Trust me, I am here. And I mean - I'm more than honored to be your shadow."

Webby was going to smile at the comment, but she just couldn't. Not the loving words could fill the slight feeling of emptiness inside her chest. She knew it was ridiculous. Lena was right after all. She was around. Webby didn't actually need to miss her. Yet she just couldn't help but feel sad. "I do believe you", she said. "I just wish you could be here. You know. Like for a hug."

Lena startled back at that last sentence and what had felt like her hand before was now nothing more than the cold wall. As a slight wave of disappointment overcame her, Webby removed her hand from the spot as well.

"I guess", Lena said and Webby wasn't sure but she felt like what she saw in her eyes now was guilt. Guilt? Because of what? Because of Webby? Did she feel bad for her now? That wasn't how things were supposed to be. Lena was the one who needed her life back, not her. After a split second however her expression changed into a slightly more positive look. "You know... I suppose tomorrow or whenever this whole Christmas thing is wrapped up, we could, I don't know, tell Scrooge about - this whole thing. If you want to that is."

Webby gasped in excitement. Though she was suspicious as to whether Lena was just saying this out of guilt or not. "You mean it?"

"Well, you probably do have a point, don't you? I mean maybe the old man can do something after all." She began to smile while she was speaking these words. But it wasn't a forced smile that was only trying to reassure Webby. Ahe knew that smile well. This was a true smile, she could tell. And it was this moment that made her be certain that Lena was not saying this simply out of guilt. She wasn't entirely sure what that look in her friend's eyes was however. If she had to choose she would have said it was hope. Hope that perhaps she would be able to actually be around again. Not just as a shadow but as a whole being. As herself.

Webby was overcome with such a sudden wave of joy, she would have hugged Lena if it had not been for the circumstances making it quite difficult.

"You won't regret it, I promise!"

"Let's hope so." And there she was again. There was the Lena that Webby knew. Not as sad, not as scared, not as sorry. Just Lena. The sassy girl who always managed to be cool and would always be able to think of a clever come-back to anything under any circumstances. Webby could not supress a grin. That was the Lena she wanted to see again, the Lena that she hoped she was going to see more often from now on. Once she regained her physical form everything would be fine like it used to be, except better. They could go back to going on their little adventures together and Lena would finally have a family. One that actually cared about her. One that made her feel home. With all those thoughts, Webby was almost sure she cared about Lena more than she herself did. Well somebody had to.

"So, I believe you should be heading back to the others then. We don't want them worrying too much again, do we?"

"You're probably right..."

It was hard for Webby to loose her gaze from her friend, but eventually she managed to step towards the door. Before unlocking it she gave Lena one last look. She smiled.

"Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you too."

After she had opened the door and exited her room she checked if her friend was still there. But as she looked she had to realize that her shadow had gone back to its usual shape. There was no Lena. Just the result of the light not being able to enlighten the space behind her. It was funny to think about, considering she knew how much more to her shadow there really was. At least for now. If she was right, uncle Scrooge would know - or somehow find - a way to get Lena back her physical form. And if there was anything she was certain about as of this moment, it was that things would somehow work out. They would find a way. As family. After all, that's what they always did. That was just a fact.

Merry Christmas!!

#they so gay #lesbians #ducks #ducktales 2017 #weblena #webby vanderquack #webby x lena #my precious ducks #i loves them so much #they needs love #fanfiction #secret santa #secret santa 2018 #merry christmas #and a happy new year #btw #lena de spell

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crashdevlin · 6 years

Text

Bottle- 15: Sausage With Peppers

Bottle Masterlist

Author’s Note: Originally posted to ao3 (This is an edited and improved version), I work in info from the comics (Like Hawkeye was married to Mockingbird and Red Skull had a disappointing daughter) and I took a few liberties with what the scepter could do (but not really because the Mind Stone was used to create the Twins so what I did is not that far-fetched). This is a lot more angst than I realized when I wrote it, but it’s compelling angst.

Summary: Cassandra Campbell is a Stark Industries lab tech with dubious genetics and a history with the new Director of SHIELD. She’s been working in New York since right before the Chitauri invasion. What does she have to do with Loki, and what will happen when he returns? Starts post TDW and continues to the end of AoU.

Pairing(s): Phil Coulson x OFC (Past), Loki x OFC (Non-con), Clint Barton x OFC, Steve Rogers x OFC

Word Count: 3539

Story Warnings: So many, worst (to me) are bolded. Younger woman/older man relationship,non-con, mutilation, torture, mind control, PTSD, depression, alcoholism, forced abortions, bad things (non-con) in a church, insomnia, memory manipulation, eventual consensual oral sex (female and male receiving),

Chapter Warnings: none

Cassie pulled the van into the parking lot of the Walmart and started at the building for a minute. "How is your first Avengers mission treating you, Joanna?" Loki's voice came from the passenger seat.

"You're not really there," she whispered, closing her eyes. She couldn't look at him, even a projection of him. After what she saw in Africa, she couldn't deal with that.

"True, but I am truly speaking to you. So easy to find when you open up your mind to me."

"I didn't do that. The witch did."

"Witch? I'll have to thank her, you've been practically begging to see me for hours."

Cassie shook her head. "No. This is not... I didn't call to you."

Loki laughed, a cruel sound that gripped her spine. "Joanna... it's perfectly understandable to miss me. With me, there is no doubt, just complete domination. You don't have to worry about who knows you're laying with whom. You don't have to worry about Stark's metal contraptions killing you. You just have to worry about me. And I was gentle last time."

"In Austria? Disguised as the priest who kept me from killing myself?"

"I wanted to see the fire in you! That place dulled you."

"That was the point! I didn't want to think, I didn't want to shine, I didn't want to blaze. I just wanted to be left alone to be. Just be. Exist without anyone paying any attention to me and somehow you and Clint both found me."

"You were suffocating in Austria. You were suffocating as Cassandra. You are still barely pulling air into your lungs. You long for the freedom Joanna thrives upon."

She looked to her right, finally allowing herself to look at him. His eyes looked green in this light. "Look, I'm not going to lie... it'd be useless to try that on you. I had fun with you. You let out a part of me that had been dying to breathe since SHIELD took me, and yes, consensual sex with a God is nothing to shake a stick at, but... I don't miss you. I don't want you. I don't even want to be around you. You killed my daughter."

"And gave you a son." He smiled softly and shook his head at her. "Do you know how I know you do want me around, free to see you as I please? You haven't told Thor what I did to Odin."

As the projection disappeared, Cassie looked at the instrument panel on the dash. Confusion washed over her. She'd found it amusing that the Allfather had been tricked by Loki and that Heimdall, who sees pretty much everything, hadn't seen it. She knew that she'd been too desperate to leave Playground when she woke up, but why hadn't she said anything since she'd been back? She hadn't forgotten: she just hadn't mentioned it. "Just means I'm nuts, not that I want you to drop in unannounced," she muttered, getting out of the van and walking toward the store.

"Talking to yourself already, Campbell? That's a sign of poor fortitude," a familiar voice said as she crossed the double doors.

She turned to the vending area and blanched at the sight of Nick Fury, dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt and wearing dark sunglasses, drinking a Coke. "Director Fury."

"You aren't SHIELD and I ain't in charge anymore," he said, stepping toward her.

"I-I know, sir. I, uh, just thought... After the way I spoke to you last time... respect is due."

"You didn't say anything that wasn't true, Cassie. I am old and I have bad depth perception."

She couldn't help the smile that crossed her face at the use of her chosen name. "But you have so many years of spycraft under your belt."

"And you can carry Thor around as dead weight. Girl, you woulda kicked my ass."

Cassie smiled wider. "So, what are you doing here?"

"I figured Barton would bring you to the farmstead. Safe place, off the grid. I showed up right as you were pulling onto the main road, followed you. I came in here to get a drink while you argued with yourself in the van." Cassie looked down. "I know the Maximoff girl got you, made you see things. Loki?"

Tears came to her eyes as she just nodded, dumbly. Fury put his hand on her shoulder and waited for her to look at him. When she did, he smiled. "You're the only one who got hit by that chick and wasn't completely down for the count. Your teammates, who include the strongest woman I've ever met and a Viking God, had to extracted by you."

"Guess I have better fortitude than you think."

"Definitely better than you think. You know... Maria Hill sends me reports."

"About me?"

Fury nodded. "Among other things. She said you're putting a lot of effort in. You spend most of your free time training. Says you're ‘almost obsessional’ about being an asset."

"Just don't wanna get anyone killed because I can't handle myself in a combat situation. Fat lot of good I did against Ultron. Got shot in the back by one of Tony's legionnaires before I could touch him. Feel kinda useless."

"Useless?"

"What do I add? I mean, the Avengers already have a revved-up super soldier and an acrobatic weapons expert. I'm like a shitty knock-off version of both of them. I don't have anything..."

"You know, doubt is a perfectly normal, healthy thing, that you need to get the hell over, right now. This is not the time for it. Even if you were a shitty knock-off, you could put down some robots. You are more in control of yourself than some of the strongest-willed motherfuckers I have ever met, so pull your head up and move past whatever that witch made you see."

Cassie chuckled and turned, grabbing a hand basket as she headed further into store. "Wow."

"What?" Fury asked, keeping pace with her.

"No, it's just... I finally understand why you were in charge for so long."

"Why's that?"

"There is something oddly inspiring about a one-eyed man yelling at you to get your shit together." She stopped in front of the sausages and stared at them. "Guess I couldn't expect more than Johnsonville at a Wal-mart. Beer brats, I guess. And beer." She dropped three packs of sausages into the basket and walked toward the beer aisle. "So, how's Phil doing?"

"Don't think Barton would be very happy about you asking after your ex, do you?"

"You're kidding me." Cassie turned to him. "Hill knows about me and Clint?"

"Did you forget that you're working with spies? That you're sleeping with one? You remember what that entails."

"Oh, come on, Nick. It was totally different with Phil. We weren't trying to keep any secrets. It was the most honest relationship Phil had ever been in. He didn't have to hide anything from me. I mean, he did... some." She shook her head and grabbed a box of Guinness. "Clint and I just want something that's ours, you know? We don't want everyone talking and speculating and... being jealous."

"Jealous? You're talking about Steve?"

"I'm talking about Steve," she confirmed. "And Natalia and Phil. Also, there's a deep-seated fear that Mockingbird is still in love with him and she's gonna destroy me over this."

"Mockingbird? Natalia? You haven't just been studying your Ops manual, have you?"

"I started in on those SHIELD files while I was still in Austria. Everything I could learn would better my chances of evasion. Once I got back, it was more 'learn everything I can so that I can survive longer'." She started toward the bakery and stood in front of the racks. "Commercial American bakery's nuzing like Hohenheims bakery. Oh, vell." She grabbed several bags of rolls and headed for the registers.

"Are you coming back to the farm, Nick?"

"Yeah. I'll be right behind you. When you get inside, have the lovely Mrs. Barton send Stark to the barn."

"Yes, sir."

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

As Cassie walked across the grass toward the house, she smiled at Steve and Tony, who were chopping wood in the front. "Glad you're working up an appetite. I'm making lunch."

"Austrian diner food, right? Barton might've mentioned." Tony brought his ax down on one of the logs.

Cassie nodded and jogged inside, dropping the plastic bags on the counter. Clint was beside her almost immediately, he was freshly showered, smelled like a forest. "Hey, you made it back!"

"Today, even. Wanna help me cook?"

"Uncle Clint."

"Yeah, Li?" The little girl waited, a bit impatiently, for Clint to stop looking at Cassie. As soon as his eyes fell on the girl, she started to sign. Cassie watched it in her peripheral vision as she pulled a knife from a knife block and ran soap and water over it. "Yep... I think so... " Clint signed as he spoke his responses to her slightly fumbled sign language. The girl seemed frustrated with a word and resorted to signing each letter.

"Wait, who's Mary?" Cassie asked, slicing through the white onion she picked.

Clint turned to her with an eyebrow raised. "You know Sign?"

"Just the alphabet. There was an accident on 107, so traffic slowed enough for me to pull it up on my phone."

"And you learned ASL alpha in the few minutes you were stuck in traffic?"

"Like it's hard?"

"And now you're quoting Legally Blond at me?"

Cassie grabbed a red pepper and a green one from the fridge. "Never seen it."

He chuckled and turned to the girl. "Lila, we'll continue this conversation later, when there's no one around to eavesdrop."

"I weren't dropping no eaves, Mr. Barton, sir. I was just making lunch," she said, in her best Samwise Gamgee impression. Lila nodded and ran out of the room as Cassie started slicing the peppers. "It's a little early in the relationship for your family to be pushing us down the aisle, don't'cha think?" she asked, quietly.

"Eh, she wants a cousin. Thought you didn't Sign?"

"I caught the double Rs in 'marry', and she pointed at us. Not hard to follow."

"She likes you." Clint grabbed a slice of bell pepper from the cutting board and bit it in half. "And she knows I do, too. She just wants me to be happy, that's all."

"Uh-huh. Hey, Laura," Cassie called out. The brunette woman waddled in, hand secured over her belly. "Nick Fury is in your barn. He requests an audience with Mr. Stark, but Tony isn't one to just do what someone asks. Can you figure out a way to get Tony into the barn, please?"

"Yeah, I think I can do that," she said with a smile.

"Grab the sausages out of the bag for me and grab a pan, cast-iron if you have it, and a broiler pan."

"Broiler pan?"

"Every oven comes with one, Clint. Usually it's a two piece thing, slots in the top to catch drippings in the bottom."

"Oh, that thing. Gotcha," Clint said, digging into a low cabinet by the fridge to pull out a large roasting pan. He put it on the stove before pulling out a cast-iron skillet and handing it to her.

"Nice. Okay. Oil?"

"In the glass squeezy thing, there," Count said, pointing to the counter.

"So articulate, Hawk."

"What can I say?” He shrugged. “Obviously not much."

"Then, why do you talk so much?" Cassie said, clicking the burner on under the skillet.

"Hoping to say something to turn you red again. It's a good look."

"Ja, mein Vater seemed to think so."

"Ich finde dich süß when you mix up your languages. [I think you’re cute when you mix up your languages]” Cassie felt her cheeks heat up. "There's her color," he whispered, leaning into her.

Her eyes flicked towards the living room. "Back off, Hawk. This isn't the time," she said, pouring oil into the skillet. Clint leaned away again, but she could feel his eyes on her. "Put the sausages on the broiler pan. Single layer, like you know what you're doing," she said, grabbing the peppers and onions putting them into the skillet.

Cassie had the oven open, flipping the sausages over when Tony stomped into the house, Steve and Nick following behind. "Are you going to be eating with us, Nick? We've got plenty."

"I've heard good things about your cookin', Miss Campbell. It was one of the things Coulson felt comfortable braggin' on you about."

"I'll take that as a 'yes'," she said, smiling as she closed the oven door.

"So... what's the thinking, Fury?" Banner asked as Lila ran into the dining room to hand Natasha a watercolor picture.

"Ultron took you folks out of play to buy himself time. My contacts all say he's building something. The amount of Vibranium he made off with, I don't think it's just one thing," Nick said, walking around to the sink to pour himself a glass of water.

"What about Ultron himself?" Steve asked, leaning against the wall.

"Ah. He's easy to track, he's everywhere. Guy's multiplying faster than a Catholic rabbit. Still doesn't help us get an angle on any of his plans, though."

"He still going after launch codes?" Tony asked, throwing darts at a board on the wall.

"Yes, he is, but he's not making any headway," Nick answered.

"I cracked the Pentagon's firewall in high school on a dare."

"Yeah, well, I contacted our friends at the NEXUS about that," Nick said, starting to cut the rolls Cassie bought for the sandwiches.

"NEXUS?" Steve and Cassie asked.

"It's the world internet hub in Oslo. Every byte of data flows through there, fastest access on Earth," Banner responded.

"So, what'd they say?" Clint asked, examining the fletching of one the darts.

"He's fixated on the missiles, but the codes are constantly being changed."

"By whom?" Tony asked, as Clint threw his darts at the board. Tony looked at him, exasperated as Clint just shrugged, before pulling all three darts from the bulls-eye.

"Parties unknown."

"Do we have an ally?" Natasha asked.

"Ultron's got an enemy, that's not the same thing. Still, I'd pay folding money to know who it is."

"I might need to visit Oslo, find our 'unknown'," Tony said.

"Well, this is good times, boss, but I was kind of hoping when I saw you, you'd have more than that," Natasha grumbled as Nick finished cutting the bread.

"I do. I have you. Back in the day, I had eyes everywhere, ears everywhere else. You kids had all the tech you could dream up. Here we all are, back on Earth, with nothing but our wit, and our will to save the world. Ultron says the Avengers are the only thing between him and his mission and whether or not he admits it, his mission is global destruction. All this, laid in a grave. So stand. Outwit the platinum bastard," Nick said, sitting down with his water as Cassie pulled the sausages out.

"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk," Natasha teased.

"You know what, Romanoff?" Steve started, faux threateningly. Natasha just smirked.

"So, what does he want?" Nick asked.

Steve looked around as Clint came to sit at the table. "To become better. Better than us. He keeps building bodies."

"Person bodies," Tony responded. "The human form is inefficient, biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it."

Banner walked forward and examined Lila's picture. Natasha looked between the scientists. "When you two programed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed."

"They don't need to be protected, they need to evolve. Ultron's going to evolve."

"How?" Nick asked as he took a drink of his water.

"Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?"

Cassie placed a platter full of sausage and pepper sandwiches on the table and sat next to Natasha. "So, what? Ultron is going to have Helen Cho make him a... a better body?" Everyone looked around at each other, nervously. "Guess we should eat." She reached forward and grabbed a sandwich, but she suddenly didn't feel very hungry.

Clint stood, grabbing a bottle of Guinness and handing it to her. "Anyone else? Might not have another chance."

"Don't talk like that," Natasha said, but she put her hand out for a beer.

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

Steve walked into the living room as he finished suiting up. "I'll take Natasha and Clint."

"All right. Strictly recon. I'll hit the NEXUS. I'll join you as soon as I can," Tony said, tapping at his wrist.

"If Ultron is really building a body..." Steve started.

"He'll be more powerful than any of us. Maybe all of us. An android designed by a robot."

"You know, I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me," Steve mused.

"I'll drop Banner off at the Tower. Do you mind if I borrow Ms. Hill?" Fury asked.

"She's all yours, apparently. What are you gonna do?"

"I don't know. Something dramatic, I hope," Nick said, walking out of the house.

"What about me?" Cassie asked, walking up to Steve and Tony.

"Cass..." Steve started.

"No. Don't even think about leaving me behind. I may be pretty new to this whole 'superhero' thing and I didn't help much against Ultron in New York, but I've got more will, more fortitude than any of you. I pulled myself out of that fugue state..." *Or was the vision simply over* She shook away Loki's voice in her head and kept going. "...and I didn't sulk around about what I saw in that vision. I pulled myself together and then I carried your star-spangled ass off that ship. And then, I went back for Thor and carried his ass out. An action, by the way, that outed me as a superhero to the international news media."

She threw her hands up in exasperation. "Which is great, because Hydra is still looking for their lost legacy and Loki is still looking for his queen, so it's awesome to broadcast my whereabouts. And even with all that, with my worst fears playing in my head on repeat since that witch touched me, I still want to help, because that's what I signed up for. As soon as I decided 'Avenger' would look good on my resume, I signed up to put away my shit and focus on everyone else's. So, tell me, boss, where do you need me?"

Steve looked around, then cleared his throat. "Stark?"

"Ever been to Norway, blondie?" Stark asked.

"No, sir," she answered, standing straight.

"It's good. You'll love it. Might need some muscle, anyway. Can't wear the suit everywhere. Go grab yours," Tony ordered.

Cassie nodded and rushed for the room where she'd changed before heading to the store. Clint followed, closing the door behind him as she pulled her super suit off the floor. "Not the way I pictured the first time you grabbed your clothes off of my floor," he joked.

She turned to him and smiled, slightly. "Be careful. Please. Be careful."

"It's a milk run, babe." Clint stepped forward and pushed her hair out of her face.

"No. My trip to the NEXUS is a milk run. Tony's only taking me because I threw a fit. Ultron might be in Seoul. I mean, he's everywhere. So, he's probably gonna be there... with the Maximoffs. Clint... Wanda, she's..."

"I know, Cassie."

"You don't. I saw-"

"Loki. I know. And you liked it, right? That's why you're all messed up." Cassie blinked back tears. "You remember when we first met? Took you for a drink to celebrate and mourn? I know what you're missing."

"It's not missing the mindlessness, Clint. I mean, that's part of it, but... Joanna, I wanted to... to be with him. I had sex with him. I enjoyed it, being with him."

"That's your greatest fear? That you might've enjoyed sleeping with a demigod?" Clint chuckled. "He's a thousand years old and strong enough to give it to you good. I might've even liked screwing him," he joked.

"Clint... why are you so understanding?" she whispered.

"I've had a long life. Done a lot of bad, had a lot of bad done to me. I focus on intentions, mostly. And your intentions are good, even when you're Joanna. Your intentions as Cassie are... good, right?"

"You're amazing."

"Nah. I've just gotten good at hiding the un-mazing parts of me." Clint brushed his lips against hers. "I'll be safe if you will."

"I promise," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him into a deeper kiss. Her super suit rubbed against his cheek as their tongues pushed against each other.

"Where's my lab tech?!" Tony called up the stairs.

Cassie pulled away, balling her clothes up in her hands. "Hold your water, Stark, I'm comin'." She opened the door and bounded down the stairs, three at a time.

"You had plenty of time for that while the rest of us were showering. You chose to shop," Tony said.

"Shut up," she groaned. *Everybody knows.*

"Come on," Tony said, walking out of the house.

KITCHEN SINK TAGS @heyitscam99 @wonderlandfandomkingdom @unlikelysamwinchesteronahunt @mrs-meghan-winchester @henrymorganme @lonely-skys @allykat2108

#cassie writes stuff #avengers fanfiction #ofc #red queen chronicles #clint/ofc

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jumphq · 6 years

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Post-Mortem, Sparrow Tour 2018

This was a month that felt like four months. I don’t mean that in a bad way. I mean that in the amazing way that doing all sorts of brand-new things and being very much in the moment seems to slow down time. There are articles written about this phenomena, actually: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-empowerment-diary/201705/how-slow-down-time. According to this article, the reason September went by so freaking meaningfully is that we were bombarding ourselves with Firsts. First big tour in support of Sparrow. First time in a long time heading back to the Northeast and Midwest. First time I had to add an actual keyboard to the list of instruments I bring on stage, and within that one instrument there were dozens of sounds I had to reproduce. Etcetera, etcetera.

We worked hard. I don’t know if it’s readily ascertainable that being in a rock and roll band is tons of work by looking at one. It’s fun work, usually, but has its moments of being very intense. Especially when a new album comes out. There is radio to do in the mornings, interviews scattered during the day, loading in and out of venues, and we added soundcheck meet & greets that meant that once we arrived in a city, we were going to be working from then until show, basically.

It’s so fulfilling, though. I am the kind of person that works hard, all the time. I push and push myself (sometimes for no seeming reason), and am frustrated and disappointed with myself when I don’t get enough done. I would be classified as a “type-A” person, and I don’t mind. But sometimes I’m just working on “things” that I’m not as passionate about. An eight hour day of working on something I’m not emotionally connected to is much more tiring than working sixteen hours a day on something I believe in and care about. Being in JLC is that kind of job.

We needed every second that we had to put this tour together. These new songs are hardto play. There is so much going on in each and every song on Sparrow. Not necessarily more than on earlier recordings, but keep in mind that we never had to re-learn songs after other albums; we had been playing them live forever before we got to the studio and didn’t change them much after. There has always been a “live version” and a “studio version” of early Jump songs.

Not this time. Jay spent a crazy amount of time accessing the original recording files and turning his voice and Ward’s cello parts into samples that I could play on the keytar. While Evan didn’t really want to play to tracks, he add some electronic drums to his repertoire to approximate some of the parts live. Ward brought two guitars on tour for the first time, and Johnny played not only electric bass but a beloved new Moog Phatty. It was complicated, felt a little bit fragile, at first, but once we got the hang of things it was fun.

Hurricane Florence, while not visiting Charleston, still brought chaos to the city. There was anxiety felt wondering whether we’d be hit and how that would affect our practice. Shops and roads started closing down and we made a move so the entire band could be close by in case of flooding. In the end we were very very lucky, but there were still repercussions for us. We were trying to fulfill our PledgeMusic items, to get them sent out before tour, but this didn’t happen because mail basically shut down in NC, SC, and GA. This put us a full week behind, and we spent the rest of the month trying to catch up on many things.

Even in the last few days of rehearsal we were all feeling a bit overwhelmed. We camped out at the Footlight Player’s Theatre and the goal was to have a “listening party”, a final rehearsal before we hit the road, and that night, to be honest, I was not ready. Lyrics weren’t memorized and I had to think way too much about parts and how to play them. We were being hard on ourselves, though, and the response was so encouraging afterwards I didn’t mind spending the rest of that week’s dinner breaks to get in some extra practice so that the songs could feel comfortable.

Once the shows began, a quick weekend to some of our favorites: Charlotte, Atlanta, Columbia, where we were starting to find our groove. Raleigh, though, and the Lincoln Theatre, was a special surprise. It was Sunday, we hadn’t had a day off in three weeks, we were exhausted. It wasn’t the largest crowd we’ve played to, but that show was so much fun. People there were there to have a good time, and it put us into overdrive. Thank you so much, Raleigh.

The next leg was in the Northeast (and DC, where I insulted many a mid-Atlantic inhabitant). We hadn’t been there in fifteen years, but every show was sold out or nearly so, and that made us feel so great. These shows were our first of the City Winery gigs, and they were good to us. Great sound, great food. There were many highlights, for me, up North. We had a duo of ASL interpreters in DC that had mad sign-singing skills, and were more fun to watch than we were. Our show at Le Poisson Rouge made us feel so sexy to sell out such a great place in the Big Apple. Performance-wise, the NYC show was my favorite performance-wise; I felt really “on” that night. The super-intimate punk-rock feel of Union Pool in Brooklyn was refreshing after the lovely but slightly clinical City Wineries. We had to put Wardie in a corner to fit on stage, and many Dirty Dancing jokes were necessary. Our old pal the Mommyheads came to play with us, and they were as good as they were 20 years ago. Lots of our fans came just to see them that night and I didn’t mind at all. We had a lovely evening off with three people that pledged for the album and got to go to a Dr. Who-themed bar with us. The trio couldn’t have been more interesting and fun to hang out with: the professional bassoonist, the research monitor, and the Facebook developer. Loved that evening, and Ward got to show off his hipster Brooklyn knowledge by taking us to great places for dinner and dessert.

And Chicago! My kind of town. Chicago was a big deal for me personally, because I knew that the audience was going to be made up of a lot of friends and family that had never seen the band before, never seen me in that light, literally. I was a little nervous about that show, and I rarely get nervous. I also wanted very much for Chicago to be the show that was 100% accessible to the d/Deaf and hard of hearing. City Winery worked so hard with me to provide CART real-time captioning for all the goofy stuff we said in-between songs. And the captioning of the lyrics was provided by my other passion job, CaptionPoint, built by my wife Lindsay and run by my dear friend Lora. It was even more successful than I had hoped, the captions looked great on both sides of the stage. It was the first time Lindsay had ever been able to fully experience a JLC show; I am sure that our stage patter was absolutely worth the wait.

Wow. As I’m writing this I realize again how relatively short the tour was: after Chicago there were only three more dates. But it felt like we did so much. We saw so many of you, talked to everyone as long as we could and took pictures. The “soundcheck parties” were so fun for us. Seeing everyone again was energizing, to me. I wished at times that I could have spent more time. You said such wonderful, heartfelt things, things that I heard very clearly and appreciated completely. I am honored that this band and music and community has meant so much to you over the years; you mean everything to us. When people told me that they liked Sparrow I knew they were telling the truth and not just making conversation. Nothing could have made us happier. Like I said: fulfilling.

Athens was a highlight: we hadn’t seen the GA Theatre since it burned in 2009. The renovation was beautiful. They managed to keep the vibe of the place while making it all so much…better. But the fans in Athens have always been a special breed and we could have played on the streets if that was the only way to get to them. In the new GA Theatre we didn’t have to.

And finally, the Charleston Music Hall. Our new home. Our new “Dock Street”, a place that just makes us feel like the chamber-pop stars we are. We will see you soon, CMH.

This post is a marathon. If you’ve gotten this far, you must be a fan of the band, so I appreciate it. I want to thank many people for making this tour and this year possible, because…contrary to pop belief, we are not a famous rock band with loads of cash and there were many many donated hours that made this tour work.

Our manager Vance’s sidekicks on the Crew were Nick Stewart, the Ultimate Intern, hazed by his boss into oblivion and seemed to love every minute. He sold you tee shirts this time, but he’s going to be running something big someday. Herbie Jeffcoat, monitors and front-of-house, the sweetest “country boy” (his words, but also true) you could want on your team. Especially funny this time was hearing Herbie converse in his potent Southern accent with the FOH in Boston with a potent accent of his own. Translators were required.

Mike Rogers: what a treat it is to have gotten to know you both as a professional sound engineer and family member. I think that if Dad and your Mom had a reason to work with each other growing up like Evan and I have with you, our families would be closer than they are. Let’s keep working at it.

Alison Kendrick! The person that would be sooo bad at being a ninja because she simply wouldn’t be able to be quiet because life is just SO MUCH FUN and worth every giggle: thank you. Teasing aside, Alison is a complete and utter professional, a doer but more importantly a Problem Solver, and I truly would not have been able to do all the things internet-related without you. Thank you for being a mentor and a real friend. If you’d like to work with Alison yourself, please go to akshouts.com

Our uncomfortably attractive lawyer Gabe Fleet is genuinely fun to hang out with, giving attorneys a good name. Old pal Josh Terry and his amazing team in Maddison and Jen at Workshop Management opened doors that are closed to most people so thank you for helping us walk through them. New friends Sue, Lindsay and Tyler at Stunt Company put us in front of the movers and shakers and some (NPR, Paste, American Songwriter) actually liked what they heard.

Chris Slack, you hold all the archival keys to our kingdom and are dear to us for much more than that. Nate Baerreis and Ed and Val Schooling Brantley made us look so cool, so often. How, we will never know. Thank you.

Thanks to our families who let us be gone as much as we have been, this year. Some of you haven’t experienced not having us around, and I know it was hard, but thank you for being so supportive. We love you.

And Chief “Not-Getting-Paid-What-He’s-Worth” is Vance McNabb, who is still working on this tour two weeks later and won’t be done for a while. There are no ways to thank you, V, except perhaps to find a way to make Sparrow huge so you can get a massive raise and hire tons of people to help you. So, we’ll work on that.

Actually…will y’all please help us work on that? If not for us, for Vance? Thank you. And thank you most of all, for letting us make this album. Sparrow is a beautiful thing to us and we’re so lucky that you wanted to hear it. We are lucky that we got to make it. But it isn’t over, is it? There are ways we can try to keep this machine going, if you are willing. More in another post.

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333kaylynn · 6 years

Text

Deaf / g.d.

y/t/n: your twitter name

Word Count: 1950

Request: no

here i am tagging more people that i hope will enjoy this. sorry if this is annoying lol

@olivia-m-dolan

@dolayn

@bouttogolinkurbitch

@profanitydolan

@kara-dolan

@nomoregraydays

@chaaandlaah

@dolandreaminn

@dimply-dolan

@doltishdolans

@justanotherdolanblog

@rockstardolan

@notanotherdolantwinsblog

@sushidolans

///

She was calm. A calm young girl who had her whole life ahead of her. Nothing would get in her way.

Her passion for the arts led her down a deep path of internet searching. Searching for more people who had interests like her.

Her love for two boys grew expeditiously after she saw one simple photo on Instagram. The way the photo was taken was enough to make her look through the entire Instagram account, and enough for her to look through each of the boys'.

Her love grew more and more each day, soon leading her to talk so highly of the art she had seen all over twitter.

She hadn't realized these boys were so popular. The amounts of tweets and dm's she had received were unbearable.

She didn't mind them though. People just told her who they were. People were even nice enough to ask to be friends.

Months. Months after the incident had occurred she had gotten one simple dm that changed her life so copiously.

She answered within seconds. She knew who it was, why wouldn't she. It was one of the boys she saw in the photos.

The blue verified mark next to his name proved it wasn't something fake.

The two began talking and it led to so much for each of them. He began asking her about her passion for art and she began asking him anything she really could. Asking about who took the photos, who edited them, how they got to the locations.

Her passion for photography was unreal. She loved it so much. Nobody, not even her mom could completely understand her addiction to the art.

Her mom always supported her though. Her love started after her mom bought her a cheap Kodak camera from Walmart when she was 8 years old. As the years went on, she got better equipment, better cameras, and better things to photograph. She went from photographing her pets, to her family, to her friends, and soon to help with the school yearbook.

She thought of it more as a hobby rather than a career up until she was about 17. Her senior year is when she decided what she’d major in.

@/graysondolan: hey, idk if this is weird, but can we ft?

@/y/t/n: i don’t know, gray. maybe another time

@/graysondolan: yeah, yeah. that’s fine

It’s not that she didn’t want to see him. She just wasn’t sure about how he’d feel.

You see, there’s one thing that hadn’t been mentioned yet. A severe case of Jaundice as a child led her to grow up slowly losing her hearing.

Her mother began teaching her ASL at a young age, she even signed her up with a specialist who would help her get through everything.

By age 12, she had fully lost hearing in her right ear. By the time she turned 16, her hearing was fully gone.

Days had gone by since the first time Grayson had asked her to ft, he continued to ask her if she was up for it. Each time was a different excuse. It’s not that she got joy out of upsetting him, she just didn’t want to upset him more when he saw her answering him with her hands rather than her mouth.

Her speaking wasn’t all bad. She could still say a few words, but she couldn’t always control how loudly or quietly she would be talking. She wasn’t mute, but it was easier for her to talk in ASL than in English.

She knows Grayson is a nice guy. He probably wouldn’t care that much, but it worried her to a great extent. Her anxiousness was rising every time Grayson would ask.

@/graysondolan: can I at least have your number?

@/y/t/n: 878-575-3434

*read @ 3:45 pm*

370-454-3859 : Y/n?

yeah, its me

Grayson: glad I could get your number;)

very funny, trying to slide are ya?

Grayson: nahhhh. no way.

ok ok;)

Grayson: you sure we don’t have time to facetime

i’m positive grayson, i really can’t right now

Grayson: will you ever be able to

maybe. stop asking and perhaps you’ll find out

Grayson: hopefully i will. anyway, what you up to?

trying to help my mom teach my younger brother asl

Grayson: asl?

American sign language

Grayson: oh thats cool, are you fluent?

yeah, since i was about 13.

Grayson: oh cool, all I can speak is english. kinda lame

eh, not too bad.

Grayson: yeah but you can speak english and asl, thats way cooler

i guess

Her brother was about 9 years old when she first lost her hearing. He’s now 10, almost 11. He began learning asl to talk with his sister a little before his 10th birthday.

He always loved watching his sister edit the photos she had taken that day, but it was quite hard to talk to her considering they had to write everything out.

Almost 3 full notebooks had been filled throughout the year. One of them even had writings on the front and back cover.

A few days had passed since her last conversation with Grayson. It wasn’t like them to not talk for that long. They hardly stopped for even as short as an hour.

Grayson: so where do you go to school? or is that weird

its not weird. im homeschooled, have been since 7th grade

Grayson: oh why’s that?

mom had to pull me out. i wasn’t up to speed with the other kids

Which was true. She wasn’t. Her hearing loss caused her to slowly turn her straight a’s to straight f’s. It was hard for her to put mind to the things her teachers were saying.

Her mom already had a teaching degree, and so it wasn’t hard for her mom to begin teaching her daughter as soon as possible. Her brother continued to go to public school, his mom didn’t want him to miss out on certain things and neither did his sister.

She didn’t want to be the reason to hold people back, especially her family. Her brother’s love for hockey wasn’t something she could hold back, so she wasn’t going to be upset if he wanted to join a public school in order to make sure he would be able to join the younger league of hockey in 5th grade.

He’s started his first year already. His love for hockey had grown instantly after he began playing. His sister always came to his practices and games and got tons of pictures.

Some even weren’t of her brother. The coach had asked if she would be willing to take pictures after he had seen the ones of her brother.

The photos had gone up on the website for the hockey association. It was something she was very proud of, and many of the hockey moms had asked if she had gotten any photos of their sons.

Word got around quickly, so more photos were being taken and distributed to the moms of the boys. It hadn’t bothered her at all, she loved taking the pictures and she loved to see the parents reactions to the wonderful photos she had taken.

Grayson: its been a week since ive asked last, so im asking again. can we facetime yet? i just wanna see your face and talk to you.

im at my brothers hockey game. we can when i get home, i promise

After all, if it did end up bothering him, she could easily ignore him. block him, and never speak to him again. It would be a lot harder if they had actually met in real life, but they hadn’t. Virtually talking to people can have its advantages when needed.

She just needed to know how he’d feel. If she was being honest, she’d say she didn’t care. She didn’t care about his reaction anymore, but she wanted to know what it was. She wanted to see and talk to Grayson just as much as he wanted to with her.

Grayson: prove it

what do you want a pic?

Grayson: a video

You laughed silently to yourself and took a video of your face and then of your brother playing hockey. You sent the video with a message

That good enough for you?

Grayson: yes very

good. we’re done soon, in case youre wondering

Grayson: thank god. I cant wait to actually talk to you

you are right now

Grayson: you know what i mean. you know. speak

right right, okayyyyy

In all reality, she was horrified. In the back of her mind she was scared. But she was ready, ready to face her fear. Ready for what was to come.

As the time went by it seemed to get slower and slower. Her mind was fumbled with the thought of if she should actually go through with this.

On one hand, she wouldn't have to worry about Grayson finding out her little secret, but on the other hand, she couldn't see herself lying to him this much.

It wasn't a healthy thing to do. To hold back. She was going through a lot. Her brain was tortured and in pain as she thought about how she would introduce herself. Would she say hi, would she sign to him? No. He wouldn't understand that.

Slowly but surely the clock went tick, tick, tick. The time was now. She was about to face her fear of abandonment. As the facetime call rang and she twiddled with her thumbs, wiping her face due to the beads of sweat drippling down her tomato red face, her brother sat beside her and comforter her, making sure she was okay. She nodded and after a few more rings, Grayson picked up. He said hi, she could see it. It wasn't hard to tell that he was excited. Your brother was signing underneath the phone, so only you could see it. Grayson kept talking, your brother trying to sign as quickly as he could. Her brother looked at the camera and then down at the screen at Grayson, who sat in silence, confused at her sudden lack of quirkyness.

"Y/n, you okay?" Grayson says, her brother signing it to her. She looks back up and nods, smiling as if everything was okay. "Are you sure, you keep looking down." Grayson says, looking at you and tilting his head as a way to express his confusion.

"Grayson, uh she-" Her finger gently pressed to her lips to get her brother to be quiet.

She looked up and waved, and breathed in through her noise before slowly breathing out through her mouth. She let her hands take control, and Grayson laughed before saying "You know I only speak english, babe." She sighed and looked at her brother before signing, "Tell him." Her brother nodded before looking at Grayson and then quickly at her to make sure. She nods and starts slowly breathing harder, her face growing redder.

"Grayson. She can't hear you." Her brother says with the most seriousness in his small face.

"What do you mean? Is her phone broken?" Grayson asks, trying to talk more to see if that'll help.

Her brother tells Grayson to be quiet so he can speak, which silences Grayson. "Grayson, she can't hear you because she's deaf."

"What? You're lying." Grayson shook his head in disbelief and then looked at you for confirmation.

You sighed and started signing, your brother speaking for you.

You explained everything to him, and he sat there listening. He didn't judge you at all, and you stayed friends.

He even took it upon himself to learn asl so when he was finally able to meet you, you guys could talk. You guys could communicate.

#gelrureqgkljtheq thank u #to everyone that helped me finish this #encouraged me to keep writing #and continued to support me even tho i suck at writing

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entireoranges · 2 years

Text

Okay I am not gonna to hide it anymore (though I've dropped hints on Reddit) that I ship Daniel and Britt. They are absolutely adorable together. The smiles. The touches. The sparkles. The constant praising of each other. Etc.

I love how quickly she has been willing to learn ASL and try to understand his world better.

It seems to me that perhaps Britt had a bit of a crush on him before the show started. She absolutely loves the movie Coda and made it clear she was a fan/impressed by Daniel.

One thing that really made "ok now THAT'S suspicious!" Is they did a brief Q & A only responded to three questions from what had to be a hundreds because they had asked for questions previously and these were the ones selected. The very first one she asks was "is Daniel hot?" I mean really?! I don't know it seemed interesting or has I said suspicious...

Someone said that Britt has a boyfriend, but keeps the relationship private. I did some googling and far as I can tell they broke up. However the sources weren't the best because people are right she is very private person. Still it seems to me perhaps it is true that she is currently single. And I'm not just saying that because I want it be true LOL.

I understand that some will say things like "it's nothing romantic, she's just a good teacher!" "god stop shipping everything! it's gross!" Yes, Britt is a good teacher and I'm sad I missed her with her with other partners, but I've seen this show enough seasons to pick up when it slightly goes beyond a teacher and student relationship. Far as the second as I said in a previous post (and pretty sure other times) me shipping them (or anyone) isn't hurting you, don't like it don't read my posts.

It's a bit frustrating I can't find a whole lot (barely any) of fans of support them as potentially more then just partners, but I know a few exist and likely more who are nervous or unwilling to publicly say anything for a various of reasons. So if you ship them and know of good places to look for like minded fans let me know!

And if it turns out this 100% in my head I still love the relationship and will continue to even platonically between them.

#my thoughts #daniel x britt

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nothing-but-kpop-dreams · 7 years

Text

BTS Reaction: Them having a crush on you, but you are secretly dating another member

Author’s note: We are very sorry that this took a very long time to write. The three of us have been so busy with school and work and we also tried to use our time to write this reaction as best as we could. We are excited about this post since this is one we all did together and we wish that you all enjoy it as much as we did writing it.

RM / Kim Namjoon:

They sat on lawn chairs at the top of her building in the middle of the summer night.

“Wow... look at us can we be anymore cliche?”

He couldn’t help but laugh “There is nothing wrong with being cliche every now and then.”

“What topic do we talk about next? Religion - check, Politics - check. Now what?”

“Love?” he “randomly” brought up

“Ok” y/n agreed with a shy smile

Y/n wasn’t the type to talk about relationships. She was an open book about everything except her love life. He didn’t know what her type was, how many exes she had, or even whether she was into guys or girls. The only thing he knew was that he had feelings for her. They had been friends for a while now and there was just something about y/n that he found so irresistible. Scratch that. he found everything about her irresistible. He loved her personality, her brain, her voice, her body, just about anything having to do with her.

“Do you believe in love?” he asked

“Hm... yeah” she smiled

“Yeah? What about true love, like soul mates and all that?”

“Ooh, I don’t know... sometimes?” she was so vague. Her answer came out like a question.

“Sometimes?”

“Yeah... I notice that I only get those gushy thoughts when I am in a relationship or if I really like someone. If I don’t like any one or I’m not with any one, then I don’t really think that way. Not in a bitter way or anything like that, but I’m just in a more logical state of mind if that makes sense.”

“Yeah I think.” he chuckled

She was really interesting at times. He loved to pick at her brain. He especially loved the moments where they could get away and have deep talks just the two of them. They were rare, but that is what made them more meaningful.

Considering the atmosphere and the fact that she was actually willing to talk about this stuff for once, he gathered up the courage to her her a few more questions “So do you believe in soulmates right now?” If what she just said was true, then maybe he could find out if she liked anyone, possibly him.

“Um...Yes...” again there was her smile.

“So is y/n in love?” he teased. Although playful, he desperately wanted to know . He needed to know if he had a chance.

“i wouldn’t say “in love” ... but I really like someone.“ she said more seriously

His heart stopped. He could feel his palms getting sweaty and everything around him felt more real. Did this mean that she only had a crush on someone or was she taken? “Yeah?”

She nodded. I feel like I changed alot since I met this person, that I changed for the better. Like more talkative, more social, more like- more me.” she said slowly as she looked for the right words.

He thought back to when he first met her. She was pretty, shy, and reserved, even more so considering the fact that she was interacting with famous idols as themselves. He for sure noticed the change that she was talking about. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense that maybe she was talking about him. He always encouraged her to speak her mind, to take charge for her dreams and stand up for her opinions.

“So who is this magical person?”

Y/n let out a long sigh. “I don’t know of I can tell you.” she giggled nervous as she dug her face into her hands

“Why not?”

“I don’t want it to change anything...Our late night talks are still judge free right?”

“Of course!”

She looked up at him. This was their first eye contact since the topic of love was brought up. “Promise that you won’t be weird after this.”

“I promise!”

“...It’s Tae.”

And just like that, a wave of physical pain crashed into his body. Good thing he was sitting down because he felt like he was going to faint.“Tae?”

“Yeah” there was her shy smile once again. “We’ve actually been on a few dates now.” goodness her tone of voice, he sound like gushy school girl talking about her first relationship. “I haven’t told anyone. I didn’t want to jinx anything, but I trust you won’t tell the rest of the guys and I really like Tae and I feel things are going well so far, I just wanted to tell that to someone finally.”

His mind went through a series of flashbacks. Suddenly he noticed all that times V left the dorm late and all the times that he was smiling at his phone, how she was coming over to the dorm more often and how touchy V was with her lately. Everything clicked and he couldn’t help but hate himself for not seeing it.

“Ah...” was all he was able to get out at first. “...Well that’s ... that’s great to hear.” he forced himself to say. “Tae is a great guy and you are a great person too so its - it’s all great.”

He could see her mouth moving, probably still talking about V, but his mind was too busy trying to convince himself that y/n was happy with V and he should be happy for her

Jin / Kim Seokjin:

It was one of those special nights where y/n and the boys would get together for dinner and just have a good time with each other’s company. It had been a few months since y/n had last seen all 7 of them. So she was beyond excited to spend some time with them.

It was 5:00, y/n had a couple of hours before the boys were to pile into her apartment. As usual Jin arrived extra early to help y/n with the cooking. When Jin first met y/n he knew there was something about her that made him want to make y/n, his. While on tour, y/n was all Jin ever thought about. The entire time Bangtan has known y/n, Jin has been keeping his feelings about her. The worst thing that Jin could ever think of, is to lose y/n as a friend. Also for the longest time, Jin was always ‘okay’ with the idea of having y/n as a friend rather than nothing at all. But the past few months Jin has completely changed his mind. After seeing y/n for the first time in months he realized the strength of his mind to finally tell y/n how he feels.

The two were in the kitchen quietly cooking, when y/n decided to fling a piece of spaghetti at Jin, to lighten up the mood. Before they knew it, they were having a mini food fight in the kitchen.

“Okay okay let’s stop” y/n sighs as she calms down, “Let’s not waste any more food”

Jin just smiles before agreeing.

Soon they were quietly cooking once again. This was when y/n realized that she forgot an ingredient for the spaghetti sauce. She quickly texted one of the boys to pick some up at the store and continued to help Jin cook the other few dishes they had in mind to prepare. As Y/n was cutting up tomatoes, Jin was stirring up the noodles continuously, making sure that they don’t over-cook. He glanced down at her face adoringly before taking a deep sigh.

“Something on your mind Jin?” Y/n asked as she dices up another tomato

“Actually...yeah there is”

“Hmm..What is it? Maybe I could help”

“Uhmm... You see I’ve had these feelings for----”

Suddenly the door opened.

“Jagi! I got the tomato paste that you needed” Jimin says before walking over to y/n and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

Y/n froze with her eyes wide open. That’s when Jimin realized that Jin was standing right there witnessing what just happened.

“Hyung...I didn’t know you’d be here so early” Jimin said with an apologetic look on his face.

“Jin...” y/n starts “I’m sorry you had to find out this way”

Jin stood in shock not wanting to hear what will come next.

“Y/n and I have been dating for months now” Jimin revealed, “We were planning on telling everyone at dinner tonight”

“Oh..” Jin replied

His heart was pounding so hard that he could hear it beating. Nothing could have ever prepared him for this. It was like his heart was breaking piece by piece, the more he saw y/n in Jimin’s arms.

“Anyways... What was it you wanted to tell me?” Y/n asked.

“uhm...” Jin mumbled “It’s okay, it doesn’t matter now”

Suga / Min Yoongi:

She bobbed her head to the beat of his song. As always, y/n was his guinea pig. She yet again “volunteered as tribute” to be the first person to hear his new song. He trusted her taste in music, she was a big fan of his stuff so automatically she knew what good music was supposed to sound like. If she approved if this song then he knew it was going to do well.

He could see the slight smile on her face. He loved seeing her smile. He loved it now even more so because she was smiling to his song.

He was glad she seemed to like it. This was a song that he put alot of feeling into this song... his feelings for her. He hoped that she would hear the subtle references to her. The whole songs was basically about her. It was about how he felt for her and how he was so scared to risk losing her that he never confessed. In the song there is a happy ending, one he hoped he would have if he ever had the guts to tell her how me really felt.

The three minutes and seventeen seconds were up and y/n removed the headphones. The good news for him was that her smile never left her face.

“So?” he asled nervously

“I... Loved it!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! I related so much to the song and I feel ARMY will too! Everyone is going to love it.” She said giving him a congratulatory slap to his arm. “What was your inspiration for this song huh?” she asked playfully, bouncing her eyebrows up and down. “Who is this mystery love?”

“What?” he could feel himself blushing. Yes, he wanted her to find out his message in the song, but now that she has, he regretted everything.

“Well this song is about liking someone you are close to... but being too scared to do anything about it. And i know you Yoongi, you mainly write from experience! So who is she?”

Everything froze. “Should I tell her now?” he thought. “The whole song was about eventually confessing, so I should just get it over with now right? She said she related to the song, could she possibly be talking about liking him too?”

“Ya!” she snapped her fingers in his face. “You in there?” she laughed.

He jumped up a tiny bit, coming back to reality to be welcomed by her smile.

“Uh...Yeah... So you really want to know then?” the words came out of him before thinking twice

‘Yes! Who is it?” she asked eagerly

“...It’s you.” he said it! After a year, he finally confessed. He felt a big weight coming off his shoulders... until he saw the smile disappear from her face

“...Yoongi” her voice was suddenly so soft.

Just by her tone he knew he made a mistake

“Yoongi I wish I could say that I still had feelings for you. Like I said, I related to the song... but I’m dating Jungkook now.”

“What? Since when?”

“Just recently, almost a month. That’s why we haven’t told everyone.” she said with a slight frown.

He could feel his heart hurting. He was so stupid for never taking the chance he had.

Y/n looked with him with pity and he felt so embarrassed. “Oh... Oh, just forget I said anything.” he mumbled. “All I needed you to do was hear the song. I have some,... i have some writing to do so can you please leave now.” He said as he turned back to his papers

“Yoongi...”

“Y/n it’s late and I just want to get the last of these lyrics down. You should probably be getting some sleep now.” he was barely able to get he words out of his mouth

“Oh... ok bye...’

“bye”

J-hope / Jung Hoseok :

“Show me what I’ve taught you” Hoseok instructed, “5...6...7...8″

Y/n conquers the dance moves perfectly. Hoseok knew that. But he couldn’t help but pick out minor flaws in order to keep her to himself a little longer. Ever since Taehyung introduced y/n to the rest of the group, Hoseok was completely smitten. He tried his best to get close to y/n and he succeeded. When she asked him to help her choreograph, he wanted to use this time, not onlyy to grow closer to her but to also gain the confidence to finally confess his feelings to her.

Today was the last day of practice before y/n was to audition for a small company as a backup dancer, and Hoseok was determined to confess his feelings to y/n. He had everything planned out in his mind. As he helped y/n with some of her minor mistakes he’ll get close enough to her to finally confess. As for rejection, he also prepared himself for that. Telling himself over and over again that everything will be okay as long as they remained friends. But it was as if the plan was went over his head.

As he instructed y/n to fix her posture a little more, he held her close and then suddenly kissed her. Y/n pushes Hoseok away as Namjoon walks into the room with a shocked look on his face. Namjoon walks in between y/n and Hoseok as his grabs the collar of Hobi’s shirt and pushes him against the wall. Y/n quickly pulls Namjoon away putting herself in between them.

“Namjoon...He doesn’t know.” y/n says firmly “we need to tell him; all of them”

Hoseok’s eyes widen as he registers what y/n told Namjoon.

“Hobi...I’m sorry that I can’t return your feelings but I’m with Namjoon. I’ve been with him for months now”

Hoseok’s heart breaks little by little. I’m with Namjoon. Nothing could’ve prepared him for what Namjoon did next.

“I normally would try to get rid of my feelings so you’d be able to be happy. But I love y/n too much to let her go....I’m sorry.” He said. Hoseok saw in Namjoon’s eyes the sincerity and conflict behind them.

The normal thing to do would to be angry. The normal thing to do would be to walk out and never talk to wither of them again. But Hoseok pulled Namjoon up gave him a hug.

“I’ll get over my feelings, so you could be happy comfortably”

“Thank you....”

Jimin / Park Jimin:

They were sprawled across his bed just on their phones. He loved moments like this where they were just so couple like comfortable with each other.

Suddenly y/n laughed. “ Look at this meme of you! You look so done!”

She threw herself on his chest and shoved her phone in his face.

The image was yet another meme of back when they were in the U.S. His jet lag was forever memorialized in the forms of exhausted expressions that never seemed to go away.

“I am going to make this your contact picture!” she snorted

“You better not!”

An evil grin grew on her face “Or what?”

“You don’t even wanna know!” he said as ominously as he could

“Youre bluffing!”

He broke into a smile. He couldn’t handle himself to be serious, not with the way she was looking at him. “You’re right.”

She laughed her cute laughed and rolled off him, back to her spot on his bed. “Oh! It’s 5!” she gasped. “I have to leave!”

“Leave? Already? I thought you were going to be here the whole day.”

Y/n levitated off the bed and ran over to his desk where she had thrown off one of her sweaters. “I gotta meet my other friend at the movies remember?”

He frowned. “Agh, fine! Ditch me for someone else!” he said dramatically.

“Don’t be a diva!” she laughed as she tried to figure out how to get her crumbled, knotted sweater back on. “If I was ditching you I wouldn’t have come over at all.”

She looked so cute getting all frustrated. Her little pout, the adorable little creases on her forehead. That’s when a thought came to him. Ask her out now. “I shouldn’t. She’s in a rush. plus we are still going to hang out next week. If she says no things might get awkward.”

“When did this sweater get so confus- I got it!” she cheered as she headed to the door.

He jumped up from the bed. “Wait!” ask her! “Let me walk you to the door at least. Look at you trying to run away from me.” that wasn’t asking her out.

“Ok!” she led the way out the room and towards the only exit of the dorm. Jimin couldn’t help but sneak a few looks at her back side every now and then. Ask her. Just do it already.

She scurried to the door where her shoes and winter coat waited for her. She went down on all fours as she set herself down to put her shoes on. “Stupid converse.” she mumbled.

Ask her.

Within thirty seconds she was back on her feet, throwing on her coat. “Okay. I am leaving now!” she said as she reached for the door knob.

“Wait!” Ask her

“Yea?” she turned back to him, looking up at him with those pretty eyes of hers.

He froze. “So- So no hug bye?”

“Oh yeah.” she smiled and threw her arms around him. She tightened her hug. She always gave the bet hugs.

“Am I interrupting something?” A low voice asked.

Y/n jumped back.

Suga stood there staring at the both of them with a blank face.

“Oh Yoongi! We were just- I was just leaving.” y/n stuttered from the small scare.

Jimin took a quick look at his hyung. He was covered from head to, with his face mask tucked under his chin. “Where are you going hyung?”

“Uh... just to the studio.”

“Well bye to you too then.” he said with a slightly akward chuclke.

“Oh you’re leaving too?” Y/n said looking up to Suga. “You can walk with me to my car!” she smiled.

“Yeah” Suga said throwing back a small smile of his own.

“Bye Jimin” they both said as they walked out the door.

He dragged his feet back to his room. the place felt empty now that she wasn’t in the dorm anymore. After his slow journey, he threw his body into the bed. “I should have asked her.”

After a good ten minutes of regret, he heard a knock at his door. He turned over to see RM poking his head into the room. “Jimin, don’t forget that we have practice earlier tomorrow.”

“Ok... Oh Namjoon can I ask you something?”

“Yeah”

““..Close the door.”

Rm did so, curios as to what Jimin wanted to talk about.

Jimin sat up. He quickly regretted asking RM to speak with him. He was so nervous at even the thought of telling anyone else about his crush over y/n. “How do you ask a girl out?”

“Ask a girl out?” There was s mirk on his face. “That depends on the girl.”

“Really?” he asked in distress “But how?”

“Well, if she is shy, you might want to ask her in a more one on one setting, more private and all that. Don’t put her on the spot by asking her in front of other people. If she isn’t as shy, then maybe ask her when you guys are having a nice time out. I think in either situation you can make it cuter by incorporating something she likes into the whole thing. Like chocolates or flower or something.

Jimin ran his fingers though his hair. He was so overwhelmed by this information. All he wanted was a script to use so he didn’t have to think this much.

“who is the girl? I can help you think of a good way to ask her.”

“...Its- .. It’s y/n.”

Rm’’s brotherly smile faded. “Oh...”

“Oh?!? She doesn’t like me does she? Its that obvious! I was right this whole time!”

“Uh Jimin... Its just, Y/n is dating Yoongi...”

“What?!? Yoongi?!? Since when?!? How?!?”

I caught them making out at the studio like a week ago. They told me to keep it a secret since they barely started dating, but I don’t want you going after someone who is already in a relationship...”

He felt even emptier than before. “Alright.. thanks anyway.”

V / Kim Taehyung:

“Y/N is that you?” Tae yelled from his room as you walked through the door.

“No I’m a serial killer” you yelled back as you took off your coat and shoes.

“Ha ha. Anyways, do you have the snacks?” he yelled and you rolled your eyes. “Why don’t you come look for yourself?” you say with a huff as you take the bags and walk towards his room.

“I swear to god you are so lazy” you complain as you throw the snacks at him. Before taking a seat on his bed and grabbing a controller.

“I only asked you to, you could’ve said no” he pointed out and you huffed. You hated when he was right.

“Whatever, so what are we playing?” you asked as you took some chips from one of the bags Tae had already opened. You didn’t notice the blush he got as he almost touched your hand.

“I don’t know, you choose this time” he says as he gives you the P1 controller. Your eyes widen “Did the one and only Kim Taehyung decide to become a gentleman all of a sudden? I must be dreaming” you say as you slap yourself in the face.

“I’ve always been a gentleman you bum” he says with a pout as his cheeks redden once again “And if you don’t want to chose I’ll jus-”

“Nonono, I’ll chose one...” you interrupt him “How about Mario Kart?” you suggest and he nods as you open the game. You play a couple of rounds before your phone rings. It’s Jin.

“Oh hold on, I have to take this” you say as you pause the game.

“Hello?” you answer before excusing yourself from the room. You still didn’t want the guys to know Jin and you dated, because things were still pretty new and you didn’t want to ruin anything.

“Hey jagi” his voice rang through the speaker. Shit, you had accidentally put on speaker.

“Is that Jin-hyung?” Tae asked as his heart broke a little. That really sounded like Jin, and why was he calling you jagi? And that’s when it clicked, both you and Jin had been very close lately and it always seemed a bit fishy.

“Jagi I think it’s time we tell them...” Jin says and you sigh. You start telling Tae about it, he’s one of your best friends after all and you felt horrible for keeping it from him this long.

“Wow Y/N... I’m really happy for you” Tae says smiling through the pain as his heart feels like it’s bleeding. He is thankful for all the acting classes he’s taken since he can hide his true feelings a lot easier.

As you left for dinner with Jin, Tae crumpled up in his bed as he let a tear or two fall.

Jungkook / Jeon Jungkook:

The last minute hotel party was actually going great. This was not something he and the guys ever did, but in tonight’s case, they all just wanted to see what it was all like. Plus, it wasn’t going to be anything crazy, only a fun time with friends and fellow idols together in a decked out hotel room.

It was late into the night and things were still going great. People were dancing, games were played, drinks were flowing, music was pumping (not too loud though, they didn’t want to be loud enough for other guests to hear).

Jungkook was having the time of his life. He was on his fourth beer, but still beating everyone (even Jhope) in DDR. The crowd was cheering him on as he set the new high score. He he jumped around the crowd in successful, accepting everyones high fives and back pats, but then he noticed something. “Y/n?” He didn’t see y/n in the crowd anymore. HE could have sworn she was in the front watching him play. “Where is she?” he thought.

He cut through the crowd in search of her, the only person at the party that he actually wanted to talk to. She definitely wasn’t in the main room. She wasn’t in the bedroom, nor was she in the bathroom. The balcony was the only spot in the hotel room that she could have been (or she left but he didn’t want to think that).

Once more he cut through the mob of people that filled the room and crowded around the TVV. Eventually he made it to the balcony and there she was. Y/n stood looking out over the city. Her hair was blowing slightly in the cool breeze, He moon light reflected off her exposed skin. It was like she was glowing.

He could feel his face burn just looking at her. He couldn’t help but fall more in love. “Y/n!” Just saying her name brought a smile to his face.

She turned her head around to face him. “Yeah?”

“What are you doing out here?” his words were ind of slurring together, but he was still “sober” enough to walk over next to her mostly needing the rail to stay steady.

“Eh, I just needed some air.”

“Did my dancing get too hot for you?” he asked with a wink. He sure had some balls tonight, but then again it was probably the liquid courage talking.

Thankfully she laughed. Her laugh was so pretty, he loved it. He wished he could make her laugh all day.

“You wish!” she said, giving his a playful slap.

“Ya! That hurt!” he whined. He nudged her back a tiny bit. “But don’t hide it. I saw the way you were looking at me.”

His cheeky comment only made her laugh again. “And how exactly was i looking at you?”

“Its the way i look at you when you aren’t noticing.” he said too confidently.

That’s when he smile faded. “And how exactly is that?” her voice was small and shy

She was looking up at him with big eyes, waiting anxiously for his answer. “Like you are the most beautiful girl in the world.” And that’s when he leaned forward. He was finally going to make a move.

Suddenly, when he was just an inch from her, he felt a hand on his chest the preventing him from moving any closer.

“Jungkook, i’m with Hoseok!”

“What?!?”

“I am dating Hoseok.” she repeated

He pulled back and looked down at her again. She suddenly had her head hung low. She wouldn’t even look at him.

“Hoseok? How?!? When?”

“We’ve been dating on secret for while now. We didn’t tell anyone cuz we wanted to see if we could last.” he could barely hear her faint voice. “Jungkook, i’m sorry. I didn’t mean to lead you on I just wanted things to stay normal between us. I didn’t want you to pick up on me and Hoseok and I-”

“Y/n!” suddenly they heard Jhope’s voice. “Y/n!” his hyungs head poked through the curtain that had cut them off from the party. “There you are!” he smile as he made his way up to them. “C’mon, it;s your turn for DDR. You are the only one left who can try to beat Jungkook’s score”

Jhope looked at him, “You gonna come watch y/n demolish you?” he laughed, slapping his his on his shoulder. It was only a playful slap, but Jungkook swore it knocked him off his feet.

He didn’t say anything. He couldn’t even fake a smile. But it wasn’t like Jhope was waiting for his response. His focus was on y/n. Jungkook noticed the smile growing on Jhope’s face at he looked down at y/n and it broke his heart to see Jhope grab her hand. He saw there fingers intertwine as Jhope pulled a pouting y/n away from him and back inside.

-Admin Boat, Admin Cloud, Admin Satellite

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