#post dime store magic

[ohmyeyesmyeyes]

IT'S NEVER OVER - PROLOGUE (sept. 2005)

summary: if anyone asked sid, he wouldn't say that he liked pittsburgh more after meeting nat. no, that would be absurd.

warnings: short and sweet! (none)

a/n: hi, hello! am i posting this without having finished it? yes. i don't know how long it's going to be but i'm slowly chipping away at it and i'm pretty excited about it. it might even be my favourite series thing i've done so far, and weirdly my first one? i've had the entire thing outlined for months but i've been too busy to even think about posting it, so...here you go! i can't promise posts for this will be regular because the chapters are so long, but i'll try my best to keep you posted! hope you enjoy (a series mastrlist will be out soon too so you can get the gist of where i'm at in the entire process) xo

sneak peak | pinterest board

(It started with music, but Nat didn’t know that.) 

It was a total accident, a random encounter that Sidney couldn’t possibly have predicted – one that, without exaggerating, changed his life to an extent. On a whim, he’d decided to go into that coffee shop he’d walked past everyday for the past three weeks, and it was also on a whim he actually made it to the counter to order an uncharacteristic coffee – he was newly eighteen, being pulled in all sorts of sports-diet directions, the confinement of which kind of irked him, so to him, buying that coffee was a subtle rebellion.

It was also a complete accident that he’d wandered off to the right after taking his coffee from the counter, instead of left, or forwards, or even backwards.

Sidney wasn’t one to believe in fate or destiny: he believed those terms were too magical – they alluded to some other worldly forces coming into play, and he liked to stick to facts. Coincidences. Accidents. Nevertheless, he did find it almost inexplicable, the way that his life hurtled into a completely different route after a mere forty minutes inside a coffee shop that he’d just spontaneously decided to make a trip of. He couldn’t quite get his head around it all.

To him, it was a coincidence that he’d walked past her table. A coincidence that she happened to be blaring the only song he’d been able to listen to for the last four days. He’d barely made it three steps past her before he froze. 

She was wearing those over-the-ear headphones, the ones with orange sponges from the 80s, plugged into the iPod that had come out a few years back. He recognised it because everyone that had one in his high school before he left never shut up about it. Sidney admittedly did own one at the time, but he never really felt the need to show it off  – it was much easier than lugging around a cassette or CD player with songs burnt in.

The song still had him halting in his tracks and turning around, his body much further ahead than his brain because he had to steady his mug of coffee; his sharp actions had the liquid almost sloshing over the edge, but he managed to catch it just in time.

He wouldn’t have done either of those things: stop and turn, if it had been any other song he’d heard. He was just so taken aback by it – the exact, precise song. 

The girl at the table didn’t pay him a single dime of attention when he froze, despite the fact that his hip was practically nudging her table. She wasn’t even looking in his direction, her eyes gazing out of the window on her right, skipping over empty faces as people walked past. It was clear she was supposed to be doing work of some sorts: there were textbooks, novels, and flashcards scattered across the entire table, a pencil case half emptied with pens strewn all over. She had a pen clutched in the fist she was resting her chin on, not caring for the study cards at all – entirely enamoured by the view. 

Sidney followed her eyes. There wasn’t much to look at, just a street, and her chair was directly facing the side of a retail store, clothes and mannequins displayed in the window. 

In hindsight, Sidney didn’t really know what compelled him to do what he did next.

He couldn’t tell if she was bored and just looking out, not paying attention to the music flowing into her ears, or if she was just so absorbed in what she was hearing that she couldn’t physically bring herself to think about her work – that she’d tuned out the outside world entirely.

What caught his attention the most was the crease between her brows. It drew him to look straight at her; an alluring combination of chestnut hair and pale eyes – though not too pale that they made him uneasy. She was also probably the only person in the establishment that was around his age.

She had impeccable music taste, if he did say so himself.

Yet, he couldn’t shake the inkling that this girl was wholly feeling the brilliance and soul-crushing heartache of Jeff Buckley’s genius – and he found himself hoping she was.

That was why he cleared his throat and took a small step to the other side of the table. He threw a quick glance over his shoulder, noting that the cafe was pretty busy, so he knew he could at least try to get away with what he was about to do.

He made sure to tilt his head up, because the hat covering his face would be nothing short of slightly suspicious in a public setting, and it wasn’t until he purposefully knocked into the chair that she flicked her eyes to look at him.

He held his breath, a moment when all they did was look at each other, until the crease in her brows disappeared and she reached to pause her music on her iPod, slowly sliding her earphones off so they rested around her neck. 

“Hi.” 

His assumptions had been correct. She was around his age – her voice was deeper than he’d originally anticipated – and when he found himself slightly closer than before, he was able to make out that she was studying for her SATs. 

It was September.

“Hi.” He replied, forcing a smile that he hoped would convey the apology he felt for intruding on her personal time and in her personal space. Her clutter was all over the table, and he knew that if she was hopefully as kind to strangers as he hoped she’d to be, that it would be somewhat of a hassle to shove some of it away, “I’m really sorry, but there aren’t any other tables free. Would I be able to–”

“Oh, sure.” She interrupted, immediately going to reach to sweep a space clear for him over the other side of the table. Sidney watched with a mildly amused gaze; she didn’t seem to care for the way her flashcards seemed to mix themselves up, or the way her textbooks snapped shut and she lost her page.

She flashed him a welcoming, slightly embarrassed smile as she piled the books on top of each other, and before Sidney knew it, he was sitting in the chair opposite, accidentally knocking their knees together in the process, and sipping from his coffee mug. He fought to maintain the thankful smile on his face, despite the utterly bitter taste of the coffee that seemed to fester on his tongue.

No wonder he’d never tried coffee before, it tasted like dirt.

The girl broke a small chunk of a muffin off, a smile breaking out on her face as she fought a small laugh.

Sidney blushed, “I’m not a big coffee-fan.” He reasoned, shrugging.

“I can tell.” She pressed her lips together momentarily, looking down at the plate before turning her attention back to him. Sidney felt stunned at the colour of her eyes. He’d never seen grey eyes before, but hers seemed to balance more on the green side – only when the sun struck the side of her face, they turned a watery, clear blue. There was also a tinge of brown thrown in there.

What was that called? Heterochromia?

He felt his mouth dry, and before he could stop himself, he was taking another sip of his coffee, this time managing to control the urge to wince, “Thanks for letting me sit here.”

She shrugged, gathering the flashcards and lining them up, “It’s no problem. Sorry for the mess.”

He let his eyes wander over the books once more, the green ‘SATs’ letters jumping out at him, “You got an important date?”

The girl swallowed, not entirely understanding what he meant. That crease formed between her brows again, and she opened her mouth to question him, but Sidney beat her to it, a finger pointing at her stack of books. 

She sighed, “Not entirely, they’re at the end of the school year, but one of my teachers gave us an assignment to get some study material done early.” 

Sidney couldn’t say he understood her stress – it was something displayed across the planes of her face; evident when she looked rather tiredly at the stack of books, and hesitated at the flashcards, before throwing them to the side. She folded her arms across the table, then switched so that her hands were interlocked in front of her.

She looked as though she didn’t quite know what to do with herself, and Sidney couldn’t tell if it was because of the presence of a stranger, or if she was already feeling some sort of academic guilt for throwing her attention away from her studies for a couple of minutes.

He saw her jaw clench, and at that observation, the thought that maybe he was paying a little bit too much attention to her crossed his mind, so he turned his focus to the cup of coffee. He was beginning to feel its effects; his knee was shaking softly under the table and he could feel an influx of energy spark at his fingertips. Or maybe it wasn’t the coffee at all.

He hadn’t thought about hockey for five minutes.

He saw her turn her face towards him out of the corner of his eye, and he looked up, “What about you? Are you in school, or…?” She trailed off, her eyes skimming over the logo that had flashed itself from the safe and unzipped confines of his hoodie. 

He felt his heart quicken at having been caught, worried that perhaps she’d shout out who he was – if she knew – across the entire cafe. He remained optimistic; she didn’t seem the type.

He cleared his throat, “Not anymore.” For some reason he hesitated. He could play off the logo as merchandise – he could be someone other than Sidney Crosby, the New Rookie of the Pens – or he could be honest. When he looked back at her, there was a challenge in her eyes, and Sidney knew then that she already knew who he was. “I just got drafted to the Pens for my first NHL season.”

She sighed, “Can I tell you something?” 

Sidney furrowed his brows, his mouth tilting down in a smile. He was new to the whole ‘local celebrity’ deal, but this by far, is probably one of the least impressed reactions he’d ever had. She clearly knew he wasn’t in school, but had still taken the kind courtesy to ask him the question, despite the futility of it.

He nodded. 

“I only know one Pens player.” Then she pointed to something out of the window, “That banner has been staring at me every week for the past three months.”

Sidney huffed a laugh, thinking she was joking, but followed her finger anyway. He was immediately faced with a street corner, tens of people walking past each other – he could even make out their voices if he concentrated hard enough, and it took a while to figure out what exactly she was pointing at, until his eyes settled on a billboard at least a block down.

He’d been told that for press reasons, the Pens had come up with the idea of a way of promoting him as a player, and a ‘person of Pittsburgh’, by plastering some action shots of him – still staged – around the city. He’d neglected to look up lately, fearing that if he did, he’d be faced with some images of himself, but he hadn’t escaped that entirely.

The billboard was small, and he wasn’t the only player on there, either, but he saw it nonetheless. 

When he spun back around to look at her once more, the only thing that came out of his mouth was, “There’s two other players, not just me.”

She shrugged, “I was talking about Sergei Gonchar.”

Sidney felt the blush colour from his chest to his cheeks as he slowly put his hands over his face, consumed by humiliation. He felt himself smile into his hands when he heard the girl huff a snicker. He’d had quite a few people as of late kissing up to his ego, and apart from his teammates, she was the first one to really deliver a considerable blow – and he was thankful for that; that at least someone still had the ability to look past who he was and tease him like he was a normal person. He was aware of the irony that lay there.

He gathered himself, unabashedly removing his hands and displaying the creeping blush for her to see, and sticking his hand between them, “Sidney Crosby, rookie center for the Pittsburgh Penguins.”

She rolled her eyes, not commenting on the state of his cheeks, her smile fading slightly but still remaining, “I was joking, I know who you are.” She took his hand in hers, gripping it tightly, “Nat Brooks. Student.”

Sidney swallowed, his blush remaining for other reasons, and pulled his hand away, flexing it under the table, “Is Nat short for anything?”

“Natalia.”

“‘S very pretty.” He mumbled, and she smiled sweetly.

“Sidney’s very pretty, too. It suits you.”

Something clenched in his chest.

[bardic-tales]

So, now I'm curious though, when Sephiroth asks Bianca about her 'guilty pleasures,' it really got me thinking. What are they?

🦖

Hi, Prehistoric. I see you're become active on Tumblr again as well. I hope everything is going good on your end, now. I still have my OG Jurassic Park OCs living free in my head. Since '93, actually. Maybe, I'll eventually introduce them.

I'm glad that you enjoyed my WIP. It means a lot to me.

Bianca has a few guilty pleasures. She likes to collect the feathers that Sephiroth leaves behind when he manifests his wings, imbuing them with her own magic to make them stay instead of fading away.

Then, she loves to read those cheap dime store romance novels. Before she was transported back into Feudal Japan by Sesshomaru, she was a romance novelist, so she still has a love for that.

She also likes looking at old pictures of Sephiroth from his SOLDIER days. However, she would never tell him. She would rather die than to let him know that. His ego is big enough post Nibelheim Incident.

But the nature of the bond their share is that they can hear each other's thoughts, feel each other pain and emotions. So, he knows. He just likes to toy with her, which is what he was doing in that scene.

[audiofictionuk]

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If you’re on the lookout for a free gift card, we hate to say it but you can hardly get it for free. You might notice some giveaways saying you can win a free gift card, but those are also phishing sites that trick you into doing surveys and give nothing in return.

However, if you shop in Shein constantly, there’re many ways you can slash your cost, and pretty soon you’d have enough savings for a gift card.

How to save like a pro in Shein

Free things are usually too good to be true. But if you’re a Shein regular, you can almost certainly save big on every order.

1. Grab the latest promo codes with Coupert

It’s not news that Shein offers coupons to every customer. But the promo codes are constantly updating on the website, which makes it hard to tell if the code in the banner is the most rewarding one. If you’re looking for the best deal but sick of searching for codes, you should definitely give Coupert a try.

Coupert is a powerful browser extension that helps you find and verify promo codes automatically and get cashback on every order. And the most important thing is, it’s 100% free and legit.

To get all the Shein promo codes, first add Coupert to your browser.

The convenience doesn’t stop there. With the Shein Gift Card Redeem Code, you can easily apply your gift card balance during the checkout process. Just enter the code, and watch as your total amount due decreases, giving you the freedom to shop guilt-free. It’s a seamless and hassle-free experience that adds an extra layer of joy to your shopping spree.

Now, you might be wondering how long this incredible opportunity will last. Well, we’ve got good news for you. The Shein Gift Card Generator is here to stay, and we’re not stopping anytime soon. In fact, we’re already gearing up for an exciting year ahead with the Shein Gift Card Generator 2023. Get ready for even more chances to win and redeem gift cards, allowing you to stay ahead of the fashion game without worrying about your budget.

So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to unlock a world of fashion possibilities with the Shein Gift Card Generator. Whether you’re looking for a wardrobe refresh or searching for the perfect gift for a fashion-forward friend, this generator is your key to stylish success. Don’t miss out on the chance to win a gift card or generate your own — start exploring the world of Shein today!

[sheincodegenerator-2024]

Shein Code Generator ∑GET Now Free NO Human Verification 2024

Shein Gift Card Code Generator 2024 No Survey Without Any Verification.New.updated Shein Gift Cards Generator 2023 Free Shein No Human Verification.Introducing the Shein Gift Card Generator: Your Ticket to Fashionable Shopping!Are you a fashion enthusiast who loves browsing through the latest trends on Shein? Do you often wish you had a little extra to splurge on that perfect dress or those must-have accessories? Well, we have just the solution for you! Introducing the Shein Gift Card Generator, your ultimate tool for unlocking a world of stylish possibilities.

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With the Shein Gift Card Generator, you can now enjoy a shopping spree like never before. Whether you’re into trendy outfits, chic shoes, or stunning jewelry, this generator is your gateway to unlimited fashion choices. Don’t let budget constraints hold you back — with a Shein gift card in hand, you can shop to your heart’s content!

But wait, there’s more! We’re not just offering you the chance to win a gift card — we’re also giving away Shein gift cards for free! That’s right, you heard it correctly. With our Shein Gift Card Giveaway, you have the opportunity to score a gift card without spending a dime. Imagine the excitement of receiving a generous gift card that allows you to revamp your wardrobe without breaking the bank. It’s a dream come true for any fashion lover!

Now, you might be wondering how all of this is possible. Well, it’s all thanks to the Shein Free Gift Card Generator. This powerful tool is designed to generate unique gift card codes that can be used on the Shein website. Simply enter a few details and let the generator work its magic. Within seconds, you’ll be presented with a valid Shein gift card code that can be redeemed for your shopping pleasure.

Whether you’re an avid bargain hunter, or just new to this platform, you might have heard of the Shein gift card. And if you’re wondering how to get hold of one, you’re in the right place. This post covers everything you want to know about Shein gift cards: what it is, how to get one, plus some saving tips to help you score the best deals on Shein.

Table of contents

What is a Shein gift card

How to get a Shein gift card

How to save like a pro in Shein

Is the $800 Shein gift card real?

Does Shein take Visa gift cards?

Are there any Shein gift card generators?

Get latest Shein coupon with Coupert

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What is a Shein gift card

Simply put, Shein gift card is real money, just like gift cards in Amazon and Walmart, except that it can only be used on Shein. Once redeemed, you can use it on virtually every item in Shein.

Shein gift cards above US$200 come with a 5% discount or more. Currently the highest value of Shein gift cards is US$1,350.

Gift Card Value Actual Price

US$80.00 US$80.00

US$100.00 US$100.00

US$200.00 US$190.00 (5% off)

US$300.00 US$285.00 (5% off)

US$500.00 US$460.00 (8% off)

Starting March 2021, Shein gift cards can no longer be redeemed outside the purchase region. In other words, a gift card bought in the US only works on the US site.

How to get a Shein gift card

Shein gift cards can be purchased on the official site of Shein. Unfortunately, you can’t get them at third-party retailers like Walmart and Amazon because SHEIN doesn’t sell gift cards in other stores. You can only buy them online at shein.com and get them in the digital format as E-Gift Cards.

If you’re on the lookout for a free gift card, we hate to say it but you can hardly get it for free. You might notice some giveaways saying you can win a free gift card, but those are also phishing sites that trick you into doing surveys and give nothing in return.

However, if you shop in Shein constantly, there’re many ways you can slash your cost, and pretty soon you’d have enough savings for a gift card.

How to save like a pro in Shein

Free things are usually too good to be true. But if you’re a Shein regular, you can almost certainly save big on every order.

1. Grab the latest promo codes with Coupert

It’s not news that Shein offers coupons to every customer. But the promo codes are constantly updating on the website, which makes it hard to tell if the code in the banner is the most rewarding one. If you’re looking for the best deal but sick of searching for codes, you should definitely give Coupert a try.

Coupert is a powerful browser extension that helps you find and verify promo codes automatically and get cashback on every order. And the most important thing is, it’s 100% free and legit.

To get all the Shein promo codes, first add Coupert to your browser.

The convenience doesn’t stop there. With the Shein Gift Card Redeem Code, you can easily apply your gift card balance during the checkout process. Just enter the code, and watch as your total amount due decreases, giving you the freedom to shop guilt-free. It’s a seamless and hassle-free experience that adds an extra layer of joy to your shopping spree.

Now, you might be wondering how long this incredible opportunity will last. Well, we’ve got good news for you. The Shein Gift Card Generator is here to stay, and we’re not stopping anytime soon. In fact, we’re already gearing up for an exciting year ahead with the Shein Gift Card Generator 2023. Get ready for even more chances to win and redeem gift cards, allowing you to stay ahead of the fashion game without worrying about your budget.

So, what are you waiting for? It’s time to unlock a world of fashion possibilities with the Shein Gift Card Generator. Whether you’re looking for a wardrobe refresh or searching for the perfect gift for a fashion-forward friend, this generator is your key to stylish success. Don’t miss out on the chance to win a gift card or generate your own — start exploring the world of Shein today!

[skydinzeal]

⭐👺Winter nights at the Foundry, NYC. Place had no roof, no cap on time either. It changed & they banned me out of jealousy. I was a spiritual machine, smithing silver to quartz, everything. Spent my last dime on my Art for 20 years! 🔭🌠💜👽 They tried to copy me and the place nearly melted down. My guides might not protect me but they always fuck up those who try to hold me back. Have photos from working during Hurricane Sandy, the storm within is the only one to heed friends. 🌟 ☝️Skydin has a group of Artists for monthly exhibitions and incredible products from silver, to clothing, to paintings and more to FILL an empty store front to the brim!!👁️ Portraits Painted in ANY artist style, da Vinci 2 today! Rebuild America, have me create for you! We shouldn't be in wars that are the exploitation of human souls! 😇°`•Play ▶️🎵SOUND in this post•`° 🔥⚡👽🌟🦋👑🌷 I hand-make talismans, paintings/sculptures for you or your loved ones!🌷All of my creations are made of 100s of ancient, powerful symbols! I've tested and taught Spiritual practices via my classes at NYCs Edgar Cayce Center for 10 years. 🌷🔥🌟💥⚡☀️✨ I have been trying to rebuild all my jewelry & art that was stolen when I was assaulted & robbed (10 times past few years) I am looking for a quality SPIRITUAL STORE or ART GALLERY to TRULY help with sales/marketing their work & mine! I am a rare, tireless entertainer, salesperson and psychic. I have huge internet reach and can work day and night continuously! I don't even need to eat. I have got by on hard work & skill alone, not cheating & it shows! If you would like to make a connection happen contact me. If it works out I will pay you! 🌟 A very modest GoFundMe here! Please spread the word! https://gofund.me/82ac1c5b Thank you!🌟💜🗽💜🦌 . . . . #abstractart #SPIRITUAL #art #artisan #spiritualfashion #spirituality #consciousness #handmade #ascension #sacredgeometry #Metaphysics #contemporaryart #metaphysicalart #visionaryart #healingart #pleiadian #alienart #paranormalart #psychicart #Newageart #occultart #futuristicfashion #spiritualartist #starvingartist #magical #portraitpainter #portraitartist #fineart #oilpaintings #Spiritualhealing http://dlvr.it/SxwkX9

[fels-fantasy-hoard]

Ok so I’ve been thinking of making a post about this for a long time but when it comes to rules and ttrpgs, I equate it with hard and soft world building.

Hard world building makes the setting very grounded and creates clear in universe rules like how magic works and gravity. Strictly abiding by rules in a ttrpg gives very clear guides and cause and effect for the players to follow, like hard world building.

Soft world building creates a sense of mystery and wonder in which anything is possible and everything you know about the setting can change on a dime. Loosely abiding by the rules and putting narrative moments first creates a similar loosey goosy feeling to soft world building.

Neither is inherently better than the other but everyone is going to have their preferences and - going into a group - it should be made clear which category the game is going to fall under: hard rules or soft rules. That way people who prefer hard rules won’t accidentally find themself in a game they won’t enjoy. As with any other aspects of the game like how much is going to be combat or rp.

Now let me say I am a rules lawyer. I know dnd 5e rules like the back of my hand. I’ve been in groups that stick to the rules and groups that don’t. I’ve been the player speaking up when a rule is in question and I’ve been the player holding my tongue when the dm makes a call I don’t agree with. I said my case, I told them what the rules were, and I accepted that the DM wanted to make a different call because I understood that in that group, the story came first and our dm is a story teller choosing to sacrifice the rules for the sake of the narrative. That doesn’t make them a tyrant. It just might make you incompatible with their play style - which is no one’s fault and has a very easy solution.

I think the difference in mindset is whether or not the group is playing a role playing game tm or if they are using the rpg as a tool in collaborative story telling. If you walk into a department store looking to buy apples, the department store isn’t oppressing you when they tell you they don’t sell apples.

If you join a new group and discover they are playing it loosey goosey with the rules and you don’t like that then I suggest you talk to the gm after the session and learn if they are using soft rules or homebrew rules and to explain what those rules are. If you aren’t happy with how the gm is running this game and aren’t willing to compromise then leave the group and find another. It’s really that simple.

I briefly mentioned this in one of my last posts but I really dislike the way "the rules lawyer" is vilified in lots of RPG related memes and stories. Like oh no, this person actually knows the rules of the game, what a horrible person.

Okay I know it's deeper than that: usually those stories revolve around the idea that the GM made a ruling that actually contradicts the rules as written and The Rules Lawyer called it out and then got punished for it because actually the first rule is that the rules are the purview of the GM and you can't actually count on the rules as written in the game that the group is actually playing because at any time the GM can decide to deviate from those rules and like... I'm going to side with the person who assumed they were playing Dungeons & Dragons and not a version of the game that only exists in the GM's mind.

I mean sure house rules and homebrew are a thing but I'm of the opinion that those things also rely on the group being informed about them so they can also make informed rules decisions.

[otherwoofsarch]

@viikingwitch​ asked: ‘ you did a bad thing for a good reason. ’ @ paige

     Paige’s hands are wrapped around the hot cup of tea as she stared down into the dark liquid. “I know.” she says after a moment. “And I would DO IT AGAIN. I just - I’ve never killed anyone before.” Her mind flashed back to Leah O’Donnell, trying to kill her - nearly killing Lucas; trying to take Savannah away - and Paige casting the suffocation spell over and over again until the half-demon was dead. It was the only way out and - Paige didn’t regret it. 

    “Should I regret that I had to kill her?” Paige asked after a moment. Maybe Freya wasn’t the right person to ask, but at the same time she wouldn’t sugarcoat anything. “Because I don’t. Not only did she try to use Savannah, and ruined our lives- but six months before all THIS… she killed my mother.” 

    Would Ruth be disappointed in Paige? Not just for killing someone; but she got kicked out of the Coven; the coven was the only reason her mother decided to have a child - Paige was born to lead the coven and now - NOW - Paige rubbed at her eyes, trying to remove any trace of water. “Savannah is safe and that’s all that matters.”

[sdktrs12]

What are some of ur fav au brio FICS?

Heya anon!

I posted a list of AU's awhile back that you can find here!

Here are just a few that I've really enjoyed reading -

A Moment In Time With You by Strawmari 

rated m | multi chapter 36k+ | au - childhood friends

Bitten by mamey2422 

rated m | one shot 4k+ | au - supernatural/vampire

but baby, that's what makes us good in bed by fortunehasgivenup 

rated e | one shot 12k+ | au - blind date

King of the world by Anijade 

rated m | multi chapter 29k+ | au - mythology/fantasy

the more things change by vuccijl 

rated m | multi chapter 61k+ | au - friends with benefits

Milkshakes by brokensatellites 

rated g | multi chapter 6k+ | au - pre canon

Filing her nails while they’re dragging the lake by s_t_c_s 

rated e | multi chapter 25k+ | au - private investigator

waiting for someone who needs me by s_t_c_s 

rated e | one shot 9k+ | au - genie

What a sight to see by s_t_c_s 

rated e | one shot 4k+ | au - supernatural/vampire

traveling through space and time by mydearmoon 

rated t | multi chapter 8k+ | au - high school

disparate youth by heretowinbitch 

rated t | multi chapter 14k+ | au - high school

burn down everything we've begun by heretowinbitch 

rated t | one shot 7k+ | au - grifter

Sex on the Beach by fanzel12 

rated e | multi chapter 4k+ | au - vacation/strangers

Viva Voce by zetuslapetus 

rated m | multi chapter 9k+ | au - vegas

Pack Your Bags, We're Going Home by dancingsynapses 

not rated | one shot 4k+ | au - handmaid's tale

Dime Bags and Pretty Ladies by IFeelLikeGlitter 

rated m | multi chapter 4k+ | au - college

M/W/F by IFeelLikeGlitter 

rated m | multi chapter 9k+ | au - college

The Pony Palace by EnsignDisaster 

rated e | multi chapter 27k+ | au - strip club

in the crystalline knowledge of you by Goldfish90 

rated m | multi chapter 98k+ | au - supernatural/witches/werewolves

All The Way Up by sleepylotus 

rated e | multi chapter 14k+ | au - canon divergence

In Your Hands by riosnecktattoo 

rated e | multi chapter 15k+ | au - park meet cute

Blueberry Pancakes by FairytalePrincess 

rated m | multi chapter 22k+ | au - pre canon

bad habits (but i'm needin you right now) series by thepeachemoji 

rated e | one shot - series 9k+ | au - bartender

Make Our Way to the Stars Tonight by femalegothic 

rated e | one shot 12k+ | au - college

tangerine series by nomind 

rated e | multi chapter - series 16k+ | au - grocery store manager

waves of you by daydreamstew 

rated e | one shot 3k+ | au - younger established relationship

Scream by Hereliesbethboland 

rated e | multi chapter 35k+ | au - halloween

All My Sorrows Soon Forgotten by Hereliesbethboland 

rated m | multi chapter 19k+ | au - canon divergence/amnesia

Pre Season by wakeupflawless 

rated m | multi chapter 38k+ | au - college/soccer

better than a harmony by convolutedConcussion 

rated m | multi chapter 38k+ | au - canon divergence/park meet cute

Set My Body Free by jesbakescookies 

rated m | multi chapter 12k+ | au - escort

i will take the sun in my mouth by dragontortuga 

rated e | multi chapter 5k+ | au - neighbors

A Shock of Blue by mintletters16 

rated m | multi chapter 15k+ | au - pre canon

I Would Know You Anywhere... series by Sunshinebunnie 

rated m | multi chapter - series 42k+ | au - bar

The Woman You Come Home To by lillahbee 

rated m | multi chapter 9k+ | au - pre canon

Under and Out series by aumontalc 

rated m | multi chapter - series 70k+ | au - high school

cause all we have to do is hit rewind by ojoszarcos504 

rated t | one shot 2k+ | au - country club

Both Sides of the Law by JoeyLee 

rated m | multi chapter 179k+ | au - law school

livin' like we're renegades by orphan_account 

not rated | multi chapter 9k+ | au - high school

A Special Kind of Business by CaptainCabinets 

rated e | multi chapter 57k+ | au - high school

what the water gave me by entitled 

rated m | multi chapter 6k+ | au - magic/merpeople

Curveball by hollowayharris 

rated e | one shot 4k+ | au - baseball

All I wanna do is run by amazonstar 

rated t | multi chapter 4k+ | au - high school

i was told not to love him by TheSocialRisksOfAgriculture 

rated t | multi chapter 9k+ | au - soulmates

Surprise by thing_a_ma_gig 

rated t | multi chapter 2k+ | au - soulmates

Art series by Thefandomsaretakingovermylife 

rated t | one shot - series 13k+ | au - soulmates

the wedding date by civillove 

rated e | multi chapter 28k+ | au - escort

Mug Half Full by civillove 

rated m | one shot 10k+ | au - coffee shop

Thanks for stopping by to chat and Happy Reading! 💕

[dimespin]

How do spells work normally? I remember Dime writing a spell and it exploded causing her hair to stick up. But I don't exactly get how writing a spell made that happen?

[this post is about a work of fiction]

Under ideal circumstances a spell does whatever it was written to do - you can think of it like making a firework and then lighting the fuse - if you did it right, you get a roman candle, if you did it wrong, it either does nothing or explodes in your face

How spellwriting works in practice: let's say you, a spellwriter, have been hired to repair the rust damage on a car. Let's say you've never written a spell for this specific job before (although most spellwriter's jobs are more about maintaining their archive rather than writing something new every time, but anyway)

So, you research what the final product should look like, what is different about rusted out metal vs fresh new metal, and review your notes about how magic has handled these metals in the past, as well as any other feature of the spell (how has magic dealt with creating paint? How has magic dealt with creating things that are blue?)

Maybe you talk to some colleagues about their experiences with this kind of job, maybe try to convince them to give you some hints about what kind of language they used (even among friendly colleagues spellwriters keep a lot of secrets)

So now with all the information gathered you write the spell. This part is a little bit like coding, but the way language behaves in the context of magic is more like legal precedent - things mean whatever the last usage made the word mean, even if that meaning makes no fucking sense, and sometimes words live on in spellwriting which died among the speakers of that language. So using language bordering on word salad, the spellwriter writes out exactly what they want magic to do and how they want it to be done.

And to do your future self a kindness, you make notes about your thought process throughout this writing job, making notes about the intentions of each line, what you are basing these ideas on, where you've used these phrases before, etc., just in case magic's understanding of the spell changes in the future and you need to update or rewrite some or all of this.

So now you've got a lot of pieces of paper dense with writing. Now what? Well now it's time to activate it. Different spellwriters have different methods of doing this, but something with magic-readable language on it is a bit like kindling, you just need to introduce it to a magic spark and it'll go up in flames.

Some spellwriters breathe on the paper, others have tools with a tiny bit of magic in it, others have a separate activation spell that will react to being firmly pressed, tapped or clapped by the hands of someone with a significant amount of magic in their skin, either way, you put your papers in the correct context (the rusted car in this case) and get the magic flames started, and stand back.

Spells don't either just succeed in doing what they were written to do or fail to activate, there's many ways they can fail. If magic starts following the instructions but runs into a snag, it will attempt to interpret the instructions, or find it's own path to the next step that it does understand, and that can lead to getting some truly bizarre results and side effects that may not even be related to the intended effect at all.

Regardless of what happened, a true professional writes down the results and stores it with the spellbook's other notes, so changes in magic's understanding of words can be tracked and predicted.

But let's say it just did it's job as intended. Hooray! The car is shiny and new. You get paid by the client. You bind the spell into a book with periodic random blank pages to make it harder for it to activate on its own without supervision and store this book in your archives for future use or research. The end.

[libertys-lovers]

That does it! Explain your selfship tags, because I wanna know if there's a story behind 'em. Please and thank you!

ANAJWNWK- Ya got it boss! 😎👍

All of my self-ship tags are like that because I ADORE the fandom ship-names that are lil puns based on the characters involved… but I don’t think that’s the part I needed to explain lol. You’re right though, most of my self-ship names/tags have a bit of a lore behind them! I’ll try to make this post not the longest thing in the universe, but I am warning you… there’s gonna be a lot.

(I, uh… idk if it was a specific tag that made you curious. I’m just gonna go over all my individual Romantic F/O tags; but if it was one of the poly-tags that you were curious about, or if it wasn’t even a Romantic F/O that peaked your interest, then lemme know!)

———

🕶💥Dramatics💥🕶 - Karamatsu and Freedom are both dramatic people. That’s… that’s it really. 🕶 is Kara’s emoji because he wears sunglasses. 💥 is Freedom’s emoji because it looks like one of those effects you’d add in comic books, and she’s a comic artist so- | 💉🖋Blueprints🖋💉 - So, the reason Dr. Flug and Inkwell started working more together was because Inkwell could turn Flug’s blueprints into physical models, which helped him flesh out his inventions. It also works well because, like, Blueprints are sciency things and they use ink, so it fits both their motifs anyway. 💉 references this one shot I adore of Flug, where he’s holding this syringe full of nasty green stuff and is just looking sinister. 🖋 is there because pens have ink and certain pens need inkwells.

🏜📰One Shot📰🏜 - So, Sniper is…. a sniper, and Journalist has a writing-centric job. So the name’s kinda like, idk, a pun. One Shot here means both “shooting once and being successful” and “the style of writing”. We’ve got 🏜 for Sniper because he’s from the outback, and 📰 for Journalist because, ya know, the news! | 📋📰Secretary Dept.📰📋- Both Miss Pauling and Journalist have secretary-esq jobs. AKA: They write reports all the time. The emojis link to their respective forms of writing. | 🐸📱Songwriter📱🐸 - Lúcio makes music, and Dime was an author/social media influencer. So, songwriter was a word that perfectly fit the both of them! 🐸 represents Lúcio’s frog aesthetic, and 📱 references Dime being an influencer.

🔩🍀Successful Operation🍀🔩 - Stein’s known for his biological/physical experiments, and Lucky’s whole thing is that she’s like a good-luck charm to Death Weapon Meister Academy. So the name’s kinda means, like, “hey, the surgery went well! how lucky!”. The 🔩 represents the literal screw in Stein’s head, and the 🍀 represents Lucky’s luck. | 👊💡Transformative Love💡👊 - So, Goku and Fluores’s shticks both revolve HEAVILY around transformations. Goku has his 50 gazillion different forms, and Fluores can hop between a human and alien form. And tbh Transformative Love just had a nice ring to it. 👊 references Goku’s violent tendencies, and 💡 represents Fluores’s name-source (fluorescent), which in itself references her moth-like alien form.

(This next paragraph is all about the Cookie Run self-ships. To save time, I’ll just tell you now that all their emojis reference their flavors. The only exception is Licorice’s emoji, ☠️; that’s just a ref to his aesthetic.)

🍾🍇Viola Rosa🍇🍾 - Viola Rosa is literally just a brand of wine I saw at the store one day. Sparkling’s based of champagne and Faux Berry’s themed after berries! Seemed fair enough. | 🧀🍇True Crime Novella🍇🧀 - Roguefort is a HUGE wanted criminal, and Faux Berry is an author! So why not combine those themes by referencing mystery novels, but except clarify that they’re REAL. The novella part of the name just sounded fancy; the distinction in what book it is has no real meaning. | ☠️🍇Dark Arts Scribe🍇☠️ - Licorice does dark magic! And like I said earlier, Faux Berry is an author! The name’s just another cute way to fuse their jobs. | 🍰🍇A Dog’s Tale🍇🍰 - Red Velvet controls an army that’s made up of essentially dogs, so the base for the ship name is A Dog’s *Tail. But I replaced tail with tale because, once again, Faux’s job. | 🌸🍇Tricolor Tea🍇🌸 - So, if you look at Cherry Blossom and Faux Berry’s color palettes, the pink from Cherry Blossom would stick out & the blue/purple/pink from Faux would stick out. Those three colors can be associated with the duo then, & as a cute bonus they both have pink, so the other colors they have can kinda be tied together! The tea’s just a reference to the fact Cherry Blossom likes tea.

🔥🌿Traveling Circus Rose🌿🔥 - Rengoku is the Flame Hashira, and The Wisteria Wanderer is a vigilante that themed herself after the flowers that demons are weak to. The Circus Rose is a flower that looks a lot like fire, so it references both Rengoku’s fire aesthetic and W.W’s plant aesthetic! The traveling part is because they both have to travel for their jobs. 🔥 represents Rengoku’s fire and 🌿 represents the hanging nature of the wisteria tree. | 🐦💭Head in the Clouds💭🐦 - Hawks can fly, and Daydream’s whole aesthetic is dreamlike. Therefore, the phrase “head in the clouds” can be both literal and metaphorical! Like, you can literally have your head in those clouds because you’re flying, or your head is just in those clouds because you’re spacing out. 🐦 represents Hawks’s bird aesthetic, and 💭 is a thought-bubble for Daydream, cause ya know, she essentially daydreams for her quirk! | 🌌🎧Artificial Nature🎧🌌 - This one references their contrasting aesthetics and values! Dororo has a more traditional aesthetic & loves the outdoors and nature. Miss Machina has a futuristic(ish) aesthetic, and loves technology and human progress. The name’s like, idk, the written counterpart to those phone towers that look like trees; it just combines their two vibes. 🌌 represents Dororo, because he’s an alien! 🎧 is there because Machina had headphones in her design when I made the tag, but now it’s just there as a standard nod to tech.

🎹🕊Angel’s Choir🕊🎹 - 2-D is the lead singer of the band, and Lily does backing vocals! 2-D has the voice of an angel, and Lily’s whole aesthetic is vaguely-inspired by angels (even to the point that 2-D thought she was a guardian angel for a bit). And, ya know, they sing together, so it’s like a choir! 🎹 is there because 2-D can play the keyboard, and 🕊 is there to reference Lily’s angelcore aesthetic. | 📚🌺Assisted Romanticide🌺📚 - Okay, so Gary and Libby each have a self-defined purpose of existing to assist the ones they care about, including each other. Romanticide is a word for death that is, in some way, caused by romance; THIS is here because Gary and Libby have had to protect each other many many times. 📚 references Gary’s love for comic books, and 🌺 references those vacation button-ups that dads are known to wear (Libby’s shtick is that she’s a dimensional tourist, if that helps to add context). | 💎👻Graveyard Stones👻💎 - Henry is a Rock-Type trainer for GO Rocket, and Liberty is a Hex Maniac (AKA: she trains Ghost and Psychic types). So the name combines both of their type preferences by referencing all the rocks you can find at burial sites. 💎 is a gemstone for Henry; I would’ve given him a 🪨, but that didn’t show up on PC for me. 👻 is for Liberty, because ghost. | 🛋💽FOCUS.EXE Has Crashed💽🛋 - Sasha and Libs both have technological aesthetics linked to them, which explains the techno-blabble in the name. The reason that it’s FOCUS.EXE specifically crashing is because, well, you tend to lose your focus when you’re brainrotting over your lover! 🛋 is for Sasha; it was meant to vaguely reference his weird grudge against lamps, but the emoji honestly just fits his vibe. 💽 represents Libs, since she has the more heavily-used computer aesthetic

I’ll explain 🏩Lavender Lovers🏩 too since I’m about to use it. This is my catch-all tag for when I talk about a TON of F/Os. So, like, my signature color is purple, and lavender is a shade of purple. So my lovers being titled as lovers of a color that’d surely make them think of me is very wholesome. It’s also a reference to the Lavender Lands, which in my self-ship lore is the big cross-over dimension that everyone gets to mingle in. The emoji is 🏩, which I think is a Love Hotel, but might be a Love Hospital instead? That emoji’s just there because there’s a lotta lovers living in the same place (the crossover dimension has this huge mansion we all get to chill in; it’s the biggest roommate trope known to man lmao).

[vegivag]

My childhood home

-Mia Crov 10/21/22

its october 21st 2022

its raining

and im crying

i remember when i would go outside and watch the rain drops make circles in the pool as they crashed against the surface

sun tanning on the deck

picking raspberries off the bush

wandering through the shop

it smells like home in there

the smell of damp wood and car oil

the green bean trellis my dad kept by the compost bins

my pet salamander is buried under the carrot beds

the baseball post id swing at for hours even though i knew id never play sports like my siblings

the pomegranate tree i magically planted

sitting under the grape vines singing

sitting in the apricot tree eating apricots

swinging from the cherry tree

but never eating cherries cause dad never sprayed for bugs and i wasnt gonna eat worms

the tree behind the shed being my spot

to sit and watch the sunset fade into stars

the glass table that sits out on the patio

i think ive had just about every birthday cake on that table

i remember when dad painted the steps blue grey

and when he chopped down thw dogwood tree

thw front yard

watching dad pry uo dandelions frim the groynd

walking on the sliver of cement that borders the grass pretending i was a gymnast on a balance beam

just like my sister

around the house in the front are the flowers me and dad planted

they’re from a fundraiser i did in the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade

the driveway on the right

under the deck

i remember when my sister made me back into it

that was my first time ever driving

one year me and my brother blew up a watermelon using fireworks down there

that same year during the winter me and dad built a snow kingdom

the bed of red rocks in the front were tunnels

and the driveway to the right was a house made of snow

the snow didnt melt till april the next year

dad used to pick me up from the bus stop in hus truck

nelly a striped red and white ford f150 from the 90s

that truck was home when i didnt want to be in the house

“go grab a dime from the truck”

mom screamed at me during a yard sale

i ran and tripped over my own flip flop and scraped my whole leg

dad carried me to the bathtub where i sat crying as cool water washed away the blood

one time my brother picked me up in the truck

and we went to 7-eleven

the slurpee i got was probably bigger than my head

the downstairs

very creepy

but not when my siblings were with me

my brother watching his beta fish fight on the coffee table

my sister playing sims infront of that big old box tv

my other sister spinning around on the phone in that chair she stole from a church

we all wanted that chair

but my brother eventually got it

i remember when dad snuck me away to go get my first haircut

we went to the greatclips across from the grocery store

i had shoulder length hair and bangs

mom wasnt happy

but i was

it was my first year of middle school

and my last year with my parents still together

this was still when i was in my childhood bedroom

the walls a pale almost sickly

purple

the stains on the carpet from the previous 12 years

i could hear everything in this house

the walls were thick

but not thick enough

parents argue

way too loud

crying behind my door

gripping the carpet as hard as i could

i never made a sound when i cried

i never wanted them to hear

sliding down the bathroom wall choking back sobs

bloodstains on my carpet

and razor blades hidden up in my closet

6th grade didnt end so nicely

7th grade

went by much faster

i learned mom and dad were getting a divorce

my older siblings probably had a bet on how long it took before it happened

7th grade i shaved the underside of my hair

mom wasnt happy

7th grade my brother moved out and my oldest sister moved in

and then everything shut down

covid hit

and i was going back and forth between my parents houses

well

my childhood home and my dada studio apartment

i never stayed more than 5 hours there mom wouldn’t allow it

i finshed 7th grade over a laptop screen

sunmer was no better

dad got a house and i packed up one box of stuff and took it over

my new room was already set up

i had a tv

and not a box tv

a real one

a thin flatscreen tv

dad never slept in his room

he slept in the office

on the floor with a throw pillow and a thin blanket to keep him warm

i dont think dad will ever break this habit

growing up

i watched my dad sleep in the living room under the tv

watching mash, jeopardy, and random crime shows

some nights i slept on the couch instead of my bed to warch rhe crine shows i wasn’t allowed to watch

mom didnt like them

dads junk drawer in the kitchen is still the same

i refuse to let anyone tamper with it

dad and i moved from the house back into an apartment

two bedroom this time

its nice there but i miss having a yard

reality never really set in until i saw thw forsale sign in the front yard

ive lived here for 15 years

and though these hallways carry my most traumatic memories they bring me a sense of comfort

im saying goodbye to this house in the ways that i need too

i have to

[waffliesinyoface]

List of controversial changes in Unofficial Skyrim patch that I’ve found:

-Fortify Restoration Potion Loop Fix: you have to go out of your way to do this, and it's appropriately broken. The only way to obtain certain effects which can’t be spawned in via console. Personally, I use it to give myself a “FMA Philosopher’s Stone” style ring, because magic is chronically underpowered and being able to continuously attack is kind of important. (Swords can attack without stamina, and can power attack with only a single point. Magical attacks are weaker and can’t do either.) Also use it to give myself a ridiculously powerful dagger, because if I’m undetected and stab someone in the neck, they should instantly die. (I also sometimes make punchin’ gloves, but that’s beside the point. That’s just funny.)

-Marked for Death Fix: Most (combat) shouts kind of suck. Without a guide, it’ll generally take you hours upon hours of exploration to get a certain shout to level three, and sometimes it’s not worth it. Marked for Death, normally, is one of the few good ones. Patch “fixes” it so it only drains armor the intended amount... which amounts to “against really high level enemies, they’re approximately 9% weaker for a minute.” Cool. That’s worthwhile. I’ll just go back to using level one elemental fury, thanks.

-Elemental Fury Fix: Elemental Fury is classified as an enchantment mechanically, because that’s how they make the wind graphic show up. It doesn’t work with enchanted weapons because otherwise the enchantment graphics would glitch. If you dual-wield, however, it’ll let you do it if your left hand weapon is unenchanted. Unofficial Patch fixes this because “you shouldnt be able to use it with enchanted weapons period”. Admittedly, this is minor, but it’s still dumb. It’s not actually an enchantment, it’s just mechanically one for the graphics!!

-Follower Training Fix: Instead of being able to get free training from followers by taking the money back, the money is instead instantly destroyed. Because that’s more reasonable than “this character is my friend so he taught me for free”? Somehow??

-Caravan Merchant Chests Fix: can no longer clip out of bounds to access khajit caravan stores for free. I... personally don’t give a shit about this, because money rapidly becomes mostly meaningless and I haven’t clipped into the ground to grab the chest since my first playthrough in 2011. 

-Salmon Roe Price Fix: Makes potions made with salmon roe cost less money. I didn’t know this was even a thing? I knew the ingredient existed because of an old post about how you can get it if you use Unrelenting Force on salmon. Most arguments against it are along the lines of “it’s a rare and pain-in-the-ass ingredient to get, it being expensive makes complete sense, you jackasses”

-Necromage Perk Fix: level 70 conjuration perk which makes your spells more effective on the undead. Changed so it no longer effects the player when they’re a vampire. That’s not an exploit, that’s emergent gameplay, why are you changing it??

-Soul Trap Leveling Fix: stops you from using Soul Trap on a corpse to powerlevel conjuration. One of the few changes where I look at it and go “yeah, okay, fair”, but at the same time, conjuration is very annoying to level up early on and experimenting on corpses with dark magic is very in-character for a wizard, so... why.

-Azura’s Star Fix: this one I actually agree with, but there is some debate? Basically it makes it so black soul gems only capture human souls. I actually don’t get why some people dislike it. Bandit camps are a dime a dozen. Random Guard patrols are a dime a dozen. I already occasionally waste grand soul gems, I don’t want to waste black ones too.

[addierose444]

What’s in My Backpack

In this post, I’ll “unpack” everything that I carry on a typical school day. For starters, I don’t actually use a backpack and instead use a tote bag. The specific bag is the Patagonia Headway Tote which unfortunately has been discontinued. I started using this bag for school during my senior year of high school after trying both a messenger bag and a traditional backpack. When I first started college, I assumed that I’d need to revert back to using an actual backpack and did so for a little bit. What I love about using a tote bag is that it gives me really easy access to my things and has a more practical shape with less wasted space. The main downside is carrying all of the weight on one shoulder. The small size (20 liters) has its advantages and disadvantages. This post overlaps a bit with my posts about the technology I use in college and on my college essentials. Note that the links included in this post are to the latest version of the products I own. 

Starting from the back of the main compartment, I carry my laptop and tablet in dedicated slightly padded sleeves. My current laptop is the 14-inch Dell Latitude 5421 which I purchased through the Smith College Computer Store a week ago. My tablet is the 6th generation iPad (2018) along with the first-generation Apple Pencil. For more about how I use these devices for my classes this semester, click here. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I also carry a half-inch binder with the most recent papers for signals and systems (EGR 320). To check out all of my current classes, click here. 

Next, are my headphones (Bose QC 35IIs), polarized sunglasses (SunCloud Loveseat), insulated metal water bottle (Studio Oh! Boho Llama Duo), and pencil pouch. While my Bose headphones aren’t cheap, they are well worth the price as they have Bluetooth, top-notch active noise canceling, and superior comfort. I use them daily to listen to music, podcasts, audiobooks, and videos. Both my headphones and sunglasses are protected in dedicated hard cases. My pencil pouch is from Garnet Hill and I’ve had it since at least middle school! Inside I carry pens, pencils, Wite-Out, scissors, a pencil sharpener, and a mini stapler. I also carry a set of mechanical colored pencils as they come in handy in both of my engineering classes. 

In the front organizational pockets of the main compartment, I keep my graphing calculator (TI-84 Plus CE), an extra black pen, an extra mechanical pencil, my multi-tool (Gerber Dime), hand cream (Weleda Skin Food), tissues, and menstrual products. The final item that may be loose on top of my other things in the main compartment is an extra layer such as my lightweight Smith sweatshirt. To find your own Smith merch, click here. 

On the outside of the bag is a large front pocket that holds my phone (Google Pixel 3a), mouse (Logitech M320), wallet (Mywalit Magic), and hand sanitizer. In my wallet, I have my student ID (Smith OneCard), driver’s license, insurance card, some cash, debit cards, and credit cards. To read more about banking in college, click here. I also carry a punch card to GoBerry which is the frozen yogurt place downtown. To read more about the food scene in Northampton, click here. Finally, I keep my various keys in the coin pocket of my wallet. 

[heartofsnark]

Can You Feel The Sun? (Chapter Six): Do I Sink or Do I Float Now?

Notes: Still posting my little backlog of chapters!~  In this one we get Maelstrom, along with some Vik and Misty interactions that were really fun to write of course heavy on our precious boy Jackie too. 

Word Count:  9004

Chapter Warnings: Canon typical violence, cursing, installation of cyberware.

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

With a tightness in her chest and a heavy sigh, V answers Dex’s call. She’ll play it by ear and maybe wait until they’re in person to drop the news about Evelyn. The client really had to drag her into this bullshit, didn’t she? 

“How're things lookin', Miss. V?”

“Client had a recording that helped us out, Konpeki Plaza.”

“Beautiful. T-Bug already called, said she's workin' her magic. And the Flathead?”

“On it now and quick question, how are we getting into Konpeki?” 

“Through the front door, how else? I'm no leadhead. Ain't gonna leave no trace for them to follow 'cause we gonna do this clean an' on the hush-hush,” Dex confirms her beliefs, she needs cyberware, something. 

“Got it, on my way to get the Flathead, now.” 

“T-Bug says no chance at the chip without that bot. To work, then, Miss V.” 

He hangs up and V leaves Lizzie’s bar, night air cold on her exposed skin. She’ll swing by her apartment, drop by Vik’s, and then meet up with Jackie at All Foods. V makes a beeline to her car, starting a call and patching a call to Jackie through the radio speaker. 

“Jackie,” she signs one handed as she drives, “Met the client. Her name's Parker. Evelyn Parker.”

“OK. Whatcha waitin' for? Gimme the deets. Who is she? What's she like?”

“Shady as fuck. Doll, I think, fucks Yorinobu Arasaka and now she wants to fuck him over.” 

“Don’t seem that odd.” 

“She’s...off, Jackie. Hiding something, big, I just. Don’t trust her, don’t think she’s a bad person, just… not to be trusted.” 

“Yeah, sounds like nerves talkin' to me. Makes everyone seem suspect. Stress can kill you, y'know.”

“Yeah, yeah, so you tell me.” 

“What about Militech?” 

“I met with the corpo.” 

“V… “ 

“Hear me out, woman gave me hell and a spiked chip, wanted me to pay on Militech’s dime but the chip would have fried Maelstrom and left us cleaning up the mess.” 

“Of course, I told you, V.” 

“But, I managed to crack it. Maelstrom plays nice, I got a clean ten grand off of Maelstrom. Chrome snorters pull bullshit; we fuck them and send a middle finger to Militech while we’re at it. We can talk it out more when we meet.”  

“Alright, waitin' for ya at All Foods, ya know. Not gettin' any younger.”

“Well, grab something to eat, going to be a while longer.” 

“Chingada madre, V, what now?” 

“Konpeki Plaza, hotel we got to get into. They have a no weapon policy and way Dex talks that the only way in, is through the front door. “ 

“And?” 

“And, if shit goes sideways, I don’t want to be caught with my pants down,  in a gunfight without a weapon. Need cyberware, something they can’t confiscate, so I’ll be ready for worst case scenario. So, I’m grabbing my savings and making a trip to see Vik.” 

“Stress stress, all you do is stress, but I’m glad you’re finally spending your fucking money. What you trying to get?” 

“You’ll see when we meet up, who knows, might end up using it on some Maelstrommers.” 

“Hehe, see you soon, V.” 

V hangs up and parks outside her megabuilding, sliding her mask off and into her bag before running in. She keeps her head down and doesn’t talk as she rushes to just get her stash of cash out from under the bed. Willing the elevator to move faster and annoyed when she presses her hand to the intercom to unlock her door and it takes a second too long for the lock to validate her SID chip. She opens the under bed  compartment, finding her money stash next to her toy stash. Then it’s back out to her car and driving out to Vik’s. 

She parks in the same place Jackie did that morning, keeping her head down as she wades through the crowd, trying not to stare at the strippers in the club window across from Misty’s store and avoiding eye contact with Gary; the slightly crazy homeless man who likes to yell about conspiracies.  V peeks into Misty’s shop and smiles when she sees the woman at the little register and desk. Her face lit by the cyan neon sign advertising her prices for chakra readings. 

“Hey, V.” Misty smiles at her, she’s the cutest little thing, granted she’s a bit taller than V. A short airy chin length bob of bleached hair, heavy black makeup, and big green eyes. 

“Hey, Misty,” V signs as she walks in, her choker translator already turned on

“Heard you and Jackie have a new job.” There’s a hint of something sad to her voice, a pain to her eyes. 

“You don’t seem excited.” 

“Just...worried; bigger jobs, bigger risks.” 

“I know, I’ll do my best to watch out for him, promise.” 

“I know you will, V.” 

“You’ll have to read our cards when you get the chance.” Its become a tradition, the little peek into the future easing some of Misty’s nerves. 

“Please, Jackie’s heart chakra was a little out of whack and his aura needs tending. Keep him away from mean reds, if you can.” 

“I’ll do my best.” 

“Speaking of which…” 

“Oh no.” 

“You need to let me adjust your chakras, V!~” 

“Yeah… I don’t know about that one…” 

“Your crown and throat chakras are so messy, heart chakra too actually, you’re just spiritually kind of a wreck, V.” 

“You can tell that just by looking at me.” 

“I could tell after my first conversation with you.” 

“Funny, I’ll think about it. For now, I got to see Vik.” 

“He’s in the clinic, go on in.” 

V gives Misty a pat on the shoulder as she walks around and goes out the back door of the older woman’s store into the alleyway behind it. A soft meow rings out, just before the stairs that go down to Vik’s is a little sphinx cat with big golden eyes. The merc crouches down and scritches it’s back, smiling at the cutie, softly meowing back at it. Its such a cute kitty. One more little pat and she separates herself from the cat and goes down the stairs to Vik’s clinic. She’s not sure how Vik can stand to stay in the dank basement level clinic all day, but she’s thankful he’s always easy to find when she needs him. Through the little metal gateway door she can already see him at a workbench, watching a boxing match on a small TV. 

“Viky! How’s my favorite ripper?” She greets him as she walks through, grinning as the older man spins his chair to look at her. 

The ripper’s eyes drop down for a second seeing the box she has held to her stomach with one arm. He smiles softly, the expression forming wrinkles around his eyes. He’s an older man, dark hair just starting to thin on the back of his head. Tattooed forearms with memories of his boxing days and tinted glasses on his nose. 

“Good to see you too, V. It's been a while. To what do I owe the pleasure today?”

“Got a new gig, new fixer, sure Jackie’s already talked your ear off about it.” 

“Dexter Deshawn…  Known quantity, from the Afterlife. No denying you're movin' up…” Vik tells her but there’s a drag in his voice, V is starting to get the distinct impression that no one is as excited for this as her and Jackie are. Hell, she’s not even as excited as Jackie, Evelyn’s offer still heavy on her mind. 

“Something you’re not telling me?” 

“Keep your guard up, that's all. I've heard some things about Dex. He's not as "chill" as he makes himself out to be.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” she nods, Dex doesn’t seem to shady at the moment, but she trusts Vik’s opinion, “as for right now, plan is for me and Jackie to get into a hotel, pretend we’re guests. Hotel’s got a strict no guns policy, so… need a weapon they can’t take off of me.” 

“That so? You finally caving and getting the projectile launcher?” 

“No, I was thinking Mantis Blades, actually. Quieter, if shit goes off the rails it’d be better to have something that doesn’t tell everyone where we are.” 

“And you get to add two more blades to your collection,” Vik teases, knowing her affinity for swords, knives, and daggers over firearms. 

“Hey, doesn’t hurt to stick to what I know, besides with shit getting real… need better tech.” 

“Well alright,” Vik stands and kicks away his wheeled seat, walking towards his work station, and getting the injector, “but lemme guess- hasn’t paid you yet.” 

“No, but, I brought what I got. I know it’s not enough but, if you’re fine with me paying so much now and the rest later, I-” 

Vik puts a hand up and stops her from pushing the little box of cash at him, a soft smile on his face. Jackie likes to say Vik has a soft spot for her, sometimes she doubts it but when he gives her that soft almost kind fatherly look, she can’t help but think Jackie might be right. 

“Keep it.” 

“No, don’t be ridiculous, I should at least give you something upfront, I-” 

“We'll work something out later. Right now I'm just out to make sure you get back in one piece. Keep that back for now and we can figure it out once you get paid, alright?” 

“Got no idea what I did to deserve you, Vik.” 

“Who knows?” He laughs and shoots an injection into his forearm, to help steady and loosen up his organic hand, flexing the fingers on his ripper glove, “go ahead and get comfy.” 

V nods and puts her cash stash in her bag before climbing up into the doctor’s chair, taking a deep breath. Even with Vik, the only doctor she trusts, she always finds herself nervous in his chair. She’s slowly grown more accustomed to the importance of cyberware and tech in Night City, but it still just feels overwhelming at times to think of carving out pieces of herself for it. V is fairly sure other than monks she’s one of the only people past the age of eighteen who doesn’t have optics, kids carving their eyes out as soon as a doc is willing to do it. This is important, she needs to be prepared for the worst case scenario, but she is about to have a significant portion of her arms removed to be replaced with swords. The gravity of that still sits heavy on her chest. 

“Jack in and lay those major league arms down for me.” 

Vik pulls up two tables on each side of the chair and V lays her arms down for him, trying to steady her breathing. Her eyes linger on the brand on her left wrist, the one that marked her place within her nomad clan.  She wonders if that part of her arm will be taken off, skin removed with synthetic Real Skin stuff.  He sits in his little wheeled stool, looking over her scans. 

“Looks like you’ve actually been taking your meds.” 

“Got an alarm on my phone now, nearly forgot just this morning,” she switches to spoken English, though her hands twitch to sign, she doesn’t want to move them just in case. 

“Whatever helps, last thing you need is your body trying to kill itself.” 

“But it's so good at that.” 

“Oh I know it is,” he pushes himself to get to the other side of the table, pushing a sharp injection into her arm just below her elbow, “a bit of anesthetic.” Then he pushes her sleeve up higher, so he can reach her bicep, another shot. 

“What’s that one?” 

“Anti-anxiety, though judging by the wide eyed look on your face, it’s gonna take a second to kick in.” 

“Oh, yeah… sorry.” 

“It's okay, know this ain’t your thing. Most arm cyberware is fairly invasive, but I got some tricks up my sleeve. Do my best to give you the tech you need and leave as much ‘ganic material intact as I can.” 

“I know, I trust you.”

Slowly, her body numbs. The strong anesthetic spreads into her blood and impacting every inch of her. Her breathing feels more stable and her heart rate seems to slow back to normal, a sense of calm coming over her. Vik is a good man, she knows that, he’d never do anything that isn’t needed and wouldn’t ever try to hurt her. He starts to roll out the tech to carve her arms open and put blades inside. 

She closes her eyes and lays her head back, because she doesn’t want to see, it will just freak her out more. Put her trust in fate and more importantly Vik to take care of it. V feels nothing, only soft whirrs of tech. 

“Feel anything?” 

“Never do. Ask me that every time, you know. Not as if things are gonna be any different today.”

“Sure thing, kid, I mean not like there's any risk of a stroke or paralysis. But... heh, what do I know? I'm just a doctor.”

“Okay, okay, I getcha.” 

“You got your contacts with you?” 

“Yeah, in my bag.” 

“Once we get your blades in, I’ll take a look at them, think we can bump them up with some Kiroshi tech.”

“You’re the best, Vik.” 

“So, I’ve heard.” 

“Oh, nearly forgot, you’ll get a kick out of this. Coach Fred in my building wants me to do some fights.” 

“Does he now?” 

“Mmhmm, really tried to sell it too, he believes in me. Dude, I’m fucking five feet tall, but okay.” 

“Well,” Vik chuckles, “to be fair, you may be small, but I’ve seen you take down guys twice your size.” 

“That’s merc work, Vik; don’t think they’d let me stab my opponent in the ring.” 

“That is usually frowned upon.” 

They make small talk as he works, the chatter easing her nerves, the little traces of anxiety the medicine can’t touch. Vik tries to convince her she could hold her own in a boxing fight, though unlike Coach Fred, it feels less like a sales pitch coming from Vik. From him it feels more like a dad trying to convince their kid they’ll be good at soccer if they just get out there and try it. 

“Alright, we’re done, kid. Take a look.” 

V takes a deep breath and does just that, Looking down at arms that still seem to be very much her own but with silver detailing from her knuckles to her elbows. They look nice, the Mantis Blades and Projectile Launcher are the better looking arm cyberware options in her opinion. Like accents, little detailing, rather than making arms look more tech than flesh. It’s her nails still, painted her favorite bright blue, she can still see her freckles. And when she twists her forearms she finds her brand still there. 

“Wow, really did save as much skin as you could.” 

“Mmhmm, still you, just a few added touches. The blades act on intention and reflex, stand up and give it a try. Just don’t cut anything I need.”

V gets out of the chair, taking a few steps to the most cleared off portion of the room. Vik scoots himself back on the stool. Just what she’d need, to finally get cyberware beyond the basics and end up accidentally gutting her favorite ripper. With the thought and a tensing of her forearms, the blades extend out. 

“Woah.” 

She marvels at it, the way her flesh has opened up, can see the metal compartment almost where the blades were stored and hidden inside. Carefully, she retracts the blade in one arm to touch the other. Curiously she touches where the skin meets metal, nerves in the flesh still, but when she touches inside of the compartment she feels nothing. She presses down into the steel and when she does so hard enough, she can feel it start to put pressure on real organic tissue. She pulls her fingers away and retracts the blade; extending and pulling them back a few times, getting the feel for them. 

“Take it you’re a fan?” 

“Its so cool.” 

“Still wish you got the Launcher instead?” 

“Maybe a little bit,” she tests out signing, thankful the metal additions don’t interfere with her ability to do it, “I’m good with knives and katanas, so having a cannon in my arm would add a bit of variety.”

“Maybe your next job.” 

“You can take them out and do that?” 

“Mmhmm, now-a-days even the military grade stuff is designed to be adaptable, you can rip ‘em out and change it up whenever you see fit. So, you can have whatever new tech you want when you want it.” 

“The innovations of consumerism, huh?” 

“Something like that,” he laughs, “hand me your contacts and I’ll upgrade them for you.” 

She does just that, watching him take the contacts and put them in a device. While he tinkers with those, V keeps playing with her new toys. Making sure she knows exactly what will and won’t trigger the blades. Flexing alone won’t extend them, folding and twisting her forearms. It requires the intention too, linked to she assumes her neural plants and cyberdeck.  Which means she should be able to hug someone without decapitating them, a skill she does occasionally enjoy having. Even if Jackie says her hugs are half ass.  Got to hug people like you’ll never see them again, because in Night City that might be the case; according to him. 

“All done, test them out,” Vik hands her back the contact case and she carefully places them in. The interface lights up for a moment, adjusting to the new tech.  She looks around, her vision a bit clearer. 

“Image looks clearer.” 

“Installed threat detection and weak spot detection tech too. Anyone who isn’t known to you, who the soft picks up as an enemy sees you, it’ll highlight them and tell you what their weak points are.” 

“That’s awesome, I don’t know what to say Vik, this is incredible.” 

“Figured, if you needed the blade for some hotel, you’d probably have to ditch the mask. So, it doesn't hurt to bump up the contacts.” 

“Yeah...oh…guess your right, can’t play corp hotel guest in a mask, can I…” 

“Just now realizing that?” 

“Maybe… but more importantly. The blades, the contacts. I don’t know what to say, Vik, I…”

“Say you’ll take this and remember the dosage. Two whiffs now and another two in an hour,” he hands her a medicine inhalant, “mild stim. Should boost neurotransmission in the short term and muffle some of the side effects while the implant takes.”

“Thanks Vik, seriously, I owe you big. You sure you don’t want some cash up front? I really don’t mind, I-” 

“Won’t hear it. Go on, kid. Show 'em what you're made of,” he grins at her, rolling back over to his desk, “And once you hit the big leagues, don't forget where you came from.”

A part of her wonders if it’s meant as a joke or a serious concern, knowing how much he seemed to worry about her getting a job from Dex. No matter if she hits the major leagues, Vik will always be her go to ripper. She comes up behind him where he’s gone back to watching TV and throws an arm around his neck in a sort of hug, squeezing him close. The kind of hug Jackie would mock, but full scale embraces are still...weird. 

“Couldn’t if I tried, Vik, thanks again.” 

“No problem, kiddo,” he pats her hand where it sits on his chest, “grab your candy and get going.”  

V giggles, and  pats his shoulder as she pulls away. She wonders if any of his other patients end up grabbing candy from the bowl on his desk. If Vik does the same joke with anyone else now that she kicked it off, a part of her hopes not. She grabs a handful of honeyed candies, popping one in her mouth as she leaves his clinic through the metal gate. The cat is still there when she gets back out to street level, she gives it a few more scratches, then takes the pathway back through Misty’s shop. 

“Vik take care of you?” The bleached blonde greets V as she comes in. 

“Sure did, I got swords in my arms.” 

That gets a giggle out of her, V showing off the indentations and designs of the Mantis Blades. Misty runs her fingers along them, smiling at the merc. 

“Very nice, take it you’re off to meet Jackie, now?”  There’s still some worry in Misty’s eyes, a sadness to her tone. 

“Yeah, got to get a combat bot. Shouldn’t take too long, Maelstrom isn’t anything we haven’t handled before. You know that.” 

“I do, I do,” Misty fiddles her fingers together, “its not them I’m worried about, it’s just this whole… thing with Dex and this heist. Just got a bad feeling. The bigger your jobs get, the more risks, you know. I’m sorry...sure you don’t want to hear me whine.” 

“Hey, hey,” V touches Misty’s shoulder, “its not whining. You love Jackie, it’s only natural to be worried.” 

“Thanks, Jackie thinks this job will set us up for life, that he’ll finally be able to take care of me like I deserve… “

“And what do you think?” 

“That is dreams are gonna get him killed one day and he doesn’t seem to care…” 

“He cares, he does. He just...thinks the risk is worth it, that if he does this he can build a better future.” 

“I know, just can’t shake the feeling he’s flying too close to the sun, I guess,” Misty says, wrapping her arms around herself. V knows that anxiety well and can’t say she even has the best feeling about this job. But, this is too good of an opportunity to pass up. 

“Hey, want to go ahead and do that tarot reading? Might make you feel better, see what the fates got in store.” 

“Yeah,” Misty smiles softly, “I’d like that.” 

Misty grabs her deck, the one V and Jackie picked out for her, as the merc comes around to the other side of the table. Jackie and V will be with each other the whole time, so if V’s future comes up clean, it means he can’t be too bad off. If nothing else, it offers a little distraction from anxiety and it won’t kill Jackie to wait just another ten or so minutes. 

“If my future’s clean, Jackie’s won’t be too bad. Guy’s always had better luck than me, anyway.” 

“I think he’d say otherwise,” Misty laughs, shuffling the cards, “now, focus on the recent past and what you expect in the future.” 

First card down, a man walking towards a cliff with a dog trotting along after him. 

“The Fool, that’d be you.” 

“So the cards think I’m an idiot, cool,” V rolls her eye, not missing the shadow of a smile across Misty’s lips. 

“The Fool symbolizes the beginning of a journey. You brim with enthusiasm, yet remain unaware of both your capabilities and the threats you face.”

“So...the cards think I'm an idiot.” 

“Just a little bit,” Misty teases, laying down the next card, “The Wheel of Fortune,. The danger is greater than you think. It will come suddenly, without warning. Conflict is unavoidable.”

“Fair enough.” 

Another card down, this one upside down. 

“The reversed Chariot reveals that such danger is tied to your love of risk. Do not aim too high, V.”

“I’m short, got nowhere else to aim.” 

Misty looks up at V under her brow, despite the hint of a smile, the meaning is clear. This is serious and V should take it with some level of seriousness. But, if she’s honest, V’s just happy to see Misty smiling at all. 

“And finally, The Magician… interesting.” 

“Why’s that?” 

“You may meet someone fascinating, someone charismatic. Maybe even someone you will grow to love?”

“Ew.”

Misty laughs as V makes a face at the word love and how Misty dragged the word out; the implication clear and gross. Why the fuck is fate concerned with V’s romantic life when she’s about to pull off a heist on Ara-fucking-Saka. 

“You can’t ‘ew’ fate, V!” Misty scolds her between giggles, smile now wide and bright. 

“I can when fate is being fucking gross.” 

“Love isn’t gross, V. It's beautiful.”  

“Ew.” 

“Get out of my shop,” Misty laughs and rolls her eyes, putting the cards back in her deck. 

“Talk to you, later.” 

Misty waves her off and V leaves out, content that she lightened Misty’s mood if only for a moment. She avoids eye contact with Gary as she makes a beeline back to her car, putting her new contacts back in the case and that in her bag. As useful as they are, she’ll use her mask for the Maelstrom job. For the usual reasons; enjoying her anonymity and well, people tend to take her a bit more seriously when they can’t see her baby face.  

V pulls up outside of All Foods, an abandoned food plant that Maelstrom has turned into their newest HQ.  Jackie is already parked sitting on his arch, poor guy has been waiting on her for entirely too long.  She puts her mask back on and hops out, walking up towards him, seeing his posture brighten up when he spots her walking down the street. 

“About time, V. Mi madre always said patience pays off, but christ.” 

“Sorry, a lot of shit to take care of. Most prepwork we’ve ever had to put in.” 

“Well, fill me in.” 

“Ran through the BD with the client and T-Bug, know where the chip is and where we’re trying to get too. But we need the bot from Maelstrom to nuke the hotel’s subnet and make sure we don’t catch lead from a turret. Dex paid them for it, but we got no idea if they’re going to honor that.” 

“He paid up front, hijole.” 

“Yep, I met up with the Militech rep too. Gave me the spiked chip, but I reworked it. Got a chip with clean eddies on it and a newly...adjusted… chip that will spike Maelstrom and Militech.” 

“So, what’s the play?” 

“Doubt they’re going to just honor the original buy, but if they play nice, figured we return the favor. Give them the clean eddies and call it done.” 

“But Maelstrom don’t play nice.  Gang world ain't too complicated, Might's right, the strong survive. Either you fuck others, or you get fucked.”

“Then we fuck them over right back, they want to play dirty, give them the spiked chip and take what we want. Spike chips in my left pocket, clean one in the right,” she pats her pockets, “so if you see me get the chip from the left, get ready.” 

“Understood and the new chrome?” 

“Mantis Blades, like I said, hotels got a no iron policy and if shit goes wrong, I want to be ready. And, hell, if Maelstrom plays dirty, I might get a little practice tonight.” 

“How the hell you swing those?” 

“Vik, gave me chrome on credit, again. Too nice for his own good, I swear.” 

“Pff,” Jackie laughs, “only when it comes to you, chica.” 

“Don’t know why.” 

“Told ya, he says you got a good heart. Probably give you a second one for free just for that.” 

“Enough, enough; lets get this taken care of.” 

“Into the borgbeasts den, then.” 

“Onward.”  With that Jackie climbs off his bike, leading the way and she follows behind. 

“I hate these 'borg fuckers. Just had to be them…” 

“Gang like any other,” V tells him. 

Night has fallen over the city, lit by streetlamps and fires in a trash can. Northside all but abandoned, one of the only places where the night isn’t colored by neon citylights. They walk past trash and shrapnel, towards the door. An intercom button on the wall. 

“Take the Valentinos. They follow God and the Santa Madre. Honor means something to 'em. You know what they want, how they get it, and what pisses 'em the fuck off. With Maelstrom, you just never know.”

“Think you might be a touch bias?” 

“Heh, maybe,  go on, let 'em know we're here.” 

With the V presses the intercom button waiting for it to ring, a few moment pass before a low growl of a voice finally responds. 

“Hm, don't know you.”

“Dex sent us.” V is increasingly thankful his name is easy enough to quickly finger spell. If they keep working with him, she may have to come up with a name sign though. 

“Main room. We been waiting,” the Malestom member tells her and the front doors slide open. 

The first room is dark with only a fluorescent light and the red glow of active turrets within it. There’s a distinct stink of mildew, rot, and mold. The stench of it choking V as she steps in after Jackie. 

“Cozy place. Could use a few plants, though,” Jackie makes a snide remark, as his heavy steps ring through the room, tech lines the walls and is stacked up on shelves, “Oh yeah. They look damn well prepared.”

“Food factory turned into a fucking armory, lovely.” 

“Gear from the Jacked convoy, gotta be… Must've been all over it like maggots on dead meat.”

“Everything’s marked Militech,” she confirms as they take a corner and walk down a short flight of stairs. 

“Psycho borgs chromed out with military-grade hardware worth millions... Should be fun.”

“Yeah, a real party.” 

They take a turn past a cluster of steel lockers, grime coated, with old abandoned anti-contamination suits still inside. Another turn past a neon red lit elevator shaft, the old factory is a mechanical maze. No doubt a reason why the chrome gang picked it; walls covered in their graffiti. They walk up another staircase; mines on every step, deactivating before them. 

“Anti-personnel mine,” V comments, “directional shrapnel spitter.” 

“Subtle…” 

Around a corner, through another passageway, and up another flight of stairs. Each step echoes, the entire place dark except for blips colored by red and the odd white fluorescents. Jackie stops when the steps lead to a door. Nodding his head at it, giving V the go ahead to open it. She rolls up the shutter door and is suddenly blinded with bright stark white light, chill curling around her and creeping through her thin cropped top. It makes sense, the former meat packaging plant needing a room to stay cold. 

“Stay cool… They’re just tryin’ to spook us,” Jackie tells her as she steps forward. 

Bright yellow forms patterns across the metal floor, spot lights, and stacks of crates marked Militech. Security cameras and she sees the first glimpse of Maelstrom members since they’ve stepped into the plant. One sitting on a crate, armed and watching with their signature red glowing optics. Another on a platform over seeing them. 

“Get in the elevator, fuckin’ sheep,” the Maelstrommer barks at them. 

“Thought those cabrones only swiped a couple crates, not a whole fuckin’ semi,” Jackie comments under his breath as they walk past the crates and to the end of the room. Double doors open up to a freight elevator. 

“This is going to be a hoot, ain’t it?” The doors to the elevator close and it starts it’s journey upwards. 

“It’s all right, keep chilled, V. Remember, we're on their turf.” 

“Yeah, because I’m the one who loses their chill.” 

“I’m always chill-” 

The elevator comes to a stop before Jackie can finish his though, the door on the other end opening and a Maelstrom member staring at them. He has the red glowing spider like optics and little mechanical dreads on the back of his head. What’s visible of his arms and chest is a mishmash of scar tissue and metal.  Over his shoulders, she can see two other gang members. One holding a shotgun and the other plugged into a netrunner chair, glowing under the light of red screens. 

“What do you want?” He’s the guy who spoke to them over the intercom. 

“Got a bot we need, model MT0D12, Flat Head. Our fixer already paid for it, we’re just here to pick it up.” 

“Hmm, names Dum-Dum,” he points to the side with his gun and starts to move back into the room, “Now, couch. Plant it.”

She walks into the room, and it seems like this could go well. They’ve been mostly chill, gruff sure, but nothing bad. In the center of the room just before a large roll up garage door is a table and two torn up red leather couches. Another Maelstrom member sits on the table. She doesn’t hesitate, sitting down on the couch closest to her, looking at the bright vending machine the gangers have graffitied over. Dum-Dum puts one foot up on the other couch and follows his line of sight to Jackie, who moves a little slower, his arms crossed as he moves next to the other couch and only stands. 

“Ahh, well, shit. Goes for you too,” Dum-Dum tells him and she expects Jackie to listen, he said himself this is their turf and they should keep try to stay chill. 

“I'll stand.”

Or… he’ll let his pride get the better of him and refuse.  Its hard to read the emotions on a Maelstrom member's face, so chromed you can tell what the hell is going on. But the shift in volume is telling enough. 

“This so fuckin' hard? Fuckin' ass on the fuckin' couch!”

“Make me,” Jackie says, voice low as he gets into Dum-Dum’s face. As much as he can while being nearly a head taller than the Maelstrom member. 

“Thought you'd never ask. Sit your ass down 'fore I plant a bullet in your skull.’

“Jackie,” she signs with one hand and pats his shoulder,  catching his attention, “think it’d be best to just sit down, keep everything chill, remember?” 

“This ain't gonna end well but… shit…” And with that Jackie finally sits down, sinking into graffiti covered red leather. 

“Well, all right,” Dum-Dum gets a drug inhalant from his pocket, sitting down on the table in front of V and offering it to her,  “Come on, gotta lighten up. Take a hit.”

The inhalant is red and purple; if she had to guess, Black Lace. An upper that’s high is said to feel reminiscent of manic Cyberpsychosis. Corps used to feed it to their troops by the gallon, cuts off pain receptors and made everyday men into unstoppable killing machines. 

“Appreciate the offer, but weed’s the hardest shit I touch,” V dismisses the offer as politely as she can. She knows it’d endear her to them, maybe, but… drugs aren’t really her thing. And when it is, she prefers mellow to mania. 

Dum-Dum huffs the inhalant, dipping his head back and smoke billowing from his nose. Then exhaling a steady stream of it. She can see Jackie cringing and trying not to breath in the aftermath of Dum-Dum’s high. 

“Whatever you say, straight edged princess.” 

The member sitting next to Dum-Dum moves as nother brings out a large Militech case, black with a yellow lock. It’s put down on the table with a heavy thud. 

“Here we go. The Flathead, model MT0D12.”

“Need to see it.” She’s not going go off of good faith, assuming it’s all there and works. 

“Suit yourself.”

He opens the case and she sees the spider like bot inside, it's almost cute, Dum-Dum shakes the control shard at them as he talks. 

“Fuckin' tricked out this thing. Dynamic, thermo-optic camo armor.”

He puts the control shard into a slot at the base of his skull, all but the middle of his optic eyes going dim as the bot comes to life within the crate. It stands at attention, moves it’s head and shimmies it’s legs. Just a cute mechanical spider; why did they make military combat tech cute? 

“Full cognitive immersion with a Raven controller.”

The bot goes invisible which is impressive, but V’s eye is drawn elsewhere. A steady creak and she sees the garage door behind Dum-Dum is starting to roll up. Screens and the back of a leather chair, a man sitting down visible. She can’t truly tell, but if she had to wager a guess, Royce. 

“Pimped out, prototype actuators made of titanium-vanadium-Kevlar composite.” 

Dum-Dum continues to sell them on the bot as the door fully opens behind him, the chair turning and her seeing that she was right. Royce, the newest Maelstrom leader looking into the deal with the same glowing red optics, though his set so far back in his skull he’s missing gray matter. 

“'N' watch this,” Dum-Dum says he sends the bot to move around the base,  “Fully integrated link, too, so when the spider starts crawlin' up walls, danglin' from ceilings…” He starts to sound sick, his stomach churning as he sees the view of the bot. 

“Could lose your lunch?”  V can’t help but tease, Royce is up now, one hand on the garage door. Like he’s waiting,  ready to pounce the second he hears something he don’t like. Those red optic staring V down. 

“So, what you think?” Dum-Dum asks as he returns the bot to its case.

“Exactly what we’re after, we’ll take it.” 

“Preem, sure, yeah,” Dum-Dum puts the control shard back in the case, “let’s see your cred.” 

“Brick already got paid for it.” 

A metal boom rings out, those words snapping Royce into action as he punches his fist against the door. Stomping forward and Dum-Dum jumps, rushing off the table as Royce marches towards V. 

“Brick got it…heh,” the red shine of metal, a gun pressed to her head, “I don't see any fuckin' Brick around here, do you?!”

“Fuck Brick then, lets cut a new deal,” she doesn’t hesitate, refuses to flinch or show fear. 

He presses the gun in tighter, leaning down into her face, the red optic nearly blinding. So close she can see the scars around the tech and just deeply imbedded they truly are, He lets out a low hum as he leans in, testing her and she doesn’t pull away, doesn’t break eye contact. Then he pulls back. 

“Hah! Now that's good business sense! All right, you want the Flathead? I better see some eddies.” 

She reaches into her left pocket. She would have done this clean, would have paid and been on her way. But Royce wanted a fight, wanted to put iron to her head and try to shake her down. So, she’ll burn his whole goddamn operation to the ground. 

“Got them right here,” she hands him the credchip. 

“Just like that? Without battin' a fuckin' eye?! Hahah!”

“Need the bot, just take the cash and hand it over, no trouble needed.” 

“Look at this fuckin' girl scout! You know all your knots, got all your badges?! Hahaha!”

“Hilarious, you want the money or not?” 

“Y'know, ya never did say who sent you, never did say who you're workin' for?” 

“Yes, yes I fucking did, Dex.” 

“Dexter DeShawn… The lard ass who punching-animal-fucked half of Pacifica? Mean he ain't dead?”

“Swear to god, I’m going to blow my own brains out before you can! You want my fucking money or you want to bore me to death?” 

“Fine,” he starts to grab the chip when there’s a shake in metal, a rumble and an alarm starts to blare. Walls of the factory shake, the faint sound of gunfire. 

“What the…? Shit Militech!” Dum-Dum yells out, they must have known the corp was on their tail. 

“Rusty fucking cunt,” Royce curses and the Maelstrom members start to rush out and V moves; grabbing the Flathead case and stuffing it into her backpack as soon as eyes aren’t on them.

“Shit, Militech got antsy” Jackie tells her over the alarm. 

“Who gives a shit, we got-” 

“Hey!” Dum-Dum yells back at them, from a higher platform, and for a moment she thinks he’s going to fight them for the bot, “lets get the fuck out of here, follow me.” 

Her and Jackie exchange a look, V just shrugging, if he wants to help out why not. V quickly climbs up the yellow ladder up to the platform, following behind Dum-Dum, Jackie not far behind her. Dum-Dum opens a door and it opens into what a room with consoles and the stench of meat hanging in the air. 

“Ay, huele feo, this meat! Ack.. I can taste it,” Jackie sounds like he’s on the verge of puking his guts up. 

“Production line, besides, thought you liked meat?” 

“We'll ride the line. Flip it on.” 

V follows behind Dum-Dum, climbing up a set of crates and onto a scaffolding. The production line is blocked, unmoving in years she’d assume. But on a console is a large red button lined with yellow, she punches it and metal sheets moves from the way, production line whirring to life as red lights color the metal passageways.  Dum-Dum jumps across the small gap and climbs down the ladder. 

“Hey, Doo Dum or whatever your name is, why you even helpin' us??” Jackie asks as V jumps the little gap and platforms but skips the ladder, jumping down the short distance. 

“I'm not. Helpin' myself. Soon as the shootin' starts, I got two walkin' bullet sponges with me. Sponges who'll shoot back.” 

The three walk through the narrow corridor, production line billow steam at them as the pathway opens up to another raised section of scaffolding, a section of it missing and allowing them to drop through and down onto another that surrounds a large hangar, gunfire rings out. Malestrom and Militech soldiers screaming at one another. 

“C’mon let’s go!” 

“You say come on one more time!” 

Dum-Dum rushes down the platform and into the thick of it, quick to fight alongside his fellow Maelstrommers. And god, she’s not a fan of the gang, but watching soldiers with military grade armor and equipment trying to shoot down the group of mini-borgs… Maybe she just hates corps that fucking much.  They could sneak out, let Maelstrom and Militech tear each other part, run with the bot and the eddies. 

“That whackjobs got no chance,” Jackie says, “maybe we give ‘em a hand.” 

“Lets.” 

And she jumps the banister of the platform, landing clean onto a Militech soldier’s back and extends her Mantis Blades. They slice cleanthrough his neck and he goes limp underneath her, bleeding onto the production floor.  V is up the next instant, running full charge into another man’s chest, knocking him off his center of gravity, landing on his chest and stabbing her blade through his heart before he can throw her off.  Back on her feet and fighting in the next moment. 

There is no stealth here, no technique or strategy, just kill or be killed. She moves quick, swinging a blade up to slice a soldier navel to throat. Bringing a blade clean down into another’s shoulder. Takes another’s legs out and they slice clean off, the tactical armored clothes like butter to the Mantis Blades. 

A Militech boot lands square on her chest before she can slice through them, the kick knocks the air from her lungs, staggering her backwards Her head collides with a metal door, Mantis Blades retracting as she hits the ground. The Miltech worker points his gun at her. But before his finger can pull that trigger, a machete is brought down into the junction between his shoulder and neck, ripped back out in a spurt of blood. The man goes down, Jackie behind him. 

“Got you, chica.” He says, pulling her up, a layer of blood has started to stick to both of them. And as she gets to her feet, she catches a glimpse through the window in the door. Bright red lights of servers, a large computer. 

She looks past Jackie into the room, a large swath of Militech agents taken down. Maelstrom still battling the few left in the area. She doesn’t know what will be waiting for her when she breaks through, Meredith’s promise of seeing her soon if V pulled anything like this. 

“C’mon,” V opens the door and quickly yanks Jackie into the server room. 

“The hell are you doing?” 

“Want to check something, bargaining chip, just in case,” 

Blood coated fingers swipe open the computer screen, pulling up the messages and files Maelstrom has saved. A message named Transports- LOA catches her eye, any Nomad worth their salt knows LOA is used by corps who intentionally “lose” their cargo.  She opens it, the message from Anthony Gilchrist telling one of the gang members how to get their hands on the convoy. Meredith has her mole.  V jacks into the console and downloads the fill to her neural implants. 

“What’s up?” 

“Militech rep wanted to find her mole. She tries to get payback, I got intel,” V jacks out of the terminal, “lets go.” 

They rush out of the server room and throw themselves back into the fray, slicing through Militech soldiers, as if they were never gone. V goring a soldier with both blades as Jackie blows the brains out of the last one. 

Dum-Dum leads them through the rest of the plant, turns and curves and stairways, a maze of metal. The three cutting their way through Militech soldiers one body after the other, clearing the room after room. Until they open a door at the top of a stair case, showing what may have once been a massive garage portion of the plant. 

“I’ll melt your fuckin’ skin off!”  Royce screams and laughs from inside a Militech armored exoskeleton, using it to fire off a massive gun that bursts flames around the feet of the soldiers. They shoot and fire at Royce along with a large automated robot

“We gotta help him!” Dum-Dum yells out, rushing into the fray to help his boss, Royce cackling as the soldier try to shoot him. 

“He's fuckin' happy! That's almost contagious!” Jackie laughs, him and V jumping in to help. 

Dum-Dum, Jackie, and V focus on the soldiers; trying to get their fire off of Royce, so he can focus on the heavy duty robot blasting back at him. Pure reflex as bullets fly, blades slash, and body after body falls down at their feet. Chaos, adrenaline; Royce’s manic cackling making them want to laugh too. Last bit if human soldiers down,  Its all on taking down the hulking robot that, it’s armored outside burned and damaged, but not destroyed by the heavy fire Royce blasts it with. V sheaths her blades within her arms, getting her gun from it’s holster and firing round after round into the tech. Jackie and Dum-Dum do the same; five guns, it sputters and sparks, one finally piercing the core of its circuits. The heap of metal collapsing. 

“Khe. The hell're you still doin' here...?” Royce scoffs when he sees Jackie and V are still there. 

“Helping, apparently,” V signs in response, she doesn’t expect much in the way of gratitude. But a little acknowledgement that her and Jackie did a lot of heavy lifting here would be nice. 

“Take your fuckin’ bot and go.” 

She was going to anyway, not caring about nor needing his permission to steal what they need, but the fact that he’s giving it to them is not lost on V. Maybe it’s his own odd way of showing gratitude for helping tear through Militech soldiers. Or maybe he’s just too tired to give a fuck. 

“I'll walk 'em out,” Dum-Dum offers.

“You here to kick our asses out” 

“Huh? No. Wanted to let you know I like your style,” he points them down a hallway, a door marked exit, “here you go.” 

“Can’t fucking believe that guy,” Jackie grumbles as him and V start out the towards the exit. 

“What is your problem with him? First the couch and now this?” 

“Don’t like the fucker’s tone,” Jackie says opening the exit door, “guy rubbed my dick the wrong way.” 

“Well, maybe you should stop letting random dudes rub your dick,” V teases him for his choice of words as they finally get a breath of fresh air, well, as fresh as Night City air gets. 

“Fuck- oh shit.” 

“Oh fuck.” 

Outside the All Foods gateway is Meredith Stout, surrounded by Militech marked vans and a handful of guards. They block the only exit, standing between the mercs and their vehicles. Meredith’s eyes land squarely on V; lips pulling back in a sneer, eyes brimming with contempt. 

“That the Militech bitch?” 

“Un-fucking-fortunately.” 

“You.” Meredith all but snarls, glaring V down as the mercs walk closer, standing before the corpo. 

“Me.” 

“Hmm, bet you didn’t expect to see me here, did you? Thought you could fuck me over, kill your tail and you could just do whatever you wanted?” 

“You gave me a spiked chip, were going to leave me cleaning up Militech’s mess. You tried to fuck me over first.” 

“And somewhere at the start someone fucked the corp, but in the end the corp always wins. Try as hard as you want, all you’ve done is proven I got nothing to lose by getting rid of you.” 

“Oh but you do,” V’s word make Meredith’s eyebrow raise, “I mean, if you want to know who your mole is.” 

“You know?” 

“Yeah, Maelstrom was so busy trying to fight off your men, didn’t even notice me looking through their computer. Got the file on me, could send it to you, but if you’re just going to kill me, not much point.” 

“Send the file and I’ll let you go.” 

“And how do I know you won’t blow my brains out the second it goes through?” 

“You don’t, but you do know I’ll kill you if you don’t send it.” 

V rolls her eyes and her mask interface lights up as she sends the data to Meredith; the corpo woman’s eyes glowing a bright blue light as it transfers. 

“I fucking knew it,” Meredith blurts out, “Gilchrist you sack of shit.” 

“We good?”

“I got what I needed… you know, this was pretty clever of you.” 

“Was it?” 

“Throw me off, get me to attack the plant, get Maelstrom on your side, but get the info to keep Militech happy too. Bet you’re ten thousand eddies richer and got your bot, didn’t you?” 

“Maybe.” 

“Mind like that, maybe a couple years down the line, you could be standing where I am.” 

And V’s stomach churns, her actions being compared to corporate skullduggery and backstabbing. V did what she had to and in the end she didn’t side with the corp. She bites the inside of her lip and she glares through her mask at the corporate cunt. 

“Think I’d rather ride a sandpaper dildo, actually.” 

Meredith scoffs, “let them through.” 

The sea of Militech soldier parts; the two mercs allowed to walk through. Jackie all but collapses, leaning against his motorcycle, there’s still blood sticking to his hands. She’s still coated in a heavy layer herself. 

“Not going to lie, wasn’t sure we’d make it out of that one. But, hey; no begging, no debt, eddies in a pocket and we got the bot. That’s the way to do biz, V.”

“We make a good team, plus I’m starting to think we’re just really lucky.” 

“Ain't you a ray of sunshine. But, V, it ain't a matter of luck. You decide, chica. Remember that, part of why I love this town. The city of endless opportunity. And brotherly hate. But if you got the cojones and know how to use ‘em, you can do damn near anything.”

“Or die trying.” 

“Even then you go out with a bang! And the street'll talk, the street'll remember. Win-win.”

“Rather the street talk about me while I’m alive to hear it, but maybe that’s just me; so what next?” 

“Call up Dex, let him know we got his bot for him.” 

V does just that, pulling up Dex’s contact and calling him, patching the call into Jackie’s too. Her friend’s optics glowing as the holophone rings. Dex answering after just a moment, puffing away on a cigar in the video panel. 

“How're things lookin’, Miss V?”

“Managed to grab the bot.” 

“And how’d it go? Run into any trouble? And what about the Militech angle, Bug told me you hacked some sort of cred chip?” 

“Course there was trouble, but ended up not even needing the chip. Was ready to spike Maelstrom, when Militech got antsy. While they were ripping each other’s throats out, we got the bot and an extra ten thousand eddies for our trouble.” 

“You got some balls, Miss V.”

“So, what now?” 

“Now, we get to work on doing the job I hired you for- grabbing that biochip. Get some sleep, you and Jackster. Because tomorrow, we start prepping for the real heist. Have a car picking you up in the morning.” 

With that, the fixer hangs up, Jackie and V exchanging looks. 

“What you think he’s got in store for us?” 

“I don’t know, we’re gonna have to play corpo to get into that hotel, should be interesting.” 

“Either way, I’m off for the night,” Jackie says, climbing onto his arch, “hasta luego, V.” 

She waves him off, watching him drive off down the streets of Night City. Her body and mind feel tired, limbs heavy and still caked with blood. But, she’s not sure how well she’ll sleep tonight. Nerves and excitement, there’s no telling what tomorrow will hold. 

[localscissors]

Triplet De Spell Oneshot (Part One)

Part Two 

@cinnabunni5123 ‘s writing motivated me enough to clean up my old writing and get it posted. I’ll get the rest of this out tomorrow, but if you want more of this AU writing then I seriously suggest visiting @cinnabunni5123 ‘s Ao3 page (where she’s writing a brilliant multi-chapter fic of my AU) or @pilyarquitect , who has written several amazing one-shots. Both are more reliable than I’ll ever be (plus they’ve got some awesome fics in general. Other than that, this is just one of my earlier ideas in which the triplets kinda bond with everybody in an episodic-type way. Really suggest checking out their writing though, I love everything about it.

The best thing about stealing the identity of a missing child? Is that you get to steal their life too. And the real Dewey Duck,( wherever he might be), had the best, most loving family ever. Dewey de Spell loved his fake life.

And Della was the coolest adult Dewey had ever met. She gave him hugs and kisses and had as much enthusiasm for trouble as he did. The real Dewey was so lucky to be born into this family. Who knew such cool moms existed?

So when Della invited him and his brothers to go on an adventure with her, Dewey immediately agreed. Every second he spent with Della were the best seconds of his life. He wanted more of them. He wanted all of them. He wanted to hoard as many as he could before Magica blew everything away.

So, given the choice between searching for the dime with Huey, or going on an epic adventure with his fake mom, he chose fake mom.

“But Dewey, we need you to search for the dime!” Huey shouted.

“Can’t. Gotta go with Della on an epic airplane adventure. Sorry you guys weren’t invited! I’m already late gotta go byyeee!” Dewey ran out the bedroom door before Huey could say any more, leaving his two brothers alone. He could still hear Huey screaming his name, but he was already out the hall and down the stairs. They had loads of time to find the dime. He could help any other day, but going on adventures with Della? That was limited.

Besides, getting the McDuck family’s trust was part of the plan anyway, and his siblings were doing a horrible job of that. Dewey was happy to pick up their slack in that regard.

When he made it outside to the Sunchaser, he saw Della dutifully polishing her plane with a rag, and Scrooge impatiently checking his watch. A sudden bubble of excitement rose in his chest, driving him to run forward and wave to both of them. Della waved happily back, but her smile immediately fell when she only saw him. His steps faltered. Did he do something wrong?

“Are Huey and Louie coming?” She asked.

From what he knew about mothers, they were supposed to love all their children equally. From what he saw on TV, they got worried when one of them went missing. Knowing all of this, and knowing he was being very unfair to his brothers, Dewey felt an overwhelming ball of possessiveness roll up his throat. Why did she ask? Does she prefer them to him? Did she not want him there? If she found out he said they weren’t invited, would she shut him out?

All of these feelings were pushed down with a simple shrug and lie. “They didn’t want to come.”

“They didn’t want to..?” Something troubled passed over her features, and all at once, the feelings rolled back up at full force. She’ll shut him out, send him away. Say the adventure wasn’t worth it if it was just Dewey on the plane. Huey was so much smarter anyway, and Louie was more likeable. They weren’t loud or annoying or destructive or—

“More seats for us then, am I right?” Della laughed and threw an easy arm over his shoulder. “Double the leg room. We’ll have fun, just the two of us.”

‘Just the two of us’ became Dewey’s most favorite string of words, ever.

They boarded together, Scrooge following closely behind. Dewey could feel him staring, but ignored it. Della was smiling at him and he wasn’t going to let Scrooge ruin this moment for him.

“So which ones are the torpedo launchers?” The young duckling asked, ogling at the array of buttons and levers.

“Yer thinkin of submarines, boy,” Scrooge grumbled.

Della laughed and sat in the pilot’s seat, gesturing for Dewey to sit down beside her. “Yeah, no torpedos. Here, I’ll show what these buttons do.”

Scrooge left for the back of the plane. Dewey could feel the old man’s irritation just below his forced calm facade, and that’s why he forced himself to stay completely still until he heard Scrooge take his seat. Angry adults were unpredictable at their best, and he didn’t want to do anything to set him off. Once Dewey was sure that Mr. McDuck was at a safe distance, he relaxed and let Della show him how to steer.

Dewey peered out the window as they lifted off, amazed at how quickly they rose. Aunt Magica sometimes told them about her flying broom, old and broken and sitting unused in the corner of the closet. He wondered if she felt this happy when she flew.

____________________________________________________________________

Huey, meanwhile, was fuming. “I can’t believe he would just walk out like that! Doesn’t he care at all—!”

Louie shrugged. “Eh, who needs him anyway. Let Dewey waste time with our fake mom if he wants. We know where the real treasure is.”

Huey sighed, nodding. “Yeah, you’re right. We know our priorities.” After a moment, he tilted his head. “...do you really think Della didn’t invite us? Actually, never mind. Doesn’t matter.”

The thought of not being invited did sting, but honestly, it sounded like the exact type of lie Dewey would spin.

“Where are we searching today?” Louie asked.

Huey pulled out two pieces of paper from his coat pocket and unfolded them. One was a map of the mansion grounds, and the other was a neatly organized checklist. Huey visibly brightened at the sight of his own handiwork, proud of the neat lines and careful planning.

“According to our checklist—”

“Which you wrote,” said Louie.

“—Our next stop in the Money Bin. That’s where Scrooge keeps all his treasures.

Louie grinned and rubbed his hands together greedily. “I wonder how much he’s got stocked in there? I’ve heard, he only piles up his gold to swim in it!”

“That’s so gross.”

“Maybe to you, but to me?” Louie put a fist over his heart. “this is the kind of wealth I aspire to.”

Huey snorted and shook his head. “Well, he’s got all his money in there. So logically, he’d put the dime in there too.”

Louie silently disagreed. If he had an important all-powerful dime, he’d store it someplace special! Not with all the common treasure. But Louie rarely spoke his opinions out loud. Coming up with plans (especially plans for Magica) was a risk, and Huey willingly took that risk every time. It was so much easier to follow than lead.

Also, he really, really wanted to see the Bin. No way he was ruining this chance by expressing his doubts now, of all times.

“Let’s get going then,” Louie said, pushing his brother out the door. “We’ve got treasure to see and dimes to steal. Let’s go, go, go!”

“Okay, okay. Wait, one minute. Just… there’s a problem. We don’t know how to get in, and it’s probably locked.”

“So? That’s why we’ve got magic, Huey. I’m a magical lock-smith.”

Huey shook his head. “That’s not enough. Haven’t you seen how many protection wards there are in this mansion alone ? I can’t even imagine how many guard spells he’s got at the money bin. I was hoping Dewey could maybe break through them, but he ran off—”

“What are you guys whispering about?”

“AGH!” Louie jumped backward, clutching his heart in fright at the third unexpected voice that appeared above them. Looking up, they saw Webby hanging out of a ventilation shaft in the ceiling, grinning sheepishly.

“Wha—WEBBY! Were you spying on us!?” Louie cried.

“Not on purpose. I was just coming over to see what you guys were doing.” She hopped down and landed easily next to them.

Louie’s heart was still racing, and knowing that Webby could’ve been listening to them at any time scared him. He was unable to keep the irritation from his voice when he snapped,“That’s creepy. Just knock on the door like a normal person.”

Webby winced, sheepishly pulling on her sweater. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to see what you were doing.”

Huey was also startled, and made a personal note to be more aware of the vents next time they planned. He was annoyed, but didn’t want to hurt her feelings. “It’s fine, just please don’t do that again.”

Webby nodded seriously, and then tilted her head. “What were you guys talking about anyway? I couldn’t hear anything from up there.”

“Nothing,” Louie answered.

“Secrets,” Huey blurted.

Webby squealed and rocked on her heals excitedly. “Secrets are my favorite! I’m so good at keeping them. Let me tell you one of mine! I’ve hidden several spears all over the mansion, so that I’m always ready for attack.”

Louie smacked a hand on his forehead. Huey was the worst at lying. Why couldn’t he keep his beak shut?”

Webby continued. “I told you one of my secrets. Now what’s yours?”

While Huey panicked at the question, fumbling for words, Louie, saw an opportunity. He put a hand on Huey’s shoulder and squeezed, silently assuring him that he could handle this.

“We’ve got a lot of secrets,” Louie grinned. “But you wanna know our biggest one?”

Louie could feel Huey tense behind him while Webby nodded eagerly. Louie paused for dramatic effect, eating a good few seconds before revealing, “We’re McDuck nerds. We love all things Scrooge McDuck.”

Webby gasped. “You too!? I thought I was the only one!”

“Well, you’re not. We’ve been researching the McDuck family four entire lives.” Which was technically true. Magica has repeatedly cursed every aunt, uncle, and cousin of the McDuck family for as they could remember.

“That’s amazing! What do you wanna talk about first? The time he saved an entire city from King Akhum’s curse? Or how about that time he outsmarted a village of evil seers, who foretold false prophecies of death? Or maybe we should go all the way back to his birth; Glasgow, 1867. The night was cold, and the air was—”

“We already know all that,” Louie interrupted, waving away her words. Then he faked a sad expression. “That’s the problem. We already learned everything there is to know, but we still haven’t seen the real thing. His artifacts, his treasures, his adventures...”

“Oh. That’s because he keeps it all in his Money Bin,” Webby said.

Louie brightened. “Really? You’ve seen it?”

Webby laughed. “Of course I have. Uncle Scrooge takes me there all the time.”

“Do you think you can get us in?” Huey asked hopefully.

Webby immediately stepped back, rubbing her arm anxiously. “Um, I don’t know. I’m actually not allowed in there by myself…”

“You won’t be by yourself, you’ll have us,” Louie encouraged. “C’mon, we’re all experts. You can be our guide. Uncle Scrooge and Della are out, so they can’t escort us anyway”

Webby shook her head, still unsure. “I can ask my Granny… she can take us.”

“Please?” Louie begged. “This has been our dream our entire lives.”

Webby looked away, and he realized he needed a different angle. He crossed his arms, and changed his tone from pleading to accusing.

“This is the type of stuff friends do for each other. I thought you were our friend.”

Webby jerked back, as if burned by his words. He felt bad, but it had the exact effect he wanted.

“N-no no! I am! I am your friend! I Just don’t want to—”

Louie rolled right over her protests. “This is the type of stuff friends do for each other. It’s not even a big deal, you’ve been there a hundred times.”

Webby looked so torn and hurt that Louie almost apologized right then and there, but he hardened himself. He was good at exactly one thing and he wasn’t gonna backtrack just because of a little guilt. He looked toward Huey, silently hoping he could top this off with a little bit of his natural good cop routine.

Thankfully, he stepped in.

“You’re our best friend, Webby,” Huey said sincerely. “It would mean the world to us if you could show us around.”

Louie held his breath as Webby thought on their words, still torn between house rules and peer pressure.

This is… this is what friends do for each other, right?” Webby asked.

“Oh yes, definitely,” Louie assured. Huey also nodded. This is what friends did on TV, after all. They always snuck around behind the adults’ backs.

Webby sighed decisively,her expression determined. “Okay. Let’s do this.”