#really liked the visual idea of the obscured faces heh

[nhaneh]

Bards discussing finer points of poetry, with @eriyu's Ehryu Raav.

[ephrampettaline]

the nsfw alphabet meme

A = Aftercare (what they’re like after sex)

Historically, Ephram had a hard time being touched kindly after intense sex; now, though, cuddling and being close with Freddie is non-negotiable and necessary for both of them. If they’ve been deep in Daddy/Baby scenes, Ephram doesn’t hang on to that too much. If there’s something he wants reassurance about he’ll absolutely ask for it.

B = Body part (their favorite body part of theirs and also their partner’s)

Ephram’s fond of his cock and his hands, and what he can do with them. It’s very hard for him to narrow down his favourite parts of Freddie, but any bit that’s lush and plump -- lips, tits, arse, post-fucked puffy cunt -- has an edge, with special mention for those pointy ear-tips!

C = Cum (anything to do with cum, basically)

lol that pretty much sums it up: Ephram loves everything about cum. Shooting off inside Freddie or on him, seeing Freddie’s pretty sparkly fairy spunk, feeling Freddie spurt a load inside of him, licking it up and swallowing it, all of it.

D = Dirty secret (pretty self explanatory, a dirty secret of theirs)

With how open Ephram is with Freddie, his dirty secrets are just little things he fantasizes or finds hot, that he hasn’t yet articulated or thought to bring up with his husband. Honestly *I* don’t even know what these are until Ephram sees fit to state them, heh.

E = Experience (how experienced are they? do they know what they’re doing?)

Ephram is a peculiar mix of experience and innocence. At heart he’s a good boy, who’s been put through a number of excruiatingly obscene experiences, many of which were non-consensual. As a teenager he got a lot of ‘action’, but it was mostly teen-grade: fooling around, making out, not really much intercourse except with his fiancee Marigold. The sex acts he endured in prison were varied and inventive, but only so much as the inmates & guards using him were making the most of their proscribed opportunities and were entirely concerned with pleasuring themselves (whether that meant hurting and torturing Ephram or not). 

So Ephram had a lot of experience, technically, but it’s not like any of it stuck or appealed to him on a meaningful level other than to self-medicate with rough sex afterwards. Ditto the depravities that Anaxis performed with his body. Those experiences weren’t of his choosing, so they don’t really count.

Under his own steam, Ephram knows what he’s doing because he’s very instinctual and pays close attention to Freddie’s responses and cues. He tends to come at sex from a place of pure id, without much overt construction or forethought, preferring to gauge Freddie’s desires in the moment and see where they match up with his own. And luckily enough, they are extremely sexually compaitble.

F = Favorite position (this goes without saying)

Most positions are good, depending on the mood and context, but Ephram will always favour positions where he can kiss Freddie and see his darling’s face, and they can look into each others’ eyes.

G = Goofy (are they more serious in the moment? are they humorous? etc.)

Honestly Ephram tends more towards intensity, but he’s also easily swayed by Freddie’s mood; if his fairy starts to joke or giggle, or wants to make things a little lighter for whatever reason, Ephram follows along quite happily!

His joking/teasing happens more in flirty foreplay than during the actual act.

H = Hair (how well groomed are they? does the carpet match the drapes? etc.)

Ephram is as groomed as Freddie makes him.  XD  He’s SUPER FUCKING lazy about it now and won’t do anything for himself. The hair in his groin and under his arms is a darker gold; he doesn’t have much body hair otherwise, but what’s there on his legs and arms is quite sparse and fair so he never thinks about it. 

I = Intimacy (how are they during the moment? the romantic aspect)

REALLY intense. Ephram during sex does not get distracted by anything -- outside forces or internal thoughts. His entire focus is on his Freddie, and depending on what they’re doing, he’s either ... actually no, he’s always supremely dirty-mouthed ahahahah but the two of them find that romantic anyhow!

J = Jack off (masturbation headcanon)

Ephram doesn’t find much need to jerk off anymore, especially now with Freddie being a stay-at-home husband. Their sex life has evolved to a situation where Freddie’s chosen to be available at all times for fucking, which suits Ephram just fine. He never saw himself as having a glamorous, sexually-skilled kept boy before! But then again he never saw himself as having a sugar daddy before, and both of these are currently true, so hey.

K = Kink (one or more of their kinks)

Of late they’ve been delving more into sexual slavery, and Ephram is SO INTO IT. He loves the thought of Freddie’s morning being spent deciding how he can be most appealing, and that Freddie’s fixated on being Ephram’s fucktoy and beloved plaything, and the new state of obedience and good-boy-behaviour that Freddie’s entered. If at any time Freddie wants to turn the tables, Ephram will happily take his place at his master’s feet and on his leash -- it’s not ever a one-way street with them, no matter which dynamic is more their usual.

L = Location (favorite places to do the do)

ANY-FUCKIN’-WHERE. 

M = Motivation (what turns them on, gets them going)

ANY-FUCKIN’-THING ahahah! I mean it’s basically true. Ephram can get turned on in between one breath and the next; while he’s extremely, unabashedly physical during sex, he’s also hugely cerebral about it, with a lot of imagination and fantasy and deep contemplation going into what gets him aroused and engaged. Freddie is, of course, very encouraging and serves as an exceedingly fruitful muse, so Ephram never has to sacrifice either the physical raunch or the intellectual fancies.

N = No (something they wouldn’t do, turn offs)

His dislikes encompass Freddie’s -- they’re not into scat or infantilization -- but everything else is on the table. It’s possible that Ephram has less turn-offs than Freddie does, since he embraces the gentler acts and the kinky-as-hell acts as well as hardcore pain and degradation. Which is the step that Freddie doesn’t take, for many valid and understandable reasons! Ephram doesn’t require violent sex from Freddie, it’s just that he wouldn’t turn it down or discourage it should things ever stray into that territory.

O = Oral (preference in giving or receiving, skill, etc.)

Ephram could eat Freddie out for HOURS and loves sucking and biting his nipples. He prefers to be the one getting blowjobs, though; first of all, Freddie’s blowjobs are exquisite and master-class level, and second, Ephram’s had traumatic experiences with giving blowjobs. While he doesn’t generally carry around much trauma in terms of being triggered when it comes to the rapes and abuse he suffered in prison, he was very unfamiliar with giving blowjobs at seventeen and had a frightening ordeal where he was skullfucked, threw up and nearly suffocated, and was beaten badly for it. 

He doesn’t think of it at all anymore, but the memory is deep in his reflexes and so giving blowjobs just isn’t something he gravitates towards. If he does it, it’s because he really wants to, not because it’s a regular part of his repetoire. 

P = Pace (are they fast and rough? slow and sensual? etc.)

Whatever suits them at the moment, baby. They are skilled at them all.

Q = Quickie (their opinions on quickies, how often, etc.)

I mean ... in concept, Ephram’s all for a quickie? But his mind tends to start building on what they’re doing once they start to fuck, and so it generally takes longer than the space of a quickie. That’s more for taking the edge off immediately and then getting somewhere to take their time as soon as possible.

R = Risk (are they game to experiment? do they take risks? etc.)

And how!! Ephram loves taking risks with Little Husband, particularly because Freddie’s a fairy and can heal them both up, can glamour whatever insane idea they come up with, and has an innate sense of mischief that gets Ephram whipped up into a frenzy. Freddie encourages the madness lol

Ephram can get a little skittish about the possibility of being caught, but aside from that, he likes a little risky behaviour.

S = Stamina (how many rounds can they go for? how long do they last?)

Between a highly-motivated witch and fairy? They can heal up, do away with refractory periods, stay hard, anything they damn well want. They last exactly as long as they want to.

T = Toys (do they own toys? do they use them? on a partner or themselves?)

TONS of toys. They’re platinum members at Barbarella with their measurements on file, after all. XD

Ephram generally likes using toys on Freddie, because he loves to see his baby take it and how he reacts, and because Ephram’s mechanical-minded and so toys fascinate him. He likes having them used on himself too, of course, but he just tends to grab them first and use Freddie as his pleasure subject/victim.  XD

U = Unfair (how much they like to tease)

Not really. Ephram will taunt and tease a little bit, but it’s not really in his nature once he has Freddie in the flesh. He’s more apt to make himself wait and suffer a little bit, but not for long and only for the duration that it entertains him. If Freddie feels like teasing, Ephram is obediently pleading and panting until he’s rewarded. 

V = Volume (how loud they are, what sounds they make, etc.)

Ephram is forever talking when they fuck, and he will occasionally gag Freddie for the visuals of it but really all in all, he likes hearing what Freddie has to say. Talking with each other and hearing each other is a huge part of their relationship, sexually and otherwise, so it’s never as satisfying to have Freddie’s words or his own obscured. Now and again, it’s wildly hot to be gagged or have a mouth covered, but their unabashed, instinctive noises and words are very much part of what textures their intimacy.

W = Wild card (a random headcanon for the character)

Ephram would very much like it if Freddie pulled him around by the tie, when he wears a suit.  XD

X = X-ray (let’s see what’s going on under those clothes)

Y = Yearning (how high is their sex drive?)

Very high. Very very VERY high, and Freddie seems to stoke it higher with each passing month that they’re together. Ephram can hardly focus some days, he’s so busy thinking of being with his little darling.

Z = Zzz (how quickly they fall asleep afterwards)

It’s quite a workout, physically and emotionally, so unless they’ve got somewhere to be afterwards the two of them normally snooze together. They absolutely love snuggling down and sleeping together, since it’s such a time of vulnerability where they’ve found safety and security in each others’ presence, so it’s really the perfect wind-down from the sex.

[lesbrarians]

Junkrat/Roadhog: Voyages Ch 2

I’m so happy you guys enjoyed the first chapter ahhh I hope you continue to like it! I’m gonna go to a Monday-Friday update schedule starting next week :> 

Title: Voyages

Characters: Junkrat, Roadhog

Rating: R

Summary:  After a rocky start and some ups and downs, Junkrat and Roadhog are officially partners, even if things haven’t progressed quite as far as Junkrat would like. With his treasure at the heart of their grandiose plans, they take their adventures overseas and leave their mark on the world, for better or worse. (Mostly for worse. They’re criminals.) Sequel to “Origins.”

---

He woke up to find that he had drooled all over Roadhog’s arm when he was conked out. “Whoops. Sorry, mate, got a lil’ somethin’ on ya there.” He rubbed off the saliva with his forearm and wiped it on his shorts before climbing to his feet. The alcohol’s effects had worn off in his sleep, leaving him dry-mouthed and slightly achy in the temples, but it was nothing that a few gulps of water couldn’t fix -- one of the packages Ava had mailed alongside them was a slab of flavored mineral water, an obscure Australian brand that she could provide justification for sending overseas. He propped his hands on his hips and scanned the cargo hold for his next conquest.

“Gross,” Roadhog told him, but he didn’t seem to mind.

Junkrat giggled. “Not like yer not used to havin’ my spit all over ya!”

“True,” Roadhog agreed with a huff of amusement. Junkrat was not the neatest of kissers.

“Y’know, there’s somethin’ we can do to pass the time...” Junkrat sniggered as he scrambled on top of a large box. He estimated that sitting on top of it would put him roughly at Roadhog’s eye level. He made grabby motions with his hands in an attempt to lure Roadhog over to him. “Mind takin’ off that mask of yers?”

Roadhog gave a grunt of assent as he stood up. He reached for the straps of his mask, and Junkrat felt his heart quicken. He technically knew what lay beneath, having felt the swathe of twisted, scarred flesh that marked Roadhog as a survivor of a nasty fire, but Roadhog still refused to show him his face entirely. Unfortunately, this time was no different, and he pushed the mask up just far enough to reveal his jaw and mouth.

“Still deprivin’ me of yer beauty, eh?” Junkrat said, unable to stop himself from bemoaning Roadhog’s reticent nature.

Roadhog’s wide grin was lopsided: a crooked grin with crooked teeth, and Junkrat loved it. He wondered how many times Roadhog had smiled without his noticing, shielded by the barrier of his gas mask. “Yeah,”  he said. “This is all you get.”

“Good enough for me! All I really need, roight?” Junkrat wrapped his arms around Roadhog’s neck and kissed him with all the fervour of a man starved of intimacy. He was enthusiastic, if sloppy, but his poor technique made for more opportunities to practise.

Roadhog took control of the kiss in the hopes of teaching Junkrat a better technique than all tongue, no temperance. A little restraint went a long way. Junkrat didn't mind relinquishing control, not when it meant Roadhog gripping his face in those two hands and leaving him -- literally -- breathless.

Junkrat gasped into Roadhog’s mouth, grinding up against him. He probably should have been embarrassed that he was already hard after a few minutes of making out with no below the belt touching to speak of, but Roadhog tended to have that effect on him. He didn’t care how he looked, shamelessly rutting against Roadhog’s belly, not when it felt so fucking good.

The last time things had gotten this hot and heavy between them, they'd been interrupted by the sound of approaching police sirens. The time before that, it was an ambush by a scraggly group of Junkers. Before that, their dinner had started burning. There was always a crisis to be dealt with, and Junkrat had nearly given up hope on ever getting laid. Now, however, there were no distractions, nothing to keep them from doing as they pleased. It was positively exhilarating. Junkrat pushed Roadhog away from him, putting just enough distance between them to give him room to hop off the box he was sitting on. He fell onto his knees with a breathless giggle and tugged at Roadhog’s belt, attempting to figure out how to unfasten the custom plate that served as a buckle. It took a great deal of concentration. His tongue poked out of his mouth as he tried to decipher the mechanism, which didn’t catch in quite the same way as his own belt buckle.

“Whole lotta work just to suck yer dick, but -- heh -- worth it!”

His focus was broken when Roadhog pulled on his hair, tugging his head up to look at him. It was too urgent to be sexy, and the odd look that twisted the corner of Roadhog’s mouth only confirmed that.

“No,” Roadhog said.

Junkrat dropped his hands and frowned up at Roadhog. “Whaddya mean, no? Thought y’were into this.”

“I am.”

This made less than zero sense to Junkrat. “Then why not?” he demanded to know.

“Because.”

It was as valid a reason as any, but it wasn’t one Junkrat was satisfied with.

He was still on his knees. “Fine,” he said shortly, climbing to his feet. At least the pressing situation in his pants had lessened in all the confusion. He jerked his head in the opposite direction, nodding at the far end of the cargo hold. “Just gonna dip for a bit, then.”

He slinked off to be alone and process, his mind a jumble of thoughts. He picked his way through the cargo hold to put as much distance as possible between him and Roadhog, and he took out his frustrations on the various packages that stood in his way.

Maybe looking through other people’s mail would help him forget the buzz of indignation and sudden sense of inferiority that clouded his head.

He recoiled in disgust at the first container he broke into. It took him a few moments to realise that he wasn’t looking at an actual omnic, but a detailed, life-sized photograph of one, a diagram depicting the contents of the package being shipped. He inspected it further.  

“This a fuckin’ sex bot?” he muttered to himself, simultaneously incredulous and revolted. It wasn’t an omnic, but a “personal pleasure device,” or so the label said. He hadn’t realised that there was a market for functional, non-sentient robots built for the pure purpose of masturbation -- but apparently there was a global demand for them, if some corporation was shipping one from Sydney to Tokyo. It might not have had any consciousness or free will, but it could walk, talk, and fuck. Too close to an omnic for his taste.

It wasn’t like Junkrat didn’t have any perverse ideas of his own, and he had certainly entertained the thought of building a mechanical device to help him get off, but you couldn’t pay him enough to fuck anything that even remotely resembled an omnic.

Rationally, he knew that the robot before him couldn’t think and possessed no artificial intelligence, but still, its visual similarity to the bots who could do so gave him the heebie jeebies. He tore open the box. “Disgusting,” he said aloud, critically eyeing the robot, which had clearly been built as a facsimile of a human woman with ridiculously exaggerated proportions. He raided the husk of the sex bot for any parts that he could repurpose for his own inventions, then vowed to use the box to take care of any personal business, because really, fuck whoever had ordered this.

He stuffed his pockets and the bag slung around his bony hips with various mechanical odds and ends.

Moving on, he thought to himself. Looking at the fake omnic for too long was gonna make him sick. Robots -- proper, non-feeling mechanical devices -- were only good when they didn’t represent the humanoid second-class citizens that he so detested.

He tried another box.

It took him a few moments to figure out what he was looking at. The case was filled with soft, white toys, each with a cartoonish happy face, pink blush markings, and green tendrils.

Junkrat picked up one of the plushies and studied it. He didn’t get it -- was it an onion? A peach? A lump of garlic? Why did it have tentacles? -- but it looked like something Roadhog would like. It was pretty cute.

He stuffed the plush toy behind his back. “Roadhog!” he called out as he started making his way back to their corner of the ship. He had cooled off significantly. So Roadhog wasn’t in the mood tonight. He guessed it made sense, they were in the middle of pulling off a complex operation. He’d try jumping his bones later, once they were settled in Japan.

Roadhog gave a questioning grunt and tilted his head at him. Junkrat climbed over the last box standing in his way. “Gotcha something.” He held out the plushie. “Happy birthday!”

“It’s not my birthday,” Roadhog said, but he accepted the gift. He held it in both of his hands, carefully examining it.

“S’called a pachimari,” Junkrat informed him, having read the label. “Thought maybe y’d like it. Cute stuff’s kinda yer thing, ain’t it?”

Roadhog squeezed it. It squeaked, causing them both to emit small noises of surprise. Junkrat hadn’t anticipated that bonus. Roadhog looked at him. “I love it,” he stated. The tacit approval made Junkrat glow with pride, and a grin threatened to split his face in two.

“I knew ya would! It’s all cuddly, roight? Like you!” He sat down and took the pachimari from Roadhog. He stuffed it behind his head as a makeshift pillow and leaned against their motorcycle crate. Roadhog promptly tugged it away from him, causing the back of his head to crack against the box.

“Ow!” Junkrat rubbed the base of his skull. “Watch it!” Roadhog didn’t apologise, responding only with a vaguely threatening hum. Junkrat shifted to use his his belly as a pillow instead.

“What’re we gonna do first when we land?” he asked Roadhog. Even with a direct path to Japan and the miracles of modern technology, it would still take them the better part of five days until they arrived in Japan. They might as well use the time to strategise.

“Get more of these,” Roadhog replied, tenderly cradling the pachimari in his hands.

Junkrat cackled. “Good a plan as any!”

 ---

 As they neared the last leg of their journey, Junkrat was going stir-crazy. He was used to being cooped up for a week or so; he did it every time he and Roadhog needed to lay low after a particularly successful string of crimes. The key difference between then and now, however, was their choice of shelter: a deserted house in the desolate Outback, long abandoned by Australians who had the sense to get away from the irradiated region, was very different from the storage hold of a cargo ship. There, they could venture outside briefly to get some fresh air and sunshine, or at least crack open a window. Here, not so much.

“I don’t know if I can make it, ‘Hog,” Junkrat moaned. At present, he was draped over a crate, arm flung over his eyes.

“You’re being overdramatic again.”

Junkrat feigned indignance. “What a load of crap, I have never been overdramatic a single day in my life!”

"You are always overdramatic," Roadhog pointed out.

Junkrat popped his head up to glare at him, then sat up straight. "Am not!"

They were too busy bickering to notice when the boat stopped rocking beneath them.

"Hang on," Junkrat said, shoving his hand into the snout of Roadhog's mask in an attempt to silence him. "D'you feel anything, or am I just mental?"

"You’re mental. What am I supposed to be feeling?"

Junkrat pointed to the floor of the ship, and it clicked.

"Get back in the box," Roadhog said, shoving Junkrat off of the crate he had reappropriated as a lounge chair and in the direction of their own crate. "We must be here."

"S'your fault we didn't notice," Junkrat said, being antagonistic purely for the sake of being antagonistic. Roadhog pushed him in response, and he giggled maniacally.

Roadhog hefted the lid of the crate, prepared to seal them both back in once they'd secured their hiding spot, while Junkrat climbed inside.

The door to the cargo hold, a scant few metres from them, slid open, and a slim man trundled in, loading cart in hand.

All involved parties froze: Junkrat mid-climb, one foot still in the air, Roadhog with the massive lid still in his arms, the dock worker still holding onto his trolley.

Junkrat was the first to break the silence. "G'day!" he said with a jaunty salute. Roadhog dropped the lid with a resounding thump. The dock worker responded, clearly nervous, but neither of them could understand Japanese.

Junkrat hopped down from the box and approached the man, who looked at him warily. “Mate, I got not the faintest idea of what yer sayin’, and even if I did, I don’t care. Roadhog?”  He held out his hand, fully expecting his bodyguard to understand what he was requesting. Roadhog tossed him his frag launcher. Junkrat promptly fumbled the catch and dropped it to the floor, although he made a quick recovery and pressed it to the man’s temple. “Anyway. So, howsabout you forget what ya saw, and we take our leave?” The man likely understood his words just about as much as they had understood his, but violence was the universal language. He nodded frantically, a droplet of sweat beading on his forehead.

"Righto!" Junkrat said brightly, lowering the grenade launcher and glancing back at his partner in crime.

Roadhog had used his time constructively and torn down the side of the crate, freeing the motorcycle and creating a ramp. Junkrat booked it back to the bike and leapt into the sidecar while Roadhog revved up the engine.

"Outta our way, ya dingus!" Junkrat shouted, and the cargo worker dove to the side, abandoning his trolley, which Roadhog promptly smashed into.

They peeled down the gangway and through a crowd of mail couriers, smashing through the first fence they saw.

"Okay, so we went to all that trouble, what with the rebreathers and all, and yer telling me that we coulda got away with just bargin' on-- camera!" They both smiled for the security feed, Roadhog taking his hand off the handlebars long enough to flash a thumbs-up, while Junkrat struck a dramatic pose. "--board? Forget it mate, I'm not even tryin' anymore. Let's just bludgeon our way through everything, eh? Who's gonna stop the two scary Australian Junkers? Caution's fer chumps."

Roadhog laughed, that deep, low chuckle that always reverberated in Junkrat's bones. "Fair enough," he said. They tore off down the streets of Tokyo, in search of a truck from which they could illegally siphon petrol for their motorcycle.

 ---

  The streets of Tokyo, Japan were vastly different from the wasteland of the Australian Outback. For one, Junkrat had never seen so many people in one place in his life. Even their trip to Sydney hadn't been so saturated with pedestrians. At first, it was overwhelming, all the hustle and bustle turning him skittish. However, once he realised that they could get away with committing crimes a lot easier when they were in crowds, any misgivings he had vanished.

Junkrat had every intention of scouting out the city's omnic population, but first, he felt they deserved a vacation. What better way to unwind than at an arcade?

He was glued to the soft drink machine. “Look, 'Hog, they got all kinds of fizzy drinks here!” He hadn't heard of any of the brands before. Most of them weren’t in English, but he could make out Kiki Cola, Murloc, and Nano. Despite having no idea what they tasted like, they were making him salivate. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “Which, oh which, should I try first?” When he didn't get a response, he turned around. “Roadhog?”

Roadhog had abandoned him to check out the machines that dispensed an entirely different kind of loot: stuffed toys. There was one claw machine in particular that Roadhog was fixated on, the one affixed with a sign that read “UFO.” Junkrat recognised the pachimari that they had strapped to the back of their chopper.

Roadhog’s snout was pressed against the window of the machine, much as Junkrat’s tongue had been against the glass of the vending machine. Besides him was a small boy with a tuft of blue hair and a pachimari tank top, quietly sucking on a lollipop as he stared up at Roadhog.

Junkrat shoved the child aside with a shout of, “Move, he’s mine!” and squeezed next to Roadhog. “Looks like you found where baby pachimari come from.”

Roadhog gave a grunt of assent, and they were silent for a split second. Junkrat eyed the crane inside the machine, wishing that he had some yen so he could test it and study the machinery.

Roadhog spoke first. “Are you thinking what I'm thinking?”

“Depends what yer thinkin’, mate. I'm thinkin’ we gotta liberate some of these city wankers of their wallets. I wanna see this beaut in action.”

“Not what I was thinking.”

“Or,” Junkrat continued, raising an imperious finger in the air to silence him, “we liberate these poor souls from their prison. We'd be doin’ ‘em a favour, really, givin’ them all homes. You, me, and a million pachimari. One big happy family!”

He could sense Roadhog's smile through his gas mask. “Yeah! That's more like it.”

Junkrat flashed a grin back at him. “You take care of them, then. I'm gettin’ us some bevvies to celebrate!” He unholstered his frag launcher and bounded off towards the vending machine.

He wasn’t going to discriminate between flavors now -- although he was making it his personal mission to sample them all during their time in Japan -- he simply launched a grenade at the nearest dispenser, causing the thick pane of glass to splinter, cracks spreading out from the point of impact. He finished the job by kicking it in, sending shards and cans flying, and grabbed all the soft drinks he could carry. There was a similar crash behind him as Roadhog punched the claw machine, his spiked brass knuckles absorbing the shock and smashing the window entirely.

Junkrat had overestimated how much he could hold at one time and promptly started spilling cans when he took off running. Roadhog lumbered after him, hot on his heels, and he was doing a much better job at holding onto his purchases than Junkrat was.

Junkrat gave up trying to carry them all and settled for guzzling what he could, letting the other cans fall as they may. “Oh, that’s good,” he said out loud, studying the can to figure out what brand it was -- Kiki Cola -- before tossing the empty can behind him.  

They burst out of the arcade into the afternoon sunlight, the small child wailing in the distance at the loss of all the plush toys.

Miraculously, they made it back to their new home base without too much trouble. Most people leapt out of their path, alarmed and intimidated by the two Junkers barrelling down the street.

“Gotta get me a cart or somethin’, next time we do that,” Junkrat said, pushing aside the tarp that served as their front door. “Or make use of them arms of yers! How the heck did ya manage to carry all those?” He gestured at the heap of pachimari still in Roadhog’s arms.

Roadhog shrugged. He carefully set the pile down on the ground. “Practice.”

Junkrat eyed him. “Betcha y’could carry me.”

“Bet I could,” Roadhog agreed. He sat down on the throne of pachimari with a whumph and the sound of a million squeakers going off at once. Junkrat giggled gleefully and joined him, squirming under Roadhog’s arm. He picked up one of the plush toys and squeaked it, over and over, until Roadhog finally ripped it out of his hands. Deprived of entertainment, Junkrat took stock of their new, albeit temporary, home.

It had been impossible for them to find an abandoned place to squat, given their determination to stay within the more urban areas of Tokyo, where concentrations of omnics were highest. An empty apartment did not stay empty for long. They had been ruminating on alternative options -- Roadhog had suggested staying under the bridge, but Junkrat had been adamant that he was “not gonna share with a buncha derros” -- when they stumbled across a portion of the city that had been blocked off with fences and tarps, surrounding several half-built skyscrapers.

They couldn’t read the sign that marked the company that was behind the construction zone, but by the looks of the logo and some general deductions, they had concluded that it was meant to be the site of future residences for omnics.

As it turned out, Japan had a relatively small population of omnics. The country was an island with limited space, and as such, there was a nationwide push to relocate omnics to the mainland. Robots were one thing; omnics were actual citizens who needed resources and living space. With new regulations in place and political, pro-omnic protests, Tokyo was redeveloping a portion of the city to house omnics with no place to go, providing them with dwellings that suited their non-human needs.

It was the stupidest thing Junkrat had ever heard of, and he had had quite a lot of stupid ideas in his lifetime.

The fence had been plastered with signs, mostly likely warning individuals not to trespass and espousing the dangers of entering a construction site with no safety gear. They were all in Japanese, however, and the only sign Junkrat had recognised was a bright red stop sign.

Stop signs didn’t stand in his way, nor Roadhog's: he always had preferred to think of them as “suggestions” rather than “rules,” and Roadhog's command of the road entailed blowing through red lights more often than not. With a brash laugh, Junkrat had immediately instructed Roadhog to toss him over the fence.

They'd found a fairly solid structure with tarp tacked between its pillars to protect the half- finished interior from the elements. It was a risky choice of dwelling, but given the dearth of heavy machinery, they had concluded that construction had been halted due to some bureaucratic nonsense or other.

“Maybe the good people of Tokyo are seein’ sense!” Junkrat had speculated. “Those heaps of junk don't deserve fancy flats.”

It was a good decision, Junkrat thought as he burrowed deeper into the pile of pachimari. Anywhere was home as long as he had Roadhog by his side, but having the basic human comforts of a relatively enclosed, private space made it all the better.

[hunterbahamut]

Part 1

Here is Part 2 of “Back in Action”.

This is a bit of a short chapter, a “calm before the storm”, if you will, heh.

I hope you enjoy!

--

"You know, you don't have to watch me that close."

Phineas stood close by as he watched Zech in the pilot seat on the bridge of the Leviathan. "I don't feel exactly comfortable knowing that you or Sparks have been piloting my ship."

Zech huffed, "We've been treating her fine."

"Hey!  I think we've gotten pretty good at it over the years!" Sparks said, grinning wide.

"And we've done plenty of piloting in the shuttle before hand." Zech interjected, "Besides, it's not like we had much of a choice in the matter."

Phineas grumbled, "Maybe not, but I am still the one responsible for repairing the damage any of you guys have done.  I do keep track of all of that stuff."

Zech shook his head, "Just relax, I think I've gotten pretty good at this sort of thing."

"I would hope so." Tero said, "I haven't made any plans on doing any piloting again."

"Thank goodness." Phineas grumbled. "I never liked the idea of you flying my ship!"

Nix shook her head a little, but then walked over towards Tero as he sat at his station on the bridge. "Do you know much about this Gorm Viktor? You seemed to have something against him during the briefing."

"Not directly, no.  I just know what I was informed of."  Tero was quiet for a moment, "When he was kicked out of the research facility, he had stolen a lot of information from several of the doctors and researchers there, including Doctor Resh, Doctor Drexel, and a few others.  I was told that he could have stolen information related to the project I am a part of, so...the idea of someone out there potentially having information on me is unsettling."

Zech twitched is ears a little when he heard that.  "All the more reason to find him."  He said, trying to hide his sudden, unnerved tone.

"What about this system we're headed to?" Phin asked, "Does anyone know what's up with that?"

"A bit actually!" Sparks said, "It's a system that Buzz, Zech and I had planned on visiting before, but never got around to it!"

"It's a system that's kind of on the border of explored space." Zech explained, "It was an area of interest since the second and third planets are habitable worlds, and the first scout teams had reported that there were ruins of a civilization on one of them.  We had wanted to go check it out, but...well...things got busy."

Phin raised a brow, "And by busy you mean-"

"You know what I mean."

Nix blinked and looked at them, "What do you mean?"

Zech sunk in his seat a little, "I...I'll...uh...I'll explain that later...after we're done here."  He let out a cough, "But...yeah, far as I know, the system has been left mostly unexplored."

"A perfect place for someone to hide away." Tero grumbled. "Assuming that he really is in there."

Phineas grumbled a little, but he stayed mostly quiet before he spoke quietly to Zech. "Kid, you're gonna tell her about your thing anyway, yeah?  Why not do it now?"

Zech twitched an ear, "Cause...I...I dunno if I want to do it now during a mission and all. Plus..." He sighed, "And I dunno if I want to tell Tero yet."

"I thought he was the one person you didn't want to know?"

"He's one of them," Zech said, trying to peer around the pilot console to see if either Nix or Tero were listening in. "Just...now I dunno if I should keep it quiet or not.  The one person I -really- don't want to know is Wart!  Who knows what he'd ask me to do.”  He sighed, “Not like I haven't profited from this already."

“I suppose so.” Phin grumbled, “I know it was to help us, but that was still damn gutsy." He looked over to him, "But you gotta tell her at some point."

"I know, I know..." Zech sighed, "Just...later."

"Will you two stop your whispering already?" Tero spoke up, "We're approaching the system."

"Right, roger." Zech said, sitting up again and working the controls to bring the ship out of hyperspeed and into the system proper. "I'm gonna head to the second planet first, it's the most obvious place someone may hide out at."

Tero nodded and he activated the ships sensors, looking over the information as the ship flew closer to the blue-green planet.  "We're not picking up any abnormal readings from the planet; no unusual life-signs, no energy signatures, it seems like no one has been here for a while."

"That's good." Sparks said, "Guess that's one down!"

The next habitable world they approached was a smaller world of red-orange and blue, with a moon on orbit. "Same results." Tero said, "Nothing unusual on this planet either.  Scanning the moon next, but so far there isn't anything there either, though I'm not getting clear readings on the far side."

"I'll take us in closer," Zech said, "But I get the feeling that we're not gonna find anything there..."

"Perhaps not, but-" Tero started to say, but he paused.  "Okay, now I am picking up something unusual."

"What is it?" Sparks asked, "Is it coming from the moon?"

"Negative." Tero tapped away at the console, "Further into the system, there is a lot of heavy interference, I don't think I've seen anything like this before."

"Interference?" Nix asked, looking at the readout, "...wow, I don't know what that could be."

"I have an idea." Tero said, "But we'll need to move in closer to get a better look."

"Right." Zech said, "Geez...you're not kidding, I'm already seeing it on my console here as well!"

The ship headed to the outer reaches of the system, but slowed to a stop when they all saw a large amber and red cloud ahead of them, hanging in space like a big nebula.

"What is that?" Phineas asked, "That doesn't look like any normal nebula I've seen."

"It isn't." Tero said, "The composition isn't normal for standard nebula. However, it is composed of material found in this system from what we've gathered from the previous scans."

Nix frowned, "Because of those particles, flying through that is going to cause some havoc with our systems; sensors and communications would be pretty much useless, and it could mess with our engines."

Sparks looked at the cloud through the main viewer, "If that's the case...that means anything could be hiding in there, or beyond!"

Phineas grumbled a bit before he turned and started to head out, "Right, well if we are gonna fly through that thing, then lemme head down and play with some things. I might be able to adjust the engines so we can filter some of that crud and make flying through it a lot easier."

"Right..." Zech replied back and he watched him go before he turned back to look out at the cloud. "Do you think this is why they lost contact with that team?"

"I don't think so."  Nix said, "At least, I don’t think this is solely responsible.  They must have known the dangers, so if they had to go in there, they would gotten in touch with them as soon as they were out."

"Besides, one of their team is an engineer." Tero grumbled, "If Phineas can make any adjustments, I'm sure anyone could."

Zech twitched his ears and looked over to Sparks, "So...that means that they could till be in there."

"Either something happened and they got stranded, or they found something in there."  Sparks nodded, "Either way, that means we're going in too!"

As soon as they got the okay from Phineas in engineering, Zech started to move the ship into the cloud.  The ship left a trail behind them as they flew through, pushing the particles away and forming wakes like a ship through water.  Their sensors were nearly useless, so it took everyone to try and guide visually, trying to find any sign of anything.

"Whoa." Sparks said, watching the sparkling particles flying up around them, "When was the last time we did something like this?"

"I hate to think." Phineas said, twitching a bit as he watched, "Whoa, okay, careful there kid, we have debris coming up."

"It looks like we're coming up on a small asteroid field." Nix said, maybe this is what's causing this cloud formation; something could have broken up."

"Would have been a large body to create this big a cloud." Tero said.

"It had to have happened recently." Zech said, trying his best to navigate around, "Far as I know, there wasn't any reports of anything like this before."

"How recent I wonder then..." Nix wondered, looking out the screen before she noticed something. "Okay, there's something out there, something really big, about two o'clock below us."

Zech nodded and he moved the ship slowly through the cloud, moving closer towards what appeared to be a much larger chunk of rock.  The asteroid was much larger than the rest of the floating debris; about the size of a planetoid from the looks of it.  They moved in closer, and they started to see something else; something was built into the asteroid.  They could see a metal construction built into the asteroid itself, looking like some kind of docking area leading into some kind of facility that was obscured by the rock face, and in the docking area, they could see another ship.

The bridge was quiet as they all looked at the asteroid base. "I guess we found where they must have gone..." Zech said.

"And we gotta go in after them." Sparks said, "There's no where else they could have gone."

"Great..." Phineas said, "This doesn't seem ominous at all."

[counttotwenty]

Bullet Points: Bumps in the Road

Ill Boding Patterns–part 4 (part 1-3 here, here and here)

Bullet points are encapsulated scene analysis from the top of each act to the bottom. (each act is bookended by a commercial break)

1. The establishing shot of this act is Rumple and Bae walking through murky water. There’s really nothing else that needs to be said about that except 

BOING!!!!!

2. It’s interesting in terms of blocking that as the scene opens Bae is in the lead. He’s the one, to this point, that has shown a seemingly unwavering faith in his father’s ability to defeat the monster without using dark magic. This blocking is a nice visual representation of that. He’s got the dagger at the ready prepared to do exactly as he promised and keep Rumple from embracing the darkness.

The problem though is that to this point Bae hasn’t witnessed a real threat. And unchallenged bravery is a very different thing that bravery that bravery in battle.

3. After they hear “Grendel” the blocking starts to change and Rumple moves in front. It’s a great way to show Bae’s confidence literally begin to slip. 

Well done!

4. As soon as Rumple came through the hanging vine curtain of revelation it was clear shit was about to go down.

Low light, spooky setting, unfamiliar circumstances and an unseen enemy all add up to bad news on the other side of any hanging obstacle. It’s the exterior equivalent of a basement door in a horror movie.

DON’T GO IN THERE!!!

BOING!!!!!!!!!!!

5. Another loud roar and Bae drops back even further. This might be a good time to start looking at other characters in this ep/arc exhibiting complete and utter confidence they’re on the right path to defeat a monster.

*cough*Gideon*cough*

6. Since I’m now settled in my seat, though not comfortable, on Retcon Airways, it’s interesting to note that the bellowing of the monster actually seems to embolden Rumple. 

And it’s fascinating that he takes a sword from one of the dead villagers to use as a weapon as opposed to beseeching Bae to return the dagger to him. Which judging from blocking alone Bae would do in a hot second.

7. RC does a brilliant job of showing the moment realizes he’s been had (after he blows the ogre’s call). 

So we see the reality of the opponent’s plan dawning on Rumple BEFORE it dawns on his son.

I have a feeling we may see that repeat itself fairly soon.

BOING!!!

8. “There never has been.”

Really brilliant piece of blocking having Rumple hand Bae the ogre’s call, the thing that made him realize the truth, on that line.

Sometimes the real opponent isn’t the monster you think it is.

Hmmmmmmmmm

9. Beowulf’s single minded quest to be a hero, and the belief it is his destiny, is almost as focused as Gideon’s.

BOING!!!!!

10. And just in case they weren’t clear about that we cut to Gideon.

It’s a clear compare/contrast though. Beowulf’s main purpose has always been to be hailed as hero for personal glory while Gideon is seeking to become a hero in order to achieve revenge and freedom for others.

It’s kind of a macro version of the whole identity thing they have going. 

Really nicely done.

11. Gideon’s willingness to shed the blood of an innocent is much like Beowulf killing the villagers. Collateral damage in pursuit of a larger goal.

12. It’s as informative to watch the comparison between Rumple’s reactions to being controlled in the two situations as it is to watch the confidence of the men controlling him.

His commitment to the idea of protecting his sons is almost as single minded as theirs to being heroes.

I mean there’s no leg room on this airline but since we’re here we might as well try to enjoy the view.

13. It’s very telling that they make a point of Gideon showing uncertainty at several points in this scene. Though he recovers every time and continues moving forward it’s true that there is clearly light in him as his father says.

Sometimes other people see you more clearly than you see yourself.

BOING!!!!!!

I’d bet all the money in my wallet right now this comes up again the Killian/Emma storyline moving forward.

14. At the top of the next scene we pan from the Leaving Storybrooke sign to Robin 2.0 standing with his back to the town line facing Storybrooke.

Heh.

Clearly this escape plan is going to fail.

Well shot!!

15. I think it’s actually a very sweet aspect of Zelena’s character that she carries baby Robyn everywhere as opposed to magic-ing up a stroller. Whatever else we can say about the character she clearly loves her daughter and wants to protect her.

It’s also interesting that she mentions going to New York ... while clutching the baby ... in case anyone forgot.

16. Since we see the EQ in her snake form sitting atop a pile of luggage I’d say it’s a pretty good bet she, and her human counterpart, are going to be traveling soon. They’re not long for that cage.

BOING!!!!!

17. I snorted for real at the fact that even when they want to do the good/sister bad sister thing with Regina and Zelena they can put Zelena in a black hat but can’t bring themselves to but Regina in a white one.

Heh.

18. Seriously, Regina, you need to stop trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. It’s getting embarrassing.

She really only wanted Robin 2.0 to have a fresh start if it involved making himself into a carbon copy of OR Robin.

This is where this scene ties nicely with the previous one. Gold sees who Gideon really is more clearly than Gideon sees it himself while the Regina/Robin 2.0 dynamic is completely opposite.

Despite her words to the contrary Regina still sees Robin 2.0 as OR Robin because that’s who she wants him to be.

19. Watch Regina and Zelena’s blocking as Robin 2.0 gets ready to pour the potion on the town line.

Beautiful!! And very representative of the way these two often dance around each other.

20. VERY telling framing that when we see Robin 2.0 pour the potion the cage is partially obscured but by the time Zelena approaches the the line it’s in plain view.

BOING!!!!!!

Go ahead. Lift the cover. I’ll bet she’s not in there anymore!

21. There’s no question that part of Regina’s reticence to let Robin 2.0 go out into a world he doesn’t understand is the memory of what happened when OR Robin went to the big city.

It would be hard to forget with the pink bundle in Zelena’s arms serving as a reminder.

This is another example of Regina blurring the line between Robins and this one is staged beautifully.

22. “I owe it to him. To you.” “Even if it means letting you walk out of here.”

She’s using Robin 2.0 as a proxy to let go of and say goodbye to OR Robin maybe I have a heart of stone but it’s just not working for me.

Next up--Do You Really Want To Do That?