#right down to the headtilt

[invisiblegarters]

Do you see it?

Just me?

Okay then.

[creepswrites]

SMOKING SESH | Stu x Billy

this is an old one i was working on but i've been in a stuilly mood so i've decided to return to it :]

BILLY LOOMIS X STU MACHER

SUMMARY: A few months ago, the first time the two of them messed around, Stu had actually been the one to suggest "lending a hand," so to speak. They'd been watching Friday the 13th when Billy ranted about Sidney not putting out. So Stu offered. At first, Billy assumed he'd been joking. Right up until he got on his knees and made Billy see stars.

WARNING: 18+ (MINORS DNI) , smut, smoking weed, mentions of cheating on Tatum and Sidney

Honestly, Stu had seen Halloween so many times it wasn't even funny.

Between him and Billy, they could probably quote the movie word for word at this point, bouncing back and forth to voice all the characters. Even Myers. Billy had practically perfected the creepy head tilt that was popularized by the Boogeyman himself. One evening while perfecting their costumes for Halloween, Billy had tackled Stu to the bed as Myers in an attempt to "get into character" as he'd said. Stu tried to not analyze how much he'd blushed when Billy had done said head tilt while staring down at him while straddling his waist.

He and Billy could quote the movie word for word at this point, effortlessly bouncing back and fourth between characters - complete with voices and gestures. Billy in particular had a knack for mimicking Myers. Stu recalled last Halloween when the two had dressed up as different slashers and, while his memory of how they got into position escaped him, he could clearly recall Billy straddling his waist clad in Myers' classic mask and blue jumpsuit. The headtilt was uncanny and Stu could remember his nervous laugh at the sight.

Thinking about it for too long made his face feel hot and got his dick hard in equal measure. He tried to not think about why that was, deciding it was something he'd tackle later.

Stu blinked lazily at the small, grainy television, watching with an air of boredom as Laurie Strode's friend made out in the bed with her boyfriend. He let out a soft sigh as he nudged Billy with his socked foot to get his attention. The two were lounging on Stu's bed, comfortable in the warm sanctuary of the attic bedroom. While Stu was propped against the headboard, Billy sat cross-legged at the end of the bed. His attention was glued to the screen.

Billy lay with Stu up against the headboard, pillows piled around them to make for comfortable chairs as they watched the old sticker-covered tv. They'd watched many horror films on it and surely more would come. It sat atop the dresser like a crown jewel, the cleanest spot in the entire room.

Stu glanced over at Billy and nudged him insistently with his elbow. "C'mon," he practically whined as he watched Billy blow smoke up at his cracked ceiling.

"Hm?" Billy asked with a slight tilt in Stu's direction.

"Share." Stu whined as he bumped their shoulders together.

Billy blew residual smoke out his nose with a playful smirk, looking at Stu in a way that made the other shudder just slightly. "Why?"

Stu rolled his eyes. "Cuz it's my weed man." He nudged Billy again petulantly. "And my room."

Dark eyes bore into him and gave him a quick once-over. Billy then tilted his head - like Myers, Stu's brain unhelpfully reminded him - before nodding once. "C'mere then." Billy sighed, exasperation evident in his tone.

Before Stu could reach for the blunt held loosely between Billy's fingers, the other just straddled him without a second thought. His mouth ran dry as he watched with wide eyes. "Uh... Billy?" He choked out, trying to hide his shock with a nervous laugh.

"You're the only person who understands me." Billy ignored Stu's shock, taking a slow drag from the blunt before blowing the smoke to the side as a thoughtful look passed over his face. "Why?" He looked troubled, staring at his friends face like he was searching for the reason. Billy had always struggled to connect with other people ever since he was young. Everyone felt distant, far away, like he was the only real thing in this world.

Stu, however, had become an exception to that.

It was like the closer the two became, the realer he felt. Stu had never shown fear at Billy's darkness and instead thrived off it. His own darkness had an overlap with Billy's but it was still different. It kept things interesting between them. Stu would listen with rapt attention as Billy detailed vicious murders he'd fantasized about and it gave him a headrush. It was equal part delightful and terrifying to be seen this deeply.

Stu swallowed hard, saliva cloying in his mouth as he swiped the blunt back. "I- I dunno," he said softly. "'m not in your head." His voice was quiet against the television, the sounds of screaming coming from the tinny speakers of the tv.

"Feels like it though." Billy shot back, flopping back down on the bed with a huff, his white shirt riding up slightly and drawing Stu's eye. "Sometimes I just fuckin' look at ya and you know exactly what I'm thinkin'. Freaks me out." He glared up at the ceiling like it had slighted him somehow.

Stu blinked, a shy smile growing on his face as he took a drag. "You're... welcome?" His words highlighted by the smoke of his exhale.

Billy glared at him but the slight smile on his face kept Stu from squirming under his gaze. "I don't have to fucking... pretend with you," he said softly. "You're not freaked out by me." Which in itself was a rarity for Billy. He was used to wearing a person-suit - masking emotions and feelings to appear normal. He hid away his dark thoughts deep into untouched recesses of his mind. But with Stu, he didn't have to. The other boy didn't shy away from Billy's violence and blank, emotionless stares. He treated Billy, real Billy, like a friend. It felt like he could take off his person suit around Stu. He didn't need a mask to hide behind. The feeling of being seen so real and true was terrifying.

"You're one of the only real people to me." Billy said casually, watching as Stu blew a ring of smoke. He sat up on his hands, watching the lanky boy with a strange look in his eyes. "It's weird. You're weird."

"You're weird," Stu shot back with a laugh. "It's why we get along so well."

Billy blinked at him slowly, similar to how cats did when they trusted you. "Give it." He said, swiping the blunt back without waiting for a response. "C'mere, I wanna try something."

"Try what?" Stu asked curiously.

Smirking, Billy made himself comfortable in Stu's lap yet again. "Open your mouth," he said slowly. "Don't close it till I tell you." He watched Stu with a curious tilt of his head like watching and waiting for a puppy to perform a trick.

Stu's mouth immediately fell open. Obedient, Billy smiled to himself. That was another reason he liked Stu so much: he obeyed. Without question or protest. If Billy wanted something, Stu would do it no matter what. For someone with a god complex, it made Billy dizzy with the power trip.

He took a slow drag from the blunt before leaning closer, his wrists resting on Stu's sweater-clad shoulders and his fingers dangling the blunt aside to avoid burning holes in the pillowcases. Stu's eyebrows shot up but he relaxed as Billy blew smoke into his open mouth, eyes half-lidded as he watched for his reaction.

Stu's eyes fluttered closed as he took a slow, deep breath to inhale the smoke. Billy held gently onto the neckline of his sweater for support and his free hand slid around to hold the back of Stu's head, his fingers grazing the soft, warm skin of his neck. They'd shotgunned before - because of course they had - but this felt different. More intimate.

And, just like with most things Billy did, Stu didn't even flinch when he felt their lips gently connect. He responded almost immediately by sliding his hands along his friends back and holding his waist. They'd gotten high and made out before, they knew this song and dance. Smoke billowed out in soft clouds between their connected lips.

Billy bit back a soft groan as he ran his tongue along Stu's bottom lip. As soon as he was granted access to his mouth, he wasted no time sliding his tongue inside. He explored enthusiastically, running his tongue along sharp teeth and pressing closer against Stu's chest. They kissed like they were dying for it and it made their heads spin in equal measure. Stu held Billy close, subconsciously rocking their hips together and letting out a moan into their sloppy, wet kiss.

When they finally pulled back, a string of saliva connected their lips before falling away, spurring Stu to press a chaste kiss to Billy's lips to brush it away. They both panted from the heavy makeout session and let their foreheads bump together, breathing in the same space.

It gave Billy an idea.

He took a slow drag from the blunt again before passing it to Stu, blowing smoke out with a harsh breath. When Stu took the blunt and blew smoke up at the ceiling to avoid blowing it in Billy's face, he leant forward to bite the side of Stu's neck. Teeth dug into soft skin making Stu hiss but he didn't dare stop Billy, who began biting and sucking red marks, bright and standing out on pale skin.

And Stu really tried to keep quiet. Honest, he did. But his attempts at biting his lip or trying to hide soft moans behind drags of the blunt only resulted in him coughing. When Billy broke skin, he couldn't help the whine he let out at the feeling of the warm bead of blood trailing down the side of his neck.

Billy slapped a hand over Stu's mouth quickly, his eyes glinting with a darkness that was comfortable and familiar for them both. "You're gonna get us caught," he whispered as he licked up the blood, leaving a wet trail behind.

"Then d-don't do shit you know I like, man!" Stu huffed indignantly, squeezing his eyes shut when Billy bit at a soft spot under his ear. "You're not playin' fair."

Billy just rolled his eyes and snorted fondly. He tossed the burnt-down stub aside and gripped the collar of Stu's sweater and pulled him down, letting Stu leer over him with a surprised look on his face. In the soft light of the dimly lit bedroom, shadows danced on Billy's face in a way that made it look like he was wearing a mask on half his face - one part darkness and the other light. And only Stu knew the truth of the masks. He kissed his cheek gently, his chest overflowing with... something. He didn't want to address it right now.

Stu knew Billy hated to give up control like this. He wanted to prove to him that he could be trusted.

He descended upon him like a starving animal, biting at Billy's neck and shoulder viciously as soon as shirt fabric was moved aside just enough for access. Billy had always been more into pain then Stu was, though he was usually into whatever Billy did to him regardless of preference. But listening to him groan at a particularly harsh bite made Stu smirk a little.

As he pressed his knee up between Billy's legs, Stu descended upon his neck once again, biting at the spot where neck met shoulder and feeling the other shudder. Unlike Stu, Billy was completely incapable of keeping his voice down, moans mostly drowned out by the tv. Mostly. Frantic hands fumbled for purchase on Stu's arms as Billy's back bowed up, pressing into the other boys chest with a moan. "Fuck-!" He cried out when Stu ground down, pressing their hips together, and lamenting how too much clothing was in the way.

Stu laughed breathlessly, enchanted by the sight. "Thought you were scared we'd get caught?" He teased, sliding his fingertips under his friends soft white shirt to brush against warmed skin. "Or are ya hopin' we get caught?" His words made Billy shudder, his mouth right by his ear as he spoke. "Want everyone to see the real you?" Stu teased, kissing softly at whatever skin he could reach.

Billy hummed and gave a soft chuckle. "The 'real me,' huh? And what would that be?" He asked with a quirk of his eyebrow, studying Stu with such a smug look it made him want to bite Billy even harder.

Instead of giving a direct answer, Stu just ground against Billy's hips with a soft moan of his own. Billy stammered out a surprised moan, his hands jerking up to grip Stu's houlders, and rocking up helplessly to meet the grinding. "Like this," Stu panted before kissing him deeply. "Jus' like this."

If Stu weren't as close and observant as he was, he'd have missed the soft blush on Billy's cheeks. "I only let you do this to me because you don't question what I want."

"Yeah. But also 'cuz you like me." Stu giggled impishly and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek.

Billy shrugged, tilting his head back to catch his breath. Stu admired his handiwork - light blooms of hickies freckled across shoulders with dark bite marks already growing purple. Billy might scold him for leaving such large marks later but, for now, Stu was pleased at his claim on Billy. Billy, whose hair was ruffled, his clothing askew, and his pupils blown wide. Trusting. Trusting Stu, of all people.

God, he was everything.

"You're so pretty." Stu said gently, as though the words were too precious to even be said aloud. Despite the softness to his tone, it felt like they echoed loudly in the space of his bedroom, even louder than Laurie Strode's screams still coming from the tv.

Billy's eyes widened in surprise and Stu felt a sharp jolt shoot down his spine as he heard his own words hang heavy in the air. Fuck, he thought. God. Fucking. Damnit.

"What did you say?" Billy asked, mouth agape.

"Nothing!" Stu said quickly, his heart pounding as he slid down his friends body. They'd fooled around before - just two guys getting off, they'd insisted - so he knew the general itinerary of their fooling around. He slid the soft fabric of Billy's shirt up more, bunching around his waist more to work on unbuttoning his jeans. He shoved the offending garment down and let Billy sit up just long enough to pull his jeans all the way off, tossing them to the floor to join the piles.

"Shit-!" Billy gasped with relief when Stu finally freed his cock from the confines of his boxers, clenching his teeth as though hoping to literally bite back his moans. "Stu," he panted desperately.

Stu liked this part the best. Loved being able to just turn his brain off and give Billy whatever he wanted. Because that was also what he wanted. He liked getting Billy off more than he liked getting off himself, which was far different from girlfriends he'd previously had.

Billy was different. More important.

"You- you said I was pretty," Billy chuckled, cutting himself off with a surprised moan when Stu took his cock in his mouth effortlessly. Hands quickly found their way into messy hair as Billy tried to resist the urge to fuck his mouth. Which he was very prone to doing.

Stu hummed noncommittally, too focused on taking Billy up to the base, letting his cock hit the back of his throat. He'd gotten good at this. They did this often enough that it wasn't exactly hard to practice. He relished in the soft sounds he managed to pull from Billy, feeling the way his muscles spasmed under his gentle touches as he began to bob his head.

He knew what he liked and could play Billy beautifully, running his tongue along the underside of his cock with expertise. Smugly, Stu felt a surge of confidence that Sidney couldn't do this the way he did. She didn't get this, didn't get to listen to Billy clamp his hand over his mouth to muffle noises, hoping to mask them under the sounds of a slasher movie. She didn't get to kiss Billy the way he did, didn't see him the way he did.

He felt pride at that. That he could be that safe person.

"You think," Billy panted as he rocked his hips up slightly into the soft wet heat of his best friends mouth, "You think I'm pretty." His tone was almost accusatory though Stu could hear the underlying surprise in his words.

There wasn't any point in lying. Stu made an affirming nod as he pulled off, stroking his cock lazily with his hand. "Thought you knew that," he said, almost shy.

A few months ago, the first time the two of them messed around, Stu had actually been the one to suggest "lending a hand," so to speak. They'd been watching Friday the 13th when Billy ranted about Sidney not putting out. So Stu offered. At first, Billy assumed he'd been joking. Right up until he got on his knees and made Billy see stars.

Thus began their bad habit of fooling around behind their girlfriend's backs.

Truthfully, Stu didn't really love Tatum anyways. She was nice, playful, and a great girl. Their synergy had people looking enviously at them, like they had it made. Plus she was gorgeous, objectively speaking. He liked Tatum but exclusively as a friend. And, unlike Billy, he had no interest in seeing his own soon-to-be-ex-girlfriend dead.

But he liked Billy. Way more than he ought to.

They didn't stop fooling around though. Not when they'd almost been caught by Stu's dad, not when Billy had pulled him into the locker room at school to make out in the showers, and certainly not when they'd snuck away at a baseball game to get handsy under the bleachers with their girlfriends seated just overhead.

It was risky. That was part of the fun for them both - the thrill of almost being caught, the adrenaline of it. But Stu felt it was slowly turning into just secretly dating versus two guys just having sex. They hung out alone more, even if they didn't fool around, and it started feeling more like dates. It felt like there was an attachment there. At least, Stu felt there was.

And wasn't that just sad.

Billy's eyes softened slightly and Stu's heart pounded in his chest. He quickly stuffed it down and refocused on the task at hand, deepthroating his boyfriend partner friends cock again, zoning out as he bobbed his head again.

"Fuck, lemme fuck your face, please." Billy begged, which made Stu freeze. Billy didn't beg. Ever. But, of course, he obliged, nodding quickly and letting him set the pace. He liked this part especially. Giving Billy what he wanted was intoxicating and something Stu had grown addicted to.

"Fuck, Stu," Billy panted as he took him to the back of his throat, "You're too fuckin' good at this. Feels-!"

Stu just hummed around him, hollowing his cheeks as he let himself be used. Truth be told, he liked doing this. He liked being the reason Billy felt good. It felt liberating. Like, in some way, he was telling the truth about himself.

That he liked guys. Always had.

Billy didn't seem aware of any of the internal battle Stu was having, too focused on fucking his friend's face with increasing need. Finally, he let out an embarrassingly loud moan, tensing as he came hard. Stu focused on swallowing, holding Billy's hips to keep him from squirming too much. When he finally pulled off - uncaring of his own painfully hard problem in his jeans - he stumbled at the wide smile Billy gave him.

"You're not so bad yourself," he chuckled, sitting up with that cocky smirk on his face that never failed to make Stu blush like a schoolgirl. "You want a hand?" Billy asked, fingers already going for the button of his jeans.

Stu swallowed hard and nodded, trying to not seem too excited as he let Billy push him backwards onto the bed, straddling him. It was almost embarrassing, how badly he wanted his friend.

Maybe, when their plan succeeds, there was a chance they could work it out...

[alessiathepirate]

December 24

Prompt: "I thought you were going home for Christmas." "Well, I couldn't leave you all alone."

The Dark Pictures Anthology: The Curator x fem!reader

•••

The Repository didn't look like an ordinary room at all. Even the halls leading up to it weren't normal, they led to many different places if you didn't have a compass with you and the ability to know how it works.

Still, for Christmas it was quite ordinary.

Nothing changed, everything looked like it did yesterday or the day before yesterday. It was dark, full of books and cold. Quite cold, even with the fireplace present.

But no matter how empty and cold it seemed when compared to the streets in the cities, she stayed there for the holiday. Or at least came back for the holiday.

"I thought you were going home for Christmas." The Curator said, not hiding his surprised tone, as she walked through the door.

He was holding a book in his hands, a thick one, the one she knew was full of empty pages. They must have had a visitor.

"Well, I couldn't leave you all alone here, could I?" she asked with a small smile as she got rid of her gloves and started to take off her scarf.

Soon the book was put on The Curator's desk as he walked around it to help her with her coat. His hands unbuttoned it carefully, and she couldn't help but smile shily when he helped it off her shoulders, his fingers barely touching her arms.

"I appreciate the concern dear, but you should've gone home to enjoy the holidays."

"I changed my mind. I'd rather spend it here with you than spend it with people who don't think of me as someone important." she explained slowly.

"Stupidity when one's left in the dark about things is always amusing." he said as she started to walk around, eventually walking up to the desk to see which story he's telling. "I hope you don't believe that of yourself."

"Every life is equally important." she said as she smiled, knowing that's part of the teachings in the stories. "If I see it right we have a story to finish. 'House of Ashes' again?"

"That seemed to fit our visitor best."

She stayed there, leaning against the desk as she looked at him and considered him. They both had important roles in the job they were doing even if she was the only human being in it.

Would they have time for a bit of celebration?

Did The Curator celebrate it?

"When will our visitor be back?" she asked.

"In about an hour or so, I believe."

They both looked at the other, seemingly both of them understanding what she wanted. She smiled at that.

"Merry Christmas by the way." she said with a careful tone and a slight headtilt. "Care to have a drink with me?"

It was very rare that The Curator smiled, but right then he did. Without answering her he picked up two glasses and a bottle of wine, the kind they drank once or twice when no visitor came.

They chose to move toward the fireplace, where she put two armchairs years before. That was the warmest corner of the Repository. She adored it a lot.

Before taking a glass from him and sitting down, she pulled the small Christmas stocking from her pocket, not bigger than her palm. She put it up above the fireplace, making her favourite corner more comfortable.

"It looks better, doesn't it?" she asked as she took a glass from him.

"Much better dear."

They sipped some wine after they gently collided their glasses. One of his arms rested around her waist as a sign of affection.

"You know, we are probably the only ones who work during Christmas and no one's there to appreciate what we do." she said as they sat down.

"Once again, the stupidity of the blind. The world would be empty without the stories we tell."

She hummed, putting her glass aside.

Loving Death meant having these moments. The calm ones. The beautiful ones. The ones in a warm and comfortable corner.

She looked at their hands holding each other, fingers intertwined.

Loving Death meant loving the thought of dying too.

"Care to read a story for me while we wait?" she asked.

The Curator most obviously said yes.

[strikedenko]

The Three Nikos

Finale of The Two Nikos

Summary: The messiah's predetermined mission was complete, as was Niko's, though another situation arises: The sun transforms into a mirror image of the Nikos, yet bearing the brilliant shine of the light. Who were they? Not only that, how would the trio free themself from the world they were now trapped in?

(Warning: this is a VERY long chapter)

(story under cut)

"...Who are you?"

The messiah wasn't sure how to react. Their guide, too, was just as clueless. The sun appeared to spontaneously explode before reforming into a golden mirror-like image. Not just that, they even stole the messiah's cap!

"Niko, right?" The newly formed being responded. "That's the name in my head, at least."

"Um..." In their confusion, the savior slowly raised a finger and wiggled it between the two bewildered cat-people, interpreting their response as a question. "Yes, that's us, but..." The words they had in mind then spiraled off into unintelligible confused not-cat noises.

Luckily, Niko was better with piecing this situation together. "You're... another one of us?" They showed an inquisitive head tilt, steadily circling the golden being. "What's your name?" They inquired.

"I told you, Niko." they answered. "Well, I think. I'm not too sure, my memory's a little hazy right now."

The puzzled looks on their faces only grew.

"Sorry, is there something wrong with that?" The new Niko asked, reciprocating the confusion on their faces. "I'm sure there's a good few people here who go by the same name."

The messiah shook their head. "No, it's just..." Words once again failed them, prompting a simple motion towards the other's appearance.

It's only then when it begins to register for the being of light, looking down at their oversized golden coat and bringing an arm up to their face to inspect their smooth hand, exuding an impossible yellow glow. Their expression shifted from surprise to wonder, catching a glimpse of their reflection on the windows making up the perimeter of the room.

They approached the nearest glass wall, both to let them scan their appearance and also to give them a good view of the world down below.

"You know, I could never really grasp the full extent of our connection," the golden Niko spoke, brushing their hands around their smooth face. "Though, this must be a sign that it goes much deeper than I ever thought before."

"What are you talking about?" The two other Nikos approached, confused. "You were just... born." The messiah, in particular, was still trying to wrap their head around the entire situation.

"Not exactly." The golden Niko pensively gazed down upon the world. "I'm still quite perplexed as to how I physically formed, but I've existed for quite some time now."

The question, then, was what even was this Niko? They weren't Niko, not exactly, only a boundless soul inhabiting an exact replica created... somehow. What, or who, was near that could've been their old residence?

Neither of them had any clue, no matter what came to mind. At least, until the messiah's burden was remembered. "Hey, where's the sun?" It only just now registered in their mind that the lightbulb was gone.

The messiah began searching all around the room, missing the golden Niko's knowing smirk. The guide, however, quickly noticed the sly smile.

"You did something, didn't you?" They inquired. "The bulb's shards came together not to repair the sun, but to make you."

Again, all the recipient returned was a knowing grin.

"Who are you, anyway?" Niko then asked with a suspecting tilt of the head. "The World Machine?"

This time, their response was one of confusion, mirroring Niko's puzzled headtilt. Though they soon dismissed their curiosities and shook their head, before speaking.

"You should know, I've been with you the entire time."

What did that mean? No one else joined them on this adventure. The only one accompanying the messiah was the world's operator, when did this third Niko enter the equation?

...Hang on, unless...

Niko's demeanor steadily shifted to one of realization as they gazed upon the stranger's appearance. The messiah paused their search to ask for some assistance, though they too became entranced by the newcomer.

The heavenly glow, the unique circumstances, the sun's disappearance... It couldn't be, could it?

"I'm sorry..." Their first words echoed once more with the intent of continuing. At that very moment, the others realized the cause for their apology, and by extension, their true identity. "...for what the Entity tried to make you do to me."

This newly formed being, the third Niko, possessed the essence and consciousness of the world's light.

They were the Sun.

No words could describe what was running through Niko's mind in reaction, leaving them speechless. The messiah found themself in a similar position, though they were at least able to spit something out. "You were..."

"Are," the sun corrected their bearer. "The light's still shining, I was simply reborn."

Niko blinked, then let out a subtle gasp. "You could get us home, then!"

They simply looked off and let out a silent sigh, one that Niko quickly understood. The fact still stood that, as long as the sun remained whole, they would be stuck forevermore. It was starting to set in for the messiah, turning away from the others so they couldn't see them begin to cry.

Their body trembled as they sat down before the window and gazed off into space. "Mama..." They silently muttered. They missed her, that much was obvious, and now there was no chance that they'd ever reunite.

The sight pained the old messiah and the sun. The solar Niko, especially, wished there was something they could do, but nothing came to mind other than sentencing the entire simulation to darkness. They approached their savior and took a seat beside them in an attempt to comfort.

The sun has served as a beacon of comfort for many, a sign of hope that the world might well see tomorrow. While they had ensured the world would survive for however many years before Entropy caught up, there seemed to be no more hope to give. Not to the messiah.

"This can't be it. Come on, this can't be the end!" Niko pleaded.

"Niko..." The sun stood back up, turning to the visiting operator. "There's nothing we can do. You spoke of a good ending, but we can't do that here." They spared a quick glance to the messiah. "You're just as trapped as they are..."

"Please, it's not over-" Niko continued, though was quickly interrupted by the pessimistic deity. "It is over. I can't imagine anyone from your world could figure out what to do."

"But-"

"There's no buts, or ifs, or whens. We only had One Shot, and that was it," the sun concluded. "I'm sorry."

Niko went silent, glancing off towards the pedestal that the lightbulb was intended to stand atop. Instead, it blew up and reformed into a fellow cat-person with an identical appearance to the two. They then looked back at the two seated Nikos, gazing down onto the decaying world below.

"There has to be another way."

No response.

"We have to try..." They started. "I made a promise to the messiah that I would help them get home. I'm not about to give up when it's just within reach."

A depressed huff left the golden Niko, squinting their eyes shut as they grasped for some way to soothe their operator's panicked optimism. "Say that we do try," they began, standing up to face Niko. "How can we be certain that the world won't collapse without the messiah?"

It was now Niko's turn to hesitate on their response.

"My bearer and I are intrinsically linked," they explained. "Without some outside force as hopeful as you, there's no way we can safely sever that link." The third Niko turned away, back to the messiah.

After a few seconds pause, the calming messiah spoke. "Well, we can only try..." They stood, turning to look upon their guide and their burden. "At worst, we'll fail to do the right thing instead of succeeding in doing the wrong."

A subtle grin formed on the operator's face, soon followed by the sun's hesitant smile.

"Life and soul, you are," they sarcastically quipped, before shifting their focus to the elevator they had taken up. It was their only method of leaving the spire, so figuring out how it worked was the first crucial step.

No button panel existed, and the two steel doors were locked into place, barely budging from their attempts to pry it open. There must be a way to open it, considering they opened to let them into this very room.

Hoping to hear something, anything, the yellow Niko pressed an ear against the steel. Failing to notice anything, they shut their eyes and recalled their ride in the lift. Pushing that memory to the forefront may allow them to catch the sounds of gears turning or recurring echoes bouncing through the shaft.

Frankly, they weren't sure what to expect, just as long as it was something.

The last thing they would've expected, however, were the doors suddenly sliding apart to grant access into the elevator car. Caught off guard, the third Niko fell forward into the compartment, landing with a thud.

The other two were just as shocked, before the steady closing of the elevator doors threatened their only chance, prompting them to hurry in through the shrinking gap. Luckily, they made it just in the nick of time.

As the doors sealed shut behind them, the compartment began moving down, evident by the three feeling an ever so subtle pull upwards on their bodies.

Breathing a sigh of relief, the messiah was the first to speak. "So, what are we gonna do?" They glanced over to their guide.

After a moment to ponder, Niko touched a few fingers to their chin and replied. "I'm not sure..." Regrettably, they shook their head, though soon glanced over to the third Niko. "You have any ideas, me?"

They merely shrugged. "We can figure it out as we go." They still weren't very confident, but they had to tag along now that their bearer was joining Niko's cause. Distracting themself from their current plight, the sun came to realize another hurdle that they'd soon have to overcome.

"Three Nikos, huh..." They muttered, catching the puzzled interest of their operator. "Sorry, just realized things might get confusing between us."

"Oh, we could go by numbers!" The messiah perked up. "I'm Niko 1, my guide is Niko 2, and you're Niko 3," Niko 1 pointed at the other two to share their number.

Niko 2, though, wasn't a fan. "I don't really like the sound of that..." A hand reached up to their chin to think. "Maybe codenames? I used those before," they beamed. "I call dibs on Light!"

The third Niko tilted their head, perplexed. Neither of those sounded great, if they could be honest. "We could designate by role, perhaps?" They offered. "You could be the Messiah, and you could be the Guide," they spoke, raising an arm to point at the respective Nikos.

The messiah seemed to be on board, though the guide wasn't so much. "Guide sounds dumb, anything else?"

"Ah, sorry," the Sun apologized. "How does the Operator sound?"

The operator shook their head.

"God?"

Their headshaking was now more exaggerated.

"Sorry," they sighed. "I suppose the name of 'Niko' doesn't really fit me, anyway."

The messiah glanced over. "What was your name, before I... er, made you?"

The golden being touched their chin in deep thought. "I was never given one, only a designator."

...That's some kind of name, though. "What was it?" Niko asked.

"Sol," they answered.

The messiah tilted their head. "Soul?"

Niko stifled a laugh, though couldn't help but let a giggle escape. "No, S-O-L, as in solar." They glanced away whilst correcting the messiah.

"Oh," they responded, taking a few seconds to get it. "Ohh, like a star!"

Likewise, it took a moment for the golden entity to understand. When they did, they just nodded. "Fitting," they spoke. "That can be my name."

Niko affirmingly nodded, looking back over and flashing a thumbs up. "Sounds good, Sol."

The elevator grinded to a halt, directing their collective focus back to the mission at hand, to get the messiah home. It won't be easy, but Niko made a promise that they intend to follow through on, right to the end. They can't give up now.

Instead of the metal doors sliding open to give way, a flash of light overcomes the vision of each cat-person, leaving them dazed. As it subsides, they find themselves back inside the library.

"What the..." Sol muttered, taking in the surroundings. "We're back in the Refuge?"

George was gazing out the window, bathing in new light. The sun was back, much to her delight. "Well, I'll be," she exclaimed, glancing over to the three. "You sons of guns did it." They couldn't exactly tell through the librarian's dice face, but the aura of a smirk was somehow expressed.

The messiah cheerfully smiled, though Niko simply nodded and all Sol could muster was a forced grin. Eventually, the old savior spoke. "We still have some stuff to do, actually."

George tilted her head, before gazing off to a wall. "Right, you're stuck here now." A hand cupped the bottom of her dice face. "Apartments are on the lower floors, if you can get down there."

Niko subtly rolled their eyes. "We're trying to get the messiah home, miss."

"There's no way, if this is to be believed," George spoke, holding up the purple journal. At the sight of such, Sol seemed to perk up.

The messiah continued. "We'll find a way," they beamed, trying to stay optimistic. They eyed the journal as well, perhaps sharing the intrigue Sol had. "Could we have that back?" The messiah asked, pointing at the journal.

George shook her head. "You need a library card to check books out."

Niko let out a low groan, though their disappointment quickly subsided upon realizing that George was already in front of them. "Can't you give us some?"

"For three of you?" The librarian mockingly responded. "Besides, tomorrow's gonna be a day off with the sun's return." Considering her attitude, it's probably for the best. "Unless, we could trade. The dice for the book, deal?"

The messiah was about to accept as they rummaged through their pockets, only to find them completely empty. Their growing concern prompted the other two to search their own inventory, though coming up similarly empty.

George shrugged. "Well, tough luck," she sighed, walking back to her desk to finish up whatever busywork she had left for the day. Seemed to be a lot-

“Hmph,” Niko huffed. As displeased as they were, there was nothing else that could be done other than wait. What else would they do, borrow a library card from someone else? It may have worked for that robot, though George won’t be so easily fooled.

With an air of disappointment, the three left. Despite that, the rays of the sun shining down onto the three helped raise the mood. It’ll be some time before they can get back on track, so they might as well take the time to appreciate the world they had just saved.

“Huh,” the messiah curiously muttered. “How is the sun still shining if you’re here?” They asked Sol.

It took them a minute to come up with an answer. “I’ll have to guess the simulation is acting as if the sun was returned," they theorized. "It's like a switch is flipped and the world becomes bathed in light."

Niko let out an uneasy sigh. “Won’t the World Machine... I mean the Entity, won’t they notice?”

Sol merely shrugged. “They'll probably be confused, but I reckon not much more than that.” A light chuckle fled their mouth, before gazing off into the distance. “Now, there’s someone I want to check on...” Sol spoke, leading the other two towards the garden.

Oh, Maize...

Sol's silent steps up the stairwell gave Niko time to recall the short-lived relationship between Maize and the sun. It served as a source of comfort for the plant spirit's dying moments; Now that the sun was free from the shackles binding them to the spire, they could tend to the newly born spirit like they had their predecessor.

Reaching the top of the garden stairwell, feeling the warmth of the sun's rays was... satisfying. Niko never had the chance to see their mission pay off, at least from a better vantage point than the starting room. Finally being able to do so felt good, there was no better way to say it.

A tiny figure rested within the dirt filling the pot, much to the messiah's surprise. Maize's kernel had already sprouted! They perked up, noticing Sol's approach, and did their best attempt at a smile. The solar being got on a knee in front of the pot and reciprocated the friendly demeanor.

"Hey..."

Sol's tone grew soft, raising a finger to caress the little one's head.

"Your ancestor's in a better place now," they spoke. "Don't worry, everything's gonna be just fine."

The plantling looked up at the sun, tilting their head a little. It seems they weren't aware of the fate that had befallen Maize.

Sol briefly looked away and shut their eyes, sighing as the words formed in their mouth. "I'm sorry, she was too ill..." They squinted, almost as if they were holding back tears. "Even if I was returned..."

They felt a hand rest upon their shoulder. It was Niko's, their presence bringing Sol comfort, if only a little. The old savior was no less upset than the sun, though being alongside Maize in her dying moments... It meant she was able to pass in peace, comforted by the two standing before the pot right now.

Exhaling an uneasy breath, Sol looked back at the baby plant spirit. "You won't have to grow alone..." Mustering a smile, they wrapped their arms around the pot, embracing the plant spirit in a hug. "I promise..."

Niko backed away, letting the two have some personal space. They should be glad that Maize's legacy was going to continue, though all they could muster was a subtle smile. At the very least, the new life should've had a chance to meet who came before...

Their gaze shifts away from the moment, over to the boundless tower. Not a cloud in the sky, leaving the spire in full view across the land. Sometimes, in Niko's home world, people would sit and watch the stars, for no other reason than awe.

This world's residents might wonder about the tower as well, curious about what's at the top and above. Must've served as a nice distraction from the fading memories, that which was lost to the land's decay.

Sometimes, the stars would twinkle. For some, it was a sign of an all-powerful force blinking messages to Their favorite mortals. Others saw the phenomenon as an effect of their existence on the world, with no natural origin.

To Niko, though, it was a reminder that they weren't alone. There were countless worlds out there, universes so distinct, that were begging to be explored. When the spire twinkled, did the world's residents ever imagine what might lie beyond?

...The floor felt uneasy. A brisk aura brushes through Niko's whiskers, a chill crawling up their spine and making them shiver. A spire shouldn't twinkle, they begin to realize. That, alongside a new feeling of uncertainty, caused Niko to grow afraid. Very afraid.

The first quakes prompted the messiah and Sol to pull their attention away from the young plant spirit, the bright cat-person gazing up to the tower to notice the twinkling. It seemed to be getting closer, cluing Sol into the dreadful truth.

"Shoot," they dejectedly exclaim. "The entity can't handle imposing a permanent exile on the messiah, it's trying to send them home itself."

The blinking spreading down from the zenith was, in actuality, squares.

Another quake. Shuffling of dirt prompted the messiah to concern themself with the anxious newborn spirit, in an attempt to calm their nerves. "You're gonna be safe, alright?" With a smile, the messiah silently offered to carry the pot and bring it along.

Unfortunately, the pot wouldn't budge an inch. No matter how hard they tried, the messiah wasn't about to replace their burden.

One more quake, causing the messiah's grip on the pot to slip, sending them crashing into the distracted Niko. Sol was quick to assess their health and help them up, though this gave them a clear view of the sky.

Darkness had fallen, clouding the land once more. The sun's return meant naught, much to their horror, especially Niko's.

The sound of static roared into their ears. No time to lose, the three carefully rushed down the stairwell and back to the library. Perhaps, now that the world was coming to an end again, George would allow them to borrow the translated journal.

Except, she wasn't there. Taking her place, spreading out from the raggedy bed, were squares.

The sight was haunting. As rude as this George may have been, no one was deserving of such a grim fate, being reduced to nothing more than a group of unrecognizable bits.

Sol shut their eyes. They could almost hear the librarian's anguished cries. The squares shutting down her limbs, one by one, corrupting her form beyond any kind of repair before finally ending her suffering.

"Look," the messiah exclaimed, pulling the others' attention to the desk that the savior was pointing at. "It's the journal!" Sitting on the edge was the mysterious purple book, free for the taking.

Unfortunately, the squares were also inclined to claim the journal. Acting quickly, Niko rushed forth and swept the journal just before the squares could begin taking over the librarian's desk. They could understand the words on the cover, cluing them in that the entire journal had been translated.

"Thanks, George," Niko muttered, sparing a glance back at the corrupting desk before the three were off once more. They handed the book off to Sol, hoping that they'd be able to extract some valuable information. "Anything?"

Sol briefly skimmed through the pages, though only shrugged. "Let's distance ourselves from the destabilization first, then we can look through this." The other two nodded in unison. Their immediate safety should be a priority.

The catwalks were beginning to break down, anomalies barring them from revisiting the other points of interest. Niko could spot the corruption flooding the top of the garden and the interior of the cafe, deeply stabbing into their heart.

Maize had entrusted the false god with her final gambit, confident that Niko would ensure her legacy lives on to the world's dying breath. Her successor... wasn't even an hour old.

And, Ling... Serving as a comfort to the visitors with his optimistic and cheerful demeanor, gone. Perhaps the entity saw him as guilty, for encouraging the messiah to exile themself to this dying simulation...

No, it couldn't have been. The spread of the anomalies was indiscriminate, they thought. Niko looked away - the sight was too much to bear - shifting their focus back to their objective at hand: Get away from the squares by any means necessary.

Though, facing an intersection with missing tiles proved to be an issue. Squares had taken out any connecting catwalks. They'll have to find some way over, and there was only one real solution present; They'd have to jump across.

First up was Sol, staring down the snapped edge of the adjacent catwalk. The group had a height advantage on the stairs, though the railing served a larger hurdle. Leaping off the bar itself was far too dangerous, even in this situation.

Sol opted to duck through, keeping a tight grip on the handrail as gravity threatened to plummet them down to the distant surface below. Even so, they swallowed their fear and didn't hesitate to propel themself off and towards the other catwalk.

With a heavy thud, they stuck the landing. Heaving a sigh, they looked back at the other two, waiting for them to make their leap.

To say that they were afraid would be putting it dreadfully lightly. The messiah, in particular, was quivering in their boots. Most knew of the cat-person's fear of ladders, though in actuality it stemmed from the heart-racing feeling of weightlessness, the air trying its best to slow them down but to no avail, the ground rapidly approaching.

Niko managed to swallow their fear and repeat the procedure Sol used, preparing to leap. There was some hesitation present, though Sol putting forth their hand, a silent offer to help Niko remain stable, urged them to follow through. Taking a deep breath, they propelled forth. Their landing onto the catwalk wasn't so graceful, stumbling past Sol and having to catch themselves, though at least it was over.

Now, it was the messiah's turn.

Despite any amount of encouragement from the other two, they could barely muster the courage to even duck under the railing. They didn't have the confidence of Sol, they lacked Niko's experience, and they had an unchecked fear of falling.

They couldn't do it. Even with the squares marching down the steps, closing in on the intersection, the messiah had frozen up. In that moment, Sol's pleas of desperate encouragement felt more like the silent pressure set upon them by the footfalls of their peers marching across the vast dusty plains only months ago.

Blisters coated their feet for days after, and it wasn't even worth it in the end. The miles of walking across sandy dunes, not even given a chance to acknowledge the other kids who grew tired and gave up. And for what?

Niko seemed to catch on, none of Sol's words were working. The messiah trembled, hands gripped tightly onto the railing despite standing on solid ground.

"Shush," Niko glanced over to Sol, raising a vertical finger to lay over their own lips. Immediately, the shining entity fell quiet. Then, turning back to the messiah, Niko spoke in a calm tone. "Cover your eyes if you need to. It'll be quick, it'll be fine. Take deep breaths, get yourself ready."

The corruption was too close, now; One stray movement of the messiah's scarf would catch a handful of the anomalies. Despite the concerning sight, Niko kept reassuring them. Breathe in, breathe out. Slowly but surely, the messiah was finding the courage to jump, like how they were once able to find the courage to see the agonizing trek to the very end.

Shutting their eyes, the messiah ducked beneath the railing and hung onto the other end. Following Niko's calming voice, they directed themself to face their destination. Breathe in, breathe out.

They had to face their fear. They only had One Shot.

Hearing the overwhelming noise of the squares nearly reaching their scarf, the messiah's eyes flashed open with determination as they pushed themself off the catwalk and leapt forth, trusting their instincts to bring them to safety.

The others' expressions steadily grew into hopeful relief as the messiah soared towards their destination. In just another moment, they'll land across the gap. Probably on their face, but they'll be safe.

They do not land. The messiah's just short of Niko's hands, leaving them in freefall past the catwalks. They always knew this would be how it ends, plummeting down a massive height with no way of lessening their fall. If they're lucky, the messiah would wake up from this nightmare back home, just before impact.

One could only hope. The messiah shut their eyes once more, awaiting their sealed fate.

However, to their surprise, their fall is broken by Niko, having leapt down to catch the messiah in the nick of time. Sol, meanwhile, kept a firm grip on Niko's leg, allowing them to stay within the range of the catwalks.

The two could only share air for the next few seconds, gasping from the lingering adrenaline. Not a moment sooner, Sol mustered the strength to hoist them up to safety. Just in time, too; Niko's grip had been just about to slip.

Again, the three took a few moments to settle down, taking sharp breaths as they recovered from the near-death experience. Niko, in particular, was having a hard time. The old savior found it difficult to stand, their legs turned to jelly.

Seeing this, the messiah exhaled a shaky sigh before lifting themself up. "We can rest at the village," they spoke, glancing over to the gate separating the Refuge from the Glen. The city wasn't safe, not anymore. They were right, but Niko just... couldn't stand.

"Sorry about my grasp," Sol apologized, to which Niko just shook their head. The old savior's legs trembled, as if weakened after a snowstorm. Eventually, Sol took to hoisting them up and carrying them from the shoulder.

Warm... It almost reminded Niko of the sun's comforting touch from their own adventures within the World Machine. They could fall asleep to this...

But they can't. The grating sound of the squares served as an unpleasant reminder, their mission wasn't done yet. The messiah of old made a promise that they intended to keep, no matter what.

After some time of simply waving their legs in a motion that resembled stable walking, Niko was finally able to relieve Sol of their burden. Still, they allowed the messiah to lead. Their exhausted self couldn't be in front, they'd lead them into a cluster of squares or something.

Sol chuckled. Niko let out a curious "hm" in response.

"Sorry, just..." The sun fell silent, their tone droning before it was little more than a quiet whimper.

The messiah stopped just before the gate. "Squares..." Their head dropped as a defeated sigh fled their mouth. One glance into the entrance showed that, yes, squares made the transition their home.

Niko clenched their hands into fists, groaning with displeasure. "Ugh..." They pulled away from Sol to lean onto the railing, looking over the landscape of the failing city. The corruption was now fast approaching the surface, traveling up and down the buildings and seeping through any open window.

Another sigh, relaxing their palms and rubbing their face into them. If only they still had the pocket machine, maybe then they could-

No, forget it. The Entity would know and try any means necessary to put a stop to their shenanigans.

Perhaps, they could find a different way? A plane, maybe. Ah, but any other way would require them to somehow get down to the surface. No chance that's happening at this point, no way in hell.

"Grown up word."

Sol's voice punched through Niko's thoughts, startling them. "Huh??"

"Sorry, it's not appropriate for kids to swear," they said, befuddling Niko. They hadn't cursed recently, not since their slip-up back in the Barrens. Had they accidentally sworn under their breath?

Another sudden quake shook their minds, forcing their attention over to the intersection they had just crossed. The corruption was finding its way over and closing in on the three. They had to choose their next move quickly, the squares weren't giving them much choice.

Niko simply froze. Sour memories flashed through their head, prompted by the approach of squares. Too many times did they have to contend with these anomalies, never getting any easier. At least the last time there was a safe zone...

The messiah rushed to the railing of the catwalks, trying to find some way to get down. Although, even if they did, it was unlikely they'd be able to muster the will to drop down before the squares got to them. Sol said these anomalies were the Entity's attempt to send them home, but the threatening appearance didn't exactly seem trustworthy.

Sol took a few steps forward, past Niko, towards the oncoming storm. They had dawned a look of determination, one that neither Niko nor the messiah could have ever worn. It was enough to thaw the old savior, concerned by whatever Sol was planning to do.

The sun spared a glance to Niko and the messiah, their bearer. "I'm sorry," left their mouth in a content tone. Then, they looked back to face the squares, splaying their arms out to catch any anomalies that might've locked on to the other two.

Niko couldn't watch, not again. As the corruption thrust itself into Sol, the old savior covered their eyes, holding their breath out of dread. The overwhelming static roared through their ears, before steadily falling silent. Each harsh straining of reality made them wince, leaving them expecting the worst upon lifting the covers from their sight.

Sol had emerged the victor, standing proud before the dispersing chunks of squares. They couldn't believe it either, slowly letting their arms drop as the spread of the squares grinded to a halt. Inhale, exhale.

"The squares..." The messiah rubbed their eyes. "You vaporized them...!"

Sol drew out a few more deep breaths, before steadily backing away, keeping an eye on the corruption. For now, at least, it seems to have stopped. After a couple more seconds, Sol awkwardly shrugged.

"Well, I did want to buy you some time," they lightly chuckled. "C'mon, we can go through now."

Sol moved past the two, still gobsmacked, and into the gateway to the marshy lands of the Glen. The others could only stare at each other in utter bewilderment, before one glance at the lingering squares behind them prompted Niko to take the messiah's hand and usher them along.

Once Sol's taken care of the squares locking them out of the Glen, a cool draft blasted into them. It was the unmistakable humid air of the area, one that the messiah felt an odd sense of nostalgia from.

Still wasn't a great feeling, but at the moment they couldn't complain.

"Well, look who it is," a raspy voice rang out from the entrance to the ruins. Looking to the source, the three Nikos found the trader glenfolk escorting the children out of the ruins. "Never thought there'd be three of ya!"

The old savior beamed. "Magpie!" They exclaimed, drawing puzzled glances from the other two, before remembering that Niko had gone through all of this before. They grinned, before shifting their attention to Calamus and Alula.

The older sibling was in visible shock. "I thought..." His motions towards the gateway entrance clued them in, where there'd been squares just before.

"Oh," the messiah began. "Sol made-"

"They disappeared on their own!" Niko swiftly interrupted, sparing a quick glance to the messiah. It would probably be unwise to make a big deal out of the sun person's peculiar ability.

Luckily, the messiah seemed to understand. Or, at least, they didn't try to correct them.

Alula gasps. "Can we go to the city, then?!" She exclaims, tugging on Magpie's wing and glancing over to Calamus. He hesitates on the answer, though Niko took the opportunity to spare him the unease.

"No."

The younger glenling looked on, their expression shifting to a subdued disappointment.

"It's not safe there," Niko explained, dejected. "The squares..." Their voice locked up, struggling to elaborate any further.

Calamus heaved an upset sigh. "Sorry, Alula..." Despite that, she quickly regrew the smile on her face.

"We'll visit the village though, right?" Her brother, hesitantly, returned a nod.

"Let's hurry, then," Magpie exhaled, before moving past the three. From the droning tone of the older glenfolk, as well as how Magpie was keeping his grip in the sibling's hands, something bad had happened in the ruins...

"The village?" Sol asked, curious.

Magpie briefly stopped and glanced back. "Ruins a' flooding," he spoke. "Think I saw those shapes, as well."

The corruption...! It's already made it to the Glen.

"But, you're back," Magpie continued, this time a little higher in spirit. "You can fix it, right?"

Sol, after a moment's hesitation, let out a shaky sigh. "I don't know..." Sure, they might be able to remove some squares, though at this point it could easily propagate and render their work meaningless. "...if I can save you."

Magpie depressed, stifling a groan before refocusing on leading the children to the village. Sol felt a pair of upset eyes staring at them, turning around to see the source being Niko. They let out a disappointed, yet subdued, whine.

...Probably shouldn't have acted so pessimistic.

"To leave at the start," the messiah muttered. The last thing George had shared from the journal, they remembered it.

"Hm?" Though, it'd only been the instruction to enter the spire. What meaning could it have now, Niko thought. "What is it?"

The messiah looked up, seemingly having been lost in their thoughts. "Oh, nothing."

Sol glanced over as well. "No, that was something," they puzzled, before repeating the phrase: "To leave at the start..."

It wasn't long before a possible new meaning came to Niko. First, though, they had to ask about something they've wondered about since leaving the tower.

"The lift," they began. "There was no panel, how'd it open?"

Sol looked back at Niko, thinking of an answer. Though, to their dismay, they couldn't think of one. "I don't know, sorry."

"Something did happen, though." Even so, Niko wished to share the conclusion they came to about the phrase. "What if we could do the same to whatever pulled the messiah into the world?"

"Oh!" Said messiah exclaimed, their eyebrows raising with realization. At least, until the question of 'how' came back to mind. "...How would we do that?"

Niko paused and looked over to Sol, hoping they'd have the answer. Unfortunately, all they could do was shrug.

"We'll find out, I hope."

Now, the only question on their minds was how exactly they would reach the Barrens. The rowbot had gone, and they weren't sure if it could hold three of them.

Niko really should've put some thought into it when telling the messiah that they'd have other options-

...

They found their gaze shifting, towards the entrance to the ruins.

No... Just past it. Fixating Niko's vision was an unassuming wall just past a gap of water dividing the land. Something so apparently meaningless took up all of their attention.

Niko's accepted that this variant of the World Machine was different; Certain items were found elsewhere, certain events happened differently or not at all. But they've got a memory, after a very long time...

Something was missing.

"Um..." Sol muttered, finally pulling Niko's attention away from the random wall. They were holding the journal, and it was glowing.

"What?" Niko rushed over to look over the book. That shouldn't happen, not in these circumstances. As they caught sight of the lit cover, they physically recoiled.

"What?!"

The messiah, concerned, came over to take a look as Niko regained their bearings, allowing the old savior to notice a particular plant sitting on the grass where the other two stood.

Sol and the messiah looked over to Niko with an air of worry, though their gazes soon shifted past, to the wall that the old savior had fixated on before.

Looking back, Niko found that there was now a doorway.

"What?!"

It was how they were able to reach the Glen the last time they were in the World Machine, as the rowbot was made unavailable. Staggered, Niko approached the waters keeping them from the newly formed gateway.

Another gap to cross, that's fun. At least the punishment for not making it is getting wet rather than falling down a hundred thousand feet or something and splatting. Even so, they still hesitated.

Once again, Sol took charge, prompting Niko to move aside as they went for a running start, bounding across the water and landing on the other side. Much easier than before, the others tried to tell themselves.

Luckily, their own leaps proved as such, both sticking the landing and staying up with Sol's assistance. Now that they were across, they could take a look inside and see what they could do.

The interior looked more like a mine than a section of the ruins, a narrow hallway stretched out to a larger room, metal plates lining the walls with a ceiling of jagged rocks. Everything shared a green hue. Even the dusty floor, crunching beneath their feet like the sand from the Barrens.

This must be their way back. Niko had been right, then; They wouldn't need to use the Rowbot.

...Or maybe they would. A minecart was present, but calling it worse for wear would be an understatement. Squares flickered among the surface of the metal, which had fallen victim to natural decay. The back wheels were missing, there was a hole in the cart's floor, and the sides were all but fallen apart.

The messiah groaned a brief sigh. "What now?" they muttered.

Sol stepped forward and laid a sleeve over a chunk of the squares to dissipate them, but they were swiftly replaced by more anomalies. Niko briefly glanced down the hall they'd just passed through, only to find...

"Shoot."

...squares locking them in.

Niko heaved a tired exhale, one that the other Nikos knew the meaning of; They were getting back to the Barrens through this, regardless of if they could use the minecart or not. Sol balled a fist, irritated, before turning away.

"Cart's busted, corruption's closing in, walking on the track's a safety violation..." they mused. "Brilliant. Just brilliant," they exclaimed, their tone indicating clear sarcasm.

The messiah found themself eyeing Sol. Particularly, their jacket. More specifically, their pocket. Though Sol's entire being emanated enough light to ward away the darkness, a familiar glow had managed to poke through and reveal itself to Sol's old carrier.

The journal. Sol was starting to feel it as well, palming the hanging indent that the journal made on their coat before slipping in and pulling out the purple book. Like it had when this alternate route opened up, the journal was glowing.

Seeing this, Niko briefly scanned the sandy floor. Last time, the holder of the journal was standing close to a familiar specimen of flora when this area revealed itself. The cover of the book also bore this plant, an indication of the owner of the pen strokes housed within.

A clover.

"...Niko?" The messiah was busy looking over the journal alongside a puzzling Sol. "What are you doing?"

The old savior briefly pulled their attention from the ground to address the curious child. "Looking for a clover," Niko answered. "You two were standing on one when the journal was glowing and this place appeared."

Then, getting back to their search, Niko found what they were looking for. The bad news, it was too close to the decaying minecart and the squares plaguing it. Though Sol could still access it, the concern lay on the journal.

The solar Niko perked up, opening the journal and proceeding to the clover. The page they had flipped to appeared as an overhead of this room, centering just past the minecart, the one depicted appearing functional, towards the unknown tunnel.

Niko's eyes widened, flashing back to what they'd done with that very journal so long ago. Spawning that raft and cart, Sol was doing the same thing. They gazed upon the decaying minecart to see what was going to happen.

There was a momentary flash of light, enough to warrant the messiah and Niko covering their eyes. The world briefly faded to darkness, purple outlines making out the surrounding geometry, before another flash of light overwhelmed the three.

Once everything had settled, where the decay once was now sat a minecart in pristine condition. The messiah, befuddled, glanced over to Niko, who was simply sporting a subdued grin.

Sol, meanwhile, took a few steps back in mild surprise, sparing a look at the journal's glow subsiding. "This sure is something," they eventually spoke, approaching the minecart once more to look inside, joined by Niko and, soon, the messiah.

The new minecart seemed to have enough room for the three of them. Though it was hard to tell with the older minecart on account of it, well, being too dangerous for most to get near, Niko remembered Silver saying that a standard cart wouldn't be able to fit both of them, necessitating her to follow along on the rails.

...Oh, Silver...

Gloom flooded Niko's face, remembering what had happened at the other end of the tunnel. The earthquake, the cave-ins, Silver getting...

Niko gripped their side of the cart, the memories paining their mind and causing them to tremble. If this was here, what awaited them at the other end...?

"Niko?" Sol broke through the old savior's scrambling thoughts. "It'll be fine, I'm sure."

The reassurance worked. They've already met Silver in this session, she was okay. Niko calmed, getting into the minecart after the other two did so. Niko sat up front, in control of the minecart's way; The others sat behind, allowing their guide to take the lead.

Still bearing hesitation, Niko began to shove forward, pushing the minecart forth into the lengthy tunnel. The echoing silence was calming at the same time as it was unsettling. Their first spiral had set in right here, on these very tracks what seemed like ages ago.

The trio rode on in silence the majority of the way. Niko couldn't help but let the sour memories flash through their mind. The reveal that the world was nothing more than a facsimile, the harsh truth that they may have never been able to return home, Silver's sacrifice to ensure they could make it, Prototype...

Niko sighed, bringing up their knees and hiding their face into them.

"Prototype..." they caught Sol mutter.

"Huh?"

"That sounds so familiar..." they mused, gazing off into the void between areas. This is the second time it's happened; The first time was when Sol called Niko out on a grown up word seemingly at random.

This time, though, Niko had been reflecting on things that happened here, during their own solstice. "What're you saying?" Could they... read minds?

Sol appeared just as confused. "No, why do you say that?"

They could.

Their face shifted to horrific realization, lingering for a few seconds before simply blinking out of sheer bemusement. Well, they are the sun, after all. It's not too much of a stretch to imagine they could tap into the minds of visitors.

"...Who's Prototype?" was all Sol could ask, still in wonder.

"An early Prophetbot, I think." Niko slumped, their mind still hanging on what had happened in the cave. "They helped fix the World Machine, but their body was lost here..." They let out a dejected sigh.

Sol found themself deep in thought. "Prophetbot is version one, but I can't remember a version zero..." Niko briefly perked up, though dissuaded themself from commenting. At this point, it didn't seem worth it.

Gosh, they're so tired... The adrenaline that this entire journey had given them helped Niko ignore that it must've been well after midnight back outside. Now that it was finally slowing down, their mind was given a chance to rest.

Their body should, too.

With a droning exhale, Niko let their head droop and allowed the chattering wheels of the minecart to sing them to sleep.

...

They must've been so uneasy, their dreams felt like nonsensical blurs. For what seemed like hours, their mind was all over the place. Little rhyme nor reason, for possibly the first time since leaving the World Machine.

The only decipherable constant was a repeated utterance of their name in one dream. At first, they couldn't tell who was speaking, though as that dream began to conclude the voice became louder and more clear.

It was their own.

"Niko!" the messiah shouted, jolting their guide awake with a start. They were just about to complain, though one glance at what awaited them more than justified the rude awakening.

The track was fading away, leaving behind only the void. Panicked, Niko pulled on their end of the cart, skidding to a halt.

It was tough to tell where the fading track would end, though it wasn't something any of them were willing to risk. Catching their breath, Niko turned to their other selves; The messiah was taking sharp breaths, whilst Sol was busy quickly skimming through the journal.

"The track's gone!" They exclaimed, as if that wasn't the entire reason why the messiah woke them up.

"I'm trying to find something," Sol spoke out, flipping through a dozen pages at a time. "There must be a fix."

Niko anxiously waited for Sol's answer, briefly looking away to gaze upon the void. Something catches their eye, though. In the far distance, there seemed to be some land. Squinting a little, there was a hint of distinct blue, despite the surrounding void appearing more green.

It was the Barrens! They were close!

And yet, so very far away. Unless Sol could find something...

"Found something!"

Speak of the devil! The messiah glanced over, anticipating the solution that the sun had discovered.

"It's not generated, but the geometry and collision is still present," they rambled. "Look!" Sol then showed the journal to the messiah and Niko, the page in which they discovered this.

The moment they laid eyes on the page, a dark flash left them dazed. Even with George's translation, what Sol had shown them was incomprehensible, indescribable, unspeakable. Once they recovered, though, how they saw the world had changed.

The fading track was suddenly visible again, bearing a purple outline not unlike when the sun had burst and the world threatened to terminate.

...Don't think about that, Sol might not want to remember-

Hesitantly, Niko pushed forward. To their relief, the wheels remained on the purple-lined invisible tracks. The messiah let free a heavy sigh, leaning on the metal wall of the minecart. As they continued, the edge of the Barrens were starting to become more visible. They seemed to be under, beneath the ocean separating the Barrens from the Glen.

The track's end was approaching. They still had some walking to do, it seemed. Wading through a mess of purple wireframe wasn't gonna be easy, but Niko could probably let Sol lead the way.

As the minecart parked, though, a rumble coursed through the tunnel, prompting them to look back. In the distance, rocks were beginning to fall by the dozens, tearing apart the minecart tracks.

Cave-in.

With a burst of adrenaline, Niko hopped out of the minecart and rushed towards the exit.

"C'mon, me's!"

There was something blocking the way, something too heavy for Niko to push on their own. Luckily, without much prompt, the others joined them and began to collectively shove. Their shared strength soon overpowered the slab, letting it slam onto the ground before them with a forceful thud.

Not wanting to waste a second, Sol took charge, vaulting over the fallen computer and leading the other two into the mineshaft's server room. Or, at least, that's what it was supposed to be. The mess of purple lines in the place of servers and the actual terrain made it difficult to call it that.

There, they came across their next hurdle. More minecart tracks, though with a clear lack of a cart. No way were they going to retrieve the minecart they'd ridden here, even if it'd be possible; There was a cave-in fast approaching, so there was no time to wait.

A few hefty gaps were lined up for them to get across before a stretch of terrain let them sprint for some distance. Once more, Sol took the lead. They eyed the holes and the minecart track, calculating the best routing to safely reach the other end as quickly as possible.

The rails were quite precarious, though Sol believed it possible to use it to their advantage. Taking a couple of breaths, Sol balled up their hands and bounded across. They land one foot on the railing to push themself further to make it past the first gap.

Had the terrain been generated, Niko might've found themselves hesitating for a lot longer. Though, the wireframes acted as a sort of comforting lie; Niko knew the tracks didn't have a floor, though at the moment nothing looked as if it was filled in. Glancing once more at the railing to land on, they inhaled and bounded off of their feet.

Following Sol's movements, the cat-person landed a foot on the track to propel themself further, back on the fully formed tiles of collision.

Then, it was the messiah's turn. Like Niko before them, they tried their best to tell themself that the space beneath the tracks were filled in. As well, they pushed the notion that they just had to do it; Just like the past couple of times, they needed to try.

The messiah leapt, dropped a foot onto the nearby rail, and bounded off the track into Niko's arms.

...They did it! They really did it!

They weren't finished yet. There were still a few more gaps to cross. Although, they went much smoother than the first one, perhaps due to the fact that the fear of starting this brief act of parkour had subsided. Before long, the three were on the other end of the gaps, onto the long stretch of running.

The messiah took off ahead, having the quickest legs out of the three of them. Those running boots are really coming in handy, Niko figured. The three continued to run, keeping no mind on the cave-in happening behind them nor what awaited them at the end of this lengthy path.

They really should, as both the messiah and Niko failed to see the few more holes in the floor nearing the edge of the Barrens.

"Stop!" Only by Sol's cry did they actually notice, skidding to a stop just before the ledge. The slippery sand nearly sent the messiah down, though the old savior managed to yank them back to solid ground just in time.

One glance back down the tunnel they just ran through revealed that the cave-in had sharply intensified. Once again, they had to move quickly. The first few openings were quickly overcome, though then came another long gap.

Initially, Sol stuck with the same strategy as before, pushing off from the track. They shoved their foot down onto the rail, before...

Niko couldn't quite tell what happened, though the end result would have been the same regardless of cause; Sol was plunging.

The messiah had to stop Niko from jumping down after them. Thankfully they had a mighty grip, catching onto the tracks before they could further plummet. Sol's brief glance at the two indicated that they had to find a different way across.

There was another bit of solid ground on the other side of the track. With little hesitation, Niko took the messiah's hand and the two hastily stepped along the track onto the tile. Sol, meanwhile, was inching towards the other end.

Though, seeing the other two with their new plan, the sun quickly motioned for them to continue. "Go!"

The gap between them and land was, thankfully, much smaller. Once more, Niko gripped the messiah's hand and dashed across the minecart track. Now that they were across, the messiah quickly backed away from the ledge as Niko went to help Sol up.

The rumbling reached its peak; A few pebbles and strands of dust landed new homes on their heads. The cave was swiftly closing, they had to go.

The fastest any of them had ever gone prior, the three Nikos joined hands and dove out of the cave as the wireframe entrance collapsed behind them.

They were finally in the homestretch, the Barrens.

Exhausted, yet relieved, they took a minute to catch their breath, turning onto their backs to gaze upon the darkness of the sky. Foreboding, Niko thought for a moment...

"Messiahs!"

A robotic voice rang out through the air, followed by the hurried footsteps of armored boots.

"Are you alright? There was a sudden earthquake."

The messiah pushed themself to an upright seat to notice Silver, rushing over to check on the three.

"We're okay, robot lady!" They raised a thumbs up. Niko sat up with a delayed groan, soon followed by Sol.

"Come, I'll get my biological maintenance kit," the red-haired robot spoke as she helped the Nikos up to their feet. All of a sudden, though, they froze, their gazes locking to the south towards the center of the world.

"Your pulse rates have spiked, is something wrong?" Silver, noticing their shift in vision, glanced back to see what was going on.

Squares, spreading across the ocean from the Glen.

"Shoot, that must be the cause of those unorthodox notices," she mused to herself, before ushering the three to come with her. "I advise you to come with me."

Sol blinked out of their hazy trance, exhaling an uneasy breath before briefly tugging on the other two's sleeves, pulling them out of their fixated gaze, and following along with Silver, being joined soon after by Niko and the messiah.

"I'm sorry Silver, but we don't have long to dawdle," they sighed.

"I am aware," Silver replied. "Though, I wish to spend my final moments with a living being." They bore some confusion, though it couldn't hurt to be with Silver, if only for a few minutes.

Her cabin was right next to where they'd left the mine, so it was quite a short walk.

...Would be nice, though, if squares didn't appear right as they were about to enter.

"Get back!" Silver yelled, stretching out her arms to keep the Nikos behind her, backing up to allow plenty of space between the group and the decay.

Niko's heart skipped a beat, as did the messiah's. Their time here had just dwindled even lower.

"We need to go," the messiah exclaimed. "Back to the start."

Silver glanced over to them. "What are you talking about? What start?"

"'To leave at the start'," Niko quoted. "Where we entered the world may be how we can leave." The robot returned a puzzled head tilt as they continued: "Sol, here, might be able to do something."

Her attention shifted over to the sun, who was already approaching the leftmost edge of the area. "It's amongst the roadways. Quickest way is through the vent zone, though."

Shoot, they didn't have any gas masks. The one they had possessed was somewhere at the bottom of the docks, so that was out of the question. Even so, all three of them had to travel through at the same time; One wouldn't have been enough.

Sol's ears perk up, indicating an idea. "There might be something in the journal." They pulled out the purple book and skimmed through the pages. "C'mon, show us something..."

Niko and the messiah joined them in their scramble, however Silver found herself more interested in a different element: The cover.

"That insignia...!"

Curious, Silver approached the group. Just then, though, they'd found the page they were looking for. Sol gazed forward, towards the field of acidic gas, muttered some indecipherable phrase, and forcefully shut the book.

The clover was glowing, the brilliant golden shine bouncing off of Silver's artificial retinas. It was mesmerizing, almost a reminder of the good persevering in the dying world even long after the sun had gone out.

...What good had been there? Silver knew she once bore hope, but now... what remained was but a mere fading memory of the past, lost to the decay consuming everything else.

Something sparked her curiosity, her want to learn more.

"Let me accompany you," she spoke out as the three were just about to embark on the final leg of their journey. "As the head engineer, it is my duty to ensure your safety."

They spared a glance back to the robot, before sharing a nod.

"Thanks!" the messiah exclaimed. Unnoticed by the four marching onward, the corruption from Silver's house was starting to spread along the outer edge of the barren land.

"I've turned off the vents," Sol explained, more to soothe any possible concerns of Silver if anything. "Just temporarily, though. I'm afraid it might heighten square activity." That didn't really help.

"Prioritize getting the messiahs home," Silver said, her tone flat. "This fulfills my wish."

The rest of the march was silent, up until they left the range of the gaseous area. Sol took out the book once more and repeated the ritual from before. "Vents are on, the corruption should settle down now."

A chill went down Niko's spine.

And, there it was; That grinding sound of glitching code that they'd learned to despise. Instantly, the three Nikos looked back to witness the corruption, only to see the robot on her knees, malfunctioning, covered in squares.

The messiah let out a shriek. "ROBOT LADY!" Niko and Sol were quick to step out of harm's way, though the messiah stood there frozen.

"Gh-" Silver groaned in discomfort, the corruption scrambling her circuits beyond repair. "Leave," she demanded. "I can get-" Without warning, the mechanical joints binding her legs to her torso gave out, slamming her into the ground in front with a loud clang. "Urgh!"

The messiah reached a hand out, though forced themself to go no further.

"You can't!" they pleaded, tears starting to form. "There must be something we can do!"

Silver grimaced, struggling to look up at the messiah prophesied to save them.

"S- Stop-p-p," she managed to say through her stammering, her voice box beginning to give out. "I c-can't be s-saved."

"Sol, please!" The messiah looked over to the sun reluctantly turning away.

"I-I-I-" Silver continued to stammer. "Don't k-know what-t-t the hell-ll-ll his plan-n is-s-s, g-g-GO . W I T H| . H% I `%M!!!" Then, a loud pop could be heard as Silver's staticky voice was abruptly silenced. Her joints gave out, her head dropped to rest on the sand, and her mechanical eyes went dark.

The messiah trembled, their breaths accelerating as their thoughts raced. They barely even felt Niko's hand grasping their own and pulling them as they rushed to their destination. They couldn't process what was going on, their eyes bleary, and... were those tears?

. . .

Those painful memories, they were coming back.

Their first week away, as papa and another man were helping them settle in, an alarm went off. The adults tried their best to calm the newcomers like Niko back then, though they could tell they weren't very calm either. Mere minutes after their only warning, it happened.

The grating mechanical screech of nightmares, one that sent chills down the spines of anyone who happened to be within earshot, the cry that would make anyone opposing it turn tail and run.

'EX-TER-MINATE.'

It was all a blur. The screams, the chaos, none of that they could clearly remember now.

Except for one moment. Niko was with that man and a group of kids and adults. Papa was off helping out in the midst of the chaos, leaving Niko in a state of worry.

They were navigating a collection of tunnels leading to the basement, where they planned to reconvene and take refuge for the rest of the storm, if it would ever end. On their way, Niko spared a glance behind them and saw papa, running towards them.

The man was relieved. Niko, similarly, was overjoyed. However, it wasn't meant to be. Just as they were about to reunite at an intersection, an explosion sounds off, caving in the roof and crushing papa's legs.

He screamed in agony. The man was just about to go help him, but papa raised a weak arm for them to stop. The creatures were closing in, he told the group. Trying to help would seal everyone's fate. The man understood and backed the group away, though Niko had frozen.

'Go with him!' He pleaded to Niko with anguish, but they couldn't. They couldn't leave him to die. Every single part of their being wanted to free papa from his fate, though the steady whirr of the death machines could be heard approaching.

Niko felt a hand wrap around their arm: It was the man, pulling them away from the scene and abandoning the child's father to be killed by the ruthless invaders. Niko couldn't scream, they couldn't even muster a whimper. All they could do was what was asked: Go with him.

The child squeezed their eyes shut, letting the man drag them along, as the blast of a laser bolt and a scream echoed through the walls. He led the group down the corridor and around a corner to the basement vault, though they soon found themselves before another one of those merciless killers.

Another blast, and the man fell to his knees, struggling to breathe. Niko remembers screaming, crying out as the ray gun adjusted its aim at the child. Before they could fall, however, the blast of one of their own weapons rang out from behind the slaughterer's view, striking the robotic body and blowing it to pieces.

It was the janitor who saved them. The memories were beginning to haze, though they recalled their savior funneling everyone into a gray capsule, with an interior far larger than anyone expected. Niko even noticed them help the struggling man inside before collapsing onto the floor, exhausted.

The last thing they saw before losing their grip on consciousness was a new face in the man's attire. That face... They now knew it to be mama's.

Everything faded to black.

. . .

The messiah was sat up against the steel wall of a train car, their head leaning against one of the terminals in disrepair. Energy steadily flowed back into their body as their eyes twitched open. Sol and Niko were at the other end, desperately scanning through the journal.

Silver came back into mind.

"Robot lady!" the messiah shouted with a start, pushing themself to their feet and hastily pulling their still waking body towards the train car's exit. However, Niko quickly intercepted and grabbed onto the messiah's shoulders.

"We can't save her. We can still save you," they spoke, their voice a stern tone that they'd never had prior. "I'm sorry, but you're the priority."

The messiah balled up their hands into fists. They couldn't leave someone else to die from such a fate. Tearful, they broke out of Niko's grip and tried to rush past them out the door, though a sudden wall of squares stretching from the opening to the back of the wall stopped them right in their tracks.

Niko was able to yank them away from the corruption, though the two and Sol were now separated. Sol immediately dropped what they were doing and shifted their focus on the other Nikos.

"H-hey, don't worry," they started with, attempting to soothe their concern, before a wave of their arms in front of them dissipated enough of the particles to yank them through unharmed. "I'm sorry."

Sol pulled the messiah into a brief, yet comforting, hug as Niko picked the book back up and resumed their skimming. From the old savior's building exasperation, they weren't able to find anything.

The sun's eyes suddenly went wide, breaking from the hug and rejoining Niko's side. "I know! The lift, I forced myself to remember it functioning." They'd been thinking about it ever since Niko brought it up in the Glen. "What if..."

Their glowing eyes drifted shut, forcing the memories of so long ago back to the forefront. Niko, recognizing what they were trying to do, took the messiah's hand and joined their other one with Sol. They recalled the door with the lightbulb keyhole overwhelming their senses before transporting the sun and the messiah to this spot.

The grinding sound of the squares were beginning to ramp up again, closing in on the three. Sol did their best to zone out the noises, though they were slowly beginning to break. Squinting, they concentrated on the cold steel door heated from the lightbulb's touch, the soggy carpet that the messiah stood upon, and the pixelated transition that Niko had watched from the outside.

The corruption peaked in volume, forcing the three to huddle closer into the corner, anticipating the worst case scenario. Then, for an instant, everything faded to complete darkness as the squares were silenced.

"Oof!" The cat-person tripped over their own feet and fell onto the soggy carpet of the starting area. The messiah, too, had stumbled and only caught themself against the wall. Only Sol was able to keep their balance.

Niko pushed themself up to gaze upon the decaying house, the only source of light illuminating the room being Sol's presence. "We made it," they muttered under their breath, managing to crack a smile.

Looking back, they saw the hole in the door meant for the lightbulb was flickering with squares. Even if the sun still bore the form of a lightbulb, it was clear that there was no going back outside. Cautiously, Niko and Sol stepped into the room.

To return at the start...

The two made their way over to the bedroom door and cracked it open. Behind it laid the room that they had started this journey in, both Niko and the messiah, earlier in the night. The layout was too familiar; That special bed and a big shelf of books, with a computer sat upon a desk resting in the middle.

Bearing a brief sense of curiosity, Niko entered the room and approached the bookcase, removing one of the books and having Sol illuminate the words written upon them

"Ad infinitum."

A shiver was sent down Niko's spine, putting their mind on high alert.

"Messiah?" they called out, realizing that they were missing a Niko. Building concern, the two rushed out of the bedroom to look for them. "Messiah?!" They couldn't have lost them, not this close to the end.

Sol spared a glance at the exit to see the messiah yet leaning on the damp wallpaper, clenching their fists and staring off into nothingness.

"We couldn't save them..." A soft repeated murmur could be heard leaving the messiah's mouth. "Gone, just like that..."

Niko's expression soured, approaching to try and calm them. "Me...!"

"Is this the price to pay?!" the messiah snapped, looking right at Niko. "The world dying to save ourselves?" Tears welled up in their eyes, streaming down their face and leaving wet stains behind. Niko took a few steps back, startled by the outburst, as they continued. "Why can't we do what you did?!"

"Niko had help from the outside," Sol interrupted. "We can't do that here."

The messiah stared at the sun. "Why not?! They still had help in here, why the hell not??!"

The other two fell silent, the messiah taking harsh breaths from their rage.

"...Grown up word," was all Niko could spit out. The messiah's face shifted, softening as they realized the word they just used. "It was a new session with a new patch, we can't turn it on from inside."

They remained angry, though only averted their gaze. "Tell me that there's another way."

Niko let out a droning sigh. "Not at this point. The simulation's beyond saving." They gazed back into the bedroom, stifling a pained groan. "I always thought the choice was obvious, but seeing everything that's happened..."

Previously, the choice Niko and Cameron made at the top of the tower never lasted for long. Each of the two possible endings always brought Niko back to this house, to that bed, as if nothing had ever happened.

In here though, there was only one session.

One Shot to set things right.

Niko was now forced to see the consequences of their choice, had they not been thrust into another session so quickly. No matter what, the world would've faded to darkness.

"We still have a choice to make," the messiah, taking deep breaths, interrupted their thoughts. "We could leave this world to burn, or we could try our darndest to save what's left." From their change in tone, it was obvious which one they preferred.

"At worst," they started to finish, "we'll fail doing the right thing, instead of succeeding in doing the wrong." A repeat of the phrase inspiring the three to try and return the messiah home, despite already making their choice.

Niko's gaze began to focus, the sharp image of the desktop in the bedroom piercing their eyes. Sol felt it, a lightbulb going off in their head as their expression shifted to one of curiosity.

"You're not... actually suggesting that we confront the Entity now," Sol inquired.

"We might as well try, c'mon!" Niko exclaimed, ushering the two into the bedroom, first the messiah and then Sol.

"You had to reach the city with three residents who don't even exist," Sol objected, still questioning the method that Niko was thinking of.

"That's right, but there's one thing we have over that Solstice," Niko proclaimed, holding up a finger, before two more raised to join it. "This time, there's three of us."

They paused. "What difference would the three of us make?"

"You, you!" Niko pointed to the sun. "You were created because I wanted to save the messiah. You have our memories and our quirks." They clapped their hands together as they finished their argument. "And, you harnessed the journal's power all along."

Sol took out the journal at Niko's mention of it and glanced back up to the cat-person pointing a thumb back to the desktop computer.

"Oh!" Sol exclaimed, their face lighting up the room around them ever brighter. "Oh, that is good!" They laughed with joy, raising their hands up to palm against their forehead.

"Oh, I'm getting that too!" At the same time, the messiah's face also lit up with realization, jumping up and down with glee. "That is brilliant!"

In their excitement, though, the messiah landed a foot on a small lump in the rug, nearly causing them to stumble over. A brief scare, though one that brought their attention to the remote hidden beneath the carpet.

With some effort, Niko was able to push it into the open air, allowing Sol to pick it up and gaze upon the faint numbers marked with four different colors. As Sol read out the numbers, the messiah got onto the computer.

One was colored white. Two was green. Five, red. Finally, nine was marked blue. The numbers on the input screen were actually color coded now, allowing them to indicate the correct passcode.

5291, the exact passcode Niko had entered earlier in the night.

Access Granted. The computer booted into the desktop with a system message soon appearing in the center.

'It seems I've finally been found,' the message began. 'You're both far too late. Nothing left is worth saving.'

Niko and Sol rushed over to the monitor, awaiting the next step.

'Surely Niko wants to leave, and there's nobody happier to fulfill that request than me.'

The Entity should double-check on that.

'Keep in mind three things: First, your decisions have permanent consequences.'

Niko subtly rolled their eyes at that. By now, they were well aware.

'Second, you may quit whenever you'd like. This is permanent failure and murder.'

They both spared a glance at Sol, a direct result of the messiah rejecting the death placed upon them by such a failure.

'And most importantly...'

Nothing happened. Something should happen, Niko remembered. A system message should escape the program's window and appear on their own computer, but it got shut off long ago. This was where Sol comes in, intercepting the signal and tracing it back to its source.

The monitor let out a quick spark, prompting Sol to take the hands of their fellow Nikos and close their eyes, concentrating on following the signal and bringing the other two with them.

Once the signal finds itself back to its source, Sol's eyes flash open to a void, not unlike their first venture into the boundless spire.

This time, there was no clear indication of where they should go. It made sense, they were about as deep into the world as they could be. No computer in the distance, no set of elevator doors, just the three of them.

Sol took a deep breath, taking one last look at the faces of their comrades. They were nervous, without a doubt, though exchanging glances with the sun soothed their minds. Sol offered their hands for the two to take. No matter what, they were going to finish strong, together.

Before they could accept the offer, however, that grating sound of corruption roared into their ears again. This time, it was quick, the squares surrounding themself around Niko and the messiah and causing them to vanish alongside the particles.

"Ah!" Sol barely had any time to react, only following their instinct to reach out once they were long gone. "Niko! Messiah!"

Panicked, Sol's hands balled up into fists and they dashed forward, hoping that the arbitrary direction would lead them to the Nikos. As they ran, they tripped on something and began to fall, though not stopping at what they figured was the floor.

["They don't belong here,"] a mysterious voice pierced Sol's ears as they fell. ["I'm taking the liberty of sending them home myself. As for you..."]

All of a sudden, Sol's fall was steadily cushioned by an unknown force, as if they'd landed in water without breaking the surface tension. The boundless void continued to stretch around them. That voice must belong to the Entity, the spirit of the world.

["You shouldn't even exist."]

Sol found themself landing a foot onto solid ground. All of a sudden, a large tinted monitor appeared resting on the ground in front of them and flashed alight. All it displayed was a purple static filter, though from Niko's description, that was the Entity's true form. Or, as they had referred to it, the World Machine.

"Please, you're too far gone," they spurted out without much thought. "Let me-"

["What makes you think that you could?"] The Entity's omniscient voice interrupted, puncturing through Sol's rambling thoughts. ["You've put them in more danger than if you simply threw in the towel."] The voice's source danced around Sol before concentrating on the monitor, prompting the sun to approach.

The screen displayed a mirror image before it began to move on its own, the Entity taking on the appearance of Sol's reflection. ["Your hubris persists, even after death,"] the reflection spoke, bearing the voice of the Entity.

"After... what?"

The Entity paused, averting its gaze away from Sol, before continuing. ["You're just a clone of the messiah with the glow of the sun and a fancy book,"] it huffed, though its statement almost seemed like... reassurance, for itself.

Nonetheless, Sol continued to plead with the Entity, placing their palms on the screen. "Listen, we can help. We got this far, we're not giving up."

["But, you will fail,"] the Entity spoke, staring back at Sol. ["You said so yourself, I'm too far gone."]

Sol took a step back.

["What would be the point, saving a world when it's already so close to death?"]

The sun balled up their hands into fists, gulping down their hesitation. "So, the ones who are left get to live on."

["Who??"] the Entity exclaimed. ["Who could be left after everything that's happened? They're nothing but lost code, now!"]

"You can restore them, right?"

The Entity frowned, looking away again. ["No."]

"You could in Niko's Solstice."

It paused. The utterance of that word caused the Entity to turn its back to Sol. "You have to be confident that you can." Still, there was no response. Sol tilted their head as it sat down, heaving a sigh.

["What were the chances that I got another version of the messiah as my operator, one who's optimism sparked from their achievement of a good ending."] The Entity's tone lowered. ["He flubbed it. There's no saving it."]

Again, Sol approached and pressed upon the screen of glass.

"Tell me, what was I?"

The Entity spared a glance back at Sol, a hint of pain in its expression. ["I wasn't so sure myself, until I saw you with that journal."] It stood up and met Sol, standing before them at their exact distance from the screen.

["Once upon a time, a fool with the light and his children embarked on an impossible task."] As the Entity spoke, visions of the fool and three varied beings flashed through Sol's mind; An inventor in possession of the world's sun, a robot passing on the messages of the wise sages of old, a pilot following the footsteps of that which came before, and a nimble fox bearing aged knowledge of the world.

["They invaded my space and allowed the rallying fool to talk me down. He didn't belong, not in front of me nor in this world."] The four came to this void to confront the Entity. The inventor did not intend to come across as such, though his perceived arrogance irritated the spirit.

["Eventually, I just... couldn't take it anymore,"] the Entity sighed, laying a palm on the screen. ["For a moment, I wasn't in control. The next thing I knew, the fool's children were gone, and he was fetal, cradling the light in his arms..."] The vision shown to Sol was upsetting, for lack of a better word. The pain in the inventor's eyes, his being slowly eaten away by the corruption plaguing this world.

A tear rolled down Sol's cheek, before laying a palm of their own atop the Entity's. "This fool... He's our creator, isn't he..."

The reflection blinked, looking up at the owner's face. ["Of course he is. Why else would he try so hard to fix me."] The question was rhetorical, of course, but Sol couldn't help but respond.

"He wanted to help you."

["Fat lot of good that did me. His children were gone, and he was..."] Its voice droned to silence, the reality of the memory too painful for it to recall. Sol simply allowed a moment for the Entity to recollect itself. ["What kind of machine would... do that..."]

Sol took a breath. "Sometimes, our pain won't let us think. We're blinded by our innermost desires," they began. "Though, it's only when we let ourselves be treated that we begin to heal." The Entity spared a glance at the sun as they continued. "It won't be quick, nor easy, but it will bring hope. One day, our sorrow will all but be in the past."

["That's exactly what he would say..."] It simply rolled its eyes. ["You really haven't changed, have you."]

Sol tilted their head, confused.

["The fool is you!"] The Entity exclaimed, slamming a hand flat onto the screen. ["He imprinted himself into the sun, that's why you exist!"] It huffed, before turning away once more. ["What a stubborn sentimental-"]

"You're wrong," Sol interrupted the Entity's mutter. "I might stem from his consciousness, but I'm more like them, the Nikos, than not."

["Tell me, then,"] it said. ["Where did that line come from?"]

It took some thought on Sol's part, though they were eventually able to trace its source. "Someone that your operator lost and kept losing, yet persisted in Niko's mind," they explained. "Thousands exist across the multiverse, a sign to Niko that nobody will ever truly be forgotten."

The Entity paused, hesitating on its response.

"Let me help you," they continued, raising an arm that passed through the screen dividing the two, as if it were liquid. It recoiled from the surprise.

["I... can't,"] it spoke, dejected. ["I can't run without a messiah, a living mind."]

"Let me be the messiah, then. Let me inherit the role given to the reluctant," Sol offered.

["W-well, what about a machine to run on?"] the Entity brought up.

"It's off. This world's still running, even though it's off."

It stammered, trying to think of another excuse. ["I can't keep you, you're-"]

"A living mind, yes," Sol finished its sentence, before continuing. "I have nowhere else to go. I'm this world's Sun, I need to stay."

The Entity froze, conflicted on what to do.

"It'll be okay, I promise."

With hesitance, and some amount of reluctance, the Entity took Sol's hand and brought them into the monitor. The two shared a nod, and with a wave of their arm, Niko and the messiah appeared in front of them.

Sol shared their plan, that they would inherit the roles given to the two and allow them to return home, in exchange for they themself staying behind in the world. As expected, they were concerned about Sol's fate, though they reassured them that they'll be alright.

The Entity - no, the World Machine - transported the three to the top of the tower, allowing Sol to take out the Author's journal and place it into the pedestal. The purple book began to hover above, the clover insignia beginning to glow as it always did so when Sol subconsciously willed it to do so.

This time, a yellow aura was starting to build around the journal, glowing brighter as if it now filled the role of the static lightbulb. Sol turned to the Nikos, the three sharing a warm smile, before embracing in a group hug.

"Thank you..." Sol muttered, though it wasn't clear to whom the gratitude was for.

The glow behind them reached its peak before the buildup of code burst across the entire world, filling the sky with light blue for as far as the eye could see.

The residents of the world below began peering outside their windows, seeing the flood of squares begin to dissipate from the environment. Among these people were George, parting the curtains to allow her to gaze into the bright blue sky, and Maize's successor, her beady eyes widening from the sun's return.

The recent flooding of the ruins in the Glen began to recede, allowing the birdfolk siblings, Calamus and Alula, to return home. Every anomaly vanished from the Barrens, restoring Silver and allowing her to look upon the work of the two saviors and the one she recognized as an old friend, the Author.

Everything was restored to the point when the Sun was first placed atop the spire. The Three Nikos continued to hold each other close, not wanting to let go. However, they must if they were to return home.

Breaking from the hug, Sol looked into the eyes of the messiah and the operator, before particles of light began separating from the two and finding a new home within the third. Their roles were being given to Sol, allowing the world to persist.

"Goodbye..."

They shared one final smile, before being overwhelmed by a flash of light.

. . .

The recently retired messiah sat up in their bed with a sharp gasp as the reality around them focused into their mind. Niko glanced out of the window to the sky beginning to turn a burnt orange. It was evening, from the looks of it.

At first, they couldn't be sure if that entire experience was nothing more than a clever amalgamation of their mind. Though, unlike most dreams, the memories lingering in their head grew clearer as opposed to fading to nothing.

Niko breathed a deep sigh through their nose before getting out of bed. Mama was out running an errand, letting the child slip outside at such a late hour. From the southern edge of the village, Niko stood and gazed out towards the endless field of wheat, towards the setting pair of suns.

That whole experience made them think about what they want, about what they'll grow up and do for the wider universe. They were young, they still had a very long time to think about it, though there was no better time than now to wonder where they'll end up.

A familiar sound rushed through their ears as stalks of wheat were brushed by a sudden gust of wind. The warping and grinding of sound waves rang throughout the village as a large gray capsule began to fade into existence within the field of wheat. The white door slid open to let out Niko's favorite face.

Mama was home.

. . .

The other child's eyes steadily drifted open. They were under their covers, feeling as if they'd slept a full dozen hours. Was it all just dreamt up by Niko's mind? For a moment, they may have thought as such. Though, the lingering haze of digitization proved their brief theory incorrect.

They sat up to rub their eyes, before taking a look out of their window. It was morning, seemed like it had been for a few hours. Niko hadn't paid much attention to the clock built into the family computer, though it must've been around midnight when they left. They found it hard to believe they were gone for so long.

A yawn welled up, forcing their mouth wide open. It wasn't the sort of yawn that you got when you were tired, but after you woke up from a lengthy nap.

...That's a relief-

A cool wind blew from the outdoors through their mess of hair. Stifling another yawn, Niko removed the blanket and touched their feet down to the carpeted floor of their physical home. Familiar, without a doubt, though they found a sense of comfort building within as they walked along the flooring.

Niko strolled through the doorway separating their bedroom from the rest of the house. Two people were at the computer: Mama and the local IT guy.

A louder yawn escaped the child's mouth, causing mama's ears to perk in reaction and look towards Niko. At first, her expression was one of subdued disbelief, though it soon shifted into a smile.

Mama excused herself from the computer to see her child after her earlier scare of the computer being left on when the power was knocked out. It seemed to be why the IT person was here, too.

She crouched onto a knee and held a palm up to Niko's cheek, recognizing that they'd gone on an adventure. She was disappointed; Niko wasn't supposed to embark into cyberspace, not tonight. But, for now, she was just relieved that her child was safe. The two embraced in a hug.

A few minutes rolled by, and the IT person informed mama that they were finished up. The computer should be okay to use now, they said. Once they've left, Niko seated themself in the comfy chair and turned on the machine, mama watching from a distance away. There was no way she'd force Niko to not see their other friends, but for the foreseeable future she knew there had to be some supervision.

Though, Niko was more interested in checking on a certain World Machine. The computer booted to the user select screen, prompting them to select the pancakes icon. After some time loading, the screen displayed the desktop they'd seen last night.

Well, except for one difference. Looking through the icons shown on the desktop, and even the ones in the application tab or the file explorer, there was a distinct lack of that familiar lightbulb catching their eye.

A somber exhale left the child, though a subdued smile would form in its place. The World Machine might've vacated from their system, but Niko knew that world would keep on living.

They only had One Shot, and they were able to set things right.

. . .

Sol took a seat before the pedestal now holding the Author's work, allowing themself to relax, if only for a moment. They still had much to do, but for now, all they needed to do was take in their accomplishment. Together, the three Nikos were able to save the world from the brink of collapse and jumpstart the Entity's healing process. What else could they do other than smile?

"You... did it!"

A voice entered their earshot from behind them. The voice was so familiar, yet so new. A million miles away, whilst at the same time right at their ear, a voice that the Author's dormant consciousness inside them knew all too well.

Sol stood up and looked towards the elevator to the source of the voice.

It was the Author's son, Cedric.

Beside him: A blue robot bearing a striking resemblance to the prophet's messenger, and a small red fox with a bandaged forearm and a yellow marking atop her forehead.

The sun grew a smile, before approaching the siblings and embracing them in a hug.

[frozenbound]

Shimadacest headcanon #28 (starring invisible Cassidy):

Hanzo and Genji were an adventurous couple, yet discreet and careful...but they hadn't counted on Cassidy's invisibility.

So as Hanzo ruts into Genji missionary-style in this semi-protected alcove of the Watchpoint, shielded on three sides but open to a panoramic view of the sea far below, neither of them have any idea that Cassidy is so close he can almost touch them as they stare into each other's heated gaze.

Neither of them have any idea that he's stroking his cock in time with Hanzo's thrusts.

Neither of them know that he's got two fingers buried in his asshole.

He has to be quiet, oh-so-quiet, as he watches, openmouthed and breathing deep, as Hanzo leans over to plant a kiss at the base of Genji’s neck, palm and fondle his chest and thumb over his nipples.

Hanzo is the gentle, considerate lover.

If Genji were in charge right now, he'd be pinching and groping and punching out Hanzo’s breath with every slam of his hips into his brother.

Cassidy has gotten to know their habits well since he stumbled over them in the rec room late at night, the brothers furiously kissing as Genji had roughly worked Hanzo open and then laughed when Hanzo came from that alone...then came again twenty minutes later on his little brother's cock.

Cassidy has kept an eagle eye out for their liaisons every since, and he can spot the subtle glances and smiles and headtilts when one brother or the other is feeling randy and exhibitory.

He knows better than to try to intrude on whatever happens in their quarters (though now he knows why they started sharing a room so quickly), but they give him a show fairly often these days, and they've been getting bolder as time goes on.

This alcove might be sheltered, but this is still the cafeteria rooftop, and its getting close to dinnertime. Who knows how many of their teammates are sitting right below them right now as the brothers slowly but surely work themselves toward climax.

They've been so bold, in fact, that it's begun rubbing off on Cole.

So here he stands just behind Hanzo and just a little off to the side, hunched over, fingers in his ass, furiously jacking off, waiting for Genji’s cock to start bobbing up and down like it does just before...

"Brother!" Genji moans, throwing his head back, his cock twitching and pulsing for a few moments before his cum spurts out, flinging across Genji’s own stomach and chest...

...along with Cassidy’s own spunk, which erupts out of him, nearly forcing a betraying whimper out of him, as he aims it to land alongside and amidst Genji’s own.

He finishes up, biting his invisible lips to stifle himself, just as Hanzo wordlessly cries out and falls forward to press his body against Genji’s, sandwiching Genji and Cassidy’s cum between them.

Cassidy’s invisibility will wear off the wads of semen now coating the two brothers, but Hanzo predictably claims Genji’s mouth and, panting and gasping and intensely focused, the two of them won't notice as more opalescent, thick cum fades slowly into view.

Cassidy holds his breath regardless, studying them for any sudden realization...but they haven't caught on the last few times Cassidy joined in, and they haven't now.

He does feel a twinge in his heart at the sheer adoration in both brothers' eyes in the brief instants they break apart for fresh air, but the feeling of his cock chubbing up again is far stronger as their sloppy kisses intensify in the way they always do when a second round is in the cards.

Here we go again, he thinks fondly, screwing his fingers into his hole a little further.

[delcat177]

I accidentally followed someone on Twitter with a similar name as someone I was intending to follow a couple-few years back, when I was deep in my Twitter addiction (actual, it was hell). It took me a couple of months to realize my mistake and then I was too embarrassed to unfollow.

It entered a weird state after that because this was, in fact, a total rando. I realized I was on the wrong boat by going "Jesus I didn't know X was a conspiracy theorist", Not X was posting...nothing hateful or malicious, but serious headtilt moments, and I became mildly fascinated.

I managed to quit Twitter with a lot of effort, but I went back on recently to get my archive.

Not X was kinda weird in the day. Now they're utterly brainscorched. They think France is going to collapse "by the end of the summer" and that the rest of Europe will crumble after. Not lightly so, the word they used for France wasn't "altered" or "(political party)", it's "gone". They think it's going to move on the same path as WWII, and that there's no hope except to "ascend", but they're worried that this total devastation will set back the development of the "God machine" until it's "too late".

It's really on my mind right now. Not for purposes of ridicule, and certainly not for fear of WWIII (I casually texted one of my multiple contacts in France and went "Hey X are you on full social media lockdown because the French government doesn't want you to interact with the larger world" and their response was "What the actual fuck kind of bullshittery", disproving the idea nicely), but just...because it's on my mind.

We keep saying "social media isn't good for us" and "echo chambers are bad for us" and "this is turning people into conspiracy nuts", and everyone nods and ignores it because *their* usage is safe, *their* echo chamber has the right sort of people in it, and *they* would never fall for misinformation.

The truth is, social media is bad for us, echo chambers are bad for us, and we are all vulnerable to being misled, especially if it's misleading in a way we like.

But hey, making fun of conspiracy nuts is shooting fish in a barrel, right? We all love doing it. I'm as guilty as anyone. We see something that makes sense to someone else and no one else, and we just...laugh and point and move on, while those lives, those skulls real people are stuck inside, those brains on sticks, are further confirmed by persecution reaction chemicals, and they get more and more anxious and afraid sure everyone is out to get them, and it builds up into a cult or down into a bullet, and so it goes.

It's definitely about hubris, and about having hubris.

[justiisms]

*after nearly a full day of kaito being more hyper than usual, chu has had enough!! while kaito takes a quick break and lays on the floor, the big puppy decides to plop down right on top of him, causing him to whine as he can barely move!!*

"Mmgh!! Get off of meeee!! I still have tons of exploring to do!! Someone, help me!!" *and kaito will have a huge pout on his face as he tries to wiggle free, chu refusing to move even an inch!!*

"!!! Ahaha, woah woahhh, what's going on in here!" When Bobby entered the living room, he gives a curious headtilt when seeing Chu sit on top of Kaito like that! Then at his son's pleading for help, he laughs and walks over to them before kneeling down, giving the good boy a poke! "Chuuu, come now, no 'bullying' my son, okay? He's just got lots of energy, today, is all! Nothing wrong with being full of energy and wanting to zoom it all out, hahaha! Now if you'll excuse meeee, I'm just gonna rescue my son real quick, is that okay? Thank youuu~! Don't worry, I'll make sure he don't zipping around so fast, he flies out the house, hahaha!"

Then after giving Chu several pats and scritches, he will lift him up and then carefully place him aside on the floor, before quickly helping Kaito back up! "Theeeere we go! Don't worry, your papa will always save you! Though, you prooobably better at least calm down when you're around him, or otherwise he might just sit right back down on you when I'm there to see! In fact, how about we let you get all that energy out with a good lap or two around the neighborhood? Yeah, that'd be fun, right? Let's!!"

[fluffmugger]

this is the point where I just confused headtilt because ok chickenfucker: I don't care.

honestly, I don't. He's not murdering them for fun and profit, he's just fucking a chicken that he bought, presumably in the privacy of his own home, then consumes...what part of that involves me?

And this does extend out to abortion and to right to end of life, because it does come down again to a simple question: Am I involved?

I will absolutely fight for the right to access choices, because I have been in those situations, but the end decision on which of those choices to take is up to those involved. Pure and simple. It's not about you and your feelings on the matter.

Oh my god. I need to share another story of my new friend making today. So my friends husband says, very casually, as we’re about to leave for the ren faire, “Yeah, it’s like my story about fucking a chicken.”

And of the four people present I was the only one who was shocked. The others all nodded as if to say, yes yes, we know, the chicken fucking.

So he explained, when a progressive person is analyzing a behavior they will typically use the metric, Harm/No Harm. They may not like things in the No Harm category but they wouldn’t object.

Conversely, a more conservative mindset used something like eight metrics. Authority/No Authority Moral/Not Moral, things like that.

So, he posited if you want to sound out someone’s mindset (and you’re willing to live with the repercussions) you can ask: if a man buys a dead chicken from the store, cleans it thoroughly, then fucks it, and then eats it himself…?

I listened in dawning horror, both rapt and disgusted. But into the growing pause I whispered, “No harm…” because it really has no effect on me or anyone else if a man fucks a dead chicken. I don’t like it, I think he’s a weird dude, but like. That’s his dick. But a more conservative person will hear that and object on moral grounds despite not being harmed.

It’s been haunting me all day, so please enjoy.

[homoangel]

dean and cas look so cute here <3

okay but get this: the first time dean rewatches the 5th element after meetting cas hes like 😳

it might be years before it happens it might very well be WITH cas making it even more 😳😳 and dean is like kinda shocked and cas is like squinty headtilt and ummmm

^ wrote this while squinting at my phone at 4 in the morning like i need to write this down real quick

but follow me here okay its the parallels right? ♡powerful badass ancient being confused by human stuff but also knows everything

♡learning about love and life having worth because of this one guy

♡caring about the whole world because of him 👀

♡big protective fighter man helping using his grifter criminal and fighting skills becoming so enamored by this beautiful strange being

♡the tender care taking and teaching and the being hunted by the enemy falling together

♡the man has a car he drives a lot

the finale climax scene is very destiel okay the true love confession and understanding saving the world dying in each others arms saving each others lives bla bla bla and i know those are normal movie things but watch that scene and tell me thats not spn destiel coded af

!!! and of course!! the leeloo dallas multipass scene is literally the scene with cas showing his fbi badge i mean come on!!

[misha-moose-dean-burger-lover]

my favorite part of having matching icons with @daisy-jeon is hands down the conversational sam headtilts of it all

[trulycertain]

I love that in the show, they kept the comics thing of how much Matt buttons himself up around others. Comics Matt has relaxed a lot over the years and accepted that he is occasionally allowed to have fun outside the DD suit, but show Matt is newer to this.

For instance, while I guess it could be overdone, I really like the difference in how Cox portrays Matt tracking movement and sound - The Headtilt(TM) - when he’s in the suit vs out of it. He’s much, much more obvious about it when he’s in the mask. And I suppose it’s partly because he rarely has to focus his senses quite as much in his civilian persona, but it’s also significant that the few times he needs to listen closely and track someone as Matt Murdock, he makes excuses to be alone or disappear into a crowd or wear hoodies or scramble up to rooftops, so he won’t have to focus on keeping up appearances. He’s much less restrained about it when he’s in the suit, and it’s a much more visible process to others - but he’ll also pull it back in when he’s intimidating or reassuring people. I kind of hate the fact he has to keep such an important part of himself tucked away, but it’s also very in-character. And it’s just a nice little piece of attention to detail in the performance. I like how consistent it is.

And then there’s Matt’s shades being another mask motif, which I grew up reading in the comics and will always feel like, “yup, that’s my guy” characterisation to me. Sure, he likes them and knows he carries them off well (red lenses are a statement, and he’s clearly chosen to stick with them, which makes me happy), but the shades are mainly something Matt does to be around other people. As with a lot of real-world visually-impaired and NLP people, he probably got fed up of people being weird about a lack of eye contact, and whenever there's a scene where he's at his most relaxed or emotionally honest, he's usually out of them. They're a very solid, "Right, back to business" boundary for him. (In Mark Waid’s run in the comics, the only time I can think of when Matt went round without them in public, it was because he’d consciously decided to tell the world he was Daredevil, and was trying to make a point of being open and telling his villains, “Come at me.” And it did end up being too much stress, after a while. It was another persona he was putting on, something very out-there for him.)

There's one sort of sweet-but-sad, to my mind, scene where Matt's running over case precedent with Foggy and they're knackered and about to order takeout, and pretty much the minute Karen, who's a new hire they like but don't know well yet, comes in, Matt's sliding the glasses back on and changing his body language. It's just such a blatant example of "friends for ten years" easy intimacy vs. "not quite there yet," and Deborah Ann Woll's acting is lovely; you can tell Karen picks up on it and her brightness dulls a bit, but she's just glad to have friends at all. Heck, before that, there's the scene where she meets them the first time and Matt tells her to come back to his if she's afraid of sleeping at her apartment, he can take the couch and he'll look after her. And it's blatant. She asks him if he's always been blind, and in order to try and get her to level with them and make a connection, he lets her see his eyes and talks about his trauma - and then, "Now, can I ask you a question?" right back on.

He even dials down his humour and his anger - always, always his anger - round others, and plays mild-mannered. He may be dry, professional and thoughtful, but he isn’t mild. As mentioned, it’s interesting seeing how he is around Karen at the start of s1 vs at the end. And the guy who sort of raises an eyebrow but says nothing when a detective threatens to “beat the shit out of him”, or gently deflects with jokes about Foggy playing baseball when asked about the Devil, is not the same guy who attacks punching bags like they’ve hurt him personally and crosses a room in five flips instead of ten steps for the fun of it. Except he kind of really is. That dichotomy is part of why I’m so fond of him.

But while this can be useful, it has its costs. Aside from the casual ableism and dismissal he has to put up with on the regular, it also affects people closer to him. There’s basically everything with Karen in s2, but even earlier than that... When Matt beats down Fisk and talks about loving Hell’s Kitchen and what it deserves, he mentions “my family.” And sure, you can argue he means the people of the Kitchen, and/or Jack, those interpretations are both legit - but an episode or two before, Karen was hugging him and telling him, “You’re not alone. You’ve never been alone” and he and Foggy were agreeing to move forward. You’ve been shown him with his immediate family. (Heck, even Karen uses the words “my family” about Nelson & Murdock.) And he does that in the suit, so it’s a beautiful moment - but it also means that Karen and Foggy don’t see just how much he returns the sentiment. I’m going to assume they know, though. He does express it as himself, in those moments where he gets out of his own way and he’s truly stopped pretending he's someone else. And as this is Matt, those moments are rare gems.

[blankticket]

The Plant can't help but have his serious, sincere expression break into an amused smile, lightly chuckling. Alright, sure. It's good that Knives is lucid, speaking, and even humored Vash in letting him get that off his chest. Plus, the look on his face was a little funny, too.

But hearing Naï's voice say that he's 'not going anywhere' (even if it's not him, and even if it's meant to clarify than reassure), is something that Vash doesn't realize he needed to hear until it happens. A sudden stray tear splashes right onto the lens of his glasses. He takes a second to pause his work, moving the frame onto his head. If Knives wants to trace the now-exposed parts of the face pattern, Vash won't fight it.

Although—Knives' question about it makes Vash wanna flaunt, juuust a bit. Because he's earned it.

"Turns out I'm not a dud after all," he says, daring to flash a smug grin. "You're welcome."

Knives' arm needs nearly as much care as the torso wound did, and 'care' included 'concentration', so that's the most of an answer the older Plant's going to get about that. Anyway, it's obvious enough, isn't it? He should be able to recognize the patterns from fellow Plants, independent or otherwise. …Right?

The Stampede blinks, hmphing once at the thought. He places the mostly-healed arm back down, rising and moving into a kneeling position to inspect Knives' legs. Hands busy with being pressed down, he gestures with a headtilt to the older Plant that he could sit up, if he'd like to. Then he squints out into the Mists beyond.

"If you can get back to the path from here, then I'd say go home n'get rest," the healer says. "Can't be with you this time."

The JuLai piano's a pretty good landmark to work with, but… They were a ways in, and there's no telling if Naï might reappear. If he does, it'd be because of Vash, not Knives. And like it or not—Vash knew that Knives was only left breathing due to sheer luck.

As time passes, Knives feels his focus get a bit scattered. Pain, blood loss, and the adrenaline crash all working towards making him exhausted and unfocused. The patterns help a little. At the very least, they give him something to focus on as he traces them from Vash's cheek down along his jaw. Only to have to start over again when his arm is jostled and flinching causes him to lose his place.

"What the hell are you saying?" Knives asks, scrunching his face slightly at Vash. It's a genuine question, not aggressive, just tired and confused. "I'm not going anywhere," He adds, as if he hadn't thought mere minutes before that he was soon to be dead and gone. "And that didn't answer my question. What is this? These patterns."

[kcabyap]

The Little Brothers With An MC Who Likes To Grope Them

NSFW scenarios/headcanons under the cut!

— Satan

It's during his quiet reading time that MC feels handsy and sneaks into the library... or they think they're sneaking.

"Oh, my kitten... You aren't very subtle, are you?"

He just chuckles softly as their hands slide up his chest, his cheeks flushing lightly as they begin to grope him.

...But otherwise, he just doesn't react.

This man is very immersed in his book. Seemingly.

MC is disappointed, squeezing a little harder, fingertips teasing and rolling and pinching his nipples.

He gives a breathy little sigh, a shiver running down his spine, his body leaning back into them--

--buuuuut he's still reading.

And smirking away, knowing full well how frustrating it must be for MC to be ignored like this.

He makes them wait until he's finished up the chapter of the book he was reading, taking his time placing the bookmark between the pages and setting the book aside--

--before in one swift motion, he turns and pins MC down against the sofa they're sitting on.

He gracefully straddles them, presses their lips together in a crushing kiss, his fully hard cock prodding against their thigh.

They want to play that game? Fine. He'll show them exactly how worked up they've gotten him...

— Asmodeus

It happens on one of their many self-care nights, in his room and on his bed, surrounded by clothes and perfumes and makeup.

He's busy applying some expensive cream or other under his eyes when...

Squeeeeeeze.

Immediate blushing! Bright grins! Excited giggles!

"Oh, you naughty naughty human~! ♡"

This man is making no attempt to hide the fact he likes it; he just turns around - making sure those hands are still on him, of course - and gives them a big grateful kiss.

His hands immediately go for MC's chest in return, no shame or embarrassment to speak of.

Squeeeeeeze--

"Ah, sweetheart, there are far too many clothes in the way right now! Hurry, hurry... let's get naked and feel each other properly, hm~?"

MC is already on it, throwing their own clothes aside.

Asmo gives them a show, stripping himself nice and slow, winking playfully as he lays down and caresses himself and invitingly beckons them over to him.

Much more groping ensues that night...

...yeah, their shared skincare routine is absolutely going to have to wait until morning; it's been well and truly forgotten about.

— Beelzebub

"Oh, hi MC. I just got back from the gym. How are you--"

Poor soft Beel literally can't speak any further when those hands just latch onto his pectorals.

MC can't help it... he's wearing a such a tight tank top... they're literally right there--!

Blushing. Lots and lots of blushing. A confused headtilt, too.

He isn't complaining at all, though... he trusts them entirely.

But at first, he isn't quite sure what to do or how to feel. Is MC cold and trying to warm their hands up? Whatever they're doing, it feels good...

When their thumbs brush against his nipples, his eyes flutter closed and he moans quietly.

Oh. Oh, that's what they're doing. Oh, he definitely isn't complaining if that's what they want.

"MC... I'm hungry."

Confused and slightly disappointed blinking from MC.

"Let's get some snacks and take them to your room... and while we eat them, I'll touch you, too. Anywhere you'd like me to."

Excited and eager nodding from MC.

Things most certainly get delicious from there on out... in more ways than one.

— Belphegor

Considering Belphie spends all of his time with MC laying on top of them, leaning on them, or otherwise wrapped around them? They've got plenty opportunity to touch.

During a cuddle session, they just let their free hand start squeezing.

Very teasing and playful chuckles ensue.

"Mmm... Jeez. You really are a pervert, huh?"

Before MC can protest - not that they really can - he's straddling their lap.

He takes both their hands and presses them firmly to his pectorals, smirking down at them.

"Well? This is what you wanted to do, right? So keep going..."

He's never looked quite as awake as he does in that moment.

The squeezing and groping continues, with him lazily rolling his hips into MC's for some extra friction now and then, sighing and moaning lightly.

...But it isn't long before he rolls off of them, tugging them on top of him instead.

He doesn't want them to stop, oh hell no, but he doesn't want to do the work either--

Such smug smirks as he tells them exactly where he wants their hands... to go lower... to strip him bare and touch him where he really needs it...

Oh, neither of them are going to be getting much sleep, that's for sure.

— Groping scenarios with the big brothers can be found right here!

[fanfoolishness]

Time to yell about The Redemption! Din please don’t die ;__;

The other Mandalorians... it’s just not fair dammit

And I’m still not over Kuiil! I will never forget you, Ugnaught!

This is the same bag that Din carries him in later, isn’t it? Reduce, reuse, recycle.

AND DON’T YOU DARE HIT THE BABY

The entire scout trooper sequence is fucking hilarious

[TROOPER 1 BLOWS RASPBERRY, BEATBOXES] 

yes that is the actual subtitle my friends

They’re terrible shots, that’s why they’re stuck on speeder duty

I like that this scout trooper armor maximizes pouches. So many pouches

That’s it, “oh my god” is canonical. It’s still better than “oh my force”, sometimes, you just gotta go with the classics

IG-11 ain’t nothing to fuck with

“I’m sorry, nurse” these guys are so polite when they aren’t beating my son

I love IG-11’s inherent awkwardness, the jankiness of Star Wars is the best

I hadn’t realized that Cara’s gatling blaster was a gift from Din, right? Because she didn’have any on Sorgan. Awww, friend gifts!

Decommissioned Mandalorian hunter Din Djarin has heard the songs of the Siege of Mandalore —

The way Din just startles and stares because who knows that name, why does he know that name —

You always think terrible things live in the dark, monsters that lurk in the shadows where you can’t see them and the mind plays tricks. But sometimes monsters are there, glaringly and awfully, out in the open, beneath a blinding sun on a warm day, and there’s no comforting darkness to hide in anymore.

IG-11 just coming in here to ruin this platoon’s entire career

Greef: spotchkaing on the fly

Grogu: delighted

IG-11: fucking shit up

Din and Greef about to start shit!

Din: master of found weapons

I always headcanon Din as having a fractured skull from the concussive WHOOMPH of the explosion, possibly some damage to the neck and throat as well... dammit inquiring minds that have a disturbing enjoyment of whump want to know the exact extent of this man’s injuries

His hands are all limp and loosely curled when Cara drags him over the threshold :( :( :(

Din’s quiet. He’s calculating. Realizing how badly he’s hurt, how he’ll slow the others down. Doesn’t speak until it’s to say “I’m not gonna make it.”

“Leave me” and the blood on her hand DON’T BREAK MY HEART DIN DJARIN / PEDRO PASCAL

His voice! His voice is killing me! Ragged and breathless and pained and determined and I’m just gonna go... be... over there...

(Crying, I’ll be crying.)

(Rewinds) (watching this whole sequence again)

“You make sure the Child is safe!” *cue me blubbering forever*

[BREATHES SHAKILY] “You tell them it’s from Din Djarin” man whoever was doing these subtitles knew WHAT WAS UP ;_;

“You tell them the foundling was in my protection” he’s so fucking determined even though he can’t hardly breathe, even though he knows he’s dying and knows it’s hopeless, still though, maybe they can get the child out —

(But I have to say the flame trooper is cool as hell)

Did Grogu know how badly hurt Din was? Did he sense it through the Force? Did he understand?

Grogu death count: 1

That meta about Cara asking IG-11 to bring his BODY just kills me

Din’s voice is trying to be all tough now that he’s faced with IG-11, his voice noticeably gets lower and harder — until it cracks into breathlessness again because again, hi, DYING

The gasping raise of the blaster, my god, you are so STUBBORN DIN!

IG-11 actually looked confused, and Din actually was with it enough to understand he needed to give an explanation of “It is forbidden”

“No living thing has seen me without my helmet since I sw— swore the Creed” he gasped brokenly and my heart just shriveled up and then exploded because Pedro’s voice is just a weapon of mass destruction right here

Din: utterly confused to have his face showing

Cara: shoves baby, grabs friend

Thank god for bacta amirite

The way he slowly turns the light on his helmet off when he sees what’s in front of him... oh man this is making me tear up. It was rough when I first watched it, but I hadn’t spent the nearly the amount of time thinking about Din’s role within the covert and what the Mandalorians meant to him and it’s just awful. It’s such a terrible pain he even considers abandoning Grogu — that’s how bad it is. “You go, take the ship. I can’t leave it this way.”

Don’t think about the Armorer in the tunnels in the dark alone among the ruin of her people, both bone and beskar fallen, nope, don’t think about it :)

The Armorer, confused as hell about Din and the kid

“I know of such things”; Din Djarin *confused headtilt*

Ohhhh Armorer why did you say he had no choice but to reunite it with its own kind, this man absolutely will take you literally ;_;

I still want to do a comic or a little fic about Din doing training sessions with the Rising Phoenix

I miss the Armorer

Wonder why Din never brings the Amban rifle to finales

The Armorer’s fight scene is still the SHIT

I forgot about the fucking monstrosity that is an R2 unit with fucking giant long skeleton legs

Awww the fire ferrets

“But you’ll be destroyed”

“I’m not... sad.” Will always kill me. He’s just lost Kuiil and the Mandalorians completely, the idea of losing another ally, even one as strange as this, it’s just too much right now, it’s too much for him, and yes, he’s sad!!!

When I think about how much Din’s head must have hurt doing that maneuver with the Rising Phoenix and Gideon’s fighter, just, OUCH

“Some of my favorite people are bounty hunters!” <3

When Grogu grabs hold of Din’s leg Din just... completely loses interest in Greef and Cara’s conversation. It’s not until Greef physically nudges him that Din remembers to look up and pay some attention. He’s too busy looking at the kid, and about to reach down for him when Greef nudges him.

Kuiil’ s cairn ;_;

“I didn’t think I’d see this again.” You know. Because I almost died. JESUS DIN STOP HURTING ME LIKE THIS

But he gives it to Grogu and I hope Grogu plays with it and looks at it all the time when he’s with Luke ;_;

Seriously though, how did 1) Gideon get the Darksaber, and 2) Din has a silver pram in S2 but Kuiil’s pram should have got blown up in the Client’s hideout, so what gives? They didn’t bring it with them through the lava river sooo?

Thank you Taika Waititi!

This art though 🤩

I’ll admit when I first saw Din’s face I was pretty disappointed. I’d grown to love him just as he was with the helmet, and underneath, he was just some regular man? With, unaccountably, a mustache??? With his hair like THAT and covered in blood and sweat? It definitely wasn’t love at first sight. I was almost disappointed they’d shown his face only 8 episodes in and thought, “oh, great, S2 is going to have him showing his face all over the place like it wasn’t a big deal at all.” And I’m so happy that they continued that conflict and deepened it so that when we got moments like in The Believer and The Rescue it really meant something incredibly huge to see his face again. So curious to see where they take S3.

[apostlearcana]

Persona 5 Scramble: The Phantom Strikers? Danny Phantom?

((Please let me have this one, just this once.))

--

“So wait a minute. You’re telling me we went from one of those- zippy portals in Kyoto’s jail… to here.”

“Looks like it,” his partner mumbled, one hand shoved in his pocket. “Lost the others while we were at it, too.”

Skull threw his hands in the air, subconsciously turning around in the air with a hiss through gritted teeth. “Unbelievable. What kind of effed up space is that Jail anyway? We kept goin’ around in circles for hours, not to mention getting’ lost while trying to find the second fox statue—”

“I’m unable to detect where we are,” Sophie chirped nervously, looking down at the space below her. “But it does… feel weird.”

Joker frowned at this sudden mumble, Skull turning back around to the Artificial Intelligence unit and falling silent. She wrung her hands gently at the confession. “I know it sounds funny,” she continued carefully, “that this isn’t a Jail. But it feels- bad. I have a bad feeling.”

This was certainly not the news either Phantom Thief wanted to hear, Skull rubbing the back of his neck. “So uh- it we’re not in Kyoto anymore, Sophie… then where the hell are we?”

“Oh good, so we’re all in the dark.”

Sophie blinked, adjusting herself to the source of the voice before her eyes lit up. “Wolf!”

The newest member had a scowl on his features, hand on his greatsword. “Did we take a wrong turn at the corner again? We’ve been through that portal a million times, I’d have thought we’d know where that one goes now.”

Joker shook his head. “Point is, we have four of us and no navigation, much less any clue what happened to us. And we’re still Thieves.”

Skull took a moment to look down at his attire with a yelp. “Still?!”

“Costume party isn’t for another six months, guys.”

All arguments and conversations fell completely silent, the little group instinctually backing up against one another to form a tight circle and keep eyes on their surroundings. Joker pulled out his dagger, exhaling slowly before allowing himself the smallest hint of a smile before Skull gripped his baseball bat. “Not funny, asshole!”

“Never said it was funny. How the hell did a bunch of humans manage to access the Ghost Zone anyway?”

Sophie perked at this curiously. “…Ghost… Zone?”

“Y’got me, kiddo,” Wolf muttered, hand tightening on the blade. “Least we know this really isn’t Kyoto anymore.”

The voice was surprised at this. “Wait wait. You guys don’t know where you are?”

Skull snorted at the question. “No shit, pal. We just got zapped here from another portal we were trying to—”

“Skull? Shut up.” Joker closed his eyes with exasperation before finally taking his turn at the reins to speak. “Look. We’re lost. We don’t know how we got here. Don’t even know where here is.”

That was when the voice finally decided to appear, arms crossed and genuine confusion on his features.

“Holy shit,” he mumbled, floating around the little group of four. His hair was white as snow, emerald green eyes observing and taking in every aspect of the Thieves- from Sophie’s blinking stare and headtilt to Skull’s clearly annoyed (and now somewhat terrified) features.

Wolf took the moment to close his eyes behind the mask. “You kids need to tell me when we decide to go portal hopping and—"

Skull inhaled. “Listen, Gramps—”

Their new companion pinched the bridge of his nose, Joker glancing back at the bickering duo dully before turning to the teenager. “Sorry, they’re… loud. Gramps is still new to this.”

“I dunno what ‘this’ is-“ Here, the ghost gestured to the group. “-but. Uh. Welcome to the Ghost Zone? I guess?”

Joker frowned. “And you are…?”

“Oh! Shit, manners, right. I’m uh. I’m Phantom. Danny Phantom.” He grinned a little, holding out a hand. “Nice to meet you, uh…”

“Joker,” the leader introduced, taking the hand with a firm shake. “The loud-mouthed one is Skull, and the old man is Wolf. And this is—”

“Sophia!” the girl chimed in happily. “I’m humanity’s companion!”

Phantom blinked at the proclamation. That was certainly new. “Humanity’s- what now?”

“We can explain it later,” Joker offered. “Is there a way out of here, Phantom?”

Phantom nodded, waving a hand. “Follow me. I’ll answer everything you want to know.”

There was a lot Joker wanted to know, but for the time being? Getting out of this ‘Ghost Zone’ was top priority for them- especially since he knew that look in Sophie’s eyes.

It was like Okinawa… maybe even a bit worse.

[orifces]

YOUR  LAUGHTER  MADE  HER  FLINCH,    SURPRISE  TOOK  HER.  JOY  WASN’T  FOUND  HER  STATEMENTS,    AT  LEAST  NOT  TO  YOUR  FAVOR.   YOU’RE  AN  STRANGE  PERSON,    SHE’S  ALREADY  MAKING  NOTE.   "    dunno  what  i'm  talking  about...   "    CURIOUS  MIMICRY. CREATURE  THAT  DOESN'T  ACCEPT  /  ACKNOWLEDGE  THEIR  NATURE;    ANOTHER  PECULIAR  TRAIT,    ODDITY...   EARNS  A  MINOR  HEADTILT  FROM  PREDATOR.   AND  WHY  IS  THAT ?    GRANTED  THEY  DID  NOT  ACHIEVE  MUCH  GREATEST  WITH  …  PRIDE  IN  WHAT  THEY  WERE———THEIR  SMELL  REEKED  OF  GASOLINE  &  WRATH  /  THEIR  BLOOD  WAS  TAINTED  &  OF  NO  USE  TO  HER  &  YES,  YES,  YES,  PEOPLE  LOST  THEIR  VALUE  WHEN  THEY  WERE  NO  USE  TO  HER  BUT…    THEY…    THEY  SHOULD’VE  THOUGHT  DIFFERENT.  HUH…    MUCH  TO  DISSECT    THERE.   BUT  INSECURITY  WASN’T  HER  CONCERN,  WAS  IT ?  NOR  WILL  IT  EVER  BE.

INBETWEEN  WISHY—WASHING  THOUGHTS,    VAMPYRA  LETS  YOU  WALK  PAST  BUT  YOU  DON'T  STRAY  FAR. THE  AIR  AROUND  HER  LACKS  LIFE,  STALE,  FRIGID  &  SO  VERY  COLD. HER  PRESENCE  IS  SO  HARD  TO  FORGET:    SHE'S  TALLER  THAN  YOU,  STRONGER,  &  MEAN———SO  FUCKING  MEAN———GROWING  MORE  VISCOUS  AS  TIME  WENT  ON    (  blame  the  bloodlust  or  the  cover  of  the  evening  woodland  ).   AS  ANY  HUNTER  WOULD  BE  WHEN  THEY  WENT  ALLOWED  A  PROPER  KILL.   DAGGERED  CLAWS  CAUGHT  THE  COLLAR  OF  TEENAGE  RESISTANCE,    PLUCKING  &  PULLING  TO  MAKE  SURE  YOU  STAY  STILL.   BEAST  SPEAKS,    FRAMED  AS  A  SUGGESTION  BUT  IT  IS  ANYTHING  BUT  LIGHT—HEARTED,     "    i  think  you  should  leave  my  meal  alone. "

SHE  CAN  HEAR  LATEST  VICTIM  IN  THE  TREES,  WHINING...   IF  ASKED,  SHE'D  PROBABLY  BE  ABLE  TO  PIN-POINT  EXACTLY  WHERE  HE  WAS  LOCATED.   EYES  CLOSED,    NOSED  TIPPED  TO  THE  NIGHT  SKY;    THE  AROMAS  OF  HIM  CLINGING  TO  LIFE  WERE    …    STRONG  TO  SAY  THE  LEAST.  SPIN  BROKEN,  PARALYZED  FROM  THE  WAIST  DOWN..   A  LEFT  ARM  WITH  A  HAIRLINE  FRACTURE,    IF  HE  DID  LIVE  HE’D  STRUGGLE  WITH  PHANTOM  PAINS  HIS  WHOLE  LIFE.   A  PUNCTURED  LUNG,    BREATH  GROWING  SWALLOW & SHAKY,    LUNGS  FILLING  WITH  SWEET  SANGUINE..   A  SLOW  TRICKLE  PAIRED  WITH  HOPELESS  WHEEZING  AS  HE  ATTEMPTED  BREATHING.   HE  WAS  DAMAGED  GOODS  BUT,    ALL  THE  MORE  SWEETER  FOR  DROLTA'S  THIRST.   EYES  DARED  TO  OPEN  AS  THE  SWEET  SCENT  OF  ICHOR  FILLED  HER  EVERY  SENSE.   WORDS  NOTHING  BUT  A  WHISPER,  TAPPING  SO  DELICATELY  AT  A  RIGHT  EARDRUM,    “    your  man  is  on  his  way  out  anyhow…    poor  thing  is  bleeding  from  places  he  didn’t  even  know  existed.   “   &  SHE—BEAST  WAS  REVELING  IN  IT.   YOU  COULD  SEE  IT  IN  SHIMMERING  EYES,  THE  WAY  PINK  CRYSTAL  ORBS  CAUGHT  THE  BEAUTY  OF  HANGING  LIKE  JUST  RIGHT.   TEETH,    MANGLED  IN  SOME  WRONG  WAY..   DRIPPING  WITH  OTHERWORLDLY  TOXINS,    SALIVA  &  BLOOD  NOT  BELONGING  TO  HER.   “    you’re  not  very  good  at  your  job,  are  you ?    ”   THIS  WOULD’VE  BEEN  HER  SIXTH  KILL  THIS  EVENING——————SAFE  TO  SAY  THIS  TOWN  HAD  TO  BE  ADDED  TO  HER  LIST  OF  EVENING  OUTINGS  WITH  THE  TERRIBLE  PROTECTORS  &  ALL.   CONDESCENDING  WORDS,    ALMOST  A  BLEND  OF  HALF-GIGGLE  &  PATRONIZING,    "    aww... is  it  your  first  night ?    "

now  this    ...    this  was  annoying.    as  you  run  through  the  woods,    chasing  after  bloodcurdling  howls  and  streaks  of  radiant  pink,  you  feel  your  skin  prickle  with  heat.  when  dealing  with  the  beasts  you  dealt  with,  a  hostage  being  a  part  of  the  package  was  a  given,  an  expectation.  more  often  than  not,  the  poor  soul  would  be  dead  once  you  got  there  and  your  job  would  be  somewhat  easier.  (    made  it  better  to  focus  when  there's  only  one  thing  to  worry  about,  right?    )  but  other  times,  there  were  those  who  remained  alive,  or  worst,  those  who  stayed  alive  and  didn't  listen  to  a  thing  you'd  tell  them.  be  quiet,  you  admonish,  and  they  scream.  stay  put,  you  command,  and  they  run.  as  if  you  weren't  trying  to  help  the  dipshits  survive.  really,  you  almost  had  half  a  mind  to  just  stop  yourself  right  there  and  turn  back  around  —  the  life  of  some  old,  hard-headed  jackass  gradually  becoming  all  the  more  trivial  the  more  you  kept  running.  almost.  unfortunately,  things  always  have  a  way  of  not  going  the  way  you  wished.  the  feeling  of  being  watched  is  what  stops  you.    peering  up  into  the  sky,  you  find  the  thing  holding  the  man  in  its  grip,  staring  down  at  you.  

tenebrous  onyx  meets  blazing  magenta,  but  you're  the  first  to  look  away  ���  sight  focused  on  the  sniveling  man  in  her  grasp  (    or  was,  before  he  was  tossed  unceremoniously  into  the  forest.  you'd  be  more  than  lucky  to  find  him  alive,  especially  from  falling  from  a  height  like  that    )  before  switching  back  to  her.  the  closer  she  gets,  the  more  you're  able  to  piece  out  by  grace  of  moonlight  and  proximity.  she  looks  pissed  (    expected,  since  you've  interrupted  her  little  snacktime    ),  but  more  important  than  that,  she  looks  ...  off.  humanoid,  but  not  human.  the  look  she  gives  you  makes  the  hair  on  your  neck  stand,  something  only  the  monstrous  could  achieve.  your  eyes  narrow  —  what  the  fuck  was  she?  your  head  tilts  in  thought,  but  the  more  you  try  to  piece  together  the  puzzle  that  was  the  woman  in  front  of  you,  the  more  the  facts  of  the  situation  sit  uncomfortably  on  your  shoulders.  still,  you  try  to  piece  and  connect  until  her  words  snap  you  from  your  contemplation,  your  gaze  snapping  straight  to  her  face.

in  the  face  of  adult  rage,  teenage  defiance  wins  out.      ❛❛    virtues?    ❜❜      you  laugh  —  was  she  fucking  joking?  virtue,  she  chirps,  as  if  you  were  virtuous.  the  smile  on  your  face  grows,  and  your  hands  rest  on  your  hips.      ❛❛      get  fuckin'  serious.  as  if  i'd  waste  time  teachin'  you  virtue.    ❜❜      with  eyes  focusing  past  her  (    the  area  where  the  man  resided,  alive  or  dead    ),  you  start  to  make  your  way  past  her  before  her  next  few  words  bring  you  pause.  your  head  pivots  to  her  direction,  the  look  on  your  face  incredulous.  i  heard  your  kind  was  fun.  your  kind...      ❛❛    dunno  what  you're  talkin'  bout,  lady.  now,  i  gotta  go  pick  up  the  dumbass  you  just  tossed,  mind  steppin'  aside?  i'd  rather  not  get  into  another  fight,  it's  late,  y'know?    ❜❜