#so if something sounds a bit familiar or a dejavu it could be that

[frozenjokes]

The Art Of Being Kidnapped [1/2]

next / Ao3 link with CWs

“Byeeee! Have a nice time!” Tango’s cheery lilt echoed across the icy cavern before the metal door, built like a vault, slammed shut. A superhero Jimmy didn’t recognize rolled across the slick floor, momentum from being thrown inside carrying him a considerable distance. Sometimes Jimmy forgot Tango was quite strong; certainly not the beefiest among his line of work, but enough to send a small avian skidding across the floor of his dungeon.

The avian’s wings and hands were bound, just like Jimmy’s were, but the ropes were only meant to last for travel, and sure enough, within minutes of writhing and foaming at the mouth on the ground (which he didn’t have to do, his legs weren’t bound..), the superhero was free, flying to the door and slamming the full force of his body against it, predictably, winding himself immediately.

Jimmy stifled a laugh as the avian stumbled backwards with a heaving chest, falling into a sit to catch his breath. It was a wonder he hadn’t noticed Jimmy yet, but then again, the particularly angry superheroes always took a bit more time. Unfortunate. Jimmy hoped this guy wasn’t as much of an asshole as he looked (after many years of this, Jimmy got pretty good at figuring out who he was dealing with relatively fast), but if that was the case, Jimmy was sure he could needle a larger tip out of Tango in the case that this guy really gave him trouble. This was an unusual job in the first place; Jimmy had never been asked to trap participants in a maze before, then supervise while they traversed it. But Decked Out was fun and Tango paid handsomely, so really, Jimmy didn’t mind the change of pace.

“Help?” Jimmy tried, though the hero didn’t hear him over his own banging on the door and ferocious screeching. He got a sense of dejavu watching, though he’d seen this kind of temper tantrum about a thousand times by now. Still, the familiarity of this hero was something he couldn’t quite shake.

“Hey! Help me? Please?” Jimmy wiggled a little pathetically against his restraints, far from tight, but enough not to slip out without effort. Personally, Jimmy would rather save his energy for the hero.

The avian turned, then froze where he stood, like the guy he was called to come save was the last thing he expected to see at his feet. Jimmy suppressed a sigh. This guy was going to be insufferable.

“JIMMY!?”

Jimmy stopped. Now, that sort of reaction wasn’t anything out of the ordinary for heroes that knew him, but Jimmy had never seen this one before, so unless this guy had been warned (something which, hilariously, never seemed to be the case), Jimmy didn’t know what to do with that. But the avian didn’t sound angry.. Oh, worse idea, Jimmy used to know this person. Not the least bit unlikely given he attended the shittiest college in the city with all the poorest, most troubled kids around. Jimmy hadn’t even lasted long enough to get a degree, it was just too much. Hence the work he did now.

Exactly what that was..? Well, when people asked what he did for work, he usually answered freelance. Freelance kidnapping? Freelance being kidnapped? He was still working on the title. Needless to say, living in a place like this you learn pretty quickly that 90% of the ‘superheroes’ and the villains they fight are either cripplingly insecure, pieces of shit, or both, but sometimes the wannabe villains have a bit of an attention craving they just can’t scratch on their own. It turns out that Doing Evil can be a lot of work, and sometimes you just want to take out your daddy issues on an equally unstable individual under the guise of villainy without all the fuss! So for a price, Jimmy makes the fuss for them! He’ll scream, let himself be dramatically carried away, shoved into an unmarked van, generally manhandled- whatever gets the attention of an unsuspecting superhero who Jimmy would then lead into a trap, arena, whatever he’s getting paid for, and bam! Everyone’s happy!

Some villains didn’t even want the attention of superheroes, they just enjoyed catching Jimmy off his guard, which, by the way, was not part of any of his contracts, but Joel wasn’t going to stop Kidnapping First, Paying Later anytime soon, so at this point it was just a fact of his life he had to get used to.

Oh right, the job he was doing right now.

“Do I know you?” These words seemed to snap the hero back in his facade, the avian shifting his weight in a show of nerves.

“I- no, I don’t think so. No, no, definitely not. Probably not. Sorry. Just reminded me of someone I know.”

Jimmy snorted, rolling his eyes. “Someone called Jimmy? That’s my name too, what a coincidence.”

“You don’t have a brother, do you?” The hero looked sheepish, but it was good natured, a ghost of a smile just visible under his mask.

“Oh yeah, I’ve got one. He looks exactly like me and’s called Jimmy, how did you know?”

Ther hero crossed his arms in a sweeping gesture, snarking with a scoff, “Oh shut it with the sarcasm,” but even though the tone behind his voice was teasing, Jimmy felt like he had been transported right back to his college dorm. He recognized that. He knew exactly who this was. Short, dirty blonde avian with dark talons and a darker temper? Of course he became a superhero, what a damn perfect fit for a guy like that. ‘JIMMY?’ He recognized that too. The scream, pitched in all the worst ways. After a while, every word Grian spoke was like pulling a cheese grater over and over across his ears until they were nothing but stumps. Yeah, Tango would be tipping him big today.

“Jimmy? You okay?” The direct address snapped Jimmy back to reality, though he wasn’t sure how much he had missed. Regardless, Grian did get to work, kneeling to undo his restraints. Jimmy was relieved to stretch his wings, slowly getting to his feet once the ropes were cut. “This is embarrassing,” Grian said, and Jimmy was sure it was, “Forget I said anything. I think we shared a class or two, that’s all.”

“I get it.” Jimmy mumbled, tucking his wings back. “Tango’s been sending out all sorts of reports and notices to trick people into coming out here, so it’s your lucky day I guess. You won’t be staying long though, he just wants you to run the dungeon and then you can fly off.”

Grian’s eyes were obscured by the mask, but Jimmy was pretty sure they narrowed. “I’ve never heard of a ‘Tango’ before. Who is he? How long have you been here? Is he just keeping you here as bait?” How sweet of Grian to not realize he’s been set up yet. Well, Jimmy wasn’t about to break the news if he didn’t have to.

“He keeps a low profile. Tango’s been shut in working on this place for the last fifteen years, so I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of him, especially since the location is so out of the way of the city. Decked Out is newly finished- it’s a game, basically. He wants to watch people play it. It’s not what you’d call ‘up to code’ though, so it’s pretty dangerous. Need the athletic sort to make it any bit interesting. But yeah, I’m bait.” Jimmy shrugged, “He keeps me around to explain the rules. Usually the kidnappee, you, is a little more receptive to someone on their level, me, rather than.. y’know.”

“I’ll get you out of here.”

Jimmy laughed, he couldn’t help himself, though he quieted when he saw the bottom half of Grian’s face screw up, bracing himself to be yelled at. It never came.

“I’ve heard that before,” Jimmy settled on instead, taking a careful breath. He didn’t like the way Grian was looking at him. He never really liked the way Grian looked at him; despite his softer features, Grian’s face was anything but kind.

“Well I’m sure you’ve heard this before as well, but I’m different. I do my due diligence unlike most of the douchebags in this town. Where’s the way out?”

Stubborn. Vindictive. Jimmy wondered if Grian had changed at all in the dozen years since they’d talked. He shrugged. “The gate isn’t open yet, but it should be ready soon. Until then, what should I call you?”

Grian blinked. “Oh- CuteGuy. You can call me CuteGuy.”

“Well then, CuteGuy, once you go in you’re going to get a compass-“ Jimmy stopped short at yelling from down the hall, Grian as well freezing in his place.

“UNHAND ME AT ONCE! I SWEAR if you singe my uniform I am SENDING YOU THE BILL!” Oh! Well that was a lovely surprise. Jimmy heard Tango grumble something in response, but he was mostly drowned out by HotGuy’s dramatics. Good man HotGuy was, always making sure to give those supervillains what they paid for, though, Tango wasn’t exactly looking for a fight.

At once Grian was on his toes, creeping toward the door, but Jimmy shook his head. “I would stand back.”

‘Tango breathes fire’ was left unsaid when Grian shot him a sharp glare, not listening of course, and Jimmy wasn’t about to fight him, perfectly content to watch Grian get a face full of flame as Tango swung the door open. Grian reeled back with a startled yelp, but Jimmy doubted he was actually too hurt, not when Tango was skilled in controlling the temperature of his fire. His eyes would certainly sting though; deserved, certainly, for thinking Tango wouldn’t be ready for an attack. Idiot.

In the wake of the flame, a thoroughly netted HotGuy was pushed inside, decidedly much heavier than an avian and therefore unthrowable, but HotGuy didn’t seem to mind, struggling valiantly until the metal door slammed shut, Tango continuing to grumble from the other side as he walked down the hall.

“Jimmy!” HotGuy threw up his arms, a gesture hindered by the net. Jimmy snorted, moving to help HotGuy out while he continued to blabber on, “I was hoping you’d be here! It’s been a while dude, how’ve you been? Still going strong?” HotGuy didn’t even wait until the net was entirely untangled to try and stand, movement that made everything needlessly difficult, but Jimmy didn’t mind. Though he didn’t get the chance to respond either when HotGuy screamed, practically jumping into Jimmy’s arms.

“CuteGuy! How long have you been there, standing all stiff and puffed up and angry like a miniature gargoyle, look at you!”

Grian did, in fact, look like a puffed up cat, but HotGuy’s comment snapped him out of his frozen state, shooting back with a huff, “Miniature? How big do you think gargoyles are?”

“I mean, probably pretty big! Protecting stuff and all.”

Grian sighed sharply, a sound that set Jimmy’s feathers on end. But Grian didn’t push back, changing the subject. “You two.. know each other?”

HotGuy jumped to his toes, eyes absolutely radiant as he turned to Jimmy. “He doesn’t know?” his tone was colored with excitement, and Jimmy had to laugh, shaking his head.

“Know what?” Grian snapped at HotGuy, sucking away all the joy from the air, “What don’t I know?” Jimmy couldn’t stop himself from whirling around, an aggressive movement that seemed to catch Grian off guard, surprise clear in his raised wings, but Jimmy stopped himself, shaking his head. Not worth the fight. HotGuy looked confused by the rise in tension, bringing Jimmy back down to Earth.

“I doubt anyone else will come,” he said instead, stony, “I rarely get two at once. The gates should open soon.”

Grian. God. Jimmy should be over this by now. He thought he was over it.

Jimmy was a sociable guy. Making friends wasn’t a chore for him, but keeping them was much harder, and finding perfect fits seemed nearly impossible. Oftentimes he felt very out of place. He was an athletic sort of person, sporty, but a lot more sensitive than most guys. He really enjoyed being in shape, the structure of practice and working out, but he didn’t always love the social aspect of playing competitive sports, and college football wasn’t an exception. Too much pressure, too much toeing the line of people he wanted to associate with, and don’t get him wrong, these guys were his brothers, that’s just how the intensity of college sports worked, but Jimmy never felt able to be wholly.. there. They just weren’t exactly right, not warm enough, not free enough with their interests and hobbies and love.

Grian was his randomly assigned roommate for the first semester of college dorm life, and like most people Grian was pretty reserved in the beginning. Didn’t have many friends, kept to himself, but liked to go to the dining hall and such with Jimmy if for no other reason than to have someone to go with. Grian was chatty once you got him going, and weird, unabashedly odd in all the best kinds of ways. They didn’t have many common interests, but talking with Grian made Jimmy want to check out the things he was into, to understand all his incredibly specific rants and takes on topics Jimmy had zero knowledge of. Grian was fun, a little shy at first, but genuinely delightful to listen to, confident in his opinions in the way that put you on board even when you had absolutely no idea what he was talking about. He was charming! He was kind of cool in a way, the dorky kind of cool. The ‘cringe is dead and Grian killed it’ kind of way.

But even on his best behavior, Grian was always so.. angry. It changed the atmosphere of every room he entered, thick and boggy like wading through swamp water. There was just something wrong with him, like, literally wrong, the type of wrongness that sparks concern, that makes you wonder what happened? The type of wrongness that makes an outsider want to meet you with compassion, to help you, to make your miserable world a little bit less drab.

The delusions of a savior complex, really. But at first it wasn’t that bad. Grian was mostly reclusive, but despite a bit of awkwardness, he was surprisingly socially adept, charming and funny when it came to first impressions and relatively skilled at being liked by his peers. But the warning signs were there. The constant balling of his fists when the smallest thing didn’t go his way, the twitch of his strained smile, his always-tense shoulders. Grian seemed to view every social interaction like it was war, and he’d do anything to win. It was like he knew how pervasively unpleasant he was inside, how bubbling negativity coated his insides like black tar. He needed to be competitive. He needed to be on top.

And somewhere along the line Grian had decided Jimmy was the enemy.

Jimmy didn’t know what he’d done to make Grian hate him so much. Was it the positivity? Jimmy had tried to offset the stream of anger with his own suggestions; maybe she was late for class, maybe the sun was in his eyes, maybe they just missed the trash can and didn’t notice- He hadn’t been trying to challenge Grian, he didn’t even believe half of the excuses he spouted whenever Grian whined or complained about something entirely inconsequential, he just wanted his ex-roommate to realize that not everyone was personally out to get him, y’know?

How Grian decided Jimmy was one of those people working against him, Jimmy had no idea. Sometimes Jimmy thought that Grian was psychotic, like, literally in the Very Mentally Unwell sense of the word. He was just so.. defensive. Paranoid. Mean, and not always on purpose, he would just say things that dug at Jimmy’s patience until he was constantly teetering on the edge of snapping back and really making a mess of things.

Most of the time though, when Grian was mean, it was on purpose. At some point early on Grian had decided he couldn’t trust Jimmy, and god Jimmy spent so much time trying to earn that trust back just to be slighted over and over- petty things, constant criticism over the slang he used, the music he listened to- god forbid Jimmy forget something in the dorm or come back a little late from a bar after Grian had gone to sleep.

And the worst thing was, Jimmy wanted to help him! He still wanted to help Grian after months and months of being mistreated. He wanted to be a friend to someone who clearly needed some sort of support in a city that was run dry of resources for even those who could afford them. Jimmy wasn’t stupid. He’d grown up on the edge of poverty like so many of his peers, worked to help pay his parents’ debts since he was first able. He’d watched high school classmates do the same, fall to drinking or drugs, die before they even hit 18. He spent so much time being afraid for Grian, intrusive imaginings of how he might die young haunting boring lectures. Oftentimes he’d be overwhelmed by those anxieties, intense impulses sending him sprinting back to the dorm, throwing the door open certain of what he’d find, just to see Grian in his lofted bed, headphones in, glaring at his phone. Sometimes Grian would look up, meet Jimmy’s frightened eyes, then look back down. Sometimes he’d be ignored altogether. Sometimes.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in class?”

Grian knew Jimmy’s schedule by heart, memorized before even Jimmy had it down. Oftentimes, Jimmy found that Grian would get quite upset, if either of their schedules were changed last minute. If Jimmy showed up somewhere he wasn’t supposed to be when Grian wasn’t expecting it.

That made bouts like this all the more embarrassing. Grian wanted an answer. Jimmy didn’t want to know what he’d say if he heard Jimmy was worried about him for no reason. So he lied. He always lied.

“I forgot. I’ll go now.”

Grian would scoff. “Idiot.” Jimmy heard that a lot. Stupid. Dumbass. Idiot. The like.

Jimmy wasn’t stupid.

But the harder Jimmy tried, the more Jimmy pushed, the more vindictively abusive Grian became. That first semester of college were some of the worst months of Jimmy’s life. Trapped in a dorm room not much bigger than a prison cell with a guy who went out of his way to find fault with every singular thing Jimmy did. You’re so loud Jim, you’re so damn loud. That was his main complaint. As much as Jimmy loathed Grian’s voice, the other seemed to despise his own tenfold whether Jimmy was singing, talking on the phone, or simply speaking to friends while playing games, Grian had these physical reactions like he wanted to tear off his own skin. By the end of the semester, both of them sat on their sides of the room in complete silence.

Jimmy didn’t see HotGuy coming when the hero launched forward for a hug, a gesture Jimmy returned with a laugh as HotGuy squeezed, picking him up and spinning him around. At this point, Jimmy had accepted HotGuy had way too much energy to spend doing anything else, and honestly, he couldn’t say he minded. It was nice to have someone be so excited to see him.

“How long has it been? Over a year, surely!” HotGuy practically sang right into Jimmy’s ear, and Jimmy couldn’t help the dry thought of how much Grian must hate HotGuy from slipping through. “I missed you! You’ve got to come by more often, come on, work can’t be that hard to come by in the big city, huh?”

Jimmy wheezed a bit under HotGuy’s grip, tapping his shoulder somewhat urgently, “Okay, bud. Can’t breathe. Time to put me down, big man. And yeah, work can be that bad when everyone knows who you are. Sorry!”

“I’m feeling out of the loop here,” Grian cut in, but to Jimmy’s own sick delight, HotGuy didn’t even acknowledge the other hero, focus entirely on Jimmy.

“So what’s it this time? We busting you out? Dramatic chase? Explosions? Actually, I would rather not get blown up. But this guy’s got a fire thing going on, is stuff going to explode?”

“You’re not busting me out,” Jimmy waved HotGuy off when the other lingered a little too long in his personal bubble, “There’s an exit at the end of the game whether you win or lose, but since you’re going in one at a time, there won’t be any-“

THE DUNGEON IS READY FOR ITS NEXT VICTIM

The gate ahead began to churn open and cool air whooshed through, particles of ice and snow dusting the path ahead. Jimmy laughed off HotGuy’s mortified looking expression, uncomfortably avoiding Grian’s eye. He didn’t imagine a trapped Grian was a very pleasant one, and given the loaded silence as Jimmy started toward the open door, he got the sense Grian was thinking quite intensely. Jimmy had zero desire to know what was going on in that head.

“Come on,” he said, forcing a smile to a wary looking HotGuy, “It’s not too bad. I’ll grab you both your compasses and give the rundown. You’ll have to leave that bow though, sorry. It’ll be returned to you later.” HotGuy blinked back to attention, scrambling a little to catch up while Grian stayed at the rear, quiet.

“I have to leave my bow? Are you sure? I don’t know if I like the sound of the uh- dungeon. Do I get anything to defend myself? What’s down there?”

“Tango’s dogs are down there. You don’t want to shoot Tango’s dogs, do you HotGuy? Those are his pets!”

“Well-“ HotGuy looked flustered, like a guy who probably would want to shoot Tango’s dogs, but didn’t want Jimmy to know that. There was a reason Jimmy didn’t outright say Tango’s dogs were actually ravagers. “Alright, but do Tango’s dogs eat people?”

“They might shake you around a bit, but no, they won’t eat you. Plenty of people have gone through the dungeon plenty of times, lost, and hopped right back in. It’s meant to be played over and over, you’ll be fine.”

“And it’s the only way out?” Grian’s voice sliced the air, hard and focused, and Jimmy nearly jumped at the sound. Everything sounded so critical out of his mouth.

“You think I’d lie?” Jimmy couldn’t crush down the snark as he side-eyed Grian behind him, but Grian’s expression barely shifted, his wings only lowering slightly.

“I didn’t-“

“Wellllll,” HotGuy cut in unhelpfully, missing the tension as he wrapped a playful arm around Jimmy’s shoulder.

“Okay-“ Grian shook his head, hands brushing his face in loose fists, “What is going on with you two.”

“Nothing! Nothing!” HotGuy jumped up and away, instead falling back to walk with Grian, getting in his space and tousling his hair. The casual movement made Jimmy freeze in place, but Grian only squeaked, batting at HotGuy with palmed hands, careful not to catch the other’s skin with his talons. For a moment Grian met Jimmy’s eye, and then it was over, HotGuy grabbing at his hands and wrestling him without a single care in the world.. Whatever.

Warily, Jimmy left them to do their thing. He didn’t feel good about it- actually, he felt a lot like he was leaving HotGuy with a ticking time bomb, but he did have to get their compasses, so might as well go while Grian was in a good(?) mood. What a novel concept that was. Jimmy sighed, zipping up his coat as he stepped into a side room.

For a long moment he considered giving Grian a Level 2 compass, but that wouldn’t really be plausible, and honestly Grian probably wouldn’t make it out of Level 1 anyway. Tango wouldn’t be happy either; his focus was on testing how new players reacted to the game, and anything beyond Level 1 would probably be overwhelming.

Hm. Would Tango let Jimmy into the tunnels to watch Grian’s run while HotGuy was still in the waiting room? Jimmy would really love nothing more than to watch Grian scream and run around and eat shit on the icy paths, but Tango wouldn’t want HotGuy unsupervised, so it probably wouldn’t happen. Unless Jimmy sent HotGuy in first.. Surely the few extra minutes spent with Grian would be worth it. Yeah, no, that would be good. He’d give HotGuy an easy artifact spot so he’d either win or be carried out by a ravager quickly, then send Grian deep into Level 1. Yes. Perfect.

“Is this it?” HotGuy asked when Jimmy returned, fingers curled around the bars of the gate that separated the three of them from the dungeon. Grian was looking as well, though more intensely, head pressed against the bars like he wanted to gather as much information as humanly possible. Jimmy couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

“Yeah,” he started, slipping into his prepared speech, “So basically, the point of the game is to find an artifact hidden in the dungeon, then bring it back to the start without getting caught by Tango’s dogs. The artifact placement is random, but your compass will help you find them; they point in the direction of a hidden panel on the floor. Once you find the panel, press your compass to the spot and it will be exchanged for an artifact. Then bring it back here.”

“How do we start?” Grian turned, eager, or maybe just antsy as he eyed the compasses in Jimmy’s hands.

“Not yet, and you’ll go one at a time, HotGuy first.” Though Grian didn’t look satisfied, and in a panicked gesture to appease him, Jimmy added, “Here, both of you can take these and once you’re ready you’ll press the bottom to the indent over on the panel by the gate,” Jimmy handed the compasses over gingerly, HotGuy taking it with curious fingers and Grian outright snatching it out of Jimmy’s hand, but before Jimmy could recoil or even react, Grian was on top of the panel, slamming his compass in before whirling around and grabbing Jimmy’s hand in a vice grip.

“I’m getting you out of here. Come on, HotGuy! Let’s get this over with.”

Jimmy’s mouth ran dry as the gate screeched open, only managing to squeak out a “One at a time!” before he was yanked forward, HotGuy cheering behind him. Jimmy nearly tumbled down the steps as Grian bolted into the maze, struggling to catch his tongue enough to form words. “This really isn’t necessary!”

“We’re going to save you, Jimmy!” HotGuy sang, oblivious to his distress, “Don’t worry a hair on your silly little head, with us you’ll be out of here in no time!” HotGuy winked and Jimmy didn’t get the chance to groan, far more preoccupied with Grian’s refusal to let go, and only having the mind to struggle out of his grip as the gate shuddered to a close.

“The game isn’t- guys-“ Jimmy stumbled back to the gate, but it would not be reopening any time soon. “The game isn’t meant to be played with three people! I don’t even have a compass! You need an artifact to get out!”

“Sounds to me like you only need one,” Grian said, perfectly unconcerned despite the new danger, not that he knew the ravagers were around, “I’m sure all three of us can scoot out at once if we’re quick, and if this ‘Tango’ tries to do anything about it, there’ll be two of us to keep you safe.” Jimmy didn’t even get the chance to respond to that before Grian clicked his tongue, “HotGuy, give me your compass.”

“Why? What if I want it?” HotGuy smirked and Grian scoffed, hopping forward to snatch it from him. HotGuy stepped out of the way and held it high out of Grian’s reach, causing the other to squawk and ultimately slip on the ice when he jumped to grab it. Jimmy found himself flinching when HotGuy laughed in Grian’s face, but the hero’s joy quickly turned to a shrill yelp as Grian leapt on him, clambering up his body with the compass in his sights. Unfortunately, the added weight unbalanced HotGuy on the ice and sent both of them tumbling to the ground. Certainly within Grian’s reach, the avian lunging for his prize and rolling out of range of a possible retaliation before getting to his feet.

“Right then.” Grian examined both compasses with great scrutiny, walking a little ways in different directions and nearing corners Jimmy just hoped had a ravager behind them. But Grian was never punished for his lack of attention, never straying too far. In fairness, HotGuy was doing very little to be careful himself, struggling to keep his footing without the talons Jimmy and Grian had; Jimmy would have given him grips for his shoes, but someone was in a hurry. For himself he would have grabbed the fluffy socks Tango had made to help keep his feet from getting too cold, so that was just another thing to resent Grian for. (Grian would not get socks. He did not deserve them.)

“HotGuy’s artifact is closest, so we’re going there.”

“How’d you puzzle that out? Actually, I don’t care.” HotGuy shuffled closer, poking his head over Grian’s shoulder. HotGuy caught Jimmy’s eye, throwing him a narrowed eye smirk before wiggling his fingers and jumping on Grian, wrestling the screeching avian until they both slipped, a crushed Grian losing his grip on the compass and unable to reclaim it before HotGuy scrambled over him (both parties kicking and screaming) until he slid across the compass, grabbing it with both hands.

“If it’s my compass, I get to hold it!” HotGuy got to his knees, arm shooting into the air to brandish his prize.

Grian let his head hit the ice. “We are never getting to our location.”

Jimmy crossed his arms. “Hey, HotGuy gets around the city fine. He could be a great maze navigator.”

“Thank you!” With some struggle, HotGuy got back to his feet, the momentum sliding him back into a forked path where he promptly fell back on his ass.

“We are never getting to our location.”

“You just wait CuteGuy, I’m gonna..” but HotGuy trailed off, eyes blinking wide as he stared at something down the tunnel. Jimmy’s feathers rose as he heard the grunt, but Grian didn’t seem to understand, looking between the two of them with a confused expression before the ravager bulldozed down the hall, HotGuy having no time to run before he was bowled down the hall, “THAT’S NOT A DOG!”

Jimmy spun on his heel, but the noticeable absence of Grian made him turn back around, having to lunge to grab him before the idiot tried to fight a ravager on HotGuy’s behalf.

“Other direction!”

“HotGuy’s-“

“He’ll be fine. We need to go.” Jimmy didn’t give Grian the time to argue, grabbing his wrist and overpowering him when it came to dexterity on the ice. Grian squawked, but luckily ravagers were not sensitive to sound, extra lucky when they turned a corner directly into the face of another and Grian shrieked, nearly falling on his ass before Jimmy pulled him up and back in the right direction.

“Get out of its line of sight!”

Grian only continued to shriek in response. Great. But after dragging Grian kicking and screaming around a couple corners, the ravager got off their tails, grunting as its heavy hooves lumbered down another icy tunnel. Grian let himself slide to a stop once Jimmy let go of his wrist, drifting to a wall and sliding against it to sit on the rocky ground and catch his breath. Jimmy hardly stopped himself from rolling his eyes.

“They don’t have much object permanence,” he mumbled instead, “Poor hearing as well. Still, maybe try to stop screaming. There’s about five around on this floor, so at the very least we know where a few of them are. We should keep going.”

“There’s more than one floor?”

“Yes, but our artifacts are on Level 1. It’s not too bad. And if we’re quick, we might still be able to find HotGuy. The ravagers are trained to take someone out of the game once they’re sufficiently down for the count, which is usually about two hits. If HotGuy got away, his artifact is definitely easier, but Tango will take the compass if he’s down, so we have to find him quickly. I think I know where he’ll end up, but stay on your guard.

Grian was quiet for a moment, catching his breath, sure, but the silence seemed deeper than that. Grian was always an intense thinker, the kind of intensity that weighed the air.

“You’ve been in the dungeon before? Tango is putting civilians in here?” He sounded angry. Not surprising, really, but..

“Yeah,” Jimmy shrugged, struggling not to feel defensive, “Not that many though. One guy just won’t leave. It’s kind of a volunteer program.”

“You’re not a volunteer.”

Technically, this was true. Jimmy was being paid; to run the dungeon as well as lure superheroes into it, though he hadn’t run it since a ravager broke a rib on Level 2.

For a moment Jimmy thought about telling Grian the truth, ditching the ‘helplessly kidnapped’ act and putting everything out on the table so Grian would stop trying to rescue him and leave well enough alone. That way at the very least he could call for Tango who might let him leave through a maintenance tunnel and not have to continue with whatever the hell was happening here. Jimmy didn’t even get the chance to register a deck before they started! However, the thought was dismissed immediately, partially because they only had one compass. In the case that Tango decided to be petty, Jimmy was not about to throw himself into the tusks of a ravager, and he could fantasize all he wanted about throwing Grian to the wolves and stealing the compass for himself, but it just made more sense that they stuck together.

But there was the fear, too, far more persuasive than any sense, the kind of deep seeded instinct that would have Jimmy sprinting in the opposite direction rather than be alone with his college tormentor, look him in the eyes, and tell him he’d been deceived.

Grian always thought Jimmy was hiding something from him. There had been multiple instances of Grian rummaging through his things, not taking, just looking, but not quite putting things back where they had been before. It really messed with Jimmy’s head- what he was even looking for? Grian didn’t have money to spend, but even when Jimmy had left his valuables and cash unguarded, Grian never stole. Jimmy never knew Grian to want anything either; weed, alcohol, the like, but for the most part Jimmy didn’t keep any of that in the dorm, and Grian never expressed interest. Grian didn’t even borrow pens or notebook paper; Jimmy was pretty sure he’d rather die than ask for help in any form, but regardless, it drove Jimmy crazy just to have Grian rummaging through his shit and having no idea what he wanted.

“Hey, if you need anything man, you just let me know, alright? I’ve got extra school supplies if you need to borrow anything for exams,” Jimmy had said one night, testing the waters in the rare occurrence when Grian’s headphones were off.

Jimmy would never forget the look of distaste Grian threw him, head cocked and eyes dark and narrowed; Grian didn’t even have to say anything to hurt him most days. “No.”

And that was that.

He never dreamed of confronting Grian, no, Jimmy would never bare his hand to a cornered animal. But one thing was for certain, he kept his phone and laptop passwords close, changing them regularly. Anything remotely private he locked up in his closet while he was out, Grian’s eyes burning into his back, suspicious and untrusting. He always made Jimmy feel so afraid. He wasn’t hiding anything or whatever it was Grian had convinced himself Jimmy was doing, he just wanted to keep his privacy private. Jimmy still had a habit of hiding his things, squirreling them away in odd places even when he was living alone. He didn’t realize he was doing it most of the time, but at some point it was pointed out to him (“This is why you can never find anything Jimmy, who keeps their receipts under the blooming mattress!”), and Jimmy had no doubt where the habit came from.

Apparently Jimmy’s lack of answer to Grian’s question was enough of an answer to him. “I’m going to get you out of here.” Intense. Always so intense.

Jimmy had no desire to fight him. “Okay.”

[doricntorrcs]

Dorian was normally good at managing to redirect the brunette to somewhere that wasn't their work environment but it felt like on this particular day, nothing was going to stop her. She'd been insistent in the way she'd grasped at him and it wasn't long before he'd felt his resistance slackening. Laurel was a difficult woman to resist once she had her mind set on something and everything about her was tempting to Dorian. Much as he had attempted to deny it at the start, the woman was addictive to him and that was how he found himself pressed up against his desk with Laurel almost forcefully wrapped around him, his hands grasping desperately at every part of the others body they could get at and no doubt leaving his fingerprints in their wake.

Despite how molten hot his blood felt right in that moment as they grappled with one another's clothes, mouths hungrily meshed together, he couldn't recall many instances in his life where it had shifted so drastically in such a sudden manner. The lust he'd been feeling was effectively doused when the door swung open and he locked eyes with their superior. They found themselves face to face in the most awkward of positions and the searing pleasure Dorian had been experiencing was swiftly replaced with a familiar dread that he'd only really experienced one other time. Where as Laurel seemed to become very vocal, Dorian had gone deathly silent as he carefully untangled their bodies, trying to straighten himself out. His mind was already attempting to sort through the situation, knowing he needed to try and rectify the muddle they'd found themselves in. It was frowned upon, yes, but surely it wouldn't have been the first time. Perhaps there was a way to work around this. At least that was his hope.

It felt a little like walking to the gallows as they followed forlornly behind the man who was currently contacting what sounded like the manager to meet with them. It wasn't unexpected of course and the situation rang a little bit too painfully of dejavu for Dorian. He could feel his heartrate pick up, but he tried to take some form of positive from it that in this case he wasn't alone in the situation. They made their way to the conference room and in no time at all the manager arrived.

If Dorian was being totally honest, what was said to them in those minutes he couldn't really recall even if he had tried. It'd felt akin to listening to someone speak when your entire head was under water or had been swallowed by quicksand. The words seemed dulled and far away as the blood rushed through his ears. It took them asking him a question for a second time or third time, certainly more sharply than the first for him to return to their current sorry state of affairs and not his swirling thoughts, causing Dorian to almost seem to flinch in surprise.

"I said do you have anything to say for yourself, Torres?"

Dorian found himself taking a breath because he wasn't even sure where to begin with the whole situation but he eventually found his voice and spoke with surprising clarity and fortitude. "I'm sorry that you feel I disappointed you and let the team down with the choices I've made and actions I have taken." He didn't regret them as such, but he knew that they were frowned upon. "I ignored the expectations and allowed myself to get caught up in certain circumstances with another player and I accept the consequences of that, but I believe it's relevant to point out that it's never once impacted upon the team. We have both kept a professional relationship on the field."

"That's hardly of import now is it." Came the harsh response, cutting Dorian off. "Both of you signed paperwork that waives the right to your position immediately should you be considered to be breaching terms of said contract. As per those terms we have the right to dismiss you both on the spot."

It wasn't unlike her to be on the careless side, but Laurel was certainly not paying attention to her noise levels as her breath grew labored, grasping at the man's clothes as she did everything in her power to bring him closer. They were usually pretty good at keeping their hookups under wraps, but she'd been pretty desperate to get her hands on Dorian that day to get her mind off of a stressful training session. Her fingers were reaching for his belt when suddenly their attention was captured by somebody walking in on the two of them. This was a nightmare scenario for the both of them. They'd gotten away with this so many times but it was only a matter of time that they wouldn't get so lucky. Seeing the look in the eyes of one of their superiors, Laurel felt her blood turn to ice. The brunette peeled herself from off of Dorian as they were signaled for what was clearly going to be a serious discussion. "Shit– shit, shit, shit," she expressed as the weight of everything to come had still yet to hit her. "Fuck," Laurel stole a look at him before the two of them followed the management out and to their office for their reprimanding.

@doricntorrcs

[chariskneverdies]

Getting back to school in a few days. I have some drafts for a charisk story I want to make even if uncertain of the medium. Anyway ill do my best to still be active and reblog/post stuff related to my beloved otp; but dont be surprised if i take a bit long to do so. While i have your attention id like to thank any and every person aupporting this little blog of mine. Undertale has aged but it necer left my heart and im happy to know there are also other people who share this brainrot aswell, specialy with this ship even after the golden days of charisk were over. Ill do my best to stay active and be friends with everyone. Have a great day!

[eggtartz]

Hello! Can I request a Izana x Fem!reader soulmate AU where you can feel anything your soulmate feels: Physically, mentally, emotionally but you both also have the same tattoo, which is supposed to mean you're both soulmates (I just love this kind of soulmate AU😫)

Izana and the reader don't know each other though, and the reader is overwhelmed with her emotions, and there's this one toxic friend she had in the past, and this toxic friend was so toxic that it made the reader hold a lot of grudges and hate towards her. And the reader has just finished arguing and fighting with the toxic friend and the reader feels A LOT of REALLY negative emotions and so much anger, the reader literally start t have a mental breakdown but later on when Izana finds out that you are his soulmate he meets you and the reader is a chill, calm person and has this powerful aura around her, which shows that the reader is actually a really calm powerful person but that toxic friend was something else which made the reader act out of character

I know that this seems so long😭 but it's actually not🥹

Context: Honestly it's just Izana feeling the negative energy you're feeling and then meeting you and realizing that you were just in a bad state and not in the right state of mind.

a/n : hii! thankyou for requesting, i compiled some au's in one fic so this might be a little long 🫶🏻 i changed a bit hope you won't mind

summary : izana felt a pang of dejavu happened to him, like he has been here before. but when? and who is this glimpse of a person that he keeps seeing but can't remember?

wc : 2028

"izana promise me you won't forget me! promise me hurry!"

"love, please stop. i would never forget you, never" was the last thing he said before he exhaled his last breath. your breathing became erratic and sobbed on his chest. "izana, izana i'll always wait for you. always"

izana jolted from his slumber, sweating and with a cold feet. he had this week for a week now and it's the same dream over and over again. he already instructed kakucho to get him sleeping pills so he could sleep better but it only got worse. it would be precisely at 5am where he would wake up from the dream. the only thing that changed about the dream was it got vivid as day passed. this woman in his dreams voice was familiar but where?

pushing his thoughts, izana moved to his bathroom to get ready for the day oblivious that you were having the same symptoms as he is. only much worse. you were staying at a cheap apartment with one of your friend. well, your so-called friend. when you bought this place you thought you'd share places with a complete stranger only for your hopes to crash down when you see one of your former friends already a resident there. the past mistakes both of you were hard to swallow even after 4 years, none of you would apologize.

but neither of you could moved out too because both of you needed a place to stay so it's this or sleeping on the streets. you wanted to grow customized to her but looking at her brings so much bad memories so you do what you do best. you walk away.

at 7am you would already be done to head to the kitchen to make breakfast before heading to work. she worked at night so you never got to see her face. good, you thought. that was until you heard groaning from the staircase and saw her stretching her limbs there. oh fuck sake you mumbled under your breath.

the sound of the coffee machine churning was the only sound that accompanied you two. you were making toast and put some jelly but now your appetite was nowhere to be found. so you ditched the kitchen, grabbed your keys and rode to your workplace.

you worked at the veterinary clinic as how you always wanted to. you couldn't keep a pet at the apartment so you figure meeting the those little furry creatures at work would at least boost up your life a bit. the clinic was busy as many cats, dogs and other animals went to book appointments, vaccines or grooming sessions.

that evening while closing the shop you felt a sharp sensation in your head that you accidentally dropped your keys. it wasn't aching but it was buzzing and the buzzing was vibrating, at some times they went erratic and it would slow down. after a few seconds it went erratic again and it would slow down again. holding your forehead you squat down for balance until the buzz disappear as a touch was felt on your shoulder.

"are you okay? you look like you're about to pass out" a white haired man was observing you intently, concerned too. it was strange how the buzzing sensation disappear in seconds so you tried standing and you were back to normal. "uh, yes. im sorry it's just i haven't eaten so i feel kinda dizzy" you assured the kind man in front of you with a sweet smile. he had red earrings dangling from his ear.

"well, there's a bakery shop there i can buy something to eat?"

"oh no, no worries. i feel better now um mister..?"

"just call me izana" he extended his hand to shake with yours and when you shooked it, both of you felt a literal electricity volt making both of you gasped. "ow, fuck. oh god izana are you okay? did you felt that?"

"yeah, felt like an electric shock. it's the hot weather perhaps" he squinted his eyes while rubbing his hands together. "well my name's y/n. nice meeting you izana" you bowed a bit to him and he bowed back.

truth is, izana talked to you due to an accident too. he was heading to his favorite bakery shop to pick up his favorite croissant until he arrived at the entrance but he couldn't open the door because the door was too hot to touch. he asked the staff to open it instead but again he couldn't move towards as his body felt too hot to move. he fanned himself but couldn't push his body to move towards the direction he intended to.

he scooted his legs a bit to the right and there was an instant relief where he felt a bit of coldness but again he couldn't step back to his original place so he moved towards the directions where he felt it was the right tempature and when he finally founds the not-too-hot-not-too-cold place, he saw you.

there might be a reason for this he thought but he tried to be reasonable and helped you. after the mini electric shock both of you felt, izana was certain this isn't a coincidence. it can't be.

"do you work here y/n?" he asked not moving a muscle fearing the weird tempature phenomenon occurs again. you nodded while studying his facial structures, he was a handsome man, wearing a black suit and had wavy hair. you were too mesmerized by him that you didn't noticed him picking up your stuff on the ground.

"y/n? hello? y/n?"

"oh uh yes thank you izana. i think i'll just get back home now. goodbye, have a good day!" you quickly walked past him without looking back, embarrassed. izana stood there for a long time while thinking about what just happened. it wasn't until kakucho came to check on him, that he moved on and went back.

back home, you closed the door hurriedly, desperate for air to even your breathing. on your way to your room, the kitchen was dirty and unorganized. if there was one thing that ticked you off, it was coming home to unwashed dishes in the sink. inhaling another breath, you rolled your sleeves to clean up the kitchen until your friend came down the stairs. "i wanted to do that" she said with one breath.

"it's okay, it's almost done anyway"

"honestly what's your problem huh? you think you're the only one in this apartment trying to keep it clean? im trying to keep it clean too" she suddenly bursted in your ear.

"what? im just helping you is that wrong?"

"yes! that's what you always wanted to do! help everyone but not everyone needs your help y/n. just leave people at their business!"

"you know what suit yourself" you walked pass her but she yelled again

"see, this is why everyone left you y/n! you just walk away when people tell you you're wrong! this is why no one would ever love you, you know! all our friends hated you, they taunt me because i live here with you i hate it here and i hate being here everyday!" she said that with her whole chest and you didn't noticed the tears dropping until one accidentally fell on your lips, the saltiness waking you up to make your next move.

"fine if you want me to move out so much, i'll be gone the next morning" you walked to your room and slammed your door. this was something you always did. to be the one who left, the one who stepped away. you heard the main door slammed shut and you fell on the floor on your knees.

was i the problem? is that why all of my friends left me? why none of them contacted me anymore?

you gasped for air while resting laying helplessly on the cold floor still sobbing. all these years, you kept avoiding meeting your old friends, not willing to reopen old wounds. you wanted to disappear from their life but all of them seemed to hated you for it. you clenched the shirt you wore, wrinkling them. sadness became anger as you punched the wall that resulted in your hand bleeding. adding more pain, you took the mirror on your nightstand and threw it againts the room.

all the horrible memories of getting abandoned by your friends, getting guilt tripped by them came rushing back and you were a fool. you blamed yourself for everything that happened. you thought, your friend might be right, maybe if you minded your own business, people would love you. care for you. your sobs got louder and your lung felt like it was about to burst.

you grabbed your keys and rode away from there, although it was raining profusely. you parked your bike at the abandoned park there, and sat on the swings. your feet weakly touched the cemented floor while you quitely sobbed. your hands were burning from the rustiness of the swings, it was raining and you were drenched. getting colder, you hugged your body to warm up but there was no use. so you sat there in silence, remeniscing times where you truly were happy, truly had someone to love you.

when you got lost in your thoughts, you felt a presence in front of you who shielded your body from the intense rain. "y/n?!" izana, huh fate was twisted with you today. not once but twice izana found you in a state where you were miserable yet you didn't felt embarrassed. you felt either comfortable that he's here, relief even.

"oh shit hi? what you're doing here izana?"

"oh shit hi?! how could you be so casual about this?! hurry i have a car nearby we can go back somewhere before you get sick"

"it's okay izana, even if i was sick no one would care. no one would bother"

"why would you say that? of course someone would care, don't say ridiculous stuff like that now c'mon let's go!" he pulled your hand only for you to plop your body on the wet, muddy ground.

"y/n stop fucking around c'mon!"

"you go ahead izana"

"damn it i care about you! i really like you y/n no fuck i love you!" he said while throwing the umbrella he was holding on the ground and you stare at him from the muddy ground. he sat down on the mud, and looked at you through hooded eyes. as you stare into his eyes closely, you found those eyes familiar. it wasn't until he pulled a necklace that all past memories that you didn't even knew you had came rushing in.

the dreams. the man in your dreams. izana figured you were the one in his dreams too when he found a locket inside his old black dragon jacket that had your picture.

"love?" he whispered when you grew silent for too long. you tackled izana in your arms and he nuzzled his face in your neck, tightening his hands around your waist. "but, but izana didn't you? you died?"

"i believe we got reincarnated love and we always said we will never forget each other" you cried on his chest while he rubbed your back. all the memories that felt like dejavu suddenly becomes clear, at how izana died when he got shot. how you weeped at his funeral. how he proposed to you the day before his murder. that's why you instinctly went to the park when you were upset.

this was your hideout. in one of your memories there was one image where you two were dancing in the rain, happily giggling in each other arms. one more memory flashed as you were on the swing with him until he eventually stumbled but you kissed his wound and he dramatically became better. you kissed him receiving a kiss back, both of you not releasing each others lips. you were never letting him go again. not in the life.

"don't worry love. im here and this time i'll never leave you again"

a/n : phewww

[phaticserpent]

What if we continue the theme of the death of s/o Ultron, where after reincarnation (or something like that idk) they find him? It sounds very emotional! Will Ultron become yandere? Reader still genuinely loves him (´；ω；`)

I might make this a full fanfic but for now, it's a short - sorry it's so late!! Also sorry for being so inactive, I've been so busy with my job and driving lessons :,)

Warning: mention of death, actual death

It happened so fast and your vision blurred. You couldn't feel anything but at the same time, you were overwhelmed with emotions. Your eyes darted to Ultron, who immediately caught your gaze and his eyes widened in realization. You fell to the floor, gasping and squeezing your eyes shut. Suddenly, there was a presence and shadow next to you and you felt the familiar hands of Ultron.

"No, no, no, no.....stay with me, you're going to be okay."

"Ow." You wheezed out while cracking a grin, which prompted Ultron to make his infamous eye roll. "I'm fine, it's a scratch."

"You're bleeding out." He says.

"It's nothing the hospital can't fix." You tried to wave your hands dismissively but you flinched at the pain.

"Save your energy, please stay with me."

"I....all the moments I've...ha-had with you has been...one of a kind. I look forward to more–" your warmth was gone, the crooked smile on your lips vanished as you laid lifeless in his arms. That day was the day he lost you and the day Ultron learned he could let out such a guttural sound.

It's been a few years and you were reborn into the world. There were fragments which you could tell were memories but it was short and blurry. Now, you couldn't tell if it were a dream or a memory. The line became blurry, there was no actual way you could've met Ultron. However, there was one memory that was very vivid, the city skyline from a balcony and the house that you belonged to. Deciding to test and confirm your 'memories', you took the bus out of the city and followed the gaze of the skyline. After hours of roaming and trying to find the one that would struck a sense of nostalgia or dejavu, you found it. An exact image of the one in your memories. It looked dark and lifeless, but you swallowed and proceeded inside.

"Hello?" You called. "Uh....Ultron?" No answer. What did I expect? As you turned to leave, a deep and quiet, yet familiar, voice called out from the shadows.

"How did you know about this place?"

"I don't know....I thought I dreamt it and dreamt of meeting Ultron, so I came here to see if it was true. It was just a place that I remembered vividly."

"What's your name?"

"Who's asking?"

"Just answer the question."

"I'm [Y/N]."

"You look like someone I.....knew."

"You sound like someone I knew." You retorted. "You know what I look like so it's only fair that I get to see you." There was silence, nothing but silence for a minute, as if the person you were talking to vanished. Then, there were heavy footsteps. You could now see piercing red eyes that towered over you and the figure fully emerged from the shadows. He sorted of raised an eyebrow at you, waiting for a reaction.

"You don't seem scared."

"Well I'm not....just shocked plus a bit relieved that I'm not going mad." You met his gaze before breaking contact. "Are you going to kill me?"

"What?"

"Isn't that what you would do? 'Now you know that I exist I have to kill you'." You let out a nervous laugh while Ultron just raised a brow.

"No."

"Ah okay." You awkwardly stood there before daring yourself to ask, "so, who did I remind you of? A friend?"

"More than a friend." Ultron smiled softly before his expression darkened and turned away. "Not important." He knew what 'you' would say, 'I'm not important?'

"By your expression they were more than that and very important." You shrugged. "But you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"Their name was [your former name]." You paused and thought. It sounded awfully familiar.

"In my dreams.....someone who sounded like you, called me that. It was very muffled and almost hard to hear, but no doubt about it, it was that name." You admitted. "It sounds weird and sketchy, but I think I knew you in my past life."

"They did believe in reincarnation." Ultron gently whispered. He almost felt hopeful but caught himself before he could show it. "Do you remember anything else?"

"I used to, I can feel there are some pieces missing but I lost them due to time. One that I still hold onto is the view of the night sky in a very unfamiliar setting, in some kind of island?"

"It was an island, they lived in the city a majority of their life, so for our first 'date' I took them stargazing."

"That's so sweet!" You two started connecting the pieces together, fragment by fragment as the puzzle was slowly becoming clearer. And as your eyes met again, there was a surge of emotions that you really couldn't find the words to describe. His face grew soft as his hand reached out to you, yet he held back.

"[Y/N]?" You could hear the crack and almost trembling of his voice. Holding back tears you managed to smile.

"Yeah." His touch, although it was the first time, was very much home. Both of his hands cupped your face gently and swiftly moved to the back of your head as he pulled you in for a hug. This time, you couldn't hold back the tears.

"I was so scared that I lost you forever.....now that you're here, I'm never letting you go." Ultron sighed and lifted your chin so you could meet his burning gaze. "Never."

[katsukikitten]

Disassociate 2

Warnings:Trigger warning of disassociation, 18+ AU

It's an odd feeling, lying in the dark in the arms of your lover. Comfortable and cozy and the world drifts into a deep sleep and yet you feel anything but. 

Your heart fights with your head. Beating erratically that something is not right. And when your head questions what, the heart shrugs, giving a pressed glare if it could. 

This. 

It would say and point all around, beating faster and demanding a reaction. Soon your stomach begins to agree, twisting and tightening as your body enters into that familiar state of flight or fight. 

Expect your brain is not in it. Does not believe what the body is saying and instead chooses the easy way out. To turn a blind eye if you will while your feet burn with the urge to move. 

To run. Muscles cramping as you don't want to disturb the hot head beside you. 

Not because he would yell should you slip from under his grip but because he would wake and worry. 

Worry over the fact that you have not slept for more than a few hours in the past few days. 

But you especially don't want him to wake for fear of seeing his eyes. 

His beautiful crimson eyes that you've mesmerized over the past six years. 

And yet they are not the same. Intense in his own special way but the passion that is aimed at you feels odd...wrong. 

Each time you look into his gaze a shiver runs down your spine, words lost on your tongue as you try so hard to remember the lines to the script. 

To what you would normally say, or better yet what a normal person would say to the person they loved. 

Your hands clam up as your breathing hitches trying so hard to calm down. Seeing yourself in third person as he snores softly beside you. 

The soft glow of the digital clock just behind Bakugou'a head, blocking it from you never able to tell you the time. 

Your fumble for your phone, shaking as you unlock it, desperate for anything to distract you. 

The lay out seems normal but the more you try to read the screen the more jumbled the words get. Characters upside down backwards and some even in another language. 

"Its fine." You whisper to yourself as you set your phone down just to pick it right back up for the time. 

Except this time the screen wont light up. You place it down onto the nightstand. 

Turning into the chest of your boyfriend. Wanting nothing more than to feel the comfort one should feel when being held by a loved one. 

Not foreign horror of a possible stranger in your bed. 

You drift, letting the sound of his soft snoring and the fan lull you to sleep. 

There is another faint sound, one you can't quite make out. It reminds you a little bit of a man sobbing. Soft, almost unnoticeable, like they do in the movies. The sound rips your heart in two.

Still you chalk it up to an odd dream.  

Yelling and a loud explosion rip you from your slumber. Causing you to shoot upright in bed. 

Bakugou becomes immediately alert as you gasp for air, nails clawing at your throat as you feel as if something foreign is lodged down your windpipe. 

"Hey, hey calm down." His callused hands smooth over your shoulders, "It was just a dream." 

"What did you say to me earlier? Over dinner? When I said you looked familiar?" The words tumble from your mouth without thought. They leave a cold sweat to form along the nape of your neck as the eerie sense of dejavu settles over your goosed flesh. 

The Earth seems to slow down, quiet hushed over the room, the only sound the echo of that damn soft sound you think a sob. 

He holds eye contact with you, his eyes so, so different and so fucking wrong. As if looking at a copy of a memory repeated too many times. 

The color fades before flickering back to such a dull brick red. 

His eyes were bright, vibrant and intense, not as they are now.  You want to speak but instead fat tears catch on your eyelashes. They fall in quick succession as he parts his lips. 

Somehow you already know what he's going to say.  You stare him in the face, sorrowful tears fall from his dulled eyes contrasting the smirk he wears on his face. 

"I said you need to wake up before you forget how." 

You pull at your hair until clumps of it are tangled in your fists as you lean into your knees.

"I can't fucking wake up.  I can't fucking wake up." Your sobs mix in with the male's before a laugh echoes around the room.  Bakugou grips onto your chin too harshly, his dull eyes still leaking and his smirk still prominent. 

He opens his mouth to speak, leaning in close so he is sure you will hear him as his husky voice drips with malice.

"And I'll make sure you never remember how." 

[angelfire115]

Part 43

It has been a few days since the kidnapping incident, so much action has befalled the hotel and everyone there, that the hotel has been the most talked in the news. Not being a laughing stock for others to degrade the hotel but instead to talk about what kind of things have been happening inside. Occasionally, reporters come to see the hotel and especially Alastor, eager to ask if he does really have a relationship and also the reason why he joined the hotel.

Alastor however, dislikes reporters since they don't know the meaning of personal space, out all types of people he's killed, reporters have been the most. For Tia, she had also been swarmed but cannot answer since so many questions are yelled at her, it makes her all fuzzy. Pretty much, there's no progress on any explanation which isn't satisfying for either side. Charlie doesn't mind it, the more people come by the more likely some are going to stay as guests. Although, her behaviour has been rather odd, so odd that even the most ignorant of people in the hotel have noticed.

Charlie has been daydreaming and paying a lot less attention then usual. Vaggie tried her best to get answers but Charlie never broke the mysterious news on her mysterious behaviour. Alastor especially got worried but had thrown it off since so much has happened, he gave her a few days so now is the time to act. And that day was the perfect timing since she had gone to the roof alone to hang up the laundry once again.

Charlie hanged up each sheet, towel and more very slowly. She of course noticed her odd behaviour but the most confusong part is she didn't know why. It annoyed her and scared her, this grabbing feeling in her chest. The worst part was though, it got worse when she was near Alastor. Ever since that day Tia got kidnapped and when he kissed her forehead. Her stomach, heart and mind have been nothing but chaos so her concentration has also been off the rail. She was busy straightening a sheet when a dark shadow appeared behind the one she had her back too so she didn't notice.

She moved backwards to see if it was all straight but accidentally tripped on her feet, making her fall backwards. She thought she'd fall to the ground but instead someone caught her. Their arms wrapped around her and so did the sheet. A sudden voice was then heard, a voice she knew quite well. Alastor: "Are you alright dear?". It was Alastor, the sound of his voice and the feeling of his arms and hands holding onto her made her face flush with fever red, more so then any other time she's gone red. Charlie: "A-Al, I uh, can you um". Alastor was so entranced on holding her, he only snapped out of it when she started to talk.

Alastor: "Oh sorry my dear, here". He lifted her back up. She stood up and looked away from the sheet he stood behind. With one of his hands, he gently lifted the sheets to see her. When he did, he noticed her looking away with a sad look on her face. He still didn't know what was going on but he guessed she didn't want to see him. So he placed the sheet back down but still stood behind it. Alastor: "So Charlie, I've noticed you've been acting quite strangely these past few days". Charlie looked up in surprise. Charlie: "You have?". Alastor: "Of course, though I'm not the only one".

Charlie looked more shocked but then went sad. She was quite disappointed in herself that she made everyone worry, she did try her best to seem as normal as possible. But guess she failed. Charlie: "Sorry, i didnt mean to make everyone worry". Alastor: "You don't need to be sorry my dear, if there is something bothering you, will it be alright if you told me? I will listen and give advice if need be". Now this was also shocking, she had seen him be caring, especially towards her but it was still so strange. His love for her maybe a reason but it still didnt make sense.

Charlie: "I'm not sure why I'm acting or feeling strange, I've never felt this way before". Alastor fell a bit quiet while she spoke, it seems an ironic case oo dejavu hit him. Alastor: "Could you describe to me these feelings?" Charlie thought for a moment. Charlie: "Well, i feel like my heart could beat out of my chest, i feel nervous and like a knot is tide up inside of me but at times I feel happy in a different way and scared in other ways, I don't know why i feel this way or why I feel it". Alastor: "Could you tell me when or where you feel these feelings?". This was a lot harder of a question to answer. Charlie: "I-I feel this way when I'm...when I'm...". Alastor: "When you're?".

Charlie: "When...WHEN I'M AROUND YOU!". She yelled it so loud, the entirety of hell could have heard it, it definitely shocked Alastor but not because of how loud it was. A silence was placed, again, in the moment. Alastor not speaking a word made Charlie almost cry, why wasn't he saying anything? She suddenly heard the sheet being moved, and a voice right behind her. Alastor: "Doesn't this seem familiar?". She slowly turned to see Alastors gentle eyes and smile look directly at her. She jumped on how sudden and close he was.

The words he said "Doesn't this seem familiar?". It did, it's exactly what happened when Charlie asked Alastor about, his... Feelings that he... Didn't understand. Her realisation of everything made her eyes go wide and her face go completely red. It was true then, Charlie had fallen deeply in love with Alastor and never noticed it until now. She held her face as she looked down, her eyes visually spinning. He chuckled slightly at her adorable manner and reached for her face. Lifting it up by her chin with his fingers, leaned in to stare directly in her eyes, there faces only an inch apart.

Alastor: "But, I want to hear it from you, now Charlie, could you tell me what you feel towards me?". His face was a mixture of mischief, seduction and gentle admiration which made her heart pound. Charlie: "I, I am... I am." Her heart got stronger and stronger as her head spun and her words stutter. She really didn't want to do this but she knew he wouldn't leave this alone till it happened. With one more push of courage, she took a deep breath. Charlie: "I'm, I'm, I'M IN LOVE WITH YOU!". The yelling wasnt necessary but he didn't mind, at least she said it.

Alastor: "Hmm, me too". He leaned in for a passionate kiss to her lips which left her stunned. She stared at him with wide eyes, not knowing what to do. However, she knew her partner and knew he wouldnt let go. She closed her eyes gently, relaxing herself as she accepted his kiss. Feeling her relaxation, he pulled her in closer. Holding her into an embrace while still kissing her. When he finally let go, he chuckled quietly to her. Alastor: "What a charming demon belle you are". She giggled back, her face still dyed in red. The wind blew gently as the pair continued their embrace, the breeze warm and the skies lit up from the city below. This was a start of something grand and magical with more obstacles at every turn.

[themoonandotherslikeit]

I Think We Have Been Here Before

Two college grad students meet, and find out that they’ve been having the same dreams about a pair of brothers in an old Impala. After trying to ignore their strange pull they realize that nothing ends, not really, and sometimes you can miss someone that you haven’t met yet.

Created for @samwinchesterbingo

Square Filled: Soulmates!

Rating: T for language

Pairing: Sam/Dean (but not Wincest really if that makes sense)

Tags/Warnings: AU Soulamtes, language, major character death, angst

Word Count: 3991

Creator’s Note: I’ve always been interested in the concept that Sam and Dean are soulmates in an unromantic non sexual kind of way. Hopefully this comes across well :) enjoy!

Becca

The name Sam echoed in her head at all hours of the day. Becca had these dreams... she was riding in a car. The windows were down. She would turn to the side and see a man, his scruff on his cheeks pristinely shaved, but sometimes the growth came back before he could get to the bathroom. Music played, Metallica, Bon Jovi, AC/DC, and sometimes something a little less expected. Things were easy, but even in her dreams they weren’t always easy. 

Sometimes she would wake up in tears, still feeling his arms wrapped around her, weeping into her neck as blood seeped from her stomach. 

She tried to not think about the dreams. She tried to not think about this person she’s never met. This person that she misses so deeply that it hurts her. 

“Bec, you good?” Her roommate, Asia, asked. 

Becca looked up from the bathroom sink, that was threatening to overflow. She shut off the water and glanced at Asia in the mirror. “I’m fine.” She said weakly. What was she supposed to say? She gripped the cross necklace that hung from her neck that usually gave her peace. Things had been escalating, and she was trying to remember it all. She walked out the front door, grabbing her backpack on her way out. 

She worried that if she told anyone that they’d think she was insane. Maybe she was insane. Her apartment was close to campus, within walking distance. The fall semester had started, and everything was colorful. Guys threw a football in the grass and everyone was studying outside. She scanned the grounds to find a place to park it. 

She jogged to her favorite tree and lowered herself to a seated position. She pulled her notebook out of her bag and clicked her pen a few times before scribbling on the page. 

All I felt was pain, it was quick, but he was there to catch me. He always was. He cradled me against his chest, like I somehow knew he’d been doing my whole life. He would protect me against all else. I knew he would. “Hey, look at me. It’s not even that bad. It’s not even that bad, all right? Sammy?”

“Whatcha writing?” 

Becca slowly raised her head to find a guy sitting in the tree above her. What the fuck?

���Uh, nothing.” 

He squinted, and smiled widely. “Yeah, sure looks like nothing.” 

“Do you mind?”

“Do you? I was kind of here first.” He smiled charmingly. “I’m Nate.” 

“Good for you.” Becca said smoothly. 

“And you are?”

“Not interested.” She said, closing her notebook. He would have to wait. 

“Wow, ice queen.” Nate snorted swinging himself out of the tree like a monkey. 

His feet hit the ground right next to where Becca sat and he lowered himself next to her. Her heart rate picked up a bit with him so close. She held the notebook against her chest protectively. 

“Business or pleasure?” He asked, eyeing the notebook.

“I...” I want to tell him. “It’s a dream journal.” 

“Ohh, any naughty dreams.” His eyebrows wiggled.

“Gross, no.” She stood up quickly, wiping the dirt and leaves off her jeans. 

“Hey, I’m just kidding.” Nate said, scrambling up to his feet. 

“Well, it’s not funny.” Becca said, crossing her arms tightly across her chest. 

“You looked kind of peaceful writing, studious.” He commented. 

“So you thought you’d shoot that horse in the face?”

His eyes widened, he looked surprised. She smiled at him. His green eyes felt so familiar. They were kind, behind the sarcasm, and flirty front. 

“Well, I should go.” She said, backing up. 

“Class?” He offered. 

“Work, actually.” She said slowly.

“Where do you work?” He asked, his steps keeping up with her stride.

She raised an eyebrow at him. “The bar on 4th.” 

“Bartender?”

“Mhm.”

“Maybe I’ll come by for a drink.” He flashed a white smile, which looked really nice against his tanned skin. 

“Maybe I’ll see you there.” She smirked a bit before turning on her heels. “Bye!”

“Wait!” He called, taken off guard by her quick escape. “What’s your name?”

Nate

I am fucking Looney Tunes. Nate kept getting flashes of a face. A tall guy with long, shaggy hair. It was weird. It started out as vague dreams, but the longer it went on the more clear they got. They were even coming around in the day. 

He was leaning against the tree, his legs hanging down as he daydreamed, again. 

He was driving this car, blasting music. “Dude you’re going to be deaf by the time you’re forty.” 

“Hey, if I live that long I will deal with the repercussions.” Nate said, drumming on the steering wheel. His words weren’t his own. 

The guy next to Nate rolled his eyes and Nate smiled to himself. He didn’t know who the man was, but he knew he was important. Somehow Nate knew that he loved him. 

He was pulled out of the memory from the sound of someone settling in at the bottom of the tree below him. She was pretty, her dirty blonde hair was down, flowing freely, and she was scribbling in a notebook. His heart raced just looking at her. Fuck, am I getting sick? He pressed his hand to his chest, trying to ease the pounding that was moving from his chest into his temples. 

She was rude, and standoffish. She wasn’t interested in him, but somehow he found myself walking. She said she worked at the bar on 4th, and before he knew it he was standing in front of the red glowing neon sign. Nate pushed my way in and walked straight to the bar. 

Her back was to him, and he took a second to look her over. To take her in. She had curves to fill out her jeans, but she was obviously fit from the curve of her bicep. She reached up to get to the top shelf, but she was too short. He grinned at the sight. 

“Seriously?” She asked when she finally turned around. She crossed her arms with annoyance. “You actually came.”

“I’ve always wanted to check this place out.” He said casually. 

“I’m sure.” She said with an eye roll. 

He squinted, to read her name tag in the low light of the bar. “Becca, huh?”

“He can read!” She said with fake cheer, causing Nate’s stomach to flip. 

“Yeah... I like to read.” He said, feeling some weird dejavu that he couldn’t quite shake off. 

“Can I get you a beer or are you just going to loiter?” 

“Yeah, sure. Give me a beer.” 

She nodded and grabbed one out of the fridge. She cracked open the top and handed him an El Sol. He raised an eyebrow. “How’d you know this is my favorite?”

She shrugged. “I didn’t.” Her green eyes flickered from his back down to the bar top. She suddenly seemed really interested in a spot on the counter. 

“Is it.. should I have not come?” Nate asked, suddenly self conscious. Why did I come here? Doesn’t seem like she really wants to see me. 

“I... I don’t know.” Becca admitted, leaning forward. “Just not used to guys trying so hard.” She smiled a bit. 

“I’m not used to trying this hard either.” He grinned, making pink rise on her cheeks. “It may sound weird, but I just kind of felt like I had to come here. When I saw you I knew I had to talk to you.” 

“That is kind of weird.” She agreed. Becca went back to washing the counter, and Nate continued to watch her. He hopped up after a few minutes and put some money in the Juke Box. 

I was a little too tall, could’ve used a few pounds. Tight paints points hardly renown. She was a black haired beauty with big dark eyes... 

Becca looked up, meeting eyes with Nate. 

“Dean, I can explain what was going on...”

“No, no, no. No.” Dean said with a laugh, cranking on the radio. 

“Don't Night Moves me.” He groaned at his brothers choice of music. 

“Shh. Just let it wash over you.” Dean grinned at him from the side. He’d caught his brother with a half naked girl in the back seat that morning, and he had to give him shit. Of course he did.

“Let...”

“Just take it in.” Dean grinned, mouthing the lyrics.

I was a little to tall, could’ve used a few pounds. Tight Pants point hardly reknown. She was a black-haired beauty with big dark eyes

“This is ridiculous.”

“One of the greatest rock writers of all time, Samuel.”

“It’s Sam.” He groaned before rolling his eyes and belting, “Out in the back seat of my brother’s ’67 Chevy.”

Dean laughed. 

Sam grinned back at him. “Yeah, you started this. You started this.”

“Here we go. Come on now.”

The two looked at each other with a grin and sang off key, but together. “Workin' on our night moves...”

“Everything okay here?” The manager asked, interrupting their moment. Nate shook himself out of the very vivid day dream, just to see Becca���s eyes seemingly glazed over as well.

“Uh, yeah, Mark it’s fine.” She said forcing a smile, but her eyes never left Nate’s. The manager raised an eyebrow, but quickly walked away to deal with some other bar related issue. 

“Sorry,” Becca said, sheepishly. “I guess I kind of... zoned out.” 

“Me too.” Nate said, barely able to articulate. Things felt straight up weird. He couldn’t  place it, but more than anything he knew that he was there in that car. Something told him that so was she. 

Becca 

There was something going on inside of Becca. Saying it out loud would be insane and she knew it, but she was in that car. She was singing, but it wasn’t her voice. “It’s Sam.” Those words came from her own mouth. She reached up and touched her bottom lip, like she had been kissed. What the hell is going on? 

“Weird.” She offered, avoiding Nate’s eyes, suddenly. He was making her nervous. All of it seemed like too much. Too real. She could feel the road under her as if they had been plucked from the car. They. She shook her head. Nope that’s bat shit crazy. Do you want to be committed? 

She pressed her lips together. “You know, I’m suddenly not feeling very good.” She offered a weak smile. “Beers on the house.” She pulled off her apron and pushed out from behind the bar. She swung open the back door and went into the alleyway, immediately bending over and vomiting. She felt flushed, holding her knees 

“Becca! Wait! Are you.. oh shit.” Nate commented. 

Great. 

“Nothing to see here.” She said, waiving him off dismissively. 

“No need to be a hero.” He grunted, walking to her. He gathered her hair in his hands, letting her vomit, get it all out. “You’re not pregnant are you?” He joked, lamely.

“No.” She snorted, wiping her mouth with the back of her hands. 

“Good.” He said, supporting her by her elbow. “‘Mere.” 

She let him lead her down the alley way, and out to the street. They lowered themselves to a seated position on a bench. “Feelin any better?” Nate asked her gently.

No. “I... yeah. I guess.” 

“Can I ask you something?”

Her eyes flickered up to his. The large, full moon was reflecting in his green iris. “Anything.” She murmured, and somehow she knew that she did mean anything. 

“When you zoned out earlier... did you.... uh. Shit this is going to sound crazy.”

“It’s okay.” She said, sitting up a little straighter. “You can tell me.” 

“Fine.” Nate said, forcing a smile. “Did you, uh, see anything?” 

“Like what?” Becca asked, carefully.

“I sound like a fucking loon.” He complained before letting out a rush of air. “But... I don’t know. Like a car?”

Becca sat up even straighter. “I... yeah. Yeah I think I did.” 

“I know it sounds... wait, really?” Nate turned to look at her intensely. She found she couldn’t focus with his eyes on her like that. She nervously pushed her hair behind her ear. 

“Yeah. The moment the juke box started playing it was like...”

“Like you were transported somewhere else?”

“Yeah.” She said eagerly. “Exactly like that.” 

They searched each others faces for answers. “It’s happened before.” He admitted.

“For me too.” 

“I always see the same guy with me. He’s some... some tall guy, and I don’t know I’m not me.” Nate said slowly.

“I think... I think I see that, too. I think they’re brothers.” Becca said gently, not admitting that she felt like she was Sam when she was in these memories. It didn’t make any sense. It wasn’t logical. She was just herself, but there was more to it. Even if she couldn’t admit it to herself, she knew it deep down. 

“Yeah, before I heard them say that... I knew they had some kind of bond. That’s fucking bananas, isn’t it?”

Becca laughed humorlessly. “About fifteen minutes ago I would’ve said yeah, but now... I don’t know. I thought I was going crazy! But if you’re seeing them too...”  

“What do you think this means?” Nate asked quietly. 

“I wish I knew.” Becca said, lacing her fingers with Nate. She didn’t know why she did it. She didn’t know this boy, but there was something about him. Something safe. “Maybe we could go to the library and do some research?”

“To research what?” He laughed, looking down at their combined fingers, beginning to feel calm.

“Just seems like the thing to do.” Becca said quietly. What she didn’t say is that it’s what Sam always did in her dreams. There’s no problem that couldn’t be solved with a book. 

“Alright, fuck it. Let’s go.” Nate said standing up. 

They didn’t release hands as they walked down the road to the library on campus. They only released when they each settled down in a chair. Becca began typing diligently, but Nate couldn’t focus. He couldn’t stop looking at her. She was a stranger, but yet she was so familiar. He just couldn’t place it. 

“Get this.” She said, squinting at the screen. “It’s said that soulmates can have the same dreams. That’s crazy isn’t it?” She asked, turning toward him. 

“Maybe not so much.” Nate said, meeting her eyes. He glanced at his own screen, clicking a link. “I... I don’t want to sound any crazier than I already do, but I feel like I know you Bec.” 

“Bec.” She said cooly. “Yeah... I get that too, Nathan.” She eyed him.

“Right. Not on nickname bases yet?”

“I just thought I’d try it out. I don’t really mind.” 

“Samuel.” “It’s Sam.”

She pursed her lips. “I don’t think... the big one liked nicknames. I think he felt like he was being demoted somehow.” 

Nate smiled. “Yeah, he liked teasing Sammy, but that’s what brothers do.” 

Becca closed her eyes. This is too fucking Twilight Zone. 

“Hey, you good?”

“What? Oh yeah.” Her eyes flew open, landing on his hand. “I’m good. I’m great.” 

“Sure sellin it.” He chuckled and turned back to his screen. “What do you think about it?”

“About what?”

“The whole soulmate shtick?”

“I think... I think I don’t have any better explanation.” 

Nate stretched his arms above his head, waiting for the satisfying crack, but instead his hands shot straight into the chest of some older guy. “Um, sorry, dude.” 

The brunette man looked tired. He wore an outdated trench coat, with a cheap suit underneath. “It’s fine.” The man smiled. He looked upset. 

“Right, well.” Nate cleared his throat. “Better get back to studying, ya know?”

Becca looked nervous, and reached for his hand. He took it instinctively. 

“I don’t have time for pleasantries.” The man said, lowly. “I need to talk to you both.” 

“No thanks.” Nate said, protectively. “We don’t want whatever you’re selling in that weird ass coat.” 

The man groaned outwardly. “Why must you always comment on the coat?”

“Listen, buddy.” Nate said, rising. “I’ve never met you before. I think you must have me confused...” 

The man reached out his two index fingers on both hands, and pressed them to Becca and Nates foreheads, sending them into a quick, and peaceful sleep. 

Both 

Sam looked at his brother, his hands in the sudsy water, doing the dishes. “Did you see them at dinner, the way they looked at each other? They just seemed happy, you know? It doesn’t feel fair to get all this and have to throw it away, and I know we have to. But it just feels like, you know… Once we send dad back… it’s none of this ever happened. He just goes back to being dad.”

Dean glanced at Sam, as he mindlessly dried a plate. “You saying you wish things would be different?”

“Don’t you? Can you imagine dad in the past, knowing then what he knows now? I… I think it would be nice.” Sam said weakly, peeling his eyes away from Deans. 

Dean shrugged. “Yeah. I used to think that, too. But, uh… I mean, look, we’ve been through some tough times. There’s no denying that.”

Sam licked his dry lips. “Yeah.”

“And for the longest time, I blamed dad. I mean, hell, I blamed mom, too, you know? I was angry. But say we could send dad back knowing everything. Why stop there? Why not send him even further back and let some other poor sons of bitches save the world? But here’s the problem. Who does that make us? Would we be better off? Well, maybe. But I gotta be honest, man. I don’t know who that Dean Winchester is. And I’m good with who I am. I’m good with who you are. ‘Cause our lives, they’re ours. And maybe I’m just too damn old to want to change that.”

Becca’s eyes opened first, with a flutter. She could still feel the warm water on her hands. She could feel the wounds on her face, the ache in her temple. She could still feel Dean’s gaze as he described their lives. How he described the impossibilities of starting all over. Her heart ached at the idea. The idea that the boys probably died in the grips of each other, doing what they thought was right. Her heart broke knowing that they probably never got a day of rest. That the memory she saw, the ones she’d been seeing, were one of a kind. 

She turned to her side, she was laying next to Nate who was still passed out. She rested her palm on his chest, right above his heart. 

“I’m sorry.” The man from the library said quietly, I just... I recognized you two. I had to talk to you. It isn’t protocol, but seeing that you found each other... it was too tempting. 

Something came over Becca suddenly. 

“Cas is that really you?” Dean asked, his eyes wide under the light of the night sky. 

Sam shook his head. “No. You’re... you’re dead.” He was desperate. His heart was aching. He wanted to reach out and hug his friend, but he couldn’t, not until he had all the answers.

“Yeah, I was.” Castiel said carefully. “But then I.. annoyed an ancient cosmic being so much that he sent me back.” 

“I don’t even know what to say.” Sam said, dumbfounded.

“I do.” Dean said, rushing Castiel, pulling him into a hug. “Welcome home, Pal.” 

“Castiel.” Becca breathed, before she realized what she was doing.

“You’re having memories?” Cas pressed.

“I... I don’t know what’s going on.” Becca admitted, in tears. “I’m a grad student. I... I don’t believe in all of this..”

“It’s alright.” Cas said gently. “I just...”

“What’s happening?” Becca asked intently. 

Nate groaned next to her. 

“Hey.” She murmured as he started to stir. 

“What the...”  

“I think... I think we know him.” Becca said, eyeing the angel in front of them.

Nate squinted. “Yeah I think you might be right.” He said up all the way, rubbing his head. “So get to talkin, stalker boy.” 

“I’m not a...” Castiel sighed and shook his head. “I recognized your aura. Your souls energy.” He said slowly, eyeing Nate. “I’d recognize you anywhere.”

“Weird.” 

“Dean and I share a more profound bond.” 

“I’m not sure it is.” Becca said. It was like she turned her dreams on high. She was getting constant flashes. “Castiel.” She said quietly. “What is going on here?”

“It is said that when two souls make a significant imprint on the world, on each other, that in every life they will find each other again. I.. I don’t know why you have left heaven, but I am happy to see that you have found each other again.”

“Heaven..” Becca murmured, her heart breaking. She was right. 

“What is he sayin?” Nate asked, looking irritated. 

“I think... I think he’s saying..” 

“You’ve been reincarnated.” Cas said simply.

Becca swallowed. “So Sam and Dean...” 

“They were a past life of yours. The one where I met you. Where I was your friend.” He turned to Nate. “Your best friend.” 

“Hm.” Nate grunted.

“You wear a different face, Dean.” Cas said with a kind, nostalgic smile. “But you are still the same.” 

“Dean.” Nate said slowly. “Like from the dreams?”

“I don’t think they’re dreams.” Becca said, moving her hand off of Nates leg. “I think they’re memories.” She felt sick. She stood up and began to pace. “So if he’s Dean... then I’m.. oh god.” 

It all rushed over Nate instantly and he stood up too. “Sam.” He breathed. “Of course.” 

Becca turned, shaking her head. “Nope. I can’t do this.”

Nate grabbed her hand. “Hey... just.. it’s okay.” They both turned to Castiel.

“Soul mates are complicated.” He said quietly. “You both died countless times, in each other’s arms. That leaves an imprint. In this past life you were siblings, but I’ve never seen anyone connected so strongly.”

Becca busted into tears, Nate supporting her as she lost it. “How did they die... how did we.. Cas...”

“It was a hunt.” Cas said weakly. “It was an accident... it was tragic.” He admitted sadly. “It was a long time ago.” 

Becca gripped Nates shirt, and he wrapped his arms around her. “I’ve got you.” 

She knew he did, because she could see him a thousand times over, holding her in the same way. Holding Sam. She could see his face, bloodied and broken under her fist. 

“And if we die, we will do that together too.” 

“I believe in us!”

“I’ve looked up to you my whole life.” 

She held her head and just cried. She mourned for the loss of who she used to be. She mourned for Dean. Her eyes fluttered open and she caught those same green eyes full of concern, looking right back at her. Fuck. She thought, touching his cheek. “Guess it isn’t our first time around is it?”

“Guess not.” Nate said quietly. 

“I am sorry if this was too much.” Cas said, weakly. “I just saw you and I couldn’t... I couldn’t not.” 

“We understand.” Becca said, regaining her sea legs. She stood up and walked to him, wrapping her arms around him. “Thank you.” She breathed. “I had no idea I could miss someone I never met, but I think I missed you, Cas. I think I missed both of you.” She said releasing her hug, turning to meet Nate’s eyes. They were different than his, but somehow exactly the same. He gave her a cheesy sideways smile, the same that she’d seen a million times before, before she woke up, before the sun touched the horizon. 

“Hey, no chick flick moments.” Nate complained.. 

Becca smiled a bit, before murmuring. “Jerk.” 

Nate grinned without missing a beat. “Bitch.” 

[multeasers]

starrkc​:

doppelgangers. this was a phenomenon he’d read about in books and it said he one would either die when faced with theirs. the first time nothing had happened. but this was the second time now. and well now he could actually verify if this was going to be true or not.

the former espada had his hands in his pockets and had been dressed in modern world of the living garb since he now resided here. and since it was now autumn that meant wearing something called layering and wearing sweaters and the like. it was strange getting used to how things were here compared to where he had come from. 

but now that he saw his doppelganger dressed in his former aizen made uniform a sense of dejavu hit him that he wasn’t sure what to do with. 

‘ no, you’re not seeing things. strange finding you here though. did you get lost? or are you from another dimension? I heard there’s something called the multiverse where different versions of one’s self reside in varying degrees of what one is used to. ‘ he paused, as though considering his next words as his sharp eyes regarded the other. 

‘ tell me about where you’re from. ‘

To see someone that looks exactly like him is a surprise in and of itself, but once the other begins to speak and he can hear that they sound the same... Well, it’s certainly a shock and a half. In fact, the only thing differing between the two of them, so far as he can tell at the moment, is the fact that this...other him isn’t wearing an Arrancar uniform, instead wearing a style of clothing he hasn’t ever seen before. Starrk can’t say he knows how to feel about it all.

(Though, if he can be honest, he has a vague sense of curiousity that he just can’t quell for the situation; something like this has never happened to him before, so surely he can be interested with it. If nothing else, at least.)

“‘Not seeing things’...” That’d mean that he definitely is seeing himself as a completely separate entity, then.

...Admittedly, the realization doesn’t hit him as hard as he suspects it should. As he was thinking it would, just some time before. Somehow, he’d really happened to just run right into the person who looked exactly like him.

Well. Best not to dwell on the things they couldn’t figure out just yet, right?

“Alright, I can tolerate that, but; ‘another dimension? Multiverse?’” He repeats after the other, however, a bit confused; while dimension is a word he’s heard of before (and definitely isn’t wrong), this multiverse word isn’t one he’s heard much. Definitely not in any amount of detail, that’s for sure. 

“Got to admit, I can’t say I’ve ever heard of the same before now, but lost... Yeah, that sounds about right. Can’t say I’m too familiar with where I am, right now.”

He sighs, then, and contemplates his options for a moment; he’s choosing to trust the other’s word for the time being, so since he’s not seeing things, answering with where he’d come from shouldn’t cause any problems. It’s not like he sensed any hostility or maliciousness from the other, at current, either, so hiding what he didn’t need to didn’t seem to have much of a purpose. Doing so would likely just make things unnecessarily difficult for them both, in the long run. 

Besides, it’s not like he’s lying: While he doesn’t quite know where he is, he can sense from a few traces of reiatsu that he’s certainly not within the Soul Society (if he were, then there’d surely be more). As he’s definitely not where he knows to be home, either, however, then as far as he knows, that just leaves the Human World—a world he’s not at all familiar with—for him to be. Trying to traverse this place on his own would likely not be the smartest thing he could do.

“While I’m not sure how I ended up here,” he starts, deciding to just be forward, “I came from Hueco Mundo. From my... Our? Palace.”

[ilovelocust]

Mirror Mirror V.2 (Part 9)

Note: Omg the freaking dialogue. Blargh, no wonder this chapter was so long. So much easier to float around in someones head instead of have them hold a conversation. Sorry guys, this is probably the only one for today. I tromped around in the hot sun for two hours and now I feel terrible. Enjoy!

<< First < Prev.

Keith has brought back his prod. Every muscle in Shiro’s body spasms and screams. Twists him against his binds until his flesh gives and his tendons wrench. There is no air left in his lungs, mouth locked open in a silent scream. Can’t think. Can’t plead. The current stops, Keith sneers, but his chest hearts, burns deep inside. Head light as air, spinning on the teacups. Pain, streaking pain. Keith’s lips move, more words, but he can’t hear. His ears listening through an ocean. The world is fading at the edges. Growing dark…slipping away…he can’t hold……

.

Shouting voices, clattering metal, alarms? Nothing coherent, a world painted in blurry water colors. His chest aches, like someone has taken a hammer to it. Someone has spilled ink on the painting, tendrils overtaking the colo……

.

Bright, painfully bright, an arena’s spotlight in his eyes. He can’t turn away, can’t protect his sight. “Taikashee Shirogainee” Deep bellows, a dream? Reality? Mountains mangling his name around stalactite fangs, “Can you hear me?” Head set in stone, can’t nod. A crack in the place of his voice, maybe yes, maybe the rock understands, “Basic cognitive functions seem to be intact. We’ll have to wait until he is more full recove-”……

.

Anger, rage, Keith, “When will he wake up!” Pain, this promises pain.

“Give him time, my prince. His condition was dire.” The deep voice sounds familiar but from where?

“I have given you time. More than enough time, and he still isn’t conscious.” He should say something. Redirect the anger before it grows too fierce. Keith will be mad at him if he doesn’t……

.

Scratchy sheets against his skin. Not warm, but not cold. Aches but no sharp tears. Shiro opens his eyes. Where is he? Everything echos of dejavu, but from when? Don’t try. If his mind has forgotten, then nightmares probably rest there.

“Ah good, you’re awake.” Deep voice, he’s heard it before. Oh, Galra, medical uniform. He was one of the ones with needles full of sickness and claims to make his wounds better. He must be in the medical wing. Patient room?

“Drink this.” Something is shoved in his face. Cup, he can’t see inside, but is that a bendy straw? Shiro smiles. Who would have thought the Galra would create something so simple and familiar. His lips crack around the motion, his throat sandpaper. He’s so thirsty. He pulls cool water in desperate little sips. The doctor takes it away long before he’s quenched.

The Galra pick up a tablet, opens up some program, “What is your name?” The doctor asks.

Surely, he already knows who Shiro is. The Galra are quite efficient with their files, but sarcasm towards the one treating him will only lead to unnecessary pain, “Takashi Shirogane,” His voice doesn’t sound like his own. Too rough and cracked.

A click, checklist, seeing if something is wrong with his memory. He’s done this before, “Where were you born?”

“Earth” The Galra use a different designation, but he refuses to say it. His home isn’t their’s to name.

“How many fingers am I holding up?” The doctor holds up two clawed fingers.

“Two.”

“Do you know what happened?”

Pain, so much pain, “I was tortured,” He whispers.

“Electrocuted to be precise. I told the prince that your system wasn’t strong enough for prolonged exposure, but does he listen to me. No, of course not.” The doctor grumbles, “Your mental functions don’t seem to have been affected from oxygen deprivation. Thank the Emperor. The fit that would be thrown if you came back an idiot.” The doctor finishes filling out his form and sets the tablet down, “The prince will be down in a moment. Try not to pass out between now and then. You will not like how you are woken back up.” Is that a threat or advice? It can be hard to tell with them. There’s nothing else, a few more readings are recorded and Shiro is left alone to wait.

Staying awakes isn’t a problem. He’s not tired. The Galra don’t believe in waisting pain medication on prisoners. The most a gladiator could hope for is a sedative to keep them still. If he’d been given anything, it has long worn off. Keith arrives before he can grow bored of accessing his injuries.

The prince isn’t angry. That’s not right. He should be furious Shiro had evaded his punishment. His rage has never abated without his concession before, but there is nothing but relief on his face. Keith rushes to his bedside. Shiro flinches, as he’s dragged into a hug. The arms around him hurt, carelessly squeezing against his abused skin. He dare not complain. This is the happiest he’s seen his captor since his refusal to fight. Maybe he’s been forgiven.

Keith releases him from the bone crushing hug, looking him up and down, making sure he’s okay. Shiro isn’t prepared for the fist crashing into his jaw, “Are you happy now!” Keith screams at him, wrenching Shiro’s face around before he can recover.

“You nearly died.” Keith raps his knuckles against the electrical burn over Shiro’s heart. It hurts, he wants to back away, but Keith holds him still with nails in his cheek, “After everything I’ve done. After all the work I put into bringing you back. You can’t just be grateful.”

Keith shoves him back, storms through the room, pacing and gesturing wildly, “You always have to push! Refuse to do as you’re told, and look where its gotten you!” Keith whirls around, stalks towards him and jabs his finger against Shiro’s burn, “Your heart stopped Takashi. The doctors told me you might wake up a vegetable.”

The strength fades from Keith’s voice, his face crumples, and his eyes shine with unshed tears, “Why do you do this to yourself?” Shaking fingers are touching Shiro’s cheek, “Why couldn’t you just do what I asked?” He’s being hugged again, desperately tight.

“I’m sorry,” What else can Shiro say, when presented with this?

“You better be.” Keith lets him go, “You aren’t allowed to leave me again.”

-

Keith’s performance has been suffering. He didn’t notice at first, so obsessed with making sure that his brand new set of issues didn’t interfere with his own, but as he has grown more comfortable, he’s started to see outside of himself again. Keith is very obviously losing a step.

The first time he’d asked, Keith just told him he was a bit tired and not to worry. Shiro didn’t press. Keith would handle his problem now the he was made aware others were noticing, and for a while he did. Keith pulls himself back together, watches the other paladin’s backs, and if he is unusually quiet, well Shiro is too. He is not in a position to judge.

Things don’t last. Eventually, Keith starts slipping again. Banging into rocky surfaces when precision flying Red. Failing to fully guard Lance’s back during group exercises. Taking one too many hits when solo training with the bots. The final straw is when Keith nods off during breakfast. Shiro has to intervene. He’s the leader of Voltron. It would be a dereliction of duty to allow this to progress any further. Left to fester this issue could potentially endanger one of their missions.

He’s not cruel. He doesn’t speak to Keith then and there. In front of his teammates and the Alteans. Shiro waits until he can pull Keith into a side room to confront him. Even if his chest tightens the moment they are alone together.

Keith doesn’t look good. There are dark bags under his eyes. His reaction time is just a moment more delayed than normal. His whole body seems to be sagging under the weight of exhaustion. He shouldn’t have waited so long to speak to him. A good leader shouldn’t let things gets this bad before intervening.

“How much rack time have you been getting?” Straight to the point has always been the best approach when dealing with Keith.

“Seven hours,” Keith says, bullshitting him straight to his face. He’s seen Keith on seven hours of sleep a night. He doesn’t look like this.

“Don’t lie to me,” Shiro adopts his old mentor tone, the coaxing one instead of ordering. Keith responds better when he doesn’t demand, “You look like a walking zombie. How much sleep have you been getting?” He asks again.

“Enough,” Keith replies obstinately. Brick walls had nothing on Keith Kogane.

So this is how it’s going to be. Shiro scrubs at his face, he doesn’t have anywhere better to be, but this could go on for hours depending on how stubborn Keith decides to be, “You nearly face planted in your food goo this morning.” He reminds him, “If that’s enough, I’d hate to see what too little looks like.”

Keith eyes cut away from him, staring off at nothing in particular, “I’m handling it, okay,” Keith says, “You don’t have to worry.”

“Keith, I’m responsible for this team’s performance.” The same thing he’d had to keep telling himself, when working up for this conversation, “It’s my job to worry.”

“That’s the fucking problem.” Keith mutters.

What? “Excuse me?” Shiro says.

Keith flushes, apparently he hadn’t meant to say that out loud, “No, forget I said anything. I’ll go get some sleep. Your leaderly duties are satisfied.” Keith makes a break for the exit, but Shiro blocks his path. Barring the door with his arm.

“I’m not just going to forget it.” He says, letting some of his building frustration leak into his voice. Since when had Keith been so unwilling to just tell him what he’s thinking? “Explain what you mean, how is my worrying the problem.”

“That’s not what I meant!” Keith shouts, “You’re getting it all wrong.” Keith crosses his arms. He looks like he’s trying to give himself a hug. What had he missed? What had he let build due to his own discomfort?

“Then tell me, and I can get it right.” Neither of them are going anywhere until this is resolved. He won’t let interpersonal issues compromise Voltron.

Keith knows him. Knows Shiro can be just as stubborn if not more stubborn than him. The younger man caves, “You were gone again, Shiro…” Keith starts, then trails off. Losing himself on the way to next sentence.

“You mean when I changed universes.” Shiro offers, a cue to jog his thoughts.

Keith nods, “Yeah, I’d finally gotten you back, after so long we were together again and things were right.” Keith’s lips turn up in a shaky smile, “Then…then, then you disappeared!” Keith’s eyes squeeze shut at the declaration, as if the thought physically pains him before opening them again, “There wasn’t a body, just like last time. You were gone, poof. Without a trace. We-I didn’t even know if you were still alive.” Keith’s staring somewhere around Shiro’s chest, but he’s not seeing him. Keith’s looking at an empty cockpit, “Even once we found out what happened, space is 99 percent empty. Slav calculated the odds of you going somewhere with oxygen and survivable temperature ranges. They were astronomical. He thought we were bringing your body back for a funeral.”

He’d never thought. He’d been so preoccupied trying to handle himself, keep everything that happened away from the the others. He never stopped to think what the search for him had been like. They thought they were bringing home a corpse, “I’m sorry.” He should have realized what his disappearance would have been like for Keith.

“Don’t, don’t apologize, it’s not your fault.” Keith absolves him off handedly, “Besides, that’s not the real issue.” There’s more?

“Then what is?” Shiro asks.

“I always believed you were alive. Just like after the ‘pilot error’,” Keith sneers on the words, like they taste foul in his mouth, “I knew you were still out there. I just had to find you, but when I did, it didn’t feel like you came back.”

Keith takes a deep breath before continuing, “I used to have nightmares about looking for you at the Garrison. Running through the halls calling your name, but I could never find you.” Keith arms wrap tighter around himself with his confession. He sniffs wetly, “They stopped when you crash landed back on Earth. I thought they were gone for good.”

Keith reaches up to wipe his eyes roughly, “Then you went missing and I started having them about the Castle. Except this time they didn’t stop when we found you.” Keith’s ducking his head, hiding his face behind his hair, “You’re here, but you don’t feel like you’re really here.” His breath is hitching. This is all Shiro’s fault. He’s the one who’s been pushing Keith away without proper explanation. He’s the one who’s been treating his lover like a leper with no real time frame for them to come back together. He did this to him.

“Keith,” Shiro says softly. Carefully placing his arms around the smaller man. Keith leans into the hug, fingers curling into Shiro’s shirt. He buries his head against his shoulder. The spot Keith’s hiding his eyes is grows damp.

“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Keith whispers. He’s trembling against Shiro. Too many emotions, suppressed for too long, “I shouldn’t be telling you this. You have your own problems. I’m so sorry.”

“Shhhh, it’s okay.” Shiro murmurs, gingerly petting Keith’s hair, “You didn’t do anything wrong. Everything is going to be okay.” Hesitantly, he presses a kiss to Keith’s temple. Keith cries harder.

Next >

[creepingdarkness]

The tattoo expo

wordcount: 2k ish

warnings: swearing

notes: slightly rushed because I really wanted to post something. ao3 here

Luke had an attraction to tattoos. It was something about the way it seemed to bring peoples skin to life, the swirls and patterns marked into their skin giving a glimpse into the heart of the person they were a part of. Whether they were well planned out or just a spur of the moment thing, they were like an open window into a part of their life. There was an intoxicating beauty to art that someone found worthy to permanently add to their body.

So of course when Jon asked if he’d go with him to the tattoo convention that was coming to town he had immediately agreed. He had gone with Jon a few of the times he’d gotten pieces done by artists in the city, and all those tattoos had turned out nicely, but he was excited to see the new piece he was getting done by an incredibly talented artist who was coming from out of state.

When Jon had showed him examples of the guys work he was so impressed he was almost tempted to book an appointment with the guy himself despite the fact that he had no idea what he would even get (that was one of the main reasons he hadn’t gotten a tattoo yet himself).

So when the day of the expo came he wasn’t sure why he was feeling so jittery. He had been fine all morning, but once they had gotten inside of the event hall something just seemed off, like an extremely strong case of dejavu, but he couldn’t place when he’d felt anything like this before.

Determined to enjoy the event he brushed it off as just being a little freaked out by one of the booths they passed that was full of taxidermy animals. He swore he could feel the one ducks fake eyes following him as he walked by.

That didn’t stop him from trying to convince Jon to buy it though. His loud laugh at that drawing attention before he rejected the idea, earning a glare from the booth attendant as he dissed the ‘ugly ass stuffed abominations in front of her potential customers. Luke hustled them both away as she looked just about ready to leave her booth to try and kick them out of the expo.

He ended up following slightly behind Jon as they walked around so that he could look at the rainbow of people as they walked past with coloured hair and skin. Nearly everyone here had at least one visible tattoo, and more than half were simply covered in ink. He was so busy admiring one woman’s water-coloured sleeve of flowers he walked straight into Jon’s back, not noticing he had stopped.

Jon though was too excited to give him shit for running into him, he’s practically jumping up and down at that point as he grabs him by the elbow, dragging him towards one of the booths on their right. The sign its got hanging up rather plain compared to some of the more eccentric signs on the other nearby booths.

Realizing he still wasn’t paying attention to the right thing, Jon starts tugging at his elbow again to bring his focus to the example books spread across the booths front table. He frowned when he saw the symbol on the cover of the book Jon picked up to start flipping through, the feeling of dejavu becoming almost over whelming.

“Can I help you guys?” So focused on the book both him and Jon are startled by the sudden appearance of one of the booth workers, Jon making an awkward noise as the book nearly slips out of his hand. About to apologize for him Luke puts on an apologetic smile as he faces the guy before all the words he was about to say die in his throat as he meets a familiar pair of hazel eyes.

“Oh yeah! Sorry, I’ve got an appointment with, um, Ohmwrecker in like 15 minutes.” Jon says, not noticing the staring contest going on beside him as he sets the book back onto the safety of the table before extending a hand to the guy. “I’m Jon by the way.”

Luke is finally able to take a breath as the guy finally breaks their eye contact, turning his sharp focus into a warm smile as he turns to shake Jon’s hand. “Nice to meet you Jon, I’m Ohm but you can call me Ryan.” He says as his eyes cut back to Luke, something almost feral in his gaze. “All my friends do. Its actually good that you’re here early, my last client finished early so we can actually start now if you want?” Receiving an excited nod from Jon, Ryan gestured for them to follow him into the booth.

Following along reluctantly Luke watched the all too familiar walk of Ryan as he led them to his station, receiving a smirk as Ryan noticed him watching. That feeling of dejavu was now long gone, morphed into actual (if slightly fuzzy) memories.

Luke grabbed one of the folding chairs leaning against the side of the booth and set it up next to what looked like a massage table that he assumed Jon was going to be tattooed on. He was happy to be third wheeled as they discussed the design and its placement, it gave him a chance to get over his shock, to focus on composing himself and also actually look at Ryan since it had been so long.

Objectively speaking, Ryan looked good, really good even. It seemed like he’d been going to the gym, and he had grown his facial hair out a bit since he’d last seen him, but other than that he looked like the same guy from all those months ago with the hypnotizing eyes and playful smile that had first drawn him in.

Luke snapped back to attention as those eyes moved back to him, catching the last of their conversation.

“-fill this out while I set up, then you and your boyfriend can get comfortable before I start.”

At that both Luke and Jon both looked at each other before bursting out laughing.

“Oh hell no! I love this guy, but were just friends!” Jon said as he signed the forms and got up onto the table, rolling his pant leg up in preparation, shaking his head at the absurdity of the idea of them together.

Still focused on Ryan, Luke noticed how he seemed to perk up a bit at that, smile widening almost imperceptibly as he looked between them. “Sorry for assuming.” Ryan said as he moved to a cabinet and started pulling things out of the drawers and setting them on top. “You guys just seem close, but I guess that’s friendship for you.” Pulling a few final items out he wheeled the cabinet over beside them before pulling up his chair. Taking Jon’s leg in his hands Ryan cleaned and cleared the area for the tattoo before transferring the design onto his skin, and once he got Jon’s approval he cleaned it again and rubbed Vaseline into it. “Sooo, are you guys single then?”

Realizing what he was doing Luke snorted. “That was real fuckin smooth Ryan.” He teased, smiling at Ryan who was trying to act like he hadn’t been abstractly trying to see if Luke was dating anyone. Although he could be interested in Jon and that thought had Luke involuntarily tensing up in his chair.

Ryan just beamed at his response though, seemingly just glad that he had finally spoken to him. Setting up his needles as he prepared to tattoo Jon, Ryan still seemed focused on him to the point he was only semi focused on his actual client. Everyone seemed to ignore what Luke had said, instead focusing on the buzzing of the tattoo gun as it started up.

The odd silence continued for almost an hour before Jon needed a break, getting a slight cover over his semi completed tattoo before he headed out through the convention for a bathroom break and slight snack, preferably without Luke around to sneak a couple bites of his food.

So being left alone with Ryan for a while, he struggled to find anything to say that wouldn’t directly open up a conversation about their shared past.

“I like your beard.” Was the rather lame sounding compliment he came up with. But it was true, the slight beard framed his face almost perfectly, highlighting his jawline and high cheekbones.

“Thanks.” Ryan said before batting his lashes at him. “I was inspired by this rather handsome man I met a while ago.

Although it sounded slightly vain Luke thought he might not be too far off the mark if he said Ryans beard was inspired by his own rather magnificent beard. Taking that at face value he leaned into where Ryan was sitting, voice deep as he whispered into his ear as Jon finally returned to his position on the table. “Mmm, I gotta say, whoever it was must have had magnificent taste then.” Before moving back into his seat, content to quietly watch Ryan’s skilled hands as they worked on his friend.

Ryan’s voice was slightly husky as he spoke to Jon as he repositioned him, and he continued to work as if Luke hadn’t said anything at all, but Luke could feel his gaze on him more often now.

***

“Do you have any tattoos?” Jon’s question brought Luke out of his slight daze. He hadn’t even realized that the tattoo was finished and all wrapped up, he had been too distracted in his own little world.

Looking at Ryan it seemed like a fair question, as he had a regular t-shirt that exposed a fair bit of un-inked skin. But Luke knew he actually had a couple smaller randomly placed tattoos and one beautiful back and chest piece though that morphed through designs so it didn’t look like it actually had beginning or an end.

But of course, Ryan didn’t mention that one.

“I’ve got a little rabbit tattooed on my butt, wanna see?” Ryan said jokingly as he turned is butt towards them and playfully shook it a little bit.

And of course, Jon caught him staring.

That had Jon burst out laughing, before pausing mid laugh to turn to Luke with a confused look on his face. “Hey didn’t you say that last time you left the city a couple months ago you met a hottie with a bunny tattoo on their ass?” Catching Luke speechless for a moment, he nodded to himself as if putting it all together. “I just assumed you had slept with a chick! You never told me you liked guys too!” Jon finished, sound fakely accusing.

Luke wasn’t sure what to say. It wasn’t like he had intentionally been hiding it, just whenever it came up in conversation they always seemed to be around someone Luke definitely did not want to hear about it, so it just became a sort of not quite secret but not something he had ever actually spoken to Jon about. Now though that was coming back to bight him in the ass.

“You know,” Ryan cut in, noticing the uncomfortable look on Luke’s face. “this shop is thinking of opening a new location in this city.”

“Okay?”

“Soooo.” Ryan drew the word out slowly as if through molasses, waiting for Luke to catch on. “They’re going to need some experienced artists to start it off.”

Luke had a feeling he knew where this was going. “Someone like you?”

Ryan nodded, tapping his chin thoughtfully. “Yeah someone like me, although I haven’t decided on if I will or not.”

Jon pulled him slightly aside, pulling him in close to whisper in his ear. “Look at this,” Jon pointed to his fresh tattoo, “you need to convince him to stay so I can get him to do my next one too.” That said, he shoved him towards Ryan and made some vague hand gestures that Luke took to mean start talking.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked into Ryan’s eyes and smiled shyly. “You know, if you do come here I’m calling the first slot.”

“It’s a date!”

[monasatlantis]

Review of Dragon Quest Builders 2

I got Dragon-Quest-Builders-2 (DQB2 for short) on the first long Autum -Weekend here in Germany. It kind of became a tradition for me to buy a new game if we have two long weekends available in October and if there are games that I want of course. And I was totally in the mood to play DQB2 so the moment to buy it had finally come. So lets talk about what I think about the game.

1. What got you into the first Dragon Quest Game? I bought a PS4 two weeks or so before the first game that I actually wanted was released and I kind of wanted to test the Playstation out so I  downloaded the Demo of the first Dragon Quest game. I never expected to like it. I have never before played a Dragon Quest game and I also heard the basics of the game were like “Minecraf” wish never got me interested at all. I thought I just play for half an hour or so to test the PS4 and get accustomed to the new controller and that’s it. I finished the Demo (took me 1 1/2 hours or so) and realized… I kind of liked that game? It was somehow fun? I sorta want to know how the story continues? So I bought it. And although it was not like “The best game I ever played” it was a really nice game that I enjoyed.

 2. Lets talk about the Beginning of DQB2, the prolog and the intro! I was kind of confused at first. The first game started with you waking up god knows where in some kind of underground cell and then you straight ran into town and things unfolded from there. This time we started imprisoned on a ship of the monsters and… kind of befriended them at some point after the game took the small work they gave us to introduce us to the games mechanics. And then, despite our best efforts the ship sank. Oooookay? The intro started then. I kind of really like it. I usually skip intros after watching them for the first time. This one I watch almost every time I start the game. I don’t know why. It just really talks to me? Fun fact? The moment Melroth reaches for MCs Hand my Head automatically plays Kingdom Hearts “Simple and Clean” XD After the intro we are stranded on our first Island and met Melroth there who had not been on the ship and of course WE do know who he is. Surprisingly, neither he nor our MC does and somehow even the cult that worships him and that we are fighting with doesn’t recognize him? Okay… What totally surprised me was, that there were like dead people in that scene. When you tried to talk to those people that you previously saw imprisoned in the ship the game tells you that that are just corpses that the waves wash away. And I was like: “Okay… kind of dark?” I didn’t expect that to happen. Overall I like the theme of that game. “Before creation, there must be destruction.” And it really hits the spot of the game? To get the materials for the things you build, you must first destroy things. Also… if the places that we visited wouldn’t have been destroyed, then there would have been no need for our MC to go there and rebuild them? It also fits the fact that our MC, who is creating und building stuff, is close friend with the most destructive character of the game. Also… we have friends in this game that are monsters? Not every Monster is bad in this game. I like that. However, after some more basics and information’s we leave our special island behind to go on a quest to find new materials and new friends who could join the arrogant Lulu, the only survivor of that ship going down – besides MC of course. 3. Now… what did you think about the first world?

 Dejavu? I remembered that the second world in the first game was a world that also had poisonous rain or something? And that it was hard to make anything grow there too. And at some point we planted fruits and stuff there too. It was different, if course, but the first vibe was really familiar. All in all I really liked the world and I also really liked what they did with the storys and the characters there. The priest from the enemys who allowed the special magical tree to live at first and every now and then wanted to destroy it, just to become a protector of it and friend of our villagers? Something you can clearly see in this world is, that the children of Hawgok didn’t think things through. They forbid every form of creation, including to take care of fields to get food and now they struggle to find food themselves, but instead of making an exception (like our Priest Al did) for their own survival, they just mindlessly destroy the fields again, after we build them and filled them with food. I liked how most of the people who were part of the Village sooner or later were mostly converted to MCs new religion because of the fact that they actually wanted to work on the fields and build new stuff. They did that for themselves, even though there were hesitant at first. Overall the Island was really “easy”, but when I got the blueprint of that holy tree I first thought I would need to kill someone. Like: “WTF?! Why is that thing so huge? How am I supposed to do all this on my own? And why the hell is that only Part one of that Blueprint? Ahhhhhh!” And I was so pleasantly surprised that my Villigaers suddenly were all like: “We got this! We get the stuff you need and we even build it ourselves. No biggi. You just go and do theses and that small mission. We are fine on our own.” And they really build that whole thing without much of my help and it felt kind of… amazing when it was finished? That was one of these “This is a great game” – smile – Moments. 4. So what about the second world? Uffff! Even bigger Dejavu. A desert and a bunch of muscle-man falling for a woman and train-transport thingys? Sounds a freaking lot like the third world of the old game. And that world was hard. This world turned out to be even harder. Thanks to the mines, the freaking map of this world was huge. Despite the fact that there was some land under the sun that could and probably should have been explored I mostly did spend my time in the dark mines. Which was really not fun at all. I got why those mine works needed something to rewind after work. Going down there drove me nuts. I really hated it. And whenever I thought I was through all of the damn tunnels, there was a new one I had to find and then explore. Lets not even talk about that freaking temple or the stupid Lava-Cave. This map was exhausting and I needed much more breaks then I did when playing  the first map. And it just never seemed to end? I finally found gold! I am finally done! “Hey… uh… we need that rare blue metal, no idea were to find it. Have fun searching!” and “For some reason I need Diamonds. They are found at the darkest corners of a cave full of Lava and Monsters and heat and some enemy’s summoning a freaking dragon, but I got this.” Ahhhhhh! So much hate! And it was not just that. The second bar I had to build was a freaking pain in the ass? It was so damn huge and the materials were rare and expensive and it took me In-Game-Weeks to finish this thing. I can not tell you how glad I was when I wasn’t the one who had to do the blueprints for the last bar. And all those people! I didn’t know were I should put all the beds I needed for them and the food was never enough. Seriously, this world lacked a lot of materials like wood and stuff. But food… food was a real problem. I was drowning in cabbage in the first world and in this one I was happy with fried mushrooms that actually looked poisonous XD And here I was… having like 20 people (or more…) to feed and barely managed to feed myself. Thank god Malroth never asks for food. If I had to feed him too we would have starved. I was kind of glad to finally leave that world behind. Tho I have to say, when our Golem had to leave, I felt more sad then when Priester Al died in the previous world. 5. Lets play prison break! How was that little intermezzo?

 Boooring! In all honesty, if that wouldn’t have had any kind of meaning for the plot, then I would have wanted to kill someone for that little trip to Prison. I am a creator, for gods sake. What am I doing in a place were I can barely create a stupid pupped and cook some food so I won’t starve? What was this whole “Lets sit on this booring bench until the sun goes down!” – thing? It was really no fun at all and most of the stuff I did there or learned there or even the people I met there were meaningless afterwards? I mean… this is a freaking Square Enix game and we are the good people, how on gods mighty earth could we allow the prisoners to stay there? Why didn’t we go back there later to kill the guards and free the prisoners? It felt like they just needed to add something different to make the game even longer? I like this game, I really do, but it was a tad bit to long and adding a part like this, useful for the plot or not, was really absolutely and definitely unnecessary. I am sure the “How to make friend with monsters” – thing could have been shown us elsewhere too. 6. Now, lets talk about the third world!

Oh my god was this world a nightmare! But a totally different kind of nightmare then the second world or the prison-part. This whole thing was a living battle-field and my MC still is not a fighter. And with Malroths “betrayal” coming closer and closer I was pretty scared the whole time if I would be able to survive this world. I equipped the best fighting gear and weapons and shields as fast as possible but those monsters in this world were so damn overwhelming. And they got stronger and stronger while I still… well… didn’t. It was so damn frustrating. We had a huge bunch of fighters and immense walls and lots of other war-stuff that helped us and that was great. But it was still hard and very, very, very dangerous for a small little builder like my MC. Especially after Malroth was imprisoned. I get that the whole goal of this world was to collect people who can fight and knowledge about how to protect our home-island better from the enemy. Yes, I do get that. But fighting was already a nightmare in the previous game and just because Malroth is a berserker who protected us with all his might, doesn’t mean it was easy with all those monsters destroying the walls for which I had to collect so damn much material for for hours. Not to mention how much harder it was without Malroth later in this world.

I did like the plot tho. Plot was amazing. With all this foreshadowing things finally got interesting there. You know, with that traitor among us for a moment even I doubted Malroth. Not that I thought he would have killed someone, but I thought that someone might have taken control over him again and thus he killed those people unwillingly or even unknowingly. And then the moment were you realize that the woman (Anessa or so?) is either not the only traitor or Warwick is the actual traitor is pretty cool in a way. Because at this point you basically doubt everyone. The thing that tipped me of with him was how he framed Anessa for Malroth getting arrested but constantly postponed freeing him. So I was like: “Okay… he is definitely a traitor too. The question is, are they working together? Are there two traitors in the team that don’t work together and he just frames her to make sure we don’t suspect him? Or is she actually no traitor at all and this is all his fault?” That was made really amazingly. I liked how the plot tricked us for forever. The game was good with that the whole time. I mean we know from the beginning who Malroth was and he was basically a ticking timebomb and you were just wondering when he would explode and he just didn’t? Regardless, the heartbreak was real when he told my MC that he is done with her. I was kind of shipping them and so this really hurt? I really liked their relationship, but this is also why I was a bit pissed that while he was in prison I couldn’t just say: “You know what? If you want my help, free my friend! Either that, or this Monsters will kill us all.” Because at this point they totally needed AND wanted my help so I could and should have done that. Or at least MC could have tried it. She probably would have helped anyway, because that is how she is, but still… And all in all I think this whole Malroth mess took a little too long in the end. The mistrust and anger/disappointment started early in the third world but the conclusion to what was really going on only happened later in the world of Awakening. Were, once again, we were stopped from seeing him, because the game was hiding him. I disliked that. I think MC would have looked for him everywhere – which I did, but he was just gone when I searched for him. And now we are stuck in this nightmare-world and uh… it was kind of enough at this point? But lets talk about this next. 7. The third world… lets be honest! You didn’t see that coming, did you? Hell no!  I though that after the game told me time and time again that I was by all means not meant to fight, I actually still had to fight the final boss alone. First get Malroth back to his senses, then fight Hargon with him – I wasn’t so far off in the end tho. I thought that would happen immedeatly after I jumped through the portal. And then we actually had to build a freaking city full of monsters in a world almost without Materials? Fuck this! This world was the biggest nightmare ever. Because at this point I felt like the game did go on for far too long. Not to mention going around with this car that was so hard to handle. All this cliffs and I couldn’t jump down because my magical-cape didn’t work there. And the map was basically a maze. I was constantly lost and that while maneuvering in that stupid car. Plotwise, the idea with the monsters who turn against all their believes because they want to live was a great idea. But I really think that this world plus the world of Awakening was just a little bit too much. One less world would have done the trick as well. Or the Maps smaller and less missions in those 4 worlds. I wished for a little faster way out of this mess at that point. The game was getting boring in a way. The plot, although so much better and more interesting than in the first game, was not enough to motivate me anymore at this point. I wanted to save Malroth and was worried that saving him might mean killing him, especially with the fact that the game had a rather dark plot this time, but even wanting to know how my little lovestory ended was not enough for me to motivate me to like going through the last world. 8. So how was the end? I would not say it was worth it… but it still kind of was? It was really nice to reunite our Builder with Malroth and then fight the final boss together who wasn’t has hard as the one from the first game – which I skipped in the end because he was too hard for me, so technically speaking, this is the first time I actually finished a Dragon Quest Builders game. The story ends on a good note and I am really happy about it. It could have been a bit more emotional, since we had a lot of great scenes for an emotional breakdown of both MC and Malroth, but I guess some things were just left to our imagination do to the fact that our MC wasn’t expressing her thought and feelings so openly. I am glad that this time, the game did not end with this “This was all just a dream” – Bullshit from the last time. But all in all the plot was definitely much better than in the first game. Like the first game, I did mostly like to play it, but I doubt I do it again. Dragon Quest Builders is a game that you play once and then never again – at least not for the story.

9. Changes from the Previous games? One thing that was really hard on me in the first game and that I really disliked was that fighting was such a pain in the ass. Your character doesn’t get stronger. You can give him stronger weapons at some points but if you have trouble with some monsters or a boss you can not even spend a day or two to level yourself up to get stronger, because you won’t get stronger. Especially in the desert-World I have been struggling a lot in the first game because the every-day-monsters already were torturing me. But in this game, we have our partner and he is a fighter and he is damn strong and he is (almost) always with you. He is there in a boss-battles as well as on your day-to-day-tasks. That helps a damn lot. When he is not around, other characters fill his spot and help you fight.

That the Characters of the worlds actually do some things themselves so you don’t have to do them yourself/alone is also a big help. (Like taking care of the fields…)

The biggest thing besides the fighting-buddy for me was when, in the second world, the people asked for that hugdge-ass-silver-bar and I was like: “I barely found a place for Babs room, were do you think I should place that freaking bar?” And then the characters themselves realized this and opened a new space that I could use. It was amazing. I would have wished for that in the first map too, with all the fields I had to place there. In the first game that was awful. In the game with the sour rain I had to give the buildings a second floor because they asked for so much of them and I didn’t have enough space. So this was really a great thing in the second and third world of this game. I also kind of liked the benefits of those small Islands. I wished I would have realized much sooner how helpful it is, for the missions to actually have an infinite amount of certain materials.

 10. Points? I think Dragon Quest Builders 2 gets from me 7 out of 10 points. People who know me, that 7 means that it did not manage to be as god as I expected or wanted it to be. It was by no means bad, but it just wasn’t god enough.

The game got plenty of points for the story which was, although much darker then in the first game, really good and much deeper than I would have expected it. I loved the message behind the plot too. The Characters were mostly interesting and/or funny and/or lovely. The Missions were manageable, the fighting was much easier than in the first game thanks to Malroths and other peoples help and thanks to the traps and other possibilities to keep enemies at bay. Music was nice enough, the graphics fine for a game like this. The Game-Mechanics were better than in the first game, even tho still not good enough. What really made the game lose points were that some of the world were just too big. The maps were too huge, the missions never seemed to end and still in the end, I didn’t learn half of the rooms that were technically speaking possible. For a game like this, were the story, although much deeper then last time, is rather… easy and with the characters you spend your time with constantly switching it was simply too long. I kept on building and fighting and searching and at some point the story was not enough anymore to motivate me to drive that awful car through that awful world to get my hands on materials that I have to turn into materials before I can actually use them.

The story was rund tho in the end, the relationship between MC and Malroth a motivation and a joy to watch. The building tho was not always as much fun as it should have been. So I thin 7 points out of 10 are still really good for a game like this.