#sometimes he wears safety goggles- not because he actually needs them
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who do u ship ur moots with and why?
With me ,cuz they no one would love them like I would
I did it once on valentine but imma do it again cuz I like matching Characters with ppl for fun,if I forget someone my apologies ngl
@swampstew with Rustass Kid,I feel she could actually either fix him or make him worse ,but either way I think it will be interesting to watch that develop ,beside she is the canon wife of his ,I think u can see her in the last appearance of kid ,helping him, definitely happened, don't go check it ,trust me I'm a reliable source
@nekomacheercaptain weirdly enough,not Corazan ,but I feel she would work better with Ace ,I think he could keep up with her cat in heat energy and will be very cool dude to chill with for her,And won't catch on fire (he won't mind it if he did) and if she tripped he will help her, it's very beneficial to all parties involved
@downforsanji I think sabo would be a very suitable candidate for her, mostly cuz I think she deserves someone who always wear nice clothes and gloves plus he kinda goofy when he is in love which why I think they might hit it off ,she will though have to deal with him giggling and kicking his feet everytime Luffy is on the newspaper so idk
@luffyinlove with Luffy,I think she can fix him ,and he is like a stray dog you feed once and he never leave your side,I feel she would accidentally fed him once and he think they are meant to be now,I think she can tame him or something idk something
@sanjis-all-blue Rob Lucci ,she can fix him ,I think he would be head over heels for her but never admits it ,then he will be like a cat always near her till Hattori ask her on his behalf on a date,it goes well,as long you ignore he sometimes tries to bite her out of spite or his sociopathic behaviors,it's a 9/10 relationship
@zoros-sheath Smoker ,I think she can definitely pull him,he would be like very shy around her and all grumpy but melt like putty when she caress his cheeks,he would be very nice and carry her to safety when time need that, cuz he built difference and can't Express his affection without begin protective
@lawsvalentine kuzan, because she put me with shanks and I haven't forget but I'm nicer so I will give her a half cooked dilf,he would be lazy af and sleep on top her so she doesn't get up to work , definitely carry her in his bag like ppl who carry Thier Chihuahua in Thier bags kind of couples energy
@icy-spicy killer because she deserves a man with big tities and great personality that isn't a part of the red hair shanks pirates, I think also killer would playfully play fight with her and give her piggy backs when they walk a long distance,pretty wholesome
@usopps-devotee Ussop, cuz that's in the name ngl,he would no cap be those aesthetic plants boyfriend and she gotta deal with it ,he put his gats or goggles on her head when he want to have them off cuz he find them cute on her and it's easier to find when they are on the person you always look at
@kenruu Mihawk, both got attractive but mysterious and intimidating energy, Probably both got very good Sharp eyeliner game,He cooks for em and Mihawk low-key bad at Romance but make up with his act of service and gifts ,lu is just chill like a punk capybara, would probably pull other one piece men if needed I think
@sanjisblackasswife legit no cap Sanji ,I think Canonly she belongs to Sanji like she can fix him,I feel it in my bones,give them one night and Sanji would be a changed man,mf will become a devoted man simping to one woman and it would be her, though he would possibly also die the moment his eyes meet her bare tities so maybe ... exposure therapy with him Slowly so he doesn't die and she get a happy long relationship
@roronoaswifey Zoro, I think he deserve a cute wife ,she is good wife energy and also very pretty so they can be power pretty couples plus I think she can get him on a leash and stop him from drinking so much , maybe get him addicted to pussy idk ,but she definitely fix him
@chiquititaosita 🧍 Sir crocodile, I think she deserves a dilf that can give her everything she want and need plus she got the energy of having a daddy kink so probably he can help with that
@quinloki Doflamingo,I think they can make him worse and unhinged but he might stick to Thier side ,also he would probably enjoy Thier rants and opinions ngl ,they would be oddly wholesome together
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KENNY
Also this is the same series that Demetri ran up to get the new issue of and gave Miguel for his hospital stay.
his knight is so cute.
He has 23 gems and 284,400 gold
He build himself a castle. Is it supposed to be like minecraft?
He's up early, playing before school, but he set an alarm for 7:30.
Alright what set designer designed his room
First glance, oh man what a cute room. Second glance, what the heck, what kid needs 5 of every color gel pen? Now if they were slightly different or like copic/markers I'd buy it. But those are gel pens.
Aww he's wearing Dungeon Lord merch. Also breakfast of strawberry poptarts.
Mom made candy filled rice krispy treats
How can you not love this kid? Eating breakfast of poptarts, enjoying his music and waiting for the bus.
Aww the bus scared him and he lost the rest of his poptart. Also all the kids hanging out of the window laughing at him, rude. How dare you.
Anthony, don't be a dick. Also why are you riding the bus? Surely a parent or your sister can drive you.
WHY DOES THE BUS DRIVER NOT DO OR SAY ANYTHING?
Johnny out here trying to be helpful and also handy, not realizing he just tanked a big Miyagi do lesson. Daniel if you told him he might not try and surprise y'all with a gift. Also note he is wearing goggles, the guy knows some safety protocol. Also, see the other Miyagi car back there?
Johnny sometimes find hornet's nest for them to kick?!?! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
"I know you don't want to join Miyagi-do but at least you have to respect it."
Johnny probably didn't know you were planning to use the deck as a lesson, and he got there early to take care of it so you guys could use it. Like it came off as him trying to help.
"Well, respect is a two way street." What's this? Johnny sticking up for himself a little? "You respect my style of karate?" Oof Daniel's silence on that is deafening. But you know what, they're talking and listening. This is actually a very important conversation. "You gotta understand, man. I was taught that karate is for defense only. It's always going to be difficult to respect Cobra Kai." Johnny: "You mean eagle fang". What Johnny is really asking is if you respect him. "Some kids need a little aggression."
Lol, Johnny spitting in his hand and holding it out and Daniel staring at it and saying "No, don't need to shake on it". I do love them learning each others styles.
Amanda showing up at Tory's work is...a choice. And not a good one. Like I get she's trying to take care of the Tory/Sam fighting but Tory's literally supporting her whole family on her paychecks and this is not the time or place for this especially because Amanda is an adult.
Tory getting fired was no on Amanda's list of expected outcomes, but she should've known better to try to have this conversation with a teen at work.
"I tried calling your parents but no returned call, big surprise." Yeah maybe that should've been a wake up call of something is wrong there. Aka her mom literally can't call back.
Anthony's friend's last name is Thompson and the other they call slade.
They have uniform gym clothes and they're playing basketball.
Anthony calls Kenny a ballerina.
Kenny scores a point. Kenny also blocks Anthony's shot and the ball slams right back into his face.
Anthony's friend calls him LaPusso. Anthony's also been lying to say he knows karate but it's too powerful and would cause brain damage so he doesn't use it.
Kenny apologies, but Anthony is still pissed and Lia is the one who calms him down. Calls Anthony "Ant" and then compliments Kenny's shirt.
Johnny proving he knows his shit with painting.
This is how they spend a week day. The kids are in school. Daniel's sitting in a chair drinking beer watching Johnny paint. Something, he didn't do to anyone else and Mr. Miyagi never did.
Daniel's drinking blue moons
Says the guy who at restaurants has oranges in his beer.
See? Daniel you just gotta show him how badass you can be. All he's seen is the breathing techniques. He never got to see you break the ice at the valley fest. You gotta show him. And also keep him from drinking the beer. 🤣
All you gotta do is remind him that Mr. Miyagi was a badass and that you can be too and Johnny puts the beer down and goes straight back to work.
Kreese instantly knowing something is wrong and stopping her to ask if somethings wrong with her mom.
If it'd been anyone other than Robby that she'd jumped I'm pretty sure he would've let her use them as a punching bag. I'm also pretty sure that if Robby had seen what Kreese delightfully watched with Hawk and Brucks he wouldn't have ever stayed.
Anthony catfishing Kenny.
The only clue you get for this catfishing is that Lia walked away before Kenny says his name. She doesn't know his name. So she'd never know that he's Kennythejet99 That was Anthony guessing and getting it right.
Daniel lecturing while Johnny's training. 🤣 He's been dying to info dump all this on one person let alone to do this to Johnny.
Daniel, why is Johnny soaking wet standing in the koi pond doing all these moves? Like he didn't have to be on the balance wheel today.
I think Daniel just enjoyed watching him fall in. 🤣
High outside block against an ax kick. Johnny proving his random karate knowledge.
Daniel you knock it but you need a little bit of Johnny's karate too. And yes it's new, but you don't have to jab at Eagle fang every time.
You would think with all the hours Anthony has put in on this catfishing he would've realized he likes Kenny and not continued to bully him.
Kenny how many drinks do you have at your desk?
Dinner of pizza bagels, I think that's an Aha (maybe the blueberry pomegranate flavor?) Mt. Dew, other flavors of mt. dew, and his mom's rice krispy treats.
What else does Kenny do for fun? He draws anime, listens to music and cosplays some Dungeon Lord characters.
Anthony, have you and your friends literally been catfishing Kenny for hours? Building shit? Like...that's some dedicated and boring bullying just to get to this point.
Kenny's favorite character is Dr. Scribblebottoms. That's the character Kenny had from his home screen. And here anthony is proving he's a nerd and knows the game. He wears a lapcoat, is like a big eared chipmunk and mixes health potions.
Anthony is not the main evil mastermind here, Thompson is the one who recommends he lies to Kenny to meet him at Balboa park with a bunch of other fans tomorrow night.
There's a little bit of Anthony second guessing himself and how this is wrong. But he's caving to the peer pressure from the kids who are his 'friends' but actually bully him too.
One of the kid's is named Marcus.
Amanda out shopping and needing more: Klare Melk Truffle Gouda. Which sounds...awful. (I do not like truffle)
The guy who helps her is named Drew.
Kreese telling Amanda about everything Tory is going through was necessary. And an interesting choice. But I think it was for the best although the threat at the end might not have been necessary.
Drew returning happy to have fund her fancy truffle cheese.
It is a good reminder, to remind Amanda that not all kids are as lucky as hers.
Kreese's actual delight at the apple he bites into being sweet is kinda funny.
Daniel showing up at Johnny's door for training.
Johnny blindfolded Daniel and Daniel didn't complain by the sounds of it until Johnny whipped the blindfold off (which has an eagle on it) at the Webber Industrial factory.
Johnny's sleeveless shirt returned, along with Daniel in a sleeveless shirt.
The shoveling is the point Mr. every chore is a lesson
lol "Don't question me Newark."
They both use a very similar style I just realized. Which is exercises. Daniel's Miyagi-do does chores which teach movement and make your body remember things. But essentially it's training the body through repeated movements.
Johnny's also doing that here. He's focusing on building muscles, specifically I believe Daniel's upper arm strength via the shoveling, climbing up the chain link and the push ups on his fists.
ohhh Johnny got a new baseball shooter thing
Daniel I'd like you to notice that you are wearing some protective gear and you're blocking or striking with your arms which is what all your exercises were having you build up.
It's a bit different, but there's some core similarities. We just generally don't think of chores as exercise.
Proud of Daniel for getting up so high.
I'd also like to point out that Johnny is cheering Daniel on through this whole process and urging him forward, which Daniel didn't quite do, just sort of talked about Mr. Miyagi.
It's a lot of "you got this. Focus. Fight" "You can do it. That's it! Yeah!" And Daniel actually gets into it. I don't think he's ever had a guy in his corner hype him up like this. Which I think is one of the reasons the kids like him. Johnny pushes them, but cheers them on, doesn't let them quit, and if the fail supports them. He's literally clapping for Daniel.
Though Johnny literally made Daniel. But he's so fucking proud of Daniel and Daniel seems pretty proud of himself by the end. Like I don't think he gets a lot of opportunities to be a bad ass or feel like one and he should get those opportunities because he is.
Look at Kenny's precious cosplay. I can't. I'm not ready for Anthony and his friends or for this to get worse.
Zach is another one of the kids.
Kenny accidentally breaks Anthony's phone, but again, the Anthony is filming him and making fun of him.
The broke ruined his costume, and now he's hiding in a dumpster scared to death and shaking. 😭😭😭😭
I like that Johnny took Daniel to a hockey game. Training isn't over, but he does try to include field trips into his lessons, but also, they get to just hang out, which I think they also both want. Daniel even knows his hockey stuff.
Johnny is kicking the hornets nest to line Daniel up for the fight. Hears what Daniel says, yells it, gets the guy extra pissed because the ref actually follows through.
They're at the Winnetka Ice Center. They've pissed off the Tujunga Terrors. Johnny literally pushing for a fight. 🤣
The way Johnny just disappears in between shots after the hockey guys show up, and how it literally happens unnoticed.
He didn't bail, he just is showing he learned Mr. Miyagi's no be there rule. Also they then make jokes about his wife and he decides, to strike first and it's amazing. Literally fought 5 or more hockey players on his own.
And I love how Johnny returns, full of compliments and with a pretzel. 🤣 and the way Johnny shows he learned Mr. Miyagi's no be there.
Omg Anoush. I guess the Dayona reps are coming and Amanda is like no, keep them away.
Poor Anoush, he heards Shit from amanda and I'm sure fifty things went through his head. Shit? Why are we saying shit? What's happening? Snakes? Johnny? Some other karate pissed person? Tom Cole?
Nope it's Tory, pissed that Amanda brought her groceries.
The way Anoush is like damn it, not another karate situation and walks away.
Anoush: Hey should I start wearing protective gear to work.
Very valid and fair question Anoush.
Anthony and co why are you throwing milk at Kenny? Not cool.
Kenny don't worry, Shawn's going to introduce you to your fairy god-brother, he's going to turn you into a karate guy with a flick of a wand like cinderella or something: Robby.
I just realized there's like no miyagi-do/eagle fang teen drama in this. It's just Robby and Tory but for Tory's story with Amanda, and then the starting chapter of the tween drama. And of course Daniel and Johnny's two days of being bros.
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Alright so! Said I'd get a reference up for these nerds, gonna do that now. A basic reference, at least.
The three above- yes, only three- are, from left to right, Papyrus, Gaster and Sans- in that order for their bipedal forms, as well as their quadruped forms. They, uh... aren't actually capable of being both at the same time, this is just sort of for height reference- though it... isn't the best at that either, since Gaster's quadruped form is supposed to be taller- but hey, you get the gist of their appearance! Probably! Moving on, those wings you see on those quadruped forms are made of magic- specifically, the combined magic of all three of them- and can be summoned and desummoned at will, just like any other attack- though when summoned, it's easier to share magic between them- they can even... sort of use their powers for the other- so Sans can teleport the other two, Papyrus can heal, and... well, Gaster has yet to get a handle on his own speciality of magic, and. Might never, so that remains to be seen. But, as for the different forms thing, all three of them are shapeshifters- a kind of shapeshifter specific to their universe (as far as I know) that, usually, only have two forms; their usual, bipedal form, and a quadruped form; in which they can't naturally speak any normal, spoken language- without use of magic that takes a lot of practice to perfect. Instead they use a 'language' called... well, Shapeshifter- which I usually denotate by using >this sorta thing< rather than quotation marks. It's... basically a slighttly more complex version of animal body language and sounds; heck, actual animal body language is often known as basic Shapeshifter. It's possible to do it without any vocal sounds, but it's s little harder to be specific- and, generally, Shapeshifter can't carry an accent, or any specific way of speaking; it's always just a little bit interprative, though... usually not enough so to cause misinterpretation. Shapeshifter can... also be understood by Pokémon. Because this is a crossover. That's where the 'mystery' comes from.
Moving away from physical, and... most magical aspects- I can talk plenty about magic science later- let's get a bit more into the specifics of these characters. Let's start with Sans.
Mysterytale!Sans is much like the ocean, in that he is. Very salty. Granted, it's not entirely unwarrented; he has a lot to be salty about. Usually, the things he's salty about involve someone he knows getting hurt, something close to him being destroyed, that sort of thing. When he isn't being salty, he's... rather laid back, as most Sanses tend to be. He's somehow... allso manage to keep up to date on the latest memes. The current running theory is blame Alphys, but he hasn't directly told anyone yet; he's also, of course, proficient in puns. He isn't exactly opposed to an adventure, though- exploration, when it isn't obviously dangerous or some place he's seen a thousand times in different universes- it actually is exciting for him, and he tends to perk up quite a bit around Papyrus as well. Sans' quadruped form is, decidedly... pretty cat-like. And, as the behaviour of most quadrupeds are, I mean in an incredibly stereotypical way. He will knock things off shelves, stare at nothing, and if Mysterytale had a Sans fight you could defeat him with a lazer pointer. It's... slightly rediculous, and he's. A bit embarrassed about it. You probably won't catch him in quadruped form, alone, very often. He doesn't really get along with most canines outside of Papyrus, and... as of recently, other cats are. A little frightening. In terms of his relationship to the other two, he is. V e r y close to Papyrus, usually depending on him for moral support and sanity checks- as well as. Actually knowing how social situations work. His relationship with Gaster is... a bit more difficult. Sans cares about him quite a significant amount, but he... has a bit of a hard time thinking of Gaster as a dad. The fact that he's rescuing him every two weeks and has to stick around to make sure he doesn't cause property damage while experimenting does not help in this fact. Still, they can certainly talk science together, and they have 'pun wars' on occasion- which. Is just ghem talking back and forth in almost entirely puns. It's great.
Now, to Papyrus! ...I, uh. Gotta be honest, I'm still getting his personality down, but- he's pretty definitely the moral backbone of the three. He's a grand majority of the reason that the other two aren't a broken mess half the time, likely being the most optimistic out of the three. He truly does believr in everyone's ability to change, and it's not because he doesn't know or understand the things people have done. He often knows a lot more than he seems to- he's actually pretty darn good at reading expressions, and social situations in general, and though he isn't the most scientifically-geared, he is v e r y good at understanding people. Still, he hesitates to use this to his advantage in fear of hurting people, or damaging their trust, so he tends to keep most of this to himself. It definitely does help him take care of the other two, though; knowing what's troubling them, and when they aren't actually 'fine'. Which is... most of the time. Papyrus' quadruped form is decidedly canine- generally pretty vocal and not shy at all about it, happy to chase a stick and very willing to... at least attempt to be a lap dog. Thankfully, he doesn't chase bones, and gets along rather well with cats. As for his relationship to the others? As mentioned, he is the moral backbone of the group. He's comforted Sans more times than he can count, and it's always a little frightening for either of them to go exploring someplace without the other. He's also consoled Gaster quite a few times, but... both Sans and Papyrus know significantly less about him than they know about each other, which, at times, make that difficult. Papyrus has... a bit of an easier time seeing Gaster as a father, but... if he's honest, it's partially for Gaster's benefit.
And finally... Gaster. This nerd- this hecking nerd is the most developed character in this entire AU and I'm prrobably going to send him in alone in a grand majority of roleplays I do here because. I... I actually know how to write for him. But- yeah, first and foremost, he's a nerd. He studied magic for a rediculously long time, being one of the first to do so using a more scientific method- and he still does research on the subject when he has tge chance to. He doesn't even really need to, it's simply fun for him. Exploration is also fun, of course- and, ultimately? ...He wants to go to space. He really, really wants to go to space. He knows quite a lot about space, and space agencies, and all of his notes are littered with theoretical designs of a magic-based engine to be used in- yeah, you guessed it- a space shuttle. Though he... doesn't know nearly as much about constellations. He can certainly name a few good stars on sight, though. Of course, given all this research into magic, and a pretty significant knowledge of physics, the increasingly un-constant rules of physics and magic across the multiverse are endlessly frustrating. Especially universes that fail to recognize simple law of conservation of mass. Still, he's... plenty capable of getting over that simply because exploring the multiverse is now necisarry, even if he isn't really the most fond of it. He... doesn't really have the most self-confidence in anything but his knowledge of magic and physics- and space- and... usually isn't too concerned with getting himself hurt, especially if, in any way, it seems to be helping someone- to a rather dangerous degree. He's aware of the impact this has on the people close to him, though, so he does try at least a little bit not to get himself into too bad of trouble, but he... isn't really the best at it. He's also very... very aware of the relationships between many Sans', Papyrus' and their Gasters in other universe- as far as he's seen, most of them being... poor, to say the least. With that knowledge, he's pretty hesitant to so much as tell people his name, speak in Wingdings, or introduce himself in bipedal form, for fear of bringing up unwanted memories. He... has done many things he regrets rather heavily, and if you get to know him enough, it... shows pretty quickly. He probably needs a hug. Like basically everyone in his universe. Moving on yo his quadruped form, though, it's... losely based off of a dragon...? His universe doesn't have a whole lot of stereotypes for dragons, but he is pretty easily distracted by shiny things and tends to rumble-growl a lot. His relationship with Sans and Papyrus is... well, as previously described, but- he is incredibly protective of the both of them, keeping a lot of his problems to himself and generally not letting strangers know they even exist for fear of tgem being used just to get to him. He's... told people that they've died on multiple occasions, and hurting them in any significant ways is one of the very, very few ways to get him actually, significantly mad at you. The other being another version of him or a flowey, though redemption is certainly possible. He just has yet to see thst more than once or twice. He... most definitely does depend heavily on both of the other two for moral support, though- even if he does still refuse to actually explain what's wrong, just being together... seems to help all three of them. He views them, as well as many other members of his universe as family- even if Sans and Papyrus are... really the only ones he regularly talks to, and... for many reasons, he feels like he owes them- both his universe, and the two specifically. He... he really isn't doing too great, but it's not something he always thinks about, and he has plenty of things he can be happy about- just. Exploring the multiverse can often be a bit... stressful, and he doesn't give himself a whole lot of recovery time...
But! Beyond that, there's a whole heckton of backstory, magic shenanigans and such that- for now- I'll keep secret, just to... hopefully make things interesting. But! Have a few extra tidbits!
All of them are... a little uncomfortable around soup, Sans especially
Flirting is Gaster's greatest weakness. He cannot comprehend it.
The Exploration Team that, for convenience sake, now includes... basically their entire universe is called Team Determination.
They use a hybrid between Pocket dimensions and the Treasure bag to have a basically infinite storage space shared between the entire universe, accessable by inventory.
This inventory contains an entire page of 99 stacks of Gravelrocks.
They sometimes use this inventory space to send written messages to eachother.
They use the badges' rescue system as a form of transportation, though they're still working on getting it to bring people to specific locations rather than some random place in the 'dungeon'
Gaster owns a model of the Columbia space shuttle, as well as a turtleneck he will never wear
Strong violet magic, in Mysterytale, is kind of terrifying
None of the three are likely to relax in a flower garden
Gaster has gone to the void twice, and has 0 LV. He is terrified of gaining more, and will take drastic measures to avoid this.
No one in Mysterytale is capable of swearing.
Gaster has a third form, mimicking a monster from his universe known as a Dracfin- semi-aquatic, furred quadrupeds that shapeshift slightly based off of whether they're submerged in water or not, playing off of the way water bends light. They are carnivores. Have a picture of said form- his appearance on land on the left, and his appearance in water on the right. Ignore the fact that both are pictured underwater, I got a little lazy with the background.
Every monster in Mysterytale has a sort of Multiversal camoflauge- which simply means that when they enter a new universe, if the rules of that universe don't allow for Monsters and their magic to exist- say, in a universe without latent magic- they change into the next closest form that obeys that universe's rules, whatever they may be. So, for the most prominent example, if a monster from Mysterytale entered a pokemon universe, they would almost definitely become a pokémon- one that already exists in that universe. So, in all likelyhood...
Gaster would become a Noivern- to be specific, a noivern with the telepathy ability, and Boomburst, Air Slash, Dragon Pulse and Roost
Papyrus would be a lucario- already mega evolved if allowed, but... otherwise just a normal Lucario with the Inner Focus ability, and Bone Rush, Aura Sphere, Heal Pulse and Copycat as moves
And Sans, finally, would be an Alolan Marowak- Cursed Body as an ability, and Bonemarang, Shadow Bone, Bone Rush and Flamethrower as moves; or... just a normal, non-alolan Marowak, depending on whether or not the universe in question actually. Y'know, has an Alola.
...Have some pictures!
They'll actually register as these Pokemon if scanned with a Pokedex, even when they aren't Pokemon. Again... crossover.
...but, uh. Yeah, anything else you want to know, go ahead and ask. We'll see if I can figure out how asks work. You can probably ask the characrers things, too, and I'll give you an in-character response that might spiral into an entire non-cannon au because that's how those things seem to work for whatever reason.
...also, uh. Let's... let's keep this sfw, mkay? mkay. Like you can swear at them and whatever but. Probably not much beyond flirting, aight?
#Mysterytale#Mysterytale!Gaster#Mysterytale!Sans#Mysterytale!Papyrus#Gaster#Sans#Papyrus#Space#lack of self confidence#this hecking nerd needs a hecking hug#like gosh diddly darn#I am not the kindest to my muses#just let the nerd do his space science#with supervision so he doesn't cause extensive property damage#Mysterytale magic is a bit... explosive#sometimes he wears safety goggles- not because he actually needs them#but because he thinks they look cool#he keeps blast shields in his inventory#just in case he finds a half-decent lab someone will actually let him use#condensed magic makes for good fireworks when you have unstable blue magic#salt#so uh if i need to tag something#please tell me to tag the thing because I don't know what I'm doing here with these#tag rambling#and a heckton of it#big giant rambling paragraphs#rambling#big blocks of text#reference#roleplay
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More Than Meets the Eye #43 — Swerve’s Terminal Case of Sad Bitch Disease
Y’all ever think about how IDW Publishing has a DeviantArt? Because I think about that sometimes.
Anyway, I know you’re are only here for Wife Mode Cyclonus, so let’s just get on with it.
You fucking horny bastards.
So weirdly enough, this comic about giant space robots doesn’t start with giant space robots. Or in space. Instead, we find ourselves on the set of the apartment from beloved mid-90s/early 2000s sitcom Friends. It’s a pretty faithfully detailed background, too. No wonder Milne needed help with inks on this issue.
On the couch is a toddler wearing some safety goggles, while a woman in Victorian dress stares out the window. The toddler complains about how she’s got nothing to do, save for reading More Than Meets The Eye, though even that she finds confusing.
Imagine needing to check the wiki for your Transformers lore. Couldn’t be me.
(It could be, and is very frequently.)
The Victorian woman comments that the comic didn’t capture her likeness very well, but the toddler disagrees. The Victorian woman then gripes about Rung, Skids, and Bluestreak having been MIA for the last six hours. Yes, this lady in fancy dress is actually Cyclonus, and the toddler is Tailgate; we’re having a holomatter adventure, and everyone’s gotten hot new looks, because Guido Guidi isn’t on this issue! Instead, we have our standard artist, Alex “Same Face Syndrome” Milne.
Toddlergate gets a message from Rodimus, who texts like my mom, asking what the hell is going on down there. In New York City. Because they’re in the Friends apartment. Also, apparently he has a Swerve emoji in his phone. Does he have emojis of all his crew, or is Swerve special? Many questions that will never be addressed again will arise in this issue.
There’s a knock at the door, and Serving Cuntclonus lets in the rest of the search team.
Skids what the FUCK is your face doing
Cuntclonus yells at the three for having gotten caught up in the neighbors’ antics, because they’ve got a search and rescue mission on their hands. Everyone agrees to having no more distractions, and then Sir Rungington VII’s paint gun goes off, hitting Cuntclonus in the face. The story’s cold open ends, I’m assuming so Cuntclonus can tear Sir Rungington VII limb from limb, and we get our opening credits.
That’s right— opening credits.
We get two whole pages devoted to a sitcom-style opener, introducing the cast we’ve seen so far, alongside some fun panels from previous issues, assumedly set to some upbeat, non-offensive music, then we jump back in time to Megatron calling for Swerve to come to the bridge of the Lost Light. Rodimus enters, asking what’s going on, and Megatron informs him that the ship is being chased by a planet. Rodimus takes a moment to process this info, then notices that the planet chasing them is, in fact, Earth! Weird, since they’re nowhere near there. Blaster plays the only clue to what the hell is going on for his captains, and we get an idea of why Swerve needs to get his little ass to the bridge.
Believe it or not, Earth’s chasing the ship Never thought it had flight capability Flying through space, it’s a vacuum, no air Who could it be? Believe it or not it’s just Swerve
But how did Swerve do this? And why? Somebody go find the bastard so we can get some answers!
Thank you, Skids.
Before Skids interrupted just there, First Aid was having a moment with Tailgate, only slightly marred by Tailgate’s refusal to stop straddling his hoverboard. It turns out First Aid’s about to leave the Lost Light, on orders from Optimus Prime to fuck off into another comic run. I’m sure First Aid will be completely unchanged by the experience, certainly not joining any weird magic polycules, but it sucks for Velocity, who is now the only practicing medical doctor on the whole ship. Girl failed her exams nine times, hope she’s up to the challenge of handling the health and bodily integrity of a ship the size of friggin’ Manhattan.
But anyway, something’s wrong with Swerve. He’s in rough shape physically, though his brain activity is going absolutely bonkers. First Aid predicts that the guy’s got a couple days at most before he dies, and he’s got no idea why, since there’s no sign of injury that he can find. Rodimus (who showed up to be told the bad news) thinks this is strange, because this is the same day as the dance party, and we all saw that Swerve was there and feeling well enough to host, right up until he phased out of reality. Nightbeat cuts in here (he’s also in the medibay, for the purpose of being nosy) to say that the Swerve at the dance party was actually a holomatter avatar, which is why he phased out in the first place; it coincided with Swerve's current state hitting critical mass.
Swerve is also projecting the Earth that’s following the Lost Light, and the friggin’ thing is partially populated with human avatars. No wonder his brain is cooking inside his head; I can barely keep track of myself, let alone the entire populace of NYC.
After taking a moment to reconsider the direction his life has taken, Rodimus calls for volunteers to fill out the search team, who we’ve already seen. Though dubious about this whole situation, they agree to go down and see how hostile Swearth is. Brainstorm (who is also here, because the holomatter program is his baby, and it’s not like the guy on house arrest is gonna tell his captain no) warns the gang that projecting the 400 mile distance to Swearth might hurt, and also maybe kill them.
The team pops on their avatars, Bluestreak reminds us that he went to Earth during the eruption of modern internet culture, no one knows what a 101 class is, and Rodimus again reconsiders the direction his life has taken.
We cut back to the scene in the Friends apartment, where Skidstopher Eccleston has taken to drinking, and Toddlergate appears to have a sippy cup that looks an awful lot like Cyclonus. And not a Getaway-shaped thing in sight. I think we know who end game is going to be.
Obviously, Huffer/Xaaron.
Anyway, Toddlergate is telling the gang about the comic she’s still reading. She’s is currently on #21, when Swerve opened the time case. If you don’t remember him doing this on-panel, it’s because Swore Swan Sweets Swe Sweye is from Swerve’s perspective, as opposed to being omnipresent.
This is the point where Bluestreak 2005 comes in, the troublesome neighbors in tow.
I’m sure these three men named after sitcom characters and encompassing different aspects of Swerve aren’t plot-important at all!
They immediately start tearing into each other, Sheldon and Ted berating Jerry over sabotaging their work for the LOLs. Jerry in turn implies that Ted lacks the faith needed to actually go make an impact in the world, and that Sheldon isn’t doing nearly enough with what is supposed to be his life’s purpose. Skidstopher Eccleston tells them all to shut the fuck up, then has Bluestreak 2005 take a call from Rodimus. But not just any Rodimus. This is 80s Mullet, 4-Shirts At Once Rodimus.
Oh Milne what the fuck is thissssssss
Not that this isn’t in-character for Rodimus “Surfs on Meteors for Funsies” of Nyon, it’s just… I feel like there was a cleaner way to get this visual information across. Maybe didn’t need ALL the shirts. At least Trenchcoat Nightbeat looks cool. And his skin is colored like an actual human being, and isn’t literally the same color as asphalt like we got in All Hail Megatron. Thanks, Lafuente!
Swearth isn’t a one-to-one facsimile of Earth, as it’s revealed there’s an omnipotent laugh track that goes off anytime someone says something that could be seen as an attempt at a joke. Bluestreak 2005 goes on to explain more of the sitcom weirdness soaked into the foundation of Swearth, probably deeply regretting having galactic wi-fi set up for the ship at this point. Mullet Rodimus points out that their non-Swearth-related life is also pretty weird, then hangs up to go help an old man cross the street.
Mullet Rodimus makes a weird little dig at PeePaw Megatron’s cane, then they decide to hit the bars, to see if Swerve is hiding out in his chosen career path.
Back over at the Friends apartment, Bluestreak 2005 is getting the neighbors’ locked door situation fixed, while Skidstopher Eccleston has a moment of crisis with Sir Rungington VII, because he never went to Swerve’s room in all the years he’s known him. He only ever saw Swerve at the bar, or during ship-wide adventure nonsense, never sought him out just for the hell of it. Maybe if he had, Swerve’s months of hiding in his room rotting away wouldn’t have become the now-critical nightmare that it is.
Toddlergate pops in to say that the comic book finally got to issue #43, and man is the Story So Far a doozy!
Brainstorm is gonna fucking strangle him.
So, Swerve is using MTMTE to communicate his situation, as best he understands it, to those who might come looking for him. Awesome! But we still have to find the guy.
Lol, just kidding, he was literally across the hall this entire time.
Milne that’s not hOW FUCKING GLASSES WORK YOU GOON
Over at the bar, Peepaw Megatron laments his faded youth, while Overalls Nautica explores her death wish, by way of trying to tickle the bastard who killed everyone in NYC. Peepaw Megatron has a moment of reflection on the nature of humanity, after getting a cut on his hand, but nobody gives a shit about whether he’s cool with humans or not, so Rodimus cuts in to let everyone know that Swerve is not cooperating with the Not Letting Swerve Die mission.
Back in the Friends apartment, Crisis on Infinite Swerves admits that he doesn’t know what’s wrong with him physically that could be causing him to fucking die. Sir Rungington VII gets lost in the psychoanalyzing sauce, but Skidstopher Eccleston gives not a fuck about that. He only cares about Swerve’s impending death! He grabs Crisis on Infinite Swerves by the face like he’s gonna kiss him, and tells him to stop burying the pain so they can help.
Toddlergate butts in, stating that Swerve is stuck doing Rungian re-experience therapy, a thing that was mentioned way back in issue #13 as being a thing Swerve did when life got stressful. The cocktail of being sad over his demotion from main cast, angry about Megatron boarding the ship, and exposure to several Brainstorm inventions made it so that his self soothing manifested outwards into the real world, after months of isolating himself from his peers. Why Sir Rungington VII, who was also there for that conversation, didn’t consider this possibility, is unclear, but it’s probably because he’s bad at his job.
This is where Cuntclonus cuts in, telling Crisis on Infinite Swerves that despite his many faults, people still care about him, the entire Lost Light crew having projected to Swearth as part of this search mission.
Now knowing that he hasn’t faded away from everyone’s minds, Swerve can finally acknowledge the pain, and Crisis on Infinite Swerves’s shoulder begins to bleed in the shape of an Autobot insignia. Hooray, we found the issue! Drinks all around!
Later, we see First Aid on the shuttle to “Combiner Wars”, on the phone with Velocity discussing the aftermath of Swearth. Velocity had cut into into Swerve’s shoulder, revealing a rust infection that had gone untreated for years. As they talk, First Aid looks through the tablet Tailgate gave him as a goodbye present. There’s a picture of him with Ratchet, Ambulon, and a smiley-face drone, and then a picture of Ironfist and Swerve that sets off his “I need to be weird about people’s badges to impress Springer and his giant boobs” senses.
Before he can fly out of the reception zone, First Aid tells Velocity to cut Swerve’s shoulder open again. The one where the infection was. The one he patched up after running into the DJD. The one where he used to have an Autobot badge. The one where he got shot by Agent 113, with a bullet containing vital information.
I mean, yeah, no shit. She hasn’t sewn him back up yet!
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Every Embrace
Every Embrace
Notes: Bodhi Rook/Gender Neutral Reader, disabled reader, everyone lives au, post-rebellion, hurt/comfort, domestic fluff, fluff and angst
CW: PTSD, chronic illness, disability, medical settings, implied sexual intimacy
Ao3 Link
★★★★★★★★
You don’t know many people who wear glasses. Most beings on Chandrila and other developed worlds undergo a simple surgery to correct their vision. But Bodhi—he had a particularly unpleasant experience with the Imperial surgeon who’d worked on his eyes at the academy, and he has no intention of ever having that kind of surgery again. Which means the goggles he wears for other mechanical work aren’t just a safety precaution—they now have prescription lenses. And if he needs to read anything, whether it’s his data pad or a cereal box, he needs glasses.
At the moment, Bodhi is frantically going through every drawer in the house. “Love,” he asks, “are you sure you didn’t move them?”
“I never touch your glasses,” you say. “Because of exactly this.”
He sighs. “I could have sworn I left them on the table in the living room.”
It occurs to you that Bodhi fell asleep reading on the sofa last night and had to be coaxed to get up and come to bed. After lifting a few cushions, you find not one but two pairs of specs in the sofa. You call his name and hold your findings up in front of you.
His smile brightens his whole face. “I was starting to feel a bit mad,” he says. “Where were they?”
“Couch cushions.”
Bodhi takes the lenses from you, puts one pair on the kitchen counter and one on his head, like he used to wear those welding goggles back during the war. You know based on your own experience with eye health, and the eye health of many of your peers, that one of these days your partner is going to find himself needing corrective lenses for more than just reading. As you watch him return to his task, hunched over the recipe he’d been trying to read, those glasses ever so slightly sliding down the bridge of his nose—you can’t help but think how handsome he looks.
“Good,” he says. “I added a few things to the grocery list, and I’ve sent it to Cilvie in case you two want to do that tomorrow.”
“Bodhi—”
“It’s fine if you don’t. I can take care of it after work.”
“We can probably go to the store tomorrow. But I need you to sit down. You haven’t stopped moving since you got home.”
Bodhi sighs, running a hand through his long, dark hair. “I’ve been trying not to think about it,” he says. “I just feel like…maybe I’m forgetting again.”
Every fiber of your being wants to run to him, but you know he needs to come to you. With his memory—he doesn’t talk about it if he doesn’t want to and you know not to pry.
So you sit on the couch, take a deep breath, close your eyes. And when you open them, he’s there, next to you. He wraps his arms around you, his big hands gentle and warm. He slides his glasses to the top of his head again, pushing back his hair.
“You always figure me out,” he says. “But please don’t panic on my behalf.”
“Are you actually comforting me right now, Bo?” you ask. “When you’re clearly struggling?”
“No one calls me that but you,” he says. “Not since I was small.” He stares straight ahead for a moment, something in his eyes tells you he’s not entirely here with you.
“Bo,” you say, “come back to me.”
He smiles, takes your hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. “Sometimes…” he says, pausing to take a breath. “Sometimes it’s nice for me to just be able to take care of you. To make sure you are safe and happy. Maybe it’s a bit selfish but it’s something I couldn’t do even for myself for a long time.”
Resting your head on his shoulder, you notice how nice he smells—some combination of shampoo, the clean cotton of his shirt, a light cologne he knows you like. You want to ask him what he’s thinking, whether he’s okay. But you know he has more to tell you. And the only way you’ll hear it is if you wait for him to be ready.
It’s not long before he lets out a long breath and says, “I made a doctor’s appointment a few weeks ago. Neurology specialist.”
“That’s a big step,” you say, wondering how much he’d been keeping from you, knowing how he hates the idea of burdening you with his own health issues. “You could have told me—I know this is really hard on you.”
“I know. It’s just a little too real, I guess.” He pauses. “But I have to know.”
It had been years since Bodhi had had his mind violated by Bor Gullet, a being who could not only see inside your mind but change it, move things around, make you believe anything or leave you with nothing at all. Bodhi was lucky to have mostly recovered, but there were side effects—then and still. For a while doctors said his symptoms lined up entirely with his PTSD, but Bodhi wasn’t so sure. Doubts like that can overwhelm a person, and now, after all this time wondering if he might have some kind of brain injury, there’s only one way to find out for sure.
“When is it?” you ask.
“Well,” he says, a “It was set for a few months from now. But I got a call right before I left work today and there’s an opening tomorrow. So…”
You take his face in your hands, gently caress his short beard before drawing him into a brief kiss. “I’m proud of you,” you say. “Where are we going tomorrow?”
“We?”
“I’m not letting you do this alone.”
“All right then,” he says. “The specialist is on Hosnian Prime. We’ll have to leave early.”
“Okay,” you say. “I’ll be with you.”
Bodhi takes your hand, brings it to his lips for a sweet kiss. “Thank you, love.”
You hear Cilvie chirping from down the hall: packing your bag.
Someone in this house is always eavesdropping, but it is nice of your droid to take care of that for you. You thank her, and then look to Bodhi, his big, dark eyes reflecting so much love.
“It’s going to be okay,” you tell him. “We’ve got this.”
*
You’d been living together for just a few months the first time Bodhi went to a doctor’s appointment with you. He’d actually suggested it, hoping to provide some comfort, maybe even get some insight into what to watch out for in an emergency. If it had been any other man, you might have balked at the idea, wondered what controlling nonsense he was up to. But it was Bodhi, the most sincere being you’d ever met. So you agreed.
Unfortunately, the appointment he joined you on had brought a decent amount of bad news. Medications weren’t working as they were supposed to, side effects of other medications might be too risky given your conditions. You left feeling somehow both deflated and panicky. When Bodhi came in from the waiting room, the physician had nothing helpful to share with him, either.
In the turbolift, on the way from the doctor’s office to the parking garage, Bodhi asked you, “How are you feeling? I mean, physically.”
“Not terrible,” you told him. “Same as this morning.”
“Right,” he said. “Okay, well, we’re getting dessert then.”
“Have you even had lunch?” you asked.
“I think dessert is in order regardless,” he said, putting an arm around you, bringing your body close to his. “Maybe a bit of chocolate, even.”
Bodhi touched his nose to yours and you closed your eyes, breathing in the comfort of being close to him, his familiar scent, the steady beating of his heart, the strands of hair fallen loose from his braid brushing against your cheek.
“I really thought there was going to be good news today,” you said. “Something helpful.”
“I know.” he whispered. “I’m so sorry that wasn’t the case.”
“I’m so tired,” you said. “How do we have so many advancements in medicine and I’m still such a mess?”
“You’re not a mess,” he said. “I know I can’t do a lot to help right now, but…whatever I can do? I’m going to do that.” You’d almost reached the level where your speeder was parked when Bodhi pressed a kiss to your lips and said, “If that’s all right with you, I mean.”
And in his embrace, some of your anxiety started to fade. He took your hand as you walked to your vehicle, opened the door for you as if you were on a first date. “I know a place,” Bodhi said. “I have a client in this neighborhood that I’ve done work for. She has a hard time leaving the house so usually Pao or I come to her. And there’s a cantina—you’ll see. The sweets menu is glorious.”
“Glorious?”
“Glorious.”
It was a quick drive to the little cantina, and when you walked in, Bodhi’s arm around your waist, you immediately knew why he wanted to bring you here. It was a casual comfort food spot, and right by the door was the very full dessert case.
You found a booth in the back corner and you ended up ordering a sandwich to split before indulging in the dessert menu. It was just before dusk and not particularly crowded. As you were waiting for your late lunch, Bodhi got up from the table abruptly, told you he’d be right back.
When you’d met, back on Yavin, Bodhi had been shy, almost debilitatingly so, often compensating for his anxiety by talking too fast and too much—something you’d come to find charming even if others merely tolerated it. But in the pilot’s seat or in combat, according to the folks who’d fought alongside him, he would almost become a different person—a man with a commanding presence and a sharp tactical mind. That was how he’d been consistently promoted. If he hadn’t decided to step away from the Navy, you both knew he would have earned the rank of General.
He’d grown into himself since those early days, his confidence coming back to him as he’d found strength in his found family. In you. But still, it surprised you when he put a credit in the cantina’s old-fashioned jukebox, returning to you with an outstretched hand.
“I’ve always loved this song,” he said. “Come dance with me.”
“What?” you asked, not entirely sure that he was serious.
“Dance with me, love. Just for a little while.”
You raised an eyebrow as you took his hand, the slow, soft melody coming in over the speakers in the early evening calm.
“Come on, now,” he said, a smile in his eyes. “This song makes me think of you, you know.”
As soon as you were in his arms, it didn’t matter whether people were watching. “How many years have I known you, Bodhi Rook? And not known that you could dance?”
“Too many, perhaps,” he said, quickly brushing his lips over your cheek. “Maybe this is something we should do more often.”
“Dancing?”
“With the promise of dessert.”
*
Bodhi’s original U-Wing was a total loss when it crashed on Endor. And while he’d enjoyed his stint as an X-Wing pilot through the Battle of Jakku and the month that he’d spent piloting a repurposed zeta-class transport—much like the one he’d flown with the Empire—it was the U-Wing that he kept coming back to when he was looking for something to salvage for personal use.
“My whole life turned around when Cassian pulled me aboard that ship,” he said on the day he finally made his decision. “It’s a quite different, this civilian model. I’ll have to install a hyperdrive somehow, and we’ll need a new droid port…”
You’d let him ramble, even though what he was saying may as well have been Huttese to you. And today as you board the U-Wing—Bodhi’s U-Wing—you admire as always the beauty of it, so much of it built from scrap but crafted and polished to look like new. With his hands.
Now in hyperspace, the silver streak of stars just outside the transparisteel windows, you settle on one of the plush benches that Bodhi had reupholstered himself a few years back. With Red keeping an eye on the navigation, Bodhi comes back to sit with you.
“Thanks for coming with me, love,” he says, “I can’t say I’m excited about this.”
“I know,” you say. “But if you get some answers, it’s worth it, right?”
He nods, pulling your legs over his so you’re nearly in his lap, his arms around you, bringing closer to his body. “I’m so afraid that I could lose something important. In my mind,” he says. “That I could lose my memories with you.”
You place one hand over his heart. He’s wearing a v-neck t-shirt and a soft cardigan—so different from how you used to find him in the back of the old U-Wing, so many years ago. But, stars, how you love him in v-necks—how they compliment his toned chest, the way one of his tattoos peeks out from under the collar.
“Bodhi,” you say. “That won’t happen. And if it did, I’d be right here to remind you.”
You caress your partner’s cheek, give his neatly trimmed beard a little tickle before he touches his forehead to yours, a few strands of dark hair slipping from where he’d pulled it halfway back, still damp from his shower earlier this morning.
“I hope the answer isn’t surgery,” he says. “I don’t know if I can handle that.”
“Whatever it is, we’ll do it together, Bo,” you say. “I promise. There’s nothing in the galaxy that you have to do alone.”
“Okay.”
“You look really nice today, you know.”
“Now you’re just trying to distract me.”
“Maybe I am,” you say. “But that doesn’t make it any less true.”
Bodhi kisses you then, his hunger for your touch evident as he takes your face in his hands, his lips moving slow but firm as they fit to yours so perfectly that you feel like you were made for each other.
“I’m sorry,” he says. “Is this okay?”
“It’s more than okay,” you tell him.
He responds with more kisses, deeper and more urgent as he leads you to the little pull-out cot he’d installed where on his old Alliance ship there would have been a second door and an ion canon. As you lie down, Bodhi folding the both of you under a blanket and sliding his hands under your clothes, you’re glad for the curtain behind the cockpit. When Bodhi’s gentle fingertips trace the curve of your thigh, you hope that this moment of pleasure is bringing him even half the peace it’s bringing you, a bit of warm calm in the cold of hyperspace.
*
“You know, the day we met, I thought that I’d never get to spend any time with you—and I hated it,” you told Bodhi. Back at home, you were now snuggled up on the couch together watching a holofilm you’d both seen more times than you could remember. “You were a big hero—the kind of pilot who had so much attention on him that he’d never have the time to spend with non-combat personnel.”
“Well,” he said. “As I’ve told you, I fell in love with you the day I met you, when you handed me that jacket. I’d never had a jacket that fit me so well,” He paused to softly run his knuckles over your cheek. “And you were so beautiful, love. Radiating kindness. I had no choice but to break things on purpose to keep coming back to see you.”
“Excuse me?” you said. There were a few times that you suspected he might be up to something, but back then you couldn’t quite imagine that this attractive, important man would break so many zippers just to see you.
“I didn’t really leave the cockpit much that first year after Scarif. Between having to learn to use my new leg and the fact that I was rubbish with a blaster…well, I wasn’t putting as much strain on my clothes as, say, Han or Jyn.”
“I knew it,” you said, laughing.
“And you never said anything?” Bodhi’s smile was so big and so charming—the smile you’d fallen for back on Yavin. And you reached to tuck a few strands of hair behind his ear, a handsome, if premature, streak of silver that had come in a year or so ago.
“Because every day I hoped to hear you’d somehow popped another button on your uniform. So that I could see you, too. Plus, you always brought me caf—and knew exactly how I liked it.”
“Of course I did. You were it for me,” he said, kissing you softly. “You are it for me, love. You know that right?”
You smile. “Well…let’s just say a more responsible tailor would have taught you to sew a button.”
“I’m glad you never did.”
“Me, too.”
*
It’s hard being in the waiting room, knowing that Bodhi is just beyond a door you can see a few meters away from where you’re sitting, and not wanting to be there. But there’s radiation involved, and he has Red, so Bodhi suggested that you go explore downtown. And you’d thought about it, but ended up just getting a cup of caf and a sandwich and returning to the waiting room to read a book. It’s been a few hours, and you’re starting to worry when the door opens and Bodhi emerges, followed by Red.
He looks tired—but not upset. You must look tired, too, because the first thing he says is, “How long have you been sitting here?”
“I just wanted to be here if you needed me,” you told him.
Red chirps: made sure Bodhi was okay.
“I know you did.” You say, giving the droid a little pat. Turning back to Bodhi, you ask, “How’d it go?”
He takes your hand and leads you out of the office, to the turbolift, out to the busy sidewalk. And then he says, “Mostly good news, I think.” He pauses, takes a breath. “Let’s find a place to get some dinner and we can talk about it.”
So you find a little diner, snag a corner booth, retrieve Bodhi’s reading glasses from your shoulder bag so he can read the menu, and after ordering some local comfort food, he tells you about the appointment.
“So they did find something,” he says. His voice is a little shaky, and you squeeze his hand. “I should have had you come in to hear it from the doctor—something about scar tissue. But it’s entirely treatable.”
“What kind of treatment?”
“There’s a medication that they sent to the pharmacy back home,” he says. “But I have to take it in conjunction with therapy.”
You smile at Bodhi, the look on his face a bit sheepish. Bodhi hadn’t done talk therapy in years. His previous therapist had retired unexpectedly and he never got around to finding someone new. He was doing pretty well so you’d never felt like it was your place to push him to find a new clinician. But you can tell in this moment that he’s dreading it.
“Are you going to do it?” you ask.
“Of course,” he says. “The neurologist already put in a referral to someone back on Chandrila. I looked her up, she sounds lovely. But I’m not thrilled about it.”
You reach to touch his face, tuck a lock of hair behind his ear. “Whatever you need from me to support you in this, it’s yours.
“Thank you,” he says before sneaking a quick kiss. “I��m glad you came today.”
“Me, too.”
When you leave the diner, it’s dark out. Both of you had talked earlier about possibly doing something fun tonight, but that was before the long day you’d had. Standing on the sidewalk, you ask Bodhi if he’s about ready to head back to the ship to get some sleep before leaving tomorrow.
“Actually, love,” he says. “I booked us a room. I thought it would be nice. Maybe even a bit romantic…I know you’re probably exhausted, though.”
“How far is it from here?”
Bodhi points out a tall building just a few blocks away. “It’s right there, I think. With the red spire. Are you good to walk?”
“I should be fine.”
With Bodhi’s arm around your waist you make your way to the hotel and, when you get to your room, Red plugs himself into the droid port in the corner and lets you know that he’s shutting down for the night. You’re about to ask about your luggage when you find that Bodhi has had your bags brought here by a courier earlier that day.
“You’ve thought of everything,” you say.
Bodhi pulls you close, touches his nose to yours. “You deserve everything, darling,” he says. “I mean that.”
When he kisses you, the sounds of the city fade away and a desire wakes inside you, a hunger to be closer to this brave, good man—who even in the midst of his own difficulties is thinking of you. You press closer to him, and Bodhi starts humming—a song he always says reminds him of you, and you sway with him, a sweet slow dance to shake off the stress of the day.
Soon you’re undressing each other, stumbling toward the bed, sliding into the soft sheets, clothes landing in piles on the floor.
Bodhi kisses your jaw and whispers in your ear, “You took such good care of me today. Can I take care of you now?”
You nod and he begins a gentle trail of kisses down your neck, your shoulder, your clavicle, your sternum. His beard tickles your skin as you realize you have goosebumps from the pleasure of his touch.
“Stars,” he says, taking your hand, his fingers lacing in between yours. “Have I ever told you that you’re perfect?”
And as he continues, pressing his soft lips to your tummy, you know he knows that neither of you are perfect by any standard measurement. That you are both deeply flawed, clinically. Emotionally. Still, you believe him when he tells you this.
“So are you,” you tell him. “And I love you so much.”
He hushes you, and you make a mental note to reassure him later of his strength and his beauty, how his body and his mind are exquisite and how lucky you are to have him. But for now, you relax into this moment with him, a sweet bit of pleasure that both of you deserve.
★★★★★★★★
Thank you so much for reading! I love writing Bodhi. I need a universe where he lives. But we have our AU. I hope this fic makes you feel seen and loved.
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Alex gets a science lab coat for the wip game please 🥰🥰
It’s been 3 weeks since they all moved in together and agreed to try this whole “being a family” thing full time, and Alex has loved virtually every second of it. Because even the difficult stuff, like arguing with Michael over furniture placement, or getting used to having somebody in his bed all the time, and never being able to sleep past 5:30am anymore, are cancelled out by the amazing things. Like learning how Michael knows how to make pancakes that both taste amazing and are all 7 colors of the rainbow. Or getting to be with Nova every night once she hits that sleepy cuddly stage where she actually stops moving a mile a minute and just wants him to hold her and run his fingers through her hair while she watches some Magic School Bus episode for the 80th time. But most importantly, he learns about Science Experiment Sunday.
See, Michael and Nova are big into science, which isn’t surprising to Alex. They are regularly doing activities together each night like making slime, stargazing through the telescope in the backyard, and practicing the elements on the periodic table. But what is surprising to find out is that every single Sunday, Michael comes up with some involved science project that takes up most of the morning and sometimes the afternoon. The week before was an intense Rube Goldberg machine that started in the kitchen and went all the way out to the garage. The week before that, they designed and tested various bottle rocket prototypes and shot them off at the park down the street to see which one went the furthest.
Michael and Nova both have these white lab coats that they wear on their Sundays together and it’s one of the cutest things he’s ever seen. Especially when Nova pairs it with her little safety goggles as well. But it’s decidedly Michael and Nova’s thing. So when Nova comes into the bedroom early Sunday morning and places a box on his stomach, demanding that he open it, he doesn’t know what to expect. When he opens it, there’s a white lab coat in it with an embroidered name that says “Nova’s Dad.”
“Did you get this for me?”
Nova nods her head excitedly, her little messy bun moving every which way. “Daddy faid you not a doctah fo you need a diffent titah. Fo…” she points to where the coat says, “Nova’s Dad.” His heart fills with a joy he didn’t think possible.
“Nova’s dad is such a better title than doctor anyways,” he tells her, leaning over to kiss her forehead as she giggles.
“Put it on!” she exclaims as she runs out of the bedroom yelling, “We’re doing fience!”
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Undone by “Darling”
REQUEST (from @november-solarstorms): Celebrating another year of this earth being braced by Tom Hiddleston's presence! Lol. Might I make a prompt request? I feel as though it would be interesting to read from Loki's POV to explore the dynamics between him and a human female who is just as intelligent as he. She has a sharp wit and even sharper tongue. Her sarcastic and clever nature enable her to out-banter Tony Stark, the king of snark himself (may he rest in peace). But she is also just as flirtatious and salacious. She never blushes, never falters, and is incredibly clever. You can decide the nature of their encounter. Really im just in it for a good game of cat and mouse.
A/N: Okay, I had SO MUCH FUN writing this!! And yeah, this will run a bit longer than my usual fics lol. Also, there IS a Loki POV, just keep reading thaaanks <3
WARNINGS: none.
WORD COUNT: 1,932
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Undone by “Darling”
17 hours and 6 white chocolate mochas later, it was finally ready - an upgraded version of Corvus Glaive’s glaive, this one spec-ed out to your fancies and requirements. It was a beast, and definitely not something Nick Fury would ever let you play around with, even if you made it.
Satisfied with your work, you remove your safety goggles and grin at Stark, who is working on his own weapon he scavenged from the Black Order.
‘I’m done!’ you say triumphantly, causing him to look up and groan. ‘How did you finish before me!?’ he lowers his glasses and looks at your weapon. ‘I’m smarter’ you say. ‘I went to MIT’ ‘And I didn’t, yet here we are, both in the same lab’.
He shakes his head, not unlike a petulant child, causing you to laugh.
‘How far along are you?’ you ask. ‘Still running diagnostics’. ‘Still!?’ ‘Have you seen the size of his hammer?’ he gestures to Cull Obsidian’s chain hammer on his work table, but the innuendo doesn’t escape you and you grin at him. He facepalms. ‘Y/n, for god’s sake...’ ‘You’re just tired, or you’d appreciate the joke too’.
You stretch your weary body and let out a deep breath. You’d test the weapon out tomorrow, but for now, you need a nap.
‘Take a load off, Stark. Hammer’ll be there tomorrow’. ‘Oh, you’d like that wouldn’t you...’ he puts his goggles back on and get to work.
xx
Loki’s POV:
Humans are surprising, but I always knew that. I never thought them boring, even if my brother says I do. Humans are of so little power but such incredible resilience that it’s frankly astonishing. I am inclined to believe that sometimes resilience is just stupidity... in most cases, I am right. But that’s not to say I haven’t come across some truly brave people.
Take the Avengers Tower, for example.
Just in here, you have Y/n, a brave soldier with the mind of an intergalactic scavenger, and I do mean that as a compliment. She’s awfully clever, she can build better than Stark, and has a track record of finishing every mission to perfection and before time. And then you have the Super Soldier Steve Rogers, a big muscled, big hearted idiot who often mistakes challenging our enemies for bravery and morality.
The two couldn’t be more different, but they get along like siblings. Not siblings like Thor and I... better adjusted, perhaps.
They sit in front of me, talking about some mission while they play Chess. Her moves are quick but calculated, his take more time because he’s more interested in telling his story than playing the game.
‘...so there I am, no weapons, no shield, bang in the middle of the Serpent Citadel...’
He’s a good storyteller, I’ll give him that. But not as good as Y/n. She paints quite a picture, full of delicious gory details and horribly dark jokes.
‘Steve, you have to pay attention, you’re losing’ she says. ‘Yeah, I don’t actually know how to play chess, I just wanted you to listen to my story’.
She looks up at him, almost offended. ‘STEVE...’ ‘Cool, I’m gonna go wrap Stark into a game of Battleships and tell him about my fight with Copperhead’.
She laughs as he leaves the room, and she puts the chess pieces away.
‘We could play?’ I ask her. ‘Is the God in a mood to lose?’ ‘Over confidence isn’t attractive in anybody’. ‘Oh darling, neither is telling someone what is and isn’t attractive’.
She’s never called me that before, and in the context it should seem cutting, but it isn’t. ‘Darling?’ ‘Problem?’ ‘It’s quite a term of endearment to set someone straight’.
She says nothing.
‘Cat got your tongue?’ I tease her. She only smiles and continues putting the pieces away neatly. Stark’s chess set is gold and black, all individually carved pieces. The pawns are all Iron Man suits, but that’s to be expected. She handles them with the care Stark would.
‘I mean...’ I continue, ‘honestly, if someone heard, they’d never let you live it down’.
And she carries on, unbothered.
‘Y/n!’ ‘Oh dear, look at you come completely undone with just one term of endearment’ she comments, shutting the chess set. ‘Whatever would happen if I held your hand?’
The very thought of it seemed to drain my brain of blood. I unwillingly glanced at her hands, working the lock mechanism of the box, her blue veins prominent.
‘Cat got your tongue?’ she asked.
I stood up, the human emotion of embarrassment becoming too familiar for me. ‘I’ll have to see you at lunch’. ‘Sure, darling’.
Oh, I hate how she’s enjoying this.
----------
The next day, Y/n booked a training room to test out the Glaive, and Stark had a rusty but working chain hammer. Steve insists on trying it out anyway, and now our breakfast is being spent on discouraging him from doing that.
‘Guys... if nothing else, I’ll still have my shield. Let me test it out!’ ‘Y/n’s glaive cuts through Vibranium, you know that, right?’ Stark says. ‘Y/n wouldn’t do that’. ‘Oh yes she would’ Y/n says nonchalantly as she sinks her teeth into a bacon and egg sandwich.
As she does, the yolk runs down her fingers. She makes a sound at the inconvenience and sets the sandwich down, then grabs a napkin. I’m hardly ever crude, but the energy it took not to take her hand and lick off the yolk myself could burn every star in the galaxy.
Captain America scrunches his nose at her remark, severely offended.
‘In any case, that shield barely covers your giant body. It will force Stark to make you a new one’. ‘What do you care about his giant body’ Stark says. ‘It’s America’s ass, Tony’ she takes a sip of her iced coffee. Steve blushes, and Tony rolls his eyes.
----------
The training facility is magic, of course, somewhere between a mirror dimension and Wanda’s reality powers creating a safe cocoon inside the building so no one can be harmed. Y/n hardly trusted anybody to fight with her except Thor, but given the nature of Corvus’ Glaive, she knew magic would be required.
And so she called me.
After getting into my battle armour, I stepped into the facility, equipped with my sceptre and the teachings of the witches of Asgard.
She whistles as I walk in. ‘Trying to distract me from killing you?’ ‘Are you?’ I ask. She’s dressed in a black bodysuit, details of purple in her belt and weapon harnesses. ‘Why yes, I am. Glad you noticed’.
The glaive is on the floor, and she stomps her foot on one part of it so it swivels up and neatly places itself in her hand. She smiles.
‘Try to keep up. I’m not just looking for eye candy in a training partner, darling’ she says, getting into battle stance.
With nothing left to say for the second time this week, I aim the sceptre at her and the stone at the end glows.
She charges and I shoot at her, but she spins the glaive and creates a shield which absorbs the energy.
She continues to charge at me. I shoot again, and again the glaive takes the hit. Not a scratch on her.
Once she comes closer, she simply places the flat end of the weapon against my chest, sending me hurtling back into a wall.
She spins the glaive and laughs.
‘Compliments of Wakanda. It absorbs any hits and charges up with kinetic energy’.
I get up on my feet. This is far from over. I create multiple illusions to surround her, all of them brandishing knives, Chitauri tech, and sceptres.
‘Damn, suddenly my whole evening has opened up’ she says, looking around.
Even my clones look around at each other puzzled.
‘Come on then, who’s up?’ she spins the glaive around. ‘One at a time or all at once, baby’.
They charge at her, and I expected her to fight them off at once... instead she plants the staff on the ground and ducks, and a semi-circle shell grows from the top of the staff, down to the floor... like a mini fortress, completely impenetrable. It could, no doubt, continue to take hits and build up kinetic energy, so I call off the clones.
She gets up and retracts the shell. ‘Nanotech’ she grins at me. ‘The whole shell sits in a disk. It can withstand bombs and even a moon’. ‘Is there any tech you haven’t adopted?’ ‘I’m an intergalactic scavenger, aren’t I?’
I stare at her, horrified. Can she read minds?
‘Maybe I can. Or maybe I heard you tell Stark when he was complaining about me finishing my weapon first’.
Silence.
‘Also, darling, you’re awfully predictable in your fighting’.
She picks up every trick and tech she sees, so beating her is less about weapons and more about cunning.
No problem. Cunning is my specialty.
‘Ready now?’ she asks. ‘Mhm’.
She takes a deep breath to ready herself, her eyes shutting slightly. Once they open back up, she stares in shock.
In my Jotun form, I give her my most menacing smile.
She cocks her head to the side, studying my icy blue skin.
The illusion I cast of myself approaches behind her, dagger in hand. Once it’s close enough and I can almost taste my victory, she raises the glaive and in one swift motion, sticks it into its abdomen.
The illusion disappears into green light.
‘Cute’ she remarks. She points the glaive at me. ‘What else you got for me?’ I shift back to my Asgardian form and sigh. ‘You win’.
Y/n laughs and lowers her weapon. ‘Oh darling, I won the second you walked in wearing all that leather’. She winks at me, then walks out of the facility. I feel a blush creep to my face, much against my will.
-------------
‘Maybe you should stick to your guns, Tony’ Y/n says, ‘Fancy suits is it for you, chain hammers may be overshooting it’. ‘Is that what they taught you in the back alley you learnt ironmongery from?’ ‘Yes! Do you want their number, I’m sure they’ll have a spot on the waiting list for you’.
Ah. Y/n’s relationship with Stark seemed more like mine with Thor. While they banter, Steve and Natasha tear up from laughing. I wouldn’t go so far as to call this domestic, but it certainly is comfortable.
‘Come on, the glaive can’t be that good, right Loki?’ Stark asks.
The company looks at me expectantly. ‘To say her weapon isn’t good enough means to insult your own tech, Stark. Everything about it is founded on your theories’.
‘So technically, it’s my brain that made the glaive so cool’ he tells Y/n. ‘Yeah, you could say that. The glaive comes from the same mind that manufactured Captain America’s dinner plate’.
Steve doesn’t find that one funny, but Natasha does, sending her into peals of laughter.
‘Oh whatever’ Tony huffs. ‘I’m going back to the lab’.
He stands up and Y/n grabs his arm. ‘Aww Tony, I’m just kidding!’ she pats his hand, ‘Look, you’re a brilliant inventor, we all have our slow days’.
He sighs and nods, and holds her hand. ‘Thanks... I guess I’m just not in my element, you know?’ ‘Yeah...’ she keeps patting his hand.
And the feeling of domesticity creeps in. We really are all a family. Y/n smiles encouragingly at Tony, and Tony seems more relaxed.
‘So, you want me to get you the number of that ironmongery, or...?’ ‘OH FOR...’ he snatches his arm away and storms out of the room, with Steve and Nat losing it all over again.
___________________________________________________________
Ah this was so fun!!!!!!!! I hope you guys liked it <3
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#loki x you#loki pov#loki x reader#loki marvel#Marvel Avengers#avengers tower#avengers fluff#tony stark#loki fanfic#loki fluff#tom hiddleston fluff#tom hiddleston birthday#fic prompts
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Yandere Eraserhead with an S/O that has a Cat quirk (Neko girl basically) but like he’s possessive and everything but she is super chill and go with the flow with life like the cat she is.
Mm yes cat quirks are my weakness, thank you for the request! This was gonna be just a headcanon thing but i couldn’t help myself, so here’s a oneshot! (oh god how do i always write more than i mean to)
_____
Yandere Aizawa/Eraserhead x f!Reader
(3435 words) ︱ title: Complaisant
It’s only natural that when people see a cute little animal they want to pet it. So when those around you, even strangers sometimes, approached you to pet the soft, fluffy cat ears atop your head so often, it became clear that it was easier to let them rather than fight it.
It was a recurring event that you were all too familiar with growing up. Almost absentmindedly, your friends and family would gently stroke the irresistible fur as they spoke. One would think that’d be irritating, but a side effect of your quirk, which you still hadn’t decided if it was unfortunate or not, was that the feeling of being on the receiving end of this affection left you in a relaxed, purr induced state―similar to an actual cat.
Slowly, you realized these experiences weren’t all too bad.
You resolved that putting up a fight was useless, as doing so never seemed to deter people from getting their way anyways.
Without you even realizing it, other traits of furry little felines had bled into your personality. You were quieter than most, and never shied away from affection. One thing your friends liked to tease you about was how easy it was to read your emotions. While your facial features didn’t give them away, the thumping of your soft tail when you were angry, or how it tucked in between your legs when you were frightened did. Other times your ears would fold back against your head when you were sad, or perk up when you paid attention to whatever had caught your eye.
Little adaptations like this were all too normal nowadays. Especially today, as you literally embodied that of a stray cat, having taken up residence on the rooftop of a random building.
It was nighttime, and you had originally come up here to stargaze. But the heavy sensation of your eyelids and the growing fatigue was becoming all too alluring towards a harmless cat nap. Curling up into a ball, you figured a bit of shut eye wouldn’t hurt for a few minutes. You drifted asleep, a welcoming sensation that you could never resist.
_____
Now, you were certain that before you fell asleep there were no other people on the rooftop, so how you ended up covered in a black jacket when you woke up was beyond you.
At least it was, until coming to your senses you made out a man leaning against the rooftop entrance to your right, arms crossed and eyes closed. He was wearing some sort of scarf, with yellow goggles hanging loose from his neck. Looking further up, you saw he had long black hair and a scar under his right eye.
He must’ve sensed your awoken state somehow, opening his eyes and lazily uncrossing his arms, instead shoving them in his pockets as he pushed away from the wall behind him.
“It’s about time you woke up. The hell were you thinking, falling asleep up here alone?” He tiredly sauntered over to where you were still stationed, now sitting up with what you presume to be his jacket falling slightly off your shoulders.
He didn’t let you respond. “You know what, it doesn’t matter.” The man outstretched a hand towards you before continuing. “C’mon, it’s too cold to stay out here and I need my jacket back. I’ll walk you home.”
It hadn’t been in your nature for a long time to argue with people. This situation was no different, the man seeming to be trustworthy enough after guarding your sleeping form for who knows how long.
You took his hand and were pulled swiftly to your feet before feeling him readjust the jacket onto your shoulders. He headed towards the rooftop entrance without looking back, assuming you’d follow suit.
Once on the street he let you lead the way, your tail swaying gently as you moved. For the most part the journey home was in silence. But as they say, curiosity killed the cat, and you spoke up.
“You a pro hero or something? Or do you just like watching people sleep?” Normally you weren’t this bold, but the situation was fitting for it you figured.
The man let out a huff. “Yes to the first question, but I also have a habit of taking in strays. Explains how I came across you.”
The two of you were nearing your destination, that being your old, run down apartment complex.
“I’m obligated to warn you not to repeat such reckless behaviour, but I get the feeling that won’t stop you.” You stopped outside the front entrance, turning to face him as he spoke.
“I appreciate the concern, thanks for walking me home.” You offered a slight smile as condolence as you returned the jacket, knowing you wouldn’t listen to him either.
He audibly sighed before responding. “Well, looks like I’ll just have to patrol the rooftops a little more often.” The man walked past you, continuing in the same direction past your apartment, giving a quiet “Stay safe,” before walking off into the night.
_____
Of course you resumed the apparently reckless behaviour, not being able to resist the calm of night in such a secluded place. So when you once again awoke to the same jacket draped over your form the next time, it didn’t come as a surprise.
If anything, the occurrence almost became a routine between the two of you. A few nights a week you’d return to the same rooftop, basking in the moonlight before dozing off, knowing you had a hero keeping you safe.
The walks back to your apartment were mostly quiet, neither of you speaking up until you’d almost arrived at your place. However, slowly a comfortableness settled, and you learned a few things about the mystery hero.
He called himself Eraserhead, his real name being Shouta Aizawa. He was a teacher during the day and hero at night. Generally speaking he was a quiet and collected man, but after gaining these details you decided to do a little research on your own. You’d found that he definitely didn’t let on to how strong he was. You saw clips of him expertly utilizing the capture weapon around his neck, mind you these videos were quite hard to come by, which you noted was likely because he seemed to prefer to stay out of the spotlight. Aside from that he was just the kind civil servant who watched your back, although you figured there were more important things the erasure hero could be doing with his time.
Regardless, you looked forward to the walks home with Shouta, and unbeknownst to you, it was always the highlight of the man’s night.
He’d never admit to it, at least not yet, but he’d grown quite attached to you, and thus was getting more and more invested in your wellbeing. Why you chose to put yourself in such precarious situations was beyond him, but he’d be damned if he let anything happen to you while you did.
So, every night he’d watch over the usual place you’d go to rest at the time you’d normally arrive, always from a distance, whether you showed up or not. If you did, he’d wait until you fell asleep before making his way over to the rooftop, routinely offering up his jacket.
Now, he’d be lying if he said having to resist the urge to run a hand over your velvety cat ears was almost painful. For the longest time he’d left well enough alone, fearing you’d wake up and be mortified.
But tonight, seeing you curled up in a little ball, ears twitching ever so slightly while you slept seemed to spark something uncontrollable in him.
Shouta resolved to sit down next to you, taking his chances and petting down the fur atop your head. Much to his surprise, and gratitude, a deep purring quietly resonated in your chest. More importantly, the sensation didn’t cause you to wake up. It was so easy to get lost in the action, being soothing for the both of you.
So naturally he did get lost in it, mind drifting off into thought while he continued to unconsciously caress your ears.
Before he knew it almost an hour had passed and he was still repeating the same action. Except now you were very much awake, unbeknownst to him, pretending to sleep while enjoying the affection. However, you knew he had hero duties to attend to, and thus it wasn’t fair to keep him longer than necessary.
“Y’know if you wanted to pet them that badly you could’ve just asked.”
He froze upon hearing you speak, but you only found it humorous. “It’s fine, really. Everyone ends up doing it sooner later and it’s not like I care so…” At this point you were sitting up, looking at the man waiting for a response.
You let anyone do that to you? Yeah, no… that’s not gonna fly.
Shouta lazily stood up, once again offering a hand for you to do the same. “It’s late, let’s get going.”
Like clockwork you took his hand, letting him pull you up from the floor of the rooftop.
Except this time he didn’t let go, dragging you behind him towards the rooftop entrance. And you made no objections, compliance was something you’d just grown used to. After all, there was no need to fight him. He’d only proven to be trustworthy, a subtle comfort in your life that was all too constant nowadays.
By now he had memorized the walk to your apartment, so you let him lead the way, opting to mindlessly observe the passing surroundings.
Before you knew it he’d stopped outside the complex, releasing his hold that had gradually become tighter as he had to pull you along.
“I know I’ve said this before, but your habits are dangerous.” You removed his jacket as he spoke, silently handing it off to him.
“It’s not dangerous if you’re keeping me safe.”
Shouta, like always, appeared to be tired with your careless response. Running a hand through his long, messy locks, he continued. “I can’t always be there to watch over you, not like this.”
He seemed uneasy at the prospect of leaving your safety up to chance. In an attempt to console him, you gave a small, warm smile. “Whatever happens, happens Shouta. If something or someone gets to me then it wouldn’t be your fault. That’s just how life works.”
You started in the direction of the front entrance doors before he had a chance to respond, turning back and waving goodbye before stepping inside.
_____
It’d seem what you said to the erasure hero that night didn’t sit well with him.
Since then he didn’t talk much on the way home, not that he ever really did in the first place. Now however, the few questions he did ask were… personal.
He’d ask about your family life, any close relationships, just things that only you would know―personal opinions. A few times you could tell he didn’t like your answers, the grip on your hand getting just a bit tighter.
However, like always you shrugged these things off. It was easier that way. You’d get to continue enjoying the company of the moonlight for a bit, and sometimes you’d wake up relaxed as Shouta occupied himself with running a hand over the top of your head.
Generally speaking, it was nice. Neither of you found it awkward in the slightest. So, you figured, the oddly intimate interrogations on the way home now and then were worth it.
He’d grown attached to the routine just as much as you. Therefore, naturally he was irked when you showed up late one night to your stargazing session.
By now he resolved to wait for you there, sitting in your usual spot with his jacket ready to serve as a makeshift blanket. The two of you would never talk until you’d woken up, but the delay in the unspoken schedule made him curious.
“Care to tell me what was keeping you?” Shouta was always blunt with his questions, something you didn’t really mind. Mostly it just caught you off guard.
“Nosy neighbour business. Kept trying to tell me they saw someone come out of my apartment from the balcony when I wasn’t there. Frankly, I always thought they were a bit strange so this doesn’t really come as a surprise.”
So much for going unnoticed.
You sat down, or rather laid down next to him. In an act of boldness you propped you head up on his thigh, using it as a pillow and got comfortable.
Shouta sighed at the development, acting like you were a nuisance when really he was living for your affection. “And you’re just going to ignore it? What if they were right and someone did break in?” He covered you with his jacket before placing a hand atop your head, gently petting the fur.
You shrugged in response. “It’s whatever I guess. Didn’t see anything out of place so what’s the big deal, right?”
The erasure hero didn’t respond to that, letting you continue with your absentminded ramble.
“What I should be worried about is this guy who won’t quit bothering me at work. Thinks I love him cause I offered to grab coffee for him on my lunch break once like a month ago.”
He couldn’t help himself when it came to you, the thought of some grimy old nobody coming onto you striking a nerve. “Need any help with that problem?”
You yawned audibly, stretching a bit before curling up. “Not really. It’s a bit tiresome but it’s what I’ve got to deal with. Thanks though.”
Shouta could tell that you didn’t have the energy for discussion right now, as you didn’t even bother to watch the stars above shine for a while like you did every other time you met up with him. So he let you drift asleep, head resting in his lap, concluding he’d have to make peace with his desires one way or another before this new threat could give you any real trouble.
_____
In truth, the erasure hero suspected that whatever he had in mind to deal with your reckless behaviour might not please you. And if you were initially upset, he was in too deep now to care.
It took longer than he hoped for, but his home was finally fit to bring back another stray.
The decision was drastic, that he was well aware of.
Were there better ways to help you handle the everyday uncertainties of life? Yes. Would these ways leave you with little to no situational whiplash that may or may not severely affect the way you saw him? Also yes.
But he knew if he didn’t do something soon, people would take advantage of your irresponsibility one day. The thought of him not being there to protect you in these circumstances was more than enough to outweigh the question of his morals. So, he finished up with preparations and drove to your apartment complex.
_____
You noted regrettably how you weren’t able to visit Shouta tonight. It had been a little over three months since your first encounter with the hero, and by now you were closer to him than most people in your life.
It was late, work had kept you until these ungodly hours and you were more than thankful to finally be stepping through the threshold of your apartment door.
Like most nights like these, you worked through the fatigue to prepare some form of dinner. Tonight it was leftover soup coupled with some stale slices of baguettes, which you popped in the toaster oven in an attempt to improve the overall quality. You washed the meal down with a cup of herbal tea, not that you needed its calming effects to help you fall asleep, the accumulated exhaustion from the workday serving as more than enough assistance in that matter.
Yet as you got ready for bed, it seemed that whatever was in the blend of leaves and flowers ended up being the final nail in your coffin. Almost alarmingly so, you stumbled back to your bedroom, swiftly falling onto your mattress. You couldn’t even be bothered to get under the covers as sleep soon enveloped your body entirely that night.
_____
The rest from that slumber was practically blissful, making it quite the struggle to open your eyes when you drifted awake. The pillowy mattress and ever so soft comforter weighing against your frame threatened to pull you back into unconsciousness.
It almost did, until groggily you identified with the few alert senses you had that oh, this isn’t my bed…or my room for that matter.
You meant to sit up as fast as possible, but doing so proved to be difficult when your head was so nauseously dizzy. Not only that, but the anchoring you felt at the back of your neck kept your weakened state from moving much at all.
With fear bubbling in the pit of your stomach, you moved your hands up to your neck. They were met with a thick leather collar, and upon further inspection it was revealed that there was a thin but sturdy chain protruding from the back of it. You followed it, but it only disappeared beneath the edge of the mattress, sandwiched between that and the headboard of the large bed.
Giving the chain an experimental tug, and then a panicked pull proved that it was not going to budge anytime soon. Staring at it for a few seconds, you pondered how on earth you’d managed to get yourself in this situation. Sure, you were never one to be all that cautious in life, but this was a new low.
However, much to your appreciation for new information, the door to the bedroom swung open.
“It’s about time you woke up.”
Recalling to the first night you found yourself under the watch of Shouta, you finally comprehended just what you were doing here.
The erasure hero closed the door before stalking over to the side of the bed. You simply observed him, not knowing how to respond. You weren’t necessarily frightened anymore, seeing him being the one to put you in this predicament. Rather, it was a more complaisant confusion you felt.
“Always the silent type, huh.” Shouta set a glass of water down on the nightstand, looking back to you with arms crossed.
Not knowing what else to do, you returned his gaze.
“You’ve really got nothing to say? Not gonna ask why you’re here, or where here even is for that matter?”
It seemed he knew just as well how odd the events unfolding were. He’d somehow gone and brought you to who knows where, without your consent, even going as far as to chain you to a bed.
You wanted to be mad, you really did. Yet, the only constant in your life was to understand that some things just weren’t in your control. Did that mean this was a healthy display of concern? Maybe not, but you got the message nonetheless.
So you did what you do best, and accepted the outcome of your behaviour.
Shouta had always been kind to you, protecting you at your most vulnerable times. You could trust him, right?
“I get the feeling we both know there’s no need for questions.”
To that the erasure hero silently agreed. “Well if that’s the case then I hope you don’t mind, but I’ve sacrificed a lot of sleep to see that you weren’t robbed almost every night of the week for the past few months.” He passed you the glass of water before taking up the spot next to you in bed, laying back with his hands behind his head, closing his eyes. He was wearing casual clothing, but you could spot his capture weapon resting on the nightstand, of course out of reach to you.
Gingerly, you sipped the water, grateful for alleviation to your dry throat.
“You should know that I had no choice, maybe if you weren’t so irrational things wouldn’t have come to this.”
The remark almost made you laugh, but instead you placed the glass atop the nightstand on your side, only to scoot over to his position, resting your head against his chest.
“Yes it would’ve, it doesn’t matter anymore.”
And just like routine, you felt his hand drift to your head, his other arm moving around your waist pulling you closer.
“Go back to sleep, kitten. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
#yandere bnha#yandere eraserhead#yandere shouta aizawa#yandere mha#yandere eraserhead x reader#yandere bnha x reader#yandere shouta aizawa x reader#yandere mha x reader
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Time for Luffy's fashion exam! Now, I'll be honest, I did skip an outfit because I decided I will be ending this whole thing with the Strawhat fashion show in Episode of Luffy. Also, sorry for the posting gap, I remembered I have other unfinished post sets. That being said, this is a very long one so let's do this!
Kid Luffy, Post-Enies Lobby & Fish-Man Island: I think it's super cute when Luffy has white t shirts with red based logos because it reminds me of the first picture. Makes him look baby plus, they can always be found in cute domestic EPs or fun, cute flashbacks. The shorts change over time and that's also kinda cute, a range of cuffs is a nice change up. It's nice to see the red contrast the blue shorts and the white is a nice color on him cos it contrast his hair!
Romance Dawn, Enies Lobby, Thriller Bark, Sabaody Archipelago, Amazon Lily, Marineford & last Dressrosa outfit: This look is the pre Luffy look. It's the pre Timeskip look everyone thinks of is cuffed shorts, Kimono sandels and sleeveless vest (and Strawhat, obviously) but have you ever seen them all in a line? It's mad. Each outfit is the same basic look bit more are more spicy each time! I like the Thriller Bark and Sabaody Archipelago looks a little bit more cos it's nice to see that jacket open and it feels like he was trying something new. I also feel that the buttons on the jacket look like the ones on Shanks' pegged ankle sailor pants when we first see him so that's cool. (it took me hours to find the name for his trousers, oh my fucking god) The last Dressrosa outfit feels like a nice callback to the rest of the line up here without being too much cos it's just a red vest top instead and I do find it funny it's like the Enies Lobby and it's used in Dressrosa because of the jokes people make about Robin and Law being so similar.
Timeskip: This is it lads, it's the one true icon itself, the post look! ☺️ When I sit back and look at it I see all the people this look is influenced by and want to cry at how masterful it really is. (Now, I do wanna say that I didn't come up with this nor am I the first to say it and I am definitely probably looking too much into this but) The yellow belt is taken from Shanks' red belt the first time we see him and the Shanks look Luffy is more familiar with. Now onto the jacket. I know it won't stand out as to why for most but it's Ace inspired! When Ace leave to become a pirate, the start of his adventure, he has his jacket open and Luffy having his jacket open also shows his scar from the ending of Ace's adventure. I also really appreciate how no one hides scars in this anime. Also, someone said that the style of the jacket and it's fancy frills could be in reference to Sabo's little jabot collar and honestly I do see it. it's quite subtle unlike Shanks' but not as hard to catch as Ace's so I enjoy thinking that it's there too. Lastly, he still has his cuffed shorts and kimono sandels because it's still Luffy's outfit at the end of the day and he is still who is is, just with a stronger appreciation of what people have done for him now. It's also his colour pallette for the pure fact he is the main character n needs his pallet. also sometimes he just has normal wooden sandels but the same outfit sometimes, it's a small detil a lot of people overlook but I prefer the sound of his Kimono sandels 😊
Dressrosa: I love this outfit cos it's stilly but also has very nice vibes. Looks ready for the beach but is really throwing hands and that's the best kind of outfit, it's a nice expectation subversion tbh. I also like how he tried to hide the Straw hat but not... All of it? And I love how the crew didn't actually question it either. It would have been super easy for one of them to just tell him to leave it behind or something but I do really love how respectful they always are of the hat. I myself have a hat that's super important to me and when I loose it I go mad.
Whole Cake Island: I love this arc for outfits! I swear if the actual content of it doesn't kill me, the act looks will 😭 it's all so magical and it knows it is! Like I said before, white is a good color on him as he has black hair but for the same reason, so is black! In this arcs outfit range, the Staw hat seems almost invisible and his outfit gets less and less 'Luffy' as the arc gose on showing this is not about him. He's not the focus of this arc and you can see that in a lot of the outfits thb. I also like the lack of blue and yellow, 2/3 of his colors as Sanji is often associated with those too as we've talked about before. Also, I like the little red strips on the white jacket with the gold buttons, idk why and I think it's nice that the last 2 outfits are so simple in general, it's a nice look for him. oh, what's that? A Pink jabot? Your killing me Lu, straight up killing me here lil' bro! Side note, is this the first time in canon Luffy has worn a suit jacket or is it the only time I've noticed? Cos DAMM!! Shits sick as fuck and I actually love that when wearing a suit jacket as such he always keep short on 😆
Spa Island, Z's Ambition & Strong World: WHOS READY FOR A RELAXING SUNNY DAAAYY!? (pun not intended but very much enjoyed) I actually adore the fact Luffy still tries to go swimming cos it was his favourite thing to do as a kid so like fuck Luffy is gonna give up on that. He's got his safety measures ready, what more do you want from him? I mean I personally want him not to swim with his hat on cos it's litrally Staw and that's not good for water but anyway Z's Ambition, am I right!? The top is so fucking cute and I just noticed those shorts are also ✨designer✨ fancy man!! Now, the pic of Zoro is the one I missed out before and it's also from Z's Ambition. I love that Luffy has the shark top but Zoro has the ocean shorts. I really love Zoro in this purple cos and thick white stripes really work with the ocean waves. It's really well put together and hes got dark brown sandels on to off set all the white but keep the purple from being a stand out color, it's cool! Than the last Luffy looks like he's at a fashion show. It looks like the shorts come from a kids set the shark top belongs to. Imagine those together, it'd be so cute. However, it isn't an ocean patten, those are clouds cos Nami has a bikini top with the same pattern in Skypiea and it's actually one of my favourites for her.
Boss Luffy Historical Special! This filler AU is so much fun, I think any it a lot. He has his hair up in that super cute and useless way that doesn't actually do much but I do have my hair like that a lot n it's just... nice? Idk, it's strange buy I like he did that. I really enjoy his Kimono more that the actual Wano one cos it's a lot more simple look. The Sai being tucked in in that way is also cool but kinda makes it look like it's stabbing him a bit 👁️👄👁️. I like the pin strips being like a faded purpleish cos if you just glance at it, it makes it look it fuzzy. The belt also looks very nice with the middle ligter bit. It really feels like the Wano one was inspired by this is a way cos of the color matches. Like, it's probably not but still.
3D2Y, Adventure of Nebulandia 😍 & Heart of Gold: Hat-less Luffy is both a sin and a blessing. Regardless, I LOVE OP BOYS IN HOODIES!! I had to show you this specific the 3D2Y because we don't see the hood and it's soooo cute cos it a paw 😍 but also 😬 cos it's like... Kuma's paw the thing that cause 3D2Y in the first place. But that's also why it's so cool at the same time and AHHHHHH 😄 Now! On to Nebulandia! I really like this movie but also in canon, how does he have that jumper? Who made it for him and can I have one? It's Usopp flag design so I guess it could be him but he doesn't seem the type. Point is I want one. Last of this set is some really cosy outfits!! "How much fur?" "Yes" am I right? Like the first one is sooooo cosy with all the fur! Plus, a funky new bamboo hat, always a good thing to have a new hat. I appreciate that you can see the zips on these too. Then the orange turtle neck one with little fluffy bits is just here cos it's so out of his usual looks, I had to at least mention it.
Strong world & Film Z: The shorts on the first one are really cute cos it's a light rosey pink with red fur and just a plain solid dark blue colour jacket works really well. Not to mention the fact he has a super cute orange and yellow flight helmet hat with goggles on under the Staw hat. The 2 bag straps also make an X which is a nice detail. The 2nd outfits in this movie are super fuckin cool ngl. It's so strange to see them all dress in black and have guns but I like the red shirt for him with the yellow highlighted parts. Makes the Straw hat actually work with the outfit instead of ignoring it. Film Z brings us the same flight helmet hat just brighter and without the goggles but also opens with this T-Shirt and Luffy being silly with it. I think that's the only reason to mention it, it's funny. Then the obligation pirate outfit, always stunning plus the meat belt.
Film: Gold & Stampede (also used in Cidre Guild): these are my top 3 Luffy outfits no matter what else I see. I love the straw cowboy hat sooooo much cos it's very Luffy. I like the balls they has as a team to choose white for all of them, considering they are all quite messy people, living for that dad shirt and I like the Golden chain around his neck but am always confused as to why it was never used against him. Like dude could and should have tried to choke him at least once, right? Anyway, the dress! Now, the dress isn't actually that good but it's my favourite because it shows how Luffy has no fucks about gendered things. On to of that, a big pink flower is wonderful and look at his confidences in it, he's so proud of it the boom, Nami told him he can't wear it! Lastly, the Stampede outfit!!! Just like the Nebulandia jumper, I have no idea who made it but it's irrelevant cos it's beautiful and I want it so badly. I like that it's white and red stripes, gives thenprefect vibes for Stampedes opening. The shirt is actually too big for him, you can see on his arms but it's actually super cute. I love the simple look of these shorts then the fact his yellow belt is replaced with white bandages and the black on the kimono sandels are now red? It's such a simple pallet and it's truly the best!
I also just wanna add, I think it's really cute when Luffy has the Straw hat on his back just cos his hair is really cute. Idk why, it's looks kinda cursed but cute at the same time
This post took 2 weeks or so to make and we made listening to the complete BNHA soundtrack, film gold OST and Sonic generations vol.1
Sanji
Zoro
Nami
#one piece#monkey d luffy#monky d luffy#straw hat luffy#monkey d. luffy#luffy#one piece luffy#op art ref#art ref#art reference
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Tell Me Where It Hurts
Another Varigo one shot that I started ages ago and only just finished!
Have fun!
---------------
“Tell me where it hurts.” The blond bluntly stated as his nimble fingers glided over the medical supplies beside him, deciding upon removing some cleansing alcohol, a wrap of bandages and some scissors before glancing up at Varian. “C’mon doll, I wanna get to sleep as much as you do.”
“Right, right..uh..here.” Varian replied, raising the blood-soaked dress shirt he was wearing to reveal a rather large gash across his stomach that, thankfully, stopped bleeding. It didn’t seem too deep, presumably only catching the first few layers of skin, though the amount of blood and the sheer length of the injury made it seem more threatening than it truly was. Hugo, however, still treated it with the utmost care as he dabbed the alcohol across carefully, murmuring an apology each time Varian winced or bit the inside of his cheek.
Few people had seen this compassionate side of Hugo, Varian could even count the amount of times on one hand how many times the blond had actually been nice to him. This time was rather different however, no longer out of necessity was Hugo taking care of him, but to be sure that he was okay. Usually it would be Nuru to act as the team medic, but Hugo had volunteered willingly to treat the injured Varian. Varian couldn’t say he wasn’t grateful either.
Truth be told, he had a very teeny tiny little non important problem - he had a rather large crush on Hugo and didn’t know how to act around the other man sometimes. Varian would catch himself trying to prolong their physical contact on its rare occurrences, such as when exchanging test tubes, he’d carefully place his hand over Hugo’s for a few seconds longer than he should. And, like most times, while his heartbeat would rise and pound like a beating drum in his ear and the tips of said ears went bright red, Hugo would continue nonchalantly as if nothing had happened between the pair. As if Varian wasn’t dying of embarrassment over how badly he’d failed at his attempt of seduction.
“Earth to Goggles. You need to take the shirt off. I can’t reach the wound.” Hugo muttered, hands lingering over the buttons to the shirt and his eyes locking with Varian’s, waiting for his consent. A lump formed in the raven haired man’s throat, though he swallowed it and exchanged a nervous nod with the other, his face reddening as Hugo took his time undoing the buttons and sliding the shirt off before continuing with his care of the wound.
Varian really hadn’t expected Hugo to take so much care about his injuries, the man being as gentle as humanly possible on the other man. Slowly, the blond began to wrap the bandages around the other man’s abdomen and, once done, his hand rose to rest on the scar across Varian’s chest. “How’d you get the other scars?”
The man gulped at the hand on his chest, moving his hand carefully to rest over Hugo’s. “I...well, when I was sixteen, I um..had to fight my friend, Cassandra. I tried to convince her that being a villain wasn’t the way and...well, she hit me with one of the rocks that’s generated from the moonstone. I guess it scarred pretty bad.” he sighed softly, the flush on his face deepening as Hugo leant down, pressing his lips to the scar before moving away.
“What about you, Hugo? What about the uh-eyebrow scar?” He smiled, his eyebow raising as his left hand cupped the blond’s cheek. This time, instead of no reaction, Hugo’s face began to flush and he swallowed, clearing his throat.
“Well, as you know, I’m way too cool for lab safety. When I was, what, fifteen, I was doing an experiment alone and uh...the glass of the beaker exploded and hit me in the eye. I was kinda lucky that I had my glasses, but uh..yeah it still hit my eyebrow and cut it open.” Hugo explained, Varian leaning forward to kiss the scar a few times, his lips ghosting over it when he was done and sighing softly against it.
Varian lowered himself slightly, coming face to face with the blond with a smile on his face and his left hand still resting on the other cheek. “Hey..” He whispered, his arms wrapping around the man’s neck as he leant forward. “How’d you get that scar on your lips?”
“Mmm...an effect of not being kissed enough. Maybe you can fix that?” He smiled softly, Varian obliging as he shuffled forwards and kissed him, slender fingers intertwining with raven hair as he pulled the smaller man closer to his chest. He shut his eyes, moving his right hand to his hip. They stayed together for a while, the men kissing and enjoying each other’s company before whining from Varian broke the kiss.
“Ow, ow, ow-” Varian whimpered as pressure was put onto his wound, Hugo moving away to lock eyes with the other man, a pained smile on his face. “Sorry I ruined the mood. You pushed against my scar.” He explained, Hugo simply shrugging as he laid back on the makeshift bed he’d set up. “Can I join you?” Varian questioned nervously, a soft smile appearing on his lips as Hugo nodded in confirmation.
“You’re beautiful, y’know that right?” Hugo thought out loud, a hand absentmindedly trailing through Varian’s hair as he rambled, Varian silently cuddling closer to Hugo and resting his head on his chest. Well, a lot had changed between them in the past few minutes, but the compliment still caught him off guard. “You’re so beautiful it takes my breath away whenever I see you because I just can’t believe it.”
“Oh, be quiet, you.” He sighed softly, his hand resting on the blond’s chest and his eyes shutting while the other twirled his hair around his index finger, soft breaths passing through his lips as he continued his rambling about the beauty of the man in front of him. Eventually, the pair drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms.
-------------------------
She couldn’t find Varian anywhere and, at this point, it was worrying.
Nuru searched around the camp, dew dampening her feet and the chill of the spring air hitting her arms, her sleeves doing nothing to help protect herself from the environment. Frustrated groans formed in her throat as she kept searching around for the raven haired boy. She really needed to talk to him about the next trial, finally figuring out what the cryptic writing in his mother’s journal meant in regard to solving the trial, though he wasn’t in his tent.
She went through her options mentally. Varian didn’t seem like the kind of guy to just run away and leave them, his stuff still there and him being the one to originally start seeking out the trials. He wouldn’t have gone to town or anything without telling the others at least four thousand times to make sure they knew where he was going. That was when it hit her. Her eyes moved to glance over at the emerald tent on the far end of their campsite - the one that belonged to her favourite, insufferable blond. Hugo.
Mustering up her courage, she strolled over to the tent, her arm reaching out to push the flaps of the entrance aside. There, the two men lay in each other’s arms, snoring and holding onto each other loosely. A sigh passed through her lips as she closed the flaps and retreated from the entrance. She could tell him later - for now she’d let him indulge himself in the company of the blond.
They were kinda cute together, to her surprise.
Quietly, she brought out her little photo of Amber that resided in her pocket, a flush covering her cheeks before raising the photo and placing a kiss against it. Only a bit longer and she’d be finished with this and they could be together.
Only a bit longer.
#varigo#tangled varian#varian tangled#tangled hugo#varian x hugo#hugo tangled#alchemy boyfriends#varian and the seven kingdoms#hugo x varian#nuru tangled#tangled nuru#rapunzels tangled adventure#tangled the series
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The new Shadowhunter Academy - Fan Fic (Chapter 6 - Staying Alive)
Chapter 6 of the new Shadowhunter Academy (fan fic) is out! ;)
Kit & Ty are both at the Academy for a few days to act as guest lecturers :)
Dru is attending of course, and an unexpected guest might show up :)
AO3 link to Chapter 6 - Staying Alive
Link to entire fic up until Chapter 6 is here (fair warning - there is explicit content in Chapter 4 so skip it if you want to avoid it ;)).
****
Kit was ten minutes late. It wasn’t a big deal but given the students’ eagerness to learn from the famous Christopher Herondale, it seemed like hours of anxious babbling that he might not show up.
Dru was starting to wonder about that herself.
When the door of the training room finally opened, Kit’s cheeks were flushed, his blond curls soaking wet - as if he had just come out of the shower - and he looked… pissed. Like he wanted to be anywhere but in that room.
“What am I to teach you for the next hour?” He snapped.
“Spear?” Daniel, one of Simon’s mundane recruits, replied. He was an enthusiastic student who had been nicknamed “Harry Potter” on his first day at the Academy because of the resemblance he bore to the hero from the eponymous books (if said hero had acne problems).
“Oh, right. Spear.” Kit grumbled as he grabbed one from the table filled with multi-sized weapons and twirled it gracefully – the circle moves almost a blur – before instantly stilling it into a horizontal position in front of him. “See that pointed head? Well, you put that right through your opponent’s body. Preferably hit a vital organ.” He threw it toward the dummy placed at the far end of the room. The spear pierced straight through its chest where the heart should be. “Like that.” The students started applauding.
“That’s it. That’s the lecture.” Kit whirled and started toward the door. He stopped short before the figure of Catarina Loss barring the door. She looked furious, her blue complexion a shade deeper than usual.
“KIT HERONDALE, you go back in there and I don’t care if you look at your fingernails for the next hour, you are NOT LEAVING THIS ROOM.”
For the rest of the class, Catarina remained seated on a big granny armchair she had conjured up, in front of the door, knitting a tiny pink pullover (probably for Mina), while Kit told the students everything they needed to know about spears. As it turned out, he was an excellent teacher, and aside from technique, had several stories and anecdotes to share about these weapons, and their history through the ages. He certainly knew how to catch his audience with witty jokes and, yes, Dru had to admit, his Herondale charm and good looks.
****
He wasn’t what Henry had expected. Not by a long shot.
First, he looked nothing like his sister Drusilla, whom Henry shared most classes with. He had gray eyes - the color of iron - where hers were blue-green, and his hair was crow dark where his sister’s were a deep, warm brown. He knew that the Blackthorn siblings were born from two different mothers, but didn’t he have a twin who died during the Cold Peace, and who shared Drusilla’s traits? He had been too young to fight at the time but Henry had seen Julian Blackthorn on a big screen in Idris right before the battle of the Imperishable Fields and he definitely looked like his sister.
To be honest, when the rumour had spread that the best Centurion of his generation - and the creator of several groundbreaking inventions - had finally decided to make an appearance at the Academy, Henry had imagined a crazy inventor wearing oversized safety goggles and a dusty lab coat. Obviously not some Adonis, who looked like he belonged more on a runway than in a library or a lab.
Second, he was more than a little surprised to discover that he was shy and reserved, for a Blackthorn that was. His rigid stance and the way he kept stroking the pendant tied around his neck, to quote only a few tells, betrayed how nervous he was. The whole character was a mystery to him. If he had his reputation - hell, if he had his looks - Henry would probably be parading around like a peacock.
“I am curious. So we are going to start with a question,” the teacher said, his expression bemused and his gaze fixed above the students’ heads toward the far end corner of the room. Most of the time, Henry had noticed, it looked like he wasn’t really addressing them. “Why do you want to become Centurions?”
Several voices erupted at the same time, and he flinched, before lifting a halting hand. “Please. Speak when you are granted permission to.”
The voices subsided and several students raised their hands instead, including Henry.
“Gillian?” He asked as his gaze flickered to her. Henry realized that he never looked anyone directly in the eye.
“Because I want to study faerie lore, the real deal, not the load of crap they teach you at the Academy,” she said smugly, and most students sniggered approvingly.
The Centurion’s lips twitched but he nodded in acknowledgement.
“Henry?”
“Because we get to wear that hot uniform,” he replied, giving the Blackthorn teacher a slow once over.
There was a collective roar of laughter in the classroom. The Centurion just nodded, straight-faced, as if it was as good an answer as any. Henry realized that he was starting to like him.
“Shut up, Henry.” Her Highness Amber Cartwright said as she entered the class. She shooed a student from his seat in the front row and sat there. “I am sorry for being late, Professor Blackthorn,” she said in a sultry voice, as she crossed her long legs in an exaggerated gesture.
The teacher spared her a brief glance. Henry braced himself for the double take - everyone, boys and girls alike, did a double take upon beholding Amber for the first time - but... nothing. The Centurion’s face remained impassive. Moving on. There is definitely something off with him, Henry thought. He is either half-blind and not wearing his binoculars or one fucking hundred percent gay.
“Call me Tiberius. I believe we are all around the same age.”
Amber beamed, her usual scowling face alight. “Okay. Tiberius,” she said, her voice caressing his name.
“And you are…?”
“Amber Grace Cartwright,” she said proudly, as she brushed her fingers through her blond hair.
Tiberius moved to his desk and furrowed his brows as his gray eyes scanned the paper lying there.
“You are not on my list.”
Amber’s face fell a little. “I know, I did not initially register for these training sessions, but Talib agreed to give me his spot. You see, I changed my mind and I really really want to become a Centurion someday.” Henry wondered how she had managed to convince Talib. Only the twenty most promising students - among those interested in becoming Centurions, and Amber had never expressed such an interest - were allowed to follow the course and there was a waiting list.
The teacher just lifted a dark eyebrow. “Oh. Okay.” They all waited as he sat at his desk and started scribbling on the paper, dark curls falling over his face as he bent his head. He was nothing if not meticulous. At the start of the class, he had asked, one by one, each student’s name. Henry had the feeling he had memorized all twenty of them. “Xian?” He asked without looking up.
The girl’s eyes widened and she whipped her head right and left, wondering whether he really was addressing her. As if there was another Xian in the classroom.
“Yes, Pro- Tiberius?”
“You don’t need to pass that folded paper on to your friend Barbara, I can provide the answer to your question.”
“Oh.” She flushed a deep red, and hastily crumpled the paper that she had been clutching under the table. Henry wondered what the message had been about.
“The answer is no. I don’t provide my personal number to students, but if you want to communicate with me, you may either send a fire message or a letter to my attention at the Scholomance, depending on the urgency of the matter.”
His tone was even, his face serious, as if he hadn’t meant to humiliate the girl, but simply state a fact. A low chatter erupted in the class, students casting worried glances at each other. Henry wondered himself how the Centurion had managed to read Xian’s paper when he was seated at the desk in front of the class, a few feet from her. The only one who didn’t seem troubled by that was Amber, who turned to glare at her friend. Xian stuck her tongue out in turn. Oh, Henry thought. Let the Hunger Games begin.
****
After a short recess, the students had another hour of training with Kit.
“As you well know, Shadowhunters use Runes to heal faster when they are injured in battle. Sometimes, it’s all that you need. But other times, a wound needs to be tended before an Iratze is applied. For instance, if you have foreign bodies in your wounds, you have to take them out before using your stele. Except, of course, when it would do much more harm to retrieve them, for instance if it's an arrow. Also, and although you should carry a stele with you at all times, situations may occur when you are without them. Finally, although we have a stronger constitution and heal faster, us Shadowhunters are humans, and we suffer the same diseases as mundanes. We can faint. We can die of a heart attack. We can die of blood loss following a car crash. Therefore, it’s important - and Catarina shares my view on this - to train you in first aid.” A crooked smile lit up his gorgeous face, his blue eyes glinting mischievously. “So who wants to be my dummy?”
All students - save for Dru - raised their hands eagerly. Brianna actually elbowed the girl next to her so she would put her own hand down.
“Drusilla Blackthorn,” Kit announced, with a smirk on his face.
Dru rolled her eyes and came to stand next to him.
“I think it’s more efficient to work on the basis of real-life situations’ simulations. So, what happened to my dummy in this scenario?”
“She fainted!” A student said.
Several students giggled.
“Okay,” Kit said, then looked over expectantly at Dru.
She rolled her eyes again and mimed fainting. As she lay still on the floor, she wondered if he would consider them even after the demonstration or continue to make her pay for the trick she had pulled earlier that day.
Kit knelt next to her.
“Is she conscious or unconscious?” He asked.
“Unconscious!” Another student said.
“Dru, close your eyes,” he said. She did as requested, letting out a deep sigh. “Okay, so how do you check whether or not someone is unconscious?” He asked, and she felt his fingers brush her hand, then he pinched her. She swallowed a swear word.
“Dummy? Dummy? Can you hear me? If you can hear me, blink or move your fingers. No answer. So you can assume she’s unconscious. Next step: you have to check if she breathes.”
She felt Kit’s fingers gently cupping her chin and forehead and tilting her head backwards. He pulled her lips open. “Check the airway first. If the throat is clear…” His hair tickled her face, and the Blackthorn locket grazed her jawline, as Kit leaned over to put his ear directly above her mouth. “See what I am doing? I am checking for a breathing sound while observing the rise and fall of her chest. So, tell me, is she breathing?”
“No,” a student said. Dru recognized Brianna’s voice. You will pay for this, roomie, Dru thought.
“Okay.” Dru realized Kit’s voice trembled a bit. She opened her eyes and saw the conflict in his gaze. What was the matter? “If you are with someone else, that person must go fetch a defibrillator that’s now in every patrol car. If you are alone, you can’t leave the patient so you must call for help. Do not - and I repeat - do not leave your patient’s side to do that. You must practice CPR at once.”
Realization dawned on Dru. Oh, bugger.
“In a real-life situation,” Kit said, drawing the words out. “You should… take your patient’s shirt off or - more accurately - rip it open.” He flinched as he said the last words, but swiftly regained his composure. She had to give him credit for his professionalism. “You must give chest compressions on bare skin. In our case though…”
Dru smirked. “Didn’t think it through, did you?” She whispered to Kit. Seeing his look of dismay, witnessing him trip over himself, was surprisingly satisfying, and if there was something Dru never missed, it was an opportunity to play a prank. Especially when she had been the intended victim of the stunt. She just couldn’t resist. Adrenaline coursed through her veins, and she became reckless. Act first think later became her course of action.
“That’s fine”, she said out loud as she sat up. She pulled the top of her gear off before lying back, wearing only her bra above her gear pants.
There were a few gasps in the crowd. Kit gulped.
“First of all, make sure your patient is lying on her back on a firm, dry surface. If there is blood, move the body away from it. I understand Catarina already taught you how to deal with hemorrhage.”
A few students mumbled a confirmation.
“You should push on the chest at a rate of 100 to 120 compressions per minute, which corresponds to the beat of several songs you can use to help you maintain the proper tempo.” He fiddled with his phone and the sound of “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees started playing.
Dru snorted. Kit was barely looking at her as he plowed on.
“Position your hands above your patient’s chest, like this. Interlock fingers. Then, give chest compressions. Like this.”
Dru tried to hide a smile. Kit’s palm was sweaty against her bare skin. He was flushing a deep red, his face a mask of embarrassment. Punk’d, she thought. Had he known he would be giving chest compressions to Dru - that he considered like a little sister - he would have thought twice about using her as a dummy.
He stopped abruptly, after thirty compressions. “Okay, we are… going to stop here for today.”
“What about the rescue breath?”
“I’ll show you next time,” he choked, as he stood and almost tripped on his feet scouting back. It seemed like he couldn’t get away from her fast enough.
“Does… anyone have any questions on CPR before we move to another exercize?”
“Yeah,” Talib raised his hand. Shit. Not him, Dru thought. What the hell was he doing here anyway, wasn’t he supposed to follow the Scholomance training course?
Kit nodded to him.
“Is that the Blackthorn locket you are wearing?”
Kit’s mouth dropped open. Dru tensed. She knew that Ty had asked that they keep their relationship a secret. Only family and very close friends were in the know. Not because Ty was ashamed, far from it. But because, as a Centurion, he was entrusted with all missions related to the First Heir, and that would change as soon as the Scholomance found out how involved Ty was with the subject of his investigations. Ty didn’t trust anyone else with these missions, so he had begged Helen and Aline not to tell the Penhallows about Kit and him, even though the identity of the First Heir remained a secret to most. One could never be too cautious.
Watching his face fall, the glint of panic in his azur eyes, Dru started to feel really bad for the Herondale boy. She knew that if he had been allowed, he would have screamed his love for Ty at the top of his lungs, from the Academy’s roof. Instead, he lowered his gaze to his feet, swallowing hard.
“Yeah, it’s mine,” Dru blurted. “Seriously, Kit? I told you not to wear it at the Academy!”
Kit whipped his head up in surprise, his blue eyes wide and questioning. He looked like he was about to say something, but Dru wouldn’t give him a chance to deny. What was done was done. She whirled around and retreated to a corner of the training room, bowing her head in order to conceal the blush that had started creeping up her face.
****
“Do you know who founded the Scholomance?” The Centurion teacher asked.
Amber was the only one who raised her hand.
“Amber?”
“It was originally founded by an alliance between the Fair Folk and prominent Shadowhunter families.”
Most of the students gasped. Everyone turned a questioning look at Tiberius, whose lips quirked. “Correct. This is not common knowledge, to say the least. How have you learnt about it?”
“I read a lot and… I may have borrowed some of my brother’s notes. Cartwrights have been filling the ranks of Centurions for generations.”
“But…” Barbara said, looking confused. “I thought the whole purpose of the Scholomance was to investigate all Downworlders, especially faeries, since they are the Nephilim who possess the most extensive knowledge about them.”
“And where do you think the Centurions got their knowledge from?” Amber snapped.
“Why would the Nephilim create a school with Downworlders?” Xian interjected.
“About that,” Tiberius intervened. “The classification of faeries as Downworlders is not entirely accurate and has been challenged over the past few years. Contrary to general belief, some of the Fair Folk species do not have any demon blood. Maybe you’d like to carry on, Miss Cartwright.”
Amber pursued, with a smug look on her face.
“As the story goes, not long after the creation of the Nephilim, the Angel warriors and the Fair Folk made an alliance to protect the Earth from demon invasion. They shared their knowledge - the fey teaching the Nephilim how to use magic in the school they created together, a sort of real life Hogwarts - and even… consorted. After all, the biggest problem that the fey have been facing in the past centuries is the thinning of their blood. Why not mix it with that of Raziel’s chosen warriors? Ultimately, a union was arranged between the Faerie King and a member of a highly respected and powerful Nephilim family. Not all fairies were happy with the union and there was a secession. The Faerie lands were split between two courts from then on. The Unseelie court, choosing to acknowledge a Nephilim queen, considering her as part of the fey royal family, ara nothlir, and the Seelie court, refusing the Angel warriors’ influence.”
She paused to watch the effect of her words on the wide-eyed students.
“The Nephilim queen was not immortal but the King used his magic to stretch out her years. Although they were happy, they had to rule in troubled times. The strong divergence in traits, opinions and customs between the Fair Folk and Shadowhunters soon drew them apart. Raziel’s warriors criticized the fey for being cunning and strongly disapproved of the tricks they played on mundanes and the creation of changelings. Faeries thought Shadowhunters to be ruthless, overbearing and contemptuous.
The Unseelie king’s death - it came as a shock, everyone thought the mortal Nephilim queen was bound to die before him - without any heir being born from their union, was a fatal blow to the alliance. Unseelie laws were clear, the queen dowager no longer held any claim to the throne - the full fey blooded prince Arawn succeeded to his father - and she hid in Faerie under the protection of a few Nephilim who swore to protect her. They could easily be distinguished from the red caps as they wore black cloaks identifying them as Angel warriors. They were not sanctioned by the Clave though, which preferred to sever all ties to the Fair Folk. With the magic they had learnt from the fey, these protectors created an enchanted wall of thorns surrounding the tower where the Shadowhunter queen and her family lay low for hundreds of years.
When an heir was born from the union of the Seelie Queen and Unseelie King, most Nephilim took it as the last stroke of the Fair Folk’s betrayal. It didn’t help that there were whispers about a prophecy stating that the world would fall to shadow under the First Heir’s ruling. So began the witch hunt, the primary target being the cursed descendant. That’s how Centurions began to use the knowledge they had collected from their former allies at the Scholomance against them.
The chase officially ceased when the disappearance of the First Heir was officially announced by the Unseelie Court and the tensions between the Nephilim and the fey eased until they finally made peace with the signing of the First Accords in 1872. The Scholomance was closed then, as a show of good faith that Downworlders and Shadowhunters were no longer at war.”
“What has become of the Nephilim queen’s family?” Henry blurted.
Amber turned to look at him. She was positively gloating.
“They had nothing to be blamed for, so the Clave as well as the Fair Folk let them be after the signing of the First Accords. After all, they were a very influential family to begin with. So, they are still among us.”
“Who are they?”
“Before King Arawn changed the Unseelie Court’s sigil, the symbol was that of a full crown…adorned with a rose, symbol of his father’s attachment to the Lady of Roses,” she said mysteriously.
“The Nephilim queen’s descendants are known as the Rosales,” Tiberius specified evenly.
A low chatter erupted and the words “Inquisitor”, “Diego” and “Cristina” were thrown around repeatedly. They all knew the Council kept a lot of secrets, but the fact that the current Inquisitor belonged to a family that had forged an alliance with the fey in the past, confirmed how little they really knew about Shadowhunter politics.
“And what about their protectors?” A voice suddenly raised from a corner of the classroom.
Amber turned to look at the Centurion who nodded imperceptibly.
“Easy,” she said. “They were released from their oath a long time ago but they have kept their Shadowhunter names. Some say the earlier generations had sharp, elven features due to their closeness to - and interbreeding with - the Fair Folk. They were black cloaked warriors guarding the queen’s family like thorns protecting the delicate rose from its predators. They called themselves the Black Thorns.”
As the students suddenly burst into commotion, Henry’s gaze focused on Tiberius, who stood straight like an arrow, his expression unfathomable. He had a feeling there was more to the story but, whatever it was, Henry knew he would have to swear the Centurion vows before being allowed to hear it.
****
Being a Shadowhunter had major downsides. No matter how hard you tried to shut yourself from your environment, your highly trained senses betrayed you by fulfilling their role like obedient little soldiers.
Dru had never better understood Ty’s need for headphones as she weaved a path in the main hall towards the exit - she wanted to crawl in her bed and hide there until at least the next morning - and tried to ignore the glares and angry whispers that followed her.
“Seriously? Christopher Herondale and Drusilla Blackthorn? It’s like some stupid chick flick where the hot jock hooks up with the weird geek.”
“He’s probably with her because she’s easy. Did you see her take her shirt off in the training room like it was no big deal?”
“Oh, come on, every girl does that here. We’re warriors, we undress to draw Runes on each other all the time. And how is it different from when we train in sports bras when it’s summer?” Well, Dru was relieved to hear at least some girls had her back...
“It’s different when you have a pair of breasts like hers.”
“Right. Tell me about it. Best boobs at the Academy.”
“Yeah, I would definitely hit that.”
“You’re kidding? That girl’s creepy, I would be afraid to be strangled in my sleep.”
“What does he see in her anyway? She has a pretty face, but she dresses like a Goth freak. And don’t get me started on the size of her thighs...”
Dru never allowed anyone to say a single bad thing about her family and friends. But where her own securities were concerned, she was like an open wound anyone could poke. Dru bit back tears as she hurried her footsteps. She needed air. Fresh air.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and whipped her head around. It was Brianna.
“Seriously, Dru? Why didn’t you just tell me before I made a fool of myself?”
“Brianna. I just gave him a necklace. I am not dating him or anything. He’s just a member of Livia’s Watch, that's all. Hence the locket.” Why had she not thought of that excuse earlier?
Brianna lifted her eyebrow dubiously. Dru felt her temper rising.
“Fine.” She snapped. “Believe me or not, I don't CARE.”
NNNNEEEEW YOOOORK. They both startled as the voice of Alicia Keys suddenly blazed through the main hall’s stone walls.
As one, all the students rushed outside to see where the noise came from. Brianna and Dru exchanged puzzled glances before following them wearily out of the wide double front doors.
Dru blinked and, when her eyes finally adjusted to the sunlight, tried to hide her shock as she took in the incongruous sight.
In the Academy’s front yard, a crowd had already started to gather in a circle around the main attraction, giving it a wide berth.
A splendid charcoal grey convertible car was parked at the center of it, as if it had appeared there by magic. "Empire State of Mind" by Jay-Z and Alicia Keys was playing full on from the vehicle’s sound system.
Leaning casually against the hood of the car with his arms crossed was the tall figure of Ash Morgenstern. His platinum blond hair was peeking out of a green beanie and he wore an elegant gray cashmere coat that made him look like a British gentleman.
In the back of her mind, several questions buzzed like little alarms. Was he not supposed to be under house arrest? What the hell was he thinking showing up in front of the Academy ? Where did he get the car anyway?
But foremost in her mind was Ash. It’s Ash. It’s really Ash. How gorgeous he was - even more so than she remembered - and how she had never felt more relieved to see anyone in her whole life. She had missed him, she realized with surprise.
Ash straightened up and gave Dru a crooked smile as soon as he caught sight of her.
She couldn’t help it, she ran to him and threw her arms around his slender neck, burying her face in his chest. He smelled of aftershave, a sophisticated fragrance of amber, sandalwood, mandarin and jasmine. Ash stiffened at first, obviously startled by her sudden display of affection, then relaxed and squeezed her tighter.
“If I had known I would receive such a warm welcome, I would have broken out of jail sooner,” he whispered in her ear.
She drew back and shook her head disapprovingly, though a grin was still plastered on her face.
“What on earth are you doing here, Ash?”
“I have come to rescue my Queen.”
“Rescue me? From what?”
“Food poisoning, of course. You told me it was awful here. I was in the neighborhood and it just so happens that I know a perfect French restaurant in Manhattan.”
“And so you decided to break out of your confinement and show up at the Academy in a flashy sports car?”
He shrugged. “I thought it would be a more inconspicuous way of traveling.”
“Inconspicuous? Really? As compared to what?”
He raised a silvery eyebrow. “Flapping my dark wings?”
“Where are you going with my sister?” Ty demanded with a frown as he marched towards them, his voice louder than usual, probably due to the headphones covering his ears.
“Manhattan. For dinner.”
“It’s not safe,” he said, then glanced at the vehicle. “Is that an Aston Martin DB9 GT Volante?”
“What’s not safe?” Ash asked. “My company? The car? The whole idea of a crazy night out?”
“All of the above,” Ty answered, his gray eyes like saucers, still fixed on the car.
“Oh, so now you care about where I go and who I am with?” Dru intervened.
Ty’s gaze snapped back to her, and his eyes crinkled in confusion.
“Of course I do. Why do you ask? Wait- Are you… angry with me?”
“Of course I am! I had to find out you were at the Academy by eavesdropping on fellow students!” She was grateful the music was loud and the observers far enough that they could not overhear their conversation.
Ty’s eyes widened and his jaw went slack. “But... But I wasn’t sure I was coming until this morning. I didn’t want to tell you before I was certain. I thought you would be happy to see me.”
“Yes, Ty, I am happy to see you. But I started at the Academy months ago, and you have only decided to show up today! We both know who convinced you, and it certainly wasn’t me.”
The look of hurt on Ty’s face almost made her regret her words. As if on cue, Kit suddenly appeared, coming from the opposite direction to where Ty was standing. Dru realized with a pang that they were purposefully avoiding being seen together and maintaining a safe distance between them.
“Hey guys, I think I missed the invitation to the party,” Kit said playfully, but Dru knew him and could sense that his heart wasn’t in it. He was just trying to ease the tension.
“You didn’t miss anything,” Dru replied sharply. “Ash and I were leaving.” Ty opened his mouth to object but she cut him. “And you, Ty, do not get to tell me what to do.”
“Where your safety is concerned, I do,” Ty snapped back, red starting to creep up his white neck. His hands were now fluttering at his sides.
“If you’re worried about her safety, Ty, why don’t you come with us?” Ash offered in peace. “You too, Kit. Raziel knows we all need to… let off steam.” He looked like he was holding in a laugh and Dru wondered whether she was missing a private joke.
Ty’s gaze flickered to Kit then, and their eyes met for a brief second before they both hastily looked away. They were clearly blushing now, Ty nervously stroking his heron pendant and Kit thrusting his hands in his pockets and staring at his feet.
“I can’t,” Kit said, kicking a pebble. “I have to stay here where I am protected. Catarina and my parents will kill me if they know I left the Academy’s grounds.”
Ash raised an eyebrow. “Tell me, Kit. Who would you rather have as bodyguards? Me and the badass Blackthorn siblings?” He said, gesturing at their little group. “Oooor… these frightened little squirrels posing as Academy students?” He pointed toward the crowd of students who were still gaping at him. And the car. But mostly at Ash.
“I guess you have a point,” Kit conceded.
“Okay,” Ty answered hesitantly, looking away.
“Then jump in, Angel warriors,” Ash said as he opened the door for Dru. She ignored it, and instead, grabbed the edge of the back door to jump inside and landed on the front passenger seat. “What? I have always wanted to do that!” She told him when he lifted his eyebrow at her. Ash laughed and shook his head as he rounded the car to take the driver’s seat. Kit and Ty crammed in the back - the space had definitely not been designed to hold two full-grown Shadowhunters - and immediately stared out the car, pointedly avoiding looking at each other.
Ash put the Aston Martin in gear, as the students parted to let them through. The engine's roar was deafening, almost drowning the sound of the music still blasting from the sound system. Dru felt exhilarated, gusts of wind carrying away all her resentment and worries as they blew her hair. Everything was perfect… save perhaps for one thing.
“Ash,” she called over the noise. “Can you turn the music down?”
He threw her a puzzled look, his hands tightening on the wheel.
“Why? I thought you’d like it. We are in New York after all.”
“It’s not my hometown,” she observed, winking at him.
He grinned as he fiddled with the dashboard and suddenly 2 PAC's "California Love" was booming full volume.
“Better?” He asked.
Her answering smile was so wide it almost hurt her cheeks.
“Not just better. Perfect.”
#kit herondale#kit herongraystairs#kit herondale and ty blackthorn#kit x ty#tiberius blackthorn#ty blackthorn#drusilla blackthorn#dru blackthorn#ash morgenstern#dru and ash#du x ash#the wicked powers#the dark artifices#tda fanfiction#tsc fan fiction#cassandraclare#cassandra clare fan fiction#the shadowhunters chronicles#the shadowhunters chronicles icons
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danny phantom season 2, ep 12-16 thoughts! these episodes, in comparison to the first 10 or so, felt way more laid back and low-stakes, which I appreciate sometimes. I didn't appreciate how lazy jack's halfa design was in masters of time, it made me so annoyed I redesigned it. 👎🏻 u_u
see prev episode thoughts in this tag <3
-'picking a fight with me and my upgraded form!' 'you upgraded to a mullet?' DANNNNY. YOU CANT SAY THAT TO TECHNUS. YOUVE HAD A MULLET TWICE NOW ('fun' split danny, and evil future danny BOTH HAD THEM). I HAVE THE RECEIPTS.
-danny seeing technus hurting valerie and yelling I AM GOING TO BREAK YOU IN HALF. SAMEEEE <3
-axion labs is now a part of vladco. FUCK YOU VLAD. hes not even really IN this episode, but just thought I'd throw out a nice fuck you anyway.
-'capable of blasting a single person into space in (2) minutes!' tucker. that would kill someone. i mean yeah they might get to space, but theres NO WAY THEY WOULDNT CATCH FIRE, OR THEIR ORGANS WOULDNT LIQUIFY BECAUSE OF THE STRAIN. THEY'D PROBABLY PASS OUT BEFORE THEN, BUT. ...no, okay, I get why vlad bought this company. this is RIGHT up his alley.
-danny KNOWS VAL DIDNT DO THIS, THAT SOMEONE STOLE THE SUIT. AND SPENDING ALL NIGHT CHATTING WITH HER. <3 and val is a 9TH DEGREE BLACKBELT?? danny's mom is, too!! omg and she hunts ghosts, his parents would love her. and her fav fruit is kumquat bc its a funny word. im so with danny val is amazing. I love her and I Do Not Want To Hear It From Sam.
-I knew danny wanted to be an astronaut, but the bowling tidbit is like. yes give me more useless info abt these characters, I love tiny details that make them feel more human, and im glad hes got hobbies aside from ghost stuff, we dont really see a lot of that!!! (I mean, we knew 'fun' danny from when he split himself in half liked bowling, so obv it makes sense he LIKES it, but hes very GOOD at it. so proud of him, bowling king) val calling him neil armstrong and them teasing each other. LOVE THAT.
-technus you are my favorite grandpa for setting this up. SAM WHY ARE YOU BEING SO CREEPY BE HAPPY FOR YOUR FRIEND!!! STOP SPYING ON THEM!!! who actually cares if technus did 'set them up' together, theyre having fun and enjoy each others company!!! 'you think the universe wants you two to be together?' 'i dunno, but maybe /I/ do!' EXACTLY DANNY!!! SOO TRUE.
-and valerie being happy sam said she wants to try and be happy for them and make room at the lunch table for them. and hugging sam over it. VAL NEEDS MORE FRIENDS.
-VAL GOING AFTER TECHNUS IN HER SUIT WITH (1) MILK, AND (1) TREE BRANCH AND KEYS!!!. I LOVE YOUUUU BEST GIRL. her new suit kicks ass
-dannys like 'HEY IM AN ASTRONAUT :D' AW. ...HES IN SPACE... the fact he's actually intending to give her the ring. with SAMS NAME ON IT?? IM CRINGING DANNY NO. YOU CANT DO THAT...thank god he didnt. thank god valerie cut it off and said they can just stay friends for now. tbh, they both have a lot on their plates!! they obv both still like each other...it can be a future thing!! when she knows about phantom! youre 14 theres no need to rush. I just want her to have friends and be happy :(
-...danny struggles to do (1) pull up. SAME. but all the ghost fighting in phantom form REALLY doesnt carry over at ALL? that sucks
-sam being as fit as she is, is not just a goth. shes a goth jock.
-honey I Shrank Our Kid, One of his Enemies, and his Bully: the episode
-dash's crush on phantom is So Obvious. fitness buddies :) watching them interact always makes me laugh. also, phantom, with PANTS. 'how many costume changes you gonna go through, what is this, vegas??' DASSH DJKSFHASKDF
-MADDIE GOING AFTER THE MOUSE WITH A BROOM, WHAT THE FUCK. AAAH. JUST BUY SOME KIND OF MOUSE TRAP.
-danny likes lime and vinegar chips. which sound very good.
-'our boy finally has the physical prowess of a 60 year old president!' ...poor danny LMAO
-'what's wrong with beauty pageants' oh tucker you sweet naïve child. what ISNT wrong with them. who approved this for a high school?? (I mean, yes. unfortunately child pageants exist, but...) also danny and tucker once again treating the pretty girls like objects. I need to meet the grown man who wrote this, I just want to talk...
-prince aragon's dragon form reminds me of maleficent (color scheme wise) which is always a bonus. considering the episode is called beauty marked, I feel like the sleeping beauty references are deliberate
-sam with the fake fangs. once again her accessories never miss. hate the 'not like other girls, girls who get sucked into this kind of thing are all shallow and all want to be carbon copies' bs tho.
-sam trying to be the Worst Bride, being rude as shit. DORA IS GOING TO GET KILLED. DID YOU MISS THE PART WHERE SHE SAID THE PRINCE WILL HAVE HER HEAD IF YOU ARENT THE IDEAL BRIDE. YOU /KNOW/ DANNY WILL COME SAVE YOU. JUST ACT CHILL UNTIL THEN. even if you were doing fine to get him to take off the crown, consider maybe not letting his poor sister get punished also?? sure, she could also take off the crown and has dragon powers, but did you know that for sure?? dora didnt even really realize it until you guys talked!! (or at least, she was scared to stand up to him. you had no guarantee she would...) but. good for dora. ANOTHER friendly ghost to add to the List :)
-tucker is so under appreciated in his time. if he was doing a tech-based campaign today he'd have a better shot. people in 2004 had NO IDEA how much tech would be a part of our day-to-day lives...altho. tbh if you're going to be running for student council president, maybe you should..focus on things to actually improve the school? since he's going for a tech angle, he could say like, he would be running fundraisers for the schools computers to be upgraded, etc? we've already SEEN he can be good at money-making entrepreneur type stuff!!
-oh my god wait. this episode is JUST YUGIOH?????! A REBORN PHAROH USING A TEENAGER AS A VESSEL?? YESSSSSS
-tucker using his new minion to feed him grapes and carry him. AND LOCUSTS ONTO THE BULLIES. I love how when he's possessed, he gains winged eyeliner.
-this episode is giving me big 'plankton makes everyone in bikini bottom his slaves and build monuments of him from the spongebob movie' vibes. and the pharaoh has a traitor who works for him? VERY big yugioh vibes. aknadin confirmed
-I like that danny is still completely exhausted after using ghostly wail. (still patiently waiting on him to get duplication)
-LOVE the fenton's 80s outfits. I get hes 14 and embarrassed by everything they do because theyre his parents, but. cmon, this is one objectively cool thing theyve done. love 80s fashion.
-...was vlad just standing on that streetlight waiting for danny to come out? how'd he know they'd be coming out the back? how long has he been up there???
-oh, wait, his ecto-acne has flareups? that SUCKS. danny was...well I dont want to say he was LUCKY HE HALF-DIED, but he was lucky his was pretty instant (I'm assuming that had to do with the power/scale of the portals being different?) I remember in the ep we met him, vlad made a point of saying he was stuck in a hospital for a long time, so. that really actually sucks and I feel bad. not that it excuses anything he's done...but like. it does suck.
-vlad being so sure danny wouldnt help him he made it somehow contagious to his friends to make sure he'd get help? danny is a nice boy, he wouldve helped if it was anyone else. the only reason he wouldn't have is because of the shit vlad did to him, on purpose. vlad 100% dug his own grave by being the biggest asshole, so it is very hard to feel bad for him.
-clockwork is back!!! and making danny learn lessons The Hard Way. Uhhh, okay. I kind of get Danny’s logic, that time traveling this far back would prevent vlad from becoming a halfa also, ergo no arch nemesis or ectoacne to worry about. But the fact that was basically the first solution Danny came up with to solve this problem is actually so funny. It’s so extreme
-APPRICIATION FOR THESE 80S LESBIAN BG CHARACTERS.
-vlad telling maddie in the lab (in the 80s) he has something he's wanted to tell her 'for a long time'...how long have they known each other? I assumed they met in college, since jack always calls vlad his college buddy/roommate, so jack and vlad for sure met in college, but did vlad know maddie longer? thats surprising if so. Tho we don’t know what year of college they’re in so they could mean they met as freshmen and a few years have past…speaking of maddie shes crushing the 80s look.
-vlad blames jack, but. maybe dont stick your face 2 inches from the portal??! THIS FEELS LIKE LAB SAFETY BASICS. IF SOMETHING HAS POTENTIAL TO BE DANGEROUS, DONT GET NEAR IT. WITH YOUR FACE UNPROTECTED IN ANY WAY. (altho jack didnt really give a Big Warning besides screaming BONZAI. so. also that, but cmon.) also, they need gloves, goggles, and to pull all of their hair back tbh. but fuck lab safety, I guess!
-cryyyyinnng at how lazy they were with jack's ghost form design, its just plasmius' design on jack!!! you couldve given him his own design!!
-there. I did that in about 10 minutes and its somehow less lazy than what made it into the show. embarrassing! better yet, I think the episode would've been better if maddie would've gotten the ectoacne. or maybe its just me, wanting to see her design! anyway. I'm sure people have already done redesigns of them both as halfas. I have to go look after I finish this watch through. Also mildly frustrated jacks resentment and bitterness is basically also a copy paste of vlads backstory. They’re different characters, I really don’t think jack would stew in bitterness and jealousy the same way vlad would!! I also don’t think he’d give up after one time of trying to hunt ghosts and getting laughed at. Our canon timeline says different…I dunno, I get it was for laughs, but I’m annoyed because the POTENTIAL this plot has…
-did vlad really wear a stupid cheese hat to his wedding. ok actually that kinda rules. and the cheese door knocker. the dairy-only buffet table. vlad still got rich, just on being the New Dairy King. (Assuming that means he owns a lot of dairy businesses?) ok! this actually is great. hope maddie isn't lactose intolerant!
-'no matter how hard I tried, I could never get rid of my ghost half, the half I knew Maddie could never accept' ohh, ouch, what a horrible thing to say to her HALF GHOST SON. 'YOUR MOM WILL NEVER ACCEPT YOU' BASICALLY.
-maddie strapping danny to the table with a lazer pointed at him in a secret lab she keeps from vlad that she makes a point of saying is sound proof so he can scream all he wants...CHRIST. DANNYS POOR PYSCHE.
-also, not to feel bad for alternate vlad (because, he did lie to maddie saying jack blames her and never wants to see her again...) but. being married to a woman 20+ years and she immediately goes back to jack? if she didnt love vlad and feels like she had to hide shit from him, and says she wasted her best years with him, WHY MARRY HIM. it feels like leading him on!!! cannot believe im feeling bad for vlad, but. this alternate timeline vlad is significantly Less Horrible than Our Vlad. did she not think she'd get funding for her ghost stuff? (which, fair assumption since they're considered 'ghost fanatics/nuts in canon...but...) why did she think jack or vlad would be her ONLY OPTIONS? be like your sister. be single. Actually, this au could’ve been really interesting if after the accident, vlad lied to her and said jack never wanted to see her again, but she stays single. Imagine how much that would bug vlad… like, in her mind, it was never a competition it was jack or no one type situation…
-danny being like 'leave him ALONE' this jack is a HOMEWRECKER, DANNY. let them go to court and settle this at the least. ...or just throw vlad into the portal. (100% human, defenseless vlad) CHRIST, MADDIE THATS BRUTAL. THATS MURDER.
-danny seeing his mom immediately accepting him and his dad being half ghosts in this universe, if I was him this would be a great sign that his universe's maddie would also.
-*maddie voice* "clockwork will help!" *2 seconds later, with clockwork* "I will Not Help." TOUGH LOVE KING. YES LET DANNY SEE THE SODA HIMSELF AND DEVOLP BETTER OBSERVATION SKILLS.
-when clockwork ""reset time to the way it was"" just before danny "meddled"" ...did he really erase a whole alternate timeline? ...damn. because maddie and danny both called it an alternate timeline by name, it splitting when the college incident went different, so it wouldnt have really mattered if he reset it, right. like because danny's timeline is on a different stream? why didnt clockwork just. show danny a replay and not Reset That Timeline. wh...I wonder how many people that Erased From Existence. Anyway! once again stating clockwork is casually terrifying!
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ST: Into Darkness
So I watched into darkness after a really long time, and for the first time after watching ST: WOK. And I liveblogged it.
*spoilers*
Jim's so disappointed that Enterprise got taken away from him. owo
Aahh Carol Marcus is British
Scotty has a moral compass (which I feel TOS Scotty does as well)
When Kirk learns that Spuhura are fighting, and then the lift opens and Spock's about to enter, he looks at both of them. It really gives me the vibes that he knows both his partners are angry at him 😂
Bones McCoy: a dictionary of metaphors
Yaayyy Sulu on the chairrrr
Whaaatttt???? Sulu references Mudd (Harry freaking Mudd) in the movieeee!!!!! (He says: Acting Captain Sulu to Shuttle Bay 2. Please have the trade ship we confiscated during the Mudd incident last month fueled and flight ready) !!!!!
"If you test me, you WILL fail."
The way Bones' expression changesss 😂
"Mr. Sulu, remind me to never piss you off."
"I am not the only one who is upset at you. The Captain is too." "No no no no don't drag me into this."
"She IS right" spirkkkkk
"Captain we will not fit" "We'll fit. WE'LL FITTT."
"I told you we'll fit." "I am not sure that qualifies." 🤣
Why do the Klingons look so different???
Why is Benedict's voice so deep? Like deeper than usual.
SPUHURA 🤢🤢🤢🤢
Tho i hate that a british dude played KHAN, you can't deny Benedict's Khan has charisma
Carol Marcus says "I am a friend of Christine Chapel's" like what??? JJ do you even know that Christine would never be engaged with Kirk in a romantic relationship??? That he's not her type??? 🤢
"Any idea what caused it?" "No sir. But I expect full responsibility." Aww my baby chekov 🥺
"Jim? You're gonna wanna see this." Ooohhhhhh
Okay... so wasn't this Khan a dictator as well? Or like, did the Eugenics war never happen in AOS? Did JJ do this so that Khan would be morally grey? Cuz he loves Benedict? IDK
"I'm sorry." Ohh Kirk my bby 🥺🥺
SCOTTYYYYYY HELL YEAHHH YOU ARE A MIRACLE WORKER *cries in jimmy doohan*
"Captain, I strongly object." "To what? I haven't said anything yet." Bitch you really think he doesn't sense your crazy ideas?
"'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'" "An Arabic proverb attributed to a pronce who was betryed and decapitated by his own subjects." 🤣🤣
Grab at the shoulder and "I cannot allow you to do this." and an almost "Jim"
"The Enterprise and her crew need someone in that chair that knows what he's doing... and that's not me." You can hear my heart shattering into a million pieces in the background.
How Jim's about to cry during that dialogue 🥺🥺🥺
Is there like... a competition going on between Pine and Benedict Cumberbatch trying to decide who's eyes are bluer???? Because I can't see anybody winning
"Captain. You can't even guarantee the safety of your own crew." Ooohh I so wanna punch you in the face. 👊
Aaaahhhhh TRIBBLLEEEEEEE
New Vulcaaaannn!!!! Our Spock's coming baaaackkkkkk yaaayyy
Aahh Sulu you are so talented
"This door is very wee. I mean, you know, small" 🤣
"It's gonna be like jumping out of a moving car, off a bridge, into your shot glass." "It's okay. I've done it before" Khan: 👀
"It's not easy. Just give me two seconds, all right, you mad bastard!" 😂😂
Bones, sitting down to watch the most scary movie of his life: Tell me this is gonna work.
Spock, shivering with fear in his seat: I have neither the information nor the confidence to do so, Doctor. 😂😂😂😂
Bones: 👀 👀 Boy, you're a real comfort.
Omg Sulu's so nervous and worried 🥺
I actually kinda DO like the transitions.
"You're big." 😂
"Spock, if I get back, we really need to talk about you bedside manner." Why is everyone so pbsessed with bedside manner in Star Trek😂😂
Scotty 😂😂😂 wheezing and panting, complaining he can't do it but he does 😂😂😂
Shitt the momentum!!! How would they have filmed that??? Rolling and rolling and rolling
LEONARDDD NIMOYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YAAYYYYYYYYYYYYY
"Mr. Spock." "Mister Spock." Aaahhhhhhhhhh you both wanna kill meeeee 😂😂😂
He deserved that slap!!! GO CAROLL!!!!
"Where'd ya find this guy?" Ohh Scotty 😂
Spock!Prime really be like, "I can't tell you about it, but I am my own master, so I will. 😂
"Khan Noonien Singh is the most dangerous adversary the Ebeterprise ever faced. He is brilliant, ruthless, and he will not hesitate to kill every single one of you." *cries in Ricardo Montalban*
"Did you defeat him?" "At great cost. Yes." Aaaaahhhhhhh how would you know the great costt spocckkkkk😭😭
The sudden appearance of the man scared the shit outta mee😂😂
"Where's Khan?" AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH JIM SOMETIMES YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO SPOOCCKKKK
Yaayyyy "Damn it, man, I'm a doctor not a torpedo technician!" 😂😂
"This way." Whewww.
Aaahh he's awakeeeee.
Yesss that's my Jim Kirk. No killing. Yes.
Aahhhhhhhhh. Wtf why're you punching Jimmmmm
Aahh Carolll ahahhh
Omg wtfffffffff nooooooooo frickfrickfrickfrickfrickk that was baaaddd
"Oh, you are smart, Mr. Spock." I really do wanna punch you in the face.
I will repeat myself. Having said that a white dude playing Khan is irritating, Benedict really does play him well.
Aahhh the ploy is same like the one in ST: WOK!! This time, it is Spock playing the game!!!
"Vulcans do not lie." Spock lies.
"No ship shoild go down without her captain." *silent screaming*
OMG he's firinggggg
"He armed the damn torpedoes." Is that pride I hear, Kirk
"Not bad, Commander." "Thank you, Lieutenant." XDDDD
Smarty pants Spock XD
WTF is Uhura doing in the Med Bay???
"Good to see you, Jim."
"Spock's cold, but he's not that cold. I've got Khan's crew." Awww :))))
"Seventy two human popsicles, safe and sound in their cryo tubes" POPSICLES😂😂😂😂
"Son of a bitch!"
"I hope you don't get seasick." 😂
"I will remain behind and divert all power to life supprt and evacuation shuttle bays." 🥺🥺
Sulu: Shut up, BITCH.
"I order you to abandon this ship!" The voice his voice cracks 😭 Who says Spock doesn't feel????
"All due respect, Commander, but we're not going anywhere." YEAAHHHH SULUUUUU GOOOO
"One day I've been off this ship! One bloody day!" Same, Scotty, same.
Hah. Running on walls😂
CHEKOV MY HEROOOOOO
Smart baby Chekov exclaiming in Russian.
"The ship's dead sir. She's gone." 😭😭😭
"You're not making the climb" JIM NOOOOO OH GOD YOU SELF SACRIFICING IDIOT.
Jim coming back to belt Scotty into place 🥺
How's he gonna do that????
Aaahh that oit of the clouds shot justttt 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩
Sulu's so HAPPYYY uwu
"It's a miracle." "There are no such things." Wait till you get to know Spock.
"Sir, you'd better get down here. Better hurry." *traumatic WOK flashbacks*
"How's OUR ship?" "Out of danger."
"That's a nice move." Is Jim referring to Chess????? You really have the nerve to do that???
"It is what you would have done." "And this, this is what you would have done." *TOS 😭😭😭😭*
"It was only logical."
"I'm scared, Spock. Help me not be."😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
"I do not know. Right now I am failing." 😭😭😭
"Because you are my friend."😭😭😭
That Vulcan kisssssss 😭😭😭😭😭
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO JIMMMM
KHAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Why tf is everyone wearing those weird goggles???
I don't like Zoe Saldana as Uhura AT ALL.
The way Zach's bangs are flying😂
BONEESSSSSS 😭😭😭
Yeaah yeah yeah yeah yeah that tribbleeee
How tf did spock jump that high???
Why doesn't he like nerve pinch him???
Why can't they use the blood of the man in the cryo???? They have the same blood right???
"You get that son of a bitch back on board right now!"
Ohnonononono he's tryna crush Spock's skull.
Shit Spock why so angry NOOOOOO
Yeah Spock stops when he hears the name 'Kirk'.
"You were barely dead." 😂
"Tell me, are you feeling homicidal? Pwer mad? Despotic?"
"Uhura and I had something to do with it too, you know." Ohh bones😆😆
Spock called Kirk JIMMMMMMMMMMM
But, like, why didn't they kill Khan off??? He can be awakened again, can't he??? Like????
I love their formal uniforms!!!
Yaayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy my introooooo 🥺🥺🥺🥺
"C'mon Bones, it's gonna be fun."
"Five years in space. God help me." 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
The fond look Spock has on his faceeeee
And on Jim's face toooooo
"I defer to your good judgement, Captain." 🥺🥺🥺
#jim kirk#james t kirk#spock#bones#bones mccoy#leonard mccoy#leonard bones mccoy#hikaru sulu#sulu#pavel chekov#ensign chekov#aos chekov#st: aos#star trek aos#aos bones#aos trek#scotty#nyota uhura#uhura#aos uhura#khan#khan noonien singh#chris pine#zachary quinto#karl urban#john cho#anton yelchin#simon pegg#zoe saldana#benedict cumberbatch
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For the WIP meme - Nova getting Alex a lab coat please 😍😍
You know I’m always happy to share Nova Mae...
--
It’s been 3 weeks since they all moved in together and agreed to try this whole “being a family” thing full time, and Alex has loved virtually every second of it. Because even the difficult stuff, like arguing with Michael over furniture placement, or getting used to having somebody in his bed all the time, and never being able to sleep past 5:30am anymore, are cancelled out by the amazing things. Like learning how Michael knows how to make pancakes that both taste amazing and are all 7 colors of the rainbow. Or getting to be with Nova every night once she hits that sleepy cuddly where she actually stops moving a mile a minute and just wants him to hold her and run his fingers through her hair while she watches a Magic School Bus episode for the 80th time. But most importantly, he learns about Science Experiment Sunday.
See, Michael and Nova are big into science, which isn’t surprising to Alex. They are regularly doing activities together each night like making slime, stargazing through the telescope in the backyard, and practicing the elements on the periodic table. But what is surprising to find out is that every single Sunday, Michael comes up with some involved science project that takes up most of the morning and sometimes the afternoon. The week before was an intense Rube Goldberg machine that started in the kitchen and went all the way out to the garage. The week before that, they designed and tested various bottle rocket prototypes and shot them off at the park down the street to see which one went the furthest.
Michael and Nova both have these white lab coats that they wear on their Sundays together and it’s one of the cutest things he’s ever seen. Especially when Nova pairs it with her little safety goggles as well. But it’s decidedly Michael and Nova’s thing. So when Nova comes into the bedroom early Sunday morning and places a box on his stomach, demanding that he open it, he doesn’t know what to expect. When he opens it, there’s a white lab coat in it with an embroidered name that says “Nova’s Dad.”
“Did you get this for me?”
Nova nods her head excitedly, her little messy bun moving every which way. “Daddy faid you not a doctah fo you need a diffent titah. Fo…” she points to where the coat says, “Nova’s Dad.” His heart fills with a joy he didn’t think possible.
“Nova’s dad is such a better title than doctor anyways,” he tells her, leaning over to kiss her forehead as she giggles.
“Put it on!” she exclaims as she runs out of the bedroom yelling, “We’re doing fience!”
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awesome! can i please request friends to lovers with cody boi and demisexual!y/n? 🥺👉👈
YOU’RE IN LUCK I’VE BEEN WORKING ON MY CODY LORE RECENTLY. hopefully I did alright- I’m kind of inexperienced with writing demi characters so I apologize if I got something wrong.
"Oh, sorry."
Your hand brushes against another as you reach for the chemistry book you need for your assignment. You grab it and look up at the other person. He's taller than you and has pale skin and honey-brown hair that hangs over one of his green eyes, which blink at you. He scratches at an old, jagged scar on his jaw.
"You gonna read that?"
"Well duh," you frown at him. "I have an assignment to do."
"Ah." He nods, glancing aside. "What's your major?"
"Chemical engineering." You tilt your head at him. "You?"
"Pharmacology." He replies. You arch your brow. If he was studying pharmacology wouldn't you have seen him around campus? Then again- your college is pretty big so...maybe you just forgot his face. He steps back away from you, putting his hands in his hoodie's pockets. "Enjoy the book." He says in a bored tone before turning and walking away.
------
"Hmm…"
Once more, you're looking for a very, very specific book. For another assignment. A group one. "Uggghhh…" you mutter to yourself. You do not want to be that one guy who doesn't do any work and drags the group down. You already have one of those. As you step out from behind a bookshelf your eyes absently scan the long reading table before-
Wait.
You turn back and squint. The book! It's right there! And being read by...a pale skinned boy with honey-brown hair and green eyes. You glance around for a moment before walking over and taking a seat across from him.
"You gonna read that?"
He looks up at you, seemingly surprised. His eyes widen with realisation, and the smallest of smiles curls up his lips. "...well duh." You smirk and laugh a little bit. He sets the book down and tilts his head at you. "You get that assignment done?"
"Barely." You reply. "Now I got a group project to do."
"Ew." He wrinkles his nose in disgust. He glances from you to the book his hand is resting on. The book you need. "...what're your plans for after college?" He asks, trying to sound casual, but the question sounds like he’s inspecting you.
"A bio engineer. You?"
He blinks in surprise. "Same, actually. Specialising in curing diseases."
"Huh! I was gonna do the same. I wanna help develop medicines."
He looks at you for a moment, then smiles a bit. He closes the book and slides it over to you. "Good luck on the assignment." He says before standing up and walking away. You watch him leave with a small, curious smile.
----
"God that professor drives me crazy…" one of your classmates mutters as they walk past you. You can't help but agree.
Stepping outside you wrinkle your nose. It's raining. Great. And all you have is a thin jacket with no hood. A breeze blows by, and it feels like it's going straight through your clothes. You shiver.
"Hey." A familiar voice grunts beside you. You look up in surprise and are greeted by a taller boy in a hood wearing blue goggles. One of his eyes is obscured by honey-brown hair. He reaches up, grabbing the goggles and pulling them down. Green eyes blink down at you.
"Oh, hey." You tilt your head at him. "Book boy."
He smirks a bit, tossing his head to the side like he's mimicking you. "Is that my name?"
"Well you never told me your name."
He blinks in surprise, like he hadn't even realised he'd never told you his name. Or forgotten. You suppress a laugh. "Oh." He says. "I'm Cody. But my friends call me X."
"Why?" You ask, smiling a bit. He opens his mouth to reply, then closes it again, like he's stumped.
"It's my favourite letter?" He finally answers. You laugh loudly.
‘’Alright, X,’’ you smirk at him. ‘’Did you need something? Another book?’’
‘’Huh? Oh- nah.’’ he scratches at the scar on his jaw. ‘’I saw you out in the rain and uh-’’ he pauses, reaching into the brown satchel thrown across his side. He searches around in it, the contents jingling and clinking until he pulls out a folded up umbrella. ‘’I brought you this.’’ You blink in surprise. You reach out and take it. ‘’But I want something in return.’’
‘’Huh?’’
‘’One, I want my book,’’ he toys with the strap of his goggles as he speaks. ‘’And two...I wanna take you for coffee.’’
You arch your brow. ‘’...why?’’
‘’I think you’re neat.’’ he shrugs. ‘’I don’t talk to people much. And you have a similar major so…’’
You hesitate. It isn’t the first time a guy you don’t know well has asked you for coffee under the pretense of ‘you’re just neat’. You pause. He looks at you, seemingly disinterested. Like it doesn’t matter if you say yes or no.
‘’...sure.’’ you finally say. ‘’But you’re paying.’’
He wrinkles his nose. ‘’I’ll pay the tip.’’ he says. ‘’Sixty percent.’’
------
‘’Hey, y/n!’’
You look up as you step outside your lecture hall. Cody runs towards you, shaking his honey-brown hair out of his eyes. You smile brightly at him as he stops in front of you. Cody has been warming up to you over the past few weeks. He meets you after classes, walks you to your dorm or gets coffee with you, and always, always follows you to the library. He’s...odd. Initially he was standoffish, like he didn’t really care about your company all that much, but as you’ve spent time together he’s opened up a lot more. He’s excitable, and wildly passionate about all sorts of things. But mostly science- which suits you. He helps a lot with writing papers.
‘’Hey X.’’ you greet him. You walk past him and he trails after you. ‘’How was your day?’’
‘’Fine.’’ he says. ‘’Professor Harrison is still annoying.’’
‘’Ugh- so glad I don’t have his classes till next week…’’ you sigh. ‘’Glad it’s Friday, huh?’’
‘’Yeah.’’ he smiles a bit.
‘’You got plans for the weekend?’’
‘’Huh? Oh, uh...not- not really. Just- research…’’
You glance over your shoulder and smile at him. ‘’You wanna come over for a bit tomorrow?’’
‘’Co-come over?’’
‘’Yeah. We can hang out, watch a movie or something.’’
‘’...you want me in your house?’’
‘’Well it’s not really a house but- yeah.’’ you smile at him. ‘’What? I can’t invite my friend over to hang out?’’
His bright green eyes seem to shimmer. ‘’Friend?’’ he asks, excitement leaking into his voice. You nod, smiling a little bit. He’s funny when he’s excited. He beams wide. ‘’S-Sure! Yeah, I can postpone my research!’’
-----
‘’Knock knock!’’
You get up off your couch and move over to the door. Opening it, you’re greeted by honey-brown hair and green eyes beaming down at you. ‘’Hey y/n.’’ Cody chirps, shifting on his feet. You step aside to let him in. He walks inside quickly, holding coffee in each hand. He puts down the coffees and rummages through his satchel. ‘’I brought you snacks, and some books I thought you might like. Oh! I also bought you a spare USB, since you almost lost yours last week. You can back your files up on this one just in case-’’
‘’Cody.’’ you interrupt. He looks over at you. ‘’You...didn’t need to get me all of this.’’ you frown. You only invited him over for a movie- why all the stuff?
‘’...I wanted to help.’’ he murmurs. ‘’I know you like coffee, so I thought you’d like some. Then I thought we’d need snacks for the movie, and then I passed the library and remembered the USB thing so I-’’ he fiddles with his hands. ‘’Isn’t that what friends do?’’
‘’...Cody,’’ you say. He stares at you. ‘’You’ve never had a friend before, have you?’’
He hesitates, then shakes his head. ‘’Not really.’’ he shrugs. ‘’Nobody was ever interesting enough to talk to,’’ he glances aside. ‘’But...you’re different. I dunno how but- you are.’’
You fold your arms, looking at him for a few moments, then exhale gently. ‘’...you’re really weird, X.’’
-----
‘’Hey y/n?’’
‘’Huh?’’ you look up from the cheap chinese takeout the two of you ordered. It has become a routine for the two of you to hang out on weekends. And during the week. Cody meets up with you almost every day, and the days he doesn’t he’s...completely impossible to reach. Like he dropped off the face off the earth. But you don’t mind too much.
‘’What do you think of human experiments?’’ his eyes stare into you. You blink.
‘’If they’re safe, then yeah. If it clears animal testing first I think human testing should begin, if the correct safety procedures are taken.’’
He nods. ‘’Yeah, yeah but…’’ he taps his fingers on the table for a second. ‘’Sometimes we need to disregard those protocols. That’s a fact, right?’’
‘’...yeah?’’ you tilt your head, confused.
‘’So what if we used bad people for those experiments? Like death row criminals. It would speed up the process.’’
You blink for a moment. ‘’I mean-’’ you think for a moment. ‘’I dunno…’’ you look away. ‘’Why are you asking me this?’’
‘’No reason.’’ Cody looks back at you and shrugs. ‘’The topic came up in class earlier and it just crossed my mind.’’
----
‘’Knockknocknockknocknockknockkno-’’
You yank open your door and glare up at the person in the doorway. ‘’It’s three in the mo-’’ you pause. The tall, rude person in your doorway is breathing heavily through a gas mask. Their head is lowered, their face obscured by honey-brown hair. They cough.
‘’Sorry for wakin’ you.��’ he grunts. He leans up off the doorway and stumbles forward. You catch him quickly.
‘’Cody?! What the fuck?! Is that you?!”
"Yeah…" he coughs a bit and grips your shoulders for support. "I got in a fight…"
You pull him over to your couch. He collapses onto it and groans. You pull off his gas mask and goggles and look at his face. It seems to be okay- because of the gas mask probably. Good protection for his face.
"Where does it hurt?" You ask quickly.
"They fucking kicked me in the gut." He mutters back. He coughs a couple times. "H-Hey, did I drop my baseball bat…?"
"Baseball bat?" You stand up and look over at your door, which is still open. A baseball bat with nails sticking out of the head leans against the doorway. You move over and grab it, closing the door. "Why do you have this thing?"
"Self defense." He grunts back. "Can you get me some ice?"
"Sure, sure yeah."
------
"So like…" Cody looks up from his cereal as you speak. He's been staying in your dorm for the past few days, recovering from getting beat up. "Does this happen...often…?"
He looks at you. "Why would you think that?"
"Because you have a weapon for self defense and you have a scar on your jaw." You point at him. He palms at the jagged scar on his jawline.
"Oh." He says. "This one isn't from a fight."
You frown and tilt your head. "It isn't?"
"I was in a car accident when I was eight." He says. "My parents died in it. I didn't."
You blink, completely taken aback. "Shit- really?" You suddenly regret all the curious looks you've given that scar over the past while. "That's horrible- I'm sorry dude."
He waves you off. "It's nothing." He murmurs. It's quiet and awkward for a while before he speaks again. "I got a lot more scars from the crash. You wanna see?" He grins at you. You break out into a smile.
"...oh heck yeah I do."
-----
‘’Hey y/n?’’
‘’Huh?’’ you look up from your laptop and over at Cody, who’s laying on his back on your bed, staring at the ceiling through his blue goggles. He doesn’t answer for a moment.
‘’How long have we been friends?’’ His voice is small and thoughtful. Maybe even sad. You frown.
‘’Like….six months. Why?’’
‘’That’s a long time.’’ he muses, sounding surprised. He turns and looks at you. ‘’...I trust you.’’
‘’You trust me?’’
‘’Yeah.’’ he looks at the ceiling again. ‘’I trust you. A lot. I’ve never really- had a friend before...but I trust you.’’ he turns to you again. ‘’I’m glad I met you, y/n.’’
‘’...what sparked that?’’ you ask gently. Cody shrugs.
‘’Dunno. Was just thinkin’ bout stuff…’’ he’s quiet for a while. ‘’You ever think about how chickens are descended from dinosaurs so technically dino nuggets are dinosaur meat?’’ he breaks the silence.
‘’PFFFFF-’’
----
‘’Hey! y/n!’’
You look up just in time to see Cody sprinting towards you from the other side of the campus. His gas mask is on, even though he doesn’t seem to be coming from the campus’s lab, as are his goggles. His hood falls down, exposing honey-brown hair. You walk quickly toward him and he stumbles towards you, then doubles over gasping for air.
‘’Uh- you oka-’’
‘’HEY! YOU!’’
You look up quickly and see a campus security guard sprinting towards the both of you. Your eyes widen and Cody grabs your wrist. ‘’Canttalknowjustrun!’’ he hisses before sprinting off again with you in tow. You yelp as you’re yanked across campus, in between buildings, and off the grounds entirely. Eventually, you’re yanked into an alleyway and the two of you lean against the wall, panting and gasping for air. You flop your head against your shoulder and stare at him.
‘’Cody…’’
‘’Y-yeah?’’
‘’What the fuck?!’’
He gulps and looks at you. ‘’I...may have pissed off the security guard.’’
‘’How?’’
‘’I uh-’’ he pauses, looking at you. It’s silent for a few moments and he sighs. ‘’I’ve...been lying to you.’’
‘’Huh?’’
‘’I don’t actually attend your college,’’ he murmurs. ‘’I...graduated years ago. I’m just some- homeless dude who hangs around the campus sometimes for fun.’’
You stare at him. ‘’What...the fuck…?’’ he doesn’t say anything. ‘’Why would you lie to me?!’’
‘’Because I…’’ he shrugs. ‘’I didn’t want you to think less of me...I just wanted you to treat me like anyone else...like- a friend…’’ he sighs. ‘’...I’m sorry…’’
You stare at him for a few moments, then sigh gently. You lean off the wall and pat his shoulder. ‘’I don’t think less of you because of any of this,’’ you murmur. ‘’I’m hurt because- well...I thought you trusted me.’’ His head snaps to you, staring in surprise. ‘’It is weird that you hang around on campus yeah but- you’re not a creep. I know you’re not. You just- wanna be accepted. Right?’’
He pauses, staring at the ground. ‘’...yeah. I do.’’
‘’Then I accept you.’’ you hesitate for a second, then hug him gently. His arms cautiously and gently wrap around you. ‘’And you’re staying with me, okay? I don’t want you on the streets anymore. You don’t need to get hurt.’’
"...okay." he murmurs. "...thanks."
------
"I'm home!"
"Y/n!" Cody rolls over onto his stomach and grins at you from his spot on the couch, which is also basically his bed now. "How was your lecture? Learn anything interesting?"
You shrug off your backpack and walk over to the couch. Cody curls up to make room for you as you sit down. "It was alright." You murmur. Cody shifts around and leans against you, smiling up at you. He's cute, you'll admit. Like an excited puppy. Always happy to see you. You reach over and pat him. He moves his hand up and grabs your hand, squeezing it in his. He stays there for a few moments, staring up at you fondly before he withdraws his hand.
"Here." he grabs the remote from the other side of the couch using his socked feet, then grabs it with his hands before passing it to you. You take it and lie back, flicking through channels idly. You glance at him. He's still staring at you.
"You need something?"
He shakes his head. "Nah." He turns back to the tv. "I just like your face."
You smirk. "Thanks. Yours too."
------
"Uuuggghh…"
You sit up and bury your face in your hands. You're stressed. Extremely so. This damn assignment is impossible! You can't figure it out. At all. You're just about ready to give up.
"Y/n?"
You look up and see Cody crouched near your bed where you're sitting. He looks up at you with his best puppy eyes. "I think you need a break." He murmurs. He reaches up and takes one of your hands in his, pulling it down and tugging it. You sigh, push your laptop away and lie down so you're facing him.
"Fine."
He smiles and reaches into his pocket, pulling something out. Your favourite candy bar. "Here," he holds it up to you. "To get your energy back."
You take it and smile. "How'd you know it's my favourite?"
He smiles. "Lucky guess." That's a lie. Definitely. He climbs onto your bed and lays down beside you. You look at him while munching on your chocolate.
"Cody," you ask tiredly. "...what do you do when no matter what you can't find the answer?"
He blinks, then frowns. "I keep going," he answers. "I try to change something every time and peace together the answer. I work outside the box, break the rules…" he frowns and looks down. "...four hundred and twenty three times."
"Huh?"
He looks up at you, surprised. "Oh! Uh- it's nothing. I just remembered this one experiment I did...heh...took me four hundred and twenty three tries to get it right..." he seems suddenly fidgety and- maybe even sad.
"Damn." Your eyes widen. "What was the experiment?"
"...nothing important." He smiles at you. He reaches over and pats your cheek a couple times. "Now, cmere. You're taking your break in cuddle-town."
You squint at him. "...cuddle-town."
"Yep!" He lifts his arm up for you. "Cmonnnn...you know you wannaaaa."
You give him a stern look. Then a smile curls up your face and you laugh. "Alright, alright. I'll bite." you scoot closer to him and let him hug you tight. He smells of chemicals and takeout. It's a weird smell, but welcoming. He hums happily. "...Thanks X."
"No problem." He chirps back, nuzzling his face into your hair.
-------
"You made a mistake."
"Huh?" You're curled up against Cody, doing your homework. Part of your course is a mandatory math class. Ugh. Your back is resting against his front while you do your work. His arms are wrapped around you, hugging you gently. Not the most conventional position for math homework, but a damn comfy one.
His arm moves from around your hip and points at the paper you're writing on. "You need to multiply here. Not subtract. Then you'll get a minus, but you'll have to change the signs so your answer would be…" he pauses for a moment. "Minus X to the power of four over three Y to the power of six."
You blink and frown for a couple moments. "Oh!" You cross out your mistake and correct it. "Like that?"
Cody nods. "Exactly." His arm winds around you again. You smile a bit.
"How are you so good at math?" You ask. He shrugs.
"Studied my butt off in highschool and learned everything twice as fast as everyone else." He says with a laugh. You snicker.
"Why?"
"Wanted to prove that I could do it." He murmurs. He leans down and presses his face into your hair. He's probably sniffing it but you choose to ignore that because math homework is hard. "...why did you decide to become a scientist?"
"I wanted to help people." You murmur. He hums in thought.
"Why?"
You shrug. "It's the right thing to do, isn't it?"
He's quiet for a moment. "yeah," his hand runs up your stomach. "I guess it is."
-----
"I wanna take you somewhere."
You look up at Cody. "Okay," you say. "Where?"
"...dinner."
"Dinner where?"
"Downtown. Somewhere you like. Somewhere fancy."
You smirk at him a bit. ‘’Alright...when?’’
‘’Right now. Today.’’
You blink in surprise and look at the clock on the wall, then him. ‘’We’d have to get ready like- right now.’’
‘’Okay.’’ he stands up like it’s nothing. ‘’Go get ready.’’
Cody’s sudden wanting to eat out is odd. He’s always been happy with takeout and your own cooking, so why he suddenly wants to go out is- odd. But you’re not complaining. The restaurant he brings you to is nice, and even though he’s suddenly fidgety and a little on-edge, he’s still his regular, cute self. Spending time with him is something you enjoy deeply. Why else would you have let him live with you? He’s like your best friend- maybe even something more. While the two of you are leaving the restaurant his hand brushes against yours and he ever so carefully entwines his hand with yours. Okay yeah. It’s definitely something more.
Instead of walking home, the two of you end up walking to a nearby park. It’s a peaceful night. A little cold, but Cody’s hand feels warm and comforting. He stops suddenly, and turns to you. You stare at him.
‘’y/n?’’
‘’Yeah?’’
He hesitates. ‘’Do you…’’ he glances aside. ‘’...do you like me?’’ his body language is nervous, but his tone is full of forced confidence.
‘’Of course I like you.’’ you tilt your head at him. ‘’...you’re acting weird. What’s wrong?’’
He looks surprised for a moment. He quickly collects himself and gulps, glancing aside. ‘’I…’’ he fiddles with his hands. ‘’It’s...nothing, y/n. Just- forget it. I’ll take you home.’’
‘’Wait-’’ you stop and step toward him, grabbing his wrist. He stares at you in surprise. You yank him toward you, intending to pull him into a hug but- you yank too hard and Cody stumbles into you, making you, in turn, stumble backwards into a tree. You’re left leaning against it, with Cody leaning over you, staring down in surprise. It’s deathly silent for a few tense moments before a smile curls up his face. He snorts, then laughs, then falls against you giggling. You slowly crack up with him and reach up, gripping his arms as the two of you giggle at absolutely nothing. He lifts his head up and smiles at you. His face is only inches from yours. He’s so close you can see the lighter speckles in his green eyes and individual strands of his honey-brown hair. His features are soft. Welcoming. ‘’Cody,’’ you murmur. ‘’...I do like you. A lot.’’
‘’Huh?’’ he seems completely taken aback by this. ‘’Really?’’ he doesn’t sound like he quite believes you. You chuckle.
‘’Yes.’’ you smile up at him. Slowly, you reach up and cup his face in your hands. ‘’C’mere…’’ you murmur, pulling him down to you. You close the gap and kiss him gently. He tenses up, a quiet gasp of surprise escaping his mouth. Slowly, he leans into the kiss, kneading against you. He feels warm. Comforting. Safe. You shiver as he reaches down, grabbing your hip with one hand. The two of you pull away and stare at each other. It’s silent. You can feel his warm breath against your face.
‘’y/n?’’ he breaks the silence. You look up at him. ‘’...I love you.’’
A smile curls up your face. You grab him and pull him down for another kiss. ‘’I love you too.’’ you giggle. He grins and wraps his arms around you, squeezing you tightly. He lifts you up in his arms and nuzzles into your shoulder. You giggle and grip his shoulders as he swings you around until he stumbles and falls back. The two of you yelp out in surprise as you fall onto the grass. Cody is still holding you tight, staring up at you with a wide smile. You smile down at him lovingly and comb your hand through his honey-brown hair. ‘’I love you too…’’ you murmur once more.
#ask#frozensriracha#request#writing#x virus#x virus x reader#x virus creepypasta#creepypasta#creepypasta x reader
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PatB Nova Ch 7
Ch 7: Perturb
AN: This chapter’s somehow got long so a lot of stuff I wanted to originally place here’s going in the next one.
FFN Link
Terran Date 2015.4.23
Since I currently lack access to my regular equipment, I’m making do with an audio recording program from a Terran computer. I must admit it’s not nearly as efficient as my usual method, but it will have to suffice.
Pinky is an…interesting host. I won’t deny that he’s rather generous, and the delicacy he identified as cream cheese is surprisingly palatable. I’ve also taken up residence in his cage which he also kindly offered for my use as a safe place to sleep. The sponge bed has been moved to the cage per my request.
Objective assessment of Pinky: his species is a lab mouse, his eyes have to be some odd mutation because it cannot be possible for them to be that blue, and he’s an amiable idiot. As I’m recording this, he’s currently scolding two inanimate objects for their failure to keep the cage clean in his absence.
Today’s goal: Pinky is planning for a trip to the local mall to obtain a hat to wear for the Derby. Once again, it’s an illogical custom I am unfamiliar with. I’ve agreed to accompany him for two purposes. The first, clues on Snowball’s whereabouts. And the second, to gather intel on Terran habits for world domination purposes. Snowball and I will be able to put my information to good use when we’re reunited.
Signing off for now, the Brain.
o-o-o-o-o
Getting lost, losing communications, and the unrelenting solitude were the major dangers of setting foot outside of Penumbra. Only the first two conditions applied now.
Pinky leapt through the mail slot and danced along the pavement. He wore a lavender blouse that left his shoulders exposed, his shorts made of a Terran material called denim. Apparently, this excursion was also an opportunity to make a fashion statement. But Brain didn’t see the practicality of Pinky’s clothes. The silly Terran stepped on an odd rock here and there, but his twirls didn’t slow down. Just looking at him made Brain slightly dizzy.
Thin, white clouds drifted lazily in the vast blue sky far above them. Brain looked up, one hand on his brow to shield his eyes from the bright sunlight. New Selene and the stars weren’t visible, though they were somewhere much higher than the sky.
He squinted and lowered his gaze to the ground, dark spots forming in his vision and making everything rather blurry.
Brain had switched his jumpsuit and gloves for a Terran disguise, a simple red shirt and another pair of denim shorts, both items borrowed from Pinky’s large collection of outfits. But since Pinky’s legs were longer, the shorts technically functioned more like pants, and the shirt was knee-length. Though it was comfortable, so he went along with it for now.
Besides, Pinky had been shockingly adamant about the jumpsuit and gloves needing a wash. Brain had protested at first since the material had anti-olfactory functions built in, but Pinky insisted and Brain agreed if only to shut up the Terran.
Procuring formal clothes for conquest would just have to wait.
And there was another issue he hadn’t anticipated.
Everything was so colorful and loud. He was so used to everything being muted and dark. Already he missed the ever present hum of the lab technology, and he’d barely set foot outside the door. Brain stood on the coarse welcome mat, on the border between safety and the unknown.
He was just grateful his accelerated healing kicked in overnight, and the bandages were no longer necessary.
“Come on, Brain!” Pinky shouted as he skipped along the pavement, careful to avoid all the cracks. “The sidewalk is great! Just don’t step on the crack, or you’ll break your mama’s back!”
Brain scowled. “My mother is on a different planet entirely, if she hasn’t already fallen victim to the many dangers of the natural world. Stepping on a cracked rock here on Terra will have no effect on her skeletal structure. The two actions are entirely uncorrelated.”
“The corals are related?” Pinky gasped, hands flying to his mouth in genuine surprise. “I knew they looked similar!”
There was absolutely no reasoning with him, was there?
A large, sleek metal structure roared down the large stretch of pavement in front of them, a cloud of smoke trailing behind it as it rounded a corner and disappeared. It wasn’t his first time seeing one of those vehicles, since they’d been peppered throughout the satellite images he’d viewed back on Penumbra.
A car. One of the forms of land-based transportation on Terra, Brain recalled from the file on Terran technology. Highly practical for traveling long distances.
Cars were much larger in person. The images made them seem so tiny.
And once again, he found himself woefully lacking essential information. Did cars function similarly to a rover? How did it zoom by so quickly? What was the power source?
He looked up at the sky again, but the sunlight had somehow gotten stronger during his pondering, and he quickly averted his eyes.
“Poit. Your eyes are so squinty, Brain!” Pinky lightly tapped Brain’s head, breaking him out of his thoughts. “Don’t look directly into the sun. It’s bad for your eyes and you’d need to eat lots and lots of carrots to fix them and then your fur will turn orange!”
“A side effect of all this light,” Brain replied, making a mental note that carrots were an edible item that caused orange fur. He’d have to avoid them in the future. “I’m fine. Let’s depart for this…mall.”
The word felt strange on his tongue. But his feet wouldn’t leave the safety of the welcome mat.
“I’d love for you to come along, but if you’d rather not, that’s fine too,” Pinky said. There was a slight tinge of disappointment in his voice though, but he still seemed as sunny as the actual star. It was somewhat unsettling.
“Won’t you join my little expedition, Brain?” Snowball wrapped an arm around Brain’s shoulders. Fine mist trailed from the aisam’s claws, surrounding them with an icy chill that traveled up Brain’s spine and settled into his fur. “The road to Eclipse Lab is awfully barren and I could use a little company. Perhaps we could test our skills with star identification along the way.”
Brain shoved him away and Snowball clicked his tongue in disappointment.
“For the last time, I’m n-not interested in visiting that horrible, scrik-ridden m-mess of a lab, Snowball. If you wish to leave New Selene sometime in the next cycle, you will allow me to fine-tune the propulsion system in peace,” Brain retorted, hating the tremor in his voice caused by a brief yet violent case of the shivers. He picked up a wrench and examined it for overuse damage, turning his back on Snowball so he wouldn’t see Brain’s hands tremble.
Whether it was from the cold or the mere thought of setting foot in the place where he’d been prodded and restrained by long, claw-like fingers, he couldn’t say.
“You can’t be an invertebrate, Brain,” Snowball grumbled. His disappointment was palpable, and Brain’s fingers tightened around the wrench. “Our combined intellect is unparalleled and far superior to those imbecilic Terrans. Whatever it takes to rule, whatever it takes to wear the crown, we must seize it by any means possible.”
Then he was gone, and the Conquistador’s silent frame became Brain’s steadfast companion.
“Earth to Brain! Oh sorry, should I say Terra to Brain instead? Come in, Terra to Brain! This is Lieutenant Pinky reporting in! Over!”
Pinky was suddenly in front of his face, and Brain leapt back in surprise. He must’ve been lost in his ponderings again. Pinky held something behind his back, something bright and yellow poking out near his tail.
“Yes, Pinky. I hear you,” Brain sighed. Then Pinky showed him the item behind his back, and it turned out to be the oddest pair of safety goggles Brain had ever seen in his life. The star-shaped frame was yellow and provided little protection for the nose, and the lens were tinted dark instead of clear. “These goggles are highly impractical for technical work.”
“They’re sunglasses actually. Slipped inside and grabbed ‘em while you were pandering. I use these if I’m playing movie star-slash-chiropractor! Try them on!” Pinky said. Deciding it was best to humor him, Brain slid on the glasses, and his vision became a shade darker. The colors were still there, just not as bright. The headache that had threatened to form dissipated into nothingness.
“This is bearable,” Brain said. Pinky was slightly darker as well, though the tinted lens did nothing to diminish his shining blue eyes.
Pinky clapped his hands in glee. “Exactly! Also works for grizzlies and honey bears and teddies! And now you’re a movie star too!”
Brain rolled his eyes, sweeping his antennae back so they didn’t get in the way. “That’s not a classification of any star. Despite your questionable logic, and I use that word in a fairly liberal sense, the color spectrum of your planet is no longer a strain on my eyes. So…thanks.”
“Aww! You’re welcome, Brain,” Pinky said. “And really, you can wear them in the lab too. I don’t mind.”
“No, Pinky. I’m coming along. I have goals to accomplish during this trip,” Brain said. Taking a deep breath, he stepped off the welcome mat, then hopped off the step and onto the pavement.
It wasn’t as difficult as his mind made it out to be.
Pinky laughed, and Brain barely got out of the way in time before several ounces of idiosyncrasies could crash into him.
Brain wouldn’t get anything done by sitting around and being too afraid to leave the lab’s safe haven. Somewhere underneath the massive sky, Snowball was likely planning his own day’s activities. And today, they’d be taking the first steps to conquer Terra.
Through any means possible.
o-o-o-o-o
Brain prided himself on his keen observation skills, something that would serve him well when he and Snowball finally exploited the inhabitants’ many weaknesses. Pinky considered it a ‘a blousery, blustery, beautiful day’, whatever that meant, and skipped to and fro in every direction to take in the sights of the city. Brain kept him in view at all times, not wanting to be left alone in this strange world.
He quickly found that the word ‘Terrans’ failed to encapsulate the biodiversity of the planet, in addition to individual differences between members of the same species. Humans varied greatly in size, shape, and appearance, though even the tallest ones weren’t nearly as large as a Selenian. Some had their heads buried in their devices with cords going into their ears and were oblivious to their surroundings, and Brain had to keep an eye out for those dangerous folks since they didn’t seem to care about anyone in their path.
While inconvenient for him, their failure to pay attention could easily be turned into an advantage.
Several humans walked alongside quadrupedal creatures that sniffed the ground and had collars and ropes around their necks that led to a handle in the human’s hand. Pinky called them ‘dogs’ and ‘leashes’. He was more than happy to clarify anything Brain didn’t understand, and while he figured that he would have to research Terra more in-depth later, Pinky’s happy explanations were sufficient for now.
Brain firmly held Pinky’s hand as they passed by a human and a golden-furred dog with large paws and a long, panting tongue. The dog sniffed them curiously and made a ‘groomph’ noise, and though it didn’t seem hostile, Brain dragged Pinky away before the dog had the opportunity to slobber all over them.
But even the ‘goldy’, as Pinky called it, was more preferable to the tiny, yappy thing that Pinky identified as a ‘Chi-wa-wa’. At least it was yanked back by its leash before it could give chase to them.
Pinky called himself a mouse, and his friend Pharfignewton was a horse. Two species down.
The flying creatures were pigeons, crows, and sparrows. They ate whatever they could scavenge on the ground. The tiny things that scurried around his feet were insects, and Pinky yanked him back from stepping on a sidewalk crack filled with red and black ‘ants’.
“Fire ants will make your feet itchy and tingly!” he warned. “And not the pleasant kind either!”
Brain committed his warning to memory.
Cars crawled by slowly on the street, packed closely as far as the eye could see. They made odd screeching noises from time to time, the humans inside grumpily slamming their palms against their steering devices.
Lights on every corner controlled the flow of cars. Everyone became furious with red and brightened when it was green. He wasn’t exactly sure what yellow was supposed to do since some cars sped right past and others came to a stop. Regardless, humans were dependent on those lights in their vehicles. It was an interesting observation.
There were plenty of additional rules too, which Pinky was adamant on teaching. Only cross at the white strips at the lights, and only when the red hand changed to the green human. Look left, right, then left again before crossing. Pat your head and rub your belly if you see an out-of-state license plate…well, Brain was pretty sure that wasn’t a safety rule since none of the humans were doing it. Just a Pinky thing then.
Everything was alive, from the structures that creaked on the highest buildings to the scattered pebbles underfoot. While he’d known the planet’s atmosphere carried sound far better than New Selene’s, experiencing it for himself was nothing short of fascinating. He’d have to research the exact composition that made it all possible later. Energy flowed towards him in all directions, though the daytime thankfully masked his glowing orbs.
Blending in wasn’t difficult either. Humans were more oblivious than he thought.
“Last corner, Brain!” Pinky exclaimed, twirling happily as they waited for the signal to cross the busy intersection. “Then we’re at the mall! You’ll love it! There’s food and clothing and perfume and toys and-“
“Pinky, what exactly is the purpose of a mall?” Brain asked. Pinky had been rather unclear on that. Mostly he’d just been gushing about all the fun things they could do.
“To do fun fun silly-willy things with your friends and look at stuff you can never afford on a lab mouse’s salary, of course!” Pinky replied.
The signal to cross finally appeared, and Pinky skipped merrily across the white strip, nimbly avoiding getting trampled by several humans walking in the opposite direction. Brain walked at a normal pace, keeping his tail close to his body. He didn’t trust the distracted humans to watch where they were going, especially since their handheld devices seemed to hold more importance than avoiding getting run over heavy wheels.
As Brain stepped onto the sidewalk, an odd texture struck him on the head, knocking his sunglasses askew. Several drops of a lukewarm liquid splashing onto his fur. It didn’t hurt, but it was still an unpleasant surprise. The human next to him didn’t notice. He was too busy yelling into his device and gesturing wildly, then stomped off in a huff. He almost trampled Pinky, who barely managed to pull his tail out of the way before the man’s large foot crushed it.
“Well, he was certainly rude. He littered and didn’t say sorry for dropping the cup on your head!” Pinky complained as he helped Brain to his feet, his blue eyes narrowed at the man’s back as he disappeared into the crowd. He cupped his hands to his mouth and shouted in the man’s general direction. “Hey, litterbug! I bet your mom’s older than you! Narf!”
He gave a firm nod, satisfied with his ludicrous and underwhelming insult.
A furious Pinky. That was an interesting concept, yet anger and Pinky somehow remained mutually exclusive in Brain’s mind.
“Not to worry, Pinky,” Brain said, wiping the liquid away from the base of his antennae. He returned his sunglasses to the proper position. “He’s long gone. I’ve suffered worse.”
Pinky took a deep breath, then took a sniff of the cup’s opening and wrinkled his nose. “Maybe he wouldn’t be so grumpy or litterbuggy if he put more sugar in his cappuccino,” he sighed. “Styrofoam too. Can’t recycle that.”
Dragging the cup over to a nearby garbage can, Pinky hoisted it over his head and trying to stick it through the hole on top. The cup was barely over the rim, Pinky clinging to the metal with one hand and scrabbling for a foothold. He wasn’t giving up without a fight, so Brain grabbed Pinky’s ankles to give him the extra boost needed to push the cup in.
Pinky climbed down once he heard the dull thud from inside the can. “Thanks,” he said gratefully, though he still seemed unusually morose.
Brain walked into a section lined with vegetation and dirt that separated the street from the mall. But Pinky didn’t follow. He was looking into the direction they came from. “The cup’s in the proper place now. Let’s go, Pinky.”
Instead of following Brain, Pinky moved to the curbside, looking down at his feet. Really. Pinky came to the mall for a purpose, however inane it was. He needed to commit to that goal.
Brain growled in frustration, grasping his wayward companion’s wrist and pulling him in the mall’s direction. Pinky stumbled, but hardly budged otherwise. “Quit being stubborn, Pinky. The sun will burn out before you twitch a finger at this rate.”
“But the rest of it…“ Pinky whimpered, pointing to the street.
The road was filled with cups like the one Pinky had just thrown away. Filthy, damp, and unreadable papers lined the curb. A plastic bag tumbled in the wind. There were even a few objects that might’ve been clothing at one point.
Some people passed them by without a care in the world, others clicked their tongue at the mess but hurried on their way. Two people on the other side of the intersection were clothed in white from head to toe, picking away at the garbage with long sticks and depositing them into large bags.
From the sheer amount of garbage that lined the streets, Brain thought it was a futile effort on their part.
This was one of Terra’s downsides. Its inhabitants were destroying the very planet they lived on. It was one of the few observations the Selenian scientists were accurate about.
Pinky reached for a mass of papers, a revolting yellowish-green grime covering its surface, but Brain pulled him back before he could touch it.
“Don’t touch that with your bare hands, Pinky,” Brain scolded. “It’s unsanitary.”
Pinky pouted. Now obstinance. He shifted moods rather quickly, didn’t he? It was baffling.
“We gotta take care of Mother Earth, Brain!” Pinky protested as Brain dragged him into the vegetation. “Or there won’t be any pretty flowers to sniff and the acorn and pinecone elves won’t ever set aside their differences to sign that peace treaty!”
“The databank contained many details regarding the pollution of Terra, Pinky,” Brain admitted. “So I’m aware of the issue. But cleaning this one street would take time we can’t spare. You’re being sidetracked from your goal, and I can’t achieve my own objectives either.”
“Wait…” Pinky murmured. “You’re gonna rule soon, aren’t you? So you can definitely protect the world! That’s wonderful, Brain! I know you can do it!”
The sudden shift in mood caught Brain off-guard.
I can? Brain almost said, but the hope shining in Pinky’s eyes quelled that uncertain response. There was nothing but sincere admiration in that pool of blue, a massive surge of electrons flowing from Pinky’s chest into Brain’s antennae.
He would dare describe the electrons as a positive charge. How? Electrons were supposed to be negative! What kind of anomaly did he have the terrifying pleasure of knowing?
Brain cleared his throat, focusing on the enormous sprawling complex in front of them. Pinky’s blind faith was off-putting, and it was much easier to disregard it. “Of course. I will have unquestionable power in the near-future. Solving these issues will be easier than calibrating an auto-navigation interface.”
Pinky blinked.
“And…I’ll oversee those peace treaty negotiations between the elves.”
Pinky brightened immediately. “Thank you, Brain! Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Long arms snagged Brain and lifted him off the ground in an enormous hug. Brain’s feet kicked out, but the warmth Pinky emitted had the strangest subduing effect. Brain’s antennae weren’t obstructed either, just swept back. Apparently, Pinky learned from last time.
Brain’s chest was oddly warm. Or maybe it was Pinky’s. It was hard to know for certain.
“Your orbs are so glowy,” Pinky said in awe.
And they weren’t achieving anything from this display of sentimentality! With some difficulty, Brain reclaimed his right arm and bopped Pinky on top of his empty noggin.
Pinky immediately let go, stumbling around dizzily and startling a nearby sparrow with his loud giggles. Brain landed on the base of his tail, a brief painful twinge travelling up his spine. In hindsight, he didn’t plan that well. At least there wasn’t another kink.
“That was jolly fun, Brain!” Pinky exclaimed upon recovery.
If he ever had the spare time, he was definitely researching the differences between actual Terran phrases and Pinky-isms.
“I’m sure,” Brain sighed, though he wasn’t sure and never would be, but Pinky didn’t need to know that.
They walked into a large, multi-level structure that Pinky called a ‘parking garage’, which housed a large amount of dormant vehicles. It was similar to the traffic they’d passed earlier, but the drivers were elsewhere. They were packed close, almost touching, and Brain wondered how anyone could possibly get in or out in these tight quarters.
Another few inches closer and the drivers would be completely trapped. That idea had potential.
Pinky hopped onto each yellow marking on the ground, arms flailing as he tried to avoid the gray areas in between. Brain followed at a more sedate pace. Then Pinky gasped and straightened up just as he landed on the last yellow marking before the mall entrance, Brain nearly bumping into him.
“Look, Brain! Somebody’s dropped their wallet!” Pinky gasped, hurrying over to a black object lying against the curb. He undid the zipper and glanced inside. “Egad, that’s a lot of money!”
Brain peeked inside. A wad of folded green paper was tucked inside one of the pockets. “A currency-based economy? Selene and its colonies utilized barter systems,” he said.
Which could be an issue. Brain had originally planned to trade the Conquistador’s spare parts for useful items.
“Oh no, Brain. Currants would get squished in your pants. Then you’d need a really strong stain remover,” Pinky replied. “Besides, this man’s very lucky he can buy so many hats! That’s what I’d do if I had any money!”
He must’ve misheard that. Surely.
“Pinky, tell me you brought the monetary value required for your hat.”
Pinky dug his hand into a fur pocket, but only came out with a piece of fluff. “Hmmm, well, I have some dryer lint! Only money I have is Nicholas the Nickel, and he’s cleaning the cage with—oh.” His ears and tail fell limp under Brain’s glare.
Brain kicked a loose pebble, and it ricocheted harshly off the base of a metal sign. Of all the native species he could’ve chosen for a guide, it just had to be the one individual whose head was denser than a neutron star.
“Sorry, Brain,” Pinky murmured. “I’m not very good at this goal-setting thing, am I?”
He said ‘sorry’ a lot for placation’s sake. But no matter the context, he always sounded sincere. Brain pushed his sunglasses up to his forehead and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Somehow, he couldn’t find it in himself to be irate with Pinky anymore.
“You require more practice,” Brain replied. He glanced at the strange, valuable green papers in the wallet. Funny how they came across the commodity needed at this moment. “However, it’s most fortunate that we should stumble on the item required in trade for your hat.”
The money was all in 20s and 50s, and while Brain was unfamiliar with this currency, he figured there would be enough to spare. He took the money out of the pocket and tucked it under his arm. Then he flipped his sunglasses down, but Pinky tugged the money out of his grip before he could walk off.
“No, Brain! That’s stealing!” Pinky protested, slipping the money back into the wallet. “This rightfully belongs to a Mr. Joe Lamont! We have to take this wallet to Lost and Found now!”
Pinky’s stubborn side came out randomly, it seemed.
“The money is here at your convenience, Pinky. You have to use every asset possible to achieve your goal,” Brain said.
“What if Mr. Lamont needs this?” Pinky tapped a card that displayed a human’s photo along with other identifying information. Then he pointed to a small picture of a man and woman. “What if he needs this for anniversary or birthday presents, or else his wife won’t be happy and he’ll be sad cause he left his wallet somewhere and what if someone picks it up and won’t give it back? Cause that’s just mean!”
“Then he should’ve been more careful with such a valuable item,” Brain snapped. Pinky made a noise of disbelief and turned his back to Brain. “So take one or two of the papers for yourself and give the rest back.”
While he’d prefer to keep the entire wallet for future use, it seemed he would just have to compromise with Pinky.
“He won’t notice.”
“NARF!” Pinky retorted.
His assumption was wrong. Pinky wouldn’t accept a compromise either. It was a losing battle, and as much as hated conceding defeat, no other options presented themselves.
“Fine! Do what makes you happy! See if I care!” Brain shouted at Pinky’s back.
He was only presenting the most logical solution. It wasn’t his fault this idiot wasn’t taking the opportunity! And none of this was helping him find Snowball or conquer Terra either!
“Returning the wallet would make me happy, Brain,” Pinky said with conviction.
“Why?” Brain asked. This wasn’t the type of goal-setting he’d pictured at all.
“It feels right.”
Tasks should be performed with efficiency in mind, not for emotion’s sake. But it seemed that keeping Pinky in his normal euphoric state would be in Brain’s best interest for now.
“Alright, let’s return that wallet. Neither you nor I shall use any of the money for personal reasons. We’re heading to the…Lost and Found?” Brain said reluctantly. He took a deep breath, reminding himself to keep Pinky in a good mood. “You lead the way. I’m not familiar with this locale.”
Pinky faced Brain, and the bright smile was back. Brain looked away. He wasn’t doing this out of altruism, and Pinky needed to learn that.
“Yup, it’s like the Island of Misfit Toys, but for car keys, jackets, and other things too!” Pinky exclaimed, hoisting the wallet above his head. “And now it’s for Mr. Lamont’s wallet!”
The satellite images never pinpointed a geographical location named the Island of Misfit Toys. Probably situated next to a more prominent landmass then.
“Welcome to Macy’s, Brain!” Pinky cheered as they entered a pristine white building. “For all your expensive brand clothing and Thanksgiving Day needs!”
The store was brightly lit, so Brain kept his sunglasses down. Numerous bottles of varying colors were on display. Women shouted from behind their counters, urging passersby to purchase their products. Most people walked by quickly, looking rather uncomfortable and twitchy until they were far from the display area. Only two women seemed interested at all, spraying misty clouds on tiny strips of paper and sniffing them curiously.
“What are they doing?” Brain whispered as he shuffled closer to Pinky for protection’s sake. There was a predatory gleam in those workers’ eyes, and he didn’t like it one bit.
Even Pinky with his near-perpetual cheer seemed uncomfortable, his fingers anxiously drumming against the wallet. “Poit. Selling perfume. All sorts of lovely scents, but this is definitely why online shopping is more popular these days.”
Before Brain could respond, one of the workers suddenly rushed towards them with a manic smile that showed way too many teeth.
“Hi, you wanna buy some perfume buy one and ya get another half price ‘til May!” she shrieked. Without giving them a chance to respond, she sprayed perfume directly in their faces.
Pink mist engulfed them and obstructed their vision. A pungent scent clogged Brain’s nose, trickling its way down his throat, and he let out a hacking cough to expel it. Pinky’s wheeze suddenly turned into a yelp, and by the time the mist cleared, the woman was walking away with the wallet in hand.
Pinky clung to the wallet desperately, his legs kicking out as he was hoisted into the air. “Please, miss! Brain and I—ehem—Brain and I need to give this wallet to Lost and Found so Mr. Lamont can buy his wife nice presents!”
“Oh, it’s a sizeable wallet you’ve got there too!” the woman exclaimed. Brain found her pitch highly grating. “Let’s see, with money like that you can get lilac, honeysuckle, eau de escargot, a perfume that smells like wet goat hair sponsored by Gwenyth Paltrow-“
“I’m sure they smell lovely, but-“
“Very lovely indeed!” the woman spoke over Pinky, who could only dangle helplessly.
Brain gritted his teeth and hurried after them, shaking off his earlier disorientation. When she stopped to jabber about perfume again, he slammed his tail onto her bare ankle and administered a quick shock. Startled, she dropped Pinky the wallet. Brain darted between her sandals just in time to catch Pinky, who clutched the wallet to his chest, slightly dizzy from his sudden fall.
The perfume bottle was aimed in their direction again.
Brain took off with Pinky in his arms, running as fast as he could when those dreaded sandals got too close for comfort. He allowed Pinky to safekeep the wallet, since he was already so protective of it.
“Relentless scrik!” Brain panted as the woman hurled various sales pitches behind them. Pinky wasn’t heavy, but the wallet was a different story. And Pinky made it look so simple!
Well, Pinky was simple in general. Perhaps it was a distributive effect.
“Brain, go into the carpeted area!” Pinky shouted. “She can’t follow us out of her department!”
Deciding to trust Pinky’s word, Brain ran straight onto the carpet, barely dodging someone’s shoe in time, and his foot caught on the raised border between the carpet and tile. He fell onto his face, one of the sunglasses’ handles digging into his fur on impact. Pinky and the wallet tumbled across the floor, coming to a stop a short distance away.
As Pinky predicted, the woman stopped chasing them.
“Annnnd there goes my bonus,” she muttered dejectedly. She slammed the perfume bottle onto a nearby counter, startling a sleepy coworker who toppled off her chair in surprise and plastered on a fake smile for a passing customer. He glanced at her briefly and walked away with a grimace.
“Sooo…welcome to Macy’s?” Pinky laughed nervously. “On the bright side, we smell like radish roses now!”
Brain threw a button at him.
o-o-o-o-o
They kept to the corners after that fiasco, hoping to avoid drawing attention to a moving wallet. Pinky marveled at the various styles advertised by a human-like object he called a ‘Manny Kin’. He prattled on about the models and clothing, and Brain tuned him out to better observe the humans.
The younger ones appeared restless and bored out of their minds. The adults often stopped to admire an article of clothing, checked the price, and shook their heads before moving onto the next item. Everyone was dressed in a far more casual style than the clothing on sale.
“Oh, here’s the mall center! It’s where all the real fun happens, Brain!” Pinky said, his tail wagging in excitement. “Plus, the Lost and Found is just beyond this store. We’ll make Mr. Lamont happy in no time!”
Instead of a back wall, there was a large, doorless opening that led out of the store. Pinky danced his way across the boundary with a cheerful goodbye to the Macy’s sign. As Brain stepped into the wide open space, he was astounded by the sheer scale of the mall center.
He’d expected a plain corridor that connected different sections, not a massive space with a roof that appeared to touch the sky. The population density was much higher than in Macy’s, humans loudly chatting among themselves, shouting at consumers to purchase wares, and swinging large bags from their arms.
There were two floors above their heads, connected to the ground by staircases and escalators. The escalators seemed by far the popular choice for people moving between floors. Brain felt dizzy just looking at that open space above them, and he decided to focus only straight ahead for now.
Dozens of smaller stores lined the walls. Most of them sold clothes like Macy’s, and Brain couldn’t fathom why humans needed so many stores just to sell clothes. A fresh, rich scent wafted through the air, and though it was much more pleasant than the perfume, it made him somewhat famished as well.
“Look, Brain! The cookie shop! Don’t they smell divine?” Pinky asked with a dreamy sigh. “They taste delicious too!”
“Another one of your foods?” Brain asked, though it fell on deaf ears. Pinky had gone over to the display case, practically drooling on it as he admired the cookies inside, the wallet leaning against his side.
Brain stood on the other side of the wallet, just in case anyone had any ideas about stealing it.
At first, Brain thought the cookies were classified by ingredient, but one of the groups was labelled ‘snickerdoodle’ and Brain was of the opinion that no sane planet in the universe would ever call anything by that strange moniker.
“Let’s be on our way, Pinky,” Brain said, because there wasn’t anything productive he could do while his Terran guide was staring longingly at cookies. “That wallet won’t return itself.”
“Okay, Brain…” Pinky said forlornly. His hands squeaked sadly against the glass, but before he could pick up the wallet, a woman came out from behind the counter, her dark hair tied back in a bun. She approached them with a napkin in one hand.
Brain grabbed Pinky’s hand and the wallet, tensing up in case he had to yank them away at a moment’s notice.
But the woman made no move to snatch the wallet. She only squatted next to them and held out the napkin, revealing two small pieces of cookies. “Free sample?” she asked. “They’re fresh out of the oven.”
“Thanks so much...Laura!” Pinky read the name tag pinned to her shirt, then snatched up one of the pieces and shoved it into his mouth. Crumbs stained his muzzle. “Narrrrf! That was dee-lish!”
Cautiously, Brain took the second piece and bit into it. Sweetness flooded his taste buds, and he quickly finished his portion, the cookie melting in his mouth. If anything, Pinky had understated how delicious it tasted.
“It’s exquisite,” he said to Laura, who beamed right back.
“Glad you enjoyed it!” Laura said. She provided them with wet napkins so they could rid themselves of the remaining crumbs, and they left the cookie shop behind.
“She was so nice, Brain!” Pinky said, safeguarding the wallet once again. “Sugar cookies are my favorites! Well, after chocolate chip and macadamia and snickerdoodle-“
Brain nodded. “She didn’t steal anything while our guard was down. Count that in your definition of ‘nice’.”
Thankfully, they didn’t have to walk far to get to the Lost and Found. Brain hoped to put this wallet nonsense behind them in the next half hour. They had objectives to fulfill.
The Lost and Found was in a hallway that led to an exit from the mall, and Brain made a mental note of its location. He refused to set foot in that Macy’s ever again.
A podium was situated in front of the doors, and the worker behind it nervously held out a box to an irate man in a formal suit similar to the merchandise at Macy’s. He snatched the box and threw several articles of clothing and various lost items to the ground.
Pinky lifted the wallet above his head, his feet tapping in excitement. “That’s the man! He looks exactly like his pictures!”
Mr. Lamont was practically tearing the box apart without any regard for the other lost belongings, and the worker’s eyes were wide with fear. That didn’t bode well. Brain grabbed Pinky’s tail, but it slipped out of his grasp. The idiot had no sense of impending danger and walked right up to the belligerent man.
“You’re hiding it, aren’t you?” Mr. Lamont snarled, slamming his hand against the podium. The worker cowered behind his chair. “Hand over my wallet this instant, or you’ll be out of a job.”
The worker paled.
Brain rushed over to try and pull Pinky back. Mr. Lamont hadn’t noticed them yet. There was still a chance they could slip the wallet among the other items and leave without detection.
“Hi, Mr. Lamont! You dropped your wallet in the parking garage!” Pinky greeted. “Me and my friend here were just taking it to Lost and Found, and what a coinkydink we’d find you here too! Isn’t that great?”
Pinky held the wallet up expectantly, that silly smile never leaving his face.
Mr. Lamont snatched the wallet out of Pinky’s hands, wrinkling his nose haughtily.
“You’re welcome!” Pinky chirped, then happily turned to Brain. “We did it!”
Pinky had done most of the work, but if he wanted to share credit, Brain chose not to correct him. “Yes. Now we may return to what we originally-“
Mr. Lamont’s foot slammed into Pinky’s side, too fast for Brain to shout a warning. Pinky yelped as he was thrown into a wall. There he laid in a crumpled heap, hands wrapped around his abdomen for protection.
“How much did you take, thief?” Mr. Lamont spat. He cast a looming shadow over Pinky, who whimpered in pain, tears forming in pitiful blue eyes.
It was such a foreign appearance for the idiotic but kindhearted mouse.
A strange fury overtook Brain, one that was much different from dealing with troublesome ships, arguing with Snowball, or frustration with his current predicament. It brewed in the depth of his stomach and spread through the rest of his body.
Brain whipped off his sunglasses, placing himself firmly between Pinky and the ungrateful reprobate.
“He stole nothing from you,” Brain growled. “Count the money yourself, you repugnant excuse of an organism, unless your mind has degraded far beyond the ability to perform simple arithmetic.”
“And just who do you think you are?” Mr. Lamont sneered.
Brain crossed his arms proudly. He refused to cower before the Terran. “A genetically enhanced Selenian mos seeking dominion over your world.”
And when all was said and done, Mr. Lamont would be bowing down to him.
But that glorious fantasy was cut short. Brain saw the black sole of a shoe, there was a forceful pressure against his body. His limbs refused to cooperate. He couldn’t reach his tail for self-defense, his heart pumping faster and faster until it couldn’t compensate for the lack of electrons anymore-
The crushing pressure vanished.
Faraway voices blended together, one angry, one meek, and one familiar.
Someone lifted his head, a gentle hand moving his antennae aside, then slowly pushed his head down until he rested against soft fabric. Brain’s fingers twitched. His full mobility would take several minutes to return, but this wasn’t a terrible position to wait it out.
A drop of moisture fell on his face, followed by several more.
Rain?
He’d heard of that particular climate pattern, but had never seen it in action before.
Brain opened his eyes, craning his neck to see this curious phenomenon. But he was met with Pinky’s tearful gaze instead.
He’d learned much of Terran culture during this expedition, but was it really worth all these ridiculous emotions?
“Stop dampening my fur with your lacrimal ducts, Pinky,” Brain said, his voice hoarse.
Pinky managed a giggle, inanity that was far more preferable to all this crying. “Sorry, Brain. I don’t have any milk. But are you okay? P-p-poit.”
“I’ll need several minutes to recuperate. Then I’ll be ready.” Brain felt his cheeks heat up from the proximity. Mobility returned to his right leg, and he couldn’t wait for this mortifying close contact to be over. “Where’s Mr. Lamont?”
Pinky scowled at the name, an expression that looked odd on him, but not wholly unwelcome. “Mr. Lameany called you vermin and left with his wallet. But you’re not vermin, Brain! You’re my best friend!”
A childish insult. He’d have to teach Pinky about using more sophisticated language.
“And you…are Pinky,” he sighed, patting Pinky’s arm.
Pinky smiled brightly. At least Brain could strive towards one of his objectives. They weren’t quite through with business at the mall though. He’d have to tough it out.
But for now, he settled back against Pinky, who happily taught him the age-old Terran method of settling arguments known as rock-paper-scissors.
AN: FINISHED AT LAST.
I am not making stuff up as I write I totally had a plan for this fic y’all can’t prove nothing.
Brain gets to learn good and bad stuff about Terra, poor Pinky gets hurt. These mice can’t even go the mall without something happening, can they?
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