#sometimes I gotta go to a different universe for a few centuries to be Strange And Fae then come back to the exact time and place I left

[getranched]

This is the note I leave on my bed when I go to Moulder in the Greenpath

[kirishwima]

For scenarios... could I request rfa accidentally meeting MC before the party? no drama like "there's a bomb so I gotta run to your place" they just accidentally meet somewhere and MC recognises them from the pictures in the chatrooms and goes to greet them. Rika's apartment can't be far away from where the others live so it should be impossible. (if you can find a way to squeeze in V that's okay but you don't have to)

i really liked this idea! hope i executed it well ^^

YOOSUNG:

MC and he were actually studying at the same university, but different subjects!

They had a common elective course of modern history though, one that Yoosung’s friends convinced him to take with them since they could share notes, and MC simply had an interest in it, and well, needed the extra credits

Neither of them really noticed each other at first-it’s a big classroom and it’s in the afternoons, so oftentimes Yoosung just skipped lmao

Once though Yoosung’s friends couldn’t make it to the class so he offered to go and take notes for the day, and rushed into the class a little late, so he took the first seat available-right next to MC

He struggled to both write and listen to the professor at the same time, and eventually he got a little behind with his notes. MC noticed his cute frustrated face and shared their notes with him, tapping him on the shoulder as they quietly pushed their papers to him

Yoosung’s happy face was stuck in MC’s mind-he wore his feelings on his sleeve and it was so refreshing to see someone this innocent at this day and age.

They became fast friends afterwards-exchanging facebook accounts and talking via messenger often, sometimes about the class, sometimes about anything and everything else

They even had study sessions to help each other study!

Near the end of the semester, and right when this extra class ended, is when MC stumbled upon the RFA messenger-and one look at Yoosung’s name along with his shooting star emoji got them excited to realise there’s a familiar face amongst this strangeness

The rest of the members found their friendship cute, and Zen constantly tried to play match-maker for the two, telling Yoosung that ‘he should’ve told the RFA he has such a cute girlfriend’ lmao

(*cue Yoosung flushing redder than Seven’s hair*)

ZEN:

No, contrary to what you might think, MC wasn’t his fan-they did however hear about Zen through friends interested in musicals, and agreed he was handsome

No, instead, they met him whilst helping out a friend who was working backstage at one of Zen’s shows-they needed help finishing up painting of some background sets, and MC offered to help them in their free time, and as a return their friend offered MC tickets to the show

Zen met MC whilst rehearsing-he knew MC’s friend and went over to say hi, and met MC, who he of course instantly tried to flirt with, even though he was half-kidding about it

Well, flirtatious nature aside, the two really hit it off, and became good friends-not that they were super close or anything, but Zen would stop and chat with MC after rehearsals, and he invited MC out along with the rest of the crew after the first successful run of the show

He didn’t exchange any social media accounts with MC, because quite frankly, he doesn’t have any lmao, and MC’s phone was broken so they couldn’t give him their number either

Zen insisted that if they leave it up to fate, they’ll meet again, and well-he was right

Lo and behold, MC joined the RFA, and whose face is the first they see in an oh-so-modest selfie?

Yup, Zen the Knight it is

His first words when he realised who MC was were ’See? I told you fate would find a way!’

Sure Zen,,,sure lol

JUMIN:

MC actually scored an interview as Jumin’s executive secretary!

They were so thrilled about it, and did their best to calm their nerves before the interview, knowing that being jittery and anxious would lead them nowhere

Well, they were more than shocked at Jumin’s cold behaviour, but they did their best to match his pace, answering each of his questions without missing a beat, mentioning their credentials without bragging about them

Honestly, Jumin was very pleased-he saw a perfect candidate across him, albeit a little inexperienced due to age, but that didn’t really matter to him-with a little training they’d be perfect for the job

Well, eventually though a better candidate came along, so MC was left with the rejection e-mail in their inbox, disappointed but ready to move on

They had all but forgotten about Jumin Han until stumbling onto the RFA and meeting him again, confused and surprised at the difference of his character in the chatrooms

They didn’t mention the interview at all, but Jumin has the memory of an elephant-one look at MC’s name reminded him of how he met them, and he reassured them that they were incredibly good at the interview and left an impression on him

It takes some getting used to his different attitude, but it’s refreshing to see a man they thought of as cold and calculated be a complete cat-loving goof-and it’s honestly one of the things that makes MC fall for Jumin

And vice-versa, Jumin remembers MC’s serious confident attitude at the interview, and is pleasantly surprised to learn what a gentle, kind person they are in the messenger

When they meet Jaehee though….boy are they glad they didn’t get the job lmao

*pat pat* it’s okay Jaehee…hang in there baby

JAEHEE:

MC was working part-time as a barista at a coffee shop near C&R!

It was a small independent shop, hidden in-between bigger franchises, but their coffee was great, and if there’s one person that loves good coffee, well, it’s Jaehee

The first time she visited the shop she was at a loss of what to order, the possibilities endless with all these brews of coffee they offered, and MC found Jahee’s flustered face adorable

They chatted her up to see what kind of flavours she likes and dislikes, and ended up making her a delicious cold brew with vanilla cream-just sweet enough to give her that sugar rush she needed, but not enough to hide the flavour of the coffee itself

Well, Jaehee was more than thrilled both at the taste, and at the cute cashier *wink wonk*, so she quickly became a regular at the shop

Yes this is your good ol’ cliche coffee AU DON’T JUDGE ME

She’d always stop for a cup of coffee before work, and would secretly be happy on the days she ended up meeting MC during their shift-she’d try and visit during her breaks too, when time would allow it, and would sit and sometimes chat with MC when the cafe wasn’t too busy

MC eventually learnt some stuff about Jaehee, that she works as a secretary to some annoying cat-loving rich dude (lmao sorry Jumin), that she loves coffee, and that her dream is to eventually open her own cafe, if circumstances allow it

One day, Jaehee went to the shop, knowing that MC had a shift at that time, but they were nowhere to be found-their co-workers said MC called in that they can’t make it today because something urgent came up, so Jahee nodded along, wondering if MC was okay

….well, she didn’t have to worry for too long, as not soon after she got her coffee and headed back to the office, a familiar name popped up on the RFA chatroom

Yup, this is a coffee shop au alright-just with some hacker and cat-loving twists lol

SEVEN:

You can never convince me that this boy is not an active reddit user, and you most definitely can Not convince me he isn’t in any and all paranormal and horror forums either

So he’s scrolling around on reddit one day, posting memes and trolling people, when he stumbles upon a really interesting thread someone made about the origins of mothman and possible sightings outside the USA

He’s hooked and spends a lot of time reading through the thread, intrigued by the sophisticated way the OP wrote their points and how well-thought of their evidences were

He started commenting on the thread and talking with the OP, who he soon became online friends with-he loved to chat with them about spooky stuff, cryptids, conspiracy theories and so forth

He didn’t talk much about himself, and would sometimes even make up some lies because he didn’t want to seem like a creep that won’t even share his name, but he couldn’t give out his info that easily; he did however tell them his code name, 707

Eventually they started talking outside of reddit too, through facebook messenger (i mean…we already know this dude has a facebook account and posts his cars there lmao), and is thrilled to find out more about his new online friend, MC, and to even find out they live far closer than he thought!

Well, he gets used to talking with MC almost everyday, and it’s actually one of the few highlights of his day-he’s never really had someone care for him the way this person, someone he hasn’t actually ever met in real life does. He wonders if they’d change their mind about him if they ever met him in real life, but shakes the thoughts away-it’s not as if this could ever develop into something more than an online friendship anyway

Well…or so you thought, Seven lol

When a stranger comes barging into the RFA messenger, he’s instantly tracing their steps and finding out all their internet activities, and lo and behold-whose facebook account is this that he ended up finding? Why, it’s none other than MC!

The moment Seven found out, he got suspicious; was MC just pretending to be online friends with him to hack into the RFA? Were they stealing information without him knowing?

It hurt to have to think this way, but how else could they be linked?

When he slowly found out MC was actually innocent, he was more than relieved-he secretly happy that he could now chat with them both online and on the RFA app, that he could share parts of himself with MC that he couldn’t before

to say he fell for them is the understatement of the century lmao

V/JIHYUN:

When he first started with photography, he took some classes at a local university to learn more about professional photography, photoshop e.t.c

And MC happened to be taking the same classes as him!

They often sat next to each other, not talking at first, but then their professors would sometimes ask them to pair up to work on assignments, and MC ended up paring up with Jihyun more than once

They became fast friends-Jihyun was a little distant, but always friendly in a cold, aloof way, and always polite, and he found MC to be so warm and gentle, he was naturally drawn to them

He did feel attracted to them, but never made a move-he was still struggling with so many things himself, he didn’t want to drag anyone else into his mess. He just wanted to focus on photography and that’s that

So whilst they talked a lot during university, as soon as they graduated, V drifted away, and when he even changed his phone number all communication was lost between the two

Well, time went on, and MC slowly began to forgot about the mint-coloured man they met, until they stumbled into the RFA chatroom

They didn’t realise it was Jihyun at first-he did change his name after all, and everyone in the char referred to him as V, but the way he texted was very familiar, even though MC couldn’t quite understand why

When he finally introduced himself, they were stunned. They didn’t want to ask him if he remembers them though-it’d be too embarrassing if he said he didn’t

But of course V did remember them-the moment Seven told him their name after his background check, all the memories came flooding back, opening up a Pandora’s box in his chest where he locked all those feelings away

Even if they’re back within arms’ reach, and even if they seem interested in him though…it’s useless. He’s far beyond repair, and if he didn’t want to drag MC into his mess then, he most certainly doesn’t want to drag them into it now

So he becomes distant again, more so than ever before but MC isn’t having it-they call him out on his bullshit, and tell him to square up and be honest otherwise they’re leaving

So V reluctantly admits to it all-to remembering MC, to his feelings towards them, and to his own cowardliness back then, and how it’s now too late to change anything; even if he wants to. God, he wants to.

hi I’m soph and i love to torture my favs lol

-send me a mystic messenger scenario/prompt for character reactions!-

[sol1056]

hey im the anon who asked about how you knew the stuff, sorry i wasn't too clear on what. i just read the post explaining EPs and how the behind the scene stuff worked and i wanted to know how you knew all that, like are you involved in the industry? or just a nerd?

gotcha! Well, remember how back in S1/S2, people kept pointing out Hunk could be… awfully nosy? always getting into things, asking questions?

I was over here going, YES HUNK IS MY PEOPLE. 

It’s a hallmark of a certain type of engineer: insatiable curiosity, and never satisfied with only one answer, always sure there’s more to discover. Okay, we’re not all engineers — a lot of us are Russian Lit majors — but the key is our drive to discover. We take apart, put back together, connect dots close and far, turn things around and study them from a new direction. We’re those people who randomly show up in your part of the building, poke our heads in the room and say, “so, what do all y’all do here? what’s this do? hey, what’s that?”

Despite the fact that most of us seem to be (strangely) strong introverts, that doesn’t stop us. We’ve got questions for everyone. We’ll talk to total strangers all day if we’re on the trail of a particularly interesting idea. In a nutshell, we’re utterly shameless.

I did post-production back when NLE was relatively new and the compositing applications required massive nearly-mainframe computing power. I was mostly in the sfx/cg areas, but I weaseled my way into the color suite pretty regularly. I sat in on editing sessions and was a happy lunch-fetching lackey if it got me a chance to watch the compositing team. Any lull meant a chance to chat up directors, cinematographers, producers, etc. I totally took advantage. 

It’s been awhile since I did that – and since then I’ve been a roady, a mental health & substance abuse admin, a doorman, and even owned a bookstore, before going corporate. But for every wacky thing I’ve done, I’ve also kept in touch with people I met. Frex: the friend who got me the post-production job is now an executive producer. Yes, I do call him with questions. He’s used to it. If he doesn’t know an answer, he sends me to someone who does. (Another reason we’ve been friends for so long.) One answer is never sufficient, never a reason to stop there.

Meet one novelist, get introduced to six more, and three of them write for TV. Oh, that’s handy. Should save that contact, could be useful someday. It’s actually rare for someone to say no, come to think of it. idk, as long as I can get access, I can usually get the person to tell me something I can use. 

However, since my actual area of expertise applies across many industries, I’ve worked all kinds of places. A lot of it’s client-facing, and if you think that means I’m not wandering around the client site poking my head into rooms and cheerfully interviewing people on the spot, then you haven’t been paying attention.

Now that I work at a multinational corporation, I have literally thousands of people in my network, including everyone who’s moved on to a new place. You might be surprised how many people are fine with, “hey, I work at X with Y, and Y told me you’d know this.” Of course, everyone has a bias and a view limited to their own experience, so you can’t stop there. You can’t really understand a situation without knowing the agendas of all the players. You gotta ask a bunch of people, make sure you’re getting the most rounded sense of things. 

Not really a hardship for me. It’s kinda the whole point. 

People are people everywhere (outside cultural quirks), and it’s rare I’m ever researching a single person (I’m not an investigative journalist, if you were wondering). Most of the time, I’m looking for the industry-based cultural expectations. As in, “given X and Y, what would someone who does A generally think is a reasonable action, in this situation?”  

The key is to have a believable reason for asking, and being a writer definitely qualifies. “I’m researching for a story, and I have a character who do X. I wanted to know if it’s realistic for them to know Y. Who do you think would be the best person to ask?” I frequently cold-call, and I never ask “is there someone there,” I ask who they think is the best person. A lot of times it ends up being someone that the phone operator knows (personally or by reputation) who’s full of bizarre trivia and enjoys a chance to show it off. (Plus, it’s amazing what you can learn about a person from all the other subtle cues people are unaware they’re telling, when they’re focused on their area of expertise.)

That’s how I ended up interviewing the Director of the DEA about whether a non-US-university degree would satisfy the education requirement. His letter of introduction got me monthly lunches for awhile with the DEA director in my city. (Oh, the stories I heard.) It’s how I learned about sheep subsidies from one of the top execs at the USDA, and that there’s a single surviving Civil War widow still getting a VA pension. Going in person is even more fun. You could wind up talking to one of the very few artists in the world whose speciality is touching up pre-Renaissance books so the repairs aren’t visible. Or the art historian whose job is going through the nation’s attic and identifying century-old fakes. 

I’ve talked to embassy officials from five different countries, NASA biophysicists and astrophysicists, OSHA inspectors, Nobel prize-winning economists, police detectives, celebrity chefs, environmental lawyers, arena-level sound-people, race-car drivers, potters, opera singers, patent examiners, train mechanics, fire marshals, foley artists, and club DJs. I’ve interviewed fashion photographers, farriers, puppeteers, lighting designers, Catholic bishops, bioethicists, rabbis, fighter pilots, public radio personalities, newspaper editors, chemists, club organizers, war correspondents, Episcopalian nuns (yes they exist), textile artists, prison architects, midwives, cabinetmakers, tall ship sailors, haute couture seamstresses, and civil engineers. On and on and on. 

Don’t neglect official avenues, either. The Department of Labor, the International Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, the Screen Writers’ Guild, the list is nearly endless — any organization, union, or federal/state dept that sets or guides policy. Everyone has a bias, so what people consider normal is sometimes… not. Or they just didn’t know (or saw no need to know, the fools) the reason for A over B. You have to check the rules, because a discrepancy between what you’re told should be done versus what people tell you is actually done… is also useful to know. 

(Labor practices are definitely one of those areas, since federal labor policy is something every company must observe. It’s the law. So when a workplace seems to be violating the law, it raises a lot of interesting questions.) 

And finally, of course, there’s traditional research. Textbooks written by people in an industry can be particularly interesting, especially if it’s a book meant for readers outside that industry (which usually means a lot of firsthand anecdotes to round out the gaps). Popular articles, academic essays, post-mortem white papers, TED talks, interviews. You need to do your basic homework, because there’s no waste of someone’s time quite like asking them a question that’s patently absurd once you get past common assumptions. 

I once explained the plot of a popular SF show to a NASA astrophysicist, and his response was simply, “Every word you used was English, but those words in that order make absolutely no sense at all.” Kind of a dead-end, there. You can’t come at a top-level expert with intro-level questions. 

Since I don’t always know who I’ll stumble over next, being an information sponge means I at least have a whole encyclopedia of analogies. If I can find  common ground (cars and houses are two of the best), I can at least get a basic idea of the person’s meaning. “Oh, so it’s like when you turn the key in the ignition, and the lights don’t come on because the battery is dead?” 

It’s asking the right questions, using an open and friendly approach, and having the right timing. Remember: there is no such thing as unskilled labor; there is only undervalued labor. That is, their time is also valuable, so be brief, open, and sincere. Treat every person as if they’re an authority in something, even if you haven’t figured out what that is. 

The world is a massively complex place, and contains more things than are dreamt of in our philosophies, all of it waiting to be discovered.

Or, the shorter version:

btw: I don’t actually recommend going in person to the Dept of the Interior, though. You’ll get lost. Like, instantly. That place is MASSIVE.

[hallowedmuses]

𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞

SUMMARY: While on a mission to keep the Lunar New Year Festival safe from a potential terrorist attack, Natasha and Bucky run into an unlikely duo that throws their whole mission for an unexpected loop. TRIGGERS: Flashbacks, PTSD, Trauma mentions WRITTEN WITH: @ofcupidslove, @ofhellsbells, @ofredsolider​

BELPHEGOR: In a big festival like this, it was a given which part of it Belphegor would be most drawn to. They might've been the sin of sloth, but they enjoyed food nearly as much as sleep. Plus, the food court, let them sit down and not have to walk around as much. It was a good setting for the game they were playing with Cupid too. "So those two, they're in love?" Belphegor asked, indicating at a girl who was holding onto another man's arm and resting her head on his shoulder. This was a game that they'd played for centuries in an attempt to get Belphegor to better understand love. They were never really any good at it, but after figuring out how they felt about Cupid, it was getting easier.

BUCKY: Natasha had told him he couldn't stay hidden in his apartment forever hence why she three out this invite to Chinatown. What she neglected to mention was she was on a case that he now had no choice but to join. "You know darling, one would say your skills for muiltasking is extraordinary." He mused looking at her while they decided where their target date was going to be. He found himself looking around interested more in the food then doing an actual mission but owed Nat alot over the years so he'd forgive this sneaky way of work. "I don't know about you but I could go for some fried rice."

CUPID: Cupid was stressed which was probably why Raphael made her leave the library and come here. But still, even here, all she could think about was the big spell she had to perform in a few days. Belphegor tried to keep Cupid out of her own head which Cupid greatly appreciated as they played an old game of guessing who was in love. She glanced over at the couple in question and smiled. There were, indeed, complicated feelings there. "Yes, they are," she agreed before pausing thoughtfully. "It's more of a rekindling, I think." She felt loss and longing all at once. These people were in love once and they'd lost each other somehow. She was happy they'd found each other again. It gave her hope that maybe if she lost Bells to the truth, they'd come back to her in another life time or another universe or maybe in the Empty.

NATASHA: "It's the years of experience," she teased. "All my missions have side missions. Usually though, the side mission is to get Steve a date. Was he always this picky or is that a recent thing?" she asked. Bucky had been holed up in his apartment for so long, she had to think of some way to get him out. Unfortunately, she'd also been assigned to this mission so she had to kill two birds with one stone somehow. "I gotta say, you're doing better at blending in than he does on these kinds of missions though," she grinned. It seemed so natural walking around the food court pretending they we just on a date. Their target was some sort of arms dealer. He was supposed to meet a buyer here today and provide him with some alien tech that was likely going to be used to disrupt one of the fireworks shows tonight. Natasha planned to interrupt the sale before it got that far. She watched as the target took a seat at a far off booth; he was waiting for the buyer. "You're right. Best to not kick ass on an empty stomach. We might be here for a while." She got in line at one of the kiosks. Now this was really multitasking.

BELPHEGOR: They smiled brightly as Cupid confirmed that the couple was in love. They really were getting better at this.  Dean and Chastity had both been giving them dating advice for what to do when they actually would go on a date with Cupid for her birthday, but they understood that watching other couples was good for figuring out what to do too. “A rekindling?” they questioned. “If they love each other, why would they need to do that?” Maybe their understanding wasn't as good as they'd like to think it was.

CUPID: Bells always took an interest in love even if they didn't understand it. Cupid had to admit they were getting better at noticing physical signs that people were in love. She was proud of them for making the effort and taking the time to learn. "I don't know their story," she admitted as she observed the couple at the food court. She could tell they cared about each other, but she couldn't be sure what had happened to make it so. "But there are any number of reasons people rekindle love. Maybe..." her eyes got shiny as she imagined the possibilities. "Maybe they got separated somehow. Like maybe she went off to college and he went off to war and now he's back. Or maybe she moved here to be a big shot lawyer and he stayed in their hometown and fate just brought them back together again." She liked making up stories about the couples they saw sometimes, no matter how fanciful those stories were sometimes. "Circumstances sometimes separate people, but if they love each other, they always find a way back to one another."

BUCKY: "its years of meddling, darling" he teased back chuckling softly shaking his head " Steve was hard to get into the dating world, I usually supplied the dates for our double date but none really saw him as the guy they'd go for which in turn sort of made the date fall apart." He mused honestly before looking around he supposed  there were worse ways to spend his day and being with Nat felt...normal in a sense she knew what buttons not to push to make him conference enough to be out. "That's because I'm a natural flirt and right for these missions." He winked at the other before nodding his head he had their target I'm sights hence why he suggested that specific food plus he was getting rather famished hanging about all these stalls. " yes though we've both done it before. We should allow certain luxuries on this date" he teased before moving to look over the menu keeping Nat close as he felt eyes on them something he rather hated.  He leaned in acting like he was whispering sweet nothings in her ear " I feel eyes on us left corner booth."

BELPHEGOR: Part of the fun about this game was just seeing how passionate Cupid got about it. Her excitement was contagious, and it was relaxing just hearing her make up potential love stories for all these people they didn't know. “So it's like us then?” They asked. “We knew each other in Heaven. The war split us up, but we found each other again.” Of course for a lot of that, Belphegor didn't know they loved her , but they still felt like it was similar. “And we'll always find our way back to each other too.” They nodded, certain in that fact.

They turned their attention when someone sat at the other side of their table. “No offense,” he said, “but I didn't expect you to look like this.”

CUPID: "Yeah," she smiled as they found the connections. "Kinda like us." She blushed when they said they'd always find their way back to her. She liked to believe that was true. Even in death, they'd found each other in the Empty. If the void ever won, Cupid knew she would go with Bells but she kept faith that she would find them, even in the darkness and vastness of the Empty. She wouldn't stop looking. She was pulled out of her thoughts as someone slid in across from them. Cupid didn't recognize the gentleman, but the man seemed to know them somehow. "What were you expecting? A baby in a diaper with a heart shaped bow?" she sighed. She hated that rumor.

NATASHA: "Meddling, spy work...it's all the same," she smiled before shaking her head. "While the super soldier serum enhanced his physique, he still seems to think he's scrawny Steve. At least when it comes to romance." He was still socially awkward but it was endearing. She'd had a lot of fun with it. "Keep your eyes peeled. Maybe we'll find him someone with shared life experience. She might be 95 though," she teased. She snorted when he said he was a natural flirt. "So, what you're saying is you're a honeypot? James Barnes, a master at sexpionage. We'll have to update your resume." She smiled softly when he said they ought to be allowed some luxuries on this date. "I'll be sure to include fried rice on the expense report for this mission," she laughed as she placed his arm around her shoulder and intertwined her fingers in his. She glanced over at the left corner booth and saw as their dealer made a move to sit across from a young couple on a date. Were they the buyers? "Intel suggested the buyer was a middle aged male, but it wouldn't be the first time a source gave misguided information. Let's see how this plays out." They couldn't intervene just yet. If they did and this turned out not to be their buyer, they'd risk blowing their cover for nothing.

BUCKY: He smiled shaking his head leave it to Nat to start meddling the moment he set foot within New York City again. "He does still think and act like scrawny Steve, its strange when I really think about it, this little boy who would almost pass out if he stayed out too long is fully formed super soldier." He mused his eyes softening when he though back on his past, Sarah and Steve had been his family and now everything was different. "He likes them brunette maybe a nice wig couldn't hurt her chances." he teased back chuckling before looking at her "Are you saying I'm not a honeypot? and here I thought you fell in love with me for my good looks, We probably should I can't imagine its had much updating in these past 75 years given how much time I actually spend out of the ice" He replied truthfully, especially given his freelance style of working lately. "Better make it House fried rice and like...three egg rolls, been awhile since I've been treated to Chinese food" he smirked allowing her to pull his arm around her holding her close wondering if it really was the buyers watching them for some reason. they didn't really stand out or look like spies at the moment either way it was something to keep one's eye on given their target just made their way over there. "True, be ready if they gain those weapons nothing is stopping them from using them on these unprotected people." he replied seriously moving his arm to rub up and down Nat's clothed shoulder making it seem like she got a chill and he was warming her up.

BELPHEGOR: It felt good to be right about these things. Being around Cupid seemed to always make them want to try to do more, both for her and for themself. They frowned as the stranger came up to them at their table. The stranger seemed to know them, but Belphegor wasn't sure if they knew the person or not. There were a lot of humans on this planet. Remembering them all was nearly impossible. Maybe he was one of their drug dealers. Belphegor talked a lot about Cupid to just about everyone, including their drug dealers, so maybe they just knew about her through what Belphegor had said.

"No?" the man shook his head, "more like someone who looked tougher."

"Oh, you are my dealer," Belphegor surmised. They talked about how strong and tough Cupid was all the time, so it was all starting to add up now.

The man scowled and put a finger to his lips. "Shh, don't talk so loud. Yes, I'm your dealer."

CUPID: Cupid didn't know who the man was but it put her slightly more at ease that Bells knew him. He was a dealer. Cupid wasn't sure what Bells ordered this time. She hoped it wasn't psychedelics. She didn't want to take those. She was afraid she'd have a bad trip and end up telling Bells everything she wasn't supposed to tell them...again. The dealer seemed a little twitchy so Cupid sighed. "Would you like us to go somewhere more private?" she asked. Humans liked to do this kind of business away from other people. Apparently, it was shameful.

NATASHA: "Rest assured, he's still a dumbass underneath all that muscle. That much hasn't changed since the 40s," she promised. Steve still went around picking fights with things that were bigger than him, but then again so did she. She laughed and elbowed him gently. Now that those memories were back, he was relentless. "I fell in love..." she breathed in deep. The memories were still painful. Well, not the memories, but the guilt associated with them. They had been in love and they'd gotten caught. He was put back on the ice and she had her memories of it wiped. It wasn't until she defected to SHIELD that she was able to regain those memories. She went looking for him, but couldn't find a trace. Not until he shot her in Odessa, and even then it was hard to get a lead on him. She pushed the guilt aside (they weren't in the red room anymore, no one was going to put him in cryostasis, no one was going to wipe their memories again...not without a fight) and deflected with humor instead. "I fell in love because you had the skills to kill me. That's an attractive quality in a man," she teased. "But you're getting kind of rusty, moya lyubov. Your last two attempts to kill me failed." She shook her head in feigned disappointment. "Zero out of ten. We'll have to start sparring again," she teased before laughing as he listed off all the foods he was going to charge to the SHIELD expense report. "You know, if you ever want to give up freelance work, there are agent positions open," she offered. She kept the young couple and the dealer in her peripheral vision, careful to make sure they didn't know she was watching them. The dealer was edgy which was understandable given that he was about to commit a felony. "If those two are the buyer, they're about to move somewhere quiet," she surmised. The food court was a nice meeting spot, but it was too busy to complete a transaction like this. "Fried rice might have to wait until the tech is in our hands."

BUCKY: "Good to know he didn't change that much, didn't really get the time to figure out everything that serum really did to my little Steve." He mused before looking at Natasha as she spoke, he'd finally pieced together what had happened there and it wasn't pleasant nor did it all come in order, he had books filled with her as he simply tired to piece together their history from the red room to when he finally escaped HYDRA. Everything about there past was bleed with red wither it was brainwashing or how many people they were forced to kill to survive. It was hard to come to terms with how many people he'd really helped end when he thought he would write down those he could remember so he would never forget again. part of him worried that one day he'd wake up and be in locked within some HYRDA Cell, them waiting to wipe his memory again to turn him into a weapon once again but he quickly shook his head free of those bad thoughts he couldn't go down that road. "I have to admit having a women who can put you on your back definitely gets the engines revving" he smirked winking at Nat before laughing.  "Milaya, I will workout with you anytime, so long as you promised to not hurt me too bad." He mused before looking at her "I don't know if I'm ready yet...While the bulk of my memory has returned...i worry about being triggered if out on the field." He replied honestly using a much softer tone before also keeping the couple and dealer in his peripheral view noticing that they would soon be on the move which meant they'd have to figure out a way to trail them. "Well shoot, i was dying for some good food, but I suppose we should check out some stuff while the Food Court dies down huh Milaya?"  he asked knowing they'd have to leave after this couple and dealer, So much for the Year of the Ox.

BELPHEGOR: It was a little strange that their dealer was just tracking them down randomly like this, but Belphegor didn't think much of it. Maybe his sales were just low, and Belphegor was a reliable client. Plus, they always kept a significant amount of cash on them in case they did want more drugs like this. They didn't always keep up with it well. Sometimes it got stolen, but it wasn't that big of a deal to Belphegor. They also considered the possibility that Cupid had set this up. Maybe she wanted something to help with her nerves about the upcoming curse she had to solve, or maybe she was just doing something nice for them. They squeezed her hand under the table as thanks.

“That was the plan,” said the dealer with a nod. He seemed a little nervous about his situation, which wasn't that abnormal for a drug dealer.

Belphegor just stood up and held a hand out to Cupid to help her out of the booth they were sitting at. “I know a quiet spot we can go to,” Belphegor supplied. They knew all the best spots to take a nap, which were conveniently good places to make deals with strangers who didn't want to be around anyone else. “Remember, on our way here, I pointed it out to you?” they asked Cupid, recalling how they'd pointed to an alley with a dumpster full of mattresses and told her about how comfortable it looked.

CUPID: She wasn't frightened by any means. Drug dealers were just people trying to make a living and Bells tended to buy a lot of drugs because, well, the normal human dosages didn't really have much of an impact on them. Cupid smiled and took their hand as they helped her stand up from the booth. "Oh yeah! Behind the mattress store." She wondered why someone would throw out all of those perfectly good mattresses. It was a nice place to get stoned though. Maybe if the dealer got high too, he would mellow out. He looked like he needed it. Cupid kept ahold of Bells hand as they made their way out of the food court and toward the alley just beside the complex. "So," she smiled up at the dealer. He wasn't Belphegor's usual dealer (but then again that wasn't abnormal, drug dealers got arrested often). "How long have you been at this?" He seemed like he was new at this whole thing.

NATASHA: "Change is actually something he's struggling to cope with," Nat admitted. Steve was in his head a lot more lately and struggling to find his place in a post-Accords world. "I keep trying to convince him he didn't miss out on much. Everything between 1945 and 2010 was a mess. But you know how it goes." There was always a big what if in life. Peggy was Steve's what if. Bucky had been Natasha's what if. She thought they had the survival skills to outrun Madame B and the rest of the handlers, but instead they got caught. He suffered the brunt of the punishment, but as always James was a survivor.

"Don't worry, grandpa. I'll go easy on you. You and Daisy might be the only ones brave enough to spar with me these days." Admittedly, her favorite days when training new recruits were the days they had to fight against her. They didn't like it, but she had fun with it. She nodded when he voiced his concerns about joining up with SHIELD. She had similar ones when she first defected. She was lucky to have Clint around. He trusted her even when she didn't necessarily trust herself. "It gets better with time," she assured him. Sometimes, it got worse too. She hadn't told him about the memory manipulation Fury did to her and to Daisy. That was a story for another time. It was nice to think they had time for once.

She wasn't wrong in her assessment that the couple would be on the move soon. She watched as they got up and the dealer followed them. She could tell where they were going. "You know, some things never change. Like shady deals in shady alleyways. Intel says the weapon in question is some kind of sonic blaster. Looks a bit like a vape pen. On its low settings, it'll throw you at a wall and on its high settings it can level an entire city block." As soon as the dealer presented it to the buyers, they would have to act. She waited until the couple was far enough ahead before she and Bucky started trailing them.

BUCKY: "I think we all struggle to cope with it, as much as we try this isn't the time were were born and raised into, everything is different. Being here in New York feels like home but the places we hung out around are gone and redone to fit into this new world." He replied honestly Brooklyn was always home but things had almost changed for them overnight when they got lost within their heads. "You are our only tie for such things 1945 to 2010 related, playing catch up is never easy." He replied softly thinking of how much time he'd truly lost, Steve was ahead of him in learning things but he had to work so much harder to find his mind and memories that it was a daily struggle of pain and uncertainty.

"Hey I'm hardly grandpa age, when it comes to you, and I'm always down to spar its one of the one things that makes me feel normal." He smirked thinking back to most of the training he'd taken part in Wakanda, it was different, both mental and physical they trained him there ensuring that not only was the brainwashing out of  his mind but that he could keep his body in shape as well. "That's what Shuri told me, I know the words wont work any more but there are things...that give me pause or just make me outright freeze." He replied softly, the fear was always there, he was caught twice by HYDRA and messed with, what would stop them from trying again?

He knew Nat wouldn't be wrong her assessment was airtight and it helped that they could still maintain their cover, the couple and dealer seemed to be headed for the shops which worked perfectly for them to just idly walk on by. "Of course it is, I don't know where these people are getting their ideas but a Vape pen? those things hipsters use right? instead of an actual cigarette?" He questioned before moving to follow after them from far enough behind. "I miss the simpler times, you know when all you had to look out for was a gun and hostage."

BELPHEGOR: “Exactly!” Belphegor grinned. They didn't have any doubt that she would know what they were talking about. She always did. They walked with her down the street, swinging their hands between them while the dealer walked beside them. He looked a little confused by the two of them, but they weren't bothered by it.

The dealer frowned at Cupid. “Let's leave the personal details out of this. The less we know about each other, the better.”

Belphegor rolled their eyes, leaning towards Cupid to whisper in her ear. “Dealers are so secretive for no reason.” It wasn't as if Belphegor would rat them out. They didn't really see the problem with what they were doing anyways. They looked at the dealer to address the man. “If you want, you can try the thing yourself if it'll help you relax a little.”

The dealer let out a small chuckle. “And attract every cop nearby to get me arrested? No thanks.” Belphegor shrugged and kept walking. At least they offered.

CUPID: So this wasn't a talkative dealer. Fair. Cupid got them to talk sometimes, but those dealers usually ended up disappearing pretty quickly because they got arrested. This one was eyeing her and Bells kinda funny. Maybe he thought they were Narcs. They did hang around the police station sometimes to talk to Lucifer but they weren't snitches by any means. Cupid figured this guy wouldn't relax until the deal was done. When they got to the alley, Cupid plopped down on the mattress next to the dumpster. It crackled a little because it was frozen, but they could start a dumpster fire later to warm up the place. "So, what exactly do you have for us?" she asked. She wasn't exactly sure which drugs this dealer specialized in.

NATASHA: Unlike James and Steve, Natasha got to watch the slow progression of time. Granted, she hadn't always been in control of her actions during most of that time. "It's not all bad," she promised. "If you find Clint, he'll show you the best pizza places in town. According to him, pizza always drags people out of funks." She wasn't sure pizza was gonna make up for all the lost time both Steve and Bucky missed out on though. "I spent half those decades under someone elses thumb so history is a little fuzzy, but technology...now that I can catch you up on." Bucky was a quick study by nature. He would catch onto the tech in no time. "Besides, Shuri will kick your ass if you fall behind tech wise," she pointed out. "The arm she fitted you with is one hell of an upgrade."

She smiled when he remarked that training was the only thing that felt normal these days. When she was first de-programmed she felt the same way. No one trusted her and she didn't trust herself much either. She still struggled with it sometimes. Not just the guilt, but the fear that someone would do it to her again. In recent history, Fury managed to do it and she'd never felt more violated. She drew herself closer to Bucky to let him know she was here. "If they come for you, we'll find you. No soldier or agent left behind."

She chuckled as they followed the young couple. "After this we'll find you a nice, quiet bank robbery to thwart," she teased. She was being careful so as not to be spotted but the couple didn't really seem to have a care in the world. They looked to be like two kids in their early to mid 20s. One of the girls plopped down on a mattress beside the dumpster which caused Natasha to raise her eyebrow. "I'm really started to hope this isn't a kinky thing," she grimaced.

BUCKY: Bucky had to admit he didn't feel like he'd missed so much, he mostly hated the fact that he was used and abused almost for 70 years if not longer. "Will he? its been awhile since I've had a good slice and I'm sure he misses spending time with me. It doesn't do good to be a recuse huh?" he teased the other smiling softly. At times he wouldn't know what he'd do without Clint or Natasha, they'd understood what it was like to be on the wrong side of a war yet they both came out of it stronger and themselves he admired them. "Catch me up on Tech, though Shuri did enjoy watching me try and use her tools, my new arm was the best thing she'd ever made in my opinion she found away to not only return my arm...but take away the pain I could never thank her enough." He mused

He smirked looking at the other shaking his head "I've just signed myself up for something horrible didn't I?" he teased the other before he felt himself slip away. it was Nat's voice that pulled him back, reminded him he wasn't in the chamber anymore. He wasn't going to wake up tomorrow and find years had pasted from his life. He allowed himself to be pull close taking in her scent feeling himself calm. "I know you would Nat, thank you." He mused in a quiet voice.

He smiled chuckling softly "Sounds perfect but it does need to be next to an awesome chicken place" He mused following after the couple seemed pretty easy but the one seemed so strange that he had to wonder how long he'd been out of the mission game if this was normal. "I don't want to see a threeway in a alleyway.....my 1920 constitution couldn't take it."

BELPHEGOR: Try didn't really get why the dealer didn't want a taste of what they were dealing. Belphegor felt like it was a bad sign for what they were selling, but maybe he just sold things without tasting it. He did seem all business after all. Belphegor didn't really care. The dealer held out a small case, glancing around nervously before opening it up to show them. “This is one of our best pieces that we could get for you. No matter what you're wanting to do with it, it'll get the job done.”

 Belphegor looked at the item in question. It just looked like an ordinary vape pen. “This is what you're making a big deal about?” they questioned.

The dealer flinched as Belphegor picked up the pen. “Careful!” he warned, gritting his teeth. “That thing packs a punch!”

Belphegor rolled their eyes. Humans were affected by these things a lot more than they tended to be. There was only one way to find out how good it was. As they put the pen to their mouth, the dealer's eyes widened in horror. He reached out to stop Belphegor, but they were already starting it up. Within seconds, they were all blasted backwards. The dealer was thrown across the alley, and Belphegor slammed back into the dumpster. It really did pack a punch.

CUPID: She glanced at the item as the dealer brought it out, but there was an unimpressed look on her face. It looked like a regular vape pen. "Oh, I have one that looks a little similar," she replied. Only hers was prettier in her opinion. She didn't get why the dealer felt the need for all this secrecy. Vape pens were perfectly legal and this one looked rather unimpressive. She wondered what was inside. As soon as Belphegor blew on it, they were knocked back into the wall along with the dealer. Cupid managed to avoid the blast but she felt the wave of energy push her down further into the mattress, leaving an imprint of her body there. "Holy shit!" she laughed as she rolled off the mattress and picked the vape back up from where Bells had dropped it. "You okay, Bells?"

NATASHA: "He'll probably make it his mission to show you around every pizza place in town," she laughed. Clint loved any excuse to eat and this was a good cover for him. "Now that you're back in town, I don't think any of us will let you be a recluse. Black Widows devour recluse spiders for a living anyway," she teased. She smiled as he explained the tech Shuri devised for him. "In a few decades she will definitely surpass Tony." Tony would probably scoff and say it isn't true, but they both knew it was. That was what all of their work was for anyway. Training a new generation of heroes so they could eventually follow the pipe dream of retiring.

"Horrible is entirely subjective, but yes, yes you did," she laughed. "And I promise you it'll be the best decision you've made so far." She nodded softly as he thanked her before opening her mouth to say something, but she quickly closed it when she heard a loud bang in the alley. As the dust settled, she could see one of the buyers had activated the weapon and it slammed them and the dealer into the wall. "Shit, guess it's show time...a threeway would've been a lot easier to deal with," she teased before grabbing her gun out of her holster. "I'll block this end of the alley and you block the other so they can't get out," she instructed. "We can't let them leave this place with that weapon." If the buyers got away with it, Nat would have to clear the entire parade area before they had a chance to detonate the weapon at its full capacity and that did not sound like a fun task. "I'll see you in a minute." She leaned in and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek before turning and running down the alley just as Cupid picked up the weapon again. "I don't think that belongs to you." Although her gun was drawn, her voice remained calm as if she were dealing with a suicide bomber. "No one else has to get hurt today. Just put down the weapon and back away slowly."

BUCKY: "I don't mind hanging out with Clint so long as Lucky is around, plus when his mouth is full its hard to understand what he is joking about." Bucky chuckled softly, through Nat he'd gotten to know Clint and he found him to be quite a character but one he found could easily pull him out of his head and laugh. "So you plan on devouring me? Oh my just ensure we get to the mating first, I want the full widow experience" He teased back before nodding his head "She is brilliant and kind,  even taught me how to text, gosh that is so much easier then talking to people, especially when they come checking up on you and you don't feel like chatting." He mused honestly it was rather nice their tech sessions and if he was honest he missed the comfort he found in her company, she usually did most of the talking.

"I wont go easy on you, no chance after all you've also signed up to spar with me, the human weapon that I am" He mused smirking slightly before he also noticed the dust flipping his switch from cute chatter to mission mode. Either way they needed to get that weapon out of their hands moving to ensure he had his own concealed gun nodding his head "Got it, don't forget you owe me after this" He mused smiling as he moved quickly scaling up the grate moving a crossed the rooftop before dropping down on the other side of the alleyway ensuring they have no exit. He allowed Nat to  do the talking first and foremost keeping himself back to see if anyone made a move.

BELPHEGOR: Being thrown like that wasn't really all that painful. They did more physical damage to their surroundings than their surroundings did to them. There was a large Belphegor-shaped dent in the side of the dumpster now, but they didn't move for a moment, no longer seeing what was around them as a memory flooded their mind. It was choppy, like a skipping disc where Belphegor couldn't hear all the words, but they recognized certain parts. They were in Zatanna's shop, talking to her, and she looked angry. Her eyes glowed blue as she walked towards them. "You ... Belphegor. You ... parasite. You don't get to ... my shop and threaten me. I ... enough of your peacocking. Teg eht ... fo ym pohs,” And then they were thrown, crashing through the window of Zatanna's shop, sailing through the air until they slammed into the wall of Lux, making a dent in it just like they had with this dumpster, and that's where the memory ended.

Belphegor staggered as they stood up, too distracted by the memory they'd just witnessed to pay attention to their surroundings  or notice the newcomers. They absently heard someone saying to put down a weapon, and their first thought was of their archangel blade that they'd given Cupid. You should get that back, said the Void. They walked over to Cupid but didn't see her with their blade. Maybe it was that dealer. He looked like he had something in his hand. He pressed a button, and it made a loud screeching sound. Belphegor could hear footsteps coming in their direction. It sounded like a lot of people, but Belphegor didn't pay much attention to them. The dealer was running away, and he hadn't even made them pay for the weird vape pen. Belphegor laughed once they got over to Cupid. "He was right. It did pack a punch. I think I like it." In a way, it was like any other tool Belphegor used for self harm, only it wouldn't kill them.

CUPID: "Bells?" she called out to them. They seemed a little disoriented even though a tumble like that didn't hurt them much. Cupid looked up when a woman told her to drop the weapon. She was confused...she didn't have any weapons. As the woman got closer, Cupid recognized her as the one she and Bells had been watching before the dealer showed up. "What? I don't have any weapons. This is a vape..."she held the item openly in her palm for the (maybe?) Narc lady to see. Perhaps they'd used the vape wrong the first time which is why it had such a kick back. Cupid could see there were other settings on the pen that they could try. "I'd be happy to share a toke with--" before she could finish her sentence, a loud alarm sounded and their drug dealer was on the run. Cupid looked up at Bells as they came to stand by her. "Wow, his loss," she shrugged. "We would've shared with him too." She heard footsteps coming in from the opposite direction their dealer had ran, it was probably his buddies although she wasn't sure when at what point dealers had unionized. She wasn't buying from this union anymore. It seemed like too much trouble and she wasn't in the mood to fight. She threw the vape to the Narc lady who caught it. "If you put it on the medium setting it should blast them away," she offered.

NATASHA: She found herself smiling more than usual. She missed going on missions with him. It was nice not having their handlers breathing down their necks, but she still couldn't shake the feeling of fear that someone was going to catch them and that he'd be wiped again because she was sloppy. You are not in the red room anymore. You are free. She reminded herself. "First we gotta get out of here alive and then we can talk about mating," she teased. As for sparring, she had more than a few new moves under her belt that she was more than happy to show him.

She watched as he scaled the grate and ensured he was out of sight before moving toward the couple and the dealer in the alleyway. The taller of the two was trying to play it off as if the weapon was a vape. The more she talked, the more convinced Natasha became that the kid actually believed it was a vape. Before the spy could grab the weapon from the young woman's hand, she heard the dealer sound off some kind of alarm. "Oh for fucks sake..." she sighed as the asshole ran off. She wasn't about to go chase him. Unbeknownst to the dealer, he was heading right towards Bucky.

She sighed when she heard footsteps coming toward them. More people were about to join the party. The spy was surprised when the girl tossed the weapon over to her. That was easier than she thought it would be. It didn't seem like either of the buyers were too perturbed by the situation or that they even cared that the weapon was no longer in their hands. She didn't have much time to process it as the footsteps drew nearer. "Stay out of the way and do not leave this alley," she instructed them.

She ran in the direction of the oncoming assailants, knocking down the first one with a thigh grip and the next with a swift kick to the stomach that sent him hurtling into a wall, but more were coming and they were gunning for the weapon in her hands. The deal had gone south and they were here to get their weapon back. She wasn't about to let them have it. One of the assholes managed to grab her by the hair and yank her toward him. She flinched and elbowed him in the ribs causing him to double over. While he was bent over, she managed to kick him hard in the back causing him to fall to his knees. "That looked like it hurt," the Black Widow grinned. "Let me make it better." And with that she kneed him in the face, knocking him out cold. She was really hoping that was the last of them, but then she heard more footsteps. "Son of a bitch..." she sighed. She hated organized crime rings. For every henchman that she knocked down, two more took his place.

This time though she waited. Instead of going on the offense, she took the defense. Instead of throwing punches, she started blocking them. One by one she let more henchmen get closer to her. They were encircling her now. She had to act. Oh this is going to hurt. She pushed a button to power up the weapon and before any of them could stop her she blew on it with force. Natasha, along with all of her assailants, were thrown back into the nearby buildings almost as if Daisy herself had quaked the area. The force of the blast knocked Natasha along with all of her assailants out cold. The weapon dropped from her hands as her body dropped slid down to the ground.

BUCKY: He smiled softly he always enjoyed spending time with Natasha so he couldn't even bring herself to be upset about being sucked into this mission. Part of him feared the after effects when Nat gave her report he'd have to tag along and he hadn't stepped foot in SHIELD...too scared they'd swarm him and take him down, granted he believed Daisy when she said she was reforming things but it didn't stop his fear. "Ah I'll stay alive, there is promise of food and mating, throw in some cuddles and i'll make you breakfast in bed" He teased her before switching modes. He actually loved the adrenaline he received from doing the fighting part of the mission the chase was okay but the take down was everything.

When he saw the dealer heading right for him he didn't waste anytime tripping the idiot knocking him out to stop him from getting any father. He didn't have any rope to tie him up but did move to place the man into a trash can that should prove hard to get out of before he turned his attention back to Nat, he heard the signs of fighting and he wasn't about to leave her alone as she grabbed the can dragging back towards where he'd left Nat not one to let this dealer out of his sight even while looking after the great Black Widow. He got there just in time to see Nat and the multiple assailants get knocked out cold quickly moving towards Nat checking her vials "You stubborn woman couldn't wait for back up..." he sighed glad to know she was still breathing as he looked towards to the two picking up the weapon to pocket it. "I have to call this in and wake my partner please stay right there" he leveled the two with a look before searching Nat SHIELD communicator to call this in.

"Come on Nat time to wake up" he replied softly trying to get her to wake up thinking it was better forever involved if she was awake and coherent. "Don't make me deal with the Government that's just torture and not a nice way to end a date." He tapped her face attempting to get her to wake.

BELPHEGOR: They weren't really sure what was going on. They didn't really pay attention to anyone aside from Cupid at first. "I'm okay," they told her. "I just remembered something." They weren't going to explain what they remembered now because it would make Cupid uncomfortable, but they also weren't going to lie to her about what had just happened. It didn't sit right with them. They smiled when Cupid tossed the vape to the lady. Had they seen her before? It was nice to share things like this with others either way, and the guy who ran off was missing out. They rolled their eyes as the lady told them not to leave the alley. "So we got dinner, a good hit, and a show now? Cool." They plopped back down on the mattress and just watched everything that went down. Maybe this was some kind of gang war. It was pretty clear that one of the gangs was much better than the other since they were kicking ass with just two people compared to the much bigger group.

It was nice seeing so many people knocked out, the exhaustion radiating off of everyone fueled Belphegor, and it was clear that as the man came up to worry over the woman, Cupid was feeling more fueled too. Oh, this was the couple they'd been watching before. That's why they looked familiar. If it made Cupid happier, they could try to make this situation better for her. They ignored the man's demands for them to stay where they were, and stood up, making their way over to the couple. They picked up the woman and carried her over to the mattress, so she could be more comfortable. After setting her down, they passed their hands over her, healing her, and then they took a step back so the man could get back to her. "She should be fine, she just. . ." They yawned. ". . . needs a nap probably."

CUPID: She frowned when Bells said that they'd remembered something. She wanted to ask what, but she knew better. It was something the void had done. She was afraid to ask because she wasn't a particularly good liar. What if she knew the truth behind what they remembered? She'd have to lie to them and say she didn't. Instead, she just nodded and squeezed their hand to let them know she was there and they were okay. The thing wasn't coming back and it wouldn't hurt them tonight. She sat down on the mattress beside them as the narc lady fought the rival gang that came for the vape. It was like watching an action movie play out in front of them. Kicks, punches, aerials. The narc lady's moves were so fluid she might as well have been dancing, but she was also outnumbered. Cupid watched her grab the vape and take a hit. Everyone around the lady slammed back into the wall, including the lady herself.

That's when Cupid felt a wave of love and worry sweep through the alley. The lady's partner came forward to check in on her. She grinned and nudged Bells lightly to let them know it was a love thing that they were seeing. "Partner, got it," Cupid grinned knowingly. "We would've helped but she told us to stay out of the way," Cupid explained. She stood up as Bells picked the lady up and carried her over to the mattress, watching as they healed her. "So are you guys cops or something?"

NATASHA: "Ow..." she groaned as she started coming to once Belphegor healed her. "Fuck." Her ribs still felt like they were screaming. She was going to be sore for some time after this, but at least the throw back didn't kill her. Her features softened as a fuzzy outline of Bucky came into focus. "I'm okay," she promised him and with a groan she gently sat up. "I'm sure Clint will wanna see the playback footage of that fight. We got a collection of our greatest hits going." Romanoff we're two minutes out, she heard someone say over the coms. Back up. They were responding to the signal Bucky must've sent through her communicator. "Yeah, we're something like that," she answered the girls question. She looked up at Bucky. "Did you secure the weapon?" She was worried one of them might've gotten away with the thing while she was knocked out, but neither of the two would be buyers seemed at all concerned about the weapon. "The B Team's coming. If you still wanna stay under the radar, you need to go before they get here," she whispered to Bucky. She knew how to word her mission reports to indicate she got help without revealing the source of that help, but if he was spotted by back up there would be no way to protect his anonymity from this. "I'll be okay," she promised him. "I can meet you back up at our usual place after I wrap things up here."

BUCKY: He watched the other two they didn't look like harden criminals but he was still watching them with Natasha and everyone else pretty much knocked out he was pretty much the only one left to chase them down if need be. When of them lifted Nat like she was nothing he got worried as his hand went to his hidden knife before stopped short when they set her down on the mattress he was a bit happy to know they weren't going to harm her. He quickly made his way towards Nat as she woke smiling softly checking her over. "You scared me there...." He let himself smile for a moment before nodding his head "Clint will just love to see how quickly you got taken down by a vape pen" He teased before tensing a bit, he knew if he was caught here it would be beyond red tape and surrounded by people that would make him uncomfortable but for Natasha he'd weather it if need be, he was worried when she got blasted back so much so that he didn't hesitate to call for help. "Something like that indeed" He replied towards the others before nodding his head and pulling out the containment box which held the vape pen in question. "Of course Agent Romanoff" He winked at her before passing it over before sighing softly. "I suppose I should, while I've gotten the chance to meet your new director I'd prefer not to cause you more trouble Nat" he whispered back before letting his hand gently touch her cheek "I've got the dealer in the trash can just there, wanted to make sure he stayed, and you better be at the place, in one piece or the winter solider will come out to play." He replied placing a kiss on her head before turning to towards the more talkative of the two. "Please watch over her for me, and thank you for staying put and helping her." He replied before shooting one more look towards Nat before talking off.

BELPHEGOR: Neither of them wanted to talk about what the details of their memory might've meant, but that was okay. They didn't have to talk about it. They were busy with whatever was really going on now anyways, so they just held each other's hands, knowing that they'd deal with it later.

It was nice to see Cupid enjoying herself and the love between the couple. At least that's what Belphegor assumed she was nudging them about. The lady - the man had called her Nat - finally was waking up, though Belphegor knew it was with a few side effects. Depression would've been hitting her, but that was the cost of healing her injuries. It was better than nothing. Nat mentioned Clint, and Belphegor rose a brow. They knew someone with that name. They wondered if it was the same person. "Weapon?" Belphegor asked as the man handed her the item. "That's a vape. A strong one, but still." Just because people like her couldn't handle it didn't mean it was a weapon. Agent. That sounded cool. They nodded when the man told them to watch after Agent Romanoff. "Agent Cupid and I are on it!" they declared before he ran off. They looked back at Nat. "We can get the guy out of the trash can for you if you want."

NATASHA: "Sorry," she apologized weakly. She hadn't meant to scare him. "I'll probably be paying for it later somehow." She was already paying for it now. She had a wicked headache that came with flashes of memories she thought she'd buried deep. She pocketed the weapon for safe keeping when Bucky gave it to her. "Another embarrassing story for his collection," she smiled softly. She wanted him to stay, but not for the sake of the investigation. She could finish that on her own. She recognized that she wanted him to stay for selfish reasons. But those reasons could wait until this was over. She smiled when he mentioned he had the dealer in the trash bin. "That is the best place for him," she agreed. "I'll see you when all of this is over," she promised. "And James," she looked at him as he pulled away from her briefly. "Be careful." She watched him disappear and a few moments later, the alley was full of cars and lights. Several agents stepped out of their vans just as Natasha got up. She looked at the two buyers and was fairly certain neither of them knew what the hell they'd been offered to purchase, but she still needed to take them in for questioning to find out what they did know. "You and Agent Cupid have to come back with me for a...mission debrief of sorts," she explained to them. "My team will escort you there."

CUPID: She watched as the woman - Agent Romanoff - woke up. She knew there would be side effects to Belphegor healing her, but she seemed like she could take them pretty well. She'd taken the punches pretty well, but then again emotional pain hurt more than the physical pain sometimes. At least she was planning to meet the other Agent after this. Cupid and Bells could help her make the process go by faster so that she could meet up with him at their rendezvous point. She smiled as she watched the pair say goodbye to each other. What was their story? Were they agents on opposing sides? Why did he have to leave? Cupid had so many questions. She didn't have much time to ask them because as soon as the man was gone, vans were swarming the area. People hopped out of the vans and made their way over to Agent Romanoff. She handed them the vape before addressing her and Bells. Cupid's eyes got big at the words mission debrief. That sounded pretty cool. "What do you say, Agent Bells?" she asked. They did promise the man that they'd keep an eye on Agent Romanoff after all and she was asking them to attend this debrief. Cupid got up off the mattress and offered her hand to them. There was no harm in seeing where this new adventure would take them.

BELPHEGOR: They could see the gears turning in Cupid's head, and they could imagine what she was thinking. Probably something about the love between the two agents. Since it seemed like they were going to be spending more time with Natasha, Belphegor guessed that Cupid would be asking her a hundred questions about her relationship with the man. They grinned as the woman referred to them as agents. Most people tended to doubt them about that kind of stuff. "Well, it is our job, so I guess we have to." They took Cupid's hand as they were all led towards the vehicles. Some of the agents looked between them and Agent Natasha strangely, but after a long look at Natasha, they didn't seem to question anything. Belphegor was excited to see what the base was like for their mission debrief.

[videogamelover99]

The Oracle

A/N: I bring you the thing I had wanted to write in like forever: the saltiest reunion yet. But come on, did you really think I’d leave this character out? Not a chance.

Based on Flat Dreams by @pengychan. AU by @doodledrawsthings. Enjoy.

Part 1

Part 2 

“He is awake.”

“So soon?” Jheselbraum casts a look at at dimension 46’/, where Mabel Pines reaches to shake the hand of the monster they defeated only a year or so ago. “I would have expected at least a few more centuries.”

“I’m sure you know that time is relative.” The is a tone of amusement in the Ancient’s words. “It has been a lot longer than that.”

The Oracle takes that in, watching the events in Stanford’s home dimension play out, and hums in amusement, “‘A different form’,” she repeats to herself, “You couldn’t resist the irony, could you?”

The Axolotl chuckles, “Rather fitting, considering the many times humanity was deceived by him.”

“And who brought him to his demise.” she mutters. It is strange, seeing the used to be triangle in a completely different form, and she feels a certain satisfaction when he starts to panic, staring at his newfound body in shock. That’s when Mabel Pines finally collects herself, putting her grappling hook to good use. “Looks like the universe is giving its tormentor a warm welcome.”

Another chuckle. “What will you do now?”

She shrugs, her gaze still aimed at the two small Pines twins as they argue on what to do. She’d waited for a trillion years to see her mistakes paid for. And now, when Bill Cipher is finally getting what’s coming for him, she can’t help but feel a bit overwhelmed. Interfering now seems too soon. She’ll stay, and wait her turn. For now, she has her own personal comedy to watch. If the Pines family handles him as well as they had so far, then she has nothing to worry about. Besides, she has a feeling her meeting with Bill Cipher wasn’t that far away. A brief glimpse in the future tells her as much.

Then she’ll rub his loss in his eye. Or eyes. Seems like he has two now.

“I’ll stay.” she answers finally, turning to her friend. “A confrontation now doesn’t seem all that appealing.”

“It’s your choice.” the Axolotl seems to have expected that from her. He gives a farewell nod before leaving. The temple seems quiet now, but it doesn’t matter. There is a calm relief, now that Bill would not be posing a threat to anyone. And a certain anticipation, an emotion the Oracle hadn’t felt in a very long time. She will wait, then. After a trillion years, waiting doesn’t seem that hard at all.

…

“Wait, so you’re the one that helped my uncle defeat Bill, right?”

“That would be me, yes.” Dipper Pines is, as Jheselbraum soon finds out, extremely likable. He’s smart, resourceful, and has a thirst for knowledge not unlike that of his great uncle. In only a few hours the boy manages to ask enough questions to fill a star system. She tries her best answering all of them, seeing as how they are somewhat predictable, yet some just have her at a loss of words.

“Can I get your autograph??”

“Um…”

“NEVERMIND THAT!” Mabel literally jumps in the conversation, pointing an accusing finger at her. “Tell me, if you’re really an oracle, how come you don’t speak in rhyme?”

“Mabel, this isn’t Percy Johnson-”

“Shush, this is an important question.”

While the younger Pines twin is subdued but thoughtful, the older one is the complete opposite. She’s loud, lively, and a welcome change to the usual quiet of the temple. Unlike her brother, the questions Mabel asks are often slightly absurd even for the Oracle.

“It would be a pointless amount of effort to do so.”

The girl seems to think it over, then nods approvingly. “Fair enough. Okay, but why are you purple?”

“…Symbolism.”

Mabel gives another satisfied nod, “Gotcha.” Her brother looks even more confused.

The Oracle’s attention is briefly torn away from the children as she casts an unimpressed look at the balcony, where her third visitor sits with his back to her, trying his best to ignore all three of them. “He’s always like that.” Mabel supplies. “Plus, you know, you kinda helped defeat him and all that junk. He’s probably still mad about that.”

“Of course.” Her tone turns cold, and the twins seem to flinch slightly at that. The Oracle noticeably softens her demeanor. “Why don’t you two go explore?” she asks instead, careful to keep her voice friendly. Often times she ends up intimidating the mortals she converses with, and while that’s understandable, it mostly makes her conversation with them…awkward. She’s sure not to make the same mistake with the Pines children.

Judging by the brightened looks on both of their faces, that shouldn’t be a problem. “Oh, we did,” Dipper confesses eagerly, “though most of your books aren’t in English, so kinda hard to..read. I wrote some stuff down though, so-”

“And I found a lazer gun!” Mabel cuts off her brother, “Or I think it was a lazer gun. Maybe it’s a can opener…it looks like a gun. And you’ve got a lot of weird gadgets, lady. Where do you get them all, some kinda sci-fi black market?”

“Yes, a lot of the parts come from…interesting places.” she smiles, the two lower eyes crinkling in amusement. The girl’s enthusiasm seems to be contagious, and the Oracle doesn’t mind at all.

“Wait, so what kind of stuff do you actually have? Can you show me? I mean, you don’t have to I just- yeah sorry, it’s just so cool.”

That is flattering, extremely so, despite the fact that the boy is slowly running out of air. “I’ll be glad to show you sometime, but for now, I’m sure you’d want to see what the rest of this dimension is like.” The Oracle gestures toward the balcony, where far below them the valley extends into the fading sun on the horizon. The village lights were just starting to appear, blinking serenely in the distance.

The two human children stare at her dimension in silence, before Mabel brakes it with a whoop of joy. “YES! Wait…” she glances back down at the settlement warily, “It’s not gonna be like last time, right? Cause we kinda pissed off an alien princess, and then these giant buff guards started chasing us. Through one of them was kinda cute…”

“Correction, Bill pissed her off.” Dipper glares at the figure who made himself comfortable on her terrace.

“Bill pisses everybody off.” the boy’s twin shrugs. “I don’t know what’s so surprising.”

“Good point.”

After she assures them that her dimension is one of the safest they could possibly visit, Jheselbraum  hands both of them translators and sends them on their way. To think that the two were running around without one. No wonder their journey hadn’t been that pleasant.

The woman finally turns her attention to the elephant in the room. Bill Cipher. The monster she’d worked most of her trillion year old life to defeat is now sitting on her stoop like it’s nothing, so the least she could do is give him a nice warm welcome. The Oracle fixes her seven-eyed stare on the back of his head, silently watching. The tension in the room winds up, ready to burst as soon as one of them speaks. Of course, the one that eventually does is Bill. “Whatever you gotta say, say it already.” he doesn’t turn around, but she can tell by his tone he is angry. That is not surprising in the least.

“I have nothing to say to you.”

“Oh come on! What, don’t even wanna gloat about anything? That stupid piece of metal in Sixer’s head, maybe? Or maybe that unicorn spell you were so eager to share with him? Don’t think I didn’t notice it was you.” the demon finally turns around to give her a humorless sneer. Jheselbraum, in turn, keeps her expression calm, devoid of any fury she might be feeling right now. That only seems to fuel his own anger. “Let me guess: the big frilly got you those eyes, didn’t he? I betcha you’re one of the guys whose dimensions I freed, right? And you were pissed because you couldn’t take a little change. So he offered you some kinda deal, to “stop his chaos”, yada yada, and you took it because you were so eager to play hero. Did I get it right? I bet I did, didn’t I?” he fixes her a mirthless smile. It seems like Cipher tried his hardest to find the words that would best get a reaction out of her. To be fair, it was a pretty good try. But considering that it’s exactly what the Oracle expects from him, it doesn’t prove to be very effective.

“Yes. I suppose there’s some truth in it.” As tempted as she is, she doesn’t mention that the dimension he destroyed was hers as well. So far, Bill Cipher did not give any hint that he knows her identity. She’d like to keep it that way, for the time being. It’s interesting to see how long it will take until he figures it out. Perhaps he won’t. It has been a trillion years after all, easy for him to forget. “Though some respect could be shown for the Ancient. He’s the reason you’re still here, after all.”

“Oh yeah, thanks! Feels great to be me again! Except I’m not, am I?” Bill raises his voice almost to the point of shouting, and it echoes through the temple, leaving an uncomfortable heat in the air. “SO YEAH, THANKS FOR PUTTING ME IN THIS USELESS SKIN PUPPET.”

“The alternative would be death.” Though you deserve a lot worse than that.

Bill falls silent, turning away abruptly to stare at the valley below. It isn’t hard to guess what he is thinking, she spent too much time observing him not to know. In this body he is mortal, the maximum he could live is 6 or 7 more decades. A long time for most, but for beings like themselves, it was nothing but a blink. To Bill, this form is nothing but prolonging the inevitable. No doubt it scares him.

Good.

“So, which dimension was it, anyway?” he asks suddenly, faking amusement. “22? 1.357? 666/513? Oooh, I bet it was one of those flowery, happy-go-lucky ones like this one, huh? Too bad it’s ALL GONE NOW. The nightmare realm’s got more use for it than the idiots that lived there.” he pauses, turning to stare viciously in all seven of her eyes. “And you’re still here, taking the ‘moral highroad’ or whatever. Helping people. And what did they ever do for you, huh? Nothing. Soon enough they’ll forget all about you, because mortals only care about what concerns them. So you’ve ‘defeated me’, congrats. Here’s a gold star, you’re free to go. What now, Seven-Eyes? Too bad nobody knows what you did, right? Nobody cares. You’ll just stay here, alone, dancing to his tune. Hope you’re HAPPY about that.” Jheselbraum casts long, cold look back at the demon. It seems that the horrifying one-eyed beast is now reduced to nothing but a pathetic kicked puppy, whose bark is far worse than his bite. Though the Oracle has to admit, it’s a bit impressive. For him, this is technically the first time they’ve ever met, and Cipher still finds something about her that actually hits its mark.

There’s a temptation to march over to the demon and shake him, to give him a harsh reminder that the only reason he is still alive is because of the mercy of those whom he has wronged. To rub his loss in his face, to remind him that he is nothing but a pathetic little man now, with not even a scrap of the power he had before. Nora wants to take all those millennia of hurt and hopelessness and anger and hurl it back in his stupid ignorant face, and make him feel at least a fraction of what she felt because of him. That was what she had planned to do.

But something holds her back.

Spotting the hesitancy, Bill looks ready to spout something else, but loses his nerve when she shoots one look at him. The Oracle finds herself fiddling with her pendant, a nervous habit she had developed a few millenia ago. It catches the demon’s eye, and from the corner of her vision she can see him staring at it, an unreadable look on his face. She drops her hand, leaving to tinker with one of her personal projects, though her attention is elsewhere, and the action seems more like a need to keep herself busy than anything else. After an eternity of waiting, that method of occupying her time seems common to her. All she does is wait, and the Oracle can’t help but feel frustrated just at the familiarity of it. She waited most of her existence to see Bill Cipher defeated, and waited for the right moment to rub that defeat in his face. But now, she can’t even bring herself to say anything, and the waiting game begins anew. Except now she is waiting for the twins to come back, and hopefully distract her from the thoughts of the past that keep on surfacing, despite her best efforts to snuff them out.

And, as if to her own silent plea, the children do come back, holding an assortment of trinkets that they seem to have acquired free of charge and chatting amiably with each other. “You’re such a nerd, Dip Dop!”

“Hey! This thing could be really useful, you know?” Dipper waves a small book around, and Jheselbraum could just make out the title: A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Multiverse.

Well. At least he would get a laugh out of it. Once the disappointment clears away.

“Besides,” the boy continues, “who gets a freaking pillow when they visit another dimension?”

“Actually,” the Oracle gestures at the woven mass of cloth in Mabel’s arms, “It’s a bagpipe.”

“Ooh,” the girl looks down at her new-found souvenir. “So like an interdimensional bagpipe?”

“No, a regular one.” The two blink simultaneously down at the object.

“How did it-”

“Who cares!” Mabel squeezes the instrument in a strange sort of hug, making it emit a small tooting noise. “I’m keeping it!”

“Alright, just make sure not to break it.” the Oracle smiles at the girl. Yes, Mabel Pines is extremely likable. There is a sort of nostalgic feel she can’t shake away when taking to the child, though in all honesty she cannot place where it’s coming from. “I believe it is time for you to be heading back. Your family is extremely worried about you.”

“Oh man,” Dipper drops the books he’s been holding and grips the sides of the hunting hat he’s wearing. “The Grunkles! They’re probably freaking out right now. Mabel, we gotta go back! Uh-” he turns to her pleadingly. “How do we go back?”

The Oracle reaches for something cluttered among the shelves that she’s been saving a while ago for this exact occasion. She hands it to the boy carefully. “These are dimensional scissors. They would be able to get you back to your dimension safely. But,” she explains as the two twins look at them quizzically. “These are only good for three uses. So please don’t go joyriding.”

“Aye aye, captain!” Mabel salutes playfully. “Hey Bill, quit sulking, it’s time to go home!” The demon, who left her balcony a while ago to stare at the hydrodisplacer she had assembled a few weeks before with mild interest, turns to look back at the girl with a confused sort of frown. “Home?”

“You know, the Shack!”

“Oh, right.”

Dipper inspects the scissors. “It looks like one of those kiddie ones for arts and crafts. Uh, no offence,” he remarks quickly at her, blushing in embarrassment, “It’s just- how do you use them? Just cut the air or-?”

Bill stanches them away with an annoyed growl, dismissively slicing through the fabric of reality, leaving behind a glowing blue cut where spacetime had divided to provide a pathway through. “Great, LET’S GO.”

“Wait!” Mabel looks back at the woman, still clutching the slightly battered bagpipe. “We’ll meet again, right?”

Jheselbraum winks with three of her eyes. “Sooner than you think.”

The girl beams, waving one last time, before fearlessly dragging a nervous looking Dipper and an impatient looking Bill right through the portal.

“I’ll be watching you, Norm.” The demon freezes at the nickname, turning around to look back at her in newfound shock. Or more exactly, at her pendant. His eyes then dart up to her face, a realization in them that is hard not to catch on to. He opens his mouth to say something, only to be dragged into the portal by Mabel’s impatient grip. The Oracle watches the three disappear, and then the rip in reality closes, leaving the temple quiet and empty once again.

And for the first time in a trillion years, she breaks down laughing.

…

A week passes by before Bill Cipher finally returns, dimensional scissors in hand and looking ten times more livid than before.

“I take it you’ve figured it out by now.” She says, calmly watching the demon out of the corner of her bottom left eye. Cipher looks like he’s just about ready to break something, and her relaxed demeanor only seems to fuel his unrelenting anger. She tries not to smile in amusement.

“I thought you were dead.”

The last word seems to hover heavily in the air for a moment, and the Oracle blinks in surprise, turning around fully to stare back at her visitor. Enacouraged by her stunned silence, Bill keeps going, his volume growing with every word. “A TRILLION YEARS, and not even a ‘hey Bill, how’s it going? By the way, I’m totally fine, living it up in my fancy mansion on a freaking mountain, not a pile of dust and ashes at all, WHY WOULD YOU THINK THAT?’ SERIOUSLY, WHAT THE HELL, NORA?”

She pushes back her surprise and tries not to wince at that name, the one she hadn’t heard in quite a while. “Is that what you are mad about?”

“Oh trust me, I’ve got a whole list. THAT just takes the cake. I thought you were dead, and you just show up like it’s no big deal with your-haha-” he cuts himself off with laughter, gripping a nearby column to keep himself upright. “Wow, okay. The whole ‘wise, ancient oracle’ shtick? Real clever of ya, Nora, hard to guess it was you under all that.” he sobers up then, renewing his glare.

“That’s not my name anymore.” she remarks, watching as he sputters indignantly.

“No your- are you serious?” Bill throws his hands up. “That’s THE MOST CLICHE THING I EVER HEARD YOU SAY. WHERE DID YOU GET THAT FROM, SOME B-RATED SOAP OPERA??” He points an accusing finger in her direction. “OH YEAH, LIKE ‘JHESELBRAUM’ IS WAY BETTER. IS YOUR LAST NAME YOUR POSTAL ADDRESS, TOO?”

She blinks, considering how off kilter this conversation is going. Then again, this is Bill. “I…don’t think that’s relevant.”

“NO IT ISN’T! But you wanna know what is? YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!”

This is a little more of what she had expected. Jheselbraum’s expression turns from surprised to cold once again. “Actually, I believe I’ve succeeded.” The way he opens and closes his mouth, not knowing what to say, makes her snort under her breath. “What, the great Bill Cipher has nothing to say now? And here I thought you were a maser with words.” She looks away to examine the edge of her sleeve. “I guess dying changed that.”

“YOU- WHY WOULD-”

“Why do you think?” The spark of anger, the one that’s been death for so long finally ignites, and burns in a cold, unmasked fury as the Oracle slowly walks up to him. Bill notices the change, and almost subconsciously backs away a few steps as she looms over him. “I watched dimensions burn and people die just because you thought it might be fun. Do you know how many I’ve met that suffered because of you? Stanford Pines was no where near the worst case, oh no. There were people whose minds you’ve shattered completely because you felt like it. Beings whose scars were too deep to ever heal, and I had to put them back together again. So many I’ve watched that suffered because of my mistake, because I believed what you promised me. And what did you promise me, Bill?”

Make it worth something.

I will.

“Well, did you?”

Bill, who had been glaring at her as she talked, flinches away at that as if she were yelling, despite her voice being only slightly above a whisper. He looks to the side, biting his lip and not saying a word, and even though her mind is now clouded with anger Jheselbraum can’t help but notice how strange it is. The scenario she had seen had Bill yell back at her, defending the chaos he created, and giving her an excuse to throw him off her mountain.

He does none of those things, and it strikes the Oracle just how different this seems to be from how he had acted a week ago. And she berates herself for all this time not even taking a glance at Gravity Falls, because she has no idea what could have possibly happened to make him act this way.

“So, you’re not happy about that.”

Jheselbraum blinks down at him, and resists the sudden urge to laugh. “Now why would you think that?” she asks, the anger no longer present. She is still looming over him, and Bill only seems tense, something between fear and disappointment in his expression. The Oracle takes a small moment to note just how small he is compared to her. Nothing like the terrifying demon he made himself to be. She steps back finally, giving him space to breathe. Bill straightens out, only to fiddle with the sleeve of his sweater awkwardly. The bright yellow color and the big, black eye on the front has Mabel’s handiwork written all over it. That girl is a bit too open, a bit to accepting for her own good. “If you have something to say to me, say it now. Those scissors only have one more use, after all.”

That is an unsubtle message to get out. Bill takes it without comment. “You kept it.” he says instead, gazing at the pendant she’s wearing. The original grey has been gone for a long time, replaced with an intense dark purple that seems to absorb all light. So he still remembers it as well, despite how different it looks now. She regards the necklace with a detached sort of acceptance and offers him no explanation, partly because she is tired, the anger draining most of her energy, and partly because she has none. “You can go now,” is all she says instead. “The sun is almost rising.”

“Fine.” He says not without a hint of rejection. There is a sound of reality splitting at the seams, and then he is gone.

Jheselbraum gazes at the brightening hizon, watching as the sun showers Dimension 52 in a gentle golden glow. Her grip is on her pendant. It’s like the layers of hurt she kept buried for eons had emerged again, and the Oracle doesn’t quite know what to do. So she stares at the valley down below, and tries not to think about the conversation that just happened.

“He is still angry.” Well, that proves to be futile, and she turns to face her second visitor with a small frown. The Axolotl makes a sound not unlike a sigh, and his presence does seem to soothe the soothsayer somewhat. “I’m sure you aren’t very surprised at that.”

“What…happened?” she asks instead, eyes still directed at the horizon line. She absentmindedly rubs her pendant, and realizes that she is anxious. “Why is he-?”

“I’m afraid you’ll have to ask him that yourself.” she could hear the slight smile in the being’s voice. “His bubble cracked, and of course the All-Seeing Eye was not left unscathed. No matter what he wishes you to believe.” He regards her patiently for a while, before his gentle voice breaks the silence once again. “Will you join them?”

Jheselbraum finally tears away from the scene outside to look at the piece of parchment that had made it to her only a short time ago. Stanford Pines had found a way to reach a dimension as remote as hers, and the Oracle can’t help but be impressed. “In a while,” she replies, hand on her pendant once again. “I…need to think.”

There is a silent acknowledgement, and then she is alone again. One of the few things Bill had gotten right simply by looking at her. In the silence, there is finally nothing to distract the Oracle from her concerns, and for once the concerns are about the past as much as they are about the future. Well, no, that wasn’t quite true. The future still worried her a whole lot more, and for good reason. The Oracle makes the mistake of, once again, glancing at what lies ahead.

And sees nothing but flames.